Now that the regular season has begun, following yet another year of disappointment, a fourth consecutive season with no postseason victories, it’s time to take stock of where the Pittsburgh Steelers stand. Specifically where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen and are seeing over the course of the offseason and the regular season as it plays out. We will also be reviewing players based on their previous season and their prospects for the future. A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasoning. In some cases, it will be based on more long-term trends. In other instances, it will be a direct response to something that just happened. Because of this, we can and will see a player more than once over the course of the season as we move forward.
Player: CB Cameron Sutton
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The fifth-year veteran closed out his first regular season as a full-time starter with one of his better games, which included a red-zone interception and a couple of nice tackles.
Cameron Sutton started eight games in the regular season in his career prior to the start of the 2021 season. He has now tripled that after starting all 16 of the games for which he dressed this year, playing just a bit under 1,100 snaps in the process.
His debut as a full-time starter was not exceptional, and he certainly had his down moments, a couple of bad games. He also had a few games in which he really stood out, however, and he did make a number of key plays, both in coverage and as a tackler, for the unit.
One of the biggest plays of his career, if not the biggest, came on Sunday when he recorded an interception of Baltimore Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley in the end zone, baiting the throw to what looked like an open man before coming from behind and snaring the pass.
It was only his second interception of the season (nobody on the team had more this year, unfortunately), and he only finished with six passes defensed, but he also had a key forced fumble (after forcing three last year), as well as four tackles for loss, on those plays, showing his instincts and aggressiveness.
Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that he gave the Steelers looks all over on the field. He got to play primarily on the outside, as they wanted, but they worked him inside often as well, in order to try to get their best personnel on the field, first when James Pierre was playing, and then Ahkello Witherspoon.
Now he has to go up against Patrick Mahomes again, however, and this time in the postseason, with a healthier stable of receivers.
