Steelers
Steelers All 91: P Jordan Berry
All 91 is a Pittsburgh Steelers Now series profiling each of the 91 members of the Steelers 2019 training camp roster.
4 • Jordan Berry, 5th-year punter
Last year: Played in all 16 games for the Steelers for the fourth straight season.
Stats: Punted 63 times for 2,753 yards for an average of 43.7 gross yards per punt, the second-highest of his career, but 31st in the NFL. His 28 punts downed inside the 20 tied a career high. He did not have a punt blocked, and has had just one blocked in his career.
Accolades, Highlights: Worked at the Ray Guy punting camp this summer.
Pittsburgh Steelers punter Jordan Berry prepares like it's game day to demo for Ray Guy Top Prospects in Nashville TN at Father Ryan High School!#LegendaryTraining #LegendaryResults #Steelers #rayguy #bombsquad pic.twitter.com/FIBdUKqM4Q
— Ray Guy Prokicker Kicking Camps (@Prokickercom) July 13, 2019
Drew positive reviews of his kick coverage ability against Baltimore November 4.
Look at Jordan Berry run down this punt! Best play of the game, hands down. #ForTheBrand pic.twitter.com/rnYXKXHxWU
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) November 6, 2018
Had this punt downed inside the five against Atlanta on October 7.
@PatMcAfeeShow Jordan Berry #ForTheBrand pic.twitter.com/nzkyBokpoh
— Jason Pifer (@jtp412) October 7, 2018
Camp outlook: Should not have a lock on the punting job, given his low gross average and overall downturn in his fourth season, but the Steelers did not go out of their way to bring in high profile competition, going with Western Carolina undrafted free agent Ian Berryman.
Projected role: Given that he just signed a two-year, $3.7 million contract this offseason with a $750,000 signing bonus, it seems likely the Steelers will go with Berry, at least to start the season.
Coverage links:
The rest of the 91:
The Steelers will host free agent tackle Aviante Collins for a visit, according to the NFL transactions page for Thursday.
Collins, 27, spent the last four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings after joining the team as an undrafted free agent out of TCU in 2017.
Collins played in three games in 2017 and two in 2019 for the Vikings, and spent all of the 2020 season on the practice squad, except for a one-week elevation in Week 11, in which he did not play.
The 6-foot-4, 292-pound tackle its a free agent after the Vikings decided to allow his practice squad contract to expire at the end of the season.
The Steelers have several free agents at the tackle position, including longtime starting left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, 2019 starting right tackle Matt Feiler and 2020 starting right tackle Zach Banner, who are unrestricted free agents, and backup Jerald Hawkins, who is a restricted free agent.
The Steelers have Chukwuma Okorafor under contract and Anthony Coyle, Jarron Jones, John Leglue and Brandon Walton signed to futures contract.
Offensive lineman Zach Banner and the Pittsburgh Steelers have pledged a donation to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill as part of the Steelers 2020 Social Justice Grant program.
The congregation was attacked during a mass shooting own Oct. 27, 2018 that killed 11 people and wounded six others, the deadliest attack ever on a Jewish community in the United States.
The shooting stuck with Banner, who was a rookie on the team at the time. After Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson made an anti-semitic post on social media, Banner responded with a video post.
“We need to understand that Jewish people deal with the same amount of hate and similar hardships and hard times,” Banner said in the video. “I want to preach to the Black and brown community that we need to uplift them and put our arms around them just as much when we talk about Black Lives Matter and talk about elevating ourselves.”
This video is to transition from the incident, and move forward as a community. Not to harp on @DeSeanJackson10 mistake, but to progress by educating ourselves. We can’t move forward while allowing ourselves to leave another minority race in the dark.#Equality pic.twitter.com/MnLnCCYzQL
— Zach Banner (@ZBNFL) July 8, 2020
The video led to Banner becoming something of a fan favorite to the Jewish community.
“Mr. Banner spoke up when others didn’t and we appreciate that,” Barb Feige, executive director of Tree of Life, said to Steelers.com “The fact that he mentioned Tree of Life and the horrific shooting that happened there and how much it impacted him was very meaningful. We are very aware the shooting had an impact beyond our congregation, our Jewish community. The ripple effect was felt. Everybody felt something about it. For Mr. Banner to articulate that, and join our fight against anti-Semitism, was very, very special, very meaningful.”
The Steelers have requested to interview Los Angeles Chargers quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton for their vacant offensive coordinator position, according to a report by Josina Anderson.
Hamilton, 46, just finished his first season as quarterbacks coach with the Chargers, where he helped develop rookie quarterback Justin Hebert, who was named the PFWA NFL Rookie of the Year.
Hamilton has previously been an offensive coordinator at the NFL level with the Indianapolis Colts from 2013-15, where he led a resurgence around quarterback Andrew Luck.
Hamilton was the head coach of the DC Defenders of the XFL in 2020, the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for Michigan in 2017-18 and was assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2016. He has also been an NFL assistant with the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears.
Hamilton is the third person confirmed to have interviewed for the position, along with former Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson and Steelers quarterbacks coach Matt Canada, who is expected to earn the position.
