Roster changes continue for the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out of the Week Four loss to the Houston Texans as the Steelers elevated tight end Rodney Williams to the 53-man roster, the team announced Wednesday.
Pittsburgh also signed wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick and tight end Noah Gindorff to the practice squad.
Williams has spent the past two seasons on the Steelers’ practice squad, signing to the practice squad ahead of the 2022 season and then sticking with Pittsburgh throughout training camp before being cut as part of final roster cuts this summer.
Williams was undrafted out of Tennessee-Martin in the 2022 NFL Draft, landing with the Denver Broncos before joining the Steelers.
At UT-Martin, Williams played in 53 career games, starting 26. Williams finished his lengthy collegiate career with 99 receptions for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns, finishing his career ninth in school history in receptions.
As Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora wrote in his futures report of Williams in March, Williams had fantastic testing at his 2022 Pro Day, clocking a 4.55 40 with a 40.5-inch vertical and a 10’10” broad. Very impressive numbers overall. In fact, his Relative Athletic Score (RAS) came in at 8.86, which compared favorably to tight ends Evan Engram and Tommy Tremble.
With Pat Freiermuth expected to miss two-to-three weeks, the Steelers needed to add some depth on the 53-man roster at the tight end position behind Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward. Williams had a strong training camp and preseason, earning a B- from Kozora in the end of camp grades.
Fitzpatrick previously spent a few weeks on the 53-man roster after being signed from the practice squad following Diontae Johnson’s hamstring injury in the season opener. He was active against the Texans in Week Four before being waived Monday.
Prior to landing with the Steelers after signing a Reserve/Futures deal with the franchise on Jan. 11, Fitzpatrick was a fourth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2021 out of Louisville. In his time with the Titans, Fitzpatrick caught just five career passes for 49 yards, which all came in his rookie season.
Prior to his appearance Sunday against the Texans, in which he logged three special teams snaps, Fitzpatrick had not appeared in a game since his first NFL season. He has three career games under his belt.
Gindorff is an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State and originally signed with the Seattle Seahawks. He was waived in mid-August and then worked out with for the Steelers on Aug. 22.
Gindorff was a three-time FCS national champion at NDSU who caught just 44 passes in his college career, but 12 of those went for touchdowns. Coming out of college, Gindorff was known as a true in-line blocking tight end, but at 6-foo-6, 263 pounds he is a real red zone weapon with strong hands.
Check out Alex Kozora’s pre-draft profile on the NDSU tight end ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
