Football. Is. Back. And not a moment too soon. Because I was seriously running out of offseason content ideas. The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to Latrobe, Pa., and Saint Vincent College for their first training camp practice of the 2023. As always, we were there to cover the day. Our ace photographer Tim Rice also attended practice to snap some great shots.
If you’re new to our daily Depot camp recaps, our goal is simple. Make you feel like you’re sitting right next to us at practice. So there will be a lot of information below, as comprehensive of a recap as we can offer, and we’ll have a recap similar to this following each practice.
Before getting into our notes, I’d like to thank Len Testa and Touring Plans for continuing to sponsor our training camp coverage.
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Camp Notes (Day One)
— Before any players made their ways down the stairs, the scouts walked down first. Just like watching Pro Days, I spotted Director of Player Scouting Mark Sadowski among others coming down the stairs where the players walk out before making their way up the hill. They’re around camp this time of year to help scout and evaluate practice before they get into their college seasons.
— It’s just day one so there’s no real injury report and the team wasn’t in pads, making for a lighter day of work that concluded early around 3:30. Minkah Fitzpatrick did not practice in team drills, standing in deep centerfield and talking to his fellow safeties. Fitzpatrick fielded a kick in the return line and held the football on a stick to try and punch the ball out to the other return men. He looks fine and this looks very minor. WR Diontae Johnson slipped making a catch along the left sideline and initially grabbed his knee, limping back to the group. But he missed maybe a rep and finished the day out just fine. Whew.
– The first player down the stairs? TE Pat Freiermuth, who walked down at 1:26. Fans were thrilled and greeted him with a hearty “Muuuth” call as he made his way to the near field closest to the bleachers and the crowd. He gave a wave of acknowledgment to the fans in a crowd that wasn’t quite as full as expected though it is a weekday. Should be full tomorrow.
Freiermuth got in early work, using a dummy as a defender to break in front of (slow jog, taking a couple steps to the dummy before turning) while staffers threw him the ball. TE Coach Alfredo Roberts, as he did last year, had the group down working together well before practice.
Our Dr. Melanie Friedlander was wondering about a compression sleeve on TE Zach Gentry’s knee/leg before camp. But he didn’t have a sleeve on today. OG Kevin Dotson did have a bulky brace on his right arm. Don’t think it’s cause for concern because it feels like every o-lineman wears about six braces at any given moment.
– Rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was the first defensive player out, signing a ton of autographs for fans. Most players sign afterwards but Porter made sure to stop and sign for a fan base that loves him already. Porter played soft toss with DC Teryl Austin on the middle field while the rest of the players filtered down.
– DBs got on the JUGs machine before practice with Tre Norwood hopping on first. Several others joined him including Porter, Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal, Levi Wallace, Elijah Riley, Miles Killebrew, and a bit later, Patrick Peterson.
– Before practice got going, C Kendrick Green took reps snapping to QB Mitch Trubisky while C Ryan McCollum snapped to QB Mason Rudolph.
– Good cheer for rookie OT Broderick Jones as the first-round pick walked down the stairs, bounding down with good energy.
– If you look at the Steelers’ public website, there’s a couple of players with different numbers than those on the field. DL Armon Watts is No. 94, not No. 68, while LB Nick Kwiatkoski is No. 53, not No. 46.
– As soon as the opening horn went off, Danny Smith’s voice could be heard. The team worked on some skeleton special teams drills, punt and return team on different parts of the field.
– In the return line: Gunner Olszewski, Alfonzo Graham, Damontae Kazee (took one to two reps before jogging away to the middle field with the defense), Calvin Austin III, and Diontae Johnson. Rookie Jordan Byrd also came over to field some kicks. He was a star returner at San Diego State. Ditto with WR Ja’Marcus Bradley, who got a couple reps late.
– In warmups, LS Rex Sunahara snapped to holder Braden Mann while LS Christian Kuntz snapped to Chris Boswell. Pressley Harvin III was the “kicker” in this situation, though there were no actual kicks. Just working on snaps and holds.
– In that skeleton punt work, Elijah Riley and Tre Norwood were the team’s upbacks. But during the fuller special teams session, Miles Killebrew dominated the upback reps. Riley and Norwood were the starting wings.
– This is how the o-line groups went today, left to right:
First Team: Dan Moore-Isaac Seumalo-Mason Cole-James Daniels-Chukwuma Okorafor
Second Team: Broderick Jones-Kevin Dotson-Kendrick Green-Nate Herbig-Le’Raven Clark
Third Team: Dylan Cook-Jarrid Williams-Ryan McCollum-Bill Dunkle-Spencer Anderson
No big surprises here, though Williams at third-team left guard is mildly interesting.
– In individuals/skeleton work, the quarterbacks went through several reps working on jet sweeps to receivers and split-out running backs. Calvin Austin III, Diontae Johnson, and Jaylen Warren took them. This also happened last season.
– Glancing at the defense on the far field, DeMarvin Leal went through drills with his hand down, not as a stand-up outside linebacker. But he floated between both in practice.
– Ok, let’s get to the 11 v 11 sessions.
First Team Session
1. No seven shots. Pittsburgh opened up with a different kind of situational work, third down with the ball on the offense’s 41-yard line. Kenny Pickett opened in an empty set with Najee Harris motioning sidecar to the backfield. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith the left/right outside linebackers with Patrick Peterson at left cornerback.
First play is a deep shot to George Pickens down the right sideline. Peterson might be doing a bit of his veteran/crafty holding on the back of Pickens’ jersey. Peterson then gets his head around, finds the ball over his left shoulder, and sticks up his hands to knock it away. Incomplete.
Kinda love the Steelers going for the home run ball on the first play.
2. Pickens goes in pre-snap motion. Pickett fires complete to TE Pat Freiermuth over the middle with Kazee coming down to tag him. Solid pickup of 20 yards.
3. Larry Ogunjobi and Cam Heyward the nickel defensive linemen. Watt and Highsmith the outside linebackers. Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts the first-team inside linebackers. Peterson and Levi Wallace the outside corners with – surprise – Duke Dawson – in the slot. Kazee and Neal the safety pairing.
The defense blitzes. Pickett looks for WR Allen Robinson II left side but the pass is a little high and hits off his hands for an incompletion.
4. New corner grouping. Peterson kicks to the slot while Porter comes on the field as first-team left cornerback. Jaylen Warren in the backfield with Pickett in shotgun. Pickett steps up and scrambles right, finding Connor Heyward for about a 10-yard gain right side.
5. Mitch Trubisky in at QB. Warren sidecar to him. Nick Herbig and Markus Golden the second-string left and right outside linebackers, respectively. Well-covered by the defense and Trubisky tucks and runs for 10 yards.
6. Second-team line of Jones-Dotson-Green-Herbig-Clark. Cory Trice Jr. in at left cornerback. Trubisky fires a throw between two defenders, one being CB James Pierre, for WR Calvin Austin III. It’s a little behind and Austin has to reach back for it but can’t make the grab outside his frame. The pass is off his hands and incomplete.
7. Anthony McFarland Jr. the third-string running back to open camp. No surprise given his veteran status over the rookies and young guys behind him. Trubisky scrambles right side and finds WR Miles Boykin, who tries to get his toes in before stepping on the sideline. It’s a close play — I don’t have replay review in my pocket — but I’m putting this down as an incompletion.
On this rep, RT Le’Raven Clark sealed rookie Nick Herbig upfield.
8. DeMarvin Leal and second-round rookie Keeanu Benton the nickel pairing. Herbig and Golden continue to be the second-string outside linebackers. Porter and Pierre the corners, Mark Robinson and Chapelle Russell the inside linebackers. Trubisky checkdown complete to McFarland for 10 yards. Herbig had a pressure here.
9. Third-string OL in while Mason Rudolph jumps in at quarterback. My notes are already a little hard to read but believe this is a 7-yard completion to WR Dez Fitzpatrick.
10. Nice throw by Rudolph to beat zone coverage as he connects with Fitzpatrick for 15 yards.
11. OL of Dylan Cook-Jarrid Williams-Ryan McCollum-Bill Dunkle-Spencer Anderson. Dan Chisena motions to the slot. Rudolph hitches up and looks for tall WR Hakeem Butler over the middle of the field. Pass is a little high but catchable and it hits off Butler’s hands. Cory Trice Jr. couldn’t hold onto the ricochet and the ball bounced twice and fell incomplete.
