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HR2: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 11 · In the Locker Room presented by Neighborhood Ford Store (Pittsburgh Steelers)

0:00
Speaker 1: This is live coverage of twenty twenty six Steelers Training
0:05
Speaker 1: Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
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0:43
Speaker 2: And welcome back for hour two in the locker room
0:45
Speaker 2: here on the Cities Audio Network from Saint Vincent College
0:49
Speaker 2: and Latrobe. Looking out at the empty fields where practice
0:51
Speaker 2: was moved from to indoors over the Dunlop Center. First
0:56
Speaker 2: time that has been used for a live practice for
0:58
Speaker 2: the Steelers who are getting ready for their first game
1:00
Speaker 2: of the season preseason on Thursday, and therefore just a
1:04
Speaker 2: little separator or maybe even a big separator for guys
1:09
Speaker 2: fighting for spots. So Max, you know, one position we
1:12
Speaker 2: haven't talked about a ton is the running back position.
1:16
Speaker 2: And I think it's we've been sort of holding off
1:18
Speaker 2: on it because it's fascinating and it's also probably going
1:22
Speaker 2: to be decided quite a bit by what happens over
1:25
Speaker 2: the next few games. So I think we can clearly state,
1:29
Speaker 2: first of all, I'm guessing four running backs, cap. I
1:33
Speaker 2: don't think maybe maybe three?
1:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, three, maybe four, right think, just depending on how
1:39
Speaker 3: the roles are separated and how they view that guy
1:42
Speaker 3: as not only a running back but also special teams
1:44
Speaker 3: contributor terms that fourth spot.
1:46
Speaker 4: Yep.
1:47
Speaker 2: So Mike McCarthy's has made it very clear that he
1:52
Speaker 2: doesn't want to do a lot of or it seems
1:55
Speaker 2: like he doesn't want to do a lot of situational substitution,
1:58
Speaker 2: especially in moments in the game. And he talks a
2:00
Speaker 2: lot about moments in the game. You know, he had
2:03
Speaker 2: a he says stuff and I'm like, whoa, you know,
2:08
Speaker 2: I mean, it is parsed down to, you know, hey,
2:12
Speaker 2: eight games a year, come down to the last possession. Wow,
2:15
Speaker 2: and you're the Steelers. It's probably gonna be ten or
2:18
Speaker 2: maybe eleven wow. So you better be good in those moments.
2:20
Speaker 2: And again, Mike Tomlin was always good in those moments,
2:22
Speaker 2: but these are areas that he's going to stress. The
2:25
Speaker 2: one he the one this morning he said, was on average,
2:28
Speaker 2: eight times a game a quarterback needs to step up
2:33
Speaker 2: or out of the pocket to make a play. Like, Wow,
2:36
Speaker 2: they know how many times? That's crazy? I mean it's
2:39
Speaker 2: not crazy, but it's I've never heard it. It's certainly
2:42
Speaker 2: not crazy. I think it's very cool. But we're hearing
2:44
Speaker 2: it for the first time. I'm hearing it for the
2:46
Speaker 2: first time. Actually vocalized, Hey, this is this is why
2:50
Speaker 2: we practice it? Because why because it's eight times a game?
2:53
Speaker 2: Not why because while we think it's important, and but no,
2:56
Speaker 2: because this happens eight times a game, therefore it's important.
3:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's put into an actual quantifiable numbers.
3:03
Speaker 4: That's right.
3:03
Speaker 3: We normally hear, Hey, the quarterback's got to be mobile,
3:06
Speaker 3: he's got to be active, got to be able to,
3:08
Speaker 3: you know, think on the fly and on the move.
3:10
Speaker 3: That's what we hear in the past.
3:11
Speaker 4: Teams have to be got to be good in those
3:13
Speaker 4: big moments. Well what does that mean?
3:14
Speaker 3: Well, times eight times a year, eight times your schedule.
3:19
Speaker 3: At eight to ten times in a game, you're gonna
3:21
Speaker 3: have to be outside of the conventional pocket to make
3:24
Speaker 3: a play like we're hearing quantifiable numbers. I think that's
3:27
Speaker 3: the biggest part is that you hear more of the
3:30
Speaker 3: statistical and analytical aspects of football being portrayed in why
3:35
Speaker 3: in the why we do the things that we do right,
3:38
Speaker 3: and that's what and that that makes a big difference.
3:41
Speaker 3: So now when you sit there as a fan, you're
3:43
Speaker 3: you're operating from a more sophisticated point of view and
3:46
Speaker 3: you're not asking, man, why are they doing this drill
3:48
Speaker 3: out here? This thing sucks? But it's like, no, the
3:51
Speaker 3: reason why he's you know, this is why we're doing
3:54
Speaker 3: the drill. Like everything has a purpose, everything has an
3:57
Speaker 3: ethos to it, everything has an origination on why we
4:02
Speaker 3: do what we do for all for the sake of efficiency.
4:05
Speaker 3: When you're well, you're out in the field, you know, talk,
4:08
Speaker 3: you know, you wonder why you've seen so much two
4:11
Speaker 3: minutes is because those eight to ten games, it comes
4:15
Speaker 3: down to that situation. Can you possess the ball, can
4:19
Speaker 3: you move the ball down the field? Can you chew
4:21
Speaker 3: up clock? And can you put points on the board
4:22
Speaker 3: at the end of that, you know, to either win
4:26
Speaker 3: or get back into this game.
4:28
Speaker 4: Right, So I think.
4:30
Speaker 3: That's where it's it's significant when we see it, and
4:35
Speaker 3: I think because the flow looks different, that's what makes
4:38
Speaker 3: it even newer. But the drills themselves is not new.
4:43
Speaker 3: We haven't I haven't seen any new drill out here
4:46
Speaker 3: that I'm like, whoa, what is this?
4:48
Speaker 4: Right?
4:48
Speaker 3: Right, it's all been there, but there's a structure behind it.
4:52
Speaker 3: There's a flow that has to go in the progression.
4:56
Speaker 3: And that's how Mike McCarthy sees it because all those
4:59
Speaker 3: teams drills are all truncated to the end of practice.
5:02
Speaker 3: Right whereas before you would mix individual team individuals, you
5:06
Speaker 3: would go together, separate, go together, separate. It's like an accordion, right,
5:10
Speaker 3: come together, go back apart, come together, go back apart.
5:14
Speaker 3: And he said, no, no, no, We're gonna do all this
5:16
Speaker 3: at the beginning, get all this out the way, and
5:19
Speaker 3: then it's all team structure at the end of practice,
5:22
Speaker 3: because that's what a game looks like, that's what drives
5:24
Speaker 3: look like, that's what quarter to quarter looks like. And
5:26
Speaker 3: they have built in TV timeouts right to understand, hey
5:30
Speaker 3: you gotta water you down, Hey do you how do
5:32
Speaker 3: you progress in these moments and understand your endurance and
5:35
Speaker 3: how to time up, you know, how you need to
5:37
Speaker 3: take a breath and all that kind of stuff. So,
5:39
Speaker 3: I mean he has a very detailed approach and he's
5:43
Speaker 3: more he's more vocal about what it is.
5:48
Speaker 4: Like.
5:48
Speaker 3: There's a lot of transparency with Mike McCarthy, right, it's
5:52
Speaker 3: not the cloak and dagger shadows. Oh man, I'm worried
5:54
Speaker 3: about you know, if the New England patriers are listening
5:56
Speaker 3: to this, you know, press conference, what are they gleaning
5:59
Speaker 3: from it? And if they watch our practice, do they
6:01
Speaker 3: have spies in the stands? He's like, listen, we at
6:05
Speaker 3: the end of the day, we got to axecute.
6:07
Speaker 4: Yes.
6:07
Speaker 3: So as long as if I'm on the same page,
6:10
Speaker 3: players are on the same page, and even fans are
6:13
Speaker 3: on the same page, guess what, it creates layers of
6:16
Speaker 3: accountability at the end of the day. That's all. That's
6:19
Speaker 3: all we're looking for, right, the accountability and to know
6:22
Speaker 3: am I on the right path or am I straying
6:24
Speaker 3: off of the path? Path is clear. You don't have
6:26
Speaker 3: to guess which fork in the road to take. He's
6:29
Speaker 3: got to arrow pointed down the fork of the road.
6:31
Speaker 3: I want you to take it.
6:32
Speaker 4: And the way he breaks things down, and I mean, yes,
6:36
Speaker 4: I think largely the drills are the same.
6:37
Speaker 2: There's one or two different, but yeah, I mean it's
6:39
Speaker 2: not like you've never ever seen it on a.
6:41
Speaker 4: Football field that I can see. But again taking away drills, Yeah,
6:46
Speaker 4: so back when.
6:47
Speaker 2: Backers there, there is a receiver drill where they all
6:51
Speaker 2: come up to a line stop, pedal up, stop, pedal
6:55
Speaker 2: up stop, and then use that foot to to to
6:59
Speaker 2: like they're coming out.
6:59
Speaker 4: Of a break. Anyway, I digress.
7:02
Speaker 2: So the running back position, you know, and I'm talking
7:06
Speaker 2: about like guys being able. You don't want to have
7:09
Speaker 2: to take guys off the field. So you know, he
7:12
Speaker 2: wants his receivers to all play the X, Y Z,
7:15
Speaker 2: the different receiver spots, right, So that means there's not
7:18
Speaker 2: just one guy who'd be, you know, set up in
7:21
Speaker 2: that old flanker position who can come in motion. Right,
7:23
Speaker 2: if you're set on the line of scrimmage, you can't
7:25
Speaker 2: come in motion. So whatever whatever the case may be,
7:28
Speaker 2: you know, he wants to be able to run things quickly, smoothly,
7:31
Speaker 2: be able to get the right plays in and not
7:33
Speaker 2: worry about to have the right people out there.
7:35
Speaker 4: So that that's.
7:37
Speaker 2: Going to be interesting if in the tight end position
7:40
Speaker 2: because you have two different body types there. But in
7:43
Speaker 2: the running back position, you know, he wants Jalen Warren
7:46
Speaker 2: and Ricodowell to be Hey, if you're out there, you're out.
7:48
Speaker 3: There for all three downs, every down.
7:50
Speaker 2: You're not Dave Meggett, you know, coming in the old
7:52
Speaker 2: days speaking of old Giants football and coming in on
7:55
Speaker 2: third down.
7:55
Speaker 4: So you have Warren and you have Dowbell. Now I
7:58
Speaker 4: think it.
7:58
Speaker 3: Becomes Ron Haynes more contemporary. Yeah, he know he was
8:02
Speaker 3: a third down back, that's right.
8:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it becomes very interesting. Justice Hill is
8:08
Speaker 2: that way a little bit with Baltimore. Yeah, so I
8:11
Speaker 2: think it becomes very interesting when you look beyond those
8:13
Speaker 2: top two guys, because those two guys are definitely making
8:16
Speaker 2: the team. When Travis Homer was signed, I think people said, Okay,
8:20
Speaker 2: he's making the team, great special teams player, and you know,
8:24
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy's not throwing shade on that. But the other
8:27
Speaker 2: day he's like, he's still got to make the team, right,
8:28
Speaker 2: there's no shoeing.
8:30
Speaker 4: And so when you look.
8:31
Speaker 2: At the rest of these guys. Caleb Johnson, third round pick,
8:35
Speaker 2: new coaching staff wants an opportunity. I would think if
8:39
Speaker 2: I'm if I was circling a couple of players who
8:45
Speaker 2: it would behoove them to have a big game on
8:47
Speaker 2: Thursday night, he would be very high.
8:50
Speaker 4: On my list.
8:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, well him, I would throw in Roman Wilson, will
8:54
Speaker 3: get to the wide receiver. We will get to the
8:56
Speaker 3: Caleb Johnson is in a special class where he is
8:59
Speaker 3: so all the promise. And then there was an opportunity
9:04
Speaker 3: there right to figure out who was the post Najie
9:08
Speaker 3: Harris replacement to Jalen Warren. And you go and you
9:13
Speaker 3: draft an Iowa running back right because you wanted to
9:16
Speaker 3: replace that physicality that Naji brought. And Jalen was your
9:20
Speaker 3: more scatbackish type of scat back that had the ability
9:26
Speaker 3: to stand in and deliver in third downs, but wasn't
9:29
Speaker 3: necessarily a guy you wanted to run between the tasks.
9:31
Speaker 3: You wanted him off tackle primarily. So you're looking at
9:34
Speaker 3: it and then fell out of graces from special teams play.
9:38
Speaker 4: Caleb Caleb did let the bag over his head and
9:41
Speaker 4: in Seattle and didn't know the rule there, obviously.
9:44
Speaker 3: Know the rules, so then to go back and cover it. Yeah,
9:46
Speaker 3: and so now gifting Seattle a touchdown, gifted them a touchdown,
9:50
Speaker 3: and after that, I mean at a very pivotal point
9:52
Speaker 3: in the game where the game was still winnable.
9:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we saw him get a couple of carries
9:56
Speaker 2: here and there, but never really got off the ground
10:00
Speaker 2: to run it Gainwell, was Kinnea Gamewell maybe so much
10:03
Speaker 2: better than people thought that he just he and Warren
10:05
Speaker 2: became what I think Doubtell and Warren are going to
10:09
Speaker 2: be this year. Different type of running back, Doubtle than
10:11
Speaker 2: than Kenny Kenneth Camebell.
10:13
Speaker 4: So don't mistake the two.
10:14
Speaker 2: But just as far as distribution of playing time and
10:17
Speaker 2: that sort of thing, we're gonna see more of that.
10:19
Speaker 3: So it doesn't appear to be that much. But Caleb
10:22
Speaker 3: was in that contention early on, Yes, early on, that's what.
10:25
Speaker 3: There was a trio of options, right, and then Caleb
10:28
Speaker 3: kind of cut himself out of it by that specialty ya,
10:31
Speaker 3: and then everything went just to boom. These are the
10:34
Speaker 3: two I think a lot of people, you know thought,
10:37
Speaker 3: and this is outside of the team.
10:38
Speaker 4: I'm not talking about the team's evaluation.
10:41
Speaker 2: When Caleb was drafted, I heard a lot of Hey,
10:44
Speaker 2: you know, he's gonna slowly, you know, get himself into
10:49
Speaker 2: the mix, and by December he could be that lead
10:53
Speaker 2: back cold Weather. This is the kind of big back
10:56
Speaker 2: you want to be ramming at people. You know, sixteen eighteen,
10:59
Speaker 2: twenty times a game. That was what some people forecast
11:02
Speaker 2: for Caleb. Whether that was actually but tother side or not,
11:05
Speaker 2: I don't have any idea, but it didn't happen.
11:07
Speaker 4: Clearly that's not what happened.
11:09
Speaker 2: So you have him and again Noah Kowski, the fullback
11:16
Speaker 2: who Mike McCarthy said some really nice things about what
11:20
Speaker 2: he can't do anymore than he shown, particularly in special teams.
11:24
Speaker 4: You get the sense that he makes the.
11:26
Speaker 2: Team as a special teams guy, but who could also
11:30
Speaker 2: play fullback for you. That means he's getting dressed, he's
11:32
Speaker 2: getting a helmet.
11:33
Speaker 3: Yeah.
11:33
Speaker 2: So now you start to thinking Caleb Johnson, well, if
11:35
Speaker 2: he could be, if he could be that guy you
11:37
Speaker 2: took in the third round, you don't want to leave
11:40
Speaker 2: him off your roster. By the same token, it's not
11:43
Speaker 2: like Dwell and Warren are going anywhere, so that becomes
11:46
Speaker 2: an interesting situation. Then you have Eli Heydenreich, who was
11:48
Speaker 2: taken later in a draft this year.
11:51
Speaker 4: Low Nichols, who I.
11:52
Speaker 2: Think has shown some things and he's you know, he's
11:55
Speaker 2: got some NFL experience. So it's an interesting group of guys.
12:00
Speaker 2: And so Noahkowski, I think is kind of in his
12:03
Speaker 2: own place. And I'm not gonna say his roster spot
12:07
Speaker 2: is secured by any means.
12:08
Speaker 4: I'm not trying to say that.
12:10
Speaker 2: But if you separate him out from the running back position,
12:13
Speaker 2: Warren Dowdell Johnson, Hyde, and Reich Homer Nichols, I'm assuming
12:19
Speaker 2: you take at least three, but you might take only three.
12:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, because of Noalkowski taking that fourth spot in the backfield.
12:27
Speaker 3: We'll just call it a backfield position.
12:30
Speaker 2: So let's just really quickly play this game. Okay, Mike
12:36
Speaker 2: McCarthy said nine to ten offensive line, and let's just
12:39
Speaker 2: go ahead and say ten.
12:40
Speaker 3: Make it nice and easy.
12:42
Speaker 4: Six receivers. That's at sixteen.
12:44
Speaker 3: Now fifteen, we're taking ten to ten, sorry six.
12:47
Speaker 2: So ten that's sixteen. Three quarterbacks, that's nineteen, three tight ends,
12:52
Speaker 2: that's twenty two. If Noalkowski takes a spot, that means
12:57
Speaker 2: you'd have to take twenty six guys on offense.
12:58
Speaker 3: So again, this is why we talk talk about that.
13:01
Speaker 2: Sixth receiver might be battling with that third or fourth
13:05
Speaker 2: running back who might be battling with that tenth offensive alignment.
13:08
Speaker 4: That's what it comes down to.
13:10
Speaker 2: But if I'm looking at this Warren and Dowell, you
13:12
Speaker 2: know again, you know, knock on Wood, that there's not
13:16
Speaker 2: going to be any injury issues and that could change
13:18
Speaker 2: the way the position is perceived by the way.
13:20
Speaker 3: Absolutely right.
13:21
Speaker 2: So you know you might be looking at that third
13:24
Speaker 2: running back as Okay, well, if it's a guy we
13:26
Speaker 2: want to dress, he'd better be able to play special teams.
13:29
Speaker 2: That means Travis Homer, right if or hey, we need
13:33
Speaker 2: a running back who can come in and run, that
13:35
Speaker 2: might mean Caleb Johnson. Or we need somebody that can
13:38
Speaker 2: play on special teams as a return man, and maybe
13:41
Speaker 2: that's Eli hyden Wright, you know what I mean.
13:44
Speaker 3: Or maybe Lou Nichols.
13:45
Speaker 2: Finds himself as that combination of both. I think it's
13:48
Speaker 2: I think it is a position that is settled with.
13:51
Speaker 4: The top two.
13:52
Speaker 2: Again, knock on wood for now, but I think it's
13:55
Speaker 2: going to be These preseason games are going to be
13:57
Speaker 2: awfully important for that group of four running backs behind
14:01
Speaker 2: Warren and Doubtll.
14:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think you know, you look
14:04
Speaker 3: at that group offensive line, mm hmm, it's gonna be
14:10
Speaker 3: hotly contested to get to that top ten. And we,
14:14
Speaker 3: by the way, we have two open spots on the
14:16
Speaker 3: starting five. Right, So that's a huge emphasis on this.
14:20
Speaker 3: That's its own topic. Yeah, that's the topic. And like
14:23
Speaker 3: you said, third quarterback the young pups?
14:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, or is it a Mason Rudolph push up who
14:29
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy just raved about earlier. Right, So you have
14:33
Speaker 2: you haven't a lot of four, but they haven't ruled
14:35
Speaker 2: that out either.
14:36
Speaker 3: They haven't ruled it out. If you keep four four
14:38
Speaker 3: of them, that makes that that six wide receiver, fourth
14:42
Speaker 3: running back and and third or fourth tight end. You know,
14:46
Speaker 3: you start to start to play the numbers game. And
14:47
Speaker 3: does that mean there's nine offensive lineman, Yeah.
14:50
Speaker 4: Not ten exactly right.
14:52
Speaker 2: Somebody's gotta somebody's got to seize the job, and somebody's
14:56
Speaker 2: got to show that they're the man. And I do
14:59
Speaker 2: I do think I you know, look right guard and
15:01
Speaker 2: right tackle to me on offense, are they are starting
15:07
Speaker 2: jobs as sexy as the quarterback position is. You're talking
15:10
Speaker 2: about maybe second team.
15:14
Speaker 4: Or third team.
15:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what you're talking about Yeah, when we're talking
15:17
Speaker 2: about running back, we are talking about the third, third
15:21
Speaker 2: running back. Correct, When we're gonna be talking about tight end,
15:24
Speaker 2: it's going to be the third tight end. Well, we're
15:26
Speaker 2: gonna be talking about wide receiver, it's going to be
15:27
Speaker 2: the fifth or sixth wide receiver. The But I think
15:33
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson, because he was a third round pick and
15:35
Speaker 2: because this time last year people were talking about him
15:38
Speaker 2: eventually becoming your number one running back, I think he's
15:43
Speaker 2: he's I think you know, Travis Homer has been around
15:45
Speaker 2: a little bit hide and Reik is certainly going to
15:47
Speaker 2: be interesting. But you know, one of the guys I'm
15:49
Speaker 2: really going to be focusing on Max on Thursday night
15:52
Speaker 2: is Caleb Johnson.
15:54
Speaker 4: And what does he do with his opportunity?
15:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean it's gonna be key for him.
15:58
Speaker 3: And like I said, I'm still watching you know that
16:01
Speaker 3: wide receiver room as well. We'll get there because it's
16:05
Speaker 3: just as intriguing. But Caleb Johnson, of those running backs,
16:08
Speaker 3: he's gonna get the first crack. He's gonna get the
16:11
Speaker 3: first shot.
16:11
Speaker 4: I would think himself, I would think so, and we.
16:14
Speaker 3: Got we got to see what you got. Now this
16:16
Speaker 3: is the put up a shut up period at the
16:18
Speaker 3: running running back because like you said, it's so deep.
16:21
Speaker 3: And if we are keeping a fullback here by trade,
16:25
Speaker 3: by profession, by position name, yep, that means there can
16:29
Speaker 3: only be three. Yes, not quite the Highlander, but they
16:33
Speaker 3: can only be the most. Yeah, at the most.
16:35
Speaker 4: You have to carry total. Yeah, you have to carry three.
16:38
Speaker 4: You have three.
16:39
Speaker 3: But that that's it. It's not it's not a question
16:40
Speaker 3: about four running backs and a fullback. Is three running
16:44
Speaker 3: backs plus your fullback, that's your four. You get.
16:47
Speaker 4: It's gonna be fascinating. I can't wait for that. That's
16:49
Speaker 4: a big position battle.
16:51
Speaker 2: To me, it's not the biggest on the offense, but
16:53
Speaker 2: it's important, especially considering that they spent a third round
16:57
Speaker 2: round of a year ago. We're gonna be talking about
16:59
Speaker 2: the wide receiver position, another important position when we're talking
17:03
Speaker 2: about who's next up for the Steelers and how that
17:06
Speaker 2: might affect who's returning for the Steelers. And I don't
17:09
Speaker 2: mean returning coming back, I mean who's your kicking punt return? Right,
17:12
Speaker 2: Max is now gesturing with his arms as if he's
17:15
Speaker 2: catching a punt.
17:16
Speaker 4: Or a kickoff. Pick the pepsi over the big cake again.
17:19
Speaker 2: Again, those of you who are unfortunate enough to be
17:21
Speaker 2: watching on radio as opposed to listening on radio, is
17:24
Speaker 2: supposed to watching on radio.
17:25
Speaker 4: I sometimes like to describe what Max is doing.
17:28
Speaker 3: It's a point by play guy, Hey, it's it's it's visual.
17:32
Speaker 2: Artistry in words, Max right now putting giving these sort
17:36
Speaker 2: of Italian fingers together to distress the point. Yeah, beauty
17:40
Speaker 2: of is very very important.
17:42
Speaker 4: Stick around.
17:42
Speaker 2: We're going to be talking about the wide receiver position,
17:44
Speaker 2: what's coming up on Thursday night and the rest of
17:46
Speaker 2: this training camp as well, big decisions for the for
17:49
Speaker 2: the Steelers coming up in the locker room. Here on
17:51
Speaker 2: the Steelers Audio Network.
17:56
Speaker 1: Is live coverage Jump twenty twenty six Steelers Training Camp
18:00
Speaker 1: on the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light, Easy
18:05
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18:29
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Speaker 1: dot org and buy Iron Workers Local Union number three.
18:38
Speaker 3: We don't go to the office.
18:39
Speaker 4: We build it.
18:42
Speaker 3: And thank you for being with us in the locker
18:45
Speaker 3: room from.
18:46
Speaker 2: The trope where the sky we get this. I think
18:49
Speaker 2: this is called a respite.
18:50
Speaker 4: Yes, I don't think this is gonna last long call
18:53
Speaker 4: before the next storm the weather.
18:55
Speaker 2: Yes, come for the next storm. Yeah, he's back starts.
18:59
Speaker 2: I'm rob king. We are looking forward.
19:00
Speaker 3: To calling some football for you Thursday night. Man back
19:03
Speaker 3: in the saddle.
19:04
Speaker 2: So when you're when you're before we get to the
19:06
Speaker 2: before we get to the receiver position.
19:10
Speaker 3: Young guy veteran.
19:11
Speaker 2: I don't know if it made any difference, but when
19:13
Speaker 2: you got to a game week and I always hear
19:15
Speaker 2: people say the sort of Hackney thing is we're.
19:17
Speaker 4: Tired of hitting each other and blah blah blah.
19:19
Speaker 3: But was there a sense of excitement.
19:22
Speaker 2: I mean, for a young guy, there's gotta be like
19:24
Speaker 2: this is their proving ground. They know it's their proven
19:27
Speaker 2: ground on Thursday.
19:28
Speaker 4: Maybe for a veteran.
19:28
Speaker 2: Some veterans in some years when they're not even going
19:30
Speaker 2: to play, you know, maybe that pulse rate goes from
19:34
Speaker 2: sixty to sixty one beats a minute. You know, yeah,
19:37
Speaker 2: you're probably not gonna get I don't know, right, did
19:39
Speaker 2: you get wrapped up.
19:39
Speaker 3: As a veteran. I mean you did because it was
19:41
Speaker 3: your first chance to put on the uniform and actually
19:43
Speaker 3: go against somebody else, right, yeah, right, And at that
19:46
Speaker 3: time it was understood starters on starters, one or two
19:51
Speaker 3: series yep, first preseason back when there was four I'll
19:54
Speaker 3: preface this back when there was four preseason games back
19:57
Speaker 3: in my day.
19:58
Speaker 4: Uh huh.
19:58
Speaker 3: Just to get the proverbial phrase out of the way,
20:01
Speaker 3: you got a series or two boom, just knock the
20:03
Speaker 3: rust off. Get into game day operations. Have it feel
20:07
Speaker 3: intense because your quarterback can get hit as an offensive player.
20:10
Speaker 3: As a defensive player, you can hit the quarterback and
20:13
Speaker 3: you can't hit the running backs, and it counts. So
20:16
Speaker 3: you do that. Second game moves up to a quarter
20:19
Speaker 3: a little bit more action, little more little, a little
20:23
Speaker 3: more you know, friction, and then that third was your
20:26
Speaker 3: dress rehearsal where you played half a game, possibly the
20:28
Speaker 3: first quarter of the third, and that was that was it.
20:32
Speaker 3: And then maybe in the fourth game you don't play
20:34
Speaker 3: at all. Right, this is cut is a cut day, right,
20:37
Speaker 3: you know, this is the game to determine who's going
20:39
Speaker 3: to be the bottom part of your roster. So starters maybe,
20:43
Speaker 3: and depending on injuries from those previous three, maybe a
20:45
Speaker 3: starter has to bump in for a couple of plays
20:47
Speaker 3: or not. But that was it and then boom is
20:49
Speaker 3: season time. So you look forward to it because you
20:52
Speaker 3: just needed the exercise of it, right, You need to
20:54
Speaker 3: take yourself through the adrenaline rush of it all so
20:57
Speaker 3: that you can manage that the cortisol spikes. Right, that
21:03
Speaker 3: happened in a game. But I look forward to those
21:05
Speaker 3: because that was your first kind of dress rehearsals of
21:08
Speaker 3: the season. Because when it hits week one, everything counts.
21:11
Speaker 3: It's for You're playing for the marbles in the bag,
21:14
Speaker 3: So I need to a mass as many marbles as
21:16
Speaker 3: possible so if I can stave off the rust, is
21:19
Speaker 3: what you're trying to do. Yeah, that that was important,
21:22
Speaker 3: So I look forward to these. Now they don't look
21:24
Speaker 3: into them as much, and starters don't even play at all.
21:26
Speaker 3: Sometimes different era, different thought processes, like oh I need
21:30
Speaker 3: to get the guy through eighteen weeks, and I'm like, well,
21:33
Speaker 3: the guy's gonna get injured. He's gonna get an injured,
21:35
Speaker 3: whether it's week one, week three, week ten, or preseason.
21:40
Speaker 2: If a guy gets hurt in the preseason, it makes
21:42
Speaker 2: headlines always and then gets criticized. Yeah, it doesn't get
21:46
Speaker 2: it makes headlines in the season. It just doesn't get
21:48
Speaker 2: criticized during the season. You know, when you get to
21:50
Speaker 2: that last preseason game, you want to be not playing
21:53
Speaker 2: in a good end if you're not playing on the
21:55
Speaker 2: other end, Like if you look at the play the
21:57
Speaker 2: play roster and you're you know you're in the ninetieth
21:59
Speaker 2: guy roster and you're not you know you're not gonna
22:01
Speaker 2: be playing. You're calling my heye, mom, my bedroom still
22:04
Speaker 2: attacked because I'm gonna be coming.
22:06
Speaker 3: Home in a couple of days. And you know, for me,
22:08
Speaker 3: I only played in a handful of those fourth games
22:10
Speaker 3: where it mattered, and that was more towards the end
22:11
Speaker 3: of early in my career than exactly right. That's it's
22:15
Speaker 3: like it's like, oh, man, okay, I gotta get reped
22:18
Speaker 3: up here. And it was awkward when I went to
22:20
Speaker 3: San Diego because I was like, man, I'm I'm not
22:23
Speaker 3: playing that much. And then fourth preason, Max, you gotta
22:25
Speaker 3: play Oh crap, Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm older this time,
22:28
Speaker 3: nine years in the league. I'm like, okay, get lathered
22:31
Speaker 3: up for three quarters of football before you know, and
22:35
Speaker 3: you know, it didn't work out well, but that's where
22:39
Speaker 3: you have to be. And that's and that's kind of
22:41
Speaker 3: eth those of what it was back then. But now
22:43
Speaker 3: you know, that's changed significantly.
22:45
Speaker 2: So there is a move afoot and it feels like
22:48
Speaker 2: it's inevitable here at some point that there's gonna be
22:50
Speaker 2: two preseason games and eighteen regular season Is that Does
22:53
Speaker 2: that seem inevitable to you?
22:55
Speaker 3: That that's inevitable? Right?
22:56
Speaker 4: It seems of course.
22:57
Speaker 2: And I don't know as the I mean clearly the
23:03
Speaker 2: NFL meaning the league and the fan interest. Even though
23:07
Speaker 2: the fan interest is it's amazing. People are gonna be
23:10
Speaker 2: watching on Katie K on Thursday. I had to guarantee
23:13
Speaker 2: you they're gonna have huge ratings.
23:15
Speaker 3: All eyes on Charlie Batch and Bob you.
23:17
Speaker 2: Know it Man and Missy Matthews. So the fans, the
23:21
Speaker 2: fans clearly would like to would love that, They would
23:24
Speaker 2: love to see more regular season football.
23:27
Speaker 4: The owners who.
23:28
Speaker 2: Get Gate right, would rather have a regular season game,
23:32
Speaker 2: and that gives you gets you back to an even
23:35
Speaker 2: number of home games right right now, you go, uh,
23:39
Speaker 2: you know, you're nine and eight one year, eight and
23:41
Speaker 2: nine the next year, So it gets you back to that.
23:43
Speaker 4: That's a big revenue you got.
23:45
Speaker 3: You got an international game, that's.
23:47
Speaker 2: Right, you get a big revenue stream as a as
23:50
Speaker 2: the as the teams, the league likes it because the
23:54
Speaker 2: fan interest is clearly going to be way higher for
23:57
Speaker 2: that kind of thing. I don't know what the coaches
24:00
Speaker 2: would think about it, because I think the coaches would
24:03
Speaker 2: like that that two evaluation thinking. By the way, what
24:06
Speaker 2: does that do to camp? Do you start camp later?
24:09
Speaker 2: Do you start camp in August instead of July? I mean,
24:12
Speaker 2: are you really just gonna have what an extra week
24:14
Speaker 2: of practice, two games and two weeks off yet?
24:17
Speaker 3: Because you can't and they're not gonna move the schedule
24:21
Speaker 3: forward to start the season. It's never gonna start before
24:24
Speaker 3: Labor Day. You're never gonna play on Labor Day weekend, right,
24:26
Speaker 3: that's college footballs and NFL cannot interfere with that, right
24:30
Speaker 3: vice versa. You can't interfere with those type of days
24:34
Speaker 3: like Saturday, week one of the season. Is right there
24:39
Speaker 3: at Labor Day weekend. That is college football's time to shine.
24:42
Speaker 3: They're the only game in town. Then the NFL comes
24:46
Speaker 3: in and then the NFL dominates, So it would literally
24:48
Speaker 3: push back your Super Bowl to the middle to end
24:53
Speaker 3: of that week of February. Yes, so then what do
24:56
Speaker 3: you do with the combine. It's gotta stay stairs straight
25:00
Speaker 3: where it is, stays white where it is, unless they
25:01
Speaker 3: shift it just a little bit, because the draft is
25:03
Speaker 3: going to be the draft because you still need that
25:04
Speaker 3: same preparation period. You've got to have those guys in
25:08
Speaker 3: by May, right, and you've got to be working that
25:12
Speaker 3: time to get your OTAs and all of your mini
25:14
Speaker 3: camps in before they get their mandatory time off before
25:17
Speaker 3: training camp starts, right, So if you start shifting the
25:20
Speaker 3: calendar back that way, yeah, you're talking about we'll be
25:25
Speaker 3: starting camp in August if that was the case instead
25:28
Speaker 3: of the end of July, because you'd have to take
25:31
Speaker 3: that extra week. But I think it would be an
25:33
Speaker 3: extra practice week to get everybody ready for the season, right,
25:37
Speaker 3: and you would use that and then your first game
25:39
Speaker 3: of the season, Well, stars ain't play that much, so
25:42
Speaker 3: really game ones, like really like a third preseason game.
25:45
Speaker 4: As you start the season, it'll be interesting. And I again,
25:49
Speaker 4: I'm guessing.
25:51
Speaker 2: The coaches, you know, because we just talked about, Hey,
25:54
Speaker 2: practice evaluation versus game evaluation. Three chances to evaluate guys
25:59
Speaker 2: in game situation. I suppose they'll get used to it.
26:02
Speaker 4: They have to.
26:03
Speaker 2: They're going to adjust as a young player who is
26:06
Speaker 2: the ninetieth guy in camp who thinks he's better than that,
26:09
Speaker 2: a Willie Parker, James Harrison, the list of the you know.
26:13
Speaker 3: They needed the third and fourth preet that's right.
26:15
Speaker 4: Games now they're not going to have those opportunities.
26:17
Speaker 3: No, and you know who doesn't like it, the scouts,
26:21
Speaker 3: the front office, guys less evaluation, so more speculation comes
26:26
Speaker 3: into play right in those moments because you only have
26:28
Speaker 3: a finite amount of time to grade them. I mean,
26:31
Speaker 3: we talked to Omar Kahn, right, you know, we're talking
26:33
Speaker 3: to Omar last week. He loves the preseason because he
26:36
Speaker 3: gets to see the evaluation and the growth from one
26:39
Speaker 3: to two to two to three, and that gives you
26:41
Speaker 3: a nice cross section to be able to evaluate against.
26:45
Speaker 4: Right.
26:46
Speaker 3: Okay, so let's let us let's go in because offense,
26:51
Speaker 3: we're going to at.
26:52
Speaker 2: Least get to the wide receivers' you know, the tight
26:55
Speaker 2: ends together. No what you know what, let's do We
26:56
Speaker 2: have about two minutes, so let's save the wide receiver.
26:58
Speaker 2: Let's do let's do the tight end. Let's do the
27:00
Speaker 2: tight ends. Friarmouth, Darnel, Washington locks. I think there's only
27:05
Speaker 2: going to be three tight ends max if you don't
27:07
Speaker 2: count Noakowski as a tight end. And again we talked
27:10
Speaker 2: about like hybridization. Yeah, we talked about this back. Yeah,
27:14
Speaker 2: the the the the secure you know, the security blanket
27:19
Speaker 2: that was Connor Hayward, that could be Riley Noakowski, right,
27:23
Speaker 2: good on special teams and you know more.
27:26
Speaker 3: Full back guy, Yeah, right, yeah, guy, we have more
27:29
Speaker 3: stationary tight ends tight ends.
27:31
Speaker 4: I think there's only gonna be one more tight end.
27:33
Speaker 2: Here are your choices, Robert tanyan veteran guy, jahem Bell,
27:38
Speaker 2: Lake McCree, and the newly signed Lance Mason.
27:42
Speaker 4: Yeah.
27:42
Speaker 3: Because j J.
27:43
Speaker 4: Gall breath out ye.
27:46
Speaker 2: And so he was a guy that was making some noise,
27:48
Speaker 2: remember during ot a's last year and then a little
27:51
Speaker 2: bit during camp and then uh again, we'll see what
27:54
Speaker 2: happened to this future.
27:55
Speaker 4: But right now he's been replaced in the roster.
27:58
Speaker 2: This this really feel like again barring injury, this feels
28:04
Speaker 2: like one of the most set positions on the roster.
28:07
Speaker 2: To me, I'm not making the evaluations. No one's My
28:12
Speaker 2: phone is not ringing right now with them asking me
28:14
Speaker 2: who the tight ends are going to be. But it
28:15
Speaker 2: feels like barring something unforeseen. And the great thing about
28:20
Speaker 2: this Steelers is they allow for the unforeseen. See our
28:23
Speaker 2: conversation about Willie Parker, James Harrison, et cetera, Donnie Shell,
28:28
Speaker 2: going back to there Friarmouth, Washington, Tanyan seems it seems to.
28:33
Speaker 4: Me like that would be a large upset if it's
28:36
Speaker 4: not those three guys.
28:40
Speaker 3: Do you see it differently, Well, I mean you have
28:41
Speaker 3: to think about Tanya came in at Mini camp at
28:43
Speaker 3: the end. But he's also a McCarthy guy, right, and
28:48
Speaker 3: so that would lend because all these other names were
28:51
Speaker 3: on this roster at that time when they added him. So,
28:54
Speaker 3: I mean, as they felt there was something that was
28:56
Speaker 3: missing or an opportunity to pick up a guy they
28:58
Speaker 3: really liked. Yeah, and a guy who knows the system
29:01
Speaker 3: also has a rapport with with with with with Aaron
29:04
Speaker 3: and can also make the adjustment with limited reps, so
29:08
Speaker 3: there's there's a benefit there. I would say it's probably
29:12
Speaker 3: between tany And and Bell, and.
29:13
Speaker 2: If Bell can he's an athlete, right and if he
29:16
Speaker 2: can show you something, if he can show.
29:18
Speaker 3: You something in the stadium, that that's a difference. So
29:21
Speaker 3: I think it's really down to those two guys, because,
29:23
Speaker 3: like you said, Riley Nowakowski gives you the blanket of
29:26
Speaker 3: covering two different positions for depth, like I said, he
29:29
Speaker 3: can cover the h back portion of of a tight
29:32
Speaker 3: end position as well as being a full back and
29:36
Speaker 3: being the extra guy in your running game if you
29:38
Speaker 3: go to a two back system and you have to
29:40
Speaker 3: run full back dive. But also he's a guy that,
29:43
Speaker 3: like you said, if he can be a special team's ace,
29:46
Speaker 3: Derek Watt, special teams guy who also plays a position
29:51
Speaker 3: in multiple positions. He's now you're talking about, who's that
29:55
Speaker 3: jack of all trades position sounds a lot like Connor
29:58
Speaker 3: Hayward exactly right. Yeah, it's a very similar Connor Hayward.
30:02
Speaker 3: That's just not in the same packaging, right right. Whereas
30:04
Speaker 3: Connor was always considered in the tight end group, never
30:07
Speaker 3: really considered a running back, and he was just a
30:09
Speaker 3: move lead block guy. This is you are a fullback
30:14
Speaker 3: plus right all those other things. So Tanyan and Bell
30:18
Speaker 3: the names to watch maybe for Thursday night. Yeah, we've
30:21
Speaker 3: broken down the running back group. We think Caleb Johnson
30:23
Speaker 3: going to get that first crack. Tanyan and Bell names
30:26
Speaker 3: to keep an eye on in the tight end group,
30:28
Speaker 3: and we're going to tackle the wide receiver position. When
30:31
Speaker 3: we continue, you're in the locker room with Max Starks.
30:34
Speaker 3: I'm Rob King here on this Steelers Audio Network.
30:37
Speaker 1: This is live coverage Jump Dot twenty twenty six Steelers
30:42
Speaker 1: Training Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by Bud
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Speaker 1: like easy to drink, easy to enjoy, and brought to
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Speaker 1: you in part by Clearview Federal Credit Union. For every
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Speaker 1: touchdown the Black and Gold Score in twenty twenty six,
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Speaker 1: the Steelers Pro Shop, they said, Shop dot Steelers dot Com.
31:26
Speaker 2: And welcome back in the locker room here on the
31:28
Speaker 2: Steelers Audio Network. Wes Euler and Matt Williamson have come
31:33
Speaker 2: into the building here at the Rogers Center.
31:36
Speaker 4: You know, they don't walk.
31:37
Speaker 2: Into a building unless someone's tossing rose pedals at their feet. Yes,
31:41
Speaker 2: I think the highest rated show in the NFL.
31:44
Speaker 3: They number one, I believe, so they're if not number one,
31:47
Speaker 3: they're right at the top.
31:48
Speaker 4: Yeah. So rose pedals. They don't go anywhere without it. No, no, no,
31:53
Speaker 4: they don't go anywhere.
31:54
Speaker 3: Joffy Joefer and that's a team there.
31:58
Speaker 2: So they're coming into the great show. Obviously, they're coming
32:01
Speaker 2: in next to do the show. And we have been
32:04
Speaker 2: sort of talking about the different UH position groups and
32:08
Speaker 2: before we went to break and who's who's in big
32:12
Speaker 2: positions to make the team. And I was talking to
32:14
Speaker 2: Matt Williamson during the break. He pointed out, you know,
32:15
Speaker 2: Travis Homer, who has a great Special Teams background, has
32:18
Speaker 2: been working as a personal protector. Yeah, so that's an
32:23
Speaker 2: awfully important position. And so you know, Caleb Johnson's gonna
32:27
Speaker 2: have to he's gonna have to show something, you know
32:30
Speaker 2: what I mean, He's.
32:30
Speaker 4: Gonna have to force his he's gonna have to force
32:33
Speaker 4: his way unto the roster.
32:34
Speaker 3: Yeah right, Yeah, there's no gimmes, there's no scholarships here. No,
32:38
Speaker 3: you can't red shirt. I mean, and I think that's
32:40
Speaker 3: the biggest thing is figuring out who those guys are.
32:43
Speaker 3: They're gonna get the first crack at at that quote
32:45
Speaker 3: unquote number three spot at the running back position, right,
32:49
Speaker 3: and who comes who that comes down to. So we
32:52
Speaker 3: talked about, you know, with this group, three is probably
32:56
Speaker 3: the number, right because Riley Nilkowski is gonna take the
32:58
Speaker 3: fourth back field position. So three guys is the maximum
33:04
Speaker 3: more the minimum. However you want to look at it,
33:06
Speaker 3: and that's a that's a three horse race, and you
33:09
Speaker 3: need to be good enough. Sorry four horse races. Yea.
33:12
Speaker 4: If you're Caleb.
33:13
Speaker 2: Johnson or Eli Heydenreich or Lou Nichols, you need to
33:17
Speaker 2: be good enough that the coaches get together and say, Okay,
33:21
Speaker 2: we need a new personal protector because this player has
33:23
Speaker 2: got to make our roster or keep Travis Homers. Your
33:27
Speaker 2: personal protector is too valuable on special teams. Okay, that's
33:31
Speaker 2: going to cost you an offensive lineman, that's going to
33:33
Speaker 2: cost you a wide receiver. Again, this is where you
33:35
Speaker 2: can you the fourth quarterback.
33:36
Speaker 4: That's right.
33:37
Speaker 2: What you were thinking, we are that you are competing
33:39
Speaker 2: at that point a field probably with the field.
33:42
Speaker 4: That's exactly right.
33:43
Speaker 2: So the receiver and by the way, again Lake McRee,
33:47
Speaker 2: Lance Mason, they're on the roster, so they've got an opportunity.
33:50
Speaker 2: It is I've beaten this drum many times. If you're
33:53
Speaker 2: if you're on the Steelers roster, it's truer on this
33:55
Speaker 2: roster than maybe any other roster in the NFL. If
33:58
Speaker 2: you've got black gold on and you got a helmet
34:01
Speaker 2: and you step onto the field, you got a chance
34:03
Speaker 2: to make the team.
34:04
Speaker 4: And students are proven it again and again and again.
34:07
Speaker 3: Over the years. And maybe that's practice squad too active, right,
34:11
Speaker 3: that's right, right. That's another thing that you have to
34:13
Speaker 3: play into. It is who's a guy that we can
34:16
Speaker 3: stash and not get taken in waivers and a guy
34:18
Speaker 3: we can move up and down as we see fit
34:21
Speaker 3: for game day.
34:22
Speaker 4: That's right.
34:22
Speaker 3: So there's there's that dimension to it, but it starts
34:26
Speaker 3: with figuring out who the initial figure.
34:27
Speaker 2: And again again we said this before, like you can
34:30
Speaker 2: you can make a little speech if you wanted to
34:33
Speaker 2: before the you know, the ninety men show up here
34:35
Speaker 2: in the troil. You can get up in front and
34:36
Speaker 2: write the name Donnie Shell on a chalkboard and say,
34:40
Speaker 2: you know what this is. This is a guy who
34:42
Speaker 2: was an undrafted guy and he's in the Hall of Fame.
34:45
Speaker 2: James Harrison, you know him. Willie Parker, you know him.
34:49
Speaker 2: And hey, by the way, anybody here that's made to
34:52
Speaker 2: practice squad that's contributed. Oh you guys know James Pierre
34:55
Speaker 2: just got that nice multimillion dollar contract. And by the way,
34:58
Speaker 2: Dylan Cook, why don't you stand up because you're a
35:00
Speaker 2: guy who was in the practice squad last year too.
35:02
Speaker 4: So these are important spots.
35:04
Speaker 2: Mike McCarthy reemphasized it today by talking about not the
35:07
Speaker 2: fifty three man roster, the sixty eight man roster that
35:10
Speaker 2: he called it. So the receiver position, let's go through
35:14
Speaker 2: the locks. DK Metcalf lock, Michael Pittman lock, Jeremy Bernard lock, right,
35:22
Speaker 2: second round pick.
35:23
Speaker 3: You know he makes his way into the wide receiver room. Yes,
35:27
Speaker 3: yeahst them absolutely different.
35:30
Speaker 4: But he's done.
35:32
Speaker 2: He's done nothing to make you think that was a mistake. Oh,
35:37
Speaker 2: we shouldn't have taken nothing, right, he's come out here,
35:39
Speaker 2: he's been very professional. He's done his work. He's making
35:43
Speaker 2: the team right. Yeah, again, he's been solid. Right, No, nobody,
35:47
Speaker 2: let me check my phone again. Nope, they're not calling
35:49
Speaker 2: me to ask my opinion. But but I it's got
35:52
Speaker 2: to be a lock, right.
35:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
35:53
Speaker 2: So now that you look at the rest of the roster,
35:55
Speaker 2: Roman Wilson has seemed like he's been targeted a lot.
36:01
Speaker 2: It feels yeah. The the max right now, for those
36:04
Speaker 2: of you listening on the radio, is taking his hand
36:06
Speaker 2: and moving it with his hand extended, you know, the
36:09
Speaker 2: fingers extended, moving it from the lower left to the
36:12
Speaker 2: upper right of a diagonal.
36:13
Speaker 3: This signifying here on radio it's preseason for us for game.
36:19
Speaker 4: Pointed up.
36:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, so Robinzerio always pointed up.
36:23
Speaker 4: So uh yeah, I mean it feels like he's there. Okay,
36:26
Speaker 4: So now you're at four.
36:27
Speaker 2: Well, ben' Skarnik, they gave him a contract in the offseason.
36:31
Speaker 2: He's a reliable receiver. I mean, look, it's not like
36:35
Speaker 2: he's just a special teams guy. You know who caught
36:37
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers first touchdown passes a remember the Steelers, ben' Skaranack.
36:41
Speaker 4: This guy can still be a receiver.
36:43
Speaker 3: Do you know who saved us in the Washington game.
36:45
Speaker 4: Ben's Garoni, Ben's Karnick.
36:47
Speaker 3: Right, So he's had these money and then he's made
36:50
Speaker 3: It's not like he's been a special teamer, right, He's
36:52
Speaker 3: made plays, He's forced fumbles, recovered bubbles on special team.
36:56
Speaker 3: So he is he is an absolute pro weapon.
36:59
Speaker 4: He Pro Bowl special teamer.
37:01
Speaker 2: He's a weapon, could also be a receiver. It's not
37:05
Speaker 2: like you're just saying, look, he's he's making the team
37:11
Speaker 2: only for special teams. And we've seen guys like that
37:14
Speaker 2: for this years in the past. You're making the position
37:16
Speaker 2: only because of now you can make it primarily because
37:18
Speaker 2: of that. But if we need to put you in
37:20
Speaker 2: the game, you're going in the game, right exactly, And
37:24
Speaker 2: so uh and you're a Pro Bowl special teamer, which
37:27
Speaker 2: is kind of nice. So it's hard for me not
37:29
Speaker 2: to think he's making the team.
37:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we're now at five at five guys already,
37:34
Speaker 3: So to the rest of the game, we.
37:36
Speaker 2: Haven't even gotten to the return man who you took
37:38
Speaker 2: in the fourth round, who's listed as a receiver, and
37:41
Speaker 2: that's Kayden.
37:41
Speaker 3: We change your number one pick returner on the depth
37:44
Speaker 3: chart right now.
37:45
Speaker 2: So now you look at the roster. And again I'm
37:48
Speaker 2: not saying LEVI wentz. Uh yeah, I think he's back on.
37:54
Speaker 2: Now the roster was taking on Max Hurtlerman, Uh, Jacoby Keeney,
37:58
Speaker 2: James Brandons, Myth, Joaquin Davis, who's a tremendous athlete. Two
38:05
Speaker 2: we just added today, right, two more guys and two
38:07
Speaker 2: more guys that we added today that I have to
38:08
Speaker 2: get on my roster.
38:09
Speaker 3: Powell and uh what was the other kid? Uh?
38:13
Speaker 4: Well we had dow Right or dow or Powell. I've
38:16
Speaker 4: got it.
38:17
Speaker 3: I've got i' may I made a joke about that, So.
38:20
Speaker 4: I've got it written down here.
38:21
Speaker 2: Max, let me let me dig it up my my
38:24
Speaker 2: copious uh copious notes here.
38:27
Speaker 3: Cornell Powell, hang on a second, Okay, if you if
38:34
Speaker 3: you're wondering, I'm going to now describe that Rob has
38:37
Speaker 3: went into his backpack and.
38:38
Speaker 2: Cornell Powell, corn and Isaiah Isaiah Winstead. Yeah, Colton dow
38:44
Speaker 2: is no longer.
38:44
Speaker 3: On the team.
38:45
Speaker 4: Okay, So he goes, so, yeah, I'm gonna have to
38:48
Speaker 4: I'm gonna have to fix that.
38:50
Speaker 3: He's going to reach into his front pocket of his backpack.
38:53
Speaker 3: So he has a zip lock bag full of pins.
38:55
Speaker 3: I am.
38:57
Speaker 4: So as somebody.
39:00
Speaker 3: I have a.
39:00
Speaker 2: I have a I have an interesting relationship with technology,
39:07
Speaker 2: you know, Bob Labriola, Kent, Deacolby, guys of a of
39:11
Speaker 2: a different generation than mine, are teaching me how to
39:13
Speaker 2: use computers. Computers don't work around me. And it's not
39:17
Speaker 2: me Max, It's not me personally, it's that computers know
39:21
Speaker 2: that Determinator, the first one is one of my all
39:24
Speaker 2: time favorite movies. And I have a large distrust of technology,
39:28
Speaker 2: and I tell people all the time. So the other
39:30
Speaker 2: play by play guys around the league, they're like, hey, man,
39:32
Speaker 2: we need to get you.
39:34
Speaker 3: A couple of them still have.
39:38
Speaker 2: Handwritten notes like I do. Now some had know not many,
39:43
Speaker 2: there might be one. A lot of them print out
39:46
Speaker 2: rosters right. Some of them just use their computer. So
39:51
Speaker 2: I have never seen a piece of paper, lose cellular,
39:57
Speaker 2: lose Wi Fi. Never, it's I've never seen it. I've
40:01
Speaker 2: never seen a piece I've never seen this is it's
40:06
Speaker 2: actually it's actually an old fold you know, one of
40:09
Speaker 2: those folding.
40:09
Speaker 4: Uh, it's a folder. It's all That's what I use.
40:12
Speaker 2: So I've got my notes all on notepads, and I've
40:16
Speaker 2: got different notes for different things in different sports. So
40:19
Speaker 2: when I'm when I reach into my bag, my bag's
40:21
Speaker 2: very heavy. Max, I don't need to use squads.
40:25
Speaker 3: I got two computers, but i do have computers, two.
40:27
Speaker 2: Computers, and I've got a lot of notepads here, So
40:30
Speaker 2: I dug it up. Cornell Pale Isaiah Winstead. So they've
40:34
Speaker 2: got a chance to make the team. But it does
40:36
Speaker 2: seem maxed. As we look around this roster, it is
40:41
Speaker 2: going to be very, very difficult, and I think it's
40:45
Speaker 2: they have Again, we've talked about this. They've set up
40:47
Speaker 2: this roster in a good position. But hey, man, if
40:50
Speaker 2: you're Brandon Smith, you got to have that optimism. I'm
40:53
Speaker 2: just throwing a name out there. I'm a good player, man.
40:56
Speaker 2: I've got a chance to make this team, or be
40:58
Speaker 2: the first guy called up like you said, on the
41:00
Speaker 2: on the practice squad, or be signed by a team
41:03
Speaker 2: that's looking for a wide receiver.
41:05
Speaker 3: And that's the risk you run. But like you said,
41:08
Speaker 3: when you have a particularly deep group, these are some
41:12
Speaker 3: of the conversations you have to have. You know who
41:15
Speaker 3: makes who makes that gun, and who can we depend
41:17
Speaker 3: on to be a recall You know and clear waivers
41:20
Speaker 3: and come back to us.
41:22
Speaker 2: I think of that group, and of that group, I
41:26
Speaker 2: am still the two guys I'm most intrigued with and
41:30
Speaker 2: I and again no offense anybody else I am. I
41:34
Speaker 2: do want to see Weegion and if he can be
41:37
Speaker 2: a viable player the receiver position.
41:39
Speaker 4: Uh.
41:39
Speaker 2: You know, people brought up Turpin, the guy in Dallas
41:41
Speaker 2: who returned kicks and and could be sort of a
41:44
Speaker 2: gadget guy. But again, you know, Mike McCarthy's made it
41:47
Speaker 2: pretty clear that he wants guys that can stay in
41:49
Speaker 2: the field and play multiple positions. I'm really looking forward
41:53
Speaker 2: to seeing whether Roman Wilson can take this good rapport
41:58
Speaker 2: that we've seen in practice smacks and carry it out
42:01
Speaker 2: onto the practice field. So if I'm circling now on
42:05
Speaker 2: the discussions we've had and we haven't got to the
42:08
Speaker 2: quarterback position, we haven't got to the old line, We'll
42:09
Speaker 2: do that tomorrow. If I'm circling the guys that I
42:13
Speaker 2: most want to see, and I'm most interested, not most
42:17
Speaker 2: want to see, most interested in seeing whether they can
42:20
Speaker 2: you know, grasp behold of something, grasp ahold of a
42:23
Speaker 2: roster spot. I am saying Caleb Johnson at running back,
42:27
Speaker 2: jaheem Bell at tight end, Roman Wilson receiver. Those are
42:32
Speaker 2: the guys I think I'm most, I think might have
42:36
Speaker 2: the most on the line heading into Thursday Night's game.
42:41
Speaker 2: Caleb Johnson, jaheem Bell, Roman Wilson.
42:45
Speaker 3: I think you'd be correct, Okay, I think I think
42:49
Speaker 3: that same guys, same guys, And like you said, I
42:53
Speaker 3: think because Kate Legion is a special list in this
42:59
Speaker 3: I think he has a very easier road to that position.
43:05
Speaker 2: And but I think he's I guess I'm thinking fifty
43:08
Speaker 2: three first Max, you know, because like what he does,
43:11
Speaker 2: he if he does what everyone expects him to do,
43:14
Speaker 2: which has become a really good kicking punt returnery, he's
43:17
Speaker 2: going to be dressed every single game.
43:19
Speaker 4: Correct.
43:20
Speaker 2: So then the question is what else can he do?
43:22
Speaker 2: Do we have a fourth specialist on our hands, right
43:25
Speaker 2: long snapper, kicker, punter Cayden Legion or can he be
43:30
Speaker 2: involved in the wide receiver group? And now maybe somebody
43:33
Speaker 2: else is pushed to you know, uh, somebody else who's
43:37
Speaker 2: not going to be active. I mean, you don't want
43:39
Speaker 2: to have to make that decision. You want to be
43:40
Speaker 2: able to have him. But that's for to me, for me,
43:43
Speaker 2: that's for another day. Yeah, that's for another day. And
43:45
Speaker 2: that's when we get to the dissemination of how we
43:48
Speaker 2: get to exactly right, which is the beginning of September.
43:51
Speaker 3: Beginning after the third preseason game.
43:53
Speaker 2: That's right when the guys get cut down and we
43:55
Speaker 2: start talking about who's on the roster and who's not,
43:58
Speaker 2: how how their roles are going to be determined. We
44:01
Speaker 2: did not get to the quarterback position, which I know
44:04
Speaker 2: everybody's looking at and of course we're looking at it too.
44:06
Speaker 2: We did not get to the offensive line position. We
44:09
Speaker 2: will get to that. We will get to the defense.
44:11
Speaker 2: We got as think we were talking about that. Yeah,
44:15
Speaker 2: but we're gonna get there too. We've got to doff
44:16
Speaker 2: with the cap because we have Max Starks here. So
44:19
Speaker 2: we're gonna do that tomorrow and and dig into that
44:22
Speaker 2: as we get you ready for the Thursday preseason game.
44:24
Speaker 2: Up next, it is uh the Drive, and it's going
44:28
Speaker 2: to be our friends West Uler and Matt Wimson.
44:30
Speaker 4: They'll take over for here, for Max Starks, for Justin Miller,
44:34
Speaker 4: the controls in our iHeart Studio. I'm Rob King. We
44:36
Speaker 4: thank you for being with us. In the locker room
44:38
Speaker 4: on the Steelers Audio Network,