With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2022 season is over, the team finishing above .500 but failing to make the postseason, we have turned our attention to the offseason. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on broader contexts, reflecting on a player’s development, either positively or negatively, over the course of the season. Other evaluations will reflect only one immediate event or trend. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: OL Trent Scott
Stock Value: Sold
Reasoning: The Washington Commanders announced the signing of offensive lineman Trent Scott yesterday after spending one season last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He previously spent his entire career playing under Pat Meyer as offensive line coach and helped the room transition to Meyer’s techniques last year. He served as the swing tackle in 2022.
The Steelers currently have two true tackles on their 90-man roster right now. And they’re both the incumbent starters, Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle and Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. Addressing the position this offseason is critical to say the least.
The fact that Trent Scott was the team’s top swing tackle last season says how thin the depth was a year ago. The Steelers also brought in Jesse Davis just before the start of the regular season a year ago; he remains unsigned with Scott now joining the Washington Commanders on a one-year deal.
A former college free agent, Scott started 19 out of 53 games before signing with the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent. He wound up serving as Pittsburgh’s swing tackle behind their two starters, as mentioned, but he was left with little to do.
Indeed, Moore and Okorafor each started all 17 games a year ago, combining to miss just a single snap. And that’s all Scott played at one of the offensive line positions, though he also played another 30 snaps as a tackle-eligible tight end, leaning toward the end of the year.
If the Steelers have any intention of resurrecting that tackle-eligible role, they will have to replace that as well, unless they believe that somebody like Nate Herbig would be capable of handling the job. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used an interior lineman, though it’s rather uncommon to do so.
Scott should never be a team’s primary reserve under ideal circumstances, but I still believed the Steelers should re-sign him with the opportunity to compete for a roster spot as valuable depth.
His departure only further highlights the importance of the team adding to the tackle position, with an opportunity to take a big swing at a premium talent in the draft. They hold the 17th and 32nd overall picks, one of which could very well be a tackle—and who could push Moore or Okorafor into that swing role before the start of the regular season.
