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Speaker 1: Welcome back to this special edition of The Drive. I'm

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Speaker 1: Dale Alli. He is Matt Williamson, and we are live

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Speaker 1: from the Steelers Ota session here at the upmc rooney

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Speaker 1: Sports Complex. We're also on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN

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Speaker 1: nine seven. I don't know if I said that or not,

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Speaker 1: but man, I was looking here. We're talking a lot

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Speaker 1: about Kenny Pickett. Yeah, wouldn't we And I'm looking here

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Speaker 1: on the CBS Sports dot Com and I have seven

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Speaker 1: NFL players set for breakout seasons in twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett and Kadarius Tony headline the list.

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Speaker 2: That's their headline. Okay, I can see both those players.

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Speaker 2: I mean that references a lot. I play a lot

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Speaker 2: of Dynasty and you know a lot of Best Ball.

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Speaker 2: I've been into this year too. I've been grabbing Pickett

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Speaker 2: everywhere I can. I mean, his stock is low. I

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Speaker 2: think his production has to go up. I'm not saying

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Speaker 2: he's going to be Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert and

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Speaker 2: you know, be a massive, massive producer, but I think

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Speaker 2: it's a great bylow time production.

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Speaker 1: Put it this way, Matt, So last year, at this time,

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Speaker 1: you could get say Daniel Jones for next to nothing, right.

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Speaker 2: Right, right, And in the fantasy world he's worth a lot,

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Speaker 2: a lot or fields or you know, one of these.

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Speaker 1: Guys, right, I know, by the way, Jones, you know,

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Speaker 1: got the Giants into the playoffs and they won a game,

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Speaker 1: like you know, he's not the you know they're paying

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Speaker 1: gave him money, and they gave him money. That's why

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Speaker 1: he was going there. Yeah, I mean they they gave

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Speaker 1: him money because they now think that he is the answer.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the He's the band in New York as

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Speaker 2: much as Kenny is here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know that that's just perception changes quickly

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Speaker 1: on those guys.

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Speaker 2: Sure, I mean they didn't this time last year. The

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Speaker 2: Giants had not picked up his fifth year option, which

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Speaker 2: is pricier and not as not as easy as people think.

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Speaker 2: That doesn't mean they hate you, but it's still there

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Speaker 2: was a lot of questions new coach that hadn't hand

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Speaker 2: picked them. And it was a successful year. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I don't think we're saying he's gonna be one of

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Speaker 2: the best quarterbacks in the league. I think Kenny could

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Speaker 2: make every bit the jump that Jones did, though, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know last year, this year, I.

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Speaker 1: Think he's a better passer.

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Speaker 2: I think he's a better passer. Yeah, I think she's

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Speaker 2: a feel better I think he's got better pocket awareness too.

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Speaker 1: And he's got better weapons. We met that Giants white

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Speaker 1: wide receiver curse is real? Is real? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I mean I'm being very impressed with day Ball as

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Speaker 2: an offensive play caller, and he's gotten a lot out

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Speaker 2: of those guys. But there wasn't great players around him.

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Speaker 1: It's funny you mentioned that because I mentioned this on

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Speaker 1: the show earlier this year. Dayball. You look at Brian

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Speaker 1: day Ball's maturation or his his progression as a play caller.

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Speaker 2: He was a Saban guy at Alabama, and I'm trying

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Speaker 2: to think where he was before Buffalo. He may may

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Speaker 2: have hired him from Bama. I'm not certain.

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Speaker 1: So I see if they have his points per game here.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember where I found that at, but.

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Speaker 2: I remember referenced the other day and I didn't know where.

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Speaker 1: You just got to find it here Pro Football Reference.

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Speaker 1: Herea Brian day Ball record and statistics. This is a

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Speaker 1: good radio should have had this call up ear so

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Speaker 1: in his first three seasons as the Giants or the Bills. Bills. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, the Bills ranked let's see here, they

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Speaker 1: were twenty eighth in points.

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Speaker 2: Real quick, while you look at that. When they took

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Speaker 2: over that Bills team, they were in cap hell and

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Speaker 2: they had nothing to build around, and they ended up

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Speaker 2: making the playoffs and really were like the flukiest team

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Speaker 2: in the league, you know, like expectations were really low

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Speaker 2: and they were. I think that's when they drafted Allen who.

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Speaker 1: Was Allen's rookie year. Yeah, awful, awful. Allen's rookie year

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Speaker 1: was worse than Kenny Pickett's by far.

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Speaker 2: Oh it's not really close. Yeah, it really isn't. And

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Speaker 2: there's a couple, i mean, well accomplished quarterbacks of lates

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Speaker 2: that were well worn below pickets.

