00:00:03
Speaker 1: He's the twenty twenty six Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network. Today's broadcast is brought to you in part by NEMA, Colon Resort by iron Workers Local Union Number three, by eighty four Lumber, by South Hills Auto, Washington at Jefferson College, by US Deals by Peoples, by Caliente Pizza and Drafthouse by Castle Rock, Hormone Health by Craig Galker, Wholesale by Better Call Si, and by Hass's Steak and Seahouse.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: And welcome back here on the South Side. Thanks very much for being with us alongside Matt Williamson and Mike Pursudo. I'm rob king as we enter our fourth hour of coverage, three hours of the books, another four to five more still to come.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: About seven for the day taken said Steelers.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: Our now one pickaway as Buffalo has made the first of back to back selections to there's trading down in round five, trading a seventh to pick up a sixth in a deal with Kansas City.
00:01:12
Speaker 3: So Mike Perzuda, Keishawn Elliott just fell off the board as a linebacker from Arizona State would have been a nice roommate for Max, and I shocked he was still out there. I liked that. I thought he was more like a third rounder.
00:01:23
Speaker 2: We have reached the Matt Williams and phase of the draft, in particular where Matt.
00:01:27
Speaker 3: Once in a while I see a guy like, what's he going out there?
00:01:29
Speaker 4: Yeah? I still have two receivers on my list.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: Okay, who do you have?
00:01:33
Speaker 4: Dion Burks? I say, Burch's still available, right leak Benson.
00:01:37
Speaker 3: I wasn't big at all on Burks for round two, round three, where I've saw some people projecting him but here, although you don't need a returner now, but he's a dynamic player.
00:01:48
Speaker 4: Beyond that, I mean I want I don't consider Legian the second wide receiver. No, I don't either. I don't either, So I still want one more of those. Beyond that, I can't. I'm running out of band with your guy.
00:02:00
Speaker 3: There's one that I like too that kind of hits home because he took a visit here and I've been writing very large checks to his alma mater at the University of Kentucky is Kendrick Law. He's a really physical two and ten ish pound good after the catch, ran well, kind of work in progress as a route runner, but he was here for a visit and he would definitely fit the bill as a number two receiver in a draft like this. But I was shocked to Elliott was still floating around kind of thing. Charles Deming still out there. Maybe at the corner he went. He just kind of looking at somebody.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: Let's just make another trade because now Detroit's ahead of him.
00:02:41
Speaker 4: I think Buffalo made the trade.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: Buffalo made the trade. I'm sorry, Okay, all.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: Right, now he must just went. Demings just went to a couple guys that I liked, went and left five picks.
00:02:49
Speaker 2: Okay, So are we thinking receiver here for this Steelers? Are we at that stage, Matt, where you just kind of maybe if you really like a guy regardless of position, to take him.
00:02:58
Speaker 3: Or well, definitely at that stage. Jalen kil Gores, I'm just just pulled up a best available. I can't believe nus Meyer's still out there, but Jalen Kilgore's still out there. Safety slash slot, not a real physical player, but he's a very very good tester. At this point, I'd be certainly interested. Harold Perkins was in from a visit LSU. Really interesting because he was like a two hundred and twenty pound edge rusher early in his career at LSU, made a ton of plays in sacks, and then they realized, I mean where they were nice to them, they moved them to off the ball linebacker, saying you're not going to be an edge pass rusher two hundred and twenty pounds at five to ten or something like that. So now he's kind of a overhang n UREI special teamer pass rusher.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: VJ.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: Pain's another name to know here, Kansas State safety long, really good tester, good at taking away tight ends at the moment, more of a work in progress anyone else jumping out at this best available neck of the woods here, Jeff. There's two receivers from Cincinnati that are interesting to me. One's a great tester, Jeff Caldwell, and what is the other young man's name. He's much more of a refined route runner type. The two bunch of quarterbacks still out there, they're not going to be in that market.
00:04:27
Speaker 4: Xavian Harris Okay, got some off the field stuff.
00:04:31
Speaker 3: A lot of off the field stuff stuff, but he.
00:04:33
Speaker 4: Probably explains why he's a six to eight defensive tackle. Yeah, I would. Yeah, I wouldn't be opposed to a detackle.
00:04:40
Speaker 3: I wouldn't either, But he is apparently has a fair amount of off the field stuff.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: So actually it felt like there was gonna be a lot of inside linebackers off the ball linebackers, as they're called safeties. They are tight ends. Tight ends are tight ends? Are I think the run on them maybe put them out knows tackle type.
00:05:01
Speaker 3: Of two noses stand out Tim Keenan from Alabama. Kilgore just went, I'm kind of shocked he was still around. Tim Keenan from Alabama is a typical space eater type. And Dante Corleono, why.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: Not the Godfather? There you go, Yeah, guy from Cincinnati.
00:05:19
Speaker 3: That would be great. He's a good player too. I'm kind of shocked he's just a run stuffer, but he moved pretty well.
00:05:24
Speaker 4: I have not a post to a run stuffer. No, I know you're very much in that. That was seen enough two hundred yards against rushing games. Saw enough of woody marks last year in the postseason. You know, by the way, Derek Harmon was healthy for that game.
00:05:39
Speaker 3: So Jack Kelly from BYU is a linebacker.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: Of interest to it would be interesting.
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Who is Jack Kelly from BYU is somebody I would have some interest in.
00:05:50
Speaker 2: So if you were to take a nose tackle and he made your roster, would he be Matt in your opinion looking at the makeup of the roster, a guy who would only play select games for you, not even be dressed. Probably, And can you do that?
00:06:06
Speaker 3: It's a really weird conversation for me because I just think that the way this team is structured at that position has drastically changed. And few seem to notice that their noses are all Everyone that goes to the d line room is over six to three, and they all have thirty three or longer arms, which is long. And they're the best team in the league at batting down passes. And nobody looks like Casey Hampton that goes to that room. And I can't believe, Oh there's my man, Kendrick Claw. They traded up this to get them from Kentucky.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: You know how many times they used to give up two hundred dards a game rushing when Casey.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: Hases I get it, I get it. I just don't know that they want that player anymore. Yeah, maybe they should rethink that. But if you're going to do it, do you buy big? I mean a fifth round Dante Corleone, who might not even be active on game day, but maybe is when you play the Ravens to your point, right, he doesn't help on special teams.
00:06:57
Speaker 4: You know, there's a funny part about that. You know, if you try to just put them in a gainst running teams, sometimes the teams will.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: Run the ball.
00:07:03
Speaker 4: That's when they start passing.
00:07:04
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:07:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, when he's not there, they'll start running the ball, and then you defeat the ball.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: It's a terrible catch twenty two at that position, like if you don't even back in the day, if Hampton, you had Hampton, they would just scheme you out of it and h'd be on the sidelines. And if you didn't, they just run it down your throat.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: So the stewers pick is in. They're they're running down the selections right now. Max it tackle in round one. Then drew out the quarterback, Dale and Everett the cornerback another third round selection, and they finished off the third round pick with Jennings Dunker. Cayden Wuigen the return man went in the fourth round, and this year is traded down in the fifth to pick up a sixth They threw in a seventh round pick in that trade with Kansas City. The pick is in at number one sixty nine. But we are waiting for the official announcement.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: Just from a broadcasting standpoint, that desert that was in the sixth round. Now we at least have something to chat about in an hour.
00:07:58
Speaker 2: Or so, and that's important.
00:08:00
Speaker 3: Oh, that's very important. I was happy with the three sevens for that reason, just because things can drag a little bit. On about hour six of coverage.
00:08:08
Speaker 4: That's when you start telling stories. Yeah, yeah, we did some pit stories. We did some US stories. Yeah. By the way, the one you told about Bill Watsh could look at Joe Montana from yeah he's down and tell whether the past was.
00:08:21
Speaker 3: Incomplete or not. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. You weren't being funny, that was. I think you find it on YouTube. I mean there's clinics and things of him doing that.
00:08:28
Speaker 4: Right.
00:08:28
Speaker 3: Footworking boys, this staff they all come from that tree. They are a footwork staff. Yes, and it's all timing, rhythm. Caps come out on time, you know, six inches in front of the numbers, all those things that Michael Keaton.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: It is Michael Keaton high fiving fans out there waving the mister mom towel around and he's got the pick, he's got the card in front of him, he's got.
00:08:54
Speaker 4: The hat, the shades, the racket.
00:08:56
Speaker 3: Ye, triv you've got to be a big night shift fan, right, I'm a big Michael Keaton. Yeah, in general, but Knight just classic.
00:09:05
Speaker 4: Birdman, love the bird Man. All right, I got I got some thoughts. If he spits us out sometime while were we're going.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: He's still he's out there, he's out there having fun. Yep, yep, he's uh at the fist clench, the the sunglasses on. Still overcast out there.
00:09:24
Speaker 3: But yeah, okay, this makes sense.
00:09:28
Speaker 2: Riley now Makowski, Yep, I got two picks.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: Right in my monk. It was this guy Inwegian. He's a dude. I mean, full back, full back, full. He's gonna be mostly if you want to run the ball, run the ball. If you want to stop the run, stop the run. I'm not as big on flexibility as the current coaching staff and what guys.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: Who do what they do well. I think he's going to be a go to the tight end room here though. Well yeah, but he will wield But he is very full back capable. He's scored a one yard rushing t down against the U in the National Championship game.
00:10:03
Speaker 4: H pack a little bit.
00:10:05
Speaker 3: From somewhere between. I mean, like a bigger Connor Hayward. Okay, you know, I mean six two and a half that's a great description.
00:10:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, and more accustomed to doing the full back things than Connor.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, they told.
00:10:16
Speaker 4: Connor to do it, and he battled like he did when they told him to do anything. But uh, I like this pick.
00:10:21
Speaker 3: And I'm sure he'll be a special teamer. I mean, he's not going to score eighty yard touchdowns, but he's not slow or you know, he ran a four sixty.
00:10:29
Speaker 4: Six capable hands.
00:10:30
Speaker 3: Yes, so Wes and I have talked about this a fair amount. And West knows college better than I do. Triv you know, college better than I. He especially big ten. I'll take anyone from Indiana. I mean, I'm convinced. I like that Iowa conversation.
00:10:44
Speaker 4: In the last two years. I mean, what they what they did.
00:10:47
Speaker 3: I would put them all ten percent up higher on the board because they're not screw up the.
