{"id":294622,"date":"2025-08-17T05:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/294622\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T05:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:49:12","slug":"wilson-wins-deep-concern-with-frazier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/294622\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilson Wins Deep, Concern with Frazier?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Steelers\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers will not be going undefeated this year, at least in the preseason. After a late interception courtesy of Logan Woodside set them up with excellent field position, the Tampa Bay Bucs were able to kick a game-winning field goal as the clock struck zero. The run game struggled early, putting them in less than advantageous third-down situations, something that head coach Mike Tomlin highlighted at halftime. Nonetheless, the final score doesn\u2019t really matter whatsoever. This part of the process is just about evaluating the young talent on the roster and praying that you exit the game injury-free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about some winners and losers from tonight\u2019s action before Pittsburgh\u2019s quick turnaround for the preseason finale on Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dude: WR Roman Wilson<\/p>\n

After his first target was intercepted due to no fault of his own, the Michigan man took the top off the defense on the offense\u2019s second drive of the game. He flew past Bucs starting CB Jamel Dean on a post route, getting wide open, and he likely would have scored if the ball wasn\u2019t underthrown. Shortly after that, Wilson helped create another explosive play, finding himself wide open on a crossing route over the middle after what looked like busted coverage from a defensive perspective. It\u2019s been encouraging to see him flash in back-to-back weeks. Equally promising is that Arthur Smith seems to have a good feel on how to simplify the game for him and put him in positions to succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dud: ILB Payton Wilson<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson before a game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 8, 2024. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

As is the case with all of these bullet points, keep in mind the small sample size. But both he and the coaches have talked up his coverage ability all summer long, and he struggled in that regard tonight. Bucs tight end Cade Otton had a step on him over the middle for a first down, but fortunately the ball was dropped. A few plays later, he wasn\u2019t as lucky. Wilson was in phase with tailback Bucky Irving, but he was unable to get his eyes back to the ball in time. In totality, it\u2019s nothing to fret about and more about acknowledging the peaks and valleys of young players, even ones this athletically gifted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dude: DT Derrick Harmon<\/p>\n

When first-round picks get playing time in a preseason setting, there\u2019s a basic understanding that they should look the part, especially if they\u2019re going up against backups. Tonight, Derrick Harmon lived up to his draft pedigree. His highlight play was a devastating bull rush, collapsing the pocket en route to his first professional sack (kinda). There\u2019s a good amount of untapped power potential present here given his length, if the rookie can continue to work on his pad level. It wasn\u2019t perfect against the run, but he did register another stop in that regard as well. Overall, it was a solid performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb at practice on May 27, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Dude: Cole Holcomb<\/p>\n

One of the coolest feel-good stories of the entire preseason is Cole Holcomb, after working his tail off in his recovery from a devastating injury that cost him all of the 2024 season. He was extremely active during the time that he was on the field defensively, notching a couple stops near the line of scrimmage on run plays. More importantly than the box score numbers, he looks the part from an athleticism standpoint. It\u2019s difficult to see what his actual role will be once the team enters the regular season, but the Steelers have the necessary depth to withstand the rigors associated with play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dud: C Zach Frazier<\/p>\n

The second-year man in the pivot only lands on this list for one specific reason: errant snaps out of the gun. This was a thing early last season but seemed to get straightened out over time. However, it\u2019s become even more noticeable since camp began. There were multiple that essentially rolled their way back to the quarterback tonight, making it difficult for them to corral and remain on time with the passing progression. He\u2019s not the only high-end center to have this issue, with Creed Humphrey also coming to mind. With that being said, it\u2019s something that needs to be cleaned up, and fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Logan Lee at training camp on Aug. 3, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Dude: DT Logan Lee\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who knows when the last time Logan Lee snapped a football was, but due to an injury to Christian Kuntz, the Steelers needed him to step into that role tonight mid-game. The first attempt on the extra point was a touch low, but after that, things looked fine for the most part. That\u2019s a seriously impressive display of versatility. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, it\u2019s not going to be enough for him to make the 53-man roster, but perhaps this new skill can help him extend his pro career in some form or fashion. As they say, \u201cthe more that you can do\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Jack Sawyer at rookie minicamp on May 10, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Dud: OLB Jack Sawyer<\/p>\n

Few players on the roster have received more playing time over the past two weeks than Jack Sawyer, a wise decision given the other known commodities at the edge spot. However, he\u2019s not done a lot with those opportunities. All throughout the game, he kept trying to win on the outside track and was routinely pushed up the arc. PFF tagged him with just one pressure and a 4.5% win-rate on their initial viewing. It\u2019s definitely worth acknowledging that most of those reps came against Tampa Bay\u2019s backup tackles that are more developmental players than established veterans. He\u2019s going to be at a disadvantage athletically, so using the rest of his rookie season to figure out a pass rush plan revolving more around craftiness mixed with power would be ideal.<\/p>\n

Dude: RB Lew Nichols<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty obvious that the coaching staff is doing everything in their power to get Kaleb Johnson ready for real games, and it\u2019s led to reduced snaps for others further down on the depth chart. Make no mistake about it, Nichols is making the most of his chances. His 37-yard scamper was Pittsburgh\u2019s second-longest play from scrimmage tonight. He followed that up with an impressive hands catch away from his frame. On the same drive, he stepped up in the A-gap to pick up an oncoming blitzer and gave the quarterback just enough time to get rid of the ball. The stiff arm last week was a fun highlight, but he\u2019s making a legitimate push for a potential practice squad spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dudes: Corliss Waitman and Cameron Johnston<\/p>\n

Punters are people, too. In fact, this is one of the few positional battles left to be settled before the Steelers have to shrink their roster down to just 53 players. Waitman, the team\u2019s punter last season, was crushing the ball to the tune of 58 yards per boot. In his return from a season-ending injury, Johnston nailed a pair of punts inside the twenty. The best-case scenario is that they both continue to play well and the Steelers recoup some sort of draft pick swap for their losses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Roman Wilson<\/a> Steelers<\/a> top<\/a> Zach Frazier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers Analysis The Pittsburgh Steelers will not be going undefeated this year, at least in the preseason. After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,57,4112,426,3444,11462],"class_list":{"0":"post-294622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","10":"tag-roman-wilson","11":"tag-steelers","12":"tag-top","13":"tag-zach-frazier"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115042540952978257","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}