Speaker 1: I'm Rhet Lewis, and this is NFL Inside Report today,
Speaker 1: talking to our paladin de Kinkawalla, who's got tons of
Speaker 1: inside around the a f C North, including with the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers, where g M. Kevin Colbert just addressed the
Speaker 1: media this week. We have the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger,
Speaker 1: many changes coming to that Steelers organization, including coaching staff
Speaker 1: shake ups. Will get into all of that, but a
Speaker 1: D D. Great to have you back here with us.
Speaker 1: Let's start right there with what feels like an end
Speaker 1: of an era of sorts. Obviously, with Ben Roethlisberger retiring,
Speaker 1: g M. Kevin Colbert will soon make his exit as
Speaker 1: well following the draft. UM, what's the feeling around the
Speaker 1: organization around this time of transition, if you will. I
Speaker 1: don't know if there's a full acknowledgment that it really
Speaker 1: is a turning of a chapter. And I think so
Speaker 1: much of it Red has to do is if it
Speaker 1: really is a turning of a page, because let's not
Speaker 1: forget that probably the most dominant personality in that entire
Speaker 1: organization is Mike Tomlin, and Mike Tomlin's not going anywhere.
Speaker 1: And when we talk about Kevin Colbert and him being
Speaker 1: the general manager. This is probably the best example in
Speaker 1: the entire National Football League of a head coach and
Speaker 1: a GM working in concert together. And as we head
Speaker 1: into the Pro day circuit. In fact, I'll throw this
Speaker 1: out there right now, I'm dying to be a fly
Speaker 1: on the wall with Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colburn on
Speaker 1: the Pro day circuit. And Mike Tomlin will of course
Speaker 1: never allow it. But that's because there's nobody travels together
Speaker 1: like the two of them. I mean, they are at
Speaker 1: almost every single Pro Day with each other, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, whether they're flying on a jet together or
Speaker 1: driving in a car or whatever it is, however they
Speaker 1: get there. They take prospects to dinner together, they have
Speaker 1: dessert with Prospects together. They have PSCA parents together, like
Speaker 1: they did with the Edmunds brothers when they took out
Speaker 1: Germaine and Terrell Edmunds and their parents. And the two
Speaker 1: of them, really, I don't want to say they see
Speaker 1: eye to eye, but I don't want that to sound
Speaker 1: negative because it's not. Either man is afraid to say
Speaker 1: I view this this way, and the other one says
Speaker 1: I view this this way. I think there's a really
Speaker 1: good conversation and meeting of the minds all of that.
Speaker 1: And so it's funny because we met with Kevin Colbert
Speaker 1: this week, rat and we and he is a part
Speaker 1: of the process in choosing his successor or in helping
Speaker 1: our Rooney the team president owner choose his successor. And
Speaker 1: I said, well, what about Mike Tomlin, Like, isn't my
Speaker 1: Tomlin part of that? Because Mike Tomlin is so used
Speaker 1: to working hand in hand with his general manager that
Speaker 1: you think that it would really matter who he is
Speaker 1: comfortable with and who he wants to be with. And
Speaker 1: you know, you mentioned the pro day appearances, which I
Speaker 1: feel like will be more intriguing and more talked about
Speaker 1: in terms of their attendance at which pro days, probably
Speaker 1: more so this year than ever. Now knowing we knew
Speaker 1: before that the Steelers were gonna need a quarterback at
Speaker 1: some point, it seems a little bit more desperate now
Speaker 1: this year to find that next guy. Right, even though
Speaker 1: Kevin Colbert said it his press conference, you know this
Speaker 1: week that Mason Rudolph would be the starter at the
Speaker 1: season started today, and it's nice to have that. Hey
Speaker 1: do drag that one out if the season started to
Speaker 1: day right, which doesn't thankfully for everyone. I think so.
Speaker 1: Um yeah, so if the season starting today, Mason Rudolph
Speaker 1: would be the starter, and that's a nice luxury for
Speaker 1: them to have at least the only quarterback that is
Speaker 1: currently undercomtact under contract on the right because Dwayne Haskins
Speaker 1: is what in r f A or you have a
Speaker 1: free agent of some sort. Um, Okay, So where do
Speaker 1: you feel like the plan for a quarterback stands at
Speaker 1: this point? With Pro days coming up, with the Combine
Speaker 1: on the horizon next week, and a chance to really
Speaker 1: start to get a feel for some of these players.
Speaker 1: So I think the truth of the matter is is
Speaker 1: that there's not necessarily a very very obvious franchise quarterback
Speaker 1: in the draft, you know, like the way a Joe
Speaker 1: Barrow was perhaps, um, I don't know quite frankly that
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger was an obvious this is a guy that's
Speaker 1: going to lead our club for the next eighteen years,
Speaker 1: but there was a very very strong feeling of who
Speaker 1: he was and what his potential was. Is there the
Speaker 1: same strong feeling for a quarterback in this draft who
Speaker 1: could step in immediately? You know, we've heard a lot
Speaker 1: about how Mike Tomlin has made eyes at Malik Willis. Well,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, He's made eyes at Aaron Rodgers, and
Speaker 1: he made eyes at Mason Rudolphin. Mike Common makes eyes
Speaker 1: at people. So I don't know that I'm willing to
Speaker 1: read into that. But for everything I've heard about the
Speaker 1: young quarterback from Liberty is that he's still a project
Speaker 1: and that while he may have a great amount of potential,
Speaker 1: he's even further behind than try Lance was. And Trey
Speaker 1: Lance couldn't get on the field this past year as
Speaker 1: a starting quarterback. So is that necessarily a real answer? Now,
Speaker 1: everybody in the city of Pittsburgh would love, love, love,
Speaker 1: love for Kenny Pickett to be the answer, and for
Speaker 1: Kenney Pickett and his allegedly small hands to come in
Speaker 1: and rival Joe Burrow and be the savior. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, pitt the Steelers have about as much familiarity
Speaker 1: with Picket as they can any player, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: they play at the same stadium, they train at the
Speaker 1: same building. Literally, for any of your listeners who don't
Speaker 1: know Rhett, the Steelers and the pit Panthers share the
Speaker 1: same exact building. There's just kind of a dividing line
Speaker 1: in between. It's the same parking lot, it's the same building.
Speaker 1: The practice fields are all out back, and everybody could
Speaker 1: look out upon them, So at any point Mike Tomlin
Speaker 1: could have stepped up and looked out his back window
Speaker 1: and seen Kenny Pickett. I think because there has been
Speaker 1: so much chatter about the desire for a veteran quarterback,
Speaker 1: the Steelers have always had four quarterbacks going into camp.
Speaker 1: Kevin Colbert said their expectation is to have four quarterbacks
Speaker 1: going into camp. I really feel they will bring in
Speaker 1: a veteran quarterback who can compete. Now, you mentioned Malik Willis,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, I do another podcast with my
Speaker 1: pal Daniel Jeremiah Bucky Brooks Smooth the Sticks. Um. We
Speaker 1: were talking on Monday, UM, and DJ made it very
Speaker 1: clear Um as he pegged these Steelers to select Malik
Speaker 1: Willis in his latest mock draft. He does these mock
Speaker 1: drafts based on what he's hearing around the league, and
Speaker 1: the sentiment around the league more than any other sentiment
Speaker 1: around any player, is that the Steelers love Malik Willis. Well,
Speaker 1: Leake Willis will step up directing traffic. Now he's gonna run.
