Steelers Analysis Steelers Training Camp

Steelers Camp Takeaways: Justin Fields Lights It Up After Intense Backs on Backers Period

The Steelers Friday Night Lights practice was full of fireworks and trash talk.

Derrick Bell |

Updated: Aug 3, 2024

LATROBE, Pa. — The annual Friday Night Lights practice is always a treat for everyone involved. This years rendition was insanely competitive from start to finish and gave fans the fireworks that they were searching for. After the defense showed out on Thursday, the offense bounced back in a major way and looked extremely impressive throughout the session. In terms of intensity and trash talk, tonight was one for the books.

SEVEN SHOTS

1) To open things up, the offense aligned in 11 personnel with Justin Fields finding Pat Freiermuth on a flat route to the left pylon. He was uncontested due to what looked like a miscommunication between Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott.

2) To follow that up, the Steelers showed a bunch formation tight to the right side. They ran a snag concept with Pickens working the spot route underneath. Fields threw a bullet that hit him right between the numbers for a score.

3) The third play featured Fields under center, with Najee Harris working behind a lead block from his full back. He encountered contact near the goal line but in true to form fashion, he fell forward and got the ball narrowly across the white.

4) The Steelers shifted to empty out of 13 personnel, with Fields finding Pickens working to the back line of the end zone on a glance. We’ve seen this formation quite a bit across camp.

5) Kyle Allen juggled his first shotgun snap from Zach Frazier but quickly gathered himself and threw a nice touch pass to Dez Fitzpatrick who created some space for himself inside.

6) We saw another under center run play with La’Michel Perine in the backfield. There was some penetration up front but he navigated through the chaos and crossed the goal line on his feet.

7) With Mike Tomlin trying to cater to the ground, he brought the starters back on the field for the final play of the period. The play call a simple fade route to George Pickens who was guarded by Joey Porter. The pass fell incomplete but the refs saw enough contact to toss a flag to the ground for pass interference.

Overall, the offense responded nicely today with a dominant 7-0 performance, making it look relatively easy in the process.

Backs on Backers

To say that the backs on backers drill was intense would be the understatement of the century.

Alex Highsmith started it off with an inside spin move, beating Darnell Washington. After that, Washington got his revenge by securing the edge on the next rep and was absolutely dominant throughout the rest of the drill. He reeled off what seemed like five straight wins against various competitors. His patience, posture and sheer play strength are pretty raw for the position.

Things got chippy once the leaders of the RB/LB rooms squared off. Najee Harris anchored down and subsequently buried Patrick Queen. This started back and forth jawing between the two sides that went on for next ten minutes straight. Harris won the second rep as well.

Elandon Roberts matched up with Jaylen Warren and unleashed a ferocious bullrush move with enough force behind it to crack Warren’s visor on his helmet. This became a frequent taunt from the backers side. But Warren bounced back on the next rep and put Roberts on the turf.

Payton Wilson ran straight through Aaron Shampklin. All of the Steelers off-ball backers can rush the passer which should give defensive coordinator Teryl Austin some flexibility with his fronts next season.

DeMarvin Leal received a couple of reps to end the session and he won both of them. He converted speed to power on MyCole Pruitt and then beat full back Jack Collettto on a quick inside rip move. Regardless of whether he’s lined up on the interior or out at edge, it looks like Leal is playing with more confidence right now.

NOTES FROM TEAM PERIODS

? Justin Fields was extremely sharp throughout practice after a pretty uneven day yesterday. Not only was he accurate on essentially every pass that he threw tonight, he was much more decisive in the pocket. In quick game, the ball was coming out of his hands as soon as he hit the back foot of his drop. There were several instances of him getting to his second or third read in a timely manner. We didn’t see him take as many “sacks” today and it allowed him to shine as a passer.

? Speaking of Fields, it doesn’t take very long to understand why the Steelers were interested In him as a reclamation project. His size and athleticism were easy to spot yesterday but today, his arm strength was on full display. Two throws that stood out to me: 1) a deep, intermediate out route to Pickens along the left sideline with Porter in coverage. 2) a laser beam over the middle to Calvin Austin on a search route over the middle. The couple that times that he needed to rip it, we showed off some serious RPMs.

? Pittsburgh’s still very much in the process of installing it’s offense, but one thing that has been evident is that they’ve been able to get their best pass catchers, Pickens and Pat Freiermuth, in some advantageous situations by getting them matched up on linebackers. Whether it’s moving them around the formation, utilizing bunch sets or stacks, there’s just been more easy looks for those two than there has been in years past. Of course, we have to see that carry over to when games actually matter but it’s an encouraging sight.

? The passing charts of the quarterbacks should theoretically look much different this year. They’ve been peppering the ball over the middle of the field on crossers, slants and in-breakers in general. Previously, this hasn’t been an area of strength for neither Wilson or Fields. It’s also worth noting that it’s a lot easier to throw there when there’s no threat of a pass rush putting you on your back and the defense isn’t going to lay a hit stick on your receivers. But at the very least, there will be more opportunities in the fall. It’s just up to the passers to take some chances.

? Somewhat to my surprise, Nate Herbig has looked completely fine at center. Today, he and James Daniels combined for a sweet combo block on inside zone which created a massive crease for Najee Harris to run through. Let’s put it this way, he’s not exactly conceding this job to the rookie without a fight.

? The Steelers offense had a largely successful night but their screen game hasn’t been remotely effective in recent days. The primary reason for that is because Patrick Queen keeps meeting the backs at the catch point and dropping them before they can even get rolling. He was banged up a little bit towards the end of practice but it should be considered as minor. He looks every bit as advertised thus far.

? Fresh off the unemployment line, Markus Golden had a nice night, both as a rusher and run defender which earned constant praise from the coaching staff. Pittsburgh’s talent at the edge spot seems like an embarrassment of riches, with star talent up top and perfectly capable contributors directly behind them. That’s key in this defense.

? Nick Herbig and Troy Fautanu had some interesting reps against one another again today. On one, the rookie tackle was able to push Herbig up the arc past the quarterback. The following play, Herbig flashed an inside spin move for a win. Later in practice, Fautanu had a good rep where he closed the door on an inside rip move. Both of these two are technically backups on the depth chart right now but the talent is absolutely evident. Not only that but the competition between is only going to help both them and the team in the long run.

? Both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren put the ball on the ground today which resulted in laps being ran.

Special Teams Gunner Work

During Thursday’s practice, special teams coordinator Danny Smith had his troops working on gunner coverage.

Mike Tomlin was actively involved and vocal throughout the session. He followed up with rookie defensive back Ryan Watts on using his hands more at the line of scrimmage and referred to Scottie Miller’s speed by saying he’s a “motorcycle that doesn’t quit.”

A few minutes into the drill, Tomlin told Smith that he wanted to see Joey Porter all by himself on an island. He said they needed to simulate having to send the house, incorporating more rushers into the box to get after the punter.

Porter did about as well as you could do during his chances but that’s a pretty tough task, even for one of the games more talented young corners. Instead of staying in phase, they were wanting him to remain connected and prevent the gunner from gaining ground and pursuing the return man.

During yesterday’s practice, I noted that Beanie Bishop made a couple tackles during the non-contact kickoff drills. On punt return, his competitiveness stood out in a good way. He took 5-6 reps, mostly with Cam Sutton as his running mate but only one of those wasn’t a dominant win for the duo. Sutton was also giving the rookie pointers on the sideline in the very next team period and there seems to be a healthy, albeit competitive, relationship building there.

Receivers coach Zach Azzanni was assisting the gunners with some helpful tips, mostly about how to swipe defenders hands down upon contact and keep their frames clean. Several of his young receivers were going through the drills at the time.

SUMMARY

The offense came out scorching hot and just never cooled down. Backs on backers set the tone for an ultra competitive practice which really gave the 12k fans in attendance quite a show. With a couple more practices like this one, I’m sure that the entire team is ready to hit someone that isn’t wearing a black and gold jersey. But if you left the stadium tonight without some adrenaline pumping through your veins, you simply don’t love the game of football.