Tag: Steelers training camp

Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl dodges question about Brandon Aiyuk

Andy Weidl deflected the questions about Brandon Aiyuk at his presser.

When Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Andy Weidl addressed the media, you just knew they were going to ask him about all the trade rumors surrounding the Steelers and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Weidl wasted no time in deflecting the inquiry and passing the buck on to general manager Omar Khan. “That’s an Omar question,” Weidl said. He did say that the team always does its due diligence when a player becomes available.

The Steelers have been linked to Aiyuk via media reports going all the way back to March and it hasn’t slowed down one bit since the start of the preseason.

It seems Weidl’s primary role has been the NFL draft and he has done a tremendous job. The Steelers’ 2023 and 2024 NFL drafts have been among the best in the entire NFL and have yielded multiple starters and potential stars on both sides of the football.

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Steelers wrap up training camp on Wednesday

The Steelers have a very successful training camp and now they head home.

The Pittsburgh Steelers put a bow on their 2024 training camp on Wednesday. The team will now return to Pittsburgh and resume practices for the team’s final two preseason games at the UPMC sports complex.

Overall, Steelers training camp was productive but went out like a lamb, not a lion. With quarterback Russell Wilson dealing with a calf injury, the quarterback battle we anticipated with Justin Fields never materialized.

Fields played well as the lead signal caller in practice and we can’t help but think he has done his part to at least close the gap on the depth chart.

Meanwhile, on defense, it was mostly business as usual. New starters Patrick Queen and Donte Jackson seem to be fitting in perfectly and this unit looks like it will be the strength of the team once again.

Next up for the Steelers are the Buffalo Bills in the team’s second preseason game. This should be our best opportunity to see the starters for an extended period of time and get the best look at what this team can do in the regular season.

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Steelers add wide recever, defensive back to roster

The Steelers signed two free agents on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had added a wide receiver. No, not that wide receiver. The team announced they had signed wide receiver T.J. Luther and defensive back Zyon Gilbert.

Luther is headed into his second NFL season. Luther was originally signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2023. Luther spent the 2023 season with the Jets and New England Patriots. Luther played his college ball at Gardner-Webb.

Gilbert joined the NFL in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic. In two seasons, Gilbert has been with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers. He appeared in three games for the Packers in 2023 and got one start. He finished 2023 with 14 tackles.

The Steelers continue to shuffle the training camp roster as they prepare to take on the Buffalo Bills in Week Two. The Steelers fell to the Houston Texans 20-12 in their first preseason game.

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Steelers have a position battle that no one expected

Who will start at left tackle for the Steelers this season?

We’ve talked at length about some of the most interesting position battles the Pittsburgh Steelers have going on during training camp and the preseason. We even talked about a potential position battle between offensive tackles Dan Moore Jr. and rookie Troy Fautanu for the starting right tackle spot.

But according to Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac, we’ve got it all wrong. The battle isn’t between Fautanu and Moore and all. It’s between Moore and Broderick Jones.

Huh?

Dulac wrote that the Steelers are prepared to hand the starting right tackle job to Fautanu now and let Moore and Jones duke it out to start on the left side.

After three weeks of training camp and just one preseason game, they are ready to hand the starting right tackle job over to their No. 1 draft choice. They planned to start him in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills and leave him there for the start of the regular season until he injured his knee Friday night against the Houston Texans.

That will leave Broderick Jones, last year’s No. 1 pick, to battle incumbent Dan Moore Jr. for the starting left tackle position.

The Steelers have been trying to replace Moore in the lineup for two years and he just keeps battling to hold his spot. We assumed the starting tandem would be Jones on the left and Fautanu on the right no matter what this season but the idea that Jones is less assured of a starting spot than Fautanu is hard to wrap our heads around.

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Friday Night Lights draws huge crown for Steelers training camp practice

Friday Night Lights draws huge crown for Steelers training camp practice

One of the best parts of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp is the annual Friday Night Lights event. It’s an event where the team holds a special night practice, open to fans at  Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

This year’s event was as big as ever with a reported attendance of 12,268 fans according to Steelers communication director Burt Lauten.

The Fans who showed up were treated to a physical show with plenty of big hitting in backs on backers as well as some great live offense and defense in team drills. The standout of practice was quarterback Justin Fields who continues to impress since the start of training camp.

Pittsburgh kicks off the preseason on Friday, August 9. The Steelers will welcome the Houston Texans to Acrisure Stadium. The Texans got in an extra preseason game by playing in the Hall of Fame game last week.

This will be a rematch of last season’s regular-season showdown. The Texans beat the Steelers 30-6 in Houston.

