Allen played free safety at minicamp
PITTSBURGH — Marcus Allen confirmed to reporters that he played free safety at this weekend’s rookie minicamp, and the 6-2, 215-pounder from Penn State broke into a big smile when someone told him he looked like Kam Chancellor back there.
“Aw, thank you, appreciate it,” said Allen, who, like Chancellor, was a tall, fifth-round pick. “I model my game after him. I love him.”
OK. Who did Allen’s partner in the deep end, Terrell Edmunds, look like this weekend?
“A baller,” Allen said. “A straight baller.”
Allen could’ve said Troy Polamalu to provide that picture: Short, compact, fast, hair flopping out from under the helmet.
Of course, neither Allen nor Edmunds is their pro comparison, or even close. Yet.
Let’s just call it a simple base description for the fans back home: Allen’s the tall enforcer back on the deep end while Edmunds is the playmaker.
Where exactly did the latter line up this weekend?
“I played some safety, a lot of safety,” Edmunds said. “I played a few little-linebacker positions. Just going out there competing. Everything was going fast, but you know it eventually slowed down for everybody on the defensive side of the ball and we came out and we competed well.”
Mike Tomlin was asked to comment but only let escape what he wants the rookies to hear.
“The way that you stand out at this juncture is just simply communicating, or willingness to communicate,” said Tomlin. “I like to hear a lot of pre-snap chatter. Both guys are providing that. It shows you a lot of things. It shows you that they’re into it.
“They’re situationally aware,” Tomlin added. “The safety is a communicating position so that’s a job requirement. It also shows that they’re capable of learning things we’re presenting them in the classroom and taking it out to the field. So less evaluation in terms of what they’re doing physically, but I like what I’m hearing from them prior to the ball being snapped. It’s an indication that it’s been a good weekend for them.”
“I’m calling the calls,” Edmunds said. “Marcus Allen and I were both calling it back and forth. We have a lot of communication between us, too, because we both can be interchangeable at the position, so that is just what we are doing now.”
As for the “little linebacker” spot, Tomlin wasn’t about to get into it, if there’s even much of an “it” there, in terms of a third safety on the field.
“We’re not ready to write a story in that regard,” Tomlin said. “We’re just trying to strengthen ourselves for the fights that lie ahead here in ’18 and we feel like we’ve got some young people that are capable of helping us.”
DBs hopping to
Former assistant coach Carnell Lake loved to talk theory to his defensive backs, but the new secondary coach, Tom Bradley, had the group hopping around the field with much more energy this weekend.
Edmunds, of course, didn’t have a previous pro coach with whom to compare Bradley but said of his new coach: “He tells us a lot. He has a lot written down on his board. He’s the type of guy that writes a whole lot on the board, so he’s very detailed during his teaching. I am thankful for that because a lot of coaches do not teach everything like that. He told us a whole lot and I retained a lot.”
Lake, by comparison, seemed to do most of his talking on the field. That may or may not be a key to better performance, but those in the media seeking photos and video of the recent top picks in action are appreciative.
OSU connection
OSU at rookie camp normally has meant Ohio State for a team that’s drafted six Buckeyes this decade. OSU now stands for Oklahoma State, the home of second and third-round draft picks James Washington and Mason Rudolph.
Both are salt-of-the-earth types who’ve both been ingrained with a serious work ethic. Washington hasn’t even had time for one of his hobbies: hunting coyotes and bobcats.
“Haven’t been able to,” said the second-round pick. “Been doing a bunch of work back home.”
Gentleman farmer/wide receiver has to be an oxymoron, but it describes the rookie.
“Yeah, had to help my dad on the farm,” Washington said.
The wide receiver doesn’t have the slightest hint of diva to him.
“That’s just how I was raised,” he said.
At a blocky 5 feet 11, Washington doesn’t have a base comparsion. Hines Ward has been done to death, particularly last year with JuJu Smith-Schuster. So Washington was asked for a comparison he would like others to make.
“I’d probably say Dez Bryant,” Washington said. “He played at Oklahoma State so I watched a lot of film on him and tried to model my game after him.”
