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Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson

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Speaker 1: on your twenty four to seven home of the Black

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Speaker 1: and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Drive.

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Speaker 3: I am Dale Lolly and he is the Matt Williamson.

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Speaker 2: It's a Wednesday here in Pittsburgh and Steelers back on

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Speaker 2: the practice field today. So are the Raiders.

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Speaker 3: And they have made Wednesday. By the way, did you

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Speaker 3: mentioned that part?

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Speaker 2: Very nice and pleasant in Vegas today too, very match

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Speaker 2: I don't know who knows anyways, Matt, the Raiders coming

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Speaker 2: out not even trying to sugarcoat this or hide it.

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Speaker 2: Aidan O'Connell will be in the starting lineup against the

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Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Las Vegas.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess I'm not surprised. I mean, I'm not

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Speaker 3: saying they're cashing in their chips, but they sure look

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Speaker 3: like they're looking for towards tomorrow more than they are

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Speaker 3: today with the Davonte Adams stuff. And you've pulled Minshew twice. Now,

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Speaker 3: the Colts got a lot out of Minshew, but he's

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Speaker 3: a very limited guy, and frankly, the Colts are much

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Speaker 3: better designed offense than the Raiders. Be he does put

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Speaker 3: the ball in harm's way. I don't have a great

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Speaker 3: scouting report on O'Connell. I mean, I don't think he

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Speaker 3: has massive strengths or weaknesses. To me, he profiles as

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Speaker 3: a ten year backup. You know that will retire one

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Speaker 3: day with a bunch of millions in the bank and

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Speaker 3: be happy, but never be the answer for anybody. And

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Speaker 3: I think it's particularly hard to play against.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: He has appeared in thirteen NFL games in his career.

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Speaker 2: Ten of those are starts. He's five and five in

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Speaker 2: his starts, and one of those starts came in a

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Speaker 2: twenty to fourteen win over the Chiefs last year in

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Speaker 2: Kansas City, which sounds impressive. Yeah, yeah, until you look

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Speaker 2: at that game and you realize they won twenty to fourteen.

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Speaker 2: He was nine for twenty one for sixty two yards.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow.

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Speaker 2: They returned a fumble for a touchdown and an inner

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Speaker 2: exception for a touchdown.

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Speaker 3: That helps.

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Speaker 2: That helps. Every time you scored two defensive touchdowns, you'll

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Speaker 2: even beat the Chiefs.

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Speaker 3: That says a lot. Yeah, he has not put up

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Speaker 3: big numbers. He's had a decent supporting cast over the

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Speaker 3: I mean this is second year in the league.

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Speaker 4: Post.

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Speaker 3: You remember he's a rookie.

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Speaker 2: But last year when he you know, you look down

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Speaker 2: the stretch when he was playing, he was their starter

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Speaker 2: basically for you know, for the final.

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Speaker 3: They made the coaching change.

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Speaker 2: Yeah it got hot.

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Speaker 3: Yeah he had DeVante Adams. Yeah, oh yeah, he had

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Speaker 3: you know, the mayor and Myers, Yeah, Josh Jacobs and right,

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Speaker 3: and it wasn't a bad line. I mean, it was

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Speaker 3: a decent supporting cast. Yeah, playing well. I don't know

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Speaker 3: that they have that this year. I know they don't.

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Speaker 2: They're not going to have DeVante Adams.

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Speaker 3: Not gonna have DeVante Adams. They do have Bowers, which

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Speaker 3: is a very very very nice addition.

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Speaker 2: But he's not DeVante Adams and they don't have Jacobs anymore.

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Speaker 3: I just think the team's in a way different place. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: you know, I mean that was they were so happy

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Speaker 3: to get Josh McDaniels out of the building and breath

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Speaker 3: of fresh air. You know, everything's lighter and easier, and

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Speaker 3: then you realize we're still not that good, you know.

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Speaker 3: I mean, and now maybe they're they're I'm hard on

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Speaker 3: peers because I think he got a head job way

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Speaker 3: too early, you know, I mean, he's only been a

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Speaker 3: coach for like five years. I mean, like he's not

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Speaker 3: been a football coach.

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Speaker 2: He was a coach in college long enough to get

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Speaker 2: a sanctions.

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Speaker 3: NCAA sanctions against him last week.

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Speaker 2: Oh did he I didn't see that. He didn't see that. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: he got show clause stuff that I see. Yeah, so

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Speaker 2: you got out of that. But I do think they're

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Speaker 2: kind of looking at him.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I think they're the NFL. That might be a

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Speaker 3: NFC West thing. So I think people were starting to

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Speaker 3: question them within the building too, like, you know, what,

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Speaker 3: what value do you bring to the table. I mean,

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Speaker 3: our defense is okay, but on game day? How much

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Speaker 3: are you helping us? Are you making us a better coach?

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Speaker 3: I don't know. I mean I don't know that he's

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Speaker 3: long for that position.

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Speaker 2: One thing I will say that O'Connell will do is

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Speaker 2: run a little bit more.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good point.

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Speaker 2: He has twenty six carries for one hundred and ninety

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Speaker 2: two yards. That's six point four yards rush per rushing attempt.

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Speaker 2: He doesn't do it a lot, two or three times

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Speaker 2: per game, but if he's converting first downs with his legs,

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Speaker 2: it's like a hurts yard.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think that's substantial. I did dig up

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Speaker 3: his numbers. I mean they're not great, but where was

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Speaker 3: it here? I mean this, so, even just this year,

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Speaker 3: Minshew's completing seventy one percent, O'Connell's at fifty nine. Average

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Speaker 3: depth of target is deeper for O'Connell, he's a little

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Speaker 3: bit more of a risk taker at eight point two

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Speaker 3: is opposed to six ' four for Minshew. But yards

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Speaker 3: per attempt minshew's at seven to two and O'Connell's at

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Speaker 3: five five. It's not completing, it's not complete them. Yeah, right,

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Speaker 3: I mean, well that was something right.

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Speaker 2: We talked earlier today and I mentioned that their deep

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Speaker 2: passing game has not been there, like anything past the

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Speaker 2: sticks is they're like six of fifteen twenty or more

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Speaker 2: yards down the field. They were like thirteen of twenty

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Speaker 2: with ten or more yards down the field within that

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Speaker 2: ten to twenty range, which isn't you know, they're not

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Speaker 2: They're not swinging and hitting a lot of pitches that

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Speaker 2: are in that range. Everything is more close to the

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Speaker 2: line of scrimmage.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I had just double checked too. Minshew has

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Speaker 3: does not have a rushing attempt this year. He hasn't

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Speaker 3: played a ton. But or O'Connell doesn't have a rushing

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Speaker 3: attempt this year. I mean Minshew has eleven, but he

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Speaker 3: doesn't played a ton either. I mean he's coming in

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Speaker 3: relief duty? Am I right on that? Are you look

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Speaker 3: at the same stuff I'm looking?

