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 likely solidified his spot on the 53-man roster with last night’s performance against the Atlanta Falcons in the preseason finale. Though he had the benefit of running behind a first-string offensive line while playing a reserve defense, he offered up some hard running while also displaying the speed element he can bring to the table.
For my money, at least through a quick first review, nobody strengthened their case for a spot on the 53-man roster last night more than did Anthony McFarland Jr. A 2020 fourth-round pick, he has struggled to find a regular role on the team, even falling to the practice squad last year, but in 2023 he is quite clearly one of the top three running backs.
What’s more, he is displaying a skill set that better indicates it could translate into regular season play. McFarland has grown and matured as a player over the course of the past couple years, and it has shown in his work over the past several weeks.
Greater effort and urgency is a part of that. He runs harder. He plays like he knows his job depends on it, after learning last year that it really does. While his greatest asset remains his speed, he seems to have managed to find more ways to get to the parts of the field where he can actually use it.
Sometimes that means breaking a tackle the hard way—through or off a player rather than around. There are still runs where he goes down on first contact, but just look at the touchdown run he had last night as an example of the increased frequency of physical running he has offered.
One thing that hasn’t even been sufficiently tapped during the preseason is the potential that he offers as a receiving threat. You always want to get a short, quick back with solid hands out in space, and the easiest way to do that is to move him there and then throw him the ball.
I do believe McFarland has earned a spot on the 2023 roster for the Steelers. The real question is how to get him on the field. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren already command a significant workload. Can they assemble a niche for him, perhaps as a third-down receiving back? If Gunner Olszewski doesn’t make the roster, he could be an option in the return game as well, at least as the up back on kick returns.
