News of Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Donald Parham’s injury drummed up more trade talk for Miami Dolphins’ Jonnu Smith and the Atlanta Falcons’ Kyle Pitts. But internally, it was Steelers’ rookie JJ Galbreath apparently making plays. After the team’s final OTA practice wrapped up Thursday, rookie QB Will Howard couldn’t help but show Galbreath, one of his favorite targets, some love.
“That’s the guy, man,” Howard told reporters via the Pittsburgh DSEN YouTube channel. “We’ve been doing a lot of work, us rookies together and walking through stuff after every practice. Every rep that we don’t get, making sure we bang those out. And like I said, mental reps. I mean, shoot, JJs been getting open for me.”
The question to proceed the answer joked if “No. 87” – Galbreath’s jersey number – was “giving you money,” the implication being Howard was peppering him with targets during practice. We don’t have personal eyes or data on how often Howard-to-Galbreath occurred, that will have to wait until training camp, but it’s a notable takeaway. Spring practices are useful for everyone but especially rookies like those two. Getting in extra work is proactive, as our Matthew Marczi recently wrote about.
Galbreath makes up one of Pittsburgh’s strongest undrafted free agent classes in years. Pre-draft, he flew under the radar, in part due to suffering a shoulder that cost him a month of the season mid-way through the year. Steelers Depot was possibly the only outlet to even write a pre-draft scouting report on him, giving him a draftable grade and glowing remarks for his athleticism and ball-tracking ability. Not even respected and comprehensive outlets like Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” and Emory Hunt’s draft guide had reports on Galbreath.
Though he played at a small school, Galbreath put up eye-catching numbers. Over his final two seasons, he caught a combined 68 receptions for 1,048 yards and nine touchdowns. He was named All-FCS First-Team as as senior despite the injury. And he tested well at his Pro Day, running a 4.68-40 yard dash, 38-inch vertical, and gaudy 6.82 three-cone time. Pittsburgh, however, had him on their radar and sent Pro Scouting Director Sheldon White to his workout.
There’s flaws in his game like any undrafted player, his size is below-average at 6033, 231 pounds, and he needs refinement as a blocker.
But there’s a path for Galbreath to stick. Maybe not on the 53-man roster but the team’s practice squad. It might mean his rookie year is spent behind the scenes helping out the scout team. But it would also mean more reps with Howard and the chance to further what appears to be a budding connection.
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