The Drive live from OTAs Day 6 Hour 1

Dale Lolley and Matt Williamson are live from Steelers OTA's to wrap up week 2 of practices.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to a special edition of The Drive here on
Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine seventy. I am Dale Lolly.
He is Matt Williams, and we are live from the
Steelers Ota Session number six, number six, all the up
mc rooney Sports Complex, and the the action is hot
and heavy on the field, the the again, the weather,

(00:34):
everything really really positive. Yeah, I mean experien we've had.
We've had instances when we've been out here in the
past where like we had that we didn't bring enough clothes.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh yeah, if you do us telling that the other
day that I mean, there's been wet, rainy days, of course, windy.
I remember it was a couple of years ago. I
had some buddies next door. I went run in. I'm like,
can we borrow a sweatshirt? I'm over shivering at that sweatshirt.
I think, Yeah, they were nice. Keep him. But yeah,
and it's not crazy hot either, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
It is not. And again no uh no inclement weather, rain, thundershout.
I can remember being out here with one Craig Wolfley
and the lightning and thunder rolling in it is kryptodite
and watching the sky and like we're gonna go inside
like we're under an awning here. No, no, you don't understand.

(01:25):
We gotta go inside. This is kryptidite. Yeah, we do
have CJ. Wolfley sitting here next to us. Hopefully he
is not the lightning beacon, the lightning rod. Yeah, but if.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
You're sitting next to wolf I mean, chances are flighting.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
You're it's gonna be him.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
You don't have to be faster than the bear. You
just have to be faster than your buddy that the
bear is chasing, you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, so who don't know? I believe it's three members
of the Wolfly family have been hit by lightning. Is
that cjs A two or three? Just two or three?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, I mean it's more than the Williamson's or Lawley's
I think, yeah. But they're big targets.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
They are big targets with great big domes.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Right right, A lot a lot of surface area there
to hit.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
It's a planet theory.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
You mentioned yesterday how many new new bodies are on
the Steeler roster that are maybe even upgrades. You know,
we just let them know. This is how the weather
is in Pittsburgh all.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
All the time. You're right, somebody earlier this week we're
talking about you know, this whole thing, and I'm like,
these these new guys are like if you haven't been
to Pittsburgh before, and it's just like, Oh, Pittsburgh's great.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
What's wrong with the weather here? Who complains about this?
You know, sandyeg something?

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, this is like southern California. Absolutely, it's like this
every day. But yeah, it's been nice. We haven't had
much rain. The rain we have had is not interfere
with practice at all. And the Steelers are getting another
one in here number six.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
A lot of guys working hard too. Yeah, And I
wish I could tell people more of what I've seen,
but I will say it's positive. I'm impressed with what's
been going on in front of us the last now
six practices.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
This would put us halfway through not just O t
A sessions, but then the entire off season on field program.
Oh okay, six, I have six practices that were six
practices in. There'll be twelve total including the yeah mandatory
mini camp.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Okay, so we're halfway. We're halfway there. I was thinking
we were two thirds away done with ot as, but
the way you put it makes more sense.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, So and about guessing about ninety five days away
from opening day right around there. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, so that's a good time. We are now within
within reach of everything. Matt. We were talking yesterday, we
were we did some power rankings of the AFC, a
f C. Yeah, and I wanted to take a look
at well, now I can't this it was on here.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Please don't tell me we have technical difficulty. No, we're good.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Good. Uh So there's a thing here. We were talking
about teams that have improved, and where's this thing at here?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
While you look for it?

Speaker 1 (03:57):
I mean I always here.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
I always tell people this. Of course, every team should
be improved more or less. You know in may you know,
I mean you just about your draft. I mean, so
it is the eternal optimism time of the of the
everybody's the season. Everybody's great, and everyone's gonna return perfect
from injuries. No one's gonna get older and lose a step.
You know, all your draft picks are gonna hit. They're
all going in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, but some

(04:19):
look better than others in terms of what teams have improved.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So Marcus Sessler on our NFL dot Com did a
thing where he put out his top his ten most
improved rosters, ten rosters on the rise this office.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, okay, his.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
First one on there is the Jets. For obvious reasons.
They went out and got a quarterback.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
I mean they were a bottom five quarterback situation that
might be kind last year. And now you're top finish,
you know, right at the most important position. So that's enough.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Does Aaron Rodgers still have it?

Speaker 2 (04:49):
I don't know, but I was so I was.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
I did some research stuff last night. I couldn't believe
last year the Packers in the Bucks both won eight
games last year.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
That is a little mind boggling with Brady and Brady
and Rodgers and pretty easy divisions too.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah right, and it's not like they were, you know,
yeah eight games. I'll be Steelers won more games than
those two teams.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
I think Rogers needs to be motivated. Last year, he
looked very disinterested, like he wanted out the year before
and was kind of going through the motions. And the
last time that happened, Green Bay uses a first round
pick on Jordan Love and then he went back to
back MVPs.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
You know, he's older now, but does he still have
that He's thirty nine I think.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
At least one more year to show the world and
give everybody the finger, you know what I mean in
New York. Maybe not after this year, but he can still.
Here's a rare talent.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Here's something that I don't know. You're going from Green
Bay right, which, let's face it is not the media capitol,
mecha capital world right to New York where you are here.
We are the highest profile football player in the city
of New York.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yes, and everybody sometime yeah, I mean on Joe NAMA's birthday,
he might be the next and biggest one since right
in the last fifty years or whatever.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
And how Aaron Rodgers handles that part of this is
going to be interesting, very and.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean sound old. But these guys nowadays, it's not
like he's a twenty year old. I mean, they have
brands and you know, yeah, yeah, they want to be
in big markets and life after football and all those things.
But it's going to be a lot different. I mean,
you can speak.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
We're talking about a guy who went to a fortress
of solitude basically right right right, you know, to decide
whether he wanted to play again this year. Yeah, but
at least he's not you're not going to have any
solitude in New York.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
It sounds like there's less mushrooms and psychedelics this offseason
than last year, which is probably good for football. I
didn't think that was the best training regiment around a
year ago. I don't doubt him, to be honest with you.
I think he's going to come back invigorated for a year.
But there are extenuating circumstances. I mean, who's sitting there
with you know, microphones around his locker and newspapers I

(07:08):
again sound old, Yeah, you know the articles that will
be written about on the between night and day.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Did he did he have to deal with like when
he went out in Green Bay? Did he have to
worry about seventeen photographers driving around following him?

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right? And going out in Green Bay, in quotes, is
a lot different than going out in New York. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
So the next team on the list here is the
Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Despite not a lot of draft picks. I mean, I
think they did a good job addressing areas of need,
you know, defensive line, and I think it's pretty clear
they're going to throw the ball more, you know what
I mean. And you go out and you get to
Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman, and they don't sound like
massive additions, but they're Watson friendly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Well, the other thing he mention is that, you know, Cleveland,
the middle of Cleveland's defensive line is no longer an
open barn door after went and got Dalvin Tomlinson and
drafted uh Kaka. Well here's the thing though, Eco was
what a fourth round draft pick?

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, I don't know that Eca moves a needle.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah, I'm not gonna I'm gonna. Oh, You're gonna throw
a fourth round draft pick into the middle of your
defense and it's gonna fix things. Yeah, I don't know
about that. See.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
I like the Tomlinson addition on the field. I mean,
I think it was a little bit an overpay, but
I really like the Aroncrow. I kill his name. I'm sorry.
He's the Houston edge guy Maguire who they drafted. And
then you mix that with Zadarius Smith. Your defensive front
looks a lot better now, it looks.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Better than it was. I just I don't know that
it's like suddenly a I mean, if I'm looking at
defensive interior lines, No.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
I don't think it's an upper echelone.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
I think it's right.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
It's now the worst than the ECA hits.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Your defensive interior of your line is sixteenth in the
league as opposed to last.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Year, where it might have been thirty two last year.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Last year was like twenty eight to thirty two.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Which is kind of like the Jets conversation. Yeah, I mean,
if you can go from awful to average, let alone
maybe awful to good, that's a big jump. And I
don't think the ECA thing moves the needle a ton.
But because their linebackers are so small, he's close. But
because of the way their linebackers play that they really
need protected. He may be a little more valuable to

(09:15):
them than Joe average, but he's.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Not gonna be out there in passing.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
No, no, no, he'll play twenty five snaps of game
if he's a hit. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Uh. The Ravens and Bengals get mentioned on there, but
they don't get any write ups for what they did.
I don't know how the Ravens receivers, Okay, I'm sure that.
I mean, I can't look. I'm sorry, I know, I
know you've you've been a Odell guy for a long time.
I can't get on that bandwagon.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
I'm also as a Flowers guy though too, and we
both liked him a lot. I'm still a Bateman guy.
I think it's another instance though, of was that the
worst receiving corps in the league? Can they get to eighteenth?
I don't know if his worst, it's pretty bad.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
I mean talked about the AFC South last year.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
There's some bad ones so on there. Yeah, you know,
Titans come to mind.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
The Bengals got to mention here as well, and then
he gets to the Steelers. Okay, the Steelers actually got
one of the right ups. So the entire AFC.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
North, Yeah, real quick on the Bengals, just Orlando Brown
alone has a ripple effect of now Williams got But
that's about it though.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Right, That's really all they added to the mix. Did
you see what Tyler Boyd said?

Speaker 2 (10:24):
By the way he I don't know if I were him,
I would be nervous about my job.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Right he sees me. You know, if i'd have played
last year against the Chiefs we blow them out.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
You know, did he miss that game? I don't remember,
I guess. I mean he doesn't move the needle enough
for me anymore to know. One way or another. I
don't know there'll be a Bengal next year. I don't
think he will be either, right, right, if you're gonna
be paying Higgins and Chase and ye know.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
But the Steelers, uh well, he kind of broke all
three of those teams down into one. Paragrapher's said. Unfortunately
for the Browns, each of their division rivals make Gains too.
Long known for their rough and tumble defense, this year's
Raven squad arrives as an amped up offering on offense
thanks to the additions of Odell Beckham and rookies A Flowers.
With the contractual drama in the rearview mirror. Lamar Jackson,

(11:07):
armed with a new play caller in Todd Monkin, has
plenty of weapons. In the post greg Roman universe. Throwing
for six thousand yards is lunacy nothing, Yeah right, that's
what happens. But there's no excuse for Lamar not to shine.
That's what he says about the Ravens. Regarding the Steelers,
I viewed the Steelers the rough and tumble defense thing.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
They are not constant, yeah, they.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Are not that. I viewed the Steelers as an under
the radar heavy in the AFC. They found Kenny Pickett's
new left tackle in first round of Broderick Jones out
of Georgia. I don't know if that happens right away.
That's me adding that Pittsburgh hadn't snatched a first round
bookend since Jermaine Stevens in nineteen ninety six. Yeah, I

