The Steelers signed only one tryout player out of rookie minicamp, a center in Greg Crippen, the rookie Michigan product. Now a part of the 90-man roster, he’ll compete to stay there all summer and keep his foot in the door. While his goal may be to make the 53-man roster, the practice squad may be more realistic.
At the very least Crippen did enough to catch the Steelers’ attention during rookie minicamp. Observed Ray Fittipaldo, “It was interesting. I saw the coaches watching him closely in one drill, and they all looked impressed. Sure enough, they signed him a day or two later”.
Under Mike McCarthy, the Steelers only held a two-day rookie minicamp, though they could have held three days. They invited 12 players to participate on a tryout basis, mostly rookies, including Greg Crippen. While they can still sign more in the future, thus far, Crippen is the only one to take the next step.
While it’s not uncommon for the Steelers to sign a player after trying out during rookie minicamp, the odds tend to be against them going much further. There might be the occasional exception, and that usually involves a special teams participant. But that’s not for Crippen to worry about now that he’s in the Steelers’ offensive line room.
Granted, Pittsburgh already has a decent cache of centers. That includes starter Zach Frazier, whom many believe can be a Pro Bowler. His backup for the past two seasons has been Ryan McCollum, who remains with the Steelers. They also added Brock Hoffman this offseason, a veteran. While he is in the running to start at left guard, he can also play center. In fact, if he doesn’t start, he may be the top backup center instead.
That puts Crippen firmly in fourth place among Steelers centers, but he need not look far for inspiration. Dylan Cook began his career, and has spent most of it, on practice squads. He finally made his NFL debut just last year and could potentially start at left tackle to begin the season.
Of course, there is the fact of Crippen going undrafted. While he started for most of the past two seasons for the Wolverines, he doesn’t exactly look or test like the prototypical center candidate. He has enough size, and he isn’t exactly woefully unathletic. And plenty of guys slip through the draft and ultimately find another path to the NFL.
I’m not sure what Greg Crippen did that had the coaching staff so dutifully impressed during the Steelers’ rookie minicamp recently, but it obviously helped him earn a spot on the current 90-man roster. How long he’ll last, that’s a question I can’t answer. Players in his position exist day by day, on the bottom of the totem pole and at the mercy of any transaction need. But if he can just get into training camp and show what he can do, that’s all he can ask for.