Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs: Latest Player Reports and Analysis
The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the next phase of their offseason workouts next week. The team has already been meeting for a few weeks, though, in the form of voluntary workouts and rookie minicamps. There have been no major revelations during this early part of the team's on-field offseason, but some nuggets of information have emerged that give us a glimpse into the Steelers' plans for 2015.
Here are the latest reports to emerge from Pittsburgh's offseason workouts.
Rookie LB Bud Dupree Officially Joins Team After Graduating
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The Pittsburgh Steelers opened rookie minicamp earlier this month without linebacker Bud Dupree, their Round 1 pick, but his absence didn't last long. As per NCAA and NFL rules, rookies who remain enrolled in college with an eye toward graduation cannot join their new teams until they receive their degree. As such, Dupree had to sit out this month until he graduated from the University of Kentucky.
Dupree missed only two days—or four practices—of the Steelers' rookie minicamp, though. He joined the team for the final day of the camp, saying to the Steelers' official website that graduation "was a whirlwind, but I got it done. I am happy to have it over with and now working hard on my football career."
The Steelers were lucky that Kentucky had such an early graduation date. There are other teams waiting until mid-June for their rookies to graduate college and return to practice. Dupree will have a major role in improving a Steelers' pass rush that totaled only 33 sacks last season. Dupree will need to take advantage of every chance he gets to hone his craft in order to be ready to contribute as a rookie.
Steelers Will Transition Rookie Anthony Chickillo to OLB
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The Steelers took a risk—albeit a small one—when they selected Miami defensive end Anthony Chickillo in Round 6 of the 2015 draft. Why? Because he was a run-stopping end in college but wants to be a 3-4, pass-rushing outside linebacker in the NFL. The transition will be a difficult one, but the Steelers saw enough potential in him to take that chance.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Ralph N. Paulk spoke to Chickillo about the position change earlier this month. Chickillo said
"In college, I didn't have a chance to rush much. We played a two-gap scheme, and I was more like one of the guys in the middle. But I have all the skills of a pass-rusher. It's new for me ... but I prepared for a lot before my pro day and the combine. I'm happy the Steelers have faith in me. I'm not going to let them down.
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Linebackers coach Joey Porter thinks that Chickillo has a good chance of being an impact player, saying:
"I've seen him rush from a lot of different positions, inside and out. [Outside linebacker is] something that won't probably come naturally to him. But it didn't come naturally to me when I played defensive end in college Whenever you're taking these type of guys, you're already hoping on the upside. I think he's going to be a guy that we're willing to take the chance to see if he can do it.
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Clearly, the Steelers need all the pass-rushing help they can get. Chickillo's transition and development is something to watch as the summer unfolds.
S Gerod Holliman Is Learning How to Tackle
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The main knock against Louisville safety Gerod Holliman, whom the Steelers selected in Round 7 of the 2015 draft is that he cannot tackle. Though Holliman won the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to the NCAA's best defensive back, he didn't get it for his tackling, but rather his 14 interceptions in the 2014 season.
Holliman's lack of tackling, though, will not fly in the NFL. It's something he will have to work on this summer, especially if he wants to be part of the battle for the Steelers' starting strong safety job. Holliman explained why he didn't tackle in college earlier this month to the Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly: "The scheme I was playing in college wasn't meant for me to tackle."
His position coach at Louisville, Greg Brown, did explain why Holliman was such a successful ball hawk:
"[Holliman] studied the game and figured out where the ball was going most of the time. He has a knack for knowing what is going to happen just by the formation. A lot of it was during a game. He would see a pattern and what formation and motion they ran, and he was smart enough to realize that the next time they were in that formation and ran that motion that this kind of route was going to come out of it.
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Holliman had only 44 combined tackles in 2014 and, as Kaboly points out, 20 missed tackles. So his ability to get to the football won't matter to the Steelers until he gets down the fundamentals of tackling. His 2015 season will depend on how well he can master this necessity of his position. But it's something that the Steelers will likely try to drill into Holliman through OTAs and training camp.
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Waiting for CB Battle to Play Out
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The Steelers addressed a major position of need twice in the 2015 NFL draft, taking cornerback Senquez Golson in Round 2 and then cornerback Doran Grant in Round 4. The pair join Cortez Allen, William Gay and Antwon Blake to compete for starting jobs this year.
Draft position doesn't always indicate playing time, but the Steelers' high regard for Golson make it seem like he's destined to play a significant number of snaps as a rookie. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo wrote in his mailbag column on Monday that he expects Allen and Gay to be the team's starters on the outside, with Golson working in the slot.
Fittipaldo goes on to say that Blake could be the No. 5 cornerback and Grant the No. 6, and he's likely to make the 53-man roster because of his special teams value. Of course, this could change as OTAs give way to training camp, but for now, expect one rookie starter in the Steelers' group of corners.
Keep an Eye on S Alden Darby
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While the focus on the Steelers' safety battle is on better-known players like Will Allen, Shamarko Thomas and Gerod Holliman, an unknown, Alden Darby, could insinuate himself in the fight as camps wear on. Darby, signed by the team in January, went undrafted in 2014. Though he spent some time with the San Diego Chargers last year, he hasn't latched onto a team until now.
Darby, whom the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette recently profiled, comes from a difficult background full of challenges and obstacles, but he still made his way into the NFL by working hard and focusing on football through all the chaos around him. That should serve him well in the Steelers' training camp this year.
Darby said of his latest opportunity, "I'm going to do everything I possibly can to impress the coaches, impress the special teams coaches, just play to my ability and skills, basically leave them no doubt, give them absolutely no reason I shouldn’t be on the team."
That special teams ability might be Darby's entry into the Steelers' 53-man roster. But it will be interesting to see just how he may factor into the Steelers' plans at safety. It's possible that he'll get a shot at working with the first-team defense moving forward simply because the Steelers can't leave any stone unturned in identifying the right starter at strong safety.
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