The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Izaiah Gathings to their 90-man roster following a successful tryout, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2-TV in Houston. Gathings will join a tight end room of Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward, MyCole Pruitt, and Rodney Williams to help round out that room for training camp and beyond.
Gathings is a second-year player out of Middle Tennessee State. He signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent to start his career before landing with the Chiefs after being let go by the Jets during training camp. Gathings signed to Kansas City’s practice squad in December and earned a futures deal following the season. However, the Chiefs cut Gathings early in May, allowing him to come free and join Pittsburgh.
He has not played in an NFL game and started his college career as a wide receiver. Only when he made it to the NFL did Gathings switch to tight end. During his final collegiate season, Gathings racked up over 800 receiving yards and three touchdowns as a massive wide receiver.
The 6-foot-4 tight end projects an uphill battle to the roster with all those names above. Pittsburgh will likely keep four tight ends, but Gathings will have to outshine established players with whom the Steelers are familiar. The inside track for him will not be by what he does on offense, but by what he does in the special teams phase of the game.