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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Pittsburgh Steelers · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:23
Speaker 1: Welcome to opposition territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:26
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:30
Speaker 1: in the world, twelve years strong. As we are commemorating
0:34
Speaker 1: our twelve year anniversary here at the PSD podcast show
0:36
Speaker 1: here in April, we have got a fantastic guest to
0:39
Speaker 1: get into the Pittsburgh Steelers what their off season has
0:43
Speaker 1: looked like. We have from the Steel Curtain Network, our
0:47
Speaker 1: good friend Dave Schofield.
0:49
Speaker 2: How you doing, buddy, Hey, it's nice to be back.
0:51
Speaker 3: I didn't know if you'd ever want to see me again,
0:53
Speaker 3: especially after the Steelers got embarrassed by the Eagles so
0:57
Speaker 3: bad last year, and you are this this great run,
1:02
Speaker 3: this this great roster building and all that.
1:05
Speaker 2: Well, the Steelers are just kind of stuck in mediocrity,
1:08
Speaker 2: stuck in media.
1:09
Speaker 1: Look, the Steelers, I've always found to be a very
1:13
Speaker 1: interesting organization, an organization that has known from a historical standpoint, success,
1:19
Speaker 1: and it has been a challenge as of late Dave,
1:23
Speaker 1: and it's it's been a very interesting offseason as this
1:26
Speaker 1: team tries to get back to I mean, I hesitate
1:30
Speaker 1: to use the word relevancy because it's the Pittsburgh Steelers
1:33
Speaker 1: franchise quite frankly, and they have been a relevant franchise
1:37
Speaker 1: for decades and decades in the National Football League, So
1:41
Speaker 1: I don't know, Yeah, you're saying mediocrity, and I'm thinking,
1:45
Speaker 1: you know, I want to see some good football coming
1:46
Speaker 1: from this team in the future as a lover and
1:48
Speaker 1: fan of football.
1:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, well, when the when the when the
1:52
Speaker 2: team's always hovering not always, but quite often hovering around
1:56
Speaker 2: five hundred, did you know the Yeah, a lot of
1:59
Speaker 2: people talking about the non losing season streak, which does
2:03
Speaker 2: go before Mike Tomlin a little bit, but it's, you know,
2:06
Speaker 2: Mike Tomins how that the whole time. It's it's frustrating
2:11
Speaker 2: when you basically have the exact same results two seasons
2:14
Speaker 2: in a row. Yeah, ten and seven, first round exit
2:18
Speaker 2: in a game you're not all really competitive in right.
2:21
Speaker 2: It just feels like the same thing with the fan base.
2:25
Speaker 2: But it's really it's it's hard to get there constantly,
2:29
Speaker 2: and the Steelers are getting there, so it's kind of
2:32
Speaker 2: I don't know, I kind of feel like they're they're
2:35
Speaker 2: almost in like the Andy Reid era Eagles whenever it
2:39
Speaker 2: was there was so far you can go Can you
2:42
Speaker 2: really get it next level? Right? And I know that's
2:45
Speaker 2: what a lot of Steelers fans are are thinking right now.
2:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Well, we certainly want to dive into what
2:51
Speaker 1: the Steelers have done this offseason, specifically with regard to
2:55
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft here, and let's get into some draft
2:58
Speaker 1: talk here, Dave, to start us off, because, I mean,
3:01
Speaker 1: the biggest storyline coming out of the NFL Draft was
3:03
Speaker 1: that the Steelers didn't pick one of the top four
3:05
Speaker 1: quarterbacks in this draft class, but they did pick Will
3:09
Speaker 1: Howard in the sixth round. I'm wondering what are your
3:12
Speaker 1: thoughts on why they passed on quarterbacks like Jaln Milroe
3:16
Speaker 1: and Shador Sanders and took a player like Will Howard
3:20
Speaker 1: on Day three? I mean, is is the Aaron Rodgers possibility,
3:25
Speaker 1: uh maybe coming or going to come to fruition or
3:29
Speaker 1: are they waiting for their quarterback the future perhaps in
3:31
Speaker 1: next year's draft. What are your thoughts here in terms
3:34
Speaker 1: of the quarterback position what we saw at the draft
3:36
Speaker 1: as well?
3:37
Speaker 2: Dave, all right, well, that's that's a big question, it
3:40
Speaker 2: really is. First of all, it's like they didn't take
3:42
Speaker 2: a top four quarterback according to whom you have all.
3:45
Speaker 2: There you go, ask that question, there you go. But
3:48
Speaker 2: when it came when it came to everything with the
3:50
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers and the quarterback we we have a source
3:53
Speaker 2: inside the building that told us about three weeks before
3:57
Speaker 2: the draft, Hey, the Aaron Rodgers stuff is not going
4:00
Speaker 2: to affect the Steelers' draft philosophy this year at all.
