May 8, 2025 • 51 mins
Who will be the top fantasy tight end this upcoming season? The guys answer that question and answer listener questions in the mailbag portion of today's show.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamsons
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the Matt
Williamson and this is the start of hour number two
here on the Drive. And as we've been doing all
this week, we'll take an early look at a fantasy
football position.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Other breaking down favorite movies that's later we got it
would have been Godfather one and two by the way, PPR. Yeah,
let's go tight End all right. I think it's a
pretty rich crop this year. Number eleven. Overall, this one
goes to eleven. Yeah, I don't know if I'm paying
that price.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Tight End one brock Bowers, and he should be. He
absolutely should have eleven, though I know we were just
talking off the air.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I mean when Kelsey went in was at his prime,
he was going eight to twelve ish, but the next
guy was going in the forty, right, and I don't
think Bowers is at that level after one year. I mean,
Kelsey in his prime was a superstar, I mean, and
gave you a massive advantage. I can't I can't use
my first round pick on Bours.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
At fifteen overall tight end two Trey McBride.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I think everyone on the plan will have those two
the top two. He didn't catch touchdowns, but that's correctable. Yeah,
you know, it's not like he's incapable of catching touchdowns.
Oh maybe he is, Maybe it is. I mean Julio
didn't catch him any There's a couple of guys in
history of them have don't have a lot of touchdowners.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
At thirty two overall tight end three is George Kittle.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I think there's a line after the top two. I
think Kittle gets aided by the receiver movement. I yuke
being out. It's pretty safe, but where's he going over it?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
But it's thirty two.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Two, there's gonna be five bad weeks.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, and there's always so much hit and miss there
for me to take him at thirty two.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
He's better at football than fantasy than he always has been.
And I don't think I'm taking the third tight end period.
There's other guys I can live with later.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
At fifty six. Tight end for is Sam Laporta.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He was a little too touchdown depend in his first year,
came back to earth, but then he finished real strong.
But then he lost his coordinator.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, still has his quarterback though.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I don't think I have a problem with him
at four and he can make an argument.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
For three sixty six at tight end five. TJ. Hawkinson.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I like that he's a year removed from the injury. Yeah,
I know that the quarterback change, but that's a really
good rich environment for offense to me.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
At seventy seven, tight end six, John new Smith, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I think he's real. That was my guy. It was
my sleeper last year, got him the last round to
like every.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Draft, and then cut him.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I didn't want you, Yeah on league I did. I
would have been like every dynasty le He did nothing
for like the first eight weeks, right, and now he's
like their number three receiver. I don't know that I'm
that on board though, I mean, like long term, if
you if you can give him a last round, I
was excited about it. I don't know I'm gonn take him
at tight end six.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Tight end seven at seventy eight were so right after him,
Colston Loveland.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Oh, I like that he's ahead of Warren. He's still
gonna be fightings and rookie tight ends don't do much.
Bowers aside obviously.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I mean it's not like it's he was the only
game in town.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I mean, Pitt's was good as a rookie, but historically
rookie tight ends or I'm not even close to that.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
On love one at eighty eight, tight end eight, Travis Kelcey,
there's no way he's going to last in anybody's draft
to pick.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Eighty eight, right, his ADP is fifty seven. Really, he's
going to be in in the red zone. Yeah, I
mean he might not play. It's probably closer to who
he is though. It's tight end is tight. Yeah, he
may end up finishing there.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You might draft him as he getting end up getting
drafted though, is like tight end five or tight end four?
What would you say on a name value?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and I don't think there's especially early in the year.
I don't think he'll be out there a time. What
would you set is over under touchdown receptions at though
for the year seven, I would say seven and a
half was the number. I was in here thinking that
it would be fair that you get fifty people fifty
percent on both sides of it, because I think when
they're down by the stripe, he's going to be important
(04:45):
and in the tight end world that goes a long way.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Where they'll put my quarterback and running around the.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Road, they'll do something weird them right right right.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
At ninety four overall tight end nine Mark Andrews.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I'm still buying at that price.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I suppose it nine.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's not terrible, right, I mean, he's been top five
most of his career. I don't think he got bad
all of a sudden. I know he dropped the ball
and is in the doghouse, but I'll buy him at
that Poyeah threats right, which is bonkers, but I think
he is going to be back this year though.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Pick one ten tight End ten is David and Joku.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
The quarterback situation is so weird, but they do feature him,
and I think that's a Stefanski thing.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I just don't trust him.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
No, he drops a lot of balls and stuff, but
he's good after the catch. The receivers aren't real scary.
I think they'll be losing a lot of games if
I if I'm going, if I'm punting on tight end,
I get him in the ninth or tenth round or whatever.
Is that about where.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
He's going one ten?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yeah, Yeah, I'm okay with it.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
At one thirteen tight end eleven Tyler Warren.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
A lot of mouse to feed in the passing game
and not a big pie.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, he look very very small, but he's a pot pie.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Bought bye and not accurate quarterback.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
The packaging smaller now, so the popeye is not as
big as he.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yes, very true. Are you willing to take that risk?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah. I mean they used a premium pick on him,
but I don't love it.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
At one fifteen tight end twelve Tucker Craft.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I'll buy that.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I like that much better.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, I'm saying the one list. I I like
this area a little bit better. I still have hope
for Musgrave, but Craft's a good football player.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
At one sixteen tight end thirteen is Dalton Kincaid. I
heard he's weighing in at like two twenty eight now,
like he has lost a lot of weight and there's
more slot and I don't think they're particularly happy with them.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah. No, other receivers are slot ish. But maybe he
runs like the wind now, maybe he's gonna bulk up.
I don't know. I haven't seen him, I haven't waited him. Bullseye.
He's been a little disappointing though.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
At one seventeen tight end fourteen, Dallas Goddard.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
He's deficially coming back. They restructured him.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Don't throw the ball on them.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
As said, it's a three guys fighting for a small
pie again. Yeah. At one twenty he scores through the air.
There they're all rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
One twenty tight end fifteen Evan Ingram I like.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That, Yeah, I mean, I think the Broncos and Peyton
have a plan for him. I trust Peyton. The other
receivers aren't super scary.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
At one twenty three tight end sixteen, Barry Alvarez's grandson,
Jake Ferguson solid.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I always sell him short because he's not a premier.
You hate all the Cowboys tight ends, Yeah, because they're
all not great athletes. They don't have high upside. I'd
like to aim a little higher than the lead off walk,
you know, and they're solid.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He catches five balls every game.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, you know that Schultz is that way too, or
used to be, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
At one thirty four tight end seventeen, Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It's amazing what that's what he could be. I mean,
he could be a trade candidate that the deadline, his
contracts up. They're not going to pick him up. I
mean I might roll the dice on him on my
tight end two.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
You could probably trade for him and just make him
your wide receiver two.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Right, I mean that's kind of what he is, kind
of what he is. Right.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh, I don't get this one at all. One forty
five tight end eighteen chig On Quonquo.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Came on strong at the end from what I remember.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, but it's a whole new rookie quarterback. Yeah, yeah,
I don't trust it. No, I don't really trust it either.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
He's okay, he's another undersized, pretty athletic dude, but I
don't think that's how they want to play.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
One forty eight tight end nineteen Hannah Henry.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
He's also pretty solid. He's your backup. Fine.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
One fifty five tight end twenty Brenton Strange. No competition, right,
no competition.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, it's a sneaky one. Yeah, I'm gonna keep an
eye on that one. At that price.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
To eighteen tight end twenty one Pat Fryar movie, I
would say he should be higher. He should be way
higher than.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Right, especially if Rogers is quarterback. Yeah, you know he's that's.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Telling me, he's a lot more valuable than chig On kwonkwo.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Right, I think he's thirteen fourteen in that neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You know, snaxt guy's pretty good. All there's a lot
of miles to feed. Tight End twenty two at two
nineteen is Kate Aughten.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah, not bad. I'm sure he's getting pushed down with
the Buka pick and that's all well on good, but
there's there's not to be on the field. Yeah, he
doesn't have any competition at tight end. Right, Buka is
not a tight end, right right, Yeah, I don't think
that that's a problem at all.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Two twenty one tight End twenty three zach Ertz.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, no, it's not any more upside yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Right, six catches for forty two yards right right, right?
Uh to twenty four.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And he has more competition this year than that.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right. Tight End twenty four is Mike Gasicki.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Better for fantasy than the real world. Yeah, I mean
they throw the ball a time, that's not terrible.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Two twenty six tight End twenty five is Isaiah Likely.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I would imagine his roles growing, but probably next year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
At two thirty. Tight End twenty six is Dalton Schultz.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Fine, fine.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Two thirty four, tight end twenty seven, Juwan Johnson Nope, yeah, uh,
Mason Taylor is at tight end twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Rookie. There's not a lot of competition there.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Sanders in Carolina is tight end twenty nine. I think
you're we're pretty much out of the Yeah, very neighborhood. Conklin,
the dude of m Ron Johnson, Noah Tyler, Higbee, Elia Rojo,
Terrence Ferguson just thirty five. That might be worth a
(11:15):
first back, right, Yeah, as your backup.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
But so quick question for you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
He's another sneaky at two sixty four tight end thirty
six is no. Agree? Maybe if you don't think Kelsey's
gonna play a lot, Yeah, they're going to still play
a tight end.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Like in my dynasty leagues, I drafted the dude they
drafted last year. It doesn't look like he's in the mix.
It's gonna be Gray as the number two. But I
remember he.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Had a stretch last year. He had like five straight
games with the touch.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
The touchdown right, and he's gonna do the every down stuff.
He's gonna block. Yeah, I think they're gonna save Kelsey's
gonna be a massive pitch coup. Yeah, I would imagine.
So my dynasty, I mentioned earlier in the week, My
my dynasty rookie draft just ended, and my last pick
I needed a tight end. The tight ends were best
available in a dynasty league. Would you take Taylor a
(12:03):
row Ho or what's the face the ram guy from Oregon? Hmmm?
I took Taylor, But I really could make a case
for all three. I stressed about it a little bit.
You can make a case for any of the three.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, And they were all drafted around the same area.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
The other two went like three picks after I did
you know? They were like the best guys on the board,
and that probably all of us viewed him about the same.
And I thought about it, like, I think I like
Taylor the best for this year, and I'm my tight
ends aren't particularly good. If I have to use them,
I'd prefer to even for this year.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Let me ask you this, Pat Fryarmouth or Coleston Lovelin
real close, Friar Muth, Pat Frarmouth or Tyler Warren.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I don't know. I'm against rookie tight ends, friar Moth.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
That's why I'm bringing it out. Yeah, Yeah, like these
guys are, but they're rated seventh higher right seventh and eleventh,
So they're starting tight ends in fantasy according to.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
The profible loved Ones, gonna cost you a pick.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
We're saying Primer should be around thirteen. He might actually
be higher than that. Maybe if you think those guys
should be bumped down.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
The veterans in the top ten, I would all have
over them. Yeah, you know Ingram was a name I
liked that was in that neighborhood that I would have
ahead of him. But the rookies scare me.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I don't think he's all that different in terms of
what they're going to use him as, especially with Aaron
Rodgers a quarterback. See that different from Craft or Kincaid
or Ferguson.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
No, i'd take him over Ferguson. I have worries about
Kincaid too. Yeah, they didn't throwing the ball ast you. No,
I don't think he's in there good graces at all.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Who was the first name and the other one there? Uh?
Craft Craft to be in my favorite of those four,
including Friarmooth. Yeah, because I mean his rookie year was
prettyarn good.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But he also he does have competitions.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
A lot more. I mean there's any times he's not
on the field.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Right, you know, I certainly like I'm better on Conquo.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, like I'd taken Joku over Henry. Yeah, I take
him over Brenton Strange.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I can't. I don't understand why he's behind.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Those guys, right, yeah, all those And.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
It's not just because he's a steel I just think
he's in a better situation than the rest of those guys.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I mean, again, I own him.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
It is his situation all that different from Djoku.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Not much. I prefer Najoku. Yeah, and they throw the
ball more. I think he's better after the catch. He's
been more productive. But it's crazy because I mentioned these
dynasty leagues. I'm in six of them. I think I
owned Friarmuth in five. I don't care if he's a
Steeler or a Brown or you know, and the CFL
the floor.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
You can get him so cheap catches.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Right, you know. And he might not be my number
one in some of those leagues, but I don't mind
starting him on bye weeks and injuries and stuff like that,
and I can get him as a throw in on deals.
And I never understand why I'm like throw.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay, he's cheap, you're six for five.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, it's exactly we're talking trade. What about firemouth around
this thing out? All right, deal.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Deal, let's get to a break. That's the fantasy focus
for today, the tight ends. We'll look at some defenses
on Friday.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Wow, okay, I've given no zero thought. But that's that's
a fun conversation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, well I'm not wearing a kickers. No defense is
a little different.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
If we do kickers. I am embarrassing not even knowing
what team they're on, Kickers and Potters.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You probably wouldn't recognize the name of some of them.
Probably not too right.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's an embarrassment of how little I know specialists.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale LOLLI you're listening
to the Driver here on the Steelers Audio Network. Up next,
we'll take our listener questions Twitter Thursday Thursday. Right after this.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
At least, he's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the Matt
Williamson and it is a Twitter Thursday x Twitter Thursday.
That's got to catch on. It's got to be the
ex Twitter, right.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I think it lines up perfectly.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I don't understand why it's not right. I'm gonna I
thought of it a year ago. I'm gonna keep saying
it until everybody uses it ex Twitter And.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
This segment's been pretty popular.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
It has been. We got a bunch of questions to
get to today. Of course, you can hear the Drive
every Monday through Friday right here on these very airwaves.
You can also well sometimes downloaded the Steelers appe on
their YouTube. No you know YouTube today Tyler Vittmeyer's off filming.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Short video guy at the moment, right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
But otherwise we're right here in these very airwaves and
Paul asks, are they having Keanu Bent and focus on
nose tackle to maximize his strengths or simply accommodating harmon
since he is a defensive good question. I think they
want there's keeping Bent in his nose tackle, in my opinion,
(17:07):
because that's how the draft lined up for them. Yeah,
they didn't, necessarily didn't. The nose tackle position is one
that if you have the nose tackle, a true nose tackle,
he's probably only going to play twenty five percent of
the snap right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Right right, an old school run stuffer only guy.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, that's just the way it is. Whereas Benton can play,
he can rush the pass, or he can do those
kind of things, he can also hold down the nose.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, I would love to be a fly in the
wall and maybe Carl Dunbar with you and tell us
this and you can see a lot of it on
tape on your own. I'd love to be a fly
in the wall in the D line meeting room during
the season because I bet that they would kind of
laugh at this conversation a little bit of are you
a nose or you an end? You know, Like I
(17:56):
think it's a lot more hey line up in the
b gap up in this formation and you know, or.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
If they've lined Cam Heyward up on a note, right, Like.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't think that they all can't do everything in
a way, you know what I mean? Or this is
a nose and that's all he does. And I found it.
I mean I think about that more and more after
the conversation with Carl Don Barr about Black after they
drafted him. You know, like, well everyone in the world
just because he stuff's all run thinks he's a nose.
But you lined up in the B gap at Iowa
(18:27):
and he's going to do some of that here too.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Five inch arms right right.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
I mean those guys will talk about, well, can he
play three technique? Yeah? Can he play five technique? Can
he play a four I? Which is the inside shade
of the tackle? You know? And that's that's like the
Aaron Smith position.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I had the conversation with Darius Alexander Or at the
Senior Bowl, Yeah, and like, you know, where are you
most comfortable? He's like, well, they haven't here. I lined
up in all all across the line. I did that
in college. Okay, I lined up at those I lined
up at end, those three five all that.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, so I'm good wherever they know wherever I play at.
That's kind of what you're looking.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
For, that kind what you're looking for, right, And the
Steelers are much more left right than most teams, and
we might see less of that. I mean, with Whatton
potentially moving around, I can see less of that. But
so many of these teams depends on well, this guard
doesn't handle quickness well, but he handles power well. I'll
put my quick die on them you know what I
mean by having some of that, just who you're playing against.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Paul also asked, since the compensatory formula resets every year,
is the best strategy to stagger between signing players and
letting players walk. In other words, one year sign a
bunch of big name free agents and get no comp picks,
and next year let players walk and reap the comp picks.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Probably easier said than done, But I hear what he's saying.
In theory, it sounds good, right, But I think it
does apply here in that we I think by now
everybody knows the Steelers really ate up the comp market
this past yeah, free agency.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
It's set up well for them to do that though,
because exactly you're not going to have a bunch of
released players every year that fit your needs necessarily, right.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
But like I I guess the other day, I happen
to look at all the expiring contracts for this year,
and there's a ton of names, but wat's not gonna
go right. I mean, there's a couple there's not gonna
be huge. There's not a quarterback probably, you know, I mean,
like that's gonna yield threes and have huge concents. Not
a left tackle. But what I was saying with the
(20:27):
Steelers is, Okay, you reaped all the benefits of those picks.
If the season ends and you build your off season plan,
and our plan is we're gonna put a lot into
getting a first round quarterback, Well, you might have to
be a buyer in free agency with your money right
to make up for that, because my first round pick's
not gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
You're not gonna have a first round pick problem. You
may not have a second, you may not have one
or two of your thirds or a future.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Right, right, right, But you have a lot of cap
space even after signing Watt or whoever. Maybe next year
you're active and you don't get any compics because of that.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, yeah, Craig Ass. Do we know the exact milestones
Fields and Rust need to hit for their projected fourth
fifth round comppicks to get bumped up to an earlier round.
Is it only based on playing time for both or
will we know when the final Comppick slots are released
next March. Well, the guys you know the formula or
(21:21):
have a pretty good idea of the formula.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
The best one is the guy who runs over the.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Cap and he's tracked it over the years and those.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
He definitely knows it. I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I don't know. I know playtime is part of it,
but also how well you play is part of.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's what I don't quite get. I mean, if they
go to a Pro Bowl by chance, is that a
marker or is it? Yeah that I'm not certain, but
I do know playing time helps. Like if Wilson starts
the whole year, you're happy.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Yeah, Fields is probably going to start the whole year
unless he gets hurt. Unless he's hurt because they don't
really have a viable backup, and you know that that
could turn that into a third.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Yeah, exactly exactly. I don't think it could be less
like if they don't play any steps.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, Steele. Warriors asked, do you got do you do?
You both think the Steelers will do better this coming
season than last love the show. You guys and the
whole crew do a fait a fantastic job. Justin appreciates that. Yeah, yeah,
better than the last Well, I mean they've gone ten
and seven in each of the last two seasons, not
nine and eight like a lot of people like to say.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I don't know that I'll pick them to win eleven games.
We're not at that stage of the offseason yet.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Could they win a playoff game? Sure, they could have
won a playoff game last year. Yeah, if they had
won one of those games down the stretch and won
the division and they had gone to play Houston instead
of going to play Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yeah, that wasn't that crazy of a chooser and adventure.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
They might have been favored in that game.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I was thinking that too, because a perception would have
been different. You know, as it sits here in the
middle of May, I'm not my official prediction is not
going to be eleven wins and a playoff win. It
should be better than last year. But I think they're
a better team. I think I think they will.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
They were a better team last year than they were
the year before that. I think they're a better team now.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I think they will be maybe not this second as
we speak, but I think when on opening Day, they'll
be better than they were last year.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah. Weird question. What time is it is the drive?
Because when I turn iHeartRadio on SNR at four thirty,
the show is not live.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Justin man, that's not Sometimes we record at four, sometimes
we record earlier. I after that it's out of our idea.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
We do our part of the job and then who knows.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Yeah, insight on that one, Yeah, I believe.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So yeah, yeah, essentially it started early. Yeah, I was
I wasn't here yesterday, so we don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Diming is not great to answer this.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, it doesn't always start right right. This one is uh,
they have a whole bunch of emojis here and I
have no idea what all that means. But hey, fellas,
could you take a few minutes to describe what qualities
(24:25):
you think would be an ideal number two wide receiver
opposite DK metcalf Well, somebody who gets open that would
be a good.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I mean, I Brandy Moss or Jerry Rice. I mean,
if we're talking ideal, all right, if Larry wants to
come raight, you.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Know, I don't know if there's any one set that has.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
To be different. I mean, I think they would have
been comfortable having two similar twin towers, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
That's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I think I don't think it has to be that way.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Ideally, you want somebody who is an outside received You're right.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
The things I was going to say is, I don't
think that we have to pigeonhole it. But I don't
want a five eight guy unless he's really special. I
think I want an X that lines up and can
be man coverage as Metcalf can and as Pickens can.
And I want someone that's decent on over the middle
(25:23):
inbreaking routes, because I think there's this misconception that he
won't never throw between the numbers. No, the quarterbacks they
had don't throw between the numbers particularly well.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But everybody took that off of the game against the
Falcons last year in the opener when they told Justin Fields, hey,
there are two safeties, like to take the ball away,
don't throw the ball over the middle.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Who was the head coach of the Falcons year before,
you know, right, knows these guys pretty darn well. And
Wilson Over's whole career has not been an over the
middle thrower. But go back to Arthur Smith, especially in
his Titan days, in breaking route to aj round, you know,
on the run off play action with Derrick Henry. That's
what they want, right, So I want guys with that
(26:06):
capability and some after the catch.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah. So I don't think that there's any have to
be this shape, yeah, right, or size or anything like that,
but they have to be again, you have to be
able to get open and you have to I think
speed would be a factor.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I don't know, right, Like I don't want Cooper Cop yeah,
I mean right, that type of dude. You know.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
That's why, you know, when we talked about some of
the free agents out there, Keenan Allen to me doesn't
not really.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah. I mean his leadership would be nice if he
is a good leader. I assume he is. And yeah,
on third and eight, I might be happy he's out there,
but he wouldn't. I would take Cooper over a Cop
or over Allen, you know, yeah, style wise for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
R JS, How do you guys feel about signing a
guy like a Sante Samuel Junior as an insurance policy
at cornerback? Would even be a good fitness defense?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
There must be some reason something was there an injury.
