May 24, 2023 • 28 mins
The guys take you through the end of OTAs on day 2 and sit down with the Steelers new corner back.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome back to this special edition of The Drive. I'm
Dale Alli. He is Matt Williamson, and we are live
from the Steelers Ota session here at the upmc rooney
Sports Complex. We're also on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN
nine seven. I don't know if I said that or not,
but man, I was looking here. We're talking a lot
about Kenny Pickett. Yeah, wouldn't we And I'm looking here
(00:40):
on the CBS Sports dot Com and I have seven
NFL players set for breakout seasons in twenty twenty three.
Kenny Pickett and Kadarius Tony headline the list.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's their headline. Okay, I can see both those players.
I mean that references a lot. I play a lot
of Dynasty and you know a lot of Best Ball.
I've been into this year too. I've been grabbing Pickett
everywhere I can. I mean, his stock is low. I
think his production has to go up. I'm not saying
he's going to be Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert and
you know, be a massive, massive producer, but I think
it's a great bylow time production.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Put it this way, Matt, So last year, at this time,
you could get say Daniel Jones for next to nothing, right.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Right, right, And in the fantasy world he's worth a lot,
a lot or fields or you know, one of these.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Guys, right, I know, by the way, Jones, you know,
got the Giants into the playoffs and they won a game,
like you know, he's not the you know they're paying
gave him money, and they gave him money. That's why
he was going there. Yeah, I mean they they gave
him money because they now think that he is the answer.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, he's the He's the band in New York as
much as Kenny is here.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, so you know that that's just perception changes quickly
on those guys.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Sure, I mean they didn't this time last year. The
Giants had not picked up his fifth year option, which
is pricier and not as not as easy as people think.
That doesn't mean they hate you, but it's still there
was a lot of questions new coach that hadn't hand
picked them. And it was a successful year. I mean,
I don't think we're saying he's gonna be one of
the best quarterbacks in the league. I think Kenny could
(02:05):
make every bit the jump that Jones did, though, Yeah,
you know last year, this year, I.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Think he's a better passer.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think he's a better passer. Yeah, I think she's
a feel better I think he's got better pocket awareness too.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And he's got better weapons. We met that Giants white
wide receiver curse is real? Is real? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I mean I'm being very impressed with day Ball as
an offensive play caller, and he's gotten a lot out
of those guys. But there wasn't great players around him.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It's funny you mentioned that because I mentioned this on
the show earlier this year. Dayball. You look at Brian
day Ball's maturation or his his progression as a play caller.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
He was a Saban guy at Alabama, and I'm trying
to think where he was before Buffalo. He may may
have hired him from Bama. I'm not certain.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So I see if they have his points per game here.
I can't remember where I found that at, but.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I remember referenced the other day and I didn't know where.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You just got to find it here Pro Football Reference.
Herea Brian day Ball record and statistics. This is a
good radio should have had this call up ear so
in his first three seasons as the Giants or the Bills. Bills. Yeah,
in twenty eighteen, the Bills ranked let's see here, they
(03:20):
were twenty eighth in points.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Real quick, while you look at that. When they took
over that Bills team, they were in cap hell and
they had nothing to build around, and they ended up
making the playoffs and really were like the flukiest team
in the league, you know, like expectations were really low
and they were. I think that's when they drafted Allen who.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Was Allen's rookie year. Yeah, awful, awful. Allen's rookie year
was worse than Kenny Pickett's by far.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Oh it's not really close. Yeah, it really isn't. And
there's a couple, i mean, well accomplished quarterbacks of lates
that were well worn below pickets.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Now, the next year they jumped to tenth.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, I think that's when they traded for Digs.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Twenty nineteen. Twenty twenty, I think was then they traded forth.
But if you look at the you know they were
I see if that's right there, they were eighteenth in.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Total yards, okay, but high in points.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Or twenty fourth in total yards, I should say. So
some of that was on the was the defense making
some plays?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I think their
defense scored a lot that year. Yeah, they were really
good for you know, like.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fifth, they were twenty fourth in total yards, so they
went from thirty to twenty four.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And I think Allen got the end zone Eliza Russia.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, in twenty twenty, when suddenly he became a genius,
they went the second in the league. Well they also
that was the year they traded for stuff on.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Day Diggs and Allen really developed, whether it was day
ball or off the field or both or you know, who.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Knows, who knows, And then they were fifth in twenty
twenty one, number one in points, and then last year
with the Giants eighteenth in offense.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So fact with average talent and be yes, right.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So I mean people killing a play caller over this stuff.
Sometimes it's just a match, you know. Again, as as
Alan got better and more, he got his feet under
him a little bit, surprisingly enough, their offense got better.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And that's one example. But there's thousands of them or
hundreds of them.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
He got smart.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You can only give your quarterback what they can handle, too,
you know what I mean. And I'm not saying Allen's
dumb or Picket's dumb and they can't handle things. It's
just they haven't done it. You know, you got to
be in this play in the stadium, as coach says,
and be able to trust them to make these adjustments.
And you know, if you're going to kill a coordinator
for boy, this is really simplistic. Well maybe that's all
your rookie can handle. Yeah, you know, I mean that's
(05:38):
just the things we don't know. You know, you never do.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah. So looking here at Kenny Pickett or you know,
in terms of what they wrote about him here on
CBS Sports. Uh, the Steelers gone nineteen straight seasons without
a losing record, which is just one shy of tying
the record in the Super Bowl era. Last year was
a close call, however, as the Steelers rebounded from a
two to six finish to finish nine and eight. The
Steelers had to win their final four games to get
(06:02):
to nine wins. Pickets one hundred and eighty four point
nine passing yards per game ranked twenty eighth in the NFL.
There's some caveats to that because that includes the games
that he came in at halftime against the Jets to
replace Pitch. It also includes the game against the Ravens
where he getting knocked out. So basically there's some contest. Yeah,
there's some context here. His seven passing touchdowns ranked thirty third.
(06:26):
The numbers themselves aren't impressive, but Picketts showed plenty of
potential in twenty twenty two pickets rookie campaign with a
tail of two halves. As he threw just one interception
in his final eight games. That's I don't think you
could talk about that enough, right right, One interception in
eight games for a quarterback, any quarterback quarterback is outstanding.
(06:46):
One interception over eight games for a rookie quarterback is
unheard as rare.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, it absolutely is. And yes, they ran the ball better,
but it wasn't like they didn't throw right, you know,
they it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Was thirty throws a game, but they still threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So and I know some of these stats you can
kind of look at with a grain of salt, but
he was during that stretch. He was very high in
epa versus the rest of the league. He was the
best or second to best in turnover worthy plays. And
that's a little subjective, but still, there was only one
pick and I'm sure all of our listeners.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
He wasn't putting the ball in harm's way.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
It wasn't like, boy, he got super lucky and they
dropped five interceptions, you know, I mean, that's not what
happened during that stretch. And it's a short game stretch.
And again, this is kind of a I wanna say
it's a made up stat, but it's a pro football stat.
Big big throw or big time row percentage. He was
like third or fourth in the league. So he made
throws that were there. Weren't a ton of them. There
(07:40):
wasn't a lot of volume passing, but it was efficient
as could be. And it was you know, a high
degree of difficulty. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And oh, by the way, that's that second half schedule
that everybody well, they went seven and two against a
bad schedule in that too. That's the schedule that they
have for the entire season this year.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
It also wasn't creampuff creampuff, creampuff freepuff, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Mean, there were Bengals were in there, The Ravens were
in there twice. Yeah, yeah, you know, in weeks ten
through seventeen, Pickett had three fourth quarter comebacks and four
game winning drives per Pro Football Reference. Two came in
back to back games in week sixteen and seventeen to
keep the Steelers in the win column. It's rather impressive
Pickett answered to Bell as a rookie in the fourth
quarter late in the year. With multiple additions on the
(08:21):
offensive line weapons like Deontay Johnson, Young, George Pickens, Pat
Fryarm with Darnel Washington, Najia Harris and Jalen Warren, Pickett
is very much a candidate to make a big second
year jump. Now, this isn't us, This isn't us talking
on Steelers Nation Radio. This is a national website talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
And we often reference a lot of the national sites
and we agree with some we disagree with others. I
think that was very well written. You know, I thought
that nailed it because some people would look at that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That's why we have and you know, the feelings that
we have about this.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And again I thought he showed he belonged. Yeah, you know,
to me, if you're a rookie quarterback, even if you're
in the best of circumstances, well, those guys don't look
like they and some of that's just not numbers or anything.
Because he looked like he belongs and the fact that
the fourth quarter comebacks and making big plays late in games,
loud environments, you know, stressful situations. I think he has that.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, that's to me that you know, the big difference
between him and brock Purdy, like when people are lauding
brock Purdy and ranking him in the top fifteen quarter like, Okay,
when did he where were the big time throws? Where
were the When was he asked to do a bunch,
not a lot, not a lot, No, not a lot.
They had a good football team and he went out
there and did what he had to do. And kudos
to him for doing that. Oh he didn't lose those
(09:34):
games for them, but right, he didn't win him either.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
He didn't get as much preseason reps as Pickett did
and those guys or development you know. But now, I mean,
good for him, but it was one of the best
defense in the league with maybe the best weapons in
the league.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, with Tony obviously the trade to Kansas City is
he to remember one?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean not Kelsey of course, but a laud receiver.
He's the most inconsistent receiver that I can remember. But
I do you think there's something to be said for
almost all the receivers their rookie year or when they
get to Kansas City struggle because it's such a complex offense.
You know, everyone's killing sky Moore for his rookie year. Well,
(10:12):
I think they're gonna do the same thing with Rashi
Rice and like, I'd rather sky Moore this year in
the second year. And Tony is some of that too.
He had to get on a moving train, but he flashed.
He always flashes.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Then they have Abraham Lucas the offensive tackle for the Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Ok, it's pretty good as a rookie. Yeah, if you
can take a big step forward, your.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Boy Chicken kwonko on Conklo, I should say with the Titans,
targets have to go up dramatically. At forty six last year,
I bet that's doubles.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah. Ni Kobe Dean with the Eagles, he hardly played.
They're counting on him. I mean, they didn't do much
a linebacker and they lost their two.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Starters Jeremiah Auoso Coromoa.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You would hope, and I think that's very possible. Yeah,
I mean I like the player, and the d line
around him is much better than it was.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah. And then Drake Jackson defense e end for the
forty nine.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Ers he has. He was a healthy scratch at times
late in the year. Yeah he didn't. He flashed, but
he did not have a tremendous rookie year. Maybe you
know the opportunities there.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
But not the names like these aren't. Yeah, they're not
picking out household names here. This guy, this first round
draft pick, is gonna splash issue like they they dug
a little bit deeper.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I mean, you could maybe put Sam Howe on that equation.
Who knows, but at least he's gonna get a chance
to you know.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
But you know the fact that the Pickett is on
that list, like I expect him to far exceed what
Mac Jones did last year.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, If he has a sophomore season like Mac Jones
did not all max fault, that would really startle me.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
That would be very alarment. It would be troublesome.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean, then then you're maybe I mean, honestly, if
I'm the Patriots, this is make a break time for
Jones like that. We can excuse it a little bit
with Patricia and some of that, but the Patriots could
be looking for a quarterback next year.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, absolutely, he is. Matt Williamson, I am Dale, Lollie.
You're listening to this special edition of the Drive here
on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are
live from the Steelers OTA session here at the upmc
rooney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more right after this.
A lot of Steelers.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We are always talking black and gold on SNR.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Welcome back. I am Dale, Lollie. He is Matt Williamson,
and this is a special edition of the Drive here
on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are
live here at the Steeler OTA sessions here at the
team finishing up. It's practice here on day two of
these OTAs, and we're expected here to be joined by
new cornerback Patrick Peterson here at any moment when they
(12:51):
wrap things up over on the other field there, So
if people haven't been here, there are four fields out
here right right, two for the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
For Pitt They're all parallel to each other. Yeah, you know,
it is.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
A big plot of grass and then well the far
the far far field is a turf field that pit uses.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Do you remember how long ago that was and back
in my era that was not a field, turf field.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
It's been there for a good while. Now. Yeah, in fact,
they did. I think they replaced it recently recently, so
it's probably been at least ten years, because that's those
things usually last about that long. But yeah, so you know,
Pitt has lights over there. They practice under the lights
and stuff like that. The Steelers don't do that. They
got rules about those things.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Well, they're also don't have to go to class all day.
That's a big part of it as well.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, they do go to class, but they don't.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Well, right, they go to class and they can practicate them.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
They want you come into the building, you you go
to classroom work effect. That's one of the things. So
they'll do these things and then a lot of the
after these practices, they'll go up and watch the film
of it.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Oh yeah, yeah, one hundredercent, you know, no doubt about it.
