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At first, the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base saw a linebacker running around the field wearing No. 51 wondering, “Who is this guy?”
That guy running around the field was none other than rookie Tuzar Skipper. Skipper has such a unique name many remember it, but people are starting to remember his play as well after he provided another stellar performance on Sunday night when the Steelers went into Tennessee and dominated the Titans 18-6 in Week 3 of the NFL Preseason.
Skipper is becoming a player that would be extremely difficult to cut ties with if you are the Steelers, but at outside linebacker how does he fit into the 53-man roster? Last season the Steelers kept just three outside linebackers on their roster, but will they inflate that number to 5, assuming they keep Anthony Chickillo, Ola Adeniyi and Skipper?
Either way, Skipper’s Week 3 performance was a good one, to the point where Pro Football Focus (PFF) gave him some credit in their refocus article. However, with the good comes the bad, and PFF talked about how Isaiah Buggs hasn’t been very good for the black-and-gold, especially on Sunday night.
Check out what PFF had to say about the game:
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
In his first 2019 action, Ben Roethlisberger hit on a deep post to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a touchdown that looked like mid-season form. But he also missed on a couple of short passes that should have been easy completions.
After James Washington‘s disappointing rookie season, he’s looking significantly improved this preseason. He only caught one pass on Sunday night, but it was a throw of 40-plus air yards from Mason Rudolph on a post route for a touchdown, his second score of the preseason. It’s nearly impossible to replace the caliber of Antonio Brown, but Washington stepping up this season would help mitigate the loss and take some attention off Smith-Schuster.
Stephon Tuitt turned in a quality performance in this one, starring as a pass-rusher on multiple snaps en route to two sacks among several other positive plays.
Tuzar Skipper has been impressive all preseason. The undrafted rookie out of Toldeo added another sack to keep his streak of a sack in every preseason game.
Rookie Takeaways
As mentioned above, Tuzar Skipper has been lights out all preseason and continued to dominate the line of scrimmage against Tennesse. Isaiah Buggs struggled significantly in the trenches. The former ‘Bama standout struggled to get off blocks in run defense and when rushing the passer.
What do you think of PFF’s analysis? Is it on point, not just with Skipper but other players too? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!