Bucs vs. Steelers goats, gameballs, and Player of the Game (PS1)

Oh, it's hear, it's finally here. Football season is upon us.

I'm changing it up this year. Instead of just Goats & Gameballs, I'm adding Player of the Game.

I know it's only the first pre-season game, but let's start handing them out and use this time to craft our comments in time for the regular season:

Goats:
First team offensive line (I know they weren't the true starts) - couldn't protect the QB, couldn't make running holes
Okorafor - the man was getting beat worse than a red headed rented mule, and the only time he did win, he was holding
First drive defense - apparently tackling wasn't covered the first few weeks of camp

Gameballs:
Dobbs - he looked on point even though he wasn't getting a lot of time to read the defense
Rudolph - he's still rough around the edges, but he showed a good command
Devlin Hodges - I love the way this kid plays, but he'll need to corral the back yard running around. Do we carry 4 QBs this year?
WRs - with the exception of a few drops, they were coming up with some nice catches and YAC
RBs - I'm liking this running back problem we have. What I saw out of Snell was exactly why I was happy to pick him up

Player of the Game:
Devin Bush - I like what I saw out of him early, I hope it carries over to the rest of the team

i missed most of the first quarter and the 4th , but i gotta say, i thought Rudolf looked more poised and confident than Dobbs. if i had to chose which one to keep based on what i saw today it would be Rudolf.

as i said i missed most of the first quarter but from what i did see the the run blocking was horrendous on 90% of the attempts. i think we are going to miss munchak.

i was telling people last year and at draft time not to judge Washington to harshly. the kid just had confidence problems.he looked like an a veteran today. i also didn't think we needed to pick up moncrief , AND, spend a high pick on a receiver because i knew Washington was better than he showed last year. people had high expectations because of JUJU's rookie year. i predict Washington will have more catches and TD's than Moncrief.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i thought Rudolf looked more poised and confident than Dobbs. if i had to chose which one to keep based on what i saw today it would be Rudolf.

Agreed. I said pretty much the same thing in the game thread. I think Dobbs will be a fine backup QB, but I don't think he'll ever be more than that. I think Rudolph can be a starter. He may or may not be the long term answer, but he certainly looks like he has potential.

I still have to watch the 4th quarter and some of the 3rd, so I didn't get a look at Hodges yet, but I've read some good things. Could we possibly see a repeat of last year, where the presumed backup (Dobbs) ends up being the odd man out?

Since I haven't watched the whole game yet, this is based only on what I've seen ...

Goats ... Oline and first quarter tackling.
Game balls ... Bush, Washington and Boswell.
Player of the game ... Washington. I hate not giving it to Bush, but Washington looked tremendous. With defenses focusing on JuJu, I think Washington could have a breakout year.

does anyone else think losing munchak will be a big set back for the oline ?

i thought hodges did well considering his supporting cast. they dropped a few that could have been caught. he moved around well in the pocket. doesn't appear to have a real strong arm but was fairly accurate.

if he improves over the next few games,and Mason puts on a good show , i think they should shop Dobbs around.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

does anyone else think losing munchak will be a big set back for the oline ?

We have a solid, veteran line, so I don't think we'll see much drop off. I think it'll be noticed when new guys start entering the mix.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i thought hodges did well considering his supporting cast. they dropped a few that could have been caught. he moved around well in the pocket. doesn't appear to have a real strong arm but was fairly accurate.

Hodges reminds me of Brees in that he doesn't have the size of a prototypical QB but seems to have other skills to make up for it. For the first preaseason game, I think he looked good. Arm strength is a concern, but there's a reason why he put up the kind of numbers he did in college.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

if he improves over the next few games,and Mason puts on a good show , i think they should shop Dobbs around.

Yeah, I agree. I like Dobbs as a person and I think he'll be a fine backup, but his ceiling isn't very high. Rudolph is the better QB right now, and based on what little I've seen of him, Hodges' ceiling might be higher than Dobbs'.

Gameballs

Washington
Bush
Boswell

Goats

Oline for no blocking.

Ref for missing the mugging of Adeniyi in the first quarter. Oline was behind Adeniyi holding his Jersey and then pushed him to the turf.

Honorable mention:

Adeniyi missed a tackle early on because he didn't get off his blocker. It resulted in about a 12 yard gain. Otherwise I thought he played well enough other than that to get a gameball.
Buggs on the strip from Dirty Red he snatched that ball up like it was the last hot wing. Pretty quick for a big man. He had 9.5 sacks last year. I'd like to see him take McCuller's job.

solardave wrote:

Gameballs

Washington
Bush
Boswell

Goats

Oline for no blocking.

Ref for missing the mugging of Adeniyi in the first quarter. Oline was behind Adeniyi holding his Jersey and then pushed him to the turf.

Honorable mention:

Adeniyi missed a tackle early on because he didn't get off his blocker. It resulted in about a 12 yard gain. Otherwise I thought he played well enough other than that to get a gameball.
Buggs on the strip from Dirty Red he snatched that ball up like it was the last hot wing. Pretty quick for a big man. He had 9.5 sacks last year. I'd like to see him take McCuller's job.

you forgot the whiffed tackle by our new cornerback that allowed their first TD. it just boggles my mind how these defenders spend sooo much time at football practice through out their lives yet still display such sloppy tackling technique. most of the coaches i had in my playing days would let you know your doing it wrong even if you did make the tackle.

Wallace108 wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

does anyone else think losing munchak will be a big set back for the oline ?

We have a solid, veteran line, so I don't think we'll see much drop off. I think it'll be noticed when new guys start entering the mix.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

i thought hodges did well considering his supporting cast. they dropped a few that could have been caught. he moved around well in the pocket. doesn't appear to have a real strong arm but was fairly accurate.

Hodges reminds me of Brees in that he doesn't have the size of a prototypical QB but seems to have other skills to make up for it. For the first preaseason game, I think he looked good. Arm strength is a concern, but there's a reason why he put up the kind of numbers he did in college.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

if he improves over the next few games,and Mason puts on a good show , i think they should shop Dobbs around.

Yeah, I agree. I like Dobbs as a person and I think he'll be a fine backup, but his ceiling isn't very high. Rudolph is the better QB right now, and based on what little I've seen of him, Hodges' ceiling might be higher than Dobbs'.

i was thinking more along the lines of an alex smith comparison. best suited to a short passing game. maybe a west coast system

at Bens age, they should be looking for the next starter not a backup. i just think keeping both could cause a qb controversy. say if Ben goes down and the next guy up has a bad game or even a bad series. right away the fans will be calling for the other guy. anywho it is going to be an interesting competition. i almost don't like having hodges in the mix taking reps. it would be better to see dobbs and rudolf evenly splitting time and the more time the better.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

solardave wrote:

Gameballs

Washington
Bush
Boswell

Goats

Oline for no blocking.

Ref for missing the mugging of Adeniyi in the first quarter. Oline was behind Adeniyi holding his Jersey and then pushed him to the turf.

Honorable mention:

Adeniyi missed a tackle early on because he didn't get off his blocker. It resulted in about a 12 yard gain. Otherwise I thought he played well enough other than that to get a gameball.
Buggs on the strip from Dirty Red he snatched that ball up like it was the last hot wing. Pretty quick for a big man. He had 9.5 sacks last year. I'd like to see him take McCuller's job.

you forgot the whiffed tackle by our new cornerback that allowed their first TD. it just boggles my mind how these defenders spend sooo much time at football practice through out their lives yet still display such sloppy tackling technique. most of the coaches i had in my playing days would let you know your doing it wrong even if you did make the tackle.

I mentioned Layne in the game thread. I also said he was playing to far off of the WR. That cushion allowed at least a couple first downs. The thing is he was touted as a guy willing to mix it up on running plays. I didn't see that.

Positives:

Rudolph: He showed that he's more than ready to take over the backup QB job. I really liked what I saw from him.
Washington: He looked strong, fast and played with a lot of confidence. Like many, I was really happy when he fell to us in the draft last year and like many, I was disappointed with his first season. Now, he's ready to take over the WR#2 spot.
Bush: He was all over the place. Strong against the run and good pass coverage.
Buggs: He showed that he's ready to make the roster instead of McCullers.
Ullysees Gilbert III: Another late-round rookie who proved that he has a good shot at making the 53.
Gentry: I was very harsh on him after we drafted him, but he looked a lot better than I expected. The only TE who made plays for us.
Boswell: He looked like good old Bossie.

