Tag: steven nelson

DeAndre Ware, an EMT, helps save Top Rank employee

DeAndre Ware has a skill set that goes beyond boxing. And a life might’ve saved as a result Friday in Las Vegas.

DeAndre Ware has a skill set that goes beyond boxing. And a life might’ve saved as a result Friday in the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Ware, an emergency medical technician and firefighter from Toledo, Oho, reportedly performed CPR on a Top Rank coordinator believed to be in cardiac arrest shortly before the weigh-in for his fight against Steven Nelson on Saturday.

The fighter then continued to work with an onsite doctor until paramedics arrived to take Pete Susens to a hospital. Susens was responsive and communicating, a Top Rank spokesman told ESPN.

Ware tweeted: “I’m here for my fight but I had to put EMS skills to work and do some cpr. Happy to say the guy was talking a bit and was alert headed to the hospital. I’m thankful! I feel I saved a life.”

Ware, a 32-year-old super middleweight, has boxed professionally since 2014 while working full-time as a firefighter. He is scheduled to face Nelson in a 10-round bout on the Jamel Herring-Jonathan Oquendo card inside the MGM Grand “bubble” on ESPN+.

“I have to just get training in when I can on my days off,” Ware said. “They have a workout facility there at the fire station, so I can train there. They have a punching bag and a treadmill and weights and stuff, so I can work out there.”

Ware (13-2-2, 8 KOs) is 1-2 in his last three fights. He’s coming off a knockout loss to Vladimir Shishkin in August of last year.

Nelson (16-0, 13 KOs) stopped Cem Kilic in eight rounds in January. Kilic outpointed Ware in 2018.

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DeAndre Ware, an EMT, helps save Top Rank employee

DeAndre Ware has a skill set that goes beyond boxing. And a life might’ve saved as a result Friday in Las Vegas.

DeAndre Ware has a skill set that goes beyond boxing. And a life might’ve saved as a result Friday in the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Ware, an emergency medical technician and firefighter from Toledo, Oho, reportedly performed CPR on a Top Rank coordinator believed to be in cardiac arrest shortly before the weigh-in for his fight against Steven Nelson on Saturday.

The fighter then continued to work with an onsite doctor until paramedics arrived to take Pete Susens to a hospital. Susens was responsive and communicating, a Top Rank spokesman told ESPN.

Ware tweeted: “I’m here for my fight but I had to put EMS skills to work and do some cpr. Happy to say the guy was talking a bit and was alert headed to the hospital. I’m thankful! I feel I saved a life.”

Ware, a 32-year-old super middleweight, has boxed professionally since 2014 while working full-time as a firefighter. He is scheduled to face Nelson in a 10-round bout on the Jamel Herring-Jonathan Oquendo card inside the MGM Grand “bubble” on ESPN+.

“I have to just get training in when I can on my days off,” Ware said. “They have a workout facility there at the fire station, so I can train there. They have a punching bag and a treadmill and weights and stuff, so I can work out there.”

Ware (13-2-2, 8 KOs) is 1-2 in his last three fights. He’s coming off a knockout loss to Vladimir Shishkin in August of last year.

Nelson (16-0, 13 KOs) stopped Cem Kilic in eight rounds in January. Kilic outpointed Ware in 2018.

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Steelers CB Steven Nelson feels ‘underrated,’ aims to prove doubters wrong

Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson, now in his second year with the Steelers, deserves to be recognized as one of the best CBs in the NFL.

Kevin Colbert and the Pittsburgh Steelers wasted no time in bolstering their secondary last year with free-agent cornerback Steven Nelson. Free agency hadn’t even officially started when it was reported that Nelson agreed to a three-year deal worth $25.5 million.

Nelson and his counterpart Joe Haden immediately became a fearsome twosome in the Steelers secondary.

Nelson said that one of his goals this season, along with better communication, is to be one of the league’s best corners.

“I definitely do feel like I’m underrated,” Nelson said in a Tuesday press conference. “You know, I think a lot of people feel that way as well. And this year, one of my goals is to just be recognized as one of the better corners in the league.”

When the sports media reports on top corners in the league, names you’ll often see are Marshon Lattimore (Saints), Stephon Gilmore (Patriots), Darius Slay (Eagles) and Tre’Davious White (Bills).

Here’s a quick rundown of their 2019 coverage stats:

  • Stephon Gilmore | 102 targets/50 receptions (52.2% completion rate), 0 touchdowns allowed
  • Marshon Lattimore | 85 targets/44 receptions (51.8% completion rate), 3 touchdowns allowed
  • Darius Slay | 91 targets/52 receptions (57.1% completion rate), 3 touchdowns allowed
  • Tre’Davious White | 90 targets/47 receptions (52.2% completion rate), 0 touchdowns allowed

In 583 coverage snaps, Nelson allowed just 37 receptions on 63 targets for a completion percentage of 49 percent. Nelson did not surrender a touchdown all season. PFF gave him a coverage grade of 80.3.

It’s clear Nelson deserves more respect, but I’m sure he’s just fine with being viewed as an underdog by his opponents.

Stats provided by Pro Football Focus. 

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Eagles’ Darius Slay left off a ranking of the NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks

Philadelphia Eagles star Darius Slay left off a ranking of the NFL’s 11 best outside CB’s

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The 2020 offseason has seen a myriad of cornerback rankings from different NFL outlets with the one consistent being the snubbing of the Eagles star cornerback.

Slay is among the top-5 cornerbacks in football and yet has suffered countless disrespect this offseason when it comes to where he stands among the NFL’s elite cornerbacks. Our friends over at Touchdown Wire just released their rankings for the top-11 outside cornerbacks in the NFL and Slay was once again omitted.

11. Bashaud Breeland

10. Steven Nelson

9. Troy Hill

8. Marcus Peters

7.Ross Cockrel

6. Denzel Ward

5. Quinton Dunbar

4. J.C. Jackson

3. Richard Sherman

2. Tre’Davious White

1. Stephon Gilmore

While many of the teams in the NFL primarily play zone coverage, Slay is one of the few players in the NFL that were asked to play bump and run on the majority of their snaps.

Take this tidbit from Packers star DeVante Adams on Slay and the Lions defense last season.

Slay was impressive last year despite some down statistics on a bad team and yet his performance against some of the NFL’s best would be highlight-reel performances for some other cornerbacks.

Slay’s 85 forced incompletions since 2014 are the most in the NFL over that span as well.

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The NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks

Boundary cornerbacks who can erase an opponent’s best receiver are more important than ever. Here are the NFL’s 11 best.

Let’s say you’re an NFL team, and you need a bunch of really good cornerbacks. Step one, of course, is determining which characteristics define your version of that ideal. Last season, the Chargers led the NFL by playing 75% zone coverage, so their definitions are going to be different than the ones the Patriots come up with — because the Patriots played man coverage on 54% of their snaps. Only the Lions played more man coverage, and the extent to which the Lions failed to do so at a competent level implies that perhaps they weren’t exact enough with their definitions.

Add in the fact that teams are playing more dime than base defense these days (20.9% dime to 18% base), and it’s an NFL that demands more cornerbacks, and more of those cornerbacks, than ever before. It used to be enough to press up against your receiver and work him to the boundary; now, you may have to move from zone to man to combo with different numbers of defensive backs around you. And you’re doing that against offenses that present more receivers in more complex formations and route concepts than ever before.

The outside cornerback position has never been more valuable than it is now as a result, and here are the 11 best at the position as we head into the 2020 season.

Other Top 11 Lists: Slot defenders | Safeties

Honorable Mentions

(Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

Assembling a list of the NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks in 2020 is a brutal exercise, because there are so many good cornerbacks in the NFL out of necessity. There were instances in which the players fell just short of the 50-target limit — our apologies to Jason McCourty of the Patriots and Jimmy Smith of the Ravens, who each had 49 targets (including the postseason) and would have challenged for the top 11 with an extra rep or two. Sidney Jones of the Eagles and Jamel Dean of the Buccaneers are two younger players who also didn’t make the target limit, but are excellent talents on the rise. In other instances, overall coverage numbers represented a primary focus on the slot, and while guys like Brian Poole of the Jets, Marlon Humphrey of the Ravens, K’Waun Williams of the 49ers, and D.J. Hayden of the Jaguars also played well outside to a point, it wasn’t their primary focus. So, you’ll find all of those guys on our list of the NFL’s top 11 slot defenders.

There were other cases in which cornerbacks had high interception totals and good overall charting stats, but their touchdowns allowed (stats backed up by tape study) got in the way. So it was for Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden, who allowed 49 catches on 79 targets for 468 yards, 139 yards after the catch, had five interceptions, and allowed an opponent passer rating of 70.0… but also allowed six touchdowns. Marcus Peters of the Ravens barely made this list because of a similar touchdown problem, but the negative plays he did create for opposing offenses were frequent and important enough to be considered.

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Who are the Steelers most active social media influencers?

The Pittsburgh Steelers most active social media influencers according to the NFLPA.

Amidst all the drama going on between the NFL Players Association and the league, the NFLPA showed they can have fun. They released a new annual report which lists the top 10 active NFL players in total engagements, growth rate and most consistently active categories.

The NFLPA and its social media activation partner Opendorse evaluated social media activity of players and ranked the most influential and brand-marketable.

Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is No. 3 in overall total engagements. Smith-Schuster, 23, was just seven-years-old when Facebook first launched. So, it’s no surprise that he embraces social media and knows the best way to utilize the platforms as marketing tools.

Cornerback Steven Nelson has been rapidly growing his followers since he became a Steeler last spring. He squeaked in at No. 10 in the top growth rate category.

If you aren’t already following JuJu and Steven, check them out on the following social media platforms:

JuJu Smith-Schuster:

Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

Steven Nelson:

Twitter
Instagram

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Eagles’ Darius Slay excluded from PFF ranking of the NFL’s highest-graded man-coverage cornerbacks

Darius Slay omitted from a ranking of the NFL’s highest-graded man-coverage cornerbacks

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Pro Football Focus is looked at as the Bible when it comes to grading players and developing a true evaluation of just how good a group of players is. Sometimes analytics don’t fully tell the story in any evaluation and in their latest cornerback grades, the ball was dropped completely.

During an evaluation of cornerbacks who graded on their prowess in man-to-man coverage, Slay was excluded from the list altogether.

1. STEPHON GILMORE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Man-coverage grade: 84.1

2. MARCUS PETERS, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Man-coverage grade: 79.6

3. TRE’DAVIOUS WHITE, BUFFALO BILLS
Man-coverage grade: 74.5

4. MARLON HUMPHREY, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Man-coverage grade: 74.4

5. PRINCE AMUKAMARA, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
Man-coverage grade: 74.0

6. STEVEN NELSON, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Man-coverage grade: 73.4

7. J.C. JACKSON, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Man-coverage grade: 73.2

8. BRADLEY ROBY, HOUSTON TEXANS
Man-coverage grade: 72.2

9. ADOREE’ JACKSON, TENNESSEE TITANS
Man-coverage grade: 71.2

10. JALEN RAMSEY, LOS ANGELES RAMS
Man-coverage grade: 68.7

With a bulk of NFL teams in the NFL playing zone coverage, Slay is one of the few players in the NFL that were asked to play bump and run on the majority of their snaps.

Take this tidbit from Packers star DeVante Adams on Slay and the Lions defense last season.

Pro Football Focus’ list highlighted the highest-graded man-coverage cornerbacks in the NFL among 67 players with at least 150 man-coverage snaps in 2019. Even if the numbers somehow speak for themselves, you can’t Prince Amukamara, Adoree’ Jackson, or Steven Nelson on any list ahead of Darius Slay.

Last season Only Stephon Gilmore and Marlon Humphrey matched Slay’s 10 forced incompletions in man coverage last season.

There continues to b continued and growing confusion about Slay’s value despitePFF ranking the Eagles star as one of the most valuable cornerbacks in the league over the past six seasons.

Slay has been the fourth-most valuable cornerback in the NFL since 2014 per PFF WAR (wins above replacement), and his 74 forced incompletions over that stretch were the most in the NFL, better than Gilmore.

Slay was impressive last year despite some down statistics on a bad team and yet his performance against some of the NFL’s best would be highlight-reel performances for some other cornerbacks.

Slay’s 85 forced incompletions since 2014 are the most in the NFL over that span as well.

