WEBVTT - Hr1: JPJ Contract, Top TEs' Entering 2026 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.360 Your tunees about Drive on your twenty four to seven 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:23.680 home of the Black and Goal Steelers Nation Radio. 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.120 See if we can remember how to do this. Good afternoon, 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.800 Steeler Nation. It's the Drive on the Steelers Audio Network, 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.040 West Hueler. Matt Williamson with you here on the eve 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.280 of a report day of training camp twenty twenty six. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.200 Matt Our vacations are in the books in about twenty 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.159 four hours here, the offseason is in the books, and 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:47.040 here we go once again. 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:49.400 Yeah, I feel like the off season is now officially over. 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:51.160 It's a Monday. I had a weekend away. 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:51.640 You know. 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.440 We both took vacations, which is great. I haven't seen 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.160 you in a while. I haven't done anything on the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.840 air in any way, shape or form until today, So 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.840 a little bit of rush needs knocked off. But I'm cool. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:03.920 We were joking before the air, it's like before we 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.119 hit record, you know, like this might be the most 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.319 out of the loop we are until this day next year. Yeah, 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.760 you know, like this kind of was detached and we 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:15.360 were kind of like, what's happened in the last two weeks? 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.399 Fortunately not much it really is regard. Yeah, this time 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:20.160 of year is slow. 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:21.760 It is I was. I was saying that to my wife. 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.120 I was like, it's been two weeks since Matt and 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:23.800 I have done a show. 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:24.240 Yeah. 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.240 I was like, I'll be very honest and hey, I 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.679 think you're probably in the same boat. I haven't thought 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.600 about football or the Steelers much over the last two weeks. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.959 but I think everybody needs that we have so we 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.120 have fifty fifty two. It's a year where football dominated. 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:38.760 It's good to unplug for a couple of weeks, and 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:40.480 I think we're refreshed and ready to go now. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:42.240 I will say I spent quite a bit on my 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:46.280 laptop reading football stuff. I mean, what else do I 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:47.560 got to read? You know, war and Peace? You know, 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.040 of course I was reading right exactly. But all in all, 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.080 I haven't been creating content, haven't been doing much, and 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.160 I needed it. So I'm ready to rock. It's like 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.120 for the season. I think the season is basically here. 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.840 Oh you and me. Yeah, it's been an odyssey of 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.840 an off season. Steelers. I saw I've seen it twice. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.079 By really so good. It'd dude, it's outstanding. Wow, Okay, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:08.880 I saw it once. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.359 I was like, I got to see that again. Took 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.400 my mom the second time because my mom wanted to 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:12.840 go see it. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.359 I'll probably have to wait till after the season, though. Yeah, 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:16.560 the chances are maybe some. 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.040 Random there is a nice movie theater out there at 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:24.120 the Casino right by campus. Maybe maybe one day. But 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.440 there's been a lot that has gone on this off 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.160 season for the Steelers, I think, certainly, Matt. If not today, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.399 probably Wednesday, when we're doing our first show from campus. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.200 We'll have to just kind of recap what was a 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:38.840 crazy offseason for the Steelers in a lot of different ways. 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:42.040 I'm sure we'll have new listeners just coming with the season, 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:43.000 they aren't you round. 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.160 That always that always happens, and uh man, Matt, we 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:51.280 always see the uptick in listeners and viewers and engagement 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.520 all that stuff as soon as training camp starts. Oh yeah, 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.639 but I think this time around could be even ratcheted 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.880 up normal from from what we normally see, just because 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:03.760 for the first time in nineteen years, the Pittsburgh Steelers 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:05.679 have a new head coach for the first time in 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.720 nineteen years, Matt, we think we know what training camp 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:11.720 is going to look like, and we've got a pretty 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:14.680 good grasp on it. But I made this this joke 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.280 to my wife. I was like, it's almost like, did 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:19.680 you ever did you go to Libo all throughout your 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:24.400 your life? Okay, Yeah, I went to Eden, which was 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.720 a private school, Eden Christian Academy through sixth grade, and 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.000 then I started going to Mars in. 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.720 Seventh, seventh District a little different. 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:35.920 I said to my wife, this to me kind of 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.280 feels like the first day that I was heading to 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.960 Mars Middle School after going to Eden. I know what 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:46.120 school is. There's lockers, there's class and half class. I 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:47.440 was like, but this is going to be different. It's 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.000 a brand new school, it's brand new teachers, it's brand 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:54.120 new you know, standard operating procedures. And that's kind of 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:55.960 how I feel. I've been to Latrobe, but I've been 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.400 to St. Vincent. This will be my ninth training camp, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:00.680 but this one also feels new at the same time. 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.720 Yeah, and new curriculum too, Like I mean, I'm just 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.440 curious to see like how they deploy like one of 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:09.120 my favorite things that I'm looking forward to. And I 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.200 did a podcast on it today and talked a little 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.360 bit about the Steelers corners in general. Was I think 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.800 Ramsey's gonna be the slot and they're gonna play a 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.760 lot of nickel, which makes him a starter. I think 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.360 when there's only four defensive backs on the field, he'll 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:27.240 be the free But no one's really told us that exactly. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.279 I don't know it. Probably a practice or two in 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:32.760 I will know it, you know, like things of that nature, 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.920 or certainly the defense in general, I think is gonna 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.479 look a lot different of where everybody lines up and 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.320 what they do. And you don't have to be an 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.560 ex's no expert to look at and be like, oh, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.240 they're doing different things. And I think the offense will 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.080 be similar but not as drastically different. But we were 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.360 even joking like some of the organization just gave us 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.880 the times of all the meals. Well, they're a little 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.040 different this year, you know, practice times a little different 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:59.640 this year. You know, when do I sneak in that 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.320 NAT or when do I sneak in other podcasts? 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:02.640 I do? 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.000 You know, Like I'm still a little I need to 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:06.919 like get my boots on the ground, Like I told you, 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.600 I do this NFL six Pack show with Brian Peacock, 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.560 and I'm like, I don't feel confident in telling you 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.159 when exactly can we record everything right, right right, because 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.479 I'm gonna sneak back and forth and it's kind of 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.560 going to get the lay of the land. Can I leave, 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.120 Can I get to practice a little late? I don't 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.000 need to see stretch, you know, things like that, you know, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:25.960 right right, at some point I need to feed myself. 