Hr1: Top 10 Week!

It's an annual July tradition on the Blitz - breaking down the top 10 players at each position across the NFL.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stueler and Motes are on the air. This is the
Steelers Blitz on your twenty four to seven home of
the Black and Gold. A skin are Steelers Nation Radio?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
What's going on Steelers natione Radio? It is high noon
on a summertime afternoon, and that can only mean one thing.
It is time to go inside the electric factory here
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and the Gold. This is the Steelers Blitz on Steelers
Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. West Seuler with
you here as we continue this offseason run, the final days,

(00:57):
the final weeks of the Basement Tour, and another West
solo show for you here as my cohort, my co
host Arthur Nathan Motes, of course on his tropical vacation
destination with his family. So you've just got me this week.
You already know the drill. If you want to chime in, listen.

(01:19):
We always welcome your participation, but especially on the days
where I'm in here by myself. I'll take your questions,
your comments, your concerns, your reactions, your thoughts, your criticisms,
anything and everything in between. Steelers related, football related, summertime related.
You know where to get at me. It's on Twitter
on x at Wesley Yuler if you want to get

(01:41):
involved with the program. Got some good tweets about some
of our topics earlier in the week that will revisit
at the end of the show. And you know where
to get at me again if you want to get
involved here. As we are kind of approaching the middle
of the month of July here and man, it's crazy
to me that we are staring down the barrel. I

(02:03):
mean literally just just days away from training camp. Uh.
Both I think personally and professionally, this year is flown by.
This summer is flown by. It's been a hectic one again, professionally, busier, crazier,
more headline grabbing off season than usual for the Steelers, right.

(02:25):
A couple of big, blockbuster trades active in free agency,
the NFL Draft, signing perhaps the most polarizing guy in
the entire NFL, and Aaron Rodgers as well too. Wow,
what an offseason it's been for the Steelers, for all
of us here and then just personally, man, I tell

(02:46):
you what, like I got, I got a three year
old and a two year old that have been just
running me absolutely ragged. I bought a house three years
ago that needs a bunch of work done to it. Like,
I can't believe that it's the middle of July and
we're about to get back to this thing. I feel
like the offseason just started a week ago. My head
has been spinning since the Steelers played those three games

(03:08):
in eleven days in December, and I don't think it's stopped.
And a lot of that is work related, but I
think a lot of that is just personally with having
a three major and a terrible tour at the same time,
just absolutely throwing monkey wrenches into the playans. Like I
thought today I was going to record this show and

(03:29):
then have the rest of the day to cut the
grass and get some yardwork done and run some errands.
But no, my youngest has a fever, and so I'm
kind of listen. I don't want to say I'm rushing
this show today because it's a two hour show. It
is what it is. But I'm kind of anxiously doing
this show today knowing that I have a sick toddler,
like a time bomb, who needs taken care of as

(03:52):
well too. So I mean, just twenty twenty five has
been a crazy year. I mean, you just look at
it right now, like this is funny. This morning, I
was laughing if you just Google Pittsburgh Steelers. Just go
on Google and put in Pittsburgh Steelers and kind of
the snapshot that you get from Google, you know, has
the team logo and the Wikipedia page and all that stuff,

(04:14):
and it has a little blurb on the team. The
Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh.
They compete in the NFL as a member of the
American Football Conference. You know, you know all that stuff
that you see on Google. What also has listed the Steelers'
roster And you see on there right at the top
of the list, Aaron Rodgers, Jalen Ramsey, Dk Metcalf. I

(04:35):
mean again, who would have thought it? Just so much
has happened this offseason, the biggest free agent signing across
the league in terms of the name and the gravitas
and the attention in the polarization, and Aaron Rodgers and
then you make a massive trade for DK Metcalf. You
make a massive trade with the Dolphins where you deal

(04:57):
Minka Fitzpatrick and you acquire Jalen Ramsey and pro bolt
tight end John new Smith. Uh, just an insane couple
of months, and we're gonna really get to the good
stuff here before too much longer. If you listened earlier
in the week I shared with you all that are
you know, our our former buddy, I guess still buddy

(05:18):
Jeremy Fowler, but used to cover the Steelers for ESPN.
That used to have a room right next to mine
out in Latroe. But training camp every single year, Uh,
Jeremy does this great thing in the middle of July
every single year. He is now the uh senior NFL
analyst or senior NFL writer I believe, or reporter I
guess is the you know, the terms change all. Is

(05:39):
he a writer? Is he a reporter? Is he a journalist?
Is he a host? But I do believe a senior
reporter is the correct title. Jeremy Fowler ESPN Senior NFL reporter.
He does this every year when training camps are on
the horizon. He goes eleven different position groups across the
NFL and he gets over seventy vote That all range

(06:01):
from executives, scouts, coaches, people around the National Football League.
Who's you know? League executives, coaches, scouts, who rank the
top ten players at all the different positions. This is
the sixth year that Jeremy has done this, and we
love it because it's guys within the You know, this

(06:24):
is not let's pull a bunch of radio hosts. So
let's pull a bunch of fans. Let's pull a bunch
of beat writers and see who they think the top
ten quarterbacks are in the NFL. No, this is people
within the league, executives, GMS, coaches, scouts telling you who
they think the best edge rushers in the NFL. Are
It's really cool to go through these lists to see

(06:45):
how the more than seventy guys in the league vote
on these And of course obviously there's usually a lot
of Steelers populating these lists. Today, I want to go
over running backs, defensive tackles, edge rushers, and safeties. Other
than running backs, there's gonna be some Steelers' names defensive
tackle and edge rusher as you can imagine, and there's

(07:07):
going to be some recent Steelers' names Mica Fitzpatrick in
the Safety conversation as well too. So I love this
exercise that we do just about this time every year.
Let's get into it. As our buddy Chris Carter would say,
and for the safety, let's start with the safeties. Let's
start from the back and work forward. And you know,

(07:29):
I was very intrigued to see where Mica Fitzpatrick was
gonna rank on this list. I obviously know TJ. Watt.
I haven't looked at these yet. To be fair, I
am doing this well. Okay, small confession. I did look
at the defensive tackle list, Okay, because I wanted. I
thought Cam Heyward should be on there, in the top ten,
but I just wanted to make sure and he is.

(07:49):
But I haven't looked at any of these other lists.
So we're gonna go through them together. We're gonna kind
of live react and analyze these together. I think it'll
be a fun exercise for us here in the middle
of July when there's no a lot of pertinent Day
Today news. You know, we like to have these more
open ended conversations. And you are, of course welcome to
chime in to get at me, to get involved on

(08:09):
the Twitter dot com. Number one on the list this
is no surprise to me. As much as I don't
like it. It is Kyle Hamilton of the Baltimore Ravens.
Last year he was number two on the list. This
year he is number one. He is just twenty four
years old, and you know, I think has a scary
skill set and a scary future in front of him.

(08:32):
You Know, his production last year in twenty twenty four
wasn't quite the same eye popping numbers that it was
in twenty twenty three. But I think his usage has
changed a lot this past season. You know, they moved
him around a lot in the early part of the year.
Then in the back half of the year, they had
him playing that true center fielder role, kind of like

(08:55):
we've seen from Minka Fitzpatrick at times, and he did
that at an elite level and it come completely changed
the Baltimore defense and changed the trajectory of their season
after the bye week, and they ended up you know,
winning the division and and and getting to the postseason
and of course having that that postseason victory against the
Steelers before they ultimately fell to the Buffalo Bills. He's

(09:16):
he's he's value. I mean, Kyle Hamilton. He's got the size,
he's got the instincts, he's got the production, he's got
the versatility. Like he is, he's i think the best
safety in the national Football League. I have no beef
with this. I have no argument with this. You know,
he plays in the slot. He started playing a lot

(09:38):
of snaps in the slot. Like I said, they moved
him to kind of that center fielder role. He accelerated
all over the field. It's a I think now though,
what Baltimore has is a perfect kind of scheme and
role for him. One of five players in the NFL
over the last two seasons with at least fifteen PBUs,

(09:59):
five interceptions, and multiple forced fumbles. Speaking of young safeties,
number two on the list is a guy that our
buddy Matt Williamson loves, and that is Brian Branch of
the Detroit Lions. He is just twenty three years old,
finishing up his sophomore season. Obviously, was not on the
list last year as a rookie. This year he is

(10:22):
all the way at number two at just age twenty three.
Four interceptions, sixteen PBUs A part of me. This is
his third year heading into the league or third year
in the league. He's had two years in the books.
Was part of that Joey Porter Junior draft class. Four interceptions,
sixteen pass deflections, just outstanding versatility and instincts for his position.

(10:49):
He's been I think asked like he came into the
league as a twenty one year old, and in the
two years that he's been in the NFL, they've put
a lot on his plate and he's accelerated and have
been a big, big part of the reason that defense
is one of the best in the National Football League.
Played mostly you know Nickel in twenty twenty three as
a rookie, and then they moved him to safety this

(11:10):
past season. He's elite in the past game. He doesn't
necessarily have the maybe total top end speed, but his
instincts are so strong, his ability to read the game,
his coverage is excellent, he's got range, he's got a
crazy bright future in front of him. Having Brian Branch

(11:31):
at number two might right now might be a little
rich for my taste, but I absolutely think he's top four,
top five, and like I said, I get it because
he's got a ton of a vertical trajectory. Xavier McKenny,
he might be a guy that I would have and
it sounds funny, but maybe a spot higher on this
list as he's number three, just twenty five years old.

(11:53):
He was number ten on last year's ballot. He got
more first place votes this year anybody other than Kyle
Hamilton got the big contract extension. He's a first team
All Pro second straight season with multiple pass deflections. He
can please. Another one of those guys. You could play

(12:14):
him in man coverage, you could play him in the slot.
He's got real kind of play making ability to his game.
He is the the classic do it all safety. I
think you could like where Kyle Hamilton and Brian Branch
I think really benefit from the schemes that they play in.

(12:35):
I think Xavier McKinney is one of those guys where
you could throw him on any roster and he's gonna
be one of the best in the league. He's dan
good and he's number three on this year's list. Jesse
Bates the third is number four on this list, of course,
of the Atlanta Falcons. Last year he was number three.
This year he's number four. Another one of these guys
at twenty eight years old, a lot like Mica Fitzpatrick,

(12:58):
still in that problem of his career, but has been
doing it at a high level now for six seven years.
That he is somebody that everyone is very familiar with.
Twenty four interceptions since entering the league in twenty eighteen.
That's fifth amongst players in that span. He's got ten
interceptions and twenty one pass breakups over the last two years.

(13:21):
Great ball skills. His tackling has gotten better. He's not
the most physical guy. I remember we used to talk
about that a lot when he was in Cincinnati. I
think that's part of why the Bengals let him leave.
But don't look now. He's got over two hundred and
thirty tackles the last two seasons. That's a massive number,
and some of that is because the Falcons front has
not been nearly good enough and so too much of

(13:43):
that is leaking into the second level. But he is,
without a doubt, a bonafide stud at the position. Jesse
Bates still doing the dang thing at twenty eight years old.
He's number four on this list. Another Detroit Lion, Kirby Joseph,
is number four on this list. Wow, the Lions get
number two and number five in terms of best safeties

(14:05):
in the league. Again, maybe just slightly too rich for
my blood, but they both belong on this list without
a doubt. And we talked about how Brian branch is
just twenty three and a lot of vertical mobility still
for him to get even better. Kirby Joseph is just
twenty four. Same conversation, a lot of a guy who
you know, really burst onto the scene. Just got a

(14:29):
huge four year, eighty six million dollar contract extension, and
you know, I think for you know, he's gonna be
one of these next Miga Fitzpatrick Jesse Bates types that
you know we're gonna be talking about for five, six,
seven years. Here as as being absolutely elite, he's got
elite ball production skills. Quarterbacks have just a twenty nine
point two percent passer rating when targeting him. He led

(14:53):
the NFL last year with interceptions. He had nine interceptions
last year. He's a ballhawk. He he is. You know,
if he grows and develops over this next year or
two and really reaches his full potential in form like
he can kind of be like an Ed Reed light
type player. I'm not gonna say that he's Ed Reed
because nobody is Ed Reid, right, I mean Troy Polamalu

(15:15):
and Ed Reid. And I think you could throw Ronnie
Lott into that conversation as well too. Three safeties, the
three best of all time who each did it their
own way. But I think Kirby Joseph can be you know,
can can can be an Ed Reid light type who
just takes the ball away ball. Howking skills. He's got

(15:37):
seventeen interceptions since twenty twenty two, that's the most in
the NFL during that span. He's just he's He's Him
and Brian Branch are just a perfect balance of perfect combination.
They are like, you know, if you could build a
safety tandem and Madden kind of the perfect tandem that
you would be looking for. There's some there's some Ed

(16:00):
read light, some Troy Polamalu light that you can do
there with those two, and uh yeah, gonna be gonna
be a big problem for opposing offenses that Detroit Lions
secondary for a long time. Darwin James another main stay
on this list, part of that Menka Fitzpatrick Jesse Bates
age group class. Just twenty eight years old. He's number

(16:20):
six on this year's list, was number seven last year,
so moves up one year. And he's a guy that
we've all known since twenty eighteen. When you know, I
mean he had one of the best rookie seasons we've
ever seen for a safety. He's battled some injuries, you know,
in his seven or eight years in the NFL here,
but he's been healthy for a few years now. He's

(16:42):
been disruptive. I you know, I don't know if he's
that first, you know, top one or two or three
safeties in the NFL like he has been at times,
but he is still, without a doubt, one of the best.
He is a unique type, right, I mean, he gives
a lot of TFLs and a lot of sacks. Had

(17:03):
let me see here, ten TFLs and five and a
half sacks last year for a safety. You know, that's
that's a different kind of disruption. It's not the ballhawking disruption,
but is, without a doubt an impactful skill set that
he has. And yeah, Darwin James been doing it at

(17:24):
a high level for a long time and I expect
that to continue. Number seven Antoine Winfield Junior, another one
of these younger guys that we've been talking about, twenty
six years old for a few years. He was number
one on this list. Last year he's number seven now.
You know, in twenty twenty three he was outstanding. Twenty
twenty four, didn't have quite the same splash. And he

(17:45):
also only played nine games last year due to injury.
It never really got into a rhythm, didn't get any interceptions.
Just wasn't his type of year last year. But I
think at his age, the year that he had in
twenty twenty three, still having him number seven on this list,
I got no beef with that, but a big bounce
back year ahead for Antoine Winfield Junior in his mind

(18:06):
for sure, coming in at number seven, number eight, another
one of these guys that feels like we've been discussing
him for a decade, yet somehow he is still in
his twenties at twenty nine years old. Buddha Baker of
the Arizona Cardinals. Last year he was number six on
the list. This year he's number eight on the list.
He is the oldest player on this list. He's been

(18:26):
to six consecutive Pro Bowls. He's kind of like that
Darwin James type. He is just a menace at the
box and at the line of scrimmage. You know, his
ball production isn't his elite as it's been in past years,
but he still is a menace. He still sets a
tone at the line of scrimmage, and you know, he

(18:49):
frequently is one of those safeties who I think helps
really limit the other team from having explosive plays. He
had one hundred and sixty four tackle last year. I mean,
that's insane for a safety. Ten TFLs in the games
that he's missed over the last couple of years, the
Cardinals are one and nine. He's just he's value personified

(19:14):
in that secondary. And for a guy who is my
size five foot ten, he's had a very impressive career
and I think still has some really good years left
in the tank. Number nine on this list, formerly of
this parish, it is Minka Fitzpatrick. He was number four
last year. He's number nine this year. And here is
the reasoning from Jeremy Faller, of course, via the executives.

(19:39):
The move could be a welcome change for micka Fitzpatrick,
whose ball production is dipped the past two seasons. After
recording seventeen interceptions and thirty eight PBUs from twenty nineteen
to twenty twenty two, he managed just one interception in
seven PBUs over the last two seasons. He was the
best in the NFL for years, but is slowing down.

(20:01):
According to one AFC executive. He still has a lot
to offer. Incredibly hard worker, tone setter, super solid running
things on the back end and preventing big plays, things
that often go unnoticed. I am expecting a bounce back
year from him. Another NFL coordinator said, end quote, Yeah,
I think this is fair for Minca. I don't think

(20:21):
Mica is, you know, a top two or three safety
in the NFL, like he certainly was for a few
years stretched there twenty nineteen, twenty twenty one, twenty two.
I mean those four years, Minca was as good as anybody.
I do think it's fair to say that he's slowed
down slightly. A high end speed was never one of
his best traits, and maybe as you get closer to

(20:42):
thirty and you kind of lose a half a step
and you're not the fastest guy in the first place,
that's where that ball production can start to wane a
little bit. But I still think Minka Fitzpatrick at twenty eight,
with his skill set, with his football brain as well too,
I think he can still play at a high level
in this league for a long time. And obviously wish
him no ill will and all the best down there

(21:04):
in Miami. Unless, of course, he runs into the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Gotta wrap this thing up. This is a long opening segment.
Julian Love number ten of the Seattle Seahawks, twenty seven
years old. He has been very good for Seattle over
the last two years. I don't want to say he's
come out of nowhere, but I think he was a
guy that wasn't really on many of these lists until

(21:26):
the last season or two. Spent four years with the Giants,
then moved across the coast to Seattle. They just gave
him a nice contract extension. He deserves it. He is
another one of those kind of I think ballhawking safeties.
Seven interceptions twenty two PBUs over the last two years

(21:46):
in Seattle, also had two hundred and thirty two tackles.
I mean, it is impressive how a lot of these
safeties are giving you a handful of interceptions and one
hundred tackles. And that's Julian Love. He doesn't have the
name cachet is some of these other guys, but he
is I think fairly belongs on this list, maybe a

(22:06):
spot or two higher, but at number ten, certainly where
he belongs on this list. Julian Love rounding out the
list of the Seattle Seahawks. The honorable mentions listed are
Javon Holland of the New York Giants, Brandon Jones of
the Broncos, CJ. Gardner Johnson Super Bowl Champion of the
Eagles now with the Houston Texans. Trayvon Mowrigg also getting

(22:29):
a shout out there as well. Two gotta get to
our first break when we come back on the other side.
We'll continue to break down some of these lists. I
want to talk about edge rushers a little bit. See
where TJ. Watt is on that list. I got a
feeling he's top two, right, I mean that's where he's been.
We'll see if he's one, if he's two, did he

(22:50):
maybe take a step back to three or four? We'll
go through, continue to go through some of these lists,
see where the Steelers fall on them. As we roll
along today on the Blitz right here on Steelers Nation
Radio on this Wheeler's Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
This is the Steeler's Blitz with Wesley Hueler and Arthur
Motes on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Gold Skin.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
R Back on the Blitz here, as we roll along
staring down training camp just I mean literally days away.

(23:39):
Get about counted on, Oh you can, I mean you
can't count it on your fingers and your toes. Pretty
soon just your fingers and then just one hand, and
then before you know it, we will be out in
sunny Lay Trobe for well, it is always like, I
don't know what, what's the term I'm looking for. It
is always a little bit of a tease in a way,
because you get out there in La Trobe and you're
so excited for practice and full ball and all the

(24:00):
new faces. And then there's four of those acclamation practices,
you know, the ones that Touch and Wolf would always
complain about that they didn't have back in their day,
the acclamation practices where they're just in helmets and shorts,
which is fun, but it's not quite the same thing.
But then, you know, the guys get a day off
and then they have that long stretch of six straight

(24:22):
days Friday night lights pads on, and that's when the
fun really gets going out there in the Westmoreland County heat.
I'm looking forward to it. Like I've always told you,
it's always bittersweet, Like I love training camp because it's fun,
it's football. It's easy to push everything else out of
your mind and just focus on the Steelers and the

(24:43):
task at hand when you're on the campus of Saint
Vincent out there. But it's also bittersweet because you know
it's like July and it feels like the summer's over,
and you know you're gonna be spending a lot of
time away from your kids and your wife and your
family here before too much longer. But that is the beauty,
the ebb and flow of the business. As I said

(25:04):
in the open of the show, Unfortunately, my two daughters
did not let me enjoy this off season, not one bit.
I have a three major and a terrible tour and
they have been threeen aging and terrible tooing, and I
just I just gotta tell everybody, just real quick, real quick. Okay,
you all remember from a couple months ago, I was
going through the saga of I was buying a new

(25:25):
car for the first time of my life. It was
my third vehicle that I've ever had, but it was
the first one I've ever bought new. Each of my
two previous cars I bought used. I was all excited
to buy a new car, bought a brand new car
gonna be my You know, it was a Dadmobile with
third row of seating, but it's all so sick. It's
black on black and has some cool leather seats and

(25:46):
interior and everything. I was like, this is a dadmobile,
but it's a sleek dadmobile. It's a cool Dadmobile. I'm
gonna drive this thing for a decade. And two months later,
within the span of forty eight hours, both of my
dad got sick and threw up all over the place
in my brand new car. Kids, life doesn't care about

(26:08):
your hopes and dreams. It has not been a relaxing
offseason for your boy. But we are getting there nonetheless.
And one day I will have my vengeance on these
girls when they're older. And they're older and they're teenagers,
and I embarrass them in front of all their friends,
and you know, I wake them up at eight in
the morning to make them go outside and pull weeds
and landscape with dad in the middle of the summertime.

(26:29):
I shall have my vengeance and it shall be swift.
Let's take a look at this edge rusher list here
if you're just jumping in. Jeremy Fowler, Senior reporter for
ESPN used to cover the Pittsburgh Steelers. Friend of the program,
friend of ours, familiar face. He pulls over seventy different
NFL executives, general managers, assistant general managers, scouts, coaches to

(26:55):
rank the top ten players at every position across the NFL.
We discuss safeties to start the show. So let's get
into edge rushers here, all right, I'm looking at this
for the first time with you. Let's do it. Number
one on the list is Miles Garrett. He was number
one last year. He's number one this year. Fourteen sacks
last year. He is the first player since individual sack

(27:18):
totals have been tracked in nineteen eighty two, with four
consecutive seasons of at least fourteen sacks. Listen, I know
we have for years now debated Miles Garrett and TJ Watt.
I don't have a problem with Miles number one on
the list this year. TJ was not his best down

(27:39):
the stretch last season, in the last five or six games,
and quite often that's what's at the forefront of most
people's minds. You know, Miles Garrett and the Browns didn't
necessarily set the world on fire, but I do think
he had a better year than TJ. Miles being number one.
I don't have a huge beef with it. In fact,
I think if you're being if you're being objective, he

(28:06):
deserves it all.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Right.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
Now's where I start to get worried because they've disrespected
TJ on these lists in the past. And like I said,
he didn't have his he didn't have the greatest end
of the season. Let's okay. They do have God bless him.
They have TJ. Watt ranked number two. Last year he
was ranked number two as well, so the top two
on this list does not change. Like we all know,

(28:27):
the accomplishments for TJ one hundred and eight career sacks.
That's third most all time for a player in their
first eight seasons, behind Reggie White and DeMarcus Ware. You know,
he didn't have the lack of splash late in the
season seven total tackles, zero sacks over his final four games.
But at the same time, I think he still has

(28:48):
the gravitas, he still has the resume, and he's thirty
years old, alright. He ain't twenty six anymore, but he's
not thirty three either. He's thirty years old. I think
I'm happy to see TJ number two on this list. Still,
if they would have moved him down to three or four,
you know, I wouldn't have like been kicking and screaming
about it. But I do think he still deserves to

(29:10):
be number two on this list, and he is number
three on this list, also not changing from last year.
So the top three edge rushers, Garrett Watt and Micah
Parsons exactly the same from this this group of seventy
plus NFL executives and coaches and scouts. Michael Parsons stays

(29:30):
at number three for the second straight year. He's you know,
he's been outstanding. His pass rush win rate is awesome.
I mean he he leads the league and generating pressures.
You know, He's moves around, he's versatile, he plays off

(29:50):
ball at times. He's pretty much a pure pass rusher now,
but like he does much more than that. Just twenty
six years old, he is still one the best in
the business. I don't know if he's ever like I
think we've been waiting for him to reach that defensive
Player of the Year level that we've seen from TJ.
Watt in the past, that we've seen from Miles Garrett
in the past. Michael Parsons is great. I don't know

(30:12):
if he's quite Miles Garrett TJ Watt, Aaron Donald great,
jj Watt great, But I think he's kind of in
that very next step back and at twenty six years old,
can still certainly get there. He is number three, and
I think of deserving number three on this list, number four.
At a feeling this was gonna be the case, Max

(30:33):
Crosby is number four, Nick Bosa is number five, So
it was almost the same exact top five as last year.
Last year it was Bosa four, Max Crosby five, with
that same top three. This year Crosby LeapFrog's Bosa, but
almost exactly the same top five as last year, just
Crosby and Nick Bosa switching spots at four and five,

(30:54):
both of those guys twenty seven years old. Max Crosby
just relentless right. Three hundred and twenty four quarterback pressure
since twenty nineteen. That's more than any other player by
more than forty QB pressures. I mean, that's that's impressive.
Like he's got that relentless motor right, never wants to

(31:15):
leave the field, never takes a playoff. He's not is
naturally gifted as Nick Bosa and Michael Parsons, But man,
he is he's a menace. He's violent, he's intense, and
he is, without a doubt, on a team and a

(31:35):
defense that have not been very good, and he's very
easy to be the focal point of He has continued
to excel and do it at a high level. Max
Crosby Mad Max, the second best Crosby in all of sports.
Number four on this list, number five of course, Nick Bosa,
like I mentioned, he was number four last year, just
swapped spots with Max Crosby. He's he's he's disruptive, he's

(31:59):
got the level, he's got the explosiveness. You know. Again,
I don't know if he has quite since that Defensive
Player of the Year's season a couple of years ago
reached the ultimate level that people thought. He has dealt
with some injuries during that span. He is great. Can
can he really get to that Miles Garrett TJ. Watt

(32:22):
all time level? He's still got time. He's twenty seven
years old, but he is, without a doubt, I think
one of the top five in the business at this
and that's where he finds himself at number five on
this year's list. Number six on this year's list the
NFL's reigning sack champion, Trey Hendrickson, of course, now still
with the Cincinnati Bengals, but disgruntled like seemingly everybody in

(32:44):
that organization on the defensive side of the football is.
I mean he he was this Bengals defense last season,
seventeen and a half sacks led the NFL second consecutive
year having seventeen and a half sacks. Get this, he
accounted for nearly thirty three percent of the Bengals total pressures,
only defender in the NFL to have a pressure share

(33:05):
above thirty percent. I mean, if Trey Hendrickson wasn't getting
after the quarterback, not many people on that Bengals defense
were four consecutive Pro Bowls. He's a first team All
Pro without a doubt. I think one of the better
free agency signings recently in the NFL. He deserves a
new contract, whether he gets it from Cincinnati or gets traded,
I'm not I don't know. I don't think that he is.

(33:29):
And again, he's had seventeen and a half sacks over
the last two years, so his production is undeniable. I
don't think he's quite the pure talent that those guys
in the top five are, but he certainly belongs high
on this list after being number nine last year. Trey
hendrickson number six this year number seven. A guy who
is gonna be on this list for a long time
and would be much higher if it wasn't for last

(33:51):
year's unfortunate injury. Heck, he might be the reigning defensive
player in the NFL right now. He might be number
one or number two on this list. Aiden Hutchinson come
in at number seven. You know, a very serious injury.
He missed twelve games last season with that broken broken leg.
But folks, the five games that he played were Defensive

(34:12):
Player of the year's stuff. He was leading the NFL
in sacks, leading the NFL, and pressures leading the NFL,
and pass rush win rate. Seven and a half sacks
in his first five games. That was the most for
a Lions defender since nineteen eighty two. I mean, he
was on his way to being in that Miles Garrett
and TJ. Watt debates, he's just an absolute freak still

(34:37):
only twenty four years old. You hope for his sake
that he recovers fully from that leg injury, and if
he does that, Lions defense is going to be scary.
I mean they were scared last year even when he
was out. If he gets back to form, he can
be number one on this list in the next couple
of years. He is that good. Aiden Hutchinson despite only

(34:57):
playing five games, was that was that phenomenal that he's
number seven on this list. Will Anderson Junior of the
Houston Texans comes in at number eight. He was ranked,
or part of me was not ranked last season, so
this is his first year on the list. Twenty three
years old, classic pass rusher right and had an outstanding

(35:20):
rookie season, kind of like CJ. Stroud like. It wasn't
the sophomore leap that everybody expected, but it wasn't a
terrible year either. They just maybe didn't take off like
everyone thought they were going to after that that really
good rookie season. But he was still top ten in
sacks and was a disruptive force. And his heck just

(35:45):
twenty three years old. The youngest guy on this list
is Will Anderson Jr. He's gonna be really good for
a long time. He's gonna be a problem for a
long time. If him and CJ. Stroud kind of shake
off some of that sophomore slump and get back to it.
The Houston Texans have a really nice cornerstone pass rusher
and quarterback young on both sides of the football. Number

(36:07):
nine Danielle Hunter of the Houston Texans. It's funny every time.
He was number eight on this list last year, number
nine on this year, this year's list. I feel like
every single year that we go over this motes and
I say, you know, he's not one of the top guys.
He's not one of those top five or six guys,
but he is very underrated at this Like we always say,
he's probably the most underrated edge rusher in the National

(36:29):
Football League. Him and Will Anderson are going to be
a problem if they can stay healthy. He's Daniel Hunter
has had twenty eight and a half sacks over the
last two seasons. He's a disruptive force. Again, not the
defensive player of the year, future Hall of Fame type,

(36:49):
but a haul of very good and a guy who
I think has been consistently underrated now for about five
or six years. Daniel Hunter number nine on this list
and then our highest ranked rookie. Well coming off of
his rookie season. On this list is Jared Verse of
the l A. Rams. He is number ten, coming off

(37:10):
of defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had a
very impressive rookie season. Four and a half sacks, which is,
you know, probably a little bit of a modest number there,
but he was a disruptive force in the interior of

(37:30):
that defensive line. He was credited with twenty four incompletions
and three interceptions created based off of being able to
get hands on the football and you know things like
that that they judge at the line of scrimmage where
you might not get a sack, but but you're messing
with the quarterbacks pass or launch angle or all those

(37:50):
different things to put up numbers like edge rushers. I
do think we'll see that from Jared Verse at some point,
building off of a very strong rookie year. He comes
in at number ten. Your honorable mentions Brian Burns of
the Giants, Nick Potonio of the Broncos, George Carl Loftis
of the Kansas City Chiefs. Some good names there, but

(38:13):
I got no beef with that list. Some really young
and to I mean, there's only I think two guys
on that list who were thirty, maybe three guys on
that list who are thirty. Everybody else younger and in
their twenties. Edge rusher is certainly one of the strongest
positions in the National Football League right now. We have
still got a couple more groups to go through. We're
gonna talk a little running backs, We're gonna talk a

(38:33):
little defensive tackles. We've also I've got some beef with
an off season grading system that I saw earlier today.
We're gonna get to your tweets. We have got a
lot to get to. We'll close down the first hour.
On the other side, keep this thing rolling. It's West
Solo here on the Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio
on the Steelers Audio Network.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
This is the Steelers Blitz with Wesley Euler and Arthur
Motes on your twenty four to seven home of the
Black and Goals scan r Man.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
I just took a look at the clock and I
really went along with those first two segments.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Huh.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
But I mean, what do you expect. We're talking safeties,
we're talking edge rushers, we're talking ball. We're having some fun.
We will continue. I only just got a short segment
here just a couple of minutes, we'll continue with the
Jeremy Fowler NFL Executives, Coaches, GM Scouts top ten positional

(39:50):
rankings list. Here in our number two, I do want
to talk running backs and a running back. I wonder
who's gonna be number one on the running back list.
I wonder if it's that running back? What's his name
from out in Philadelphia. He had a pretty good season
last year. Right, we'll talk running backs in hour number two.
Defensive tackles as well. Again, I did look at that defense,

(40:12):
and it's the only one that I looked at ahead
of time, the defensive tackle list, because I wanted to
make sure Cam Hayward was on there, and he is.
So we'll get into a little running backs and a
little defensive tackles in our number two. But something that
surprised me, Seth Walder of ESPN took all thirty two
NFL teams and gave them an off season ranking. Okay,

(40:35):
so like, for example, he had the La rams Is
having the best off season in the entire National Football League.
They retained Matthew Stafford, they were able to get Devonte Adams,
They re signed two to two at well their talented
wide receiver. They acquired a future first round draft pick
trading with the Falcons on draft Day. You know, a

(40:56):
team that should still be very good this year and
now have some capital, you know, moving forward. Swee ranks
all the thirty two teams in the NFL in terms
of their offseason and how he thinks they did. He
gave the Steelers a C. He said their biggest move
was signing Aaron Rodgers. The move he liked the most
was how many compensatory picks that they got from letting

(41:18):
their quarterbacks and some other players walk. And he actually
disliked trading Mega Fitzpatrick for Jalen Ramsey and John hu Smith,
basically saying that, you know, the Steelers, like, are they
truly contending this year or are they just delaying a rebuild.
That's his reasoning for having the Steelers at a SEA.
I think the Steelers offseason grade has to be a

(41:39):
little bit higher because listen, you can talk about the
future and how you know they traded Mega Fitzpatrick for
two guys that are thirty years old, a little bit
older than him. How you know they signed a quarterback
who's in his forties, like none of those are moves
for the future. I completely understand that, But I also
the Steelers, I think are undeniably a better team right
now than they were this time last year. So they're

(42:04):
better at quarterback, They're better at wide receiver. They still
have holes at wide receiver, but they are better at
wide receiver. They should. They better be better on the
offensive line. I think they're better in the secondary. So listen,
I'm not saying that the Steelers deserve to be at
the top of this list and have an A grade.
I think C is a little stingy, is a little too,

(42:25):
you know, just looking at it and saying, well, they're
probably not gonna win the Super Bowl this year, so
it's a bad offseason. If that's the case, then you
should say that about everybody in the NFC not named,
you know, the Chiefs and the Bills and maybe the Ravens.
So you know, that's kind of the reasoning for giving
them a C. Not crazy about trading away Minka Fitzpatrick

(42:46):
for two guys that are thirty, you know, not crazy
about signing a forty one year old quarterback, which again
I think those are also if you're skeptical, step skeptical
about those things, like, I'm not saying you're an idiot.
I think fine, you're you are allowed to have that opinion.
I don't. While I might disagree, I don't think it's ridiculous.
But what I do think is ridiculous is that Seth

(43:06):
had both the Bengals and the Browns ranked ahead of
the Steelers for their offseasons. He gave the Bengals a
C plus better than the Steelers at sea because they
extended Jamar Chase. Like, okay, they still don't have their
only good defensive player, Trey Hendrickson figured out they're still
at odds with him over his contract extension. Their number

(43:29):
one twelfth overall draft pick, Shimer Stewart, who's supposed to
be the next edge rusher for the organization, left practice
in the middle of Many Camp, like hasn't practiced period
and left the facility in the middle of Many Camp.
How the heck can you say the Bengals had a
better offseason than the Steelers. Yes, they still have Jamar

(43:50):
Chase and Joe Burrow the best wide receiver in football,
and one of the guys who's on the short list
is the best quarterback in football. And that means a lot,
without a doubt, but it meant nine to eight last
despite both of those guys having historic seasons, because their
defense was so bad and the one reliable piece of
their defense is disgruntled and their twelfth overall first round

(44:11):
draft pick on the defense is more than disgruntled and
hasn't even practiced yet with the team. I don't know
how you can have the Bengals anything higher than like
a D or an F for this offseason. Extending Jamar
Chase is great. Other than that, it's been a colossal
letdown I think in Cincinnati and then the Browns. He's

(44:33):
got the Browns at a at a B minus. How
is that?

Speaker 1 (44:38):
How?

Speaker 2 (44:38):
I just I don't get it. I am sorry. He's
got the Browns at a B plus. He's got the
Browns ranked as one of the best off seasons in
the NFL because they traded down from number two to
number five and got an extra first round draft pick
next year, and they kept Miles Garrett. Okay, I would
look at it, and I would I would say they

(44:59):
now have five quarterbacks, none of which can play, and
they passed on Travis Hunter, who might be the generational
talent of this draft to take a defensive tackle who
I think will be pretty good, but he ain't gonna
be Aaron Donald, he ain't gonna be Travis Hunter, he
ain't gonna be Abdul Carter. And now you took two
mid round quarterbacks and Dylan gray buryin Pseudor Sanders, you

(45:21):
traded for Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. I mean, the
Deshaun Watson. No matter what Deshaun Watson says about how
he wants to play and all that stuff, he's almost
certainly out of the picture. But still you've got two
mid round rookies who no one is crazy high on.
You've got Joe Flacco, who's had a great career, but
is you know, filling out his AARP forms. Sorry, Joe,

(45:42):
I couldn't resist a joke there. And then you've got
Kenny Pickett, who was on his third team in four years.
I mean, how can you have the Browns as having
a B plus offseason? They have a terrible offensive line.
They didn't draft a single offensive lineman. I want to
say that you're giving them credit because they traded down
just a few spots in the draft and they got

(46:04):
a first an extra first round pick for it next
year and that's gonna kickstart their rebuild. Fine, but then
you should be saying that they should have traded Miles
Garrett to fully commit to that rebuild and get even
more first round picks and draft capital. I think the
Browns had one of the most confusing puzzlings off seasons
of anybody in the NFL. How they can be a

(46:24):
B plus on this list baffles me. So, you know what,
I wasn't gonna do it. I'm a nice guy. Everybody's
allowed to have their own opinions. But Seth Walter, you
just made the list, buddy. All Right, I gotta get
to break close down this first hour of the program.
We'll get back into top ten running backs, top ten

(46:44):
defensive tackles, and of course the time will be yours.
We'll get to some of your tweets before we get
out of here. All of that in our number two
It is the Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio.