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HR1: League Perception · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

0:06
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
0:11
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
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Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
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Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
0:22
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store, the F-150 is the
0:26
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
0:30
Speaker 2: And thank you very much for being with us in
0:33
Speaker 2: the locker room. We have a game week.
0:36
Speaker 3: Well, I guess technically we've had three game weeks, but
0:39
Speaker 3: we've got a game week that counts. We also have
0:41
Speaker 3: Willie Colon in here. He's a full-time member of Inside
0:45
Speaker 3: the Locker Room. So as we get ready for this
0:48
Speaker 3: week one, guys, happy game week to you both.
0:51
Speaker 2: Max, I know.
0:52
Speaker 3: That you're fired up and ready to go, man. We're
0:56
Speaker 3: ready for some real football here.
0:59
Speaker 4: It all matters now indeed, Kinger, and happy week one
1:04
Speaker 4: to you as well.
1:06
Speaker 2: It's finally here. It's finally here.
1:08
Speaker 4: The 2026-2027 Pittsburgh Steelers will be taking the field this Sunday.
1:16
Speaker 4: And apparently, by all intents and purposes, a healthy and
1:20
Speaker 4: full roster of Steelers will be taking the field on Sunday.
1:24
Speaker 5: Nice. Willie? I am... Yes, I am here. I am
1:29
Speaker 5: extremely excited.
1:30
Speaker 6: I am happy that we get to watch the Steelers
1:34
Speaker 6: roll the ball out on the grass and get after
1:37
Speaker 6: these Atlanta Falcons. I'm also excited. And I think most
1:40
Speaker 6: of you out there who are diehard Steelers fans, and
1:43
Speaker 6: I know the boys in front of me, we're excited
1:45
Speaker 6: to prove a lot of naysayers wrong. I've been listening
1:49
Speaker 6: over the past week of various shows. Obviously, we're in
1:53
Speaker 6: the world of social media, so everybody has a take
1:55
Speaker 6: and a prediction on And a lot of people are
1:58
Speaker 6: looking at the Steelers as mid, as the young kids
2:02
Speaker 6: would say. And so I'm very, you know, part of
2:09
Speaker 6: my story and I guess my legacy is the underdog story.
2:13
Speaker 6: And so the fact that people are looking at the Steelers,
2:16
Speaker 6: by the way, six-time World Super Bowl champions, by the way,
2:20
Speaker 6: Pittsburgh Steelers as underdogs, as mid, as average, or.
2:23
Speaker 5: Even, you know, boring.
2:26
Speaker 6: I'm excited to see the boys flip a lot of
2:30
Speaker 6: smiles upside down.
2:32
Speaker 3: You know, I think that organization, the organization feels that
2:35
Speaker 3: way too, Willie. I think that they're excited. I don't
2:38
Speaker 3: know how much attention they pay, if any, to, you know,
2:41
Speaker 3: power rankings and those sort of things. But I think
2:44
Speaker 3: that they feel like they've put together a good football team.
2:49
Speaker 3: And again, you know, Max, I don't know why they wouldn't.
2:53
Speaker 3: You know, they– Reached the playoffs two years ago. They
2:56
Speaker 3: won the division last year. And I think they're a
2:59
Speaker 3: better team now than they were a year ago. I
3:01
Speaker 3: think they've upgraded, you know, hopefully along the offensive line.
3:05
Speaker 3: Certainly the wide receiver position, that was a huge question
3:08
Speaker 3: mark for the team.
3:10
Speaker 2: I don't know if they've gotten appreciably worse anywhere.
3:13
Speaker 3: I mean, I think, you know, people will say Kenny
3:15
Speaker 3: Gainwell is a loss, but you're bringing Rico Dowdle. I'm
3:19
Speaker 3: just surprised that the narrative continues to be that this
3:25
Speaker 3: is an aging roster and it's no good and this
3:30
Speaker 3: is the year it's all going to fall apart. I mean,
3:32
Speaker 3: this is the year it's all going to fall apart
3:34
Speaker 3: has been the last three or four years.
3:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think when you look at it, Rob,
3:41
Speaker 4: it's key pieces too, right? We kind of answered questions
3:46
Speaker 4: that we had going into week one last year. You know,
3:49
Speaker 4: we were like, oh, who's going to be the number
3:50
Speaker 4: two receiver? Well, we answered that, Michael Pittman, right? And
3:53
Speaker 4: we got a potential third, you know, in Jeremy Bernard and.
3:58
Speaker 2: Also Roman Wilson.
3:59
Speaker 4: I mean, so a room that was susceptible a year
4:02
Speaker 4: ago is now looking like a position of strength just
4:05
Speaker 4: with the amount of guys that were added via free agency,
4:09
Speaker 4: the draft, and, you know, in the backfield, no Kenny Gainwell. Well,
4:14
Speaker 4: we got a Rico Dowdle now, right? We went and
4:16
Speaker 4: replaced and replenished what was then considered a deficiency. Draft
4:22
Speaker 4: along the offensive line to continue to make that group
4:25
Speaker 4: young and allow them to kind of grow and learn
4:28
Speaker 4: together and get some time under tension.
4:33
Speaker 2: And then defensively. Oh, this defense is so old.
4:36
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, we drafted at both the D-line and
4:41
Speaker 4: the secondary levels, the two areas that had the most age, quote-unquote,
4:45
Speaker 4: because our linebackers were young. and Peyton Wilson and Patrick Queen. So,
4:50
Speaker 4: you know, when I look at it, it's very weird,
4:53
Speaker 4: but everybody wants to be right of the high-value.
5:00
Speaker 5: Quarterbacks in this division.
5:02
Speaker 4: And that's what I think. We are a victim of
5:05
Speaker 4: the circumstance that they want Joe Burrow to be this
5:10
Speaker 4: massive star that he was because he took a team
5:13
Speaker 4: to the Super Bowl in his second year. But You know,
5:16
Speaker 4: Joe Burrow looks more like Glass Joe.
5:20
Speaker 2: And so... Now, you can wait. I got to stop
5:24
Speaker 2: you there. Mike Tyson, punch out, baby. That's exactly where
5:27
Speaker 2: I thought you were going, man. Glass Joe.
5:30
Speaker 3: I could always beat Glass Joe and the second guy.
5:33
Speaker 3: By the time I came around to the third guy,
5:34
Speaker 3: I got hammered. Glass Joe was always tough.
5:37
Speaker 2: You got the bald bull.
5:38
Speaker 4: The bald bull and King Hippo were some challenges.
5:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, hard to move on. Glass Joe.
5:45
Speaker 5: So, yeah. So, I mean.
5:46
Speaker 4: This, that, and Lamar is an MVP. Lamar is a
5:49
Speaker 4: fantastic player. The supporting cast. So I get why people
5:54
Speaker 4: are doubting us, but at the same time, it's like,
5:57
Speaker 4: you got to respect, listen, you have to beat the
6:00
Speaker 4: King to be the King Willie. And I think that's
6:03
Speaker 4: what people are kind of forgetting. And that's why we're
6:04
Speaker 4: kind of tossed to the wayside because they, they, they just,
6:07
Speaker 4: they just don't want us to be there because they
6:09
Speaker 4: love the other names at quarterback better.
6:13
Speaker 5: Well, I'll say this too.
6:14
Speaker 6: And I think, Like I said, I've been watching a
6:16
Speaker 6: lot of sports talk and all this nonsense. One person
6:20
Speaker 6: I've been curious about, especially his temperament and tone, is
6:24
Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers, man. Aaron Rodgers, anywhere and everywhere he's been
6:28
Speaker 6: able to sit down with a microphone. He's been spicy.
6:31
Speaker 6: He's been no-holds-barred. He's been in your face. I think
6:34
Speaker 6: he's been very honest about this being his last year.
