Practice Squad Transactions

[Steeler Nation]

By Jessica Costello SteelerNation.com Roster moves have been in the works for the Pittsburgh Steelers all week as another practice squad transaction has been made. Earlier today, outside linebacker, Sutton Smith*was released as running back, Darrin Hall*was re-signed back to the team. An interesting move for the team as Smith was just recently signed on […]

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[BLITZ]

Sutton cant stick anywhere. I feel bad for him

 

[madinsomniac]

I mean this is clearly a rb isn’t going to be ready move... SS will be back as soon as they are healthy if he isn’t elsewhere...

Also nfl expand the damn roster already... 53 was fine when you were allowed to pain med a guy up and send him out with a career threatening injury cause” FOOTBALL “... those days are dead... grow with the times...

Eventually gambling revenue will be incorporated into the cap... grow the active roster to at least 65....

 

[Muddler]

Maybe its me but I can't remember a year when we had this much shuffling of the PS. I like both these Sutton Smith and Darrin Hall though I think they have SS's position wrong. Should be trying him at ILB IMHO - he's not big enough to be an OLB in the 3-4. Hope they find a way to keep them both around. Gotta be discouraging for these guys - here one day, gone the next, yo-yoing on and off the team. Oh well, at least they are getting paid for it.

 

[Tibs]

My guess is Trey Edmunds is down, and Conner still iffy.. the only healthy Rb's are JaySam and Tony Brooks-James. That's why they needed to add Hall as insurance.

I'm still hoping Conner will be back, we really need him against Rams.

 

[madinsomniac]

Maybe its me but I can't remember a year when we had this much shuffling of the PS. I like both these Sutton Smith and Darrin Hall though I think they have SS's position wrong. Should be trying him at ILB IMHO - he's not big enough to be an OLB in the 3-4. Hope they find a way to keep them both around. Gotta be discouraging for these guys - here one day, gone the next, yo-yoing on and off the team. Oh well, at least they are getting paid for it.

Meh ss is an inch taller and only 4 pounds lighter than James Harrison... he has that leverage thing going... he could be fine

 

[johngaenzler]

It’s ridiculous that they didn’t pick up Ajayi or Anderson. We aren’t beating the Rams with 2 backups...


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[slashsteel]

It’s ridiculous that they didn’t pick up Ajayi or Anderson. We aren’t beating the Rams with 2 backups...


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I would have liked something a little better than Brook -James.

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[Tibs]

I would have liked something a little better than Brook -James.

Well, I think JaySam will get a heavy load at RB. The potential upside is Brooks-James may replace Switz on kickoff returns, which I'd be eager to see.

Tony Brooks-James eager to make a run at improving Steelers kick-return game
https://triblive.com/sports/tony-br...practice-eager-and-willing-for-shot-in-games/

The Steelers have one of the worst kickoff return units in the NFL. Could a change be coming?

Rookie running back Tony Brooks-James said practiced as a returner and would welcome the opportunity in a game. The speedy Brooks-James returned kicks for Oregon. As a senior, he averaged 26.1 yards per return. The longest return for a Steeler on any kick this year is 26 yards.

“Me and Coach have talked about it a little,” Brooks-James said, “and in practice I have done it a little bit. But I am trying to get it in a game, too.”

The Steelers did not practice kickoff returns Wednesday, Brooks-James said.

Last season, Brooks-James had five games in which he returned at least one kickoff 32 yards. He returned 44 kicks during his college career, including a 100-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff of the 2017 season.

Over his final two seasons, Brooks-James averaged 25.9 yards per return. The Steelers this season are averaging 18.3 yards per return (Ryan Switzer and Johnny Holton are at that figure), third-worst in the NFL. Only two other teams do not have at least one return of 27 yards or more.

He also shows promise as a RB.... certainly fast enough.

<samp class="EmbedCode-container"><code class="EmbedCode-code"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/AtlantaFalcons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AtlantaFalcons</a> RB Tony Brooks-James plants his foot and marches his way into the end zone! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATLvsJAX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATLvsJAX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/_TonytooTone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_TonytooTone</a> <a href="https://t.co/VfNV9NdjZP">pic.twitter.com/VfNV9NdjZP</a></p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1167224008292491264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </code></samp>


From his draft profile:

PROS: Speed demon who's a homerun threat on every touch. Eats up angles, through the tackles but especially when working to the boundary, and is very difficult for most third-level defenders to close on when he's working into the sideline. Has returner like feel for space and ability to burn. Contact balance impresses, especially for a player of such a thin frame. Has a nice feel for attacking defender's leverage and can angle body to bounce off. Feel for leverage and flow appears again as a zone runner: excels at diagnosing upfield cutback lanes and has the explosiveness to slip by unblocked read keys. Has stop-start suddenness to make pursuit defenders whiff. Profiles nicely to a high quantity of receiving reps; already used heavily on bubble screens and flare routes.

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