Lost in the performance of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Al Woods Saturday night in the preseason opener against the New York Giants was the play of second year nose tackle Alameda Ta\’amu, who had just recently been activated from the PUP list. While Ta\’amu certainly still has a few technique flaws, he showed signs of development during his 20 snaps of playing time.
One of the best plays from Saturday night that best illustrates the power that Ta\’amu possesses took place midway through the second quarter when he drove Giants backup center Jim Cordle back into the lap of quarterback David Carr. That pressure forced Carr to vacate the pocket and scramble for just a one-yard gain.
You can see in the two animated gifs below how Ta\’amu wins with his hands as he has them locked into the chest Cordle. He then gets full extension with a good forward lean and uses the power in his legs to put the Giants center on skates as he rolls him deep into the pocket.
While this was only one highlight for the Washington product, it shows the potential that he has to be able to push the pocket. He didn\’t use his hands consistently enough throughout the game, but he should start to improve in that area the more snaps he gets during the preseason.
One thing is for certain, however, and that is his hamstring that forced him to miss the start of training camp now appears to be fully healed.
