July 22, 2025 • 27 mins
Where will the most attention be focused on the offense and defense when the Steelers report to St Vincent College in Latrobe on Thursday.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
We are recording on Tuesday twenty seconds, So players move
into the dormitories tomorrow and the first practices on Thursday.
They practice Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so they have
a lot of acclamation period for all afternoon practices.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Eat it as hot as we can get it.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Saturday will be a lot of fun because that'll be
the Hall of Honor. I have announcement for this year's
class and it's any predictions if I believe. I don't
have any predictions. There's usually I haven't really been looking
at the list that of players that should could be
up for it. So no, I don't have any predictions
(00:51):
for you. But tune in Saturday. We'll have a time
coverage for it. And it's also that first weekend is
like the NFL network has that like back to Football initiative,
and it's just like a lot of people are around.
I think I saw McAfee's picking this show, not this
week next Wednesday at the camp. So it's a carnival
like atmosphere sure, and it's a lot of fun. So
(01:13):
this weekend will be great. There'll be a lot of
fun things to go to do. But that Tuesday of
next week, a week from today, that's when it really
starts past. I have off on Monday next week, and
then Tuesday is the first padded practice from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And you know, as Labs and I were talking about
earlier today on our ass to Answer podcast, you know,
(01:34):
for fans that are going, that's you'll see backs on
backers and that's like that first time you'll hear that
in person, like pop, that first time you'll hear that
in person pad on pad violence that we so crave
from the sport. So really a week from today is
when like real football it's gonna finally be started to
(01:54):
be played again. And then training camp. You know, it
is a lot of work for us here at this
and it's it's definitely a couple of weeks where you
kind of have to put your nose down and and
just plow through. But it really does move quick with benchmarks,
like you've got this weekend coming up, which is just
(02:14):
the initial a we're here, like you know what I mean,
you got that fun Hall of Honor thing in the
back of football, and then the next weekend is Friday
night lights.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well I was gonna say Tuesday, you get the pads
Friday lights. Then the next weekend is the first pre
preseason that's what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Then you got a preseason game that you you you're
building up to that for training camp, and then guess what,
after the preseason game, you got like one or two
more camp practices, then you're done, and then you break camp,
and then you got a couple more preseason games with
the team moving back to the SaaS hat and then
their training facility at the upmc rooney Sports Complex. So
it moves fast. It's just going to get started tomorrow.
(02:50):
Thursday's our first day of shows here on Steelers Nation
Radio and the Steelers Audio Network. And you know, we
we said this last week, but you know, training camp,
we have to imagine what would have been like covering
this team and doing this back when Ben was there,
and like the team was just kind of rolling things
over from year after year because there's just a lot
of like small things to keep an eye out for
(03:10):
and kind of like how's this rookie blending in, you
know what I mean? But this year and really for
the past couple of years too, because you've had quarterbacks
and you've had new pieces being infused. But I think
this year takes it to a whole other level where
it's like, as we mentioned in the first episode, this
house has been completely remodeled, and now this is our
first chance to kind of go in the front door
(03:32):
and kind of have them explain to us what the
thinking was between doing this to the deck and doing
this to the living room. And it's the first chance
we get to see how they deploy the secondary, what
the offense looks like with Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers
trying to put their brains together and cook something up.
So I think that this offseason, or excuse me, this
(03:54):
training camp, because of what the off season yielded for
the Pittsburgh Steelers, not only has you know, I don't
want to say it has more importance, because every training
camp is important for every team, even if you're a
team that's a perennial contender or a team that's trying
to get back to that spot. You know, there's important
things that you got to do in this period just
to get up to speed for when the games actually
(04:15):
happen and they matter. But it just kind of seems
like this training camp has more weight to it, that
there's a little bit more stakes involved like these practices
might be a little bit more valuable than they have
been in years past, just because there's so many different things.
Like the past couple of years, there's been like things
(04:37):
to keep an eye on, and it's always been on
the offensive side of the ball with the young quarterbacks
and then you get Fields and Wilson. The defense has
been relatively the same, and it's been like, we know
what the defense is going to bring to the table, right,
Like there's no real question marks there. Sure there was
like a Joey Porter junior that got you excited. He
had some great battles with George Pickens his rookie year camp,
and you're like, oh, this is going to be fun.
(04:57):
But like it was mostly on the offensive side. But
now it's on both sides of the ball, and quite frankly,
let's start here. I know that offense is the sexy thing,
and that's the side of the ball that the Steelers
need to get back, or not back, need to get
to the level that's adequate enough, need to get kind
of back towards that top fifteen in the league. When
it comes to offense, I think the thing that I'm
(05:19):
most intrigued by is not anything new with Arthur Smith
and Caleb Johnson and Aaron Rodgers, what they're using with
the wide receivers, the tight ends. I'm triggered by that,
Don't get me wrong, but I need to see what's
happening in the secondary that I think is where my
eyes are trained. Thursday first practice, kind of getting an
(05:39):
inclination of what's the plan here, what's the base defense
gonna look like? How much nicol are you gonna run
where all three of these guys can be on the
field at the same time. Does Thornhill stick with safety
in the base? Can Ramsey bump into that spot if
you have to in base defense? Or do you want
to just have that conversation with Darius Slay and say,
(06:02):
when we're in base, you're off the field next to
me and stick around because they're base. We're gonna be
in based like four times a game. It's not gonna
be much. Mainly gonna live in nickel and then you
throw Sleigh out there. Maybe bump Ramsey into the slot
where he's had some success and have Sleigh take the outside.
I don't know, damn it, but I'm really excited to
(06:22):
find out what football minds that are a million million
times smarter than I are gonna cook up with these
pieces that they have now on the defensive side of
the ball, because on the defensive back side of the
ball in particular, because that group has a lot of talent,
but also kind of just a bit of a head
scratcher when you look at how they're gonna fill that
(06:43):
hole of Minka Fitzpatrick without adding to that position group
when they trade.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It away and like there's the possibility they still add
to it while we're in latrope, in the midst of
la trope.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And then you know what, it becomes really intriguing to me.
Then if you do that, well, then what happens, Like
who becomes the odd man out when they're in.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Base between Thorn Hill?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Thorn Hill would because it would be let's say, Justin
Simmons would be out there.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But like, yeah, is it, oh you're saying like between
you're saying between Ramsey.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Then if that's the case, I don't know, probably still
just more of the same of living in Nickel, but
having a better safety in Justin Simmons than one Thornhill
and then Nickel.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I'm just going to throw the caution flag up and
I'm assuming if you haven't talked about it already, then
once we get into the the nitty gritty of La
Trobe and fans are at practice and they're watching it
and they're saying, well, why don't they just do this?
I'm assuming Las will address this. Do you remember last
year when Nick Herbig was in his second season and
(07:46):
doing great, and everyone was saying, well, why not just
put Nick Herbig in as a middle linebacker so you
can have high Smith, Herbig and TJ out there at
the same time, and and Lab said, because he's not
a middle linebacker. I wonder if it's a little different
when someone could ask and and and maybe it is
different because I remember a week ago, Jerry or two
weeks ago when the trade went through between Minka and
(08:09):
and Ramsey and John Smith. Jerry Doulex said, you will
rarely see uh Porter, Junior, Slay and Ramsey not on
the field at the same time. I wonder if there
is a reality where those are your starting four, between Ramsey, Slay, Porter,
and Elliott I.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That's That's part of what I'm intrigued about, is that
maybe there is a putting Ramsey in the safety spot
and having that Rod Woodson type of conversion at the
end of his career.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And then maybe there isn't as pressing of an Maybe
he shows signs that he can he's capable of doing it,
and maybe there's less of a pressing need to go
out and get that Justin Simmons esque safety for you,
because don't you think if you bring in a I mean,
of course, if you bring a guy like Justin Simmons,
you gotta play him, But then it kind of just
crowds up that secondary room for you.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
More so than it already is. And it's already cornerback position,
it's already kind of crowded, see what I mean. There's
intrigue there. We got to know, absolutely, and that's why
I think that there's a lot of attention. My eye
of sore On is kind of trained towards that at
the start of camp here. But as I mentioned, there
are things of plenty on the offensive side of the ball,
some other things on the defensive side of the ball, though,
(09:25):
beyond just the defensive backs, you know, I want to
see how col Holcom looks.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Absolutely, that's a huge thing that might be just because
the the secondary has so much I don't know if
you can call it star power, because I don't know
if Elliott and Porter are stars.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Porter's a star in the making with a chance to be.
Elliott's under the radar, like people, He's just a great
good to great pain.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I don't know if we're still ready to call Porter
a star in the making yet, because yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, yeah, he's still got that potential.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
He's got the potential is a big year for him,
and absolutely, but if you get more of a second year,
Slay's not.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Really a star. He's more of just like a really
well known player. Ramsey's a star. Yeah, Ramsey's a superstars.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But just because there's enough guys in the secondary collective
that I trust, I'm not as concerned about it as
a unit. I mean, I'm not trying to say I'm
concerned about the the inside linebacker unit as well, but
I think my my focus will be on Cole Holcomb
because if he then doesn't.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Pan out, it's a little thinner, right. I Mean, we
got Malie Harrison, sure, but that's.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Kind of just that's the equivalent of bringing it.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I don't even know who to compare him to, but
it's like a fourth stringer.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, and that's where you want him to be at.
So Coleholcomb, I think having a really good and impressive
camp and making people feel good about him is an
important deal. But at the same time, that doesn't mean
that Coleholkom has to be the number two linebacker buthu
next to Patrick Queen. I think that that can be Patson. Yeah,
But if Cole Holcomb can really show that he's a
good number three and can stay on the field for
(10:57):
you know, maybe thirty thirty snap the game something like that,
then I think all the more power to that inside
linebacker position. And this is something that you see every
year at camp, but the first round pick is on
the defensive side of the ball. And it really seems
like such a quiet, under the radar first round pick
this year because there's just so much else. There's a
(11:19):
Rogers signing, there's a DK trade, there's a and I
know the DK trade game before the draft, but there's
a a John new Smith and Jaden Ramsey trade. You
have this TJ watkonk It was let's just put it.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It was a very loud offseason.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yes, and for some off seasons for the Steelers, like
the draft, it's a vocal just a couple of years ago,
even like Roger Jones coming in was like, oh, I
can't wait to see how this stud tackle does Kenny
Pickett obviously like even I can't wait to see how
this quarterback does this this first round pick, it looks
so exciting.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Even though Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were both run
in last year, there were still a lot of attention
put on Troy Fatanu zach Friz last year.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
In Fatanum in particular, and I think as he was
going through camp and getting opportunities moving up the ladder
while being injured, everybody was kind of like whoa, Like
we got to kind of take notice for what's happening here.
And then you know, Harmon, Like even when the draft happened,
like it was almost like everybody's head was kind of
spinning with what was going on with Shador and the
(12:22):
Steelers not taking a quarterback, and then everybody on ESPN saying,
how well, now the Steelers will obviously take a quarterback,
and they take a quarterback now, right, the quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback,
So like Derek Harmon was picked, and then it's kind
of just like moved past it, and then Caleb Johnson
got picked, and I get it. He's a running back,
so it's kind of sexiery fantasy player or stuff like that.
A wider audience of people can can be into that.
(12:45):
And then me too, and then we're excited about Caleb
Johnson too. He has a lot of potential and he's
a potentially good weapon, a great weapon that you can
have on the offense. But it just seems like, you know,
Harmon and I mean this in a good way, is
kind of just able to play football and doesn't have
to come in and have that you have to be
an all pro right away. We need you to be
(13:06):
Jalen Carter, like we need you to come in and
be Dexter Lawrence, like you can't take any time getting
your feet wet. I need Quinn Williams asap. And that's
the type of player he could be because he was
picked in the first round like those type of players were,
so he doesn't really have those expectations of like, hey man,
(13:28):
you're the first round pick for the Steelers. You're already
like the third second best player on the team, Like
you need to show out and make that defensive line great.
Not only is they're not that pressure because there's so
many stars already established on this team, whether new stars
with DK and Aaron this year and Ramsey or established
ones with what But on that defensive line, you're already
(13:51):
not going to be the best player on that team,
and you don't have to be. You already have a
first team All Pro that is your sidecar on that
defensive line in the defensive line room. So I just
think that there's not a lot of pressure on Derek Carmon,
not a lot of chatter around Derek Harmon, and I
think that that's something that he can really thrive in
and can just be like a guy that you don't
(14:13):
forget about, but like maybe in the preseason game to
make a play, and then the first week of the year,
second week, you're making plays and you're just like, man,
Harmon was a dude, huh. It's like we were looking
at this and we were looking at that in the offseason,
but man, he panned out, and man, this defensive line
is really scary good now with him in the mix.
So I think that it's good that he's under the
radar a bit, but it's it's time now for him
(14:36):
to make some plays. And show us some things that
kind of turns heads and say, hey, let's pay attention
to that first round pick as well, and let's pay
attention to the impact that he might be able to
bring immediately to the table for this football team.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I love the point of he's there's just so much
going on that it's it's not all on him.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And even though.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Like I said a few minutes ago, that Russell Wilson
and Justin Fields are both brought in, there was still
a lot of attention being put on Troy Futanu and
Zach Frasier because at the state of the offensive line
at the time, it was it was needing a new direction.
It had a piece of it had a good young
piece in Roger Jones and a good veteran piece in
(15:25):
Isaac cum allow it, but it had no center. It
had no answer to the future of what's going to
happen with Dan Moore junior? Like, are is the team
really going to move forward with this guy who has
struggled since he's come into the league. So there was
all that pressure. Whereas Derek Harmon has the luxury of
(15:46):
coming into the most expensive defense already in the NFL.
That was before the Jalen Ramsey thing happened. And that
doesn't really make a difference in terms of cost because
it's gonna end up costing you a lot of money anyways,
and you just won't you'll be replacing his contract with
Mika Fitzpatrick's contract effectively.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But you have stars all over that.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Defense, Cam Hayward up front, TJ and Alex Heighsmith in
the middle, and then I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Darius Slay.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
You said it's not a superstar, but he's got name recognition.
You said, Porter Junior is a star in the making,
and of course Deilan Ramsey is a superstar at in
the secondary league wide would be considered at that level.
So Derek Harmon could just come in as the youngest
piece of that off of that rather of that defense,
just slide in and kind of learn from everyone else.
(16:39):
And he's coming into a defense that is solid. Obviously
stumbled along the way down the stretch at the end
of last season, but I think they're gonna be better
this year. I don't know if it's all on HNT, like,
I don't think Derek Harmon is the missing link here,
but I think they're gonna be.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I do right as long as the rookie is good
in first round pick right, And you know Benton has
a lot of pressure to this year to do Ben Benton,
Benton to kind of do what you're saying and being
that making that name even better than what it was.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Honestly, especially against year this year, there might be more
pressure on Benton than there is on Harmon.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I agree with that. I mean, you can always chalk
up to like a rookie year where it's not Harmon
can't be terrible. Then you get nervous, but he has moments,
but then I'll not consistent. If he shows you flashes exactly,
you can always just be like, yeah it get his
feet wet. You know, he'll be really good. Just give
him a couple of years. And we did that with Benton,
like we had that was two years ago with Bent,
and we were excited going into last year because we
(17:40):
were like, here was playing better than Cam last year
or two years ago at times as a rookie, and
and now it's to that point where it's like, well
now it's the third year. You need to establish yourself.
But on that offensive side of the ball, you know
what Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers are able to cook
up together. I think is going to be very fun
to watch because it's not going to be a McVeigh
(18:04):
kind of offense. It's not going to be a Shanahan
kind of offense. But do you think that they have
the best available? Like last year they bring in Arthur
Smith and they start to kind of rip up those
floorboards and put in players that are good for him,
right and for his offense. But this year, I really
(18:25):
think that they have built this team and kind of
allowed him not to be the architect of the offense,
but he gets to sit in the rooms with the
blueprints and have serious input right that people actually pay
attention to. And I think that you're seeing this offseason
them buy into his offense. I mean, Rogers is a
(18:49):
guy that they would have gotten no matter who their
offensive coordinator was, I think just because of the position
they were in with the quarterback. But Rogers is a
much better type of quarterback for the offense that Art
Arthur Smith wants to run. Then Wilson was then even
justin Fields was justin Fields was better suited for it.
You remember Arthur Smith was saying there there was the
(19:10):
reports that he was the one that was kind of
leaning towards it. But Aaron Rodgers is not just a
better quarterback than those two in general, but in terms
of running this kind of Tennessee Titan Tannehill offense that
went to the AFC Championship Game a few years ago
with Arthur Smith is the offensive coordinator, Rogers can do that.
I think to perfection maybe is what the hope is.
(19:32):
And you look at the other aspects of the offense,
and Najie Harris just wasn't the right back for what
Arthur Smith wanted to do, especially with that toss and
the zone running just wasn't good enough to do. It
wasn't his style. Goes out and he gets a guy
that I was sitting there on draft night with Matt
Williamson and I said to him, okay, okay, the Johnson
(19:52):
were high on him. He runs into heavy boxes in college.
But let me ask you this, how is he when
he goes out wide one of those zone runs, get
out extended a toss And he said, he's great, loves it,
does it all the time and I always got the
speed to do it to get the edge. So I
think that that fits in with Arthur Smith's offense. A
lot better. And that's going along the lines with what
(20:13):
I'm saying, WHI It's like you went out, you got
pieces that actually fit in now and fit in better
to this offense. And then I look at the tight
ends that they have going out and getting Johnny Smith.
Now you have three tight ends that are you know,
NFL caliber players. You have three monsters of tight ends,
(20:36):
just just Arthy Smith and Pat fryn with their big
human beings. To begin with, Washington is huge, like it
is one of the bigger rooms that you'll see in
the NFL. And that's kind of like I bet you, like,
you know, you know they had big tight ends in Tennessee, right,
and I bet you they wanted big tight ends in Atlanta.
