90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Coaching Camp Preview Sequence — Lance McCutcheon, Kyler McMichael, DK Metcalf

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The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason practices concluded in the course of June, and subsequent up is the staff’s annual coaching camp, which is able to get underway within the latter a part of July at Saint Vincent School in Latrobe. Forward of that, we’ll preview the staff’s offseason roster, three gamers at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which incorporates an outlook for each participant, shall be executed alphabetically by final title to make it straightforward to observe. This sequence figures to exceed 90 gamers because the staff can carry 91 gamers throughout the offseason because of the allowance of 1 worldwide participant designation.

The following three gamers we’ll preview forward of the Steelers’ 2025 coaching camp are Lance McCutcheon, Kyler McMichael, and DK Metcalf.

WR Lance McCutcheon: The Steelers signed McCutcheon to a Reserve/Future contract in January, and that transaction got here on the heels of the extensive receiver spending a number of weeks, roughly a month, on the staff’s follow squad in 2024.

Initially signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Montana State, McCutcheon spent his rookie season on their 53-man roster. He performed in 10 video games with the Rams in 2022 and began as soon as that season. He totaled simply 56 offensive snaps with the Rams in 2022 and 110 extra on particular groups on his technique to registering no catches on 5 targets. Nonetheless, he additionally logged two complete tackles that season on particular groups.

Since his 2022 season with the Rams, McCutcheon has been on the follow squads of the Houston Texans, New York Jets, and Steelers.

For his school profession, McCutcheon registered 92 receptions for 1,643 yards and 12 touchdowns in 51 video games and over 4 seasons. Throughout his 2022 pre-draft course of, McCutcheon measured in at
6021, 207-pounds with 9 1/4-inch arms and 32 3/8-inch arms. He ran his professional day 40-yard sprint in 4.57 seconds, posted a vertical leap of 36.5 inches, and a broad leap of 10’2″. His professional day short-shuttle time was 4.25 seconds, and his three-cone time was 6.82 seconds.

Outlook: Forward of coaching camp getting underway this summer time, McCutcheon appears poised to compete for a follow squad spot, as he in all probability is just not a respectable candidate to make the 53-man roster. 2022 was the final time McCutcheon noticed time in an NFL recreation, and that’s clearly not an ideal signal for him. The identical goes for him nonetheless being with out an NFL reception regardless of taking part in in 10 NFL video games.

Whereas McCutcheon does have some special-teams expertise, he doesn’t look like an enormous asset in that section of his recreation. He’ll want to enhance on that narrative throughout coaching camp and the preseason all through the summer time.

General, McCutcheon wants to remain wholesome all through the summer time, because the smallest harm might end in him dropping his spot on the 91-man roster. At greatest, he’ll put himself able to make the follow squad for the beginning of the 2025 common season. That’s going to be a difficult purpose for him to perform, albeit not an unattainable one.

CB Kyler McMichael: The Steelers signed McMichael to a Reserve/Future contract in January. That transaction got here after he closed out the 2024 offseason on the staff’s roster after being signed late final July, and after coaching camp acquired underway. Final 12 months throughout the preseason, McMichael did play 50 snaps within the three exhibition contests, with 34 of these approaching protection. In these three preseason video games, he registered 5 complete tackles and one go defensed.

McMichael entered the NFL initially with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of North Carolina. He has since frolicked on the Buffalo Payments, Arizona Cardinals, and Steelers rosters. McMichael has but to see any motion in an NFL regular-season recreation.

Throughout his school profession, which began at Clemson in 2018, McMichael registered 46 complete tackles, one deal with for loss, one interception, and 7 passes defensed in 33 video games performed. He was primarily used as an outdoor cornerback and sometimes on particular groups.

Throughout the 2022 pre-draft course of, McMichael measured in at 6001, 201-pounds with 9 1/4-inch arms and 31-inch arms. He ran his professional day 40-yard sprint in 4.49 seconds, his brief shuttle in 4.37 seconds, and posted a broad leap of 9’6″. He additionally recorded a professional day vertical leap of 32 inches and did 14 reps on the bench.

