Player: S Kyle Dugger
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The Steelers just acquired S Kyle Dugger a few days ago, but he made an immediate impact on their defense. Coming over via trade, he played all but one snap and held his own. He even helped make some plays, including a third-down stop and a run stop.
It remains to be seen whether Kyle Dugger will be the Steelers’ every-down safety, as they worked with a M.A.S.H. unit this week. With DeShon Elliott on IR, Chuck Clark and Jabrill Peppers ill, and Juan Thornhill jogging, they needed bodies. They even moved Jalen Ramsey to safety, where he played nearly the entire game.
And he played next to Kyle Dugger, who took the practice field for the first time on Thursday. In just that short amount of time, he managed to get the defense down well enough to function all game. It helped that he played with Jabrill Peppers in New England, who is now here. Peppers acknowledged he was something of a translator for Dugger, helping to expedite his acculturation into the defense.
Playing nearly every snap, he did register four tackles, even if otherwise he seemed somewhat anonymous. But you often don’t want to notice your safety very often, including in games like this. Of his four tackles, Dugger registered two stops. That included one on 3rd down, and another for no against RB Jonathan Taylor.
Kyle Dugger started 69 games over the past five years for the Patriots, logging over 4,000 snaps. He is a seasoned veteran who knows what he’s doing, make no mistake. Only the Steelers are hoping that he has a little more meat on the bone than some of their other recent safety acquisitions. Like Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark, who may find themselves spending a lot more time on the bench.
With regular season underway and the roster in place, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of thatchange the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract. Oh, and they also traded some guy named George Pickens, which people found significant.
After a long offseason, we finally know what this Steelers team will look like for the 2025 season. The dust is long settled on both free agency andthe 2025 NFL Draft, and now we’re into the real thing . What final moves might the team make, if any? They’ve certainly made a flurry of moves, though some question whether they make much difference. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
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