Pittsburgh Steelers: 1st Impressions from 2015 Training Camp

Thousands of fans were in attendance to celebrate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 50th year of training camp at Saint Vincent College but more importantly, to celebrate the return of football.

“It is hard to believe we have been here 50 years,” said Art Rooney II, per Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. “I was a ball boy back in those days and things were a little different. We certainly weren’t sitting on six World Championships and it was a different atmosphere. It feels good we have come this far in 50 years.”

The fans weren’t only treated to a pre-camp ceremony celebrating the partnership between the Steelers and Saint Vincent College, but also the first practice of the summer.

Without the familiar faces of Dick LeBeau, Troy Polamalu, Brett Keisel or Ike Taylor—in uniform—the start of camp certainly had a different feel. Yet even with so much turnover, the Steelers were a loose, confident bunch ready to get started.

Now that day one is in the books, here are my first impressions from the opening practice of training camp.

Two-Point Conversions Right Away

Chris Gazze

Until the pads come on, the Steelers cannot set a physical tone in practice, but they didn’t waste any time working near the goal line.

Mike Tomlin has made the two-point conversion a point of emphasis and continued to do so in training camp, per Steelers.com:

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Yeah, we’ve been doing that for over a year now. It’s not a reaction to the rule change or anything of that nature. We’ve been doing it for over a year because we realize that on both sides of the ball that’s a significant space on a significant down. It’s been good work, hopefully it’s competitive, meaning that the offense is going to win some and the defense is going to win some. The defense won a majority today.

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Not only will this help the Steelers with any potential two-point conversion attempts, but also in the red zone where they want to do a better job of getting the ball into the end zone.

The offense looked in midseason form with Roethlisberger hitting Heath Miller coming across the end zone. Miller looked to pick up his second touchdown of the session, but Lawrence Timmons came in to knock the ball out of his hands.

Landry Jones ended the session by throwing back-to-back interceptions. The first was by Alden Darby after a pass was batted from Sammie Coates’ hands, and the second was a leaping pick by Kevin Fogg.

Outside Linebackers Flash Potential

Chris Gazze

It is early—very early—but we got a small look at the upside held by the Steelers outside linebackers.

With James Harrison on the sideline, Arthur Moats was the veteran of the group and beat Marcus Gilbert on one play to force Ben Roethlisberger to step into pressure from Jarvis Jones, who beat Kelvin Beachum on the play.

Howard Jones was active in the backfield on several plays, including once against the run where he would have made a stop for a loss. He flashed potential as a pass-rusher last season, and the coaching staff will look for continued growth in this area.

Although he was not met with much fanfare from the crowd, Bud Dupree began to show why the Steelers selected him in the first round with his quick first step. He did not register a sack and still needs to work on his technique, but the tools are in place to have a successful rookie year.

Dupree held his position on a running play to prevent the cutback and had a nice jam on rookie tight end Jesse James before blanketing him in coverage.

Depth at Tackle a Concern

Chris Gazze

Mike Adams is not the best backup tackle in the league, but he is the best that the Steelers have. There should be some concern as he misses all of training camp with a back injury. One player who hopes to make the most of this opportunity is keeping things in perspective:

“I don’t think it matters. I’m not competing against one guy. I’m competing against everyone else in the league right now,” offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva told reporters after practice, per Steelers.com. “So whether [the Steelers] draft a guy in the first round or they don’t draft a guy at all at my position, I think it’s up to me to make the team.”

It is possible that the 6’9” tackle is the best of a group that includes Kevin Whimpey, Kelvin Palmer and Mitchell Van Dyk. After watching one practice, the Steelers may need to explore the free-agent market if Adams is slow to return.

Villanueva is a physically imposing player who is athletic but raw. Even with offensive line coach Mike Munchak, Villanueva is a work in progress and must improve his technique before he can be considered a viable backup.

Granted it is only one practice without pads, but the Steelers do not have an immediate answer at tackle behind their starters while Adams is out.

Camp Notes

Chris Gazze

Dan Rooney, Art Rooney II and Thomas Tull attended the ceremony to recognize the 50th year of training camp at Saint Vincent College. Steelers alumni Jon Kolb, J.T. Thomas, Louis Lipps, Merril Hoge and Charlie Batch represented each decade the team held camp at the college.

Art Rooney spoke with reporters about Pittsburgh hosting a Super Bowl. Although there are challenges that must be met, he seems committed to this idea.

During stretches, teammates yelled “new money” at Cam Heyward in reference to his newly signed contract extension.

Harrison and Will Allen did not practice. Harrison spent his day on the sidelines in a grey sweat suit—it was nearly 90 degrees.

Tyler Murphy stepped in as the fourth-string quarterback on Sunday with Gradkowski out. Landry Jones was the No. 2, and Tahj Boyd the No. 3. Jones continued to be slow with his progressions and struggled when under pressure.

Bell showed no visible signs of the knee injury that kept him out of last year’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Ross Scheuerman does not have the look of a typical NFL running back, but displayed good speed and quickness. He will compete with Josh Harris and others for a spot on the depth chart while Bell is out serving his suspension.

Coates is an impressive physical specimen. He appears larger than the bulked-up Martavis Bryant. Coates did not get a chance to put his speed on display, but did miss a pass that resulted in an interception.

Speaking of Coates and Bryant, do not expect either to contribute as a punt returner. Both worked on fielding punts from the Jugs machine and had trouble tracking the ball. Dri Archer, Markus Wheaton and Eli Rogers also fielded punts.

C.J. Goodwin had one of the best receptions of the day when he made a leaping grab in front of Fogg, who had very good coverage.

Without Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen stepped up as the Steelers’ most physical cornerback on the first day. However, he may have been too physical as he mugged Antonio Brown running down the field.

Allen and Antwon Blake played the outside when the defense was in the nickel with William Gay shifting to the slot.

The Steelers will practice Monday before having an off day on Tuesday. Wednesday is the first padded practice of the summer.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all stats are courtesy of ESPN.com and roster information is courtesy of Steelers.com. Camp observations obtained firsthand.

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