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: WR Gunner Olszewski
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Since our last update all the way back in February on Olszewski, the Steelers failed to retain the man who replaced him on returns, Steven Sims, and did not add anybody else to the mix of significant import who could reasonably take his job.
I know how this works already. Most people will only see the headline and scoff and move on. Many who even click through won’t read the whole thing. Half just come to comment on how stupid the notion is that Gunner Olszewski’s stock could be up without reading the explanation as to why.
The big reason is because it’s been a long time since we’ve last looked in, and things are looking no worse for him than they did then. Indeed, the big move in his case is the fact that the Steelers did not manage to keep wide receiver Steven Sims, instead allowing him to leave in free agency.
It’s a lot easier to win a job you’ve already lost once when the guy who replaced you isn’t there anymore. Yes, the Steelers are working out other players who could potentially take on the return job a well, and one can make the argument that he isn’t even the one the coaches are hoping to win.
But those variables haven’t really changed much since February. The guy people care about is Calvin Austin III. He’s been here for almost as long as Olszewski has been here, so that’s not a new variable to take into consideration.
The only other players who were working in the return lines during OTAs, from what players have said, are a pair of undrafted rookies, wide receiver Jordan Byrd, who is almost exclusively a return specialist, and running back Alfonzo Graham.
Graham has drawn some buzz as a potential candidate to win the third running back role, but like Olszewski, he’s not likely to see much of a role on offense due to those who are in front of him. The acquisition of Allen Robinson II didn’t help him, but for him specifically, the departure of Sims was a larger net gain, because he is making this team as a return man or nothing.
And he has an All-Pro on his resume doing it. Are they really going to keep Byrd? Not unless he houses a kick or two during the preseason, quite frankly. And Graham still has to beat out Anthony McFarland Jr. I know almost everybody hates to hear this, but sitting here on the first of July, Olszewski still has a rather good chance of being on the 53-man roster.
