Steelers News: Jones, Roster, Dupree
By Kim Myers
The Steelers are officially on summer vacation as the offseason workout program wrapped up and they won’t come back together until reporting to training camp later next month.
Steelers season never really ends for Steeler nation so while the Steelers players get their minds and bodies right to embark on the 2016 regular season we’ll be busy looking for mentions of your Black & Gold so we’ve got you covered. Here’s your Steelers Morning Huddle for Tuesday, June 21st.
Confidence Jones
There will be two Jones’ on the Steelers roster who will be playing for their jobs this season. Both were drafted in 2013 and both are on the last year of their rookie contract. Linebacker Jarvis Jones will be trying to prove his worth as the number one draft pick while quarterback Landry Jones tries to build confidence.
More from Steelers News
- Steelers mock draft: Pittsburgh addresses pressing needs with early picks
- How far would the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone in the NFL playoffs?
- Steelers news: Experts weigh in on draft needs, Kenny Pickett lobbies for WR, and more
- Remaining playoff teams have something in common that Steelers don’t possess
- A foolproof plan for Steelers to improve the OL in 2023
Landry Jones saw his first regular season action last year when
was injured and
was ineffective but the offseason move to re-sign
points to the feeling that his inconsistencies don’t instill confidence to have him behind Roethlisberger on the depth chart.
Teresa Varley has Steelers quarterback coach Randy Fichtner’s comments on how Jones is building on the confidence he gained from finally getting on the field. If Jones can’t keep the confidence in him of the coaches, then he’ll give them no reason to re-sign him.
Bulking up
We’re still a ways away from the Steelers narrowing down their roster to the 53-man roster mandated by the league to start the season with and still a ways away from training camp position battles shaping up to help determine that roster.
Still, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler takes this time to predict the 53-man roster and he predicts the Steelers will go with ten linebackers. Ryan Shazier, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison, Jarvis Jones, Bud Dupree, Arthur Moats, Vince Williams, Anthony Chickillo, Travis Feeney and Steven Johnson round out the group.
What do you think?
The dreaded rookie wall
Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree is looking to have a successful sophomore season after a rookie season that saw him slump down the stretch. Dupree had four sacks in his first eight games of the season but none the rest of the year, as reminded by Around the NFL’s Kevin Patra.
Next: Steelers top tier linemen DeCastro and Gilbert
Dupree is looking to climb over that rookie wall and make a sophomore leap. The Steelers defense could certainly benefit from him turning into a quarterback harasser.