Steelers Training Camp Takeaways: OT Battle Clarity, George Pickens Attitude Adjustment
George Pickens gets attitude adjustment from new coach Zach Azzani. Offensive tackle battle clarity.
UNITY TWP., Pa. — The Pittsburgh Steelers were on the training camp practice field for the first time in the 2024 season on Thursday, and Steelers Now was there.
The Steelers have been doing things differently this season, which continued with changes to the usual training camp routine. Part of that has been a desire by head coach Mike Tomlin to maximize the players’ schedules throughout the day and get more coaching time. Another part is the influence of a new strength and conditioning staff.
Either way, all offseason, the Steelers put a greater emphasis on individual drill periods instead of more team work, and that continued on Thursday. They also will regularly practice in the morning for the first time in recent memory.
One of those changes is that they haven’t been starting every practice with seven shots, and they didn’t on Thursday. So instead of the rundown of the results of the goal line drill, we’ll just start with the first offensive team period.
SEVEN SHOTS SEVERAL PLAYS
1) With Russell Wilson held out with a calf issue, Justin Fields took first-team reps at quarterback. His first pass was a strike to his left to Pat Freiermuth.
2) Fields and Najee Harris weren’t on the same page about where Harris was supposed to be lining up, and Tomlin stepped in and made them re-huddle — the equivalent of wasting a time out on 2nd and 10 on the second play of the game. Not exactly what you want to see.
3) Fields looked for a flexed-out Freiermuth deep down the field. Freiermuth said this is a wrinkle he’s going to be doing more of this year. Unfortunately for the offense, DeShon Elliott was all over him and helped break up the pass.
4) Fields goes for a play-action bootleg to his right. Elliott blew past MyCole Pruitt and would have crushed Fields for a sack.
5) Kyle Allen got the ball to the hands of Dez Fitzpatrick on a slant, but it was behind him and Darius Rush had good coverage for an incomplete pass.
6) Zach Frazier’s low snap to Allen causes a fumble. If Frazier wants to pass Nate Herbig for the starting center job, he’s going to have to clean those up. Bad snaps were a big part of the problem with Mason Cole last season.
7) Allen was chased from the pocket by DeMarvin Leal, who showed a strong burst up the edge. It’s a good thing he was scaring the bejesus out of Allen, because the vet had Roman Wilson open downfield.
8) John Rhys Plumlee had his pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by Breiden Fehoko. That’s going to be a continual problem for the 5-foot-11 passer, who is well under-sized for his position by NFL standards.
9) Plumlee threw complete to Connor Heyward short to the right side in front of Anthony Averett. Heyward made a nice move to the inside to get free, but then Ryan Watts knocked the ball loose and David Perales recovered.
10) Fields dials up a deep ball for George Pickens down the left side. He put it in a place where a regular human being might catch it 30% of the time and Pickens catches it 60% of the time. This wasn’t one of those times. Excellent coverage by Donte Jackson.
11) Fields looked for Pickens on an in-breaking route and bounced it to him.
12) Allen found Quez Watkins on some kind of over route in the middle of what looked like a busted coverage. The Steelers cleared out, and Watkins was left wide open underneath the deeper routes — a nice play design from Arthur Smith.
13) Allen checked down to Daijun Edwards in the right flat. Kalon Barnes had him locked up for a minimal gain.
If we’re taking that first team period as an offense-defense competition, I’d score it 10-3 for the defense. The offense had some better periods as the day went on, but on the whole — and unsurprisingly — the Steelers defense looks to be a good bit ahead of its offense.
PICKENS GETS ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
It was on the second team period that was the first time the Steelers attempted a run, and both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were able to break off a big gain each. On a Warren run, wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni could be heard yelling Pickens’ name before the end of the play.
Azzanni then went right to Pickens, clearly unhappy with his effort and/or execution. The two exchanged some further words. Azzanni has made it clear that he’s going to coach a good bit differently than mild-mannered Frisman Jackson did last year, and Pickens has caught his ire more than once this season. That’s a relationship to monitor as training camp progresses.
CLARITY ABOUT OL BATTLE
Dan Moore Jr. started the practice as the Steelers starting left tackle, with Broderick Jones on the right side. At points during the session, Troy Fautanu came in on the right side, with Jones moving back to the left.
The moving parts seem to have caused some confusion, so let’s clear things up. Brodrick Jones will be starting. Right now, the starters are Jones and Moore, with Jones at right tackle and Moore at left tackle.
The battle here is between Moore and Fautanu, they’re just not playing in the same spot. If Fautanu wins it, Jones will play left tackle. If Moore wins it, Jones will play right tackle.
DEFENSIVE NEWCOMERS
Most of the intrigue on the Steelers has been on offense, where there is a new coordinator, three new quarterbacks, three new offensive linemen and a jumbled mess at wide receiver.
The defense has been comparitively staid, with just three new starters: Elliott, Jackson and Patrick Queen, all of which are established NFLers. But Elliott and Jackson had great days in the secondary and Queen drew praise from his teammates for getting things lined up smoothly and efficiently on the first practice day. The additions on defense seem to be fitting right in.
RELATED: Steelers Practice Report: No Russell Wilson, Defense Wins Day 1
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