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Draft Recap · Steelers Country Weekly

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  Speaker 1: Today on Steeler's Country Weekly, we break down the Steelers
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five draft. We're gonna talk about the George
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Pickens trade, and then we'll address the Steelers quarterback situation
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  Speaker 1: and how everything is going to play out from here,
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  Speaker 1: at least how we.
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  Speaker 2: Think it will.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Nick de Tulio and as always am joined by
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  Speaker 1: the world famous accountant Eric vanmin showden.
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  Speaker 2: Eric, how's it going tonight?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 3: Doing pretty well? Uh? Weather it's turned around.
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  Speaker 4: Uh it's been a little rainy, but sunshine coming through
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  Speaker 4: and it looks bright. I can't really say that that's
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  Speaker 4: how I feel about the Steelers future though.
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  Speaker 2: Man, you just do not beat around the bush. You
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  Speaker 2: just get right into it. No more small talk. Just
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  Speaker 2: I don't feel bright about the Steelers future. Well, I'm
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  Speaker 2: doing great. Thanks for asking you know.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I think that's let's just talk about it then,
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  Speaker 1: because my question to you is gonna be I know
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  Speaker 1: that you had some pretty strong negative reactions during draft weekend,
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  Speaker 1: and now that we're sitting here, what are we? A
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  Speaker 1: week and a half after that, I was wondering if
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  Speaker 1: your thoughts had had mellowed it all, if you if
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  Speaker 1: your opinions had changed with the benefit of time, but
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  Speaker 1: it sounds like overall they really haven't that much.
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  Speaker 4: Actually it's gotten worse because I told you about the draft.
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  Speaker 4: I was like, where were the offensive playmakers or we're
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  Speaker 4: looking for and well, we just got rid of arguably
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  Speaker 4: our largest playmaker. So the foresight does not seem to
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  Speaker 4: be there. But maybe I'm just not seeing the writing.
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  Speaker 3: On the wall.
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  Speaker 1: So let's actually talk about the trade first, because that,
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  Speaker 1: like you said, that could change how we might view
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  Speaker 1: what that happened during the draft.
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  Speaker 2: So let's address the trade.
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  Speaker 1: The Steelers traded George Pickens, who was on the last
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  Speaker 1: year of his rookie contract, to the Cowboys, and they
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  Speaker 1: get a twenty twenty six third round pick and a
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven fifth round pick.
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  Speaker 2: The well, hold on, let me make sure I'm looking
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  Speaker 2: at this right.
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  Speaker 1: Sorry, Yes, the Steelers get a twenty twenty six third
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  Speaker 1: round on a twenty twenty seven fifth round pick, but
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  Speaker 1: the Steelers also sent one of their own twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: seven six round picks to the Cowboys, so.
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  Speaker 2: They get a.
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  Speaker 1: Mid and late round, well two mid round picks for
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  Speaker 1: George Pickens, and they had to give up obviously, Pickens
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  Speaker 1: himself and another pick in a draft or in the
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  Speaker 1: draft two years from now. So I think that there
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  Speaker 1: were rumors that this could happen when they acquired DK
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  Speaker 1: Metcalf from the Seahawks.
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  Speaker 2: When you talk about.
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  Speaker 1: Just physical traits, they're very similar receivers DK Metcalf and
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  Speaker 1: George Pickens, And a lot of the criticism, if you
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  Speaker 1: want to call it criticism or really just the commentary
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  Speaker 1: was well, who's going to throw these guys the ball?
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  Speaker 1: But and we've seen it develop here now obviously who's
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  Speaker 1: going to throw George Pickens the ball isn't the Steelers
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  Speaker 1: problem anymore. It's going to be Dak Prescott. So I
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  Speaker 1: know you've got strong feelings about this as well. Why
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  Speaker 1: don't you go ahead and just walk us through your thoughts.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean to be honest, Actually I don't mind
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  Speaker 4: trading Pickens.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's the matter in which Okay, so.
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  Speaker 5: We got a third rounder and we swapped.
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  Speaker 3: You know, late rounders.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, Well, let's just disregard that we got a third
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  Speaker 4: round pick for them. Yeah, and if we look at
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  Speaker 4: history of wide receivers that were kind of wearing out
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  Speaker 4: their welcome, that's about on par.
