Steelers Rookie Grades: Dotson, not Claypool, atop the class

Antoine Brooks

Grade: C-

While I gave Antoine Brooks a “C” at the midseason mark, his overall grade did drop a little. This was solely due to the fact that he had a huge role on defense against the Bengals in week 10 (he played 48 percent of the defensive snaps) but then disappeared down the stretch. While it was good to see him elevated permanently from the practice squad to the active roster, he struggled to get a helmet consistently.

That said, his path to the active roster seems pretty clear once again, so he could take on more of an impact role then. He has a great build for a box safety, but his overall coverage concerns he had at Maryland make him a potential conversion project similar to Marcus Allen. Allen showed that success could be had with a move like that, and with some of the inside linebacker depth set to depart, he could potently play that hybrid role as early as next year.

The downgrade is there solely because after he saw significant playing time in the season, he disappeared from the active roster. While his game tape against the Bengals wasn’t horrible, the Steelers obviously saw some issues in his play that led to him being limited on the team down the stretch. With a wealth of starters and depth players set to walk this year, Brooks should become a more active player next year. Until then though, his grade had to dip slightly.