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Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Steelers Nation, and welcome back to the campus
Speaker 2: of Saint Vincent College. Here for another day of Steelers
Speaker 2: training Camp coverage on your twenty four to seven home
Speaker 2: of the Black and the Gold. We Matt Williamson with
Speaker 2: you here. Matt on a little bit of a different
Speaker 2: Saturday on Cape oh Verry nice and aough quiet here
Speaker 2: at this time. You know, normally there'd still be some
Speaker 2: some conclusion of different things going out on the fields
Speaker 2: in front of us due to practice. But if you
Speaker 2: are on your way to Saint Vincent College now, do
Speaker 2: not come here you want to go to downtown Latrob
Speaker 2: Latrob Memorial because tonight is, of course the annual evening
Speaker 2: practice MATT used to be called Friday Night Lights. Now
Speaker 2: it's on a Saturday, and that will be tonight at
Speaker 2: six o'clock.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's a good time. I urge people to
Speaker 3: check it out. I mean, it can be a mad house.
Speaker 3: It's a very upbeat, fun situation. You get pretty close
Speaker 3: to the players that are usually really good about autographs
Speaker 3: and interacting with the fans. But I think campus is
Speaker 3: so weird this day too, you know, Like I woke
Speaker 3: up to the hotel and my first job for SNR
Speaker 3: was being here with you at three, and we decided
Speaker 3: would have a quaint little pre show lunch. We did,
Speaker 3: and we we'll meet you about two fifteen over the
Speaker 3: cafe here. All right, sounds good. I get there before you,
Speaker 3: and I'm the only non worker in there, just kind
Speaker 3: of sitting here. I'm like, am I am I the
Speaker 3: last guy at the bar, and everyone's.
Speaker 2: Like get this guy out of here.
Speaker 3: And like get out of here. They're flicking the lights.
Speaker 3: And then you came strolling NFL a little better, and
Speaker 3: then TJ. Watt came in with another player. So I'm like, well,
Speaker 3: if TJ's here, they're staying open. But I mean, like
Speaker 3: the campus is just so different.
Speaker 2: I texted Mat. I was like, I'm walking into the
Speaker 2: cafeteria now. He was like, I don't think you have
Speaker 2: any trouble finding right, Like it was the only literally
Speaker 2: other than the workers, he was the only one in there.
Speaker 3: And then yeah, buffling the floors and like I better
Speaker 3: get out.
Speaker 2: Of here, like geez, Louise. It's like it's like it
Speaker 2: felt like the last day when we're when we used
Speaker 2: to stay at the Combine like a day like everybody else,
Speaker 2: and they'd be tearing down all the radio row stuff
Speaker 2: around us while we were doing shows. Yeah, yeah, quiet one. Today,
Speaker 2: some players did start to trickle into I don't know
Speaker 2: if you want to call it lunch at about you know,
Speaker 2: closer to three, when you and I were heading back
Speaker 2: over here.
Speaker 3: There was nourishment available.
Speaker 2: Yes, which makes sense because I know I think they
Speaker 2: all slept in a little bit today. I know it
Speaker 2: was a more of a brunch than a breakfast for
Speaker 2: the team to make share makes sense. And obviously they
Speaker 2: have practice at six o'clock, so I'm sure you know
Speaker 2: a two thirty three o'clock kind of light lunch slash
Speaker 2: early type dinner for these guys have a little snack
Speaker 2: before practice, and then of course tonight, I'm sure they
Speaker 2: feast after They will feast afterwards. Tonight. There'll be all
Speaker 2: kinds of food around campus, like there're all always is food, trucks,
Speaker 2: Taco bell, pizza, you name it.
Speaker 3: And what is miss though in the dorms when you
Speaker 3: came back from Yeah, boy, there is so much pizza
Speaker 3: and so much taco bell thanks to the Steeler folks
Speaker 3: that do that. We're not gonna enjoy it this year.
Speaker 3: But you come home at eleven or midnight, or if
Speaker 3: you go to a little watering hole before go down
Speaker 3: the right wing, and it's like here, take thirty tacos
Speaker 3: because we can't eat them all. It's nuts.
Speaker 2: And then you could almost you could almost double all
Speaker 2: the amount of people in the dorms and there would
Speaker 2: probably still be enough food for everyone in there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and typically you know, Friday night lights and then a
Speaker 2: Saturday practice and so we would all be back here.
Speaker 2: But with the day off tomorrow, unfortunately, Matt and I
Speaker 2: will not be gorging ourselves with a free taco bell
Speaker 2: and pizza and stuff. Later this evening we'll be heading home,
Speaker 2: but we have plenty of ground to get to before
Speaker 2: we get there. Matt, I, I don't know if you
Speaker 2: and I have ever really discussed this on air, but
Speaker 2: I when I have time to kill, like when I'm
Speaker 2: traveling somewhere, but I'm not in a hurry, a lot
Speaker 2: of times I like to take a different route. I'm
Speaker 2: a back roads guy when I can be Okay, that's
Speaker 2: probably that's probably the best way to put it. So
Speaker 2: today when I was driving out here, instead of getting
Speaker 2: on the turnpike, I kind of took the the longer
Speaker 2: way to get heretra exactly right, like Paul McCartney. It's uh,
Speaker 2: it's an extra way, extra, you know, fifteen to twenty
Speaker 2: minutes to get here, but it saves me a few
Speaker 2: bucks on turnpike tolls. And I wasn't in a hurry anyways.
Speaker 2: I was a little ahead of schedule, So the way
Speaker 2: that I took, Actually.
Speaker 3: I would never do that, No, I don't. I don't
Speaker 3: even know. I had no reason to be here early,
Speaker 3: but I just got to get there fast possible. See,
Speaker 3: that's that is bad mentality by me. That is, enjoy life,
Speaker 3: enjoy the journey.
Speaker 2: But see, I'm most of the time I'm like you.
Speaker 3: I'm like, I have to get from I've been in
Speaker 3: a car with you. I am shocked hear this.
Speaker 2: But today I left plenty early, like you and I
Speaker 2: were meeting for a two fifteen lunch. I was like,
Speaker 2: I've got some time. So I took the roundabout way,
Speaker 2: save a little money on some turnpike tolls to get here.
Speaker 2: And the way that I took on ways brought me
Speaker 2: through Latrobe actually, so I kind of came in through
Speaker 2: downtown Latrobe on the back side.
Speaker 3: Of camps and yes, oh it's awesome, yeah.
Speaker 2: Very very scenic, very pretty. And so it was a
Speaker 2: little before two o'clock when I was pulling, you know,
Speaker 2: probably one fifty ish when I'm humming through Latrobe, and
Speaker 2: already there's all kinds of people lined up, there's all
Speaker 2: kinds of oh, and there's already traffic. There's already like
Speaker 2: police officers on every corner like directing traffic and telling
Speaker 2: people where to go. And that was four hours before practice.
