Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Today’s practice started out with a big crowd, but most left when the skies opened up and it started raining cats and dogs.

Since it was raining so much, I didn’t get to take as many notes as I normally would (my notebook got soaked).  I couldn’t take as many pictures either.  But here are my top 10 observations from Day 3 (Sunday August 2, 2009).

1)  Hines Ward did not practice today.  I don’t know if he was injured or if coach Tomlin is just giving him a rest.  However, he wasn’t in pads.  He just had on shorts and a t-shirt.  He was wearing a baseball cap turned backwards.

2)  If you ever wondered if the Steelers practice in the rain, the answer is “yes”.  It started raining really hard in the middle of practice.  A few of the players started to leave the field.  Someone on the field yelled that they saw lightning.  Coach Mike Tomlin yelled back “We play games in the rain in the NFL”, and that was that.  Nobody left the field, and practice proceeded as usual.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I absolutely love the control that Mike Tomlin exercises over his team.  He absolutely will not let them lose focus.  It definitely inspires confidence in me as a fan that the Steelers will not become distracted for any reason.

3)  Dan Sepulveda is back!!!! If there were any question about how Dan Sepulveda is healing from his injury/surgery from last season, let me put your mind at rest.  Sepulveda is back 100%!!!!!!  I actually asked Sepulveda how he was feeling yesterday, and he told me 100%.  However, I needed to see it myself.

Today Sepulveda punted for the first time at open practice.  He boomed punts that all seemed to hang in the air for 6 seconds (no exaggeration).  He probably made 10 punts.  The shortest one went 47 yards in the air.  The longest one went 67 yards in the air.  There was a slight wind at his back, but still, 67 yards is awesome.  By the way, did I mention that it was 67 yards in the rain?

4)  Mike Wallace is fast.  He got behind the entire defense for a long reception from Big Ben.  He beat the defenders so badly that it looked like Tom Brady to Randy Moss.

5)  Don’t ignore Piotr Czech.  Jeff Reed is an amazing kicker, and I hope the Steelers sign him to an extension.  However, today at practice Piotr Czech got to kick field goals.  He started with an extra point, and then moved back 5 yards on each successive kick.  He never missed.  The coaches stopped the drill after he hit a 55 yarder.  Frankly, I wanted to see him attempt a 60 yarder.

6)  Ziggy Hood beat Kraig Urbick twice in a row in one-on-one drills.  He looked like he totally outclassed Urbick.  However, Urbick stopped him cold on the third try, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

7)  Martin Nance drops too many catchable balls.  I know that he was Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite receiver at Miami of Ohio, but I just can’t see him making this team.

8)  Limas Sweed is showing good signs.  Limas made several pretty catches, including a nice diving catch by the sidelines that made the crowd go wild.  However, Limas also had some drops that drew a few jeers from the crowd.

9)  I like the way Mike Tomlin lets his assistants do their job.  Each Assistant runs practice for their particular unit.  Tomlin then circulates through the units and watches what they’re doing.  At each unit, he singles out a player and shouts encouragement to him.  When he got to the tight ends, he yelled out “C’mon DJ, show me something.  Show me what you got, DJ”.  He was referring to rookie tight end David Johnson.

I noticed that when Tomlin is watching a particular unit, the players go at it just a little bit harder.  The wide receivers in particular tend to dive for balls that they would have let fall to the ground if Tomlin weren’t watching.  The running backs also seem to hit the holes harder when Tomlin is watching.

10)  Frank “the tank” Summers is already a fan favorite.  Practice ended today when Summers had a violent (and loud) collision with a defender on a running play.  Summers didn’t win this one.  He got knocked on his back.  I couldn’t see who the defender was, but those around me said that his number ended in a “5″.  They thought it was either Patrick Bailey (#55) or Donovan Woods (#95).  The play drew ooohs and ahhhs from both fans and other players on the field.  It looked like a fight was going to break out, and I saw coaches jump in.  Tempers cooled, and practice ended.

#44 Frank "the tank" Summers

Note: I was wrong about the hit on Frank Summers yesterday.  According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was Willie Gay who put the big hit on Summers.  In fact, he knocked Summers down with the hit.  Read about it here.

If you haven’t already read our coverage of Day #2, please click below:

Notes from Steelers training camp Day 2

Also see our coverage of Day 4 by clicking here.

