Rejoice! Camp is here, the 2018 Steeler journey begins

And he has never been that heavy before or since. He put on that weight because he wanted to appear bigger for teams to draft him as a LB. He didn't run well. He then lost weight by the time his pro day came around and ran a very good 40. He was down around 225 at that point. Right about his playing weight at Ohio state. Shazier showed up here about 5-8 pounds more than Edmund's is. As we said pretty close. You keep quoting that combine size and he's just not that guy nor has he been. Shazier was never a big thumper LB. That's also not what is expected of Edmund's either.

 

Edmonds will be a playmaker, can play multiple positions and this Defense has a high percentage of sub packages that will give him the opportunity to make plays. Sit back and enjoy...

Rudolph unfortunately struggled some, but hell it's the first day of camp and a lot is expected from the kid.

Pound for pound I feel this Defense will take a step up.

 

I take it you have not seen our linebacking corps

 

Sometimes the truth hurts.

 

Is there a link which discusses Rudolph's "struggles".

 

The quick write up on steelers.com Jack said he had a botched exchange on his first snap which is to be expected trying to learn taking snaps under center 2st day of camp. But he supposedly shook it off and got in a groove. Washington showing his combat catches skill on the 1st day.

 

Maybe it was the center's fault.

 

Didn't Rudolph always run shotgun in college? It will take time for him to adjust to snaps under center. Nothing to see here. No big deal. Move on.

 

Yeah just like Landry he was used to shotgun and will take time to adjust. His college coach said he was working on it right after he was drafted so with his work ethic he will get it ironed out in short order.

 

Doesn't he always act "testy" in every interview? That's his thing... he acts like a tough ass, he talks the talk, he's got a million 1 liners to show he's a tough guy and a disciplinarian. In reality he's none of these things. I've never seen him coach with toughness.

It reality it is hilarious how he comes across like a drill sergeant. When you see his demeanor you would expect a VERY disciplined team. You'd expect smash mouth football. You'd expect a team that out works and out hustles the opponent.

In reality we have a team that is about speed, finesse, cockiness, street ballers, show boaters, undisciplined, and unfocused. The only guys that walk the walk IMO our our O-line. They are disciplined. We are not the Bengals, so we're not that undisciplined but we are sloppy. We lack preparation and consistency.

Maybe too many chiefs on the team? Players getting too many messages? I don't know just guessing. There are media guys that have an "in" with this team. They see the behind the scenes stuff and they've watched Cowher teams and other nfl teams. You would think they would report what they see as the cause of our inconsistency and poor playoff performances. Why doesn't the media and past players ever give opinions to how Tomlin runs this team? It surprises me. If this team was in NY I don't think that would be the case. Tomlin is protected by the media for some reason.

 

You're right his 40 time at the combine was nothing special - 4.58. But the difference is that Shaz played ILB for a career in the Big 10. He wasn't a safety at all; played in the middle in that big boy league, where they play the likes of UM and PSU. We can quibble over if Shaz was bigger than TE and whatnot, but facts are Shaz WAS an ILB, TE was a safety and at 217, he will get washed away like a bug when team like the Jags go up the middle with the likes of Fournette. As his history shows, Edmunds will get the worse out of that match up and end up dinged. And we do need solid tacklers at S (which we did not have last year, with Davis and Mitchell both looking like fools missing tackles out there) but we also need Ss who can cover, deep, if needed. TE's history is one of having trouble covering deep balls. If that is the case, we will continue to see teams gut us going deep and on seam routes.

 

Shazier did in fact play a hybrid safety/LB role at Ohio state. He played for the buckeyes around 220.trust me I know the buckeyes very well.

 

Jack you could be right since the center he has been practicing with got carted off with a knee injury day 1.

 

I defer to Mac Daddyo. You definitely know more about OSU players than I do.

 

I attended camp yesterday with my family. Took my wife and kids ( 5 and 7). They had never been there before. It's a great experience. My wife was being great about it and took the kids to play on a lot of the kid friendly fun zone things while I watched practice. Watching football practice isn't always the most fun of things for a 5 and 7 year old to watch, so it was great. Also the (Latrobe), Arnold Palmer Regional airport is having their air show today (Saturday) so we got to watch jets and planes fly over our heads all practice long. It was cool.

My takes from watching practice. Rudolph needs work under center. Doesn't seem comfortable under center. But, I think that's why they were getting him under center. In watching him run 7 on 7, he didn't seem comfortable with not being in shotgun. However, in his passing drills, he has a great arm, good accurate, and can zip it. His foot work also seems good too.

Ben to AB. Is just sick. AB himself is just sick. You would think after 8 seasons, he would want to dial it down, not risk injury etc. in training camp. But, he knows one thing in his mind 110% effort. He makes everyone look silly. He is just unreal. I don't know what else to say. I just hope he stays injury free. If so we are in for another typical AB season of big stats.

Juju also looks good, he should have no problem handling the number 2 job. He seems to want to try to one up AB, which is a good thing.

Hey Bey and Hunter were looking good. Washington, didn't look bad, but looks like they were trying to work on his vertical game a bit.

Defense actually played quite well. I saw LJ Fort make a strip on a play, and Chickillo, had a great tipped pass. The D also did good in the goal line drills.
Big surprise from the D, they played well against everyone, minus the Ben to AB connection. It was just unstoppable, and they didn't have much to answer in that regard, but they did good other wise.

It was great to see great fan turn out. Lots of people watching training camp. If you have the time make it to a practice at training camp!

 

Thanks Troy. Good stuff. Sounds like AB is putting on an air show of his own. How did Bell look? Oh that's right he was probably at the real air show.

 

NFLN is covering Steeler camp now - live hitting with pads. Now we will get some 411 that matters a little more.

 

Ramon foster carted off, right knee

 

Tomlin is a horrible NFL coach but he would make a great politician. That is the best I can say about him

 

And the post gazette seems to be blaming Tomlin for the messed up eratic defense in 17:

He called many of the defensive plays from the sideline this season. He also took charge of many of the secondary meetings and those with the entire defense.

Since Dick LeBeau’s departure, Tomlin has taken advantage of the situation and has worked hard to put his own stamp on the defense. It’s his draft picks, his style of play and his overall philosophy being infused on a daily basis—not anyone else’s. This is fine, but when the defense fails as it did vs. Jacksonville, the buck falls squarely on Tomlin’s shoulders.

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...-any-defensive-coaches-mike-tomlin-rumors-nfl

 

There were other games that our defense completed failed to show up also... vs the bears for example. We win that game and do we get home field advantage last year? I don't recall how that all played out.