Tag Archives: Vince Williams

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Diggin At The X: GraveDigger’s Saga

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javon hargrave

During the 2016 NFL offseason, Pittsburgh had a bit of an issue on their hands. Gone was Steve McClendon, who sought after greener pastures in New York. Daniel McCullers was supposed to be the guy to succeed.. but his 2015 campaign proved otherwise. In addition, both Stephon Tuitt and Cameron Heyward were both tallying up 88% of the snap count for the defensive lineman. Such a high number was taxing for the team. To ensure not only Pittsburgh could use its base 3-4 with both Tuitt and Heyward in but also find someone to spell time for both, Pittsburgh decided to invest an early round pick on a defensive lineman that can fill both roles. Initially though, to many Steelers fans (myself included), the odds on favorite was Andrew Billings from Baylor. After hearing about his knee issues however… Pittsburgh elected to go somewhere they rarely go; an FCS school. That being said, with the 89th overall selection of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Javon Hargrave, a defensive tackle from South Carolina State.

Fast forward to today, Javon has been nothing short of amazing given his lack of length. Not only did he turn out an impressive performance in the preseason.. but was named the first rookie defensive lineman to start for Pittsburgh in 22 years (Brentson Buckner would be the last in 1994). Even though his six tackles looks poultry in comparison to the likes of his fellow defensive lineman.. Javon’s importance will never be shown up in stats.. at least not directly. Let me explain how this is possible… with the help of the teams leading tackler thus far.

Over the span of two games, Vince Williams has lead the team in two weeks with an absurd 25 total tackles; 22 of which were unassisted. His two sacks are just icing on the cake.

Vince Williams Steelers

“However Steven.. this article is about Javon Hargrave and his importance for next week. Why mention Vince Williams?”

Believe it or not.. Javon’s level of play is a big reason why Vince Williams has this level of production. This is not to take away anything from Vince either.. as his 22 total tackles that are unassisted are all his doing; much of them in space. Speaking of space.. this is where Javon comes into play. He is able to control the line of scrimmage at the point of attack and maintain in his leverage throughout his gap assignments. As a result, those A and B gaps are going to open up more times than not, giving Vince a clear shot at the running back either through a gap or due to the runners change of direction.

However.. keep in mind that Javon is more than just a space eating, one technique, one gap nose tackle. Part of the reason Mike Tomlin’s interest in Hargrave was due to the massive pass rushing upside he showed at South Carolina State. Granted.. it has not shown thus far.. but Hargrave’s explosive abilities are getting more and more violent each game. From his first step and to his fast firing punches, I am seeing more and more of Hargrave’s nasty streak come into play, even if he had hefty mounds of it.

This week however will be Hargrave’s biggest test. Gone is Cameron Heyward and in comes a Miami offensive line that has had a patchjob in the last 48 hours. Kraig Urbik and Jermon Bushrod should not be too much of an issue. Hargrave as shown to hold is own this far against better NFL offensive guard talents like Brandon Scherff.

Even so.. his biggest test will come in the form of Maurkice Pouncey’s brother in Mike. A Pro Bowler, Mike will surely be licking his chops to bewilder the young Steelers defensive tackle. Add the fact that he is back to his home at center.. and things could go south for Hargrave if he is not on his toes; all the more reason that Hargrave is this week’s X Factor.

Mike Pouncey

Again, on paper, this game is a mismatch. Pittsburgh offense is far too strong for Miami’s defense to do anything. However, what is going to decide this game will be how well Hargrave plays in Heyward’s absence. Yes, Ricardo Matthews is still here and has been an great depth pick up by the Steelers, but much of this bout between the Steelers defensive line vs. Miami’s offensive line will rest on Javon’s shoulders.

 

Given his performance though, I do not see any dip in his contributions. Furthermore, it will not surprise me in the least to see Javon notch his first career sack; garbage time or otherwise. If Javon Hargrave can get going early… then the legend of “GraveDigger” will come into fruition.

Steelers Preseason

Tomlin: Healthy Vets Will Play Friday

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The Steelers head to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars Friday night. Coach Tomlin said in a brief press conference earlier today that the game will feature veteran players who are healthy enough to play. “Our intentions are that all healthy men will play in the football game,” said Tomlin.

This is a marked contrast from the Hall of Fame game, which had several vets watching from the sideline. As you’d expect for the real preseason opener, many of the veteran headliners won’t get a lot of playing time. Ben Roethlisberger will get somewhere around 10-12 snaps, and the other QB’s, Jones, Murphy, and Boyd, will share the remaining playing time.

Tomlin also ruled out some players for Friday’s match up. Aside from the players still on PUP, Vince Williams (hamstring), McCullers (hamstring), Ventrone (ankle), and Golden (knee) will all be sidelined due to their respective injuries.

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Vince Williams Fined For Taunting

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Steelers linebacker Vince Williams has been fined $8,268 for taunting during the Ravens game. The incident occurred late in the 4th quarter after Baltimore failed to convert a 2 point conversion. Williams was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, and 15 yards was added to the kick.

There was media speculation that Steve McLendon would receive a fine for roughing the passer, but Williams was the only Steelers player fined. To paraphrase Jack Lambert, ‘put a dress on him’.

