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Speaker 2: Our number two of the drive here on campus Saint
Speaker 2: Vincent College. Of course, it's all part of our ongoing
Speaker 2: training camp coverage here under twenty four to seven Home
Speaker 2: of the Black and the Gold. Matt first hour of
Speaker 2: the show. I think we kind of went heavy into
Speaker 2: today's practice and really the first few practices to this point.
Speaker 2: I wanted to transition with you here to start hour
Speaker 2: number two. One of the analysts around the league that
Speaker 2: you and I are fans of, Mike Sando, of course,
Speaker 2: covers the NFL for the athletics, and every single year
Speaker 2: it feels like we keep an eye on his quarterback tiers,
Speaker 2: and he has listed his twenty twenty six NFL quarterback tiers.
Speaker 2: How fifty executives and coaches rank thirty five quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and Mike and I were together at ESPN for
Speaker 3: ten years. We were you know, there was a stretch
Speaker 3: there that we wrote a weekly article together that was
Speaker 3: kind of fun. By the way, he would just call
Speaker 3: me like every Wednesday night and we'd chat for like
Speaker 3: a half hour, and then that night an article would
Speaker 3: go up of just our conversation. You know, It's kind
Speaker 3: of it was kind of a cool way of doing
Speaker 3: things general way I have the only time I've ever
Speaker 3: done articles that way. I consider h my friend seem
Speaker 3: at the owners meetings gone by and those type of things.
Speaker 3: Great dude learned his trade basically from John Clayton actually
Speaker 3: nice yeah, out in the Seattle area. And this is
Speaker 3: kind of like Warren Sharp's book or you know the
Speaker 3: football Almanac that comes out from FTN. It's kind of
Speaker 3: a monumental day of the of the year when Sando's
Speaker 3: quarterback tiers come out. Then I'm not taking anything away
Speaker 3: from Jeremy Fowler, but Sandos started this approach. Yes, and
Speaker 3: then when Fowler replaced him at ESPN, he kept up
Speaker 3: with these executives and accumulating votes and all those type
Speaker 3: of things, and he goes really deep in the quarterback
Speaker 3: stuff as you can imagine.
Speaker 2: So again this is not just his opinion. This is
Speaker 2: a polled from fifty different executives and coaches around the league.
Speaker 2: Four tiers of quarterback rankings, ranking thirty five quarterbacks because
Speaker 2: like for example, Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy are both
Speaker 2: on here, Deshaun Watson, Shador Sanders, so some of the
Speaker 2: teams with the unknown like you know Tua and Michael
Speaker 2: Pennix in Cleveland, so a little bit over thirty two
Speaker 2: because of the subma the world m yes, correct, The
Speaker 2: clear cut.
Speaker 3: Is not on there, yes, yeah, as a rookie, yes.
Speaker 2: Right, And Mendoz is not on there as a rookie,
Speaker 2: and clear cut backups not on here too. Just some
Speaker 2: of the true quarterback competition that we do have in
Speaker 2: a couple of training camps. Tier one is four names,
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes number one, Josh Allen two, Matt Stafford three,
Speaker 2: and Joe Burrow four. That's Tier one.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I was a little shocked that Lamar.
Speaker 2: Now granted he's fifth, he's number one and Tier two, but.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I guess it's all about the math and
Speaker 3: your votes, and you have to have x amount to
Speaker 3: be in each tier. You have to average out tool
Speaker 3: less than a two, you know, one point three or whatever.
Speaker 3: It is a Tier one guy. So I guess we're
Speaker 3: splitting hairs because the top five or the top five
Speaker 3: I would have. But I don't think by any stretch,
Speaker 3: Lamar should not be a Tier one guy. And this
Speaker 3: sounds dumb because Mahomes, I think is the best quarterback
Speaker 3: that ever lived, and I sing his praises to no end.
Speaker 3: I expected Alan to be one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did, especially off of Mahomes coming last couple
Speaker 2: of years ago, off a year where he wasn't healthy
Speaker 2: and wasn't at his best.
Speaker 3: Do you think any of our listeners are going Burrow
Speaker 3: can't be in Tier one, not because he's a ban one,
Speaker 3: maybe because.
Speaker 2: Maybe because he's a Bengal, because he.
Speaker 3: Doesn't run great.
Speaker 2: I think he's missed what fifteen games over the last
Speaker 2: three years or something like that.
Speaker 3: That's hard to put on the back burner. He would
Speaker 3: still be in my Tier one. Might say he shouldn't
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: He would still be in my Tier one. I bet
Speaker 2: you there's some listeners that disagree with both Burrow and
Speaker 2: uh and Lamar in that in that vein. You can
Speaker 2: get at us on Twitter if you if you want
Speaker 2: to chime in on that. I will say this though,
Speaker 2: for for Joe Burrows, I don't want to say legacy
Speaker 2: because he's not even thirty yet. I don't think he's
Speaker 2: got a long time to But for Joe Burrow, what
Speaker 2: he's viewed at present day, right now, his current legacy,
Speaker 2: there's a lot on the line for this year. I
Speaker 2: agree because I mean it's it's now been what it's
Speaker 2: been five years since that Super Bowl appearance. It's been
Speaker 2: a long time. It's and we already cast we all
Speaker 2: know it's. This is a very much what have you
Speaker 2: done formulately type league where even you know Mahomes is
Speaker 2: starting to not this one, but Mahomes is starting to
Speaker 2: fall down on some of these lists. He's won three
Speaker 2: Super Bowls, and Ben.
Speaker 3: Like, I can't imagine Mahomes not being in a Tier
Speaker 3: one next year. Sure, and he's had such a body
Speaker 3: of work and so many wins and rings, et cetera,
Speaker 3: et cetera, where Burrow. If they go seven and ten
Speaker 3: and he misses four games, again, it might be like
Speaker 3: he's six or seventh on this list. It works, right,
Speaker 3: you know, something like Dak has a huge year and
Speaker 3: bumps on them or who knows. You know.
Speaker 2: So Tier two is from fifth down to seventeenth. That's
Speaker 2: those are the rankings there. Fire probably the biggest Tier two,
Speaker 2: pretty big Tier two leading off with Lamar Jackson at five,
Speaker 2: as I mentioned, and then Justin Herbert checks in at six.
Speaker 3: I think he would be my six as well. I
Speaker 3: know that the it's hard to ignore this point that
Speaker 3: the postseason success has not been there at all this
Speaker 3: past year. I think he dragged them into the You
Speaker 3: that if you're the twelfth best quarterback, I don't even
Speaker 3: think they're in the dance. So how much do you
Speaker 3: weigh that? But his numbers, his performance is epa like
Speaker 3: that in the postseason are definitely lacking. And that's the
Speaker 3: last piece of his resume. But he could be a
Speaker 3: Tier one guy next year. He's actually a coordinator, you know.
Speaker 2: He certainly could. Number seven is Dak Prescott formally with
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 3: Again, I forget which podcast I was listening to, but
Speaker 3: I heard today that it might have been the Athletic Podcast.
Speaker 3: Come and think of it that I think he's a
Speaker 3: fifteen to one MVP shot. I think i'd put a
Speaker 3: buck on that. That pays off pretty well because they
Speaker 3: could be the best offense in the league.
