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: S Trenton Thompson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The first-year safety has been active for the past three games due to injuries at the position. In his first career start this past Sunday, he recorded a key interception in the direction of All-Pro WR Ja’Marr Chase.
It looks as though the Steelers are finally expecting back All-Pro S Minkah Fitzpatrick, who had not even practiced for the past four weeks due to a hamstring injury. That’s not good news for Trenton Thompson’s playing time but given what the first-year safety’s done during that period, he figures to retain a role.
Signed to the offseason 90-man roster in early August, Thompson played well in training camp and in the preseason, earning a spot on the practice squad. After Fitzpatrick’s hamstring injury, the Steelers began to elevate him from the practice squad, officially making his Steelers debut with seven defensive and two special teams snaps against the Green Bay Packers.
Another safety, Keanu Neal, was injured in that game, however. That injury was significant enough to send him to the Reserve/Injured List, leaving Thompson as the next man up to start alongside Damontae Kazee while Fitzpatrick remained out.
He has played exactly 100 defensive snaps over the past two weeks, though only 42 came this past Sunday in spite of the fact that he played all but one snap. The reason for that was simply because the offense dominated time of possession and the defense was able to get off the field.
In each of the past two weeks, Thompson has shown a knack for making plays on the ball. The week before, he failed to finish one opportunity for an interception. He didn’t make that same mistake against the Cincinnati Bengals, intercepting QB Jake Browning in the third quarter as they were driving down the field, looking for WR Ja’Marr Chase.
It was his first career interception, and he should continue to see playing time even as Fitzpatrick works his way back. The Steelers like to use three-safety looks and Neal is still required to miss several more games before he is eligible to be activated from the reserve list.
It should be noted that the past two games have seen the Steelers face inexperienced backup quarterbacks making either their first or second career starts. Thompson wasn’t going up against Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow. But you only play against the personnel the other team puts on the field.
