Things I would do if I were the head coach.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Things I would do if I were the head coach.


#1 Elevate R. Wilson as a starter. He is our #2 WR for most routes and a good blocker who has added a solid 10 pounds. DO IT. In 3,or 4 man sets he plays. The man get open with seperation.

#2. Make Washington the 1B TE, and 'Muth the 1A TE. Washington is just a monster of a man. 6'7" 270 LBs. He can move well and block well. Few NFL linebackers or DB's can guard him and few can overpower him. Capable of making the did you see that type of catch.

#3 Make the 2 TE set 50% for down 1 and 2 offense! Do it.

# 4 Change practices to everyone wearing " red jerseys " from here to game #1 regular season. Too many Steelers are made of glass. They don't make them like they used to. Limit tackling until the regular season starts.



NOW for QB. I just do not know if Rodgers is our best option. Rudolph has out played him in camp. As far as the media is concerned Rodgers is our QB1. In private, I want to see Rudolph more with our first unit and I heard Rodgers is out until the season starts. Hmmm .... Does Tomlin have the stones to bench a HOF QB to be? I say not without listing him as injured.

I let the OL gel. It is full of new players.

As of right now barring injury I hope the coaches have at least 50 of the 53 players ID'd as keepers for the 2025 season.

[Mr.wizard]

Madden 26 comes in a few days, you can make yourself the coach and do whatever you want.

[feltdizz]

Are you basing this off of preseason game and some camp rumors?

[Iron City Inc.]

Things I would do if I were the head coach.


#1 Elevate R. Wilson as a starter. He is our #2 WR for most routes and a good blocker who has added a solid 10 pounds. DO IT. In 3,or 4 man sets he plays. The man get open with seperation.

#2. Make Washington the 1B TE, and 'Muth the 1A TE. Washington is just a monster of a man. 6'7" 270 LBs. He can move well and block well. Few NFL linebackers or DB's can guard him and few can overpower him. Capable of making the did you see that type of catch.

#3 Make the 2 TE set 50% for down 1 and 2 offense! Do it.

# 4 Change practices to everyone wearing " red jerseys " from here to game #1 regular season. Too many Steelers are made of glass. They don't make them like they used to. Limit tackling until the regular season starts.



NOW for QB. I just do not know if Rodgers is our best option. Rudolph has out played him in camp. As far as the media is concerned Rodgers is our QB1. In private, I want to see Rudolph more with our first unit and I heard Rodgers is out until the season starts. Hmmm .... Does Tomlin have the stones to bench a HOF QB to be? I say not without listing him as injured.

I let the OL gel. It is full of new players.

As of right now barring injury I hope the coaches have at least 50 of the 53 players ID'd as keepers for the 2025 season.

Wilson is listed at 186lbs. Willing blocker I would say yes. Better blocker than Austin perhaps yes. Good blocker? Don't know where you got that from but his blocking is TBD.
Got to see Big80 up close on Friday night lights practice. He's about a biscuit away from 300. Now I know they said he was up to 315 a year ago but I would believe he was over 325. He may have lost 25 lbs as he is moving well but he is still huge. I'll agree with JB if I'm reading between the lines getting him on the field more creates a miss match for us.
We ran empty set 13 personnel and ran a jet sweep to J Smith at camp.I like the idea of showing one thing and doing the opposite. A year ago if Big 80 is on the field we're running. This year we'll have them guessing a bit and that is advantage O.
Rudolph outplayed Rodgers at camp? Didn't see that. MR played fine as did Howard. However AR was coaching them on the field. And his own play was very good. Had a pass picked and missed a few receivers high but overall he was sharp. Thought all 3 guys showed well and ST really got so few reps he couldn't truly be evaluated. He held his own against the jags and not sure if he would make the PS if cut. Nice to have some depth.
Do to league rules tackling is limited. If we baby these guys more what kind of physical ball are you going to see?
Lastly I'm all for the O L gelling. The question is..... How do you get them to gel? They need reps. I'm a bit concerned we're a little lite in the ars as our power run blocking wasn't there at camp and it was not up to par Saturday night.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Wilson is listed at 186lbs. Willing blocker I would say yes. Better blocker than Austin perhaps yes. Good blocker? Don't know where you got that from but his blocking is TBD.
Got to see Big80 up close on Friday night lights practice. He's about a biscuit away from 300. Now I know they said he was up to 315 a year ago but I would believe he was over 325. He may have lost 25 lbs as he is moving well but he is still huge. I'll agree with JB if I'm reading between the lines getting him on the field more creates a miss match for us.
We ran empty set 13 personnel and ran a jet sweep to J Smith at camp.I like the idea of showing one thing and doing the opposite. A year ago if Big 80 is on the field we're running. This year we'll have them guessing a bit and that is advantage O.
Rudolph outplayed Rodgers at camp? Didn't see that. MR played fine as did Howard. However AR was coaching them on the field. And his own play was very good. Had a pass picked and missed a few receivers high but overall he was sharp. Thought all 3 guys showed well and ST really got so few reps he couldn't truly be evaluated. He held his own against the jags and not sure if he would make the PS if cut. Nice to have some depth.
Do to league rules tackling is limited. If we baby these guys more what kind of physical ball are you going to see?
Lastly I'm all for the O L gelling. The question is..... How do you get them to gel? They need reps. I'm a bit concerned we're a little lite in the ars as our power run blocking wasn't there at camp and it was not up to par Saturday night.

