The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed undrafted free agent wide receiver Cody Chrest, the team announced on Thursday.
Chrest is an undrafted free agent from Sam Houston State, the second Bearkcats player the Steelers have signed this offseason. They also added outside linebacker Toby Ndukwe just before training camp.
Chrest is a 6-foot, 193-pound wide receiver from Houston, Texas. After graduating from Cy Fair High School, he first spent four seasons at Harvard, where he played sparingly until his senior season in 2019, when he broke out for 45 catches for 706 yards and five touchdowns.
His four seasons of Harvard eligibility were gone, because the Ivy League does not allow for redshirts, but Chrest had three seasons of NCAA eligibility left, so he transferred to Sam Houston State, where he continued his strong play.
In 2020-21, Chrest caught 41 passes for 463 yards and two scores while moving into scholarship football for the first time. He bested that in 2021, with 54 catches for 704 yards and five scores. In 2022, he caught 36 passes for 548 yards and two touchdowns while being limited to just nine games.
As a draft prospect, Chrest tested exceptionally well, combining his average size with blazing speed, posting a 4.38-second 40-yard dash, 4.12-second shuttle run and 6.77-second three-cone drill, all near the 90th percentile of tested wide receivers.
Cody Chrest is a WR prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 9.76 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 73 out of 2989 WR from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/nj4j30Ykbl #RAS pic.twitter.com/7BikMVWQm7
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 31, 2023
Chrest was initially announced as having signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent, but was apparently released or never ended up signing in indy.
With the Steelers, he will become the 14th receiver on the active roster, and will join player such as Cody White, Ja’Marcus Bradley, Dan Chisena, Dez Fitzpatrick, Hakeem Butler and Jordan Byrd in competing for a roster spot.