I think he has had injuries. I think I would
have to study the Chargers defense more. But I think
he's more zone than man. Yeah, I'm almost certain of it,
which I think they're trying to get away from a
little more. I think they want more long man coverage.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
He's just not that he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
That's not what he looks.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Not a strong tackler, right.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I don't think he's a bad player. I'm shocked he's
not signed unless there's something we don't know about, which
there's probably something we don't know about, but his name,
if you take it out of the equation. I love
bargain shopping this time of year, though, you know, I
mean one year deal on a guy that's all of
a sudden thought he was going to get signed the
first week of free agency, didn't. Yeah, yeah, I mean
in pretty much any position.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Get him for three million dollars, right, right.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Okay, Yeah, I mean in general, I think you can
really pick up nights deals this time of year.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Uh, Heshan asked. So, when they talked changes, people thought
it would be with the coaches, but it turns out
it was a good percentage of the ross. Sounds to
me like they're taking a page out of Noole's book
by getting more self motivated guys leaders. I think it's
a good change. How about you, guys, I think it's
a fair assessment of that.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, here's the thing that.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
People needed to understand about. You know, you saw a
lot of I can remember the You know when when
Art Rooney the second was asked that his press conference
about he didn't change many coaches. A lot of those
coaches on the staff were new. Like if you look
at their coaching roster right now, people.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Don't think about the assistant turnovers, but there's a lot
of it.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
There's been a lot in recent particularly in recent years
on offense. I mean they brought in a bunch of
guys along with Arthur Smith.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah, yeah, you know, there were only a.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Couple of holdovers on the offensive side of the ball,
and they brought they brought it in the last couple
of years. I mean, really, when you look at it,
new inside linebackers coach, the outside linebackers coach was in elevation.
I mean, how many coaches you got a new secondary coach?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Like it'd be easy to find out, but if all
their coaches that are employed at the moment, how many
have been there three years or longer?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
It's about four. I know it's a low number, you know,
Carl Danny Smith. It's not much past that.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Right, It's it's a lot of It's more change than
you think. Yeah, but I do think the player thing
is accurate. I think it is, right, right. I think
that's one of the things they've been looking for here.
And I think you know, when we talked earlier in
the week about all the Iowa guys right right, right,
the guys who stuck with their program, guys who didn't
take the money and run to somewhere else, like and
the guys did take money one national championship yet, right.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
And really I mean they had Will Howard had fulfilled
his four years at k State, he could have stayed
on the fiftyear.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I don't blame anyone for it, but going to Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
All right, Ohio State comes nack. Hey, you want to
come into this roster. We might have a chance to
win a national championship on the thing.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
I'll go there for free if you're a baby too, right, yeah, right, no,
But I do think character, love of game, all those
things are being stressed as much as ever. Yeah. Yeah,
team players.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Matt DeCicco says the Packers are definitely an interesting trade
partner for Dobbs or Wicks for fourth or the fifth. Yeah,
would you be interested in doing that?
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Well? I did a little more homework on this too,
And I've never spoke glowingly about Dobbs, but I think
he's fits the bill, and he's still pretty young. Rogers
does speak glowingly of him, by the way, which I
know Rogers history, and hey, heck, if Allen Wizard ends
up here, I understand. And I'm not in favor of
(30:40):
let's pull Randall Cobb out of retirement. He can't play,
But there is something to be said. And it doesn't
mean the inmates are running the asylum of your quarterbacks
played with this dude, right, if they were bringing Russell
Wilson back and trade for DK Metcalf, I would understand,
you know what I mean Like this, that's just logic.
It's not Oh, Rogers is running the show now because
(31:00):
you got somebody he likes well. He also knows a
lot about the game, right, and he's really a stickler
him in particular, you better be in the right spot
or he's not throwing you the football.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Dobbs rookie year twenty twenty two with Aaron Rodgers played
in thirteen games, seven of them were starts. He got
sixty seven targets, forty two catches for twenty five yards,
and three touchdowns. Like a fourth or fifth round pick.
As a fifth round pick yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Like, and they drafted a couple that year. Yeah, and
he stood out from the pack.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Oh literally the two years since he's he's head over
six hundred yards receiving in each of the last two.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Years in a crowded receiver room.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
In last year he did that in thirteen games.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Wow, Okay, Like, I think we both prefer read.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yeah, oh yeah, I think reads about I think he's.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
A really dynamic player that's vastly under If they're not
going to trade read, I don't think they're trade read,
but I think they would trade Dobbs. I do too,
And I think his last year.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, he's in his last year. I prefer Dobbs to
to Wich. That's I was gonna say too, which is
a slot. Yeah, and he he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Catch football very well. I mean maybe it'll be better. Yeah,
I mean he has some interesting traits, but I thought
I expected more from him last year.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah. I can remember watching Dobbs at the it's a
senior born. I'm like that guy's he's a big machiver.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, he'll block Oh, I mean, yeah, he
would fit in fine.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
One last year here before we get to a break here,
James Perkarski says, are there any truly? Are there truly
a few men in the planet that can play NFL
quarterback at a high to elite level. If so, why
is the college system failure, lack of my NFL minority leagues,
failures of the coaching system and fits tough combo of mental,
(32:42):
physical traits to find, et cetera. Is that are those
the reasons why?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Yeah? And I also think the bar is so high
that if there's only thirty two starters, sixteen of them
are always going to look bad anyway, you know what
I mean, Like in any you're.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Going to compare everybody. Okay, he's not Lamar, right, he's
not not mass.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Yeah, but I do think there's I know that there
is certainly a graph where as your physical ability and
mental ability match that time when you're twenty seven to
twenty eight whatever is when you can maximize your powers,
and sometimes poor guys never get there because they weren't
good enough. I think a lot of coaching overhaul hurts quarterbacks,
(33:23):
like a.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Lot of change systems all the time, No doubt, your
offensive line stinks, and you know, there's all kinds of
things the factor into.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
It, right, And I heard this story the other day
about Brady late in his career, like when he went
to Tampa that he wasn't happy with how he his
quick game, you know, like when when the blitz came
and he knew he had to get out in two
point one two point two and he was amazing at that. Yeah,
and still was able to throw the ball down the field.
(33:52):
That's when he started doing like the cryogenic chambers and
stuff because he didn't think his mind worked sharp enough,
you know, Like, Yeah, I mean that's who you're can
heating against in order to be the best quarterbacks in
the world. Like, that's an amazing amount of dedication. Yeah,
I mean it's a really hard position. It's no doubt
about it.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
It's the hardest position in any sport to play.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I definitely think that. I don't know if you.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Not only have to know what your job is, you
have to know the job of everybody else on the offense.
You also then have to be able to read the defense.
You know all their jobs and know what they're they're
trying to do. In about ten seconds, Yeah, when you
step up, when you step up to the line of screaming,
you got about five or five to six seconds to
survey the defense and go, okay, this is what I
(34:35):
think they're trying to do.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
And it's raining and the winds blowing and the crowds.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
The crowd scream, and I got the coordinator in my
ear saying, hey, run this right, you know everybody else
and I'm checking. I got guys moving. I got to
get this receiver. Receiver doesn't know where to be the
wrong place right. Oh wait a second, that that guy
over my left tackle. I don't think he can block him.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I know he can't. I just saw it on the
play before when he flattened me and my back is
killing me. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I came up looking out of my ear hole.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
He's a nice dude. I don't mnd eat lunch with them,
but I'm not thrilled with them at the moment, right right,
And then the ball snapped and then at most you
get three seconds to put it in.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
If it's over three seconds, you're getting killed again.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
That's an awful right right, That's why.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
It's I mean again, why you date the head cheerleader.
If it was easy, everybody would do it. Yes, I
always tell my baseball players that I'm like, hey, if
it was easy, and.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
You may play really well, you may play your best day,
and the guy on the other sideline was better than you.
And you think in the world thinks you're not good enough.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
You know, even when sometimes when you do things right,
it goes wrong. Oh yeah, think I think back to
people said, well, Beanie Bishop picked off Aaron Rodgers twice
in that game against the Jets last year. He hit
Geron Wilson between the numbers, was one of them and
bounced away from him, and Beanie Bishop caught it. That's
Aaron Rodgers fault.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Right. How many times does the receiver run the wrong route? Yeah,
they're not on the same page. Well, usually the quarterbacks
in the right book and the receivers not.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The quarterback helped write the book right.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Right exactly. You know, it's very dependent. And again, this
guy's got a block for me.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
And yeah, yeah, anyways, let's get to a break. We'll
come back with more questions when we return. He is
Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lollie. You're listening to the
Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
And at least 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 2 (36:41):
And we are back. I'm Dale Lolly. He is Matt Williamson,
and we're going through some or listener questions here from
the ex Twitter and steel Warrior fifty five says, what
game are you both looking forward to the most? M
the first one Ireland? Ireland's going to.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Be that's the low hanged fruit. Yeah, I would say
Ireland and Ravens. I mean I like them all right right.
I don't even know their schedule particularly great of who
I kind of pay attention of who they're going to play.
But once schedule release comes out next week, which should
be this time next week, just done next week, will
then I really get to note better. Yeah, but that's
(37:24):
what it really makes sense, and right right, you know
we're really looking ahead. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Uh. Ben Cohen asked, could you see the Steelers targeting
a wide receiver on their rookie contract I e. Jln
McMillan from Tampa Bay or less likely since they can
take the cap hit from a VET contract VET. Yeah, yeah,
I mean, but Dobbs would fit into that.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Dobbs is a good, good call. I don't know about me,
mel Len. He's a little small for me. Yeah, he's
a slot. He's a slot. Good good year. But I'm
aiming bigger than that too.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, literally, and figure somebody with a little more experience
in that too.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
You're right, right, right. I don't know if that solves
my problem, right, you know, but they do have the
cap space, which I think is one of their best
attributes for this situation.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Sure, what t Max is what are your thoughts on
the Steelers going after Sleigh and free agency over younger,
better defensive backs such as DJ Ward et cetera. Who
can help in the future and who both both are
your ideal? Who's your deal number two wide receiver two?
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Now?
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Thanks, love the show. So two questions there. Well, they
went after Sleigh because he had been released as part
of it, right, if you signed a guy like like
or any Dj Reid, that was going to figure factor
into your comp formula. And if you sign those two
guys in particular, you're not getting a third round pick
next year one hundred spensatories.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Which you could still weigh. I mean, I'd rather have
those two, but they're also a much bigger salary.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
You know what, you wouldn't have as much cap space right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Now, right, And I'm not sure that they didn't make
calls to those guys only signed with one team, you know,
like that, I'm not giving this guy a hard time.
And we also kind of did address to who the
number two receiver? You know, who you'd ideally, but you can't.
It's not always up to you who you sign, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
It is free agency, they can sign wherever they want.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
And I'm sure DJ Reid and Davis Ward had ten
teams interested or at least calling the agent, and four
that offered contracts. And when you go into free agency
for anybody, but you basically said, I'm in this neighborhood
and if you're gonna go way over it, I'm out.
