Mr. Sideline-to-Sideline Makes His Debut
Commentary by PalmerSucks
August 20, 2014
After a week that saw Stillers fans grumble about his injury status, Ryan Shazier made his long-awaited appearance in the black and yellow.
Needless to say he lived up to the hype.
In fact he created even more of it, as nfl.com referred to his performance as “awesome,” and other sports media followed suit. To be sure, Shazier’s numbers were pretty impressive: nine tackles, two more on special teams, and a pick.
That’s a pretty good game for any pro. The fact that Shazier did it in just a single half makes it all the more amazing.
Pre-season or not, any time a rookie can step onto a pro field for the first time and make this kind of impact, you have to be impressed. And he wasn’t doing it against the scrubs, either. Shazier accomplished what he did against starters.
Shazier demonstrated the kind of lateral movement ability I’d talked about in my other commentaries. At times he reminded me of a young Ray Lewis, zipping from one side of the field to the other. He also did it north-to-south, on a marvelous shot through the center gap, where he flashed left and ran down the back from behind.
He did make a couple mistakes, like the play where he slipped and allowed the receiver some big YAC. At times he seemed unsure of what he was doing. But his positives – hip turn, route awareness and, yes, the ability to actually catch the ball – far outweighed any negatives.
Shazier’s SPARQ (overall athleticism test) numbers were off the charts, and that talent was on full display Saturday. The rookie showed why the Stillers drafted him despite their glaring need at corner. The flak they took for taking him has been buried in a heap of gushing praise.
Of course, there’s something much bigger than just one game’s performance in play here. The Stillers drafted Jarvis Jones to shore up their pass rush; they drafted Shazier to transform their entire defense. As I’ve said before, he represents nothing less than their next step in schematics.
In the never-ending chess game that is football, schemes change and positions shift. Beginning around 10 years ago, the tight end took a major leap forward in terms of importance. Teams began to introduce TEs like Rob Gronkowski, who could run WR routes and were, in effect, jumbo wide receivers. Likewise, the premier WRs themselves got bigger, a la Calvin Johnson.
This put offenses at a huge advantage, as defenses had trouble matching up: safeties were too small, linebackers too slow and corners too scarce. But now defenses have responded with their own chess piece: the hybrid LB. You saw that Saturday, as Shazier played a few snaps at defensive back. And lost in all the talk about his smooth interception is this fact: it came while he was covering a tight end.
As I’ve said, Shazier will play Mack, he’ll play Buck, he’ll even play defensive back, something he did for a few snaps Saturday. He’ll likely take over for Polamalu as the guy who plays both front and back end for the defense.
Shazier does look pretty light, as advertised, but I recall another ‘backer who played his college ball in Ohio who also endured the “too skinny” label when he got to the pros. That guy’s got a bust in Canton now. And no, I’m not saying Shazier’s headed to the Hall someday, merely that we ought to hold off judgment til we’ve seen the results.
So with that in mind, I’ll bring up the fact that it was just one game. But if Shazier puts up a similar performance against Philly, it’ll be hard to argue that what happened Saturday wasn’t the beginning of something big.
Lost in all the Shazier talk was Ben Roethlisberger’s near-flawless 8-for-11, 2 TD performance. What’s significant here is that more of his passes are coming from straight dropbacks rather than improvised plays. Ben will never be a classic pocket guy, but his in-pocket presence has matured and developed. Should the O-line afford him even decent protection, I can’t see how he won’t have yet another Pro-Bowl caliber season.
Another key development: one of his two TDs was caught by Markus Wheaton (off a beautiful corner throw). That’s important because Wheaton is important to the offense. As defenses scheme to take away Brown, some big-time opportunities will be opened for other Stillers WRs. Number one on that list will be Wheaton.
Here’s a preview of the helmet decal the Stillers will be wearing this season to honor Chuck Noll. Scroll down about three-quarters of the way down the page and you’ll see it:
http://nfluniforms.b...w-for-2014.html
Quiet, elegant and definitely not looking for attention, pretty much like the man himself.
It’s fitting that the Stillers will be opening against Cleveland, the team Noll played for back in the day. I’d also like to see Bill Nunn included in the ceremonies planned to honor Coach.
“Welcome back Brett Kiesel.”