The New Orleans Saints pulled a surprise move and claimed Steeelers sixth round pick Travis Feeney off the practice squad. The Saints had Feeney as one of their thirty predraft visits during the offseason, and apparently kept tabs on him as the year progressed. Saints coach Sean Peyton had this to say following the transaction “I see him playing at weak side linebacker. He’s is long. He is someone who ran well, he has a lot of traits we like.”
The loss of Feeney may turn out to be a bad one for Pittsburgh. Although just a 6th round pick, Feeney had excellent physical tools. At 6’4″ and 230 pounds, he may be a little light for his position. His speed and athletic ability on the other hand were exceptional. Feeney ran a sub 4.5 – 40 yard dash at the scouting combine, second only to Ohio st.’s Darren Lee at the linebacker position. It’s hard to believe that Feeney could not have at least been used as a special teams player with those kind of athletic abilities. Instead leaving him on the practice squad left him available to any team willing to keep him on their 53 man roster for at least 3 weeks.
It is possible that Travis Feeney turns out to be just a fringe roster player who never actually makes an impact in the NFL. Being so early in his career though, it’s a gamble the Steelers took not protecting him on the roster. Time will tell how big a mistake it turns out to be. Steeler fans should be very curious observers of Saints games for the rest of the season.