And I bet you you know Arthur Smith is just saying,
like I want to paint my mona Lisa here in Pittsburgh,
(20:57):
like I have this guy in Darnell Washington. It's literally
like a gift from the gods for a coach like
me that loves these big tight ends, Like I'm just
gonna get me Johnny Smith, and let's just have three
dudes that not only can bowl you over in the
running game if they're out there, but I got two
of these dudes, and Johnny and Pat they could drop
seven touchdowns a year on your head, eight touchdowns a
season on your head. So that tight end room just
(21:20):
fits more with Arthur Smith. And you still would be
okay with them getting a second wide receiver that's better
than what they have. But Jacob in a classic Arthur
Smith fashion, back when they were at their highest level
of performance, Arthur Smith's offenses in Tennessee, you had AJ
Brown and now you have DK Metcalf, similar type. AJ
(21:44):
Brown is better than DK Metcalf, But there are similar
types of receivers, right, big dudes like kind of physical
physical specimens that are just like a phenomenon almost at
the they're like the modern days Julio Jones, right, always
thought Ulio Jones or even Calvin Johnson, Like sure those
guys were built in a lab. The players, if they're big,
(22:05):
they're wingspans huge, they're they're faster than anybody, right, faster
than everybody.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yes, they can jump higher, they're perfect. Like ab was.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Great, better than Julio Jones in my mind, but he wasn't.
He didn't have bit he was in size, like he
didn't have the six foot four kind of built.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Maybe it was what five?
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, Like so don't get me wrong, Like you don't
have to be built in the lab to be the greatest,
like Jerry Rice wasn't built in a lab, Like he
didn't look like that, but better than everyone. But there
are those type of receivers. They're just like if I'm
creating a receiver in Madden, I'm making them six five
and huge like DK and fast like AB and he
can cut it up and a route like So you've
got that guy in that. I know again you want
(22:42):
another receiver to emerge, Well, maybe someone will be the
Corey Davis right, Like Corey Davis had some of his
best years in Tennessee during those offenses, got a big
contract with the New York Jets because of what he
did in those Tennessee offenses, and then he wasn't really
anything with the New York Jets. So maybe Calvin Austin
is Corey Davis right. Maybe Robert Woods has a late
(23:02):
kind of blooming, not blooming because he's already bloomed, but
like kind of a Swan Song type of season where
he has those kind of numbers, but you have the
number one receiver and He's the exact kind of build
and type that Arthur and I just think that when
(23:23):
I look at all that stuff, I think that they
have built this team in this offense in a fashion
that is going to suit Arthur Smith a lot more.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
It's curated more to towards his preferred taste.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
These wines will be more up your alley, sir, like
the Somalia brought him out better wines this time, and
I think we're going to see that and again, to
kind of loop it back around to my first point
on this, you're gonna have the guy, I think in
Rogers that can truly be the perfect extension on the
field of this offense and can truly master what this
offense needs to be. And I believe that if you
(24:01):
can get forty two year old Rogers to play like
Ryan Tannehill did in that whatever twenty eighteen twenty nineteen
season was with Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator and
then winning the number one seed in the AFC, then
you're gonna have enough pieces around him on that offense
to get that kind of similar success, and quite frankly,
you might have better play out of forty two year
(24:22):
old Aaron Rodgers than you did out of Ryan Tannehill
in twenty Nineen Tenhill was good that year, don't get
me wrong, but if Rogers can have just that. Brett
Farr of Minnesota Viking year minus the blunder in the
AFC NFC Championship was by the way, that came up
recently because I saw Paul Allen as the name of
the Vikings broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, and he's great, He's really he is phenomenal. What
how his call on that playing?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Why not just run for a first down or throw
the ball away? He's throw the ball across the field.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
He's like, take a knee, if you want to, you shoot,
you can get the six yard field goal, right right right,
That's what it was. But they a five of his
st calls. That's one of them, and it was number one.
And they're so great. I mean, the the Blair Walsh
missed Seattle when they were down was in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
In Minnesota, but that was the era between the bubble
and their natives.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
They were at the Gopher Stadium right at University of Minnesota. Yeah,
misses a chip shot field goal.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Another one was Stepan than Minneapolis miracle.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I'm sure no, that one didn't make it on the list.
These were more bad plays like these were more like
detriment to the Minnesota like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Which leads to better radio calls.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Like there was one last year when Sam Darnold they
were playing the Rams. Oh, Mary got sacked like eight times.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
He's like, just get rid of just throw the ball, man.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
But he still was upright in the pocket when he
said that, Like that was part of his play by
play call. But anyway, the farther one came up and
I just was put back to that context, and he's right,
like they're on the plus side of the field. It's
a fifty six years he's probably gonna make the fifty
six yard field goo. But it goes overtime if he
misses it and it's tied, and the play breaks down
(25:57):
and Farv rolls out and it just something possesses him
to throw over across his body.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Is it is?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
You know, as many, by the way, as many quarterbacks
as this league will see. I do think the most
gunslinger prototypical kind of guy is Brett fav Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
And third and thirteen, by the way, So he's trying
to get it all.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Back, yeah, and just like he's running right throws and
it's so just flat and monotony.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Goes intercepted, I can't believe what I'm seeing right now.
He's like, I can't believe what I'm seeing right now.
Like and then if he goes, this is Detroit, this
is the Super Bowls of course, winning and overtime. Yeah
and yeah, go to the super Bowl and that is
Drew Brees's only super Bowl that he's won in his career.
Far from winning that Super Bowl and should have probably
stopped him.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
That would have been a great I mean, we got
a Super Bowl matchup for the ages between Breeze and Manning, but.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Far versus Yeah, but anyway, have that type of let's
not just throws as a game losing interception tied twenty
twenty in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game
this year, that's a pretty damn good see.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Our takeaway is it, I can't believe Aaron Rodgers tanked
our season. Our takeaway should be we got today Aaron
Rodgers for another season. It's you got to the AC
Championship Game.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
A lot of excitement wrapped around the offense and the
defense when it comes to training camp and we get
started next week when we come back, though, we're gonna
talk a little bit of uniform because of the new
uniform that dropped with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some new news
as well when it comes to the broadcast booth that
we'll get into. And I actually have a little impromptu
top ten alternate uniforms that I have written down here
(27:32):
that I can just throw by you and see if
you can give me a ya or an a. I
think I'm gonna have on this top ten links.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
They're all alternates.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
They're alternatis. Okay, okays, Yes, I think some alternates are
throwbacks though, because teams classify that. But I'm gonna go
ahead and say that the order might not be right
because it's so up to your taste. But I think
I got a ten here that you're gonna say, those
are the ten, Those are the ten best. So we'll
get into that next on the Steeler Standard and Steelers
Nation Radio and Steelers Audio Network
We are recording on Tuesday twenty seconds, So players move
into the dormitories tomorrow and the first practices on Thursday.
