On July 21, the Pittsburgh Steelers made the decision to sign Dax Raymond. The former Chicago Bears tight end seems to have replaced Christian Scotland-Williamson, who was waived by the Steelers on July 20.
The Steelers signed Scotland-Williamson just two seasons ago. Since then, he has remained on the practice squad.
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Christian Scotland-Williamson works out with the practice squad in 2018. Image Courtesy of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
The former rugby player from London, England, was part of the NFL’s International Pathways program. The program allows foreign athletes the chance to play in the NFL while also expanding the league’s fanbase in other countries.
Players like Scotland-Williamson who are participating in this program are added to a practice squad, but do not count towards the roster total. They are also ineligible to be activated to the 53-man roster during the regular season.
It appears that the 6-foot-9, 274-pound tight end was waived in order to make room for Raymond.
Raymond was signed by the Steelers on July 21. The former Chicago Bear has yet to play in a regular-season game.
Prior to entering the league as an undrafted rookie, Raymond played college football at Utah State.
In his three years there, the 6-foot-5 tight end played in 27 games, totaling 72 receptions for 873 receiving yards. He scored just three touchdowns as an Aggie.
In both 2017 and 2018, Raymond was named to the Phil Steele Third-Team All-Mountain West. He was also a Honorable Mention in the Mountain West Conference and earned an Academic All-Mountain West honor both years.
Now that he is a Steeler, Raymond will join several other relatively new tight ends on the roster.
After being a free agent since April, Raymond took to Twitter to show how thrilled he is to go to Pittsburgh.
With the addition of Raymond, the Steelers seem to have rounded out their tight end roster for the 2020 season.
Back in March, the Steelers signed former Indianapolis Colt Eric Ebron. Steelers’ coaches hope Ebron can return to his 2018 form. During that season, he caught 66 passes for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The Steelers signed Vance McDonald in 2016. Despite struggling with a few injuries, he has totaled 1,071 receiving yards and caught eight touchdowns for the Steelers.
In 2019, Pittsburgh drafted Zach Gentry. The 6-foot-8 athlete out of Michigan didn’t see much playing time last season, but could be a strong player heading into this season.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin usually keeps three tight ends on the roster. Tomlin will continue that trend this year unless someone gets injured and a player must be kept temporarily.
It appears that Steelers fans should definitely expect to see McDonald and Ebron on the field quite often. The two are expected to be the dynamic duo that Pittsburgh needs in order to bring strength to the tight end position.
“We’re excited about having Ebron in the mix, and we know that he and Vance McDonald are the type of duo that is capable of creating issues for people with their talent,” Tomlin told reporters. “We’re excited about having those guys. We’ll sort out the usage of those guys week to week, but we know invariably those guys and others have a chance to really make us versatile and make us an issue for those we play against.”
Featured Image Courtesy of Behind the Steel Curtain
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