June 24, 2025 • 38 mins
A fun Craig Wolfley story is shared, and the Blitz covers some free agents still available on the open market.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seculer and Moats are on the air. This is the
Steeler's Blitz on your twenty four to seven home of
the Black and Gold lescan R Steelers Nation RADIOH.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Good afternoon, Steelers Nation. How we doing well? That's good
me too. It is our number two here of the
Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Had fun turning things over to you there in the
first hour for a little to Twitter Tuesday action. Pardon
me for those who might have missed it. Just Yuler
(01:33):
today solo on the show Motzy a little bit of
a you know, little I don't know. I guess you
could call it many vacation staycation type thing. I believe
that they have going on. But he will be back
later on in the week. Really appreciated that fun first
hour and all of your involvement and some different questions there.
I do, as I teased, want to discuss a couple
(01:55):
free agent possibilities, conversations names that are still out there
that might you know, if I was the Steelers might
be having some conversations about Maybe that's the best way
to put it, so we will do that in this hour.
I also want to talk a little Arthur Smith here
from some recent comments from Arthur Smith conversation that he
had with our good friend Missy Matthews as well. So
(02:18):
we'll get into all of that in hour number two.
You can still get involved on Twitter on x at
Wesley Yuler as we roll along. But I did tease
at the top of the show about an hour ago
that I had some Craig Wolflely memories for you today.
Of course it is. It's been a few months since
our dear friend Wolf passed last month. May was his
(02:41):
his birthday, and just I think with training camp being
ahead and really now on our radar a month away,
I've been thinking about Wolf as i'm I know that
that doesn't surprise anybody. I mean I never really stopped
thinking about him. You know, OTA's in many camp. It's
it's noticeable his absence out there on the field, in
the cafeteria, all that good stuff. I know, when we
(03:04):
get to Latrobe a month from now, his absence is
going to be very noticeable and into the regular season
and all those different things. Today I was going through
some stuff on my computer. I tend to do this
this time of year, you know, in kind of the
quiet period of between OTA's in mini camp and training camp.
(03:27):
I kind of go through my computer and I delete
a lot of the old audio and stuff that's just
taking up space. You know, you guys know what this is,
how this is in our digital age now. It's amazing
how much content, how much information different videos, audios, pictures, right,
we all you all know this. Look at how many
pictures and videos there are of you when you were
(03:47):
growing up, verse how many pictures and videos you have
of your kids. I've got thousands on my phone, right,
And that's all great, But every once in a while
you need to go through and clean stuff up because
you also just don't have unlimited story. As great as
the cloud and all these backups and everything are. You
got to be reasonable with it unless you want to pay,
you know, hundreds of dollars a month and storage costs.
(04:08):
So I go through my computer. I pick out some
things that I want to keep from the previous year.
Maybe some good interviews that we had, some funny moments,
things like that. Maybe if I thought I did a
really good monologue or had a you know, a really
good rant or something like that, I'll clip that out
and save that from my own personal portfolio and stuff
like that. So I was going through my computer yesterday
(04:32):
Monday and was deleting some stuff things like that, clearing
some space, and I found an old folder that had
a bunch of the old wolf Cast episodes and what
this was. It was basically like two years ago, three
years ago. It was a podcast series that we did
with Craig Wolfle. It's available out there. I think it's
five different episodes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I want to.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Say that Wolf told different stories.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And again it's available still Spotify, Apple, wherever you get
your podcasts. Wolf Cast, you know, just like podcast, but
wolf Cast is what it was called. And I was
going through and I was listening to some of these
and obviously, as you all imagine, I was like, I
can't delete these. These are incredible. I got to keep these,
(05:18):
and I'm listening to them, and I like, so I start,
you know, because they're all about ten minutes long. It's seven, eight, nine,
ten minutes long. It's Wolf telling a funny story from
the past. And so I'm like taking my laptop into
the kitchen with me so I could keep listening to
these while I'm doing the dishes and prepping dinner and
things like that, and this one particular story of Wolf
talking about film study, the anxiety behind preparing for your
(05:43):
opponent and then having it ultimately pay off on a
Sunday and be successful. This story had me dying. It
had me laughing and had me crying. It had me
experiencing all the emotions of Wolf and everything that we
missed so much about him, and I thought, you know what,
screw it. Like again, it's the summer time. We got
time here, we got content. There's not a lot going on,
(06:03):
So this is about eight or nine minutes here, but
this is Craig Wolfly telling a hilarious story again about
film study, reparation and anxiety of getting ready for your
upcoming opponent and then when things finally work out for
you on a Sunday. Here's a class at Craig Wolfly Tale.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Defensive players are smart, yes, begrudgingly, I'll admit it. Okay,
just speaking in general terms here. Most of them like
the trash talk. You know. Then they're gonna come out
and they're gonna attack like Genghis Khan with his hair
on fire. And they love it, believe you meet, they
love it. Whenever one of their nefarious blitz schemes hits
home with a team meeting at the quarterback and when
it does, ooh baby, you're not gonna hear the end
(06:42):
of it for the rest of the game. And if
it happened to be in a game with a say,
a division rival, well you'd probably hear about it in
a rematch if they dropped the sack on your watch,
if it was in the first goal round of the year.
The Browns had some pretty hot rushers back in the day.
You know Clay Matthews, Chip Banks, Reggie Camp, the sneaky
Bobby Golick, former Pitt Star basketball player turned football player,
(07:05):
Sam Clancy, and certainly you can't overlook the great Carl Harriston,
who had the best spin move this side of Dwight
Freenie before anyone ever heard of Dwight Freenie. And that's
mainly because Dwight was only five years older so at
the time. So anyhow, what really caught me by surprise
in a game with the Cleveland Browns this time around
was the patience by which the Browns went about their
(07:25):
business on this day. Normally, the defense comes after you
hard and fast. Man, They're gonna they're gonna fastball you
from the get go, they're gonna throw their best at
you and get going right. But no, that's not the
way it went out this day. Sure there were some
defensive coordinators who were more patient, willing to let things
play out more, and then they'd set you up before
trying to drop a bomb on you. But for the
(07:47):
most part, it was usually a Katie bar the door
attack mode coming out of the locker room, meaning it
was on like a furious vintage Mike Tyson first round
knockout in his heyday. So when the week run up
to this game, I had been per usual watching an
enormous amount of film on the Brownies, you know, getting
into the theater of the mind. You know, it's a
huge part of pro ball. You simply can't succeed at
(08:09):
this level if you don't put the necessary time into
film study. Now, part of that study is to familiarize
yourself with the opponent's tendencies and peculiarities, what their go
to rush is, and who's involved personnel wise. And then
you have basic past you have basic pass pro rules
to be able to pick up the various stunts and
(08:30):
blitzes of an opponent. This was how it worked. The
twist stunts that happened right away were handled in a
zone concept. Twists that were delayed were handled man on man,
no passing off a rusher like on the quick twists. See,
you got to have a plan, you got to work
the plan, and you got to stick with the plan
and hopefully that plan comes together. Just like one of
(08:51):
my favorite television shows back in the eighties, you know,
the A Team starring George Papard as Hannibal and mister
t as Ba Barracas, That the show always had that
poignant moment where a grinning prepared would look into the
camera and say, I love when a plan comes together,
over and over again. I kept studying the opponent's schemes
in the alarming rate at which the Browns they'd be
(09:13):
running that banging me game and get home with it,
and if they didn't get the sack the fender bender
that the guy playing my position and the other teams
I was watching would get destroyed. So it shouldn't surprise
you when I tell you that a high level of
anxiety started building early in the prep week, along with
a very conscious notation to prepare for this particular stunt,
(09:36):
also to be concerned with, Over and above the lethal
human land minds awaiting me was the individual characteristics and
preferences of the players that I knew I'd be locking
horns with. For instance, no stackle Bobby Gollick. Now he's
shorter in stature than say a Carl Harriston or certainly
Sam Clancy, but he had a wrestling background. This dude
had great body balance, with a real solid base. He
(09:58):
would lock up with you and try to off balance you,
try to get on your edge rather than trying than
coming down the middle of you. And he was a
good hand fighter. He was always trying to get an
inside hand position. At the other end of the spectrum
was defensive end. Carl Harriston, he of the pre fiend
he spin technique. He'd throw an uppercut and then try
to lift or uproot you and try to get his
(10:18):
hip alongside yours like a judoka. You know, a judo student.
