Thanks to our daily Pittsburgh Steelers training camp charting, we can dive deep into Aaron Rodgers’ summer with the team. Though he’s the oldest active quarterback and the oldest player in franchise history, he hardly saw time off during the past three weeks. Of the team’s 14 practices, Rodgers received just one off-day (though another practice was rained out, effectively giving everyone the day off). He led all Steelers’ quarterbacks in pass attempts and reps.
Knowing all that and digging through our daily camp play-by-play, here’s the charting for who Rodgers threw his passes toward during camp. This is for the team period, 11 on 11, only. And it should be noted there were a handful of batted passes where Rodgers’ target was unclear. They aren’t counted below.
| Player | Receptions (Targets) | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| DK Metcalf | 28 (45) | 302 | 10 |
| Roman Wilson | 10 (17) | 147 | 1 |
| Pat Freiermuth | 11 (14) | 90 | 2 |
| Kenneth Gainwell | 11 (13) | 75 | 0 |
| Scotty Miller | 9 (11) | 115 | 0 |
| Jaylen Warren | 8 (9) | 74 | 0 |
| Jonnu Smith | 5 (9) | 16 | 3 |
| Robert Woods | 5 (7) | 84 | 0 |
| Darnell Washington | 5 (6) | 26 | 3 |
| Ben Skowronek | 4 (6) | 47 | 0 |
| Calvin Austin III | 3 (6) | 32 | 0 |
| Kaleb Johnson | 3 (5) | 18 | 0 |
| Connor Heyward | 2 (3) | 12 | 0 |
| Brandon Johnson | 1 (2) | 2 | 1 |
| Trey Sermon | 1 (1) | 5 | 0 |
– It’s no surprise Metcalf laps the field. In fact, he nearly as many receptions and more targets than the next three Steelers combined. Roman Wilson, Pat Freiermuth, and Kenneth Gainwell were targeted 44 total times. Metcalf sits at 45.
Rodgers knows to get his playmakers the football, and he fed Metcalf a consistent dosage of targets throughout the summer. Early on, their connection sputtered but it picked up past the four-day “acclimation” period. And this includes a perfectly placed throw by Rodgers that Metcalf dropped during the Friday Night Lights practice.
– Rodgers showed no hesitation throwing to his tight ends. Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith (despite missing several practices), and Darnell Washington saw plenty of targets. Especially in Seven Shots. Combined, the three scored eight times. That came close to 12 touchdowns by all the receivers (of which Metcalf made up 10). Washington wasn’t the apple of Rodgers’ eye between the 20s, but three of his six targets found the end zone.
– It’s nice to see solid numbers with Roman Wilson. Granted, Wilson primarily ran with the starters which naturally made Rodgers his quarterback, but Wilson had solid production that picked up after a very subdued start. Only one touchdown, though it was a great sliding grab in the back of the end zone in a scramble drill.
– Scotty Miller came on strong with Rodgers during camp’s final stretch. It’s not reflected in the chart but Rodgers looked Miller’s way at the end of camp. Through the first eight-ish days, Miller had just one catch from Rodgers. It went for 7 yards. He had eight catches the rest of the way. Calvin Austin III’s injury opened the door, sure, but Miller jumped on the chance. Rodgers has offered plenty of praise for him.
– Kaleb Johnson with just three receptions from Rodgers and they got a lot of work together. There was one drop and one miscommunication that left Rodgers visibly upset. Johnson has work to do in order to gain Rodgers’ trust.
– How much does this mean for the regular season? It’s not the end-all, obviously. But it’s one datapoint to go deeper into Rodgers’ training camp and who he targeted the most.
