Now that the 2020 offseason has begun, following a second consecutive season in which they failed to even reach the playoffs, 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 season, and with notice to anything that happens going forward.
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: DT Daniel McCullers
Stock Value: Up
Seriously. Daniel McCullers may have been the biggest winner of the 2020 NFL Draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the players who were already on the 90-man roster. The team came into the draft with only one starting job to fill: nose tackle. All they came out of the draft with was a seventh-round pick for the front line.
Taking Carlos Davis, defensive tackle out of Nebraska, the Steelers are getting an athletic player at the position who nevertheless has a scouting report you have to worry about. Lance Zeirlein, for example, wrote that, not only is he not a ‘plus’ run defender, he also offers nothing in the pass rush.
They already have McCullers for that. And he has six years in the system. Davis was an eight-year letterman, collecting dual letters for football and track, where he was a shotputter, and is described as more athlete than football player.
The Steelers added two defensive linemen among their 10 undrafted free agent signings, whom they both list as defensive ends, in Josiah Coatney and Calvin Taylor. 6’2”, 278-pound Cavon Walker is currently listed as a defensive tackle on the roster, but he is likely not going to play there.
It’s interesting just to note that the team’s website does list Chris Wormley as a nose tackle, but you should know if you’re regular readers of this site that you can’t go by what the team’s website lists players at—including their weight.
As of right now, it looks good for McCullers to make the roster once again in 2020, and possibly even to be their primary defensive tackle in their 3-4 front. Time will tell if the team makes alternative arrangements, either by bringing a cheap free agent, or asking one of Wormley, Isaiah Buggs, or even Tyson Alualu to play inside, which may be what it comes down to.