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Speaker 2: I was looking, you know what, I was looking at

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Speaker 2: the wrong stuff before. I'm looking at his sack yards?

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Speaker 2: Oh no, so that's twenty six, twenty six and ninety two.

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Speaker 2: He has seventeen carries for eleven yards. I first pologized,

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Speaker 2: I am completely wrong. He is not a runner. He's

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Speaker 2: not a runner.

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Speaker 3: I mean he can, I mean he's not a terrible athlete,

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Speaker 3: but he is not He does not have a rushing

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Speaker 3: attempt this year, and minshell, he just not. Yeah so

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Speaker 3: and even last year.

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Speaker 2: I'm just looking at this year now that I got

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Speaker 2: the right stat lines lined up here.

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Speaker 3: They'll take some sacks too, take some sacks.

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Speaker 2: And his long rush for his career is three yards.

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Speaker 3: So wow, would thought he was even better than that,

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Speaker 3: but yikes, yeah, so.

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Speaker 2: Kind of more of a stationary target in the pocket. Now.

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Speaker 2: The Steelers, of course, won't have alex Higsmith. They won't

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Speaker 2: have a Nick Kurbig we'll see what they do it

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Speaker 2: outside linebacker here on the on the quarterbacks blind side.

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Speaker 2: But the Raiders also might be starting some inexperience at

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Speaker 2: right tackle if Delmark Glaze has to play.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm want to go back something else you were

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Speaker 3: saying too about there's a lot of short throws. They

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Speaker 3: don't really have a deep threat. You know, it's a

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Speaker 3: Bowers and Myers centric offense. Neither one runs a four

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Speaker 3: to two you know what I mean. It's not Al Davis.

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Speaker 3: You know, give me Clifford Brand.

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Speaker 2: Run down the sideline right, throw it up.

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Speaker 3: And then we were talking today about for our keys

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Speaker 3: for our video tomorrow, and I went and double checked.

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Speaker 3: Their yards have to catch aren't even that good? You know,

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Speaker 3: like that's what they're trying to do. But it's not

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Speaker 3: like they're the Niners of Debo and you know, getting

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Speaker 3: them in great spots and just watching them. I don't

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Speaker 3: see a lot of routes where they hit him in

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Speaker 3: stride and keep going. It's a lot of comebacks and

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Speaker 3: you know, static stuff. It's not great.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So we'll see, we see what this means for.

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Speaker 2: You know, there is a little bit of an unknown

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Speaker 2: factor there. He has played in two games this year

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Speaker 2: and he's thrown thirty two passes, so it's not completely unknown. No,

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Speaker 2: he played a lot last year and he played you know,

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Speaker 2: all the way down the stretch last year.

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Speaker 3: But again, the personnel different now than what it was then,

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Speaker 3: and the right tackle is not great.

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Speaker 2: And the right tackle is not great, and you know,

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Speaker 2: the line in general is not great.

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Speaker 3: No, it's not. And sporting cast is below average. The

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Speaker 3: running game is non existent. That's better than that, I guess.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we said the same thing about Dallas, but

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Speaker 3: they would like to run the ball, but they're very

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Speaker 3: bad at it. So they have a very high pass percentage,

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Speaker 3: which isn't great when you're probably have the worst quarterback

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Speaker 3: situation in the league.

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Speaker 2: Well, so Zamir White didn't play last week, right, and

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Speaker 2: so it was all Alexander Madison. He you know, he's

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Speaker 2: ever three point nine yards per carry, and then you know,

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Speaker 2: a mire Abdullah came in and he finished with seven

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Speaker 2: carries for forty three yards, but he had a forty

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Speaker 2: yard run. He had a forty yard run, so his

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Speaker 2: other six carries got him three three yards.

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Speaker 3: A weird Abdullah note. And maybe just because the game

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Speaker 3: is out of hand, but he's the only running back

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Speaker 3: that played in the fourth quarter, so he played all

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Speaker 3: twenty two snaps in the fourth quarter. I assume its

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Speaker 3: just to get him out of the game.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, don't get Bryson hurt as well.

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Speaker 3: Right exactly. But man, some of their their running back

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Speaker 3: numbers are so bad. I mean, their running backs are

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Speaker 3: lasting success rate and last with in terms of rushing

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Speaker 3: attempts gaining a first down or touchdown. I mean, unless

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Speaker 3: all their rushing numbers are at the bottom of the league.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and on the other side of that, without Christian

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Speaker 2: Wilkins in the middle of their defense, who they gave up,

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Speaker 2: you know, a lot to get from Miami. It's gonna

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Speaker 2: be John Jenkins and either Nest or Jade Silvera or Adam.

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Speaker 3: Butler, a bunch of borderline dudes.

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Speaker 2: And really, you know that one of the strengths of

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Speaker 2: the Steelers offensive line should be it should be the

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Speaker 2: run blocking. He should be a power running and this

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Speaker 2: is a game that sets up don't mess around with

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Speaker 2: tosses and things like that. To Harris, we.

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Speaker 3: Run power, get him going downhill. Yeah, yeah, I don't

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Speaker 3: want him going left and right. You know, he's gonna

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Speaker 3: be the primary ball carrier, I mean, as he usually is.

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Speaker 3: But the other guys behind him are questionable at best,

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Speaker 3: you know, who knows. So he's gonna get a lot

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Speaker 3: of touches really work to his strengths. And rewatching a

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Speaker 3: Steeler game, no shocker, Linn Bel Joseph was a problem,

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Speaker 3: but Fraser had a really good game. Still, I thought

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Speaker 3: McCormick played really, really well. Like I'm pretty confident about

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Speaker 3: him being a solid right guard next year, legit starting player,

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Speaker 3: you know what I mean. So that to play your strengths,

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Speaker 3: you know, and I'm sure see them all play well,

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Speaker 3: and it's I can get back to you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think some of you last week

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Speaker 2: was just him getting his legs back under him.

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Speaker 4: Uh So.

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Speaker 2: Looking at the Steelers injury report, a lot of guys

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Speaker 2: rested today That included Nage, Harris, Maker, Fitzpatrick, Isaac Sayamalu,

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Speaker 2: t J. Watt, Cam Hayward, and Larry Ogan Jobi.

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Speaker 3: That's a pretty long list.

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Speaker 2: No, none more injury related. Russell Wilson a full participant

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Speaker 2: out there today. And I'm not giving away anything here

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Speaker 2: by saying he looked he was.

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Speaker 3: Doing looks healthy and doing.

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Speaker 2: Everything everything they needed them to do in the pocket.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: Demonte Kyz did not practice. As Mike Tomlins said earlier

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Speaker 2: in the week, he is quite doubtful to play this week.

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Speaker 2: He's got that ankle injury. Nick Krbig has already been

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Speaker 2: declared out. He didn't practice. Alex Heismith the same for him.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: Michael Pruitt limited, step in the right direction, step in

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Speaker 2: the right direction, as was Jaylen Warren.

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Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's great. I mean, so at a minimum,

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Speaker 3: you would think those guys are back next.

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Speaker 2: Week at the very least. But I think there's a chance.

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Speaker 2: And so the NFL has changed what they consider limited

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Speaker 2: in terms of how you have to report that. If

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Speaker 2: a player is working on the side with trainers, you

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Speaker 2: have to list him as limited because he did something.

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Speaker 3: He did something. He's not just standing there in a

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Speaker 3: boot or whatever.

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Speaker 2: So when you see a DMP next to a guy,

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Speaker 2: he did nothing in.

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Speaker 3: Practice, didn't do one thing, he didn't walk on the field,

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Speaker 3: didn't do any Okay.

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Speaker 2: When you see a guy as limited, that could mean

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Speaker 2: he was limited taking some he could have done some

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Speaker 2: position drills and things of that nature, but he also

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Speaker 2: could have been working to this with on the side

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Speaker 2: with trainers and things of that nature. He could have

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Speaker 2: done both.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a pretty wide range. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: you could do very light work.

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Speaker 2: Well, it used to be if a guy was off

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Speaker 2: working on the side with trainers, he didn't.

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Speaker 3: He just listened to me. He didn't participate in practice.

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Speaker 3: He was just out there.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I don't know which rule I like better, but

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Speaker 3: either one. I mean, so, I mean he could have

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Speaker 3: just done team or just on drill work or whatever.

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Speaker 2: Typically if they do team stuff, you get a full participation,

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Speaker 2: I would assume.

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Speaker 3: So, yeah, because you're actually out there doing true football stuff.

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Speaker 2: So it's worth at least keeping an eye on Warren

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Speaker 2: and prew it, you know, the next two days to

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Speaker 2: see where they're at. And they could certainly use They

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Speaker 2: could use Warren for sure, but they could use.

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Speaker 3: Pro I would really love to see Warren back, but

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Speaker 3: prove it would be useful as well. There's no question,

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Speaker 3: because a more more versatility with their personnel packages, and

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Speaker 3: I mean more thirteen even more fourteen. You know, they

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Speaker 3: haven't run the ball well without Proud in there. No,

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Speaker 3: they haven't, they absolutely haven't. He's more valuable than you

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Speaker 3: think he's kind of a glue guy, you know, like

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Speaker 3: he can detach a little, he can be in the

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Speaker 3: backfield a little, he can be in line. I don't

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Speaker 3: think he's the kind of a jack of all trades

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Speaker 3: master of none. But that's valuable, you know, because there

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Speaker 3: are other tight ends. We say it's all the time.

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Speaker 3: Hayward and Washington are two different beasts altogether, and he's

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Speaker 3: like halfway in between.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so we'll see where that goes, you know, with

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Speaker 2: that injury report the rest of this week. Of course,

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Speaker 2: we don't have the Raiders injury report yet because yeah, yeah, West.

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Speaker 3: Coast time, but you get their share of stuff too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: If the Steelers, if they can get Jalen Warren back, oh,

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Speaker 2: I would love that would be a big get. I

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Speaker 2: think in the running game, I know, again you're running

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Speaker 2: your offense and Naugy Harris's last couple of games again

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Speaker 2: without a competent second runner. It hasn't looked the same

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Speaker 2: without Michael Prude. I don't know if there's anything to

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Speaker 2: this or not, but it hasn't looked the same without

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Speaker 2: Michael Prude in there.

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Speaker 3: No, and boy, i'd love to see Warren get a

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Speaker 3: bunch of carries, you know, I mean I almost feel

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Speaker 3: like he's out of sight, out of mind for how

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Speaker 3: much he contributed last year and all the things he

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Speaker 3: brings to the table. He's a really really.

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Speaker 2: Good the third down stuff alone. Yeah, how many times

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Speaker 2: did they check one down to Warren? You know, it's

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Speaker 2: third and nine and he gets ten?

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Speaker 3: I think Warren or I think Nausey played one snap

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Speaker 3: on third down this week, which means less guys are

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Speaker 3: out there, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: If he's going to be your your every down back, right,

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Speaker 2: you gotta spell himself. You've got to find some way

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Speaker 2: to not have him out there one hundred percent of

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Speaker 2: the snap.

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Speaker 3: Right, and he still played a lot.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a lot, And so I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: in that respect, less might be you know that that's

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Speaker 2: where was he at last year? Fifty five percent of

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Speaker 2: the snaps something like that. I think, well over and

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Speaker 2: warm was it forty five percent? That was a nice

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Speaker 2: balance between the two.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and they both are good at what they did,

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Speaker 3: and you know, I mean there was a lot of

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Speaker 3: value there.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So see if they can get back to that

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Speaker 2: once Jalen Warren is back hopefully this week.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that is discouraging. I'd love to see him even

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Speaker 3: next week. I think he's been missed. Yeah, I do

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Speaker 3: as well. Let's get to a break. He is the

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Speaker 3: Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the

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Speaker 3: Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network. When we return,

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Speaker 3: will be joined by the Lord of Living in his Fears,

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Speaker 3: Bob Labriola right after this.

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Speaker 1: At least he's the Drive if with Dale Lolly and

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Speaker 1: Matt Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of

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Speaker 1: the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly. He is

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Speaker 2: the Matt Williamson, and we are joined on the phone

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Speaker 2: line now as we are every Wednesday here in the

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Speaker 2: beautiful studios here at iHeart Radio, Bob Labriola, the Lord

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Speaker 2: of Living in his fears, the Dean of Doom and Labs.

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Speaker 2: There's plenty to be living in your fears about right now.

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Speaker 4: I was just gonna say, you guys all happy they're

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Speaker 4: in those beautiful iHeart studios yourselves? Am I the only

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Speaker 4: one who is you know, a little bit concerned about

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Speaker 4: this uh two game losing streak maybe, and maybe even

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Speaker 4: more than that, the growing injury list.

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Speaker 2: The injury list is concerning Matt and now we're just

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Speaker 2: going over this week's injury report, and uh, well, there

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Speaker 2: were a lot of guys who weren't practicing. A lot

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Speaker 2: of them were because they were resting. But at the

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Speaker 2: same time, it was a who's who list of who

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Speaker 2: didn't practice as opposed to his and and it's cluster injuries, Bob.

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Speaker 2: It's it's all at two positions right now.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's you know, I get the whole

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Speaker 4: you know, injuries are part of the game. I mean,

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Speaker 4: that's the way you have to look at it in

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Speaker 4: this business. And I also get the you know, next

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Speaker 4: man up philosophy, because that's what you have to tell

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Speaker 4: your team. I mean, you cannot be saying, oh my god.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna lose right or or look at look at

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Speaker 2: all of the offensive linemen that we have lost.

