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Observations Pre-Season Game 2 vs Iggles....

C

Chicoman

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Well what a great team effort tonight for our Steelers. A rough start for the Defense and a few sore spots....something is wrong with Robert Spillane....he is not 100% and this IMO is why they traded for Schobert. I'll spare you with the random thoughts on the game and instead focus on the players who I thought stood out.



Winners:
Dwayne Haskins - 16 for 22 161 yds 1 TD. Led 4 scoring drives including his 4th TD Drive of the season. He has shown enough this season to warrant keeping him on this roster. Right now I think he's above Rudolph on the depth chart but I'm not a Mason fan, never have been. I do get excited to see Haskins back there and tonight he proved his worth. I'd like to see what he can do against a starting Defense.

Anthony McFarland - Nice to see some improvement from year one to year two. He had a nice second effort on his TD run at the Goaline.

Jaylen Samuels - Against the 2nd & 3rd teamers but he ran pretty damn good tonight.

Jamir Jones - Good effort tonight....going to be hard to slip him onto the PS if he keeps playing like he did tonight.

Loudermilk - This kid has made the list both games so far...he stands out, great first step and he's a big dude at 6'7"

Rico Bussey & Anthony Johnson - 2 good looking young WR's....one should make the roster...but which one do you keep? I like Bussey....seems a little more fluid while Johnson seems a bit stiff.

Kevin Dotson - Saw his first action of the season...my god he is a road grater. Saw play with the 2nd team but he was killing it the whole time he was in there

JC Hassenhauer - He along with Dotson both played great tonight and opened up some big holes in the running game

BJ Finney - a seasoned veteran but along with JC & Dotson he really stood out for his run blocking when he was in there.

Losers:
Cam Sutton - I'd like to think he just had a bad night but he was flat out awful tonight. We can't have our #2 CB play like that in the regular season or we will be in big trouble. He stunk tonight!

Kendrick Green - This kid is the future but he really struggled tonight. Didn't look like starting material tonight.

Tre Norwood - Really blew it on that 79 yd TD pass from Flacco...should have made that tackle and held him to 5yds. Took a bad angle on that play.

Robert Spillane - He's not 100%. He can't be....I've followed him his whole career in Tennessee & now with the Steelers and he just looks like he's in slow motion. Something is wrong with him whether it's physical or in real life but he's not playing at 100%. Something is bothering him.

Josh Dobbs - His time could be running out....that INT he threw was a terrible read and an even worse throw.....BRUTAL!

One final note I'll say it sure as hell seems like Adrian Klemm is doing a pretty good job with our O-line in the pre-season. We watched the Steelers get great push in the running game tonight. It was impressive for a bunch of young guys. Hope they keep this up moving forward. Right now our weakness is at ILB but maybe Schobert changes all that when he arrives. Spillane I'm not seeing the Spillane he's been throughout his career. Also Cam Sutton has got to be better out there than he was tonight. Our worst performer on the field tonight!
 
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I can see Hass starting over Green initially. Big Dot might not replace who you think he will. I would still bring in a corner on cut downs or trade. Bussey and Johnson would have to push our returner off the roster. Not sure they are doing that. Jones is a victim of a crowded room but should be a priority PS sign. I await Cope's breakdown of Loudermilk's play. I wonder sigh how long that wait will be.
 
After last night, I'm not sure who they keep at RB. I know for me, my top 2 are Harris and Ballage. Snell may now be the odd man out. Who knows.

They have to give Haskins his shot with the 1's. If they don't, that means he is No. 3, end of conversation. I know I'd give him that shot whichever week Ben doesn't play. You have to, don't you?
 
That Quez dude is next-level fast. He embarrassed the entire D, not sure we have anyone on the roster with that type of speed. He may be top 5 in the NFL with wheels like that. Damn, just blew by everyone.
 
TDX27 said:
They have to give Haskins his shot with the 1's. If they don't, that means he is No. 3, end of conversation. I know I'd give him that shot whichever week Ben doesn't play. You have to, don't you?
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There's little doubt Haskins will have a start with the #1's, maybe even next game. We've seen plenty of Rudolph, they know what he's capable of. Time give Dwayne a shot running the show. I'd just roll with Haskins & Dobbs next game, let Mason sit one out.
 
slashsteel said:
I can see Hass starting over Green initially. Big Dot might not replace who you think he will. I would still bring in a corner on cut downs or trade. Bussey and Johnson would have to push our returner off the roster. Not sure they are doing that. Jones is a victim of a crowded room but should be a priority PS sign. I await Cope's breakdown of Loudermilk's play. I wonder sigh how long that wait will be.
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GREAT analogy slash, thanks.....

I too await for our Cope to explain his delay in the "Loudermilk" verdict.

I don't know if you remeber but last time I saw him he was near Swedish Boarder dressed but no shoes and singing "Proud Mary". I've had an UPDATE spotting and he was seen swiming the Suez Canel and a big container ship had to swerve to miss him. ALSO NOTE: He was still singing "Proud Mary" but it was in a foreign language............




Salute the nation
 
Did I miss something?

Under "Losers", I'd put the entire starting OL, and particularly Chuks. He looked lost out there, imo, several times blatantly so. Was the move from right to left really that big?

Starting defense was awful head to toe.
 
