With the 2017 NFL Draft now over and the bulk of the heavy lifting done with regard to the roster building process now out of the way, it is easier to begin to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand at certain positions, and what the implications might be of a variety of moves for certain players.
And take stock is what we shall do, as every move has ramifications up and down the roster, so now we will take a look at some specific players and see how the team’s moves during the course of the offseason thus far, and more specifically since the draft, have sent their stock rising, falling, or breaking even.
Player: S Sean Davis
Stock Value: Up
It’s a bit hard to believe in hindsight that Sean Davis, as a rookie who was asked to move around to multiple positions, was able to play as well as he did a year ago, and to evolve over the course of the season, all while dealing with a torn labrum that he suffered in the third game of the season.
He may have had to sit out of 11-on-11 drills as a precautionary measure following offseason surgery to repair said labrum tear, but I’m certainly not going to suggest that his value is down for having surgery after being able to already play through the injury that he has gotten repaired. If anything, I would think it reflects an ‘arrow pointed up’, as a particular head coach would say.
The truth of the matter is that nobody has higher expectations for Sean Davis in his second season than Sean Davis himself, who on multiple occasions during spring workouts told reporters that he fully intended to demonstrate that his performance during his rookie season was going to be the worst he would ever play in the NFL.
For as well as he did play, in truth, it would be fair to say that he was generally viewed as a rookie, and thus graded against a curve. There are definitely areas of his game that will be the subject of continued scrutiny until he demonstrates that they are no longer liabilities.
There were times last season during which he struggled with pursuit angles and wrapping up tackles, resulting in missed tackles. When pursuing at full speed, he had mixed success retaining his balance and control. This was most evident in his blitzes, missing multiple sacks that he otherwise could have gotten.
But these seem in retrospect minor criticisms for a player who as a rookie battling injury spending his time learning two position already managed to solidify himself as a competent starter.
I think I will be able to speak for more than a handful of people when I say that Davis will be one of, if not the most intriguing player to follow during training camp and the preseason to see who he develops in year two, now that he is fully healthy and fully committed to playing one position, with already a year of work under his belt.
