May 29, 2025 • 28 mins
The Steelers have four guys on the O-Line entering either their second or third season plus veteran Isaac Seumalo, so does this group have the potential to be the best the Steelers have had since the peak of the Pouncey/DeCasetro era.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
So I told you in that first episode, Jake, of
how in I was at OTAs of just the size
of these these absolute specimens, these behemoths of nature, these behemoths,
these monstrosity.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Behemoth or vehemoth.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's behemoth, but it's a bee.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Yeah, it's kind of like a Mandela effect, though. I
feel like I hear behemoth.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You think it was a hemoth and then we all
exploded in the Hydrunk Collider of two thousand and nine,
and now it's behemoth. Maybe we're in a different dimension now.
Maybe that's like with Fruit of the Loom having the cornicopia.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We swear there, but.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
It's not there. It was never there. There was never
a cornicopia, or so they that's a good word, though, cornicopia.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I think I only.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Know that word because of people using it to describe
Fruit of the Loomb.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Did you just tell on yourself for never like paying
attention in like history class, learning about the Native Americans
and and you know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
What I mean, tell me another time where you use that.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Word, like fourth grade history.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Okay, that was what twenty one years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So you're saying you're not smarter than a fifth grader,
is what we're basically getting.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
At I guess not.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know that show really should have been an eye
opener for our country. Huh. All these adults going up
there and not being smarter than fifth grader.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know what, can I defend the adults real quick?
Those kids go to school an adult, Go ahead. Those
kids go to school every day and are learning like adults.
Don't take the time out of their day to learn.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
That just tells me that you were memorizing and not
actually learning. Yeah, Jacob, tisk tisk tisk.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Okay, fine, I am not smarter than a fifth grader
because I cannot define for you cornucopia besides using.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
For the loop like Mendela effect for the loom thing. Yeah,
I think you'd be in the minority on the family
feud board. You'd probably come up, but not as the
number one answer. No, No, it would not.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, I would.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I would have like U the one where it's like
only two people guess that answer.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yes exactly, or the Charlie Day one where he's the
dragon Dragon. Yeah, dude came out to the mall. All right,
So back on track from your behemoth behemoth. Ye, rant
there the other thing I was really impressed with and
the other thing that kind of makes you go whoa.
And again we're not allowed to really talk about much,
(02:22):
but I think this is okay. I think I can
tell a tale out of class here, out of school here,
Cam Johnston, Oh my god, Okay, they are more bombaros.
They're bombs. They are nukes, my friend. And you can
see why they kept this guy through an injury last
(02:43):
year and are bringing him back. And I mean he
saw he'll take your deal, of course, but I mean, hey,
punder gets hurt, you might be done for him in
a career anywise, and we might not wait around. And furthermore, Jacob,
as you pointed out before, Corless Waven was good last year,
so I had an option where they were like, hey,
this guy's not a bad punter, but but they still
(03:04):
will in Johnson they have weightman still too. Yeah, right,
and they're probably We were talking about this with Matt
Williamson yesterday or I almost said our football grew because
I thought I was hosting Mark. That'll be later today
when I'll be hosting Mark and now you can still
be our football game on ours Football Guru. But anyway,
uh talking to him, and he was like, you know
what like usually they take two kickers in a punter
(03:25):
to camp, but there's none reason to not bring weightman
to camp as well. And to be honest with and
we were speculating like they might want to hold on
to Weightman up until the very end and then try
to work a deal with a team that needs a
punter after they go through camp, like a city like
a six round pick, maybe you package a seventh and
even get another sixth round pick for Cordless Weightman, because
he's an NFL top thirty two quality punter and the
(03:48):
Steelers have two of those on their roster. The thing
is is Johnson looks like he might be a top
five punter if you know he can stay healthy, because dude,
it's it's unbelievable. And Matt said it best when you're
in those environments and you're at training camp settings, you
can look great. Presley Harvin used to let bombs go
(04:09):
when he was here because you just take map. It
was great analogy. He just took the driver out and
he just ripped it. You know, long drive competition like
bang bang bang. But Cam Johnson, as Matt put it,
has that driver and I saw it yesterday. I mean
it's it's in awe when you see this thing sky
up there. But he's also got the sand wedge, and
(04:30):
he's also got the six iron, and he's also got
like he's got every club in the bag, and he's
got the ability to shape a punt one way in
this way and that way and have it die at
the five yard line. He is going to be a
really solid weapon this year. And it was like the
third pun of the season last year that he got hurt.
(04:50):
He was bombing it in those first couple of punts,
even the one that he got hurt on, I think
was an absolute dandy. So I know that punter talk
is boring and we're going to transition really soon into
offensive line talk, which is so much more exciting. But man,
he lets them rip. And it's clear to me why
(05:15):
you know you keep him in the tent, keep him
one eye our last year, bring him back this year.
See how's that injury? Oh, that injury is fine, and
roll with him in year two of the contract that
you signed him to. Punting had plagued this team forever.
I mean that has been something that has really made
this team. I think tear their hair out right is
(05:37):
their punter has just not been good enough.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
We've talked about it so many times.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
There are a lot of positions that you have on
a football team that you wish to not talk about ever,
because as long as you're not talking about them, that
means they're.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just doing their job.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Long snapper, cornerbacks, punters, honestly, offensive kers, offensive lineman. If
you're not saying their name, that's probably a good thing
because they're kind of backup players. They're vitally important to
your success, but they're not the A listerers show stoppers
like quarterbacks, wide receiver and linebackers, linebackers, but like even
(06:12):
on the defense, linebackers and.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
The defensive front guy, yeah you got stats. Yeah, rat stuffers.
