The Steelers hosted the Bills for the second and final day of joint practices at Latrobe today. There were roughly 8,000 or so fans in attendance for the conclusion of Steelers training camp, and while the fighting was kept to a minimum, there was plenty of action for the swarm of onlookers.
Receivers were putting on a show tonight with cornerbacks getting burned on a regular basis. You’d think I was referring to Steelers DB’s getting owned based on the title of this article, but actually it was the Steelers receivers who were regularly taking the Bills cornerbacks to school.
https://twitter.com/ScottBrown_ESPN/status/500050239836147712
https://twitter.com/BCTBradford/status/500045774500413440
https://twitter.com/ScottBrown_ESPN/status/500045774907260928
Here’s a great video showing just how good some of the Steelers receivers were in one on one drills with the Bills DB’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJEpBsRvAwI
Regardless of how impressive the Steelers receivers were, what apparently gets clicks is Sammy Watkins beating a slow, short, undrafted rookie cornerback in a one on one drill. To add insult to injury for Toler, his name is getting misspelled at all of the major sites that I’ve seen this posted at. Here’s the clip shot by Mark Kaboly of the Tribune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiF7mSHsmcM
It’s probably going to sound like I’m dumping on Toler, but that’s not my intention. No doubt he’s grinding everyday, working as hard as he can in hopes of getting on a practice squad this year. Having said that…he ran a 4.61 at his pro day. Watkins, the 4th overall pick of the 2014 NFL draft runs something like a 4.31 give or take. Obviously there’s a lot more to this incredible mismatch than 40 times. Toler didn’t play a down in the Steelers first preseason game. He’s at the bottom of the depth chart. Behind Isaiah Green. Behind Devin Smith. There’s no way he’ll make the 53 man roster and it’s safe to say that he’s unlikely to make the Steelers practice squad. As I said in jest earlier regarding the next Watkins video to go viral~
https://twitter.com/TheSteelersFans/status/500093488877551617
Cortez Allen went up against Watkins in the same drill and fared a little better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaaImCJeVA
Sammy Watkins is an impressive receiver for sure, and I’m sure he’ll give many a starting CB fits this season, but going gaga over him beating someone tremendously out of his league is pretty silly. We’ll get to see how Steelers cornerbacks deal with Watkins during game action on Saturday night when the Steelers host the Bills at Heinz Field.