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  Speaker 5: We got a third rounder and a fifth rounder.
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  Speaker 4: For Brown say I think was a third rounder with
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  Speaker 4: late round.
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  Speaker 3: Swaps, and we got a second rounder for Chase.
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  Speaker 4: Claypool, which was highway robbery last year of his deal.
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  Speaker 4: I don't see us giving two wide receiver one money.
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  Speaker 4: And let's not kid ourselves. Pickens would look for at
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  Speaker 4: least twenty five.
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  Speaker 3: Million on his next deal.
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  Speaker 4: Whether you think it's warranted or not, he likely will
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  Speaker 4: get it based on his skill set.
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  Speaker 2: Someone will yeah.
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  Speaker 4: And yeah, Jacksonville's gonna go after so it always due,
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  Speaker 4: and so so I don't mind recouping an asset for that.
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  Speaker 4: I think it's just weird. Why didn't that draft compensation
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  Speaker 4: come for this draft when it happened before During the draft,
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  Speaker 4: and I guess, you know, we'll be a little bit
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  Speaker 4: leading into the draft. Why didn't we get anyone to
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  Speaker 4: kind of fill out the wide receiver room Because the
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  Speaker 4: whole reason why we got dj DK Metcalf was because
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  Speaker 4: we didn't have enough playmakers to help when Pickens was
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  Speaker 4: either fading.
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  Speaker 3: Or not on the field.
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  Speaker 4: You know, so we don't really have good depth in
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  Speaker 4: the wide receiver room, so.
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  Speaker 5: You know, I.
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  Speaker 4: So again, I think my synopsis of the trade is
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  Speaker 4: I like the asset. I think it's helpful for if
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  Speaker 4: our idea is to go get a quarterback, an extra
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  Speaker 4: third round pick in the pocket will help us if
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  Speaker 4: we need to kind of move up to get the
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  Speaker 4: person we want. I just don't quite understand how they're
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  Speaker 4: trying to build this offense.
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  Speaker 3: And why did.
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  Speaker 4: We swap dk Metcalf, who, for all intents and purposes,
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  Speaker 4: is the same players.
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  Speaker 5: Pickens And we gave a.
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  Speaker 4: Second rounder and one hundred and thirty two million in
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  Speaker 4: new money for him.
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  Speaker 2: And so he's older, and he's older.
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  Speaker 4: But he's still got the same on the field pantrums
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  Speaker 4: if you would us.
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  Speaker 3: So, you know what, I think, that's just where I'm
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  Speaker 3: I'm worried.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the more I look at this and
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  Speaker 1: the drafts coupled together, it's.
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  Speaker 2: Almost like they're planning for the long.
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  Speaker 1: Term and whatever happens this year happens, right, Like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: maybe maybe Aaron Rodgers comes, maybe he doesn't. Either way,
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  Speaker 1: he's not going to be here in you know, three years, right,
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  Speaker 1: maybe not even two years.
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  Speaker 2: It might just be this year.
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  Speaker 1: So if he comes and we do better than we
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  Speaker 1: expect to do, then hey, we can trade up next year,
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  Speaker 1: and if he doesn't come and we, you know, have
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  Speaker 1: like a top five pick in the draft, then great,
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  Speaker 1: we have a top five pick and we get to
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  Speaker 1: keep all those draft picks we have too. So that,
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  Speaker 1: coupled with the parallels I see with Antonio Brown's downfall,
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  Speaker 1: might just be.
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  Speaker 2: It might be that too.
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  Speaker 1: It might just be maybe there was more drama that
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  Speaker 1: we weren't privy to and it was just time to
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  Speaker 1: cut ties. But yeah, it would have been interesting, I
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  Speaker 1: think to have Aaron Rodgers come in and have guys
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  Speaker 1: both George Pickens and DK Metcalf to throw the ball to.
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  Speaker 1: I think that would have been something pretty neat to see.
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  Speaker 1: And frankly, if it's not Aaron Rodgers and it's Mason Rudolph,
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  Speaker 1: if we're trying to win, then it'd be nice for
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  Speaker 1: him to have as many weapons as possible. I'm not, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not predicting the Super Bowl with Mason, but I
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  Speaker 1: just think, whoever you're gonna put under center, you'd want to.
