Every Sunday during the offseason I plan on recapping for you seven items related to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the NFL that may have fallen through the cracks the past week that should be worth your time to read. This weekly feature will be entitled “Steelers’ Seven Shots.”
Shot #1 – Just how important are sacks for a defense? Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus recently attempted to answer that question this past week using an Expected Points Added (EPA) model and it’s worth reading. In case you missed it, I just recently wrapped up my series on the Steelers 2017 sacks and you can find all of those post at this link.
Shot #2 – The 2018 NFL Scouting Combine will get underway in Indianapolis this coming week and here is the daily schedule. We should have the Wednesday NFL coaches/general manager speaking schedules by Monday night and I will pass those along to you then. As usual, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert will more than likely be speaking early on Wednesday. Last year he was seventh in the batting order.
Shot #3 – Speaking of the combine, Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com recently wrote about several of this year’s draft prospects and why there’s a need for them to show some serious athleticism while in Indianapolis for the annual Underwear Olympics.
Shot #4 – Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was back in the mainstream news cycle this past week and this time it was for him playing the role of Cupid. The USC product and last year’s second-round draft pick helped a high school girl asks her boyfriend to prom via Facetime. TMZ has all the details.
Shot #5 – Here’s something else related to Smith-Schuster that comes courtesy of PFF. In case you missed it, no NFL wide receiver generated a higher passer rating in 2017 when targeted than Smith-Schuster did. In case you’re curious, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a 93.4 passer rating on throws that were targeted for wide receiver Antonio Brown.
No WR in the NFL generated a higher passer rating when targeted than JuJu Smith-Schuster! pic.twitter.com/aIDJwPWYpe
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 20, 2018
Shot #6 – Former Steelers linebacker James Farrior appears to still be doing pretty well financially. According to Jack Flemming of the Los Angeles Times, Farrior recently purchased a newly-built estate in Tarzana, CA for $4.225 million. There are a ton of pictures included in the attached link. Farrior last played in 2011. He was released by the Steelers in March of 2012, nearly six full years ago.
Shot #7 – Another former Steelers player, Brentson Buckner, was named the new defensive line coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past week. From 2013–2017, Buckner, who was originally selected in the second round (50th overall) of the 1994 NFL Draft by the Steelers, was the defensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
