Former Mountaineer Doug Nester Joins Steelers Practice Squad

The Pittsburgh Steelers added former Mountaineer Doug Nester to their practice squad following waiving him ahead of Sunday’s roster cuts.

Nester originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2024 after finishing his college career at West Virginia. He later landed with the Steelers and spent time on Pittsburgh’s practice squad over the last two seasons.

Nester signed a reserve/future contract in January with the Steelers.

The 6-foot-6, 306-pound lineman has yet to appear in a regular-season NFL game.

Nester played both guard and tackle during his college career, beginning at Virginia Tech before transferring to West Virginia. He appeared in 57 games between the two programs and made 52 starts.

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.

WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose

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.

Nester entered training camp as one of several offensive linemen competing for a depth role, but faced a difficult path to the roster in a crowded room.

Pittsburgh will continue making moves as it gets closer to finalizing its 53-man roster.

Our partner site Steelers Now helped with this story. 

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