The Pittsburgh Steelers were looking at Robert Spears-Jennings early in the day during the draft Saturday. When they selected for the fourth time that day, they finally made the call for Spears-Jennings.
“I was surprised,” assistant head coach/secondary Joe Whitt Jr. said of Spears-Jennings still being available in the seventh round. “We valued the kid, the height/weight/speed, the ability to get people on the ground, low missed-tackle rate. So, we’re pleased to have him.”
The Steelers took Spears-Jennings with the 224th overall pick, the first of two seventh-round selections they made Saturday. Spears-Jennings was a two-year starter at Oklahoma, where he appeared in 47 games over four overall seasons.
The appeal to Spears-Jennings is simple — he has good size at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and good speed as exhibited by running the 40-yard dash in 4.32 seconds at the NFL Combine earlier this offseason.
“That just shows what type of player I am,” Spears-Jennings said in a conference call with media soon after getting selected. “Go get the ball out there, be rangy and make plays.”
The plays Spears-Jennings made in college included five forced fumbles over the past two seasons, including tying for fifth in the country with four in 2024. He had one interception in each of the past two seasons and totaled 125 tackles over 26 games in 2024 and 2025.
Spears-Jennings’ time in the 40 was the fastest of any of the 14 safeties who ran it at the combine.
According to Pro Football Focus, in 2025 Spears-Jennings lined up at free safety for 281 snaps, as an in-the-box safety for 204 snaps and as a slot/nickel for 92. He also played special teams even as a senior.
“I’m a plug-in-and-play guy,“ Spears-Jennings said. “I can play anywhere on the field.”