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Steelers 2024 NFL Draft Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

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Today on Steelers Country Weekly, we do our full mock draft for the twenty
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twenty four season. I'm Nick de tul and is always I'm joined by the
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world famous accountant Eric van Benschoten. Eric, how are you tonight? I'm
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doing pretty well. Uh, you know, the parents are in town.
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They're down here in Texas, so, uh, they're gonna be watching it
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with me next. I thought they were down here. Are they down there
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with you right now? Or they're going to be down So it's kind of
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a line in between. They came yesterday and then they're gonna they're over in
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like a nearby nearby town, you know, doing their little rummaging around,
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and then they're gonna come back spend some time with us on the weekend.
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And yeah, so it's gonna be a good time. There you go.
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I would love to be able to watch that draft live with you and your
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parents. That would be fun. But I'd love to hear Sandy's take on
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it, so I would be interested in hearing that as well. I wasn't
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gonna say that, but that's exactly why I would be interested. Oh my
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goodness, but no, that's awesome that they came down I'll have family visiting
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me in Georgia next weekend as well, so that'll definitely be fun. But
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really, the focus, of course is going to be on the NFL Draft.
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That's why your parents came down, That's why my Amisco are coming down.
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They want to see us in our element with the Steelers in the draft,
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right, you want to see the agony or excitement come over here.
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Whoever we're going to pick on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We can talk
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about it a little more as we get into it here, but honestly,
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I don't think any agony that the Steelers may or may not cause their fans
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to go through is going to be the Steeler's own fault. I think that
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if we see or experience any agony, it will be because let's just say,
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for example, the top five choices on the Steelers board are going to
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go in the five picks before them, that kind of situation. I don't
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think we're going to see any head scratching picks like we have in the past,
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although I could be wrong, who knows, But let's get into it.
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The NFL Draft, at least the first round is exactly one week away.
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We're recording this on April eighteenth. Eric and I have both done our
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own mock drafts separate of each other, so we don't know what the other
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has selected. We also don't know how the draft simulator played out in each
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other's websites here, so that'll be interesting too. I think we're both pretty
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much in agreement on what some of the big needs are. I think where
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we might disagree is just kind of depending on who the prospects are on the
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board. Maybe maybe, and we haven't talked about it, that I might
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go for a wide receiver where he might go for an offensive lineman, or
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vice versa, if the value is comparable. So I say, let's just
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get into it here for the sake of convenience. What we'll do is,
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I'll go through my picks first, and then well, I'll just read them
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off one at a time, and then we'll let you read off your picks
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one at a time, and then we'll just go back kind of through and
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talk through each of our first round picks, then each of our second round
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picks, so on and so forth. Sound good, Yeah, all right?
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In my draft, I did not make any trades. That is kind
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of fun to do, but for the sake of I guess accuracy here.
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I'm going to assume that the Steelers are going to hold pat but who knows,
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maybe last like, maybe it'll be like last year where we saw change
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of pace. But in my mock draft, I had with pick twenty round
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one, the Steelers taking Amarius Mims offensive tackle out of Georgia. With pick
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fifty one, I had them selecting Troy frank Glenn wide receiver out of Oregon.
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With pick eighty four, I had safety Coal Bishop come off the board
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out of Utah. With pick ninety eight, I took Johnny Wilson, wide
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receiver out of Florida State. With pick one nineteen, I selected Andrew Phillips
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cornerback out of Kentucky. With pick one seventy eight, I took Hunter Norzad
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offensive center out of Penn State. And then with pick one ninety five,
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I took cornerback Jerius Monroe out of two lane. So all right, Eric,
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why don't you run down your picks for us here? Yeah? So,
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for I did do one with trades that I won't say that one,
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but the one with trades got crazy. I took so many trades back that
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I ended up with twenty backticks. Sometime times when I'm when I'm messing around,
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I like to do that too, just see how many trades I can
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accept before people stop offering them to me. But I won't for the details.
