The Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookies’ first preseason game was the first opportunity for them to translate everything they had learned over the last three months onto the field against live competition. Most of the Steelers’ rookies played extensively, and while there were some positives to take away, there are some big improvements that need to be made in the second preseason game.
Mike Tomlin mentioned it after the first game against the Houston Texans. It is reasonable to expect guys like Payton Wilson to be more detailed in their play going from the first game to the second.
I put together a rookie report for the first week of the preseason and gave some analysis of each rookie’s play. With that in mind, here is one thing I am looking for from each of the Steelers’ draft picks (and Beanie Bishop Jr.) in the second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
C ZACH FRAZIER – PROVE IT AGAINST BETTER COMPETITION
Frazier had the most impressive preseason debut of the Steelers rookies. It prompted Mike Tomlin to say he would get an increased workload throughout the week of practice, and that was accelerated even further by Nate Herbig getting injured at practice. Even if Herbig is able to play, I expect Frazier to get ample snaps with the first-team offense. I didn’t see too many obvious flaws in his first performance, but now he has to prove it against greater competition. The Bills will play their starters for roughly four or five drives, so he should have plenty of opportunities to do so. His athleticism looked better than I expected, and his hand placement and latch strength were obvious positives. Now, do it against the starters.
ILB PAYTON WILSON – CLEAN UP MISSED TACKLES
Wilson’s athleticism is a double-edged sword. He gets himself into position to make more plays than other inside linebackers might be able to, but that also means more opportunities for missed tackles. He missed two tackles on nine attempts (22.2-percent miss rate) in the first game. This is something that Wilson has mentioned as a strong suit of his game. He credits his wrestling background for teaching him leverage. He’s said if he gets his hands on a ball carrier they are going down. Cleaning this up is very important for how much the Steelers trust him and how fast his role may grow within the defense.
OG MASON MCCORMICK – PLAY WITH MORE CONSISTENT PAD LEVEL
McCormick’s biggest issue in the first preseason game was his ability to drop anchor while pass-blocking. He got pushed pretty far back into the pocket on a few occasions. His pad level seemed to be a common thread on those negative plays. He lost his knee bends and got stood straight up on a couple of bull rushes, which eliminated how much power he has in his anchor. Guards are responsible for the depth of the pocket, so he will need to figure that out.
DL LOGAN LEE – STAY OFF THE GROUND
I was actually pretty impressed with how Logan Lee held up playing a bunch of nose tackle reps. That didn’t seem like his natural position fit, so it was encouraging to see how well he anchored the middle of the defensive line at times. His biggest issue was losing his feet. He ended up on the turf at least four or five times from what I counted. You usually can’t make plays from the ground, so that is an obvious area of improvement that I am looking for. Is that going to be a trend or just some rookie debut jitters?
DB RYAN WATTS – CONTINUE WITH THE FUNDAMENTALS
It is hard to ding Watts too hard for his safety play at this point in his career. He is just starting to learn how to play the position for the first time. Teryl Austin said it best during his media availability this week. Assignment-wise, Watts wasn’t where he was supposed to be a lot of the time. That isn’t going to be solved from one week to the next, though hopefully, there are small improvements. What I am looking for from Watts is for him to continue with the fundamentals. He had one really nice open-field tackle on TE Cade Stover. He just needs to continue showing those fundamentals and his overall athleticism because he probably isn’t going to see many defensive snaps (if any) this year. A special teams tackle wouldn’t hurt, either.
CB BEANIE BISHOP JR. – MAKE AN IMPACT ON EARLY DOWNS
His coverage performance in Week 1 wasn’t anything to write home about. Ideally, we see some improvements there, but what the Steelers need from Bishop is his early-down play. He is the only player of the Steelers rookies currently listed as a starter on the depth chart, so this will be a big game to hopefully lock that in place.
“I’m excited about seeing him in-stadium, particularly some of the things that come along with that position on first and second down,” Mike Tomlin said ahead of the first preseason game in a video posted on the Steelers’ website.
Slot corners are closer to the action and, thus, have to be able to hold up well against the run. It seems that the plan right now is to make DeShon Elliott the slot corner on obvious passing downs with Damontae Kazee back at safety. But they need someone there in the early downs to allow Elliott to play safety. With Grayland Arnold on IR, the job is Bishop’s to lose at this point. He had a solid showing in this area against the Texans, but he needs to put an exclamation point on things with fundamentally sound tackling, an aggressive downhill mentality, and the ability to slip past blocks.