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Speaker 1: Now, the next year they jumped to tenth.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I think that's when they traded for Digs.

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Speaker 1: Twenty nineteen. Twenty twenty, I think was then they traded forth.

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Speaker 1: But if you look at the you know they were

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Speaker 1: I see if that's right there, they were eighteenth in.

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Speaker 2: Total yards, okay, but high in points.

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Speaker 1: Or twenty fourth in total yards, I should say. So

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Speaker 1: some of that was on the was the defense making

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Speaker 1: some plays?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I think their

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Speaker 2: defense scored a lot that year. Yeah, they were really

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Speaker 2: good for you know, like.

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Speaker 1: Fifth, they were twenty fourth in total yards, so they

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Speaker 1: went from thirty to twenty four.

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Speaker 2: And I think Allen got the end zone Eliza Russia.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, in twenty twenty, when suddenly he became a genius,

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Speaker 1: they went the second in the league. Well they also

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Speaker 1: that was the year they traded for stuff on.

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Speaker 2: Day Diggs and Allen really developed, whether it was day

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Speaker 2: ball or off the field or both or you know, who.

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Speaker 1: Knows, who knows, And then they were fifth in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one, number one in points, and then last year

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Speaker 1: with the Giants eighteenth in offense.

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Speaker 2: So fact with average talent and be yes, right.

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Speaker 1: So I mean people killing a play caller over this stuff.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes it's just a match, you know. Again, as as

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Speaker 1: Alan got better and more, he got his feet under

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Speaker 1: him a little bit, surprisingly enough, their offense got better.

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Speaker 2: And that's one example. But there's thousands of them or

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Speaker 2: hundreds of them.

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Speaker 1: He got smart.

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Speaker 2: You can only give your quarterback what they can handle, too,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And I'm not saying Allen's

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Speaker 2: dumb or Picket's dumb and they can't handle things. It's

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Speaker 2: just they haven't done it. You know, you got to

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Speaker 2: be in this play in the stadium, as coach says,

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Speaker 2: and be able to trust them to make these adjustments.

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Speaker 2: And you know, if you're going to kill a coordinator

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Speaker 2: for boy, this is really simplistic. Well maybe that's all

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Speaker 2: your rookie can handle. Yeah, you know, I mean that's

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Speaker 2: just the things we don't know. You know, you never do.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So looking here at Kenny Pickett or you know,

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Speaker 1: in terms of what they wrote about him here on

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Speaker 1: CBS Sports. Uh, the Steelers gone nineteen straight seasons without

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Speaker 1: a losing record, which is just one shy of tying

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Speaker 1: the record in the Super Bowl era. Last year was

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Speaker 1: a close call, however, as the Steelers rebounded from a

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Speaker 1: two to six finish to finish nine and eight. The

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Speaker 1: Steelers had to win their final four games to get

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Speaker 1: to nine wins. Pickets one hundred and eighty four point

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Speaker 1: nine passing yards per game ranked twenty eighth in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: There's some caveats to that because that includes the games

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Speaker 1: that he came in at halftime against the Jets to

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Speaker 1: replace Pitch. It also includes the game against the Ravens

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Speaker 1: where he getting knocked out. So basically there's some contest. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there's some context here. His seven passing touchdowns ranked thirty third.

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Speaker 1: The numbers themselves aren't impressive, but Picketts showed plenty of

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Speaker 1: potential in twenty twenty two pickets rookie campaign with a

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Speaker 1: tail of two halves. As he threw just one interception

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Speaker 1: in his final eight games. That's I don't think you

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Speaker 1: could talk about that enough, right right, One interception in

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Speaker 1: eight games for a quarterback, any quarterback quarterback is outstanding.

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Speaker 1: One interception over eight games for a rookie quarterback is

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Speaker 1: unheard as rare.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it absolutely is. And yes, they ran the ball better,

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Speaker 2: but it wasn't like they didn't throw right, you know,

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Speaker 2: they it.

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Speaker 1: Was thirty throws a game, but they still threw the ball.

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Speaker 2: So and I know some of these stats you can

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Speaker 2: kind of look at with a grain of salt, but

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Speaker 2: he was during that stretch. He was very high in

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Speaker 2: epa versus the rest of the league. He was the

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Speaker 2: best or second to best in turnover worthy plays. And

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Speaker 2: that's a little subjective, but still, there was only one

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Speaker 2: pick and I'm sure all of our listeners.

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Speaker 1: He wasn't putting the ball in harm's way.

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Speaker 2: It wasn't like, boy, he got super lucky and they

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Speaker 2: dropped five interceptions, you know, I mean, that's not what

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Speaker 2: happened during that stretch. And it's a short game stretch.

