STEELERS 101

On Friday, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally opened their 2012 training camp to the fans, and all the buzz was about rookie running back Chris Rainey, who flashed confidence, speed and one of the brightest shirt and show combinations to hit Latrobe in some time.

Rainey is a small 5-8, 180 pounds, but extremely versatile and explosive athlete that has the ability to make an impact on both offense and special teams. In fact, he may have the most natural explosion with the ball in his hands of any player in this draft. During his career at Florida, he split time between multiple positions and looks the part of a natural receiver and change-of-pace back in the NFL.

In fact, during the brief glimpses of the new offense, he looked quite at home as a receiver out of the backfield on the multiple screen passes and flairs that were put on display.

More importantly for teams, he was also a special teams dynamo at Florida school and SEC records with six blocked punts over his career on top of his return skills. This trend looks to continue with the Steelers as the young speedster talked about the importance of special teams performance during multiple interviews.

While he is talented, there are some red flags, as he has both medical (shoulder) and character concerns. That being said, he was a teammate with All Pro Center Maurkice Pouncey in high school and in college at Florida, which should help his transition to the NFL.

Not practicing on Friday were Mike Wallace (holdout), James Harrison, Casey Hampton, Jason Worilds, Damon Cromartie-Smith, Rashard Mendenhall and Max Starks (PUP), Heath Miller (ankle) and Alameda Ta’amu (foot). On Saturday, the Steelers will hold their first practice in full pads, which will change the days dynamic tremendously. 

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Tags: Alameda Ta'amu, Casey Hampton, Chris Rainey, Damon Cromartie-Smith, Florida, Football, Heath Miller, James Harrison, Jason Worilds, Max Starks, Mike Wallace, NFL, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, Rashard Mendenhall

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