HR 2 - Mike DeFabo, Ask Mark Anything

Discussions on the MLB All-Star game, WNBA, and the Steelers. Mike DeFabo joins at the bottom of the hour.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
With Tommy Radio wherever the freak he is. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
We got to open phone lines, so doll a three
three four one two WSDX. I want to hear what
you think the pirates are gonna do and what you
think they're really gonna do. I hear all this fantasy
stuff like Mason Miller. They're not gonna get Mason Miller.
I don't think they have much of a chance to
be the highest bidder for a rawlest Chapman if Boston

(00:41):
does decide to make him available. Not unless you dangle
Cruise out there, and you'd want more than Chapman for cruise. Heck,
you'd want Miller for cruise. You'd have to give up
more than cruise four Miller. But you get the idea.
So what do you think they're really going to do.
I think the big move they can make right now

(01:03):
is to put Leginski in the rotation. And does that
mean you put Keller in the bullpen? Does he help there?
Does Bubba Chandler helping the bullpen? I don't know, but
I say again, the standing pat both internally and externally,
is a one way ticket to Pelukaville. It is a
quick path to narrowly missing the playoffs, and of course

(01:26):
claiming moral victory.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
G we tried really hard.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Here'r thoughts in any of your all of that eight
three three four one two WXDX. But I want to
talk Steelers a little bit before we talk Steelers a
lot with Mike Defabo of the Athletic at the bottom
of the hour, I talk to people you know that,
and I keep hearing more good things about McCarthy. I
keep hearing more good things about the coaching staff. I

(01:51):
keep hearing more good things about the changes McCarthy has made.
I keep hearing its intense. I keep hearing no time
gets wasted. I keep hearing the fat and bs have
been trimmed. I keep hearing stuff I like. Between all
that and my will Howard Switcherou that I think he

(02:14):
should be the number two guy. I can see the
reasoning behind that. Catt Rudolph Keeth, Will Howard. Between my
optimism about McCarthy and my Will Howard Switcherou, how you
like me?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Now?

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Wait, do you hear how many wins I predict? I
think you'll be surprised.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
A couple days ago, we talked about the poll of
NFL players top hundred players. They've done it for a
number of years. The players vote, you get a list,
because everything got to be a list. You get a
list of the top one hundred NFL players. And last
year Lamar Jackson was number two, and this year he
dropped all the way to number sixty nine. And now

(02:54):
the narrative is Lamar's going to have a chip on
his shoulder. Lamar's gonna be tough to handle because he
got dissed. I love when white people say disc like
they're in public enemy. What Lamar's gonna have a chip
on his shoulder because of a pull. Lamar Jackson had

(03:14):
a crap year. Last season, Baltimore missed the playoffs. Lamar's
been in the NFL eight years. Lamar's never won a
playoff game. Lamar's never won a Super Bowl. Lamar's never
been in a Super Bowl. And remember when he got drafted,
some said he should be a wide out and said
that he'd prove he wasn't a real quarterback in big

(03:38):
games against good teams. Remember when people said that when
Lamar got drafted out of Louisville, Heck, they said that
before he got drafted. Well, that crap has mostly happened
that he's never really become a real quarterback, and it
has been proven in big games against good teams. If
that doesn't put a chip on his show, I don't

(04:01):
think this player's paul is gonna do it. If I
got that much hight and that much money, I'd be
embarrassed if I never won. I'd be embarrassed to beat
Lamar Jackson. Heck, I'd be embarrassed to be TJ Watt.
The description applies to him as well. But don't worry, TJ.

(04:21):
If you're listening, I know you are, I know you
love me. Don't worry TJ. Mike McCarthy is gonna win.
Mike McCarthy's gonna make TJ. Watt look good. And Lamar
Jackson is going to miss the playoffs again. And one
thing that's happened with Lamar I touched on this early
in the week in an effort to lengthen his career.

