LLT
08-07-2010, 04:45 AM
On the Steelers: Wallace facing difficult transition
Saturday, August 07, 2010
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201008/20100807wallace_500.jpg
It all came so easily for Mike Wallace last season. See Mike Run. See Mike Run Fast. Throw Mike the Ball. See Mike Catch.
Everyone noticed, too, from the start of training camp through the final game of the season at Miami when he caught a 54-yard touchdown pass in a six-point Steelers victory against the Dolphins. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had to adjust in camp to release his deep passes to Wallace more quickly or else Wallace would outrun them.
As a rookie, Wallace caught 39 passes for 756 yards, tied for the team lead with six touchdown receptions, and he led the NFL with a 19.4-yard average per catch.
"He had a role that for a rookie was very easy: Go deep, clear the field, run certain routes that you ran well and understood," said Bruce Arians, the Steelers' offensive coordinator.
It was simple math compared to the trigonometry assignment Wallace has this season. He moves from being the receiver who runs deep all the time against man-to-man coverage by the opponent's No. 3 cornerback, to replacing Santonio Holmes at split end, where double coverage, shutdown corners and more complicated routes are the norm.
"You're not getting that third corner anymore," Hines Ward said. "You're getting that No. 1 corner who will try to shut you down."
There also are things such as breaking off routes when the quarterback is under siege, the so-called "hot" routes that, if gone unrecognized, can lead to interceptions for touchdowns that can lose a game (re: Santonio Holmes, Cincinnati Bengals, 2009).
"He had no 'hot,' no sight adjustments that he was solely responsible for, to now he has the whole package," Arians explained. "He has to run the entire route tree. He's the backside receiver, he has to be able to sight adjust and know all the protections and on the front side he's now involved in a lot of hots.
"It's like going from 30 percent of the offense to 100 percent."
Having explained the giant leap Wallace must make from his rookie season to this one, Arians and Ward like what they've seen so far.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10219/1078403-66.stm#ixzz0vub2LJU0
Saturday, August 07, 2010
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/201008/20100807wallace_500.jpg
It all came so easily for Mike Wallace last season. See Mike Run. See Mike Run Fast. Throw Mike the Ball. See Mike Catch.
Everyone noticed, too, from the start of training camp through the final game of the season at Miami when he caught a 54-yard touchdown pass in a six-point Steelers victory against the Dolphins. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had to adjust in camp to release his deep passes to Wallace more quickly or else Wallace would outrun them.
As a rookie, Wallace caught 39 passes for 756 yards, tied for the team lead with six touchdown receptions, and he led the NFL with a 19.4-yard average per catch.
"He had a role that for a rookie was very easy: Go deep, clear the field, run certain routes that you ran well and understood," said Bruce Arians, the Steelers' offensive coordinator.
It was simple math compared to the trigonometry assignment Wallace has this season. He moves from being the receiver who runs deep all the time against man-to-man coverage by the opponent's No. 3 cornerback, to replacing Santonio Holmes at split end, where double coverage, shutdown corners and more complicated routes are the norm.
"You're not getting that third corner anymore," Hines Ward said. "You're getting that No. 1 corner who will try to shut you down."
There also are things such as breaking off routes when the quarterback is under siege, the so-called "hot" routes that, if gone unrecognized, can lead to interceptions for touchdowns that can lose a game (re: Santonio Holmes, Cincinnati Bengals, 2009).
"He had no 'hot,' no sight adjustments that he was solely responsible for, to now he has the whole package," Arians explained. "He has to run the entire route tree. He's the backside receiver, he has to be able to sight adjust and know all the protections and on the front side he's now involved in a lot of hots.
"It's like going from 30 percent of the offense to 100 percent."
Having explained the giant leap Wallace must make from his rookie season to this one, Arians and Ward like what they've seen so far.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10219/1078403-66.stm#ixzz0vub2LJU0