{"id":619224,"date":"2026-05-02T12:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619224\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T12:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:42:08","slug":"ranking-steelers-udfas-based-on-best-chance-to-make-53-man-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/619224\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking Steelers\u2019 UDFAs Based On Best Chance To Make 53-Man Roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

After drafting 10 players in the 2026 NFL Draft, the undrafted free agent class for the Pittsburgh Steelers was expected to be very small.<\/p>\n

Turns out, it was.<\/p>\n

The Steelers signed just six UDFAs \u2014 one less than last year. Despite it being a smaller class and the roster being pretty deep under GM Omar Khan, the crop of six has some intriguing talent to work with this offseason for the Black and Gold.<\/p>\n

It might not be an UDFA class filled with a bunch of big, recognizable names, but the players the Steelers added as UDFAs all are worth watching and following throughout the offseason and into training camp as they battle for either a spot on the 53-man roster or a practice squad spot, either in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

So, what UDFA has the best chance of making the Steelers\u2019 53-man roster this off-season, hoping to become the next Beanie Bishop Jr., Jaylen Warren, Mike Hilton, or James Pierre? I\u2019m glad you asked.<\/p>\n

Below, I rank the five UDFAs from 1 to 6 based on their best chances of grabbing a 53-man roster spot.<\/p>\n

1. LAKE MCREE, TE, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA<\/p>\n

On a roster featuring Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth as the clear-cut No. 1 and No. 2 TEs in Pittsburgh, there\u2019s a need for a No. 3 for the Steelers under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy.<\/p>\n

Last season, the Steelers were exceptionally deep at TE with Washington, Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith and Connor Heyward. Smith and Heyward are now gone. While the Steelers did draft Indiana\u2019s Riley Nowakowski in the fifth round, he\u2019s projected as more of a fullback, so the TE3 need remains.<\/p>\n

Only JJ Galbreath \u2014 a UDFA last season \u2014 is on the roster at the position behind Washington and Freiermuth right now. Galbreath is a great athlete, but he didn\u2019t do much to impress last season and bounced around.<\/p>\n

Coming out of USC, Lake McRee has a real shot to carve out a role. Though he has a lengthy injury history and isn\u2019t much of a blocker, he\u2019s a legitimate move TE, one who could be an adequate replacement for Freiermuth were he to go down with an injury.<\/p>\n

During the 2025 season with the Trojans, McRee hauled in 30 passes for 450 yards and four touchdowns, finishing his career with 97 receptions for 1,154 yards and seven touchdowns in 51 games over five seasons. He was a consistent pass catcher for USC last year and has some wiggle after the catch.<\/p>\n

In the scouting report of McRee,<\/a> I compared him to current Cleveland Browns TE3 Blake Whiteheart, a dependable pass catcher who will make the most of his opportunities, but won\u2019t offer much as a blocker. I think there\u2019s a real path forward for McRee to land on the 53-man roster in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

2. CHAMON METAYER, TE, ARIZONA STATE<\/p>\n

McRee wasn\u2019t the only TE the Steelers signed as a UDFA. Pittsburgh went back to the Arizona State well to land Chamon Metayer as an UDFA, giving them another athletic, versatile pass-catching option at the position.<\/p>\n

The North Miami native spent time at Colorado and Cincinnati before settling at Arizona State and turning in a productive 2025 season for the Sun Devils, hauling in a career-best 38 receptions for 375 yards and four touchdowns. That built on a 2024 season with Arizona State in which he had 32 receptions for 306 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n

He measured in at 6037, 252 at the ASU Pro Day, but he didn\u2019t run the 40. However, he did record a 34.5-inch vertical and had a 9\u201910\u201d broad jump, so there is some athleticism there. Metayer, like McRee, doesn\u2019t profile as much of a blocker, but he flashed as a pass catcher the last two years and could work his way into a TE3 role with a big training camp and preseason.<\/p>\n

3. KEVIN JOBITY JR., DL, SYRACUSE<\/p>\n

I would have had Syracuse DL Kevin Jobity Jr. much further down the list in this piece just a few days ago if I\u2019d have written this shortly after the news of veteran defensive lineman Dean Lowry re-signing with the Steelers.<\/p>\n

One day later, though, Lowry backed out of the reported signing, swinging the door open for a player like Jobity to stick around.<\/p>\n

Jobity measures in at 6044, 308 pounds and has good length with 33 1\/2-inch arms, which fits the size and length mold the Steelers tend to look for. He had a strong 2025 season with Syracuse, too, recording 30 tackles, six tackles for a loss and 5.0 sacks. He also had 24 pressures and 19 run stops, according to Pro Football Focus.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Three of those sacks came against Pittsburgh last season, so chances are that\u2019s how he got onto the Steelers\u2019 radar during the season.<\/p>\n