6:39
Speaker 6: From the mindset that I see him displaying is, hey, man,
6:42
Speaker 6: I'm going to do and say and act and I'm
6:45
Speaker 6: going to have that. And I'm always a fan of
6:50
Speaker 6: a quarterback of his caliber, even at the ripe age
6:54
Speaker 6: of 42, having a chip on his shoulder.
6:56
Speaker 5: And if you tell me, if you just tell me,
6:58
Speaker 5: out of all the quarterbacks in the.
7:00
Speaker 6: Division, I'm sure Joe Burrow has the motivation to stay
7:04
Speaker 6: healthy and actually get this team to the playoff and.
7:06
Speaker 5: Make it run.
7:07
Speaker 6: Lamar Jackson has the motivation of really showing up with
7:11
Speaker 6: a new OC and a new head coach and and
7:13
Speaker 6: really kind.
7:14
Speaker 5: Of ushering this Baltimore Ravens team into a new era.
7:17
Speaker 6: But Aaron Rodgers has an opportunity to go out like
7:24
Speaker 6: this wild cowboy.
7:25
Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
7:26
Speaker 6: Kind of like Val Kimmerer and Doc Holliday in Tombstone.
7:30
Speaker 6: He has this opportunity to or a wired-upper, if you will.
7:34
Speaker 6: He has this opportunity right now to really capitalize and
7:37
Speaker 6: put a cherry on his legacy because– and I like
7:40
Speaker 6: his mindset.
7:41
Speaker 5: I like the fact that he's chippy.
7:42
Speaker 6: I like the fact that he goes, you know, it
7:45
Speaker 6: wasn't just Mike McCarthy that sold me to come back.
7:48
Speaker 5: I really feel like I can win with this group.
7:50
Speaker 6: I really feel like I can go out here and
7:52
Speaker 6: do and play at the level I know I can
7:54
Speaker 6: play at to help this team win football games. And
7:57
Speaker 6: by the way, I want to do it with my brothers.
7:59
Speaker 6: I want to do it with a T.J. Watt and
8:01
Speaker 6: Cam Haywood. And I want to do it with DK
8:03
Speaker 6: and a bunch of other guys. Like when you hear
8:04
Speaker 6: him talk, he's talking like, man, I'm not only doing
8:08
Speaker 6: this for me, I'm doing this because there's a lot
8:12
Speaker 6: of guys in the locker room I want to see win.
8:14
Speaker 6: So there's a collective motivation and alignment that we're starting
8:17
Speaker 6: to see right out the gate from Aaron Rodgers. And
8:19
Speaker 6: I don't care. Yeah, he may be And he's very honest.
8:23
Speaker 6: You know, he's been very honest, very candid about how
8:25
Speaker 6: he feels about the state of football, him in particular,
8:29
Speaker 6: his personal life, and everything. And I like the fact
8:32
Speaker 6: that he– angry Aaron Rodgers or chippy Aaron Rodgers is
8:36
Speaker 6: something I'm excited to see because that sounds.
8:39
Speaker 5: Like a man who goes, hey, man, say what you want, and.
8:42
Speaker 6: Before I go off into the woods and go off
8:45
Speaker 6: the grid, man, I'm going to burn this place up.
8:48
Speaker 6: And so I'm a fan of that, man. So I'm excited,
8:51
Speaker 6: and I'm excited that the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to
8:53
Speaker 6: get them back for another year. And I just can't
8:55
Speaker 6: wait until we see what happens on Sunday against the Falcons.
9:00
Speaker 2: So we have a lot of ground to cover.
9:02
Speaker 3: Obviously, as we get later in the week, we're going
9:04
Speaker 3: to be looking more and more at the matchups between
9:07
Speaker 3: the Steelers and the Falcons. Very interesting that both teams
9:11
Speaker 3: coming into this game have new head coaches and expectations
9:16
Speaker 3: for success. In different ways, the Falcons have not been
9:19
Speaker 3: able to get over the hump for quite some time.
9:20
Speaker 3: They've got the longest, I believe the longest non-winning streak
9:26
Speaker 3: in the NFL, non-winning season streak in the NFL. The Steelers,
9:29
Speaker 3: of course, have the longest non-losing streak in NFL history
9:33
Speaker 3: that's on the line. I also want to, Christian Gonzalez
9:37
Speaker 3: signed a contract extension. We're going to get into that
9:40
Speaker 3: in a little bit and talk about how that might
9:42
Speaker 3: or might not affect Joey Porter. Christian Gonzalez has been
9:45
Speaker 3: holding out with the Patriots. whether the Steelers can potentially
9:48
Speaker 3: get a deal done with Joey and some big news
9:51
Speaker 3: at the national level as well in the NFL that
9:54
Speaker 3: we're going to get to in a bit. Guys, there's
9:56
Speaker 3: a couple of things, and I think we'll, traditionally we'll
10:00
Speaker 3: we have done the power rankings and the league perceptions
10:05
Speaker 3: of the team as a whole on Wednesday. So I
10:09
Speaker 3: think we're going to stick with that. But I did
10:11
Speaker 3: want to go through an exercise that I think is interesting–
10:16
Speaker 3: in that it's how the team is perceived around the
10:21
Speaker 3: rest of the league. Again, you can go to different
10:23
Speaker 3: websites and get different feelings on the team.
10:27
Speaker 2: I will tell you this.
10:28
Speaker 3: I have yet to find a website, Max, that has
10:32
Speaker 3: the Steelers going to the playoffs, not winning the division.
10:37
Speaker 3: I have yet to find a website that predicts the
10:40
Speaker 3: Steelers will be going to the postseason.
10:44
Speaker 4: And you probably won't. Um, so people, once again, people
10:49
Speaker 4: don't want to give us our flowers, right? And you're
10:55
Speaker 4: the reigning AFC North champions. You've been to the playoffs
10:59
Speaker 4: three out of the last four years in a division
11:03
Speaker 4: where it's always been or else they want somebody else.
11:10
Speaker 4: And they're always picking Baltimore, always picking Cincinnati and, You know,
11:16
Speaker 4: Cleveland we don't have to worry about, at least until, like, 2030.
11:19
Speaker 4: I don't know. But it's always that.
11:23
Speaker 2: And I feel like a.
11:24
Speaker 4: Lot of– they just– they don't want the Steelers to
11:27
Speaker 4: succeed more so than they're really high on them. Like,
11:30
Speaker 4: it's almost– at this point, it's almost like an exercise
11:33
Speaker 4: of just anger. You know, it's just like we don't
11:38
Speaker 4: want to put them there because they were tired of, quote, unquote,
11:42
Speaker 4: the mediocrity of the Steelers never having a losing season
11:47
Speaker 4: and having an early round exit. But the whole point
11:50
Speaker 4: of that is they got to the playoffs and had
11:53
Speaker 4: an early round exit. So they never, you know, if
11:55
Speaker 4: you're talking about it now, it's.
11:57
Speaker 2: Not a sure thing, right?
11:57
Speaker 4: We got to get through the whole season, but at
11:59
Speaker 4: the same time, respect what the resume is, not what
12:04
Speaker 4: you want it to be out of your negative angst,
12:07
Speaker 4: because you love Lamar Jackson. You love Joe Burrow, or
12:11
Speaker 4: you love, some piece on some other team. I love
12:14
Speaker 4: King Henry because he's great for fantasy. I love Jamar Chase,
12:17
Speaker 4: Tee Higgins, because they're great for my fantasy team. We
12:21
Speaker 4: don't live in a fantasy world. We live in stone
12:23
Speaker 4: cold reality. And stone cold reality is the best players
12:29
Speaker 4: individually don't make the best teams. And what the Steelers
12:32
Speaker 4: have done consistently in the AFC North is field some
12:36
Speaker 4: of the best teams for our division. Now how that
12:39
Speaker 4: stacks up against the rest of the AFC North And totality,
12:43
Speaker 4: that's where we could have a different argument. But for
12:45
Speaker 4: them not to be in that potential initial field of
12:48
Speaker 4: 14 teams, really, let's just call it that, 14 teams,
12:53
Speaker 4: is pretty ridiculous because there's seven playoff spots, and you
12:56
Speaker 4: usually have a one, two, and you can slide a
12:58
Speaker 4: couple around, right? We're not in the top two at
13:02
Speaker 4: any of the divisions that we're in. So I get that.
13:06
Speaker 4: You want to feel that type of way. But for
13:08
Speaker 4: us not to be up there and considered as a
13:10
Speaker 4: team that could I think is a slap in the face.
13:13
Speaker 3: Willie, let me jump in here and ask you this,
13:16
Speaker 3: because this is my perception. And again, I could be
13:20
Speaker 3: wrong on this. My perception is that the Steelers are being,
13:26
Speaker 3: in my opinion, undervalued. Look, and I understand Cincinnati. You
13:31
Speaker 3: get Joe Burrow healthy. I mean, he's a difference maker.
13:34
Speaker 3: He's a great player.
13:34
Speaker 2: I get it.
13:35
Speaker 3: If he can stay healthy, that's a really good team.
13:38
Speaker 3: Same with Lamar in Baltimore. If he can stay healthy...
13:41
Speaker 3: that's a team that's expecting more of itself.
13:44
Speaker 2: I get that.
13:45
Speaker 3: I also understand that the schedule is brutal.
13:48
Speaker 2: I mean, the Steelers have a brutal schedule this year.
13:50
Speaker 2: Having said all that.
13:51
Speaker 3: I think the number one knock against the Steelers, and
13:57
Speaker 3: when we go through these position rankings, we're going to
13:59
Speaker 3: find out that it's not as true as people think.
14:02
Speaker 3: But my feeling is that the number one reason people
14:07
Speaker 3: aren't picking the Steelers to go to the playoffs is
14:09
Speaker 3: they perceive this as an aging team. Would you agree
14:13
Speaker 3: with that? You think that's the number one knock on him?
14:18
Speaker 6: I mean, that's the number one knock, especially when your
14:19
Speaker 6: quarterback is 42 years old and he's telling you, you know,
14:23
Speaker 6: this is my last run.
14:24
Speaker 5: And when you look at the guys that are behind him,
14:27
Speaker 5: as far.
14:27
Speaker 6: As Mason Rudolph and Will Howard and Drew Allard, there's
14:31
Speaker 6: this perception like, well, once Aaron is gone, what are
14:35
Speaker 6: you going to do? Like none of these guys are
14:37
Speaker 6: people you want to usher out into the NFL world
14:40
Speaker 6: or for your team. to say, man, this is the
14:42
Speaker 6: next Aaron Parent, right? Because the two young guys, they
14:44
Speaker 6: still need work. And Mason Rudolph, we've seen him over
14:48
Speaker 6: the time. I mean, he's just a stabilizer from a
14:51
Speaker 6: quarterback standpoint. I think what makes me frustrated, and I
14:56
Speaker 6: know you guys can attest to this too, is last
14:59
Speaker 6: year there was so.
15:01
Speaker 5: Much talk about Mike Tomlin, right?
15:02
Speaker 6: It was like, well, Mike Tomlin may be holding his
15:04
Speaker 6: team back, You know, they need a new quarterback. There's this,
15:08
Speaker 6: there's that. They need upgrades. It's been all these things.
15:11
Speaker 6: And Max kind of hit it on the head when
15:13
Speaker 6: he said it. Everything that the critics and the fans
15:17
Speaker 6: were upset about, the powers that be in that building said, okay,
15:21
Speaker 6: we hear you.
15:22
Speaker 5: We went out and got a new head coach.
15:23
Speaker 6: And not just a new head coach, a guy who's
15:26
Speaker 6: a son of Pittsburgh, who has a decorated resume, who
15:29
Speaker 6: knows how to play winning football, who, oh, by the way,
15:32
Speaker 6: has a Super Bowl on his resume as well. And
15:34
Speaker 6: by the way, who's attached in his legacy to Aaron Rodgers, right?
15:38
Speaker 6: And then we went and got upgrades on the offensive line.
15:40
Speaker 6: We drafted Younger. We've done all these things. And so
15:43
Speaker 6: it's just, it's frustrating. Like, all right, we answered the naysayers. We've,
15:49
Speaker 6: you know, we've kind of hit the checklist as far
15:51
Speaker 6: as what the critics have to say about us. And
15:53
Speaker 6: for us not to have kind of this bullish optimism
15:57
Speaker 6: about where this team could be this year, it's like,
16:00
Speaker 6: all right, then what is it? You get what I'm saying? Like,
16:02
Speaker 6: we've answered everything you've talked about. We've done everything you
16:06
Speaker 6: needed us to do, but yet there's this pushback. Like,
16:09
Speaker 6: they're like, well, you know, that's good, but. And there's
16:13
Speaker 6: nothing worse than a but, especially when you feel like
16:16
Speaker 6: you've cleaned up your room and done everything your parents
16:18
Speaker 6: asked you to do.
16:19
Speaker 5: You're like, well, then what else do you need me
16:20
Speaker 5: to do? You know what I mean?
16:22
Speaker 6: So I'm of the mindset, like, if I'm Mike McCarthy
16:25
Speaker 6: going into this game week, I'm saying turn off your phones.
16:29
Speaker 6: Everybody delete your social media. All we're going to do
16:31
Speaker 6: is work and grind. And when we pick our heads up,
16:34
Speaker 6: we're going to be exactly where we need to be.
16:36
Speaker 6: Because that's our only mindset if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers
16:38
Speaker 6: on how to approach this week and the weeks going forward.
16:41
Speaker 6: Because nobody's going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
16:44
Speaker 6: Nobody's going to believe what you've done thus far is enough.
16:48
Speaker 6: And so you just have to say, you know what, damn,
16:50
Speaker 6: it is what it is.
16:50
Speaker 5: We're just going to go to battle and knock some
16:52
Speaker 5: people's heads around.
16:53
Speaker 3: Well, I think you bring up a really good point
16:57
Speaker 3: we haven't even delved into. But it is, and I
16:59
Speaker 3: don't think we're going to delve into it because, frankly,
17:01
Speaker 3: we don't know, and it's speculative. But this notion that
17:05
Speaker 3: Mike Tomlin was holding him back, I mean, we heard that, Max,
17:09
Speaker 3: just to finish up this segment before we take a break,
17:12
Speaker 3: we heard that, as Willie just mentioned, for years. Mike
17:15
Speaker 3: Tomlin's holding the team back. Well, now, as Willie says,
17:18
Speaker 3: you're bringing a new head coach, and here's the other
17:20
Speaker 3: thing we heard. And, by the way, I never ascribed
17:23
Speaker 3: to that. I thought he did a heck of a job. But,
17:25
Speaker 3: you know, we heard, hey, You know, the defense is outdated.
17:29
Speaker 3: Maybe that was true.
17:30
Speaker 2: I don't know.
17:30
Speaker 3: I'm not enough of an X's and O's, guys. But,
17:33
Speaker 3: you know, you bring in a guy like Patrick Graham.
17:34
Speaker 3: You bring in a new staff. And now that you've,
17:40
Speaker 3: you know, quote, unquote, corrected that issue that I don't
17:42
Speaker 3: even think was an issue but that people perceived, you
17:45
Speaker 3: would think people would be more bullish on them, and
17:47
Speaker 3: they're not even with that.
17:48
Speaker 2: I just don't. Go ahead. They're just full of bull.
17:53
Speaker 4: They're just full of bull instead of bullish.
17:55
Speaker 2: That's all it is.
