Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason: Week 4 Stock Report

Three of the Pittsburgh Steelers' five preseason games are in the books, and the team is but one week away from having to trim the roster down. With a final deadline of September 5 to pare down the roster to 53 men, time is running out for players to make names for themselves and therefore cases for one of those limited spots.

Heading into the Steelers' preseason Week 4, here are the players whose stocks are on the rise and those who are seeing their stocks fall.

Stock Up: WR Markus Wheaton

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We have spent much of the summer discussing the anticipated leap that Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant will make in his second season, which means that Markus Wheaton has fallen to the wayside. But not for the Steelers—Wheaton seems set to have his best year yet in Pittsburgh. 

With the Steelers playing five preseason games this summer, Wheaton didn't play many snaps until their third game against the Green Bay Packers. But he immediately looked comfortable with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, catching three of four passes thrown his way, for 42 yards and a 20-yard touchdown.

Roethlisberger told SiriusXM NFL Radio (h/t NFL.com) earlier in August that Wheaton will be the team's "breakout player of the year":

"

I want that. I want him to have that pressure, because...when we're in two-wide receivers he's our No. 2 and we're asking him to play outside. When we go three wide receivers, we ask him to move inside. So he's playing multiple positions. I think he's doing an amazing job of it. He's such a good kid, hard worker and he wants to be great wherever he plays.

"

Currently, Wheaton is listed as the No. 2 receiver alongside Antonio Brown and ahead of Bryant on the depth chart. With the team set to play its "dress rehearsal" preseason game on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, which will feature the starters playing their heaviest workload of the summer, expect Wheaton to have even more chances to shine.

Stock Down: O-Line Depth

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Beyond the Steelers' starting five offensive linemen—or now, four, with center Maurkice Pouncey sidelined indefinitely with an ankle injury suffered in the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers—the team is struggling to find quality depth.

Cody Wallace took over at center for Pouncey on Saturday, but he may cede that job to Doug Legursky, whom the Steelers signed on Tuesday. Legursky spent 2009 through 2012 with the Steelers and could prove to be a better replacement for Pouncey for however long the starter is sidelined.

But the rest of the depth has struggled so far, and none look like they will be able to perform at a high level if forced to step in for guards Ramon Foster and David DeCastro or tackles Marcus Gilbert or Kelvin Beachum. Pro Football Focus has given negative overall grades to all of the Steelers' depth linemen through three games, with only Alejandro Villanueva and Chris Hubbard boasting any positive grades at all—both as pass protectors.

The Steelers will need at least a handful of these backup linemen to elevate their games in the final two weeks of the preseason or else hope that no other injuries strike the line this year. This is not an area of strength for the team.

Stock Up: RB Jawon Chisholm

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It's not that Steelers running back Jawon Chisholm is lighting up the preseason field. But this once-marginal player, signed at the beginning of August, is suddenly seeing increased opportunities, ones that could result in at least a berth on the team's practice squad.

Through three games, Chisholm has totaled 35 yards on 20 carries, for a 1.8 yards-per-carry average. According to Pro Football Focus, he has accumulated 24 yards after contact and can be a one-cut runner—though certainly not one as explosive as starter Le'Veon Bell.

Chisholm has gotten his opportunities because Cameron Stingily is on injured reserve and Josh Harris has been sidelined with a foot injury. Since he's the only healthy reserve back behind Bell and DeAngelo Williams, every carry Chisholm gets increases his chances of sticking around in Pittsburgh, one way or the other.

Stock Down: S Gerod Holliman

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On one hand, it was going to be a long shot for Steelers safety Gerod Holliman to make the team's final 53-man roster, given he was a 2015 seventh-round draft pick. On the other, his 14 interceptions in 2014 made him a consensus All-American and the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation's best collegiate defensive back. The Steelers could certainly find some way to use him.

But tackling has never been Holliman's strong suit, and improvement in that area would be required for him to stick on the roster. And based on his preseason playing time, that improvement is not coming quickly enough.

According to Pro Football Focus, Holliman played 31 of the Steelers' 58 defensive snaps in their first preseason game, 16 of their 72 snaps in the second game and just seven of 69 in their third. Given that the Steelers' safety ranks have steadily thinned with injury over the summer, Holliman should be seeing more, not less playing time.

That is, of course, unless he's just not developing as they had envisioned. Holliman's days could be numbered.

Stock Up: LB Anthony Chickillo

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It seemed at first that converted defensive end Anthony Chickillo would be a long shot to make the roster as an outside linebacker. But after dropping 35 pounds and working on his technique, he has been one of the Steelers' standouts of the summer.

In 52 preseason snaps played, as tallied by Pro Football Focus, Chickillo has earned a positive grade as a pass-rusher, totaling two quarterback hurries and two defensive stops. Steelers Depot's Jon Ledyard wrote of Chickillo's summer that "the outside linebacker has looked like a totally different player with his decreased weight and increased explosiveness." Ledyard also added, "Chickillo has the tenacity, motor and technique to hold off blockers and make plays against the run."

The Steelers may need to find room for Chickillo on their 53-man roster if they want to keep him around. As he keeps getting noticeably better as a pass-rusher, other teams may poach him away if Pittsburgh tries to sneak him onto the practice squad.