October 7, 2025 • 21 mins
Labs and Tom recap the action from around the AFC North this weekend before getting to this weeks questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upperman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well, Abs, you really couldn't have scripted that any better.
As far as the Steelers bye week is concerned, Cleveland
Brown's loss, Cincinnati Bengals loss, and perhaps the sweetest one
of all, a forty four to ten loss by the
Baltimore Ravens at the hands of the Houston Texans. So
you're sitting on your couch if you're the Steelers coaches
and players and you gained a half game on everybody
(00:31):
in the division. Can't go any better than that.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, it's it was. It worked out pretty well. I mean,
you know, the Ravens, I love what to say. It's
it's you know, they have a lot of injuries. I
get it, you know. And just so you know, a
lot of Steelers fans don't want to hear injuries. You know,
(00:56):
they start screaming, next man up. You know, the standard
is the standard, all that stuff, But every every roster
in the NFL has a breaking point. It can only
absorb so many injuries, and then you know, it's it's
not like a college team where you have one hundred
guys in uniform on the sideline every every game day.
So yeah, the Ravens injury situation is alarming. I don't
(01:20):
know how long a lot of those guys are out
in the NFL. You really only have to kind of
declare that kind of stuff one week at time. But
their defense was awful when everybody was healthy. You know,
their defense is awful. It just is, yes, Uh, and
I don't know what the answer is. You know, it does.
(01:47):
I'm not It's not keeping me awake at night trying
to figure out, you know, what their answers are. But
that's a that their defense is a problem. Uh. They
can get Lamar Jackson back and all that kind of stuff,
but you know, their pass rush is bad, their secondary
is bad, and you know that. Let's the Texans. They
(02:12):
they were one and three going into that game, and
it was in Baltimore. I mean, you know, it was
twenty four to three at halftime, and I'm thinking another
Ravens may make a run or something. The Texans scored
twenty more points in the second half. So yeah, that
(02:35):
was that's that's that's, you know, gleefully a bad situation
for the Ravens right now. The Bengals, you know the Bengals,
they built their team. It's quarterback heavy and wide receiver heavy.
They paid a lot of money to the quarterback and
(02:57):
those two wide receivers, Jamar Chase and t Higgins. You lose,
you lose Burrow. That's they're they're in. They're in a
bad spot. I don't I don't, and I don't know
that the Bengals are the kind of franchise that's going
to want to spend a lot of money to try
(03:20):
and quote unquote fix the quarterback situation. Jake Browning is
an interception machine, and you know it amuses me. You know,
they can trade for Kirk Cousins. They can do this,
They can do you know all of these closet GM's
out there in in cyberspace. But I don't know that
(03:43):
Mike Brown wants to pick up Kirk Cousins' contract because
he's still paying Burrow and Jamar Chase and Higgins and
Trey Hutchinson. Let's not forget him either. So you know,
I don't know what their immediate plan is or solutions
might be. The Browns. I think that the Browns they
(04:05):
did the right thing by making the quarterback move. You know,
now We'll just see how Dylan excuse me, Dylan Gabriel
develops here over the next few weeks. So, I mean
it's the quote the great Juju Smith Schuster. The Browns
is the Browns.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The Browns is the Browns Labs, There's no doubt about that.
But they're a bit of a feisty bunch this year.
I mean, you can't just sleep walk through the Browns.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The defense is really good. Oh yes, And I think
that's a concern for the Steelers obviously. The Sunday is
the Browns come to Acrocuer Stadium, is you know they've
given up points, Don't get me wrong. You look at
the game they played against the Lines, the game they
played against the Ravens. Those got out of hands, but
out of hand. But they beat the Packers thirteen to ten.