00:10:51
Speaker 4: Place with Siberia, Yeah, right right, it was impossible to win there see.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: The national titles streak alive too, right.
00:10:59
Speaker 4: When Signetti there and said we're gonna win the national championship. If that's what he said, it would have been akin to me to John Kennedy in the sixties saying we're going to go to the moon and they had no idea, how like starting from zero. Yeah, it's not like we have a good rocket. We just need a better rocket. Yeah. They did not to build a rock close like they had no It's it's still inconceivable to me that they did what they did. And as I was reviewing these players, the intangible element kept. I couldn't get past it, Like, oh yeah, that Caitlin Black, that running back he was never stops. Yeah yeah, Surrett and Cooper and Mendoza and the quarterback, they'll adjust well to life in the next level. This is another guy I think that can help them.
00:11:44
Speaker 3: Oh I did too. I mean he'll be out there a fair amount. I think he's active on game day and he can do a lot of different things for you. I'm sure he's going to be on every phase of special teams.
00:11:53
Speaker 2: So here was when we did our show on Wednesday, we did a draft preview show. Here were the positions that I wrote down that I thought the Steelers needed to address in the draft. And and again when you talk about who they selected, that's their job, right. I think we could all kind of look at the roster and say where we think they should go. So this is this, This was where I thought the Steelers should go there, And then I had a little side column for luxury picks. These are the ones I thought they they had to address. Okay, two wide receivers, they've selected one, one to two defensive backs. They've selected one one to two offensive linemen. They selected two punt returner boom, and tight end is a bonus. Well, the luxury. The luxury I had was a safety, inside, linebacker, nose tackle. Those to me were, hey, if you got something there, they're not pressing needs. But again I thought, I really thought the one to two d backs, I really thought that was going to be more safety than corner. I really did. I really thought it was going to be safety. I thought it was going to be safety that if you want so, I'm not going to say I nailed all these pictures. If you want to you know, safety, and then if you want a corner, okay, that's great. That's why I had one to two. I think that's probably the only.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: I looked at it a little different. And I thought corner and quarterback, which there's two positions they did address, were fifty to fifty. I'd understand if he did. If I'd understand if you didn't. Yep, But I thought safety was would have been on my list of close to almost have to.
00:13:29
Speaker 2: I think, say, I'm not there with safety.
00:13:31
Speaker 3: And I also know what Ramsey is.
00:13:34
Speaker 2: There's two reasons I thought they would. Mike is because I just heard how much safety depth there was, and then you can get a risk. One can get a really good one in the third round, right, like a starter capable safety.
00:13:46
Speaker 3: Sure, And I thought sure one of their three third rounders would be a right.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: So that made sense to me that that's why you would you would take a safety there is because of that and because and then again that then that allows you to go into camp and compete, right and and if you're you know, if your slot corner is better than your you know, the safety picked in the draft, maybe that dictates where Jalen Ramsey plays to some or not. Do you want the tail wagon a dog? But I mean, if you do options right, It could influence your options and influence the capacity for somebody to sort of blow you away.
00:14:22
Speaker 4: Well, there's a couple of these factors in play there. Now. I think Ramsey's a slot corner. Okay, but you look at the safety depth chart. This is what This was sent out by NFL Research. Steelers don't have an official depth chart yet.
00:14:35
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:14:36
Speaker 4: NFL Research has Darnell Savage on the roster. He is not officially signed Steelers.
00:14:43
Speaker 2: He's not listed on the website.
00:14:45
Speaker 4: But maybe it's maybe he's coming. Maybe it's a procedure, maybe change things a little bit. And the other thing, when I brought up Sebastian Castro, i'd forgotten that he came back right when we were talking to uh Jennings Dunker from Iowa. But I think that kid's player, and he is. He is on this uh NFL Research depth chart at safety, so.
00:15:05
Speaker 2: I didn't I did not have him on my roster though, so I did not have him.
00:15:09
Speaker 4: He'll be a campaign that I love a camp. He's played in the NFL. I think he can play. And I am h Matt, I'm probably a bigger Jaquon Prisker fan than you are.
00:15:20
Speaker 3: No, I'm I'm very excited about that signing. Yeah, so I think they're came an elliottor to the start. I don't think that was a position.
00:15:30
Speaker 4: Comparative to offensive line, like you had to address all line wide receiver, you had to address all line. I don't think you had to address safety.
00:15:38
Speaker 2: I think that, Well, there are people that would say didn't even have to address offensive line. Who would Who would they be? People that criticized the first pick? Who I think are those people I like the first pick. I need to say that again, Matt, that I like the first pick.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: There are people that are going to criticize what they do. Yeah, well, so here's it. Here's like to criticize. Sure, I understand.
00:15:58
Speaker 2: So so we don't know if I mean again, I've seen the same thing. I've got my our lads depth chart, you know, that's the one I always go to. Our lads.
00:16:07
Speaker 3: They're phenomenal, by the way, Oh I love our lads.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, And and they've got they've got Savage listed, but the students don't. So if Savage is there, it changes it maybe a little bit.
00:16:17
Speaker 3: But I don't know that he's guaranteed a spot though.
00:16:19
Speaker 4: The way his career is gone. He could be the last cut so too.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: But he would also be a ford safety for me to mix with the guy I took in the third round. Who isn't the guy they took in the third round. Yeah, So, of all the of all the stuff going into the draft, I wasn't sure if they draft the quarterback, and so they did, I.
00:16:36
Speaker 4: Would not have. But and other than the gadget guy, We've talked about that a couple of times.
00:16:40
Speaker 2: And safety is the one position one more receiver, and safety is the one position that I thought they would like. I said when I made that less of d back, I thought I thought for sure that would be safety in maybe a corner.
00:16:52
Speaker 3: Okay, so a couple of things I want to throw in there too. They could still call I forget if all these guys have signed or not, Dugger Pepper one of them I knew did, and I couldn't remember which. But like, that's a that's a position exactly the same way. I don't do any of this.
00:17:09
Speaker 4: I've seen that movie. I don't want to watch it again.
00:17:12
Speaker 3: Where I's going with this is there's always veterans at that position that you can sign A week into training camp that won't embarrass themselves. But aren't you know Donnie Shell and Troy Paula Mauler rolled into one. Could they be on the phone with like a Juwan Jennings or some veteran wide out. I mean, there's a couple that are definitely going to play in the league. Just I just want to remind people that the roster's not set two hours from now in the seventh round, completes, I have a safety adjacent.
00:17:43
Speaker 4: You're optimistic, so two hours from now?
00:17:48
Speaker 3: Oh that part, yes, try to talk to myself into it. My quick question for you. We know that the Steelers, like most teams, are going to predominantly have five defensive backs on the field goal or big nickel or whatever.
00:18:03
Speaker 4: What do you think the four will be when there's four dvs?
00:18:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I can't imagine Ramsey's on the bench in that scenario.
00:18:11
Speaker 2: Definitely not. No, here's another curve I say, definitely not. But yeah, that's right. It's a great question.
00:18:18
Speaker 3: Is I means Brisker or Elliott is Has anybody seen Deshaun Elliott played football recently? He was he was pretty last time all of us.
00:18:26
Speaker 2: He was pretty close to coming back at the end of last year.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: I was got understanding, so.
00:18:30
Speaker 3: I never thought there was a worry about it.
00:18:31
Speaker 4: So we're that was so sure he's back and he's de Shaun Elliott, and I would think we're ninety eight percent chin.
00:18:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if he wasn't, wouldn't you have wanted the draft of safety?
00:18:41
Speaker 4: So to follow up on the discussion, Yeah, Elliott is uh.
00:18:48
Speaker 3: I would think he's one of those four.
00:18:50
Speaker 4: I can't figure out who comes off.
00:18:52
Speaker 2: So we don't.
00:18:53
Speaker 4: I think it's Brisker. See, I think he says.
00:18:56
Speaker 3: I mean it's not it's not Porter or Ramsey. It's not Porter.
00:19:00
Speaker 4: I think Elliott's out there.
00:19:02
Speaker 2: It's seen.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: I think it's actually I don't think Ramsey goes to outside corner. I think it's Dean I think I think. I think it's Elliott.
00:19:09
Speaker 3: You think Elliott comes off? Yep, I think it's Elliott or Brisker. I think Elliott is a The other three are lock.
00:19:14
Speaker 4: There's a four defensive backsky and I don't think they're gonna play that a whole lot.
00:19:19
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:19:19
Speaker 2: I love his game. By the way, Anyway, we got to take a break. I got I have a wide receiver question for you. I'm going to get to that when we continue our draft coverage. I'm Steelers Nation Radio and this Steeler's Audio and.
00:19:31
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00:19:59
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00:20:08
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00:20:29
Speaker 1: Dads, this is the Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
00:20:45
Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us. Nice you're Justin Miller in my ear again. You know, I miss that turn the off season, Justin or Steve, producer of in the locker room with Max Stark. So we are here with Mike Persuda, Matt Williams and I'm Rob King, and you know, man, you brought up a point at wide receiver that I think is definitely worth revisiting. And I think that the Steelers have done you know, look, they haven't hit on every wide receiver, but they've done such an incredible job of getting wide receivers after round one and superstar players even you know, Antonio Mike McCarthy by the way, So oh good, that's that's good. You know.
00:21:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, Packers went years and years. I used the first round pick on end up with Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver, and yeah, I was.
00:21:34
Speaker 4: Unaware that they never picked a level one receiver. So I mean, like Aaron Rodgers complained about that never came up on.
00:21:42
Speaker 2: So I think that it's it's easy for us to just sort of blithely say well, grab a couple.
