With the draft over and our profiles on all seven of the Pittsburgh Steelers draft picks complete, we’re dipping our toe into the undrafted territory. We profiled a couple of them before the draft but most of the 13, we didn’t. Next up on the docket, TE Pharoah McKever.
#88 Pharoah McKever/TE Florida International – 6’6/1 259
The Good
– Excellent frame and length, towers over most players and a unique build
– Willing blocker whose frame helps create space in the run game
– Experience in pass protection and did a serviceable job at it
– Most often lined up as an in-line tight end out of a three-point stance, not foreign to him
– Big catch radius and hands catcher who makes grabs away from his frame
– Shows toughness and willingness to come over the middle and make catches in traffic
– Size makes it tough to bring him down one-on-one, minor YAC ability the few times he’s gotten in the open field
– Relatively new to the position, room to grow
The Bad
– Limited route tree, most concepts were underneath, haven’t seen him be able to stretch the field
– Too tall in his routes and struggles to beat press coverage
– Unrefined as a blocker, needs to keep eyes up, square to block and narrow his base a bit
– Doesn’t seem to have a great feel for getting open beyond the structure of the play, has to be more active running away from man and finding soft spots in coverage
– Wasn’t much of an impact player with limited college production
Bio
– One-year starter at FIU after transferring from NC State
– Career: 28 catches, 383 yards 4 TDs (27/301/3 line at FIU)
– Ran a 4.