Steelers Training Camp: 10 Days, 10 Takeaways (Offense)

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has never shied away from the fact that he loves Training Camp set the tone with his favorite drill—backs on backers—in addition to the offensive linemen battling the defensive linemen in one-on-one drills.

Despite being "football in shorts", the Steelers made a positive first impression as they came out a focused, but relaxed, team that is poised to bounce back from a disappointing 8-8 record last season.

They then got into pads and the cracks could be heard all the way in Allentown. Tomlin has actually been praised for the physicality of his 2013 Training Camp. Why has it been so physical?

"It’s just appropriate in today’s NFL. We have off days. We only get a chance to practice once a day," Tomlin declared. "There are fewer and fewer opportunities to sort themselves out. We’ve got some young guys. We’ve got to sort through a lot of young guys and we’ve got to take advantage of opportunities to show improvement. That is what it is about."

Add practices running nearly two-and-a-half hours to live contact drills and you have the tone set for a physical season. What else are we seeing as tones being set? And what players play important roles? Part one focused on the defense, and here we'll discuss the offense.

Ben Roethlisberger: Big Ben has been taking on much more of a leadership role this offseason and Training Camp. He's had great practices, aside from a couple of interceptions, last Thursday through Monday. He seems so much more serious with teammates and their roles, their routes, their blocks, etc... Basically, he sees his window and doesn't want it to close. If It Ain't Steel is glad to see Big Ben is stepping up as a true leader.

In doing so he is being rewarded with a couple of things that he has been wanting in the form of more deep routes. After some tinkering to the offense, Big Ben is much happier as he is able to air the ball out often. Both Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders have been getting plenty of looks and the passes have been very successful so far. As has someone else.

Markus Wheaton: Wheaton missed OTAs because of NCAA graduation rules, so he came into Training Camp already behind. He has quickly caught up and moved up the depth chart, though, and got time as the slot receiver during the first week of camp.

A terrific route-runner, Wheaton has the speed and quickness to get deep to make the big play, and he has shown it by being very dangerous all over the field.

As long as his development continues, it won’t be very long until Wheaton is a regular on offense.

Le’Veon Bell: Bell has had a terrific Camp so far, and it should not be very long before he is a major part of the offense. He has been the star of the backfield so far, and is making a real push for the starting job.

He also has exceptional hands and has been one of the focal points of the passing game. He continually makes plays in the open field.

His bread and butter will be carrying the rock. And though he doesn't possess world-class speed, he has been running with speed and authority and has been the best back during team drills. He has even been receiving time with the first team offense. Bell is light on his feet and is able to get to the outside and cut back also.

Speaking of getting outside and cutting back, the outside zone-blocking scheme has been a focus under new offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr. They've run it all Camp in some form and the players are adjusting well to it. Plus, athletic offensive linemen like Ramon Foster, David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey, make it more viable scheme.

The other starting OLinemen, Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams, also have a bit of a competition going on. According to WDVE’s Mike Prisuta, Adams lined up at left tackle for three days straight. But, since the Steelers run to the right more often than any other direction, they'll most likely move Adams back to that side knowing that he is the better run blocker.

That does bring us nicely to the next point into the light also, that being the lack of depth. Kelvin Beachum may play three positions Saturday night against the New York Giants, and guard Justin Cheadle figures to get time against the Giants also. That's pretty much it. The injuries have brought that to light better than anything.

While there haven't been any significant injuries to star players, there have been several dinged up.

The most significant injury was to Cortez Allen who had minor knee surgery last week. Another semi-major injury occured when Nik Embernate went down with a torn ACL and MCL.

Then you have DeMarcus Van Dyke and Terry Hawthorne have both missed time, and Curtis Brown is on crutches, making for a very thin secondary.

Embernate reminds us how fragile the front line is. Who'll back up Gilbert? What happens if Beachum goes down? D'Anthony Batiste nor Guy Whimper will remind anyone of Jonathan Ogden or even Jonathan Scott. It is, therefore, an issue that needs to be resolved.

Soon.

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TIDBITS: Matt Spaeth, who came back to the Steelers from the Chicago Bears this last offseason, was hurt in Wednesday’s practice in Latrobe. He was seen later with ice taped to his foot.

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Via Steelers Digest's Bob Labriola, @BobLabriola on Twitter, "2 roster moves. ‪#‎Steelers‬ signed RB Alvester Alexander & CB Devin Smith; waived RB Curtis McNeal & DE Cordian Hagans."

New Offense Makes For Positive Headlines For Roethlisberger and Colon This Offseason.

It was late February in 2010 when I got a call from my buddy who ran the floor crew of the Thomas and Mack center here in Las Vegas where the UNLV Runnin' Rebels play their home basketball games: "You'll never guess who's in my house!" I'm thinking, "you're right."

