HR1: Live from Training Camp 2026 Day 2

Rob King and Max Starks chat about the lates happenings from Latrobe.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is live coverage of the twenty twenty six Steelers
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(00:43):
Union Number three. We don't go to the office, We
build it.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
And thank you very much for being with us in
the locker room in Latrobe, high above the field that
the players are completing practice, and we were just talking
ed troops here on the headsets along with Max Starks
on Rob King, we were talking about all the post
practice stuff that happens, and because that's what we're seeing
right now, just so people know and thank you, we
have a lot to get to, a lot to cover.

(01:14):
We're not going to be talking about post practice stuff
the entire show, but we're watching it now, so we're
seeing the guys on the far into the field and
and a lot of fans will go and see that,
like because this is easy to see and understand. We're
watching the jugs machines, guys catching footballs then putting them
in the garbage cans, and the garbage cans come out
when they're full, and they're brought back to the Judgs

(01:35):
machine and guys are waiting for their turn. Then down
here below us, we have a couple of offensive linemen
working on some drills. On the far field, we see
guys running gashers. And that was one of the questions
that we were talking about with Ed Troup here before
the show began, Max, was that you said, you guys
used to do that along the offensive line, And I
asked you, did the coaches ask you to do that

(01:56):
or do you guys do that on your own?

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Now, we did that on our own. You know, leadership
dictated that. So when I was a young guy, it
was Marvel Smith, Alan Fanica, they kind of led that,
and you kind of, you know, as a young guys,
a rookie and a young guy, you follow what the
veterans do because, like shoot, I need to do whatever
they're doing because they've stayed around and I need to
figure out how to stay around. So you just kind
of did it, and then as you got older, it

(02:19):
just became habit. So then you brought the young guys along, right,
you know, I saw when Willie Cologne came in as
a rookie, when Darnell Stapleton came in as a rookie.
Then they would just follow what us quote unquote veteran
guys or Vesta guys were doing, and it just kind
of perpetuated. And that was just kind of how our
system ran for the nine years I was here. You
just ran your half gassers after practice when it wasn't

(02:40):
mandatory because sometimes Cower my first year, Cower mandated that
we ran after practice. Not the same thing, you know
as Tomlin got in. So it was something that we
just kind of got into it. Because the conditioning aspect
for an offense, like we don't get packages and come
in and off the field. The only way you come
off the field is if you're injured, So you need
to be in great condition to be able to handle

(03:01):
all the snaps of the game. And so it's just
kind of kind of how we just operated and watching
it out here, this is not a departure from that.
You know, offensive lineman working hand drills. One on one
we see Ian Achure, Troy Fatanu, and Dylan Cook working
through hand drills in the pass pro situation. Other guys
talking it through. And then you know, for the receivers,

(03:21):
you got everybody working jugs and it's wide receivers and
running backs over there working the jugs. D linemen are
running their gassers over there, some linebackers as well.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
But the extra work.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
No other place because you only got it one to day.
It's not like two days back of the day. Like
two days back of the day. You're like, man, this
is trudging trying to get that extra work. But you
know you had to do it one Today's they're free.
It's not even one ten pm and they have no
more physicality in practice. For the rest of the day.
You are shut down. You might have a walk through
later on this evening, but that's it.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, you know, and you're right, those double sessions. I'm
sure your legs feel like you're running on sand.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Oh, it's like concrete blocks. When you put your clats
on and you're just like, oh my god, Frankenstein out
there by the end of it, and you dropped like
seven pounds of sweat trying not to cramp up.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, not sure. If you're not sure, if you're sore,
or maybe you pull the muscle.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Oh yeah, no, no, you're just like Okay, I still
have a pulse. I know I'm technically alive. I just
don't know how alive I am, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
So I love this And I'm watching Max of Honachar
Now he's talking with Troy Foutanu, and Troy Troy is like,
you know, telling talking about different things and having a discussion.
Here it looks like Mason McCormick is wont is that
Mason McCormick has wanted over somebody's wanted over to be
part of that discussion. I can't see from here, off.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think that's I think that's uh, Bryce Hoffman might be.
I think that's Hoffman. Yeah, because McCollum, there's Jennings over there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
So the point being, like we talked about this tailing
to practice yesterday, you want to be a good teammate,
and sometimes being that good teammate is passing on information
to a guy who kind of wants your job, you know.
So there's Dylan Cook right pencil. Dean right now is
the starting right tackle. There's the first round pick, Maxahna

(05:08):
short pencil. Din is the right tackle of the future,
right and they're having a discussion and Dylan Cook is
talking to him about, you know, about different things and
where to place your hands and that sort of things,
and how to make sure somebody doesn't get by that
right hip and get to the passer. And there's Dylan
Cook passing, you know, being a great team in and
passing along that information to a guy who clearly wants

(05:30):
to be the.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Starting right tackle. That's why he's here. Yeah, that's why
he came here. And honestly, I mean, he wants to
be the starting offensive line. He wants to be in
that top five right, I mean, and however you can
get it as how you get it. And you know,
when you have a right tackle on a right guard,
seemingly that's the open position battle right now. Because I
think for all intents and purposes, what we've seen so

(05:51):
far in camp and what we saw at the end
of OTA's Troy Fatano had left along with Mason McCormick
had left guard, so Garden tackles kind of square away
and Zach so that left side center on is taking
care of. The question is what's the right combination on
the right side, So however you can get in there,
you know, Maxi Onoture wants to crack that however it can,

(06:12):
whether it is at guard maybe, and if it is
Dylan Cook at tackle, or is it Broderck Jones at
tackle and Ionotur at guard or Eature at tackle and
Hoffman you know, Yah works his way into it or
dunk Er like Spencer Anderson obviously is a leading candidate
because of what he's done so far, but you know
he also has five position flex So that's a heck

(06:32):
of a guy to have as your swing interior offensive lineman,
let alone outside offensive line. And then you put a
swing tackle out there. That's your top seven that you
want to go into game day with. So it's gonna
be fun to watch how they move them around. Because
Mike McCarthy has talked about it on multiple occasions that
don't focus on the top five, focus on the top
two to three combinations that we can set out there,

(06:53):
and that's what you're going to see throughout camp. So
it's fun to see all these guys kind of meandering
around and talking with each other.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, Kaufman's is a is a really interesting guy because
he can play center and guard. You know, it's not
hard to get to ten easily on this offensive line.
And I don't think you're going to carry ten. You know,
I don't see you. I don't see an active roster. No,
I don't see you getting ten on the fifty three
man roster. And it's a ten deep offensive line group

(07:19):
as far as I'm concerned. And you know, it's uh,
everyone's going to be focused on two things. One of
course the backup quarterback position, right, and who is going
to have the inside track to perhaps become the successor
to Aaron Rodgers was It was really an interesting give
and take. So Aaron Rodgers came out and said, look,
this is my last year, you know, and then DK

(07:42):
Metcalf the day before practice has started on Tuesday, said hey,
never say never, he might be back for an every year.
And then Aaron Rodgers said, no, it's it's never on.
This is my my last year come back, so you
never know.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
But it's almost like Mike Townley that never say never,
but never.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, exactly, so it'll be. And by the way, Ahna
Tcharus is still down here and still having conversations and
still talking about technique issues, you know, so I think, yes,
that's an interesting battle. Who's going to be the third
and fourth wide receivers? That's an interesting battle. You know,

(08:19):
Caleb Johnson trying to make a name for himself and
what looks to be a crowded backfield. That's an interesting battle.
But that's because those are positions where those guys touch
the ball, you know, quarterback all the time, wide receiver frequently,
running back frequently. But I have to tell you I
am fascinated by what this Deders will do on this
offensive line because it is clear again just to reiterate Max,

(08:45):
you know, people, hey we signed you know what do
you what do you guys think about this free agent? Well,
we gave him eight hundred million dollars, so we like them.
You know what do you think about this? What we
took them in the first round, so we like them.
You know, follow what a team does to know what
a team thinks about a guy. Well, what the Steelers
have done in the offensive line makes it obvious that

(09:07):
the offensive line is important. You have three tackles that
were selected in the first round in the last four years, right,
a free agent in Hoffman that you got, and a
second round center in Zach Frasier. So it's clear that
the offensive line is important to the Steelers just by
their actions, and that makes it important to me because
I want to see it be an excellent group. I

(09:28):
want to see a group that excels. And again, when
you think about you know they always talk about a quarterback.
A great quarterback can be the ultimate eraser, right, you
can erase mistakes when offensive line can do that in
a lot of ways too, when you're buying that quarterback time,
when you're opening up holes for a running back, I mean,
you can make you know, an average running back look

(09:49):
like a really good running back. You can make an
average quarterback look like a good quarterback if you give
them extra time to throw. So it's a vitally important
unit on a team. And the Steelers have invested in
that unit.

Speaker 3 (10:00):
And I'm glad that we have now brainwashed you, as
a former quarterback, into believing the intricacies of truths of
line play. You know, no, I'm just saying, you know,
you know you had you had wolf and now you
have me. So you've gotten the inundation and the nuances
of offensive line play, and now you are. You are
pontificating about these finer points to the general audience, and

(10:20):
I don't have to nudge you. I don't even have
to nudge you. So I am appreciative of that. But
you're absolutely right. I mean, this is the if we
if we say, hey, which group has the biggest opportunity
to jump this year? I think you have to look
at the offensive line right because of the resources that
have been dedicated to it and the opportunities that they're
going to have to be on display. You have a
veteran quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, you have another running back

(10:44):
now in the backfield that you get to work with,
and a lot of wide receiver tools. So you're gonna
need time and space. What does an offensive line have
to do? Create time and create space for everybody else
to succeed. So you're absolutely right. And I'm really excited
about this group because, like you said, I think they'll
carry eight on the active roster and then you'll get
two to three on the practice squad. That's how it's

(11:04):
gonna break down. But you always have to carry at
least eight on the active roster to get there, and
it's gonna be tough.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
I don't know how you don't carry nine max for
this crew. I just don't.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
I don't. Oh, it's gonna be tough.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
I don't know how they gonna be tough on how
they can do eight. I just don't know how they
can do it unless they make a trade.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
But you have to do twenty five and twenty five.
I know, I know because we've always broken down, like
how do you get to your fifty three? It's twenty
five offensive players, twenty five defensive players, and then three specialists.
And it is tough because you also have to think
this wide receiver battle is gonna be tough and you're
gonna want to carry five, but you probably have six
on this roster that you could keep tight ends as well.

(11:40):
How are you gonna disseminate that? We know Darnel Washington,
Pat Fryer, Muer there, but you're gonna need a third
tight end, Like you start to play the numbers, and
the numbers game is tough. It is, yeah, it is.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, here's the other thing too, and you know, like
we you know, are they who are they gonna keep
for special teams? And you know, when I look at
this roster, I would think poy that more well rounded
you can possibly be the better. I mean it's always
the case, but boy, if you thought you were a
special team sort of only kind of guy, I don't know.

(12:09):
If they're not much room, it feels like you better
be able to do some other things. And again that
doesn't mean you will do other things. It just means
you better be capable of doing other things because I
think there are a lot of guys and again we
don't know. This goes back to the conversation we were
having yesterday and hopefully you're with us. But you know,
look a guy like a guy like Connor Hayward, right,

(12:32):
really good special teams player, played a variety of different positions.
I mean, you know, the talk was always, hey, if
we had to get out of a game with with
Hayward at running back, like for instance, if everybody got hurt,
you know you could you could turn around and hand
the ball off to him and feel okay about it. Yeah, Well,
is that gonna be enough now? Or are those kind

(12:52):
of sort of flexible players gonna be squeezed out just
because you have guys that can excel at something as
a bad up where you know, think about it, special teams,
you're gonna give you know, ten snaps a game. Well,
if you have to step in ato backup cornerback position,
and now you're you're playing James Fear, yeah you might
get Yeah, you might get forty something snaps in a game. Right,

(13:14):
So so what's more valuable to a team? Yeah, or
you conditioned it enough.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
And that's why I think you always have to when
you think of the core four special teams guys right, kickoff,
kickoff return, punt, punt return right, these core four areas.
If you're a receiver, if you're a dB, if you're
a linebacker, if you're a tight end, if you're a
running back, you have to almost have this in your
mo right. And I think even if you're a starter,

(13:39):
you still need to have that capability to put your
hand in the pile. Obviously, offensive linemen, because of the
way the new kickoff rule is kind of you. You
used to be able to do them. On kickoff return right,
you could when we had the wedge right right, you
could put a guard or backup guard or backup tackle
in there and run the wedge. You can't do that
anymore now, so offensive linemen are strictly on field goal,

(14:00):
field goal protection teams and extra point team. Maybe you
get a guy that can go field goal block, taller
guy can probably fit in there. I did that. But yeah,
if you're any of those specialty receiver style running back
defender that blocks those guys, you have to be able

(14:21):
to do it. Like it's just it's a it's a
part for the course. If you're Jamel Dean, guess what
you need to be me to be Core four special
team you're Kaden Legian, you better be you better be
a return man, right, or you better be a gunner,
you know, in those situations. Roman Wilson even right, as
much as we want Roman Wilson to crack that top
three and be there with Pittman and DK, he's got
to be able to do special teams duties. Like everybody

(14:44):
has to have those multi facets because, like you said,
there's too much talent here and you need to have
a differentiation that separates you from the rest of the crowd.
So I think it's gonna be really interesting to see
how they do that because, like you said, Connor Hayward
core four special teams He was an F, he was
an H. He was you know, he was a he
was a move guy. He was a tight end like
he did. He was a little Swiss army knife, right.

(15:06):
And Spencer Anderson same thing, right when you talk about
keeping Spenser Anderson around, a guy that didn't start, he
could play all five offensive line positions right well, and
so that's what you need, you know, to borrow autominism
from the past. The more you can do, the harder
it is for me to cut you.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
You know, I do wonder though, I think my point
on this team is that, you know, Connor Hayward was
a great special teams player who was solid at a
number of things, right, and that was valued by the
other coaching staff. Maybe this coaching staff values the backup
corner who were going to have to turn into that

(15:43):
special teams player more than the special teams player who
can also.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
I see what you're saying. I think I just I
look at this primary talent that that you can develop
a secondary talent exactly.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
And I think I mean, when I look at this roster,
I wonder if just that's the way it's gonna have
to be because again, you know, we can talk about
like I'm a I'm a believer in star football. I
think star football players make everybody around them better, and
I think it's gonna be It'll be interesting to see
if from this bedrock of really good players I thinks

(16:18):
have a lot of really good players, are some stars
going to emerge? Our guys like Connor or Cameron Hayward
still at that star level. I mean, at some point
father time catches up, right, But I just think that
I just think it's a it's a roster that has
just got a lot of really good guys at their
jobs and not necessary, you know. And I'm not trying

(16:39):
to slough off what special teams means by any means.
I'm just saying I wonder if it's gonna be the
job first, and then okay, you better be able to
play special teams also, where as opposed to you know,
a lot of teams leave those core for so, Okay,
these are four guys, they're special teams. Guys build the
rest of your roster around them. I don't I don't know.
I'll be interested to see if they're gonna.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Have that, Yeah, I think, And that's what I kind
of you know, intimated with Kayden Legion, right, I mean
we know he's a special team's product, right, but you know,
can he be receiver?

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Well if he's if he's so good at returning though, right, yeah?
Is he just one of one and that takes away three?
You know, so if you have core four core, you
know the core four guys, right, Yeah, you want guys
to be able to do a bunch of different things.
Let's say Cayden Legion. We know he's a return man, right,
and we know he's gonna make the roster. We don't
know if he's really gonna help you on as a receiver.

(17:29):
I'm just saying we don't know. Yeah, maybe he will, right,
we don't. I'm not trying to, I'm just saying, I'm
you know, we're going with what argument's sake. We know
he's going to return, and now you're down to three
four core guys, and like I said, I don't even
know if it's going to be three. I mean I
could see them saying, okay, you know Dale and Evertt,
you're for example, just throwing a name out there. You're

(17:50):
are you're our fourth corner. We really feel if you
have to play. We feel pretty good about you getting
forty snaps in the game, but you better be able
to play special teams too, you.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
Know, you better be able to handle those ten to
twelve snaps. Yeah know, whether you're whether you're an R
two on kickoff coverage, whether you're a wing on punt
coverage and then punt return, you better be able to
get back and be able to seal the edge and
then kick return as well.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
That that that's what's going to be really interesting to
see how they fall into place, because you know, as
we kind of just look at this roster, I mean
a lot of a lot of great talent, you know,
because where does where do you fit in in the
running back room? Right? How do you how do you
get Eli heyden Reich, right, who's a really good running

(18:35):
back at Navy, Right, but he's also gonna have to
be a core for especially like you have to be
great at everything right to crack behind Jalen Warren and
Ricodowdele and you have some other guys on there who's
also going to fight, and Travis Homer who's a great
special teams player.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Yes, so what is going to be valued? You know,
I think you could almost. I guess the point is Mactually,
first of all, I think the roster is different. I
think it's a the deep roster. And secondly, what is
this coaching staff value? We don't know that yet, right
don't We won't know details?

Speaker 3 (19:06):
We know they value details, do they ever?

Speaker 2 (19:09):
And speaking of that, man ohman, do we have some
some interesting stuff to get to you with head coach
Mike McCarthy, which we are going to when we continue
in the locker room here on the Steelers Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
This is live coverage of twenty twenty six Steelers Training
Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
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Speaker 2 (20:02):
And Welcome back to La Trobe, where the jugs machines
are still up and the players have pretty much walked
off the field. Everything's pretty much gone. Guys have gone
up to get themselves some lunch. And you can tell
because most of the fans are now moving away. There
is there are there like one or two guys left,
maybe signing some autographs on their way up to the
big the big one.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
One guy left, So we're seeing way more fans than
I'm sure to sign.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yes, probably right. We are going to dive into Mike
McCarthy and the camp and the pace of this camp,
at the pace of these practices in a little bit,
but we have we're gonna get some things Mike McCarthy
said ready for you. So that's definitely one of the
things we want to talk about. I did want to
you know, we're trying to cover all the ground yesterday

(20:48):
what the Steelers did in the off season, and there's
no way you covered in one show. Uh, you know,
I hope we can cover three or four shows because
it was a very active offseason, as these off seasons
always are. I just did want to jump ahead to
a couple of things that I think have happened. So
the wide receiver position, So first of all, you trade

(21:09):
for Michael Pittman, right, and then you draft Jeremy Bernard.
But Roman Wilson's a guy that has been There's been
a lot of talk about him and a lot of
excitement level. It feels like around Roman Wilson just let
me just say the word buzz, like sometimes there's something
in the air that you just can't quantify. By the way,

(21:30):
that was Maxahonator in training camp, like I just felt
there was. I walked out of training camp thinking or
not training camp, No, no, I'm sorry, the combine. I
walked out of the Combine Indianapolis thinking without any ever
being able to put a finger on it. And I'm
not a scout, just thinking just he'd be a god.
I'd love to see this dealers. There's just something in

(21:52):
the air, something it's hard to quantify or qualify exactly.
I guess qualified be the right word exactly why that is.
But Roman Wilson, to me, there just seems to be
some kind of unqualifiable buzz about him.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Well, I think when you know we're up here in
the northeast, right, yeah, Michigan Football, Ohio State pit like
we have Penn State, We have all these kind of
big ten acc schools, So a lot of that is
is in the air from the year and you heard

(22:29):
so much about Roman Wilson. They win a national championship,
so there's always the question, hmm, what can he do?
And then we draft him, it's like, well, I mean,
you see what he did in college, so that has
to carry over to the NFL, and we didn't really
get to see it the first two years. Injury sidelined him.
You won year two, doghouse, no doghouse, catch a train,

(22:52):
not catch a train, on the train, fell off the train,
all this other kind of hyperbole around him, and so
you're like, well, when's he gonna get a fair shake?
So brand new staff, yep, brand new coaches, brand new system.
So it's like, now, is this a shot? We've been
hearing his name mentioned at different pulse points. Yes, when
are we actually gonna get the true Roman Wilson? I

(23:14):
think that's what we're kind of anticipating, right because he
wasn't a first round pick, but second round picks are
just as valuable, and so you're looking at that and
then you get to the third round and third round
is like, okay, I need to hit on these top
three and you don't want the top three. Just like
we talk about Broderick Jones, right, you want to see
those day one, Day two picks hit because that's the
foundation of your team. That means you're doing a good

(23:36):
job drafting year in and year out. If your first
second third rounders are hitting, and then everything after that,
your Day three guys four through seven are just simply
bonuses at on top of that. So he's a key
third round pick and a team where we questioned the
wide receiver position a year ago, where was the depth
who was going to answer the number two? That's where
Roman Wilson really came up in conversation and we just

(23:57):
never really got to see it in general from the
team who's going to be number two on the squad.
So now it's like, well, if he's not gonna do
it now, if now, then whenever?

Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah, And I think, oh man, there's just a lot
of good points there. One of the things that I
I try to point out to people is that I
think a third round pick is a valuable pick and
there's reasons scouts say we're gonna pick this guy. You
want stars in round one, upper level players in round two,

(24:29):
and at least solid starters in round three, and then
beyond that you can talk about where you know. I
think most teams would say that where do you know
the four, five, six, seven falls? You know, sevens are hopers,
but those I think that's I think every team would agree.
First round or star, second round, above average starter, third round,
good solid NFL starter, so or a contributor, you know,

(24:53):
whatever the case.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
I love a third round. I don't know if you
knew that.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Oh, I know, Max, start early in the third round
two right, yeah, I was well eleventh, yeah, top third,
top third of the round. So uh so you know
almost the second rounder, Max.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
I mean once again, when you look at the third rounder,
it's usually a guy that slipped that should that should
be a first or second round talent that for whatever
reason slipped to the third. So you want to take advantage.
That's why I think the Steelers I was a fourth
tackle taken, so I really don't know they didn't value
offensive linement as much back then when I trapped it.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
You were the fourth tackle taken.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
Robert Gallery, Vernon Carry and Jacob Rodgers were the only
three tackles taken before me, And then you had.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Who had the best career of those guys me case
you were wondering.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Usual league. Yes, those other guys didn't didn't sniff that.
Uh so I think I won that. That battle gallery
is supposed to be all that too. Remember he was
supposed to be next Tony but and then he played.
He lasted two series at tackle and the rest of
his career the next seven years guard.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
Yeah, he had a solid career though.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
He was solid. Yeah, I mean you know, but he
came here week one rookie year. Joey Porter beat him
four sack in the first series and they took him
out at left tackle and put him to right tackle.
Then Clark Haagan's beat him for sack a second series,
and then he got pulled out the third series and
the fourth series he played left guard and that's where
he was. Wow, that's how fast his tackle career was.

(26:17):
And I watched it live because Jerry Rice was still
the wide receiver for the Raiders. Wow. And I watched.
I'm never because I was just like, oh my God,
Like Jerry Rice is on the field and I'm watching
this live happen. And then I look across him like
that's the guy who got drafted number two overall let's
see how good he is. Oh, not as good as
I thought.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, not that Max had a chip on his shoulder.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Never, oh never, not that I still hold that. No, No,
that I can recall that immediately.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
I think the point of the elliptical path to the point,
the point being that, you know, the the Steelers, I
think less than a lot of other teams.

Speaker 4 (26:56):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (26:56):
If the coaches say I don't want this guy, he's gone.
I'm I think in other organizations, Look, the general manager
and the coach always work in tandem. But a coach
might you know, who's hired by a general manager, might
protect the general manager by keeping a guy around. Well,
he's a third round pick, let's keep him around. So

(27:16):
first of all, the scout's always believing a guy you're
going to take at that point, right, So if if
the coaching staff doesn't isn't getting something out of him,
there's got to be something in the back of scouts
minds and a lot of organizations that say, well, the
coaches aren't maximizing this ability because we've seen this ability,
we believe in this ability. We've scouted this guy for
four years. We you know, we've gone to his pro day,

(27:40):
we've interviewed him, we sat across the table from at
the combine, and all these other reasons as to why
you picked a guy. Sometimes people think that it's just
a simple cya as to why a guy's around. But
there's a lot of belief in a guy, that's why
you took him that high. But if but there's there's
no cya here with the Steelers, Like I mean, we

(28:00):
just look at the the the undrafted players, look at
guys who have been high picks, who've been cut. They
move on, They make the determination and they move on.
And so that makes this a really big year for
Roman Wilson and a really big year for Camblem Johnson.
Those guys are facing big years in a Steelers' uniform,
big big camps. They might it may not get to

(28:22):
a year, you know, they may There may may be
no twenty twenty six for certain players who were drafted high.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
Well, and I think Roger Jones, you got to put
it at the third short that well because you did
bring in Maxiana Chore, you did draft a Jennings Dunker,
you brought in a brock Hoffman. Like every position group
is loaded. Nobody was like this group is you know,
just check it, check it off a box. We know
who's gonna be here. No, no, no, everybody's in contention.

(28:51):
I mean even for the outside linebackers. We know that
all three of those guys are paid, right, TJ. Watt,
Alex high Smith and now Nick Herbig. But at the
same time, who's gonna be number four? You got a
real battle here. And Julius Welshoff keeps showing up, keeps
coming to camp year after year, and he's been hit
a guy in his name, But who else is going
to be that fourth guy? Because you need a fourth

(29:11):
rotational guy, and Jack Lawyer is another one. And then
you throw in, well, now Nick Herb has been paid,
does he bump one of the two for reps? Now?
Because of what the what the contract DICTIM right? So
there's a lot of things. There's no certainty with any
of these positions. You have to be very versatile and

(29:32):
you have to put your best foot forward every day,
especially with how practices Ran and he talked about how
he has all these additional cameras watching guys, so big
brothers always watch, yes, and so you have to be
on your p's and q's even when you're in individual drills,
so there's no slack, there's no time off, and you're
very efficient on this field when you're out there and

(29:52):
a lot of things are moving and you got to
you gotta talk about a moving train. This is like
moving bullet train right now.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yes, efficiency is definitely and we're gonna, as I said,
we're gonna dive more into Mike McCarthy's philosophies and his
practices on the team on the field as well. But
we talked yesterday about, you know, is this the year
finally we get to see TJ. Watt moving around and
her Big and high Smith and all these guys, but
particularly TJ. Watt who has mostly stayed in that left side.

(30:20):
But DK Metcalf also said, Uh, it was DK or
Mike McCarthy. I think they both said we're gonna move
them around, right so, and you know sometimes that means
you know, pre snap movement and different things. So when
you talk about moving guys around, it's not just gonna
be on defense. I think most fans would probably leap

(30:43):
to TJ. Watt and is he gonna get moved around?
I think you're gonna see them trying to find different matchups.
I think they're gonna find different motions and different things
that try to isolate guys in matchups they want on
offense just as much as we're gonna see it on defense.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
Yeah, I think he kind of intimated that from the
first day press conference where he talked about guys being
able to play all three positions of the wide receiver,
so the X, Z and the Y or the A,
however you want to put it. You have to be
able to play all three and that's going to be
a key determining factor with how they move it because
you need to be able to get into a sudden

(31:21):
two minute situation or sudden no huddle. You've got to
be able to be positioned flex right, and you've got
to be able to move around to different spots when
given So you might not you might say, ah, I'm
an ex but you need to be able to play
that Z. You need to know all the routes and
all the combinations for the Z on any given play.
Push you need to know where that WHY or a
position is depending on if there's a tight end or not.

(31:41):
That's a very nuanced part of it. But you have
to be able to play all three right, and you
have to be able to fit in. And I think
for DK, he has to know that. Pittman has to
know that as well as Roman Wilson, Jeremy Bernard, Scornic
Legion and everybody else. You've got to know every aspect
of this offense. And it's very academic in the approach
that he's having. You know, he talked about today about
quarterback school, right, and how he trains everybody like how

(32:04):
he trained quarterbacks. So that's why you see a lot
of different individual instruction periods on the field. If you
come out to practice, you'll see those different aspects being utilized,
just to make sure that everybody knows the entire offense,
not just your schooling specific job.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
There was so much to unpack with what Mike McCarthy
is doing. We're gonna try to unpack it for you
over the course of this training camp because there are
different things and we expect to see uh here practically
what we are seeing here practice, and then the question becomes
how does that carry over to the games. One last
thing I did want to say about the receiver position,
and again we're just sort of giving the broad views

(32:41):
of what's going on, and we are definitely as these.
As this camp goes on, we're gonna be able to
there's gonna inevitably knock on wood, but there's gonna be
some guys get hurt, dinged up, hopefully not seriously, but
shifting up and down of you know, depth charts and
that sort of thing. But Omar Khn said, you know,
he he feels good about the roster and some of that.

(33:02):
I think the question was about wide receiver because this
is the time of the year. Over the last few years,
it's Brandon Nayez or it's somebody else. We're hearing the rumors.
Of course they traded for DK Metcalf, but we're hearing
these rumors of what's gonna happen. Well, you got DK
Metcalf a couple of years ago. You got Michael Pittman,
who I love and I think was a missing element
before this year. You still have Roman Wilson from a

(33:25):
couple of years ago in that third round, you have
picked up You have picked up Jeremy Bernard in a
second rounder. There's other guys in this year's draft. There's
other guys that can you know, Caden Reigen, where does
he fit in Ben's kronic? We know he's a special
teams days, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I
think that you know, when you when you talk about
you know, and Omar said, look, if something comes along

(33:46):
to improve the team. Of course I'm still looking to
improve the team. But that sense of urgency, that sense
of we have a big problem here that needs to
be fit, I don't think we're looking at that here
in Liatrobe this year. Max.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
I just don't know. I think you. I mean, you
look across the board and it's very tough to find
the issues now. Obviously, once we get into pads, once
we get into preseason games, you take an injury or
two at some certain position, then we might have that conversation.
But as it stands right now, you have plenty of

(34:20):
quality depth at every position, gifts, and there's a multitude
of guys. I mean, we talked about even when we
had attrition like we do right now. We got three
dbs on pup right. I don't see a significant drop off.
Sante Samuel's looking great out there. Jamel ten had a
really nice breakup in the two minute drill today. You know,
you have all these and then you're going to get

(34:41):
three more dbs soon enough that are going to be
added in there, right, Dante Kent, Joey Porter Junior, and
Jalen Ramsey. Then how much better is that secondary going
to be? That you're gonna be able to run two
deep really at quality guys who could be starters. And
then we haven't gotten to that linebacker might be if
I have to nitpick, linebacker might be the one where
you don't have that true banger, but you have athletes

(35:03):
there that can run, cover and do a lot of
things really well. That might be the one group if
I'm nitpicking of all the groups out here, and I
think the other ones have question marks, but there's quality
depth on how it's going to play out offensive line
quality depth, How is it going to play out? We
don't know, but we know that we have really good
talent in that position. Running back, it's got a deep

(35:23):
group as well. Wide receiver. I didn't even mention all
the other guys they brought in. Levi Wentz was another
rookie they brought in, Joaquin Davis, a kid from n
C Central that's a burner. So you have all these
Max Hurlman, right, we have a lot of guys everywhere
that you can't sit there. Defensive line, set it and
forget it. There's dogs on that defensive line, so tight end.

(35:45):
We know what Darnault Washington is to this team because
he just got paid right long half our already paid.
So there's everybody everywhere. We have four quality receiver quarterbacks
that we're going to figure out how it gets to
a top three. There's depth everywhere. That's the good thing
about where we're at right now.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
At this point, I think I got to tell you too,
we'll die more into this, but big people depth. It's
the hardest depth to have. The students have big people depth.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
On the offensive going to be paching.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, offensive and defensive line. A lot of big people
depth on this uh steers roster. Oh Man, there's so
much more to get to. Uh, we can't wait to
get to. It still feels like the first day of school,
to be Max doesn't like the second school doesn't feel
like the second day school.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
You still have the outfit laid on the bed the
night before, you know, So it's it's still it's still
fresh and new. I get you.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
We're gonna continue with much more here in the locker
room on this year there's audio network.

Speaker 4 (36:42):
Because the reps, the quarterback school. Obviously, I think we
all start somewhere as coaches. You know, my starting point was,
you know, the quarterback room. So uh, that's I trained
the team in a lot of ways. How I learned
learned you know, the training of the quarterback position, and
I think you know and then you take it down
in either into the science of what every play represents,

(37:02):
like today when the emphasis in the team meeting today
was the anatomy of a play, you know, and the
pre snap is the first part of a play. So
everything that goes on in the pre snap up until
the ball snap, you know, the specifics, the mannerism, disguise.
That's why, that's why it's a fundamental the cadence, the
substitution patterns, you know, the ability to get to get

(37:23):
this personnelit and quickly in the red zones. So you
have to practice all those little things now because it's
going to show up in preseason games. It's going to
show up when you get out there for the first
time with a ninety manin roster. So so you got
the pre snap, but then if you go if you
watch as you watch film, you study the film you'll
see in the first two point three seconds that's really
the act. That's the execution battleground. That's where really the

(37:44):
play gets established in the first two point three so
that's another time block. So and then above two point
three two point five, now you get into extended play. Okay,
So now we're talking about extended plays, which is what
big place big play opportunities, which is another still fundamental.
So that's that's the way my brain works. That's the
way I've learned it through the as of a quarterback

(38:06):
in my time this league. And that's why we train
our team. So all our situational emphasis, you know, really
is broken down every specific play and how we can
train in those in those little heal segments in our
and hopefully as I express this, you know, hopefully you
see that in our practice structure.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
This is live coverage out twenty twenty six Steelers Training
Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy, and brought to you
in part by Pennsylvania One Call Systems Dial eight one
one before you dig SNT Bank People Forward Banking by

(38:47):
Kalucy Chevrolet serving the Pittsburgh area. For over one hundred
and eight years, Clearview Federal Credit Union for every touchdown
the Black and Gold score. In twenty twenty six, Clearview
will donate one hundred dollars to the Light of Life Mission,
they said, CLEARVIEWFCU dot org and by Iron Workers Local
Union number three. We don't go to the office, We

(39:10):
build it.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Thanks for being with us in the locker room here
in the Students Audio Network. Absolutely gorgeous day Saint Vincent College.
Big puffy cumulus clouds, I mean powder blue behind him,
wind blowing left to right. But none of that really
matters as far as Steelers Football is concerned, because they're
done for.

Speaker 3 (39:31):
The day exactly.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
They're finished yet. So a couple of things that again,
we're gonna talk quite a bit about Mike McCarthy and
his practices and his philosophies next hour as we just
begin that, because that's gonna be a topic all throughout
training camp. It was a topic in the off season.
It was a topic in OTAs, and we saw some
of it in OTAs, and we're seeing it play out

(39:53):
even more here as he's asked more questions and it
becomes a little more into the microscope here in the trope.
I did want to ask you in the offseason.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
T J.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Watt and some of the other guys, Nick Herbig, Sawyer,
some other guys were involved in these workouts in Wisconsin.
And then Aaron Rodgers went to parts unnow and wouldn't
say where, up in the mountains somewhere, that's all we know,
for a retreat with his his players. And you know,
the receivers, receiving corps and quarterbacks and an opportunity for

(40:27):
those guys. And I think the value Aaron Rodgers was
talking about this, and I think DK Metcalf to some
degree as well, the you know, that extra little layer
of really getting to know somebody, right. You know, you
come in, you come in the locker room, you work
with guys, and you know, maybe certain guys hang out
after practice. You know, maybe they go home to their

(40:47):
families or whatever. But that level of really getting to
know somebody unplugged and away from the other pressures. And
I you know, people talk about this quote unquote distractions
of family. That's called life first. I would never label
my own family as a distraction now, so but whatever
you want to use that label for, they're away from

(41:07):
that and together how much connect togetherness like that. We
talk about it in terms of patrop but just these
off season workouts, how much can that help? I mean
it can.

Speaker 3 (41:18):
It can prove invaluable because the more time you get together,
the better chemistry is. Right, the more minutes I spend
like with you, like when we're doing broadcasts, right, Like
we get these two hours a day every day and
then we walk right into the booth and then there's
no drop off. So we understand each other's idiosyncrasies, We

(41:40):
understand how to communicate with each other, We know when
the breaks are happening, when to get out of things.
And the more that you do it, the easier and
more kind of unconscious. That is same thing with wide
receivers and quarterbacks, same thing with with with with defensive
linemen offensive linemen. The more time I get to spend
to know you, the better teammate I can be. And
the less we have to talk, the less we have

(42:01):
to think about it. It just becomes a reaction and more
of second nature. So you're just creating deeper bonds into
that second nature.

Speaker 2 (42:09):
Yeah, and I think that you know when you you
know when, Yes, I do think that bond and when
you get to know somebody, you know, you'll do a
little bit more for him, right, Yeah, just without even
It's just that's just human nature.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Human ning is that vested interest, right right, and seeing
you and I succeed, and the more that I can
do to help you, the more that we can do
to succeed, right, and you'll want to do for it,
and we become a better unit, right, We become a
better team, and we're able to bond better, and then
it's easier getting through things like like some questions, I
don't have to ask you because already know what you're

(42:43):
thinking about it, so we just roll into it versus hey,
do you think this is okay? Or that it's like yeah, no,
let's go, you know, and we just kind of go
through it. And I think that bond and that practice
is always good, and it translates onto the football field
because now, especially when we're just talking about quarterback wide receiver,
Now you can get fun with it, right, you can.

(43:04):
You can make up all kinds of hand jargon that
might not mean anything, but it's gonna mess up the
defense because you guys already know each other and you
know how each other thinks, and the same thing with
communications offensive line. Sometimes it's a grunt, it's not even
a word that comes out, and we know what to do, right.
We know that if we say this, we can make
up words that only we understand that's not typical to

(43:27):
what the defense is picking up. Like they know what
a deuce block is, right, right, But if we're going,
you know, if we're going something else, we could say,
you know, dose dose dose, and now it still means deuce,
you know, and they're like trying to figure out out
the third time you say it, and they're going to
figure it out.

Speaker 4 (43:42):
You know.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
Defensive line are a little bit slow, but not that slow.
But you know, you can start creating things. I mean,
we you know, we had different crazy calls. We had
sugar calls. Who knows what sugar is? Right, Sugar's set
off the ball and allow them if we know they're
gonna twist, to let them show themselves as oppose us
colliding into each other or having them bang off and
we're separated on different levels, back off and let it,
let it show itself. You can create those type of

(44:05):
things when you have these type of intimate, one on
one type of workout scenarios that are that are predetermined, like, hey,
we're gonna spend seven days in Wisconsin in Madison, right,
Or we're gonna go out to San Diego and spend
a week at a passing camp, Like you get to
do that kind of stuff and have fun. So then
when you get here, it's just simply adding on to
what we've already built together.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Right it is, Uh, you know that a team cohesion
and community. Look, it's important in all sports. That's why
they're team sports. I just think Max and I've said this,
I'm probably not original and saying it to meet's the
ultimate team sport. There's no other sport like it. It
is just it's you gotta have it got, you gotta

(44:48):
have it got.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
To every other sport, you can have one or two
guys take over and everybody can kind of fill in, right,
But here all eleven have to be on the same
page because if there's one breakdown, the whole thing collapses
like a house of cards. Right.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
And again, every sport's a little bit different. But obviously
you know I do a lot of baseball stuff too,
and yes, it's a team sport. Yes you need to
be able to turn too. Yes you need to be
able to hit the cutoff man. Yes, you want to
see you know, guys move runners along, lay down a bunt, whatever. Ultimately,
it is a lot of one on one matchups, a
lot of it, and if the pitcher is outstanding that day,

(45:23):
he can carry a team to victory pretty much by himself.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Okay, So now let's you know, of course you need
the other nine guys behind you. But and they're all degrees.
But now let's imagine you have the greatest quarterback in
the world and nobody's blocking for him, right, nothing. If
you took those five receivers off the field, or there's
five offensive linemen off the field and just you know,
snapped it to Josh Allen, he's got problems.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
You got a lot of I don't care how good
you are, right, Barry Sanders, Right, we talked about one
of the greatest running backs of all time. If you
don't have an offensive line, it doesn't matter because you
can't win the game by yourself. Everybody has to glean
on or depend on somebody else. Right, All the cogs
in the wheel have to be connected or us the
wheel doesn't turn. And that's where this makes this special

(46:11):
basketball even right, if you have an MJ, he makes
everybody else look better. But he's the main event. Kobe
Bryant's the main event. Lebron's the main event. But you need,
you know, you need other guys. This isn't that type
of sport where you could just take over. I mean,
Sidney Crosby can go over, but he still needs teammates.
But ultimately, one on one him and the goalie, you're

(46:32):
picking Sidney Crossby, right, you know what I'm saying. So
that's where you have to have this whole team cohesion,
and you have to have communication and chemistry because it
all matters. And we've seen it, you know, as we've
called these games, right, you've seen teams that aren't together
and it falls apart. It doesn't matter how good the
talent is individually, and yes you'll get some individual wins,
but as far as the war or the game itself,

(46:54):
you're gonna lose that battle every time because the best
eleven is always going to prove to be better than
some of eleven. Different great parts.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Agreed, and the interconnectedness happens on a number of different levels,
and I think that they're gonna try very hard to
make sure this happens on the field to play. Just
one last final thought on that. A big part of
that is the interconnectedness of human beings and how they are,
and then scheme and units and all that other stuff
you know comes after that. But to have guys like

(47:24):
Aaron Rodgers and TJ. Watt and other veterans cam here
understand what that means and the importance of it. And
when you're seeing like we've seen in other years, you know,
like I said, we said someton working with the young guys.
You know, Daniel's working with McCormick out here, Dylan Cook
working with Hana Try. That's another manifestation of what we're

(47:44):
talking about and one of the things that you know
that that will pay dividends as this journey of a
season goes on.

Speaker 3 (47:53):
Yeah, I mean, and it's it's reached one teach one essentially, right,
And it doesn't matter that we're in the middle of
a position battle. I need you to be redder because
team success supersedes individual accolades, and that's how you have
to prove it or else you're not gonna be here,
right If you're not a team player, If you're not

(48:13):
if your team me and not team us. It will
show itself very quickly and they won't want that. They
want they want us guys, not me guys. In this process,
you know, I'll throw it back till once again because
we're still getting into the Mike mccarthurary. We don't have
mccarthyism's yet. We only have tomlinisms to go off of.
For the last two decades. It's I want volunteers, not hostages. Yep, right,

(48:34):
that's what you're looking for out here. Yet to volunteer
your time, it takes a little bit extra, but it's
going to pay off in season because it's not a
matter of if. It's a matter of when those injuries happened,
and I need to make sure the guy behind me
is prepped and ready to go. I mean, I went
on IR the year in twenty eleven, we went to
Super Bowl forty five. I injured my neck midway through

(48:55):
the season. I missed two days of practice. Right, I'm
on IR. I'm in the room making sure Jonathan Scott
is good to go. I'm watching film with him every day. Well,
you know, I'm sitting inside for practice and allowed to
be out on the field during I are but I'm
sitting in I'm sitting in the team lounge taking a nap,
and then they wake me up for meetings. We go
into meetings, and then afterwards I have an additional meeting.

(49:16):
I flew to every single game. I'm on the sidelines
in his ear after every play, like that's what it takes.
And ultimately he replaced me. I got I got released,
then I came back.

Speaker 2 (49:26):
But that's what it is.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
And I didn't have bitterness towards it. And I was like,
because this is what the job entails. You not only
have to be at the best at your position and
the best you know at your job, but you also
have to be a good teacher, and you have to
be an open teacher in a group that depends on
community success. Like an offensive line. We don't have individual stats.
I All we have is starts, games played, and penalties

(49:48):
and sacks given up. Right, there's no goodness stat there
that you can play fantasy with at all. Right, But
that was the communal approach. We were all brothers to
each other, and you had big brothers. He had little brothers.
And then you pray that one day the younger brothers
become the big brothers and can teach the new, the
little brothers, and you pass on those traditions and those
things because it is all about team success at the

(50:09):
end of the day.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
Here he's Max Starks, I'm Rob King. We're going to
talk about Mike McCarthy and the imprint he's already putting
on this team and it is significant and it is different.
We'll talk about that much more to come when we
continue in the locker room on the Steelers Audio Network.