Latrobe Training Camp 2022 Thread

[tbsteel]

Calvin Austin stood out as a stud on a team full of studs. Those guys had Tony Pollard, Darrel Henderson, Antonio Gibson, Kenny Gainwell, Austin, and Dylan Parham on the same offense.

I don’t know who I’d want more from their staff: the coach who found those dudes and brought them to Memphis or the coach(es) who coached those dudes up and turned them into players. That’s a very impressive group.

[bradshaw2ben]

Hey class before Gainwell had Anthony Miller, too!

[955876]

If not for George Pickens, Jaylen Warren would be the talk of this camp for the offense. He's been so good. Hits the hole hard, decisive in his cuts. He goes out there and produces every single day."

Hard to become teacher’s pet without a cool catchphrase such as “Benny Snell Football”.

And we know with Jibba Jabber catch phrases supersede all else.

[Jobu]

If not for George Pickens, Jaylen Warren would be the talk of this camp for the offense. He's been so good. Hits the hole hard, decisive in his cuts. He goes out there and produces every single day."

Hard to become teacher’s pet without a cool catchphrase such as “Benny Snell Football”.

And we know with Jibba Jabber catch phrases supersede all else.

The guy is a walking catchphrase!

[Ice]

Well, Tuzar Skipper was a nice story while it lasted. Anybody have thoughts on James Vaughters, OLB, formerly of the Falcons?

[Jobu]

Well, Tuzar Skipper was a nice story while it lasted. Anybody have thoughts on James Vaughters, OLB, formerly of the Falcons?

Sounds like a bass player for an 80s hair band.

[Ice]

Well, Tuzar Skipper was a nice story while it lasted. Anybody have thoughts on James Vaughters, OLB, formerly of the Falcons?

Sounds like a bass player for an 80s hair band.

That'll go well with Tuzska, who looks like a roadie for an 80s hair band.

[Jobu]

Well, Tuzar Skipper was a nice story while it lasted. Anybody have thoughts on James Vaughters, OLB, formerly of the Falcons?

Sounds like a bass player for an 80s hair band.

That'll go well with Tuzska, who looks like a roadie for an 80s hair band.

[bradshaw2ben]

Well, Tuzar Skipper was a nice story while it lasted. Anybody have thoughts on James Vaughters, OLB, formerly of the Falcons?

A relatively inexperienced player who was a draft crush around here as a player with potential.

[Ice]

Well, potential is good, certainly. God knows a winning lottery ticket anywhere on the front 7 would be manna right now.

Pickett running with the 2s at practice today, 4/4 in 7 Shots to begin the day.

[Ice]

What kind of NSFW posts would "Rudolph to the Lions" get? Talked about on 93.7, possibly happening this week.

[Steelersfan]

I'm more about; Rudolf, Bush, Layne, Snell, Cody White & a 3rd (ok, maybe a 2nd) to the Bears for Roquan.

[steelclan]

I'm more about; Rudolf, Bush, Layne, Snell, Cody White & a 3rd (ok, maybe a 2nd) to the Bears for Roquan.

Trading a whole bunch of meh doesn't = getting a pro bowl level ILB back.

Only way they get Smith is giving up draft picks or sweetening the deal with someone like Claypool and even then, they would still have to give up a pick.

Honestly, they can wait for cuts and find a decent starter, teams do it all the time. Ravens have been tossing Jags at the position for years and gotten by. ILB is very close to the same level of value as RB: you can usually find one without having to give up much if anything.

[Deebo]

I'm more about; Rudolf, Bush, Layne, Snell, Cody White & a 3rd (ok, maybe a 2nd) to the Bears for Roquan.

Trading a whole bunch of meh doesn't = getting a pro bowl level ILB back.

Only way they get Smith is giving up draft picks or sweetening the deal with someone like Claypool and even then, they would still have to give up a pick.

Honestly, they can wait for cuts and find a decent starter, teams do it all the time. Ravens have been tossing Jags at the position for years and gotten by. ILB is very close to the same level of value as RB: you can usually find one without having to give up much if anything.