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  Speaker 2: Not set up to fail.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, all that, all that.
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  Speaker 1: Just leads me to believe that this season, while not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily tanking, they're just like, well, well.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
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  Speaker 1: We're we're all in on twenty twenty six and from there.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: But with that in mind, though, I guess it's just
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  Speaker 4: why go get out? Why go get dk?
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  Speaker 3: You know, why why not like go get a guy.
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  Speaker 4: On a rookie deal and so that like, you know,
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  Speaker 4: move up for Amica or whatever his name was, the
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  Speaker 4: wide receiver from Ohio State.
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  Speaker 3: Why not go get him?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that that we would have picked him.
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  Speaker 4: He went to before, but you know, it didn't work out,
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  Speaker 4: and that's fine. But I just don't see the rock
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  Speaker 4: like the long term roster stiled out, and maybe there's
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  Speaker 4: just something that we don't know about. I did hear
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  Speaker 4: that George Pickens like didn't like a quarterback options and
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  Speaker 4: maybe he thought they would materialize with you know, like
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  Speaker 4: maybe he thought it would materialize with like Rogers. Maybe
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  Speaker 4: he thought like maybe they thought that they were gonna
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  Speaker 4: get someone different in the draft process and it didn't
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  Speaker 4: work out.
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  Speaker 3: But it feels like.
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  Speaker 4: These were all signs that they knew about and just
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  Speaker 4: kind of ignored.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it's not surprising that any receiver on the Steelers
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't be happy with the quarterback situation the past three years.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, just none are as dramatic as George Pickens.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: I guess the only thing I can say is comparing
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  Speaker 1: DK and any other receiver they could have gotten in
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  Speaker 1: a trade to anyone that could have gotten in the draft,
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  Speaker 1: is there is something to be said for a known
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  Speaker 1: commodity versus an unknown commodity.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, and.
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  Speaker 1: Beyond that, maybe they wanted to get him locked up
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  Speaker 1: now before they.
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  Speaker 2: Get the quarterback next year.
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  Speaker 1: If that is the plan, and that's just one thing
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  Speaker 1: they don't have to worry about now. If they had
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  Speaker 1: kept Pickens, they would have had to re sign him.
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  Speaker 1: And frankly, I think he's more hot headed than DK.
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  Speaker 1: I know DK's got stuff too, but I would think
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  Speaker 1: he's more reliable than George Pickens.
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  Speaker 2: So again, it's a lot of what ifs and speculations.
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  Speaker 1: But but yeah, that's that's just how it goes sometimes.
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  Speaker 1: And maybe there is stuff that we don't know about,
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  Speaker 1: but I guess.
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  Speaker 2: We'll find out.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's get into the draft, I guess. Then let
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  Speaker 1: me pull up the recap here.
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  Speaker 3: So are you overall happy or just not happy with
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  Speaker 3: the tree.
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  Speaker 1: I'm ambivalent, you know, I don't really feel one way
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  Speaker 1: or the other about it. It's really have to contextualize
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: it too, when you don't know what the plan is
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  Speaker 1: or if there's stuff going on like behind closed doors
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  Speaker 1: for this season not just for the great beyond.
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  Speaker 2: Like we think it is.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So I'm honestly, I am just trying to tell
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  Speaker 1: myself now to get ready because this year is not
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to say it doesn't matter, but I
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  Speaker 1: think this is just the setup to twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 2: So we might just have to wait it out.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and to that degree, I'm happy, like I'm that's.
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  Speaker 5: What I want.
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  Speaker 4: But yeah, I think maybe the broader group wants us to.
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  Speaker 4: There's there's conflicting.
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  Speaker 3: Ideology, right, like are we going for it all? Or
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  Speaker 3: are we kind of tanking a little bit taking a
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  Speaker 3: year off to push a little bit over reset?
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I guess we wait and see, right, Nothing
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  Speaker 1: nothing else to do in this point except wait for
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  Speaker 1: four more months. Yeah all right, Well let's let's get
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  Speaker 1: into the draft here. The draft this year was held
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  Speaker 1: in Green Bay. Next year it is going to be
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  Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. So maybe we should plan a Steelers Country
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  Speaker 1: Weekly meet up and attend the draft to report live
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  Speaker 1: on the ground.
