Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers are deep into the season, it’s time to take stock of where the team stands. Specifically, where Steelers players stand individually based on what we have seen and are seeing over the course of the regular season as it plays out. A stock evaluation can take a couple of different approaches and I’ll try to make clear my reasoning for each one. 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: DT Montravius Adams
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The veteran nose tackle had one of his better games of the season in the finale, particularly against the run, concluding his first full year with the Steelers, even if he didn’t play much. He registered two tackles in just 10 snaps.
The Steelers named Montravius Adams the starting nose tackle over veteran Tyson Alualu in the early portions of the 2022 season. That move said more about where Alualu had been at that point in his career than anything exceptional Adams had done.
Not much has changed exactly. Adams hasn’t exactly morphed into the second coming of Casey Hampton, nor even Javon Hargrave, or Steve McLendon. But he’s done mostly serviceable work whenever called upon, which would vary from game to game.
Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns actually marked the fewest snaps he’d played in a game all season since the opener, just 10 snaps in all, but he did good work while he was in. Of his two tackles, one was against the run, going down as a stop.
One would think he would have seen more work against a Cleveland team that likes to run the ball, but the Steelers didn’t make it easy. The Browns only rushed 22 times, and that included a handful of scrambles by quarterback Deshaun Watson. Nick Chubb only rushed 12 times, albeit for 77 yards.
What’s next for the defensive line? It’s hard to say. Alualu will likely retire. Chris Wormley, already injured, will be a free agent. Larry Ogunjobi will be back on the market and looking for a deal closer to the one he originally agreed to last offseason with the Chicago Bears.
Adams is under contract for the 2023 season, and along with Cameron Heyward and the two young players, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk, may be the only carryovers into next season. There may well be some tinkering between now and then.
But would you go into the offseason process intending for Adams to be your starting nose tackle? I wouldn’t think so, especially not with some of the names that will be on the market this year—including Hargrave. I’m not saying… I’m just saying.
