Speaker 1: This is live coverage of twenty twenty six Steelers Training
Speaker 1: Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
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Speaker 1: Union Number three. We don't go to the office, We build.
Speaker 2: It our number two high a top, Chucknofield here on
Speaker 2: the campus of Saint Vincent College, Jeweler and Williamson rolling
Speaker 2: along here. We've got some I did have to give
Speaker 2: a shout out at some point on the show here today,
Speaker 2: Matt as I'm sure they're listening right now as they
Speaker 2: drive back across Pennsylvania to Columbus, Ohio. The DeSantis family
Speaker 2: some of my favorite people to see here every year,
Speaker 2: and Matt Mama DeSantis, Marty I think she left us
Speaker 2: about seven hundred cookies for all of us here on
Speaker 2: the steam. So good, so good. I met the DeSantis
Speaker 2: family cool seven eight years ago through Wolf. Wolf was
Speaker 2: connected with them, and so every summer now they stop.
Speaker 2: They still stop up and say hello, come from Columbus
Speaker 2: every single year and uh and always always have some goodies.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: I've gotten a bunch of cookies in the past. I've
Speaker 2: gotten t shirts and all kinds of cool stuff. So
Speaker 2: always good to see the Desanta's family and thanks for
Speaker 2: the cookies.
Speaker 3: Road trip from Columbus it's about four hours, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: About four hours. I think what they do is they
Speaker 2: I think they came up last night, stay in a hotel,
Speaker 2: then drive, yeah, drive home after the practice today. But
Speaker 2: we were laughing to you'll get a kick out of this,
Speaker 2: the uh calvers that we always stop at. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: on the way to and from the combine. They were like,
Speaker 2: that's like ten minutes from our house. You go to
Speaker 2: the one that's like right by the olive garden in
Speaker 2: the hotel.
Speaker 3: Right yeah, we go up at the shelf station and
Speaker 3: right have a shell station right there.
Speaker 2: Get back, get back on what is it seventy right,
Speaker 2: don't I think it's I seventy that we take basically.
Speaker 3: The whole on one of my many blind spots in
Speaker 3: this world. I don't know streets, and.
Speaker 2: I'm real bad with that too. It's like the streets
Speaker 2: that I grew up on my whole life. I'm like, wait,
Speaker 2: which one is that?
Speaker 3: It's funny? Don't tell ed, but he asked. He's like, oh,
Speaker 3: so you take seventy forty three to seventy here? And
Speaker 3: I'm like yeah, And I didn't pay any attention to
Speaker 3: it today. I actually looked. I'm like, do I take
Speaker 3: forty three to seventy here? I'm like, I actually do,
Speaker 3: but I had no idea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the way.
Speaker 3: Ways tell me make it right, you know, right.
Speaker 2: At least I'm kind of like a GPS kid, although
Speaker 2: to be fair, I still had to use map Quest
Speaker 2: and stuff like that until I was in like college. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Once you've had ways and all that stuff for a decade, it's.
Speaker 3: And I've made this for a million times. I know
Speaker 3: the way I go. I put ways in just in
Speaker 3: case there's like an accident or something or yeah, right,
Speaker 3: I don't know what, Yeah, do you take me? You know?
Speaker 2: I think I'm so so I'm so bad with street
Speaker 2: names and stuff like that too. Just I know where
Speaker 2: I'm like, I have a great sense.
Speaker 3: Of direction, and I'm not bad about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, been somewhere once, I'll remember how to get there
Speaker 2: and have to ground.
Speaker 3: But it's usually because of like landmarks and things. Right
Speaker 3: exact like I made a left on Second Avenue right and.
Speaker 2: Turned on to Bates mad An exercise that we got
Speaker 2: into last week, I'd like to pick up here at
Speaker 2: the start of this hour. It's something you and Dale
Speaker 2: used to do where you would basically go go position
Speaker 2: by position group across the roster, and how do you
Speaker 2: feel about this position group three hundred and sixty five
Speaker 2: days later as to where you were last.
Speaker 3: Year at this time we did again. You got to
Speaker 3: be honest with yourself and you have to be honest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like the John new Smith one that you laid
Speaker 2: out about it. It was a perfect example, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: we'll bring that up again whenever we do tight ends.
Speaker 3: We did, like when we get the running backs. I
Speaker 3: wasn't super excited about game well, but he was really
Speaker 3: really good.
Speaker 2: You know, we did quarterbacks and wide receivers last week.
Speaker 2: We also did corner back in safeties. I want to
Speaker 2: start in an interesting one with you because it's interesting
Speaker 2: in the sense of there really hasn't been much change
Speaker 2: unless you're looking at the very bottom of the depth chart,
Speaker 2: and that's the off ball linebacker position.
Speaker 3: I've been really stressing this since we talked to Chris.
Speaker 2: The one unit that hasn't changed, including.
Speaker 3: It hasn't changed one bit. Yeah, I mean it's exactly
Speaker 3: the same. Has of our thoughts changed, Yes, they have
Speaker 3: to have. I mean, if you write an evaluation for
Speaker 3: even the best of players, it's not the same every year,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, correct or the worst of players.
Speaker 3: You don't just cut and paste, you know, after seventeen
Speaker 3: games of knowledge. But they are the exact same human
Speaker 3: beings in that room. I mean of the top five. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm not talking about the guys that have basically no chance.
Speaker 2: Of the top five. And the position coach too.
Speaker 3: Now, I bet Scott Scott McCurley is the off ball
Speaker 3: linebacker coach would have been if he's a defensive end coach,
Speaker 3: defense tackle safety coach. I bet he would have been retained.
Speaker 3: Scott and I actually gad together a pit way back
Speaker 3: when and he was a linebacker my first year there,
Speaker 3: and his brother was on the team. Great dude, but
Speaker 3: I know him and McCarthy have a very extensive history together.
Speaker 3: Not knowing they were going to overlap in his second
Speaker 3: year as linebacker coach, but it worked out well. But
Speaker 3: he was only one of two, along with Tom Arth
Speaker 3: who was retained. Yes, but the exact same room was retained,
Speaker 3: And where we talked a lot about with Chris and
Speaker 3: I've been really been on my cranium quite a bit,
Speaker 3: is to me the front office thinks the problems in
Speaker 3: that room weren't the players.
Speaker 2: That's probably a very fair, I think takeaway, because if
Speaker 2: they thought it was the players, there at least would
Speaker 2: have been some overturn, some change there.
Speaker 3: Now, there might have been a case where they had
Speaker 3: a second round grade on a linebacker and he's sitting
Speaker 3: there in the fourth They would have taken them, of course,
Speaker 3: you know. But it's rare to run those same room
Speaker 3: back year after year, especially because it wasn't awesome. Especially
Speaker 3: it wasn't ham Lamb coaching a yeah right right, and
Speaker 3: there's a new defense and a new defense you know scheme.