(11:51):
adore the Steelers grabbing cover man Joey Porter Jr. With
their next pick. The son of franchise starter, of a
franchise fire starter. Porter belonged in Pittsburgh and pairs nicely
with free agent pick up Patrick Peterson, was we talked
about yesterday. I don't know if that's necessarily going to
be the pairing right away.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Who knows, right, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
I like where they're sitting right deposition again.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, depth depth depth, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Depth depth depth doesn't mention any of the free agent
signings that they make.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
As I say, is I mean to me, of all
the additions, Isaac Selam always the one is probably gonna
make the most instant impact.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Well on the two inside linebackers and Peterson, and I
mean there's yeah, there's guys who are who are gonna
be starters that.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
It's coady to focus on the draft because the Steelers
did end up with a lot of names that were
in DJ's top fifty and people knew, you know. But
I think the free agent editions are going to pay
off more this year.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
He said. The loaded Bengals roll into camp with the
flock of familiar faces on offense. They were tasked with
a few to does fewer to do is, but pulled
off a coup in landing Orlando Browns Junior to take
over Joe Burrow's blindside protector. Cincinnati still stares through a
Super Bowl window. I agree with that.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
I did too, and I approve of the Orlando brown
move for a Super Bowl window.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
But the reason why Kansas City got exactly exactly.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
But I think he's an overrated player and could be
a cap cut two years am. Now, yeah, I mean
I just think that's who he is. But he could
help them win the sup Bowl.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Has there been an average NFL tackle that's made as
much money in a short amount of time as Orlando
I mean, he's.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Had some franchise tags, trades for demands. I mean, he
really benefited from Stanley's injury. Oh yeah, I mean he's
a right tackle and there's I want to play a
left tackle.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
So the opportunity right right right, Baltimore probably would have
been better serve keeping him in trading. Ronnie Stantall said, yeah, right,
which you couldn't trade. I got him cheaper and you know, right,
the next team on the list are the Detroit Lions.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah, you know, I think people are a little too
excited about the Lions to get it. I ran some
numbers on that too. By the way, uh, Houston Texans,
the Indianapolis Colts make the list.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
You get a new quarterback and Colts didn't do much
else though.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
No, the bear on this list, sure, I mean they
had nowhere to go, but.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Up nowhere to go up that the most caps based
in the league, you know, I mean the fields now
has a nest. I mean he's not a bad spot
right now.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
And then the final team is the Atlanta Falcons.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Agree with that, Yeah, I mean some instant impact guys
Kalais Campbell, Bejon Robinson, Jesse Bates.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
You know E've been going to getting Jeff Akudah, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Detroit gave up on him, some of those dudes, I
mean to get nothing for him, and it's not massive
cap savings.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
I mean they gave up on Swift too. Yeah, I mean,
like you hated that much. I get that you didn't
draft the guys, right, you.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Know, but and I'm a big culture believer, don't get
me wrong. I mean they're terrible human beings and locker
rooms or whatever. Fine, but no, don't draft him that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, somebody in the organization who is still there, Yeah,
had to sign off in that, whether it be ownership,
a team president. Oh yeah, draft that guy.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
And when Acuda went in the top five, nobodynked b
Linked and I or Swift in the second round. He
could have been the first draft back taking that year.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, So you know, I I don't I don't know.
So I did some research, as I mentioned yesterday.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
I gotta see if did I some Lions research.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
I did a little bit of Lions and Steelers research.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
Ah, we compared them before. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, So the Lions went eight and two in their
final ten games last.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Year, two of the hottest teams in the league in
the second half.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
They were the two hottest teams out they were, I
mean they were.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
That's why you texted me about second half of the
year stuff.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
Okay, so I had to actually run these numbers myself,
so you couldn't find them.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
I didn't work hard either.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
So the Lions went eight and two in their final
ten games. They averaged twenty eight points per game, which
is good, especially in last year's NFL.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
I said, that's really good. I mean, one of the best.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
They allowed twenty point eight points per game. Offensively, they
averaged three hundred and sixty nine point six yards per
game rushing, they were one hundred and twenty two point
three yards per game, only four turnovers.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Wow. I didn't realize that's how you do that. That's huge. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
Defensively, they gave up three hundred and seventy two point
one yards per game, so actually more yardage per game
than they than they had. Yeah, so they were negative
and yard different. But here's the difference. Sixteen forced turnovers
they were plus wow. They were plus twelve.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Wow. It's a hard thing to bank on. But good
for them, you know. I mean that's and that's not
a really talented defense. I mean the Steelers defense. Everyone
would rather have them lie. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
So the Steelers in their final nine games went seven
and two, yea average twenty point nine points per game. Okay,
but they allowed sixteen point six and that was with
a thirty seven point game by the Bengals mixed in there,
So I mean it was their defensive stretch was as
good as any they were last four or so.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
Per game in point differential.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
They averaged three hundred and forty three point six yards
per game, so only sixteen yards fewer per game, and no.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
One on the Steelers offense was as good as the
Lions in Week fifteen.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
And remember as well, the Steelers are playing outdoors. The
Lions are playing all their games basically indoors. Yeah, late
in the season, you're you're not going outdoors to you know,
you're not playing in sub zero weather against the Raiders.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
I mean maybe they were in Green Bay or Chicago
for one of them.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Maybe.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Steelers average one hundred and forty six point two yards
rushing per game compared to twenty four more yards per
game than the Lions. Only five turnovers in those nine games,
so that's.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Common for both those teams.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, the as I mentioned, the Lions defense gave up
three hundred and seventy two point one yards per game.
The Steelers were at two seventy two point nine one
hundred yards per game less.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Wow. I mean that was the best of Steelers D played.
The Lions D was battle year. Yeah, they were not
a great and then there's a big offseason for their
defense too.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
And the other commonality there thirteen forced turnovers for the
Steelers defense in those final nine games, so they were
plus eight wow in those final nine.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
We're seeing a formula here, obviously, right.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
I bring that up because as we've talked about, as
I've mentioned the Steelers schedule from last year, I went
and did their strength of schedule for those nine games.
The winning percentage that those teams ended up with is
four sixty three.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Okay, so below five hundred.

