Your final stats from the 2019 Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp. New this year was us tracking yards gained and I’m happy to say it turned out well and hopefully – yinz tell me – worthwhile. Here are the numbers from the final three practices with the totals, along with some final thoughts, below.
Practices #12-14
Quarterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger: 18/34 (52.9%) 156 yards (8.7 YPC) 4 TDs 2 INTs
Josh Dobbs: 11/20 (55%) 90 yards (8.2 YPC) 3 TDs 1 INT
Mason Rudolph: 6/14 (42.9%) 91 yards (15.2 YPC) 0 TDs 1 INT
Devlin Hodges: 9/10 (90%) 157 yards (17.4 YPC) 1 TD 0 INTs
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 0/1 (0%) 0 yards 0 TDs 1 INT
Running Backs
Malik Williams: 11 carries 48 yards (4.4 YPC)
James Conner: 7 carries 38 yards(5.4 YPC)
Benny Snell: 6 carries 24 yards 1 TD (4 YPC)
Jaylen Samuels: 6 carries 18 yards (3 YPC)
Trey Edmunds: 2 carries 8 yards (4 YPC)
Travon McMillian: 2 carries 2 yards (1 YPC)
Johnny Holton: 1 carry 3 yards
Vance McDonald: 1 carry 2 yards 1 TD
Wide Receivers
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 7/11 124 yards 2 TDs – 63.6%
Vance McDonald: 7/8 52 yards 2 TDs – 87.5%
Donte Moncrief: 2/8 25 yards 2 TDs – 25%
Johnny Holton: 3/5 21 yards – 60%
Eli Rogers: 2/5 19 yards – 40%
Diontae Johnson: 3/4 44 yards 2 TDs – 75%
Ryan Switzer: 3/4 24 yards – 75%
Kevin Rader: 2/4 22 yards – 50%
James Washington: 2/4 7 yards – 50%
Zach Gentry: 1/4 20 yards – 25%
Diontae Spencer: 1/4 13 yards – 25%
Tevin Jones: 2/3 24 yards – 66.7%
Xavier Grimble: 2/2 22 yards 1 TD – 100%
James Conner: 2/2 12 yards – 100%
Trey Griffey: 1/1 35 yards – 100%
Trevor Wood: 1/1 10 yards – 100%
Jaylen Samuels: 1/1 10 yards – 100%
Brandon Reilly: 1/1 10 yards – 100%
Trey Edmunds: 1/1 0 yards – 100%
Drops
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 1
Donte Moncrief: 1
Diontae Spencer: 1
Tevin Jones: 1
Kevin Rader: 1
Interceptions
TJ Watt: 1
Steven Nelson: 1
Mark Barron: 1
Cam Sutton: 1
Brian Allen: 1
Camp totals.
TOTALS
Quarterbacks
Mason Rudolph: 92/150 (61.3%) 717 yards (7.8 YPC) 19 TDs 7 INTs
Ben Roethlisberger: 92/142 (64.8%) 851 yards (9.3 YPC) 23 TDs 3 INTs
Josh Dobbs: 71/134 (53%) 680 yards (9.6 YPC) 14 TDs 7 INTs
Devlin Hodges: 61/85 (71.8%) 646 yards (10.6 YPC) 6 TDs 2 INTs
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 0/1 (0%) 0 yards 0 TDs 1 INT
– Overall, good numbers across the board. Like last year, Rudolph and Dobbs’ INT numbers are a bit on the high end. Dobbs’ completion percentage regressed even from last year when he completed 55% during the 2018 training camp. His percentage has dipped camp by camp.
2017: 57%
2018: 55%
2019: 53%
He now owns three of the four worst camp completion rates in the six years we’ve tracked this data. Only Bart Houston’s 55.% mark set last year breaks those up.
– Devlin Hodges’ (I updated his numbers to include a 35 yard throw I left out from Days 12-14) 71.8% completion rate is the best camp rate we have EVER tracked. He’s the first to crack the 70% mark. The top numbers.
1. Devlin Hodges (2019): 71.8%
2. Ben Roethlisberger (2015): 69.7%
3. Landry Jones (2016): 68.6%
4. Ben Roethlisberger (2014): 67.6%
5. Ben Roethlisberger (2016): 67.5%
You’d think having that high of a completion percentage would curtail his yards per completion but Hodges paced all the quarterbacks there, too. Combination of efficiency and aggressiveness. This is why the team has taken such a long look at him inside stadiums. What a camp he had.
– Most completions of 20+ yards in camp.
Ben Roethlisberger: 10
Josh Dobbs: 10
Mason Rudolph: 7
Devlin Hodges: 6
Understand Hodges also had significantly fewer attempts than the rest of the group too.
