January 28, 2025 • 25 mins
Labs and Tom discuss the comments made by Art Rooney II yesterday and then get into this weeks questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola Labs.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Art Rooney the Second spoke yesterday his annual meeting with
the media to kind of sum up how the season
went and fans have been voicing their frustrations since the
season ended. Mister Rooney said he is hearing those frustrations.
I think you said you should look at my inbox.
I'm I'm definitely hearing it. But we love to start
with the quarterback position on this show, Labs, and that's
(00:32):
a lot of the focus of what Art Rooney's discussion
was yesterday was finding that quarterback in the future of
Wilson or Fields with this team.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, I mean he used the word priority to you know,
dealing with the quarterback situation. He referred to it as
the quarterback room, which is now the you know, the
modern way of talking about a depth chart on a team.
You know, all three of those guys, Russell, Wilson, Fields
(01:02):
and Kyle Kyle come on help me with his k Yeah,
I thought it's you know, because I'm so the Buffalo Bills,
Josh Allen, I just I just lost the name.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That's all here for you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That's why you're right.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's the only reason why I'm here to remember, carry.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Me around, carry me around. That's your job, number one.
But they're all potential unrestricted free agents when the new
league year begins on Wednesday, March the twelfth, So you know,
you could be looking at a situation where, because free agency,
they could leave. You know, there's no way to hold
(01:44):
on to them short of putting the franchise tag on
and the number of the franchise tag number for quarterbacks
it's just ridiculous. So you know that's not going to happen.
So you're looking at a potential situation where you could
be remaking the have to start a quarterback a second
year in a row. So Art Rooney the second labeled,
(02:06):
you know, figuring that out a priority, and you know,
I I don't. I'm not surprised that he didn't say
which one, but he did say it's unlikely that both
of them would be back. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
He said he thinks both of them believe that they're
(02:27):
starters in the league, and so I don't think you
know that they want to be in the same kind
of situation. One is one and one is two that
they were in this past season, and you don't pick
one because you're nott to negotiate with them. So you
can't say, well, this is the guy I want because
then the price doubles. So you know, there's there's some
(02:53):
you know, conducting of business that needs to go on.
I know fans want you know, definitive answers and specific plans,
and they want it now. But you know, the off
season is a long time and you know, as I said,
the free agency doesn't even begin till March twelfth, Okay,
(03:13):
so that's six weeks away about where we are today Tuesday,
January twenty eighth, So you know, there's lots of time
to figure it out. But there's going to be a
lot of time spent on just making a decision on
one of those two guys and then you know, charting
the rest of the course of the position. You know,
(03:34):
Art even said, you know, he wouldn't rule out using
a draft pick this year. Next year, you know, however,
it might you know work out. So but yeah, quarterback
is a situation that he acknowledges is an area of
the team that needs to be dealt with, and as
(03:55):
I said, he used the word priority.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You know, and if you're a fan and you you know,
you read your right up on Steelers dot Com or
some of the other media members that were there for
this interview with Art Rooney. You know a lot of
the concerns that the fans have had after the season ended,
when the season was kind of going downhill towards the end,
Ar Rooney voiced those concerns as well. Quarterback position need
to figure that out wide receiver room needs to get better,
(04:19):
you know what I mean. He expressed disappointment when he
was asked about how his end of the season meeting
with Mike Tomlin went. I mean, aside from the fans
maybe wanted to move on from the head coach, I mean,
the owners pretty much right in lockstep with how you're feeling.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, And you know, and just for the defense, he said,
you know, we've got to be better against the run, right,
So you know that was another thing. Yeah, I mean yeah,
you know, So just just as a little bit of
an explanation, I mean, just for fans to know, Art
Rooney meets with Mike Tomlin and or Omar Kahan regularly
(04:57):
throughout the entire calendar. Year. So you know, sometimes it's
two of them in a meeting, sometimes it's three of
them in a meeting. But this is an ongoing thing.
These discussions are constantly being had, and so it's not
as if you know, Mike Tomlin hasn't set across the
(05:19):
desk or table from his boss, you know, since he
signed that contract contract extension right around one training camp opened.
I mean, as I said, these these issues, these matters
are dealt with, you know, regularly, plans, you know, not specific,
(05:39):
but I mean just as a keeping up with where
we are and different different things and suggestions and you
know that kind of stuff. So yeah, but Art Rooney
is not Art Rooney is a Rooney. He is not.
And his father wasn't like this, and his grandfather wasn't
(05:59):
like this. They're not going to say what everything that's
in their head when it comes to the business. I mean,
it's just not it's just not a savvy way to
approach things. I don't think. I mean, you know, sit
on with the CEO of Coca Cola and I mean
you think they're going to give you recipes for what
(06:20):
they might be changing, or products they might be introducing,
or products they might be discontinuing or prices they might
be raising. I mean, so sometimes I just think the
expectations from the outside are a little bit unrealistic in
terms of the right to know, because you know he's
(06:46):
not under subpoena during these sessions. Yeah, and you know,
as I said, putting all your cards out on the
table before it's time to do so, I just don't
think makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
No, it absolutely doesn't. But that being said, he still
gives you a lot of insight if you're a fan,
and a lot of stuff that you want to hear
from that owner. I think you can read Labs is
right up of that conversation with mister Rooney at Steelers
dot com if you haven't caught up with that just yet.
We're gonna get to our batch of questions today, though,
and we start with Dan Turk from Brielle, New Jersey,
(07:21):
who asks, I understand Russell Wilson is not in the
same class as the elite quarterbacks in the league, but
I'm not convinced he was the big problem on offense.
He had a weak receiving corps and terrible pass protection
at his age. Wilson is not the long term solution
but do you think he played poorly? How much responsibility
is this is his for the late year losing streak.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Well, you know, football is has been described as the
ultimate team sport, and you know the reason for that,
part partly is at least because you know, there's twenty
two players on the field for every snap of a game.
So you know each team has eleven guys out there.
So is there anyone in particular of those eleven for
(08:06):
each team, or of those twenty two for both teams
singularly responsible for the success or failure of a play
that could end up, you know, being the difference in
a game. I don't. You know, I don't think that
that's necessarily true. So the question, you know, how much
(08:27):
responsibility is due to Russell Wilson for the five game
losing streak. Well, you know, in football, especially at the
NFL level, the quarterback gets too much credit for the
wins and too much blame for the losses. I mean,
that's been the way it's been gone for generations. It's
part of that job. So you know, I wouldn't say
(08:50):
that Wilson was solely responsible, but I also wouldn't say
that he was without blame. I mean, you lose f
I've in a row, everybody's to blame in some way
or no one is blameless either. So only one quarterback
(09:11):
plays at a time, there's a lot of focus on
the position. He gets paid a lot of money. I mean,
that's why I think that a lot of the focus
was on the quarterback for that five game losing streak.
And since the quarterback was Russell Wilson, he took a
lot of heat.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Rick Gilliland from Wallace, North Carolina. I am hoping the
Steelers decide to go with Justin Fields as their quarterback
next year if they were to sign him soon. Are
the coaches allowed to start immediately with an intense offseason
program to improve his weak areas.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
No, there's rules within the collective Bargaining Agreement that outline
the length of the offseason program for players and also
what's allowed during each phase of that, you know, and
it kind of gradually rams up as the calendar advances
toward OTAs, which are in late May. So for the Steelers,
(10:04):
phase one of their offseason program cannot begin unto Lapril
twenty first, and there are very strict rules about what
is allowed on what is not allowed to happen during
that time. So yeah, I mean they can't. They can't
sign Justin Fields at the end of the day today
and have them working in the facility tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
But they can't sign him by the end of the
day today, correct, Like they are able to sign them
at any time right now. You don't have to wait
till March your league year to end anything.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Your own players. You have exclusive negotiating rights to them
with them up until the legal tampering position period. The
legal tamp erring period begins on March tenth.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Eric Hanson from Death Valley, California. How significant is it
that the Steelers did not score an opening drive touchdown?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
This season? Okay, I'm not gonna try to say that
not scoring a touchdown on the opening drive was meaningless,
but I think that it's more revealing in the sense
of a larger problem for the offense than that specific
(11:16):
thing being the problem. You know, we could look at
the seven game stretch that began on a Sunday night
against the New York Jets. Starting with that game than
the next seven games, the Steelers offense averaged twenty eight
point four points per game. At times, it was very
good running the ball. At other times it was dynamic
(11:39):
throwing the ball, and in none of those games did
the Steelers score touchdown on their opening drive. But you know,
you don't score a touchdown on the opening drive in
Cincinnati and you end up with forty four points in
five and twenty total yards. So what does it mean?
But you can look at other games where the offense
(12:00):
didn't score on the first possession, didn't hold up its
end in terms of putting forth a performance that was
good enough to win the game. But to me, the
issues went beyond just the first possession. So I think
that you got to kind of look at a lot
of the reasons for not only why they didn't score
(12:22):
in that first possession, but why you know, they didn't
perform well enough in games that they ended up losing
during the losing streak, so you know, not converting third downs,
you know, getting behind the chains, red zone failures, I
mean those kind of things. Why did they happen? I
(12:45):
think are trying to figure that out or is more
significant than just they didn't score a touchdown on the
opening possession.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Robert Snyder from Denton, Maryland. If the Steelers were interested
in moving up in the draft, to say the eight
or so to select a quarterback. Would trading George Pickens
in a number two pick be enough compensation? I understand
that it's all relative to what a team is willing
to give, but in general terms of what has been
dealt in the past, would it be reasonable.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
My opinion, the Steelers are well, this isn't my opinion.
The fact is, the Steelers have twenty first overall pick
in the first round of the upcoming draft. Okay, you
want to move from twenty first. The question said the
top eight. Okay, to get from twenty one overall to
(13:34):
eight overall, I think the compensation is multiple first round
picks to cost and then you go from there. Because
I don't think you know, two first round picks is enough.
You know you're gonna give You're going to trade to
move up from twenty one to eight. You're gonna give
your twenty first overall pick. I think you're gonna have
(13:56):
to give at least two more number one picks away
at least and maybe a player if you want to
get to eight. That's pretty high eight. So no, I
don't think trading George Pickens, and let's face it, he's
a wide receiver. There's a lot of wide receivers who
come into the draft every year and have success kind
(14:19):
of early in their careers, so there's a lot of those. Also,
Pickens is going into the last season of his rookie deal,
so there's no fifth year option with him because he
was a second second round pick. I don't see a
team making that deal. They would want a long term
(14:40):
agreement with Pickens beyond the twenty twenty five season. I
just I mean, I don't know that a team is
going to go to that effort for I'm not saying
George Pickens isn't any good, but again, eighth overall is
pretty high, so I don't think that's anywhere near enough.
(15:04):
A second round pick and a wide receiver going into
the last year of his rookie contract who's never made
the Pro Bowl. I don't see it.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, And your point about the draft classes every year
at the wide receiver position, I mean, if you're a
team pick an eighth overall, yeah, trade for George Pickens,
you have to immediately sign him to a lucrative contract,
or you draft a rookie and have four years plus
a fifth year option with that eighth overall pick. And
i'll really cost affordable player that could reach a Pro
Bowl before George Pickens did. I mean that's just the
(15:35):
way that those that position goes out of college now.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, or you know, eighth overall is also if you
want a dynamic defensive lineman, you know, or a corner, yeah,
corner right, yeah, so yeah, And as you mentioned, rookie
contracts are very reasonable for teams, and as a number
one pick, you have a guy for possibly five years.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Dan Toth from Anderson, South Carolina. The Steelers lack of
first down yardage seemed to make it difficult for them
to move the sticks and sustained drives. What do you
think they could have done differently to improve that?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Everything? Everything? No, you know, and I'm not being a
smart out for a change, are you right? Everything? I
mean execution of whatever was called the play selection, the
timing of what's called you know, when when an offense
finishes a season ranked in the top ten in just
(16:32):
one category, and that was the lowest percentage of passes intercepted.
The areas that could have yielded better results pretty much
cover everything. So yes, everything, And.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Our final question today comes from Gary Hopkins from Cincinnati Ohio.
So I just read that the Ravens are likely to
cut Mark Andrews loose should we take a run at him.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'll tell you what. If the Ravens would cut more
Andrews and he would be signed out of the division,
I think there would be three teams that would be
very happy about that. And if he was traded to
the NFC, I think that there would be a lot
of teams in the a FC happy about that. I mean,
(17:19):
you know, I just you know, I just read that
the Ravens are likely to cut Mark Andrews. Okay, where
did you read it? Who wrote it? I mean, there's
there's so much garbage out there social media, you know,
pseudo media, people who think their media offering opinions on
(17:42):
things or you know, and and those opinions become interpreted
as reports. I just don't put a lot of faith
or belief in it. I mean, you know, if you
want to blame or if you want to cut Mark
(18:03):
Andrews because you're blaming him for the loss to the
Buffalo Bills, or you want to blame Lamar Jackson for
that play because he didn't throw the ball in the
most catchable possible place for Andrews to make a catch
that he can and should have make in his sleep.
(18:27):
I'd point to the coach. You know, John Harbaugh created
that whole situation by needlessly going for two points late
in the third quarter. If you just kick the extra point,
then you cut Buffalo's lead to twenty one to twenty.
It was twenty one nineteen. He goes for two to
try for the tie, didn't make it, okay, So if
(18:51):
you kick that point after touchdown late in the third quarter,
then you don't have to go for two on that
late touchdown because all you need to do is kick
another extra point. You tie the game with ninety three
seconds remaining. So you know, sometimes I think that it's
(19:12):
it can be a coach's job to see around the corner.
You know. Don't get married to that analytics garbage, and
you know that that sheet that they give you. You know,
look at the game, do a little bit of fourth
grade arithmetic and figure it out. You know, because hey,
Sean McDermott, same thing, keep going, keep going for two
(19:34):
in the AFC Championship game when you really didn't need to.
Then you get down to the yet.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Same thing happened to the championship game.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I mean, all the people for screaming analytics. Oh, you
gotta do analytics, you gotta. The Ravens are so great
with analytics, this team so great with analytics. Well, this
is what you get sometimes with analytics. You know, it's
not an arithmetic problem all the time. You know, play
the sport. But hey, I'm an old man, Get off
(20:02):
my lawn, Calmas.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Well, maybe McDermott committed the original sin when it comes
to football, of taking points off the board going twenty
one to seventeen, then trying to get the two point
conversion because of the penalty the off sides on the chiefs.
I mean, just just say whatever to the refs and
say I'm taking twenty one seventeen into half. I'm happy
it's not twenty one to ten because it looked like
it was gonna be for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yep. So I mean, like I said, analytics, go for
it on fourth down because you make it fifty percent
of the time, whatever the number is. But you know
what that means. You don't make it fifty percent of
the time too.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I would just like to say this too, to Gary's question.
Mark Andrews had eleven touchdowns in six hundred and seventy
three yards this season. I'm not sure if one drop,
even though it was a very significant drop, undo undoes
the impact that he has for that team.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I mean, maybe you want.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
To cut him because you could save some cap space Labs,
and you got a guy like likely that can step
up to that role. But I wouldn't cut him because
he dropped the pass. I wouldn't do anything like, oh,
I can't trust this guy anym. He's been one of
your most trustworthy weapons for four or five.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Years, and you don't want to honk off the quarterback either.
Those guys loves Andrew right. Yes, they came into the
league together. They kind of grew into their roles together.
I don't think Lamar would be very happy with that,
and you know, I just I don't. I mean again,
I think that there would be if the Ravens would
(21:25):
do that, there would be three very happy teams in
the AFC North that they did, and I just don't
think it's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Well before we get out of here. Labs and NFC
Championship games happened on Sunday. They did not go the
way that we wanted them to, especially the AFC Championship game.
We proclaimed that this podcast was going to be a
Josh Allen Buffalo Bills podcast going into that game. They
fell short again. He's oh and four against the Chiefs,
oh and four against Patrick Mahomes in his career. Just
you can't get over that hump. And because of that,
(21:53):
we get Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl versus Philadelphia.
I'm sure Pittsburgh is doing backflips.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You know, you know, and don't let's not forget the
Saquon Barkley has proved definitively that nobody needs running backs anymore.
And you can't win the you can't win games, playoff
games in the NFL by running the football. So I'm
glad we got that right. I'm glad we got that
out of the way.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
It's amazing. He makes twelve point six million a year.
I saw stat that he like one hundred and eighty
five different players make more than him, and I don't
know if there's one more player that has bigger impact
than him.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
He's Seriously, it's the long runs, the home runs that
that guy hits. Just in the last couple of weeks
to me or just I mean, wow, is all I
can say what a weapon this guy is. And I
personally believe that of all of the the most difficult
(22:53):
play at the at the NFL level, the most difficult
play to execute, and I think the most potentially psychologically
damaging play to the opposition is a long run for
a touchdown because so many things have to be right,
(23:14):
so many people on the defense have to be defeated
in different ways, and you know, I don't. I just
think having a guy run through your defense for sixty
plus yards, watching it from the sideline or being part
of it on the field is a kick in the gut.
(23:35):
So but hey, unless Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts start
doing state farm commercials, I'm rooting for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I got to root for the Eagles too. Are
rivals from across the state who aren't really rivals because
they play in the NFC and we barely see them
once every what four years, So I'll swallow that. I'll
root for Philadelphia. Just can't do it again with the Chiefs.
Can't do it again with Mahomes and the Fumble Rooskie
and the bundle Rooskie and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey
and Reid. It's just it's it's overkill at this point.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, I mean, and you talk about two ends of
the spectrum. You have Taylor Swift and then a typical
Broad Street Eagles fan. You know, it's kind of the
opposite ends of the spectrum. I don't know. But anyway,
like I said, yeah, I and I don't know how
(24:37):
the officials are gonna react, you know, if the Eagles
would actually be in position to win that game. But
you know that's that's just me being cynical, and you know,
pointing out again that NFL officiating is inconsistent and arbitrary.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, the build up starts now two weeks to go
a little less than two weeks now until the Super
Bowl Chiefs versus Eagles in New Orleans Labs and I'll
be back next week talking a little bit more about
that Super Bowl matchup and of course answering your questions.
If you want a question answered on this program, get
them into Labs now and hopefully you'll be selected in
a future episode. Before Bob Labrielle, I'm Tom Opferman and
(25:18):
this has been another edition of Askeden Answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola Labs.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Art Rooney the Second spoke yesterday his annual meeting with
the media to kind of sum up how the season
went and fans have been voicing their frustrations since the
season ended. Mister Rooney said he is hearing those frustrations.
I think you said you should look at my inbox.
I'm I'm definitely hearing it. But we love to start
with the quarterback position on this show, Labs, and that's
(00:32):
a lot of the focus of what Art Rooney's discussion
was yesterday was finding that quarterback in the future of
Wilson or Fields with this team.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yeah, I mean he used the word priority to you know,
dealing with the quarterback situation. He referred to it as
the quarterback room, which is now the you know, the
modern way of talking about a depth chart on a team.
You know, all three of those guys, Russell, Wilson, Fields
(01:02):
and Kyle Kyle come on help me with his k Yeah,
I thought it's you know, because I'm so the Buffalo Bills,
Josh Allen, I just I just lost the name.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
That's all here for you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
That's why you're right.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's the only reason why I'm here to remember, carry.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Me around, carry me around. That's your job, number one.
But they're all potential unrestricted free agents when the new
league year begins on Wednesday, March the twelfth, So you know,
you could be looking at a situation where, because free agency,
they could leave. You know, there's no way to hold
(01:44):
on to them short of putting the franchise tag on
and the number of the franchise tag number for quarterbacks
it's just ridiculous. So you know that's not going to happen.
So you're looking at a potential situation where you could
be remaking the have to start a quarterback a second
year in a row. So Art Rooney the second labeled,
(02:06):
you know, figuring that out a priority, and you know,
I I don't. I'm not surprised that he didn't say
which one, but he did say it's unlikely that both
of them would be back. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
He said he thinks both of them believe that they're
(02:27):
starters in the league, and so I don't think you
know that they want to be in the same kind
of situation. One is one and one is two that
they were in this past season, and you don't pick
one because you're nott to negotiate with them. So you
can't say, well, this is the guy I want because
then the price doubles. So you know, there's there's some
(02:53):
you know, conducting of business that needs to go on.
I know fans want you know, definitive answers and specific plans,
and they want it now. But you know, the off
season is a long time and you know, as I said,
the free agency doesn't even begin till March twelfth, Okay,
(03:13):
so that's six weeks away about where we are today Tuesday,
January twenty eighth, So you know, there's lots of time
to figure it out. But there's going to be a
lot of time spent on just making a decision on
one of those two guys and then you know, charting
the rest of the course of the position. You know,
(03:34):
Art even said, you know, he wouldn't rule out using
a draft pick this year. Next year, you know, however,
it might you know work out. So but yeah, quarterback
is a situation that he acknowledges is an area of
the team that needs to be dealt with, and as
(03:55):
I said, he used the word priority.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You know, and if you're a fan and you you know,
you read your right up on Steelers dot Com or
some of the other media members that were there for
this interview with Art Rooney. You know a lot of
the concerns that the fans have had after the season ended,
when the season was kind of going downhill towards the end,
Ar Rooney voiced those concerns as well. Quarterback position need
to figure that out wide receiver room needs to get better,
(04:19):
you know what I mean. He expressed disappointment when he
was asked about how his end of the season meeting
with Mike Tomlin went. I mean, aside from the fans
maybe wanted to move on from the head coach, I mean,
the owners pretty much right in lockstep with how you're feeling.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, And you know, and just for the defense, he said,
you know, we've got to be better against the run, right,
So you know that was another thing. Yeah, I mean yeah,
you know, So just just as a little bit of
an explanation, I mean, just for fans to know, Art
Rooney meets with Mike Tomlin and or Omar Kahan regularly
(04:57):
throughout the entire calendar. Year. So you know, sometimes it's
two of them in a meeting, sometimes it's three of
them in a meeting. But this is an ongoing thing.
These discussions are constantly being had, and so it's not
as if you know, Mike Tomlin hasn't set across the
(05:19):
desk or table from his boss, you know, since he
signed that contract contract extension right around one training camp opened.
I mean, as I said, these these issues, these matters
are dealt with, you know, regularly, plans, you know, not specific,
(05:39):
but I mean just as a keeping up with where
we are and different different things and suggestions and you
know that kind of stuff. So yeah, but Art Rooney
is not Art Rooney is a Rooney. He is not.
And his father wasn't like this, and his grandfather wasn't
(05:59):
like this. They're not going to say what everything that's
in their head when it comes to the business. I mean,
it's just not it's just not a savvy way to
approach things. I don't think. I mean, you know, sit
on with the CEO of Coca Cola and I mean
you think they're going to give you recipes for what
(06:20):
they might be changing, or products they might be introducing,
or products they might be discontinuing or prices they might
be raising. I mean, so sometimes I just think the
expectations from the outside are a little bit unrealistic in
terms of the right to know, because you know he's
(06:46):
not under subpoena during these sessions. Yeah, and you know,
as I said, putting all your cards out on the
table before it's time to do so, I just don't
think makes any sense.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
No, it absolutely doesn't. But that being said, he still
gives you a lot of insight if you're a fan,
and a lot of stuff that you want to hear
from that owner. I think you can read Labs is
right up of that conversation with mister Rooney at Steelers
dot com if you haven't caught up with that just yet.
We're gonna get to our batch of questions today, though,
and we start with Dan Turk from Brielle, New Jersey,
(07:21):
who asks, I understand Russell Wilson is not in the
same class as the elite quarterbacks in the league, but
I'm not convinced he was the big problem on offense.
He had a weak receiving corps and terrible pass protection
at his age. Wilson is not the long term solution
but do you think he played poorly? How much responsibility
is this is his for the late year losing streak.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Well, you know, football is has been described as the
ultimate team sport, and you know the reason for that,
part partly is at least because you know, there's twenty
two players on the field for every snap of a game.
So you know each team has eleven guys out there.
So is there anyone in particular of those eleven for
(08:06):
each team, or of those twenty two for both teams
singularly responsible for the success or failure of a play
that could end up, you know, being the difference in
a game. I don't. You know, I don't think that
that's necessarily true. So the question, you know, how much
(08:27):
responsibility is due to Russell Wilson for the five game
losing streak. Well, you know, in football, especially at the
NFL level, the quarterback gets too much credit for the
wins and too much blame for the losses. I mean,
that's been the way it's been gone for generations. It's
part of that job. So you know, I wouldn't say
(08:50):
that Wilson was solely responsible, but I also wouldn't say
that he was without blame. I mean, you lose f
I've in a row, everybody's to blame in some way
or no one is blameless either. So only one quarterback
(09:11):
plays at a time, there's a lot of focus on
the position. He gets paid a lot of money. I mean,
that's why I think that a lot of the focus
was on the quarterback for that five game losing streak.
And since the quarterback was Russell Wilson, he took a
lot of heat.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Rick Gilliland from Wallace, North Carolina. I am hoping the
Steelers decide to go with Justin Fields as their quarterback
next year if they were to sign him soon. Are
the coaches allowed to start immediately with an intense offseason
program to improve his weak areas.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
No, there's rules within the collective Bargaining Agreement that outline
the length of the offseason program for players and also
what's allowed during each phase of that, you know, and
it kind of gradually rams up as the calendar advances
toward OTAs, which are in late May. So for the Steelers,
(10:04):
phase one of their offseason program cannot begin unto Lapril
twenty first, and there are very strict rules about what
is allowed on what is not allowed to happen during
that time. So yeah, I mean they can't. They can't
sign Justin Fields at the end of the day today
and have them working in the facility tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
But they can't sign him by the end of the
day today, correct, Like they are able to sign them
at any time right now. You don't have to wait
till March your league year to end anything.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Your own players. You have exclusive negotiating rights to them
with them up until the legal tampering position period. The
legal tamp erring period begins on March tenth.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Eric Hanson from Death Valley, California. How significant is it
that the Steelers did not score an opening drive touchdown?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
This season? Okay, I'm not gonna try to say that
not scoring a touchdown on the opening drive was meaningless,
but I think that it's more revealing in the sense
of a larger problem for the offense than that specific
(11:16):
thing being the problem. You know, we could look at
the seven game stretch that began on a Sunday night
against the New York Jets. Starting with that game than
the next seven games, the Steelers offense averaged twenty eight
point four points per game. At times, it was very
good running the ball. At other times it was dynamic
(11:39):
throwing the ball, and in none of those games did
the Steelers score touchdown on their opening drive. But you know,
you don't score a touchdown on the opening drive in
Cincinnati and you end up with forty four points in
five and twenty total yards. So what does it mean?
But you can look at other games where the offense
(12:00):
didn't score on the first possession, didn't hold up its
end in terms of putting forth a performance that was
good enough to win the game. But to me, the
issues went beyond just the first possession. So I think
that you got to kind of look at a lot
of the reasons for not only why they didn't score
(12:22):
in that first possession, but why you know, they didn't
perform well enough in games that they ended up losing
during the losing streak, so you know, not converting third downs,
you know, getting behind the chains, red zone failures, I
mean those kind of things. Why did they happen? I
(12:45):
think are trying to figure that out or is more
significant than just they didn't score a touchdown on the
opening possession.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Robert Snyder from Denton, Maryland. If the Steelers were interested
in moving up in the draft, to say the eight
or so to select a quarterback. Would trading George Pickens
in a number two pick be enough compensation? I understand
that it's all relative to what a team is willing
to give, but in general terms of what has been
dealt in the past, would it be reasonable.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
My opinion, the Steelers are well, this isn't my opinion.
The fact is, the Steelers have twenty first overall pick
in the first round of the upcoming draft. Okay, you
want to move from twenty first. The question said the
top eight. Okay, to get from twenty one overall to
(13:34):
eight overall, I think the compensation is multiple first round
picks to cost and then you go from there. Because
I don't think you know, two first round picks is enough.
You know you're gonna give You're going to trade to
move up from twenty one to eight. You're gonna give
your twenty first overall pick. I think you're gonna have
(13:56):
to give at least two more number one picks away
at least and maybe a player if you want to
get to eight. That's pretty high eight. So no, I
don't think trading George Pickens, and let's face it, he's
a wide receiver. There's a lot of wide receivers who
come into the draft every year and have success kind
(14:19):
of early in their careers, so there's a lot of those. Also,
Pickens is going into the last season of his rookie deal,
so there's no fifth year option with him because he
was a second second round pick. I don't see a
team making that deal. They would want a long term
(14:40):
agreement with Pickens beyond the twenty twenty five season. I
just I mean, I don't know that a team is
going to go to that effort for I'm not saying
George Pickens isn't any good, but again, eighth overall is
pretty high, so I don't think that's anywhere near enough.
(15:04):
A second round pick and a wide receiver going into
the last year of his rookie contract who's never made
the Pro Bowl. I don't see it.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, And your point about the draft classes every year
at the wide receiver position, I mean, if you're a
team pick an eighth overall, yeah, trade for George Pickens,
you have to immediately sign him to a lucrative contract,
or you draft a rookie and have four years plus
a fifth year option with that eighth overall pick. And
i'll really cost affordable player that could reach a Pro
Bowl before George Pickens did. I mean that's just the
(15:35):
way that those that position goes out of college now.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, or you know, eighth overall is also if you
want a dynamic defensive lineman, you know, or a corner, yeah,
corner right, yeah, so yeah, And as you mentioned, rookie
contracts are very reasonable for teams, and as a number
one pick, you have a guy for possibly five years.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Dan Toth from Anderson, South Carolina. The Steelers lack of
first down yardage seemed to make it difficult for them
to move the sticks and sustained drives. What do you
think they could have done differently to improve that?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Everything? Everything? No, you know, and I'm not being a
smart out for a change, are you right? Everything? I
mean execution of whatever was called the play selection, the
timing of what's called you know, when when an offense
finishes a season ranked in the top ten in just
(16:32):
one category, and that was the lowest percentage of passes intercepted.
The areas that could have yielded better results pretty much
cover everything. So yes, everything, And.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Our final question today comes from Gary Hopkins from Cincinnati Ohio.
So I just read that the Ravens are likely to
cut Mark Andrews loose should we take a run at him.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'll tell you what. If the Ravens would cut more
Andrews and he would be signed out of the division,
I think there would be three teams that would be
very happy about that. And if he was traded to
the NFC, I think that there would be a lot
of teams in the a FC happy about that. I mean,
(17:19):
you know, I just you know, I just read that
the Ravens are likely to cut Mark Andrews. Okay, where
did you read it? Who wrote it? I mean, there's
there's so much garbage out there social media, you know,
pseudo media, people who think their media offering opinions on
(17:42):
things or you know, and and those opinions become interpreted
as reports. I just don't put a lot of faith
or belief in it. I mean, you know, if you
want to blame or if you want to cut Mark
(18:03):
Andrews because you're blaming him for the loss to the
Buffalo Bills, or you want to blame Lamar Jackson for
that play because he didn't throw the ball in the
most catchable possible place for Andrews to make a catch
that he can and should have make in his sleep.
(18:27):
I'd point to the coach. You know, John Harbaugh created
that whole situation by needlessly going for two points late
in the third quarter. If you just kick the extra point,
then you cut Buffalo's lead to twenty one to twenty.
It was twenty one nineteen. He goes for two to
try for the tie, didn't make it, okay, So if
(18:51):
you kick that point after touchdown late in the third quarter,
then you don't have to go for two on that
late touchdown because all you need to do is kick
another extra point. You tie the game with ninety three
seconds remaining. So you know, sometimes I think that it's
(19:12):
it can be a coach's job to see around the corner.
You know. Don't get married to that analytics garbage, and
you know that that sheet that they give you. You know,
look at the game, do a little bit of fourth
grade arithmetic and figure it out. You know, because hey,
Sean McDermott, same thing, keep going, keep going for two
(19:34):
in the AFC Championship game when you really didn't need to.
Then you get down to the yet.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Same thing happened to the championship game.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I mean, all the people for screaming analytics. Oh, you
gotta do analytics, you gotta. The Ravens are so great
with analytics, this team so great with analytics. Well, this
is what you get sometimes with analytics. You know, it's
not an arithmetic problem all the time. You know, play
the sport. But hey, I'm an old man, Get off
(20:02):
my lawn, Calmas.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Well, maybe McDermott committed the original sin when it comes
to football, of taking points off the board going twenty
one to seventeen, then trying to get the two point
conversion because of the penalty the off sides on the chiefs.
I mean, just just say whatever to the refs and
say I'm taking twenty one seventeen into half. I'm happy
it's not twenty one to ten because it looked like
it was gonna be for a while.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yep. So I mean, like I said, analytics, go for
it on fourth down because you make it fifty percent
of the time, whatever the number is. But you know
what that means. You don't make it fifty percent of
the time too.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
I would just like to say this too, to Gary's question.
Mark Andrews had eleven touchdowns in six hundred and seventy
three yards this season. I'm not sure if one drop,
even though it was a very significant drop, undo undoes
the impact that he has for that team.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I mean, maybe you want.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
To cut him because you could save some cap space Labs,
and you got a guy like likely that can step
up to that role. But I wouldn't cut him because
he dropped the pass. I wouldn't do anything like, oh,
I can't trust this guy anym. He's been one of
your most trustworthy weapons for four or five.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Years, and you don't want to honk off the quarterback either.
Those guys loves Andrew right. Yes, they came into the
league together. They kind of grew into their roles together.
I don't think Lamar would be very happy with that,
and you know, I just I don't. I mean again,
I think that there would be if the Ravens would
(21:25):
do that, there would be three very happy teams in
the AFC North that they did, and I just don't
think it's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Well before we get out of here. Labs and NFC
Championship games happened on Sunday. They did not go the
way that we wanted them to, especially the AFC Championship game.
We proclaimed that this podcast was going to be a
Josh Allen Buffalo Bills podcast going into that game. They
fell short again. He's oh and four against the Chiefs,
oh and four against Patrick Mahomes in his career. Just
you can't get over that hump. And because of that,
(21:53):
we get Taylor Swift in the Super Bowl versus Philadelphia.
I'm sure Pittsburgh is doing backflips.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
You know, you know, and don't let's not forget the
Saquon Barkley has proved definitively that nobody needs running backs anymore.
And you can't win the you can't win games, playoff
games in the NFL by running the football. So I'm
glad we got that right. I'm glad we got that
out of the way.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
It's amazing. He makes twelve point six million a year.
I saw stat that he like one hundred and eighty
five different players make more than him, and I don't
know if there's one more player that has bigger impact
than him.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
He's Seriously, it's the long runs, the home runs that
that guy hits. Just in the last couple of weeks
to me or just I mean, wow, is all I
can say what a weapon this guy is. And I
personally believe that of all of the the most difficult
(22:53):
play at the at the NFL level, the most difficult
play to execute, and I think the most potentially psychologically
damaging play to the opposition is a long run for
a touchdown because so many things have to be right,
(23:14):
so many people on the defense have to be defeated
in different ways, and you know, I don't. I just
think having a guy run through your defense for sixty
plus yards, watching it from the sideline or being part
of it on the field is a kick in the gut.
(23:35):
So but hey, unless Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts start
doing state farm commercials, I'm rooting for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I got to root for the Eagles too. Are
rivals from across the state who aren't really rivals because
they play in the NFC and we barely see them
once every what four years, So I'll swallow that. I'll
root for Philadelphia. Just can't do it again with the Chiefs.
Can't do it again with Mahomes and the Fumble Rooskie
and the bundle Rooskie and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey
and Reid. It's just it's it's overkill at this point.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, I mean, and you talk about two ends of
the spectrum. You have Taylor Swift and then a typical
Broad Street Eagles fan. You know, it's kind of the
opposite ends of the spectrum. I don't know. But anyway,
like I said, yeah, I and I don't know how
(24:37):
the officials are gonna react, you know, if the Eagles
would actually be in position to win that game. But
you know that's that's just me being cynical, and you know,
pointing out again that NFL officiating is inconsistent and arbitrary.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Well, the build up starts now two weeks to go
a little less than two weeks now until the Super
Bowl Chiefs versus Eagles in New Orleans Labs and I'll
be back next week talking a little bit more about
that Super Bowl matchup and of course answering your questions.
If you want a question answered on this program, get
them into Labs now and hopefully you'll be selected in
a future episode. Before Bob Labrielle, I'm Tom Opferman and
(25:18):
this has been another edition of Askeden Answered
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