You know they're very good at throwing those hip throws,
like oh goshi, all right, so you got to get
that hip along there, and you uproot them and woom,
you throw them. Well, after getting you to overplay his
uprooting uppercut, he'd spin, and you'd be left swatting at air,
wondering where the heck he went if you didn't, if
you didn't punch his hip with your free hand, it
(10:40):
was sack city, to be sure. Harrison had the uproot
spin technique down pat and he had such a tight
spin you were in trouble if he got that inside leverage.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
As we used to.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Say back in the day, this dude could spin in
a three quart bucket. Game day in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium,
which otherwise was known as the Mistake on the Lake
and the predecessor to the present day Cleveland Brown Stadium,
suitably dubbed the Factory of Sadness, was a typical unsunny
day in Cleveland. I've played in Cleveland during my career
at least a dozen times, and when you add another
(11:13):
nearly two dozen trips as a broadcaster, I encount on
one hand the number of sunny days we've ever had
on a game day. Schmutze was the typical weather forecast
that we seem to play in. Joe DiNardo, the old
beloved Pittsburgh TV weathermen, would call it Bertley cloudy. The
sky was alternately dark and gray on this day, with
periods of rain making the turf nice and muddy, you know,
(11:33):
just a regular Cleveland type day, if you will. Now,
while watching a lot of film, the stunt that emerged
from the Brown scouting report was a delayed twist on
what we used to call me game. With a defensive
end going up the field, he'd plan on his outside foot,
go hard inside a ninety degree angle to try to
earhole the guard on that side, which of course would
be me in this case, and that was their favorite
(11:54):
past rush, that was their go to. The defensive end
would try to literally try to t bone me, and
to do that, it was all about the setup, which
was in the purview of the defensive tackle playing over me. Now,
the key to this twist stunt was in identifying what
the defensive tackle rushing me was doing. If he just
bull rushed me, you know, trying to run down the
middle of me, that was telling me there's no stunt coming.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Kad zookes, that's easy. That's like hitting easy button.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
That was why he did all those squats with manhole
cover sized weights, stack down a bar bell in the
off season. Get your squat monster on, take on that
bull rush and use all that hamhock strength. You're built
up in the off season to shut down the rusher,
you know stuff, I'm dead in his tracks. But if
he started to shake, rattle and roll or docy dough,
which I mean, he's throwing head fakes, he's throwing shoulder fakes.
(12:42):
He's trying to dead leg you, you know, throwing a
hesitation step type rush just prior to contact, I knew
he was just setting me up for a kill shot.
Him trying to occupy me without coming into contact was
the trigger that told me that the dastardly delayed, banging
freaking me game was imminent. And I say that twice,
and if it hit home, I was in danger of
(13:03):
being at the point of attack at the very least, or,
depending on the offensive tackle plane next to me, about
to be separated from some brain cells for a period
of time because the defensive ends screaming and towards my
blindside was humming, hostile, and full of bad vibes and intentions.
And so it was on every obvious pass rush situation
in the first half, I was on a deaf Con
(13:25):
five alert status, you betcha. I was determined not to
end up like a hood ornament or be featured on
the nineteen eighty five Cleveland Browns pass Rush reel Look
getting caught blindsided by someone at a full gallop that
was anywhere from two hundred and seventy five to three
hundred pounds. I believe you me, that was gonna hurt
a lot, But even more so, giving up a sack
to the Cleveland Nights and having to face Chuck Nole
(13:47):
chin to chin in a post sack sideline soiree was
even a more daunting thought than getting concussed. After all,
a concussion is nothing more than a party in your
head for a little while. And don't hit me with
being insensitive about concussion. They're my concussions. You're free to
describe your own in your own way. And so it was.
All through the first half, pass rush by pass rush,
(14:07):
I kept waiting for the banging me game to come
at me. With every rush that it didn't come, I
knew it had to be the next rush that they
throw it at me. Then, Yet, series by series, play
by play, quarter by quarter, no go. It was driving
me crazy, frustrating really, because the stunt was so potentially
injurious that the built up anxiety and expectations that had
(14:29):
gone into the game with was kind of gurglating within me.
So halftime came and went. We trooped down the tunnel
from Cleveland's visiting locker room, which was nothing more than
an oversized closet. Oh my goodness, and actually it was
designed for a baseball team as a Cleveland Stadium was
a dual purpose football baseball stadium back in the day.
As I was standing in that tunnel waiting to climb
(14:50):
a couple of steps out of the dugout, I remember
an unpleasant spell wapped it up to my nostrils. Apparently
when the baseball players were in need of relieving themselves,
they didn't. They're walking all the way to the locker room,
it seems the tunnel we were standing and sufficed.
Speaker 6 (15:04):
Now.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
After hitting the field, I made my way across the
visiting team sidelines of the bench area to get the
blood flowing for the second half. I was acutely aware
that the Browns hadn't come at me with their version
of the infamous banging me game.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Now I smelled a rat.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
To be sure, I kept reminding myself of the top
trigger keys to the Browns blitz game. Sure enough, right
out of the gate on the first obvious third down
passing situation that we ran into in the first drive
of the second half. Oh, here it comes the defensive
tackle over me. Unlike the first half pass rushes started
giving me the old hypnotic eye. He came at me
(15:38):
using a head fake, a body fake, a non rhythmic
pass rush that resembled a cobra given its probably a
hypnotic ster before striking. Oh yeah, lookout, because the bomb
was about to drop on yours truly. Now, the whole
week of preparation came together in a nano instant. All
the film, watching, all the mental gymnastics I'd done, having
my head stuck in the playbook Oh week long made
(16:00):
what happened next possible.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
As soon as.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
I identified the rush, I quickly gave ground to assess
what the tackle next to me was doing. Pete Rostoski,
a converted defensive lineman who made the jumped offensive tackle,
was locked in mortal combat with a heat seeking coming
at my blind side, human missile wearing browns colors. Now
I had a choice give even more ground and come
behind Pete and pick up the defensive tackle over me.
(16:24):
Who would be the trailer on a twist stunt, or
we would exchange roles and I would take Pete's man
he would take mine. Now, according to pass pro rules,
because it was a delayed stunt, it should have been
staying man to man, But because I was so jacked
and so tuned into the bang and me game coming
at me, I broke the rules. So pent up with
aggression from a week's worth of watching film and fending
(16:46):
off teammates trying to emulate the blind side shots that
the Browns were trying to hit me with. I didn't wait, baby,
I turned, I exploded, and like a heat seeking missile
my own self, I speared that defensive end as he
tried to crash my blindside. I kid you not. I
drilled the dude headfirst to the midsection or more likely
the groin area. But I will tell you this, it
was a wicked shot. We went down into a huge
(17:07):
pile of humanity with arms and legs all tangled up
and bodies stacking up like a bunch of cars would
after a fender bender in the fork pit tunnels.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
I was ecstatic, man.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
I jumped to my feet with testosterone and adrenaline pumping
through my veins mixing together, creating a potent mixture of
ferocity and intensity that surprised even me. I stood triumphantly
over the pile that contained the guy that wanted to
t bone me. He lay at my feet, clutching his
recently spirited abdominal groin area, obviously in pain. That was
(17:37):
half out of my mind, and when I pointed on
my screamed, I've been waiting for you all game long.
My pony just groaned and rolled over. Wait for the
traders come out and attend to him. I continued to
plat their way at the noile, not feeling too well
defensive end who just moments before was ready to play
Rock'm sock them robots with my head.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Now. It's not often you get to turn the tables
down a ponent line like that.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
And apparently I was in the midst of having an
out of body experience, and I couldn't seem to zip
my big yapper and go back to the huddle.
Speaker 6 (18:07):
So Pete Rostowski's walking by me on his.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Way back to the huddle, he quizzically looked at me
as if I had three heads.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
I wasn't one to trash talk.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
Everybody knew that and I think Pete was concerned I'd
lost my marbles.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
Mike Webster was laughing. Toun Chilgin, normally.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The trash talker of the offensive line, started laughing as
I continued to shoot my bazoo off.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, the whole.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Week of watching film, taking notes, studying the scouting report,
and getting extra reps on the practice field while doing
the necessary mental gymnastics at night made the whole week worthwhile.
At this moment, I love when a plan comes together. Well,
I'm Craig Wofully and this is the Wolf Cast. And
remember I never let facts stand the way of a
(18:49):
good story. Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You certainly didn't. Wolf, never let facts get in the
way of a good one. And that was a good one.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
I love that guy. I missed that guy if you again.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Like I said, I think there's I think there's five
or six of those, maybe seven that we did in
total Wolf Cast wherever you get your podcasts. There's some
good ones about, you know, the first time he met
Joe Green and a lot of those legendary Steelers of
the seventies. There's one about the first time he met
Chuck Nole when he came up to Syracuse to work
him out during the draft process. Some great stories. Love
(19:24):
you Wolf, miss you Wolf. And like I said, while
we had time this time of year, not a ton
going on, I am solo on the show today as well.
I thought everybody would enjoy that old favorite that trying
to look here looks like it was from a little
over two years ago when Wolf told that story and
we produced that tale. Plenty more to go here as
we roll along some free agent conversation from Arthur Smith.
(19:46):
Conversation here in the back half of our number two
of the Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio on the
Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
This is the Steelers Blitz with Wesley Euler and Arthur
Motes on your twenty four to seven Home of the
Black and Gold.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
S n R.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Penultimate segment here on this Tuesday of the Steelers Blitz,
Wes Shuler flying with you solo.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Would you all have been great?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
On the Twitter dot com? Of course, had to play
an old favorite from our buddy Wolf there in the
previous segment. Maybe we'll do that again at some point
this offseason, but for now we do have to transition
to some free agency conversation, and I think this relates
to some of the Beanie Bish conversation we had in
the first hour. I like what we saw from Beanie
(21:05):
his rookie season, particularly for a UDFA, the impact that
he had the four interceptions, obviously, but there was a
little bit of a tail off at the end of
the season. I think some of that was in his performance.
Some of that was just because the Steelers were going
with the veteran, more trusted Cam Sutton against some of
the best teams in the league down the stretch. But
(21:25):
now for Beanie, it's a big crossroads. Can you grow
on that rookie season, get better and start to solidify
that position as your own, or are the You know,
competition is always going to be a factor for somebody
who is still unproven, like Beanie Bishop is. The Steelers
want depth and they want competition everywhere. But like we
(21:46):
talked about on that defense, TJ. Hi Smith, Cam Keanu
Bent and Derek Harmon, Patrick Queen, Deshaun Elliott, Joey Porter,
Junior Darius Slay, a lot of the starters on that
defense feel like defined ready to roll. Barring some major
(22:07):
drop in performance or injury, they're gonna be the guy
at their position. Slock corner is the one where there's
a fair pretty big question mark. I think Beanie's got
kind of the first step in that race, but he
ain't gonna be the only one running that race, that's
(22:28):
for dang sure. You know Peyton Wilson kind of a
similar conversation, and you know, someone like Cole Holkom who
could push him and things like that. But really it
feels like Slot Corner is the big one on defense
where we could still see some movement, some signings and
some significant change. And with that, there's been questions too
(22:49):
about what you could do with one Thornhill and and
Deshaun Elliott and some some some big nickel stuff, but
just in terms of if the Steelers could add And
you know, we've had the conversations too about the JayR
Alexanders who's now in Baltimore, the Jalen Ramseys, who you know.
Adam Scheffer just reported this week that the Steelers and
(23:10):
Dolphins had some conversations but that nothing is expected to transpire.
I think that shouldn't surprise anybody. I'm sure that there
was a conversation of what would it take to get
this guy? And you know the money side of things,
and I'm sure, it was more than the Steelers were
willing to give up, and the Dolphins are still trying
to do the best business as possible. Makes a lot
of sense. But one guy who is out there and
(23:30):
the Steelers wouldn't have to negotiate with anybody other than
him and his agent is a familiar name, Mike Hilton.
He is a free agent. He is now thirty one
years old, but he is still starter capable at that
position in the league. You know, we talked a lot
about the Steelers. Another thing, maybe I should have mentioned
(23:52):
this when we in our in our Twitter questions in
the first hour, sacks. You know, the Steelers were in
the middle of the league in terms of sacks last year.
They got to get back at the top of the
pack in that regard. They had forty sacks last season.
If they get up into the high forties, that would
put them in the top ten. If they get up
into the fifties, that would put them in the top five.
Adding a guy like Mike Hilton could really help in
(24:13):
that regard. His blitzing is still, if not elite, very
good for his position even at age thirty one, and
that's something the Steelers have been lacking that. You know,
we know that what they're getting from Cam Hayward and TJ.
Watt and Alex Highsmith, but they haven't got kind of
these secondary sack numbers from guys like Mike Hilton, from
guys like Vince Williams like they have in the past.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
So I think Mike Hilton would help there without a doubt.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Like I said, I don't know if you I would
need a Matt Williamson or somebody who really studies the
film Arthur Motes to tell me if he's still an
elite blitzer out of the corner position, out of the
nickel position.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
But I could tell you he's still really dang good.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Another thing that.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
We've talked a lot about is the run defense for
the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's still really dang good at that
as well, too, even at thirty one years old. Again,
we can argue if he's still elite, but he's still
one of the best in the run game, and in
terms of attacking, in terms of blitzing, one of the best,
even at thirty one years old and maybe having lost
just a touch of his speed and athleticism. We all
(25:19):
know though that he has never been the greatest cover
corner and obviously with age that hasn't improved as he
loses a little athleticism, a little burst, a little fluidity.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
He let me look at these numbers here real quick.
Last year seventy three tackles that was the second most
in his career, twelve PFLs. But he did have a
he really struggled in terms of his passer rating. His
passing grades not good. It doesn't matter if you look
at Pro Football Focus, football outsiders, individual people who evaluate
this thing.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
It wasn't great. So I think he's a guy to
be interested in.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
There's been a lot of change, but he is still
in somewhat familiar with He is obviously part of, you know,
the Steelers past. He's got familiarity with a lot of
the guys and the coaching staff still and hasn't been
far playing in the division for the.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Last few years.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You know, there was some talk about Brandon Eccles providing
competition for Beanie Bishop, but he looks like he's going
to be an outside guy. Dante Kent is in the
fold again. Some of the stuff that the Steelers could
do with safety, but right now it feels like if
you really wanted a vet someone proven to push Beanie
Bishop junior, you know, Mike Hilton without giving up any
(26:44):
draft capital or anything like that, and what should be
not a cheap contract, but but you know you're not
gonna be breaking the bank to pay him either. I'm
sure it's a conversation they've had, and it's just one
that I wanted to bring to the forefront here. Definitely
helping the blitz game, can definitely help in the run game.
How do you feel about his coverage skills compared to
(27:04):
Beanie Bishop. You'd have to have that conversation, but I
certainly think they can and they will have that conversation. Obviously,
they're still gonna be looking at tight ends with Dallas
Parnham Junior coming off of injury. There's some veteran names there,
a guy like cj Uzama maybe who's coming off of
(27:27):
an injury of his own. Is he healthy wide receiver?
We're still looking to add there. You know, there's been
a lot of talk about the Gabe Davises of the world.
Still some other names available offensive line, could the Steelers
I think would be looking to add another tackle to
feel a little bit more confident about their depth in
that realm. But man, to me right now, Mike Hilton
(27:51):
seems like a big one. He really seems like a
big one in terms of what the Steelers could really
add to that defense, maybe need to add to that defense,
and just what's going to be available and not going
to cost them a ton of draft capital in the process.
So let me know how you think about that. On
Twitter at Wesley Yuler. Gotta get to our final break
(28:11):
here we come back on the other side. Some comments
Arthur Smith his conversation with Missy Matthews. They will discuss
about the Steelers offense, Aaron Rodgers, all that good stuff
as we close down the program. On the other side,
I am Wes S. Euler riding solo today on the Blitz.
It's Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Is the Steelers Blitz with Wesley Euler and Arthur Motes
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Goals scan.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
R wrapping up today's Blitz here having some fun on
a solo Tuesday. I like the the where am I
looking for the variety of today's show, Some good tweets
and some bigger picture conversation got into some you know
of those things that need fixed with the offense, with
(29:21):
the defense, shared some Craig Wolfley memories, some free agent conversation.
A lot of different topics here today on the program,
and we'll kind of maybe close with where we started,
a lot of conversations about run game efficiency, how do
they improve that red zone efficiency, how do they improve
that their starts on both offense and defense, well as
(29:41):
it relates to the offensive side of all those questions,
A huge part of that is going to be Arthur Smith.
That we all know how this works, and I think
he probably does too. If the offense has success this season,
I think Aaron Rodgers is going to get most of
the credit. If the offense doesn't have success this season. Yeah, sure,
Aaron Rodgers will get blamed because he's a lightning rod
(30:03):
and people like to blame Aaron Rodgers nationally. But Arthur
Smith is you know, going to be the one who
gets criticized heavily. I think if this offense doesn't take
a significant step forward this season in his second year
with what we all think is an improved group and
with a you know, four time MVP future Hall of
(30:25):
Famer Aaron Rodgers at the helm. Arthur Smith took some
time to talk about all these things with Missy Matthews.
Here's what he had to say.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
Coach, what did you learn about your offense through the
OTA and mini camp process.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
Yeah, these guys have worked extremely hard and it's a
good group. Obviously a lot of new faces. We've got
a very mature group of guys that you know, you
really it's a joy to coach because you come in
every day. These guys are hungry learn improve all all
the things you know you want as a coach.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
It's been a fun group.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
To work with so far, and we're excited obviously ad Aaron,
you know, DK and and the rest of these guys.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
We're really looking forward to getting in the training camp.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
As an offensive coordinator, how do you prepare for Aaron
Rodgers after you guys met with him, knowing you know
there could be some time before he comes of how
you want to construct your offense?
Speaker 8 (31:17):
Yeah, you know, in every offseason you go in and
you evaluate what happened the previous season, and then there's
a lot of strategic decisions made. I mean, it's just
the rosters turnover so quick now in the NFL. I
always say it's way more transactional now that it was
ten years ago and certainly twenty years ago. So you know,
you learn to adapt with the change, and you know
(31:39):
you'd love to have that consistency and but that's not
the reality sometimes. And so similar to what we did
last year when we got you know, Russ and Justin,
you dive into the background, you do your research and
how do you rest of your roster and how you
want to go forward, and the same thing we did
with Aaron. And obviously there's an unknown if he wasn't
going to be here, but the way you build things
(32:01):
and the way I kind of mapped it out, and
that's what I showed him when he got here a
couple of days ago. You know, we've constructed to move
forward with them. No, the way we wanted to evolve
anyways really fit his skill set, and so we're excited.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
I'm really excited to get going on the season.
Speaker 7 (32:18):
I was gonna say, is it hard to have a
break before training camp, But it feels like it's the
actual start of a new season.
Speaker 8 (32:25):
I think he gets so used to the longer in it.
You know, it's I don't know what August is like,
not going to training camp. So it just kind of
my all my really from nine years old on, I've
been a part of a team, and you know, in August,
it's you know, one day, I guess I'll feel what
that's like, not having that excitement, whatever, the nerves whatever,
going into a new season.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
But it's it'll be nice to get a couple.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
Of weeks and I really kind of get, you know, recover,
re energized, and then hit.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
The ground running.
Speaker 7 (32:55):
How big is it for a guy like Will Howard
to have Aaron Rodgers in that quarterback room with him?
Speaker 8 (33:00):
You know, that's a perfect setup for a guy like Will.
You know, every quarterback room in round it's different, the
dynamics are different, but you get a veteran where certainly
where Aaron's at in his career, you know he wants
to pass that knowledge down. You know, it couldn't be
a better situation for Will Howard to have a guy
like Aaron in the room and Mason and Skylarre they're
(33:22):
great guys and those guys collaborate and that's what you
want to see.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
Coach on that talked about the June reps and how
that's good for guys like Will Howard. What have you
seen from him so far?
Speaker 8 (33:31):
From the neck up, I mean, he's further along. He
played in those high pressure situations. He was in different
offensive schemes. I of beene Goman in Ohio State, learning
a new offense, some of the things they asked him
to do. And then you know, I think he even
said it on the record, just the speed that catches
every rookie bye surprise early on, and there'll be another
adjustment as we get into the camp and just cranks up,
(33:52):
you know, preseason. But Will's done a great job. Those
all those quarterbacks have really enjoyed work with him so far.
Speaker 7 (34:01):
What about DK? What have you learned about him that
maybe you didn't know before you got him here in
the building.
Speaker 8 (34:06):
Yeah, it's like everything you do your research, You talk
to friends that you know, guys that play with them
or coach with them, and you know, until you get
to know him as a person, you know, you're just
trying to, you know, see what how he's wired.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
But really I've enjoyed getting a no. DK.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
You know, he's from down the road. I'm a Memphis guy.
He's a North Mississippi guy. Oxford, you know, played an
old miss he is a very competitive player. He's going
to bring in an explosive play element to him. He's
a very physical catch and run guy. Uh, perfect fifth
for AFC North. And what we want to do in Pittsburgh,
(34:42):
what is it.
Speaker 7 (34:43):
Like having your offensive line where people are healthy and
in the positions where you want them to be.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
Yeah, you'd love to have that consistency and have you know,
the starting five one opening day, play every game and
sometimes it's not reality. And the last year it was
one of those years and we had like musical chairs
and you have adapt that's our job.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
And so it became an opportunity.
Speaker 8 (35:02):
For some of those younger guys to play early and
often Mason m cormick, obviously, Zach Frasier, Spencer Anderson.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Played a lot of reps. Uh, these guys have been
around each other, not just on the field but off
the field. That that's the least.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Amount of movement we've had in that room, which is
which is awesome because you know, early last year we
had a ton of new faces, new offense, first starts,
and you know, we adapted to go win those early games.
And uh, we're way further along in that group and
wore a year ago.
Speaker 7 (35:33):
Lastly, for you, Darnell Washington, what has he done in
terms of changing his body and what you're seeing from
him this season.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
Darnell that it's it's hard for me not to smile
when you bring up Darnell. He's another very unique player. Uh,
you know, I guess we all have our biases. I've
always partial to the tire room. I coached that room,
and we've had a lot of great players with a
lot of different school sets.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Darnell is such a unique player.
Speaker 8 (35:55):
Just the size, the footspeed he has for a player
of that build. Now what he can do in the
run game, but really the way he drops his weight,
the way he catches it. I mean, you could see
why he was such a big recruit coming out of
Las Vegas and just another great.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Guy to work with.
Speaker 8 (36:14):
You know, he had some very big plays for us
last year and we got to build off that.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
And change some things up. But he'll be a big
asset to us.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
All right, Thanks coach, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Arthur Smith. There heading into year two with the great
Melissa Matthews on Steelers dot Com all the Steelers social
media channels if you want to see the video that
goes with that audio. But hey, he's got a veteran group,
he's got a talented group. It's time to take a
step forward. I think they've all got the I think
they certainly have the tools to do it. Offensive lines
(36:48):
should be better, run games should be more effective, Quarterbacks
should be better. DK Metcalf should be the best number
one wide receiver that they've had since Antonio Brown, and
I think if they again, you know right, they add
another wide receiver and we'll all be feeling pretty pretty
good about that group. But you got to see it happen.
You got to see it transpire. It's got to come
(37:08):
together and it's got to take a step forward. And
of course that'll be something that we will all have
our eyes on about a month from now when we
get out to La Trobe and really start to see
things rocking. But that will do it for today's program,
A big, huge thank you all the power grids, mega wats.
You know, we love you guys every day, but especially
when I'm in here solo. I'm never solo on the
(37:29):
Blitz right because I got Yen's rocking and rolling with me.
So I really appreciate the participation again today We'll be
back later in the week with Motes as well, to
keep this thing rolling and for Arthur Motes, the best
co host in the business, Arthur Nathan Motes.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
The Third.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I am Wesley Yuler. Take care now, bye bye, then
good talk. I'll see you out there. We'll talk to
you later in the week. Take care. As always, you
know where to find us. It's on your twenty four
to seven home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation
Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Seculer and Moats are on the air. This is the
Steeler's Blitz on your twenty four to seven home of
the Black and Gold lescan R Steelers Nation RADIOH.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Good afternoon, Steelers Nation. How we doing well? That's good
me too. It is our number two here of the
Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Had fun turning things over to you there in the
first hour for a little to Twitter Tuesday action. Pardon
me for those who might have missed it. Just Yuler
(01:33):
today solo on the show Motzy a little bit of
a you know, little I don't know. I guess you
could call it many vacation staycation type thing. I believe
that they have going on. But he will be back
later on in the week. Really appreciated that fun first
hour and all of your involvement and some different questions there.
I do, as I teased, want to discuss a couple
(01:55):
free agent possibilities, conversations names that are still out there
that might you know, if I was the Steelers might
be having some conversations about Maybe that's the best way
to put it, so we will do that in this hour.
I also want to talk a little Arthur Smith here
from some recent comments from Arthur Smith conversation that he
had with our good friend Missy Matthews as well. So
(02:18):
we'll get into all of that in hour number two.
You can still get involved on Twitter on x at
Wesley Yuler as we roll along. But I did tease
at the top of the show about an hour ago
that I had some Craig Wolflely memories for you today.
Of course it is. It's been a few months since
our dear friend Wolf passed last month. May was his
(02:41):
his birthday, and just I think with training camp being
ahead and really now on our radar a month away,
I've been thinking about Wolf as i'm I know that
that doesn't surprise anybody. I mean I never really stopped
thinking about him. You know, OTA's in many camp. It's
it's noticeable his absence out there on the field, in
the cafeteria, all that good stuff. I know, when we
(03:04):
get to Latrobe a month from now, his absence is
going to be very noticeable and into the regular season
and all those different things. Today I was going through
some stuff on my computer. I tend to do this
this time of year, you know, in kind of the
quiet period of between OTA's in mini camp and training camp.
(03:27):
I kind of go through my computer and I delete
a lot of the old audio and stuff that's just
taking up space. You know, you guys know what this is,
how this is in our digital age now. It's amazing
how much content, how much information different videos, audios, pictures, right,
we all you all know this. Look at how many
pictures and videos there are of you when you were
(03:47):
growing up, verse how many pictures and videos you have
of your kids. I've got thousands on my phone, right,
And that's all great, But every once in a while
you need to go through and clean stuff up because
you also just don't have unlimited story. As great as
the cloud and all these backups and everything are. You
got to be reasonable with it unless you want to pay,
you know, hundreds of dollars a month and storage costs.
(04:08):
So I go through my computer. I pick out some
things that I want to keep from the previous year.
Maybe some good interviews that we had, some funny moments,
things like that. Maybe if I thought I did a
really good monologue or had a you know, a really
good rant or something like that, I'll clip that out
and save that from my own personal portfolio and stuff
like that. So I was going through my computer yesterday
(04:32):
Monday and was deleting some stuff things like that, clearing
some space, and I found an old folder that had
a bunch of the old wolf Cast episodes and what
this was. It was basically like two years ago, three
years ago. It was a podcast series that we did
with Craig Wolfle. It's available out there. I think it's
five different episodes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
I want to.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Say that Wolf told different stories.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
And again it's available still Spotify, Apple, wherever you get
your podcasts. Wolf Cast, you know, just like podcast, but
wolf Cast is what it was called. And I was
going through and I was listening to some of these
and obviously, as you all imagine, I was like, I
can't delete these. These are incredible. I got to keep these,
(05:18):
and I'm listening to them, and I like, so I start,
you know, because they're all about ten minutes long. It's seven, eight, nine,
ten minutes long. It's Wolf telling a funny story from
the past. And so I'm like taking my laptop into
the kitchen with me so I could keep listening to
these while I'm doing the dishes and prepping dinner and
things like that, and this one particular story of Wolf
talking about film study, the anxiety behind preparing for your
(05:43):
opponent and then having it ultimately pay off on a
Sunday and be successful. This story had me dying. It
had me laughing and had me crying. It had me
experiencing all the emotions of Wolf and everything that we
missed so much about him, and I thought, you know what,
screw it. Like again, it's the summer time. We got
time here, we got content. There's not a lot going on,
(06:03):
So this is about eight or nine minutes here, but
this is Craig Wolfly telling a hilarious story again about
film study, reparation and anxiety of getting ready for your
upcoming opponent and then when things finally work out for
you on a Sunday. Here's a class at Craig Wolfly Tale.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Defensive players are smart, yes, begrudgingly, I'll admit it. Okay,
just speaking in general terms here. Most of them like
the trash talk. You know. Then they're gonna come out
and they're gonna attack like Genghis Khan with his hair
on fire. And they love it, believe you meet, they
love it. Whenever one of their nefarious blitz schemes hits
home with a team meeting at the quarterback and when
it does, ooh baby, you're not gonna hear the end
(06:42):
of it for the rest of the game. And if
it happened to be in a game with a say,
a division rival, well you'd probably hear about it in
a rematch if they dropped the sack on your watch,
if it was in the first goal round of the year.
The Browns had some pretty hot rushers back in the day.
You know Clay Matthews, Chip Banks, Reggie Camp, the sneaky
Bobby Golick, former Pitt Star basketball player turned football player,
(07:05):
Sam Clancy, and certainly you can't overlook the great Carl Harriston,
who had the best spin move this side of Dwight
Freenie before anyone ever heard of Dwight Freenie. And that's
mainly because Dwight was only five years older so at
the time. So anyhow, what really caught me by surprise
in a game with the Cleveland Browns this time around
was the patience by which the Browns went about their
(07:25):
business on this day. Normally, the defense comes after you
hard and fast. Man, They're gonna they're gonna fastball you
from the get go, they're gonna throw their best at
you and get going right. But no, that's not the
way it went out this day. Sure there were some
defensive coordinators who were more patient, willing to let things
play out more, and then they'd set you up before
trying to drop a bomb on you. But for the
(07:47):
most part, it was usually a Katie bar the door
attack mode coming out of the locker room, meaning it
was on like a furious vintage Mike Tyson first round
knockout in his heyday. So when the week run up
to this game, I had been per usual watching an
enormous amount of film on the Brownies, you know, getting
into the theater of the mind. You know, it's a
huge part of pro ball. You simply can't succeed at
(08:09):
this level if you don't put the necessary time into
film study. Now, part of that study is to familiarize
yourself with the opponent's tendencies and peculiarities, what their go
to rush is, and who's involved personnel wise. And then
you have basic past you have basic pass pro rules
to be able to pick up the various stunts and
(08:30):
blitzes of an opponent. This was how it worked. The
twist stunts that happened right away were handled in a
zone concept. Twists that were delayed were handled man on man,
no passing off a rusher like on the quick twists. See,
you got to have a plan, you got to work
the plan, and you got to stick with the plan
and hopefully that plan comes together. Just like one of
(08:51):
my favorite television shows back in the eighties, you know,
the A Team starring George Papard as Hannibal and mister
t as Ba Barracas, That the show always had that
poignant moment where a grinning prepared would look into the
camera and say, I love when a plan comes together,
over and over again. I kept studying the opponent's schemes
in the alarming rate at which the Browns they'd be
(09:13):
running that banging me game and get home with it,
and if they didn't get the sack the fender bender
that the guy playing my position and the other teams
I was watching would get destroyed. So it shouldn't surprise
you when I tell you that a high level of
anxiety started building early in the prep week, along with
a very conscious notation to prepare for this particular stunt,
(09:36):
also to be concerned with, Over and above the lethal
human land minds awaiting me was the individual characteristics and
preferences of the players that I knew I'd be locking
horns with. For instance, no stackle Bobby Gollick. Now he's
shorter in stature than say a Carl Harriston or certainly
Sam Clancy, but he had a wrestling background. This dude
had great body balance, with a real solid base. He
(09:58):
would lock up with you and try to off balance you,
try to get on your edge rather than trying than
coming down the middle of you. And he was a
good hand fighter. He was always trying to get an
inside hand position. At the other end of the spectrum
was defensive end. Carl Harriston, he of the pre fiend
he spin technique. He'd throw an uppercut and then try
to lift or uproot you and try to get his
(10:18):
hip alongside yours like a judoka. You know, a judo student.
You know they're very good at throwing those hip throws,
like oh goshi, all right, so you got to get
that hip along there, and you uproot them and woom,
you throw them. Well, after getting you to overplay his
uprooting uppercut, he'd spin, and you'd be left swatting at air,
wondering where the heck he went if you didn't, if
you didn't punch his hip with your free hand, it
(10:40):
was sack city, to be sure. Harrison had the uproot
spin technique down pat and he had such a tight
spin you were in trouble if he got that inside leverage.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
As we used to.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Say back in the day, this dude could spin in
a three quart bucket. Game day in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium,
which otherwise was known as the Mistake on the Lake
and the predecessor to the present day Cleveland Brown Stadium,
suitably dubbed the Factory of Sadness, was a typical unsunny
day in Cleveland. I've played in Cleveland during my career
at least a dozen times, and when you add another
(11:13):
nearly two dozen trips as a broadcaster, I encount on
one hand the number of sunny days we've ever had
on a game day. Schmutze was the typical weather forecast
that we seem to play in. Joe DiNardo, the old
beloved Pittsburgh TV weathermen, would call it Bertley cloudy. The
sky was alternately dark and gray on this day, with
periods of rain making the turf nice and muddy, you know,
(11:33):
just a regular Cleveland type day, if you will. Now,
while watching a lot of film, the stunt that emerged
from the Brown scouting report was a delayed twist on
what we used to call me game. With a defensive
end going up the field, he'd plan on his outside foot,
go hard inside a ninety degree angle to try to
earhole the guard on that side, which of course would
be me in this case, and that was their favorite
(11:54):
past rush, that was their go to. The defensive end
would try to literally try to t bone me, and
to do that, it was all about the setup, which
was in the purview of the defensive tackle playing over me. Now,
the key to this twist stunt was in identifying what
the defensive tackle rushing me was doing. If he just
bull rushed me, you know, trying to run down the
middle of me, that was telling me there's no stunt coming.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Kad zookes, that's easy. That's like hitting easy button.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
That was why he did all those squats with manhole
cover sized weights, stack down a bar bell in the
off season. Get your squat monster on, take on that
bull rush and use all that hamhock strength. You're built
up in the off season to shut down the rusher,
you know stuff, I'm dead in his tracks. But if
he started to shake, rattle and roll or docy dough,
which I mean, he's throwing head fakes, he's throwing shoulder fakes.
(12:42):
He's trying to dead leg you, you know, throwing a
hesitation step type rush just prior to contact, I knew
he was just setting me up for a kill shot.
Him trying to occupy me without coming into contact was
the trigger that told me that the dastardly delayed, banging
freaking me game was imminent. And I say that twice,
and if it hit home, I was in danger of
(13:03):
being at the point of attack at the very least, or,
depending on the offensive tackle plane next to me, about
to be separated from some brain cells for a period
of time because the defensive ends screaming and towards my
blindside was humming, hostile, and full of bad vibes and intentions.
And so it was on every obvious pass rush situation
in the first half, I was on a deaf Con
(13:25):
five alert status, you betcha. I was determined not to
end up like a hood ornament or be featured on
the nineteen eighty five Cleveland Browns pass Rush reel Look
getting caught blindsided by someone at a full gallop that
was anywhere from two hundred and seventy five to three
hundred pounds. I believe you me, that was gonna hurt
a lot, But even more so, giving up a sack
to the Cleveland Nights and having to face Chuck Nole
(13:47):
chin to chin in a post sack sideline soiree was
even a more daunting thought than getting concussed. After all,
a concussion is nothing more than a party in your
head for a little while. And don't hit me with
being insensitive about concussion. They're my concussions. You're free to
describe your own in your own way. And so it was.
All through the first half, pass rush by pass rush,
(14:07):
I kept waiting for the banging me game to come
at me. With every rush that it didn't come, I
knew it had to be the next rush that they
throw it at me. Then, Yet, series by series, play
by play, quarter by quarter, no go. It was driving
me crazy, frustrating really, because the stunt was so potentially
injurious that the built up anxiety and expectations that had
(14:29):
gone into the game with was kind of gurglating within me.
So halftime came and went. We trooped down the tunnel
from Cleveland's visiting locker room, which was nothing more than
an oversized closet. Oh my goodness, and actually it was
designed for a baseball team as a Cleveland Stadium was
a dual purpose football baseball stadium back in the day.
As I was standing in that tunnel waiting to climb
(14:50):
a couple of steps out of the dugout, I remember
an unpleasant spell wapped it up to my nostrils. Apparently
when the baseball players were in need of relieving themselves,
they didn't. They're walking all the way to the locker room,
it seems the tunnel we were standing and sufficed.
Speaker 6 (15:04):
Now.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
After hitting the field, I made my way across the
visiting team sidelines of the bench area to get the
blood flowing for the second half. I was acutely aware
that the Browns hadn't come at me with their version
of the infamous banging me game.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
Now I smelled a rat.
Speaker 5 (15:18):
To be sure, I kept reminding myself of the top
trigger keys to the Browns blitz game. Sure enough, right
out of the gate on the first obvious third down
passing situation that we ran into in the first drive
of the second half. Oh, here it comes the defensive
tackle over me. Unlike the first half pass rushes started
giving me the old hypnotic eye. He came at me
(15:38):
using a head fake, a body fake, a non rhythmic
pass rush that resembled a cobra given its probably a
hypnotic ster before striking. Oh yeah, lookout, because the bomb
was about to drop on yours truly. Now, the whole
week of preparation came together in a nano instant. All
the film, watching, all the mental gymnastics I'd done, having
my head stuck in the playbook Oh week long made
(16:00):
what happened next possible.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
As soon as.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
I identified the rush, I quickly gave ground to assess
what the tackle next to me was doing. Pete Rostoski,
a converted defensive lineman who made the jumped offensive tackle,
was locked in mortal combat with a heat seeking coming
at my blind side, human missile wearing browns colors. Now
I had a choice give even more ground and come
behind Pete and pick up the defensive tackle over me.
(16:24):
Who would be the trailer on a twist stunt, or
we would exchange roles and I would take Pete's man
he would take mine. Now, according to pass pro rules,
because it was a delayed stunt, it should have been
staying man to man, But because I was so jacked
and so tuned into the bang and me game coming
at me, I broke the rules. So pent up with
aggression from a week's worth of watching film and fending
(16:46):
off teammates trying to emulate the blind side shots that
the Browns were trying to hit me with. I didn't wait, baby,
I turned, I exploded, and like a heat seeking missile
my own self, I speared that defensive end as he
tried to crash my blindside. I kid you not. I
drilled the dude headfirst to the midsection or more likely
the groin area. But I will tell you this, it
was a wicked shot. We went down into a huge
(17:07):
pile of humanity with arms and legs all tangled up
and bodies stacking up like a bunch of cars would
after a fender bender in the fork pit tunnels.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
I was ecstatic, man.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
I jumped to my feet with testosterone and adrenaline pumping
through my veins mixing together, creating a potent mixture of
ferocity and intensity that surprised even me. I stood triumphantly
over the pile that contained the guy that wanted to
t bone me. He lay at my feet, clutching his
recently spirited abdominal groin area, obviously in pain. That was
(17:37):
half out of my mind, and when I pointed on
my screamed, I've been waiting for you all game long.
My pony just groaned and rolled over. Wait for the
traders come out and attend to him. I continued to
plat their way at the noile, not feeling too well
defensive end who just moments before was ready to play
Rock'm sock them robots with my head.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
Now. It's not often you get to turn the tables
down a ponent line like that.
Speaker 5 (18:00):
And apparently I was in the midst of having an
out of body experience, and I couldn't seem to zip
my big yapper and go back to the huddle.
Speaker 6 (18:07):
So Pete Rostowski's walking by me on his.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Way back to the huddle, he quizzically looked at me
as if I had three heads.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
I wasn't one to trash talk.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
Everybody knew that and I think Pete was concerned I'd
lost my marbles.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
Mike Webster was laughing. Toun Chilgin, normally.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The trash talker of the offensive line, started laughing as
I continued to shoot my bazoo off.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, the whole.
Speaker 5 (18:28):
Week of watching film, taking notes, studying the scouting report,
and getting extra reps on the practice field while doing
the necessary mental gymnastics at night made the whole week worthwhile.
At this moment, I love when a plan comes together. Well,
I'm Craig Wofully and this is the Wolf Cast. And
remember I never let facts stand the way of a
(18:49):
good story. Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You certainly didn't. Wolf, never let facts get in the
way of a good one. And that was a good one.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
I love that guy. I missed that guy if you again.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Like I said, I think there's I think there's five
or six of those, maybe seven that we did in
total Wolf Cast wherever you get your podcasts. There's some
good ones about, you know, the first time he met
Joe Green and a lot of those legendary Steelers of
the seventies. There's one about the first time he met
Chuck Nole when he came up to Syracuse to work
him out during the draft process. Some great stories. Love
(19:24):
you Wolf, miss you Wolf. And like I said, while
we had time this time of year, not a ton
going on, I am solo on the show today as well.
I thought everybody would enjoy that old favorite that trying
to look here looks like it was from a little
over two years ago when Wolf told that story and
we produced that tale. Plenty more to go here as
we roll along some free agent conversation from Arthur Smith.
(19:46):
Conversation here in the back half of our number two
of the Steelers Blitz on Steelers Nation Radio on the
Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
This is the Steelers Blitz with Wesley Euler and Arthur
Motes on your twenty four to seven Home of the
Black and Gold.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
S n R.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
Penultimate segment here on this Tuesday of the Steelers Blitz,
Wes Shuler flying with you solo.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Would you all have been great?
Speaker 2 (20:43):
On the Twitter dot com? Of course, had to play
an old favorite from our buddy Wolf there in the
previous segment. Maybe we'll do that again at some point
this offseason, but for now we do have to transition
to some free agency conversation, and I think this relates
to some of the Beanie Bish conversation we had in
the first hour. I like what we saw from Beanie
(21:05):
his rookie season, particularly for a UDFA, the impact that
he had the four interceptions, obviously, but there was a
little bit of a tail off at the end of
the season. I think some of that was in his performance.
Some of that was just because the Steelers were going
with the veteran, more trusted Cam Sutton against some of
the best teams in the league down the stretch. But
(21:25):
now for Beanie, it's a big crossroads. Can you grow
on that rookie season, get better and start to solidify
that position as your own, or are the You know,
competition is always going to be a factor for somebody
who is still unproven, like Beanie Bishop is. The Steelers
want depth and they want competition everywhere. But like we
(21:46):
talked about on that defense, TJ. Hi Smith, Cam Keanu
Bent and Derek Harmon, Patrick Queen, Deshaun Elliott, Joey Porter,
Junior Darius Slay, a lot of the starters on that
defense feel like defined ready to roll. Barring some major
(22:07):
drop in performance or injury, they're gonna be the guy
at their position. Slock corner is the one where there's
a fair pretty big question mark. I think Beanie's got
kind of the first step in that race, but he
ain't gonna be the only one running that race, that's
(22:28):
for dang sure. You know Peyton Wilson kind of a
similar conversation, and you know, someone like Cole Holkom who
could push him and things like that. But really it
feels like Slot Corner is the big one on defense
where we could still see some movement, some signings and
some significant change. And with that, there's been questions too
(22:49):
about what you could do with one Thornhill and and
Deshaun Elliott and some some some big nickel stuff, but
just in terms of if the Steelers could add And
you know, we've had the conversations too about the JayR
Alexanders who's now in Baltimore, the Jalen Ramseys, who you know.
Adam Scheffer just reported this week that the Steelers and
(23:10):
Dolphins had some conversations but that nothing is expected to transpire.
I think that shouldn't surprise anybody. I'm sure that there
was a conversation of what would it take to get
this guy? And you know the money side of things,
and I'm sure, it was more than the Steelers were
willing to give up, and the Dolphins are still trying
to do the best business as possible. Makes a lot
of sense. But one guy who is out there and
(23:30):
the Steelers wouldn't have to negotiate with anybody other than
him and his agent is a familiar name, Mike Hilton.
He is a free agent. He is now thirty one
years old, but he is still starter capable at that
position in the league. You know, we talked a lot
about the Steelers. Another thing, maybe I should have mentioned
(23:52):
this when we in our in our Twitter questions in
the first hour, sacks. You know, the Steelers were in
the middle of the league in terms of sacks last year.
They got to get back at the top of the
pack in that regard. They had forty sacks last season.
If they get up into the high forties, that would
put them in the top ten. If they get up
into the fifties, that would put them in the top five.
Adding a guy like Mike Hilton could really help in
(24:13):
that regard. His blitzing is still, if not elite, very
good for his position even at age thirty one, and
that's something the Steelers have been lacking that. You know,
we know that what they're getting from Cam Hayward and TJ.
Watt and Alex Highsmith, but they haven't got kind of
these secondary sack numbers from guys like Mike Hilton, from
guys like Vince Williams like they have in the past.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
So I think Mike Hilton would help there without a doubt.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Like I said, I don't know if you I would
need a Matt Williamson or somebody who really studies the
film Arthur Motes to tell me if he's still an
elite blitzer out of the corner position, out of the
nickel position.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
But I could tell you he's still really dang good.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Another thing that.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
We've talked a lot about is the run defense for
the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's still really dang good at that
as well, too, even at thirty one years old. Again,
we can argue if he's still elite, but he's still
one of the best in the run game, and in
terms of attacking, in terms of blitzing, one of the best,
even at thirty one years old and maybe having lost
just a touch of his speed and athleticism. We all
(25:19):
know though that he has never been the greatest cover
corner and obviously with age that hasn't improved as he
loses a little athleticism, a little burst, a little fluidity.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
You know.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
He let me look at these numbers here real quick.
Last year seventy three tackles that was the second most
in his career, twelve PFLs. But he did have a
he really struggled in terms of his passer rating. His
passing grades not good. It doesn't matter if you look
at Pro Football Focus, football outsiders, individual people who evaluate
this thing.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
It wasn't great. So I think he's a guy to
be interested in.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
There's been a lot of change, but he is still
in somewhat familiar with He is obviously part of, you know,
the Steelers past. He's got familiarity with a lot of
the guys and the coaching staff still and hasn't been
far playing in the division for the.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
Last few years.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
You know, there was some talk about Brandon Eccles providing
competition for Beanie Bishop, but he looks like he's going
to be an outside guy. Dante Kent is in the
fold again. Some of the stuff that the Steelers could
do with safety, but right now it feels like if
you really wanted a vet someone proven to push Beanie
Bishop junior, you know, Mike Hilton without giving up any
(26:44):
draft capital or anything like that, and what should be
not a cheap contract, but but you know you're not
gonna be breaking the bank to pay him either. I'm
sure it's a conversation they've had, and it's just one
that I wanted to bring to the forefront here. Definitely
helping the blitz game, can definitely help in the run game.
How do you feel about his coverage skills compared to
(27:04):
Beanie Bishop. You'd have to have that conversation, but I
certainly think they can and they will have that conversation. Obviously,
they're still gonna be looking at tight ends with Dallas
Parnham Junior coming off of injury. There's some veteran names there,
a guy like cj Uzama maybe who's coming off of
(27:27):
an injury of his own. Is he healthy wide receiver?
We're still looking to add there. You know, there's been
a lot of talk about the Gabe Davises of the world.
Still some other names available offensive line, could the Steelers
I think would be looking to add another tackle to
feel a little bit more confident about their depth in
that realm. But man, to me right now, Mike Hilton
(27:51):
seems like a big one. He really seems like a
big one in terms of what the Steelers could really
add to that defense, maybe need to add to that defense,
and just what's going to be available and not going
to cost them a ton of draft capital in the process.
So let me know how you think about that. On
Twitter at Wesley Yuler. Gotta get to our final break
(28:11):
here we come back on the other side. Some comments
Arthur Smith his conversation with Missy Matthews. They will discuss
about the Steelers offense, Aaron Rodgers, all that good stuff
as we close down the program. On the other side,
I am Wes S. Euler riding solo today on the Blitz.
It's Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Is the Steelers Blitz with Wesley Euler and Arthur Motes
on your twenty four to seven home of the Black
and Goals scan.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
R wrapping up today's Blitz here having some fun on
a solo Tuesday. I like the the where am I
looking for the variety of today's show, Some good tweets
and some bigger picture conversation got into some you know
of those things that need fixed with the offense, with
(29:21):
the defense, shared some Craig Wolfley memories, some free agent conversation.
A lot of different topics here today on the program,
and we'll kind of maybe close with where we started,
a lot of conversations about run game efficiency, how do
they improve that red zone efficiency, how do they improve
that their starts on both offense and defense, well as
(29:41):
it relates to the offensive side of all those questions,
A huge part of that is going to be Arthur Smith.
That we all know how this works, and I think
he probably does too. If the offense has success this season,
I think Aaron Rodgers is going to get most of
the credit. If the offense doesn't have success this season. Yeah, sure,
Aaron Rodgers will get blamed because he's a lightning rod
(30:03):
and people like to blame Aaron Rodgers nationally. But Arthur
Smith is you know, going to be the one who
gets criticized heavily. I think if this offense doesn't take
a significant step forward this season in his second year
with what we all think is an improved group and
with a you know, four time MVP future Hall of
(30:25):
Famer Aaron Rodgers at the helm. Arthur Smith took some
time to talk about all these things with Missy Matthews.
Here's what he had to say.
Speaker 7 (30:34):
Coach, what did you learn about your offense through the
OTA and mini camp process.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
Yeah, these guys have worked extremely hard and it's a
good group. Obviously a lot of new faces. We've got
a very mature group of guys that you know, you
really it's a joy to coach because you come in
every day. These guys are hungry learn improve all all
the things you know you want as a coach.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
It's been a fun group.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
To work with so far, and we're excited obviously ad Aaron,
you know, DK and and the rest of these guys.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
We're really looking forward to getting in the training camp.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
As an offensive coordinator, how do you prepare for Aaron
Rodgers after you guys met with him, knowing you know
there could be some time before he comes of how
you want to construct your offense?
Speaker 8 (31:17):
Yeah, you know, in every offseason you go in and
you evaluate what happened the previous season, and then there's
a lot of strategic decisions made. I mean, it's just
the rosters turnover so quick now in the NFL. I
always say it's way more transactional now that it was
ten years ago and certainly twenty years ago. So you know,
you learn to adapt with the change, and you know
(31:39):
you'd love to have that consistency and but that's not
the reality sometimes. And so similar to what we did
last year when we got you know, Russ and Justin,
you dive into the background, you do your research and
how do you rest of your roster and how you
want to go forward, and the same thing we did
with Aaron. And obviously there's an unknown if he wasn't
going to be here, but the way you build things
(32:01):
and the way I kind of mapped it out, and
that's what I showed him when he got here a
couple of days ago. You know, we've constructed to move
forward with them. No, the way we wanted to evolve
anyways really fit his skill set, and so we're excited.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
I'm really excited to get going on the season.
Speaker 7 (32:18):
I was gonna say, is it hard to have a
break before training camp, But it feels like it's the
actual start of a new season.
Speaker 8 (32:25):
I think he gets so used to the longer in it.
You know, it's I don't know what August is like,
not going to training camp. So it just kind of
my all my really from nine years old on, I've
been a part of a team, and you know, in August,
it's you know, one day, I guess I'll feel what
that's like, not having that excitement, whatever, the nerves whatever,
going into a new season.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
But it's it'll be nice to get a couple.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
Of weeks and I really kind of get, you know, recover,
re energized, and then hit.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
The ground running.
Speaker 7 (32:55):
How big is it for a guy like Will Howard
to have Aaron Rodgers in that quarterback room with him?
Speaker 8 (33:00):
You know, that's a perfect setup for a guy like Will.
You know, every quarterback room in round it's different, the
dynamics are different, but you get a veteran where certainly
where Aaron's at in his career, you know he wants
to pass that knowledge down. You know, it couldn't be
a better situation for Will Howard to have a guy
like Aaron in the room and Mason and Skylarre they're
(33:22):
great guys and those guys collaborate and that's what you
want to see.
Speaker 7 (33:26):
Coach on that talked about the June reps and how
that's good for guys like Will Howard. What have you
seen from him so far?
Speaker 8 (33:31):
From the neck up, I mean, he's further along. He
played in those high pressure situations. He was in different
offensive schemes. I of beene Goman in Ohio State, learning
a new offense, some of the things they asked him
to do. And then you know, I think he even
said it on the record, just the speed that catches
every rookie bye surprise early on, and there'll be another
adjustment as we get into the camp and just cranks up,
(33:52):
you know, preseason. But Will's done a great job. Those
all those quarterbacks have really enjoyed work with him so far.
Speaker 7 (34:01):
What about DK? What have you learned about him that
maybe you didn't know before you got him here in
the building.
Speaker 8 (34:06):
Yeah, it's like everything you do your research, You talk
to friends that you know, guys that play with them
or coach with them, and you know, until you get
to know him as a person, you know, you're just
trying to, you know, see what how he's wired.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
But really I've enjoyed getting a no. DK.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
You know, he's from down the road. I'm a Memphis guy.
He's a North Mississippi guy. Oxford, you know, played an
old miss he is a very competitive player. He's going
to bring in an explosive play element to him. He's
a very physical catch and run guy. Uh, perfect fifth
for AFC North. And what we want to do in Pittsburgh,
(34:42):
what is it.
Speaker 7 (34:43):
Like having your offensive line where people are healthy and
in the positions where you want them to be.
Speaker 8 (34:48):
Yeah, you'd love to have that consistency and have you know,
the starting five one opening day, play every game and
sometimes it's not reality. And the last year it was
one of those years and we had like musical chairs
and you have adapt that's our job.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
And so it became an opportunity.
Speaker 8 (35:02):
For some of those younger guys to play early and
often Mason m cormick, obviously, Zach Frasier, Spencer Anderson.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Played a lot of reps. Uh, these guys have been
around each other, not just on the field but off
the field. That that's the least.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Amount of movement we've had in that room, which is
which is awesome because you know, early last year we
had a ton of new faces, new offense, first starts,
and you know, we adapted to go win those early games.
And uh, we're way further along in that group and
wore a year ago.
Speaker 7 (35:33):
Lastly, for you, Darnell Washington, what has he done in
terms of changing his body and what you're seeing from
him this season.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
Darnell that it's it's hard for me not to smile
when you bring up Darnell. He's another very unique player. Uh,
you know, I guess we all have our biases. I've
always partial to the tire room. I coached that room,
and we've had a lot of great players with a
lot of different school sets.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Darnell is such a unique player.
Speaker 8 (35:55):
Just the size, the footspeed he has for a player
of that build. Now what he can do in the
run game, but really the way he drops his weight,
the way he catches it. I mean, you could see
why he was such a big recruit coming out of
Las Vegas and just another great.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Guy to work with.
Speaker 8 (36:14):
You know, he had some very big plays for us
last year and we got to build off that.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
And change some things up. But he'll be a big
asset to us.
Speaker 7 (36:22):
All right, Thanks coach, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Arthur Smith. There heading into year two with the great
Melissa Matthews on Steelers dot Com all the Steelers social
media channels if you want to see the video that
goes with that audio. But hey, he's got a veteran group,
he's got a talented group. It's time to take a
step forward. I think they've all got the I think
they certainly have the tools to do it. Offensive lines
(36:48):
should be better, run games should be more effective, Quarterbacks
should be better. DK Metcalf should be the best number
one wide receiver that they've had since Antonio Brown, and
I think if they again, you know right, they add
another wide receiver and we'll all be feeling pretty pretty
good about that group. But you got to see it happen.
You got to see it transpire. It's got to come
(37:08):
together and it's got to take a step forward. And
of course that'll be something that we will all have
our eyes on about a month from now when we
get out to La Trobe and really start to see
things rocking. But that will do it for today's program,
A big, huge thank you all the power grids, mega wats.
You know, we love you guys every day, but especially
when I'm in here solo. I'm never solo on the
(37:29):
Blitz right because I got Yen's rocking and rolling with me.
So I really appreciate the participation again today We'll be
back later in the week with Motes as well, to
keep this thing rolling and for Arthur Motes, the best
co host in the business, Arthur Nathan Motes.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
The Third.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I am Wesley Yuler. Take care now, bye bye, then
good talk. I'll see you out there. We'll talk to
you later in the week. Take care. As always, you
know where to find us. It's on your twenty four
to seven home of the Black and Gold Steelers Nation
Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
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