The Pittsburgh Steelers preseason finale is coming up quickly, on a short week this tonight, and I wanted to look at a few things before I can provide information after the game. In the preseason, we get an opportunity to see more action from younger players generally, so I wanted to put a table together of how the 2023 draft played out for Pittsburgh and the Atlanta Falcons heading into the game:
Other than getting a reminder of how the draft went for both teams, I also saw some fun takeaways. The Steelers made seven selections, while the Falcons came away with six players. Atlanta prioritized offense with its first two selections and had an even split on both sides of the ball overall, while Pittsburgh leaned slightly to defense. Each team lacked fifth- and sixth-round selections, and two players in the seventh round with Atlanta’s being back-to-back. For the first time this preseason, the opposition had a higher first pick.
Atlanta made Bijan Robinson the first running back off the board at eight overall. He is a very talented and athletic (9.85 RAS) player. Robinson made his NFL debut last week, playing 12 snaps, with four carries for 20 yards. Thirteen of them were after contact (3.67 per attempt), which ranks 22nd per PFF currently, a stat Steelers running back Jaylen Warren currently leads thanks to his triple explosive run last week. Robinson forced four missed tackles, impressive given the low number of opportunities. One of his totes went for 12 yards, providing a first down. He also caught his only target for six yards. Can’t wait to see how Pittsburgh fares if this challenge presents itself.
In Round Two, the Falcons took offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron at 38 overall. He primarily played left tackle in college, and moved up to first-team left guard on the Falcons’ latest depth chart due to a season-ending injury to Matt Hennessy. Bergeron played 23 snaps last week at that position, and seemed to play well as a run blocker, but only had a 26.6 pass blocking grade. It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh’s defensive linemen fare in these battles if he plays.
With the 75th pick in the third round, Atlanta selected linebacker Zach Harrison, whom I liked in the pre-draft process. He has played in both preseason opportunities (54 defensive snaps), primarily as an edge rusher and has lined up on both sides. Harrison provided a hurry last game, but has seemingly struggled as a run defender (32.8 grade) and in tackling (23.4) with three missed tackles, per PFF. Looking forward to hopefully seeing the Steelers tackles match up against him.
Cornerback Clark Phillips III was taken in the fourth round (113 overall), a player our own Owen Straley was high on in the pre-draft process. He played quite a bit last week (48 defensive snaps) in his debut, with the vast majority of his opportunities in the slot. Phillips was targeted six times, allowing three catches for 31 yards (57 coverage grade). He seemed to play a bit better against the run, tackling in particular (81.6 grade). Hope to see him play and would be cool to see Pittsburgh get him matched up against wide receiver Calvin Austin III, who has a clear speed advantage, as he encouragingly will most weeks.
After a long wait until the seventh round, Atlanta selected safety DeMarcco Hellams with the 224th pick. He has played a lot through the preseason (106 defensive snaps) and seemingly had a particularly good game last week. Hellams earned a 92.1 defensive grade in the outing, ranking eighth among all positions in Week Two, with a great 89.9 in coverage and 86.2 tackling grade. With the hope that Pittsburgh can keep explosive plays going, it will be interesting to see how these second-level chances pan out against their secondary.
The Falcons held the next card as well (225 overall), ending their draft with another offensive lineman in Jovaughn Gwyn. He was primarily a guard in college but has played all 47 of his offensive snaps at center thus far. It’s seemingly been a slow start with him (45 offensive grade). He seemed to step it up as a pass blocker last week (79.3), which was his best grade by far.
Of course, I’m even more excited to see how the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie class closes out the preseason. There has been ups and downs with left tackle and 14th overall pick Broderick Jones this preseason. The preseason finale will be a huge opportunity for him to hopefully continue to gain more NFL snaps (94 to date) after a lack of starting experience in college and end on a high note. This is of course the hope, with the expectation that such a high draft pick to see the field sooner rather than later.
The Steelers had the luxury of two second-round picks in the 2023 draft, starting with cornerback Joey Porter Jr. at pick 32. He made his NFL debut last week, a nice showing that our own Alex Kozora broke down very well, including an interception and faring well in coverage on 24 snaps. Another strong showing would be huge, hopefully instilling confidence in the coaches to get him on the field early. That would allow the secondary to be flexible and move around and provide even more challenges for opposing offenses.
Defensive lineman Keeanu Benton was encouragingly available to Pittsburgh at pick 49. He had a rather impressive NFL debut in 28 defensive snaps, but only played on special teams last week. Hopefully Benton will be able to play more as he works back from the ankle injury he sustained in Week One. This is one of my biggest desires for the rookies in the finale, considering another strong performance could turn into a starting role, which would be very valuable given his three-down skill set.
Pittsburgh double dipped on Georgia products, with another player who was surprisingly still available, third-round tight end Darnell Washington at pick 93. It would be great to see him end things with a bang this week, adding even more to the run blocking value and problems he’s caused for defenders in the red zone by drawing impactful pass interferences. This would of course be huge come the regular season. Calling a shot here: red zone jump ball for a touchdown on Thursday night.
In Round Four the Steelers double dipped again, this time out of the University of Wisconsin with the selection of edge rusher Nick Herbig at pick 132. He has far exceeded expectations in his 40 snaps, not only as a pass rusher, filling the stat sheet with four pressures, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble, but against the run as well. Herbig’s 82.3 run defense grade ranks third among edge rushers through two games, including both of his tackles going for stops last week. I’d recommend checking out this great film room by our own Josh Carney, who highlights this point as well. Here’s to hoping he stacks yet another impressive performance, adding even more excitement heading into the regular season for the potential of this Steelers edge rusher room.
After a long wait for both squads, Pittsburgh made two selections in the seventh round. The first was another cornerback with size/length in Cory Trice Jr. at pick 241. Things were going well for the skilled corner in training camp overall, but very sadly suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Steelers closed out their strong 2023 draft with the selection of offensive lineman Spencer Anderson. One of his main attributes is versatility, playing all five spots on the line in camp, and all but left tackle last game as Dave Bryan discovered. He has also played well, especially considering his draft slot, with his pass blocking skills in college translating so far this preseason on 68 snaps. Will be very interesting to see how he closes this thing out, considering what he offers could be valuable at the end of the roster.
Which rookies are you most excited to see? Who are your favorites to perform well (if they play)? How about non-rookies? Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments!