(04:45):
His running attempts went way down last year. I know
he was hurt, only played thirteen games, but on a
per game basis, his running attempts went way down the minute.
Lamar Jackson's running attempts go way down.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
The minute. Lamar Jackson starts getting as many yards on the.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Ground as he had the middle, Lamar Jackson stops being
as good improvising as he has been. That's that much
less effective Lamar Jackson is.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
I think his windows closed.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
I think Baltimore is going to be the team that
don't make the playoffs in the AFC North, them in
Cleveland don't make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
I could be wrong, but I'm not.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Before I tell you about my trip to Columbus yesterday,
I listened to the Conan O'Brien Mick Jagger interview on
the way home on Sirius XM Conan Interview and Mike
it was really good.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'll talk more about that later.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
I've come to enjoy like three hour car rides because
the way you hear on the radio and the way
you get to kind of unburden yourself, the way you
get to think. But I want to solicit y'all to
call about Odell Beckham j saying one hundred million ein't enough.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
CJ. McCollum in the NBA saying.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
He's got fourteen brothers and sisters to take care of.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Oh wait, that's Sebastian Telfair.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Actually, how a million's not really a million your thoughts
on that? How do connected are these yokels from real life,
from real people like me and you? I mean, I
haven't made a lot more than five million in my lifetime,

(06:38):
and I live pretty comfortably and everything's paid for. How
could Odell Beckham Junior say one hundred million is not enough?
It was Sebastian Telfair with the fourteen brothers and sisters
who won't get jobs. It was Odell Beckham junior with
a mother who needs four million dollars a year for
living expenses. I get all this stupidity mixed up. Okay,
So I love Columbus. I love the Ohio State University campus.

(07:03):
I stayed right on it at a place called the Blackwell,
right across the street from the Horseshoe where ac DC played.
The Ohio State Campus has a great electricity. I watched
England play Argentina at a place called the Varsity Club,
great time, and boy did England screw the pooch?

Speaker 1 (07:24):
Boy did England screw the pooch. It's like.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Thomas Tukele, their German manager. It's like he was a
German saboteur, getting even for World War Two. He subbed
in defenders and parked the bus for the what last
thirty minutes, maybe way too early with a one nier lead,
and he picked the wrong team in the first place.

(07:48):
I mean the roster going in no Trent, no Foden,
no Palmer, no Slabhead. Maguire and Messi looked out of
gas most of the game. But then when England started
standing still to try to defend, try to clog everything,
he was able to find guys. He laid the game

(08:10):
winner on a plate easy header right in front of
the net, in the middle of all those defenders that
Einstein Tuckle subbed on for England. So good for me, Messi.
And if he wins a second straight World Cup at
thirty nine, mind you, he's the goat. He would end
the argument. Maybe he's ended the argument already. There's very

(08:33):
few goat discussions where the argument just doesn't exist, Like
the NBA. Lebron will never catch Jordan. He'shored himself out
too much. He's actually stayed around too long. He can
never top Jordan. Jordan's the goat, I would say will
Chamberlain's second. Actually, But if Messi wins a second straight
World Cup at age thirty nine.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
He's the goat.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Argument over the final between Spain and our Argentina on
Sunday is going to.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
Be a cracker.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
I got Spain, but I can change my mind between
now and then. You should come watch the game with me,
the super Genius, the soccer Genius at Pittsburgh Brewing Company
just off Rough twenty eight and Creighton. It's the biggest
game of the year in the world, all of sports.
And here's the selling point for Pittsburgh Brewing Company besides me,

(09:25):
besides Iron City on City, Light on City, Mango on tap,
their great distillery there. Pittsburgh Brewing and Creyton has the
biggest big screen TV ever. It is Las Vegas sportsbook
and casino quality. It's huge and the picture is bell clear.

(09:46):
So join me the super Genius, the Soccer Genius at
Pittsburgh Brewing Company in Creighton Sunday at three pm for
Spain versus Argentina. Getting back to my trip to Columbus
AC DC were good. They're old great riffs. Angus Young
once again, like he did in Pittsburgh, did a twenty

(10:07):
minute guitar solo which was once again sixteen minutes too long.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
He's a riff guy. He ain't Jimmy Paige.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Jimmy Page was a riff guy too, but Jimmy Paige
was everything twenty five minute days and confused caught me
in Angus twenty minute solo on let there be Rock.
I think I've done that for the last time. Let's
go real quick to Dan the Man, Dan, Real.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Quick, Dan the Man. Well, it says here, it says
here on my board, Dan the Man stand the man.
Latin gravitas, Latin gravitas.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Why does England have a German manager?

Speaker 3 (10:44):
There's not a guy. There's not an Englishman who could
coach that team.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Garasathg got him to the last two euro finals, into
the last World Cup semi and they got rid of him.

Speaker 1 (10:53):
They always, you know who they're like.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
England's football team is like is like Pitt athletics. They
always think they can do better, that the ceiling's higher
than it really is, except in the case of England,
the ceiling is really high and they betray it.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
That's an awful comparison for England, it really isn't it. Hey,
what do you think of all this smoke out here?

