dont forget Blake, Shark, and hopefully Cortez
dont forget Blake, Shark, and hopefully Cortez
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, hear the lamentations of their women.
I agree and hope that we can see more out of these guys, but I think that we am more hopeful when it comes to these guys. Especially Cortez. However, I don't think that you can expect and count on those steps forward. From Tuitt, Shazier, and Jones, I think that we actually expect it to happen.Originally Posted by Discipline of Steel
Stephon Tuitt experiment will take shape in next three months
Jeremy Fowler, ESPN Senior NFL Writer
Physically gifted.
Ideal size and strength.
Versatile.
These are a few terms or phrases applied to 305-pound defensive end Stephon Tuitt during the draft process last season. NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said Tuitt is a first-round talent who can shed blockers.
Seventeen tackles, one sack and 400-plus NFL snaps later, the Steelers’ second-round pick has shown glimpses, but won’t be handed those labels without more heavy lifting.
Pro Football Focus listed Tuitt, who turns 22 on Saturday, as one of 23 "average" Steelers players. The Steelers can live with "average" for a rookie. Eight Steelers players graded higher than average, according to PFF. There's no shame in "average."
Now he’s got the next three-plus months to shed the "average" label.
“Tuitt has definitely got a high ceiling,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward told TribLIVE.com Wednesday. “We’re just going to see how high it is.”
Even established Steelers ends haven’t produced high sack numbers, so perhaps Tuitt’s future impact should be judged by overall disruption.
Now-retired end Brett Keisel produced 9.5 combined sacks in his first two years as a starter. It wasn't until his fourth season that Heyward recorded more than five sacks in a season.
But any push from Tuitt in this area would be crucial. The Steelers recorded 33 sacks in 2014, its lowest total since 1989. Tuitt is one of four front-seven Steelers drafted in the first or second round of the last three drafts. If Jarvis Jones or Bud Dupree aren't ready to apply quarterback pressure, Tuitt needs to be.
Tuitt is an above-average athlete, but isn’t considered a quick-twitch athlete. He must find his advantages up front with strength or technique.
One knock on Tuitt out of Notre Dame was he would lose effectiveness when tired. Tuitt’s play suffered from gaining 20 pounds as a junior, according to an NFL.com scouting report. His sweet spot is probably around 300 pounds.
But even if Tuitt starts, he won’t have to play on every down. He’d be most effective as a primary starter who can rotate in and out when necessary.
If Heyward has his way, Tuitt’s experiences as a part-time rookie starter will pay off in 2015.
“He started a playoff game for us. He helped accomplish winning the AFC North. He’s been in dogfights,” Heyward said.
[URL]http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/13899/three-challenges-for-steelers-ben-roethlisberger-after-signing-99-m-deal[/URL]
Cam Heyward: We’ll find out how high Stephon Tuitt’s ceiling is this year
Posted by Josh Alper on May 25, 2015, 9:39 AM EDT
The Steelers kick off organized team activities this week and they’ll be getting to work without Dick LeBeau for the first time since 2003.
The longtime defensive coordinator is in Tennessee now, leaving longtime Steelers assistant Keith Butler in charge of the defense. This week’s work will be the first chance the Steelers have had to run team drills under Butler, but defensive end Cam Heyward said that no one should expect any radical differences from what the team ran with LeBeau calling the shots.
“I don’t think there are going to be too many changes,” Heyward said, via the team’s website. “It’s going to be the same details. We will have a couple of new wrinkles, but we won’t share them now.”
Without any major schematic shifts to figure out, the Steelers should have plenty of time to focus on integrating young players into key roles on a defense that’s changed a lot of personnel of late. The team has drafted 10 defensive players over the last two years to replace departing veterans and they’ll need several of them to step up this year. Heyward thinks fellow defensive end Stephon Tuitt is ready.
“He has been in certain situations most rookies don’t get to be in. He has been in dog fights,” Heyward said. “For me, I was behind Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel and they were going through the dog fights. If they weren’t playing I would get my opportunity. We expect Tuitt to be ready to go game one. Tuitt has a high ceiling and we are going to see how high it is.”
If the likes of Tuitt, Ryan Shazier, Senquez Golson and Bud Dupree can make strides in 2015, the Steelers should be on better footing defensively. If they don’t, expect more shootouts in Pittsburgh again this season.
[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/25/no-major-changes-expected-in-steelers-defensive-scheme/[/URL]
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.
Tuitt: 'That is when it clicked'
Posted May 23, 2015
Teresa Varley Steelers.com
DE Stephon Tuitt continues to make progress and get comfortable in the defense.
Stephon Tuitt has come a long way since he first stepped onto the field as a rookie last season, but the Steelers defensive end is the first to admit he still has a ways to go.
“I have made some progress, but I am in my second year and I still have a lot to learn,” said Tuitt. “I am with a group of great guys and have a coach who knows the game from the back of his head to the front of his head. I am here to work hard. I love it and I am here to do what I have to do.”
Tuitt has benefited greatly from the teaching of John Mitchell, the team’s defensive line/assistant head coach. Mitchell has worked with him, and Tuitt admits as a result of that and his practice efforts he was thinking less, reacting more and feeling more comfortable late last season.
“I practice hard,” said Tuitt. “From that time on the practice field, that’s how it clicked. When you do the same plays over and over again that is when it becomes second nature. That is when it clicked for me and I can say I really started playing.”
He finished the 2014 season starting the final four games at right defensive end, a position he plans on holding on to when the 2015 season opener against the New England Patriots rolls around.
“That is my role right now and that is what I am going to do,” said Tuitt. “I respect everybody else, but I love my position. I love my role right now and I am going to continue to strive to be better at it.”
That work will continue when the team begins OTAs (organized team activities) on Tuesday, followed by minicamp later in June.
“It’s going to be very valuable,” said Tuitt. “Everything we do is important. I think for me, especially for the team, they will be able to see I did get better, I worked hard, I studied my butt off to make sure I am ready to play for this defense and help the Steelers win some games and the Super Bowl.”
[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Tuitt-That-is-when-it-clicked-/a6d69130-a4af-4243-8851-208cfe1f1a39[/URL]
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.
Defensive end Stephon Tuitt took most of his rookie year to get comfortable enough to play a full complement of snaps. But he did manage to start the Steelers' final five games last year, including the playoffs. This year, he looks poised to be a full-time starter from Week 1.
Tuitt said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo, "I come out here and work my tail off for my teammates every single day. It's nice to get recognition from the coaches to believe in me and hand me the position they gave me." Tuitt is expected to start in place of Brett Keisel, whom he filled in for late last year, when Keisel was placed on injured reserve.
Line coach John Mitchell noted the development he's seen out of Tuitt, saying:
A lot of times, people don't realize last year that guy was a senior in college. You expect the mistakes he made. Those are mistakes you make senior year in college. He is playing in the NFL against guys who have been in the league [five], 10 and 15 years, and he did a good job. It took him a little while longer to pick up our scheme and understand what we are going to do, but you have to realize, he was a young man who just turned 20 years old and he would have been a senior last year at Notre Dame.
Fellow starter Cam Heyward is also optimistic about Tuitt, saying to Fittipaldo, "I expect a lot from Tuitt because he's been in certain situations that most rookies don't get to be in. ... We're [expecting] Tuitt to be ready from Game 1. He definitely has a high ceiling and we're definitely going to see how high it is."
As OTAs give way to minicamp and training camp, we'll get an even better look at how well Tuitt's development into a starter has progressed.
[URL]http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2482182-pittsburgh-steelers-ota-standouts-worth-keeping-an-eye-on-this-offseason[/URL]
Lessons learned
Posted Jun 7, 2015
By Mike Prisuta
Tuitt ready to pick up where he left off in second Steelers season
Stephon Tuitt made his Steelers’ debut last season in the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against Cleveland.
But the defensive end from Notre Dame didn’t arrive until Week 16.
“When we played Kansas City I started feeling confidence in myself,” last year’s No. 2 pick explained. “I already had confidence in myself but my confidence started to rise.
“When I had a chance to hit Jamaal Charles and get the fumble out to help us win the game I was just doing my job and I understood the playbook. From that point on I was just playing football.”
It was Tuitt’s first and only forced fumble of the season but it was a big one.
The Steelers led the Chiefs, 10-6, but Kansas City faced a second-and-7 from the Pittsburgh 28-yard line with 6:37 left in the third quarter.
Quarterback Alex Smith dumped the ball to Charles, KC’s do-everything back, but Tuitt’s pursuit and hit knocked the ball loose.
Inside linebacker Vince Williams recovered and the Steelers responded with a touchdown drive for a 17-6 lead in what would eventually become a 20-12 victory that clinched a spot in the postseason for the Steelers.
“I can’t remember the play, what it was, but I definitely had inside pressure,” Tuitt recalled. “I came around, they threw a little dump pass to Jamaal Charles and you know how elusive he is. He got a chance to get away from a couple of guys but I chased him down and hit him from the back.
“I got up and I didn’t even know he fumbled until I looked back and I saw (inside linebacker) Vince (Williams) picking up the ball.”
The big play Tuitt created was significant.
But what really got Tuitt excited was that it resulted from his understanding what he was supposed to do, executing his assignment and then running to the football the way the coaches harp on the Steelers defenders to do each and every day in practice to finish the play.
That’s the type of stuff that works on a consistent basis when applied with regularity and with passion.
“I just did my job,” Tuitt said. “It felt good to understand that I knew what I had to do and I just played football.
"I saw everybody going berserk. I even went berserk after I realized he fumbled and I got a chance to give our offense the ball to score. We have a dynamic offense and as many times as we can give our offense the ball, it’s going to be great for us.”
Tuitt will be looking for more of the same this season now that he has a grasp of his responsibilities and the necessary techniques as well as his physical capabilities.
“I’m not going to guarantee anything,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and work hard and we’re going to see from there.”
[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Lessons-learned/58dde66e-c674-4439-985a-ae3beed1f9b5[/URL]
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.
It's going to be exciting if him and Shazier blow up this season.
Trolls are people too.
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