May 2, 2023 • 23 mins
Arthur Moats and Wesley Uhler are back to talk everything that transpired during the 2023 NFL Draft. They begin by discussing the additions of Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Killer and Motes are on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This is the Steeler's Bliss on your twenty four to
seven home of the Black and Gold. Askin are Steelers
Nation Radio?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
What's going on? And welcome to Steelers Nation Radio. I'm
part of the Motes. We got Wessell Hiller and this
is the Stealers Bliss and the ladies and yeah too, man.
A wise man once told me, don't bury the lead,
So we're not. We're gonna dive right into this thing.
We just had the twenty twenty three NFL Draft this weekend. Baby,
(00:56):
we done welcome a whole lot of new talent. We
got a whole lot of family ties. Oh and then
we also spent the black and even brought in a
veteran free agent post draft. Wesley, how are you doing today? Man?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
H mozie, I'm just delightful. I am in a chummy mood,
a cheerful mood, because I mean, we got something to
talk about here for real, about that what you do
and uh and not just like a normal ho hum
draft and you stayed put and you selected your guys
and this and that some moving and shaking some interesting things. Uh.
(01:36):
One I think I think one of the more one
of the more eventful you know, Steelers draft days, draft
weekends of uh you know, recent memory.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, for this to be Omar Khan's first official draft
as the Steelers GM, he put his stamp on it.
We could see the aggression, but we could also see
the patients in certain elements, and I thought that diversity,
that variety of a that he was taking really helped
us out to at least right now, feel really good
(02:06):
about the draft that we had and about the pieces
that we picked up and at the spots where we
were able to pick them up at. I mean, anybody
that has covered football, especially the draft, you understand there's
no exact science to this thing. When you talk about
scouting players, when you're talking about you know, projecting kind
of guy's game translate. I mean, it could be one
(02:27):
hundred players. You know, you can get eighty right, you
get twenty wrong. You know what I said, That's how
it is. If you get twenty wrong out of eighty,
you're like, hey man, we're doing great. But that's just
the draft, you know, but on paper, based on all
the things that we've seen, when you're comparing these players
to other players and the slots that they were projected
to be taken in. I mean, we essentially got great
(02:49):
value on a ton of these players. And like I said,
for me, man, that's just a really exciting thing to
see and for it to be Omar Khan's first draft
left as do the GM Man, I think he knocked
out the park Man. But your thoughts on old Mark
Kahan first go around at this thing, Eh.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, pretty exciting. I mean, you know, it's it's funny.
Normally in the immediate aftermath of the draft, right, it's
always the same teams celebrating like, oh, we won the draft,
the same teams that never really make much noise in.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
The top five every year annually talking about we got
our guys.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, the Lions, the jem right, the Lions, the Jets,
the Browns, you know, these these these teams that always
feel like they're Hey, how about those Texans?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I mean C. J.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Stroud and Will Anderson? I tell you what, but hey
what won the off season? It is, But it's it's
weird because again, traditionally, the Steelers are picking in the
mid to late twenties, even into the thirties, right, and
it's you know, you're not in those kind of top twelve,
top fourteen, where you really get a lot of the
big names. You're towards the back end of the first round,
(04:03):
which is still exciting certainly, and the Steelers have obviously
added great future Hall of famers in that, you know,
in that territory, guys like a TJ. Wat, guys like
Cam Hayward that were drafted you know, in the very
back end of first rounds. It's still been exciting in
that regard. But you know, to move up to pick fourteen,
which the Steelers, you know, they've moved up in drafts before.
(04:23):
It's not like this hasn't happened. We just saw a
few years ago with Devin Bush. That happened with Troy
Paul Molo, happened with san Antonio Holmes. But something with
this year, Mozi, I think in the way that the
Steelers moved up, the way that they started things off
on Day two, you know, having that that pick thirty two,
it was just it was exciting in the regard of
it felt like the Steelers were very central players in
(04:45):
this draft, and I think it fell to them in
terms of how their needs aligned perfectly, Like when the
Steelers drafted Cam Hayward, to go back to that example,
I don't think anybody was expecting the Steelers to take
a defensive lineman. Yeah right, I mean they still had
Brett Keizel, they still had Aaron Smith, they still had
Casey Hampton. You know, like those guys were all getting
(05:06):
towards the end of their tenures and they're just coming
off of a Super Bowl appearance. But it was a
real we can't believe this guy, Cam Hayward's still on
the board, we have to take him here. Kind of
a similar thing with David di Castro, Like no one
was shocked by that pick, but you also weren't really
pegging them necessarily to go that position in round one,
Whereas here the way it fell with Broderick Jones at
(05:28):
left tackle and moving up a few spots to get him,
that was the number one position of need to a
lot of people, the way it fell with pick thirty two,
having your choice of being able to take Joey Porter
Junior right there, a guy that we had talked a
lot about as a first round of seventeenth overall, or
maybe even trading up for the Steelers to get at
a cornerback, which a lot of people would tell you
was the number one or number two position of need
(05:49):
this offseason. I think that's what makes it so exciting,
not that just the Steelers were maybe a little more
you know again, central figures in this whole thing than
they traditionally are. Just was starting off Day two with
trading up to the fourteenth pick, but the way that
your needs kind of fell with the draft capital that
you had and kind of the aligning of being able
(06:10):
to take guys that you're excited about but also guys
that you feel like you really need from a roster
construction standpoint. I think that's why a lot of Steeler fans,
rightfully so, and not just Steeler fans too, national media,
we're grading this so highly. We're feeling so good in
the aftermath of the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, I think you hit on everything absolutely perfect. I
would say you had ninety nine percent of it accurate,
though you did forget one percent.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Man, what I forget?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Talk about this draft being different, and you bring up
the fact that you know, we traded up and all
this other stuff, but you also left out the part
that we traded back as.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well well that as well too.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, we we we were central figures because we were
super active. You talk about that first round us following
the Philadelphia Eagles, right, Philly moved up one spot. They
gave up a four front pick to move up one spot.