12. DeMarvin Leal in as a stand-up LOLB for this final rep of this team session. Rudolph wants to throw a curl right side, not 100 percent sure who the target was (possibly TE Darnell Washington) but Elijah Riley reads it the whole way from his curl/hook zone and steps in front of the pass for camp’s first interception. Bad read by Rudolph but nice play by Riley.
Second Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 16-yard line. Kazee and Neal continue to run first-team safety with Peterson and Wallace at outside corner. Holcomb and Roberts the inside linebackers, Watt and Highsmith the EDGE rushers, Ogunjobi and Heyward the down linemen. Dawson is in the slot. Pickett in at quarterback.
Pickens again goes in motion. Dart RPO with RT Chukwuma Okorafor pulling across right to left. Pickett hands the ball off to Najee Harris, who runs and follows behind Okorafor through the hole for a gain of 4. Cool little wrinkle and I hope this team runs more RPOs this year. They were pretty limited in 2022.
2. Nice throw by Pickett along the left sideline to connect with Diontae Johnson, who makes a sliding catch to stay inbounds. Semi-scary moment as Johnson initially grabbed his knee after making the reception and he stayed down for a brief second. A bit hobbled as he walked back but only missed a rep, if that. He finished out the day just fine.
3. Fake the jet to Calvin Austin III and the handoff is to Harris right side. Gain of about 5.
4. Johnson aligns left side. Pickett play-action. T.J. Watt with immediate pressure. Pickett hits Pickens on a curl right side working along Peterson for a gain of 14.
5. DeMarvin Leal-Keanu Benton-Isaiahh Loudermilk the base defensive line trio. Herbig and Golden at outside linebacker, Robinson and Russell at inside linebacker. Porter and Pierre the cornerbacks. Trubisky in at quarterback. Trubisky rolls right and fires deep down the right sideline for Austin, who can’t finish the play on the way down. Nicely contested by one of the defensive backs, either Porter or Norwood. I’m not quite sure, but Austin just couldn’t finish it again.
6. Trubisky play fake. Leal comes in free to pressure off the edge. Trubisky just chucks it in the vicinity of Zach Gentry in the right flat but the pass is well out in front and he has no real chance to make a play on the ball. Incomplete.
7. Pressure again off the edge from the rookie Herbig. Trubisky steps up and hits Gunner Olszewski on the Dave Bryan-favorite wheel route (Olszewski jetted across pre-snap and then extended vertically). Nicely thrown ball by Trubisky as it whizzes past LB Mark Robinson’s ear (in an unfavorable matchup against a wide receiver, obviously) and caught by Olszewski along the left side for a 19-yard completion.
8. Trubisky now under center. Stretch run to Anthony McFarland Jr. right side. Good push up front by the line. Hard to know when anyone is “down” in a padless practice but we’ll give him 5 yards here.
9. Kazee and Norwood the safety pairing with Riley in the slot. Trice in at left cornerback, Madre Harper in at right cornerback. Mason Rudolph enters at quarterback. WR Ja’Marcus Bradley slot right. ILB Tanner Muse comes on a blitz. Rudolph throws hot to rookie TE Darnell Washington over the middle. Washington never sees the ball, failing to get his head around on his 5-yard in-cut and the ball soars past him and incomplete. Miscommunication there, it seemed out of the rookie in his first camp practice.
10. Armon Watts-Breiden Fehoko-Manny Jones the three down linemen. UDFA rookies David Perales and Toby Nduwke the outside linebacker pairing. Tight end trade with Connor Heyward and Rodney Williams switching sides. Rudolph under center and hands the ball off to RB Jason Huntley, who makes a nice cut to his right side and gets a solid gain out of it, call it 17 yards.
11. Miles Killebrew and Kenny Robinson the safety pairing. Jonathan Marshall and Fehoko the nickel linemen. Riley still in the slot. Rudolph rolls right and hits WR Dan Chisena open in the flat for a gain of 19.
12. Rudolph under center. Jet run right to left in the hands of rookie Jordan Byrd. He sprints along the left sideline for 14 with Tanner Muse giving chase, trying to punch the ball out behind him at the very end.
— Special Teams Session
— Noted some of the punt coverage groupings above. Killebrew looks poised to replace LB Marcus Allen as the starting upback. He’s loud and vocal. Riley and Norwood as the wings are also notable. That’s a role Benny Snell Jr. held last season.