Negatives:

Layne: I was really happy when we drafted him at the end of the 3rd and I thought he was a real steal, but he was atrocious. Bad in coverage with too much cushion, bad tackling and a couple of flags.
Snell: I wasn't impressed at all with his performance. No power, no speed. Maybe it didn't help him that he played behind a second string o-line, but the play where he was one on one against a CB with an open field behind him, he couldn't break his tackle.
Okorafor: He looked worse than last year as he was beaten all the time.

Other notes:

Dobbs was ok and better than Hodges, but I believe that Hodges is good enough to be a #3. Dobbs could be a #2 on another team and maybe there's a team who want to trade for him. If so, I would let him go.
I'm not as high on Adeniyi as most. The first series when he was playing against the first team O he couldn't put pressure on the QB once and wasn't making any tackles. Once he was playing against second and third stringers he was producing. I want to see him do this against better players too.

Stella Nation wrote:

Positives:

Rudolph: He showed that he's more than ready to take over the backup QB job. I really liked what I saw from him.
Washington: He looked strong, fast and played with a lot of confidence. Like many, I was really happy when he fell to us in the draft last year and like many, I was disappointed with his first season. Now, he's ready to take over the WR#2 spot.
Bush: He was all over the place. Strong against the run and good pass coverage.
Buggs: He showed that he's ready to make the roster instead of McCullers.
Ullysees Gilbert III: Another late-round rookie who proved that he has a good shot at making the 53.
Gentry: I was very harsh on him after we drafted him, but he looked a lot better than I expected. The only TE who made plays for us.
Boswell: He looked like good old Bossie.

Negatives:

Layne: I was really happy when we drafted him at the end of the 3rd and I thought he was a real steal, but he was atrocious. Bad in coverage with too much cushion, bad tackling and a couple of flags.
Snell: I wasn't impressed at all with his performance. No power, no speed. Maybe it didn't help him that he played behind a second string o-line, but the play where he was one on one against a CB with an open field behind him, he couldn't break his tackle.
Okorafor: He looked worse than last year as he was beaten all the time.





Other notes:

Dobbs was ok and better than Hodges, but I believe that Hodges is good enough to be a #3. Dobbs could be a #2 on another team and maybe there's a team who want to trade for him. If so, I would let him go.
I'm not as high on Adeniyi as most. The first series when he was playing against the first team O he couldn't put pressure on the QB once and wasn't making any tackles. Once he was playing against second and third stringers he was producing. I want to see him do this against better players too.

have you been hanging out in my head ? i agree and have thought everything you have said. i mean EVERYTHING.

Of course i still wanna see more of the QB competition before really putting a stamp on it, but just from the last game, i felt Rudolf looked like the better QB. Dobbs seems to me like he panics a bit and is indecisive about what to do with the ball. that leads to sacks or just throwing it up for grabs.

although i didn't see anything that impressive with Bush. on steelers.com they have a video of all of Bush's tackles he participated in , and i was hardly amazed. they were just routine tackles and assisted tackles mostly. it's not like he was flying into the back field and dropping guys for loss. and none of them were teeth rattling hits, or separating a receiver from the ball ....

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

Positives:

Rudolph: He showed that he's more than ready to take over the backup QB job. I really liked what I saw from him.
Washington: He looked strong, fast and played with a lot of confidence. Like many, I was really happy when he fell to us in the draft last year and like many, I was disappointed with his first season. Now, he's ready to take over the WR#2 spot.
Bush: He was all over the place. Strong against the run and good pass coverage.
Buggs: He showed that he's ready to make the roster instead of McCullers.
Ullysees Gilbert III: Another late-round rookie who proved that he has a good shot at making the 53.
Gentry: I was very harsh on him after we drafted him, but he looked a lot better than I expected. The only TE who made plays for us.
Boswell: He looked like good old Bossie.

Negatives:

Layne: I was really happy when we drafted him at the end of the 3rd and I thought he was a real steal, but he was atrocious. Bad in coverage with too much cushion, bad tackling and a couple of flags.
Snell: I wasn't impressed at all with his performance. No power, no speed. Maybe it didn't help him that he played behind a second string o-line, but the play where he was one on one against a CB with an open field behind him, he couldn't break his tackle.
Okorafor: He looked worse than last year as he was beaten all the time.