4:04
Speaker 2: We're like, Okay, maybe that's that's true. Then Jerry Dulac,
4:07
Speaker 2: the ultimate Steelers insider, went on the Rich Aison Show
4:11
Speaker 2: the next week and said the exact same thing that
4:13
Speaker 2: we were told Mike tom Letanomark Kahn leading up to
4:17
Speaker 2: the draft and their press conference said, it's not affecting
4:20
Speaker 2: what we are doing in the draft. And you know
4:22
Speaker 2: what they drafted exactly what I would have expected if
4:26
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers would have told them he was coming before
4:29
Speaker 2: the draft, or if he wasn't coming before the draft,
4:32
Speaker 2: that the Steelers have kind of they made the determination
4:36
Speaker 2: that their next that's shit. I mean, I don't know
4:38
Speaker 2: if you want to use the word franchise or or
4:41
Speaker 2: long term starting quarterback quarterback of the future. Yes, was
4:45
Speaker 2: not going to be available in this draft. You were
4:48
Speaker 2: not going to have a quarterback you were drafting in
4:51
Speaker 2: this draft class at pick twenty one, that was going
4:54
Speaker 2: to be your starter for twenty twenty five and then
4:56
Speaker 2: hopefully beyond. That's not what this quarterback class was. That
5:01
Speaker 2: there was very questionable of any of the quarterbacks that
5:05
Speaker 2: doesn't have a last name of ward being someone who's
5:08
Speaker 2: going to be starting for the majority of this season.
5:12
Speaker 2: So that was their philosophy all along. So then what
5:16
Speaker 2: were you ultimately wanting if you were taking a quarterback
5:19
Speaker 2: in this draft, And to me, I said it for
5:22
Speaker 2: a long time coming into it, is that you're you're
5:25
Speaker 2: looking for, like a long term backup is maybe what
5:28
Speaker 2: you could get here. I kept comparing it to Steeler
5:32
Speaker 2: great Landry Jones. I don't know how familiar Philly fans
5:35
Speaker 2: would be with Landry Jones. He was. He was with
5:38
Speaker 2: the Steelers for two years after being drafted in the
5:40
Speaker 2: four rounds before fourth round, before he even played. Then
5:43
Speaker 2: he was around for another three years. He was the
5:45
Speaker 2: he was the backup to Big Ben a long time
5:48
Speaker 2: in there. So I'm like, if you're taking a quarterback
5:51
Speaker 2: in the fourth round, that's kind of what you want,
5:54
Speaker 2: someone who could be a reliable backup could step in
5:57
Speaker 2: hopefully when you a game or two if they have to.
6:00
Speaker 2: The Steelers waiting all the way to the sixth round.
6:02
Speaker 2: I'm like, now, if they even get that from from
6:05
Speaker 2: Will Howard, that would be great. But I think that
6:09
Speaker 2: that screams Will Howard right there, that someone who could
6:13
Speaker 2: be there if you need a spot start, and if
6:15
Speaker 2: he becomes more than that, great, but he's not expected
6:18
Speaker 2: to be. So the Steelers have been. I mean they
6:21
Speaker 2: are already they're lined up to potentially get four compensatory
6:25
Speaker 2: draft picks next year the draft. You take that that
6:28
Speaker 2: firepower and they have all their picks. Otherwise, the draft
6:33
Speaker 2: is in Pittsburgh. They're supposed to be a much better
6:37
Speaker 2: quarterback class than this year. Whether it is or not,
6:39
Speaker 2: I'm not getting into that. I don't break that down,
6:42
Speaker 2: but I just know that this class didn't have starters
6:47
Speaker 2: in the way that people think they were there. I
6:50
Speaker 2: feel like people like Jackson Dart filled the quarterback vacuum
6:53
Speaker 2: that there weren't the quarterbacks that were really there, so
6:56
Speaker 2: they kind of fill the vacuum for of well, we
7:00
Speaker 2: got to talk about quarterback. Who else were going to
7:01
Speaker 2: talk about? Right right? So that's why the Steelers. That
7:05
Speaker 2: was their philosophy going in and they stuck to it.
7:08
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how good this quarterback class is going
7:10
Speaker 1: to be based on what you were just saying. I
7:12
Speaker 1: think it's a fantastic point. And as we continue to
7:16
Speaker 1: talk about and look at the Steelers draft, Dave, with
7:20
Speaker 1: the Steelers' first four picks of this draft, three of
7:23
Speaker 1: them were defensive players and two of them were defensive
7:27
Speaker 1: line talent to help them out in the trenches. And
7:31
Speaker 1: even with a linebacker Jack Sawyer, he's likely going to
7:35
Speaker 1: be a defensive player the Steelers defensive coordinator is going
7:38
Speaker 1: to use to rush opposing quarterbacks at some point down
7:42
Speaker 1: the road. So I'm wondering, do you like this building
7:46
Speaker 1: through the trenches type of philosophy that you know, I
7:48
Speaker 1: think we saw with this Steelers draft. And what are
7:51
Speaker 1: your thoughts on these overall picks, these top picks defensively
7:55
Speaker 1: that the Steelers took just recently.
7:58
Speaker 2: Well, that's all is what's interesting, And I'm sure you
8:02
Speaker 2: find this in Philadelphia as well, when you look at
8:04
Speaker 2: what the national narrative about your team versus the local narrative. Yes, yes,
8:09
Speaker 2: the local narrative for Pittsburgh. It was not quarterback. Okay,
8:12
Speaker 2: it really was not quarterback for the draft. I mean,
8:16
Speaker 2: my goodness, placing a wager for the Steelers to take
8:18
Speaker 2: a defensive lineman in the first round of the draft
8:21
Speaker 2: was the easiest money I ever made, right, because I
8:23
Speaker 2: knew that was coming.
8:24
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, I thought, yeah, Meanwhile, I thought I was convinced
8:27
Speaker 1: because one of my really close buddies is a Steelers fan.
8:30
Speaker 1: I was convinced Shaudor Sanders was going to the Steelers.
8:33
Speaker 1: Boy was I wrong.
8:35
Speaker 2: I was. I was hoping that he wasn't at twenty one.
