LATROBE, Pa. -- The three weeks of grinding, training, and all of the hard knocks associated with the development of the 2023 Steelers at Saint Vincent College has come to a close.
The regular season is still more than three weeks away from kicking off, but the "destination" portion of the lead-up to that kickoff is now behind the Steelers. Up next are two more preseason games and plenty of practices to follow at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side.
With that in mind, here are five players to be considered as "winners" and five that didn't perform to an expectation and would be tabbed as "losers" from the Steelers' sessions in Latrobe:
FIVE WINNERS
• George Pickens
Wow.
That's the word to describe what the receiver showed in his second training camp. Pickens was not only the human highlight reel that kept on pressing replay, but he became a point of national discussion over these weeks with respect to his development at the position. Heck, even Ryan Clark went as far to say Pickens is "much more talented" than Justin Jefferson, who is regarded by many as the best wide receiver in the NFL:
He had a great camp. (And, so did Diontae Johnson.) Now, it's about seeing what is next from Pickens throughout the rest of the preseason leading into September 10.
• Kwon Alexander
In months time, we might be asking ourselves, "How did that guy slip through the cracks in free agency?"
Alexander has impressed in his short time as a Steeler and took over first-team reps this week at inside linebacker over Elandon Roberts. That comes with good reasoning. He might no be the same Pro Bowl linebacker he was in 2017, but his vision and instinct have not skipped a beat. He appears poised for another 17-game workload with a growing possibility that he could start over Roberts sooner rather than later.
KARL ROSER / STEELERS
Kwon Alexander.
• Nick Herbig
Herbig is my defensive MVP of this camp. He has shown tremendous speed and get-off all throughout and had his coming-out party last week against the Buccaneers.
Recall when he said this after that game: "I feel like I was born to be a Steeler. I’m supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be wearing the Black and Gold. I feel the Black and Gold running through my veins right now."
He has lived it through these three weeks.
In his press conference Thursday, Mike Tomlin said Herbig has been as advertised coming out of college: "He has. Obviously we like doing business with Wisconsin, man. Schematically the things that they were doing defensively under their former coordinator, Jim Leonhard, were things that were very similar to the things that we do, and so there's less speculation there in terms of your vision of what he might be capable of doing. It's the same thing that made us comfortable when we drafted T.J. (Watt) and (Isaiahh) Loudermilk, and (Keeanu) Benton. And so there's very little speculation schematically. There's a lot of carry over, and so I can't tell you that I'm overly shocked at what we're seeing from him. It's very much in line with what we saw on Wisconsin video."
• Kenny Pickett
The offense will undoubtedly benefit from Pickett's noticeable improvements displayed in this camp. He has looked confident, comfortable, poised, and has shown improved arm strength and a willingness to let it fly. The timid moments from last season are to be left in last season. Pickett looks ready for Year 2.
• Dan Moore Jr.
Credit goes where it's due. Pressure was put on Moore with Broderick Jones being selected with the 14th pick in the draft, and he has not yet relinquished the starting left tackle job. In fact, a case can be made that it hasn't been about Jones' inability to take Moore over, but, rather, it's about Moore's elevated play in this camp.
That doesn't mean the competition is over, though. Tomlin said as much Thursday when asked about Jones' performance against the Buccaneers: "I thought he played with energy, I thought he played with finish, and oftentimes when a guy is in his first opportunity and he's worried about assignment, some of those things are lost. It was really good to see him play with physicality and finish and it's reasonable to expect him to take a significant jump this week and into the next, and what happens over the course of the next two weeks probably will determine that component of the discussion that you mentioned."
• Honorable mentions: RB Anthony McFarland Jr., WR Gunner Olszewski, NT Breiden Fehoko, S Kenny Robinson, P Pressley Harvin.
FIVE LOSERS
• Kendrick Green
As I wrote Wednesday when I was breaking down seventh-round rookie Spencer Anderson, the Green experiment is on life support at this stage. It was apparent in Friday's game against the Buccaneers when he was blown up on bull rushes on more than one instance, and it became more apparent when he returned to a nearly full workload with the offensive line over the last week, after being tested as the Pat Ricard-like fullback option for this offense.
• DeMarvin Leal
He had many opportunities to take the next steps in his second training camp, but his largest issue early on became his inability to stay on the field. He suffered from heat exhaustion at the beginning of camp, and that led into some time missed because of a tweaked ankle. Once he got back on the field, though, he really did not stand out. There is still more to be done for a player with solid potential across the Steelers' defensive line.
• Mark Robinson
Part of this is from Alexander coming along as strong as he did, but Robinson now feels relegated to an exclusive special teams role despite being the lone returner among inside linebackers from last season. Robinson is an athlete and loves to hit, but he is, simply, not going to be a preferred choice over Alexander, Roberts, or Cole Holcomb barring injury to either of the three at inside linebacker.
• Hakeem Butler
At 6-foot-5 and 227 pounds, Butler has all of the physical capabilities that you would want out of an NFL receiver. However, far too many inconsistencies and drops -- including two more in Thursday's practice -- don't give me enough confidence that the man who led the XFL in receiving touchdowns and was second in that league in receptions and yards will end up on this NFL roster.
• Joey Porter Jr.
We won't go full doomsday mode on this one, because we shouldn't.
If anything, Porter showed some growing pains and revealed that there is a learning curve to be achieved. The rookie cornerback had a chance to seize a starting cornerback job over Levi Wallace or Chandon Sullivan, but it doesn't appear that way as we exit Latrobe. Some inconsistencies showed in tackling, and Pickens generally got the best of him in their friendly rivalry that bloomed early in camp.
There were instances where Porter lined up outside and Patrick Peterson operated the slot in this camp. While that might be a solid plan to achieve at some point this season, it doesn't feel like Porter has gained enough momentum for that to happen just yet.
• Honorable mentions: OT Le'Raven Clark, OLB Toby Ndukwe, CB James Pierre, S Tre Norwood, P Braden Mann
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The defense took a convincing 6-1 win in seven shots, though it felt closer to a 7-0 sweep. The lone score was a Mitch Trubisky scramble up the middle off of a broken play, and he debatably got into the end zone. Chukwuma Okorafor was called for a false start on Play 1, and that negated a Pickett touchdown to Pat Freiermuth.
T.J. Watt sacked Pickett on Play 2. Pickett then looked for Pickens on a corner fade that sailed high and out of the back of the end zone on Play 3. Porter and James Pierre broke up passes on Plays 4 and 5. Trubisky's pass for Hakeem Butler on Play 7 sailed out of the end zone.
• Otherwise, this was very much a "get to the weekend healthy" practice without pads. The scout team offense took the field for some work in preparation for Saturday's game against the Bills in one period.
• A couple of noteworthy plays still happened, though. Madre Harper horribly misplayed a jump ball, and Dez Fitzpatrick tipped it to himself and caught it deep down the sideline. Pierre dropped a normally free interception, and Butler dropped two passes in a row before Trenton Thompson intercepted Mason Rudolph. Mark Robinson also picked off Rudolph.
• Breiden Fehoko tipped a Trubisky pass at the line of scrimmage, and Jonathan Marshall came down with the interception for your "Piesman" moment of the camp.
• Isaac Seumalo took the day off, but there is no concern for injury.
• Thanks for following all of our coverage from Latrobe! We're on to the South Side.
Corey Crisan / DKPS
The Steelers huddle at the end of practice Thursday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.
