Eli Rogers

Eli Rogers
refer to caption
Rogers with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016
No. 17 – Pittsburgh Steelers
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1992-12-23) December 23, 1992
Miami, Florida
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight: 180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school: Miami Northwestern
(Miami, Florida)
College: Louisville
Undrafted: 2015
Career history
Roster status: Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform
Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2018
Receptions: 66
Receiving yards: 743
Receiving touchdowns: 4
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Eli Lamar Rogers[1] (born December 23, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals.

High school career

Rogers played for head coach Billy Rolle at Northwestern High School. Among his teammates was his current Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Artie Burns. He joined teammates Teddy Bridgewater, Amari Cooper, Michaelee Harris, Corvin Lamb, and Jermaine Reve when he played in the Under Armour all-American Game. A four-star prospect by Rivals.com and rated as the No. 35 wide receiver, Rogers recorded 59 receptions for 691 receiving yards with three scores as a senior despite being injured for two games.

College career

As a freshman at the University of Louisville in 2011, Rogers played for the Louisville Cardinals. On October 15, Rogers recorded the Cardinals' longest reception, 58 yards against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Paul Brown Stadium, but lost the game, 25–16.[2] Rogers had a productive season that led the Louisville Cardinals to the 2011 Belk Bowl, but the team lost against the NC State Wolfpack, 31–24. Rogers finished third in school history in receptions and sixth in receiving yards. Rogers finished the season with 454 receiving yards, 41 receptions, 1 touchdown. He had 7 receptions and eight punt returns for 54 yards in the 2013 Belk Bowl.[3]

In 2012, Rogers finished second on the team with 46 receptions and third with 505 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had a career-high 10 receptions against Syracuse. In the Sugar Bowl he had 4 catches for 61 yards in a win over Florida.

As a junior in 2013, Rogers played in all 13 games with one start. He finished third on the team with 44 receptions and 536 receiving yards. He also tied his career-high of 10 receptions in a game against UCF and his career-high of 4 receiving touchdowns during the season. He led the Cardinals to the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl, winning 36–9 over the Miami Hurricanes.

During his senior year in 2014, Rogers saw action in all 13 games and had 45 receptions, 525 receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. He also had a career-high 112 punt return yards.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Louisville, Rogers was projected to go undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft and was not a highly sought after undrafted free agent. He also did not receive an invitation to the NFL Combine. On March 11, 2015, he participated at Louisville's pro day and performed all of the required combine and positional drills for team representatives and scouts. Representatives from all 32 NFL teams were present, including New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin, Cincinnati Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis, and Pittsburgh Steelers' general manager Kevin Colbert to scout Rogers, DeVante Parker, Jamon Brown, Gerald Christian, Gerod Holliman, and 17 other prospects.[4] He was ranked as the 132nd-best wide receiver prospect available in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[5]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad
5 ft 10 in
(1.78 m)		 187 lb
(85 kg)		 34 3⁄4 in
(0.88 m)		 8 1⁄2 in
(0.22 m)		 4.57 s 1.57 s 2.62 s 4.10 s 6.71 s 34 1⁄2 in
(0.88 m)		 9 ft 9 in
(2.97 m)
All values from Louisville Pro day [6]

2015

Rogers signed a three-year contract worth $1.575 million as an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[7][8] He spent the entire 2015 season on injured reserve.[9]

2016

Rogers entered training camp in 2016 competing with Cobi Hamilton, Demarcus Ayers, and Marcus Tucker to be the Steeler's fifth wide receiver on their depth chart. The Steelers named Rogers their fifth wide receiver to begin the season.[10]

He earned his first career start in the Pittsburgh Steeler's season-opener after Markus Wheaton was unable to play due to a shoulder injury. He finished the 38-16 victory against the Washington Redskins with six receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown.[11] Roger's first career touchdown reception came on a three-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger.[12][13]

During a Week 9 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, he led the Steelers in receiving yards after making six catches for a career-high 103 yards. The following week, Rogers started his fourth game of the season and caught four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown during the Steeler's 30-35 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. On December 28, 2016, he made five receptions for 75 yards and caught the go-ahead touchdown on a 24-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger with less 3½ minutes left in the fourth quarter to help the Steelers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-20.[14] Rogers finished his rookie season with 48 receptions for 594 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games and eight starts. His 72.7% catch rate ranked No. 10 among NFL wide receivers in 2016.[15]

2017

With a crowded position at wide receiver in 2017, Rogers entered training camp competing with Sammie Coates, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Cobi Hamilton, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Justin Hunter, and Demarcus Ayers for a job as a backup wide receiver. He was able to impress team officials enough to be named the Pittsburgh Steelers' fourth wide receiver on their depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Heyward-Bey.[16]

He earned his first start of the season as the Steelers' slot receiver during a 21–18 season-opening victory over the Cleveland Browns, finishing with two receptions for 11 yards. The following game, Rogers caught four passes for 43 yards in a 26–9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Rogers was a healthy scratch for Weeks 3 and 4, with the Steelers choosing to play Smith-Schuster and Hunter.[17] He finished the season with 18 receptions for 149 yards and one touchdown. In the divisional round of the playoffs against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rogers suffered a torn ACL, causing the Steelers to not tender him a contract as he was set to be a restricted free agent in 2018.[18]

2018

On July 25, 2018, after visits with the Chiefs and Browns, Rogers re-signed with the Steelers on a one-year deal.[19] He was suspended the first game of the 2018 season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.[20] On September 1, 2018, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list to start the season while recovering from the torn ACL.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Pittsburgh Steelers: Eli Rogers". Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ "www.fbs.schedules.com". Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ Gil Brandt (March 16, 2015). "Parker seals first-round status at Louisville pro day". NFL.com. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Eli Rogers, DS #132 WR, Louisville". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Eli Rogers – Louisville, WR : 2015 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Eli Rogers Signs 3-Year $1.575M Contract with Pittsburgh Steelers". May 6, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/99ecd3fc-4650-4ab8-9680-717ca6c6bcd3
  9. ↑ "Steelers' Eli Rogers: Impresses in poor Pittsburgh effort". cbssports.com. August 19, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ourlads.com: Pittsburgh Steeler's Depth Chart". ourlads.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 1-2016 | Washington Redskins Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers". NFL.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Steelers staying true to identity with aggressive play calling".
  13. ↑ Ingrassia, Nunzio (September 12, 2016). "Eli Rogers' first NFL TD is one of the craziest you'll ever see". foxsports.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  14. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 16-2016 | Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Pittsburgh Steelers". NFL.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Eli Rogers Advanced Stats and Metrics Profile: Efficiency". PlayerProfiler.com.
  16. ↑ "Ourlads.com: Pittsburgh Steeler's depth chart: 10/01/2017". Ourlads.com. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Eli Rogers". NFL.com. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ Fowler, Jeremy (January 20, 2018). "Source: Steelers WR Eli Rogers suffered ACL tear in loss to Jaguars". NFL.com.
  19. ↑ Varley, Teresa (July 25, 2018). "Steelers sign Rogers". Steelers.com.
  20. ↑ Teope, Herbie (August 21, 2018). "Steelers' Eli Rogers suspended for first game of season". NFL.com.
  21. ↑ "Steelers reduce roster to 53". Steelers.com. September 1, 2018.
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