Kevin Colbert and the Steelers kept the party rolling after the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft, signing 10 undrafted rookie free agents to deals.
During the draft, the Steelers selected a balanced group — three on offense and three on defense — starting with wide receiver Chase Claypool in Round 2 (49th overall) and outside linebacker Alex Highsmith in Round 3 (102nd overall).
With the undrafted rookie free agents, however, things weren't so balanced. The Steelers selected only two offensive players, seven defensive players and one specialist. Their signings are as follows:
Spencer Nigh, fullback, Auburn
Christian Montano, guard, Tulane
Trajan Bandy, cornerback, University of Miami (Fla.)
James Pierre, cornerback, Florida Atlantic
James Lockhart, linebacker, Baylor
Leo Lewis, linebacker, Mississippi State
John Houston, linebacker, University of Southern California
Josiah Coatney, defensive end, Mississippi
Calvin Taylor, defensive end, Kentucky
Corliss Waitman, punter, South Alabama
Digging into the tape and the background on these players, a few things leap out at you:
Nigh is a 6-foot, 267-pound fullback who ran a 4.81-second 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. That, plus the fact the Steelers just locked down Derek Watt to a three-year deal, tells me Nigh is probably not coming to Pittsburgh to be a fullback. Do they want him to be a special teams demon? Will they try to convert him to a different position? That will be something to watch moving forward.
Taylor catches the eye too — if only because it's literally impossible to miss him. The 6-foot-9, 310-pound Taylor had 8.5 sacks as a redshirt senior at Kentucky, adding 9.5 tackles for a loss, 21 solo tackles, four passes defended and three forced fumbles to go with them. He also played left tackle in high school, and it's possible the Steelers could be eyeing up an Alejandro Villanueva-type conversion for him at the pro level. His sheer size and the fact he played both defensive tackle and defensive end at Kentucky while also boasting some offensive line experience makes him an intriguing pickup.
Joining Taylor on the defensive line is Coatney, a 6-foot-4, 325-pound defensive tackle who was a three-year letterman at Ole Miss. During his time there, Coatney rang up 6.5 sacks, 174 tackles (70 solo) and 15.5 tackles for a loss.
Sticking to the defense, Leo Lewis was a four-year starter in the SEC and graduated in December of 2018 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. That matters for Mike Tomlin and Colbert both. Speaking with media after Day 2 of the NFL Draft, Colbert offered the following:
"We’re excited to get these two young men [Claypool and Highsmith] … Chase has graduated, Alex is scheduled to graduate this August, but obviously that’s on hold because of the situation. I think he is finishing that up online, but he won’t be able to walk.”
That wasn't prompted. That was Colbert going out of his way to acknowledge the fact that he and the Steelers appreciated their commitment to the "student" half of "student-athlete." No doubt that mattered to them with Lewis as well.
Lockhart, meanwhile, steadily improved during his time at Baylor, earning Most Improved Defensive Player by Baylor's coaching staff in the spring of 2019 before going on to become an All-Big 12 honorable mention that season. In all, Lockhart totaled 54 tackles (30 solo), seven sacks, 12.5 tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two passes defended during his four-year collegiate career that saw him spend two years at Texas A&M and his final two seasons at Baylor.
The last linebacker of the group, Houston, was a team captain for USC, where he finished with 104 tackles (64 solo), 2.5 sacks, seven tackles for a loss, three passes defended and a fumble recovery in his redshirt senior season. Like the other linebackers here, Houston showed improvement year over year, capping his collegiate career with his best work.
Bandy sticks out on tape thanks to his physical, aggressive style from the cornerback position:
At Miami, Bandy played three years, posting four interceptions, 23 passes defended, three sacks, a forced fumble and 90 tackles (59 solo).
Like Bandy, the other cornerback, Pierre, played three years at the collegiate level, snagging three interceptions during his time at Florida Atlantic. There, Pierre began as a safety but was converted to cornerback as a senior, where he went on to record a career-best 4.5 sacks in 13 games.
Switching sides, Montano joins Nigh as one of two offensive players signed by the Steelers after the 2020 NFL Draft. He was a 13-game starter at Tulane as a graduate student, transferring after playing for Brown, where he earned second-team All-Ivy honors in 2017.
Finally, the punter Waitman is more than just some competition and motivation for Jordan Berry; he also provides an intriguing storyline. Waitman suffered a season-ending injury during his 2015 redshirt season at South Alabama, then attempted to gain a waiver for a sixth year of eligibility as a graduate transfer at Mississippi State. That motion was denied, so Waitman's been on the sidelines for a year after playing as a senior for South Alabama in 2018.
At South Alabama, Waitman averaged 42.7 yards per punt, including a school-record 45.2 yards per punt in a 2017 campaign that saw him earn All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Waitman also handled kickoffs and held for field goals and extra points during his time at South Alabama.