8:37
Speaker 2: I didn't want any quarterback at twenty one. Yeah, the
8:40
Speaker 2: Steelers made that mistake with Kenny Pickett a couple of
8:42
Speaker 2: years ago. Yep, you all were familiar with him and
8:45
Speaker 2: that it's just what if you don't Some people say, well,
8:49
Speaker 2: you're never going to find your quarterback if you don't
8:50
Speaker 2: take a shot and try to find them. Yes, but
8:53
Speaker 2: you could also hold your franchise back even more if
8:55
Speaker 2: you if you take a take a bad shot right
8:58
Speaker 2: right and don't and don't find a good there's two differ.
9:02
Speaker 2: Philosophis back to the defense. Yes, the Steelers had not
9:05
Speaker 2: been drafting heavily on defense for quite some time. This
9:09
Speaker 2: is the first time they took a defensive player in
9:12
Speaker 2: the first round since twenty nineteen. This is also why
9:15
Speaker 2: the Steelers defense is one of the most expensive, if
9:18
Speaker 2: not the most expensive, in the NFL, is because they're
9:22
Speaker 2: having to pay players on second contracts. Unfortunately, a lot
9:26
Speaker 2: of those first round draft picks, the only one Cam
9:28
Speaker 2: Hayward and TJ. Watta the on the ones that are
9:30
Speaker 2: left there still with the Steelers. So you're talking twenty
9:32
Speaker 2: seventeen and twenty eleven. They've been having to pay for
9:35
Speaker 2: free agents to come in. A lot of their draft
9:38
Speaker 2: picks are on the offensive side of the ball over
9:41
Speaker 2: the last several years, so you're not spending a lot
9:44
Speaker 2: of money there. You're having to spend a lot of
9:45
Speaker 2: money on defense. The pendulum needed to swing back the
9:48
Speaker 2: other way to try to balance it out. But the
9:51
Speaker 2: fact that they invest in the trenches is no surprise
9:54
Speaker 2: to me and should be no surprise to you because
9:57
Speaker 2: the person who sets the Steelers draft board is none
10:01
Speaker 2: other than Andy Widel, and you all were very familiar
10:04
Speaker 2: with him. He came to the Steelers from Philadelphia, and
10:08
Speaker 2: what have the Steelers done in the three drafts since
10:10
Speaker 2: he's been the assistant GM first round offensive line, offensive line,
10:14
Speaker 2: defensive line. That's the philosophy, and they needed that. They
10:19
Speaker 2: let go of Lariogunjobi, who not that he was a
10:21
Speaker 2: terrible player, but he was not performing up to his contract,
10:26
Speaker 2: so they let him go. They didn't add anyone else
10:28
Speaker 2: in free agency, and you could tell, hey, they're kind
10:31
Speaker 2: of looking at this draft class as being very very
10:34
Speaker 2: deep with quality defensive linemen that you had an idea
10:37
Speaker 2: that that's what they were going to do. I felt
10:40
Speaker 2: that if Derek Harmon was there, he was going to
10:42
Speaker 2: be the pick all along.
10:44
Speaker 3: I was.
10:45
Speaker 2: I was also a little smitt with Kenneth Grant, a
10:47
Speaker 2: little bit different guy, but Harmon is more of a
10:50
Speaker 2: more of like a Cam Hayward clone. He's got two
10:53
Speaker 2: years left on his contract and I don't see him
10:55
Speaker 2: playing beyond there. You've got to start looking to that
10:58
Speaker 2: as well. But then you add why y'all blow in
11:00
Speaker 2: the fifth round as a big, massive nose tackle. This
11:04
Speaker 2: is a team that got gashed mainly in just two
11:08
Speaker 2: games last year, but they were both against the Baltimore Ravens.
11:12
Speaker 2: They were both at the end of the season one
11:13
Speaker 2: was in the playoffs. Other than that, I mean, the
11:16
Speaker 2: Steelers overall still ranked sixth against the run in twenty
11:20
Speaker 2: twenty four. So people had this idea all the Steelers
11:22
Speaker 2: were so bad against the run. They really weren't so,
11:27
Speaker 2: but they had a problem, like a lot of people
11:30
Speaker 2: were having a problem with the Baltimore Ravens. They faced
11:32
Speaker 2: them twice. Even if somebody like, why y'all black, you
11:36
Speaker 2: just say, hey, you're not going to play very many
11:38
Speaker 2: snaps otherwise, but against Baltimore, be ready to go because
11:42
Speaker 2: because you're going to be on the field a lot.
11:44
Speaker 2: If that's what it takes, it's fine. Even Jack Sawyer,
11:48
Speaker 2: he's the compliment to the Steelers reserve outside linebacker Nick Herbig,
11:53
Speaker 2: who great against great with a pass rush, not so
11:57
Speaker 2: good against the run. Sawyer he's more of a run
12:00
Speaker 2: stopping edge rushing area that can also rush the passer.
12:04
Speaker 2: So there you can see a lot of emphasis in
12:06
Speaker 2: saying got to sure up that run defense going.
12:08
Speaker 1: Forward, and a lot of versatility there for sure, and
12:11
Speaker 1: building through the trenches I think is something we're going
12:14
Speaker 1: to see more in the future from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
12:17
Speaker 1: Really in a lot of ways, taking a page out
12:19
Speaker 1: of the Philadelphia Eagles Buckly. Yeah, Dave, let everybody know
12:23
Speaker 1: where they can find you on the interwebs, out there
12:26
Speaker 1: on social media as well. Let folks know where they
12:29
Speaker 1: can listen to you as well, because you guys are
12:31
Speaker 1: doing great, great workover at the Steel Curtain Network, my friend.
12:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, you can follow me personally on x at
12:38
Speaker 2: st l R super fan Dad, but you're going to
12:41
Speaker 2: get some stuff there. If you really want to follow,
12:43
Speaker 2: you want to go to either Steel Curtain Network dot com.
12:46
Speaker 2: That's our website. You know, I'm writing a lot there.
12:49
Speaker 2: Myself and Jeff Hartman are the guys that are that
12:51
Speaker 2: are I mean, we have multiple writers, but you'll see
12:54
Speaker 2: our names with anyone where. The guys, you know, the
12:57
Speaker 2: editors of the site. Also Steel Curtain Network on YouTube.
13:00
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13:04
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13:07
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13:21
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13:24
Speaker 2: multiple Philadelphia Eagles podcasts on there as well, So there's
13:28
Speaker 2: there's lots of stuff that you can do there, but
13:31
Speaker 2: really just steal curtetwork dot com. You can't go wrong
13:34
Speaker 2: by going there.
13:34
Speaker 1: Fantastic And if you are new to following and listening
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Speaker 1: to the Philadelphia Sports Table, you can find us on
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14:01
Speaker 1: You can search Jeff Warren, search brick Pack. You're everywhere, exactly,
14:05
Speaker 1: We literally are everywhere, and it gets a little cumbersome
14:09
Speaker 1: at times. So as we're moving along with the conversation
14:12
Speaker 1: here Dave from an offensive perspective, now, you know, we
14:16
Speaker 1: talked about the quarterback position, and now this is a
14:19
Speaker 1: team that has dk Metcalf. It's going to be catching
14:22
Speaker 1: balls from whichever quarterback is going to be the starter.
14:25
Speaker 1: They also took running back Caleb Johnson in third round
14:29
Speaker 1: as well. Even though we are months before the start
14:33
Speaker 1: of the regular season, Dave, I'm wondering what kind of
14:36
Speaker 1: identity do you think this Steelers offense is going to
14:40
Speaker 1: have this year? Because I think it's a team an
14:42
Speaker 1: offense that is looking and looking for and searching for
14:45
Speaker 1: that identity.
14:45
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts? Yeah, I agree with that. This
14:49
Speaker 2: will be the second year of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Now,
14:52
Speaker 2: a lot of people think of him of his time
14:54
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, but really, if you want to see Arthur
14:56
Speaker 2: Smith's offense, you want to think about when he was
14:59
Speaker 2: a coordinator in ten see right, And that's and when
15:02
Speaker 2: it comes to quarterback, what kind of quarterback does Arthur
15:05
Speaker 2: Smith have? It's a guy you know that backfoot, hits
15:08
Speaker 2: the ground, rip it over the middle. That's his kind
15:10
Speaker 2: of thing. And that's that's why Will Howard ended up
15:13
Speaker 2: being the best selection for the Steelers. Even if it's
15:18
Speaker 2: only going to ever be a backup role, that would
15:19
Speaker 2: still be good whether it's Aaron Rodgers or whether it's
15:22
Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph. And believe it or not, there's a large
15:24
Speaker 2: portion of the Steelers fan base that they would just
15:27
Speaker 2: prefer to roll it with Mason Rudolph this year. I
15:30
Speaker 2: know he didn't have the best year in Tennessee last year,
15:32
Speaker 2: but he came in and saved the season a couple
15:35
Speaker 2: of years ago and and made it made one mister
15:39
Speaker 2: Kenneth Shane Pickett expendable, but before before he moved on.
15:44
Speaker 2: But they didn't have those kind of quarterbacks with the
15:47
Speaker 2: Steelers last year. I think that's what they're they're kind
15:49
Speaker 2: of do they If it's Aaron Rodgers, I'm kind of
15:53
Speaker 2: indifferent to all that. I don't care who's the name
15:55
Speaker 2: on the back of the jersey for the quarterback. I'm
15:57
Speaker 2: gonna I'm gonna want him to succeed no matter what.
16:00
Speaker 2: But the issue was you'll want to be able to
16:04
Speaker 2: run that outside zone, which that was not Najie Harris's Forte.
16:08
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson whole different story, whole different story. But I
16:13
Speaker 2: didn't even necessarily need the Steelers to draft a running
16:17
Speaker 2: back high. I was very happy with Jalen Warren and
16:20
Speaker 2: then the Steelers added Kenneth gain Well and I liked.
16:24
Speaker 2: I like that combination. But now you add a Caleb
16:27
Speaker 2: Johnson who can be he can be your third and
16:29
Speaker 2: one running back. The Steelers didn't have that before, so
16:32
Speaker 2: they found it in the draft and they didn't have
16:34
Speaker 2: to go looking in free agency when the draft was over.
16:37
Speaker 2: I didn't expect Caleb Johnson to be there in the
16:39
Speaker 2: third round for the Steelers, so that just really brought
16:42
Speaker 2: more to their offense. But unless you have that constant
16:47
Speaker 2: threat in the passing game, the Steelers didn't have a
16:50
Speaker 2: wide receiver to last year, and I mean, my goodness
16:52
Speaker 2: when they played the Eagles, they didn't even have a
16:54
Speaker 2: wide receiver one because George Pickens was out. So a
16:57
Speaker 2: lot of people said, oh, well, well, don't trade George
17:00
Speaker 2: Pickens now that they have DK Metcalf. They're they're the
17:04
Speaker 2: same player there. They do too much of the same stuff.
17:06
Speaker 2: I'm like, do you mean to tell me if the
17:08
Speaker 2: Steelers had two George Pickens, they wouldn't put them on
17:10
Speaker 2: the field, right right? Well, if they had two DK
17:12
Speaker 2: Metcas it wouldn't put on the field. What's the problem
17:14
Speaker 2: having both of them? You know, you got to figure
17:16
Speaker 2: it out, you know, with the X and the Y
17:18
Speaker 2: and all that all that other wide receivery stuff. But
17:23
Speaker 2: I feel that they have more of a threat there
17:25
Speaker 2: and you gotta find that identity and the trenches is
17:30
Speaker 2: where it is, and that's also where we'll probably give
17:33
Speaker 2: it this little bit more that there's there are some
17:35
Speaker 2: questions there with the Pittsburgh.
17:36
Speaker 1: Seeld Absolutely yeah, if they're if they're you know, we
17:39
Speaker 1: definitely are gonna have some Eagles fans who are gonna
17:41
Speaker 1: be watching this and listening to this. And I can
17:44
Speaker 1: tell you right now, there's a lot of Eagles Nations
17:47
Speaker 1: that are are glad Kenny Gainwell is on the Steelers
17:50
Speaker 1: now here at this point, Dave, to be honest with you,
17:53
Speaker 1: there are there are a lot of Eagles fans out there.
17:55
Speaker 1: I always respected the guy. I really did, I really did.
17:58
Speaker 1: But there are a lot with Eagles Nation they're saying, Okay,
18:01
Speaker 1: we've had our shriff Kenny gain Well at this point.
18:04
Speaker 1: But as we're moving along with the conversation here, I'm wondering,
18:08
Speaker 1: you know, because again we're talking about identity with this team,
18:11
Speaker 1: specifically with offense, you know, the last topic that we
18:13
Speaker 1: dove into, but when it comes to the team overall
18:18
Speaker 1: looking to make that next level jump hopefully, I'm wondering
18:21
Speaker 1: what what has been the best part of this offseason
18:25
Speaker 1: thus far for the Steelers I know it's a general question,
18:28
Speaker 1: but what are your thoughts.
18:30
Speaker 2: I mean, we we just mentioned it. It's it's the
18:32
Speaker 2: DK Metcalf. Yeah, it really is adding that receiver. I
18:37
Speaker 2: mean the Steelers don't don't they don't pay guys that
18:42
Speaker 2: weren't with them, right what they like they did with
18:44
Speaker 2: dk me right. You know, some some people are like,
18:46
Speaker 2: all the Steelers, they got to get out of the rut.
18:49
Speaker 2: They're just doing the same old thing, samle thing. The
18:50
Speaker 2: DK Metcalf move was not the typical Steelers move. I mean,
18:54
Speaker 2: you bring them in five year deal. Yeah, uh at
18:58
Speaker 2: the I mean if you look at the average per year,
19:01
Speaker 2: he's basically the highest paid guy on the Steelers and
19:05
Speaker 2: has never played a snap for him. That's I think
19:08
Speaker 2: that'll change here by the time the season gets around
19:10
Speaker 2: with with TJ. Watton an extension there. So that's not
19:15
Speaker 2: typical for them, but that's is there. That's been their
19:19
Speaker 2: biggest thing of the offseason because it was such a
19:23
Speaker 2: glaring hole throughout the twenty twenty four season and people
19:26
Speaker 2: want to say, well, quarterback, quarterback, who's going to throw
19:28
Speaker 2: these guys the ball? You really want to know if
19:30
Speaker 2: the quarterback to take you forward was not available in
19:35
Speaker 2: free agency or the draft this year. Then it is
19:38
Speaker 2: what it is. All you can do is try to
19:41
Speaker 2: quote unquote quarterback proof your team. YEA yeah, And honestly,
19:45
Speaker 2: look at the Philadelphia Eagles. I trust me, I'm not
19:48
Speaker 2: going to I'm not knocking Jalen Hurts at all. But
19:51
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts does not have to play out of his
19:54
Speaker 2: mind for the Philadelphia Eagles to win a game. Yes, now,
19:58
Speaker 2: I think he played out of his mind in the
20:00
Speaker 2: super Bowl and that's why it was a blowout. Right. So,
20:03
Speaker 2: so you're talking about as long as Jalen Hurts was
20:06
Speaker 2: just out there getting the job done, he had enough
20:09
Speaker 2: of everything else for the Eagles to constantly win games,
20:13
Speaker 2: you know, not bringing in the Andy Whidell philosophy the Steelers,
20:18
Speaker 2: that's just what they need to try to build towards. Now.
20:20
Speaker 2: If you don't have the guy, you have to prepare
20:23
Speaker 2: your team to be ready to be the best it
20:25
Speaker 2: can be when you get the guy.
20:26
Speaker 1: Absolutely, folks, we are again talking to Dave Schofield here
20:32
Speaker 1: so very much in tune with what is going on
20:34
Speaker 1: with the Pittsburgh Steelers and specifically what's happening around the NFL.
20:38
Speaker 1: We are going to take a quick break just to
20:40
Speaker 1: pay some bills. We're going to be back in just
20:42
Speaker 1: a bit with more Steelers stock. All right, we are
20:47
Speaker 1: back and again talking to Dave Schofield. Great, great conversation
20:51
Speaker 1: about this Philadelphia, Philadelphia, dear lord, Pittsburgh Steelers Steelmania, Yes, exactly,
20:57
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania team here. What's going on with the Pittsburgh Steelers
21:02
Speaker 1: during the course of this offseason? So just a couple
21:04
Speaker 1: more topics to wanted to dive into with you, Dave.