Yea it doesn't work that way = "I'll give you five nickels for a quarter"

[Jobu]

I'm more about; Rudolf, Bush, Layne, Snell, Cody White & a 3rd (ok, maybe a 2nd) to the Bears for Roquan.

Trading a whole bunch of meh doesn't = getting a pro bowl level ILB back.

Only way they get Smith is giving up draft picks or sweetening the deal with someone like Claypool and even then, they would still have to give up a pick.

Honestly, they can wait for cuts and find a decent starter, teams do it all the time. Ravens have been tossing Jags at the position for years and gotten by. ILB is very close to the same level of value as RB: you can usually find one without having to give up much if anything.

Yea it doesn't work that way = "I'll give you five nickels for a quarter"

Rudolf, Bush, Layne, Snell, Cody White

This would be more like, I’ll give you 5 pennies for a quarter.

[Scunge]

I don't see how, from a cap perspective, trading for Smith makes any kind of sense.

He has that 5th year option of $9.735 million currently and if traded the new team has to take on that amount, right?

The Steelers have $5.385 million in cap space right now. That is about the right amount they like to have entering the season. So, where the hell are they going to free up $10 million to take on Smith??

Also, the injuries and the players they are putting on IR are starting to take their toll on the cap. The 5 players that they put on IR in the last couple weeks, Gilbert, Joseph, Miller, McNichols and Skipper, they add up to $3.75 million that count against the cap.

So, do we want Khan and the Steelers to restructure Watt and free up as much as $17 million to trade for Smith?

Is there any guarantee that Smith will sign a long term extension? No.

To me it is a bad idea, we have Alex Highsmith coming up and I would rather sign him to a long term extension and have a great booked tandem at OLB, rather than give a big contract to Smith and then probably go back to a revolving door at ROLB.

I think the Steelers view Myles Jack as the stud ILB, who will carry the green dot, never leave the field, and make the calls, and all the Steelers need to do is find a Vince Williams/Larry Foote compliment to him.

[franco32]

Scunge. I agree on Smith. But that doesn't mean ILB isn't a dumpster fire after Jack. Bush we know is completely checked out and stealing paychecks at this point. Spillane is limited badly in coverage. UG3 is done. Mark Robinson has some nice potential but coverage isn't his thing. Marcus Allen is a JAG.

IMO, we have to go out there and give up a 5th or so for a decent ILB to compliment Jack.

[jewelsongs]

I don't see how, from a cap perspective, trading for Smith makes any kind of sense.

He has that 5th year option of $9.735 million currently and if traded the new team has to take on that amount, right?

The Steelers have $5.385 million in cap space right now. That is about the right amount they like to have entering the season. So, where the hell are they going to free up $10 million to take on Smith??

Also, the injuries and the players they are putting on IR are starting to take their toll on the cap. The 5 players that they put on IR in the last couple weeks, Gilbert, Joseph, Miller, McNichols and Skipper, they add up to $3.75 million that count against the cap.

So, do we want Khan and the Steelers to restructure Watt and free up as much as $17 million to trade for Smith?

Is there any guarantee that Smith will sign a long term extension? No.

To me it is a bad idea, we have Alex Highsmith coming up and I would rather sign him to a long term extension and have a great booked tandem at OLB, rather than give a big contract to Smith and then probably go back to a revolving door at ROLB.

I think the Steelers view Myles Jack as the stud ILB, who will carry the green dot, never leave the field, and make the calls, and all the Steelers need to do is find a Vince Williams/Larry Foote compliment to him.

Scunge, I would like to offer an argument for trading for him. The modern offenses in the NFL use the passing attack to isolate weak links in the defense. If you look at the successful QBs in the league, they all use the middle of the field effectively. A Vince Williams/Larry Foote type linebacker no longer works in the NFL.

It seems a key issue is the salary cap. It is expected to significantly go up next year, but the unknown is the upcoming streaming contract(s) including Apple and others. Assuming the bidding war that will proceed award of any or all of these contracts, the cap will raise significantly. So a GM with knowledge of how to manipulate the cap will come in handy to move money and add a valuable resource with a new contract. The issue will be cash flow rather than cap room. If Art II will agree to that, our roster is improved dramatically.

