Rodgers and the rookies ready to shine in Jacksonville

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Underground, The steel City Underground, the black
and gold standard for Pittsburgh Steelers coverage. Now here's your hoes.
Joe Kuzma and Brian E. Rose.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the steels
City Underground podcast. My name is Joe Kuzma and joining
me finally over here by my side on that side.
Oh what, mister Briany Roach, Brian Man, we've missed you
a little bit. What's been going on?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I went to jail.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
I see that. It's a little scared though.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, the lower thirds got in there, we go shot
shank prison.

Speaker 5 (00:45):
I had to go out and get busy living or
get busy dying.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, that's the so Mansfield Reformatory, right, I've never gone there.

Speaker 5 (00:55):
Actually, the Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield or the Ohio Reformatory or
the Mansfield, Ohio.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
I don't know. Does it say it on here?

Speaker 4 (01:02):
It probably does, man, Yeah it says Mansfield, Ohio. Yeah. Anyway, Yeah,
there's not much else going on in Mansfield. Sorry to
my man.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
There's the Skyline Chili. So that's all good.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Well, that actually works in your benefit. I know you're
a big fan of the Cincinnati Chili. And it's no
cheese than chili.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Well, and that's the key, Yes, the key is the cheese. See,
you can buy a scan a can of Skyline chili.
I can buy it here in Jersey. I can go
to Wegmans and I can buy a can of Skyline chili.
I can bring it home. I can cook it up.
Taste just like Skyline chili.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
But you can't.

Speaker 5 (01:35):
Replicate are two things, the onions and the cheese. They
have the best damn onions and their cheese is ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
I don't do the onions, but I agree with you
on the cheese. I was just at you know, there
are a lot of things that have been going on
since you and I have talked. Ozzy Osbourne passed away
and I actually I did a show and it was
like the next day, I think, but I didn't mention
I had gone. I went and saw Pantera Inincinnati and
it was literally the day that Ozzie passed away. So

(02:04):
Pantera had played in that back back to the beginning show,
the farewell show for Ozzie and Black Sabbath over in Birmingham, England,
and we got we got a little piece of that
from Pantera did a little tribute. They did one of
the songs I always screw up the I think that's
what it was called. Yeah, so yeah, there were several

(02:25):
bands doing it, but it's really cool bands that have
either been influenced or have actually played, like Zach Wilde
being in there, and then of course me on the
Wrestling End a week or so ago with Haul Cogan,
that one that one hits too, because I just I
actually met him like a year ago or less than
a year ago, and that was so they just keep
falling like Domino's theo Huxtable passed away and you know,

(02:45):
stuff like that does a sober start to the show.
But you know that the reason it dropped my memory
was it was like of the food item choices at
the Panthera concert skyline chilli was one of the better
options for the cost or what unless I wanted some
like really dry chicken fingers and fries that have been
sitting out for a while.

Speaker 5 (03:06):
I don't think I could do the skyline at a concert.
That'd be rough. I don't think I can handle that.
I mean you can't. I can't eat that in my seat,
like at a kind of show I have to be
sitting at a table.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Well they got they had like the standing you know,
standing kind of tables that you could meander around outside
in the main concourse area there. It was one of
the amphitheaters setup. It's very cool, very loud concert as
you may imagine, packed elbow to elbow.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
But I digress.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Something that may not be as packed that we need
to talk about but we finally got, is we're going
to have an actual football, well almost actual football. Put
asterisks on them football football.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
It's just watered down to a certain extent.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Which we're used to now with all the preseason or
with the training camp stuff. We should probably cover a
little bit of camp updates. Of course, I was out
there for the weekend as well, the Friday Night Lights,
almost fourteen thousand people. Let me tell you, man, it
was jam packed the stands when it started around seven o'clock.

