In addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad assigned their new jersey numbers, rookie DL Logan Lee has new digits, too. After wearing No. 74 in training camp, Lee has now been assigned No. 91, according to the team website.
The reason for the change is to avoid the conflict with second-year offensive lineman Spencer Anderson, who also wears No. 74. NFL rules allow for duplicate numbers in training camp, so long as they’re on different sides of the ball, but it’s not allowed for the regular season. During training camp, NT Jonathan Marshall, EDGE Markus Golden, and NT Marquiss Spencer wore No. 91.
Lee was a surprise addition to the Steelers’ 53-man roster last Tuesday. A sixth-round pick from Iowa, he recorded 158 tackles (18.5 for a loss) and nine sacks across four seasons with the Hawkeyes.
For most of his first NFL summer, Logan Lee was miscast as a 3-4 nose tackle after veteran Breiden Fehoko went down with a shoulder injury mid-camp, placed on IR before being released with an injury settlement. It meant Lee stepped in as third-team nose tackle and saw most of his summer reps there. He struggled in that role, out-leveraged and not playing physical enough.
Our training camp evaluation offered mixed reviews.
‘He chased the ball hard and has the kind of straight-line speed Montravius Adams possesses. But he’s gotta work on using his hands and keeping his pads down, too often pushed around and out of his gap. It’s unfortunate he’s gotten got stuck at nose tackle for much of his in-stadium work. A position he hasn’t played much, Lee’s out-leveraged at 6-5. Per our charting, 89.1 percent of his snaps (33 of 37) have come at nose tackle in the Steelers’ 3-4. That’s not his game and makes for a difficult evaluation.”
Lee still made the initial 53-man roster as the team’s eighth defensive lineman. An unusually high number for Pittsburgh to keep, often rostering six or at most, seven, as the team did in 2023. It’s called into question if the Steelers will keep eight once the team takes flight to Atlanta or if Lee, who missed the preseason finale, will be placed on injured reserve.
If Lee were to be transferred, that move would likely happen later on Monday.
