LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Technically there were already four days of practice at Steelers training camp at St. Vincent College. Really they were just warm ups to get to Tuesday morning. That is when football starts.
Everything is a lot more real, sure you can't hit the quarterback, but everything else is pretty much live. From lineman holding blocks to receivers getting hit over the middle, it really is a better evaluation time for the coaches, front office, teammates and every Steelers fan who fancies themselves an insider.
Some college players haven't faced live hitting since late November, even the pros have waited since January for this moment. They've spent months working on details so when it goes for real, they can show their true game.
"The bullets start to fly even faster when pads come on and we have more one-on-ones and run blocking, which I'm excited for," said second-year guard Spencer Anderson. "It will be good to showcase it in actual football. I'm excited to show that I belong here and that guard is my spot."
Even the drills they did the last four days change. When you do seven-shots (offense getting the ball on the 2.5 yard line), you don't have to guess if a run would have really scored. The footsteps you heard running across the middle in shorts are guys waiting to take you to the ground. There is also the fan favorite and a drill most players like, backs-on-backers where linebackers and running backs collide to prove who is tougher.
Everyone has their reasons to wanting pads on, rookie undrafted free agent Beanie Bishop says he's shown he can cover, now he can show he can tackle. Reactions from a number of rookies to padded work in Latrobe.
WR Roman Wilson
· "You get to hit people now. You get to run after the catch and you get to work on your game some more. I'm pretty excited for that."
C Zach Frazier
· "I can't wait. That's what football is all about is putting on the pads and strapping it up and playing real football. I can't wait for Tuesday. That's one of my favorite days of the year is the first day in pads."
OT Troy Fautanu
· "We are going to be running the ball a lot. Being able to get off the ball and know there is no governor, that we can tee off on each other, offense and defense. It will prepare us for sure.
I know it's going to be a grind. It will take a lot of mental strength to get through it, especially for me because I don't know what to expect being a rookie. I'm ready for anything. I've prepared myself enough to be able to withstand anything that's thrown at me."
LB Payton Wilson
· "I'm a linebacker, Tuesday is going to be a lot more fun than these past four days for me. I just can't wait to put on the pads and play ball. I can these underwear practices, they are a little bit fake. Coach Tomlin says it all the time, it's not football, it's football-like. Tuesday it will be football and we will be able to see who can play."
It's the fourth camp for tackle Dan Moore, he calls this a fun time. He also agrees with Fautanu that they will be running the ball a lot under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. It said you can almost guarantee we are going to try to run the ball every single play.
Linebacker Patrick Queen smiled in saying Tomlin has been getting he and fellow linebacker Elandon Roberts fired up for Tuesday. As for what we can expects from those two.
"We'll see."
