August 2, 2025 • 42 mins
The guys carry on the discussion as campus prepares for the weekend and another Steelers' practice this afternoon.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Iheartradios live coverage about twenty twenty five Steelers training camp.
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(00:28):
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Speaker 2 (00:38):
And Welcome Back inside the Locker Room, MC King and
Starts presented by your neighborhood Fork Store Here on the
Steelers Audio Network alongside Max Starks. I'm rob king some
stuff to get to Max. On the injury front, Braden
Fajoco announcing yesterday that he had resigned with the Steelers
after the announcement of the injuries of a trio of
(01:00):
the defensive linemen, including Dean Lowry h Jacob Slade. So, uh,
you know this is he's Those guys have knee injuries.
You know, we saw Broderick Jones trying to come back.
Samalou Is on the mend. All in all, how would
you kind of assess where the injuries are? You don't
(01:20):
want them to run deeper. You know, we've been talking
about this defensive line in particular, Uh by the way
Uhsese Otomwayo. Uh is another guy that was was injured.
He was injured the day before in practice, after the
announcements the day prior to the announcements of the injuries
to Slade and Lowry. You don't want to see this.
We talked about this with the offensive line last year. Max,
(01:42):
You do not want to see this deep group of
defensive line. We've been praising the depth and you know,
some good quality players are probably going to be left
by the wayside on cutdown day.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, you don't want to be to be left on
the wayside due to injury.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Yeah, and you still gotta get through these preseason games too, right,
you need the body. And I think the addition of
a brave and Pojoko here in camp, a year ago
guy who's been a part of this team. He understands
what this is and he gets the assignment. And you know,
right now it's couch season. You know when there is
an injury is you're not getting a guy from another team.
(02:17):
There's not trades to be made. You're getting guys fresh
off the streets. And you're trying to see who's still
in shape, who's been ready, and get them in here
so they can mix it up and provide that quality
depth and see if they learn something from the last
time they were here to the to now the next
opportunity to be here. But yeah, unfortunate. Like you said,
(02:38):
the amount of injuries. You don't want one. You know,
you don't mind injuries, you know, it's a part of
the process. There's an attrition rate that naturally takes shape
when you play as competitive as the Steelers do, right,
you know, we talked about this. Not many teams hit,
not many teams tackle and tackle to the ground and
live drills Steelers do well. The byproduct of that is
(03:02):
guys get injuries, Guys get nicks, Guys get bumps. You know,
guys end up in the training room, you know, for
those moments. So you want to see who's tough enough.
And this is a callousing process, right, Not all callouses
in prettied with the with you know, with a good
build up, some of them burst and you know and
come out of the seam. So I think, when I
(03:22):
look at this, it looks like a normal attrition rate
as of right now, Rob I'm gonna cautiously say that,
but you know, you get dangerously close when you're starting
to add people and you wonder what the quality of
the addition is. Is that addition, you know, by subtraction
or we were simply just subtracting the quality and the
player as well. So I think, you know, Braden is
(03:44):
one of those guys. I feel like now he can
come in here. He's a very solid defensive lineman and
a guy who has a resume here in Pittsburgh with
working with us No, but you know, you still worry
about a young offensive line. You take any injuries there,
and like you said, you still already got guys filling
in for guys trying to trying to trying to play
up and trying to get back to back to health.
(04:05):
You know, Broderick played minimal last night practice, but he
did participate in some of the competitive periods Isaac as well,
and so they're looking better and better. But you know,
you lose a Calvin Anderson at the end of practice
yesterday and now he's on the injury report today, so
you wonder what his status is going to be as
they progressed for because Calvin, I thought he's been doing
(04:27):
a great job. He's had a really good camp thus far,
playing multiple positions right and left tackle, you know, so
far in camp and just trying to trying to make
his make his his presence felt, and trying to crack
you know, that top eight of the offensive line, because
that's usually what the offensive line is to keep. Usually
have you know, eight active guys and you have two
usually two to three pea squad guys on this so
(04:49):
you're trying to crack that top eight. You want to
be on that fifty three game day roster, and you
know a couple of other nicks. I think secondary had a
couple of bumps and bruises as well. And it's a
very talented and deep secondary, but you you know, injuries
can make that talented depth go very thin real quick.
We saw a run on that a number of years ago,
(05:09):
back with Terrell Edmunds was on this team, and we saw,
you know, everybody went out. It was prompted, you know,
the the drafting of Joey Porter Junior and Corey Trice
to get some some young blood in that room. So
you don't want it to go too far and too deep.
But around this time of year, you kind of expect that.
You know, guys are going to get a little thin,
(05:31):
and you know you got to figure out how you
bounce back. Are you hurt or are you injured? It's
two very different things. If you're injured, that's a settlement.
But if you're hurt, walk it off, get some ice,
and do some treatment like you're supposed to. And that's
what this feeling out period is to figure out, you know,
how tough guys are, how they handle injuries, how do
they handle their their rehab, and also some of the
(05:53):
prehab stuff like what are you doing to prevent that
from happening in the future. You know, some of the
soft tissue and mile fascial stuff that goes on in
the weight room. You know film with twos the head
strength coach, Very in Tune, has a lot of different
that when you walk in that weight room, there's a
lot of different options and modalities at your disposal. Use them.
And you know, one thing with the morning get Right yesterday,
(06:15):
I saw a lot of guys in there getting treatment
and a lot of guys working on some flexibility stuff,
which is always key. You want to make those ligaments
as fresh as possible and trying to work out all
the little nicks, kinks and bruises that this game naturally
provides to every player. No player is immune to a
nick and a bruise, but making sure that it just
(06:35):
stays at that and doesn't become something greater.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, you really have to hope Calvin Anderson is okay.
I mean Stee's signed him to a two year deal
for a reason, and you know they want him around.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So another guy who didn't wasn't able to compete yesterday,
Joey Porter Junior. But we've been talking about the depth
that Omar Khan and his staff had built around this Steeers' roster. Yeah,
you want Joey Porter Jr. Out there with Darius Slay
and Jalen Ramsey. But a chance for Brandon Eckles to
(07:07):
step forward and again to show some of the depth.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
We had Corey Trice on the program yesterday.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
You know, Beanie Bishop, you know Pierre is a guy
that's been around for a while and has got some
supplies you some veteran depth. Again, you don't want to
get too many injuries. Joey Porter Junior should be back.
You don't want to get too far down that road.
But I think that it sounds like Eccles acquitted himself
(07:34):
very well and gave you more reason to be excited
about this teether's depth at the cornerback position.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Yeah. Now, Brandon Echles had a good day yesterday, had
some really good defenses. He drew the DK Metcalf Joker
card a couple of times in the deck, and you know,
acquit himself very well, very tight coverage, which is what
you want to see in those moments. And then also
I thought Beanie Bishop, once again, you know, you look
at that room, started playing the playing the number game
(08:02):
and you realize, you know, hey, maybe I'm on the
outside looking in, but you know, you keep your head down,
you just do your work, good things will happen. And
that's what Beanie Bishops kind of adopted that approach, which
has always got to be let the team interceptions a
year ago, so you figure, oh, that guy's a lot. No, No,
you're not a lot. You know when you're bringing in
future Hall of famers at top one hundred NFL players
to come in and play a very similar role. But
(08:26):
I felt like, you know, definitely Brandon show put it,
put a good foot forward, you know, Joey. They're just
being cautious, had a little a little bump in the head,
and so you know, trying to trying to make sure
that he's right. And you don't want to rush a
guy back, especially at this point in the year, because
you need him for the long haul. I need to
see him in December and January. You know, showing up
is still playing for us, So you could take a
(08:48):
little time off at the end of July and August
if it means they'll yield the fruit of a good, healthy, long,
long played season. So you know, from a defensive perpect
just gives more guys opportunity, these variability because let's face
that those guys aren't going to really see you know,
the preseason. So it's like these practice reps kind of
(09:08):
kind of become even more important, just getting through the
minutia and and just the process of getting ready for
a season, understanding schematics, being on the field for these walkthroughs,
and when you get into the competitive periods going up
iron versus you know, iron, iron sharpens iron type of experiences,
(09:31):
you know, because you're gonna get in the season and
guess what, there's gonna be those DK Metcalf types on
the other team, so you want to make sure you
get some reps against him and these friendly confines of competition,
so you're not you're not sitting there feeling something brand
new when you have to line up across from Jamar Chase,
Justin Jefferson and the like that that that you'll see
this season. So I mean, it's just it's important, but
(09:54):
you know, take care of the health now, and you
just hope it's just nothing that's long time or or
lingering for it exceptional amount of time.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So, boy, I don't know where to dive into first,
I'm so curious about who you have is some early
camp phenoms. I want to ask you that, but I'm
gonna hold off for a moment. Tell me about backs
on backers, What you saw, what you like? It sounded
like Caleb Johnson took a definitive step forward. What else
(10:22):
did you see? What other players stood out to you?
Speaker 4 (10:25):
So a little bit of the norm, I will say.
Now we're starting to see that, you know once is
an accident, twice as a habit, and Connor Hayward once
again going into that Backson backers drill off the edge
and just you know, doing his job, sticking to the guys.
And you know, we always call this, you know, for
(10:46):
those positions that don't block on a normal basis, losing
with grace, and I would say he did more than gracefully,
you know, give up space. He was very stingy with
the space he gave up in stoned a couple of guys.
So another repeat performance for him in pads. From day
one to Friday night Lights had had a really good night.
(11:09):
Caleb Johnson took a step forward. The tenacity, the you know,
the willingness and trying to stake his claim as a
three down back was on display. And like I said, him, Mark, Rob,
Peyton Willson, they all they all got got a little
dice up. Kenneth Gainwell was was feisty as well. You know,
so those guys really did well. But I will say this,
(11:29):
Peyton Wilson blitzing on the inside. It's gonna be a
welcome surprise. And we know he can go sideline the sideline,
but he had he had some pass rush wiggle moves
on the interior and he looked good as well last night,
you know. And I would say for year one to
year two, he's making the jump and he's noticing what
he can and can't do, and you're talking about potentially
(11:50):
being that that starting backer opposite Patrick Queen. I think
he did. He did a really good job of going
forward and kind of securing his spot as a starter.
Call Hokum coming back from injury. You know it's taking
him almost like a year and a half to get back,
but he looks like he's back. He fired, He fired
on a couple of guys last night, and it was
(12:10):
it was not pretty. I would say defense definitively won
that backson backers drill and you saw a lot of
a lot of a lot of testy, high emotions and
guys getting each other's face. And you know, Kenneth Gainwell
was not one. Jalen Warren was not one to want
to to want to make sure that they know that
we're not going without a fight. I thought, Darnell Washington
(12:33):
once again, guys built like a right tackle, but run
but runs like a deer. It's like it's almost unfair.
It's like a cheat code. It's like if I had
to create a player and like College or Madden, I
would build like a Darnel Washington. Give me a big
thick surefooted guy that can go in and actually stone,
(12:54):
I mean he's Stone Alex high Smith. A couple of
times last night it was like, is this one on
one pass? Rushes backs on backers like you have to
take a snap shot. Oh it's eight zero not six zero, Okay,
got it the way. I mean, he's a humongous man.
I mean, yes, he is. You know. I'm like, I'm like,
I stand next to him. It was funny. We were
standing on sidelines last night and so Burt Loudon our
(13:14):
PR director Bert standing there and he's standing there with
with Scott Phelps and they're sitting there and I'm like, dude,
did why did y'all buy the obstructed view tickets? Because
they're standing right behind Darnell Washington Like like you know,
these are the cheap seats. And I'm like, He're like here,
let me go help you guys. So I went and
stood next to Darnell. Ye both there like oh yeah,
(13:35):
even greater, thanks, thanks? Can you tell us what the
weather is next? And so we kind of had a
little joke. But he is a humongous man.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Now you're a little tall, are you a little taller
than Darnell?
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Yeah? A little bit a little bit, but you know,
in pads equalized cleveand so we're about the same size,
and you know, I'm a little bit broader, but not
not by much. I mean we're talking about maybe centimeters
different in with because he is a very thick, solid
human being a very big man. Somebody teased, they said,
that's a great rep for one on one pass rush
(14:06):
with a ligneman. When he was out there, Didntzel and
the linebackers coach obviously a little little a little upset
about the matchup and the success of the offense. He's
always gonna be pro defense. But it was a good
kind of repartee and everybody kind of laughed. I was
watching because the media, you know, when you're on that
high school field and meedia is on the side, you
could be right there in the action. So media, all
(14:28):
of us had a good chuckle about it. Even mister
Rooney cracked a smile because he was over there watching
backs on backers last night, and it was just, you know,
it was a it was a fun, physical, high intensity affair.
But you know, everybody I felt like got better. Like guys,
it wasn't a it did not devolve or become destructive.
It was still very constructive and of course you want
(14:48):
to root for your side of the ball to win
more than the other team, So you know, it was
a good affair and like you said, ended and inded
and everybody giving each other hug, high fives, pats on
the helmets, and it was done like nothing spilled over.
It was left in that left corner of the home
end zone of Latrobe Memorial Stadium and everybody moved on
(15:09):
from it. But very solid affair defense, like I said,
one more than their fair share of it. I think
that was kind of the theme of the night with
a lot of these things. When we get into one
on one pastor, I'll break down on that a little
bit better. I felt like the offense line took a
step forward, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.
But it was a really good affair for backs on backers,
So Max.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
At what point looks it's really good to see Caleb
Johnson move forward. And by the way, we talked about
Connor Hayward yesterday and just what a good football player
he is and why you know he is continuing and
has continued to be a part of his team because
you know, right now. If you know Caleb Johnson, you're
(15:53):
still you know, let's say you're still your internal evaluations say, look,
we still need more in the past block game from him.
We want him out there because you know, we want
him to be able to block and release out in patterns,
but we're not quite sure about the past rushing.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Let's say the season started tomorrow. That was your evaluation.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You know, Connor Hayward can go in and do that.
He could be a third down back because you know
he's gonna block if there's a blitz coming.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You know you can rely on him. Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You know they always say availability is the best ability,
which I always scoff at.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It is a it's an important ability. Reliability is an
awfully important ability as well.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
But you can build reliance. You can't build availability either,
you are you want to?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
That one is very black and white. Reliability sits in
the gray zone like it's like, what can I trust
him with?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know, well, you could trust Connor Hayward with everything.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Yeah, and that and that's the thing. I think Connor
Hayward's trusted with a lot of things and he's available,
so it makes him even more valuable, you know, in
this process, and I think that's what that's what's going
to prove. I mean, he can play h back line
up at tight end, even though he might be a
little bit smaller. He's your move guy. He can run
the hides, but he can also lead block in the
and and some of the counter game and some of
(17:09):
the lead run game. So he just he has a
very different skill set than Darnell Washington. He has a
very different skill set than John hu Smith or Pat
Fryer move right. He's just a guy that he fits
in and he fills the holes. I think that's the
best way. And then this is a compliment. He fills
the holes that might be something present on a on
(17:32):
a play by play basis. He can give you coverage
in those areas and like I said, it goes a
long way when you're talking about also that some of
the blocking aspects Baby does as a stand and some
of the six and seven man protection schemes that Arthur
Smith has. He's a guy you could trust to be
in the backfield, come up and butt up with a
backer that's blitzing, but also be off the edge and
(17:53):
be a wing support guy and take the in man
on the line of scrimmage. So you know, can't say
enough about what what Connor's done and how he's looked
so far in camp, because he's gonna give you a
moment every single day that's gonna jump off the page
or jump off the tape when you're watching him, and
you can't go a day without saying, oh, eighty three
did something good that. That's just how President has been
(18:14):
so far.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
So really interested in Max's early camp phenom, and frankly,
I don't know the answer, and you don't know the
answer yet, but you're gonna find out. We're also gonna
talk more about the pass rush, those drills. Where's the
offense against this fierce, hopefully very fierce Steelers pass rush
with its skill on the outside. You're gonna find out
(18:37):
when we return into the locker room with King and Starks.
Presented by a neighborhood of Fords store Here on this
Steeler's audio.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Network, Iheartradios live coverage, I'm about twenty twenty five Steelers
training camp. He's presented by FedEx where now meets Next
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(19:05):
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Speaker 4 (19:24):
Man.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Welcome back inside the Locker Room with King in Starks,
presented by your Neighborhood Fords Tour here on the Steelers'
audio network. All right, Max, offensive line versus defensive line
pass rush drills.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
What do you got O line versus D line one
on one pass rush obviously trying to be overshadowed by
seven on seven last night, But no, everybody wanted to
see the butt guts go to action, you know, and
duel it out. And I will say this number seventy
eight ya black also another number sake mine, definitely sporting,
(19:59):
sporting the belly. You know, he definitely doesn't wear a
shirt underneath his bads, and you know he lets he
lets old Glory hang out there loud and proud. So uh,
that was my initial observation. I wanted to get that
out there before I forgot but one on one pass rush.
I thought offensive line took a step forward. Troy Fatanu
had another great series of reps against t J. Watt,
(20:21):
and that also translated over into the team drills. Some
really good blocks by him. See the confidence growing every
single day with him and of course overcoming that knee
injury and feeling comfortable about you know, where he's at
in the rehab process and trying to put that behind him.
Thought he had a solid night. Roderick Jones saw first
(20:43):
action of one on one pass rush in pads. He
was he was good. He was good, he was solid.
I think, you know, obviously the time off and you know,
not being able to practice, you know, he's he's settling
in just nice with his his speed. I felt like
one of the biggest days. His speed out of his
looked really remarkable last night. And he looked comfortable. Was
(21:04):
able to bend, which you always worry about when you
have that lower body injury that kept him out of
the last couple of days of practices. He looked good
at his ben moments, being able to sit down on
some of the inside pass rusher offset moves by the defender.
Another guy who had who had a Stephen Jones, Steve
(21:25):
has been asked to play a bunch of different positions.
I felt like he's gone out there and really acquitted
himself very well interiorly at guard as well as taking
some reps outside to tackle really good Gareth Warren, the
rookie from Lyndenwood University, number seventy eight, another number sake
of mine. He has some really good sets against Echoleota.
(21:50):
And you know, Echo Liota is a guy who's quietly
been having a really good camp and we're talking about
previewing camp phenom status. He's a guy that's really turning
some heads. He's had some power moves displayed, you know,
a good variety of pass rush moves, and he had
a solid night. You know, Gareth wanted him battle. They
(22:11):
went to a rubber match. They went to three sets
against each other because each one and Gareth came out
on top on the third rep, which was was always
good to see when your O line dominates, when coach
wants to put you back up there against each other.
You know, those guys really stood out. I will say this,
Derek Harmon is a handful, but you know five to
(22:32):
four old Morgantown Maler Zach Frazier showed off some of
his wrestling skills and kind of first one got blown off,
you know, because Derek Harmon obviously first round drafting a
guy who we identified as a guy who could penetrate.
He he had some good moves, but then Derek tried
to get a little razzle dazzlely and thought he could
spin off of Zack and Zach literally put him, put
(22:54):
the jumper cables on him, and he got He got
nowhere really quickly in that drill. So I thought they
had a really good matchup.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Ya Black went up against Spencer Anderson along with Isaiah
louder Milk. Spence struggled a little bit with louder Milk.
It's a very taller defensive ven you're talking about six
foot seven defensive lineman. Got him on the first rep,
then he came back and stoned him on the second round.
Dylan Cook, who's been kind of running a swing tackle
position for US, you know. Calvin Anderson, you know, was solid,
(23:26):
but Dylan Cook had had had had a good night,
some little technical things like getting that foot in on
the redirect. You know, he had a really good stone
and really forced Nick Herbig into a second move last night,
which is always a good thing to challenge the defensive
lineman and edge rushers to go into their second move.
(23:46):
You want to take away their favorite move, which is
always the number one. Right, the Big mac fries and
a coke and he's like, no, I want you to
go get a you know, m chicken snack wrap or something.
I don't know, and he forced them into it. But
you know, Herbig is just so good. He knows how
to end and his his recovery moves are so good
and he caught Dylan like edged him out right at
the end of stuff they went. They went head to
(24:08):
head three times as well. Uh, I'm looking at some
of the other guys. Max Sharping was in on the interior,
did really good at center, struggled a little bit at
the left guard position when he went in for that
one against Daniel Acquala and Daniel Qualley. I mean, you
see why the guy started for the Patriots last year.
I mean he's a very good defensive lineman, very shifty
(24:28):
and uh, interior pass rush. He has a good interior
pass rush move, does not get pushed up the field,
kind of keeps within the framework, might not necessarily get
a sack. But you can force a quarterback out of
the pocket with the skills that he possesses, and that's
all you need. When you got TJ and Alex off
the edge right Jack Sawyer saw him and uh he
went head to head with Calvin Anderson. Calvin stoned him
(24:49):
the first two reps. Coach was like, noe, rook you're
gonna have to get used to this. We're gonna you're
gonna get born in the fire. And uh he he
came in on the third rep and solid was a
little bit wide. You know, it's a little unrealistic where
he lined up in but was able to have some success.
Col kind of jumped the snap count, which forced an,
you know, another opportunity, and Jack took advantage. You saw
(25:12):
that Calvi was trying to jump out there to equip
for the speed, so he slow played him boom inside move.
I mean everybody saw it. I mean I was sitting
there next to the next to the rookie, Gareth Warren,
and we looked at each other like happens every time,
you know, you show that you're trying to get out
there quick. The defensive line is like, all right, no,
please get out there. Quick, please fear my speed and
(25:33):
then took an inside route. It was really easy rep
for him. So, you know, I look at it, there's
a lot there. There's a lot of back and forth,
a lot a lot, a lot of rubber matches, so
to speak, you know, get the third rep end to
see who's the definitive winner of that section of the
pass rush. And I felt like O Line did a
really good job of kind of locking up and uh
(25:53):
and and having some fun with it. I just see
them all did not participate in that drill, but you know,
I'm not worried about it. I mean, Cam Hayward didn't
didn't participate in that drill. I felt like that would
have been probably the the quote unquote beef Eater primetime matchup,
would have watched Cam versus Isaac. But now that one
participating in that drill last night. So it was good
opportunity for the young guys to get some really good
(26:14):
reps and to really start working on their what I
call their their game plan, you know, understanding more and
more opportunities to watch and see how these d linemen run.
Also gives them a good chance to kind of put
a study on their teammate and build a book on
them and understand also by doing that, you're helping yourself
and creating your own game plan when you get up there,
(26:36):
for one, so you can be a little more proactive
than reactive in that drill. So yeah, there's my assessment, sir, hopefully.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Okay, gave you a follow up with some questions.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, because I think we're, you know, barring injury again
up knock on wood, assuming everybody stays healthy. We know,
I have a pretty good feel Cam Hayward, Keanu Benton,
and Derek Carmon are gonna eat up a lot of reps.
It's the probable starting three in a three four defense.
(27:08):
They use that about twenty five percent of the time,
So the other seventy five percent of the time there's
only two down linemen. Cam Heyward, Keanu Benton, Derek Carmon.
I expect those three guys, I mean, I would anticipate
those three guys being the guys that take most of
the snaps. But you're gonna need a fourth guy, whether
it's because of injury or fatigue or what have you.
(27:31):
And you know, and you want to have a fifth
and sixth and beyond that.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I think it's uh.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
You know, you mentioned a quale and you mentioned Ya Black.
You talked about the veteran aqualite, You talked about letting
the flag fly.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
For Ya Black. How did he look to you?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Does he is?
Speaker 2 (27:46):
How would you describe his his game right now in
this particular drill?
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Is it more pocket pusher? Does he have some moves?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
You talked about him maybe trying to play a little
bit lower when we discussed him earlier in the camp.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Yeah, it still has to work on gaining leverage, which
means dropping dropping the butt. You gotta drop the butt.
You can't you can't play at your absolute height. I mean,
the guy's almost six foot six, so you can't go
to You can't go to six five. I need you
like six', two you, know just a little bit. More
but he does have. POWER i mean. THAT i think
(28:21):
that's what the apparent thing. Is and when you're thinking
about trying to distort the window that a quarterback can
throw out of having a very large body like him
in your face less than two yards away makes it
a little tough to kind of, throw you, know a seam,
route so to. Speak SO i think his his is still.
Power but he has some. Moves he does have some nice.
Counters he gets a nice bull and what we call
(28:44):
bull and rip move where he's gonna butt you up
and then pick a side and kind of angle you.
Out it almost looks like a reverse box out drill
when a when a players coming down the, lane you,
know in. BASKETBALL i would say that that's still one
of his. Strengths another guy THAT i did not mentioned
That i've forgotten As i'm thinking about, It Logan lee
looked pretty good In drill last. Night you, know has
(29:07):
a really solid bull move and he has a nice
little kind of kind of shed where he gets the
guy kind of grabs a jersey and kind of tosses
the guy aside at the. End you, know it's you,
know it's more of a it's more of a jerk,
move and we call it and not jerk as in
the person's ability jerking the jersey and shifting the body.
Balance SO i.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Got the last year he was he was beginning to
elevate himself as sort of an underground Camp fenon before
he got.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Hurt, Logan, Yeah, no he's definitely and he's showing up
in film now that he's healthy and getting those. Reps you,
know he's with he runs with the second half of
two's and threes in that unit because it is just so.
Deep but when you start to try and formulate what
does a second string quote unquote look, LIKE i think
that's where one that you, Know Logan lee's trying to
(29:57):
fight to crack that along with the quale and you,
know another guy who had a decent night last. Night
and the backs on backers did not translate over to
the one on one pass. Rush we actually faced guys
in similar size To Marvin leal uh coming off the
edge that kind of stand up elephant style and as
(30:17):
we would call it and Think Levon, kirkland you, know
he he definitely had some power moves against tight ends
and running. Backs but then we got up against the actual,
uh you, know the class of the blocking drills in
the offensive. Line struggled a little, bit got stoned a
couple of, times you, know in that. Drill BUT i
(30:37):
think he's another guy that's having a quietly solid. Camp you,
know the biggest thing that With demarvin has never been.
Talent it's always been health for him and having the
opportunity to stay healthy and put reps on tape is
always a good thing leading into, this especially when we
know how deep and how varied the defensive line. Is
(30:57):
BUT i felt like he acquitted himself pretty. Well Isaiah
loudermilk still hanging.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Around, there, Yep, no you, know he was.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Doing more pass rush spin moves and trying some more
creative ways to get up. Field Like i've, said he
ate him and him And Spencer. Anderson you know locked
horns a couple of times last. Night BUT i mean
it's gonna be very feerce when you're talking about filling
out that you, know sixth seventh defensive lineman in that,
(31:27):
GROUP i feel like one that might carry eight potentially
MAYBE i feel like seven to eight probably the sweet
spot so called, dunbar and he likes to use all
those guys.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Absolutely and let me ask you another question before we
head to a break and get into the camp.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Phenums in the final, segment.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
You, know you mentioned Like Gareth williams getting three, sets and,
look let's face, it every player is looking for approval
from the. Coaches you, know if you're trying to fight
for a roster, spot you know what you're what you
want to hear is you, know if you're a Young
Max starks and and somebody needs to blow in that
first team, offense you want to hear somebody yelling out
(32:04):
starts get in, there, right that's what you. Want, yeah
and you're trying to read the tea leaves because things
aren't always quite that. Clear and you know you Mentioned
Gareth williams getting that third. REP i don't know if that's.
NORMAL i don't know if we're reading the tea leaves,
here but certainly you know these young guys want every
(32:24):
opportunity to show what they can. Do you know what
you really want to hear if You're Gareth, williams is,
uh say you know Keanum betton's lining up and then
then they call your. Number now you know they're at
least testing you and getting you ready to potentially move
up the depth.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Chart? Uh is that is?
Speaker 4 (32:42):
There?
Speaker 2 (32:43):
WELL i don't know if WE i don't know if
i'd be by asking this Whether i'd give Away Camp?
Phenom WOULD i give Away Camp? Phenom if you answered that? Question,
no now you all? Right not not in this particular.
INSTANCE i think it just.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Goes to show you that the quality of, work especially For,
mike is at a varsity. Level that's what you always
likes to, say, right you, know put varsity performances, together
and of course being At Latrobe, memorial no better place
to use that correlation than at a high school, field you.
Know but when you do quality reps or you do
have something where it's kind of on, edge whether this
(33:19):
Guy wan or that guy, one that means the coaches
are taking notice and they're actually paying. Attention AND i
thought For, warren you, know he acquitted himself really. Well
you know him AND i talked real quick before he
went into the, session had him open up his stance
just a little bit and made a world of. Difference
and he's the. Guy you, know this is a big
step up in competition and what he faced at Linden
wood going up against pro guys you're talking about from THE,
(33:41):
sec The big ten and The big twelve and you
know Former pac. TWELVE i guess you have to say
since that conference is now coming back in a very limited.
Role but you, know seeing those moments where you can
catch the COACHES i are always, good always good. Moments and,
yeah you do exercise the futility of knowing whether they
(34:04):
like you or, not or whether they pay attention to
you or, not but you know it goes a long
way when coach singles you out and wants to see
ANOTHER i want to see more of what you have to.
Offer is always a good sign and always a good
situation to be. In but still not camp. Phenom not camp,
Phenom so we did not give away any of the
(34:25):
t in that.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Assessment so camp, PHENOM i really want to hear your,
Answer but once again we're up against the. Break so
after the break we're gonna Hear max's early camp phenom
or maybe plurals plural camp. Phenoms that's up next in
the locker room With king And, starks presented by your
Neighborhood Ford. Store here on The Steelers Audio, Network.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
iHeart Radios Live, Coverage I'll not twenty By Steelers Training.
Camp he's presented By fadex Where now Meets next and
also brought to you by Bud, Light Independence Health system
By Pennsylvania One Call, system By Live, Casino Caliente pizza
And Draft house By Tom's, Alliances South Hill's Auto, Laurel
(35:19):
Highlands Visitors, bureau We Max Select realty Of Pittsburgh Steelers
Pro shop and BY Us Steel.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Welcome back to the Locker room With king And, start
presented by your Neighborhood Ford stow in The Steelers Audio.
NETWORK i want to mention very quickly That mick McQuay
is going to be joining us. Tomorrow we're gonna get
a Little irish on the.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Show so looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
That Max starks as the game Against minnesota In ireland
is what a couple of months, Away so can't wait
for That september twenty.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
Eighth but Here, Sunday Sunday, sunday.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Here's WHAT i can't wait.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
FOR i can't wait For Max starks's early because we
have training camp and all the other we have our
preseason games and that's technically you, know preseason at. Camp
that all kind of comes to me but together for
me a little. Bit but who your early camp? Phenoms Max,
ooh this is a good, one.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Guys and you know they might not be the household
names that were accustomed.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To well then they wouldn't be a camp pheno.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Exactly you know The Jalen warrens we know is a known,
suspect right he but he was a camp phenom of,
yesteryear came out of, nowhere you, know came out of
nowhere and you were just, like who is this? Guy
and he has stood the test of. Time he's still
a guy very prominent in the offensive plans and in the.
(36:45):
Playbooks i'm going to start with one that people might not,
know or people might not care to, know might not watch,
them but that's the whole point of their. JOB i
want to see what you can do when nobody's paying
attention and be as integral as you can what it comes.
Time i'm going to go out on a limb and
(37:07):
number seventy Nine Stephen, jones second year guy From. Oregon
it's been playing guard and, tackle but the tenacity and
the ability to switch between positions in a drill and
not have any significant drop off is a huge. One
it's one that it's not the sexy. One it's not
(37:28):
the sexy. Choice we'll get to the sexy choices.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
A little bit.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Later but he has been solid with each and every
rep and. Opportunity started on the third, team very well
in grained now and the second team on the offensive
unit fighting for that top eight, position but has really
been consistent from the first day in helmets and shells
(37:52):
and the acclamation period to now the second padded, Practice
Stephen jones has been, there has stood out and has
been a very solid. Performer he is my First Camp phenom.
AWARD i think he's been solidly putting stuff. Together, now
obviously we get to the, stadium we get To, Jacksonville Tampa,
(38:12):
bay we'll see how that correlates and how a little
bit upticking and, time responsibility and opportunity what that. Yields
but right, now has had a very solid start to
camp and a guy that's caught my eye just about
every single day that's he's been out on the. Field
so that is my first camp. FIND i love.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
It you said it's not, sexy it's big.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Sexy because the others have talked about they need to
win in the. Trenches and if you're telling me that
they can find a guy who was undrafted and you
can come in and be part of, that that's sexy to.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
Me All, right that's.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Good at number, two all, right number.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Two this one's a little bit, new and this is
more of a new guy versus a young guy in this.
MOMENT i think he came with a little bit of,
prestige even though he was kind of a little bit
afterthought in some of the action that happened right before
the start of. Camp But john New smith has been.
(39:16):
Phenomenal he has been. Phenomenal here are the words. Phenomenal
love it as an offensive. ADDITION i, mean you're talking
about a guy who's coming into a very deep and
very entrenched tight end. Room when you're thinking About Pat,
Fryarmouth Darnell, Washington Connor, Hayward john New smith has come.
(39:41):
In he's been an instant. LEADER i, mean this is
ninth year in the, league guy that came FROM fiu
right WHEN i first started my broadcasting career working For,
stadium which was then one twenty, sports and he has
just been absolutely, electric especially when you're talking about the passing.
Drills his route running is, clear, crisp. Clean he looks
(40:01):
like a wide receiver the way he, moves but obviously
the body type of a tight. END i felt Like
john New smith has been one that's been welcome, surprise
and because he's new to, us he still qualifies in
the camp Phenom Cata.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Okay by the, way you also had a little, uh
maybe he's pre, phenom but you kind of Tease akuliota
having a quietly very good camp as well in a
very very crowded pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Situation for This.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
Steelers so moving to the.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
Defense oh, Okay i'm, Sorry i'm. SORRY i SAID i
had Multi okay you, Guys, yeah all, right exactly. Echo
lioda has shown up in the pass.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Rush he's shown up in the pursuit drills on the
backside when he's been opening to some of the wide toss.
Game he's chased guys down for tackles for. Loss he
has dummied a couple of our offensive, linemen throwing guys
out the. Club he doesn't look like a big physical,
presence but he is has been solid and when you
talk about just being a football, player like the guy
is not gonna be on your off the bus, team
(41:06):
but he's a guy that's gonna give you a performance
and he plays with a high motor and he's made
plays and that's what you want in a football. PLAYER
i felt Like echoleota is gonna make it really tough
to figure out who your game day top four pass rushers.
Are but he's been putting together a very very solid.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Camp eleven games played in THE, nfl by the, way For,
eku so he does have a little bit of, experience
including one for The stews last.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Year but didn't mean to cut you. Off go, Ahead,
yeah and then you.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Know i'm Gonna i'm gonna go off of this, one
And i'm gonna give you a name THAT i. Know
he plays for another team before and he has a
lot of. Experience but you, know a guy by the
name Of Malik harrison has been very. Physical, yeah he's
a large human at six two and a half two
hundred and sixty. Pounds he plays like. It he has
hammered guys and backs on, backers and he's made plays
(41:56):
in the run game in. Practice so that's another guy
in the camp phenom category of a guy that's not,
old but he's new to us and he has shown
up and shown out in practice thus. Far those are
my four camp phenoms right.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
Now love.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
It looking forward to some injury updates From Mike tomlin
to practice. Today we'll have those for you. Tomorrow we're
gonna go a little irish When mick McQuay joins us as.
Well that and much more coming up tomorrow For Max,
starks For Wes, euler For Justin miller back in Our iHeart.
Studios I'm Rob. King thanks for listening to The Locker
room With Kinging, starks presented by your Neighborhood Ford store
(42:30):
here on The Steelers Audio.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Network
Iheartradios live coverage about twenty twenty five Steelers training camp.
He's presented by Fadex where Now meets Next and also
brought to you by bud Light, Independence Health System by
Pennsylvania One Call System, by Live Casino, Calciente Pizza and
Draft House by Tom's Appliances, South Hills Auto, Laurel Highlands
(00:28):
Visitors Bureau, we Max Select Realty, the Pittsburgh Steelers Pro
Shop and by US Steel.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
And Welcome Back inside the Locker Room, MC King and
Starts presented by your neighborhood Fork Store Here on the
Steelers Audio Network alongside Max Starks. I'm rob king some
stuff to get to Max. On the injury front, Braden
Fajoco announcing yesterday that he had resigned with the Steelers
after the announcement of the injuries of a trio of
(01:00):
the defensive linemen, including Dean Lowry h Jacob Slade. So, uh,
you know this is he's Those guys have knee injuries.
You know, we saw Broderick Jones trying to come back.
Samalou Is on the mend. All in all, how would
you kind of assess where the injuries are? You don't
(01:20):
want them to run deeper. You know, we've been talking
about this defensive line in particular, Uh by the way
Uhsese Otomwayo. Uh is another guy that was was injured.
He was injured the day before in practice, after the
announcements the day prior to the announcements of the injuries
to Slade and Lowry. You don't want to see this.
We talked about this with the offensive line last year. Max,
(01:42):
You do not want to see this deep group of
defensive line. We've been praising the depth and you know,
some good quality players are probably going to be left
by the wayside on cutdown day.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, you don't want to be to be left on
the wayside due to injury.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Yeah, and you still gotta get through these preseason games too, right,
you need the body. And I think the addition of
a brave and Pojoko here in camp, a year ago
guy who's been a part of this team. He understands
what this is and he gets the assignment. And you know,
right now it's couch season. You know when there is
an injury is you're not getting a guy from another team.
(02:17):
There's not trades to be made. You're getting guys fresh
off the streets. And you're trying to see who's still
in shape, who's been ready, and get them in here
so they can mix it up and provide that quality
depth and see if they learn something from the last
time they were here to the to now the next
opportunity to be here. But yeah, unfortunate. Like you said,
(02:38):
the amount of injuries. You don't want one. You know,
you don't mind injuries, you know, it's a part of
the process. There's an attrition rate that naturally takes shape
when you play as competitive as the Steelers do, right,
you know, we talked about this. Not many teams hit,
not many teams tackle and tackle to the ground and
live drills Steelers do well. The byproduct of that is
(03:02):
guys get injuries, Guys get nicks, Guys get bumps. You know,
guys end up in the training room, you know, for
those moments. So you want to see who's tough enough.
And this is a callousing process, right, Not all callouses
in prettied with the with you know, with a good
build up, some of them burst and you know and
come out of the seam. So I think, when I
(03:22):
look at this, it looks like a normal attrition rate
as of right now, Rob I'm gonna cautiously say that,
but you know, you get dangerously close when you're starting
to add people and you wonder what the quality of
the addition is. Is that addition, you know, by subtraction
or we were simply just subtracting the quality and the
player as well. So I think, you know, Braden is
(03:44):
one of those guys. I feel like now he can
come in here. He's a very solid defensive lineman and
a guy who has a resume here in Pittsburgh with
working with us No, but you know, you still worry
about a young offensive line. You take any injuries there,
and like you said, you still already got guys filling
in for guys trying to trying to trying to play
up and trying to get back to back to health.
(04:05):
You know, Broderick played minimal last night practice, but he
did participate in some of the competitive periods Isaac as well,
and so they're looking better and better. But you know,
you lose a Calvin Anderson at the end of practice
yesterday and now he's on the injury report today, so
you wonder what his status is going to be as
they progressed for because Calvin, I thought he's been doing
(04:27):
a great job. He's had a really good camp thus far,
playing multiple positions right and left tackle, you know, so
far in camp and just trying to trying to make
his make his his presence felt, and trying to crack
you know, that top eight of the offensive line, because
that's usually what the offensive line is to keep. Usually
have you know, eight active guys and you have two
usually two to three pea squad guys on this so
(04:49):
you're trying to crack that top eight. You want to
be on that fifty three game day roster, and you
know a couple of other nicks. I think secondary had a
couple of bumps and bruises as well. And it's a
very talented and deep secondary, but you you know, injuries
can make that talented depth go very thin real quick.
We saw a run on that a number of years ago,
(05:09):
back with Terrell Edmunds was on this team, and we saw,
you know, everybody went out. It was prompted, you know,
the the drafting of Joey Porter Junior and Corey Trice
to get some some young blood in that room. So
you don't want it to go too far and too deep.
But around this time of year, you kind of expect that.
You know, guys are going to get a little thin,
(05:31):
and you know you got to figure out how you
bounce back. Are you hurt or are you injured? It's
two very different things. If you're injured, that's a settlement.
But if you're hurt, walk it off, get some ice,
and do some treatment like you're supposed to. And that's
what this feeling out period is to figure out, you know,
how tough guys are, how they handle injuries, how do
they handle their their rehab, and also some of the
(05:53):
prehab stuff like what are you doing to prevent that
from happening in the future. You know, some of the
soft tissue and mile fascial stuff that goes on in
the weight room. You know film with twos the head
strength coach, Very in Tune, has a lot of different
that when you walk in that weight room, there's a
lot of different options and modalities at your disposal. Use them.
And you know, one thing with the morning get Right yesterday,
(06:15):
I saw a lot of guys in there getting treatment
and a lot of guys working on some flexibility stuff,
which is always key. You want to make those ligaments
as fresh as possible and trying to work out all
the little nicks, kinks and bruises that this game naturally
provides to every player. No player is immune to a
nick and a bruise, but making sure that it just
(06:35):
stays at that and doesn't become something greater.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, you really have to hope Calvin Anderson is okay.
I mean Stee's signed him to a two year deal
for a reason, and you know they want him around.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So another guy who didn't wasn't able to compete yesterday,
Joey Porter Junior. But we've been talking about the depth
that Omar Khan and his staff had built around this Steeers' roster. Yeah,
you want Joey Porter Jr. Out there with Darius Slay
and Jalen Ramsey. But a chance for Brandon Eckles to
(07:07):
step forward and again to show some of the depth.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
We had Corey Trice on the program yesterday.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
You know, Beanie Bishop, you know Pierre is a guy
that's been around for a while and has got some
supplies you some veteran depth. Again, you don't want to
get too many injuries. Joey Porter Junior should be back.
You don't want to get too far down that road.
But I think that it sounds like Eccles acquitted himself
(07:34):
very well and gave you more reason to be excited
about this teether's depth at the cornerback position.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Yeah. Now, Brandon Echles had a good day yesterday, had
some really good defenses. He drew the DK Metcalf Joker
card a couple of times in the deck, and you know,
acquit himself very well, very tight coverage, which is what
you want to see in those moments. And then also
I thought Beanie Bishop, once again, you know, you look
at that room, started playing the playing the number game
(08:02):
and you realize, you know, hey, maybe I'm on the
outside looking in, but you know, you keep your head down,
you just do your work, good things will happen. And
that's what Beanie Bishops kind of adopted that approach, which
has always got to be let the team interceptions a
year ago, so you figure, oh, that guy's a lot. No, No,
you're not a lot. You know when you're bringing in
future Hall of famers at top one hundred NFL players
to come in and play a very similar role. But
(08:26):
I felt like, you know, definitely Brandon show put it,
put a good foot forward, you know, Joey. They're just
being cautious, had a little a little bump in the head,
and so you know, trying to trying to make sure
that he's right. And you don't want to rush a
guy back, especially at this point in the year, because
you need him for the long haul. I need to
see him in December and January. You know, showing up
is still playing for us, So you could take a
(08:48):
little time off at the end of July and August
if it means they'll yield the fruit of a good, healthy, long,
long played season. So you know, from a defensive perpect
just gives more guys opportunity, these variability because let's face
that those guys aren't going to really see you know,
the preseason. So it's like these practice reps kind of
(09:08):
kind of become even more important, just getting through the
minutia and and just the process of getting ready for
a season, understanding schematics, being on the field for these walkthroughs,
and when you get into the competitive periods going up
iron versus you know, iron, iron sharpens iron type of experiences,
(09:31):
you know, because you're gonna get in the season and
guess what, there's gonna be those DK Metcalf types on
the other team, so you want to make sure you
get some reps against him and these friendly confines of competition,
so you're not you're not sitting there feeling something brand
new when you have to line up across from Jamar Chase,
Justin Jefferson and the like that that that you'll see
this season. So I mean, it's just it's important, but
(09:54):
you know, take care of the health now, and you
just hope it's just nothing that's long time or or
lingering for it exceptional amount of time.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So, boy, I don't know where to dive into first,
I'm so curious about who you have is some early
camp phenoms. I want to ask you that, but I'm
gonna hold off for a moment. Tell me about backs
on backers, What you saw, what you like? It sounded
like Caleb Johnson took a definitive step forward. What else
(10:22):
did you see? What other players stood out to you?
Speaker 4 (10:25):
So a little bit of the norm, I will say.
Now we're starting to see that, you know once is
an accident, twice as a habit, and Connor Hayward once
again going into that Backson backers drill off the edge
and just you know, doing his job, sticking to the guys.
And you know, we always call this, you know, for
(10:46):
those positions that don't block on a normal basis, losing
with grace, and I would say he did more than gracefully,
you know, give up space. He was very stingy with
the space he gave up in stoned a couple of guys.
So another repeat performance for him in pads. From day
one to Friday night Lights had had a really good night.
(11:09):
Caleb Johnson took a step forward. The tenacity, the you know,
the willingness and trying to stake his claim as a
three down back was on display. And like I said, him, Mark, Rob,
Peyton Willson, they all they all got got a little
dice up. Kenneth Gainwell was was feisty as well. You know,
so those guys really did well. But I will say this,
(11:29):
Peyton Wilson blitzing on the inside. It's gonna be a
welcome surprise. And we know he can go sideline the sideline,
but he had he had some pass rush wiggle moves
on the interior and he looked good as well last night,
you know. And I would say for year one to
year two, he's making the jump and he's noticing what
he can and can't do, and you're talking about potentially
(11:50):
being that that starting backer opposite Patrick Queen. I think
he did. He did a really good job of going
forward and kind of securing his spot as a starter.
Call Hokum coming back from injury. You know it's taking
him almost like a year and a half to get back,
but he looks like he's back. He fired, He fired
on a couple of guys last night, and it was
(12:10):
it was not pretty. I would say defense definitively won
that backson backers drill and you saw a lot of
a lot of a lot of testy, high emotions and
guys getting each other's face. And you know, Kenneth Gainwell
was not one. Jalen Warren was not one to want
to to want to make sure that they know that
we're not going without a fight. I thought, Darnell Washington
(12:33):
once again, guys built like a right tackle, but run
but runs like a deer. It's like it's almost unfair.
It's like a cheat code. It's like if I had
to create a player and like College or Madden, I
would build like a Darnel Washington. Give me a big
thick surefooted guy that can go in and actually stone,
(12:54):
I mean he's Stone Alex high Smith. A couple of
times last night it was like, is this one on
one pass? Rushes backs on backers like you have to
take a snap shot. Oh it's eight zero not six zero, Okay,
got it the way. I mean, he's a humongous man.
I mean, yes, he is. You know. I'm like, I'm like,
I stand next to him. It was funny. We were
standing on sidelines last night and so Burt Loudon our
(13:14):
PR director Bert standing there and he's standing there with
with Scott Phelps and they're sitting there and I'm like, dude,
did why did y'all buy the obstructed view tickets? Because
they're standing right behind Darnell Washington Like like you know,
these are the cheap seats. And I'm like, He're like here,
let me go help you guys. So I went and
stood next to Darnell. Ye both there like oh yeah,
(13:35):
even greater, thanks, thanks? Can you tell us what the
weather is next? And so we kind of had a
little joke. But he is a humongous man.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Now you're a little tall, are you a little taller
than Darnell?
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Yeah? A little bit a little bit, but you know,
in pads equalized cleveand so we're about the same size,
and you know, I'm a little bit broader, but not
not by much. I mean we're talking about maybe centimeters
different in with because he is a very thick, solid
human being a very big man. Somebody teased, they said,
that's a great rep for one on one pass rush
(14:06):
with a ligneman. When he was out there, Didntzel and
the linebackers coach obviously a little little a little upset
about the matchup and the success of the offense. He's
always gonna be pro defense. But it was a good
kind of repartee and everybody kind of laughed. I was
watching because the media, you know, when you're on that
high school field and meedia is on the side, you
could be right there in the action. So media, all
(14:28):
of us had a good chuckle about it. Even mister
Rooney cracked a smile because he was over there watching
backs on backers last night, and it was just, you know,
it was a it was a fun, physical, high intensity affair.
But you know, everybody I felt like got better. Like guys,
it wasn't a it did not devolve or become destructive.
It was still very constructive and of course you want
(14:48):
to root for your side of the ball to win
more than the other team, So you know, it was
a good affair and like you said, ended and inded
and everybody giving each other hug, high fives, pats on
the helmets, and it was done like nothing spilled over.
It was left in that left corner of the home
end zone of Latrobe Memorial Stadium and everybody moved on
(15:09):
from it. But very solid affair defense, like I said,
one more than their fair share of it. I think
that was kind of the theme of the night with
a lot of these things. When we get into one
on one pastor, I'll break down on that a little
bit better. I felt like the offense line took a
step forward, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.
But it was a really good affair for backs on backers,
So Max.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
At what point looks it's really good to see Caleb
Johnson move forward. And by the way, we talked about
Connor Hayward yesterday and just what a good football player
he is and why you know he is continuing and
has continued to be a part of his team because
you know, right now. If you know Caleb Johnson, you're
(15:53):
still you know, let's say you're still your internal evaluations say, look,
we still need more in the past block game from him.
We want him out there because you know, we want
him to be able to block and release out in patterns,
but we're not quite sure about the past rushing.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Let's say the season started tomorrow. That was your evaluation.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You know, Connor Hayward can go in and do that.
He could be a third down back because you know
he's gonna block if there's a blitz coming.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You know you can rely on him. Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You know they always say availability is the best ability,
which I always scoff at.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It is a it's an important ability. Reliability is an
awfully important ability as well.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
But you can build reliance. You can't build availability either,
you are you want to?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
That one is very black and white. Reliability sits in
the gray zone like it's like, what can I trust
him with?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
You know, well, you could trust Connor Hayward with everything.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
Yeah, and that and that's the thing. I think Connor
Hayward's trusted with a lot of things and he's available,
so it makes him even more valuable, you know, in
this process, and I think that's what that's what's going
to prove. I mean, he can play h back line
up at tight end, even though he might be a
little bit smaller. He's your move guy. He can run
the hides, but he can also lead block in the
and and some of the counter game and some of
(17:09):
the lead run game. So he just he has a
very different skill set than Darnell Washington. He has a
very different skill set than John hu Smith or Pat
Fryer move right. He's just a guy that he fits
in and he fills the holes. I think that's the
best way. And then this is a compliment. He fills
the holes that might be something present on a on
(17:32):
a play by play basis. He can give you coverage
in those areas and like I said, it goes a
long way when you're talking about also that some of
the blocking aspects Baby does as a stand and some
of the six and seven man protection schemes that Arthur
Smith has. He's a guy you could trust to be
in the backfield, come up and butt up with a
backer that's blitzing, but also be off the edge and
(17:53):
be a wing support guy and take the in man
on the line of scrimmage. So you know, can't say
enough about what what Connor's done and how he's looked
so far in camp, because he's gonna give you a
moment every single day that's gonna jump off the page
or jump off the tape when you're watching him, and
you can't go a day without saying, oh, eighty three
did something good that. That's just how President has been
(18:14):
so far.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
So really interested in Max's early camp phenom, and frankly,
I don't know the answer, and you don't know the
answer yet, but you're gonna find out. We're also gonna
talk more about the pass rush, those drills. Where's the
offense against this fierce, hopefully very fierce Steelers pass rush
with its skill on the outside. You're gonna find out
(18:37):
when we return into the locker room with King and Starks.
Presented by a neighborhood of Fords store Here on this
Steeler's audio.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Network, Iheartradios live coverage, I'm about twenty twenty five Steelers
training camp. He's presented by FedEx where now meets Next
and also brought to you by CG. We are wholesale
Roofing and Sighting Supply Center by Tons Appliances, by Always
(19:05):
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Credit and by usteel.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Man.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Welcome back inside the Locker Room with King in Starks,
presented by your Neighborhood Fords Tour here on the Steelers'
audio network. All right, Max, offensive line versus defensive line
pass rush drills.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
What do you got O line versus D line one
on one pass rush obviously trying to be overshadowed by
seven on seven last night, But no, everybody wanted to
see the butt guts go to action, you know, and
duel it out. And I will say this number seventy
eight ya black also another number sake mine, definitely sporting,
(19:59):
sporting the belly. You know, he definitely doesn't wear a
shirt underneath his bads, and you know he lets he
lets old Glory hang out there loud and proud. So uh,
that was my initial observation. I wanted to get that
out there before I forgot but one on one pass rush.
I thought offensive line took a step forward. Troy Fatanu
had another great series of reps against t J. Watt,
(20:21):
and that also translated over into the team drills. Some
really good blocks by him. See the confidence growing every
single day with him and of course overcoming that knee
injury and feeling comfortable about you know, where he's at
in the rehab process and trying to put that behind him.
Thought he had a solid night. Roderick Jones saw first
(20:43):
action of one on one pass rush in pads. He
was he was good. He was good, he was solid.
I think, you know, obviously the time off and you know,
not being able to practice, you know, he's he's settling
in just nice with his his speed. I felt like
one of the biggest days. His speed out of his
looked really remarkable last night. And he looked comfortable. Was
(21:04):
able to bend, which you always worry about when you
have that lower body injury that kept him out of
the last couple of days of practices. He looked good
at his ben moments, being able to sit down on
some of the inside pass rusher offset moves by the defender.
Another guy who had who had a Stephen Jones, Steve
(21:25):
has been asked to play a bunch of different positions.
I felt like he's gone out there and really acquitted
himself very well interiorly at guard as well as taking
some reps outside to tackle really good Gareth Warren, the
rookie from Lyndenwood University, number seventy eight, another number sake
of mine. He has some really good sets against Echoleota.
(21:50):
And you know, Echo Liota is a guy who's quietly
been having a really good camp and we're talking about
previewing camp phenom status. He's a guy that's really turning
some heads. He's had some power moves displayed, you know,
a good variety of pass rush moves, and he had
a solid night. You know, Gareth wanted him battle. They
(22:11):
went to a rubber match. They went to three sets
against each other because each one and Gareth came out
on top on the third rep, which was was always
good to see when your O line dominates, when coach
wants to put you back up there against each other.
You know, those guys really stood out. I will say this,
Derek Harmon is a handful, but you know five to
(22:32):
four old Morgantown Maler Zach Frazier showed off some of
his wrestling skills and kind of first one got blown off,
you know, because Derek Harmon obviously first round drafting a
guy who we identified as a guy who could penetrate.
He he had some good moves, but then Derek tried
to get a little razzle dazzlely and thought he could
spin off of Zack and Zach literally put him, put
(22:54):
the jumper cables on him, and he got He got
nowhere really quickly in that drill. So I thought they
had a really good matchup.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
You know.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Ya Black went up against Spencer Anderson along with Isaiah
louder Milk. Spence struggled a little bit with louder Milk.
It's a very taller defensive ven you're talking about six
foot seven defensive lineman. Got him on the first rep,
then he came back and stoned him on the second round.
Dylan Cook, who's been kind of running a swing tackle
position for US, you know. Calvin Anderson, you know, was solid,
(23:26):
but Dylan Cook had had had had a good night,
some little technical things like getting that foot in on
the redirect. You know, he had a really good stone
and really forced Nick Herbig into a second move last night,
which is always a good thing to challenge the defensive
lineman and edge rushers to go into their second move.
(23:46):
You want to take away their favorite move, which is
always the number one. Right, the Big mac fries and
a coke and he's like, no, I want you to
go get a you know, m chicken snack wrap or something.
I don't know, and he forced them into it. But
you know, Herbig is just so good. He knows how
to end and his his recovery moves are so good
and he caught Dylan like edged him out right at
the end of stuff they went. They went head to
(24:08):
head three times as well. Uh, I'm looking at some
of the other guys. Max Sharping was in on the interior,
did really good at center, struggled a little bit at
the left guard position when he went in for that
one against Daniel Acquala and Daniel Qualley. I mean, you
see why the guy started for the Patriots last year.
I mean he's a very good defensive lineman, very shifty
(24:28):
and uh, interior pass rush. He has a good interior
pass rush move, does not get pushed up the field,
kind of keeps within the framework, might not necessarily get
a sack. But you can force a quarterback out of
the pocket with the skills that he possesses, and that's
all you need. When you got TJ and Alex off
the edge right Jack Sawyer saw him and uh he
went head to head with Calvin Anderson. Calvin stoned him
(24:49):
the first two reps. Coach was like, noe, rook you're
gonna have to get used to this. We're gonna you're
gonna get born in the fire. And uh he he
came in on the third rep and solid was a
little bit wide. You know, it's a little unrealistic where
he lined up in but was able to have some success.
Col kind of jumped the snap count, which forced an,
you know, another opportunity, and Jack took advantage. You saw
(25:12):
that Calvi was trying to jump out there to equip
for the speed, so he slow played him boom inside move.
I mean everybody saw it. I mean I was sitting
there next to the next to the rookie, Gareth Warren,
and we looked at each other like happens every time,
you know, you show that you're trying to get out
there quick. The defensive line is like, all right, no,
please get out there. Quick, please fear my speed and
(25:33):
then took an inside route. It was really easy rep
for him. So, you know, I look at it, there's
a lot there. There's a lot of back and forth,
a lot a lot, a lot of rubber matches, so
to speak, you know, get the third rep end to
see who's the definitive winner of that section of the
pass rush. And I felt like O Line did a
really good job of kind of locking up and uh
(25:53):
and and having some fun with it. I just see
them all did not participate in that drill, but you know,
I'm not worried about it. I mean, Cam Hayward didn't
didn't participate in that drill. I felt like that would
have been probably the the quote unquote beef Eater primetime matchup,
would have watched Cam versus Isaac. But now that one
participating in that drill last night. So it was good
opportunity for the young guys to get some really good
(26:14):
reps and to really start working on their what I
call their their game plan, you know, understanding more and
more opportunities to watch and see how these d linemen run.
Also gives them a good chance to kind of put
a study on their teammate and build a book on
them and understand also by doing that, you're helping yourself
and creating your own game plan when you get up there,
(26:36):
for one, so you can be a little more proactive
than reactive in that drill. So yeah, there's my assessment, sir, hopefully.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Okay, gave you a follow up with some questions.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yeah, because I think we're, you know, barring injury again
up knock on wood, assuming everybody stays healthy. We know,
I have a pretty good feel Cam Hayward, Keanu Benton,
and Derek Carmon are gonna eat up a lot of reps.
It's the probable starting three in a three four defense.
(27:08):
They use that about twenty five percent of the time,
So the other seventy five percent of the time there's
only two down linemen. Cam Heyward, Keanu Benton, Derek Carmon.
I expect those three guys, I mean, I would anticipate
those three guys being the guys that take most of
the snaps. But you're gonna need a fourth guy, whether
it's because of injury or fatigue or what have you.
(27:31):
And you know, and you want to have a fifth
and sixth and beyond that.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I think it's uh.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
You know, you mentioned a quale and you mentioned Ya Black.
You talked about the veteran aqualite, You talked about letting
the flag fly.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
For Ya Black. How did he look to you?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Does he is?
Speaker 2 (27:46):
How would you describe his his game right now in
this particular drill?
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Is it more pocket pusher? Does he have some moves?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
You talked about him maybe trying to play a little
bit lower when we discussed him earlier in the camp.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Yeah, it still has to work on gaining leverage, which
means dropping dropping the butt. You gotta drop the butt.
You can't you can't play at your absolute height. I mean,
the guy's almost six foot six, so you can't go
to You can't go to six five. I need you
like six', two you, know just a little bit. More
but he does have. POWER i mean. THAT i think
(28:21):
that's what the apparent thing. Is and when you're thinking
about trying to distort the window that a quarterback can
throw out of having a very large body like him
in your face less than two yards away makes it
a little tough to kind of, throw you, know a seam,
route so to. Speak SO i think his his is still.
Power but he has some. Moves he does have some nice.
Counters he gets a nice bull and what we call
(28:44):
bull and rip move where he's gonna butt you up
and then pick a side and kind of angle you.
Out it almost looks like a reverse box out drill
when a when a players coming down the, lane you,
know in. BASKETBALL i would say that that's still one
of his. Strengths another guy THAT i did not mentioned
That i've forgotten As i'm thinking about, It Logan lee
looked pretty good In drill last. Night you, know has
(29:07):
a really solid bull move and he has a nice
little kind of kind of shed where he gets the
guy kind of grabs a jersey and kind of tosses
the guy aside at the. End you, know it's you,
know it's more of a it's more of a jerk,
move and we call it and not jerk as in
the person's ability jerking the jersey and shifting the body.
Balance SO i.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Got the last year he was he was beginning to
elevate himself as sort of an underground Camp fenon before
he got.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Hurt, Logan, Yeah, no he's definitely and he's showing up
in film now that he's healthy and getting those. Reps you,
know he's with he runs with the second half of
two's and threes in that unit because it is just so.
Deep but when you start to try and formulate what
does a second string quote unquote look, LIKE i think
that's where one that you, Know Logan lee's trying to
(29:57):
fight to crack that along with the quale and you,
know another guy who had a decent night last. Night
and the backs on backers did not translate over to
the one on one pass. Rush we actually faced guys
in similar size To Marvin leal uh coming off the
edge that kind of stand up elephant style and as
(30:17):
we would call it and Think Levon, kirkland you, know
he he definitely had some power moves against tight ends
and running. Backs but then we got up against the actual,
uh you, know the class of the blocking drills in
the offensive. Line struggled a little, bit got stoned a
couple of, times you, know in that. Drill BUT i
(30:37):
think he's another guy that's having a quietly solid. Camp you,
know the biggest thing that With demarvin has never been.
Talent it's always been health for him and having the
opportunity to stay healthy and put reps on tape is
always a good thing leading into, this especially when we
know how deep and how varied the defensive line. Is
(30:57):
BUT i felt like he acquitted himself pretty. Well Isaiah
loudermilk still hanging.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Around, there, Yep, no you, know he was.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Doing more pass rush spin moves and trying some more
creative ways to get up. Field Like i've, said he
ate him and him And Spencer. Anderson you know locked
horns a couple of times last. Night BUT i mean
it's gonna be very feerce when you're talking about filling
out that you, know sixth seventh defensive lineman in that,
(31:27):
GROUP i feel like one that might carry eight potentially
MAYBE i feel like seven to eight probably the sweet
spot so called, dunbar and he likes to use all
those guys.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Absolutely and let me ask you another question before we
head to a break and get into the camp.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Phenums in the final, segment.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
You, know you mentioned Like Gareth williams getting three, sets and,
look let's face, it every player is looking for approval
from the. Coaches you, know if you're trying to fight
for a roster, spot you know what you're what you
want to hear is you, know if you're a Young
Max starks and and somebody needs to blow in that
first team, offense you want to hear somebody yelling out
(32:04):
starts get in, there, right that's what you. Want, yeah
and you're trying to read the tea leaves because things
aren't always quite that. Clear and you know you Mentioned
Gareth williams getting that third. REP i don't know if that's.
NORMAL i don't know if we're reading the tea leaves,
here but certainly you know these young guys want every
(32:24):
opportunity to show what they can. Do you know what
you really want to hear if You're Gareth, williams is,
uh say you know Keanum betton's lining up and then
then they call your. Number now you know they're at
least testing you and getting you ready to potentially move
up the depth.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Chart? Uh is that is?
Speaker 4 (32:42):
There?
Speaker 2 (32:43):
WELL i don't know if WE i don't know if
i'd be by asking this Whether i'd give Away Camp?
Phenom WOULD i give Away Camp? Phenom if you answered that? Question,
no now you all? Right not not in this particular.
INSTANCE i think it just.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Goes to show you that the quality of, work especially For,
mike is at a varsity. Level that's what you always
likes to, say, right you, know put varsity performances, together
and of course being At Latrobe, memorial no better place
to use that correlation than at a high school, field you.
Know but when you do quality reps or you do
have something where it's kind of on, edge whether this
(33:19):
Guy wan or that guy, one that means the coaches
are taking notice and they're actually paying. Attention AND i
thought For, warren you, know he acquitted himself really. Well
you know him AND i talked real quick before he
went into the, session had him open up his stance
just a little bit and made a world of. Difference
and he's the. Guy you, know this is a big
step up in competition and what he faced at Linden
wood going up against pro guys you're talking about from THE,
(33:41):
sec The big ten and The big twelve and you
know Former pac. TWELVE i guess you have to say
since that conference is now coming back in a very limited.
Role but you, know seeing those moments where you can
catch the COACHES i are always, good always good. Moments and,
yeah you do exercise the futility of knowing whether they
(34:04):
like you or, not or whether they pay attention to
you or, not but you know it goes a long
way when coach singles you out and wants to see
ANOTHER i want to see more of what you have to.
Offer is always a good sign and always a good
situation to be. In but still not camp. Phenom not camp,
Phenom so we did not give away any of the
(34:25):
t in that.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Assessment so camp, PHENOM i really want to hear your,
Answer but once again we're up against the. Break so
after the break we're gonna Hear max's early camp phenom
or maybe plurals plural camp. Phenoms that's up next in
the locker room With king And, starks presented by your
Neighborhood Ford. Store here on The Steelers Audio, Network.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
iHeart Radios Live, Coverage I'll not twenty By Steelers Training.
Camp he's presented By fadex Where now Meets next and
also brought to you by Bud, Light Independence Health system
By Pennsylvania One Call, system By Live, Casino Caliente pizza
And Draft house By Tom's, Alliances South Hill's Auto, Laurel
(35:19):
Highlands Visitors, bureau We Max Select realty Of Pittsburgh Steelers
Pro shop and BY Us Steel.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Welcome back to the Locker room With king And, start
presented by your Neighborhood Ford stow in The Steelers Audio.
NETWORK i want to mention very quickly That mick McQuay
is going to be joining us. Tomorrow we're gonna get
a Little irish on the.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Show so looking forward to.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
That Max starks as the game Against minnesota In ireland
is what a couple of months, Away so can't wait
for That september twenty.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
Eighth but Here, Sunday Sunday, sunday.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Here's WHAT i can't wait.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
FOR i can't wait For Max starks's early because we
have training camp and all the other we have our
preseason games and that's technically you, know preseason at. Camp
that all kind of comes to me but together for
me a little. Bit but who your early camp? Phenoms Max,
ooh this is a good, one.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Guys and you know they might not be the household
names that were accustomed.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
To well then they wouldn't be a camp pheno.
Speaker 4 (36:24):
Exactly you know The Jalen warrens we know is a known,
suspect right he but he was a camp phenom of,
yesteryear came out of, nowhere you, know came out of
nowhere and you were just, like who is this? Guy
and he has stood the test of. Time he's still
a guy very prominent in the offensive plans and in the.
(36:45):
Playbooks i'm going to start with one that people might not,
know or people might not care to, know might not watch,
them but that's the whole point of their. JOB i
want to see what you can do when nobody's paying
attention and be as integral as you can what it comes.
Time i'm going to go out on a limb and
(37:07):
number seventy Nine Stephen, jones second year guy From. Oregon
it's been playing guard and, tackle but the tenacity and
the ability to switch between positions in a drill and
not have any significant drop off is a huge. One
it's one that it's not the sexy. One it's not
(37:28):
the sexy. Choice we'll get to the sexy choices.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
A little bit.
Speaker 4 (37:31):
Later but he has been solid with each and every
rep and. Opportunity started on the third, team very well
in grained now and the second team on the offensive
unit fighting for that top eight, position but has really
been consistent from the first day in helmets and shells
(37:52):
and the acclamation period to now the second padded, Practice
Stephen jones has been, there has stood out and has
been a very solid. Performer he is my First Camp phenom.
AWARD i think he's been solidly putting stuff. Together, now
obviously we get to the, stadium we get To, Jacksonville Tampa,
(38:12):
bay we'll see how that correlates and how a little
bit upticking and, time responsibility and opportunity what that. Yields
but right, now has had a very solid start to
camp and a guy that's caught my eye just about
every single day that's he's been out on the. Field
so that is my first camp. FIND i love.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
It you said it's not, sexy it's big.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Sexy because the others have talked about they need to
win in the. Trenches and if you're telling me that
they can find a guy who was undrafted and you
can come in and be part of, that that's sexy to.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
Me All, right that's.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Good at number, two all, right number.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
Two this one's a little bit, new and this is
more of a new guy versus a young guy in this.
MOMENT i think he came with a little bit of,
prestige even though he was kind of a little bit
afterthought in some of the action that happened right before
the start of. Camp But john New smith has been.
(39:16):
Phenomenal he has been. Phenomenal here are the words. Phenomenal
love it as an offensive. ADDITION i, mean you're talking
about a guy who's coming into a very deep and
very entrenched tight end. Room when you're thinking About Pat,
Fryarmouth Darnell, Washington Connor, Hayward john New smith has come.
(39:41):
In he's been an instant. LEADER i, mean this is
ninth year in the, league guy that came FROM fiu
right WHEN i first started my broadcasting career working For,
stadium which was then one twenty, sports and he has
just been absolutely, electric especially when you're talking about the passing.
Drills his route running is, clear, crisp. Clean he looks
(40:01):
like a wide receiver the way he, moves but obviously
the body type of a tight. END i felt Like
john New smith has been one that's been welcome, surprise
and because he's new to, us he still qualifies in
the camp Phenom Cata.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Okay by the, way you also had a little, uh
maybe he's pre, phenom but you kind of Tease akuliota
having a quietly very good camp as well in a
very very crowded pass rusher.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Situation for This.
Speaker 4 (40:29):
Steelers so moving to the.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
Defense oh, Okay i'm, Sorry i'm. SORRY i SAID i
had Multi okay you, Guys, yeah all, right exactly. Echo
lioda has shown up in the pass.
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Rush he's shown up in the pursuit drills on the
backside when he's been opening to some of the wide toss.
Game he's chased guys down for tackles for. Loss he
has dummied a couple of our offensive, linemen throwing guys
out the. Club he doesn't look like a big physical,
presence but he is has been solid and when you
talk about just being a football, player like the guy
is not gonna be on your off the bus, team
(41:06):
but he's a guy that's gonna give you a performance
and he plays with a high motor and he's made
plays and that's what you want in a football. PLAYER
i felt Like echoleota is gonna make it really tough
to figure out who your game day top four pass rushers.
Are but he's been putting together a very very solid.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
Camp eleven games played in THE, nfl by the, way For,
eku so he does have a little bit of, experience
including one for The stews last.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Year but didn't mean to cut you. Off go, Ahead,
yeah and then you.
Speaker 4 (41:34):
Know i'm Gonna i'm gonna go off of this, one
And i'm gonna give you a name THAT i. Know
he plays for another team before and he has a
lot of. Experience but you, know a guy by the
name Of Malik harrison has been very. Physical, yeah he's
a large human at six two and a half two
hundred and sixty. Pounds he plays like. It he has
hammered guys and backs on, backers and he's made plays
(41:56):
in the run game in. Practice so that's another guy
in the camp phenom category of a guy that's not,
old but he's new to us and he has shown
up and shown out in practice thus. Far those are
my four camp phenoms right.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
Now love.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
It looking forward to some injury updates From Mike tomlin
to practice. Today we'll have those for you. Tomorrow we're
gonna go a little irish When mick McQuay joins us as.
Well that and much more coming up tomorrow For Max,
starks For Wes, euler For Justin miller back in Our iHeart.
Studios I'm Rob. King thanks for listening to The Locker
room With Kinging, starks presented by your Neighborhood Ford store
(42:30):
here on The Steelers Audio.
Speaker 4 (42:31):
Network
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