Speaker 3: It's a long time back. That is a very beautiful
Speaker 3: scenic route. You know, I often have come from a
Speaker 3: family camp that we go to. Then I come through
Speaker 3: all the way through there and there's some beautiful areas.
Speaker 3: But I see what you're saying. I hadn't thought of
Speaker 3: that though. I mean, like the whole town is going
Speaker 3: to be in and parking can Parking can be difficult, folks.
Speaker 2: It's probably difficult now already. Yeah, you know, almost still
Speaker 2: three hours away here, not surprised. And again it's always
Speaker 2: a mad house down there when it's on a Friday night.
Speaker 2: With this being a Saturday, I can only imagine it's
Speaker 2: gonna be quite the scene there at Latrob Memorial.
Speaker 3: Getting there earlier, there.
Speaker 2: Were already a few dozen cars there lined up ready
Speaker 2: to go at at two o'clock, you know, about four
Speaker 2: hours before things get going. Uh, it's always a lot
Speaker 2: of fun. As Matt mentioned, that's probably about as close
Speaker 2: as you can get to the guys. Uh. They usually
Speaker 2: do autograph sessions and fireworks and all that fun kind
Speaker 2: of stuff with it as well too. So big night
Speaker 2: down a Latrob Memorial. If you're heading to campus here
Speaker 2: for practice tonight, do not re route. It's only that don't.
Speaker 3: Come to campus.
Speaker 2: Don't come to campus.
Speaker 3: Someone always does.
Speaker 2: Somebody always I'm sure when we get close at the
Speaker 2: end of the show, we'll see some people coming up
Speaker 2: here in campus security turning them around.
Speaker 3: They'll be unhappy.
Speaker 2: They'll be unhappy. The good news for them is it's on.
Speaker 2: It's only about five minutes down the Yeah, it's not
Speaker 2: like your way out of your way. But do not
Speaker 2: come to Saint Vincent College this evening. You're headed to
Speaker 2: Latrobe Memorial High School or latrob Memorial Stadium. Part of
Speaker 2: me there at Latrobe High School Stadium because that's where
Speaker 2: the Saturday Night Lights proceedings will begin at six o'clock.
Speaker 2: Matt and I have you up until six. We've got
Speaker 2: plenty to get to Between now and then we will
Speaker 2: hear from some Steelers coordinators who spoke earlier today. It
Speaker 2: was kind of coordinator Day, which is always an interesting
Speaker 2: time because those guys, Yeah, we hear from them regularly enough,
Speaker 2: but not obviously as.
Speaker 3: Much as kind of special occurrence as you.
Speaker 2: Hear from Mike McCarthy and some of the players. So
Speaker 2: we'll get to some of that as we roll along.
Speaker 2: We need to wrap up our exercise last days of
Speaker 2: comparing last year's roster positioned by position too. Yeah, this
Speaker 2: year's roster. We still have a offensive line and defensive
Speaker 2: line to discuss, so plenty of ground to cover. But Matt,
Speaker 2: some news of the day items here as we get started,
Speaker 2: and I think two, you know what, actually, before we
Speaker 2: go across the commonwealth of Philadelphia, let's stay our very
Speaker 2: own division here where Zay Flowers, who, of course ravens
Speaker 2: wide receiver, just signed that contract extension a few days ago.
Speaker 2: Day to day now after a quad contusion in practice,
Speaker 2: left leg left quad day to day after colliding with
Speaker 2: a teammate in this morning's practice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and who's to say, I mean, day to day
Speaker 3: doesn't sound bad when you're looking at a star player
Speaker 3: who just signed a new deal like last week. Yeah,
Speaker 3: like very very recent, just tried. Yeah, I think just
Speaker 3: dried now it is a new offense. But still Lamar
Speaker 3: and Zay are gonna probably be fine. I doubt he
Speaker 3: would have played one snap in the preseason anyway, So
Speaker 3: I don't think this is, at least according to initial
Speaker 3: reports that happened today, right, I thought so this morning.
Speaker 3: I would not overreact to that. I assume they shut
Speaker 3: him down. He's too important, far and away their top
Speaker 3: pass catcher.
Speaker 2: Yes, and that's I mean, that's kind of what Jesse
Speaker 2: Minter said, is that he's going to miss a little
Speaker 2: time here, but we don't think it's going to be
Speaker 2: anything long term, but certainly something to keep an eye
Speaker 2: on here from around the league today. Also, Matt, little
Speaker 2: scuffle between Kirk Cousins and mac Max Crosby. Did you
Speaker 2: hear about this?
Speaker 3: And I did?
Speaker 2: They both sat out practice today. They benched them both
Speaker 2: for a day after their scuffle yesterday.
Speaker 3: Tin foil hat if I'm the team that picked first
Speaker 3: overall last year and a highly respected new guy, Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 3: been around the league, model citizen. Nothing wrong with this guy,
Speaker 3: squeaky clean defensive player. You're clearly best player and foundation
Speaker 3: of that defense since he's been there and not much
Speaker 3: around him. I would have scripted this fight. I'm serious.
Speaker 3: I want to I want you know, I want to
Speaker 3: cause waves between you know, cause commotion and hey go
Speaker 3: take a shot at Kirk and Kirk Hey be be aware.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying it's like WWE, but it's not a
Speaker 3: bad thing. But those when when when I heard it
Speaker 3: was those two on that team, new coach, they were
Speaker 3: terrible last new culture new area, right right right. I
Speaker 3: want my guys fighting for me on both sides of
Speaker 3: the ball. Like if it had been some backup guard
Speaker 3: in mac Crosby, I wouldn't even thought twice about it.
Speaker 2: If it's Kirk Cousins, like Cousins fighting any backup linebacker.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, interesting.
Speaker 3: I bet you Max didn't take him by the face
Speaker 3: and throw him on the ground and stomp on his neck,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: I bet he did not, right, I bet he did not. Though, Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was a wonder if he told Kirk Cousins you
Speaker 2: like that, you like that? But I thought that was
Speaker 2: the notable they had them sit out today. You might
Speaker 2: be onto something there.
Speaker 3: So it just seems a little fishy.
Speaker 2: Setting a bit of a new culture out there in
Speaker 2: the desert in Las Vegas.
Speaker 3: Could be good for all. You see those two battling out.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna battle it out.
Speaker 2: Heck, hey, that's ain't that the truth? If your if
Speaker 2: your top dogs are uh are putting that much into it,
Speaker 2: everybody better be putting that much into it, Matt.
Speaker 3: And we don't want Fernando throwing so we'll just.
Speaker 2: Like Kirk, we don't want him taking a taking an
Speaker 2: unnecessary shot to the face or anything throwing hand. And
Speaker 2: then Matt I think two pieces of news today just
Speaker 2: worth mentioning from across the commonwealth in Philadelphia, the first
Speaker 2: lane Johnson saying that twenty twenty six is probably my
Speaker 2: last year. So he didn't say definitely, but he said
Speaker 2: this is probably my last year.
Speaker 3: Certainly not surprising.
