Pittsburgh Steelers' Updated Rookie Report

With a full five games under their collective belt, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at 3-2, one half game out of the lead in the AFC North. By comparison, Pittsburgh was 1-4 at this point in 2013.

Part of the plan to return to prominence for the Steelers was to take advantage of a deep draft class. The goal was for the Steelers to get younger and faster, and that was going to happen via the draft.

How’s that plan working out so far? So far not so good. However, when the team is winning, it makes the lack of impact by the rookie class less significant. Let’s take a closer look at the Steelers’ rookie class five games into the season.

Player data including inactives courtesy of Steelers.com.

Ryan Shazier, LB

Don Wright/Associated Press

The journey of linebacker Ryan Shazier so far has been a case of peaking early. It took Shazier a week or so to get things rolling in preseason after a strong camp, but Shazier was among the stars on defense in regular-season warm-ups.

Unfortunately, once the season hit, Shazier cooled off, on some level by no fault of his own. Shazier started the first three games of the season at inside linebacker, and all things considered was playing pretty well. It’s important to note that Shazier was making the move from a 4-3 outside linebacker to a 3-4 inside linebacker, and had earned a starting spot.

The downside is Shazier has missed the past two games with a knee injury, and he has yet to return to the field.

The hope is that Shazier can return sooner rather than later and continue to mature and develop as a complete linebacker. The Steelers are going to need his speed and athleticism down the stretch.

Stephon Tuitt, DE

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

After letting multiple defensive linemen leave via free agency, the pick of defensive end Stephon Tuitt made perfect sense. Tuitt came from Notre Dame, where they ran a 3-4 base defense, and Tuitt is an ideal 5-technique end.

Unfortunately, five games into the season, Tuitt has had almost no opportunity to have any significant impact on the field. For whatever reason, the Steelers seem content to keep trotting Cam Thomas out as the starting defensive end opposite Cameron Heyward, and rotate in aging veteran Brett Keisel. It’s hard to know if Tuitt is ready if he can’t find his way to the field.

Dri Archer, RB

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At this point, it is really hard to get a gauge where the Steelers are with running back Dri Archer. Archer has missed part or all of four games so far this season. When Archer isn’t on the field, it is impossible to know if he can be that impact weapon he projected as before the draft.

Nevertheless, beyond reps, the Steelers’ coaches haven’t really made a concerted effort to get Archer the football in positions where he can make plays. Lining Archer up in a power-run set close to the end zone, only to hand it off to the fullback isn’t what I’d call smart offense.

You don’t have to look around very far in the NFL to see how teams are using players with a similar style to Archer. Unfortunately, offensive coordinator Todd Haley seems to still be pushing a square peg into a round hole.

Martavis Bryant, WR

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When the Steelers’ pick came around in the fourth round, the front office was excited to get big, speedy wide receiver Martavis Bryant. Bryant had lived in the shadow of Sammy Watkins during his time at Clemson, but his combination of skills this late in the draft was enticing.

However, and stop me if you’ve heard this one, Bryant has yet to find his way to the football field. As much as I have looked, I failed to find that Bryant has been anything more than a healthy scratch the last two weeks, even though it appeared the Steelers could have used him.

Let’s hope the Steelers are just being cautious with Bryant’s shoulder and when the time comes, he will be ready to come in and use all that size and speed he brought with him from college.

And the Rest...

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I lump the rest of the Steelers’ rookies together because there’s really been nothing to report. Here are the remaining Steelers’ draft selections.

• Shaquille Richardson, CB
• Wesley Johnson, OT
• Jordan Zumwalt, LB
• Daniel McCullers, DT
• Rob Blanchflower, TE

Just a quick rundown. Richardson and Blanchflower are both currently on the Steelers’ practice squad. Zumwalt is on injured reserve, and McCullers and Johnson are on the final rosters but have been inactive for every game this year.

In the final analysis, the Steelers’ attempt to get younger hasn’t really happened to this point. The team is still old at some key spots, like defensive end and cornerback, and they still don’t seem to be playing fast.

All isn’t lost for this rookie class, for this season and beyond. However, five games in, this group hasn’t done much to help this team get above .500.