Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Devlin Hodges has had a nice 2019 preseason to date as the undrafted rookie free agent out of Samford has completed 10 of his 18 total pass attempts for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s first two exhibition contests. In this post, I have detailed and broken down below every pass attempt made by Hodges in the Steelers two preseason games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. Even though plays wiped out by penalties are included in this breakdown.
Hodges’ passing chart for the pass attempts that counted is also included at the end of the post. Additionally, av short summary of all of Hodges’ pass attempts is included at the end.
Attempt #1 – (7:45) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete deep left to 87-K.Rader. – 17 air-yards
Wheel route to Kevin Rader, who lined up as a fullback in the backfield in a 22 personnel look. Ball was thrown where Rader had a chance to catch despite very tight coverage.
Attempt #2 – (7:39) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short right to 82-D.Spencer. – 13 air-yards
Out-breaking route to right sideline to Diontae Spencer and throw was on target but dropped.
Attempt #3 – (3:16) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete deep right to 80-J.Holton. PENALTY on TB-26-S.Bunting, Defensive Pass Interference, 27 yards, enforced at PIT 24 – No Play. – 31 air-yards
Go route to Johnny Holton down right sideline that was overthrown. Holton, however, drew a pass interference penalty for a gain of 27 yards.
Attempt #4 – (3:11) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short left to 81-Z.Gentry to TB 43 for 6 yards (52-C.Nelson). 5 air-yards
Short square out to Zach Gentry.
Attempt #5 – (2:22) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short middle to 81-Z.Gentry to TB 30 for 8 yards (46-D.Kenney, 41-K.Daniels). -4 air-yards
Short tight end screen to Gentry.
Attempt #6 – (1:45) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short right to 80-J.Holton to TB 20 for 10 yards (26-S.Bunting). 10 air-yards
Flushed to right and on target to Holton on a comeback on right sideline.
Attempt #7 – (:34) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete deep right to 15-T.Griffey. PENALTY on PIT-60-J.Hassenauer, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at TB 20 – No Play. 19 air-yards
Escaped pocket to right and throw was short of Trey Griffey in the end zone. Holding call on Steelers negated play.
Attempt #8 – (:27) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short left to 14-T.Jones. 10 air-yards
Left sideline comeback route to Tevin Jones slightly off target to field side. Might can be considered a drop, however.
Attempt #9 – (:21) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short right to 24O-B.Snell to TB 10 for 20 yards (26-S.Bunting; 79-P.O’Connor). 2 air-yards
Short running back screen to Benny Snell Jr. for an explosive play.
Attempt #10 – (14:22) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short left to 14-T.Jones for 8 yards, TOUCHDOWN. 13 air-yards
Patiently extended play in pocket to deliver touchdown pass to Jones in left corner of end zone. Impressive.
Attempt #11 – (10:15) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short left to 33O-Tr.Edmunds. 5 air-yards
Angle route to Trey Edmunds out of the slot and went off player’s hands. A tad high, but should’ve been caught.
Attempt #12 – (10:10) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete deep left to 15-T.Griffey. PENALTY on TB-22-De.Harris, Illegal Use of Hands, 5 yards, enforced at TB 30 – No Play. 20 air-yards
Very ill-advised throw to Griffey to left side after spinning away from pocket due to pressure. Interceptable pass. Defensive penalty nullified play, however.
Attempt #13 – (9:30) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short right to 88-T.Wood [53-D.Harris]. -9 air-yards
Throwaway to right in direction of Trevor Wood to avoid sack.
Attempt #14 – (9:22) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short left to 83-B.Reilly. 15 air-yards
Out-breaking route to Brandon Reilly that was dropped along left sideline.
Attempt #15 – (4:36) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short left to 82-D.Spencer to PIT 35 for 2 yards (52-C.Nelson, 22-De.Harris). -4 air-yards
Quick wide receiver screen to Spencer to left side out of empty.
Attempt #16 – (3:54) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short middle to 82-D.Spencer to 50 for 15 yards (22-De.Harris). 10 air-yards
Double-clutched in the pocket and hit Spencer in stride on a slant route in the middle of the field.
Attempt #17 – (2:31) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short right to 87-K.Rader to TB 41 for 10 yards (37-M.Wilkins). FUMBLES (37-M.Wilkins),RECOVERED by TB-39-I.Johnson at TB 36. 4 air-yards
Roll out to right and hit Rader on the move. Ball fumbled and recovered by defense.
Attempt #18 – (10:10) 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete short right to 14-T.Jones (44-D.O’Daniel). 10 air-yards
Roll out to right off of play action and pass on target to Jones on right sideline. Should have probably been caught but nice defensive play to contest catch attempt.
Attempt #19 – (9:21) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass short left to 18-D.Johnson pushed ob at PIT 39 for 14 yards (27-R.Fenton). 14 air-yards
Drifted left from pocket and delivered nice pass to Diontae Johnson on an out-breaking route to left sideline.
Attempt #20 – (4:29) (Shotgun) 6-D.Hodges pass deep left to 18-D.Johnson for 24 yards, TOUCHDOWN [93-J.Ivie]. 28 air-yards
Stood in pocket with pressure in face and delivered nice drop in the bucket pass over the top to Johnson in the end zone on out and up route.
Attempt #21 – (1:38) 72O-Z.Banner reported in as eligible. 6-D.Hodges pass incomplete deep right to 80-J.Holton (31D-A.Soroh). 34 air-yards
Deep pass off of play action out to Holton on a post/corner? route out of 22 personnel look. Ball should have been caught even though slightly contested by defender.
Summary: Hodges has proven to be a very accurate passer thus far in the two preseason games that the Steelers have played and that matches what our very own Alex Kozora saw during training camp and reported. While Hodges’ official stat line shows that he completed 10 of his total 18 pass attempts that counted, there were maybe six or seven incompletions that probably should’ve been caught. His two touchdown passes were great as was his throwaway to avoid a sack. He did have one ill-advised throw that could’ve been intercepted but that play included a defensive penalty just the same. One of the other big observations when it comes to Hodges 18 total pass attempts is that all but one of the 11 pass attempts of his that flew more than 5 yards past the original line of scrimmage went outside the numbers. Additionally, five of his 10 completions were via passes that traveled just five or less yards past the line of scrimmage. Ideally and deservedly, Hodges should get to play in the Steelers last two preseason games if possible. Assuming he does see more snaps, it would be nice to see him not only take more shots down the field past 10 yards but show that he complete passes inside the numbers as well.
Devlin Hodges’ 2019 preseason passing chart through two preseason games