So I don't know if this has changed. But the
Steelers really ever used the two pit fields. The Panthers
never used the Steeler Yeah, they don't except for summer camps.
They allowed us to. We'd have like a team passing camp.
We'd have you know, high school's galore here and they
let us use all four And that was the only
time and the indoor because we had a million people
(14:14):
here for camps. Yeah, I think that's the only time.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Uh, there's the horn for the end of prostress. The
team is over there gathering to break it on down
and we will be joined here by Patrick Peterson. H
quick talk to.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I mean, there's so many angles we can go with
with this guy. We only get the best, right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So Michael Birch, who's the Steelers, he's one of their
PR guys, sent me a says, what guys do you
want to talk to here at these training camp but
or these OTA sessions. I'm like, oh, usually I shot
high I am with those things, and uh, well, so
far we're two for two two.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah. Cole Holcombe was great yesterday. I'm sure people can
find that on Steelers Dot Calm. I'm sure, yeah, or
the Drive Download podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Go check that out to check that out.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He was fun to talk to. But I'm really looking
for or to Pat Pete.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, Pat Pete hall of famer.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I think so, I think very much.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I think he's one of the absolute best corners of
this generation and should be a tremendous role model mentor
for the young guys.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, I think that's one of the reasons that
he was brought in. The other YEA being that he
can still play. Yeah, as he showed last year when
he uh sixty six tackles, five interceptions last year again
take the ball away, there's something he said. There's something
to be said for that. And he's got thirty four
interceptions in his career, and you know, people might look
(15:36):
at that as a well, it's only thirty four interceptions. Remember,
for a long time in his career he's he's just
you're you're playing straight up man to man and nobody
throws at you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
He did some Revis Island stuff at this time too,
and there was I mean, corners are a little not
as sticky as some positions as the best in the league.
Weird year, and some of that's because people just don't
go your way. But he was basically the corner of
football for five years, you know, I mean might have
been number one all five of those years, but over
a five years, strac.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
He's in that conversation every year every year.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, every year, did a lot of following, a lot
of Revis Island stuff. Less of that last year with
the Vikings more zone, but I mean I don't think
that he's not able to do it anymore or anything like.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
That now, as he said in his introductory press conference,
like I could still do that, just don't ask me
to do it. You know, forty consecutive plays.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Right, you have Jamar Chase and we're gonna play ten
on half. Like, I don't think that's happening, not to
that level.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And that's you know, that's understanding where you're at as
a professional, right at this point in your career.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I mean, the great Rod Woodson moved the safety, you know,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
The woods and Twins as I like to call him,
even though I aren't.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Absolutely, but they were Charles Woodson.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Two h two Hall of Fame guys that made that transition.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
No, you got to know who you are. And he'll
be he looks.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Like he's on his way here now. So we'll get this.
Uh get this in interview kicked off here, but looking
forward to this.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
One, don't know. I mean, the LSU has put out
tremendous defensive backs.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
He's the godfight, He's like the godfather.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
He's kind of like the Deon Sanders in terms of
respect from that group.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Absolutely, and so we're pleased to be now joined now
by Patrick Peterson. Uh. Patrick, pleased to have you on
the show here today, And uh, I know you're a
little tired and sweaty and running around out there, but
you're also a pro at this. This is not anything
new for you to sit down and do a little radio.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, not at all. It's always good to you know,
the recap, practicing the seasons I've had in my career,
so and also being here with a new franchise and
new organization, new teammates is always a blast.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
How's that going, And welcome to Pittsburgh. It's great to
have you.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, thank you very much for going really well, you know,
being out here for the last two weeks, getting to
know the guys, getting to getting the defense, you know,
really understanding of the defense, and just really just building
that that chemistry as a defensive back unit that we
were gonna need throughout this long season. So it's a
lot of new faces in the room, a lot of
(18:05):
talented guys in the room. Now. You know, once July hit,
you know, we have to continue find sharpen than our too,
so when the season comes around, we'll be ready to roll.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Now. A lot of people come from football families obviously. Yeah,
you don't come from just a football family. You come
from a cornerback family. Yes, I mean it's it's it's
pretty unique that you see like the Manning brothers and
and stuff like that, but you don't often see like, Okay,
these guys are all cornerbacks, right, what's that like for?
You know?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Man? You know b Mac he was the one that
started it out for us. Then you got a waterman
watermate Fatten, and then myself. I guess it was just
appealing to us. Man. You know, all of us was
very fast. We had, you know, a unique skill position
on the offensive side of the ball, but you have
to depend on so many people on the office side.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Nobody wanted to.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Have a good quarterback. You gotta have a good line
to protect the quarterback to get the ball down the field.
And when I started watching Brian play and the swag
that he had, he just started telling me, like, you
control your own destiny as a quarterback. You know, if
you want to be as good as you want to be,
go out there and shut down receivers as a receiver.
If you want to be as good as you want
to be, you need a good quarterback. Right. You need
(19:21):
a good bobs in line, you need a good play caller,
you know what I mean. So there's so much that
has to go in into being a prominent and a
dominant offensive players just defense that I believe it just
came easier to me. And at the end of the day,
I feel like I can control my own fate and
also play as long as I wanted to versus taking
blows and giving the blow right.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Right, Okay, Well, I guess that leads me to my
next question. You've had a tremendous career. I think it's
a Hall of Fame career, but you know you're probably
not going to be on your own island every stat right,
where do you there?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
And done that?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
It's not much tread left on the tire. But you know,
I'm definitely, you know, putting myself and my body in
the best position possible so I can continue to be
successful as I want to be. You know, we all
know the older you get, you lose a step. I
understand that, but I'm not losing this. You know, I'm
still sharp. I still understand what defense offenses want to
(20:24):
do and try to attack me and not defensive scheme.
So I believe that's something that's going to help me
stay in this stay in this game as long as
I can, because my mental side of the game is
much sharper than you know, my physical attributes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And your attributes are pretty good physically.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You're starting from a higher floorida a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So when when I talked to Brian a few weeks
ago about you, and I said, do you see him
maybe pulling a Charles or Rob Woodson here and playing
into your late thirties, I mean, do you have that
desire to do something like that and maybe make a
transition to safety.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Well, you know, my goal was always to at least
get fourteen, and my goal was to get fourteen at cornerback,
And that.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Was always my de that why is that number?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Because if you go back and look at guys that's
in the Hall of Fame, you know, those guys played
twelve plus years, you know. So if you're if you're
having that body of work and sustaining it for that
period of time, it's a nine time to out of ten,
you're going to be in the Hall. So when I
was coming out, even in high school, I was like,
if I want to be in the Hall, of fame.