17:58
Speaker 3: We have a lot to get to. Christian Gonzalez signed
18:00
Speaker 3: a new contract extension. We want to talk about that
18:03
Speaker 3: with the Patriots for a couple reasons. One, the Steelers
18:06
Speaker 3: are going to see him in a couple of days. Two,
18:08
Speaker 3: might that affect Joey Porter Jr.? Some news at the
18:12
Speaker 3: national level with the NFL as well. We're going to
18:14
Speaker 3: start looking at this roster breakdown and start talking about
18:19
Speaker 3: where this roster stands in perception and maybe where it
18:22
Speaker 3: stands in reality as far as it's perceived in the
18:25
Speaker 3: NFL and as far as we perceive this team when
18:27
Speaker 3: we continue in the locker room here on the Steelers
18:30
Speaker 3: Audio Network.
18:37
Speaker 1: This is in the locker room with Rob King, Max Starks,
18:41
Speaker 1: and Willie Cologne on Steelers nation radio brought to you
18:44
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers pro shop. Get it direct
18:48
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers pro shop at shop.steelers.com
18:52
Speaker 1: and by your neighborhood Ford store. The F one 50
18:56
Speaker 1: is the official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
19:00
Speaker 3: And we thank you very much for being with us
19:01
Speaker 3: today as it is a game week. Steelers getting ready
19:04
Speaker 3: to take on the Atlanta Falcons. Um, Can't wait to
19:08
Speaker 3: dive into the matchups. We are going to talk in
19:11
Speaker 3: a moment about the big news today in the NFL
19:13
Speaker 3: as far as the contract extension for Christian Gonzalez and
19:17
Speaker 3: how that might or might not affect the Joey Porter
19:20
Speaker 3: negotiations that Mike McCarthy seemed to indicate yesterday are still
19:24
Speaker 3: going on. Hopefully the Steelers and Joey Porter can come
19:27
Speaker 3: with an agreement before Sunday. The Steelers will not negotiate
19:31
Speaker 3: beyond that point. Before we get to that, just quickly, Willie,
19:36
Speaker 3: the big national news over the weekend, or a big
19:40
Speaker 3: bit of news.
19:41
Speaker 2: It is kind of just seems like it's business as usual,
19:44
Speaker 2: but Roger.
19:45
Speaker 3: Goodell signed a four-year contract extension that will take him
19:49
Speaker 3: through the next four seasons. Do you have any feelings
19:52
Speaker 3: about that one way or the other?
19:55
Speaker 6: Well, I think it's interesting they decided to drop that
19:57
Speaker 6: news on Sunday while we're all barbecuing and not paying
19:59
Speaker 6: attention to the NFL. And I think part of that
20:04
Speaker 6: they don't want to They don't want people looking into
20:06
Speaker 6: the purse of Roger Goodell and realizing that he's making
20:11
Speaker 6: a lot of money. I think upwards of $ 60 million.
20:15
Speaker 6: And I'll say this first and foremost, it's not an
20:17
Speaker 6: easy job. I think Roger Goodell has done a great
20:20
Speaker 6: job of promoting the league. I mean, the league is
20:24
Speaker 6: as big and as bold and as universal as ever.
20:30
Speaker 6: And I do think right now for a lot of
20:32
Speaker 6: people who are trying to figure out, you know, what
20:35
Speaker 6: does that mean to the average NFL player?
20:38
Speaker 5: It means nothing. It means nothing. Roger Goodell works for
20:42
Speaker 5: the owners, and I think there's no reason, as much
20:46
Speaker 5: as he is the commissioner.
20:48
Speaker 6: Of the entire league, but he works for the 32
20:52
Speaker 6: owners that employ him.
20:54
Speaker 5: We, as the players, or ex-players.
20:56
Speaker 6: Rather, excuse me, as me and Max sit here, the
20:58
Speaker 6: retired ball guys, ball players, during our time at Helmets,
21:03
Speaker 6: or even the current guys, We don't have a say
21:06
Speaker 6: in anything Roger Goodell does.
21:08
Speaker 5: You know, the owners have a say in that.
21:09
Speaker 6: So, and I think if you used to look at
21:12
Speaker 6: what he's done during his tenure, the game is beyond digestible.
21:16
Speaker 6: There's streamings, there's sports gambling, there's, you know, like I said,
21:21
Speaker 6: the game, it seems like it's trending towards being more
21:23
Speaker 6: international as we continue, as we, you know, we're on
21:27
Speaker 6: the cuffs of watching the Niners and Rams play in Australia.
21:30
Speaker 6: So the game is bigger than ever. I think some
21:33
Speaker 6: of the issues I have with, is you're watching the
21:36
Speaker 6: commissioner who makes a boatload of money, but yet we
21:40
Speaker 6: have guys who, when they retire guys who, you know,
21:45
Speaker 6: are trying to figure out life after football have to
21:48
Speaker 6: go through a gauntlet.
21:52
Speaker 5: Of things to get their workers calm.
21:55
Speaker 6: You know, you get, you got ball players right now
21:56
Speaker 6: who are struggling in an area and, you know, a
22:00
Speaker 6: lot of different ways of various ways that have to
22:03
Speaker 6: go through a lot.
22:04
Speaker 5: And, To see a guy who, valid, has.
22:09
Speaker 6: Been very good at his job and promoting league and XYZ,
22:12
Speaker 6: making a lot of money, but you have guys who
22:14
Speaker 6: actually played in the game, fought hard for these organizations,
22:18
Speaker 6: led the game, gone through multiple surgeries and done a
22:21
Speaker 6: lot of things, and can't even get workers' comp for
22:24
Speaker 6: some of the things they've done on the field while
22:26
Speaker 6: playing in the NFL. I still struggle with that, but
22:34
Speaker 6: Congratulations to Roger Goodell. You know, like I said, for
22:38
Speaker 6: a player, there's nothing we can take or do to
22:41
Speaker 6: affect his wallet in any type of way.
22:44
Speaker 5: So, you know, just congratulations to him.
22:47
Speaker 6: Max?
22:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I mean, to piggyback off of Will, you
22:51
Speaker 4: said the player welfare is just not there. But the
22:55
Speaker 4: reason why he got this extension was because of the
22:57
Speaker 4: job he did for the owners, right? He's expanded this game.
23:01
Speaker 4: He has grown the dividends and You know, we see
23:04
Speaker 4: average selling value of teams going up exponentially. That's what,
23:10
Speaker 4: you know, Roger Goodell has been a direct influence and
23:12
Speaker 4: impact to that. But as far as from a player's
23:15
Speaker 4: perspective for us, que sera, sera, et cetera, et cetera.
23:20
Speaker 4: You know, the day is long, but the day always comes.
23:25
Speaker 4: So I'm not going to sit here, you know, like
23:28
Speaker 4: Willie already eloquently said, You know, a lot of the
23:31
Speaker 4: player welfare issues and being a guy who sat in
23:35
Speaker 4: the NFOPA and who fought for, you know, rights for guys.
23:40
Speaker 4: I mean, lifetime medical is not a hard thing to
23:42
Speaker 4: ask for. It's an umbrella policy anyways, if you know it.
23:46
Speaker 4: It's a little bit extra of a line item per
23:48
Speaker 4: team annually. But to a team that's making, you know,
23:53
Speaker 4: billion plus, you know, was a couple hundred thousand at
23:58
Speaker 4: that point. to ensure that the legends that you promote
24:01
Speaker 4: and tout are taken care of.
24:04
Speaker 5: And they're not struggling.
24:04
Speaker 4: I mean, we look at guys, you know, they've expanded
24:07
Speaker 4: their mental health services, but it still needs to be
24:09
Speaker 4: even further. I mean, I was just watching something the
24:11
Speaker 4: other day with Deontay Johnson and just kind of having
24:15
Speaker 4: like a confessional on social media, right? I mean, you know,
24:19
Speaker 4: clearly hurting and definitely, you know, you would say, hey,
24:22
Speaker 4: probably needs to see somebody. You know, what's the accessibility?
24:26
Speaker 4: How easy is that? What do you have to qualify to.
24:29
Speaker 2: Get into that?