Speaker 5 (11:17):
Pretty smoky out here.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
I haven't been out where's the smoke from. You can't
see anything.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
The city is not visible.

Speaker 6 (11:24):
Mark, What are we doing here?

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Where there's smoke, there's fire. That's your cue.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
I thought you went to Columbia, not Columbus. It would
have been made for a better story.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Latin grabtok way up next.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
Angel reason the w NBA All Star Game because she's
the anti Caitlin. The fable at the bottom of the
hour one O five to nine.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
It's Madden on the X.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
The w NBA All Star Game is at the end
of the month, July twenty fifth.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
Can't wait. It's a pickup game. Teams were drafted.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
And Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese are on opposing teams
so Cark can get beat up some more in a
game that doesn't counts. Angel Reese should not be in
this game.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
She sucks, but.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Reez has to make it because she's the anti Caitlin.
But angely stinks. She got the touch of a blacksmith.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Klank klank.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
Angel Reese needs a welding torch out there.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Here is Harry Douglas on ESPN, and he's.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Got a crazy pick for his Super Bowl favorite in
the AFC.

Speaker 7 (12:51):
To win the Super Bowl Right now, my favorite is
the Los Angeles Rams, but I have the Baltimore Ravens
as my favorite to represent the AFC.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
In the Super Bowl.

Speaker 7 (13:00):
I think this is a year for Lamar Jackson, and
part of that is because I love the offensive.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
Coordinator that they brought over in Decklandle.

Speaker 7 (13:06):
You look at his background on who he's been able
to learn under Sean Payton and Denver Ben Johnson in Chicago,
so I think the offense is going to be cool
where I love Jesse Minter as a head coach. I
love the fact that he's able to get the best
out of players.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Uh Okay, the gibberish about the coach is dually noted.
Lamar Jackson is almost thirty and it's too late for
him to blossom or to learn how to actually play quarterback.
And now that he's not running the ball as much
or as well, his impact drops. Lamar Jackson will never

(13:45):
win a Super Bowl and Baltimore won't even make the
playoffs this year, let alone get to the Super Bowl.
As Harry Douglas sits muster only ESPN, nobody loves baseball
more than Bus and even Buster has his doubts about
the All Star game's future.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
Fragile.

Speaker 8 (14:08):
I think this Midsummer Classic is in a fragile state
right now, and there's a lot of concern within the
sport because so many players are opting out of the game,
whether it's to be scheduled in the final weekend on
Saturday and Sunday, making them ineligible pitch, or making the
choice not to pitch. I mean, in this All Star game,
Jacob Mazarowski, the guy everyone wants to see, he didn't pitch.

(14:29):
Paul Skins didn't pitch, Cam Slittler, Aaron Judge was not there,
Shoheo Tani was not there. At Citizens Bank Park last night,
a third of the stands had cleared out by the
eighth inning. That is a concern for baseball to address
as you move forward.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
That MLB All Star Game Tuesday, it was a terrible game.
It's supposed to be a showcase and all them stars
weren't there, and the Nationally got shut out on three
hits and there was only one extra base hit in
the entire game. It was non competitive and a waste
of time, and there's no definite way to make it

(15:09):
any different moving forward.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
It used to be a big deal to play in
the All Star Game.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
But now Skins and Miss they've barely been an MLB.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
And they didn't pitch no biggie and yeah they were there,
but who cares.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
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Speaker 1 (16:43):
You got a gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
Up next, we talk Steelers with Mike de Fable of
the Athletic.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
It's Madden on.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
The X Steeler train Steeler training camp not far off,
joining me now to discuss he covers the team for
the Athletic.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Always a pleasure to welcome Mike to FABO.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Mike, it's early days in the Mike McCarthy era, But
I am hearing nothing but good about McCarthy and his
entire staff.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
What like can you shed?

Speaker 3 (17:12):
Yeah, I would agree with you. I think one of the.

Speaker 9 (17:16):
Maybe like hidden values of hiring a coach who's sixty
two years old is that they have a big roll
of deex of coaches that have worked under them in
the past. And I think you just look at the
coaching staff that Mike McCarthy has assembled, and I think
in a lot.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
Of ways it's a lot stronger than the one that Mike.

