Stock up, stock down among Steelers after another preseason win

The Pittsburgh Steelers have become a preseason juggernaut.

Scoring the first 27 points of a 27-15 victory against the Buffalo Bills allowed the Steelers to run their preseason winning streak to five, last losing an exhibition in 2021. The Steelers have won 10 of their past 12 preseason games and are 14-4 in these August classics since 2017

Of course, that earns them absolutely nothing when the games that count begin Sept. 10. That doesn’t mean we haven’t learned some things about the roster through two-thirds of the 2023 preseason:

Stock up

1. First-team offense: The raw numbers don’t lie: Through two games, the Steelers’ starting offensive unit is averaging 12.0 yards over their 17 snaps in three possessions. That includes six-play, 86-yard and one-play, 25-yard touchdown drives Saturday.

Through 11 throws during the preseason, Kenny Pickett has a 149.1 passer rating. The first-team offense has three touchdowns of at least 25 yards. The Steelers had one such play all last year during the regular season.

2. Nick Herbig: It just can’t be this easy, right? Not for rookies, and especially not for one taken in the second half of the 259-pick April draft.

A week after having 11/2 sacks among 13 snaps played in his NFL debut in Tampa Bay, Herbig during 27 defensive snaps Saturday was nothing short of a game wrecker, particularly in pass rush situations.

During one first-quarter Josh Allen dropback, Herbig got his hand on a ball to alter an attempted pass. Then in the third quarter, Herbig had a sack/forced fumble/fumble recovery off of Matt Barkley in his most dynamic play yet. He even added a tackle for loss against the run and a tackle on special teams for good measure.

Among the 166 edge defenders who have played at least 21 snaps during the preseason, Herbig has the sixth-best overall Pro Football Focus grade.

Related:

• First Call: Surprising retirement for an ex-Steeler; Brock Purdy gets a preseason start; will Steelers see Bijan Robinson?
• Madden Monday: Not buying into the calls for Jaylen Warren to replace Najee Harris as Steelers' 1st-team RB
• Jaylen Warren continues to bring 'lightning' strikes to Steelers offense

3. Roster-bubble defenders: Tanner Muse and Kenny Robinson are a pair of defensive players signed by the Steelers this spring who have limited NFL experience but possess the pedigree of mid-round draft talent. Each was selected in 2020 but hasn’t been able to hold a long-term role and is with the Steelers as player who probably will be given more of a chance on special teams than defense.

Muse, an inside linebacker, and Robinson, a safety, have had their moments during training camp. Each was given an extensive look Saturday, playing 52% of the defensive snaps. Nobody on the team played more on special teams than either. They tied with two others for the team lead in tackles Saturday (four), and Muse recovered a fumble.

Odds are with Muse and Robinson to be on the Steelers’ 53-man roster when the season begins in three weeks.

Stock down

1. Broderick Jones: It is far, far too early to panic about the Steelers’ first-round pick. But it’s not too early to acknowledge the Steelers probably envisioned Jones would be a little further along at this point, four months after being drafted and through 31 days of practice-like settings and two preseason games.

Jones was beat by Kingsley Jonathan for a sack during the third quarter Saturday, and he has the second-worst PFF run-blocking grade of any of the 23 tackles who have played at least 80 snaps this preseason.

The No. 14 overall pick, Jones is less than 100 days removed from his 22nd birthday. And he had just 19 games of starting experience in college. So perhaps it was unfair to expect immediate stardom. The good news is the Steelers don’t need Jones at the moment because Dan Moore is showing continued serviceability at left tackle.

2. Those who didn’t play: Players categorized as long shots to make the roster need an opportunity more than anything else. Of course, they need to earn chances to show what they can do by taking advantage of whatever chances they get to make an impression during practice.

For the likes of Jordan Byrd, Hakeem Butler, Nevelle Clarke and Quincy Roche, it can’t be a good sign that each of them barely (if at all) saw the field against the Bills.

According to the official NFL scorebook, Clarke (a cornerback signed last week) and Butler (signed out of the XFL this spring) did not play Saturday. Byrd (a return specialist and purported wide receiver) played one snap, and outside linebacker Roche played only on special teams.

3. Run blocking: At least three linemen and receiver Diontae Johnson downfield threw blocks that were integral in Jaylen Warren’s 62-yard touchdown run. Give appropriate kudos for that. But if that one run gets put aside, the Steelers running game was inert.

The Steelers gained 59 yards on the 32 carries (1.8-yard average) aside from Warren’s run. Worse, 23 of those yards came via scrambles by the Nos. 2-3 quarterbacks. All the running backs not named Warren combined for 25 carries for a putrid 32 yards (1.3-yard average).

Sure, it (mostly) was backups all the way around on those plays. But for a team that has gone to great lengths to build a roster meant to pound opponents, that type of production is simply unacceptable, even in August.

For the preseason, PFF grades the Steelers as the NFL’s third-worst team for rushing and seventh worst in run blocking.