You know, it's not worth it. Two, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Archie Wilson says, question, what Green Bay Wide receiver would
you like the most if the Steelers were to make
a trade for one, Well, that one I would like
read rewind Yeah, essentially, what are your opinions on Dobbs
and Wicks.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Well, we already did that, yeah, hit rewind from it.
I think it would be.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Read Dobbs Wis would be the guy that Yeah, yeah,
I agreed, Michael Odessa says, day, are you going to
rookie tryouts this weekend? Yes, well they're tryouts, Yeah, it's
rookie mini camp. Do you focus on specific players ever,
or just take a step back and get an overview
specific players? Are you planning on looking?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
What?
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Who do you plan on looking at this weekend? Also,
it's pronounced. It's pronounced jack Besh, not Beck.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I've gone back and forth on it ish.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah, you had it right for like a month and
then you talked me out of it. That's what happened
with that. You said, oh no, it's beck like and
it's bash. That's what I was saying all along to
begin with.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Because it looks like bash. And then I heard people
saying back and they were, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Led me astray. I do enough of that on my own,
just pronouncing these guys' names. I don't need you to
help me. H.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I'm at everything everything that they do in terms of
this particular process. Obviously, I'll be watching the draft picks, yeah, yeah,
and you know there'll be some other guys I'll watch
for stand ups with the overview type thing, but mostly
the draft.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
It's it's not easy. I've never been to one of these.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
There's sixty guys on the field, right, fifty of which
aren't down on NFL players.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Aren't NFL players, And if somebody stands out, great, But
running backs aren't breaking tackles. Yeah, I mean it's not
a great environment, don't really.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
No, it's a football practice.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Yeah, if you're a diamond in the rough, it's still
hard to show up.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Yeah. J Marsh says, with GP not here anymore, do
you think teams will go back to stacking and trying
to stuff the box more? I know the Seahawks didn't
face as much stack boxes but worked well against US.
But it worked well against us last year, thanks for everything.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Only two teams saw I less of a stack box
in Seattle last year. Now, they didn't take advantage of it.
They were a really bad running team and they drafted
into your line and Walker resarved blah blah blah. But
as currently constructed, I think you will see a lot
of stacked boxes. Yeah, I mean, I think there'll still
be a safety on metcalf side a high percentage of
(41:54):
the time. But that's part of the worry. Yeah, that's
why I hope they're not done.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Right, Yeah, John Stewart says, is game I.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Think needless to say game planning against the Steelers current
roster with pickings and without.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
Think he's a lot different and it got easier. John
Stewart as his game well more of more than a
relief back. See any two back says with game well
could move into the slot.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
I don't see that. I don't see he's more than
a relief back.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
I mean I think he's If they were going to
put someone in a slot, I would think it would
be Warren. Warren catches the ball well too.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Yeah, I think his number three backs go. He's high
on the list.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
He's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Yeah, he's not just a special team or you know,
maybe an active on game day type. No, I mean
I think he brings.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
More than that, beyond the Blitzys, who are the top
two to three wide receivers that are not free agents
that you'd love to see the Steelers trade for.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Well, I should mention this because on Twitter I threw
out a name of just like off the top of
my head, here's ten dudes, and we talked about him yesterday. Yeah,
boyd Bears fans get real mad at you and you
bring up DJ Moore and I kind of get it
because like they just signed him and it would be
a capit and all that, but they did draft, you know,
a receiver in two rounds in a row. He would
(43:13):
be my favorite. Yeah, trust me, the Bear's Nation or
whatever thinks there's no chance I got called a lot
of nations or a can all be nations whatever, the
Bear Cave, the Bear Den whatever. He would be really
high on my list. But trust me, you'd throw it
out on Twitter when you got a fire amount of
followers and you'll get called bad words.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Yeah, he would be high in the list. Beyond that,
I mean, Christian Kirk was a guy that might be Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
I mean, we've gotta talk about guys that are feasible.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I have mixed feelings on Tyreek. It seems like a
lot he.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Just got more screws pulled out of his wrist.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
I know. Yeah, second one, and I think he would
only cost you a third or fourth. But I don't
know what to think on that one.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Yeah, you know, yeah, Justin Porter says, to your knowledge,
are there any other extreme, extremely difficult personalities in the
locker room left? Or was it George the final one? Well?
Speaker 3 (44:16):
I bet there's always extreme personalities.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Yeah, you got seventy guys now in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
A lot of testosterone, and there's a lot of the
nature of the game. Doesn't sit there, cubicle.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
You know the guy who's who's on the practice squad.
You better not be an extremely difficult personality. You're not
going to be on the practice squad. I don't see
that necessary.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I'm sure you like some guys better than others. I
would have to.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
I'd have to go player by player and think about.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
It, and we're not gonna be like this dude's and
a terrible human being.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, I don't know if there's an I don't know
if I know that one last question you're from. Joey
Bag of Donuts gets one in there every time. We
love that. Did a player ever get mad at you
for what you wrote about them?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Yeah, Oh, I bet it's happened many times.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I bet it's happened many times. I should tell a
real quick story that's kind of hilarious. Is right before Christmas,
when my kids were really young and I worked at ESPN,
Sanna goes around the neighborhood on a fire truck and
kids come run out and he gives them candy, YadA, YadA, YadA,
and Sanna and the fire truck are coming up my
(45:30):
street and my phone rings and they know the number.
An assistant coach from the Saints is screaming at me.
Screaming at me because I wrote a Viking Saints preview
that week about how Adrian Peterson's going to cause their
linebackers all kinds of problems, and apparently that article found
(45:53):
it on the Saints owner's desk, and this linebacker coach
got a real ear full about it, and he was
livid with me, like I'm going to find you, you know,
mean stuff. And I'm like, Sam is on the way
up the street and the in a fire truck. I
gotta go. And he he was like I didn't expect
(46:13):
to hear that. And I just clicked, you know, I
was like, I can tell you it was, but it
was like, this is crazy stuff, like how'd you get
my number? I didn't even ask how.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
I can remember the first time it happened to me.
It wasn't even a Steeler situation. It was my first,
my first full time job in the business, and I
was covering one of the local girls basketball teams who
would go on to win the state championship, and they
were in the district playoffs and they had just they
were unbeaten. They had beaten the snot out of everybody
(46:43):
that they played.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
They were awesome.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
Yeah, all five of their starters I think played college basketball.
Their first player off the bench was a freshman who
would go on to play at Rutgers. Wow, like they were,
they're loaded, They're loaded.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
And I wrote they were going up against one of
the quote unquote traditional power in the in the district,
and I wrote that if they got upset, it would
be an upset of biblical proportions. And I went to
the coach after the game, and you know, because I'm
talking to both coaches after the game, the team that
I said was gonna win won by like twenty five points.
(47:17):
And he goes, oh, you're that f dale lolly guy.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
And I'm like, yeah, I guess I saw what you
wrote about this upset of biblical proportions. I'm like, yeah, awesome.
I didn't appreciate that. I'm like, you didn't win, yeah, yeah,
you know right. And other instances I've I've.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Held a crystal ball, the game is going to go right.
Speaker 2 (47:41):
But you didn't win, so it would have been you
lost by twenty five. It would have been an upset
of biblical if you guys were as close as anybody's
been to these guys all year long.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
You can play a hundred times and it probably is
getting much better than that. Right, But I'm sure players have.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Oh I've had play. I've been talking. I was. I
wrote something about I'll say the player. It was a manual.
He got an opportunity to start in a game I
think is maybe a second year, and I think he
had like they were playing the Browns. He had like
three catches for thirty yards or something like that. And
remember before that he had been just a slot.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah, his rookie year. And I wrote on my blog
wasn't even in the paper. It was in my blog.
It was at the time that I did from the
Sidelines NFL from the Sidelines, which kind of started everything
for me that he showed that he wasn't ready to
be an outside, you know, a full time outside receiver.
Yet he had three catches for thirty yards and it
(48:38):
wasn't really a factor in the game the second season, right, Yeah,
So I'm standing here and I'm talking to Mike Wallace
and we're two or three feet apart. We're having a
conversation and Emmanuel Sanders comes walking and he steps right
in between us, hits me with his shoulder and keeps walking,
and Mike Wallace looks at me and goes me kind
(49:00):
of a look, and I'm like, that was weird. Uh,
we just kept.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
Talking pretty obvious. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Then he came back through like thirty seconds later and
did the same thing, and I'm and Wallace looks at me, goes,
is he mad at you? And I'm like, apparently so.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
Wonderful. I remember I kind of wrote something not so nice, right.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Another time, I had one of the backup safeties in
a in a preseason game, and I can't I think there.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
I can't remember who they were playing, but they kept on.
Must not have went on to do great things.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
He did not. They kept hitting this little ten yard
pass right in front of him. The entire game. He
gave up like ten passes right there in that same spot.
And I said something about, like, you know, he didn't
make a play the entire He made the tackles, but
he didn't make a plan the entire game. Yeah, And
he came to me. I was talking to some again,
I'm talking to somebody else, and he goes, hey, do
(49:57):
you know how Cover two's played? Like, yeah, I'm familiar.
You said, what are what are what are my responsibilities
to cover too? I'm like, okay, you know you can't
let the ball get over your head. He said, So
I did what I was supposed to do in that situation.
I'm like, you are allowed to make a play on
the ball after they've done it ten straight times?
Speaker 3 (50:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
He's like, well what position did you play? And I'm like,
doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
I'm not here to coach Cover two. Right, you could
make a play on the ball. You can make a
play on the ball.
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Everyone like, hey, yeah, you had ten tackles in a game.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
Good for you. If Troy was in there, do you
think it'll have gone the same way?
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Right?
Speaker 3 (50:32):
Yeah, they might have.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
They might have jumped one of those, might have broken
one up right, got their hands on one.
Speaker 3 (50:36):
Like I read the tendencies that they were doing over
and over and over.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
Yeah, in a preseason game. You know they're not scheming
this thing up, right, They're just hitting that play over
and over again because you're giving them too much ground.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
Trust me, fans have said wave terrible things about on
a daily basis all the time, much more so than
anyone I've talked about.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
You gotta have very thick skin in this.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
Oh yeah, I take some bay me at all. Right.
Speaker 2 (50:59):
Yeah, anyways, that's going to do it for the show today.
Some good questions there, but we will be back again tomorrow.
We'll have some uh well maybe some observations to some
degree from rookie Mini Camp, but I can't tell you, Yeah,
I can't tell you exactly what went on on the field.
But we'll get a chance to talk to say, Derek
Harmon for the first time tomorrow, So maybe we'll play
(51:21):
that back if we get some sound, We get some
sound of that, and we'll see how everything else goes.
But for my partner Matt Williamson, for Justin Miller here
on site keeping us on the air, I am Dale Lolly.
We thank you for listening to this edition of the
Drive on this Steelers Audio Network.