Speaker 3: So I think the again, no one's told me this
Speaker 3: the front office must be more excited about that group
Speaker 3: than the results last year, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3: That would make sense, But I don't know what I
Speaker 3: thought of him this year compared to last.
Speaker 2: I think last year I had more optimism for this
Speaker 2: group than I do now.
Speaker 3: I think so too. That doesn't especially Queen, not that
Speaker 3: he's bad.
Speaker 2: Exactly right, That doesn't mean that I.
Speaker 3: Think he was Actua. Queen was new coming heck of
Speaker 3: a season in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: Awesome season in Baltimore. Yeah, Peyton Wilson was entering year
Speaker 2: two right where you always like to see that sophomore
Speaker 2: leap that we talk about.
Speaker 3: And I think he's progressively gotten better, But I thought
Speaker 3: he'd be progressively gotten more better, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: His steps have been fine, but I thought they'd be
Speaker 3: larger steps at this stage of his career.
Speaker 2: Yes, I thought Patrick Queen would be one of the
Speaker 2: more regarded off ball linebackers in the NFL. Not Fred
Speaker 2: Warner's status, No, no, no, maybe in that next group down.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I thought Peyton Wilson.
Speaker 3: Would have maybe he'd go to the Pro Bowl last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right. And I thought we could be talking
Speaker 2: about Peyton Wilson is one of the more unique and
Speaker 2: athletic off ball linebackers in the NFL. Not that those
Speaker 2: guys stink those not that those guys were disasters, nothing
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 3: And there were some scheme things that hurt them.
Speaker 2: There were, There were, absolutely were, and I'm glad you
Speaker 2: point that.
Speaker 3: Out, and they can sure use to Again, I like
Speaker 3: Bent and I just don't think he's a nose. There
Speaker 3: was a lot of times he was driven back into
Speaker 3: their laps in the run game too, So.
Speaker 2: I would say maybe a slight decrease in expectations, nothing
Speaker 2: colossal or anything like that. I think you know what
Speaker 2: you have in Cole Holcom. You you know what you
Speaker 2: have in Malik Harrison. Carson Bruner is going to be
Speaker 2: a special teams demon.
Speaker 3: With those tops, my opinion on those three haven't changed
Speaker 3: at all, not at all. Those are exact same grades.
Speaker 2: And with the top two again, I still expect them
Speaker 2: to be good and productive and one of the better
Speaker 2: tandems in the NFL, because, as you lay out for us,
Speaker 2: often that's not a very strong group around the league.
Speaker 3: No, a lot of teams are just getting by.
Speaker 2: Like I think a lot of teams would certainly trade
Speaker 2: what they have for for Queen and Willson. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: that might be the position group that I'm most interested
Speaker 2: to see under Patrick Graham here in year one.
Speaker 3: Yes, I totally agree. Now again, even though we're on
Speaker 3: Steers Nation Radio, I don't want everything to be all
Speaker 3: roses because much of what this league throws at you
Speaker 3: is challenging and not great. I mean, it's a hard
Speaker 3: league to succeed. There's certainly a world a year from now,
Speaker 3: or not a year from now, six months from now
Speaker 3: where we're saying, man, they might need to find two
Speaker 3: new starters. Yeah, you know, Queen, Queen's are free eight.
Speaker 3: This is future stuff. This is not the exercise we're doing.
Speaker 3: You know, you know Queen's up after this year. He
Speaker 3: might have an okay or fine year. And you say,
Speaker 3: not worth the money. Sorry, you're gonna walk on. You
Speaker 3: move on, get a compic out of it. And you're
Speaker 3: looking at Wilson at that point. Go and you're basically
Speaker 3: been here for the extent of your rookie deal. Maybe
Speaker 3: you're in the mix but not ready to extend you yet.
Speaker 3: Who knows you might be like and I think we
Speaker 3: all know Holcomb Harrison and Brunner aren't who you ever
Speaker 3: want start. I mean, that doesn't really value, but they're
Speaker 3: again you.
Speaker 2: Don't want them down in and down out plays.
Speaker 3: Right, So this is kind of a critical year for
Speaker 3: this position too.
Speaker 2: I think it absolutely is. Yeah, could you foresee a
Speaker 2: scenario where Peyton Wilson play like they let Patrick Queen
Speaker 2: walk after this year, But it's because Peyton Wilson plays
Speaker 2: at a level that they.
Speaker 3: Think, maybe.
Speaker 2: Go get somebody else. Then with the third round pick,
Speaker 2: we can get his understudy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I would think that's extension time though you know, like, Okay, well, boy,
Speaker 3: Wilson did take that step forward, which I think is possible,
Speaker 3: especially with a little more help around him. And Okay,
Speaker 3: we're gonna give you attack a couple of years on
Speaker 3: your deal, slap that green dot on your helmet, and
Speaker 3: now you're the mentor you teach a day two pick.
Speaker 2: I could certainly see that being being a scenario.
Speaker 3: And part of that would be success.
Speaker 2: If we get to, like you said, six months ish
Speaker 2: from now, and you think Peyton Wilson is ready to
Speaker 2: be the guy in the middle of the defense, that
Speaker 2: that's a good place to be, regardless regardless of what
Speaker 2: that would mean for Patrick Queen's but that would be
Speaker 2: that would be a good place to be, without a doubt.
Speaker 3: The teams often let guys walk that they're happy with.
Speaker 3: You know, they can't.
Speaker 2: Keep them all and you got to balance their age
Speaker 2: and and the term and all that stuff and what
Speaker 2: it's worth. But this one that I've been kind of
Speaker 2: waiting to have this conversation with you because it's the
Speaker 2: same group as last year, but there's there's still some
Speaker 2: some meat on that bone. If I had to guess, though, Matt,
Speaker 2: I think in the proverbial, you know, six months from now,
Speaker 2: when it's when it's wintertime and what we're like in
Speaker 2: the in the playoffs or slash end of the season,
Speaker 2: I'm hoping that we'll be thinking that the era was
Speaker 2: pointed up this year and that that's what we expected
Speaker 2: to get from that group all along.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I do think, by no means in my
Speaker 3: white writing Queen off at all. I thought he was
Speaker 3: swimming upstream with a lot of different things. Chris laid
Speaker 3: some of it out. I don't need to reiterate all
Speaker 3: of it. I do think he's an impact player. I
Speaker 3: think he'll blitz more he did miss a lot of tackles,
Speaker 3: so be it. He also gets to some balls that
Speaker 3: not every linebacker does.
Speaker 2: Some there's some Shazier esque Uh yeah, a little bit,
Speaker 2: you know, you see sometimes the miss tackles. But he's
Speaker 2: also he just gets to the ball on almost every place.
Speaker 3: Yeah, more so than maybe Joe average speed guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah right right, So Joe average speed guy wouldn't even
Speaker 2: have been there to miss a tackle, whereas Queen is
Speaker 2: just he's all over the place.
