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Former Temple star Tyler Matakevich defies characterization by the numbers

You have to hand it to the Steelers. When it comes to bargain hunting, they go big. They drafted the player voted the best defensive player in college football and they did it by using their final draft pick, in the seventh round.

This comes one year after they drafted the player voted the best defensive back in college, in the seventh round.

Rookie inside linebacker Tyler Matakevich, winner of both the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s outstanding defensive player, hopes to stick around a little longer than safety Gerod Holliman. He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2014 as the nation’s most outstanding defensive back, but the Steelers cut Holliman in the preseason.