Speaker 2: They absolutely could. Yeah, they certainly could. That's it they man,
Speaker 2: they could put up a ton of points ten yards.
Speaker 2: Dak checks it at number seven. Eighth place is a
Speaker 2: two way tie mat between Drake May and Jared Goff.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I looked through these, so I've Actually I didn't
Speaker 3: read all the write ups I wrote the Red the
Speaker 3: Rogers one, but I did see all the lists. I
Speaker 3: expected May to be a little higher. His postseason wasn't wonderful,
Speaker 3: but boy, I think his future is so very bright. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he's he's a real He's here to stay. I think
Speaker 3: he's here to stay. Maybe maybe he won't be the
Speaker 3: MVP runner up next year, but he I think is
Speaker 3: going to be perennially in the top ten of this
Speaker 3: list for a long time. I'll be shocked if ten
Speaker 3: years from now we're sitting here and it's like, remember
Speaker 3: that one year May had agreed Super Bowl since then,
Speaker 3: he's just been blah. I just don't see that being
Speaker 3: the case.
Speaker 2: So May and Golf tie for eight. So number ten
Speaker 2: is Jordan Love. Yeah, Golf Golf in May tied for
Speaker 2: eighth place there in terms of the voting and some
Speaker 2: respect you, I think I'd probably have him a few
Speaker 2: steps further down, like I think, I think i'd have
Speaker 2: Jordan Love and Caleb Williams and some of these guys
Speaker 2: in front of him.
Speaker 3: There's more playmakers, yes, But I.
Speaker 2: Also think Jared Goff has long since shaken that reputation
Speaker 2: that he was just a Sean McVay creation and couldn't
Speaker 2: win games anywhere else.
Speaker 3: Or he wasn't worth the first overall pick. Right, if
Speaker 3: Mendoza has his career, that's worth the first overall pick, absolutely,
Speaker 3: no doubt.
Speaker 2: Absolutely Number ten is Jordan Love. He checks in at
Speaker 2: number ten.
Speaker 3: I bet he's sort of divisive, yeah, I mean, just
Speaker 3: because he plays such an aggressive style and he doesn't
Speaker 3: It's not that he's a bad athlete, but he doesn't
Speaker 3: do a ton with his legs, and he has aided
Speaker 3: a fair amount by a very good offensive system. But
Speaker 3: I'm cool with Jordan Love. Man. I love the way
Speaker 3: he plays.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think he's one of the guys too
Speaker 2: that I think if if I had to pick him
Speaker 2: to go up or down on this list, I think
Speaker 2: I would pick him to move up. Yeah, I think
Speaker 2: he's I think he's still got some Sure he's a
Speaker 2: Tier three guy, Yes, sir, I think I've got some more.
Speaker 2: He's got some more juice in his game to squeeze still.
Speaker 2: Number eleven is a tie once again between Caleb Williams
Speaker 2: and Brock Purty.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I saw the little blurb on Party Party's getting
Speaker 3: some respect. It was kind of interesting. I said something
Speaker 3: like stronger than you think, better than you think, And
Speaker 3: I think that's true. I mean I really had a
Speaker 3: hard time respecting Party his rookie year. I'm like, this
Speaker 3: is a story that's just going to fall part and
Speaker 3: it hasn't at all.
Speaker 2: Hey, from mister from mister irrelevant to h to number
Speaker 2: eleven on this list, So.
Speaker 3: Those Caleb could win MVPs too, he certainly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, he's another one that I think could move
Speaker 2: up on this list. He's I think he's got to
Speaker 2: do it for one more year to truly prove that
Speaker 2: he's round at that corner and is who we thought
Speaker 2: he was going to be coming out of college, but
Speaker 2: last year was a really good step in the right direction.
Speaker 2: And with Ben Johnson at the Helm, I think he's
Speaker 2: in one of the best situations possible.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, coaches embracing it, and they're both feeding off each other.
Speaker 2: Yes, number thirteen on this list, matt Is Jaden Daniels
Speaker 2: of the Washington Commander still checks in pretty high here,
Speaker 2: firmly in Tier two despite a rocky year filled with
Speaker 2: injuries last year.
Speaker 3: I probably would have him higher. I mean, one year ago,
Speaker 3: I thought he was one of the ones most likely
Speaker 3: to knock on the door for a two to go up.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Now, this past year didn't go great, but I don't
Speaker 3: think it was his fault at all. Injuries. I have
Speaker 3: two big concerns about Daniels. Neither are his fault. He's
Speaker 3: got a lot of injuries going back to LSU, and
Speaker 3: he's a wiry guy like that. I don't really trust
Speaker 3: the organization or his supporting cast. I think that they're
Speaker 3: going to be two Daniels dependent.
Speaker 2: I'm worried of that. Yeah, and it could be could
Speaker 2: be another year then picking in the top ten and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and coaching change and change, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Correct? Correct? He checks in at thirteen fourteenth place, a
Speaker 2: tie here between two guys Baker Mayfield and finally Matt
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold appears on this list. I thought he would
Speaker 2: be a few spots higher after the year. I understand
Speaker 2: it was one year, but I feel like the last
Speaker 2: couple of years he's been it's really been two yeah,
Speaker 2: and getting the super Bowl and everything that he did
Speaker 2: this past year. But he checks in tied at fourteenth
Speaker 2: with Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3: I forget what the blurb is. Just there's a blurb
Speaker 3: like right next to their names. It says something like
Speaker 3: Baker is the biggest roller coaster at their quarterback position
Speaker 3: they've ever seen, or something like that, which I think
Speaker 3: I kind of chuckled. I'm like, that's dead on, and
Speaker 3: part of the roller coaster was great, some of it's
Speaker 3: a disaster. You hope Donald doesn't have those trades. He
Speaker 3: seemed to have found his level footing where the lows
Speaker 3: aren't this extreme anymore.
Speaker 2: That's a very good point, very good point, and that's
Speaker 2: I think been a big key to what we've seen
Speaker 2: from him the last two years. So those two tie
Speaker 2: for fourteenth sixteenth place. Then is Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3: I would have him.
Speaker 2: I would have him higher.
Speaker 3: Four or five spots. Tis a lot of these names
Speaker 3: we just brought up. I think Lawrence is more talented,
Speaker 3: put up a lot better tape than some of them
Speaker 3: last year. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if he
Speaker 3: could ever be tier one the super prospect. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's not fair to him, but I think he's well
Speaker 3: worth the first overall pick as well, well worth the
Speaker 3: contract ascending also benefits from a good coach.
Speaker 2: And then the last one here in Tier two, Matt
Speaker 2: rounding up the kind of almost first half of this
Speaker 2: list since thirty five teams, so not an exact midway point,
Speaker 2: but about the midway here. Last guy in tier two
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, seventeenth overall.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I have a hard time backing Hurts. His style
Speaker 3: of play isn't for me. I mean, he's the only
Speaker 3: name I could see possibly getting benched out of this list,
Speaker 3: and I know that he.
Speaker 2: Probably won't, but of all the guys we've mentioned so far,
Speaker 2: he would be the one most likely.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know that there's a new system installed there.