Speaker 3: He is, but he's very intense. You can tell that
Speaker 3: he's beloved by his teammates as well. So and frankly,
Speaker 3: there was some frustration on his part on his role
Speaker 3: and not being put in the best position for the
Speaker 3: defense to succeed.
Speaker 2: I can understand why, Yeah I can. And that again,
Speaker 2: I mean, Matt, we are we're all so intrigued to
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, get to Christmas, which will be
Speaker 2: on September thirteenth, to get at home against the Atlanta
Speaker 2: Falcons and start unwrapping those gifts, right and seeing what
Speaker 2: it all looks like under this new coaching staff. Obviously,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie to you. The offense is very
Speaker 2: intriguing with McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers and the new and
Speaker 2: Pittman and Bernard and the mix there. But just in
Speaker 2: terms of what I think like this coaching staff might
Speaker 2: be able to do with a position group, those off
Speaker 2: ball linebackers, those middle linebackers might be at the top
Speaker 2: of my list.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you just the average fan watching in
Speaker 3: their lazy boy might just feel their presence more. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I would hope so, because they better at least.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it needs to that that feel, which is not
Speaker 3: scientific or numeric driven or anything like that, it needs
Speaker 3: to be increased.
Speaker 2: It does.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it certainly does.
Speaker 2: You need to. That's one of those position groups that
Speaker 2: you just need to feel. Honestly, you need to know
Speaker 2: they're out there.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you need to hear them, you need to feel them.
Speaker 2: And they've They've got some guys.
Speaker 3: New Lambert was out there, was.
Speaker 2: Out there, You knew Ferrier was out there. I don't
Speaker 2: need them to be Navarro, Bowman and Patrick Willis, no,
Speaker 2: but they but I need them to. I need them to,
Speaker 2: uh to take a step forward this year, and I
Speaker 2: think they certainly.
Speaker 3: Could under this news stats more of an impact.
Speaker 2: Matt, I want to continue this exercise. Will transition to
Speaker 2: the offensive side of the football. We did quarterbacks, we
Speaker 2: did wide receivers. You want to do running backs, you
Speaker 2: want to do tight ends.
Speaker 3: Where you want to go and we see running backs.
Speaker 3: I teased it with Gainwell, let's do that when we
Speaker 3: get back.
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe we'll lump in a second group, depending on
Speaker 2: how much time we have.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but O line is probably just a long conversation.
Speaker 2: Oh line is going to be a long conversation in
Speaker 2: this regard. Defensive line and edge rusher might be too,
Speaker 2: based off of what you've done in those regards. So
Speaker 2: we'll continue to kind of uh compare and contrast uh
Speaker 2: certain parts of the roster at this time last year
Speaker 2: as opposed to where we're at now. As we roll
Speaker 2: along here in the four o'clock hour, Uller and Williamson,
Speaker 2: it's the Drive, all part of our ongoing training camp
Speaker 2: coverage Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: This is live coverage of the twenty twenty six Steelers
Speaker 1: training camp on the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
Speaker 1: Easy to Drink, easy to enjoy, and brought to you
Speaker 1: in part by Clearview Federal Credit Union. For every touchdown,
Speaker 1: the Black and Gold score in twenty twenty six, Clearview
Speaker 1: will donate five hundred dollars to the Light of Life mission.
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Speaker 2: Rolling along here on the drive, We're about halfway home
Speaker 2: on today's three hour show as we put a bow
Speaker 2: on practice number five for your Pittsburgh Steeler. Another beautiful
Speaker 2: day here in Unity Township in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, as the
Speaker 2: sun is shining, just a few clouds in the sky.
Speaker 2: Another good day of work for the Steelers here, Matt.
Speaker 2: We got a few people from the grounds crew is
Speaker 2: always out there doing some stuff, but nothing, honestly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, pretty uneventful grounds crew day.
Speaker 2: Pretty the field looks pretty good for now. The lines
Speaker 2: or stiff it had a day off yesterday, so I'm
Speaker 2: sure they got plenty of stuff done. Then it is
Speaker 2: crazy though, man like it's it's such a science. It's
Speaker 2: such an everything. I mean, when you think about it, Matt,
Speaker 2: everything out here is such an operation. From the fields
Speaker 2: and the locker rooms and the conditions and all the
Speaker 2: stuff for the players, all the equipment that's needed to
Speaker 2: run practices, the stuff in the weight room, the trainers,
Speaker 2: the cafeteria, all that stuff. They bring a whole Steelers
Speaker 2: Pro shop out here and set up a massive tent
Speaker 2: like it's a you know, graduation party or a wedding
Speaker 2: or something, the big tent for everybody to to to
Speaker 2: go shopping and hang out with all the stuff. So
Speaker 2: it is how much easier.
Speaker 3: It would be to stay in the South side and
Speaker 3: just don't let fans come and just don't even send
Speaker 3: eighteen wheelers out here full of weights and heavy stuff
Speaker 3: and workout equipment and medical supplies and tackling dummies and water,
Speaker 3: food and the massive ordeal.
Speaker 2: It's a massive ordeal. And you're I'm glad you mentioned
Speaker 2: those eighteen wheelers. We always see like the last day
Speaker 2: or two of training camp, you can see him starting
Speaker 2: to congregate up and the like. All the eighteen wheelers
Speaker 2: come back and they park at the back of the
Speaker 2: parking lot up there on the top of campus to
Speaker 2: get ready for that first day when everything's over when
Speaker 2: they start packing this up like our I mean our guy,
Speaker 2: our guy TV Tyler V of course loyal listeners of
Speaker 2: that drive. No, he's our video producer when we're back
Speaker 2: in studios.
Speaker 3: And we'll be back at that soon, folks, We sure will.
Speaker 3: We sure will.
Speaker 2: About two weeks or so. Him and you know, all
Speaker 2: the video crew they get out here like a week
Speaker 2: ahead of.
Speaker 3: Time, well ahead of us.
Speaker 2: Well, they get out here a week before everybody else
Speaker 2: because they have to set up all their different sets
Speaker 2: and studios and cameras and have a lot of rooms
Speaker 2: and all the stuff to do, you know, player photos
Speaker 2: and videos and intro stuff and all that media day stuff.
Speaker 3: And that's just one phase that we're close to it.
Speaker 3: Imagine if it was the equipment guy or you know,
Speaker 3: the people that are setting up the weight rooms and
Speaker 3: you're probably too young. But not that it's you know,
Speaker 3: better or worse. But in the corner of the far
Speaker 3: far end zone used to be a huge tent where
Speaker 3: they would just pump iron if they wanted afterwards, like
Speaker 3: James Harrison would go in there and just throw out,
Speaker 3: you know, just start rapping.
Speaker 2: You mean weights, not Iron City, No.
