Player: WR Mike Williams
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: After weeks of low integration, Mike Williams finally saw his involvement increase last week. Coinciding with George Pickens’ injury, Williams caught three passes, and his role can continue to grow. Should the Steelers stay afloat in Pickens’ absence, the growth of Williams in their offense could be a key development for the playoff stretch.
Mike Williams could make George Pickens’ hamstring injury a beautiful thing if the Steelers take care of their business. As long as they can manage to eke out a couple wins, the silver lining may prove a net positive. What I’m talking about is the opportunity to fully integrate Williams into the Steelers’ offense, just before the postseason.
The Steelers had been on the lookout for a No. 2 WR since before the draft, but they never landed one. While they may not explicitly need that, without George Pickens, they have no choice but to dig into their options. In theory, Mike Williams has the highest potential to be a big piece of the puzzle.
And last Sunday’s game against the Browns didn’t hurt his case. While Williams didn’t exactly dominate, he played well in his moments. He came away with three catches on four targets for 36 yards, including a key 22-yarder. Earlier in the game, he had another explosive play negated by an offensive pass interference penalty. It was a borderline call, but the sequence exhibits his strengths as a combat-catch fighter on deep passes.
If the Steelers can unlock that Mike Williams while George Pickens is sidelined and have both of them at full capacity in time for a postseason run, that would be the best of both worlds. You don’t want to take Pickens off the field, but if you have to, it’s not a bad silver lining.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the Steelers appear to have expected Pickens to play last Sunday. His teammates didn’t know he wouldn’t be playing until minutes before—or minutes after—the inactive list came out. This week, they are planning for Mike Williams to be a big part of the offense, and that is a significant difference.
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.
