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: CB Darius Rush
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Signed off the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad as a rookie fifth-round draft pick, Rush made his NFL debut last Thursday night, logging 30 snaps in sub-packages. He earned some praise from head coach Mike Tomlin yesterday, indicating that he will remain ahead of the likes of James Pierre and could have a role at least until Minkah Fitzpatrick returns.
Although Rush missed what would have been a game-sealing interception very late in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans, the rookie’s NFL debut was pretty solid on the whole. The fact that he got 30 snaps was impressive considering the fact that he is a rookie who has only been with the team since Oct. 18.
Spurred on by the injury to S Minkah Fitzpatrick, he got a chance to get a helmet this past Thursday and saw time ahead of James Pierre, who did not play any defensive snaps in the game. The coaching staff obviously found him to be a quick learner.
And head coach Mike Tomlin brought him up during his pre-game press conference yesterday without prompting. “It was really good to get D-Rush in the fold and for him to show that he was capable of executing assignments”, he said.
While he added that it “would have been nice” if he were able to finish the play on which he nearly intercepted the pass with seconds to go, he still praised Rush for “his readiness and his display of capabilities”. After all, while the catching part of the play was fairly routine, he did a nice job of putting himself in the spot of being there to try to make that play.
With Joey Porter Jr. now in the starting lineup over Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson seeing increased work playing all over the field, one wonders how wide open the door is for Rush to expand his usage. Could he emerge as the dime back even after Fitzpatrick returns from injury?
The Steelers liked him during the pre-draft process, and the fact that they took Cory Trice Jr. in the seventh round showed that they had no issues double-dipping at the position. The problem is they had no draft picks anywhere near where Rush was selected after taking OLB Nick Herbig six selections prior. Their next pick after 132 for Herbig, where Rush was 138, was 241—which they used to take Trice.
