The Pittsburgh Steelers were back at Saint Vincent College for their 2026 Training Camp. The players are getting acclimated back to life on campus, and developing some unity before camp breaks before Week 3 of the NFL Preseason.
With all that said, it should be noted how there were plenty of other reports, which can be found in our tracker from yesterday. However, the players get back on the practice field moving forward.
The pads were back on Saturday, the annual night practice, so let’s get to the Top 3 takeaways from Day 9.
1 – Offensive line growth
When the Steelers hold their annual night practice, it is one of the more physical practices of training camp. Even though Mike McCarthy is now the coach, that didn’t change. Throughout one-on-ones, the offensive line showed serious growth in many ways. Sure, there were players who lost reps, they always do, but there were plenty who stood out.
Broderick Jones had himself a nice practice, which is good to see.
Broderick Jones having a nice day in 1-on-1 vs pass rush. He put Nick Herbig on his butt and finished the period by holding off Jack Sawyer.
Jones turned around and hit the defense with a celebratory crotch chop after winning the last rep, getting a good laugh from the crowd.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 8, 2026
He wasn’t alone, as many other players had strong showings at Latrobe High School in front of over two-thousand fans.
Some impressive reps from the younger defensive linemen tonight. Kyler Baugh had two wins in my charting, including an explosive get-off to beat Gregory Crippen cleanly. Gabriel Rubio also flashed with a win during the period. #Steelers
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) August 8, 2026
Dylan Cook had a strong showing against T.J. Watt in one-on-ones tonight. I had Cook winning both of their reps, keeping Watt from getting to the quarterback each time. #Steelers
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) August 8, 2026
A notable rep, outside of those above, was Troy Fautanu taking Cam Heyward to a knee. However, Heyward isn’t one to be put down that easily.
Troy Fautanu with a snatch-trap on Cam Heyward to put Heyward on his knees. A rare rep.
Of course, the next time Heyward came up, he long-arms Mason McCormick 8 yards deep into the pocket.
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) August 8, 2026
It’s good to see some of the Steelers young offensive linemen starting to round into form vs. the Pittsburgh defensive front. It will be interesting to see how they do against the Green Bay Packers Thursday night.
2 – When do we start talking about the 6th Round pick?
Of the ten drafted players in the 2026 NFL Draft, the one who caused the most confusion with the fans was 6th Round pick Gabriel Rubio. Throughout the offseason there have been some reports of Rubio being unbelievable in run support. I was excited to see what Rubio could do in training camp.
So far, the reports on Rubio are extremely positive. He was already listed as the second nose tackle on the first depth chart released, and he turned some heads during the night practice Saturday night.
Rookie DL Gabriel Rubio makes a big play on 4th-and-1 in 11-on-11. Rubio blew up a Lew Nichols run up the middle, with Sebastian Castro coming in to finish the stop. Defense wins the short-yardage rep. #Steelers
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) August 8, 2026
Gabriel Rubio with some very solid power rush reps. Dude’s huge in the middle. Having a solid camp so far.
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) August 8, 2026
I’m not about to suggest Rubio could supplant Yahya Black as the team’s nose tackle, but he is putting himself in position where he could actually make the 53-man roster. He might not earn himself a helmet on game days, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to see Rubio do enough to make the team. If he is able to do that, it very well could be the shock of camp, at least when it comes to the 2026 NFL Draft class.
3 – “Franco” Moments
Mike Tomlin had “Seven Shots”, and Mike McCarthy has “Franco” Moments. Similar to the “pop quiz” which he had earlier in training camp, it is a situation where he pits the offense vs. the defense is competitive situations. While it might not warrant the tracking of “Seven Shots”, there were three attempts on Saturday night.
All won by the defense as practice got kicked off.
Here is the run-down on how things went:
The defense wins the Franco Moment™️ with a pair of first-play turnovers.
– AR picked off by Jamel Dean
-Will Howard’s attempt ends with a botched handoff to Lew Nichols. Jobity recovers
In between, Mason led a 2-minute drill into FG range, but Laith Marjan missed from 45.
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) August 8, 2026
McCarthy is certainly putting his own spin on this training camp, and he absolutely is finding unique ways to create competition, and execution, throughout camp. It just so happens the defense has been a step ahead of the offense for the majority of these moments throughout 2026 camp.
Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they continue through training camp at Saint Vincent College.