LATROBE, Pa. -- Donte Moncrief was having a strong start to Steelers training camp before suffering a finger injury. He had clearly established himself as the team's second best receiver behind JuJu Smith-Schuster. In his absence the team has seen plenty of impressive catches and routes from James Washington, even against the team's best defensive back in Joe Haden.
But Moncrief flashed chemistry with Ben Roethlisberger in his first few practices, and more than just running the fly routes he became known for with the Colts and Jaguars. Today let's look at the route running skills he flashed last year and my camp notes on what he's shown in Latrobe:
Moncrief has proven to be a decent receiver. He's a deep threat with his speed, but Roethlisberger needs receivers who can present multiple threats in their route tree and get open at different parts of the field. Moncrief's tape shows he has the ability, but he will need it to be a little sharper.
Watch how he makes this comeback route work against the Colts' Quincy Wilson, a second-year cornerback. Moncrief gets the job done but takes a few too many steps and only creates space because Wilson slips:
In that situation, Moncrief should be able to make the turn at the top of the route a few steps quicker and come back to the ball a little harder to create more space. Had Wilson not lost his footing, that passing window might not have been nearly as big.
Moncrief can be quick and explosive, but the key is improving his footwork to maximize his athleticism and get away from defenders trailing him. Watch how he's able to back off T.J. Watt in his shake route. He does just enough to back Watt off in his hook zone to turn and present a clear target for Blake Bortles:
But what's different now is Moncrief has a chance to work with an experienced veteran and franchise quarterback in Roethlisberger. He got limited time with Andrew Luck, but other than that he's had a hard time finding consistent quality quarterbacks.
Roethlisberger is used to working with shifty receivers and helping them get open underneath tighter coverages. Just last Thursday, Roethlisberger spent time working with Josh Dobbs in a red zone drill by showing him how to use pump fakes to back off defenders. Having someone like that can help Moncrief create that separation.
Moncrief has shown quicker and sharper routes this camp. After several days off, Moncrief will be working to meet and exceed the improvement he had shown and be a threat for Roethlisberger, both in deep routes and closer routes that require more technical footwork.
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