Speaker 3: I'm talking like old school like free weights. You know,
Speaker 3: you just heard clanking and ra you know, I think
Speaker 3: that goes back to like Lambert.
Speaker 2: All that does. Yeah, they set up a little tent
Speaker 2: and a bunch of bunch of.
Speaker 3: Weights and basic stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those guys would go in there and pump some
Speaker 2: iron while you know, when practice was over and all
Speaker 2: that stuff. Yeah, it's it's a heck of an operation
Speaker 2: that takes takes hundreds, if not thousands of people to
Speaker 2: stay on the same page. And you're right, it would
Speaker 2: be a lot easier, probably even be a lot cheaper.
Speaker 3: To oh probably. Yeah, leave everything where it's at.
Speaker 2: Leave everything where it's at, stay at the south side
Speaker 2: and do it there. But that's what makes this one
Speaker 2: of the coolest and the most unique settings. Heck, not
Speaker 2: just in football training camps, Matt, but I imagine in any
Speaker 2: training camp and any sport across the country.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely think that's true. And the tradition of
Speaker 3: it all and oh, by the way, the success that
Speaker 3: the organization has had in terms of Super Bowls and
Speaker 3: playoffs and things like that too, doesn't hurt. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you came out here every year and you were
Speaker 3: the Browns and like care right.
Speaker 2: This isn't getting us anywhere, right, So I was just thinking.
Speaker 3: About it though. We're talking about all those eighteen wheelers.
Speaker 3: At least Tyler and the video crew and all the
Speaker 3: eighteen wheeler people. I can semi take their time. They
Speaker 3: know when everyone's arriving. If you get out here four
Speaker 3: days ahead, five days ahead. But when you gotta get
Speaker 3: it all.
Speaker 2: Back there, dude, that's gonna happen.
Speaker 3: That has to happen like overnight, I would think. I
Speaker 3: mean in terms of we can't just go a week
Speaker 3: without weights or tackling dummies or you know, heads and
Speaker 3: things like that. I know it's taking a while to
Speaker 3: get out there. It's a big project, but we're just yeah,
Speaker 3: we just won't lift this week. You know that's not
Speaker 3: going to cut it.
Speaker 2: Hey, you guys need to you guys need to hurry
Speaker 2: this up here, all right, get us back on track.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that must be the stressful part, is moving from
Speaker 3: here back to the south Side.
Speaker 2: That would make a ton of sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think the way they line it up is that
Speaker 2: all happens around a preseason game. So like the players,
Speaker 2: players have a day off, so it gives them a
Speaker 2: little extra time to get everything back and set up.
Speaker 3: But still but still you don't get four or five
Speaker 3: days that pull it off.
Speaker 2: You don't get four or five days to pull it off.
Speaker 3: And you know it's and plus as you know better
Speaker 3: than I do, because you're part of the road team,
Speaker 3: the game day team for any game, including preseason, they
Speaker 3: have to send an eighteen wheeler in advanced you know,
Speaker 3: to so there's a lot more to it. You know.
Speaker 3: All that stuff you see on the sideline doesn't go
Speaker 3: into plane.
Speaker 2: No, it does not. Less like if we're playing in
Speaker 2: California or something like that, it's possible, right, yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: if we're across the country.
Speaker 3: As opposed to eighteen wheeler, and.
Speaker 2: Its exactly right. But for the most part, we are
Speaker 2: eighteen wheeler in it, unless you know we're in La
Speaker 2: or Seattle or Dublin or Paris, of course true, but
Speaker 2: it's you know, and even that like that's that's I
Speaker 2: think that's a big part of the reason why we
Speaker 2: had a charter two planes to Dublin last year, not
Speaker 2: just because all the extra people that were going.
Speaker 3: Right right, but like I didn't go to I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm one of many that don't usually go that went
Speaker 3: it went right, but I also had to put stuff
Speaker 3: in the bowels of the plane.
Speaker 2: Especially when you're going to be practicing there for a
Speaker 2: few days, not just kind of in and out for
Speaker 2: a game. You know, normally, at least when we fly
Speaker 2: out on Saturday, you're not breaking practicing.
Speaker 3: Right right right, right right right, all the game day stuff.
Speaker 2: Just to walk through in the ballroom. And that's about it.
Speaker 3: Do you know the answer to this? I bet the answer.
Speaker 3: I bet? I think I know. You know, like whenever
Speaker 3: you play in December, let's say you're playing Green Bay
Speaker 3: or somewhere colds yeah, it doesn't matter. And the benches,
Speaker 3: you know, they have like you can hang your helmet
Speaker 3: on to dry them and warm them and all that stuff,
Speaker 3: the white benches. Do the Steelers have to supply their
Speaker 3: own or does every team?
Speaker 2: Good question?
Speaker 3: The uniform across.
Speaker 2: A really good question.
Speaker 3: Guessing you don't have to bring your own.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing there's probably uniform across the league.
Speaker 3: Like if Arizona comes here, they don't need to, We'll
Speaker 3: give you out.
Speaker 2: I would, I would think so. But I also then
Speaker 2: it makes me think, you know, would you if you
Speaker 2: were going to New England for a playoff game in January.
Speaker 2: Trust the Patriots benches to work, I wouldn't. I'm bringing
Speaker 2: my own.
Speaker 3: Right, Like, if I have to service one or the other,
Speaker 3: it's going to be the home teams, you know, like
Speaker 3: this one's got a crack in it that stabs here.
Speaker 2: If we're going to if we're going to Arizona, I
Speaker 2: bet you their air conditioners work. I ain't trusting the
Speaker 2: Patriots to have the stuff working.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just wondering what big things they had to carry.
Speaker 2: It's a good question. That's uh, that's we are efforting
Speaker 2: to get someone from the grounds crew on the on
Speaker 2: the program here at some point for a few minutes.
Speaker 2: I'll have to catch up with with Kyle or one
Speaker 2: of the equipment guys and ask them about some of
Speaker 2: that stuff and report back to you. But Matt, let's
Speaker 2: continue with our exercise here. Yes, comparing different position groups
Speaker 2: across the roster from beginning of August now twenty twenty
Speaker 2: six to this time last year, what do you say
Speaker 2: we go to running backs on the offensive side of
Speaker 2: the football. Is it fair to say I think Jalen
Speaker 2: Warren is about the same.
Speaker 3: I would just say I think I feel exactly the
Speaker 3: same about him. I've adored him since day one, really,
Speaker 3: when before he even got super well acclimated, I thought
Speaker 3: he was one of the most underrated players of this
Speaker 3: offense pretty much the day he stepped on this field,
Speaker 3: and certainly the day he made the team for good
Speaker 3: basically really good year. But that was my expectations.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: The thing that he showed, which I don't think was
Speaker 3: the plan, was he could be your big back, because
Speaker 3: he'd always been. We've had this conversation. I think he's
Speaker 3: the line of demarcation. If you're bigger than him, you're
Speaker 3: a big back. If you're swallowing him, you're a small back.