You are often optimistic about our roster, as am I. I think fixing that one hole in our defense will dramatically improve our results. Our punter seems to be getting his act together. Our offense looks like it can move the ball. I believe our QB situation is much better than last year. I would rather be aggressive now. Baltimore will have a QB without a contract. Cleveland is Cleveland. Cincinnati has a QB that may be fragile in the early season. Most on the board are negative about our chances this year. I think we will surprise people. Having Smith will improve our chances. That is my two cents.

[DP39]

DK Pittsburgh Sports' Dale Lolley observes that it "appears" undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren has supplanted Benny Snell as the Steelers' No. 2 running back.



RELATED: Benny Snell, Anthony McFarland
SOURCE: Dale Lolley on Twitter
Aug 18, 2022, 3:11 PM ET

[Scunge]

Scunge, I would like to offer an argument for trading for him. The modern offenses in the NFL use the passing attack to isolate weak links in the defense. If you look at the successful QBs in the league, they all use the middle of the field effectively. A Vince Williams/Larry Foote type linebacker no longer works in the NFL.

It seems a key issue is the salary cap. It is expected to significantly go up next year, but the unknown is the upcoming streaming contract(s) including Apple and others. Assuming the bidding war that will proceed award of any or all of these contracts, the cap will raise significantly. So a GM with knowledge of how to manipulate the cap will come in handy to move money and add a valuable resource with a new contract. The issue will be cash flow rather than cap room. If Art II will agree to that, our roster is improved dramatically.

You are often optimistic about our roster, as am I. I think fixing that one hole in our defense will dramatically improve our results. Our punter seems to be getting his act together. Our offense looks like it can move the ball. I believe our QB situation is much better than last year. I would rather be aggressive now. Baltimore will have a QB without a contract. Cleveland is Cleveland. Cincinnati has a QB that may be fragile in the early season. Most on the board are negative about our chances this year. I think we will surprise people. Having Smith will improve our chances. That is my two cents.

It is funny about the modern game though, how often would that #2 ILB be on the field? When we go to sub defenses, and we spend a lot more time, a significantly, vast majority of the time in sub packages, you have two players, two positions that are used to substitute for players in those sub packages.

NT and that #2 ILB. Often times in the recent past we would have what looks like a traditional 3-4, you would see a front of Cam, Tyson and Tuitt and then you would see Mike Hilton as that 5th defensive back. Well, who came off the field for him if Tyson is still lining up at NT?

The Steelers have Kazee, Sutton, Norwood and Arthur Maulet that are all in play to be that 5th DB. That slot CB, the nickel back gets a lot of playing time in today's NFL. There are a lot of teams that don't care about establishing the run and line up on first down with 3 WRs from the get go.

I get that people want us to get back to playing more in our base 3-4, but hasn't that ship sailed? Even the best ILBs in the game will get beaten by WRs, TEs and RBs. Matching up on them with CBs and Ss is the only true way to slow them down.

If your slot defenders, your slot CBs and safeties are getting as much as 70% of the snaps in our 3-4 defense, then doesn't that mean that #2 ILB is getting significantly less?? And if that second ILB is being pulled more, being substituted more and more, then having a Vince Williams/Larry Foote run stuffer is acceptable to me.

As a point of reference, the slot defender last season was a combination of Tre Norwood and Arthur Maulet, they combined for 767 snaps on defense last season, Devin Bush had 762 snaps on defense. Joe Schobert had 921 defensive snaps.

I fear that having a team with two expensive ILBs STILL will lead to one of them being taken off the field for a nickel back, for a dime safety, etc. It is the nature of today's NFL. I want a better run stuffer and average coverage ILB who is cheaper to be that #2 ILB

[Mick]

Spillane got 350 snaps as well, and some went to a couple other guys.

In general nickel is our base D, which uses two ILBs, and 3-4 is our second most common formation, also using 2 ILBs. Dime is where we take one off the field, which might account for 5-8% of snaps.

#2 ILB is an important position. Not sure that collecting disgruntled diva players is the solution to all our woes tho.