Steelers Report Card: Grading the acquisition of DL Chris Wormley

The brain trust of the Pittsburgh Steelers felt that Chris Wormley and a seventh-rounder in 2021 was worth trading a fifth-rounder in 2021 the rival Ravens. They failed to consult anyone of us. But that’s okay. The right people are paid to make those decisions, while we judge from afar.

For some reason, I’ve been given the responsibility to rate the performance of Kevin Colbert, Omar Khan and company on nothing but speculation. It’s not easy, but I’ll give it a whirl. Despite my less than prestigious BTSC teaching certificate, I have to issue the necessary disclaimer. You know the story; of course, I’m not a football coach, or a teacher, but I play one in blogs and podcasts. All offseason, I had certain expectations that the Steelers would be limited like a Lap Band patient at the buffet at Golden Corral. But then a group of Steelers banded together much like the citizens of Bedford Falls to save George Bailey from twenty years of prison discomfort in Its a Wonderful Life and restructured their deals to free up cap space. So voila, we are back in business.

Assessing game day grades is an extremely difficult and somewhat thankless task. While the coaches’ grades, of course, are what counts the most, the media and fans can’t help but evaluate as well. All letter grades are simply based on the eye test of somebody watching at home. That’s me. Then the masses come in like a flock of seagulls and poop on the efforts of the author, only to fly away and hide behind their online moniker.

Grading personnel decisions is even tougher. We have to wait nearly six months to actually know if our grades our on the money. This time I decided to enlist my friends to help. Since I don’t have any...I recruited a few of my colleagues at BTSC. They resisted, but relented. But I now have to name my next five kids Jefferson, Lancelot, Dave, Tony and Cliff Harris is Still a Punk. Joke’s on them though. I think the vasectomy took.

With that being electronically said, let’s take a look at BTSC’s early perceptions:

DL Chris Wormley - Baltimore Ravens

Overall Grade: B-

Wormley became the odd man out when the Ravens acquired Michael Brockers and traded for Calais Campbell. Usually trades within the division are rare, but this one seemed to work for both AFC North rivals. While more of a backup to Stephon Tuitt a season Cam Hayward, Wormley has experience on the nose. While not a truer replacement for Javon Hargrave, Wormley provides depth on the line while guys like Isaiah Buggs and Tyson Alualu move over more at nose tackle.

Tony Defeo: C+

Not very productive, but decent pedigree and adds depth behind great defensive line.

Jeff Hartman: B

Don’t know a ton about him, but the Steelers could use some proven depth along the defensive line with Stephon Tuitt’s injury history.

Lance Williams: C

Wormley provides motor and depth as a rotational 3 and 5 technique Defensive Lineman.

Dave Schofield: C

Trading for a player on a rookie contract is usually a no brainer, but the Ravens had it so end-loaded Wormley is due over $2 million this year. We’ll see if they can work out some other deal or if he was worth the money.

K.T. Smith (CHISAP): B

I don’t know much about the guy but we got him for a late-round pick swap. For a DL depth player from a franchise that knows how to coach guys up, that sounds like a pretty good deal.

Bryan Anthony Davis: B

Not many fans knew who Tyson Alualu was three years ago. The Ravens upgraded tremendously by trading for Calais Campbell and adding Michael Brockers through free agency. This doesn’t cancel out the loss of Javon Hargrave, but it provides a nice depth option. I really like this move. It is underrated, but clever.

Now it is your turn to play teacher. Use the polls and the comments section below. We can compare notes in the teachers lounge.