Pittsburgh Steelers sign 8 to practice squad
By Matt Shetler
While the Pittsburgh Steelers front office is busy scouring the waiver wire in hopes of a couple last minute additions to their 53-man roster, they did add some bodies to their practice squad on Sunday.
The eight players signed to the practice squad include: offensive linemen Chris Hubbard and Joe Long, running back Alvester Alexander, defensive end Brian Arnfelt, linebackers Alan Baxter and Terence Garvin, defensive back Devin Smith and wide receiver Justin Brown.
May 3, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 sixth round draft pick receiver Justin Brown (15) participates in drills during Steelers rookie mincamp and orientation at the UPMC Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
All eight players were among the 22 players cut from the 53-man roster on Saturday.
The biggest additions here were that of Long and Brown.
Long could find his way onto the active roster before long if Guy Whimper is forced into any playing time. Given his track record of getting beat and allowing sacks, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Long push Whimper for playing time if injuries dictated that situation.
The same goes for Brown. While I don’t see the overall talent that would make him a big contributor in the NFL, it’s nice to have an emergency sixth receiver on the roster in case of injury and with the contracts of Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery set to expire at the end of the season, it is nice to have a potential security blanket to fall back on if Brown emerges.
If there is one other guy of the group to keep an eye on, I think it would have to be Arnfelt as I was a bit surprised he didn’t make the team as a backup as he showed the ability to make some plays on the defensive line.