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The Pittsburgh Steelers are known for their ability to take unknown, and often undrafted, receivers and turn them into more than competent players on the gridiron. You can run down a long list of players who fit this description, and Eli Rogers, undrafted out of Louisville, would be among them.
Rogers turned into a solid slot wide receiver for the black-and-gold, but had a rough ending to the 2017 season when he tore his ACL in the playoff loss to the Jaguars at Heinz Field.
It has been a long road to recovery, but Rogers is declaring himself healthy. As a free agent he can play anywhere in the league, in other words the Steelers don’t have any restricted rights to him, and Rogers says he will declare where he will play in the coming days.
This from his verified Twitter account:
Can’t wait to choose where I’ll be playing this season within these next few days. It’s been a long road of recovery. I appreciate all of my fans who tried to stay connected with me along this process.
— Eli Rogers (@__bELIeve17) July 19, 2018
It seems strange to think Rogers might play somewhere outside of Pittsburgh next season, but he also may want an opportunity to play more than what he was with JuJu Smith-Schuster now in the mix.
The departure of Martavis Bryant certainly shuffles the deck of Steelers receivers, but Rogers would be competing with Smith-Schuster, James Washington, Justin Hunter and Darrius Heyward-Bey for snaps. If he could find a home without a depth chart as established as Pittsburgh’s — he could decide to take his talents elsewhere.
What do you see happening with Rogers? Would you want him back on the team, and if so, would he even make the team, assuming he is healthy? Let us know in the comment section below!