Stock up, stock down for Steelers after final preseason game

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The NFL’s 2021 addition of an annual preseason “bye” over Labor Day weekend leaves some ambiguity as to when, exactly, training camp ends and the regular season begins.

For the sake of argument, let’s say training camp ended Thursday night for the Pittsburgh Steelers with their 19-10 preseason victory at the Carolina Panthers. Over the preceding 30-day span, the team endured 17 full practices, a handful of walkthroughs and three preseason games.

Over the next four days come the roster cuts.

With that in mind and with the Steelers’ regular-season opener a mere 16 days away, here is who and what are trending in a particular direction:

Stock up: Yahya Black

Of course, all disclaimers apply for “it’s only the preseason.” But, at this point, Black (164th overall pick) has the look of a draft-day steal.

In just 18 defensive snaps played Thursday, Black had five tackles (three solo, two for loss), two sacks and a forced fumble. The Iowa product was impossible to miss on the training-camp practice fields and not just because of his 6-foot-5, 336-pound size. He makes plays in practice settings, and it has translated to preseason games.

Take Pro Football Focus grading for what it’s worth, but Black grades as the best NFL defensive lineman this preseason (minimum 50 snaps played) and as the fifth-best rookie defensive player regardless of position.

A fifth-round pick is not necessarily guaranteed a spot on the season-opening active roster. Rest assured, this particular fifth-round pick now is.

Stock down: Tackling on defense

Unsolicited, coach Mike Tomlin described the Steelers’ tackling as “shaky at times.” To the naked eye, it certainly — at times — looked worse than that.

Of the 70 games played over this NFL preseason through Thursday, only three had a worse PFF tackling grade than the Steelers on Thursday (32.9). For the preseason overall, the Steelers rank 27th in the NFL in tackling.

Even with second- and third-teamers absorbing much of the playing time, that isn’t setting a tone for the regular season.

Stock up: WRs Miller, McCutcheon

Scotty Miller entered camp on the 53-man roster bubble and Lance McCutcheon moreso for the practice squad. Against the Panthers, each made a strong case for the respective designation.

Miller had receptions of 53, 16 and 13 yards. That he has caught all nine of the balls thrown his way in preseason games — three of them targeted to him more than 20 yards downfield — would come as no surprise to anyone who watched Miller during camp practices at Saint Vincent. The sure-handed veteran probably made more plays than any receiver on Chuck Noll Field.

McCutcheon had a quiet preseason until Thursday, when he played more offensive snaps than any Steelers player (37), had the Steelers’ only touchdown and accounted for three of their biggest gains of the day: the TD of 24 yards from Skylar Thompson and a pair of 14-yard receptions.

McCutcheon is an extreme longshot for the 53-man roster, but he could be in good position to be a potential “next man up” on the practice squad.

Stock down: WRs Woods, Johnson

The converse of Miller has been Robert Woods, likewise a veteran with a Super Bowl ring who signed a one-year contract with the Steelers this spring to serve as a depth receiver. But Woods has been invisible throughout the camp and preseason. In games, he has as many tackles as catches (one each). Against Carolina, for the second consecutive game, he wasn’t targeted. The only time his name was on the stat sheet? When he was flagged for holding.

Woods is a respected veteran who has been a good influence on his position room. But at age 33, he simply might not be able to get open anymore.

Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, didn’t even have much of a chance to get open in Carolina. He suffered a foot injury on the Steelers’ first possession. The bad timing — five days before roster cuts — might prevent Johnson from spending a second consecutive season on the Steelers’ practice squad. That would be too bad, as Johnson has had a good camp.

Stock up: DeMarvin Leal’s playmaking

Entering his fourth season and coming off an injury that ended his 2024 campaign, Leal’s career is at a crossroads. The talented former third-round pick might have run out of time to make an impression with the Steelers.

But given ample chance to state his final case to stick in 2025 — only one defensive player played more snaps for the Steelers — Leal flashed some of his immense talent in Carolina. All three of the times he tackled a Panther, it was at or behind the line of scrimmage.

Stock down: DeMarvin Leal’s penalty-taking

The problem for Leal? Two of those three did not count because they were negated by penalties he took: one for lining up offside and one for a facemask.

Leal played almost exclusively outside linebacker, a position switch from where he was drafted. He has the raw tools to be a playmaker in the NFL, which is why the Steelers were so intrigued by him. But getting flagged won’t help Leal’s cause.

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