HR2: Live from Mini Camp

Matt and Tom continue with coverage from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and Bob Labriola joins the program.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
At least 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 2 (00:20):
Back here at the upmc rooney Sports Complex for Steelers
Mini camp, Tom Offerman and d Matt Williamson. Dale, he
had the boogie. He's over there talking to Danny Smith. Now,
I don't blame him. I wish I could go over
there and talk to Danny Smith's a good time, always entertaining.
He's holding court. Players.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Leave the field right now.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Matt, go in and do some lifting, get some food,
and practice. Today's actually gonna be later in the afternoons.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I assume all week will be that way, which is
much more how things work during the regular season. But
we witnessed and I know we're not all talk about
what we see in the field, but we're just talking
about procedural stuff. Here is what we witnessed was just
a walk through. You know, like you mentioned, Aaron Rodg
really didn't do anything. He's just sitting there with a
quarterback coach talking through it all. Well, because practice doesn't
start to want you know, I mean, they're in there,

(01:06):
they're going to do I don't know their schedule, but
I assume they're going to do a position meeting. There's
a bunch of guys in the weight room right now lifting.
I was just sitting there getting a coffee. A couple
guys are filtering in for lunch. They'll be doing that
over the next couple hours, and then they're back here
one for a good two strong hours. I think it
goes to three point fifteen, and that can be subject
to change. But of a real practice, I mean, like

(01:29):
not a padded practice, but a real practice that should
be more intense than what we saw the last two weeks,
which is one hundred percent the case. But we won't
be in the air for that. We won't be able
to tell you, guys, what's going on with that. I
don't want it.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
We wouldn't either, or else they would have take us
in a room and put.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Us well, not that we'd be giving you a play
by play or anything.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Put a time out. Yes, I don't want to make
this sound like, you know, I'm completely minimizing what happens here,
but it's almost like syllabus week in college, isn't it.
You just kind of go and you're not going through
the motions like stuff is actually set in these meetings,
and there's important things installation.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Coaching points and install right.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
A lot of it also is just, hey, this is
how a week's going to look like, this is how
we do things here in Pittsburgh. And yeah, for a
lot of you guys, you've been here for a few
years now, so you know, but hey, maybe there's equipable
of tweaks that we're going to do this year to
our practice schedules. And then for you new guys, like
this is how things generally was, this is how.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
We do that. So it's kind of just like an
order of operation.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
A little bit absolute type of deal here for the team.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
So I mean the Cam Haywards and TJ. Watts don't
need that, you know, but the everyone else could use it.
And the analogy I've been using the last couple of
weeks is I think it's a lot like school is.
I feel like when you get to rookie mini camp,
which is kindergarten. I mean it's you know, ex's nose,

(02:44):
This is where the not excess nose, This is ABC's
and where the bathroom is and one plus one that
kind of stuff. And then in the last two weeks
kind of third grade, fourth grade, where this might be
sixth grade, you know, but we need when opening days
to come around, we need you guys all have master's degrees,
you know. I mean, there's still a lot of stuff
to go on. But you got to walk before you

(03:06):
can run, You got to crawl before you can walk.
You need to you know, do arithmetic before you do algebra,
and all these things. And some of the guys don't
really need it, you know, it's why they're optional. People
overlook that stuff for the first two weeks. There's a
lot of guys doing their own thing that don't need
the procedural information and some of it Tom, it's just
even this is the tempo we practice at, you know,

(03:29):
like exactly, we can't be one hundred percent below in
each other apart. But we also aren't just walking around
doing nothing.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know. This is what we expect to come September October. Yeah,
this is what we want out here on this practice.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
I don't want to teach you how to have to practice,
you know, I mean that kind of thing, or you know,
how to handle yourself in the weight room or all
those type of things, or how we take in every
position coach will be very specific with it too. This
is what we do on the blackboard, This is what
we do on the whiteboard, This is what we do
in video and how we translate it to the field.
And these are why we do these individuals drills and

(04:00):
you know what they improved to make you better, et cetera,
et cetera. So you have to have that stuff, no,
no doubt. So meanwhile, you're implying, you know, here's chapter
one of the playbook, here's chapter four, five, six, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
And let's get into that a little bit more, because that,
I think is a fair question that a lot of
people have when it comes to the Rogers thing. We
touched on it a little bit. It's just how much
input is he going to have with this playbook? What
what is it gonna hope it don again not that
he takes it and goes rip staks for that in
the trash, but maybe it's just like, hey, Art, I
see you do this year. I usually actually made this

(04:33):
the you know, the X do that on this certain
play absolutely, and I've found that it works ninety nine
percent of the time. And Art, it's like, yeah, you
know what, I definitely could see why that would work erin.
And I think there's gonna be a very nice blend
of ideas here because Arthur Smith is an established and
respective coordinator in this league. Someone is the respected head
coach in this league. So it's different from the spots

(04:54):
that Aaron walked into before. Someone pointed out to me,
Matt that even when Aaron went to Green Bay and
became the starter there, McCarthy was very young in his tenures.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
Oh okay, way back then.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, alone the first right, and Rogers already the king
of Green Bay at that point, and then you.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Got those guys were established.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Then you go to the Jests and Solas trying to
establish himself as a head coach. You got coordinators that
are trying to make a name for themselves. And and
of course Rogers had some saying the coordinator thing and
brings in his old buddy from Denver to be the coordinator.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
But they probably too much say in that stuff. Arthur
Smith isn't going to be the same here, not his buddy.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Like there's no like, I'm not saying they don't like
each other, but it's not like a track record where
it's like yeah, no art way back when.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
But know that Smith and the Floor over last, there
is a great deal in Tennessee. So a lot of
that language that he thrived between the floor in Green
Bay is going to be similar and their ideas.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
But that is a coordinator that is again established, has
made a name for himself at that position and has
been through a few years as.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
A head coach as well. Yeah, so like there is
when you walk into that room.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
It's not like Rogers going into this unknown offensive coordinator
or just to pool his name as an example, a
Matt Canada inexperienced one and he's I eat this guy
up for lunch, Like I just walk over this guy.
He doesn't know what he's talking about. Yeah, that's not
the case when it comes to Arthur Smith.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
So and there will be rocky waters no matter what
I mean game data, right, I mean, you're competitive people
and you take a sack, you shouldn't that the left
tackle blows or protection's wrong and they bark at each other.
That doesn't that stuff happens every game day, all the time. Right,
These are competitive people and we don't know what that
relationship is going to be like. But I do think
it's a better situation than in previous you know, stops

