Player: OL Mason McCormick
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: The Steelers used their fourth-round draft pick to take a third offensive lineman in Mason McCormick. One could argue the sheer volume indicates how highly they value McCormick relative to other positions of need. They passed on some defensive backs to draft a player who has virtually no shot of playing this year. But perhaps they see him as a potential future starter for the long haul.
Odds are Mason McCormick begins his career as a backup. But he’ll have ample opportunity to dictate, or at least influence, how things progress from there. The Steelers already tipped their hand in how they drafted him and what they said about him: they’re big fans.
You have to be a big fan of an offensive lineman to draft him in the fourth round after already drafting linemen in the first two rounds. After all, the Steelers never did anything like that before in their history. But they seem to believe Mason McCormick could be a starter sooner or later. Perhaps sooner rather than later. General manager Omar Khan seemed to go out of his way to highlight next offseason. Both starting James Daniels and reserve Nate Herbig are pending unrestricted free agents. Could McCormick step into the starting lineup for Daniels by then? They seem open to it.
After all, it’s not like they don’t have plenty of tape. He played something like 3,400 snaps in college, if my memory is correct. He’s older, he’s mature, he’s humble, he’s loyal, he’s dedicated. He’s the kind of offensive lineman that you want to have on your team. That’s why they drafted him even though the line room seemed pretty full already.
At the other guard spot is Isaac Seumalo, who is on the wrong side of 30. Even if they were to end up re-signing Daniels, Seumalo isn’t going to play forever, either. But McCormick first has to prove himself on the field before any of this conversation matters. Yeah, they liked him, but now he has to justify it.
Still, Mason McCormick seems like an easy player to root for. And in terms of immediacy, he could at least challenge for the top interior reserve role. He played guard, generally, but is center-capable, so he could theoretically make Herbig expendable.
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.
