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HR2: Roster Construction · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: There we go, Optimus, rolling on by. You know that sound.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: It is the power hour inside the locker room here,
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: and we hope with our offensive linemen we don't hear
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: that sound. That's usually also a defensive lineman running past
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: the offensive lineman to make a sack.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: You've got to feel like you hit the big rig sound.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: So that's what we're trying to prevent going forward.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: But, yeah, no, awesome. I just wanted to add a
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: little thing at the end of what Willie said. I
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: know we were up against it. I didn't want to
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: say anything.
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: But he's right.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: I mean, when you have pairs and duos that you
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: have to go against, you know, it takes a certain
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: level of of CEO Jones. If you guys know that,
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: if you know Spanish, you can put those words together.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to give it to you, but. Because
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: I'm not allowed to.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: But, you know, you have to drop it. You have
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: to go. And I think we've experienced that.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: I mean, Willie referenced, you know, Tennessee where we had
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: those ghost nines.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Remember that, Willie? Ghost nines and, like, five techniques.
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 1:34
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I feel like it.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: It feels like I ripped back a Band-Aid that still
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: hasn't healed with us every time we get up that game.
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: I feel like I know you watch some old Vietnam
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: movies and then somebody yelling.
• 1:44
  Speaker 6: In the fields, Band-Aid, Band-Aid, we need backup. That's how
• 1:48
  Speaker 6: it felt.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Get out of there. Save yourself.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: Oh, God.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we had some epic battles that we could talk
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: about over some adult beverages, Rob, before.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Before we get too far. But that's it. I mean,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: San Diego had that, right?
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Merriman and Phillips was another combo that we went against
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: in the playoffs that year. That it was like, hey,
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: one of you guys got to go ahead and live
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: to tell the story. You know, the other ones, you
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: just got to go ahead and strap on and just
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: bite the wood.
• 2:24
  Speaker 6: Remember Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney?
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, God, and Freeney and Indianapolis.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Oh, God.
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Double spin cycles on that one.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: I mean, and then you also had, I mean, we had,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: and then, of course, we also had Baltimore every single time.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And then Cincinnati had guys that you had to worry about.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And then they also had Geno Atkins in the middle.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: So they had a trio of problems that, you know,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: usually we got to double the interior because of Geno Atkins.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: And it's like, sorry, Max and Willie, y'all on the island.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: Like, bye-bye.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, you're right, man.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, but that's what you want to get to.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: And that's what I hope the Steelers get to, to
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: where they have that tandem that you fear. You're like,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: oh man, we can't double anybody. But yet, if we single,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: we're going to be in trouble. And that's what you
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: want to have. You want to have that type of fear.
• 3:11
  Speaker 7: So let's move on with some of the other roster positions.
• 3:18
  Speaker 7: Let's just go ahead and get to the outside linebacker position,
• 3:22
  Speaker 7: the rush edge position. Guys, for me, zero surprises. I
• 3:28
  Speaker 7: thought Jamin Davis... might make a case for being on
• 3:33
  Speaker 7: the roster. He was not selected on the roster, but
• 3:36
  Speaker 7: I basically thought those four guys, I thought if there
• 3:39
  Speaker 7: was any question, you know, Jamie Davis had the big
• 3:41
  Speaker 7: game late in the opener, and then if there was
• 3:45
  Speaker 7: any question about, hey, can he make a push, I
• 3:47
  Speaker 7: thought Jack Sawyer answered that by just being really strong
• 3:52
  Speaker 7: in the next game. So to me, I didn't think
• 3:55
  Speaker 7: there were any surprises at all in this selection of
• 3:57
  Speaker 7: those four guys.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I was paying attention to Jamin Davis as the
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: game started to kind of stack up, man, and especially
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: as Buffalo. I thought he was– I would say I thought.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: I was hoping he would do a lot more. He
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: just simply didn't. He really didn't turn it up like
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: Jack Sawyer did or even, you know, hell, I got
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: to say Cole Holcomb.
• 4:24
  Speaker 6: I thought he– you know, that.
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Jets preseason game and the Buffalo preseason game, He really
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: kind of brought his pads to the party.
• 4:32
  Speaker 6: Damon never really did that.
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: And I think in the Buffalo game, in the preseason
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: that is, there were moments where there was opportunities for
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: him to kind of go get it, where they just
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: let him off the leash and him to go get
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: the quarterback. And it gave him an opportunity for him
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: to display some of his pass rush ability.
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: And he was just getting chewed up on the edge one-on-one.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: And if you look at the way that group plays,
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: if they give you a one-on-one, man, you've got to win.
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: Especially in this scheme.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: And I think that was part of the reason why
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: they said, man, we don't think you kind of cut
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: the cheese here.
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: But nevertheless, man, you know, hopefully he lands somewhere else
• 5:06
  Speaker 6: and greener pastures are for him. But I'm with you, Rob.
• 5:10
  Speaker 6: I think the four that landed is the four I thought.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: And I'll piggyback on that.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: I think this was the four we kind of had
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: penciled in before we even went to this Buffalo game
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: because for all those reasons you said, Will, right, you know,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: Jamin Davis got to third gear in the first game
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: faster than anybody else. The problem was when you get
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: to week one, everybody else is a five speed. And
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: if you're only a three speed guy, you're never going
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: to get there. And that was what we saw is
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: it ratcheted up each week. He kind of faded back
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: into obscurity. And that's what you can't do. And I
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: felt like Jack rose to the occasion. He kind of
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: got stronger as his opponents got stronger. And that's what
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: you want to see. That's the competitive nature. And that's
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: really the difference between making it on the 53 and
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: being a contributor and not making it on the 53.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: It's that ability to continue to ratchet up your level
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: and not kind of fade away once the competition gets hot.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Once the moment gets big, it's like you have to
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: rise and rise like a cake in an oven. You
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: can't go flat. This isn't brownies. This is cake batter
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: we're talking about. So you have to continue to rise
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: and fluff up to the level and meet the expectation
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: that the opponent's giving you. And can you match him
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: skill for skill and fight for fight, blow for blow?