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I'll go with my regular standard one. So the pick twenty, I
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have Terry On Arnold, cornerback from Alabama. Oh okay. Pick fifty one,
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I have Jordan Morgan, offensive tackle, Arizona. Pick eighty four.
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I also went with safety, but a different safety, Jayden Hicks Washington State
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WAZU. Ninety eight. I went with Jeremiah top Trotter, junior linebacker Clemson.
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Love those bloodlines, and I picked one nineteen Cedric van Pran. Of
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course he's got Van at the beginning of his name, so he's gonna be
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good. Center from Georgia. Also love in the bloodlines. Pick one seventy
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eight Luke McCaffrey. I believe he is related to the McCaffrey. Uh.
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I got Jordan Travis quarterback Florida State. Really go on with that's the most
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interesting pick. I think you know. The last pick. Dude was the
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main reason why that team went from college football playoff to Sucktown. So they
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still won every game until the bowl game, and you know he's gonna have
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a red shirt here this year give his injury. We have two one year
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flyers on quarterback, so when I take a prospect, we have nobody signed
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for TWI all right, all right, well let's go back to the beginning
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here. With pick twenty, I took Amarius Mims out of Georgia. I
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think Round one is going to be and maybe this is cliche because it's the
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first round, but I think for the Steelers it will truly be the most
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exciting and interesting round to observe because, in my opinion, the Steelers have
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three pretty obvious needs that really could they could justify a first round pick depending
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on the value if it's there, and I think those three needs are tackle,
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center, and wide receiver. The reason I went with Mims here is
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just because of the he was the highest ranked prospect on the board that was
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one of those three positions, and again I could see the case for those
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other two positions, and depending on who's there, I'd be fine with any
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one of those three positions. I think what it comes down to is I'm
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assuming that Russell will Wilson will in fact be the starter in Week one.
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And as much as I know that they desperately need to get him some weapons
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on the outside, you also got to protect your quarterback. This is a
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thirty five year old Russell Wilson. He's not as mobile as he once was,
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so I just think that protecting him has to be the top priority.
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So because of that, and because I know that Mike Tomlin loves his Georgia
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Bulldogs and Wisconsin Badgers, Uh, this is why I went with Amarus Mims.
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Yeah, it's kind of interesting. Both quarterbacks, Dustin and Russ are
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guys that probably hold way too long. We're used to that with Ben he
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had a kind of viol later in his career. So yeah, it'll be
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interesting to see. Doesn't offensive line didn't matter because that's just their style play.
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They're gonna take sacks. It's gonna happen. Or will we adjust with
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Arthur Smith led offense. I'm curious, but good point. I loan cornerback
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because you know, I think it's you know, I think you said tackle,
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wide receiver. What was the other one? Center? Yeah, you
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know, to me, I just feel cornerback is as much of a need
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as wide receiver is. I won't argue on center and tackle. I think
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our offensive line still needs it. But you know, to me, I
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think that Archsmith also loves to run twelve personnel, so one one wide receiver,
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two tight ends. So I don't think that there's gonna be as much
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of an emphasis on wide receiver. So that's the reason why I was going
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that way. That's why I didn't really draft a wide receiver. I'd love
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to see a wide receiver in the draft if the ball the balls that way,
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but I thought cornerback was important also just the value on the board.
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Look, I think at that spot we're gonna have a litany of of cornerbacks
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to choose from because I think this is a strong quarterback, tackle, and
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wide receiver draft, and so a defensive side of the ball, you're gonna
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have a great value in the first round. So I think cornerback, we
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go back to back years with essentially a first round cornerback. Uh. I
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think Tomlin loves those blue black schools like Ohio State or Alabama, So I
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think you fill the pipeline with the Nick Saban coached cornerback. So and then
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now we have two cornerbacks on rookie deals, it's an economical pick versus you
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know, I've been hearing center in the first round. Look, I mean,
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unless this guy becomes councy, centers just don't make that much on their
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second contract. So that's why people don't need that fifty year option. I
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don't think it's as vitally important. So and they'll probably just sign Mason Cole
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to a veteran deal because he hasn't really gotten picked up. So I think
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that we'll get a developmental guy later in the round. Yeah, a couple
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of things. I agree with you on Mason Cole. That's that's partially why
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I I kind of put that as my or priority behind the tackle and the
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wide receiver. And the reason I didn't value a cornerback as highly as you
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did was just because of the Deontay Johnson Dante Jackson trade. If that hadn't
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happened, I would have been flip flopped in my positions. I would have
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said, we need the cornerback before the wide receiver. So that's the reason
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why I prioritize the wide receiver a little higher. But so I do.