00:21:50
Speaker 4: Receivers and withely and that'll that'll uh strong here an hour four, Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker 2: The off hour three Blake blithely isn't she married to anyway? So I think that it's easy to just say, well, you draft two receivers and there's your three and four at Roman Wilson. But you know what, they're gonna be rookies. And you know if you take a rookie receiver in the top ten, you expect him to be molik neighbors. I think there's a there's there's a point in which I mean, look at the history of third round receivers. Are there some winners in there? Absolutely? Are there guys who don't make it in the NFL at all? Absolutely? And so maybe this notion that the Steelers should get And again going in we talked I've talked about this at nauseum. At nauseum, I thought that last year was a three defensive tackle, three defensive lineman year. Right, whether it was two in free agency, one in the draft, one and free agency two in the draft, this is a three wide receiver year. Whether that is one right you could even argue for or two in the draft. So they got one with Michael Pittman, right, they needed to add two more. I thought they would do it in the draft. I'm not sure about that anymore. Now they get one. They've added one, but you know, and he's a polished guy, the kind of guy you would expect to be able to come in and be a productive rookie. But maybe the idea of getting a fourth receiver who's more of a veteran guy would be a nice little safety blanket as opposed to having to have two rookies in there who you're counting on and again, now one injury away from being in the same situation we've been in the last couple of years.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, because unlike during the Arthur Smith regime, they're gonna not live, but they're gonna be a very high eleven personnel team. If McCarthy's history shows us anything, they'll be near the top of the league with three wide receivers on the field for every given snap, where before this they were at the bottom of the league. So not only are you going to probably keep one more than you would maybe even two on the roster, but you're going to play at least one more than you usually do and fewer tight ends. So Pittman was a great step in the right direction. And I feel like the team a year ago would have killed to have Michael Pittman. I mean, you imagine having that last two years. But that was only step one. I think Bernard's a really good step two. Because I hate using NFL ready as a term for prospects, but I think he's very close and as a very advanced game. But there's still roster spots and game day spots to be had for sure at that position. And I don't have a problem going the veteran route. And maybe in all these teams have the same way that maybe the plan was to take two one day two, but they weren't the right one, so they didn't, you know, or whatever, or it just didn't go that way.
00:24:44
Speaker 2: I guess I'm just saying from a reliability factor.
00:24:47
Speaker 4: I think Rogers would like a veteran right.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: You know, He's very much a b in the right spot at the right time type of quarterback, and veterans are more likely to do that now.
00:24:57
Speaker 4: I also always look at.
00:24:59
Speaker 3: This team through the lens of is next year's first round pick going to be a quarterback. Now, I guess that's slightly less chance after drafting Drew Aller, I mean, because one more crack to make that not happen. But if I were that young quarterback who's yet to be named, I would like to grow up with a couple of young receivers and a young o' lion, which clearly that part has been accomplished.
00:25:24
Speaker 4: Still got a couple of four to three guys on the board.
00:25:28
Speaker 3: For the speed guys. Okay, you're talking about like four three forties. Yeah, yeah, Burks, what's bark still there?
00:25:35
Speaker 4: It doesn't make any sense. Brooks is four to three flat, third fastest at the combine.
00:25:40
Speaker 3: I started to wonder if he eve an injury we don't know about, because he shouldn't still be there.
00:25:44
Speaker 4: And the other guy, uh Benson from Oregon was four to three seven. Okay, So if that's what you know, I don't know up earlier I would look for speed at that position. I used to have that burn guy, yeah, to go long compliment the trees that they're collecting, the six or four guys.
00:26:04
Speaker 2: So here here's one of the things guys that I'd like to bring up.
00:26:09
Speaker 4: And that is a couple receivers of interest, no.
00:26:11
Speaker 2: Matter how much you want to throw, you know, how how much can you throw? How much is your third receiver? How many balls is he going to catch? So let me, let me go through a couple of let.
00:26:24
Speaker 4: Me stop you real quick.
00:26:24
Speaker 3: So I think you had a really good point with this, especially when we were talking about Max versus Lemon. You know, like, if you're going to spend a first round pick on a guy and he comes in and has a good year, not no fault of his own, and catches forty two balls for the year, was that really worth it as your third receiver?
00:26:43
Speaker 2: That as a first round pick, as a first round pick, and I understand the value of it. I do, And I understand the trickle down effect. I mean there's a reason, you know, Okay, I'm gonna step I'm gonna take this in a slightly different direction, and then we'll roll it back to where we are now. Yeah, you know, so a wide receiver nobody bats an eye when a wide receiver gets what is Jamar Chase finally, like forty million dollars or thirty five million dollars, whatever it is. But your best running backs in free agency are making ten or twelve million. Now, one guy's touching the ball, you know, twenty five times a game. The other guy's touching the ball six times a game. And the guy who's touching the ball six times a game is making way more money, triple the money as the guy getting the ball twenty five times a game, which I think is kind of interesting. But it also shows you how much those guys affect the game without having to catch the ball, without having the ball in there. Now they also the yardage is probably similar too.
00:27:41
Speaker 4: How many touches does a wide receiver need to accumulate forty five yards and how many touches does that run exactly exactly?
00:27:47
Speaker 2: So the yardage winds up being the same. But again, still if you just look at if you're a mathematician and you said, okay, well this guy's got fourteen hundred yards, this guy's got fourteen hundred yards, how why is this guy making three times the money? Right?
00:28:03
Speaker 3: One note I wanted to go backwards on on the wide receiver comment though, because wide receiver. I like what you were saying about. Hey, if you would have drafted Lemon in the first round he catches forty to forty five balls, was that really worth it that in itself, the answer is no. But Pittman and Metcalf aren't young. You know, they're not going to be here forever. I'm not saying their best days are behind them, but their their prime is not in front of them either. I mean, the chances these guys played are thirty eight and they're Steelers for the next ten years is slimming none. And we've been down this road when Pickings went down, when Metcalf went down, Heaven forbid DK Metcalf flows his knee on the first week of camp, and you want to play three receiver sets? You got nothing again? Right, you know what I mean? Because it's a different thing.
00:28:50
Speaker 4: Bad things happened throughout the course of the year.
00:28:52
Speaker 2: You're all crying for the second receiver the last couple of years behind Pickens, a couple of years ago behind right last year. Now that third receiver is almost like the second exactly.
00:29:00
Speaker 4: He's gonna be on the field all the time. Yeah.
00:29:02
Speaker 2: So here's where the Dallas Cowboys under Mike McCarthy, this is where the and this is okay twelve and five. They win the NFC East and Ceedee Lamb leads away with seventy nine catch. This is in twenty one. Dalton Schultz tight end gets seventy eight. I don't think there's a seventy eight reception tight end. Pat Fryerman was a sixty guy though before this year, pretty reliably. Amari Cooper is your second receiver, sixty eight receptions. Ezekiel Elliott got forty seven, so we can expect the running backs to be used your third super quick.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: And if you remember, the Cowboys traded a first round pick to add to Maari Cooper, right, so there, so it was an investment.
00:29:42
Speaker 2: So Cedric Wilson is your third receiver and he gets forty five receptions. Just the number. We just just kind of again to use the word blithely throughout there a couple of days ago when we were talking. Then we go to twenty twenty two, once again, another very good Cowboys team, twelve and five. They finished second in the NFC. So I'm not just I'm trying to you know, this is what it looked like when they were good. So yeah, now jumps up to one hundred and seven receptions. Okay, so that means the story the catches are going somewhere else. Dalton Schultz down to fifty seven. Your number two receiver, Noah Brown had forty three receptions and it was Tony Pollard, and your third receiver, Michael Gallup had thirty nine receptions. So there's going to probably.
00:30:25
Speaker 4: Rodgers likes to throw to dump at the running.
00:30:28
Speaker 2: Back, right, There's there's probably going to be a drop off at that number three receiver the right question.
00:30:34
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah. So but we're also assuming everybody says healthy.
00:30:37
Speaker 4: All yeah, Like, but you know, two years in a row they've come up a receiver short with not enough at the position right by a wide margin, right close to enough.
00:30:47
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And I think now, you know, the more I've ruminated about this, the more I've thought.
00:30:54
Speaker 4: Ruminated the author is just spinning some words blithely.
00:31:01
Speaker 2: I did not. So the more I've ruminated about this, the more I think maybe maybe the veteran maybe he didn't like we just saw. I'm not a big fan of reaching our draft day. I think this Steelers built a great roster that made them, you know, a draft ready roster that made them not have to reach. Maybe it is that veteran receiver. Maybe it is somebody you feel a little bit better about their track record. Which allows you to to take a region and maybe develop them. It puts a guy like Roman Wilson unnoticed it. He's got to compete for a roster spot. And I think competing for roster spots that's good. You want guys competing for us. And I'm super excited about Bernard. But you're counting on him to be a starter today. I mean, he's a rookie exactly. That's that's a starter. That's That's My point is that we just sort of say, oh, well, you know, going back to what I was originally saying about Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, Oh well, you know, Mike Wallace, Oh what does We'll grab a guy in the in the fifth round and he's going to start for us. Well, that's not the way it works around the end. There's plenty of failures. Either's some in the first round, but certainly after that there's a ton ofment to wide receiver.
00:32:04
Speaker 4: Right now, he's not gonna play or immediately either. You're not counting on Bernard to be one though, you're counting on him to be three.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: But that's basically a starter, I know, but still you way less responsibility and pressure than a one or two, right, I think, but you basically have nothing backing up any of those three, correct, and then then you need another.
00:32:23
Speaker 2: To Mike's point, what if that injury? Okay, so let's say an injury happens to one of your top three. Now what this guy in the sixth round is? Now you're three? Is that what we're counting on? Or him or Roman Wilson?
00:32:36
Speaker 3: So maybe, well, even if they draft Berks right now, you can't be like, oh, the six round pick's gonna be fine?
00:32:40
Speaker 4: Is your fourth? Right? If you take a Burner, he can run up and down the sideline, right, he should be able to transition well enough to do that run fast, make them take a guy with you, and now you count on your other guys to your more experience. But we're dangerously close to the Valdez scantling world again.
00:32:58
Speaker 2: Right, And that does not sound like I don't want that world? Right, Yeah, that doesn't sound like the way Mike McCarthy wants to cheme it up. You run up and down the field, by the way over here in the in the ax right where he wants some guys to move around, have versatility and ability.
00:33:12
Speaker 3: Hey, I want a lot of things. I deal with what I can get. I mean, I'll take Juwan Jennings, he's a free agent. But I'm not doing the about the scantling thing.
00:33:19
Speaker 2: We are gonna be back in a moment. We are continuing our draft coverage on Steelers Nation Radio and this Steelers Audio Network.
00:33:32
Speaker 5: And now a word from our sponsor, bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. Uh what if we just.
00:33:44
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00:34:02
Speaker 8: I'm a one hundred percent kind of guy, So I got Verizon FiOS. It's one hundred percent fiber Internet because I do everything at one hundred percent.
00:34:09
Speaker 4: What game should we watch?
00:34:11
Speaker 8: One hundred percent of them?