(06:39):
for him, and the Tomlin factor is huge, not to
mention the Cam Haywards and the Watts that are already
in the locker room. And again, I know it's a
big picture thing and it's over a fifty year stretch
or whatever, but this organization has been way more successful
than the Jets. And that's not an accident, no doubt.
I mean, there's five or six organizations in this league
that have been hitting over the years, and it's probably

(07:01):
not an accident, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
I mean, it's I think it's something that people have
harped on a lot. Is the stability of this organization
is something that can handle potential turbulent that he would
bring in because and I think we do maybe overestimate
how much turbulence that is, how much Rogers really does
rock the boat. He's going to, don't get me wrong,

(07:24):
like there's going to have in There's gonna be some
statements that he makes that maybe you roll your eyes
a little bit or something like that. But as you
pointed out in the first hour, there has never been
a teammate that's come out and been like this guy,
you know, stuck sucks to play with. It's you go
to work on in the week and you're kind of
like keeping your eyes down because you don't want to
cross his path.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
Like it is.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
The exact opposite of that is this guy is the
smartest guy in the building. This guy talks to whether
you're fifty third man on the roster or the first
man on the roster, talks in the same way. Like
I I think that.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Wow, football knowledge. I just keep coming back.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
There is evidence off the field of stuff. Yeah, I
could do with that out and a little bit of
a distraction, But I do think it's overblown a little bit.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
It does because he's such a high profile guy and
he's on McAfee and he's a four time MVP, and
he's going to moon walk into the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
This is your marriage of the brand of football and
maybe the strongest individual brand still playing right now.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
What people need to realize too, is of those fifty
three guys that are going to make the team, let
alone the ninety that are in there now or whatever,
there's a lot of weird dudes. There's a lot of
guys that have had have their own view on things.
It's a weird mix of human beings from all over
the country. And when your backup strong safety is kind
of an odd bird, nobody cares. But if your quarterback

(08:39):
says anything a little bit strange, you know, headline news,
he's rocking the boat. Not necessarily. We like to do that.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
We like to remove the human element, don't we what
it means to these guys. They're just a bunch of
ones and zeros out.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
There right playing playing fantasy football, you know, right, And
there's a bunch of weird dudes in there. And there
have been over in every locker room from eternity.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Right, Wow, are you saying the Steelers have a weird
locker room, like one of the weirdest in the league.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
And I wouldn't say that. I'm not in any of them,
but I've been in there and there's some odd birds
all the time.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
It's hard not to feel the optimism.

Speaker 3 (09:12):
It is.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Like as this dragged on into June, and I myself
was kind of getting like I'm getting a little sick
of this, Like we're just waiting.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
It got old for everybody.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
It happened and now you can kind of, you know,
check the box, like, yeah, it's official, it's it's reality.
Hard not to get the butterflies going a little bit, Matt.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
Maybe I've been more and more excited at every step
of the way.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Maybe he's more washed up than I think maybe will be.
But you know what I mean exactly.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
I mean, if his body can't hold up, you still
have a high quality number two.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
You're in a good spot for the future quarterback. You
have a lot of capital moving forward and a roster
that's pretty filled out. Like you're not desperate at this position,
in that position, this position, in that position where it's
like we can't afford to load up first round picks
to get a franchise quarter.

Speaker 3 (09:55):
Right, The big picture stuff I think is extremely encouraging,
very much so, while still trying to teeter on that
fence of being competitive and hopefully win playoff games this year,
which is really hard to do.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Both and the money aspect when it comes to.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yeah, the money and draft picks stuff is an abundance
for this team.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
The resource for him specifically though, right, I mean it's
basically a no risk thing here. I mean, yeah, he stinks, right,
and the Steelers will win six games and it's a
dumpster fire, ten million dollars a fire, that's nothing. That's
me throwing ten dollars in the trash right to scale
it down, like so the money is so he's.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Kind of making like Daniel Jones, mind I with a
little bonus because he's Aaron. So you see, it.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
Doesn't the money when you see that become official, when
you see the actual figure that he's going to play
for beat the ten million that he eluded he would
play for. And he wasn't lying when he said that
earlier in the same ballpark.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
And I like the incentive part of it.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
It makes me, I don't want to say more relieve,
but it kind of fuels that optimism even more, I think,
because I'm just like, oh, there's there's no real lose
here for the steps, like at.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
All, and what if he's really good and what if
they win the division? To do it again?

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Come back one more year?

Speaker 3 (11:03):
All right, let's give it track.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
We're probably going to take a quarterback in the first round. Aaron.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
But yeah, right right, you know, I mean you cut
down to the next draft, right right, right right, you know.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
And by the way, I tend to maybe this is
just the stealer's optimist to me. I tend to think
that they're going to have that conversation next offseason.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Not that he's going to.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Win the division and guarantee to playoff win, but I
think they're gonna sit down with him and be.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Like, you want to play one more year? Like you
who knows?

Speaker 2 (11:24):
You want to just bring it back, run it back
one more time.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
But I mean, the fact that he signed a one
year deal shouldn't shock anybody. I mean, it's just his age.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
I thought there might be a two year deal maybe,
but I agree with you that at that point, why
would he want to pigeonhold himself into right right?