If I want to be considered as one of these guys,
(21:33):
a I can't not only play good, but to it
has to be longevity. It has to be longevity exactly
because that defined greatness. You just can't be greatful a
year or two here they fall off the face of
the earth and we don't hear about.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
It no more.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And you see that a lot of corner no years.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And so for me, if I was able to get
that fourteen and still be able to sustain the success
that I did in my early career, I feel it.
You know I can. I can write myself in the
history book, but you know it's still a long way
from now and where I just have to keep praying
and leave it in God's hands.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Good. We were talking that before he came on about
your your trip to your your journey that took you
to LSU, And I talked to Brian about that as well,
and he said, you kind of wanted to be like
the Godfather of you wouldn't to start your own kind
of tradition and you really did that at LSU.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Yeah, And that was my goal going there as well.
You know, I had all the big Power five schools
coming after me. But what caught my eye, and it's
the god on the street. What caught my eye at
l s U is that they never had a Gym
Thorpe winner every every school that I went to, USC,
Florida State, Florida.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
And they're probably selling you on that.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Actly when I saw that first. Yeah, my point is acting.
So when I saw him, like, man, you got all
these guys at these major universities that that are Jim
Thought winners, but LSU don't have one. And on top
of that, the whole secondary was leading, So it was
very easy for me to come in there and play
right now, right and the rest of his history. Man,
(23:06):
I was, you know, men, how crazy is this? Me
and Mink one of three players with the Chuck Bettanerk
and the the Jim Thorpe and now we're on the
same team. Wow, Me, Minka and Charles Woodson the only
players in college history to get both of those trophies
in the same year.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That's a really unique perspective. I used to do recruiting
next door, and that that's then angle I never would
have thought of, you know, And I don't think it's
an accident that the LSU defensive backs post Patrick Peterson
are better than the ones before because they want to
follow you, much like Dion at Florida.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
State or exactly that. That was my whole goal when
I did pick a university, and it all fell in
my lap.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
What made this team so attractive for you?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
What what brought you here? Uh?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Coach Tomlin for one, you know, just just just having
an opportunity, you know, have them, had them on my
podcast a couple of times, you know, played against him
a bunch and just seeing how he ran the team
from Afar. Always was a big fan and exactly whipping
Max So always was a fan of coach from Afar.
(24:11):
And his team's always prepared winning season every year. So
therefore he's given his guys an opportunity not only to win,
but get into the hunt. And that's what a season
there's there's a whole new season once you get into
the into the hunt. So coach always have his team
very prepared. And I'm just very, very excited to be
a part of end. I can't wait to hear some
(24:32):
of these famous quotes that he always done.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
You will hear the Patrick last year. I'm not making
fun of the Vikings defense in any way, but it
wasn't the real diverse scene. Do you expect things to
be a lot different from a playbook? Stand for here, oh,
last year, I bet it's night and dad.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Yeah, it's definitely night and day, you know. And there
in Minnesota last year, it was a lot of eyes
on the quarterback. Yeah, a lot of guys just where
we were relying on, you know, our edge rushers to
get there, and then teams start max protecting us, and
it just made it difficult for us to be successful
because when you're running a zone defense, all the receivers
have to do is get into you know, the holes
(25:11):
and the windows of the zone defense and the quarterback
and just deliver a strike there, especially when we're relying
on four pass rushers to get there and they're blocking
with seven impossible, you know. So and we had those
things in our playbook, but that wasn't coach style. You know,
he came he's a Bangio disciples, so you know, those
(25:33):
guys like to depend on their edge, the edge control,
that's what they call it edge control exactly. So it
was just, you know, that's just something that coach lived with.
And I'm gonna tell you what really saved us as turnovers?
I mean, we was probably I can't remember where we landed,
but I know we was top six in turnovers. And
now I believe that's something that that Yes, that's something
(25:54):
that definitely helped us continue to win ball games as
as bad as our defense was yardage wise.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Real quick, if I can just double down you guys,
Steelers grabbed another defensive back from that grip too. I mean,
what are they getting in chanting?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Oh Man Sully. He's a smart player, tough player. He's
a guy that fit, that fits this Pittsburgh mentality. He's
a guy that's gonna stick his face in the.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Fan mostly from the slot, no doubt about him.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Mostly from the slot. High competitor guy. And like I said,
he's a I think Shannon is going into year seven
if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
So well look but yeah you're I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah you're seven. So he you know, he's been around
the league the six year six, so he's been in
some big time games. He understands, you know, the ramifications
of games and getting his body and stuff prepared. So
we're definitely happy to have another veteran presence in the
room in Shannon.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I bet he's happy to follow you here to no doubt.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Actually, I was like share that, I think this this
might be a spot that you want to come check out.
And I'm sure he ended up signing.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Speaking of of that, one last question here for you,
the Steelers go out and they draft two young cornerbacks
who physically have a similar skill set.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Both of those guys like Amazons arms Man. I mean,
I mean, I honestly, I think the biggest corner I've
seen in the league was Jimmy Williams if you got
to remember that. Yeah, And I was like, this guy's
huge as the linebacker, but just seeing Trice and Enjoey
Jesus Christ. But it's it's it's awesome to see, you know,
(27:37):
the change in defensive back because I can remember in
the nineties, every corner was five eight yeah, you know,
didn't when he got into early two thousand and it
started getting five to ten. Then, you know, mid two thousand,
that's when you wanted to get six one six six
foot and taller corners because the receivers started getting bigger,
Stevens started getting faster, so you wanted to be able
to match the same size attributes outside of so it
(28:00):
won't be such a disadvantage.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I mean, you had to be one of the biggest
corners the league when you got driving. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Me and Sherman. Yeah, Man, Sherman was the biggest corners
coming out, and he always he always pulled my leg
about it. It's like, Man, I think we started something new.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Man.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Everybody, Patrick Peters and Richard Sherman's now home model.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah. Well, I'm gonna hayname higher right, maybe a couple
of all of famers. Our guest has been Patrick Peterson,
the Steelers new cornerback. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly.
You're listening to this special edition of The Drive here
from steel on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine to seventy.
