When the Steelers got to Latrobe today, the mood around camp already felt different. New players, new coaches and new routines are all part of the picture, and the biggest change comes from Mike McCarthy: no live tackling during Training Camp.
That decision has a logic to it, and it’s not hard to see why some coaches have gone this route. Around the league, plenty of teams have backed away from tackling in camp over the years, leaning on the idea that NFL players already know how to bring someone down by the time they reach this level. There can still be adjustments to technique, but most of these guys have been playing football for more than a decade.
Health is the other big reason. Taking live tackling out of camp cuts down the chance of injuries, which matters when owners are paying a lot of money for these players. Fewer collisions should mean fewer bodies breaking down before the season even starts.
Still, the Steelers’ tackling issues make this a tough sell.
The numbers from last season tell the story. Patrick Queen led the team with 17 missed tackles, followed by Payton Wilson with 10, Brandin Echols with 9, Jalen Ramsey with 8 and Darius Slay with 7.
JPJ, Malik Harrison, Cole Holcomb and Nick Herbig each had 6, while Benton, Watt and Pierre had 5. Of the 12 players with the most missed tackles, 10 are back this year.
As a team, Pittsburgh finished third in the NFL in missed tackles, behind only the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders, according to pro-football-reference.com. The Steelers were credited with 126 missed tackles, which makes the decision to skip live tackling in camp feel even harder to understand.
The expectation is that Patrick Graham’s group won’t avoid tackling work altogether. There should still be plenty of emphasis on pursuit angles, wrapping up and knowing when to go low or high. That can all be drilled with dummies and those big donuts.
But there’s still no substitute for the real thing. If this were already a strong tackling team, the issue would be easy to shrug off. It isn’t, and that’s why leaving tackling out of camp feels like a risky move.
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