Speaker 3 (11:41):
And they don't want to have money on the books
if he's going to be floating around or you know,
I mean, who knows what. It's not that they don't
think he's a success. It says it'd be really easy
to renegotiate with him after the year if it goes well.
But you tell people, you're like, oh should There's not
gonna be ten teams banging down the door for a
forty three year old quarters.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
But for people that want to say, oh, well, he
should have just kept fields or man, I really wish
they would have just gone with the young guy in
fields and gone that route. I don't really see any
benefit to going with Fields at this point when I
saw that money come down and it was officially ten million,
dois Rogers is cheaper Rogers.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
Especially especially for the deal Fields better now? Yeah? Yeah yeah.
And I also don't want to hear they just run
it with Rudolph. I like Rudolph, but he's back up.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Look, there is something to what people have been saying
about you. I don't want to say you owe it
to the veterans in the locker room because they haven't
won either.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
This organization are in.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
A spot with those guys, especially on the defensive side
of the ball, where you can't take a year and
just kind of put put it in a pause and rebuild.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
No, no, things move too fast.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Owing them is a little bit too strong of a word.
But you've built your team up on that side of
the ball to a point where it's like we're wasting
this if you capitalizing this, yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah yeah. And who knows. I mean I might
eat these words, but I can at least write a
story on June tenth or whatever it is that the
old timer has one thing, you know, has has a
couple more bullets in the gun on the road in
Buffalo against Josh Allen or Lamar or whoever, and can

(13:06):
duel with one of those super human, unbelievable quarterbacks for
a day, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Like we saw Russ do it with Burrow last year.
He had one day where he was able to just
turn it up and play that level.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
Right. I forget what the saying is, but it's something like,
maybe I'm not as great as I once was, but
I can be that great for a day. Yeah, you know,
I still have an Emmy, you know, and we might
see that five six times this year, you know, and
then is that good? I'm just intrigued. I mean, it's
at the ceilings so much higher, so much higher than
it has been for five years.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
And you've seen I'm sure you've seen this too, and
it's a it's a very misleading thing. But the graphic
that's been going around of Rogers versus Allan that people
have been putting out and they're passing identical from last year,
like real yardage, same touchdowns, basically the same amount of interceptions.
Now Alan runs like a wildebeast into secondary. It's one
of the most athletic quarterbacks, freak quarterbacks I've ever seen,

(14:03):
but just strictly based on passing numbers, you look at
that and it's like, oh.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
You know what, Rogers not that bad of a season, especially.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
When you're looking at the MVP and he had a
better season statistically passing wise than Patrick Mahomes did last year.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah, now again he was some of that's a little miss. Yeah,
a little miss right right, right.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Matters a lot. But we kind of did this with
Russ right last year. Like you look at the numbers
in Denver, he wasn't that bad. Same thing with Roder,
Like you look at the numbers in New York and
the only thing that wasn't really Rogers ish was he
threw too many picks.

Speaker 3 (14:34):
And that's that's weird thing. The one thing I was
going to go, I mean, there's there's certainly concerns. I mean,
he's not the MVP, four time MVP, one of the
best quarterbacks that ever walked the planet guy at this
stage and I really dug into this when the Steelers
signed Russ is the only two quarterbacks in the NFL
history that have a better touchdown to interception ratio than

(14:55):
Russell Wilson for their career or Mahomes and rodd right,
you know, and if you look at before I even
know who Pat Mahomes was. I've been doing this forever,
as you know, and I was at ESPN doing podcasts,
you know, for ten years before people even knew a
podcast were. I often said, if I'm picking quarterbacks, then
off the you know, and I get first pick. I

(15:16):
want Rogers ever. I mean, I'm talking Elway, I'm talking Bradshaw.
I mean, we go back to anyone I've ever seen.
He was my pick. Now it's Mahomes. But I didn't
even know who Pat Mahomes was back then. And a
big thing I would say about Rogers then is give
me all the Hall of Famers and show me their
highlight tape as good as any. This is as good

(15:36):
as any. Now give me all the Hall of famers
and show me their low light tape, the bad stuff
that have happened over their career. His is like the best.
I mean, like his touchdown interception stuff for almost ninety
percent of his career was ridiculous. He'd go years without
throwing an interception in Green Bay at home, you know,

(15:57):
like zero interceptions in that building. I mean crazy stuff
like that. Now this past year and his last year
at Green Bay, his interception numbers were up. I mean
it's I think he's over thirty combined in those two seasons.
It's not quite that much, Okay, I knew it was
like this mid teens.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Twelve in Green Bay in his last season. Yeah, he
threw eleven last year.

Speaker 3 (16:17):
Oh, I thought it was even higher than that. I
thought they were like fourteen sixteen ish. Mada.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
I'm looking at the years before and it's crazy four
two four.

Speaker 3 (16:23):
I mean it's it's a handful.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
He hadn't thrown double digit interceptions.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
It's a remarkable or twenty twenty two.

Speaker 4 (16:31):
Excuse me?

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Was when he did it last before that? It was
twenty ten when he threw eleven interceptions?

