hey it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers just finished off their roster the Steelers they've signed safety IO Oola I'm only gonna try to say that name once let's go with I he just got signed to the practice squad kprc's Houston Aaron Wilson reported this he worked out with the Steelers last Thursday and now he's going to join the team and it's really nice to have him and we're talking about these little signings this is Sports Talk steeve ERS I'm your host Sean hey I'm part of the Sports Talk family we love covering the NFL I have a successful Bears Channel and I want to give the Pittsburgh Steelers some love and be an impartial news source for you guys so come here for some of your Steelers news hit the Subscribe button this allows me to continue doing this so the thing about IO he's gonna act as the team's International exemption on the practice squad and that's a really sneaky move that brings the practice squad to a full 17 players instead of the standard 16 in that spot it would have likely gone to Julius before the suff before he suffered this knee injury and that caused the Steelers to place him on injured reserve and then he got released with an injury settlement um Isle he's from London he's from the United Kingdom and I'm going to go to this story here on Steelers wire.com just really cool Source here so you guys check that out in its entirety so he was introduced to football while studying law at the University of Nottingham guess what though he saw saquan Barkley's highlights that's when iio fell in love with football and he decided to pursue it must be an athletic guy because he pretty quickly tried up for multiple NFL teams to kick off his career he wasn't signed immediately so for his first season of professional football he spent it in Canada in the CFL with W the Winnipeg Blue Bombers I'm going to talk about that little more but um him coming from the UK that makes him a member of the international player pathway program and he was assigned to the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 22 and 23 season that means the team was awarded an exemption back then that allowed them to keep him via an extra roster spot on the practice squad once he cleared waivers at final roster cuts and I'm not going to overblow this signing that it's like this Earth shattering signing but I just want to cover all these finishing touches on the roster as a news source that the national media isn't necessarily covering because every little Advantage is important having an extra practice squad slot that's an advantage and GM Omar Omar Khan is showing that he's worth his salt he's hitting these little details really well as a GM and that's how you know you have a good GM so the Steelers they're going to apply for that same exemption after signing iio it's kind of unclear though for sure if that'll be enforced because he was not assigned to them he instead chose to sign with the team but I think pardon me I think they're still gonna get it sorry about that change of season so so they had their practice squad filled with 16 players they add Isle whether they get the exemption or not if they don't get the exemption they'll have to drop someone so kind of a rule change up until this season using that exemption it meant that an organization could not Elevate an IP player to an active roster on game day thus as a result he never appeared in a regular season contest throughout his tenure in Jacksonville but starting this year however teams they can promote one of those players up to three times a season before they're required to sign them to their active roster so I mean that that's that's definitely an advantage it's it's taking advantage of the rule change this year and a little more on him he won the gr cup with the Blue Bombers uh he was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars once again he spent two seasons with the team in the international pathway program played in two pre-seasons in 22 and 23 and he played both on defense and special teams the guy has some versatility he's 5'11 213 pounds play to combined 43 snaps on defense 20 on special teams with the Jags and I that's a really good quality as well he's able to be an asset on special teams he got waved by the Jaguars in April remained a free agent now he's a stealer so just a nice depth piece more of a break glass in case of fire had because iio is the only safety the Steelers have in the practice squad they decided to roster five and that's with Jaylen Elliot is a surprise inclusion rookie Ryan Watts this is why the Steelers can't have nice things I guess if you listen to things that my mom used to say he was placed on season end ending injured reserve suffered that injury in their final preseason game against the Detroit Lions super unfortunate a tough blow and this ad is likely a reaction to that so in short look solid player low cost essentially a free roster spot every little Advantage helps that's how a team elevates as they develop to an elite team and I believe GM Omar Carr Omar Aran excuse me he's really putting the extra work in and taking advantage of these little edges that's this this war of a Thousand Cuts right this little Edge this is what brings a team to the top and the Steelers are exercising every opportunity you guys like And subscribe subscribe please this allows me to get this channel off the ground and to continue providing impartial news for you guys as Pittsburgh Steeler fans and as a bears guy who who knows Justin Fields better than I do and uh I think you're kind of making a good move to win now in the Moment by elevating Russell Wilson to the starting lineup I think he's going to be a steady hand not spectacular uh you're gonna be missing these big holy cow plays that Justin Fields provides but luckily you're not going to have to ride the roller coaster and experience those low lows one of the coolest things I'm going to look for with you in this regular season I can't wait to see how they're going to utilize fields in specific packages I think he's still going to be asset to the team and who knows if they can continue to improve his footwork if they can continue to work on his progressions you might have a huge Talent on your hands and he can be a long-term solution but yeah regardless of what what people have to say what I've said about Russell Wilson I'm not a huge fan I think you're making the right decision um putting him as your starter week one and we'll see how the season progresses you guys let me know you think let me know who you want to see profiled as we approach this season or what subjects you want covered I'm here for you guys have a good offseason can't wait till the regular season see you