We give the four front pick to move up three spots.
I thought that was a win based on market value. Agree.
(07:07):
Then you turn around our thirty second pick. Why did
we have that in the first place because of a trade?
Because we moved Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears and
then return we got that pick. So when you think
about that element of it, why was that different? Because
we typically aren't aggressive in season with trades, nor are
we aggressive typically in the draft with trades. But then
(07:29):
we're like, okay, well we gave up that fourth ront
pick right pick one twenty. What are we gonna do? Oh,
don't worry about it. We're just gonna trade back from
eighty to ninety three, pick up Darnell Washington, who some
people had a first round grade on I know I did,
and then pick up that extra fourth ront pick right
back at one thirty two, and still get one of
the final Infinity Stones for the Gauntlet. In terms of
(07:51):
a bloodline brother on this team, it is complete. Nick Herbig,
you know, his little you know, big bro Nate Herbig
was already painting for him. So to see that be
able to get picked up and get accomplished because of
the movements that that were being made by Ohmar, I
think it's just across the board. That's why it felt different.
That's why it felt a little bit more excited because
(08:14):
we had a lot of movement, We had a lot
of things that were a little bit more uncharacteristic for
the stealers in this you know, recent history that we've known.
Even though we've seen them trade up to get a
Devin Bush, they didn't have multiple picks en route because
of trades that had already made, Nor were they willing
and dealing throughout the draft, and just always in the
(08:35):
conversation we knew at thirty two. At the end of
Thursday night, the buzz was are we gonna move or are
we gonna stay? We were the talk for the whole
twenty four hours. Then the first the second round starts
and that whole discussion is are they trading or are
we staying? Like we were the focal point, and when
it is like that, that does create a different sense
(08:57):
of you know, just excitement. But I do feel like
when you're talking about the quality of players, man, I
did like that a lot. But I want to ask
you this specifically though, because we know what we moved
up to fourteen overall, Christian Gonzalz was on the board,
Joey Portagini was on the board, and obviously Broderick Jones
was on the board. When we took Roger number one,
(09:21):
did you think that that was the end of the
potential JPJ reunion? And number two? Is that the pick
you would have made at that particular point, not knowing
what we know now, not knowing you know that Gonzales
win a couple of picks later and then we still
ended up getting JPJ. But in that moment, yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
You know, I'm not gonna lie to you. In that moment,
I think I would have probably gone with Gonzales, just
because I mean, you and I we had this, We
had this conversation a lot throughout the offseason. I think
those were truly the clear positions of and I'm using
air quotes need in the draft for the Steelers and
I just to be fair, it's been a long time
(10:04):
since the Steelers have drafted a offensive lineman with a
first round pick until until Thursday night, but it had
been even longer since the Steelers, you know, taken a
cornerback in that regard. It's just not something that they
do is draft those guys highly. Even you know, someone
like Already Burns that we've discussed in the past. He
wasn't the fourteenth though, you know, he wasn't a top
(10:25):
fifteen pick.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And some even said that we overdrafted.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Him correct and I think that was you know, in hindsight,
that's another one of those hindsight's twenty twenty things. But
in hindsight, that's that's probably fair. I just in my
lifetime there's been there's only been a few instances of
the Steelers having that guy at corner.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think I Taylor was certainly that for a number
of years. I think Joe Hayden was that for a
few years. Maybe Patrick Peterson could could still be that
on the back end of too. But you see, you
see where I'm going with this. I'm i mean, like, really,
other than Ike Taylor in my lifetime, and I'm thirty
two years old, and I'm not counting Rod Woodson because
(11:05):
I was four or five years old, the only good corner.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
If you want a good corner, you gotta have played
with Arth the most. Is what it sounds like. You
named all the corners I played with, basically, bro like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I would I would like to see the Steelers draft
the first round corner and him develop into a superstar
and be here in Pittsburgh for like a Rod Woodson,
you know what I mean? And again, Ike Taylor was great.
I don't know if he was a superstar. Cam Sutton,
who they developed, is a fantastic cornerback. But I'm talking
that unquestioned number one shot.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Look and Dion sand is what you're saying, right, I.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Want I want my Sauce Gardner. Arthur Mell, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, you can this other corner. I had just said
to make sure we was on the same page.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Man, I want my I'm gonna strike this from the
record as soon as I say it.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I want my.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
God, Darryl Ravens, I mean, what are we doing here?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Wow? You did in say pac Man Jones.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
You said read I don't to be fair, and those
guys are not listening. I am a homer. I am
a homer, but I am an honest homer. Those guys
not in the same stratosphere. Hell, pac Mans and pac
Mans in the pac Man's in the Hall of good
But but but Revis is in the Hall of fame.
