Steelers A to Z: John Rhys Plumlee brings athleticism to No. 4 QB spot during camp

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

QB JOHN RHYS PLUMLEE

Experience/age: Rookie, 23

Contract status: $806,666 cap hit if he makes the team in 2024

The past: An accomplished high school athlete in both football and baseball, Plumlee was a coveted recruit for the 2019 college cycle. He ultimately enrolled at Ole Miss, where he played both sports over his 2½ years on campus in Oxford, Miss. He made eight starts at quarterback for the Rebels as a true freshman but the baseball season that year was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Though Plumlee appeared in 47 baseball games as a sophomore, he never made another start at QB for Ole Miss. Plumlee took snaps in some gadget packages and eventually was listed as a wide receiver, catching 19 passes for 201 yards and rushing for 72 yards in 2021 before deciding to transfer to UCF. In addition to posting an .889 OPS in 58 starts for the 2023 Knights baseball team, Plumlee served as the school’s starting quarterback in 2022 and ’23 during its final season in the American Athletic Conference and first as a member of the Big 12. He had 29 passing touchdowns, 16 rushing touchdowns, 16 interceptions, 4,857 passing yards, 1,367 rushing yards and went 13-10 as a starter for the Knights.

2024 outlook: At 6 foot, 200 pounds, Plumlee went undrafted. But that the Steelers gave him a $35,000 signing bonus — perhaps the biggest they’ve ever inked with an undrafted rookie free agent — signals legitimate interest. With Russell Wilson and Justin Fields on the roster, there is of course no chance Plumlee is in the running to start. But the bonus suggests that he is at least a candidate to given a chance to beat out Kyle Allen to be the No. 3 QB. And with the new rule allowing a practice-squad quarterback to serve as an “emergency” third quarterback on gamedays, that potentially could mean Plumlee has a chance to be in uniform for the Steelers as soon as this season. Or at least he probably has more of a chance than the average typical “fourth arm” brought in for not much more reason than to be able to run drills at Saint Vincent and take snaps to finish out preseason games.

Plumlee’s background proves he’s an athlete, and he made 31 college starts at quarterback. But his experience at other “skill” positions perhaps aligns more with what the Steelers have in their current QB position room. If there has been chatter about packages deigned to take advantage of Fields’ athleticism, perhaps Plumlee is viewed as a fit for that as well.

That said, as the NFL’s official website put it, Plumlee “lacks size and the arm talent associated with playing quarterback in the NFL.” But maybe during camp and the preseason he can show enough to be a backup. And the idea of using him as a “gadget” player (think Taysom Hill) might be just enough to intrigue the Steelers into keeping Plumlee around.