-
-
Are you guys forgetting Coates early in the season? The guy was a force. Yes, he dropped the ball (literally) the second half of the year, but he had messed up fingers. I can't imagine any scenario really, where Coates doesn't make the team. The guy is just too big and fast to jettison after one year, which wasn't that bad anyway.I wasn't hired for my disposition.Comment
-
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.Comment
-
Steelers Stock Report: Whose stock is rising, and falling, through training camp
We attempt to set a baseline for the upcoming season.
by Dan Sager
Aug 4, 2017, 7:30am EDT
If you’ve never gone to Steelers training camp, I highly recommend that you do so, if for no other reason than to observe a general ethos that is overwhelmingly positive. It’s short-lived, yes, but in November, when half of the fan base is screaming that Mike Tomlin is “can’t win without Coach Cahhhher’s players,” it’ll be fun to think back to happy summer memories. Also, the Laurel Highlands are pretty. Neat stuff.
Anyway, I figured now would be a good time to leverage some of the positivity and try to set some baseline stock figures. Let’s goooo:
Stock up: Justin Scott Hunter, aka the GOAT
I don’t want to get carried away, but Justin Hunter is the greatest receiver in NFL history. Inexplicably already a journeyman at age 26, Hunter has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting players at camp. He’s kind of like the NFL version of Euron Greyjoy; late to the party, but definitely prepared to raise some hell.
Hunter stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds. He also has a 40-inch vertical and 4.3 speed. For this reason, the Tennessee Titans selected him 34th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft (which, retrospectively, is the second-worst draft of my lifetime). To say that a hyper-athletic, 26-year-old former second-round pick is having a good training camp should not come as a major surprise. (For reference, here is a solid compilation that succinctly demonstrates “good” Justin Hunter).
Thanks to a fortuitous turn of events (fortuitous for Hunter, anyway) that includes minor injuries to Juju Smith-Schuster and Sammie Coates and the NFL dragging its feet on Martavis Bryant’s reinstatement, Hunter is making a run at a roster spot.
It should be noted that training camp is, pragmatically speaking, a simulated experience. What I mean by this is that catching a football at practice is considerably different than catching a football during an actual game. With that said, though, Hunter isn’t dropping the ball, having seemingly alleviated the single greatest impediment to his professional development.
If the Steelers didn’t currently have Antonio Brown, Smith-Schuster, Coates and Bryant on their roster, Hunter would be an obvious choice to make the final 53. Pittsburgh, adhering to its strict proclivity for hoarding receivers, will be faced with a complicated scenario in a few weeks. Smith-Schuster was a second-round pick, Bryant has a legitimate superstar ceiling and Brown is Brown. None of them are in danger. Coates, meanwhile, has assumed a cult-like following among fans who fell in love with his vertical abilities in Weeks 1 through 5 last season. Plus, he was a third-round pick. “YOU DON’T CUT THIRD-ROUND PICKS,” Dri Archer screams to the heavens before being tackled by a feather fluttering about in the breeze.
The only statistical domain in which Coates outperforms Hunter is yards-per-catch, though Hunter is still a solid deep threat (he averaged just shy of 17 yards per catch for his career). Furthermore, and I don’t mean to make excuses, but the following list includes the names of the quarterbacks who have thrown passes to Justin Hunter thus far in his career: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jake Locker, Charlie Whitehurst, Zach Mettenberger, E.J. Manuel, Tyrod Taylor and a rookie Marcus Mariota. This, obviously, does not exemplify high-caliber quarterback play (it also doesn’t help that Tennessee and Buffalo have notoriously run-heavy offenses). Maybe playing in a wide-open offensive attack that is orchestrated by one of the best deep ball quarterbacks of all time will have a positive impact on Hunter’s abilities. Gee!
Stock down: Rookies
Smith-Schuster, Cameron Sutton and James Conner, Pittsburgh’s second-, third-, and third-round picks, respectively, have all missed camp time due to injuries. This is not optimal, as these guys were expected to have (or at least compete for) pretty substantial roles this season. They still may, but their learning curves just became considerably steeper.
