Trajan Bandy

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/18/20

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Signed: CB Trajan Bandy, CB Donnie Lewis

Houston Texans

  • Signed: WR Artavis Scott

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Placed on practice squad reserve/COVID-19 list: DL David Irving

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

  • Signed: DT Nick Thurman
  • Activated from practice squad IR: TE Jake Burt

Steelers Sign Devlin Hodges To P-Squad

Devlin Hodges wasn’t gone for long. After waiving the quarterback over the weekend, the Steelers inked him to a practice squad deal on Monday, per a club announcement. With Duck under contract, and running back Wendell Smallwood on the way, the Steelers have their initial taxi squad in place. Here’s the full rundown: 

The Steelers were set to roll with Hodges as their QB3, up until they claimed Josh Dobbs off waivers from the Jaguars. Last year, Hodges went from an unheralded UDFA on the practice squad to a fill-in starter after Ben Roethlisberger went down. He wasn’t able to keep his momentum after a hot start, but coaches still like him as an emergency option.

Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t much action with Washington in 2019. In 15 games, he registered 22 carries for 81 yards, good for a 3.7 yards per tote average.

Steelers Trim Roster Down

The entire AFC North is now finished as the Steelers became the latest team to trim their roster to 53 players. Here are all the moves, we’ll recap the most notable ones at the bottom:

Lynch is probably the most well known of these names. The former Broncos first-round bust signed with the Steelers last year as insurance after multiple quarterback injuries. He’s running out of chances. Switzer has mostly contributed as a returner with Pittsburgh and Dallas, although he did have 36 catches with the Steelers in 2018.

Smallwood was one of the Eagles’ main running backs in 2018, but didn’t get too many touches with Washington last year. He’ll likely pop up somewhere else soon. Brooks Jr. was the Steelers’ sixth-round pick in this past draft, so he’s likely ticketed for the practice squad if he clears waivers.

McCullers has been with the Steelers the past six years so his is a significant departure even though the nose tackle only played 12 percent of the defensive snaps last season.

 

Steelers Sign 10 UDFAs

The same night the draft ended, the Steelers officially announced their initial 10-man undrafted free agent class:

Pittsburgh went very heavy on defense. None of these guys are huge name, although a few are notable. Lewis was a four-year starter in the SEC which is always impressive, and Houston was a team captain at USC.