To finish off my play-by-play analysis of the Steelers’ second preseason game, I took a look at the tight ends. As you would expect, I skipped right on past Heath Miller’s work–he’s really good, we all know that. But I did keep an eye on each of the other four tight ends, partly to see who has improved and partly to see who is making the best argument for the No. 3 tight end job.
Once again I tallied up how many successful plays each player had. As always remember that we don’t know the play calls, so there are no promises that these grades are perfect by any means. And I’m only looking at the result, not the technique that got a player to those results.
| Bright | 7 of 10 | 70.0% |
| McHugh | 19 of 21 | 90.5% |
| Johnson | 24 of 31 | 77.4% |
| Spaeth | 17 of 20 | 85.0% |
Matt Spaeth: You don’t see much talk about it, but the most improved player on the Steelers may be Spaeth. For the past three years, Spaeth has been horribly miscast as the second tight end on a team that throws to only one tight end (Miller). The Steelers’ No. 2 tight end typically lines up to the inside of Miller and is often asked to pass block. For the past three years, that’s meant that Spaeth has been tossed aside by linebackers and defensive ends to blow up plays all over the field. Considering that Spaeth caught a grand total of five passes last year, it has been fair to wonder why the Steelers would play a pass-first tight end when blocking is so much more of the job.
At 6-foot-7, 270 pounds, there is no real reason Spaeth couldn’t develop into a solid blocker, and it seems like that is finally dawning on Spaeth. He was great as a blocker in the Lions’ game, and I was interested to see if he could keep it up against the Giants.
Generally he did. Spaeth had some very good blocks in the running game and he handled Osi Umienyora several times as a pass blocker. He did almost completely whiff on a block of Justin Tuck on one occasion and he could sometimes stick with his block a little longer, but if Spaeth can keep this up, it will make a significant difference in the Steelers’ running game.
And why is that important? In 20 plays on Saturday, Spaeth only went out for a pass five times.
| Play | Result | Good Play |
| 1 | Asked to pass block Unimeyora by himself, does good job as he rides him inside | Yes |
| 2 | Run his way, blocks down on LB, slides off too soon to pick up second man and LB makes tackle. Hard to say if it was by design or not | Yes |
| 3 | Out in pattern, catches pass | Yes |
| 4 | Dominating block. Puts his man on the ground and drives him 3 yards | Yes |
| 5 | Blocks Umienyora by himself, holds his own and drives to the whistle | Yes |
| 6 | Blocks #59, moves him inside, but loses him late. Could have sustained block longer. Doesn’t matter as Mendenhall already tackled | Yes |
| 7 | One-on-one block on Boley. Locks him up, moves him and creates hole Mendenhall runs through | Yes |
| 8 | Goes out for pass. But locks up his man as it was a designed screen. | Yes |
| 9 | OK job on DE (#91) on run the other way | Yes |
| 10 | Surprises DE with block on double-team. Gets DE’s feet off ground, then loses him. Needs to sustain longer | No |
| 11 | Beaten terribly by DE on pass rush. Tuck gets a QB pressure | No |
| 12 | Playing as second fullback in full house. Cut block puts Kiwanuka on the ground | Yes |
| 13 | Good job pass blocking Tollefson. Stuffs him at line | Yes |
| 14 | Goes out for pass. Open underneath, but Wallace open for 68 yd TD | Yes |
| 15 | Solid job blocking DE on backside of nice run to left | Yes |
| 16 | Goes out for pass—not on TV screen | Yes |
| 17 | Flanked out as slot WR. Decoy | Yes |
| 18 | Asked to stand still on fake spike/sneak | Yes |
| 19 | Easy block on quick pass other way | Yes |
| 20 | Poor cut block doesn’t work on run other way | No |
David Johnson: The favorite for the third-team tight end job showed excellent blocking ability last year as a rookie. He’s also shown some versatility as he can line up at fullback or tight end.
But on Saturday, I didn’t see much of the outstanding blocking that is Johnson’s key to a job — he’s easily the worst pass catcher among Pittsburgh’s tight ends. There were several plays where Johnson’s man made the tackle. But Johnson did show flashes — he popped a defensive end so hard to put him on the ground and he managed to chip a defensive end before blocking a linebacker a couple of times.