Speaker 3: I think there's a blurb something along the lines of,
Speaker 3: you know, you can't rely on your athleticism and strength
Speaker 3: and speed forever. You got to become more of a
Speaker 3: refined old school quarterback, and I think that's lacking right now.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I'm with you. It's a big year,
Speaker 2: big year for Jalen Hurtsay, Listen, He's always going to
Speaker 2: be a Super Bowl champion, oh yeah, yeah, and you
Speaker 2: won't be able to take that away from him. But
Speaker 2: in terms of his long term future in both Philadelphia
Speaker 2: and the National Football League, this is a big year
Speaker 2: for him. Matt, I do want to get to tier
Speaker 2: three and tier four of this list, the back half
Speaker 2: of this list. But we have two more pieces of
Speaker 2: breaking news coming across the timeline here. The first, the
Speaker 2: Bears and our guy Darnell Wright have agreed to a
Speaker 2: four year hod and sixteen million dollars stat making him
Speaker 2: one of the NFL's highest paid tackles. Ninety three million
Speaker 2: of that guaranteed.
Speaker 3: So you're hoping Falton who follows suit, you know, and
Speaker 3: that's kind of neighborhood you're gonna be thinking about when
Speaker 3: it's his turn. There aren't many right tackles I would
Speaker 3: take Overwright in terms of who I want now and
Speaker 3: going forward. Masher trendsetter. A lot of money getting thrown
Speaker 3: around this league right now.
Speaker 2: He's he's an absolute stud. He really is, according to
Speaker 2: Jeremy Fowler, biggest deal ever for a right tackle, most
Speaker 2: guaranteed money ever for an offensive lineman in league history.
Speaker 3: Wow, yeah, I mean he. I guess he is to
Speaker 3: the point at his age where most ever numbers are
Speaker 3: in play.
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely. And then the second piece good enough to
Speaker 2: play WU though wasn't good enough to be recruited at
Speaker 2: WU by Daniel Holgerson. But he can sign a one
Speaker 2: hundred billion dollar contract in the NFL. I'm in hell,
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson. Another piece of news across the timeline here
Speaker 2: just a few minutes ago. That's unfortunate. The young promising
Speaker 2: edge rusher from the Atlanta Falcons, Jalen Walker.
Speaker 3: Oh, he's one of my faves.
Speaker 2: Feared to have torn his ACL line practice.
Speaker 3: I mentioned I did a Carolina podcast, but our six
Speaker 3: pack was Carolina and Atlanta, and I, well, I guess
Speaker 3: that's actually kind of good for the Steelers. I shouldn't
Speaker 3: say that, but because we were talking about that, those
Speaker 3: edge guys I was talking about how they finally found
Speaker 3: a passer, yes, you know, and I thought they were
Speaker 3: so smart to keep Jeff Olbrick their defensive coordinator. And
Speaker 3: It's been a while since I've quoted the staff, but
Speaker 3: I love it, and it was going into last year.
Speaker 3: Over the last five years, Steelers had the most Saxon League,
Speaker 3: Falcons had the least. Over the last ten years, Steelers
Speaker 3: have had the most Saxon League, Falcons have had the least.
Speaker 3: Over the last twenty years, Falcons have had the least
Speaker 3: amount of Saxon League, Steers had the most. Like this
Speaker 3: has been a two decade long problem of having. And
Speaker 3: maybe they overpaid for Walker and Pierce, you know, gave
Speaker 3: it that first round pick. But I said just five
Speaker 3: minutes or ten minutes ago in my room that Walker
Speaker 3: is a home run pick. I think he's going to
Speaker 3: be phenomenal player. And then we were talking about Pierce
Speaker 3: because I guess Peers, we know he got in trouble.
Speaker 3: He did some sort of deal where charges were dropped
Speaker 3: or whatever, but they still are assuming he's gonna be
Speaker 3: suspended a long time. NFL can still do whatever they want, Yes,
Speaker 3: So I hate injuries. I don't feel for someone to
Speaker 3: get suspended for doing something wrong to a woman, correct,
Speaker 3: But it sounds pretty unlikely that those d rushers are
Speaker 3: going to play in Week.
Speaker 2: One, which, as you mentioned, is a good thing for
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh steel Yeah. Oh yeah, as much as as
Speaker 2: much as it breaks my heart about what I know,
Speaker 2: that's a real bummer. He really uh was one of
Speaker 2: the more fun younger guys to watch, and hey, I
Speaker 2: guess there's always the hope that they could get him
Speaker 2: an MRI and it's not as bad as they feared.
Speaker 2: But it seems like all reports that they think he
Speaker 2: tore his a cl in a tough, tough start to
Speaker 2: camp here for the Atlanta Falcons, and that.
Speaker 3: Penix isn't playing yet. Yeah, I mean too have missed
Speaker 3: a little time already. You wouldn't they did extend.
Speaker 2: I was just gonna say, though, you wanted the good
Speaker 2: vibes of extending Beijon to permeate here for a couple days,
Speaker 2: and then you get that devastating news.
Speaker 3: That's rough man foundation player.
Speaker 2: All the best to him and hopefully for a for
Speaker 2: a full recovery. We'll continue talking some quarterback tiers as
Speaker 2: we roll along here, in hour number two, Euler and
Speaker 2: Williamson live on the campus of Saint Vincent College High
Speaker 2: attop Chuck Nolefield. It's all part of our training camp
Speaker 2: coverage ongoing on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 1: build it.
Speaker 2: Rolling along here, going through Mike Sandos. Twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: Quarterback Tiers compiled by you Know Conversations and rankings with
Speaker 2: over or with part of me, fifty executives and coaches
Speaker 2: around the league. Four guys in Tier one twelve guys
Speaker 2: in Tier two, we now move into Tier three. Eighteenth overall.
Speaker 2: Matt leading off Tier three is Bonix.
Speaker 3: Okay, a little bit more of a roller coaster than I, well,
Speaker 3: a lot more than I expected. Like when he came
Speaker 3: out of Oregon, I thought he's going to be a
Speaker 3: take care of the ball, especially when Peyton drafted him
Speaker 3: distributor just do whatever the coach says. A lot of
Speaker 3: dumps to the running backs, things of that nature. But
Speaker 3: he's more athletic and he's more volatile than I thought,
Speaker 3: which is good and bad. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was very surprised when he ended up being
Speaker 2: a first round pick. I have very much choice, maybe
Speaker 2: even more so than than I was when Jackson Dart
Speaker 2: was you know, two years ago. But I think he's
Speaker 2: definitely proved that he's been worth it, and I think
Speaker 2: that's a good way to put it. He's he's better,
Speaker 2: certainly than I thought he was going to be. Still
Speaker 2: a lot of volatility to his game. He's another guy,
Speaker 2: big year for him here in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: So you know how we played go fish sometimes or
Speaker 3: you know, door number two hypothetical Steelers. He's the first
Speaker 3: round pick on a quarterback, and when he's Nix's age
Speaker 3: and experience, he's exactly where Nicks is. Would you take it?
Speaker 2: Go Fish?
Speaker 3: I think i'd go fish too. Yeah. Absolutely, it's not
Speaker 3: the worst thing. I mean, they went to the Final
Speaker 3: four and they may have even won the Super Bowl
Speaker 3: if he stays healthy. But I'll go Fish.