00:34:13
Speaker 2: She hits a penalty.
00:34:15
Speaker 1: Kick out the pot pro gay downtown.
00:34:18
Speaker 4: Bright, beautiful shot onto the green.
00:34:20
Speaker 9: You either have one hundred percent fiber Internet or you don't get Verizon FiOS. It's super fast, unreliable with ultra low lag. It's one hundred percent or nothing. Called one eight three three Verizon to switch today, Dad's.
00:34:38
Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
00:34:49
Speaker 2: And welcome back as we continue rolling along with our draft coverage, Stee There's it's gonna be a while since they picked. They traded back into the sixth round by trading down in the fifth and giving up a seventh, two picks in the seventh as of.
00:35:03
Speaker 3: Right now, three more picks right two tens to twenty four and two thirty.
00:35:10
Speaker 2: Are we at that stage that there was? There was a little bit of a stage in which I think we're talking about this last night where Cleveland had like five out of seven picks from like one. I didn't see how that went for him. Look, I know that it's it's hard to keep track of all this stuff. Do you have any sense of how the rest of the division is done?
00:35:31
Speaker 3: Not well enough? To be honest with you, I mean, Sunday to me is sleeping like crazy, really really dig into every team and have a good feel by Monday of a real good vibe of what all thirty teams did and do I like it or not, and what they gave up to move up and trade compensation and all that kind of stuff.
00:35:54
Speaker 4: But we can go definitely go through it.
00:35:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, it can't be that hard to But yeah, I got Cleveland up on, loved how Cleveland started to drive.
00:36:01
Speaker 2: I will tell you this that uh Fano mm hmm. Concepts and McNeil Warren pretty good guys with three and I think there was just somebody between.
00:36:14
Speaker 4: H I don't like Concepts. Uh, I love them short and drops the ball. Agree with that way, But I like uh Fano, I like Boston. I like McNeil Warren, Austin Barber tackle third round. They need all the old line help. They can get it.
00:36:32
Speaker 2: He's pretty bad, but they just keep adding and adding.
00:36:34
Speaker 4: Parker Brails for center.
00:36:36
Speaker 3: Alabama, I mean three o linemen. Yeah, uh you need line and receiver are going to be their thing. And this is very cut parallel to the Steelers.
00:36:44
Speaker 4: Then they have Justin Jefferson, linebacker from Alabama who's undersize, but we can run athlete kind of a JEREMIAHU. Uh yeah, he has some similar his career right and Joe Royal, uh tight end for since an thinks a good salt. Yeah, he's a good solid player too.
00:37:02
Speaker 3: Nothing great, but uh he'll help their own line is so crazy. I mean they basically went into the offseason with like two guys under contract, so they've had to totally rebuild it.
00:37:11
Speaker 4: They added a little bit veteran free agency, yeah, a lot, so.
00:37:15
Speaker 3: More than I thought they were capable of going into the drafts. But still they drafted three of us.
00:37:19
Speaker 2: So I've got the I've got the r lads depth chart up for them right now, and they've got Fano starting at left tackle. Zion Johnson, who I think a lot of people.
00:37:30
Speaker 3: I think they vastly overpaid for. Yes, former first round pick four years ago.
00:37:33
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of people who thought that as I was listening to the NFL network after that signing, and I think the guy kindly put it, he's got some ups and downs, maybe more downs than ups. Yeah, and we'll see talented guy for sure. He went in the first round. Yeah. Jenkins elgiend Jenkins, elginend Jenkins at center, very good player.
00:37:53
Speaker 4: He was someone I want the Steelers to attack.
00:37:55
Speaker 2: The loan returner was Tevin Jenkins at right.
00:37:58
Speaker 4: Guard, also Jones returner.
00:38:01
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get to him in a minute. And I'm just looking. I'm just listing what they have as their starters. And then Titus Howard at right tackle. So they went out and got three veterans.
00:38:10
Speaker 3: So it's interesting not to get too much in the weeds. The Howard pick makes a lot of sense in that he's played a lot of guard, played a lot of tackle. He's also a former first round pick. I think the Wad Jones will be a starter at one of the tackle spots, which brings you to Fano because I'm not sure if he is a tackle. He's very short armed, he's not. He doesn't look anything like Max or you know Max starts for that rate matter. But I can see how they'll put the puzzle together. Now, Yeah, you know, Titus M. Howard might be a guard, Fano might be a guard. Jones is definitely a tackle.
00:38:45
Speaker 2: That went from an aging questionable offensive line to me to the possibility it could be a very good unit.
00:38:52
Speaker 3: It could be decent. I don't like the Florida kid they drafted in the third round much, but.
00:38:58
Speaker 4: I'm living more decent than very good.
00:38:59
Speaker 2: But Zach Zach Ziner hasn't paid off for him. He was a former third rounder. Certainly it'll be improved.
00:39:05
Speaker 3: Zenter's interesting though, because he was a third rounder after knowing that his rookie year was going to be a wash because of injuries. He was a potential first rounder coming out of Michigan before he got hurt. I have no idea where he is in his recovery, if he'll be any good. But all of a sudden they have seven or eight linemen. Where when the when the when the off season started, they had like two.
00:39:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and just again, I'm real, real quick to me. I mean, if you have let's see, let's say he even kicked uh uh Fano inside. Yeah, I like Dwan Jones, I mean, oh yeah, he should be a starter for him if he's gonna be healthy. That's the big problem for him. But if he and Howard were your tackles, I think that's it could be the plan and and Fano and then you know Johnson obviously they're betting on some upside there and Jenkins is your center. Does that not sound like a good starting offensive.
00:39:50
Speaker 3: Line, especially if Fano is a A level guard prospect and a B level tackle prospect because Jenkins can also play guard or center, right, I mean there's versatility. That they did much more on the line than I thought they were capable before the draft, and now they've had They've drafted three of them.
00:40:05
Speaker 2: I think I got more bullish on their offensive line than you guys are. And then they have no way better than I expected. Fan and a tight end. He had a very very good year. And then Conceptsio and in Boston.
00:40:16
Speaker 4: Uh, to me, I would have taken those two for the Steelers.
00:40:19
Speaker 2: Yep, I mean those are those are two. I think we're both high in Conceptsio and Boston is a is a nice target for them. We don't know who's going to play quarterback, but then you have Judkins is your you know, if he's healthy, sort of your lead running back, not sort of your lead back, is your lead running back. He's he's impressive, uh.
00:40:38
Speaker 3: Quarterback position, Oh yeah.
00:40:40
Speaker 2: But but they they feel like and I thought it was very interesting that everybody in the AFC North the Steelers as usual, Baltimore as usual and now Cleveland and then Cincinnati with trading for Dexter Lawrence put a lot of attention in the trenches and it's gonna premium stuff. It's gonna be really really interesting to watch him with the battles this year.
00:41:01
Speaker 4: Did Cleveland do anything defensively?
00:41:02
Speaker 3: Truv, I mean, I know nothing, Mail Warren mac Meil Warren, and they drafted the linebacker from Bama.
00:41:09
Speaker 2: Picked up Quincy Williams.
00:41:11
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say about today.
00:41:13
Speaker 2: But I mean they're they're basically running back their defense last year.
00:41:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, which they should. The defense was quite good and probably still will be.
00:41:20
Speaker 2: Yep.
00:41:20
Speaker 4: Bengals got edge help cashiusil from A and M, but of course they lost Hendrickson.
00:41:26
Speaker 2: Henderson was so cash I saw somebody give him like an A plus grade.
00:41:32
Speaker 3: He's gonna be a situational pass rusher, though he will not he does not do anything against a run, but he might be the best pass rusher in this draft.
00:41:39
Speaker 4: Carrie Davis cornerback Washington in the third round. He's a giant. Connor Loo, fourth rout center from Auburn, does nothing for me. I don't know.
00:41:48
Speaker 3: He might be their starting center, but their a line got better as he'son.
00:41:51
Speaker 4: Went On and Colby Young wide receiver Georgia in the fourth, they don't pick again. They don't pick again until one eighty nine. And then let's take a quick look at the raven.
00:42:00
Speaker 2: And as you look at the Bengals, I mean they're boy, Mafe was not productive last year. They gave me a huge contract. I think Miles Murphy came on a little bit toward the end of last year. And they're hoping for Shamar Stevin, Murphy and Stewart. I mean those again, we were talking about this like the in the first hour. I think, you know, you're looking to upgrade your defense, and they they I think they went down the right path as far as we're gonna draft edge guys and we're gonna draft corners, and we have to upgrade inside linebacker. But two defensive coordinators are a lack of productivity on defense tells me that those guys haven't been the right guys.
00:42:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they blamed the defensive coordinator who's very highly regarded. He goes to Indianapolis, proves their defense and the defense doesn't get any better. Right, I'm trying to find something I wrote about the Bengals here in a moment. Why don't we take a.
00:42:53
Speaker 2: Break Okay, we're gonna take a break and do it afterwards. Uh finished on this end. Fun hanging out with you guys. Fun to watch the draft pict roll in one more. I'll be listening as I drive on home and hear you guys. Draft coverage continue.
00:43:07
Speaker 4: Now we'll stick around here with the head coach at the GM. Have to say when it's.
00:43:10
Speaker 2: Over, are you working, Mike? You're doing com stuff? You got something better to do. I'm gonna listen to you guys. Is there any better better than that? That's Mike pursued it. Matt Williamson. We have ed troop coming in, Tom Aferman coming in, Wes Euler coming into. Matt Williamson is always staying right where he is on anchoring our draft coverage. Guy's been a pleasure. Thank you very much. We will continue on our draft coverage on Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: He's the twenty twenty six Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network. Today's broadcast is brought to you in part by NEMA, Colon Resort by iron Workers Local Union Number three, by eighty four Lumber, by South Hills Auto, Washington at Jefferson College, by US Deals by Peoples, by Caliente Pizza and Drafthouse by Castle Rock, Hormone Health by Craig Galker, Wholesale by Better Call Si, and by Hass's Steak and Seahouse.
00:00:40
Speaker 2: And welcome back here on the South Side. Thanks very much for being with us alongside Matt Williamson and Mike Pursudo. I'm rob king as we enter our fourth hour of coverage, three hours of the books, another four to five more still to come.
00:00:55
Speaker 3: About seven for the day taken said Steelers.