Other notes:

Dobbs was ok and better than Hodges, but I believe that Hodges is good enough to be a #3. Dobbs could be a #2 on another team and maybe there's a team who want to trade for him. If so, I would let him go.
I'm not as high on Adeniyi as most. The first series when he was playing against the first team O he couldn't put pressure on the QB once and wasn't making any tackles. Once he was playing against second and third stringers he was producing. I want to see him do this against better players too.

have you been hanging out in my head ? i agree and have thought everything you have said. i mean EVERYTHING.

Of course i still wanna see more of the QB competition before really putting a stamp on it, but just from the last game, i felt Rudolf looked like the better QB. Dobbs seems to me like he panics a bit and is indecisive about what to do with the ball. that leads to sacks or just throwing it up for grabs.

although i didn't see anything that impressive with Bush.  on steelers.com they have a video of all of Bush's tackles he participated in , and i was hardly amazed. they were just routine tackles and assisted tackles mostly. it's not like he was flying into the back field and dropping guys for loss. and none of them were teeth rattling hits, or separating a receiver from the ball ....

I'm a famous mentalist

Bush didn't make splash plays, but he was always around the ball. I rather have someone who makes 10 tackles and never misses one than someone who makes a splash play and misses a tackle the next play. He also shoud have had a pick 6 but he dropped the ball. He read that play well and probably won't drop the ball the next time.

Stella Nation wrote:

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

Positives:

Rudolph: He showed that he's more than ready to take over the backup QB job. I really liked what I saw from him.
Washington: He looked strong, fast and played with a lot of confidence. Like many, I was really happy when he fell to us in the draft last year and like many, I was disappointed with his first season. Now, he's ready to take over the WR#2 spot.
Bush: He was all over the place. Strong against the run and good pass coverage.
Buggs: He showed that he's ready to make the roster instead of McCullers.
Ullysees Gilbert III: Another late-round rookie who proved that he has a good shot at making the 53.
Gentry: I was very harsh on him after we drafted him, but he looked a lot better than I expected. The only TE who made plays for us.
Boswell: He looked like good old Bossie.

Negatives:

Layne: I was really happy when we drafted him at the end of the 3rd and I thought he was a real steal, but he was atrocious. Bad in coverage with too much cushion, bad tackling and a couple of flags.
Snell: I wasn't impressed at all with his performance. No power, no speed. Maybe it didn't help him that he played behind a second string o-line, but the play where he was one on one against a CB with an open field behind him, he couldn't break his tackle.
Okorafor: He looked worse than last year as he was beaten all the time.





Other notes:

Dobbs was ok and better than Hodges, but I believe that Hodges is good enough to be a #3. Dobbs could be a #2 on another team and maybe there's a team who want to trade for him. If so, I would let him go.
I'm not as high on Adeniyi as most. The first series when he was playing against the first team O he couldn't put pressure on the QB once and wasn't making any tackles. Once he was playing against second and third stringers he was producing. I want to see him do this against better players too.

have you been hanging out in my head ? i agree and have thought everything you have said. i mean EVERYTHING.

Of course i still wanna see more of the QB competition before really putting a stamp on it, but just from the last game, i felt Rudolf looked like the better QB. Dobbs seems to me like he panics a bit and is indecisive about what to do with the ball. that leads to sacks or just throwing it up for grabs.

although i didn't see anything that impressive with Bush.  on steelers.com they have a video of all of Bush's tackles he participated in , and i was hardly amazed. they were just routine tackles and assisted tackles mostly. it's not like he was flying into the back field and dropping guys for loss. and none of them were teeth rattling hits, or separating a receiver from the ball ....

I'm a famous mentalist

Bush didn't make splash plays, but he was always around the ball. I rather have someone who makes 10 tackles and never misses one than someone who makes a splash play and misses a tackle the next play. He also shoud have had a pick 6 but he dropped the ball. He read that play well and probably won't drop the ball the next time.

I agree with almost everything here. I thought Adeniyi was held big time on an early down in the first. That would have been one sack against at least some of their starters. I agree with everything else.

Gilbert III had a great game albeit against practice squad players. I have a feeling on STs he will be like a heat seeking missile. And Buggs is ready to take big Dan's job IMHO.

Boswell gets my gameball!

So nice to see our kicker actually making kicks. If we can shore up that part of our offense, we'll be that much better this season.