SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The ‘Putting on the Pads’ Edition

Good Wednesday to you Steelers fans.

There were collisions.

There were confrontations.

There were injuries.

This is what happens on the first day of football with full pads. The Pittsburgh Steelers followed the lead of their head coach and had a spirited first day of full contact with plenty to discuss and decipher. First we must have objectivity here. Veterans have a huge advantage because they know what to expect and that proved true at times but the young guys had positive moments too. Darnell Washington was beaten by both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in ‘back on backers’ but he also had moments of success too. Broderick Jones was really good in individual drills where he consistently stymied both veterans and fellow rookies. But the spectacle of the day was George Pickens vs Joey Porter, Jr. These two have battled since the first day of Camp, oftentimes leading to some back and forth, and it continued. Pickens made yet another highlight reel catch yesterday over Porter who actually had good coverage. I’m a firm believer that this competition will make both players better quicker than usual. The old saying is “iron sharpens iron” and it’s happening here. Much more on Camp below.

Tweet of the Day… I think we’ll see a lot more of this.

OMG GEORGE PICKENS pic.twitter.com/NPnmVoBcjE

— OddsStack (@OddsStack) August 1, 2023

What’s Up With Fitz?

Minkah Fitzpatrick has seen very little action so far in Camp and it continued yesterday. Tomlin has been very tight-lipped as to why his all-pro safety hasn’t participated much and for now, I’m not panicking and you shouldn’t either. Should this continue for another week or so then I would start to have some questions.

Hall of Honor

I completely forgot to discuss Saturday’s announcement by Art Rooney II. He announced this year’s entrants into the team’s Hall of Honor. James Harrison, Aaron Smith, Gerry “Moon” Mullins and Ray Mansfield will be honored later this season. Harrison was a Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Super Bowl Champ. Smith was a dominant force as a 3-4 defensive end. DE’s are the unsung heroes of the 3-4 and Smith was one of the best to ever do it. Mullins started 87 games along the offensive line and won four Super Bowls for the Steelers while also being one of the more outlandish personalities on the team. Mullins passed away in 2020. Mansfield had a 14 year career (his first was in Philly) that included 152 starts in Pittsburgh. He was a one-time defensive lineman who made the switch to center in his fourth season. He eventually gave way to the future Hall of Famer Mike Webster.

Camp Tidbits

Read into it whatever you want but the run game was featured immediately yesterday with both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren finding success… Kenny Pickett continues to push the ball down the field with solid success and not just down the sidelines… Mason Rudolph just doesn’t look good and he’s not getting a lot of reps either. One has to wonder just how invested he still is. No disrespect intended but after several years of “wait until next year” I couldn’t blame a guy for being down on himself… The Steelers did bring in another fullback after Monte Pottebaum up and retired this week but it wasn’t Derek Watt. Former Penn State FB John Lovett was signed and jumped into action yesterday. Whether he sticks or not is uncertain. Much of it will depend on how Connor Heyward holds up in blocking.