1
00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,080
Speaker 1: He is The Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson

2
00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:12,600
Speaker 1: on Home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.

3
00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,800
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Drive. I'm Dale Alli. He is Matt Williamson.

4
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,640
Speaker 1: And well, it's a victory Monday, but it's I guess

5
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,000
Speaker 1: a hollow victory. Matt. Yeah, I mean we knew it

6
00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,800
Speaker 1: was a long shot to get in the get in

7
00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,880
Speaker 1: the tournament, was that it was so close, and boy,

8
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,720
Speaker 1: Miami Jets was hard to watch. I was watching it.

9
00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,000
Speaker 1: I'm watching the Steeler game and I'm I had the

10
00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,080
Speaker 1: Miami Jets game. I'm like watching the game cast on

11
00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,520
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this must just be an awful game.

12
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,720
Speaker 1: That was really really bad. I mean, just no running

13
00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,120
Speaker 1: game from the Jets. First downs are hard to come by,

14
00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,160
Speaker 1: this bad execution. It would be different if it's really

15
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,840
Speaker 1: good defense. But I mean, your quarterbacks are not really

16
00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:04,520
Speaker 1: NFL players at this point, and they Jet scored no

17
00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,880
Speaker 1: touchdowns in the last three games. In three games, three

18
00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,560
Speaker 1: games and loss what six in a row? Yeah, brutal,

19
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,039
Speaker 1: and Miami is gonna lose six out of seven if

20
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,920
Speaker 1: two it doesn't play, and they're gonna even matter. I

21
00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,199
Speaker 1: don't care if who it does play, They're gonna be crushed.

22
00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:17,840
Speaker 1: They're not in a good place at all. I mean

23
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,400
Speaker 1: neither of those teams. I might make excuses for the Steelers,

24
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,880
Speaker 1: they should have beat both of them if they want

25
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:23,440
Speaker 1: to go, you know, but I mean that it comes

26
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,160
Speaker 1: to it was all in front of you. You played

27
00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,240
Speaker 1: those two teams, you lost them both. It just shows

28
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,080
Speaker 1: you what a like an NFL season. Bill Carrols used

29
00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 1: to call it a marathon, not a sprint. Yeah, it

30
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,000
Speaker 1: really is like and and when it shows you why

31
00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: head coaches often break the season down in the quarters,

32
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,320
Speaker 1: because what happens in the first quarter, how a team

33
00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:47,560
Speaker 1: is playing in the first quarter doesn't necessarily translate to

34
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: how it's gonna be playing in the last quarter. Steelers

35
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,840
Speaker 1: are perfect example. I mean, there's gonna be more halves,

36
00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:53,440
Speaker 1: you know, But I mean the first quarter of the

37
00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,800
Speaker 1: season versus the fourth quarter of the season couldn't be

38
00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,200
Speaker 1: any more different. And same as Miami, Miami was really

39
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 1: flying just enough wins, yeah exactly. And um I do

40
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,320
Speaker 1: believe though that the Steelers are a better football team

41
00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,160
Speaker 1: than either one of those two if they if they

42
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,880
Speaker 1: played them right now that game, Yeah, and should beat them.

43
00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,000
Speaker 1: Same thing with the Patriots for that right. I think

44
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 1: all three of those teams the Steelers are the best

45
00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,399
Speaker 1: of that year without question. So it does give you. Yeah,

46
00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:23,359
Speaker 1: And I wrote this in my in my ten thoughts,

47
00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:27,119
Speaker 1: like this is something I know. Mike Tomlin always says, well,

48
00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,520
Speaker 1: one season doesn't carry over to the next. But I

49
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,880
Speaker 1: do believe with this young football team like this one,

50
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,520
Speaker 1: it can. Oh, I do too, because you're gonna bring

51
00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,000
Speaker 1: the much of it back. A lot of those guys

52
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,720
Speaker 1: got unbelievable valuable playing time going back to last year,

53
00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,120
Speaker 1: all the rookie snaps, those guys got Um, you're only

54
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,480
Speaker 1: gonna some rosters, you know, not everyone can add are

55
00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,200
Speaker 1: going to be worse. And you know, I do not

56
00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,400
Speaker 1: believe this roster will be worse when we see them

57
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,400
Speaker 1: next than I have a hard time believe in that.

