Steelers Stock Watch: Trio of UDFA’s steal the show and boost their chances in Pittsburgh after Week 1 of preseason
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-0. Given the current state of the calendar, that is both positive, and means absolutely nothing. But there are some things we can glean from Saturday, including players who saw their stock rise over the weekend… Riser(s) No. 1: UDFA WRs Coming into the week, the undrafted free agent who was […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-0.
Given the current state of the calendar, that is both positive, and means absolutely nothing.
But there are some things we can glean from Saturday, including players who saw their stock rise over the weekend…
Riser(s) No. 1: UDFA WRs
Coming into the week, the undrafted free agent who was at least pinging on radars was WR Roc Taylor. He had dominated Latrobe to this point, forming a strong rapport with quarterback Will Howard before the QB went down with an injury.
He still had a great grab over the middle, but two other UDFA WRs really stole the show: Max Hurleman and Ke’Shawn Williams.
Max Hurleman had a huge catch up the seam, which he then parlayed into a touchdown catch from Mason Rudolph on the very next play. And yet, that was just an appetizer to what Ke’Shawn Williams would do. He had a stellar return (only negated by a penalty), a nearly 30-yard catch over the middle, and that game-sealing TD grab from above.
If even one of these three hit and carries over to the active roster, Pittsburgh’s WR corps will be in a much better spot than recent years.
Riser #2: Skylar Thompson
With Will Howard sidelined, Aaron Rodgers likely to sit out the preseason, and Mason Rudolph acting as the de facto starter, Skylar Thompson received the majority of the burn in the quarterback room, and he ran with it.
Over 230 yards passing and three touchdowns while completing over 70% of your passes is about as good as it gets. The preseason nature of all this is a giant grain of salt, but it’s going to be hard to cut a guy producing like that when the role he’s vying for is third team quarterback.
Riser(s) No. 3: Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu
As we have stressed all offseason, this duo needs to be stellar for the offense to perform. We may only have a small sample size, but the starting unit and the tackle duo in particular looked great on Saturday night.
Mason Rudolph had all night to throw and the width of the pocket had integrity for the duration of their time on the field. Keeping things the same when the calendar flips to September will be critical for exceeding expectations.
Next test: joint practices with the Bucaneers this week in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Steelers News
Steelers find themselves on the receiving end of a mind-blowing play that won’t get the recognition it deserves against Jaguars
They won’t ever forget that.
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