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Steelers RB tandem with rare opportunity in new offense

This Steelers offense is going to be very run heavy this season.

One thing has become clear about the Pittsburgh Steelers offense through two weeks of training camp. This new offense under OC Arthur Smith is going to be a ground-and-pound scheme and everything is going to run through running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.

This might not fall in line with the current NFL schemes that seem to focus heavily on the passing game. Nevertheless, this is what the Steelers are bringing to the party in 2024.

However, after seeing this offense in action, we feel like Harris and Warren have a chance to do something special this season. Last season Harris rushed for 1,035 yards while Warren chipped in 784 more. This season we think the Steelers tandem has a chance to both top 1,000 yards rushing and join some elite company.

There have only been two players rushing for at least 1,000 yards on the same team in the same season seven times in NFL history. Here’s the full list we think Harris and Warren will join in 2024.

1972 – Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris – Miami Dolphins

1976 – Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier – Pittsburgh Steelers

1985 – Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack – Cleveland Browns

2006 – Michael Vick and Warrick Dunn – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2008 – Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs – New York Giants

2009 – Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams – Carolina Panthers.

2019 – Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram II – Baltimore Ravens

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Details on TE Matt Sokol’s contract with Steelers

The Steelers signed tight end Matt Sokol this week.

With tight end Rodney Williams still dealing with a shoulder injury in training camp, the Pittsburgh Steelers added free-agent tight end Matt Sokol. According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the contract is one year and worth $985,000.

Sokol is a journeyman, having played on multiple teams since coming into the NFL in 2019. He spent two tenures with the Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars. Sokol was most recently with the New England Patriots.

During the course of his career, Sokol has appeared in only eight games with one start. He has never registered an NFL reception. It is highly unlikely that Sokol makes the final roster.

Tight end is proving to be one of the deepest units on the Steelers roster. Pittsburgh has worked in two- and three-TE sets during training camp, and it seems the new Arthur Smith offense is going to use the position much more than we are used to in Pittsburgh.

If the Steelers keep four tight ends, look for Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt to be on the 53-man roster.

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Wilson vs Fields: Who starts at QB Week 1 for the Steelers?

Justin Fields has been impressive as the Steelers starter at training camp.

Nearly two weeks into Pittsburgh Steelers training camp and a few things are very clear. One of those is quarterback Justin Fields is an impressive football player. With Russell Wilson working his way back after a calf strain, Fields has taken full advantage.

The Steelers play their first preseason game in just over a week against the Houston Texans. This will be the first opportunity to see Fields in live action in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme and perhaps see him in contrast to Wilson if he’s healthy enough to go.

But just based on two weeks of training camp, it’s hard to say Fields doesn’t look like the real deal in this offense. His athleticism is such an x-factor that Wilson cannot provide and adds an element that is so hard to defend.

Cast your vote and tell us who you believe will win the starting quarterback job for the Week One showdown against the Atlanta Falcons. Have you seen enough of Fields’ potential to hand him the job or is it too soon to call?

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Steelers training camp: QB Justin Fields continues to push Russell Wilson

Justin Fields’ athleticism gives him a distinct edge over Russell Wilson.

So far, the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp has been a showcase for quarterback Justin Fields and he isn’t wasting it. As Russell Wilson works his way back from a calf strain, Fields keeps taking a big chunk of the first-team reps and gets better every practice.

But what has really stood out for Fields that Wilson simply cannot match is his athleticism. No one is asking for Fields to be Wilson in his prime but the Steelers aren’t going to get Wilson in his prime from Wilson either.

Fields ability to beat teams with his legs has been on full display over the last week two weeks and this is a dimension to the offense Pittsburgh hasn’t had in a very long time.

It is starting to feel like the pole position that Wilson had going into camp is long gone.  As offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said of Fields, “He’s a dangerous football player with the ball in his hands.” It’s been a long time since anyone said that about a Steelers quarterback.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on first padded training camp practice: ‘This tape is gold’

Mike Tomlin loves when the Steelers put the pads on and hit.

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their first padded practice of training camp this week on Tuesday. Seeing the team back on the field the previous week was great but it’s when the pads come on that we get a real look at the conditioning and mindset of the team.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media after practice and he struggled to contain his excitement about how much this means to the team. “This tape is gold,” Tomlin said.

Padded Steelers practices are always highlighted by the infamous backs-on-backers when skill players square off with defenders one-on-one in a test of wills. The Steelers roster has seen a serious makeover this offseason and so it makes these padded practices, when new players face off for the first time even more important.

The Steelers take on the Houston Texans in their first preseason game of the year on August 9 at Acrisure Stadium.

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