21:07
Speaker 1: You know, even after this NFL draft, some of these players,
21:11
Speaker 1: as we know, they're not going to be starters. I
21:12
Speaker 1: mean you essentially were saying that earlier in our conversation.
21:15
Speaker 1: They're not gonna be starters right out of the gate.
21:17
Speaker 1: So with that being said, two part question for you
21:21
Speaker 1: here in terms of this team heading into this twenty
21:24
Speaker 1: twenty five regular season. What is the biggest strength of
21:28
Speaker 1: this Steelers team heading into the season. And then we'll
21:31
Speaker 1: get into the biggest weakness of this team as well.
21:34
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the strengths. What are those from your
21:37
Speaker 1: vantage point here?
21:38
Speaker 2: All right, Well, the strength of the Pittsburgh Steelers is
21:41
Speaker 2: still their defense and honestly, sometimes that makes fans very nervous.
21:48
Speaker 2: This is a modern NFL. You have to be able
21:50
Speaker 2: to score well, you know what, you also have to
21:52
Speaker 2: be able to stop teams right right, because just in
21:56
Speaker 2: our own division of the AFC North, you have the
21:59
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengals. They could score like crazy. They're the number
22:01
Speaker 2: one passing offense. What are the top offenses in the league.
22:05
Speaker 2: Couldn't even make the playoffs because the defense was just
22:08
Speaker 2: so bad. So there's a trick to this. I mean,
22:13
Speaker 2: you all were able to take out the Kansas City
22:15
Speaker 2: Chiefs and the Super Bowl. What the Chiefs have been
22:18
Speaker 2: just as focused or if not more focused on defense
22:21
Speaker 2: as they have been on offense. They can let Patrick
22:23
Speaker 2: Mahomes do his thing, but it's really keeping their opponents
22:27
Speaker 2: under constantly. Under twenty seven points is really not on average,
22:31
Speaker 2: but in every game is what's been allowing them to
22:34
Speaker 2: do things they haven't even had to. The Chiefs last
22:37
Speaker 2: year barely had to score over thirty points, but they
22:39
Speaker 2: didn't need to, So it's still defense. When it comes
22:42
Speaker 2: to the Steelers, it makes fans nervous because it's not
22:45
Speaker 2: the modern NFL. But it's not the flashy NFL is
22:49
Speaker 2: what it is. If you can have that defense that
22:54
Speaker 2: can keep that team from scoring, even if it's just
22:57
Speaker 2: field goals instead of touchdowns, that that's what it's going
23:01
Speaker 2: to be. And that's constantly been the strength of Pittsburgh Steelers.
23:05
Speaker 2: Where it gets tricky is when you look at that
23:07
Speaker 2: defense and you see, hey, you've got an aging Cam Hayward,
23:11
Speaker 2: even though he just played out of his mind last
23:13
Speaker 2: season he did. You've got an aging TJ. Watts who's
23:17
Speaker 2: still good for another big contract. But he kind of
23:20
Speaker 2: fizzled as the season went on. Last year. A lot
23:23
Speaker 2: of that was he was dinged up. He was hurt,
23:26
Speaker 2: not in you know, not one hundred percent, but as
23:29
Speaker 2: he was going on. And the problem with defense is
23:33
Speaker 2: you can play lights out defense for for fifty snaps
23:38
Speaker 2: and on snap fifty one boom, touchdown. It's done. Yeah,
23:41
Speaker 2: you know, you have to do it play in and
23:43
Speaker 2: play out. So sometimes that that makes a little bit nervous,
23:46
Speaker 2: but it's still going to be the defense. And the
23:49
Speaker 2: Steelers actually, as much as you know you want to
23:52
Speaker 2: you want to fortify the run up front, they were
23:55
Speaker 2: a little bit lacking with their past defense last year. Yeah,
23:58
Speaker 2: so they bring in Darius another Philadelphia Eagle, only on
24:02
Speaker 2: a one year deal, but as some of their younger
24:05
Speaker 2: guys are coming along and hopefully that can you know,
24:09
Speaker 2: another aging guy, how much does he have left in
24:11
Speaker 2: the tank. So there's there's some question marks with the
24:15
Speaker 2: defense based on age, but it really is set up
24:18
Speaker 2: that it's the strength of the team. If the defense
24:21
Speaker 2: can keep it rolling and make the offense not have
24:23
Speaker 2: to work as hard, be able to run the ball more,
24:27
Speaker 2: that seems like it's going to be the philosophy. Whether
24:29
Speaker 2: or not it'll work the success is a whole difference.
24:31
Speaker 1: But it's interesting what you said about the modern day
24:34
Speaker 1: NFL and the expectations of what the modern day NFL
24:37
Speaker 1: is Dave, because I think the modern day NFL is changing.
24:40
Speaker 1: We have seen so much more of an emphasis on
24:42
Speaker 1: the defense over the years. Defense is being able to
24:47
Speaker 1: adapt and adapt very well to a passing league. We
24:52
Speaker 1: are seeing a lot of changes in this regard, seeing
24:54
Speaker 1: a lot of changes to the way the quarterback has
24:57
Speaker 1: to move in and out of the pocket, seeing the
25:00
Speaker 1: rushing attack becoming even more prevalent than it was possibly
25:05
Speaker 1: five years ago. The modern day NFL is absolutely changing
25:08
Speaker 1: and it's a good segue into what the biggest weakness
25:12
Speaker 1: is on this Steelers team, because there's certainly some weaknesses.
