Temple's Tyler Matakevich Is Great Value Pick For Pittsburgh Steelers In Seventh Round

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a recent reputation of drafting the best available in the first round of the NFL Draft. They avoided that this spring by selecting cornerback Artie Burns to fill a position of need, but they did manage to find really good value late in the draft.

When Pittsburgh stepped up at pick No. 246, they were no doubt delighted that Temple linebacker Tyler Matakevich was still available. The 6-foot-0, 238-pound former walk-on had an incredible career with the Owls and was expected to be off the board much sooner.

Matakevich was a four-year contributor for the Owls and never recorded fewer than 100 tackles in any season. In total, he collected 493 tackles, 40.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, seven interceptions and four forced fumbles. He’s a high-energy player who can add value in pass coverage and is a sure tackler.

He earned the 2015 Bronko Nagurski Award which is given to the nation’s top defensive player and was named a consensus All-American. He also helped guide Temple to their best season (10-4, 7-1 AAC) in quite some time.

The Steelers have a large group of young linebackers already on the roster and they also picked up Washington‘s Travis Feeney earlier in the day. It won’t be easy for Matakevich to make the 53-man roster in September, but it’s clear that no one will work harder. He earned every accolade throughout his collegiate career. Head coach Mike Tomlin called it ‘football justice’ that Matakevich was drafted and the team is quite obviously very high on their new rookie.