Throughout the season following each game I will be taking a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 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 15 vs Indianapolis Colts
Active Players
#77 Broderick Jones (Round 1) – 58 offensive snaps, 2 special team snaps
If there is a rookie wall, now is about the time it would hit. Judging by this week’s performance from Jones it may be real. Jones was solid against the run but had by far his worst game as a pass blocker.
In the passing game, Jones started solidly in dealing with speed up the arc. He was balanced, was moving well and his hand placement was good. As the game proceeded, there were a few issues that led to him being beaten by pass rushers on several occasions. He was dipping his head when making contact, not on every rep but enough to notice. His hands were low and slow, and defenders took advantage of that. Four times the rusher swiped his outside hand and got around Jones easily leading to a couple of sacks. On twists and stunts, he had been particularly good all year. In this game, he was on his heels and late to react when picking up his man. He received assistance from a running back or tight end on a handful of plays, which was not common up to this point.
Here are some of the issues Jones had against the Colts. That last clip was the same pass-rush move they used to beat him four times.
On screen plays, he wasn’t sustaining his blocks and tried a cut block on a swing pass that was ineffective. He did look better on bull rushes holding his ground but overall, it was an inferior performance.
As a run blocker, he was solid. He was good on combo blocks as the post blocker but a touch slow when climbing to the second level. He had a nice snatch block again this week on a red zone run. When walling off defenders to the outside he performed well and was solid when pulling to his left.
Make sure to check out Jonathan Heitritter’s film room on Jones’ performance.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 574 offensive snaps, 45 special teams snaps
#24 Joey Porter, Jr. (Round 2) – 67 defensive snaps, 11 special teams snaps, 3 tackles, 2 solo, 1 PBU.
Porter also did not have his best game. He allowed several completions in coverage and got flagged for pass interference on a deep throw.
Against the pass, there was a slight edge to zone coverage snaps compared to man coverage. His first target came in man coverage on a quick out. Another receiver rubbed him off the route for an easy completion. The next play was a whip route in off-man coverage in which he was too far inside and distanced from the receiver to make a play. His next target was on a slant that was knocked down at the line of scrimmage. He was in trail-man coverage on Michael Pittman Jr. on the play in which the Colts wide receiver was injured.
They ran the whip route again to his side in the red zone and the receiver was again open. Expect to see that route more against him in the final three weeks of the regular season. The final target was completed on an out route in zone coverage where he was cheating toward a route inside. He was credited with a pass breakup on a throw to Mo Allie-Cox in the end zone.
Against the run, he had a couple plays come his way. The first play he stumbled a bit but forced the play inside. The second run play that came his way he had a pulling guard bearing down on him and tried to cut under him from the outside leading to a big run. His tackles came on the first whip route, a run by Tyler Goodson in the second quarter, and short pass to Goodson in the beginning of the third quarter.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 639 defensive snaps, 93 special teams snaps, 40 tackles, 29 solo, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 8 PBU.
#95 Keeanu Benton (Round 2) – 33 defensive snaps, 7 special teams snaps, 2 tackles, 1 solo.
After having his snaps fall in the 25 or less range for the last three games he was back up to approximately 50 percent of the snaps. His usage was primarily inside between the guards, but he was used up and down the line, including a snap as the 6-technique lining up over the tight end.
Against the pass, he didn’t have a lot of success. The Colts were able to keep him at bay for the most part and even doubled him on a handful of snaps. He was able to show an improved push on a couple of bull rushes and executed a nice swim move over the center but stumbled when trying to get by him. He was used as a penetrator on a few plays, two of which the other player didn’t loop as expected.
Against the run, he was asked to play two-gap quite a bit and was solid holding his ground. He did get pushed out by a double team later in the game. His first tackle came late in the first quarter. He was able to stack and shed to make the tackle. The second tackle came early in the third quarter on a run up the middle.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 418 defensive snaps, 39 special teams snaps, 33 tackles, 15 solo, 1 TFL, 6 QB Hits, 2 PBU, 2 FF, 1 sack.
#80 Darnell Washington (Round 3) – 14 offensive snaps, 9 special teams snaps
Washington saw limited snaps compared to his normal usage. He played under 24 snaps for just the second game of the season.
In the passing game, he was used on just three routes. The first was a seam route, the second a curl followed by a dig route. He was open on the curl, but the ball was thrown elsewhere. In pass protection, he performed solidly. He held up well on the touchdown throw to Diontae Johnson and was the lone blocker on a bootleg to the right. His technique was a little sloppy, but he controlled the rusher. He had another rep in the third quarter where he missed with a chop to the defender’s hands but again was able to keep the rusher in front of him.
As a run blocker, he was solid overall. He was solid on his goal-line reps and was able to wall off EDGE players on the front side of runs.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 398 offensive snaps, 114 special teams snaps, 9 targets, 6 receptions, 63 yards
#51 Nick Herbig (Round 4) – 11 defensive snaps, 21 special team snaps, 2 tackles, 1 solo.
Seeing double-digit defensive snaps for the seventh time this season, Herbig continues to make the most of his time on the field. His e11 snaps were split with six on the right and five on the left side.
Against the pass, his reps were on RPO plays and he played the run, so he didn’t have true pass-rush attempts.
Against the run, he was tasked with setting the edge a couple times and performed well. On the first of those plays he held his ground and was able to get off the offensive tackle to make the stop with a teammate. His second tackle came on a run up the middle. He was able to slip around the edge and trip up the runner.
Thanks to a Connor Heyward blocked punt he nearly scored his first NFL touchdown on the recovery.
He is becoming a guy to watch to see what he can do each week in his limited usage.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 159 defensive snaps, 293 special teams snaps, 23 tackles, 16 solo, 5 TFL, 2 QB hits, 1 FF, 2 sacks.
#74 Spencer Anderson (7th) – 2 special teams snaps
Anderson saw action on the field goal unit. This was the third consecutive game and the fifth time this year he has seen game action.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 1 offensive snap, 11 special team snaps
2023 Rookies of The Week
Week 1 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 2 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Week 3 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 4 – TE Darnell Washington
Week 5 – OT Broderick Jones
Week 6 – Bye
Week 7 – OLB Nick Herbig
Week 8 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Week 9 – OT Broderick Jones
Week 10 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 11 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Week 12 – OLB Nick Herbig
Week 13 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 14 – OLB Nick Herbig
Week 15 – OLB Nick Herbig
Inactive for Week 15 – #21 Darius Rush (Round 5 Colts)
Practice Squad – #45 Jack Coletto (UDFA 49ers), #85 WR Duece Watts (UDFA Packers), #33 OLB David Perales
Reserve/Injured – #27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
