The Pittsburgh Steelers are hosting Louisiana-Lafayette Jaden Dugger for a pre-draft visit on Tuesday. Dugger, who's from Penn Hills, is a local visit, so he will not count against the 30 pre-draft visits that the Steelers are allowed.
Dugger is projected to be a late-round draft pick or priority free agent.
Dugger recorded a whopping 125 tackles in 2025, earning first-team all-Sun Belt Conference accolades. It was the sixth-most tackles in school history and the most by a Louisiana-Lafayette defender since 2013. He also recorded four sacks, 13 tackles for losses and one interception.
Dugger turned heads at the East-West Shrine Bowl. Standing at 6-foot-4 3/4 and 242 pounds, he ran an impressive 4.6 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day. He scored a 9.60 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 139 out of 3460 LB from 1987 to 2026.
"I feel like when I'm playing now is a combination of everything I did, so I feel like that made me such a better player," Dugger said at pro day . "Having that experience and just playing it. At the time, I might have not liked it, but it prepared me for who I am today."
Dugger felt like he put himself on team's radars at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
"It was great – me with a lot of scouts and a lot of new players that you see on TV, finally getting to meet them," Dugger said at pro day. "Then seeing all the cool logos on the helmets and going against those guys that you don't get to play against, so it was a great experience. I feel like I learned so much and I got so much better."
Dugger also has a chip on his shoulder with not receiving an invite to the NFL Combine.
"No Combine and stuff, that kind of lit an extra fire under me," Dugger told CBS Pittsburgh . "I think I proved myself. A lot of scouts were like, 'You're not a Combine invite?' But everything's going to play out how it should be. If you deserve to be in the NFL, they'll come find you."
Dugger scored 13 touchdowns as a senior at Penn Hills. His brother, Julian, was his quarterback. Julian Dugger is currently the backup QB at Washington State after transferring from Pitt.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Express Interest in Freakish Athletic Linebacker with Pittsburgh Roots
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