Player: CB James Pierre
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Getting the start and the majority of the playing time for the injured Joey Porter Jr., veteran CB James Pierre looked overmatched against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. While they make many starters look bad, Pierre more than had his hands full.
Without Joey Porter Jr., Patrick Mahomes had a pretty breezy day. It didn’t help that the Steelers’ pass rush didn’t offer very much, but their lack of depth at cornerback just made matters worse. At least, their depth selection. Earlier in the season, Cory Trice Jr. was the next man up, but now it’s James Pierre.
Pierre primarily dresses because of his special teams role, but that also leaves him as the next man up outside. The Steelers asked him to step up yesterday, and, well, he didn’t. While he is hardly the only (or biggest) reason they lost, it was a representative part of the problem.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is a reason the Steelers let James Pierre walk. And there is a reason they brought him back, specifically they needed special teams help. Had Trice stayed healthy, we are probably not having this discussion.
But it’s tough to face a team like the Chiefs that has a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes against backup-level backups. James Pierre probably wouldn’t even be the next man up on five other NFL teams. And if he were, it would probably be due to injury.
That’s not to denigrate Pierre’s coverage ability because he is just doing what the Steelers ask him to do. Sometimes he even gets a lucky break. And he did have an interception not long ago, even if it was on an overthrown ball.
But Pierre didn’t get any breaks from Mahomes. He certainly didn’t on the Chiefs’ second touchdown, trying to cover Justin Watson one-on-one out of the slot. The sooner the Steelers can ask him to stop doing such things, the better off everyone will be.
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.
