The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing in DT Demarcus Christmas for a visit, according to the NFL’s official transaction wire.
Christmas was a 6th round pick of the 2019 draft, selected by the Seattle Seahawks. He failed to appear in a game with the team. Seattle placed him on Reserve/PUP in August, never activated, and then cut at final cutdowns this summer. He was re-signed to the practice squad and then released from it on October 6th.
Listed at 6’3, 302 pounds, Christmas recorded 77 total tackles in his college career. He also had 7 TFL and 3.5 sacks for the Seminoles.
Our Tom Mead wrote the scouting report on Christmas last year.
Here is how he summarized him.
“Overall, Christmas looks like a potential backup IDL who would fit best in a 2 gap system to let him use his strength to anchor and with improved shedding ability could be solid run defender. But he’ll likely be a 2 down DL as he doesn’t generate enough positive plays in the passing game to warrant staying on the field on passing downs. “
The Steelers’ defensive line depth has been tested by injury the last two weeks. Chris Wormley was placed on IR with a knee injury suffered against the Tennessee Titans last week. Cam Heyward suffered a quad strain and Tyson Alualu a sprained MCL in Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens. That’s forced the Steelers to turn to young faces like Isaiah Buggs, Henry Mondeaux, and possibly 7th rounder Carlos Davis. If signed, Christmas is unlikely to play on Sundays but he’ll serve as practice depth during the week heading into Sunday’s game against Dallas.
