The Official 2024-2025 Pittsburgh Steelers Thread
- Thread starter jack walsh13
- Start date
Let's enjoy some old school for a little bit fellas. Bit of the glory days.
Steelers training camp observations: Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier quickly showing why they were top draft picks
After two days of physical practices in full pads, Steelers coaches and scouts have to be wondering whether they should be overly excited about the rookie offensive linemen or concerned by the lack of progress some of their young defensive linemen are making. Or maybe it’s a little of both.
After watching the first two days of one-on-ones between the offensive linemen and the defensive linemen, it looks like assistant general manager Andy Weidl and his scouting staff knew what they were doing when they selected Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick with three of their first five picks in the draft.
For the second consecutive day, they shined going up against the defensive line and outside linebackers. One day after winning two of three against T.J. Watt, Fautanu, the No. 20 overall pick in the draft, won all three reps against second-year outside linebacker Nick Herbig.
Fautanu is still working with the second-team offense, but he’s quickly turning heads among his teammates.
“I think he’s done a great job,” Watt said. “He’s done a good job of changing up his sets and doing different things. It’s always fun when you get a new tackle to go against because it’s not the same techniques you’re used to seeing day in and day out. It’s been great competition.”
There were some NFL draft analysts who believed Fautanu’s best position in the NFL would be guard because he doesn’t have prototypical tackle size. But his footwork and technique are so polished that he doesn’t have any issue mirroring athletic pass rushers like Watt and Herbig. And he’s having no trouble transitioning from left tackle to right tackle.
“Man, I just see him continuing to get better,” second-year tackle Broderick Jones said. “He’s coming along really well. I’m excited to see what the future holds for him. He works his tail off. He doesn’t complain about things. He’s always asking questions and trying to figure out how he can get better.”
Jones knows how important the individual reps against the defensive line can be in a rookie’s development. He was the Steelers’ No. 1 pick last year and got a healthy dose of Watt in his first training camp. Overall, he’s been impressed with the rookie trio and their early development.
Frazier and McCormick were excellent again in the pass-rush drill on Wednesday. Frazier won three consecutive reps against Breiden Fehoko. And McCormick once again had no problem with veteran Isaiahh Loudermilk.
“One-on-one drills are slanted in the defense’s favor,” Jones said. “You just have to come with the mindset that you have to overcome the battle and put your best foot forward. I feel like they’re doing a good job of taking it serious. Those reps are critical. That’s the only time where you’re getting a lot of one-on-one reps. The one-on-one sets are really important so you can fine tune your skills and try different things — hand combinations, different footwork, different sets.”
While the backup defensive linemen have struggled over the past two days, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin isn’t fretting about his depth just yet. The one player who can help a lot is DeMarvin Leal. After a rough day in one-on-ones on Tuesday, Leal responded Wednesday by splitting two reps with reserve guard Joey Fisher.
“Right now, we got a chance to see it because we were resting a couple of guys today,” Austin said. “We like the young guys. We have to develop the young guys. Right now, I’m not concerned about it. We’re in a good position. We have [Montravius Adams]. We have [Loudermilk]. [Leal] is coming along and starting to play better. We know he’s had a little ups and downs since he’s been here, but he’s a good guy and worked his tail off.”
For Leal, Austin said stacking quality practices is important.
“I want to see more consistency,” he said. “What happens when you start guys who have talent and start playing, all of a sudden it kind of goes up and down for them. You want to see more consistency. Once you see more consistency, his talent will show.”
Looks like we nailed it with these o-linemen in the draft.
Rumored to be 2nd and 5th for him
One thing I know for a fact (especially after last season with Kenny Pickett going off in the preseason) is not to put too much stock into the preseason. Arthur Smith's offense is very complex with a lot of plays and sets, and it's a strong emphasis on the tight ends. We've seen a little bit of it, but there's a lot more when it comes to specifically scheming against an opponent. So what I'm seeing doesn't bother me much from the QB stand point. What is pissing me the fuck off is the play in particular with Broderick Jones. Dude is getting thrown around like a rag doll on skates. He's the sole reason Wilson couldn't get anything going. He looks bad. Then he didn't wanna talk to the media and man up afterwards. Man, ion like dat shit. Ion like dat shit at all. Nigga better block better or ler Anderson or McCormick take his spot. Pussy, you not gonna get a starting spot on the line just because you a 1st round pick. He gotta get his shit together fast.
Man, Russ can still throw that beautiful deep ball. Can he do it for a season? Or even an entire game is the question.
Fields gotta settle down!!!
Tomlin should have taken the field goal. 
@CORNBREAD
Corn, i think Tomlin goes to Rus next week if he's healthy. But you will see Fields in some specific packages for him
Corn, i think Tomlin goes to Rus next week if he's healthy. But you will see Fields in some specific packages for him
I have no issue with that if it comes to be... if anything, it'll keep our look relatively fresh, maybe even keep some of these defenses guessing... We need to win as many of these early schedule games as possible.... before we "RUN THE GUANTLET!" I.J.S.
Seeing him then and knowing how he 'Fucc'd Up the Bag' pisses me off to the Nth degree... He was in a system that was specifically designed to his running style. How in the Fucc could he think he could go somewhere else and get the same results immediately without the previous commitment being given... And to top it all off, the bag he got was less than had he taken the Pittsburgh offer and not sat out for a year...
Title should read "Example of a KnucleHead in one video"...
fucc'n Jack-@ss.