Speaker 1 (18:04):
The Steelers schedule this year, the team's based on what
they finished at last year is four seventy. So basically
they're playing the same schedule in the set that they
played in the second half of last year.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
And I don't know if you know this off top
of your head, but it's fresher for you than me.
But I don't think the Lions played the murderers row.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
They didn't either. They did not.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
I'm sure a lot of people are like, well, the
Steelers had an easier schedule and the Lions probably no,
they didn't think they did.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
They did not. Yeah, the Lions second half schedule. Remember
the Lions were one and six, and that division's much more.
They almost played the same like that's when the Lions
played the Eagles. The Lions played they're tougher games and
then in the second half the schedule he eased up.
Well Moostht teams did the same thing and.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
They both ended up in the eight seed in seventy
or the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
You know.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
So it is interesting because you've brought this up before.
Everyone's buzzing about the Lions. Everyone's buzzing about the Lions,
but not the Steelers. And I get it because the
divisions are totally different, the conferences are totally different, and
the organized theyations are totally different.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Well that's the other thing.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
And one of them's used to winning, and one of
them sure isn't.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
I think nationally they just get tired of talking about
the Steelers. Yeah yeah, yeah, I mean pencil the Steelers
and they're going to have at least nine wins because.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
That's what they do every year. And Okay, I get it.
But even like that Sessler article you mentioned, it's like quietly.
You know, there's a lot of things like, good boy,
this could be a sleeping giant, this could quietly be
You're getting a lot more of that rumblings, and I
think a lot more of that stuff will really come out,
like when Warren Sharp's book comes out and Football Outsiders
books come out and you start reading chapters and be like,

(19:33):
I didn't realize how good the Steelers were the last
nine games or the last half of the season, and
what they're building, and boy, what if their quarterback takes
a step in year two and the line that I've
been killing looks pretty good all of a sudden.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah, right, yeah? Or that O line last year was
because that's one of the big things that I've read
throughout you well, they really need to upgrade their offensive line.
They did, did they really need to? I mean, it
was nice to be able to do it, right, But
if they had run the same five starters back this
year on the offensive line, it was in the top

(20:06):
sixteen is I don't think it was bad. No, it
wasn't the disaster to everybody. Again, one hundred and forty
six point two yards rushing per game, right, and you
didn't have a quarterback chipping in seventy eight per game.
You didn't have justin fields.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, no, no, right, right, good point. I pick it
runs a little, but that's not like that, right, not
like that.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
No.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
I mean I think it was a bit of a luxury.
And I'm glad they did it, you know, the upgrade
the O line because it killed two birds. R starters
looked better, three birds starters look better, future looks much better,
and your death a thousand times better. And that was
you got guys in your bench who'd been starters. Yeah,
last year, last year, and not just for this team
but for others.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Her Big started a lot of games last year for
the Jets.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah, good point.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
You know you brought in those kind of guys.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah. No, I like what they did a lot there. Yeah,
and it was, if anything, it was overkilled. But I
mean that is a compliment.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, that's one's that's one position where you can do
that didn't have to happen. Yeah, you know, but and
it doesn't you know, oh, you know, if you have
five quarterbacks that have started, well that's that's too many.
I don't know if you can have enough offensive alignment
then so starting.

Speaker 2 (21:14):
If they rewind the free agency world. I'm sure that
there's people out there listening, like man, I wish they
would have spent more at linebacker. But let's say they
signed Tremaine Edmunds or one of those dudes. Well, then
you don't have that line situation right right at all? Right,
you know, there's not even close to that, and I
would rather invest in alignment. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Absolutely, He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale, Lollie. You're
listening to a special edition of the Drive here on
Steelers Nation Radio. We are live from the upmc roooney
Sports Complex here on the South Side where the Steelers
are partaking in OTA Session number six. We will be
back with more right after this on Steelers Nation Radio
and ESPN nine seventy. Well, come back.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
I am Dale, Lollie.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
He is Matt Williamson. We are live from the Steelers
OTA sessions here at the upmc rooney Sports Complex here
on the south side. You hear the horn blowing there
in the background. That's ending one of the periods here.
There was a team session out there. They'll break off.
I'll probably do some seven on seven now.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
I'm not given anything away there, only.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
You are, so Matt. We just read from Mark Sessler
the ten most improved teams in the league. That takes
me to this thing that I was talking about on
ESPN they do their power indexes.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh okay, I didn't see it today.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
This has been out now for about It came out
right after the draft.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Okay, I guess I wouldn't, sane.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
I've wanted to talk about it. Yeah, I wanted to
talk about it here for a few weeks as we
do the drive here, but we just haven't gotten around
to it. So I'm looking at this thing here now,
and on ESPN's power Index, the Steelers are nineteenth minus
point four. There was zero even Steve. Zero is basically yeah,

(22:56):
you're an average team, average team, averages team. Okay, so
they're there. The Lions are eleventh at plus one point four.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Okay. And this isn't predicting wins or no, just just
to win the division. It's just a power run.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
So let's roll through these here, Okay. Chiefs are number
one at plus six point four.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
I get it, it's earned.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Bills are second at plus five point six.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
I don't know if that'd be two for me, but
I mean, I'm not going to fight him too much on.
They've been very successful lately.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
The Eagles are third at plus five point zero.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I'd probably have them two, but fair enough.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Then you get the Bengals at plus four point six.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah, quality teams.

