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Speaker 1: by JD Power for JD Power two Award Information visit

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Speaker 1: JD power dot com Slash Awards. Is The Drive with

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Speaker 1: Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on your home of the

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Speaker 1: Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio. Welcome to the Drive.

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Speaker 1: I'm Dale Ali here with Matt Williamson. It's a lovely, well,

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Speaker 1: sort of lovely Monday here. The sun is shining now

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Speaker 1: and for some early morning rain storms and we've kind

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Speaker 1: of skipped over spring and right into right into summer here. Uh.

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Speaker 1: The Steelers wrapping up their rookie mini camp over the

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Speaker 1: weekend and they'll h they'll be off now. Until next

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Speaker 1: week when they have their O T A s will start,

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Speaker 1: and of course we'll be broadcasting from down there every

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Speaker 1: day in the afternoon from what I can't wait for that,

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Speaker 1: And of course you can also listen to West Euler

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Speaker 1: and Arthur Moates from ten to one, so six straight

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Speaker 1: hours of Steelers coverage here on Steelers Nation Radio. Um,

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Speaker 1: we'll get some live interviews hopefully, and do some other

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Speaker 1: stuff and they'll be a little more news. But Matt,

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Speaker 1: not a ton of news coming out of rookie mini camping.

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Speaker 1: That's not necessarily a bad thing, no, right, I mean,

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Speaker 1: knock on wood. I mean, sometimes you get an injury

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Speaker 1: or something bad happens or some terrible report. And I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna make too much out of this, but you know,

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Speaker 1: you sent it to me that Traylon Burkes couldn't finish

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Speaker 1: his first practice because of conditioning issues or whatever. Like

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Speaker 1: that's negative. You know, we we we just want positive

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Speaker 1: stuff here, and it sounds like that's the way it's

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Speaker 1: working out so far with the Steelers, and right and

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Speaker 1: you know, pull back the curtain this week or so

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Speaker 1: is difficult to come up with content. I mean, if

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Speaker 1: any of you out there, we have something specific that

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Speaker 1: we haven't touched on tweet us whatever. I mean that

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Speaker 1: that that's certainly something we are always open to. Um.

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Speaker 1: But once we get down there, it'll be great just

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Speaker 1: to see football again, you know. Yeah, absolutely, you know.

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Speaker 1: And for people wondering what these rookie minicamp look like, UM, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I did everything. Uh. The only sessions that we were

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Speaker 1: allowed to watch were on Friday and Saturday. Sunday. They

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Speaker 1: didn't have an open session I assume, as they have

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Speaker 1: typically done in the past. Um, And maybe they didn't

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Speaker 1: do that on Sunday, but then maybe they'll do that

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Speaker 1: later in the in the summer. Here. Um, the Steelers

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Speaker 1: send their rookies every year down to Mel Blunt's youth

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Speaker 1: home and and they do a little thing down there

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Speaker 1: with the with the rookie. So whether they did that

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Speaker 1: on Sunday or not, I don't know for sure. UM.

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Speaker 1: But we were only allowed to watch the walk through

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Speaker 1: portion of practices on Friday and Saturday. So anybody telling

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Speaker 1: you that this guy looked good or that guy looked good,

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Speaker 1: full of HOOI because that's yeah, that they didn't see

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Speaker 1: any more than than you did, or anyone was allowed

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Speaker 1: if someone wants to say, boy, George Pickens really looks

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Speaker 1: the part, or you know, stuff like that is different. Yes,

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Speaker 1: but somebody yeah, talking about how this guy you know

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Speaker 1: through the football or that guy, that guy looked great. Uh,

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Speaker 1: there's none of that, not even in they're not even

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Speaker 1: in pads or in shorts and shirts and they're they're

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Speaker 1: they're walking through how they're going to have a practice.

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Speaker 1: That's what the that's what that whole session was. I

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Speaker 1: will say this. I thought that Kenny Pickett commanded the

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Speaker 1: huddle and had that the air of a quarter back

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Speaker 1: about him, and I don't know, I don't know that

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Speaker 1: you could always say that about rookie quarterbacks in their

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Speaker 1: first practice with a new team. I think that's tremendous.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's not just pulling out something to

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Speaker 1: talk about, because I do think that a command a

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Speaker 1: comfort level is very important for rookie quarterbacks. And I know,

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Speaker 1: you know free sason doesn't matter, but I mean, I

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Speaker 1: think there's something to take away from seeing an NFL

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Speaker 1: rookies at that position first couple of games and do

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Speaker 1: they look like they belong or not. I often say

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Speaker 1: this just and it doesn't mean that they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: a great career a bad career. But I really think

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Speaker 1: step number one hurdle number one for rookie quarterback is

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Speaker 1: do you look like you belong? And rookie minicamp isn't

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Speaker 1: exactly the most challenging endeavor. You know, they're learning how

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Speaker 1: to practice, but looking like you belong, even there, I

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Speaker 1: think carries a lot of weight. It is a very

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Speaker 1: positive sign. Yeah, and I'll say this. You know, I

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Speaker 1: remember talking to Bruce arians about this. Oh man, this

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Speaker 1: is fifteen years ago, and he said, you know, the

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Speaker 1: last thing he says, you know, with a lot of

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Speaker 1: these quarterbacks coming out of college now, they've never taken

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Speaker 1: a snap under center, they've never called plays in the huddle. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, so how do you handle that? And I

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Speaker 1: thought I didn't see any you know, screw ups in

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Speaker 1: those regards. Um. And remember, not only are you learning

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Speaker 1: this brand new offense and terminology and all that stuff.

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Speaker 1: And yes, they're kind of spoon feeding it to you

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Speaker 1: day by day, of course, but you get to play

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Speaker 1: from the coordinator. Then you have to go to the

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Speaker 1: huddle relay that to the other ten guys in the huddle,

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Speaker 1: none of whom you've ever met before. This weekend for

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Speaker 1: the most parts, definitely a challenge. And so you know,

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Speaker 1: I thought he handled that really well, right, And you know,

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Speaker 1: play call are elaborate, you know, it's not just you

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Speaker 1: know in college sometimes you just call Texas and everybody

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Speaker 1: knows what to do or you know, I mean it

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Speaker 1: just just relaying it from what you hear forcefully and

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Speaker 1: with confidence and knowing what you're saying. And look at

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Speaker 1: everyone in the title in the eye, and I'm the

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Speaker 1: guy here, you know, let's go. I'm gonna take get

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Speaker 1: in the right spots to succeed. And then I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: get you to the the football when you're open, and we're

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Speaker 1: gonna get you in the right plays. And I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: be a great conduit between the coaching staff and you

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Speaker 1: young guys while we're out here. I got it, you know.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's a lot of value in that. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And I think the first thing that you said there

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Speaker 1: was it was the most important was the confidence. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Because if you walk into that hollow when you weren't

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Speaker 1: confident with the rookies here and all over yourself and

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Speaker 1: you know, right when the veterans get there and you

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Speaker 1: start calling out plays and they think you don't know

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Speaker 1: what the heck you're talking about. It shows it's gonna

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Speaker 1: you're gonna. Yeah, you lose that confidence level and that

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Speaker 1: they had of And if they're not confident that you

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Speaker 1: know what you're doing, the plays destined to fail. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean right, I mean there certainly is. And even

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Speaker 1: some great quarterbacks will tell you, like I, I faked

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Speaker 1: until I can make it. I was confident, but I

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Speaker 1: wasn't real sure of the plays. But I was gonna

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Speaker 1: go out there and give it all I had and

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Speaker 1: deliver the football with authority and you know, run through

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Speaker 1: a wall for my teammates and even that stuff, you know,

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Speaker 1: certainly um makes a positive impression early on. But if

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Speaker 1: you have a command of the offense and the plays

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Speaker 1: and the audibles and things like that and again, and

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Speaker 1: you can screw that in a strong, confident manner, even

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Speaker 1: in mini camps, I think that's a great sign. And frankly,

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Speaker 1: when when rookie quarterbacks don't look like they belong early on,

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Speaker 1: I don't think that's the end of the world. Or

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Speaker 1: rarely to the ones that do look like they belong fail.