Running Backs
Benny Snell: 47 carries 217 yards 2 TDs (4.6 YPC)
Jaylen Samuels: 32 carries 76 yards 1 TD (2.4 YPC)
Malik Williams: 31 carries 132 yards 1 TD (4.3 YPC)
Trey Edmunds: 26 carries 76 yards 1 TD (2.9 YPC)
James Conner: 23 carries 80 yards 1 TD (3.5 YPC)
Ralph Webb: 19 carries 111 yards, 1 TD (5.8 YPC)
Travon McMillian: 18 carries 60 yards (3.3 YPC)
Ryan Switzer: 2 carries 15 yards (7.5 YPC)
Diontae Spencer: 2 carries -2 yards (-1 YPC)
Diontae Johnson: 1 carry 15 yards (15 YPC)
Roosevelt Nix: 1 carry 4 yards (4 YPC)
Johnny Holton: 1 carry 3 yards (3 YPC)
Vance McDonald: 1 carry 2 yards 1 TD (2 YPC)
– No surprise the team wanted to get long looks at Snell and Samuels, two backs slated to make the roster with the most youth and inexperience. Conner took a back seat after his first year starting in the NFL. By comparison, Conner had 61 carries in camp a year ago.
– Still bummed about Ralph Webb getting hurt and waived/injured. Malik Williams ran well in camp and flashed a bit in Saturday’s game. Travon McMillan feels every bit the plodder the numbers indicate.
Wide Receivers
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 37/61 477 yards 10 TDs – 60.7%
James Washington: 24/46 234 yards 6 TDs – 52.2%
Tevin Jones: 25/39 217 yards 4 TDs – 64.1%
Diontae Spencer: 22/38 314 yards 3 TDs – 57.9%
Vance McDonald: 23/33 176 yards 6 TDs – 69.7%
Ryan Switzer: 22/28 143 yards 4 TDs – 78.6%
Kevin Rader: 16/26 121 yards 2 TDs – 61.5%
Donte Moncrief: 15/25 150 yards 4 TDs – 60%
Diontae Johnson: 17/24 145 yards 4 TDs – 70.8%
Eli Rogers: 13/21 127 yards 2 TDs – 61.9%
Zach Gentry: 8/17 84 yards 1 TD – 44.1%
Xavier Grimble: 12/17 80 yards 6 TDs – 70.6%
Jaylen Samuels: 14/16 65 yards 1 TD – 87.5%
Trey Griffey: 11/15 156 yards – 73.3%
James Conner: 11/14 45 yards 3 TDs – 78.6%
Johnny Holton: 9/12 177 yards 1 TD – 75%
Trevor Wood: 8/10 59 yards – 80%
Benny Snell: 7/9 49 yards 1 TD – 77.8%
Trey Edmunds: 8/9 28 yards – 88.9%
Christian Scotland-Williamson: 4/8 53 yards 1 TD – 50%
Ralph Webb: 5/8 35 yards, 1 TD – 62.5%
Brandon Reilly: 5/8 28 yards 1 TD – 62.5%
Travon McMillian: 2/3 18 yards – 66.7%
Malik Williams: 2/3 17 yards – 66.7%
Roosevelt Nix: 2/2 26 yards – 100%
– Exactly half of Grimble’s receptions this camp found the end zone. And over 25% of McDonald’s catches did the same.
– Ryan Switzer had the highest catch rate of any wide receiver on the team. Johnny Holton (19.7) and Diontae Spencer (14.3) led the team with the best yards per reception.
– Kevin Rader was 7th on the team in targets, joining an obscure list of “who?” players who saw the ball a lot in camp. Ones from the past? Damoun Patterson (41), Marcus Tucker (33), and Levi Norwood (25).
– JuJu Smith-Schuster joins Antonio Brown as the only players to have double-digit touchdown catches in camp. Both men have done it twice. AB still holds the records with 16 in 2016 and 14 in 2015. JuJu had 12 a year ago.
Drops
Kevin Rader: 5
Tevin Jones: 5
Vance McDonald: 2
Diontae Spencer: 2
Ralph Webb: 2
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 2
James Washington: 1
Diontae Johnson: 1
Trey Griffey: 1
Zach Gentry: 1
Travon McMillian: 1
Brandon Reilly: 1
Christian Scotland-Williamson: 1
Trey Edmunds: 1
Donte Moncrief: 1
– Players with 10+ receptions without any drops.
Ryan Switzer
Eli Rogers
Xavier Grimble
Jaylen Samuels
James Conner
– If you don’t want to do the math, receivers/running backs dropped 27 passes this year. Rader and Jones tied the camp record for drops with five each, tying Darrius Heyward-Bey who did it in 2015 and 2017.
Interceptions
Steven Nelson: 3
Cam Sutton: 3
Brian Allen: 2
Jordan Dangerfield: 2
Kameron Kelly: 2
Devin Bush: 1
Dravon Askew-Henry: 1
Derrek Thomas: 1
Tegray Scales: 1
Artie Burns: 1
Marcus Allen: 1
TJ Watt: 1
Mark Barron: 1
– The defense picked off 20 passes this camp, the same as last year (we know how that turned out). Here are the yearly figures:
2014: 8
2015: 17
2016: 6
2017: 11
2018: 20
2019: 20
The 2019 defense gets the edge because they intercepted at a higher rate than last year. 3.9% this time vs 3.5% a year ago.
– For the first time since 2015 when Kevin Fogg had five and Cortez Allen three, multiple defenders picked off 3+ passes in camp. Sutton and Nelson did it this time around.