58
00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,120
Speaker 1: When you've got the seventeenth pick in the draft, the

59
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,000
Speaker 1: thirty second pick in the draft, and I believe what

60
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,760
Speaker 1: forty nine I think nine like yeah, right in that

61
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,600
Speaker 1: neighborhood too. I mean that's three premium picks in a

62
00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:08,960
Speaker 1: lot of caps phase and the ability to keep your

63
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,720
Speaker 1: own if you so choose, And you know so, no,

64
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:13,359
Speaker 1: I think this is the building. I don't wanta say

65
00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,000
Speaker 1: it's the building of something special, you know, but it's

66
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,080
Speaker 1: the building of what the next generation. And I think

67
00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,959
Speaker 1: it's a very valuable season that way, and that successful season,

68
00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,160
Speaker 1: and you got to you got to put an exclamation

69
00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,359
Speaker 1: point on it with Cleveland. Cleveland was all in this year.

70
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:29,720
Speaker 1: This was their a year, they were going to do it,

71
00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,600
Speaker 1: and you went out there and really kind of dominated

72
00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,200
Speaker 1: them pretty much. I mean, do you think DeShawn Watson

73
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,080
Speaker 1: is looking forward and seeing Steelers on the schedule next year?

74
00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 1: He got a great statement. If anybody needed a massage

75
00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,320
Speaker 1: after a game like that, it was DeShawn. Yeah. Seven

76
00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 1: sacks and that doesn't include the Hayward one that got

77
00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,400
Speaker 1: called back. Ten hits. He got hit time and time again.

78
00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,480
Speaker 1: Some picks thrown in there, um, and I thought he

79
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,360
Speaker 1: was really difficult to get on the ground, which is

80
00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,760
Speaker 1: back to the Hayward call or whatever, and like, what

81
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,720
Speaker 1: are supposed to do to get this guy in the round. Yeah, hey,

82
00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:02,760
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put you on, I'm gonna sack you here.

83
00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,480
Speaker 1: Let's stop. Yeah right right, But I mean he played

84
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,040
Speaker 1: looked at some Watson numbers this morning. He played six

85
00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: games so this wasn't like he came in for the

86
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 1: last game of the season, like it should be better

87
00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,560
Speaker 1: than this after sixties, you know, after five or whatever.

88
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:23,000
Speaker 1: So first of all, he's a fifty million dollar cap

89
00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,480
Speaker 1: pit next year that they are married to. I mean,

90
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,440
Speaker 1: like that is fully guaranteed fifty million for him, which

91
00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,760
Speaker 1: means he has to be a top five quarterback to

92
00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,479
Speaker 1: be worth that, and he's a lot closer to a

93
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,240
Speaker 1: bottom five quarterback right now. That's how I'm about to say,

94
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,600
Speaker 1: is of any quarter if you take all the quarterbacks

95
00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,200
Speaker 1: this year that three d fifty or more passes. The

96
00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,200
Speaker 1: worst DPA in the whole league was Flacca. Okay, okay,

97
00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,680
Speaker 1: but he started seven years old. That's you know exactly.

98
00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,960
Speaker 1: Third worst in the league was Wilson with the Jets.

99
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,040
Speaker 1: So it's kind of amazing the Jets want any games

100
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,120
Speaker 1: when they played that many games with those two, but

101
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,680
Speaker 1: wedged right in between those on Watson, second worst in

102
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,360
Speaker 1: the entire league. I mean, and you're paying that fifty

103
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,720
Speaker 1: And I didn't think he was horrendous yesterday. I didn't

104
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:15,279
Speaker 1: think he was elevating. I mean, you know, watch watch

105
00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,239
Speaker 1: what he'd you know, him play and watching Russell Wilson

106
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,760
Speaker 1: play right. Every once in a while you see a

107
00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,120
Speaker 1: throw and you go, yeah, that's that guy. At least

108
00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,480
Speaker 1: more often than not it was. Yeah, but still you're right.

