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Steelers Add Another Big Body to Defensive Line
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed free agent defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo, the team announced on Wednesday.
Otomewo, 26, spent the last two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, appearing in four games while remaining on the team’s practice squad. Otomewo appeared in four games in 2024, and made two starts for the Jaguars, recording four tackles and two quarterback hits. He played a total of 90 defensive snaps and also was a multi-phase special teams player, working on kickoff return, kickoff coverage, punt return and field goal units.
Otomewo did not appear at all in the 2023 season. The Indianapolis native was originally a fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2022 NFL Draft coming out of Minnesota. He played in five games, recording five tackles, one for a loss.
The 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive lineman did not test particularly well in the pre-draft process, running a 5.01-second 40-yard dash, and posting just 21 reps on the bench press of an overall 6.64 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.
In five years with the Golden Gophers, he did not become a senior until his redshirt senior season in 2021, when he started all 13 games, made 30 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, three sacks and a safety.
Otomewo will join a deep defensive line group in Pittsburgh. The Steelers will likely pursue a defensive tackle early in the 2025 NFL Draft. If that player ends up in the starting lineup with Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton, Daniel Ekuale, Montravius Adams, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry, DeMarvin Leal, Logan Lee and Otomewo could all be in competition for three or four spots on the second unit.