I mean, corners got picks.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
But if you don't have one that can play consistently
good football for you, it's going to be a problem
and you're going to notice it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's gonna suck and.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah for a while.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
So what do this series do? They go, Okay, we
got to spend money and create it. We got to
get somebody. Let's go sign Cameron Johnson. So they do
that and he gets hurt right away. But it's almost
like since they put that into the football universe, that
karma of being like, we recognize we have to kind
of pony up dough and pay for a legitimate punter
here to fix our problems. The football gods were like, Okay,
(06:49):
we're gonna have Weightman have a career year because you
did everything right, and then Johnston gots hurt and gets hurt,
so you know what, we're gonna fix the punter anyway,
and we're gonna give you a cordless weightman having a
year that puts him on the map. So I'm glad
that the Steelers recognized just you know, almost threw their
hands up at the end. They're like, we can't figure
this out. We drafted a guy and he didn't turn
out to be the guy. We signed Weightman a first time,
(07:11):
and Weightman really wasn't that impressive. Like, we can't find
anybody that feels like it's going back to Daniel Sepalita
for God's sake, since last ye, Chris card ACKI, but anyway,
Josh Miller, but anyway.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Let's keep the buter just going. But I think that's
all we got there.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
There's definitely more Palveta and the now, but I can't
remember them. But anyway, we need to just get somebody
who's been here, done that. Go get Cam Johnson, give
him a couple of years, give him money, and I
think that you are going to have more moments this
year of holy hell, that was a great punt as
(07:46):
opposed to damn it, another shank. Now they get the
ball at the forty five. That's not gonna help. That's
basically a turnover. H Now, let's move on to a
more exciting position. Jordan Barry was the one that was it, Yeah,
who actually moved on and did pretty decent.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
He's yeah, he did well here though Minnesota. I believe, Yeah,
he did well. Is he the Australian guy?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I think he might be. We'll see, but I know
he moved on and was in Uh he is Australian. Yeah,
doesn't look like he's in the league anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
That's okay.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He didn't kick since twenty twenty one. He had that
one year with the Vikings after six years with Pittsburgh
as our punter.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Jordan Barry was the guy that was here for a
long time and then you kind of had your Presley
Harvard era that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
His net yards per punt in Pittsburgh was thirty nine
point nine Presley, No, Jordan Barry thirty nine point nine.
It's not that.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
No, it's not I was gonna say Presley.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
I that's why I thought you were saying that was
Presley's number.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So this is really important.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Presley's number is thirty nine point three in his There
you got him.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
So I was not too far. I don't remember Jordan
being that bad.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I do. I mean, there's a reason why they draft
he was there for six years, I know, but there's
a reason why they drafted Harvin and moved on from
Barry obviously in forty two point two. For mister Cameron
Johnson his NFL career, it's.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Not that much more, but it's better.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
It's better.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's better.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
You think that includes it's net yardage, so that includes returns, yeah, right,
and blocks too.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
So I think that more important numbers is yards per punt, which.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Is about forty eight for Cameron Johnson.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Which, okay, now we're that's an extra ten yards. It's
one whole set of downs for you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
All right.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So let's get to this offensive line because.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You don want to keep talking about the history punters.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Or it's enough with the kickers and the punters. They're important,
but not that important. And let's be honest, football players
don't view them as real football players, but yes they do,
No they don't. But offensive linemen are the krem de
la creme when it comes to looking at real football players.
And what a huge year it is for the Steelers
offensive line, and Tomlin's kind of I think already started
(10:00):
to lay the foundation for that, and I think you're
gonna hear that a lot more and more as we
work through the offseason and into training camp, and through
training camp is kind of a how do I put
this a demand for the offensive line or an expectation
set for the offensive line, because you have put so
much capital into this offensive line over the past few seasons,
(10:23):
so much investment into this offensive line. You gotta start
seeing some returns. You gotta start seeing some actual production.
You gotta start seeing guys not just have a lot
of potential, but start to realize that potential. So I
think that there is going to be a clear demand
from the offensive line to an expectation to take a
(10:45):
pretty significant step forward now this year, because this is it,
like these are the guys last year. Remember at this
time it was Dan Moore, Ciamalu, it was her Big
at center, it was Daniels guard, and it was Broderick
slash Fetani at the right tackle spot. And you kind
of had the writing on the wall with Dan Moore.
(11:06):
You knew that Herbig wasn't gonna last that long if
he even made it to.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
The season, and which he did not.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
You knew James Daniels was coming up on a contract
a year, so you didn't know that. But now with
it from left to right, that is your line for
this for seeable future. The only one there that you
might need to replace a Cemalu who's just the vet,
and you need the vet right now and he's crucial
with this current performing great for you also, but like
that this is the future. And you go to OTAs
(11:35):
and you see that first team offensive line go out
there and it's Jones, Cimalu, Fraser, McCormick, and Faltanu and
you're like, that is it. That is what we have
put a bunch of capital towards. There's two first round
picks there at tackle, there's a second rounder and a
third rounder in the interior, and then see them all
as a nice free agent acquisition and you see the
(11:59):
future then, and you need them to start realizing that future.
And again talking with Matt and Dale yesterday, offensive line,
and this is kind of what we were talking about
with It's one of those positions where if you you
don't notice it, things are going good. But when the
quarterbacks getting sacked and there's no running room, you notice
how bad your offensive line is. And it's such a
(12:21):
weakest link type of position, similar to cornerback. Like corner back,
like we said, where if you have a weird links,
you're getting picked on. Yeah, so look, Roderick Jones, it
might be time to move on from the expectations of
him being a rock, being an anchor, being an All
Pro still be a very good offensive lineman, though fatanu,
(12:42):
I think the team thinks could be their best offensive
lineman could be that rock and anchor at right tackle.
And as Williamson put forth to me, perhaps it's already
been established to the rock is and that's mister Zach
Frazier at that center spot. But whoever that alpha is
in the room, you just got to make sure that
you're beta is not too to too to too far
(13:02):
behind him. I guess would that make all of them
betas you're disgustingly blowing your nose right now. I mean,
it's just disgusting. I can hear it though now I
don't care if the mike can hear it. I can
hear it, and it's disgusting. But anyway, would that be
how well.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You think that's good? That's good therapy.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
By the way, you've got one alpha, and then would
the recipe betas? I want to say, the weakest link,
the runt, okay, has to be as close to the
alpha as possible. Yeah, if your runt is a very
solid offensive lineman, it's hard for defenses to find that
weak link. It's hard for defenses to find that you
don't want.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
To, Yeah, Like, let's let's make it so that there's
no discernible difference between guys two through five. If you
want to say that Fraser is your one A, your
best of the best, that you have guys two through
five on your offensive line, let's make it so that
the defense can't say, like, oh, we'll attack this guy.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Attack. Mc cormick will attack, Dan Moore will attack. You know, proders.
I'm sorry, Dan Moore, forty and slip. He's just been
here for so long.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, that's been the weakest thing for you for so long.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, we'll just attack Broderick Jones, Like, if you can
make sure that you don't have that week of a link,
then you're gonna have a very good offensive line. And
you don't have to have an elite offensive line with
an All Pro there and an All Pro there. They're
an All Pro here and All Pro everywhere in All
Pro right, old mixed dealers had all prompump, but you
need to have at least, yeah, someone who is that alpha,
(14:26):
maybe a Pro bowler. The line that they brought up
yesterday to me was was Buffalo, where you've got Dean Dawkins,
who is that pro bowler? Ne ever got a first
team All Pro or a second team All Pro nod,
but he's their best offensive lineman. And then you've just
got really solid other offensive lineman's in Buffalo, and there's
not really a weak link there, and no one's saying
that's the best offensive line in football. But no one's
(14:46):
also saying that Josh Allen's under duress content where he
can't make anything happen, or that that offense struggles. So
you don't need to have, you know, di Castro Poalcy,
all these all pros and pro bowlers. You just need
to make sure that your floor isn't that bad that
you don't have any truly awful players on that line.
And right now, the only ones that I can really
(15:08):
peg is maybe being those weakest links are Broderick Jones.
But let's see what happens now that he moves back
to his comfortable position at left tackle. And look, this
is no you know, knock on him to say McCormick
just because he's straws.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
He's just a ladder round guy. Everyone else except for
see Malo, who is.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
His potentials lower than everybody else. He's from North Dakota State.
He took a big jump from from college to pro.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
But he didn't stepped up. Yeah, he he adjusted quickly.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
But that's just the only other obvious spot that you
can pick is just to potentially be the weakest length.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
You're using sound lodger to make your decision, but we're
also not Yeah, you're not confident because of the table
saw last year.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
He showed you real stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And that's a good thing that you're not confident in
labeling him as the weakest link, or even labeling Proderick
as the weakest. Like now, maybe Proderick is is born
more out of optimism from me and still a hope
there about your number one pick being truly great. But
I don't think he's going to be that awful, and
you can help him out a ton on that left
side of that line. You can put Darnell over there
(16:16):
all the time. Now you've got Ciamaleu on his hip.
Now where last year when Roger Jones was really struggling
at right tackle, he had McCormick on his hip who
was a rookie, and then on his hip was Fraser
who was also a rookie. The help had to go inside.
I mean, the rookies couldn't really help out rogerck Jones
be a anchor to him. But Ciamalu absolutely can be
(16:39):
on that left side now. And again, like I said,
with Darnell Washington or even Darnal Parham who's huge as well,
you got guys out there that can be big beef
feeders on that left side, and not just in pass protection,
but it run the ball that way. Behind Darnell and
Broderick and Isaac Cmalu, you should be able to have
a decent amount of running room there for Caleb John
(17:00):
for Jalen Warren to scamper on through. So I think
that you'll see Broderick Jones be a little bit more
well insulated in that offense now in that offensive line,
now get a little bit more help, and he's again
back in that natural position for him, that left tackle
spot where he was comfortable out in Georgia and where
the Steelers when they drafted him, you kind of thought
(17:21):
it was inevitable he was going to be a left tackle.
Maybe took a little bit longer than you wanted it to,
but we're here now and he will be the starting
left tackle for the team, health permitting next season for Pittsburgh,
So you know, there's a lot of stuff you can do.
And as far as that help is concerned on Broderick's side, well,
if they're as confident as they looked like they were
in Troy Faltanau last year and that carries over into
(17:45):
this year, then there really is a potential there for
him to probably be their best offensive lineman, or at
least they view him in that light. And even though
he's kind of going through his red shirt rookie season now,
if you can leave him on an island more if
you can just leave him out there also with McCormick
another year under his belt and be a little more
adept to be able to give help elsewhere and mainly
(18:06):
focus on that Proderc side of the things while you
bring him along. Man, you're kind of cooking now, Yeah,
Like you kind of have a real get.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
With having Broaderig be your leaguis wing but also providing
him a with tight ends, whether it's Darnell or when
Darnell probably will leave after the season, whoever, the next
big tight end you can bring in to provide that
extra help.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
You got one more year with Darneller, this year three
with Darnell, so.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
You're wow, your time was flying. I thought we had
one more year.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
We got three more. This is gonna be year three
for him. So you got another year right with Darnell
Washington and who knows, maybe he's back, but right anyway,
you uh, yeah, you're gonna be able to help Proderick
Jones out a lot. And as long as he's not
too much of a weak link, then I think that
you're in a good spot with your offensive line. It's
(18:54):
easy for us to sit here in the may portion
of doing shows and be optimistic out a line like
this because it's so young and it's got a lot
of premiere draft picks on it at the tackle positions,
mainly with them being two first round picks, So like
it's easy when you're speculating and trying to predict to
(19:14):
be like, they should turn a corner now, this should
be a clear year where they take a leap. But
you just got to go out there and do it,
and you got to actually see it happen, and you
kind of hold your breath right now, because boy, if
it doesn't happen, that's a big swing miss as far.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
I also think, like you know how you were just
saying we were not grasping at Straw's, but we weren't
not in confident and our ability to say, like, oh,
coming up with reasons why McCormick could be your weakling
or one of your weakly links, or I think the
same could be said about if that all doesn't happen,
you're saying, oh, it's gonna be bad, Like I don't
think we have the confidence that that will the path,
(19:55):
that's the past, this offensive line will go down.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think we believe right fully so I know we've been.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
We've been spending each off season the last couple of
years saying, oh, the office, the offensive line could be
really good this year, Zach Frazer, Dan Moore, two rookies. Uh,
the next year, James Daniels, Mason Gole could be really good.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
But now it feels real.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's legit. You put in legitimate.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I think of this investment, legitimate draft capital in these guys.