— Getting work at gunner included CB James Pierre/Miles Boykin with the first team. Anthony McFarland Jr. got looks at gunner last year and saw a rep here. As did RB Jason Huntley and WR Dez Fitzpatrick. Returning punts included Olszewski, RB Alfonzo Graham, Jordan Byrd, and Austin.
— Some hangtimes and distances for the punters.
Pressley Harvin: 5.09 (52 yards), 4.71 (51 yards), 3.84 (44 yards, these punts were from the 1-yard line), 4.94 (55 yards).
Braden Mann: 4.95 (41 yards, this was a low snap by LS Rex Sunahara), 4.86 (don’t have distance), 4.61 (42 yards, these punts from the 1-yard line), 4.63 (don’t have distance – I’m a little rusty with the stopwatch for Day One.
Overall, both punters looked fine. Not great, not terrible, and any battle will take place inside stadiums more so than a practice field without a true rush.
— Some quick 7v7 notes.
— Damontae Kazee made a diving effort to break up a short throw to the left sideline for Diontae Johnson. But Pickett fit it in there for the completion.
— Pickett hit a deep ball down the left sideline to a split out Anthony McFarland Jr., who made the grab over a leaping Cole Holcomb, who jumped a little too soon.
— One of the best individual reps of the day was Joey Porter Jr. running step for step down the right sideline to blanket Calvin Austin III on an incomplete pass. It’s just 7v7 but that’s even harder for defenders to succeed and Porter did here.
— Hakeem Butler had another high pass hit off his hands and incomplete. CB Luq Barcoo was covering but didn’t impact the outcome.
Third Team Session
1. Ball on the offense’s 29. Duke Dawson again an early-down/rep slot corner. Watt and Highsmith the first-team outside linebackers. Heyward and Ogunjobi the defensive linemen. Holcomb and Roberts the inside linebackers. Porter and Wallace the outside corners. Neal and Kazee the safety pairings.
The starting o-line: Moore-Seumalo-Cole-Daniels-Okorafor. Diontae Johnson and George Pickens the outside receivers here. Pickett checks down complete to RB Najee Harris on the right side for a gain of 6.
2. Pickett under center. Jet motion by Austin. A Harris carry right side but not much there, Cam Heyward hitting him with a forearm underneath Harris’ helmet for a short stop. Gain of 2.
3. Austin and Johnson the outside receivers with Allen Robinson II in the slot. Dawson in the slot opposing Robinson defensively. Pickett hits Robinson on a diving, short catch over the middle for a pickup of just 4, Robinson moving right to left.
4. Tre Norwood in the slot. It’s training camp so we have a Pony/two-running back backfield. Jaylen Warren the deep back with Anthony McFarland Jr. slot left and motioning right on jet action on the snap of the ball. Warren takes the handoff with Elandon Roberts hitting him in the hole after a gain of 4. Warren bounces off in this non-tackling drill and finishes the run with T.J. Watt chasing him the whole way. As Warren is jogging back, Watt flips the ball out of Warren’s arms.
5. Mitch Trubisky in the game. Hits Cody White on a crosser/over route for a gain of 16 yards before Kenny Robinson tags him.
6. Another camp special: pistol formation! Running back aligned directly behind Trubisky. Play-action and this time Trubisky finds White along the left sideline. He makes a nice juggling catch inbounds with James Pierre all over him. Another good play here from White. Gain of 11.
7. Trubisky finds Pat Freiermuth right side for 7 with Robinson covering. Freiermuth getting extended work standing up in the slot today. Want to watch for it more tomorrow.
8. Second-team o-line in, same group as before. McFarland gets the carry up the middle until Russell hits him in the hole for a gain of 3.
9. Mason Rudolph enters the game. O-line of Cook-Williams-McCollum-Dunkle-Anderson. Rudolph throws left side, looking for Olszewski. Little short and definitely low with Olszewski trying to reach back for it. Nearly makes the catch but CB Luq Barcoo collides with him and helps knock the ball to the ground, rolling between Olszewski’s feet. Incomplete.