Speaker 1: That's a long way to go. It is a bunch
Speaker 1: of where those that ten. But he also mentioned this
Speaker 1: in his description of the pick. The Steelers are looking
Speaker 1: to get more dynamic at quarterback, and yes, Malik Willis
Speaker 1: is an athletic playmaker, and so that fits there, which
Speaker 1: would be you know a little bit of a departure
Speaker 1: the way that they've played quarterback in the last you know,
Speaker 1: eighteen years, Right, Red, Red, I'm sorry that I'm laughing,
Speaker 1: but did you do you remember who they trotted out
Speaker 1: at quarterback a year ago? I mean, God bless Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger at thirty nine years of age. Well, that's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. It's a yes, getting more dynamic from that
Speaker 1: more dynamic quarterback. I think that's true, but it feels
Speaker 1: like a stylistic type of movement at least in the
Speaker 1: way that we're talking about it here at this stage
Speaker 1: on you know, February end of February. Well, you know
Speaker 1: what to be fair, and this is another interesting point
Speaker 1: as related to Mason Rudolph and the fact that there
Speaker 1: are offensive coordinator Matt Canada, who is in his second
Speaker 1: year and who was not really given kind of a
Speaker 1: fair assessment or should not be assessed off of last
Speaker 1: year because again he was left with thirty quarterback Ben
Speaker 1: Laffabooker right, who had a way of playing, a way
Speaker 1: of doing business, in a way of not being able
Speaker 1: to move anymore. Um, which again at thirty nine years
Speaker 1: of age and all of the hits that he took.
Speaker 1: I am not knocking him for that, but in any case, um,
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin has made a point of saying that he
Speaker 1: is intrigued by quarterback mobility and that that is something
Speaker 1: he is studying, going back all the way to the
Speaker 1: bye week, I mean when the stewards were coming out
Speaker 1: of the bye week and the question was how did
Speaker 1: you spend your bye week? He went out of his
Speaker 1: way to say that he had been studying quarterback mobility. Man,
Speaker 1: quarterback mobility is value, um, not only by me but everyone. Um.
Speaker 1: It's just a component of today's game and increasingly so.
Speaker 1: And that that is something that he has brought up,
Speaker 1: and the stewlers have, you know, institutionally tried to dial
Speaker 1: back a little bit and say that mobility is not
Speaker 1: necessarily Lamar Jackson mobility. Um, it may not even be
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow being able to lead out of a rush
Speaker 1: and escape from the pocket. Mobility, but just mobility a
Speaker 1: little bit, you know, as a defensive mind. And he
Speaker 1: thinks about the way that the game is changing and
Speaker 1: what you need to shut down and what you need
Speaker 1: to contain and what you need to stop. Then what
Speaker 1: is the opposing offense there? And I think that he
Speaker 1: believes it's a quarterback that has more athleticism, that can
Speaker 1: not only move the pocket, but maybe bleed out of
Speaker 1: the pocket, or maybe being eleventh guy you need to
Speaker 1: account for, um, a guy that means that you can't
Speaker 1: ever leave a gap unblocked. Like all of that. I
Speaker 1: think that that's a piece of it. But again the
Speaker 1: question is the Pittsburgh Steelers will always tell you that
Speaker 1: they are competing for a Super Bowl every single year,
Speaker 1: that they are never in rebuild mode, that they are
Speaker 1: never treading water, that they are not looking for a
Speaker 1: bridge anyway. But having said that, if you don't see
Speaker 1: a franchise quarterback in the draft this year, and there
Speaker 1: is not in Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson available to
Speaker 1: you at a reasonable price, then is getting you a
Speaker 1: bridge to be able to compete? Is shoring up that
Speaker 1: offensive line and running the ball, playing great defense and
Speaker 1: running the ball, the old formula of what the National
Speaker 1: Football League was forever and how the Pittsburgh Steelers won
Speaker 1: their Lombardi Trophies. Can that get you somewhere? Free agency
Speaker 1: is something add that we don't typically spend a lot
Speaker 1: of time talking about the Steelers with right. I think
Speaker 1: what Kevin Colber mentioned it this week, they don't typically
Speaker 1: have the cap room to go out and make those
Speaker 1: types of moves, right, And he's like, well, now we
Speaker 1: have all this cap room when we do with it, Um,
Speaker 1: what do you what do you see on the free
Speaker 1: agency front? Oh my god, I would love some aggression.