You went out and the veteran you signed wasn't a
James Daniels, I shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Be looping into a Bason goal.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah, pretty good, But Mason Cole, like, you went out
and you got a championship winning offensive lineman on a
championship caliber offensive line, and you got one of the
better pieces out of Isaac City Malu. And then everyone
else besides McCormick is either a first or second round
draft capital guy. And McCormick, like we just said, yeah,
(20:53):
he comes from a lower stake, lower draft class or
lower draft round and from an FCS school.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But he's still doing great.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Granted it's been one year, but if everyone else is
doing great, it'd be hard for him to really suffer
that much When everyone else is doing so well, I
wouldn't expect him to just be so incapable of catching
up or keeping up with everyone else. So for you
to say, if it doesn't pan out, ooh, I don't
(21:23):
have the confidence to say.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Let me look at this offensive line one, how young
it is, to the potential it has in three, what
we've actually seen out of it from certain guys, I
can't imagine it's going to take a turn for the
worst overall.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
No, I think that's fair. One thing I want to
bring up before we wrap up this episode shifting gears
a little bit away from the offensive line, is it
possible that the Steelers, when looking at their linebacker unit
total inside and outside okay, have a top five one
of the best. Just lie, I'm backing rooms in the NFL. Now,
(22:02):
Watt and Highsmith do herbig, but Watt and Heismith could
arguably be the best duo in the league as far
as pass rushers are concerned. Matt Williamson was talking about
this and he said, profofoball focus is in gospel, but
they ranked you know, past rushers in effectiveness last year
in a certain category that I can't remember exactly what
(22:23):
it is, but I promise you it's important and it's
good for past rushers to be ranked high here and
what was third? High Smith was twelve, and then Herbig
was thirty second, So they have those really top thirty two,
but they all seem low or you don't even know
what the stat was, so okay, but it was an
important stat and his point and when I just brought
that up, even not knowing it was just that he
(22:45):
wanted to illustrate like these guys, especially Watt and Highsmith,
are elite like they are. You know, high Smith in
almost more than half the league would be their premieer
edge rusher. And there's a lot that you could get
for a guy like Highsmith if you were to incline,
if you were inclined to dangle him out there. They're not,
but he is a lot better than kind of maybe
(23:08):
it is perceived because of the shadow that he's in
right with TJ. Watt, But when you look at those
two and then you add in A Herbig, who is
the production that he gives you compared to the volume
of snaps that he has, it's absurd. It's a pace
that is unrealistic to keep up. But which is why
when he's out there for as long as he like.
(23:29):
When he's out there, because of injuries to the guys
ahead of him, that piece it drops off, drops off. Yeah,
And I kind of think that Jack Sawyer is going
to be able to take some of that load off
this year. To look, when they drafted Jack Sawyer, I
think there was a little bit of surprise. It was
like that Dresher didn't see that coming. But he is
probably the best player available on the board. And I mean,
(23:50):
this guy is a national champion icon. They're going to
retire thirty three and maybe beu able a statue for
him at Ohio State, and why not take him in
the fourth round. And I think, now though, as you
gain a little bit more perspective, maybe that's not as
much of a surprising pick as you initially thought. Because
it's they want four. They want four at that position.
(24:12):
They go out and they trade for Preston Smith last
year because they know they can't just have her big.
He can't handle that kind of load. Now you go
out and you draft Jack Sawyer, you want to have
four in that room. They're also not naive. They know
the injury problems that a high Smith and a Watt
have had and a Herbig and those three aren't ever
really available at the same time. So I think, you know,
(24:34):
now that I'm a little further away and we're into
the OTAs, it makes a lot more sense that they
drafted Jack Sawyer even though you're gonna sign Watt and
you still have high Smith and there's no real need for,
you know, another premier edge rusher. It's just the way
that this team likes to operate. And so I think
there's gonna be a decent rookie season for Sawyer. We
know what Herbig, Highsmith and Wat are. That's arguably the
best outside linebacking room in the NFL. And then you
(24:56):
look at the inside linebackers and Patrick Queen's really Cole
Holcom coming back. But Peyton Wilson is the one that
I think is the X factor, and I think that
X factor could take that room, insideline backing room to
the real next level.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
I look at him as an X factor. I'm with you,
but it's also like he's got the X factor potential,
but he could also just be very pedestrian. I guess
I think X factor in the way that it's pretty
unknown to me what Peyton Wilson is going to become
not so much that he has the potential to really explode.
(25:35):
Does that make sense to you?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Yeah, But I think he is a guy that was
a defensive player of the Year in college, had knee
problems and that's why he was drafted where he was
drafted to be the first round pick if he had
really healthy knees. And man, he was good last year.
He had some big, jaw dropping kind of plays fast
as hell. Yeah, can lay some wood. If he stays healthy.
(25:58):
It puts on a little bit more size, but keeps
that speed. I mean, he's an every down kind of linebacker.
And then again, like I said, you got Hulcomb and
then you move on from a Landon Roberts and you
bring in Malie Harrison to kind of round out that room.
Still I guess have Mark Robinson too, But it's those
four guys that I mentioned that really are the ones
that should factor into things on game day. You know
(26:20):
what I mean? That is a really good linebacking core.
In general, when you look at the outside in the inside,
I mean that is an area, especially the inside part,
that has been lacking for a lot of time. But
now that kind of mid level of the field is
your greatest strength I think as a team.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Oh I I I don't doubt that, but I again, like,
I don't think that Patrick Patrick Peyton Wilson really pushes
the need of that much for me right now?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Well, yeah, I'm a lot of potential.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Yeah right, But I also like your argument that is
it a top what would you say, top number one?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It could be number one, but it's probably not number one.
But I'm much better inside linebacking, But.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Like I'm not that's not much better outside, right right,
I'm not hesitant to put it outside or I am
hesitant to put it outside the top five.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Though, yeah I am too, because I mean there's again
that's the best duo in the league. And then depth wise,
I'm telling you, oh yeah, until week ten and we'll
be like, yes, Sawyer is a freak.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Another thing depth wise that we have to consider putting
a lot of potential on this name is Cole hulkm Like,
what is he actually going to be able to do
if if if he comes back this.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Year, if he comes back and looks like he did
before he got hurt, Yeah, I'll put him at number
one because of the depth at that level. You're like,
does he dip into Peyton Wilson's play exactly? Oh?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah, well he was number he was LB one two
years ago.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
He was a Green dot guy.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, And obviously that's gonna be Patrick Queen this year.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
But if if Holkan can come back one hundred percent
to what he was two years ago, then Peyton Wilson
it's no offense to him.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
He just should be linebacker three. Or maybe they're just
like a two a t B type of thing.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Or or or you kind of just sprinkle them all
in together, even though Queen is probably your best guy, Like,
I wouldn't be mad.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Seeing Cole Hulkom and Peyton Wilson on the field together.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Keep Queen fresh, right, all right, we come back. We'll
go around the NFL a little bit. Wrap up the
week on Steelers Standard on Steeers Nation Radio and Steelers
Audio Network
So I told you in that first episode, Jake, of
how in I was at OTAs of just the size
of these these absolute specimens, these behemoths of nature, these behemoths,
these monstrosity.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Behemoth or vehemoth.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
It's behemoth, but it's a bee.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Yeah, it's kind of like a Mandela effect, though. I
feel like I hear behemoth.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
You think it was a hemoth and then we all
exploded in the Hydrunk Collider of two thousand and nine,
and now it's behemoth. Maybe we're in a different dimension now.
