September 10, 2025 • 46 mins
Rob and Max are joined by Jim Wexell as the three chat about the Steelers win against the Jets and the state of the team. The guys also discuss the latest roster moves made by the team.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is in the Locker Room with Kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The F one fifty is the official.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop.
Get it direct from the team at the Steelers Pro
Shop at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Oh, guess what it is? Guess what day it is?
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Eh?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Anybody, Julie, Hey, guess what day it is? Come on,
I know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
What day is it? Mike?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Guess what today is?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
It's hump Day.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Who woo.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Woo.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
That's right, It is a Humpday Wednesday here inside the
locker room. And let's just face it, No Wednesday is
complete until you've got the is in the musings of
the author, the editor, the writer, the individual that puts
(01:10):
thoughts to paper or digital paper. That is, since he
has a website, it's the one, the only. Jim Wex, So,
how are we doing today, Jim?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Oh, we're doing great. Max. And hey, I got to
tell you, guys. I got to tell you, and I
hope it doesn't bring anyone down. But you know, we
think of the way Craig wolfully all the time here
on the show. Yeah, but that Wednesday, that hump Day thing,
that is his voice, I swear. And I used to
get confused when he would have when you guys would
(01:42):
have me on last year and Craig say, no, that's
not my voice. But it just sounds exactly like them
all the way back to laugh.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You could not be more correct.
Speaker 6 (01:53):
I absolutely, In fact, you know, when I heard it
last week, I thought, is that did they did they find.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It clip from put it on the I'm not even kidding.
I totally agree that it sounds.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
It sounds exactly like wolf exactly channeling on our.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
If you got yeah, if you guys, which I try
all the time when I'm screwing up, I always think
what would Wolfs do? So, uh, I just I'm sure
somebody else has put this out there, But I hope
he's honored in some way this week at the stadium.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, I think, yeah, yes, yes he will.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
We can't say exactly what, but yes we are going
to do our good friend proud yep.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And you know, and he was.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
We did the same prior to the prior to this
UH broadcast, or prior to the actual game during the broadcast,
as we did in the preseason as well. You know,
never forgotten. We're absolutely not. He's you know, wax. He's
one of those rare guys that just you know, made
(03:03):
everybody feel big, made everybody feel happy, made everybody feel
good all the time. It's just you know, he lifted
up whatever room he went into. It didn't it didn't matter.
I mean, Wolf just had that had that unique ability.
And they're very very few people.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
I know, but he made it seem so easy and
it did. Really, it is easy. It is easy just
to love everybody regardless. Yeah, but no, it's not easy,
but you.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Know it is.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Why can it be? Yeah, Canopy, I know what's right
from wrong?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Right?
Speaker 5 (03:39):
No, you get mad out in traffic or whatever. Could
you could you imagine Wolf get bad in traffic or anything?
He just doesn't. He did it. Yeah, oh anyway, Okay.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
But he did make it look easy. My father used
to say about something that looked easy. You know, a
child of three could do it with thirty years of practice.
So he made it, you know, made it look easy.
But but I you know, he's well that's what makes
him unique because we could all be like that, and
we'd all love to be like that, but he was
(04:11):
a singular guy.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Singular guy.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So the students are.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Want to know, what do you I haven't talked to
you since the game. What is your take from that?
You know about the fact that, yes, there are some
things that you want to correct. For sure, it was
hardly a flawless game, but you're also want to know.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
I know, and you know, I'm an editor at my site,
and even this morning I had two columns I had
to edit. Of course, I'm a writer and I wrote
pretty much and everybody's pretty much saying the same things.
Uh so it's hard for me even on Wednesday to
say anything different. Great that they got to win playing poorly,
(04:59):
I you know, poorly. That's It's not they didn't play poorly,
it's some of the things, like like looking exactly like
the run defense looked eight months ago. How does that happen?
That was my question to Peyton Wilson. You know, I
get that it's first week and he didn't have a
mobile quarterback in camp, but the last quarterback he played
(05:22):
was mobile, did the same things, and they did the
same things. To you, how does it not change is
it all about Derek Harmon. It can't be, So that's
really frustrating. And Max may know more than I, being
that he's an Ex's and O's wizard. But it just
looked the same. The front getting blown off the ball,
(05:45):
the linebackers having too many people in their face, had
nose tackles in their laps, as the quarterback and the
running back running up. So that was very young, just
discouraging and possibly worrying. But it is the first week
(06:06):
of the year.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I think, uh I, I happen to agree with you
wex that.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
You know, look, I didn't think this was a great
matchup for this Steelers up front on either side of
the ball. But it's probably more excusable for me on offense,
where you have Broder Jones starting your first I mean,
if if you're looking for excuses and uh and Mike
Mike tom And always says, you know, we're not looking for
(06:34):
comfort here, we're looking for truth, you know. But you
got a new left tackle starting, you have a new
right tackle starting, you have tight ends moving around a
little bit. You're looking for that cohesion, that cohesiveness for
an offensive line that sometimes takes time. On defense, you uh,
I did so. I wasn't shocked that the Jets, who
(06:56):
have a talented front, were able to do some things
against this teelers. I wasn't shocked at the Jets ran
the ball, but I was mighty surprised that they ran
it as effectively as they ran it.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
That surprised me.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
I did not see that coming because I thought they
were better equipped to stop that, and maybe they will
be as the season wears on.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
But you know that did surprise me.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Yeah, I do like the addition of Jabrill Peppers. I
just noticed in the locker room. He wasn't in there,
but I didn't notice they gave him number forty, which
I know we all think of Boo Bell, but I
go back to my childhood and think of Gail says,
(07:41):
So forty is a hallowed number for me. I know
it doesn't mean anything more than Boo Bell around here.
I can't think of another forty since Myron Boo Bell,
the guy who replaced Carnell Lake at strong Safety when
he replaced Rod Woodson. That's cornerback, that great hoof who
has gotten short shrift on that maneuver. But so I
(08:07):
was wondering which number Jabriel would have. I know, this
isn't going to help the x's and o's at all,
but I was going through the single digits. He went
from five to three at New England. He loves five,
and of course Jalen Ramsey has five. Two is Mason
(08:29):
Rudolph Steers don't give out one, Three is courtus Weavement,
four is dk Metcalf, six is Pat Queen. Seven, of
course is not used. Eight is Rogers, and nine is Boswell.
So I thought maybe ten. It was pretty cool seeing
(08:49):
forty the number that really jumps out at me as
hallowed and veered and nobody else in that locker room.
Being a Chicago boy, I used to be able to
talk to Touch about the old days of Sayars and Buckkiss.
That team went one in thirteen, beat the Steelers that year,
(09:10):
who also went one in thirteen. And the Bears are
so bad and so tortured and so replete with bad
luck that they lost the coin flip for Terry Bradshaw
one in thirteen. They didn't get the first pick. That's
how bad they were. Anyways, as my friends in college
(09:30):
used to say, after I'd write a column about the
Bears in this way, he'd say a bear fan Craps
in our woods would be the headline journalism a journalism
review in a old class. What do you think of
this story? What headline would you have put on this?
And the guy raised his hand and said that, but
(09:51):
he didn't use the word crap, So.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Thank you for us.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
So I've just done that here. I don't know who's
going to clean it up for you guys, but I've
just done that here. And I apologize. I am just
the Steelers woes of their interior getting blown off the
ball and their left tackle providing poor pass protection. And
I know Gainwell help with some chips, but on third down,
(10:20):
I know Gainwell's you're receiving running back, but Jalen's your
pass blocking running back. It's a conundrum. And using Gainwell
heard a few times.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, and here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I will, I will say, I will, I will try
and bring out the pooper scooper in this conversation wex.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I have.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
I have a dog, so I'm pretty much I'm used
to I'm used to having to having to pick up poop.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
On the walks with the dog.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So it's all good.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
We started it with such reverence today.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I mean, we did it was very hallowed. It was
very somber, very reflective.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
We've been talking about going downhill wex uh yeah, yeah,
but we're trying we're trying not to go that far downhill.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, exactly, We're trying to have a controlled descent, you know. Yeah,
but no, but I mean, but kind of when I
look at that, you're absolutely right, you know, did they
learn from their mistakes of the past. That's kind of
what the ethos is here.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And when you.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Look at kind of the tail of the tape, you
break the nuts and boats down, you would say.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
No, they didn't.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
But I put this out there. They won the key
moments which mattered. And what are those key moments? Wex
for two point conversions, not once, but twice. Think about
the difference of the game. They did that in that moment.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And even though Rogers hit, we still had some explosive
plays downfield. DK Metcalf, thank you, right, thank you for
that trade because he was a difference maker. John new
Smith we got a touchdown with John new Smith off
a jet suite that counts as a pass, but.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We didn't have that a year ago.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
So when I look at the pieces that were at
and let's not even talk about the biggest play of
the game, which was the last play of the game.