109
00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:28,960
Speaker 1: I mean they're a little better than they were at

110
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,240
Speaker 1: their worst of this year. You know, that Houston game

111
00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,760
Speaker 1: was unbelievable for Watson. But now he's gonna have less

112
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,599
Speaker 1: around him. He's gonna be more of a capit. There's

113
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 1: more pressure on him. They fired their defensive coordinator already,

114
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,200
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it's just very Brown. You know,

115
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:42,960
Speaker 1: it's his fault that they went into the season with

116
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,480
Speaker 1: no defensive tackles, right and lost all their linebackers, So

117
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,400
Speaker 1: you gotta blame somebody. So yeah, I mean the Browns

118
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,400
Speaker 1: are in a bad spot. They are in a bad spot.

119
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:55,560
Speaker 1: The Steelers winning that game fourteen, uh, probably should have

120
00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:57,960
Speaker 1: been worse than that. Yeah, it could have been. I mean,

121
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,720
Speaker 1: they'm fumbling on the goal line out you know. Yeah, um,

122
00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:03,800
Speaker 1: but they definitely had a better play. They had the

123
00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,560
Speaker 1: ineligible downfield again on that on that screen it went

124
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,840
Speaker 1: for forty five yards that uh, you know really would

125
00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:16,039
Speaker 1: have huge. Um, But they found the way to uh

126
00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,320
Speaker 1: to win this game. Pick it I didn't believe played

127
00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,479
Speaker 1: his best game. In fact, that might have might have

128
00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:22,560
Speaker 1: been one of his worst games. But he made a

129
00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,359
Speaker 1: couple of a couple of big time throws. That the

130
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,720
Speaker 1: throw to two Pickens for the touchdown, okay, that was

131
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,120
Speaker 1: pretty wide open. I thought the one the Hayward that

132
00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,560
Speaker 1: he made it down the middle was it was a

133
00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:37,600
Speaker 1: big time throw. Um, you know, and and and so

134
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,400
Speaker 1: again converting the third downs. They were the number one

135
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,440
Speaker 1: third down conversion team in the second half of the season.

136
00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 1: I mean, brings me to a couple of points. That's awesome.

137
00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,560
Speaker 1: And yesterday there was a lot of third and longs.

138
00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,120
Speaker 1: I mean, they weren't third and just falls through the

139
00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,440
Speaker 1: a gap or know. And they're good at the short

140
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,280
Speaker 1: guard of stuff too, And to me, that's a skill

141
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,839
Speaker 1: as well. Um. So I think his ability to convert

142
00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,000
Speaker 1: on third and distance is very, very impressive, and he's

143
00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,400
Speaker 1: doing it repeatedly. What I don't know is repeatable, though,

144
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,360
Speaker 1: is they're not going to convert down next year probably,

145
00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:18,920
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like you're going to be

146
00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,920
Speaker 1: first in the league again, and they're a little reliant

147
00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,560
Speaker 1: on that, you know, yeah, um, you know, you'd like

148
00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,160
Speaker 1: to keep that in third and more much more manageable

149
00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,040
Speaker 1: than that. But more first downs on first a second,

150
00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,880
Speaker 1: you're allowed to do that too. Um but I thought,

151
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,520
Speaker 1: you know, Harris ran hard again yesterday. Um, you know,

152
00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,320
Speaker 1: they got away from it a little bit the first

153
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,400
Speaker 1: the opening drive. I thought that the way they ran

154
00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:42,680
Speaker 1: through them like this is gonna be a long day

155
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,280
Speaker 1: for Cleveland. Yeah, I thought that. I And then they

156
00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,120
Speaker 1: kind of forgot about the running game a little bit,

157
00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,320
Speaker 1: you know from there. You know, after the fumble, they

158
00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,560
Speaker 1: went back to it in the second half and it worked.

159
00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,320
Speaker 1: Um so he got he got he and both j

160
00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,960
Speaker 1: Lem Warrem back next year, right right? Which is a line? Yeah,

161
00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,320
Speaker 1: the entire offensive line, really, your entire offense is the

162
00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,360
Speaker 1: entire offense is coming back. I mean, there's nobody that

163
00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,520
Speaker 1: I think you have to Like. I was just on

164
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,760
Speaker 1: the radio with Mart Madden. He's like, so the free agents,

165
00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,760
Speaker 1: who are you prioritizing? I didn't mention anybody on offense.

166
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,840
Speaker 1: And sure I wouldn't mind if Boykins and Camps back.

167
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:18,720
Speaker 1: You know, I can find that, you know what I mean,

168
00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,200
Speaker 1: So you're bringing back the whole unit or you you know,

169
00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,680
Speaker 1: you draft a young you know, offensive tackle when he's

170
00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,240
Speaker 1: he's yours. To quote Randy Figure, you're nipple rubber. He's

171
00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,280
Speaker 1: your guy that you bringing is the sixth offense. You

172
00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,280
Speaker 1: know when you're gonna run the ball? Yeah, right, right right.

173
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:33,720
Speaker 1: I mean they're only going to add to the group,

174
00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,839
Speaker 1: you know. So, and pick It will be in his

175
00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,880
Speaker 1: second year. I did a Steelers Live today. They're like,

176
00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,320
Speaker 1: you know, what do you think about pick It? I'm like, well,

177
00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,640
Speaker 1: people don't think about it. In this terms, is from

178
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:47,719
Speaker 1: the second he stepped on the practice field for his

179
00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,839
Speaker 1: final year at Pitt until yesterday, he's been busy, and

180
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,719
Speaker 1: not all of it is dedicated to being a Steelers

181
00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,280
Speaker 1: great quarterback. Now every second of his day will be bad,

182
00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,160
Speaker 1: will be year towards that. I asked George Pickens that

183
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,240
Speaker 1: yesterday after the game, I like you, you essentially went

184
00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,760
Speaker 1: from the spring of two years ago. Right. It's a

185
00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,960
Speaker 1: long stretch rehabbing your knee to get ready to play

186
00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,240
Speaker 1: the last couple of games of your college football season,

187
00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,400
Speaker 1: to then getting ready to show the problem, to show

188
00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,280
Speaker 1: that the knee is healthy and and and I can

189
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:21,760
Speaker 1: do I can run, I can jump, I can do

190
00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,760
Speaker 1: all that stuff, to then going right to right to Steelers.

191
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,040
Speaker 1: You know, mini camps and and O T A s

192
00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,800
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. He's had no time off basically

193
00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,120
Speaker 1: in two years. And I don't know remember exactly what

194
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,880
Speaker 1: his preseason participation was, but basically playing twenty games, which

195
00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,240
Speaker 1: is double what you do in college basically. I mean,

196
00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,679
Speaker 1: so the rookie wall and the second year jump are

197
00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,760
Speaker 1: very real things because both those guys, as as every

198
00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,240
Speaker 1: rookie the league is gonna do. Of course, they're gonna

199
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,079
Speaker 1: get some time off the rest of your body, but

200
00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,360
Speaker 1: you're not working on your start for your forty times.

201
00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,599
Speaker 1: It really doesn't translate. You're worrying about running routes with

202
00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:59,559
Speaker 1: picking and pickens, right, so much of that. Yeah, you're

203
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,120
Speaker 1: in ship ape, but you're getting the shape for the combine.

