The Family Business - Cade Cannon et al

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[The JZA]

Cody taking the Niners on a big season spree, catching dubs after dubs

Ready to see what Cade is about

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[Agent]

So if he can play QB & WR does that make him… dual threat

[djp73]

Quintuple threat

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The Steelers need to start Cannon at QB next Sunday
By Michael Beck | @MichaelBeck56 | Dec 24, 2019, 11:07am EDT



With Ben Roethlisberger out this season has looked drastically different for the Steelers offense. Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges have taken turns starting games at QB. Despite Hodges' solid efforts that inspired “duck mania” early on the play at QB has left much to be desired.

However, these past two games against the Bills and Jets have given us some hope in the form of QB/WR/Pirates outfielder Cade Cannon. Cannon has stepped in at QB for a struggling Hodges in each of those games. He took over midway through the fourth quarter against Buffalo and right after halftime against the Jets.

I've just finished re-watching every snap Cannon has taken at QB for the Steelers and I've come to the following conclusion: Cannon is the most talented and dynamic QB the Steelers currently have on the roster.

Despite being extremely inexperienced due to not joining the team until October after the Pirates' baseball season had ended Cannon gives the team the best chance to win against Baltimore this Sunday.

Cannon's cannon (sorry) for an arm and his ability to make plays with his legs give the Steelers offense dimensions they have been missing with Rudolph and Hodges taking the snaps. Cannon can keep plays alive and either hit a receiver that gets open late or make the defense pay by running.

We've seen what Hodges brings to the table and Rudolph was placed on injured reserve earlier today.

Cannon played QB for two possessions against Buffalo. On his first snap in that game he ran for a gain of 30 yards. He finished 3/6 passing for 26 yards with a pair of runs for 36 yards.



Sunday, against the Jets, the sample size was bigger. Cannon took over for Hodges after halftime and despite a very small playbook he kept the Steelers in the game. He connected with Diontae Johnson for a 33 yard touchdown and drove the team into scoring position to set up Boswell for a field goal, tying the game up midway through the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh's final two possessions fizzled out and the Jets added a pair of Sam Ficken field goals to secure the 16-10 win.



Despite the small playbook and Cannon's obvious and expected lack of familiarity with the offense his arm and athleticism threatened the Jets defense much more than anything Hodges was able to do in the first half. Cannon allowed the offense to stretch the field both vertically and horizontally.

Cannon finished up the Jets game 6/13 passing for 68 yards and a touchdown and ran 3 times for 27 yards. He had a 26 yard run called back on a holding penalty as well.



With one game left in the season and Roethlisberger's future questionable at best it would behoove the Steelers to get a longer look at Cannon right now and see what they may have.

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Cannon turns in solid performance in loss to Ravens
By Michael Beck | @MichaelBeck56 | Dec 29, 2019, 8:07pm EDT



Moments ago the Steelers season came to an end with a 28-24 loss to the Ravens. While 8-8 may not seem like a very good season, especially in Pittsburgh, the fact that they were able to finish .500 without Roethlisberger is a testament to Tomlin and others in the organization. I'll do a full breakdown of the season in the coming days but right now I want to talk about Cade Cannon.

Cannon joined the team in October after wrapping up baseball season with the Pirates. At first he split time at QB and WR in practice before being activated at WR in week twelve against the Bengals. Cannon saw some reps at WR against Cincinnati, Cleveland and Arizona. In week fifteen at Buffalo he was in at WR for a handful of reps before taking over for Devlin Hodges at QB midway through the fourth quarter. On his first snap at QB he ran for a 30 yard gain. Pittsburgh lost to the Bills 17-10.

The following week at the Jets Cannon once again took over for Hodges, this time just after halftime. Cannon threw a TD pass to Diontae Johnson and set up Boswell for a game tying field goal before the Jets closed out the game with a pair of field goals.

This past Thursday Coach Tomlin announced that Cannon would get the start against Baltimore.

Despite being with the team for less than three months and practicing at QB for less than half of that time Cannon turned in one of the best performances we've seen from a Steelers passer this season.



Cannon threw for 202 yards on 12 of 22 passing with a touchdown and an interception, he ran for 76 yards on nine carries, including a rushing touchdown. Cannon connected with six different receivers and put pressure on the Ravens defense in multiple ways, extending plays with his legs and stretching the field vertically, both things we haven't seen much of this season.

Not surprisingly the playbook looked pretty limited but Cannon made even some basic plays exciting. The interception came on what looked to be a timing route where Cannon expected an in cut and the receiver made an out cut, not sure who that was on but again, with the limited reps at QB it wouldn't be surprising if it was on Cannon. Overall it was a solid outing for Cannon, who outplayed the Ravens' starter RGIII.

This creates an interesting situation for the Steelers. Roethlisberger has said he will be back next season but we don't know how good he will be. Regardless, Ben is 37 and I'm guessing he doesn't have more than one or two more seasons left. Can Cannon develop enough to eventually replace Roethlisberger as the starter? Does he want to? Would he rather continue to split time between football and baseball and be a “slash” type player when the Steelers have his services? At this

[Agent]

Solid pass game despite the loss. Interesting what Pittsburg will do with the QB situation. Cannon’s about to spoil Big Ben’s farewell tour

[djp73]

[Agent]

Big time play maker