Speaker 1: I do love the story of that, like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: to be I finally have money. Let's go spend it. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't you know again? And this is one of
Speaker 1: those things where Kevin Colbert said, traditionally, this is not
Speaker 1: a team that is, you know, at the forefront of
Speaker 1: being hyper aggressive when it comes to free agency. A
Speaker 1: lot of that because is because they're institutional philosophy is
Speaker 1: that they grow and develop their own But I do
Speaker 1: think that when you see I think we've seen some
Speaker 1: adjustments or breaks from tradition in the last few years.
Speaker 1: So I remember the year before the Steelers traded a
Speaker 1: number one overall pick for Minca Fitzpatrick. I was really
Speaker 1: pressing Mike Tomlin because at the time Patrick Peterson, the
Speaker 1: Steelers were desperate at corner. Patrick Peterson was supposedly getting
Speaker 1: out of Arizona or wanted out of Arizona. And I
Speaker 1: just remember asking Mike Tomlin, why would you not trade
Speaker 1: a first round pick for a known commodity as opposed
Speaker 1: to somebody that you're a son actually taking a flyer on.
Speaker 1: You know, the first round pick is not a guaranteed deal,
Speaker 1: no matter what position you're at. Actually, yes, Like I'm
Speaker 1: old enough to remember when people thought t. J. Watt
Speaker 1: was a reach in the first round. You know, like
Speaker 1: there there, you never really know. And so my argreament
Speaker 1: was essentially, if you've got a guy who's been in
Speaker 1: the league for a year or two and you know
Speaker 1: exactly how he is, and now he plays in the
Speaker 1: NFL game, why not go get him because you know
Speaker 1: exactly what you're getting out of him, and he's still
Speaker 1: on his rookie deal. And Mike Tomlin was just adamant, No,
Speaker 1: we want our own, we want to grow and develop
Speaker 1: our own way. You know, blah blah blah, we want
Speaker 1: our own And an exhibit B is that the Steelers,
Speaker 1: just like the Packers and the Bengals, have never guaranteed
Speaker 1: money beyond the first year of a deal. Well, a
Speaker 1: deal wasn't getting done with t J. Watt without doing so.
Speaker 1: And so after you know, weeks and weeks and weeks
Speaker 1: of back and forth and nothing happening, and t J.
Speaker 1: Watt practicing over on the side of training camp kind
Speaker 1: of having a hold in into some sort and my
Speaker 1: getting ripped every chay by a segment of Steelers fandom
Speaker 1: because I kept saying, just because you've always done business
Speaker 1: one way, it doesn't mean you have to keep doing
Speaker 1: it that way. The Steelers did, indeed, go ahead and
Speaker 1: adjust the way they create contracts, make t J's camp
Speaker 1: a little bit happier, make themselves a little bit happier.
Speaker 1: T J. Watt is here, and look at what he
Speaker 1: rewards them with, Defensive Player of the Year. And so
Speaker 1: I say all of that in a very long winded way,
Speaker 1: Rhett to say that we love to say the Steelers
Speaker 1: are slave to tradition, that the Steelers stand by their
Speaker 1: traditions that the Steelers have certain bed rock principles that
Speaker 1: they stand by, maybe more than any other organization in
Speaker 1: the NFL. But in the last few years we have
Speaker 1: indeed seen them break from some of that tradition. And
Speaker 1: so if they have more salary cap room and more
Speaker 1: cash than they have ever had in Kevin Colbert's tenure,
Speaker 1: and Kevin Colbert is on his way out, why not
Speaker 1: go out with a bang spends and I love it? Um, No,
Speaker 1: he does have hees. Can I get you to repeat
Speaker 1: that and send that to my husband spend spend spent, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know. I'll record it for you later in a
Speaker 1: separate one. Just send it off to Yeah, let's spend it.
Speaker 1: Do whatever you want with it, Burn it if you want.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's the same spending it right. Um. And look,
Speaker 1: there are some decisions to make with players that are
Speaker 1: on their roster now, Devin Bush being one of them. Uh,
Speaker 1: fifth year option is coming up here. I know they
Speaker 1: talked about that a little bit too, um. And we
Speaker 1: can get into that, you know, once those decisions become final. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, decisions to make in your own house, decisions
Speaker 1: to make outside with bringing people in. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: an interesting offseason here for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and in
Speaker 1: terms of players and I have some new faces coaching them,
Speaker 1: especially on the defensive side. Get into that right after this.
Speaker 1: All right back here with you on NFL Inside Report,
Speaker 1: colleague d D. Kinkobala, back here with us talking Steelers
Speaker 1: at a f C North. Here we'll get into some
Speaker 1: unsolicited advice that ADD had for the a f C
Speaker 1: North outside of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we'll do that
Speaker 1: here just a moment. But first let's start with the
Speaker 1: changes coming to the Steelers coaching staff, particularly on the
Speaker 1: defensive side. Keep Butler's out as defensive coordinator. Terrell Austin
Speaker 1: is in as the defensive coordinator who spent a couple
Speaker 1: of years with the Detroit Lions, and her Gym Caldwell
Speaker 1: spent some time with the Baltimore Ravens Uh and then
Speaker 1: of course the Just recently, the Steelers make official the
Speaker 1: hire of Brian Flores, as we all know, fired by
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins, suing the National Football League and three
Speaker 1: individual clubs as well on the basis of racial discrimination.
Speaker 1: Yet the Steelers still wanted to bring him onto the staff,
Speaker 1: and I think it's not surprising considering the Steelers commitment
Speaker 1: um to minority hires and to hiring good coaches in general.
Speaker 1: And I felt like that's kind of how Kevin Colburn
Speaker 1: answered it when he was asked, um, you know what
Speaker 1: it meant to bring Brian Flores into the organization? Add
Speaker 1: what what insight do you have into that higher that
Speaker 1: process at all? This is a no drama club. And
Speaker 1: it's funny yet because I was just asking about this
Speaker 1: actually the other day, and I think it was on
Speaker 1: the air UM on NFL Network. And if there's one
Speaker 1: thing about the Pittsburgh Steelers, and there's one thing about
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin in ten years of covering Mike Tomlin, if
Speaker 1: he does not want to answer a question, he is
Speaker 1: not going to answer a question. So if he does
Speaker 1: not want to create a big deal about Brian Flora
Speaker 1: is getting a you know, as it's been said, a
Speaker 1: lifeline or a landing spot or any of that, then
Speaker 1: it's not going to be a deal. And this is
Speaker 1: you know, this is one of the things that you
Speaker 1: have to love about the Pittsburgh Steelers organization that they
Speaker 1: sit here and they say there's a great coach available
Speaker 1: and we have a position for him, and he's mostly
Speaker 1: overqualified for it. But he says, sure, I'll come aboard
Speaker 1: and help you win. Okay, done deal, Like, why does
Speaker 1: it have to be anything more than that? But again,
Speaker 1: let's not forget that it's Art Rooney's late father, Dan Rooney,
Speaker 1: who is the namesake of the Rooney role, has really
Speaker 1: taken a hit red the last few years, and that's
Speaker 1: simply because of what Brian Flores is saying. Right, but
Speaker 1: I mean, all around, we're sitting here and saying does
Speaker 1: this even work and does it even make sense? And
Speaker 1: how much of this is since youre and genuine and
Speaker 1: just kind of trying to check the boxes and cross
Speaker 1: the teas and dot the eyes, and so to that sense,
Speaker 1: whether it is a conscious statement or not, the Steelers
Speaker 1: are indeed saying this is something that we care about.
