Lolley: Friday news and notes

[hawaiiansteeler]

Friday news and notes

Friday, August 07, 2015
by Dale Lolley

Clifton Geathers, we barely knew you.

Geathers, who was talked about a lot by the coaching staff in the offseason, was placed on the Waived/Injured List Friday. Undrafted rookie defensive end Joe Okafor was signed to take his place on the roster.

With Geathers gone, that means the much-maligned Cam Thomas is all but assured a roster spot on this team again this year.

In fact, even before Geathers began sitting out practices earlier this week, it was becoming evident that Thomas was making a push. Quite frankly, he had been better than Geathers, who at 6-8 didn't seem to play with the leverage needed to be a force in the run game.

That won't be good news to many Steelers fans, who have lasting memories of Thomas getting pushed around on defense last season after signing as a free agent with the team.

But he does look better in this training camp than he did last year. Is he a starter? Nope. The Steelers are pretty set there with Cam Heyward, Steve McLendon and Stephon Tuitt. And Daniel McCullers will likely be the backup nose tackle.

But Thomas will see some action this season as a reserve defensive end.

Of the other young defensive ends, I probably like Joe Kruger the best, but it's an "eh" group. The games got a lot more important for those guys.

I do like young nose tackle Mike Thornton, but he's not pushing anyone off the 53-man roster.

to read rest of article:

http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/

[TeeTee]

I was mildly bummed when I heared about Gathers. I was hoping they found a sleeper who could at least contribute. Now we have to use a roster spot on a complete waste of space, Cam Thomas. He is like not even having a player on the field.

[Mojouw]

Except that by ALL camp reports so far this off-season, Cam Thomas was OUTPERFORMING Geathers.

If we accept the premise that Cam Thomas is a garbage fire as a player - WTF does that say about Geathers?

Every report I have come across was strongly indicating that even if Geathers didn't get injured, Cam Thomas was making the roster.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Except that by ALL camp reports so far this off-season, Cam Thomas was OUTPERFORMING Geathers.

If we accept the premise that Cam Thomas is a garbage fire as a player - WTF does that say about Geathers?

Every report I have come across was strongly indicating that even if Geathers didn't get injured, Cam Thomas was making the roster.

That's what I've been reading also. Maybe he's gotten his shit together this year and will play better.

No mention of L.T. Walton by Lolley. Anyone know how he's been doing? I haven't heard much about him.

[hawaiiansteeler]

No mention of L.T. Walton by Lolley. Anyone know how he's been doing? I haven't heard much about him.

from Wexell:

* Let me start by quoting someone smarter than me about the linemen. I hated to ask, but I tried watching L.T. Walton simply out of duty to our readers, since Clifton Geathers was placed on IR, and Walton was doing his Rodney Bailey imitation and that caused me to miss a great pick by Brandon Boykin. And I love watching Brandon Boykin!

This ticked me off, so I stopped picking out guys who aren't flashing just to pretend I can discuss their flaws and/or virtues, and I went back to watching the ball.

* And so I instead asked a paid professional about the linemen, starting with Walton:

"I didn't really watch him much, but I have been watching a little bit of (Stephon) Tuitt lately. Tuitt is really starting to develop a second move. He's got a nice, little move where he goes inside then swims back to the outside. He got (David) DeCastro twice on it (Thursday). I remarked to David, 'David, you've got to finish a little more violently.' And the third time he did. But Tuitt is just getting better and better and better."

* The aforementioned Walton made a diving tackle of a running back at the line of scrimmage on Friday. That was the first time I noticed him without having to watch him from the snap.

* I compared him to Bailey earlier because Bailey was a solid if unspectacular sixth-round pick who went on to help the team. While Walton is boring to watch, I haven't seen him get knocked on his can. And the diving tackle was pretty cool.

to read rest of article:

http://www.scout.com/nfl/steelers/story/1566889-the-morning-after

[Steeldude]

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/big-day-for-lamar-defensive-tackle-sleeper-joe-okafor/


Lamar defensive tackle Joe Okafor had an impressive Pro Day workout with scouts from the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs attending.

Okafor is a 6-foot-5, 308-pound defensive lineman who bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times and had a 5.05 40-yard dash, an 8-3 broad jump, a 28.5-inch vertical leap and a 7.3 L-drill.

Okafor is a five-technique prospect for NFL teams with great length.

He led the team last season with six sacks.

Okafor transferred to Lamar from Oklahoma State.

[SteelerFanInStl]

from Wexell:

* Let me start by quoting someone smarter than me about the linemen. I hated to ask, but I tried watching L.T. Walton simply out of duty to our readers, since Clifton Geathers was placed on IR, and Walton was doing his Rodney Bailey imitation and that caused me to miss a great pick by Brandon Boykin. And I love watching Brandon Boykin!

This ticked me off, so I stopped picking out guys who aren't flashing just to pretend I can discuss their flaws and/or virtues, and I went back to watching the ball.

* And so I instead asked a paid professional about the linemen, starting with Walton:

"I didn't really watch him much, but I have been watching a little bit of (Stephon) Tuitt lately. Tuitt is really starting to develop a second move. He's got a nice, little move where he goes inside then swims back to the outside. He got (David) DeCastro twice on it (Thursday). I remarked to David, 'David, you've got to finish a little more violently.' And the third time he did. But Tuitt is just getting better and better and better."

* The aforementioned Walton made a diving tackle of a running back at the line of scrimmage on Friday. That was the first time I noticed him without having to watch him from the snap.

* I compared him to Bailey earlier because Bailey was a solid if unspectacular sixth-round pick who went on to help the team. While Walton is boring to watch, I haven't seen him get knocked on his can. And the diving tackle was pretty cool.

to read rest of article:

http://www.scout.com/nfl/steelers/story/1566889-the-morning-after

Thanks for the info. It sounds like Walton has been doing OK, while not standing out. I think that's to be expected for a 6th round pick.