00:00:59
Speaker 2: Our now one pickaway as Buffalo has made the first of back to back selections to there's trading down in round five, trading a seventh to pick up a sixth in a deal with Kansas City.
00:01:12
Speaker 3: So Mike Perzuda, Keishawn Elliott just fell off the board as a linebacker from Arizona State would have been a nice roommate for Max, and I shocked he was still out there. I liked that. I thought he was more like a third rounder.
00:01:23
Speaker 2: We have reached the Matt Williams and phase of the draft, in particular where Matt.
00:01:27
Speaker 3: Once in a while I see a guy like, what's he going out there?
00:01:29
Speaker 4: Yeah? I still have two receivers on my list.
00:01:32
Speaker 2: Okay, who do you have?
00:01:33
Speaker 4: Dion Burks? I say, Burch's still available, right leak Benson.
00:01:37
Speaker 3: I wasn't big at all on Burks for round two, round three, where I've saw some people projecting him but here, although you don't need a returner now, but he's a dynamic player.
00:01:48
Speaker 4: Beyond that, I mean I want I don't consider Legian the second wide receiver. No, I don't either. I don't either, So I still want one more of those. Beyond that, I can't. I'm running out of band with your guy.
00:02:00
Speaker 3: There's one that I like too that kind of hits home because he took a visit here and I've been writing very large checks to his alma mater at the University of Kentucky is Kendrick Law. He's a really physical two and ten ish pound good after the catch, ran well, kind of work in progress as a route runner, but he was here for a visit and he would definitely fit the bill as a number two receiver in a draft like this. But I was shocked to Elliott was still floating around kind of thing. Charles Deming still out there. Maybe at the corner he went. He just kind of looking at somebody.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: Let's just make another trade because now Detroit's ahead of him.
00:02:41
Speaker 4: I think Buffalo made the trade.
00:02:42
Speaker 2: Buffalo made the trade. I'm sorry, Okay, all.
00:02:44
Speaker 3: Right, now he must just went. Demings just went to a couple guys that I liked, went and left five picks.
00:02:49
Speaker 2: Okay, So are we thinking receiver here for this Steelers? Are we at that stage, Matt, where you just kind of maybe if you really like a guy regardless of position, to take him.
00:02:58
Speaker 3: Or well, definitely at that stage. Jalen kil Gores, I'm just just pulled up a best available. I can't believe nus Meyer's still out there, but Jalen Kilgore's still out there. Safety slash slot, not a real physical player, but he's a very very good tester. At this point, I'd be certainly interested. Harold Perkins was in from a visit LSU. Really interesting because he was like a two hundred and twenty pound edge rusher early in his career at LSU, made a ton of plays in sacks, and then they realized, I mean where they were nice to them, they moved them to off the ball linebacker, saying you're not going to be an edge pass rusher two hundred and twenty pounds at five to ten or something like that. So now he's kind of a overhang n UREI special teamer pass rusher.
00:03:48
Speaker 2: VJ.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: Pain's another name to know here, Kansas State safety long, really good tester, good at taking away tight ends at the moment, more of a work in progress anyone else jumping out at this best available neck of the woods here, Jeff. There's two receivers from Cincinnati that are interesting to me. One's a great tester, Jeff Caldwell, and what is the other young man's name. He's much more of a refined route runner type. The two bunch of quarterbacks still out there, they're not going to be in that market.
00:04:27
Speaker 4: Xavian Harris Okay, got some off the field stuff.
00:04:31
Speaker 3: A lot of off the field stuff stuff, but he.
00:04:33
Speaker 4: Probably explains why he's a six to eight defensive tackle. Yeah, I would. Yeah, I wouldn't be opposed to a detackle.
00:04:40
Speaker 3: I wouldn't either, But he is apparently has a fair amount of off the field stuff.
00:04:45
Speaker 2: So actually it felt like there was gonna be a lot of inside linebackers off the ball linebackers, as they're called safeties. They are tight ends. Tight ends are tight ends? Are I think the run on them maybe put them out knows tackle type.
00:05:01
Speaker 3: Of two noses stand out Tim Keenan from Alabama. Kilgore just went, I'm kind of shocked he was still around. Tim Keenan from Alabama is a typical space eater type. And Dante Corleono, why.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: Not the Godfather? There you go, Yeah, guy from Cincinnati.
00:05:19
Speaker 3: That would be great. He's a good player too. I'm kind of shocked he's just a run stuffer, but he moved pretty well.
00:05:24
Speaker 4: I have not a post to a run stuffer. No, I know you're very much in that. That was seen enough two hundred yards against rushing games. Saw enough of woody marks last year in the postseason. You know, by the way, Derek Harmon was healthy for that game.
00:05:39
Speaker 3: So Jack Kelly from BYU is a linebacker.
00:05:43
Speaker 2: Of interest to it would be interesting.
00:05:46
Speaker 3: Who is Jack Kelly from BYU is somebody I would have some interest in.
00:05:50
Speaker 2: So if you were to take a nose tackle and he made your roster, would he be Matt in your opinion looking at the makeup of the roster, a guy who would only play select games for you, not even be dressed. Probably, And can you do that?
00:06:06
Speaker 3: It's a really weird conversation for me because I just think that the way this team is structured at that position has drastically changed. And few seem to notice that their noses are all Everyone that goes to the d line room is over six to three, and they all have thirty three or longer arms, which is long. And they're the best team in the league at batting down passes. And nobody looks like Casey Hampton that goes to that room. And I can't believe, Oh there's my man, Kendrick Claw. They traded up this to get them from Kentucky.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: You know how many times they used to give up two hundred dards a game rushing when Casey.
00:06:38
Speaker 3: Hases I get it, I get it. I just don't know that they want that player anymore. Yeah, maybe they should rethink that. But if you're going to do it, do you buy big? I mean a fifth round Dante Corleone, who might not even be active on game day, but maybe is when you play the Ravens to your point, right, he doesn't help on special teams.
00:06:57
Speaker 4: You know, there's a funny part about that. You know, if you try to just put them in a gainst running teams, sometimes the teams will.
00:07:02
Speaker 2: Run the ball.
00:07:03
Speaker 4: That's when they start passing.
00:07:04
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:07:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, when he's not there, they'll start running the ball, and then you defeat the ball.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: It's a terrible catch twenty two at that position, like if you don't even back in the day, if Hampton, you had Hampton, they would just scheme you out of it and h'd be on the sidelines. And if you didn't, they just run it down your throat.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: So the stewers pick is in. They're they're running down the selections right now. Max it tackle in round one. Then drew out the quarterback, Dale and Everett the cornerback another third round selection, and they finished off the third round pick with Jennings Dunker. Cayden Wuigen the return man went in the fourth round, and this year is traded down in the fifth to pick up a sixth They threw in a seventh round pick in that trade with Kansas City. The pick is in at number one sixty nine. But we are waiting for the official announcement.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: Just from a broadcasting standpoint, that desert that was in the sixth round. Now we at least have something to chat about in an hour.
00:07:58
Speaker 2: Or so, and that's important.
00:08:00
Speaker 3: Oh, that's very important. I was happy with the three sevens for that reason, just because things can drag a little bit. On about hour six of coverage.
00:08:08
Speaker 4: That's when you start telling stories. Yeah, yeah, we did some pit stories. We did some US stories. Yeah. By the way, the one you told about Bill Watsh could look at Joe Montana from yeah he's down and tell whether the past was.
00:08:21
Speaker 3: Incomplete or not. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. You weren't being funny, that was. I think you find it on YouTube. I mean there's clinics and things of him doing that.
00:08:28
Speaker 4: Right.
00:08:28
Speaker 3: Footworking boys, this staff they all come from that tree. They are a footwork staff. Yes, and it's all timing, rhythm. Caps come out on time, you know, six inches in front of the numbers, all those things that Michael Keaton.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: It is Michael Keaton high fiving fans out there waving the mister mom towel around and he's got the pick, he's got the card in front of him, he's got.
00:08:54
Speaker 4: The hat, the shades, the racket.
00:08:56
Speaker 3: Ye, triv you've got to be a big night shift fan, right, I'm a big Michael Keaton. Yeah, in general, but Knight just classic.
00:09:05
Speaker 4: Birdman, love the bird Man. All right, I got I got some thoughts. If he spits us out sometime while were we're going.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: He's still he's out there, he's out there having fun. Yep, yep, he's uh at the fist clench, the the sunglasses on. Still overcast out there.
00:09:24
Speaker 3: But yeah, okay, this makes sense.
00:09:28
Speaker 2: Riley now Makowski, Yep, I got two picks.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: Right in my monk. It was this guy Inwegian. He's a dude. I mean, full back, full back, full. He's gonna be mostly if you want to run the ball, run the ball. If you want to stop the run, stop the run. I'm not as big on flexibility as the current coaching staff and what guys.
00:09:49
Speaker 3: Who do what they do well. I think he's going to be a go to the tight end room here though. Well yeah, but he will wield But he is very full back capable. He's scored a one yard rushing t down against the U in the National Championship game.
00:10:03
Speaker 4: H pack a little bit.
00:10:05
Speaker 3: From somewhere between. I mean, like a bigger Connor Hayward. Okay, you know, I mean six two and a half that's a great description.
00:10:11
Speaker 4: Yeah, and more accustomed to doing the full back things than Connor.
00:10:16
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, they told.
00:10:16
Speaker 4: Connor to do it, and he battled like he did when they told him to do anything. But uh, I like this pick.
00:10:21
Speaker 3: And I'm sure he'll be a special teamer. I mean, he's not going to score eighty yard touchdowns, but he's not slow or you know, he ran a four sixty.
00:10:29
Speaker 4: Six capable hands.
00:10:30
Speaker 3: Yes, so Wes and I have talked about this a fair amount. And West knows college better than I do. Triv you know, college better than I. He especially big ten. I'll take anyone from Indiana. I mean, I'm convinced. I like that Iowa conversation.
00:10:44
Speaker 4: In the last two years. I mean, what they what they did.
00:10:47
Speaker 3: I would put them all ten percent up higher on the board because they're not screw up the.
00:10:51
Speaker 4: Place with Siberia, Yeah, right right, it was impossible to win there see.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: The national titles streak alive too, right.
