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90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, Nate Meadors

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 7, 2024 at 7:15 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-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. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.

The next set of players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Ryan McCollum, Mason McCormick, and Nate Meadors.

OC Ryan McCollum: Just as he did during the 2022 season, McCollum, who entered the NFL in 2021 with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M, spent the entire 2023 season on the Steelers’ practice squad. He did get elevated to the Steelers’ gameday Active/Inactive roster once during the 2023 regular season but failed to play in that Week 5 contest. The Steelers re-signed McCollum to a Reserve/Futures contract right after the 2023 season ended.

To date, McCollum has logged 100 NFL snaps at the center position, which came as a rookie in 2021 as a member of the Detroit Lions. Those NFL snaps came in four total games, in which he started just one. While McCollum did log 847 total snaps at center in college, he was essentially just a one-year starter at Texas A&M at the center position.

Outlook: As was the case last summer, McCollum is expected to battle for a backup offensive line spot this summer during training camp. At this point, he is one of the few true centers on the team’s offseason roster but is behind Nate Herbig on the depth chart at that position.

Like last year during the preseason, we could once again see McCollum play both guard positions, in addition to center, during this year’s slate of exhibition contests.

It helps that McCollum is not new to the Steelers after spending 2022 and 2023 on the team’s practice squad. Even so, McCollum is once again a longshot to make the Steelers’ 53-man roster out of training camp and the preseason due to numbers and his overall playability. Realistically, McCollum could end up back on the Steelers’ practice squad to start the 2024 regular season.

OG Mason McCormick: The Steelers selected McCormick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of South Dakota State, where he played over 3,400 total offensive snaps, most coming at left guard. He played six seasons at South Dakota State. During the pre-draft process, McCormick measured in at 6042, 309 pounds with 32 7/8-inch arms and 10-inch hands. His RAS score during the pre-draft process was an impressive 9.96.

For his 2023 season, Pro Football Focus graded McCormick out at 87.6 overall, with an impressive run-blocking grade of 90.8. PFF has McCormick down as not allowing a sack in 2023 and just three for his entire college career. On tape, McCormick showed himself as a very physical player who could skip-pull effectively.

Outlook: As a fourth-round selection this year, McCormick should make the Steelers’ 53-man roster as a rookie and likely as a backup interior swing guard. While McCormick did play some right guard and a little bit of center in college, his primary position was left guard. Even so, we could see him get some work at both guard spots during training camp and the preseason.

McCormick could very well end up dressing for games right out of the chute in 2024, especially if the team only carries nine total offensive linemen on their 53-man roster. The Steelers do still have OL Nate Herbig and he’s likely to be the team’s top interior swing offensive lineman to start the 2024 regular season, especially with him having experience at the center position.

While McCormick might not play a lot as a rookie, the stage is set for him to become a starter beginning in 2025. Injuries, however, could force him into spot-starter duty during the 2024 season.

S Nate Meadors: After spending the latter part of the 2023 season on the Steelers’ practice squad, Meadors, who entered the NFL originally in 2019 as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings out of UCLA, signed a Reserve/Futures contract with Pittsburgh in early February. Before arriving in Pittsburgh, Meadors had spent time with several different teams, mostly as a practice squad or offseason player.

To date, Meadors has appeared in three NFL games and has logged 11 total defensive snaps, with 37 more coming on special teams. His last appearance in an NFL game came in 2020 with the Vikings. He has two total tackles to his credit in that limited NFL action.

During his college career, Meadors played very little at safety as he mostly played cornerback, both outside and in the slot.

Outlook: With Meadors officially being listed as a safety, and with him playing some free safety during recent preseason action the last few years, that will likely be the position he mans this summer as a member of the Steelers. However, it will be worth watching his exact position in training camp, especially with him having some slot cornerback experience in college at UCLA.

Regardless of the position that Meadors plays once training camp gets underway a few weeks from now, he’ll surely be a longshot to stick in Pittsburgh once the preseason comes to an end. Realistically, and assuming Meadors can stay on the offseason roster throughout the summer, his best bet at sticking with the team come the start of the 2024 regular season is as a practice squad player, especially with him being a member of that unit late last season.

Previous Posts In This Series:

Related Items:2024 Training Camp, Mason McCormick, Nate Meadors, Ryan McCollum

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