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Speaker 4: Either they're you're on injured reserve now or they're you know,

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Speaker 4: somehow not one hundred percent or just getting back from

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Speaker 4: the injured reserve list, or you know whatever. Yeah, the

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Speaker 4: cluster injuries, the situation at outside linebacker, you know, it's

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Speaker 4: just uh it, rosters can only absorb so much. I mean,

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Speaker 4: that's all there is. It's not like college where you

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Speaker 4: have one hundred plus people at practice every day. Uh so, yeah,

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Speaker 4: it's the injury situation is disturbing. I mean, if you're

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Speaker 4: asking me to flip it around and what am I

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Speaker 4: hanging my hat on this week, I'm kind of encouraged

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Speaker 4: about the possibility of Russell Wilson moving his way up

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Speaker 4: back onto the field. I think that I certainly have

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Speaker 4: been impressed with Justin Fields, and I'm I'm surprised in

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Speaker 4: a good way what he's been able to do and

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Speaker 4: how he has improved and all of that stuff. But

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Speaker 4: Russell Wilson was signed for a reason. And one of

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Speaker 4: those reasons, I mean I heard and don't don't hold

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Speaker 4: this against me, okay, but on Sunday in my car

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Speaker 4: because the traffic was interesting, a lot of people in

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Speaker 4: and around the North Shore last Sunday for that Steelers Cowboys.

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Speaker 4: But I had, but I had, but I had the

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Speaker 4: PURSUITA and Charlie Batch on Steelers post game. And one

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Speaker 4: of the points that Charlie Batch made and I'm giving

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Speaker 4: him credit for this because it really kind of sparked

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Speaker 4: us in my head, the Steelers have no on field

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Speaker 4: leaders on offense, they don't. He's not wrong, and I

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Speaker 4: think that that's you know, over the course of an

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Speaker 4: NFL season, that has value. I think that it has

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Speaker 4: value in a lot of different ways. And you know,

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Speaker 4: Russell Wilson is the only guy who gives you that.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you need it has to be. It has

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Speaker 4: to be a position of well, unless you're Marquise Pouncey,

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Speaker 4: you need to be, you know, one of the premier positions.

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Speaker 4: Certainly Marquith Pouncey was a premier player and person and

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Speaker 4: presence all of those things. But when you look at

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Speaker 4: the Steelers offense right now, Uh, it's got to be

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Speaker 4: Russell Wilson. And he really does, in my opinion, check

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Speaker 4: all the boxes and.

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Speaker 2: For a reason.

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Speaker 4: Well yeah, and the way he has carried himself, what

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Speaker 4: he has experienced. I really think that they need that now.

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Speaker 4: And I'm not you know, Russell Wilson can't make up

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Speaker 4: for everything, all of the weaknesses in the roster. And

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Speaker 4: I believe this about Ben Roethlisberger too, And I'm not

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Speaker 4: saying they're the same kind of players or anything, but

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Speaker 4: a good quarterback, a veteran experienced quarterback who knows how

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Speaker 4: to win, who has won. He's an eraser. I mean

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Speaker 4: he can erase things, bad things for your team quickly,

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Speaker 4: answering a touchdown with a touchdown. If you're having a

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Speaker 4: tough time of it and your defense comes up with

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Speaker 4: a takeaway in plus territory, he can stick it in

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Speaker 4: the end zone quick. I mean, these are the kind

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Speaker 4: of things that when you're playing good teams in the

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Speaker 4: NFL on a weekly basis, it's a few handful of

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Speaker 4: plays that determining outcome. And if you can get a

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Speaker 4: guy who can maybe make a couple of those plays

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Speaker 4: in your favor and he's a quarterback, that's I think

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Speaker 4: that's pretty significant. The other thing, and the other.

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Speaker 2: Thing that a veteran quarterback does, Bob, is you don't

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Speaker 2: go into a half like you did last year last weekend,

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Speaker 2: where George Pickens has two targets and Pat Fairrenmuth has none.

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Speaker 2: One thing that Ben Roethlisberger always did early in games

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Speaker 2: and you looked down at the end of the first

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Speaker 2: court and be like, wow, they had seven different receivers

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Speaker 2: targeted in the first quarter. You get everybody involved early

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Speaker 2: in the game, and that way you don't have guys

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Speaker 2: kind of moping around or doing this or doing that,

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Speaker 2: or thinking they're not part of the game plan.

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Speaker 3: I would also think there'll be less botch snaps are

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Speaker 3: an obvious one, but less procedural issues too.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, because the other thing is your coordinator

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Speaker 4: and your head coach are much more willing to you know,

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Speaker 4: I won't say live on the edge or anything, but well, yeah,

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00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 4: you can call more things and and I don't I

437
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 4: don't think the the restrictions are the same. For example,

438
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 4: they would never have told Ben don't throw in the

439
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 4: middle of the field Atlanta the opener, you know what

440
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 4: I mean, just absolutely right, Hey Ben, read the field,

441
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,000
Speaker 4: you know, get the ball to and so then you

442
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 4: have more I.

443
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 3: Know that stuff, you know, don't bug me.

444
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:47,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, and even and even then, even then it didn't always, it.

445
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 2: Didn't always work out sometimes you.

446
00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 4: Sure, but anyway, you're more willing to, you know, play

447
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 4: a little looser with it, and so you have an

448
00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,159
Speaker 4: opportunity to get the Baltimore people. Maybe you have if

449
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,919
Speaker 4: you convert more third downs because you're a little bit

450
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 4: more aggressive on third's third downs. And then also maybe

451
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,400
Speaker 4: you're aggressive on first and second downs and you're not

452
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 4: in as many third downs as the Steelers offense has

453
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,840
Speaker 4: been in either. So again, this is kind of what

454
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:22,679
Speaker 4: I'm hoping for that Russell Wilson can bring. And you know,

455
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 4: kind of that's what I'm hanging my hat on right

456
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 4: now in terms of being optimistic.

457
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,680
Speaker 3: So labs are want to get back to present day

458
00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 3: in a minute. But I love chatting NFL and Steeler's

459
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,400
Speaker 3: history with you. And this is another franchise that's rivals

460
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,840
Speaker 3: Dallas for Steeler history and can you educate our younger

461
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 3: folks listening about who Al Davis was.

462
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 4: Al Davis, Well, if you want to just keep it

463
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 4: Steelers Raiders, Al Davis was I think his official title

464
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 4: was the managing General Partner or something, but Al called

465
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:08,000
Speaker 4: all the shots and Al in the early days of

466
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,399
Speaker 4: the a f L, Al was a coach.

