Seconds and thirds etc. Whatever. I get that. At least they fired off the ball tonight and established the line tonight. It was a very minor comment last season but Colins mentioned something about how the oline was maintaining less foot to ground contact to avoid injury. That is totally counter intuitive to any oline play I know of. You want to be rooted and you sure as **** cannot worry about getting injured. I don't want a coach called sweet feet. I wanna ****** bury some dudes. At least the philosophy was better tonight.
The Oline at least fired off the ball
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Real curious to see how this oline stacks up by week 1, hopefully getting a bit of cohesion by then, with starters back healthy, settling into their spots.
Yeah, you got a sense they were firing off the line, had a different mentality than the patty-cake style from last year with the grizzled vets.
Green looked active early, seems nimble on his feet, eager to head downfield to block on run plays, finishing blocks.
Kevin Rader had two spectacular pancake blocks, including on Ballage TD. Love that disposition, perhaps he's our 3rd TE... if he can beat out Gentry.
I became a Pressley Harvin truther right around his third kick into his NFL career. Will be getting my hands on a #6 jersey in the near future.
Overall, liked the mentality of this team, Tomlin and coaches seemed to have everyone keyed in and focused, even at such an early stage.
Yeah, you got a sense they were firing off the line, had a different mentality than the patty-cake style from last year with the grizzled vets.
Green looked active early, seems nimble on his feet, eager to head downfield to block on run plays, finishing blocks.
Kevin Rader had two spectacular pancake blocks, including on Ballage TD. Love that disposition, perhaps he's our 3rd TE... if he can beat out Gentry.
I became a Pressley Harvin truther right around his third kick into his NFL career. Will be getting my hands on a #6 jersey in the near future.
Overall, liked the mentality of this team, Tomlin and coaches seemed to have everyone keyed in and focused, even at such an early stage.
I thought Rader made a very good case to stick. It will be interesting who the third TE is this year. Gentry just seems like the type who is potential but never puts it all together. Harvin showcased well Berry should put his home on the market. It is time. Highsmith really continued to impress good things from him year 2. Just-come-in my Layne it's ok should be shown the door in the final cuts. Nice to see the OLB depth overall shine. Not sure how that Canadian isn't our number 1 WR this year. I continue to like being wrong about him coming out of the draft. Pierre and Brooks are both making cases, but knowing how they want Sutton outside I think Pierre will start out just backing up.Real curious to see how this oline stacks up by week 1, hopefully getting a bit of cohesion by then, with starters back healthy, settling into their spots.
Yeah, you got a sense they were firing off the line, had a different mentality than the patty-cake style from last year with the grizzled vets.
Green looked active early, seems nimble on his feet, eager to head downfield to block on run plays, finishing blocks.
Kevin Rader had two spectacular pancake blocks, including on Ballage TD. Love that disposition, perhaps he's our 3rd TE... if he can beat out Gentry.
I became a Pressley Harvin truther right around his third kick into his NFL career. Will be getting my hands on a #6 jersey in the near future.
Overall, liked the mentality of this team, Tomlin and coaches seemed to have everyone keyed in and focused, even at such an early stage.
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Other highlight was first glimpse at Canada's offensive sets. As advertised, lot's of movement, Wr's coming across LOS real fast, ie the jet sweep option seems to be there on nearly every play, which should keep defenses on their toes. Hope our recievers are gonna be in tip-top shape, they're running full speed pre-snap, then going out on their routes. That brought with it some misdirection plays going back the other way, looks like there'll be screens to RB's & TE's worked in. Anything is better than the vanilla O last year with zero run game and 50+ passes, mostly of the unimaginative variety. So glad Canada was promoted and given the reins. Let's hope Ben is locked in and they stay patient with it as the season wears on. I see good things happening here, if they can truly find some balance in their attack & get the ground game going.
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Couple more thoughts
- Steelers seemed to have a good sense of what they had in Highsmith in letting Bud walk. The kid already looks like a different player, more stout, better technique, more powerful heading into his 2nd year. A full offseason program + training camp looks to be doing wonders for him.
- Based on early news on his good health, conditioning & positive attitude, adding a known commodity like Melvin Ingram to the mix could be a godsend. To be able to get quality rotation at a OLB without a drop off... man, another feather in Colbert's cap.
- Roche & Jamir Jones both look solid in that fight for the 4th spot, though it's early. Not a huge fan of Marsh, but he's stuck around, so he's probably in play there too.
- We'll see what Benny Snell does next few games, but Kalen Ballage is looking like another solid add by Colbert. JaySam looks like he's been leapfrogged by all, he's likely on the outs. Not too impressed with Anthony McFarland. Keep hoping to see the player I think he is, ie super quick, jitterbug, dangerous in open space, but his play leaves a lot to be desired. Just seems like an average C+ RB, like really average, the type you see around the league who stick around for a few years, never making a real impact. It's obviously still early, but the kid seems tentative and hesitant.
- It'll be frustrating, but we may not really know what the OL will be about until the season starts. No Chucks, no Banner, no Dotson. I just hope they are all ready by Sept, and have a chance to gel quickly. Those two tackles man, that may very well be the key to how this season goes on O. Feel a lot better on the inside, presuming Dotson keeps improving. Trai Turner was a key get, and Kendrick Green looks solid enough early.