Speaker 2: And the Eagles also is Sean Mannion saying today new
Speaker 2: Eagles offensive coordinator that they will plan to continue to
Speaker 2: lean into the push push in their new offense.
Speaker 3: Okay, there has been a little bit of speculation if
Speaker 3: it would be Hurts Stower's.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Eli Stowers out of Vanderbilt.
Speaker 3: Has a background playing quarterback. I think Goddard has taken
Speaker 3: snaps of times before. Yes, Godard, I mean, Hurts is
Speaker 3: so good at it. I don't know why you change.
Speaker 3: But there is theories out there that whyever give your
Speaker 3: quarterback an unnecessary hit or in a big pile and
Speaker 3: somebody's chewing on his ankle or whatever.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, nothing, And I don't know because I didn't
Speaker 2: obviously hear the full audio. You just see some of
Speaker 2: the quotes, but I don't see anything about you know,
Speaker 2: was there a follow up of his Jalen Hurts still
Speaker 2: going to be primarily the guy in those duties, but
Speaker 2: basically he said, you know, it's something that we've executed
Speaker 2: at a high level. It's something that will be part
Speaker 2: of our our offense here in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: It's been pretty unstoppable for what like five years.
Speaker 2: I mean, in a large part there is not I mean,
Speaker 2: there's been a couple of individual times where they got stopped,
Speaker 2: but overall it's not like anyone is nable success right,
Speaker 2: exactly right, exactly right.
Speaker 3: Especially when Kelsey was there no.
Speaker 2: Doubt, no doubt, one of the one of the better
Speaker 2: centers of his generation. But that's kind of it. In
Speaker 2: terms of news of the day today, a little bit
Speaker 2: of a quieter day obviously today Gold Jacket Day. So
Speaker 2: congratulations to all those guys that was it that was
Speaker 2: at noon out in Canton, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinteri,
Speaker 2: Luke Keigley and of course Roger Craig, the five that
Speaker 2: were enshrined this afternoon. Congratulations to those guys. Always always
Speaker 2: a really cool day there and kind of another one
Speaker 2: of those it's another one of those benchmarks in the
Speaker 2: off season. That man, we are really getting close to
Speaker 2: this thing here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they just inducted them and we have played a
Speaker 3: football game. It's not the greatest one ever. But this
Speaker 3: week we have preseason games coming.
Speaker 2: We do, yeah, regulars play and what five days here? Thursday,
Speaker 2: Thursday against the past at.
Speaker 3: The earliest of any game this week, I think.
Speaker 2: So, I don't know if there's ones on Wednesday or not.
Speaker 2: That's a that's a good question. Let's see here. No, Thursday, Ursday,
Speaker 2: Thursday is the first one.
Speaker 3: The start of week one of the preseason.
Speaker 2: It is correct. There's games Thursday, there's games Friday, there's
Speaker 2: games Saturday. And I think these interesting, even a couple
Speaker 2: games Sunday.
Speaker 3: I mean, like I've been kind of joking all along.
Speaker 3: You know, the Hall of Fame games super anti climatic,
Speaker 3: These aren't. I mean there's a lot of rookies, in
Speaker 3: particular that you evaluated Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt and like,
Speaker 3: what's he looked like in the pros? You know, so
Speaker 3: these are important.
Speaker 2: I think by the time we get to that third
Speaker 2: preseason game, you're kind of like, oh, kind enough that
Speaker 2: I've had the first ones. You're absolutely right, We especially.
Speaker 3: For two weeks. I feel like I can't watch enough. Yes,
Speaker 3: Like even if I'm just sitting home doing nothing, I'll
Speaker 3: put on the NFL network and they replay the games
Speaker 3: all day and everything. It's like, I just want to
Speaker 3: get a little more glimpses of everybody, But you can't
Speaker 3: do it all.
Speaker 2: A lot of guys that we spend the whole offseason
Speaker 2: talking about through the you know, the combine and the
Speaker 2: draft process and all that stuff that you get your
Speaker 2: first look at in an NFL stadium. And yeah, it
Speaker 2: gonna be fun on Thursday when we when we finally
Speaker 2: get some some real tangible action between the Steelers and
Speaker 2: the Packers. So with that, Matt, I mean, this is
Speaker 2: a pretty important night tonight because the team is off Tomorrow,
Speaker 2: Sunday day off, Monday, Tuesday practice, and then that's it
Speaker 2: before your next preseason game. So you only have three
Speaker 2: practices here before your first preseason game because the guys
Speaker 2: will be off Wednesday, obviously game Thursday, they'll be off Friday,
Speaker 2: and then back to campus for kind of the final
Speaker 2: stretch of the Saint Vincent College proportion a portion part
Speaker 2: of me of training camp here. So an important one
Speaker 2: starting tonight in these kind of last couple of practices
Speaker 2: to really show something before you got to get out
Speaker 2: onto the field in the game setting.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, if you're a borderline roster guy that
Speaker 3: the clock is ticking very rapidly. You and I you know,
Speaker 3: at lunch brought this up too. It's like, we really
Speaker 3: don't have that many more nights here.
Speaker 2: We don't.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's to be some back and forth
Speaker 3: and we're gonna be at Akushore and we're gonna be
Speaker 3: doing things like that, but we don't have that many
Speaker 3: more nights here. No.
Speaker 2: I think in fact now, in terms of a number
Speaker 2: of practices, I think we are now over halfway.
Speaker 3: I think we're definitely over half way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, night will be nine of four fourteen or nine
Speaker 2: of fifteen, so we're still we're we're definitely.
Speaker 3: It's an even number.
Speaker 2: Definitely over halfway. And and where again it always happens
Speaker 2: so quickly this time of year, but you're starting to
Speaker 2: run out of real opportunity to make a name for
Speaker 2: yourself in these settings. If you're one of these guys
Speaker 2: who's uh, who's vying for some of those spots at
Speaker 2: the bottom of.
Speaker 3: The roster, Yeah, you got to hit the ground running
Speaker 3: if you're those guys and make an impact. And I'm
Speaker 3: not being critical of the way camp is run nowadays,
Speaker 3: but I think it's harder now than it was back
Speaker 3: in the day.
Speaker 2: I would agree.
Speaker 3: By this point in Jalen Warren's rookie career a rookie season,
Speaker 3: Dale and I were like, he's a teammate or his
Speaker 3: number thirty, he's been great and backed on backers, How
Speaker 3: do you keep him off the roster? There aren't those
Speaker 3: undrafted dudes. Maybe we just missed them. Maybe the staff
Speaker 3: is like, there's two or three of these quote no
Speaker 3: name guys that are really good slaughter the corners the
Speaker 3: guy people have been talking about. Okay, but it's not
Speaker 3: as glaringly obvious as it used to be.
