The Pittsburgh Steelers are quickly filling up their 53-man roster. After entering Monday night’s win with just 51 players on it, they’re back to 53. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Steelers are signing NT Breiden Fehoko from the practice squad.
Fehoko, who signed a one-year deal as a free agent and previously played for the Los Angeles Chargers, is an old-school run defender whose specialty is stopping the run. He had a good summer and was a tough man in the middle to move but became the odd man out on cutdown day due to the deep and competitive Steelers’ defensive line room. He signed to the practice squad shortly after being released.
With Cam Heyward out until Thanksgiving and the Steelers having the NFL’s worst run defense through the first two weeks, they need someone like him.
Here was our training camp report on Fehoko’s summer, earning a solid “B” grade.
“If this was 1990, Breiden Fehoko would be a stud. He’s a classic one-gap plugger that just can’t be moved against the run. Barrell-chested with a stubby lower half, he’s got a Johnny Bravo body, all he did this camp was stop the run. In those team run periods, he balled out and earned Mike Tomlin’s praise.
But that’s his resume. As a pass rusher, there’s basically nothing there. He one-gapped and had a couple wins as a pass rusher in camp but most of that came against Kendrick Green, who can’t move to his left or right.
While Fehoko’s value is capped, it plays well with Pittsburgh’s ethos and in this division, especially once the weather gets bad. Getting a hat on gameday could be tough, though he’d be active if Montravius Adams is cut, but the team does like his old-school attitude.”
For his career, Fehoko has appeared in 19 games, starting four, with 36 total tackles. He’s still looking for his first sack. In 2022, he logged 279 rotational snaps for the Chargers, finishing with 23 stops and one tackle for a loss.
The Steelers have his cousin, WR Simi Fehoko, on the team’s practice squad.
In addition to him, the Steelers also signed RB Godwin Igwebuike off the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad.
Pittsburgh will play the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday night. The Raiders are looking to get their run game on track after RB Josh Jacobs had negative yardage in last Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. Last season, the Steelers held Jacobs to just 44 yards and under three yards per carry in a victory.