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.719 Will they do backs on backers? Will they do seven shots? 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:31.880 You know what kind of stuff carries over? I think 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:32.800 it's really fascinating. 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.680 Lunch used to be at eleven thirty in the morning. 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.080 Now it's gonna be more like one or one thirty 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:38.600 in the afternoon. 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:40.400 There practicing earlier, right right right. 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.320 It's like when you sometimes when you switch grades and 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:43.840 things like that, you go from having an early lunch 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.040 to late lunch and all that, yeah and stuff. Yeah, 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.200 So it's it's exciting that this time of year is 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.880 always exciting. But I think when you have when you 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.960 have a new boss calling the shots and pulling the 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.640 strings for the first time in nineteen years, it's a 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.360 lot to keep an eye on. Yeah, we're certainly looking 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.840 forward to starting to peel that peel that curtain back 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:04.400 on Wednesday. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:09.760 And the other thing too, is just purely roster. Every 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:11.880 year they go out and get people, and there's and 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.200 every team changes drastically, but there's a lot of draft picks, 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.000 you know, I mean there's a whole bunch. Yeah. We 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.080 would look around and be like, that's Zach Frazier. He 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.160 looks saying, there's Aaron Rodgers. We saw him last year, 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:25.680 Cam TJ. We know those dudes. But there's fifteen names 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.120 that I'm pretty excited to really see for the first time. 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.480 And I'm not counting mini camps and that type of thing. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.280 You know, Jamie Dean, you know, guys like that Briskerr, 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.160 you know, like, what's he look like running around out there? 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.240 Let alone the rookies Max in particular. 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:39.680 It's it's gonna be a lot of fun, always is, 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.880 but it feels feels even a little bit more. You know, 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:44.640 one of those what are those presents that have been 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.280 wrapped up under the tree? What are they going to 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:47.200 look like this year? 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:49.799 And you think you know what you're getting, and often 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.160 you get what you asked, sayana for, but you don't. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.520 Know exactly right, and especially especially when it's a different 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:59.440 person wrapping up those presents this time around. So again 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:01.920 we will have are first on. We will not have 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.640 a Tuesday show that's kind of moving and set up 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.520 and all that day, but then. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.440 Kind of a bonus we want to get back at you, 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:09.560 you know, right, yep. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.480 Kind of knock off some of the rust and get 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.400 going here before things really get going on Wednesday. But 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.640 we're gonna have a bunch of Saturday and weekend shows 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.000 going forward two So we will still have five shows 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.400 this week, and they're three hours each, okay, and this 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.400 is our last two hour show, giving you a bonus 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.240 hour every single day. Great point by Matt there. 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.520 And I'm sure we'll replace some things that happened throughout 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.720 the day and react to that too. And you know, like, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:33.520 I'm sure we have lots of good interviews and we 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:35.240 haven't had any of that stuff for months. 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.920 I don't get exactly right, exactly right. So it'll it'll 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.520 be a lot of fun every day that the Steelers 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.720 have practice, even on Saturdays, even on Sundays, doesn't matter 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.480 day of the week. It does not matter. It's kind 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.560 of like summer vacation when you're growing up in middle 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.120 school in high school. Who cares what day of the 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:51.560 week it is. I just don't have school. 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.440 My kids have embraced that heavily prepare for college. 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.520 Yeah, we if there is practice, we are doing a show. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.760 So we will be out there on campus Wednesday, Thursdday, Friday, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.040 and Saturday before heading home and taking Sunday off and 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:06.200 then getting back at it on Monday. When the pads 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.000 go on a week from today, that's when things will 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.200 really get fun, Matt. Like I said, I think on Wednesday. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:15.920 The other thing too, there's a I mentioned the show 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:17.760 I do with Peacock. There's a couple of things we 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:19.920 were getting a kick out of today, like because there 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:22.320 are teams in training camps and stuff like that too. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.200 There's a couple trigger words that I forget about until 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.320 this time of year, like best shapier life, Oh get 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:33.120 out of here, you know, the acclamation period. The acclamation 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.720 periods a little anti climatic, folks, you know, like we're 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.080 getting there and it's like that doesn't mean that they're doing 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.200 Oklahoma drills and three A days. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:40.560 You know. 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.080 Like there's a couple of things along those lines where 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.840 it's like, oh, yeah, I forgot about these things, or 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.199 this guy got carted off the field. I love that too, because. 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:51.400 Everybody gets carved pretty much. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:52.160 Everyone gets card. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:55.800 Wednesday when we're out there on campus. 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.160 They don't make you walk up the hill. 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.320 They're not gonna make these guys walk three hundred yards 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:01.679 off the field right here. 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.040 Yeah, yeah, carted off the field is one of my favorites. 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:05.880 There's a couple of cliches that you just hear this 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.079 time of year only or guys that start on the 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.480 pup list that doesn't mean that they're a disaster. Or 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.800 hold ends is another one. You know, there's a couple 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:14.160 of things you hear this time of year. You got 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:15.000 to remember, you. 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:17.120 Know, always always good to have our bearings before we 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.280 really before we really dive in. Speaking of hold ends, Matt, 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.240 there will be, like I said, I want to do 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.920 some some off season rewind stuff and scene setting stuff 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.679 on Wednesday when we get back to campus and into 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.880 a new Stealers season. Obviously, though, one of those things 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:34.360 that will be monitoring, I guess unless something changes in 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.080 the next forty eight hours or so, is the contractual 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.120 status of Joey Porter Junior. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.559 I think this is about to become like the story. 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.600 The story, Yeah you saw it was it. Every year 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:47.239 there's Smith cam last summer High Smith, the summer before. 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.480 That, TJ summer before that, right. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:52.680 And there's a lot that plays into this. Uh, and 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.520 obviously that will be the storyline Joey Porter Junior and 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:56.280 his contract. 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:57.160 Matt. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.640 We were kind of laughing, and you mentioned at the 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.160 start of the show here just a few minutes ago. 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.520 Not a lot happened in the last two weeks. I 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.360 was expecting that we'd come back here and say, all right, 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.680 this person got this extension, and Christian Gonzalez got this. 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.400 It's kind of everyone's kind of in a in a 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:14.360 holding pattern. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.440 Yeah, yeah, a little bit, but people truly went on vacation. 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:22.160 Yes, and again everybody needs that. According to Robert Kraft, 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.160 of course, the owner of the Patriots, he said this 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.079 over the weekend that they've made Christian Gonzalez an offer 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.600 to be the highest paid cornerback in the NFL of 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.240 all time. Quote, we love Christian Gonzales, we love him 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.160 as a player, as a person. That's why we made 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:36.680 an offer to him to make him the highest paid 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:41.240 player to ever play that position in the NFL and coincidentally, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:44.760 is the highest contract in Patriots franchise history. So we're 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.320 glad we drafted him. He's developed here and we hope 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:50.280 he'll be here with us for a long time and quote, yeah, 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.360 so that sounds like that could be getting done very 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:52.840 soon here. 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:54.480 I don't know why he'd say no to that. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.079 I don't say no to the highest paid ever at 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.520 his position. But I think if that gets across the 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.160 finish line here in the next day or two, then 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:04.400 all eyes will really be on Joey Porter Junior in the. 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:06.840 Yeah, and it could make things sticky for the Steelers 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.520 and Porter, I mean obviously because they are coming from 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.440 I think they're comparable players. I would take Gonzalez, but 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:17.960 there's only like two or three corners i'd take ahead 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:20.480 of Gonzalez, and Frankly, by week ten, I might be 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.319 like Porter's even better than Gonzalez, Like they're in the 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:24.079 same neighborhood. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:24.800 Yeah. 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:28.560 One thing that works to Gonzalez's favor the Porter doesn't 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.079 have going for him slightly is there's a fifty year 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.280 option situation. Because if you remember, that was the year 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.199 the Steelers traded up for Broderick Jones, and I remember 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.000 being on the air with Dyell going did they trade 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.120 up for Broderick Jones or they traded for Gonzalez because 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.679 they had a corner huge in need as well. They 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:48.000 sit there at thirty two, which was a second round 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.680 pick at the time, because Miami forfeited a first round 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:54.120 pick and that was the Claypole pick, so that was 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.520 from the Bears, and with their second pick, they took 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.880 the corner as opposed to the other way around. Joey 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.560 Porter Junior. But even though he was a thirty second pick, 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.480 he did not have the fifty year option option you 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.559 know for the teams, so he has not made as much. 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.120 He didn't make first round money. He doesn't have that 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.720 fifty year option looming. Where Joey's contract is up after 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.040 the year. Gonzalez they could wait another year and he's 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:21.240 still Patriots property at the moment. So I don't know 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:25.040 if that changes where the agents come from or not. 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.040 I'm no negotiations master, but they are a little different. 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.880 I would still think Porter comes in below Gonzalez. And 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:33.559 we've seen this so many times in the history of 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.400 a NFL is I'm just going to wait for the 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.319 other receiver to sign first, and then I want one 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.280 dollar more. Yes, I don't think that'll be the case. 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.359 Maybe I want one dollar less in this yeah. 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.439 But it's still going to be high. I mean it's 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.600 going to be really high. I mean, we went into 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:50.920 this a while back. Maybe you could even pull it up, 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:52.600 but I almost no off the top of my head 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.559 that I think there's two Oja or Trent McDuffie's one 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.240 of them that are making like thirty two million a year. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.640 It's twenty. I think it's twenty. I think it's thirty two. 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:03.559 I think you're right. 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.360 I think there's two or three making basically the same contract. 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:11.440 Duffee Sauce and Stanley Junior all about thirty thirty one 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.119 million right in in that range. 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.120 Together, and then I think there's like a gap of 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.480 like five millionaires to the next group, which includes Pat 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.199 certain who's the best. But then we know how contracts work, 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.040 you're always the best player gets the most money. I 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.480 thought Porter might come in somewhere in between those two deals, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.920 but the problem with that is there's no comps. That's 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.320 how agents and teams work, you know, like if but 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.920 that that contract doesn't exist. You know, the twenty eight 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:41.800 twenty nine million dollars a real sure, So that always 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.000 makes things stickier. It's easier to say, give me the 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.640 same deal, but I'm sure the Steelers aren't con be like, 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:49.920 I'm just gonna give you the Gonzales steal, you know, 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.320 so this could be sticky. I don't I'm not saying 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.320 it doesn't get done or he's not worth it, or 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.800 the team's being cheap or any of those things. But 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.000 there's a lot of negotiations and this is a big one, 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.800 and the Gonzalez deal probably isn't doing the Steelers they 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.960 favor because I would think Porter's agent at least walks 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.120 in there in the day after the Gonzalez thing and says, 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:10.920 let's just match it, and they're like, that's nice, but no, 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:13.520 you know who knows? 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.320 Yeah, and that's Hey, that's what agents are supposed to. 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.320 Do, right, exactly, get every dollar you can for the 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:18.280 best deal for your client. 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.640 Absolutely, I think everything you said there is spot on. 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:21.680 The one. 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.440 You're not gonna get them for twenty yeah, yeah, no chance. 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:29.479 When the numbers come across, listeners would be like whoa, yeah. 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.160 A lot of people did that with Herbiic Just wait right, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:32.000 right right. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.760 This one's gonna be bigger and probably is why it's lingers. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:35.800 It's a little bit harder to do. 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.000 And I wonder too, Matt it's a little bit harder 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.080 to do. There is some of that kind of looking 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.480 around and all right, what are the answers that they're 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.480 putting down over on their test over there? 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:46.760 Yeah, oh yeah, as we use. 