Maybe that's like with Fruit of the Loom having the cornicopia.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We swear there, but.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
It's not there. It was never there. There was never
a cornicopia, or so they that's a good word, though, cornicopia.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I think I only.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Know that word because of people using it to describe
Fruit of the Loomb.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Did you just tell on yourself for never like paying
attention in like history class, learning about the Native Americans
and and you know.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
What I mean, tell me another time where you use that.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Word, like fourth grade history.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Okay, that was what twenty one years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So you're saying you're not smarter than a fifth grader,
is what we're basically getting.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
At I guess not.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
You know that show really should have been an eye
opener for our country. Huh. All these adults going up
there and not being smarter than fifth grader.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know what, can I defend the adults real quick?
Those kids go to school an adult, Go ahead. Those
kids go to school every day and are learning like adults.
Don't take the time out of their day to learn.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
That just tells me that you were memorizing and not
actually learning. Yeah, Jacob, tisk tisk tisk.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Okay, fine, I am not smarter than a fifth grader
because I cannot define for you cornucopia besides using.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
For the loop like Mendela effect for the loom thing. Yeah,
I think you'd be in the minority on the family
feud board. You'd probably come up, but not as the
number one answer. No, No, it would not.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, I would.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
I would have like U the one where it's like
only two people guess that answer.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yes exactly, or the Charlie Day one where he's the
dragon Dragon. Yeah, dude came out to the mall. All right,
So back on track from your behemoth behemoth. Ye, rant
there the other thing I was really impressed with and
the other thing that kind of makes you go whoa.
And again we're not allowed to really talk about much,
(02:22):
but I think this is okay. I think I can
tell a tale out of class here, out of school here,
Cam Johnston, Oh my god, Okay, they are more bombaros.
They're bombs. They are nukes, my friend. And you can
see why they kept this guy through an injury last
(02:43):
year and are bringing him back. And I mean he
saw he'll take your deal, of course, but I mean, hey,
punder gets hurt, you might be done for him in
a career anywise, and we might not wait around. And furthermore, Jacob,
as you pointed out before, Corless Waven was good last year,
so I had an option where they were like, hey,
this guy's not a bad punter, but but they still
(03:04):
will in Johnson they have weightman still too. Yeah, right,
and they're probably We were talking about this with Matt
Williamson yesterday or I almost said our football grew because
I thought I was hosting Mark. That'll be later today
when I'll be hosting Mark and now you can still
be our football game on ours Football Guru. But anyway,
uh talking to him, and he was like, you know
what like usually they take two kickers in a punter
(03:25):
to camp, but there's none reason to not bring weightman
to camp as well. And to be honest with and
we were speculating like they might want to hold on
to Weightman up until the very end and then try
to work a deal with a team that needs a
punter after they go through camp, like a city like
a six round pick, maybe you package a seventh and
even get another sixth round pick for Cordless Weightman, because
he's an NFL top thirty two quality punter and the
(03:48):
Steelers have two of those on their roster. The thing
is is Johnson looks like he might be a top
five punter if you know he can stay healthy, because dude,
it's it's unbelievable. And Matt said it best when you're
in those environments and you're at training camp settings, you
can look great. Presley Harvin used to let bombs go
(04:09):
when he was here because you just take map. It
was great analogy. He just took the driver out and
he just ripped it. You know, long drive competition like
bang bang bang. But Cam Johnson, as Matt put it,
has that driver and I saw it yesterday. I mean
it's it's in awe when you see this thing sky
up there. But he's also got the sand wedge, and
(04:30):
he's also got the six iron, and he's also got
like he's got every club in the bag, and he's
got the ability to shape a punt one way in
this way and that way and have it die at
the five yard line. He is going to be a
really solid weapon this year. And it was like the
third pun of the season last year that he got hurt.
(04:50):
He was bombing it in those first couple of punts,
even the one that he got hurt on, I think
was an absolute dandy. So I know that punter talk
is boring and we're going to transition really soon into
offensive line talk, which is so much more exciting. But man,
he lets them rip. And it's clear to me why
(05:15):
you know you keep him in the tent, keep him
one eye our last year, bring him back this year.
See how's that injury? Oh, that injury is fine, and
roll with him in year two of the contract that
you signed him to. Punting had plagued this team forever.
I mean that has been something that has really made
this team. I think tear their hair out right is
(05:37):
their punter has just not been good enough.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
We've talked about it so many times.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
There are a lot of positions that you have on
a football team that you wish to not talk about ever,
because as long as you're not talking about them, that
means they're.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just doing their job.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Long snapper, cornerbacks, punters, honestly, offensive kers, offensive lineman. If
you're not saying their name, that's probably a good thing
because they're kind of backup players. They're vitally important to
your success, but they're not the A listerers show stoppers
like quarterbacks, wide receiver and linebackers, linebackers, but like even
(06:12):
on the defense, linebackers and.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
The defensive front guy, yeah you got stats. Yeah, rat stuffers.