They practice Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so they have
a lot of acclamation period for all afternoon practices.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Eat it as hot as we can get it.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Saturday will be a lot of fun because that'll be
the Hall of Honor. I have announcement for this year's
class and it's any predictions if I believe. I don't
have any predictions. There's usually I haven't really been looking
at the list that of players that should could be
up for it. So no, I don't have any predictions
(00:51):
for you. But tune in Saturday. We'll have a time
coverage for it. And it's also that first weekend is
like the NFL network has that like back to Football initiative,
and it's just like a lot of people are around.
I think I saw McAfee's picking this show, not this
week next Wednesday at the camp. So it's a carnival
like atmosphere sure, and it's a lot of fun. So
(01:13):
this weekend will be great. There'll be a lot of
fun things to go to do. But that Tuesday of
next week, a week from today, that's when it really
starts past. I have off on Monday next week, and
then Tuesday is the first padded practice from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And you know, as Labs and I were talking about
earlier today on our ass to Answer podcast, you know,
(01:34):
for fans that are going, that's you'll see backs on
backers and that's like that first time you'll hear that
in person, like pop, that first time you'll hear that
in person pad on pad violence that we so crave
from the sport. So really a week from today is
when like real football it's gonna finally be started to
(01:54):
be played again. And then training camp. You know, it
is a lot of work for us here at this
and it's it's definitely a couple of weeks where you
kind of have to put your nose down and and
just plow through. But it really does move quick with benchmarks,
like you've got this weekend coming up, which is just
(02:14):
the initial a we're here, like you know what I mean,
you got that fun Hall of Honor thing in the
back of football, and then the next weekend is Friday
night lights.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Well I was gonna say Tuesday, you get the pads
Friday lights. Then the next weekend is the first pre
preseason that's what I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Then you got a preseason game that you you you're
building up to that for training camp, and then guess what,
after the preseason game, you got like one or two
more camp practices, then you're done, and then you break camp,
and then you got a couple more preseason games with
the team moving back to the SaaS hat and then
their training facility at the upmc rooney Sports Complex. So
it moves fast. It's just going to get started tomorrow.
(02:50):
Thursday's our first day of shows here on Steelers Nation
Radio and the Steelers Audio Network. And you know, we
we said this last week, but you know, training camp,
we have to imagine what would have been like covering
this team and doing this back when Ben was there,
and like the team was just kind of rolling things
over from year after year because there's just a lot
of like small things to keep an eye out for
(03:10):
and kind of like how's this rookie blending in, you
know what I mean? But this year and really for
the past couple of years too, because you've had quarterbacks
and you've had new pieces being infused. But I think
this year takes it to a whole other level where
it's like, as we mentioned in the first episode, this
house has been completely remodeled, and now this is our
first chance to kind of go in the front door
(03:32):
and kind of have them explain to us what the
thinking was between doing this to the deck and doing
this to the living room. And it's the first chance
we get to see how they deploy the secondary, what
the offense looks like with Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers
trying to put their brains together and cook something up.
So I think that this offseason, or excuse me, this
(03:54):
training camp, because of what the off season yielded for
the Pittsburgh Steelers, not only has you know, I don't
want to say it has more importance, because every training
camp is important for every team, even if you're a
team that's a perennial contender or a team that's trying
to get back to that spot. You know, there's important
things that you got to do in this period just
to get up to speed for when the games actually
(04:15):
happen and they matter. But it just kind of seems
like this training camp has more weight to it, that
there's a little bit more stakes involved like these practices
might be a little bit more valuable than they have
been in years past, just because there's so many different things.
Like the past couple of years, there's been like things
(04:37):
to keep an eye on, and it's always been on
the offensive side of the ball with the young quarterbacks
and then you get Fields and Wilson. The defense has
been relatively the same, and it's been like, we know
what the defense is going to bring to the table, right,
Like there's no real question marks there. Sure there was
like a Joey Porter junior that got you excited. He
had some great battles with George Pickens his rookie year camp,
and you're like, oh, this is going to be fun.
(04:57):
But like it was mostly on the offensive side. But
now it's on both sides of the ball, and quite frankly,
let's start here. I know that offense is the sexy thing,
and that's the side of the ball that the Steelers
need to get back, or not back, need to get
to the level that's adequate enough, need to get kind
of back towards that top fifteen in the league. When
it comes to offense, I think the thing that I'm
(05:19):
most intrigued by is not anything new with Arthur Smith
and Caleb Johnson and Aaron Rodgers, what they're using with
the wide receivers, the tight ends. I'm triggered by that,
Don't get me wrong, but I need to see what's
happening in the secondary that I think is where my
eyes are trained. Thursday first practice, kind of getting an
(05:39):
inclination of what's the plan here, what's the base defense
gonna look like? How much nicol are you gonna run
where all three of these guys can be on the
field at the same time. Does Thornhill stick with safety
in the base? Can Ramsey bump into that spot if
you have to in base defense? Or do you want
to just have that conversation with Darius Slay and say,
(06:02):
when we're in base, you're off the field next to
me and stick around because they're base. We're gonna be
in based like four times a game. It's not gonna
be much. Mainly gonna live in nickel and then you
throw Sleigh out there. Maybe bump Ramsey into the slot
where he's had some success and have Sleigh take the outside.
I don't know, damn it, but I'm really excited to
(06:22):
find out what football minds that are a million million
times smarter than I are gonna cook up with these
pieces that they have now on the defensive side of
the ball, because on the defensive back side of the
ball in particular, because that group has a lot of talent,
but also kind of just a bit of a head
scratcher when you look at how they're gonna fill that
(06:43):
hole of Minka Fitzpatrick without adding to that position group
when they trade.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It away and like there's the possibility they still add
to it while we're in latrope, in the midst of
la trope.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And then you know what, it becomes really intriguing to me.
Then if you do that, well, then what happens, Like
who becomes the odd man out when they're in.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Base between Thorn Hill?