204
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,440
Speaker 1: So you know, I'm walking through through the indoor facility

205
00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,000
Speaker 1: today and Pitt had some stuff out there, like they

206
00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,240
Speaker 1: had their their high jump, yeah, their vertical jump, you

207
00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,200
Speaker 1: know whatever those things player, but they but they had

208
00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:17,880
Speaker 1: the markers out there so you could jump up and

209
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,800
Speaker 1: you know and start working on that. Stuff like that

210
00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:23,680
Speaker 1: doesn't make you, you know, like to your point, doesn't

211
00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:26,679
Speaker 1: make you a good football player. Talking with somebody four

212
00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,199
Speaker 1: months yeah, I thought. I thought. Mike Tomlin put it

213
00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,600
Speaker 1: well today that you know, if you're you know, you're

214
00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:35,880
Speaker 1: a guy that was an undrafted rookie and you you know,

215
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,280
Speaker 1: played you know, two snaps this year, you're probably getting

216
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,280
Speaker 1: back at it pretty quickly. If you played a thousand

217
00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:49,160
Speaker 1: snaps this year, you're probably taking a different tactic into

218
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:54,040
Speaker 1: this offseason. And these guys also will have individual trainers

219
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:56,880
Speaker 1: that will specifically know their bodies better than they ever did.

220
00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 1: You'll hire, you'll hire somebody to make it, probably a quarterback.

221
00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,360
Speaker 1: A lot of those guys do right, Absolutely, absolutely so.

222
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,440
Speaker 1: Now I expect the offense to take strides next year.

223
00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:08,880
Speaker 1: I mean, of course, things could go wrong. You can

224
00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:10,760
Speaker 1: get hit by injuries. Pick it falls on his face.

225
00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:12,760
Speaker 1: I mean, there's nothing guaranteed in this league, but there's

226
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 1: a lot to build off. And the beauty of it is,

227
00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,640
Speaker 1: you now have a season's worth of tape. You know,

228
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,520
Speaker 1: last year at this time, Kenny Pick is going, Okay,

229
00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,599
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna play in the NFL. I know

230
00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 1: I know that. Yeah, I know that I'm gonna do that.

231
00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,360
Speaker 1: But where am I going to be? What kind of

232
00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,599
Speaker 1: offense is it? How am I going to adjust to

233
00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,040
Speaker 1: the programe. Well, now, all that stuff is I've been there,

234
00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,840
Speaker 1: this coach says, You've been in stadiums, you've played meaningful games.

235
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,199
Speaker 1: You know, you've handled an NFL football. It's different. I

236
00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,319
Speaker 1: mean all these type of things. You know what, you

237
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,240
Speaker 1: know what's asked of you now, right, you have a

238
00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:44,959
Speaker 1: much better idea as opposed to be complete unknown and

239
00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,160
Speaker 1: you can be as confident as you want, but you

240
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,559
Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, think about pick it before by

241
00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,080
Speaker 1: and after by you have one interception since Bay had

242
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,120
Speaker 1: a ton before. Not all words fault, but he had

243
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,160
Speaker 1: a ton before. So as opposed to having two weeks now,

244
00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,439
Speaker 1: you get a whole off season. Night strides the last

245
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,679
Speaker 1: time they gave him a break, I expect more in

246
00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 1: the off season. I thought one of the other interesting things,

247
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:09,240
Speaker 1: you know that Mike Tomlin said that if there were

248
00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 1: several but he was asked specifically if the Steelers um

249
00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,760
Speaker 1: played offensively down the stretch the way they did conservatively,

250
00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,839
Speaker 1: because that you know why, you know, why was that

251
00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:23,640
Speaker 1: the case? So they gave us the best chance to win.

252
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,360
Speaker 1: So when you look at Kenny Pickett's numbers this year,

253
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,959
Speaker 1: they're not overwhelming. They're not overwhelming, absolutely not. But the

254
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,920
Speaker 1: number that is overwhelming, or at least should be, is

255
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:39,280
Speaker 1: seven and five. Yeah, yeah, I cited you on this.