(12:13):
All right, Sherman. Sherman, Alright, Sherman, we'll go. We'll go,
non the awesome while before he went to Philly and
fell off the Cli Carolina Panthers, Josh Norman, all Right,
I I honestly, I'm sitting there. I'm kind of thinking Gonzales, Gonzales, Gonzalez.
(12:33):
I didn't hate to pick when it was Broderick Jones
because of the way the board had fallen at that point.
He kind of felt like the one premiere tackle who
was still.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Left, and especially with Darnold right going earlier, with Darnel
right going second tackle off the board, that changed a lot.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That changed a lot for me too. So in my mind,
I'm still like, I think I would go Gonzalez here
because just selfishly, but I understood absolutely why it was
Broderick Jones when you consider what had happened with the
left tackles all ready and the other part of your question.
To finish up my way too long of fin answer here, Yeah,
I thought the ship was sailed on Joey Porter Junior.
I certainly did. I thought that that he would get
(13:11):
drafted in the first round. I was surprised when he wasn't. Now,
when that first round ended, you thought, okay, now it's
a real possibility again he's still there. But at the
time when they took Rodger Jones, I thought, well, all right,
there goes the you know, the potential nice reunion story
with Joey Porter Junior and him staying at home and
going where his dad went and won a Super Bowl
and all those things. But I think that's part of
(13:32):
the magical why everybody loves this draft so much, is
while we were all feeling that, you know, twenty four
hours later, JPJ becomes a Steeler as well.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah it worked out, man, it did. But yeah, I'm
with you. When we moved up, I was I the impression,
I said, man, all three of these players on the board,
they're going to go Gonzales. We both, you know, felt
like Gazaz was just a little bit higher rated, especially
with the Manda Man element, but we thought JPJ was
the third best behind on Gonzals and Witherspield, which was
(14:02):
already gone. So we knew that that kind of changed
things in the manual. Forbes, going as early as he
did kind of change things. But I thought that that's
where we're going to go with Gonzales. So when we
decided to go Broderick, it made sense when you think
about the way that we've handled free agency, the guys
that we paid, the position that we've upgraded, and the
(14:22):
player that we were trying to get for fourteen million
dollars per year by the name of Orlando Brown. So
we knew that this legitimately had legs. But once we
decided to draft Broderick, I too was like, Man, the
jp J reunion is done, Like this is over. He's
not going to get past He's not going to get
(14:43):
past the Patriots one of these teams. But that is
the draft. A team decides that, hey, I need a
wide receiver more important than I need a corner, or
I need a left tackle more pointly than I need
a corner, I need a quarterback more important than I
need a corner right now, and one thing leads to another.
He's available was at thirty two, But then there was
another set of circumstances surrounding that pick, because it wasn't
(15:09):
just JPJ available another position to need the people have
talked about, and a player that we've had mak t
Us in the first round, was also available by the
name of Brian Branch. So now I'm going to ask
you the exact same two questions.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
But again, I thought you were going Will Levis. I mean,
were you ready to take Will Levis?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Oh? Well, I just didn't know who he was gonna
sit next to, you know, was it the sister, was
it the mom? Was it the girlfriend? Was the I
don't even know. He was just like rotating. I'm like,
all right, that's not the same person. That's a different
person now, you know. So at thirty two, though, Brian
Branch JPJ on the board number one, did you think
(15:51):
it was gonna be JPJ and number two? Would you
have made that pick or would you would have went
Brian Branch?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So, man, I really I like how you're doing this,
Arthur Modes. I'm seeing I'm seeing what you're doing here,
and I'm liking this. Now, that's an interesting one. I
definitely thought that if the Steelers stay at thirty two,
it's gonna be one of those two.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Guys, man, I mean, Donald Washington was still on the
board as well, we forget we didn't even at.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thirty There were absolutely some good players on the board
there at thirty two. You could have gone a few ways,
but it felt like corner was you know, you've got
Joey Porter Junior still there, Brian Branch, both guys who
had first round grades by a lot of people. Uh.
Both which was a theme of this draft, Big school guys.
I mean every every pick in this draft from the
from the SEC and the Big ten. I so we
(16:43):
had you'll get a kick out of this real quick.
Omar Kahn sat down with us on Saturday on SNR
for a few minutes when the draft was all over. Uh, myself,
Dale Lawley and Tom Opperman were the ones that were
doing that were doing the show. Tom I had to
ask Omar, I said, was it hard not the draft
any MATC guy? I mean, you got all SEC in
Big ten.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Was it hard not to pick a MAC Guyoat? Like,
come on, man, he.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Said, He said, we still got some U DFAs coming in.
Just just wait till you There might be some MAC
guys in the DFAs.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But we got some of them.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
There was an onus. It felt like on like physical,
big physical guys from Big schools in this in this draft,
and and you had that still on the board at
pick thirty two. The intriguing the will, the will Levis
kind of angled. All of that was intriguing to me
because I mean, the Titans traded to thirty three to
get them, so we all know, I mean, clearly the
(17:38):
it was not smoke and mirrors about the Steelers getting
phone calls at pick thirty two. I'm sure that they did.
