Steelers LB Terence Garvin got his start through an undrafted and unsigned tryout

Notable local Steelers tryouts: Jordan Hall, Adam Gress, Corey Brown, Shayne Gordon, Dayonne Nunley, Dorian Bell.

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly_Trib) May 15, 2014

The Steelers rookie minicamp tryout is like an NCAA team joining the NIT after getting snubbed from the NCAA tournament.

They aren't even signed undrafted free agents. They unsigned AND undrafted free agents, putting them at the absolute lowest rung possible.

The small school guys usually get these looks, and as Mark Kaboly tweeted Thursday, the local school guys get a look.

Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin was a product of the undrafted tryout, not just earning another look after that tryout, but eventually earning a spot on the team's practice squad, and eventually, playing for the Steelers toward the end of the season. Because of that, you don't want to say it's a useless tryout.

But the question is whether a player like Garvin, undrafted and unsigned, gets picked up by the Steelers or any other team because he somehow was forgotten during the draft and UDFA process, because he's something of a tweener, undefined player (inside linebacker, outside linebacker or safety) or because the Steelers were so thin at any of those positions they found a guy they felt could get on the field, then drafted two linebackers and signed one in free agency the following year?

The Steelers' two-day rookie minicamp and orientation starts Friday and concludes Saturday. Maybe some of these players will stick, but if they don't, perhaps it's because the Steelers are, now, healthier and deeper than they were in the past.