Speaker 1 (23:32):
Man the forty nine ers at plus three point six.
I can't get on board with that. I don't know
who's their quarterback.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
I just read this morning. It's been heavy heavy lance
in Ota. Yeah, which would make sense. I mean, he
needs all the work. Again, say get them all the
work he can, good or bad. He's thrown three hundred
passes twenty eighteen. Yeah, since twenty eighteen. I think you'd
be more concerning if it was heavy darnold, right, you
know what I mean? So, I mean, who knows it
might work out? But that's that's the big question mark.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, I mean, and that is a huge question mark
to have in football, it is. I also thought they
had the worst draft of the entire league. Yeah, they
didn't help themselves.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
No, I mean they draft a kicker in the third round.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
The Jets are six at plus three point two.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
Okay, I mean again, all these teams look really good
right now. I mean it's hard to poke holes as
it stands, and June.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
First, you're gonna you're gonna disagree with this. Next one.
They have the Chargers at seven at plus three point oh.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, Like I can't have them ahead of Dallas or Miami.
I mean we did our AFC power ranks, and the
Chargers were behind the Steelers, right, and maybe behind the
Browns and behind the Ravens. Haven't come up.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
I think they were just ahead of the Browns and
behind the steel They were tucked in between. The two
of the Cowboys are there at eight at plus three
point zero, followed by the Dolphins at plus three point oh.
So all three of those teams are a plus three
point oh at ten a big drop off here down
to two point zero, so a full percentage point are
the Ravens, I.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Mean, Ravens are Chargers? To me? Is interesting? I mean
a big thing that all these teams minus the Niners
have those an established quarterback that's a Pro Bowl guy.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Right, that's the difference. That's huge. But if we're gonna
look at those top ten teams, yeah, you got Kansas City, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Cincinnati,
San Francisco, the Jets, the Chargers, the Cowboys, the Dolphins,
the Ravens as your top ten. Is Baltimore's defense the
worst of any of those.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Groups off the top of my head. Yeah, probably Chargers
are a little bit suspect, but.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
At least they got a pass rush. They got a
pass rush, that's what they want. Ravens have no pass that's.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
They're definitely the worst pass rushing team of that group. Yeah. Uh,
then you would rather take my chances with Sandy or
with the Chargers.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
You have the Lions at eleven at one plus one
point four.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
Their defense still might be worse the raven Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
The Jaguars at twelve plus point nine.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
I get the hype, I do, but I just think
that a small step backward is screw the Jags.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Name the Broncos at thirteen at plus point nine. Now
we're getting a little saying the Jaguars and Broncos are
an equal footing.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
I don't think so. I mean, I think that's crazy.
I would put the Browns over both those guys and
the Steelers.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
You got the Giants at plus point five at fourteen.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
I have a hard time buying it. They're an above
AVS house car, house of car, above average football team.
That's Giants.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Same thing with the Vikings at plus point five. They're
deed is brutal, They're awful, They're gonna be bad. They're
gonna be bad. I do like the offense a lot.
How about this one, the Patriots at sixteen at plus
point three.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
That doesn't come to me either.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
Then you get the Browns at seventeen at plus point two.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Okay, you said Steelers are eighteen.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
They're nineteen nineteen. The Seahawks are eighteenth at plus point one. See,
I could say I'm not a huge Seahawks believer, but
I could see a case for them being twelve. Right,
you know, some of the teams you mentioned don't blow
me away. Where Seattle's at least trending the right direction.
You get the Steelers at at minus point four, the
Raiders at minus point six.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Wow, so the Browns have not come up yet.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
No, they No, they're seventeen. Okay, we were talking about
the Raiders yesterday. Is one of the worst teams in
the AFC. See, I'm sitting here thinking the Steelers were nineteen.
Almost every team you're gonna mention to me has a
much better chance, well maybe not much, but a better
chance to pick first overall than they do.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
To go to playoffs. Yeah, I mean I think there's
a clear dozen or so not very good teams.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
You got the Commanders at minus point one point four
at twenty one, Okay, you've got the Saints at twenty
two at minus one point eight. I disagree with that.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
I might have them a little higher.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
I would have them higher. You know what direction you're
gonna go? Yeah, the Rams at twenty three at minus
two point.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
Four, I'm not there. No, I think they're a bottom
five or six type of team.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Tied with the Bears at minus two point four.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
That defense is rough in Chicago too. I mean, do
you have more faith I mean fields versus picket. I
mean I think they're in the same We've seen glimpses
of both. Yeah, I mean I wouldn't say I have
a lot of more faith than one than the other
to succeed this year.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
At twenty five is the Packers at minus two point eight.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
They're a tough one for me. I mean, there is
talent on that team. They've won a lot of games recently.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
I wish I'd always a question mark at quarterback.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
Have a much better feel for fields and picket than
they do. Love. Oh, absolutely, you know right.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
The Falcons at twenty six at minus three point two.
They're better than they were. I like that, they're buildings,
they better than they were, and they won seven games
last year, and they's somehow behind a bunch of these
teams that also won fewer.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
They could easily win their division. Yea, not easily, but
I keep come up with a pathway for that. Yeah, defenses, improved,
run the football. If Ridder's not who, they need Riddle
to be the twenty fourth best quarterback, yeah, you know which,
I don't know if he can't be or not. That's
not easy.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
At twenty seven, you have the Panthers at minus three
point four.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
I think this would be a brutal year for them,
especially on offense.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Then you get to the Titans at twenty eight at
minus three point five.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
These are the bad teams.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
These are the really bad, the bad teams. The Colts
are twenty ninth at minus five point one.

Speaker 2 (29:12):
They would be better than the Raiders and five others
you mentioned to me.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
The Buccaneers are thirty if at minus five point five.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
They've got some issues. I mean, they're missing the starting
offensive lineman.

