Now that training camp is underway, and the roster for the offseason is close to finalized—though always fluid—it’s time to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand. Specifically where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen happen over the course of the past few months.
A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasonings. In some cases it will be based on more long-term trends, such as an accumulation of offseason activity. In other instances it will be a direct response to something that just happened. So we can see a player more than once over the course of the summer as we move forward.
Player: S Terrell Edmunds
Stock Value: Even
I have a feeling that the majority of people who regularly comment here are going to argue that Terrell Edmunds’ stock will be down. They will argue that he didn’t make any progress from year one to year two. Some may even say that he took a step back. I would disagree. He did make progress this year, but not enough to actually raise his stature.
It is, however, somewhat remarkable that his brother, running back Trey Edmunds, finished the season with more interceptions than he did: one. That, of course, came on special teams on a fake punt. Terrell is the only starting defender from the back seven who failed to record an interception, outside of Bud Dupree.
In fact, Edmunds just had a really low-impact season altogether. He not only failed to record an interception, he only had three passes defensed (though I’m not sure if this includes a great pass defensed on a two-point attempt; I believe it does not). He did not force or recover a fumble, nor record a sack. He had just two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits. He did have 105 tackles, second-most on the team.
Still, he is a growing player, and lest I need to remind you, he ended up working with three different free safeties this year, so he had a lot of adjustments being made around him. He got better over the course of the season, but he still gave up some key touchdowns, and his missed tackles were more prominent, and more frequent, than last season.
I don’t think his overall body of work represented enough to argue his stock was down. However, a second-year player needs to be on the rise. He needs to have a big third season, and perhaps having an offseason to work with Minkah Fitzpatrick is what he needs to get himself on the right track toward becoming a more consistent and difference-making player.
Perhaps he will be inspired by watching the two greatest strong safeties in the history of the Steelers enter the Hall of Fame together this summer, as well.
