Pittsburgh Steelers football is finally back, and what a first performance it was for the Men of Steel!
On the road at Raymond James Stadium Friday night for the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Steelers looked rather strong on both sides of the football in the first half and held on in the second half for a 27-17 win that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.
Offensively, Kenny Pickett and the starters looked very good on a sharp, crisp opening-drive touchdown — yes, you read that right. Mason Rudolph looked strong as the third quarterback and Calvin Austin III showed off the big-play ability that everyone waited a full year on.
Defensively, rookie Nick Herbig had quite the coming-out party, as did fellow Wisconsin product and rookie Keeanu Benton. Even without some big names defensively, guys made plays and really looked strong overall, hitting the ground running in the preseason.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — B
If this grade were solely based on Pickett and Rudolph, it would be much higher.
Pickett was downright fantastic in his lone series of the game, completing 6-0f-7 passes for 70 yards and hitting wide receiver George Pickens for a 33-yard touchdown to cap off the opening drive. Granted, it was against Tampa Bay’s backups who weren’t doing anything extremely defensively, but Pickett was incredibly sharp and accurate. He made some big-time throws on the run and the ball zipped out of his hand with authority. He looked extremely confident and in control.
Same for Rudolph, quite honestly. In the game with mostly guys fighting for practice squad jobs, Rudolph hung in there and made some key throws, including a perfectly placed rainbow to Austin for a 67-yard touchdown, all but putting the game out of reach. Rudolph finished 7-of-12 for 132 yards and a touchdown but was sacked twice and really took a beating behind a makeshift offensive line. He did show some mobility again though, ripping off a 15-yard run to move the chains at one point.
Backup Mitch Trubisky struggled in his first preseason action after looking rather sharp all training camp. He was just 1-of-4 for 10 yards and threw one interception, though that bounced off of Cody White’s hands on a deep shot. He just looked off and clearly wasn’t himself.
Undrafted rookie free agent Tanner Morgan got a ton of playing time in the second half and looked rather rough overall, which was not unexpected. He had 12 reps in training camp to date, so it was trial by fire for him Friday night. He finished just 5-of-8 for 36 yards and an interception along with a fumbled snap. It wasn’t pretty, but they were valuable reps.
RB — B-
Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren touched the football a combined four times Friday night before their nights were done. Harris had one catch for -1 yard on the opening drive and Warren had three carries for 13 yards, including a 10-yarder in which he ran through a couple of arm tackles and barreled close to the chains.
That duo will get more run next week against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium.
Backup Anthony McFarland Jr. stole the show, firmly locking himself into the No. 3 running back role — for now. McFarland ripped off a 15-yard touchdown run off right tackle that was untouched around the corner and also had a long run in the second half, but it was wiped out by a penalty on Kendrick Green. McFarland earned praise from Mike Tomlin after the game for his performance, which is encouraging.
Undrafted free agent Darius Hagans and veteran Greg Bell combined for 12 carries for 23 yards. Nothing to write home about. Both ran hard, but not much room behind the backup offensive linemen to really glean anything from.
WR — B+
Diontae Johnson looked very strong on the first drive, hauling in all three targets for 32 yards. He created a ton of separation on two catches and made a handful of defenders miss on his first catch in space. He’s a dynamic weapon and appears poised for a big year.
Pickens ran a great route on his touchdown, created enough separation and then showed off some YAC abilities, which is something he’s been working on all offseason. Great start to his sophomore season.
Austin was the headliner at the position. Along with his 67-yard splash, he ripped off a 17-yard jet sweep and later added a 6-yard jet sweep, along with a 5-yard reception. He looked the part of an NFL receiver in the slot. Hopefully there’s more of that to come.
Veteran Allen Robinson II didn’t see a target on the night, but he had a key block on a blitz to spring Warren on his 10-yard run in the first half.
Depth receivers in Cody White and Hakeem Butler had some ugly struggles. White had two drops — one on the interception from Trubisky and another from Rudolph on a stop route — and Butler had one go through his hands on a stop route from Tanner Morgan. Not going to make the roster that way.
Butler did bounce back with a 17-yard catch in the fourth quarter though and White finished with one catch for 7 yards.
Gunner Olszewski had an interesting night. He threw a key block that sprang McFarland around the corner for the score and added a 14-yard catch, but outside of that was mostly invisible.
TE — A-
Really, really nice night from the tight ends, especially Connor Heyward.
He’s just a football player. Not much more you can say. Two catches for 34 yards in the win, both of which went for first downs. He even had one carry for 5 yards. Love that guy.
Pat Freiermuth got involved early, hauling a 6-yard pass in traffic on the first drive before coming out of the game with the rest of the starters.
Veteran Zach Gentry had his moments as a blocker Friday night, playing a key role in 12 personnel with rookie Darnell Washington, who was as advertised as a blocker. He consistently folded in the side of the line he was on as a run blocker, moving guys in the process and creating lanes. He also added one catch of 9 yards — his only target of the night. Good usage from him overall though. Great blocking debut.
OL — C-
I thought the starting group here was solid overall, though Chukwuma Okorafor gave up one ugly pressure on Pickett’s lone incompletion on the night. Dan Moore Jr. was solid and looked good as a run blocker again, while Isaac Seumalo was as expected: very solid. Same for Mason Cole and James Daniels.