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Speaker 2: And again, this is kind of a I wanna say

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Speaker 2: it's a made up stat, but it's a pro football stat.

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Speaker 2: Big big throw or big time row percentage. He was

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Speaker 2: like third or fourth in the league. So he made

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Speaker 2: throws that were there. Weren't a ton of them. There

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Speaker 2: wasn't a lot of volume passing, but it was efficient

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Speaker 2: as could be. And it was you know, a high

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Speaker 2: degree of difficulty. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, that's that second half schedule

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Speaker 1: that everybody well, they went seven and two against a

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Speaker 1: bad schedule in that too. That's the schedule that they

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Speaker 1: have for the entire season this year.

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Speaker 2: It also wasn't creampuff creampuff, creampuff freepuff, you know, I.

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Speaker 1: Mean, there were Bengals were in there, The Ravens were

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Speaker 1: in there twice. Yeah, yeah, you know, in weeks ten

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Speaker 1: through seventeen, Pickett had three fourth quarter comebacks and four

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Speaker 1: game winning drives per Pro Football Reference. Two came in

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Speaker 1: back to back games in week sixteen and seventeen to

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Speaker 1: keep the Steelers in the win column. It's rather impressive

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Speaker 1: Pickett answered to Bell as a rookie in the fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter late in the year. With multiple additions on the

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Speaker 1: offensive line weapons like Deontay Johnson, Young, George Pickens, Pat

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Speaker 1: Fryarm with Darnel Washington, Najia Harris and Jalen Warren, Pickett

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Speaker 1: is very much a candidate to make a big second

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Speaker 1: year jump. Now, this isn't us, This isn't us talking

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Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio. This is a national website talking about.

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Speaker 2: And we often reference a lot of the national sites

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Speaker 2: and we agree with some we disagree with others. I

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Speaker 2: think that was very well written. You know, I thought

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Speaker 2: that nailed it because some people would look at that.

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Speaker 1: That's why we have and you know, the feelings that

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Speaker 1: we have about this.

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Speaker 2: And again I thought he showed he belonged. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 2: to me, if you're a rookie quarterback, even if you're

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Speaker 2: in the best of circumstances, well, those guys don't look

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Speaker 2: like they and some of that's just not numbers or anything.

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Speaker 2: Because he looked like he belongs and the fact that

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Speaker 2: the fourth quarter comebacks and making big plays late in games,

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Speaker 2: loud environments, you know, stressful situations. I think he has that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's to me that you know, the big difference

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Speaker 1: between him and brock Purdy, like when people are lauding

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Speaker 1: brock Purdy and ranking him in the top fifteen quarter like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: when did he where were the big time throws? Where

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Speaker 1: were the When was he asked to do a bunch,

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Speaker 1: not a lot, not a lot, No, not a lot.

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Speaker 1: They had a good football team and he went out

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Speaker 1: there and did what he had to do. And kudos

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Speaker 1: to him for doing that. Oh he didn't lose those

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Speaker 1: games for them, but right, he didn't win him either.

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Speaker 2: He didn't get as much preseason reps as Pickett did

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Speaker 2: and those guys or development you know. But now, I mean,

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Speaker 2: good for him, but it was one of the best

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Speaker 2: defense in the league with maybe the best weapons in

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Speaker 2: the league.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, with Tony obviously the trade to Kansas City is

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Speaker 1: he to remember one?

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Speaker 2: I mean not Kelsey of course, but a laud receiver.

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Speaker 2: He's the most inconsistent receiver that I can remember. But

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Speaker 2: I do you think there's something to be said for

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Speaker 2: almost all the receivers their rookie year or when they

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Speaker 2: get to Kansas City struggle because it's such a complex offense.

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Speaker 2: You know, everyone's killing sky Moore for his rookie year. Well,

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Speaker 2: I think they're gonna do the same thing with Rashi

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Speaker 2: Rice and like, I'd rather sky Moore this year in

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Speaker 2: the second year. And Tony is some of that too.

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Speaker 2: He had to get on a moving train, but he flashed.

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Speaker 2: He always flashes.

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Speaker 1: Then they have Abraham Lucas the offensive tackle for the Seahawks.

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Speaker 2: Ok, it's pretty good as a rookie. Yeah, if you

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Speaker 2: can take a big step forward, your.

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Speaker 1: Boy Chicken kwonko on Conklo, I should say with the Titans,

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Speaker 1: targets have to go up dramatically. At forty six last year,

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Speaker 1: I bet that's doubles.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Ni Kobe Dean with the Eagles, he hardly played.

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Speaker 2: They're counting on him. I mean, they didn't do much

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Speaker 2: a linebacker and they lost their two.

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Speaker 1: Starters Jeremiah Auoso Coromoa.