467
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,520
Speaker 2: Al and Chuck nor were on the same coaching staff.

468
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 4: Right, So Al as the other as the owner, as

469
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,959
Speaker 4: the guy who called all the shots, I mean, Al,

470
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:31,359
Speaker 4: he was involved in personnel way more than Granry. Well

471
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,160
Speaker 4: maybe you know, maybe Jerry Jones is up there though,

472
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 4: but historically probably, I mean, I don't you know, being

473
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 4: that wasn't what was in in in vogue in terms

474
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,200
Speaker 4: of what owners did in that era.

475
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 2: And not only that, but he was also like they

476
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,880
Speaker 2: ran his philosophy offensively and he.

477
00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 3: Didn't own home depot and bought a team, right.

478
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 4: Right, So so anyway, but Al always believed that the

479
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 4: that the NFL was against him, you know, him and

480
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,440
Speaker 4: Rosell had the feuds, and so he believed he got

481
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:24,679
Speaker 4: screwed in the Amaco reception. And so that became the

482
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:30,560
Speaker 4: foundation for you know, the Raiders hatred of the Steelers

483
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,840
Speaker 4: and a lot of the you know, and once you

484
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 4: started hating Joe Green and those people, they were really

485
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 4: willing to hate you back that it was not you

486
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 4: didn't need you did not need to be motivated for

487
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:49,600
Speaker 4: a game against the Raiders.

488
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 2: And then they're the only two teams, the Steelers and

489
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,879
Speaker 2: Raiders in the seventies are the only two teams in

490
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,200
Speaker 2: NFL history that met five consecutive years in the playoffs. Wow,

491
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 2: think about that. Yeah, it only happened.

492
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 4: If the Raiders were in the NFC. It would have

493
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,000
Speaker 4: been Steelers Raiders' Super Bowls because my opinion, all those years,

494
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,119
Speaker 4: the Raiders were the second best team in the NFL,

495
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 4: I mean Dallas who they were going through to get

496
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,120
Speaker 4: to the Super Bowl, to me, was not as significant

497
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 4: as the path you had to travel in the AFC.

498
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 4: And I believe, and there are significant Steelers players who

499
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,119
Speaker 4: believe that the nineteen seventy four AFC Championship Game was

500
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 4: the most important game in franchise history because that showed

501
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,640
Speaker 4: that both themselves and the Raiders in the NFL. When

502
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,199
Speaker 4: you can go to Oakland and beat the Raiders for

503
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 4: a championship game after the Raiders had beaten the Dolphins,

504
00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 4: that's a statement. And that wasn't a close game, regardless

505
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 4: of what the score was. So you know, that was

506
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 4: a real butt kicking. And then you know, after that

507
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 4: it kind of got good with the you know some

508
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 4: of the side show stuff. I mean, al Al was

509
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,640
Speaker 4: convinced he got screwed by the league at the mclar reception.

510
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 4: He is convinced, he was convinced of the day he

511
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 4: died that the Steelers did the hocus pocus with the

512
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 4: tarp in the nineteen seventy five AFC Championship game so

513
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,679
Speaker 4: that the sidelines were icy, which was where Cliff Branch

514
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 4: liked to operate. And so then you know the wrong

515
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 4: with that, well, I mean the writing on the footballs,

516
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,200
Speaker 4: vasiline on the footballs. I mean that was I think

517
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,960
Speaker 4: that was seventy three in Oakland. But there was a

518
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 4: lot of just you know, it was it was very

519
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:03,399
Speaker 4: much Steelers Havens of the seventies, only in the seventies

520
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,159
Speaker 4: you could what they did to Lynn Swan was criminal.

521
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 3: Not seriously, Oh yeah, like.

522
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 4: Literally James Harrison was vilified for what he did. He

523
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,160
Speaker 4: never got close to what Atkinson and Tatum were doing.

524
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 4: The Swan's head over the middle off the ball. I mean,

525
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,879
Speaker 4: you know what you did in the seventies in the NFL,

526
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:35,199
Speaker 4: they put you in prison for now on an NFL field, Yes,

527
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,120
Speaker 4: very much so. And then there was that.

528
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 2: Old thing for those who don't know, for.

529
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,880
Speaker 4: Those who don't know, uh, you know that Chuck Mole

530
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 4: he responded to that nineteen seventy six opener and said

531
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 4: there was a criminal element in the NFL and referring

532
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 4: to the Raiders and what they've done to Swan in

533
00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 4: that game the day before. And then that led to

534
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 4: the whole lawsuit thing, and oh man, it was you know,

535
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,000
Speaker 4: at one point my blunt was suan Chuck.

536
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 3: No. But even like rivalry aside, like him or hate him.

537
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,360
Speaker 3: He's one of the most influential people in NFL history, right.

538
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:24,239
Speaker 4: Oh, absolutely, it's the only thing is you know a

539
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 4: lot of Then Al really really kind of put himself

540
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 4: in a bad light with the other owners when he

541
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:37,680
Speaker 4: moved to la and then because you know, the moving

542
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 4: back and forth thing at that time, again, it was

543
00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 4: not it was not as common for teams to move cities,

544
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 4: especially a flagship city. You know, Oakland was in the

545
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 4: original a f L. So that whole movement in the

546
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 4: in the middle eighties and stuff that was seen as

547
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 4: a violation of trust I think by the other owners

548
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 4: from a business standpoint. And so there was that too.

549
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 4: So Al was, yes, very influential, very much hated. I

550
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:17,840
Speaker 4: think that is a fair.

551
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:19,640
Speaker 3: Rather unique fair.

552
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 2: I can remember reading a story about the old AFL

553
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 2: days when he was an assistant coach and uh he

554
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,880
Speaker 2: was with the Chargers with Chuck Noll was also on

555
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,880
Speaker 2: the staff, and the Chargers were and and Broncos were

556
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 2: a rivalry back then. And one of the one of

557
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 2: the Broncos players had played for the Chargers at one

558
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 2: point and he looks up in the locker room a

559
00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 2: couple of days before the Chargers are playing, are set

560
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 2: to play the Broncos, and Al Davis is in the

561
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 2: locker room pretending to be a reporter, asking asking players

562
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 2: questions about scheme and stuff like that, like there are

563
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,200
Speaker 2: reasons why there are rules in place about things like that.

564
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 2: Because Al Davis crossed those lines, he was fine.

565
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 4: Even and seriously even. I remember Ron Earhart telling me,

566
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 4: you know, when Ron Earhart came from the Giants with

567
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 4: Bill Kher's inaugural staff, and we were just bs one time,

568
00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 4: and Ron Earhart was telling me about interviewing for head

569
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 4: coaching jobs, which he had done, you know before he

570
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,440
Speaker 4: came to the Steelers, and he said, now you go

571
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 4: to any of these teams and then a lot of them,

572
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 4: they'll put you up on the whiteboard and ask you

573
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 4: to diagram some stuff. He said, when I went to Oakland,

574
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:48,719
Speaker 4: Al had like an artist drawing pad, you know, big

575
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,719
Speaker 4: white pieces of paper, and Al would give you the

576
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 4: think marker and want you to diagram it, and then

577
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 4: he would just flip it over for the next question.

578
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:05,600
Speaker 4: So he saved all of your so Eron said, you

579
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,120
Speaker 4: know I did that once. You know, he flipped it

580
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 4: over and he asked me another question, he said, I

581
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 4: you know, did it again. He flipped it over and

582
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 4: he asked me another one, and I told him, I said, hey,

583
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 4: you want any more answers like this, you got to

584
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 4: hire me. So, I mean, that's that's the kind of

585
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 4: guy I was. I mean, he was looking for every

586
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:30,000
Speaker 4: edge he could get. He didn't care who he screwed

587
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,680
Speaker 4: or trying to screw whether they were the league, or

588
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:35,680
Speaker 4: make some of his own players.

589
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 2: I'm sure I just sort of imagine Marcus Allen.

590
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,040
Speaker 4: Marcus Allen, Yeah, you know it was Yeah, I was.

591
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,920
Speaker 4: I was ruthless, Macheavellian in a way.

592
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 3: But it sure seemed like a lot of those lifetime

593
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 3: Raiders would run through a wall for him. Absolutely adored him.

594
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 3: He hired the first African American coach, I mean.

595
00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 4: Like yes, yeah. And when there also was talk flash

596
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 4: rumors about an unofficial rule that for any Raiders who

597
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 4: were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, AL

598
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 4: was the presenter. Seriously, that gave him a lot, a

599
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 4: lot of eyeballs, a lot of exposure. And Al had

600
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,680
Speaker 4: you know, access to grind and he was not above

601
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 4: using that at that time too, you know, uh, get

602
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 4: make his points. Let's put it that way. So, yes,

603
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 4: Al al Davis was a very unique individual, significant owner

604
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 4: in the NFL. Oh here's one more story. All of

605
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,400
Speaker 4: the all of the merchandise partners for the league, you know,

606
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 4: a starter for a while, and then Nike got involved,

607
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 4: and you know that those people that supply all of

608
00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:00,680
Speaker 4: the uniforms and stuff to the league, well they had

609
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 4: to make you know, the way it works is all

610
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 4: teams have colors, primary colors, and that's what these merchandising

611
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,840
Speaker 4: companies make because they can't make everything. So but for

612
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,759
Speaker 4: the Raiders, you know, he had your primary colors. So

613
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,840
Speaker 4: the Raiders were black and silver, so that was their primary.

614
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,360
Speaker 4: Most of their merchandise was made up in that color scheme.

615
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,880
Speaker 4: But for Al, only for Al, they had to make. Remember,

616
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 4: Al had the white sweatsuit.

617
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 2: First I saw him, he was wearing that white sweatsuit,

618
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 2: standing in my spot in my seat in the press box,

619
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 2: and I had to wait for Al and in Al

620
00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 2: Lucasio his henchmen, they're standing there looking at the field

621
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 2: at three of her stadium. I'm like, all right, do

622
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:45,839
Speaker 2: I I'll just wait.

623
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 3: I think he only wore black, silver and white his

624
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 3: entire since this day he got employed by the Raiders.

625
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I mean that that particular color scheme for

626
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,799
Speaker 4: the Raiders was only to be made for al right,

627
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 4: and they didn't sell that. You couldn't find that, Like

628
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,319
Speaker 4: you could buy the jackets and stuff that Kyleer wore

629
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 4: on a side jacket. They had them, yes, because that

630
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 4: was the whole idea behind him. You'd see, you know,

631
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,920
Speaker 4: and Kyleer with those startered things or you know whatever hats.

632
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 4: I mean, that's and you saw that across the league.

633
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 4: Not with the Raiders though, And you know, Dan Rooney

634
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:29,959
Speaker 4: wasn't a guy to wear.

635
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, Dan wasn't wearing a silver, white, white tracksuit.

636
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,560
Speaker 4: But the jackets that he that Dan Rooney would wear,

637
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 4: you could also buy those, yeah, you know, they were

638
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 4: pretty much the the main line of merchandise for his team.

639
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 4: But no, with the Raiders, Al had his own thing.

640
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,840
Speaker 4: He got it, nobody else did, and it kind of

641
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 4: didn't adhere strictly to the letter of the rule in

642
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,279
Speaker 4: terms of what they were supposed to be manufacturing. So

643
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:03,279
Speaker 4: you know, again there are rules, and you know then

644
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:05,920
Speaker 4: there's dueling out once and you know a lot of

645
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,239
Speaker 4: times that happened.

646
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 2: Bob, it looks like, well, it's definitely gonna be Aidan

647
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,960
Speaker 2: O'Connell this weekend for the Raiders.

648
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:15,160
Speaker 3: Quarterback.

649
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,000
Speaker 2: Got to see a little bit of him last season.

650
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,359
Speaker 2: He's played a handful of snaps this year, but still

651
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:23,480
Speaker 2: just a second year guy.

652
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 3: Does that alleviate some of your fears in this game

653
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 3: or does that?

654
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 4: You know?

655
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 2: Do you do you fear the unknown more?

656
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 4: Again, I think even though it's the the sixth week

657
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:45,200
Speaker 4: of the season, sixth game, the two quarterbacks are that

658
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,480
Speaker 4: are playing are in the position they're in because of turnovers,

659
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,439
Speaker 4: and you know, we talked about Russell Wilson before. I'm

660
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 4: just worried about the Steelers. You know, yes, he's a

661
00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 4: young quarterback and all of that's stuff, but I mean,

662
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,280
Speaker 4: who do you got at outside linebacker besides t J. Watt.

663
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:11,239
Speaker 4: I mean, the reality of some of these roster weaknesses

664
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 4: to me, again, as I said earlier, you can only

665
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,319
Speaker 4: absorb so much of that stuff, and so I don't

666
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,280
Speaker 4: really think it has anything to do about the Raiders,

667
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:24,799
Speaker 4: Well not anything to do but I think it has

668
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,800
Speaker 4: less to do with the Raiders on Sunday more to

669
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 4: do with the Steelers. I mean, what are they going

670
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:34,000
Speaker 4: to be able to put out there. How coordinated is

671
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:37,839
Speaker 4: it going to be? You know? And and who's going

672
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 4: to make the place to help win the game right

673
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 4: as opposed to you know what Aidan O'Connell might might

674
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 4: or might not be able to do. Who knows, man,

675
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:54,880
Speaker 4: Maybe if I'm if I'm gonna believe everything I've been

676
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,719
Speaker 4: reading lately, maybe Devonte Adams will just jump on the

677
00:37:57,840 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 4: charter flight home.