I mean, corners got picks.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
But if you don't have one that can play consistently
good football for you, it's going to be a problem
and you're going to notice it.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
It's gonna suck and.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah for a while.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
So what do this series do? They go, Okay, we
got to spend money and create it. We got to
get somebody. Let's go sign Cameron Johnson. So they do
that and he gets hurt right away. But it's almost
like since they put that into the football universe, that
karma of being like, we recognize we have to kind
of pony up dough and pay for a legitimate punter
here to fix our problems. The football gods were like, Okay,
(06:49):
we're gonna have Weightman have a career year because you
did everything right, and then Johnston gots hurt and gets hurt,
so you know what, we're gonna fix the punter anyway,
and we're gonna give you a cordless weightman having a
year that puts him on the map. So I'm glad
that the Steelers recognized just you know, almost threw their
hands up at the end. They're like, we can't figure
this out. We drafted a guy and he didn't turn
out to be the guy. We signed Weightman a first time,
(07:11):
and Weightman really wasn't that impressive. Like, we can't find
anybody that feels like it's going back to Daniel Sepalita
for God's sake, since last ye, Chris card ACKI, but anyway,
Josh Miller, but anyway.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
Let's keep the buter just going. But I think that's
all we got there.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
There's definitely more Palveta and the now, but I can't
remember them. But anyway, we need to just get somebody
who's been here, done that. Go get Cam Johnson, give
him a couple of years, give him money, and I
think that you are going to have more moments this
year of holy hell, that was a great punt as
(07:46):
opposed to damn it, another shank. Now they get the
ball at the forty five. That's not gonna help. That's
basically a turnover. H Now, let's move on to a
more exciting position. Jordan Barry was the one that was it, Yeah,
who actually moved on and did pretty decent.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
He's yeah, he did well here though Minnesota. I believe, Yeah,
he did well. Is he the Australian guy?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I think he might be. We'll see, but I know
he moved on and was in Uh he is Australian. Yeah,
doesn't look like he's in the league anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
That's okay.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He didn't kick since twenty twenty one. He had that
one year with the Vikings after six years with Pittsburgh
as our punter.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Jordan Barry was the guy that was here for a
long time and then you kind of had your Presley
Harvard era that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
His net yards per punt in Pittsburgh was thirty nine
point nine Presley, No, Jordan Barry thirty nine point nine.
It's not that.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
No, it's not I was gonna say Presley.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
I that's why I thought you were saying that was
Presley's number.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So this is really important.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Presley's number is thirty nine point three in his There
you got him.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
So I was not too far. I don't remember Jordan
being that bad.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I do. I mean, there's a reason why they draft
he was there for six years, I know, but there's
a reason why they drafted Harvin and moved on from
Barry obviously in forty two point two. For mister Cameron
Johnson his NFL career, it's.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Not that much more, but it's better.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
It's better.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's better.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
You think that includes it's net yardage, so that includes returns, yeah, right,
and blocks too.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
So I think that more important numbers is yards per punt, which.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
Is about forty eight for Cameron Johnson.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Which, okay, now we're that's an extra ten yards. It's
one whole set of downs for you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
All right.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So let's get to this offensive line because.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You don want to keep talking about the history punters.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Or it's enough with the kickers and the punters. They're important,
but not that important. And let's be honest, football players
don't view them as real football players, but yes they do,
No they don't. But offensive linemen are the krem de
la creme when it comes to looking at real football players.
And what a huge year it is for the Steelers
offensive line, and Tomlin's kind of I think already started
(10:00):
to lay the foundation for that, and I think you're
gonna hear that a lot more and more as we
work through the offseason and into training camp, and through
training camp is kind of a how do I put
this a demand for the offensive line or an expectation
set for the offensive line, because you have put so
much capital into this offensive line over the past few seasons,
(10:23):
so much investment into this offensive line. You gotta start
seeing some returns. You gotta start seeing some actual production.
You gotta start seeing guys not just have a lot
of potential, but start to realize that potential. So I
think that there is going to be a clear demand
from the offensive line to an expectation to take a
(10:45):
pretty significant step forward now this year, because this is it,
like these are the guys last year. Remember at this
time it was Dan Moore, Ciamalu, it was her Big
at center, it was Daniels guard, and it was Broderick
slash Fetani at the right tackle spot. And you kind
of had the writing on the wall with Dan Moore.
(11:06):
You knew that Herbig wasn't gonna last that long if
he even made it to.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
The season, and which he did not.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
You knew James Daniels was coming up on a contract
a year, so you didn't know that. But now with
it from left to right, that is your line for
this for seeable future. The only one there that you
might need to replace a Cemalu who's just the vet,
and you need the vet right now and he's crucial
with this current performing great for you also, but like
that this is the future. And you go to OTAs
(11:35):
and you see that first team offensive line go out
there and it's Jones, Cimalu, Fraser, McCormick, and Faltanu and
you're like, that is it. That is what we have
put a bunch of capital towards. There's two first round
picks there at tackle, there's a second rounder and a
third rounder in the interior, and then see them all
as a nice free agent acquisition and you see the
(11:59):
future then, and you need them to start realizing that future.
And again talking with Matt and Dale yesterday, offensive line,
and this is kind of what we were talking about
with It's one of those positions where if you you
don't notice it, things are going good. But when the
quarterbacks getting sacked and there's no running room, you notice
how bad your offensive line is. And it's such a
(12:21):
weakest link type of position, similar to cornerback. Like corner back,
like we said, where if you have a weird links,
you're getting picked on. Yeah, so look, Roderick Jones, it
might be time to move on from the expectations of
him being a rock, being an anchor, being an All
Pro still be a very good offensive lineman, though fatanu,
(12:42):
I think the team thinks could be their best offensive
lineman could be that rock and anchor at right tackle.
And as Williamson put forth to me, perhaps it's already
been established to the rock is and that's mister Zach
Frazier at that center spot. But whoever that alpha is
in the room, you just got to make sure that
you're beta is not too to too to too far
(13:02):
behind him. I guess would that make all of them
betas you're disgustingly blowing your nose right now. I mean,
it's just disgusting. I can hear it though now I
don't care if the mike can hear it. I can
hear it, and it's disgusting. But anyway, would that be
how well.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You think that's good? That's good therapy.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
By the way, you've got one alpha, and then would
the recipe betas? I want to say, the weakest link,
the runt, okay, has to be as close to the
alpha as possible. Yeah, if your runt is a very
solid offensive lineman, it's hard for defenses to find that
weak link. It's hard for defenses to find that you
don't want.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
To, Yeah, Like, let's let's make it so that there's
no discernible difference between guys two through five. If you
want to say that Fraser is your one A, your
best of the best, that you have guys two through
five on your offensive line, let's make it so that
the defense can't say, like, oh, we'll attack this guy.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Attack. Mc cormick will attack, Dan Moore will attack. You know, proders.
