Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Drafted Third Overall in UFL Draft
The Arlington Renegades drafted Steelers quarterback John Rhys Plumlee with the third overall pick of the UFL draft on Wednesday afternoon. The Renegades now own Plumlee’s rights which means if he does not stick to an NFL roster out of training camp, he can go suit up for the Renegades in the UFL.
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2024. The move rounded out their quarterback room for the 2024 season. Plumlee was the fourth quarterback that the Steelers brought in this offseason.
Plumlee, 23, was a four-star recruit coming out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and chose his home-state Ole Miss Rebels over offers from Alabama, Georgia, Notre dame and others.
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Plumlee played football and baseball for the Rebels, and saw early playing time as a freshman in 2019 while filling in for an injured Matt Corral, but never earned the starting quarterback gig. In 2021, he moved to wide receiver and caught 19 passes for 201 yards before entering the transfer portal.
He ended up at UCF and back at quarterback, winning the starting job for the Knights, and continuing to play baseball. In two seasons at UCF, he posted back-to-back 2,000-yard campaigns while maintaining a 135.3 passer rating.
In 2022, he threw 346 times, completing 218 (63%) for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. This past fall, he threw 256 times, completing 161 (62.9%) for 2,271 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while being limited to 10 games.
Plumlee is very small for a quarterback, checking in at 5-foot-11 3/4 and 203 pounds, but he tested extremely well, running a 4.51-second 40-yard dash, a 4.27-second shuttle, a 6.96-second three-cone drill, a 36.5-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-4 broad jump for an 8.81 RAS score out of 10.
Plumlee is slotted behind Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen as the Steelers’ fourth quarterback in training camp, and could be in line to earn a practice squad role where his athleticism could allow him to be a versatile piece of the scout team if he chooses to not play for the Renegades.
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