Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR2: Unit Matchups

Transcript

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

0:07
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
0:15
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
0:18
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
0:23
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
0:27
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
0:38
Speaker 2: All right, barreling down the highway towards week one, baby.
0:42
Speaker 2: And Willie is still shaking his head. But you know what?
0:46
Speaker 2: It's all good because it's the power hour. Hour number
0:49
Speaker 2: two here inside the locker room. Willie is definitely inside.
0:54
Speaker 2: I feel like, Willie, you would be tugging the horn
0:57
Speaker 2: every time you got it. If you sat in the
0:59
Speaker 2: cab of a big rig, that would, like, be your M.O.
1:03
Speaker 2: I feel like you would be one of those guys
1:05
Speaker 2: that want to just hit the air horn whenever you could.
1:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe my first month driving a truck, maybe I'll
1:11
Speaker 3: do it. But it won't be something I look forward
1:14
Speaker 3: to every time I get in the truck. I think
1:16
Speaker 3: one of the annoyances I have about the power hour
1:20
Speaker 3: thing is that I'm a fan when you hear a sound,
1:25
Speaker 3: it should provoke an emotional response. When I hear the horn,
1:30
Speaker 3: I feel like there should be like beers that should
1:33
Speaker 3: come out automatically. I don't think about the truck. I
1:36
Speaker 3: feel like the way it sounds like, oh, beer's coming.
1:38
Speaker 3: So when I don't see beer, I get disappointed internally.
1:41
Speaker 3: So that's, I think that's part of it.
1:44
Speaker 4: Yeah.
1:45
Speaker 2: Well, it is. So therefore it is evoking a response
1:48
Speaker 2: and an emotion. It's just disappointment instead of excitement. Right.
1:52
Speaker 3: I just feel like if you hear a horn and
1:55
Speaker 3: you're sitting like beer should be like, somebody should come
1:57
Speaker 3: out with a tray of beer.
1:59
Speaker 2: And I just, it should be like just stone cold action.
2:01
Speaker 2: Like you just, you just crack it to beer and
2:03
Speaker 2: just waterfall on it. Correct. Yeah. Right. I mean, which
2:06
Speaker 2: which we've done many a times in celebration. But that's
2:09
Speaker 2: a whole other story and show in and of itself.
2:12
Speaker 3: I just think about Duffman from Simpsons, like, oh, right.
2:17
Speaker 2: The beer belt, the beer belt just comes out.
2:20
Speaker 4: Exactly.
2:23
Speaker 3: I guess what I'm trying to say, I just need more.
2:25
Speaker 4: I need something other than.
2:26
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. You need something other than that. you know,
2:29
Speaker 2: just the sound itself doesn't evoke enough response in you.
2:33
Speaker 2: Got it, got it, got it. We're within the first
2:38
Speaker 2: month of the show, so we're going to figure some
2:41
Speaker 2: things out, and we're going to have our tribunal come
2:45
Speaker 2: up with some other options, but we are in hour
2:49
Speaker 2: number two here inside the show, and kind of continue
2:52
Speaker 2: our conversation. It's kind of the initial polished look, the
2:56
Speaker 2: two-man weave of you know, looking at this, we'll have
3:01
Speaker 2: Rob back tomorrow. So we'll kind of get into more
3:04
Speaker 2: of the in-depth type of matchup stuff. But while we're
3:08
Speaker 2: here and it's me and you, we're just kind of
3:10
Speaker 2: chopping it up as we kind of go through the
3:14
Speaker 2: big storyline and kind of personnel lineups. And I think defensively, Will,
3:18
Speaker 2: this is where it gets super interesting for the Atlanta
3:23
Speaker 2: Falcons because Over the years, what's been the biggest Achilles
3:27
Speaker 2: heel has been their defense and trying to create some
3:32
Speaker 2: consistency there because they haven't had it. They haven't had
3:36
Speaker 2: the consistency. They're constantly in flux defensively. For the longest time,
3:42
Speaker 2: especially towards the end of our careers and moving into
3:51
Speaker 2: more recent history, the secondary was always the biggest issue.
3:55
Speaker 2: It was healthy the second day. They couldn't keep a
3:57
Speaker 2: guy healthy to save their lives. It was like mass
4:00
Speaker 2: hockey lineup changes, it felt like, in the secondary. And
4:04
Speaker 2: now they've kind of stabilized that, but now it's the
4:06
Speaker 2: defensive line. Like pass rush has been the issue for them.
4:09
Speaker 2: And they went to the draft two years ago, and
4:13
Speaker 2: you just– you went and you just hit it hard,
4:16
Speaker 2: and you went and you reached for a James Pierce who–
4:20
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, last year had 10.5 sacks. But off
4:24
Speaker 2: the field, the red flag that he carried ended up
4:29
Speaker 2: now being the issue why he suspended, right? It was
4:31
Speaker 2: the thing that was in the pre-draft process that they
4:34
Speaker 2: were like, oh, no, we can fix him. I was like, yeah,
4:37
Speaker 2: throw him in Atlanta, in Magic City, lemon pepper wings,
4:41
Speaker 2: and there's not going to be a problem. It's probably
4:44
Speaker 2: one of the worst decisions ever. And now we're seeing
4:46
Speaker 2: that kind of pay itself off. And then, of course,
4:50
Speaker 2: you lose one of your top other options. who gets
4:54
Speaker 2: injured during camp. And so now we're kind of left
4:58
Speaker 2: with a rotating group of guys. I mean, heck, they
5:02
Speaker 2: had to bring Zaria Smith out of retirement. You know,
5:05
Speaker 2: they had to talk him back into it to get
5:07
Speaker 2: him out there because they had zero pass rush. They
5:09
Speaker 2: had zero sacks. I think they had two and a
5:11
Speaker 2: half sacks returning from last year's defense. So just kind
5:16
Speaker 2: of as you look at the initial– group of the
5:21
Speaker 2: front line guys. So we're talking about edge rushers and three,
5:23
Speaker 2: because they play a three, four type structure like us.
5:26
Speaker 2: So three down linemen, outside backers. What's the initial take
5:32
Speaker 2: about the defensive line unit for this Alpen squad?
5:37
Speaker 3: Well, I think a couple of things. I think you
5:39
Speaker 3: talk about their front. You know, they pride themselves on
5:41
Speaker 3: having size. They wanted to get bigger. They wanted to
5:44
Speaker 3: get stronger on the defensive line so they wouldn't be
5:47
Speaker 3: so susceptible to the run game. With some of the
5:50
Speaker 3: things that pretty much transpired over the summer, Pierce, Z'Davis
5:57
Speaker 3: now coming in, they're dealing with some continuity issues. And
6:01
Speaker 3: you're talking about one of the strengths of their defense
6:03
Speaker 3: as a whole is their secondary. Their secondary is their strength, right?
6:07
Speaker 3: Like Xavier Watts, who they drafted, he had five picks
6:11
Speaker 3: for them last year.
6:12
Speaker 4: They still have A.J. Terrell.
6:13
Speaker 3: They still have Jesse Bates. So they got guys who
6:15
Speaker 3: are veteran guys who play at a high level. The
6:18
Speaker 3: issue with them, as you already stated, is their lack
6:21
Speaker 3: of ability to get to the quarterback. And you think
6:24
Speaker 3: the edge will favor the Steelers now because we have
6:27
Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers, but because Aaron Rodgers can get the ball
6:30
Speaker 3: out of his hands extremely fast. What also needs to
6:33
Speaker 3: be said is that this defensive line, if you've ever
6:37
Speaker 3: put on the tape, this is an athletic defensive line.