Speaker 9 (17:32):
And that's one of the things that really I think
excites me most about the Mike McCarthy era is that
you've got more, you.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Know, defensive coordinator to be excited about. Some position coaches
to be excited about. So I think that's a hidden
value with McCarthy.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
What are the differences in his method that we've seen
so far? Mike acknowledging again that it's very early days,
because one thing I'm hearing is that Mike Tomlin wasted
a lot of time and McCarthy is very focused.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
He's trimmed the fat.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
Yet I would agree with that.

Speaker 9 (18:04):
I think you can tell that he is a third
time head coach. He has a method and approach to
how he does things. I mean, he had a meeting
with all the Beat reporters during the combine and he
was laying out specifically, on this day, I do this,
on this day, I do this, And I think you're
seeing that even within his practice, some of the players TJ.
Watt mentioned, you're not going to notice benches around. Guys

(18:27):
aren't just sitting around there, moving constantly, and specifically with McCarthy,
he is incredibly hands on when it comes to the
quarterback position. You see him working in extreme detail with
guys like Drew Aller and Will Howard, and I think
that's only going to benefit the Steelers. I think that
one of the reasons they're in this position is because
they cannot identify, draft and develop a quarterback. I don't

(18:50):
know that I have any more faith than Will Howard
or Drew Aller being the guy, but I have faith
that Mike McCarthy can help them get out of that
by identifying that person, then draft and then developing them.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
How much better is Mike McCarthy's staff and how and
who for that matter, Mike who stands out?

Speaker 1 (19:05):
It's not a bunch of yes men. I'm guessing.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Right.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
You know one thing, I think one of the biggest ones.

Speaker 9 (19:13):
Would be James Campon the offensive line coach. So basically
you have to look at it. Last year the Steelers
had Matt Canada's lane duck offensive line coach. And now
you go to a guy in James Campen who has
taken several Day two and Day three picks and turn
them into Pro Bowlers. And he is a guy that
played offensive line at the highest level in the NFL,

(19:35):
and he knows what he's doing. And because the Steelers
took this approach where they've invested so heavily into the
offensive line, they in turn have made the offensive line coach,
one of the most important people in the entire organization.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
And you see other teams.

Speaker 9 (19:52):
Like the Eagles, where you know the their offensive line coach,
Jeff Stoutland. He makes I think four million dollars or
more because they understand that that position coach can make
such a massive difference throughout the entire offense and throughout
the entire team.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
So I think that that's a big one. The other
one that I'm excited about is the defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham.

Speaker 9 (20:13):
You know, in years past, I think that Mike Tomlin's
defense got stale. I think that they was a bit
antiquated in parts, it was a bit predictable, and you've
heard people throughout the league.

Speaker 3 (20:23):
You know a lot of these.

Speaker 9 (20:24):
Former Patriots guys that are now talking heads in the media,
they love to bash Tomlin in his scheme. And Patrick
Graham is in an interesting position because you look at
the raw numbers of what his defenses did with the
Raiders and you're not too overly impressed, but he has
an incredibly strong reputation throughout the league and he now
steps into a big part of it is because it

(20:46):
was an undermanned defense and he steps into a situation
where last year the Steelers spent forty five million dollars
more on defense than the Raiders did last year.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
So he's a.

Speaker 9 (20:55):
Guy that did a lot with a little with the Raiders.
Now you give him a lot, and the question is
how how high can this ceiling be and how close
can he get this defense to playing, you know, up
to up to his paycheck, which is something that they've
not always done.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
How will the defense actually change, Mike? What's going to
be the most visible in that regard?

Speaker 9 (21:18):
Well, one thing that Patrick Graham does is he's really
big into max pressures and simulated pressures, and those kind
of go hand in hand. So his actual blitz rate
is low, but when he does choose to blitz, he
brings the house okay, And because he's bringing these seven

(21:38):
man pressures, the offense has to respect that, and in turn,
then he's really good at showing a seven man presentation
for line of scrimmage and then dropping guys out. And
he was really good at basically manufacturing one on one
situations for Max Crosby, or manufacturing free rushers, or just
dictating matchups because the whole idea of the simulated pressures

(22:01):
is that you might be showing a max blitz and
then you only rush for then you've got a couple
offensive linemen who are blocking air and TJ. Watt one
on one against the tackle, or you have TJ. Watt
dropping into coverage and you've got again two guys blocking air.
So you know, that's I think one thing you'll see
in terms of what will be the same. The Steelers

(22:23):
have predominantly been a single high safety team, at least
over the last couple of years. That has been Patrick
Graham's approach, but he does it a little bit differently.
He prefers to play much more zone coverage, where Mike
Tommin was near the top of the league in man coverage.
So you're going to see a shift more towards zone probably,
which falls in lines with league trends.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
That's what the way that most people are doing it.
And more than that, not just.

Speaker 9 (22:47):
The coverages that the type of coverages, but the coverage disguises.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Are going to be there, which is really the most
important thing.

Speaker 9 (22:53):
Mixing and matching your coverages and changing the picture for
the quarterback after the snap, where the Steelers might show
like they have a closed post safety in the middle
of the field and then ultimately roll their safeties and
go into an open post with two high safeties or
vice versa starting a too high shell, drop one of
those safeties down and be in a single high safety.

(23:15):
So I think, you know, to sum it up, you're
going to see different types of pressure. Simulated pressures and
more coverage disguise as are going to be two of
the main things you see from Patrick Graham.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Now what the athletic Mike You talked about the second
year defensive tackle Derek Harmon having the potential for a
breakout season.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
What are your expectations for him and why?

Speaker 9 (23:36):
You know, I think when he was healthy, I think
that he played up to the level of a first
round pick. And you look at the difference between when
he was on the field versus when he was injured
in terms of the running game, and you know, I
think it was something like the Steelers gave up one
hundred and twenty six yards per per game on the
ground when Harmon was injured in around ninety yards per
game whenever he was in in those games.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I think you see just watching him practice and watching.

Speaker 9 (24:00):
Him in games, I mean, he has incredibly quick hips,
he has very strong hands, and so really the.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Question is can he stay healthy and then the.

Speaker 9 (24:08):
Next part of his game is can he add some
more pass rush juice. You know, when he was coming
out of Oregon, he led all interior defensive linemen at
the college level in pressures as during his last year
at Oregon, and that didn't always translate in the NFL immediately.
So one interesting thing the Steelers are doing is they're
having him work with the outside linebackers coach cj Ajo,

(24:30):
and they're hoping to add some more moves to his
repertoire and then also just kind of refine his approach
and his pass rush plan. But I just think that,
you know, he was injured in training camp last year.
He had to fight back from that injury. You know,
there was a personal situation which unfortunately, you know, he
lost his mother on Draft night, which had to have

(24:51):
been incredibly hard on him to deal with, just you know,
months into his NFL career.

Speaker 3 (24:58):
And so now I think to just.

Speaker 9 (25:00):
A year later, hopefully being fully healthy, I think that
he really has the potential to take off and be
an impactful player for the Steelers in a variety of
different situations, whether that's their base defense or in sub packages.
You know, I think that he's going to be a
versatile and effective defensive lineman.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Now I want to get back to the quarterback position
because I am obligated by FCC regulation and I believe
the Supreme Court to talk about the Steelers quarterback is.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
The number two QB job Will Howard's to lose.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
I'm kind of getting that impression more and more, how
about you.

Speaker 9 (25:34):
You know, Initially, the way that I looked at it
was it was a competition between Will Howard and Mason Rudolph.
The more I think about it, I think it might
be a competition between Will Howard in a competent number
two quarterback. I mean, realistically, you could come out of
training camp feeling like Mason Rudolph is the better quarterback now.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
But as long as you feel okay with Will Howard.

Speaker 9 (25:56):
And feeling like he's shown you enough that he's worth
developing and.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
He's could go in and.

Speaker 9 (26:05):
Manage a game if Aaron Rodgers were to get injured,
I just feel like Mike McCarthy is going to bet
on himself. Mike McCarthy bet on himself by drafting Drew
Aller and taking a guy that is raw but has a.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
High ceiling and believing he can unlock it.

Speaker 9 (26:20):
I think in a similar way, Will Howard represents the unknown.
He is the box of mystery. You kind of know
what you have in Mason Rudolph. So I could see,
you know, you know, Mike McCarthy going that direction.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
But you know it's gonna be interesting because.

Speaker 9 (26:38):
Really, Will Howard has proven very little.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
At the NFL level to this point. He got injured
in training camp last year. He barely practiced during the
season once it began.

Speaker 9 (26:48):
So I mean, he still has to go out and
prove to you and and make you feel confident.

Speaker 3 (26:53):
But he's going to probably start.

Speaker 9 (26:55):
I would expect him to start as QB two on
the depth chart, taking those second team reps during training camp,
and it's a matter of can he hang on to
that position.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
How will the offense uh actually change?

Speaker 2 (27:09):
What will be the most visible on that side of
the ball.

Speaker 9 (27:14):
Well, you know, I don't know. I don't know that
it's going to be dramatically different just because the quarterback
is the same. So I think that you know, last
year the formula was get the ball out of Aaron
Rodgers hands faster than anyone else, throw it shorter than
anybody else, and rely on yards after the catch. You know,
that's what worked with Aaron Rodgers because he was forty
two years old and he's not the same mobile athlete

(27:37):
that he once was. But also some of those things
that I just mentioned are core principles within the West
Coast offense, and Mike McCarthy is a West Coast believer.
So I still think that you're going to see an
offense that relies a lot on quick game, a lot
on getting the ball out of Rogers hands, a lot
on Aaron Rodgers, you know, identifying coverages and tendencies before

(27:59):
the snap, getting the Steelers into the right play, getting
the ball out of his hands, getting it to his playmakers.
What I wonder is will they be able to dial
up some more explosives.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
You know, they did not attack down the field very
much last year. They did not create a ton of
explosive plays.

Speaker 9 (28:15):
And so I think it's going to be about methodically
finding ways to make that happen.

Speaker 3 (28:19):
And some of that might be by running the ball
a little bit more, running the ball a little bit more.

Speaker 9 (28:23):
Effectively, taking more calculated risks downfield, and then within game planning,
I think too. I think the Steelers could have done
a little bit of job opponents specific figuring out some
tendencies and figuring out things. So I think those will
be some some of the the anchor points of this offense.
I also just think that last year the Steelers had

(28:45):
DK Metcalf a big gap and everybody else. I think
that having Michael Pittman junior, having Jeremy Bernard, I think
that's going to support DK Metcalf so that you know,
if the opponent chooses to send so much coverage DK
Metcalf's way. I think this Dealers will have that number two,
that number three options, something that they didn't always have
last year.

Speaker 2 (29:05):
The weird component to the switch to McCarthy that I
can't quite figure. I don't see Darnell Washington is a
good fit for what McCarthy does. I see Friarmouth is
a far better fit. But I also hear that McCarthy
really likes Washington.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
Yeah, and I think that Aaron Rodgers likes Washington as well.

Speaker 9 (29:25):
I mean, you know, Dornell Washington came into the league
with this pass catching ability.

Speaker 3 (29:30):
It's always been there.

Speaker 9 (29:31):
It was something that he showed at Georgia, you know,
and I remember his first training camp, you know, in
the seven Shots drill, one of like his very first
practices making these incredible one handed spinning catches. He's always
had the hands, but it took a guy like Aaron
Rodgers who he came in and he was like, this
guy reminds me of Mercedes Lewis, and he saw him

(29:52):
as a great weapon for him, especially in the red zone. So,
you know, I think they still will find a role
for uh Donald Washington. I think he's going to continue
to grow within within his role as a pass catcher.
We know he's a dominant blocker, but I guess the
question is, you know, historically Mike McCarthy has leaned more

(30:14):
towards that eleven personnel, and that tight end has needed
to be a friar mouth, you know, a guy who
is a good enough blocker but also is a threat
as a pass catcher. And you just wonder, you know,
Donah Washington's route tree is not the same as Pat
fryar Mooth's and so that's really the disconnector the area

(30:35):
that you're concerned with is like when they have uh
Donah Washington in the game, they probably are not going
to be running the exact same type of concepts. And
if Donald Washington is the loan tight end, which I
think is going to happen more often than it did
in years past where he was typically you know, the
second guy in twelve personnel.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
You know, what does his role end up becoming?

Speaker 1 (30:58):
What is the.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
Biggest position battle with camp in the biggest roster spot battle?

Speaker 9 (31:06):
You know, I think that the position battle probably the
quarterback just because you know, that's the headline the QB
two and they the winner gets QB two and the
spot on the fifty three man roster.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
The loser probably falls out of it.

Speaker 6 (31:19):
You know.

Speaker 9 (31:19):
Another position battle, though, to keep an eye on, would
would be that inside linebacker next to Patrick Queen, you know,
especially in the base defense. They signed Malie Harrison last
year thinking he could be the replacement to Aaron or
to a Landon Roberts, and he did not perform like
they had hoped. And I would expect cool Hulkom to

(31:41):
get a legitimate shot to be the starting inside linebacker
in the base defense. At the same time, he's also
just a couple of years removed from that gruesome knee
injury and at least to some degree, he's not the
same mobile athlete that he once was, and so, you know,
I wonder how the Steelers really feel about their options
at that position, you know. And Peyton Wilson, as much

(32:05):
as I like him as a sub package guy and
I like his coverage ability and his speed and his
fearless instincts, you know, I don't think that he's performed
especially well in the base defense.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
He's not the thickest guy.

Speaker 9 (32:17):
I think he struggles getting off of blocks and making
tackles in the run game. And so I think that
that could be a position that I think if the
Steelers are able to upgrade in some way, if they
if there's another team to cut somebody and inside linebacker
at the end of training camp, I think that could
be an area that they seriously look at. The other

(32:39):
thing I'm looking at is, you know, that third wide
receiver position. Because Arthur Smith was his tight end centric offense.
I think they were an eleven personnel like thirty five
percent of the time. McCarthy, it's going to be around
sixty five and seventy percent of the time. And so
what that means is this third wide receiver goes from
a rotational guy to a starter. And right now, whether

(33:03):
people want to hear it or not, if you show
up to La Trobe day one, I'm telling you right
now that Roman Wilson is going to be that third
wide receiver in eleven personnel. And really the question is
how long can he keep that until Jeremy Bernard starts
pushing him for that job. And it's really a make
or break time for Roman Wilson. If he's going to
make anything of his career at this point, he has

(33:25):
to take full advantage of this opportunity he's being given.
And and so for that reason, I'm just wonder like,
how quickly can Jeremy Bernard get up to speed?

Speaker 3 (33:35):
And is this the year that for Roman Wilson it
finally clicks.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Mike, great stuff, great coverage at the Athletic. Look forward
to talking.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
To you again.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
All right, sounds good, Mark, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
That's Mike Defaybo. Now it's time to ask Mark anything
A three three four one two wxdx eight three three
four one two.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
W xdx or leave a talkback via the microphone icon
at the iHeartMedia app.

Speaker 6 (34:01):
One nine.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Not to ask Mark anything.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Brought to us by people's natural gas, say reliable natural
gas energy. That's People's hyphengas dot com eight three three
four one two w xdx. The number to call, that's
eight three three four one two w XDX. Get your
calls in now and go one on one with the
great one.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
The fabo was good.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
I just I don't see how Washington gets used much
in the McCarthy offense. But yet I've heard McCarthy likes him.
I think Friar Moose a great fit. I think far
Moo's career and his stats will skyrocket under McCarthy in
that offense. I just don't see the fit for Washington.
We don't see much too tight end from McCarthy. Hell,

(34:52):
let McCarthy decide. I got faith in him. I think
Washington's just a fat kid. I think he's a tackle
dressed up as a tight end. That number again, eight
three three four one two w x d X. Let's
go to dot dot your own double m Hi, Hi,

(35:14):
what is your favorite dog breed?

Speaker 1 (35:17):
My favorite dog breed? That's a good question. What's yours?

Speaker 6 (35:21):
The Australian Shepherd.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Well, that's pretty exotic for me. Uh My my favorite
is a kid. My dog was a beagle mix. I've
always felt uh, beagles were very people friendly, had that
kind of hangdog look with the floppy years. So I'm
a beagle guy. I also like Golden Retrievers. Okay, what

(35:45):
kind of dog do you have?

Speaker 6 (35:48):
Corgi?

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Corgy?

Speaker 2 (35:50):
And that's not your favorite? Your your your dog should
be your favorite.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Thanks your reason up on me, But thanks for the call.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
Uh eight three three four one two WXDX is the
number to call?

Speaker 1 (36:08):
You know what is funny?

Speaker 3 (36:09):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (36:09):
I don't take many calls on the show anymore, but
you know how you get calls? Should they trade this guy?
Should they trade that guy? Will they get this guy?
Will they get that guy?

Speaker 1 (36:19):
Trade? Trade?

Speaker 2 (36:20):
Trade, sign signed signed firefirefire, hyperbolic absolutes.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
That's no fun for me. It's not interesting for me.
Maybe it is for you.

Speaker 5 (36:29):
Let's go to a talkback, hey, Mark, who was better?
And who did you like more? Michael Owen or Robbie Fowler.
I was always a big fan of the Prodigal Son.
What say you?

