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Buckskin86
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Steelers notebook: Defensive end Heyward hopes weight loss leads to gain in impact
August 2, 2013
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward takes a rest during afternoon practice at Saint Vincent College.
By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After putting on nearly 20 pounds last season, former No. 1 draft pick Cam Heyward has gone back to his college playing weight so he can move better and be a more consistent contributor in the Steelers defense.
And the time for him to do so is now.
Or so says the player he can't move out at defensive right end -- Brett Keisel.
"We always say the third year is the year where everything should start to come together," Keisel said. "He's there. It's just doing it. He can do it."
Heyward has done little in two seasons. A No. 1 draft choice in 2011, he and Ziggy Hood, another No. 1 pick, were going to be the future of the team's aging defensive line. Hood has worked himself into a serviceable and dependable starter on the left side, having never missed a game in four years.
Heyward has appeared in all 32 games in two seasons, but he has struggled with his technique and assignments. The Steelers are waiting for him to have some type of impact.
"I want to just be more consistent, have the coaches have a lot of trust in me and, when I'm out there, make sure my presence is felt, " Heyward said Thursday after the morning practice.
Heyward came to training camp at 295 pounds, his weight from his college days at Ohio State. That is nearly 20 pounds less than last year when he beefed up to 315 pounds because he thought he had to get bigger and stronger to play in the NFL.
"I just think it can help moving down the line and staying with my technique," Heyward said. "You have to be able to move down the line and be able to move laterally. And, on the pass rush, it will help out a lot. I'll be able to get off the ball a lot quicker. It's not like I lost any of my muscle. I definitely kept hitting the weights and just got in better shape."
Heyward said that will help him become more consistent.
"Just take that next step," said Keisel, who enters his 12th season and will be 35 in September. "Our style of defense is all about consistency -- going out and playing consistent, week in and week out. And, as a young guy, sometimes that's hard to do.
"Cam's been here three years. He knows the defense now. It's just making that next step of being a very consistent, day-in, day-out player."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...leads-to-gain-in-impact-697784/#ixzz2aoQelqcQ
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Buckskin86
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Steelers DE Cameron Heyward earns top defensive marks for performance against Chiefs
By Neal Coolong @NealCoolong on Aug 26 2013, 7:58a +
Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE
Former Steelers first round pick Cameron Heyward is showing life with new defensive responsibilities.
Pro Football Focus, an evaluation web site, gave Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward a 3.3 grade - the highest among Steelers defensive players - for his performance in Saturday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Heyward was given credit for a sack, two pressures and four hurries. It is the highest grade the site has ever given Heyward.
Heading into the 2013 season, Heyward is one of the biggest question marks on the team. A first round draft pick in 2011, he hasn't managed to get on the field often so far in his career. However, with a more upfield-aggressive style the Steelers plan to implement in the 2013 regular season, Heyward's explosiveness may be better utilized than the two-gap technique the Steelers' defensive ends have employed for the last several years.
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...ades-evaluations-kansas-city-chiefs-preseason
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Buckskin86
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Cameron Heyward eyes breakthrough year
September, 5, 2013
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com
Unsolicited praise from his head coach did not elicit much more than a shrug of the shoulders from Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward.
Heyward It's not that Heyward didn't appreciate what Mike Tomlin said about the former doing well in training camp and the preseason. But, as Heyward said, they are just words.
“You've got to take the preseason and training camp with a grain of salt right now because the regular season is a different battle and you've got a whole different scheme,” Heyward said. “I'm looking forward to going out there and executing my job, but I can only say it's a start. I can only improve on that and run with it.”
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http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/83686/cameron-heyward-eyes-breakthrough-year
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Buckskin86
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Cameron Heyward coming alive for Steelers' defense
By Neal Coolong @NealCoolong on Sep 17 2013
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport
One agile and heads-up play by Cameron Heyward personified a defensive line that's played with aggressive and savvy in the Steelers' first two games this season.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward threw up his meaty left arm.
He was reading Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton more than trying to get past his blocker. Sealing up potential run lanes, and making sure the pocket was, at worst, staying uncomfortably close to the passer.
Dalton gave Heyward and the Steelers' secondary a look to their right, an attempt to look off coverage. He quickly turned and fired to the defense's left, expecting a clear lane.
It may not seem like it was much, but Heyward, a right-hander, got his left arm in the air, and tipped the pass upward.
At the right of making a simple swatted pass seem magnanimous in the Steelers' 20-10 loss, it was the highlight of Heyward's night. And judging by his general lack of production over his 2-plus years of experience, it may be his career highlight.
Heyward's play personified the best thing the Steelers have going for themselves as a team; an active and aware defensive line. He didn't quite reach unblockable status, but he caused enough disruption (two tipped passes on the night) to make onlookers notice the Steelers' front three is getting much more push and is in position to make more plays through the first two games this season than it seemed they did all of 2012.
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http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...is-report-card-defensive-line-cameron-heyward
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Buckskin86
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Heyward progressing at end for Steelers
November 8, 2013
Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cameron Heyward jokes with Ike Taylor last Sunday during pre-game warmups at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
By Ray Fittipaldo/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Craig “Ironhead” Heyward played 11 seasons in the NFL after a standout career at Pitt. A 5-foot-11, 265-pound battering-ram of a running back, Heyward endured the physical rigors of the game en route to 4,301 yards and 30 touchdowns with the Saints, Bears, Falcons, Rams and Colts.
Football gave Heyward fame, but he never pushed the game on his children. Heyward and his ex-wife, Charlotte, who grew up in Highland Park and attended Pitt, discouraged their sons from playing the sport.
Corey Heyward listened and is now a redshirt freshman on the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team. Cameron, a third-year defensive end for the Steelers, did not.
“They tried to steer me away from football, but I liked it too much,” said Heyward, who is in his first season as a starter. “I don’t think any father wants his son to go through punishment. But I’m kind of crazy to where I like that.”
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Read more: [url]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2013/11/09/Son-of-Ironhead-turning-into-bright-spot-for-Steelers/stories/#ixzz2kWuIbM7c[/URL]
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Buckskin86
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Cam Heyward on rise for Steelers
November, 21, 2013
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com
PITTSBURGH -- The jump that defensive end Cameron Heyward has made in his third NFL season has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
Heyward "Cam's been amazing this year," Steelers' free safety Ryan Clark said. "He was coming into a year where he needed to show something. He was coming into a year where guys were talking, 'Is Cam Heyward going to do anything?'"
Heyward has answered such questions in resounding fashion and become a cornerstone on a defense that badly needed some of its younger players to emerge. The best part for the Steelers is the former first-round draft pick is one of the few who refuses to acknowledge that he has arrived.
"I'm just trying to get better," Heyward said. "I'm trying to hold up my end of the bargain."
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http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/102315/cam-heyward-on-rise-for-steelers
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