It’s easy to overreact. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t look especially good last evening in their preseason loss to the Houston Texans. Fumbled snaps, poor blocking and tackling and other problems led to the 20-12 loss but I’m not here to overreact. I’m here because I have some questions. Let me explain.
What is the plan with Broderick Jones?
First off, we do not yet know the status of Troy Fautanu who suffered a knee injury last night so we must bear that in mind… As for Jones, they have used him at both right and left tackle which is good – to a point. It’s good in that you like a guy with his skill set being able to play both sides but it’s bad in that you expect a first round draft pick to have a solidified position by now.
Looking back at the tape this morning, I’m still in limbo about Jones. As a run blocker, he can be dominant. He gets off the ball and gets after people on the first and second level. As a pass protector, I’m concerned. He seems to struggle with quickness and often loses his balance in an effort to recover. I think he’s better off with bull rushes because of his size and strength but clearly opposing pass rushers are watching tape. I’m honestly not sure what to make of Jones just yet.
How will the depth in the secondary shake out?
Again, it’s really early, but who are the back-up corners? We saw a lot of guys get action last night but I’m really feeling uneasy. Ryan Watts, the sixth rounder from Texas, played pretty well. He was around the ball a lot and tackles well too. Cory Trice, Jr was able to finally make his debut after missing all of his rookie season and he looked decent making a nice tackle on his first series. If he can stay healthy he becomes a huge bonus.
Anthony Averett had up and down moments as did Kalon Barnes. Can they do enough to become guys you can’t count on for a spot start or more? Beanie Bishop, Jr was in on several tackles early and looked as advertised but what happens if he goes down? Grayland Arnold has looked decent but has also battled injury in Camp. This has to get solidified over the next few weeks.
Did Justin Fields do anything to put pressure on Russell Wilson?
The former Chicago Bear has taken the vast majority of snaps in Camp with Wilson dealing with a calf injury. Those extra snaps should be beneficial in the long run. As for last night, Fields looked very much like the guy we’ve come to know from his first three seasons. The arm talent is not in question. The ability to use his legs? Not in question.
What we also saw however was a throw to the sideline (Mike Tomlin should have challenged) where Van Jefferson reeled it in but was ruled out of bounds. Had the ball been thrown in front of Jefferson it would have been an easier completion. Ball placement has long been an issue for Fields. But he also threw a couple of dimes too and that is him in a nutshell.
The two fumbled snaps both occurred with Nate Herbig at center. Looking at both of them in slow motion it appears that Fields was at fault on the first one for sure. The ball was up and he just didn’t handle it. The second seemed pretty similar but may have been on both parties.
Fields was sacked a couple of times too and those can be a bit hard to assign blame. Both he and Russell Wilson unfortunately are known to take bad sacks but I think in this case he couldn’t be blamed for both of them.
In answering my own question, I think Fields will be exactly what he is at least for the time being.
