Player: OLB Jeremiah Moon
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While the Steelers explore their options for outside linebacker depth, Jeremiah Moon is trying to make their job easy. In his preseason debut with the team, he produced both on defense and on special teams. Special teams will be a critical role for anybody at the end of the linebacker depth chart, inside or outside.
The Pittsburgh Steelers just lost Markus Golden to retirement, but let’s not kid ourselves about what that means. There is a reason that the Steelers and every other team didn’t sign him all this time, and he may not have even ended up making the roster. They may not even keep a fourth outside linebacker, but if they do, Jeremiah Moon is a leading candidate.
A former member of the Baltimore Ravens, Moon wound up with the Steelers after they claimed him off waivers. Undrafted out of Florida in 2021, he played 99 defensive snaps last season and 142 on special teams. He only played significant defensive snaps in three games, including the finale against the Steelers.
Interestingly, Moon forced two fumbles last season, both against the Steelers—one on special teams, one on defense. No doubt that helped him catch their eye when the Ravens waived him at the end of the season.
Moon made his Steelers debut on Friday in their preseason opener against the Houston Texans. He logged 23 defensive snaps, making five tackles, including one sack. He also played 13 special teams snaps, chipping in with an assisted tackle.
While preseason sacks are nice—hello, Tuzar Skipper—the reality is the Steelers need edge rushers who can work the new kickoff. They have T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig to play on defense. Moon chipping in on a tackle on a kickoff won’t hurt his cause, but he has competition. That will primarily be Kyron Johnson, who played 100 special teams snaps for the Steelers last season.
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.
