Former South Dakota State All-America quarterback Taryn Christion has found a new NFL home with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who signed the Sioux Falls Roosevelt alumnus to their practice squad on Wednesday.
It is believed Christion, a dual threat who combined to pass and run for over 12,500 yards and 66 touchdowns in three years at SDSU, will be tasked with fulfilling the Lamar Jackson role of the scout offense as the Steelers prepare to take on Baltimore Sunday. In four games in 2019, Jackson has 36 rushes for 238 yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
The holder of multiple Jackrabbit and MVFC records, Christion most recently was with the Dallas Cowboys throughout training camp, but was a part of that team’s final cuts following the preseason on Aug. 31.
Christion went undrafted and signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks in April. Initially, the former MVFC Player of the Year was expected to compete to be Russell Wilson’s backup with former Broncos first-round pick Paxton Lynch.
But after just a few hours’ work at the Seahawks’ mini-camp in mid-May, the team cut Christion, as head coach Pete Carroll was unimpressed with one of the FCS’s all-time greats.
Tryout quarterbacks Troy Williams and Michael O’Connor also underwhelmed Carroll at the camp.
“I thought the quarterbacks had a hard time. I thought they struggled with the system and the playcalling,” Carroll said, according to an ESPN report.
“A lot of guys calling the plays for the first time, in the huddles for the first time, under center for the first time. So there was some brand-new experiences, and so they were competing on many levels just to get going. So we’ll take a look at the film now that we get out of camp and see where it all fits.”
Christion chose Seattle over several other teams who called his agent showing interest after the Jackrabbits’ all-time leader in passing and total yards went undrafted.
The Seahawks were one of two teams which paid to fly Christion out to their facilities before the April 25-27 NFL Draft. Christion met offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the team’s quarterbacks coach for a couple hours to “talk X’s and O’s and get to know each other.”
Christion told KWSN the trip included a 10-second encounter with Carroll.
“Coach Carroll was running around doing something while I was up there,” Christion said. He was all over the building, I noticed. I shook his hand, said ‘Hi, nice to meet you,’ and that was about it. He had to run to another meeting.”
Christion and his personal QB coach Kurtiss Riggs both told KWSN the Seahawks had shown interest in Christion because his style resembled Wilson’s, including his mobility, intelligence, and ability to read defenses and make a wide array of throws.