Speaker 3 (16:36):
Wow, to me a quick favor. And I know that
he's still not he's not twenty eight anymore. But are
you are you looking at his career stat Okay? Can
you just kind of rattle off touchdowns of interceptions year
after year because people might not even remember how ridiculously
good that was.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
So two thousand and eight was his first year when
he took over for Far in the Packers, twenty eight
touchdowns to thirteen.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
And he was a puppy, then puppy, then yeah, and
went six and ten.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
Then he started to become a dude. Thirty touchdowns to
seven picks, then twenty eight to eleven, then forty five
to six.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
This is when it gets crazy, thirty.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Nine to eight in a shortened season. He had seventeen
and six, then thirty eight and five, thirty one and eight,
forty and seven in twenty sixteen, then another injury season
sixteen and six, twenty five and two in twenty eighteen,
twenty six and four in twenty nineteen, and then in
twenty twenty maybe his best season ever. Matt forty eight
touchdowns with led the league and only five interseid.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
It's bonkers, right.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
That's this team's m is protecting the football right right.
They've been missing that. Other part of the equation is
scoring the touchdowns.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
And I know people are like, boy threw a couple
of pixel against Steelers. One got tipped at Beanie. I
mean you're I mean like in like I mentioned, the
Jets were at the top of the league, and drops
he for better or worse, he'll throw the ball away.
I mean he's not taking sacks, He's not. I think
the negative plays won't be there at a high level
at all.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
That's Matt Williamson. I'm Tom Offerman. We are here at
Mandatory Mini Camp at the upmc rooney Sports Complex. We
will be joined by Bob Labriola next we'll get his
thoughts on Rogers showing up and day one of Mini
Caamp be in underway. You're listening to Steelers Nation Radio
and the Steelers Audio Network and Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine
seventy am in the least.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
He's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williams Sish
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold in Steelers Nation Radio.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
At the upmc rooney Sports Complex. It is day one
of Steelers Mandatory Mini Camp. Matt Williamson and Tom Offerman
with you here on Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers
Audio Network. We are joined now by about a special
as a guest as you can have all Bob Labriola
sitting in for this next segment. Labs, what are your
thoughts on Aaron Rodgers in his first official day here

(18:59):
as Aaron Rodgers Son.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Them. You know, I think it's going to be interesting.
I think it's going to make for a very very
interesting season.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
You know, I'm more and more optimistic.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
Yeah, you know, I mean, I you know, I've read
a bunch of different things. I mean, there's a lot
of hate out there, certainly, but uh, you know, you know,
And I was here when you guys were finishing up
the last segment, okay, and you were talking about some
of his statistics and you mentioned, you know, he threw

(19:41):
a couple of interceptions against the Steelers. Okay. Well, one
of the things that I think has kind of been
under the radar slash maybe not appreciated as much about
last season for him is, you know, achilles tendon tears
are significant injuries and a lot of times and this happened,

(20:03):
this happened with Rod Woodson. Sometimes the season you come
back after that, it takes you another year to be
back to where you used to be or the kind
of player you used to be, or close to the
kind of player you used to be.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
You just don't feel right for a long time. Yeah,
and trust it.

Speaker 4 (20:23):
Yeah, And as I said, it's an achilles tendon injury
might be more significant than a you know, an ACL tear.
I've heard I think it is some orthopedic stagent say
that and you know, certainly for someone uh in their forties,
you know, that's that's a significant injury. And so yeah,

(20:47):
I don't I don't know that last season should be
a definitive barometer in terms of predicting you know, what
Aaron Rodgers might do the season because of that situation.
So yeah, I you know, again, I have no idea

(21:08):
how it's gonna turn out. But I think, yeah, yeah,
it's already fun. It's gonna be interesting. And you know,
I've seen where who said maybe it was Peyton Manning
said you know, if he's if Aaron Rodgers is into it,

(21:30):
he can still really No, that was Dan Marino. Dan,
I knew it was an all time great who said,
you know, if he's into it, he could still really throw.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
Got We haven't talked about that enough. Tom, we will,
And I don't know.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
I I just and hey, maybe this is me trying
to talk me talk myself into some things. But the
fact that Aaron Rodgers he signed today as mini camp.
Yesterday he played in that golf tournament and there were
pictures of him Cam and DK Mecca in the golf cart.

(22:04):
You know, I think that there are guys here, you know,
a lot of times when someone comes in, uh, they're
they're exposed to an entirely new locker room. But I
don't think that's necessarily the case here. And I think
that there are some people players, I mean by people
who are excited, you know, about having him in this

(22:25):
locker room because as you mentioned, he can still throw it.
He knows how to play. Uh, and if there is
going to be throws that maybe have not been in
the playbook for the last few years, like for example,
last year, people wanted to know, why don't they throw

(22:46):
over the middle with Justin or excuse me, Russell Wilson, and.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
I could because Russell has never thrown over the middle
of his whole career.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
But I mean he couldn't, you know. I saw a
photo Steel's photographer Carl Roser, took from the end zone,
so you're behind the offense, and it was, you know,
Russell Wilson and you the middle of the field. You
couldn't see because of the bodies. Yes, the red and

(23:19):
Ben used to get pad as past as bad as
at the line of scripts too. And you know, Russell Wilson,
what's been six five Russell Wilson's seven inches shorter than
him nasally.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
And the other thing about Wilson was when he was younger,
he was so quick and twitchy with his feet. He
could find that laying and get it out. Now he's
a bit behind, and you can't you know, I mean,
as they all are. And right, you know, he didn't
he didn't grow though, right, Yeah, that's that's the one thing.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
I mean. You you might be able to maintain your
quickness or not lose it as much or whatever, maintain
your strength, but you're not going to grow.

Speaker 3 (23:52):
It' not going to grow.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
So you know, uh, I think that that opens up
some things. And you know, I believe Arthur Smith knows
what he has with this guy Tom.

Speaker 3 (24:05):
Something I wanted to mentioned earlier that Labs kind of
touched on that. I just want to make sure our
audience knows. But by the way, Rogers played all seventeen
games last year. It wasn't like he was in and
out of the lineup or I mean he went out
there every week.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
Jets were done that he could have just said, you know,
they were out of it. The team's like, yeah, we're
gonna go a different direction. Finished the entire season.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Or even not start the season. Because he wasn't one
hundred percent, you know.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Labs Back to what you were saying about recovering from
that Achilles injury and how that can be a pretty
lengthy timetable. There's a lot of evidence to that. Matt
and I have talked about it today already. He played
really well at the second half of the season for
the Jets when he started to get more removed from
that injury and he started to maybe feel.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Skin again. And now you're even further removed from that.

Speaker 4 (24:48):
Yeah, and you know, and I mentioned Dan Marino. I
remember Marino when he came back from that his achilles.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
So he was an achilles right, yeah, yeah, yeah, he had.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
To they had to build a thing, like a little
spring thing for his foot. So and I'm not saying
that that's what happened with Aaron Rodgers. I'm just talking
about how serious Achilles injuries can be, especially to football players,
not any kind of professional athlete, but certainly professional football players.

(25:23):
So again, I would imagine that, you know, he feels
better physically than he did at any point last year.
And as I said, the guy's resume, you know, certainly
speaks for itself. And you know, a guy like him

(25:50):
who says Store has a storied a career as he does. Uh,
you know, this is a chance for him, you know,
ticking up. You know, a lot of his critics, you know,
in their eye too super proud.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
He doesn't want to end on a crappy note, you know.

Speaker 4 (26:08):
Right, And so you know, I just think that there
are a lot of things that you can look at
in terms of this signing, this acquisition, this upcoming season,
that that could lead you down an optimistic path. There
are certainly if if you if people wanted, if anyone

(26:28):
wants to go the other way, you know, there's a
lot of that kind of stuff too. And but what
I don't think is really up for debate is it's
going to be interesting. Yeah, you know, it's going to
be interesting. And I'm uh, you know, training camp I
gotta be honest with you.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
Fellas, training camps would be a blast.

Speaker 4 (26:48):
Well, I wasn't necessarily excited about it, but now you know, practices,
there's gonna be things to watch, yeh. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
The way he throws the ball is going to open
some eyes too. I mean the way he can drop
it in and the different arm angles and all the
different stuff he can do. Just as a passer is
we haven't seen since prime back.

Speaker 2 (27:09):
Yeah, I mean, you know we're not allout to say,
really what's happening out here, but not really telling any secrets.
He doesn't thrown a football yet in front of our No,
he's kind of walking around sheet and just talking to
people right now, kind of getting his feet wet. Leen
the other quarterbacks handle stuff. But yeah, that first pass
that you see him unleash, you'll probably hear the ball.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
Whiz by you. It's going to have that kind of
you know, he's one of the best passers in NFL history,
I mean of the throwers of the football, throwers of
the football, no question.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Yes, Now, we talked about him actually being able to
see over the offensive line now for a change and
use the middle of the field. But his mobility, even
though he is removed from that achilles injury, now is
a question mark. It's not what it used to be.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
It got better as the season went on, but it's almost.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
Still not going to be able to get to that
point laps. How important is it for this offensive line
to really take a big step forward and protect him
and build a nice pocket for him to stay.

Speaker 4 (27:58):
Absolutely, and you know the thing with with Aaron Rodgers,
I don't know that you know, mobility, that's not that's
not what you're buying when you're buying him at this
stage of his career, right, But what he gives you
is this is what he gives you when he whether

(28:19):
he's under center or in the shotgun, whatever it might be.
You know, the recognition, the understanding of what his people
are doing. And then you know his experience in the
league film study. You know, on a weekly basis, for
that opponent, he will know quicker than the guys that

(28:42):
the Steelers had last year at quarterbacks, certainly the guys
that the Steelers had a quarterback two years ago. Quicker
you know where the opening might be, and he doesn't
really you know, it's like again, I'm going to go
back to Marino. Marino didn't have a lot of mobility either,
but quick release. He knew where he wanted to go.

(29:03):
He had a gun, he was accurate, and you know,
defence's defenses are not going to be able to cheat
on him too much. You know, you can't say he
can't make this throw, so I don't have to cover
my guy that's far down.

Speaker 3 (29:19):
The sideline, because.

Speaker 4 (29:21):
That's you know, uh, you want to roll the dice
doing that, go for it as opposing defense.

Speaker 3 (29:29):
So in the first hour, I've really been harping about
Rogers above the neck, which I think is elite. Is
one of the best ever processors knowledge of the game,
understanding the offense, what defense they're trying to do against him.
And I'm not saying this is going to happen, but
it wasn't that long ago, and the game has not
changed that much that the Denver Broncos won the Super

(29:49):
Bowl with Peyton Manning in his last season, who really
couldn't even throw an out route at that point, I mean,
and was never the passer Rogers was, but he always
had them in the right play, they had a great defense,
and he hand the ball off a lot. End of
career Lway. End of career Brady, I mean, like putting
Rogers with Manning, Brady in Lway is exactly the company

(30:12):
he keeps in the all time history books. I mean,
that's how good he is has been, you know.

Speaker 4 (30:16):
And the thing with Peyton Manning, though I think his arm.

Speaker 3 (30:22):
Wasn't well at the end of his career.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
His arm wasn't what it was when he was in
his prime, which which was a next surgery. So I
don't think Rogers Aaron Rodgers has that issue.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
No, I don't either.

Speaker 4 (30:36):
So that's the thing with me.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
He can he can sting you now even more right.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
And it's one of those where I think receivers, you know,
it's gonna be a situation where if you're running a route,
when you turn around, you better have your hands up.

Speaker 3 (30:54):
Yes, because it's all And that's how we started the
show is he's very very demanding of his receivers too.
And you're not gonna get football if you're in the
right place. And they're gonna learn that real quick, I
bet in the next two days, exactly right. Serious accountability, yes,
And you know, and even if even if you are

(31:15):
in the right place, when you come out of your break,
you better be ready because again, the ball is going
to be.

