Throughout the season following each game I will be looking at the rookies and how they fared each week. This will consist of thoughts such as the positive and negatives from that game, areas to watch or work on and clips to support what I’m sharing. Hopefully, this will shed some insight on some things you may or may not have seen.
WEEK 2 VS CLEVELAND BROWNS
Active Players
#77 Broderick Jones (Round 1) – Zero offensive snaps, four special teams snaps
Jones did not log an offensive snap after seeing four in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers, giving us little to discuss here. His four special teams snaps came as the right tackle on the field goal protect unit. Thursday, OC Matt Canada hinted at using Jones as a sixth offensive lineman in jumbo packages going forward. Doing so against a leaky Raiders’ run defense who consistently puts out five defensive backs makes a lot of sense.
#24 Joey Porter Jr. (Round 2) – 14 defensive snaps, six special teams snaps
A solid outing for Porter Jr. after playing just seven defensive snaps in Week One against San Francisco. Porter maintained his role as the left cornerback in dime packages and finished the game with one pass breakup. That came on 3rd and 8. Taking the deep-third in Cover 3, he read the quarterback, transitioned, and used his length to break up this sideline throw, forcing the Browns to settle for a field goal.
He followed that up with a fourth down plaster of WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, pinning him to the sideline as QB Deshaun Watson’s throw fell incomplete to seal the Steelers’ victory.
On the negative side, he did have a missed tackle on TE David Njoku’s 29-yard run, turning what should’ve been a short dumpoff into a big gain and first down. He wasn’t the only one to miss a tackle on that play but didn’t bring his arms as he went to cut Njoku low.
On special teams, he served as L5 on the kick coverage team.
Overall, there was splash and he responded when tested.
#95 – Keeanu Benton (Round 2) – 28 defensive snaps, zero special teams snaps
Benton finished the game with two assisted tackles. He rotated in at nose tackle and also in sub-packages. According to our charting, he logged nine snaps in the team’s three/four-down alignment with 17 others in sub-package (the remaining came in goal line). Benton was overall stout at the point of attack and disruptive against the Browns’ zone scheme. He didn’t make the impact as a pass rusher like he did in Week One. He still needs to show he can bull rush or else guards will anticipate and set against his finesse swim/rip moves.
#80 – Darnell Washington (Round 3) – 26 offensive snaps, nine special teams snaps
Washington got a fair amount of burn in this one as the Steelers played a more competitive game and could stick with the run longer than they could against San Francisco. He largely blocked and was not targeted in the pass game, still without his first target on the season. His blocking was a mixed bag. While he had some success sealing on down blocks, he got blown up on this second half run that was otherwise well-blocked, struggling with his leverage and dealing with this Browns’ defender slanting and firing off the ball.
His nine special teams snaps came as a right wing on the field goal protect team and one of the blockers on the kick return unit.
#51 – Nick Herbig (Round 4) – 17 defensive snaps, 24 special teams snaps
More work on special teams than defense for the second straight week, though that was expected. With the Browns having 83 offensive snaps, there was still plenty of reps for Herbig to get on the field. His game was overall quiet and he had some struggles getting off blocks against the run. He did finish with three tackles, all of which came against the run. He did have this great rep against TE No. 88 Harrison Bryant, tossing him down (it does not appear Bryant even tripped or stepped on a teammate) while making this solo stop on RB Jerome Ford.
Herbig was a multi-phase special teamer, including a right guard on the punt coverage unit while working on punt block and the kick return/coverage units.
#74 Spencer Anderson (Round 7) – Zero offensive snaps, zero special teams snaps
Did not play on offense or special teams, though he dressed as a reserve lineman. It as the same story in Week One.
Rookie Of The Week – Joey Porter Jr. (Week Two)
2023 Rookies Of The Week
Week 1 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 2 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Inactive for Week 2 – None
Practice Squad – #79 OL Joey Fisher (UDFA SF), #40 OLB David Perales (UDFA PIT), #15 WR Jacob Copeland (UDFA TEN)
Reserved/Injured – #27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
