Player: RB Kenneth Gainwell
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: For the second game in a row, Kenneth Gainwell topped 100 yards from scrimmage, the third time this season. He never had a 100-yard game prior to this season, but is finding more success with the Steelers. On Sunday, he rushed for 92 yards, including a 55-yard gain, and added 30 receiving yards.
Kenneth Gainwell is achieving a number of first with the Steelers, and then achieving them again. Earlier this year, he recorded his first 100-yard game, and his first two-touchdown game. Both occurred in the same game—and then he repeated the feat in another game. He also had two rushing touchdowns in one and two receiving touchdowns in the other.
While Gainwell didn’t score yesterday—though he very nearly did—he produced his third-career 100-yard effort. Interestingly, none of them have come solely through one mean of transportation. In other words, he doesn’t have any 100-yard rushing games or 100-yard receiving games. But he’s come close to one or the other each time. On Monday, for example, he rushed for 92 yards, adding 30 receiving yards, for 122 yards from scrimmage.
Kenneth Gainwell has also produced new career highs for the longest run and longest reception of his career. He managed the former on Sunday, although it was on a trick play. The Steelers lined up for a Tush Push, but Connor Heyward handed it off to Gainwell. He bounced around the edge and nearly raced all the way for a touchdown. Instead, he went down just shy of the goal line, officially, 55 yards later.
The next milestones for Gainwell with the Steelers are new career highs for rushing and receiving. Up to 336 rushing yards, he is 28 yards behind his best mark for his career. He also now has 234 receiving yards, needing 19 to tie that mark. With 570 total yards from scrimmage, Gainwell has already set a new career record there.
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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