10. Miles Killebrew and Kenny Robinson the third-string safety pairing. Trice and Barcoo the corners, Nduwke and Perales the EDGE rushers with Marshall and Jones the sub-package defensive linemen. Riley in the slot. Missed the play here; at least, it’s not readable in my notes.
11. Chris Wilcox swaps in for Barcoo at right cornerback. Defensive line base trio of Marshall, Fehoko, and rookie James Nyamwaya. Rudolph with a quick throw underneath on a curl to TE Rodney Williams. Five-yard gain. And that’s the final play of this fairly short Day One, not even going the full 12 plays of a typical team session.
Despite practice being over, most players remained on the field. Some hit the JUGs machine, like rookie RB Darius Hagans, who had limited team reps today. Others ran gassers like OL Kendrick Green and Mason Cole. Gunner Olszewski and Dan Chisena ran corner/7 routes on air with quarterbacks sticking around to throw after practice. Ditto with Cody White, running a couple go-routes. OT Broderick Jones took extra reps on his pass sets as well but that’s a short list of the group who worked afterwards.
Practice Summary
— It’s the first day so I’m not going to pretend like there’s a lot of scorching hot takes to offer. And we’re not about that anyway. For me, today was about getting a feel for the many new faces on this roster and a lay of the land with the depth chart and who was working where.
– There is a spot open for CB/S Elijah Riley, who showcased his slot ability today with an interception. He can play all over the secondary and has size with ball skills. Keep an eye on him. Duke Dawson also getting early first-team reps is notable, though I admit I don’t even remember seeing Chandon Sullivan on the field today. My eyes will be open for him tomorrow.
– Context is key but rookie OLB Nick Herbig has a quick first step and turned it into a couple of pressures. However, he was facing OT Le’Raven Clark so he wasn’t beating an All-Pro kind of guy. But Herbig’s burst caught my attention.
– Certainly saw the versatility early on display with guys like Patrick Peterson, who played slot and outside corner, and DeMarvin Leal, seeing time as a base left end, interior sub-package rusher, and stand-up EDGE linebacker.
– Lots of play-action and rollouts today from the Steelers’ quarterbacks. Mix in jet sweeps, RPOs, pistol, and pony and it had a college-like feel for Matt Canada’s offense. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. It looks like the type of offenses run in college.
– A day for WR Calvin Austin III to forget. Not saying to get rid of the guy, obviously, and the first missed completion was thrown a bit behind, but he does have an issue with passes thrown outside his frame. Given his lack of size and length, it’s not a shock. This was something I noted last season (writing in 2022, “his catch radius is small, leading to drops and passes that clang off his hands, dropping two passes and missing a couple other opportunities due to his frame”) and that continued into today. Hope tomorrow is better.
WR Hakeem Butler also had a couple missed chances he could’ve come down with as a big-bodied receiver. Cody White was far better than both men today.
– Nice day for Joey Porter Jr., using his size/length/speed profile to his advantage on a couple reps. Good start for him but it’s just that: a start. Also worth noting that with just one career interception at Penn State, he’s spending a lot of time getting reps catching the ball. Before practice, getting on the JUGs machine, and he even would get in two to three soft tosses with DC Teryl Austin during team sessions as the defense broke the huddle and was waiting for the o-line to get to the line.
– Not much to note on rookie TE Darnell Washington, who ran towards the back of the tight end group today and seemed to have that one miscommunication on his lone target.
– Despite the signings of veterans Nick Kwiatkoski and Tanner Muse, Mark Robinson worked second-team today. And Chapelle Russell also worked with the twos, which I was not expecting.
Saint Vincent Photo Of The Day
The stretch line before practice really got going.
Better Know A Steeler
A daily blurb offering a brief bio on an interesting former Steeler.
Frank Varrichione is one of the most underrated offensive linemen in team history. A four-time Pro Bowler with the Steelers (and another with the Los Angeles Rams), he never missed a game in his six-year career with the Black and Gold. The sixth overall pick of the 1955 NFL Draft, he’s just one of six Steelers offensive linemen to make four Pro Bowls. The others? Mike Webster, Maurkice Pouncey, Dirt Dawson, Alan Faneca, and David DeCastro. Pretty good company.
Bill Burr’s Quote Of The Day
“Let’s go to Brunch. What a great idea! Why would you want to sleep in on a Sunday when you can go pay $18 for eggs? Now you’re thinking.”
