Tag: Dennis Colquitt

Steelers bring in punter, linebacker to bolster practice squad

According to the NFL transaction report, the Steelers are looking to address needs at both linebacker and punter.

Déjà vu! On Monday, per the NFL transaction report, the Pittsburgh Steelers brought former punter Jordan Berry in for a visit.

The Steelers also hosted converted safety, Ray Wilborn. A former Atlanta Falcons linebacker, he failed to make their 53-man roster and was cut on Sept. 5.

In Wilborn’s last two seasons at Ball State, he played at outside linebacker and safety and showed skill in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, in 2018 Wilborn allowed the lowest passer rating of any linebacker in the MAC (71.0).

For those who don’t know, the difference between a visit and a tryout is that visits have no workout involved; they’re more conversational in nature. Pittsburgh knows what Berry can do and must have scout info on Wilborn since he didn’t work out.

The linebacker visit is, obviously, not a surprise with Devin Bush out for the season with a torn ACL. As for the punter situation, head coach Mike Tomlin must not be pleased with Dennis Colquitt. Corliss Witman is also on the practice squad.

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The Steelers desperately needed depth and they got it on Sunday

The Steelers made some wise moves to bolster depth but not without the release of a 2019 fan favorite.

The Steelers continue to show that they’re pulling out all of the stops to go big or go home in 2020. On Sunday, the team re-signed their former backup quarterback Josh Dobbs and starting safety Sean Davis to bolster the depth of their respective positions.

Devlin “Duck” Hodges was released to make room for Dobbs, and the corresponding move for Davis was safety Curtis Riley. Pittsburgh’s hope is to be able to put Riley back on the practice squad.

Davis had just signed a two-year contract with the Washington Football Team in March.

Punter dilemma?

News came down Saturday that the Steelers were bringing in punter Dustin Colquitt for a tryout to potentially supplant Jordan Berry. Colquitt has played 15 seasons to Berry’s five, but they have similar stats over the last few years. Though Colquitt has 652 fewer punt yards than Berry’s 14,495, Colquitt’s is the more consistent of the two.

Dobbs didn’t play at all for the Jaguars in 2019 and appeared in just five games in 2018. According to Pro Football Reference, he had a 50 percent completion rate and threw an interception.

Davis entered the 2019 season at free safety for the Steelers on the final year of his rookie deal. He suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 17, 2019. Following his injury, the Steelers traded their first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Beyond his three-interception, 92-tackle 2017 season, Davis hadn’t lived up to his second-round draft selection. Despite that, Pittsburgh was woefully thin depth-wise after his departure. Though he didn’t perform to expectations, he won’t be expected to start this time around. When Davis is in the game, at least he’ll know the system, which is a bonus — especially this season. Hopefully lessening his load will get more out of him, so to speak.

As all claimed players do, each will have to pass a physical and go through COVID-19 testing protocols.

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