Steelers fill hole in roster left by DeCastro with extra cornerback, Van Dyke

Steelers fill hole in roster left by DeCastro with extra cornerback, Van Dyke (Read More)

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Earlier today, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have placed rookie guard David DeCastro on the Injured Reserve; Designated for Return List, which will keep him off of the active roster for at least half of the regular season, if not more.

In a complementary move, the Steelers also announced that they have filled the now-vacant 53rd roster spot with a new signing: 2nd year cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke, best known for running a 4.28 second 40 yard dash, tied for third best all time at the NFL Combine.

Van Dyke, a 3rd round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2011, was released on September 3rd. He cleared waivers, meaning that no team submitted a waiver claim to secure his rights, but today, he is a Steeler.

Van Dyke was just a small part of the drastic changes that the Raiders have made in their secondary this offseason as they shift schematically from a more aggressive man coverage to an increase in zone coverage.

Earlier in the year, they released last year’s pair of starters, Standford Routt and Chris Johnson, while allowing Lito Sheppard to leave as a free agent. Last Saturday, they released Bryan McCann and Chimdi Chekwa, although the latter of which was later re-signed to the practice squad.

I wonder with his speed if they are also looking at Special Teams.

If he's even active, he'll definitely be on special teams, barring injury. He has to be 5th on the depth chart, coming in cold to the defense. He'll likely be a project if they even wind up keeping him beyond this year, but I do like the move; a lot, in fact. As I wrote, it seems like a low risk, high reward scenario. And it's not nothing that he did start 4 games last year. That's more than any of the Steelers' CBs behind Taylor.