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: G James Daniels
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: The veteran right guard was ruled out for Sunday’s game in Houston, marking the first time since late in the 2021 season that the Steelers will be without one of their starting offensive linemen.
This might not be saying a great deal, but RG James Daniels has arguably been the Steelers’ best offensive lineman so far this season, and he was coming off of his best game of the year against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Just as the offense was looking to catch a spark, they will have to navigate around a significant offensive line injury. Though LG Isaac Seumalo is new to the team this year, this is the first time that they have had to adjust to playing with a backup in the lineup under Pat Meyer.
Nate Herbig will start in his place, and one would hope that he should be serviceable, which is why they signed him in the first place and moved on from Kevin Dotson, trading him away at the end of the preseason. But he still doesn’t have that rep history with the starters that Daniels does, that’s a simple statement of fact.
Daniels was ruled out for Sunday’s game with a groin injury. One would imagine—and hope—that it won’t be a long-term injury, but it was enough at least for this week to rule him out. He did not practice at all during the week, even though he did not miss a snap in last week’s game.
A prized free agent addition a year ago, he took some time breaking into the Steelers’ scheme, but he finished the 2022 season strong. The entire offense began this season with some growing pains, an obvious adjustment period, but the unit as a whole took a sizeable step forward in Las Vegas.
They cannot afford to take a step back working toward the next stage of growth, in spite of the injury along the offensive line. That is why the made the investment in the depth this year. Not only did they had Seumalo and Herbig, they also drafted Broderick Jones in the first round, who, until he cracks the starting lineup, makes for a very fine swing tackle option.
