Week 1 is a wild card around the NFL for several reasons, none more unpredictable than the play of rookies. Some hit the ground running while others need weeks, months, or even years to come into their own as a solid contributor. In today’s NFL, they are thrown into the fire more than ever. The Pittsburgh Steelers had three rookies with snaps in Week 1 against the New York Jets.
In a slightly altered rookie report from previous years, we are going to look at each player’s tape, assign grades, and keep track of their grade point average throughout the season for a cumulative look at progress.
Only four rookies played in Week 1 with Derrick Harmon, Will Howard, and Donte Kent dealing with injuries.
Week 1 – At New York Jets
RB Kaleb Johnson
Snaps: 2 on offense (4 percent), 7 on special teams
PFF Grades: 52.7 offense, 60.0 special teams
The Steelers’ plan to slowly incorporate Johnson into the offense is clear, with just two snaps and one carry on offense. His one carry for a two-yard loss was hardly his fault. The blocking was a mess with four Steelers only taking care of three defenders on the left side of the line. At least he was able to shed the first tackle attempt with ease.
The kick returns were nothing to write home about, other than his nearly-disastrous fumble in the first quarter.
Week 1 Grade: D
OLB Jack Sawyer
Snaps: 15 on defense (23 percent), 23 on special teams
PFF Grades: 57.7 defense, 82.6 special teams
Sawyer played slightly more than he normally would on defense with Nick Herbig out, but where he really left an impression was on special teams. He played more ST snaps than anybody on the team across five different units. He also had one assisted tackle in that phase.
As for his defensive play, Sawyer lined up on both sides to spell both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. He got stuck on blocks and wasn’t handling chips from TEs all that well. The Jets ran some of their plays designed to limit Watt at LOLB when Sawyer was playing. He got stuck on the chip for far too long on a couple occasions.
Week 1 Grade: C-
DT Yahya Black
Snaps: 24 on defense (38 percent), 2 on special teams
PFF Grades: 44.9 defense, 59.4 special teams
This game was a bit of a reality check for the media hype surrounding the fifth-round rookie entering the season, but it’s not time to panic. His poor PFF grade is mostly the result of a pair of missed tackles. On the positive side, he had two pressures that resulted in QB hurries on just seven pass rush snaps. He very nearly had sacks on back-to-back plays, but failed to finish both of them.
The arm tackle he attempted here isn’t going to cut it against Justin Fields, or many other NFL QBs for that matter.
He flashed the ability to beat blocks with his strength and length, including a couple nice run stops.
It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t look out of place. Keep in mind, we would be having a much different conversation if he finished one or both of those sacks.
Week 1 Grade: C+
LB Carson Bruener
Snaps: 0 on defense (0 percent), 20 on special teams
PFF Grades: N/A defense, 70.5 special teams
Bruener didn’t see the field on defense, but he made this team to be a core special teamer like Mark Robinson throughout his time in Pittsburgh. He did a solid job, even logging his first special teams tackle. Any path to a role on defense will run through special teams, so it was a good start for the rookie.
Week 1 Grade: B-