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Thorn Hill would because it would be let's say, Justin
Simmons would be out there.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
But like, yeah, is it, oh you're saying like between
you're saying between Ramsey.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Then if that's the case, I don't know, probably still
just more of the same of living in Nickel, but
having a better safety in Justin Simmons than one Thornhill
and then Nickel.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
I'm just going to throw the caution flag up and
I'm assuming if you haven't talked about it already, then
once we get into the the nitty gritty of La
Trobe and fans are at practice and they're watching it
and they're saying, well, why don't they just do this?
I'm assuming Las will address this. Do you remember last
year when Nick Herbig was in his second season and
(07:46):
doing great, and everyone was saying, well, why not just
put Nick Herbig in as a middle linebacker so you
can have high Smith, Herbig and TJ out there at
the same time, and and Lab said, because he's not
a middle linebacker. I wonder if it's a little different
when someone could ask and and and maybe it is
different because I remember a week ago, Jerry or two
weeks ago when the trade went through between Minka and
(08:09):
and Ramsey and John Smith. Jerry Doulex said, you will
rarely see uh Porter, Junior, Slay and Ramsey not on
the field at the same time. I wonder if there
is a reality where those are your starting four, between Ramsey, Slay, Porter,
and Elliott I.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
That's That's part of what I'm intrigued about, is that
maybe there is a putting Ramsey in the safety spot
and having that Rod Woodson type of conversion at the
end of his career.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And then maybe there isn't as pressing of an Maybe
he shows signs that he can he's capable of doing it,
and maybe there's less of a pressing need to go
out and get that Justin Simmons esque safety for you,
because don't you think if you bring in a I mean,
of course, if you bring a guy like Justin Simmons,
you gotta play him, But then it kind of just
crowds up that secondary room for you.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
More so than it already is. And it's already cornerback position,
it's already kind of crowded, see what I mean. There's
intrigue there. We got to know, absolutely, and that's why
I think that there's a lot of attention. My eye
of sore On is kind of trained towards that at
the start of camp here. But as I mentioned, there
are things of plenty on the offensive side of the ball,
some other things on the defensive side of the ball, though,
(09:25):
beyond just the defensive backs, you know, I want to
see how col Holcom looks.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Absolutely, that's a huge thing that might be just because
the the secondary has so much I don't know if
you can call it star power, because I don't know
if Elliott and Porter are stars.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Porter's a star in the making with a chance to be.
Elliott's under the radar, like people, He's just a great
good to great pain.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
I don't know if we're still ready to call Porter
a star in the making yet, because yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, yeah, he's still got that potential.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
He's got the potential is a big year for him,
and absolutely, but if you get more of a second year,
Slay's not.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Really a star. He's more of just like a really
well known player. Ramsey's a star. Yeah, Ramsey's a superstars.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But just because there's enough guys in the secondary collective
that I trust, I'm not as concerned about it as
a unit. I mean, I'm not trying to say I'm
concerned about the the inside linebacker unit as well, but
I think my my focus will be on Cole Holcomb
because if he then doesn't.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Pan out, it's a little thinner, right. I Mean, we
got Malie Harrison, sure, but that's.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Kind of just that's the equivalent of bringing it.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I don't even know who to compare him to, but
it's like a fourth stringer.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah, and that's where you want him to be at.
So Coleholcomb, I think having a really good and impressive
camp and making people feel good about him is an
important deal. But at the same time, that doesn't mean
that Coleholkom has to be the number two linebacker buthu
next to Patrick Queen. I think that that can be Patson. Yeah,
But if Cole Holcomb can really show that he's a
good number three and can stay on the field for
(10:57):
you know, maybe thirty thirty snap the game something like that,
then I think all the more power to that inside
linebacker position. And this is something that you see every
year at camp, but the first round pick is on
the defensive side of the ball. And it really seems
like such a quiet, under the radar first round pick
this year because there's just so much else. There's a
(11:19):
Rogers signing, there's a DK trade, there's a and I
know the DK trade game before the draft, but there's
a a John new Smith and Jaden Ramsey trade. You
have this TJ watkonk It was let's just put it.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It was a very loud offseason.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yes, and for some off seasons for the Steelers, like
the draft, it's a vocal just a couple of years ago,
even like Roger Jones coming in was like, oh, I
can't wait to see how this stud tackle does Kenny
Pickett obviously like even I can't wait to see how
this quarterback does this this first round pick, it looks
so exciting.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Even though Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were both run
in last year, there were still a lot of attention
put on Troy Fatanu zach Friz last year.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
In Fatanum in particular, and I think as he was
going through camp and getting opportunities moving up the ladder
while being injured, everybody was kind of like whoa, Like
we got to kind of take notice for what's happening here.
And then you know, Harmon, Like even when the draft happened,
like it was almost like everybody's head was kind of
spinning with what was going on with Shador and the
(12:22):
Steelers not taking a quarterback, and then everybody on ESPN saying,
how well, now the Steelers will obviously take a quarterback,
and they take a quarterback now, right, the quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback,
So like Derek Harmon was picked, and then it's kind
of just like moved past it, and then Caleb Johnson
got picked, and I get it. He's a running back,
so it's kind of sexiery fantasy player or stuff like that.
A wider audience of people can can be into that.
(12:45):
And then me too, and then we're excited about Caleb
Johnson too. He has a lot of potential and he's
a potentially good weapon, a great weapon that you can
have on the offense. But it just seems like, you know,
Harmon and I mean this in a good way, is
kind of just able to play football and doesn't have
to come in and have that you have to be
an all pro right away. We need you to be
(13:06):
Jalen Carter, like we need you to come in and
be Dexter Lawrence, like you can't take any time getting
your feet wet. I need Quinn Williams asap. And that's
the type of player he could be because he was
picked in the first round like those type of players were,
so he doesn't really have those expectations of like, hey man,
(13:28):
you're the first round pick for the Steelers. You're already
like the third second best player on the team, Like
you need to show out and make that defensive line great.
Not only is they're not that pressure because there's so
many stars already established on this team, whether new stars
with DK and Aaron this year and Ramsey or established
ones with what But on that defensive line, you're already
(13:51):
not going to be the best player on that team,
and you don't have to be. You already have a
first team All Pro that is your sidecar on that
defensive line in the defensive line room. So I just
think that there's not a lot of pressure on Derek Carmon,
not a lot of chatter around Derek Harmon, and I
think that that's something that he can really thrive in
and can just be like a guy that you don't
(14:13):
forget about, but like maybe in the preseason game to
make a play, and then the first week of the year,
second week, you're making plays and you're just like, man,
Harmon was a dude, huh. It's like we were looking
at this and we were looking at that in the offseason,
but man, he panned out, and man, this defensive line
is really scary good now with him in the mix.
