My Hof game observations

1. Najee Harris is for real
2. Chase claypool is regular season ready
3. Jaylen Samuels is gone
4. The wr depth chart may not be set yet... The roomies are ready to shake things up a bit
5. Alex highsmith is gonna break out
6. The qb depth chart won't be set until final cuts
7. Bye bye Jordan berry
8. Mark Gilbert and Shakur brown are gonna shake up the natural order
9. Robert Spillane worries me in coverage
10. We have more than a few diamonds in the ruff in the secondary

 

If Rudolph/Claypool hadn't muffed the hand off we might have seen what Harris could do on the other side of the 50 Yd line. Honestly I was more impressed with Ballage last night than any of the other Steelers RBs. His TD was pure Bus-esque although much taller. Even the Cowboys' RB had twice as many yards as Harris with 1 more carry. I know I know it's early and last night is hard to gauge much from but that's all we have so far to size things up. Pretty sure Berry will be sporting the Cardinal red fairly soon.

 

Not taking ANYTHING away from Ballage, but there was some really nice blocking on that play. Kevin Rader pancaked his lineman with authority to open up nice space for Ballage and Ballage saw it and took advantage of it.

 

Rader was a beast yesterday. Definitely in the lead for the #3 TE.

 

For those who missed it, or just wanna watch again the NFL chnl is replaying the game tonight at 7 central time

 

Yup, and I really haven't looked closely, but PattyFruFru looked to me like he wasn't as big as he's listed on the roster. The roster lists him at 258, Ebron at 253, and Rader at 250. I thought Rader was bigger than that and Pat smaller. Rader played bigger than 250 last night.

 

Will they show the game tonight.....

Who blocked that Dallas FG last night? I know they didn't want to turn their coverage away from Peyton, but they should have at least replayed a blocked FG.

 

Throw in Stephen Denmark into that mix and you have to wonder why Layne is still on this team.

 

Tre Norwood.

he's definitely a playmaker.

 

Yes tonight at 7 central, im not sure who blocked fg

 

Maybe...maybe not. I only just saw Friermuth briefly on the sidelines, so I cant say who is bigger. But without looking, I think Pat is a shade taller...which might make him appear leaner?

Ive gotta see them both on the field to be sure though.

But if Rader is pancaking dudes like on that TD, he'll win the #3 job for sure. And he'll probably get in on more 2 TE looks, since Ebron sucks at blocking.

 

I believe those numbers are usually their college weight, and are never changed regardless of their pro career.

Rader could have put on muscle weight since his rookie season, like Highsmith.
Freiermuth could have lost some weight before the draft combine, to improve his 40 time.

 

From the football in shorts photos Freiermuth looked big in lower body and smaller up top. Are there any details on his injury?

EDIT: Here is the photo

 

Does anyone know if Derek Watt played any offensive snaps in this game? They keep talking about how they are going to get him more involved in their offense this year. Smoke & Mirrors to make TJ happy?

I don't see any stats for him on the offensive side of the game.

I had high hopes last year when they made him the 2nd highest paid full back in the league.

 

I don't remember seeing him on the field, was thinking the same as you.

 

Derek Watt has been a big mistake signing, and yes it is for
the benefit of TJ. So sad he will taking a roster spot for someone more deserving.

 

They didn't sign him to keep TJ around , from the media reports Derek has been more involved in the offense in training camp, I think he will have a bigger role in 2021.

 

Why would Derek need to play in the Hall of Fame game? A lot of the veterans didn't play.

 

Tomlin said he was fine, if you watched him on the sidelines celebrating later on he seemed to be okay.

 

Najee touches. I guess my only conclusion is that he needs more consistent blocking. 3.1 yard avg was equivalent to the ineffective running backs last year (Conner had 4.0)

1) Nice blocks by Coward and Rader, whiff by Gentry, first down
2) Whiff by Gentry, Najee makes first man miss
3) Gentry gets a block, Coward sticks with his block, Najee finds hole to get 5.
4) Gentry seals edge, first down
6) Green/Finney zone block ineffective. Parsons stuffs hole.
7) Gentry holds edge, 5 yard gain
8) Coward pushed back 3 yards which gave Najee no where to go
9) Finney and Rader effectively pull but Coward cannot maintain after combo block

 

I read a blurb this morning (cannot find the link),listing all the contributions of this years draft picks in this game. Pat F did not play, but all the rest actually did quite well for themselves. Certainly 1 pre does not give you a spot on the team, but if they continue to develop there should be decent depth and special teams play, and some promise on the practice squad.

 

It is a given about the blocking, but watching Najee just got the feeling he belongs there. There are going to be hiccups, but the talent is evident and something we have not seen in that position for awhile.

 

Because he needs the practice as he has not played fullback since coming to the Steelers. Last year he was regulated to the special teams as we was all but forgotten in Ben's Shotgun offense.

 

He played fullback last season , he's practicing now, him playing in the hall of fame won't make a difference.

 

We have paid him for doing nothing these past 2 years over 6mill so far for what?