00:10:59
Speaker 4: When Signetti there and said we're gonna win the national championship. If that's what he said, it would have been akin to me to John Kennedy in the sixties saying we're going to go to the moon and they had no idea, how like starting from zero. Yeah, it's not like we have a good rocket. We just need a better rocket. Yeah. They did not to build a rock close like they had no It's it's still inconceivable to me that they did what they did. And as I was reviewing these players, the intangible element kept. I couldn't get past it, Like, oh yeah, that Caitlin Black, that running back he was never stops. Yeah yeah, Surrett and Cooper and Mendoza and the quarterback, they'll adjust well to life in the next level. This is another guy I think that can help them.
00:11:44
Speaker 3: Oh I did too. I mean he'll be out there a fair amount. I think he's active on game day and he can do a lot of different things for you. I'm sure he's going to be on every phase of special teams.
00:11:53
Speaker 2: So here was when we did our show on Wednesday, we did a draft preview show. Here were the positions that I wrote down that I thought the Steelers needed to address in the draft. And and again when you talk about who they selected, that's their job, right. I think we could all kind of look at the roster and say where we think they should go. So this is this, This was where I thought the Steelers should go there, And then I had a little side column for luxury picks. These are the ones I thought they they had to address. Okay, two wide receivers, they've selected one, one to two defensive backs. They've selected one one to two offensive linemen. They selected two punt returner boom, and tight end is a bonus. Well, the luxury. The luxury I had was a safety, inside, linebacker, nose tackle. Those to me were, hey, if you got something there, they're not pressing needs. But again I thought, I really thought the one to two d backs, I really thought that was going to be more safety than corner. I really did. I really thought it was going to be safety. I thought it was going to be safety that if you want so, I'm not going to say I nailed all these pictures. If you want to you know, safety, and then if you want a corner, okay, that's great. That's why I had one to two. I think that's probably the only.
00:13:11
Speaker 3: I looked at it a little different. And I thought corner and quarterback, which there's two positions they did address, were fifty to fifty. I'd understand if he did. If I'd understand if you didn't. Yep, But I thought safety was would have been on my list of close to almost have to.
00:13:29
Speaker 2: I think, say, I'm not there with safety.
00:13:31
Speaker 3: And I also know what Ramsey is.
00:13:34
Speaker 2: There's two reasons I thought they would. Mike is because I just heard how much safety depth there was, and then you can get a risk. One can get a really good one in the third round, right, like a starter capable safety.
00:13:46
Speaker 3: Sure, And I thought sure one of their three third rounders would be a right.
00:13:49
Speaker 2: So that made sense to me that that's why you would you would take a safety there is because of that and because and then again that then that allows you to go into camp and compete, right and and if you're you know, if your slot corner is better than your you know, the safety picked in the draft, maybe that dictates where Jalen Ramsey plays to some or not. Do you want the tail wagon a dog? But I mean, if you do options right, It could influence your options and influence the capacity for somebody to sort of blow you away.
00:14:22
Speaker 4: Well, there's a couple of these factors in play there. Now. I think Ramsey's a slot corner. Okay, but you look at the safety depth chart. This is what This was sent out by NFL Research. Steelers don't have an official depth chart yet.
00:14:35
Speaker 2: Okay.
00:14:36
Speaker 4: NFL Research has Darnell Savage on the roster. He is not officially signed Steelers.
00:14:43
Speaker 2: He's not listed on the website.
00:14:45
Speaker 4: But maybe it's maybe he's coming. Maybe it's a procedure, maybe change things a little bit. And the other thing, when I brought up Sebastian Castro, i'd forgotten that he came back right when we were talking to uh Jennings Dunker from Iowa. But I think that kid's player, and he is. He is on this uh NFL Research depth chart at safety, so.
00:15:05
Speaker 2: I didn't I did not have him on my roster though, so I did not have him.
00:15:09
Speaker 4: He'll be a campaign that I love a camp. He's played in the NFL. I think he can play. And I am h Matt, I'm probably a bigger Jaquon Prisker fan than you are.
00:15:20
Speaker 3: No, I'm I'm very excited about that signing. Yeah, so I think they're came an elliottor to the start. I don't think that was a position.
00:15:30
Speaker 4: Comparative to offensive line, like you had to address all line wide receiver, you had to address all line. I don't think you had to address safety.
00:15:38
Speaker 2: I think that, Well, there are people that would say didn't even have to address offensive line. Who would Who would they be? People that criticized the first pick? Who I think are those people I like the first pick. I need to say that again, Matt, that I like the first pick.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: There are people that are going to criticize what they do. Yeah, well, so here's it. Here's like to criticize. Sure, I understand.
00:15:58
Speaker 2: So so we don't know if I mean again, I've seen the same thing. I've got my our lads depth chart, you know, that's the one I always go to. Our lads.
00:16:07
Speaker 3: They're phenomenal, by the way, Oh I love our lads.
00:16:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, And and they've got they've got Savage listed, but the students don't. So if Savage is there, it changes it maybe a little bit.
00:16:17
Speaker 3: But I don't know that he's guaranteed a spot though.
00:16:19
Speaker 4: The way his career is gone. He could be the last cut so too.
00:16:22
Speaker 2: But he would also be a ford safety for me to mix with the guy I took in the third round. Who isn't the guy they took in the third round. Yeah, So, of all the of all the stuff going into the draft, I wasn't sure if they draft the quarterback, and so they did, I.
00:16:36
Speaker 4: Would not have. But and other than the gadget guy, We've talked about that a couple of times.
00:16:40
Speaker 2: And safety is the one position one more receiver, and safety is the one position that I thought they would like. I said when I made that less of d back, I thought I thought for sure that would be safety in maybe a corner.
00:16:52
Speaker 3: Okay, so a couple of things I want to throw in there too. They could still call I forget if all these guys have signed or not, Dugger Pepper one of them I knew did, and I couldn't remember which. But like, that's a that's a position exactly the same way. I don't do any of this.
00:17:09
Speaker 4: I've seen that movie. I don't want to watch it again.
00:17:12
Speaker 3: Where I's going with this is there's always veterans at that position that you can sign A week into training camp that won't embarrass themselves. But aren't you know Donnie Shell and Troy Paula Mauler rolled into one. Could they be on the phone with like a Juwan Jennings or some veteran wide out. I mean, there's a couple that are definitely going to play in the league. Just I just want to remind people that the roster's not set two hours from now in the seventh round, completes, I have a safety adjacent.
00:17:43
Speaker 4: You're optimistic, so two hours from now?
00:17:48
Speaker 3: Oh that part, yes, try to talk to myself into it. My quick question for you. We know that the Steelers, like most teams, are going to predominantly have five defensive backs on the field goal or big nickel or whatever.
00:18:03
Speaker 4: What do you think the four will be when there's four dvs?
00:18:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I can't imagine Ramsey's on the bench in that scenario.
00:18:11
Speaker 2: Definitely not. No, here's another curve I say, definitely not. But yeah, that's right. It's a great question.
00:18:18
Speaker 3: Is I means Brisker or Elliott is Has anybody seen Deshaun Elliott played football recently? He was he was pretty last time all of us.
00:18:26
Speaker 2: He was pretty close to coming back at the end of last year.
00:18:28
Speaker 4: I was got understanding, so.
00:18:30
Speaker 3: I never thought there was a worry about it.
00:18:31
Speaker 4: So we're that was so sure he's back and he's de Shaun Elliott, and I would think we're ninety eight percent chin.
00:18:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if he wasn't, wouldn't you have wanted the draft of safety?
00:18:41
Speaker 4: So to follow up on the discussion, Yeah, Elliott is uh.
00:18:48
Speaker 3: I would think he's one of those four.
00:18:50
Speaker 4: I can't figure out who comes off.
00:18:52
Speaker 2: So we don't.
00:18:53
Speaker 4: I think it's Brisker. See, I think he says.
00:18:56
Speaker 3: I mean it's not it's not Porter or Ramsey. It's not Porter.
00:19:00
Speaker 4: I think Elliott's out there.
00:19:02
Speaker 2: It's seen.
00:19:02
Speaker 4: I think it's actually I don't think Ramsey goes to outside corner. I think it's Dean I think I think. I think it's Elliott.
00:19:09
Speaker 3: You think Elliott comes off? Yep, I think it's Elliott or Brisker. I think Elliott is a The other three are lock.
00:19:14
Speaker 4: There's a four defensive backsky and I don't think they're gonna play that a whole lot.
00:19:19
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:19:19
Speaker 2: I love his game. By the way, Anyway, we got to take a break. I got I have a wide receiver question for you. I'm going to get to that when we continue our draft coverage. I'm Steelers Nation Radio and this Steeler's Audio and.
00:19:31
Speaker 5: Now a word from our sponsor, bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp.
00:19:41
Speaker 4: Uh.
00:19:42
Speaker 6: What if we just got out of here and grab some bud Lights. Man, We're on air for four more hours. I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me.
00:19:50
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00:19:59
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00:20:08
Speaker 4: What game should we watch?
00:20:09
Speaker 8: One hundred percent of them?
00:20:12
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00:20:18
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00:20:29
Speaker 1: Dads, this is the Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
00:20:45
Speaker 2: And thanks very much for being with us. Nice you're Justin Miller in my ear again. You know, I miss that turn the off season, Justin or Steve, producer of in the locker room with Max Stark. So we are here with Mike Persuda, Matt Williams and I'm Rob King, and you know, man, you brought up a point at wide receiver that I think is definitely worth revisiting. And I think that the Steelers have done you know, look, they haven't hit on every wide receiver, but they've done such an incredible job of getting wide receivers after round one and superstar players even you know, Antonio Mike McCarthy by the way, So oh good, that's that's good. You know.
00:21:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, Packers went years and years. I used the first round pick on end up with Jordy Nelson and Donald Driver, and yeah, I was.
00:21:34
Speaker 4: Unaware that they never picked a level one receiver. So I mean, like Aaron Rodgers complained about that never came up on.
00:21:42
Speaker 2: So I think that it's it's easy for us to just sort of blithely say well, grab a couple.