Speaker 4 (31:25):
You know, one of the things the past couple of season,
the previous couple of seasons we talked about, you know, quarterbacks,
the Steelers quarterbacks, maybe not they're waiting for him, the
receiver to be open before delivering the ball.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Getting kicked off in the NFL, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
That's that's that's not going to be an issue this
this season. I'm confident of that.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
If you're a see it and throw it passer, you
have to have a rocket ship for an arm and
he's the rare combination of not being a see it
and throw it pass or he's a phenomenal anticipatory passer
and he's got a rocket ship. Right or right, that's precision,
you know.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
And DK Metcalf obviously comes in and is the number
one receiver now for this team. But Matt was mentioning
earlier today like it's going to be a challenge for
him too when it comes to handling Rogers because this
isn't really the type of receiver that he's been in
his career.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
Is that, you know, not super precise, right, He's more.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
I'm just gonna out athlete you down the field and
throw up a deep ball and I'll jump up and
I'm bigger and stronger than you.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
Yeah, And I don't disagree. But I also think a
quarterback like Aaron Rodgers can deal with that because the
guy is a superior talent. Certainly, radius is big, and
so you deal with you know, great quarterbacks, you don't
have to be one kind of specific receiver for them.

(32:44):
I think that. You know, you look at guys different guys,
you know, back in the day. You know, I don't
think Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison were the same kind
of guy, but Peyton Manning knew what they were and
he made that work. Marino the same way with the
Marx brothers. Yeah, you know, there's all kinds of examples
of this.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
And so Rogers and Adams, Roder, Rogers and Nelson, you know,
all these guys.

Speaker 4 (33:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
Yeah, he's got a history of it himself.

Speaker 4 (33:11):
So uh, like I said, I'm gonna keep you know,
banging me. It's gonna be an interesting season, and you know,
I'm looking to see how it unfolds. I I I
think it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
Speaking of past catchers, do you expect them to add
one more? I'm not sure when or and there's in
a hurry.

Speaker 4 (33:30):
I think they're gonna try. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think
they're gonna try. And that's but I'll tell you what
I would not do. I would not trade my twenty
twenty six number one pick for anything for anyone, for anyone.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
I think that's a that's a quarterback, right, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
You use that in a draft to move up for
a guy for that's it.

Speaker 3 (33:49):
Yeah, yeah, that extra third, that extra four.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Happening this year, right.

Speaker 4 (33:55):
Or McLaurin right, right, If they want a number one
pick in twenty twenty six, yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
That's the thing that's off the table. One thousand.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
Would they take a twenty twenty seven number one pick?
I'll talk about that, but I'm not giving him a
twenty twenty.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Soe I'd still be a little uncomfortable with that too,
me too.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
Well again, you know, but if if you you know,
add a guy like him, his age, you know he's in.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
That be a nice receiver room with a guy like that,
you know.

Speaker 4 (34:24):
Again, I'll I'd be willing to listen. But for me,
a twenty twenty six number one, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (34:31):
Trading that pick for anything at this point, not at
this point, right.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Use a draft day, that's different because then you're using
it to move up. And so you got a one,
and you know, because I don't know, you know, depending
on where the Steelers are picking and how high up
you have to go, and if it could be multiple
number one picks involved, you might have to give yours

(34:56):
and another one.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
That's kind of what I'm expecting next year's first in
the in the future first to get the or whatever. Yeah,
you need to do that. Let me just say, because
they're not going to pick five. One last thing they are.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
One last thing about the twenty twenty six draft class.
I am not at all convinced, slash a certain that
Manning is coming out.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
I bet he does.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
I lean more towards these stays, right, because that's what
the Mannings have done in their career. Like they still
Payton State of Tennessee extra year miss.

Speaker 4 (35:30):
He hasn't played a lot. He started two games so far, right,
And and I owe money. Oh he's right, Yeah, he's
gonna plus family money is right, family.

Speaker 3 (35:43):
I don't think they're.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Hurting, Okay, yeah, and I owe money. And I don't know.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
I mean now the school text can directly pay him.

Speaker 4 (35:52):
Now for for what I heard about Austin and the
student body. Uh, I'm sure he's having a good time. Right.
If you've got to be a big man on campus
starting quarterback for a football team that's in a competition
for a national championship, Austin, Texas ain't a bad place

(36:13):
to be that person.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
And the Mannings are so smart that the real recent
trend and this goes back even back to Parcels though,
is more college starts the better. You know, the Trubisky's
and Haskins and Richardson's that have hardly played at all
really struggled, where like the bo Nixes and Daniels that
played six years, there's a lot that's a minor league
stay in the minors. I mean, I don't think you'll

(36:34):
see Manning this year.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
And with the Manning thing, like they had storied college careers,
Peyton and Eli, like you remember Peyton a Tennessee for
the years. Eli at old Miss was on perfectation for
the Heisman. Yeah, number one overall picks, like there was
a big time chapter written about college. I think that
they will advise them, and they've advised them every step
of the way. Even if you win the Natty at
Texas this year, go back, play one more year at Texas.

(36:57):
It's only going to benefit you. And like you just said,
Labs making ten million dollars a year.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
The other thing is too, if he's as good as
everyone thinks he is, which apparently he is, you're not
gonna get to the first overall pick.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
Now, you know, like somewhere else.

Speaker 3 (37:10):
I mean, even this year, the Titans weren't trading off
cam Ward. I mean, getting to one is really really tough.
You've got to get to seven. You got to get
the eight right. But since he wasn't trading for Burrow.

Speaker 4 (37:22):
What I'm saying, though, is if you're looking for a
quarterback in the first front and one as many fish
in the pond as possible.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
Absolutely no doubt. It looks like there's a lot I've
been doing a lot of homework, but we'll see exactly.
I know weren't get ahead of myself.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
I'm just saying that the automatic assumption that you know
Manning's going to be in the first overall pick, I
just I think that that's kind of a guess at
this point.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
Yeah, I bet it's a long shot too. I'm with
you before we let you go, Labs.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
So how do you think the running game is going
to do supporting a Rod this year? We talked earlier
today that the Jets ran the ball the fewest amount
of times than any team in the NFL last year.
That's not a good formula when you have an aged
quarterback like that. The Steelers will not be at the
bottom of the leagu running the ball.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
No Arthur Smith. That's not his you know, that's not
in his DNA. I think that, you know, Matt, you
mentioned and I kind of blew it off about the
offensive line. The importance of the offensive line. I think
we can go back to that now, and yes, that
might be you know, when you're looking at the unit
that might have to step up the most, is that unit.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Maybe even more in the run game than the past game?

