PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Last year defensive lineman Montravius Adams was picked up late and was able to make an impact right away. There is an opportunity now for Jonathan Marshall to do the same thing after being signed off the Jets practice squad.
The 6’3”, 310-pounder was New York’s sixth-round pick in last year’s draft out of Arkansas. He started all 10 games his senior season with the Razorbacks-35 tackles, 6.5 TFL and a team-high 29 quarterback pressures. Marshall had a streak of six straight games with a tackle for loss and doing it against Auburn, Ole Miss, Texas A&M Tennessee, Florida and LSU. He also forced a fumble against Alabama.
“I’m very excited,” Marshall said Wednesday morning, his first hours with the Steelers. “It’s a chance to show a reason why I’m in the NFL.”
Marshall said he can’t remember, but believes he did talk with the Steelers before the 2021 Draft. Saying you talk with so many teams it’s hard to keep it straight. He’s excited, but nervous for this opportunity. His only real connection on the current roster is he trained with Larry Ogunjobi before the NFL Combine a year ago.
The Texas native isn’t sure where he will play on the defensive line. He said in college he was a true nose tackle, but could move to the outside.
“They are all kind of similar, it was all about get-off with the Jets,” Marshall said of the Steelers defense. “Here it’s the same thing, just attacking the man instead of the area.”
“I got to get in and get the work, study the playbook and show everyone what I can do and explore my talents. Do anything I can to get out there.”
He hasn’t played a snap this year, playing in four games (76 snaps) his rookie season with a pair of tackles in New York.
Last year Adams joined the Steelers for the last five games and started four of them with eight tackles, a TFL, pass defended and three QB hits. He turned that into a two-year, $5 million contract for this season. Marshall is hoping for similar results with the opportunity there following the Chris Wormley season-ending injury.