Now that the 2021 season is over, bringing yet another year of disappointment, a fifth 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 season and into the offseason 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: DL Montravius Adams
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The Steelers re-signed the veteran defensive tackle to a two-year, $5 million contract after watching him find success over the course of the final two months of the 2021 season following his signing from the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad.
The Steelers’ top two nose tackles in 2022 will have spent most of the 2021 season off of 53-man rosters. Tyson Alualu returns this year after missing all but the first two games of last season, suffering a fractured ankle early in Week 2.
Then there’s Montravius Adams. Originally signing with the New England Patriots that offseason, he did not make the team, eventually signing with the Saints. He played a bit before moving to the practice squad, where he was available for the Steelers to pluck him late in the season.
In all, he played in six games, including the postseason, for the Steelers, logging about 200 defensive snaps during that time. His stat sheet won’t necessarily pop out at you (10 tackles including a sack, that during the postseason), but his tape tells an interesting story.
He’s a big man with a great motor. He has agility that you don’t expect for a man his size, almost to the point where it makes you wonder he he’s been a backup his whole career (playing behind Kenny Clark in Green Bay where he was drafted didn’t help).
Now, even heading into year six, Adams is not a finished product and shouldn’t be viewed as one. He certainly has things to work on in his game. But I think he showed more than enough to earn the contract that he got from the Steelers.
It doesn’t hurt that Adams has consistently sounded genuinely enthusiastic about being in Pittsburgh. He told reporters after re-signing that he was always hoping to be back here, even though he had other opportunities. He said last year that he had a similar feeling with the Steelers that he felt back in Auburn, a feeling he hasn’t had since arriving in the NFL before getting to Pittsburgh. A motivated player is never a bad thing in terms of getting the most out of them.