 

Mike Tomlin

Jarvis Jones And Ryan Shazier Questionable For Saturday

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During his press conference today, Coach Tomlin labelled linebackers Jarvis Jones and Ryan Shazier as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Bills at Heinz Field.

“We have some guys who are potentially questionable in terms of their participation in the game against the Bills, but like the preseason opener we’re going to hold out until the 11th hour to make a decision whether they’re available or not,” said Tomlin. “We want to try to give everybody an opportunity to play in this game. Jarvis Jones is nursing a groin and Ryan Shazier is nursing a knee bruise.”

Jarvis Jones has been hampered by a nagging groin injury on and off for the past couple weeks. He participated with the first team defense during last Saturday’s preseason opener, and recorded a sack, but his practice participation has been up and down. Ryan Shazier has only recently returned to practice in a limited capacity since suffering a knee bruise in practice a week and a half ago.

Tomlin went on to mention that a couple players who are recovering from injuries have a chance to play Saturday. “Rob Blanchflower is working his way back, he has worked extensively in the past couple of days and we expect him to participate in the game. Vince Williams has a possibility of playing, and we’ll see what he looks like from the ImPACT test standpoint.”

Blanchflower has been recovering from an ankle sprain he suffered early in training camp. Vince Williams suffered a concussion earlier this week.

 

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Vince Williams May Have A Concussion

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Linebacker Vince Williams was carted off the field during practice today. When it happened, most reports indicated that it didn’t look serious, and that Williams was able to walk under his own power.

After practice, coach Mike Tomlin revealed that the injury to Williams was a potential concussion. According to Tomlin, there is no news at this time as he is being evaluated.

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Steelers Training Camp: Day 6- Friday Night Lights Recap

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If you would have asked me a week ago who was going to be involved in the first fight of training camp, my answer would have likely contained the names of an offensive and defensive lineman. I would have been very wrong. Tonight’s skirmish took place during a feisty round of backs on backers.

The initial tussle wasn’t very newsworthy. Little fights break out all the time during these drills and throughout training camp. Heck, there were more fights in OTA’s than there have been so far in camp. Le’veon Bell was back in pads tonight and he was first up to defend the quarterback. The role of quarterback was once again played by Joey Porter. Porter was reportedly jumping and giving chest bumps to the linebackers when they’d get the better of a running back.

Back to the fight…Bell was going head to head with LB Vince Williams. The 2nd year RB beat Williams on the first match-up. On the second, Williams drove Bell to the ground. One reporter said that Williams was pinned on top of Bell, and was grinding his facemask into his. Another reporter said that Williams’ facemask had so much force applied to it, that it was pulled through two of the retaining clips.

Here’s where it starts to get interesting. The other half of the double LB backfield didn’t like what he saw. Even though he wasn’t practicing tonight, and was only wearing shorts and a shirt, LeGarrette Blount came running over and dove on Vince Williams shoving him off of Bell. From there a large scuffle broke out, which involved many of the linebackers, running backs, and tight ends. The highlight of it all was arguably when none other than Joey Porter went in and pulled Blount out of the pile. Various reporters said that the two were face to face jawing. A couple thought that Porter and Blount were going to throw down, but the two went their separate ways. Afterwards, Blount and Williams continued to express their grievances at each other from across the field.

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It’s awesome that Blount, a guy who is new to the team, is sticking up for his teammate. Blount has been known to have a bit of a temper though, so that’s something he’ll want to keep in check.

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Bell was involved in the team drills tonight, and was a target of at least a few passes. Chris Carter filled in at ROLB for Jarvis Jones who was out tonight. Jones had his leg wrapped in a way that suggested he had a groin injury, and coach Tomlin later confirmed it saying it was nothing serious, and the team was just being cautious with him. There sure is an abundance of groin problems this summer. Jordan Zumwalt was seen doing sprints tonight, so hopefully he’ll return to action soon.

Referees were at practice again, and they weren’t conservative about letting the yellow hankies fly. Several flags were thrown tonight. Shaq Richardson, Antone Blake, and Ike Taylor were all reportedly called for interference. Taylor’s came while trying to stop Antonio Brown from making a big play. Several defensive holding calls were made as well. The offensive line units were reportedly much more prone to drawing flags, as multiple flags were thrown for what were mostly false starts.  Mike Munchak must have loved that.

Big Daniel McCullers was used as the special teams wedge tonight. He reportedly made his block on the first attempt, but got his feet caught up on the second, and went to the ground. DE Nick Williams has been hasn’t garnered very much talk so far, but he had a couple nice run stops tonight, and followed them up by pressuring the quarterback. Speaking of quarterbacks, I’m looking forward to seeing Jones and Kay during preseason games, because both have warts. I keep hearing how slow Landry is to get rid of the ball. That’s going to be a problem for him against real opponents. One throw of Ben Roethlsiberge’s had fans cheering tonight. He overthrew his intended target and Troy Polamalu made a awe inspiring interception by getting his fingers under it just before it hit the ground. Fans were also cheering when a pass found Markus Wheaton, who made a fingertip grab while dragging his toes to stay in bounds.

The Steelers resume practices tomorrow afternoon. The ever exciting goal line drills might take place, or they might wait until Sunday depending on how Mike Tomlin feels about tonight.