Figuring out which Prince is which
Just my opinion 鈥�
From the notebook of a sportswriter who was a bit surprised by a couple of the Steelers cuts coming out of rookie minicamp:
n When I noticed Damian Prince on the starting offensive line the first day, and not last year鈥檚 practice squad G/T R.J. Prince, I jotted down a musical symbol to get to the bottom of this.
n My question was answered yesterday when the Prince that I knew, was cut, and the new Prince, the right tackle from Maryland, was kept.
n Damian Prince and his former Maryland teammate, seventh-round pick Derwin Gray, were the bookend tackles for a physical Terps rushing offense. Maybe Mike Tomlin 鈥� whose son leaves for Maryland next month 鈥� got a tip. Or maybe he just paid more attention to the Terps last season.
n Gray caught my attention during a hand-fighting drill run by new OL coach Shaun Sarrett. The big man showed lightning-quick hands, and no mercy on one of the tryout linemen from Canada. I thought at one point they were going to escalate from hand slaps to punches. Big, quick and aggressive, Gray has a chance.
n Sarrett, by the way, looked like a new guy, a coach in command, rather than the eager-to-please assistant to legend Mike Munchak these last few years. The evolution of the human coaching species is fun to watch.
n Keion Adams 鈥� a seventh-round pick in 2017 and practice squad member last year 鈥� was also cut Monday. I began to wonder about him on draft day after his name wasn鈥檛 mentioned during conversations with coaches about depth at outside linebacker. Those questions arose upon the drafting of Sutton Smith in the sixth round.
n Smith, the MAC Defensive Player of the Year with 26.5 tackles-for-loss, 15 sacks, three forced fumbles and two blocked kicks, is small. I mean, he looks like the average Joe you would see in the weight room at your local gym.
n Sorry that I don鈥檛 have more to report on Smith. Almost half of the minicamp was spent in individual periods with players getting to know the coaches and their preferred methods and techniques. Probably more than half of the remaining time was spent on special teams. That left few scrimmage snaps, of which my attention was given to the top picks.
n Smith is small. We know first-round pick Devin Bush is short. And the other sixth-round linebacker, Ulysees Gilbert, struck me with his thin bottom half. They鈥檙e all small. But they鈥檙e all quick and were very productive in college.
n In looking up Smith鈥檚 precise size and stats again, I came across this quote that NFL.com鈥檚 Lance Zierlein attributed to an NFC personnel man: 鈥淗e鈥檚 too tiny to stay at rush backer. The poor kid鈥檚 pro day is going to be interesting because they are going to have him working with every position group trying to find a new position for him.鈥�
n Remember Tomlin鈥檚 quote about moving his bigger safeties closer to the line of scrimmage, 鈥淪ometimes we get too caught up in the semantics of positions. 鈥� It鈥檚 the game right now.鈥�
n So, they have quick and productive athletes without positions. Let the coordinator sort it all out.
n Only the linebackers in this Steelers draft are small, though. Gray is a massive man who has a chance to make more than the practice squad, just from the little bits I鈥檝e watched of him.
n Isaiah Buggs isn鈥檛 small, either. The sixth-round defensive tackle is already considered the fourth most talented lineman on the roster, behind, of course, the three starters. Now, the concern, at least from one source, is that Buggs can be lazy. But talent isn鈥檛 the question.
n Keep in mind that the start of the motivational tactic to bring out Buggs鈥� talent could be to leak that he can be lazy.
n Justin Layne, the third-round cornerback, is taller than all of the linebackers drafted, and he鈥檚 physical. In watching him either suffocate rookie receivers at the line of scrimmage or struggle to work on his off coverage, I can鈥檛 forget the image of a big, fast running back coming out of my periphery to slam into Layne on the edge. It鈥檚 just touch football without pads, but I felt the sting and was looking for a similar reaction from Layne. But he shook it off without reaction.
n That back, by the way, was Benny Snell, who seemed at that moment to be bigger than the 5-10, 224 at which he鈥檚 listed.
n I shouldn鈥檛 have used 鈥渂igger.鈥� I should鈥檝e instead used 鈥渕ore explosive.鈥�
n As Tomlin reiterated to me, linebackers need to look like the animals they hunt. So the 5-11, 234-pound Bush is the perfect size for the explosive Snell, and those of his ilk throughout the league.
n Zach Gentry obviously adds size to the draft class. The 6-8, 265-pound tight end has enough upper-body muscle to tell me he鈥檚 going to fit in this league. The Steelers have brought in several tall tight ends in recent years, and none had Gentry鈥檚 big arms.
n I didn鈥檛 get to talk to him. Spring practices 鈥� until the official minicamp 鈥� are hit-and-miss with players during brief interview opportunities as they walk off the field. The question I wanted to ask Gentry is how long until he gets to ditch the No. 83 he鈥檚 been given.
n The spectre of Heath Miller still hangs over this team. There鈥檚 really no need for a rookie to have to deal with that pressure.
n I couldn鈥檛 get an answer as to why last year鈥檚 practice squad tight end, Bucky Hodges, was released right before the draft, but it may have had something to do with an interesting tight end they signed in January, Kevin Rader.
n A local out of Pine-Richland High, Rader went to Youngstown State as a defensive end but converted to tight end and caught 22 passes his senior season. Rader spent time with the Green Bay Packers last year. At 6-4, 250, he looked the part at rookie minicamp.
n Now, that鈥檚 a guy who should be wearing 83 鈥� a longshot who fans would understand being given a Hall of Fame number. So far Rader is No. 87.
n Rader was signed by the Steelers about six days after they had signed who I thought were interesting prospects: QB Brogan Roback and WR Ka鈥橰aun White. But both were cut Monday. Roback just didn鈥檛 have much arm strength and lost the 鈥渃amp arm鈥� job to Samford QB Devlin Hodges, a rookie camp invitee.
n 鈥淐amp arms鈥� always have a chance. Injuries happen at every position.
n One of the strangest scenes at rookie camp was the media mob surrounding undrafted safety Dravon Askew-Henry out of West Virginia. His local roots 鈥� Aliquippa 鈥� had something to do with the Beaver County Times stopping him for a chat. That gave TV cameramen someone around whom to gather, but questions like 鈥淒o you feel you have to prove yourself here?鈥� were ridiculous.
n Yes! The guy was undrafted. OK, he鈥檚 starting on the first team at rookie camp, but, dang, yes, the guy has to prove himself here. Or does he just keep himself from injury until he鈥檚 in the starting lineup?
n Two things did impress me about Askew-Henry: 1, His answer to what it is that works so well for Aliquippa kids 鈥� 鈥淭he water different out that way. I mean, they different. Go see a game for yourself, you鈥檒l be like 鈥榃ow.'鈥�, and 2, The beautiful interception he made the second day of minicamp, after all the TV journalists had gone home.
n Liked what I saw from the new assistant coaches. As previously mentioned, Sarrett showed much more command of his charges, while Eddie Faulkner and Teryl Austin certainly look like they belong with all of the impassioned teaching they were doing.