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A memorable NFL Draft weekend in Pittsburgh · The Irish Steelers Podcast

0:00
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Speaker 1: erlingus dot com. Here we go, Steelers everybody.
0:32
Speaker 2: You're very welcome into the Irish series podcast, the Post
0:35
Speaker 2: Draft Podcast, which was actually recorded in Pittsburgh in a
0:39
Speaker 2: National airport with Jeff Rainbold and Jeff it turns out
0:44
Speaker 2: it was a little loud in the airport. Yeah, it
0:47
Speaker 2: was a little bit loud in the airport, so we
0:49
Speaker 2: have to record agains. You know What's not a bad
0:51
Speaker 2: thing because we now have a few days to actually
0:55
Speaker 2: sit down and think and really evaluate this class. First off,
0:59
Speaker 2: how are you doing, walk.
1:00
Speaker 3: I'm doing really good.
1:01
Speaker 4: It was it was noisy in the airport, and I
1:02
Speaker 4: guess that's kind of what happens when you're walking through
1:05
Speaker 4: the airport with somebody famous, and all of a sudden,
1:07
Speaker 4: people are people are screaming Michael, Michael, Michael, and you know,
1:11
Speaker 4: we couldn't even do a podcast.
1:15
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh International Airport the day after the Draft is an
1:18
Speaker 2: interesting place. We met Doniel Jeremiah, among other people, a
1:23
Speaker 2: different NFL players as well, which is really cool. Just
1:26
Speaker 2: I'm just trying. I'm not trying to blog. I'm genuinely
1:28
Speaker 2: telling people like it is. It's a cool experience. And
1:31
Speaker 2: I can't recommend coming to the draft and off, I mean, Jeff,
1:34
Speaker 2: just first off, and I think that me and you
1:38
Speaker 2: went over there sort of thinking, right, we're obviously here
1:42
Speaker 2: to work, but it became very quickly a lot more
1:45
Speaker 2: than that. Pittsburgh really delivered as a city for the Draft,
1:50
Speaker 2: and I know both me and you definitely really enjoyed ourselves.
1:52
Speaker 2: But also it was a very rewarding weekend. How impressed
1:56
Speaker 2: were you with Archestra Stadium, the stage, just sat the
2:00
Speaker 2: fact that it wasn't just in one location, and I
2:03
Speaker 2: even think of like the red carpet for example, last
2:05
Speaker 2: Thurd's Night was pretty cool, wasn't it.
2:07
Speaker 3: Yeah?
2:07
Speaker 4: You know what, Michael, to be honest with you, I
2:09
Speaker 4: had never spent any time previously in Pittsburgh. I had
2:12
Speaker 4: flown in there to play games, to work out players,
2:14
Speaker 4: you know, driven through, you know, but never had spent
2:18
Speaker 4: any time in the city, and certainly four days there
2:22
Speaker 4: was really enjoyable. I was really impressed with what the
2:25
Speaker 4: Steelers organization was able to put on. I thought it
2:29
Speaker 4: was first class. Eight hundred and some thousand, almost eight
2:32
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty thousand people you know, through through the facility.
2:38
Speaker 4: The stadium is absolutely gorgeous. I had wondered, you know,
2:42
Speaker 4: I remember when they first built their facility and decided
2:45
Speaker 4: to partner with pitt you know, in their training facility,
2:49
Speaker 4: and to have an opportunity to see that and how
2:51
Speaker 4: they you know, negotiated all that and navigate all that
2:54
Speaker 4: and talk to pattern Ardoozi and you know, have an
2:58
Speaker 4: opportunity to meet Dan Rooney and see the stadium, I mean,
3:01
Speaker 4: the statue of the Chief outside the stadium.
3:06
Speaker 3: You know, for me, it was.
3:08
Speaker 4: Football heaven, man, because that's that city is all about football,
3:12
Speaker 4: and you know, all of the great Steeler players and
3:15
Speaker 4: other players from the National Football League and pitt players
3:19
Speaker 4: you know, who were around.
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Speaker 3: It was just an unbelievably cool experience. For a football fan.
3:25
Speaker 2: If anybody had seen Jeff's face when he's seen the
3:28
Speaker 2: statue of the Chief, I can tell you it was
3:31
Speaker 2: like a kid a Christmas. It was a very very
3:32
Speaker 2: cool weekend. And props to the Steelers, the NFL, and
3:35
Speaker 2: of course the Rudy family for what must have been
3:37
Speaker 2: and it was quite evident last weekend years of prep
3:42
Speaker 2: that went into doing that. Ony Hopefully they get it
3:44
Speaker 2: the game because Pittsburgh proved one thing last week. It's
3:47
Speaker 2: a hell of a city in terms of hosting event
3:49
Speaker 2: like that, and they'd done a stellar job. Jeff, we're
3:52
Speaker 2: going to break down every pick the Steeters made in
3:54
Speaker 2: this Iris Theaters podcast. Just before we do that, I'm
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Speaker 2: conscious that we also had people that were in Dublin
4:01
Speaker 2: for a Steelers draft party last Saturday, and look, I'm
4:05
Speaker 2: not going to ask you of your thoughts of that
4:07
Speaker 2: because you weren't there. But first off, for people listening,
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Speaker 2: I hope you had a good time, folks, and thanks
4:11
Speaker 2: for coming out in support in the NFL. But Jeff,
4:13
Speaker 2: I'm gonna ask you this part of the growth of
4:17
Speaker 2: the NFL for a long time, and to see a
4:21
Speaker 2: team have a draft party internationally is it's pretty cool.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean because it's you know, the the cooperation
4:33
Speaker 5: between the organization and the fans on the ground all
4:38
Speaker 5: the way across the Atlantic Ocean is.
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Speaker 4: Phenomenal, and you know, to see the way the Steelers,
4:43
Speaker 4: and I think the Steelers really in a lot of
4:45
Speaker 4: ways are maybe the measuring stick to all other organizations
4:51
Speaker 4: when you talk about being involved in a market that's
4:55
Speaker 4: not your own, in a foreign market, and you see
4:58
Speaker 4: what they've been able to do in Ireland and then
5:00
Speaker 4: the natural connection that they have to Ireland is just
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Speaker 4: really amazing. And you know, this craft party that was
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Speaker 4: so much fun in Dublin is just another example of
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Speaker 4: step another step forward and growing the game and growing
5:16
Speaker 4: steeard nation through around the world.
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Speaker 3: Love it.
5:20
Speaker 2: Let's get into what you love best, Jeff, and that's
5:22
Speaker 2: football talk. Yeah, let's let's go. And the thing that
5:26
Speaker 2: I loved the whole week was we obviously seen we
5:31
Speaker 2: actually didn't have like the television feed where we were
5:33
Speaker 2: in the stadium and we had, you know, what the
5:36
Speaker 2: fans had, and it's a really different experience and I
5:40
Speaker 2: think I definitely appreciated it more day after day. But Jeff,
5:43
Speaker 2: every time, especially that first night when the Steaders were
5:46
Speaker 2: on the clock, Randy Gebbe was playing. The fans were
5:49
Speaker 2: going crazy, and they were going crazy for Maxiolsr. On
5:53
Speaker 2: offensive tackle out of Arizona State, who went twenty first,
5:57
Speaker 2: a guy who was a key factor for their offensive line.
6:00
Speaker 2: Jeff didn't allow a sock in the senior season, started
6:03
Speaker 2: in thirty one out of thirty two career games, and
6:06
Speaker 2: Jeff a guided I think he was born in Nigeria
6:09
Speaker 2: and didn't play football for a number of years. And
6:11
Speaker 2: now you looking at me, he's going in the first round.
6:14
Speaker 2: I really interest and pick up to kick off our
6:17
Speaker 2: review here.
6:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought it was really a smart pick because again,
6:23
Speaker 4: when you look at what you want from your first
6:25
Speaker 4: round pick, you want a foundational player. You want a
6:27
Speaker 4: guy that's going to be a cornerstone in your organization.
6:30
Speaker 4: And certainly he Chana Core. Because of his age and
6:35
Speaker 4: because of the fact he has not played a great
6:37
Speaker 4: deal of football, He's going to be somewhat of a
6:40
Speaker 4: developmental piece for them, and how soon he plays really
6:44
Speaker 4: depends on.
6:44
Speaker 6: How well he's developed and how fast he, you know,
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Speaker 6: can grasp the concepts and the techniques that James Campen
6:52
Speaker 6: is going to try and in part for him. I
6:55
Speaker 6: would love to be at their mini camp right now
6:58
Speaker 6: and watch James, Camper and Coch just young kid, because
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Speaker 6: he has Max has a ton of ability.
7:04
Speaker 4: He's got as maybe as high. I think he and
7:08
Speaker 4: Freeling had the highest upsides of any of the tackles
7:12
Speaker 4: in the draft. And certainly to take this guy in
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Speaker 4: the first round makes sense to me. It's a foundational
7:19
Speaker 4: piece of an offensive line that you hope will play
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Speaker 4: together for a long time. Now, this is free agency
7:26
Speaker 4: in the NFL, and it's hard to do that, but
7:28
Speaker 4: you got to start, you know, with getting the getting
7:31
Speaker 4: them as rookies and talented rookies. And certainly Max is
7:34
Speaker 4: that long, can bend, long arms, great balance, all the
7:41
Speaker 4: stuff you look for.
7:42
Speaker 3: Now, because he's young.
7:44
Speaker 4: You know, because he's young, and because he's inexperienced relative
7:49
Speaker 4: to some other guys, it's gonna be there's gonna be
7:51
Speaker 4: a learning curve. But there would have been a learning
7:53
Speaker 4: curve had they taken Freeling. There would have been a
7:55
Speaker 4: learning curve had they taken Proctor or any of them.
7:57
Speaker 4: They like this kid, and again you got to give
8:00
Speaker 4: him credit for going after a guy they liked.
8:03
Speaker 2: And you mentioned a guy that we probably haven't talked
8:05
Speaker 2: about in this podcast since the season ended last year,
8:08
Speaker 2: James Campen obviously coming in now as the offensive line coach.
8:12
Speaker 2: For people in Arden listening, Jeff, he has over twenty
8:15
Speaker 2: years of experience, He's worked long tenures with the Packers,
8:20
Speaker 2: the Panthers knows coach McCarthy very well as well, so
8:23
Speaker 2: definitely a good guy to have in there to get
8:25
Speaker 2: him going as well. So we will see what happens there.
8:28
Speaker 2: We get to the second round, we get to the Friday,
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Speaker 2: and there's more and more people packing in to act
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Speaker 2: for sure around that theater spot, and tens of thousands
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Speaker 2: of people as well on the other side of the shore,
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Speaker 2: and the Steelers go with a forty seven pick with
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Speaker 2: a wide receiver from Alabama, Gemy Bernard, and obviously the
8:48
Speaker 2: Steelers actually made a trade with the Colts to move
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Speaker 2: up to make the selection, Jeff, and I think at
8:55
Speaker 2: that point of the draft, to see what you had
8:58
Speaker 2: in terms of the talent of a guy that's versatile
9:02
Speaker 2: and he can play inside outside, and he's playing at
9:06
Speaker 2: one of the best schools in the in the US.
9:08
Speaker 2: For people from Europe listening to this, Jeff definitely a
9:11
Speaker 2: guy that you can mold and really up to the
9:13
Speaker 2: future as well.
9:14
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, and and again the Steelers knew that
9:18
Speaker 4: they had to need at receiver. They went out and
9:19
Speaker 4: got Pittman. In the offseason, you got DK Metcalf. Now
9:23
Speaker 4: this is an opportunity to get another guy. He plays
9:25
Speaker 4: particularly well inside. Michael he was outstanding, had at seven
9:30
Speaker 4: touchdown catches.
9:31
Speaker 3: Last year at Alabama.
9:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, you look at his history, you know, from his time,
9:37
Speaker 4: he's one of the like most of these kids are now,
9:40
Speaker 4: they're portal players. They played at two or three different schools.
9:43
Speaker 4: He's returned kicks. He you know, he can play in
9:46
Speaker 4: the slot. He's strong, he's tough, he's got strength, he's durable,
9:51
Speaker 4: all the things. If you say, okay, you're playing in
9:53
Speaker 4: in you know, a division with Baltimore, with Cleveland, with Cincinnati,
10:00
Speaker 4: have some toughness, and I think this kid has all
10:03
Speaker 4: the toughness that you could want more. And again we'll
10:05
Speaker 4: give them not only not only a slot back, but
10:08
Speaker 4: I think he you know, in the situations when they
10:11
Speaker 4: go you know, twelve personnel or when they go you know,
10:14
Speaker 4: twenty one personnel.
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Speaker 3: Where there's only two wide receivers on the field.
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Speaker 4: He can go outside and play outside as well.
10:22
Speaker 2: Kyle, wait to see how he's going to do. I
10:23
Speaker 2: think he get called up for the NFL Rookie Premiere
10:27
Speaker 2: in a few weeks. So excited to see the content
10:30
Speaker 2: from not of course for Steeters fans, Jeff big talking
10:33
Speaker 2: point from the Friday night in Round Free. The Steeters
10:36
Speaker 2: stay in state and go to Penn State and get
10:40
Speaker 2: Drew Aller seventy six overall obviously quarterback guy to play
10:44
Speaker 2: it in forty five games, four pence stead a six
10:47
Speaker 2: y five, two hundred and thirty five pounds, big Hans.
10:50
Speaker 2: We're so waiting to see, Jeff, obviously what happens at
10:53
Speaker 2: this position over the next few weeks. And we're not
10:55
Speaker 2: going to speculate or not, but you know, just for
10:57
Speaker 2: the picking itself, Jeff, for a guy like yourself that
11:01
Speaker 2: has worked in college football for such a long time,
11:03
Speaker 2: but especially Jeff, you're fresh out of working in college
11:07
Speaker 2: football over the last few months. What does Drew Aller
11:10
Speaker 2: bring to this theaters Well, first.
11:12
Speaker 4: Of all, he brings talent, right, he brings measurables the
11:15
Speaker 4: things that you're looking for. He has all the arm strength,
11:17
Speaker 4: you could want. He's you know, he's big. You mentioned
11:21
Speaker 4: two thirty five. I think he's more along the lines
11:23
Speaker 4: of two forty. He's physical. He can stand in the
11:27
Speaker 4: pocket and deliver the football. He's got, you know, all
11:29
Speaker 4: the arm strength he could ever want. Now, when you
11:34
Speaker 4: say like player, who's a like player, well you would
11:37
Speaker 4: you would have to say Ben Roethlisberger would be the
11:39
Speaker 4: guy that would jump out name wise. And again when
11:43
Speaker 4: Ben came out of Miami, there weren't a lot of
11:45
Speaker 4: people that said, you know, he's going to be a
11:47
Speaker 4: Hall of Fame player one day. And I think Ben
11:49
Speaker 4: at some point will play and be a Hall of
11:51
Speaker 4: Fame player. But I think this is the thing with Aler.
11:54
Speaker 4: Aller has a tremendous amount of ability. You know, Mike McCarthy.
12:00
Speaker 4: When you look at Mike's history, you know, there have
12:04
Speaker 4: been some pretty good quarterbacks that he's coached. And I'm
12:07
Speaker 4: talking about you know, Aaron Rodgers, I'm talking about Dak Prescott.
12:12
Speaker 4: I'm talking about guys that have been big time guys
12:16
Speaker 4: in you know, in the National Football League. So if
12:19
Speaker 4: anybody can get the talent out of him, can squeeze
12:23
Speaker 4: the talent out of this kid, I think there's tons
12:26
Speaker 4: of it that can that they can get to. They
12:27
Speaker 4: can access a guy that can run, the guy that
12:30
Speaker 4: can throw on the run, a guy that can hold
12:32
Speaker 4: up in the pocket, a guy that you know has
12:34
Speaker 4: has you know, demonstrated that he has all the physical ability.
12:39
Speaker 4: Now they just have to get it from him. And again,
12:42
Speaker 4: you got to remember when you make a choice like
12:44
Speaker 4: this in the third round, you know, first of all,
12:47
Speaker 4: there are no guarantees. Fernando Mendoza, the first player picked
12:50
Speaker 4: in the draft, is not a guarantee. So you got
12:54
Speaker 4: to hedge your bets and say, okay, what do we
12:56
Speaker 4: need as a football team. Well, we know we need
12:58
Speaker 4: a quarterback. This is a good place to go and
13:01
Speaker 4: get one where where if it doesn't happen right and
13:06
Speaker 4: the you know, the statistics will tell you it's about
13:08
Speaker 4: a fifty to fifty proposition. Oh, historically in the National
13:12
Speaker 4: Football League on quarterbacks, if it doesn't work out, it's
13:15
Speaker 4: not killing your it's not killing you because you've invested
13:19
Speaker 4: so much in the guy. So I thought it was
13:22
Speaker 4: a really smart pick by the Steelers, and I thought
13:24
Speaker 4: it was one that you know, the kids used to
13:27
Speaker 4: play in, you know, in Pennsylvania. He played up in
13:30
Speaker 4: Happy Violet Valley for penn State. He can throw in
13:33
Speaker 4: the cold. He's got the arm. There's ball cut the war.
13:35
Speaker 4: You know again, talking about the NFC North. You go
13:38
Speaker 4: to Baltimore, You're you're on the you're right on the
13:41
Speaker 4: Atlantic Ocean in the winter time October, November, December, and January.
13:45
Speaker 4: In Baltimore, the winds whipping off, you know, off the
13:49
Speaker 4: off Baltimore Harbor. The same thing's true in Cleveland, Cincinnati.
13:53
Speaker 4: You know again, you better have an arm. This is
13:56
Speaker 4: not a division for guys with you know, week arm quarterbacks.
14:01
Speaker 4: They just can't survive in that weather. And so again
14:04
Speaker 4: I think it was when you look at all of
14:06
Speaker 4: the factors, you know, I'd say, why not with a
14:09
Speaker 4: third rounder?
14:10
Speaker 2: And if anybody knows folks about talking and analyzing cold
14:14
Speaker 2: weather and survival skills, Jeff Ryan Bold is you're man,
14:18
Speaker 2: don't remind me of the cold, Jeff. It's we're we're
14:21
Speaker 2: getting into the summer here, and i still have a
14:23
Speaker 2: bit of suntoime from last week. So I'll I'll take
14:25
Speaker 2: that and say no more. And when you hear defensive
14:30
Speaker 2: coordinator Patrick Graham talk about his excitement of picking a
14:34
Speaker 2: guy like Dale and Avere at the cornerback in the
14:36
Speaker 2: third round, and especially Jeff. When you get to that
14:38
Speaker 2: stage of the of the draft, eighty fifth, you have
14:42
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty seven spots to draft with and
14:45
Speaker 2: the Steelers luck to have got a really good player
14:49
Speaker 2: there from Georgia in terms of value, in terms of
14:51
Speaker 2: what he can give not just now, but long term
14:54
Speaker 2: as well with his team. Was he a guy on
14:56
Speaker 2: your board, a guy that you were looking at going
14:58
Speaker 2: into Friday? And what's your thoughts in.
14:59
Speaker 3: The Yeah, he was on my board.
15:01
Speaker 4: But you know again, Mike, I ranked the what I
15:04
Speaker 4: thought was the top fifty two. Right now, if he
15:08
Speaker 4: just do the math, that means, you know, the guys
15:11
Speaker 4: up on my board that I actually had ranked, they
15:13
Speaker 4: were all gonna be first or second round draft picks.
15:15
Speaker 4: And that's the way it turned out. However, this kid,
15:19
Speaker 4: I did evaluate this kid, and here's what he brings
15:22
Speaker 4: to the table. In my opinion. He's long, he's six
15:25
Speaker 4: to one. He played at Georgia, right, What does that mean? Well,
15:28
Speaker 4: he played for Kirby Smart. Kirby Smart played defensive back
15:31
Speaker 4: as a as a collegiate player, you watch the best
15:35
Speaker 4: coach defensive backs year in and year out, then Georgia
15:39
Speaker 4: and Alabama kids, and so he's gonna come with discipline,
15:43
Speaker 4: he's gonna come with toughness, He's gonna come with with
15:45
Speaker 4: an attitude of physicality, which I think is Taylor made
15:51
Speaker 4: for the Steeler defense. Will he start opposite Joey Porter?
15:55
Speaker 4: I can't tell you that right now, but I'm going
15:56
Speaker 4: to tell you he has all the physical tools to
15:59
Speaker 4: make make a serious contribution as a rookie. And I
16:03
Speaker 4: think eventually, whether it's halfway through his first year or
16:08
Speaker 4: down the road, he'll be a very good starter. And
16:12
Speaker 4: this is again really important for fans to understand Michael
16:16
Speaker 4: that he has the ability to play nickel. Also he
16:18
Speaker 4: can play down inside and the more flexibility the player
16:23
Speaker 4: like that gives you as a signal caller for you know,
16:27
Speaker 4: coach Graham is you know you're talking about now people
16:30
Speaker 4: go into specially packages offensively and you don't have to
16:35
Speaker 4: take him off the field, right He can go in
16:38
Speaker 4: there and he can line up as a nickel and
16:41
Speaker 4: play along the line of scrimmage because he's physical enough
16:44
Speaker 4: to do that.
16:47
Speaker 2: And it's funny that because calm the Friday Saturday the
16:50
Speaker 2: media workrooms. I'm not saying this, sorry, Samdy, but the
16:53
Speaker 2: first run is always the biggest run, and that we
16:55
Speaker 2: were getting towards the end of the night on a
16:58
Speaker 2: bit of a mini war went up in the world
17:00
Speaker 2: groom whenever the Steelers went and got Getty's dunker. The
17:04
Speaker 2: guard from Iowa and a lot of people Jeff will
17:07
Speaker 2: have seen this guy both of the combine with his
17:09
Speaker 2: luscious looks his mullets. But he's a lot more than that, Jeff,
17:14
Speaker 2: as you're wella where he is a hell of a
17:15
Speaker 2: football player. One thing that I was reading this week
17:18
Speaker 2: as we had to do this podcast again was he
17:22
Speaker 2: was one of the guy who noted that the Senior Bowl, Jeff,
17:24
Speaker 2: that was usually and like understandably for college players, they
17:28
Speaker 2: want to stay a fifth, they don't want to get injured.
17:29
Speaker 2: But at the Senior Bowl at the end of the
17:30
Speaker 2: college football season, he was the first guy stepping up
17:34
Speaker 2: in practice to do drills, to do challenging elements of
17:38
Speaker 2: that there, and he just wants to keep learning. He's
17:40
Speaker 2: a baller. He's a typical sort of Iowa country kid
17:45
Speaker 2: that just wants to play a ball and he's not
17:47
Speaker 2: going to look out of place in a black and
17:49
Speaker 2: goals uniform because he's been wearing those colors for quite
17:52
Speaker 2: a while.
17:52
Speaker 4: Oh, he looked really good in black and gold. And
17:54
Speaker 4: he did look really good in black and gold in Iowa.
17:57
Speaker 4: And I'm not talking about, you know.
17:58
Speaker 3: His mullet.
17:59
Speaker 4: I'm talking about wait wait, because Michael, I think we
18:03
Speaker 4: do a disservice to this kid a little bit when
18:05
Speaker 4: we focus on the fact that he's got a red
18:07
Speaker 4: mullet that's down to the middle of his back, or
18:09
Speaker 4: you know that he's a hay bail throwing champion, you
18:14
Speaker 4: know in Illinois or wherever the heck.
18:17
Speaker 2: Now, I'll tell you what, Jeff, in Ireland, that's not
18:19
Speaker 2: a bad skill to have at this time of the
18:21
Speaker 2: year in terms of that.
18:22
Speaker 4: I'm but he'll never I hope, have to use it
18:25
Speaker 4: in Ireland. He'll be past blocking in Pittsburgh. The thing
18:30
Speaker 4: about him, Mike, when you watch him, and I think
18:34
Speaker 4: for the fans, uh, you need to have an appreciation
18:37
Speaker 4: for what University of Iowa offensive lineman do. In this
18:43
Speaker 4: international football league, there has been a tremendous amount of
18:48
Speaker 4: offensive linemen from the University of Iowa that have come
18:51
Speaker 4: and had great career success.
18:54
Speaker 3: In the National Football League.
18:55
Speaker 4: As a matter of fact, from two years ago, all
18:57
Speaker 4: five of Dunker's teammates, the linemates that he worked with
19:02
Speaker 4: at Iowa, they're all playing in the NFL.
19:04
Speaker 3: They are extremely well coached.
19:06
Speaker 4: What they do at Iowa is they'll go and they'll
19:10
Speaker 4: find the longest, tallest high school basketball players and guys
19:15
Speaker 4: that play multiple sports. And they may not be three
19:20
Speaker 4: star four star prospects as high school football players, but
19:25
Speaker 4: they take them to Iowa. They get them in the
19:28
Speaker 4: weight room, they get them in a nutrition program, they
19:31
Speaker 4: coach them every single day. They I mean it is
19:34
Speaker 4: a the developed Kirk friends, you know whose son Frankly
19:38
Speaker 4: was one of those guys and played in the National
19:40
Speaker 4: Football League. Those are the guys that come out of
19:45
Speaker 4: the University of Iowa. And again, where does that translate
19:48
Speaker 4: to success? Well, it translates to success, particularly at places
19:53
Speaker 4: like Pittsburgh because of the kind of players that I
19:57
Speaker 4: know Mike McCarthy wants, and you know the organization once physical, tough,
20:04
Speaker 4: good people that are going to be dependable, and you
20:07
Speaker 4: know that's what this kid is. And is he flashy?
20:11
Speaker 4: No is, But again for the fans. The low hanging
20:15
Speaker 4: fruit on this guy is pay attention to his haircut.
20:19
Speaker 4: The facts are, he's a very, very good football player.
20:23
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see him play later on this year.
20:25
Speaker 2: And Jeff, it's funny because they stay in Iowa and
20:28
Speaker 2: first off to get Bernard off Alabama, but they stay
20:32
Speaker 2: in Iowa and get kidden Witch in the fourth round
20:34
Speaker 2: wide receiver again, and you go from having one wide
20:37
Speaker 2: receiver being drafted to two. A guy that was the
20:40
Speaker 2: consensus All American in the twenty twenty five as a returner.
20:43
Speaker 2: More so, he has shined as a punt returner. I
20:46
Speaker 2: think it's just under a thousand return yards around fifty
20:52
Speaker 2: six or so kickoffs twenty seven point five yard average,
20:55
Speaker 2: two touchdowns. Have you seen much of this guy even
20:58
Speaker 2: over the last few days from after pocking up, I
21:01
Speaker 2: guess no. He was.
21:02
Speaker 3: He was kind of under the radar a little bit.
21:04
Speaker 4: And you got to understand why because the guy who
21:08
Speaker 4: was the number one punt and kickoff returner for Iowa.
21:10
Speaker 3: Of the year before or two years before.
21:13
Speaker 4: I guess it is it just so happened to, you know,
21:17
Speaker 4: intercept a pass against Patrick Mahomes and running into the
21:22
Speaker 4: end zone for the Philadelphia Eagles. And so you know,
21:26
Speaker 4: he was playing behind some pretty good players at Iowa
21:29
Speaker 4: and he's not He's not gonna wow you with his dimensions.
21:34
Speaker 4: He will wow you with his juice. And what I
21:36
Speaker 4: mean by that is he will be electric when when
21:40
Speaker 4: he gets the ball in his hands. And you know,
21:43
Speaker 4: again kudos to the Omar Khan.
21:47
Speaker 3: And the draft people.
21:48
Speaker 4: What do you need when the weather is bad in November, December, January.
21:53
Speaker 4: First of all, you need guys who can go back
21:55
Speaker 4: there and catch the thing and not put it on
21:57
Speaker 4: the ground. And number two, because the ball gets harder
22:01
Speaker 4: in the cold weather, the ball doesn't carry as far,
22:06
Speaker 4: So you're going to get more return opportunities in cold
22:09
Speaker 4: in these in these cold climate games typically against your
22:13
Speaker 4: divisional arrivals, and you want to have an opportunity to
22:17
Speaker 4: get at least a first down every time you return
22:20
Speaker 4: a punt. Right, So, if you think about it just
22:23
Speaker 4: in terms of the EBB and full of a football game, right,
22:28
Speaker 4: you stop somebody at the twenty five after a kickoff, right,
22:32
Speaker 4: and they have to punt the ball back to you.
22:34
Speaker 4: Now they punt it forty yards, you catch it, you
22:37
Speaker 4: return at ten yards. The net field position is only
22:41
Speaker 4: thirty yards. That means you're right around mid midfield and
22:46
Speaker 4: now you get a first down, you're pinning them inside.
22:50
Speaker 4: The game is built that way. So a guy who
22:54
Speaker 4: can turn the field, a guy who can you know, catch,
22:57
Speaker 4: is dependable, can catch the ball, hold on to the football,
23:00
Speaker 4: won't turn it over, and gives you an opportunity. You know,
23:04
Speaker 4: let's say one out of every twenty times he gets
23:07
Speaker 4: an explosive return. Well, that's huge when you start looking
23:11
Speaker 4: at what we call hidden yardage.
23:14
Speaker 2: You've heard it here first, folks said look out for
23:17
Speaker 2: those AFC North Road games this year. Weak gin could
23:20
Speaker 2: be a big, big factor, and Jeff called it if
23:22
Speaker 2: it happened. So I'll recall this, Jeff when it happens
23:25
Speaker 2: there all this season, hopefully, and when he starts to
23:28
Speaker 2: look for talent or look for best player available. As
23:30
Speaker 2: we get towards the end here, Jeff Rady Loanowski to
23:33
Speaker 2: fall back in the fifth round, one hundred and sixty
23:37
Speaker 2: ninth overall, a national champion with Indiana dacent pick up
23:40
Speaker 2: at that point in this draft.
23:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, and when they took him initially, I think a
23:44
Speaker 4: lot of people said what are they doing taking another fullback, right,
23:47
Speaker 4: I mean another tight end because he actually he was
23:50
Speaker 4: a hybrid player at Indiana. He lined up as an
23:53
Speaker 4: inline tight end, but he also spent about, you know,
23:56
Speaker 4: almost half of his time on the field up in
24:00
Speaker 4: the backfield. So again, flexibility is critical. His hardness, his toughness.
24:07
Speaker 4: He's a very very good inline blocker as a tight end,
24:11
Speaker 4: and maybe even a better blocker as a fullback. So
24:15
Speaker 4: when you start running the ball inside, power and io
24:18
Speaker 4: and some of those kind of things, he gives you
24:20
Speaker 4: an awful lot. Plus the fact you can sneak him
24:23
Speaker 4: out of the backfield if teams want to, you know, you,
24:26
Speaker 4: let's say you go to twenty one personnel, which was
24:30
Speaker 4: two backs, one tight end. He's in there as the
24:32
Speaker 4: second the second back. Well, now what is that really?
24:37
Speaker 3: Okay? Is it two tight.
24:39
Speaker 4: Ends and one back or is it one back and
24:42
Speaker 4: two tight ends. That means a lot to the defensive
24:45
Speaker 4: coordinator because the play selection is different with those two
24:48
Speaker 4: personnel groups. And now here's a guy that Pittsburgh has
24:51
Speaker 4: the luxury of putting him on the field, and you can,
24:55
Speaker 4: you know, you can get deeper into the playbook because
24:57
Speaker 4: both your twelve personnel and your twenty one person calls
25:01
Speaker 4: are available to you because of his flexibility.
25:05
Speaker 2: A really really interesting pick. We'll see how he goes
25:09
Speaker 2: from having curz Ignaty to Mike McCarthy as well this year.
25:13
Speaker 2: As we get towards the end here Jeff It is
25:15
Speaker 2: an Irish Hitters podcast, we get one of the fighting
25:17
Speaker 2: Irish Gabriel Rubio defensive end in the sixth front and
25:21
Speaker 2: played the six games last year, actually missed the final
25:24
Speaker 2: six due to injury. But he's appeared in thirty nine
25:28
Speaker 2: career games from Notre Dame, sixty six tackles, twenty seven
25:31
Speaker 2: of them solo stops, seven tackles for a loss at
25:35
Speaker 2: one forced fumble. I guess what you could call off
25:38
Speaker 2: Jeff is an interesting project and a guy that they
25:41
Speaker 2: can treat, a guy that they can really try and mold,
25:43
Speaker 2: probably over the next twenty four months.
25:45
Speaker 4: So let's look at you know, you're at the you're
25:48
Speaker 4: at the back end of the draft, right, and so
25:51
Speaker 4: now are you going to find proven players?
25:54
Speaker 3: Not?
25:54
Speaker 6: Not?
25:55
Speaker 4: Usually there's a hole in them somewhere, right. So Rubio
25:59
Speaker 4: is in interesting guy to me because when you watch
26:03
Speaker 4: the film of him at Notre Dame. You see him
26:05
Speaker 4: play both tackle and you see him play outside. So
26:08
Speaker 4: again we're talking about that thing again. There's position flexibility.
26:12
Speaker 4: Guy can be the you know, if you're if you're
26:15
Speaker 4: carrying excuse me, if you're carrying ten defensive linemen right
26:21
Speaker 4: and now he's your tenth.
26:23
Speaker 3: You know, it's like a bone.
26:24
Speaker 4: It's like getting a bonus player because he can go
26:26
Speaker 4: down inside, play tackle, and also play outside.
26:29
Speaker 3: So it helps your roster flexibility.
26:31
Speaker 4: And that means maybe you carry an extra wide receiver
26:34
Speaker 4: or an extra defensive back or whatever how you choose
26:36
Speaker 4: to configure it.
26:37
Speaker 3: But guys with position flexibility, and.
26:40
Speaker 4: Both Rubio and the guy we're going to talk about next,
26:43
Speaker 4: and the guy we just talked about previously, and the
26:45
Speaker 4: guy we talked about previously to that, they're all guys
26:48
Speaker 4: with position flexibility. So kudos to Omar Khan and his
26:53
Speaker 4: crew because they found guys who have position flexibility, and
26:58
Speaker 4: then Mike and his staff can now mold and tweak
27:03
Speaker 4: their scheme to incorporate the talents that these guys have.
27:09
Speaker 2: Let's finish off on those two pictures you mentioned. The
27:11
Speaker 2: next one at safety from Oklahoma Robert Spears Jennings and
27:16
Speaker 2: a guy obviously from Oklahoma seventh round pick two hundred
27:19
Speaker 2: and twenty fourth and then finally Jeff One of the
27:21
Speaker 2: moments of the week. Top but Pittsburgh hosting the draft.
27:24
Speaker 2: Eli heyden Wright going from niavy but he's a Pittsburgh
27:28
Speaker 2: Steters fond He's a Pittsburgh native. I've seen pictures of
27:32
Speaker 2: him as a kid this week in Steter's gear on
27:35
Speaker 2: that moment where he was drafted and his emotion. Two
27:38
Speaker 2: really interesting picks, but that last one really dolls on that,
27:41
Speaker 2: doesn't it.
27:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, but I want to get to the kid at
27:44
Speaker 4: Oklahoma first because of the fact that your safety, to me,
27:48
Speaker 4: was an area where I thought the Steelers needed to
27:50
Speaker 4: get some fresh blood in the room, and I think
27:53
Speaker 4: this kid provides it. He's got outstanding speed again, has
27:59
Speaker 4: the ability to play half the field.
28:01
Speaker 3: Which is hard to do.
28:02
Speaker 4: Can also be a middle third safety, can drop inside.
28:05
Speaker 4: He's a good tackler, he's tough Oklahoma kid. He played
28:08
Speaker 4: for Brett Venables, who is a very very good defensive coach,
28:12
Speaker 4: and you know if you're not tough, you're not gonna
28:14
Speaker 4: play for Brett Venables. So again, he brings a toughness
28:17
Speaker 4: element to Pittsburgh and a speed element in their secondary.
28:20
Speaker 4: He'll give him some juice. He'll be a really good
28:22
Speaker 4: special teams player, and then we'll see where he develops
28:26
Speaker 4: in terms.
28:26
Speaker 3: Of what his role is going to be as a
28:28
Speaker 3: defensive back.
28:29
Speaker 4: Now, hiden Reich moving on to Heinrich. I just love
28:34
Speaker 4: this pick and I don't. It's not Please understand, Mike.
28:38
Speaker 4: I mean, it has nothing to do with the fact
28:42
Speaker 4: that he played at Navy. It has nothing to do
28:44
Speaker 4: with the fact that you know he's a.
28:45
Speaker 3: Stif Pittsburgh kid.
28:46
Speaker 4: He had nothing to do all of those things are
28:49
Speaker 4: They're like gravy to me, they're bonuses. The fact of
28:53
Speaker 4: the matter is when you put the tape on right
28:57
Speaker 4: and you watch him play and you just fall in
29:00
Speaker 4: love with his effort. You fall in love with his toughness,
29:04
Speaker 4: You fall in love with his you know, athleticism in
29:08
Speaker 4: a package that isn't four three, right, But he's he's tough,
29:15
Speaker 4: he's durable, he can catch the football, he can play slot,
29:20
Speaker 4: he can play out of the backfield. He could place
29:23
Speaker 4: move tight end if he had to.
29:25
Speaker 3: He will.
29:25
Speaker 4: You know that he's a Navy kid, So he's smart.
29:29
Speaker 4: He's disciplined, he's a hard worker.
29:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's tough.
29:33
Speaker 4: He knows how to you know, those kids, you know,
29:37
Speaker 4: I spent I spent about four days with Kenny Neamatalolo
29:40
Speaker 4: at Navy when he was coaching there, and I watched
29:43
Speaker 4: their I watched them practice, and I watch what those
29:45
Speaker 4: kids have to endure every single day. I mean they
29:48
Speaker 4: are on a treadmill from the minute they wake up
29:52
Speaker 4: at five o'clock in the morning until they go to
29:54
Speaker 4: bed at eleven o'clock at night. It's one of the
29:56
Speaker 4: hardest academic schools in the country. And this kid not
30:00
Speaker 4: only got drafted by the Steelers that weekend, he got
30:04
Speaker 4: commissioned in the Marine Corps as a as an officer.
30:09
Speaker 4: And I don't know what they ensign. I think it
30:11
Speaker 4: is in the Marine Corps. On the same weekend he
30:15
Speaker 4: got drafted in the NFL draft. That's a that's a colossal,
30:21
Speaker 4: I mean a colossal achievement.
30:23
Speaker 3: Right.
30:24
Speaker 4: You think about how tough it is you're when everybody
30:28
Speaker 4: else was a freshman. Right, He's standing in the rain
30:33
Speaker 4: in Annapolis and some you know, first classman senior is
30:39
Speaker 4: climbing up his you know, nostrils screaming and yelling at him,
30:44
Speaker 4: and you know, and and so this kid's been this
30:48
Speaker 4: kid's endured an awful lot. He's toughed out a lot
30:51
Speaker 4: of tough situations. And you want tough people, right, What
30:56
Speaker 4: has defined the Steelers forever? Toughness absolutely, toughness, right, And
31:03
Speaker 4: toughness isn't you know, tough Toughness isn't beating your chest
31:08
Speaker 4: and uh, you know, talking about it. Toughness is demonstrated toughness.
31:13
Speaker 4: You know, don't get me going now, because here we go.
31:18
Speaker 3: Toughness.
31:20
Speaker 4: Toughness is Rocky Blier, you know. Toughness is Tunchy Okay.
31:26
Speaker 4: Toughness is Mike Webster, Toughness is James Harrison.
31:31
Speaker 3: Toughness is Troy Polam model. That's toughness.
31:37
Speaker 2: That was That was the hell of a moment that
31:38
Speaker 2: entered though it did feel like a full circle moment,
31:41
Speaker 2: and it was funny. I think I was reading that
31:45
Speaker 2: Omar Khan wasn't expecting to see that, and I know,
31:49
Speaker 2: like he's not not mind for him at the time,
31:51
Speaker 2: but they were all watching it and they were all
31:53
Speaker 2: in disbelief. So it was very emotional. It was really
31:57
Speaker 2: cool and to have that slammed of the pick where
32:01
Speaker 2: he's from Mount Lebanon, not that far from downtown Pittsburgh,
32:04
Speaker 2: and for him to have that moment, we were staying
32:07
Speaker 2: beside the facility, and by the time that he was drafted,
32:09
Speaker 2: in the time that we were eating dinner, Jeff, he
32:11
Speaker 2: was down doing a press conference in the facility. So
32:14
Speaker 2: I think that's just how close it all is. Very
32:17
Speaker 2: very cool, but also, Jeff, very very cool to spend
32:20
Speaker 2: the weekend with you and to see Pittsburgh and to
32:22
Speaker 2: see Jeff really just how lovely. The people were fantastic,
32:26
Speaker 2: and we hope that people enjoyed the draft party in
32:29
Speaker 2: Ireland as well and maybe felt a little bit closer
32:31
Speaker 2: with the covers as well. So certainly very very enjoyable. Jeff.
32:34
Speaker 2: I know that we're going to have a long time
32:38
Speaker 2: over this offseason to talk about this team, to talk
32:41
Speaker 2: about all teams, but of course to try and jump
32:43
Speaker 2: back on this podcast again. And I, along with many
32:46
Speaker 2: Staters fans in Ireland internationally, appreciate your time both last
32:50
Speaker 2: week but also jumping on and reviewing this week. So
32:53
Speaker 2: thank you very much for coming on. So we certainly
32:55
Speaker 2: appreciate it.
32:56
Speaker 3: That's always my pleasure. Michael, you know I love to
32:58
Speaker 3: talk football with you and particularly dot Pittsburgh Steeler football.
33:02
Speaker 2: Well, we'll definitely make it happen again for people on
33:05
Speaker 2: this podcast. We're taken next week off, we're planning, we're prepping,
33:09
Speaker 2: and we're back from around the week of May to
33:11
Speaker 2: tenth until the Steelers win the Super Bowl in LA
33:16
Speaker 2: next year. That's the mindset. So we're looking forward to
33:18
Speaker 2: for myself from Jeff this season.
33:36
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34:00
Speaker 3: Here we go.
34:00
Speaker 1: Steeters