Steelers vs. Eagles
Last night was the first taste of (preseason) football for the fans of the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles and all-in-all it was what any sane fan should have expected. Surprisingly, Doug Pederson gave his starting O and D-lines a solid run in the first quarter, with each continuing the spectacular play that characterized the Birds’ super bowl run. While nearly all of the starting offensive skill positions didn’t see the field, the Birds’ starting running back, Jay Ajayi, looked solid as he ran through the massive fissures created by the starting O-line. Perhaps more surprisingly (but not to me), “second string” running back Corey Clement looked powerful, quick, and confident in his roughly ½ a quarter on the field. You can read about my undying love for Clement here, but know that he performed very well last night, only further speeding his hype train. In terms of fantasy relevance, the only other nugget to glean from the Eagles’ performance in this game as that of 2nd round tight end Dallas Goedert. Goedert looked borderline proficient at finding space in the seams, and despite dropping a quick pass in the slot, the young TE displayed solid hands and physicality. Even without an injury to Zach Ertz, he could provide nice value throughout the season as an alternate red zone target.
On the defensive side of the ball for the Birds, it was the same old same old: pretty poor cornerback play and sterling D-line play. There was a slight scare when Sidney Jones left the field pointing to his leg, but it ended up being a mere ankle sprain and he returned to the game. PHEW.
On the Steelers side, almost none of the regular offensive players started, however the starting O-line was practically devoured by the Eagles D-line. That’s a factor to watch considering the health of Ben Roethlisberger. Of the fantasy relevant offensive players that saw time for the Steelers, Juju Smith Schuster looked just as spectacular as he had all of last season, skying over Eagles’ corner Rasul Douglas to nab a long touchdown. Despite poor O-line play, all 3 of the Steelers’ backup running backs looked phenomenal, especially James Connor, who seemed powerful and fast running through holes maybe ⅓ the size of those produced for Ajayi. I’m not usually one to advocate for holding handcuffs, but in a 12+ teamer, a LeVeon Bell owner may want to consider grabbing Connor at the end of the draft.
There wasn’t much doing with the Steelers defense. Although they struggled to get much pressure against the Eagles’ starting O-line, they did begin to pick it up against the 2nd string O-line, and their secondary held up VERY well against the Eagles 3rd string QB and WR’s.
-Alex Silverman
If you count that INT as a knock against Dalton I can’t take seriously that you actually watched the game.
He forced it to a receiver while he was under pressure…
If you’re not taking Saquon or Odell in the first round id like to be in your league.
I agree with a lot of Mr Bevins assessments.. I liked how Hill looked, and Webb deserves to be watched closely…McCoy also looked good
I consider something genuinely interesting about your website so I saved to fav.