We're live from the Steelers Ota Sessions here at the
up mc roney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more
(28:39):
right after this
Welcome back to this special edition of The Drive. I'm
Dale Alli. He is Matt Williamson, and we are live
from the Steelers Ota session here at the upmc rooney
Sports Complex. We're also on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN
nine seven. I don't know if I said that or not,
but man, I was looking here. We're talking a lot
about Kenny Pickett. Yeah, wouldn't we And I'm looking here
(00:40):
on the CBS Sports dot Com and I have seven
NFL players set for breakout seasons in twenty twenty three.
Kenny Pickett and Kadarius Tony headline the list.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's their headline. Okay, I can see both those players.
I mean that references a lot. I play a lot
of Dynasty and you know a lot of Best Ball.
I've been into this year too. I've been grabbing Pickett
everywhere I can. I mean, his stock is low. I
think his production has to go up. I'm not saying
he's going to be Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert and
you know, be a massive, massive producer, but I think
it's a great bylow time production.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Put it this way, Matt, So last year, at this time,
you could get say Daniel Jones for next to nothing, right.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Right, right, And in the fantasy world he's worth a lot,
a lot or fields or you know, one of these.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Guys, right, I know, by the way, Jones, you know,
got the Giants into the playoffs and they won a game,
like you know, he's not the you know they're paying
gave him money, and they gave him money. That's why
he was going there. Yeah, I mean they they gave
him money because they now think that he is the answer.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, he's the He's the band in New York as
much as Kenny is here.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, so you know that that's just perception changes quickly
on those guys.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Sure, I mean they didn't this time last year. The
Giants had not picked up his fifth year option, which
is pricier and not as not as easy as people think.
That doesn't mean they hate you, but it's still there
was a lot of questions new coach that hadn't hand
picked them. And it was a successful year. I mean,
I don't think we're saying he's gonna be one of
the best quarterbacks in the league. I think Kenny could
(02:05):
make every bit the jump that Jones did, though, Yeah,
you know last year, this year, I.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Think he's a better passer.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think he's a better passer. Yeah, I think she's
a feel better I think he's got better pocket awareness too.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
And he's got better weapons. We met that Giants white
wide receiver curse is real? Is real? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I mean I'm being very impressed with day Ball as
an offensive play caller, and he's gotten a lot out
of those guys. But there wasn't great players around him.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
It's funny you mentioned that because I mentioned this on
the show earlier this year. Dayball. You look at Brian
day Ball's maturation or his his progression as a play caller.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
He was a Saban guy at Alabama, and I'm trying
to think where he was before Buffalo. He may may
have hired him from Bama. I'm not certain.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
So I see if they have his points per game here.
I can't remember where I found that at, but.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I remember referenced the other day and I didn't know where.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You just got to find it here Pro Football Reference.
Herea Brian day Ball record and statistics. This is a
good radio should have had this call up ear so
in his first three seasons as the Giants or the Bills. Bills. Yeah,
in twenty eighteen, the Bills ranked let's see here, they
(03:20):
were twenty eighth in points.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Real quick, while you look at that. When they took
over that Bills team, they were in cap hell and
they had nothing to build around, and they ended up
making the playoffs and really were like the flukiest team
in the league, you know, like expectations were really low
and they were. I think that's when they drafted Allen who.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Was Allen's rookie year. Yeah, awful, awful. Allen's rookie year
was worse than Kenny Pickett's by far.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Oh it's not really close. Yeah, it really isn't. And
there's a couple, i mean, well accomplished quarterbacks of lates
that were well worn below pickets.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Now, the next year they jumped to tenth.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, I think that's when they traded for Digs.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Twenty nineteen. Twenty twenty, I think was then they traded forth.
But if you look at the you know they were
I see if that's right there, they were eighteenth in.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Total yards, okay, but high in points.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Or twenty fourth in total yards, I should say. So
some of that was on the was the defense making
some plays?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, don't quote me on this, but I think their
defense scored a lot that year. Yeah, they were really
good for you know, like.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Fifth, they were twenty fourth in total yards, so they
went from thirty to twenty four.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And I think Allen got the end zone Eliza Russia.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, in twenty twenty, when suddenly he became a genius,
they went the second in the league. Well they also
that was the year they traded for stuff on.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Day Diggs and Allen really developed, whether it was day
ball or off the field or both or you know, who.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Knows, who knows, And then they were fifth in twenty
twenty one, number one in points, and then last year
with the Giants eighteenth in offense.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
So fact with average talent and be yes, right.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So I mean people killing a play caller over this stuff.
Sometimes it's just a match, you know. Again, as as
Alan got better and more, he got his feet under
him a little bit, surprisingly enough, their offense got better.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And that's one example. But there's thousands of them or
hundreds of them.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
He got smart.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You can only give your quarterback what they can handle, too,
you know what I mean. And I'm not saying Allen's
dumb or Picket's dumb and they can't handle things. It's
just they haven't done it. You know, you got to
be in this play in the stadium, as coach says,
and be able to trust them to make these adjustments.
And you know, if you're going to kill a coordinator
for boy, this is really simplistic. Well maybe that's all
your rookie can handle. Yeah, you know, I mean that's
(05:38):
just the things we don't know. You know, you never do.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah. So looking here at Kenny Pickett or you know,
in terms of what they wrote about him here on
CBS Sports. Uh, the Steelers gone nineteen straight seasons without
a losing record, which is just one shy of tying
the record in the Super Bowl era. Last year was
a close call, however, as the Steelers rebounded from a
two to six finish to finish nine and eight. The
Steelers had to win their final four games to get
(06:02):
to nine wins. Pickets one hundred and eighty four point
nine passing yards per game ranked twenty eighth in the NFL.
There's some caveats to that because that includes the games
that he came in at halftime against the Jets to
replace Pitch. It also includes the game against the Ravens
where he getting knocked out. So basically there's some contest. Yeah,
there's some context here. His seven passing touchdowns ranked thirty third.
(06:26):
The numbers themselves aren't impressive, but Picketts showed plenty of
potential in twenty twenty two pickets rookie campaign with a
tail of two halves. As he threw just one interception
in his final eight games. That's I don't think you
could talk about that enough, right right, One interception in
eight games for a quarterback, any quarterback quarterback is outstanding.
(06:46):
One interception over eight games for a rookie quarterback is
unheard as rare.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, it absolutely is. And yes, they ran the ball better,
but it wasn't like they didn't throw right, you know,
they it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Was thirty throws a game, but they still threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
So and I know some of these stats you can
kind of look at with a grain of salt, but
he was during that stretch. He was very high in
epa versus the rest of the league. He was the
best or second to best in turnover worthy plays. And
that's a little subjective, but still, there was only one
pick and I'm sure all of our listeners.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
He wasn't putting the ball in harm's way.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
It wasn't like, boy, he got super lucky and they
dropped five interceptions, you know, I mean, that's not what
happened during that stretch. And it's a short game stretch.
And again, this is kind of a I wanna say
it's a made up stat, but it's a pro football stat.
Big big throw or big time row percentage. He was
like third or fourth in the league. So he made
throws that were there. Weren't a ton of them. There
(07:40):
wasn't a lot of volume passing, but it was efficient
as could be. And it was you know, a high
degree of difficulty. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And oh, by the way, that's that second half schedule
that everybody well, they went seven and two against a
bad schedule in that too. That's the schedule that they
have for the entire season this year.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
It also wasn't creampuff creampuff, creampuff freepuff, you know, I.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Mean, there were Bengals were in there, The Ravens were
in there twice. Yeah, yeah, you know, in weeks ten
through seventeen, Pickett had three fourth quarter comebacks and four
game winning drives per Pro Football Reference. Two came in
back to back games in week sixteen and seventeen to
keep the Steelers in the win column. It's rather impressive
Pickett answered to Bell as a rookie in the fourth
quarter late in the year. With multiple additions on the
(08:21):
offensive line weapons like Deontay Johnson, Young, George Pickens, Pat
Fryarm with Darnel Washington, Najia Harris and Jalen Warren, Pickett
is very much a candidate to make a big second
year jump. Now, this isn't us, This isn't us talking
on Steelers Nation Radio. This is a national website talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
And we often reference a lot of the national sites
and we agree with some we disagree with others. I
think that was very well written. You know, I thought
that nailed it because some people would look at that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
That's why we have and you know, the feelings that
we have about this.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And again I thought he showed he belonged. Yeah, you know,
to me, if you're a rookie quarterback, even if you're
in the best of circumstances, well, those guys don't look
like they and some of that's just not numbers or anything.
Because he looked like he belongs and the fact that
the fourth quarter comebacks and making big plays late in games,
loud environments, you know, stressful situations. I think he has that.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, that's to me that you know, the big difference
between him and brock Purdy, like when people are lauding
brock Purdy and ranking him in the top fifteen quarter like, Okay,
when did he where were the big time throws? Where
were the When was he asked to do a bunch,
not a lot, not a lot, No, not a lot.
They had a good football team and he went out
there and did what he had to do. And kudos
to him for doing that. Oh he didn't lose those
(09:34):
games for them, but right, he didn't win him either.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
He didn't get as much preseason reps as Pickett did
and those guys or development you know. But now, I mean,
good for him, but it was one of the best
defense in the league with maybe the best weapons in
the league.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, with Tony obviously the trade to Kansas City is
he to remember one?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean not Kelsey of course, but a laud receiver.
He's the most inconsistent receiver that I can remember. But
I do you think there's something to be said for
almost all the receivers their rookie year or when they
get to Kansas City struggle because it's such a complex offense.
You know, everyone's killing sky Moore for his rookie year. Well,
(10:12):
I think they're gonna do the same thing with Rashi
Rice and like, I'd rather sky Moore this year in
the second year. And Tony is some of that too.
He had to get on a moving train, but he flashed.
He always flashes.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Then they have Abraham Lucas the offensive tackle for the Seahawks.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Ok, it's pretty good as a rookie. Yeah, if you
can take a big step forward, your.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Boy Chicken kwonko on Conklo, I should say with the Titans,
targets have to go up dramatically. At forty six last year,
I bet that's doubles.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah. Ni Kobe Dean with the Eagles, he hardly played.
They're counting on him. I mean, they didn't do much
a linebacker and they lost their two.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Starters Jeremiah Auoso Coromoa.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You would hope, and I think that's very possible. Yeah,
I mean I like the player, and the d line
around him is much better than it was.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah. And then Drake Jackson defense e end for the
forty nine.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Ers he has. He was a healthy scratch at times
late in the year. Yeah he didn't. He flashed, but
he did not have a tremendous rookie year. Maybe you
know the opportunities there.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
But not the names like these aren't. Yeah, they're not
picking out household names here. This guy, this first round
draft pick, is gonna splash issue like they they dug
a little bit deeper.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I mean, you could maybe put Sam Howe on that equation.
Who knows, but at least he's gonna get a chance
to you know.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
But you know the fact that the Pickett is on
that list, like I expect him to far exceed what
Mac Jones did last year.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, If he has a sophomore season like Mac Jones
did not all max fault, that would really startle me.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
That would be very alarment. It would be troublesome.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I mean, then then you're maybe I mean, honestly, if
I'm the Patriots, this is make a break time for
Jones like that. We can excuse it a little bit
with Patricia and some of that, but the Patriots could
be looking for a quarterback next year.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Yeah, absolutely, he is. Matt Williamson, I am Dale, Lollie.
You're listening to this special edition of the Drive here
on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are
live from the Steelers OTA session here at the upmc
rooney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more right after this.
A lot of Steelers.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
We are always talking black and gold on SNR.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Welcome back. I am Dale, Lollie. He is Matt Williamson,
and this is a special edition of the Drive here
on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. We are
live here at the Steeler OTA sessions here at the
team finishing up. It's practice here on day two of
these OTAs, and we're expected here to be joined by
new cornerback Patrick Peterson here at any moment when they
(12:51):
wrap things up over on the other field there, So
if people haven't been here, there are four fields out
here right right, two for the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
For Pitt They're all parallel to each other. Yeah, you know,
it is.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
A big plot of grass and then well the far
the far far field is a turf field that pit uses.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Do you remember how long ago that was and back
in my era that was not a field, turf field.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
It's been there for a good while. Now. Yeah, in fact,
they did. I think they replaced it recently recently, so
it's probably been at least ten years, because that's those
things usually last about that long. But yeah, so you know,
Pitt has lights over there. They practice under the lights
and stuff like that. The Steelers don't do that. They
got rules about those things.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Well, they're also don't have to go to class all day.
That's a big part of it as well.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, they do go to class, but they don't.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Well, right, they go to class and they can practicate them.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
They want you come into the building, you you go
to classroom work effect. That's one of the things. So
they'll do these things and then a lot of the
after these practices, they'll go up and watch the film
of it.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Oh yeah, yeah, one hundredercent, you know, no doubt about it.