This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamsons
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Gold Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the Matt
Williamson and this is the start of hour number two
here on the Drive. And as we've been doing all
this week, we'll take an early look at a fantasy
football position.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Other breaking down favorite movies that's later we got it
would have been Godfather one and two by the way, PPR. Yeah,
let's go tight End all right. I think it's a
pretty rich crop this year. Number eleven. Overall, this one
goes to eleven. Yeah, I don't know if I'm paying
that price.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Tight End one brock Bowers, and he should be. He
absolutely should have eleven, though I know we were just
talking off the air.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I mean when Kelsey went in was at his prime,
he was going eight to twelve ish, but the next
guy was going in the forty, right, and I don't
think Bowers is at that level after one year. I mean,
Kelsey in his prime was a superstar, I mean, and
gave you a massive advantage. I can't I can't use
my first round pick on Bours.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
At fifteen overall tight end two Trey McBride.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I think everyone on the plan will have those two
the top two. He didn't catch touchdowns, but that's correctable. Yeah,
you know, it's not like he's incapable of catching touchdowns.
Oh maybe he is, Maybe it is. I mean Julio
didn't catch him any There's a couple of guys in
history of them have don't have a lot of touchdowners.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
At thirty two overall tight end three is George Kittle.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I think there's a line after the top two. I
think Kittle gets aided by the receiver movement. I yuke
being out. It's pretty safe, but where's he going over it?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
But it's thirty two.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Two, there's gonna be five bad weeks.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, and there's always so much hit and miss there
for me to take him at thirty two.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
He's better at football than fantasy than he always has been.
And I don't think I'm taking the third tight end period.
There's other guys I can live with later.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
At fifty six. Tight end for is Sam Laporta.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He was a little too touchdown depend in his first year,
came back to earth, but then he finished real strong.
But then he lost his coordinator.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, still has his quarterback though.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I don't think I have a problem with him
at four and he can make an argument.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
For three sixty six at tight end five. TJ. Hawkinson.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I like that he's a year removed from the injury. Yeah,
I know that the quarterback change, but that's a really
good rich environment for offense to me.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
At seventy seven, tight end six, John new Smith, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I think he's real. That was my guy. It was
my sleeper last year, got him the last round to
like every.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Draft, and then cut him.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I didn't want you, Yeah on league I did. I
would have been like every dynasty le He did nothing
for like the first eight weeks, right, and now he's
like their number three receiver. I don't know that I'm
that on board though, I mean, like long term, if
you if you can give him a last round, I
was excited about it. I don't know I'm gonn take him
at tight end six.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Tight end seven at seventy eight were so right after him,
Colston Loveland.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Oh, I like that he's ahead of Warren. He's still
gonna be fightings and rookie tight ends don't do much.
Bowers aside obviously.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I mean it's not like it's he was the only
game in town.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I mean, Pitt's was good as a rookie, but historically
rookie tight ends or I'm not even close to that.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
On love one at eighty eight, tight end eight, Travis Kelcey,
there's no way he's going to last in anybody's draft
to pick.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Eighty eight, right, his ADP is fifty seven. Really, he's
going to be in in the red zone. Yeah, I
mean he might not play. It's probably closer to who
he is though. It's tight end is tight. Yeah, he
may end up finishing there.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You might draft him as he getting end up getting
drafted though, is like tight end five or tight end four?
What would you say on a name value?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and I don't think there's especially early in the year.
I don't think he'll be out there a time. What
would you set is over under touchdown receptions at though
for the year seven, I would say seven and a
half was the number. I was in here thinking that
it would be fair that you get fifty people fifty
percent on both sides of it, because I think when
they're down by the stripe, he's going to be important
(04:45):
and in the tight end world that goes a long way.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Where they'll put my quarterback and running around the.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Road, they'll do something weird them right right right.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
At ninety four overall tight end nine Mark Andrews.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I'm still buying at that price.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I suppose it nine.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's not terrible, right, I mean, he's been top five
most of his career. I don't think he got bad
all of a sudden. I know he dropped the ball
and is in the doghouse, but I'll buy him at
that Poyeah threats right, which is bonkers, but I think
he is going to be back this year though.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Pick one ten tight End ten is David and Joku.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
The quarterback situation is so weird, but they do feature him,
and I think that's a Stefanski thing.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I just don't trust him.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
No, he drops a lot of balls and stuff, but
he's good after the catch. The receivers aren't real scary.
I think they'll be losing a lot of games if
I if I'm going, if I'm punting on tight end,
I get him in the ninth or tenth round or whatever.
Is that about where.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
He's going one ten?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Yeah, Yeah, I'm okay with it.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
At one thirteen tight end eleven Tyler Warren.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
A lot of mouse to feed in the passing game
and not a big pie.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, he look very very small, but he's a pot pie.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Bought bye and not accurate quarterback.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
The packaging smaller now, so the popeye is not as
big as he.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yes, very true. Are you willing to take that risk?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
No, I'm not.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Yeah. I mean they used a premium pick on him,
but I don't love it.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
At one fifteen tight end twelve Tucker Craft.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I'll buy that.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I like that much better.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, yeah, I'm saying the one list. I I like
this area a little bit better. I still have hope
for Musgrave, but Craft's a good football player.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
At one sixteen tight end thirteen is Dalton Kincaid. I
heard he's weighing in at like two twenty eight now,
like he has lost a lot of weight and there's
more slot and I don't think they're particularly happy with them.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Yeah. No, other receivers are slot ish. But maybe he
runs like the wind now, maybe he's gonna bulk up.
I don't know. I haven't seen him, I haven't waited him. Bullseye.
He's been a little disappointing though.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
At one seventeen tight end fourteen, Dallas Goddard.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
He's deficially coming back. They restructured him.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Don't throw the ball on them.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
As said, it's a three guys fighting for a small
pie again. Yeah. At one twenty he scores through the air.
There they're all rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
One twenty tight end fifteen Evan Ingram I like.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That, Yeah, I mean, I think the Broncos and Peyton
have a plan for him. I trust Peyton. The other
receivers aren't super scary.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
At one twenty three tight end sixteen, Barry Alvarez's grandson,
Jake Ferguson solid.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I always sell him short because he's not a premier.
You hate all the Cowboys tight ends, Yeah, because they're
all not great athletes. They don't have high upside. I'd
like to aim a little higher than the lead off walk,
you know, and they're solid.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
He catches five balls every game.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, you know that Schultz is that way too, or
used to be, you know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
At one thirty four tight end seventeen, Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
It's amazing what that's what he could be. I mean,
he could be a trade candidate that the deadline, his
contracts up. They're not going to pick him up. I
mean I might roll the dice on him on my
tight end two.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
You could probably trade for him and just make him
your wide receiver two.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Right, I mean that's kind of what he is, kind
of what he is. Right.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh, I don't get this one at all. One forty
five tight end eighteen chig On Quonquo.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Came on strong at the end from what I remember.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah, but it's a whole new rookie quarterback. Yeah, yeah,
I don't trust it. No, I don't really trust it either.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
He's okay, he's another undersized, pretty athletic dude, but I
don't think that's how they want to play.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
One forty eight tight end nineteen Hannah Henry.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
He's also pretty solid. He's your backup. Fine.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
One fifty five tight end twenty Brenton Strange. No competition, right,
no competition.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, it's a sneaky one. Yeah, I'm gonna keep an
eye on that one. At that price.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
To eighteen tight end twenty one Pat Fryar movie, I
would say he should be higher. He should be way
higher than.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Right, especially if Rogers is quarterback. Yeah, you know he's that's.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Telling me, he's a lot more valuable than chig On kwonkwo.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Right, I think he's thirteen fourteen in that neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You know, snaxt guy's pretty good. All there's a lot
of miles to feed. Tight End twenty two at two
nineteen is Kate Aughten.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yeah, not bad. I'm sure he's getting pushed down with
the Buka pick and that's all well on good, but
there's there's not to be on the field. Yeah, he
doesn't have any competition at tight end. Right, Buka is
not a tight end, right right, Yeah, I don't think
that that's a problem at all.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Two twenty one tight End twenty three zach Ertz.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, no, it's not any more upside yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Right, six catches for forty two yards right right, right?
Uh to twenty four.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And he has more competition this year than that.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Right. Tight End twenty four is Mike Gasicki.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Better for fantasy than the real world. Yeah, I mean
they throw the ball a time, that's not terrible.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Two twenty six tight End twenty five is Isaiah Likely.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I would imagine his roles growing, but probably next year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
At two thirty. Tight End twenty six is Dalton Schultz.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Fine, fine.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Two thirty four, tight end twenty seven, Juwan Johnson Nope, yeah, uh,
Mason Taylor is at tight end twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Rookie. There's not a lot of competition there.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Sanders in Carolina is tight end twenty nine. I think
you're we're pretty much out of the Yeah, very neighborhood. Conklin,
the dude of m Ron Johnson, Noah Tyler, Higbee, Elia Rojo,
Terrence Ferguson just thirty five. That might be worth a
(11:15):
first back, right, Yeah, as your backup.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
But so quick question for you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
He's another sneaky at two sixty four tight end thirty
six is no. Agree? Maybe if you don't think Kelsey's
gonna play a lot, Yeah, they're going to still play
a tight end.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Like in my dynasty leagues, I drafted the dude they
drafted last year. It doesn't look like he's in the mix.
It's gonna be Gray as the number two. But I
remember he.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Had a stretch last year. He had like five straight
games with the touch.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
The touchdown right, and he's gonna do the every down stuff.
He's gonna block. Yeah, I think they're gonna save Kelsey's
gonna be a massive pitch coup. Yeah, I would imagine.
So my dynasty, I mentioned earlier in the week, My
my dynasty rookie draft just ended, and my last pick
I needed a tight end. The tight ends were best
available in a dynasty league. Would you take Taylor a
(12:03):
row Ho or what's the face the ram guy from Oregon? Hmmm?
I took Taylor, But I really could make a case
for all three. I stressed about it a little bit.
You can make a case for any of the three.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, And they were all drafted around the same area.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
The other two went like three picks after I did
you know? They were like the best guys on the board,
and that probably all of us viewed him about the same.
And I thought about it, like, I think I like
Taylor the best for this year, and I'm my tight
ends aren't particularly good. If I have to use them,
I'd prefer to even for this year.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Let me ask you this, Pat Fryarmouth or Coleston Lovelin
real close, Friar Muth, Pat Frarmouth or Tyler Warren.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
I don't know. I'm against rookie tight ends, friar Moth.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
That's why I'm bringing it out. Yeah, Yeah, like these
guys are, but they're rated seventh higher right seventh and eleventh,
So they're starting tight ends in fantasy according to.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
The profible loved Ones, gonna cost you a pick.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
We're saying Primer should be around thirteen. He might actually
be higher than that. Maybe if you think those guys
should be bumped down.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
The veterans in the top ten, I would all have
over them. Yeah, you know Ingram was a name I
liked that was in that neighborhood that I would have
ahead of him. But the rookies scare me.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I don't think he's all that different in terms of
what they're going to use him as, especially with Aaron
Rodgers a quarterback. See that different from Craft or Kincaid
or Ferguson.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
No, i'd take him over Ferguson. I have worries about
Kincaid too. Yeah, they didn't throwing the ball ast you. No,
I don't think he's in there good graces at all.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Who was the first name and the other one there? Uh?