So I think that it's good that he's under the
radar a bit, but it's it's time now for him
(14:36):
to make some plays. And show us some things that
kind of turns heads and say, hey, let's pay attention
to that first round pick as well, and let's pay
attention to the impact that he might be able to
bring immediately to the table for this football team.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I love the point of he's there's just so much
going on that it's it's not all on him.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And even though.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Like I said a few minutes ago, that Russell Wilson
and Justin Fields are both brought in, there was still
a lot of attention being put on Troy Futanu and
Zach Frasier because at the state of the offensive line
at the time, it was it was needing a new direction.
It had a piece of it had a good young
piece in Roger Jones and a good veteran piece in
(15:25):
Isaac cum allow it, but it had no center. It
had no answer to the future of what's going to
happen with Dan Moore junior? Like, are is the team
really going to move forward with this guy who has
struggled since he's come into the league. So there was
all that pressure. Whereas Derek Harmon has the luxury of
(15:46):
coming into the most expensive defense already in the NFL.
That was before the Jalen Ramsey thing happened. And that
doesn't really make a difference in terms of cost because
it's gonna end up costing you a lot of money anyways,
and you just won't you'll be replacing his contract with
Mika Fitzpatrick's contract effectively.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But you have stars all over that.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Defense, Cam Hayward up front, TJ and Alex Heighsmith in
the middle, and then I mean.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Darius Slay.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
You said it's not a superstar, but he's got name recognition.
You said, Porter Junior is a star in the making,
and of course Deilan Ramsey is a superstar at in
the secondary league wide would be considered at that level.
So Derek Harmon could just come in as the youngest
piece of that off of that rather of that defense,
just slide in and kind of learn from everyone else.
(16:39):
And he's coming into a defense that is solid. Obviously
stumbled along the way down the stretch at the end
of last season, but I think they're gonna be better
this year. I don't know if it's all on HNT, like,
I don't think Derek Harmon is the missing link here,
but I think they're gonna be.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I do right as long as the rookie is good
in first round pick right, And you know Benton has
a lot of pressure to this year to do Ben Benton,
Benton to kind of do what you're saying and being
that making that name even better than what it was.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Honestly, especially against year this year, there might be more
pressure on Benton than there is on Harmon.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I agree with that. I mean, you can always chalk
up to like a rookie year where it's not Harmon
can't be terrible. Then you get nervous, but he has moments,
but then I'll not consistent. If he shows you flashes exactly,
you can always just be like, yeah it get his
feet wet. You know, he'll be really good. Just give
him a couple of years. And we did that with Benton,
like we had that was two years ago with Bent,
and we were excited going into last year because we
(17:40):
were like, here was playing better than Cam last year
or two years ago at times as a rookie, and
and now it's to that point where it's like, well
now it's the third year. You need to establish yourself.
But on that offensive side of the ball, you know
what Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers are able to cook
up together. I think is going to be very fun
to watch because it's not going to be a McVeigh
(18:04):
kind of offense. It's not going to be a Shanahan
kind of offense. But do you think that they have
the best available? Like last year they bring in Arthur
Smith and they start to kind of rip up those
floorboards and put in players that are good for him,
right and for his offense. But this year, I really
(18:25):
think that they have built this team and kind of
allowed him not to be the architect of the offense,
but he gets to sit in the rooms with the
blueprints and have serious input right that people actually pay
attention to. And I think that you're seeing this offseason
them buy into his offense. I mean, Rogers is a
(18:49):
guy that they would have gotten no matter who their
offensive coordinator was, I think just because of the position
they were in with the quarterback. But Rogers is a
much better type of quarterback for the offense that Art
Arthur Smith wants to run. Then Wilson was then even
justin Fields was justin Fields was better suited for it.
You remember Arthur Smith was saying there there was the
(19:10):
reports that he was the one that was kind of
leaning towards it. But Aaron Rodgers is not just a
better quarterback than those two in general, but in terms
of running this kind of Tennessee Titan Tannehill offense that
went to the AFC Championship Game a few years ago
with Arthur Smith is the offensive coordinator, Rogers can do that.
I think to perfection maybe is what the hope is.
(19:32):
And you look at the other aspects of the offense,
and Najie Harris just wasn't the right back for what
Arthur Smith wanted to do, especially with that toss and
the zone running just wasn't good enough to do. It
wasn't his style. Goes out and he gets a guy
that I was sitting there on draft night with Matt
Williamson and I said to him, okay, okay, the Johnson
(19:52):
were high on him. He runs into heavy boxes in college.
But let me ask you this, how is he when
he goes out wide one of those zone runs, get
out extended a toss And he said, he's great, loves it,
does it all the time and I always got the
speed to do it to get the edge. So I
think that that fits in with Arthur Smith's offense. A
lot better. And that's going along the lines with what
(20:13):
I'm saying, WHI It's like you went out, you got
pieces that actually fit in now and fit in better
to this offense. And then I look at the tight
ends that they have going out and getting Johnny Smith.
Now you have three tight ends that are you know,
NFL caliber players. You have three monsters of tight ends,
(20:36):
just just Arthy Smith and Pat fryn with their big
human beings. To begin with, Washington is huge, like it
is one of the bigger rooms that you'll see in
the NFL. And that's kind of like I bet you, like,
you know, you know they had big tight ends in Tennessee, right,
and I bet you they wanted big tight ends in Atlanta.