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Speaker 1: You know, they may not all go on to the

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Speaker 1: Hall of Famers, but usually make it. Yeah, I I

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Speaker 1: agree with that, and so I think that was a

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Speaker 1: nice first step for Kenny Pickett. And I thought largely

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Speaker 1: the same of you know, Christal Loticon as well. Uh

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Speaker 1: he looked apart and you know, commanded the huddle and

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Speaker 1: did all that stuff. Um. Outside of that, there really

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Speaker 1: wasn't much to to gain from watching these practices. It's

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Speaker 1: just there just wasn't. I mean, I wouldn't think, you know,

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Speaker 1: I did note that, you know, George Pickens and and

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Speaker 1: and uh Calvin Austin are both hands catchers. That's always

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Speaker 1: that's always a plus. Uh. You know, you don't you

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Speaker 1: don't want them cradling the ball into their body and

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Speaker 1: things like that on crossing routs. You want them plucking

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Speaker 1: the ball out of the air. And they both did that. Um,

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Speaker 1: and I thought they both. Pickens in particular, looks like

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Speaker 1: he comes as advertised. I mean that there's there's you know,

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Speaker 1: he's a big, physically imposing wide receiver who can run. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and let's take a step here, like, what do you

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Speaker 1: mean is a hands catcher? Everybody catches the ball with

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Speaker 1: their hands, well not really, you know, like one of

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Speaker 1: the things that I even taught my uh flag football kids,

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Speaker 1: and I've learned it the first day at Pitt that

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Speaker 1: J D. Brookhard our wide receiver coach, Larry Antonio, Bryant's

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Speaker 1: wide receiver coach. What do you catch football with? Catch

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Speaker 1: them all with your eyes. You don't catch the ball

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Speaker 1: with your hands, you know, you know, you catch the

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Speaker 1: ball with your eyes. And by being a hands catcher,

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Speaker 1: as you mentioned, is a big deal because first of all,

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Speaker 1: you don't want the ball in most cases, sometimes you

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Speaker 1: want to create a wit and box people out. You

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Speaker 1: don't want the ball to get into your shoulder pads,

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Speaker 1: into your body. Uh that certainly can bounce off your pads,

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Speaker 1: your breastplates, those type of things, and you know, make

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Speaker 1: it more difficult. But people don't even think about this.

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Speaker 1: But being a hands catcher means that I touched the

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Speaker 1: football a fraction of a second earlier than if I

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Speaker 1: let it get to me. Who the health cares about

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Speaker 1: one third of a second, It makes a big deal.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the ball comes out in two and a half,

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Speaker 1: so if you can take if you can shade a

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Speaker 1: few tenths off of that by you know, plucking the

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Speaker 1: ball either over at defensive back or before he gets there.

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Speaker 1: Just that instance. I mean, it is a game of inches,

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Speaker 1: It really is, especially when when you put you know,

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Speaker 1: the starter caliber defenders on the field as well. And

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Speaker 1: and they you know, they've done their work, they've studied. Uh,

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Speaker 1: they're also extremely talented athletes, and so they know what

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Speaker 1: you're you know, they can know what you're running. But

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Speaker 1: that tenth of a second that you just talked about,

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Speaker 1: the difference is the difference between making a catcher or

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Speaker 1: having them break it up. Yeah, I mean, and hopefully

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Speaker 1: these guys aren't double catching it. You know, hit the

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Speaker 1: hands and you gotta catch it again, you know, Like

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Speaker 1: I often referenced with Larry Fitzgerald because I was fortunately

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Speaker 1: with them all the time. Most of his catches in practice,

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Speaker 1: you never heard the ball hit his hands, know, his fingertips.

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Speaker 1: His hands were so strong yet soft that he would

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Speaker 1: reach far away from his body with a white catching

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Speaker 1: radius and just stick to him, you know, like and

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Speaker 1: and secured it and catching the balls great away from

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Speaker 1: your body. But if you don't have the strong hands

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Speaker 1: to get it from outside your body to exposition, people

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Speaker 1: are gonna hack it out of the way. You know,

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Speaker 1: so that's part of it as well. Um, I think

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Speaker 1: these two receivers are just extremely interesting to me though,

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Speaker 1: and what all they can do with them? Yeah, And honestly,

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Speaker 1: I think the additions, you know, I don't know if

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Speaker 1: it makes their receiving corps better right now than it

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Speaker 1: was last year. I tend to think that it does,

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Speaker 1: given what we saw the way that they ended last year.

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Speaker 1: I'm talking regular season that it depends on what your

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Speaker 1: value juju and this you didn't have Juju Smith Schuster

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Speaker 1: most of that season anyways. Um, so you know, is

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Speaker 1: this is this a better group? Is George Pickens an

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Speaker 1: upgrade from uh James Washington? Well? Absolutely, I think so

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Speaker 1: immediately probable. And I also think that, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: Austin is an upgrade from Raybay McLeod. I think he's

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Speaker 1: a better version of Raymond McLeod. Yes, maybe not the

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Speaker 1: second on both those guys because they are true rookies.

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Speaker 1: But it shouldn't take long for those guys to get

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Speaker 1: over those barriers, you know. If that's again hurdle number one,

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Speaker 1: be more effective than James Washington. George, okay, uh, and

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Speaker 1: you you need to be better than McLeod Okay, I mean,

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Speaker 1: and that's that's that's yeah, that's not downgrading anything that

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Speaker 1: those guys did. Uh. You know, I just think that

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Speaker 1: these these guys have more potential, particularly Austin over McLeod, Right,

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Speaker 1: I agree. I just think he's I think, yeah, they

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Speaker 1: had a plan for Raybrey McLeod last year. They forced

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Speaker 1: fed him the football. Now some of that was because

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Speaker 1: Juju Smith Schuster was out, but he ended up with

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Speaker 1: thirty seven catches last year. M and he ever is

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Speaker 1: like seven years and a half yards of catch. Like,

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Speaker 1: that's not good enough, not good enough. Again, I'm not

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Speaker 1: bashing McLeod or even Washington. As you mentioned, both those

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Speaker 1: guys have gotten fine contracts with other NFL teams. Are

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Speaker 1: NFL players. I think defenses wanted to see McLeod life

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Speaker 1: and adventure and it's waiting. Hi. This is Merril Hodge

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Speaker 1: by JD Power for JD Power two Award Information visit

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Speaker 1: JD power dot Com Slash Awards. On the field, they

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Speaker 1: wanted to see you getting him to the ball um

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Speaker 1: very critical, you know, week the week of Man McLeod

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Speaker 1: played fifty snaps again this week, I mean, and some

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Speaker 1: of it was gonna somebody get hurt in mid game.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there's some extenuating circumstances and obviously he was

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Speaker 1: somebody they trusted. But if he's playing thirty snaps the game,

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Speaker 1: the defense is happy about it, you know. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's just he doesn't bring enough the table as a blocker.

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Speaker 1: Is a outside the numbers route runner, you know where

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Speaker 1: I think Austin can do more than just gadgety stuff.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't think we would talk this much about receivers,

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Speaker 1: But the more I think about it, and I don't

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Speaker 1: know if you agree or not, but I think the

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Speaker 1: Ante and pickens ideally, when all everyone settles in, are

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Speaker 1: your outside guys Claypool in the slot and you could

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Speaker 1: also have some packages where either Miller or Austin is

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Speaker 1: the slot and Claypool either goes out wide or somebody

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Speaker 1: who comes off the field, you know, like I don't know,

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Speaker 1: the slot problem is a problem. No, And I got

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Speaker 1: I have very Ray McLeod's combine numbers here in front

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Speaker 1: of me. So he measured it at the combine at

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Speaker 1: five ft ten and a d ninety pounds, and I

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Speaker 1: guarantee you that he didn't. You know, he balked up

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Speaker 1: to get there. One nineties probably the number that him

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Speaker 1: and his agent were trying to hit, right. He probably

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Speaker 1: played at a hundred and eighty pounds tops last year

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Speaker 1: and as the stealer, you know. Yeah, and he was

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Speaker 1: a six round draft pick. He ran a four or

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Speaker 1: five three forty. I never thought of him as vertically explosive, right,

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Speaker 1: That's just not what he was. He was. He was

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Speaker 1: more of a jitterbug in space, like in race. Him

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Speaker 1: and Austin aren't even compas not even it's not close. Yeah. Uh,

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Speaker 1: he had a thirty four and a half inch vertical

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Speaker 1: that's fine, which is fine. Now, I can I compare

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Speaker 1: that with what Austin did at the combine he measured

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Speaker 1: in at five eight hundred and seventy pounds. Okay, that's

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Speaker 1: the size. Is the size. We know he's small. He's

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Speaker 1: five eight. I mean there's not many five eight. He's

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Speaker 1: not five eight and a quarter he's five eight. Yes,

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Speaker 1: but he ran the four three two Yeah, yes, and

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Speaker 1: had a thirty nine inch vertical. M again, Raymond McLeod

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Speaker 1: had a thirty what was the thirty four and a

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Speaker 1: half inch vertical? Calvin Austin had a thirty nine inch vertical. See.

