Adjusting to the speed and physicality of the NFL coming from college is difficult for anyone. Even going through minicamp and OTAs and training camp, sometimes it takes until you hit the field against another opponent for that to sink in. In the case of OLB David Perales, an undrafted free agent in 2023, his welcome to the NFL moment came in Pittsburgh’s second preseason game, a win over the Buffalo Bills, he told Alec Nolan ABC 30 in Fresno, Calif.
“I think it was the second game of preseason, and I went into my move, and I got hit pretty good by the guard,” Perales said, “and I think that was the first time I was like, I’m really here, these guys aren’t playing around.”
Presumably, the play below is the one Perales is talking about. It’s the only time in the game he got washed out by the guard and he seemed to get a pretty big hit laid on him.
That play came on one of Perales’ first snaps in the second quarter of the game, one that he finished with three tackles, two of which were solo. Perales didn’t make Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster but spent time on the practice squad last season. He was on the initial practice squad before getting cut on Oct. 31, but he re-signed with Pittsburgh on Dec 11. He was then cut again two weeks later but brought back on Jan. 9 after T.J. Watt’s injury.
Every player has their welcome to the NFL moment at some point, and sometimes it happens earlier and sometimes it happens late. Perales got his out of the way relatively early and made him realize that the NFL game can be a lot different in college. Especially in the preseason when rosters are full and everyone is fighting for a roster spot, nobody is going to look to make it easy on their opponent, and they’re going to do whatever it takes to prove their worth.
For Perales, he again will see himself on the roster bubble when the Steelers enter training camp and the preseason, but there’s a spot for the taking as the team doesn’t have a clear-cut backup outside linebacker outside of Nick Herbig. Perales will compete with the likes of Jeremiah Moon and Kyron Johnson unless the team adds an outside free agent. Given that the Steelers kept him on their practice squad and brought him back multiple times, it’s clear the team has some interest in him as a player.
We’ll see if Perales, now with a year of experience under his belt, can surprise and earn a roster spot this season.
