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The night practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium is always one of the highlights of camp. As it is when there are live broadcasts from the stadium, there is always some extra buzz, but even more so with the SportsCenter broadcast. Seeing the production trucks, tent, sideline reporters and live interviews made it an even bigger event than it already was.
If you've never been there before, the stadium has always had a regular high school grass field. Not anymore. The district must have invested some good money into the field and it is a beautiful professional bluegrass field. Also, props for the volunteers at the event, especially the student volunteers. They did an outstanding job accomodating the big crowd--and the burgers were delicious.
Dupree, Burns and Feeney sat out of practice.
The birthday joke on Williams reached it's pinnacle on Friday. The balloon prank was good, but Heyward and Foster got him with silly string and Bill Hillgrove sang happy birthday over the PA system. It's all been in good fun, but it has reached the point where anything else will be played out. With that said, this team seems very loose and tight knit. A good locker room environment usually means good things for the season ahead.
Unfortunately, I have not had much luck going to practices when Roethlisberger is actually on the field. He had another maintenance day, so we were left with the erratic play of the backups. Although I am not high on any of them, I do actually think Jones is legitimately performing better than Gradkowski. While he loses out on mobility in the pocket, he gains on the ability to make big plays. He tossed some beautiful passes to Brown and Coates, including one to Brown where he had Grant beat on a deep route by an good five yards or so--hit him right in stride as well.
I'm not particularly fascinated by any of the running backs in camp outside of Bell and Williams. I do like how Toussaint runs and he has done a nice job protecting the football. Still, I hope to see more from the backfield once the games start, especially if Bell is going to miss a quarter of the season. More on this group later.
If Coates can play half as well as he has during camp, the Steelers will be fine at receiver. Again, I don't believe he is limited to a deep threat role as Bryant has been. This guy can run routes to all parts of the field and his strength is evident. Will he be the No. 2 option? Not necessarily, Wheaton is a guy that gets virtually no credit, but just goes out and handles his business quietly. I've also seen virtually no mental gaffes from Wheaton, something that has hurt him in the past. Ayers also did some nice things at receiver and I did see him use his body well on a sideline reception to shield off the defender.
After watching him this long, I truly wonder what Vince Williams could do if given the opportunity to start at inside linebacker. He practices at 100 miles per hour and hits like a truck. Coverage isn't his strength, but he isn't a liability in this area either. The defense is set with Shazier and Timmons in the middle, but it would be worthwhile to get him some snaps and this could only help keep Timmons--a guy who never misses any time--fresh throughout the season. Fort also continues to impress. He plays the run very well and has made an impact in coverage. He continues to look like a strong option for a roster spot as does Johnson, but I really like Matakevich. He continues to play sound, fundamental football and had an excellent performance in drills--though, I'm not ready to turn him into a superstar based on his performance in backs on backers.
Camp Notes
The offense looked pretty good in seven shots. Grimble caught a nice ball for a score as did Brown, both on quick passes around the middle of the field. Nix was able to lunge past a pile of defenders for a score as well. The middle is the weakness for the defense as they defend the outside quite well. Shabazz nearly had a pick six off Gradkowski, but dropped it. Gay kept Brown out of the end zone on a pass to the left flat. Brown made the reception, but was just short of the goal line.
With a great view of backs on backers, I decided to focus on this drill Friday night. Besides Bell and Williams, the backup running backs and tight ends were not impressive in the blocking department. I didn't see who the backs were, but Fort and Williams planted them on the ground on back-to-back plays. The defenders were getting by with power, swim moves and sometimes there wasn't any contact. Stingily particularly struggled on this drill and in a surprise, Nix didn't have his best showing. James had some whiffs as well.
The light bulb may have went on for Shamarko. Though I haven't seen much of him in coverage, he's been outstanding in the box defending against the run. I'm not talking about making plays after the runner breaks through the line, but making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. I also saw some nice things from Davis in the box and he did have solid coverage in one rep during team drills, but still allowed a short reception.
Rookie Report
After a few practices, here are my predictions for the draft class.
1. Artie Burns - I don't expect him to play anything other than special teams early on. He is still a work in progress and has missed some time. He'll really need to bring it during the preseason games.
2. Sean Davis - He is playing the traditional safety position and in the slot, including time with the first-team defense. The staff is preparing him for playing time and I'd be surprised if he didn't get on the field with the defense early on.
3. Javon Hargrave - I think his early reviews are a bit inflated because of his performance in one-on-one drills. With that said, McCullers offers nothing as a pass rusher and the Steelers have been more willing to play rookie defensive linemen lately. He should contribute as a rotational player.
4. Jerald Hawkins - Raw, but has flashed ability in individual and team drills. He should make the roster, but basically will be a redshirt year.
6. Travis Feeney - Slight build, hasn't stayed on the field. He needs to get healthy and show he can play special teams to make the roster.
7a. Demarcus Ayers - The Steelers have brought in some pretty bad late-round receivers in the past, this isn't one of them. He looks like he is in that No. 5-7 range, which on this roster is good. We will see what he can do with returns, but he is in a battle for a spot. Depends on if they keep five or six.