The Steelers are relatively set up front under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, with Cameron Heyward, Derrick Harmon, and Keeanu Benton as the starters, and Yahya Black, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Logan Lee, and Esezi Otomewo as rotational depth.<\/p>\n

Others like rookie Gabriel Rubio, Anthony Goodlow, Kyler Baugh, and Javarhee Ritzie will battle it out with Jobity for a role, likely on the practice squad. But if Jobity can use his athleticism (5.03 40-yard, 32-inch vertical) to make plays in training camp and the preseason, he could stick around.<\/p>\n

4. DAYLAN CARNELL, LB, MISSOURI<\/p>\n

The Steelers looked long and hard at five linebackers in the pre-draft process, signaling they were likely to draft one. Then, they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

On paper, the inside linebacker room in Pittsburgh appears set with Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, Cole Holcomb, Malik Harrison and Carson Bruener as the five ticketed for the 53-man roster. But that group has some wanting more, and there was some disappointment that the Steelers didn\u2019t draft one.<\/p>\n

They did add one as an UDFA, though, in Missouri\u2019s Daylan Carnell, who was a safety for the Tigers and is converting to linebacker. He recorded 175 tackles with 19.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions, four forced fumbles and three sacks in his career. He measured in at 6024, 233 pounds at the Missouri Pro Day and had a 34.5-inch vertical jump, though he did not run the 40.<\/p>\n

With that type of production and background as a defensive back, making the move forward to linebacker, he\u2019s worth a look as a potential sub-package piece. He\u2019ll have to earn some snaps in training camp, though, as he\u2019s very clearly the No. 6 LB on the roster at the moment.<\/p>\n

If he can make some plays in training camp and carry it over into preseason action, he could stick around on the practice squad and continue to develop in his transition to linebacker. A 53-man roster spot seems like a major long shot right now, though.<\/p>\n

5. DEVAN BOYKIN, DB, INDIANA<\/p>\n

After drafting two defensive backs in corner Daylen Everette and safety Robert Spears-Jennings after signing cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Asante Samuel Jr., and safety Jaquan Brisker \u2014 and (hopefully) soon Darnell Savage \u2014 the secondary is pretty deep for the Steelers.<\/p>\n

That makes it very hard to see a piece like Indiana\u2019s Devan Boykin carving out a role.<\/p>\n

However, you can\u2019t overlook how good he was in 2025 for the undefeated national champion Hoosiers.<\/p>\n

Boykin (5100, 192) graded out as one of the best players in all of college football last season. PFF ranked him as the No. 22 player in their top 101 from last season, too. He had the best run-defense grade of any safety last year, and the No. 13 coverage grade. Based on PFF\u2019s WAR metric, Boykin was the second most valuable safety in the country.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

But running a 4.63 40-yard dash at his size doesn\u2019t help. He did have a 33.5-inch vertical and a 9\u201910\u201d broad jump to show off some explosiveness, but he might project best to a slot corner role at the next level.<\/p>\n

Boykin could learn from Brandin Echols in Pittsburgh should he transition to slot corner, but a role at safety just doesn\u2019t seem in the cards. He\u2019ll be worth keeping an eye on, though, just to see where he\u2019s working early on.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll have to battle with names like Daequan Hardy, D\u2019Shawn Jamison, Doneiko Slaughter, Sebastian Castro and Jack Henderson for snaps in training camp and the preseason.<\/p>\n

6. LAITH MARJAN, K, KANSAS<\/p>\n

Is Chris Boswell still on the roster? Yes.<\/p>\n

Is Chris Boswell still performing at a high level? Yes.<\/p>\n

Is Chris Boswell going to get an extension this summer? Very likely.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all stacking against Kansas kicker Laith Marjan when it comes to having a shot at earning a role in Pittsburgh. But, like Ben Sauls and Matthew Wright before him, kicking well in Pittsburgh in the preseason could lead to a role elsewhere in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Marjan bounced around in college, kicking for East Carolina, South Alabama and then Kansas. Last season with the Jayhawks, he went 14-for-17 on field goals and connected on all 40 extra points. Of those 14 field goals, he drilled a 55-yarder against Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

In his career, Marjan converted 30-for-34, including 16-of-17 in 2024 at South Alabama, to lead the country in FG%. We\u2019ll see how he does under new special teams coordinator Danny Crossman. He has a big leg and is worth having around in training camp to give the Steelers a second kicker, easing some of the burden on Boswell early in the team-building process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After drafting 10 players in the 2026 NFL Draft, the undrafted free agent class for the Pittsburgh Steelers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[268502,268503,268504,399,268505,268506,268507,398,396,397,1321,99,3795],"class_list":["post-619224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-chamon-metayer","tag-daylan-carnell","tag-devan-boykin","tag-football","tag-kevin-jobity-jr","tag-laith-marjan","tag-lake-mcree","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}