Steelers Training Camp Takeaways: Broderick Jones Dominates

 After their win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Steelers got back to work and gave some veterans a bit of a more limited day. Guys like Isaac Seumalo and Chuks Okorafor allowed some such as Broderick Jones and Spencer Anderson to get more reps on a Sunday in full pads following a physical game down in Florida. What could be taken away from last weekend practice in Latrobe?

Seven Shots

First Rep: Kenny Pickett comes out with Najee Harris to his left. Diontae Johnson is sent on a yo-yo motion to find out if it is man coverage. It turns out it is man coverage. Pickett has Johnson aligned inside the slot. Johnson runs a slant route and wins, Pickett looks for him, but Minkah Fitzpatrick is robbing the low hole and bats it down. Defense leads 1-0.

Second Rep: Pickett wants to find out if it is man or zone again and sends Allen Robinson II in a return motion. Harris joins him in the backfield from the wide of a 3×2 formation. The Steelers have Johnson aligned in the slot. He finds out it is zone from the indicator, but it is a disguise and man coverage. He looks for Johnson on a comeback route but Chandon Sullivan breaks it up. Defense leads 2-0.

Third Rep: Pickett has no motion this time other than Jaylen Warren coming in from the far right of the formation to join him as the sidecar in the shotgun. Robinson is the slot on a 3×1 set as the most inside man. He runs a corner route, but Kenny Robinson is in great coverage as Pickett sails the ball out of the endzone. Defense leads 3-0.

Fourth Rep: Anthony McFarland comes in and so do Broderick Jones and Nate Herbig. The two of them go in for Dan Moore and Isaac Seumalo. Meanwhile, Moore shifts to right tackle while Chuks Okorafor comes out. McFarland takes the inside zone and James Daniels and Mason Cole clear the way so he walks in untouched. Defense leads 3-1.

Fifth Rep: Trubisky now goes under center with Warren as the back. It is play action with 12 personnel and Darnell Washington is running a crosser on the unbalanced set to the field side. However, Gunner Olszewski comes across from the other side and breaks free on his crosser to catch it for a touchdown against Robinson. Defense leads 3-2.

Sixth Rep: Trubisky motions Connor Heyward across the formation to create a bunch set on the right side of the formation. Calvin Austin III is the point man with Dez Fitzpatrick the far wide guy. Fitzpatrick darts in on a slant with Luq Barcoo in coverage. It’s a good ball, but Barcoo makes a great play to rip it out. Defense leads 4-2.

Seventh Rep: Fitzpatrick motions from the right side to the left side of the formation. Heyward is the running back. He goes out to the flat to create a slant-flat combination. Fitzpatrick carries his slant further up and sneaks behind everyone and into the endzone for a touchdown. Defense wins 4-3.

Lineman One-on-One Notes

The Steelers put the offensive linemen in one-on-ones again. It gets the juices going as always, and that makes the Steelers specifically focus on some of the younger players with upside. That included Broderick Jones and Spencer Anderson as guys of particular focus. So, here are some notes from this session.

– Broderick Jones first drew DeMarvin Leal. That is an interesting matchup considering Leal’s quickness and bend for a guy his size. On the first rep, Jones seemed to drift a little too much in his set and got wide his hands, allowing Leal to work back outside and swipe those paws down for the win. But I loved Jones’ response to this entire thing. Jones drifted slightly but expected Leal to cut back inside off his cross chop and drove him back to the South Side. The last rep Jones took by running Leal around and maintaining his footwork and hand integrity. He won this series of three in a great way.

– Nick Herbig and Spencer Anderson had some battles. Anderson stunted Herbig on an attempted rip move. That was all about his hand usage and footwork. Anderson has underrated feet. On the next rep, however, Herbig would pull out a spin move that I had not seen before. It reminded me of Alex Highsmith’s move, and when Anderson left the door inside open, Herbig attacked that near shoulder with ease. This was a good battle, and it stunts me every time I see Herbig’s bag gets deeper.

– Herbig, now confident off winning those reps against Anderson, called out Jones for a set of three, but they would actually go up against one another four times. For the first two reps, Herbig tried a cross-chop-rip combination to the inside and then attempted his ghost move to the outside. Jones stunned both of them. There are few guys who can really match up with Herbig’s burst but Jones’s foot speed has that ability. He stayed patient and played with both to his hands and his feet. The independent hands did him well today. Later on, Herbig did get him with the ghost move and I am not surprised by that. Jones played with his hands too low and Herbig dotted right under them by faking the rip and dip. The next attempt, though, would be a great rep by Jones, who would swat the hands of Herbig down on an attempted long arm.

– Dylan Cook continues to impress me. He stunned Toby Ndukwe twice, including once on a snatch-trap move that sent Ndukwe flying face-first into the turf. Later on, he would match a speed rush with fleet feet, getting to his spot and stunning a rush from Leal. I don’t know what Cook has to do to make the team, it’s an uphill climb, but he’s earned himself a spot on the practice squad.

Two-Minute Drill Notes

The Steelers worked their two-minute drill offense today. They gave those two drives to Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky. The key context here is that Pickett and Trubisky both started around their own 45-yard line with 1:18 left on the clock and only one timeout. So, they each played with the same circumstances overall before coming together.

– Pickett started off his drive by dinking and dunking. It was a bit of an odd configuration. He ran this drive with a mix of linemen as well, with Broderick Jones and Nate Herbig coming on at one point. He hit Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris, and Allen Robinson II each on small passes that gained about 13 yards combined to move the chains forward. A scramble would get them up to around the 35-yard line or so. Pickett scanned on the next play and found George Pickens on the backside of a 3×1 formation on a corner route. Pickens got out of bounds to stop the clock. The next play, Pickett hit Robinson up the seam on a circus diving catch for about a 15-yard touchdown. It was a great grab, and something that you can see energized the offense.

– Now, it was Trubisky’s turn. Like Pickett, he largely started with some easy throws to Darnell Washington, Zach Gentry, and Jaylen Warren. However, Gunner Olszewski turned into his favorite target on the day. He found him on a drive route, a crosser, and then up the seam. Those three plays would march the Steelers defense all the way down to the five-yard line. With about 16 seconds left, Washington broke wide open in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. He has been a monster in the red zone.

– Some basic notes otherwise aside from the drive summaries. The Steelers love themselves the seam route this year. They ran it enough last year, but it seems the quarterbacks are far more willing to actually let that route rip than they were a year ago. Tight ends and slot receivers alike run it, so it should be a big asset to this team vertically up the middle of the field. The second thing is that Pickens continues to diversify his route tree. He has routes to the inside and middle of the field, and now he is starting to create separation on routes to the outside. He is turning into a fuller receiver.

James Pierre Balls Out

On the day when defensive coordinator Teryl Austin sent a veiled shot toward James Pierre in his press conference, the veteran cornerback responded in about as good a way as you could have imagined. Covering Calvin Austin III, Pierre stepped in front of the nine route and picked it off. I thought it was his best play all of training camp and something he can really build upon. Overall, Pierre had a good day with about three different pass breakups. But he wasn’t the only player in the secondary to make some noise.

Trenton Thompson and Madre Harper earn some respect here, too. Harper made a great stun in the run game against Darius Hagans. But moreover, his coverage was airtight on Sunday. He is a bit of a sleeper that most really don’t think about when they think about the room, but he made plays. Then, for Thompson, after making an interception on Friday, he had three pass breakups today and worked in some with the first team in their three safety package. I’ll buy into what Thompson is doing right now. He is an older second-year player and is gunning right for a practice squad spot.