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Speaker 2: You would hope, and I think that's very possible. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I mean I like the player, and the d line

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Speaker 2: around him is much better than it was.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. And then Drake Jackson defense e end for the

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Speaker 1: forty nine.

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Speaker 2: Ers he has. He was a healthy scratch at times

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Speaker 2: late in the year. Yeah he didn't. He flashed, but

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Speaker 2: he did not have a tremendous rookie year. Maybe you

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Speaker 2: know the opportunities there.

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Speaker 1: But not the names like these aren't. Yeah, they're not

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Speaker 1: picking out household names here. This guy, this first round

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Speaker 1: draft pick, is gonna splash issue like they they dug

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Speaker 1: a little bit deeper.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you could maybe put Sam Howe on that equation.

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Speaker 2: Who knows, but at least he's gonna get a chance

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Speaker 2: to you know.

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Speaker 1: But you know the fact that the Pickett is on

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Speaker 1: that list, like I expect him to far exceed what

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Speaker 1: Mac Jones did last year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, If he has a sophomore season like Mac Jones

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Speaker 2: did not all max fault, that would really startle me.

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Speaker 1: That would be very alarment. It would be troublesome.

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Speaker 2: I mean, then then you're maybe I mean, honestly, if

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Speaker 2: I'm the Patriots, this is make a break time for

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Speaker 2: Jones like that. We can excuse it a little bit

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Speaker 2: with Patricia and some of that, but the Patriots could

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Speaker 2: be looking for a quarterback next year.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, he is. Matt Williamson, I am Dale, Lollie.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to this special edition of the Drive here

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Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are

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Speaker 1: live from the Steelers OTA session here at the upmc

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Speaker 1: rooney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more right after this.

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Speaker 1: A lot of Steelers.

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Speaker 2: We are always talking black and gold on SNR.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back. I am Dale, Lollie. He is Matt Williamson,

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Speaker 1: and this is a special edition of the Drive here

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Speaker 1: on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are

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Speaker 1: live here at the Steeler OTA sessions here at the

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Speaker 1: team finishing up. It's practice here on day two of

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Speaker 1: these OTAs, and we're expected here to be joined by

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Speaker 1: new cornerback Patrick Peterson here at any moment when they

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Speaker 1: wrap things up over on the other field there, So

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Speaker 1: if people haven't been here, there are four fields out

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Speaker 1: here right right, two for the Steelers.

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Speaker 2: For Pitt They're all parallel to each other. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 2: it is.

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Speaker 1: A big plot of grass and then well the far

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Speaker 1: the far far field is a turf field that pit uses.

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Speaker 2: Do you remember how long ago that was and back

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Speaker 2: in my era that was not a field, turf field.

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Speaker 1: It's been there for a good while. Now. Yeah, in fact,

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Speaker 1: they did. I think they replaced it recently recently, so

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Speaker 1: it's probably been at least ten years, because that's those

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Speaker 1: things usually last about that long. But yeah, so you know,

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Speaker 1: Pitt has lights over there. They practice under the lights

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that. The Steelers don't do that. They

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Speaker 1: got rules about those things.

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Speaker 2: Well, they're also don't have to go to class all day.

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Speaker 2: That's a big part of it as well.

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Speaker 1: Well, they do go to class, but they don't.

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Speaker 2: Well, right, they go to class and they can practicate them.

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Speaker 1: They want you come into the building, you you go

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Speaker 1: to classroom work effect. That's one of the things. So

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Speaker 1: they'll do these things and then a lot of the

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Speaker 1: after these practices, they'll go up and watch the film

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Speaker 1: of it.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, one hundredercent, you know, no doubt about it.

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Speaker 2: So I don't know if this has changed. But the

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Speaker 2: Steelers really ever used the two pit fields. The Panthers

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Speaker 2: never used the Steeler Yeah, they don't except for summer camps.

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Speaker 2: They allowed us to. We'd have like a team passing camp.

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Speaker 2: We'd have you know, high school's galore here and they

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Speaker 2: let us use all four And that was the only

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Speaker 2: time and the indoor because we had a million people

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Speaker 2: here for camps. Yeah, I think that's the only time.

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Speaker 1: Uh, there's the horn for the end of prostress. The

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Speaker 1: team is over there gathering to break it on down

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Speaker 1: and we will be joined here by Patrick Peterson. H

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Speaker 1: quick talk to.

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Speaker 2: I mean, there's so many angles we can go with

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Speaker 2: with this guy. We only get the best, right.

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Speaker 1: So Michael Birch, who's the Steelers, he's one of their

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Speaker 1: PR guys, sent me a says, what guys do you

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Speaker 1: want to talk to here at these training camp but

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Speaker 1: or these OTA sessions. I'm like, oh, usually I shot

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Speaker 1: high I am with those things, and uh, well, so

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Speaker 1: far we're two for two two.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Cole Holcombe was great yesterday. I'm sure people can

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Speaker 2: find that on Steelers Dot Calm. I'm sure, yeah, or

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Speaker 2: the Drive Download podcast.

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Speaker 1: Go check that out to check that out.

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Speaker 2: He was fun to talk to. But I'm really looking

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Speaker 2: for or to Pat Pete.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Pat Pete hall of famer.

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Speaker 2: I think so, I think very much.

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Speaker 3: So.

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Speaker 2: I think he's one of the absolute best corners of

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Speaker 2: this generation and should be a tremendous role model mentor

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Speaker 2: for the young guys.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, I think that's one of the reasons that

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Speaker 1: he was brought in. The other YEA being that he

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Speaker 1: can still play. Yeah, as he showed last year when

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Speaker 1: he uh sixty six tackles, five interceptions last year again

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Speaker 1: take the ball away, there's something he said. There's something

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Speaker 1: to be said for that. And he's got thirty four

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Speaker 1: interceptions in his career, and you know, people might look

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Speaker 1: at that as a well, it's only thirty four interceptions. Remember,

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Speaker 1: for a long time in his career he's he's just

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Speaker 1: you're you're playing straight up man to man and nobody

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Speaker 1: throws at you.

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Speaker 3: No.

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Speaker 2: He did some Revis Island stuff at this time too,

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Speaker 2: and there was I mean, corners are a little not

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Speaker 2: as sticky as some positions as the best in the league.

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Speaker 2: Weird year, and some of that's because people just don't

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Speaker 2: go your way. But he was basically the corner of

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Speaker 2: football for five years, you know, I mean might have

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Speaker 2: been number one all five of those years, but over

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Speaker 2: a five years, strac.

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Speaker 1: He's in that conversation every year every year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, every year, did a lot of following, a lot

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Speaker 2: of Revis Island stuff. Less of that last year with

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Speaker 2: the Vikings more zone, but I mean I don't think

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Speaker 2: that he's not able to do it anymore or anything like.

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Speaker 1: That now, as he said in his introductory press conference,

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Speaker 1: like I could still do that, just don't ask me

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Speaker 1: to do it. You know, forty consecutive plays.

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Speaker 2: Right, you have Jamar Chase and we're gonna play ten

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Speaker 2: on half. Like, I don't think that's happening, not to

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Speaker 2: that level.

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Speaker 1: And that's you know, that's understanding where you're at as

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Speaker 1: a professional, right at this point in your career.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the great Rod Woodson moved the safety, you know,

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Speaker 2: I mean.

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Speaker 1: The woods and Twins as I like to call him,

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Speaker 1: even though I aren't.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, but they were Charles Woodson.

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Speaker 1: Two h two Hall of Fame guys that made that transition.

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Speaker 2: No, you got to know who you are. And he'll

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Speaker 2: be he looks.

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Speaker 1: Like he's on his way here now. So we'll get this.

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Speaker 1: Uh get this in interview kicked off here, but looking

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Speaker 1: forward to this.

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Speaker 2: One, don't know. I mean, the LSU has put out

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Speaker 2: tremendous defensive backs.

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Speaker 1: He's the godfight, He's like the godfather.

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Speaker 2: He's kind of like the Deon Sanders in terms of

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Speaker 2: respect from that group.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and so we're pleased to be now joined now

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Speaker 1: by Patrick Peterson. Uh. Patrick, pleased to have you on

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Speaker 1: the show here today, And uh, I know you're a

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Speaker 1: little tired and sweaty and running around out there, but

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Speaker 1: you're also a pro at this. This is not anything

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Speaker 1: new for you to sit down and do a little radio.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, not at all. It's always good to you know,

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Speaker 3: the recap, practicing the seasons I've had in my career,

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Speaker 3: so and also being here with a new franchise and

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Speaker 3: new organization, new teammates is always a blast.

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Speaker 2: How's that going, And welcome to Pittsburgh. It's great to

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Speaker 2: have you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you very much for going really well, you know,

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Speaker 3: being out here for the last two weeks, getting to

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Speaker 3: know the guys, getting to getting the defense, you know,

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Speaker 3: really understanding of the defense, and just really just building

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Speaker 3: that that chemistry as a defensive back unit that we

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Speaker 3: were gonna need throughout this long season. So it's a

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Speaker 3: lot of new faces in the room, a lot of

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Speaker 3: talented guys in the room. Now. You know, once July hit,

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Speaker 3: you know, we have to continue find sharpen than our too,

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Speaker 3: so when the season comes around, we'll be ready to roll.