Craft Craft to be in my favorite of those four,
including Friarmooth. Yeah, because I mean his rookie year was
prettyarn good.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But he also he does have competitions.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
A lot more. I mean there's any times he's not
on the field.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Right, you know, I certainly like I'm better on Conquo.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, like I'd taken Joku over Henry. Yeah, I take
him over Brenton Strange.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I can't. I don't understand why he's behind.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
Those guys, right, yeah, all those And.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
It's not just because he's a steel I just think
he's in a better situation than the rest of those guys.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I mean, again, I own him.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
It is his situation all that different from Djoku.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Not much. I prefer Najoku. Yeah, and they throw the
ball more. I think he's better after the catch. He's
been more productive. But it's crazy because I mentioned these
dynasty leagues. I'm in six of them. I think I
owned Friarmuth in five. I don't care if he's a
Steeler or a Brown or you know, and the CFL
the floor.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
You can get him so cheap catches.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Right, you know. And he might not be my number
one in some of those leagues, but I don't mind
starting him on bye weeks and injuries and stuff like that,
and I can get him as a throw in on deals.
And I never understand why I'm like throw.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay, he's cheap, you're six for five.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, it's exactly we're talking trade. What about firemouth around
this thing out? All right, deal.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Deal, let's get to a break. That's the fantasy focus
for today, the tight ends. We'll look at some defenses
on Friday.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Wow, okay, I've given no zero thought. But that's that's
a fun conversation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, well I'm not wearing a kickers. No defense is
a little different.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
If we do kickers. I am embarrassing not even knowing
what team they're on, Kickers and Potters.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You probably wouldn't recognize the name of some of them.
Probably not too right.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
It's an embarrassment of how little I know specialists.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale LOLLI you're listening
to the Driver here on the Steelers Audio Network. Up next,
we'll take our listener questions Twitter Thursday Thursday. Right after this.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
At least, he's the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt
Williamson on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Steelers Nation Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Welcome back. I am Dale Lolly. He is the Matt
Williamson and it is a Twitter Thursday x Twitter Thursday.
That's got to catch on. It's got to be the
ex Twitter, right.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I think it lines up perfectly.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I don't understand why it's not right. I'm gonna I
thought of it a year ago. I'm gonna keep saying
it until everybody uses it ex Twitter And.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
This segment's been pretty popular.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
It has been. We got a bunch of questions to
get to today. Of course, you can hear the Drive
every Monday through Friday right here on these very airwaves.
You can also well sometimes downloaded the Steelers appe on
their YouTube. No you know YouTube today Tyler Vittmeyer's off filming.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Short video guy at the moment, right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
But otherwise we're right here in these very airwaves and
Paul asks, are they having Keanu Bent and focus on
nose tackle to maximize his strengths or simply accommodating harmon
since he is a defensive good question. I think they
want there's keeping Bent in his nose tackle, in my opinion,
(17:07):
because that's how the draft lined up for them. Yeah,
they didn't, necessarily didn't. The nose tackle position is one
that if you have the nose tackle, a true nose tackle,
he's probably only going to play twenty five percent of
the snap right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Right right, an old school run stuffer only guy.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah, that's just the way it is. Whereas Benton can play,
he can rush the pass, or he can do those
kind of things, he can also hold down the nose.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Yeah, I would love to be a fly in the
wall and maybe Carl Dunbar with you and tell us
this and you can see a lot of it on
tape on your own. I'd love to be a fly
in the wall in the D line meeting room during
the season because I bet that they would kind of
laugh at this conversation a little bit of are you
a nose or you an end? You know, Like I
(17:56):
think it's a lot more hey line up in the
b gap up in this formation and you know, or.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
If they've lined Cam Heyward up on a note, right, Like.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't think that they all can't do everything in
a way, you know what I mean? Or this is
a nose and that's all he does. And I found it.
I mean I think about that more and more after
the conversation with Carl Don Barr about Black after they
drafted him. You know, like, well everyone in the world
just because he stuff's all run thinks he's a nose.
But you lined up in the B gap at Iowa
(18:27):
and he's going to do some of that here too.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Five inch arms right right.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
I mean those guys will talk about, well, can he
play three technique? Yeah? Can he play five technique? Can
he play a four I? Which is the inside shade
of the tackle? You know? And that's that's like the
Aaron Smith position.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I had the conversation with Darius Alexander Or at the
Senior Bowl, Yeah, and like, you know, where are you
most comfortable? He's like, well, they haven't here. I lined
up in all all across the line. I did that
in college. Okay, I lined up at those I lined
up at end, those three five all that.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, so I'm good wherever they know wherever I play at.
That's kind of what you're looking.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
For, that kind what you're looking for, right, And the
Steelers are much more left right than most teams, and
we might see less of that. I mean, with Whatton
potentially moving around, I can see less of that. But
so many of these teams depends on well, this guard
doesn't handle quickness well, but he handles power well. I'll
put my quick die on them you know what I
mean by having some of that, just who you're playing against.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Paul also asked, since the compensatory formula resets every year,
is the best strategy to stagger between signing players and
letting players walk. In other words, one year sign a
bunch of big name free agents and get no comp picks,
and next year let players walk and reap the comp picks.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Probably easier said than done, But I hear what he's saying.
In theory, it sounds good, right, But I think it
does apply here in that we I think by now
everybody knows the Steelers really ate up the comp market
this past yeah, free agency.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
It's set up well for them to do that though,
because exactly you're not going to have a bunch of
released players every year that fit your needs necessarily, right.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
But like I I guess the other day, I happen
to look at all the expiring contracts for this year,
and there's a ton of names, but wat's not gonna
go right. I mean, there's a couple there's not gonna
be huge. There's not a quarterback probably, you know, I mean,
like that's gonna yield threes and have huge concents. Not
a left tackle. But what I was saying with the
(20:27):
Steelers is, Okay, you reaped all the benefits of those picks.
If the season ends and you build your off season plan,
and our plan is we're gonna put a lot into
getting a first round quarterback, Well, you might have to
be a buyer in free agency with your money right
to make up for that, because my first round pick's
not gonna.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
You're not gonna have a first round pick problem. You
may not have a second, you may not have one
or two of your thirds or a future.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Right, right, right, But you have a lot of cap
space even after signing Watt or whoever. Maybe next year
you're active and you don't get any compics because of that.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, yeah, Craig Ass. Do we know the exact milestones
Fields and Rust need to hit for their projected fourth
fifth round comppicks to get bumped up to an earlier round.
Is it only based on playing time for both or
will we know when the final Comppick slots are released
next March. Well, the guys you know the formula or
(21:21):
have a pretty good idea of the formula.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
The best one is the guy who runs over the.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Cap and he's tracked it over the years and those.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
He definitely knows it. I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, I don't know. I know playtime is part of it,
but also how well you play is part of.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's what I don't quite get. I mean, if they
go to a Pro Bowl by chance, is that a
marker or is it? Yeah that I'm not certain, but
I do know playing time helps. Like if Wilson starts
the whole year, you're happy.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Yeah, Fields is probably going to start the whole year
unless he gets hurt. Unless he's hurt because they don't
really have a viable backup, and you know that that
could turn that into a third.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Yeah, exactly exactly. I don't think it could be less
like if they don't play any steps.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Yeah, Steele. Warriors asked, do you got do you do?
You both think the Steelers will do better this coming
season than last love the show. You guys and the
whole crew do a fait a fantastic job. Justin appreciates that. Yeah, yeah,
better than the last Well, I mean they've gone ten
and seven in each of the last two seasons, not
nine and eight like a lot of people like to say.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
I don't know that I'll pick them to win eleven games.
We're not at that stage of the offseason yet.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Could they win a playoff game? Sure, they could have
won a playoff game last year. Yeah, if they had
won one of those games down the stretch and won
the division and they had gone to play Houston instead
of going to play Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yeah, that wasn't that crazy of a chooser and adventure.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
They might have been favored in that game.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
I was thinking that too, because a perception would have
been different. You know, as it sits here in the
middle of May, I'm not my official prediction is not
going to be eleven wins and a playoff win. It
should be better than last year. But I think they're
a better team. I think I think they will.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
They were a better team last year than they were
the year before that. I think they're a better team now.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I think they will be maybe not this second as
we speak, but I think when on opening Day, they'll
be better than they were last year.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah. Weird question. What time is it is the drive?
Because when I turn iHeartRadio on SNR at four thirty,
the show is not live.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Justin man, that's not Sometimes we record at four, sometimes
we record earlier. I after that it's out of our idea.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
We do our part of the job and then who knows.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Yeah, insight on that one, Yeah, I believe.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
So yeah, yeah, essentially it started early. Yeah, I was
I wasn't here yesterday, so we don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Diming is not great to answer this.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, it doesn't always start right right. This one is uh,
they have a whole bunch of emojis here and I
have no idea what all that means. But hey, fellas,
could you take a few minutes to describe what qualities
(24:25):
you think would be an ideal number two wide receiver
opposite DK metcalf Well, somebody who gets open that would
be a good.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
I mean, I Brandy Moss or Jerry Rice. I mean,
if we're talking ideal, all right, if Larry wants to
come raight, you.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Know, I don't know if there's any one set that has.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
To be different. I mean, I think they would have
been comfortable having two similar twin towers, you know, but.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
That's not necessary.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I think I don't think it has to be that way.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Ideally, you want somebody who is an outside received You're right.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
The things I was going to say is, I don't
think that we have to pigeonhole it. But I don't
want a five eight guy unless he's really special. I
think I want an X that lines up and can
be man coverage as Metcalf can and as Pickens can.
And I want someone that's decent on over the middle
(25:23):
inbreaking routes, because I think there's this misconception that he
won't never throw between the numbers. No, the quarterbacks they
had don't throw between the numbers particularly well.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But everybody took that off of the game against the
Falcons last year in the opener when they told Justin Fields, hey,
there are two safeties, like to take the ball away,
don't throw the ball over the middle.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Who was the head coach of the Falcons year before,
you know, right, knows these guys pretty darn well. And
Wilson Over's whole career has not been an over the
middle thrower. But go back to Arthur Smith, especially in
his Titan days, in breaking route to aj round, you know,
on the run off play action with Derrick Henry. That's
what they want, right, So I want guys with that
(26:06):
capability and some after the catch.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah. So I don't think that there's any have to
be this shape, yeah, right, or size or anything like that,
but they have to be again, you have to be
able to get open and you have to I think
speed would be a factor.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
I don't know, right, Like I don't want Cooper Cop yeah,
I mean right, that type of dude. You know.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
That's why, you know, when we talked about some of
the free agents out there, Keenan Allen to me doesn't
not really.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Yeah. I mean his leadership would be nice if he
is a good leader. I assume he is. And yeah,
on third and eight, I might be happy he's out there,
but he wouldn't. I would take Cooper over a Cop
or over Allen, you know, yeah, style wise for sure.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
R JS, How do you guys feel about signing a
guy like a Sante Samuel Junior as an insurance policy
at cornerback? Would even be a good fitness defense?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
There must be some reason something was there an injury.
