Nick Sciba

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/8/22

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: WR Kaden Davis

Green Bay Packers

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Steelers Sign Practice Squad K Nick Sciba; Chris Boswell Ruled Out

The Steelers included kicker Chris Boswell on their injury report yesterday as he deals with a groin injury, and it appears that injury will hold him out of tomorrow’s contest in Philadelphia, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Without Boswell, Pittsburgh did not have a healthy kicker on its roster, forcing the team to make some last second roster adjustments.

The emergency situation resulted in the signing of former Wake Forest kicker Nick Sciba to the team’s practice squad. Sciba spent the offseason in Pittsburgh, after going undrafted, knowing that his performance evaluations would likely be most useful to other teams around the league in need of a kicker, as the Steelers had just rewarded Boswell with a shiny new contract. Still, Sciba composed himself well enough throughout camp to warrant a phone call from the team when they needed him most.

Sciba was extremely reliable through four years in college, missing only 9 of 89 attempted field goals and setting the NCAA record for career field goal percentage with 89.9%. He also set a college football record with 34 made field goals in a row. He never missed a single extra point, converting all 193 attempts. The question for Sciba comes from his leg strength. Through his first three years at Wake Forest, Sciba never hit a field goal over 46 yards, and over his whole career with the Demon Deacons, he never hit a field goal of 50 yards or longer. He did make a 52-yard kick in the Hula Bowl all-star game, but teams still had questions about his leg strength coming into the NFL.

Boswell is missing time for the first time since he sat out of three games in 2020. The last-second nature of the ruling seems to indicate that he shouldn’t be expected to be out long, but the Steelers will have Sciba to lean on either way.

Sciba will be one of the Steelers’ gameday elevations along with defensive lineman Carlos Davis, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. In order to make room for Sciba on the practice squad, the Steelers released practice squad wide receiver Josh Malone.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/23/22

Tuesday marked the day teams were forced to cut down from 85 to 80 players. Here are the moves teams made made to reach the new maximum. Players who land on the reserve/PUP or reserve/NFI list must miss at least the first four regular-season games.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Steelers Sign 14 Undrafted Free Agents

The Steelers have added 14 undrafted rookies to their roster:

Tucker is an intriguing prospect. Standing at 6’6″ and weighing 338 pounds, the North Carolina product undoubtedly has the size to compete at the NFL level. During his senior season, Tucker started all 13 games for the Tar Heels, helping guide an offense that averaged 468 yards per game. Owens also provides some intrigue with his ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line.

Steele and Watts could find themselves competing for a spot at the end of the depth chart. Steele finished his career at South Carolina with 95 tackles and three interceptions, while Watts had a 2021 campaign that saw him compiled 43 tackles and one pick.