Chat with Elijah Riley for only a few minutes, it’s easy to understand his background — and it makes perfect sense why Pittsburgh Steelers coaches and management are eager to allow him to earn a role on the team.
“I like to believe I am pretty coachable,” Riley said during minicamp last month, “and I love to learn.”
A defensive back who has played parts of the past three seasons for three NFL teams, Riley is competing for a role in the Steelers secondary and as a prominent special teams player. A leader among leaders in that he was a captain of his Army West Point team, Riley speaks like someone with a military academy background.
“I have fallen back in love with the process,” Riley said of his fourth NFL training camp. “Failing is something that I am comfortable with again — because I no longer see it as a negative thing. It’s something to learn from, an opportunity to take new steps, see further growth, and the direction I have been going has been exciting for me.
With the Steelers since they claimed him off waivers last August, Riley (6-foot, 205 pounds) appeared in the October victory against Tampa Bay as a practice-squad call-up, and he was on the active roster for the final three games of the regular season. Though the causation correlation might not be strong, the Steelers won all four games in which Riley appeared.
Among the 20 defensive snaps he played, Riley appeared at both safety spots and as an outside and slot/nickel cornerback.
“The scheme in this secondary affords a lot of opportunity for versatility,” Riley said. “And I think the ability to learn multiple positions is a plus of mine, and I believe I am a plug-and-play guy, a utility guy.
” ‘So you want me to play here? All right, I’m gonna figure it out. Help me figure it out.’ And I am going to do my best to master it. Here affords the space for that. It’s something that excites me, and I want to see continued steps forward.”
Riley played a significant amount over the first two days of training camp at the inside nickel spot. He has been mentioned by secondary coach Grady Brown and head coach Mike Tomlin as a candidate for that role, along with Chandon Sullivan and Duke Dawson. The Steelers also could elect to deploy Patrick Peterson there if they deem rookie Joey Porter Jr. ready to take over as an outside corner.
But like several others in the secondary, Riley’s position once the regular season begins likely will be fluid.
Riley earned almost immediate notice at camp when early during the first practice Thursday he had the first interception this summer at Saint Vincent, picking off Mason Rudolph in an 11-on-11 drill. The following day, Riley broke up a pass into the end zone during the “seven shots” 2-point conversion simulation.
In addition to last year with the Steelers, Riley’s career resume includes six 2020-21 regular-season games with the Philadelphia Eagles after being an undrafted free agent, followed by seven games for the New York Jets in 2021.
Though the Jets let him go before the end of last year’s preseason, Riley believes he has found a home with the Steelers.
“It’s always nice to spend an offseason with a team, especially somewhere like here, for me to get an opportunity to learn the space to make mistakes and correct them,” Riley said. “That’s been a blessing for me because I ask a lot of questions, I like to experiment with techniques sometimes so I might mess up from time to time, you know what I mean?
“It’s a process, part of the process — failure is expected on the road to success.”
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