Dale Lolley's Steelers Camp Notes

[flippy]

@ Cam Heyward and rookie Mike Adams had some Ohio State on Ohio State violence after Adams pancaked Heyward in a team drill.

Heyward apparently took offense to Adams going for the kill shot and the two squared off and started swinging.

Willie Colon stepped in to break it up, but then also started swinging at Adams.

This might be the most exciting thing I've read so far. Adams wasn't my favorite pick. I wasn't sure how good he could be and he looks a little lazy to me from what I've seen of him. Sounds like he's got a little more fight in him than I thought.

He's got the size and athleticism to be a great tackle. I just wasn't sure he had the mean streak or the want to. Maybe I was wrong.

[Shawn]

This might be the most exciting thing I've read so far. Adams wasn't my favorite pick. I wasn't sure how good he could be and he looks a little lazy to me from what I've seen of him. Sounds like he's got a little more fight in him than I thought.

He's got the size and athleticism to be a great tackle. I just wasn't sure he had the mean streak or the want to. Maybe I was wrong.

You were not wrong.

[Captain Lemming]

@ Speaking of Colon, he got rolled up in a team drill - right before the fight - after Ramon Foster tossed someone into the back of his leg, tweaking his ankle.

Foster moved over to left guard

.

Yeah Ramon aint gonna lose his job wo a fight.
He knows the rook is gonna take his job......time to throw people at Willie's fragile leg joints "by mistake".

[lloydroid]

A vegetable like him can only consume carbon dioxide.

If the team was wise enough to FINALLY get rid of Arians, why are they not wise enough to realize one of his pet players stinks? I can't believe Hynoski was out there as an undrafted free agent and Pgh did nothing to attempt to sign the guy. What a huge mistake and he was right in their back yard. Such a foolish non move.

[hawaiiansteel]

2012 Steelers Training Camp Observations: Part One

by Ivan Cole (RickVa) on Aug 5, 2012

With Hines Ward retired the title for most people wearing your jersey has fallen to Troy Polamalu. There were lots of interesting Steelers gear that people were wearing. But my vote for the most impressive was that two people had Pro Bowl jerseys for James Harrison and Troy.

After a bit of rain (thunderstorms plague the area like clockwork around 5pm daily) some good live music to warm up the crowd, the long snappers and kickers arrived first. Nobody paid much attention. Then a caravan of school buses arrived with a police escort. The excitement building now. Bill Hargrove, the voice of the Steelers was the public address announcer. The organization was representing tonight.

Dressed somewhat uncharacteristically in an oversized gold sweat shirt, and a white cap, Tomlin was the first person introduced and walked out on to the field alone to a huge standing ovation. Make no mistake about it, Tomlin is a rock star with the fan base. He was then followed by the players and coaches who then fanned out in all directions to sign autographs. The players closest to me included Brett Keisel, Manny Sanders, Antonio Brown (another rock star), Jake Stoller and Cortez Allen.

Field goal kicking was next. Shaun Suisham was accurate with his attempts, hitting a range of kicks up to 48 yards out. Daniel Hrapmann definitely had the stronger leg, nailing a 53 yarder with plenty to spare.

As Rebecca Rollett noted during her visit earlier in the week, watching practice is like being at a three ring circus, decisions have to be made as to what to focus upon. I know I missed a lot. But here is what I got.

Injuries. Heath Miller participated fully. Keisel and Manny Sanders were held out.

Size. Last year I was really struck with how big Cam Heyward is. So I was impressed with how much he is dwarfed by Mike Adams, Marcus Gilbert and Leonard Pope. These are some large men. Much has been made of the relative lack of size of Sean Spence. This should not be an issue. Spence is clearly bigger than Larry Foote (in fact, I am amazed at how small Foote is compared to the other linebackers), and only slightly smaller than Stephenson Sylvester. When I watch him working next to Steve McLendon I can see why there would be some conversation about putting Ziggy Hood at nose tackle. He is really rather thick, powerfully built.

Fights. Only one of note. Heyward and, I believe, Ramon Foster got into it briefly with no decision. I was amused by the crowd reaction; pleased with the aggression, but a little torn over the fact that these 'brothers' would be abusive to each other. Save it for the Bengals.

I'm sure he was probably there but I didn't spot James Harrison. When the band was playing they would try to amp the crowd up be getting them to cheer at the mention of various Steelers by name. Based on that measure, Deebo is wildly popular. In fact, one thing about Steelers fans has not changed; as much as they like the various offensive players, their first love is defense. A band member stated that Harrison and Troy are "...the only two who still play this game the way it's supposed to be played. We don't care about the fines." That got a big ovation.

Quarterbacks. Ben was held out of the eleven on eleven segments but otherwise participated fully. Byron Leftwich seemed to take most of the snaps with the first unit, and didn't do badly. Jerrod Johnson is another really big guy who has an impressive arm, and this has emboldened some to suggest that this is indeed the last roundup for Charlie Batch. As the man says; not so fast my friend. While Leftwich looked good running the no huddle, Batch looked better, doing a fine job in finding the underneath receivers, and buying time, ala Ben with his mobility. He was consistently hitting the running backs and tight ends on short and medium patterns playing the part of the wiley veteran to perfection. It is also clear from crowd reaction that Charlie is also very popular. Representing the other side of the equation were a couple of 20 something young men who, while scanning a copy of the camp roster, stated that Batch was "87 years old." In a crowd favorite, the quarterbacks had a contest trying to lob passes into huge trash cans set up along the sidelines. Charlie and Ben were the winners of the competition.

Running backs. This was my first time seeing Baron Batch perform. Other than Redman he is the only back who does everything well. He is a much better blocker than Dwyer and, obviously, Rainey. He makes sharp cuts as a runner, and does not go down the first time he is hit. I don't see how you keep him off this team. Rainey is not as easy to tackle as you might imagine. He bounced outside well after absorbing some initial hits without going down. Dwyer ran well enough, but i think he gets Ben killed if they are relying upon him to block.

Wide receivers. Antonio Brown abused everyone matched up against him, including Ike Taylor and Keenan Lewis. He seems to be at the point where he can pretty much do whatever he wants out there. Jerricho Cotchery burned Will Allen badly for a touchdown catch during a seven on seven drill. I saw none of the 'Sweed-like' difficulties allleged to Tony Clemons, or any of the other receivers for that matter. I thought Derrick Williams and David Gilreath had particularly strong showings.

Defensive backs. Keenan Lewis intercepted a pass by Byron intended for Cotchery during the two minute drill. He also defended successfully against Brown on a deep pattern in seven on sevens. Perhaps the most impressive individual performance was when Terrence Frederick blew up Weslye Saunders after he received a pass from Batch. Saunders was otherwise very impressive. Myron Rolle mugged Clemons on a play in order to break up a pass. Andre Freeman and to a lesser extent, Will Allen struggled.

Offensive lineman. Mike Adams ran with the first group today. Foster, Colon, Gilbert and Pouncey rounded out the group, but, frankly a lot of combinations were used during the evening. I think its premature to read anything into this at this stage of the game. Heyward got the better of Colon during a one on one match up. I didn't notice De Castro at all, for what it's worth.

Defensive lineman. Heyward was the most impressive of this group. Ta'amu took some snaps at end. McLendon looked good as well.

Stevenson Sylvester seemed to trample some folks in the backs (and tight ends) on backers drill. I watching that I missed the action that was going on with receivers and defensive backs. But I heard a lot of crowd reaction to what was transpiring there.

A long, over two and a half hours, practice ended around 9:30. After the player caravan left the premises, fans were presented with a truly impressive fireworks display, ending at a little past 10 pm. It was my first time at the night practice and I would highly recommend it if you are planning a trip for next year.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2012/8/5/3219628/2012-steelers-training-camp-observations#storyjump[/URL]

[Steelerphile]

If the team was wise enough to FINALLY get rid of Arians, why are they not wise enough to realize one of his pet players stinks? I can't believe Hynoski was out there as an undrafted free agent and Pgh did nothing to attempt to sign the guy. What a huge mistake and he was right in their back yard. Such a foolish non move.

You and the rest of the sad troop of mindless DJ haters are the ones who STINK! Robotic herd regurgitation of this crap. Johnson is a big, strong, tough professional player. He practices hard and he plays hard. He does what the coaches ask him to do without complaint. He's getting better at FB and he still possesses some versatility to fill in at TE. He hasn't made the team for three years because he is siomebody's pet. And when he makes it this year, it will also because he has a value to the team. And when he does, I say on his behalf (because he's probably too cool to say this himself). Haters you can "Whiff my Johnson"

[Oviedo]

You and the rest of the sad troop of mindless DJ haters are the ones who STINK! Robotic herd regurgitation of this crap. Johnson is a big, strong, tough professional player. He practices hard and he plays hard. He does what the coaches ask him to do without complaint. He's getting better at FB and he still possesses some versatility to fill in at TE. He hasn't made the team for three years because he is siomebody's pet. And when he makes it this year, it will also because he has a value to the team. And when he does, I say on his behalf (because he's probably too cool to say this himself). Haters you can "Whiff my Johnson"

OK. Sorry Mrs. Johnson if you are offended but that doesn't change the fact that no matter how hard he works or tries Johnson is neither a good TE or FB. There were probably 5-6 kids in the last draft who were college FBs who could've come in and done at least as well as Johnson has after 3 years.

[phillyesq]

OK. Sorry Mrs. Johnson if you are offended but that doesn't change the fact that no matter how hard he works or tries Johnson is neither a good TE or FB. There were probably 5-6 kids in the last draft who were college FBs who could've come in and done at least as well as Johnson has after 3 years.

Yeah, I don't think the work ethic with Johnson has ever been the question. The question is ability. I don't dislike him as a player as much as some, but if the Steelers are going to use a FB, I'd prefer a true FB instead of somebody who is a jack of some trades and a master of none.

[Oviedo]

Yeah, I don't think the work ethic with Johnson has ever been the question. The question is ability. I don't dislike him as a player as much as some, but if the Steelers are going to use a FB, I'd prefer a true FB instead of somebody who is a jack of some trades and a master of none.

I don't think it is ever an issue of personal dislike since none of us, or very few of us, have ever met let alone "know" this guys. It is an opinion of what we as fans see and with Johnson that is poor blocking whether leading the run or pass blocking. As a TE he looks more awkward catching a pass than Dan Krieder did which was as ugly as I have ever seen.

[RuthlessBurgher]

@ Cam Heyward and rookie Mike Adams had some Ohio State on Ohio State violence after Adams pancaked Heyward in a team drill.

Heyward apparently took offense to Adams going for the kill shot and the two squared off and started swinging.

Willie Colon stepped in to break it up, but then also started swinging at Adams.

I highly doubt that Willie Colon was trying to punch his OL teammate Mike Adams...I think that was supposed to say the Colon started swinging at Cam Heyward.

[Decleater]

Coach T says DJ is doing a great job so I'll have to go along with that.

[hawaiiansteel]

What, who I'll be watching in the first preseason game

AUGUST 08, 2012
posted by Dale Lolley

The Steelers will play their first preseason game at Philadelphia Thursday night, and there's going to be plenty of notable action on the field.

Here are a few of the things and players I'll be watching in this one:

@ How does the new offense look under Todd Haley?

Traditionally, teams don't show a whole lot in the preseason. But the Steelers haven't had a completely new offense in Pittsburgh in quite some time.

To this point, the Steelers offense has featured more intermediate passes and throws to the running backs. We'll see if that carries over to the games.

@ How do the rookie offensive linemen look?

I've found it interesting that so many people have said that David DeCastro has been a bust in the first two weeks of training camp. That's ridiculous.

I've seen countless rookies take some time to get accustomed to the speed and power of the NFL. DeCastro has as well. But Maurkice Pouncey struggled with one-on-one matchups in his first camp as well. Then, when he got into game action, it was obvious he was a player.

The other side of the DeCastro coin is that Ramon Foster is having a very solid camp.

There was a big difference between DeCastro beating out Foster and Mike Adams pushing Trai Essex aside.

@ Does Cortez Allen take advantage of Keenan Lewis' shoulder injury?

Allen will likely start with Lewis being limited with the shoulder injury. If he can hold up in coverage against DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, it will go a long way toward winning a starting job.

@ Who will step up at free safety?

