Not only was rookie wide receiver James Washington on Mike Tomlin’s proverbial moving train the first time he pulled on a Steelers helmet at rookie minicamp in April, but he was also riding in the first car — the first car as in with the No. 1s — throughout a large portion of training camp.
An oblique injury quickly derailed Washington, the second-round pick initially penciled in to replace the traded Martavis Bryant in the starting lineup as the third receiver.
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That all might change during Sunday’s home opener against the Chiefs, especially if the later portions of last week’s 21-21 tie against the Browns is an indication. Washington could be used a lot more against the Chiefs.
Last week, Washington played 11 snaps while Justin Hunter played 51. That might not be switched this week but it surely will be a lot more even.
“What happened with (Washington last week) is no reflection of the trajectory of his career whether it was positive or negative,” Mike Tomlin said. “I think it’s important that young guys just wipe the slate clean and clock in and come to work each and every day and don’t overanalyze the here and the now because the reality is, in the big scheme of things, he’s been here a very short period of time.”
Washington burst on the scene almost immediately living up to his pre-draft hype of being a combat-catch receiver. He showed that during the spring and carried that over into both training camp and the preseason.
Against the Packers during the second preseason game, Washington caught five passes for 112 yards including two highly contested touchdowns. The following week, Washington left the game with an oblique injury that kept him out of action for a while. As is typical of rookies, Washington took a while to make up for lost time.
“It was difficult at first because I didn’t know what to expect,” Washington said. “But I was here every single morning trying to get better and here after practice just trying to contribute. I just wanted to show my teammates that I want to be out there with them.”
That likely will materialize more this week.
Washington played fewer than a dozen snaps last week and wasn’t targeted once by Ben Roethlisberger. In overtime, Washington played six of those snaps. The interesting series came with 1:17 left in OT with Washington facing single coverage all three snaps — two of which he beat the defender down the field but Roethlisberger didn’t throw his way.
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“There were a few times, but when the quarterback is under duress like that, you have to get the ball out and make something happen,” Washington said. “Ben can do things like that, so whatever decisions he makes I have to trust.”
Roethlisberger’s sore elbow might prevent deeps balls on Sunday, but Washington could be a viable red-zone target against the Chiefs.
Either way, Washington is approaching it like he will eventually take over the No. 3 spot behind Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
“I feel like that, but at the same time I feel like whoever is that third guy, that fourth receiver is, we all have a role on this team, and that’s to help this team win,” Washington said. “I really don’t look at it as an individual competition.”
Kaboly’s Keys
1) Don’t let Tyreek Hill do Tyreek Hill things — In a conversation with special teams coordinator Danny Smith during training camp, he kept referring to Tyreek Hill. He did it so often that he was asked by a reporter, “Tyreek Hill seemed to make an impression on you?”
Smith’s responded with this: “Tyreek Hill is the best. Who is the best in the game right now? Tyreek Hill. We play them all the time. You better be able to track the best if you are going to be worth a damn. I respect the heck out of his game. We had him in the Pro Bowl, and he’s a great player.”
That was Tyreek Hill the returner.
The Chiefs speedster has turned into one of the most dangerous receivers in the league. Hill had eight receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns last week against the Chargers to go along with a 91-yard punt return for a touchdown.
The Steelers have limited Hill all around. He has 14 receptions and five carries in three meetings and is only averaging 4.8 yards per touch. Additionally, the Steelers have done an excellent job of directional kicking to Hill during the three meetings and is averaging only 21 yards per kick and 10 yards per punt return.
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Hill has played 20 teams in his short NFL career. He’s had at least a 10-yard play against every one except the Steelers.
“Just hope you can slow that sucker down,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “He is fast as lightning, isn’t he? Yeah, he is fast. We kind of crowded him last year a little bit, he’s hard. He got away from us, on I think a wheel route, and he’s fast. He gets behind you and can outrun everybody.”
Hill was clocked by NextGen Stats two years ago at 23.6 miles per hour.
“It’s like he’s running in fast forward,” said Washington, Hill’s former teammate at Oklahoma State. “I saw that speed up close, so I know what he’s like. He has an unbelievable takeoff.”
The Steelers have to prevent the big plays again from Hill. However, with Joe Haden likely out and Artie Burns nursing a toe injury, that might be difficult to do.
2) Keeping up with Kelce — Just like Hill, the Steelers have done an excellent job of limiting Travis Kelce over the years. Kelce is easily one of the five best tight ends in the league but hasn’t managed to break out against the Steelers.
In four regular-season games vs. the Steelers, Kelce is averaging 4.5 catches per game and only 9.1 yards per reception.