Speaker 3: And that's kind of the beauty of him. He could
Speaker 3: be either. But I think that's why they replaced gain
Speaker 3: Well with doubt role, because they don't want him to
Speaker 3: be your biggest hammer on the team that was supposed
Speaker 3: to be Caleb Johnson. So I think Warren is a wash.
Speaker 3: I think you just like take him. I haven't done
Speaker 3: math in a long time, but you know, like how
Speaker 3: you can like scratch off this side and scratch off
Speaker 3: that side to make it all to find the common
Speaker 3: denominators or whatever, like Okay, that he's just out of
Speaker 3: the equation. So you're basically saying Caleb today versus Caleb then,
Speaker 3: which I think we know that answer, gain well then
Speaker 3: versus Rico. Now sprinkle in a little of Travis Homer too. Yes,
Speaker 3: there was then We're not missing anybody from last year
Speaker 3: of I mean, there were the dudes that like couldn't
Speaker 3: quite make the team, remember the Ohio State sermon, And yeah,
Speaker 3: but no, I'm just counting.
Speaker 2: I didn't really three because you were fortunate. Yeah you
Speaker 2: missed Warren for what two games I think it was,
Speaker 2: But other than that, you had a relatively healthy room
Speaker 2: last year, so you didn't.
Speaker 3: I mean, but I'm not talking about the undrafted dudes,
Speaker 3: and yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know, just the guys that are going to see
Speaker 2: the field.
Speaker 3: When we get too likely to make the team.
Speaker 2: Yes, so I think it's I think it's kind of
Speaker 2: a stalemate with Jalen Warren from yeah year, I think
Speaker 2: you know what he is, you love what he is,
Speaker 2: and he's hopefully going to continue to be that guy
Speaker 2: for a few more years. For you, Caleb Johnson, you
Speaker 2: have to say that your expectations for him now are
Speaker 2: less than they were being a third round rookie.
Speaker 3: Last year unfortunately drastically different.
Speaker 2: Drastically I'm not sure. It's like, yeah, can he make
Speaker 2: the team carve out a role? And maybe that's a
Speaker 2: little unfair to him, especially in a year that we
Speaker 2: barely saw him and everyone judges him off of that
Speaker 2: one special team's gaff. And yes, it was horrendous. That
Speaker 2: can't happen, but it's also one bad play for a
Speaker 2: rookie on specialties.
Speaker 3: You know. I also think he was drafted for last
Speaker 3: year's system.
Speaker 2: He certainly was. He certainly was. And that kind of
Speaker 2: again alludes to something you talk about all the time,
Speaker 2: just how fast this league.
Speaker 3: Moves, especially at that position.
Speaker 2: I don't that's a great call. That's a great call.
Speaker 2: So you're right. I think this.
Speaker 3: I think he'll be in the league, and I think
Speaker 3: maybe you could even get a six or seventh round
Speaker 3: pick for him if you put some decent uh tape
Speaker 3: out there. He may even still be a good NFL
Speaker 3: player for the Steelers. But it's now uncertain time.
Speaker 2: It certainly is. I think a lot of we're in
Speaker 2: this booth.
Speaker 3: Like one year ago, and I thought I remember saying
Speaker 3: somewhere that I bet Johnson is a Steelers leading rusher
Speaker 3: from the mid point of the season till the end
Speaker 3: of the season. That didn't happen.
Speaker 2: He didn't even have a carry from the middle at
Speaker 2: the end of the season. So I think this all
Speaker 2: comes and and I guess, Matt, we could, you know,
Speaker 2: we could throw someone like Eli Hyde and Rake into
Speaker 2: this conversation, but I guess I really think it just
Speaker 2: comes down to those big three and Warren and Dowdell
Speaker 2: and Johnson. Warren is what he is.
Speaker 3: I guess Hide and Rake and Homer are better than
Speaker 3: the guys they had last year that are fringe issue.
Speaker 2: I think, so, yeah, you're more confident in them than
Speaker 2: the you know, the Trey Sermons and the Lou Nichols
Speaker 2: and those guys.
Speaker 3: Homer's NFL player. You can pick up a Blitz. He's
Speaker 3: decent and as a route runner and as a receiver,
Speaker 3: and he can play teams.
Speaker 2: So if we're same on Jayalen Warren, we're down on
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson, we're a little bit higher on the depth pieces.
Speaker 2: I guess this really comes down to how you feel
Speaker 2: about Rico Dowdle today versus how we thought about Kenneth
Speaker 2: Gainwell this time last.
Speaker 3: Year And I liked out on much more, much more again.
Speaker 2: Yeah well, not just more much more.
Speaker 3: Than I did then.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, I remember, you have to put yourself in
Speaker 2: the right in the the frame of mind that you
Speaker 2: were in three hundred and sixty five ish days ago.
Speaker 3: Because my frame of mind then was Warren's a rock
Speaker 3: great love him, okay, but eventually his workload's gonna sore
Speaker 3: to give way to Caleb, and Caleb's going to be
Speaker 3: your early down guy, and Warren will be the third down. Okay.
Speaker 3: Gainwell is probably gonna be your kick returner. I bet
Speaker 3: he plays eight snaps a game. So I like Gainwell,
Speaker 3: but I didn't think he'd be the team mvv let alone,
Speaker 3: you know, an impact player like I didn't have him
Speaker 3: on my fantasy list, you know, like it's like, oh,
Speaker 3: I know, he's a nice third that you can sprinkle
Speaker 3: in there. And I've always respected his game, even the
Speaker 3: Dublin game when yeah, I thought, boy, this might be
Speaker 3: Caleb's coming out party. I remember on the pregame show
Speaker 3: saying I doubt they trust Gainwell to do it all.
Speaker 3: So my thoughts on Gainwell have drastically gone up where
Speaker 3: I thought he was a three out of ten or
Speaker 3: a four out of ten. Now I think he's a six. Sure,
Speaker 3: you know you.
Speaker 2: Needed him in Doublin, you need him in Detroit. You
Speaker 2: would have won those games without him.
Speaker 3: So I like this version. I like Dowbdle now a
Speaker 3: lot more than I like Gainwell then, but I like
Speaker 3: Caleb a lot less. So it's kind of like a
Speaker 3: time wash. Yeah, but maybe the Homer hide and Reich
Speaker 3: sprinkle on top is maybe slight edge.
Speaker 2: But yeah, man, I this I'm very excited about Rico Dawdle.
Speaker 2: I know he's got the I know he's got the
Speaker 2: experience with Mike McCarthy. He's a little bit bigger of
Speaker 2: a back than Jalen Warre, and he's got a track
Speaker 2: record of success in this league.
Speaker 3: He's put up a lot of yards over the last
Speaker 3: couple of years.
Speaker 2: Right, some of the some of the past protection stuff
Speaker 2: worries me a little bit, though, with a with a
Speaker 2: you know, no longer young and spry, Aaron Rodgers, who's
Speaker 2: not his mobile as he once was.
Speaker 3: Heck, and Rogers is not going to tolerate a running
Speaker 3: back that doesn't It doesn't do that well.
Speaker 2: Correct, it's just not correct. I mean that bend it either,
Speaker 2: I mean, and so that to me is just, Hey,
Speaker 2: the offensive line, if they're good enough and all that
Speaker 2: you can certainly there's a reason that you know, Rigo
Speaker 2: Dawdle just didn't suddenly struggle in pass protection and he's
Speaker 2: managed to carve out a nice career for himself. But
Speaker 2: that's the big X factor in all this. For me,
Speaker 2: I think I would I think I'm with you. I
Speaker 2: think I would give this year's group the slight edge
Speaker 2: because I don't think anyone was quite as high on
Speaker 2: Kenneth Gainwell as he ended up performing, and certainly no
Speaker 2: one was predicting him to be Team MVP, and we
Speaker 2: were wrong August of twenty twenty five, but we were wrong.
Speaker 2: But I certainly think there's a higher ceiling with Rico
Speaker 2: than there was with Kenneth Gainwell. Is Kenoth Gangewell was
Speaker 2: last year all phases, all phases of the game. Feels again,
Speaker 2: not by leaps and bounds, but just a little bit
Speaker 2: higher of a ceiling and one that can I think,
Speaker 2: really work well behind this offensive line.
Speaker 3: But let's also not forget that this quarterback at this
Speaker 3: stage of his career, frankly, for better or worse throws
Speaker 3: the backs a lot and game Weell was really good
Speaker 3: at that part. He wasn't really good. And he's definitely
Speaker 3: the best route runner of anyone we've mentioned those segments
Speaker 3: or you know, definitely the best receiving back, and Warren's
Speaker 3: a great receiving back. But Gamewell can line up in
Speaker 3: the slot and do some things for you and run
Speaker 3: some receiver routes here and there, and you.
Speaker 2: Know, it's it's gonna be that that room's going to
Speaker 2: be interesting. Who kind of gets the real first crack
Speaker 2: at it. Is there a clear RB one and RB two?
Speaker 2: Is it a tandem between those two? How does that
Speaker 2: evolve and play out throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2: Those are all things that we'll start keeping an eye
Speaker 2: on here real soon.
Speaker 3: I do think this organization, and you notice I don't
Speaker 3: say coaching staff compared to last year's doesn't want to
Speaker 3: keep Warring on a pitch count. But I also think
Speaker 3: that they don't know that he can just totally it
Speaker 3: be a total workhorse.
Speaker 2: Sure, you know, I think there's a middle ground there. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: there certainly.
Speaker 3: Is very useful, but there's a compliment.
Speaker 2: There's not many guys left in the NFL that can
Speaker 2: just be the best cow workhorse anymore. Very few, very
Speaker 2: very few. And uh and I think there could be
Speaker 2: a nice tand in between those two and that could
Speaker 2: end up being a real strength of this offense. And
Speaker 2: uh and we'll wait and see. You know what, though,
Speaker 2: we always joke about like hurrying up and get into
Speaker 2: the preseason game and then okay, it's a little anti climactic.
Speaker 2: There's gonna be a lot of eyes on Caleb Johnson
Speaker 2: when that when that first preseason game rolls around here
Speaker 2: in about ten days. And yeah, he better, uh, he
Speaker 2: better do a little something to to turn some heads
Speaker 2: and and carve out a role.
Speaker 3: A lot of press him right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there certainly is as looks like we've got some
Speaker 2: planes flying above here. Matt Williamson, Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: I assume they'll come down for a walk through sort
Speaker 3: of into.
Speaker 2: I would think so, we would think so. I don't
Speaker 2: know if maybe they would call that off because it
Speaker 2: was the first day in pads, Matt, I wouldn't. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't imagine. So maybe as we've got some we got
Speaker 2: a plane getting ready to land over there at Arnold
Speaker 2: Palmer across the across the road. It is funny. I
Speaker 2: can always you can always tell when we're sitting here
Speaker 2: this time of day. You can always tell when there's
Speaker 2: a plane coming in because you see the shadow. I
Speaker 2: don't know if you saw me. I can see the
Speaker 2: shaft of it on the field before it starts coming over.
Speaker 3: Top of you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right, exactly right. Let's get to our last
Speaker 2: break here of the second hour. We're going to start
Speaker 2: the five o'clock hour with your tweets, so make sure
Speaker 2: you're keeping those rolling in. We've gotten a few already.
Speaker 2: We will hit those when we kick off the bonus hour.
Speaker 2: West Shuoler and Matt Williamson. Another day of coverage here
Speaker 2: on the campus of Saint Vincent College High A high
Speaker 2: A top part of me, Chuck Nollfield, It's the Drive
Speaker 2: Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: This is live coverry Chop Dot twenty twenty six Steelers
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Speaker 2: Growing along here on the campus Saint Vincent College. Of course,
Speaker 2: it is the drive all high atop Chuck noll Field
Speaker 2: on another beautiful day here in the Laurel.
Speaker 3: Valley, Laurelig knock on wood. But the weather, dude, oh,
Speaker 3: it usually is way more ball little than this.
Speaker 2: I used to love them. We would say knock on wood,
Speaker 2: and Wolf would knock on, knock on his head. You're right,
Speaker 2: this is hey, knock on wood. Fingers crossed. But so far,
Speaker 2: so good. It's uh, it's been a it's been about
Speaker 2: his ideal of a weather here at the training camp.
Speaker 2: You can hope for a little bit of rain at
Speaker 2: one point, but other than that, it's been sonny, not
Speaker 2: too it's been it's been nice and sonny but not
Speaker 2: too hot. At the same time, you haven't had any
Speaker 2: of those like deathly you know, ninety four degree days
Speaker 2: out here with the humidity cranking. We've been able to
Speaker 2: see the mountains across the field here the whole time,
Speaker 2: which according to Touch and Wolf, that was the tell,
Speaker 2: Like you could see the mountains, it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: good day. If you can't, well, you might be in trouble,
Speaker 2: might be humid and nasty out here, Matt. In the
Speaker 2: last segment here, we got a few minutes I wanted
Speaker 2: to go through, and we spent some time today talking
Speaker 2: about the Steelers off ball linebackers. Another one of our
Speaker 2: Jeremy Fowler Top ten lists.
Speaker 3: Oh, we haven't touched on this one all from.
Speaker 2: Executives around the league. We've got still a couple of
Speaker 2: these to do that we'll get to over the coming
Speaker 2: weeks when we have time. Top ten off ball linebackers
Speaker 2: in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Now, I have seen this list. It's a good one,
Speaker 3: but I don't think it would be as blow your
Speaker 3: doors off as it was twenty years ago.