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  Speaker 2: But here's what I'll do.
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  Speaker 1: I'll just read the picks one at a time, and
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  Speaker 1: then we'll go back and go through them one by
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  Speaker 1: one given our breakdown, and then we'll give our our
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  Speaker 1: grades at the end here, Okay, all right? Round one,
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  Speaker 1: pick twenty one, Derek Harmon, defensive tackle, Oregon. Round three,
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  Speaker 1: pick eighty three Caleb Johnson.
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  Speaker 2: Running back out of Iowa.
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  Speaker 1: Round four, pick one twenty three, Jack Sawyer, edge out
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  Speaker 1: of Ohio State. Round five, pick one sixty four yea
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  Speaker 1: a black defensive line Iowa. Pick one five, Will Howard, quarterback,
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State. Round seven, pick two twenty six Carson Brunner,
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  Speaker 1: linebacker out of Washington, And round seven pick two twenty
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  Speaker 1: nine Dante Kent, cornerback out of Central Michigan. So round one,
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  Speaker 1: pick twenty one to start, Derek Harmon, defensive tackle.
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  Speaker 2: Out of Oregon.
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  Speaker 1: I will give myself a shout out here because on
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  Speaker 1: our pre draft show, this is who I said the
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  Speaker 1: Steelers were gonna pick. I actually don't mind the pick itself.
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  Speaker 2: I do.
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  Speaker 1: I think it was decent, pretty good value, and the
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  Speaker 1: defensive line did struggle, particularly toward the tail end of
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  Speaker 1: the year the run game was the run defense.
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  Speaker 2: Was atrocious, So I do think that I.
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  Speaker 1: Do think the defensive line needed to be addressed. And
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  Speaker 1: of course there's the heartbreaking story here where his mom
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  Speaker 1: was on life support. He went and told her and
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: she passed away that that evening, so just a just
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: a terrible well, I guess I would call it bittersweet.
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  Speaker 1: It's definitely sad that his mother passed away. A terrible situation,
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  Speaker 1: but at least he got to tell her that he
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: made his dreams come true. He got drafted by the Steelers.
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  Speaker 1: When it comes to football, I think the guy is
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  Speaker 1: a big run stopper. I think he's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a big, big help to the team on the defensive line.
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  Speaker 1: And frankly, we talked quite a bit last year where
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: there were games where it's like, you know, you're supposed
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: to be the number one defense in.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: The league, what are you guys doing out there?
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  Speaker 1: And I think that starting in the trenches is a
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  Speaker 1: good place to go if the plan is long term
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: success here.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, I saw that.
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  Speaker 3: He I think fled defensive tackles and pressures. I think
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  Speaker 3: thirty four, which is great.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, and you could tell from the draft defensive
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: tackle is that's a premium position.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think it had been until Aaron Donald had
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: showed what a disruptive middle interior alignment can do.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean, I think in a silo, he's.
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  Speaker 5: A He seems like a good pick. I don't necessarily
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: you know.
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  Speaker 3: My guy I wanted.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: He went two picks earlier, and you know, maybe they
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: kind of reshuffled the order.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: Maybe this was the guy that they wanted.
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: I guess I don't necessarily have a strong feeling about.
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  Speaker 3: Him one way or another.
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  Speaker 5: I don't love it, I don't hate it.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, let's move on. Then, Steelers did not
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: have a second round pick. That's what they gave up
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: to a choir dk Metcalf from the Seahawks. So in
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: round three, pick eighty three, they took running back Caleb
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Johnson out of Iowa. You know, I don't mind the
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: guy as a running back. I think he's a great
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: running back. But I just and I know the Steelers
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: needed a running back. I just didn't really want them
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  Speaker 1: to take one that early. Now, to be fair, I
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: should probably be more familiar with who was available at
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: the time. I'd like to think they could have gotten
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: another position of greater need there, but.
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  Speaker 2: You know, already having Jalen Warren in.