Speaker 2: I will go Fish. I want to step into the
Speaker 2: batter's box and hit a home run where he feels
Speaker 2: like a gap into the a double into the gap.
Speaker 3: I mean, I can't imagine a world where he turns
Speaker 3: into a Tier one.
Speaker 2: Guy number nineteen of this parish, Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3: He's got to be a tough one on these guys.
Speaker 3: I'm sure some of the longtime executives that remember you
Speaker 3: know that the best of him are harsh. I mean,
Speaker 3: I probably have a hard time ranking him this low,
Speaker 3: but he has deficiencies at this time and he's got
Speaker 3: what are some of the right up to it. I
Speaker 3: did read his but I mean I thought there were
Speaker 3: some interesting things in there. Hold on, and I don't
Speaker 3: really have a problem with that number. Here's another go
Speaker 3: fish going Yeah, would you say he's nineteen nineteen? If
Speaker 3: he's in nineteenth, best quarterback when twenty twenty six regular
Speaker 3: season ends, do you take that or go fish cool?
Speaker 3: I probably take a good number.
Speaker 2: I probably take that because I think even realistically, yeah,
Speaker 2: you're not going to get that much higher. You could
Speaker 2: maybe get you can maybe get fourteenth, Yeah, but I
Speaker 2: think you can thirty. You could get a lot lower.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I guess if he really starts to s I think.
Speaker 2: I think I would too. I think that's about right.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'd love it to be fifteenth instead of nineteenth. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but you're still kind of right in that middle ground.
Speaker 2: What was the blurb you wanted to know on Aaron Say?
Speaker 3: There's a couple of things in there. I thought this
Speaker 3: were interesting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, here's the write up. He's not able to make
Speaker 2: the magic like he used to. He's a third tier
Speaker 2: quarterback at best. He can still throw it. I love Aaron.
Speaker 2: This is from a NFC defensive coordinator. He can still
Speaker 2: throw it. I love Aaron. He's a tough he's a
Speaker 2: tough and mother mother bad word. But he holds the
Speaker 2: ball too long and lacks mobility. They come out again.
Speaker 3: I found that interesting. I mean, there are snaps that
Speaker 3: he held the ball too long.
Speaker 2: But he also had like one of the quickest rest
Speaker 2: points in the league.
Speaker 3: The biggest complaint is most today just gets it out
Speaker 3: too quick and doesn't let plays developed.
Speaker 2: You know, they come out against Buffalo one score game
Speaker 2: turnover for a touchdown. He did not get rid of
Speaker 2: the ball on time. He is not able to make
Speaker 2: that magic like he used to. Aaron Rodgers once made
Speaker 2: ten consecutive appearance is in Tier one, spent one year.
Speaker 3: Into that nuts when they go back to the history
Speaker 3: of what he's.
Speaker 2: Done and now is in his second season in Tier three.
Speaker 3: I don't know if anyone's been ten ten straight years
Speaker 3: in Tier one, including like Brady, and it's wild. I
Speaker 3: think he's only done this like twenty twenty five years.
Speaker 2: Short like Mahomes might be able to do it.
Speaker 3: He probably beaten on the door.
Speaker 2: But man, I'll tell you what, that's good, pretty darn good.
Speaker 2: Number twenty Matt is c J. Stroud, perhaps the quarterback
Speaker 2: with the most at stake in the entire NFL this season.
Speaker 3: I thought that was a little harsh.
Speaker 2: I think I think a little.
Speaker 3: Recency bias of how they played in the playoffs because
Speaker 3: this regular season wasn't that bad.
Speaker 2: But I would still take him over Baker Mayfield. I
Speaker 2: would still take him over probably Jalen Hurts at this point.
Speaker 2: Maybe there's there's a few of those names ahead of
Speaker 2: him there that I would definitely. I think i'd take
Speaker 2: him over Bownecks, honestly, just because the good that we've
Speaker 2: seen is it's very good.
Speaker 3: Like you could convince me that I wouldn't go fish
Speaker 3: on Steet's first round pick turning in.
Speaker 2: His shroud, especially if he finds.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he'll be here two next year.
Speaker 2: I'm hoping for his sake that he does, because I
Speaker 2: like C. J.
Speaker 3: Stroud.
Speaker 2: I think it was a lot of fun to watch
Speaker 2: his rookie year twenty one. Is Daniel Jones, Danny Dimes.
Speaker 3: Okay, he's had a I mean, if when you look
Speaker 3: at the ski the scope of his entire career, he's
Speaker 3: probably had under a dozen real good games or yeah,
Speaker 3: plus games. But there is ability there. I mean, he'll
Speaker 3: throw over the middle, he'll he doesn't have a bad
Speaker 3: arm or he's not super deficient. He's a really good athlete.
Speaker 3: I guess that's about right. But I don't think there's
Speaker 3: any name we mentioned that he should be over.
Speaker 2: I would agree with you on that like I had
Speaker 2: much of their stroud, if much stroud right, I'd be
Speaker 2: interesting to see how you would compare Daniel Jones at
Speaker 2: twenty one to the guy who checks in at twenty two.
Speaker 2: It's Bryce Young of the Carolina Paints.
Speaker 3: I'll take Jones. Yeah, Young's not for me.
Speaker 2: He's not I know you're massizes mazes.
Speaker 3: Just damn. I'm sorry. He gets ragged all, he gets
Speaker 3: beat up. He has hard time seeing it's a crucial
Speaker 3: season for him. He does do some good things. He's
Speaker 3: definitely gotten better, but he's just not for me.
Speaker 2: When other small quarterback checks in right behind him at
Speaker 2: twenty three, it's New Minnesota Viking Kyler Murray.
Speaker 3: I bet he's higher.
Speaker 2: I would best here.
Speaker 3: He deserves to be here. Now there's questions about him,
Speaker 3: don't getting wrong.
Speaker 2: I think he'll trend up, though. I don't know if
Speaker 2: he'll ever get back into being a tier two guy
Speaker 2: like he was at times, but I think he'll trend up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think this year will be good for
Speaker 3: his career and someone will pay him.
Speaker 2: Number twenty four is Jackson Dart of the New York Giants.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know my thoughts on him.
Speaker 2: I mean this is probably about the right range for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, there's still a lot to be written in
Speaker 3: that book. But I don't think he's as talented as
Speaker 3: people think he is as a thrower, and he also
Speaker 3: is learning a big learning curve from the offense he
Speaker 3: came from and doesn't protect himself, but I wish his
Speaker 3: arm was stronger.
Speaker 2: Twenty five is cam Ward of the Tennessee Titans. Could
Speaker 2: see him moving up this list.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he has to be low, but I traded a
Speaker 3: stud a first round pick for him, and I just
Speaker 3: think his future is really, really bright. But he could
Speaker 3: be on a terrible organization for his whole rookie deal
Speaker 3: when sure could gets kind of forgotten.
Speaker 2: Twenty six is a tie between two names here both
Speaker 2: in the NFC South, Tyler Shuck and Tua tag of Viola.
Speaker 3: I'll take Shuck way over to way over to I'll take.
Speaker 2: I'll probably takes Shucked over exactly right, Bryce Young, Jackson
Speaker 2: Dart and maybe even Daniel Jones at this point.
Speaker 3: On you Yeah, he proved a lot to me, and
Speaker 3: you know, I liked him a lot coming after school,
Speaker 3: but you did. Everyone talks about how what he is
Speaker 3: only twenty six.
Speaker 2: I know, which for a quarterback. Hey, if you get
Speaker 2: another ten really good years.
Speaker 3: Out of it. Yeah, I mean some of these guys
Speaker 3: stay forever anyway. I mean, that's that could be next
Speaker 3: to you. His first round pick might be twenty five, you.
Speaker 2: Know, so Tua and and Shuck tie for twenty six.
Speaker 2: So at twenty eight in the last player in tier three,
Speaker 2: Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 3: Toughie Val pretty limited at this point, placeholder.
Speaker 2: But still but still you could definitely do worse.
Speaker 3: I think you can still do worse, right like I
Speaker 3: would might try to Rogers. Yes, yeah, that.
Speaker 2: Quest without a doubt. And then Matt, there is what
Speaker 2: let's see here, seven names to round this thing out
Speaker 2: in tier four, starting with twenty ninth overall, Malik Willis.
Speaker 3: I'm a big fan.
Speaker 2: He could move up.
Speaker 3: He could definitely move up. I mean, his situation is
Speaker 3: not gonna do him any favors. He's being you a receiver.
Speaker 3: But he could convince the Dolphins that they don't need
Speaker 3: a quarterback.
Speaker 2: Could we play receiver for the Miami Dolphins. I think
Speaker 2: that's uh. I think that would come with a nice
Speaker 2: It might be brutal, Matt, but it would come with
Speaker 2: a nice pay grade, pay bump for you and I
Speaker 2: I think put us in bad they can put us
Speaker 2: on the league minimum. I would still be I'd still
Speaker 2: take it thirtieth overall.
Speaker 3: Gino Smith, Yeah, again, I think I blame his surroundings
Speaker 3: more than him. But there's no way to say he
Speaker 3: had a good year.
Speaker 2: No, And there's no way to rank him ahead of
Speaker 2: some of these people that have been ranked ahead of them.
Speaker 3: I mean, would I rather play against him or Bryce Young?
Speaker 3: Right now? Maybe I would pick Bryce Young. I'd rather
Speaker 3: play against Young. Yeah, but Young had a better year
Speaker 3: than them last year. You know.
Speaker 2: I think Gino could move up to the twenty two
Speaker 2: to twenty three range. Yeah, from thirty. But I think
Speaker 2: that's about it. It'll be an interesting to see what
Speaker 2: happens with him and how much of that was just
Speaker 2: decline on his part verse what was a terrible situation
Speaker 2: for everybody there in Vegas. Thirty one Matt is Deshaun
Speaker 2: Watson of the Cleveland Brands. I don't know how he
Speaker 2: can direct them. We haven't seen him in forever.
Speaker 3: I don't know. You have to put a four on
Speaker 3: him if you're an executive or code. I mean totally.
Speaker 2: I think I would and would have probably had him
Speaker 2: dead last on this list, but.
Speaker 3: His teammates dead last.
Speaker 2: Actually his teammate is dead last. Not to spoil it,
Speaker 2: but thirty second is Michael Penox Junior. So that's the
Speaker 2: second Falcon on the list.
Speaker 3: They haven't been good, but Pennix and McCarthy to me,
Speaker 3: are really incomplete.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think Pennock's even more so than McCarthy, Yeahcarthy.
Speaker 2: Thirty three is Jacobe Brissette of the Cardinals.
Speaker 3: I think the thing they said about him and then
Speaker 3: the blurb part was just like that's what a Fear
Speaker 3: four guy is all about, Like that's the constant. And
Speaker 3: he made it as a compliment, you know, like he's
Speaker 3: a placeholder. He's a pro. You can win games with him, sure,
Speaker 3: but we know what he is at this point. Yes,
Speaker 3: I don't think he's going to reinvent himself.
Speaker 2: Thirty four JJ McCarthy in thirty five Shador Sanders.
Speaker 3: Yeah, those are the two you'd have to probably rank lowest.
Speaker 3: I think I got much to go off of the spot.
Speaker 2: I certainly think so, Although if.
Speaker 3: You had Watson last, i'd totally understand I might have.
Speaker 2: That's the one that I might have had last because
Speaker 2: it's just when was the last time we saw him
Speaker 2: do anything right?
Speaker 3: Like Kirk Cousins is way better than Watson right now.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know, without it in terms of what we say,
Speaker 2: in terms of what you see in which.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2: If you Matt had to had to have JJ McCarthy
Speaker 2: or Shador Sanders as your starting quarterback this year, who
Speaker 2: would you go with McCarthy.
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, he looks really lost. He looks like he's
Speaker 3: really really swimming. And I'm a fan of their offensive
Speaker 3: system and their head coach, and he's done really good
Speaker 3: things with quarterbacks. But I did see a study on
Speaker 3: McCarthy that his degree of difficulty of things that were
Speaker 3: being asked of him was really really high in terms
Speaker 3: of just not a lot of layup throws, you know,
Speaker 3: not a lot of play action rollouts, half field reads.
Speaker 3: You know. They kind of threw him in the deep end,
Speaker 3: probably a little bit too much. So there's a question
Speaker 3: for you, like, if you were to we saw like
Speaker 3: Darnold's career get reclimated, and Daniel Jones and Baker and
Speaker 3: some of these dudes that were high picks that didn't
Speaker 3: work out in their first off or just work took
Speaker 3: a long time, if you had to roll the dice
Speaker 3: on like Pennix McCarthy or like Anthony Richardson. I'm not
Speaker 3: saying for the Steelers, but maybe for Steelers. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you get it for.
Speaker 2: Nothing, man, those guys. My first thaw was Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 2: But I'm honest enough to admit richards I'm honest enough
Speaker 2: to admit that that might just be because he's the
Speaker 2: one of those three that I've seen the least that
Speaker 2: we've seen the least, never on the field. He's never
Speaker 2: on the field the other two. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker 2: it's not like they've had a completely of health.
Speaker 3: They're always complete.
Speaker 2: But we've seen more at least of the other two,
Speaker 2: and I haven't loved what we've seen, whereas Richardson obviously
Speaker 2: haven't loved what we've seen, but it's only been a
Speaker 2: very small sample size.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I may he would see him in college heart.
Speaker 2: I think he would be the one, and he's got
Speaker 2: just I think I think a higher level of natural
Speaker 2: gifted talent in athleticism than the other two.
Speaker 3: He had the best combine performance of any quarterback in
Speaker 3: the history of the right combine, right, just in terms
Speaker 3: of numbers, and.
Speaker 2: He's got ideal build and a lot of that stuff.