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Speaker 1: Now. A lot of people come from football families obviously. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you don't come from just a football family. You come

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Speaker 1: from a cornerback family. Yes, I mean it's it's it's

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Speaker 1: pretty unique that you see like the Manning brothers and

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Speaker 1: and stuff like that, but you don't often see like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: these guys are all cornerbacks, right, what's that like for?

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Speaker 1: You know?

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Speaker 3: Man? You know b Mac he was the one that

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Speaker 3: started it out for us. Then you got a waterman

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Speaker 3: watermate Fatten, and then myself. I guess it was just

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Speaker 3: appealing to us. Man. You know, all of us was

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Speaker 3: very fast. We had, you know, a unique skill position

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Speaker 3: on the offensive side of the ball, but you have

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Speaker 3: to depend on so many people on the office side.

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Speaker 1: Nobody wanted to.

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Speaker 3: Have a good quarterback. You gotta have a good line

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Speaker 3: to protect the quarterback to get the ball down the field.

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Speaker 3: And when I started watching Brian play and the swag

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Speaker 3: that he had, he just started telling me, like, you

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Speaker 3: control your own destiny as a quarterback. You know, if

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Speaker 3: you want to be as good as you want to be,

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Speaker 3: go out there and shut down receivers as a receiver.

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Speaker 3: If you want to be as good as you want

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Speaker 3: to be, you need a good quarterback. Right. You need

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Speaker 3: a good bobs in line, you need a good play caller,

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Speaker 3: you know what I mean. So there's so much that

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Speaker 3: has to go in into being a prominent and a

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Speaker 3: dominant offensive players just defense that I believe it just

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Speaker 3: came easier to me. And at the end of the day,

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Speaker 3: I feel like I can control my own fate and

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Speaker 3: also play as long as I wanted to versus taking

436
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,800
Speaker 3: blows and giving the blow right.

437
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,119
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, Well, I guess that leads me to my

438
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,280
Speaker 2: next question. You've had a tremendous career. I think it's

439
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,160
Speaker 2: a Hall of Fame career, but you know you're probably

440
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 2: not going to be on your own island every stat right,

441
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:01,439
Speaker 2: where do you there?

442
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:01,919
Speaker 1: And done that?

443
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,719
Speaker 3: It's not much tread left on the tire. But you know,

444
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 3: I'm definitely, you know, putting myself and my body in

445
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,679
Speaker 3: the best position possible so I can continue to be

446
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,920
Speaker 3: successful as I want to be. You know, we all

447
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,399
Speaker 3: know the older you get, you lose a step. I

448
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,040
Speaker 3: understand that, but I'm not losing this. You know, I'm

449
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,240
Speaker 3: still sharp. I still understand what defense offenses want to

450
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 3: do and try to attack me and not defensive scheme.

451
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,359
Speaker 3: So I believe that's something that's going to help me

452
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,760
Speaker 3: stay in this stay in this game as long as

453
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:35,280
Speaker 3: I can, because my mental side of the game is

454
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,840
Speaker 3: much sharper than you know, my physical attributes.

455
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,520
Speaker 2: And your attributes are pretty good physically.

456
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,680
Speaker 1: You're starting from a higher floorida a lot of people.

457
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:45,000
Speaker 3: Yeah.

458
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,640
Speaker 1: So when when I talked to Brian a few weeks

459
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,120
Speaker 1: ago about you, and I said, do you see him

460
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,119
Speaker 1: maybe pulling a Charles or Rob Woodson here and playing

461
00:20:58,160 --> 00:20:59,959
Speaker 1: into your late thirties, I mean, do you have that

462
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,080
Speaker 1: desire to do something like that and maybe make a

463
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:03,120
Speaker 1: transition to safety.

464
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:04,840
Speaker 3: Well, you know, my goal was always to at least

465
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,240
Speaker 3: get fourteen, and my goal was to get fourteen at cornerback,

466
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:08,720
Speaker 3: And that.

467
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 2: Was always my de that why is that number?

468
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,040
Speaker 3: Because if you go back and look at guys that's

469
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,240
Speaker 3: in the Hall of Fame, you know, those guys played

470
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 3: twelve plus years, you know. So if you're if you're

471
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,360
Speaker 3: having that body of work and sustaining it for that

472
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,919
Speaker 3: period of time, it's a nine time to out of ten,

473
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,199
Speaker 3: you're going to be in the Hall. So when I

474
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,600
Speaker 3: was coming out, even in high school, I was like,

475
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:30,720
Speaker 3: if I want to be in the Hall, of fame.

