The Pittsburgh Steelers released guard Doug Nester in their initial round of roster cuts on Friday. Nester struggled in the preseason, especially against the Jacksonville Jaguars .
The Steelers re-signed Nester to a future contract in January after spending the 2024 season on the practice squad.
A 24-year-old West Virginia alum, Nester signed with the Steelers to their practice squad on Aug. 28, 2024, after having been in training camp with the Minnesota Vikings . Nester played in two preseason games for the Vikings, earning 69 snaps of playing time, all at right guard. With the Steelers, Nester worked at both tackle and guard on the practice squad, but did not appear in any games.
Steelers guard Doug Nester during an OTAs practice on May 29, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The 6-foot-7, 320-pound native of Kenya, West Virginia, first attended Virginia Tech for his first two collegiate seasons before transferring to WVU. Nester started 10 games as a true freshman at right guard for the Hokies in 2019 and seven more in 2020.
After transferring to West Virginia, he stated every game in 2021 and 2022 at right guard, before moving to right tackle for his redshirt senior season in 2023.
Nester participated in both the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game in the pre-draft process, with the Steelers scouting him heavily at the latter stop.
Despite his size, Nester did not test well leading up the draft, running a 5.31-second 40-yard dash and posting just 19 reps on the bench press. He had a total Relative Athletic Score of 3.35 of out 10.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Cut Ties with Former West Virginia Offensive Lineman
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