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: And that was the one thing I saw that was different,
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: you know, when we're talking about finding that fourth pass version,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: because we knew the three paid guys were going to
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: be there. It was a question of who was going
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: to be number four. And I think, you know, for
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: Julius Welshoff, a guy that's a German player, getting on
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: the practice squad I thought is a good thing because
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: he's still continuing to develop, and he's still a guy
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: who comes in, and he contributed the last couple of years.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: When called upon to be risen up from the practice
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: squad and go on the active game day roster in
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: a pinch when there's injuries, I thought he's been progressing as.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Well, and he was solid as well.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: So you look at it and you say, yeah, this
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: is it.
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: Can I throw one more thing out there, Rob?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: Just to pivot back to Jack.
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: My one complaint, because I'm not here to complain, but
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: what I would say with him, he needs more of
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: an arsenal. I think when you look at Nick, you
• 7:27
  Speaker 5: look at TJ, you look at Alex, when they're presented
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: with those pass rush opportunities, when they can go get
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: the quarterback, man, they can attack you in a myriad
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: of ways. Obviously, they all have their specialty move, their go-to,
• 7:40
  Speaker 5: so to speak. But I think as Jack continues to
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: be trustworthy, dependable, and he's given opportunities to go get it,
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: He's going to have to learn. He's going to have
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: to go to pastoral school because I think he's first
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: of all, he's all of six, four, six, five long arms.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: He fits the, he fits the bill, but guys like him, man,
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: as they get older, sometimes they get higher with their pads.
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: And I think he's going to have to develop ways
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: where he can tack multiple angles and use his length
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: to his strength. And I think he's, he's, I, when
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: I look at his game, man, I see untapped potential.
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: I would love, you know, a pass rush guy, maybe
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: Debo James, James Harris can really get him in the
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: off season and just give him a, give him a
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: one or two moves that he can add to his arsenal.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: Because if he, if he's able to get that man,
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: I think he, he, he now falls in line with
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: the rest of those guys in his unit, as far
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: as being an elite pass rusher.
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: And yeah, I know he's still growing. He's still young pups.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: I'm going to continue to give him grace, man, but
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: there's so much untapped potential with him. I think he can,
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: he can really explode the next year or two.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: Okay, so, listen, I'm with you.
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: Go ahead.
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: Please, please.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Can I ask this one question? Follow-up.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Willie, as a tackle, and evaluating Jack Sawyer like you
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: just did, what's one pass rusher you would not want
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: to see him have that could help him greatly as
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: a pass rusher that would.
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: Give you that power?
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: His stab to power. His stab to power. I was
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: waiting for it.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: I was saying long-arm stab. I was like, long-arm stab.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Would be crucial in that moment. You said it. Stab
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to power. All right, we're good, Rob. No, no, no, no.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: The tribunal has agreed.
• 9:15
  Speaker 7: We're not good because the layman here and us have
• 9:18
  Speaker 7: no idea what that means.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: So please explain what that means.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: If you– it's pretty much– if you watch– if I
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: was to give an example of somebody who's really elite
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: at doing it is Garrett– Miles Garrett. And it's pretty
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: much when you're rushing a tackle, you're usually using your
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: inside hand and you're pressing against the defender and keeping
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: your other hand out. And it's kind of like one-handed
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: bull rush, but you're really either tackling the center or
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: the tackle. or the edge of the tackle, and then
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: what happens is for our offensive linemen, because we're taught
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: to shoot with two hands, if you shoot that long
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: arm right in the middle of our two hands, you
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: get in the middle of our chest, and we're not
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: capable of knocking that down, one, you can collapse the
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: pocket by doing that, and two, you can slide off
• 10:01
  Speaker 5: into our edge and get underneath us and go for
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: an attack, or you can pretty much just flat out
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: dog us and throw us down to the floor. Jack
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: has that size and that skill set, but it has
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: to be honed in.
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: It's not something you lean on all the time, but
• 10:16
  Speaker 6: it's a throw-off, right?
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: Because Elite pass rushers, they pass rush with tempo. And
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: so if he's able to change his tempo from, all right,
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: I'm going to get off the ball real fast, attack
• 10:27
  Speaker 5: the edge. I see him wanting to kick out of
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: there and set vertical, all right, fine. When I see
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: him kick out of there fast, now I can hit
• 10:34
  Speaker 5: the speed to power with this long stab and go
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: in for either pressure his edge or escape inside and
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: get the sack.
• 10:42
  Speaker 6: So he has that.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: He just has to– He has to sharpen that, and
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: I don't know if he knows he has it, but
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: what me and Max are saying, with a guy his
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: size and with his arms and his strength, that's something
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: that can be really beneficial for.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Him. Yeah, and Cam Hayward's another guy that does that.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Cam Hayward's another guy that does that, but from the interior,
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: it doesn't move as much because you're taught to be
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: square on the inside, whereas a tackle's on an angle,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: so it's more pronounced on the edge when you get
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: to that long-arm stab or that stab to power.
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: You know, so guys, now that we're on the conversation,
• 11:18
  Speaker 7: I've got to ask you this because I'm intrigued as
• 11:22
  Speaker 7: to what a pass rusher might do.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: So, for example, I was watching some old.
• 11:27
  Speaker 7: Video of Mario Lemieux coming down the left wing against
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: Larry Robinson.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: And, of course, Mario Lemieux is the greatest to ever
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: do it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 7: But the minute Larry Robinson defending him, the minute he
• 11:38
  Speaker 7: showed him the outside and crossed his left foot over
• 11:42
  Speaker 7: his right foot to try to push and get outside–
• 11:45
  Speaker 7: because he had to respect Mario's speed, Mario just moved
• 11:47
  Speaker 7: right inside and he was gone. I mean, instantaneous. And
• 11:51
  Speaker 7: he just created so much room. So are pass rushers
• 11:57
  Speaker 7: trying to read what you're doing? Are they trying to
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: dictate to you what they're doing? Are they trying to
• 12:05
  Speaker 7: set you up now with an outside move so that
• 12:09
  Speaker 7: later when they need it, they can go inside? Or
• 12:11
  Speaker 7: is it kind of all those things you have to
• 12:13
  Speaker 7: be concerned about when you're facing a pass rusher?
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: Well, I'll jump out there.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah, go ahead.