Conner, for what it’s worth, looked great before his injury. On Sunday, he caught a touchdown during the “seven shots” drill that ranked somewhere between “AB vs. Baltimore in the Divisional Playoffs” and “Mike Wallace toe-drag to beat Green Bay on a walk-off touchdown” in terms of difficulty.
Stock up: Sophomores
A trial by fire last season turned out to confer some tangible benefits to the 2016 Draft class, as Javon Hargrave, Sean Davis and Artie Burns quickly distinguished themselves as reliable, long-term starters. All three have been among the best defensive players overall at training camp.
Davis has had a relatively quiet camp, which means that he isn’t injured or getting burned by any of the receivers. The same is true for Hargrave, who has quietly displayed his prodigious pass-rushing abilities against solid offensive line talent. Burns has generated more interest, although this is largely attributable to his rivalry with Antonio Brown. Make no mistake, Brown is routinely doing young Artie old country style, but Burns has made his fair share of plays. If your second-year cornerback is batting .300 one-on-one against the best receiver in the NFL, you can count that as a win.
Stock down: Martavis Bryant
He’s yet to be reinstated, which is cutting into some valuable practice time. Keep in mind, Bryant hasn’t caught a pass in a regulation game since 2015. His level of general “in-shapeness” is irrelevant at this point—to borrow what I’m sure is a tired cliche, there is a difference between “in shape” and “in [insert sport here] shape.”
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-news/2017/8/4/16022694/steelers-stock-report-whose-stock-is-rising-and-falling-through-training-camp-nfl-preseasonSteeler 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.Comment
-
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin suggested Sammie Coates and Justin Hunter are competing for one roster spot.
After Coates failed to come down with a pass in the end zone, Tomlin told the receiver Hunter would have made the catch. "You’ve got to start grabbing that," Tomlin continued. "It’s two dogs for one bone. I’m going to start applying pressure." A former third-round pick who can contribute on special teams, Coates is still the favorite, but he needs to show well over the next several weeks.
Source: Observer-ReporterComment
-
WR Justin Hunter is in the Steelers’ game plan this week. Team told him he’s ‘getting a hat’ vs Ravens, he said…. https://t.co/VM51RDgP7x
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 28, 2017Steeler 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.Comment
-
Steelers to activate WR Justin Hunter, possibly simplify playbook
2:05 PM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have begun making a few changes to the offense after a sluggish three weeks.
Veteran wide receiver Justin Hunter, who flashed in training camp but was inactive for the first three weeks, was notified by the coaching staff that he'll play this week. Hunter was told in a team meeting he'll 'get a hat' vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
"Whatever plays they give me, I'm definitely going to take full advantage of that,' said Hunter, who scored four touchdowns for the Buffalo Bills last season and signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent.
Slot receiver Eli Rogers, whose snap count dropped from 37 in Week 2 to 21 last week, said it's 'coach's decision' what his role will be.
"I don't know what to expect," he said. "I'm just here to get better."
As for the entire offense, which has scored 57 points and features Le'Veon Bell running for an uncharacteristic 3.5 yards per carry, two players hinted at a streamlined playbook for Baltimore week.
Maybe that's what the Steelers need, guard David DeCastro said.
"Keep it simple, just execute what you have called. We'll see," DeCastro said. "I don't think it's in complete panic mode where we super-simplify it, but maybe that's a little bit of the plan."
Asked what that looks like, DeCastro said condensing the playbook and making sure everyone knows their role.
The Steelers are loaded with playmakers, and tight end Vance McDonald has sensed the team pressing to fulfill their potential.
"Yeah, I could say that (we need to simplify)," McDonald said. "For sure, especially against Baltimore, you want to be fundamentally sound."
http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/25330/steelers-to-activate-wr-justin-hunter-possibly-simplify-playbookSteeler 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.Comment
-
wow, kinda sounds like the players havent been preparedsteelers = 3 ring circus with tomlin being the head clownComment
-
Sounds like Haley tried to get too cute with a million and one formations. Just because you have a ton of weapons doesn't mean you have to have a ton of sub packages and a ton of plays.Steelers 27
Rats 16Comment
-
Hunter is running a go route on the first play of the game.Steelers 27
Rats 16Comment
-
Sorry ToddOriginally posted by Todd HaleySteelers 27
Rats 16Comment
Tweet
Comment