Welcome to Steelers Takeaways! – Page 25 – More than 1,000 interviews of Steelers players, coaches, front office staff, media and more with those that played in the 50’s through today’s current roster.

Exclusive with Former Steelers S John Jenkins, 1998

First of all, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?

I’ve been in medical sales for 10 years or so now. When my career ended in the early 2000’s I had to start fresh, trying to leverage the skillsets I learned from athletics. That led me to distribution and sales. Those require the same kind of teamwork, competitiveness, hard work and resiliency you find in sports.

My first big-boy job, so to speak, was working for Cardinal Health in Wisconsin. Then I worked for Pepsi before going into medical device sales.

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Exclusive with Steelers Running Back Alfonzo Graham

First, let me know how the opportunity to tryout occurred for you?

I received a call the day before rookie camp – just the day before! There were some guys from the Steelers at the HBCU combine. I was the last one to come in but hopefully the last one is the best one.

The GM was there – Mark Gorscak was too. They didn’t talk to me throughout the whole process though. Really, no one did. My agent talked to just one team before the draft and that was it.

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Excusive with Derrick Bell From FanNation’s All Steelers: Steelers Draft Results Analysis

First, I wanted to take a different approach on how we look at the draft. Instead of looking at value per pick – did the team actually address its needs successfully? Starting at defensive line – does Benton solve their needs there?

Benton is a unique player. Wisconsin runs some very familiar schemes – the same fronts as the Steelers.

They used him in a lot of zero-tech – I’d like to see more three-tech from him but I think they’ll start him off more at nosetackle first. That makes sense to a degree. The Steelers have three-techs already and they can always rotate him in sub-packages instead of taking him off the field on passing downs.

He has powerful hands – he’s a really good run defender. He’s getting better as a pass rusher and I think he’ll provide more value in that department as his career progresses.

Continue reading “Excusive with Derrick Bell From FanNation’s All Steelers: Steelers Draft Results Analysis”

Exclusive with Steelers Camp Invite, Linebacker Johnny Buchanan

First, can you let us know how you get invited to camp by the Steelers?

It’s been an interesting path to get here. I thought I was in a good position to get drafted or at least get signed as an undrafted free agent coming out of Delaware, but it just didn’t happen for me.

My agent told me about a number of camp invites I had and we sifted through them. I went to the Eagles camp and that went well. I just got onto the Steelers’ radar recently – I think they watched some film recently and liked what they saw. The Steelers play defense the way I like to play defense. I grew up watching them as a kid – I watched the Steelers-Ravens games and loved the way they played defense.

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Exclusive with Steelers Camp Tryout, Defensive Lineman Gabe Oladipo

First, can you let me know how the invite to camp occurred for you considering the fact you haven’t actually played at the college level?

The entire process has been a blessing. Football was always in the cards – I come from a football family. My dad – Gabe Sr. – he played in the NFL, and my uncle did too.

I was a successful track athlete – as an athlete I was always confident in my ability. I didn’t get the opportunity to play in college though I was on the team at Texas Tech my Senior year. I took it as far as I could and believe I have the talent to take it to the next level in the NFL.

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Exclusive with Steelers Camp Invite, Defensive Lineman Tyler Tate

First off, how did you get on the Steelers radar for the invite – what did they tell you?

I had a workout last Monday and after that my agent called me and let me know the Steelers wanted to bring me in for a tryout. I guess they watched some film on me. I put up some good numbers at Millersville and I just think that caught their interest.

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Exclusive with Steelers Camp Invite, Duquesne Wide Receiver Dwayne Menders

First off – how did the tryout opportunity come about for you?

I’ve been training for a couple of months now here in Miami – I’m from here. I had a lot of interest before the draft from teams – Miami, Packers, Vikings, Texans, Jaguars, Bears and the Steelers all showed interest.

At my pro day the Steelers stayed and talked to me for a while. Casey Weidl and Phil Kreidler told me they liked my elusiveness, speed and the way I ran routes.

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2023 Post-Draft Positional Battles – Offense

Quarterback:

Hunter Johnson (camp invite), Tanner Morgan, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky

Pickett is the starter, Trubisky the backup. No mystery here. Currently the battle for the third spot is between camp tryout Hunter Johnson of Clemson and UDFA signing Tanner Morgan from Minnesota. Morgan has the clear edge in my opinion – he won’t make anyone forget Kenny Pickett. He has good experience with the RPO and can make plays with his legs – he’s just not a consistently accurate QB. Johnson, after transferring last year to Clemson from Northwestern got few snaps. He’d have to shock many in camp to make a roster.

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2023 Post-Draft Positional Battles – Defense/Special Teams

Outside Linebacker:

Emeke Egbule, Nate Herbig, Alex Highsmith, David Perales, Quincy Roche, Tyler Tate (camp tryout), T.J. Watt

Watt and Highsmith are your starters. Herbig as a 4th round pick is going to get every chance to secure a backup spot here. The question is can he play high-reps at OLB at his size – if not, do they make him a pass-rush/specialist type player or move him inside? For now, I’m going to slot him in as a backup OLB. That’s what the Steelers are doing.

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Exclusive with Steelers Running Back/Return Specialist Jordan Byrd

First off, why sign with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent?

During the process leading up to the draft I had an amazing Zoom call with the coaches and their special teams coach especially – Danny Smith. I think we really connected well. They talked about how they wanted to use me on special teams and I am really looking forward to that – to contribute in that role.

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