I think he has had injuries. I think I would
have to study the Chargers defense more. But I think
he's more zone than man. Yeah, I'm almost certain of it,
which I think they're trying to get away from a
little more. I think they want more long man coverage.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
He's just not that he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
That's not what he looks.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Not a strong tackler, right.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
I don't think he's a bad player. I'm shocked he's
not signed unless there's something we don't know about, which
there's probably something we don't know about, but his name,
if you take it out of the equation. I love
bargain shopping this time of year, though, you know, I
mean one year deal on a guy that's all of
a sudden thought he was going to get signed the
first week of free agency, didn't. Yeah, yeah, I mean
in pretty much any position.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Get him for three million dollars, right, right.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Okay, Yeah, I mean in general, I think you can
really pick up nights deals this time of year.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Uh, Heshan asked. So, when they talked changes, people thought
it would be with the coaches, but it turns out
it was a good percentage of the ross. Sounds to
me like they're taking a page out of Noole's book
by getting more self motivated guys leaders. I think it's
a good change. How about you, guys, I think it's
a fair assessment of that.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, here's the thing that.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
People needed to understand about. You know, you saw a
lot of I can remember the You know when when
Art Rooney the second was asked that his press conference
about he didn't change many coaches. A lot of those
coaches on the staff were new. Like if you look
at their coaching roster right now, people.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Don't think about the assistant turnovers, but there's a lot
of it.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
There's been a lot in recent particularly in recent years
on offense. I mean they brought in a bunch of
guys along with Arthur Smith.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah, yeah, you know, there were only a.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Couple of holdovers on the offensive side of the ball,
and they brought they brought it in the last couple
of years. I mean, really, when you look at it,
new inside linebackers coach, the outside linebackers coach was in elevation.
I mean, how many coaches you got a new secondary coach?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Like it'd be easy to find out, but if all
their coaches that are employed at the moment, how many
have been there three years or longer?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
It's about four. I know it's a low number, you know,
Carl Danny Smith. It's not much past that.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Right, It's it's a lot of It's more change than
you think. Yeah, but I do think the player thing
is accurate. I think it is, right, right. I think
that's one of the things they've been looking for here.
And I think you know, when we talked earlier in
the week about all the Iowa guys right right, right,
the guys who stuck with their program, guys who didn't
take the money and run to somewhere else, like and
the guys did take money one national championship yet, right.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
And really I mean they had Will Howard had fulfilled
his four years at k State, he could have stayed
on the fiftyear.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I don't blame anyone for it, but going to Ohio State.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
All right, Ohio State comes nack. Hey, you want to
come into this roster. We might have a chance to
win a national championship on the thing.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
I'll go there for free if you're a baby too, right, yeah, right, no,
But I do think character, love of game, all those
things are being stressed as much as ever. Yeah. Yeah,
team players.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Matt DeCicco says the Packers are definitely an interesting trade
partner for Dobbs or Wicks for fourth or the fifth. Yeah,
would you be interested in doing that?
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Well? I did a little more homework on this too,
And I've never spoke glowingly about Dobbs, but I think
he's fits the bill, and he's still pretty young. Rogers
does speak glowingly of him, by the way, which I
know Rogers history, and hey, heck, if Allen Wizard ends
up here, I understand. And I'm not in favor of
(30:40):
let's pull Randall Cobb out of retirement. He can't play,
But there is something to be said. And it doesn't
mean the inmates are running the asylum of your quarterbacks
played with this dude, right, if they were bringing Russell
Wilson back and trade for DK Metcalf, I would understand,
you know what I mean Like this, that's just logic.
It's not Oh, Rogers is running the show now because
(31:00):
you got somebody he likes well. He also knows a
lot about the game, right, and he's really a stickler
him in particular, you better be in the right spot
or he's not throwing you the football.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Dobbs rookie year twenty twenty two with Aaron Rodgers played
in thirteen games, seven of them were starts. He got
sixty seven targets, forty two catches for twenty five yards,
and three touchdowns. Like a fourth or fifth round pick.
As a fifth round pick yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Like, and they drafted a couple that year. Yeah, and
he stood out from the pack.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Oh literally the two years since he's he's head over
six hundred yards receiving in each of the last two.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Years in a crowded receiver room.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
In last year he did that in thirteen games.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Wow, Okay, Like, I think we both prefer read.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yeah, oh yeah, I think reads about I think he's.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
A really dynamic player that's vastly under If they're not
going to trade read, I don't think they're trade read,
but I think they would trade Dobbs. I do too,
And I think his last year.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, he's in his last year. I prefer Dobbs to
to Wich. That's I was gonna say too, which is
a slot. Yeah, and he he doesn't.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Catch football very well. I mean maybe it'll be better. Yeah,
I mean he has some interesting traits, but I thought
I expected more from him last year.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Yeah. I can remember watching Dobbs at the it's a
senior born. I'm like that guy's he's a big machiver.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, he'll block Oh, I mean, yeah, he
would fit in fine.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
One last year here before we get to a break here,
James Perkarski says, are there any truly? Are there truly
a few men in the planet that can play NFL
quarterback at a high to elite level. If so, why
is the college system failure, lack of my NFL minority leagues,
failures of the coaching system and fits tough combo of mental,
(32:42):
physical traits to find, et cetera. Is that are those
the reasons why?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Yeah? And I also think the bar is so high
that if there's only thirty two starters, sixteen of them
are always going to look bad anyway, you know what
I mean, Like in any you're.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Going to compare everybody. Okay, he's not Lamar, right, he's
not not mass.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Yeah, but I do think there's I know that there
is certainly a graph where as your physical ability and
mental ability match that time when you're twenty seven to
twenty eight whatever is when you can maximize your powers,
and sometimes poor guys never get there because they weren't
good enough. I think a lot of coaching overhaul hurts quarterbacks,
(33:23):
like a.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Lot of change systems all the time, No doubt, your
offensive line stinks, and you know, there's all kinds of
things the factor into.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
It, right, And I heard this story the other day
about Brady late in his career, like when he went
to Tampa that he wasn't happy with how he his
quick game, you know, like when when the blitz came
and he knew he had to get out in two
point one two point two and he was amazing at that. Yeah,
and still was able to throw the ball down the field.
(33:52):
That's when he started doing like the cryogenic chambers and
stuff because he didn't think his mind worked sharp enough,
you know, Like, Yeah, I mean that's who you're can
heating against in order to be the best quarterbacks in
the world. Like, that's an amazing amount of dedication. Yeah,
I mean it's a really hard position. It's no doubt
about it.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
It's the hardest position in any sport to play.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I definitely think that. I don't know if you.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Not only have to know what your job is, you
have to know the job of everybody else on the offense.
You also then have to be able to read the defense.
You know all their jobs and know what they're they're
trying to do. In about ten seconds, Yeah, when you
step up, when you step up to the line of screaming,
you got about five or five to six seconds to
survey the defense and go, okay, this is what I
(34:35):
think they're trying to do.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
And it's raining and the winds blowing and the crowds.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
The crowd scream, and I got the coordinator in my
ear saying, hey, run this right, you know everybody else
and I'm checking. I got guys moving. I got to
get this receiver. Receiver doesn't know where to be the
wrong place right. Oh wait a second, that that guy
over my left tackle. I don't think he can block him.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I know he can't. I just saw it on the
play before when he flattened me and my back is
killing me. Yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I came up looking out of my ear hole.
Speaker 3 (35:06):
He's a nice dude. I don't mnd eat lunch with them,
but I'm not thrilled with them at the moment, right right,
And then the ball snapped and then at most you
get three seconds to put it in.
Speaker 2 (35:17):
If it's over three seconds, you're getting killed again.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
That's an awful right right, That's why.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
It's I mean again, why you date the head cheerleader.
If it was easy, everybody would do it. Yes, I
always tell my baseball players that I'm like, hey, if
it was easy, and.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
You may play really well, you may play your best day,
and the guy on the other sideline was better than you.
And you think in the world thinks you're not good enough.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
You know, even when sometimes when you do things right,
it goes wrong. Oh yeah, think I think back to
people said, well, Beanie Bishop picked off Aaron Rodgers twice
in that game against the Jets last year. He hit
Geron Wilson between the numbers, was one of them and
bounced away from him, and Beanie Bishop caught it. That's
Aaron Rodgers fault.
Speaker 3 (35:54):
Right. How many times does the receiver run the wrong route? Yeah,
they're not on the same page. Well, usually the quarterbacks
in the right book and the receivers not.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The quarterback helped write the book right.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Right exactly. You know, it's very dependent. And again, this
guy's got a block for me.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
And yeah, yeah, anyways, let's get to a break. We'll
come back with more questions when we return. He is
Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lollie. You're listening to the
Drive here on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
And at least 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 2 (36:41):
And we are back. I'm Dale Lolly. He is Matt Williamson,
and we're going through some or listener questions here from
the ex Twitter and steel Warrior fifty five says, what
game are you both looking forward to the most? M
the first one Ireland? Ireland's going to.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Be that's the low hanged fruit. Yeah, I would say
Ireland and Ravens. I mean I like them all right right.
I don't even know their schedule particularly great of who
I kind of pay attention of who they're going to play.
But once schedule release comes out next week, which should
be this time next week, just done next week, will
then I really get to note better. Yeah, but that's
(37:24):
what it really makes sense, and right right, you know
we're really looking ahead. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Uh. Ben Cohen asked, could you see the Steelers targeting
a wide receiver on their rookie contract I e. Jln
McMillan from Tampa Bay or less likely since they can
take the cap hit from a VET contract VET. Yeah, yeah,
I mean, but Dobbs would fit into that.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Dobbs is a good, good call. I don't know about me,
mel Len. He's a little small for me. Yeah, he's
a slot. He's a slot. Good good year. But I'm
aiming bigger than that too.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, literally, and figure somebody with a little more experience
in that too.
Speaker 3 (37:57):
You're right, right, right. I don't know if that solves
my problem, right, you know, but they do have the
cap space, which I think is one of their best
attributes for this situation.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Sure, what t Max is what are your thoughts on
the Steelers going after Sleigh and free agency over younger,
better defensive backs such as DJ Ward et cetera. Who
can help in the future and who both both are
your ideal? Who's your deal number two wide receiver two?
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Now?
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Thanks, love the show. So two questions there. Well, they
went after Sleigh because he had been released as part
of it, right, if you signed a guy like like
or any Dj Reid, that was going to figure factor
into your comp formula. And if you sign those two
guys in particular, you're not getting a third round pick
next year one hundred spensatories.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
Which you could still weigh. I mean, I'd rather have
those two, but they're also a much bigger salary.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
You know what, you wouldn't have as much cap space right.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
Now, right, And I'm not sure that they didn't make
calls to those guys only signed with one team, you know,
like that, I'm not giving this guy a hard time.
And we also kind of did address to who the
number two receiver? You know, who you'd ideally, but you can't.
It's not always up to you who you sign, you know, like.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
It is free agency, they can sign wherever they want.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
And I'm sure DJ Reid and Davis Ward had ten
teams interested or at least calling the agent, and four
that offered contracts. And when you go into free agency
for anybody, but you basically said, I'm in this neighborhood
and if you're gonna go way over it, I'm out.