To this point, Ryan Mundy has been so-so. The same goes for veteran Will Allen.

I'm anxious to see what a young kid like Robert Golden can do in game action. There's a spot to be won there behind Ryan Clark.

@ Will any of the receivers behind Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery show anything.

It's been up and down throughout training camp for the receivers behind those three.

At this point, I'd say Derrick Williams and Tyler Beiler have been the most consistent, but that's not saying much.

@ Can Chris Rainey win the starting return job.

Rainey is fast, but can he consistently catch punts? He flubbed one in practice on Tuesday, which has to be a concern. This is, after all, a kid that fumbled six punts in college.

I'm not as concerned about him as a kick return guy, but if he can't field punts, that's a problem.

Marquis Maze will also be given a chance. It's big for him because he hasn't shown a lot as a receiver.

@ Keep an eye on rookie punter Drew Butler, the son of former Bears kicker Kevin Butler.

Butler is the only healthy punter in camp right now with Jeremy Kapinos dealing with back issues.

Kapinos has gotten more surly as camp has gone on because Butler has looked pretty good. But can he do it on the big stage?

If so, Butler could win the job.

[URL]http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/sidelines/[/URL]

[Steelerphile]

Yeah, I don't think the work ethic with Johnson has ever been the question. The question is ability. I don't dislike him as a player as much as some, but if the Steelers are going to use a FB, I'd prefer a true FB instead of somebody who is a jack of some trades and a master of none.

I think the opinion of the people here is often tainted by a group mentality to get down on a particular player and is inaccurate and unfair. I disagree with you that he is "poor", That is what Oviedo says and some other board denizens say. It doesn't make it true. Oviedo has a track record of overly harsh criticisms and very seldom changes an opinion. Once he is down on a guy, he never changes. I think Johnson did a pretty good job blocking at FB last year. From all accounts, he didn't get any instructions on how, just went and did it. FB can be learned. How do you know some "true" college FB would be better than Johnson. College and the pros is a different animal. You don't see many "true" FBs in the NFL. And just like a good baseball teams needs some solid utility guys who can fill it at SS, 3B or even OF, when needed. A player who can do a solid job at different positions is an asset.

[hawaiiansteel]

Eventful weekend

posted by Dale Lolley
SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2012

It was an eventful two days for the Steelers as they began their final week of work at Saint Vincent College.

First, due to a knee injury to second-round draft pick Mike Adams suffered in the preseason opener against Philadelphia, the team had to shuffle the deck with its offensive line.

Adams, who is expected to be out a week or so, had started against the Eagles at left tackle. With him out, the Steelers slide right tackle Marcus Gilbert over to left tackle.

That allowed them to keep rookie David DeCastro at right guard - where he will stay - and put Ramon Foster at right tackle.

With Willie Colon back at left guard, the Steelers' starting offensive line for their second preseason game will look like this from left to right: Gilbert, Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, DeCastro and Foster.

It will likely stay that way until Max Starks is ready to come off the PUP list, at which point, he will move to left tackle, sliding Gilbert back to the right side.

Starks is expected to be activated within the next two weeks after having offseason knee surgery.

@ With Isaac Redman (groin) and Jonathan Dwyer (shoulder) sitting out practices, the Steelers got more bad news at running back Sunday, when John Clay went down with a hip injury.

Already thin with Rashard Mendenhall on the PUP list, that left the Steelers with just Barron Batch, Chris Rainey and Will Johnson - now the starting fullback following David Johnson's season-ending knee injury against the Eagles - to carry the football.

That didn't work out so well in Sunday's goal-line drills as the Steelers tried to pound the ball into the end zone with Batch (210 pounds) and Rainey (179).

Rainey scored once by leaping over the top of the line, but the defense had the better of it overall.

@ For the second time in this training camp, Antonio Brown and Ike Taylor got into a fight, this time during a red zone drill.

This one got a little more heated than their previous dust up last week as the two continued to jaw at each other after practice.

Don't expect any long-lasting effects, however.

Brown and Taylor are both competitors and neither wants to give an inch. And they've been going against each other on a daily basis now for three weeks. It can get a little irritating.

[URL]http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/sidelines/[/URL]