All Gophers

Gable Steveson struggling to find the field in preseason with Bills

Steveson played only one snap in Buffalo's Week 2 preseason game.

Tony Liebert

Bills defensive tackle Gable Steveson hits a sled during drills.
Bills defensive tackle Gable Steveson hits a sled during drills. / Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

Gophers wrestling legend and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson signed a one-year free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills this offseason after having never played a down of football in his life.

With zero prior football experience, a smooth transition to the gridiron was always going to be challenging. Regardless, Steveson went full throttle, training with future NFL Hall of Famer Aaron Donald and former Gophers defensive linemen Boye Mafe and Esezi Otomewo.

In Buffalo's first preseason game against the Bears, Steveson played nine total snaps. He recorded one pressure and one tackle but finished with an uninspiring 33.5 Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade. He graded out at 34.9 in run defense and 67.0 in pass rush.

In preseason Week 2 against the Steelers, he got on the field for only one snap. He has not been publicly dealing with any injuries, so it raises a bit of a red flag when it comes to Steveson's chances of working his way onto the 53-man roster or practice squad.

He is a world-class athlete with the body type of a potential defensive lineman, so signing Steveson to a league minimum contract was viewed as a low-risk, high-reward move.

He will likely get at least one more week of training camp and one more preseason game to showcase improvement before NFL teams are forced to finalize a 53-man roster on Aug. 27. If the Bills see something they like they can always try to sneak him onto the practice squad, but even that seems likea long shot at this point.

The Bills' final preseason game is Saturday at home against the Carolina Panthers at 12 p.m. CT.

Published
Tony Liebert

TONY LIEBERT

Home/Gophers Football