24:30
Speaker 4: So, you know, hey, yay, continuity for the Shield. But,
24:37
Speaker 4: you know, from our perspective, former players, active players, the
24:40
Speaker 4: happiest you'll get is when he gets that big hug
24:43
Speaker 4: after they get drafted.
24:44
Speaker 5: That's the happiest a player will ever be.
24:45
Speaker 4: And unfortunately for Willie and I, we never did that,
24:48
Speaker 4: so we never were that happy.
24:52
Speaker 2: Okay, so guys.
24:54
Speaker 3: The big news today, and it was interesting that that
24:57
Speaker 3: happened over the weekend. So, the contract extension for Christian Gonzalez.
25:03
Speaker 3: He is now the highest paid cornerback in NFL history.
25:07
Speaker 3: I think got the biggest bonus, biggest guaranteed money. He's
25:10
Speaker 3: making $ 33. 5 million a year. Made a Pro Bowl last
25:15
Speaker 3: year for the first time. He's 23 years old. His
25:18
Speaker 3: contract extension... was bigger than the one signed by Devin Witherspoon.
25:25
Speaker 3: By a half a million dollars a year, Witherspoon is
25:28
Speaker 3: a three-time Pro Bowler. That was bigger by a million
25:34
Speaker 3: or so a year than the deal signed back in
25:37
Speaker 3: March by Trent McDuffie, another young guy who has not
25:43
Speaker 3: made a Pro Bowl, but was an All-Pro 1 and
25:45
Speaker 3: an All-Pro 2.
25:47
Speaker 2: So he's obviously decorated as well. Max, let's begin with you.
25:51
Speaker 3: How do you think this could potentially affect a Joey
25:57
Speaker 3: Porter contract, or will it not? Are they just negotiating
26:01
Speaker 3: off of something else entirely?
26:03
Speaker 4: I think they have to negotiate off something else entirely.
26:05
Speaker 4: I mean, you just listed the accolades, and that's one
26:08
Speaker 4: thing that Joey just does not have, even though he
26:11
Speaker 4: has great rating and he's considered one of the tops
26:14
Speaker 4: when you look at just kind of by the numbers.
26:17
Speaker 4: I think they're probably trying to negotiate about those numbers
26:19
Speaker 4: and probably trying to get closer to Trent McDuffie. I
26:21
Speaker 4: don't think Devin Witherspoon or Christian Gonzalez play into that number.
26:25
Speaker 5: As much as they would probably hope it would be.
26:28
Speaker 2: But you're not going to.
26:30
Speaker 4: Get $ 101 and $ 102 million guaranteed.
26:32
Speaker 5: That's just not going to happen in Pittsburgh.
26:33
Speaker 4: So let's just go ahead and call that what it is.
26:38
Speaker 4: So I think you're arguing that earlier. One, you're probably
26:41
Speaker 4: getting closer to Trent McDuffie, but like you said, he
26:43
Speaker 4: has two all-pros under his belt.
26:44
Speaker 6: So....
26:47
Speaker 4: You're operating from there, and I think it's probably going
26:50
Speaker 4: to be the guaranteed money that's probably the hiccup, is
26:52
Speaker 4: how much of this are we going to guarantee with
26:55
Speaker 4: injuries and all that kind of other stuff, and how
26:58
Speaker 4: does that look based on playing percentages? So, you know,
27:02
Speaker 4: it's some hard numbers, and I'm sure they're not the numbers.
27:06
Speaker 4: You know, no player really truly loves, you know, what
27:09
Speaker 4: a team comes at at the beginning, especially if they're
27:12
Speaker 4: miles apart from what the initial– appraisal value is quote
27:16
Speaker 4: unquote of, of what.
27:18
Speaker 2: Their services are worth.
27:19
Speaker 4: So I don't think Christian or Devin's deal plays into it.
27:23
Speaker 4: I think we're looking at closer to that third deal.
27:27
Speaker 3: You know, Willie, I just want to, I want you
27:31
Speaker 3: to answer that, but I also want to, so I feel,
27:34
Speaker 3: I talk about this a lot with people about the
27:38
Speaker 3: way superstars in football can affect everything around them.
27:43
Speaker 2: So if you're TJ Watt, right, I don't care how
27:46
Speaker 2: good the right tackle is.
27:48
Speaker 3: TJ Watt in his prime, you are not blocking him
27:51
Speaker 3: or not feeling comfortable blocking him with that right tackle.
27:54
Speaker 3: So now maybe you slide the tight end over.
27:57
Speaker 2: Okay.
27:57
Speaker 3: Well now that means a tight end can't go out
27:59
Speaker 3: in the pattern. That's going to help the outside linebacker
28:03
Speaker 3: or the corner in coverage, right? There's a trickle down effect.
28:06
Speaker 3: It's going to help the guy inside because he's not
28:08
Speaker 3: going to be double teamed, right? So one player can
28:11
Speaker 3: affect three different guys. You know, if you're, If you're
28:15
Speaker 3: a top-flight cover corner, when we were out in Denver
28:19
Speaker 3: a couple years ago, Patrick Sertan was locked up one-on-one
28:22
Speaker 3: with George Pickens the entire game. By the way, I
28:24
Speaker 3: thought Pickens drew a couple penalties on him, but that's
28:26
Speaker 3: neither here nor there. But now, if you can take
28:29
Speaker 3: a top-cover corner and put them on the other team's
28:33
Speaker 3: top receiver, sure, maybe some help now and again. But,
28:37
Speaker 3: for example, you look at Jamar Chase. Now, I don't
28:39
Speaker 3: know whether you'd want to leave Jamar Chase by himself,
28:42
Speaker 3: no matter how good the corner is, but let's say.
28:44
Speaker 2: You felt that comfortable. Now, T. Higgins is getting what?
28:47
Speaker 3: Your second-best corner, who's a good player, but he's also
28:49
Speaker 3: getting the safety help over the top. Now, all of
28:51
Speaker 3: a sudden, you're being able to stymie two guys because
28:55
Speaker 3: that one guy can have that trickle-down effect. I don't
28:58
Speaker 3: know if that's where the argument lies with Joey Porter,
29:01
Speaker 3: that he's that kind of a superstar player. I don't
29:05
Speaker 3: know where the argument lies. I just know that it
29:08
Speaker 3: would be nice to see Joey Porter Jr. in a
29:10
Speaker 3: Steelers uniform for quite some time.
29:13
Speaker 6: Well, the argument lies that no matter how you feel
29:16
Speaker 6: about his accolades, that he completes this defense. The reason
29:19
Speaker 6: why the Steelers are considered one of these defenses that
29:24
Speaker 6: you should fear is because of his ability to be
29:27
Speaker 6: a sticky corner. On top of that, the potential of
29:31
Speaker 6: what we've talked about this last week is that they
29:35
Speaker 6: have a front seven that could be up there with
29:38
Speaker 6: some of the best in the NFL. But to have
29:41
Speaker 6: an elite front seven, you need the guys on the
29:42
Speaker 6: back end to cover and be good at what they do.
29:46
Speaker 5: I think the big question with Joey Porter Jr. right
29:49
Speaker 5: now is considering.
29:49
Speaker 6: That he was a second-round pick, so he doesn't have
29:53
Speaker 6: the luxury of having that fifth-year option.
29:56
Speaker 5: So this is his final year.
29:58
Speaker 6: And now as we roll into the season, it's a
30:03
Speaker 6: lot of stress on the ball player because he doesn't
30:05
Speaker 6: want to be a distraction, right? He doesn't want to
30:07
Speaker 6: be a distraction to a Cam Haywood who's pretty much, you.
30:11
Speaker 5: Know, this is the 18th hole for him, right?
30:14
Speaker 6: He doesn't want to be a distraction for TJ Watt
30:16
Speaker 6: and some of the other guys on that defense because
30:19
Speaker 6: he understands that the momentum and energy and synergy should
30:23
Speaker 6: be wrapped around getting those guys into a playoff game
30:27
Speaker 6: and potentially winning a Super Bowl. But the Steelers will
30:30
Speaker 6: have a hard time doing that without him in the lineup.