You know, it's not worth it. Two, you know.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Archie Wilson says, question, what Green Bay Wide receiver would
you like the most if the Steelers were to make
a trade for one, Well, that one I would like
read rewind Yeah, essentially, what are your opinions on Dobbs
and Wicks.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Well, we already did that, yeah, hit rewind from it.
I think it would be.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Read Dobbs Wis would be the guy that Yeah, yeah,
I agreed, Michael Odessa says, day, are you going to
rookie tryouts this weekend? Yes, well they're tryouts, Yeah, it's
rookie mini camp. Do you focus on specific players ever,
or just take a step back and get an overview
specific players? Are you planning on looking?
Speaker 3 (40:06):
What?
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Who do you plan on looking at this weekend? Also,
it's pronounced. It's pronounced jack Besh, not Beck.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I've gone back and forth on it ish.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Yeah, you had it right for like a month and
then you talked me out of it. That's what happened
with that. You said, oh no, it's beck like and
it's bash. That's what I was saying all along to
begin with.
Speaker 3 (40:27):
Because it looks like bash. And then I heard people
saying back and they were, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Led me astray. I do enough of that on my own,
just pronouncing these guys' names. I don't need you to
help me. H.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I'm at everything everything that they do in terms of
this particular process. Obviously, I'll be watching the draft picks, yeah, yeah,
and you know there'll be some other guys I'll watch
for stand ups with the overview type thing, but mostly
the draft.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
It's it's not easy. I've never been to one of these.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
There's sixty guys on the field, right, fifty of which
aren't down on NFL players.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Aren't NFL players, And if somebody stands out, great, But
running backs aren't breaking tackles. Yeah, I mean it's not
a great environment, don't really.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
No, it's a football practice.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Yeah, if you're a diamond in the rough, it's still
hard to show up.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Yeah. J Marsh says, with GP not here anymore, do
you think teams will go back to stacking and trying
to stuff the box more? I know the Seahawks didn't
face as much stack boxes but worked well against US.
But it worked well against us last year, thanks for everything.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
Only two teams saw I less of a stack box
in Seattle last year. Now, they didn't take advantage of it.
They were a really bad running team and they drafted
into your line and Walker resarved blah blah blah. But
as currently constructed, I think you will see a lot
of stacked boxes. Yeah, I mean, I think there'll still
be a safety on metcalf side a high percentage of
(41:54):
the time. But that's part of the worry. Yeah, that's
why I hope they're not done.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Right, Yeah, John Stewart says, is game I.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Think needless to say game planning against the Steelers current
roster with pickings and without.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
Think he's a lot different and it got easier. John
Stewart as his game well more of more than a
relief back. See any two back says with game well
could move into the slot.
Speaker 3 (42:20):
I don't see that. I don't see he's more than
a relief back.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
I mean I think he's If they were going to
put someone in a slot, I would think it would
be Warren. Warren catches the ball well too.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Yeah, I think his number three backs go. He's high
on the list.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
He's pretty good.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Yeah, he's not just a special team or you know,
maybe an active on game day type. No, I mean
I think he brings.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
More than that, beyond the Blitzys, who are the top
two to three wide receivers that are not free agents
that you'd love to see the Steelers trade for.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
Well, I should mention this because on Twitter I threw
out a name of just like off the top of
my head, here's ten dudes, and we talked about him yesterday. Yeah,
boyd Bears fans get real mad at you and you
bring up DJ Moore and I kind of get it
because like they just signed him and it would be
a capit and all that, but they did draft, you know,
a receiver in two rounds in a row. He would
(43:13):
be my favorite. Yeah, trust me, the Bear's Nation or
whatever thinks there's no chance I got called a lot
of nations or a can all be nations whatever, the
Bear Cave, the Bear Den whatever. He would be really
high on my list. But trust me, you'd throw it
out on Twitter when you got a fire amount of
followers and you'll get called bad words.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Yeah, he would be high in the list. Beyond that,
I mean, Christian Kirk was a guy that might be Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:41):
I mean, we've gotta talk about guys that are feasible.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I have mixed feelings on Tyreek. It seems like a
lot he.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Just got more screws pulled out of his wrist.
Speaker 3 (43:53):
I know. Yeah, second one, and I think he would
only cost you a third or fourth. But I don't
know what to think on that one.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Yeah, you know, yeah, Justin Porter says, to your knowledge,
are there any other extreme, extremely difficult personalities in the
locker room left? Or was it George the final one? Well?
Speaker 3 (44:16):
I bet there's always extreme personalities.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Yeah, you got seventy guys now in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (44:22):
A lot of testosterone, and there's a lot of the
nature of the game. Doesn't sit there, cubicle.
Speaker 2 (44:27):
You know the guy who's who's on the practice squad.
You better not be an extremely difficult personality. You're not
going to be on the practice squad. I don't see
that necessary.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
I'm sure you like some guys better than others. I
would have to.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
I'd have to go player by player and think about.
Speaker 3 (44:44):
It, and we're not gonna be like this dude's and
a terrible human being.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Yeah, I don't know if there's an I don't know
if I know that one last question you're from. Joey
Bag of Donuts gets one in there every time. We
love that. Did a player ever get mad at you
for what you wrote about them?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (45:05):
Yeah, Oh, I bet it's happened many times.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
I bet it's happened many times. I should tell a
real quick story that's kind of hilarious. Is right before Christmas,
when my kids were really young and I worked at ESPN,
Sanna goes around the neighborhood on a fire truck and
kids come run out and he gives them candy, YadA, YadA, YadA,
and Sanna and the fire truck are coming up my
(45:30):
street and my phone rings and they know the number.
An assistant coach from the Saints is screaming at me.
Screaming at me because I wrote a Viking Saints preview
that week about how Adrian Peterson's going to cause their
linebackers all kinds of problems, and apparently that article found
(45:53):
it on the Saints owner's desk, and this linebacker coach
got a real ear full about it, and he was
livid with me, like I'm going to find you, you know,
mean stuff. And I'm like, Sam is on the way
up the street and the in a fire truck. I
gotta go. And he he was like I didn't expect
(46:13):
to hear that. And I just clicked, you know, I
was like, I can tell you it was, but it
was like, this is crazy stuff, like how'd you get
my number? I didn't even ask how.
Speaker 2 (46:22):
I can remember the first time it happened to me.
It wasn't even a Steeler situation. It was my first,
my first full time job in the business, and I
was covering one of the local girls basketball teams who
would go on to win the state championship, and they
were in the district playoffs and they had just they
were unbeaten. They had beaten the snot out of everybody
(46:43):
that they played.
Speaker 3 (46:44):
They were awesome.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
Yeah, all five of their starters I think played college basketball.
Their first player off the bench was a freshman who
would go on to play at Rutgers. Wow, like they were,
they're loaded, They're loaded.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
And I wrote they were going up against one of
the quote unquote traditional power in the in the district,
and I wrote that if they got upset, it would
be an upset of biblical proportions. And I went to
the coach after the game, and you know, because I'm
talking to both coaches after the game, the team that
I said was gonna win won by like twenty five points.
(47:17):
And he goes, oh, you're that f dale lolly guy.
Speaker 3 (47:20):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
And I'm like, yeah, I guess I saw what you
wrote about this upset of biblical proportions. I'm like, yeah, awesome.
I didn't appreciate that. I'm like, you didn't win, yeah, yeah,
you know right. And other instances I've I've.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Held a crystal ball, the game is going to go right.
Speaker 2 (47:41):
But you didn't win, so it would have been you
lost by twenty five. It would have been an upset
of biblical if you guys were as close as anybody's
been to these guys all year long.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
You can play a hundred times and it probably is
getting much better than that. Right, But I'm sure players have.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Oh I've had play. I've been talking. I was. I
wrote something about I'll say the player. It was a manual.
He got an opportunity to start in a game I
think is maybe a second year, and I think he
had like they were playing the Browns. He had like
three catches for thirty yards or something like that. And
remember before that he had been just a slot.
Speaker 3 (48:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
Yeah, his rookie year. And I wrote on my blog
wasn't even in the paper. It was in my blog.
It was at the time that I did from the
Sidelines NFL from the Sidelines, which kind of started everything
for me that he showed that he wasn't ready to
be an outside, you know, a full time outside receiver.
Yet he had three catches for thirty yards and it
(48:38):
wasn't really a factor in the game the second season, right, Yeah,
So I'm standing here and I'm talking to Mike Wallace
and we're two or three feet apart. We're having a
conversation and Emmanuel Sanders comes walking and he steps right
in between us, hits me with his shoulder and keeps walking,
and Mike Wallace looks at me and goes me kind
(49:00):
of a look, and I'm like, that was weird. Uh,
we just kept.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
Talking pretty obvious. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
Then he came back through like thirty seconds later and
did the same thing, and I'm and Wallace looks at me, goes,
is he mad at you? And I'm like, apparently so.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
Wonderful. I remember I kind of wrote something not so nice, right.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Another time, I had one of the backup safeties in
a in a preseason game, and I can't I think there.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
I can't remember who they were playing, but they kept on.
Must not have went on to do great things.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
He did not. They kept hitting this little ten yard
pass right in front of him. The entire game. He
gave up like ten passes right there in that same spot.
And I said something about, like, you know, he didn't
make a play the entire He made the tackles, but
he didn't make a plan the entire game. Yeah, And
he came to me. I was talking to some again,
I'm talking to somebody else, and he goes, hey, do
(49:57):
you know how Cover two's played? Like, yeah, I'm familiar.
You said, what are what are what are my responsibilities
to cover too? I'm like, okay, you know you can't
let the ball get over your head. He said, So
I did what I was supposed to do in that situation.
I'm like, you are allowed to make a play on
the ball after they've done it ten straight times?
Speaker 3 (50:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
He's like, well what position did you play? And I'm like,
doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (50:20):
I'm not here to coach Cover two. Right, you could
make a play on the ball. You can make a
play on the ball.
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Everyone like, hey, yeah, you had ten tackles in a game.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
Good for you. If Troy was in there, do you
think it'll have gone the same way?
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Right?
Speaker 3 (50:32):
Yeah, they might have.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
They might have jumped one of those, might have broken
one up right, got their hands on one.
Speaker 3 (50:36):
Like I read the tendencies that they were doing over
and over and over.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
Yeah, in a preseason game. You know they're not scheming
this thing up, right, They're just hitting that play over
and over again because you're giving them too much ground.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
Trust me, fans have said wave terrible things about on
a daily basis all the time, much more so than
anyone I've talked about.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
You gotta have very thick skin in this.
Speaker 3 (50:57):
Oh yeah, I take some bay me at all. Right.
Speaker 2 (50:59):
Yeah, anyways, that's going to do it for the show today.
Some good questions there, but we will be back again tomorrow.
We'll have some uh well maybe some observations to some
degree from rookie Mini Camp, but I can't tell you, Yeah,
I can't tell you exactly what went on on the field.
But we'll get a chance to talk to say, Derek
Harmon for the first time tomorrow, So maybe we'll play
(51:21):
that back if we get some sound, We get some
sound of that, and we'll see how everything else goes.
But for my partner Matt Williamson, for Justin Miller here
on site keeping us on the air, I am Dale Lolly.
We thank you for listening to this edition of the
Drive on this Steelers Audio Network.
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