Wilson was a decent blocker in college. He is so much better as a blocker than Austin III. And Wilson has added about 10 pounds since his rookie season.

Monster is the new breed of TE. 6'7 " 280 pounds. And boy can he block.

Putting Wilson and Washington both on the field at the same time in down 1 & 2 will upgrade our run blocking.

Based on camp stats, yeah Rudloph is outplaying Rodgers. It is significant, check for yourself. Not that the local media will point this out. Rodgers is OUT for the pre-season. I think he is past his shelf life as a player.

[url]https://steelersdepot.com/2025/08/steelers-2025-training-camp-stats-first-nine-practices/[/url]


How do you get the OL to gel? Good coaching with some self effacing humor ( Can Tomlin do any of that ? ). Having the players sit next to each other based on how the line up, rearrange the locker room by unit group. I am not saying they are kids, their own time is their own business. But when they are together as professional players...

And a lot of reps.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Are you basing this off of preseason game and some camp rumors?

No camp rumors. Just 10 practices in camp and a game.

[Iron City Inc.]

[QUOTE=Joel Buchsbaum;n1107744]



Based on camp stats, yeah Rudloph is outplaying Rodgers. It is significant, check for yourself. Not that the local media will point this out. Rodgers is OUT for the pre-season. I think he is past his shelf life as a player.

[url]https://steelersdepot.com/2025/08/steelers-2025-training-camp-stats-first-nine-practices/[/url]

I was at camp. My buds are at camp every day. You know that. All our qb's have been doing well but again that environment is not 100% football because qb's are not getting hit. Some tackling not to the ground. Wr's not getting blown up over the middle.
Stats for practice plays count to a point. However often practice is where 1's go against 1's 2's vs 2's and 3's vs 3's. So not everyone is going against guys who will be playing Sunday Ball.
There is more time to sharpen these guys into form. The final 53 will be a solid group. We may be able to move a player or two if a team gets needy a Thompson or Leal perhaps for a very late round pick.
We'll know a lot more after the Tampa game.

[feltdizz]

No camp rumors. Just 10 practices in camp and a game.

Where are you getting this news that Mason is outplaying Rodgers? I haven’t heard anyone make that suggestion.

Would appreciate a link to read.

Thanks

[Mr.wizard]

We went through the offseason Aaron Rodgers saga just to start Mason Rudolph because his "camp stats" were better? Also the media is keeping it a secret? Come on, this is not serious.

[Oviedo]

Listening to Prisuta on SNR, Washington is easily at 300lbs. Guy is a freak.

I really see him potentially following the Larry Brown route and ultimately becoming a OT. Brown swithed to OT from 1977-1984 and was a Pro Bowler in '82. Would be financially much better career move becoming an OT versus staying a TE.

[feltdizz]

We went through the offseason Aaron Rodgers saga just to start Mason Rudolph because his "camp stats" were better? Also the media is keeping it a secret? Come on, this is not serious.

Joel lives in his own world when it comes to viewing Mason. Remember when he said Mason would get $20 to $25 Mill per when he left the Steelers?

I agree on Washington and I’m not sold on Rodgers but he is the starter. Let’s not go crazy here.

[Chucktownsteeler]

I am not sure they are available for pre-season games, but I'd love to see the passing targets posted. We used to get them every game. Seemed like we pushed the ball down field and also used the middle of the field more than usual.

[Mr.wizard]

Joel lives in his own world when it comes to viewing Mason. Remember when he said Mason would get $20 to $25 Mill per when he left the Steelers?

I agree on Washington and I’m not sold on Rodgers but he is the starter. Let’s not go crazy here.

Im a big Washington fan, I'm just not sure where he fitz into the passing game with Smith and Muth. I fear we just wont get to see alot of what he has to offer just because he is behind some pretty talented and proven TE's.

[Mr.wizard]

I am not sure they are available for pre-season games, but I'd love to see the passing targets posted. We used to get them every game. Seemed like we pushed the ball down field and also used the middle of the field more than usual.

You see alot of middle of the field use during the preseason, often because you are facing vanilla defenses and you get better windows. It may be a sign of things to come, I hope it is, but they will have to show me when the real games start.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I was at camp. My buds are at camp every day. You know that. All our qb's have been doing well but again that environment is not 100% football because qb's are not getting hit. Some tackling not to the ground. Wr's not getting blown up over the middle.
Stats for practice plays count to a point. However often practice is where 1's go against 1's 2's vs 2's and 3's vs 3's. So not everyone is going against guys who will be playing Sunday Ball.
There is more time to sharpen these guys into form. The final 53 will be a solid group. We may be able to move a player or two if a team gets needy a Thompson or Leal perhaps for a very late round pick.
We'll know a lot more after the Tampa game.

Plus the fact that Rodgers even said at the beginning that he does camp differently than most. He does it with the security of a guy who knows what his position is on a team. He'll experiment a bit. See what his guys can do, see what he can still do. He does not approach camp like a guy who is fighting for a roster spot, or to claim his place. The same way that Ben did camp his way, Rodgers does as well.