Steelers stock report: Who is ascending, descending after 2nd preseason game

As is the case in every preseason game, there was a mixture of good and bad performances on display Saturday night for the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

The last-second 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers featured some contributions from rookies Derrick Harmon and Kaleb Johnson, who each rebounded from quiet showings in the exhibition opener.

Quarterback Skylar Thompson returned to mortality after throwing three touchdowns versus Jacksonville. There were no touchdowns this time, he tossed one interception and had a 61.2 passer rating.

Digging a little deeper, here is a look at those rising and those falling after the second preseason game:

Stock up

• Punting competition: Coach Mike Tomlin continued to alternate his punters, and neither Cam Johnston nor Corliss Waitman did anything to hurt their chance of earning that lone roster spot.

Each punter was called upon three times. Waitman had a 45.7-yard net average compared to Johnston’s 37.7. Johnston, though, was used situationally on his first two attempts. He placed both punts inside the 20 for a fair catch.

Waitman’s punts traveled 60, 50 and 58 yards. The first one was brought back 37 yards, the longest return of the night. Johnston’s punts traveled 33, 45 and 49 yards. On his third punt, the Bucs had a 14-yard return.

Johnston and Waitman will have one more preseason game to state their case.

• Young defensive linemen: After being relatively quiet in his NFL preseason debut, Harmon showed why he was a first-round selection when he dropped Kyle Trask for an 11-yard loss on third down late in the opening quarter. Harmon finished with three tackles.

Third-year defensive lineman Keeanu Benton made an impact by batting down a pass. He chipped in two tackles.

Logan Lee, who spent all of his rookie season on injured reserve, added a tackle, but it was his work on special teams that was most impressive. Lee took over at long snapper after Christian Kuntz was injured making a tackle in the first quarter. He handled his snaps flawlessly.

• Scotty Miller: He’s not the biggest member of the wide receiving corps, but through grit and determination, he has carved out a six-year NFL career.

The way Miller has played in the preseason, he is on track to make it to Year 7 and second with the Steelers. Miller had two more catches and totaled 38 yards. A week earlier, he tied for the team lead with four catches for 47 yards.

Miller keeps standing out in a crowded room and has taken steps toward cementing a roster spot. He won’t replace Calvin Austin and/or Roman Wilson at the top of the depth chart, but there should be a spot on the final 53 for the 5-foot-9, 174-pound receiver.

Stock down

• Special teams: Corner D’Shawn Jamison is a longshot to make the 53-man roster, and he didn’t help his cause by running into the kicker on a field goal attempt in the first quarter. Given new life, the Bucs took the penalty yardage and scored a touchdown.

The punt coverage unit gave up a 37-yard return, and long snapper Kuntz was injured on the tackle, marking his exit from the game. Kuntz is nowhere near the ball if the returner is tackled sooner. And rookie kicker Ben Sauls missed wide right on a 43-yard field-goal attempt that would have given the Steelers the lead in the fourth quarter.

• Red-zone defense: Sure, the top three corners were standing on the sideline as was the team’s starting strong safety. But Brandon Echols, who could be part of the nickel corner equation once the season starts, was in coverage when Emeka Egbuka caught a 5-yard touchdown pass.

Two plays after the roughing-the-kicker penalty in the opening quarter, linebacker Payton Wilson matched up with running back Bucky Irving. Coverage is supposed to be Wilson’s strength, but the second-year linebacker didn’t get leverage and yielded a 15-yard touchdown catch.

In the first quarter alone, the Bucs had two touchdown drives inside the red zone against at least a few players who will be on the field when the regular season opens Sept. 7.

• Young cornerbacks: The sand is running through the hourglass on Cory Trice’s chance to make the team. The talented yet oft-injured corner missed his second preseason game, as did seventh-round pick Donte Kent. With the Steelers playing Thursday this week, the duo will be hard pressed to get on the field before final roster decisions are made.

Beanie Bishop, who was in the Stock Up category a week ago, played 19 snaps and was on the field late in the game with other second-string and third-string players. That’s not a good sign for someone who started last season as the nickel corner but has been pushed aside by Jalen Ramsey and Echols.