With OT Troy Fautanu suffering a knee sprain that could keep him out two weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers worked out OTs Greg Eiland and Bobby Evans Sunday. Interestingly, the team also worked two long snappers, bringing in Jake McQuaide and Antonio Ortiz for a workout. Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston reported the workouts.
If Ortiz’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he also worked out with Pittsburgh last offseason. He hasn’t logged an NFL snap, but he spent time in the XFL with the Arlington Renegades and with the Chicago Bears in 2022.
McQuaide is a veteran, entering the league in 2011 with the then-St. Louis Rams. He’s also played for the Dallas Cowboys and he played nine games as the Detroit Lions’ long snapper last season. He’s played 190 games in his career, including 160 with the Rams.
Eiland was most recently with the San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 NFL Draft and spent time bouncing on and off their practice squad. He was released from Seattle’s practice squad on Oct. 30 of last season and spent this season with the Brahmas.
Coming out of Mississippi State, Eiland measured in at 6077 and 321 pounds with 37-inch arms and 10 7/8-inch hands. He has a massive 88 1/8-inch wingspan.
Evans also was most recently in the UFL, playing for the Arlington Renegades. He was a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams after a college career at Oklahoma but was released by the Rams on Dec. 31, 2022. He’s also spent time with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars, although he didn’t log an NFL snap for either team. He’s played 35 games with 12 starts, all coming with the Rams.
At the 2019 NFL Combine, Evans measured in at 6043 and 312 pounds. At his Oklahoma Pro Day, his arms came in at 34 3/4 inches, with an 80 1/2-inch wingspan. His hand size came in at 9 7/8 inches.
It’s unclear if the Steelers are just doing their due diligence and looking at long snappers in case they need one if something happens to Christian Kuntz, who signed a three-year extension this offseason. Kuntz did have a bad snap that led to a missed extra point in Pittsburgh’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans, so the timing is interesting.
We’ll find out in the coming days if Pittsburgh decides to bring in one of the guys it worked out. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Steelers add a tackle with Fautanu injured.
