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Player: L. J. Fort
Position: ILB
School: Northern Iowa
Overview: L.J. Fort has had an interesting start to his career. Injuries to a slew of Cleveland Brown linebackers allowed him to start his first career game, and it started with a bang he grabbed an interception and added a sack. While he started the next 15 games he would go on to get cut by the Browns in the offseason, and would proceed to bounce around the league failing to earn playing time while making pit stops in Denver, Seattle, and New England before landing in Pittsburgh last year.
Spending most of 2015 on the practice squad finally replacing the injured Roosevelt Nix, and getting some special teams snaps in the Steelers divisional loss to the Denver Broncos. In 2016 he finds himself battling for one of the last spots on the roster in one of the Steelers most loaded position groups.
In all likelihood the Steelers will roster 5 middle line backers. Fort will have to battle Steven Johnson, Tyler Matakevich, and Jordan Zumwalt for the last couple of spots on the roster. His experience with the both the scheme and special teams would seem to give him a leg up on the competition, but this will be one of the more interesting decisions the coaching staff will have to make.
Strengths:
Productive when on the field
Has contributed on special teams
Weaknesses:
Does not have exceptional speed or strength
Has struggled to get playing time since rookie year in Cleveland
Chances of Making the team: 65%