30:34
Speaker 6: And you never want to come off the week of game.
30:38
Speaker 6: As much as we sit here and talk about Mike
30:39
Speaker 6: McCarthy and his new scheme and his defense on the
30:42
Speaker 6: Patrick Graham and what they could look like and how
30:45
Speaker 6: a lot of the naysayers are kind of poolish, if
30:47
Speaker 6: you will, on the Steelers, you know, as a ballplayer,
30:52
Speaker 6: you want to be at the starting gate with the
30:54
Speaker 6: rest of your guys, with your money tied up and
30:56
Speaker 6: ready to go. So I think, you know, Joey Porter Jr.
31:00
Speaker 6: would have loved to have this done already. You know,
31:02
Speaker 6: I think he would have loved to kind of have
31:04
Speaker 6: this in the background so he can, one, get ready
31:08
Speaker 6: to play football because he hasn't played a lot of football.
31:11
Speaker 6: He just hasn't this summer. And so now if and
31:14
Speaker 6: when this deal gets done, he still has to get acclimated.
31:19
Speaker 6: You know, he still has to get his wheels turning.
31:21
Speaker 6: I know he's been on the practice field and he's
31:23
Speaker 6: doing things, but me and Matt's going to attest to that.
31:25
Speaker 6: What you do in practice is totally different from what
31:27
Speaker 6: the game feels like, especially week one in particular. And
31:30
Speaker 6: week one is always different from the rest of the
31:32
Speaker 6: weeks because you're really transitioning from training camp to however
31:38
Speaker 6: amount of reps you've been able to acquire in the preseason.
31:41
Speaker 6: And now you're playing four quarters of football. of, you know,
31:46
Speaker 6: got to have the situations, being on your P's and Q's,
31:49
Speaker 6: being able to communicate with guys who necessarily weren't able
31:52
Speaker 6: to communicate because, you know, maybe they've been in and
31:54
Speaker 6: out of the lineup due to injuries or whatsoever. So
31:57
Speaker 6: there's a lot of chemistry and acclimation that has to
31:59
Speaker 6: go on for JPJ that, you know, valid he's an
32:03
Speaker 6: elite guy in his position. He still has to go
32:07
Speaker 6: out there and kind of tighten up the screws and
32:09
Speaker 6: get ready. So, and I get it. Like week one
32:12
Speaker 6: for everybody around the league is kind of like a
32:13
Speaker 6: glorified dress rehearsal. But for the Steelers, this is a
32:17
Speaker 6: game you got to have, right? Because you don't want
32:20
Speaker 6: to fall victim to, all right, thinking you're all that
32:23
Speaker 6: in a bag of chips, up into a Falcons team that's,
32:26
Speaker 6: you know, by the way, starting their sixth quarterback.
32:29
Speaker 5: And then the last– what's the stat?
32:31
Speaker 6: I think they're starting a new quarterback for the last
32:33
Speaker 6: six seasons for their opener or something.
32:35
Speaker 2: Atlanta, yeah, that's right. Sixth straight season starting a new guy.
32:39
Speaker 5: Yeah, correct. Thank you.
32:40
Speaker 6: So this– I just hate this for him, man, because
32:44
Speaker 6: I know he's a team-first guy. We all know his
32:47
Speaker 6: dad is an icon of Pittsburgh, and he would have
32:49
Speaker 6: loved to have this wrapped up and ready to roll
32:51
Speaker 6: so he can be with the boys and a part
32:53
Speaker 6: of the campaign of winning the Super Bowl this year.
32:56
Speaker 2: Still hope.
32:56
Speaker 3: I mean, the Steelers have had some contract negotiations come down.
33:00
Speaker 2: To the night before.
33:02
Speaker 3: I think Heinz Ward, wasn't he a Saturday night signing?
33:05
Speaker 3: The night before the season opener. So, look, still hope
33:08
Speaker 3: that this can get done. I think the Steelers clearly
33:10
Speaker 3: want it to get done. Joey Porter clearly wants it
33:12
Speaker 3: to get done. Whether they can bridge whatever gap there is,
33:16
Speaker 3: whether it's guaranteed money or signing bonus or length or
33:20
Speaker 3: annual deal, we don't know.
33:23
Speaker 2: Hopefully this deal can get done, though, for the Steelers.
33:25
Speaker 3: So he is a big part of the secondary, as
33:29
Speaker 3: Willie just talked about and as Max talked about as well.
33:31
Speaker 2: We're going to break down.
33:33
Speaker 3: The way the Steelers are perceived as units nationally, at
33:37
Speaker 3: least by one publication, and the way we perceive the
33:40
Speaker 3: Steelers units here locally, when we continue in the locker
33:44
Speaker 3: room here on the Steelers Audio Network.
33:52
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
33:56
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
33:59
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
34:03
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
34:07
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
34:11
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
34:16
Speaker 3: And thanks very much for being with us on this
34:18
Speaker 3: game week as we're getting ready for the Steelers and
34:19
Speaker 3: the Falcons.
34:20
Speaker 2: Of course, we're going to dive into all the matchups.
34:22
Speaker 2: Can't wait for that.
34:24
Speaker 3: But again, as we start this season, good to know
34:28
Speaker 3: where the Steelers are sort of perceived nationally. We're going
34:32
Speaker 3: to get into some of the selections for who's going
34:34
Speaker 3: to win the division and all that coming up tomorrow.
34:37
Speaker 3: But we wanted to break down how this team is
34:41
Speaker 3: perceived nationally by position. Okay, so Again, this is one publication,
34:50
Speaker 3: and I'll point out where I know there are different
34:52
Speaker 3: opinions when we get to them from other ones, but
34:56
Speaker 3: we're just going to go with ESPN's best and worst
34:59
Speaker 3: position groups. Now, caveat, this was done before the rosters
35:05
Speaker 3: were cut down, but the Steelers didn't make any big
35:08
Speaker 3: additions since this was made. It's not like they went
35:10
Speaker 3: out and made a big trade. Like Atlanta had to
35:12
Speaker 3: go out and get guys because they had injuries. Again,
35:15
Speaker 3: we'll talk more about that coming up in a little bit. But, okay,
35:18
Speaker 3: so here we go, guys. Are you ready?
35:19
Speaker 2: Quarterback group, they rank 22nd.
35:24
Speaker 3: So I don't have any real tremendous desire to get
35:29
Speaker 3: into this one too deeply. Max, for me, 22nd, whatever.
35:35
Speaker 3: You know, last year Aaron Rodgers had a rating that
35:38
Speaker 3: was 14th, a QBR that was 23rd. He's got Mason
35:42
Speaker 3: Rudolph as his backup. He's got Aller and Howard. But
35:46
Speaker 3: as far as 22nd, I'm not going to, you know,
35:50
Speaker 3: I'm going to let that play out.
35:52
Speaker 2: I'm not going to die on that hill. But I
35:53
Speaker 2: would love, if you have a different opinion, have at it.
35:58
Speaker 4: I think, once again, we already kind of know what
36:00
Speaker 4: the trend is, that, you know, there's a team that
36:03
Speaker 4: they're trending not to be in the playoffs. So, obviously,
36:05
Speaker 4: there's 14 playoff spots. And they don't believe the quarterback
36:08
Speaker 4: is a playoff capable quarterback. That's why you end up
36:11
Speaker 4: with this number. So it's no surprise there. But like
36:15
Speaker 4: you said, I mean, you know, he hasn't had a
36:18
Speaker 4: QBR on a full season of duty when, when Aaron
36:20
Speaker 4: Rogers plays a full season, his QBR has not been
36:24
Speaker 4: below 90.5. So just, if you look at that statistically
36:29
Speaker 4: and historically, you're talking about top, you know, top half
36:33
Speaker 4: of the NFL. So, I felt like he probably shouldn't
36:36
Speaker 4: have been anywhere below 16, but hey, that's what it is.