- Steelers seemed to have a good sense of what they had in Highsmith in letting Bud walk. The kid already looks like a different player, more stout, better technique, more powerful heading into his 2nd year. A full offseason program + training camp looks to be doing wonders for him.
- Based on early news on his good health, conditioning & positive attitude, adding a known commodity like Melvin Ingram to the mix could be a godsend. To be able to get quality rotation at a OLB without a drop off... man, another feather in Colbert's cap.
- Roche & Jamir Jones both look solid in that fight for the 4th spot, though it's early. Not a huge fan of Marsh, but he's stuck around, so he's probably in play there too.
- We'll see what Benny Snell does next few games, but Kalen Ballage is looking like another solid add by Colbert. JaySam looks like he's been leapfrogged by all, he's likely on the outs. Not too impressed with Anthony McFarland. Keep hoping to see the player I think he is, ie super quick, jitterbug, dangerous in open space, but his play leaves a lot to be desired. Just seems like an average C+ RB, like really average, the type you see around the league who stick around for a few years, never making a real impact. It's obviously still early, but the kid seems tentative and hesitant.
- It'll be frustrating, but we may not really know what the OL will be about until the season starts. No Chucks, no Banner, no Dotson. I just hope they are all ready by Sept, and have a chance to gel quickly. Those two tackles man, that may very well be the key to how this season goes on O. Feel a lot better on the inside, presuming Dotson keeps improving. Trai Turner was a key get, and Kendrick Green looks solid enough early.
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If McFarland can't show something, he may be on the outs while Ballage and JaySam stay. Ballage is legit and can be our No. 2 but Snell will probably get that spot. Ballage could be No. 3 and JaySam No. 4. The reason I say JaySam is he is our best receiver out of the backfield on 3rd downs. If Najee isn't in on a 3rd down, it would probably be JaySam. But, who knows at this point.
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I'm praying McFarland can beat out JaySam for that role. Seems he hit his ceiling a season or two ago... but McFarland's gotta show up soon if he wants that spot.
I think McFarland did well last night. He followed his blocks and had a few descent runs. J Samuels on the other hand didn’t look that great. There’s a reason why Brooks James was picked up. He’s either going to replace Snell or Samuels.
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Huge next few weeks for Benny Snell. Tomlin seems to like him, eager to see if there's been any improvement from him. Seems Snell & Ballage are probably battling for a spot, unless the Steelers wanna carry three similar backs, and keep Najee in on 3rd downs. I guess the KR spot is also a consideration here...
Great thoughts Tibs!
I loved the down blocking on Ballage's TD run. 3 or 4 yards out and it looked like a snow plow with that line working in tandem. Going to be fun watching Turner, Banner, and Dotson push the middle for Harris.
Last night's depth chart for RBs was 1. Harris 2. McFarland 3. Ballage, 4. JaySam. Ballage got banged up, so we have to see what's up with his health, but I loved what I saw out of him. Good vision, decisive, hits the hole hard and with purpose. Snell is odd man out right now. Can't make this team from the training room, and thus far, he's had a tough time getting healthy this year.
I loved the down blocking on Ballage's TD run. 3 or 4 yards out and it looked like a snow plow with that line working in tandem. Going to be fun watching Turner, Banner, and Dotson push the middle for Harris.
Last night's depth chart for RBs was 1. Harris 2. McFarland 3. Ballage, 4. JaySam. Ballage got banged up, so we have to see what's up with his health, but I loved what I saw out of him. Good vision, decisive, hits the hole hard and with purpose. Snell is odd man out right now. Can't make this team from the training room, and thus far, he's had a tough time getting healthy this year.
McFarland, when I was watching him and aware it was him, still seems to run with his hair on fire.
I see the last RB spot coming down to him and Samuels
I see the last RB spot coming down to him and Samuels
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J-sam may be our second best receiver out of the back field but he goes down way to easy. I saw 2nd / 3rd stringers bringing him down with meer arm tackles. He dives for the extra yard or two because he can't get them on his feet. Ballage is a north south runner and showed that last night. He has power and SNELL may be odd man out. J-sam has to keep his eye on a swivel as well.
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I'm with you DIC, I was most disappointed with JaySam. He didn't have the wiggle, elusiveness or burst he's shown in the past. I don't know if he's dealing with a lower body soft tissue injury, but he does not look like the same RB we've seen the last few years.
I didn’t realize Ballage was so big. He is a exact carbon copy of Harris, size and weight. Can you imagine the games where Harris is pounding the other teams D and we bring a fresh guy like Ballage in to give him a breather.
Harris 6-2 230
Ballage 6-2 231 what a pair.
Harris 6-2 230
Ballage 6-2 231 what a pair.
I think Ballage is a legit backup option to Najee. Right now, I'm keeping him over everyone else (not named Najee) but we haven't seen enough of any of them yet. I don't know who the odd man out is but McFarland needs to show something or I still think it's him unless they are just tired of JaySam and don't plan to keep him in the future. They can make do without him.
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Najee said he is up to 240. His lower body is actually thicker than Derrick Henry.