6:41
Speaker 3: Valid they're big and they're strong, they can do things,
6:43
Speaker 3: but This is a defensive line that likes to stunt.
6:45
Speaker 4: They throw a couple cross dogs at you.
6:47
Speaker 3: They like to keep those guys in the move so
6:49
Speaker 3: they don't become staggered and stale or sent and ducked.
6:51
Speaker 3: So when you talk about a Steelers offensive line that's
6:55
Speaker 3: really trying to find their way and trying to be
6:57
Speaker 3: better and trying to build an identity up front, these
7:00
Speaker 3: are one of those games you have to be careful
7:02
Speaker 3: for because this defensive line knows who it is and
7:07
Speaker 3: knows who they are, excuse me, but this offensive line
7:09
Speaker 3: for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first game We know
7:12
Speaker 3: one of the things that we worry about is the
7:13
Speaker 3: chemistry and continuity that they just don't have right now
7:16
Speaker 3: because they haven't solidified a five. Hopefully that's not a
7:19
Speaker 3: factor against already ready-made defensive front in.
7:23
Speaker 4: The Atlanta Falcons.
7:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, and kind of a quick, you know, aside, you know,
7:29
Speaker 2: as we sit here on Thursday, you know, we got
7:31
Speaker 2: the initial injury practice report there. And so, you know,
7:35
Speaker 2: when you're looking at it, you know, we know the
7:37
Speaker 2: suspension status of Pierce. We know that Z'Darrius was limited
7:42
Speaker 2: in practice yesterday, dealing with a shoulder. Brandon Dorlis, one
7:47
Speaker 2: of their interior defensive linemen, kind of plays a Cam
7:49
Speaker 2: Hayward type of position. He was limited with a groin.
7:53
Speaker 2: Billy Bowman Jr. is limited, Achilles issue. So, I mean,
7:58
Speaker 2: they've got some issues. I didn't talk about it last hour,
8:03
Speaker 2: but Zachariah Branch, who they drafted– to kind of come
8:07
Speaker 2: in and be that guy. He's, he's right now, he's
8:10
Speaker 2: very limited and possibly unavailable for them offensively. That's why
8:13
Speaker 2: we kind of talked about Zaccheaus and Dotson at the
8:16
Speaker 2: wide receiver and kind of omitted branch from that group
8:19
Speaker 2: because of the injury status of him. So when you're
8:22
Speaker 2: looking at, I mean, it's dinged up. I mean, they have,
8:25
Speaker 2: they have some good guys, right? I mean, you look
8:28
Speaker 2: at Jared, Jared Ivy is a guy that they, that
8:30
Speaker 2: they got.
8:31
Speaker 5: And, you know, you could possibly throw him on Samson
8:33
Speaker 5: at EBCOM and, is another one that they brought in
8:39
Speaker 5: this year, and Yasir Abdullah.
8:42
Speaker 2: So they were scrambling to try and figure out edge pressure,
8:46
Speaker 2: edge rush. But, you know, Deshaun Hand's a guy that,
8:51
Speaker 2: you know, they brought in. LaKale London played for them
8:55
Speaker 2: a year ago. Gervin Dexter, Masson Smith, you know, are
9:01
Speaker 2: guys that they've had and kind of rolled through, but
9:03
Speaker 2: You know, they lose a Roro, and it's always fun
9:07
Speaker 2: saying his name because I'm like, I feel like Scooby-Doo
9:10
Speaker 2: almost to a degree when I say his name. Roro.
9:14
Speaker 2: You know, but they don't have him coming back, so
9:17
Speaker 2: that's why. And that's where the team that really had
9:20
Speaker 2: a full-sale defensive line change where they've had to bring
9:23
Speaker 2: in a lot of bodies and guys who haven't really
9:26
Speaker 2: played together, and you're hoping that it works out because
9:30
Speaker 2: you had to adjust on the fly losing two of
9:32
Speaker 2: your lead pass rushers.
9:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, I also think for the Falcons, as you continue
9:37
Speaker 3: for this game, the goal is not letting DK get off, right?
9:42
Speaker 3: We know one thing DK, and this is not my words,
9:46
Speaker 3: this is what we've been heard, that from a mental standpoint,
9:49
Speaker 3: he's in a lot better place.
9:51
Speaker 4: He feels like he's a lot better ball player. He's matured.
9:54
Speaker 3: And if you're the Falcons right now, with the two
9:58
Speaker 3: receivers we have him and Pittman, there's a chance that
10:02
Speaker 3: this game can be over fast. So the goal is,
10:04
Speaker 3: can we get to Aaron Rodgers? We won't be able
10:07
Speaker 3: to get to him one-on-one because we don't have a
10:08
Speaker 3: pass rush, so blitz is going to be the goal.
10:11
Speaker 4: And if we do blitz him, who are we leaving
10:13
Speaker 4: out on the island against DK, right? And what does
10:15
Speaker 4: that look like?
10:16
Speaker 3: So it's going to be an interesting game right off
10:19
Speaker 3: the bat.
10:20
Speaker 4: But I think I'm more concerned about.
10:21
Speaker 3: The energy and the display of the Steelers coming out
10:24
Speaker 3: this game and not taking the Falcons for granted or
10:26
Speaker 3: playing down to their level.
10:29
Speaker 2: Well, and I'm right there with you, I think, because,
10:31
Speaker 2: you know, you've got guys on it. I think there's
10:34
Speaker 2: second and third levels of where their strength is. So
10:37
Speaker 2: you don't want to allow those guys to get off.
10:39
Speaker 4: Right.
10:39
Speaker 2: You don't want Divine Diablo coming in and being a
10:44
Speaker 2: big disruptive force. You don't want Kendall Daniels, a rookie
10:48
Speaker 2: they drafted this year. in the fourth round, and then
10:51
Speaker 2: Harold Perkins, who, you know, as I'm looking at, like,
10:56
Speaker 2: who can generate additional pass rush, Harold Perkins is a
11:00
Speaker 2: guy I had at LSU for a long time, Will,
11:03
Speaker 2: and early in his career was an outside pass rusher,
11:07
Speaker 2: was dynamic. He, as a freshman, started for LSU and
11:11
Speaker 2: then had some injuries and then they moved him to
11:13
Speaker 2: the inside linebacker position. And kind of had a little
11:18
Speaker 2: bit of a step back last year. But a guy
11:21
Speaker 2: who has pass rush capability, so you wonder if you
11:23
Speaker 2: can get in some sub-down situations and create opportunities for
11:28
Speaker 2: him to really show off the pass rush and change
11:30
Speaker 2: it up and get a little different. So, I mean,
11:32
Speaker 2: the biggest thing is not knowing what to expect out
11:36
Speaker 2: of this crew and not knowing what they're going to
11:39
Speaker 2: present as the challenge. What is going to be the mix-up?
