Player: WR Van Jefferson
Stock price: rising
reasoning: Over the past few weeks, Van Jefferson has appeared in the Steelers’ offense. On Monday, he caught four passes for 62 yards, a week after catching his first touchdown. All of this coincides with Russell Wilson’s entry into the starting lineup, but Jefferson also deserves credit for staying focused. And he remains a willing disruptor, which is one of the reasons the Steelers brought him back.
Don’t look now. But Van Jefferson may actually be relevant this season. A week after securing the ball in his father’s spot, the veteran had his best game of the season. On five targets, he caught four passes against the Giants for 62 yards.
That included a 36-yard catch, which is more than he’s had in an entire game in seven weeks. At the halfway point, Jefferson now has 14 receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown. But over the past two weeks, he has six catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.
If he continues this pace into the second half of the season, he will catch 27 balls for 347 yards and four touchdowns in his final nine games. Now Van Jefferson probably won’t catch a touchdown pass every other game. But can he average three catches for 39 yards over nine games? I definitely think he can do it if the Steelers use him.
In other words, use him in the passing game. Even though he has played 359 snaps, Jefferson has only 21 targets this year. Because he is the Steelers’ primary blocking wide receiver. In fact, he typically plays 60-85% of the snaps per game.
Considering how much he plays, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Steelers start looking for Jefferson more. He hasn’t consistently been great at getting open or creating separation, but he’s improving. WR coach Zach Azzanni emphasized that his recent success is down to his own development, not Russell Wilson’s. Whatever the reason, the Steelers need it to keep going, if not accelerate.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stock prices rise and fall.. The nature of the assessment varies depending on the time of year, and in-season considerations are often more short-term. Offseason considerations often have broader implications, especially when a player loses a job or a team signs someone. this time of year It’s full of deals.Either minor or major.
Bad games, new contracts, injuries, promotions and many other things affect a player’s value. Think of them as stocks in a speculative market. After a good game, you might feel better about a player, or after a bad game, you might feel worse. Some stock updates will be minor, while others will likely be quite drastic, so keep that in mind. I will do my best to explain its nature in the reasoning section of each column.