Speaker 2: And not that you know, Pennox is tiny. But but Richardson,
Speaker 2: I think it would. I think it would definitely be Richardson,
Speaker 2: now that I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 3: One of those guys might hit like Donald. Yeah, I
Speaker 3: just think people write these guys off too quick. Oh,
Speaker 3: I completely agree.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think, especially now, we've just seen so
Speaker 2: many examples of in the last ten to fifteen years
Speaker 2: of quarterbacks who were cast aside. Yeah and then yeah,
Speaker 2: not that they turned out to be all pros, but
Speaker 2: I mean Sam Donald, I think is the ultimate example. Yeah,
Speaker 2: at this one or at this point. But you've got
Speaker 2: the Ryan Tannehills and the Geno Smiths and even Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot that guy.
Speaker 2: We've seen a lot of those where they thought, all right,
Speaker 2: there's absolutely nothing there and you're able to to, you know,
Speaker 2: carve out a nice role for yourself and have some
Speaker 2: good years. And yeah, Anthony Richardson I think would be
Speaker 2: my pick of those guys. But it's a it's not
Speaker 2: the u not the most encouraging crop.
Speaker 3: No, Like you look at McCarthy and of course he
Speaker 3: didn't play great, but it wasn't long ago that he
Speaker 3: was a pretty high pick and missed his whole rookie
Speaker 3: year basically because of injury, not really his fault, and
Speaker 3: he probably will lose the starting job to Kyler. So
Speaker 3: if Kyler stays healthy all year, we don't know anything
Speaker 3: about him, you know, if the Vikings are looking to
Speaker 3: trade him or dump them.
Speaker 2: It's almost like a sunken cost, almost like, yeah, can you.
Speaker 3: Ever the new team is I don't know anything more
Speaker 3: about him than I did at Michigan. Really, nothing's good, sure,
Speaker 3: but why not throw those teams six six round picks
Speaker 3: those type of guys, right.
Speaker 2: And maybe we'll be in a situation next year, Matt
Speaker 2: where that's something we'll discuss as a possibility for the Steelers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right or right? Because those options are always out there,
Speaker 3: they don't often hit. But like I thought about this
Speaker 3: with the Rams, like I don't love Ty Simpson and
Speaker 3: I'm not going to kill them for the Ty Simpson pick,
Speaker 3: but I think I would rather just like drafted Makai
Speaker 3: Lemon there and throwing a six round pick get Richardson
Speaker 3: and resigned Garoppolo and just let him sit for a
Speaker 3: year and marinate and just learn.
Speaker 2: Go to QB school TV seminars every single day, right right, and.
Speaker 3: Maybe he reclamates him, you know, gets back to what
Speaker 3: we thought he could be.
Speaker 2: It'll be very interesting to follow Ty Simpson and that
Speaker 2: pick by the Rams and some of these other young
Speaker 2: quarterbacks that are trying to carve out their role in
Speaker 2: the National Football League. But that's Mike Sandos QB Tiers
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six edition in The Athletic if you want
Speaker 2: to read that and check it out. Obviously there's substantial
Speaker 2: write ups on each one of those guys too that
Speaker 2: we didn't get into a ton of those, but always
Speaker 2: always something that we take a look at around this time.
Speaker 3: It's a great article every year.
Speaker 2: It's a great article every single year. And I just
Speaker 2: can't wait, Matt, until we can get the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 2: back and having a quarterback towards the top of that list.
Speaker 3: I wonder what the highest Ben never was. I'm sure
Speaker 3: he was here one plenty, but I doubt I don't
Speaker 3: think it was ever number one, because I.
Speaker 2: Was gonna say, even some of those years where Ben
Speaker 2: was really lighting it up, you still had Rogers and
Speaker 2: Brady and even like Russell Wilson had a couple great
Speaker 2: years in there around around the same time as Ben.
Speaker 2: But I did ease Breeze. Yeah, but I guarantee you
Speaker 2: Ben was in the top five a couple times. We'll
Speaker 2: have to have to go back and check that.
Speaker 3: I bet he was Tier one more often than not,
Speaker 3: THO would say, and perennially.
Speaker 2: Top ten, perennially top ten without a doubt. Let's get
Speaker 2: to another break here. When we return, we'll continue the conversation.
Speaker 2: I would think that before too much longer here we'll
Speaker 2: have some Steelers working their way down onto the field
Speaker 2: for another evening walk through on a hot but beautiful
Speaker 2: day here on the campus of Saint Vincent College, West
Speaker 2: Uler Matt Williamson. It's all part of our ongoing training
Speaker 2: camp coverage Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 2: Back in the booth here on this Tuesday, as the
Speaker 2: afternoon is rolling into the evening. About fifteen twenty minutes
Speaker 2: from now, we will hit on all of your tweets,
Speaker 2: So get those questions, comments, concerns, and reactions in now
Speaker 2: while you can. Matt, we got some groundskeeper stuff going
Speaker 2: on in front of us here. Yeah, lit bit once again,
Speaker 2: our our favorite, our favorite thing to keep an I
Speaker 2: on throughout the course of this and I wanted to
Speaker 2: to close down this second hour of the show with
Speaker 2: you get back into a conversation that we've kind of
Speaker 2: been bobbing and weaving around over the last few days.
Speaker 3: He keep a question for you.
Speaker 2: Okay, hit me the buckets.
Speaker 3: This time of year, they go around and they find
Speaker 3: little spots and they throw stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's like dirt and seed.
Speaker 3: And that's my question is what do you think is
Speaker 3: in the bucket? I doubt it's just seed. It must
Speaker 3: be a combination of like.
Speaker 2: Also, also, according to a intrepid producer, engineer co host
Speaker 2: mister dooit all Ed Troup, he's found the names of
Speaker 2: the guys out here in the field, crew, Will, Ryan, Colin,
Speaker 2: and Tyler. Those are the four guys big. So what
Speaker 2: I think that is. I think it's a combination of
Speaker 2: like seed and dirt. Yeah, because the seed obviously no, because.
Speaker 3: The probably wouldn't the next day.
Speaker 2: Yes, So I think that helps it kind of set in.
Speaker 2: It helps level off the surface, so it's not a
Speaker 2: you know, a hazard for trips, rolling an ankle or
Speaker 2: something like that. And I think it helps start the
Speaker 2: regrowth process at the same time.
Speaker 3: But they don't go through a lot of it. I mean,
Speaker 3: one handful is one handful, tap it on his foot, move.
Speaker 2: On, you know, exactly right.
Speaker 3: It's not like pour a whole bucket in this hole.
Speaker 2: We will continue to keep an eye on our guys
Speaker 2: down there on the field.
Speaker 3: Matt.
Speaker 2: A exercise that we've kind of been bobbing.
Speaker 3: On, like the steeler bucket hats too.
Speaker 2: The Steeler bucket hats are pretty cool.
Speaker 3: Starks has one. I might need to grab one wear it,
Speaker 3: but it looks like it should be so.
Speaker 2: I don't know. If I've had this conversation with you before,
Speaker 2: You've probably never seen it because it's not in situations
Speaker 2: around you. But I wear bucket hats pretty regularly. There's
Speaker 2: two times that I am there's two times in my
Speaker 2: life Matt that if you if you see me and
Speaker 2: I don't have a bucket hat on, ask me if
Speaker 2: I'm okay because something's wrong.
Speaker 3: And that is tailgate.
Speaker 2: No, that's a good guess. Though. Anytime I go to
Speaker 2: the beach or the pool with the girls and dude, you.
