Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The veteran running back is off to yet another good start to training camp and this time has less competition in his way as he looks to get back to the 53-man roster after spending the 2022 season on the practice squad. Rookie Alfonzo Graham’s season-ending injury also helps his case.
A fourth-round pick in 2020 out of Maryland, Anthony McFarland Jr. was sparsely used over the course of his first two seasons. His career-high in touches in a single game actually came last year for the one game he was elevated from the practice squad, managing eight in a win over the Indianapolis Colts.
If Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren stay healthy, he’s probably not getting eight touches in a game this year, either, though the odds of both staying healthy are relatively low. But the odds of him being that third back in position to fill a void are increasing.
He seemed to be the obvious top backup choice going into camp last year before Warren emerged from the pack as a rookie undrafted free agent. Some fans hoped that Alfonzo Graham would be that next diamond in the rough, but he won’t have an opportunity to show that after suffering a torn labrum.
McFarland still has to worry about Jason Huntley and Darius Hagans, and they are reportedly set to sign another running back in John Lovett, but he is clearly ahead of the pack. He is flashing his skills once again so far in the early portions of camp, particularly his long speed, finding the edge for a touchdown on at least one occasion.
The veteran has acknowledged that he had some maturing to do when he came into the league—which is one of the reasons he declared for the draft when he did—but he believes he learned a lot about what it takes to be a professional while dealing with last year’s demotion to the practice squad.
He has long intrigued at least a small subset of fans because of his potential to offer a genuine change of pace that the Steelers haven’t had in a while with his speed and quickness. Pittsburgh hasn’t had tangible success with a fast running back since Rashard Mendenhall. Is 2023 finally the year that we get a glimpse of that, with the improved offensive line and his own maturity?