Speaker 1: We're not going to leave a great coach just hanging
Speaker 1: and flying in the wind or flapping in the wind
Speaker 1: simply because he's calling a wrong or wrong. It's not
Speaker 1: for me to say whether Art Rooney went to Mike
Speaker 1: Tomlin and said, hey, we should do this, whether it
Speaker 1: was Mike Tomlin saying for the first time in fifteen years,
Speaker 1: because look, let's be very honest about this. Let's be upfront.
Speaker 1: A fact is a fact. In fifteen years, he hasn't
Speaker 1: never had a black quarterbacks coach. He has never had
Speaker 1: a black offensive coordinator. He's never had a minority offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: You know, he has not had a minority defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: until again this year with the elevation of t A.
Speaker 1: And so it's hard to say, oh, Mike Tomlin was
Speaker 1: just kind of trying to make a grand statement or
Speaker 1: or do this or do that. Um, it's hard to
Speaker 1: say that Art Rooney forced that because he certainly wasn't
Speaker 1: forcing anything like that in the last fifteen years. Look,
Speaker 1: and I told the story read so I'll tell it again.
Speaker 1: The first time I met Brian Flores was in two
Speaker 1: thousand eighteen. It was the no, actually, I'm sorry, it
Speaker 1: was two thousand nineteen. It was right after the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl in Atlanta, and Brian Flores Patriots had just shut
Speaker 1: down what was supposed to have been a high flying
Speaker 1: Rams offense in the Super Bowl, and Flores was about
Speaker 1: to be introduced, i believe, the very next day, in fact,
Speaker 1: as the Miami Dolphins head coach. And I'm walking out,
Speaker 1: and Steve Weisch was with me, and I see Brian Flores.
Speaker 1: I see him outside and I jokingly say to him,
Speaker 1: you just won the Super Bowl, you just designed the
Speaker 1: defense that won the super Bowl. You're about to become
Speaker 1: one of thirty two head coaches in the NFL, and
Speaker 1: you don't rate car service, Like you're literally walking a
Speaker 1: mile to your hotel with a five year old and
Speaker 1: a se and what's going out here? And he just
Speaker 1: looked around and he laughed. Me said, I'm a man
Speaker 1: among the people, like I'm no different than anything else.
Speaker 1: And I remember thinking this a dad. That to me,
Speaker 1: I just thought like, Okay, this is a dude. So
Speaker 1: what does Brian Flores bring to this coaching staff and
Speaker 1: how can he help a player like former first rounder
Speaker 1: Devin Bush, who the Steelers need to make a decision
Speaker 1: on here relatively soon. You mentioned Devin Bush earlier. Devin
Speaker 1: Bush is a young man that Kevin Colbert traded up for.
Speaker 1: Kevin told Colbert had only traded up for in the
Speaker 1: NFL Draft in two decades only twice before, once for
Speaker 1: Troy Palamala, who is a Hall of Famer, and once
Speaker 1: for Santonio Holmes who won in Super Bowl MVP. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And so the third time he traded up for was
Speaker 1: Devin Bush. And in that draft it was seen as
Speaker 1: Devin White and Devon Bush where the two best linebackers available,
Speaker 1: and Devin White obviously wasn't going to be available to
Speaker 1: the Steelers. They moved up to ten, they took Devon Bush.
Speaker 1: He got hurt last year was the first year off
Speaker 1: of that a c L surgery. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: talk that, you know what, it really takes a full
Speaker 1: year off of that, especially at that position. But there's
Speaker 1: also been a little bit of a question about Bush's
Speaker 1: mindset and who he is and how committed he is,
Speaker 1: which is kind of crazy because the young man was like,
Speaker 1: coming in he was the biggest gym rat that ever existed.