00:21:50
Speaker 4: Receivers and withely and that'll that'll uh strong here an hour four, Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker 2: The off hour three Blake blithely isn't she married to anyway? So I think that it's easy to just say, well, you draft two receivers and there's your three and four at Roman Wilson. But you know what, they're gonna be rookies. And you know if you take a rookie receiver in the top ten, you expect him to be molik neighbors. I think there's a there's there's a point in which I mean, look at the history of third round receivers. Are there some winners in there? Absolutely? Are there guys who don't make it in the NFL at all? Absolutely? And so maybe this notion that the Steelers should get And again going in we talked I've talked about this at nauseum. At nauseum, I thought that last year was a three defensive tackle, three defensive lineman year. Right, whether it was two in free agency, one in the draft, one and free agency two in the draft, this is a three wide receiver year. Whether that is one right you could even argue for or two in the draft. So they got one with Michael Pittman, right, they needed to add two more. I thought they would do it in the draft. I'm not sure about that anymore. Now they get one. They've added one, but you know, and he's a polished guy, the kind of guy you would expect to be able to come in and be a productive rookie. But maybe the idea of getting a fourth receiver who's more of a veteran guy would be a nice little safety blanket as opposed to having to have two rookies in there who you're counting on and again, now one injury away from being in the same situation we've been in the last couple of years.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, because unlike during the Arthur Smith regime, they're gonna not live, but they're gonna be a very high eleven personnel team. If McCarthy's history shows us anything, they'll be near the top of the league with three wide receivers on the field for every given snap, where before this they were at the bottom of the league. So not only are you going to probably keep one more than you would maybe even two on the roster, but you're going to play at least one more than you usually do and fewer tight ends. So Pittman was a great step in the right direction. And I feel like the team a year ago would have killed to have Michael Pittman. I mean, you imagine having that last two years. But that was only step one. I think Bernard's a really good step two. Because I hate using NFL ready as a term for prospects, but I think he's very close and as a very advanced game. But there's still roster spots and game day spots to be had for sure at that position. And I don't have a problem going the veteran route. And maybe in all these teams have the same way that maybe the plan was to take two one day two, but they weren't the right one, so they didn't, you know, or whatever, or it just didn't go that way.
00:24:44
Speaker 2: I guess I'm just saying from a reliability factor.
00:24:47
Speaker 4: I think Rogers would like a veteran right.
00:24:49
Speaker 3: You know, He's very much a b in the right spot at the right time type of quarterback, and veterans are more likely to do that now.
00:24:57
Speaker 4: I also always look at.
00:24:59
Speaker 3: This team through the lens of is next year's first round pick going to be a quarterback. Now, I guess that's slightly less chance after drafting Drew Aller, I mean, because one more crack to make that not happen. But if I were that young quarterback who's yet to be named, I would like to grow up with a couple of young receivers and a young o' lion, which clearly that part has been accomplished.
00:25:24
Speaker 4: Still got a couple of four to three guys on the board.
00:25:28
Speaker 3: For the speed guys. Okay, you're talking about like four three forties. Yeah, yeah, Burks, what's bark still there?
00:25:35
Speaker 4: It doesn't make any sense. Brooks is four to three flat, third fastest at the combine.
00:25:40
Speaker 3: I started to wonder if he eve an injury we don't know about, because he shouldn't still be there.
00:25:44
Speaker 4: And the other guy, uh Benson from Oregon was four to three seven. Okay, So if that's what you know, I don't know up earlier I would look for speed at that position. I used to have that burn guy, yeah, to go long compliment the trees that they're collecting, the six or four guys.
00:26:04
Speaker 2: So here here's one of the things guys that I'd like to bring up.
00:26:09
Speaker 4: And that is a couple receivers of interest, no.
00:26:11
Speaker 2: Matter how much you want to throw, you know, how how much can you throw? How much is your third receiver? How many balls is he going to catch? So let me, let me go through a couple of let.
00:26:24
Speaker 4: Me stop you real quick.
00:26:24
Speaker 3: So I think you had a really good point with this, especially when we were talking about Max versus Lemon. You know, like, if you're going to spend a first round pick on a guy and he comes in and has a good year, not no fault of his own, and catches forty two balls for the year, was that really worth it as your third receiver?
00:26:43
Speaker 2: That as a first round pick, as a first round pick, and I understand the value of it. I do, And I understand the trickle down effect. I mean there's a reason, you know, Okay, I'm gonna step I'm gonna take this in a slightly different direction, and then we'll roll it back to where we are now. Yeah, you know, so a wide receiver nobody bats an eye when a wide receiver gets what is Jamar Chase finally, like forty million dollars or thirty five million dollars, whatever it is. But your best running backs in free agency are making ten or twelve million. Now, one guy's touching the ball, you know, twenty five times a game. The other guy's touching the ball six times a game. And the guy who's touching the ball six times a game is making way more money, triple the money as the guy getting the ball twenty five times a game, which I think is kind of interesting. But it also shows you how much those guys affect the game without having to catch the ball, without having the ball in there. Now they also the yardage is probably similar too.
00:27:41
Speaker 4: How many touches does a wide receiver need to accumulate forty five yards and how many touches does that run exactly exactly?
00:27:47
Speaker 2: So the yardage winds up being the same. But again, still if you just look at if you're a mathematician and you said, okay, well this guy's got fourteen hundred yards, this guy's got fourteen hundred yards, how why is this guy making three times the money? Right?
00:28:03
Speaker 3: One note I wanted to go backwards on on the wide receiver comment though, because wide receiver. I like what you were saying about. Hey, if you would have drafted Lemon in the first round he catches forty to forty five balls, was that really worth it that in itself, the answer is no. But Pittman and Metcalf aren't young. You know, they're not going to be here forever. I'm not saying their best days are behind them, but their their prime is not in front of them either. I mean, the chances these guys played are thirty eight and they're Steelers for the next ten years is slimming none. And we've been down this road when Pickings went down, when Metcalf went down, Heaven forbid DK Metcalf flows his knee on the first week of camp, and you want to play three receiver sets? You got nothing again? Right, you know what I mean? Because it's a different thing.
00:28:50
Speaker 4: Bad things happened throughout the course of the year.
00:28:52
Speaker 2: You're all crying for the second receiver the last couple of years behind Pickens, a couple of years ago behind right last year. Now that third receiver is almost like the second exactly.
00:29:00
Speaker 4: He's gonna be on the field all the time. Yeah.
00:29:02
Speaker 2: So here's where the Dallas Cowboys under Mike McCarthy, this is where the and this is okay twelve and five. They win the NFC East and Ceedee Lamb leads away with seventy nine catch. This is in twenty one. Dalton Schultz tight end gets seventy eight. I don't think there's a seventy eight reception tight end. Pat Fryerman was a sixty guy though before this year, pretty reliably. Amari Cooper is your second receiver, sixty eight receptions. Ezekiel Elliott got forty seven, so we can expect the running backs to be used your third super quick.
00:29:35
Speaker 3: And if you remember, the Cowboys traded a first round pick to add to Maari Cooper, right, so there, so it was an investment.
00:29:42
Speaker 2: So Cedric Wilson is your third receiver and he gets forty five receptions. Just the number. We just just kind of again to use the word blithely throughout there a couple of days ago when we were talking. Then we go to twenty twenty two, once again, another very good Cowboys team, twelve and five. They finished second in the NFC. So I'm not just I'm trying to you know, this is what it looked like when they were good. So yeah, now jumps up to one hundred and seven receptions. Okay, so that means the story the catches are going somewhere else. Dalton Schultz down to fifty seven. Your number two receiver, Noah Brown had forty three receptions and it was Tony Pollard, and your third receiver, Michael Gallup had thirty nine receptions. So there's going to probably.
00:30:25
Speaker 4: Rodgers likes to throw to dump at the running.
00:30:28
Speaker 2: Back, right, There's there's probably going to be a drop off at that number three receiver the right question.
00:30:34
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah. So but we're also assuming everybody says healthy.
00:30:37
Speaker 4: All yeah, Like, but you know, two years in a row they've come up a receiver short with not enough at the position right by a wide margin, right close to enough.
00:30:47
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, And I think now, you know, the more I've ruminated about this, the more I've thought.
00:30:54
Speaker 4: Ruminated the author is just spinning some words blithely.
00:31:01
Speaker 2: I did not. So the more I've ruminated about this, the more I think maybe maybe the veteran maybe he didn't like we just saw. I'm not a big fan of reaching our draft day. I think this Steelers built a great roster that made them, you know, a draft ready roster that made them not have to reach. Maybe it is that veteran receiver. Maybe it is somebody you feel a little bit better about their track record. Which allows you to to take a region and maybe develop them. It puts a guy like Roman Wilson unnoticed it. He's got to compete for a roster spot. And I think competing for roster spots that's good. You want guys competing for us. And I'm super excited about Bernard. But you're counting on him to be a starter today. I mean, he's a rookie exactly. That's that's a starter. That's That's My point is that we just sort of say, oh, well, you know, going back to what I was originally saying about Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown, Oh well, you know, Mike Wallace, Oh what does We'll grab a guy in the in the fifth round and he's going to start for us. Well, that's not the way it works around the end. There's plenty of failures. Either's some in the first round, but certainly after that there's a ton ofment to wide receiver.
00:32:04
Speaker 4: Right now, he's not gonna play or immediately either. You're not counting on Bernard to be one though, you're counting on him to be three.
00:32:11
Speaker 3: But that's basically a starter, I know, but still you way less responsibility and pressure than a one or two, right, I think, but you basically have nothing backing up any of those three, correct, and then then you need another.
00:32:23
Speaker 2: To Mike's point, what if that injury? Okay, so let's say an injury happens to one of your top three. Now what this guy in the sixth round is? Now you're three? Is that what we're counting on? Or him or Roman Wilson?
00:32:36
Speaker 3: So maybe, well, even if they draft Berks right now, you can't be like, oh, the six round pick's gonna be fine?
00:32:40
Speaker 4: Is your fourth? Right? If you take a Burner, he can run up and down the sideline, right, he should be able to transition well enough to do that run fast, make them take a guy with you, and now you count on your other guys to your more experience. But we're dangerously close to the Valdez scantling world again.
00:32:58
Speaker 2: Right, And that does not sound like I don't want that world? Right, Yeah, that doesn't sound like the way Mike McCarthy wants to cheme it up. You run up and down the field, by the way over here in the in the ax right where he wants some guys to move around, have versatility and ability.
00:33:12
Speaker 3: Hey, I want a lot of things. I deal with what I can get. I mean, I'll take Juwan Jennings, he's a free agent. But I'm not doing the about the scantling thing.
00:33:19
Speaker 2: We are gonna be back in a moment. We are continuing our draft coverage on Steelers Nation Radio and this Steelers Audio Network.
