Steelers Re-Stock Defensive Line with former SEC Star
The Pittsburgh Steelers re-stocked their defensive line by signing ex-NY Jets and Mississippi State DT Marquiss Spencer.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed free agent defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer, the team announced on Sunday.
Spencer, 27, is in his fourth professional season out of Mississippi State. A 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive lineman, he was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.
He spent his rookie season on the practice squad, but was elevated for one game, a Week 17 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. After being cut coming out of Broncos training camp in 2022, Spencer caught on with the New York Jets practice squad. He spent all of the last two seasons on the Jets practice squad, without playing in a game. Spencer became a free agent when he was waived by the Jets on March 13.
Spencer played mostly three-technique defensive tackle in the Jets’ 4-3 defensive scheme. In four preseason games last year, 109 of his 137 defensive snaps came over the B-gap between the guard and tackle, according to Pro Football Focus.
A native of Greenwood, Mississippi, Spencer was a two-year starter for the Bulldogs. His best season came in 2019, when he started 13 games and made 37 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and forced two fumbles. An injury held him to nine games as a redshirt senior in 2020.
It’s not clear what role Spencer will play with the Steelers. They are thin at nose tackle after releasing Jonathan Marshall earlier in training camp and placing Breiden Fehoko on the injured reserve list on Sunday. They also got three-technique defensive tackle Dean Lowry back from the PUP list on Sunday.
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