Player: DL Isaiahh Loudermilk
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Another year, another Pittsburgh Steelers roster full of defensive linemen. For the past few seasons, the Steelers have stocked up on depth, but it doesn’t always translate in-season. This year, they added Dean Lowry and Logan Lee while retaining Montravius Adams. Those moves once again put Isaiahh Loudermilk on notice and fighting for his job.
The Steelers once sent the Miami Dolphins a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for DL Isaiahh Loudermilk. Actually, to be more accurate, they acquired a 2021 fifth-round pick and used it to draft Loudermilk.
In the three seasons since then, Loudermilk has logged 585 defensive snaps and 196 special teams snaps. That includes 181 defensive snaps in 2023, during which he recorded 16 tackles and two batted passes.
Is that sort of production worth keeping around for yet another season? That depends on how Loudermilk stacks up to the rest of the competition. The Steelers have a full deck along the defensive line this year, including most of last season’s roster.
The only player parting company was Armon Watts, but they replaced him in free agency with Dean Lowry. The Steelers also added Logan Lee in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft who seems like a typical Steelers defensive lineman.
That leaves carryovers like DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk once again fighting for their roster lives. They both managed to make it last year, but that’s partly because the Steelers were willing to carry seven defensive linemen. That type of decision remains an outlier, and there’s no guarantee that they do it again this year.
If they do, then they need guys like Loudermilk, Leal, and Lee to justify their roster spots. Playing on special teams can help, and Loudermilk played a career-high 82 snaps last year. Obviously, he’s largely limited to work on the field goal kicking and blocking units. He has played a tiny bit on punt returns, however—not as the returner. Presumably, when they leave the defense on the field in the event of a fake.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
