Latest / In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers) / HR1: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 12

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HR1: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 12 · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

0:00
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Speaker 1: Training Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bod
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0:50
Speaker 2: And welcome inside the locker room. Here on the Steelers
0:52
Speaker 2: Audio Network, we are in the trope where there is
0:55
Speaker 2: no practice. We're looking out of our practice fields and
0:58
Speaker 2: there are no Steelers practicing. They would have been, I
1:01
Speaker 2: think probably just finishing up around now, but they moved
1:05
Speaker 2: over to the dun Lap Center inside for the second
1:08
Speaker 2: consecutive day. They had to have the practice inside, so
1:10
Speaker 2: no outdoor practice. I know they're disappointed about that. I'm
1:13
Speaker 2: sure Mike McCarthy wanted that the team out here. They
1:16
Speaker 2: have that beautiful, fabulous new dun Lap Center, which is
1:19
Speaker 2: going to be great for practices and you know, a
1:21
Speaker 2: big improvement, as we've talked over with Max over having
1:24
Speaker 2: to do things inside of a gymnasium, which is always tough.
1:28
Speaker 2: Anybody ever played high school football, You remember those days
1:30
Speaker 2: practicing the gymnasium. Not a lot of fun. So Ed
1:33
Speaker 2: Trup sitting in for a few minutes here as Max
1:37
Speaker 2: Starks making his way down to the broadcast booth. Always
1:39
Speaker 2: a busy man with lots going on. Max, So he'll
1:41
Speaker 2: be joining us momentarily. But Ed, did you play high
1:44
Speaker 2: school football? I did? I did? Ady those indoor practice
1:47
Speaker 2: man couldn't stand.
1:48
Speaker 3: Him, Matt raw back in our day, you had the
1:51
Speaker 3: two or three of days during training camp.
1:53
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, I'm not sure.
1:55
Speaker 3: My son, he's playing high school football, so I should
1:58
Speaker 3: ask him. He said, well, you know, I know he
2:00
Speaker 3: goes from two o'clock right now till ten o'clock at night.
2:02
Speaker 3: I think there's only one padded practice story. Ah yeah,
2:05
Speaker 3: everything else are meetings.
2:06
Speaker 2: They meet, meet met, we never met. We'd go on
2:08
Speaker 2: the field, get it done. Yeah, we had two days
2:11
Speaker 2: in high school and I had two days in two
2:13
Speaker 2: days in in uh Saint Louis in college not fun
2:18
Speaker 2: in August not fun. You're walking around Saint Louis in
2:22
Speaker 2: August is not fun. It's huppy, like you're breathing when
2:26
Speaker 2: you breathe in it's like like taking a week. You
2:28
Speaker 2: spit out a glass of water when you exhale, you know.
2:31
Speaker 2: But it's uh yeah, it was uh not a lot
2:34
Speaker 2: of not not really enjoyable.
2:36
Speaker 3: I think I think ours used to go like eight
2:37
Speaker 3: am practice and then you do like a four o'clock
2:40
Speaker 3: and then in between you just ate and kind of
2:42
Speaker 3: recouped a little.
2:43
Speaker 2: Bit, you know. I am and the same thing happens
2:45
Speaker 2: to me in Saint Vincent College, and the same thing
2:47
Speaker 2: happens to me during the other season where there's never
2:49
Speaker 2: an absence of food. I actually in that ghastly heat
2:54
Speaker 2: in Saint Louis, I actually gained weight during How did.
2:57
Speaker 1: You gain weight?
2:58
Speaker 2: Because they had so much food and I just ate
3:00
Speaker 2: right my after do practice, I'd be like slogging around.
3:02
Speaker 2: Oh I got tired full and yeah not never eancuse me,
3:08
Speaker 2: not very smart. Uh so it goes so I know,
3:11
Speaker 2: you guys, yeah you're a little draft, right, A draft?
3:14
Speaker 2: About that? A preseason fantasy draft, which is interesting, right?
3:22
Speaker 2: So you guys, because here's the thing. When you're putting
3:24
Speaker 2: together something like that, I mean, you were not expecting
3:29
Speaker 2: the top stars to play an awful lot and accumulate yardage.
3:34
Speaker 2: So who's going to be the next group exactly? And
3:36
Speaker 2: this is a Brian Backo idea.
3:38
Speaker 3: So Steelers Dot carm our pal Brian Becko, my co
3:41
Speaker 3: host of our regular show that we have here on SNR.
3:43
Speaker 3: Brian texted me last night. He goes, how about how
3:45
Speaker 3: about a preseason fantasy football draft for the show tomorrow.
3:48
Speaker 3: I said, sure, let's do it. I thought it was
3:50
Speaker 3: going to be all NFL. Then I thought to myself,
3:52
Speaker 3: wait a minute, we're going across the NFL. This is
3:54
Speaker 3: going to take forever. And I'm not even sure who
3:56
Speaker 3: the backup quarterback for the Houston Texans is at this.
3:59
Speaker 2: All third you just do just Steelers.
4:02
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, So we kept it in house, Rob and
4:05
Speaker 3: but you know, the quarterback spot's interesting, and Mike McCarthy
4:08
Speaker 3: hasn't come out quite yet to say if.
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Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers will play or if he won't play.
4:12
Speaker 3: I think it's gonna go Mason Rudolph for a couple
4:16
Speaker 3: series and then the rest of the time it's gonna
4:17
Speaker 3: be Will Howard versus Drew Aller, because that's the most
4:19
Speaker 3: important thing they need to figure out. They know a
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Speaker 3: Rod's number one, the least to me rob Mason Rudolph has.
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Speaker 2: Coming into this camp.
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Speaker 3: I thought, well, maybe there's a chance that Drew Aller
4:29
Speaker 3: or Will Howard worked their way into that, especially Will
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Speaker 3: Howard right to that QB number two, and then maybe
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Speaker 3: they move Mason Rudolph.
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Speaker 2: Via trade or somewhere else. I think it's the opposite.
4:38
Speaker 3: Mason Rudolph has had a good camp up here in
4:41
Speaker 3: La Trobe. He, in my opinion, definitely quarterback number two,
4:44
Speaker 3: the backup to Aaron Rodgers. So now I think the
4:47
Speaker 3: true battle for this preseason is Will Howard versus Drew Aller.
4:51
Speaker 2: It would appear that way, you know. I think that again,
4:55
Speaker 2: no one is No one is texting me from the Steelers'
4:58
Speaker 2: front office telling me what they're going to do, No
5:02
Speaker 2: and and and and what the what the case is,
5:05
Speaker 2: and who's got the roster made and not made? You know,
5:08
Speaker 2: I think a lot of times, like you know, guys,
5:12
Speaker 2: there are certain guys who it appears from the outside
5:15
Speaker 2: obvious that they're fighting for roster spots. Now, Mike McCarthy's
5:19
Speaker 2: floated the idea of carrying four. But I think the
5:22
Speaker 2: way he's talked about Mason Rudolph in the morning press
5:25
Speaker 2: conferences seems like he has a lot of respect for
5:28
Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph and what he can do. And you know,
5:31
Speaker 2: he's you know, you're trying to put together the pieces here.
5:34
Speaker 2: But he's mentioned on many occasions that he's got a
5:37
Speaker 2: veteran team. Said it again this morning, I think this morning,
5:40
Speaker 2: ORBS yesterday, this is the most experienced team he's ever coached.
5:43
Speaker 2: When he first took the job, he said, this is
5:45
Speaker 2: a good team. The cupboard's not bear. I've got a
5:48
Speaker 2: good team here. Those are the kind of comments that
5:51
Speaker 2: make me think that a Mason Rudolph's got a lot
5:54
Speaker 2: of value. You know, if you were at if you
5:56
Speaker 2: were a rebuilding team, okay, maybe maybe you get you know,
6:01
Speaker 2: you keep the two young guys behind him and you
6:03
Speaker 2: let the veteran guys start, and but that's not the
6:07
Speaker 2: way the Steelers perceived themselves at all. And so you know,
6:10
Speaker 2: if the big thing for me is if Aaron Rodgers,
6:15
Speaker 2: if Aaron Rodgers is in knock on Wood, if he's
6:17
Speaker 2: injured for any length of time, if any quarterback is injured,
6:20
Speaker 2: Glass Cincinnati, what it's like when they don't have Joe Burrow, right,
6:23
Speaker 2: it's very, very difficult to win without your starting quarterback. Now,
6:27
Speaker 2: who can step in and win you some games? I
6:31
Speaker 2: think Mason Rudolph can clearly step in and win you
6:34
Speaker 2: some games. And whether there's more ceiling than that with
6:37
Speaker 2: a better team like the Steelers, Mason's never had the
6:40
Speaker 2: opportunity to really show. He had one chance early on
6:43
Speaker 2: in his career with with Duck Hodges, and you know
6:46
Speaker 2: the Studers went with Duck Hodges at that time. So
6:50
Speaker 2: you know, Ed is we got a line change. Here
6:53
Speaker 2: Ed heading out, Max Stark's coming in. Ed kept the
6:56
Speaker 2: seat warm as the backup.