25:15
Speaker 1: There's weaknesses with every NFL team out there, all thirty
25:18
Speaker 1: two teams. But when it comes to the Steelers, what
25:21
Speaker 1: do you see as their biggest weakness as the modern
25:23
Speaker 1: day NFL is really really changing here, what are your thoughts?
25:27
Speaker 2: Well, I mentioned one with the with the defenses that
25:30
Speaker 2: you know, concerns over an aging defense at times, but
25:33
Speaker 2: really the bigger one that's that's the weakness and to me,
25:39
Speaker 2: it's going to define the Steelers season and it is
25:42
Speaker 2: uncertainty on the offensive line, or maybe I should say
25:45
Speaker 2: unprovenness because with the Steelers offensive line this year, Yes,
25:51
Speaker 2: they've invested heavily in the offensive line early and often
25:56
Speaker 2: in the NFL draft, not this year because they had
25:58
Speaker 2: done the previous two. They've got two first round draft
26:01
Speaker 2: picks up from twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four
26:05
Speaker 2: as their tackle tackles. They've got a second round draft
26:08
Speaker 2: pick from last year in their center, They've got a
26:10
Speaker 2: fourth round draft pick guard, and then they have the
26:13
Speaker 2: veteran former Eagle Isaac sam Malu.
26:16
Speaker 1: Yep.
26:16
Speaker 2: That's that's their offensive line now. So the question is
26:20
Speaker 2: how much does Sam Malu have left and how and
26:23
Speaker 2: are all these young guys going to work out? Because
26:26
Speaker 2: we know every draft pick ultimately doesn't work and when
26:30
Speaker 2: all these guys are coming into it together where you're
26:34
Speaker 2: like where it's kind of a make or break. I mean,
26:36
Speaker 2: Broderick Jones is the biggest make or break year of
26:38
Speaker 2: anyone for the Steelers entering year three. We knew he
26:41
Speaker 2: was a raw prospect Steelers fans did whenever he was drafted,
26:45
Speaker 2: So it's going to take a little bit of time.
26:48
Speaker 2: So this is a big year for him. Then your
26:51
Speaker 2: first round draft pick last year only plays one game
26:53
Speaker 2: before he's out for the season. How's he going to
26:56
Speaker 2: be coming back? So there's there's question marks there. Could
27:01
Speaker 2: it work out really great? Could this line come together
27:04
Speaker 2: and really really blow people out of the water. They could,
27:09
Speaker 2: or it could be an absolute failure, Like you're if
27:12
Speaker 2: you have two guys that just can't get it done,
27:15
Speaker 2: then you're just going to be scrambling all season. So
27:19
Speaker 2: it's the weakness of it isn't that they are definitely weak,
27:23
Speaker 2: it's that it's so uncertain going into the season.
27:26
Speaker 1: Again, folks talking to Dave Schofield from the Steel Curtain
27:29
Speaker 1: Network steel Curtain Network dot com. Great great content that
27:33
Speaker 1: they are putting up and with their podcasts as well.
27:38
Speaker 1: Please please head on over there, great great content. Like
27:41
Speaker 1: I said, close us out here, Dave, I do tend
27:46
Speaker 1: to wonder about Mike Tomlin and how long he still
27:51
Speaker 1: has as the head coach of this Steelers team, longest
27:54
Speaker 1: tenured head coach in the National Football League. He's won
27:57
Speaker 1: one hundred and ninety one games, lost one hundred eighteen,
28:01
Speaker 1: He's tied twice. That's his record one hundred and ninety one,
28:05
Speaker 1: one hundred and eighteen and two as a head coach
28:08
Speaker 1: in this league, and that's a winning percentage of six seventeen.
28:13
Speaker 1: But things have been challenging, certainly for him and the
28:16
Speaker 1: organization in recent years. I guess again to close this out,
28:20
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on what this upcoming season means
28:23
Speaker 1: to Mike Tomlin as the head coach and what happens
28:27
Speaker 1: to his overall tenure in terms of this this upcoming season.
28:31
Speaker 2: Well, a lot of people would to think that Mike
28:33
Speaker 2: Tomlin could be on the hot seat coming into things,
28:35
Speaker 2: but honestly, the Steelers didn't have much change with their
28:39
Speaker 2: coaching staff this past season because the way ownership works
28:43
Speaker 2: now currently, if you don't have an expiring contract, they're
28:47
Speaker 2: not letting you go. Yeah yeah, yeah when they When
28:50
Speaker 2: the Steelers fired Matt Canada midseason, all the last year
28:53
Speaker 2: of his deal, that was a really big deal because
28:56
Speaker 2: they simply have the philosophy of they won't pay a
28:59
Speaker 2: coach not coach that they won't fire them though, they
29:03
Speaker 2: just won't renew their contract. So Mike Tomlin's got two
29:07
Speaker 2: more years left on his contracts. I'm pretty sure it's
29:10
Speaker 2: too If it's not two, it's three, But I'm pretty
29:12
Speaker 2: sure it's two. So he's not not going anywhere as
29:16
Speaker 2: long as he wants to be around for the next
29:19
Speaker 2: couple of seasons. Seems to be the way that aren't Rooney.
29:22
Speaker 2: The second is doing things some Steeler fans have really
29:26
Speaker 2: they're they're souring to the message and everything of Mike Tomlin.
29:30
Speaker 2: The fan base is that doesn't mean that the team is. Uh,
29:33
Speaker 2: it's crazy. When I don't know how much you put
29:36
Speaker 2: into those NFLPA grades that they put out there and everything.
