Combine hero captures Steelers attention
A tremendous display of perseverance puts the league on notice.
The drills at the NFL Combine are designed to mimic in-game situations. Often though, these tests aren't translatable to live NFL action.
The one position group that can truly show their functional athleticism during the examination is the offensive line.
Watching the feet and slides of tackles, guards, and centers give evaluators a better idea of the movement ability of prospects.
Unfortunately, that means the risk of injury is high for linemen, with prospect Andrew Vorhees falling victim on Sunday.
The 88th player on the consensus board the injury may negatively affect Vorhees's draft stock, but one thing that won't…
His brilliant display of tenacity following the incident.
To bench 38 reps is a notable feat, but when you do it the morning after tearing your ACL, with every reason in the world to not participate, that's an unparalleled amount of mental makeup.
Receiving praise from his former college coach Lincoln Riley will also help. As someone who seldom speaks on social media, his endorsement will be remembered by teams.
It so happens that one of those teams is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers had formal meetings with Vorhees, signaling they have a considerable grade on him.
When asked by Jonathan Heitritter of Steelers Depot about his meeting with the team, Vorhees said:
"Genuine dudes. It was a good one-on-one conversation with Coach Tomlin and the support staff behind him".
It's no secret that Pittsburgh needs help up front and while Vorhees is unlikely to contribute to any team in 2023, it would be ill-advised to count him out when evaluating his potential.
Following the wretched injury, Vorhees will have to have surgery and begin rehab during the pre-draft process.
Still early in both the evaluation stage and his prognosis, it would be informal to predict where teams have Vorhees on their board after Sunday.
So for now, we have to hope for a successful surgery and a fast road to recovery.
If all checks out, Vorhees is the type of late-round steal whose playstyle and mental makeup can create a decade-long tenure in the NFL.
It was pure grit and work ethic that powered Vorhees through that bench press, and those are intangibles that permeate through Pittsburgh legends.
