The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June and next up is their annual training camp, which gets underway in late July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time for you as part of a 30-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow.
The next three players we will preview ahead of Steelers 2023 training camp are Jordan Byrd, Dan Chisena, and Le’Raven Clark.
WR/RET Jordan Byrd: The Steelers signed Byrd as an undrafted free agent this year. In five seasons at San Diego State, Byrd registered 275 carries for 1,353 yards and 12 touchdowns to go along with 47 receptions for another 219 yards and a touchdown in 56 games played in. As a special teams contributor over those five seasons, Byrd returned 81 kickoffs for 2,020 yards and three touchdowns in addition to 67 punt returns for 445 yards and a score. Byrd measured in at his 2023 Pro Day at 5071, 166 pounds and he ran his 40-yard dash in 4.52-seconds.
Outlook: The most intriguing aspect when it comes to Byrd this summer is his returner abilities. He’s obviously way undersized and that’s why the Steelers have him listed as a wide receiver/returner despite most of his college touches on offense coming as a running back. Byrd’s chances of making the Steelers’ 53-man roster this summer will likely depend solely on how he functions as a returner. He’ll essentially need to Stefan Logan his way onto the 53-man unit by making huge plays on kickoff and/or punt returns in the three preseason games the Steelers have prior to the final roster cuts.
WR Dan Chisena: A former undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Penn State, Chisena signed with the Steelers back in January after spending his first three NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. To date, Chisena has logged just 11 offensive snaps in the NFL with 496 more coming on special teams. While he has yet to register any offensive stats in the NFL, Chisena has 11 total special teams tackles to date. During his college career, Chisena managed to catch just three passes for 66 yards.
Outlook: Chisena has an extremely tough road ahead of him this summer when it comes to making the Steelers’ Week 1 53-man roster. He doesn’t bring much to the table as a wide receiver so his special teams play during training camp and the preseason will need to be his ticket to a roster spot. That’s a difficult path to a roster spot for any NFL player so obviously his best shot at sticking around in Pittsburgh past the final roster cuts would be as a practice squad player. I would advise not buying his jersey.
T Le’Raven Clark: The Steelers signed Clark to a one-year veteran benefit contract back in March and that deal included just $50,000 in guaranteed money. For his NFL career, Clark, who was originally selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Texas Tech, has played in 64 regular-season games with 18 total starts. Clark has experience playing both tackle spots in the NFL and even a little bit at right guard as well. Last season with the Tennessee Titans, he played just 114 offensive snaps with 98 of them coming at right tackle. He allowed one sack last season overall in that limited playing time.
Outlook: As June comes to an end, Clark looks to be in prime position to make the Steelers’ 2023 53-man roster as a backup swing tackle. Should he ultimately make the Steelers’ 53-man roster, he could wind up being a regular gameday inactive, especially if winds up as fourth on the tackle depth chart behind Dan Moore Jr., Chukwuma Okorafor and rookie Broderick Jones, the Steelers’ first-round draft pick this year.
Overall, the hope is that the Steelers never need to give Clark any meaningful snaps in 2023. Should he have to play any in 2023, odds are probably good that it would be at the right tackle position.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Montravius Adams, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Austin III
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Luq Barcoo, Keeanu Benton, Chris Boswell
90 In 30: Steelers 2023 Training Camp Preview Series: Miles Boykin, Ja’Marcus Bradley, Hakeem Butler