I'm sorry, Dan Moore, forty and slip. He's just been
here for so long.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, that's been the weakest thing for you for so long.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, we'll just attack Broderick Jones, Like, if you can
make sure that you don't have that week of a link,
then you're gonna have a very good offensive line. And
you don't have to have an elite offensive line with
an All Pro there and an All Pro there. They're
an All Pro here and All Pro everywhere in All
Pro right, old mixed dealers had all prompump, but you
need to have at least, yeah, someone who is that alpha,
(14:26):
maybe a Pro bowler. The line that they brought up
yesterday to me was was Buffalo, where you've got Dean Dawkins,
who is that pro bowler? Ne ever got a first
team All Pro or a second team All Pro nod,
but he's their best offensive lineman. And then you've just
got really solid other offensive lineman's in Buffalo, and there's
not really a weak link there, and no one's saying
that's the best offensive line in football. But no one's
(14:46):
also saying that Josh Allen's under duress content where he
can't make anything happen, or that that offense struggles. So
you don't need to have, you know, di Castro Poalcy,
all these all pros and pro bowlers. You just need
to make sure that your floor isn't that bad that
you don't have any truly awful players on that line.
And right now, the only ones that I can really
(15:08):
peg is maybe being those weakest links are Broderick Jones.
But let's see what happens now that he moves back
to his comfortable position at left tackle. And look, this
is no you know, knock on him to say McCormick
just because he's straws.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
He's just a ladder round guy. Everyone else except for
see Malo, who is.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
His potentials lower than everybody else. He's from North Dakota State.
He took a big jump from from college to pro.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
But he didn't stepped up. Yeah, he he adjusted quickly.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
But that's just the only other obvious spot that you
can pick is just to potentially be the weakest length.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
You're using sound lodger to make your decision, but we're
also not Yeah, you're not confident because of the table
saw last year.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
He showed you real stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And that's a good thing that you're not confident in
labeling him as the weakest link, or even labeling Proderick
as the weakest. Like now, maybe Proderick is is born
more out of optimism from me and still a hope
there about your number one pick being truly great. But
I don't think he's going to be that awful, and
you can help him out a ton on that left
side of that line. You can put Darnell over there
(16:16):
all the time. Now you've got Ciamaleu on his hip.
Now where last year when Roger Jones was really struggling
at right tackle, he had McCormick on his hip who
was a rookie, and then on his hip was Fraser
who was also a rookie. The help had to go inside.
I mean, the rookies couldn't really help out rogerck Jones
be a anchor to him. But Ciamalu absolutely can be
(16:39):
on that left side now. And again, like I said,
with Darnell Washington or even Darnal Parham who's huge as well,
you got guys out there that can be big beef
feeders on that left side, and not just in pass protection,
but it run the ball that way. Behind Darnell and
Broderick and Isaac Cmalu, you should be able to have
a decent amount of running room there for Caleb John
(17:00):
for Jalen Warren to scamper on through. So I think
that you'll see Broderick Jones be a little bit more
well insulated in that offense now in that offensive line,
now get a little bit more help, and he's again
back in that natural position for him, that left tackle
spot where he was comfortable out in Georgia and where
the Steelers when they drafted him, you kind of thought
(17:21):
it was inevitable he was going to be a left tackle.
Maybe took a little bit longer than you wanted it to,
but we're here now and he will be the starting
left tackle for the team, health permitting next season for Pittsburgh,
So you know, there's a lot of stuff you can do.
And as far as that help is concerned on Broderick's side, well,
if they're as confident as they looked like they were
in Troy Faltanau last year and that carries over into
(17:45):
this year, then there really is a potential there for
him to probably be their best offensive lineman, or at
least they view him in that light. And even though
he's kind of going through his red shirt rookie season now,
if you can leave him on an island more if
you can just leave him out there also with McCormick
another year under his belt and be a little more
adept to be able to give help elsewhere and mainly
(18:06):
focus on that Proderc side of the things while you
bring him along. Man, you're kind of cooking now, Yeah,
Like you kind of have a real get.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
With having Broaderig be your leaguis wing but also providing
him a with tight ends, whether it's Darnell or when
Darnell probably will leave after the season, whoever, the next
big tight end you can bring in to provide that
extra help.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
You got one more year with Darneller, this year three
with Darnell, so.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
You're wow, your time was flying. I thought we had
one more year.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
We got three more. This is gonna be year three
for him. So you got another year right with Darnell
Washington and who knows, maybe he's back, but right anyway,
you uh, yeah, you're gonna be able to help Proderick
Jones out a lot. And as long as he's not
too much of a weak link, then I think that
you're in a good spot with your offensive line. It's
(18:54):
easy for us to sit here in the may portion
of doing shows and be optimistic out a line like
this because it's so young and it's got a lot
of premiere draft picks on it at the tackle positions,
mainly with them being two first round picks, So like
it's easy when you're speculating and trying to predict to
(19:14):
be like, they should turn a corner now, this should
be a clear year where they take a leap. But
you just got to go out there and do it,
and you got to actually see it happen, and you
kind of hold your breath right now, because boy, if
it doesn't happen, that's a big swing miss as far.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
I also think, like you know how you were just
saying we were not grasping at Straw's, but we weren't
not in confident and our ability to say, like, oh,
coming up with reasons why McCormick could be your weakling
or one of your weakly links, or I think the
same could be said about if that all doesn't happen,
you're saying, oh, it's gonna be bad, Like I don't
think we have the confidence that that will the path,
(19:55):
that's the past, this offensive line will go down.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I think we believe right fully so I know we've been.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
We've been spending each off season the last couple of
years saying, oh, the office, the offensive line could be
really good this year, Zach Frazer, Dan Moore, two rookies. Uh,
the next year, James Daniels, Mason Gole could be really good.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
But now it feels real.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's legit. You put in legitimate.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I think of this investment, legitimate draft capital in these guys.
You went out and the veteran you signed wasn't a
James Daniels, I shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Be looping into a Bason goal.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah, pretty good, But Mason Cole, like, you went out
and you got a championship winning offensive lineman on a
championship caliber offensive line, and you got one of the
better pieces out of Isaac City Malu. And then everyone
else besides McCormick is either a first or second round
draft capital guy. And McCormick, like we just said, yeah,
(20:53):
he comes from a lower stake, lower draft class or
lower draft round and from an FCS school.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
But he's still doing great.