Speaker 3: Know a vacation, I think you posted something on Facebook.
Speaker 3: Always had a bucket at.
Speaker 2: When I'm on when I'm on vacation, or even if
Speaker 2: I just take the girls of the pool, I'm always
Speaker 2: wearing a bucket hat because my face gets burnt so
Speaker 2: easily in those situations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely should.
Speaker 2: The second time is when I cut the grass, I
Speaker 2: always wear a bucket I mean there's sometimes that you
Speaker 2: know you're cutting the grass in like April or September. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's an overcast day. But anytime, you know, in
Speaker 2: like June, July, August, when it's hot out. I've got
Speaker 2: actually a bucket hat from one of Motes's golf outings
Speaker 2: that it hangs in my garage and I throw it
Speaker 2: on every time I cut the grass. So as I've
Speaker 2: gotten older and older, Matt, you know, I don't want
Speaker 2: dermatologists yelling at me that I'm gonna, you know, give
Speaker 2: myself skin cancer. So I'm trying to take care of
Speaker 2: the trying to take care of the old skin there
Speaker 2: with a bucket hat, but that.
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, that's something really neat to worry about.
Speaker 3: Like when you're a scout, they always say, get great
Speaker 3: sunglasses and find some kind of cover. Like if you're
Speaker 3: on the LSU sideline, watch your practice, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean, like hours and hours. Yeah, you're outside a lot,
Speaker 3: you know, and your eyes are your most important thing too.
Speaker 3: I mean, you get spend money on sunglasses and protect yours, you.
Speaker 2: Know, totally. As I've gotten older, hit the sunglasses, hit
Speaker 2: the bucket hats. Those steelers ones are are pretty Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm sure old Max Stark's always got himself one. We'll
Speaker 2: see we'll see what we can do for every day.
Speaker 2: You probably never see me were I at I never seen.
Speaker 2: I don't think have worn one in twenty years. I
Speaker 2: wear one in the mornings, like when I take my
Speaker 2: girls to daycare because my hair's all yeah, I'm sleeping.
Speaker 2: But other than that, I don't. I don't wear it
Speaker 2: one very often either.
Speaker 3: It's like the first thing I did when I get
Speaker 3: up and put a hat on. It was next to
Speaker 3: the bed. Put a hat on this coat?
Speaker 2: Yeah, every day, yep, that's what I That's what I
Speaker 2: do now for the most part. But then then I'll
Speaker 2: come home and I'll shower and I'm you know, so
Speaker 2: I'm only wearing it for an hour at a time.
Speaker 3: Like any college picker, you see me, you have had.
Speaker 2: And I've seen some funny college pictures of you over
Speaker 2: the years. There's one with you with a snake around
Speaker 2: your neck, but that's a different story for another day.
Speaker 3: I get three different snakes in college, did you really? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Did you have any cool names for them? Like your bird?
Speaker 2: Did you call Larry.
Speaker 3: The ball python? Which is kind of like a starter snake.
Speaker 3: They're kind of easy and it's spent a long time.
Speaker 3: I forget the ball python's name. And then I had
Speaker 3: a bigger a Burmese python that was an albino that
Speaker 3: I named Shaman Shamman, you know, like when I was
Speaker 3: a shaman, I was big into Jim Morrison is like
Speaker 3: a shadow.
Speaker 2: Shum, sure you were, Matt Williamson.
Speaker 3: And then I got a smaller one, which is kind
Speaker 3: of like the nicest of them all, Like the priceiest
Speaker 3: was a red tailed boa, some kind of red something boa.
Speaker 3: It's been a long time. They're they're thinner, and like
Speaker 3: when I got him, he was like a shoelace, like
Speaker 3: he'd go through your fingers like this. And that was Daisy,
Speaker 3: like you know Daisy, you know Daisy at all?
Speaker 2: All I have to say, I gotta be honest.
Speaker 3: They get a little bigger and then they start scary
Speaker 3: a little bit, and you know, all I have to say,
Speaker 3: seat him as well as you shouldn't call it. People
Speaker 3: are strange, you know, when you're a stranger.
Speaker 2: Matt. Let's uh, jump into an exercise. We've been bobbing
Speaker 2: and weaving throughout camp here, and that is comparing different
Speaker 2: position groups this year to last year and how we
Speaker 2: feel about them. You know, three hundred and sixty five
Speaker 2: ish days later. What do you say we talk a
Speaker 2: little tight ends here? This is a this is gonna
Speaker 2: be an interesting one. Yeah, it is so this year's growth.
Speaker 3: I liked John U a year ago. That's what complicates matters.
Speaker 2: Pat Fryarmuth, Darnell Washington, Robert Tanyan, JJ Gallbreath still in
Speaker 2: the fold as well last year, of course, Mount Washington
Speaker 2: and Friarmuth, John new Smith, Connor Hayward.
Speaker 3: I think Friar Moove is one of those guys where
Speaker 3: you say unchanged.
Speaker 2: I think that's fair.
Speaker 3: I think we did that with Warren yesterday.
Speaker 2: We did the same with Jaalen Woren and that's fine.
Speaker 2: I think you know what he is at this point.
Speaker 2: We'd like to see more usage for him. But in
Speaker 2: terms of the player that he is, I think.
Speaker 3: Probably the exact same grade on I think feel about him.
Speaker 3: Just think one year older Washington. You have to like better.
Speaker 3: And I adored him last year, but you have to
Speaker 3: like it.
Speaker 2: I think he is. I think he is arrow pointed up.
Speaker 3: Yes see, that's to me what helps this year's crop
Speaker 3: the most. But I really liked him last year, Like
Speaker 3: I can't discredit, like you need to show up out
Speaker 3: of nowhere. Sure, I was pretty excited about Johnny last year.
Speaker 2: I think everybody was.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And Tanyan to me is is gon MC team.
Speaker 3: You've gotten some good reports, you know. I think he's
Speaker 3: lined up decently to be the third tight end. I
Speaker 3: don't think no Akowski can be in this conversation, I
Speaker 3: think in a little bit. Yeah, And Connor Hayward had value.
Speaker 3: I mean he was a good spec I mean you're
Speaker 3: maybe he's not. I'm not counting him as a tight
Speaker 3: end as much as his value to the team. I
Speaker 3: mean he was a really really good special teamer. I
Speaker 3: think he had to go with last.
Speaker 2: Year in terms of the expectations that we had for the.
Speaker 3: Group, right, what you thought of one year ago?
Speaker 2: We were all picking, you know, like I think everyone was.
Speaker 3: A thirteen personnel to be all this thirteen.
Speaker 2: Personnel, and all three of them are such drastically different
Speaker 2: tight ends. And Arthur Smith has this relationship with John
Speaker 2: new Smith, and he knows how to use tight ends
Speaker 2: in his offense. And he caught eighty eight balls year
Speaker 2: before good His twenty twenty four stats are insane, eighty
Speaker 2: eight receptions for eight hundred and eighty four yards and
Speaker 2: eight touchdowns.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was good after the catch and he was
Speaker 3: not a throw in on that deal. No, I think
Speaker 3: the Steelers gave him money from what I remember too,
Speaker 3: and it was a disaster.