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I would not be thrilled with that pick, but at the same time,
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I wouldn't be throwing things at the TV if they made that pick. But
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hearing you explain it, I understand the logic and I do think that that
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would it would be another piece to our defense that would make them even better
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in my opinion. Yeah, I mean we've talked about it on the show.
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We've invested a lot of money into the defense side of the bow.
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So another defensive pick likely probably isn't the best way of master building. Eventually
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a go get some skill position in there. But I just think that that's
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the way that we go. Man. I think that the board is going
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to file that way. They're going to follow the value and all right,
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well let's move on. Then, with pick number fifty one, I had
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the Steelers taking Troy Franklin, wide receiver out of Oregon, uh top receiver
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available at this point in my mock draft. And again, I do think
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that the Steelers are going to focus on the offense and the draft. And
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I approached this draft, as you know, pretending that I was the GM.
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If I'm drafting for this current Steelers team, what would I do?
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And I think that the wide receiver position as well as the other two that
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we talked about need to be addressed first and foremost. So we got in
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my draft, we got Russell Wilson some protection, and now we're going to
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get him someone else to throw the ball to. We've got George Pickens.
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They just signed Van Jefferson. Obviously you love him because he's got the Van
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in his name as well, Which is your criteria for a for an All
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Star? I guess so yeah that. I mean, frankly, I don't
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watch enough college football to have the complete breakdown on a lot of these guys
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outside of the first round. But but look, I from a position standpoint,
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if I were the GM here this and this guy fell to me at
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the spot in the draft, I would take wide receiver. Yeah that's fair.
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It's gonna sound bad. I'm gonna just admit it. I don't even
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know who that guy is either, And you know I would say I like
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a few of these people, like I don't know who they are. But
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yeah, my pick I Stackle from Arizona. I think he was the thirty
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six ranked prospect of the fifty one pick, and we need enough. It's
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tackle. Look, if we go another year of Dan Moore as our tackle,
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whether he's left or right tackle, it doesn't matter who your quarterback is,
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right, just so I think that it I hate reaching for a position,
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but I do think the one thing I would say out of the first
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two picks, it doesn't have to be in first round, but maybe the
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second round. It's gotta be a tackle. We gotta have a guy that's
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gonna at least challenge Dan Moore day one. Roderick Jones is proudly gonna flip
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over to the left side. And you know, I just think that like
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Dan Moore had somehow like he got his bonuses for playing time, but I
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thought he was I saw start like about how poorly he was of anyone that
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had that qualified amount of time playing and he was pretty much bottom of the
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barrel. So yeah, definitely have to invest in it. And I think
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so we talked about con a lot, but Indy Wild he came from the
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Eagles. You know, if if people around the league, they always talk
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about Jalen Hurts, they always talk about like an AJ Brown, stuff like
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that, But if you look at it, that offensive defensive line are those
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gold standard of the league. And now they just retired their center who was
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a gold standard. But they have one of the best right tackles in the
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league. They have Landon Dickerson on the team. They've invested a lot into
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their their line, and so I think that that by last year, us
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going Roderick Jones this year would not surprise me in the first round is definitely
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an offensive lineman. But I would be floored if by the second round we
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do not have an offensive alignment. Yeah, I'm kind of with you there.
