Devlin Hodges knew that he was a longshot to even make a team last year. In actuality, he didn’t—not at first. The undrafted rookie played a lot during the preseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he was waived by the end. They did not re-sign him, to the practice squad, until after they managed to deal Joshua Dobbs, their third-string quarterback, for a fifth-round pick after the season opener.
A week later, Ben Roethlisberger went down for the season, and three weeks after that, Hodges would replace Mason Rudolph due to injury, starting a road contest the next game—and winning.