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  Speaker 1: The backfield, I just didn't think that we needed to
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: spend a third round pick on the running back here.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of depth at the running
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: back position in the draft that could have been addressed later.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: So nothing against the running back against Caleb Johnson himself.
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  Speaker 1: I think he'll fit in fine, and I think he'll
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  Speaker 1: compliment Jalen Warren well, But that's just not the position
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I would have gone with here.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, And I guess were my viewpoint of this
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: guy is. And I agree with the running back assessment again,
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: I thought wide receiver with DK and George Pickens and
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: Tow would have been the smarter choice, just because.
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  Speaker 3: You know, Roman Wilson was injured.
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  Speaker 4: We don't know what we got with him.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Calvin Austin really hasn't shown much, and.
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  Speaker 4: To me, I think from a playmakers perspective, we needed
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: speed and that's something that we thoroughly lacked and this
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: guy doesn't have it. He has four to six speed
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: up running back that's not very good.
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  Speaker 3: So maybe you know he plays faster than he was.
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  Speaker 4: I think Le'Veon was a four or five five or
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  Speaker 4: something like that too, But I just don't know if
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  Speaker 4: it's going to translate. He just seems like a hard
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: nose Nase Harris two point zero for me, and to me,
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  Speaker 4: that's that didn't work. So I guess I wasn't thrilled
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: about that.
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  Speaker 5: Pick.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, understood all right?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: Round four picked one twenty three, Jack Sawyer and Edge
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: out of Ohio State. So Edge was something that probably
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: needed to be addressed here. And maybe this is I
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: don't know shallow of me, but I remember watching the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Ohio State Michigan game this past year and there was
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: that scene where, you know, Michigan tried to plant the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: flag and everything, and it didn't go well because it's
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: a turf field you can't plant a flag, but they
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: still tried, and Jack Sawyer was the one who ran
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: up and grabbed the flag and got rid of it
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: and got a huge cheer from the crowd. And on
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: one hand, I'm like, that's great. I like that kind
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: of fight, and this is this is in the moment,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: this is having no context that he's going to be
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: a Steeler.
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  Speaker 2: That's great.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: He showed that kind of fight and then I'm like,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: why didn't you show that fight during the game itself?
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: Like, oh, well no, Actually, I'll give Jack story of this.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Did you watch that game?
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the interception in.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: The red zone he made, I think a couple other big.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: Plays in that game.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Okay, they lost.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: They lost that game in spite of his efforts. That
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: dude was a monster in that game. And I thought
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: he was a monster in the college football playoff.
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: There's a home run. If there's a home run from.
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: Our draft, is this guy. This is Steelers draft. This
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: is to me, this could be Cam Hayward.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: Okay, I love him.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: I think that is he going to be a constant
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: double digit sack machine? Probably not, But you want a
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: tone setter on the defensive line. I think wonderful value
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: it four uh And I think that like he's got
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: all the intangibles that you want. So I love it
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: all right, Jack, that's my favorite of the whole entire draft.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: You and me just cannot be further apart. Well, I
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: will on the draft itself. Here's the deal.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: I will, I will.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I will take back my criticism and admit that it
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: was shallow of me.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I I trust you.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: If you're saying that they lost that game in spite
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: of his despite his efforts, and I do I do
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: recall against Texas he had the it was a scoop
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: and score, right, it wasn't a pick six right the
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: yeah okay, so yeah, he had the big scoop and
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: score and obviously they went on and won the national championship.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: So let's let's just pretend that the stealing the flatback
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: from Michigan was the catalyst that started the entire championship
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: run for Ohio State. And it's his, it's his. Uh,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: it's because of him they won the championship. So I'll
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: accept it now. So no, I think that the edge
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: was a position they needed. If he's as tough as
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: you are making him out to be, I will take
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: your word for it. I'm not quite as excited as you,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: but I do understand people saying that it was a
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: good value and that he's one of those Steeler guys
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: that we seem to talk about every draft.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm all right, Well he's got the Eric Vanman
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: Schotten stamp of approval.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: There, you got.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: All right, Round five, pick one sixty four Steelers took
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: ya Yah Black defensive line out of Iowa. This is
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: one where I feel like we double dipped at the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: defensive line.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Again. It's not that it's bad to do that. We didn't.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: I mean we we certainly need help on the defensive line,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: so I think this is a solid pick. At this
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: point in the draft, though, I think everyone is like,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: when are they going to take a quarterback? But instead
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: they just they went back and double dipped at the
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: defensive line. And at this point, well, honestly, the only.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: The Steelers only took one well I'm sorry, I'm losing
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: my mind.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Here, other than the eventual quarterback they did take, they
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: only took one offensive player. So here we're sitting in
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: round five, we go defensive line again, and I'm starting
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: to wonder what's going on. I'm sure you're questioning what's
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: going on to But ultimately they end up with Ya
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: Ya Black. And when you look at the tapes, this
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: is another guy who's gonna be good.