Bryant was a first-round pick in 2010. He was 6-2, 225 coming out. At his pro day, he ran a 4.52 40 with 14 bench reps, a 38-inch vertical and agility times of 4.46/7.10.
Washington is 5-11, 213. He ran a 4.50 at OSU’s pro day. His other numbers are very similar to Bryant’s: 14 bench reps, a 39-inch vertical and agility times of 4.32/7.11.
“He’s probably taller than me, but we’re about the same size,” Washington said.
How did the weekend go with his long-time quarterback, Rudolph?
“It went good,” Washington said. “It’s just coming here with the same chemistry. It’s everything a receiver wants in a quarterback, just come in and be familiar with the guy. … It always helps because if we both have questions, we can ask each other and one of us will usually have the answer.”
What NFL skill does Rudolph possess that should translate the quickest?
“He’s a perfectionist,” Washington said. “He doesn’t like things sloppy. If it’s sloppy, he’s going to re-do it no matter what, so it’s something that will help him at this next level.”
Rudolph was, at the time, in the middle of a mob of reporters asking him about the current faux “controversy” in Pittsburgh that sprung from Ben Roethlisberger talking up the team’s other quarterbacks instead of heaping praise on the rookie.
“He’s handling it like Mason would,” Washington said. “He’s a strong-minded guy and he doesn’t really care about all the hype. He’s just another guy looking for a job. That’s all it is.”
“I think the media got kind of twisted around a little bit,” said Rudolph. “(Roethlisberger)’s a competitor. He’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. He’s a competitive guy, and that’s what I would expect. He’s a long-time starter, and I’m sure when we get into this building, in that room, it’s going to be all good. We’re going to be friends, and I’m going to let him do his thing and I’m going to try to pick up what I can from him but not bother him.”
Balancing comparisons
If we’re going over the top in making early comparisons of Allen and Edmunds, the rookie defensive backs, to All-Pros Chancellor and Polamalu, let’s balance that a bit by comparing undrafted ILB prospect Matthew Thomas to former Steelers ILB Terence Garvin.
Neither was drafted. Garvin wasn’t even signed after the draft. He was invited to rookie mini-camp for a tryout, made the 90-man summer roster, made the practice squad, was promoted to the active roster, and then played as a rookie. He remained with the team for three years.
Garvin came out of West Virginia at 6-2 1/4, 222. At his pro day he ran 4.69 with a vertical of 34.5 and agility times of 4.33/7.22.
Thomas comes out of Florida State 6-2 3/4, 232. At his pro day he ran 4.44 to go with a 41.5 jump and agility times of 4.28/6.85.
They look very similar at first glance. Both are long-limbed, even gangly, and neither looks/looked as if they belong/belonged in the middle of the Steelers’ linebacking corps. If anything, both players appear to be will-backers in the Telvin Smith mold. The Jacksonville 4-3 OLB came out of FSU 6-3, 218 with a 4.52 40, a jump of 31.5 and agility times of 4.57/7.04.
Could Thomas grow into that plugger role with the obvious coverage upside?
Garvin apparently has. Not near the athlete that Thomas is, Garvin is with his third team since leaving the Steelers and is listed by Miami at 235 pounds.
Thomas might not need to add weight, only knowledge. As pointed out in Friday’s story, he must be willing to avoid distractions and stick to Tomlin’s blueprint.
“I have to follow the plan, keep working day by day, take it one day at a time,” Thomas said.
Party at a hockey game
A photographer approached Tomlin and this reporter having a conversation to interrupt with a brief story.
The photographer told us he was zooming in on Tomlin and his family as they sat in the stands at PPG Paints Arena watching the Penguins’ last NHL playoff game. At the same time, the scoreboard was showing a replay of shirtless Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva dousing himself with beer, as Roethlisberger and several other Steelers in their luxury suite laughed and applauded.
Tomlin, according to the photographer, wasn’t amused.
“Your kids started tugging at your shirt and pointing to the scoreboard as if it was the coolest thing,” the photographer said. “But you looked up, saw it, put your hand over your face and shook your head like it was your oldest son.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t go to college and get that stuff out of your system,” Tomlin said with a laugh.
Villanueva, of course, was a cadet at West Point.
“He was in a bunker!” Tomlin said of the war hero.