All 10 of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie draft picks survived cutdowns to make the initial 53-man roster. Among the biggest surprises was RB/WR Eli Heidenreich, whom many thought was a perfect candidate for the practice squad. According to Mark Kaboly, he may not have survived the waiver process had the Steelers let him go.

“Heidenreich isn’t a sentimental addition to the roster because of him growing up in nearby Mt. Lebanon. His versatility and youth (and maybe another team snooping around to add him to their 53-man roster) got him a spot over Travis Homer and Lew Nichols,” Kaboly wrote on X Sunday evening.

He clarified his report via his Kaboly + Mack podcast Monday.

“There was some snooping around going on,” he said.

It’s a common thought this time of year that one of the 38 players on cutdown day may get claimed or otherwise sign elsewhere before making it to the practice squad. But rarely does that actually occur. Only 26 of the hundreds of waived players around the league got claimed Monday. The Steelers did not claim anybody, and none of their waived players got claimed.

Perhaps that’s because they chose to keep the right people. Nobody expected them to keep Heidenreich, Kevin Jobity Jr., and Gabriel Rubio, but they kept all three. Meanwhile veterans like Travis Homer and Esezi Otomewo were waived and circled back to the practice squad where they can still be useful to the team. But they were also less likely to be poached than high-upside rookies who flashed in the preseason.

When the Steelers drafted him, Heidenreich actually had a UDFA agreement in place with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Perhaps it was them hoping to poach him as they did Sebastian Castro last year.

Heidenreich worked exclusively as a running back in the preseason with 20 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown. He also returned kicks, served as an upback on the punt-coverage unit, and even made a special teams tackle. It was likely his work on special teams that earned him a spot, but his versatility and upside on offense no doubt helped as well.

The Steelers officially list as an RB/WR on their roster, which speaks to bigger visions for his role in Pittsburgh moving forward.

If another team was sniffing around, the Steelers may have known they had to keep Heidenreich now or risk losing him altogether.