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's all above, but I think, not to cut
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: you off, one of the best pass rushers in my
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: time playing, the guys who I felt were not only
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: efficient but also had a tempo and kind of a
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: presence to buy how they pass rush was guys like
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: Vaughn Miller, Kyle Williams, who played for the Buffalo Bills,
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: Those type of guys, particularly on the edge for me,
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: was a guy like Von Miller because when they got
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: off the ball, their feet won.
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: A good pass rusher, it doesn't matter what you throw
• 12:52
  Speaker 6: at them.
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: If I try to jump set them, if I kick vertically,
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: if I kick on a 45, or if I have
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: tight end presence and I try to show, they don't
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: stop their feet on contact. There's nothing I can throw
• 13:03
  Speaker 5: at them that's going to stop their feet or their
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: forward momentum. because they have elite hand play. They know
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: how to drop their shoulders, drop their weight, so they
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: can either get underneath me or swap me or let
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: my weight overextend and maybe go inside. Elite pass rushers
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: never stop their feet. It doesn't matter what the guard
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: or office lineman do to them. They just know how
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: to use your weight against you and work an edge.
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: Those are the elite guys. On top of that, elite
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: pass rushers always set you up, right? That's what I'm
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: trying to get. When I was talking about Jack there,
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: that is, Jack, If he gets to the point where
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: he's setting guys up, where he's like getting off, like
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: TJ does it all the time.
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: TJ's shooting off the ball, shooting off the ball, shooting
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: off the ball.
• 13:43
  Speaker 5: At that point, when the offensive tackle overcommits, because he's
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: trying to get out of there to cover him, he'll
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: slip inside, he'll spin back inside, or he'll just bull
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: rush you or stab the power and go get the quarterback.
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: He's setting you up because he knows, like, listen, I'm
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: going to get double teamed, but when I get that one-on-one,
• 14:00
  Speaker 5: I want to give you the illusion that I'm shooting
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: out of my stance.
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: And when you shoot out of there, I'm now looking
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: at a two-way attack.
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: I can either go around you or I can go
• 14:08
  Speaker 5: inside because of what you're afraid I'm going to do
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: to you, which is beat you around the edge. That's
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: what pass rushers do. They set you up. They continue
• 14:15
  Speaker 5: to give you things that you have to chew on
• 14:17
  Speaker 5: and maybe worry about. And so when me and Max
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: go to the sideline, I'm like, man, what is he
• 14:21
  Speaker 5: doing over there? What is he doing over there? Man,
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: he's getting off the ball hella fast, man. He's doing
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: all this stuff. If he keeps feeding you that and
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: I do something to kind of alter that, then you say, gotcha, boom,
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: and he'll hit you with another move. It's all about
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: the setup, the tempo, and now allowing your feet to
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: stop on contact.
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: Those will make those guys, those type of guys, really
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: hard to block.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think, you know, that's why we're always
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: taught half-man relationship, right? You always want to dictate a
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: one-way go. But like you said, when there's nerves or,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: you know, that guy has a mystique about him, you know,
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: there's like, oh, man, okay, here's what he's going to do.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Like I'll take a classic example real fast.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Dwight Freeney, right? We all know him as the spinning monster, right?
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: And so your fear is, I don't want to get
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: spun on by Dwight Freeney. And so when I went
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: to the Chargers, Dwight was there, and we were doing
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: one-on-one pass rush and working O-line, D-line stuff and pass
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: rush stuff. And I sat down and talked with him
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: because I broke this down, and I was like, this
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: is how I've always anticipated you. And so this is
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: why what I did, let me know if I'm right
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: or wrong. Now that we're teammates. And I said, if
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I saw out, if I saw your outside foot was back,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: I knew you were going to spend on three. And
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: if you're inside and if you're inside foot was back,
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: I knew you had to do it on four. And
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: he said, you're right.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Three and four.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: But the problem is you don't know if it's inside
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: or outside. I said, yep, exactly. But that's what you
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: have to do. You have to come in with a
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: mindset of when you're studying and, This is what I
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: have to be good at. Like I have to make
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: sure that whatever his favorite move is, I've got to
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: eliminate as an offensive lineman. And as a defensive lineman,
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: I have to get into that move as fast as
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: possible because then it'll be in his head the rest
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: of the game. So there's a cat and mouse chess
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: and checkers type of approach you have to take where
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: I've got to really be screwed in on both sides
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: because we're playing, we're playing, we're playing, you know, essentially
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: football chess here. And I've got to anticipate what you're
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: going to do before you do it. And I want
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: to get you into what I need you to be
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: in for me to be successful.
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: Great stuff, guys. Interesting talk for sure. So much fun.
• 16:44
  Speaker 7: And we're going to move from the pass rushing group
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: of the Steelers to what they call the off the
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: ball group of linebackers, which I think had some surprises.
• 16:54
  Speaker 7: The safety position, which I think had some surprises. The
• 16:57
  Speaker 7: cornerback position, which I think did not. But we're going
• 17:00
  Speaker 7: to get into all that when we continue in the
• 17:02
  Speaker 7: locker room here with King, Starks, and Colon here on
• 17:05
  Speaker 7: the Steelers Audio Network.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: And we thank you very much for being with us
• 17:40
  Speaker 7: as we continue our breakdown of the Steelers roster and
• 17:45
  Speaker 7: None of us surprised by the four outside linebackers that
• 17:48
  Speaker 7: were kept. Let's move to inside linebacker where, guys, I
• 17:52
  Speaker 7: felt pretty sure that Alandon Roberts was going to find
• 17:54
  Speaker 7: his way onto the roster. I thought Carson Bruner, you know,
• 17:59
  Speaker 7: showed much more at linebacker. This is just my own opinion.