6:58
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go hold the clipboard though, maybe even get
7:00
Speaker 3: mister Stark something to eat or drink.
7:02
Speaker 2: You know, I gotta take care of my man.
7:03
Speaker 3: Here eats out, but he's he's ready to go, So
7:06
Speaker 3: we're gonna turn the keys over.
7:07
Speaker 2: He is unfortunately not wearing any You're not wearing any pants?
7:11
Speaker 2: Oh no, those are camouflaged Okay, all right, I thought
7:14
Speaker 2: for a minute you were I'm a blender, a blender,
7:17
Speaker 2: you guys. I've actually been here the entire time. I
7:20
Speaker 2: was just standing very still. Yes, you're very Nobody could
7:23
Speaker 2: see him, Nobody could see him move. You know, we're
7:25
Speaker 2: talking about the quarterback position. And you know, yesterday Max,
7:28
Speaker 2: we were we started the conversation of who we're most
7:32
Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing and who we think maybe has
7:35
Speaker 2: the most on the line here in the preseason for
7:37
Speaker 2: this too. And we got through, you know, the wide
7:40
Speaker 2: receiver position. We got through, Uh, we got through the
7:44
Speaker 2: the running back position. We got through the tight end position.
7:47
Speaker 2: I think we're both really interested in seeing, you know
7:50
Speaker 2: Ken jahem Bell for example. You know, I think the
7:54
Speaker 2: third the third tight end position is a battle right
7:58
Speaker 2: to the top. Two guys are clear. It's gonna be
8:00
Speaker 2: Friar muth And and Darnell Washington. You know, Robert Tanyan
8:05
Speaker 2: is a veteran, but Jehem Bell is an athletic young guy. Look,
8:08
Speaker 2: guys have come and gone, and Lake McCree is still here, right,
8:11
Speaker 2: so Lance Mason has joined the squad. There, JJ Galbreth
8:15
Speaker 2: was here. They had another tight end here earlier those
8:17
Speaker 2: guys have come and gone. Lake McCree still here. So
8:20
Speaker 2: that tells you something that, hey, you survived and you're
8:22
Speaker 2: gonna get an opportunity to prove that you should be
8:25
Speaker 2: the guy. So I think tight end is gonna be interesting.
8:28
Speaker 2: You know, we talked a little bit about I guess
8:30
Speaker 2: again just recapping what we talked about yesterday. You know,
8:33
Speaker 2: wide receiver Pittman and Metcalf are locks. You know, we
8:38
Speaker 2: think that we think that, you know, Jeremy Bernard as
8:41
Speaker 2: a second round pick, that would appear to be a lock.
8:44
Speaker 2: Regian's gonna be your top return man, so he's gonna
8:47
Speaker 2: count in that in that running back or that wide
8:50
Speaker 2: receiver position. You know, ben' skronic uh special teams guy
8:54
Speaker 2: Roman Wilson has showed up big, but I still think
8:57
Speaker 2: you want to see Roman continuing to kill that over
9:00
Speaker 2: into game action and then can anybody else, you know,
9:03
Speaker 2: maybe show that Wait a minute, now, you know I
9:07
Speaker 2: can contribute on special teams, but I'm I'm the best
9:10
Speaker 2: wide receiver still available. So and again it would there
9:15
Speaker 2: there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of positions
9:19
Speaker 2: with a whole lot open, right now. That was that
9:22
Speaker 2: was what we kind of talked that was that was
9:24
Speaker 2: the way we came away from yesterday's conversation. And by
9:26
Speaker 2: the way, running back, I think we're both we're both
9:29
Speaker 2: really interested to see Caleb Johnson, and I would imagine
9:32
Speaker 2: he's gonna get a lot of work. I would imagine, yeah,
9:35
Speaker 2: he has to.
9:35
Speaker 4: And also Eli heyden Reich, Right, I mean, he's another
9:38
Speaker 4: guy that you that you want to see how he
9:41
Speaker 4: can do. And Travis Homer figures into that, right, and
9:44
Speaker 4: then we'll see if Lou Nichols. But Caleb Johnson has
9:46
Speaker 4: to get the first side of the pie, yep. And
9:50
Speaker 4: because you know what you have in Jalen, you went
9:52
Speaker 4: and you got Rico dalle right.
9:53
Speaker 2: So I mean those two are just the known absolute suspects,
9:57
Speaker 2: right absolutely.
9:58
Speaker 4: For first and second noting back on the list or
10:01
Speaker 4: one A, one B, however you want to slot it.
10:04
Speaker 4: You know they're going to get the Lion's share come
10:06
Speaker 4: season time.
10:07
Speaker 2: But for preseason purposes, who's number three? Because I don't
10:11
Speaker 2: know if we're going to keep four, right, that's the
10:13
Speaker 2: biggest part. So yes, because Riley Nowakowski and again, you know,
10:19
Speaker 2: when when Mike McCarthy's asked about him, and he's he
10:22
Speaker 2: says he's doing all he can do. You know, he's
10:24
Speaker 2: doing all he can do and everything we need him
10:26
Speaker 2: to do in a phrase worthy way. You know that
10:29
Speaker 2: that makes you feel good about him. Now he's still
10:31
Speaker 2: got to go out and prove it. There are guys
10:33
Speaker 2: that that hit that rookie wall right around now, or
10:35
Speaker 2: they get into the games and they're not gamers, they're
10:37
Speaker 2: not guys who play well when the lights are on.
10:40
Speaker 2: They they're more practice players. I'm not talking about him
10:42
Speaker 2: in specific, I'm just saying in general, but we feel
10:45
Speaker 2: pretty strongly that he's going to make it so. And
10:47
Speaker 2: then Travis Homer is you know, he's your personal protector
10:51
Speaker 2: on special teams. That's a valuable guy. Now again you
10:56
Speaker 2: might be saying, look, I want to be people are
10:59
Speaker 2: fighting for different I'm fighting for a starting spot. I'm
11:02
Speaker 2: fighting for a spot in the rotation to play. I'm
11:07
Speaker 2: fighting for a just a spot on the roster. You
11:10
Speaker 2: get starting. I just want to be on the roster,
11:12
Speaker 2: or I'm competing to be on the practice squad, or
11:14
Speaker 2: I'm competing to be somewhere else where somebody's gonna take
11:19
Speaker 2: to one other auditions. I mean when you look at
11:22
Speaker 2: the number game at the wide receiver position. If in
11:25
Speaker 2: fact we're correct Warren and Dowell, we are correct, they're
11:29
Speaker 2: barring anything unforeseen and they're going to be on the team, right,
11:33
Speaker 2: They're going to be your top two running backs. So
11:36
Speaker 2: now what else can you contribute? So last year, the
11:39
Speaker 2: problem with Caleb Johnson was he had trouble getting on
11:41
Speaker 2: the field because he wasn't viewed as a special teams contributor.
11:46
Speaker 2: And so, yes, he's on your roster, but no, he's
11:49
Speaker 2: not active on game day like a lot of times
11:51
Speaker 2: he's So how do you make it? How do you
11:53
Speaker 2: make an imprint there? And how do you prove your value? Right?
11:56
Speaker 2: What's your purpose? That's right?
11:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think that's what you're trying to And
12:01
Speaker 4: you know, Mike McCarthy's made no bones about it, very transparent,
12:04
Speaker 4: very clear. We have a really good ninety man roster.
12:08
Speaker 4: The problem is you can't take ninety guys into This
12:11
Speaker 4: is not college. That's right, this is not college. We're
12:14
Speaker 4: not carrying double numbers, we're not doing all this other stuff.
12:16
Speaker 4: We have to get it down to fifty three active
12:19
Speaker 4: on top of the fifteen practice squads. We got to
12:22
Speaker 4: have sixty eight, So what does that look like? And
12:26
Speaker 4: we talk about the top. Fifty three is your that's
12:29
Speaker 4: your locks, yep, right. They can't be touched with by
12:31
Speaker 4: anybody else once you pick them. But that fifteen to
12:35
Speaker 4: get to sixty eight, that's the no man's landing. You
12:38
Speaker 4: have to figure out who is a guy that we
12:41
Speaker 4: think is fifty three capable, but we can slide through
12:46
Speaker 4: into the waivers and get them back on our practice
12:49
Speaker 4: squad so that they can become up and down elevation
12:51
Speaker 4: for us as.
12:52
Speaker 2: We see fit through the season. Do you think there
12:55
Speaker 2: are players who a team keeps who they think we
13:01
Speaker 2: have to keep them because we're worried that if we
13:06
Speaker 2: try to put them on the practice squad, somebody else
13:08
Speaker 2: will take them. Although we think the person that we're
13:11
Speaker 2: gonna put in the practice squad who we don't think
13:13
Speaker 2: anybody's gonna take, we actually think he might be better.
13:16
Speaker 2: Or do you start with your fifty three and then
13:19
Speaker 2: just say let's see what we got.
13:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, you gotta start with your fifty three and then
13:22
Speaker 4: and then kind of let it go by the way.
13:25
Speaker 4: So the guys that you're because you have to think
13:27
Speaker 4: forty seven through fifty three is the iffies, Like, it's
13:31
Speaker 4: the one where we're like, I have to do this
13:34
Speaker 4: strategically to get this to happen, right, and so I
13:38
Speaker 4: need to get him through and it's usually primarily your
13:41
Speaker 4: younger guys. Usually don't do this with VESTA guys, right
13:44
Speaker 4: because once you put them on week one rosters, their
13:47
Speaker 4: salaries guaranteed.
13:48
Speaker 2: Right.
13:49
Speaker 4: So if there's a veteran that I could hide to
13:52
Speaker 4: go through waivers and then get him back on the
13:55
Speaker 4: practice squad and then elevate him a little bit later,
13:58
Speaker 4: or move that rookie that I put on the active roster,
14:02
Speaker 4: demote him, bring the other guy and play play play
14:05
Speaker 4: the shell game, right, that's what you're trying to do.
14:08
Speaker 4: And last year was easy. So's when he came to
14:10
Speaker 4: the quarterback position for Will Howard because he was injured.
14:14
Speaker 2: Boom, we can put him on ir He.
14:15
Speaker 4: Goes into no man's land and nobody can touch him
14:17
Speaker 4: except us, right, And that's how you're able to have
14:19
Speaker 4: him here, because I'm sure teams would have went after him,
14:22
Speaker 4: you know, if he was a true for if you
14:24
Speaker 4: cut him, waved him injured and let him go into it.
14:27
Speaker 4: Let him go into the Abyss. He would have gotten
14:29
Speaker 4: pulled out of the ocean. So that's where you kind
14:32
Speaker 4: of have to play it. But it's with healthy guys
14:35
Speaker 4: that you have that problem. So if you're worried about
14:37
Speaker 4: the fifth linebacker, was that fifth linebacker worth as much
14:40
Speaker 4: as the sixth wide receiver, which is worth.
14:41
Speaker 2: As much as exactly right, exactly? I think that's it
14:44
Speaker 2: and that's more than Yeah, by the way, that's a
14:47
Speaker 2: sign of a good roster. And I think this is
14:49
Speaker 2: you know, and Mike McCarthy said it, this is a
14:51
Speaker 2: good roster. Okay, quarterback position. Who are we looking at most, Well,
14:56
Speaker 2: you have Aaron Rodgers, you have Mason Rudolph. I think
15:00
Speaker 2: everybody they're that that those guys. Look, let's get to
15:04
Speaker 2: the conversation that most fans want to see. It's Howard
15:06
Speaker 2: and now are right, Yeah, that's that's who. That's who
15:09
Speaker 2: everybody wants to see. Everybody's tiring, you.
15:12
Speaker 4: Know who Mason is, Right, We don't know who these
15:15
Speaker 4: guys are as pros. We know they have an extensive
15:17
Speaker 4: college resume, right, they have the potential that's right for
15:21
Speaker 4: it to correlate, But the best correlation is.
15:25
Speaker 2: Action unlikely that that either one of those guys is
15:30
Speaker 2: in the plans to actually play this year, right, you know,
15:33
Speaker 2: if you're drawing out how you want your season to go,
15:36
Speaker 2: it doesn't say and this is no knock on those
15:39
Speaker 2: guys are young guys. Well, Howard hasn't played a game
15:41
Speaker 2: since January of twenty twenty five when he went to
15:43
Speaker 2: when he UH played won the championship game right against
15:47
Speaker 2: Notre Dame. So and you know, Drew Aller was even
15:49
Speaker 2: hurt last year, and obviously they're they're trying to bring
15:52
Speaker 2: him along as something of a project. Those two guys
15:56
Speaker 2: appear to be battling for the third quarterback position again,
16:00
Speaker 2: barring something unforeseen or unwanted. That's what it appears like.
16:05
Speaker 2: And I think all eyes are going to be on
16:07
Speaker 2: that because I think fans understand. What fans are hoping
16:11
Speaker 2: for is that one of those guys will show them.
16:16
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure this stealers are hoping the same thing.
16:18
Speaker 2: One of those guys will show you enough that you
16:21
Speaker 2: go into the offseason thinking we have our quarterback of
16:24
Speaker 2: the future, because if you don't, if you don't, and
16:28
Speaker 2: you need to try to get him in the draft,
16:30
Speaker 2: and you finish where this juders think they're gonna finish,
16:34
Speaker 2: which is picking in the late twenties, maybe maybe thirty.
16:38
Speaker 2: All right, yeah, that'd be okay. But now you're gonna
16:42
Speaker 2: have to trade to get up to that position. It's
16:46
Speaker 2: this year's first, it's next year's first, it's probably this
16:49
Speaker 2: year's second, it might be next year's third. You are
16:52
Speaker 2: giving up, and think about what that means. You are
16:56
Speaker 2: hoping in the first round that you get a Pro
16:58
Speaker 2: Bowl caliber player like say TJ. Water, Cam Hayward. Right
17:03
Speaker 2: in the second round, you're hoping to get a really
17:05
Speaker 2: good player, maybe a Pro Bowl player, say like Zach Fraser,
17:09
Speaker 2: right yeah, and then in the third round, I mean,
17:11
Speaker 2: I'm just talking about Steelers guys. I'm the roster right now.
17:15
Speaker 2: So what you would be giving away and potential positioning,
17:19
Speaker 2: So in a in a in a in a best
17:21
Speaker 2: case scenario, drafting, worst case scenario, trading, you know, you
17:25
Speaker 2: would be trading you know, a future All Pro defensive tackle,
17:31
Speaker 2: a future All Pro defensive end, but outside linebacker. By
17:34
Speaker 2: the way, those guys are going to the Hall of Fame,
17:36
Speaker 2: a future All Pro center. I think Zach Fraser is
17:39
Speaker 2: going to get there. Another contributor, So for your quarterback
17:42
Speaker 2: in the future, who you better hope is actually your
17:44
Speaker 2: quarterback of the future and pans out. So that's what's
17:47
Speaker 2: on the line. I mean, I'm of course, I'm I'm
17:49
Speaker 2: painting this in extreme extremes but saying.
17:53
Speaker 4: But there's not invalid what I'm saying. This is the
17:55
Speaker 4: potential for those two be right exactly. You're giving away
17:58
Speaker 4: all the even for the potential of a quarterback of
18:02
Speaker 4: just one man. You're gonna trade away four different potential
18:06
Speaker 4: game changing players.
18:07
Speaker 2: Now, I will say this, I believe the Steelers' roster
18:10
Speaker 2: is set up to absorb that. I think this is
18:13
Speaker 2: how strongly I think about the Steelers' roster and their depth.
18:16
Speaker 2: They are set up to absorb that sort of a
18:18
Speaker 2: trade if they have to make it. But that doesn't
18:20
Speaker 2: mean you want to make it. What you're hoping is
18:23
Speaker 2: one of these young guys, when you're finished for the year,
18:26
Speaker 2: they're gonna You're gonna see these guys in camp, then
18:28
Speaker 2: they're gonna get a few reps in practice, and then
18:31
Speaker 2: at that point at the end of the year or
18:33
Speaker 2: at some point during the year. This the personnel department,
18:36
Speaker 2: the coaching staff, the scouts, the front office, they all
18:40
Speaker 2: have to come together and say, we don't have to
18:42
Speaker 2: make that trade. We got our guy right here, and
18:44
Speaker 2: that guy is and that's why we're and that's why
18:48
Speaker 2: we're watching it on Thursday.
18:50
Speaker 4: Night because you know, you have to think they're gonna
18:52
Speaker 4: get a bulk of these snaps.
18:55
Speaker 2: They've got to, right, you know who Aaron is?
18:58
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, pretty snaps for his sake of just having
19:02
Speaker 4: some continuity and not being completely rusty week one.
19:04
Speaker 2: Yep, you know who Mason Yes is? Yes, you do.
19:08
Speaker 4: He has a solid NFL resume and he has a
19:12
Speaker 4: winning record right so, and he's played in a playoff game,
19:16
Speaker 4: so he has the resume that you want. He's the
19:19
Speaker 4: he is the atypical, not typical. He's the atypical backup
19:23
Speaker 4: quarterback that you feel comfortable if I put him in
19:26
Speaker 4: the game, we can win some games. That's so valuable
19:29
Speaker 4: because not everybody can say that. Now it's the wildcard kids,
19:33
Speaker 4: zero NFL experience, zero NFL passes, rown preseason or regular season.
19:39
Speaker 4: What are they having to take a lot of potential? Right,
19:43
Speaker 4: big arm, big body, Drew Aller, you know, but also
19:46
Speaker 4: you can't argue Will Howard accuracy and ability to make
19:50
Speaker 4: the right play and not take sacks. You have both
19:53
Speaker 4: of those guys, what do they look like as an
19:56
Speaker 4: NFL player?
19:57
Speaker 2: We don't know.
19:58
Speaker 4: Last time we saw one he was a nitty lione
19:59
Speaker 4: Is jers. The other one was in a Buckeye jersey.
20:01
Speaker 4: That's right, and one set in the shelf for a year.
20:03
Speaker 2: Yep.
20:04
Speaker 4: So these are the guys are going to get all
20:06
Speaker 4: the requisite reps because they need every snap to make
20:09
Speaker 4: a clear and unbiased analysis and verification of what these
20:14
Speaker 4: guys can do.
20:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is going to be. Yeah, it is. It's
20:19
Speaker 2: not hopefully it's not the most important position for this year.
20:23
Speaker 2: Of all the battles we're looking at. It might be
20:26
Speaker 2: the least important for this year, but it might just
20:28
Speaker 2: be the most important for the future.
20:30
Speaker 4: It's your most important future battle. Yeah, you're absolutely right.
20:32
Speaker 4: This is those futures bets.
20:34
Speaker 2: That's right that you put out. Maybe and maybe, I
20:36
Speaker 2: mean they may look at it both and say, well,
20:37
Speaker 2: well we better make that trade, you know. But again,
20:41
Speaker 2: all these determinations begin to happen on Thursday night when
20:44
Speaker 2: they start playing football games. Can't wait. We got to
20:46
Speaker 2: get to the offensive line. We haven't touched the defense.
20:48
Speaker 2: Yet we're going to get to that. The guys we're
20:50
Speaker 2: really looking forward to seeing play on Thursday night in
20:53
Speaker 2: Game one of the Green Bay Packers. Of course we'll
20:56
Speaker 2: have that call for you. He's Max Starks, I'm Rob King.
20:59
Speaker 2: You're in the locker room on this Steeler's Audio Network.
21:02
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21:07
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Speaker 2: And welcome back in the locker room here on this
21:47
Speaker 2: SIS Audio Network, coming to you from Saint Vincent College.
21:50
Speaker 2: In the tropeh Day twelve of Steeer's Training Camp, Michael
21:53
Speaker 2: Carthy's Training Camp. First, as the headman, we are running
21:57
Speaker 2: through the positions and the players that we are most
22:00
Speaker 2: eager to see in uh Thursday night's action and who
22:04
Speaker 2: might be out there. You know, again we've talked a
22:07
Speaker 2: little bit about. I think Roman Wilson's the guy we
22:10
Speaker 2: both want to see just to continue to take the
22:12
Speaker 2: steps forward, intrigued or intrigued by the tight end battle.
22:16
Speaker 2: Maybe some jehem Bell see what he's got. A bunch
22:19
Speaker 2: of the running backs, Hide and Reich, and I think
22:21
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson would probably be front of mine for us. Right, Yeah,
22:24
Speaker 2: those are two I definitely want to see. And then
22:27
Speaker 2: Howard and all are a quarterback position just too reasonly. Okay,
22:30
Speaker 2: so let's move along to the offensive line, and this
22:34
Speaker 2: is the first position we're getting to. Where they're in
22:37
Speaker 2: our estimation, are actual jobs on the line, starting jobs starting,
22:41
Speaker 2: not jobs yet, right, thank you, Starting jobs on the line.
22:44
Speaker 2: So you know, fout town, who's going to start. You know,
22:46
Speaker 2: McCormick's going to start. You know, Fraser's going to start.
22:48
Speaker 2: That's left tackle, left guard, center, right right guard, right tackle.
22:53
Speaker 2: Spencer Anderson and Dylan Cook, I would assume are going
22:55
Speaker 2: to get the first crack at things. Now we haven't
22:57
Speaker 2: seen Maxahona short practice. The last couple of days. Mike
23:01
Speaker 2: McCarthy was asked about him this morning. He said he
23:04
Speaker 2: would not anticipate Max'honachort playing. That's that makes me sad
23:09
Speaker 2: because I was happy when they drafted him. I know,
23:12
Speaker 2: I know there was here at camp all the talk
23:14
Speaker 2: about they wanted the wide receiver. They didn't get the
23:16
Speaker 2: wide receiver. When they got Maxahona Chort, I was thrilled.
23:20
Speaker 2: I was very very happy. We'll see how happy I'm
23:24
Speaker 2: going to be at at you know, fifteen years down
23:27
Speaker 2: the line. But I think I think it's a great pick.
23:29
Speaker 2: He's not playing. So you know, Spencer Anderson and Dylan
23:34
Speaker 2: Cook our guys to really really keep an eye on
23:38
Speaker 2: because they are battling. You know. Mike McCarthy was asked
23:40
Speaker 2: about position flexibility and those guys both have it and
23:43
Speaker 2: they appreciate that. But he goes, this is really in
23:45
Speaker 2: campsit they're fighting for starting jobs yea, not position FLEXI.
23:49
Speaker 2: They want to be starters. Yeah, exactly, and they've got.
23:52
Speaker 4: The metality they want. That's the fatality that you want
23:54
Speaker 4: going into this. I don't care about your five position flexibilities.
23:58
Speaker 4: Spencer A Andonson, can you.
23:59
Speaker 2: Lock down one right? Right? That's right?
24:02
Speaker 4: This is one of those things where were talking about
24:03
Speaker 4: jack of all trades master that's right. Can you be
24:05
Speaker 4: jack of all trades and master of one?
24:07
Speaker 2: Right?
24:08
Speaker 4: That's why Dylan Cook. Yeah, both would be good. Yeah right,
24:10
Speaker 4: both both are great traits. But I need you as
24:12
Speaker 4: a starter, and I don't want to think about what
24:15
Speaker 4: swing capability you have right now. I want to see
24:17
Speaker 4: Spencer Erson, can you be the right card? Dylan Cook?
24:19
Speaker 4: Can you be the left tack? I don't care if
24:20
Speaker 4: you can swing right?
24:22
Speaker 2: Tack right?
24:23
Speaker 4: Once again my mind last year left tackle? That's right,
24:26
Speaker 4: he was, can you move back to the right and
24:27
Speaker 4: can you be the right tackle for this team? You
24:30
Speaker 4: got the first crack at it. If not, insert guys
24:34
Speaker 4: behind you.
24:34
Speaker 2: But you're going to.
24:36
Speaker 4: Get the first stab at this job. You've earned it
24:39
Speaker 4: and this is your opportunity. Are you going to seize it?
24:42
Speaker 4: And he cares about combinations. So how does Spencer Anderson
24:47
Speaker 4: and Dylan Cook work versus Spencer Anderson and Roderck Jones,
24:51
Speaker 4: Spencer Anderson, Maxi Ona Chore or Dylan Cook and brought Hoffman,
24:55
Speaker 4: Dylan Cook and Stephen Jones. Right, they're looking for the
24:59
Speaker 4: right combination of guys. So This is a very very
25:03
Speaker 4: big moment to step into the stadium on Thursday and
25:08
Speaker 4: make your first claim to the open property.
25:11
Speaker 2: I think it might be. And we'll talk a little
25:13
Speaker 2: bit about defense in the defensive line where maybe there's
25:18
Speaker 2: a starting spot on the line, no pun intended. I
25:23
Speaker 2: think this is the one position on the roster in
25:26
Speaker 2: which there is truly a battle for who's going to start.
25:30
Speaker 2: By the way, let that sink in, Like, think about
25:35
Speaker 2: this roster a couple three years ago. We weren't saying that.
25:38
Speaker 2: Now this is legit, like who's gonna play, who's going
25:41
Speaker 2: to be the starters? And I mean think about the
25:45
Speaker 2: names we're talking about, you know, you know, I suppose
25:49
Speaker 2: you could say, Okay, the receiver position is Roman Wilson
25:52
Speaker 2: going to continue to perform as Jeremy Bernard going to
25:54
Speaker 2: come in and be that third receiver, which is a
25:58
Speaker 2: kind of a quasi starter. Yeah, but we're talking about
26:02
Speaker 2: your starting right guard and you're starting right tackle, not
26:05
Speaker 2: really and again wide receiver third wide receiver. For those
26:08
Speaker 2: are rotational bits. Right now, you're gonna you're gonna play
26:11
Speaker 2: some and then you're not gonna play something. You maybe
26:13
Speaker 2: play more against other teams and you know you're fighting
26:15
Speaker 2: to get on in the field. Then you know you're
26:17
Speaker 2: not taking snaps from DK and Michael Pittman. You're just
26:20
Speaker 2: trying to get on the field. These are every down snaps.
26:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, these are full time. The only way you come
26:27
Speaker 4: out is if you're injured. Right type of positions.
26:31
Speaker 2: And that's forty percent of your offensive line. Forty is up.
26:36
Speaker 4: Yep, that's a huge number to only have three fifths
26:40
Speaker 4: of a five man line cemented in a league where
26:44
Speaker 4: they pride themselves on year on your chemistry and growth.
26:47
Speaker 4: Like you get to start something new with a new
26:49
Speaker 4: coaching staff, a new era.
26:51
Speaker 2: And a new regime. That's a big that's a big deal.
26:55
Speaker 2: That's a big deal.
26:56
Speaker 4: I remember when I came in and it was my
27:00
Speaker 4: second year where I was competing for the starting job,
27:03
Speaker 4: and it was myself as a second year swing guy,
27:07
Speaker 4: right because the year before my rookie year, I was
27:10
Speaker 4: I was the six man off the bench. I was
27:12
Speaker 4: swing tackle and guard. And I got my first shot
27:16
Speaker 4: at started for the right job because Oliver Ross went
27:17
Speaker 4: to the Cardinals and free agency right and Keej Vincent
27:21
Speaker 4: went in free agency, and then Kendall Simmons came back.
27:23
Speaker 2: And was healthy.
27:24
Speaker 4: Kendall, they knew he was a first round pick, right,
27:28
Speaker 4: Kendall was gonna be the right guard, well, the right
27:30
Speaker 4: tackle job. It was myself, it was Barrett Brooks and
27:33
Speaker 4: a rookie third rounder drafted the same round, Tree Essex,
27:38
Speaker 4: and we competed here for the one starting job. And
27:41
Speaker 4: that was a huge deal on the Steelers to come
27:44
Speaker 4: out and figure out who could be that guy and
27:46
Speaker 4: all these same questions that Dylan Cook's getting. It was
27:48
Speaker 4: the same way Dan Moore, another guy right drafted, needed
27:54
Speaker 4: to figure out what he could do. Him and chookes
27:56
Speaker 4: the corps for was in He's starting left tackle battle.
27:59
Speaker 2: Chukes was a seventh round pick. If I'm not mistaken, No,
28:02
Speaker 2: Checks was a third round pick whom I'm thinking of
28:04
Speaker 2: at h oh. He went on to uh Benton, Benton. Yeah,
28:10
Speaker 2: and he went on to the Cardinals and started for
28:12
Speaker 2: a while. Right. Oh, you're talking about beach him Beacham
28:15
Speaker 2: Kelvi Beacham, Yeah, Key. He was a seventh dround pick. Yeah,
28:17
Speaker 2: Kevin Kelvin was the seventh round pick. He was my
28:19
Speaker 2: last rookie. Him and de Castro with the same draft Okay,
28:21
Speaker 2: all right, So that's later down the line. Yeah, later
28:24
Speaker 2: down the line.
28:24
Speaker 4: But you know that was that was a big deal
28:27
Speaker 4: when you had them two going at it, and then
28:30
Speaker 4: eventually the loser went to right, remember and Dan because
28:34
Speaker 4: Chucks just couldn't play left till he had to be
28:35
Speaker 4: right tackle and Dan ends up going in left, and
28:38
Speaker 4: we know now he's the eighty five million dollar man
28:41
Speaker 4: down in Nashville.
28:42
Speaker 2: Has a fourth round pick. Right. Yep.
28:44
Speaker 4: So these moments happened, but it usually doesn't happen in pairs.
28:48
Speaker 4: This is the first time you're replacing a side, not
28:51
Speaker 4: a position.
28:53
Speaker 2: That needs either or. So it's it's a it's a
28:56
Speaker 2: big deal. It is also something that I think, first
29:01
Speaker 2: of all, it's nice that you have Anderson who started
29:04
Speaker 2: some games, Dylan Cook who started some games. Right, It
29:07
Speaker 2: is nice you have them. It's also nice that you
29:09
Speaker 2: have behind them, behind Spencer Anderson, you have Rock k
29:13
Speaker 2: Hoffman who started some games. You have behind Dylan Cook,
29:18
Speaker 2: Broderick Jones who started a lot of games. Former first
29:20
Speaker 2: round pick Maxehnach or current first round pick. So I
29:24
Speaker 2: think you feel good about I mean, think about that
29:27
Speaker 2: depth we just talked about. I think I think you
29:29
Speaker 2: feel good about the depth you have, but again, someone's
29:33
Speaker 2: gonna start, and when you start, it's all well and
29:36
Speaker 2: good to say. You know, Jennings Dunker third round pick, Hey,
29:39
Speaker 2: eventually he's going to be a starting guard. Well if
29:42
Speaker 2: I'm Spencer Anderson and I win the spots, well you
29:44
Speaker 2: might be eventually, but it ain't gonna be here, you
29:47
Speaker 2: know what I mean. It's yeah, go bark up a
29:50
Speaker 2: different tree, look left, or look somewhere else, you know.
29:53
Speaker 2: So this is your opportunity. And I think part of
29:55
Speaker 2: the other thing that's that's exciting to me as a team,
30:00
Speaker 2: as a as somebody who is really a big believer,
30:04
Speaker 2: as this organization has has put its draft uh picks
30:08
Speaker 2: into that. I almost said draft capital. I'm so glad
30:11
Speaker 2: I didn't. That's been banned from the show. Draft Capital.
30:14
Speaker 2: Draft picks is adequate, thank you. So when you have
30:19
Speaker 2: that's just a little English thing that just drives you.
30:22
Speaker 2: It drives me nuts. It drives me nuts. They're draft picks.
30:25
Speaker 4: So uh yeah, to say lottery picks, lottery picks, that's
30:29
Speaker 4: fine because that's NBA.
30:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's okay. Yeah, So I think that one
30:34
Speaker 2: of the one so you were you were joining Fano,
30:37
Speaker 2: third year guy, second year starter, McCormick, third year guy, Frasier,
30:41
Speaker 2: third year guy, right, fourth year, fourth year, they're all
30:44
Speaker 2: going to their fourth year. I believe this year. I'm
30:47
Speaker 2: losing track three years because because Fatano was not with
30:51
Speaker 2: Zach and he was the year before the year. Yeah,
30:54
Speaker 2: he was the year before. It was a year before that.
30:56
Speaker 2: So regardless, technically is a guy. Yeah, that's right. Yeah,
31:01
Speaker 2: so you had second and then their God, dog it,
31:04
Speaker 2: you said there'd be no math and count. I'm sorry, Okay, sorry,
31:10
Speaker 2: his second year okay, as a starter as but was
31:14
Speaker 2: drafted three years ago. No, he was not. You remember
31:17
Speaker 2: he got hurt his rookie year.
31:20
Speaker 4: Okay, so his so this his third year, so his
31:22
Speaker 4: fourth year, fourth year for Zack and Mason because they
31:24
Speaker 4: weren't the same draft class. No, this is the third
31:27
Speaker 4: year for Fatana. Yeah, third year for Fatana, fourth year
31:30
Speaker 4: for Zack and Mason. You said third year for Mason
31:32
Speaker 4: and Zach. Oh god, here were.
31:36
Speaker 2: Young offensive line. We'll just stick the young offensive line
31:40
Speaker 2: you can be part of for years to come, right, Yes,
31:44
Speaker 2: I mean, ideally, I know this isn't the nineteen seventies
31:47
Speaker 2: where you get to keep every single player.
31:49
Speaker 4: Because Broderick is also going to his fourth year. Yes
31:54
Speaker 4: he is, Yes, Proderick, Mason, Zach, I know.
31:59
Speaker 2: I know, Billieve that's the case. Okay, Okay, I don't.
32:02
Speaker 4: Think so, okay, we'll pull it up. Twenty twenty four
32:05
Speaker 4: draft for Zach. So this is his third year, so
32:09
Speaker 4: way seconds. So they took Troy and Zach in the
32:11
Speaker 4: Sacond draft and Mason and Mason, so all three of
32:14
Speaker 4: them were drafting. Yes, so we went first, second, fourth,
32:18
Speaker 4: fourth round, Yeah, the third round that year, and they
32:20
Speaker 4: also got Joey Porter Junior at the end of the
32:22
Speaker 4: first round.
32:22
Speaker 2: He was technical, No, he was technically the that's right. First,
32:25
Speaker 2: that's right. He was technically the first pick of the
32:27
Speaker 2: thirty second pick we got and h our brains. Okay, yeah, yeah, okay,
32:31
Speaker 2: So we're good. I'm gonna trust you now, Okay, all right,
32:34
Speaker 2: So we're good. So the point is you want to
32:36
Speaker 2: be part of that young group that can just grow
32:38
Speaker 2: together and be together. And there's no certain these there's
32:40
Speaker 2: no certainty you win the job now. But listen, man,
32:42
Speaker 2: I'd rather be winning. I'd rather win the job and
32:45
Speaker 2: have somebody you know, trying to gain on me then
32:48
Speaker 2: the other way around exactly. So this is a great
32:50
Speaker 2: opportunity for Anderson and Cook. And I think also with
32:54
Speaker 2: that Max, you know, so Hana chort As, Max as
32:59
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy said this morning, unlikely to play, so that
33:01
Speaker 2: brings your next tackle. That's Broderick Jones. Yesterday Mike McCarthy said, Okay,
33:07
Speaker 2: he stepped it up the last couple of practices. Don't
33:09
Speaker 2: forget he's not one hundred percent yet. Okay, So you
33:12
Speaker 2: know you're you're trying to put a foot down here
33:15
Speaker 2: if you're dialing Cook and saying, okay, well, hey, these
33:18
Speaker 2: other guys are hurt or they're not at full capacity
33:20
Speaker 2: yet or whatever, I'm your guy here, I am I'm
33:23
Speaker 2: your guy. And and then you know, for Spencer Anderson,
33:26
Speaker 2: the guys competing with him are healthy, and that's brock
33:30
Speaker 2: Hoffman and Jennings Dunkers. So I'm looking forward to seeing
33:34
Speaker 2: all these guys play. Max and Stephen Jones and Steven Jones.
33:38
Speaker 2: I think Jenning's been taking a lot of left guard
33:40
Speaker 2: snatch behind Mason. Yes, you have Jones, you have uh,
33:45
Speaker 2: you know. Look, Jack Driscoll was on the practice squad
33:47
Speaker 2: all last year at tackle. And he's a veteran guy
33:49
Speaker 2: because he'll get a crack that's right at that right
33:53
Speaker 2: tackle position as well, right and he wants to get
33:55
Speaker 2: himself back into into you know, he's played some NFL games,
33:59
Speaker 2: so you know. Then you have Greg Crippen behind Ryan McCollum,
34:02
Speaker 2: Ryan McCollums trying to solidify a spot. You have Doug Nester,
34:05
Speaker 2: you have Lorenzo Thompson. As I look at your starting
34:09
Speaker 2: as I look at your the depth chart as it
34:11
Speaker 2: is now, and this is something I just one last
34:14
Speaker 2: thing we talk about roster construction, and then we'll head
34:16
Speaker 2: to break Foutan McCormick, Fraser, Anderson Cook. That's you're starting
34:20
Speaker 2: five right now. Right now, I think all five of
34:23
Speaker 2: those guys. Again, this is the caveats always health, whatever unforeseen,
34:27
Speaker 2: you know, somebody makes a trade, whatever. Those are five
34:29
Speaker 2: guys that are gonna be on your roster, Okay, Broderick Jones,
34:34
Speaker 2: Jennings Dunker, Ryan McCollum, brock Hoffman, Maxahnatore. That's your second
34:39
Speaker 2: unit right now. Yah, Max, I think all five of
34:41
Speaker 2: those guys are going to be on your roster. They
34:43
Speaker 2: have a very good case, very good case roster. And
34:46
Speaker 2: now you have Jack Driscoll, who's on your practice squad
34:48
Speaker 2: a year ago. You have you know, Stephen Jones was
34:51
Speaker 2: the guy who made it a lot of noise last year.
34:53
Speaker 2: And the other thing is Greg Crippen, Doug Nester, Lorenzo Thompson.
34:56
Speaker 2: They're gonna get a chance to play. Yeah, They're all
34:59
Speaker 2: gonna play. Yeah, so they're gonna get an opportunity to show, Hey,
35:03
Speaker 2: you know what, the lights come on? Hey, you know,
35:05
Speaker 2: I might be third or four string, but that's because
35:08
Speaker 2: of you, not because of me. I'm a gamer. I'm
35:10
Speaker 2: a gamer. I'm a gamer, so I can't wait. I'll
35:13
Speaker 2: hail the gamers. But I think that I think that
35:15
Speaker 2: we're looking at Is it safe to say, you know, no,
35:19
Speaker 2: maxahnachor we're gonna be eyes on cooking Jones and is
35:22
Speaker 2: on Anderson, Hoffman and Dunker. Is that fair to say
35:25
Speaker 2: that the offensive line that those are the guys remote? Okay,
35:28
Speaker 2: you're gonna throw somebody else at there. McCollum.
35:30
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, because Hoffman is a center guard, cope, so
35:33
Speaker 4: he's gonna get a shot at snapping as well. He
35:36
Speaker 4: could be the interior swing three if he can't win
35:37
Speaker 4: the starting jibt right, that's exactly so I would just
35:40
Speaker 4: throw Ryan in that mix because Brock's a swing guys, right,
35:44
Speaker 4: so he's competing with Hoffman probably. Yeah, but yes, I
35:49
Speaker 4: think the first order of business is to make the
35:51
Speaker 4: roster and make sure that you're one of those ten. Yes,
35:54
Speaker 4: but I think it's an impressive ten.
35:56
Speaker 2: No, it's a very good ten.
35:58
Speaker 4: I mean, and listen, there are very few teams in
36:01
Speaker 4: this league that can that can sport too deep on
36:05
Speaker 4: an offensive line in training camp.
36:07
Speaker 2: I think you can. I think you could win with
36:09
Speaker 2: that backup offensive line. I I mean, you got yours
36:12
Speaker 2: round picks. Yep. You know you have his center, who's
36:15
Speaker 2: you got to experience? You have a right guard. All
36:17
Speaker 2: the numbers said Dallas was better when Brock Hoffman was playing.
36:21
Speaker 2: He's an experienced right guard. And Jennings Dunker is a
36:23
Speaker 2: third round pick. Yeah, I mean, I think I think
36:26
Speaker 2: you could win games with that offensive line.
36:28
Speaker 4: Yep, you full bunch. Like you said, they're gonna make mistakes,
36:30
Speaker 4: but that's a solid group. That's a solid group, indeed,
36:34
Speaker 4: and you feel good and like you said, a lot
36:37
Speaker 4: of these guys homegrown talent. You drafted a majority of
36:40
Speaker 4: those guys on that group. So just think about the
36:42
Speaker 4: guys that they've drafted and kept and cultivated here, that's
36:47
Speaker 4: your entire starting fit.
36:48
Speaker 2: It's important to them. That's important for the Steelers. It's
36:50
Speaker 2: important to them for that for that unit to be strong.
36:55
Speaker 2: And frankly, Max, I think that it's got a chance,
36:59
Speaker 2: whether it's this year or at some point next year,
37:02
Speaker 2: to be a dominant upper tier offensive line. That's what
37:07
Speaker 2: I believe it can be.
37:08
Speaker 4: That's the group I have poised to take the biggest
37:10
Speaker 4: jump this year. This year, I hope it's this year.
37:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's well, I believe the biggest jump.
37:15
Speaker 4: I'm not saying they're gonna be the top grow but
37:17
Speaker 4: the biggest jump from where they were you go to
37:20
Speaker 4: this year. Biggest jump will be this because this will
37:23
Speaker 4: be a foundational year for this group, right.
37:26
Speaker 2: And that's it. That'll be an interesting show because immediately
37:29
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, boy, Pittman's an awful big addition to that
37:32
Speaker 2: wide receiver group. You got Bernard, you got Roman Wilson.
37:35
Speaker 2: That's you know what we'll save that for. We'll save
37:38
Speaker 2: that for an in the locker room as we're leading
37:40
Speaker 2: up to the season. Which unit do we think is
37:42
Speaker 2: poised to make the biggest leap forward for this years.
37:44
Speaker 2: I think it's a really good, really good top But
37:47
Speaker 2: we want to still uh, you know again, a few
37:50
Speaker 2: more segments left to talk about the guys we're really
37:52
Speaker 2: looking forward to seeing. I think we've identified the guys
37:55
Speaker 2: on offense. We've got to move to defense. We have
37:57
Speaker 2: a little less time to look at those those units
38:00
Speaker 2: on defense, We're gonna start doing three. That's right, We're
38:03
Speaker 2: gonna start doing that when we continue in the locker
38:05
Speaker 2: room here on the Steers Audio Network.
38:11
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38:15
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38:55
Speaker 2: It and welcome back to in the locker room with
39:02
Speaker 2: Max Starks and Rob King were coming to you from
39:04
Speaker 2: the trope where it's actually quite beautiful. I wonder if
39:07
Speaker 2: they actually could have practiced here. They went indoors. The
39:11
Speaker 2: there was there was some lightning being called for. I
39:13
Speaker 2: just I saw the weather. Hey, I saw the weather,
39:17
Speaker 2: uh forecast, and it did not look good. It called
39:19
Speaker 2: for lightning, and you just have to take look. Man,
39:23
Speaker 2: there's a lot of metal out here. I mean, I
39:25
Speaker 2: mean the right the bleachers are metal. Uh, the uprights
39:29
Speaker 2: are metal. Uh you know there's metal in the top
39:34
Speaker 2: devices are metal. Yes, for behind glass though, but yeah,
39:38
Speaker 2: oh yo, you're talking about the ones in the feld
39:40
Speaker 2: that that you met here in the radio. Yeah, the
39:43
Speaker 2: field that's right have diverters, thank god.
39:46
Speaker 4: But also it's a ten mile radius right, and during
39:49
Speaker 4: the daytime it's tough to see lightning, right, So if
39:51
Speaker 4: you see it striking a ten mile radius around the
39:54
Speaker 4: center of this camp, no go. And the helmets have
39:58
Speaker 4: metal on them, the face masks, I know that.
40:03
Speaker 2: Those are made out of metal. Of course they are. Yeah, yeah,
40:04
Speaker 2: I think about it. So yeah.
40:06
Speaker 4: So the plastic covering, well, it has a what's the
40:09
Speaker 4: what's the coating on it? It's all the euthane or something, yeah,
40:12
Speaker 4: like like a rubber ezed coating on them. But when
40:16
Speaker 4: you hit and scratch, the metal gets exposed. Ah As,
40:19
Speaker 4: I've looked at.
40:19
Speaker 2: Many of my helmets over the year and I'm like, yeah, yeah,
40:23
Speaker 2: now the metal is exposed. It's starting to see the
40:25
Speaker 2: rust now as it sits on my shelves.
40:27
Speaker 4: But but yeah now so so yeah, in an abundance
40:30
Speaker 4: of caution, this is yes, this has been the second
40:33
Speaker 4: day in a row that can't that that practice has
40:35
Speaker 4: been shortened yep or canceled to the public yep.
40:38
Speaker 2: And it hasn't been hideous out here, which is kind
40:40
Speaker 2: of nice for the people of the area, right. And
40:43
Speaker 2: yesterday was Yesterday was hideous. Yesterday, yesterday lighting was going horizontal, vertical,
40:48
Speaker 2: it was everywhere.
40:49
Speaker 4: In the middle of the night, it was too Like
40:51
Speaker 4: I was woken up to like constant lightning strikes around
40:55
Speaker 4: two three am. So I'm like, oh crap, And I
40:58
Speaker 4: was like, are we gonna have a day? You know,
41:00
Speaker 4: because I saw that there was like a sixty five
41:02
Speaker 4: percent chance of rain, and it sprinkled a little bit,
41:05
Speaker 4: but that was about it. But like you said, the
41:07
Speaker 4: lightning being a ten mile radius, you can't you can't
41:10
Speaker 4: take that because lightning can strike from anywhere and it
41:12
Speaker 4: could be literally inside that ten yard ten mile radius
41:15
Speaker 4: at the edge of the ten miles and still hit here.
41:18
Speaker 2: Lightning has no direction, right, it could go where it
41:21
Speaker 2: wants because it's lightning, and you know, other thing will
41:24
Speaker 2: strike twice bl blah. Anyway, I don't know. Anyway, I
41:27
Speaker 2: saw it takes this one. Still run, Yes, once once
41:30
Speaker 2: is plenty. Thank you. We both had our thunder and
41:33
Speaker 2: lightning horror stories that we were exchanging yesterday. So let's
41:37
Speaker 2: let's look at the safety position where you have Deshaun
41:40
Speaker 2: Elliott coming back from injury. I get the sense they're
41:45
Speaker 2: gonna slow roll him.
41:46
Speaker 4: I would imagine he's so important to this, he's so important,
41:49
Speaker 4: and he was injured last year, so I would say
41:53
Speaker 4: I would just put him in bubble wrap and wait
41:55
Speaker 4: till week one.
41:56
Speaker 2: So I think that the guys behind Deshaun Elliott and
42:00
Speaker 2: Kwan Brisker, who are the clear starters, are a really,
42:04
Speaker 2: really interesting group, and I don't know how many they'll keep. Right,
42:09
Speaker 2: So Robert Spears Jennings has already been They've already talked
42:11
Speaker 2: about his importance, you know, him being a special teams contributor.
42:15
Speaker 2: I think he's already looked good in that capacity. You
42:18
Speaker 2: have Jack Henderson, who you know, they have these when
42:20
Speaker 2: they go to the draft, they have something called the
42:22
Speaker 2: relative athletics score, right, so where they're working the guys
42:26
Speaker 2: out and what can they do. His is off the charts.
42:28
Speaker 2: His rac is off the charts. So a great athlete.
42:31
Speaker 2: Sebastian Castro, you know, didn't have that great speed, but
42:36
Speaker 2: I know you know, if you if you talk to
42:38
Speaker 2: the previous coaching regime, they thought he was one of
42:40
Speaker 2: those guys that, you know, overcoming the lack of elite
42:44
Speaker 2: foot speed, could still be one of those guys such
42:46
Speaker 2: a smart player that he could wind up carving out
42:49
Speaker 2: a long career from FBI is what they call it.
42:52
Speaker 2: What's that first ball intelligence? Football intelligence? Okay? In uh
42:57
Speaker 2: in tennis, FBI is first ball then right, just you
43:00
Speaker 2: get the first ball and then you start the match. Okay, FBI. Yeah,
43:04
Speaker 2: there's a lot of FBI. I think that the Federal
43:06
Speaker 2: Bureau of Investigators. No, no, no, they are Homeland but no, okay,
43:09
Speaker 2: Ray Shawn Jenkins latter and brought in here. And then
43:13
Speaker 2: Israel mccuomo, who was just brought in. Yeah, so he's
43:16
Speaker 2: another guy that I think is Akuamu. He's another guy, Yeah,
43:22
Speaker 2: another veteran guy. So, uh, I think it's going to
43:26
Speaker 2: be an interesting position. I I don't know how many
43:29
Speaker 2: safeties you keep. It depends upon you whether you want
43:32
Speaker 2: to play. You know a lot of three safety, you know.
43:35
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy again talked about that recently right now, and
43:38
Speaker 2: we've talked about position that's right. How do you view it?
43:41
Speaker 2: How do you view the nickel position? How do you
43:42
Speaker 2: view different sub packages that you want to get to,
43:46
Speaker 2: and how do you view I think you got to
43:48
Speaker 2: keep four, don't you.
43:50
Speaker 4: I would say you would keep four, always keep too
43:52
Speaker 4: deep right on it, and then you save a little
43:56
Speaker 4: bit extra for those tweener guys, right, so you go
43:59
Speaker 4: too deep at every position. And then you say, okay,
44:02
Speaker 4: what three are the most important?
44:05
Speaker 2: Is it?
44:05
Speaker 4: The fifth safety versus the fifth linebacker versus the fifth
44:08
Speaker 4: outside linebacker versus the seventh or eighth defensive lineman. That's
44:13
Speaker 4: how you kind of have to look at it. Which
44:15
Speaker 4: one has more value in a pluralistic sense, who can
44:21
Speaker 4: cover more ground for you on a game by game,
44:24
Speaker 4: team by team basis. Like you said, the special team's
44:26
Speaker 4: capabilities are key, you know, but their ability in the
44:29
Speaker 4: rotation to be a change of pace guy is key.
44:32
Speaker 4: What fundamental X factor do you bring to the defense
44:36
Speaker 4: once you get outside of the too deep? But you
44:39
Speaker 4: have to keep a minimum of four.
44:41
Speaker 2: So right now, Max and I are in a we're
44:45
Speaker 2: in a little booth here like a coach's booth, and
44:48
Speaker 2: it's it's doubling is our broadcast booth. And I am
44:52
Speaker 2: sitting on.
44:53
Speaker 4: You see what I'm sitting on, Maxims, I see you
44:54
Speaker 4: are sitting on a barstool s type of chair, counter height,
44:58
Speaker 4: not bar heights, so the.
45:00
Speaker 2: Or style of barstool chair that may be what it
45:02
Speaker 2: appears to be to the naked eye, But I'm actually
45:05
Speaker 2: sitting on the fence right now because because when it
45:08
Speaker 2: comes to the safety position, my legs aren't swinging. No,
45:12
Speaker 2: I can't pick one. I can't pick one that I
45:15
Speaker 2: really I want to watch him in total, there's no
45:18
Speaker 2: one guy like I can look at Caleb Johnson, Roman
45:22
Speaker 2: Wilson obviously the two quarterbacks from there two right, But
45:25
Speaker 2: I mean I can look at like Jaheim Bell. I'm
45:27
Speaker 2: really there's singular guys. I'm really kind of intrigued by
45:30
Speaker 2: and interested in the safety position. I just want to
45:34
Speaker 2: see them all. I think it's Frankly, Max, I think
45:37
Speaker 2: it's wide open between those two starters. Behind those two starters,
45:41
Speaker 2: I do. I think it's wide open. I think I
45:42
Speaker 2: think any of those.
45:43
Speaker 4: Guys because what do you value veteran experience or youthful
45:47
Speaker 4: athleticism right right? Or high IQ guys? Like what are
45:49
Speaker 4: you looking for in that safety style position? Because you
45:54
Speaker 4: have a wide range. You gotta vet duo right, And
45:59
Speaker 4: Jenkins and Mwan who you brought in who weren't here
46:02
Speaker 4: during OTAs, weren't here Durham mini camp. They were brought
46:04
Speaker 4: in during camp because of injuries, Darnell Savage being one
46:07
Speaker 4: of those guys I had to get let go that
46:09
Speaker 4: you wanted to see, but just health was an issue.
46:12
Speaker 4: So do you value the veteran knowledge and the veteran
46:17
Speaker 4: savvy or do you want just youthful like you said?
46:20
Speaker 4: Rascore off the boards and Robert Spears Jennings or do
46:23
Speaker 4: you want the Jack Henderson type right that look prototypical
46:26
Speaker 4: or the Sebastian Castro who's crafty and savvy in that
46:31
Speaker 4: probably you have almost like a veteran, Yeah, almost like
46:34
Speaker 4: a veteran.
46:34
Speaker 2: But he's a young guy.
46:36
Speaker 4: So there's a lot of different and there's no like,
46:40
Speaker 4: there's no barometer moving in anybody's direction. You heard different
46:45
Speaker 4: aspects of them mentioned, but nothing specific. And I think
46:49
Speaker 4: game tape is really going to be the differentiator for
46:51
Speaker 4: that group on who is the third and fourth safety
46:55
Speaker 4: in your defense and who also can play that nickel
46:58
Speaker 4: in some type of subpacket this right, because we know
47:01
Speaker 4: we know it's Jalen Ramsey right, right, we know Jalen.
47:04
Speaker 4: Jalen can play anywhere insert dB name here, right, and
47:07
Speaker 4: Jalen Ramsey fits all of that, And so how do
47:11
Speaker 4: you fill in that type of guy behind Already we
47:15
Speaker 4: haven't even gotten to the top flight corners.
47:17
Speaker 2: Right, and does that right? Does his capacity and the
47:21
Speaker 2: depth at the cornerback position. We're getting into the weeds
47:25
Speaker 2: here a little bit, so actually hurt one of the
47:27
Speaker 2: veteran guys, right, So you know you want to play
47:30
Speaker 2: you want to look, this is a football team built
47:33
Speaker 2: to win. Of course, you want to develop players as
47:36
Speaker 2: you move along. That's what practices are for. That's what
47:38
Speaker 2: these preseason games are for. Just like we talked about
47:41
Speaker 2: the quarterback position. Of course you want to develop Will
47:44
Speaker 2: Howard and or Drew Aller, right, but you also want
47:48
Speaker 2: to win games. And if and if one of your
47:50
Speaker 2: safeties heaven forbid, we saw Deshaun Elly go out last year,
47:52
Speaker 2: what did they do? They moved Jalen Ramsey to safety. Well,
47:55
Speaker 2: this year they have a lot more guys at corner
47:57
Speaker 2: that they can move into the slot and feel really
48:00
Speaker 2: good about. So does that hurt a veteran safety? Are
48:03
Speaker 2: you more inclined to go with two developmental guys because
48:08
Speaker 2: that third safety is playing.
48:09
Speaker 4: Corner exactly and and it's Jalen Ramsey who who's who's
48:12
Speaker 4: essentially insert here? So that's another thing to consider. Do
48:17
Speaker 4: you want Jalen paired with, like you said, developmental guy
48:20
Speaker 4: or a veteran guy as your second as your second
48:23
Speaker 4: level defense as he started in as your third safety
48:27
Speaker 4: by default? And now you're only really competing for one
48:29
Speaker 4: position with.
48:30
Speaker 2: Five guys, right, or are you competing for two and
48:33
Speaker 2: now you're more apt to take the developmental guys. I
48:36
Speaker 2: don't know. It's gonna be interesting, and I really I
48:39
Speaker 2: don't know. And so I find myself again intrigues what
48:43
Speaker 2: appears to be a chair, but it's really just a chair.
48:46
Speaker 2: Fence A chance, A chance, are a fair? Okay, So
48:52
Speaker 2: we're gonna we're gonna dig into the big big guys.
48:54
Speaker 2: I'm really really really uh enthusias asked about the cornerback group.
49:01
Speaker 2: We're going to talk about that. We're gonna talk about
49:03
Speaker 2: the D line, another group I'm really enthusiastic about. All
49:06
Speaker 2: could also have big jumps. So that's yeah. I we
49:09
Speaker 2: we talked about the biggest about that as well a
49:13
Speaker 2: lot of contenders we do. We're gonna get to that,
49:16
Speaker 2: and we're gonna have to dash around. We're gonna have
49:17
Speaker 2: to we're gonna have to put into high gears. So
49:19
Speaker 2: we're gonna do that when we continue here in the
49:22
Speaker 2: locker room on the Steelers Audio Network