Speaker 1: He's the son of a former NFL player, allegedly came
Speaker 1: out of the womb reading a playbook. So I think
Speaker 1: that the Steelers moving on from Joe Schobert, who is
Speaker 1: a veteran linebacker that they kind of brought in at
Speaker 1: the last minute to wear the green dot where the
Speaker 1: headset helmet, giving Devin Bush that back, having a coach
Speaker 1: like Brian Flores to really push him and get the
Speaker 1: most out of him. I just think that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of tentacles to it. I think that t A
Speaker 1: is a very open minded guy who's got a lot
Speaker 1: of strong ideas and proven ideas. I think we're in
Speaker 1: flat Brian Flores is a guy who's got strong, proven ideas,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's kind of like team of rivals.
Speaker 1: I don't know that Mike Tomlin's gonna listen to everybody,
Speaker 1: but at least the ideas will be out there in
Speaker 1: the room. What is that thing? And I love that
Speaker 1: sentiment from a from a head coach like Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 1: It takes some comfortability in your own skin, you know,
Speaker 1: to do that too, you know. And when I was
Speaker 1: first hired here in the city of Pittsburgh, my tom
Speaker 1: and had three former head coaches on his staff. Dick
Speaker 1: Lebo was his defensive coordinator. He'd been a head coach,
Speaker 1: Todd Haley, who had been a head coach in Kansas City,
Speaker 1: was his offensive coordinator, and Mike Munchak, who had also
Speaker 1: been a head coach in Tennessee, was his line coach
Speaker 1: and ran his kind of run game in many ways.
Speaker 1: So at the time, you know, there were four head
Speaker 1: coaches on this staff, and that team did have a
Speaker 1: lot of I mean that team won a lot of games, certainly.
Speaker 1: Um okay, outside of the Steelers, who I think we've
Speaker 1: figured out need a quarterback. Um. You mentioned some other
Speaker 1: advice for some teams around the division. Bengals, of course
Speaker 1: signing Jesse Bates priority one, right, not just because he's
Speaker 1: a great player, he's like a foundational piece and you know,
Speaker 1: there's the Banks had really turned over their roster in
Speaker 1: the last few years and remade it in many ways.
Speaker 1: And the one thing that Duke Tobin, who's in charge
Speaker 1: of personnel in there, had said to me was kind
Speaker 1: of the priority is we want guys that love ball,
Speaker 1: and Jesse Bates is just such a smart, smart, smart, heady,
Speaker 1: insightful player. He's a leader in the sense that he's
Speaker 1: not going to yank you aside in front of everyone,
Speaker 1: but he's not afraid to pull you aside and talk
Speaker 1: to you quietly if you think something isn't right. And
Speaker 1: when you look at that way, the the way that
Speaker 1: the Bengals defense played, but they didn't necessarily have gaudy
Speaker 1: numbers like you weren't like, oh, this is the number
Speaker 1: one pass rushing unit or oh, this is number one
Speaker 1: in turnovers. But this group came up with the big
Speaker 1: play when they needed to come up with the big play.
Speaker 1: And this group was so nimble in adjusting on the fly.
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw that in two Kansas City games,
Speaker 1: right like completely being destroyed in the first half and
Speaker 1: then coming out in the second half and shutting things down.