So I don't know if this has changed. But the
Steelers really ever used the two pit fields. The Panthers
never used the Steeler Yeah, they don't except for summer camps.
They allowed us to. We'd have like a team passing camp.
We'd have you know, high school's galore here and they
let us use all four And that was the only
time and the indoor because we had a million people
(14:14):
here for camps. Yeah, I think that's the only time.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Uh, there's the horn for the end of prostress. The
team is over there gathering to break it on down
and we will be joined here by Patrick Peterson. H
quick talk to.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I mean, there's so many angles we can go with
with this guy. We only get the best, right.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So Michael Birch, who's the Steelers, he's one of their
PR guys, sent me a says, what guys do you
want to talk to here at these training camp but
or these OTA sessions. I'm like, oh, usually I shot
high I am with those things, and uh, well, so
far we're two for two two.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah. Cole Holcombe was great yesterday. I'm sure people can
find that on Steelers Dot Calm. I'm sure, yeah, or
the Drive Download podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Go check that out to check that out.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He was fun to talk to. But I'm really looking
for or to Pat Pete.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, Pat Pete hall of famer.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I think so, I think very much.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I think he's one of the absolute best corners of
this generation and should be a tremendous role model mentor
for the young guys.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah. Absolutely, I think that's one of the reasons that
he was brought in. The other YEA being that he
can still play. Yeah, as he showed last year when
he uh sixty six tackles, five interceptions last year again
take the ball away, there's something he said. There's something
to be said for that. And he's got thirty four
interceptions in his career, and you know, people might look
(15:36):
at that as a well, it's only thirty four interceptions. Remember,
for a long time in his career he's he's just
you're you're playing straight up man to man and nobody
throws at you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
No.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
He did some Revis Island stuff at this time too,
and there was I mean, corners are a little not
as sticky as some positions as the best in the league.
Weird year, and some of that's because people just don't
go your way. But he was basically the corner of
football for five years, you know, I mean might have
been number one all five of those years, but over
a five years, strac.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
He's in that conversation every year every year.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, every year, did a lot of following, a lot
of Revis Island stuff. Less of that last year with
the Vikings more zone, but I mean I don't think
that he's not able to do it anymore or anything like.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
That now, as he said in his introductory press conference,
like I could still do that, just don't ask me
to do it. You know, forty consecutive plays.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Right, you have Jamar Chase and we're gonna play ten
on half. Like, I don't think that's happening, not to
that level.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And that's you know, that's understanding where you're at as
a professional, right at this point in your career.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I mean, the great Rod Woodson moved the safety, you know,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
The woods and Twins as I like to call him,
even though I aren't.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Absolutely, but they were Charles Woodson.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Two h two Hall of Fame guys that made that transition.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
No, you got to know who you are. And he'll
be he looks.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Like he's on his way here now. So we'll get this.
Uh get this in interview kicked off here, but looking
forward to this.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
One, don't know. I mean, the LSU has put out
tremendous defensive backs.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
He's the godfight, He's like the godfather.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
He's kind of like the Deon Sanders in terms of
respect from that group.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Absolutely, and so we're pleased to be now joined now
by Patrick Peterson. Uh. Patrick, pleased to have you on
the show here today, And uh, I know you're a
little tired and sweaty and running around out there, but
you're also a pro at this. This is not anything
new for you to sit down and do a little radio.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, not at all. It's always good to you know,
the recap, practicing the seasons I've had in my career,
so and also being here with a new franchise and
new organization, new teammates is always a blast.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
How's that going, And welcome to Pittsburgh. It's great to
have you.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, thank you very much for going really well, you know,
being out here for the last two weeks, getting to
know the guys, getting to getting the defense, you know,
really understanding of the defense, and just really just building
that that chemistry as a defensive back unit that we
were gonna need throughout this long season. So it's a
lot of new faces in the room, a lot of
(18:05):
talented guys in the room. Now. You know, once July hit,
you know, we have to continue find sharpen than our too,
so when the season comes around, we'll be ready to roll.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Now. A lot of people come from football families obviously. Yeah,
you don't come from just a football family. You come
from a cornerback family. Yes, I mean it's it's it's
pretty unique that you see like the Manning brothers and
and stuff like that, but you don't often see like, Okay,
these guys are all cornerbacks, right, what's that like for?
You know?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Man? You know b Mac he was the one that
started it out for us. Then you got a waterman
watermate Fatten, and then myself. I guess it was just
appealing to us. Man. You know, all of us was
very fast. We had, you know, a unique skill position
on the offensive side of the ball, but you have
to depend on so many people on the office side.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Nobody wanted to.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Have a good quarterback. You gotta have a good line
to protect the quarterback to get the ball down the field.
And when I started watching Brian play and the swag
that he had, he just started telling me, like, you
control your own destiny as a quarterback. You know, if
you want to be as good as you want to be,
go out there and shut down receivers as a receiver.
If you want to be as good as you want
to be, you need a good quarterback. Right. You need
(19:21):
a good bobs in line, you need a good play caller,
you know what I mean. So there's so much that
has to go in into being a prominent and a
dominant offensive players just defense that I believe it just
came easier to me. And at the end of the day,
I feel like I can control my own fate and
also play as long as I wanted to versus taking
blows and giving the blow right.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Right, Okay, Well, I guess that leads me to my
next question. You've had a tremendous career. I think it's
a Hall of Fame career, but you know you're probably
not going to be on your own island every stat right,
where do you there?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
And done that?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
It's not much tread left on the tire. But you know,
I'm definitely, you know, putting myself and my body in
the best position possible so I can continue to be
successful as I want to be. You know, we all
know the older you get, you lose a step. I
understand that, but I'm not losing this. You know, I'm
still sharp. I still understand what defense offenses want to
(20:24):
do and try to attack me and not defensive scheme.
So I believe that's something that's going to help me
stay in this stay in this game as long as
I can, because my mental side of the game is
much sharper than you know, my physical attributes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And your attributes are pretty good physically.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You're starting from a higher floorida a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So when when I talked to Brian a few weeks
ago about you, and I said, do you see him
maybe pulling a Charles or Rob Woodson here and playing
into your late thirties, I mean, do you have that
desire to do something like that and maybe make a
transition to safety.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Well, you know, my goal was always to at least
get fourteen, and my goal was to get fourteen at cornerback,
And that.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Was always my de that why is that number?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Because if you go back and look at guys that's
in the Hall of Fame, you know, those guys played
twelve plus years, you know. So if you're if you're
having that body of work and sustaining it for that
period of time, it's a nine time to out of ten,
you're going to be in the Hall. So when I
was coming out, even in high school, I was like,
if I want to be in the Hall, of fame.