29:40
Speaker 2: I mean, I I don't really, but when the Steelers
29:43
Speaker 2: head coach gets an A and the owner gets an
29:46
Speaker 2: fin is telling you what the players are thinking about
29:51
Speaker 2: how things are going within the organization. So Mike, I
29:55
Speaker 2: get that there's a large fan base that's that is
29:59
Speaker 2: that would like to see the Steelers move on, and
30:01
Speaker 2: if they do, I still see it as an Andy
30:04
Speaker 2: Reid type situation in Philly. Then it just gets to
30:07
Speaker 2: a point where you've been there a long time, they've
30:09
Speaker 2: had you a long time. You're just kind of and
30:12
Speaker 2: you could both see success by moving on. The Eagles
30:16
Speaker 2: saw more success after read Reid saw more success after
30:19
Speaker 2: the Eagles. Sometimes that could be it, But I don't
30:22
Speaker 2: know that that's where Mike Tomlin is, and I think
30:24
Speaker 2: he's going to coach as long as he wants to,
30:27
Speaker 2: at least for a couple more seasons and maybe even beyond.
30:31
Speaker 2: So it's a really tough topic to approach with Steelers
30:36
Speaker 2: Nation because if you want to. For some people, if
30:39
Speaker 2: you say anything positive about Mike Tomlin, you're just a
30:43
Speaker 2: Tomlin apologist. If you see anything negative about Mike Tomlin,
30:46
Speaker 2: you're a Tomlin ater. And I get frustrated because I
30:49
Speaker 2: want to say what he does well and what he doesn't.
30:52
Speaker 2: I want to have honest conversations, and it's really tough
30:55
Speaker 2: to do that sometimes because it's really become polarizing with that.
31:00
Speaker 2: But I don't see him going anywhere for a while,
31:02
Speaker 2: so I don't even see it being worth the discussion.
31:06
Speaker 2: You know, teams are like, well till they get rid
31:08
Speaker 2: of it, not team. Sorry, fans are like, till they
31:10
Speaker 2: get rid of the coach, nothing's going to change. Well,
31:12
Speaker 2: they're not getting rid of the coach, so find something
31:14
Speaker 2: else to talk about. They're not going into this season
31:18
Speaker 2: without Mike Tomlin.
31:19
Speaker 1: There's a lot of a lot of gray at the
31:21
Speaker 1: end of the day.
31:22
Speaker 2: So to me, I want to look for ways to
31:24
Speaker 2: improve this team that are that are founded in reality.
31:28
Speaker 2: And the reality is Mike Tomlin is that is the
31:30
Speaker 2: head coach this year. So thinking that the only thing
31:33
Speaker 2: that's going to change the Steelers is is is by
31:37
Speaker 2: changing the coach, you're You're you're just gonna get more frustrated.
31:40
Speaker 2: This team is not a coaching staff away from a
31:44
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, so so you can replace the whole staff
31:47
Speaker 2: and it's not like that's going to be the issue.
31:50
Speaker 2: They had other things they need to address. So it's
31:55
Speaker 2: sometimes you only want to worry about one variable at
31:57
Speaker 2: a time. There. They did retain some coaches that I
32:00
Speaker 2: didn't think that they should have, but once again, they
32:03
Speaker 2: had years left on their contract and that's why they
32:05
Speaker 2: did it. But Mike Tomlin shines more this time of
32:09
Speaker 2: year than he does throughout the season. But one thing
32:12
Speaker 2: you got to give him is my goodness, when's the
32:14
Speaker 2: last time the Steelers have been the under of their
32:17
Speaker 2: projected win total. It's been since. It hasn't happened since
32:21
Speaker 2: the year Ben Roethlisberger got hurt in the second game
32:26
Speaker 2: of the season. Yeah, they're constantly doing better than expected.
32:31
Speaker 2: So you've got and when you look at what's expected,
32:34
Speaker 2: you generally look at the roster, so there's at least
32:36
Speaker 2: something going on there that's keeping the Steelers winning games.
32:40
Speaker 2: And ultimately, I want to feel like the Steelers can
32:43
Speaker 2: win every game they go into and that's what it's
32:45
Speaker 2: really all about, every season and every week.
32:47
Speaker 1: Well, it was a great conversation again, folks. Dave Schofield
32:51
Speaker 1: from the Steel Curtain Network steel Curtain Network dot com,
32:55
Speaker 1: Dave Buddy, it was great talking to you. Always enjoy
32:58
Speaker 1: our conversations and I hope to talk to you at
33:01
Speaker 1: some of the point down the road, my friend, come
33:03
Speaker 1: back and join us. I'd love to have you.
33:05
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I'll come back any time. Unfortunately,
33:08
Speaker 2: it seems like the only way we would be speaking
33:10
Speaker 2: in this season would be is if it's an all
33:13
Speaker 2: Pennsylvania super Bowl, right right, You'll have reasonable have reasonable
33:20
Speaker 2: expectations of that. Steelers fans are like, yeah, let's just
33:23
Speaker 2: get a playoff with that on the.
33:26
Speaker 1: Well, regardless of that, I would love to have you
33:28
Speaker 1: back on the show to talk more Steelers, talk more NFL.
33:32
Speaker 1: Always a pleasure, my friend, appreciate you coming on. That's
33:35
Speaker 1: gonna do it for us here on Opposition Territory this week.
33:39
Speaker 1: Please share our podcast with your friends and family members
33:42
Speaker 1: who are Philly sports fans or sports fans in general.
33:45
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33:47
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33:52
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34:09
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