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:48.880 More school analogies, you know, like all right, do I 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:50.280 want to be the first one to turn this test in? 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:51.600 Or do I want to wait till a couple more 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:53.480 guys turn it in and I'm gonna go up there? 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.360 Did I finish too quickly? Do I still need to 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.680 wait this thing out? I also though the last piece 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:02.800 of this is, as we've discussed, it felt like Herbig, 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.560 Darnell Washington, and Joey Porter Junior were the three big 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:08.640 contracts to get done, Like we. 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.840 Talked about still and some. 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:15.280 Other guess, but those felt like the three of the 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.440 guys the deals that we really knew. You know, they're 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.640 at positions where those guys have solidified themselves and they're. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.320 Drafted them, developed them. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:28.840 You and I. Also one of the things that we've 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:30.480 been privy and we've seen it play out over the 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.600 last for I think three or four training camps, is 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.080 the Steelers do love to have that contract extension that 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.320 comes down in the middle of training camp. In the 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.120 dog days, everyone's starting to get a little sick of 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.520 each other. Everyone's starting to get a little annoyed. It's 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.080 hot out, you're tired, you're sleeping in the dorm room, 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.760 you're eating in the cafeteria. Right, it's a morale booster. 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.400 And you know, you and I've seen that. We saw 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.360 a couple of summers ago with TJ. We saw it 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.360 a couple of summers ago with Alex Highsmith. You go 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.000 into the cafeteria those days and it's like, oh, here 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:02.520 comes the hundred million dollars. Yeah. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:04.480 Yeah, everyone just has a little more perking their step. 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:04.680 You know. 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:06.920 I wonder if there's some of that for the Steelers too, 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.560 where like, hey, be a little sticky. Hey maybe it 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.400 moves the number a little bit, But we want to 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.440 get this thing done in camp morale booster, we don't 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.160 need we don't need Joey out there full speed on 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.320 July twenty ninth, anyway, Oh that's right. 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.240 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I won new Defense, but we still 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:24.760 know we got. 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:26.360 I wonder if there's part of that with the timing too, 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.200 where they've just kind of always had in their mind 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.840 this is the next guy who gets the morale boosting, 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:34.160 team bonding, training camp contract. 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.560 Sure, his dad was a legend on the team. I'm 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.400 not that that matters, but well, pretend like it doesn't. 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.120 Local kid Pittsburgh for life, one helmet guy. You can 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:46.480 start having those kinds of conversations at the press conference. 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:48.760 The other thing I wanted to mention, though, is he 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:51.560 is a free agent after the year. Currently as it stands, 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.240 I think he's good enough though that unlike a Benton, 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.280 you wouldn't hesitate the franchise him, you know, like, I 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.480 can't imagine Porter hitting the open market after the season 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.119 unless they can't get a deal done. Andy is a 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.920 disaster season. Benton, you might be like, I want to 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.080 see one more year he has a really good year, 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.200 and then you're fighting thirty one other teams, you know 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.800 what I mean, Like, just because you're not, I doubt 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:18.399 he's franchisable. He'd have to have an unbelievable season, you 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:18.840 know what I mean. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:20.919 Whereas Joey with where he's kind of at as a 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.359 top five yeah, yeah, at his position, you wouldn't mind 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:25.720 paying that ticket price. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:27.199 Right right right, And he might not love it, but 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.120 it's still you know, it ensures you don't. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:31.760 He has just walk out the door, right, and it 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.199 would be a nice payday for him as much. 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:34.880 Oh yeah, it's guaranteed money for a year too. 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:35.080 Right. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.680 So that's where we're at here with a quiet couple 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.520 of weeks but a big looming story on the horizon. Matt, 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:46.240 what happens first? Because so if I'm and this is again, 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.720 I gotta be careful because it's same but different with 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.520 what we're heading into a training camp here. The first 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.000 Saturday of training camp is always that welcome back to 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.399 football Saturday. Yeah, if you remember that, Yeah, yeah, it 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.159 would be like like Mike Tom Wild always ta the 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.920 microphone and do a quick little you know, sixty second 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.359 thanks to get out and all that stuff. That would 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:06.640 also be the day. 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.320 I assume they'll do that, but who knows back to 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.120 our how we started this segment. 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:11.320 And I would assume in the past that's been the 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.119 day that they've announced unveiled the Steelers new Hall of 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:18.400 Honor class. Correct, Okay, so if that again, hand up, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:20.359 I gotta we gotta, we gotta get boots on the ground, 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:22.480 and yeah, exactly how everything's gonna play out this year. 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:23.879 But if that's the way that it's been done in 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:27.440 the past. What happens first, Joey Porter junior contract extension 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.840 or new Hall of Honor class announced for the Steelers. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:31.439 I think new Hall of Honor class. I think the 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:32.399 Porter thing could linger. 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:33.160 I think so too. 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.040 It might not get done until, like you know, the 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:37.639 Steelers always like to put a deadline on it. They 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.760 don't like negotiate during the season. It could be the 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.560 day before, you know, the well after that. Yeah, we 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:45.960 might be talking about this the entire time we're in Latrobe. 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.359 Who knows, from a content perspective, wouldn't be the worst thing, No, right, 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.359 right right, Just getting started here on this Monday New week, 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.480 big week for the Steelers, as I mean, I was 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:57.400 gonna say they'll be heading out to La Trobe tomorrow, 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.720 but really just the players. Everybody else is already there, 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:06.560 coaches reported yesterday Coaching staff TV our intrepet video producer 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.280 Tyler v mister TV. He sent us a picture of 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.960 the lovely grounds of campus, those three football fields looking 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:14.760 immaculate out there at Chuck Nolefield. 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:16.080 I'm heading Wednesday morning. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.000 Wednesday morning. Yeah, I'm going out. I'm going out tomorrow. 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.240 So yeah, so it'll be it'll be all happening here 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:24.920 real quick, and Matt and I will be excited to 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.199 bring it all to you and paint the picture for 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:28.800 those of you who will not be able to make 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.520 it out to Latrobe for a for a trek to 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.560 training camp this summer. Just getting started here on this Monday, 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.480 plenty more to get to as we lay kind of 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:39.760 the groundwork for the week ahead. Here you'll learn Williamson. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:44.200 It's the drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.960 And now a word from our sponsor, bud Light. There's 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:53.280 nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.240 the clean crisp. Uh what if we just got out 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.159 of here and grab some bud Lights. Man, We're on 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:00.520 air for four more hours. 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:01.560 I'll figure it out. 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:02.560 Sounds good to me. 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.080 Anything for the clean, crisp taste of bud Light stocked 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.800 up now. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy, 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:12.520 and you're responsibly copyright twenty twenty six and hyser Busch, 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:13.920 bud Light, Meer, Saint Louis, Missouri. 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:16.080 I used to have cable Internet, but I'm a one 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.840 hundred percent kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon FiOS. 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:21.399 It's one hundred percent fiber Internet that's super reliable. So 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.640 I streamed one hundred percent of the NFL Draft live 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.640 with the ultra low lag and after what went down 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.000 in the first round, still getting video calls from my 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.120 best friend rubbing it in that he called all the picks. 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:33.240 I told you they were building their own line. I 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:34.280 went to bet good. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.840 One hundred percent fiber Internet with Verizon FiOS, because when 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:39.439 it comes to your team, it's one hundred percent or nothing. 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:41.600 Called one of three three for Riizon to switch today. 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:47.159 Get that hot dog costume ready, Bruh. 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:49.959 You were tuned about Drive on your twenty four to 0:20:49.960 --> 0:21:07.560 seven home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio. 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:16.200 Back on the Drive here on this Monday, as July 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:18.920 is just about finished, and that means it is training 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:21.520 camp time for your Pittsburgh Steelers and for all thirty 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:25.000 two teams across the NFL. So we are in the 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:29.360 last hours, the last final days of list season here, 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:32.200 Matt Williams said, before things start to get real, and 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:34.840 I wanted to take a look with you today. Our 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:39.080 buddy John Ledgard his top twenty five tiers and rankings 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:41.960 for tight ends heading out this twenty sixth season. 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.040 So I read it today. I think John does great, 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.800 great work. I think he's one of the leading just 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:51.120 seems like i'm selling him short. Should be better well 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.560 known than he is as a scouting you know, he 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:55.520 has a real job, so he you know, he does 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.760 some other things as well. I urge everyone to check 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.800 out his substack, and I am a subscriber, and he 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:03.440 sent this and I thought it was really interesting. But 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:05.960 I also thought it was interesting more so than the list. 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:11.120 Well it correlates. You can tell by his list how 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:15.560 much he values blocking, and the league is really going 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.040 towards these blocking tight ends. We saw it in the draft. 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.239 You've been living under a rock if you haven't heard 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.359 Sean McVay like thirteen personnelity, you know, and yeah, so 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:27.520 if you're just receiver only, and I thought John's list 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:31.000 was really good for this, you can handicap your team 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:33.320 a little bit. Like I read his kincaid write up 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:35.959 for the Bills. Who's probably lower on this list than 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:39.320 you think, because really he's kind of a big receiver. 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:44.040 I mean, like, he's really interesting. So I've been I 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:45.960 did a lot of fantasy homework this week while I 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:48.639 was away too, just reading profiles and getting an idea 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:51.040 who I'm involved with and blah blah blah. So if 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.800 you look at like Kincaid's metrics per route yards per 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.920 route run, things of that nature, they're really really high. 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:01.119 They're up there with like the hours and McBride's and 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.800 things like that. When he's on the field how effective 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:06.359 he is. But it's a little bit of a cheat 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:09.000 because there's a lot of like fantasy analysts saying, well, 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:11.879 if the Bills just finally dedicate themselves to Kincaid full time, 0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:14.520 you can extrapolate all his points and he's going to 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:19.040 be bowers like production. Well they don't because he's only 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:21.440 out there on third down because he can't block anybody. 0:23:21.600 --> 0:23:23.480 So I don't think there all of a sudden going 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:25.879 to do that. They're going to put a wide receiver 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:29.520 out there, because that's really what he is. Gadson with 0:23:29.560 --> 0:23:32.560 the Chargers, you got to be pretty special because it's 0:23:32.560 --> 0:23:36.879 hard to create mismatches. It's harder to be you know, 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:40.880 Gadson's a great example, or Kincaid. It's like, Okay, they're 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:44.719 really good mismatch guys for a tight end. That doesn't 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:48.760 mean that they're easier to harder to cover than Michael Pittman. 0:23:49.560 --> 0:23:51.080 I might as well just put Pittman out there, you 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:53.600 know what I mean, who's probably an equal blocker even 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:55.639 though he's got a WR next to his name. So 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.720 I thought it was cool that John really put value 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:03.280 in two way every doown you know, type of type 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:05.160 of guys you know, and even mentions there's no Rob 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:09.080 Gronkowski walking the earth right now. He's the epitome, you know, 0:24:09.080 --> 0:24:10.080 where there's just no answer. 0:24:10.080 --> 0:24:12.280 There's there's no answer, right And that's what I'm Matt. 0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:16.359 Every every off season. There's overarching themes across the league 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:18.480 that that you do a really good job of laying 0:24:18.480 --> 0:24:20.760 out and I think how people have have gone back 0:24:20.800 --> 0:24:25.440 to wanting heavier, big, bigger, more more blocking capable tight 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:28.040 ends has been one of those things. Yeah, over the 0:24:28.080 --> 0:24:30.640 last couple of months, Matt. I know, we typically start 0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:33.040 at the back of lists, but when he tears them, 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:35.239 I kind of like the top, if that's all right 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:35.440 with you. 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:36.280 Yeah. 0:24:36.320 --> 0:24:40.160 Tier one has four names. Number one brock Bowers, Number 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:41.120 two Trey McBride. 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:43.000 Let me stop you super quick, because those two are 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:44.520 going there is gonna. 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:46.480 Be some're gonna be one and two forever and in the. 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:49.359 Fantasy world those guys because we don't care about blocking 0:24:49.359 --> 0:24:51.399 in fantasy. Blah blah blah. I'll bring up fantasy a 0:24:51.440 --> 0:24:54.600 little bit just because it's a fantasy relevant position. But 0:24:54.680 --> 0:24:56.720 those are the top two off the board and every 0:24:56.760 --> 0:24:59.439 fantasy draft right now. Not to mention Kittle's coming off 0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:02.040 an injury, and you know, Kelsey's getting old, you know. 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:06.400 I think those two are are are a very very 0:25:06.400 --> 0:25:09.920 fitting number one in two, yes, and then Colson Loveland 0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:13.560 number three and George Kittle number four. That's his Tier one. 