36:39
Speaker 4: They want to, they want to knock him for being
36:41
Speaker 4: a year older. That's that, that that's their prerogative.
36:47
Speaker 5: Yeah.
36:47
Speaker 6: And I also, I think it's easy to also understand
36:50
Speaker 6: that Aaron Rogers, these last couple of years outside of,
36:54
Speaker 6: you know, obviously he, he got banged up during.
36:56
Speaker 5: His time with the jets, but once he's, since he's
36:58
Speaker 5: been in Pittsburgh, he's been pretty durable, right?
37:00
Speaker 6: He's been, He's suffered some injuries, but he's also kind
37:04
Speaker 6: of gotten himself off the mat and survived some things.
37:07
Speaker 5: So I don't, you know, it is what it is.
37:10
Speaker 6: I think Max kind of clinked it up and said, hey, man,
37:13
Speaker 6: ever since Aaron Rodgers has stepped in the Steelers helmet,
37:15
Speaker 6: he's been pretty efficient from snap to snap and has
37:18
Speaker 6: done a good job thus far. And I think people
37:21
Speaker 6: underestimate that before he, you know, last season, he saved
37:26
Speaker 6: the Steelers offense. There was some clunkiness. There was some deficiencies.
37:30
Speaker 6: And he covered a lot of that last season. So,
37:33
Speaker 6: I'm surprised to Max's point, they rated him so low, Rob.
37:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems low to me.
37:40
Speaker 3: But I have other fights. I mean, I think Max
37:44
Speaker 3: is right. If you put him at 16th, I'd say, okay. Look,
37:48
Speaker 3: and at 16, you could say, look, he's still got it.
37:51
Speaker 3: And if he's still got it, he's above 16. And hey,
37:54
Speaker 3: Father Time caught up with him this year. It seems
37:57
Speaker 3: like a low ranking to me.
37:58
Speaker 2: But Again.
38:00
Speaker 4: Here, question for you real fast. Let's just put this
38:02
Speaker 4: in perspective. Ben Roethlisberger's last year, his QBR was 86.8.
38:05
Speaker 4: The year before that was 94.1. He had a– Aaron
38:12
Speaker 4: Rodgers had a 94.8 last year.
38:14
Speaker 5: Right.
38:15
Speaker 2: Yep. So just in.
38:16
Speaker 4: Case we're just– for statistical and historical purposes, let's just
38:20
Speaker 4: kind of show where that kind of ranks is that
38:24
Speaker 4: he was that much higher, you know, in a year
38:27
Speaker 4: a little bit older– And, you know, they were still
38:31
Speaker 4: considering the Steelers a playoff team at that point. Okay.
38:34
Speaker 5: There we go.
38:35
Speaker 2: Yeah.
38:36
Speaker 5: What's that?
38:37
Speaker 2: That's without a true number two.
38:40
Speaker 3: Right.
38:40
Speaker 2: So, okay. So I wasn't going to go here, but
38:42
Speaker 2: I am going to go here. I got to tell you, look,
38:46
Speaker 2: if you said.
38:47
Speaker 3: If you wanted to critique him in certain things that
38:49
Speaker 3: he did fine, I thought his arm strength was outstanding.
38:53
Speaker 3: You know, I didn't see any throws he couldn't have
38:55
Speaker 3: made and couldn't make and didn't make. I thought the
39:00
Speaker 3: ball came out of his hand great.
39:01
Speaker 2: It was sharp. It was crisp. It was accurate.
39:05
Speaker 3: When he had opportunity to throw, I thought his arm
39:07
Speaker 3: strength looked like it was still in the upper echelon
39:12
Speaker 3: of quarterbacks in the league.
39:13
Speaker 2: Okay, so I wasn't going to dive into it, but
39:15
Speaker 2: I'm going to dive into it. That's what I thought.
39:18
Speaker 5: Rob, can I add one thing?
39:20
Speaker 2: Yeah.
39:21
Speaker 5: I want to say this.
39:22
Speaker 6: I think people will have to also understand that because–
39:26
Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers sees football from a PhD level. when he
39:29
Speaker 6: stepped onto this roster, excuse me, when he stepped onto
39:32
Speaker 6: this team and he started playing, that the rest of
39:35
Speaker 6: this team had to catch up too, right?
39:37
Speaker 5: Like from a mental standpoint.
39:39
Speaker 6: You hear guys like Farrah Mook and different receivers and
39:42
Speaker 6: different people, how they realize like this man sees football
39:45
Speaker 6: at a master's level. So a lot of these guys
39:48
Speaker 6: had to grow up. in real time. And so, so valid,
39:52
Speaker 6: I think the arm talent was always there and definitely
39:55
Speaker 6: the mind was as sharp as ever.
39:57
Speaker 5: But he also had to raise a lot of guys
39:59
Speaker 5: on the fly.
40:00
Speaker 6: And those, so those metrics would never get seen or
40:03
Speaker 6: understood unless you're just in the trenches and knowing what
40:06
Speaker 6: you're looking at and kind of knowing what's going on
40:09
Speaker 6: behind the curtain with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And so, you know,
40:12
Speaker 6: I don't say flippantly like, yeah, he, he kind of
40:14
Speaker 6: masked some deficiencies. A lot of those guys, and I've
40:18
Speaker 6: seen different guys in interviews like, man, you know, we
40:21
Speaker 6: got to be on par with Aaron. We got to
40:23
Speaker 6: do things a lot better. We got to grow up.
40:24
Speaker 6: We got to kind of be a lot more detailed
40:27
Speaker 6: on our job because we're out there with somebody who
40:30
Speaker 6: sees football at an elite level. And if we're on
40:33
Speaker 6: par with him, man, good things are going to happen
40:35
Speaker 6: for the Pittsburgh Steelers on an individual level and on
40:39
Speaker 6: a team level.
40:40
Speaker 5: So, I think last year, this.
40:41
Speaker 6: Is why I think part of my optimism is kind
40:44
Speaker 6: of like, man, these guys had a full year last
40:46
Speaker 6: year of watching, of being a part of the Aaron
40:48
Speaker 6: Rodgers experience. And I understand that the magic just doesn't
40:51
Speaker 6: happen because you're rolling on, you're in Pittsburgh, you're wearing
40:54
Speaker 6: the black and gold and, you know, yellow towers are
40:56
Speaker 6: waving in the stands. The magic happens when you get
40:59
Speaker 6: in line and you understand and become a student of
41:01
Speaker 6: the game. So when he's giving you his different checks
41:04
Speaker 6: and signals and he's seeing things or he's pushing you
41:06
Speaker 6: in places where you can be effective, It's ultimately to
41:09
Speaker 6: help you and help the team and everybody get to
41:12
Speaker 6: the greater good of winning football games on Sunday. So
41:15
Speaker 6: all these little things I'm saying, these little quirks and tweaks,
41:19
Speaker 6: that's never going to be counted into the ranking of
41:22
Speaker 6: how we see Aaron Rodgers, right? But us who cover
41:25
Speaker 6: the Steelers and cover Aaron Rodgers now sit and say, like, no, man,
41:29
Speaker 6: this man is making everyone around him better.
41:32
Speaker 5: And I don't know if there's a matrix for that.
41:35
Speaker 2: Well said. Well said.
41:37
Speaker 3: So I think we all agree that should be higher, right? Okay,
41:41
Speaker 3: so there's issue number one. Running back group. Willie, let's
41:46
Speaker 3: start with you here. They have them, ESPN, best and
41:49
Speaker 3: worst position groups. They had the Steelers ranked 25th. Okay, 25th,
41:55
Speaker 3: and we have last year Rico Dowdle finished 14th in yardage.
42:00
Speaker 2: Warren finished 19th.
42:02
Speaker 3: Rico finished 20th in yards per carry. Warren finished 21st.
42:06
Speaker 3: I mean, again... That feels low to me. That feels,
42:10
Speaker 3: and you add Eli Heidenreich, you add Riley Nowakowski to
42:14
Speaker 3: that list.
42:16
Speaker 2: That feels low to me. That is a low number. Oh, sorry.
42:22
Speaker 5: Go ahead, Will. No, no, no. Go, go, go, Max. Go, go.
42:27
Speaker 4: It was just, I mean, the numbers don't add up
42:31
Speaker 4: to the ranking, right? None of those numbers were at
42:33
Speaker 4: 25 or beyond 25. So how do you get the
42:36
Speaker 4: average of 25 you know you know top half top
42:41
Speaker 4: half finishing for Rico Dowdle top 20 finish for for
42:46
Speaker 4: uh Jalen Warren and their 25th like that it it
42:51
Speaker 4: doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense I you know
42:53
Speaker 4: I get you can probably dock for a year to
42:56
Speaker 4: either you're older or there's a year less tread on
42:59
Speaker 4: on the tire of a running back but man come
43:02
Speaker 4: on now I mean you saw what it was for
43:04
Speaker 4: Kenny Gamewell and and what they did a year ago,
43:07
Speaker 4: and you don't think that Rico Dotto's an upgrade from that,
43:10
Speaker 4: I find that very hard to believe.
43:14
Speaker 5: Well, also, I want to say this, too.
43:16
Speaker 6: I think when people look at Rico Dotto, obviously he
43:19
Speaker 6: had some years with the Panthers that he was successful,
43:22
Speaker 6: but I think a lot of people look at this
43:25
Speaker 6: offense from Mike McCarthy and think, oh, this is.
43:26
Speaker 5: Going to be an explosive passing offense.
43:28
Speaker 6: This is going to be an offense that we're going
43:30
Speaker 6: to be slinging and whatever. Mike McCarthy also runs the ball.
43:34
Speaker 6: You know, this is not a situation where he's just, yeah,
43:36
Speaker 6: he's going to air it out because he has a
43:38
Speaker 6: West Coast scheme or that Texas coach scheme, if you will,
43:41
Speaker 6: that people love to talk about. But a lot of
43:43
Speaker 6: what's predicated off him throwing the ball is his ability
43:46
Speaker 6: to run the ball. So I think when you took
43:47
Speaker 6: out two backs in Jalen Warren and Rico Dyer, both
43:51
Speaker 6: of these guys have, they can break tackles. They both
43:54
Speaker 6: have home run ability. Both guys are solid blockers. You know,
43:57
Speaker 6: Jalen Warren's a hell.
43:57
Speaker 2: Of a blocker.
43:58
Speaker 6: You know, both guys have the ability to set up
44:02
Speaker 6: runs and spring things. So I don't– it's all these things,
44:07
Speaker 6: so to speak, I think there's not enough matrix to
44:11
Speaker 6: kind of attest to the little things they do well.
44:14
Speaker 5: It's all about percentages and win rates and all that stuff.
44:17
Speaker 6: And some of that stuff doesn't kind of equate to
44:20
Speaker 6: the bigger picture or the complete player.
44:23
Speaker 2: I will say this real fast.
44:26
Speaker 4: Do you think it's– and I'll pose this to both
44:29
Speaker 4: Rob and Willie– that Rico Dowdle and Jalen Warren are
44:34
Speaker 4: very similar and there's no change-up to personality, style, or
44:39
Speaker 4: physical characteristics? Is that why you think they probably ranked
44:41
Speaker 4: them low? Because they got two of the same guys,
44:43
Speaker 4: even though I felt like Gamewell was kind of like
44:45
Speaker 4: the same guy last year with Jalen. Do you think
44:47
Speaker 4: that could be it, that there's not no, like, kind
44:49
Speaker 4: of thunder and lightning, right? You know, there's not the
44:51
Speaker 4: big bruising, short yardage back, and then the home run,
44:54
Speaker 4: get away, escape, scat back. Like, do you think that's why?
44:56
Speaker 4: Because they're both very similar bodybuilding types?
45:00
Speaker 3: I think that has something to do with it, Max.
45:01
Speaker 3: I think that the sort of lack of, from a
45:07
Speaker 3: national perspective, lack of excitement, lack of that young guy.
45:11
Speaker 2: Like Eli Heidenreich's a young guy, right? He's 23 years old.
45:15
Speaker 3: And I wanted to kind of move this into the
45:17
Speaker 3: discussion that we're talking about because of this perception that
45:20
Speaker 3: the Steelers roster is old. You know, at 27 for Warren,
45:25
Speaker 3: 28 for Dowdle, these guys are right in the prime
45:27
Speaker 3: of their career. They're not old running backs. No, they're
45:30
Speaker 3: not young running backs, but they're not old running backs.
45:32
Speaker 3: They're in their prime running backs. And I think that
45:38
Speaker 3: people get excited about the Jeremiah Loves and the Ashton
45:41
Speaker 3: Gentes and the young guys, and this is a position
45:45
Speaker 3: in which you simply have two very solid NFL running
45:49
Speaker 3: backs who are really good players, and there isn't that sizzle.
45:54
Speaker 3: And whether that is because there's not a different style Willie,
45:59
Speaker 3: or whether it's because there isn't that young, heir apparent,
46:02
Speaker 3: exciting guy that we can't wait to see later in
46:05
Speaker 3: the season. Maybe Eli's going to be that guy, but
46:07
Speaker 3: that will not be, barring injury, that won't be this year,
46:11
Speaker 3: you wouldn't think. But I think it's probably those things
46:13
Speaker 3: combined a little bit.
46:16
Speaker 6: Well, I think some critics feel like Rico's probably played
46:19
Speaker 6: his best ball behind, left his best ball behind him.
46:22
Speaker 6: I think with Jalen, they feel like he's one of
46:23
Speaker 6: those running backs where if there's if there's a grinder
46:27
Speaker 6: type back, you know, a guy who can just grind
46:30
Speaker 6: it out, grind it out, you put him in and
46:32
Speaker 6: kind of be the finisher.
46:33
Speaker 5: Right.
46:34
Speaker 6: And so when Max says, when asked the question of
46:36
Speaker 6: both of these guys, the same guy, I don't think so.
46:40
Speaker 5: I see.
46:40
Speaker 6: I think Rico is more of the grinder between the tackles,
46:45
Speaker 6: bang it out, bang it out. And I also see
46:47
Speaker 6: Jalen once again, as kind of like that explosive finisher.
46:49
Speaker 6: So I think they're different in play style, body shapes.
46:52
Speaker 6: They may be, you know, body size. They may be
46:54
Speaker 6: the same, But Rico, for me, is the grinder back.
46:57
Speaker 6: He's the guy that can grind and hit the holes,
47:00
Speaker 6: you know, stay consistent. And we've seen Jalen. If he
47:03
Speaker 6: can get on the outside, he can break a tackle.
47:05
Speaker 6: He can jump over a guy. You know, he can
47:07
Speaker 6: take a blow and go. So there's a lot of different–
47:09
Speaker 6: I think there's different characteristics to each guy. The problem
47:13
Speaker 6: is when you put them next to each other, they
47:15
Speaker 6: look like they came from the same factory. That shouldn't
47:18
Speaker 6: be a knock against them, you know. But nevertheless, man,
47:21
Speaker 6: I think both backs are going to be great for
47:23
Speaker 6: this offense.
47:24
Speaker 3: Okay, we are going to have to kind of get
47:28
Speaker 3: it into high gear a little bit here, but we
47:29
Speaker 3: will the next hour as we look at the Steelers
47:31
Speaker 3: position group, how it's perceived nationally by at least one publication,
47:35
Speaker 3: how we perceive this Steelers roster when we continue in
47:38
Speaker 3: the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.