256
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,079
Speaker 1: I did a podcast this morning just going if you

257
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,959
Speaker 1: told whoever picks first overall next year, or the Texans

258
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,920
Speaker 1: at two, or when the Colts took Luck or when

259
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,400
Speaker 1: the Jags took Lawrence, that you're gonna win more games

260
00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:57,680
Speaker 1: with this guy in his rookie year than you're gonna

261
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,920
Speaker 1: lose as your starter. Now doesn't have to be Ben, right, Yeah,

262
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,079
Speaker 1: that's an extreme volts. I mean, and it's not like,

263
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:06,960
Speaker 1: well it was as good as Ben, No, it wasn't,

264
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,600
Speaker 1: but everyone would take that. Yeah, look at Trevor Lawrence exactly,

265
00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,280
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick in the draft. He had

266
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,800
Speaker 1: twelve touchdowns and seventeen interceptions as a rookie. Yeah, they

267
00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,360
Speaker 1: had the number one overall pick again because of it,

268
00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,720
Speaker 1: and he you know they're in the playoffs this year, right.

269
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,840
Speaker 1: I mean I might do a study over the off

270
00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,640
Speaker 1: season when things get slow, like the last ten years,

271
00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,199
Speaker 1: what are the average record the first round quarters? But

272
00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,920
Speaker 1: it's not good. It's not close to it, definitely isn't. Yeah,

273
00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:40,599
Speaker 1: it most definitely is it? So you so you know,

274
00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:45,079
Speaker 1: you scaled the you played a certain style and pick

275
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:46,880
Speaker 1: it didn't get to put up a bunch of numbers,

276
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,800
Speaker 1: but you one. I mean, the job here is how

277
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:54,320
Speaker 1: do I give my team the best chance to win?

278
00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,760
Speaker 1: And there was a formula and they found that formula.

279
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,599
Speaker 1: Now this wasn't this wasn't you know, coaching with you know,

280
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,120
Speaker 1: Mason Rudolphin, Duck Hodges. Right, they were still yeah, your quarterback.

281
00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,839
Speaker 1: They were still asking him to do some stuff. But

282
00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,439
Speaker 1: he did that and you know, he won games. And

283
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,520
Speaker 1: I think to take the next step, that's maybe the

284
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,440
Speaker 1: biggest thing this team needs to do, is well, how

285
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,840
Speaker 1: can I add explosiveness to that? You know you I

286
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,680
Speaker 1: love the third down conversions, I love the long drives,

287
00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:25,720
Speaker 1: I love the you know, the running game that they've established.

288
00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:27,760
Speaker 1: It's just hard to win in the league like that.

289
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,200
Speaker 1: I mean the Nasey fumbles. A perfect example is that

290
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,760
Speaker 1: was eleven or twelve play drive and one place screwed

291
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,640
Speaker 1: you up after beautiful stuff. You know, and it's unlikely

292
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,040
Speaker 1: that Harris fumbles often, he's not a fumbler, but that

293
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,360
Speaker 1: was really the first fumble of his career. Yeah, because

294
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:44,760
Speaker 1: he had one earlier in the season, but that was

295
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,080
Speaker 1: when they were flipping the ball around against against the

296
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,800
Speaker 1: Browns both because again against the Browns, but that was

297
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,640
Speaker 1: really the first true time he has fundled. And that's

298
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,480
Speaker 1: you know, when people talk about what he's not explosive,

299
00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,360
Speaker 1: he's not this, he's not that. He's durable, and he

300
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,040
Speaker 1: doesn't fumble. Its physical. If it the word wolf use today.

301
00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:02,800
Speaker 1: It was a good one though, but violent was one

302
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,600
Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, yeah, I mean he's not the perfect back.

303
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,680
Speaker 1: I mean, no one's gonna say he is. But what

304
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,240
Speaker 1: he brings you can play to those strengths and it

305
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,240
Speaker 1: affects the game a great deal without questions. But long

306
00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,960
Speaker 1: sustained drives are hard. They are on third down the

307
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,080
Speaker 1: next five years, you know. I mean it's hard, but

308
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,200
Speaker 1: that that's the one step. I think. You look and

309
00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,480
Speaker 1: you say, okay, can he can he take that next step?

310
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,080
Speaker 1: It's somebody tweeted out that, you know, four of the

311
00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,840
Speaker 1: Steelers top five passing plays this season we're by Mr Robiski.