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Speaker 1: That was one of my problems with McLeod and even

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Speaker 1: said it last year, not even knowing anything about Austin

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Speaker 1: at the time. Is yeah, he's elusive. Yeah he changes directions. Well,

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Speaker 1: I just don't see explosion, you know, and that kind

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Speaker 1: of reflects in the jump. And when he does get

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Speaker 1: a crease, it's not like whoa you know there was

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Speaker 1: a burst there that you rarely see or how often

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Speaker 1: did he run away from people? I just didn't see

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Speaker 1: those components to him athletic. There was no fear of

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Speaker 1: him getting behind you and right right right right, whereas

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Speaker 1: Austin is gonna put that fear into into teams. You know,

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Speaker 1: he's he gets a step on you. It's by he's

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Speaker 1: going he's going away. He's gonna run away from you. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean I think they'll throw him deep balls. You

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Speaker 1: agree with that, I mean yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but Cloud was ever targeted forty yards

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Speaker 1: down the field. The other thing is interesting. Calvin Ass's

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Speaker 1: three cone drows six point six five seconds under seven

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Speaker 1: is really impressive. Anything under seven is good, and he

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Speaker 1: was way under seven. Yeah. I mean, he's obviously smaller

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Speaker 1: than J. J. Watt and Von Miller and those guys

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Speaker 1: that are under seven. But wow, I mean he's not

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Speaker 1: just a linear athlete to me either. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean he can he can make you miss h

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Speaker 1: and the difference what you know, I'm looking here at

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Speaker 1: Lancier Line's grades prospect grades on both of those guys,

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Speaker 1: and we've talked a lot about Lancier Line with respect

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Speaker 1: his work. Oh yeah, Calvin Austin had a sixth grade,

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Speaker 1: a grade of six, which means the traits or talent

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Speaker 1: to being above average. Backup Rayward McLeod's grade, it was

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Speaker 1: a five point four. It doesn't sound like a big difference,

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Speaker 1: which a big difference. It's a huge difference roster player,

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Speaker 1: a good, really high end backup. Right. Yeah, so I

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Speaker 1: think that's a huge step forward right there out of

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Speaker 1: the gate um. And you know I mentioned uh previously,

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Speaker 1: I think I texted this Mike to Mike pursued it

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Speaker 1: because he was kind of he doesn't like the little guys,

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Speaker 1: which I get. Um, Calvin Austin's catch radius is over

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Speaker 1: eighty inches, right, He's not just a short armed tiny

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Speaker 1: He had the same the same wingspan is Crystal lave In,

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Speaker 1: Johan Dotson. Yeah. Yeah, you aren't giants, but they're they're

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Speaker 1: bigger than he is, right, and Dotson has a very

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Speaker 1: wide wings ban for being his size too. You know,

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Speaker 1: like we talked about plucking the ball away from your frame,

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Speaker 1: you know, Austin is gonna be able to do that.

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Speaker 1: Some of these little guys, you gotta hit him in

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Speaker 1: the numbers, you know. I don't think that's the case

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Speaker 1: with it with Austin, but I keep seeing these comparisons

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Speaker 1: by fans who really I get it. You see a

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Speaker 1: little guy and you think, well, that's just like the

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Speaker 1: other little guys at the Steelers drafted, so the well

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Speaker 1: he's dree archer or he's you know, and hen return

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Speaker 1: punts than that's it. Or you know, this is a

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Speaker 1: guy who played wide receiver, and you brought up the

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Speaker 1: fact of his catches in college came outside the numbers. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean not a bad school either. I mean against

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Speaker 1: press band coverage, against corners that are gonna try to

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Speaker 1: bang them around. You know, if you're game planning against

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Speaker 1: that offense, it's like, well, we gotta get our hands

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Speaker 1: on this little guy. You know, we can't give him

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Speaker 1: free releases. And you know, everyone's key in on banging

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Speaker 1: him at the line of scream and in safety over

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Speaker 1: the top, and he's still doing traditional wide receiver stuff,

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Speaker 1: you know. And I definitely think he can handle the

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Speaker 1: jet motion end arounds things like that too. That Canada

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Speaker 1: is gonna like, oh and he comes screaming across the formation,

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Speaker 1: the defense is going to react, right, there is a

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Speaker 1: four three to screaming across your for formation. That's Tyreek

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Speaker 1: killspeed speed. It's Tyreek kill speed, you know, and just

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Speaker 1: explosion coming straight at you. I'm curious. I mean, hand

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Speaker 1: them the football, what's he gonna do with it? I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think I hated to break back, you know, I mean,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not saying this is going to be an

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Speaker 1: illusion or you know, just misdirection, but he's gonna get

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Speaker 1: some handoffs or some shovel paths and things like that.

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Speaker 1: But I don't know that you're E's gonna get carries

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Speaker 1: his rookie year. Yeah, I don't know about that, but

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Speaker 1: certainly he's gonna get some. And you know, I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, I just I think people are selling this

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Speaker 1: kid a little bit short, no, no pun intended. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think he's I looked up his stats,

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Speaker 1: his game by game stats in college and they played Cincinnati,

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Speaker 1: not this year but last year. Yeah, right right now.

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati had two cornerbacks who were drafted, including one this

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Speaker 1: year who was drafted fourth overall, and Kobe Bryant was

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Speaker 1: a fourth round pick himself and he won the award

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Speaker 1: for Yet Talvin Austin had seven catches for a hundred

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Speaker 1: thirty two yards against him. I think it was you

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Speaker 1: that told me that. Somebody asked Sauce Gardner, who's his

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Speaker 1: hardest cover in his college his career, and he said Austin, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: well that makes sense because he had seven catches for

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Speaker 1: a hundred thirty two yards against them. Yeah, and that's

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Speaker 1: what they're trying. Yeah, that will leave that'll leave a

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Speaker 1: mark in your memory. Um. Now, he didn't score in

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Speaker 1: that game. Sauce Garter didn't give up a touchdown his

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Speaker 1: entire college career. But Sauce Gardner is a six ft three,

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Speaker 1: you know, a hundred two hundred pound cornerback who went

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Speaker 1: fourth overall, who you and I both think might be

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Speaker 1: the best player in this draft. I would have considered

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Speaker 1: him a one if I was Jackson, right, you know,

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Speaker 1: like I wouldn't have about it an I. Um, while

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Speaker 1: we're talking receivers, I know your thoughts on Anthony Miller,

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Speaker 1: and I think everyone's sleeping on him. That I think

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Speaker 1: he's gonna the team and has value and may even

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Speaker 1: be the number one slot when it's all said and done,

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Speaker 1: or certainly one of the slots when they go for

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Speaker 1: Why should not be forgotten about? He should not be

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Speaker 1: forgotten about? Do you have hoped for boy Kin or Sims?

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Speaker 1: You know guys that have been in the league. Um,

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Speaker 1: I don't have any Simms. Simms is very much in

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Speaker 1: the same mold as Um, Austin and Miller. He's a

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Speaker 1: He's a smaller slot type guy. And I might just

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Speaker 1: remind people about Anthony Miller. Uh, talking about the grades

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Speaker 1: the landsierline gives out. Zeroline gave Anthony Miller a six

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Speaker 1: point to grade coming out coming out. He was an

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Speaker 1: outstanding prospect coming out. Oh, by the way, I also

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Speaker 1: went to Memphis. Oh, by the way, right right, And

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Speaker 1: just so you know, this is a guy in fact,

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Speaker 1: you know. Uh, Austin talked about this on Saturday and

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Speaker 1: talked to him that when he got to Memphis, Anthony

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Speaker 1: Miller was the stud. Anthony Miller. Miller was the stud,

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Speaker 1: was the leader of that group of the of their

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Speaker 1: wide receivers. And he said, I learned a lot from

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Speaker 1: Anthony Miller about how to be a receiver, how to work,

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Speaker 1: how to do those kind of things. So highly highly productive.

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Speaker 1: And he's been productive in the NFL. Oh yeah, yes,

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Speaker 1: I don't know where the disconnect has been the last

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Speaker 1: year or two. And maybe it's his work ethic or

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00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 1: personality or something. And he realizes it's time to put

425
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: up a shut up or is this some bad situations?

426
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,120
Speaker 1: I mean that Bears and Texans situation was not ideal

427
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: for production. No, and he joined us, joined the Steelers,

428
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:42,679
Speaker 1: halfway through the year last year, so it's not like

429
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,919
Speaker 1: he was going to come out and right right, right

430
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,479
Speaker 1: right suddenly to take over. But he had he had

431
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:52,879
Speaker 1: forty nine catches. Yeah, right, all right, he's fifty two catches.

