Steelers Training Camp Takeaways: Kenny Pickett, Offense Soar

LATROBE, Pa — Friday was the special Friday Night Lights practice that the Steelers host every season. Last year, it never got to happen after it got rained out and moved to Monday afternoon. However, the Steelers, without Mike Tomlin at the helm, were able to get tricky and showcase some interesting things. What did we learn from Friday?

Seven Shots

First Rep: Kenny Pickett looks to his left and right where he has a 2×2 formation. Diontae Johnson motions to the inside from the outside to create a stacked look. Allen Robinson II to his side. Robinson runs a flag route and Tre Norwood and Levi Wallace both stick underneath in the flat with Johnson. Pickett hits Robinson for the touchdown. Offense leads 1-0.

Second Rep: Steelers work in shotgun with Najee Harris off the left of Pickett. They send Pat Freiermuth in motion across the formation. George Pickens aligns on the ball as the X-receiver. He faces Wallace, and runs a nine route. But Pickens stepped out of bounds, and in going to get the combat catch, touched the ball first. He and Wallace fight each other and Pickens came down with the grab, but it is ruled illegal touching. Tied 1-1.

Third Rep: Johnson goes in motion from left to right and aligns in the slot. He works against Patrick Peterson who follows him across the formation. Pickett steps back to pass and Johnson wins on a pivot route. It is a touchdown, and the offense is cooking. Offense leads 2-1.

Fourth Rep: Another play action, this time from the pistol. Pickett play fakes to Jaylen Warren and moves to the left. However, no one is open as Pickens and Freiermuth are over there. Pickett decides to take it anyways and reaches for the pylon, he gets it and it is a touchdown. Offense leads 3-1.

Fifth Rep: Mitch Trubisky is now into the game. Gunner Olszewski is in the slot and Connor Heyward motions from left to right to make it a 3×1 formation. Olszewski runs a choice route right behind Kwon Alexander. Trubisky throws it right behind him and it is a touchdown. Offense leads 4-1.

Sixth Rep: Now, the team has two slot receivers on the field. Olszewski is aligned to the left and Calvin Austin is aligned to the right. Austin motions out of the slot and into the stacked look to become the outside Z-receiver. Working against Madre Harper, he runs an in route and makes a strong, combat catch. Offense leads 5-1.

Seventh Rep: Miles Boykin is the X-receiver guarded by Harper. Trubisky steps back to pass and looks for Boykin on a dig route but Harper is in the hip pocket and breaks it up. Offense wins 5-2.

Receiver One-on-Ones

Since the last time I focused on the running backs in backs-on-backers, I shifted over to the receivers and cornerbacks for today. Either way, we did not even get backs-on-backers, but rather, two-on-twos in coverage combinations with the tight ends. So, here is some of the takeaways and highlights from here.

– The defensive backs were holding and committing penalties like no one’s business. In the period, there were 12 defensive pass interference flags thrown. Those DBs started to complain and yet, assistant defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander applauded the referees and told them to make the DBs learn how to guard guys. It was not just a group of players. 9 different players got hit with a flag from the referees.

– George Pickens is an alien. Man, he made some splash plays here. The first was a slant route where he just dusted Patrick Peterson off the line. It was part physicality but the other was the sharp shake off his speed release to the inside. The second was a great twirling, toe-tapping grab while fading away on Levi Wallace. It wasn’t quite as good as his viral catch on Joey Porter Jr. from a bit ago, but it was impressive. I thought, in general, Pickens was the best receiver out there.

– Not to be outdone, Diontae Johnson and Allen Robinson II made their plays, too. Robinson started off the drill with a bang, catching a toe-tapping pass that sailed right into his hands over Chandon Sullivan. He would catch another touchdown on a crosser against Chris Wilcox. Johnson made a fantastic toe-tapping grab on the back pylon. That was Johnson’s best play in the period, but it showed.

– Calvin Austin III had a good day in this drill, too. His speed is a factor, but he is starting to stack consistent days and make the most of his opportunities. On one route, he dusted Elijah Riley on a sail route and did a great job to contort his body into the sideline and come down in-bounds. He won every rep of his today.

– Gunner Olszewski is another player that just gets open. I don’t know, man. He dusted Tre Norwood and Dawson. Olszewski is a guy that is not too flashy but he just gets open and he catches basically everything. That is a good thing. He is pushing to make this roster, but his return chops will be even more important to really make it here.

– There are not many standouts on the defensive side of the ball, but Joey Porter Jr. and George Pickens only went at it once. Pickens won on a curl route but Porter Jr. had tight coverage again. He won every other rep. The more I see Porter Jr. play, the more I think he starts.

Linemen One-on-Ones

Luckily for me, there were two periods of one-on-ones and two-on-two drill period for the linemen where they went through their pass rush and worked on double teams. These are for the guys who do not get the shine they deserve, the big men in the trenches.

– Keeanu Benton looks like the man. Alright, the flashes are incredible. The inconsistency is there. But he forklifted Mason Cole off his spot and into the turf on one double-team rep. There was far little more impressive than that on the whole day. He’s not there yet, but the vision of what he can become is all there. Benton really just needs to tweak his pass-rush plan and add some moves. He’s got 3-technique potential written all over him.

– Breiden Fehoko has a niche and it works for him. The double-team drill was made for Fehoko. He destroyed one double team set by Cole and Kevin Dotson. The very next rep, he took a guard and threw them to the ground to shed into the backfield. In the one-on-ones, Fehoko showed off a nice bull rush that proved to be effective. It’s hard to not see him making this team. The path is right there.

– Broderick Jones is the first man to stop Nick Herbig’s ghost move. I thought that was notable. His feet are so lightning-quick. When you talk about rookies and what can allow them to have a considerable floor as they grow, exceptional foot quickness is one of those for tackles. There was another play where he had to mirror Larry Ogunjobi on a run play perfectly and did it. I’m admittedly not quite sure just how good Jones will be right away, but he has some real chops already showing.

– Speaking of Herbig, that guy is dominating out there. His ghost move is deadly, so thanks to T.J. Watt for teaching him that. But he’s even showing some skill to stick his nose in there in the run game. I don’t know just yet. I need to see him in a live game setting before I’m fully on board but Herbig is just stringing together one good practice after another. impressive.

– The steadiest guy in the room is Isaac Seumalo. There is nothing that throws him off his game. He is cool as a cucumber. Seumalo plays with great intelligence but has enough of a streak to where you don’t want to mess with him. He was perfect in one-on-ones.

– Meanwhile, Armon Watts is a sleeper to know on the defensive line. He’s a good 3-technique with some serious explosiveness right off the jump. Watts has great thump in his hands and jolts linemen back with his hands. Those heavy hands really carry him places.

Offense is Cohesive

This was as cohesive a day as the Steelers’ offense had all camp. I’d say it was their best day. This was Kenny Pickett’s best practice. It felt like if you were looking to find a practice that could show you where this team’s offense could shine, this would be it. Pickett looked calm and made some of his best throws of training camp. He threw a gorgeous crosser to Pat Freiermuth in between two defenders.

The rushing attack looked promising, and they seemed to rip off chunks of yards at a time tonight. Pickett did well to work off play action and hit his receivers on time. I saw them use a variety of new looks, including more than 12 personnel and stacked looks. Kendrick Green played fullback. There was a mix of efficiency and explosive.

Calvin Austin III had his most consistent day of practice yet. He caught three balls of over 40 or more yards tonight. I liked seeing that. Darnell Washington cleared lanes and dazzled up the seam. The 12 personnel groupings had the defense befuddled and led to some of their best plays of camp. This seems to be the next step of this offense. I’m excited to see where it goes.