First Call: Ex-Pitt, Duquesne players earn shot with Steelers; any truth to Patriots-Jets subplot before Broderick Jones pick?
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Tuesday’s “First Call” gives us players from Pitt and Duquesne who will have rookie minicamp tryouts with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
We get a little intel on that Steelers-Patriots trade in Round 1 of last week’s draft. A former Steeler decides to revisit the coaching path.
And a high grade for the Pirates’ hot start.
Plucking from Pitt
NFL agent Stephen E. Vanyo tweeted confirmation that his client, Pitt’s Tylar Wiltz, has received a rookie camp invite with the Steelers.
During his one year with the Panthers, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker played in all 13 games, making three starts. He also had two sacks, an interception, three pass breakups and a forced fumble in 2022.
Stood on All ???? pic.twitter.com/aFNwOXCQuh
— DeddyKane????????(@tylarwiltz) January 17, 2023
Pitt got a hold of Wiltz, thanks to a graduate transfer from Missouri State in 2022. That move followed stops at Southern Arkansas (Division II) and Independence Community College (Kansas, JUCO).
Wiltz failed to receive an NFL Combine invite, but opened eyes at Pitt’s Pro Day.
Another local gets a look
Meanwhile, Duquesne University tweeted out that receiver Dwayne Menders is also getting a rookie minicamp invite with the Steelers.
Here. We. Go.@D1DWAYNEEE | #GoDukes | #Steelers pic.twitter.com/WAJdo9gP1i
— Duquesne Football (@DuqFB) May 1, 2023
That’s noteworthy because the Steelers didn’t draft a wide receiver this year, nor did they sign an undrafted one that was available after Round 7. Menders’ next step will be trying to make the 90-man offseason roster.
Menders arrived on Duquesne’s campus as a graduate transfer from Marist in 2022. Menders isn’t very big. He’s just 5-foot-11, 170 pounds. Yet, during his lone season with the Dukes, Menders totaled 54 receptions for 892 yards and six touchdowns. He led coach Jerry Schmitt’s team in catches, receiving yards and yards per game.
????????????????????????????@duqfb QB Joe Mischler was right on target with this one, hitting Dwayne Menders for a 34-yarder to double the ???? lead.#NECFB pic.twitter.com/HevAM8O0xj
— NEC Football (@NECFootball) October 29, 2022
The native Floridian also returned punts and chipped in with an average of 18.4 yards per kickoff return — leading Duquesne with 1,185 all-purpose yards.
Big day for Willie Gay
Former Steelers defensive back William Gay is moving forward with a coaching career. He is going to be part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program this summer with the Dallas Cowboys.
Gay made the announcement on Instagram. “I didn’t get drafted this past weekend, but this email definitely got me feeling like it’s 2007,” Gay said via SteeelrsNow.com.
The year 2007 was when the Steelers drafted Gay out of Louisville in the fifth round. He served two different tours with the Steelers, going to two Super Bowls and winning one ring in 2008. The corner logged 80 games and made 37 starts for the Steelers from 2007-11 before coming back in 2013 after a one-year stop with the Arizona Cardinals. He remained in Pittsburgh through the 2017 season.
In 2019, Gay was a Steelers coaching intern. He then coached defensive backs for FCS Missouri State in 2020.
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Getting some love
After one month of the season, the Pirates are 20-9. That’s the best record in the National League.
ESPN senior baseball writer Dave Schoenfield handed out grades to every team. Seeing as how the Pirates lost 100 games a year ago, to no one’s surprise, Schoenfield gave them an A+ for their 2023 start. Here was his explanation.
“There’s nothing on paper that says this should be happening. Their big offseason moves were bringing back 36-year-old Andrew McCutchen and signing 37-year-old Carlos Santana and 43-year-old Rich Hill. All three have been productive, especially McCutchen, who seems to be enjoying the reunion with the franchise he won an MVP Award with in 2013. They even signed Bryan Reynolds to an eight-year, $106.75 million extension,” Schoenfield wrote.
That said, Schoenfield reminded us, it’s not all sunshine and tulips for the Pirates.
“Oneil Cruz’s broken ankle was a crushing injury for a player who needs to be learning and developing. Nine of the Pirates’ next 12 games are against Tampa Bay, Toronto and Baltimore, so that will be a good test to see if they can keep the hot start going,” Schoenfield added.
A three-game series against Tampa begins Tuesday.
Here’s an interesting statistical nugget Schoenfield included. After the first month of 2022 — using May 7 as the one-month mark, since the season started late because of the lockout — eight of the 12 eventual playoff teams were in a playoff position at that point of the MLB campaign.
The Pirates lead the National League Central Division by 1½ games over the Milwaukee Brewers right now. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and haven’t won a division since 1992.
Some fire to the smoke?
We all had some fun with the Patriots trading pick No. 14 to the Steelers during the first night of the NFL Draft. Part of the thinking was that Bill Belichick and the rest of the Pats brass didn’t want to see their AFC rivals get Broderick Jones if the Steelers were willing to take him instead.
As a result, New England picked up a fourth-round selection from Pittsburgh and chuckled as the Steelers nabbed Jones right before the Jets could pick him.
Of course, the Jets are spinning it as if Will McDonald, the pass rusher they ended up drafting from Iowa State instead, is a perfect fit, and they couldn’t be happier.
Is the mini-conspiracy theory true? “Football Morning In America” writer Peter King says don’t rule it out.
“Georgia tackle Broderick Jones was a Jets favorite, and several GMs around the league believed that’s who Joe Douglas was going to pick at 13 (before trading that pick to Green Bay in the Aaron Rodgers deal). With the Jets at 15 (Green Bay’s former slot), Pittsburgh traded up to the 14th slot and grabbed Jones. Bad look for the Jets, who didn’t address a big need, tackle, till day three.”
I have no clue if it really happened with surreptitious intent from the Patriots. But if Jones turns out to be a great player, that adds to the legend. So I choose to believe it.