The Pittsburgh Steelers were hoping to right the wrongs of last week's preseason opener on Saturday night.
Instead, things only worsened as the offense was totally lifeless throughout, managing a mere three points in a loss to the Buffalo Bills.
With many questions to be answered about the team and their process to this point, here are the players seeing a rise and fall stock after Week 2 of the preseason.
Bullish
EDGE Nick Herbig
Nobody had a better showing on Saturday than EDGE defender Nick Herbig. He opened the team's defensive sequences with a sack on third down, but he would then add another half sack, QB hit, two tackles for losses, and make a play on special teams to close out his box score.
Herbig continues to show growth and development in his second year and will certainly play a key role as a pass rusher in 2024.
LB Mark Robinson
Robinson is firmly entrenched in the middle of a roster battle as he aims to round out a deep LB corps in Pittsburgh. Games like Saturday will certainly help those efforts, as Robinson looked improved in pass coverage, sturdy against the run as the team's second-leading tackler, and was flying around on special teams.
P Cameron Johnston
Johnston was used frequently on Saturday night thanks to the ineptitude on offense but he made the most of just about every rep.
Signed in the offseason to replace a position that was anything but stable, Johnston was a camp darling in Latrobe and looks to be an asset in the ever-important game of field position.
Bearish
OT Broderick Jones
It was certainly a night to forget for Jones, who started things off by letting up a sack against Bills pass rusher Greg Rosseau, which he then mirrored on the third drive.
Jones has been nursing an elbow injury and playing both sides of the line with rookie Troy Fautanu out with his knee injury.
Asking a player who came out of college "raw" in his footwork to swap back and forth on sides with entirely different footwork is a recipe for disaster, and that recipe showed itself on Saturday night.
QB Russell Wilson
Wilson was completely unremarkable in his Steelers debut. He had a fantastic completion percentage of 80% going 8/10 on his attempts, but they added up a grand total of 47 yards with no TDs, no interceptions and only one completion for a first down.
Wilson also took three sacks and lost 21 yards of which at least one was his fault.
It would be wrong to grade his debut in its entirety without analyzing the film, but the offense was lifeless under his command.
SCB Beanie Bishop
The starting slot CB on Pittsburgh's initial depth chart , it looked like the path toward not only making the roster but earning the title of first-team slot CB was a clear one for the rookie UDFA.
Following what is believed to be a season-ending injury to Grayland Arnold, Bishop, who has shined at times during camp and approached Saturday night with the nickel role as his job to lose.
Yet, before the game even started, Bishop's stock took a significant hit when he was in street clothes. Bishop was a full participant all week in practice and had been all camp leaving many scratching their head as to why he was inactive.
Coach Tomlin told the media after the game that Bishop was limited later in the week and was held out of Saturday's contest out of precaution.
Regardless, the rookie needs as much time on task as he can get, especially with names like Thomas Graham Jr. (who has regular-season experience) behind him.
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