• 18:03
  Speaker 7: In the preseason, Max, then obviously we didn't see him
• 18:07
  Speaker 7: play a lot of that last year. We know he
• 18:08
  Speaker 7: was a good special teams player. And, you know, new
• 18:12
  Speaker 7: head coach who said, look, I want you to be
• 18:14
  Speaker 7: productive on all four downs. He doesn't want to keep
• 18:17
  Speaker 7: somebody just because he's good on special teams, which I
• 18:20
  Speaker 7: thought might have put Carson Bruner on alert because that's
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: where he was trusted last year. He wants guys that
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: can play all four downs, and I thought Carson Bruner,
• 18:27
  Speaker 7: given the opportunity, availed himself well, and we also know
• 18:30
  Speaker 7: he's a very positive special teams player. I was surprised
• 18:34
  Speaker 7: that Alandon Roberts didn't find his way into that mix,
• 18:38
  Speaker 7: but your thoughts on what you saw from those four
• 18:40
  Speaker 7: inside linebackers during the preseason.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: And the decision to keep just the four. All right.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I'll take the lead on this one.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: This was my one when I talked about surprises that
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: was good. I just thought for sure Landy Roberts was
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: on this roster, especially the way that he played coming
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: into those games and the way that he just provided
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: such a boost of the physicality that was needed for
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: the linebacking corps. I thought that was something I was like, man,
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: he didn't make this squad. But then I think about it.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: You know, we're talking about mixing the young with the old. Well,
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: you have Patrick Queen there and Peyton Wilson is one
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: of your draft picks, one of your starters. So you
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: knew both of those guys were intact.
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: And it came back to Cole Holcomb coming back to
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: health with the last couple of years, kind of having
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: injuries and having to kind of figure things out that.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: you knew that there was a liking for him, that
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: there was going to be an ability for him to
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: be able to show his range and show his versatility.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: And I thought he also is a guy that could
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: hit as well, but not quite like E. Landon Roberts,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: who I called Hammer affectionately, because that's exactly what he did.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: He was a hammer right out the gates for whoever
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: he ran into. And he was an A-gap filler. He
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: was the Derrick Henry nemesis, right, when we're thinking about
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: matching up against our division and how we look at
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: roster construction based.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: On our division games.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I thought that was one that was just really big
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: to have his type of body type in there. But,
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: you know, Carson Bruner showed us that he can go
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: and he can hit the hit stick every once in
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: a while. And he's a young guy that showed a
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: lot of promise. Like you said, he also has a
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: special teams capability. So he does have the versatility that
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: you're looking for, but it's just also, about the way
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: that he went about his business. He's a young guy
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: on the rise, and I think that's what's key when
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: you're thinking about the versatility is how fast can this
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: guy adapt and what else can he give me in
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: the team's game? And I thought that was a big differentiator.
• 20:56
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm trying to be nice about this and more
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: politically sound.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: I just don't have it in my wheelhouse to say
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: a lot of the nice words that Max talks with.
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: with the governor's approach, me being in New York, I
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: really wanted to say unchristian-like words.
• 21:12
  Speaker 6: It doesn't make sense, right?
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: It doesn't make sense from their standpoint because he's a
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: Patrick Graham guy. Patrick Graham called this man and said, hey,
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: to Max's point, we need more of a thumper on
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: this defense. We know you have a resume with the team,
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: a well-respected one. Everywhere you've been, you've been well-respected. You've
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: impacted not only the game but others around you. We
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: continue to talk about veteran leadership. We continue to talk
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: about playing the brand of football that the Steelers are
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: accustomed to.
• 21:44
  Speaker 6: This man fits the mold.
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: And to see this man walk out the door for
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: whatever reason, I watch, listen, I understand Carson Bruner has
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: done a great job on special teams.
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: Fine.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: I understand that Cole Holcomb has been a little bit of, he's.
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: Battle-tested to some degree.
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: Fine. Both of them gentlemen, they can't wear a Landon
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: Roberts cleats.
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: They can't. I know football. I've seen football.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: What that man does, being not only a green dot linebacker,
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: but how he plays the game is a necessity for
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially this season. And when you're talking
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: about a secondary that's riddled with injuries and light, so
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: to speak, from a depth standpoint, we just alluded to
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: having a front seven that needs to be a lot
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: more dominant and a lot more elite.
• 22:30
  Speaker 6: You need a guy like that on short yardage. Go lines.
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: You need a guy like that who can rally the troops.
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: We watched that Buffalo game. He started that game. All
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: them young guys out there who were trying to make
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: a team and who were trying to figure it out
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: and maybe had some nerves, they all leaned on him.
• 22:48
  Speaker 6: They were looking at him like E-Rob got it, man.
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: And E-Rob was not only making plays, but he was
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: talking to Robert Spears, Jenning out there, and they had
• 22:55
  Speaker 5: a great communication.
• 22:57
  Speaker 6: That synergy is necessary.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: I made the statement yesterday that when you look at
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: your roster– You want to make sure that each guy
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: can not only do their job, but you can go
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: into hostile territory or hostile situation.
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: And win with him. E-Rob is one of them guys.
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: There's no reason why this man should not have a helmet.
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: It just doesn't make sense. And sure, he may not
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: be a sideline to sideline guy like maybe Bruner and
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: Holcomb or Payton or Patrick. But you can't tell me
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: he's not a phone booth guy. You can't tell me
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: when we need to stop on 31. He's the guy
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: that you throw out there to go get it done.
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: And so each guy has a superpower. His superpower, to
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: Max's point, is being a hammer in the middle of
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: that defense. And I not only scratched my head, man,
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: it made me feel some type of way. Because when
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: you start losing guys like that, man, the brand in
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: which we love and how we kind of grow the
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: Pittsburgh Steelers, that brand starts to look a little feathery, right?
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: It doesn't hold as much weight. Elder, uh, E-Rob brings substance.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: He brings, he's, he's a heavyweight man. And I, I,
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: I don't like it. I thought you don't bring a
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: guy into camp. Just nobody ever saw E-Rob as a
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: camp body. When he copped back in the building, a
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: lot of people said, okay, we got something.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: We starting to cook and you know, the lights are
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: back on in the kitchen. So I, I don't, I
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: don't like it, man. And hopefully, uh, something happens, but
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: I don't know. I think he's too good of a
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: ball player. I don't know if he makes it back
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: to us.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: Well, okay, that's good stuff. Now, let me ask one
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: more thing to follow up here.
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: Would you be, especially with the way the team is
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: constructed now, and it may not be constructed the same
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: way when they play Baltimore. Me personally, guys, I like
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: the idea, and we don't know what Patrick Graham's going
• 24:49
  Speaker 7: to do as defensive coordinator. I like the idea of
• 24:52
  Speaker 7: of that 50 front, that five-man front against Baltimore, sitting
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: in that and not letting Derrick Henry get going. Because
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: when I think of an Alandon Roberts, Max, I think
• 25:04
  Speaker 7: you were kind of alluding to this. We saw the
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: Steelers play a really vital late-season game two years ago,
• 25:12
  Speaker 7: and Vince Williams was your starting inside linebacker because he
• 25:16
  Speaker 7: was trying to bring that thump and trying to slow
• 25:18
  Speaker 7: down Derrick Henry. I think, in specific, that was a
• 25:22
  Speaker 7: It clearly seemed to be that that was what the
• 25:24
  Speaker 7: Steelers were after. I kind of like that idea of
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: a 50 front, especially if Y.A. can handle that nose
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: tackle position to maybe slow down Derrick Henry in a
• 25:33
  Speaker 7: little bit different way than we've seen perhaps the Steelers
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: attack that in the past.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean, you know, Willie intimated how I
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: felt as well.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: You know, but I had to put on– I had
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: to put on the thinking cap and try and understand why.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: I want to say this, Rob.
• 25:57
  Speaker 5: I know this will kind of go off the grip
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: a little bit. You will learn between us. Max is
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: well more versed in words and vocabulary than I am.
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: Sometimes my bluntness is the only way I can get
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: my words through. Max, he's my translator on how to
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: be a lot more professional and more style. When it
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: comes to the street, if we're in a back alley deal,
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: like when things have to happen, he would lean on
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: me to get that done.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
• 26:24
  Speaker 6: If you want to understand the dynamic of our relationship.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what makes a dynamic duo, right?
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: We understand what the strengths are and we play to
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: those strengths because I think that's one of the key things.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: And yeah, I mean, What E-Rob brought immediately, and we
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: saw this in practice, right? The first day back in practice,
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: there was no fight all camp, Rob. We had no fights.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: What happened day one when the Landon Roberts got there?
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: Fight.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: Fight.
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: Because you need that friction. You need that ability to say,
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: you know what? I don't like you, so I'm just
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: going to go punch you in the face. You know,
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: I don't like it at all, and that's what we're
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: going to do. That's my mood today. I woke up
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: and chose violence, and that's what E-Rob brings so much
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: to the table is he chooses that violence, and that's
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: what you need sometimes at linebacker. Sometimes it's good to
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: have athleticism, but sometimes I just need a baseball bat,
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: you know, and just let the baseball bat win. And
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: that's what I felt like was missing. When you think
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: of December football, especially, you've got to have that nastiness
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: to say, I will not be denied. What were we
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: missing in that Houston game? We missed that that one
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: dude that was just going to go in and just
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: cause chaos for chaos sake.
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: You need that Joker character from Batman.
• 27:47
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: He's like, he's like, I'm a guy that just wanted
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: to chase it.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Just wanted to chase a car.
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: Never knew I was going to get once I, once
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: I caught it, but I just needed that rabbit to
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: be out there in front of me. And I felt
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: like that was the biggest thing that was going to
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: be missing. And so, you know, we'll see if the
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: athleticism and the sleek play wins out, but I always
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: know when in doubt, punch a dude in the mouth.
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: Yes. That's why I like having you guys in front
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: of me. Um, When in doubt, you guys can handle that.
• 28:18
  Speaker 7: I'm right behind you guys. I just want you guys
• 28:19
  Speaker 7: to know I'm right behind you every step of the way. Well,
• 28:22
  Speaker 7: probably two steps behind you. But, yeah, I like that attitude.
• 28:26
  Speaker 7: And I think that was interesting. I think we all
• 28:29
  Speaker 7: thought a Landon Roberts was going to make the roster.
• 28:31
  Speaker 7: That was one of my biggest surprises. I think my
• 28:34
  Speaker 7: three biggest surprises were Eli Heidenreich. I think a lot
• 28:38
  Speaker 7: of people thought Travis Homer, who's on the practice squad,
• 28:40
  Speaker 7: was going to make it because of the experience and
• 28:42
  Speaker 7: that Eli could just be stashed.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: On the practice roster.
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: Keep in mind, when you stash a guy, quote-unquote stash
• 28:49
  Speaker 7: a guy, you run the risk of losing him. Another
• 28:52
  Speaker 7: team can claim him, put him on their 53-man roster.
• 28:55
  Speaker 7: So that one, although I'm delighted to see Eli there,
• 28:58
  Speaker 7: for sure. Landon Roberts and then Kevin Jobity. They left
• 29:02
  Speaker 7: the door open for Kevin Jobity to– I didn't think
• 29:05
  Speaker 7: they were going to carry seven defensive linemen.
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: And if you told.
• 29:09
  Speaker 7: Me they were going to carry seven, I probably would
• 29:11
  Speaker 7: have suspected– now I definitely would have suspected– Tomiwo was
• 29:15
  Speaker 7: going to be that seventh guy.
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: So I don't think there are any more shockers.
• 29:21
  Speaker 7: Those are the most surprising to me, guys, before we
• 29:24
  Speaker 7: get on to strong safety and corner. And, of course,
• 29:27
  Speaker 7: Landon Roberts leading the charge. Are you guys with me
• 29:30
  Speaker 7: on that, or was there another surprise move or two
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: for you guys?
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Nope I think that was it for the linebacker.
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: For inside yeah Whitman is on the practice squad yes
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: he needs that he needs he needs that seasoning so
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: but yeah no I mean it was it was all
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: a Landon and just a surprise in and of that.
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: I did yeah I think yeah I'm on par with
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: both of you guys, it's just frustrating because he, to me, is,
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: out of that unit, the toughest linebacker.
• 30:08
  Speaker 6: And Max was spot on.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: When you start having to play meaningful games in December
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: and injuries start taking place and, you know, we used
• 30:16
  Speaker 5: to have, I don't know, Rob, if you ever heard
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: this in the locker room, but there's something that I
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: got from the great Troy Palomaro.
• 30:21
  Speaker 6: You know, you never want to see your guys go
• 30:24
  Speaker 6: from gangster to grub.
• 30:26
  Speaker 5: Meaning they sit in the locker room, they talk about
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: what they're going to do, who they're going to beat up,
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: and how they're going to do it. And then when
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: the lights is on and the bullets start to feel
• 30:34
  Speaker 5: hot and that banging starts happening, the real grown men
• 30:37
  Speaker 5: start playing football, you'll see who's really about that life
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: and who's tough. And watching E-Rob, man, he has that.
• 30:47
  Speaker 6: He has that.
• 30:47
  Speaker 5: And if we're talking about this team having a place
• 30:51
  Speaker 5: at the table in January and making a meaningful run, man,
• 30:54
  Speaker 5: those type of guys you got to have on your roster.
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: Because I can tell you, we just– look how we
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: started the show.
• 31:01
  Speaker 6: We started talking about Max.
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: Banging up his knee, tearing his MCL, and pitching a
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: shutout against Julius Peppers.
• 31:10
  Speaker 6: And by the way, we didn't go to the playoffs
• 31:12
  Speaker 6: that year, right? But because he was built.
• 31:15
  Speaker 5: And because he was tough and because he understood the
• 31:17
  Speaker 5: weight of the situation and how he had to perform,
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: he showed up, right? And so– Those are the type
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: of ballplayers we need on this roster. That fits. What
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: Max did and what E-Rock can do and how he plays,
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: he fits that mold, man. And so I'm just a
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: fan of having as much guys of that caliber on
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: the roster than athletic, quick.
• 31:41
  Speaker 6: Shifty guys.
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: Because when it comes down to December and we got
• 31:44
  Speaker 5: to go to Baltimore or we got to go to
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: wherever we got to go in the cold weather, man,
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: You need guys who are about that life. We don't
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: need locker room gangsters, man. We need guys when the
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: lights is on, they're ready to go eat. And I just–
• 31:57
  Speaker 5: when you're excited about a season, you like to look
• 31:59
  Speaker 5: at your guys and be like, yep, every guy in
• 32:01
  Speaker 5: the helm is worthy of it, and every guy I
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: can trust to go eat when the rubber hits them
• 32:06
  Speaker 5: in the road.
• 32:07
  Speaker 6: So that's last out of that. I'll stop beating the
• 32:10
  Speaker 6: drum on E-Rub.
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: He's Willie Colon. We also have Max Starks. I'm Rob King.
• 32:15
  Speaker 7: We're going to be looking at the safety position, the
• 32:17
  Speaker 7: cornerback position, as we wrap up our look at the
• 32:20
  Speaker 7: Steelers 53 when we continue in the locker room here
• 32:23
  Speaker 7: on the Steelers Audio Network.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: Once again, you've got to know what time it is
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: as we get towards the end of this show.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: It's the bell lap.
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: Normally, I give a great PSA about how you need
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: to get out there and get something good today, but
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: it's the end of it. And as Rob likes to say,
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: this is the beginning of his late lunch hour so
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: that he only has to shuffle some papers for 30
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: minutes before.
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: He goes home.
• 33:17
  Speaker 6: You know.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: I feel like it's apropos that I have to just
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: have a short interjection, Rob, to our normally scheduled thing
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: and just.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: Talk about this.
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: Comfort food when you have to deal with bad news.
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: What is like a go-to thing for comfort if you
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: either have to, A, receive some bad news, like you
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: know it's on the horizon, but you're like, well, you
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: walk into a house and you know that your wife
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: is steaming. about something, and you've been out all day,
• 33:49
  Speaker 3: whether you went to the golf course in the morning
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: and you kind of had a little bit too much fun,
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: hung out with the guys a little bit too much
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: at the 19th hole, and you know she's going to
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: be pissed because she's been dealing with.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: The kids all day.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: What does that meal look like before you get home?
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: Because you know that you are going to get an earful.
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: Is there a go-to comfort meal or snack that you
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: partake in?
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: Okay, so I would say this.
• 34:18
  Speaker 7: If I am in need of something a little, you know,
• 34:25
  Speaker 7: if I'm in a bad way, I just drove 14
• 34:30
  Speaker 7: hours this weekend. I went up to visit my mom
• 34:32
  Speaker 7: in upstate New York. My wife was with me. I
• 34:34
  Speaker 7: came back. I didn't feel like making any meals. I
• 34:37
  Speaker 7: will go meal replacement. This is not healthy. I will
• 34:42
  Speaker 7: get out the tortilla chips. And I will shred just
• 34:46
  Speaker 7: an almost nauseating amount of cheese on top of those chips.
• 34:50
  Speaker 7: Throw some jalapenos on top. And that is comfort food
• 34:54
  Speaker 7: slash dinner for me. That's my go-to. But there has
• 34:59
  Speaker 7: to be just enough where the arteries start to feel
• 35:05
  Speaker 7: clogged just looking at it.
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: It has to be that amount of cheese.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: You don't want to see the chip. Absolutely not.
• 35:12
  Speaker 6: No, no, no.
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know they're there, but they're just not quite
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: visible until you dig through like a layer of cheese
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: and sour cream.
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: Got it.
• 35:21
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: Willie.
• 35:22
  Speaker 6: Yep.
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: Willie, what about you?
• 35:25
  Speaker 6: Yeah, so chips is always good. I'm going to be honest.
• 35:29
  Speaker 6: It's mint chocolate chip ice cream. There it is. Yeah.
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: When I slap two scoops in that bad boy and
• 35:36
  Speaker 5: I feel her kind of beaming. Her laser beams through
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: my head. I like to quietly sneak off with those
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: two scoops and eat in a quiet, cold corner of
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: my house and make her try to find me.
• 35:49
  Speaker 6: I can hear her, but I try to hide somewhere.
• 35:51
  Speaker 7: Everybody's like, really, where can you hide?
• 35:55
  Speaker 6: When you're in trouble, you find places.
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: I've hidden my laundry mat behind my dryer, behind the
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: washing machine, and squatted down and quietly ate two scoops
• 36:04
  Speaker 5: of ice cream in peace.
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: That's something I've done.
• 36:09
  Speaker 7: So let me just interject by saying I have a
• 36:12
  Speaker 7: hard time believing that you guys would be any good
• 36:16
  Speaker 7: at hide-and-seek.
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: I mean, come on. What are you guys hiding behind? Seriously.
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: How innovative.
• 36:26
  Speaker 4: We can become.
• 36:28
  Speaker 7: I guess when you've always been big, you find your ways, right?
• 36:31
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yes. 100%.
• 36:34
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 36:35
  Speaker 6: It's not so much hiding behind things.
• 36:36
  Speaker 5: It's about, it's about things laying on top of you
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: where you pretty much turn into camouflage.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah. That, that was what I was saying. That's the
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: biggest thing is camouflage.
• 36:45
  Speaker 7: Not necessarily being, there's a shock.
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: Hey, yeah.
• 36:50
  Speaker 7: Hey, uh, have you noticed the drummond that appeared in
• 36:53
  Speaker 7: our living room? I don't, I don't know what that's
• 36:55
  Speaker 7: doing there anyway.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: So Max, what is your grandfather clock?
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: No.
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: Um, No, but my, my go-to and this is what
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: my wife, it's, it's, it's a bean cheese and rice burrito.
• 37:12
  Speaker 6: Like that is.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: My, that's one of those like, Hey.
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: Hey, you know where from will, you know, but do
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: you remember when we came out to Arizona for the
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: national championship game, uh, for Florida and Ohio state? Remember
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: the first night we got to Arizona, we, we went
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: and we ordered like an obscene amount of Mexican food
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: at a drive-thru.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: Before getting to my place?
• 37:33
  Speaker 6: Well, of course I don't. Tequila was involved, Max.
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: It was. It was. Oh, boy.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: We decided, oh, man, we're in Arizona. Season was over. And,
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: you know, we're just going to have a blowout. And
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: we went. We literally had a blowout afterwards. But we
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: went to Filiberto's out here. And we ordered.
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: About $ 200 worth of Mexican. Now, if you're wondering, hey,
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: that doesn't seem like a big amount. When you go
• 37:59
  Speaker 3: to a place that has, like, $ 2 tacos.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: And it's only three of us. And we ordered $ 200 worth.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: That's a lot.
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: So, yeah.
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: But it's become like kind of a go-to. I'm like, man,
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: I got to have a tough conversation. Man, I know
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: I'm going to hear it when I walk in the house.
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: I stop by there and I grab one of those.
• 38:23
  Speaker 3: And as I mean, I'm just in the back of
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: my head, I'm just.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: Like, okay, whatever is going to be is going to be.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to keep on do-do-do.
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: In my head because I've had that bean cheese and
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: rice burrito. So that's like my go-to comfort if I
• 38:37
  Speaker 3: know I'm about to go get it dealt to me.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: Or if I have to go have a hard conversation.
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: It's like, okay, I could be at a better place
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: if I have a burrito.
• 38:47
  Speaker 7: I think the chips and cheese followed by the mint
• 38:49
  Speaker 7: chocolate chip ice cream. I wouldn't digest anything until next Thursday,
• 38:53
  Speaker 7: but that sounds like a pretty good.
• 38:55
  Speaker 3: We've all chosen a dairy-like product inside.
• 38:59
  Speaker 4: Of each of our choices.
• 39:02
  Speaker 7: Okay so guys let's uh and that max thank you
• 39:05
  Speaker 7: for that interlude uh into the show um had to
• 39:09
  Speaker 7: let's uh i'll tell you what let's go ahead and
• 39:12
  Speaker 7: start with the safety position because it's interesting to me
• 39:16
  Speaker 7: i i thought the corner position was pretty much chalk
• 39:18
  Speaker 7: it was pretty much i think how we expected it
• 39:20
  Speaker 7: to go i wasn't surprised there i am happy to
• 39:23
  Speaker 7: see danico slaughter on the practice squad as a next
• 39:28
  Speaker 7: guy up. I thought he showed some things during camp
• 39:31
  Speaker 7: and during the preseason games. Three safeties kept with Deshaun
• 39:36
  Speaker 7: Elliott on injured reserve designated to return. So hopefully we'll
• 39:41
  Speaker 7: see him at some point. We did get to see
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: him in the second preseason game, but the Steelers wanted
• 39:45
  Speaker 7: to pump the brakes a little bit on his return.
• 39:48
  Speaker 7: Omar Khan said yesterday No setback, but just this is
• 39:52
  Speaker 7: a serious injury he's coming off of, so let's make
• 39:56
  Speaker 7: sure he's ready for the latter part of the season. Willie,
• 40:01
  Speaker 7: I am a big Deshaun Elliott fan. I was happy
• 40:04
  Speaker 7: when they signed him. Then I got to see him
• 40:06
  Speaker 7: play every day. I thought he was a better football
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: player than I remembered seeing in Baltimore. Just one of
• 40:11
  Speaker 7: those guys that the more you see him, the more
• 40:13
  Speaker 7: you like him. I like players like that. Deshaun Elliott,
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: to me, was that kind of guy and that sort
• 40:18
  Speaker 7: of tone-setting guy that I'll be eager to see back
• 40:21
  Speaker 7: on the football field when.
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: He's healthy again. So it's him.
• 40:24
  Speaker 7: It's, uh, it's Brisker. Of course he's on the injured list,
• 40:28
  Speaker 7: but it's Brisker. And I, and I think the one surprise, uh,
• 40:32
  Speaker 7: maybe for some was Robert Spears Jennings, but I think
• 40:34
  Speaker 7: the three of us were talking about it. He, he
• 40:36
  Speaker 7: was too good to even think about trying to slip
• 40:39
  Speaker 7: onto the practice squad, in my opinion.
• 40:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think you're spot on.
• 40:45
  Speaker 5: You know, I, I, I was fortunate enough, uh, I
• 40:49
  Speaker 5: think two all seasons ago to travel to Mexico city
• 40:54
  Speaker 5: during the draft. And it was me, it was actually
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: the draft that Derek Harmon got drafted. But anyway, it
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: was me, Keanu Benton and Deshaun Elliott. And I got
• 41:01
  Speaker 5: to meet him and I got to meet both of
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: these guys and we had a great time. And so
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: I'm with you, Rob. I became a fan of him,
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: not just because I tripped in Mexico together because of
• 41:10
  Speaker 5: how he played, man. I mean, his, his ability to
• 41:13
  Speaker 5: be disruptive. He was a great defender in a box.
• 41:16
  Speaker 5: He was, He was physical fit in the gap. You know,
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: he was great downhill support, all of that. And he
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: showed a lot of ability to blitz. And so having
• 41:26
  Speaker 5: him on IR this early is troublesome from this standpoint
• 41:29
  Speaker 5: because I think his impact and what he can do
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: from his position is greatly needed. I think he's somebody
• 41:36
  Speaker 5: that kind of rallies the troops with his ability to play,
• 41:40
  Speaker 5: with his playability and his communication skills. Nevertheless, man, I
• 41:44
  Speaker 5: think the interesting thing that I kind of in reference
• 41:47
  Speaker 5: to the safety position is, you know, I was, I
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: was of the mindset that maybe Juwan Brisker was going
• 41:52
  Speaker 5: to be kind of that, that safety that covers the
• 41:55
  Speaker 5: slot position and maybe Jalen falls back, but now it's
• 41:58
  Speaker 5: in reverse. And how comfortable Brisker is doing that because
• 42:02
  Speaker 5: in Chicago, you know, he was a guy that did
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: cover the slot. He was more kind of in the
• 42:07
  Speaker 5: box and he was more kind of that guy that
• 42:09
  Speaker 5: handled that role. Now I understand that he's probably the
• 42:12
  Speaker 5: younger guy, more fresher legs because he's younger than Jalen,
• 42:16
  Speaker 5: So Jalen's more the guy who's probably in the box
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: and covering the slide and handles that. But Jaquan right
• 42:22
  Speaker 5: now is, you know, I'm interested to see how he
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: kind of falls in line with this scheme and what's
• 42:29
  Speaker 5: asked of him because he's definitely going to be needed.
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: Nevertheless, he's going to have to make plays too, especially
• 42:34
  Speaker 6: with Deshaun out.
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: Robert Spears Jennings, as you all just mentioned, man, I
• 42:38
  Speaker 5: watched the kid all preseason. The two games I covered
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: with you guys, as far as the Jets and Buffalo
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: Bills game, I wasn't just enamored with how he was
• 42:47
  Speaker 5: being able to play and make plays. I mean, this kid,
• 42:49
  Speaker 5: for as young as he is, he communicates.
• 42:51
  Speaker 6: Like, he talks.
• 42:52
  Speaker 5: Like, he's going up to linebackers. He's like, hey, man,
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: let's talk. Let's be on the same page. He's helping
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: other guys back there get in line. Like, for a
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: guy that young with the level of maturity he showed
• 43:04
  Speaker 5: out there was highly impressive. So, yeah, I love what
• 43:08
  Speaker 5: he did from a play standpoint because he did make
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: plays and he popped off the tape. But I watched
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: this guy communicate as if he was a 10-year vet,
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: and he's not. So I was really impressed with that.
• 43:18
  Speaker 5: So I thought the Steelers did a good job in
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: that department. The three they selected, I thought they selected
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: the right three.
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and just to continue to piggyback and kind of
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: go over it, I think you have to look at,
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: what the relative athletic score, the RAS score is, and
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: Robert Spears Jennings just was off the charts with it.
• 43:40
  Speaker 3: So I think when we kind of look at it
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: from that perspective, it was a no-brainer that you need
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: an athlete on the field. And when you think about
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: not only how he played in the preseason, he was
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: hitting dudes.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: He was coming up, and I.
• 43:52
  Speaker 3: Talked about this during the broadcast, spill and fill, right?
• 43:56
  Speaker 3: When you're defenders and the run game, you've got to have,
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: the big guys up front, the front seven spill to
• 44:03
  Speaker 3: the outside. And then what you need is your alley
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: support players to be fillers. And Robert Jennings was a filler,
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: you know, so he was, he was enacting the spill
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: and fill to a great degree. And that's what I
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: really loved about him was that he just brought this
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: mentality of toughness and he didn't care who he had
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: to beat up in the process.
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: He was going to run through you.
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: And so to have him there, especially when you don't
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: have Deshaun to start the season, you need a guy
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: who sets that tempo edge. And I think for a
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: young guy, he does a really good job of setting
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: that tempo and expectation for the rest of the group.
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: And then, of course, Jaquan Brisker is Jaquan Brisker. I mean,
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: he's just a hell of a guy. So you need
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: that one Batman. You need that one Robin to Batman.
• 44:47
  Speaker 3: And I felt like between him and Rayshon Jenkins, who
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: we brought in early in camp, Rayshon– Big, physical, he's
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: just an alien specimen, 6'4, you know, type of tall
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: dude that can just play flat-out ball.
• 45:01
  Speaker 6: And he's done it for a long time.
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's older.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: He's eight, yeah, he's eight, what, nine years in the league,
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: I think? This is his ninth season.
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: So you got veteran presence that you need to mix.
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: And once again, with what Omar Khan was trying to do,
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: mix the young with the old. And I thought he
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: did a good job of that, of mixing the youthfulness.
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: You got Robert Spears Jennings, who's that younger guy, And
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: then you have the older dudes who are there to
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: go ahead and help bring the young pup along. So
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: you see that being translated. Every position group, you have
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: a rookie that has a valued vet that's around them
• 45:36
  Speaker 3: or a village to really foster their growth.
• 45:40
  Speaker 7: Gentlemen, that is all we have time for today. We'll
• 45:43
  Speaker 7: take a quick look at the cornerback position tomorrow. Also
• 45:47
  Speaker 7: going to look at this roster and how it's perceived
• 45:51
  Speaker 7: around the NFL. What do people think about the Steelers roster?
• 45:55
  Speaker 7: And then we'll share our opinions about what we think
• 45:58
  Speaker 7: about the Steelers roster. That is coming up for tomorrow's show.
• 46:03
  Speaker 7: For Max Starks, for Willie Colon, I'm Rob King. The
• 46:05
  Speaker 7: three of us thank you for being with us in
• 46:07
  Speaker 7: the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.