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:15.760 And I read the Kittle right up and I agree 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:18.960 with this too that he said Kittle, if healthy and 0:25:19.040 --> 0:25:22.040 he's judging them where they are right now, would have 0:25:22.040 --> 0:25:24.359 a case to be number one. And I've said that 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:27.399 for years. With all respect to Kelsey, who's a tremendous player, 0:25:28.359 --> 0:25:31.639 I think Kittle's been overshadowed by Kelsey a little bit 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:35.520 over his career and maybe might be the most underrated 0:25:35.520 --> 0:25:38.199 tight end in NFL history because he's the most gronk 0:25:38.400 --> 0:25:40.600 like of any of them in terms of he's a 0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:42.760 killer in the run game, he's great after the catch. 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:45.880 I mean, he is such a difference maker and Loveland. 0:25:46.160 --> 0:25:47.879 I was a little shocked to see this high, but 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:51.000 I couldn't agree more. I mean in terms of like 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:53.840 buying stock on a young guy an ip O that 0:25:56.880 --> 0:25:59.639 by Loveland, why you still can because he has a 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:02.159 extremely high ceiling. It was a better blocker than I 0:26:02.200 --> 0:26:02.600 thought too. 0:26:03.760 --> 0:26:06.760 That is your Tier one, those four and yeah, Loveland, 0:26:06.760 --> 0:26:09.400 I tell you what, after one year, he's he's clearly 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.960 clearly on the rise. Tier two leads off with a 0:26:13.119 --> 0:26:16.119 show favorite here. Tucker Craft comes in at number five. 0:26:17.160 --> 0:26:18.919 John says he might have been number one on this 0:26:19.000 --> 0:26:21.760 list if he wouldn't have torn his ACL in week nine. 0:26:22.040 --> 0:26:23.640 I thought that was a bold statement, but I don't 0:26:23.640 --> 0:26:25.560 think it's nuts, and we saw it in the. 0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:27.560 First first eight weeks were unbelievable. 0:26:27.640 --> 0:26:30.400 Unbelievable because he's also really rugged in a blocker. 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:31.320 Yes, yeah, yeah, yes. 0:26:31.640 --> 0:26:33.960 Tier two is just two guys, Tucker Craft at five 0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:37.320 and Sam Laporta of the Detroit Lions at six to 0:26:37.520 --> 0:26:38.480 NFC North. 0:26:38.320 --> 0:26:40.400 And Laporta gets lumped in a little too much of 0:26:41.040 --> 0:26:43.639 finesse guy. I mean, he's put up big numbers, but 0:26:43.720 --> 0:26:46.240 he'll more than hold his own as a blocker, which 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:50.560 is super important. A lot of Iowa represent this, right, 0:26:51.400 --> 0:26:53.080 pretty nuts. Yeah. 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:57.080 Tier three starts with the seventh ranked overall tight end, 0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:00.200 Tyler Warren, another young guy. Hm. Of course, so the 0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:04.320 Indianapolis Colts former Penn State Nitney Lyon. Number eight, Brenton Strange, 0:27:04.320 --> 0:27:06.679 another former Penn State stock to see. 0:27:06.600 --> 0:27:08.840 Him that high, but he's really important to them. 0:27:09.000 --> 0:27:12.000 He sure has got a nice contract extension this offseason 0:27:12.040 --> 0:27:13.480 for the for the Parkers. 0:27:13.080 --> 0:27:15.640 Even though their first pick, Okay, even though their first 0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:16.520 pick was a tight end. 0:27:16.560 --> 0:27:18.800 Right, He's one of those guys that I always come out, Yeah, yeah, 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:21.600 Anderson not recruiting, but we won't go down that run, right, 0:27:21.960 --> 0:27:25.080 We've traveled that path before. Number nine A. J. Barner 0:27:25.119 --> 0:27:29.200 of the Seahawks. Number ten, Kyle Pitts of the Falcons. 0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:32.040 Still at number eleven, Travis Kelcey of the Chiefs. 0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:34.680 I mean, he definitely has that old man game of 0:27:35.080 --> 0:27:38.159 finding the soft spots and zones and things of that nature. 0:27:39.520 --> 0:27:42.040 Red zone, you know, when you need a big catch 0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:44.000 on third and eight, I think he's gonna get still 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:47.280 those targets. He's never a great blocker, he doesn't move 0:27:47.320 --> 0:27:49.439 like he once did. I mean, the big play threats 0:27:49.480 --> 0:27:52.679 not really there. Barner is a perfect example of what 0:27:52.720 --> 0:27:55.040 we said though to start the show. He won't be 0:27:55.040 --> 0:27:57.359 in any fantasy leagues. He might be by week five 0:27:57.400 --> 0:27:59.919 you pick him up, but he never leaves the field. 0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:04.119 He allows everybody else on offense to do so much more. 0:28:04.280 --> 0:28:07.520 I mean, he's kind because he's a hammer, is a blocker, 0:28:07.600 --> 0:28:10.400 and he really has no discernible weaknesses as a receiver. 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:14.440 If you've this position as many as any is your 0:28:14.600 --> 0:28:17.760 your weaknesses are almost as important as your straints. 0:28:17.320 --> 0:28:20.280 You know, and your usage and the yeah. 0:28:20.160 --> 0:28:24.040 Yeah, exactly, you're just telling the defense too much. If 0:28:24.160 --> 0:28:26.399 John who's out there versus Darnel being out there? You 0:28:26.400 --> 0:28:26.840 know what I mean. 0:28:26.920 --> 0:28:29.840 Sure, it's like the you always mentioned when dree Archer 0:28:29.880 --> 0:28:32.960 came onto the field. Uh the yeah. What he says 0:28:33.000 --> 0:28:36.000 about AJ Barner is basically outside of the premier guys 0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:38.920 at this position. Barner is everything that you envision in 0:28:38.920 --> 0:28:41.280 a tight end. Can I run my entire offense without 0:28:41.280 --> 0:28:43.320 taking him off the field? Yes? Is he an asset 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:46.760 in every situation scheme and personnel grouping yes? Can he 0:28:46.800 --> 0:28:48.520 move people at the point of attack yes? Can you 0:28:48.560 --> 0:28:51.480 get out in space and be effective yes? This will be. 0:28:51.600 --> 0:28:53.719 Those are great question to ask for this position. If 0:28:53.760 --> 0:28:56.400 you can check those boxes for true yes for all 0:28:56.400 --> 0:28:58.520 of them, that's a lot of value. 0:28:58.600 --> 0:29:00.880 He's one of the better all aroun round options in 0:29:00.960 --> 0:29:04.880 the NFL. According to John Ledgard, so Kelsey was at eleven. 0:29:04.880 --> 0:29:07.719 We're still in tier three here, another guy coming off 0:29:07.720 --> 0:29:09.520 his rookie year. A lot of young guys on this list. 0:29:09.560 --> 0:29:11.920 Harold Fannon of the Browns checks in at number twelve. 0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:13.040 He's a weird evaluation. 0:29:13.520 --> 0:29:15.800 He is because he had a really good rookie season, 0:29:16.080 --> 0:29:18.320 great numbers. They schemed up a ton around him, and 0:29:18.360 --> 0:29:19.760 they did didn't have much else going. 0:29:20.040 --> 0:29:21.640 That's the thing is, they didn't have anybody else to 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:23.680 still like the worst offense in the league. They didn't 0:29:23.680 --> 0:29:26.040 have anyone else to really get the football. I think 0:29:26.080 --> 0:29:28.160 he's going to have a good career and better than 0:29:28.200 --> 0:29:30.240 I thought coming out of school. He kind of runs funny, 0:29:30.280 --> 0:29:33.760 and you know, he's not a normal prototypical tight end 0:29:33.760 --> 0:29:36.680 prospect coming out of school. But he's better than I thought. 0:29:37.000 --> 0:29:39.200 I also think if I was if I had that stock, 0:29:39.240 --> 0:29:41.160 I might sell it now. You know. While it's a 0:29:41.200 --> 0:29:41.920 little high. 0:29:42.560 --> 0:29:44.800 Thirteen. Colby Parkinson of the Rams. 0:29:45.440 --> 0:29:47.360 That's a name that might chalk people with Barner. That's 0:29:47.400 --> 0:29:48.680 hot for all like the same reason. 0:29:48.800 --> 0:29:53.160 Yeah, fourteen of this parish, Darnell Washington of the Pittsburgh at. 0:29:53.040 --> 0:29:55.200 A friar movie, which I said. 0:29:55.160 --> 0:29:58.360 In Tier three, god bless you, Matt Williamson. And then 0:29:58.440 --> 0:30:01.840 number fifteen and overall in closing down Tier three here 0:30:01.920 --> 0:30:04.480 Kate Aughten of the Bucks. So Darnell in the top 0:30:04.520 --> 0:30:06.240 fifteen in tier three. 0:30:06.600 --> 0:30:10.240 And John coincidentally or not does a lot of work 0:30:10.320 --> 0:30:13.200 with the Steelers and the Bucks in particular. He's covered 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:15.640 both teams to some regard, and I don't think he 0:30:15.680 --> 0:30:18.400 misses a snap for either team. But he's doubt in 0:30:18.480 --> 0:30:21.600 for the entire league. But Auten's another perfect example. It's 0:30:21.640 --> 0:30:25.280 like he may not have a great strength, but I 0:30:25.320 --> 0:30:26.960 can leave him out there for all things, and he 0:30:26.960 --> 0:30:30.120 can do all things well. Darnell's a weird one, I mean, 0:30:30.280 --> 0:30:32.680 just because nobody looks like him on this yes, yeah, right, 0:30:32.720 --> 0:30:34.920 and no one wants to tangle with that guy. 0:30:35.400 --> 0:30:38.840 Darnell looks like some of those warriors in the Odyssey 0:30:38.880 --> 0:30:40.560 that they found on the one item that are like 0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:43.560 seven foot tall and tower over everybody. Here's the rite 0:30:43.600 --> 0:30:47.040 up for Darnell Washington from John Ledgard quote. Washington is 0:30:47.080 --> 0:30:48.880 operated in one of the worst passing attacks in the 0:30:49.000 --> 0:30:51.920 NFL during his career, which is hindered production. As his 0:30:52.320 --> 0:30:56.440 coaches start to understand his robust skill set. Impressive statistical 0:30:56.480 --> 0:30:59.080 outputs have followed at least on a per catch and 0:30:59.120 --> 0:31:01.480 per route basis. Yeah, last year, you know. 0:31:01.480 --> 0:31:03.840 He's not gonna catch ady balls, right, Yeah? 0:31:03.960 --> 0:31:07.600 Last year, Washington was ninth amongst tight ends in yards 0:31:07.600 --> 0:31:10.920 per route run. He broke twelve tackles, he averaged almost 0:31:10.960 --> 0:31:13.640 seven and a half yards after the catch, and is 0:31:13.680 --> 0:31:15.400 one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. 0:31:16.040 --> 0:31:19.320 Real quick. It's interesting that he's that high in what's 0:31:19.320 --> 0:31:21.640 it yards per route run that he says yes because 0:31:21.640 --> 0:31:25.240 his average depth of routes are not far downfield. 0:31:25.360 --> 0:31:28.000 Yards after catching, yards after contact. 0:31:27.760 --> 0:31:29.360 Throw a safety in the ground and keep running. 0:31:29.400 --> 0:31:31.040 You know, he would be a valuable asset for all 0:31:31.080 --> 0:31:33.120 thirty two teams and is the epitome of the type 0:31:33.160 --> 0:31:36.440 of player teams are targeting earlier than fans expected in 0:31:36.480 --> 0:31:37.280 this pass draft. 0:31:37.680 --> 0:31:40.480 Exactly, I mean that these teams that took a blocking 0:31:40.520 --> 0:31:43.280 tight end. So I even said this on draft day. 0:31:43.400 --> 0:31:46.320 If Darnell would have came out in this class. He 0:31:46.400 --> 0:31:50.520 goes at least around earlier. Yeah, top fifty for sure, 0:31:51.640 --> 0:31:53.440 and he came out in a really good tight end 0:31:53.440 --> 0:31:56.400 class too. But I mean, he's exactly what teams are 0:31:56.400 --> 0:31:57.160 looking for. 0:31:57.960 --> 0:32:00.959 Into Tier four here. Number sixteen overall is Juwan Johnson 0:32:01.000 --> 0:32:04.800 of the Saints. Number seventeen Pat Fryarmuth of the Steelers. 