00:33:32
Speaker 5: And now a word from our sponsor, bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. There's nothing better than the clean crisp. Uh what if we just.
00:33:44
Speaker 6: Got out of here and grab some bud Lights. So, man, we're on air for four more hours. I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me.
00:33:52
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00:34:02
Speaker 8: I'm a one hundred percent kind of guy, So I got Verizon FiOS. It's one hundred percent fiber Internet because I do everything at one hundred percent.
00:34:09
Speaker 4: What game should we watch?
00:34:11
Speaker 8: One hundred percent of them?
00:34:13
Speaker 2: She hits a penalty.
00:34:15
Speaker 1: Kick out the pot pro gay downtown.
00:34:18
Speaker 4: Bright, beautiful shot onto the green.
00:34:20
Speaker 9: You either have one hundred percent fiber Internet or you don't get Verizon FiOS. It's super fast, unreliable with ultra low lag. It's one hundred percent or nothing. Called one eight three three Verizon to switch today, Dad's.
00:34:38
Speaker 1: This is the Steelers Audio Network Draft Marathon on Steelers Nation Radio, a part of the Steelers Audio Network.
00:34:49
Speaker 2: And welcome back as we continue rolling along with our draft coverage, Stee There's it's gonna be a while since they picked. They traded back into the sixth round by trading down in the fifth and giving up a seventh, two picks in the seventh as of.
00:35:03
Speaker 3: Right now, three more picks right two tens to twenty four and two thirty.
00:35:10
Speaker 2: Are we at that stage that there was? There was a little bit of a stage in which I think we're talking about this last night where Cleveland had like five out of seven picks from like one. I didn't see how that went for him. Look, I know that it's it's hard to keep track of all this stuff. Do you have any sense of how the rest of the division is done?
00:35:31
Speaker 3: Not well enough? To be honest with you, I mean, Sunday to me is sleeping like crazy, really really dig into every team and have a good feel by Monday of a real good vibe of what all thirty teams did and do I like it or not, and what they gave up to move up and trade compensation and all that kind of stuff.
00:35:54
Speaker 4: But we can go definitely go through it.
00:35:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, it can't be that hard to But yeah, I got Cleveland up on, loved how Cleveland started to drive.
00:36:01
Speaker 2: I will tell you this that uh Fano mm hmm. Concepts and McNeil Warren pretty good guys with three and I think there was just somebody between.
00:36:14
Speaker 4: H I don't like Concepts. Uh, I love them short and drops the ball. Agree with that way, But I like uh Fano, I like Boston. I like McNeil Warren, Austin Barber tackle third round. They need all the old line help. They can get it.
00:36:32
Speaker 2: He's pretty bad, but they just keep adding and adding.
00:36:34
Speaker 4: Parker Brails for center.
00:36:36
Speaker 3: Alabama, I mean three o linemen. Yeah, uh you need line and receiver are going to be their thing. And this is very cut parallel to the Steelers.
00:36:44
Speaker 4: Then they have Justin Jefferson, linebacker from Alabama who's undersize, but we can run athlete kind of a JEREMIAHU. Uh yeah, he has some similar his career right and Joe Royal, uh tight end for since an thinks a good salt. Yeah, he's a good solid player too.
00:37:02
Speaker 3: Nothing great, but uh he'll help their own line is so crazy. I mean they basically went into the offseason with like two guys under contract, so they've had to totally rebuild it.
00:37:11
Speaker 4: They added a little bit veteran free agency, yeah, a lot, so.
00:37:15
Speaker 3: More than I thought they were capable of going into the drafts. But still they drafted three of us.
00:37:19
Speaker 2: So I've got the I've got the r lads depth chart up for them right now, and they've got Fano starting at left tackle. Zion Johnson, who I think a lot of people.
00:37:30
Speaker 3: I think they vastly overpaid for. Yes, former first round pick four years ago.
00:37:33
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of people who thought that as I was listening to the NFL network after that signing, and I think the guy kindly put it, he's got some ups and downs, maybe more downs than ups. Yeah, and we'll see talented guy for sure. He went in the first round. Yeah. Jenkins elgiend Jenkins, elginend Jenkins at center, very good player.
00:37:53
Speaker 4: He was someone I want the Steelers to attack.
00:37:55
Speaker 2: The loan returner was Tevin Jenkins at right.
00:37:58
Speaker 4: Guard, also Jones returner.
00:38:01
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get to him in a minute. And I'm just looking. I'm just listing what they have as their starters. And then Titus Howard at right tackle. So they went out and got three veterans.
00:38:10
Speaker 3: So it's interesting not to get too much in the weeds. The Howard pick makes a lot of sense in that he's played a lot of guard, played a lot of tackle. He's also a former first round pick. I think the Wad Jones will be a starter at one of the tackle spots, which brings you to Fano because I'm not sure if he is a tackle. He's very short armed, he's not. He doesn't look anything like Max or you know Max starts for that rate matter. But I can see how they'll put the puzzle together. Now, Yeah, you know, Titus M. Howard might be a guard, Fano might be a guard. Jones is definitely a tackle.
00:38:45
Speaker 2: That went from an aging questionable offensive line to me to the possibility it could be a very good unit.
00:38:52
Speaker 3: It could be decent. I don't like the Florida kid they drafted in the third round much, but.
00:38:58
Speaker 4: I'm living more decent than very good.
00:38:59
Speaker 2: But Zach Zach Ziner hasn't paid off for him. He was a former third rounder. Certainly it'll be improved.
00:39:05
Speaker 3: Zenter's interesting though, because he was a third rounder after knowing that his rookie year was going to be a wash because of injuries. He was a potential first rounder coming out of Michigan before he got hurt. I have no idea where he is in his recovery, if he'll be any good. But all of a sudden they have seven or eight linemen. Where when the when the when the off season started, they had like two.
00:39:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and just again, I'm real, real quick to me. I mean, if you have let's see, let's say he even kicked uh uh Fano inside. Yeah, I like Dwan Jones, I mean, oh yeah, he should be a starter for him if he's gonna be healthy. That's the big problem for him. But if he and Howard were your tackles, I think that's it could be the plan and and Fano and then you know Johnson obviously they're betting on some upside there and Jenkins is your center. Does that not sound like a good starting offensive.
00:39:50
Speaker 3: Line, especially if Fano is a A level guard prospect and a B level tackle prospect because Jenkins can also play guard or center, right, I mean there's versatility. That they did much more on the line than I thought they were capable before the draft, and now they've had They've drafted three of them.
00:40:05
Speaker 2: I think I got more bullish on their offensive line than you guys are. And then they have no way better than I expected. Fan and a tight end. He had a very very good year. And then Conceptsio and in Boston.
00:40:16
Speaker 4: Uh, to me, I would have taken those two for the Steelers.
00:40:19
Speaker 2: Yep, I mean those are those are two. I think we're both high in Conceptsio and Boston is a is a nice target for them. We don't know who's going to play quarterback, but then you have Judkins is your you know, if he's healthy, sort of your lead running back, not sort of your lead back, is your lead running back. He's he's impressive, uh.
00:40:38
Speaker 3: Quarterback position, Oh yeah.
00:40:40
Speaker 2: But but they they feel like and I thought it was very interesting that everybody in the AFC North the Steelers as usual, Baltimore as usual and now Cleveland and then Cincinnati with trading for Dexter Lawrence put a lot of attention in the trenches and it's gonna premium stuff. It's gonna be really really interesting to watch him with the battles this year.
00:41:01
Speaker 4: Did Cleveland do anything defensively?
00:41:02
Speaker 3: Truv, I mean, I know nothing, Mail Warren mac Meil Warren, and they drafted the linebacker from Bama.
00:41:09
Speaker 2: Picked up Quincy Williams.
00:41:11
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say about today.
00:41:13
Speaker 2: But I mean they're they're basically running back their defense last year.
00:41:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, which they should. The defense was quite good and probably still will be.
00:41:20
Speaker 2: Yep.
00:41:20
Speaker 4: Bengals got edge help cashiusil from A and M, but of course they lost Hendrickson.
00:41:26
Speaker 2: Henderson was so cash I saw somebody give him like an A plus grade.
00:41:32
Speaker 3: He's gonna be a situational pass rusher, though he will not he does not do anything against a run, but he might be the best pass rusher in this draft.
00:41:39
Speaker 4: Carrie Davis cornerback Washington in the third round. He's a giant. Connor Loo, fourth rout center from Auburn, does nothing for me. I don't know.
00:41:48
Speaker 3: He might be their starting center, but their a line got better as he'son.
00:41:51
Speaker 4: Went On and Colby Young wide receiver Georgia in the fourth, they don't pick again. They don't pick again until one eighty nine. And then let's take a quick look at the raven.
00:42:00
Speaker 2: And as you look at the Bengals, I mean they're boy, Mafe was not productive last year. They gave me a huge contract. I think Miles Murphy came on a little bit toward the end of last year. And they're hoping for Shamar Stevin, Murphy and Stewart. I mean those again, we were talking about this like the in the first hour. I think, you know, you're looking to upgrade your defense, and they they I think they went down the right path as far as we're gonna draft edge guys and we're gonna draft corners, and we have to upgrade inside linebacker. But two defensive coordinators are a lack of productivity on defense tells me that those guys haven't been the right guys.
00:42:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they blamed the defensive coordinator who's very highly regarded. He goes to Indianapolis, proves their defense and the defense doesn't get any better. Right, I'm trying to find something I wrote about the Bengals here in a moment. Why don't we take a.
00:42:53
Speaker 2: Break Okay, we're gonna take a break and do it afterwards. Uh finished on this end. Fun hanging out with you guys. Fun to watch the draft pict roll in one more. I'll be listening as I drive on home and hear you guys. Draft coverage continue.
00:43:07
Speaker 4: Now we'll stick around here with the head coach at the GM. Have to say when it's.
00:43:10
Speaker 2: Over, are you working, Mike? You're doing com stuff? You got something better to do. I'm gonna listen to you guys. Is there any better better than that? That's Mike pursued it. Matt Williamson. We have ed troop coming in, Tom Aferman coming in, Wes Euler coming into. Matt Williamson is always staying right where he is on anchoring our draft coverage. Guy's been a pleasure. Thank you very much. We will continue on our draft coverage on Steelers Nation Radio and the Steelers Audio Network.
