The Steelers keep on scooping from the well of now-former XFL players.
Monday, the team signed wide receiver Saeed Blacknall, who most recently played for the XFL's Los Angeles Wildcats. Prior to that, Blacknall spent four years at Penn State — 2014-2017 — where he caught 50 passes for 979 yards and seven touchdowns. Blacknall flashed big-play ability, averaging over 20 yards per catch in college, and he stamped that label at his Pro Day, posting a 4.39-second 40-yard dash. Add in his 6-foot-2, 208-pound frame, and his size-speed combo could be lethal if he can put it all together at the pro level.
Time to run! Here’s Saeed Blacknall @psufootball @CBS21NEWS
40 yd dash pic.twitter.com/y6SJahYuZb
— Joel D. Smith (@JoelDReports) March 20, 2018
Blacknall signed as an undrafted free agent with the Raiders in 2018, where he scored a 45-yard touchdown in the preseason, before being waived and signed to the practice squad. From there, Blacknall did see the field once during the regular season, getting promoted to the active roster before the team's Week 11 matchup against the Cardinals, a 23-21 Raiders win. While Blacknall did play 24 percent of the team's offensive snaps in that one, he didn't see a target.
His NFL journey then took him to the Dolphins and Cardinals, where he spent time on each practice squad before signing with the Wildcats in the 2020 XFL Supplemental Draft Nov. 22, 2019. After the XFL folded, the Steelers swooped in to give Blacknall another chance to impress.
"All of those players in those different leagues were scouted as college players at one point so we have a nice base of information," Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said in a statement on Steelers.com. "Most of them have been in an NFL camp and played in preseason games, so we have an evaluation on them. We were looking to add guys. It's good those players are made available to us."
Previously, Colbert and the Steelers signed defensive end Dewayne Hendrix, safety Tyree Kinnel and linebacker/long snapper Christian Kuntz from the XFL to one-year contracts. The team was also linked to defensive lineman Cavon Walker and offensive tackle Jarron Jones, although no official confirmation has been given of those signings at this time.