0:32:04.880 --> 0:32:07.040 Yeah, and I thought his write up was interesting too, 0:32:07.080 --> 0:32:09.360 And frankly, I mean you can read it, but he 0:32:09.680 --> 0:32:13.600 blames coaching more than he blames friar Mouth for the inconsistent. 0:32:13.200 --> 0:32:14.200 Kind of similar to Washington. 0:32:14.520 --> 0:32:14.880 Yeah. 0:32:14.760 --> 0:32:18.160 Yeah, the best well designed, you know, passing game right 0:32:18.200 --> 0:32:19.360 throughout these last couple of years. 0:32:19.440 --> 0:32:21.720 And we've said all along, there's been many Mondays that 0:32:21.720 --> 0:32:23.840 we've gotten together during the season. The last two years 0:32:23.800 --> 0:32:26.640 were like, hey, you gotta get the ball right right 0:32:27.080 --> 0:32:28.240 unless they play the Bengals. 0:32:28.320 --> 0:32:29.920 He says, this is a big year for friar Mooth. 0:32:29.920 --> 0:32:31.720 At some point, you have to produce at an above 0:32:31.760 --> 0:32:34.680 average level. He hasn't done that in a volume since 0:32:34.720 --> 0:32:37.680 over the last three years. Given that he is an 0:32:37.800 --> 0:32:40.640 average rum blocker who's at his best playing next to 0:32:40.720 --> 0:32:43.720 a true inline tight end. Fire Mouth needs to prove 0:32:43.760 --> 0:32:45.680 he can be a true difference maker in the passing 0:32:45.720 --> 0:32:47.320 game to stay highly ranked. 0:32:47.760 --> 0:32:52.520 So I've often quoted the football Siders FTN metrics and things, 0:32:52.960 --> 0:32:56.720 and they put something out recently about receivers lining in 0:32:56.760 --> 0:33:01.320 the slot versus wide. Friar Mouth was really like the 0:33:01.360 --> 0:33:04.760 best tight end in the league when aligned in the slot, 0:33:05.360 --> 0:33:08.080 and I really think this staff is going to do 0:33:08.120 --> 0:33:09.800 a lot of that. I think Darnell's going to line 0:33:09.880 --> 0:33:12.520 up next to a tackle. I think friar moof is 0:33:12.520 --> 0:33:14.680 going to be detached, and I think you're gonna see 0:33:14.680 --> 0:33:18.320 Pittman and Metcalf on the outside, which is enormous first 0:33:18.320 --> 0:33:21.200 of all, but I also think it is another thing 0:33:21.200 --> 0:33:23.400 we'll have a much better clue on a week from now. 0:33:24.240 --> 0:33:27.800 McCarthy has been such a heavy eleven guy. But if 0:33:27.800 --> 0:33:30.520 it means taken in Washington or Friarmuth off the field 0:33:30.680 --> 0:33:33.960 for Bernard, I don't know that I'm into that, you know. 0:33:34.600 --> 0:33:37.240 I mean because he's also used like Finley and Ferguson 0:33:37.280 --> 0:33:39.680 with the Cowboys in a very friar Mooth like manner. 0:33:40.720 --> 0:33:42.640 That's one of I think the real X factors for 0:33:42.680 --> 0:33:46.720 this offseason. Yeah, number eighteen from across the Commonwealth. It's 0:33:46.800 --> 0:33:48.480 Dallas Goddard of the Eagles. 0:33:48.880 --> 0:33:50.600 He's declining a little bit, but right right. 0:33:50.600 --> 0:33:52.560 Speaking of across the Commonwealth, that was the big sports 0:33:52.560 --> 0:33:54.880 story that we missed all Lebron James in the state 0:33:54.880 --> 0:33:57.680 of part Oh. Wow, did you see the news today? 0:33:57.720 --> 0:34:00.280 He's going to commute from New York City. No, that's 0:34:00.360 --> 0:34:01.720 kind of that seems a little wild, doesn't it. 0:34:01.800 --> 0:34:03.760 I asson, Let's have a driver take him back and forth. 0:34:03.840 --> 0:34:04.920 I was not going to a train. 0:34:05.000 --> 0:34:09.520 I was thinking like helicopter, something like that. Number eighteen, 0:34:09.600 --> 0:34:14.320 Dallas Goddard of the Iggles, nineteen, Cole Comet of the Bears, 0:34:14.640 --> 0:34:16.799 and the name you just mentioned at number twenty, Jake 0:34:16.840 --> 0:34:18.040 Ferguson of the Cowboys. 0:34:18.280 --> 0:34:22.080 Yeah. And guys like Comet and Ferguson and Schultz who 0:34:22.120 --> 0:34:25.120 will get to aren't flashy. You know, you hope Friar 0:34:25.160 --> 0:34:30.240 moves above them in terms of after the catch separation speed. 0:34:31.000 --> 0:34:33.439 But they also don't have glaring holes either. The guys 0:34:33.480 --> 0:34:36.080 I just mentioned, like, they're all good enough at everything. 0:34:36.239 --> 0:34:38.759 You know, you'd like the upgrade, but you can still 0:34:38.840 --> 0:34:41.480 run your offense and answer a lot of those questions 0:34:41.520 --> 0:34:42.760 he put out before. 0:34:42.560 --> 0:34:46.040 So Comet at nineteen, Ferguson at twenty, Dalton Schultz at 0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:49.600 twenty one, hm Theo Johnson of the Giants at twenty two. 0:34:49.960 --> 0:34:52.520 He's one of my faves because he was really really 0:34:52.600 --> 0:34:55.440 raw coming out of Penn State. He's got some darnell 0:34:55.520 --> 0:34:59.080 to him in terms of just gigantic hans long arms. 0:34:59.360 --> 0:35:02.319 I think he was like two seventy at his combine. 0:35:02.560 --> 0:35:03.960 Eighty one inch wingspan. 0:35:04.120 --> 0:35:07.440 Wow, and you know, now Harbaugh's getting a hold of 0:35:07.520 --> 0:35:10.040 them and matching him up with like Ricard and some 0:35:10.080 --> 0:35:12.920 of the Ravens like stuff they do. He could be 0:35:12.920 --> 0:35:15.799 a breakout guy. Again, don't draft him a blessy. I mean, 0:35:15.840 --> 0:35:17.759 he's not gonna catch sixty balls, but he could be 0:35:17.800 --> 0:35:18.560 a breakout guy. 0:35:19.400 --> 0:35:22.759 Twenty three, Dalton Kincaid. So we get Dalton Schultz at 0:35:22.760 --> 0:35:26.320 twenty one, Dalton Kincaid at twenty three, Terrence Ferguson of 0:35:26.320 --> 0:35:28.520 the Rams at twenty four, and then remember this was 0:35:28.520 --> 0:35:30.520 a top twenty five list. So rounding out the list, 0:35:30.600 --> 0:35:32.680 Hunter Henry of the New England Patriots. 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:36.960 Yeah, Ferguson after one year flashed a lot, but he's 0:35:37.000 --> 0:35:39.960 also not the he's like the Steelers or Rams have 0:35:39.960 --> 0:35:42.480 two guys on the list, and then he also has 0:35:43.480 --> 0:35:46.600 just missed or yes there's guys like Mark Andrews. It 0:35:46.680 --> 0:35:48.800 probably should be on the list, but he didn't know 0:35:48.840 --> 0:35:50.400 what to do with them at their age or whatever. 0:35:50.480 --> 0:35:52.960 You know, So honorable mention is Gadson of the Chargers 0:35:52.960 --> 0:35:56.520 who you talk about just missed the cut, Tyler Higbee, 0:35:58.440 --> 0:36:02.440 Isaiah Likely and go conk Will and then clouded by 0:36:02.600 --> 0:36:06.680 questions over injury and age. TJ. Hockettson, Mark Andrews and 0:36:06.800 --> 0:36:07.560 David and Joku. 0:36:07.800 --> 0:36:11.240 Yeah, that that last trio to me or I wouldn't 0:36:11.280 --> 0:36:13.560 know where to rank them, Like there's a good chance 0:36:13.560 --> 0:36:16.680 all three of them are better than Jake Ferguson, you 0:36:16.719 --> 0:36:19.200 know what I mean. They've had better careers. They're accomplished, 0:36:19.320 --> 0:36:22.520 but they have they'ret the crossroads of their career and 0:36:22.560 --> 0:36:27.000 at their ages. Usually it goes the wrong way. However, 0:36:28.320 --> 0:36:30.319 tight ends fade away slow. You know, we talked about 0:36:30.320 --> 0:36:33.640 this a lot. I mean, I think it's changed, but 0:36:33.680 --> 0:36:37.279 I've referenced in a million times sitting down with Vance 0:36:37.360 --> 0:36:40.520 McDonald and saying, you know, Vance, hey, you're twenty seven 0:36:40.600 --> 0:36:42.799 years old. By the way, friar Mith twenty seven years old. 0:36:43.080 --> 0:36:46.200 Does it make sense to you that that's when tight 0:36:46.280 --> 0:36:48.400 ends hit their peak, which is much later than running 0:36:48.400 --> 0:36:51.200 backs and wide receivers. He's like, absolutely, absolutely, Now, I 0:36:51.239 --> 0:36:54.000 bet that number is lower than that now. But the 0:36:54.040 --> 0:36:57.360 other thing is Kelsey Gonzalez, all these dudes, they fade 0:36:57.400 --> 0:37:00.120 away slow. He's Miller Witten, you know. I mean, his 0:37:00.239 --> 0:37:02.640 guys are smart and old, Manta why you. 0:37:02.560 --> 0:37:05.880 Know, even Gronk right with him coming out of retirement 0:37:05.960 --> 0:37:07.759 and still being one of the best tight ends in 0:37:07.760 --> 0:37:10.680 the National Football League down in Tampa. So there's your 0:37:10.719 --> 0:37:14.160 tight ends rankings and tears from John Ledgard. As we 0:37:14.280 --> 0:37:16.600 kind of get to uh, we'll still do some list 0:37:16.680 --> 0:37:17.880 stuff during training camp os. 0:37:17.960 --> 0:37:18.520 Yeah, you're there. 0:37:18.640 --> 0:37:19.680 We got to take a look at some of those 0:37:19.719 --> 0:37:22.480 Jeremy Fowler lists, catch up on some of those two. Definitely, 0:37:22.680 --> 0:37:24.680 hopefully we'll have Jeremy on that. That was one thing 0:37:24.680 --> 0:37:28.080 that I was thinking about the difference to in the past. 0:37:28.200 --> 0:37:30.520 Matt and I were always on from two. We'll be 0:37:30.560 --> 0:37:32.160 on from three to six, by the way, this year. 0:37:32.040 --> 0:37:34.600 Mat, yeah, yeah, we always bring it. Bring it on home. 0:37:34.640 --> 0:37:37.680 It'll be nine to six live on SNR every single day, 0:37:37.719 --> 0:37:39.719 so nine hours of coverage every day. It'll start with 0:37:39.760 --> 0:37:42.400 Bob Labriola and Tom op from end of the mornings nice, 0:37:42.440 --> 0:37:44.239 and it'll end with you and I from three to 0:37:44.320 --> 0:37:49.320 six in the afternoon slash early evening. There we'll miss 0:37:49.320 --> 0:37:51.440 having practice going on while we're there. 0:37:51.520 --> 0:37:53.239 Yeah, it was fun and nice. 0:37:53.440 --> 0:37:56.560 Kind of low hanging fruit A lot of times think 0:37:56.560 --> 0:37:58.400 about this though. The good part is it was always 0:37:58.440 --> 0:38:00.360 near impossible for you and I to get guests. 0:38:00.960 --> 0:38:03.120 Yeah. I guess that's because practice. 0:38:02.719 --> 0:38:04.719 Was going on, and then all those journalists had to 0:38:04.719 --> 0:38:06.920 file their stories to do their Yeah. 0:38:06.600 --> 0:38:06.799 Yeah. 0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:10.359 And now with practice probably being over two hours before 0:38:10.400 --> 0:38:12.840 we go on air, I'm at least optimistic we'll be 0:38:12.880 --> 0:38:15.920 able to nab us guests this training. 0:38:15.600 --> 0:38:18.560 Case before you go to dinner. 0:38:20.960 --> 0:38:22.840 I'm hoping that'll be the case. Is we kind of 0:38:22.840 --> 0:38:23.120 wait and. 0:38:23.280 --> 0:38:24.759 Again, just like we started the show, it's going to 0:38:24.800 --> 0:38:25.879 be a little different. 0:38:26.080 --> 0:38:28.960 A little bit different, a little bit different, little differences. 0:38:29.080 --> 0:38:31.280 We will close down the first hour of this program 0:38:31.320 --> 0:38:33.760 when we return, Yuller and Williamson. It's the Drive Steelers 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:39.480 Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. 0:38:40.239 --> 0:38:44.240 And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light There's 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:48.560 nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than 0:38:48.600 --> 0:38:52.520 the clean crisp. Uh, what if we just got out 0:38:52.520 --> 0:38:54.480 of here and grab some bud Lights. Man, we're on 0:38:54.520 --> 0:38:55.760 air for four more hours. 0:38:55.920 --> 0:38:59.880 I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me. Anything the 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:03.319 clean crisp taste of bud Light stocked up now. Bud 0:39:03.400 --> 0:39:06.160 Light easy to drink, easy to enjoy, and you're responsibly 0:39:06.160 --> 0:39:08.279 Copyright twenty twenty six and hyser Busch bud Light, Meer, 0:39:08.280 --> 0:39:09.200 Saint Louis, Missouri. 