You see, my buddy is an avid Steelers fan too and, after a few back-and-forths, it turned out that Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Colon and some other players/guys he didn't recognize had rented the floor for a while to play a few games of hoops. I begged twitch him to find a way to get down to get in somehow and see them, meet them, ask one of them to be the godfather of my firstborn, anything...but to no avail. Little did I know what was to come less than two weeks later.

But this article isn't focusing on anything negative, nor will it reopen old wounds. Both Big Ben and Colon have been in the news for basically positive team-related reasons this offseason, and that deserves attention too.

Sure, we had some potential doubt with the 'Big Ben hasn't met with Haley' and 'Colon won't take a pay cut' articles, but those were overblown and TMZ-like articles based on having little else to write about regarding the team.

What has actually been the case is that Big Ben went back and completed his degree nine years after he left school for the NFL. The 30-year-old quarterback received his bachelor's degree in education.

Big Ben has also had to ingest a new playbook that he has referred to as the "Rosetta Stone." That notwithstanding, he has been clear about delving into it to learn it as best he can. He's even pointed out that he is seeing quite a bit of the no-huddle to the new offense. That may be a good thing.

According to some raw stats, Big Ben has a 64% completion rate and about a 7.5 yard per completion average over his career. In 4th quarters Big Ben has an approximate 70% completion rate and a 7.58 YPC average. Again, these are raw numbers, but they give an idea of how good this could potentially be. 

Another reason why this is potentially very good for Big Ben and the offense is this - the most sacked quarterbacks since 2009: Joe Flacco = 107; Jay Cutler = 110; Aaron Rodgers = 117; and Ben Roethlisberger = 122.

The no-huddle in part means a more fast-paced offense and potentially a quicker release. That coupled with the 24th, 83rd and maybe even the 248th pick in the 2012 draft, and the recently announced offensive line changes, and Big Ben may see a former liability may become a strength sooner than later.

Which leads me to the other side of this coin: "I've made the transition to left guard," Willie Colon said in an interview with Mike Prisuta of WDVE. "I like it. It's just a matter of learning the verbiage." Colon told Prisuta that the coaches called him right after the drafting of Mike Adams to tell him about the switch. 

That will provide a level of athleticism on the inside of the line which the Steelers haven't had in a while and which will allow both Colon and DeCastro, the number one draft pick who'll play right guard this season, to pull. The Steelers traditionally take the counter pike/trap/pull to the right, but now will have both options. Colon verified this.

"You should expect both of us pulling," Colon continued. "I think we're going to be a lot more balanced."

The addition of Colon and DeCastro to the interior will give the line a lot of power to create a push in the running game, which, despite now having more size on the outside for pass protection, is what should be seen more so early in the season. Lining up and punching the opposing defensive line in the mouth is easier than getting timing down in the passing game. So expect more of that early on.

Also to be considered in that is the fact that Mike Adams has the talent, but is unpolished and green. He may need some help and time to maturate before he starts. In my opinion, expect Max Starks to be back, if healthy, to start the season.

Ed Bouchette did say, though, that Adams has a chance to start. Colon echoed those words.

“I am excited to get out there. I know the sky is the limit for us as a line. We have the young kids DeCastro and Mike Adams," said Colon in the interview. "The biggest thing that always gets us is the injury bug, but if we can stay strong and healthy, we should be the one or two best line in the league.”

As was reported on Friday, Trai Essex will be given a chance at the back up spot at tackle. There is also newly signed Kyle Jolly who'll have a shot at back up now that Trevis Turner has been deemed expendable and released. I simply hope that this means the end of Jonathan Scot...AAARGH!!!... Sorry, I get that reaction whenever I say or hear his name. Hopefully, though. Hopefully.

Not everyone sees this as necessarily a good thing, though. David Todd, @hammerspeaks on Twitter, tweeted: "Colon at left guard may mean Adams at LT so two rookies aren't playing next to each other. That is how I read things." Very possibly so. This would, after all, be the first time that the offensive line has started two rookies in almost 40 years.

Another outlook on this is from Lance Williams of steelcurtainradio.com when he wrote: "I think the Steelers could be making a very big mistake with the offensive line. I think it's really premature to name Adams the starting LT. He has gone from off the board to drafted to starter without playing a snap with pads. You couple that with starting two new guards and you have a high level of uncertainty. Mix that all up with a new offense and you have the potential for an explosion."

Or you could also have the potential for explosion.

Lance may be correct: the starting of two rookies is like mixing Nitric Acid and Glycerol, two chemicals which unto themselves aren't a problem but volatile when mixed. But that volatility may manifest itself in the form of young, vibrant, hellbent-for-leather nastiness that this offensive line could use.

So when you consider what is now behind us and add in some youth and veteran leadership to a new offense, our front five and no. seven could very well lead to Ring number seven.