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: At stopping the run.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: He has a big presence, and once again, it seems
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: just like they're shoring up the line for the next
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: four to five years, or trying to at least.
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So I guess my worry is though, is okay?
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: So first round, we got defensive tackle Jack Sawyer on
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: the edge. We have Cameron Hayward.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: Signed to an extension, which I know he's not gonna
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: last forever, but at least probably two years at this point.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: And I do recognize that this guy was probably a
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: better value than where he was picked at, but I
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: just was thinking we already had Benton.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: Benton has shown.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: Promise were we run a three four still, right, but
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: how many defensive tackles can we run on the field?
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: So I I like, I'm I'm in favor of the player,
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: I just from a compensation compensation or composition of the team,
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: I just didn't quite understand. And you know, I know
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: we we got rid of on Tavius Adams, so you
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: know we already made a roster spot for him. But yeah,
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: it just kind of felt like it was a luxury
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: pick for something that we didn't have the luxury to
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: give up because.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: We we are we're thin at playmakers.
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: And.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: You know, again, maybe I'm not seeing what we're seeing.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: But and like you said, the run defense was sour
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: at the end of last year, so maybe is their
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: way to address it?
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: All right?
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Around six pick the Steelers finally take Will Howard quarterback
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: out of Ohio State. So it sounds like you followed
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Ohio State closer than I did this year. But is
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: it safe to say that they got the two leaders
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: on each side of Ohio State's ball.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say it's fair.
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: And I mean he even at not at Ohio State,
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: at Kansas State, he had a very good career.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: You know, he kept some pretty prominent you know.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: Highest state always gets four or five star quarterbacks.
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: He kept him at Bay and obviously won a championship.
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: So I think that, you know, when you kind of
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: keep that into an idea.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: Then you understand that, like maybe he's got.
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: Something that I think is more of a developmental backup quarterback,
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: which at sixth round, that's totally fine. And uh, you know,
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: I think Mason was a two year deal. Maybe they'll
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: structure it to be a one year deal and he'll
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: be our backup quarterback. Maybe they thought he could learn
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: underneath Rogers and you know.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: Maybe we don't have to rush a rookie.
• 25:51
  Speaker 5: Quarterback out there next you know.
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: Two years from now.
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: But so I was fine with it, but I think
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: if you're gonna take a swing, at the quarterback position
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: this draft.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: You know, I think there were other players that we
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: could have maybe taken the swing at, but it would
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: have also.
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: Probably came at a higher.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: Cost or they just were not sold on Shoudore.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: So you know, I don't know Shor was open at
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: the ya yah pick, but.
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: You know he was.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Still there and you had him in your first round
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: draft pick. So I think if he would have got
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: him in the fourth or fifth round, then we wouldn't
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: have had a turn a sixth rounder into it.
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I think that.
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: It's a fine pick.
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: But you know, I people saying that he's asking for
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: the playbook the very next day and how that's a
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: great sign for things to come.