678
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,480
Speaker 3: What do you think they're going to trade Russell Wilson

679
00:38:03,520 --> 00:38:03,799
Speaker 3: for him?

680
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:08,839
Speaker 4: Right? Who knows, dal, Maybe he'll be sitting in your

681
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,040
Speaker 4: seat on the plane Pittsburgh.

682
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 2: If that's the case, and I will not be on

683
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,359
Speaker 2: the plane, probably I will be staying in Vegas or something.

684
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 2: I don't know. Who knows, but we gotta let you go.

685
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 4: Bob.

686
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 2: We appreciate your time as always, and we'll talk to

687
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,359
Speaker 2: you next week. That's our guest on the phone line,

688
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:29,080
Speaker 2: Bob Labriola, editors of Steelers Digestics, Steelers dot Com. Always

689
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 2: good stuff. There knows Steeler history like nobody else. And

690
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,600
Speaker 2: well that's why we have him on. He is Matt Williamson.

691
00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 2: I'm Dale, Lollie. You're listening to the drive here in

692
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network. Matt and I'll be back with

693
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:40,719
Speaker 2: more right after this.

694
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 1: He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on

695
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: your twenty four to seven home of the Black and

696
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,800
Speaker 1: Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

697
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,960
Speaker 2: And welcome back on Dale Lolly. He is Matt Williams

698
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,520
Speaker 2: and this is the Drive on the Steelers Audio Network.

699
00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,279
Speaker 2: Of course, you can hear us here from four to

700
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 2: six live every day on Steelers Nation Radio.

701
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:09,560
Speaker 3: They can also on demand.

702
00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 2: Podcast is available on the Steeler's official.

703
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,320
Speaker 3: Mobile app, and you can also watch it on YouTube.

704
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:15,879
Speaker 4: You start.

705
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,880
Speaker 2: Our YouTube numbers are down. What's going on out there?

706
00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 3: People?

707
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 2: You should be sharing this.

708
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,120
Speaker 3: Let people they lose the game or two you guys

709
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 3: tune out jumping off the bandwid right right, We're here

710
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,399
Speaker 3: all season long. That was fun with labs. By the way,

711
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:29,920
Speaker 3: I like going down memory lane with some of the

712
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,480
Speaker 3: old stuff too. Yeah, that's pretty interesting stuff. Yes, you know,

713
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:35,759
Speaker 3: you have to listen to your elders. They've seen a

714
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:38,600
Speaker 3: lot of this stuff. I mean it's amazing though to

715
00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,759
Speaker 3: go to the total opposite direction. I'm not picking on

716
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,400
Speaker 3: Al Davis, but his last ten years or so on

717
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:47,160
Speaker 3: the planet until now, Man, that franchise. They were trying

718
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,759
Speaker 3: to run things exactly the way that they had run

719
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:54,319
Speaker 3: them in the seventies, and the game had changed and changed, right,

720
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:57,719
Speaker 3: you know, he got older and probably had too much power.

721
00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,560
Speaker 3: No one's telling him no, and then he hands it

722
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:01,839
Speaker 3: down to his saw who pretty much just learned from him.

723
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,719
Speaker 3: And they have not been successful at all for a

724
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:05,359
Speaker 3: long time.

725
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:07,719
Speaker 2: When I when I first started covering the league and

726
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,960
Speaker 2: the draft and everything, if there was a fast guy

727
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 2: in the draft, the fastest guy in the draft was

728
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:14,439
Speaker 2: going to be a Raider.

729
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 3: Yep, there's Harry Bay who was the corner that they

730
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,520
Speaker 3: took the one I'm trying to think now, most of

731
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,840
Speaker 3: them didn't make it. Yeah, they were whoever ran the

732
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,840
Speaker 3: best forty at the take him, you know. Yeah, I

733
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,359
Speaker 3: mean they even did weird things like remember John Jet

734
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,279
Speaker 3: and like they they wanted to find a next Swift brand.

735
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 3: It was a great football player that was fast, and

736
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,960
Speaker 3: they would go get track stars and anyone that could

737
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,759
Speaker 3: run fast, and really rarely did they get much out

738
00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,040
Speaker 3: of them. Yeah, you know, like Tim Brown wasn't the

739
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:46,640
Speaker 3: fastest guy, he was a great player.

740
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, And people may like I mentioned the whole thing

741
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,399
Speaker 2: with Marcus Allen. Like Marcus Allen had two careers. Yes,

742
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:57,960
Speaker 2: he had his first like six or seven years at

743
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,279
Speaker 2: the Raiders, and then Al got mad at him and

744
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:01,600
Speaker 2: benched him for like two years.

745
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:03,320
Speaker 3: Well, bo Jackson had something to do with that.

746
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:04,840
Speaker 2: Bo Jackson had something to do with it, but they

747
00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 2: let him just languish on the bench. He goes to

748
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,600
Speaker 2: Kansas City and all of a sudden he's a touchdown machine.

749
00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:08,879
Speaker 4: Yeah.

750
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:10,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he was a legend. He was one of

751
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,200
Speaker 3: the best backs in the league and they treated him rough.

752
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:14,880
Speaker 3: But the Bo Jackson stuff's kind of interesting too. Like

753
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,520
Speaker 3: bo Jackson comes out of Auburn, Tampa uses the first

754
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,399
Speaker 3: overall pick on him, which they weren't a model franchise either.

755
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,239
Speaker 3: Bo's like, nah, I'm going to play baseball. So they

756
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,319
Speaker 3: just wasted the first overall pick. And then Al takes

757
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:30,800
Speaker 3: him in like the seventh round the next year, convinces

758
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,200
Speaker 3: him to come and be a Raider, and he was

759
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 3: great until he got hurt. Yeah, the typical like Al

760
00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:36,600
Speaker 3: Davis kind of.

761
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,560
Speaker 2: Moved because he was the fastest guy in a draft, yeah,

762
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:40,479
Speaker 2: and pretty good two and forty pound.

763
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:42,800
Speaker 3: His highlights are insane.

764
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 2: Anyway, So this Raiders team not built quite like that one.

765
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:51,919
Speaker 2: The old wide receiver you're looking at, well, you won't

766
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,920
Speaker 2: see DeVante Adams. So it's gonna be Trey Tucker in

767
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 2: Jacoby Myers, like Jacoby Myers as a player. Yeah, but

768
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,800
Speaker 2: Joey Porter Junior, if they decide to match.

769
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:05,799
Speaker 3: Up and do that, Yeah, and I think they will

770
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:08,840
Speaker 3: because just to I don't I don't need to find numbers.

