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.
Steelers Tre Norwood
Stock Up
A player I personally didn’t imagine would be playing so early, Tre Norwood actually got credited with a defensive start due to him being in the slot on the first drive for the Bills. Even though he wasn’t the sole slot cornerback for the team, he still saw a monumental number of snaps for a seventh-round defender. He played 80 percent of the defensive snaps to go along with 34 percent of the special teams’ ones, leading him to be one of the most heavily played rookies for the Steelers in Week 1.
While his snap share was impressive, his play left a little to be desired. While he held his own and recorded six total tackles, he had some issues in coverage. He only allowed a quarterback rating of 83.3 when being targeted. That said, he got burned on deep passes a few times but was bailed out by Bills quarterback Josh Allen overthrowing his receiver.
Norwood certainly has some work to do in that department going forward.
Even with his play just being average, though, he sees his stock shoot up. The fact the Steelers were pushing for him to be on the field as often as he was is telling of how they view him. Clearly, the Steelers think they have something in Norwood, and he should continue to have a role on this defense going forward.
While he likely won’t play 80 percent of the defensive snaps each week, expect Norwood to continue seeing snaps in the slot as the season goes forward.
Steelers Buddy Johnson
Stock Even
There wasn’t really a lot to say about Buddy Johnson’s game in Week 1. The rookie linebacker did end up earning a helmet, but he has very little to show for it. He only played 13 total snaps on the day, and all of them are on special teams. He failed to record a tackle or make any sort of a significant play there, though.
His stock remains even because honestly, that was the expectation. Johnson wasn’t going to be the first man off the bench at inside linebacker on defense likely, and his path to playing time right now is through special teams. While he didn’t make an impact there, the only players who did really were Miles Killebrew and Ulysees Gilbert, as the former blocked a punt and the latter returned it for a score.
Moving forward, Johnson will have to start getting noticed on special teams to push his stock up a little. As well, a few more no-shows in the stat sheet will lead to his stock dipping.
That all said, unless a significant injury occurs, it seems as though Johnson’s rookie season will be spent running down kicks and punts.
Steelers Dan Moore
Stock Up
No Steelers rookie stock shot up as high in week one as Dan Moore’s did.
The fourth-round rookie was drafted with the expectation that 2021 would be more of a redshirt year for him, as the team seemingly had two tackles established as the starters already. He excelled in camp, though, and when Zach Banner was put on injured reserve to start the year, Moore ended up getting the starting nod at left tackle.
Despite his strong camp, Moore was still a fourth-round tackle, and the expectations weren’t that high for him. He played really well, though, only being credited with allowing one sack and scoring a team-high 71.8 offensive line rating on Pro Football Focus. He still has some faults, but the rookie tackle excelled at driving his man out of plays and protecting for Ben Roethlisberger’s blindside.
Unless he completely implodes in the coming weeks, the expectation should now be that Moore retains the starting left tackle spot for the foreseeable future. He certainly has earned it, as a great preseason led into a solid professional debut. He has exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the Steelers are reaping the rewards of stealing him from 31 different teams in the draft.
Steelers Kendrick Green
Stock Even
I really toyed with what to give Kendrick Green’s stock heading into Week 2.
While he looked OK overall, for a rookie that was expected to start for most of camp, his performance wasn’t anything notable. Thus, I think his stock remains even heading into Week 2, as Green needs to build off of an overall average performance from his debut.
Where Green did excel was in run defense, as the athletic center was consistently on the move and getting into space to block. While the Steelers’ rushing attack wasn’t overly effective in Week 1, thanks to the struggles elsewhere on the line, that wasn’t Green’s fault. On the flip side, Green struggled to make an impact as a pass blocker, and he had some issues keeping the Bills’ interior defenders from applying pressure.
Green ended his first game with an average rating of 55.3 from PFF. The thing is everything the Steelers saw from Green in Week 1 was expected. Green consistently struggled in camp and even in college to be a great pass blocker.
There is clearly a lot of work that he has to do there as a pro. That said, he looked good as a run blocker, essentially leading to his stock remaining even after the Week 1 win.
Steelers Pat Freiermuth
Stock Up
While Pat Freiermuth was always going to see playing time as a rookie, few thought that the Steelers rookie would already be playing well enough to earn starter snaps. He had a good camp overall, displaying the physical catching style that made him a popular receiver at Penn State. As well, he looked far more accomplished as a blocker, leading to him quickly becoming a fan favorite in camp.
That said, rookie tight ends typically have a tough transition to the NFL. With defenders bigger and faster, routes have to be sharper, and catches have to be contested for these big men to make an impact.
This meant the expectations for Freiermuth had to be dialed back a little, but after Week 1, it seems as though Freiermuth will be a staple player in this offense.
He out-snapped Eric Ebron at tight end, with is a huge talking point heading into this second week. While Ebron is more of a threat at receiver, Freiermuth is the far better blocker. With the Steelers hoping to reestablish their rushing attack in 2021, Freiermuth will likely take on a bigger role than expected moving forward.
His debut was pretty good, and the expectations for the rookie have gone up.
Steelers Najee Harris
Stock Down
To say it was a disappointing debut for Steelers rookie Najee Harris would be an understatement.
The first-round pick failed to accumulate over 50 total yards in his debut and averaged a rough 2.8 yards per carry in the opener. He failed to be much of a threat on the ground, and as a result, the Steelers offense was bland and one-dimensional.
To be fair, Pittsburgh’s offensive line was a mess in the opening game, and Ben Roethlisberger struggled to connect with Harris in the passing game. This aided in Harris’ unfortunately slow start to the year.
While sharing the blame is fair, one has to be critical of Harris still. A running back taken in the first round is expected to be a game-changer no matter the team that surrounds him. Harris wasn’t that in Week 1, and, unfortunately, the team will have few ways to improve the team around him in the short term.
This means Harris will likely continue to post mediocre games until either this line improves or Harris finds a way to succeed without them. Expectations were higher for Harris in year one, and his final result from his first game left the Steelers wanting more.
His stock is down for now, and while he will rebound, it is disappointing to see him struggling so early.
With the Steelers winning their Week 1 game via an upset, and with their rookie class seeing significant playing time, this group of new pros has a lot to prove going forward. Most of the debuts were solid, but a few were overall disappointing.
No matter if their stock is up or down, each rookie has something to improve upon in Week 2.