Rookie Broderick Jones had his moments, too. Looked solid overall with hand usage and moved well, running guys up the arc multiple times to keep clean pockets.
Nate Herbig got some run at guard and center and looked solid overall, which is not surprising one bit. Rookie Spencer Anderson moved all over, too, and gave the Steelers a good look throughout the night at his versatility.
Kendrick Green had a dreadful night, and it occurred on three straight snaps. He was rag-dolled into Mason Rudolph in pass protection on one rep, called for a holding wiping out McFarland’s long run on the next, and then had an awful snap on the final rep, capping off a horrendous three-snap sequence. That’s not going to win him any job.
We’ll see what the All-22 has to say about the rest of the group in the trenches, but once the starters exited there was far too much pressure and too few rushing lanes to work with.
DL — B
Without the big names in Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi, it was a good opportunity for younger players to get some run, and boy did they ever.
DeMarvin Leal looked rather good at times in the win over the Buccaneers, finishing with five tackles and half a sack. He was in the backfield a lot and was hard for Tampa Bay to block, even drawing a holding call, too.
Rookie Keeanu Benton was a force in the middle. He couldn’t be handled throughout the night before exiting with an ankle injury. He blew up a fourth-down run with great penetration, leading to a tackle for loss from Isaiahh Loudermilk, who had a strong night as well. Benton and Loudermilk both finished with three tackles and one tackle for loss.
Armon Watts added a tackle and took up space throughout the night against the run. Breiden Fehoko batted a pass late in the red zone and tied up blockers in the run game, allowing guys to roam freely behind him.
LB — A-
Have yourself a debut, Nick Herbig.
Herbig recorded 1.5 sacks in the win, though he should get credit for two full sacks. He really looked good rushing the passer, showing speed to win the edge and a quick counter to win inside. He has all the tools as a pass rusher; Steelers have something there as a situational pass rusher at the very least.
Undrafted rookie free agent David Perales kept showing up around the football, too. Though he recorded just one tackle on the night, he was in the backfield a ton, batted a pass and showed off his motor as a defender. He was all over the place; he’ll show up on the All-22 a bunch too, which should earn him praise from coaches.
Quincy Roche quietly had a strong night, too, recording a sack in the win. He’s battling for a spot and is off to a good start.
Inside, I loved what I saw from Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, Kwon Alexander, Mark Robinson and Nick Kwiatkoski. Great start to the season for that rebuilt group. Holcomb wore the green dot, had everyone lined up properly and had two tackles, showing good instincts and range. Alexander was a freight train downhill, dishing out punishment, though one hit was called for unnecessary roughness.
Kwiatkoski made Chase Edmonds look like a speed bump on his sack, channeling old-school Vince Williams, running over the Buccaneers running back and sacking the quarterback. Will be interesting to see the severity of his shoulder injury he suffered Friday.
Robinson was very good throughout, finishing with six tackles and laid the wood to guys late in the game. The Steelers are very, very physical on the inside once again.
DB — C+
Even though he got beat for the touchdown by Palmer, James Pierre had a really strong night. He had great coverage on the touchdown, just couldn’t get a hand on the football. Great throw from Mayfield. Outside of that, Pierre had a game-high 10 tackles and was constantly around the football. He didn’t give up any big plays and was steady in the secondary with a number of new faces.
Safety Trenton Thompson made a case for a roster spot, taking advantage of some injuries by picking off a pass in the win.
Slot corner Elijah Riley really stood out in this one. He flew in off the edge and chased down Edmonds from the backside for a big run stop and tackle for loss, and later added a perfect tackle on special teams on punt coverage. Chandon Sullivan had a strong performance in the slot, too, breaking up a pass by driving on a throw in the first quarter and finishing with two tackles.
Safety Kenny Robinson had his moments in the secondary, finishing with four tackles.
Late in the game though new players really struggled. Jalen Elliott miss-timed jumping a route and gave up a big catch and run to Kaylon Geiger. Thompson missed a tackle on David Moore and gave up an explosive play in the process.
Good to see Madre Harper get a pass breakup in the win. He’s a name to keep an eye on in the room. Experienced, physical, good size.
Special Teams — B+
Hats off to kicker B.T. Potter. Two-for-two on field goals, 3-for-3 on extra points. Easy work for the all-time scoring leader in Clemson history.
Braden Mann handled the punting duties on the night and was decent overall, though not good enough to truly put Pressley Harvin III on notice. Mann averaged 45.2 yards per punt and dropped two inside the 20 yard line. He had a long of 51 yards, which was aided by a roll after a short punt from his own end zone.
Cody White had a special teams penalty early in the game, which won’t help him make the roster. Jordan Byrd looked a little shaky as the punt returner and kick returner, letting his first punt bounce and roll inside the 20 and then barely making it to the 20 on a kickoff return.
Tip of the cap to Dez Fitzpatrick for recovering the Tampa Bay fumble late in the game, and kudos to Roche and Rodney Williams for forcing the fumble. That will get Danny Smith to look at you a bit longer when it comes to a special teams role.
