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: Canaan Severin
Stock Value: Down
Canaan Severin last year was the C.J. Goodwin of a couple of years back. Brought in late during the offseason as an undrafted rookie free agent as a raw but tall and talented prospect at the wide receiver position, he had a built-in support base even though virtually nobody actually got to see him do anything.
Goodwin spent his rookie training camp banged up and never got into a preseason game, yet the Steelers kept him on the practice squad for the entire year anyway, giving him another chance to make the roster the following year. Instead, he made the Falcons’ roster at cornerback.
Severin, too, was banged up during his rookie preseason, and ended up landing on injured reserve. But, again, the Steelers chose to keep him there for the entire year, which actually kept his original rookie deal intact.
Not a whole lot of positive news has surfaced since then, however. Even though he was already an extreme longshot to make the roster, or even the practice squad, the fact that we have heard virtually nothing about him, like, since last summer, is really my motivation for arguing that his stock is down.
In fact, the Steelers ended up releasing him days after the draft after they drafted a wide receiver and had another return from suspension, but they did re-sign him two weeks later.
And in fairness, as technically regarded as a second-year player, he didn’t miss much anyway because he would not have been able to participate in rookie minicamp. Perhaps that was one of the reasons behind the decision to release him specifically.
The 6’2” product of Virginia has a long way to go in order to make an impact of any sort with the Steelers. More likely, he may wind up putting film together that could get him on the practice squad of some other team.