Speaker 1: So much of that is because of those two safeties
Speaker 1: mon Bel and jess Place. It's sort of the back
Speaker 1: end communication is so important and the way that Bond
Speaker 1: Bell and Jessie Bait read each other and talk to
Speaker 1: each other and work with each other, and you know,
Speaker 1: have forced the secondary to meet every Tuesday on their
Speaker 1: day off over Chick fil A. And you know, I
Speaker 1: just this is one of those guys you need to
Speaker 1: keep and for the Browns, Jarvis Jarvis Landry. Tell him
Speaker 1: you love him and you want him back and you
Speaker 1: need him involved. But I feel like even bigger than that,
Speaker 1: are they sold on Baker Mayfield. Yeah, I don't think so,
Speaker 1: But I think that has a lot to do with
Speaker 1: whether you know, Jarvis Landry is a part of the
Speaker 1: picture moving forward to well, yeah, I mean I'm sure
Speaker 1: and That's why I said be involved. Like, there are
Speaker 1: certain players that you need to actually speak to who
Speaker 1: feel so invested in the growth of the team and
Speaker 1: the shape of the team and what the team should
Speaker 1: look like. And that's one of those bedrock guys that
Speaker 1: I personally believe. You know, it's almost separative position. It's
Speaker 1: very easy to say that the quarterback can be a leader, right,
Speaker 1: but like, sometimes it's another guy that sets the tone
Speaker 1: for a locker room. Sometimes it's another guy who's really
Speaker 1: really smart and can have a read on what the
Speaker 1: team should be and what the team needs, and can
Speaker 1: give you a true and honest and fair read of
Speaker 1: what the pulse of the lacker room is. And I
Speaker 1: just think that at this point in his career, this
Speaker 1: is a guy that you can absolutely trust. This is
Speaker 1: a guy that has given you everything that he possibly
Speaker 1: can for four years. And am I biased because I
Speaker 1: just love the way he approaches the game, Yes I am,
Speaker 1: but so sure part of our job. The Ravens have
Speaker 1: seen some pass rushers leave on free agency, Matthew Judan
Speaker 1: most recently last year and a great year within New
Speaker 1: England Patriots. Uh, they drafted a guy like Jalen Ferguson
Speaker 1: in the third round a couple of years agout a
Speaker 1: lot of tech hasn't seen a ton from him. Starting
Speaker 1: to get some out of Tias Bowser, who was the
Speaker 1: second round pick a few years back this past year,
Speaker 1: and then Achilles. He tours Achilles. So how long is
Speaker 1: he out for? Right? Houston is a free agent um
Speaker 1: pronoun laxee. I don't know what he's doing. I think
Speaker 1: he might be retiring. I'm not sure, you know, other
Speaker 1: than and let's other than a dafe away. Who do
Speaker 1: you really feel the rookie the when he's out of
Speaker 1: rookie now it'll be a second player out of pensity,
Speaker 1: a dafe away outside of him? Who are you feeling
Speaker 1: is really rushing the pastor? And if you were the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens, you just you? I mean, that's your identity.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Yeah, I have to make life hell for
Speaker 1: the passer, no doubt that's what they do. Um, But
Speaker 1: that's a like easier said than Donald though this is
Speaker 1: a great draft class, by the way, to need to
Speaker 1: find some pass rushers because it's arguably the strongest position
Speaker 1: group in this entire class. Did say that he went
Speaker 1: out of his way to say that it's deep at
Speaker 1: wide receiver, deep at outside linebacker, deep at cornerback, not
Speaker 1: necessarily deep at center and guard. Which, even as we
Speaker 1: talk about all these things with the a f C
Speaker 1: North look other than the Browns, everybody needs a new
Speaker 1: offensive line. The Bengals need a new offensive line, the
Speaker 1: Steelers need a new offensive line, and the Ravens need
Speaker 1: to address their offensive line. Yeah, there you go. D D.
Speaker 1: Kinka walla fantastic insight on all things Steelers in a
Speaker 1: f C North, and please catch her and co host
Speaker 1: Mike Yam on the NFL Explained podcast. They do a
Speaker 1: fantastic job over there, and of course always look forward
Speaker 1: to our next chat here on NFL Inside Report. Thanks
Speaker 1: to Datie, thank you for having me. That's gonna do
Speaker 1: it for this episode of NFL Inside Report. Thanks so
Speaker 1: much for being with us here. Reminder to download, rate
Speaker 1: review our show on the I Heart Radio app, on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We certainly
Speaker 1: appreciate it and we'll catch you right back here next
Speaker 1: week from Indianapolis in the NFL Scouting Combine for producers
Speaker 1: Thomas Warren and Tim Peracca. I'm your host rtt Lewis,
Speaker 1: We'll get you next time. NFL Inside Report is the
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