Training Camp Takeaways: Steelers D Gets Punched in the Mouth
In seven shots, in backs on backers, in passing drills and 1-on-1s, Arthur Smith's Steelers offense dominated on Tuesday.
UNITY TWP., Pa. — Through the first four practices of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp 2024, it was pretty clear that the team’s defense was a good bit ahead of its offense.
But that might have been a bit of an over-simplification. The first four practices of training camp are contested without pads, in much the same setting as OTAs and minicamp. For practice number five, the pads go on, and the hitting, tackling and blocking can start in earnest.
And with the pads on, this Steelers offense looks a whole heck of a lot better.
Arthur Smith’s charges set the tone with a bully-ball mindset from the first snap of practice, and never let up, dominating in both the team periods and in 1-on-1 contests that are traditionally deeply tilted toward the defense.
Leading the charge was a fired-up offensive line, the team’s twin stars at running back, and the best performance Justin Fields has laid down to date while wearing black and gold.
Let’s get into it:
SEVEN SHOTS
1) Now that’s how you set the tone for a padded practice. Najee Harris ran straight ahead, was stopped initially by Cam Heyward and company, but just kept churning his legs and plowed his way into the end zone.
2) We had gotten through four practices before George Pickens reminded everyone in Latrobe that he is not human. We would not get through give. Justin Fields threw up a floater to the right side of the end zone. Pickens held off Joey Porter Jr. with one hand, hauled in the football with the other, and made it look easy.
3) Arthur Smith went back to the up-the-middle run, but the defense was ready for it this time. Montravius Adams met Jaylen Warren in the hole and DeShon Elliott came over the top to help bring him down for a loss.
4) This time, the Steelers ran to the outside, with Harris taking the ball and bouncing around the left side behind a mountain of Darnell Washington for an easy score.
5) Jonathan Ward got the try as the second team entered the game, but he was dragged down short of the goal line by a high-low combination of Damontae Kazee and Nick Herbig.
6) Roman Wilson came in motion and took a jet sweep handoff from Kyle Allen. He had one man to beat, but Anthony Averett was able to wrap and drag him down just short of the pylon. Unfortunately, that drag to the ground saw Wilson land awkwardly on his left ankle. He left practice, and was carted off the field.
7) With the score tied at 3-3, Mike Tomlin put the starters back in and Smith dialed up a read-option play. Half the Steelers defense tackled Warren, who did not have the ball. The other half could only watch as Fields scampered into the endzone untouched. Pickens threw a nice block to set the edge.
That’s back-to-back wins for the offense after they lost the first two seven shots of training camp, and there would be more wins for that unit to come.
NOTES FROM TEAM PERIODS
? Russell Wilson dressed and participated more in practice than he had in any of the first four sessions, but he was limited to working in individual periods, seven-on-seven periods and handing the ball off in 11-on-11. Fields took all the first-team reps in the passing periods.
? Through four practices, Fields had yet to complete three consecutive passes at any point. On Tuesday, he completed them all. He made a tough arm-angle throw to find Pickens on a crossing route, dropped a corner route in the bucket to Van Jefferson, and slung screens to both sides. Fields had the best day of his Steelers career by far.
? With Roman Wilson out, Dez Fitzpatrick stepped into the second team of wide receivers along with Scotty Miller and Quez Watkins.
? Fullback Jack Colletto continues to get a good amount of work. It may be time to take the idea of the Steelers keeping one around seriously.
? Tight end Matt Sokol, who was just signed by the team before practice, acquitted himself nicely while blocking.
? Averett seems to be moved up the depth chart after a rough day from Kalon Barnes on Sunday.
? Tomlin didn’t mention him in the injury report, but Broderick Jones (elbow) was somewhat less than a full participant. He did team work, but not 1-on-1 drills against linebackers.
BACKS ON BACKERS
Seven shots might be the daily highlight of training camp, but backs on backers is a main event that you only get once or twice. The Steelers running backs and tight ends faced off against the inside and outside linebackers.
This was an extremely physical session, and for a change, it was the offensive delivering most of the blows. Darnell Washington set the stone, battling Alex Highsmith to a draw.
There was plenty more of that to come. Pat Freiermuth and Najee Harris held off Jeremiah Moon for four reps. After that, Mike Tomlin called out outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin — always a big talker in drills — about his unit’s lack of performance.
But the hits kept coming for the defense. Jaylen Warren put Patrick Queen on the ground. Aaron Shampklin did the same to Payton Wilson.
Harris, a star running back in a contract year, was calling out the biggest and baddest on the defense. He took four rushes from Elandon Roberts before conceding a clean win on E-Rob’s final try, when Roberts took a running start and delivered a huge bull rush. Harris gave him credit for the final win, but made sure he pointed out that Roberts needed to bring out the big stick to get a win.
This is a drill that is supposed to be borderline unfair to the offensive players. Last year, Roberts damn near ended John Lovett’s season during it. This was as good of a performance as I’ve seen from the offense in one of these — and it kept getting better.
OFFENSIVE LINE/DEFENSIVE LINE
Nowhere else should the offense be more at a disadvantage for this drill than three rookies doing it for the first time. Steelers freshmen Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick all took their first training camp 1-on-1 session on Tuesday, and not one of them emerged a loser.
Fautanu battled T.J. Watt to a win, taking a holding penalty on the first rep, but keeping the best defensive football player alive to the outside for the next two. He went 1-2 against Kyron Johnson and Nick Herbig, finishing the day at .500, but when that includes two wins over Watt, that feels huge.
Frazier went up against Montravius Adams, and didn’t have dominant reps, but certainly got the job done. He was pushed back a bit, and his technique wasn’t the prettiest, but this is a drill where over the years, plenty of rookie linemen have been made to look foolish. That didn’t happen here.
McCormick took two of three against Isaiahh Loudermilk. Spencer Anderson beat DeMarvin Leal. Dylan Cook went over Moon twice.
From the finesse and mastery of Pickens and Fields to the backs and tight ends flipping the script on the backers and the offensive line stonewalling pass rushers, it was a very good day to be wearing a white shirt as Steelers camp.
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