The sound most recalled from the most recent Pittsburgh Steelers game played at home before Saturday was a chant in adulation for the beloved quarterback.

Saturday, again, fans serenaded an adored passer with a chant.

In January, it was “Thank you, Ben,” for the soon-to-be-retired Ben Roethlisberger during his final home game.

This time, it was “Ken-ny, Ken-ny, Ken-ny,” in recognition of Kenny Pickett’s sterling NFL game debut.

Pickett was one Steelers player who emerged from Saturday night’s 32-25 victory against the Seattle Seahawks with his arrow pointing up.

But aside from the high-profile first-round rookie from Pitt, who came out of the Steelers’ preseason opener looking better — or worse — than he did going into it?

Stock Up

Mark Robinson

The rookie seventh-round pick made the defensive “splash play” of the game with his sack of Drew Lock on a blitz off the edge with 1 minute, 11 seconds left. It capped an up-and-down NFL game debut in which Robinson had five tackles (three solo), but it showed the potential the Steelers are hoping to unearth for an intriguing raw talent.

A former FCS running back who walked on at Ole Miss last year and quickly transformed into an SEC tackle machine, Robinson has flashed at times during training camp. Robinson is far from a finished product — he was beaten badly on a DeeJay Dallas touchdown catch Saturday — but he definitely has the look of a player the Steelers will choose to hold on to in an effort to see what his ceiling might be.

Wide receiver depth

Three of the Steelers’ top five wide receivers from 2021 left via free agency, and the two others haven’t practiced all that much at Saint Vincent. But Saturday without Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, the Steelers receivers who played against Seattle collectively showed promise.

George Pickens’ touchdown catch continued to suggest he could be a future superstar. Gunner Olszewski took the quick feet, good hands and playmaking he’s displayed in Latrobe to an in-the-stadium game setting. Steven Sims had 38-yard gains on both a jet sweep and a punt return. Veteran Miles Boykin had two first-down catches to follow up two solid weeks of camp practices, and first-year Tyler Vaughns was rewarded for strong camp work of his own with the winning touchdown reception.

Even with Calvin Austin III unavailable Saturday, the Steelers have to feel better about their group of secondary receivers.

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Backup running backs

Another question mark when camp began was who would serve as complementary running backs to bell-cow Najee Harris. With Benny Snell out because of a knee injury Saturday, the two backs who have had the best training camps had productive nights.

Undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren had six carries for 34 yards and a team-high four catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. He continued to display tackle-breaking skills and reliable hands.

Anthony McFarland showed the burst that made him a 2020 fourth-round pick on the first carry of Saturday’s game, gaining 24 yards. Four of his seven carries gained at least 7 yards. If McFarland can stay healthy, he could be a sneaky weapon for the offense.

Stock down

Run defense

The Steelers were without their three starting defensive linemen for the whole game. But if improving an awful run defense was an offseason priority, allowing 159 yards with a 6.1 per-carry average in the first game probably wasn’t what Steelers management would have liked to see.

Only four of Seattle’s 23 carries by non-quarterbacks went for fewer than 3 yards. Three went for at least 16 yards. Too often there were sizable holes for the Seahawks to run through. At times, tackling was less than crisp.

It’s too early to draw conclusions. But the Steelers need better when the games count.

Levi Wallace

Wallace’s stock isn’t down so much for what he did Saturday — he was in on two tackles in the backfield, for example — but for how he was deployed.

Purportedly in a competition to start as the No. 2 cornerback, Wallace watched as Ahkello Witherspoon took the game’s first defensive snap. Then, when a third cornerback came onto the field for second down, it wasn’t Wallace but Arthur Maulet.

It wasn’t until an obvious passing situation that Wallace was sent onto the field. This couldn’t have been what Wallace envisioned when he signed with the Steelers early in free agency.

Witherspoon re-signed two weeks later, and with Cameron Sutton assured a regular role, that left Wallace fighting to be No. 2 CB. What few foresaw, though, was that Maulet could become a de facto No. 3 by way of being the No. 1 at the nickel (inside) spot.

While Wallace doesn’t play the slot, Sutton easily could slide there when the Steelers go nickel. Unless things change, Wallace could be earmarked for little more than a bit role.

Mason Rudolph

Rudolph can’t win for losing. After an offseason in which the Steelers let their actions practically scream from the mountain tops that they sought a better alternative than him to succeed Ben Roethlisberger, Rudolph had a solid 2022 preseason debut. His 100.1 passer rating would, in most circumstances, earn plaudits.

But not on a night in which Mitch Trubisky (126.8) and Kenny Pickett (132.6) out-performed him in that (admittedly imperfect) metric.

Rudolph went 9 for 15 with no interceptions and a perfectly-thrown 26-yard touchdown pass among his three drives leading the offense. But hometown hero Pickett and presumed starter Trubisky, to different degrees, stole the show.

For Rudolph to have any shot to start for the Steelers, he not only needs to shine but for the other two candidates to falter badly. That was far from the case for Pickett and Trubisky against the Seahawks.

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