Two months after the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Arthur Smith to be their offensive coordinator, GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl started to add some familiar faces for Smith, including MyCole Pruitt.
The Steelers signed the veteran tight end, who spent time with Smith in Tennessee and Atlanta, to a one-year deal on April 4, giving him an opportunity to join a crowded tight end room and compete.
Throughout the summer and preseason, Pruitt garnered positive attention. Now, it appears that he’s a lock for the Steelers’ 53-man roster.
At least, that’s how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac sees it.
In a piece for the Post-Gazette Sunday afternoon breaking down each position group ahead of final roster cuts, Dulac wrote that he believes Pruitt is one of three “given” players at tight end for the Steelers, alongside Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.
“As a former tight ends coach, Smith’s preference for using multiple tight ends is well established. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see him keep four on the roster. Three are given — Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington and MyCole Pruitt, who played for him in Atlanta,” Dulac writes of the position, highlighting Pruitt as one of three locks. “If he keeps four, the other is Rodney Williams.
“However, having H-back Connor Heyward, who can act as a flex tight end, likely precludes the possibility of four.”
That’s certainly an interesting way of viewing things, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pruitt makes the 53-man roster. He probably shouldn’t be considered a lock though due to his age (32 years old) and the fact that he’s not much of a special teams piece. He played just 122 special teams snaps in 2023 in Atlanta, with 85 coming on kickoff returns and 33 coming on field goals.
But based on his play so far in the preseason and in training camp, Pruitt has made his case for a spot.
Pruitt played 44 snaps offensively across three preseason games, including just nine against the Detroit Lions, in which he hauled in a nice 22-yard strike from QB Justin Fields over the middle on play-action. He graded out at an 80.0 overall from Pro Football Focus in the preseason, including a 63.6 as a run blocker.
Along with his work offensively, Pruitt played eight special teams snaps in the preseason, six of which were on kickoff returns and two that were in kick coverage. Asking a 32-year-old reserve TE to cover kicks and punts doesn’t seem all that smart, but Pruitt has shown that he can do it.
Having that relationship with Smith, too, and that understanding of his scheme, along with having success under Smith, certainly helps his case.
We’ll see what ultimately happens come final roster cuts, but based on Dulac’s reporting, it seems like Pruitt is a lock behind Freiermuth and Washington. That will make things interesting in the discussion of Connor Heyward, Rodney Williams and Jack Colletto as either an H-back, a fourth TE, or keeping a fullback.
