Steelers 2021 rookie stock report heading into Week 2

The Steelers rookie draft class got a lot of playing time in the first week of the season. Here is how it impacted each player’s stock heading into Week 2.

The Pittsburgh Steelers‘ victory over the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 came as an overall surprise, given their status as the underdog.

Even more surprising though was the heavy involvement the team received from its rookie class. While the top picks in any class generally see work early in the season, the team essentially had six of its rookies in starter roles in Week 1.

This didn’t mean great results, though, as some players had the usual rookie struggles associated with making the jump to the pros. Excluding Quincy Roche (for him being on the New York Giants) and Isaiahh Loudermilk (he was inactive), here is the Steelers’ rookie stock report heading into Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Steelers Pressley Harvin

Stock Down

In what turned out to be one of the more competitive camp battles of the offseason, Pressley Harvin had to punt nearly perfectly in the offseason to beat out the incumbent Jordan Berry.

Harvin was impressive throughout the preseason, and the expectations were that his success would carry over into the regular season. To say he had a lackluster debut is a bit of an understatement, though, as his first start as a rookie left a lot to be desired.

A 41.4 yard average per punt, to go along with a couple of notably bad punts on the day, led to a mediocre outing for Harvin. While this very well could have been first-game nerves, it wasn’t reassuring to see the Steelers rookie struggle so early in the offseason.

The weather will be turning in the near future, and that naturally makes punting far harder than what Harvin faced in Week 1. He needs to recapture what he did in camp and soon, as his first game caused his stock to drop.