Player: WR Calvin Austin III
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While Calvin Austin III remains in the concussion protocol, he seemed off to a good start in recovery. During Wednesday’s practice, he spent time working out, officially listed as limited. If he can ramp up to full by Friday and clear his baseline test with no symptoms, he should be available to play Sunday against the Browns.
Third-year WR Calvin Austin III is not having himself a bad season, by any means. In fact, he has arguably been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Russell Wilson at quarterback. Over the past six games, he has 12 catches for 218 yards and three touchdowns. Over the first six, he had 10 catches for 167 and one touchdown.
Austin has scored a touchdown two games in a row, on similar plays. On both occasions, Russell Wilson found him up the seam in the end zone. But the undersized receiver has also taken a beating lately.
In particular, Calvin Austin took some big hits in the last game against the Bengals. In fact, he took one hit too many, resulting in a concussion. On the whole, he has shown his toughness despite his size, but you can’t tough out a concussion.
The good news is that he seems to be doing well. Every concussion has its own recovery timeline, but being able to begin the week practicing in any capacity is encouraging. If Austin can graduate to full over the next two days, he stands a good chance of playing Sunday.
After missing his entire rookie season due to a foot injury, Calvin Austin played all 17 games a year ago. So far this year, he has not missed a game, though he has missed snaps due to injury. This is the first documented concussion of his career, which is never a bad thing, either. And given the increasing importance he has had the Steelers could certainly use him out there.
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.