Speaker 2: Things have changed around here a little bit, Matt Williamson,
Speaker 2: some some of us are still trying to have a
Speaker 2: full grasp on all the different movement and shaking here
Speaker 2: all the grounds. But we are getting closer and closer,
Speaker 2: I think, to figure in that whole thing out here,
Speaker 2: and obviously tonight a big step in the process. Hopefully
Speaker 2: everybody who's maybe you're in the car now getting ready
Speaker 2: to head down this way. Maybe you're sitting in the
Speaker 2: car over at Latroe Memorial. Whatever the case may be,
Speaker 2: hopefully looks like a great weather night and and a
Speaker 2: lot of fun for the fans and a lot of
Speaker 2: work to be accomplished by the team. Matt and I
Speaker 2: have plenty of ground to cover here over the next
Speaker 2: three hours. We will lead up until six o'clock in
Speaker 2: the start of Saturday night lights right here on your
Speaker 2: twenty four to seven home of the Black and Gold.
Speaker 2: It's all part of our ongoing training camp coverage Steelers
Speaker 2: Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 2: Rolling along here on this Saturday edition of the Drive
Speaker 2: washuler Matt Williamson, of course, all in anticipation of tonight's
Speaker 2: Saturday Night lights over at Latrow Memorial, always one of
Speaker 2: the biggest days of training camp for your Pittsburgh Steelers. Matt,
Speaker 2: what do you say now? Though? We uh, we transition,
Speaker 2: we change gears a little bit and hit a little
Speaker 2: fantasy football focus. See Okay on this Saturday.
Speaker 3: Pretty hard yesterday, but I'm ready to dig in.
Speaker 2: We sure did I think we did like a whole
Speaker 2: fantasy football hour yesterday. Yeah, we'll just do a segment
Speaker 2: here today. But uh, Matt, I can never remember if
Speaker 2: it's Okada I think is how he pronounces his last name.
Speaker 2: Of NFL dot Com. I'm not sure if you're familiar
Speaker 2: with him, but he's the fantasy He's one of the
Speaker 2: fantasy writers for NFL dot Com. He gave fourteen of
Speaker 2: the best breakout fantasy football candidates in twenty twenty six. Okay,
Speaker 2: so a few quarterbacks, running backs, few wide receivers, et cetera.
Speaker 2: And I just want to roll through the sky.
Speaker 3: Think you take a lead this guy.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly right, guys who were as you can imagine,
Speaker 2: most of the name on this list are like second
Speaker 2: and third of your guys. But you know who who
Speaker 2: is maybe undervalued in a little bit in this sense
Speaker 2: from fantasy football perspective.
Speaker 3: Along these lines, a big topic of conversation in the
Speaker 3: fantasy community is who's this year's Jackson Smith and the
Speaker 3: jigbo the very good player, the guy you take in
Speaker 3: the fifth, sixth round it's a starter, but can become
Speaker 3: a league winner totally, you know, totally. Or there's guys
Speaker 3: that are unrosterble last year that all of a sudden
Speaker 3: you get super late that or every week starters for you.
Speaker 3: That's how you went.
Speaker 2: That is one hundred how you win. Like I told you,
Speaker 2: I mean Justin Jefferson was in my big money league
Speaker 2: with my buddies, the one that I really care about,
Speaker 2: Justin Jefferson. I got him like fourth or fifth overall,
Speaker 2: which I was stoked with at the time. He obviously
Speaker 2: has having by his standards, a very poor year. But
Speaker 2: I also got Trey McBride way late in the draft.
Speaker 2: And he had an unbelievable year, So those things kind
Speaker 2: of balanced each other out a little bit.
Speaker 3: And frankly, there's not a lot of skill to drafting
Speaker 3: in the first two rounds. I mean, anyone that really
Speaker 3: doesn't know anything's working off a list. Whether I wrote
Speaker 3: the list or you wrote the list, it's still you're
Speaker 3: gonna take basically the same.
Speaker 2: People, Yes, albeit maybe just in a little bit of
Speaker 2: a different order.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So two quarterbacks listed as Fantasy football breakout candidates for
Speaker 2: this season, Matt, I think I like one of these
Speaker 2: and I don't know how I feel about the other.
Speaker 2: Let's start with the one. I'm not sure about Jackson
Speaker 2: Dart although.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's better for fantasy than the real world.
Speaker 2: And that's something I always have to remind myself when
Speaker 2: we have these conversations.
Speaker 3: Runs a ton. I don't know if Harbaugh will be
Speaker 3: his you know, last year's head coach was basically trying
Speaker 3: to save his job and the offense is falling apart,
Speaker 3: and he's calling a lot of design quarterback runs and
Speaker 3: it wasn't real smart, you know. I mean, in terms
Speaker 3: of big picture for the Giants, I would think Harbaugh
Speaker 3: with much more job security calls, fewer runs, but the
Speaker 3: lines better looks like neighbors is healthy. By all accounts.
Speaker 3: I think he's a fine Fantasy's player, and I understand it.
Speaker 3: I don't love the player overall, but it's not like
Speaker 3: he's gonna get bench this year either. If he's not
Speaker 3: the long term answer, so what, he'll be fine. I
Speaker 3: think he also durability worries.
Speaker 2: Durability is worrisome, but he's got a better supporting cast
Speaker 2: around him, or real least should this year. That is
Speaker 2: an interesting angle, though. Will Harbaugh run him as much?
Speaker 2: Probably not, But you know, I mean, even if he's
Speaker 2: still I guess similarly close, he could still.
Speaker 3: Do things on his own. One note, though that works
Speaker 3: in darts favor is at quarterback in a traditional like
Speaker 3: one quarterback league, I'm not real worried about their ability.
Speaker 3: I can always find if my guy gets.
Speaker 2: Hurt in week four, here's Trevor Lawrence out here.
Speaker 3: Somebody or I can make a deal with it. You know,
Speaker 3: they're not that hard to acquire. Somebody that can keep
Speaker 3: me alive.
Speaker 2: Tell you what, though, it is while twelve starts last year,
Speaker 2: Matt he had almost five hundred rush yards for eighty
Speaker 2: seven and nine touchdowns rushing in twelve and twelve starts.
Speaker 3: I mean, even if he has had in seventeen games,
Speaker 3: that's a massive fantasy commodity.
Speaker 2: If he does that again, he could end up being
Speaker 2: one of the top.
Speaker 3: He could be a top three or four.
Speaker 2: Here, four or five fantasy football quarterback.
Speaker 3: Never underestimate rushing for quarterbacks. It's a cheeka.
Speaker 2: The second the other and the second quarterback on this
Speaker 2: list is cam Ward.
Speaker 3: Yes, but he's still a long way from being fantasy relevant, Like,
Speaker 3: is he really even a top twenty four guy? I
Speaker 3: love him, you know, I think if he told me
Speaker 3: the Steelers first round pick could turn into cam Ward
Speaker 3: next year, sign me up. I think he's gonna be
Speaker 3: really good. Might have the worst oh Lion league, still
Speaker 3: have subpar weapons, doesn't run like you think he does, though,
Speaker 3: even though he's a pretty athletic dude. I probably could
Speaker 3: come up with twenty quarterbacks. I'm still drafting ahead of him,
Speaker 3: you know, Like, do you take him or Stroud? I mean,
Speaker 3: like Stroud's a much better player and more established, but
Speaker 3: they're both a long way from being. Like we were
Speaker 3: talking about Schuck yesterday, he makes more sense to me
Speaker 3: than Ward, even though I think Ward is a better.
Speaker 2: Prospect fantasy football versus.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, They're two different worlds.
Speaker 2: The one thing that they outline here about cam Ward
Speaker 2: is that after his Week ten bye week last season,
Speaker 2: he threw ten touchdown passes just one interception, nearly doubled
Speaker 2: his Fantasy football points per pass attempt down the stretch.
Speaker 3: That's a great point. I didn't realize it was that strong.
Speaker 3: I do. You got better as the season went on
Speaker 3: despite having a horrible situation. I mean, the old line
Speaker 3: was crumbling, there was no one to throw to. Those
Speaker 3: things are a little better now, but I mean, imagine
Speaker 3: being the first overall pick and your head coach gets
Speaker 3: fired in like October. I think it was.
Speaker 2: Yes, oh man, that's a rough.
Speaker 3: That's tough sledding, and he did recover and put up numbers.
Speaker 2: Four running backs listed here, Matt the first, Quinn Shawn
Speaker 2: Jenkins of the Cleveland Browns earned ninety three point three
Speaker 2: percent of his rushing yards after contact last season.
Speaker 3: That's funny he went down there. I was about to
Speaker 3: say the same thing, more.
Speaker 2: Or less, the highest of anyone in the top fifty
Speaker 2: of rushing attempts.
Speaker 3: Like if you look at I don't think offensive line
Speaker 3: stats are a real thing. You know, pressures and all
Speaker 3: you know, but they are at least a guideline. They're
Speaker 3: not cutting dry like catches and yards or blah blah blah.
Speaker 3: But if you look at the Browns run game last year,
Speaker 3: yards before first contact a distant last it was not good.
Speaker 3: And they and they threw away their whole line h.
Speaker 2: Four new O line starters this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I love this player. I think Judkins is
Speaker 3: really good.
Speaker 2: And they're young, but some more viable wide receivers ye
Speaker 2: to take some attention away too.
Speaker 3: The problem with the Browns though, or Judkins, to me,
Speaker 3: is all that change isn't necessarily good. It's probably better
Speaker 3: than last year, but I always be careful to say
Speaker 3: that things can always.
Speaker 2: Get could always get worse, or they can at least
Speaker 2: take a good amount of time to get.
Speaker 3: Better or a tiny step better and go from thirty
Speaker 3: second to thirtieth. And that's still not where I want
Speaker 3: to be in terms of churning out touchdowns and first
Speaker 3: downs and those type of things. But they pulled Judkins
Speaker 3: off the field a lot in passing situations, and if
Speaker 3: they're losing in the fourth quarter, he might just sit
Speaker 3: there with holding his helmet on the sideline. You know,
Speaker 3: it gets frustrating.
Speaker 2: Another one second one on this list, Matt is A
Speaker 2: is a one of those, as you would have kind
Speaker 2: of just described a few minutes ago, almost out of
Speaker 2: nowhere type guys. Jonathan Brooks running back of the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 2: He has just twelve career touches for forty five yards
Speaker 2: and has yet to score his first NFL touchdown at
Speaker 2: this point, but apparently they've been raving about him in camp. Yes,
Speaker 2: and obviously there's a lot of room for growth in
Speaker 2: that Carolina backfield.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And I mean he was the first draft back
Speaker 3: drafted several years ago out of Texas. He was kind
Speaker 3: of overshadowed by Bejean for a while and then he
Speaker 3: stepped up and had a huge role there. Unbelievable injury history,
Speaker 3: but he looks like he's over it, or at least
Speaker 3: has been totally cleared. Having a great camp. I mean
Speaker 3: that's come from multiple sorts as national people, local people,
Speaker 3: and I like Chewba Hubbard, but he's not the hardest
Speaker 3: guy to go past, you know, I mean, on their
Speaker 3: best day, Brooks is the more talented player, so he's
Speaker 3: a target of mine too, because you can get him
Speaker 3: late enough, like, oh, you.
Speaker 2: Can get him real late.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, He's an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Speaker 2: Write that down class at home. Third one maybe a
Speaker 2: similar type conversation. Jordan Mason is his third running back
Speaker 2: listed here.
Speaker 3: I think it has a chance to be a very
Speaker 3: good offense. He's a Viking by the way, folks. Aaron
Speaker 3: Jones is up in age.
Speaker 2: But turns thirty two this season.
Speaker 3: He also never seems to die either. I mean he's
Speaker 3: still hanging around in effect that he used to be productive.
Speaker 3: And they drafted this kid, Clayborne out of wake Forest
Speaker 3: who it is a smaller scat back type that can fly.
Speaker 3: But his reports have been really good. I get it, though.
Speaker 3: I would think Mason's going to be the short yardage guy,
Speaker 3: be your touchdown getter. It's fine. I just don't think
Speaker 3: he's a real high ceiling I would rather roll the
Speaker 3: dice on backs like Jonathan Brooks that might hit big,
Speaker 3: hit big Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: This next guy, Matt the last one running trying to.
Speaker 3: Come in second here. I should have said that when
Speaker 3: we start talking fantasy regularly. Like I'm trying to build
Speaker 3: a team, not to like get in the playoffs. I'm
Speaker 3: trying to win the league by far and embarrass my friends.
Speaker 2: You're not trying to hit doubles into the gap. You're
Speaker 2: trying to smack grand slams out of the park.
Speaker 3: Every pick needs to be swing for the fences because
Speaker 3: I need four or five of them to hit.
Speaker 2: Last running back listed here Matt and he might be
Speaker 2: the most boom or bust Fantasy football candidate this season.
Speaker 2: It's Cam Scataboo old Johnny Knox Bell himself.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he puts up numbers when he's out there. He's
Speaker 3: not for me, but he catches the ball more than
Speaker 3: you think they are gonna They have a better row
Speaker 3: line there. They're trotting out Patrick Ricard and know it's
Speaker 3: gonna be a bunch of big people. But his injuries
Speaker 3: hurt you more than darts, you know, Like if you
Speaker 3: only get five games out of him and you use
Speaker 3: the fourth round pick and in your league for him,
Speaker 3: because he's not super cheap, I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 3: he's a little bit of a shy away.
Speaker 2: He scares me, he does. And he's another one that
Speaker 2: could absolutely hit massive, but he could he could play
Speaker 2: four games and be out for the rest of the season.
Speaker 2: Those would be running backs on the Fantasy Football Breakout
Speaker 2: Candidates list, Matt Now. Wide receivers first up on the
Speaker 2: list here. This is actually a name I think we
Speaker 2: discussed maybe a week or so ago. It's Parker Washington
Speaker 2: of the Jags.
