Last look at our Pittsburgh Steelers’ statistical training camp now that the 2017 session is in the books. As usual, we’ll recap what has happened since the last time we revisited this (after Day 13), and then tally up the final numbers at the end. Let’s dive in.
Final thoughts also included at the end.
Practices 14 Through 16
Quarterback
Josh Dobbs: 33/52 (63.5%) 3 TDs 2 INTs
Bart Houston: 25/46 (54.3%) 1 TD 0 INT
Ben Roethlisberger: 12/19 (63.2%) 4 TDs 0 INTs
Running Back Carries
Terrell Watson: 14
Knile Davis: 13
Fitzgerald Toussaint: 12
James Conner: 12
Brandon Brown-Dukes: 8
Trey Williams: 8
Martavis Bryant: 2
Wide Receiver Carry/Targets/Touchdowns
Eli Rogers: 10/12 (83.3%) 3 TDs
Justin Hunter: 7/15 (46.7%)Â
Antonio Brown: 6/13 (46.2%) 1 TD
Jake McGee: 5/5 (100%)
David Johnson: 5/6 (83.3%)
Cobi Hamilton: 5/8 (62.5%)
Martavis Bryant: 4/5 (80%) 3 TDs
Terrell Watson: 4/6 (66.7%)
Sammie Coates: 4/6 (66.7%)
Phazahn Odom: 3/8 (37.5%)
Knile Davis: 2/2 (100%)
Brandon Brown-Dukes: 2/2 (100%)
Roosevelt Nix: 2/3 (66.7%)
Fitzgerald Toussaint: 2/3 (66.7%)
Jesse James: 2/4 (50%)
Marcus Tucker: 1/2 (50%)
Xavier Grimble: 1/2 (50%)
Trey Williams: 1/1 (100%)
Darrius Heyward-Bey: 0/8 (0%)
Drops
Justin Hunter: 2
Antonio Brown: 1
Eli Rogers: 1
Marcus Tucker: 1
Darrius Heyward-Bey: 1
Roosevelt Nix: 1
Terrell Watson: 1
Phazahn Odom: 1
Interceptions
Jacob Hagen: 1
Coty Sensabaugh:Â 1
All Practices
Quarterback
Josh Dobbs:Â 110/192 (57.3%) 15 TDs 5 INTs
Ben Roethlisberger: 104/156 (66.7%) 30 TDs 1 INT
Bart Houston:Â 66/119 (55.5%) 7 TDs 4 INTs
Landry Jones:Â 22/36 (61.1%) 4 TDs 1 INT
Antonio Brown:Â 0/1 (0%) 0 TDs 0 INTs
Running Back Carries
Knile Davis:Â 78
Fitzgerald Toussaint:Â 57
Terrell Watson:Â 53
Brandon Brown-Dukes:Â 45
Trey Williams:Â 32
James Conner:Â 32
Martavis Bryant: 2
Justin Hunter:Â 1
JuJu Smith-Schuster:Â 1
Wide Receiver Catches/Targets/Touchdowns
Antonio Brown:Â 37/65 (56.9%) 9 TDs
Eli Rogers:Â 29/43 (67.4%) 7 TDs
Cobi Hamilton:Â 24/46 (52.2%) 2 TDs
Justin Hunter:Â 22/45 (48.9%) 4 TDs
Knile Davis:Â 19/19 (100%) 1 TD
Marcus Tucker:Â 19/33 (57.6%) 3 TDs
JuJu Smith-Schuster:Â 18/24 (75%) 4 TDs
David Johnson:Â 18/30 (60%) 3 TDs
Jesse James:Â 17/30 (56.7%) 4 TDs
Terrell Watson:Â 15/19 (78.9%)
Jake McGee:Â 13/17 (76.5%)
Demarcus Ayers:Â 13/19 (68.4%) 2 TDs
Canaan Severin:Â 12/21 (57.1%) 4 TDs
Xavier Grimble:Â 12/21 (57.1%) 5 TDs
Fitzgerald Toussaint:Â 10/12 (75%)
Darrius Heyward-Bey:Â 9/35 (25.7%) 1 TD
James Conner:Â 8/9 (88.9%) 1 TD
Phazahn Odom:Â 8/23 (34.8%) 2 TDs
Martavis Bryant:Â 7/9 (77.8%) 3 TDs
Roosevelt Nix:Â 7/12 (58.3%) 1 TD
Trey Williams:Â 4/5 (80%)
Brandon Brown-Dukes:Â 4/5 (80%)
Sammie Coates:Â 4/6 (66.7%)
Scott Orndoff:Â 3/3 (100%) 1 TD
Drops
Darrius Heyward-Bey:Â 5
Antonio Brown:Â 4
Jesse James:Â 3
Cobi Hamilton:Â 2
Roosevelt Nix:Â 3
Phazahn Odom:Â 2
Justin Hunter: 2
Marcus Tucker:Â 2
JuJu Smith-Schuster:Â 1
Xavier Grimble:Â 1
David Johnson:Â 1
Eli Rogers: 1
Terrell Watson: 1
Interceptions
William Gay:Â 2
Brian Allen:Â 1
L.J. Fort:Â 1
Brandon Dixon:Â 1
Greg Ducre:Â 1
Bud Dupree:Â 1
Jacob Hagen: 1
Mike Hilton:Â 1
Brandon Dixon:Â 1
Matt Galambos:Â 1
Coty Sensabaugh:Â 1
Final Thoughts
– Josh Dobbs’ completion percentage each group of practices we’ve looked at.