11:42
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers has seen it all, but... what wrinkle can
11:46
Speaker 2: they throw in to get a hit hiccup in his
11:48
Speaker 2: operation is going to be key. Cause like you said,
11:51
Speaker 2: if he gets time to throw, he's going to pick
11:53
Speaker 2: you apart and DK DK can, can, can man child
11:57
Speaker 2: and son anybody on that defensive side of the ball
12:00
Speaker 2: at any moment. So how do you do that? And
12:04
Speaker 2: then you, and then how do we activate Pittman, right?
12:06
Speaker 2: If you are going to double team DK, how do
12:10
Speaker 2: you activate the ISO situation that Pittman is going to present?
12:13
Speaker 2: Because we haven't seen them play at all in any
12:15
Speaker 2: competitive snap. At all yet. How does that look when
12:20
Speaker 2: we get down into the season?
12:23
Speaker 3: Well, I think, listen, I think one thing we know
12:25
Speaker 3: about Mike McCarthy's offense is about being explosive, right?
12:29
Speaker 4: On top of being able to execute in the red zone.
12:31
Speaker 3: As much as we sit here and talk about our
12:33
Speaker 3: receiving core, man, there has to be a resurgence.
12:37
Speaker 4: Of Fairmouth and Washington. Darnell Washington, Mount Washington.
12:41
Speaker 3: Because If we're going to live, if everything goes according
12:44
Speaker 3: to plan and we all know God is a Steeler fan,
12:47
Speaker 3: we plan to be in the red zone a lot.
12:50
Speaker 3: Our tight end usage has to be a lot better
12:53
Speaker 3: than what it was last year. I thought that was
12:55
Speaker 3: a down for the Steelers last season. I think this season,
13:01
Speaker 3: you sign Mount Washington all this money, you let John
13:04
Speaker 3: Lewis Smith.
13:04
Speaker 4: Go, you have Pat Fairmuth.
13:07
Speaker 3: There has to be this understanding that when we get
13:10
Speaker 3: from the 28th inning that our tight ends come alive
13:13
Speaker 3: because I think they both have a mismatch for any
13:15
Speaker 3: linebacker safety. And the way Aaron can put balls in
13:18
Speaker 3: places that a lot of quarterbacks can't, we cannot rely
13:21
Speaker 3: on Chris Boswell to get us out of games. Like
13:23
Speaker 3: he's been doing the last umpteen years. Valley, he's a short,
13:26
Speaker 3: short foot kicker. He's amazing at his job. He's a
13:29
Speaker 3: great cold weather kicker, but we have to be able
13:32
Speaker 3: to capitalize and scoring points, especially if we're looking at
13:34
Speaker 3: a defense right now, that's thin on the back end. So,
13:38
Speaker 3: you know, sevens have to be a must more than ever.
13:42
Speaker 3: because of what we have and what we have to
13:43
Speaker 3: worry about from the defensive side of the ball.
13:47
Speaker 2: Yeah. And looking at that, what there'll be going up against,
13:51
Speaker 2: you know, AJ Terrell, fantastic corner for them. Yeah. Xavier Watts,
13:58
Speaker 2: like you talked about, I mean, I loved him a
14:00
Speaker 2: year ago coming out of Notre Dame. Like the kid
14:03
Speaker 2: was absolutely explosive. Like at the safety position, he was
14:07
Speaker 2: a guy I thought that we might've actually went after potentially, But,
14:12
Speaker 2: you know, you look at him, you add Avion Terrell
14:17
Speaker 2: in the corner, so you got the Terrell-brother combination there,
14:20
Speaker 2: one at corner, one at nickel. Jesse Bates with, you know,
14:26
Speaker 2: just a lot of cachet coming in from a year
14:30
Speaker 2: ago and what he did. We saw him as a
14:33
Speaker 2: Cincinnati Bengal. In fact, Willie, here's a stat for you.
14:37
Speaker 2: He is the only NFL player who, to have a
14:40
Speaker 2: pick six every year for the last three years.
14:45
Speaker 4: Oh, wow. Yeah.
14:47
Speaker 2: So since 2023, this dude has averaged at least one
14:50
Speaker 2: pick six a year. Nobody else has done that.
14:54
Speaker 3: I just, I just remember his time with the Bengals.
14:56
Speaker 3: He was, I mean, he was solid with the Bengals, man.
14:58
Speaker 3: Like I just remember his time and how much impact,
15:01
Speaker 3: you know, the Bengals didn't have much going on, but
15:03
Speaker 3: when he popped up to tape, anytime you watch him,
15:05
Speaker 3: I also think what's crazy about this secondary.
15:09
Speaker 4: Is, I don't know if you, do you remember the.
15:11
Speaker 3: Falcons versus Bucs last season when Kirk Cousins came in
15:15
Speaker 3: as quarterback?
15:17
Speaker 4: And if you watch that game, what turned.
15:20
Speaker 3: That game around for the Falcons was, it wasn't just
15:24
Speaker 3: the play of Kirk Cousins. It was that the Falcons defense,
15:27
Speaker 3: their secondary in particular, caused hell for Baker Mayfield. Like
15:30
Speaker 3: they single-handedly in the second half of that game won.
15:33
Speaker 4: That game for the Falcons. And Kyle Pitts had an
15:36
Speaker 4: awesome game as well.
15:37
Speaker 3: But that game in particular sticks out because that back end,
15:42
Speaker 3: especially the way they was able to pinpoint the football, tackle,
15:47
Speaker 3: get off the field on third down. Like, Baker Mayfield
15:49
Speaker 3: tried his damnedest to close that game, and it was
15:52
Speaker 3: that secondary that really wouldn't allow it.
15:54
Speaker 4: And that's how the Falcons would ultimately end up winning
15:55
Speaker 4: that game.
15:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think it was that combination, right?
16:00
Speaker 2: You talk about Jesse Bates and the knowledge that he has,
16:03
Speaker 2: and then you throw in Xavier Watts. a young, super
16:06
Speaker 2: athletic and talented other safety, they really were the field
16:10
Speaker 2: generals on that back half. They were disguising single high,
16:12
Speaker 2: dropping it into zone coverage, running quarters to keep everything
16:16
Speaker 2: in front of them. Like there was a lot of
16:19
Speaker 2: good concepts that they ran to kind of confuse Baker. And,
16:22
Speaker 2: you know, Baker's one of those guys, I mean, I
16:24
Speaker 2: know we talked about him and what he means. And
16:26
Speaker 2: if he came available, will we have signed him as
16:28
Speaker 2: a stealer? He got the extension, blah, blah, blah. But
16:31
Speaker 2: one of the things that he is, he's so emotional
16:33
Speaker 2: as well. as a player, he gets frustrated very easily.
16:37
Speaker 2: And that was some of your right. They, they really
16:39
Speaker 2: frustrated him. And you saw it kind of unravel him
16:42
Speaker 2: at the end of that game. So they have the
16:45
Speaker 2: same crew. I mean, Michael Hughes is the other corner
16:47
Speaker 2: for them. Solid older guy. You know, he, he, he's a,
16:52
Speaker 2: he's Orlando guy. You know, went to UCF and, and
16:57
Speaker 2: solid corner. So, I mean, their secondary, when I look
16:59
Speaker 2: at it, like you said, you look at it, you say,
17:02
Speaker 2: this is a strength, the back half. Right. How do
17:05
Speaker 2: we frustrate that? And it's a run game. A run
17:08
Speaker 2: game is what's going to what's going to be the difference.
17:11
Speaker 4: All right.
17:11
Speaker 2: We're going to we're going to step aside. Now we're
17:13
Speaker 2: going to turn our attentions more earnestly to our own
17:18
Speaker 2: defense and kind of what they're going to be facing.
17:20
Speaker 2: I know we've kind of mixed it and move it
17:22
Speaker 2: into the conversation, but we're actually going to break it
17:24
Speaker 2: down defensive side of the ball against the Atlanta office
17:27
Speaker 2: when we come back here inside the locker room.
17:37
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
17:41
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio, brought to you
17:44
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
17:47
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
17:52
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
17:56
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
18:02
Speaker 2: All right, well, let's set the scene here. It's Sunday, 105-ish,
18:09
Speaker 2: we'll say, kickoff happened, and defense is on the field first.
18:15
Speaker 2: Let's say offense, let's say we won the coin toss,
18:18
Speaker 2: offense to first in the second half, defense is rolling
18:21
Speaker 2: out on the field. What I expect to see, and
18:27
Speaker 2: you let me know your thoughts here, but We'll line up.
18:32
Speaker 2: There'll be regular personnel because they're coming out in 12 personnel.
18:36
Speaker 2: I really have to set the full scene here. Offensive line,
18:39
Speaker 2: Tua Tongavailoa, B. John Robinson in the backfield. Cal Pitts,
18:44
Speaker 2: Austin Hooper on the line, Drake London, and let's just
18:47
Speaker 2: say for all intents and purposes, Jahan Dotson. That's your
18:51
Speaker 2: offensive front. So we got 12 personnel. So now we
18:55
Speaker 2: roll out a regular. We roll out Derek Harmon, Y.A. Black,
19:02
Speaker 2: Cam Hayward, interior. T.J. Watt on one side, Alex Highsmith
19:08
Speaker 2: on the other. Peyton Wilson, Patrick Queen sitting in the
19:12
Speaker 2: second-level position. And now we get to the secondary. Jamel Dean,
19:18
Speaker 2: Jaquan Brisker, Rayshon Jenkins. Jalen plays the slot. And as
19:25
Speaker 2: long as all reports go well, Joey Porter Jr. plays
19:29
Speaker 2: the other corner.
19:30
Speaker 4: Uh-oh. Breaking news.
19:36
Speaker 2: The midnight signing, Saturday night. Who knows? I'm hoping for it.
19:41
Speaker 2: You know, hopefully they can come to terms because, you know,
19:45
Speaker 2: we talked about it, you talked about it, how important
19:47
Speaker 2: of a linchpin Joey is to the success of what
19:50
Speaker 2: this team can do this season. What's your thoughts? Initially,
19:55
Speaker 2: you see that lineup, and Joey is in that lineup.
20:00
Speaker 2: What's the emotion?
20:02
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I'm just excited to see what this
20:06
Speaker 3: linebacker core can do meaning TJ, Alex, the on-ball linebackers,
20:15
Speaker 3: and obviously Peyton and Patrick being the off-ball linebackers. There
20:19
Speaker 3: has to be, you know, we can sit here and
20:22
Speaker 3: talk about what Cam and Derek and Y.A., what they
20:26
Speaker 3: have to bring to the table, and we know, we
20:27
Speaker 3: understand that. But one thing we're traditionally used to, Max,
20:31
Speaker 3: from our time being Steelers, is that our linebacker core,
20:35
Speaker 3: on top of what we had in the back end
20:38
Speaker 3: with the great Troy Palomaro, our linebacker core was what
20:42
Speaker 3: spearheaded our defense from their ability, from their range, from
20:47
Speaker 3: their ability to tackle, from the ability to hunt the
20:49
Speaker 3: quarterback for their, for their ability just to make plays
20:53
Speaker 3: like collectively as a group, that unit often on ball,
20:57
Speaker 3: our linebackers were kind of our, our, there were our ninjas,
21:02
Speaker 3: if you will.
21:03
Speaker 2: Right.
21:03
Speaker 3: Those are the guys who we sent to kill and everybody.
21:06
Speaker 3: And obviously Troy was a part of that as well.
21:09
Speaker 3: But it was those guys who really popped off the
21:13
Speaker 3: tape individually and collectively. So when you talk about rolling
21:18
Speaker 3: out that unit, man, I just want to see a tougher,
21:21
Speaker 3: more sound tackling unit out of them. We know we
21:24
Speaker 3: can rush the pass. There's no doubt Steelers will forever,
21:26
Speaker 3: forever have guys.
21:27
Speaker 4: That can go get the quarterback. It just is what
21:29
Speaker 4: it is. It's who we are and what we'll always be.
21:33
Speaker 3: But in got to have situations, I want to see
21:36
Speaker 3: us cover and tackle a lot better than what we
21:38
Speaker 3: did last year And I don't mean to keep Harper
21:40
Speaker 3: on last year, but so is what we got since
21:42
Speaker 3: we haven't played a game yet this season. I just
21:44
Speaker 3: want to see us get a lot more better tacklers
21:48
Speaker 3: when we get to the ball carrier. And I don't
21:50
Speaker 3: want to be redundant, but that's what won the game
21:52
Speaker 3: for the Seattle Seahawks last night was the fact that
21:56
Speaker 3: on those swing passes or to those curl routes or
21:59
Speaker 3: anything that happened in the zone, those linebackers, they didn't
22:03
Speaker 3: blow tackles.
22:03
Speaker 4: They got them down and they were able to move on.
22:07
Speaker 3: And it forced the Patriots to play in second and
22:09
Speaker 3: long or in third and long, which favors.
22:12
Speaker 4: Us, right?
22:13
Speaker 3: Because we do have a pass rush that can go
22:14
Speaker 3: get the quarterback. So I think that's what I'm interested
22:18
Speaker 3: to see. I want to see our linebackers tackle and
22:21
Speaker 3: be a lot more a sound tackling unit than what
22:24
Speaker 3: we've seen in the past. Because, man, if we can
22:26
Speaker 3: tackle and keep teams on third and long, now you're
22:30
Speaker 3: talking about bringing in packages where we're seeing TJ, Alex,
22:34
Speaker 3: and Nick Herbig on the field at the same time.
22:36
Speaker 3: doing what they do best, and that's going to get
22:38
Speaker 3: the quarterback. So, it all plays hand-in-hand, man, but that's
22:41
Speaker 3: what I'm really interested in seeing.
22:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm right there with you, and I think you
22:46
Speaker 2: talk about the interior guys, Patrick Queen, Peyton Wilson, kind
22:50
Speaker 2: of having to lead the charge, and Patrick talking about
22:52
Speaker 2: how he didn't really feel like he tackled that well
22:55
Speaker 2: last year, and listen, if you got any type of... Yes, exactly.
23:02
Speaker 2: Trust me, you and Trey both made yourselves vocal, and
23:06
Speaker 2: And I think that's, you know, we talk about the
23:10
Speaker 2: first step to getting over a problem is admitting you
23:13
Speaker 2: have a problem. But at the same time, you know,
23:16
Speaker 2: in the NFL, it's put up or shut up. And
23:18
Speaker 2: I think that's where Patrick Williams, right out the gates,
23:22
Speaker 2: you're getting the test in B. John Robinson because he's
23:27
Speaker 2: going to come at you and he's going to come
23:28
Speaker 2: at you early, often, and consistently. So how do you
23:33
Speaker 2: get ready for that? from the inside to outside spot.
23:36
Speaker 2: And I think that what, what will help that linebacking
23:39
Speaker 2: core is the set is the secondaries, the safety, the extension.
23:42
Speaker 2: We talk about the Troy Palomaro's and the RCs of
23:45
Speaker 2: the world, right from our day. Well, that now has
23:49
Speaker 2: to be Jalen Ramsey. That has to be Rayshawn Jenkins.
23:52
Speaker 2: That has to, that has to be Jaquan Brisker. They
23:55
Speaker 2: had to, when I talk about when the D line
23:57
Speaker 2: spills it, you got to fill it. And those are
24:01
Speaker 2: your alley exits. guys that are going to fill, it's
24:04
Speaker 2: going to come down between the two linebackers and whichever
24:07
Speaker 2: one of your savings and possibly the nickel, if you're
24:09
Speaker 2: running to the strength of, of the formation. So you've
24:13
Speaker 2: got to be involved there. And, and that's going to
24:15
Speaker 2: be key. You know, Jalen Ramsey, I love our, I
24:18
Speaker 2: love our secondary for tackling. I think that's one of
24:21
Speaker 2: our strengths, but like you said, the inner core area,
24:25
Speaker 2: you know, cause we don't have that Ernest Jones from Seattle, right?
24:29
Speaker 2: We got a Peyton Wilson and we got a Patrick
24:31
Speaker 2: Queen and, And they're the, they're the range. You guys
24:34
Speaker 2: are carried tight ends off the ball. They're shadow the
24:37
Speaker 2: running back out of the backfield in zone coverage and
24:40
Speaker 2: man situations. But when you talk about filling that a
24:43
Speaker 2: gap and have to be a hammer, that's what, and
24:45
Speaker 2: that's what the strength was. When we talk about what
24:48
Speaker 2: Potsy and foot Larry foot, James Ferry, what they brought
24:52
Speaker 2: to the table was they were not afraid to go
24:54
Speaker 2: crack skulls in the interior.
24:57
Speaker 3: Well, they played hand-in-hand, and they played on a string.
25:01
Speaker 3: And I think at that linebacker position, that's what you
25:03
Speaker 3: have to do. And I think for Patrick Kling, he
25:05
Speaker 3: was so used to Roquan Smith and Baltimore kind of
25:08
Speaker 3: being on that guy to jump on the grenade every
25:11
Speaker 3: time there was a play to be made. Now he
25:15
Speaker 3: has to be the guy to be able to jump
25:16
Speaker 3: on the grenade so Peyton Wilson can go eat. And
25:19
Speaker 3: it's something they're going to have to do hand-in-hand for
25:22
Speaker 3: them to be a linebacker core that really pops off
25:24
Speaker 3: the tape and that people respect. Because I think if
25:27
Speaker 3: you watch last year and you talk about how well
25:30
Speaker 3: teams were able to run the ball on us, it
25:32
Speaker 3: was frustrating because, sure, you want to blame it on
25:34
Speaker 3: Keanu being out of position and not being asked out
25:37
Speaker 3: against the runner as he should have been. Or you
25:40
Speaker 3: could talk about, you know, Derek, you know, kind of
25:45
Speaker 3: really trying to immerse himself and learning on the fly,
25:47
Speaker 3: him being a rookie. With all that said, our linebacker,
25:49
Speaker 3: of course, should have been a lot better because when
25:51
Speaker 3: you pay Patrick Quinn as much money as he was
25:53
Speaker 3: being paid, There are certain plays that he just has
25:56
Speaker 3: to make because that's the tag that's on his head.
25:59
Speaker 4: And so coming into this year, he's heard the criticism.
26:04
Speaker 4: He's received it. He tested the market. The market said, uh-uh,
26:08
Speaker 4: we're okay.
26:09
Speaker 3: Like, now I want to see an angry Patrick Queen
26:12
Speaker 3: who's a lot more sound tackler and a better football
26:14
Speaker 3: player from the neck up and a willing and willing
26:17
Speaker 3: thumper because you know Peyton Wilson. He's not a big dude,
26:20
Speaker 3: but you know he's a willin'. Does that– can Patrick.
26:23
Speaker 4: Quinn match that energy?
26:24
Speaker 3: Because if two of them can play hand-in-hand and read
26:27
Speaker 3: and react and play a tougher brand of football, it
26:31
Speaker 3: just makes that front seven a lot more elite, and
26:34
Speaker 3: I think it helps that back end be a lot
26:35
Speaker 3: better as well.
26:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm in agreeance with you. I think also
26:41
Speaker 2: what benefited for this defense, you know, a year ago
26:43
Speaker 2: was we knew how to turn the ball over. We
26:47
Speaker 2: were a high– forced fumble, fumble recovery team, interception squad.
26:52
Speaker 2: I mean, I think we came out of the season
26:54
Speaker 2: with a plus 12, which was fourth best in the league.
27:01
Speaker 2: And that's really what allowed the defense to kind of–
27:04
Speaker 2: but it was a T.J. Watt, right, getting in there,
27:06
Speaker 2: forcing fumbles. It was Cam Hayward punching the ball out.
27:09
Speaker 2: And that's what I think they're going to have to
27:11
Speaker 2: kind of major in is you have to be opportunistic
27:13
Speaker 2: in those moments. You have to continue. But you can't
27:15
Speaker 2: depend on it. You can't live and die by it
27:17
Speaker 2: because when you live and die by it, you get
27:19
Speaker 2: the Houston-Texas game, right? So the sound tackling, along with
27:24
Speaker 2: the opportunistic abilities, have to marry themselves hand in hand.
27:29
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, that's going to be really key.
27:31
Speaker 2: We're going to be watching what Patrick Queen and Peyton
27:33
Speaker 2: Wilson do this year and how they've grown and learned
27:37
Speaker 2: from the mistakes of last year to get in this position. But,
27:42
Speaker 2: you know, I do want to ask you this question
27:43
Speaker 2: as we look at kind of the... Because the D-line
27:45
Speaker 2: also plays that role, right? D-line is the one that
27:47
Speaker 2: set up the blocks absorb the double teams and allow
27:50
Speaker 2: for them to kind of run a little bit freer.
27:53
Speaker 2: Would you be surprised if they shift Keanu in at
27:58
Speaker 2: nose at any point during this game?
28:02
Speaker 3: I mean, it would make sense just because he already
28:07
Speaker 3: has that type of– he already.
28:09
Speaker 4: Has that on his resume. He did it last year.
28:13
Speaker 3: I think this year, I think he's probably thinking that with–
28:18
Speaker 3: the ability to hunt the quarterback.
28:19
Speaker 4: He had five sacks last year.
28:21
Speaker 3: They still want him to have an interior pressure, be
28:24
Speaker 3: able to give interior pressure from that standpoint. But if
28:28
Speaker 3: he can be a lot more stout against the run,
28:31
Speaker 3: that just helps everybody out. But I also think we
28:34
Speaker 3: don't sometimes give guys the time to learn and adjust
28:39
Speaker 3: and acclimate. We throw guys out there and we feel
28:43
Speaker 3: like we coach them up well enough. They should do
28:45
Speaker 3: the job. to the standard. And that's fair. But guys
28:49
Speaker 3: still have to feel it, see it, know it, and
28:51
Speaker 3: react to it. And if you don't give guys enough
28:53
Speaker 3: time to do that and understand their why, then you're
28:57
Speaker 3: just setting the guy back.
28:58
Speaker 4: And so I think having that year, understand what's.
29:00
Speaker 3: Required from him, from not only playing a three-eye and
29:04
Speaker 3: a four-eye, but potentially being that zero on the ball
29:08
Speaker 3: nose tackle where he can really disrupt the eight-gap to eight-gap,
29:12
Speaker 3: you know, that's something that he knows he can do now.
29:14
Speaker 3: And now hopefully coming into this year, he's a lot
29:16
Speaker 3: better at doing it. And that's going to help YA
29:18
Speaker 3: a lot better because YA doesn't have the experience that
29:21
Speaker 3: Keanu has, right? So if you got two guys both
29:24
Speaker 3: having that type of experience or one in YA being
29:27
Speaker 3: able to go to Keanu and say, hey, what did
29:29
Speaker 3: you see here?
29:30
Speaker 4: Why do you play this block? How do we do
29:31
Speaker 4: these things?
29:32
Speaker 3: Now you have a young guy who can feed off
29:34
Speaker 3: an older guy who's already played that position and still
29:36
Speaker 3: learning on the fly as well.
29:39
Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
29:40
Speaker 2: No, I think, I think that's a great point because,
29:42
Speaker 2: you know, as I'm kind of looking at it, I'm like, Hey, well,
29:44
Speaker 2: who's going to dress? How's this rotation going to go?
29:48
Speaker 2: And I'm like, well, if I'm trusting anybody to come
29:52
Speaker 2: in at that nose behind Y.A., I'm probably looking at
29:56
Speaker 2: him over Kevin Jovety or Gabe Rubio, who are complete
29:59
Speaker 2: rookies and still have a lot to learn in this league.
30:03
Speaker 2: And if I'm dressing six guys across the board and
30:08
Speaker 2: we are going to play more, I think in my mindset,
30:11
Speaker 2: we're going to play more base personnel because of what
30:14
Speaker 2: Atlanta does. I've got to have a rolling combo of guys.
30:19
Speaker 2: We know Sebastian Joseph day, what he can do. And
30:22
Speaker 2: he's more that, three to four eye to four possible
30:26
Speaker 2: loose five type of player. He's not a, he's not
30:29
Speaker 2: a nose type guy. And Gabe Rubio can't play that nose,
30:35
Speaker 2: but I don't, I don't have enough film to trust
30:37
Speaker 2: him in the regular season. If I'm not going to
30:39
Speaker 2: trust him, I'm definitely not trusting Gabe Rubio to come
30:42
Speaker 2: out there. No, no, no.
30:44
Speaker 3: But I, I understand that, but I watching Rubio in
30:47
Speaker 3: the preseason, he, he looks and feels more like a
30:52
Speaker 3: natural at that position than actually YA. Because if you
30:57
Speaker 3: watch him in traffic, man, he knows how to get
31:01
Speaker 3: off blocks. He doesn't get washed off the ball easily.
31:04
Speaker 3: He has a good job of reading hats and reacting
31:07
Speaker 3: to it. I think if you're YA and you struggle
31:10
Speaker 3: early out the game, you start getting Rubio ready to
31:13
Speaker 3: roll because he just seems more natural at the position.
31:17
Speaker 4: Than YA right now.
31:19
Speaker 3: So, you don't, you know, there was, and I know
31:22
Speaker 3: because you was on the team at the time, there
31:24
Speaker 3: was always that story when Casey Hinton tore his ACL.
31:26
Speaker 4: How well Chris Holt played while the absence of Hemp
31:30
Speaker 4: was out.
31:31
Speaker 3: And everybody was laughing at Casey Hinton, like, man, you
31:34
Speaker 3: better get your ass off the training table because there's
31:37
Speaker 3: a six-foot nose tackle, by the way, who's.
31:40
Speaker 4: Built for the shits, who has no problem of earning
31:43
Speaker 4: another check.
31:44
Speaker 3: Because I remember that, being on the team, how people
31:46
Speaker 3: was like, man, yeah, Hemp was the truth, but When
31:50
Speaker 3: Chris Holt had to fill in, he did a damn
31:52
Speaker 3: good job. And if you're Rubio right now, and you
31:57
Speaker 3: sit there and you look at why he ain't do
31:58
Speaker 3: what he needs to do, I would be nipping at
32:01
Speaker 3: his heel every day in practice because there will be
32:04
Speaker 3: a point sometime during the season where why he may
32:07
Speaker 3: not be playing well. God forbid that's not the case.
32:10
Speaker 3: But if it is, or if he gets hurt, Rubio,
32:15
Speaker 3: I would have slotted as that number two just because
32:19
Speaker 3: of what he's been able to do in preseason, even
32:21
Speaker 3: though he's a young stud.
32:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, listen, Gabe jumped off the tape right
32:27
Speaker 2: out the beginning. His first game, you were like, man,
32:30
Speaker 2: who is this dude? And, you know, he has the
32:34
Speaker 2: skill set. You know, I once again credit our scouts
32:37
Speaker 2: for going and finding Gabe Rubio because he missed his
32:39
Speaker 2: last six games of college. And to find him, he
32:44
Speaker 2: didn't even have a picture on the draft when they
32:46
Speaker 2: drafted him. it was like one of those little stock, like, like,
32:50
Speaker 2: you know, a little outline of where you need to stand.
32:54
Speaker 4: Avatar egg.
32:58
Speaker 2: Yeah. Like who is it? So, you know, when you
33:02
Speaker 2: talk about the, the upside of what he brings, I
33:06
Speaker 2: like it. And I think when we kind of lift
33:09
Speaker 2: who the top six is, I think it's, it's him
33:12
Speaker 2: or Joe buddy. And I think I would rather have
33:15
Speaker 2: game dressing for six interior guys than versus Jobity at
33:18
Speaker 2: this point. And like you said, just however you can
33:22
Speaker 2: just sprinkle him in. I don't think you need to–
33:25
Speaker 2: like I said, Keanu's the number two that comes in
33:27
Speaker 2: for that, right? But sprinkling him in and just getting
33:30
Speaker 2: him some seasoning because he hasn't played football. He's another
33:32
Speaker 2: guy that has been on a long layoff of playing
33:36
Speaker 2: meaningful football. And he played in the preseason towards the
33:41
Speaker 2: end of it, but it's a whole different story when
33:43
Speaker 2: you're going against the number one offensive line.
33:45
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, for sure.
33:47
Speaker 3: And I also think right now, if you're the Steelers
33:50
Speaker 3: and you continue to marvel at what this defense can be,
33:53
Speaker 3: understanding that you have quality depth, right?
33:56
Speaker 4: Something that when you look across.
33:58
Speaker 3: The roster, as much as you fall in love with
33:59
Speaker 3: our starters, the more our depths get to kind of
34:02
Speaker 3: have an opportunity to play and do what they do,
34:05
Speaker 3: it's only going to make the team and this defense
34:07
Speaker 3: a lot better. Because I do think we have some
34:10
Speaker 3: of the best depth in the league. And me and
34:13
Speaker 3: you know, we can attest to this. The runs we
34:16
Speaker 3: were able to make in the playoff solely wasn't off
34:18
Speaker 3: the backs of guys who have high contracts. It was
34:22
Speaker 3: guys who have low contracts but play at a high level,
34:24
Speaker 3: and that was because of who they were from a
34:26
Speaker 3: substance standpoint, and they were prepared for the battle because.
34:29
Speaker 4: Of coaching and the iron sharpening model that we love
34:32
Speaker 4: to display.
34:32
Speaker 3: So I like where we're at from a depth standpoint
34:36
Speaker 3: on the defensive side because I do feel like we
34:38
Speaker 3: have some quality depth.
34:39
Speaker 4: We just have to get a lot more healthier in
34:41
Speaker 4: the back, and I think we've got something brewing.
34:44
Speaker 2: No, absolutely.
34:45
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
34:46
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to step aside. We'll be back with more.
34:48
Speaker 2: We're going to finish up with the offensive side of
34:50
Speaker 2: the ball. And the most important position on the field,
34:53
Speaker 2: offensive line, when we come back here inside the locker
34:56
Speaker 2: room on the Steelers Audio Network.
35:08
Speaker 1: This is In the Locker Room with Rob King, Max Starks,
35:12
Speaker 1: and Willie Colon on Steelers Nation Radio. Brought to you
35:16
Speaker 1: in part by the Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
35:19
Speaker 1: from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop.steelers.com.
35:23
Speaker 1: And by your neighborhood Ford store. The F-150 is the
35:28
Speaker 1: official truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
35:32
Speaker 2: All right, well, the final segment of the show today
35:37
Speaker 2: is For the dynamic duo, Willie Colon, Max Starks here.
35:41
Speaker 2: We are going to take you inside the bell lap. Oh, God. Yeah.
35:49
Speaker 2: I hate it. Come out the corner, Willie. Come out
35:52
Speaker 2: the corner. You still got to fight.
35:53
Speaker 3: I feel like it's the bell you ring when you
35:57
Speaker 3: see piggies race.
36:01
Speaker 2: Hey, listen. I know you're in Jackson, so I guess
36:05
Speaker 2: that's a common thing now. Right. The Greek bit contest. But,
36:16
Speaker 2: you know, we are in the final segment of the show.
36:19
Speaker 2: Once again, you know, hour number two is kind of
36:22
Speaker 2: my opportunity to just kind of now harass Willie, I guess,
36:26
Speaker 2: is the best way to put it, because of his
36:28
Speaker 2: disdain for my bells and horns. I'm surprised we don't
36:35
Speaker 2: have more.
36:37
Speaker 3: We don't have more sound tracks that we can kind
36:40
Speaker 3: of throw out there, like thunderstorms or anything. I feel
36:43
Speaker 3: like sometimes we can be redundant. Maybe there's something we
36:46
Speaker 3: can throw out there.
36:47
Speaker 4: Like a boomerang. Like, oh, you said that before. Here
36:49
Speaker 4: it goes.
36:49
Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, the boomerang. But what? Oh, that
36:55
Speaker 2: is the one. Yeah, we do have that one. We
36:56
Speaker 2: do have that one. That's the Debbie Downer one. That's
37:00
Speaker 2: the Debbie Downer one right there.
37:02
Speaker 4: Yeah.
37:03
Speaker 3: Or when Rob throws out his 18th million power ranking.
37:08
Speaker 4: We should have a soundbite for that. But Rob, I've
37:11
Speaker 4: noticed he's a big power ranking guy.
37:14
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, we could probably find like a ref whistle,
37:18
Speaker 2: like blowing a penalty on him, like a ref whistle
37:20
Speaker 2: or something. Oh, my God. Well, in the finals there,
37:27
Speaker 2: let's kind of hit the offense just a little bit well.
37:31
Speaker 2: I know we will break this down tomorrow on Friday
37:34
Speaker 2: a lot more deeper with Rob, and hopefully he does
37:37
Speaker 2: not have another power ranking to throw out to us. But,
37:41
Speaker 2: you know, as we see it, D.K. Metcalf, Michael Pittman,
37:46
Speaker 2: and let's just say either Roman Wilson or Jeremy Bernard
37:50
Speaker 2: at the slot for an 11 personnel, you know, Pat Fryer,
37:56
Speaker 2: Will Darnold, Washington, Robert Tanyan, I think all three of
37:59
Speaker 2: those guys will be active on game day. Noah Kowski
38:04
Speaker 2: will be in as a fullback. Then, you know, the
38:07
Speaker 2: Rico Jalen show. And I think we might actually dress
38:10
Speaker 2: Eli as well because he's one of our kick returners.
38:13
Speaker 2: Aaron at number eight at the quarterback, Mason behind him.
38:19
Speaker 2: Here's my question. Who do you think gets the emergency
38:22
Speaker 2: third jersey for this first game? Because you can't dress
38:26
Speaker 2: all four quarterbacks, but you can dress three of them.
38:29
Speaker 2: Who do you think gets the emergency third? I would
38:33
Speaker 2: give it to Drew.
38:34
Speaker 4: I just would, man.
38:36
Speaker 3: I think if things got weird and it went all
38:42
Speaker 3: the way left, Drew gives you the ability to improvise
38:46
Speaker 3: on the run because of his athleticism.
38:51
Speaker 4: I'm not saying Will Howard can't run. but he's not
38:55
Speaker 4: as athletic as Drew Allen.
38:57
Speaker 3: And I think Drew, what he was able to show
38:59
Speaker 3: you in the preseason is if a receiver runs the
39:03
Speaker 3: wrong route, the office line protection breaks down, he has
39:07
Speaker 3: the athleticism to escape those situations and make sure the
39:11
Speaker 3: drive stays alive. Now, one thing Will Howard, I think
39:16
Speaker 3: solely because he's been in the NFL a lot longer,
39:20
Speaker 3: he just seems to have way more poise in a
39:22
Speaker 3: two-minute situation or a got-to-have-it situation, right? And I think
39:27
Speaker 3: that just comes because he's played a lot more football
39:29
Speaker 3: at this level. But Drew, from an athletic standpoint, and
39:33
Speaker 3: from like, hey, I just need a play to be
39:35
Speaker 3: made so we can keep the thing going, I would
39:37
Speaker 3: lean on Drew. So if you're going to give me
39:39
Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers and you know Mason Rudolph is the stabilizer,
39:43
Speaker 3: and Mike McCarthy drafted Drew Adler, it seems to me
39:50
Speaker 3: If we were down to our third string quarterback, go
39:53
Speaker 3: with the kid you drafted him best because you're the
39:57
Speaker 3: one you– Mike McCarthy scouted and knows what he can
40:01
Speaker 3: and can't do. Not to say he doesn't know that
40:02
Speaker 3: about Will Howard, but if I'm going to lean on
40:04
Speaker 3: a guy, I'm going to lean on.
40:05
Speaker 4: A guy I drafted. So that's how I– that's how
40:09
Speaker 4: I proceeded.
40:11
Speaker 2: No, you know, I like that. I think, you know,
40:14
Speaker 2: there is no wrong answer to the third, emergency third quarterback,
40:18
Speaker 2: because once again, in a perfect world, all he does
40:21
Speaker 2: is just dress in a uniform and hold a clipboard
40:23
Speaker 2: at the end of the day. But like you said,
40:26
Speaker 2: if it's the emergency, I got to break the glass
40:29
Speaker 2: and pull somebody off the shelf. I think both of
40:31
Speaker 2: them have their merits, right? And it really comes down
40:34
Speaker 2: to what's the situation at hand. Because say you go
40:38
Speaker 2: down and it's the first half, and you're still fighting
40:42
Speaker 2: in this game, yeah, you want to lean on the athleticism, right?
40:46
Speaker 2: Because that means that defense has obviously gotten to your
40:48
Speaker 2: first two quarterbacks and knocked them out of the game.
40:50
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? Right. The athlete's there. But
40:54
Speaker 2: if we're sitting at end of the game, it's close
40:59
Speaker 2: to two-minute drill-type situation, ball-possessing thing, then the IQ stands
41:04
Speaker 2: in place, right?
41:05
Speaker 4: So.
41:07
Speaker 2: So I think, yeah, there's no wrong answer. And I'm
41:09
Speaker 2: with you. I would probably put the more athletic guy
41:11
Speaker 2: there first in that situation.
41:14
Speaker 4: Let me throw a question to you, Matt, the studious one.
41:18
Speaker 3: I know you're kind of willing and dealing here, so
41:21
Speaker 3: I don't mean to interrupt or stop your mojo. I
41:25
Speaker 3: think we both are– there's an expectation that we want
41:30
Speaker 3: to see from Mike McCarthy. Him, this is his first game,
41:35
Speaker 3: head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, The offense has to
41:38
Speaker 3: look like what week one to make you a believer
41:41
Speaker 3: in Mike McCarthy and his offense.
41:45
Speaker 2: I think it has to look like the preseason week
41:47
Speaker 2: one game. I think it has to look like that
41:49
Speaker 2: Green Bay game. And I need to see some great passing.
41:55
Speaker 2: I need to see situational football, whatever it is, end
41:58
Speaker 2: of the quarter, end of the half type of play
42:03
Speaker 2: where we're not calling the timeouts like a rookie head coach.
42:06
Speaker 2: We're not burners. Guys look confused walking around. Chris, in
42:11
Speaker 2: and out of the huddle, I want to see the
42:13
Speaker 2: operations look clean. I think that's the biggest thing. I
42:18
Speaker 2: wanted to feel like this is a veteran team with
42:21
Speaker 2: a veteran head coach, and we're getting on a roll.
42:25
Speaker 2: So I think a high execution of third down percentage
42:28
Speaker 2: over 50%, I think, is well within the expectations. I
42:32
Speaker 2: think the explosives, he talked about it in training camp,
42:34
Speaker 2: there's 36 explosives in a game. On average, you're in
42:38
Speaker 2: the NFL. We need to own those. We need to
42:40
Speaker 2: have 20 of those, right? And that's over a 10-yard
42:43
Speaker 2: run and over a 15-yard pass. That's an explosive play.
42:46
Speaker 2: We need to own that part of it because of
42:49
Speaker 2: what we're built to. So if I'm saying that's my
42:52
Speaker 2: expectation for what I want to see out of Mike McCarthy,
42:56
Speaker 2: a competent, confident group rolling out on football tables on Sunday.
43:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, three things out of me. One, I want to
43:05
Speaker 3: see us own the middle of the field in the
43:07
Speaker 3: passing game.
43:08
Speaker 4: I think.
43:10
Speaker 3: One of the things that I struggled with watching Pittsburgh
43:13
Speaker 3: Steelers is I thought we, yes, I know Mount Washington
43:18
Speaker 3: and I know what Pat Firmer can do, but I
43:21
Speaker 3: think we have to own the seams.
43:23
Speaker 4: I think we have to own the middle of the field.
43:25
Speaker 3: And I also like us to change the tempo faster
43:27
Speaker 3: than maybe the situation requires. I think I would love
43:30
Speaker 3: to see us become more of a, call it from
43:33
Speaker 3: the line and go type offense.
43:36
Speaker 4: Rather than constantly have to huddle.
43:37
Speaker 3: And I think sometimes Aaron does it, but I think
43:40
Speaker 3: right out the gate, it's watching Aaron operate how he
43:44
Speaker 3: used to operate when he was with Michael McCarthy in
43:46
Speaker 3: Green Bay. One of the things I love was the
43:48
Speaker 3: fact that Aaron at any given time say, call it
43:51
Speaker 3: from the line, let it rip.
43:53
Speaker 4: Because he just sees football from a PhD level.
43:55
Speaker 3: On top of that, I would love to see our
43:57
Speaker 3: running backs get a lot more touches early in the
44:00
Speaker 3: game than kind of, in those situations where we're trying
44:03
Speaker 3: to figure things out from a defense.
44:05
Speaker 4: I think as much as one of the things that
44:07
Speaker 4: happened for.
44:08
Speaker 3: The Pats-Patriots game last night was they recognized they have
44:13
Speaker 3: a new offensive line, right? Because they had Elijah Barrett-Tucker
44:15
Speaker 3: playing left guard. Mike Onuwano was that right guard. Morgan
44:19
Speaker 3: Moser was that right tackle. And they had a new–
44:22
Speaker 3: their right guard from last year had officially bumped down
44:25
Speaker 3: to center.
44:26
Speaker 4: And obviously, Will Campbell had left tackle.
44:28
Speaker 3: I love the game plan from the Patriots because they said,
44:30
Speaker 3: all right, This is a defense that gave us hell
44:36
Speaker 3: in the Super Bowl.
44:36
Speaker 4: We gave up six sacks to them.
44:39
Speaker 3: If we want five to protect Drake May, we got
44:41
Speaker 3: to get these guys firing up the ball, and we
44:44
Speaker 3: got to get this pocket moving so that we're not
44:46
Speaker 3: sitting dust. Aaron Rodgers isn't running no more. His mobility
44:51
Speaker 3: is what it is at this point. So getting him
44:53
Speaker 3: to have a little more sprints, rollouts, design runs, or
44:57
Speaker 3: just more things where this offensive line can impose their
45:00
Speaker 3: will earlier, would only make better pass protection for Aaron
45:03
Speaker 3: Rodgers late in games.
45:05
Speaker 4: Because I think we have the five that's willing to
45:06
Speaker 4: be aggressive.
45:07
Speaker 3: We just got to get them to be aggressive early
45:09
Speaker 3: in games so he can be more effective in the
45:11
Speaker 3: pocket and in the office line feel like they can throw.
45:14
Speaker 4: Their weight around rather than kind of feel their way
45:16
Speaker 4: through this whole thing.
45:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I agree. Fast starts. Fast starts is what
45:21
Speaker 2: we need to focus on. And I think those are
45:24
Speaker 2: amazing points. You know, you want to see competency and
45:27
Speaker 2: confidence and, like you said, owning players owning the field
45:31
Speaker 2: in those moments. All right, well, this is a show.
45:34
Speaker 2: As always, it's been fun. We will return tomorrow at
45:38
Speaker 2: your same bat channel, same bat time here inside the
45:41
Speaker 2: locker room, and we will have Rob King join us
45:43
Speaker 2: back for the trio as we present a fun Friday
45:48
Speaker 2: as we barrel towards week one. I'm Max Starks. He's
45:50
Speaker 2: Willie Colon. Justin Miller on the ones and twos in
45:53
Speaker 2: the backfield. We will be back tomorrow inside the locker
45:55
Speaker 2: room here on Steelers Audio Network.