With LT Dan Moore Jr. out for Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens due to a knee injury suffered on the road against the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers are adding depth in the trenches.
According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, the Steelers are signing offensive tackle Obinna Eze to their practice squad Tuesday after working him out at the South Side facility earlier in the day.
Eze, just 25 years old, played at Memphis and TCU in college and competed in the 2021 East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas.
He spent the 2022 season on the practice squad of the Detroit Lions after being the team’s among final cuts just days after playing 23 snaps against the Steelers in the 2022 preseason finale at Acrisure Stadium. Eze spent the entire 2023 offseason and training camp with the Lions before being waived on Aug. 27.
Eze joins offensive tackle Kellen Diesch, center Ryan McCollum and guard Joey Fisher on the Steelers’ practice squad in the trenches.
Eze was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and immigrated to the United States in 2015, initially picking up basketball upon his arrival. Then, he made the switch to football, which led to him becoming a four-star recruit that eventually landed at Memphis. Eze spent four seasons at Memphis before transferring to TCU for the 2021 season.
Check out Good Morning Football’s Peter Schrager sharing Eze’s story from last summer.
At TCU in the 2021 season, Eze started all 12 games at left tackle, giving him 37 consecutive starts to close his collegiate career.
Coming out of TCU, Eze checked in at 6065, 321 pounds with 36 1/8-inch arms. He went undrafted before landing with the Lions and starring on HBO’s Hard Knocks that summer.
In two preseasons with the Lions, Eze saw action in 113 total snaps (34 run blocking, 79 pass blocking). He graded out a 49.3 overall in the two preseasons, including pass-blocking marks of 71.2 and 69.7 over the two years. He allowed just four total pressures with the Lions in the preseason and earned a 56.5 overall grade in the 2022 preseason against the Steelers, allowing two total pressures.
