There's no sense in overstating anything about these Steelers before a single football's been kicked in anger, but I'm feeling comfortable after spending another full day out here at Saint Vincent in choosing -- if only for fun -- these three pleasant surprises so far:
3. BRANDON JOHNSON
Johnson's 27 years old, he's appeared in a total of 23 games over a three-year NFL career, he spent all of 2024 on this team's practice squad, and he's precisely the type of player who'll go right through one of these camps being ignored no matter what he does or doesn't do.
But here's the thing: Of all the wide receivers on this depth chart, the only two who've shown better this offseason are DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin. Which is to say, the two starters. And yeah, I'm including Roman Wilson. And Robert Woods. And Ben Skowronek. And Scotty Miller. And this year's undrafted darling Roc Taylor.
Johnson's got better size than most of them at 6-2, 195, he moves well, he catches what comes his way and, being specific to this setting, he's fit well within the environment of all these Aaron Rodgers-influenced timing patterns. Drill after drill after drill, I'd see No. 11 do the job, remind myself who No. 11 was, then make a mental note.
Now look, Johnson's a long shot to make the 53. Few ever break off from a practice-squad label once it's affixed. But context is everything in these scenarios, and this isn't exactly a group that's overflowing with what he offers, particularly since he's capable of running Metcalf's routes in the event of a Metcalf injury. He's done it already here.
Just saying. Watch No. 11 Saturday night in Jacksonville.
ALYSA RUBIN / STEELERS
Brandin Echols defends a pass Wednesday in Latrobe, Pa.
2. BRANDIN ECHOLS
In covering Echols' introductory press conference this summer on the South Side -- he was signed as a free agent away from the Jets -- my initial impression was that he'd be a depth corner, capably of aligning inside and outside, and that he'd be very much welcome if all he did was replace Cam Sutton. No big deal. No real noise. And that was only doubled by a seemingly smooth demeanor.
To which the dude shows up out here like his hair's ablaze.
Even on a defense that's got Mike Tomlin semi-boasting about having three "coverage people" in Darius Slay, Joey Porter and now Jalen Ramsey, Echols has been as tight on receivers as Slay, as physical as Porter and even as loudmouthed -- OK, almost as loudmouthed -- as Ramsey. He's been front and center on the football, and he's been in faces afterward.
That's not how spare parts perform, much less behave.
I asked Echols about this coming off the field Wednesday as he grabbed for one of the team's post-practice watermelon plates:
I've felt this way from Day 1 out here: He's depth, but he's the best kind of depth.
And I'm not done with him yet ...
1. RODGERS YELLING AT ECHOLS
On a seven-on-seven drill late in this session, Echols tailed Wilson into the end zone and, realizing Wilson had a stride on him cutting across, reached forward with a tug that allowed him to stick his right hand out and deflect Rodgers' pass.
Teryl Austin, watching from my left in that same end zone, playfully acknowledged the obvious that it would've been defensive pass interference in a game. But that didn't stop Echols from following Wilson back to the line of scrimmage and speaking something - inaudible for me -- into his earhole.
What was next was plenty audible, because Rodgers would bark out at Echols: "Don't talk to my player! Talk to me!"
When Echols apparently responded -- again, in the direction away from me, so I couldn't hear it -- Rodgers came back yet again to his former teammate with the Jets: "I love you, but don't talk to my player."
I can't imagine how different my commentary about Rodgers might've been all summer if I'd been able to Nostradamus my way into a scene like this back in, say, April or May.
On the field, off the field, he's been above and beyond. That's been in front of cameras and microphones, but also away from them, too, as this part of this drill wasn't seen by many more folks than the hundred or so fans on the grass hillside behind me.
I had to ask Echols about what happened there, and he beamed, "You know, it's competition. You say something to me, I'm gonna say something back. It's just gonna fuel me to go even harder."
THE ASYLUM
DK: My top three surprises so far
There's no sense in overstating anything about these Steelers before a single football's been kicked in anger, but I'm feeling comfortable after spending another full day out here at Saint Vincent in choosing -- if only for fun -- these three pleasant surprises so far:
3. BRANDON JOHNSON
Johnson's 27 years old, he's appeared in a total of 23 games over a three-year NFL career, he spent all of 2024 on this team's practice squad, and he's precisely the type of player who'll go right through one of these camps being ignored no matter what he does or doesn't do.
But here's the thing: Of all the wide receivers on this depth chart, the only two who've shown better this offseason are DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin. Which is to say, the two starters. And yeah, I'm including Roman Wilson. And Robert Woods. And Ben Skowronek. And Scotty Miller. And this year's undrafted darling Roc Taylor.
Johnson's got better size than most of them at 6-2, 195, he moves well, he catches what comes his way and, being specific to this setting, he's fit well within the environment of all these Aaron Rodgers-influenced timing patterns. Drill after drill after drill, I'd see No. 11 do the job, remind myself who No. 11 was, then make a mental note.
Now look, Johnson's a long shot to make the 53. Few ever break off from a practice-squad label once it's affixed. But context is everything in these scenarios, and this isn't exactly a group that's overflowing with what he offers, particularly since he's capable of running Metcalf's routes in the event of a Metcalf injury. He's done it already here.
Just saying. Watch No. 11 Saturday night in Jacksonville.
ALYSA RUBIN / STEELERS
Brandin Echols defends a pass Wednesday in Latrobe, Pa.
2. BRANDIN ECHOLS
In covering Echols' introductory press conference this summer on the South Side -- he was signed as a free agent away from the Jets -- my initial impression was that he'd be a depth corner, capably of aligning inside and outside, and that he'd be very much welcome if all he did was replace Cam Sutton. No big deal. No real noise. And that was only doubled by a seemingly smooth demeanor.
To which the dude shows up out here like his hair's ablaze.
Even on a defense that's got Mike Tomlin semi-boasting about having three "coverage people" in Darius Slay, Joey Porter and now Jalen Ramsey, Echols has been as tight on receivers as Slay, as physical as Porter and even as loudmouthed -- OK, almost as loudmouthed -- as Ramsey. He's been front and center on the football, and he's been in faces afterward.
That's not how spare parts perform, much less behave.
I asked Echols about this coming off the field Wednesday as he grabbed for one of the team's post-practice watermelon plates:
I've felt this way from Day 1 out here: He's depth, but he's the best kind of depth.
And I'm not done with him yet ...
1. RODGERS YELLING AT ECHOLS
On a seven-on-seven drill late in this session, Echols tailed Wilson into the end zone and, realizing Wilson had a stride on him cutting across, reached forward with a tug that allowed him to stick his right hand out and deflect Rodgers' pass.
Teryl Austin, watching from my left in that same end zone, playfully acknowledged the obvious that it would've been defensive pass interference in a game. But that didn't stop Echols from following Wilson back to the line of scrimmage and speaking something - inaudible for me -- into his earhole.
What was next was plenty audible, because Rodgers would bark out at Echols: "Don't talk to my player! Talk to me!"
When Echols apparently responded -- again, in the direction away from me, so I couldn't hear it -- Rodgers came back yet again to his former teammate with the Jets: "I love you, but don't talk to my player."
I can't imagine how different my commentary about Rodgers might've been all summer if I'd been able to Nostradamus my way into a scene like this back in, say, April or May.
On the field, off the field, he's been above and beyond. That's been in front of cameras and microphones, but also away from them, too, as this part of this drill wasn't seen by many more folks than the hundred or so fans on the grass hillside behind me.
I had to ask Echols about what happened there, and he beamed, "You know, it's competition. You say something to me, I'm gonna say something back. It's just gonna fuel me to go even harder."
Someone kick that ball in anger already.
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