Speaker 1 (29:23):
They don't have any money to go get then they're
to do anything.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yeah. Yeah, And they're right at the bottom league in
cap space as it stands now, I mean it's going
to be they're taking their lumps this year.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
The Cardinals are thirty first at minus five point eight.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
Okay, not only Houston should be thirty two.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
Anyway, and Houston is thirty second at minus six point one.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
I would have the Steelers higher. I mean, if that's
where we're going with this, where do they lock up
with the rest of the league. I look at the
Steelers at least as an average team. If we're to
talk about the number next to them, I think they
should be a zero or above.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah. I don't see how they're negative.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
I don't see they're negative at all. In a winning
record last year and they're better now.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
How are they behind the Patriots? How are they behind
the Broncos? Right, Broncos haven't made the playoffs since twenty fifteen.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
They were a pretty miserable team last year too. Yeah,
I mean where did they get better besides head coach?
I mean, they got in brought in two big run
blocking linemen, but I mean they're not a noticeably. Steelers
did more in the offseason.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
The Steelers and the Jaguars had the same record last year.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, nobody looks at it in that light.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
Nobody looks at it same as the Lions. The Steelers
and the Lions had the same record.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
I think a lot of people think the Jags have arrived.
You know, I think Lawrence is pretty close to arrived.
But you were nine and eight last year and won
the worst division ever. Yeah, I mean that's not Chiefs
level of accomplishment.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Oh, by the way, you've beaten the Ravens five at
the last six times and they're considered a number ten
team in the league. I mean, I just think there's
a big disconnect there with some of these things.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
I do too, And I mean I can understand anyone
power ranking just the division with Cincinnati on top and
then struggling with the next three, and I think the
default would be put the Ravens at two. You know, they've,
whether perceptions correct or not, they seem like the better
team on paper than the Steelers or Browns the last

(31:10):
two years, but that much of the results say that,
especially late in the year.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
Here's the other thing. So they did that with those
projections of that, you know, they're index they projected records.
The Steelers come in at eight point five and eight
point four, like a five hundred.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
That's Stephen Stevens. You can get right.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Without a doubt point nine chance to win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
I don't know how to respond to some of those
predictive percentage.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah, I mean, but if you're basing that off of
like Denver's projected to go eight point four and eight
point five, I assume they're the Giants are ahead of them,
and they're they're win projection is eight point two, like.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
And they've won the hardest schedules in the league sort
of Denver from what I remember. So I don't know
how much they're waiting schedule in terms of it's where
should be factored in a little bit. You would think
it should be factored a lot. Yeah, I mean the
people I respect most of do the wind total stuff
really factor and who you're playing? Yeah? Right, I mean,
I just that seems like this seems late to me.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
I think that again, some national media sleeping on the
Steelers a little bit, others not so much.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Others are warming up.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
I don't know that anyone's saying look out for the Steelers,
but a lot of people were saying, boy, off seasons
off Sason.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
Hey they won nine games last year.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, I miss that as opposed to Ben's gone and
this is rebuild years and blah blah blah. I'm like,
I think more and more people will warm up to them,
But I bet coach Tomlin hopes they don't. You know
what I mean.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
I mean, you had a chance to be the hunter
instead of the hunting.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
How often does that happen around here? You know what
I mean?

Speaker 1 (32:46):
So it's it's interesting, and you know the other thing
about it. And I was talking with our colleague Mike
Persudo about this yesterday. This team can withstand some injuries
much more so than recent memory. Like if let's say,
let's say Baltimore loses you know, a defensive line or
in an edge rusher, which they don't have any to

(33:08):
begin with, they can't afford to lose anybody at those positions,
or they had their secondary gets hit hard again by
or Lamar misses games. Yeah, do you trust them that
to continue to win?

Speaker 2 (33:17):
I don't know that any position except for maybe tight
end is particularly deep in Baltimore, which is disturbing, to
be honest, with the amount of high draft picks they've
had over the last five, six seven years, all the compicks,
all the extra first rounders. One year they had like
five fourth round picks.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Well, they keep doing the same thing over and over again.
Oh look, the Ravens took this guy in the fourth round.
He was supposed to be a second rounder, but he
was hurt. But he was hurt, so he fell around Jobo.
Yeah right, right, So okay, you basically you just wasted
his rookie year because he's not going to play for
you and.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
They have had bad He hit right, right, and he
has to hit too. I just think that the biggest
thing I'm critical of the Ravens of late is the
resources you've had on draft day aren't corresponding to the field,
and even in terms of quality depth. Yeah, I mean,
I think you should have more for all the quality
picks you've had. I mean, I don't know that anyone

(34:09):
over this year's aside anyone over the last half dozen
years or so, ha's had more quality picks mid rounders,
third round ors, that type of thing.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
And they are showed on the other side of the
of that coin. The Browns haven't had any picks, no,
but they're making them count a little bit more, a
little bit more. Yeah, but they don't have because of
what they did at quarterback, they haven't been able to
add much in free agency. They added a little bit
this year, but it's it's just it's it's really interesting.
I don't know, we'll see. I mean, that's why they

(34:41):
play the games, that's why they're you know, they have
the schedule, they put it out and then you play them.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
But the four teams in division are constructed so very differently,
without a doubt, without a doubt. And I really have
changed my tune of how the Steelers are built over
the last year in a positive way. Not that I
disliked it before, but they in with stand a lot.
I mean, they can lose their starting quarterback, they could
lose their number one receiver, they could better equipped to
lose t J. Watt. Yeah, I mean I'm talking.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
About Naja Harris. Mister Gael, you'd feel okay, okay, that's fine,
Jalen world band it right right. I just quality depth
across the board, and I think sometimes that gets overlooked
a little bit. Maybe you don't I've seen things, you know,
people talking about, Shoot, well, they don't have any.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Star power really, but don't I mean, maybe there's not.
I could see him saying that. Offensively, Yeah, I say
maybe offensively, there's not the guy that goes in the
first two rounds of your fantasy draft type of thing.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
But I could go through fifteen of these teams to say,
you know, who's the who's the star on the Dolphins offense?
Or Tyreek Hill? No, I guess bad, bad, But who's
the who's the offensive star? Not name, not a quarterback?
Who's the absolute star on the Ravens offense? Right, and
Andrews is good, he's a.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
Good player, but he's not All of Famer. He's not
a star rar.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
You know, I'm not going to say he's equal to him.
But he's in the same ball and he's catching up
the U. Yeah, he's in a ballpark. Right. You know,
who's who's the who's the Lions offensive star?