(04:07):
Even before seven o'clock six forty five ish or whatever,
there wasn't a place to sit. There was barely a
place to stand all around the track around the field,
and then the players come out to sign and you know,
this year we were spared of the Najie Harris million
mile walk from one end of the field to the
other straight down the middle so he can take his

(04:29):
time and not sign anything. It took him ten minutes
to walk like half the field and not make it anywhere.
But we were spared that this year because Nage is
no longer with the team. Just about everybody I noticed signed,
including Aaron Rodgers, mostly just for kids. Obviously, he was
absolutely mobbed. And then you know, we go from there
and we're kind of into preseason game and just kind

(04:52):
of the stuff that's been going on with camp. Brian,
and I'm sure you've seen and heard some of the
highlights some of the players, and not everyone's going to
be playing in this pre He's in games, so it
makes kind of a note to you know, the standouts.
Aside from what I'd already mentioned, Rogers continues to actually
look much to my surprise if you see this in person,
he looks damn sharp out there, and it gets better

(05:13):
day by day. And there is a very clear tier.
My chiropractor is a Bengals fan, so I was speaking
with him today about it. I said, yay, I was
out of camp and he was wondering. I said, there's
a tier between an elite level quarterback of Aaron Rodgers
even at his you know, elder age now his elder statesmanship,
and then an experienced quarterback like a like a Mason Rudolph,

(05:35):
and then Will Howard and Skyler Thompson and Will Howard.
You know, he just fractured his hand. He broke a
bone in his hand. We're not going to get to
see him. I think this entire preseason now they said
about three weeks stunt some of his development. He doesn't
get more training camp. He's going to get some mental reps,
which is what he gets during the season. There's one

(05:56):
of the worst takes that I saw online was somebody
who said this was going to do to derail his
career because this was it. If he played in the
preseason against guys there are gonna be grocery baggers in September.
This was going to define whether or not he gets
a shot next year because they're already like anticipating the
Steelers will absolutely draft a quarterback and Will Howard will
be shoved down. They never heard of practice during the

(06:18):
regular season, or a scout team or anything like that.
It was just such a terrible, terrible knee jerk reaction
to this injury. Though, you know, it deprives us of
seeing Will Howard on our television or a person. It
does not deprive the Steelers' coaching staff from developing him
and seeing him, you know, during their regular practice sessions.

Speaker 5 (06:40):
Yeah, they got a seventeen eighteen week season where they'll
have plenty of time to determine if Will Howard has
the capabilities to step up, or that they at least
see the right kind of performance from him to move forward.
You know, we call draft season the season of lies.

(07:03):
I'm not sure preseason and training camp isn't the season
of lies too. Maybe maybe every month of the year
is now just the season of lies. I don't I
don't know, because I'm telling you, unless you like, I
envy your ability to get to camp this year, because
unless you see it for yourself, I don't trust anything

(07:24):
I've been reading right either Will Howard is a phenom
and is the next coming of Big Ben or everything
is terrible and he's the worst thing that they've ever
done in.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
A complete waste of what a fifth sixth.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
Round draft pick whenever. I mean, the takes on things
are just all over the place. The offense is doing well,
the offense is terrible, The offense is terrible because the
defense is so good. No, the offense is just terrible
because the offense is terrible. They're they're anything you want

(08:00):
to find out right now that fits your desired perspective
of where the Steelers are. You can find somebody that's
going to support it. So I'm disgusted with it, to
be quite honest.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
You know what some of this is, it's hilarious every
now and then you know the the other half. Heather
has me sometimes using like she's using the AI tools,
So I start playing around with all of them, Gemini Chat, GPT,
Microsoft's got the co Pilot. You put anything sports related

(08:33):
or breaking news into, it's usually wrong. I've seen these
things say we're looking forward to Kenny Pickett playing this
year for the Steelers are starting, So you gotta be
careful where it's pulling the sources from. And a lot
of the folks that are writing these things that they're
not there pay attention to, like something like Steelers Nation
Radio for example. Listen to like Matt Williamson and some

(08:55):
of the guys that are producing that show. You get
Max Stark's in. Some of these guys that give some
opinions that are on there, you know, boots on the ground.
Myself included with this. Will Howard is probably where Mason
Rudolph was back in twenty eighteen when he was drafted.

(09:15):
Rudolph was a third rounder, Howard a sixth rounder. A
little bit of a difference between those two, obviously, but
for the most part, I see the same kinds of
things from Will Howard, and it's the moment isn't too
big for him. That was the biggest take I had
with like Mason Rolf you see some of the young
quarterbacks that come in sometimes they're just the camp bodies,

(09:38):
and the moment is too big.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
For Howard though.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
I think the speed of the game is still a
little quick, a little fast paced, a transition for him,
and he's gonna make some mistakes there. Maybe he holds
the ball too long. When you hear like something like
Aaron Rodgers threw a pick or whatever, you'll hear somebody
like Matt Williams.

Speaker 4 (09:58):
I think it was.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
I was replaying this morning, the previous practice, you know,
that's the replays, and he said, well, maybe he doesn't
attempt that throw, maybe he's working on something. It is practice,
And so when people I had this whole. I give
a speech about this every year, about the stat tracking
and everything. Howard to be Still, there was somebody that
had Skyler Thompson could be quarterback three now because Will

(10:22):
Howard's hurt. The only way that happens is if what
number one, Will Howard would have to be put on
IR and miss the entire season. If he goes on
IR now it's over with. He has to make the
fifty three in order to then be placed on IR
after making the fifty three and then be eligible to return,
which is the most likely scenario because they want him

(10:43):
there on the bench.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
These guys that are on IR.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Generally don't travel to the team, travel with the team,
and they usually when they pop up and they go
to they might go to a home game, and they're
not always participating necessarily when they're on IR. Because it
depends on depends on the reh depends on the whole process.
So Will Howard is going to be quarterback three. Skyler Thompson,
I'm gonna tell it. I'm gonna say this much as

(11:07):
politely as I can, is a very clear and distant
QB four on this roster. The delineation if I said
that right, whatever.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
The word is, Delineation is what you were striving for.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
The dilly dilly. We forgot about a minute since the
dally delly has been a thing. The dilly, the daily
dely between these guys is like it's Rogers and then
there's a gap, and then it's Rudolph, and then there's
a gap, and then there's Howard and then there's like
several gaps and then it's Skylar thoms Skyler Thompson for
having some NFL experience, his has not impressed me. Now

(11:43):
he may get some opportunities now. It's being with a
new team, a new offense again, players that are on
the bottom half of this ninety man roster right now
that probably aren't going to make the team. So that's
part of it, Brian. The other part I think we
need to talk about before we get into any kind
of preview and talk about what we might see or
what we might want to watch during this upcoming game,

(12:05):
is that what you said. The defense does look good.
The defense looks damn good. And I think it's an
iron sharpening iron kind of thing. They're really they're really
playing well. And I've been really impressed with Darius Lay
I've been immensely impressed with Jalen Ramsey to the point
of I have forgotten Mika Fitzpatrick was part of this
team just a month or so ago. The trade getting

(12:30):
Jon Osmith John O.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
Smith.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Look the guy who criticized me in the comments. It's
part of my accent, Dude, Okay, I've got some of
the rust Belt in me. So I try to say
John New, John New. If you listen to the guys
on radio, they say the same crap. Jim Miller kept
calling him, yeah, y'ah black and said, oh, why a black?
He didn't know Renanzi.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
It happens.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
So somebody was roast to me about it. I just
had to get that out of myself.

Speaker 5 (12:52):
Yeah, and then they clearly haven't watched long enough to
know that I can't pronounce anybody's name. I struggle with
I struggle with Dave. Is that Abby, I can't. It's Dave.

Speaker 4 (13:03):
Jo Jo Jo Jo Joe.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
I forget it.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
I'm not even gonna try name Joseph. Very biblical there, Joseph.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
I will say.

Speaker 5 (13:15):
The one thing that I believe I've been able to
pick up universally is that Derek Harmon is a stud
in waiting.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
I have not read one negative thing.

Speaker 5 (13:27):
About Derek Harmon thus far, and I actually looked for some,
but I've been able to find any. Yeah, so that
that should make a big difference. If Derek Harmon is
as advertised and all of a sudden, that d that
D line becomes way more uh powerful and overwhelming, uh

(13:49):
and just stifling the defense becomes that much better and
it opens up. We've talked about it, ad Nos him
for however long we've been on the airwaves or the virtual.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
Airwaves, whatever the hell you call what we do. And
you know it's it's the D line.

Speaker 5 (14:10):
Benefits the defensive backs and benefit defensive back can benefit
the D line. So those guys start to work in
tandem and you have one group that is really dominant.

Speaker 3 (14:20):
It's going to help the whole the whole group.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, I'm totally totally in agreement with you. I'll also
say that one thornhill. I think I mentioned this on
the last show that did solo from the hotel out
by Late Troop out in the Laurel Highlands. Very beautiful view.
I had the very hilly view out there. I wanted
to put it in the background, but I was on
the side of the hotel where the sun just shines
like radio through the windows. And he just saw a

(14:44):
lot of parking lot from where everyone wants too.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
So you see what our background is when we're in Ireland.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Oh, that'll be nice. Well, we don't know, we don't
know what it be like. We could just have a
brick wall behind us.

Speaker 5 (14:55):
It's okay. I don't know what the hell it's gonna
look like. We might not even have windows. Who knows,
maybe we'll be in jail.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, well, you know, as long as there's a bed
in somewhere to sleep, it's better than nothing. But you
got me derailed now. But I was very a bit,
very impressive nearly. I was going to talk about the rookie.
But let's talk about Jacksonville Jaguars. Let's talk a little.
There's not much into a preview with these preseason games.
As I write down some notes on what to put

(15:22):
that put here starters, you know, I don't know who
we're going to see on either side of the ball.
Here we have Aaron Rodgers. Do I expect him to
get a series? There's only three preseason games, and I
don't anticipate. Usually the first week to see somebody like
a Jalen Warren or an Aaron Rodgers, or we might

(15:43):
see some year two guys like obviously Zach Frasier. With
the injury to Will Howard, I think we see more
of Mason Rudolph than maybe was even penciled in originally.
It might have just been more Howard than even Rudolph,
and more maybe even Skylar Thompson to close it out
for this game. So as many of the guys that
had been excited about, you know, Smith in Friar Muth

(16:06):
and Caleb Johnson and war Well. Caleb Johnson, we should
see his rookie, right, that's one guy we should definitely see,
get some reps. But some of these guys, Aaron Rodgers,
DK Metcalf, Even Ramsey Sleigh, Joey Porter, Cam Hayward, T. J. Watt,
Alex high Smith, we may not see him at all in
this first game.

Speaker 5 (16:26):
We might we might be the fighting Smith we probably
won't see, right, didn't he hurt?

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (16:31):
High Smith.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
You got a bunch of guys on the defensive line
at various mostly bottom bottom of the roster kind of guys.
Because they brought Braden go back, Kyler baw was immediately
he threw him sixty five, which was Dan Moore's old jersey.
He was immediately out there during Friday night lights. He
was looking feisty too. And this this Daryl Porter that

(16:52):
they just signed to is also getting his nose into
some things. And he's a second generation player, so you
never know those you never never know. It's just an
opportunity for some of them. But I don't expect a
whole lot. It gets me to, who are we going
to who are we going to see more of? Who
do we want to see some more of?

Speaker 4 (17:12):
Well?

Speaker 2 (17:12):
I wanted to see Will Howard obviously, but I think
the guy that I really I really have hopes of
seeing two players in particular during this whole mix, and
one of them is why a black? He is just
when you see Darnell Washington, you know I'll have to
talk about Darnell some too. And then you see why

(17:35):
a black? Could they just bring in? Or who was
one of the veterans They were like, don't don't put
him alongside me. He makes me look tiny, he makes
me feel uncomfortable. I forgot who was quoted as just
saying that, but it was hilarious. It's so true. This
guy's a monster too, Brian. They may have found somebody
pretty late here rookie from Iowa. And then another guy
that a lot of people felt was a wasted pick,

(17:57):
Jack Sawyer out of the street, Captain Ji.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
I am looking forward to seeing Captain Jack.

Speaker 5 (18:02):
Not because I think he's gonna, you know, be the
next coming, but I'm I've just watched him enough over
the years of Ohio State. The guy's got a motor.
We know what he can do, and I'm I'm rooting
for him to translate and to take those next steps.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
So I kind of want to see it. Do I
think he's gonna be that guy? I don't know, but
I'm excited.

Speaker 5 (18:24):
About the possibilities because I just I just like the
way the guy plays.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
Yeah, he's been making some place.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
He was one of the only guys that had made
I don't think I got to mention this because it
was Friday night lights. He was one of the only
guys I saw that almost beat almost. I say it
almost because nobody's been beating Darnell Washington and backs on backers.
TJ got stood up by Darnell Washington. Alex Heismith got
stood up by Darnell Washington. They brought Jack out there,

(18:52):
and Jack was about a second he had the bend.
He was about about a half second, split second away
from being the only guy to beat Darnel. Watching then
nobody's beating Darnell Washington, you know, and talk about this preview.
We might see Kenneth Gainwell some too. I've actually, I've
actually gone from this guy being a bottom of the

(19:12):
roster maybe not making it too. I think he's got
a spot for sure. And it's not because like as
you see some of the conflicting reports and whatnot of
well Caleb Johnson isn't doing so hot or something like that, right,
we see all that kind of stuff. I was just like,
I was scratching my head about it was a fantasy thing.
They were like, well, don't take Caleb Johnson'm like, h well,

(19:34):
depending on how deep your rosters are in your league,
Caleb Johnson should probably be on there because I don't know.
Jalen Warren is in every down guy and durability, you
don't want to wear him down over seventeen games. But
Kenneth Gainwell, on the other hand, and he confuses me
because he's already got fourteen you know George Pickens number,
so it's been but he's got some pop to him,

(19:55):
he's got some pass pro and he's gonna be a
guy that's used in the past game, used on special teams.
And I bet Jim he gets some carries here and
the other one another Ohio State guy. I don't want
to sound like a Homer, but Trey Sermon's had a
pretty nice camp too, I think. Yeah, So keep an
eye out for Trey Sermon. He's not doesn't qualify really
as a rookie, but it's somebody maybe to some of

(20:17):
the players to keep your eye on. And as we
I guess kind of kind of what we uh want
to watch or something here, who do you get from
Jacksonville on their side? Travis Hunter play and that's kind
of exciting because it's the first game for him and
he's he gonna play both positions. He's gonna play offensive defense.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
I mean, do I really want to watch Travis Hunter? No,
But if you're gonna watch for the love of the game, yeah,
you're interested to see what this guy can do and
how he's gonna look out there in the professional rankings.
But I don't I don't care. I won't pay any attention, but.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
It'll be in the highlights. So and it'll be against
the Steelers and we'll.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
See, well, hopefully not that's the key. Hopefully there won't
be any Travis Hunter highlights. I will be much happier
if at the end of the day they go, wow,
Travis Hunter played but didn't have a great game.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Well, okay, so in speaking about that, and you're talking
about Trevor Lawrence got that huge contract, right, Jacksonville's backups
are Nick Mullins and John Wofford, and then they got
another guy, Seth Hennigan at quarter I don't know who's
gonna throw. Hunter might have to throw the ball too, like.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
Well, maybe can he just play? You know, it's like
bugs bunny baseball. It's like Travis Hunter at quarterback, Travis
Hunter at center, Travis Hunter at tight end.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
And I don't know either that. You know, they still
have Travis Antienne. They got Tank Bigsby. When you're looking
at some of the other Brian Thomas might not be
a guy who plays a whole lot either.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
Hunter.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
I think just for the sake of you know, the
live reps. Defensively, you know, Trayvon Walker and Eric Eric
Armstead who has come over from San Francisco. Who else
is on this roster? Let me see here. Yeah, Darnell
Savage came over from Green Bay, so they got quite
a Jordan Lewis from Now. I got quite a few

(22:07):
some veteran players here that I don't expect to see
very much of in this game. So you're going to
see a lot of twos and threes, probably a mix
of that. If you get any first team reps from
any of the first team players, I don't know. I
just it would be exciting to see Aaron Rodgers. But
I think that debut is going to come the following
week when they have a one preseason home game in Pittsburgh.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yeah, that makes more the most sense.

Speaker 5 (22:31):
He's not going to play a ton regardless, right, guy's
forty one years old, forty whatever. Too, He's not going
to be spending a lot of time in preseason games,
so if he's going to play any at all, it
makes sense to do it.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
At home and see what he looks like.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
Yeah, that being said, I feel like I've got like
the Bill Belichick hair going on here, you know, I
don't know, I don't know, Maybe like I just looked disheveled.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Well, well that's that is without saying I mean I
forgot about somebody, And we're gonna get to see maybe
some players that were not that we didn't get to
see for a while. Maybe we get to see a
little Cole Holcombe. Maybe we get to see Roman Wilson,
who's been making some pretty big catches in. You know,
the Terry McLaurin, scary Terry trade talks, the Micah Parsons

(23:22):
trade talks. I think they get shut Some of this
stuff just gets shut down. The Steelers has shot out
so much money for so many different players and made
so many moves. I think we're discounting not only uh
John U. Smith's You're gonna have to enunciate on that
now his addition, his addition, And that's not to say
that Pat Firemouth isn't involved, but they're using a lot

(23:42):
of two and three tight ends. Darnel Washington's getting an
awful lot of looks as well. There's not a lot
of room for I think an extra wide receiver, but
when they do. Kelvin Austen has been having a really
good camp. I remember when his rookie year he caught
anything that was like really thrown his way. Robert Woods
is still pretty veteran. He gets some looks here or there,
usually with the twos. Sometimes he gets to sneak in

(24:04):
with the ones. But Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin have been
there and getting some throws too from Aaron Rodgers. And
Aaron Rodgers, they've been throwing to other people. Brandon Johnson,
who's probably like an outlier to make the roster. Rock Taylor,
you know, Rock Taylor's one where people get super excited
and made like a one handed grab.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
But he just doesn't.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
He don't think the opportunities are there. There's just such
a there's such a bottleneck at the wide receiver position
that guys like Ben's Garnic and Scottie Miller and that
they're expected to play up to do varsity things against
JV players, to steal some Mike Tomlin quotes here, and
that's probably what we'll's probably what we will see from
them in this game. But the other guys, in order

(24:47):
to make a big, long lasting impression, I don't think
we see a whole lot from Austin. We're gonna see
probably Roman Wilson because he barely played last season. The
guy never really got in and he's been making some
plays at camp. He's he's turning some heads. And I
think that's where you're at when it comes to would
the Pittsburgh Steelers make any kind of a move trading

(25:09):
with the Commanders first for Terry McLaurin. McLaurin wants over
thirty million a year, and I know when you're not
paying a quarterback right now, that you have some of
the Samolians to maybe shell out for another high dollar player.
But I don't know that he moved He's thirty years old.
I don't know that he moves the needle much. Let's
see what Wilson, Let's see what Austin and some of
the other guys bring to the table, particularly in these

(25:31):
preseason games.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
Yeah, you know, I don't put anything past Omar at
this point. But what they would have to give up
in a trade for McLaurin or for Mike Parsons, I
just don't doesn't seem viable to me. So I don't

(25:53):
discount it's it's certainly a possibility in a well, let
me put it this, you have to consider it a
possibility based on essentially what they've done over the last
two years. Right, if this was three or four years ago,
we'd go out, it's never going to happen. Forget it.
Why are you even talking about it. It's all bs,

(26:13):
it's not at noise and nonsense. You can't really say
that anymore. So, you know, is it within the realm
of the possibilities? Sure it is, But I still don't
expect it to happen. I think that they want to
know what they have right now because I do think

(26:35):
next season, you know, yeah, I think they are trying
to compete this year.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
Whether they will succeed or not, we will wait and see.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
You know, you got Bucky Brooks out there basically, you know,
trying to call his shot and be the guy at
the end of the year who can go. I told
you so if they happen to do it. But I
do think that they are looking towards that twenty twenty
six draft and understanding that this team's going to turn
over a lot of key positions between now and then.

(27:08):
So hey, if you can win while doing it, great,
but we'll see.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
I think the other thing to pay attention to in
this game maybe our final point, and especially early on
left tackle rogerck Jones has been dinged. You've got Dylan Cook,
who's been around the last few years, hanging around in
a practice squad. But you also got Spencer Anderson who's
ascending and kind of splitting time when Jones hasn't been

(27:33):
out there splitting time with Cook. Something to keep an
eye on. Anderson's wearing seventy four? What's Cook wearing these days?
Just some guys to keep an eye on. Big Broderick's
got seventy seven, So seventy seven, seventy.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
Four, And what the heck is Cook?

Speaker 2 (27:49):
He's got like sixty something. Why can't I find him
on this list? Of course sixty He's wearing sixty right
on the nose. So keep an eye on that, some
of the reps and how they perform, because if you
do have a tray Von Walker or somebody out there
and they beat Cook like a drum, like a revolving door,
next week Cook might not be you know, No matter
what these depth charts say.

Speaker 4 (28:10):
Right now, Brian, take them with a grain.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
Of salt, because they're they're not locked in, they're not real.
The rookies are all thrown in on third and fourth
stringers right now, for the most part, and the starters
in the veteran guys who have experience are you know,
it's done by seniority more than reality of how this
depth chart will play out this Saturday.

Speaker 3 (28:33):
Makes sense to me.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yep, I know any other closing thoughts, I mean, it's
a preseason game. We probably won't have a whole we
might have some stuff to talk about, but our eyes
have been deceived before with these prezeasons.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (28:44):
Look, what was it two years ago where they just
stomped everybody? And maybe it's three years ago because Kenny
Pickett Now two years ago, two years ago we got fooled.
Preseason looked dramatic. Kenny, Kenny Pickett is going to be
the guy. We go every first series touchdown, touchdown to, Oh,
they look amazing, yeah yeah, and then and then we

(29:06):
get to the pre the regular season and they look
like crap. I Do I really want to, you know,
make any predictions based off of preseason games. No, but
I will trust my eyes a little bit when we
watch these games. But overall, I don't think I can
make determinations on this team. And two or at least

(29:28):
two or three games in by the time we get
to Ireland, I'll have some idea of whether we're going
to have a happy trip or not.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Yeah, I'm actually I'm pretty hyped. I'll say to people
that are jumping on board, have all seen the same thing,
the excitement, Like just the moves that the Steelers have made.
This went from being like a camp in a year
where it's like, well they might tank for a quarterback
pick or something like that in next year's draft, and

(29:55):
that is no longer the case. I believe They've still
got some ways to go. Oh and you see what
the arms race is around the you know, especially the
AFC north right no goes to the Bengals, so they
add like an extra tight end to mention to their
team along with Mike Guysiki was already there, got extended.
They finally got Shamar Stewart inked. They got Trey Hendrickson

(30:18):
to stop getting stop being fined and show up at camp.
We'll see if he plays. So the Bengals a problem.
The Ravens always a problem. You know how they added
Jay r Alexander, they strengthen their secondary stuff like that.
But the Steelers I think are trying to do something
unique and I think as long as they can play
some complimentary football, and not only the offense sustaining some drives,
which I believe they'll do. I think this is built

(30:40):
to help also sustain and preserve Aaron Rodgers for a
full seventeen game season. And he has still got some
quick release, he's still got some zip to the ball.
He threw one that was thirty plus yards in the air,
and it's not that moon ball that you know, somebody's
just waiting the snag out of the air, like with
Russell Wilson as opposed to Wilson and opposed the fields.

(31:02):
And I'm sorry if I'm a broken record here and
repeating the same things that I said, you know, in
the last episode.

Speaker 4 (31:08):
But he gets rid of the ball.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
His decision making is sharp, and it's much faster processing
and dissecting what's on the field than the previous quarterback
regime from last season. So I'll leave this with the.

Speaker 4 (31:22):
Thoughts, Brian.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Just three players that we're looking forward to seeing should
they play in the preseason. I'm gonna get your thoughts
here in a second. I don't want to steal yours,
but you've already heard me say why a black I'm
very very much looking forward to ya I'm looking you're laughing.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
I'm very much looking forward to whya.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Why now you maye me forget the others. I'm looking
forward to Roman Wilson, and I'm looking forward to seeing
what Caleb Johnson can do. So I've got, you know,
two rookies on here and a player that barely played
last year. But that's what I'm looking forward to that
I think we'll get some significant reps in being able
to maybe ball out in this game.

Speaker 5 (32:10):
I will tell you I want to see Derek Harmon.
I want to see Derek Harmon be a force against
at the initial part of it.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
I want him.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
I want him to do varsity things against varsity people, right,
I don't. I don't want to see him dominate JV,
although if he's in and with JV, I I would
anticipate it. So I am looking at really as at
the defensive grouping, well, defensive line grouping as a whole,
because why Black is one guy I want to watch.
Derek Harmon is another guy I want to watch. So

(32:42):
I'm gonna be looking heavily at the defensive line. I
am interested to see what Caleb Johnson looks like.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
Is he.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Is all of this concern about the offense not being
able to run the ball simply because the Steelers defense
line is so much better than it was and is
dominating our own offensive line or are they just not
good and is it him or is it that the
offensive line still hasn't gelled and isn't doing the job.

(33:13):
So I am interested to see what he looks like.
That's probably that's probably where my focus will be.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
Yeah, you know what, I'll throw one more out here.
Let's see what Brandon Eckles could do. He's got twenty six,
the old Rod Woodson Le'Veon bell number. He's had a
very good camp, kind of a journeyman player. They may
be looking for somebody that could be a straight up
just nickel corner instead of playing all of these. I mean,
Jalen Ramsey's another big dude. He's got some range, but

(33:40):
very much looking forward.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
I'm looking don't know how much he's gonna play, not
in this game.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
So we'll look for Eckles as well. So that'll actually
do it for us. Here are folks for this show.
Like to thank Brian for returning this week. It's nice
to have you back.

Speaker 4 (33:56):
Folks.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
Don't forget me to be here.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, don't forget the like, comment and subscribe, But if
you're watching next day, don't forget Spotify Feed one for
audio one for video. One will be updated following our
YouTube watchers. Thank you for supporting steel City Underground. Wherever
you're watching or listening from. My name's Joe, his name's Brian.
We've got football seven o'clock kickoff in Jacksonville. Is it's

(34:19):
still ever Bank Field? I think it is. I think
that's still what it is. But it's in Jacksonville, Steelers
at Jaguars. Let's see how hot it is. Let's see
if anybody pukes on the field, like everybody does in
Florida usually. Yeah, they've been training in some pretty damn
hot weather in lateroom, so I think they'll be ready
to roll.

Speaker 6 (34:38):
So that's good to me. No, Lawrence Timmans moments, I
just jumped him out. It was stuck in his face mask.
I'll never forget that, folks. They'll do it for us
until next time. My name is Joe, his name is Brian.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
Till next time.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
We encourage everyone out there to be safe, be good,
and we'll catch you later.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
We would liked it. Thank you for listening and remind
our listeners to follow us on social.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Media and our website www. Dot steel City Underground dot
com

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