Outlook: Regardless of taking part in in all three preseason video games for the Steelers in 2024, McMichael nonetheless did not make the staff’s follow squad at any level throughout the common season. In reality, McMichael did not be a member of any NFL follow squad in 2024, and that’s not an ideal signal for him general.

With the Steelers having a really full cornerback room this offseason, McMichael will do nicely to remain on the offseason roster all through coaching camp and the preseason. He actually doesn’t have a respectable shot at making the 53-man roster, so one of the best he can hope for is touchdown on the follow squad after the summer time smoke clears.

McMichael ought to see some late-game motion throughout the preseason, very similar to in 2024, assuming he stays on the roster. Outdoors of wanting ahead to that occuring, McMichael’s future appears very questionable as soon as September arrives.

WR DK Metcalf: The Steelers traded a 2025 second-round draft decide this offseason to the Seattle Seahawks in alternate for Metcalf. If that transfer wasn’t shocking sufficient, the staff then gave Metcalf a brand new contract that has now resulted in him being the fourth-highest-paid extensive receiver within the NFL. On the heels of buying and selling for Metcalf, the Steelers then traded WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys.

Metcalf, who the Seahawks initially chosen within the second spherical of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Mississippi, registered 66 receptions for 992 yards and 5 touchdowns on 108 complete targets. He performed in 15 video games in 2024 as he missed two contests attributable to a knee harm. All informed, Metcalf logged 832 offensive snaps in 2024 with the Seahawks.

In his six NFL seasons, Metcalf has totaled 438 receptions for six,324 yards and 48 touchdowns. He has additionally registered 91 receptions that gained 20 or extra yards over the course of his first six NFL seasons. Twenty of these got here in 2024, by the way in which.

Metcalf has by no means registered lower than 900 yards in a single NFL season to this point, and he’s by no means logged fewer than 100 complete targets in common season play as nicely. Metcalf’s 438 complete receptions within the NFL rank him sixteenth general since his 2019 rookie season. His 6324 receiving yards rank him twelfth general within the NFL since 2019, whereas his 48 landing receptions have him tied for fifth general throughout that span of six seasons.

Outlook: Metcalf is clearly the Steelers’ new workhorse extensive receiver for the close to future, and the staff figures to rely closely on him within the passing recreation proper out of the chute in 2025. Something lower than 900 receiving yards and 7 landing receptions for Metcalf in 2025 shall be an enormous disappointment.

Metcalf figures for use by Steelers OC Arthur Smith in a similar way to how WR A.J. Brown was used when he was with Smith and the Tennessee Titans a number of seasons in the past. The Steelers will definitely want Metcalf to proceed his explosive play manufacturing shifting ahead, and the purpose for him in 2025 ought to be no less than 20 of these, matching his 2024 output.

The Steelers now have a brand new veteran quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, and hopefully, he can get in sync with Metcalf rapidly. Metcalf is actually nice after the catch, so a lot of YAC ought to be anticipated in 2025. It will be good to see Metcalf obtain his fair proportion of slant targets in 2025, one thing the Steelers’ offense has been missing for the final a number of seasons.

Assuming the Steelers stand pat with their extensive receiver and tight finish rooms the rest of the offseason, Metcalf can count on to garner loads of protection consideration throughout the 2025 season, very similar to was the case final season with Pickens.

The Steelers offense will clearly look to run the soccer higher in 2025, and that shall be one key to the unit’s general success for the season. Even so, the Steelers’ offense wants Metcalf to provide precisely how he has produced on common over the course of his first six NFL seasons in 2025. It will likely be fascinating to see if Metcalf can produce a standard Metcalf season in 2025 with out having a top-notch counterpart in Pittsburgh like he had a number of seasons with the Seahawks.

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