476
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,040
Speaker 3: If I want to be considered as one of these guys,

477
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 3: a I can't not only play good, but to it

478
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,960
Speaker 3: has to be longevity. It has to be longevity exactly

479
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,399
Speaker 3: because that defined greatness. You just can't be greatful a

480
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 3: year or two here they fall off the face of

481
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,120
Speaker 3: the earth and we don't hear about.

482
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:49,320
Speaker 1: It no more.

483
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,080
Speaker 2: And you see that a lot of corner no years.

484
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 1: Right.

485
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,400
Speaker 3: And so for me, if I was able to get

486
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 3: that fourteen and still be able to sustain the success

487
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,959
Speaker 3: that I did in my early career, I feel it.

488
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 3: You know I can. I can write myself in the

489
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:05,760
Speaker 3: history book, but you know it's still a long way

490
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 3: from now and where I just have to keep praying

491
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,160
Speaker 3: and leave it in God's hands.

492
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,440
Speaker 1: Good. We were talking that before he came on about

493
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 1: your your trip to your your journey that took you

494
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,639
Speaker 1: to LSU, And I talked to Brian about that as well,

495
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,280
Speaker 1: and he said, you kind of wanted to be like

496
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,120
Speaker 1: the Godfather of you wouldn't to start your own kind

497
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 1: of tradition and you really did that at LSU.

498
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, And that was my goal going there as well.

499
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,800
Speaker 3: You know, I had all the big Power five schools

500
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 3: coming after me. But what caught my eye, and it's

501
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 3: the god on the street. What caught my eye at

502
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 3: l s U is that they never had a Gym

503
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 3: Thorpe winner every every school that I went to, USC,

504
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:43,159
Speaker 3: Florida State, Florida.

505
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 1: And they're probably selling you on that.

506
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 3: Actly when I saw that first. Yeah, my point is acting.

507
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,920
Speaker 3: So when I saw him, like, man, you got all

508
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,680
Speaker 3: these guys at these major universities that that are Jim

509
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,400
Speaker 3: Thought winners, but LSU don't have one. And on top

510
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 3: of that, the whole secondary was leading, So it was

511
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,560
Speaker 3: very easy for me to come in there and play

512
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 3: right now, right and the rest of his history. Man,

513
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 3: I was, you know, men, how crazy is this? Me

514
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 3: and Mink one of three players with the Chuck Bettanerk

515
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 3: and the the Jim Thorpe and now we're on the

516
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 3: same team. Wow, Me, Minka and Charles Woodson the only

517
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 3: players in college history to get both of those trophies

518
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 3: in the same year.

519
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 2: That's a really unique perspective. I used to do recruiting

520
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,680
Speaker 2: next door, and that that's then angle I never would

521
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 2: have thought of, you know, And I don't think it's

522
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:34,200
Speaker 2: an accident that the LSU defensive backs post Patrick Peterson

523
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 2: are better than the ones before because they want to

524
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,600
Speaker 2: follow you, much like Dion at Florida.

525
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,880
Speaker 3: State or exactly that. That was my whole goal when

526
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 3: I did pick a university, and it all fell in

527
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:45,200
Speaker 3: my lap.

528
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 2: That's right.

529
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,320
Speaker 1: What made this team so attractive for you?

530
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 2: What?

531
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: What what brought you here? Uh?

532
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 3: Coach Tomlin for one, you know, just just just having

533
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,480
Speaker 3: an opportunity, you know, have them, had them on my

534
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,959
Speaker 3: podcast a couple of times, you know, played against him

535
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,399
Speaker 3: a bunch and just seeing how he ran the team

536
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 3: from Afar. Always was a big fan and exactly whipping

537
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 3: Max So always was a fan of coach from Afar.

538
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,159
Speaker 3: And his team's always prepared winning season every year. So

539
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,880
Speaker 3: therefore he's given his guys an opportunity not only to win,

540
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,359
Speaker 3: but get into the hunt. And that's what a season

541
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 3: there's there's a whole new season once you get into

542
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,120
Speaker 3: the into the hunt. So coach always have his team

543
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 3: very prepared. And I'm just very, very excited to be

544
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 3: a part of end. I can't wait to hear some

545
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 3: of these famous quotes that he always done.

546
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 2: You will hear the Patrick last year. I'm not making

547
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 2: fun of the Vikings defense in any way, but it

548
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,720
Speaker 2: wasn't the real diverse scene. Do you expect things to

549
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,320
Speaker 2: be a lot different from a playbook? Stand for here, oh,

550
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,800
Speaker 2: last year, I bet it's night and dad.