312
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,480
Speaker 1: They were playing a little differently back then. They didn't

313
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,280
Speaker 1: ask Kenny Pickett to make a lot of those downfield throws. Yeah,

314
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,920
Speaker 1: I don't have that stat that he doesn't care a

315
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:42,880
Speaker 1: lot of weight. Yeah, I mean, I don't think Picket's

316
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,960
Speaker 1: a bad deep passer. Yeah, what's your you know, look

317
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,120
Speaker 1: at the game and your you know, your view the

318
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,880
Speaker 1: game through your own eyes, not through just the stats. Yeah,

319
00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,240
Speaker 1: and to be honest, give bit some credit. He's not bad. No,

320
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,040
Speaker 1: he made some plays, but you you don't want those

321
00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,520
Speaker 1: to be you know, he'll also turn the ball over

322
00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,120
Speaker 1: a little bit. Three interception game is also his two Yeah,

323
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,960
Speaker 1: I mean right, so yeah, I think how it's being

324
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,040
Speaker 1: coached you as well as you mentioned the Brown's firing

325
00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:13,760
Speaker 1: their defensive coordinator following the loss to the Steelers, and

326
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:18,840
Speaker 1: they also have requested and have received approval to speak

327
00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,080
Speaker 1: to Brian Flores about that. People asking questions about that

328
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,640
Speaker 1: know the Steelers would not receive compensation if he's hired here,

329
00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,600
Speaker 1: But I think it's going to be Jim Schwartz. Okay.

330
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:31,680
Speaker 1: How I heard was they were they asked to talk

331
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,920
Speaker 1: to Flores, and granted I didn't know that they're leaning

332
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,520
Speaker 1: in a direction or the other. I mean, he certainly

333
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,400
Speaker 1: could be a d d C candidates and he's overqualified

334
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 1: for what the Steelers are paying paying him to do.

335
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,960
Speaker 1: I was almost sure about that, but I wasn't certain.

336
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,040
Speaker 1: Coordinators don't get you a pick back. If if, if

337
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,880
Speaker 1: you're Brian Flourish, do you I want to just take

338
00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,640
Speaker 1: the first defensive coordinator job that you can. I don't.

339
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,920
Speaker 1: I don't want to go to and I don't know

340
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,240
Speaker 1: that I want to go to Cleveland. I don't know Stefanski.

341
00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,160
Speaker 1: Stefanski gotta win next year. I thought he's to be

342
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,960
Speaker 1: warm this year, and the fact that they only did

343
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,080
Speaker 1: the d C means he's probably saved. Well. I think

344
00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 1: they looked at and said, well, we didn't have watch

345
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,119
Speaker 1: him for eleven games. Well next year, that that excuses

346
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,480
Speaker 1: out the window. All excuse you better win next year.

347
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,280
Speaker 1: And I don't know if they're set up to do that.

348
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,040
Speaker 1: Whereas I feel much better about the Steelers moving forward

349
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:17,920
Speaker 1: than I do the Browns. Yeah, especially on defense. Yeah,

350
00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 1: Watson into a star. Who knows. But if I'm gonna

351
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,840
Speaker 1: be involved with one of the two defenses, I'll stick

352
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,080
Speaker 1: around Pittsburgh as opposed to taking the DC job in

353
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,399
Speaker 1: Cleveland and have coach Tomlin make calls for me a

354
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:31,240
Speaker 1: year from now, you know, as if he doesn't know

355
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,400
Speaker 1: enough people anyway. But still that's that's favorable too. Yeah,

356
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,399
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean there won't be another situation arises, but

357
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,640
Speaker 1: he's worthy of it. Yeah, but you know, I don't

358
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,760
Speaker 1: know that Cleveland is automatic. Well he's why why would

359
00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:47,479
Speaker 1: you give him permission interview in Cleveland? Let him go interview?

360
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,720
Speaker 1: I think again, Cleveland might be looking for a head

361
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,640
Speaker 1: coach after next season. Oh yeah, there's a very good chance.