And I bet you you know Arthur Smith is just saying,
like I want to paint my mona Lisa here in Pittsburgh,
(20:57):
like I have this guy in Darnell Washington. It's literally
like a gift from the gods for a coach like
me that loves these big tight ends, Like I'm just
gonna get me Johnny Smith, and let's just have three
dudes that not only can bowl you over in the
running game if they're out there, but I got two
of these dudes, and Johnny and Pat they could drop
seven touchdowns a year on your head, eight touchdowns a
season on your head. So that tight end room just
(21:20):
fits more with Arthur Smith. And you still would be
okay with them getting a second wide receiver that's better
than what they have. But Jacob in a classic Arthur
Smith fashion, back when they were at their highest level
of performance, Arthur Smith's offenses in Tennessee, you had AJ
Brown and now you have DK Metcalf, similar type. AJ
(21:44):
Brown is better than DK Metcalf, But there are similar
types of receivers, right, big dudes like kind of physical
physical specimens that are just like a phenomenon almost at
the they're like the modern days Julio Jones, right, always
thought Ulio Jones or even Calvin Johnson, Like sure those
guys were built in a lab. The players, if they're big,
(22:05):
they're wingspans huge, they're they're faster than anybody, right, faster
than everybody.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yes, they can jump higher, they're perfect. Like ab was.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Great, better than Julio Jones in my mind, but he wasn't.
He didn't have bit he was in size, like he
didn't have the six foot four kind of built.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Maybe it was what five?
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, Like so don't get me wrong, Like you don't
have to be built in the lab to be the greatest,
like Jerry Rice wasn't built in a lab, Like he
didn't look like that, but better than everyone. But there
are those type of receivers. They're just like if I'm
creating a receiver in Madden, I'm making them six five
and huge like DK and fast like AB and he
can cut it up and a route like So you've
got that guy in that. I know again you want
(22:42):
another receiver to emerge, Well, maybe someone will be the
Corey Davis right, Like Corey Davis had some of his
best years in Tennessee during those offenses, got a big
contract with the New York Jets because of what he
did in those Tennessee offenses, and then he wasn't really
anything with the New York Jets. So maybe Calvin Austin
is Corey Davis right. Maybe Robert Woods has a late
(23:02):
kind of blooming, not blooming because he's already bloomed, but
like kind of a Swan Song type of season where
he has those kind of numbers, but you have the
number one receiver and He's the exact kind of build
and type that Arthur and I just think that when
(23:23):
I look at all that stuff, I think that they
have built this team in this offense in a fashion
that is going to suit Arthur Smith a lot more.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
It's curated more to towards his preferred taste.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
These wines will be more up your alley, sir, like
the Somalia brought him out better wines this time, and
I think we're going to see that and again, to
kind of loop it back around to my first point
on this, you're gonna have the guy, I think in
Rogers that can truly be the perfect extension on the
field of this offense and can truly master what this
offense needs to be. And I believe that if you
(24:01):
can get forty two year old Rogers to play like
Ryan Tannehill did in that whatever twenty eighteen twenty nineteen
season was with Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator and
then winning the number one seed in the AFC, then
you're gonna have enough pieces around him on that offense
to get that kind of similar success, and quite frankly,
you might have better play out of forty two year
(24:22):
old Aaron Rodgers than you did out of Ryan Tannehill
in twenty Nineen Tenhill was good that year, don't get
me wrong, but if Rogers can have just that. Brett
Farr of Minnesota Viking year minus the blunder in the
AFC NFC Championship was by the way, that came up
recently because I saw Paul Allen as the name of
the Vikings broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, and he's great, He's really he is phenomenal. What
how his call on that playing?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Why not just run for a first down or throw
the ball away? He's throw the ball across the field.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
He's like, take a knee, if you want to, you shoot,
you can get the six yard field goal, right right right,
That's what it was. But they a five of his
st calls. That's one of them, and it was number one.
And they're so great. I mean, the the Blair Walsh
missed Seattle when they were down was in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
In Minnesota, but that was the era between the bubble
and their natives.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
They were at the Gopher Stadium right at University of Minnesota. Yeah,
misses a chip shot field goal.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Another one was Stepan than Minneapolis miracle.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I'm sure no, that one didn't make it on the list.
These were more bad plays like these were more like
detriment to the Minnesota like.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Which leads to better radio calls.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Like there was one last year when Sam Darnold they
were playing the Rams. Oh, Mary got sacked like eight times.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
He's like, just get rid of just throw the ball, man.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
But he still was upright in the pocket when he
said that, Like that was part of his play by
play call. But anyway, the farther one came up and
I just was put back to that context, and he's right,
like they're on the plus side of the field. It's
a fifty six years he's probably gonna make the fifty
six yard field goo. But it goes overtime if he
misses it and it's tied, and the play breaks down
(25:57):
and Farv rolls out and it just something possesses him
to throw over across his body.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Is it is?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
You know, as many, by the way, as many quarterbacks
as this league will see. I do think the most
gunslinger prototypical kind of guy is Brett fav Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
And third and thirteen, by the way, So he's trying
to get it all.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Back, yeah, and just like he's running right throws and
it's so just flat and monotony.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Goes intercepted, I can't believe what I'm seeing right now.
He's like, I can't believe what I'm seeing right now.
Like and then if he goes, this is Detroit, this
is the Super Bowls of course, winning and overtime. Yeah
and yeah, go to the super Bowl and that is
Drew Brees's only super Bowl that he's won in his career.
Far from winning that Super Bowl and should have probably
stopped him.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
That would have been a great I mean, we got
a Super Bowl matchup for the ages between Breeze and Manning, but.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Far versus Yeah, but anyway, have that type of let's
not just throws as a game losing interception tied twenty
twenty in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game
this year, that's a pretty damn good see.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Our takeaway is it, I can't believe Aaron Rodgers tanked
our season. Our takeaway should be we got today Aaron
Rodgers for another season. It's you got to the AC
Championship Game.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
A lot of excitement wrapped around the offense and the
defense when it comes to training camp and we get
started next week when we come back, though, we're gonna
talk a little bit of uniform because of the new
uniform that dropped with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some new news
as well when it comes to the broadcast booth that
we'll get into. And I actually have a little impromptu
top ten alternate uniforms that I have written down here
(27:32):
that I can just throw by you and see if
you can give me a ya or an a. I
think I'm gonna have on this top ten links.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
They're all alternates.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
They're alternatis. Okay, okays, Yes, I think some alternates are
throwbacks though, because teams classify that. But I'm gonna go
ahead and say that the order might not be right
because it's so up to your taste. But I think
I got a ten here that you're gonna say, those
are the ten, Those are the ten best. So we'll
get into that next on the Steeler Standard and Steelers
Nation Radio and Steelers Audio Network
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