Speaker 2 (36:06):
No, I'm with you. I hear exactly what you're saying
there that and some of these teams might have one
or two and then not much at I mean, like
the Dolphins are a good example, Tyreek and Watt or wow,
but their third receiver. I've been most of our listeners.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
Who it is. Their offensive lines junk and they're on.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
A much of tight end. They're running back rooms a
bunch of dudes. You know, it's fast and it's well schemed,
but they're pretty reliant on their two superstar receivers.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
And the Steelers have as much defensive star power as
any team in the league.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Yeah, no, I agree, I mean they do.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
You know, you got a reigning or you got a
former Defensive Player of the Year. You got a potential
Hall of Fame defensive tackle. You got a safety that's
you know, I think as an allfielder in the league.
And now you've got a you know, a Hall of
Fame cornerback. Yees, he's at the end of his career,
but he could still win up you know with this
He's still had five interceptions last year.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean people, I mean, he's like
the Fletcher Cox or some of these guys have been
really really good careers that are late in their career
that aren't gonna be asked to do what they did earlier.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
In the you know, to carry the team, but are
valuable valuable dudes. Yeah, absolutely, so we're gonna take another break.
He is Matt Williamson I am Dale, Lolly. You're listening
to Steelers Nation Radio and ESPN nine to seventy are
ongoing live coverage from the Steeler OTA sessions here at
the upmc rooney Sports Complex. We'll be back with more
right after this. Welcome back. I am Dale, Lollie. He

(37:35):
is Matt Williamson. We are live here from the upmc
rooney Sports Complex here where the Steelers are completing OTA
session number six. You're listening to Course on ESPN nine
seventy and Steelers Nation Radio and Matt, we were talking about, well,
some of that star power that the Steelers have yesterday,
and you sent me a piece here that Pro Football
Focus put together the top three players on each team.

(37:58):
I'm assuming this is by via their greats.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
I assume, I mean one of their writers went through
them all and I didn't read any of them yet,
so I figured to be a good thing to chat about.
But I'm curious, you know what some of the teams
in the league are. And I just looked at Arizona
because it was alphabetical and the first sentence was, well,
this was probably the hardest.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
One to do, so, so they mentioned the Steelers. Steelers
Nation Radio We'll start with the Steelers, and the three
best players are those three players we just talked about,
t J. Watt, Cameron Hayward makea Fitzpatrick.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
Is that one of the easiest ones in the league
to do?

Speaker 1 (38:32):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
With all respect to any of the offensive guys, they're
all young. None of them are the Maenco level. Yet,
you know, let alone the body of work of Hayward
or the defensive player of the year potential of Watt.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
You know, I mean, really, if you look at it,
what and Fitzpatrick have defensive player of the Year? I mean,
if Maka went out and got eight interceptions this year
or something like that, he would be in the He'd
be in the mix.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Has the hardware, Yeah, I mean yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
What they said about is though the Steelers offense is
trending up with young talent, it's still about their defense.
Watton Hayward remained two of the best in the league
at their positions, went healthy, and Fitzpatrick earned the best
overall grade of his career in twenty twenty two, in
eighty two point four mark with an eighty three point
three grade in coverage and an eighty two point two
grade in run defense. That's one thing I've noticed about

(39:19):
Pro Football Focus in their grading system. Everybody wants to
quote that use their grading system. Sure, if you're a
defensive back, you're not grading in the nineties. No, it's
almost impossible.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
It's a good point. Some physicians definitely score.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
A lot a lot higher, like offensive linemen. You know,
grades are you typically in the sixties and seventies, Like,
I don't know how you're looking at those things and
trying to figure that out and say, oh that, yeah,
that's a good play with that.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
I'll be honest. I mean, even watching coaches tape, defensive
backs are probably the hardest ones to grade. Yeah, I
mean defensive coordinat you can't just go ask, you know,
defensive coordinators around the league, what was the play call here?
You know, because if something gets blown or that covered,
or a route concept isn't recognized properly. As an evaluator,
it's hard to tell. And I think that's again I'm

(40:08):
not bashing Pro Football Focused, but I bet if Chris
Collinsorce was sitting here right now, he'd say, defensive backs
are the ones that are the most different, are the
ones we feel the least strongest about because the other
thing about him too, especially corners, They waiver year to
year more than like any position in a league two,
so it's just a little less sticky than other.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Positions also considered in this and this is interesting.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
My next name, I think would be Friar Mooth Kenny Pickett.
They love him.

Speaker 1 (40:39):
Remember his second half last year? He was what number
two or number three in their rankings? He was.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
I'll be kind, I mean this is conservative by me
because I know the numbers are better than this. He
was in the top five in the second half of
the season in their big time throws, which that I
wouldn't have guessed. And he was also top five in
turnover worthy plays fewest I mean the best, I mean
absolutely the best, and he was in the top five.

(41:08):
It just in PFF overall great. So if it was
one or the other like this wy I've always said
about Aaron Rodgers, which is true about Mahomes too, is
what's so rare about him Mahomes and Rogers, and I'm
not saying Pickett is Mahomes and Rodgers there are two
of my top five quarterbacks I've ever seen. Is their
highlight tape is better than anybody's or as good as anybody's,

(41:30):
and their low light tape is as good as anybody's.
You know, there's not the mist it's not the far
of Wow, there's so many mistakes, but you can live
with it because there's so much greatness. Well, especially backed
by what Pro Football Focus said. Pickett did that during
the second half of the Yeah, you know, he did
the the extravagant things, the tough throws, but he wasn't
at the cost of I'm trying to drive this between

(41:50):
three dudes, you know, no one to hold him and
wind to hold them.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
But the fact that he's in that consideration as bonkers
is I mean, and there are still people questioning whether
he can play or not.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
Yeah, yeah, I I you know.

Speaker 1 (42:02):
So let's run through some of these other teams. For
the Cardinals, it was Kyler, Murray, Buddha Baker, Marquise Brown.
That's rough and also considered offensive tackle DJ Humphries.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
He's fine.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
That's bad. That's bad for the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Like Mark E's Brown should be in the top three
for anything. No, I mean, he's good, but he's top three.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
For the Falcons. Chris Lnstrom one of the best guards
in the league.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
If people don't know.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
Jake Matthews, Kyle Pitts. I still am smitten with Pitts,
Like I want my top three guys though to be playmakers.
Pitt's is a playmaker. He just doesn't make any plays.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
But I'll take that. Yeah, yeah, I'll take a bet
though that's London or Beijeon's on that list next year, okay,
and Matthews.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Isn't they just so also considered we're a j Terrell
Jesse Bates who hasn't played it down for them yet.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Terrell's a perfect example. He's graded off the charts for
them two years ago and last year he was just good?
Yeah great, But who's throwing at him when the other
corners are junk?

Speaker 1 (42:58):
Right? You know?

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Like I'll take aj.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
Trell, gra London and Grady Jarrett also considered Dereck Jared's
going wrong with directly about this for the ravens Lamar
Lamar's number one, Mark Andrews. Marlon Humphrey. Marlon Humphrey did
not have a good year last year.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
No he didn't, And I don't think he's an example
of PFF grade so he changed your year. He just
wasn't nearly the player. I think he fought some injuries. Yeah,
the top two I think are really deserving.

Speaker 1 (43:23):
And that's what you want, those kind of players. I mean,
they're a big part of your offense. You want that.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
But but you said this last segment. I think Andrews
is a really really good player, but not a He's
not Kelsey player. Yeah, you know, he's not kiddled to me. Yeah,
and just in terms of the football player.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Also considered for Roquwan Smith and Ronnie Stanley.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
Is a good one though. Yeah, he really helped that
defense a lot.

Speaker 1 (43:49):
For the Bills. Allen Josh Allen, von Miller and Stefan Diggs.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
He was missed in a big way. Yeah, but I mean,
what is he gonna be now?

Speaker 1 (43:58):
But yeah, what's he gonna be?

Speaker 2 (44:00):
He's still deserving though he's an all time great.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
Also considered Matt Mulano and Tredavius White. But here's the
problem that the Bills had last year. Yeah, Miller missed
the second half of the season, Milano missed a big
chunk of the season, and White's been into that of
the lineup the last couple of years.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
White was flat out bad when he came back to Yeah,
you know, you hope he was a really good player
before a very serious injury. Milano to me's a fixture though,
I mean he's a better than people think.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Let's jump down to the Bengals. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase
t Higgins. Okay, that's great. Yeah, the other guys on
the on this also considered DJ Reader and Trey Hendrick.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah, thrown out there. Yeah, I mean that's what you want,
that's enviable.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
Yeah. For the Browns Nick Chubb, Yeah, Joel Buttonio they love.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Joe, they do.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
They like the other one too, Wyatt, yeah, Teller and
Miles Garrett has Yeah, Miles Garrett has to be also
considered Denzel Ward, Amari Cooper, Deshaun Watson. Oh, how can
Deshaun Watson even be anywhere near that list? Yeah, he
was awful.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Harrison easy one. Yeah, that's Chubbs of an easy one too.
I mean there are many backs I'd put ahead of him.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
I'm just looking down here to see if there's any
other interesting teams here. Well, let's talk about that Jacksonville team.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
Real quick, go ahead, but I'd like to hear the Patriots.

Speaker 1 (45:16):
Josh Allen, Tyson Campbell, Trevor Lawrence, the other Josh Allen,
the other Josh Allen. Also consider Brandon Shurff, Calvin Ridley
doesn't play football in two years.

Speaker 2 (45:28):
They need Christian Kirk. Okay, sounds so great.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Tyson Campbell's a really good year.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
He's a merging corner.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
But as you mentioned, cornerback is so you know this,
that was his third year. Last year.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
I often make fun of like the Rams defensive depth chart,
which is really brutal right now, but if you look
at the Jags secondary but outside of Campbell, it's a
little frightening.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
Yea, a little bad.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
I'm surprised they didn't address that more.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
You wanted to see the Patriots.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yeah, I'm thinking it's going to be bar More what's
his face? The edge rusher who's a really good player,
and Cayle Duggar.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
It is Matthew Judon ju is the name.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
I couldn't come up with it.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
Josh and Ramandre Stevenson. He's also considered. We're David Andrews
a center, Mac Jones and Kyle Ducker Mac Jones major list. Yeah,
that's not.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
Good and really didn't play well. I mean, whether it's
his fault or not, I mean, he can't be one
of your stars after what he did last year.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
Absolutely not, But that's it. I thought that interest list
was a thing. It flowed right into what we were
talking about the Steelers defensive star power. We're gonna take
another break.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
Kenny Picketts on that list next year.

Speaker 1 (46:37):
That's a good thing here. I mean, yeah, that's a
good thing for you. We're gonna take a break. He
is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lawlly. You're listening to
a special edition of The Drive here on Steelers Nation Radio,
live from the Steelers Ota Sessions here on the South Side.
We'll be back with our number two right after this