First Call: Is Stephon Tuitt still ‘underrated’? A few Cowboys challenges for Steelers. Alex Highsmith shines.
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For Friday’s “First Call,” we see some praise for Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt. We look at a pair of Dallas Cowboys who could be a pain for the Steelers offense. A Steelers rookie who is getting some recognition. And a rare positive Pittsburgh Pirates memory.
Tuitt’s time
OK. The timing is a little ironic. But the point is made.
This week, Doug Farrar of USA Today/Touchdown Wire named Steelers defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt as one of the NFL’s most underrated defensive players.
Farrar was giving out some mid-season awards through eight weeks. And, as Farrar points out, putting Tuitt on his list may ring a little hollow as he just got the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award.
But on a season-long basis, Farrar is correct. And maybe the slow build of recognition of Tuitt’s season culminated in that award last week.
“Tuitt was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week this week after his two-sack, five-pressure, nine-stop performance against the Ravens, so we’d better hurry up with the ‘underrated’ thing in his case,” Farrar writes. “This season, only Aaron Donald has more total pressures than Tuitt’s 39 among interior defensive linemen, and no interior defensive lineman has more stops than Tuitt’s 21. While (T.J.) Watt, (Bud) Dupree, and (Cameron) Heyward are flying around in the Steelers’ blitz-heavy front, Tuitt can be called the glue that holds it all together.”
I’ll echo all of that. In fact, I’d argue that Watt has been the Steelers’ best player this season. But Tuitt has been the Steelers’ best player the past three weeks, in their three most important games so far.
Maybe he’s underrated because Steelers fans just don’t want to acknowledge his dominance out loud. In the recent past, the more Steelers fans gush about how good Tuitt is, the more severely he gets injured.
With Javon Hargrave now in Philadelphia and Tyson Alualu hurt, the Steelers can’t afford another absence from him along the defensive line.
From A-Z(eke)
Any conversation about how the Steelers may lose to the Cowboys on Sunday seems to focus on Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott.
He is eighth in the NFL in rushing with 521 yards.
“He is the guy,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said of Elliott on Thursday. “There’s a reason that he’s been hyped up because he is a good football player. He’s an excellent running back. He’s got real strong legs, very hard to get on the ground. You’re not going to arm tackle this guy. You’re going to have to get after it and get a lot of people around him. If I’m them, I’m going in with what I know has helped me succeed in the past, and obviously, it’s 21.”
That said, Elliott is only averaging 3.9 yards per carry and has yet to net a 100-yard rushing game this season.
For his career, Elliot averages 4.6 yards per carry. And he had seven games of 100-plus yards rushing in 2019.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys have pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence.
Demarcus Lawrence's grades and rank among EDGE defenders this season:
-Overall: 89.9 (3rd)
-Pass Rush: 87.8 (5th)
-Run Defense: 84.6 (4th)#Cowboys pic.twitter.com/fX9TC2PZ29— PFF DAL Cowboys (@PFF_Cowboys) November 5, 2020
Lawrence also has three sacks, 21 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles.
High praise for Highsmith
Pro Football Focus generated some of those numbers on Lawrence. The stat-based site also had praise for rookie corner Trevon Diggs.
“Diggs had a pair of interceptions, including an outstanding grab in the end zone, as well as a pair of pass breakups in the game without being flagged for a penalty,” Sam Monson wrote this week. “He still gave up some plays and is far from the finished product, but he showed for the first time this season the play that made some people think he was worthy of Dallas’ first-round draft pick, never mind the second-round pick they spent on him.”
That was from PFF’s weekly “Rookie Studs and Duds” post. Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith also got honors this week because of his interception against Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.
First career interception for @highsmith34!
CBS https://t.co/tI5aUTu7te pic.twitter.com/IJdB7RSKWe
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 1, 2020
That was Highsmith’s first turnover of his NFL career.
Clap for Ke’Bryan
In an effort to keep our minds on baseball during the offseason, ESPN decided to publish a list of the best moment for every team during the shortened 2020 season.
And I know what you’re thinking. Could they actually find one for the 19-41 Pirates?
It turns out, yes!
No. Seriously. They found one.
It was Ke’Bryan Hayes’ 5-for-5 effort on Sept. 26 against the Cleveland Indians.
Ke'Bryan Hayes went 5-for-5 last night.
The kid can hit. pic.twitter.com/zy7FvvN33s
— Pirates (@Pirates) September 27, 2020
“No hitting prospect debuted with the same combination of hype (Hayes, the son of ex-big leaguer Charlie Hayes, was a first-round pick and a top-50 prospect) and immediate success. In just 95 plate appearances, he led all rookie hitters in WAR, and among all hitters with at least 75 plate appearances he was second in OPS+.”
Frankly, I would’ve argued for the last out of the last game just to end the season. But that nomination is probably better.