Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin joined Bryant McFadden and Patrick Peterson for a training camp edition of their All Things Covered podcast, and Tomlin touched upon how impressed he is with Pittsburgh’s rookie class.
“I’m really excited with what I’ve seen this far. No one’s intimidated by the environment, so that’s encouraging. They’ve all come in with an acceptable level of conditioning. And I think that’s when you check those two boxes, that’s when their talent shows,” Tomlin said Thursday. “The minute they can get down to being themselves and not evaluating the environment they’re in, we get a chance to know ‘em. If they’re in shape, then we get to know what their pedigree is as opposed to components of their pedigree ‘cause fatigue’s a factor. So those are the things I’m really interested in.
“And so we get to know ‘em and I wanna impress upon them how important conditioning is so that they can take advantage of the reps that we give ‘em.”
Being able to show that you can take care of your body and fight through the heat on what are some really hot days at Saint Vincent College is a good sign that you can manage the rigors of the NFL and the schedule. Being able to go 100 percent on every rep is key, especially for rookies who aren’t familiar with exactly what to expect. So for guys like Broderick Jones, Joey Porter Jr., Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington, etc. to show Tomlin that they can take care of themselves, battle through the heat and long practices and show off their talent is extremely important.
On a talent level, Jones and Porter have both impressed, with Alex Kozora complimentary of Jones’ work during practice on Wednesday. From videos that have surfaced, Porter looks to be sound in coverage and he has a great mindset when it comes to taking things one rep at a time. The class was one that was lauded back in April at the conclusion of the draft, and for those guys to be able to show out in Latrobe and play big when the moment matter has been really nice to see.
Across the board, this rookie class has a chance to be special. There are a lot of guys who can be instant impact contributors, and guys who could blossom into really good NFL players. Tomlin isn’t one to throw out undeserved praise, so for him to lay out exactly what he’s liked out of this rookie class shows that those guys really have been impressive so far.
It’s going to be interesting to watch the rest of camp to see exactly how the depth chart shakes out, but this rookie class is going to have an impact on the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers and future Steelers teams. It’s a group that has a lot of talent and, by all accounts, high-character guys who understand what it’s going to take to succeed and win in the NFL.
So far, it seems as if the post-draft hype has been deserved. We won’t know for sure until they strap them on against an opponent and when games really start to matter, but it’s hard not to be excited about the possibility of what these guys can become. It’s a good time to be a Steelers fan.