The grading becomes even more confusing when you take into account that last season while playing for Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions, Slay logged 347 snaps in man coverage, the most of any defense in the NFL, which likely caused his 56.9 overall grade in coverage.

With only Slay as a viable option at cornerback, the Lions allowed 229 combined first downs and touchdowns, the second-largest total in the NFL while ranking 28th in passer rating as a team.

Slay for his part, only gave up three of those 33 touchdown passes allowed and he allowed 1.40 yards per coverage snap, which was his worst single-season average since his rookie year, but far better than most of the cornerbacks in the NFL.

It is a grading system we might not understand but Eagles fans should definitely be thankful because it’s just more ammunition for a guy looking to put on a show in 2020.

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After years of subpar coverage defenses, the Steelers finally got it right

Steelers Wire is taking a look at the players who make the secondary so good.

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Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been six seasons since Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark, two of the best safeties in recent team history, were part of the Steelers secondary. There have been a dozen-plus starting defensive backs during that span who have come and gone.

With all their power, the Steelers have tried for years to find replacements for Polamalu, Clark, Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, and, yes, even William Gay.

After struggling to strike a chord with the secondary that has, on average, ranked 15th in five seasons, the Steelers might have just finally found something.

The Steelers secondary shot up from 17th in 2018 to fifth in 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, the defense as a whole went on to compile the second-most interceptions (20) and allow the second-lowest passer rating (85.4) among all 32 teams.

Here are the Steelers that are making it happen.

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Steelers CB Steven Nelson aims to ‘spread positivity and love’ in a time of unrest

Cornerback Steven Nelson is the latest Steeler to voice his thoughts on all that the nation is experiencing.

On Thursday, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson voiced his concerns regarding the racial divide in this country, most recently sparked by the tragic death of George Floyd.

“I think things always have to get worse before they get better,” Nelson said via conference call with reporters. “If this is what it takes people to have to riot or loot just to send a message, then that’s just what it is. I’m all for positivity and doing everything the right way. That’s just me. Not just in America, you see them all across the world. It’s a big deal, and I think if it doesn’t change all of it, I think. It changes a great amount of it. I think it’s good.”

Nelson is one of many Steelers players, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, defensive tackle Cam Heyward, and linebacker T.J. Watt, who have used their platforms to make a positive statement regarding awareness and change.

“That is the good thing about being a professional athlete,” said Nelson. “We have a big platform to speak out for people, voice our opinions and thoughts, and create a change the best way we can. A lot of guys have big followings on social media. That is a great start for guys like myself to spread positivity and love throughout our country. God knows we all need it right now in spite of what is going on.”

Nelson added that he doesn’t hold a grudge toward Saints quarterback Drew Brees for his recent comments.

“It was rough to see that from a guy like that because he’s very well respected throughout our league a lot of people even myself look up to him. His statement or comment was very insensitive to the whole situation. That rubbed people the wrong way — even myself. I’m glad he apologized. I don’t hold grudges, but I can’t speak for everybody else. It’s going to be hard to come back from that because of what’s going on right now.”

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Steelers CB Steven Nelson among NFL’s top man cornerbacks

Steven Nelson doesn’t get enough credit for how good he was in 2019.

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Perhaps the most underrated free-agent signing of the 2019 offseason was the Pittsburgh Steelers acquiring cornerback Steven Nelson from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers gave Nelson the largest free-agent contract in franchise history and it paid huge dividends.

The Steelers had one of the best defenses in the NFL last season and while everyone talked about linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, Nelson was quietly one of the top man corners in the NFL. This is an opinion shared by our friends over at Touchdown Wire as they ranked him the No. 6 man corner in the league.

This was especially true in man coverage, where he allowed only eight catches on 26 targets for 107 yards. Nelson didn’t have any interceptions in man coverage, but he didn’t allow any touchdowns, and no cornerback with at least 20 man coverage targets had a lower Positive Play Rate allowed than his 23.1%.

Nelson paired up with Joe Haden to form perhaps the best CB tandem in the AFC. Keep in mind the Steelers don’t play a ton of man coverage and instead opt for various types of zone to assist with pressure schemes but from the minute Nelson was signed you knew this would offer the Steelers options to lock down opposing wide receivers.

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