771
00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:12,200
Speaker 3: But in the last two weeks with Adams out, Myers

772
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 3: is almost exclusively an outside guy now, which isn't ideal

773
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:17,400
Speaker 3: for him. You know, he's more of a slot, do

774
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:21,160
Speaker 3: everything type. But without Adams, he's been like the primary

775
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:24,799
Speaker 3: outside guy, which I think means you're getting Porter yeah.

776
00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:27,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he's the main target outside of Bowers.

777
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:28,359
Speaker 3: They're the two.

778
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they have to be, you know, cognizant of Bowers.

779
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 2: Michael Mayer. I don't know if he gets back to

780
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,319
Speaker 2: playing this game. He's a good player though as well.

781
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:37,719
Speaker 3: Absolutely anything. I'd love to have him in the early

782
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:42,120
Speaker 3: second round pick. And that Darnell Washington loaded tight end draft. Yeah,

783
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,080
Speaker 3: but they planned they want those two on the field

784
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:44,480
Speaker 3: all the time.

785
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:45,399
Speaker 4: Yeah.

786
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 2: The offensive line, Colton Miller, the left tackle, was average

787
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 2: to above average at left tackle.

788
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,759
Speaker 3: I'd say above Yeah, he's their best lineman paid well,

789
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 3: you know.

790
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:57,399
Speaker 2: Uh, then you got Cody white Hair at left guard.

791
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,920
Speaker 2: Andre James. Did you figure out the pronunciation of that?

792
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,200
Speaker 3: No, that was called Andre James. I think you're probably right.

793
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,720
Speaker 2: Dylan parrhum and then their Mumford is a regular right tackle,

794
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,359
Speaker 2: but he's hurt. We'll see if he's able to come

795
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,560
Speaker 2: back this this week. If it's not, it could be

796
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,160
Speaker 2: DJ Glaze the rookie, and boy, that would be trouble.

797
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 3: Soo, that would be troublesome. You described him really well

798
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:18,360
Speaker 3: yesterday that he was drafted for another day. He's a project.

799
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:20,960
Speaker 3: He his tape at Maryland isn't great.

800
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 4: No.

801
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:23,840
Speaker 2: I remember looking at the draft stuff and like he

802
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,400
Speaker 2: gave up like eight sacks his senior year at Maryland.

803
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:28,839
Speaker 2: I'm like, you're supposed to be a high picked. People

804
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,160
Speaker 2: were talking about him being a you know, potential first

805
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:33,479
Speaker 2: round draft pick. I'm like, you watched the tape.

806
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:35,319
Speaker 3: He's a year away from being your way. Yeah, who'd

807
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 3: you say left guard was h It's Cody white Hair, Okay,

808
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,440
Speaker 3: because Powers Johnson factors in. He has played he started

809
00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,000
Speaker 3: two games he's played and know how that's going. Okay, yeah,

810
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 3: I mean I it must not be going great. I

811
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 3: actually have an injury. I mean, if you believe the

812
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:51,600
Speaker 3: Pro Football Focus grades. I actually looked he's up today

813
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:54,839
Speaker 3: because I've been meaning to because I kind of want

814
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:56,000
Speaker 3: to see who's been lining up.

815
00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 2: Where they list him as at guard because that's when

816
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 2: he's played, and of the guards in this year's in

817
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: this year's draft the rookies, he's well out of all guards.

818
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 2: He's forty fourth for Football Folk and their grading system.

819
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 2: You know, you're you're looking at, uh, Mason McCormick as

820
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,640
Speaker 2: snaps as he played those. I'm sorry, he's sixty third

821
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:23,360
Speaker 2: among guards. Oh yeah, Whereas Mason McCormick, who has played

822
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,400
Speaker 2: for the Steelers about the same amount of snaps by

823
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,440
Speaker 2: the way, okay, they've played played almost the same amount,

824
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:29,080
Speaker 2: is forty third in their rankings.

825
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,239
Speaker 3: Okay, McCormick's played well. I have not watched a lot

826
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,560
Speaker 3: of Powers Johnson, but I did like him coming out. Yeah,

827
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,840
Speaker 3: I thought he was a legit center prospect. And you know,

828
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,200
Speaker 3: I think that was their plan, was playing MC guard

829
00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 3: for a year or so, bump him inside in his

830
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:43,040
Speaker 3: most natural position.

831
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,680
Speaker 2: But if all the rookie guards, actually the only guard

832
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,240
Speaker 2: who ranks ahead of Mason McCormick is Dominic Pooney.

833
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,000
Speaker 3: Really, he's had a really good year. Yeah, he's uh,

834
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:54,240
Speaker 3: I think he's McCormick is really good. He's like nineteenth,

835
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,280
Speaker 3: So okay, I think they got something in McCormick.

836
00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:01,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, Fraser is number four among all centers that doesn't

837
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:03,800
Speaker 2: chock easily leads all the rookie centers.

838
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:06,200
Speaker 3: Oh, I bet, I bet he's a number one rookie

839
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:10,759
Speaker 3: O lineman far away. Yeah, and it's a great tackle class. Yeah,

840
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:12,160
Speaker 3: at least in terms of prospects.

841
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,400
Speaker 2: And yet this is the problem of being an offensive lineman.

842
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 2: This maybe this is another segment, but like I saw

843
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,800
Speaker 2: some early stuff here for you know, offensive Rookie of

844
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:26,240
Speaker 2: the Years and that kind of stuff. The offensive lineman

845
00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 2: never get mentioned. It's always skill position guys like, yeah,

846
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:33,759
Speaker 2: he may be the best rookie in the league right now.

847
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,839
Speaker 2: Not named Jade Daniels. Jane Daniels is on the list

848
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:38,839
Speaker 2: for obvious reasons, of course, But some of the other

849
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:40,520
Speaker 2: guys on there, I'm like, are they.

850
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:44,320
Speaker 3: Really having better years than Crazer neighbors or even Caleb

851
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,359
Speaker 3: Williams if he just plays all game, you know, I mean,

852
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 3: it's it's unfortunate. I mean, it's not a glamorous position.

853
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:50,640
Speaker 4: It is not.

854
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,720
Speaker 2: But people in Pittsburgh appreciate good center play.

855
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:55,840
Speaker 3: They sure do, and they notice when it isn't so

856
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,600
Speaker 3: good to the last couple of years. I heard that, right,

857
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:01,800
Speaker 3: a right, and they get a little spoiled. What do

858
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:03,160
Speaker 3: you mean we want of the best center in the league?

859
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:03,520
Speaker 3: What the heck?

860
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:03,719
Speaker 4: You know?

861
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:06,279
Speaker 2: Right? Yeah, absolutely, let's get to a break. That's gonna

862
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:07,880
Speaker 2: do it. For our number one of the drive here

863
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,360
Speaker 2: on the Steelers Audio Network, Matt and now will be

864
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:12,400
Speaker 2: back with our number two right after this