0:39:09.680 --> 0:39:11.359 I used to have cable Internet, but I'm a one 0:39:11.440 --> 0:39:14.120 hundred percent kind of fan, so I switched to Verizon FiOS. 0:39:14.160 --> 0:39:16.640 It's one hundred percent fiber internet that's super reliable. So 0:39:16.719 --> 0:39:18.919 I streamed one hundred percent of the NFL Draft live 0:39:18.960 --> 0:39:20.920 with the ultra low lag and after what went down 0:39:20.920 --> 0:39:23.279 in the first round, still getting video calls from my 0:39:23.280 --> 0:39:26.400 best friend rubbing it in that he called all the picks. 0:39:26.600 --> 0:39:28.520 I told you they were building their own line. I 0:39:28.560 --> 0:39:29.480 went to bet good. 0:39:29.360 --> 0:39:32.120 One hundred percent fiber Internet with Verizon FiOS because when 0:39:32.120 --> 0:39:34.720 it comes to your team, it's one hundred percent or nothing. 0:39:34.840 --> 0:39:37.120 Called one of three three for Verizon to switch today can. 0:39:37.080 --> 0:39:48.719 Get that hot dog costume ready, Bruh your tunes. 0:39:48.440 --> 0:39:50.880 About drive on your twenty four to seven home of 0:39:50.920 --> 0:39:53.400 the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio. 0:40:07.239 --> 0:40:09.680 A few minutes here for our final segment of this 0:40:10.000 --> 0:40:12.479 first hour and hour number two, we'll get to more 0:40:12.560 --> 0:40:16.720 of your tweets and some some more large at NFL 0:40:16.800 --> 0:40:19.080 at Large conversation as we get ready for a big 0:40:19.120 --> 0:40:22.799 week across the league. Matt uh still get in the tweets, 0:40:22.840 --> 0:40:24.640 not you know, not quite as crazy over the last 0:40:24.640 --> 0:40:25.280 two weeks. 0:40:25.280 --> 0:40:28.719 We didn't know when they get read right, but I. 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:30.400 Love it and I did want to make sure people 0:40:30.400 --> 0:40:33.040 know once we get in season, once we get to September, 0:40:34.200 --> 0:40:36.279 we won't be doing Twitter segments every single day. They'll 0:40:36.320 --> 0:40:37.160 just be too much to get to. 0:40:37.200 --> 0:40:39.640 We'll still we'll still get to them, and. 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:41.080 We still obviously want you guys to tweet us. And 0:40:41.120 --> 0:40:43.000 there'll be times where we're in the middle of a 0:40:43.000 --> 0:40:45.080 topic and we reference a tweet or something. You know, 0:40:45.120 --> 0:40:47.600 someone makes a good point or someone asks an interesting angle. 0:40:48.360 --> 0:40:51.120 But throughout training camp and especially with the bonus third 0:40:51.160 --> 0:40:52.759 hour of the shows that we're gonna have for the 0:40:52.760 --> 0:40:55.200 next few weeks, keep those tweets rolling in baby. 0:40:55.200 --> 0:40:57.080 Oh yeah, get get back on top of that, because 0:40:57.080 --> 0:40:59.120 we'll get We'll be doing them like crazy from camp, 0:40:59.200 --> 0:41:01.600 especially with that extra hour. Yep. And you know how 0:41:01.640 --> 0:41:03.759 I always say, you know, pull the curtain back, you know, 0:41:03.800 --> 0:41:06.520 like we just had this quick conversation. We just had 0:41:06.520 --> 0:41:10.360 two pretty long segments. Well this one therefore has to 0:41:10.360 --> 0:41:12.960 be short, you know. So they're like, well, it's a 0:41:12.960 --> 0:41:14.880 good time to do five minutes. Ord of the tweets, 0:41:14.960 --> 0:41:16.960 we still might do those during the season, you know, 0:41:17.040 --> 0:41:20.120 like we got a segment here to kill. Yes, yeah, 0:41:20.239 --> 0:41:21.000 keep them coming, right. 0:41:21.360 --> 0:41:24.279 Steelers play on a Monday or a Thursday or yeah 0:41:24.560 --> 0:41:26.440 week and so the schedules a little different, but yeah, 0:41:26.520 --> 0:41:29.399 keep those tweets rolling in all the time, but especially here, 0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:32.200 still over over the next month plus till we get 0:41:32.200 --> 0:41:36.000 to the regular season and things really start flying. This 0:41:36.040 --> 0:41:39.239 one from Sudesh caught my eye. Matt. He says, as 0:41:39.239 --> 0:41:42.360 we approach training camp, can we get one story about 0:41:42.360 --> 0:41:45.919 Tounch and Wolf? So I was thinking about this. Here's 0:41:45.920 --> 0:41:47.759 a good one for you. Yeah, We've shared a lot 0:41:47.800 --> 0:41:49.160 of great stories, but I don't know if I've ever 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:53.560 told this one. My very first twenty eighteen was my 0:41:53.600 --> 0:41:56.640 first training camp. I did a little bit of on 0:41:56.719 --> 0:41:58.520 air stuff, but I was mostly just behind the scenes. 0:41:58.560 --> 0:42:00.640 Yeah, see your feet wet right setting up. 0:42:00.520 --> 0:42:02.759 The stuff, you know. I'd start every morning, I think 0:42:02.760 --> 0:42:04.640 it was eight am or nine am with Tounch and 0:42:04.920 --> 0:42:07.640 and and Wolf that would roll into you and Dale 0:42:08.080 --> 0:42:11.040 and then I think Crowley did you know, like his 0:42:11.080 --> 0:42:11.520 own show. 0:42:11.920 --> 0:42:13.720 I am trying to, like I remember what the lineup 0:42:13.760 --> 0:42:13.920 was like. 0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:16.759 Yeah, you know, from from like nine to five, I'd 0:42:16.760 --> 0:42:18.680 be engineering on campus and then we'd all go to 0:42:18.719 --> 0:42:20.759 Sharky's or Dino's or wherever we were doing the night 0:42:20.760 --> 0:42:22.520 shows and have a couple of night shows as well. 0:42:23.000 --> 0:42:24.719 I'll never forget one of those. It's one of my 0:42:24.760 --> 0:42:28.279 first days. So I'm nervous. I'm like, you know, I'm 0:42:28.320 --> 0:42:32.680 on edge with everything the job and Tounch and Wolf 0:42:32.719 --> 0:42:35.719 did a three hour show and during training camp only 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:37.279 they did a three hour show kind of like us, 0:42:37.880 --> 0:42:40.120 and their last hour of the show would always be 0:42:40.120 --> 0:42:42.440 phone calls because those two, those two would get out 0:42:42.719 --> 0:42:44.320 would get a million phone calls. 0:42:44.719 --> 0:42:46.720 And phone calls are more they're up their alley than tweets. 0:42:47.160 --> 0:42:50.719 Yes, they probably don't even know what tweets were back 0:42:50.719 --> 0:42:54.640 in twenty eighteen, and I'll never forget. It was one 0:42:54.680 --> 0:42:56.960 of my first days. And they're in the middle of 0:42:57.000 --> 0:42:59.680 taking calls, and I'm kind of like I would kind 0:42:59.680 --> 0:43:01.440 of sit between the two, like they would sit on 0:43:01.440 --> 0:43:02.879 the ends of the table and look at each other, 0:43:02.880 --> 0:43:04.839 and I'd kind of be in between, and that way 0:43:04.880 --> 0:43:06.800 I could work the headsets and if they had guests 0:43:06.840 --> 0:43:09.960 sit down that whole thing. They're in the middle of 0:43:10.000 --> 0:43:12.480 taking calls, taking calls, taking calls, and I look over 0:43:13.040 --> 0:43:16.319 and Touch is passed out of sleep. I mean he's 0:43:16.360 --> 0:43:21.240 like leaned back in his chair. Early morning eight am 0:43:21.280 --> 0:43:24.560 show or whatever it was. Uh, coffee is probably wearing 0:43:24.600 --> 0:43:27.359 off at that time, right, yeah, no, d no video 0:43:27.640 --> 0:43:30.480 point nothing. We're also not in the press box at 0:43:30.520 --> 0:43:31.000 this point either. 0:43:31.040 --> 0:43:33.560 We're outside, so press box is air conditioned by the 0:43:33.560 --> 0:43:34.600 way hot. 0:43:35.719 --> 0:43:39.480 And Touch almost like he's like sitting on the beach 0:43:39.560 --> 0:43:41.879 or sitting by the pool. Like he's like leaned back 0:43:41.880 --> 0:43:44.640 in his chair. He's got his hands behind his head, 0:43:45.360 --> 0:43:48.040 his headset on, and his mouth is just gaping open, 0:43:48.080 --> 0:43:51.160 and he's asleep. And he's asleep, and I notice it, 0:43:51.239 --> 0:43:54.879 and I'm like, I like, if I if I tap 0:43:54.960 --> 0:43:56.360 him on the shoulders. He gonna get pissed off. 0:43:56.480 --> 0:43:57.120 It was a year later. 0:44:00.000 --> 0:44:00.560 How are you doing? 0:44:00.719 --> 0:44:00.919 Right? 0:44:01.440 --> 0:44:03.840 So I look at so my first thought is just 0:44:03.880 --> 0:44:05.120 like I just I don't I just want to make 0:44:05.120 --> 0:44:07.600 sure Wolf realizes this, you know, because maybe like Wolf 0:44:07.600 --> 0:44:09.359 can go to break or whatever, you know, like maybe 0:44:09.360 --> 0:44:13.560 he joke about at her handle the phone calls, and 0:44:13.640 --> 0:44:17.919 so Tounch is like leaned back, eyes slumped. He's just out, 0:44:18.040 --> 0:44:21.840 mouth open, and Wolf is like into whatever the person 0:44:21.920 --> 0:44:24.319 was asking on the phone, not paying attention. So I 0:44:24.400 --> 0:44:25.799 kind of like, you know, like I can't remember if 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:27.480 I wave or like tap him on the shoulder, and 0:44:27.480 --> 0:44:31.080 I kind of like point to touch and Wolf just beam. 0:44:31.160 --> 0:44:34.480 I mean, he just gets this massive bread across his 0:44:34.520 --> 0:44:36.120 face and gives me the like one minute, just wait, 0:44:36.120 --> 0:44:39.440 one minute, one minute. Whoever the guy or girl asking 0:44:39.440 --> 0:44:43.640 the question on the phone finishes up, and Wolf goes, 0:44:44.239 --> 0:44:45.359 I don't know, that's a great question. 0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:45.960 What do you think? 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:50.000 Touch? Touch? 0:44:51.760 --> 0:44:55.320 You know, like out of his chairs, like we didn't cover. 0:44:57.200 --> 0:44:58.680 At all, totally threw him under the bus. And I 0:44:58.760 --> 0:44:59.880 was like, yeah, touch, what do you think about that? 0:45:01.920 --> 0:45:03.880 We talked a great detail about You've been listening, what 0:45:03.920 --> 0:45:04.440 do you think. 0:45:04.400 --> 0:45:06.400 It's like Touch is like, I don't know, Wolf, you 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:09.680 go first, Wolf's like, no, I really want to hear 0:45:09.719 --> 0:45:13.359 what you have to think about. Totally threw him under 0:45:13.400 --> 0:45:15.480 the bus. So that one, that one I don't think 0:45:15.480 --> 0:45:17.560 I've ever told that on That was just like my 0:45:17.640 --> 0:45:20.680 third or fourth day and exactly what you should watch this. 0:45:20.760 --> 0:45:21.799 I'm gonna put them. 0:45:21.719 --> 0:45:23.480 On the spot. And then we laughed about it for 0:45:23.520 --> 0:45:25.319 the rest of camp, like every time. 0:45:25.520 --> 0:45:27.080 It's funny. If you told me that story, I would 0:45:27.120 --> 0:45:28.280 have thought it was the other way around. 0:45:28.440 --> 0:45:32.200 Totally right, right, But like all throughout the rest of camp, 0:45:32.280 --> 0:45:34.880 anytime Jim Wexel would come sit down with them and 0:45:34.960 --> 0:45:37.200 do a segment, or Jerry Doulac would come sit down 0:45:37.200 --> 0:45:39.719 with them do a segment, Wolf would be like, now, Touch, 0:45:39.760 --> 0:45:41.680 make sure you don't fall asleep on our guests here. 0:45:42.000 --> 0:45:43.919 Like the next three weeks, it was so good. 0:45:44.239 --> 0:45:45.160 That's so good. 0:45:45.239 --> 0:45:48.839 Miss those guys, certainly, and it's gonna be listen, come 0:45:48.880 --> 0:45:51.040 up a lot these next I was just gonna say, 0:45:51.120 --> 0:45:53.759 not just because the new coaching staff for the first 0:45:53.760 --> 0:45:56.640 time in nineteen years, but no Touch, no Wolf, no Dale. 0:45:56.800 --> 0:45:58.520 I don't mean the first time without any of those 0:45:58.520 --> 0:46:00.719 three guys, their their names will will come up a lot, 0:46:00.760 --> 0:46:04.080 and we'll be doing stories and remembering them fondly. Hour 0:46:04.120 --> 0:46:07.480 in the books, Another hour to go. Wesh Uler, Matt Williamson. 0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:10.640 It's the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.