The Steelers have used a variety of different schemes to shut him down in the past. Most notably was 2016 game at Heinz Field where they, in part, used Justin Gilbert in coverage on him. Other times, it was a lot of Ryan Shazier.
On Sunday, it will mostly be Morgan Burnett.
The Steelers spent their offseason rearranging their safety position with personnel and scheme to match up well against players like Kelce. They’ve added different schemes with anywhere between two and four safeties on the field at the same time.
Last week against the Browns’ David Njoku, they used a variety of schemes including Mike Hilton as a safety and the quarter that has three safeties and held him to three catches and 13 yards. While that will be used again this week, Burnett will be the central defender.
Burnett has never faced Kelce during his nine-year career.
3) Big Ben can’t aggravate his sore elbow — Roethlisberger is going to start even though there’s been some drama surrounding whether or not he would throughout the better part of the week.
Roethlisberger hurt his elbow on the second-to-last offensive play last week and reportedly didn’t throw with much pace during Friday’s practice — the first one he participated in during the week.
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The elbow shouldn’t provide much of an issue for Roethlisberger, who did struggle last week in the tie with the Browns. The worst-case scenario would be if Roethlisberger wouldn’t be able to throw the 50-yard bomb downfield. Other than that, he should be just fine.
However, a potential aggravation of that injury could be devastating. The Steelers felt comfortable enough to let veteran Landry Jones go instead of keeping Josh Dobbs. Dobbs not only hasn’t taken a regular-season snap, last week was only the second time he ever dressed for a game.
The Steelers do need a bounce-back game from Roethlisberger and Heinz Field could be the cure. His recent home/road splits have been well documented but consider this: Since 2014, Roethlisberger’s home passer rating is nearly 20 points higher.
4) Confuse and pressure Mahomes — Patrick Mahomes has two career starts under his belt as a professional quarterback. Now, they were two impressive starts, but just only two.
The Steelers spent the offseason adding new schemes and tweaks to old schemes to match up with any kind of offense they would face. Or in laymen’s terms, to mess with the quarterback’s head. That’s what the Steelers need to do, along with knocking the young quarterback around, to have any chance of slowing down the Chiefs.
They showed that they could get pressure last week on Tyrod Taylor without bringing extra guys all the time. Instead, it was Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt who combined for four of the team’s seven sacks.
The secondary’s play helped that along last week but potentially without Haden and Burns that might not be an option this week. The Steelers might have to bring rushers from various spots on the field to achieve the desired effect.
If not, it could be a long day especially with the arm of Mahomes and the lack of Haden.
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The Steelers struggled without Haden last year, who missed 23 quarters with a broken leg, defending the deep ball. Cam Sutton, who allowed a touchdown last week when Haden went out, will get the start.
They allowed 16 pass plays of 25 yards or longer with Haden out. Even worse, the secondary allowed six touchdown passes of 39 yards or longer. Before that, they allowed one of that distance as their yards per game average went from 181 yards to 252 yards per game.
Without time, it’s hard to throw the ball down the field, so the pressure has to dictate coverage this week if the Steelers want to slow down Mahomes.
5) Better tackle play — Sure, the Steelers have one of the best offensive line units in the league and it was partly responsible for James Conner’s big day on the ground last week. But they have to play better especially when it comes to protecting Roethlisberger.
Alejandro Villanueva struggled to contain Myles Garrett and Marcus Gilbert had his issues in a critical situation with Genard Avery. Both are much better than how they played against the Browns.
Marcus Gilbert has had a lot of success against the Chiefs’ Justin Houston but he’s still very dangerous. Finally healthy, Kansas City’s Dee Ford showed he could be a force with four quarterback hits of Philip Rivers last week.
Gilbert and Villanueva can’t let their quarterback to get hit because of the aforementioned issue (see Key 3).
Kaboly’s Call — The Steelers have a lot of things going for them in this game, most notably the recent history they’ve had against the Chiefs as well as at Heinz Field.
However, the Steelers’ injuries could be very significant if Haden and Burns can’t play, Cam Heyward is in any way limited by his sore knee or if Roethlisberger’s banged-up elbow proves to be more of an issue than expected.
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Saying that, it’s hard to look past the fact that the Chiefs starting cornerbacks are Kendall Fuller and Steven Nelson with back-ups Orlando Scandrick and Tremon Smith. Additionally, safety Eric Berry is doubtful for the game.
That’s a huge Steelers’ advantage if Roethlisberger’s elbow is fine.
The Chiefs haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 1986. That streak will continue in relatively easy fashion. Steelers 32, Chiefs 19.
(Top photo: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)