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Everything you said is the same justification that I had for going in the
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first round. You just have a little more length on your lease there for
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an offensive lineman. So yeah, I'm with you there. If especially if
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we don't get a tackle in the first round or a center, but mostly
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a tackle, Yeah, I'm with you. You gotta you gotta pull the
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trigger there. Yeah, I've been seeing like in my in my other mock
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attempt, so Zach Fraser was there at that spot, which you know,
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I wouldn't even be surprised if we trade up in the second round, like
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we pass on center, you know, because now you are the first round
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centers not as much there. But if you go up period of fourth rounder
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to move up the board in the second round to get your guy, I'm
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for it. You know, it's just, yeah, I think we are
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going to value it at that point, so what we don't want to like
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give up the fifth round option for Yeah. Zach Fraser is another guy who
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kept popping up in the second and even in the third round on some of
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my mock drafts, So that would be I mean, if he failed,
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that'd be great. It seems like the most talked about center prospect that the
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Steelers could take in the first round is Jackson Powers Johnson out of Oregon.
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He seems to slide down a little bit of the closer we get to the
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draft. I'm not really sure what's going on there, but I think realistically
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he's probably the only one they would even take in the first round. But
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yeah, again, I'm with you, excuse me, I'm with you there
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waiting for that center. And if they do trade up a little bit,
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or even if they trade back in the first round to get someone like Powers
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Johnson closer to where he's valued at, that'd be fine as well. Yeah.
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Actually, uh, in one of my drafts, I trade it back
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to the thirty first pick. I think that'd be perfect, like end of
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the first round plus some plus some extra stuff. You'll probably pick up a
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likely third rounder by wapping eleven spots and you can go get the top rate
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rate center. So yeah, all right, Well with pick number eighty four
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Cole Bishop out of Utah, in my mind, we addressed two of the
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biggest needs with my first two picks. Safety is still positioned the Steelers need
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some depth in so I went ahead and took the highest ranked safety on the
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board at this point. I know we still have cornerback need out there and
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again the center need, but just based on who is available at the board
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and what the team needed, safety is what I felt most comfortable taken.
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Yeah, I went safety. Also, you know, I think that the
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Steelers have really been trying to figure out their safety need. I mean,
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I can go back to like Ryan Clark, because Mike Mitchell was really never
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like the answer, but he was probably the best strong safety that we've had,
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and Tremaine Edmonds didn't work out. And we have a revolving door at
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the other Bozi the outside of Minka, who who gets injured a lot.
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So yeah, yeah, I think placing value on that is going to be
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helpful. So all right, who did you? Who did so? Who
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was the guy that you picked again Jayden Hicks. Jaden Hicks. All Right,
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you and I are both in agreement there on the safety position, so
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that's good. Pick number ninety eight, I went wide receiver again, Johnny
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Wilson out of Florida State. This just came down to, we need some
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more wide receivers. So we've got we mentioned Pickens, We've got Van Jefferson,
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We've got Calvin Austin who was mostly returned this past year. So I
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just think that based on what was available, I was still fine getting another
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wide receiver to go in there and compete and give our offense as many weapons
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as possible. Yeah, uh no, I think that's fair. Pick I
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went Jeremiah Trotter. Look, I know we just signed gave the biggest free
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agent deal to a inside linebacker, but another position of revolving door that Steelers
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have yet to kind of like put a gooblas on since Shazier yea. So
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Tratter is one of those guys. I think that he never really quite played
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up to his exact level or pedigree at Clemson, but you know, defensive
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style coaching Steelers have, maybe he can do that. You know he's got
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and and like I said, I think there's been kind of a retread on
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on some of these guys that and maybe it's just us getting older guys that
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we watched play when we were kids. Now all of a sudden, their
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kids are playing and they're getting drafted. So I think that it does matter
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when there's these guys that they're you know, dad's played in the league.
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I think that there's a higher success rate with them. So that's why that's
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why I picked them. And typical Steeler fashion, you're picking someone who's got
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a legacy. Obviously not with the Steelers, but they love drafting their sibling
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connections. They love drafting people who have family connections to the NFL. And
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then the Steelers within that. So I'm still at Keystone in state. They're
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within the Keystone all right. With pick one nineteen, I took Andrew Phillips
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cornerback out of Kentucky. This was just the first opportunity I had to really
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address the cornerback position, went out of UH went with a guy out of
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Kentucky, as much as that pains me to do, but you know,
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cornerback, even though they did acquire Dante Jackson, it's still a position of
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need. Definitely something they'll need depth on. I'm interested to see what Corey
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Trice does if he gets to see the field this year. He was their
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seventh round pick last year and was a pretty highly touted prospect, but had
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an injury history which derailed that, and then he got injured last year.
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So I'd like him to stay healthy see if he can contribute anything. I
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don't want another senn Quz Goulson on the roster, but that being said,
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I still think this is a position that it's good to stock up on if
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you have the opportunity. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I did Cedric
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van Prant, so that was my opportunity to get his center. I think
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when I looked at his draft profile, he was the Remington winner, so
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you know, maybe he doesn't have quite the combine rapport, but you know,
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he does have some accolades in college that maybe a fourth round or he
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can be advanced for his position and maybe by for a Day one spot.
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So and coming from Georgia playing that level competition hopefully that helps too. Yeah.
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I can tell you if he had been on my board, I would
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have taken him instead of what I ended up with. So I think that's
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a great at pick number one nineteen, for sure. I went with center
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in my next pick though at one seventy eight, uh, with Hunter Norzad
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out of Penn State. Again, we need a center. I don't know
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that someone at pick one seventy eight is going to come in and start.
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I still think that might be something where we have to go with Mason Cole
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or some other veterans signing for someone who's available. But it's still someone that
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we need to take in the draft, and especially if we get into that
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fifth sixth round and we haven't really gotten the opportunity yet, I think you
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need to take it when you can. So that's that's why I went with
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center at that spot. Yeah, I did. Luke McCaffrey. He's wide
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receiver rights ran A four four or five I believe. I saw he has
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six' two height. I I'm gonna say now, I don't like,
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like I saw some draft picks that were like five to nine. I don't
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like five nine wide receivers. I mean, I just think that I get
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the idea of slat wide receivers, but I think of like Tevon Austin,
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that guy that like people recognize the name, but the dude It's like most
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productive year was probably like forty catches. He just never successful. So I
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don't know, BA have a speed to two quarterbacks. Now, I'm the
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squad that like to throw a deep. Let's just do some verds. Yeah,
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I'm being five foot eight, I'm okay with the five foot nine ride
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receivers. I'm not a height supremacist like some of us now, but I
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understand the thought you mentioned Taevon Austin. It kind of reminded me of Ryan
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Switzer Steeler for a few years there. But the thing that bugs me about
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those kind of guys is you have to use them in strategic situations like you
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can't. It's very planned. You can't just go up there and run a
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play with your best three or four guys. It's it's part of some scheme.
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I hope that makes sense for what I'm trying to explain, But so
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I get it. But it sounds like when we're talking about your draft board,
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the Steelers hadn't really done much with the wide receiver position yet, so
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based on who was there, that's what you ended up with. Right.
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Yeah, okay, So for the most interesting pick and at least your draft,
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we'll talk about the last pick, picking number one ninety five, I
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took Jerrius Monroe out of two lane. This was just our last pick,
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highest rated position of need. I went cornerback. That's really all I can
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say about this. I want to talk about your pick, though, Let's
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remind everyone who you took. Yeah, so I took Jordan Dravis, Florida
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State quarterback. So that process is look, at the very least he's gonna
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or most he's gonna be third string quarterback for four rotster. But what seventh
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rounder is going to be cracking the playing time in year one? To me,
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that's not much of the consideration is maybe twenty twenty five and forward.
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So I was kind of thinking, now he might not be the answer,
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but we don't really have anyone signed the past this year a quarterback. So
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if he's the deo developmental guy, could sit behind two veteran quarterbacks and can
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also learn a brand new offensive coordinator scheme who had success at Florida State.
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I just thought that I talked about so many times on the show, take
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the swing of the bat at the wide receiver position. This is just another
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swing. I understand the logic. I just don't think they're going to take
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a quarterback, especially after they signed Kyle Allen, so they've already got three
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guys on the roster. Get out of here. You're saying Kyle Allen is
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not expendable. Oh no, he's expendable. I just don't think the Steelers
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are gonna expend him. I think that they've got three guys. They're not
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going to take a quarterback in the draft. Lord help us if Kyle Allen
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does end up seeing the field though. No, I just again, I
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understand your logic. I just don't think that's what the Steelers are gonna do.
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I I don't think they're going to risk pissing off two of those three
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starting or two of those three quarterbacks on the roster they have. Granted he
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has a seventh round pick, I understand. I'm telling look, this is
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a new day and age. Eric, You've got to worry about what people
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think. Now. You gotta make sure no, that's exactly it. Though
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you never know what people are gonna respond like, Oh now, look,
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look, they just the team if they if they can't handle rather being drafted.
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Look I know that, and you know that, but I'm telling you
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quarterbacks have to be like any other position. So okay, let's put this
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way. So should Dan Moore just call it a day if all of a
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sudden we drafted a tackle in the first second round. Look, I am
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not disagreeing with you. I am not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying
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you have to do that now, because that's just how people are. If
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it were me and I got to call the shots, I'd say, yeah,
31:40
gtfo, dude. But I'm saying that's a legitimate concern that people probably
31:45
have now. And we saw it play out with Kenny Pickett. I get
31:52
it. I don't like it either. Uh No, I didnt go like
32:01
I mean, look, Ben, for the longest time was we drafted a
32:07
quarterback in the third round? Right round? Quarterbacks are not an immediate rest
32:15
to quarterback. That is a it shouldn't be anyway or should be. And
32:23
yet we saw how cold he was to make Rudolph. So that's my point.
32:29
I get it. But all right, So there you have it.
32:37
You've got our two draft classes here. I think I'd be happy with either
32:45
one of our draft classes. Again, I mentioned the three big needs that
32:50
I think the Steelers have. I'm really interested in that first round to see
32:53
who's available and who the Steelers end up taking, because I'll give it some
33:00
insight as to what they feel the biggest need is. But it's gonna be
33:05
fun. I can't wait for the draft, and I think it's time that
33:09
we give our prediction for the first round pick for the Steelers. We've got
33:13
about a fifty percent success rate here at the GameHouse dot com. I think
33:17
I've gotten one right, You've gotten one right, and the unpaid student in
33:24
turn got our second round pick right the year that we didn't have a first
33:28
round pick. For what it's worth, my prediction is the only guy that's
33:34
still on the team, So I think I'll take some credit there. I
33:38
had TJ. Watt, you had the most impressive well that is, you
33:46
had the most impressive choice or prediction though, because you still predicted Devin Bush
33:52
and that the Steelers would trade up to get him. So kudos do you.
33:57
And then in the unpaid student interns defense, he predicted the second round
34:00
pick right, and we know how hard it is to get a first round
34:04
pick right, just keep adding all those extra variables in there, and that
34:07
he picked Chase Claypool. So I was gonna say at least Devin Bush is
34:15
still in the league. In the league, Chase Claypool, I've never I'm
34:21
trying to think of someone whose career has fizzled out as quickly as his did,
34:27
not including like legal issues or something like that, And it's kind of
34:30
tough to think about. Actually, yeah, but for a second round draft
34:37
pick and you're out of the league less than two years, it's nuts.
34:40
So anyways, let's get down to it. I'm going to put you on
34:45
the spot. What is your prediction for who these Steelers will take in the
34:50
first round. They will not take anyone. That's because they won't trade their
34:58
first round draft pick or Brandon Ike. You wow, coming in hot there
35:05
with the first round trade for Ayuk. Really, I think that, uh,
35:09
there's been a lot of smoke about it. I think that the Steelers
35:15
are serious about the wide receiver wide receiver position getting better. I think Gyuk
35:23
is the type of guy. He's like a tone setter, he will block
35:29
uh. Coming from a win winning culture, and I mean he's doing the
35:37
whole Like I didn't follow forty nine ers on his Instagram, but I don't
35:42
think like he has quite the baggage that we've historically gotten from wide receiver.
35:49
So yeah, and I do think the Steelers are a little bit in a
35:54
win now situation. Sounds a little crazy, but hear me out. You
36:00
have t J. Watt on a second contract, and let's be honest,
36:06
his health is always a little bit of a big question because it seems to
36:10
be getting injured a lot. Cam Hayward is on the last year of his
36:15
deal. We want to put him out, so the right to the pastors
36:22
and we went out and we have two quarterback on one year deal. So
36:27
I do think the Steelers. They're not selling the farm, but I think
36:36
that they're serious about competing in twenty twenty four and getting a veteran is going
36:40
to be a way to do it. The only thing I disagree with there
36:44
is you forget we're talking about Omar Khan. Here is the GM. He's
36:47
going to send the forty nine ers a fifth round pick in next year's dressed
36:52
and still get ayuk. I'd love that. That Okay, so you're you're
37:02
really coming in hot there with that that prediction. That would be interesting.
37:07
I think they are still gonna make a first round pick. I don't think
37:10
they're gonna draft or send away a first round pick. I think that if
37:17
Mims is on the board when it comes to the Steelers time to draft,
37:22
I think they'll take him. So that's not me going with my pick,
37:28
just because I was actually kind of surprised that he was on board when I
37:30
got to him in my draft. Tomlin loves those Georgia guys. Last year,
37:37
didn't he have like two guys from each Georgia and Wisconsin, And he's
37:39
always down at the Georgia Pro Days and everything we talked about. He loves
37:44
the guys from the big schools. Got in trouble with Big Ben a few
37:46
years ago for talking about there's no Mac games on the schedule this year.
37:52
So I just the way I look at it, I think that they are
37:57
gonna protect Russell Wilson and they're going to get the biggest, nastiest guy on
38:01
the line that can get assuming the values there in the first round, and
38:06
I just think that'll probably end up being Nimbs. So but again to my
38:12
point about the draft being crazy, you and I just gave completely different answers
38:16
here, so and both of them I think are feasible. Yeah, No,
38:24
I do think the trade's happening. I had to give a definitive answer.
38:30
Trade will happen either trade back with the Bills. I've been seeing that
38:35
a lot. I actually believe it because the Bills, I think, getting
38:38
rid of Diggs, we'll probably move up the board, try to get a
38:43
guy like Ryan Thomas, like the second wave of wide receivers, or we're
38:50
gonna trade away. That would up. No, unless they can get a
38:57
deal like they did last year and the Patriots, it would be like only
39:04
a couple of spots at most. I don't if they do trade up at
39:07
all. Yeah, it's like there's there's a guy we love and all of
39:13
a sudden, like he's on the board at sixteen and we go up and
39:16
get them and we give up fourth rounders. But I think that's less likely
39:22
than that. Yeah, agreed. It would be interesting though too if the
39:29
Bills beat us in the playoffs and then took our draft pick that they gave
39:34
us by beating us in the playoffs. But yeah, the Bills are a
39:37
team that's interesting because they had like a garage sale almost they got rid of
39:43
a bunch of people. So and they're another team that is absolutely in win
39:49
now mode because they their window is just it's got to be closing soon,
39:53
right, So, yeah, it depends how you look at it. I
40:00
mean you have Josh Allen. Uh so I think it depends on your view
40:07
of Josh Allen. But you know, the betting salaries versus being able to
40:13
add it just because now the full force of the second quarterback contract is is
40:20
is there? So they don't have a quarterback room that consists of five million
40:27
dollars like we do. Right, Kyle Allen might be the highest paid quarterback.
40:31
I haven't looked at the numbers. Yeah, all right, Well we've
40:37
talked about the draft. Was there anything else with the draft that you wanted
40:43
to mention before we sign off for the night? Uh? Who would you
40:51
take first over row? If I'm the Bears? I mean it has to
41:00
Cayla Williams, Right, I mean I think depends on how you view Williams.
41:09
Maybe he just seems like a little aloof man. I feel good about
41:15
Drake Man. The guy just doesn't get any love. And was I saw
41:22
a stat that he's the only quarterback to have well another two other quarterbacks to
41:37
have nine thousand yards passing in a thousand yards running over a course of two
41:42
seasons, and one of those guys was Lamar Jackson. I forget the other
41:46
guy, but he was also an All Pro NFL quarterback, and I was
41:51
like, it's a pretty good company. They weren't. The reason he wasn't.
41:57
The reason why they weren't losing games is because defense cun horrum under fifty
42:01
points now, and maybe that's a good position for Drake May to be in.
42:06
Though I think he's pretty unanimously considered the number two prospect. There's a
42:13
few people that are saying something like Jayden Daniels whatever, and McCarthy's flying up
42:17
boards for some reason. But for the most part, Drake May has considered
42:22
the number two QB of the draft. It's not often that the number two
42:28
guy can fly under the radar so easily, just with all the hype around
42:32
Caleb Williams, so he might have very little pressure on him from the national
42:37
media, John Q public all that with everything surrounding Caleb Williams, and maybe
42:43
that'll give him a little more breathing room, I guess, is what I'm
42:46
trying to say, to develop and come in and play and maybe have a
42:50
little room to make some mistakes things like that. Yeah, So but yeah,
42:55
I mean, I say Caleb Williams, and I think that's the right
43:00
pick. I just it might not matter because it's the Chicago Bears. They
43:02
might screw it up anyway. So but yeah, I think that we the
43:12
Steelers are a good example of how having a franchise QB can mask a lot
43:15
of things and can really just kind of carry you, especially in Big Ben's
43:20
last year's when he certainly was not the Big Ben of what twenty fourteen twenty
43:24
fifteen, but he was still significantly better than a lot of other quarterbacks in
43:31
the league. All that to say, if you get a good quarterback,
43:37
and you have the opportunity to take a good quarterback, you gotta take him.
43:42
So that's why I'm going Kaled. But so that mine, that mine.
43:49
What Let's say, any of the top four quarterbacks are there top at
43:59
twenty, would you take it? I know your views on the quarterback room.
44:07
No, in this draft, I am not taking one of those top
44:08
four quarterbacks. See so like Jade and Daniels somehow is at the board of
44:15
twenty and not taking them. No, I am not, okay, And
44:22
just again you've mentioned it. I know Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are on
44:29
a one year contract and it wouldn't really wouldn't hurt much to I guess in
44:35
that scenario, they'd probably end up cutting Russell Wilson if they're in a win
44:42
now position. I don't think that taking the quarterback there and losing out on
44:52
a pick for a better wide receiver, a better tackle or center, what
44:55
have you. I think that Russell Wilson and or Justin Fields can still do
45:01
the job for us. But the more that I talk myself into this,
45:07
the more I'm like, well, no, it'd be better long term.
45:09
So I'm gonna stick to my answer and say no, I would not make
45:14
the draft, but I would probably regret it later and kind of second guess
45:17
myself. Yeah, I also feel like the twenty spot might be a little
45:24
cursed since I believe that was where we picked Kenny Pickett. So I thought
45:31
he was eighteen. I thought Kenny was number eighteen. Who knows, not
45:37
our problem anymore. Yeah, he's still in the Keystone State though. Yeah,
45:44
I'm sure that's gonna work out great for him. All right, Well,
45:51
I think that's gonna do it for us. This has been fun.
45:52
We'll definitely be back in a few weeks to talk about the draft recap,
45:57
who the Steelers took in the first round or who they didn't take in the
46:00
first round because they traded their pickaway. If you're Eric, so who knows.
46:05
Could be a lot of interesting things that happen. It's definitely gonna be
46:07
exciting. I'm looking forward to it. I know you're looking forward to it.
46:13
Like we said, we've got family coming to visit us just to watch
46:15
the draft with us. That's how it pumped up. Everyone is so can't
46:20
complain. Well for the world famous accountants, Eric van Menschoten, I am
46:25
Nick Detulo and this has been another episode of the GameHouse dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly