Players arriving at facility
Linebacker James Harrison was the first player to arrive at the Steelers Southside facility this morning. That shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Emmanuel Sanders is also in the facility today and the Steelers are anxious to evaluate his injured foot that required two procedures this off-season.
The Steelers conditioning test is scheduled for Thursday afternoon after the Steelers are scheduled to report before 3:00 p.m.
The first practice is Friday afternoon and the first pads practice is scheduled for Sunday.
Lead Steelers beat writer Dale Grdnic will have wall to wall coverage of camp starting on Thursday.
15 UDFA’s Sign
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed 15 undrafted free agents today. The headliners include Wisconsin running back John Clay, Marshall linebacker Mario Harvey and South Carolina tight end Weslye Sanders.
Vaughn Charlton, TE/HB (Temple)
John Clay, HB (Wisconsin)
Terrence McCrae, WR (Ohio)
Armand Robinson, WR (Miami University)
Adam Mims, WR (Furman)
Weslye Saunders, TE (South Carolina)
Colin Miller, C (Central Michigan)
Trevis Turner, OT (Abilene Christian)
Brent Greenwood, S (Iowa)
Niles Brinkley, CB (Wisconsin)
Eric Clanton, OLB (Citadel)
Mario Harvey, MLB (Marshall)
Miguel Chavis, DE (Clemson)
Anthony Gray, DT (Southern Miss)
Eric Greenwood, WR (Idaho)
On the notables:
John Clay a big back at 6-foot-1, 250-pounds, rushed for 1,012 yards and 14 touchdowns for Wisconsin in 2010. Clay’s big year came in 2009 with he rushed for 1,517 yards and 18 touchdowns.
In his career at Wisconsin, Clay rushed for 3,413 yards and 41 touchdowns.
Clay had big games in 2010 against some of the best in the Big Ten, rushing for 104 yards and 2 scores against Ohio State.
South Carolina tight end Weslye Sanders (6-6, 273) had 60 career receptions for 718 yards and 6 touchdowns at South Carolina in three years (2007-2009).
His best season came in 2009, when he had 32 receptions for 353 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Sanders did not play in 2010 as he was dismissed from South Carolina’s program on September 15, 2010, following an NCAA inquiry about potential contact with agents and improper benefits.
He was once regarded as a potential 2nd-3rd round prospect with excellent size, good hands and speed at the position. Character issues are a concern and he dealt with a foot injury leading up to the draft and did not participate in the scouting combine.
The skill set though is there.
Marshall Inside linebacker Mario Harvey is a player who could make some noise in camp and was the Steelers top target among the UDFA’s. The 5-foot-11, 253-pounder who had 420 career tackles at Marshall, ran a 4.42 at his pro-day, while bench pressing 225 pounds 27 times and showing a 32 inch vertical leap, 9-5 broad jump and 4.19 short shuttle.
In 2010 as a senior, Harvey recorded 143 tackles (17 1/2 for loss), 8 1/2 sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery..
As a junior, he posted strong numbers, including 117 tackles, 8 1/2 for losses, seven sacks and was named first-team all-conference.
Ohio U receiver Terrence McCrae is a big target with touchdown ability.
McCrae at 6-foot-4, 198-pounds and had 35 receptions and 9 touchdowns in his senior season at Ohio U. McCrae had 85 receptions and 19 touchdowns in his career at Ohio U.
McCrae had 18 touchdowns on 70 receptions in his final two years at Ohio.
The Steelers brought in a total of 3 wide receivers after not drafting one.