I think it is difficult to glean anything in this game. The ones who are mostly 2s didn't look good at all. Though plays were made by the receivers, Rudolph and Harris. Our 3's and 4's clobbered theirs. That's really what happened.
 
Haskins had a good game, albeit against a bunch of guys that will be sacking groceries in a couple of weeks, but with his pedigree he should have played that well considering the competition. That said, I'm in agreement he needs to start the next game. See where he's at against the 1's. Still won't get a full picture with defenses laying off in the preseason, but it will be a much better picture than we have now.
 
SteelerSask said:
I think it is difficult to glean anything in this game. The ones who are mostly 2s didn't look good at all. Though plays were made by the receivers, Rudolph and Harris. Our 3's and 4's clobbered theirs. That's really what happened.
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That's what I told my son last night. Our scrubs are better than theirs.
 
Najee Harris ran hard again, good to see...2 carries for 10 yards. BUT....needs to stop with that hurdle/jump move he keeps displaying. NFL defenses will break him in two if he keeps that isht up!!!!
 
Sarge said:
Haskins had a good game, albeit against a bunch of guys that will be sacking groceries in a couple of weeks, but with his pedigree he should have played that well considering the competition. That said, I'm in agreement he needs to start the next game. See where he's at against the 1's. Still won't get a full picture with defenses laying off in the preseason, but it will be a much better picture than we have now.
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I heard that Tomlin already announced that Ben is starting the next game. Basically, that means we won't see Haskins against first-teamers because the last preseason game is usually all backups.
 
DocScott said:
Najee Harris ran hard again, good to see...2 carries for 10 yards. BUT....needs to stop with that hurdle/jump move he keeps displaying. NFL defenses will break him in two if he keeps that isht up!!!!
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If Najee keeps running like he is, he won't make it out of preseason. He's taking four or five good hits every time he runs the ball.
 
Steelers had some pretty good QB play last night. Mason is still hesitant and doesn't command the offense like you want from a starting QB, but he can make some quality throws. Haskins settled in, threw some nice touch passes, and began to get comfortable.

I look forward to seeing Highsmith out there with the full set of starters because he is standing out right now. Imagine when defenses have to key in on guys like Watt and Heyward with Fitzpatrick roaming in the secondary.

The first-team OL stinks. A lot of talk how left tackle was Okorafor's natural side and he would be better. I'm just not seeing it. I don't know if Moore is ready, but I want to see what he can do against the starters. What I like most about Moore is he gets to the second level a lot. Green is up and down and it's hard to say what they can get from him early in the season. As I said in the other thread, I don't know what's going on between the coaching staff and Dotson, but you need your best players in the starting lineup. Dotson needs to be with the starting OL next practice and stay there. He was the one "sure thing" entering the season and they need to start acting like it.
 
Number 3, 26, and 87 made the squad last night...

Number 8's skills have diminished to the point that 44 should take his spot on the roster....how much money did we put in that guys pocket?
 
LouderMilk? I'd rather enjoy a QuietBeer...

Anyone that thinks Dotson isn't going to start A) forgot what he did at both guard positions last year as a rookie against top NFL talent, and B) didn't watch him throw DLs like ragdolls last night! Love me some KDOT!
 
I am not a Rudolph fan i just do not see the talent there. His arm has always looked suspect to me especially on the out routes. With Haskins you can see the talent just a matter of the mental stuff. I was not for bringing haskins in, but he has looked pretty good and think he will overtake Rudolph.
Samuels looked decent, i did not like his effort on the long 3rd down conversion though. Once he got the first he just jogged OB. As someone on the bubble i would have liked to see more hustle there.
 
Cope said:
LouderMilk? I'd rather enjoy a QuietBeer...

Anyone that thinks Dotson isn't going to start A) forgot what he did at both guard positions last year as a rookie against top NFL talent, and B) didn't watch him throw DLs like ragdolls last night! Love me some KDOT!
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Absolutely no one thinks Dotson isn't going to start.
 
QB-

Rudolph once again was head and shoulders better than the rest. Threw with accuracy and slung it in with zip when needed to.

Haskins took a nice step forward. He dinked and ducked a lot but escaped pressure a few times and even though he missed early he settled down later and made a nice running throw for a nice Anthony Johnson touchdown. He did get lucky that an easy interception was dropped.

Dobbs regressed a little. He looked a little erratic throwing and made a poor decision with an interception. But was still “ok”.
 
RB-
Harris looked good but his leaping bs needs to stop. Going to get hurt trying to do that.

McFarland looked a lot quicker and did a good job of keeping his feet moving and not going down after first contact. Did a + job in pass pro. Ball security was iffy though.

JaySam looked strong and showed his hands off. Still have him above McFarland.

Tony Brooks-James looked very good. I hope he can make the PS. Good burst and vision.
 
TE-
Rader definitely impressed again. I put him ahead of Gentry but I feel we should keep 4 TE’s at this point. Gentry blocked well and snagged a ball. Ebron and Freiermuth are locks.
 
OL-
Chuks going to make us miss Villanueva. Whiffed at second level run blocking and was getting all he could handle pass blocking. 😬

Dotson looked good to me I don’t see how he’s not starting game one.

Green is no Pouncey. I feel Finney starts the season at center and green hopefully comes around.

They did Trai dirty on that hold. Looks to be at the very least as good as DeCastro.

Haeg is underrated.

Banner looked good.
 
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