In fact, we know that they did. But they were
right to kind of stand their ground I think because
of what was available to them there, and Mozi, I'm
glad they did because in hindsight, you were still able
to trade back recuperate another draft pick, and that works
out well because you get a big bulldozer zero down
(18:00):
there out of Georgia, mister Mount Washington.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Oh ye.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
But at thirty two, I I'm not gonna lie to you.
I want a Joey Porter Jr. I just did. I
really like Brian Branch. I know I've talked him up
a lot here on this and if and if he
would have been the selection, I would have been fine
with that. I think he's a very nice player as
well too.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I'm surprised he's a really good player, like.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Surprise, surprised he lasted as long as he did. But
a wise man once said Arthur Motes. I believe it
was Stan Savern who always says this. Uh Stan always
says root in this business, root for the story, right.
And it's something that's easy.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
To talk about, something that's.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Something that's good for the story, something that's good for
business for us. And that's the selection of Joey Porter Jr.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Which story would you want to hear? Brian Branch talking
about how he grew up as a fan of Miika Fitzpatrick.
He went to Damna to be like Miika Fitzpatrick. His
whole goal is to meet Mika Fitzpatrick one day and
they both share defensive backfield together. Versus who ride They
shot me in Denver Super Bowl, Chimp multiple times, top
(19:09):
five stealers, sack getter, pass, rush for a wall time,
missed the kick gird on him, missed the punching in
the mouth. Were talking about miss the Cincinnati Bengals Jerry
Porters do forget Jerry. We talk to his son, who
happens to have the exact same thing, So we don't
even have to look it up. We don't even have
(19:30):
to play. Oh are they related? Oh it's two porters
out there. Are those porters related? No, no, no, no no. He
made it easy on it, he said, Joey Porter. Oh,
that's just junior hot boom. So it's already built in.
We know as soon as JPJ gets off the bus
in Cincinnati, they're gonna hate him. We know, as soon
as he gets off the bus in Cleveland, they're gonna
hate him. We know as soon as he goes to Baltimore,
they're gonna boo him. That's what you want. Those are
(19:52):
the storylines, baby, so over complicated. I'm with staying. I'm
with you. I was over here beating on the table
the same way all Coach Drake, the same way Coach
Drake was beaten on. I was beaten on the table
for jp J. Like, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I think every I think everybody wanted the storyline. I
think he fits well with where this. I mean, that's
another theme of this draft. How about some big pressman
corners added and added to this group as well, too,
fits a need, fills the storyline, knows the organization. I mean,
he got drafted and he drove down to the building afterwards.
I mean they're like, they're like, Joey, can we set
(20:31):
you up to do your teleconference on the phone with
the media, And He's like, I could just in New
York be down there. I could just be down there
in thirty minutes, I was.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I was in Kansas City and left me there, so
I flew home.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
But I'm back in Wex for now. I mean, I
could be down there.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Just reimbrace my guess.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
For everything that you just said. And all right, Arthur Moatees,
I gotta before we go to break here because we
are up against it in this one. I gotta be
honest with you and our listeners because you know my
history on this show. We've been doing this. Now we're
going into our sixth season here pretty soon, which is.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Say we on one.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Let's yea, we are we are on one.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I tell you half of we like Beavis and butt
Head Baby.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
The sicko in me right also wanted Joey Porter Jr.
Because he now, I this is this whole this whole
pit and Penn State back and forth dynamic has been
has been very very fun for me to observe.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Oh, it has been huh, it's all it look he
is though, because I've witnessed how people talked about him
when he was used as the first rounder and they
did not want to really show him love. It was
all And I know it was Pitt guys too that
talked like that. But now when he.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Goes Bicett last year, now the shoes on the it's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
It is hilarious. But now that he was in the
second I'm like, huh, you can't really get all the
way on him because he's the second right now, the
first one and no more. But they were trying so
hard to tear him down and you could feel the
pit Penn State. I'm like, it's absolutely I definitely peep that.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Just the sicko and me like, yeah, everybody, you know
last year you couldn't say anything about Kenny Pickett, even
if it was a valid just conversation without well, oh
you must hate him because he went to Pitt. Well,
now it's gonna be the same. You say anything bad
about Joey Porter Junior or you must just hate him
the Peace State. It's just my gosh, it's a very
It's as I was also rooted. I'm not gonna lie
to you. You know, the sicko in me loves the
(22:34):
loves the banter. I just I love the back and forth.
And uh, I obviously knew there'd be some of that
too between oh yeah, between two fan bases that I
don't have the most love in the world that way.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Ain't nothing wrong with that, because you know, I really
don't like one of those universities, but I keep having
ties to those universities. All right, But what we're gonna
do is this, We're gonna take a break here because
I need to cool off.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
I need to w s no mistake about it.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
When we ride with JPJ, all right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I like J went to school.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
J PJ could have went to the University of I
don't like Arthur Mos, and I still be rooting for him, okay,
because that's the homie, that's the young guy, and that's
just how it's gonna be forever. So if that being
the case, that we are going to go to break here.
This is Arthur Mos, that's what's the UA, and this
is still his nation. Radio
Killer and Motes are on the air.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This is the Steeler's Bliss on your twenty four to
seven home of the Black and Gold. Askin are Steelers
Nation Radio?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
What's going on? And welcome to Steelers Nation Radio. I'm
part of the Motes. We got Wessell Hiller and this
is the Stealers Bliss and the ladies and yeah too, man.
A wise man once told me, don't bury the lead,
So we're not. We're gonna dive right into this thing.
We just had the twenty twenty three NFL Draft this weekend. Baby,
(00:56):
we done welcome a whole lot of new talent. We
got a whole lot of family ties. Oh and then
we also spent the black and even brought in a
veteran free agent post draft. Wesley, how are you doing today? Man?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
H mozie, I'm just delightful. I am in a chummy mood,
a cheerful mood, because I mean, we got something to
talk about here for real, about that what you do
and uh and not just like a normal ho hum
draft and you stayed put and you selected your guys
and this and that some moving and shaking some interesting things. Uh.
(01:36):
One I think I think one of the more one
of the more eventful you know, Steelers draft days, draft
weekends of uh you know, recent memory.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, for this to be Omar Khan's first official draft
as the Steelers GM, he put his stamp on it.
We could see the aggression, but we could also see
the patients in certain elements, and I thought that diversity,
that variety of a that he was taking really helped
us out to at least right now, feel really good
(02:06):
about the draft that we had and about the pieces
that we picked up and at the spots where we
were able to pick them up at. I mean, anybody
that has covered football, especially the draft, you understand there's
no exact science to this thing. When you talk about
scouting players, when you're talking about you know, projecting kind
of guy's game translate. I mean, it could be one
(02:27):
hundred players. You know, you can get eighty right, you
get twenty wrong. You know what I said, That's how
it is. If you get twenty wrong out of eighty,
you're like, hey man, we're doing great. But that's just
the draft, you know, but on paper, based on all
the things that we've seen, when you're comparing these players
to other players and the slots that they were projected
to be taken in. I mean, we essentially got great
(02:49):
value on a ton of these players. And like I said,
for me, man, that's just a really exciting thing to
see and for it to be Omar Khan's first draft
left as do the GM Man, I think he knocked
out the park Man. But your thoughts on old Mark
Kahan first go around at this thing, Eh.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, pretty exciting. I mean, you know, it's it's funny.
Normally in the immediate aftermath of the draft, right, it's
always the same teams celebrating like, oh, we won the draft,
the same teams that never really make much noise in.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
The top five every year annually talking about we got
our guys.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, the Lions, the jem right, the Lions, the Jets,
the Browns, you know, these these these teams that always
feel like they're Hey, how about those Texans?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I mean C. J.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Stroud and Will Anderson? I tell you what, but hey
what won the off season? It is, But it's it's
weird because again, traditionally, the Steelers are picking in the
mid to late twenties, even into the thirties, right, and
it's you know, you're not in those kind of top twelve,
top fourteen, where you really get a lot of the
big names. You're towards the back end of the first round,
(04:03):
which is still exciting certainly, and the Steelers have obviously
added great future Hall of famers in that, you know,
in that territory, guys like a TJ. Wat, guys like
Cam Hayward that were drafted you know, in the very
back end of first rounds. It's still been exciting in
that regard. But you know, to move up to pick fourteen,
which the Steelers, you know, they've moved up in drafts before.
(04:23):
It's not like this hasn't happened. We just saw a
few years ago with Devin Bush. That happened with Troy
Paul Molo, happened with san Antonio Holmes. But something with
this year, Mozi, I think in the way that the
Steelers moved up, the way that they started things off
on Day two, you know, having that that pick thirty two,
it was just it was exciting in the regard of
it felt like the Steelers were very central players in
(04:45):
this draft, and I think it fell to them in
terms of how their needs aligned perfectly, Like when the
Steelers drafted Cam Hayward, to go back to that example,
I don't think anybody was expecting the Steelers to take
a defensive lineman. Yeah right, I mean they still had
Brett Keizel, they still had Aaron Smith, they still had
Casey Hampton. You know, like those guys were all getting
(05:06):
towards the end of their tenures and they're just coming
off of a Super Bowl appearance. But it was a
real we can't believe this guy, Cam Hayward's still on
the board, we have to take him here. Kind of
a similar thing with David di Castro, Like no one
was shocked by that pick, but you also weren't really
pegging them necessarily to go that position in round one,
Whereas here the way it fell with Broderick Jones at
(05:28):
left tackle and moving up a few spots to get him,
that was the number one position of need to a
lot of people, the way it fell with pick thirty two,
having your choice of being able to take Joey Porter
Junior right there, a guy that we had talked a
lot about as a first round of seventeenth overall, or
maybe even trading up for the Steelers to get at
a cornerback, which a lot of people would tell you
was the number one or number two position of need
(05:49):
this offseason. I think that's what makes it so exciting,
not that just the Steelers were maybe a little more
you know again, central figures in this whole thing than
they traditionally are. Just was starting off Day two with
trading up to the fourteenth pick, but the way that
your needs kind of fell with the draft capital that
you had and kind of the aligning of being able
(06:10):
to take guys that you're excited about but also guys
that you feel like you really need from a roster
construction standpoint. I think that's why a lot of Steeler fans,
rightfully so, and not just Steeler fans too, national media,
we're grading this so highly. We're feeling so good in
the aftermath of the draft.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, I think you hit on everything absolutely perfect. I
would say you had ninety nine percent of it accurate,
though you did forget one percent.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Man, what I forget?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Talk about this draft being different, and you bring up
the fact that you know, we traded up and all
this other stuff, but you also left out the part
that we traded back as.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well well that as well too.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, we we we were central figures because we were
super active. You talk about that first round us following
the Philadelphia Eagles, right, Philly moved up one spot. They
gave up a four front pick to move up one spot.
We give the four front pick to move up three spots.
I thought that was a win based on market value. Agree.
(07:07):
Then you turn around our thirty second pick. Why did
we have that in the first place because of a trade?
Because we moved Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears and
then return we got that pick. So when you think
about that element of it, why was that different? Because
we typically aren't aggressive in season with trades, nor are
we aggressive typically in the draft with trades. But then
(07:29):
we're like, okay, well we gave up that fourth ront
pick right pick one twenty. What are we gonna do? Oh,
don't worry about it. We're just gonna trade back from
eighty to ninety three, pick up Darnell Washington, who some
people had a first round grade on I know I did,
and then pick up that extra fourth ront pick right
back at one thirty two, and still get one of
the final Infinity Stones for the Gauntlet. In terms of
(07:51):
a bloodline brother on this team, it is complete. Nick Herbig,
you know, his little you know, big bro Nate Herbig
was already painting for him. So to see that be
able to get picked up and get accomplished because of
the movements that that were being made by Ohmar, I
think it's just across the board. That's why it felt different.
That's why it felt a little bit more excited because
(08:14):
we had a lot of movement, We had a lot
of things that were a little bit more uncharacteristic for
the stealers in this you know, recent history that we've known.
Even though we've seen them trade up to get a
Devin Bush, they didn't have multiple picks en route because
of trades that had already made, Nor were they willing
and dealing throughout the draft, and just always in the
(08:35):
conversation we knew at thirty two. At the end of
Thursday night, the buzz was are we gonna move or are
we gonna stay? We were the talk for the whole
twenty four hours. Then the first the second round starts
and that whole discussion is are they trading or are
we staying? Like we were the focal point, and when
it is like that, that does create a different sense
(08:57):
of you know, just excitement. But I do feel like
when you're talking about the quality of players, man, I
did like that a lot. But I want to ask
you this specifically though, because we know what we moved
up to fourteen overall, Christian Gonzalz was on the board,
Joey Portagini was on the board, and obviously Broderick Jones
was on the board. When we took Roger number one,
(09:21):
did you think that that was the end of the
potential JPJ reunion? And number two? Is that the pick
you would have made at that particular point, not knowing
what we know now, not knowing you know that Gonzales
win a couple of picks later and then we still
ended up getting JPJ. But in that moment, yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
You know, I'm not gonna lie to you. In that moment,
I think I would have probably gone with Gonzales, just
because I mean, you and I we had this, We
had this conversation a lot throughout the offseason. I think
those were truly the clear positions of and I'm using
air quotes need in the draft for the Steelers and
I just to be fair, it's been a long time
(10:04):
since the Steelers have drafted a offensive lineman with a
first round pick until until Thursday night, but it had
been even longer since the Steelers, you know, taken a
cornerback in that regard. It's just not something that they
do is draft those guys highly. Even you know, someone
like Already Burns that we've discussed in the past. He
wasn't the fourteenth though, you know, he wasn't a top
(10:25):
fifteen pick.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And some even said that we overdrafted.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Him correct and I think that was you know, in hindsight,
that's another one of those hindsight's twenty twenty things. But
in hindsight, that's that's probably fair. I just in my
lifetime there's been there's only been a few instances of
the Steelers having that guy at corner.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think I Taylor was certainly that for a number
of years. I think Joe Hayden was that for a
few years. Maybe Patrick Peterson could could still be that
on the back end of too. But you see, you
see where I'm going with this. I'm i mean, like, really,
other than Ike Taylor in my lifetime, and I'm thirty
two years old, and I'm not counting Rod Woodson because
(11:05):
I was four or five years old, the only good corner.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
If you want a good corner, you gotta have played
with Arth the most. Is what it sounds like. You
named all the corners I played with, basically, bro like.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I would I would like to see the Steelers draft
the first round corner and him develop into a superstar
and be here in Pittsburgh for like a Rod Woodson,
you know what I mean? And again, Ike Taylor was great.
I don't know if he was a superstar. Cam Sutton,
who they developed, is a fantastic cornerback. But I'm talking
that unquestioned number one shot.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Look and Dion sand is what you're saying, right, I.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Want I want my Sauce Gardner. Arthur Mell, you know
what I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, you can this other corner. I had just said
to make sure we was on the same page.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Man, I want my I'm gonna strike this from the
record as soon as I say it.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I want my.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
God, Darryl Ravens, I mean, what are we doing here?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Wow? You did in say pac Man Jones.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
You said read I don't to be fair, and those
guys are not listening. I am a homer. I am
a homer, but I am an honest homer. Those guys
not in the same stratosphere. Hell, pac Mans and pac
Mans in the pac Man's in the Hall of good
But but but Revis is in the Hall of fame.
(12:13):
All right, Sherman. Sherman, Alright, Sherman, we'll go. We'll go,
non the awesome while before he went to Philly and
fell off the Cli Carolina Panthers, Josh Norman, all Right,
I I honestly, I'm sitting there. I'm kind of thinking Gonzales, Gonzales, Gonzalez.
(12:33):
I didn't hate to pick when it was Broderick Jones
because of the way the board had fallen at that point.
He kind of felt like the one premiere tackle who
was still.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Left, and especially with Darnold right going earlier, with Darnel
right going second tackle off the board, that changed a lot.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That changed a lot for me too. So in my mind,
I'm still like, I think I would go Gonzalez here
because just selfishly, but I understood absolutely why it was
Broderick Jones when you consider what had happened with the
left tackles all ready and the other part of your question.
To finish up my way too long of fin answer here, Yeah,
I thought the ship was sailed on Joey Porter Junior.
I certainly did. I thought that that he would get
(13:11):
drafted in the first round. I was surprised when he wasn't. Now,
when that first round ended, you thought, okay, now it's
a real possibility again he's still there. But at the
time when they took Rodger Jones, I thought, well, all right,
there goes the you know, the potential nice reunion story
with Joey Porter Junior and him staying at home and
going where his dad went and won a Super Bowl
and all those things. But I think that's part of
(13:32):
the magical why everybody loves this draft so much, is
while we were all feeling that, you know, twenty four
hours later, JPJ becomes a Steeler as well.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Yeah it worked out, man, it did. But yeah, I'm
with you. When we moved up, I was I the impression,
I said, man, all three of these players on the board,
they're going to go Gonzales. We both, you know, felt
like Gazaz was just a little bit higher rated, especially
with the Manda Man element, but we thought JPJ was
the third best behind on Gonzals and Witherspield, which was
(14:02):
already gone. So we knew that that kind of changed
things in the manual. Forbes, going as early as he
did kind of change things. But I thought that that's
where we're going to go with Gonzales. So when we
decided to go Broderick, it made sense when you think
about the way that we've handled free agency, the guys
that we paid, the position that we've upgraded, and the
(14:22):
player that we were trying to get for fourteen million
dollars per year by the name of Orlando Brown. So
we knew that this legitimately had legs. But once we
decided to draft Broderick, I too was like, Man, the
jp J reunion is done, Like this is over. He's
not going to get past He's not going to get
(14:43):
past the Patriots one of these teams. But that is
the draft. A team decides that, hey, I need a
wide receiver more important than I need a corner, or
I need a left tackle more pointly than I need
a corner, I need a quarterback more important than I
need a corner right now, and one thing leads to another.
He's available was at thirty two, But then there was
another set of circumstances surrounding that pick, because it wasn't
(15:09):
just JPJ available another position to need the people have
talked about, and a player that we've had mak t
Us in the first round, was also available by the
name of Brian Branch. So now I'm going to ask
you the exact same two questions.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
But again, I thought you were going Will Levis. I mean,
were you ready to take Will Levis?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Oh? Well, I just didn't know who he was gonna
sit next to, you know, was it the sister, was
it the mom? Was it the girlfriend? Was the I
don't even know. He was just like rotating. I'm like,
all right, that's not the same person. That's a different
person now, you know. So at thirty two, though, Brian
Branch JPJ on the board number one, did you think
(15:51):
it was gonna be JPJ and number two? Would you
have made that pick or would you would have went
Brian Branch?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
So, man, I really I like how you're doing this,
Arthur Modes. I'm seeing I'm seeing what you're doing here,
and I'm liking this. Now, that's an interesting one. I
definitely thought that if the Steelers stay at thirty two,
it's gonna be one of those two.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Guys, man, I mean, Donald Washington was still on the
board as well, we forget we didn't even at.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Thirty There were absolutely some good players on the board
there at thirty two. You could have gone a few ways,
but it felt like corner was you know, you've got
Joey Porter Junior still there, Brian Branch, both guys who
had first round grades by a lot of people. Uh.
Both which was a theme of this draft, Big school guys.
I mean every every pick in this draft from the
from the SEC and the Big ten. I so we
(16:43):
had you'll get a kick out of this real quick.
Omar Kahn sat down with us on Saturday on SNR
for a few minutes when the draft was all over. Uh, myself,
Dale Lawley and Tom Opperman were the ones that were
doing that were doing the show. Tom I had to
ask Omar, I said, was it hard not the draft
any MATC guy? I mean, you got all SEC in
Big ten.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Was it hard not to pick a MAC Guyoat? Like,
come on, man, he.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Said, He said, we still got some U DFAs coming in.
Just just wait till you There might be some MAC
guys in the DFAs.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But we got some of them.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
There was an onus. It felt like on like physical,
big physical guys from Big schools in this in this draft,
and and you had that still on the board at
pick thirty two. The intriguing the will, the will Levis
kind of angled. All of that was intriguing to me
because I mean, the Titans traded to thirty three to
get them, so we all know, I mean, clearly the
(17:38):
it was not smoke and mirrors about the Steelers getting
phone calls at pick thirty two. I'm sure that they did.
In fact, we know that they did. But they were
right to kind of stand their ground I think because
of what was available to them there, and Mozi, I'm
glad they did because in hindsight, you were still able
to trade back recuperate another draft pick, and that works
out well because you get a big bulldozer zero down
(18:00):
there out of Georgia, mister Mount Washington.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Oh ye.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
But at thirty two, I I'm not gonna lie to you.
I want a Joey Porter Jr. I just did. I
really like Brian Branch. I know I've talked him up
a lot here on this and if and if he
would have been the selection, I would have been fine
with that. I think he's a very nice player as
well too.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I'm surprised he's a really good player, like.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Surprise, surprised he lasted as long as he did. But
a wise man once said Arthur Motes. I believe it
was Stan Savern who always says this. Uh Stan always
says root in this business, root for the story, right.
And it's something that's easy.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
To talk about, something that's.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Something that's good for the story, something that's good for
business for us. And that's the selection of Joey Porter Jr.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Which story would you want to hear? Brian Branch talking
about how he grew up as a fan of Miika Fitzpatrick.
He went to Damna to be like Miika Fitzpatrick. His
whole goal is to meet Mika Fitzpatrick one day and
they both share defensive backfield together. Versus who ride They
shot me in Denver Super Bowl, Chimp multiple times, top
(19:09):
five stealers, sack getter, pass, rush for a wall time,
missed the kick gird on him, missed the punching in
the mouth. Were talking about miss the Cincinnati Bengals Jerry
Porters do forget Jerry. We talk to his son, who
happens to have the exact same thing, So we don't
even have to look it up. We don't even have
(19:30):
to play. Oh are they related? Oh it's two porters
out there. Are those porters related? No, no, no, no no. He
made it easy on it, he said, Joey Porter. Oh,
that's just junior hot boom. So it's already built in.
We know as soon as JPJ gets off the bus
in Cincinnati, they're gonna hate him. We know, as soon
as he gets off the bus in Cleveland, they're gonna
hate him. We know as soon as he goes to Baltimore,
they're gonna boo him. That's what you want. Those are
(19:52):
the storylines, baby, so over complicated. I'm with staying. I'm
with you. I was over here beating on the table
the same way all Coach Drake, the same way Coach
Drake was beaten on. I was beaten on the table
for jp J. Like, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I think every I think everybody wanted the storyline. I
think he fits well with where this. I mean, that's
another theme of this draft. How about some big pressman
corners added and added to this group as well, too,
fits a need, fills the storyline, knows the organization. I mean,
he got drafted and he drove down to the building afterwards.
I mean they're like, they're like, Joey, can we set
(20:31):
you up to do your teleconference on the phone with
the media, And He's like, I could just in New
York be down there. I could just be down there
in thirty minutes, I was.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I was in Kansas City and left me there, so
I flew home.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
But I'm back in Wex for now. I mean, I
could be down there.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Just reimbrace my guess.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
For everything that you just said. And all right, Arthur Moatees,
I gotta before we go to break here because we
are up against it in this one. I gotta be
honest with you and our listeners because you know my
history on this show. We've been doing this. Now we're
going into our sixth season here pretty soon, which is.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Say we on one.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Let's yea, we are we are on one.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I tell you half of we like Beavis and butt
Head Baby.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
The sicko in me right also wanted Joey Porter Jr.
Because he now, I this is this whole this whole
pit and Penn State back and forth dynamic has been
has been very very fun for me to observe.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Oh, it has been huh, it's all it look he
is though, because I've witnessed how people talked about him
when he was used as the first rounder and they
did not want to really show him love. It was
all And I know it was Pitt guys too that
talked like that. But now when he.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Goes Bicett last year, now the shoes on the it's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
It is hilarious. But now that he was in the
second I'm like, huh, you can't really get all the
way on him because he's the second right now, the
first one and no more. But they were trying so
hard to tear him down and you could feel the
pit Penn State. I'm like, it's absolutely I definitely peep that.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Just the sicko and me like, yeah, everybody, you know
last year you couldn't say anything about Kenny Pickett, even
if it was a valid just conversation without well, oh
you must hate him because he went to Pitt. Well,
now it's gonna be the same. You say anything bad
about Joey Porter Junior or you must just hate him
the Peace State. It's just my gosh, it's a very
It's as I was also rooted. I'm not gonna lie
to you. You know, the sicko in me loves the
(22:34):
loves the banter. I just I love the back and forth.
And uh, I obviously knew there'd be some of that
too between oh yeah, between two fan bases that I
don't have the most love in the world that way.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Ain't nothing wrong with that, because you know, I really
don't like one of those universities, but I keep having
ties to those universities. All right, But what we're gonna
do is this, We're gonna take a break here because
I need to cool off.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
I need to w s no mistake about it.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
When we ride with JPJ, all right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I like J went to school.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
J PJ could have went to the University of I
don't like Arthur Mos, and I still be rooting for him, okay,
because that's the homie, that's the young guy, and that's
just how it's gonna be forever. So if that being
the case, that we are going to go to break here.
This is Arthur Mos, that's what's the UA, and this
is still his nation. Radio
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