The Pittsburgh Steelers went into Saturday’s game with the Kansas City Chiefs with a heavy heart but found a way to pull out the victory. Here are three guys who really helped their stock with this preseason game.
WR James Washington
Washington continued his preseason bid to be the Steelers second option in the passing game with another solid performance against the Kansas City Chiefs defense. It’s obvious that his college rapport with Mason Rudolph has translated to the NFL game so far this year but he’s been equally as successful with Josh Dobbs under center. Part of Washington’s appeal is his ability to beat man coverage down field, he did so with regularity today and finished with four catches for 78 yards on five targets.
It will be interesting to see Washington make the leap to a solid contributor in year two with Ben Roethlisberger under center. In his second season under Offensive Coordinator Randy Fichtner’s pass-happy offense, Washington could be a dark horse to break 1000 yards receiving.
CB Artie Burns
Artie Burns in limited playing time looking like he regained some confidence and was playing with urgency. I know play calling in the pre-season is vanilla, but Burns wasn’t blowing his assignments, which is obviously a good sign. The Steelers paid his roster bonus entering the season and hopefully, he lives up to expectations. With Joe Haden’s injury history having Burns playing in top form will really help the Steelers secondary.
The most impressive play Burns had in week two took place when he was lined up against Chiefs all-pro receiver Tyreek Hill. Hill made the reception, and per his reputation looked like he was going to use his speed to break a big gain. Instead, Burns, who has had a history of poor tackling was able to wrangle Hill and eventually wrestle him to the ground. This is a side of Burns’ game we haven’t seen before, and if he can continue being a sure tackler, he’ll regain a lot of the respect he lost last season.
RB Jaylen Samuels
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a James Conner fan, but Samuels is starting to turn heads and create a buzz. The Steelers are generally known for usually having a bell-cow running back, but don’t be surprised if Conner and Samuels start splitting the load. Samuels, whose main weakness has been his pass-protection, looks explosive running the ball, is a threat as a receiver and has shored up his pass blocking.
Both backs worked with the first unit against the Chiefs and Conner finished with 28 yards on 6 carries while Samuels racked up 24 yards and a touchdown on four carries. His vision is especially impressive, on his 14-yard touchdown run he had nowhere to run but he redirected, bounced outside and was quick enough to win a race to the endzone. Look for Samuels role in the offense to expand throughout the season especially if Conner is unable to stay healthy.