Speaker 4 (21:01):
Granted it's been one year, but if everyone else is
doing great, it'd be hard for him to really suffer
that much When everyone else is doing so well, I
wouldn't expect him to just be so incapable of catching
up or keeping up with everyone else. So for you
to say, if it doesn't pan out, ooh, I don't
(21:23):
have the confidence to say.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Let me look at this offensive line one, how young
it is, to the potential it has in three, what
we've actually seen out of it from certain guys, I
can't imagine it's going to take a turn for the
worst overall.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
No, I think that's fair. One thing I want to
bring up before we wrap up this episode shifting gears
a little bit away from the offensive line, is it
possible that the Steelers, when looking at their linebacker unit
total inside and outside okay, have a top five one
of the best. Just lie, I'm backing rooms in the NFL. Now,
(22:02):
Watt and Highsmith do herbig, but Watt and Heismith could
arguably be the best duo in the league as far
as pass rushers are concerned. Matt Williamson was talking about
this and he said, profofoball focus is in gospel, but
they ranked you know, past rushers in effectiveness last year
in a certain category that I can't remember exactly what
(22:23):
it is, but I promise you it's important and it's
good for past rushers to be ranked high here and
what was third? High Smith was twelve, and then Herbig
was thirty second, So they have those really top thirty two,
but they all seem low or you don't even know
what the stat was, so okay, but it was an
important stat and his point and when I just brought
that up, even not knowing it was just that he
(22:45):
wanted to illustrate like these guys, especially Watt and Highsmith,
are elite like they are. You know, high Smith in
almost more than half the league would be their premieer
edge rusher. And there's a lot that you could get
for a guy like Highsmith if you were to incline,
if you were inclined to dangle him out there. They're not,
but he is a lot better than kind of maybe
(23:08):
it is perceived because of the shadow that he's in
right with TJ. Watt, But when you look at those
two and then you add in A Herbig, who is
the production that he gives you compared to the volume
of snaps that he has, it's absurd. It's a pace
that is unrealistic to keep up. But which is why
when he's out there for as long as he like.
(23:29):
When he's out there, because of injuries to the guys
ahead of him, that piece it drops off, drops off. Yeah,
And I kind of think that Jack Sawyer is going
to be able to take some of that load off
this year. To look, when they drafted Jack Sawyer, I
think there was a little bit of surprise. It was
like that Dresher didn't see that coming. But he is
probably the best player available on the board. And I mean,
(23:50):
this guy is a national champion icon. They're going to
retire thirty three and maybe beu able a statue for
him at Ohio State, and why not take him in
the fourth round. And I think, now though, as you
gain a little bit more perspective, maybe that's not as
much of a surprising pick as you initially thought. Because
it's they want four. They want four at that position.
(24:12):
They go out and they trade for Preston Smith last
year because they know they can't just have her big.
He can't handle that kind of load. Now you go
out and you draft Jack Sawyer, you want to have
four in that room. They're also not naive. They know
the injury problems that a high Smith and a Watt
have had and a Herbig and those three aren't ever
really available at the same time. So I think, you know,
(24:34):
now that I'm a little further away and we're into
the OTAs, it makes a lot more sense that they
drafted Jack Sawyer even though you're gonna sign Watt and
you still have high Smith and there's no real need for,
you know, another premier edge rusher. It's just the way
that this team likes to operate. And so I think
there's gonna be a decent rookie season for Sawyer. We
know what Herbig, Highsmith and Wat are. That's arguably the
best outside linebacking room in the NFL. And then you
(24:56):
look at the inside linebackers and Patrick Queen's really Cole
Holcom coming back. But Peyton Wilson is the one that
I think is the X factor, and I think that
X factor could take that room, insideline backing room to
the real next level.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
I look at him as an X factor. I'm with you,
but it's also like he's got the X factor potential,
but he could also just be very pedestrian. I guess
I think X factor in the way that it's pretty
unknown to me what Peyton Wilson is going to become
not so much that he has the potential to really explode.
(25:35):
Does that make sense to you?
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Yeah, But I think he is a guy that was
a defensive player of the Year in college, had knee
problems and that's why he was drafted where he was
drafted to be the first round pick if he had
really healthy knees. And man, he was good last year.
He had some big, jaw dropping kind of plays fast
as hell. Yeah, can lay some wood. If he stays healthy.
(25:58):
It puts on a little bit more size, but keeps
that speed. I mean, he's an every down kind of linebacker.
And then again, like I said, you got Hulcomb and
then you move on from a Landon Roberts and you
bring in Malie Harrison to kind of round out that room.
Still I guess have Mark Robinson too, But it's those
four guys that I mentioned that really are the ones
that should factor into things on game day. You know
(26:20):
what I mean? That is a really good linebacking core.
In general, when you look at the outside in the inside,
I mean that is an area, especially the inside part,
that has been lacking for a lot of time. But
now that kind of mid level of the field is
your greatest strength I think as a team.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Oh I I I don't doubt that, but I again, like,
I don't think that Patrick Patrick Peyton Wilson really pushes
the need of that much for me right now?
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Well, yeah, I'm a lot of potential.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Yeah right, But I also like your argument that is
it a top what would you say, top number one?
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It could be number one, but it's probably not number one.
But I'm much better inside linebacking, But.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Like I'm not that's not much better outside, right right,
I'm not hesitant to put it outside or I am
hesitant to put it outside the top five.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Though, yeah I am too, because I mean there's again
that's the best duo in the league. And then depth wise,
I'm telling you, oh yeah, until week ten and we'll
be like, yes, Sawyer is a freak.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
Another thing depth wise that we have to consider putting
a lot of potential on this name is Cole hulkm Like,
what is he actually going to be able to do
if if if he comes back this.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Year, if he comes back and looks like he did
before he got hurt, Yeah, I'll put him at number
one because of the depth at that level. You're like,
does he dip into Peyton Wilson's play exactly? Oh?
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah, well he was number he was LB one two
years ago.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
He was a Green dot guy.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, And obviously that's gonna be Patrick Queen this year.
Speaker 4 (27:44):
But if if Holkan can come back one hundred percent
to what he was two years ago, then Peyton Wilson
it's no offense to him.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
He just should be linebacker three. Or maybe they're just
like a two a t B type of thing.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Or or or you kind of just sprinkle them all
in together, even though Queen is probably your best guy, Like,
I wouldn't be mad.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Seeing Cole Hulkom and Peyton Wilson on the field together.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Keep Queen fresh, right, all right, we come back. We'll
go around the NFL a little bit. Wrap up the
week on Steelers Standard on Steeers Nation Radio and Steelers
Audio Network
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