Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2022 season is over, the team finishing above .500 but failing to make the postseason, we turn our attention to the offseason and everything that means. 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: CB Patrick Peterson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Positive reviews about how Patrick Peterson has looked in the slot since beginning to take reps on the inside are reason to be encouraged about how he might transition their on a more extensive basis later this season, which would accommodate rookie Joey Porter Jr.’s ascension to the starting lineup.
While we have known early on since he first talked about his intention to sign with the Steelers that there were plans in place to work him in the slot, it wasn’t until the team got onto the practice field that we had anything to go on.
Granted, even now all we have are first-hand accounts from various reporters and the like, but it’s worth noting that the reviews of his acclimation to a more extensive role in the slot have been pretty much universally positive.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, even if he has spent this career as one of the game’s premiere boundary defenders. He’s only gotten more intelligent as his career has worn on, and he has the athletic traits to be able to play in the middle as well.
It’s just a matter of building that muscle memory for a much more sizeable role in that area than he’s ever been asked to do before. At least, the plan is to have that as an option. We don’t even know if that is definitely going to happen on any type of significant basis.
For one thing, it would require that there is another outside cornerback on the roster who has shown himself worthy of getting on the field extensively, aside from Levi Wallace, the other projected starter. Not that there isn’t a plan for that as well.
The Steelers drafted Joey Porter Jr. 32nd overall to get him on the field. If he is ready in week one, and Peterson is ready to move to the slot, then that may well be what we see extensively in the season opener, with Wallace manning the other outside spot.
If it doesn’t happen initially, I think that’s what the team is expecting to see at some point during the year when they have all the pieces in place to make it happen. They’re going to want Porter to play in whatever form that takes, as long as he proves able when the time comes.
