Justin Berl/Getty Images D.K. Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks runs after a catch as Sean Davis of the Pittsburgh Steelers defends on September 15, 2019.
On Monday August 8 the Pittsburgh Steelers worked out a pair of players, including former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Ron’Dell Carter, who has already been signed by the team, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. The other player who was in for a tryout is former IUP defensive lineman Dondrea Tillman, who — at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds — would be an outside linebacker in Pittsburgh’s defensive scheme.
Tillman played 48 games for the IUP Crimson Hawks between 2016-19, during which time he was responsible for 174 tackles, 28 sacks and seven forced fumbles.
Most recently, he toiled for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL, registering 36 tackles (22 solo) and 2.5 sacks for a 9-1 team that won the USFL Championship.
It’s the second time the Steelers have had Tillman in for a tryout. They also worked him out in mid-July — along with four other defensive linemen/edge rushers — before they inked Doug Costin.
Ron’Dell Carter took the place of T.D. Moultry on Pittsburgh’s 90-man roster, who was waived injured on Monday, according to the NFL’s daily personnel notice.
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Safety Sean Davis Works out for Arizona
Meanwhile, former Steelers safety Sean Davis, 28, is hoping to keep his NFL career alive with the Arizona Cardinals, who worked out the former second-round pick on Monday, as per the aforementioned Aaron Wilson.
Cardinals worked out John Brannon, Maurice Canady, Rodney Clemons, Cortez Davis, Sean Davis, Jameson Houston
Davis spent the first five years of his career with the Steelers, for whom he appeared in 64 games (with 42 starts) between 2016-2020.
In 2021, he played for three different teams: Cincinnati, Indianapolis and New England, and suffered a shoulder injury in the Patriots’ regular-season finale.
To date, Davis has been credited with 259 career tackles (201 solo), including 11 tackles for loss, five interceptions and 21 passes defensed, plus 2.5 sacks and 7.5 quarterback hits.
In December of last year, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin lamented selecting Davis over Kevin Byard, who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the first pick in the third round in 2016 (No. 64 overall) and has twice been named first-team All-Pro (2017, 2021).
In just six NFL seasons, Byard has recorded 519 tackles (365 solo), with 23 interceptions and 57 passes defensed, as per Pro Football Reference.
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Defensive Tackle Tyson Alualu Activated Off PUP List
In one other bit of news from Monday, starting nose tackle Tyson Alualu passed his physical and was activated off Pittsburgh’s Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. Alualu, 35, suffered a broken ankle in Week 2 last season and missed the remainder of the 2021 campaign, representing a significant blow to the team’s run defense. But it was a knee issue that prevented him from starting training camp with the rest of his Steelers teammates.
Alualu was a first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 10 overall) in 2010. He played the first seven years of his career with the Jags but has been with the Steelers for the past five years, having played 64 games (with 24 starts) for Pittsburgh since 2017. As recently as May 2021, Alualu was included among the Top 32 defensive linemen in the NFL, as determined by Pro Football Focus.
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