Kendrick Green and Antoine Brooks Named Starters for HOF Game

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers had their first official practice of Training Camp 2021 today. With that came the first media scrum in months.

Following practice, Head Coach Mike Tomlin spoke to reporters and dropped a few nuggets of information.

First being that rookie center Kendrick Green will start at center when the Steelers travel to Canton, Ohio to take on the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 5.

When Tomlin was asked about replacing so many starters from one year prior, he wasn’t shy.

“We didn’t set the bar real high last year. We were last in the league in rushing.”

Ben Roethlisberger noted during his media session that Green made all of the calls at the line of scrimmage, and they didn’t have any fumbled snaps.

An improvement from rock bottom shouldn’t be too difficult. We hope anyway.

Another order of business that was discussed was second year safety Antoine Brooks. Brooks will get his shot this preseason to make an impact at the slot corner position. Tomlin named him the starter there for the first preseason game. He also said not to read too much into any of these decisions…but it’s definitely worth noting.






Brooks made what was described as a sensational diving interception of Roethlisberger during practice. The interception caused Roethlisberger to become vocal, but he insisted he was letting the coaches know that he approved of their decision to move Brooks to the slot.

Brooks has experience at cornerback and safety from his days at the University of Maryland.



More to come!

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[bermudasteel]

Superbowl!!!

 

[FSF]

It’s actually an advantage in this case for Steelers to have HoF game. They need to get the OL as much real in game rhythm as possible

 

[slashsteel]

It’s actually an advantage in this case for Steelers to have HoF game. They need to get the OL as much real in game rhythm as possible

Minus Center as they are still shuffling the deck. I think the good thing is the starting positions outside of that are pretty set on both sides minus C and figuring out the corner situation.

 

[slashsteel]

Speaking of Oline here is a good read on Green. https://triblive.com/sports/steeler...reaking-in-new-offensive-line-as-camp-begins/

 

[SteelBuckeye]

Speaking of Oline here is a good read on Green. https://triblive.com/sports/steeler...reaking-in-new-offensive-line-as-camp-begins/

Real happy to see it wasn't written by either "Doom" or "Gloom" over at the Trib. Going to read it now.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Tomlin may not have officially named GREEN as the starter but this start bodes well in his favore to become the starter. I think he goes out and Aces this test.




Salute the nation

 

[bermudasteel]

Minus Center as they are still shuffling the deck. I think the good thing is the starting positions outside of that are pretty set on both sides minus C and figuring out the corner situation.

I think the line is solid from the interior out:

C - Green
G - Dotson
G - Turner

The question marks are the T's...

 

[Drink IRON City]

I think the line is solid from the interior out:

C - Green
G - Dotson
G - Turner

The question marks are the T's...

For some reason I'm still holding out hope for the MOORE kid at LT(left tackle). Earlier there was RUMOR of Dotson being in back shape but I think that was just an unstantiated rumor. As for RT, Banner best be ready and in great shape as he has had plenty of time to prepare.

One good news from Coach Tomlin is no one will start season on PUP.




Salute the nation

 

[bermudasteel]

For some reason I'm still holding out hope for the MOORE kid at LT(left tackle). Earlier there was RUMOR of Dotson being in back shape but I think that was just an unstantiated rumor. As for RT, Banner best be ready and in great shape as he has had plenty of time to prepare.

One good news from Coach Tomlin is no one will start season on PUP.




Salute the nation

K-Dot is going to make us ALL forget Fieler at RG. Write it down...

 

[SteelBuckeye]

I think Chuks surprises y'all this year as far as how good he can be.
1. We tend to forget that Chuks came into the league as a developmental LEFT tackle - the position he had played exclusively in H.S. and college.
2. His athleticism has been discussed by coaches and other players in the past. That athleticism will transfer better to the LT spot than it did to the RT spot; which needs more of a mauler. Yeah, I know folks say they are becoming somewhat interchangeable in some folks' mind. But, there are reasons that LT are considered more valuable than RT; athleticism is one of them.
3. At only age 24, but with 4 years of experience and 1 as a starter, Chuks should just now be hitting a point where he has matured mentally and physically as a player. Especially when you consider that he had limited experience playing the game before going to college.
4. Think back to last year. The games where Chuks performed his worst were games he played alongside a very hurt DD. When paired with the comparatively more mobile Big Dot, Chuks performed well.
5. That year at RT will aid him as far as having a more nasty demeanor on the left.
6. Money ... It's a make or break contract year for the kid.

 

[SteelerFan448]

K-Dot is going to make us ALL forget Fieler at RG. Write it down...

I think everyone wanted Dotson starting ahead of Feiler last year with Feiler at RT. That would've been the best starting OL.

I do like that Tomlin is putting Green in there early. You don't want to say it's Green or bust this year, but they really don't have any other NFL starters available to play center so they really need the rookie to perform to their expectations.

 

[Superman]

Speaking of Oline here is a good read on Green. https://triblive.com/sports/steeler...reaking-in-new-offensive-line-as-camp-begins/

only problem I have in this article is:

"A retooled offensive line was anticipated after the Steelers finished last in rushing in 2020 and Roethlisberger had so little pass protection that he had the quickest release time of any NFL quarterback."

that was also by design and it worked so well that Ben was sacked significantly less.

 

[SteelerFan448]

only problem I have in this article is:

"A retooled offensive line was anticipated after the Steelers finished last in rushing in 2020 and Roethlisberger had so little pass protection that he had the quickest release time of any NFL quarterback."

that was also by design and it worked so well that Ben was sacked significantly less.

It worked well but it also helped make the offense even more predictable because it limited the Steelers into running a short passing game.