Steelers Training Camp - Players to Watch

2015 Training Camp is approaching and the transition from the players who participated in the most recent Super Bowl run by the Steelers to the players that replaced them is nearly complete.  There are a few holdovers.  James Harrison and Ben Roethlisberger were key components of those teams, but 3 main cogs of the machine called it quits in the offseason and key components of the next team have been identified and more of them hopefully will emerge from this year’s draft class and free agents.

There are a number of players that are part of the team this year I’m excited to see what they can do and interested to see if they can evolve into the next James Harrison or Brett Keisel.  There are a bunch of young guys that are advertised as being very talented, but because they are incoming rookies or for one reason or another have not translated the talent to the Steelers as of yet. 

Going through the current roster, it’s amazing the amount of guys that are signed in the offseason to futures contracts.  Basically, you’ve got guys that have been on the team and you know what they can do, draft picks where the first 3 rounds make the team and rounds 4-7 battle for a spot, then there are guys that have been signed to free agent contracts that probably won’t make the team but there’s usually one or two a year that surprise and make the roster.

The guys on my list are a combination of all.  They are the draft picks, the free agents, and the guys that have been around a few years.  I have a reason why I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do and that reason is tied to the overall performance of the team.

Offense

DeAngelo Williams has been around the block with the Carolina Panthers.  After the release of Blount last year and the injury to Le’Veon Bell the Steelers realized they needed more than him and an undersized backup to compete.  So they brought in Williams.  He’ll immediately be tested because of Bell’s suspension and the fact that the Steelers will face the Cheatriots in the first game.  I love the Steelers passing game, but part of the reason the passing game was great was because Bell was there to catch Ben’s dump offs when AB was not on the field or open.  Any rushing yardage he can contribute will be helpful.

 

Dri Archer was the toast of training camp last year.  He dazzled with his 4.2/4.3 speed and it was expected he’d be the Steelers punt return man and break a few runs or screen passes out of the backfield.  What happened?  In for kick returns, he couldn’t break that first tackle and the return game suffered.  Undoubtedly, he is fast, but he is also as small as anyone on the field.  I’ve heard some people say that he has put on some muscle.  If that is true hopefully it will be enough muscle to help him break those tackles.  Markus Wheaton took over the return duties and improved that part of the game to average.  If Dri can break that first tackle and utilize his speed to beat the next wave it could be a very big boost for the team.  If he does not perform well in camp he may not make the team.

 

Sammie Coates, the Steelers latest WR diamond in the rough find from Auburn, is another tantalizing piece for the offense.  For a while in the 80’s and 90’s the Steeler could not find a decent receiver including a first round pick.  Then came Hines, Plaxico, Randle El, Washington, Wallace, Brown and Sanders.  They hit the jackpot with the big money crew or whatever they called themselves.  Non first round draft picks that performed very well for them.  Their WR success continued when they drafted Wheaton and Bryant.  Now, it’s Coates.  He had a way of getting past the secondary at Auburn, but this is the NFL.  The other question is drops.  If he has a question mark, it is ability to hold onto the ball.  We’ve seen another talented receiver that couldn’t hold onto the ball.  I’ll have a Big Mac Mr. Sweed.

 

Jesse James is interesting just because of his name alone.  But he is also interesting because of his size and potential.  Nobody is saying that he is the next Heath Miller.  But, he is a big Tight End at 6’7”, 250-260 lbs, so more room to add some muscle.  He left school early, which could be a bad move money wise for him, but if he turns out to be an above average tight end it was a good get for the Steelers.  He grew up a Steelers fan so he probably was very happy ending up with them even though he may have made more by staying at PSU another year.  He didn’t catch a lot of balls at Penn State, but he could have been underutilized, or it could be they didn’t have any quarterbacks that could get it to him, or maybe he’s not the best receiver.  I’ve heard him say that he was underutilized.  That’s kind of like giving yourself a nickname.  You kind of need someone else to back it up before it’s something others are accepting.  There’s only one Heath, but I’d like to see a Tight End somewhere between Heath’s pass receiving capabilities and Spaeth’s.  I did love that 1 fingertip grab and touchdown last year by Spaeth.  Unless you’re looking at blocking that’s Spaeth’s offensive highlight from last  year.  Seems like a good reason to hope the outlaw can catch.