If I want to be considered as one of these guys,
(21:33):
a I can't not only play good, but to it
has to be longevity. It has to be longevity exactly
because that defined greatness. You just can't be greatful a
year or two here they fall off the face of
the earth and we don't hear about.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
It no more.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
And you see that a lot of corner no years.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
And so for me, if I was able to get
that fourteen and still be able to sustain the success
that I did in my early career, I feel it.
You know I can. I can write myself in the
history book, but you know it's still a long way
from now and where I just have to keep praying
and leave it in God's hands.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Good. We were talking that before he came on about
your your trip to your your journey that took you
to LSU, And I talked to Brian about that as well,
and he said, you kind of wanted to be like
the Godfather of you wouldn't to start your own kind
of tradition and you really did that at LSU.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Yeah, And that was my goal going there as well.
You know, I had all the big Power five schools
coming after me. But what caught my eye, and it's
the god on the street. What caught my eye at
l s U is that they never had a Gym
Thorpe winner every every school that I went to, USC,
Florida State, Florida.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
And they're probably selling you on that.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Actly when I saw that first. Yeah, my point is acting.
So when I saw him, like, man, you got all
these guys at these major universities that that are Jim
Thought winners, but LSU don't have one. And on top
of that, the whole secondary was leading, So it was
very easy for me to come in there and play
right now, right and the rest of his history. Man,
(23:06):
I was, you know, men, how crazy is this? Me
and Mink one of three players with the Chuck Bettanerk
and the the Jim Thorpe and now we're on the
same team. Wow, Me, Minka and Charles Woodson the only
players in college history to get both of those trophies
in the same year.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That's a really unique perspective. I used to do recruiting
next door, and that that's then angle I never would
have thought of, you know, And I don't think it's
an accident that the LSU defensive backs post Patrick Peterson
are better than the ones before because they want to
follow you, much like Dion at Florida.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
State or exactly that. That was my whole goal when
I did pick a university, and it all fell in
my lap.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
What made this team so attractive for you?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
What what brought you here? Uh?
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Coach Tomlin for one, you know, just just just having
an opportunity, you know, have them, had them on my
podcast a couple of times, you know, played against him
a bunch and just seeing how he ran the team
from Afar. Always was a big fan and exactly whipping
Max So always was a fan of coach from Afar.
(24:11):
And his team's always prepared winning season every year. So
therefore he's given his guys an opportunity not only to win,
but get into the hunt. And that's what a season
there's there's a whole new season once you get into
the into the hunt. So coach always have his team
very prepared. And I'm just very, very excited to be
a part of end. I can't wait to hear some
(24:32):
of these famous quotes that he always done.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
You will hear the Patrick last year. I'm not making
fun of the Vikings defense in any way, but it
wasn't the real diverse scene. Do you expect things to
be a lot different from a playbook? Stand for here, oh,
last year, I bet it's night and dad.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Yeah, it's definitely night and day, you know. And there
in Minnesota last year, it was a lot of eyes
on the quarterback. Yeah, a lot of guys just where
we were relying on, you know, our edge rushers to
get there, and then teams start max protecting us, and
it just made it difficult for us to be successful
because when you're running a zone defense, all the receivers
have to do is get into you know, the holes
(25:11):
and the windows of the zone defense and the quarterback
and just deliver a strike there, especially when we're relying
on four pass rushers to get there and they're blocking
with seven impossible, you know. So and we had those
things in our playbook, but that wasn't coach style. You know,
he came he's a Bangio disciples, so you know, those
(25:33):
guys like to depend on their edge, the edge control,
that's what they call it edge control exactly. So it
was just, you know, that's just something that coach lived with.
And I'm gonna tell you what really saved us as turnovers?
I mean, we was probably I can't remember where we landed,
but I know we was top six in turnovers. And
now I believe that's something that that Yes, that's something
(25:54):
that definitely helped us continue to win ball games as
as bad as our defense was yardage wise.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Real quick, if I can just double down you guys,
Steelers grabbed another defensive back from that grip too. I mean,
what are they getting in chanting?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Oh Man Sully. He's a smart player, tough player. He's
a guy that fit, that fits this Pittsburgh mentality. He's
a guy that's gonna stick his face in the.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Fan mostly from the slot, no doubt about him.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Mostly from the slot. High competitor guy. And like I said,
he's a I think Shannon is going into year seven
if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
So well look but yeah you're I think you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Yeah you're seven. So he you know, he's been around
the league the six year six, so he's been in
some big time games. He understands, you know, the ramifications
of games and getting his body and stuff prepared. So
we're definitely happy to have another veteran presence in the
room in Shannon.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I bet he's happy to follow you here to no doubt.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Actually, I was like share that, I think this this
might be a spot that you want to come check out.
And I'm sure he ended up signing.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
Speaking of of that, one last question here for you,
the Steelers go out and they draft two young cornerbacks
who physically have a similar skill set.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Both of those guys like Amazons arms Man. I mean,
I mean, I honestly, I think the biggest corner I've
seen in the league was Jimmy Williams if you got
to remember that. Yeah, And I was like, this guy's
huge as the linebacker, but just seeing Trice and Enjoey
Jesus Christ. But it's it's it's awesome to see, you know,
(27:37):
the change in defensive back because I can remember in
the nineties, every corner was five eight yeah, you know,
didn't when he got into early two thousand and it
started getting five to ten. Then, you know, mid two thousand,
that's when you wanted to get six one six six
foot and taller corners because the receivers started getting bigger,
Stevens started getting faster, so you wanted to be able
to match the same size attributes outside of so it
(28:00):
won't be such a disadvantage.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
I mean, you had to be one of the biggest
corners the league when you got driving. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Me and Sherman. Yeah, Man, Sherman was the biggest corners
coming out, and he always he always pulled my leg
about it. It's like, Man, I think we started something new.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Man.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Everybody, Patrick Peters and Richard Sherman's now home model.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah. Well, I'm gonna hayname higher right, maybe a couple
of all of famers. Our guest has been Patrick Peterson,
the Steelers new cornerback. He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lolly.
You're listening to this special edition of The Drive here
from steel on Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine to seventy.
We're live from the Steelers Ota Sessions here at the
up mc roney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more
(28:39):
right after this
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