Speaker 2: Certainly especially at the top, maybe even ten to fifteen
Speaker 2: years yah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, I'm with you on that.
Speaker 2: We start with the honorable mentions as always Quay Walker
Speaker 2: of the Raiders, Da Marion Overshown of the Cowboys, Patrick
Speaker 2: Queen of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and to Mario Davis of
Speaker 2: the New York Jets.
Speaker 3: Okay, I mean Davis has had a phenomenal career, great
Speaker 3: career at kind of twilight, but he's aging slowly. The
Speaker 3: fact that Queen there doesn't surprise me. I mean again,
Speaker 3: that's about where this linebacker room is at. As we've mentioned,
Speaker 3: Overshown's a nice player, he's just coming off a massive
Speaker 3: injury and hard to keep on the field.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Number ten on this list Matt new recipient of a
Speaker 2: of a pretty nice contract with the Carolina Panthers. It's
Speaker 2: Devin Lloyd, the former Jacksonville Jacks. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I may even have him higher. Long, super productive, had
Speaker 3: an awesome year. I guess doing it in a new
Speaker 3: environment would be, you know, solidify him as a strong
Speaker 3: tier two player. But I think he's here to stay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you on that. Twenty seven years old,
Speaker 2: maybe kind of right, hitting the prime of his career. Yeah,
Speaker 2: a lot of fun to watch. Number nine Edrin Cooper
Speaker 2: of the Green Bay Packer.
Speaker 3: That's one of my favors.
Speaker 2: He was ranked as high as four by some scouts
Speaker 2: and executives. Twenty five year old was unranked on this
Speaker 2: list last year, his first appearance at number nine this year.
Speaker 3: So a lot of mistakes are made, you know, going
Speaker 3: after traits and speed and size and combine numbers at
Speaker 3: this position. You know, I hate the term instincts, but
Speaker 3: if you're not very instinctual.
Speaker 2: Then a great White shark is instinctual.
Speaker 3: You just run fast in the wrong direction. But Cooper
Speaker 3: is one of these guys that he kind of played
Speaker 3: that overhang position in college where he wasn't just a
Speaker 3: true stackbacker. But he's super explosive. He does have all
Speaker 3: the athletic traits and now he's starting to round the
Speaker 3: whole thing into shape. He could be two on this
Speaker 3: list next year.
Speaker 2: And understand, I was just I was just gonna ask you,
Speaker 2: is he one of those guys that could be you know?
Speaker 2: He towards the top in a year from now number eight.
Speaker 2: Nick Bolton of the Kansas City Chiefs. He was ranked
Speaker 2: fourth on this list last year. Matt he drops down
Speaker 2: at number eight this year. Twenty six years old.
Speaker 3: He's kind of the opposite where he isn't the great
Speaker 3: tester he is in his long and pretty Cooper a
Speaker 3: little bit more of a stumpy or sawed off guy.
Speaker 3: But he was great in college, productive everywhere he went.
Speaker 3: Came in the league and was productive and just like
Speaker 3: he's a double lead off double Yeah you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what one AFC scout said. His speed and
Speaker 2: coverage is just average, which caps him a little bit,
Speaker 2: but he's got instincts, toughness and production.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, you know what you're getting every Sunday, which
Speaker 3: is goes a long way.
Speaker 2: McDonald's number one. Right, what have you ever heard that before?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 3: I know what you're getting at.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a Mike Tomlin thing that motes used
Speaker 2: to bring up a lot. I want to know what
Speaker 2: I'm getting every Sunday. McDonald's number one.
Speaker 3: Well, it's the beauty of McDonald's. A big Max here
Speaker 3: is the same as a big Mac in El Paso
Speaker 3: or China.
Speaker 2: You know, right, it's uh, you know, I was I
Speaker 2: was telling you, Uh, my wife and I finally started
Speaker 2: watching season five of The Bear last night. Yes, we
Speaker 2: got four episodes in, and there's that joke at the
Speaker 2: beginning mcgridll and they're like The consistency of McDonald's man
Speaker 2: like state to state, city to city.
Speaker 3: Town is pretty remarkable, right.
Speaker 2: It tastes the same no matter where you go.
Speaker 3: You know exactly what you're getting when you pull it.
Speaker 2: And sometimes it's good to have those kind of football players. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter if you are.
Speaker 3: In you know, it's on a five star Michigan Michegan Burger.
Speaker 3: But you know what you're getting.
Speaker 2: Hey, whether you're in Pittsburgh or Baltimore, or Texas or
Speaker 2: California or Kansas.
Speaker 3: City, you know what you're getting exactly.
Speaker 2: There something to be said for that, certainly. Number seven
Speaker 2: on the list is Jordan Brooks of the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2: Was unranked on this list last year, checks in at
Speaker 2: number seven this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, poor guy just doesn't get recognition because there's nothing
Speaker 3: around and it's gonna be a long year.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think they extended him just the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: I thought he could be a trade candidate. I'm not
Speaker 3: one hundred percent sure. He's had a pretty darn good
Speaker 3: career and never gets talked about in that light.
Speaker 2: Oh he does not. Still some rumors that the Cowboys
Speaker 2: are are interested in But I do think he signed
Speaker 2: a contract extension. Uh he did three years, fifty one
Speaker 2: million dollars.
Speaker 3: Okay, so he's staying number.
Speaker 2: Six as he's el Shi year of the Houston Texans.
Speaker 2: He was unranked on this list last year as well.
Speaker 2: He's number six this year. Twenty eight years old.
Speaker 3: What was it two segments ago or whatever we were talking
Speaker 3: about how you have to feel the presence of Queen
Speaker 3: and Wilson Moore. You feel this guy.
Speaker 2: He's one of the more physical linebackers in the league.
Speaker 3: Tasmanian devil, hair on fire, maybe two in a fault.
Speaker 2: It's that dirty label.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh he does. Yeah, but I mean
Speaker 3: even can overrun things here and there. But the nature
Speaker 3: of that Houston defense is we're just a bunch of
Speaker 3: crazed dogs. And he sets a tone.
Speaker 2: That's the way they played. Yeah, they really do. And
Speaker 2: you are right. He is a tone setter. And I
Speaker 2: mean this as like I don't mean this in a
Speaker 2: like a like a mean way, you know, but he's
Speaker 2: he's like one of those classic like a Landon Roberts
Speaker 2: Bobby splane thumpers. Yeah, with a little more athletic yeah side.
Speaker 2: He he could have played in another another area. Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: NFL football number five.
Speaker 3: You love him if he's on your team.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yes. He is one of those guys that you
Speaker 2: hate to play against him, but you love him when
Speaker 2: he's one of your own. Number five of his Jack
Speaker 2: Campbell Matt the twenty five year old. He was really nice.
Speaker 2: He was an honorable mentioned last year. He's number five
Speaker 2: this year. He actually got a couple first place votes
Speaker 2: from the seventy some people that are that are polled
Speaker 2: for this exercise.
Speaker 3: Six three. He's hard to he's hard to throw over.
Speaker 3: We've heard told stories many times of how he's the
Speaker 3: leader of that Iowa team and all those good things.
Speaker 3: He's lived up to it, and now he's starting to
Speaker 3: get the recognition. You know, he's starting to get the
Speaker 3: accolades and things of that nature. I think his contract
Speaker 3: either was just extended or he's next for Detroit.
Speaker 2: Oh he was, he was. He was just signed in May,
Speaker 2: four years eighty one million for the twenty five year old.
Speaker 2: Number four on this list Matt zach Bond of the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles. He was number three. He was number three
Speaker 2: last year, falls down a spot to number four this year.
Speaker 2: Twenty nine years old at one point, kind of a
Speaker 2: depth guy and special teams player for the Saints who's
Speaker 2: crazy story into a stud for the Eagles.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he had a hard time getting a regular rotation.
Speaker 3: He was an edge rusher Wisconsin dude, and he was
Speaker 3: fine for the Saints. I don't think they were unhappy
Speaker 3: with him. And the Eagles had this vision which is
Speaker 3: kind of a Fangio thing of they went their linebackers
Speaker 3: to be blitzers, to come downhill, to have size. They
Speaker 3: just drafted Johat Campbell in the first round next year,
Speaker 3: who I think will be on this list a year
Speaker 3: from now. So he had a remarkable season Bond two
Speaker 3: years ago, yes, but didn't really come back to earth
Speaker 3: last year. It was good. I mean he's I think
Speaker 3: he's a very very good player. But he kind of
Speaker 3: a unique style.
Speaker 2: Very unique style, very unique story. You know. He was
Speaker 2: a one of only two guys on this list to
Speaker 2: appear on every single ballot, the other being Fred Warner,
Speaker 2: who's a spoiler alert.
Speaker 3: He's going to spite missing almost the whole year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's just how good he is. Yeah. Number three
Speaker 2: Matt Carsian Swessinger of the Cleveland Browns at number three,
Speaker 2: at just twenty three years old for the rookie and
Speaker 2: according to personnel executive with an NFC team, the next
Speaker 2: star linebacker has arrived. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think think if I had to put a chip
Speaker 3: down of who's the next one to be a perennial
Speaker 3: one on this list? At Schwestioninger he was really really
Speaker 3: good as a rookie and a lot of traits there, size, speed, recognition, skills,
Speaker 3: all those things well beyond his years. Pretty easy defensive
Speaker 3: player of the Year Luke.
Speaker 2: Keigley comparisons from some of these scouts.
Speaker 3: Ez, that's put a couple of years together first, right,
Speaker 3: Compare him to.
Speaker 2: A Hall of Famer. But you know you and I
Speaker 2: always laugh, that's what we do. Every wide receiver that
Speaker 2: runs fast and is tall as the next Randy Moss.
Speaker 2: Of course, Number two on this list Matt is Roquan Smith.
Speaker 2: He was number two last year.
Speaker 3: I'd head of Smith. Maybe a couple of these names.
Speaker 3: I think there's a little bit of reputation here.
Speaker 2: I think there might be two. Yeah, because he's still
Speaker 2: been good, but he hasn't been that dominant force that
Speaker 2: he was at times for the Bears and for the
Speaker 2: Ravens that he's twenty nine years old checks in at
Speaker 2: number two.
Speaker 3: So a lot of people around here and even nationally,
Speaker 3: Man Queen's on is good with Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean that's a two way street.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And they played off each other really really well.
Speaker 3: Their best year was when they were shoulder to shoulder.
Speaker 2: I think you are I think you're absolutely right, and
Speaker 2: so yeah, both of those guys have still been good.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, but it was.
Speaker 2: You Can definitely a very good player, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 2: But he maybe is not the just the absolute force
Speaker 2: of nature that he seemed to be when he had
Speaker 2: Patrick Queen lined up next to him. You see some
Speaker 2: of the some of the grounds crew guys out here
Speaker 2: now are trying their hand at it thrown into the
Speaker 2: quarterback and their accuracy let's see here, a little bit low,
Speaker 2: a little bit low.
Speaker 3: On that on that ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you think you and I could come back down
Speaker 2: here one night after sharky is about ten, about ten
Speaker 2: thirty eleven o'clock and pull out the pull out the
Speaker 2: net and start throwing some football as what could go wrong?
Speaker 2: But of course Matt. Number one on the list is
Speaker 2: Fred Warner. He was number one last year, number one
Speaker 2: this year. Rarely does a player miss most of the
Speaker 2: season and still maintain his standing in his top ten.
Speaker 2: But Fred Werner around seventy percent of the first place
Speaker 2: votes in this exercise despite almost missing the entire season.
Speaker 3: I mean a rare player, a rare, rare coverage player
Speaker 3: that like they play against the Cowboys and Ceedee Lambs
Speaker 3: in the slot and he runs with them forty yards downfield,
Speaker 3: you know, shoulders shoulder. I mean, I think, am I
Speaker 3: ready to say he's Ray Lewis or you know, the
Speaker 3: one of the but I think he's a Hall of
Speaker 3: Famer and a couple more years, I think you start
Speaker 3: talking about him as a Keith Lee Lewis tier one
Speaker 3: off the ball linebacker ever and is really fit for
Speaker 3: the league as it is now in terms of coverage
Speaker 3: skills and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're going to build your ideal linebacker
Speaker 2: in Madden, Yeah.
Speaker 3: That's what you want. It's Fred Werner for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: That's the guy you want.
Speaker 2: Happy to us see him back and healthy and doing
Speaker 2: his thing and hopefully a good year and a healthy
Speaker 2: year ahead for him, because he is. He's a if
Speaker 2: you are, if you're a football junkie like we are
Speaker 2: Matt He's just a fun dude to watch play. Yeah,
Speaker 2: just a just a fun guy, uh who runs around
Speaker 2: like a psycho and makes a million tackles and can
Speaker 2: run with slot receivers and he's just he's a lot
Speaker 2: of fun in a unique cat That's the top ten
Speaker 2: list compiled by Jeremy Fowler, voted on by NFL Scouts executives,
Speaker 2: gms that we like to kind of touch on those
Speaker 2: as we roll along. We'll get to a couple more
Speaker 2: of those to round out that exercise throughout trading camp.
Speaker 2: But now we have to get to a break. When
Speaker 2: we come back. It's the Bonus hour. It's the third
Speaker 2: hour of the show. We'll hit your tweets right at
Speaker 2: the top of the hour, so keep those rolling in
Speaker 2: if you want to get involved. Yeuler Williamson, it's the
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