Which Steelers rookie has the best chance to win Rookie of the Year?

4. Cory Trice Jr.

Of course, it seems unlikely for any Day 3 selection to win Rookie of the Year, much less a seventh-round pick. Cory Trice Jr. is already pretty buried on the depth chart, even behind another rookie cornerback. Trice would need several injuries to take place in the secondary to earn the opportunity for enough playing time even to be considered for the award. Finally, he also has some history of injuries, so he would need to stay healthy himself. 

With all that being said, Trice apparently performed exceptionally well at rookie mini-camp and OTAs. All reports during the last few weeks indicated that he repeatedly made excellent plays, perhaps even more than Porter Jr. It’s premature, of course, to suggest that Trice will earn playing time over Porter Jr. or any of the other established veterans.

Given how he was expected to be selected much earlier in the draft but fell due to injury concerns, it makes sense that Trice would outperform his draft stock. However, it still seems extremely unlikely that he would earn enough playing time and perform well enough as a rookie to realistically make a play for this award.