Speaker 2 (36:44):
Uh? Two great Liverpool strikers. I can't say I had
a favorite. That's like picking between your kids. I thought
Robbie Fowler had a bit more charisma and scored just
spectacular goals and when he got hot, it was tough
to imagine any striker in Liverpool history being hotter. Uh,
I mean most solid, more of a wing, I mean Suarez,

(37:06):
my god. But but Mike Alan was such a technician,
and like Fowler, came to the front as a big
time goalscorer very early in his career.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
So I can't pick between the two.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
I'm just glad both played for my team, and then
I got to see both of them.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
Play eight three three four one two w xdx the
number to call.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
I'm going to talk a little bit about the Spies,
which I didn't watch, but I read the round up.
I saw a few things on YouTube, a few things,
some highlights on Sports Center. I hate the SPI's it's
just ESPN self congratulatory weekly program. We'll get to that

(37:55):
and a minute, let's go to Seth, Seth your own
double m sir.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
I said, good day.

Speaker 4 (38:03):
What are your thoughts on the Pens cutting ties with
the Nailers.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, people are upset about that.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Dan Kinkerski, who I like rice for Pittsburgh Hockey now,
said this was an unforecedareer by the Hoffmans. I couldn't
possibly disagree more, what were the Hoffmans supposed to do
they own a DOUBA team an ECHL team in Florida.
Should they have maintained the expense of their team in
Florida but also had an affiliation with Wheeling?

Speaker 1 (38:31):
What sense would that make?

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (38:35):
No, I wasn't sure the details.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
I mean, you said, do you think it's a big deal?
I don't. No.

Speaker 4 (38:43):
The only I mean, and it's not like travel really
is even a factor, because there's some affiliates in baseball
that they're not even close to the right of the
main city, So you know, even that, I don't know.
It's probably just people being mad to be mad. But
how long were they even affiliated with the Penguins?

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Oh, for for a long time, decades, I think. I'm
not sure exactly. But the point is the Penguin's owners
own an EHL team in Florida, what logically should they
have done besides what they did? Thank you for the call, Seth.
Let's go to Jeb Jabaron with double M.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
Jeb. You're on with Mark, Mark, Yeah, you're on, Jeb.

Speaker 6 (39:29):
Go it's actually have Premieeresville.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Mark.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
I just wondered if you were a fantom amotile sound. Yeah,
A big time fan all the Barry Gordy stuff like Temptations,
four Tops, especially the Temptations, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, the
Miracles too, but the Temptations just I don't know, they're
they're the way their voices fit, the way they differed,

(39:55):
but fits the way they harmonized, the way they intertwined.
I don't think anybody from Motown was better than the Temptations,
although the female version of that was Diana Ross and
the Supremes, and you could make the argument that Temptations
were the male version of the Supremes because just just
incredible output.

Speaker 6 (40:17):
Yes, and I'm a four Talks fan myself, and I
love Diana Ross and I just want to say hi
to Clipper.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Look, Kipper, let's go to Rick Rick. You're on with
Double M.

Speaker 6 (40:29):
Hey, Mark, I wanted to get your opinion about what
Mick Jagger said on the Conan podcast about like he
only hangs out with people that are in the industry.
I thought it was very true and very understandable. I
just wanted to get your.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
Take on it.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
I actually thought it was something very telling I heard
the interview.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
I don't think Mick said he only hangs out with
people in the industry.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
I think he might have said that primarily.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
So because it's the most comfortable for him that only
people in his industry can understand.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
And I agree with that. I mean, I don't.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Only hang out with people in my industry, but I
really don't hang out with hardly anybody but people, Like
some people have the stupidest assumptions about my job that
it's really hard to swallow when you discuss it.

Speaker 6 (41:17):
I thought it was very telling them, and I thought
it was something that was like totally understandable, Like I
was like, Okay, that's fine, that's all you want to
hang out with. I mean, but now I'm not saying
it's only the people he hangs out with. I'm sure
there's other people that I find. I think it happens
in any business.

Speaker 2 (41:31):
I found his talk about his friendships with Bowie and
John Lennon to be very revealing.

Speaker 6 (41:37):
And that he didn't want to meet Elvis either.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
I thought that was yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
John Lennon advised Mick did not meet Elvis, and Mick
said he listened to Lennon and regrets it now. And
he said that he and Bowie were close but were
always competitive with each other, and that Bowie brought that
out a Jagger because Bowie was the more competitive the two. Again,
I'm gonna, uh, just a fascinating interview with with with

(42:00):
Mick Jagger, performed by Conan O'Brien.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
Thank you for the calls.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
Alrighty, what do we got next? Oh, I get mad
at somebody like I always do, and I'll talk a
bit more about the s p's