 

Alejandro Villanueva is someone that everyone wants to succeed, including me.  He’s not in a glamour position, but he does have the Captain America background.  He has won a Bronze Star Medal for Valor, by getting fellow soldiers to safety after a Taliban ambush.  He was the team captain on the Army football team and he was the leading receiver in his senior year on the Army team.  So, what position is he playing for the Steelers?  Tackle.  That’s not really that big of a leap.  Lots of Tight Ends move to the Offensive Line, so he would not be the first.  After his release from Philadelphia the Steelers signed him.  He was around 277 when he came to them.  277 is not big enough for an offensive lineman.  Apparently, he’s been working out a little because he’s up to 336.  If he can play it will be a great story.  Luckily he’s working with one of the best line coaches possible.  

 

CJ Goodwin has been on the radar ever since it came out that Mel Blount asked that the Steelers take a look at him.  There are not many players with as mediocre a resume as CJ has that they would give a look at, but if a Hall of Famer that helped win 4 Super Bowls asks for a small favor, you jump.  So the Steelers took a look.  Maybe they added onto the favor by signing him to the practice squad, but once it was known that he had Mel’s stamp of approval, CJ was on the radar of me and the rest of Steeler Nation.  I’ve heard that his vertical leap is outstanding.  Those that are around the Steelers are very intrigued.  Since he came out of nowhere though the rest remains a mystery.  If he has remained on the practice squad this long and with the positive media and player reviews I’ve seen, he has an outside chance of making the team, but a very good chance of getting some more seasoning on the practice squad.  Hopefully we’ll see what he can do in spring training.  Unfortunately, for him, the Steelers have one of the deepest groups of talented receivers they’ve ever had.  There’s always room for game changers though.

 

Josh Harris came onto the scene last year after Le’Veon Bell had his season ending injury at the end of year.  Coaches had lots of praise for him, but what else are you going to say when your star goes down and you don’t have any tested backs in waiting and you’re going into the playoffs.  Well, our backups are really horrible, so we’ll just see what happens with them.  No, you try to build them up.  They did exactly that praising him for his work on the practice squad and saying there won’t be much of a drop off.  Then they go out and sign a Cleveland castoff and give him most of the carries.  But, in his first game after being put on the roster, Josh shockingly broke away for a 59 yard gain against the gals.  It was called back because of a holding penalty, but that run whets the appetite for Josh and his possibilities.  

 

The offense is not the only side of the ball with some interesting personnel questions.  Two corners and a Safety were drafted in the secondary to possibly replace the departed Ike Taylor and soon to be Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu and several candidates for the Outside linebacker jobs including the first rounder Bud Dupree.

 

Bud Dupree, the 2015 first round selection leads a group vying for the two outside linebacker positions.  Arthur Moats and James Harrison were resigned to man those positions.  The presumption is that Moats will start on the left side and Jarvis Jones will start on the right.  The Outside Linebacker coach, Joey Porter, says James Harrison’s snaps will be limited, but I can’t see James being happy if he’s healthy and sitting on the sideline.  I also can’t see him causing any problems on the team so I think he’ll play when they tell him to.  He is a leader and has already been that showing the linebackers what a real workout is and putting some more beef on them in Arizona.  Under Lebeau, Dupree would probably have been eased into playing time and taken over Moats spot in his second or third year.  With Butler in charge we’ll see what happens.  First rounders are always scrutinized until they produce, so he will be on the radar and fans will be calling for him to start and calling for him to be benched if he doesn’t have 5 sacks in his first start.  Ask Jarvis Jones.

 

Jarvis Jones, the first rounder of two years ago, is still looking to prove that he should have been a first rounder.  One year of starting too quickly and one year filled with a couple good games and a season ending injury did not convince anyone that he is the next great or even satisfactory outside linebacker.  He also attended James Harrison’s voluntary OTA camp in Arizona.  After his first year there were questions about him not being strong enough to outmuscle offensive linemen.   It appears as if he did get bigger in the offseason.  In his third year there should be sufficient evidence as to whether he is the heir apparent to Harrison or whether another of the candidates will have to take that spot.   I don’t think Harrison can play til his mid 40s, even if he says he can.  He had a couple injuries last year, too.  If Jarvis can stay healthy and get 12 sacks I’ll consider it a good year.  10 or 11 would even be a good start.

 

Shawn Lemon is wild card 1a in the group.  The Steelers were turning over many stones after the lack of sack productivity last season.  One of those stones was former Canadian Football League player Sean Lemon.  He is a very big unknown.  He had 14 sacks last year with the CFL, which he parlayed into a contract with the Steelers.  It is the CFL though and the signing did not seem to bring the hype of signing a 14 sack NFLer.  So, that’s another wait and see.  Will he even get a chance to show his stuff with Harrison, Jones, Dupree and Moats probably getting the first shot at the job.  If those guys seize their opportunity there might be one more linebacker spot, but there are at least 4 ILB that have a spot locked up for the most part.

 

Howard Jones is wild card 1b in the group.  I’m thinking Jones is probably headed back to the practice squad because his and Lemon’s path is pretty much blocked by the guys that already locked up their spots.  Jones is interesting though because of his performance in training camp last year.  I don’t know if he made the trek to Arizona also, but he should have just to see what Mr. Harrison goes through.  After all Harrison also came to the Steelers as a undrafted free agent.  On my projected opening roster last year I had Jones on the team, but the Steelers had other ideas and no one else grabbed him up.  Let’s see what he does in training camp this year.  He and Lemon are facing an uphill battle and they will really have to make things happen and perform on special teams to grab a spot on the opening roster.

 

Senquez Golson was the second round selection by the Steelers.  Steeler Nation demanded a cornerback be taken high.  I think the villagers may have stormed the castle with pitchforks and torches had it not happened.  So the Steelers selected Bud in the first round and you could hear the groans for miles.  Senquez was selected, and for the most part there were sighs of relief.  The consensus for him seems to be that he would have been a first rounder if not for his short stature.  OTA reports are positive and one person in particular has been impressed by him, Antonio Brown.  If you can stay with AB you aint bad.  So the Steelers will have a bunch of short guys in the secondary.  Maybe they can sneak Martavis in there for a few plays to make them look taller than they are.   Frankly, I don’t care how tall they are as long as they keep the other team from catching the ball and occasionally hold onto one thrown in their direction.  That’s one strength that Senquez has shown in college that some recently retired Steelers cornerbacks haven’t possessed.  He can catch. 

 

Doran Grant is the other cornerback the Steelers drafted to appease the demand for cornerbacks by the nation.  He also satisfies the recent requirement to take an Ohio State player.  Grant has had very good reviews.  The thing about him is that he and Golson are different types of cornerbacks.  I’m not mr. technical when it comes to cornerback terminology, but it seems like Golson is the blanket cornerback that can keep with a receiver on the whole field.  Whereas, Grant is little more limited in that he can cover a receiver in an area but is not gonna chase them all over the field.  Like I said a non technical explanation.  But, as I said also,  could care less how they play as long as they keep the guy they’re supposed to be watching from catching the ball a majority of the time and when a ball hits their hands they can catch it. 

 

Shamarko Thomas is entering his third season.  When he was drafted, the idea was that he was most likely going to replace Troy at some point.  That point is now.  He played a lot his first year then he was injured a lot his second year and Will Allen took a lot of his playing time.  Shamarko has spent time being tutored by Troy.  I think he may have spent some time with James Harrison too, because he likes to put a lot of pictures/videos out of how hard he is working out.  Now he just needs to show what he can do on the field.  It’s not enough to contribute on special teams anymore.  Make some plays at the Safety position.  If he can’t show anything this year it may be time to find another guy who can.

 

Gerod Holliman had 14 ints. last year and won the award for the best defensive back in the nation at Louisville.  Based on that, he’s a first rounder, right.  What round did the Steelers get him in?  7^th.  Supposedly the guy can’t tackle.  When asked about that his coaches wouldn’t comment.  You’d think they’d stretch the truth even if he was just an ok tackler.   But they didn’t.  Those 14 ints are very tempting though.  Especially for a defense that didn’t get a lot of tos from their secondary.  I’m sure Carnell Lake will be coaching him up and hopefully the tackling thing is fiction.  If he can tackle and translate those turnovers to the NFL, he was a steal in the 7^th round.

 

Mike Mitchell heard it from Steeler Nation last year if he was listening at all.  Finally the Steelers made some noise in free agency.  Then the guy was a bust.  But, wait a minute.  He had 2 torn groin muscles.  Most guys would be in a wheelchair just at the thought of that, but this guy was playing NFL football.  Going into camp, he has had surgery to repair those issues and maybe we’ll see the healthy version of Mitchell perform.  He’ll most likely be paired with Shamarko after TPs retirement.  But, they should have had some practice and playing time together, so the transition should be a little smoother than playing with a totally unfamiliar person.  The question is, is a healthy Mitchell as good as his 1 good year in Carolina or was last year as good as it gets. 

 

Daniel McCullers, simply said, is big.  I think that is what made him a person of interest for all fans.  He was one of, if not the biggest players in the draft last year.  That doesn’t necessarily translate into being a great player.  But it does draw a lot of interest.  He lacked skills, namely getting low.  Yes, I’d say getting low would be difficult for someone as big as him.  Dri Archer probably comes up to his knees.  So getting that low might be kinda hard.  That said he did start a few games last year when Mclendon was out and he didn’t play half bad.  He has apparently done some offseason work and is looking like a more muscular than flab mountain.  Again, some coaching and he may be a decent option at Nose Tackle or somewhere on the D Line.

 

Clifton Geathers came in after Brett Keisel went down for the season last year.  It’s hard to imagine a player that looks down at Daniel McCullers, but Geathers is actually taller than big Dan.  Most people thought he was just a roster spot replacement for the Diesel.  But, the coaching staff wanted him back and so he’s getting a shot.  It sounds like he’s not taking it for granted too.  He lost 50 pounds in the offseason to get in shape for a roster run.  He can’t be any worse than Cam Thomas, right?  Keep an eye on him.  Sounds like he is motivated.

 

Ryan Shazier has the tools to be a difference maker on defense.  Those tools consist of SPEED.  Pittsburgh lost Troy this offseason.  Troy, in his heyday, was everywhere on the field.  Last season they got Shazier.  Shazier is not going to play safety.  But, if he’s healthy he will be a difference maker.  Like Troy, his speed allows him to be everywhere on the field.  I don’t see him diving over the line, but I do see him making some big time plays.  He also attended James Harrison’s  OTA camp and added some muscle.  With all these guys slimming down and bulking up, this team may look like a team of incredible hulks when the season comes around.    This was supposed to be Sean Spence’s spot before his injury, then Vince Williams took it and played very well last year.  So, if Shazier continues his injury trend, the backups are capable, but I don’t see the big plays coming from the position.

 

Stephon Tuitt staked his claim to a spot on the defensive line last year.  Not easy for a rookie.  But, we heard from training camp on last year that he had a chance to be the opening starter.  Then, he got little playing time.  By the end of the year, though, he showed that he was capable of good things.  If he continues to provide steadiness and the occasional or regular big play ability on the d-line he should be there for the long run, which is just what they had in mind when drafting him.  He just needs to avoid that sophomore slump.

 

Jordan Zumwalt and Anthony Chickillo.  Two guys that are late round draft additions.  I think most guys don’t prefer to be injured.  But, for Zumwalt it may have bought him a season in the NFL.  Both guys are trying to land roster spots at outside linebacker.  Again, unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any roster spots available because of the “locks” already in place at that position.  But stranger things have happened.  They need to put pressure on the qb.  If a first rounder can do it, he’s probably going to get the first crack.  But if an unknown like Jones, Zumwalt, or Chickillo can do it I don’t think they will discriminate because of draft status.  Keisel didn’t play outside linebacker, but there were probably many people that thought he was just only a project when they drafted him.  I don’t see these guys sticking with the logjam of players at their position, but there’s always the practice squad and Brett knows what can happen to players that only have an outside shot at making the team.

 

With all of these outside linebackers in the cue, hopefully the Steelers will find one or two that can get after the qb.  I know that if any of them want to make the team they better be darn good on special teams, because it will be a short stint on the roster if they aren’t.  This defense is really shaping up and anyone that expects the offense to carry them may be surprised.  Yeah, I expect the offense to be very good, but the defense with the cast of characters in this list is on the rise and with Keith Butler’s new wrinkles in the defense the toughest schedule in the league may not be as tough.