3 Steelers currently winning their positional training camp battles
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a week of training camp practices in the books. Here are three players currently winning their respective positional battles.
We still have a long way to go before the Steelers depth chart will be finalized in September. However, the first week of training camp practices has given us some insight as to how things are shaping up.
Based on where players have been lining during positional drills and how often they have played with the first and second-team units during 11-on-11s over the first few days of practice at Heinz Field, we have been able to get a much clearer picture of where these players will be when Pittsburgh kicks off their season against the Buffalo Bills.
Here are three players who are currently winning their respective positional battles, and the biggest competition each player faces moving forward:
Anthony McFarland
Biggest competition: Benny Snell
I have been ridiculed by some fans this offseason for my take on Anthony McFarland. While I never claimed that he was a special football player, I do believe that he has a strong chance to beat out Benny Snell as the team’s second running back in the pecking order. So far, it seems like that prediction is on track to becoming reality.
Early in training camp, it’s been McFarland (not Snell) who has had the most opportunity with the starters behind Najee Harris. In addition, Pittsburgh has been doing a lot of Pony looks (2 running backs on the field at the same time). During these sets, Harris is primarily paired with McFarland.
This is a look Matt Canada could look to exploit often in the regular season. He ran something very similar at Maryland with (guess who) Anthony McFarland. While Snell’s skill set may be better for the Steelers if they need a ‘workhorse’ player in the event of an injury to Harris, McFarland offers more as a change-of-pace runner with his speed. The team likes the idea of putting him in motion and with Harris in the backfield, and I totally expect McFarland to take the ball on jet sweeps this year.