Jalen Ramsey talk about talk about late trade heroics. Right
before trading Camp. I am at Disneyland in California in
my room when I when I get the little cross
(12:43):
Adam Schefter reporting there's been a trade made between the
Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburg Steelers. And the calls that
I fielded while trying to find corn Dog Palace inside
of California Adventures about that trade and those two guys
that came over. That's where I say we did learn something,
we did grow, and we did get better. It's just
(13:05):
it hasn't settled yet. You know, like a good gumbo,
you know, got to make a food reference there, you go, Wolf,
Like a good gumbo, Gumbo takes time before it comes together.
If not, it's just a bunch of ingredients in the pot.
And I think that's what we're kind of trying to
see what guys can do. And I think for a
lot of guys, sometimes you got to get punched in
the mouth and you got to and you got to
(13:27):
refocus and kind of fall back into the corner to
then rethink your strategy and go out with a different plan.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So I will say this that, yes, it did not
look perfect.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
It did not look like a dominating team that with
all these pieces was going to come out and just
throttle the New York Jets. That was never the case.
I think with the Jets, it was going to be
a war of attrition, and unlike the end of last
season to the beginning of this season, we figured out
how to overcome and the key moments. And I think
that's kind of what I take from it. When I
(13:58):
look at this, you still have sixty more opportunities to
get better at it, and at least the first outing,
even though it wasn't ideal, you still were able to
pull away the victory.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, let's build off that getting punched in the mouth. Now,
when they go play Lamar Jackson, they got I don't
know if they'll bring the Jets film out, but they
won't have to, you know, fabricate any and they won't
have to go all the way back to the last
(14:31):
Ravens game. They could say, you know, you guys did
this and this wrong, and this wrong, and they have
been punched in the mouth in that regard, they're sitting
up straight in their chairs. Now next time they play
Lamar Jackson. Right as far as Ramsey, you know, the
bad part of that trade was the loss of Minka.
And I think Jalen needs to get used to playing
(14:56):
some free safety. You know, they played a lot more
they of the time then teams usually do. And and
teams are going to force them to play bass until
they stopped the run. But Jalen, Jalen plays free safety
in the base. And I believe that Garrett Wilson scored
(15:18):
then and and you know, Jalen wasn't real comfortable free safety.
I have no doubt that he will become more comfortable.
But again the mistakes the growth that he realized he
needs punch in the face. And as a team, as
a defensive secondary, they will begin to play more press man.
(15:42):
You would hope they don't lose two dbs per game
to offset any kind of game planning, but more of
that press man will sneak in and then they can
they'll have more people available to stop the run. So yeah,
there's there's a lot of growth ahead.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, actually I think you bring up
a good point.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
And you know, and this was one of the things
that you know, had me arching an eyebrow about this
particular matchup as opposed to Seattle Seattle. I think, you know,
Seattle's got two guys in the outside, Jackson Smith and
jakebi Cooper Cup. You know, two good receivers. I think
that's the kind of team that you play press man on.
(16:29):
You know, you have to understand, fans have to understand.
You know, you don't want to play a lot of
man against Justin Fields or Lamar Jackson. You have to
pick your spots. You can't just go out there and
say this is what we're gonna do. Because if Justin Fields,
look at how many times he broke, you know, the
pocket and got out of the pocket, and that ability
to run if you got your back to him, oh,
(16:51):
I mean, look out. You know he's gonna he's gonna
exploit that. So I would imagine, and again I don't
make the game plan. I would imagine that's not the
kind of game in which you want to play a
lot of man against a mobile running quarterback who wants
to run, who wants to go. I think that you know,
Sam Darnold, who is mobile and can get out of
(17:13):
the pocket, It's not like he's a statue back there,
but he's he's less likely to rip off a fifty
yard game than justin Fields would be. So I think
we will see more. Man, I just think it was
my guy, And look, I don't I don't have the breakdown.
I don't know how often they played man. It just
felt to me going in and this is one of
the reasons that I told Max going into the game,
I was a little nervous, is because the way you
(17:35):
want to play that to me would probably have to
wait till week two. Again, I don't I don't have
the breakdown of what they played. I'm glad you mentioned
the bass Wex because it did feel like they played
the base defense quite a bit with that three man front,
you know, three down linemen in a fifty front. But
I do think that we'll see more of that blueprint
that they put in place executed moving forward, beginning with
(17:57):
this week.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I would you say, I agree, go ahead? Way.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
I didn't mean to, Oh, okay, brul Peppers is going
to help. I mean, that's that's another piece in the
secondary so versatile too. You know, when you're moving Ramsey
all over the place, Peppers can go to the places
he used to be and play those positions. Not so
much corner, but you know, slot, dimebacker, strong safety, maybe
(18:28):
some free safety. He has definitely played free safety, don't
get me wrong, But he's more of a he's more
of an in the box, a physical guy. So and
also he was surprised by being cut. And you know
what happens when you get punched in the face, punching
the mouth, right, so he has been punching the mouth too,
(18:49):
and he will have a determination. And you know, Mike
Toman always loved him coming out. It was my I
look back in the twenty seventeen draft and I and
I predicted Debro Peppers would be drafted by the Steelers,
and Browns grabbed him at twenty five. Steelers had to
settle for some guy named Watt, but Tomlin really liked
(19:15):
Pepper's coming out. And you know, Peppers play everywhere. I
mean he played running back, both return specialists, linebacker, some
defensive end, some corner, and both safety spots. So I'm
sure a lot of that versatility is carry over. He's
played both safety spots and he can play nickel and
(19:35):
Dinebacker's another you know, when you put six DB's out
there and Ramsey's in the slot and thorn Hill and
Deshaun Elliott or Deep Ramsey can be that dinebacker, So
Ramsey Peppers. So I mean, I think this was a
really nice pickup and will help.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, and I think you know, you're absolutely right, and
we kind of get to.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You know what.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
You know, I think the biggest question is, you know
that people have to ask, is well, why did we
have to pick up, you know, a Jabriel Preppers. Why
why are we Why are we doing that? Well, that's because,
let's face if you did not watch the game, Deshaun
Elliott left that game and did not come back. Joey
Porter Junior left the game and did not come back,
(20:25):
that's the corresponding move. This is to an injury to
Deshaun Elliott that you make the corresponding move for Jabrill Preppers.
So I just want to make sure we clear that
up if anybody was asking that out there.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
But wex Max. Oh yeah, they were a little fins.
They were a little finant safety even with Elliott healthy,
a little finn. I mean, since Miles plays special teams
pretty much solely, I really like Sebastian Castro as a
young ballplayer. I think he's I think he's going to
(20:58):
become an NFL safety, but apparently the time was not right.
And you know, Jabrill Peppers gives you all that experience
can do at all and exactly so anyway, so sorry
to cut you.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Off on that, but no, no, no, And I think
that's exactly why you bring him in. I think, but
it was more of necessity, like you like, if it
was just something where it's like, Okay, Deshawn's nicked up,
we just need to add a guy up. Yeah, you
probably would have went to the bast Castro. But since
Deshaun will likely be sidelined for not only this week,
but maybe a couple of weeks, that's why you hint
(21:32):
spring it. And let's face it, at this point of
the year, in week two, this is also like the
other frenzy period where everybody's scouring what's left in free
agency because now in week two, and I kind of
prefaced this earlier during our training camp show Kinger, but
now contracts are not guaranteed after week two. So that
(21:55):
means if you're a vested veteran and you're on the
roster and you play in week one, you know, you're
guaranteed your salary throughout the year. Now with Week two happening,
that's when it's not guaranteed. So now teams can be
more likely to bring in more veteran.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Guys moving forward.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
So expect some more activity today and throughout this week
of more veteran guys that have been sitting on the bench,
sitting at the house on the couch to come into
these teams, or guys who are who were cut from
teams and you know, cleared waivers and everything.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Now you could start to.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Do business with those guys, So just expect league wide,
not just with us, but league wide. That's another thing
to always keep an eye on during these kind of periods.
This is a higher transaction period than most because those
vested veteran contracts are not no longer guaranteed and you
can cut them and not have to pay them their
full salary. So just want to make sure I put
(22:53):
that little disclaimer out there. And we're talking about that
about how guys are more available. And while you'll probably
see a little bit upticking activity.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
See you know during week one, when I'm writing in
my in my tweet and my you know, writing actually
to nobody, to myself, just out into the wilderness. Why
doesn't anyone sign in the woods.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
On the wood?
Speaker 5 (23:18):
But I mean, I forget about this every year. I'm
a what is it anyone pick up to broll Peppers?
He had to be a topic of conversation last week
for the Steelers, and the injury made it a no brainer.
And the other the other guy that we're close to
that we're wondering, why isn't anybody picked this guy up?
Cam Johnston got picked up, and you know he he
(23:40):
might be one of the best punters in the in
the game. And uh, the Steelers really had a tough
decision there, Cortus Weightman really really uh did the job.
I mean, you got to be happy and that the
Steelers took took a chance on the younger guy, the
better athlete, and the guy who holds for sixty yard
(24:03):
field goals, yes.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Exactly, and I mean sixty yard field goals and he
has five second hangtime.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Exactly exactly. I'm not I'm trying to praise Johnston without
the meaning Corlis. I really like Corlis a lot. I
was rooting for him. His fiance is a friend of
my daughters, So I didn't want them to have to move.
I know Corlus would have gotten picked up by somebody,
but so I had personal stake in Corlus. But I
(24:35):
have a lot of respect for Cam Johnson, and the
Bills got themselves a good one. And you're right, this
is the week, and I always forget that the first
week when I'm belly aching on Twitter about why doesn't
anybody sign this guy? You're right Max the other you know,
the rumor about Tyreek Hill. I have no idea whether
(24:55):
there's anything to that. And the money looks scary for
next year thirty million. I understand, as he's guaranteed contract,
but a guy like that would not surprise me this year.
I know we've been saying this since Brandon. I look
and we looked stupid by continuing this. But I have
(25:17):
such an analogy with the Tampa Bay Bucks of twenty
twenty one when they brought in Tom Brady at age
forty three, I think forty two or forty three, and
people thought that was crazy. And he was in shape
and he still had his arm and his legs were
okay enough and they had what was the other analogy
(25:39):
with that team? Well, anyway, they well they had a
defense that they thought was ready to make the move,
and they brought in Brady and they started seven and five.
They started by getting plastered in the open. They got
beat bad, and they were seven and five when they
added Antonio Brown. And he didn't put up great stats.
(25:59):
But I'm reading Tom Morris book right now, the great
assistant coach, and he and Bruce Arians was quoted in
that book. They thought that Antonio Brown made the difference,
gave them a third receiver that secondaries had to respect
over the top, and that move they thought propelled them.
(26:20):
Of course, the Brady move, as with the Aaron Rodgers move,
propelled them offensively. But adding that receiver late and you
can find them. Somebody's going to be upset about being
below five hundred and paying a top wide receiver all
this money and he's complaining because he wants the ball.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Boom.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
There you go, Pittsburgh Steeler's third fourth round pick. So
I expect that to happen, not imminently, but before the
training deadline.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
That is Jim Wexel, this is a wex Wednesday.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Wex thanks very much of the time, and the insight
always always greatly appreciated.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
My friend Hey, thanks for having me. And we do
have Craig Wolfley's book coming out, yeah, kind of the
steward of that, and the book is made and it's
I have some media copies in my hand, but it's
going to be available very soon. So since we started
talking about Craig, you know, he wrote thirty six chapters
(27:22):
seventy thousand words on his memoirs of the game and
it's very good, and so it is a wolf Wednesday,
so I thought i'd bring that up.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Cannot wait, I cannot wait? Can I wait for that?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Wax?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
We will continue, Hey boys, Okay, see man, We'll continue
inside of Locker Room with King and Starks, presented by
Neighborhood Fords Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood fool In Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
And welcome back inside the locker room.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
King at starts with any of our neighborhood, fourth store
here on the Steelers Audio network, and a couple of
things to clean up here.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Max.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
Some news as the Steelers get ready to take the
field for practice on the South Side. So Jabrill Pepper Peppers,
as mentioned by Wex, will be wearing number forty. He
has been added to the active roster. James Pierre has
been added to the active roster as well. Now, we
were told yesterday that Malik Harrison was not going to
(28:46):
be available and he has been placed on the Reserve
Injured list along with Skyler Thompson, and so Logan Woodside
has been brought back and has been added to the
active roster. So quite a few moves. Any initial takes
on those moves, Max.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Well, I think this was kind of kind of telling.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
You know, obviously, to see Malik and Uh and Skyler
on the the I R list is never what you
want to see. But you know, bumping up James Pierre
obviously a safety policy for Joey Porter Uh at the
secondary position because Brandon Echols has stepped up and Brada
(29:28):
Echels was already active. He's the one that came in
for Uh for for Joey, and so seeing those corresponding
secondary moves was not a surprise, but Skyler definitely. You know,
going into a Friday and having that hamstring injury, you
know that was unfortunate, and you're like, man, you know,
(29:52):
the Steelers were left with only two active quarterbacks and
I'm sure they were thinking about somebody possibly coming in
and you know if we, I mean, God forbid, we
had to go down to a third option. You know,
maybe Dylan Cook was gonna take some snaps his missy
kind of said tongue in cheek on.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Friday because he was a former quarterback.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
But now you have an emergency third with the signing
of Logan Woodside that you can dress and keep an
active for emergency purposes. That made sense, But yeah, I
was surprised. You know, Malik had a lot of versatility
and you know he's gonna be missed and also a
guy who's a special team's ace. Yeah, so you're gonna
miss that guy. But I think that also goes to say, hey,
(30:32):
Nick Herbig, we need you, we need you.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Hopefully you're healthy.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Because Lee Harrison was that guy that could also play
outside backer in a spell and in the game, but
he didn't get any reps at it because he was injured.
So I think you saw more tired rotation because you
only had TJ. Alex and Jack Sawyer available to you
at the outside backer position. So hopefully Nick Herbert comes back,
he's healthy and now we can get a full strength
(30:57):
for for rotation outside linebacking woe and you know, like
like like I think we's got to intubate and everything else.
I mean, you bring your Bill Preppers in. You figure,
you know, he gets a week to kind of inundate himself.
He is in shape because obviously he was in he
was in the Patriots training camp and uh and made
it all the way to final cuts. So you know,
(31:18):
having about ten to twelve days off isn't necessarily the worst.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
That you don't decondition that fast.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
And he's a he's a very gifted supreme athlete, so
I think he'll pick up quickly. So you wonder how
much he can give you from a backup position, looking
at the secondary and trying to get to know the
guys and their feel and where they would potentially use him.
But you imagine he's he's he's dressing on game day
and he'll be ready to rock and roll. Then of course,
(31:44):
James Pierre is James Pierre, right, you know, James Pierre
is going to be one of your gunners. He's going
to be one one of your one of your guys
on on on the outside, this this bracketing the opposing
gunners and and pun specialties.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
He'll be a part of that core for group.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
So these moves don't necessarily surprise me. They're all corresponding
moves due to stuff that happened and transpired during Week one.
But yeah, but Skyler Thompson was the one that was
a surprise to go into IR.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 6 (32:14):
And again some of this is uh, you know, you
know inevitable as you get into an NFL season that
they're going to be injuries. You know, it's you know, Max,
you're never as deep as you want to be. And
you know, we've lauded the Steelers approach in improving you know,
(32:37):
if you want to call it the bottom of the roster,
what have you, but every element of the roster, special teams,
so that you know, that's that's a plus, and that
played a big part in the victory. Special teams. In fact,
as we kind of discussed on Monday, if you want
to say at one of the game.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
You kind of can, right, You.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Get a fumble recovery, you score, you get a big
field goal, you get great coverage from your special teams
units with corless weight man Okay, coverage on the kick
returnal though his labs pointed out yesterday that was kind
of a league wide thing where you know, teams are
averaging pretty good numbers on the kick return. So you know,
(33:16):
these guys are all important and they're all playing a
big role, but man, you hate to see it tested
so early in the season. Now, hopefully a guy like
Peppers can come in and be once again another guy
that gives you good veteran depth as a long time
starter in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, that's that's exactly what you hope.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
And you know, we kind of preface this and just
just be aware there will be more moves made throughout
today and throughout the week, because Week two is that
kind of veteran free agent frenzy where, like I said,
contract's not guaranteed, so you know, no harm, no file
if a guy gets injured after a week or you
(33:59):
only need him for thread to four weeks because your
starter is injured and you're trying to get a guy
back up to speed and healthy.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You don't want him to have to rush back.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
You want him to heal completely and fully versus quickly.
You know, I always preface that I'd never want to
say I wish the guy is speedy recovery. I mean,
you would love speed to be involved, but I need
a full recovery.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Because I need you back for the long haul.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
And so I always like to think in those type
of terms when I'm referring to injuries and guys who
are nursing something.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I want a full recovery because I don't want it lingering.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
I don't want it to be something that's a constant
that we're talking about, you know, nicked up and you know,
limited participant, that type of I want a guy that
could participate and put his hand in the pile and also,
you know, be ten toes down when it comes time
for action. So yeah, but I mean, but these are
the things, you know, we could I'm sure we could
go across the entire league and look at a bunch
(34:55):
of teams that are probably dealing with the same thing
from week one, good, better and different, and everybody's got injuries.
Like I said, the healthiest you're ever going to be
this season was when you showed up to your training
camp report date.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
That was it.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Everything else like this show. You want to slow descent,
slow easy descent. You want to roll in a low grade.
You don't want to steep decline. You don't want to
fall off a cliff or anything. You just want to
take that little like a switchback, you know, a switch back.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
On the mountain.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know, just just nice and easy. You're looking, you're
taking photos, you're taking in the fresh mountain air. You
don't want to sit there and have like repelling gear,
you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
That's that's how we kind of look at it.
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Yeah, and Max I did want to get back to
that when we were talking to Wex, you know, and
I think we touched on it last week in the
locker room. But you know, you set up this team
and you get to three corners. You want to play
man and you want to bring that pass rush, and
you want to play a certain style of ball, and
then you go meet a team in which that isn't
(35:59):
really quite the fit, right, It isn't really probably how
you want to defend a team like the Jets.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
That was my take on it. Again, I did not.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
See the numbers on that, but I do expect the
steerer's defense to be you know, facing an opponent against
whom that sort of blueprint of how you want to
play is going to be more applicable.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Absolutely, But you realize that theory and those things become
fewer and fewer because the evolution of the quarterback position
is such that teams are looking for that when you're
thinking about your starting quarterback more often than not, you know,
we want to see and what we want we expect
(36:46):
from that position is that versatility. I need a guy
who can run, I need a guy who can escape.
I need a guy who can create time and create space.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
And that's what.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
They're looking for in quarterbacks now. So you're seeing more
adept running seels. Patrick Mahomes is not a running quarterback,
but he can scramble with the best of them, He
can create space when there isn't any, and he and
he has multi platform arm throwing capability. He knows how
to escape a sack. Like That's where it's like, that's
(37:20):
where quarterbacks are trending. You know, you're seeing more of
that type than you are the other. And then you
look at a Jalen Hurts, you look at Kyler Murray,
you look at you know, a Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.
I mean, we can just we could go through. I'd
say about half this league is probably that. But then
you do have the other half of the league where
it's the veteran talented passer and thrower like an Aaron Rodgers,
(37:45):
like a Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
You know where those guys are.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
I'm a pocket thrower and guess what, I'm gonna throw
darts and I'm an hit bullseye every time because I
know the distance, I know where my guy is. I'm
gonna throw them open and I'm gonna create these opportunities
for him. That's just where we're at. And those philosophies,
those kind of they seem like opposite ends of the spectrum,
but you're starting to see more and.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
More meat in the middle with that.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
You know, I don't want a true dual threat like
a Justin Fields, but I need a guy let's just
take it like like Geno Smith that that can get
the job done. But he wants he prefers to throw,
he prefers to get open. Patrick Mahomes prefers to when
he scrambles and evades to create space so that he
could throw downfield because he knows the coverage is going
(38:32):
to break down, Like you want that the best of
both worlds. But the true pure pocket passer, Peyton Manning type,
Dan Marino, like that type of passer is few and
far between, and you see more of the ladder or
more of the earlier than the latter.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
Yeah, and you know what, it's it's funny that you
mentioned uh Mahomes and his ability to run because and
even though you know he's a fit physically, a big guy.
And again it's just a little off topic here, but
there's a lot about his game that reminds me of
a younger Aaron Rodgers, the off platform throws that you mentioned.
(39:13):
You know, he is not a run first quarterback because
rushing numbers, a younger Aaron Rodgers had very similar rushing
numbers to what Patrick Mahomes had. And it's the ability
to get out and both of them, And I mean
this because I think they're too absolutely elite in the
history of the NFL. Elite quarterbacks. But man, when it's
(39:37):
third and seven, they run for eight, you know, I mean,
just a backbreaking you know, that ability to just oh,
you know, they're not going to rip off the seventy
yard run, but man, when they need it, they just
seem to have that knack for picking up just enough
yards to keep a drive going and to just deflate
(39:59):
a defense.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Yeah, it is, and that's a special skill set. Everybody's
looking for that combination. But you know, you also fall
in love with what does my.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Team need now? Like, what do we need now right exactly?
Speaker 4 (40:15):
And that's when you compromise for that, because i mean,
take the Jets, with the Jets one of Patrick Mahomes. Yes,
but Patrick Mahons will never enter free agency until it's
like the very end of his career.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Right. Those guys don't don't fall.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
But it's like, if I'm trying to re establish an
identity and I know that we want to be a
physically dominant run team, chew up time of possession, take
the other possessions from the other team.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Guess what.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
Justin Fields is not a bad guy for that. And
you sacrifice a little bit in the arm for what
you get with the leg and escapability and invasion skills.
So you you kind of you're weighing that because you're
not going to find that once in a generational talent,
you know, every year in the draft.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
It's just not going to happen. That's right, Look at
a generation exactly, That's exactly.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
It is.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
Not.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
It's like, oh, man, hey, listen, this this doesn't come by.
Aaron Donald's don't come by every day, you know, TJ.
Watt doesn't come by every day. A Miles Garrett doesn't
come by every day. You might you might get two,
maybe three, Like I look at the O four draft
right where you got Eli, Phillip and Ben. You know
you got you got a concentration of them in that draft,
(41:26):
and that varying degrees of success. Two of them got
two super Bowl victories and the other could not get
there because of the other two that had super Bowl victories,
they were staunchly in the way.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
So you know, you battle that and then you also.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Do that in an era where Tom Brady is becoming
Tom Brady and so you look at that and you
have to say, man, I have to pick my poison
and then compliment that that guy, with whatever his deficiency is,
I need to go build the strength to cover up
for that deficiency.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
And that's how.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Teams kind of work their way through all that kind
of minutia. But if you get that guy, kudos to you.
If you don't, it's like there's other ways, you know,
other ways to skin a cat. And so I think
that's where we kind of look at it and we
kind of see what can we get done. You know,
Aaron Rodgers, like you said, young Aaron Rodgers, and Tom
(42:19):
Brady will tell you this, right, he's admitted as such,
like I've never seen a more purely talented passer than
Aaron Rodgers. Totally agree, And you say, okay, I need
that pure talent and we'll substitute everywhere else to make
up for what he does not do, to make sure
that he can do what he does excellent at an
excellent at a high level. So it's not the end
(42:41):
of the it's not the end of the day, because
I mean, look at you get a Lamar Jackson who's
supremely talented in all those areas. How many super Bowls
has he been to you get a Josh Allen, supremely talented.
We're always talking about them getting MVPs, but we're never
talking about those.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Being Super Bowl MVPs.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
So there is the balance of all those things, and
I think that's what you have to kind of keep
yourself mindful of. Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback. He's
not an excellent quarterback. He's a good quarterback. But you
went and you got excellent receivers, you got an excellent
running back, you had an excellent offensive line to cover
up for.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
The good and to elevate that good to great. And
that's kind of the way that you have to piece
these up.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
So for the Steelers, they're doing their due diligence and
trying to make sure that they bolster and secure those
positions as well.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He is Max Starks. I'm Rob King.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
The Steelers getting set to face the Seattle Seahawks first
home game of the season.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
Some really intriguing matchups.
Speaker 6 (43:35):
You're gonna take a quick look at some of those
who are really gonna dive into over the next couple
of days. That's up next when we continue inside the
Locker Room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one P fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shot. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shot at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (44:09):
Well, one final segment left in just a couple of minutes.
Speaker 6 (44:13):
Really on this hump Wednesday, Max, as the little teasers,
we look ahead to the next couple of days. What
are kind of the the uh and we won't dive
into them today because there's just not time.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
What are the matchups you're kind of looking forward to?
Speaker 6 (44:29):
I mentioned I'm looking forward to that secondary against the
Steelers receivers, and I'm looking forward again to the young
tackles trying to hold off again another solid group of
pass rushers for the Seattle Seahawks. Up we lost, Max.
(44:52):
So those are among the topics we will certainly be discussing.
Can you pressure Sam Darnold? Mister, there's only got one
sack of this game against the Jets. Donald obviously less
mobile than justin fields because the Steelers pass rush rate
and again they parse up all these statistics now in
the NFL, the pass rush rate was actually good for
(45:14):
the Steelers. They just didn't get fields on the ground.
Can they do a better job of getting Darnald on
the ground. Can they do a better job of making
sure that Aaron Rodgers stays upright and doesn't get sacked
four times? Can they run the football better? There's a
lot of things here that the Steelers are going to
want to do, and that's a very good front for Seattle,
very good front four for Seattle with some depth, especially
(45:36):
at those pass rushing positions. So again, that'll be something
that the Steelers' offensive line is going to want to
look to improve upon. And of course stopping the run
against Seattle. Looking forward to this matchup of the three
headed monster corner taking on Jackson Smith and Jigba and
Cooper Cup, those are among the topics that we're going
to get to as the Steelers will look to improve
(45:56):
to two and zero on the season that is coming
up tomorrow. Inside the Locker Room with King and Stars.
Want to thank you for watching this initiative Inside the
Locker Room with King and Stars, presented by our neighborhood
Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
This is in the Locker Room with Kingon Starks on
Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Forward Store.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The F one fifty is the official.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Truck of the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop.
Get it direct from the team at the Steelers Pro
Shop at shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Oh, guess what it is? Guess what day it is?
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Eh?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Anybody, Julie, Hey, guess what day it is? Come on,
I know you can hear me. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
What day is it? Mike?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Guess what today is?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
It's hump Day.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Who woo.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Woo.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
That's right, It is a Humpday Wednesday here inside the
locker room. And let's just face it, No Wednesday is
complete until you've got the is in the musings of
the author, the editor, the writer, the individual that puts
(01:10):
thoughts to paper or digital paper. That is, since he
has a website, it's the one, the only. Jim Wex, So,
how are we doing today, Jim?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Oh, we're doing great. Max. And hey, I got to
tell you, guys. I got to tell you, and I
hope it doesn't bring anyone down. But you know, we
think of the way Craig wolfully all the time here
on the show. Yeah, but that Wednesday, that hump Day thing,
that is his voice, I swear. And I used to
get confused when he would have when you guys would
(01:42):
have me on last year and Craig say, no, that's
not my voice. But it just sounds exactly like them
all the way back to laugh.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
You could not be more correct.
Speaker 6 (01:53):
I absolutely, In fact, you know, when I heard it
last week, I thought, is that did they did they find.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
It clip from put it on the I'm not even kidding.
I totally agree that it sounds.
Speaker 6 (02:05):
It sounds exactly like wolf exactly channeling on our.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
If you got yeah, if you guys, which I try
all the time when I'm screwing up, I always think
what would Wolfs do? So, uh, I just I'm sure
somebody else has put this out there, But I hope
he's honored in some way this week at the stadium.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, I think, yeah, yes, yes he will.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
We can't say exactly what, but yes we are going
to do our good friend proud yep.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And you know, and he was.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
We did the same prior to the prior to this
UH broadcast, or prior to the actual game during the broadcast,
as we did in the preseason as well. You know,
never forgotten. We're absolutely not. He's you know, wax. He's
one of those rare guys that just you know, made
(03:03):
everybody feel big, made everybody feel happy, made everybody feel
good all the time. It's just you know, he lifted
up whatever room he went into. It didn't it didn't matter.
I mean, Wolf just had that had that unique ability.
And they're very very few people.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
I know, but he made it seem so easy and
it did. Really, it is easy. It is easy just
to love everybody regardless. Yeah, but no, it's not easy,
but you.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Know it is.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Why can it be? Yeah, Canopy, I know what's right
from wrong?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Right?
Speaker 5 (03:39):
No, you get mad out in traffic or whatever. Could
you could you imagine Wolf get bad in traffic or anything?
He just doesn't. He did it. Yeah, oh anyway, Okay.
Speaker 6 (03:49):
But he did make it look easy. My father used
to say about something that looked easy. You know, a
child of three could do it with thirty years of practice.
So he made it, you know, made it look easy.
But but I you know, he's well that's what makes
him unique because we could all be like that, and
we'd all love to be like that, but he was
(04:11):
a singular guy.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Singular guy.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So the students are.
Speaker 6 (04:15):
Want to know, what do you I haven't talked to
you since the game. What is your take from that?
You know about the fact that, yes, there are some
things that you want to correct. For sure, it was
hardly a flawless game, but you're also want to know.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
I know, and you know, I'm an editor at my site,
and even this morning I had two columns I had
to edit. Of course, I'm a writer and I wrote
pretty much and everybody's pretty much saying the same things.
Uh so it's hard for me even on Wednesday to
say anything different. Great that they got to win playing poorly,
(04:59):
I you know, poorly. That's It's not they didn't play poorly,
it's some of the things, like like looking exactly like
the run defense looked eight months ago. How does that happen?
That was my question to Peyton Wilson. You know, I
get that it's first week and he didn't have a
mobile quarterback in camp, but the last quarterback he played
(05:22):
was mobile, did the same things, and they did the
same things. To you, how does it not change is
it all about Derek Harmon. It can't be, So that's
really frustrating. And Max may know more than I, being
that he's an Ex's and O's wizard. But it just
looked the same. The front getting blown off the ball,
(05:45):
the linebackers having too many people in their face, had
nose tackles in their laps, as the quarterback and the
running back running up. So that was very young, just
discouraging and possibly worrying. But it is the first week
(06:06):
of the year.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
I think, uh I, I happen to agree with you
wex that.
Speaker 6 (06:14):
You know, look, I didn't think this was a great
matchup for this Steelers up front on either side of
the ball. But it's probably more excusable for me on offense,
where you have Broder Jones starting your first I mean,
if if you're looking for excuses and uh and Mike
Mike tom And always says, you know, we're not looking for
(06:34):
comfort here, we're looking for truth, you know. But you
got a new left tackle starting, you have a new
right tackle starting, you have tight ends moving around a
little bit. You're looking for that cohesion, that cohesiveness for
an offensive line that sometimes takes time. On defense, you uh,
I did so. I wasn't shocked that the Jets, who
(06:56):
have a talented front, were able to do some things
against this teelers. I wasn't shocked at the Jets ran
the ball, but I was mighty surprised that they ran
it as effectively as they ran it.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
That surprised me.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
I did not see that coming because I thought they
were better equipped to stop that, and maybe they will
be as the season wears on.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
But you know that did surprise me.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Yeah, I do like the addition of Jabrill Peppers. I
just noticed in the locker room. He wasn't in there,
but I didn't notice they gave him number forty, which
I know we all think of Boo Bell, but I
go back to my childhood and think of Gail says,
(07:41):
So forty is a hallowed number for me. I know
it doesn't mean anything more than Boo Bell around here.
I can't think of another forty since Myron Boo Bell,
the guy who replaced Carnell Lake at strong Safety when
he replaced Rod Woodson. That's cornerback, that great hoof who
has gotten short shrift on that maneuver. But so I
(08:07):
was wondering which number Jabriel would have. I know, this
isn't going to help the x's and o's at all,
but I was going through the single digits. He went
from five to three at New England. He loves five,
and of course Jalen Ramsey has five. Two is Mason
(08:29):
Rudolph Steers don't give out one, Three is courtus Weavement,
four is dk Metcalf, six is Pat Queen. Seven, of
course is not used. Eight is Rogers, and nine is Boswell.
So I thought maybe ten. It was pretty cool seeing
(08:49):
forty the number that really jumps out at me as
hallowed and veered and nobody else in that locker room.
Being a Chicago boy, I used to be able to
talk to Touch about the old days of Sayars and Buckkiss.
That team went one in thirteen, beat the Steelers that year,
(09:10):
who also went one in thirteen. And the Bears are
so bad and so tortured and so replete with bad
luck that they lost the coin flip for Terry Bradshaw
one in thirteen. They didn't get the first pick. That's
how bad they were. Anyways, as my friends in college
(09:30):
used to say, after I'd write a column about the
Bears in this way, he'd say a bear fan Craps
in our woods would be the headline journalism a journalism
review in a old class. What do you think of
this story? What headline would you have put on this?
And the guy raised his hand and said that, but
(09:51):
he didn't use the word crap, So.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Thank you for us.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
So I've just done that here. I don't know who's
going to clean it up for you guys, but I've
just done that here. And I apologize. I am just
the Steelers woes of their interior getting blown off the
ball and their left tackle providing poor pass protection. And
I know Gainwell help with some chips, but on third down,
(10:20):
I know Gainwell's you're receiving running back, but Jalen's your
pass blocking running back. It's a conundrum. And using Gainwell
heard a few times.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, and here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I will, I will say, I will, I will try
and bring out the pooper scooper in this conversation wex.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I have.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
I have a dog, so I'm pretty much I'm used
to I'm used to having to having to pick up poop.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
On the walks with the dog.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So it's all good.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
We started it with such reverence today.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I mean, we did it was very hallowed. It was
very somber, very reflective.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
We've been talking about going downhill wex uh yeah, yeah,
but we're trying we're trying not to go that far downhill.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, exactly, We're trying to have a controlled descent, you know. Yeah,
but no, but I mean, but kind of when I
look at that, you're absolutely right, you know, did they
learn from their mistakes of the past. That's kind of
what the ethos is here.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And when you.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Look at kind of the tail of the tape, you
break the nuts and boats down, you would say.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
No, they didn't.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
But I put this out there. They won the key
moments which mattered. And what are those key moments? Wex
for two point conversions, not once, but twice. Think about
the difference of the game. They did that in that moment.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And even though Rogers hit, we still had some explosive
plays downfield. DK Metcalf, thank you, right, thank you for
that trade because he was a difference maker. John new
Smith we got a touchdown with John new Smith off
a jet suite that counts as a pass, but.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We didn't have that a year ago.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
So when I look at the pieces that were at
and let's not even talk about the biggest play of
the game, which was the last play of the game.
Jalen Ramsey talk about talk about late trade heroics. Right
before trading Camp. I am at Disneyland in California in
my room when I when I get the little cross
(12:43):
Adam Schefter reporting there's been a trade made between the
Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburg Steelers. And the calls that
I fielded while trying to find corn Dog Palace inside
of California Adventures about that trade and those two guys
that came over. That's where I say we did learn something,
we did grow, and we did get better. It's just
(13:05):
it hasn't settled yet. You know, like a good gumbo,
you know, got to make a food reference there, you go, Wolf,
Like a good gumbo, Gumbo takes time before it comes together.
If not, it's just a bunch of ingredients in the pot.
And I think that's what we're kind of trying to
see what guys can do. And I think for a
lot of guys, sometimes you got to get punched in
the mouth and you got to and you got to
(13:27):
refocus and kind of fall back into the corner to
then rethink your strategy and go out with a different plan.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
So I will say this that, yes, it did not
look perfect.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
It did not look like a dominating team that with
all these pieces was going to come out and just
throttle the New York Jets. That was never the case.
I think with the Jets, it was going to be
a war of attrition, and unlike the end of last
season to the beginning of this season, we figured out
how to overcome and the key moments. And I think
that's kind of what I take from it. When I
(13:58):
look at this, you still have sixty more opportunities to
get better at it, and at least the first outing,
even though it wasn't ideal, you still were able to
pull away the victory.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well, let's build off that getting punched in the mouth. Now,
when they go play Lamar Jackson, they got I don't
know if they'll bring the Jets film out, but they
won't have to, you know, fabricate any and they won't
have to go all the way back to the last
(14:31):
Ravens game. They could say, you know, you guys did
this and this wrong, and this wrong, and they have
been punched in the mouth in that regard, they're sitting
up straight in their chairs. Now next time they play
Lamar Jackson. Right as far as Ramsey, you know, the
bad part of that trade was the loss of Minka.
And I think Jalen needs to get used to playing
(14:56):
some free safety. You know, they played a lot more
they of the time then teams usually do. And and
teams are going to force them to play bass until
they stopped the run. But Jalen, Jalen plays free safety
in the base. And I believe that Garrett Wilson scored
(15:18):
then and and you know, Jalen wasn't real comfortable free safety.
I have no doubt that he will become more comfortable.
But again the mistakes the growth that he realized he
needs punch in the face. And as a team, as
a defensive secondary, they will begin to play more press man.
(15:42):
You would hope they don't lose two dbs per game
to offset any kind of game planning, but more of
that press man will sneak in and then they can
they'll have more people available to stop the run. So yeah,
there's there's a lot of growth ahead.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, actually I think you bring up
a good point.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
And you know, and this was one of the things
that you know, had me arching an eyebrow about this
particular matchup as opposed to Seattle Seattle. I think, you know,
Seattle's got two guys in the outside, Jackson Smith and
jakebi Cooper Cup. You know, two good receivers. I think
that's the kind of team that you play press man on.
(16:29):
You know, you have to understand, fans have to understand.
You know, you don't want to play a lot of
man against Justin Fields or Lamar Jackson. You have to
pick your spots. You can't just go out there and
say this is what we're gonna do. Because if Justin Fields,
look at how many times he broke, you know, the
pocket and got out of the pocket, and that ability
to run if you got your back to him, oh,
(16:51):
I mean, look out. You know he's gonna he's gonna
exploit that. So I would imagine, and again I don't
make the game plan. I would imagine that's not the
kind of game in which you want to play a
lot of man against a mobile running quarterback who wants
to run, who wants to go. I think that you know,
Sam Darnold, who is mobile and can get out of
(17:13):
the pocket, It's not like he's a statue back there,
but he's he's less likely to rip off a fifty
yard game than justin Fields would be. So I think
we will see more. Man, I just think it was
my guy, And look, I don't I don't have the breakdown.
I don't know how often they played man. It just
felt to me going in and this is one of
the reasons that I told Max going into the game,
I was a little nervous, is because the way you
(17:35):
want to play that to me would probably have to
wait till week two. Again, I don't I don't have
the breakdown of what they played. I'm glad you mentioned
the bass Wex because it did feel like they played
the base defense quite a bit with that three man front,
you know, three down linemen in a fifty front. But
I do think that we'll see more of that blueprint
that they put in place executed moving forward, beginning with
(17:57):
this week.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I would you say, I agree, go ahead? Way.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
I didn't mean to, Oh, okay, brul Peppers is going
to help. I mean, that's that's another piece in the
secondary so versatile too. You know, when you're moving Ramsey
all over the place, Peppers can go to the places
he used to be and play those positions. Not so
much corner, but you know, slot, dimebacker, strong safety, maybe
(18:28):
some free safety. He has definitely played free safety, don't
get me wrong, But he's more of a he's more
of an in the box, a physical guy. So and
also he was surprised by being cut. And you know
what happens when you get punched in the face, punching
the mouth, right, so he has been punching the mouth too,
(18:49):
and he will have a determination. And you know, Mike
Toman always loved him coming out. It was my I
look back in the twenty seventeen draft and I and
I predicted Debro Peppers would be drafted by the Steelers,
and Browns grabbed him at twenty five. Steelers had to
settle for some guy named Watt, but Tomlin really liked
(19:15):
Pepper's coming out. And you know, Peppers play everywhere. I
mean he played running back, both return specialists, linebacker, some
defensive end, some corner, and both safety spots. So I'm
sure a lot of that versatility is carry over. He's
played both safety spots and he can play nickel and
(19:35):
Dinebacker's another you know, when you put six DB's out
there and Ramsey's in the slot and thorn Hill and
Deshaun Elliott or Deep Ramsey can be that dinebacker, So
Ramsey Peppers. So I mean, I think this was a
really nice pickup and will help.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yeah, and I think you know, you're absolutely right, and
we kind of get to.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
You know what.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
You know, I think the biggest question is, you know
that people have to ask, is well, why did we
have to pick up, you know, a Jabriel Preppers. Why
why are we Why are we doing that? Well, that's because,
let's face if you did not watch the game, Deshaun
Elliott left that game and did not come back. Joey
Porter Junior left the game and did not come back,
(20:25):
that's the corresponding move. This is to an injury to
Deshaun Elliott that you make the corresponding move for Jabrill Preppers.
So I just want to make sure we clear that
up if anybody was asking that out there.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
But wex Max. Oh yeah, they were a little fins.
They were a little finant safety even with Elliott healthy,
a little finn. I mean, since Miles plays special teams
pretty much solely, I really like Sebastian Castro as a
young ballplayer. I think he's I think he's going to
(20:58):
become an NFL safety, but apparently the time was not right.
And you know, Jabrill Peppers gives you all that experience
can do at all and exactly so anyway, so sorry
to cut you.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
Off on that, but no, no, no, And I think
that's exactly why you bring him in. I think, but
it was more of necessity, like you like, if it
was just something where it's like, Okay, Deshawn's nicked up,
we just need to add a guy up. Yeah, you
probably would have went to the bast Castro. But since
Deshaun will likely be sidelined for not only this week,
but maybe a couple of weeks, that's why you hint
(21:32):
spring it. And let's face it, at this point of
the year, in week two, this is also like the
other frenzy period where everybody's scouring what's left in free
agency because now in week two, and I kind of
prefaced this earlier during our training camp show Kinger, but
now contracts are not guaranteed after week two. So that
(21:55):
means if you're a vested veteran and you're on the
roster and you play in week one, you know, you're
guaranteed your salary throughout the year. Now with Week two happening,
that's when it's not guaranteed. So now teams can be
more likely to bring in more veteran.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Guys moving forward.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
So expect some more activity today and throughout this week
of more veteran guys that have been sitting on the bench,
sitting at the house on the couch to come into
these teams, or guys who are who were cut from
teams and you know, cleared waivers and everything.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Now you could start to.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Do business with those guys, So just expect league wide,
not just with us, but league wide. That's another thing
to always keep an eye on during these kind of periods.
This is a higher transaction period than most because those
vested veteran contracts are not no longer guaranteed and you
can cut them and not have to pay them their
full salary. So just want to make sure I put
(22:53):
that little disclaimer out there. And we're talking about that
about how guys are more available. And while you'll probably
see a little bit upticking activity.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
See you know during week one, when I'm writing in
my in my tweet and my you know, writing actually
to nobody, to myself, just out into the wilderness. Why
doesn't anyone sign in the woods.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
On the wood?
Speaker 5 (23:18):
But I mean, I forget about this every year. I'm
a what is it anyone pick up to broll Peppers?
He had to be a topic of conversation last week
for the Steelers, and the injury made it a no brainer.
And the other the other guy that we're close to
that we're wondering, why isn't anybody picked this guy up?
Cam Johnston got picked up, and you know he he
(23:40):
might be one of the best punters in the in
the game. And uh, the Steelers really had a tough
decision there, Cortus Weightman really really uh did the job.
I mean, you got to be happy and that the
Steelers took took a chance on the younger guy, the
better athlete, and the guy who holds for sixty yard
(24:03):
field goals, yes.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Exactly, and I mean sixty yard field goals and he
has five second hangtime.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Exactly exactly. I'm not I'm trying to praise Johnston without
the meaning Corlis. I really like Corlis a lot. I
was rooting for him. His fiance is a friend of
my daughters, So I didn't want them to have to move.
I know Corlus would have gotten picked up by somebody,
but so I had personal stake in Corlus. But I
(24:35):
have a lot of respect for Cam Johnson, and the
Bills got themselves a good one. And you're right, this
is the week, and I always forget that the first
week when I'm belly aching on Twitter about why doesn't
anybody sign this guy? You're right Max the other you know,
the rumor about Tyreek Hill. I have no idea whether
(24:55):
there's anything to that. And the money looks scary for
next year thirty million. I understand, as he's guaranteed contract,
but a guy like that would not surprise me this year.
I know we've been saying this since Brandon. I look
and we looked stupid by continuing this. But I have
(25:17):
such an analogy with the Tampa Bay Bucks of twenty
twenty one when they brought in Tom Brady at age
forty three, I think forty two or forty three, and
people thought that was crazy. And he was in shape
and he still had his arm and his legs were
okay enough and they had what was the other analogy
(25:39):
with that team? Well, anyway, they well they had a
defense that they thought was ready to make the move,
and they brought in Brady and they started seven and five.
They started by getting plastered in the open. They got
beat bad, and they were seven and five when they
added Antonio Brown. And he didn't put up great stats.
(25:59):
But I'm reading Tom Morris book right now, the great
assistant coach, and he and Bruce Arians was quoted in
that book. They thought that Antonio Brown made the difference,
gave them a third receiver that secondaries had to respect
over the top, and that move they thought propelled them.
(26:20):
Of course, the Brady move, as with the Aaron Rodgers move,
propelled them offensively. But adding that receiver late and you
can find them. Somebody's going to be upset about being
below five hundred and paying a top wide receiver all
this money and he's complaining because he wants the ball.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Boom.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
There you go, Pittsburgh Steeler's third fourth round pick. So
I expect that to happen, not imminently, but before the
training deadline.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
That is Jim Wexel, this is a wex Wednesday.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
Wex thanks very much of the time, and the insight
always always greatly appreciated.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
My friend Hey, thanks for having me. And we do
have Craig Wolfley's book coming out, yeah, kind of the
steward of that, and the book is made and it's
I have some media copies in my hand, but it's
going to be available very soon. So since we started
talking about Craig, you know, he wrote thirty six chapters
(27:22):
seventy thousand words on his memoirs of the game and
it's very good, and so it is a wolf Wednesday,
so I thought i'd bring that up.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Cannot wait, I cannot wait? Can I wait for that?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Wax?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
We will continue, Hey boys, Okay, see man, We'll continue
inside of Locker Room with King and Starks, presented by
Neighborhood Fords Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood fool In Store.
The F one fifty is the official truck of the
Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shop. Get it direct
from the team at the Steelers Pro Shop at shop
dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
And welcome back inside the locker room.
Speaker 6 (28:15):
King at starts with any of our neighborhood, fourth store
here on the Steelers Audio network, and a couple of
things to clean up here.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
Max.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
Some news as the Steelers get ready to take the
field for practice on the South Side. So Jabrill Pepper Peppers,
as mentioned by Wex, will be wearing number forty. He
has been added to the active roster. James Pierre has
been added to the active roster as well. Now, we
were told yesterday that Malik Harrison was not going to
(28:46):
be available and he has been placed on the Reserve
Injured list along with Skyler Thompson, and so Logan Woodside
has been brought back and has been added to the
active roster. So quite a few moves. Any initial takes
on those moves, Max.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Well, I think this was kind of kind of telling.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
You know, obviously, to see Malik and Uh and Skyler
on the the I R list is never what you
want to see. But you know, bumping up James Pierre
obviously a safety policy for Joey Porter Uh at the
secondary position because Brandon Echols has stepped up and Brada
(29:28):
Echels was already active. He's the one that came in
for Uh for for Joey, and so seeing those corresponding
secondary moves was not a surprise, but Skyler definitely. You know,
going into a Friday and having that hamstring injury, you
know that was unfortunate, and you're like, man, you know,
(29:52):
the Steelers were left with only two active quarterbacks and
I'm sure they were thinking about somebody possibly coming in
and you know if we, I mean, God forbid, we
had to go down to a third option. You know,
maybe Dylan Cook was gonna take some snaps his missy
kind of said tongue in cheek on.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Friday because he was a former quarterback.
Speaker 4 (30:10):
But now you have an emergency third with the signing
of Logan Woodside that you can dress and keep an
active for emergency purposes. That made sense, But yeah, I
was surprised. You know, Malik had a lot of versatility
and you know he's gonna be missed and also a
guy who's a special team's ace. Yeah, so you're gonna
miss that guy. But I think that also goes to say, hey,
(30:32):
Nick Herbig, we need you, we need you.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Hopefully you're healthy.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
Because Lee Harrison was that guy that could also play
outside backer in a spell and in the game, but
he didn't get any reps at it because he was injured.
So I think you saw more tired rotation because you
only had TJ. Alex and Jack Sawyer available to you
at the outside backer position. So hopefully Nick Herbert comes back,
he's healthy and now we can get a full strength
(30:57):
for for rotation outside linebacking woe and you know, like
like like I think we's got to intubate and everything else.
I mean, you bring your Bill Preppers in. You figure,
you know, he gets a week to kind of inundate himself.
He is in shape because obviously he was in he
was in the Patriots training camp and uh and made
it all the way to final cuts. So you know,
(31:18):
having about ten to twelve days off isn't necessarily the worst.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
That you don't decondition that fast.
Speaker 4 (31:23):
And he's a he's a very gifted supreme athlete, so
I think he'll pick up quickly. So you wonder how
much he can give you from a backup position, looking
at the secondary and trying to get to know the
guys and their feel and where they would potentially use him.
But you imagine he's he's he's dressing on game day
and he'll be ready to rock and roll. Then of course,
(31:44):
James Pierre is James Pierre, right, you know, James Pierre
is going to be one of your gunners. He's going
to be one one of your one of your guys
on on on the outside, this this bracketing the opposing
gunners and and pun specialties.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
He'll be a part of that core for group.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
So these moves don't necessarily surprise me. They're all corresponding
moves due to stuff that happened and transpired during Week one.
But yeah, but Skyler Thompson was the one that was
a surprise to go into IR.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
Yeah, he was.
Speaker 6 (32:14):
And again some of this is uh, you know, you
know inevitable as you get into an NFL season that
they're going to be injuries. You know, it's you know, Max,
you're never as deep as you want to be. And
you know, we've lauded the Steelers approach in improving you know,
(32:37):
if you want to call it the bottom of the roster,
what have you, but every element of the roster, special teams,
so that you know, that's that's a plus, and that
played a big part in the victory. Special teams. In fact,
as we kind of discussed on Monday, if you want
to say at one of the game.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
You kind of can, right, You.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Get a fumble recovery, you score, you get a big
field goal, you get great coverage from your special teams
units with corless weight man Okay, coverage on the kick
returnal though his labs pointed out yesterday that was kind
of a league wide thing where you know, teams are
averaging pretty good numbers on the kick return. So you know,
(33:16):
these guys are all important and they're all playing a
big role, but man, you hate to see it tested
so early in the season. Now, hopefully a guy like
Peppers can come in and be once again another guy
that gives you good veteran depth as a long time
starter in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Yeah, that's that's exactly what you hope.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
And you know, we kind of preface this and just
just be aware there will be more moves made throughout
today and throughout the week, because Week two is that
kind of veteran free agent frenzy where, like I said,
contract's not guaranteed, so you know, no harm, no file
if a guy gets injured after a week or you
(33:59):
only need him for thread to four weeks because your
starter is injured and you're trying to get a guy
back up to speed and healthy.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You don't want him to have to rush back.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
You want him to heal completely and fully versus quickly.
You know, I always preface that I'd never want to
say I wish the guy is speedy recovery. I mean,
you would love speed to be involved, but I need
a full recovery.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Because I need you back for the long haul.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
And so I always like to think in those type
of terms when I'm referring to injuries and guys who
are nursing something.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I want a full recovery because I don't want it lingering.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
I don't want it to be something that's a constant
that we're talking about, you know, nicked up and you know,
limited participant, that type of I want a guy that
could participate and put his hand in the pile and also,
you know, be ten toes down when it comes time
for action. So yeah, but I mean, but these are
the things, you know, we could I'm sure we could
go across the entire league and look at a bunch
(34:55):
of teams that are probably dealing with the same thing
from week one, good, better and different, and everybody's got injuries.
Like I said, the healthiest you're ever going to be
this season was when you showed up to your training
camp report date.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
That was it.
Speaker 4 (35:08):
Everything else like this show. You want to slow descent,
slow easy descent. You want to roll in a low grade.
You don't want to steep decline. You don't want to
fall off a cliff or anything. You just want to
take that little like a switchback, you know, a switch back.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
On the mountain.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
You know, just just nice and easy. You're looking, you're
taking photos, you're taking in the fresh mountain air. You
don't want to sit there and have like repelling gear,
you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
That's that's how we kind of look at it.
Speaker 6 (35:38):
Yeah, and Max I did want to get back to
that when we were talking to Wex, you know, and
I think we touched on it last week in the
locker room. But you know, you set up this team
and you get to three corners. You want to play
man and you want to bring that pass rush, and
you want to play a certain style of ball, and
then you go meet a team in which that isn't
(35:59):
really quite the fit, right, It isn't really probably how
you want to defend a team like the Jets.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
That was my take on it. Again, I did not.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
See the numbers on that, but I do expect the
steerer's defense to be you know, facing an opponent against
whom that sort of blueprint of how you want to
play is going to be more applicable.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
Absolutely, But you realize that theory and those things become
fewer and fewer because the evolution of the quarterback position
is such that teams are looking for that when you're
thinking about your starting quarterback more often than not, you know,
we want to see and what we want we expect
(36:46):
from that position is that versatility. I need a guy
who can run, I need a guy who can escape.
I need a guy who can create time and create space.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
And that's what.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
They're looking for in quarterbacks now. So you're seeing more
adept running seels. Patrick Mahomes is not a running quarterback,
but he can scramble with the best of them, He
can create space when there isn't any, and he and
he has multi platform arm throwing capability. He knows how
to escape a sack. Like That's where it's like, that's
(37:20):
where quarterbacks are trending. You know, you're seeing more of
that type than you are the other. And then you
look at a Jalen Hurts, you look at Kyler Murray,
you look at you know, a Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen.
I mean, we can just we could go through. I'd
say about half this league is probably that. But then
you do have the other half of the league where
it's the veteran talented passer and thrower like an Aaron Rodgers,
(37:45):
like a Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
You know where those guys are.
Speaker 4 (37:48):
I'm a pocket thrower and guess what, I'm gonna throw
darts and I'm an hit bullseye every time because I
know the distance, I know where my guy is. I'm
gonna throw them open and I'm gonna create these opportunities
for him. That's just where we're at. And those philosophies,
those kind of they seem like opposite ends of the spectrum,
but you're starting to see more and.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
More meat in the middle with that.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
You know, I don't want a true dual threat like
a Justin Fields, but I need a guy let's just
take it like like Geno Smith that that can get
the job done. But he wants he prefers to throw,
he prefers to get open. Patrick Mahomes prefers to when
he scrambles and evades to create space so that he
could throw downfield because he knows the coverage is going
(38:32):
to break down, Like you want that the best of
both worlds. But the true pure pocket passer, Peyton Manning type,
Dan Marino, like that type of passer is few and
far between, and you see more of the ladder or
more of the earlier than the latter.
Speaker 6 (38:49):
Yeah, and you know what, it's it's funny that you
mentioned uh Mahomes and his ability to run because and
even though you know he's a fit physically, a big guy.
And again it's just a little off topic here, but
there's a lot about his game that reminds me of
a younger Aaron Rodgers, the off platform throws that you mentioned.
(39:13):
You know, he is not a run first quarterback because
rushing numbers, a younger Aaron Rodgers had very similar rushing
numbers to what Patrick Mahomes had. And it's the ability
to get out and both of them, And I mean
this because I think they're too absolutely elite in the
history of the NFL. Elite quarterbacks. But man, when it's
(39:37):
third and seven, they run for eight, you know, I mean,
just a backbreaking you know, that ability to just oh,
you know, they're not going to rip off the seventy
yard run, but man, when they need it, they just
seem to have that knack for picking up just enough
yards to keep a drive going and to just deflate
(39:59):
a defense.
Speaker 4 (40:01):
Yeah, it is, and that's a special skill set. Everybody's
looking for that combination. But you know, you also fall
in love with what does my.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Team need now? Like, what do we need now right exactly?
Speaker 4 (40:15):
And that's when you compromise for that, because i mean,
take the Jets, with the Jets one of Patrick Mahomes. Yes,
but Patrick Mahons will never enter free agency until it's
like the very end of his career.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Right. Those guys don't don't fall.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
But it's like, if I'm trying to re establish an
identity and I know that we want to be a
physically dominant run team, chew up time of possession, take
the other possessions from the other team.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Guess what.
Speaker 4 (40:41):
Justin Fields is not a bad guy for that. And
you sacrifice a little bit in the arm for what
you get with the leg and escapability and invasion skills.
So you you kind of you're weighing that because you're
not going to find that once in a generational talent,
you know, every year in the draft.
Speaker 2 (40:57):
It's just not going to happen. That's right, Look at
a generation exactly, That's exactly.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
It is.
Speaker 5 (41:05):
Not.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
It's like, oh, man, hey, listen, this this doesn't come by.
Aaron Donald's don't come by every day, you know, TJ.
Watt doesn't come by every day. A Miles Garrett doesn't
come by every day. You might you might get two,
maybe three, Like I look at the O four draft
right where you got Eli, Phillip and Ben. You know
you got you got a concentration of them in that draft,
(41:26):
and that varying degrees of success. Two of them got
two super Bowl victories and the other could not get
there because of the other two that had super Bowl victories,
they were staunchly in the way.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
So you know, you battle that and then you also.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Do that in an era where Tom Brady is becoming
Tom Brady and so you look at that and you
have to say, man, I have to pick my poison
and then compliment that that guy, with whatever his deficiency is,
I need to go build the strength to cover up
for that deficiency.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
And that's how.
Speaker 4 (41:57):
Teams kind of work their way through all that kind
of minutia. But if you get that guy, kudos to you.
If you don't, it's like there's other ways, you know,
other ways to skin a cat. And so I think
that's where we kind of look at it and we
kind of see what can we get done. You know,
Aaron Rodgers, like you said, young Aaron Rodgers, and Tom
(42:19):
Brady will tell you this, right, he's admitted as such,
like I've never seen a more purely talented passer than
Aaron Rodgers. Totally agree, And you say, okay, I need
that pure talent and we'll substitute everywhere else to make
up for what he does not do, to make sure
that he can do what he does excellent at an
excellent at a high level. So it's not the end
(42:41):
of the it's not the end of the day, because
I mean, look at you get a Lamar Jackson who's
supremely talented in all those areas. How many super Bowls
has he been to you get a Josh Allen, supremely talented.
We're always talking about them getting MVPs, but we're never
talking about those.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
Being Super Bowl MVPs.
Speaker 4 (42:54):
So there is the balance of all those things, and
I think that's what you have to kind of keep
yourself mindful of. Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback. He's
not an excellent quarterback. He's a good quarterback. But you
went and you got excellent receivers, you got an excellent
running back, you had an excellent offensive line to cover
up for.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
The good and to elevate that good to great. And
that's kind of the way that you have to piece
these up.
Speaker 4 (43:18):
So for the Steelers, they're doing their due diligence and
trying to make sure that they bolster and secure those
positions as well.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He is Max Starks. I'm Rob King.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
The Steelers getting set to face the Seattle Seahawks first
home game of the season.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
Some really intriguing matchups.
Speaker 6 (43:35):
You're gonna take a quick look at some of those
who are really gonna dive into over the next couple
of days. That's up next when we continue inside the
Locker Room with King and Starks, presented by your neighborhood
Ford Store.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
This is in the Locker Room with King and Starks
on Steelers Nation Radio, presented by your neighborhood Ford Store.
The F one P fifty is the official truck of
the Pittsburgh Steelers and by Steelers Pro Shot. Get it
direct from the team at the Steelers Pro Shot at
shop dot Steelers dot com.
Speaker 3 (44:09):
Well, one final segment left in just a couple of minutes.
Speaker 6 (44:13):
Really on this hump Wednesday, Max, as the little teasers,
we look ahead to the next couple of days. What
are kind of the the uh and we won't dive
into them today because there's just not time.
Speaker 3 (44:27):
What are the matchups you're kind of looking forward to?
Speaker 6 (44:29):
I mentioned I'm looking forward to that secondary against the
Steelers receivers, and I'm looking forward again to the young
tackles trying to hold off again another solid group of
pass rushers for the Seattle Seahawks. Up we lost, Max.
(44:52):
So those are among the topics we will certainly be discussing.
Can you pressure Sam Darnold? Mister, there's only got one
sack of this game against the Jets. Donald obviously less
mobile than justin fields because the Steelers pass rush rate
and again they parse up all these statistics now in
the NFL, the pass rush rate was actually good for
(45:14):
the Steelers. They just didn't get fields on the ground.
Can they do a better job of getting Darnald on
the ground. Can they do a better job of making
sure that Aaron Rodgers stays upright and doesn't get sacked
four times? Can they run the football better? There's a
lot of things here that the Steelers are going to
want to do, and that's a very good front for Seattle,
very good front four for Seattle with some depth, especially
(45:36):
at those pass rushing positions. So again, that'll be something
that the Steelers' offensive line is going to want to
look to improve upon. And of course stopping the run
against Seattle. Looking forward to this matchup of the three
headed monster corner taking on Jackson Smith and Jigba and
Cooper Cup, those are among the topics that we're going
to get to as the Steelers will look to improve
(45:56):
to two and zero on the season that is coming
up tomorrow. Inside the Locker Room with King and Stars.
Want to thank you for watching this initiative Inside the
Locker Room with King and Stars, presented by our neighborhood
Ford Store here on the Steelers Audio Network.
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