| Play | Result | Good Play |
| 1 | Asked to block Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka gets inside of Johnson’s block, rides the block down the line and tackles Moore | No |
| 2 | Out for pass, covered well by LB | Yes |
| 3 | Easy block on quick pass other way | Yes |
| 4 | Doesn’t really do much of anything on run other way | No |
| 5 | Double teams Tollefson with Hills. Together they drive him back | Yes |
| 6 | Blocks Pierre-Paul by himself, drives him off line | Yes |
| 7 | Back as FB in pass pro. Not much to do with 4-man rush | Yes |
| 8 | Open underneath on pass, but Sanders open deeper | Yes |
| 9 | Lined up as full house, tough block to make as Tollefson is past him before he reaches line | No |
| 10 | So-so block on WR screen. Punches well, but can’t stick the block | Yes |
| 11 | In pattern on pass other way | Yes |
| 12 | Blocks no one | No |
| 13 | Loses Tollefson after initial hit, but does recover to block LB. Hard to say if that was by design or not | Yes |
| 14 | Blocks Tollefson initially then releases and picks up safety. Nice block | Yes |
| 15 | Blocks DE OK on pass other way | Yes |
| 16 | Great job. Blocks DE then helps out on LB | Yes |
| 17 | Sustains block, but his man (LB) still makes tackle | No |
| 18 | Not much to do in pass pro | Yes |
| 19 | Best block of the night by any TE? Ferocious pop on DE puts him on ground. Then locks up LB on Dixon run outside | Yes |
| 20 | Nice sustained block on outside | Yes |
| 21 | Nothing pretty, but effective in stalemating DE on run inside | Yes |
| 22 | Nice block on LB on fumbled snap | Yes |
| 23 | Drives DE back, although run the other way | Yes |
| 24 | Helps Jonathan Scott cave the DE | Yes |
| 25 | Goes out for pass. Was open | Yes |
| 26 | Helps on DE then picks up LB | Yes |
| 27 | DT’s #73. Gets bowled over by ball carrier | No |
| 28 | Dominating block on DE, drives him off ball and down line. Although almost by accident DE makes tackle, but only after first down | Yes |
| 29 | Screw-up? DT’s DE with Scott, but lets LB run by him for TFL | No |
| 30 | Blocks backside DE | Yes |
| 31 | Wisely doesn’t block on bootleg as it may have been clip | Yes |
Sean McHugh: McHugh spent all of the 2009 season on injured reserve as the Steelers decided they’d rather pay him then watch him potentially go to the Bengals, who were desperate for tight end help. Now he’s facing a tough road to a roster spot; to win it he’ll have to beat out the younger and equally talented Johnson. Both McHugh and Johnson played fullback on Saturday, but McHugh looks much more like he understands the role of a fullback — he is very quick to select a target and has no problems meeting him like an angry ram in the hole. He was the most consistent blocker against the Giants, although he also faced almost exclusively third- and fourth-stringers.
| Play | Result | Good Play |
| 1 | Handles Pierre-Paul by himself on pass other way | Yes |
| 2 | Solid job turning Pierre-Paul on run inside | Yes |
| 3 | Pierre-Paul takes wide rush, makes McHugh’s block very easy | Yes |
| 4 | At FB, doesn’t really block anyone as he leads through hole | No |
| 5 | At FB. Solid block gets a good shove leading on screen | Yes |
| 6 | Makes blocking Tollefson look easy | Yes |
| 7 | At FB, good block on MLB | Yes |
| 8 | Blocking DE. DT help from Johnson puts him on the ground | Yes |
| 9 | Makes DE look like a safety. Drives him and turns him. | Yes |
| 10 | From 2 puts his man in end zone | Yes |
| 11 | Fumbled snap nothing to do | Yes |
| 12 | His worst block of night. Quickly thrown aside by Tollefson who gets into backfield | No |
| 13 | At FB. Good cut block on DE | Yes |
| 14 | Hustles downfield to block S on screen | Yes |
| 15 | Goes into pattern. Was open but pass knocked down at line | Yes |
| 16 | At FB. Kicks out S | Yes |
| 17 | At FB. Meets MLB in hole, but RB cuts back | Yes |
| 18 | At FB. Finds S coming off edge and crunches him | Yes |
| 19 | OK block on backside DE | Yes |
| 20 | At FB. Has to dive to find DE to block | Yes |
| 21 | Solid block on bootleg first down | Yes |
Eugene Bright: A converted defensive end who is learning how to play tight end, Bright is the perfect player for the practice squad (a role he filled last year). Bright has a little trouble maintaining his blocks to the whistle, but he does show good inline strength and had as many impressive blocks as bad ones.
| Play | Result | Good Play |
| 1 | Very good block on S Greco | Yes |
| 2 | Loses battle of strength as DE slides off to make tackle | No |
| 3 | Decent block on DE on pass other way | Yes |
| 4 | Goes out for pass | Yes |
| 5 | Cut block on DE who pops up to make tackle | No |
| 6 | Blocks #73 with help from Johnson. For DT it’s not great as DE stuffs hole | No |
| 7 | Plays patty-cake with DE giving poor effort | Yes |
| 8 | Stays locked up with his man, but no push | Yes |
| 9 | Great job sealing corner on sweep | Yes |
| 10 | Good block on DE on bootleg | Yes |
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