432
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: I mean, he's been on fantasy teams, you know, like

433
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,080
Speaker 1: he's not just a total nobody. No, this is a

434
00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: guy that has done some stuff in the league. It's

435
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 1: funny now that I didn't realize this until you just

436
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,440
Speaker 1: said this. They had there are two Memphis guys to

437
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,879
Speaker 1: Notre Dame guys too. You know, one was kind of

438
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 1: the I don't say the mentor the other, but similar

439
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 1: to that. You know, one came in with the other

440
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: guy being the big guy on campus. And I still

441
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,840
Speaker 1: have hoped for boy King too. I mean, no, I'm

442
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,040
Speaker 1: not I'm not totally tossing him up again. You're talking

443
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 1: about a guy who's a third round draft pick to

444
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,200
Speaker 1: a team that doesn't really throw the football that night,

445
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: right right, right, So I don't know what he is. Yeah,

446
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 1: I don't either. I'm just glad he's here. If he's

447
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,000
Speaker 1: your if he's your sixth receiver, I know he's a

448
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,680
Speaker 1: good special teams player, right right, right, right. You know,

449
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,440
Speaker 1: if he's your number six, you're fine with that. You're

450
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 1: receiving group is better than it was a year ago.

451
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,359
Speaker 1: I think so too. I mean, even with a healthy juju,

452
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,880
Speaker 1: I'd rather have this group, to be honest with you. Yeah,

453
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 1: I mean they've got fast guys, they've got big guys,

454
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 1: they've got they've got the basketbriety. They have a one. Yeah,

455
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 1: they have a Pickens could be a one. We don't

456
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,400
Speaker 1: talk Chase Claypool enough, but he's gonna be on all

457
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 1: my fantasy teams because he is as cheap as can be.

458
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,640
Speaker 1: Everyone thinks he's a bust all of a sudden, Oh

459
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 1: he falls down a lot. Did you see him celebrating

460
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 1: after that picking up the first down? I'm like, my god,

461
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 1: what can we give this guy a little bit of

462
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,040
Speaker 1: a break? I mean, he was really, really good as

463
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: a rookie, and frankly wasn't much different his numbers. His

464
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,119
Speaker 1: numbers were exactly the same except for the touchdowns. They

465
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,880
Speaker 1: were exactly the same. Let me say that again, exactly

466
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 1: the same. I wrote a story about it late in

467
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:39,880
Speaker 1: the year last year where I looked at his numbers.

468
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 1: The catch numbers were the same, the yardage numbers were

469
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: the same. The only thing that was different was the touchdowns. Yeah,

470
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: and those are those are like wins in baseball for

471
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 1: a starting pitcher. You can't count on touchdowns. You can't

472
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,399
Speaker 1: count on them. And I feel like I picked on

473
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:59,240
Speaker 1: Ben too much. But frankly, if Claypool was yeah, I'm

474
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,920
Speaker 1: sure the book on him was if he starts pushing

475
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:05,439
Speaker 1: down field with his vertical stem, it's gonna be a

476
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: go route down the sideline. You know, it's not gonna

477
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: He's not gonna break it off and go over the middle,

478
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: not even it's not even gonna be opposed. It's not

479
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 1: going to be a deep end. It's not gonna be

480
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: a deep dig. Probably won't even be a comeback. So

481
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: so you're gonna see everyone knew what he was doing.

482
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 1: You're gonna sit and force him to the sideline, and

483
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,239
Speaker 1: you don't play the ball in the air, right, right,

484
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: And that's what you're gonna do, right. I mean, I

485
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: just think that he didn't have a lot of chance

486
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 1: to succeed. Does he have some things to work on? Absolutely?

487
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: I don't know the young man, but I'm sure he

488
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,440
Speaker 1: could mature and grow up a little bit. Too, as

489
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,600
Speaker 1: all three year olds can. But if if he can block,

490
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 1: I think he will be a unique slot option, if

491
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,399
Speaker 1: not more. Yeah, so, um, you know that's where the

492
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 1: Steelers are at with that position, and I think it's

493
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: it's very interesting one. Uh and those two two rookies

494
00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 1: are a big part of that. Matt, we're gonna take

495
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: a break. Uh. He is Matt Williams and I am

496
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,080
Speaker 1: Dale Lally. You're listening to the Drive here on Steelers

497
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: Nation Radio. When we come back, well, we've got some

498
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,679
Speaker 1: other looks at the Steelers roster and what they did

499
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 1: in the off season, and well what everybody did in

500
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: the off season. We'll get to that right after this

501
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 1: here on the Drive. Life and Adventure and it's waiting. Hi.

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