Hear, hear. Have a great Christmas everyone. May it be a safe & enjoyable one.
Cope, what are your thoughts on Jaylen Samuels? Was his recent success just a product of great blocking against a suspect run defense, or does this guy have a legit possibility to be a successful RB in this league? He really surprised me with his ability to find lanes and get 'skinny' on a few runs where the holes weren't there. And the coaching staff obviously has a lot of faith in him. And what's your guess for James Washington's future? Guy just seems too hard a worker not to eventually succeed.
I was more excited for Jaylen Samuels than any other player we drafted this season. I broke him down in the offseason, and had him pegged as our next great slot WR.
http://www.steelernationforums.com/...WR%94-Jaylen-Samuels&highlight=jaylen+samuels
He has the better hands than Bell, he runs better routes than Bell, my big surprise was the ability of this coaching staff to turn him into an inline running back. That floors me. See, if the Steelers want to throw Conner in the backfield and line Samuels up in the slot, that will **** teams. There is no defense to it with standard personnel. They will throw a LB on Samuels, and he will make them look stupid. I always said, Bell had the potential to be a slot WR in the NFL, but he'd have to work at it. Jaylen is a natural slot, and I have more confidence in his hands, catching tough balls, than anyone on our team except AB (Yes he has better hand mechanics than JuJu).
Now last game was a big surprise, but they used his RB skills correctly. Instead of running inline every down, we brought back the toss counter, that we used to run with FWP. Jaylen is fast like FWP, so tossing his way gets the whole D moving his direction, then BANG he's cutting opposite for a HUGE gain, because he hits the edge faster than any RB since FWP. Now I still don't see him as a 3 down back in this league, and the coaching staff did an excellent job of utilizing his skillset to have a monster game, but I don't see him hitting those tough yards when the defense knows he's coming. He did have success doing it as a wildcat QB in college, and it is on film, so the potential is there, just the size ratio of bigger NFL players, makes it a tougher sell this year. If he adds weight, down the road, I see him moving into a role like that. But for the next game, if Conner is back, he's my 3rd down back and I spell Conner on at least 2 drives with Jaylen. This gives the D an extra wrinkle to prepare for. The strong Conner vs the quick Jaylen. I'd love to be Fichtner preparing those plays!
As for Washington. I rated him as a boom or bust receiver. Excellent potential, great combat catcher, good hands, but had trouble getting open in college, and that has translated to really having trouble getting open in the NFL. He's sneaky fast, with long, powerful strides, that build momentum, but he hasn't had much success gaining space on the edge. And his route running thus far has been piss poor. Now last game was by far his best game, and he got great separation on his double move for a first down. his deep pass was a well covered combat catch, that is his MO for college and all over his highlight reel. That's what I expect him to do. He still has to improve his route running. In and out of breaks. Setting up routes from earlier routes, but I do love his demeanor, his work ethic, and hope he succeeds, because it makes this team very tough to stop if he gets open.