1-4:Â 55.6%
5-9:Â 53.8%
10-13:Â 55.4%
14-16:Â 63.5%
Clearly, a big jump over those final three. Completion percentage for all of camp was low, second lowest we’ve ever tracked (Bart Houston is your “champion”), but large improvement at the end.
– Speaking of completion percentages, with the Steelers playing more man coverage this season, and the maturation/experience of players in Keith Butler’s system, QBs completion percentage took a big nosedive. We have the numbers since 2014 (in 2014, I did not seem to include two non-padded practices).
2014: 65.2%
2015: 66.2%
2016: 64.7%
2017: 59.9%
Wow, what a drop off. And yes, the Steelers had two rookies throwing but you’ve had Brendon Kay, Tajh Boyd, Tyler Murphy, Dustin Vaughan, and a young Landry Jones in past camps. And even Ben Roethlisberger’s completion percentage has dropped off. 69.7% in 2015 down to 66.7% this year.
That’s one reason why we track these numbers. Not just for what happens in a given camp but the arc over time.
– Like I said, Dobbs and Houston have the two worst completion percentages we’ve tracked. Previous low was Vaughan’s 59.5% last year. They’re also the only two times a QB has thrown 4+ INTs in camp.
– Less practices but better seven shots efficiency. Roethlisberger had his best attempts to TD ratio, 5.2. Previous best was in 2015 when he threw 37 touchdowns (but far more attempts), a ratio of 5.9.
– Just a heads up that most carries doesn’t always equal a roster spot. Past players who led, or were close to, the Steelers in camp carries. Jordan Hall, Miguel Maysonet, Jawon Chisholm, Brandon Brown-Dukes, and Daryl Richardson.
– But Davis’ 78 carries are the most we’ve ever charted. Beats out Chisholm’s 70 two years ago.
– Rogers ending things on a high note. Three touchdowns the final three practices, four the first 13.
– Cobi Hamilton’s numbers still don’t look great but improved from the beginning. Had a 41% catch rate after the first four practices. 55.9% the final 12.
– Martavis Bryant. Seven catches, three touchdowns. Pretty freaking good.
– Incredible we also have the two lowest catch rates of any player we’ve charted. Darrius Heyward-Bey is by far the lowest, catching just above 25% of his passes. And Phazahn Odom at 34.8%. Both best Marcus Tucker’s low of 36.8% last year. Credit to Tucker, who increased his percentage over 20 points.
– DHB camp drops since 2015.
2015: 5
2016: 2
2017: 5
And over the final seven practices, of which Heyward-Bey was a full participant in all of them, he caught only three passes. It’s not all his fault, inaccurate passes hurt, but whew, super low.
– Antonio Brown’s four drops are more than he’s had the past two years combined (2).
– Marcus Tucker has five drops over his past two combined camps. Hands a little suspect.
– Eli Rogers has just two since last year.
– All four of Justin Hunter’s touchdowns came within the first four practices. Three of those came during the first two days, non-padded practices.
– Jesse James’ catch percentage fell ten points from last year to this year.
– Davis has the most catches of anyone who finished camp with a 100% catch rate. The previous leader was Kenzel Doe and Josh Harris, who each went 7/7 in 2014. Davis caught all 19, though I don’t recall any being particularly difficult.
– William Gay leads the defense with three total interceptions over the last two years.
– Steelers had just six INTs a year ago. This year? 11. Record is still 17 from 2015, led by Kevin Fogg’s five.
– Final AB vs Artie Burns stats.
AB vs Artie Burns: 18/38 (47.4%) 2 TDs
AB vs anyone else: 19/27 (70.4%) 7 TDs
Burns was the only guy to slow Brown down. Since 2014, Brown’s catch percentage has never been below 63.3%. Last year, it was 74.6. This year, because of Burns? 56.9.
