It was another light week for Steelers rookies with Zach Frazier remaining out with an ankle injury. He has a solid chance of returning after the bye. This rookie class is getting a lot of love, with Payton Wilson, Mason McCormick, and Beanie Bishop Jr. all getting midseason All-Rookie nods from The Ringer this week. Frazier probably should have made the list, and perhaps would have if he wasn’t injured for the last few games. For the few rookies available, let’s take a look at their snap counts, PFF grades, and a clip of their play from the Week 8 win over the Giants.
Week 8 – Vs. New York Giants
ILB Payton Wilson
Snaps: 30 on defense (42 percent), 20 on special teams
PFF Grades: 59.1 overall, 29.7 run defense, 78.8 coverage, 55.0 tackling, 70.8 pass rush
After being heavily involved last week with double digit tackles, Wilson came back down to earth a bit with just three total tackles versus the Giants. He seems to have found his resting point with snaps per game with about 30 in a rotation with Elandon Roberts.
It was nice to see them send Wilson on the blitz a couple times in this game. His speed really shows in the backfield when he gets in pursuit of the quarterback or when he ends up chasing a running back. On the play below, the Steelers brought double A-gap pressure with Wilson and Patrick Queen. Wilson knocked over the running back and got pressure on the play.
OG Mason McCormick
Snaps: 66 on offense (100 percent), 6 on special teams
PFF Grades: 44.5 overall, 16.3 pass block, 53.9 run block
Mike Tomlin talked about the importance of putting four hands on Dexter Lawrence to help slow him down and not leave C Ryan McCollum on an island against him. That meant McCormick was getting hands on Lawrence a lot, and with mixed results. A lot of it wasn’t great, but he did show the ability to drive him back on a few occasions. For a player as big and strong as Lawrence, it could have been much worse.
CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Snaps: 60 on defense (83 percent), 13 on special teams
PFF Grades: 64.5 overall, 70.0 run defense, 62.1 coverage, 83.6 tackling
Bishop logged another interception and earned Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for it. If you told me that one player would have three interceptions and the other zero between Minkah Fitzpatrick and Bishop, I don’t think I would have believed you to see the way things have played out eight games into the season.
He has been one of the most steady tacklers on the defense this season. While Cam Sutton is likely to bump him out of a starting role, I think he’s done enough to get 10-15 snaps per game in the slot.
