Camp report 7/28

[Iron City Inc.]

Nasty weather today at camp.

OK some thoughts on what I saw today.

Wr's... AB wowed fans a few times taking slants to the house. He also took a go route right down the sideline and Ben hit him perfect for a long td.
Wheaton made a few diving catches one on an out and he played solid all afternoon. Ran with the 1st team.
J Brown stood out as a wr. Made a few diving grabs and just looked like a vet receiver. He did NOT return punts.
DHB flashed speed and made one long td grab.
Bryant did not stand out. He did stay after practice and looked better working on catching the ball away from his body. A few times early in the day he caught passes against his body and you could hear it hit his pads. He had one easy drop.
Moore runs good routes and caught everything tossed his way today.
Moye showed ok for himself.

Wheaton and J Brown stayed very late after practice and just took a bunch of extra reps.

Qb's for the most part were good. Ben was on target even with the wind and rain. One great pick by Worilds 30 yds down filed on a wheel to Archer.
OL has two new faces who jumped out a little.. Johnson who has excellent technique and Will Simmons who had more then one pancake block one against Worilds.
DL won the battle in the trenches. Tuitt and McCullers both had their moments. McCullers got some good push in pass rush situations and Tuitt showed a burst to the ball on a bunch of plays. They both ran with 2nd team today.
Shazier plays very fast. He was disruptive in live 11 on 11. Made a few tackles for losses.
Shaq Richardson jumped a out and had a diving pick. He flashed a few times. Will Allen looked like our best corner. Blake and McCain both made some plays. Both of them were also used as gunners on punt coverage.
The safety Dangerfield broke well on the ball and made more then one big hit.

Dri was #1 on punt returns and just looks explosive with the ball in his hands. With the offense Dri lined up in the slot and in a wing position. took a toss and got to the edge and showed nice hands today in wet weather. He was a crowd favorite.

In some one on one Shazier and Blount went head to head and each had their moments.
JJ took Beachum to school on back to back pass rush plays. JJ showed some very good counter moves in getting to the qb.
C Carter got ridden out a few times on pass rush drills. Howard Jones looked like he has a burst in pass rush situations.
Shamarko made a few tackles and looked solid in coverage.

Zumwalt ,Blanchflower, Bell and Goodwin were not on the field.

Last but not least Spence who was running with the second team played well. Glad to see him return.

That's it for today. I'll get some new info to you after Wednesdays practice.

[legend of polamalu]

Thanks for the info...wish I could be there!

[hawaiiansteel]

thank you Iron City, very much appreciated!

[Rara]

Thanks for the updates! It would be great to go to these! Keep the updates coming, love reading them!

[Ghost]

Good stuff Iron City!

I saw this on the Post Gazette from yesterday and cringed:

In team drills, second-year safety Shamarko Thomas, 5 feet 9, 217 pounds, bull-rushed 6-7, 323-pound right tackle Mike Adams and drove him to the turf.

[steelsnis]

Good stuff Iron City! I'm hoping to get out to camp this week at some point. Love it out there!

I'll try to recap a bit from what I've read today (via Twitter, etc) regarding yesterday's first-day-in-pads practice. By the accounts I've read, the linebacking corp was overall really really good.

Shazier looked great in backs on backers, Timmons looked great in 11 on 11. Jarvis was excellent in the LB's vs O-Line in which he beat Kelvin Beachum 3 times in 3 attempts, using 3 different rushing moves to do so. Worilds had an acrobatic INT of a Roethlisberger pass while covering the speedy Dri Archer. Also, Sean Spence was reportedly quick and instinctive, with no apparent effects from the knee injury.

-UDFA Chris Elkins was really good in pass pro vs everyone he faced.
-Shaq Richardson had a pick in 11 on 11
-Big McCullers showed flashes of power and strength but faded twds the end of practice
-Zumwalt looks to have injured groin
-Archer was involved more in the running game than the passing game
-Tuitt batted down a pass and battled back more than once after being stoned by DeCastro.
-Wesley Johnson has played 3 different oline positions in 3 days

For those on twitter, there are some really good follows this time of year: Jim Wexell, Dale Lolley, Mike Prisuta, David Todd, Mark Kaboly, Alex Kozora
Whether or not you like the way these guys write, they all are out at camp and give great updates on practice.

[Shawn]

I think Wesley Johnson is going to prove to be a huge steal.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

I think Wesley Johnson is going to prove to be a huge steal.

ditto... i thought that on draft day... something about being the team captain (and best guy) on any team in the SEC as a guy with very good agility and technique; whose only problem is he needs to gain a few pounds and get stronger wreaks future starter to me.

[Oviedo]

I think Wesley Johnson is going to prove to be a huge steal.

Yep! Just like Beachum. Both will be better Pro players than projected.

[Bluto]

I think Wesley Johnson is going to prove to be a huge steal.

I like that Munchuck was very familiar with him why he was at Vandy. He had a solid pulse on this kid while he was in Tenn. Think he will be good. Plus his family has always been huge steeler fans...