The Pittsburgh Steelers are twelve games into the regular season, and that means it’s time to track who has done well, stock up, and who hasn’t, stock down, as the team turns the page to the Cleveland Browns in Week 14 of the regular season.

As always, these are just my lists, so feel free to voice your opinion in the comment section below.

Stock Up

Offensive Line 

The early season struggles along the offensive line were obvious, but can you truly blame them? Isaac Seumalo was out of the lineup, James Daniels was lost for the season, Troy Fautanu was injured, and two rookies were called into action. The lack of continuity along the line absolutely had a lot to do with the issues the Steelers had on the offensive side of the ball. What’s happened since the bye week? The team has been able to string together games with the same five starting linemen, and it is showing. The line is getting push up front and protecting Russell Wilson when it matters most. Is it perfect? Far from it, but this group is starting to gel, and that’s exciting when you think about the prospects of the 2024 regular season.

Russell Wilson

There were times when fans were wondering if Wilson’s best days might be behind him. After the Week 13 win in Cincinnati, I don’t think many people are wondering about this anymore. Wilson has command over the offense, and he and Arthur Smith seem to be on the same page more often than not. Wilson has shown at 36 years old he has plenty left in the tank, so much so fans are wondering if/when the Steelers will offer him a new contract after the season. Nonetheless, Wilson’s stock is trending in the right direction in the month of December.

Arthur Smith

I don’t think people understand how difficult it has to be for a play caller to have a quarterback for six weeks, and then switch to another quarterback who doesn’t have the same skill set. This isn’t Lamar Jackson to Tyler Huntley in Baltimore where nothing really changes from one quarterback to another. Smith has handled this transition as well as can be expected, and it is starting to pay off down the stretch when it matters most. Smith has been linked to the vacant UNC job, and I think I speak for all Steelers fans when I say I hope he sticks around. It’s been nice having a legitimate play caller with the Steelers again.

Offensive Scoring

Don’t look now, but the Steelers are inching their way to averaging 25 points per game (24.7ppg), and what a welcome sight it has been Not only has it been more exciting to watch from a fan perspective, but for the first time in a long time the defense likely doesn’t feel as if they have to pitch a shutout for the team to win. The Steelers put up 44 points vs. the Bengals, and despite 7 of those coming from the defense, a 37 point output is still a huge step in the right direction. The next question is, can they keep it up?

Pass Rush

The Steelers pass rush has been lacking this season. There was a time when the Steelers would get 50 sacks in a season as if it were just a walk in the park. This season they’ve struggled in that department, but last week saw a resurgence of the pass rush. The defense sacked Joe Burrow 4 times, but the most important number were the 11 quarterback hits they delivered on the Bengals signal caller. If the Steelers want to compete with the Chiefs and Bills of the AFC, the pass rush will have to mirror their production from Week 13. It was good to see the Steelers start to get home again.

Pat Freiermuth

When you look at Freiermuth’s stat line from the win over the Bengals, it’s easy to look at touchdowns or yards and see why his arrow is pointing up. But for me the best part of why Freiermuth is on the upward trajectory were the 7 targets coming his way. The Steelers are targeting the tight ends more and more, and this should mean big things for not just Freiermuth, but also Darnell Washington and the other tight ends on the roster. Freiermuth topped 50 yards receiving, hit pay dirt, and was targeted 7 times, I’d call that an arrow pointing up.

Stock Down

Joey Porter Jr.

Porter’s struggles vs. the Bengals were on full display. 6 flags thrown on him, with 4 accepted penalties. Some say it is because of Tee Higgins’ physicality, but others are saying Porter’s getting sloppy. Whatever you want to call it, Porter needs a bounce back game in a big way to get his arrow headed in the right direction. Will that happen vs. the Cleveland Browns and Jerry Jeudy? Let’s hope so, because the Steelers need him to be the dynamic player they drafted out of Penn State that we all know exists. Just have to avoid the pitfalls.

George Pickens Antics

How Pickens handles the current scrutiny and attention will be telling. Mike Tomlin said the receiver needs to “grow up”, and we’ll all get to see if that comes to fruition or not when the Steelers take the field Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. No one is asking for less emotion from Pickens, just not the antics. You score a touchdown? Celebrate! You get a first down, be excited! The fans just don’t want the flags which have started to accompany some of these plays being made. Pickens’ response will be huge.

Mike Williams 

This isn’t me saying Williams hasn’t been playing well, or even as-advertised. No, it’s me saying the man hasn’t had a target in the last two games. Not a catch, the ball hasn’t been thrown his way once. The Steelers are using him as a decoy, and that’s fine, but at some point you’d love to see them unleash Williams on a one-on-one when the defense is shading Pickens’ way. Williams isn’t going to jump in and be the team’s WR2 right away, but he absolutely can contribute. Time to see what he can do…

Be sure to follow SCN for all the latest news and updates as the team prepares for the Browns in Week 14 of the 2024 regular season.