Speaker 4 (38:28):
Well? What, yeah, you know whatever, yes, and so yeah,
and I just don't think that. You know, the Steelers
want to play bully ball and it starts with the
offensive line. I'm really excited about Caleb Johnson too, and
Jalen Warren too. This is his an opportunity for him

(38:50):
a to be a starter b too. You know, I
don't know how the division of labor is going to
work in terms of the running back rotation once the
regular season begins, but I will tell you this, and
this is partly because of Aaron Rodgers, but also partly
because this is what it takes to play that position
in the NFL. You have to know how to pass block.

(39:14):
And I'm not saying that Caleb Johnson, there is any
doubt in my mind that he would not be willing,
but at Iowa you gotta prove it though, right well,
at Iowa. I mean he has not seen a lot
of the you know, disguises, fake blitzes. And in the NFL,
if you make half a step to the wrong direction,

(39:36):
that guy coming off the other side is gonna is
gonna free shot. And you know you cannot have that.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
The coordinators are pretty smart and they're gonna challenge that
back and what I want and.

Speaker 4 (39:47):
You know, with Caleb Johnson, I don't think it's gonna
be a challenge, a physical challenge. I think it's gonna
be a recognition challenge.

Speaker 3 (39:54):
The angles and the timing and last thing, and I
keep referencing these all time great QUI quarterbacks. I would
love to see an end of l Way career. You know,
Terrell Davis, Terrell Davis, Terrell Davis. John make us five
big throws in this game. Third and eight, we're gonna
need you, but first and ten. Just get us in
the right play and hand it to the back. You know, yeah,

(40:15):
don't think we have Terrell Davis.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
But I get your point, right, Like, it's got to
be the same mentality.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
A volume running game though, too.

Speaker 4 (40:21):
You know, yeah, you want, as I said, you want
to play attrition football. And I also think though that
you know, once you start pounding the opposing defense, you know,
you loosen that up to you start bringing guys up
closer to the box, and then those seams down the

(40:42):
you know, down the numbers.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yep. Yeah, because that's what happened at Super Bowl forty five.

Speaker 4 (40:47):
I wasn't so much their running game, the Packers running
game that cost the Steelers that Super Bowl. In my mind,
it was the player safety initiative and because teams couldn't
do that to the Steelers defense until that happened, until
they started, you know, taking those plays out of the game.

(41:07):
And I'm not saying that was a bad thing or anything.
That was the reality. You know, you could not do
to those receivers in twenty ten what the Steelers did
to them in two thousand and eight.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
And they took advantage right as the league, right.

Speaker 4 (41:24):
As a smart quarterback slash offensive coordinator, you know, play
caller would do. You took advantage of that.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
And boy, that's the right word for Rogers. I keep saying.
I mean, how many times on Mondayay football we watched
the team trying to get the let's get our defensive
personnel out there, and he burns you. I mean, he
gets the penalty and he takes a shot downfield, and
he takes advantage of every tiny little thing you can
on the field as well as any quarterback I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
And now the coach has been as kryptonite as far
as that quick too many men on the field penalty
is concerned.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
He's on his own sideline.

Speaker 4 (41:54):
Now.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Tollin was the one at the quick timeouts against him
a couple of times.

Speaker 3 (41:58):
Doesn't have to worry about that area teamed up now, Yeah,
you jump off side, he's taking a shot.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
You know.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
Thanks for taking some time with us.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Yeah, Lab was great, You'll be back talk more, Rogers.
Let's talk about him throwing the football to wrap up
the hour.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
Man, Yeah, we didn't enough, just as a path we're
talking about. So we'll get into that.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
Work our way through the eleven o'clock hour, one more
hour after that, and then practice is underway right around
one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's day one of mandatory
mini camp and we are live from the upmc rooney
Sports Complex on Steeers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio
Network in Fox Sports, Pittsburgh, nine Am.

Speaker 4 (42:34):
The Least.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
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 (42:49):
Tom off from It and Matt Williamson.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Here at Mandatory Mini camp at the upmc rooney Sports Complex.
Our thanks to labs for giving us some time in
the last segment.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah, good show, Matt.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
When he was on, we talked a lot about Rogers, obviously,
and one thing that came up was just the ability
for him to still throw the football, like the stuff
that he still puts on the ball.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
The arm talent.

Speaker 2 (43:09):
I don't want to say it's still at the point
it was in his prime, but it's not that far
off from it. He has aged gracefully. When it comes
to arm talent.

Speaker 3 (43:17):
He's rare. And I rarely use the word elite when
it comes to describing athletes, because elite is elite. I mean,
that's not something you thought you'd throw around there, and
everybody does. I think he's borderline elite still as a passer,
and by that I mean there's something there's one spot
of it is really decreased, and I want to talk

(43:38):
about that a minute too, but ability to put zip
on the ball, change his arm, angles, layer footballs, throw
with touch, drop it in the bucket, attack to all
areas of the field, deep out, et cetera, et cetera,
quickness of release. All those things are still exceptional to elite,

(43:59):
and one point they were rare, which is even higher
than elite in my opinion. Now, what I didn't see
is much of last year, but it did get a
little better as the season went on. Is the improv
on the move, throwing when your feet aren't set, you know,
definitely on rollouts and throwing on the move that he

(44:19):
was rare at at one point too. Like I've heard
stories that he's an unorthodox human being player, et cetera.
You know, but there's stories that he would do many
practices with the Packers were the entire practice. He would
never throw a football with a foot on the ground,

(44:41):
you know, with both feet in the air, just to practice.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Week Like baseball player, I'm only going opposite field today, right, right.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
Right, Larry Bird at a game, he only shot left,
the right right.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
You're so good that you start having fun and competitions
within your own like your brain.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
I got this other stuff down you know, or as
Tomlin likes to say, you know, being comfortable, being uncomfortable.
You know that that type of thing is he was
always challenging himself. Now will he ever be there as
a passer with the improv stuff or throwing with no
feet on the ground or rolling out and those type
of things. I definitely have my doubts about that. Not

(45:20):
that it'll be horrible, but it won't be crazy. You know,
the best you've ever seen type of stuff, but drop
back and quick game, it's still elite. I mean in
terms of a passer.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
He always had like his release, it was always so
unique for me. He's a wrist right like you see
him really snap that wrist off so much when he
throws the football, And it's gotta be just such natural
arm strength in there which allows him to throw off
balance with such accuracy and such power because you need
your base to get the power.

