Player: OL Mason McCormick
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Mason McCormick started 14 games as a rookie, but he could miss his first playoff game. Thanks to friendly fire, he broke his left hand. While the Steelers are fitting him for a cast, it remains to be seen if he can play. Broken hands hurt, from what I understand, and Michael Pierce is pretty big.
Mike Tomlin didn’t offer too much about Mason McCormick when meeting with reporters yesterday. He noted that the rookie suffered a broken hand, and that they were fitting him with a cast or brace. The Steelers head coach said whether he is available or not will be determined by his ability to practice and the quality of his work.
A fourth-round pick out of South Dakota St., Mason McCormick wasn’t supposed to see the field this year. He didn’t even start the season as the Steelers’ top backup guard. But he did pass Spencer Anderson for that right in relatively short order. When James Daniels suffered a season-ending injury, they asked McCormick to take over.
He did, and generally held his own, finishing the season with 939 snaps in 14 starts over 17 games. But after Cordarrelle Patterson smashed his left hand, he may have to miss his first playoff game. That $6 million contract is looking better and better, eh?
Filling in for McCormick was Spencer Anderson, who will start at right guard if McCormick can’t play. An offensive lineman is obviously going to struggle trying to play with a broken hand. But he is a guy who is all about the game, and all about loyalty. If he is capable of playing and the Steelers let him play, he will play.
The question is whether his hand will let him play. My guess is we’ll get a sense early in the work week whether Mason McCormick will play or not. If he is able to function in practice with his hand, he should be fine. If not, I don’t see it getting much better by Saturday. But what do I know? I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