Speaker 2: It was not good. We didn't know that then, No, no,
Speaker 2: we did not. And then you know, Robert Tanyan is
Speaker 2: a hard one to evaluate him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know what how to value him here.
Speaker 2: He hasn't really had a productive NFL year since twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two when he caught for when he had fifty
Speaker 2: three receptions for nearly five hundred yards and two touchdowns.
Speaker 3: Like he might be a success story this year.
Speaker 2: He could be, or he.
Speaker 3: Could be a guy that like makes the team and
Speaker 3: you get the week two and like he's not really
Speaker 3: helping us. He's got you know, and then you ever
Speaker 3: hear from him again. Maybe doesn't gonna make a team.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know what to think of him.
Speaker 2: He is an interesting one. What do you think of the.
Speaker 3: Side note, It wouldn't break my heart if there was
Speaker 3: more competition for the number three tight end spot right now.
Speaker 2: That's exactly where I was going with this, Like, what
Speaker 2: how do you think that plays out? Because it's really I.
Speaker 3: Really hate to see a Washington or Friar with injury. Boy,
Speaker 3: would you be really really.
Speaker 2: Thin there, because I mean it's really just Robert Tanyan
Speaker 2: and JJ Galbreath.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I definitely don't trust either. Gallbreath's
Speaker 3: been around enough that you'd think that he would. If
Speaker 3: he's gonna make a mark, he would have by now.
Speaker 2: Yes, we did like someone what we saw from him
Speaker 2: last year in training camping in the preseason, and obviously
Speaker 2: he's gonna have three preseason games here to continue to
Speaker 2: build upon that.
Speaker 3: He's one of those I want to see him camp
Speaker 3: next year. Guy, Yes, you know, but I don't want
Speaker 3: to on my team last year.
Speaker 2: Guy, I think you had. I mean, I think we
Speaker 2: are kidding ourselves about how excited everyone was for the
Speaker 2: addition of John new Smith at this time last year.
Speaker 3: And again, I really was excited about Washington, which panned out,
Speaker 3: and I'm not even sure he exceeded my expectations. I
Speaker 3: had really high expectations for you.
Speaker 2: You have yet You've always thought he's one of those
Speaker 2: guys who's special and gonna make an impact. And definitely
Speaker 2: last year, it's definitely last year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, which because that bump from Washington isn't enough
Speaker 3: to overcome the thoughts of the day, you know, because
Speaker 3: I was. I mean, yes, he bumped, but it wasn't
Speaker 3: as big a bump as some might have thought because
Speaker 3: I was so high on him to start with.
Speaker 2: Right, that's exactly right. Yeah, that's that's exactly right. So
Speaker 2: that's an interesting one. You know what though, now that.
Speaker 3: They're also not gonna play as much twelve and thirteen,
Speaker 3: they're not right.
Speaker 2: But you also, like last year, you had four guys
Speaker 2: that you could put out onto.
Speaker 3: The field and even knew they were going to make
Speaker 3: the team. I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I wasn't the biggest Connor Hayward fan in the world.
Speaker 2: I thought they did. I thought they did a little
Speaker 2: too much at times of trying to get him involved
Speaker 2: on offense. One of those situations where, like you'd like
Speaker 2: to point out where defensive coordinators are thankful when that
Speaker 2: guy is on the field in certain aspects. But again,
Speaker 2: you had four viable options. Like I'm not saying Connor
Speaker 2: Henry four NFL players didn't exactly right. I'm not saying
Speaker 2: he didn't belong on a roster on a field on Sundays.
Speaker 3: I mean, somebody else signed him, and it's not like
Speaker 3: he's still out there john who was still out there.
Speaker 2: Johnny was still out there, which is crazy considering what
Speaker 2: he was thought of this time of year ago. But
Speaker 2: right now it's a two horse race and a lot
Speaker 2: of question marks and a lot of unknown Matt And
Speaker 2: if you, like you mentioned if my tight end, I
Speaker 2: feel like.
Speaker 3: Uh, specially if an injury would happen, Like we've.
Speaker 2: Been talking about this about safeties, I think throughout the
Speaker 2: and how you would you really love to have, you know,
Speaker 2: one additional kind of playmaking safety known commodity, and that.
Speaker 3: Allaity even kind of said if there's a true free
Speaker 3: out there, you might want to call. And I know
Speaker 3: that they're not as interested in free verse strong.
Speaker 2: Sure, but but we get what I saying. I think, man,
Speaker 2: I think we can add a third tight end to
Speaker 2: that conversation. Now if if someone emerges that you can
Speaker 2: get as a as a camp cut or for a
Speaker 2: sixth round, late round pick swap something like that. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't hate seeing another tight end in the fold right here,
Speaker 2: because we love what we have in move and wash.
Speaker 3: But even they missed one game and what's the chance
Speaker 3: they both play seventeen plus.
Speaker 2: It's a national football league. It's very slim. It's not
Speaker 2: a matter of if. It's a matter of when everybody.
Speaker 2: Everybody picks up knocks and picks up injuries. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I got a lot of faith in time.
Speaker 2: And now, hey, maybe we'll get into maybe we'll get
Speaker 2: into preseason here and Tanya or gall breath will change
Speaker 2: our thought process.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know what, though, I'm gonna have to start watching
Speaker 2: more tight ends as we rolled.
Speaker 3: I was big a week two.
Speaker 2: We gotta we got it. We need somebody to emerge
Speaker 2: there as a quality t E three.
Speaker 3: I I feel like I need to have a better
Speaker 3: feel for Tanya and what he is now because I
Speaker 3: remember Hi in twenty twenty two, but that was a
Speaker 3: million years.
Speaker 2: Ago, exactly right, exactly, It was a long long time ago.
Speaker 2: He had a monster twenty twenty season. We had eleven touchdowns,
Speaker 2: but that was I think that's right around the time.
Speaker 2: I think that's right around the time that Homer was
Speaker 2: right in the Iliad and in the Odyssey. I'm pretty
Speaker 2: sure you did like that movie, huh? I did?
Speaker 3: I enjoy it. I like to watch it.
Speaker 2: I enjoyed it. I'm a dork, Matt Williamson. I am
Speaker 2: nothing of not a dork. One of one of the
Speaker 2: people that we met yesterday Steelers burner on on Twitter.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we met a couple of Twitter people. That was awesome.
Speaker 2: He was like, we Matt was laughing. We were dorking
Speaker 2: out about Lord of the Rings at the bar for a.
Speaker 3: Few minutes and I sort of tuned you guys out
Speaker 3: a little bit. That's when Matt that I disliked it,
Speaker 3: but you were talking over my head.
Speaker 2: That's when Matt was like, Wow, this seems pretty cool.
Speaker 2: I know what I'm doing when I get home on Tuesday,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna watch the extended editions. We have got two
Speaker 2: hours in the books, the bonus hour on the other side.
Speaker 2: You know what that means. Get those tweets in because
Speaker 2: we're gonna hit them when we return to kick off
Speaker 2: hour number three West Ruler Matt Williamson High atop Chuck
Speaker 2: Nolefield here on the campus of Saint Vincent College. It's
Speaker 2: all part of our ongoing training camp coverage Steelers Nation
Speaker 2: Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.