551
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely night and day, you know. And there

552
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 3: in Minnesota last year, it was a lot of eyes

553
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,160
Speaker 3: on the quarterback. Yeah, a lot of guys just where

554
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 3: we were relying on, you know, our edge rushers to

555
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 3: get there, and then teams start max protecting us, and

556
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 3: it just made it difficult for us to be successful

557
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 3: because when you're running a zone defense, all the receivers

558
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 3: have to do is get into you know, the holes

559
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 3: and the windows of the zone defense and the quarterback

560
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 3: and just deliver a strike there, especially when we're relying

561
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 3: on four pass rushers to get there and they're blocking

562
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 3: with seven impossible, you know. So and we had those

563
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,199
Speaker 3: things in our playbook, but that wasn't coach style. You know,

564
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:33,480
Speaker 3: he came he's a Bangio disciples, so you know, those

565
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,879
Speaker 3: guys like to depend on their edge, the edge control,

566
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 3: that's what they call it edge control exactly. So it

567
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 3: was just, you know, that's just something that coach lived with.

568
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 3: And I'm gonna tell you what really saved us as turnovers?

569
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 3: I mean, we was probably I can't remember where we landed,

570
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,919
Speaker 3: but I know we was top six in turnovers. And

571
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 3: now I believe that's something that that Yes, that's something

572
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,880
Speaker 3: that definitely helped us continue to win ball games as

573
00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,880
Speaker 3: as bad as our defense was yardage wise.

574
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,840
Speaker 2: Real quick, if I can just double down you guys,

575
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 2: Steelers grabbed another defensive back from that grip too. I mean,

576
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 2: what are they getting in chanting?

577
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 3: Oh Man Sully. He's a smart player, tough player. He's

578
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 3: a guy that fit, that fits this Pittsburgh mentality. He's

579
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:16,159
Speaker 3: a guy that's gonna stick his face in the.

580
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,400
Speaker 2: Fan mostly from the slot, no doubt about him.

581
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,000
Speaker 3: Mostly from the slot. High competitor guy. And like I said,

582
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 3: he's a I think Shannon is going into year seven

583
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:25,920
Speaker 3: if I'm not mistaken.

584
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 2: So well look but yeah you're I think you're right.

585
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,399
Speaker 3: Yeah you're seven. So he you know, he's been around

586
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 3: the league the six year six, so he's been in

587
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 3: some big time games. He understands, you know, the ramifications

588
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 3: of games and getting his body and stuff prepared. So

589
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,080
Speaker 3: we're definitely happy to have another veteran presence in the

590
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 3: room in Shannon.

591
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,120
Speaker 2: I bet he's happy to follow you here to no doubt.

592
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,679
Speaker 3: Actually, I was like share that, I think this this

593
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:52,440
Speaker 3: might be a spot that you want to come check out.

594
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 3: And I'm sure he ended up signing.

595
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: Speaking of of that, one last question here for you,

596
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: the Steelers go out and they draft two young cornerbacks

597
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,480
Speaker 1: who physically have a similar skill set.

598
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 3: Both of those guys like Amazons arms Man. I mean,

599
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 3: I mean, I honestly, I think the biggest corner I've

600
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 3: seen in the league was Jimmy Williams if you got

601
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 3: to remember that. Yeah, And I was like, this guy's

602
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 3: huge as the linebacker, but just seeing Trice and Enjoey

603
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 3: Jesus Christ. But it's it's it's awesome to see, you know,

604
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 3: the change in defensive back because I can remember in

605
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 3: the nineties, every corner was five eight yeah, you know,

606
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 3: didn't when he got into early two thousand and it

607
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 3: started getting five to ten. Then, you know, mid two thousand,

608
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 3: that's when you wanted to get six one six six

609
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 3: foot and taller corners because the receivers started getting bigger,

610
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,120
Speaker 3: Stevens started getting faster, so you wanted to be able

611
00:27:56,119 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 3: to match the same size attributes outside of so it

612
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 3: won't be such a disadvantage.

613
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 2: I mean, you had to be one of the biggest

614
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 2: corners the league when you got driving. Yeah.

615
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 3: Me and Sherman. Yeah, Man, Sherman was the biggest corners

616
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,960
Speaker 3: coming out, and he always he always pulled my leg

617
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 3: about it. It's like, Man, I think we started something new.

618
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 1: Man.

619
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 3: Everybody, Patrick Peters and Richard Sherman's now home model.

620
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,680
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I'm gonna hayname higher right, maybe a couple

621
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 1: of all of famers. Our guest has been Patrick Peterson,

622
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 1: the Steelers new cornerback. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly.

623
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,879
Speaker 1: You're listening to this special edition of The Drive here

624
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 1: from steel on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine to seventy.

625
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: We're live from the Steelers Ota Sessions here at the

626
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 1: up mc roney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more

627
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 1: right after this