You know, they held the Vikings down defensively, Like if
(04:54):
you allow yourself to get into a game with the Browns,
they'll oblige.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, That's that's very very well put. And I'm not
and I don't believe also that the Browns are built
in a way that would allow you to take a
quick thirty to nothing lead unless the quarterback just you know,
loses his mind and is turning it over everywhere because,
(05:18):
as you mentioned, they have a good defense, and that
defense can keep them around. So, you know, I think
the thing when you're playing the Browns is don't help
them turnovers. Yeah, you know, stupid stuff, you know, don't
kick your own butt, and you should be able to
(05:38):
beat them because I think that, you know, offensively they
are a little bit deficient. If you can, if you
can cover David and Joku. You know, I don't know
what else they really have in terms of a receiving option.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I don't either. That'll be the Steelers game, as
I mentioned on Sunday at Akroscher Stadiums. He has returned
from there by to face off against Cleveland and the
AFC North opener. Before we get to that, though, we
have a bunch of questions that we have to answer
from Steelers Nation. So let's start with Liam Boyd from Boonsboro, Maryland,
with an aging starting quarterback on a one year deal.
Do you see a first round selection at quarterback in
(06:16):
the twenty twenty six NFL Draft three and one first
place of the AFC North. Let's get to the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Right, and not just get to the draft, I mean,
what position. Thank you Liam for not asking me which
quarterback it's going to be, because at this point, the
only thing I would say is it's not going to
be arch Manning.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Oh abs reijistically recalibrating some of the analysis on him, huh,
some of the prognostication on him.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, way way too early, you know, way too early.
But you know, certainly the current circumstances, as Liam outlies
outlined them, an aging starting quarterback, he's on a one
year deal. And Aaron Rodgers said, you know, this might
be it, or however he phrased it, kind of indicating
I thought that you're telling the Steelers you know, this
(07:12):
is a this is a one year arrangement. So yeah,
that's certainly a possibility. And you would look at the
way the Steelers have been stocking draft picks pointing towards
twenty twenty six, what we all thought was going to
be a quarterback rich draft pool in twenty twenty six.
All of those would point to, you know, the Steelers
(07:35):
being in that market. But it's way early. You know
who's going to come out, who's not, And there's a
lot of college football left to be played between now
and even the All Star Games and the Combine, and
I've just it's so there is so much stuff between
now and then. So yeah, it's a possibility. But you know,
(08:00):
today is October seventh. The draft is still more than
six months away because it will be April twenty third
to the twenty fifth in Pittsburgh. You know, I'm kind
of looking I'm worried about the Browns.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yes, if you're curious, by the way, exactly how much
time is until the draft. There's a big old clock
right outside of Akroshur Stadium. You can just go down
there and look at it. It'll count you right down. Yeah,
Zach Gift from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Are you worried about how
little Pat Fryarmouth has been involved in the offense?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I am not not in the least and that's that's
not a commentary on Pat Fryarmouth in any way. I
just believe in Aaron Rodgers his ability to see the field,
understand and diagnose the defense, and get the ball to
the correct receiver. So so no, I'm not worried about anybody,
(08:57):
any receivers, how much or how little they're being targeted.
I don't care because I think that, you know, you
look at Rogers' stats, He's sixty eight point five percent completions,
he has a rating of one O two point six
and as you mentioned, the Steelers are three and one,
and he has played well in every one of those games.
(09:18):
So for me, keep Aaron Rodgers healthy and just let
him do his thing, and I think things will turn
out okay.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Joe Kessler from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Do you see general
manager Omar Khan making any moves before or at the
deadline to address the run game or lack of a
clear number two wide receiver, although I believe Calvin Austin
can be that guy.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You know, I think maybe the fans are a little
bit I won't say spoiled, but maybe seduced by you know,
the number of moves and trades and stuff that are
happening around the league, and how many did this dealers
have made. Really you can kind of look at it
as a departure from their normal business model. But you know,
(10:07):
I just think you're getting to a point now where,
unless there's an injury, I don't know that there's going
to be any looking around now what Omar Khan has
said he will do, and I take him at his word.
If the phone rings, he's going to listen. But you know,
(10:28):
I don't think anybody is going to be calling Omar
trying to help the Steelers out with, Hey, why don't
you take this guy from us or here? Maybe this
will help your roster or he can do this or whatever,
and what's the cost of it? And I'm not talking
about costs in terms of dollars or salary cap space,
(10:49):
because as I mentioned, the Steelers have been stockpiling drafts
draft picks in twenty twenty six because if you have
to trade up in the first round, you know you're
going to have to spend some picks to do that.
So I'm not giving up a lot of draft capital
either for a you know what kind of wide receiver
you're going to get, because I don't think, for example,
(11:14):
the Vikings are going to call and say, would you
like justin Jefferson?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
What about Adison? You think we can get Addison? I mean,
come on, these teams aren't going to make these great
players available. There's gonna be like one or two truly,
maybe different.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Speakers, and those teams need those guys. You know, the
Vikings are very much in it's yeah. I mean so
you know again, I just I just don't see any
team being willing to provide you with something that's actually
good at a reasonable price. You know whoever, You know,
(11:52):
you only get that Chase Claypool deal once that stuff
doesn't happen every year. That's a gift, You're right.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right, Leo Garou from Jaukee, Iowa. After a safety, can
the kicking team attempt an onside kick? If so, does
it need to be declared?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Oh? Yes, after a safety, what follows is it's called
a free kick, which means, you know, free kick is
like a kickoff because there's no pressure on the you know,
the the other team is not trying to block it
or rush or anything. So it's a free kick. After
a safety, it's a free kick, and it can be
(12:30):
a punt or a kickoff. So yes, a team can punt.
Oh excuse me. The kicking team can attempt an onside
kick after a safety, but there is no such thing
as a surprise on side kick anymore in the NFL,
(12:51):
so it has to be declared.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I think I heard James Franklin is petitioning the NCAA
hard to adopt that rule. There too, no surprise onside kicks. Okay,
it was unfair that you USLA did that to us.
There's dirty, dirty cheating play by them. Jamie Strall from
the Shittiak River in New Brunswick, Canada. I have noticed
over the past four plus seasons our offensive line seem
(13:12):
to get better as the season progressed. Is it fair
to say that the offensive line requires more time to
gel than most other position groups?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah? I mean, you know, I'm not an offensive line expert,
and I don't know how to compare development from one
position group to another. But look at the offensive line,
maybe more than any other unit on a football team.
You're looking at development and improvement from individuals, but also
(13:43):
as a five man unit. So much of offensive line play,
good offensive line play is how it you know, meshes,
how they mesh together, how coordinated they are, those kinds
of thing with each other, to handle combination blocks, to
handle stunts by the defense, all that kind of stuff.
So you know that takes time. Because you look at
(14:06):
the Steelers at Saint Vincent College. You know, I don't
know whether Isaac Ciamalo practiced twice with you know, the
first group, so you know it's it's as Mike Tomlins
said about Cam Hayward, and I think you can kind
of expand this to a lot of other individuals and groups.
(14:29):
He said, my job is to get him out of Latrobe,
meaning healthy. So I think that that was part of
it as well. Certainly you needed to rep guys like
Broder Jones and Troy Filtano, Mason McCormick, even Zach Frasier,
young guys still learning and you know, putting their stuff together.
(14:52):
Saamalo is an established pro, he's in his thirties. You're
trying to, you know, preserve his ball. So yes, I
think that it is a situation where the offensive line
requires time to gel and as I mentioned, not only
(15:13):
as because you're looking for guys to improve and play
well as individuals as well as as a five man unit.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Robert Jaeger from Canyon Country, California, with Gary Anderson now
nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, how would
you compare him with Chris Boswell? Would you say Boswell
is the best Steelers kicker? Ever?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
There's no doubt in my mind that Chris Boswell is
the best place kicker in franchise history. And I don't
even think it's close. You know, I've gone over Boswell's
statistics and chronicled his long distance dependability with the game
on the line, and you know in other things I've
written and things we've talked about. So I don't really
(15:55):
think I need to tell people, you know, how good
he is from fifty plus yards with the game on
the line. I mean, everyone who's paying attention, I think
understands that. But you know, you look at the franchise
all time kicking records. Boswell holds every significant place kicking
and scoring record in franchise history, and the only one
(16:19):
he really doesn't own is a career scoring points you know,
total points scored, and that's because he hasn't been around
long enough. You know, Gary Anderson is the franchise leader
in career points score thirteen hundred and forty three points
and one hundred and ninety seven career games. So but
(16:40):
if you project what Boswell scores per game, and then
you know, projected over one hundred and ninety seven career games,
which is what he would need to play as many
games as Gary Anderson, he would pass him. You know,
as I said, Gary Anderson thirteen forty three points Boswell's
(17:03):
projection over one hundred and ninety seven career games would
be fourteen hundred and seventy nine points. That's one hundred
and thirty six more than Gary Anderson. Two things about
Gary Anderson, let me just point this out. A lot
of I think what his national persona, his national whatever
(17:28):
has to do with what he did in other places.
Gary Anderson played ten more seasons when he left the Steelers,
and he scored one thy ninety one more points after
he left the Steelers. So that's you know, you're looking
at his career total in terms of the Pro Football
Hall of Fame and they're saying, wow, he's nominated for
(17:50):
the Hall of Fame. Well, he's nominated for the Hall
of Fame for what he did in his entire career.
He's not going to nominated for the Hall of Fame
for what he did in the Steeler form. And one
last thing. Anybody can nominate somebody for the Hall of Fame.
It's not that you know, it's once you are nominated,
how do you, as a player or a coach or
(18:12):
a contribute. How do you progress through the voting rounds?
That really matters. So I'm not trying to run down
Gary Anderson or anything, but the fact that he is
nominated for the Hall of Fame. I wouldn't confuse that
with you know, he's going to be a lock to
be elected, because you know that's that's not the way
(18:34):
the Pro Football Hall of Fame works.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And our final question today comes from Ethan Zimmer from
East Brunswick, New Jersey. I don't know all the intricacies
of how players come back from the reserve slash injured list. However,
Corey Trice is when listed as designated for return. How
is that different from the other list? With the injury
issues currently affecting the defensive backfield, could he return in
(18:59):
the very near few?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, I'm going to explain this. This is somewhat complicated.
I hope I'm doing this well enough to be understood. Okay.
The NFL rule is that over a course of a
regular season, each team has allowed eight moves in terms
of designate a player to re designating a player to
(19:21):
return from ir and that's all you get. You get
more once there's the playoffs, but you only get to
do it eight times. Now, what happened with Corey Trice
because the Steelers put him on ir as part of
the moves they made to cut their roster down to
fifty three without exposing him to waivers, he automatically eats
(19:47):
up one of their eight designated to return moves. That's
your you know, the rules allow you to do that
with a player bypass way and put him right on
ir when you're doing your cuts to fifty three. But
the cost of doing that is he's automatically one of
(20:09):
your eight designated to returns. So because of what they
did with Corey Trice, the Steelers have seven other designated
for return moves to make in terms of guys on ir. Okay,
so that's why he's designated to return already and has
been from the very beginning. Now he's missed four games.
(20:35):
So yes, it could happen this week. In terms of
not predicting this, I'm just saying what the rules allow.
He could be returned to practice. As I said, today's Tuesday,
October seventh. The first full day of practice is Wednesday,
October eighth. If the Steelers want Corey Trice to start
(20:57):
practicing tomorrow, they can nate him. The return starts fourteen
day clock and then they you know, after the end
of that they're going to make another decision to get
them to the roster or leave him on high r
or whatever. So you know, we'll have to see what happens.
But that's why Corey Trice was designated for return right
(21:19):
away and the other guys on injured reserve or not yet.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Steelers resume their twenty twenty five campaign this Sunday against
the Cleveland Browns at Akroscher Stadium one o'clock kickoff. Our
pregame coverage starts locally with nine am with who is that, Oh,
it's me, and then I hand things off to Labs
and Persuda and Jerry Dulac. It's the best stuff you
can get leading me into kickoff. We got you covered
four hours in advance for Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opperman.
(21:46):
Thanks for giving us a listen on this yere podcast.
Get your questions into Labs now and maybe we'll hear
them in the future on Aston Answered
This is asked and answered questions with Tom Upperman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Well, Abs, you really couldn't have scripted that any better.
As far as the Steelers bye week is concerned, Cleveland
Brown's loss, Cincinnati Bengals loss, and perhaps the sweetest one
of all, a forty four to ten loss by the
Baltimore Ravens at the hands of the Houston Texans. So
you're sitting on your couch if you're the Steelers coaches
and players and you gained a half game on everybody
(00:31):
in the division. Can't go any better than that.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, it's it was. It worked out pretty well. I mean,
you know, the Ravens, I love what to say. It's
it's you know, they have a lot of injuries. I
get it, you know. And just so you know, a
lot of Steelers fans don't want to hear injuries. You know,
(00:56):
they start screaming, next man up. You know, the standard
is the standard, all that stuff, But every every roster
in the NFL has a breaking point. It can only
absorb so many injuries, and then you know, it's it's
not like a college team where you have one hundred
guys in uniform on the sideline every every game day.
So yeah, the Ravens injury situation is alarming. I don't
(01:20):
know how long a lot of those guys are out
in the NFL. You really only have to kind of
declare that kind of stuff one week at time. But
their defense was awful when everybody was healthy. You know,
their defense is awful. It just is, yes, Uh, and
I don't know what the answer is. You know, it does.
(01:47):
I'm not It's not keeping me awake at night trying
to figure out, you know, what their answers are. But
that's a that their defense is a problem. Uh. They
can get Lamar Jackson back and all that kind of stuff,
but you know, their pass rush is bad, their secondary
is bad, and you know that. Let's the Texans. They
(02:12):
they were one and three going into that game, and
it was in Baltimore. I mean, you know, it was
twenty four to three at halftime, and I'm thinking another
Ravens may make a run or something. The Texans scored
twenty more points in the second half. So yeah, that
(02:35):
was that's that's that's, you know, gleefully a bad situation
for the Ravens right now. The Bengals, you know the Bengals,
they built their team. It's quarterback heavy and wide receiver heavy.
They paid a lot of money to the quarterback and
(02:57):
those two wide receivers, Jamar Chase and t Higgins. You lose,
you lose Burrow. That's they're they're in. They're in a
bad spot. I don't I don't, and I don't know
that the Bengals are the kind of franchise that's going
to want to spend a lot of money to try
(03:20):
and quote unquote fix the quarterback situation. Jake Browning is
an interception machine, and you know it amuses me. You know,
they can trade for Kirk Cousins. They can do this,
They can do you know all of these closet GM's
out there in in cyberspace. But I don't know that
(03:43):
Mike Brown wants to pick up Kirk Cousins' contract because
he's still paying Burrow and Jamar Chase and Higgins and
Trey Hutchinson. Let's not forget him either. So you know,
I don't know what their immediate plan is or solutions
might be. The Browns. I think that the Browns they
(04:05):
did the right thing by making the quarterback move. You know,
now We'll just see how Dylan excuse me, Dylan Gabriel
develops here over the next few weeks. So, I mean
it's the quote the great Juju Smith Schuster. The Browns
is the Browns.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The Browns is the Browns Labs, There's no doubt about that.
But they're a bit of a feisty bunch this year.
I mean, you can't just sleep walk through the Browns.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The defense is really good. Oh yes, And I think
that's a concern for the Steelers obviously. The Sunday is
the Browns come to Acrocuer Stadium, is you know they've
given up points, Don't get me wrong. You look at
the game they played against the Lines, the game they
played against the Ravens. Those got out of hands, but
out of hand. But they beat the Packers thirteen to ten.
You know, they held the Vikings down defensively, Like if
(04:54):
you allow yourself to get into a game with the Browns,
they'll oblige.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, That's that's very very well put. And I'm not
and I don't believe also that the Browns are built
in a way that would allow you to take a
quick thirty to nothing lead unless the quarterback just you know,
loses his mind and is turning it over everywhere because,
(05:18):
as you mentioned, they have a good defense, and that
defense can keep them around. So, you know, I think
the thing when you're playing the Browns is don't help
them turnovers. Yeah, you know, stupid stuff, you know, don't
kick your own butt, and you should be able to
(05:38):
beat them because I think that, you know, offensively they
are a little bit deficient. If you can, if you
can cover David and Joku. You know, I don't know
what else they really have in terms of a receiving option.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I don't either. That'll be the Steelers game, as
I mentioned on Sunday at Akroscher Stadiums. He has returned
from there by to face off against Cleveland and the
AFC North opener. Before we get to that, though, we
have a bunch of questions that we have to answer
from Steelers Nation. So let's start with Liam Boyd from Boonsboro, Maryland,
with an aging starting quarterback on a one year deal.
Do you see a first round selection at quarterback in
(06:16):
the twenty twenty six NFL Draft three and one first
place of the AFC North. Let's get to the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Right, and not just get to the draft, I mean,
what position. Thank you Liam for not asking me which
quarterback it's going to be, because at this point, the
only thing I would say is it's not going to
be arch Manning.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Oh abs reijistically recalibrating some of the analysis on him, huh,
some of the prognostication on him.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, way way too early, you know, way too early.
But you know, certainly the current circumstances, as Liam outlies
outlined them, an aging starting quarterback, he's on a one
year deal. And Aaron Rodgers said, you know, this might
be it, or however he phrased it, kind of indicating
I thought that you're telling the Steelers you know, this
(07:12):
is a this is a one year arrangement. So yeah,
that's certainly a possibility. And you would look at the
way the Steelers have been stocking draft picks pointing towards
twenty twenty six, what we all thought was going to
be a quarterback rich draft pool in twenty twenty six.
All of those would point to, you know, the Steelers
(07:35):
being in that market. But it's way early. You know
who's going to come out, who's not, And there's a
lot of college football left to be played between now
and even the All Star Games and the Combine, and
I've just it's so there is so much stuff between
now and then. So yeah, it's a possibility. But you know,
(08:00):
today is October seventh. The draft is still more than
six months away because it will be April twenty third
to the twenty fifth in Pittsburgh. You know, I'm kind
of looking I'm worried about the Browns.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yes, if you're curious, by the way, exactly how much
time is until the draft. There's a big old clock
right outside of Akroshur Stadium. You can just go down
there and look at it. It'll count you right down. Yeah,
Zach Gift from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Are you worried about how
little Pat Fryarmouth has been involved in the offense?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I am not not in the least and that's that's
not a commentary on Pat Fryarmouth in any way. I
just believe in Aaron Rodgers his ability to see the field,
understand and diagnose the defense, and get the ball to
the correct receiver. So so no, I'm not worried about anybody,
(08:57):
any receivers, how much or how little they're being targeted.
I don't care because I think that, you know, you
look at Rogers' stats, He's sixty eight point five percent completions,
he has a rating of one O two point six
and as you mentioned, the Steelers are three and one,
and he has played well in every one of those games.
(09:18):
So for me, keep Aaron Rodgers healthy and just let
him do his thing, and I think things will turn
out okay.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Joe Kessler from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. Do you see general
manager Omar Khan making any moves before or at the
deadline to address the run game or lack of a
clear number two wide receiver, although I believe Calvin Austin
can be that guy.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
You know, I think maybe the fans are a little
bit I won't say spoiled, but maybe seduced by you know,
the number of moves and trades and stuff that are
happening around the league, and how many did this dealers
have made. Really you can kind of look at it
as a departure from their normal business model. But you know,
(10:07):
I just think you're getting to a point now where,
unless there's an injury, I don't know that there's going
to be any looking around now what Omar Khan has
said he will do, and I take him at his word.
If the phone rings, he's going to listen. But you know,
(10:28):
I don't think anybody is going to be calling Omar
trying to help the Steelers out with, Hey, why don't
you take this guy from us or here? Maybe this
will help your roster or he can do this or whatever,
and what's the cost of it? And I'm not talking
about costs in terms of dollars or salary cap space,
(10:49):
because as I mentioned, the Steelers have been stockpiling drafts
draft picks in twenty twenty six because if you have
to trade up in the first round, you know you're
going to have to spend some picks to do that.
So I'm not giving up a lot of draft capital
either for a you know what kind of wide receiver
you're going to get, because I don't think, for example,
(11:14):
the Vikings are going to call and say, would you
like justin Jefferson?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
What about Adison? You think we can get Addison? I mean,
come on, these teams aren't going to make these great
players available. There's gonna be like one or two truly,
maybe different.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Speakers, and those teams need those guys. You know, the
Vikings are very much in it's yeah. I mean so
you know again, I just I just don't see any
team being willing to provide you with something that's actually
good at a reasonable price. You know whoever, You know,
(11:52):
you only get that Chase Claypool deal once that stuff
doesn't happen every year. That's a gift, You're right.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Right, Leo Garou from Jaukee, Iowa. After a safety, can
the kicking team attempt an onside kick? If so, does
it need to be declared?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Oh? Yes, after a safety, what follows is it's called
a free kick, which means, you know, free kick is
like a kickoff because there's no pressure on the you know,
the the other team is not trying to block it
or rush or anything. So it's a free kick. After
a safety, it's a free kick, and it can be
(12:30):
a punt or a kickoff. So yes, a team can punt.
Oh excuse me. The kicking team can attempt an onside
kick after a safety, but there is no such thing
as a surprise on side kick anymore in the NFL,
(12:51):
so it has to be declared.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I think I heard James Franklin is petitioning the NCAA
hard to adopt that rule. There too, no surprise onside kicks. Okay,
it was unfair that you USLA did that to us.
There's dirty, dirty cheating play by them. Jamie Strall from
the Shittiak River in New Brunswick, Canada. I have noticed
over the past four plus seasons our offensive line seem
(13:12):
to get better as the season progressed. Is it fair
to say that the offensive line requires more time to
gel than most other position groups?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah? I mean, you know, I'm not an offensive line expert,
and I don't know how to compare development from one
position group to another. But look at the offensive line,
maybe more than any other unit on a football team.
You're looking at development and improvement from individuals, but also
(13:43):
as a five man unit. So much of offensive line play,
good offensive line play is how it you know, meshes,
how they mesh together, how coordinated they are, those kinds
of thing with each other, to handle combination blocks, to
handle stunts by the defense, all that kind of stuff.
So you know that takes time. Because you look at
(14:06):
the Steelers at Saint Vincent College. You know, I don't
know whether Isaac Ciamalo practiced twice with you know, the
first group, so you know it's it's as Mike Tomlins
said about Cam Hayward, and I think you can kind
of expand this to a lot of other individuals and groups.
(14:29):
He said, my job is to get him out of Latrobe,
meaning healthy. So I think that that was part of
it as well. Certainly you needed to rep guys like
Broder Jones and Troy Filtano, Mason McCormick, even Zach Frasier,
young guys still learning and you know, putting their stuff together.
(14:52):
Saamalo is an established pro, he's in his thirties. You're
trying to, you know, preserve his ball. So yes, I
think that it is a situation where the offensive line
requires time to gel and as I mentioned, not only
(15:13):
as because you're looking for guys to improve and play
well as individuals as well as as a five man unit.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Robert Jaeger from Canyon Country, California, with Gary Anderson now
nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, how would
you compare him with Chris Boswell? Would you say Boswell
is the best Steelers kicker? Ever?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
There's no doubt in my mind that Chris Boswell is
the best place kicker in franchise history. And I don't
even think it's close. You know, I've gone over Boswell's
statistics and chronicled his long distance dependability with the game
on the line, and you know in other things I've
written and things we've talked about. So I don't really
(15:55):
think I need to tell people, you know, how good
he is from fifty plus yards with the game on
the line. I mean, everyone who's paying attention, I think
understands that. But you know, you look at the franchise
all time kicking records. Boswell holds every significant place kicking
and scoring record in franchise history, and the only one
(16:19):
he really doesn't own is a career scoring points you know,
total points scored, and that's because he hasn't been around
long enough. You know, Gary Anderson is the franchise leader
in career points score thirteen hundred and forty three points
and one hundred and ninety seven career games. So but
(16:40):
if you project what Boswell scores per game, and then
you know, projected over one hundred and ninety seven career games,
which is what he would need to play as many
games as Gary Anderson, he would pass him. You know,
as I said, Gary Anderson thirteen forty three points Boswell's
(17:03):
projection over one hundred and ninety seven career games would
be fourteen hundred and seventy nine points. That's one hundred
and thirty six more than Gary Anderson. Two things about
Gary Anderson, let me just point this out. A lot
of I think what his national persona, his national whatever
(17:28):
has to do with what he did in other places.
Gary Anderson played ten more seasons when he left the Steelers,
and he scored one thy ninety one more points after
he left the Steelers. So that's you know, you're looking
at his career total in terms of the Pro Football
Hall of Fame and they're saying, wow, he's nominated for
(17:50):
the Hall of Fame. Well, he's nominated for the Hall
of Fame for what he did in his entire career.
He's not going to nominated for the Hall of Fame
for what he did in the Steeler form. And one
last thing. Anybody can nominate somebody for the Hall of Fame.
It's not that you know, it's once you are nominated,
how do you, as a player or a coach or
(18:12):
a contribute. How do you progress through the voting rounds?
That really matters. So I'm not trying to run down
Gary Anderson or anything, but the fact that he is
nominated for the Hall of Fame. I wouldn't confuse that
with you know, he's going to be a lock to
be elected, because you know that's that's not the way
(18:34):
the Pro Football Hall of Fame works.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
And our final question today comes from Ethan Zimmer from
East Brunswick, New Jersey. I don't know all the intricacies
of how players come back from the reserve slash injured list. However,
Corey Trice is when listed as designated for return. How
is that different from the other list? With the injury
issues currently affecting the defensive backfield, could he return in
(18:59):
the very near few?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, I'm going to explain this. This is somewhat complicated.
I hope I'm doing this well enough to be understood. Okay.
The NFL rule is that over a course of a
regular season, each team has allowed eight moves in terms
of designate a player to re designating a player to
(19:21):
return from ir and that's all you get. You get
more once there's the playoffs, but you only get to
do it eight times. Now, what happened with Corey Trice
because the Steelers put him on ir as part of
the moves they made to cut their roster down to
fifty three without exposing him to waivers, he automatically eats
(19:47):
up one of their eight designated to return moves. That's
your you know, the rules allow you to do that
with a player bypass way and put him right on
ir when you're doing your cuts to fifty three. But
the cost of doing that is he's automatically one of
(20:09):
your eight designated to returns. So because of what they
did with Corey Trice, the Steelers have seven other designated
for return moves to make in terms of guys on ir. Okay,
so that's why he's designated to return already and has
been from the very beginning. Now he's missed four games.
(20:35):
So yes, it could happen this week. In terms of
not predicting this, I'm just saying what the rules allow.
He could be returned to practice. As I said, today's Tuesday,
October seventh. The first full day of practice is Wednesday,
October eighth. If the Steelers want Corey Trice to start
(20:57):
practicing tomorrow, they can nate him. The return starts fourteen
day clock and then they you know, after the end
of that they're going to make another decision to get
them to the roster or leave him on high r
or whatever. So you know, we'll have to see what happens.
But that's why Corey Trice was designated for return right
(21:19):
away and the other guys on injured reserve or not yet.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Steelers resume their twenty twenty five campaign this Sunday against
the Cleveland Browns at Akroscher Stadium one o'clock kickoff. Our
pregame coverage starts locally with nine am with who is that, Oh,
it's me, and then I hand things off to Labs
and Persuda and Jerry Dulac. It's the best stuff you
can get leading me into kickoff. We got you covered
four hours in advance for Bob Labriola. I'm Tom Opperman.
(21:46):
Thanks for giving us a listen on this yere podcast.
Get your questions into Labs now and maybe we'll hear
them in the future on Aston Answered
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