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Thread: Another Day At Training Camp

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  1. #1
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    Another Day At Training Camp

    Gotta say, it was much more entertaining with the guys working out in full pads and hitting. Here's some of the tidbits I can remember from yesterday.

    1. Shark is going to be good. Really good. He was everywhere. Jamming WRs at the LOS. Making plays on passes downfield. And he's just flat out explosive. He's got an extra gear. And he's physical. He lined up tight on the slot several times and made it very difficult for the Steelers WRs to get off the LOS. He's better in man coverage than most of our CBs.

    2. Wheaton was running with the second team this week and his speed and routes stood out even more. He not only looks like a ROY candidate, but he might be our best WR in the long run. He was in the slot a lot and he's really physical for his size. And he's good at fighting to an open zone to get separation. The more I watched him, the more I kept thinking he looks like a lightning fast Hines Ward. And once again everyone was coaching up Wheaton after every play he made. Haley, Ben, Mann. Wheaton seems to be getting more attention after the plays than any other player.

    3. It looks like our top 4 WRs are locked in stone - AB, Manny, Cotch, and Wheat. I was trying to gauge who could be our #5, but really am not sure. Dunn and Gilreath were the 2 catching punts with AB and Manny. Maybe that gives Gilreath the edge for the #5 slot even thought he's the one guy smaller than Dunn. JB wasn't catching punts and I didn't notice him working on ST much. Not sure what that means for his chances? Of the guys competing for the #5 spot, he seems to have the best size, speed, athleticism. Moye looked slow and somewhat sloppy/awkward in his routes. But the guy that really stands out even though he might be the longest shot is JD Woods. If I'm picking a guy purely as a WR, I'm going with Woods as my #5. But the #5 guy probably has to contribute on ST.

    4. We're gonna be in really good shape long term with Golden and Shark. Golden's another guy that really stood out and was just everywhere the ball was when he was on the field.

    5. I was watching from behind the goal post and the Steelers offense was coming toward me. There was a handoff to Bell and he had no room to run whatsoever. But somehow he just barreled through the LOS and came out on the other side running with speed like he was untouched. THere was no room for a tiny guy to get through the nonexistent hole let alone this big back. But somehow he finessed his big body through. This kid might be Eddie George with Bettis' feet.

    6. Bruce G must have been a magician as a kid. His handoffs and fakes are really hard to tell apart.

    7. Landry has a really weak arm and was really inaccurate in 7 on 7.

    8. Our OLine looks like it's coming together nicely now that these guys were banging into one another. At the same time, I'm concerned that maybe our DLine/LBs just aren't able to generate much of a pass rush.

    9. Our offense is going to be fine without Miller. Seems like every other play is designed for Paulson or Johnson. And both of those guys look really good. Paulson might even be a little quicker off the LOS than Heath.

    10. If you ever have the chance to be a Steeler and want to sneak by the crowds and without being noticed after practice, here's a couple pointers. a. Don't be Troy (I still hear the piercing shriek/screams a day later). b. Take off your jersey before walking up the hill (guys like Woodley and Bell walked by fans without being recognized). c. Be a prima donna and avoid the crowds and go in another direction like Ben, AB, most of the WRs and the coaches. d. Be one of the last guys on the field like Ryan Clark and wait for the crowds to die down.

    11. I wonder why the majority of players seem irritated by the fans and seem to want to avoid eye contact with the line of kids at camp? I get that they're probably tired, have to deal with the public every day, and signing autographs is annoying. But at the end of the day, these player's jobs are entertaining the public. And the Steelers are losing when kids walk away from training camp disappointed. I don't have any kids, but the number of kids that seemed unhappy yesterday was hard to not notice. Aside from the guys like JPW who could be cut any day and seems to love the fans, the well known guys that enjoy the fans are really few and far between. I did notice Ryan Clark, Tomlin, and Haley going out of their way to be nice. Haley surprised me. Isn't he supposed to be a jerk. He seems like one of the most mellow coaches on the field and nice guys off the field. Heck, I even noticed him smiling a lot today during practice and talking to lots of folks.

    12. Both our punters are mediocre. And we seemed to devote a lot of time to practicing punting after the last game's block. Moorman seems to get slightly better hangtime. Neither kicks very far. And Moorman seemed to tire faster after several punts. I think Moorman has the inside track because Tomlin was talking to him more and joking around a lot while almost never even making eye contact with Butler.

    13. I finally saw Hawthorne practice. Meh. Nothing special. Although, maybe he's recovering.

    14. Even the Steelers QBs have figured out to always throw to the guy being covered by Gay. Gay is the one played that was getting on my nerves even though it was just practice.

  2. #2
    Hall of Famer

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    Nice read thanks.
    [url=http://img525.imageshack.us/i/steelers2010.jpg/]http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2...eelers2010.jpg[/url]

  3. #3
    Pro Bowler

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    Thanks! Love the information.

  4. #4
    Starter

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    Thanks for the info. Great read. Shame like you said that some players dont want to take the time to interact with the kids at camp. I understand it must be tiresome to the players after awhile. But interaction with a Ben or Troy could be a lifetime memory for a kid.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by steeler_fan_in_t.o. View Post
    Or, another way, JPW was all over the fans, Ben avoided the fans...Who do you want under center week 1?

    The thing with athletes is that htey are being watched 24/7. They don't get the benefit of the doubt for that one moment of indiscretion and many are wary of that. Imagine never being able to have a bad moment. That is why I never read much into the "I met him one time and he didn't sign my autograph" accounts. You never know if it is because the guy is a jerk or a good guy having a bad moment.
    I wasn' t trying to get anyone's autograph. Just noticing kids screaming there heads off for some of these guy and watching some of these guys stare at the ground and avoid any eye contact/interaction whatsoever.

    As an example, Larry Foote was walking by and he had a group of people with him visiting practice. He walked by talking to everyone and told the kids he had people with him that he was hosting and didn't have time to stop and sign autographs. On the other hand, there were some guys like Woodley who walked by and seemed to pretend there was no one standing there whatsoever. Then there were guys like Troy that stopped and signed stuff for kids and didn't crack a smaile let alone say a word. He looked beyond irritated by the kids both days. Although he must have a major headache from the screams. Then there were a couple guys like Heath who seemed to flip a switch. He was walking by somehow ignoring the kids' screams and then must have realized what he was doing and then all of a sudden turned into a super engaging guy.

    At the end of the day, I realize these are people and some are nice and some aren't. And these guys are really young for the most part and probably aren't aware of what they're doing or being intentional about it. But I'd say everyone could try to be nice. Larry Foote was nice even though he didn't sign anything. I don't even think an autograph is a big deal. Just high five a kid. Or smile. Or say hello.

    I'm not trying to pass any judgement on these players. I guess I just feel bad that many of them don't seem to be enjoying themselves. Could you imagine how much fun you'd be having if you were a Steeler? I guess I'm more noticing some guys seem to love being there and I don't get why they all don't feel that way.

  6. #6
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    I don't think Butler was a bad as people say he was last year. When you really look at the numbers, there's not that much difference between the #1 guy and the #32 guy. His gross avg was 43.6. He was within 7 yards of the #1 guy. His net was 39.2 and that was just under 5 yards from the top. People act as if punters are routinely booming 65 yarders and the Steelers have a guy hitting 30 yarders. It's just no true.

  7. #7
    Legend

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ghost View Post
    I don't think Butler was a bad as people say he was last year. When you really look at the numbers, there's not that much difference between the #1 guy and the #32 guy. His gross avg was 43.6. He was within 7 yards of the #1 guy. His net was 39.2 and that was just under 5 yards from the top. People act as if punters are routinely booming 65 yarders and the Steelers have a guy hitting 30 yarders. It's just no true.
    I seem to remember all of Butler's booming punts coming when we were around the opponent 40 yard line. And I remember his worst kicks coming when we were backed up into our endzone.. I think his situational punting was far worse than his stats reveal. The averages are always going to look close no matter how good/bad a punter is because everyone has to punt some on a short field a number of times.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by flippy View Post
    3. It looks like our top 4 WRs are locked in stone - AB, Manny, Cotch, and Wheat. I was trying to gauge who could be our #5, but really am not sure. Dunn and Gilreath were the 2 catching punts with AB and Manny. Maybe that gives Gilreath the edge for the #5 slot even thought he's the one guy smaller than Dunn. JB wasn't catching punts and I didn't notice him working on ST much. Not sure what that means for his chances? Of the guys competing for the #5 spot, he seems to have the best size, speed, athleticism. Moye looked slow and somewhat sloppy/awkward in his routes. But the guy that really stands out even though he might be the longest shot is JD Woods. If I'm picking a guy purely as a WR, I'm going with Woods as my #5. But the #5 guy probably has to contribute on ST.
    I think Justin Brown makes it as our #5 WR...
    Steel Maniac's Time-Based Prediction: Lamar Jackson will be a bust and total flop in the NFL.

    What Actually Happened: Lamar Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP winner ever.

    Gloat gloat gloat


    Boom........

    Hahahahahahaha

  9. #9
    Legend

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    Quote Originally Posted by hawaiiansteel View Post
    I think Justin Brown makes it as our #5 WR...
    Me too. He impressed me most as a receiver out of the wideouts who played in second half scrub time, plus he can contribute to ST's as a returner.
    Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.

    Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.

    We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.

    We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.

  10. #10
    Legend

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    Quote Originally Posted by RuthlessBurgher View Post
    Me too. He impressed me most as a receiver out of the wideouts who played in second half scrub time, plus he can contribute to ST's as a returner.
    I think the JB as a punt returner isn't going to happen because he wasn't working with those guys any longer.

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