Some last few tidbits as camp closes...

[BlitzburghRockCity]

Inside the lines

A(WARDING): WR Hines Ward saved his best for the Steelers' last practice at St. Vincent College. Ward caught a long pass from QB Ben Roethlisberger in 11-on-11 drills, drawing cheers from the fans assembled on the hillside. Ward caught another TD pass from Roethlisberger in red-zone drills, leaping in the back of the end zone to pull the ball down and drawing more cheers.

Ward produced another TD with a sliding grab of a Roethlisberger pass, drawing even more cheers.

HEART TO HEART: Steelers chairman Dan Rooney engaged Ward in a lengthy on-field conversation following Wednesday afternoon's practice that concluded with Rooney offering Ward a couple of pats on the back.

IF AT FIRST ...: TE Jerame Tuman dropped what should have been a touchdown pass from Tommy Maddox , but Tuman came back moments later to score on a diving, rolling grab. Roethlisberger was picked off by CB Deshea Townsend on a pass in red zone intended for Antwaan Randle El , but hooked up with Randle El for a long touchdown at the expense of CB Bryant McFadden in 11-on-11 drills.

DOH! WR Lee Mays dropped a TD pass on a perfectly placed fade from Maddox. LB Rian Wallace dropped an interception.

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE: QB Brian St. Pierre fired a quick toss to RB Willie Parker on a screen and Parker was gone upfield in a heartbeat, perhaps the second successful screen the Steelers pulled off in training camp.

CATCH OF THE DAY: WR Walter Young used every inch of his 6-foot-4 frame and his accompanying reach, then nimbly managed to get both feet down in bounds on a sideline reception of a St. Pierre pass.

AND FINALLY: The on-field work in Latrobe drew to a close -- not counting today's walk-through -- with QB Charlie Batch hitting RB Noah Herron , who executed a quick spin move in eluding LB Ronald Stanley before bolting into the end zone.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_367177.html

[SteelZeal]

Two thoughts:

At this point, is there any reason to keep Lee Mays over guys like Walter Young and Zamir Cobb and Nate Washington? I don't think so.

And why can we hardly get a screen pass to work during this whole camp? What is the deal with that?

[BlitzburghRockCity]

I'd be willing to bet that Mays will be gone.. he hasnt shown anything in preseason so far, and w/ our young guns at WR, his time is limited Im sure.

Screen passes take alot of precision to get the OL out to block and the WR's to keep their guys occupied. Its normal for preseason plays to look outta sync. The Steelers are one of the better screen play teams in the league, we'll be ok once we get rollin.

[rowedf]

Originally Posted by SteelZeal

Two thoughts:

At this point, is there any reason to keep Lee Mays over guys like Walter Young and Zamir Cobb and Nate Washington? I don't think so.

And why can we hardly get a screen pass to work during this whole camp? What is the deal with that?

That's a tough one man, I think Mays is what he is and won't be getting any better. The upside is he knows the system as a veteran. Cobb has had a dissapointing camp. Young, from what I've heard is having issues with route running. I see the WR spot holding six guys and I think they'll be:

Ward
Randle El
Wilson
Gibson
Washington
Morey

I had to flip the coin on Washington and Mays.......I still think that spot is totally up in the air and if you go by past steeler history, it probably will be Mays, but my coin flip said Washington :)

[slashsteel]

Thank you for the update rock ! !

[LambertIsGod58]

I don't know anything about camp, but last year I thought Mays played pretty well in his limited role.

[clevestinks]

really looking forward to seeing Willie Parker bust one of the screen plays for big yardage.

[SteelR1]

Thanks for the post,,

[VaDave]

Screen pass?? The reason we don't execute screen passes to the outside is our linemen are slow, which is the same reason we don't run outside a lot.

[hardwork]

"....which is the same reason we don't run outside a lot."

I'm not going to pretend to know how fast, or slow, your offensive linemen are. I do know however that they're good run blockers. And I also know your backs are built to run up the middle. That's your style.

On the screen pass. I don't know how many here were in the service, but one of the reasons the Special Forces are so good is drills. They run drill, after drill, after drill. Live fire. And they run 'em even when they're in a combat zone. As the other poster said, these plays take a lot of pratice to get down. You have run 'em, and run 'em, and run 'em. Drill, drill, drill.