We signed wr Fred Gibson

[Canadianfishfan]

How can he be that good if Pittsburg was going to sign him the PS?... Arent they in need of WR talent?

 

[Austin Tatious]

He sounds like Todd Pinkston. Does anyone have his height/weight?

 

[raiderhaider]

hes tall and a great blocker, but he doesnt try hard, and will rarely jump to get the ball, be my guest guys :)

 

[HysterikiLL]

This makes me really happy, although it's only the practice squad. Saban saw a lot of Gibson in the SEC and he's a big bodied guy who can make plays. I can remember a lot of people amping up for him around the third round on here.

A great pick up, but if I'm not wrong -- can't anyone sign a guy on our practice squad??

 

[Prime]

I thought for a min that we signed him to the roster. Anyway though, i am glad that we picked him up. I just hope there there isn't a team that wants him on there roster.

 

[Aqua and Orange]

This is awesome. We just got some serious David Boston insurance.

All we need now is O line, Qb, and CB insurance...

 

[burghPhinFan]

A great pick up, but if I'm not wrong -- can't anyone sign a guy on our practice squad??

teams can sign players from another's practice squad, but they must remain on their active roster for the remainder of the season. So you'll only see signings if another team really needs a player for a certain position.

 

[burghPhinFan]

This is a good move for the team, but let's not put him in the Hall just yet. He's been pretty much invisible up here since the beginning of camp.

 

[burghPhinFan]

from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

But the performance of the wide receivers is perhaps best crystallized by the release of Gibson, one of 12 players waived by the Steelers to get to the required 53-man roster.

Gibson was a fourth-round pick who had size (6 feet 4), speed, quickness and jumping ability. At Georgia, he also was a record-setting kick-returner. But the former basketball player was dunked by the Steelers because he couldn't get off the line of scrimmage, ran poor routes and appeared to run away from the football.

The Steelers will try to re-sign Gibson to the eight-man practice squad, if he clears waivers, but his athletic ability could make him an attractive pickup for another team.

"I think I did a good job of catching the football and making plays in practice," Gibson said. "It starts in practice. Practice pays off. You always can get better in the playbook. You don't know everything because the playbook is so thick.

"I'm a rookie. Everything is going to come. It doesn't come in one day, it doesn't come in one week or two weeks. Things are going to get better."

Gibson was released in favor of rookie free agent Nate Washington, one of the surprises of training camp who played at Division II Tiffin University near Toledo, Ohio. Washington had eight catches for 108 yards in the preseason, although he dropped a perfect pass from Charlie Batch in the end zone in Carolina.

Gibson was targeted as a potential No. 4 receiver, but his failure to learn the offense allowed Mays, who has just 11 catches in three seasons, to hold on to his role.

With Mays out -- he injured his hamstring in the second quarter in Carolina -- special-teams standout Sean Morey will become the No. 4 receiver. Morey has been the team's most-productive receiver the past several games, catching seven passes in the past five quarters, including the winning, 45-yard touchdown with 1:35 remaining in Carolina.

"It's going to come, just like in college," Gibson said. "I remember my freshman year, I had to learn the offense, and it's the same thing here. It's a different level -- everybody's good here. You got to try to separate yourself from everybody else."

Gibson separated himself, all right -- right off the roster.

link

 

[bigbillshater]

info on fred gibson

2004 -- Outstanding spring...caught five passes for 129 yards and two TD's in annual spring G-Day game....Biletnikoff Award candidate.....named pre-season All-SEC first team by the SEC Coaches, Athlon and The Sporting News....recipient of the Tommy Reeder Endowed Football Scholarship...third in the SEC in Receiving Yards per game (66.8) and fourth in Receptions Per Game (4.08).... his 2,884 Career Receiving Yards rank second most in Georgia history and 7th in SEC history.....161 Career Receptions is third best in Georgia history and his 20 Career TD Receptions is second best in school history....Gibson's 10 100-yard career receiving games is tied for first in Georgia history...... All-SEC first team by the SEC coaches and All-SEC honorable mention by the Associated Press...part of team that posted 42-10 record from 2001-04 (sixth best in the country), three straight seasons of 10 or more wins, three straight bowl victories, and three consecutive national top six finishes....Major: Speech Communication.

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Receiving Statistics [/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Year[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]G/GS[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rec.[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yards[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Per/Rec.[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Per/Gm[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]TD[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]LG[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2001[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10/3[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]33[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]772[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]23.4[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]77.2[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]68 UK[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2002[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]12/8[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]43[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]758[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]17.6[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]63.2[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]53 0M[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2003[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11/11[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]36[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]553[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]15.4[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]50.3[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]56 CU[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2004[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]12/12[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]49[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]801[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]16.3[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]66.8[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]79 ARK[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Totals[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]45/34[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]161[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2884[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]17.9[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]64.1[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]20[/font][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]79 ARK[/font]

​

 

[Joe Flipper]

Gibby

Nice Pick up....i wanted Da fINZ to draft him.....:)

 

[BLITZKRIEG]

I watch alot of SEC ball, and this kid was electric in college.....

I can't believe he's performed so poorly, or that they gave up on him so soon. This kid has true potential IMO, and could turn out to be a great player once he gets more comfortable at this level. I wouldn't call this a steal yet, but if he comes around, the Steelers will be smacking themselves for letting him get away.....

GREAT JOB NICK & RANDY!!!!!!

PHINZ RULE!!!!

 

[Prime]

from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:


link

It's looks like this guy has alot of work to do. I guess spending a year on the PS will help him out for next year. Hopefully we will resign him after the season and let him compete for a spot on the roster.

 

[finswin56]

I don't see the big deal, other than his "upside". Because this guy has crappy hands and never showed up for the big games against UF.
I said this in one of the other threads, but felt I needed to say it again due to the blind optimism.

 

[ckparrothead]

I'm not too worried about someone else signing him. The fact that he was a Dolphins fan prior to the draft and chose to go to our practice squad out of the blue instead of the Steelers probably means he will give us an opportunity to roster him if someone else comes calling. The way it USUALLY works on the practice squad, is yes any player can be signed to a team's active roster any time, however as a matter of courtesy those practice squad players usually tell their team that another team has offered to roster them, giving their team a chance to put them on the roster first before the outside team.

This is why the Dolphins got so ticked off at Rueben Droughns a few years back. We stuffed him in our practice squad and then Detroit came calling a few weeks later wanting to put him on the active roster and he just went and left for Detroit and never told the Phins that the Lions had made an offer...never gave us a chance to match it. The front office was ticked because they would have matched it and did not want to lose Droughns.

Gibson chose us, though. He would give us first dibs, IMO. BTW I have not heard Gibson's measurables mentioned. He's 6'4" 196 pounds, and ran a 4.62 in the 40 yard dash. The Steelers were looking at him as a possible replacement for Plaxico Burress.

I'm excited about Gibson because I saw him and Reggie Brown during the Senior Bowl and I swear I came away more impressed with Gibson than Brown. I had been talking Gibson up to a friend of mine who follows college football closely and my friend pretty much agreed that he's really talented, and then when I heard the Steelers were going to cut him I felt like an idiot. This isn't quite like getting an extra 4th round draft pick, because the fact that his own team that used a 4th on him cut him means that his stock is plummeting...but I still see potential man.

Todd Pinkston is a very good comparison except I believe Pinkston is faster.