My thoughts on preseason wk 3

1. My heart nearly stopped when Derrick Harmon went down...... glad to see him return to the sidelines

2. Could it be?????, ...... Mason Rudolph gets cut instead of Skylar Thompson??

3. Gotta clean up the penalties, undisciplined play and missed tackles

4. Yaya Black was a man among boys

5. Jack Sawyer was impressive

6. Demarvin Leal had a good audition for the rest of the league

7. It won't happen, but I would rather have Lew Nichols over Kenneth Gainwell..
Hope he's at least on the ps

8. Isaiah loudermilk secured his spot on the team for another year

9. It would've been nice to see the entire starting offense on the field for at least a series

10. Jaylen Warren had better clean up his ball security

11. Payton Wilson is gonna have a monster yr

 

Rudolph sucks balls. Why did they even bring that scrub back?

 

13 penalties tonight is just unacceptable, definitely have to clean that up before the Jets game.
Mason Rudolph had an excellent first game but man has he crapped the bed the last two weeks.
I would hate to see us lose either Sermon or Nichols, I hope Sermon makes the team as RB #4 and Lou gets on the practice squad.
Obviously Ben Sauls isn't beating out Boswell but he will kick somewhere in the league this year.

 

They like his stache.

 

Rudolph is getting killed on the Nightly Sports Call on KDKA. It's unanimous among hosts and callers that Skyler should be the backup to Rodgers.

 

12.) Broderick and Troy both look to be ready for Week 1. How well they will play is another question for September 7th to answer but both ended the 2025 Preseason on a high note.

13.) Trey Sermon has booked his spot on the Practice Squad. Way too valuable to be let go given his Preseason Performance.

14.) Ben Sauls is going to make another team very, very happy. Left footed kickers are rare in todays NFL; even good ones comically so.

15.) Roman Wilson not getting nearly as many passes thrown his way was... interesting... to say the least. Figured he'd have more targets thrown his way. That said, he did make a heads up play with the fumble recovery.

16.) Pittsburgh is going to be searching hard on cut day for an OT. Cook is okay but he isn't the solid swing this team needs. Way too inconsistent even by swing standards.

17.) Kaleb Johnson will see more time and have more touches than Jaylen Warren before the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Season.

 

1. Agreed. 13 is way, way, way too much. Given how penalty adverse the team was in weeks one to two, seeing that good level of effort all go to waste in the final game was disheartening.

2. Dunno what happened to Mason either myself. He seemed more and more uncomfortable after his first Preseason Game. Why he was uncomfortable against a Defense fully comprised of 2nd String Players is baffling.

3. Trey Sermon is likely headed to the PS over Nichols for one major reason; Special Teams Value. Sermon brings more value in that regard in addition to being just as good of a runner as Nichols is.

4. Ben will kick somewhere for certain. The better question becomes can Pittsburgh net some trade value?! Perhaps not with Sauls alone but potentially Mason as well?! I'd entertain that idea personally.

 

I don't see them keeping 4 RBs, I think they usually keep two RBs on the practice squad.

 

cut down will be very interesting. gainwell has shown me nothing so far. that's one i would trade.

scotty miller looks good.

not the cleanest of games across the board for many.

sawyer and wilson are going to be studly. harrison and holcomb look good as well. LB'ers are a strength.

not too thrilled by our big 3 DB's. they looked bad really. have to clean that up.

a bunch of backup D-Linemen were playing pretty well. this will be a hard decision of who stays on the PS.

warren, johnson, sermon, nichols would be my keeps at RB.

brandon echols looked good. better than many thought.

didn't see bishop play at all? he has looked decent too.

scharping has played well center and guard.

cook has had a couple of hiccups but overall looked pretty good. nester has been consistent as well throughout the preseason. it will be interesting to watch who is kept and who will go amongst this group. they may even pick up another from outside. we shall see.

 

• McCollum - bad night at the office; two penalties and generally struggled
• S Miller making a push as WR2.... and he just might get it.
• Take Nichols over Sermon; younger, faster
• Galbreath working his way off the roster
• Gainwell; exactly what was he signed for again?
• S Thompson is a smooth passer; quick decision maker
• K Johnson getting more comfortable; making quicker decisions
• If Wilson goes down at any point in the season, this defense will be suffering
• Ramsey; tough to break the thuggery habit

 

This game was pretty sloppy as far as miscues.
I agree, Skylar Thompson is the winner in the #2 sweepstakes. He has mobility and makes those tough throws.
The pick by Mason was as poor of a throw as I've ever seen.
It should be Rogers, Skylar and Howard - I think they do need to keep 3.
Even Logan Wilson upped his game a notch.. still won't make it but is better for the experience.


I did see Johnson improve both running and blocking, he still needs to improve more but that was a good sign.

Pat needs to stop those stupid penalties.
The facemask penalty was one of those things that was just a sequence of events, I can't beat on that one much, stuff happens.

Sermon is an interesting guy. His career hasn't been much thus far. I can't say much else.
Scotty Miller is another guy that I wonder if Smith can utilize. I like how quick he is and how he seems to drift into opens spaces. Not saying he's a HoF guy, just that he adds something..

Ben Sauls isn't going to oust Boswell but Skylar's 53-yard pass play right before the half gave him a nice shot and he took advantage of it.

Jalen Warren got a little sloppy on that fumble. Secure the ball.

I do like Yahya Black, I think he has a high ceiling.

I like most of what I saw with Ramsey, except for the penalty as that was a little ridiculous.

I am glad Harmon was seriously injured. I would hate to see that. He should heal up for the start of the season.

Other than those few things, I think they played everyone they wanted to look at or shop and called plays for those who they wanted to spotlight.

 

You guys remember when Pickett looked good in preseason scrimmages? That was awesome.


We do seem to have some decent players to stash on PS this year. RB room looks full. DB room looks over full for a change.

 

Cleanup on aisle 5

 

They know what they have in Roman and he is on the 53 (sneaking up on the shrimp)

It was time to sort out the rest and make cuts

 

Excellent catch! Sometimes, when I am using my phone... strange things happen. I try to avoid using it but sometimes.....
Thanks!

 

Gainwell will split third down RB duties with Warren, he also had the best run of the game for 26 yards but it was called back because of holding. I'm not worried about Ramsey getting a penalty in a preseason game, that secondary can use some attitude they were soft last season.

 

Even though Thompson has outplayed Mason I think Mason will be QB2, Mason is on a two-year deal Thompson could be trade bait.

 

I gave you a disagree and here is a nice explanation on my thoughts

Getting a penalty for being aggressive is one thing

Getting a penalty for being a boneheaded is another

I will look forward to your response

 

In all likelihood, and very sadly so, that is probably what will happen.
It's a very stupid logic sometimes.
If you have a 40+ QB, chances are that you're going to need some backup..
And the best backup is, Skylar Thompson.
Even more confounding is the fact that we probably would not get anything for Mason.
And yet even more confounding is the fact that every team knows we need to release one.
So if Pinky and the Brain can get anything, it's a win. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

 

I had to look this up

 

My versions of our GM's. As I am quite sure you know, I have very little faith in them but still holding out hope.
It's my obsession.

 

Tomlin is Pinky, right?

 

You need to ask @Karl

 

Fair enough.

 

I think right now the best way forward is putting Howard on IR and Thompson making the the roster as QB 3