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, he is a sixth round quarterback. I mean,
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: I sure hope the guy wants to go. Okay, coolameok,
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: you can start learning how he can get it.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: Well, now, there's no guarantees you're going to make the
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: roster a six round draft.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Pick, and he's got to be practical too and realize,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: like you said, a six round draft pick. But there's
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: arguably not a better team that he could have been
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: picked to, because let's assume Aaron Rodgers doesn't come he
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: he could be the number two guy, and if he
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: could one guy, I don't think he'll start the year
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: over Mason Rudolph. But if Mason starts to stumble, or
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: if it's clear that the team is not going to
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: make the playoffs, it's kind of just like the end
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: of the regular season in MLB where you start bringing
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: up your your minor leaguers just to get him the experience.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Same thing with him.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: He will he will have an opportunity here that he
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: most likely would not have had on almost any other team.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: So to your point, yeah, I darn well hope he's
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: asking for the playbooks and he can get or work.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: So Yeah, but now, I mean overall, it is a
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: decent pick.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for what it is, I'm happy with it. If
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: you're not gonna go with.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Shador, which clearly they weren't, and I don't know what
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: their thoughts were on the other quarterbacks that went in
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: the first round, or.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Or like Dylan Gabriel kind of quarterbacks.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: But if you're going to get a quarterback in round
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: six and you told me before the draft it was
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: gonna be Will Howard, I'd be like, all right, nothing
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: to complain about there. Yeah, all right, a round seven
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: pick two twenty six, they took Carson Brunner, linebacker out
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: of Washington. I don't I don't have anything on Carson, sorry, Carson.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Steelers, just it's the seventh round.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: They probably just took what they felt was the best
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: value on the board at that point, and it's the Steelers.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: So you can ever have enough linebackers?
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I mean, honestly, between the next two picks,
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: I mean, these are special teams players that luckily will
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: bake the team if they show promise on kickoffs.
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: That's about how.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Do so for their seventh round pick after that, though,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: at two twenty nine, Dante Kent, a quarterback cornerback out.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Of Central Michigan.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: He was the only player that they drafted not out
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: of the Big ten, and I think he'll have a
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: higher chance of seeing the field just because cornerback was
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: already a position of need, if you will, and a
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: guy they drafted in the seventh round previously, Corey Trice,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: was actually.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: Able to see the field a little bit.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: But he's just got some injuries, so he may see
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: the field a little bit more on defense. But to
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: your point, I think that'll be more out of just
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: a necessity than they think he should be a starter,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: especially a pickture.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: But yeah, if you're.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Gonna if you've got that pick and there's a decent
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: position that you kind of need, you might as.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Well take the highest value there.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: So yeah, all right, I'm a little hesitant to do this.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: But what grade are you given the draft?
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: I'll give it a C minus. So that comes.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: From I think that the players are fine, But I
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: just don't think that this is a draft that we're
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: gonna look back and say this set up the team
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: for the next four or five years.
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: I mean, it's just.
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: I don't think that there's a single player that is
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: going to be an all Pro. I don't think that
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: there's a player that helps us win now.
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: And I don't think that we.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: Addressed what we need to address, which was we don't
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: have a path for quarterback and we didn't get the
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: playmakers that we sorely needed for an offense that if
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: we remember last year, we were getting close to like
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: can we get seventeen points, which is something that we've
• 31:22
  Speaker 4: entered in plenty of times with like a Devlin Hodges, Russell,
• 31:30
  Speaker 4: Will Wilson, any of these type of players where it's
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: just like, it doesn't matter what your quarterback is, we
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: don't have enough invested in the offense, and we didn't
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: do it again this time.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: All Right, I am going to be a little more
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: optimistic than you.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna give him a B minus.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Really, the Caleb Johnson pick and the ya Ya Black
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: pick bring it down a bit for me. You know,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I compare this to like a meat and potatoes draft,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: because you're not going to get anything fancy.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: You're not going to get a star, which you kind
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: of alluded to.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: You're not going to get big playmakers like a stud
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: wide receiver.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Not that they couldn't do that if they wanted to,
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: but they didn't.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: So I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt,
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: and I think the plan here is to just continue
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: putting pieces in and then we'll see what happens next year,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: whether they go out and get a quarterback in round
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: one and then like a stud wide receiver in round
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: two or someone in the off season. I have to
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: think that that's the plan, because otherwise you're right, I
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: don't see.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: If that's not the plan, then I've got no clue
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: what's going on here.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: That's the only thing I can really hold on too
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: right now is that they're just putting pieces in so
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: that they can get a quarterback and hope and feel
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: like they've got as good of a team around him
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: as they possibly can for him to walk into whoever
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: that may be.
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and that might be the case, Like there might
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: we might have like put.