Today’s Featured Item:  Steelers Black-White 6-Time Super Bowl Champion Varsity Jacket

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June 7, 2009
By Donald Starver

This is part 4 of our AFC North review.  On Thursday,  Joe Barnes from the Baltimore Ravens blog  The Ebony Bird started things off with a review of the Baltimore Ravens’ off-season.  On Friday, Adam Kiefaber from the Cincinnati Bengals Blog Bengal Stripes gave us his review of the Bengals’ off-season.  On Saturday, Don Delco from the Cleveland Browns blog No Logo Needed shared his perspective on the Browns’ off-season moves.   Now it’s my turn to share my views on the Steelers’ off-season thus far.

AFC North Offseason Review: Pittsburgh Steelers

Best free agent signing and impact:

Biggest Loss and Impact:

What is your reaction to the Steelers’ draft?  I really like the players the Steelers selected.  Ziggy Hood adds much needed youth to the Steelers defensive line.  Kraig Urbik should be able to win a starting position at right guard by mid-season.  Mike Wallace has amazing speed, and is a star receiver of the future.   Keenan Lewis should see some playing time if he can learn the playbook.  Frank Summers is the short yardage back that the Steelers have lacked since Jerome Bettis retired.  And getting a center in the 7th round who won the Rimington Trophy in 2008 was the icing on the cake.  The Steelers addressed most of their needs, got much stronger in their return game, and added pieces for the future.  Overall, an excellent draft.

What storylines will you follow in camp? 1) Will the sophomores finally make an impact.  Rashard Mendenhall, Limas Sweed, Tony Hills, and Bruce Davis need to make their presence felt this year.  They were all MIA last year, and that will have to change if they want to hold onto their roster spots.  2)  How is Lawrence Timmons adjusting to being a starter?  I think he’ll do fine, but I’d like to see it on the field.   3) Can the Steelers’ offensive line finally figure out how to keep QB Ben Roethlisberger off his back?  Let’s face it.  Big Ben gets sacked way too often.  If he is going to last in this league, he is going to have to get better protection.  4)  Can Joe Burnett and Mike Wallace make an impact on the return game?  The Steelers didn’t have many weak spots last year.  Their return game was one of the few.

So, that is my review of the Steelers’ off-season so far.  I really like what they’ve done.  I don’t think we’re going to miss any of the players who left, and I think the rookies are going to be solid.  We won the Super Bowl last year, despite having the toughest schedule in the NFL.  The road to the Super Bowl will be much easier this time around.

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April 26, 2009
By Donald Starver

With their second pick in the 3rd round, the Steelers selected Mike Wallace.  Wallace is a 6’0, 180 pound wide receiver out of Mississippi.

This pick came as a surprise.  Few (if any) scouting reports had Wallace rated this high.  Most had him listed as being between the 25th – 34th best wide receiver in the draft.

When you talk about Mike Wallace, the first word that comes to mind is speed.  Wallace is one of the fastest players available in the draft.  He ran a 4.3 in the 40 yard dash.  Former Tampa Bay coach John Gruden said that they timed him at a blazing 4.28 seconds.  The kid is fast.  Super fast.  He is much faster than Nate Washington, Santonio Holmes, or Limas Sweed.  He is immediately the fastest receiver on the Steelers, and will challenge Willie Parker for team honors.

Wallace is capable of impacting the game in a number of ways.  He was one of the most dangerous kick returners in the country last year, and the Steelers will be able to utilize this aspect of his game immediately.  He averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return, and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Wallace’s speed was also apparent at the wide receiver position, where he led the SEC in yards/catch for two consecutive seasons.  He averaged 18.8 yards/catch during his junior year, and improved it to 20.1 yards/catch last year.

Despite his blazing speed, Wallace is more of a track star than a football player.  His hands are suspect, and he is very thinly built.  He has mostly straight line speed, and is not particularly good at changing directions.

Wallace catches the ball with his body, and is going to have to learn to extend his arms and catch with his hands.  More importantly, Wallace is going to have to eliminate drops.  His speed will get him separation, but he has to hold onto the ball.  Moreover, he won’t be able to rely on pure speed at the next level.  Wallace will have to run crisper routes to elude savvy NFL defenders.

Wallace will also have to become more physical.  He is easily jammed at the line, and shows little desire to fight through it.  He also is not a willing blocker. However, spending time with Hines Ward will surely change this.

“He’s a burner”, said Steelers’ offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.  “He hasn’t gone over the middle a lot, but he’s an outside speed guy who’s an excellent return guy.  We really, really like him”.

Wallace will have an immediate impact in the Steelers return game.  However, his impact on the passing game may not be felt until year 2 or 3.  He must develop better hands and better route running skills.  But he has speed to burn, and that can’t be taught.

To read about the Steelers’ previous pick, click here.

To read about the Steelers’ next pick, click here.

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