7b. Tyler Matakevich - Big fan of his game, but may lose out in a numbers game. The guys ahead of him are performing well right now.
If you've never been there before, the stadium has always had a regular high school grass field. Not anymore. The district must have invested some good money into the field and it is a beautiful professional bluegrass field. Also, props for the volunteers at the event, especially the student volunteers. They did an outstanding job accomodating the big crowd--and the burgers were delicious.
Dupree, Burns and Feeney sat out of practice.
The birthday joke on Williams reached it's pinnacle on Friday. The balloon prank was good, but Heyward and Foster got him with silly string and Bill Hillgrove sang happy birthday over the PA system. It's all been in good fun, but it has reached the point where anything else will be played out. With that said, this team seems very loose and tight knit. A good locker room environment usually means good things for the season ahead.
Unfortunately, I have not had much luck going to practices when Roethlisberger is actually on the field. He had another maintenance day, so we were left with the erratic play of the backups. Although I am not high on any of them, I do actually think Jones is legitimately performing better than Gradkowski. While he loses out on mobility in the pocket, he gains on the ability to make big plays. He tossed some beautiful passes to Brown and Coates, including one to Brown where he had Grant beat on a deep route by an good five yards or so--hit him right in stride as well.
I'm not particularly fascinated by any of the running backs in camp outside of Bell and Williams. I do like how Toussaint runs and he has done a nice job protecting the football. Still, I hope to see more from the backfield once the games start, especially if Bell is going to miss a quarter of the season. More on this group later.
If Coates can play half as well as he has during camp, the Steelers will be fine at receiver. Again, I don't believe he is limited to a deep threat role as Bryant has been. This guy can run routes to all parts of the field and his strength is evident. Will he be the No. 2 option? Not necessarily, Wheaton is a guy that gets virtually no credit, but just goes out and handles his business quietly. I've also seen virtually no mental gaffes from Wheaton, something that has hurt him in the past. Ayers also did some nice things at receiver and I did see him use his body well on a sideline reception to shield off the defender.
After watching him this long, I truly wonder what Vince Williams could do if given the opportunity to start at inside linebacker. He practices at 100 miles per hour and hits like a truck. Coverage isn't his strength, but he isn't a liability in this area either. The defense is set with Shazier and Timmons in the middle, but it would be worthwhile to get him some snaps and this could only help keep Timmons--a guy who never misses any time--fresh throughout the season. Fort also continues to impress. He plays the run very well and has made an impact in coverage. He continues to look like a strong option for a roster spot as does Johnson, but I really like Matakevich. He continues to play sound, fundamental football and had an excellent performance in drills--though, I'm not ready to turn him into a superstar based on his performance in backs on backers.
Camp Notes
The offense looked pretty good in seven shots. Grimble caught a nice ball for a score as did Brown, both on quick passes around the middle of the field. Nix was able to lunge past a pile of defenders for a score as well. The middle is the weakness for the defense as they defend the outside quite well. Shabazz nearly had a pick six off Gradkowski, but dropped it. Gay kept Brown out of the end zone on a pass to the left flat. Brown made the reception, but was just short of the goal line.
With a great view of backs on backers, I decided to focus on this drill Friday night. Besides Bell and Williams, the backup running backs and tight ends were not impressive in the blocking department. I didn't see who the backs were, but Fort and Williams planted them on the ground on back-to-back plays. The defenders were getting by with power, swim moves and sometimes there wasn't any contact. Stingily particularly struggled on this drill and in a surprise, Nix didn't have his best showing. James had some whiffs as well.
The light bulb may have went on for Shamarko. Though I haven't seen much of him in coverage, he's been outstanding in the box defending against the run. I'm not talking about making plays after the runner breaks through the line, but making tackles behind the line of scrimmage. I also saw some nice things from Davis in the box and he did have solid coverage in one rep during team drills, but still allowed a short reception.
Rookie Report
After a few practices, here are my predictions for the draft class.
1. Artie Burns - I don't expect him to play anything other than special teams early on. He is still a work in progress and has missed some time. He'll really need to bring it during the preseason games.
2. Sean Davis - He is playing the traditional safety position and in the slot, including time with the first-team defense. The staff is preparing him for playing time and I'd be surprised if he didn't get on the field with the defense early on.
3. Javon Hargrave - I think his early reviews are a bit inflated because of his performance in one-on-one drills. With that said, McCullers offers nothing as a pass rusher and the Steelers have been more willing to play rookie defensive linemen lately. He should contribute as a rotational player.
4. Jerald Hawkins - Raw, but has flashed ability in individual and team drills. He should make the roster, but basically will be a redshirt year.
6. Travis Feeney - Slight build, hasn't stayed on the field. He needs to get healthy and show he can play special teams to make the roster.
7a. Demarcus Ayers - The Steelers have brought in some pretty bad late-round receivers in the past, this isn't one of them. He looks like he is in that No. 5-7 range, which on this roster is good. We will see what he can do with returns, but he is in a battle for a spot. Depends on if they keep five or six.
7b. Tyler Matakevich - Big fan of his game, but may lose out in a numbers game. The guys ahead of him are performing well right now.
