Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Exit Interviews: Miles Killebrew and Elijah Riley

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2023.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, we here at BTSC thought we would do the same. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies, first year players, and those heading into free agency, we will do the same. To start, I paired a potential free agent with players on rookie contracts. Now that both of those categories are done, I’ll pair players under contract as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are safeties Miles Killebrew and Elijah Riley.

Miles Killebrew

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Position: Safety
Years with the Steelers: 2
Years in the NFL: 7
Contract Status: Signed through 2023
Contract Details: $2,482,500 salary cap hit for 2023. Would cost the Steelers $482,500 in dead money if released and would save $2,000,000.
Games played in 2022: 17 regular season
Games started in 2022: 0 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 13 (defense), 290 (special teams)
PFF score: 70.5 (DNQ for ranking)
Notable stats: Killebrew had 4 tackles in 2022.

Notes: Only seeing 13 snaps on defense sounds as if Killebrew was not a big contributor for the Steelers. But the 290 special team snaps shows Killebrew’s value as special teams captain as Derek Watt was the only other player to match his total. The key to good special teams contributions is the fact the player acts as depth somewhere else. For that reason, Miles Killebrew might not be in the Steelers plans when it comes to scheming what they do in the defensive secondary, but being the special teams captain brings the value needed for him to stick around.

Elijah Riley

Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Position: Safety
Years with the Steelers: 1
Years in the NFL: 3
Contract Status: Signed through 2023
Contract Details: $1,010,000 salary cap hit for 2023. Would cost the Steelers $0 in dead money if released and would save $1,010,000.
Games played in 2022: 4 regular season
Games started in 2022: 0 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 20 (defense), 25 (special teams)
PFF score: 62.0 (DNQ for ranking)
Notable stats: Riley had 5 tackles in 2022.

Notes: There was some discrepancy between different sites as to whether or not Elijah Riley was an Exclusive Rights Free Agent or already under contract for 2023. Regardless, his salary would be the same as it is a league-minimum deal. On the Steelers practice squad for most of 2022, Riley was elevated against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. In the Week 10 matchup with New Orleans, Riley was elevated from the practice squad as a precaution as Minkah Fitzpatrick was dealing with appendicitis right at the deadline to make a move, but ultimately the Steelers had Riley inactive for the game. When the Steelers needed an additional safety at the end of the season, Riley was signed to the 53-man roster on Christmas Eve ahead of the matchup against the Raiders. As the player who was basically the last man on the roster, there’s little harm in Riley moving forward with the Steelers in the 2023. Whether or not he earns a spot on the Steelers 53-man roster come September will be a whole different story.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Kenny Pickett & Mason Rudolph
George Pickens & Miles Boykin
DeMarvin Leal & Larry Ogunjobi
Connor Heyward & Zach Gentry
Mark Robinson & Devin Bush
Jaylen Warren & Benny Snell Jr.
Calvin Austin III & Derek Watt
Najee Harris & Terrell Edmunds
Pat Freiermuth & Trent Scott
Dan Moore Jr. & Jesse Davis
Isaiahh Loudermilk & Chris Wormley
Tre Norwood & Damontae Kazee
Pressley Harvin III & Marcus Allen
Kendrick Green & J.C. Hassenauer
Alex Highsmith & Malik Reed
Kevin Dotson & Tyson Alualu
Ahkello Witherspoon & Cam Sutton
Myles Jack & Robert Spillane
Minkah Fitzpatrick & Karl Joseph
Levi Wallace & James Pierre