Speaker 3: Yeah. He's just a really good football player, and he's
Speaker 3: gonna get extended here soon. I would imagine people be like, Wow,
Speaker 3: that much money for Parker Washington. Yeah, he's checked every box,
Speaker 3: good after the catch, kind of a Golden Tate type
Speaker 3: of power, shorter slot guy, really good with the ball
Speaker 3: in his hands. I think he's a real good player.
Speaker 3: It's just we mentioned this yesterday with Jacksonville wide receiver.
Speaker 2: Because some people are saying to stay away crowdide receivers. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I like the player. I wish he was
Speaker 3: a Steeler. It'd be like a great number three here,
Speaker 3: But I just don't know where the ball's going in Jacksonville.
Speaker 3: I probably staying away from all Jag receivers.
Speaker 2: Second wide receiver Listen is a name that we just
Speaker 2: discussed from the AFC North Zay Flowers. Yeah, fine and everything.
Speaker 3: For him to make a leap and really fit the
Speaker 3: title of this article, he needs to go from like
Speaker 3: four touchdowns to ten because he still gets the ball,
Speaker 3: it's just he didn't. He's not getting in the end
Speaker 3: zone a lot.
Speaker 2: One of the stats that you liked, Zay Flowers ranked
Speaker 2: third in yards per route run among players with three
Speaker 2: hundred plus routes last year, only behind JSN and Puka Nakula.
Speaker 3: And I think there's some misconception that he's just a
Speaker 3: little gadgety type dude. He runs the big boy routes.
Speaker 3: He does in breakers, he runs deep outs, deep ends.
Speaker 3: I mean, so he's a pretty developed player.
Speaker 2: He's just smaller third wide receiver listed here heading into
Speaker 2: his sophomore season fresh off the NFL Offensive Rookie of
Speaker 2: the Year tet McMillan.
Speaker 3: Yes, and what I really like about him, and I
Speaker 3: hope the Brasle injury doesn't get in the way of
Speaker 3: this is they're gonna move him around a lot more.
Speaker 3: He was just like the big outside X running you know,
Speaker 3: outside the number of stuff, and then they got Brazzle
Speaker 3: to be that tall take the top off dude. But
Speaker 3: now he's out. But I assume the offense will all
Speaker 3: go through McMillan in more of a Ceedee Lamb type
Speaker 3: of way. And he's really good. He's he's exceptional.
Speaker 2: He gonna has a chance to be special certainly. Number three,
Speaker 2: maybe not maybe not quite to the Jamar Chase type tier,
Speaker 2: but I think he could be in that, in that
Speaker 2: next uh, that next grouping firmly by the end of
Speaker 2: this season. Number three, Matt a guy who's gonna have
Speaker 2: more opportunity because Michael Pittman Junior is no longer in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2: It's Josh Downs.
Speaker 3: I love Josh Downs.
Speaker 2: T You've been talking him up since last year.
Speaker 3: Him and Jaden Reid are two guys that are smaller
Speaker 3: that have been slot only or slot mostly than now.
Speaker 3: Some of the guys have kind of gotten either way. However,
Speaker 3: Josh Downs is like one hundred and seventy pounds. I mean,
Speaker 3: there just aren't many one hundred and sub one point
Speaker 3: eighty wide receivers in this league. They're consistently putting up
Speaker 3: points week after week for you. But I love the player.
Speaker 3: I think he might start to get over valued.
Speaker 2: Here's an interesting one, Matt. It is Michael Wilson Cardinals
Speaker 2: wide receiver.
Speaker 3: That's a tough one for me.
Speaker 2: Just because of like, he had a really good back
Speaker 2: half of the season, phenomenal and you know, some some
Speaker 2: speculation around Marvin Harrison Junior's future and just not another
Speaker 2: a lot of other than Trey McBride kind of pass
Speaker 2: catchers in that offense. But that's a volatile situation.
Speaker 3: Fattal situation because their passing pie was so large last year.
Speaker 3: They threw all the time, partially because they were losing,
Speaker 3: and that might keep up too, but it was almost
Speaker 3: an unsustainable amount of pass attempts. And Wilson really came
Speaker 3: on when Harrison was out. McBride was great top to bottom.
Speaker 3: I have no worries about McBride, but I wonder is
Speaker 3: that Wilson or Harrison and can they coexist? And I
Speaker 3: also think Love's going to catch some balls.
Speaker 2: He better better? Right, you drafted draft drafted that highly?
Speaker 2: You better? And then Matt last one on this list, sorry,
Speaker 2: two tight ends here to round out this list. The
Speaker 2: first and there's a lot of giants on this list.
Speaker 2: Isaiah likely maybe.
Speaker 3: Maybe, I mean I think they went out of their
Speaker 3: way to get him to feature him. He's a dark
Speaker 3: friendly guy. Obviously the Ravens connection with Harbaugh, I'm fine
Speaker 3: with it. I don't know that he'd be my starter.
Speaker 3: Like if I was waiting on tight end, I might
Speaker 3: take likely and another one quickly after and kind of
Speaker 3: platoon hum until see who emerged.
Speaker 2: Then the last one, Matt is Chiggy Oconquo of the Commanders.
Speaker 3: I really liked him as a super late like last
Speaker 3: pick in the draft type of guy, especially before the
Speaker 3: step one Diggs situation.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, because.
Speaker 3: Now I think he was. He went from two on
Speaker 3: the pecking order to three, which still makes him relevant,
Speaker 3: and he is a pass catcher. He's not a bad
Speaker 3: late flyer though. That gave him decent money.
Speaker 2: That is a good point though, because a few days
Speaker 2: ago he was probably their number two, number two, number
Speaker 2: two target, and three is still good.
Speaker 3: It's so fine for a tight end two.
Speaker 2: You could see some real value there if you.
Speaker 3: Can find tight ends that you're pretty confident or the
Speaker 3: two I mean there's like Bowers is the one that's rare.
Speaker 3: Of course, you're usually not going to be unsatisfied.
Speaker 2: With that little fantasy football focus for you all on
Speaker 2: this Saturday. As we get closer and closer to draft season,
Speaker 2: we'll round out the first hour of the show when
Speaker 2: we return. Reminder, it's been a little bit of a
Speaker 2: tradition here throughout camp. We'll start the five o'clock hour,
Speaker 2: the Bonus hour with your tweets, your questions, your comments,
Speaker 2: concerns and reactions. So get those in now if you
Speaker 2: want to get involved with the show. Wesheeler, Matt 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.
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Speaker 2: Coming down the home stretch here of the first hour
Speaker 2: of the drive, as we have some some.
Speaker 3: Groundwork being done and I don't know this technique.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, this is a new piece of equipment,
Speaker 2: new piece of machinery that we have busted out here
Speaker 2: on this Saturday.
Speaker 3: Do you think that's an aer rator?
Speaker 2: That's what I'm thinking, Okay, And it almost looks like
Speaker 2: the you know the things that pull out the the
Speaker 2: little plugs on your lawn and drive you and your
Speaker 2: buddy's crazy when you're a kid. And I do think
Speaker 2: that that is a that is an errator there right now.
