The Steelers are doing more homework on USFL players than any other NFL team

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has been known to be a self-proclaimed “football junkie”. When he spent time both on The Pivot podcast with former player Ryan Clark, and Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger, Tomlin spoke about his passion for all things football.

It doesn’t matter the type of football, he just loves football.

He talked about watching the smaller leagues and even the leagues you’ve never heard of, like the non-padded tackle football leagues in Pennsylvania. In other words, if football is on, Mike Tomlin is likely watching.

This approach absolutely bleeds into the team’s approach to watching players who are playing in leagues like the XFL and the recently concluded USFL.

A management source of another NFL team, confirmed by our Steelers source, said no NFL team looks harder at these players, like the USFL, than the Steelers. The Pittsburgh approach is to leave no stone unturned to make the roster better.

There are a lot of connections with the Steelers and players who just wrapped up their USFL season. To name a few:

• WR Deon Cain (Championship Game MVP)
• CB Mark Gilbert
• PK Nick Sciba

In terms of other potential players who could be on the Steelers’ radar, the one who is gaining the most traction is former 1st Round draft pick Reuben Foster. There are more players who could potentially fit with the team, and that is something which I dove into more with Roy Countryman of SteelCityInsider.com in the podcast player below.

Check it out, and let us know what you think of the potential of the Steelers tapping into the pool of USFL talent, just like they did when the XFL concluded and they added two new players that way.

This was the topic of conversation on my Wednesday “Let’s Ride” where I have scout Roy Countryman on to talk about potential fits from the USFL. Listen in the player below: