January 23, 2025 • 47 mins
Dale and Matt share their thoughts on the finalists for the NFL's season awards and take a deep dive into the Steelers' defensive front seven and what the group may look like next year, years to come, and what could've been.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
At least.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale LOLLI he is
the Matt Williamson. It is a something much warmer.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You're getting pretty hot out there.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Almost.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
It's not going anywhere. Wind isn't going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
But you know, it's not crazy out, not crazy out.
There's some craziness going on all around, but not here. Anyways,
it's a beautiful Thursday here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I heard there's several inches of snow in Mobile, Alabama
as we speak.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
By the way, Yeah they get like so New Orleans
got like ten inches. Wow, Pencer Cola, I think got five.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
How much fun do you think they're having it?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
They don't how to deal with that stuff. I know
they're just like street right yeah, among other things. Yeah.
But anyway, so we'll see if that's all melted by
the time I get down there next week. You are
now not going.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I'm not going, but so we'll still do shows. Yeah,
all that stuff. We'll have watching practice and try to
do the best I can from up here.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
We'll do uh, every day. I'm just four to six.
Why do I keep saying five to seven? Where's that coming?
No reason for that, Yeah, there's no reason for that. Anyways, Matt,
the NFL announced their finalists for all the awards.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I haven't seen it today.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
TJ Watt, you know, the guy everybody said had such
a down year. He's in the top five voting for
AP Defensive Player of the Year. Okay, he must really
stink down here. Only just awful, awful, get rid of them.
The other finalists for Defensive Player of the Year Zach
Bond from the mccut, Miles Garrett, okay, Trey Hendrickson, Pat
(01:54):
Patrick's retained the second and what I.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Think Sirtain's going to get it probably I think he's
the Vegas leader. Yeah, and he would probably be my vote.
To be honest with you, I'm sure. I'm I'm happy
that Bond got in that mix. He deserves it, no
clear cut. Well, it's not a great year. It's not
the great it's not there's been like last year. We
both had a great cause, you know, I mean, like
either one of them would have one was.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
But anyways, uh So for the m v P, Josh
Allen Okay, Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It's a two horse race, but that's a strong group. Now,
if Barkley can't crack the top two or three, that's
a pretty strong group. Is clearly five to me.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Offensive Player of the Year is Barkley, Burrow, Jamar, Chase,
Derrick Henry and Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I don't get it. I mean, like, why not Alan?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I don't know, it's a good question, that's extremely good question.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Or why double up on in some of the quarter.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Does that mean that Alan's not going to win MVP.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Or do they just think he is so get him
out the running voter? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And the way the voting goes for this, folks, it's
it's people the Associated Press picks. I think it's fifty
people around the pretty sure. Yeah, the cover of the NFL.
It used to be a different writer in every city
would do the voting. Now they've spread it out more
to now it's they pick and choose, like a bunch
(03:28):
of people from the NFL network have votes. Serious radio hosts.
There's not a Pittsburgh There's nobody in Pittsburgh has a vote.
So that's the way that goes. So you just don't
know how they're going to be the one vote. Yes,
you vote a person at each spot. Remember, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's four or five years ago, there was a bunch
of how can I mean Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson
never gotten a MVP vote. Well, there's only fifty. One year,
Mahomes got forty nine out of fifty. You know, like
there's sometimes there's just a slam dunk one there, but
they votes for Yeah, it's hard to get a vote. Yeah,
a lot of the people on those lists won't get votes.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Correct, right, Yeah, where they must have gotten at least
some when they got to that point. Yeah, because you can't.
I mean, I don't know. I don't know what they
do if if somebody wins it as slam dunk and
he gets all fifty votes, do you just tell the
other four guys, hey, come on out to the.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
How they picked the other four? Right?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Right at that point? But I don't know the second
place one. I don't know that that's going to happen
this year. I think that's spread around enough that enough guys.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Definitely a defensive one, yeah, yeah, offensively too nobody's Yeah, no, no, no, no,
I just didn't know if all five of those guys
are gold votes. I don't goff will get one.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah. Offensive Rookie of the Year finalists are Brock Bowers,
Jade and Daniels, Elik neighbors, Bo Nicks, and Brian Thomas Junior,
who got added to the Pro Bowl today. Yeah, Jay
Flowers had to pull up. Okay, it makes sense injury
played deep. Thomas should have been there anyways.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, yeah, I would have taken Thomas with Flowers for
the Pro Bowl period.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Miles Kilberg got added as well.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
From okay, all kinds of stuff going on. The awards
were awards World. That Rookie of the Year group is awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Defensive player the Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
This part isn't awesome. Cooper Dejenka, Brayden Fisk, Quinyam Mitchell,
Chop Robinson and Jared Verse two Rams and two Eagles. Yeah,
and not coincidentally, those guys have been playing deep into
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
But the votes are all taken tally before that happens. Oh,
I know, I know where they starts.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Nice to have a good rookie class to get you
into the playoffs propel you into the playoffs. I think
that's a two horse race. But I think Verse edges
out Mitchell. I would have voted for Fisk. Fisk led
all rookies and sacks. Yeah, I know, I know as.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Good as Verse. What Verse had four and a half
sacks this year?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I know, you know, Yeah, I just think he's a
better player on tape or Mitchell. Mitchell is really really
good too.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
That's not that's not a great group. That's the offense
was much better.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Uh, Coach of the year.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I'm curious who these five are.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Dan Campbell, Kevin O'Connell. Who probably gonna win it?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I would think so.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Sean Payton, Dan Quinn, Andy Reid.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Pretty good group. Yeah, I mean Andy Reid lost one game.
I guess he lost two. That's the last one. Yeah,
it was, you know, didn't play as dudes. We think
it's gonna go to O'Connell. I think so. I thought
Campbell might have pulled away at the end winning that game.
Had to head because remember all these votes are not
we were cast before the playoffs that that week, he wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Have gotten my vote of him. I mean, that's that's
they did what they're expected to do. Andy Reid and
the Chiefs did kind of what they're expected to do.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, and that's also harsh on the Tomlins and Belichicks
and Knolls over the year when you are the best
coach in the league and you don't win it because
you're just expected to. But Washington has a pretty good
case either before the playoffs, even before the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
He does.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Assistant Coach of the Year that is uh Bill's offensive
coordinator Joe Brady.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think he might get the Jags job. Eagles defensive
coordinator Vic Fangio, Okay, huge stuff from from the.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Area, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Lions defensive talented defense,
Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Who would you vote for?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Uh, that's a good probably Fangio.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Oh so, I think I'd go with Flores, just because
they don't have that many good players. Has the top
three defense.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I got into this discussion on the YouTube message board
with somebody and they said that the Vikings defense was
obviously much more talented than the Steelers defense. I said,
that's not that's not compared.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
To the Eagles, but I also would put it behind
the Steelers in terms of talent. Yeah, Vikings did not
have a lot of defensive talent.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
They did not. Their schedule helped with who they played.
You know, they didn't play as they didn't play a
schedule that was nearly as close to that of the Steelers,
and they beat up on some bad teams, but they
also had to play some good ones as well. Well. Yeah,
and you know the defense was was part of that.
But you know, I I think it's a I think
(08:06):
they did a good job with that defense. I have
all the respect in the world for Brian Flores. Yeah,
I think fangioh. I mean they they had the best
defense in the league this year.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I know, I know, I just think they have. There's
no Jalen Carter in Minnesota though, I mean.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah, but he broke in all new secondary couple. You know,
there's a lot of changes.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
A lot of linebackers safety from Zack Vaughan into a
into a star. Yeah, he would have been my second vote.
I mean, that was the two I was kicking around.
I would not have given it the other Lions guy.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
No, they have all the talent in the world like.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The defense didn't and they survived.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
They survived because the offense went out and score.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Says complimentary football though too. Yeah, you know right, I
think those are the top two.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, comeback player of the Year. And they changed the
rules on this a little bit this year, but they.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Still it's still kind of a dumble award.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Burrow, Okay, Sam Darnald, What is Sam Donald coming back
from stinking.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Being a backup?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, being a backup? That's not that's not technically the
way this is supposed to go.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yeah, do you know how they change the rules? Yeah,
you can't find it.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
You had to to come back from some kind of injury,
not coming back from stinking.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
If that's the case, then why is why isn't Zach
Bond on this list?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Absolutely? I mean who took there's a difference between most
improved player and come back.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I'm all for it. Yeah, but he didn't come back
from anything.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
No, he was Perty's backup all year. Yeah, he chose
to be.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, right, right, that's not what the rule says.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
How many games that Borrow miss last year? It seems
like a million years ago. I mean, it was awesome
this year, so probably. I think he only played like
six or seven games. JK. Dobbins, good story, Yeah, I mean,
especially where his career was hanging by three.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Here's another one that I don't agree with, Patriots warner
back Christian Gonzales.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He's a rookie.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He's he was a rookie last year that played four games.
You're coming back right right?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You you haven't great?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
That would have been like giving Corey Trice, you know, Austin. Yeah,
can follow Tano win it next year? That? Yeah, he
had he started one game. He's started three fewer games,
and Christian Gonzalez did.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And with all respect, I know he's a pit guy
and it was a terrible tragedy, But like, should Hamlin
win it?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Well, he's on the list again this year. He was
on the list last year and he's not that good?
Is every year now going to be Damar Hamlin on
the Comeback Player of the Year award?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Last year I understood it. Yeah, last year he came
think it was still in the nature of the of
the award. What's this year? Is he coming back from?
I don't something happened two years ago? Yeah, I mean
it was a tragedy. I'm not making light of it.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
No, not at all.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
But he's not even like one tenth as good a
player as Joe Burrow. About what you do on the field, right,
that's a weirder world to me.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
The winner would be Dobbins.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, I mean he was a near death experience and
end up being a plus starter. He signed him the
league minimum deal.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I mean he he was actually coming coming back from
three years or four years.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Yeah. Yeah, harding activity, hard hardship and injury, injury after
another one after another. Yeah. I was glad to see
him on there. And he's like the definition of it.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, I mean, by by some of these standards. Cam
Hayward should have been on this list.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Because he didn't have a great year and then he
had a great year.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah, and he missed He missed games and played on
one leg for most of the year.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Like, can the comeback player of the year also be
on the MVP ballot? Burrow is, but like that kind
of doesn't seem like a can. I mean, yeah, you
know he missed half the season. I guess I wouldn't
I wouldn't vote. I'd vote for Dobbins. His last three
years have been a wash. I bet we could come
up with thirty names. Oh, easily of guys hardly played
(11:56):
last year and just look at the I R from
last year who had a good year this year. That
happens every year. Yeah, I don't know. Most Improved could
be an interesting award. Yeah, then it's a different story.
That could be Donald, That could be Bond, you know, right,
those guys played full seasons, right, they may not have
been on the field, you know Donald's case. Have I
run this? Is that done with the award?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
That's all the awards?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yes, I think I've brought this up to you. But
I would love the NFL to do it like the
College does, like the Macki Award for best tight end,
call it the Gronk Award or Dick go Award or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, they usually pick older guys.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, you know, the Nigirsky Award, you know, like all
those type of things. Do it by position and have
the top five tight ends all battle for the Dick
Gill Award or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yeah, that's kind of the All Pro team.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
That kind of is. Yeah, I guess it is. Yeah,
that's pretty So they just don't call it anything. They
don't get it.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
They could thing, yeah, yeah, you know but that would
just extend that award show a.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Lot, a lot, yeah, and a lot come back to
go a lot longer than it needs to be. Comeback
could come back to going elsewhere too. From me.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, I I don't understand it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, and I don't think it's like, boy he got
into the Hall of Fame because he was Comeback Player
of the Year three times, you know, because he's stunk
the year before and before.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That he go get hurt, you know, right, Yeah, I
mean who's who's next year's comeback Player of the Year.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I mean, I don't know. It's only missed a lot
of time. It's really good. McCaffrey. Yeah, McCaffrey will be
next year's coming back he.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Comes back, has a great year.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Christ McGill, well, well he just got hurt. What do
you do, right, Yeah, I think that's a double award. Yeah,
but the Steers represented a little bit, a little bit. Yeah,
Cam would not have been far off on the Defensive
Player of the Year either. He should not have been,
you know, Chris Jones. There's no tackles on there, but.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
It really hard to do it as a defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Those edge guys win it almost every year. They get
the sack numbers. They get this.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
There's three of them on there.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
There will be every year.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, they get the sack numbers. They get to take
aways to the Glory Hounds.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
The Glory Boys. They don't do as much dirty work either.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah. And you know, we'll talk about this in the
next segment when we get into the defensive line stuff,
because I did that one yesterday yesterday, did o line
yesterday and I released my defensive line of rankings or
thoughts assessment I should say yesterday on Steelers dot Com.
But you know, the most the thing that stands out
(14:22):
the most about Cam Hayward is the Steelers rushing average
allowed when he was on the field versus when he
was off.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
It's insane.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
It's I'm sure, yeah, I knew it was seven verses
five point one.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And even I don't know if you broke it down
this way or not, but you've said this all year
and it's one hundred percent true. Attempts are just down
to people. Just do me.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
He's on the run, right, but as soon as he
was standing on the sidelines and run.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And what's interesting too is all the watt numbers are
crazy too. And you know, staggering them has some value
there too. I know we talk a lot about these
edge guys, you know, and Watt even came out this offseason.
I don't mind flipping to the right side, but when
you have a guy that nobody wants to run at
as a free technique to the offenses left and you
(15:11):
don't want to run outside of the tackles to the offense.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Is right, pretty much limits where you can go. It
sure makes Patrick wan No. By the way, you know
high Smith's pretty good against the run two on the
other side.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, of course, right.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So yeah, you just need to find a way to
get more of those guys.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And which leads us to the next segment. And what
if you had a nose type dude in the middle too,
like where you're.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Running, Yeah, wouldn't nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
You got to the elite run defenders on the on
the Lion Scream. Yeah you know.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Actually Landam Roberts ranked up there pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
High the front yea, yeah, you're with the Owen Roberts.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah. Anyways, let's get to a break. We will break
down that defensive line and where that needs to go
and what the guys did this year we'll do that
right after this. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lellye.
You're listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
As the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
And welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the
Matt Williamson except no imitations, and except no imitations for
Cam Hayward.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yes, really aren't any no. And we talked about this
a couple of months or a couple of weeks ago.
Probably his Hall of Fame case is getting really strong.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Well, it's funny you brought that up because I looked
up his hall his Pro Football Focus Hall of Fame
Monitor reference reference.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, and let me let me call that up here.
Another first team All Pro goes a long way.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I mentioned that the you know, that's that's kind of
stuff is it goes into this. So since we last
looked at it, he's now at seventy two point four.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Okay, that's well in range.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Yeah, he is now past Bryant Young.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Who just got in two years ago or something like that.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
He's now passed Hellodi Nauda.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Okay, not is not in, but he's up.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah. Chris Jones, he moved, he's ahead of him. Jones
is sixty six point five to five. Cam's out seventy
two point four. Jones is gonna go to Yeah. He
has surpassed Buck Buchanan who is in the Hall of Fame.
So Bran Young and buckby, Buck Buchanan. Tom c.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Stack has moved past them.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
He is not. So he is now just behind Geno Atkins. Wow,
at seventy high for Atkins at seventy six point through
he had he.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Had a lot of eight Pro Bowls and yeah, he's
one of the best Bengals ever.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Really, the Pro Bowls helped too.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, coming up on Alex Carris in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Then you got guys all karras in Yeah, because I
thought he wasn't allowed because of the gambling thing that.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That was early on and then that and then they
lay in and then he did.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Webster, Yeah, which was cool right there, boy better known
as Webster's dad.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
He's closing in on Fletcher Cox, who's at seventy eight
point three eight and he's done, he's done. He's closing
in on Dominic and Sue who is at eighty four
point five eight, And then there's a big gap between
after Sue to Henry Jordan, who's the who's the next
guy who's actually in the Hall of Fame. He's at
one hundred point seven eight the average defensive tackle. And
(18:25):
this gets skewed a little bit because of the air. Well,
Donald's not in yet, but Bob Lily is a one
fifty nine point three five.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Lily and Donald are way better than everybody else.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Right, Well, Donald's at one eighty one point one eight. Yeah,
he's not in yet, so that average Hall of Fame
score is going to go up even higher gets in.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, so he's far and away number one.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, then you got Randy White, Allen Page, Show Green,
John Randall, Warrensap, Merlin Olsen. Olsen is at one sixteen
point sixty five. Lily's at one fifty nine point three five.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Are the best players in that position? Is Green not
a little high because he didn't play as long as
some of those dudes, some of those guys.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
He didn't have the sack numbers that those guys do.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Okay, different era, a little bit different area, didn't throw
the ball as much.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
He had seventy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
This they went back and looked at all the sacks. Yeah,
so they went back and actually they actually.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Started that and they credited Agreen with seventy seven and
a half career sacks.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, it's still a pretty big number for as long
as you play.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
But Heyward, now, twelve years as a starter, seven time
Pro Bowler, four time First Team All Pro.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And if you didn't listen to that show, what's amazing
about being a four team All Pro? No matter what
is amazing? But Donald took one of those two spots
every year, every year, I mean, every other defensive tackle
in league is fighting for one spot.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Well just for this. So the average Hall of Fame
defensive tackle okay, not including Donald, not including not including Donald.
So the average right now is a score of one
oh two. One championship, four First Team All Pro, seven
Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
How many Pro Bowls did you say Cam has?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Cam has no championships, but he has four first Team
All Pros and seven Pro Bowl and.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
A Defensive Man of the Year, NFL Man of the Year, Yeah,
which carries a lot of we he's going to the
Hall of Fame. I think he's going. Yeah, how many
career sacks.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
He is now at eighty eight and a half.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Let's say if he gets to a hundred, I think
it's done if.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You look at it from that perspective. Alan Page leads
away with one hundred and forty eight and a half. Wow,
then you had John Randall at won thirty seven and
a half, Aaron Donald with one eleven, Randy White with
one eleven, Alex Karras with one hundred. Only those are
the only defensive tackles, five of them with one hundred
sacks in their career.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I mean, if he has two years, he's going to
get it. He might get it in one right now.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Warren SAPs at ninety he finished with ninety six and
a half. Jethro Peugh, who's not in the Hall of Fame,
had ninety six and a half, Bob Lilly ninety five
and a half, Steve McMichael ninety five.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
He just, yeah, I didn't think he should have been.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
But Henry Thomas ninety three and a half, Merlin Olson
ninety one, Trevor Price ninety one, Bryant Young eighty nine
and a half. He just got in Cam's at eighty
eight and a half.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's gonna pass a lot of those guys he puts.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
On another eight. Let's say he puts on another eight
next year. Well, now he's up there with Sap and
Jethro Pew at ninety six and a half.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
As the guys that are just below one hundred. Yeah,
because all the ones over one hundred were pretty easy decisions.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah. I mean, if he would decide to retire today,
I don't know if he'd go, but I don't think
he's going to do that. And if he comes back
and has a year similar to this last one.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
He's gonna play at least two more years. I would assume, Yeah,
I would assume. Yeah, So you know, one hundred sacks
is certainly in the range.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Post Season success would help, Yeah, no question, there's no doubt.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But I mean if he had, if he had a
Super Bowl right now, he would already be over, yeah,
because his score would be higher. Yeah, if he got
to one hundred sacks would be over anyway. So getting
back to the Steelers defensive line talk led by Cam Hayward.
Led by Cam Hayward, the defensive lineman here where you
know you're looking at Kean Ubenton, Larry Ogan, Jobi, Dean Lowry,
Montrevius Adams, Isaiah louder Milk, the Marvin Leal and Logan Lee.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Mm hmm did how how many? How much did Lee
Al play when it was all said and done.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
He played like the first three or four games.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I was thinking about a month.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, okay, but almost almost exclusively because of injuries. He
was playing outside line.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But he was out of position a lot to Yeah,
they did, okay, So he's sort of an unwritten one,
as is Lee. I do think they have high hopes
for Lee, and I would think both those guys are
in the mixer on the roster next year. Yeah, I
think they need to add a guy, though they might
need to add more than one guy because well, louder
(22:50):
Milk's the only guy from that year that is a UFA.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
You know, I don't I don't see real rush to
bring Isaiah Loudermilk back.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I say, if it's and he's still out there and
you didn't draft one and it's a league, take bring
him the camp and don't guarantee you know, that's as
good as just going to get it right.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
And I understand, like the thing is that that the
coaching staff loves about louder Milk is he just does
his job. I just question whether he does it good.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Enough it has an impact the game enough. He doesn't.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
He doesn't sack the quarterback. No I mentioned that double
teams or anything. Yeah, I mentioned the numbers with with
Hayward on the field and off the field. Well, a
lot of times that was louder Milk in that spot.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So I bet the splits with him on the field,
aren't we right?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Wonderful? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, he's I mean does some stuff.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I mean, you know, he blocked the kick this year,
as did Dean Lowry. Yeah, you know that stuff matters too.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
But but his stuff, what he's doing, isn't that hard
to find?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, I think you want to try to out draft that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah. I mean, if I chance, you're Carl Dunbar and
you're like, boy, he really turned the corner because of
this technique that he's art and to learn. Okay, you know,
I mean there's ability there, but I haven't seen that,
you know.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, Yeah, Benton, I thought was was good this year.
I think the arrow still pointed up on him, Yes,
very very much. So.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I know he doesn't have gaudy sack numbers, but I
think he is become a very very good pass rusher. Yeah,
and impacting.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
The numbers are that the sacks are going to come.
And I remember having that conversation with step On to
it early in his season about that same age and
a lot of He's like, I just need to stop
when I get close to the quarterback, I start to
chop my feet a little bit. He said, I got
to learn to run through the quarterback and lo and behold.
Then he has a double digit sacks g Yeah. After that,
(24:44):
Benton saw his snap count go from forty three percent
as a rookie last year to fifty nine percent this year.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
As a rookie, he like barely played on third down. Yeah,
he was playing there. He basically was just a nose,
just a nose, right, And I don't think he is
a nose. I think he can be a nose. But
I think ideally it's him and Cam in a four
man front and nickel or dime and in their okie
they're three to four. I'd like to see him and
Cam flank a different note, a heavier guy, a big guy.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I mean he's a good run defender, but he's not
a nose run defender. And He's still can get his
pads a little high too, which was a wisconstant thing.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Yeah, Larry ogun Jobi. Well, because Keanu Benton played more
in the Nickel one dime this year, saw his snap
count decrease.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Yeah, it almost flip flopped if you look at that.
He went from playing over he was around sixty percent
last year, where Benton was this year fifty nine to
forty five percent this year. They've basically flip flopped roles.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, which is what you want to hear. Yeah, in
a way. I mean because Oguen Joby's pretty stable, where
if Benton's moving past him, that's what you want to see.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Yeah. The top backups were louder Milk, who played twenty
percent of the snaps, Montrevius Adam who played seventeen percent
of snaps, but he missed six games.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
And missed a big stretch.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Some of these guys play with the knee injury. I
think he, to me is the most productive backup.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, I'll be honest, I've been I still am a
huge Adams fan. I don't know if he came back
from injury too soon or what, but I didn't think
he was nearly as good post injury that he was
with pre injury or the year before. I think he's
one of the most underrated Steelers in twenty twenty three.
And I just didn't see the impact after the injury.
And maybe he just came back early. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, that's possible. Lowry Dean Lowry played fourteen and a
half percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
How many games did he actually appear in?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Though? That many?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Right?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
He played? He was inactive a couple of times. I
remember last part. He was active. Is he up? No?
They signed him to a two year duo. Yeah, which
is fine.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I mean if he's your fifth the lineman or yeah, right,
he's more than serviceable.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Yeah, he's a guy that you know, actually can get
to the quarterback again, as I mentioned, he blocked a kick.
He just understands how to play the game.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Lee Allen Lee interest me though. I mean they're still
pretty young. They're both pretty good athletes. We haven't seen
a ton of them in the role that the D
line role. I mean, Lee, it's not his fault he
you know, didn't play it all this year. If one
of those two could take a nice step forward, that
would go a long way. I don't know what they'll
do with Ogunjobi's contract, but he's not guaranteed to be back,
(27:33):
so there could be spots, you know, for new dudes.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah. I want to add to that group at the
very least in the first three rounds of the draft.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Preferably in those type. No, he's got to be in
those type of a certain kind. He's got to be
a guy who can play the nose but also can
rush the passer.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I mean, I wouldn't avoid free agency, you know, but yeah,
I would love to add from a really good defensive
tackle draft. There's two reasons for it. And I know
you know this, but I mean it's a deep, deep,
deep defensive tackle draft, so fish in those waters, you
know that. That's great. Plus, if you bring a rookie
in now, it's more Cam Hayward time for him, you
(28:12):
know what I mean. It's positive big brother role model,
you know, uncle, absolutely not big brother. Maybe it's grandfather.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
But you know, I wouldn't even I wouldn't even be
opposed to adding two guys there and just letting it.
Let's take them all to camp and see how it
sorts itself out.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, and maybe a deal one or whatever. Two or
someone's gonna get hurt or whatever. Yeah, I wouldn't mind
two new bodies, especially if Oagan Jobe isn't there, you know,
who knows.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Even if he is. If he is, I'm gonna I'm
gonna let him fight this out and see what my
best my best three are or my best five in
that rotation. Then those tackle and you could keep seven.
They have done that. I've done that.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, it's usually six or seven, but you could keep seven.
But I want depth there. You know, Lee could be
on the practice squad or whatever too. If someone's so good,
do you have to cut Lowry? Well, you know, I
mean you can live with.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
That, Yeah, I think that. You know. The key to
me was that Heyward played. He been pretty much a
pretty constant eighty percent guy over the course of his
career a lot. Yeah, went down to seventy one percent
last year. About it's about a ten percent drop off
from where he was at in his late twenties and
early thirties. And less was more.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, and it was probably his best year.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
But what they need to do is figure out how
less can be more for Hayward while also.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Not being weak when he's off the Yeah, not being you.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Know, him not being on the field being a distinct liability.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Which was because what if he gets hurt too, you know,
and there's a need to be a succession plan and
all that stuff too.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Ideally you'd have another you know, in an ideal world,
you'd have stuff onto It would be about what thirty
two to thirty three right now, and they those guys
Ogajovi he probably wouldn't be on the team right.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Right right, and you would you know, that was the
original plan.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, that's why they didn't keep Javon Hargrave. They couldn't
pay three of them ten plus million dollars a year.
It just wasn't in the cards.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Would you still be at least on the phone with
hard Graves agent? Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah, last we
saw him as good. What the injury. He's not as
young as you.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Think, but he's thirty one. Yeah, that's the thing about that,
that situation, when they were going through that, he was
essentially a year younger than to it, even though he
had been drafted three years later. Yeah, yeah, you know,
to it was a really young player at that position.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And yeah, he'ple forget how good he was doing.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
That's the thing that you know, when you talk about
some of the things that have happened to the Steelers
over the last few years. Everybody talks about the Shazier injury.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Right, which is really hard to overcome.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Nobody talks about Stefan's Twitt's retirely retirement right again.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
In his in his prime, when he hung it up,
I thought he and Cam were equal players.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
I can remember us going through voting that summer or
the summer before he hung it up, after his best season,
and people were gms around the league were voting on
who the best players were at each position as well,
like Sando, Aaron Donald got all the votes but one
(31:07):
at defensive tackle. Stephan two got that one vote that
didn't go to Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I bet camoud even tell you this to it was
more athletic. I mean, I think he was more gifted.
I mean he was a rare, rare physical specimen. Yeah,
and took him a minute to.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Again he was, but he was coming like twenty twenty
one years old. He just turned twenty one when he
came in when he came to the Steelers and had
only started playing football. I think his freshman year in
high school.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Now that's say he's new to the game and was
he injured his final year at Notre Dame? Is that
why he went to the second round? Was there some
I don't I know he was raw?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah, I don't believe it was an I.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Can't remember what because he's the first round talent all
day long. Yeah, they got in the second, but yeah,
it's tough on to overcome.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
He may have been hurt a little bit, but he was, Yeah,
a tremendous player, and you lose that when you expected
to have it. I mean, he was signed to a
long term deal. This he still counts. Again, it's their
salary cap this year. This year, he really because they
voided some of those years at the end of it
because they couldn't take the whole They want to take
the whole hit at that point, so they still have
(32:10):
dead money on their salary cap this year.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
From Steph on two or in twenty twenty five, I
should say they started wasn't anywhere. I mean, he was
a foundational type.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Foundational piece.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
It's apples oranges because it's a quarterback. But people don't
talk about what Andrew lux retirement did. I mean, it'd
be really close to like Joe Burrow hanging it up now.
I mean, that's that's the type of player he was.
And he did it like a month before training camp. Yeah,
you know, like no GM can and the cults have
been scrambling since you know, Steelers are looking for linebackers
(32:40):
since you.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Know others had that happened basically twice with you know,
a couple of year period where they lost two guys
who were foundational pieces. One was a first round draft
pick who just you know, was voted to the paint
club two years.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Right, I think the same rookie class. I don't believe
they that I can't remember. Pretty sure, pretty sure that
could be fifteen.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It might be right, Yeah, I'm looking up that I
know is that twenty fifteen draft? I think you might
be right about that.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Yeah, both, No, twenty fifteen was it's twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Fifteen was Bud Dupree, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, they're the same class. Yeah, you lose two dudes.
Are really counting on familiar defense.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Too, top but would still be on the team, right,
still be a big part of this defense.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Our conversations might be like where do they get the
next Shazier?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Now?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
You know, where do they get the next Yeah, Heyward, slash.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
To it, Yeah, step on to it. Right now is
thirty one years old, he would still be in the
prime of his career.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Maybe they should call him.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I think he's done at disappoint Yeah, but yeah, and
Shazier at this point is now say he was pretty
young too, and he just turned thirty two during the
season last year. So they would still be viable players.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Sure, And there's always massive butterfly effects of these things,
but no way do you trade up for Bush, you know,
and like there's so many things that would have gone differently,
Like you may have made a worse choice in trading
up for Bush, who knows, And these guys would have
big cap hits and you wouldn't be able to sign
some others. And there's, like I said, there's butterfly effects,
but you wouldn't have been well.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Again, if Tewett's situation had come up a year later
or a year earlier, I should say, they may have
kept you on Hargrave.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Right, They probably would have. Yeah, I mean they probably
would have. Yeah, And you probably still could have drafted Benton,
but you wouldn't have an Ogunjobi or you know something
like all those.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
There's just that trickle down effect that nobody ever wants. Well,
they don't have any of their draft picks from these
this draft and that draft. Well yeah yeah, but two
of those guys went through some pretty serious stuff that.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I'm trying to think, like, who on this they dine
an issue would be similar, you know, it would be
someone like Heismith if they if you decided I'm I'm
not nis in playing this game anymore, firemouth, or they
don't really have that guy that's twenty nine coming into
his own as a star. But like that's a really
hard thing to overcome. Yeah, you know, you already have
(35:04):
your team needs and then here's another massive one on
top of it. It was I never saw coming. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So but the defensive line, I can definitely see them adding.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
To I'd be shocked they don't.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
This is just such a deep draft at the defensive lineman.
I I don't know that I would go the veteran
route in this one.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Because of the class. Yeah, it's sort of like the
running back conversation. I mean, you got hard rates is
alluring though.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Heyward's over thirty, Ogan Jobi's over thirty, Lowry's over thirty,
Adams is over thirty.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I want to add some Venton's
your only young piece, you know, Leo right, yeah, I
mean Lee al and Lee will see and Leo was
having a good camp last I think he's got better too.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Yeah, he just had an unfortunate injury this year.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
I don't know how many snap a game that guy
will ever be though. I mean, I don't think he'll
be Aaron Smith or Keysol, you know, yeah, eating things up,
you know.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
But yeah, that's where they're at with that group. And
uh again, I think it's one that they'll definitely add
to this offseason. And that's why we've when we've done
our mocks thus far, we've certainly taken our shared defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, and went in doubt, always take a dexter defensive lineman.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Absolutely. I mean, you're not guaranteeing Logan Lee anything. It
was a six round draft pick.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
No, I'm again if you're so.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Low like him, but you can always outdraft him.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, he'll probably up on the practice squad if that
was the case. R Yeah. Oh you want a lot
of competition, absolutely, that's what That's what gets you better,
for sure. I'm not even sure Lowry's guaranteed a spot.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yeah, nice piece, but if you got wow, we're loaded.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
You can out draft him, right right, Yeah, So that's
where you're at right now. Let's get to a break.
He is the Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're
listening to The Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network,
and of course you can hear the Drive every Monday
through Friday from four to six pm right here on
these very airwaves. And of course I will be in Mobile,
Alabama next week taking in all the players down there
(36:55):
and see you know what, uh, what's what down there?
Getting some eyeballs on you. You are too, But it's
a really good scener. It's a fantastic one. We'll talk
a little bit more about that when we come back.
And of course you can also download the Steelers Mobile
app and get the show downloaded there on your phone
every day. You can also watch our show on YouTube
where Tyler makes sure our show gets posted every day.
(37:19):
Let's get through a break. We'll be back with more
right after this.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Least.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven, Home of the Black and
Gold in Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Welcome back to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly. He
is the Matt Williamson and the as we mentioned the
All Star Games, I guess you can still call him that. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's what I've always been called.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
I mean, you have to be invited.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Yeah. They're going to take place here in Dallas and Mobile,
Alabama here in the coming weeks, and just wanted to
take a look here, cruise through some of the top players.
The other day we did some of the sleeper type yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So at the East West Shrine game, the top guy
overall is shoud Or Sanders is there.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
And these East West guys, I don't know how much
they'll do, but they're going to be there, and there's
more stars than usual there.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
Yeah. Now, Chavon Ravel, the cornerback out of East Carolina,
is going to be there, but he's not going to
work on the field because he's coming back from a
torn acl September twentieth, So he's just going to be
there to interview.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Same thing with Trey Harris, the wide receiver rat of
Ole Miss.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Does he have an injury? Yeah, he's rehabbing an injury. Okay, Okay,
I don't know what it is. Yeah, I don't either.
Kenneth Grant is going to be there, big nose that
we've talked about a lot from Michigan. He'd go back
to the last segment. He'd fit in real well in
that D line conversation. That's one of the ones though.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I wonder why he went there because the pedifessive linemen
are immobile.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
It makes me wonder like he's.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Going to stand out against the fourth, fifth, sixth round
offensive lineman. He's working against it, and you know.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
He was invited to Mobile. Yeah, I mean it's not
like it wasn't a good enough prospect to go. Like
I could understand if you're Revel or someone like that,
that's not going to work out because then you're to
get more attention for your everyone's gonna interview as opposed
you know, there's there's less big dogs there to fight
for airtime, so to speak. I don't know why. Maybe
(39:28):
the Shrine Bulls is doing a better job recruiting.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
I don't know, I know they are, yeah, yeah, like
they're trying to compete with the Senior Bowl and become
what the Senior Bowl is and because of that a
little bit, yeah, up its game as well. Yeah, it's
kind of a little bit of a jockeying back and
forth it's going on between the two.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Both are getting better.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah. Uh. Chris Paul, the linebacker out of Ole Miss
is going to be there.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Don't know a ton about him. Haven't done much work
on the true linebackers either.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Ricky White, the receiver out of UNLV is going to
be there. Now he's a true West Western guy, so
that makes more sense.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, it does. So this game's on Thursday, the thirtieth. Yeah,
so if you guys want to watch.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, Antoine Powell Ryland, the defensive end out of Virginia Tech,
is going to be there. So he had sixteen sacks
this year, three forced fumble, So no.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
That's a pretty good group.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
Yeah. He's more of an edge rusher though.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Kobe Bryant, the cornerback out of Kansas, is going to
be there. He's a little skinny, but he's one hundred
and seventy pounds. He's got eleven interceptions. Let's say he's
super productive, though very productive. His running mate Mellow Dotson,
the other cornerback from Kansas is also going to be there.
He's an interesting guy as.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Well, helpful to go with the teammate too to these things. Yeah,
it could be a little overwhelming for the kids.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Yeah, he had five picks this year. He had three
career pick sixes. That's intriguing to do.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Yeah. Jacory Brooks, the wide receiver out of Louisville is
going to be there. Don't know much about him, six
three and ninety five pounds, A bigger guy that runs well.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
You think somebody like that should stand out there.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah. And then Jay Higgins, the linebacker out of Iowa.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, again, I don't know the linebacker group all.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
That well, Yeah, some of the guys. Other guys keeping
eye on Zaia Alexander, the cornerback out of LSU. Luke
Leachi the tight end out of Iowa. You can never
go wrong drafting Iowa.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
He's coming off an injury from two years ago. Yeah,
I'm I'm a fan of his. I've been doing a
little bit of tight end homework in the last twenty
four hours or too.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Theo Wiese wide receiver out of Missouri. They used him
more this year than they used uh, Burton Burton. Burton
was more of a decoy kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Yeah, Burton was a huge name coming into the draft
process a year ago and really cooled off. It's gonna
be his time to really shine here and combine and
that type of thing.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah. The top twenty players at the Senior Bowl. Josh Connerley,
offensive tackle out of Oregon in a.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Few pure tackles too. Yeah, we were talking about that
yesterday and they could move up. He was a he
was a converted former high school running back. That's insane, right, Yeah,
there's some of these guys who just like ket growing.
I mean, there's people like that just kept theirs insanely
to you.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
Yeah. Armand Membu the offensive lineman out of Missouri getting
first on buzz YEP. Carson Swessinger, the linebacker out of UCLA.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Okay, I know the name, and he's probably a Day
two guy that I haven't watched him.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
Walter Nolan, the defensive tackle out of Ole, miss He.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Would be a good Steeler. He's not a nose, but
he'd be a good Steeler. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Nick Scourton, the defensive end out of Texas. A and
m kind of jealous. You get to see him in person.
I bet he's very physically impressive. Yeah, and he's a guy.
He just he's he's twenty years old and he's already
he's six four to two eighty.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Oh yeah, I just.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Wonder can he put on like they use them as
they use them, kind of like they use the Marvin Leal. Yes,
that's very much so good com where he's They moved
him outside and did some stuff with him out there,
because he's athletic enough to do that. I think he's
a better athlete than le Al was.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Probably he's bigger, more physical, I would say, at the same.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
He's got more bend to him as well.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Yeah, I would say, where was he the year before
transferred from Missouri or Purdue? I believe due. Yeah, he
had a better year there, yeah than at A and M.
But he's only twenty. He's only twenty, yeah. I And
again they moved they bumped him outside. Garan they'll list
him is an edge, Yeah, but I don't think the
Steelers look at him six four to two eighty and
he's twenty years old.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He can easily put on fifteen pounds and be a
defensive tackle three technique. Shamar Stewart the other defensive end
out of Texas A and M. And he's six six,
two ninety like. Yeah, that's one of the reasons why
they could take Scourton and flip him outside.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
They just won't get the best guys on the field.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Ariantae Urser, the offensive tackle from Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Yeah, big fellow, he's a tackle.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
I don't think he'll bump in. Trey Amos, the cornerback
out of Ole Miss. He could certainly be very steel irrelevant. Yeah,
outside corner with length.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Started out at Alabama and started at Alaba, transferring Prince
Lee h Here we go again, now uman a Melon.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Prince you Prince Hugh Yeah, ole Miss right.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Ole Miss defensive end. He's a two hundred and sixty pounder,
so he's more of an edge guy. Same thing with
Mike Mike Green, the defensive end at A Marshall.
Speaker 1 (44:22):
I think he's in a huge week.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yeah. Marcus bow the guard out of Purdue. Okay, he
could play some tackle maybe maybe maybe tackle. I'm sure
they'll try him there. He's six five, three hundred pounds.
Jackson Dart going to be there, as will Jaylen Milroe. Yeah,
quarterbacks on the battle backs, Maxwell Hairston, the cornerback out
of Kentucky, and remember he was in Mel's first round yesterday.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, I say, I think he's going to top fifty.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Yeah, he's six, so he could be.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
Very much in the seatos mix as well. I'm not
saying you take my twenty one, but you.
Speaker 3 (44:53):
Know, Asirier Thomas, the cornerback out of Florida State, I
think I've taken him a couple of time. Yeah, in
some mock drafts, usually somewhere in that second to third round,
typically third round here.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Yeah, he's six to two though, Yeah, and he's it
seems like the college is producing more and more six
foot plus corners than they ever. Oh.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
I mean that's where the receivers are going, so you
have to Yeah, you have to play against those guys.
You better have guys who can are big enough to
ride the ride.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
I just think the receiver position is so competitive too
that if I'm a six to one hundred and ninety
pound guy, maybe I go to corner when I'm fifty,
you know.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
Yeah. Alfred Collins, the defensive tackle out of Texas sixty
six three twenty, I would think he's a nose here. Uh.
Jonah seven Lea, the guard out of Arizona, the.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Mix of the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Yeah, I don't think he I mean he played left
tackle with Arizona.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
But I think he can take everyone to project him
to guard.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Yeah. Diane Walker, the defensive tackle out of Kentucky six five,
three fifty.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
He's got a lot of first round buzz before.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
He's a better pass rusher than he is a run stuffer,
which is.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Kind of cool. Don't even line him up with the
nose all that. Yeah, he would play a guy that size.
He's six y five, though. I think he just the
pads get too high. Yeah, and I think stamon is
an issue too.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Yeah. Elk a human Ore, the wide receiver out of Stanford.
He's intrigued.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
Yeah, he's six two to two ten. He blocks, he
goes over the middle, he runs well, has great hands.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
No, I think they'll like him.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Yeah, Jaylen Milroe. I mentioned Wyatt Millam, the offensive lineman
out of West Virginia. Uh, some sleepers keep an eye
on Jayden Higgins out of Iowa State six four two
fifteen twenty career touchdowns. You get Vernon Broughton. That the
other defensive tackle out of Texas, Devin Neil, the running
back out of Kansas, Josh Farmer, defensive tackle out of
(46:45):
Florida State. They have his height and weight six three
three eighteen.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
I say he's nos ish for sure. Then yeah, and
then Will Howard from Yeah, I don't know if he'll
do they're not. He just played yeahs Ago.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
But that's what you're looking at group for that group,
really good group.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Line stands out is one on ones are gonna be
a blast.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
And maybe that's why Grant didn't go maybe to the East,
maybe went to the East West Rne and you're like, look,
I'm gonna be the big dog here.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Throw people around and be the biggest guy in a
smaller pond.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
Yeah. But anyways, let's get to a break. He's Matt Williamson.
I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the drive here
on the Steelers Audio Network, Matt, and I'll be back
with hour number two right after this.
At least.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Welcome to the Drive. I am Dale LOLLI he is
the Matt Williamson. It is a something much warmer.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You're getting pretty hot out there.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Almost.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
It's not going anywhere. Wind isn't going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
But you know, it's not crazy out, not crazy out.
There's some craziness going on all around, but not here. Anyways,
it's a beautiful Thursday here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I heard there's several inches of snow in Mobile, Alabama
as we speak.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
By the way, Yeah they get like so New Orleans
got like ten inches. Wow, Pencer Cola, I think got five.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
How much fun do you think they're having it?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
They don't how to deal with that stuff. I know
they're just like street right yeah, among other things. Yeah.
But anyway, so we'll see if that's all melted by
the time I get down there next week. You are
now not going.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I'm not going, but so we'll still do shows. Yeah,
all that stuff. We'll have watching practice and try to
do the best I can from up here.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
We'll do uh, every day. I'm just four to six.
Why do I keep saying five to seven? Where's that coming?
No reason for that, Yeah, there's no reason for that. Anyways, Matt,
the NFL announced their finalists for all the awards.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I haven't seen it today.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
TJ Watt, you know, the guy everybody said had such
a down year. He's in the top five voting for
AP Defensive Player of the Year. Okay, he must really
stink down here. Only just awful, awful, get rid of them.
The other finalists for Defensive Player of the Year Zach
Bond from the mccut, Miles Garrett, okay, Trey Hendrickson, Pat
(01:54):
Patrick's retained the second and what I.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Think Sirtain's going to get it probably I think he's
the Vegas leader. Yeah, and he would probably be my vote.
To be honest with you, I'm sure. I'm I'm happy
that Bond got in that mix. He deserves it, no
clear cut. Well, it's not a great year. It's not
the great it's not there's been like last year. We
both had a great cause, you know, I mean, like
either one of them would have one was.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
But anyways, uh So for the m v P, Josh
Allen Okay, Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It's a two horse race, but that's a strong group. Now,
if Barkley can't crack the top two or three, that's
a pretty strong group. Is clearly five to me.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Offensive Player of the Year is Barkley, Burrow, Jamar, Chase,
Derrick Henry and Jackson.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I don't get it. I mean, like, why not Alan?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I don't know, it's a good question, that's extremely good question.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Or why double up on in some of the quarter.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Does that mean that Alan's not going to win MVP.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Or do they just think he is so get him
out the running voter? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And the way the voting goes for this, folks, it's
it's people the Associated Press picks. I think it's fifty
people around the pretty sure. Yeah, the cover of the NFL.
It used to be a different writer in every city
would do the voting. Now they've spread it out more
to now it's they pick and choose, like a bunch
(03:28):
of people from the NFL network have votes. Serious radio hosts.
There's not a Pittsburgh There's nobody in Pittsburgh has a vote.
So that's the way that goes. So you just don't
know how they're going to be the one vote. Yes,
you vote a person at each spot. Remember, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's four or five years ago, there was a bunch
of how can I mean Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson
never gotten a MVP vote. Well, there's only fifty. One year,
Mahomes got forty nine out of fifty. You know, like
there's sometimes there's just a slam dunk one there, but
they votes for Yeah, it's hard to get a vote. Yeah,
a lot of the people on those lists won't get votes.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Correct, right, Yeah, where they must have gotten at least
some when they got to that point. Yeah, because you can't.
I mean, I don't know. I don't know what they
do if if somebody wins it as slam dunk and
he gets all fifty votes, do you just tell the
other four guys, hey, come on out to the.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
How they picked the other four? Right?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Right at that point? But I don't know the second
place one. I don't know that that's going to happen
this year. I think that's spread around enough that enough guys.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Definitely a defensive one, yeah, yeah, offensively too nobody's Yeah, no, no, no, no,
I just didn't know if all five of those guys
are gold votes. I don't goff will get one.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah. Offensive Rookie of the Year finalists are Brock Bowers,
Jade and Daniels, Elik neighbors, Bo Nicks, and Brian Thomas Junior,
who got added to the Pro Bowl today. Yeah, Jay
Flowers had to pull up. Okay, it makes sense injury
played deep. Thomas should have been there anyways.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, yeah, I would have taken Thomas with Flowers for
the Pro Bowl period.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Miles Kilberg got added as well.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
From okay, all kinds of stuff going on. The awards
were awards World. That Rookie of the Year group is awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Defensive player the Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
This part isn't awesome. Cooper Dejenka, Brayden Fisk, Quinyam Mitchell,
Chop Robinson and Jared Verse two Rams and two Eagles. Yeah,
and not coincidentally, those guys have been playing deep into
the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
But the votes are all taken tally before that happens. Oh,
I know, I know where they starts.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Nice to have a good rookie class to get you
into the playoffs propel you into the playoffs. I think
that's a two horse race. But I think Verse edges
out Mitchell. I would have voted for Fisk. Fisk led
all rookies and sacks. Yeah, I know, I know as.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Good as Verse. What Verse had four and a half
sacks this year?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I know, you know, Yeah, I just think he's a
better player on tape or Mitchell. Mitchell is really really
good too.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
That's not that's not a great group. That's the offense
was much better.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Uh, Coach of the year.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I'm curious who these five are.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Dan Campbell, Kevin O'Connell. Who probably gonna win it?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, I would think so.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Sean Payton, Dan Quinn, Andy Reid.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Pretty good group. Yeah, I mean Andy Reid lost one game.
I guess he lost two. That's the last one. Yeah,
it was, you know, didn't play as dudes. We think
it's gonna go to O'Connell. I think so. I thought
Campbell might have pulled away at the end winning that game.
Had to head because remember all these votes are not
we were cast before the playoffs that that week, he wouldn't.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Have gotten my vote of him. I mean, that's that's
they did what they're expected to do. Andy Reid and
the Chiefs did kind of what they're expected to do.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah, and that's also harsh on the Tomlins and Belichicks
and Knolls over the year when you are the best
coach in the league and you don't win it because
you're just expected to. But Washington has a pretty good
case either before the playoffs, even before the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
He does.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Assistant Coach of the Year that is uh Bill's offensive
coordinator Joe Brady.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think he might get the Jags job. Eagles defensive
coordinator Vic Fangio, Okay, huge stuff from from the.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Area, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Lions defensive talented defense,
Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Who would you vote for?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Uh, that's a good probably Fangio.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Oh so, I think I'd go with Flores, just because
they don't have that many good players. Has the top
three defense.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I got into this discussion on the YouTube message board
with somebody and they said that the Vikings defense was
obviously much more talented than the Steelers defense. I said,
that's not that's not compared.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
To the Eagles, but I also would put it behind
the Steelers in terms of talent. Yeah, Vikings did not
have a lot of defensive talent.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
They did not. Their schedule helped with who they played.
You know, they didn't play as they didn't play a
schedule that was nearly as close to that of the Steelers,
and they beat up on some bad teams, but they
also had to play some good ones as well. Well. Yeah,
and you know the defense was was part of that.
But you know, I I think it's a I think
(08:06):
they did a good job with that defense. I have
all the respect in the world for Brian Flores. Yeah,
I think fangioh. I mean they they had the best
defense in the league this year.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I know, I know, I just think they have. There's
no Jalen Carter in Minnesota though, I mean.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah, but he broke in all new secondary couple. You know,
there's a lot of changes.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
A lot of linebackers safety from Zack Vaughan into a
into a star. Yeah, he would have been my second vote.
I mean, that was the two I was kicking around.
I would not have given it the other Lions guy.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
No, they have all the talent in the world like.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
The defense didn't and they survived.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
They survived because the offense went out and score.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Says complimentary football though too. Yeah, you know right, I
think those are the top two.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Yeah, comeback player of the Year. And they changed the
rules on this a little bit this year, but they.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Still it's still kind of a dumble award.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Burrow, Okay, Sam Darnald, What is Sam Donald coming back
from stinking.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Being a backup?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, being a backup? That's not that's not technically the
way this is supposed to go.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yeah, do you know how they change the rules? Yeah,
you can't find it.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
You had to to come back from some kind of injury,
not coming back from stinking.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
If that's the case, then why is why isn't Zach
Bond on this list?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Absolutely? I mean who took there's a difference between most
improved player and come back.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I'm all for it. Yeah, but he didn't come back
from anything.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
No, he was Perty's backup all year. Yeah, he chose
to be.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Right, right, right, that's not what the rule says.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
How many games that Borrow miss last year? It seems
like a million years ago. I mean, it was awesome
this year, so probably. I think he only played like
six or seven games. JK. Dobbins, good story, Yeah, I mean,
especially where his career was hanging by three.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Here's another one that I don't agree with, Patriots warner
back Christian Gonzales.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He's a rookie.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He's he was a rookie last year that played four games.
You're coming back right right?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
You you haven't great?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
That would have been like giving Corey Trice, you know, Austin. Yeah,
can follow Tano win it next year? That? Yeah, he
had he started one game. He's started three fewer games,
and Christian Gonzalez did.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And with all respect, I know he's a pit guy
and it was a terrible tragedy, But like, should Hamlin
win it?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Well, he's on the list again this year. He was
on the list last year and he's not that good?
Is every year now going to be Damar Hamlin on
the Comeback Player of the Year award?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Last year I understood it. Yeah, last year he came
think it was still in the nature of the of
the award. What's this year? Is he coming back from?
I don't something happened two years ago? Yeah, I mean
it was a tragedy. I'm not making light of it.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
No, not at all.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
But he's not even like one tenth as good a
player as Joe Burrow. About what you do on the field, right,
that's a weirder world to me.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
The winner would be Dobbins.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Yeah, I mean he was a near death experience and
end up being a plus starter. He signed him the
league minimum deal.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I mean he he was actually coming coming back from
three years or four years.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Yeah. Yeah, harding activity, hard hardship and injury, injury after
another one after another. Yeah. I was glad to see
him on there. And he's like the definition of it.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, I mean, by by some of these standards. Cam
Hayward should have been on this list.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Because he didn't have a great year and then he
had a great year.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Yeah, and he missed He missed games and played on
one leg for most of the year.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Like, can the comeback player of the year also be
on the MVP ballot? Burrow is, but like that kind
of doesn't seem like a can. I mean, yeah, you
know he missed half the season. I guess I wouldn't
I wouldn't vote. I'd vote for Dobbins. His last three
years have been a wash. I bet we could come
up with thirty names. Oh, easily of guys hardly played
(11:56):
last year and just look at the I R from
last year who had a good year this year. That
happens every year. Yeah, I don't know. Most Improved could
be an interesting award. Yeah, then it's a different story.
That could be Donald, That could be Bond, you know, right,
those guys played full seasons, right, they may not have
been on the field, you know Donald's case. Have I
run this? Is that done with the award?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
That's all the awards?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yes, I think I've brought this up to you. But
I would love the NFL to do it like the
College does, like the Macki Award for best tight end,
call it the Gronk Award or Dick go Award or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, they usually pick older guys.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yeah, you know, the Nigirsky Award, you know, like all
those type of things. Do it by position and have
the top five tight ends all battle for the Dick
Gill Award or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yeah, that's kind of the All Pro team.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
That kind of is. Yeah, I guess it is. Yeah,
that's pretty So they just don't call it anything. They
don't get it.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
They could thing, yeah, yeah, you know but that would
just extend that award show a.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Lot, a lot, yeah, and a lot come back to
go a lot longer than it needs to be. Comeback
could come back to going elsewhere too. From me.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah, I I don't understand it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, and I don't think it's like, boy he got
into the Hall of Fame because he was Comeback Player
of the Year three times, you know, because he's stunk
the year before and before.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
That he go get hurt, you know, right, Yeah, I
mean who's who's next year's comeback Player of the Year.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I mean, I don't know. It's only missed a lot
of time. It's really good. McCaffrey. Yeah, McCaffrey will be
next year's coming back he.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Comes back, has a great year.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Christ McGill, well, well he just got hurt. What do
you do, right, Yeah, I think that's a double award. Yeah,
but the Steers represented a little bit, a little bit. Yeah,
Cam would not have been far off on the Defensive
Player of the Year either. He should not have been,
you know, Chris Jones. There's no tackles on there, but.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
It really hard to do it as a defensive tackle.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Those edge guys win it almost every year. They get
the sack numbers. They get this.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
There's three of them on there.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
There will be every year.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yeah, they get the sack numbers. They get to take
aways to the Glory Hounds.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
The Glory Boys. They don't do as much dirty work either.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah. And you know, we'll talk about this in the
next segment when we get into the defensive line stuff,
because I did that one yesterday yesterday, did o line
yesterday and I released my defensive line of rankings or
thoughts assessment I should say yesterday on Steelers dot Com.
But you know, the most the thing that stands out
(14:22):
the most about Cam Hayward is the Steelers rushing average
allowed when he was on the field versus when he
was off.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
It's insane.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
It's I'm sure, yeah, I knew it was seven verses
five point one.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
And even I don't know if you broke it down
this way or not, but you've said this all year
and it's one hundred percent true. Attempts are just down
to people. Just do me.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
He's on the run, right, but as soon as he
was standing on the sidelines and run.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
And what's interesting too is all the watt numbers are
crazy too. And you know, staggering them has some value
there too. I know we talk a lot about these
edge guys, you know, and Watt even came out this offseason.
I don't mind flipping to the right side, but when
you have a guy that nobody wants to run at
as a free technique to the offenses left and you
(15:11):
don't want to run outside of the tackles to the offense.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Is right, pretty much limits where you can go. It
sure makes Patrick wan No. By the way, you know
high Smith's pretty good against the run two on the
other side.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, of course, right.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So yeah, you just need to find a way to
get more of those guys.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And which leads us to the next segment. And what
if you had a nose type dude in the middle too,
like where you're.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Running, Yeah, wouldn't nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?
Speaker 1 (15:35):
You got to the elite run defenders on the on
the Lion Scream. Yeah you know.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Actually Landam Roberts ranked up there pretty.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
High the front yea, yeah, you're with the Owen Roberts.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah. Anyways, let's get to a break. We will break
down that defensive line and where that needs to go
and what the guys did this year we'll do that
right after this. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lellye.
You're listening to the Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
As the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven home of the Black and
Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
And welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the
Matt Williamson except no imitations, and except no imitations for
Cam Hayward.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yes, really aren't any no. And we talked about this
a couple of months or a couple of weeks ago.
Probably his Hall of Fame case is getting really strong.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Well, it's funny you brought that up because I looked
up his hall his Pro Football Focus Hall of Fame
Monitor reference reference.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, and let me let me call that up here.
Another first team All Pro goes a long way.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
I mentioned that the you know, that's that's kind of
stuff is it goes into this. So since we last
looked at it, he's now at seventy two point four.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Okay, that's well in range.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Yeah, he is now past Bryant Young.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Who just got in two years ago or something like that.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
He's now passed Hellodi Nauda.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Okay, not is not in, but he's up.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah. Chris Jones, he moved, he's ahead of him. Jones
is sixty six point five to five. Cam's out seventy
two point four. Jones is gonna go to Yeah. He
has surpassed Buck Buchanan who is in the Hall of Fame.
So Bran Young and buckby, Buck Buchanan. Tom c.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Stack has moved past them.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
He is not. So he is now just behind Geno Atkins. Wow,
at seventy high for Atkins at seventy six point through
he had he.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Had a lot of eight Pro Bowls and yeah, he's
one of the best Bengals ever.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Really, the Pro Bowls helped too.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, coming up on Alex Carris in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Then you got guys all karras in Yeah, because I
thought he wasn't allowed because of the gambling thing that.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
That was early on and then that and then they
lay in and then he did.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Webster, Yeah, which was cool right there, boy better known
as Webster's dad.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
He's closing in on Fletcher Cox, who's at seventy eight
point three eight and he's done, he's done. He's closing
in on Dominic and Sue who is at eighty four
point five eight, And then there's a big gap between
after Sue to Henry Jordan, who's the who's the next
guy who's actually in the Hall of Fame. He's at
one hundred point seven eight the average defensive tackle. And
(18:25):
this gets skewed a little bit because of the air. Well,
Donald's not in yet, but Bob Lily is a one
fifty nine point three five.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Lily and Donald are way better than everybody else.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Right, Well, Donald's at one eighty one point one eight. Yeah,
he's not in yet, so that average Hall of Fame
score is going to go up even higher gets in.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, so he's far and away number one.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, then you got Randy White, Allen Page, Show Green,
John Randall, Warrensap, Merlin Olsen. Olsen is at one sixteen
point sixty five. Lily's at one fifty nine point three five.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Are the best players in that position? Is Green not
a little high because he didn't play as long as
some of those dudes, some of those guys.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
He didn't have the sack numbers that those guys do.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Okay, different era, a little bit different area, didn't throw
the ball as much.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
He had seventy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
This they went back and looked at all the sacks. Yeah,
so they went back and actually they actually.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Started that and they credited Agreen with seventy seven and
a half career sacks.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, it's still a pretty big number for as long
as you play.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
But Heyward, now, twelve years as a starter, seven time
Pro Bowler, four time First Team All Pro.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And if you didn't listen to that show, what's amazing
about being a four team All Pro? No matter what
is amazing? But Donald took one of those two spots
every year, every year, I mean, every other defensive tackle
in league is fighting for one spot.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Well just for this. So the average Hall of Fame
defensive tackle okay, not including Donald, not including not including Donald.
So the average right now is a score of one
oh two. One championship, four First Team All Pro, seven
Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
How many Pro Bowls did you say Cam has?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Cam has no championships, but he has four first Team
All Pros and seven Pro Bowl and.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
A Defensive Man of the Year, NFL Man of the Year, Yeah,
which carries a lot of we he's going to the
Hall of Fame. I think he's going. Yeah, how many
career sacks.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
He is now at eighty eight and a half.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Let's say if he gets to a hundred, I think
it's done if.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You look at it from that perspective. Alan Page leads
away with one hundred and forty eight and a half. Wow,
then you had John Randall at won thirty seven and
a half, Aaron Donald with one eleven, Randy White with
one eleven, Alex Karras with one hundred. Only those are
the only defensive tackles, five of them with one hundred
sacks in their career.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I mean, if he has two years, he's going to
get it. He might get it in one right now.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
Warren SAPs at ninety he finished with ninety six and
a half. Jethro Peugh, who's not in the Hall of Fame,
had ninety six and a half, Bob Lilly ninety five
and a half, Steve McMichael ninety five.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
He just, yeah, I didn't think he should have been.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
But Henry Thomas ninety three and a half, Merlin Olson
ninety one, Trevor Price ninety one, Bryant Young eighty nine
and a half. He just got in Cam's at eighty
eight and a half.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
He's gonna pass a lot of those guys he puts.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
On another eight. Let's say he puts on another eight
next year. Well, now he's up there with Sap and
Jethro Pew at ninety six and a half.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
As the guys that are just below one hundred. Yeah,
because all the ones over one hundred were pretty easy decisions.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah. I mean, if he would decide to retire today,
I don't know if he'd go, but I don't think
he's going to do that. And if he comes back
and has a year similar to this last one.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
He's gonna play at least two more years. I would assume, Yeah,
I would assume. Yeah, So you know, one hundred sacks
is certainly in the range.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Post Season success would help, Yeah, no question, there's no doubt.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
But I mean if he had, if he had a
Super Bowl right now, he would already be over, yeah,
because his score would be higher. Yeah, if he got
to one hundred sacks would be over anyway. So getting
back to the Steelers defensive line talk led by Cam Hayward.
Led by Cam Hayward, the defensive lineman here where you
know you're looking at Kean Ubenton, Larry Ogan, Jobi, Dean Lowry,
Montrevius Adams, Isaiah louder Milk, the Marvin Leal and Logan Lee.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Mm hmm did how how many? How much did Lee
Al play when it was all said and done.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
He played like the first three or four games.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Yeah, I was thinking about a month.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yeah, okay, but almost almost exclusively because of injuries. He
was playing outside line.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But he was out of position a lot to Yeah,
they did, okay, So he's sort of an unwritten one,
as is Lee. I do think they have high hopes
for Lee, and I would think both those guys are
in the mixer on the roster next year. Yeah, I
think they need to add a guy, though they might
need to add more than one guy because well, louder
(22:50):
Milk's the only guy from that year that is a UFA.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
You know, I don't I don't see real rush to
bring Isaiah Loudermilk back.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I say, if it's and he's still out there and
you didn't draft one and it's a league, take bring
him the camp and don't guarantee you know, that's as
good as just going to get it right.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
And I understand, like the thing is that that the
coaching staff loves about louder Milk is he just does
his job. I just question whether he does it good.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Enough it has an impact the game enough. He doesn't.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
He doesn't sack the quarterback. No I mentioned that double
teams or anything. Yeah, I mentioned the numbers with with
Hayward on the field and off the field. Well, a
lot of times that was louder Milk in that spot.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So I bet the splits with him on the field,
aren't we right?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Wonderful? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, he's I mean does some stuff.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I mean, you know, he blocked the kick this year,
as did Dean Lowry. Yeah, you know that stuff matters too.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
But but his stuff, what he's doing, isn't that hard
to find?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, I think you want to try to out draft that.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah. I mean, if I chance, you're Carl Dunbar and
you're like, boy, he really turned the corner because of
this technique that he's art and to learn. Okay, you know,
I mean there's ability there, but I haven't seen that,
you know.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, Yeah, Benton, I thought was was good this year.
I think the arrow still pointed up on him, Yes,
very very much. So.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
I know he doesn't have gaudy sack numbers, but I
think he is become a very very good pass rusher. Yeah,
and impacting.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
The numbers are that the sacks are going to come.
And I remember having that conversation with step On to
it early in his season about that same age and
a lot of He's like, I just need to stop
when I get close to the quarterback, I start to
chop my feet a little bit. He said, I got
to learn to run through the quarterback and lo and behold.
Then he has a double digit sacks g Yeah. After that,
(24:44):
Benton saw his snap count go from forty three percent
as a rookie last year to fifty nine percent this year.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
As a rookie, he like barely played on third down. Yeah,
he was playing there. He basically was just a nose,
just a nose, right, And I don't think he is
a nose. I think he can be a nose. But
I think ideally it's him and Cam in a four
man front and nickel or dime and in their okie
they're three to four. I'd like to see him and
Cam flank a different note, a heavier guy, a big guy.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
That's yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
I mean he's a good run defender, but he's not
a nose run defender. And He's still can get his
pads a little high too, which was a wisconstant thing.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Yeah, Larry ogun Jobi. Well, because Keanu Benton played more
in the Nickel one dime this year, saw his snap
count decrease.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Yeah, it almost flip flopped if you look at that.
He went from playing over he was around sixty percent
last year, where Benton was this year fifty nine to
forty five percent this year. They've basically flip flopped roles.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, which is what you want to hear. Yeah, in
a way. I mean because Oguen Joby's pretty stable, where
if Benton's moving past him, that's what you want to see.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Yeah. The top backups were louder Milk, who played twenty
percent of the snaps, Montrevius Adam who played seventeen percent
of snaps, but he missed six games.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
And missed a big stretch.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Some of these guys play with the knee injury. I
think he, to me is the most productive backup.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, I'll be honest, I've been I still am a
huge Adams fan. I don't know if he came back
from injury too soon or what, but I didn't think
he was nearly as good post injury that he was
with pre injury or the year before. I think he's
one of the most underrated Steelers in twenty twenty three.
And I just didn't see the impact after the injury.
And maybe he just came back early. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah, that's possible. Lowry Dean Lowry played fourteen and a
half percent of the defensive snaps.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
How many games did he actually appear in?
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Though? That many?
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Right?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
He played? He was inactive a couple of times. I
remember last part. He was active. Is he up? No?
They signed him to a two year duo. Yeah, which
is fine.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I mean if he's your fifth the lineman or yeah, right,
he's more than serviceable.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Yeah, he's a guy that you know, actually can get
to the quarterback again, as I mentioned, he blocked a kick.
He just understands how to play the game.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Lee Allen Lee interest me though. I mean they're still
pretty young. They're both pretty good athletes. We haven't seen
a ton of them in the role that the D
line role. I mean, Lee, it's not his fault he
you know, didn't play it all this year. If one
of those two could take a nice step forward, that
would go a long way. I don't know what they'll
do with Ogunjobi's contract, but he's not guaranteed to be back,
(27:33):
so there could be spots, you know, for new dudes.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Yeah. I want to add to that group at the
very least in the first three rounds of the draft.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Preferably in those type. No, he's got to be in
those type of a certain kind. He's got to be
a guy who can play the nose but also can
rush the passer.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I mean, I wouldn't avoid free agency, you know, but yeah,
I would love to add from a really good defensive
tackle draft. There's two reasons for it. And I know
you know this, but I mean it's a deep, deep,
deep defensive tackle draft, so fish in those waters, you
know that. That's great. Plus, if you bring a rookie
in now, it's more Cam Hayward time for him, you
(28:12):
know what I mean. It's positive big brother role model,
you know, uncle, absolutely not big brother. Maybe it's grandfather.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
But you know, I wouldn't even I wouldn't even be
opposed to adding two guys there and just letting it.
Let's take them all to camp and see how it
sorts itself out.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah, and maybe a deal one or whatever. Two or
someone's gonna get hurt or whatever. Yeah, I wouldn't mind
two new bodies, especially if Oagan Jobe isn't there, you know,
who knows.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Even if he is. If he is, I'm gonna I'm
gonna let him fight this out and see what my
best my best three are or my best five in
that rotation. Then those tackle and you could keep seven.
They have done that. I've done that.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, it's usually six or seven, but you could keep seven.
But I want depth there. You know, Lee could be
on the practice squad or whatever too. If someone's so good,
do you have to cut Lowry? Well, you know, I
mean you can live with.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
That, Yeah, I think that. You know. The key to
me was that Heyward played. He been pretty much a
pretty constant eighty percent guy over the course of his
career a lot. Yeah, went down to seventy one percent
last year. About it's about a ten percent drop off
from where he was at in his late twenties and
early thirties. And less was more.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, and it was probably his best year.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
But what they need to do is figure out how
less can be more for Hayward while also.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Not being weak when he's off the Yeah, not being you.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Know, him not being on the field being a distinct liability.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Which was because what if he gets hurt too, you know,
and there's a need to be a succession plan and
all that stuff too.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Ideally you'd have another you know, in an ideal world,
you'd have stuff onto It would be about what thirty
two to thirty three right now, and they those guys
Ogajovi he probably wouldn't be on the team right.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Right right, and you would you know, that was the
original plan.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Yeah, that's why they didn't keep Javon Hargrave. They couldn't
pay three of them ten plus million dollars a year.
It just wasn't in the cards.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Would you still be at least on the phone with
hard Graves agent? Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah, last we
saw him as good. What the injury. He's not as
young as you.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Think, but he's thirty one. Yeah, that's the thing about that,
that situation, when they were going through that, he was
essentially a year younger than to it, even though he
had been drafted three years later. Yeah, yeah, you know,
to it was a really young player at that position.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
And yeah, he'ple forget how good he was doing.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
That's the thing that you know, when you talk about
some of the things that have happened to the Steelers
over the last few years. Everybody talks about the Shazier injury.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Right, which is really hard to overcome.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Nobody talks about Stefan's Twitt's retirely retirement right again.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
In his in his prime, when he hung it up,
I thought he and Cam were equal players.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
I can remember us going through voting that summer or
the summer before he hung it up, after his best season,
and people were gms around the league were voting on
who the best players were at each position as well,
like Sando, Aaron Donald got all the votes but one
(31:07):
at defensive tackle. Stephan two got that one vote that
didn't go to Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
I bet camoud even tell you this to it was
more athletic. I mean, I think he was more gifted.
I mean he was a rare, rare physical specimen. Yeah,
and took him a minute to.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Again he was, but he was coming like twenty twenty
one years old. He just turned twenty one when he
came in when he came to the Steelers and had
only started playing football. I think his freshman year in
high school.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Now that's say he's new to the game and was
he injured his final year at Notre Dame? Is that
why he went to the second round? Was there some
I don't I know he was raw?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah, I don't believe it was an I.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Can't remember what because he's the first round talent all
day long. Yeah, they got in the second, but yeah,
it's tough on to overcome.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
He may have been hurt a little bit, but he was, Yeah,
a tremendous player, and you lose that when you expected
to have it. I mean, he was signed to a
long term deal. This he still counts. Again, it's their
salary cap this year. This year, he really because they
voided some of those years at the end of it
because they couldn't take the whole They want to take
the whole hit at that point, so they still have
(32:10):
dead money on their salary cap this year.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
From Steph on two or in twenty twenty five, I
should say they started wasn't anywhere. I mean, he was
a foundational type.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
Foundational piece.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
It's apples oranges because it's a quarterback. But people don't
talk about what Andrew lux retirement did. I mean, it'd
be really close to like Joe Burrow hanging it up now.
I mean, that's that's the type of player he was.
And he did it like a month before training camp. Yeah,
you know, like no GM can and the cults have
been scrambling since you know, Steelers are looking for linebackers
(32:40):
since you.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
Know others had that happened basically twice with you know,
a couple of year period where they lost two guys
who were foundational pieces. One was a first round draft
pick who just you know, was voted to the paint
club two years.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Right, I think the same rookie class. I don't believe
they that I can't remember. Pretty sure, pretty sure that
could be fifteen.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
It might be right, Yeah, I'm looking up that I
know is that twenty fifteen draft? I think you might
be right about that.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Yeah, both, No, twenty fifteen was it's twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Fifteen was Bud Dupree, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, they're the same class. Yeah, you lose two dudes.
Are really counting on familiar defense.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Too, top but would still be on the team, right,
still be a big part of this defense.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Our conversations might be like where do they get the
next Shazier?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Now?
Speaker 1 (33:27):
You know, where do they get the next Yeah, Heyward, slash.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
To it, Yeah, step on to it. Right now is
thirty one years old, he would still be in the
prime of his career.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Maybe they should call him.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
I think he's done at disappoint Yeah, but yeah, and
Shazier at this point is now say he was pretty
young too, and he just turned thirty two during the
season last year. So they would still be viable players.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
Sure, And there's always massive butterfly effects of these things,
but no way do you trade up for Bush, you know,
and like there's so many things that would have gone differently,
Like you may have made a worse choice in trading
up for Bush, who knows, And these guys would have
big cap hits and you wouldn't be able to sign
some others. And there's, like I said, there's butterfly effects,
but you wouldn't have been well.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Again, if Tewett's situation had come up a year later
or a year earlier, I should say, they may have
kept you on Hargrave.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Right, They probably would have. Yeah, I mean they probably
would have. Yeah, And you probably still could have drafted Benton,
but you wouldn't have an Ogunjobi or you know something
like all those.
Speaker 3 (34:33):
There's just that trickle down effect that nobody ever wants. Well,
they don't have any of their draft picks from these
this draft and that draft. Well yeah yeah, but two
of those guys went through some pretty serious stuff that.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I'm trying to think, like, who on this they dine
an issue would be similar, you know, it would be
someone like Heismith if they if you decided I'm I'm
not nis in playing this game anymore, firemouth, or they
don't really have that guy that's twenty nine coming into
his own as a star. But like that's a really
hard thing to overcome. Yeah, you know, you already have
(35:04):
your team needs and then here's another massive one on
top of it. It was I never saw coming. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So but the defensive line, I can definitely see them adding.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
To I'd be shocked they don't.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
This is just such a deep draft at the defensive lineman.
I I don't know that I would go the veteran
route in this one.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Because of the class. Yeah, it's sort of like the
running back conversation. I mean, you got hard rates is
alluring though.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Heyward's over thirty, Ogan Jobi's over thirty, Lowry's over thirty,
Adams is over thirty.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I want to add some Venton's
your only young piece, you know, Leo right, yeah, I
mean Lee al and Lee will see and Leo was
having a good camp last I think he's got better too.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
Yeah, he just had an unfortunate injury this year.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
I don't know how many snap a game that guy
will ever be though. I mean, I don't think he'll
be Aaron Smith or Keysol, you know, yeah, eating things up,
you know.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
But yeah, that's where they're at with that group. And
uh again, I think it's one that they'll definitely add
to this offseason. And that's why we've when we've done
our mocks thus far, we've certainly taken our shared defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah, and went in doubt, always take a dexter defensive lineman.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
Absolutely. I mean, you're not guaranteeing Logan Lee anything. It
was a six round draft pick.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
No, I'm again if you're so.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Low like him, but you can always outdraft him.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, he'll probably up on the practice squad if that
was the case. R Yeah. Oh you want a lot
of competition, absolutely, that's what That's what gets you better,
for sure. I'm not even sure Lowry's guaranteed a spot.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yeah, nice piece, but if you got wow, we're loaded.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
You can out draft him, right right, Yeah, So that's
where you're at right now. Let's get to a break.
He is the Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lolly. You're
listening to The Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network,
and of course you can hear the Drive every Monday
through Friday from four to six pm right here on
these very airwaves. And of course I will be in Mobile,
Alabama next week taking in all the players down there
(36:55):
and see you know what, uh, what's what down there?
Getting some eyeballs on you. You are too, But it's
a really good scener. It's a fantastic one. We'll talk
a little bit more about that when we come back.
And of course you can also download the Steelers Mobile
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where Tyler makes sure our show gets posted every day.
(37:19):
Let's get through a break. We'll be back with more
right after this.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Least.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson on
your twenty four to seven, Home of the Black and
Gold in Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Welcome back to the Drive. I am Dale Lolly. He
is the Matt Williamson and the as we mentioned the
All Star Games, I guess you can still call him that. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's what I've always been called.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
I mean, you have to be invited.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Yeah. They're going to take place here in Dallas and Mobile,
Alabama here in the coming weeks, and just wanted to
take a look here, cruise through some of the top players.
The other day we did some of the sleeper type yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So at the East West Shrine game, the top guy
overall is shoud Or Sanders is there.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
And these East West guys, I don't know how much
they'll do, but they're going to be there, and there's
more stars than usual there.
Speaker 3 (38:19):
Yeah. Now, Chavon Ravel, the cornerback out of East Carolina,
is going to be there, but he's not going to
work on the field because he's coming back from a
torn acl September twentieth, So he's just going to be
there to interview.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Makes sense.
Speaker 3 (38:31):
Same thing with Trey Harris, the wide receiver rat of
Ole Miss.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Does he have an injury? Yeah, he's rehabbing an injury. Okay, Okay,
I don't know what it is. Yeah, I don't either.
Kenneth Grant is going to be there, big nose that
we've talked about a lot from Michigan. He'd go back
to the last segment. He'd fit in real well in
that D line conversation. That's one of the ones though.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I wonder why he went there because the pedifessive linemen
are immobile.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
It makes me wonder like he's.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Going to stand out against the fourth, fifth, sixth round
offensive lineman. He's working against it, and you know.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
He was invited to Mobile. Yeah, I mean it's not
like it wasn't a good enough prospect to go. Like
I could understand if you're Revel or someone like that,
that's not going to work out because then you're to
get more attention for your everyone's gonna interview as opposed
you know, there's there's less big dogs there to fight
for airtime, so to speak. I don't know why. Maybe
(39:28):
the Shrine Bulls is doing a better job recruiting.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
I don't know, I know they are, yeah, yeah, like
they're trying to compete with the Senior Bowl and become
what the Senior Bowl is and because of that a
little bit, yeah, up its game as well. Yeah, it's
kind of a little bit of a jockeying back and
forth it's going on between the two.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Both are getting better.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Yeah. Uh. Chris Paul, the linebacker out of Ole Miss
is going to be there.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Don't know a ton about him. Haven't done much work
on the true linebackers either.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Ricky White, the receiver out of UNLV is going to
be there. Now he's a true West Western guy, so
that makes more sense.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Yeah, it does. So this game's on Thursday, the thirtieth. Yeah,
so if you guys want to watch.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, Antoine Powell Ryland, the defensive end out of Virginia Tech,
is going to be there. So he had sixteen sacks
this year, three forced fumble, So no.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
That's a pretty good group.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
Yeah. He's more of an edge rusher though.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Kobe Bryant, the cornerback out of Kansas, is going to
be there. He's a little skinny, but he's one hundred
and seventy pounds. He's got eleven interceptions. Let's say he's
super productive, though very productive. His running mate Mellow Dotson,
the other cornerback from Kansas is also going to be there.
He's an interesting guy as.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Well, helpful to go with the teammate too to these things. Yeah,
it could be a little overwhelming for the kids.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
Yeah, he had five picks this year. He had three
career pick sixes. That's intriguing to do.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Yeah. Jacory Brooks, the wide receiver out of Louisville is
going to be there. Don't know much about him, six
three and ninety five pounds, A bigger guy that runs well.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
You think somebody like that should stand out there.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah. And then Jay Higgins, the linebacker out of Iowa.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, again, I don't know the linebacker group all.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
That well, Yeah, some of the guys. Other guys keeping
eye on Zaia Alexander, the cornerback out of LSU. Luke
Leachi the tight end out of Iowa. You can never
go wrong drafting Iowa.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
He's coming off an injury from two years ago. Yeah,
I'm I'm a fan of his. I've been doing a
little bit of tight end homework in the last twenty
four hours or too.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Theo Wiese wide receiver out of Missouri. They used him
more this year than they used uh, Burton Burton. Burton
was more of a decoy kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (41:37):
Yeah, Burton was a huge name coming into the draft
process a year ago and really cooled off. It's gonna
be his time to really shine here and combine and
that type of thing.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah. The top twenty players at the Senior Bowl. Josh Connerley,
offensive tackle out of Oregon in a.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Few pure tackles too. Yeah, we were talking about that
yesterday and they could move up. He was a he
was a converted former high school running back. That's insane, right, Yeah,
there's some of these guys who just like ket growing.
I mean, there's people like that just kept theirs insanely
to you.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
Yeah. Armand Membu the offensive lineman out of Missouri getting
first on buzz YEP. Carson Swessinger, the linebacker out of UCLA.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
Okay, I know the name, and he's probably a Day
two guy that I haven't watched him.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
Walter Nolan, the defensive tackle out of Ole, miss He.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Would be a good Steeler. He's not a nose, but
he'd be a good Steeler. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Nick Scourton, the defensive end out of Texas. A and
m kind of jealous. You get to see him in person.
I bet he's very physically impressive. Yeah, and he's a guy.
He just he's he's twenty years old and he's already
he's six four to two eighty.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Oh yeah, I just.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
Wonder can he put on like they use them as
they use them, kind of like they use the Marvin Leal. Yes,
that's very much so good com where he's They moved
him outside and did some stuff with him out there,
because he's athletic enough to do that. I think he's
a better athlete than le Al was.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Probably he's bigger, more physical, I would say, at the same.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
He's got more bend to him as well.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Yeah, I would say, where was he the year before
transferred from Missouri or Purdue? I believe due. Yeah, he
had a better year there, yeah than at A and M.
But he's only twenty. He's only twenty, yeah. I And
again they moved they bumped him outside. Garan they'll list
him is an edge, Yeah, but I don't think the
Steelers look at him six four to two eighty and
he's twenty years old.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
He can easily put on fifteen pounds and be a
defensive tackle three technique. Shamar Stewart the other defensive end
out of Texas A and M. And he's six six,
two ninety like. Yeah, that's one of the reasons why
they could take Scourton and flip him outside.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
They just won't get the best guys on the field.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Ariantae Urser, the offensive tackle from Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Yeah, big fellow, he's a tackle.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
I don't think he'll bump in. Trey Amos, the cornerback
out of Ole Miss. He could certainly be very steel irrelevant. Yeah,
outside corner with length.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Started out at Alabama and started at Alaba, transferring Prince
Lee h Here we go again, now uman a Melon.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Prince you Prince Hugh Yeah, ole Miss right.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Ole Miss defensive end. He's a two hundred and sixty pounder,
so he's more of an edge guy. Same thing with
Mike Mike Green, the defensive end at A Marshall.
Speaker 1 (44:22):
I think he's in a huge week.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yeah. Marcus bow the guard out of Purdue. Okay, he
could play some tackle maybe maybe maybe tackle. I'm sure
they'll try him there. He's six five, three hundred pounds.
Jackson Dart going to be there, as will Jaylen Milroe. Yeah,
quarterbacks on the battle backs, Maxwell Hairston, the cornerback out
of Kentucky, and remember he was in Mel's first round yesterday.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, I say, I think he's going to top fifty.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Yeah, he's six, so he could be.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
Very much in the seatos mix as well. I'm not
saying you take my twenty one, but you.
Speaker 3 (44:53):
Know, Asirier Thomas, the cornerback out of Florida State, I
think I've taken him a couple of time. Yeah, in
some mock drafts, usually somewhere in that second to third round,
typically third round here.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Yeah, he's six to two though, Yeah, and he's it
seems like the college is producing more and more six
foot plus corners than they ever. Oh.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
I mean that's where the receivers are going, so you
have to Yeah, you have to play against those guys.
You better have guys who can are big enough to
ride the ride.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
I just think the receiver position is so competitive too
that if I'm a six to one hundred and ninety
pound guy, maybe I go to corner when I'm fifty,
you know.
Speaker 3 (45:29):
Yeah. Alfred Collins, the defensive tackle out of Texas sixty
six three twenty, I would think he's a nose here. Uh.
Jonah seven Lea, the guard out of Arizona, the.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Mix of the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Yeah, I don't think he I mean he played left
tackle with Arizona.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
But I think he can take everyone to project him
to guard.
Speaker 3 (45:50):
Yeah. Diane Walker, the defensive tackle out of Kentucky six five,
three fifty.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
He's got a lot of first round buzz before.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
He's a better pass rusher than he is a run stuffer,
which is.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Kind of cool. Don't even line him up with the
nose all that. Yeah, he would play a guy that size.
He's six y five, though. I think he just the
pads get too high. Yeah, and I think stamon is
an issue too.
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Yeah. Elk a human Ore, the wide receiver out of Stanford.
He's intrigued.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
Yeah, he's six two to two ten. He blocks, he
goes over the middle, he runs well, has great hands.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
No, I think they'll like him.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
Yeah, Jaylen Milroe. I mentioned Wyatt Millam, the offensive lineman
out of West Virginia. Uh, some sleepers keep an eye
on Jayden Higgins out of Iowa State six four two
fifteen twenty career touchdowns. You get Vernon Broughton. That the
other defensive tackle out of Texas, Devin Neil, the running
back out of Kansas, Josh Farmer, defensive tackle out of
(46:45):
Florida State. They have his height and weight six three
three eighteen.
Speaker 1 (46:49):
I say he's nos ish for sure. Then yeah, and
then Will Howard from Yeah, I don't know if he'll
do they're not. He just played yeahs Ago.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
But that's what you're looking at group for that group,
really good group.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Line stands out is one on ones are gonna be
a blast.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
And maybe that's why Grant didn't go maybe to the East,
maybe went to the East West Rne and you're like, look,
I'm gonna be the big dog here.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
Throw people around and be the biggest guy in a
smaller pond.
Speaker 3 (47:13):
Yeah. But anyways, let's get to a break. He's Matt Williamson.
I am Dale Lolly. You're listening to the drive here
on the Steelers Audio Network, Matt, and I'll be back
with hour number two right after this.
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