Speaker 3: I think they're just doing that really rough beat up
Speaker 3: brown spot right between the hashes.
Speaker 2: Field still looks really good in front of us, but
Speaker 2: between the hashes there are some beat up brown spots,
Speaker 2: as Matt mentioned, particularly between the thirty yard lines to
Speaker 2: the center of the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just on one side, but yes, the other side,
Speaker 3: the little but it's like.
Speaker 2: The thirty to the fifty yard line there. That must
Speaker 2: have been where the big boys we're doing some hamhocking.
Speaker 3: I'm wondering if that's where they usually kick field goals.
Speaker 3: That way too, I bet you that's part of that's
Speaker 3: part of the definitely, yeah, definitely, Matt.
Speaker 2: We have an exercise to wrap up that we started
Speaker 2: at the beginning of camp. That was a pretty simple one,
Speaker 2: just picking a position group or two and going through
Speaker 2: the steeler man. That machine is moving.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is a lot going on there, right.
Speaker 2: A position group and comparing where they're at this year
Speaker 2: to where they were at, you know, three hundred and
Speaker 2: sixty five ish days ago last year. Yep, we still
Speaker 2: have to do the offensive line and the defensive line.
Speaker 2: Let's take a look at the offensive line here, Matt.
Speaker 2: We'll start on the offensive side of the football. A
Speaker 2: lot of familiar names still, but certainly there's been some change.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Last year in twenty twenty five, it was Broderick, Sayamalu, Frasier,
Speaker 2: Mason McCormick, and Troy Faltanu from left to right.
Speaker 3: That was our starters at this point of the season.
Speaker 2: That was your starters at this point in the season.
Speaker 2: You had Spencer Anderson, You had Calvin Anderson as as
Speaker 2: depth pieces there as well as Dylan Cook. So that
Speaker 2: was the twenty twenty five group. This year obviously similar names,
Speaker 2: but in different order left to right now Troy Falton, Who,
Speaker 2: Mason McCormick, Zach Fraser, Spencer Anderson, Dylan Cook, Maxie Honatcher,
Speaker 2: brock Hoffman, Jennings, Dunker, Broderick Jones.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't think it's close.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's close.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean so if you kind of go through
Speaker 3: it super quick, my opinion of Fraser or McCormick certainly
Speaker 3: hasn't dropped. I mean, at a minimum, it's the same.
Speaker 3: I mean, at the worst, if you're trying to fight
Speaker 3: for last year's group, it's like, well, they're the equals. Well,
Speaker 3: I probably even like them more now.
Speaker 2: In last year's group too, we had barely seen anything
Speaker 2: at Troy Faltone at that point.
Speaker 3: That's what say. He was much more of an unknown,
Speaker 3: and you're much more confident or happy where he is
Speaker 3: in his career too, so that he blows the doors
Speaker 3: off his former self. Broderick, Unfortunately, you have to think
Speaker 3: less of Yes, I mean you have to, Yes, you
Speaker 3: have to, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: But he might be the only one that's kind of
Speaker 2: done the arrow down thing with the rest.
Speaker 3: Are I mean, Spencer is an arrow up Dylan Cook's
Speaker 3: an arrow. Dylan Cook's a monster arrow up, no question
Speaker 3: on those guys. See them all as a good player.
Speaker 3: And Arizona I think he's a really nice signing for
Speaker 3: them on a rebuilding team. You hope you can replicate
Speaker 3: that from the guard not named McCormick. That's really the
Speaker 3: only place you can stand that one of the guard
Speaker 3: spots might not be as good. Okay, yeah, that's fine,
Speaker 3: And see them all as a good player, very useful
Speaker 3: around here. But then you add two draft picks to
Speaker 3: the mix. I mean, it's really the only camp of
Speaker 3: note that Omar has been in charge of that you
Speaker 3: can't have the rookie optimism last year. I mean, so
Speaker 3: I don't think it's close.
Speaker 2: I don't think.
Speaker 3: And then you throw a Hoffman in there for fine.
Speaker 2: I think particularly when you consider the depth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because last four tackles.
Speaker 2: Last year there was a lot of unknown with the
Speaker 2: depth and there were questions about Progerick on the left side,
Speaker 2: and yeah, questions about Faltanu is he was kind of
Speaker 2: still very wet behind the ears. This year, I think
Speaker 2: you're right, four of the five starters you have to
Speaker 2: feel better about, or at least still good about.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, at least, but I think I would say about.
Speaker 2: Four feel much better about the depth. I mean, Matt,
Speaker 2: you could if you had to, you know, break glass
Speaker 2: in case of emergency, worst case scenario, you could start
Speaker 2: a game with Roger Jones, Jennings Dunker, Ryan McCollum, Brock
Speaker 2: Hoffman and Maxie Honachor. I mean your second team offensive line.
Speaker 2: Those five there might.
Speaker 3: Be not a bad player. By the way, he never
Speaker 3: gets brought up.
Speaker 2: He's limited in the sense that he only plays center.
Speaker 2: It really hurts you, but you know, and so ideally
Speaker 2: at that position, you like to have someone like a
Speaker 2: Hoffman who's more versatile, but just for a backup center
Speaker 2: and a vacuum. He's he's more than fine, he's more
Speaker 2: than adequate.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's better than like J. C. Hassenhower was,
Speaker 3: you know, and some of the guys that were center
Speaker 3: only backups over the years.
Speaker 2: I think that that second unit for the Steelers. Heck,
Speaker 2: there might even be a couple of teams in the
Speaker 2: NFL that would trade their their starting five for that
Speaker 2: second five for the Steelers.
Speaker 3: I'm not quite there yet.
Speaker 2: But we need to see, we need to see more
Speaker 2: from Max and Dunker.
Speaker 3: But yeah, yeah, I hear what you're saying. It's a
Speaker 3: really a lot of riches that are all playable. They
Speaker 3: are all NFL players. So people might be like, well,
Speaker 3: why does it hurt to be center only? Because on
Speaker 3: game day only one guy can get hurt for you
Speaker 3: to get in the game. You know, like, that's unless
Speaker 3: you're one of the best thirty two centers walking the
Speaker 3: planet and all you can do is center. You bet, Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's that's really rough. I'm sure some really really good
Speaker 3: center only zone over the years have kind of gotten
Speaker 3: washed away because they're five eleven six foot or whatever.
Speaker 3: No one ever thought they could play guard, but they
Speaker 3: weren't the best center on their team. It's like, what
Speaker 3: value to me you have on game day?
Speaker 2: So you want the brock Hoffmans who can play all
Speaker 2: interior spots, the Nate herbigs who could play alls.
Speaker 3: We always talk about BJ Finney and those type of
Speaker 3: dudes too. I mean, you must be great, but you
Speaker 3: have to play all three because even you know, even
Speaker 3: if the death star was really thin, if you lose
Speaker 3: a guard, you're not putting McCallum in and moving Fraser
Speaker 3: to guard. Ever, No, that's just not right.
