Player: WR Van Jefferson
Stock price: decline
reasoning: Veteran WR Van Jefferson lost some of his value with the Steelers’ acquisition of Mike Williams. He’s starting to contribute more in the passing game with Russell Wilson at quarterback, but he’ll likely take more of a backseat. It might not happen right away, but he could soon be the Steelers’ fourth or fifth target. In fact, he may start spending a lot more time on the bench.
Van Jefferson didn’t cost the Steelers much, and in hindsight, that’s definitely a good thing. He’s starting to see a bigger role in the passing game, but that likely won’t last long. Flipping between the second and third receiver roles, he is now a top three, if not fourth, pick at best. This is thanks to the Steelers sacrificing a fifth round pick and adding Mike Williams via trade.
The Steelers wouldn’t make that move if they felt good about having Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III as their top three receivers along with George Pickens. In fact, this move was merely the culmination of a long pursuit for a starting wide receiver. And they set their sights even higher than Mike Williams, starting with Brandon Aiyuk first.
Van Jefferson, who signed a one-year contract with veteran salary benefits, has come into his own with the Steelers. In eight games, he has played a total of 359 snaps, more than two-thirds of his total. Despite the extensive playing time, he only saw 21 targets and had 14 catches for 139 yards and one touchdown.
But over the past two games since appointing Russell Wilson at quarterback, Jefferson has had six catches on eight targets for 77 yards and one touchdown. That means he’s had about half of his production for a quarter of the season, plus his lone point. And most of that came in week eight.
But that doesn’t mean Jefferson can’t go anywhere. He’s still the primary blocker on offense, so he’ll probably make plays as well as dress. But once Mike Williams is fully up and running, I’m not sure we’ll see many targets his way.
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.