362
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,440
Speaker 1: You know. Hey, remember we had that conversation last year

363
00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,760
Speaker 1: and you liked you were very impressive, and you know right, No,

364
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,960
Speaker 1: I know there's mixed feelings on this too, but I

365
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,960
Speaker 1: would never tell an assistant they can't go interview somewhere else.

366
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,200
Speaker 1: If it's a if it's an upgrade, now, I would

367
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,159
Speaker 1: talk to the guy about it, and I would probably

368
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,399
Speaker 1: lay it out just like that, Like, you know, this

369
00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,560
Speaker 1: is probably not the best job, you know, you know

370
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,600
Speaker 1: Romeo Cornell, you know Eric Mangini and some of the

371
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,280
Speaker 1: other guys that have they've cycled through up in Cleveland. Yeah,

372
00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,240
Speaker 1: it's kind of like the Houston job right now. He's

373
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,360
Speaker 1: who's Houston getting now? He fired two coaches who probably

374
00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,000
Speaker 1: did better than anybody expected in that job with no

375
00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:35,840
Speaker 1: talent and then you fired them both after the at

376
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,639
Speaker 1: the end of the season, like, oh my next. I

377
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,320
Speaker 1: understand they're only thirty two of those jobs, but but

378
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,320
Speaker 1: what what's the alluring about this? Yeah, Callie deserved to

379
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:52,240
Speaker 1: get fired Smith. You know, they played hard all season long.

380
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,920
Speaker 1: They you know, they overachieved, especially at the end. Yeah,

381
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:56,960
Speaker 1: won some games and stress they got better as the

382
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:58,920
Speaker 1: season went on, and then you fire the guy. Yeah,

383
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,040
Speaker 1: right right. I mean the NFL's messed up that way

384
00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:02,480
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. You know, it's hard to

385
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,400
Speaker 1: sustain excellence when there's so much turnover. But we'll see

386
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,320
Speaker 1: a lot of that today. Probably. It is hard to

387
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,400
Speaker 1: sustain excellence, you know, when when the rules are set

388
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,600
Speaker 1: up against you to do so. Um and I wanted

389
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,359
Speaker 1: to talk to you in the next segment here. Of course,

390
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,880
Speaker 1: the Steelers win to get to nine and eight nineteen

391
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:23,320
Speaker 1: consecutive seasons for Mike tomm With with a non losing record,

392
00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,480
Speaker 1: and I hear people, you know, complaining about that. Yeah,

393
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,960
Speaker 1: but the standards of standard and they're not winning winning

394
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:34,080
Speaker 1: playoff games. This is a rebuilding here, anybody, you know,

395
00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:39,680
Speaker 1: they never said it, but obviously you lost your franchise quarterback,

396
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,200
Speaker 1: and you drafted one in the first round, right, and

397
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,680
Speaker 1: even further examples where they knew that a year ago

398
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:46,399
Speaker 1: that this was gonna be a rebuilding here. That's why

399
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,920
Speaker 1: they played all those rookies a year ago. That's why

400
00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,679
Speaker 1: they've made all these cat moves to free themselves up

401
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,720
Speaker 1: for when it's time to go buy stuff you can.

402
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,560
Speaker 1: You know, like, it's not a coincidence that the end

403
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,240
Speaker 1: of the ra Phlisberger era was also tough cap times

404
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,480
Speaker 1: preparing for this, for this, So we'll talk about that

405
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,400
Speaker 1: when we come back. You can subscribe to snr's newest podcast,

406
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,960
Speaker 1: The Godfather of Pittsburgh Sports, talking nothing but Steelers. It's

407
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,439
Speaker 1: Savereian on Steelers. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday.

408
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,639
Speaker 1: Subscribe today. They're available on the Steelers Mobile app, the

409
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,960
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, and wherever you get your podcast.

410
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,080
Speaker 1: He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lali. You're listening

411
00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:27,680
Speaker 1: to the Drive on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be back

412
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:28,720
Speaker 1: with more right after this