Speaker 2: That ain't happening. No defensive line, Matt. Let's take a
Speaker 2: look at this this year as opposed to last year.
Speaker 2: So last year's defensive front you had Derek Harmon, Keanu Benton,
Speaker 2: Cam Hayward, hy A Black, Logan Lee, Isaiah Loudermilk, Dean Lowry,
Speaker 2: Daniel Kualley to Marvin lel is that the right I
Speaker 2: think that's the right nine to mention there of guys
Speaker 2: who were involved on that. I'm talking true defensive lineman
Speaker 2: right right, right now, not edge rushers. This year you
Speaker 2: have Derek Harmon, why A Black, Cam Hayward, Keanu Benton,
Speaker 2: you add Sebastian Joseph Day, you add Gabriel Rubio, Logan
Speaker 2: Lee still around as Z's AUTUMNWAYO is here. And I
Speaker 2: think those are probably the eight guys there that deserve
Speaker 2: a mention at this point.
Speaker 3: I think it's better now, but I think guys like
Speaker 3: Lowry and Lee probably his book has been written. And
Speaker 3: I thought the same thing a year ago about louder Milk.
Speaker 3: Its like, I've seen you for three years and you
Speaker 3: never broke out, and you were never horrible, but you're
Speaker 3: always a borderline roster guy and kind of a roster clogger.
Speaker 3: I know he's a year older, so we should say
Speaker 3: we feel slightly worse about Cam. He's coming off an
Speaker 3: awesome video, I mean, right, I mean.
Speaker 2: Even if we're just plateauing, I think we're still in.
Speaker 3: The exactly it's a great plateau. So that's probably a wash.
Speaker 3: You got to think about though, when you have a
Speaker 3: first round pick, you know, like put your mind around
Speaker 3: like a haunted chore. Now you're super excited about Benton
Speaker 3: or Harmon Harmon, And I wouldn't say he disappointed, but
Speaker 3: it wasn't like that. It's that box that that that
Speaker 3: box of the unknown, you know, like, boy, he may
Speaker 3: be Aaron Donald and we don't know it. You know,
Speaker 3: like you have a little bit of unrealistic optimism around
Speaker 3: a first round pick. And by no means I think
Speaker 3: he's disappointing, and he actually having a very good camp.
Speaker 3: I used to podcast this morning about how good he
Speaker 3: and Black have been of just shutting down the Steelers
Speaker 3: run game. Black is definitely more valuable.
Speaker 2: His arrows straight up, Ben and I don't know what.
Speaker 3: To do with because there's a little position change there.
Speaker 3: So I have a lot more optimism because I don't
Speaker 3: want him on the nose at all. No, I still
Speaker 3: think he has a lot of value, and I wouldn't
Speaker 3: be shocked if he gets signed in the next two
Speaker 3: or three days. Even you know that, I think they
Speaker 3: like him, and so I think he's equal. Just Sebastian
Speaker 3: and Joseph Day by himself is enough for me to
Speaker 3: say I like this year better. If he's your fourth
Speaker 3: or fifth guy off the bench, that's way better than
Speaker 3: it's been in a long time for that for a
Speaker 3: fourth or fifth guy.
Speaker 2: I think in terms of your sixth and seventh guys,
Speaker 2: the arrow is probably pointing down. I think in terms
Speaker 2: of your top guys, Cam Heyward kind of his own
Speaker 2: unique case, the arrow is pointing up. Sebastian. Joseph Day
Speaker 2: is a real he's a legit, he's a he's a
Speaker 2: real he's a real kind of change change up in
Speaker 2: this in this group compared to last year. But I regardless,
Speaker 2: and even if your point is as well, like even
Speaker 2: if you have to factor in some decline for Cam Hayward,
Speaker 2: which hey, let's see it before. So but at this
Speaker 2: point in his career, you know, at some point it's
Speaker 2: gotta happen like father Tomas, Yeah, undefeated? Why a black
Speaker 2: arrow up? Hopefully? I think you're right. You make a
Speaker 2: good point about Derek Harmon, that we were all very
Speaker 2: excited for him last year, whereas now it's a little
Speaker 2: bit more of a wait and see approach. We know
Speaker 2: he can play, but how good can he be?
Speaker 3: Like next year, we might be like, boy, Ohannacher had
Speaker 3: a really good rookie year, but remember how unbelievably excited
Speaker 3: we were, which is probably not fair. But that's thirty
Speaker 3: two first round picks around the league.
Speaker 2: Right, that box of unknowns. Like you say, there, I do.
Speaker 3: So there's been a couple of people that have really
Speaker 3: gone another way to mention on a way though they
Speaker 3: think he's a keeper, he's making this team, that he
Speaker 3: has talent, that they might have found a sort of
Speaker 3: diamond in the rough, like not a diamond, but a yeah,
Speaker 3: some just cheaper gemstone in the rus, a cheaper gem stone,
Speaker 3: right right, that he paid nothing for.
Speaker 2: Hey, he's gonna have an opportunity, I think.
Speaker 3: Because I don't know if like Lee and Lowry are
Speaker 3: making this team if you only keep seven, I.
Speaker 2: Was just gonna say Rmon's making the team. Why he's
Speaker 2: making the team. Cam Hayward's making the team. Fashion, Joseph Day,
Speaker 2: Keanu Benton.
Speaker 3: That's five, that's five guaranteed.
Speaker 2: Gabriel Rubio, I mean he's round pick, he's probably making it.
Speaker 2: That would be six, could be your seven, right right right,
Speaker 2: that's that would make some sense to me. That's starting
Speaker 2: to come together.
Speaker 3: There because those two guys on the way you and Rubio,
Speaker 3: I don't think their books written. They may never turn
Speaker 3: into starters, but they won't be that louder Milk guy described.
Speaker 3: I think Lee's quickly becoming that where it's like.
Speaker 2: You just someone who's just taking up a scholarship.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, Like we can trot you out there for
Speaker 3: ten snaps, but you'll probably never be more than that,
Speaker 3: and you're just an ending eater that you know, the
Speaker 3: other team says, thanks for putting out there.
Speaker 2: Is that the Dan mccullor's memorial scholarship there.
Speaker 3: He got He got too many more, He got more
Speaker 3: years than he should.
Speaker 2: He was he was on scholarship for a while. That
Speaker 2: big guy.
Speaker 3: One out of ten plays looked really good.
Speaker 2: One out of ten. That's like me on the golf course.
Speaker 2: Matt Williams and one out of ten swich, dang that
Speaker 2: kid could be on the corn ferry tour. And then
Speaker 2: Banks spray one right into the woods baby, and start
Speaker 2: over hour of the books. Two hours to go, we'll
Speaker 2: hear a little bit from offensive coordinator Brian Angelico, and yeah,
Speaker 2: in the four o'clock hour, keep those tweets rolling in.
Speaker 2: We've got a lot of ground to cover. West Jeweler
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson. It's the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the
Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network.