Speaker 3 (45:50):
But he's able to cook one. And he doesn't look
like Josh Allen his skin ear, you know, I mean,
he's not like but he's got you know, dar bend
or you know, I mean just overpowers the ball like you're.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Saying, he's got one leg on the ground and He's
still throwing the ball with the speed that a normal
quarterback would need, both playing the.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Flick of the wrist, you know. I mean he's completed
tons of hail. Mary's was like a flick of the wrist,
you know, I mean things like that.

Speaker 2 (46:13):
Crazy.

Speaker 3 (46:14):
We don't have enough time to get into it, but
I was fortunate enough. The year was with the Browns
was the year Rogers came out of Calca, I mean
many years ago him. So we scouted him, and I've
sort of told this story, but the Browns and myself
had higher grades on him than Alex Smith, who went
first overall and good stuff. We were dumb and didn't

(46:37):
think we needed a quarterback at the time. It was
the guy you have. We took Braylan Edwards at the
third pick, but who was the quarterback of the team,
Jeff Garcia at the end of his career.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
He were kind of pen in hopes to maybe this
old veteran.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
And theown had been like a second or third round
pick in the.

Speaker 2 (46:51):
Year before you had a quote unquote plan a quarterback
A bad.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
One, but yeah, yeah, bad one. Of course, we should
have taken Rogers, who was our highest graded quarter back
the time, we should take it Smith, but he was gone.
But we were picking third and Braylen Everards was our
highest rank. Guy didn't I mean, as it often does
in Cleveland, it didn't work out. But my point is
watching him at Cow a million years ago, it shows

(47:15):
both of our ages. He was not the improv player
like that. Everything was very tight, snap it off at
the ear, real precise, everything looked the same. He reinvented
himself during that time. I think watching FARV, you know,
you sit there on in the background while Farre's improv
madman and he's going, well, this is how I was

(47:37):
coached at Cow, but that's not the NFL.

Speaker 2 (47:40):
And this is the MVP right here, right, show a
different way.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
Maybe they're not buddies, but sitting there watching him had
to be so valuable. As of Love was watching Rogers.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
You know, you think the mannerisms on Love are very
rogers ish. Oh my god, he throws with that same
kind of flick of the wrists, like when he stands
in the pocket like and kind of you know, takes
the pre snap picture. He kind of is the same swagger.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
Oh yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
If it was still allowed, I bet he'd have the
single chinch strap. Remember what Far used to rock the
single tin trap. He'd always unbuttoned it, and sometimes he
can play without it buckled.

Speaker 4 (48:09):
Right, right.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
I think you're right.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
I think there was a very chameleon like nature to
Far and then from Love to Rogers, and you're kind
of seeing them copycat because they're generational Hall of Fame
type of players. These are good players to copy.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Nick Herbig sat down with us last week after practice
and not really joking, but kind of lightheartedly, I said,
I hope Harmon follows Hayward around like you followed Wat around. Yeah,
Like if Wa gets a salad for lunch, get a
salad for lunch, you know what I mean? And he
said the same thing. He's like, I did everything TJ did,

(48:45):
and if he stayed to practice for twenty minutes, I
stayed for twenty one. You know, you know whatever was
right right right, whatever he's doing, I'm doing the exact
same thing.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
And again, this guy's a sixth round pick, and I
think that people get a little too overhyped with him.
But this is a good opportunity for Howard to do
the same things that you're talking about. Be the Jordan
Love sponge now and yeah, kind of copy some things
that you see Rogers doing right now.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
It's to be great for him. And that doesn't mean
Howard's the next Brady or Rogers for.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Any of those guys back up in this league, because
it picked.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
Up a phenomenal influence, right.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
No doubt about it. And again to what you say
to you don't even have to be friendly with the
guy likes even have to be your guy, go golfing
with him every week or no, it doesn't have to happen.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
You just get young learn from Montana and they were
avis there. I mean they don't like right, Yeah, you
know what works.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
No doubt, there's a ton of a track record of
it working.

Speaker 3 (49:32):
The arm strength is still there for the guy.

Speaker 4 (49:34):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (49:34):
Mentally, he's the ball placement, probably.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
The smartest quarterback that there is in the league right now.
It's just a man, I think. So if he can
physically still make it through a season.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
Yeah, and again he played seventeen last year. Did it
last year? Doesn't mean he's going to hold up. He's
older than he you know, but we don't know that.
But if he does get injured, it's not like oh
I told you so. A lot of quarterbacks are can
get injured, even the twenty five year olds.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
You know, still an hour to go here at mini
camp for Matt and myself. We will be back and
start the twelve o'clock hour. Expect to hear from Rogers
later on today. We won't be on the air when
that happens. I think that's going to happen after practice.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
Let's replay that tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Maybe no doubt about that. So expect the practice players
probably start trickling out on the field in just a
little bit. Third and final hour on the way though
of Steelers Nation Radios live coverage of mandatory Mini Camp.
You're listening to SNR on the Steelers Audio Network and
on Fox Sports Pittsburgh nine seventy am.