• 33:16
  Speaker 5: Together some of the pieces. I think the third rounder we're.
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: Gonna let's call it draft, let's call chickens a draft
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: day trade. Yeah, then yeah, maybe maybe there is some
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: line of sight. But I think right now I'm trying
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: to see the pours through the trees, and I'm having
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: a hard time.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Seeing it me too.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: So there you go. C minus from Eric, a B
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: minus from me. That puts him in about a C.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: C plus range from the both of us. So there
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: we have it.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Well, we talked about it a little bit and in
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: both aspects of the trade and the draft itself, but
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: we are no closer to knowing the Steelers quarterback situation
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: now than we were a couple of weeks ago. We
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: kind of knew that they were going to draft a quarterback,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: didn't know which one and where it would be. I
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: know in my mock draft, I had Shador going first.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone predicted the fall that he had,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: but I think we knew that if they didn't get
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: a quarterback early, they were going to get someone that
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: they could add to the depth chart because they only
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: had two on the roster before the draft.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: So they did that.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: But we go back again to we're waiting on Aaron Rodgers,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: and it's not as dramatic as past off seasons with
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: him because it's just been like, Okay, he told the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Steelers that he will come to them if he plays,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: but he needs to think about it, and they said, okay,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: take your time, and apparently they're both just cool with
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: it while everyone else is waiting. So outside of Aaron Rodgers,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: the only quarterbacks that I can think of, or like
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: a trade for Kirk Cousins or maybe something like Carson Wentz.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: But if you're I guess, why would you? Why would
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: you trade anything? At that point?
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Well, Eric's Eric's not answering me, So I'll keep talking
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: to myself here.
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: Of a technical there, But what was what was the point.
• 35:39
  Speaker 5: You were saying? No?
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: I said, so, really, we're no closer now than we
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: were about a month ago and a month before that
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: to knowing what the Steelers.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: Quarterback situation will be.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: If it's not Aaron Rodgers and they want to add
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: another quarterback, they would have to trade probably for someone
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: like a Kirk Cousins.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: But my thought was, or.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: My question to you was, if you get to that point,
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: why would you trade anything anyway? Why would you just
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: not run with Mason for the year and then yeah,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: and then save everything, save all your assets.
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I And honestly, it does come.
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: Down to like.
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: Rogers too, right, Like, unless you.
• 36:23
  Speaker 4: Really think that this team is a quarterback away from
• 36:27
  Speaker 4: winning it all and you and you were darn sure
• 36:32
  Speaker 4: that that quarterback is Aaron Rodgers.
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: You do it.
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: But I can't in full faith say that that's what
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: we are right now because.
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: I don't think that like.
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: To be that type of team, Aaron Rodgers has to
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: be a seven point difference difference.
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: Maker on her offense.
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: I think our defense is fine because they're gonna hover
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: somewhere around the twenty points again, but our offense is
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: still type of team that's like, this is a team
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: that's probably gonna score seventeen points.
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: Half of our.
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: Games swit or without Rogers, and I just don't you know,
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: Rogers might be a couple points here and there, he
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: might get us a winn or two, but I don't
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: think that it's if the goal is to get us
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: above what we've been, which is first round exit. Rogers
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: isn't it, Cousins isn't it? Isn't it Wlaco is not it? Yeah,
• 37:34
  Speaker 4: throw any veteran quarterback that you're saying out there that's
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: typically around forty years old right now with injury issues.
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: They're not it. So I don't know.
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: I I'm totally in favor of a punt. You know,
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: I'm in favor of a four and thirteen, five and
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: twelve season.
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: And you know, because the last time we got five
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: wins and we were drafting.
• 38:01
  Speaker 3: For a quarterback, it turned out pretty well for us.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: So well, we'll wait and see what happens. But yeah,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I think that will do it for us. Was there
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: anything else you wanted to talk about before we signed off.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: For the night.
• 38:22
  Speaker 5: Well I don't think so.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, we will be back in a month
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: to probably talk about how we.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: Still don't know who the quarterback's gonna be.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: But until then, that'll do it for us here at
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: Steelers Country Weekly. So for the world famous accountants Eric
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: van Benschutin, I'm Nick de Tulio.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: We'll see you next time.