HR3: Live from the NFL Owner's Meetings

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1:02be careful with that one. We will be here today, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with bonus hours for you every single day. And we're kicking off our first day of coverage here. We'll first bonus hour here on a beautiful Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona. Matt, I wanted to take a look. Just post it on super quick for your mind. I'll just say you were looking at me like you had something on your mind. Yeah, just something you know just chatting with Chris stuck with me a little bit. You know, because I've been on the fence of should they use a mid-round pick on a quarterback or not? They know we know they have the selections. Third, fourth round, whatever. We know they've done their homework. People look too much into that. You should always do homework on quarterback. Absolutely. You should do homework on everybody, but I mean because it might be a Justin Fields type situation where a couple of years later he's available. Right. Or you're playing against them. Or wherever information on those guys or you fall in love with them and you do want to take them or whatever. You know what I mean? And frankly, I'm never against taking another quarterback because you might hit on Purdy or whatever. I mean, so you don't... What does that you miss

2:03every shot you don't try? I always like back to the year that they were the redskins at the time. Now commanders drafted RG3 and then took our cousins and the third round and everyone was like, what are you doing? And he had a much better career. Yeah, and so we kept Chris a long time, but we could have kept them longer. I got the feeling that he's really getting the vibe that they will take a quarterback. That's what it seemed like. Right. He seemed pretty confident in that assertion. And frankly, I don't have a problem with it, but it's... I just keep going... It just bouncing around on my brain a lot. Is it the right move or not? You know? It's 12 draft picks. It's all about draft picks, right? I mean, you've only used 10. Why don't I want a quarterback? Okay, kind of... I get it. I kind of ascribe to your just general roster building philosophy team building logic that almost every year, 50% of the years, you should be taking a quarterback in an offensive lineman. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that's a good way to live. You know, most years, you should take one or both. And that doesn't mean in the first or second round. No, but if those

3:04guys hit, they're way too cold, man. Right. How many times did the Packers trade away a quarterback during the Brett Farve era? You know? Like, that's something that they used to do all the time. All the guys like crazy. I mean, the Patriots used to do that, you know, with the groppelows and the brosets and those guys under Brady. And we just touched on it, but I mean, anyway, you cut it. That's not great news for Mason Rudolph. No, it's not. Yeah, because you know Howard's in the team and you know the starter's going to be on the team. And a mid-round draft pick is probably going to be on the team. And that's that. Then on the side, there's only so many seats on the Titanic. Yeah. And Rudolph is up after this year, too. And he probably has a little bit of trade value. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He belongs on an act of roster. Yeah, yeah. He is in the NFL. Plus we get the camp and the Bears have an answer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Matt Aaron Schatz, who we're a fan of, put out on ESPN.com today, his wide receiver projections, rankings, and comps. Okay. And this is something that I want to run through with you because we're a fan

4:05of Aaron's work. Yeah. Yeah. It's a position group that one of these guys could be a stealer. One of these guys, I think in all likelihood, one maybe even two will be a Pittsburgh stealer. Number one on his bigboard is Mackay Lemon at a USC. And his comp is Sammy Watkins. Hmm. I don't see the comp. That's interesting to me. That's also. Yeah. That's also a little bit under a little bit of an underwhelming wide receiver one. Yeah. Watkins was a superstar prospect coming out of Clemson. He sure was. Like that was a loaded ride receiver class. And he was a wide receiver one. And he had a nice NFL career, but wasn't a superstar. And that's some injuries. Yeah. I think he's a different style. Now, again, I have great respect for Aaron's work. Maybe he's looking at this through an analytic lens as opposed to a all 22 lens, but they win in different ways. Watkins was frankly a little more jamar chase light, but I mean, just the way he played, especially on his best days, which were really, really high. Lemon to me is more slot,

5:06the more technical, tougher. I understand why lemon number one was list, but I also don't think lemon would be a top 12 pick most years. Yeah. His list is is pretty crazy here. And that's why I wanted to go. Because number one is different perspective. Same. Number one is Mackay lemon. Number two is Omar Cooper, Jr. out of Indiana with Justin Jefferson as his comp. You know me. That's like Jim Brown. Yeah, exactly right. Well, this quarterback is going to be the next home Brady. Yeah, but better, you know, faster, you know, that edge. He reminds me a lot of Miles Garrett. Right. Jim TJ one little mix of Lawrence Taylor. I mean, style of play. I can get that a little bit with Cooper. I mean, coming out of that. That's kind of what he's saying. They remember coming out of the LSU Jefferson fells to the middle of the first round because he's quote slot only. We quickly proved not to be much like JSN and Puka and Norman Rossane Brown. I don't even know the Cooper should be lumped in with those guys as slot only.

6:08I could see the argument from being wide or see or two. I don't see the comp though. Number three is Jordan Tyson out of Arizona state. Mike Evans is the comp. I don't see another little comp in him to a future. Which is very, very difficult. I like a lot of things Tyson does, but he doesn't play super big. He does win above the rims some, but he's got real short arms. He's not really a long levered guy, especially from a catcher radius standpoint, which Evans absolutely is. Do you throw it anywhere and he holds it in. I do see Tyson potentially is number three receiver in the class. He wouldn't be mine. I'd have him a little lower and I doubt Aaron's factoring in the injury history too, who knows? Denzel Boston. Number four. Andre Johnson, Cory and Robinson. Those are two different. Those are two different types there. But big six, four over 210 pounds,

7:11toughness, ball skills, more so than necessarily speed and just pure athletic ability. So that makes that makes sense from that when you when you kind of view it through that lens. I'm glad he threw Cory and Robinson there too. I mean, Andre Robinson or Andre Johnson's also a Hall of Famer was a total superstar as well. So somewhere in between. Yeah, okay. I like this one. Cardinal Tate at five, which is that's the lowest we've seen him, I think, by far. I think he's definitely going wide as you were one. AJ Green is kind of the historical, the historical comparison that I can definitely see. Yes, I'll play. I get that greens faster, greens more fluid, greens more special. You know, greens like the first pick in the first or Steve off the board almost any year he comes out. I don't think Tate is. But I see the downfield, the length, the ball skills, you know, that type of stuff. Yes. He has got, let's see, eight guys rated as first round grades. Okay. Number six is Casey Concepcion, who Matt is rapidly liking becoming a fan of his comps Michael Thomas and T Higgins.

8:16Hmm. Okay. Both of those guys are bigger than Concepcion. Higgins plays bigger in terms of going up and get the ball. And I think you've seen him in person. He's super impressive. I don't love those any of these comps to be honest. Thomas is a physical slant. Not as good after the catch, not as explosive as Concepcion. None of those guys have like legit punt return ability like he does. He gets a lot of handoffs. I mean, I think there's more to his gate. Not these better than those guys, but I mean, there's a different style. Number seven is Zachariah Branch out of Georgia, Nico Collins and Justin Hunter being the comps. I don't get these comps at all. Zach Branch is like five eighth. Nico's like six five. That one surprised me too. Justin Hunter's like six five. This one surprised me the most because of the size difference. I mean, I wonder again, I have such respect for Aaron. I wonder if he's just putting from an analytical numbers into the computer and a pile of similar profile. That's

9:20what it's starting. This is what they did in college or this is where they lined up or because their styles of play aren't at all similar. So it's he says players who are similar in their playmaker statistics, not necessarily physical traits. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's on me. I apologize. I should probably should have probably stated that from the beginning. Just knowing how he operates as a, you know, a true analytic guy that makes some sense. And then, uh, and then number eight on this list is Chris Brasel, the second who we've discussed plenty out of Tennessee, uh, Rochelle Caldwell and Anthony Gonzalez, the kind of historical comparisons there, which aren't super kind. I mean, those guys were first and second round picks. They didn't do a lot in the league. But I would imagine they were sports usage or strange usage in college, which is exactly how Brasel is. And then he's got, let's see here two more names on this list, Matt. So those are the, uh, those are the first, the first round graded guys. Two more names on this list. A day two sleeper and a day three sleeper. I think you'll really like the day two sleeper. It's a larger

10:21Serrat, the other wide receiver at Oklahoma that I think you and I have, have, uh, really started to warm up to Anthony Miller and Kevin Lockett, the historical comps. Okay. Um, 15 touchdowns last year for the Hoosiers 830 receiving yard 65 catches. Yeah. I mean, a go to trustworthy move the chains tough guy, you know, wide receiver wide receiver cut guy. You know, right. Yeah. I'm a fan. And then day three sleeper CJ Daniels out of Miami. We haven't really discussed him much. No, I need to do more work on him, but he's starting to get his name keeps getting thrown around more and more on these articles. Uh, timeunk, Gumrie and Jalen Herd being the historical comps here. Yeah. Okay. Uh, those guys got carries and did a lot of other things than receiver. Yes. Yes. Um, and then he basically, uh, throws in that, uh, in this conversation of bonus as well, too, that he really likes tight end Ken Yon Siddeck. Okay. And, uh, and, and basically says he's thinks he's got a chance to be the next Travis Kelsey type elite NFL title. Again, huge, huge

11:25comp. But I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, but I see what he's saying. I mean, that this guy's going to be a first round pick, maybe even earlier than some suspect and get the ball in his hands and he does a lot of good stuff. You know, right? That's dynamic play making makes a lot of sense. It does make a lot of sense. I'm trying to see, uh, because he's got his whole list here. So after Sarat in the second round, uh, Jeremy Bernard, uh, rank tied Jacoby Lane out of USC, we haven't really talked about him too much. No, there's some things about his game. I dislike. Yeah. I, he's tall. I think he was highly recruited, um, big profile school, all that good stuff, but doesn't play with a lot of physicality and grit that I've seen. And to me, that's with all these receivers that would, I'm not saying you know, like cancel him off a list, but I'd rather play against him than with him. Antonio Williams out of Clemson. I like him a lot. Who's an intriguing one? I'm starting to like him too. Malik, I feel to we've, we've cooled off on a little bit. Yeah. He just, you don't see the

12:25separation pop. That's a thing. Right. That's a tough way to live in the NFL. He does play big and has some physicality. It's just, he's not open a lot. Another, I mean, you can't throw on the ball, but a couple more second round grades that he has on guys as we wrap this up. Uh, Dijon Stribling, who we haven't talked about. Yeah, I need more work to miss big tester. Big tester. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Ted Hurst, who I really like. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Chris Bell out of Louisville Skylin. I'm really impressed. If he had a clean bill of health, yeah, he would be, I think, much higher on these lists. Skyler Bell out of Yukon. So he's got the, the bells back to back there. I think both could be, or both are going on day two. And then Aaron Anderson out of LSU, who we haven't discussed much. I think he's a smaller, super dynamic. Yeah. He's real little like, I don't even say Austin, but punt returner, shifty, you know, little guy. He's only a junior. He's young and he does have speed to burn. Oh, yeah. Five eight, man. That's, uh, that's tough. Yeah. There's, there's being a little undersized. And then there's, you know, then there's being, and he's not thick too. Like, even like, Berks and, um, the Oklahoma kid, both those dudes have a little bit of thickness to him

13:33and can take hits and or, you know, stronger build. He's, he's lean. Uh, yes, correct. Berks is the Oklahoma kid. Do you own Berks? Yeah. I get him and the names of him in Georgia. Him and, um, the other short bugger. Oh, Zacharii branch branch. Yeah. Yeah. Both of those guys at least have some physicality to him or don't know, so, you know, stiff breeze doesn't knock him over. The funniest part is by the time we get to the point where we have all these guys names down, all the moderns down, all that stuff. Oh, they're gonna end up on a new team. Then they end up on a different team. And we're like, and we're like back to square one. Let's, uh, let's, let's, take a break here. We have gotten a ton of tweets. Oh, you've got to, we've got a bonus hour here to get to plenty of those. We'll roll through some of the, uh, some of the good questions, uh, owner's meeting related, stealers related, draft related. You know where to get at us if you want to get involved. He's at Williamson NFL. I'm at Wesley Euler. We'll, uh, we'll get to some of your questions, comments, concerns and reactions as we roll along here in our number three. We are

14:36live inside the built more in Phoenix, Arizona, all part of our league meetings coverage on Steelers Nation radio on the Steelers audio network. What's up NFL fans? The NFL draft is finally here. And while you might not know who your team is drafting this year, you do know your watch parties number one pick. Bud Light, the clean crisp taste that has all the scouts talking. Guess that's why it's been the groups go to draft beer season after season. Be sure to order around for the table before your teams on the clock. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly and heizer bush Bud Light beer St. Louis, Missouri. It is the drive live from the owners meetings annual league meetings 2026 edition here in Phoenix,

15:44Arizona, special Sunday show for Matt and I will also be broadcasting here Monday and Tuesday before we head home on Wednesday. We're enjoying the sunshine and join the moving and shaken here at the built more. We're really pick up tomorrow. I was just going to say and anticipating Monday and Tuesday where tomorrow Mike McCarthy will speak to the Pittsburgh media then on Tuesday. That's around lunchtime, right? That is around lunch. Yes. And then Tuesday, he'll do his breakfast with with the full media gambit. And we'll also with 15 other AFC coaches. Yes. And then Omar Khan and Mr. Rooney will both also speak to the Pittsburgh media on Tuesday. So McCarthy Monday all three on Tuesday and also Matt. I'll make sure you guys get all the highlights. Absolutely. And we've got our, you know, again, our outstanding video crew boots on the ground here with Jason Nate and Emil and they've told us they've assured us that they will be sharing some audio from some of

16:45these from some of these availability sessions as well that we'll be able to bring you good people out there in Stealer Nation. So looking forward to it. I've also been told there's a pretty exquisite dinner coming our way tomorrow night that I'm looking forward to. Yeah, a little get together. You'll like brought my, uh, brought my finest duds for the Mac. Matt was telling me, Matt's like, I got to do some shopping across the street that there's a Ralph Lauren store across the street from the hotel. That was like, I might have to get some new pants for the party tomorrow. I got to be looking good. Got to be sharp. Matt speaking of sharp, Warren Sharp putting out a tweet. You're doing what I wanted to run by. Okay. Before we get to the other tweets from the people, you and I have talked, we've referenced in the past. I forget the exact name for it, but it's like the draft compensation value formula chart where a first, first overall pick is worth this much. In a second round, 40 second pick is worth that much. Just the overall total draft value and what you have in a class and where you're drafting. Okay. Yeah, very exactly. So real quick, Jimmy Johnson's

17:48like well known for he put together the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart. You know, like if I'm going to trade the 10th pick overall, I need 17 overall and 38 and that adds up and it, and it's not gospel, but it's, you know, a good thing to go off. And they're like, well, I'll be your trading up for quarterback, throw me an extra fourth round pick. It won't make the deal. Okay. And it really made trades, I think more, more easy. Yeah, frankly, I mean, we can all kind of go off this. We don't have to believe it is gospel. But then there's been some and that was a long time ago, Jimmy Johnson's head coach, a long time ago. So there have been some analytic folks that have taken it to another level and there's some other draft trade value charts. You probably can just type those words in the Google and you find it. So I think this is interesting and I'm sure I'm not looking at the tweet, but I'm interested in it. I'm sure Sharp is adding up everyone's current picks right now and who has the most draft capital. The skewers have the most picks. Yes, they do. And they and they have the seventh most valuable capital really of this class.

18:50Okay. And Matt, I'm sure this won't surprise you. But that is by far the best that the Steelers have had in 25 years. Oh, that doesn't surprise me at all. They're always so successful. They're exactly right. Right. Right. No losing seasons in that time period. We don't want to extra picks over those years. We all know the drill yet. It's not like they're trading guys in the middle of the season for future first and second and things like that. They haven't had a ton of compics over the years. The last time the Steelers had top 10 draft value in a year was the year 2000, 25 years ago when they were ranked sixth. Now they're seventh Matt last year, 30th, 2024, 16th, 2023, 13th, 2022, 20th, 20th, 30 second, 15th, 20th, 21st, 30th, 20th, 16th, 15. So they haven't even really been particularly close. They haven't even been 11 or 12 at any points in the last. They've been much closer to 30 than they have the top 10. But this is the first time that they have top 10 draft capital, seventh overall in the league, seven total picks in

19:51the first four rounds really, really helps that. But that just that caught my eye because it's a it's a real opportunity for this organization for Omar Khan, for Andy Wido, for Mike McCarthy, for everybody involved. They want to get three or four starters out exactly right to set yourself up for the next decade. And it's cheap for, you know, the extension of their their contracts and all that stuff as well. No, that's it's absolutely massive to me. The draft that's going to be really fun for this team. It's it's going to be a blast. And especially when you add in the wrinkle that it's in our it's on our home territory. Oh, by the way, but yeah, total coincidence. Oh, by the way, let's get to some of these. Let's get a couple good players out of this. They they better. Yeah, they better. They absolutely better. All right, let's get to some tweets here as we as we get into the bottom half of this bonus hour smooth Dave is going to lead us off here. He says, does the way the things went down with George Pickens kind of changed the stealer's mindset and some of the character conversations that you guys have been having seems like there has been

20:52a conscious effort to bring in higher character players as of late. And when that also potentially eliminate guys like a Tyree kill like a brand and I you like a Christian Wilkins from potentially being part of the conversation. It's a good question. Yeah, it's a great question. It's a hard one to answer because it the way it was phrased makes it sound like they've never cared about cancer or you know, character in the past. And that's just not true. I mean, we know that as much as anything in the league, they'll scratch people with serious character concerns or indiscretions or whatever off their list. I mean, they don't draft they don't have a history of drafting people with a criminal record or the put their hands on women or things of that nature. And pick and send to him those things either. I mean, let's be fair to that young man too. I mean, I don't know that he's a bad person, you know, I mean, you know, those things too. And it's always a hard thing to comment on, you know, how do you fit in the team dynamic and all that kind of stuff. It's always stressed with this team and some teams were the most, but I think this team is much

21:55as any. I can't imagine being in the Tyree kill conversation and probably never considered that. Especially if the injury and his age and everything. Wilkins is such an odd one. And it's really hard to find details, which makes you think the worst. But at least Patrick Graham will know those details. Yeah. And they have signed a defensive lineman since then. So they're probably done just with signing defensive lineman anyway. Who was the last name? The last one was, no, was Wilkins. It was IU. IU. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, there's no reason to think IU, because a bad guy, he's just not getting along with it. He just clearly. There's some friction there in that relationship. And a lot of the short answer to those questions is they've traded for a veteran receiver and they signed a defensive tackle. So they're probably not going to be the mark for any of those guys. Couple good question. Once interested in IU. Absolutely. I don't think he all of a sudden turned into a bad guy. No, he's still relatively young in the conversation. He's still got a few years ago until he hits 30. A couple of good questions here from Jeff. Jeff

22:59Tweetsisin says, do you think we will see a 50 50 split with Washington and Friar Moot this season? Or do you see one of those guys being featured? I think the Steelers will draft a tight end. The question is just what round? I think they will as well. You're great. I mean, there's a day day three. I feel like I would think so. Maybe as early as the fourth round, something like that. Again, really good tight end draft. A lot to pick from. I think there'll be a look a lot different than Connor Hayward. Connor Hayward looked like a full back. Yes. Guys are going to look like a tight end. There'll be six four or six five, you know, something like that. I'm curious about the Friar Moot's Washington conversation. That's one thing that when we get the training camp will be very very keeping an eye on. I hope I like both players a lot. I hope one isn't the first string guy. And this is the second string guy. And just looking at McCarthy's career Friar Moot's style is more his style going back to Dr. Michael Finley and Ferguson. A lot of guys are detached from the formation more than Washington's style. But guys like Washington

24:04come along very often. No, they do not. They don't grow on trees. No. And the other thing he is a really special player. And I think it was the last time Omar was at the podium said, hey, I'll take 22 of those guys and we want him not going anywhere. So they definitely have big plans for him. Maybe McCarthy's going to consider more 12 personnel than he has in the past. I would think that's probably in the cards that you play 10% more than he's used to with both them on the field. And maybe it's a little bit situational. Maybe it's just somewhat of a competition who's better at the time. I don't want Washington as a number two. You know, like a true backup, you know, like that's not using him the best of his ability. I agree with you on that. I think there's I think there's a marriage between the both and their skill sets that you can that you can really keep defenses on their toes. Tough to game plan for. Yeah. I mean, I often say about players, the opponents love when you put on the field. Washington's job. The complete opposite.

25:06They go, oh no. I don't know. I used to play like this and it's not fun lining up against Andre. This big, this athletic, Andre the giant. Unless you're Hulk Hogan and you can just pick him up and slam him. Last one from Jeff. And this is a, this is a good point too. And we had a little conversation about this in the first hour of the show with the new NFLPA president now in place. Do you guys expect the 18 game schedule conversation to be more emphasized and talked about during the owner's meetings? I don't know. I'm sure to be talked about. That's a good point about the new new president. Yeah, and seems like it could really start to ramp up if it's the right time. So legal stuff and contracts and yeah, some of these things we talk about while we're here aren't as easy to talk about for me as on the field. They're not our strengths. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that it's possible. You don't have to wait till the next CBA to install an 18 game schedule. If both players and owners agree on it and maybe having a new president could kick start that a little more. I guess that's a good, it's a good question. It is a great answer.

26:08It's certainly something we'll be keeping an eye on. And if that is the case here over the next two days, we will relay that information. I mean, we know it's not going to happen this year. Maybe next year at this time, we're talking about how that's in play. He intweets and says, is there an NFL owner that you guys have always wanted to meet? I don't think so. You know, who my answer was pretty interesting. I was just going to say my answer would have been Jim Ersson. That would be your pick with the rock and roll. Because. Because he was always kind of my spirit animal in the sense of if I had money like that, I'd do the same thing. I'd buy a bunch of Jimmy Hendrix and Jerry Garcia's and Beatles and all the John Lennon and all these old legendary musicians. He had a bunch of their guitars and memorabilia. And it was for way more than I would have ever get. One of Jerry Derek Trucks bought one of Jerry Garcia's guitars for 12 and a half million dollars from the estate. Zach Brian, who was the country artist, bought the original on the road scroll, which is the famous beatnick hippie novel that was written by Jack Kerouac

27:08in the 50s. He bought the original print of it. So all those things. All those things. John Lennon stuff, Jerry Garcia stuff. I knew it was extensive, but when I saw the money that it actually generated was way more. And it was like 100 million early. Yeah, it was crazy. I would have been able to nerd out with him about some some music stuff for sure. That would have been fun. This will rub our old fans really the wrong way. But boy, I'd spend time with Al Davis. Yeah. I mean, such a unique character. Yeah. I mean, he was a football coach. Jerry Jones too. I don't know that true. That's true. I mean, Al had real strong opinions on, you got to hit the quarterback, you got to speed it to receiver. You know, like in times of change, but I was like to sit around and pick his brain, football stuff and team building and you know, that type of stuff. Let's see here. Dave tweets us and says it seems to me that Caleb Johnson is not valued much. If that's the case, what it makes sense to draft their running back higher than we think third or fourth round and see if he can beat out Caleb Johnson. Maybe. I mean, if the draft falls in your lap and Jonah Coleman from

28:12Washington sitting there in the top of the fourth round, you got a lot of your other needs filled. Maybe. I mean, as much as you like Warren and Dowdell, running backs of very year to year. Yes, it is. Proposite. Yes, it is. And adding another young guy, you might be real happy about it like this time next year. It's like, man, I'm born out a lot of injuries this year, Dowdell got older. Yeah. Yeah. We're going hunting for a quarterback. Yeah. I have a guy to pair with him for the future. I think they draft one either way, but there's a difference between third, fourth round and sixth round. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Let's get in one or two more here before we get to our final break. This is a good one from Matt. He says, you know, kind of reference it. You know, you and I discuss how hard it is to come into the league and excel as an off ball linebacker and how it feels like there's truly a shortage of elite guys at that position right now might just be Fred Warner might be the only one. So Matt says, what are the needs to be an all pro type off ball linebacker? Is the athleticism more important? Is it the field field general aspect? Thanks, guys. That's a good question by Matt there. Well, I think so many of the first round

29:15mistakes are on athletes. You know, we're just going to get this amazing tester that flies are on the field at LSU and yeah, I'm looking at you, Devon White, you know, somebody like that. Absolutely. Just makes a ton of plays. He takes two false steps to his right, but then he flies to his left and still tracks everybody down because he's faster and more athletic than everybody. I think above the neck is super, super important. It off of all linebacker and safety. I mean, if you don't have it, I think you're in huge trouble in terms of recognition, all the different round concepts people put at you play action, motion, they just manipulate the heck out of those players and break all your rules and make you key on the wrong things and things just happen so, so fast in the middle field. Yes, they do. So I think it's that truth. A lot of guys have the athleticism, but it's the, it's kind of same church, different pew of the quarterback conversation. Yeah, you can have the arm, you can have the athleticism, but if you can't diagnose from the neck up at the line of scrimmage and, you know, 12 seconds, you're going to struggle in the warners and the great ones have all the above.

30:17Yes, I think you have to start with the brains. The brains. That's not that wouldn't be an attribute for you and I. No, there's been a lot of mistakes because people start with the, you know, the skill Devon White, example. One more segment to go on the other side to wrap up our bonus hour of coverage in our first day here at the NFL league meetings in Phoenix, Arizona. Matt and I will do that to put a bow on the day's proceedings. When we return, you'll Williamson, it is the drive, Steelers Nation radio on the Steelers audio network. What's up NFL fans? The NFL draft is finally here. And while you might not know who your team is drafting this year, you do know your watch parties number one pick. Bud Light, the clean crisp taste that has all the scouts talking. Guess that's why it's been the group's go-to draft beer season after season. Be sure to order around for the table before your teams on the clock. Bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Enjoy responsibly and has your push Bud Light beer St. Louis, Missouri.

31:29Final segment here on our first day of coverage from the NFL annual league meetings, the 2026 edition. Here, of course, in Phoenix, Arizona, we're broadcasting inside the gorgeous, the gorgeous part of me built more here. It's a beautiful day outside Matt. We're all excited to get back out there and soak up some sunshine in this dry heat. It's a dry heat. I'm starting to learn all about that out here and I'm picking up what everybody's putting down. I like it. We will be back as we've mentioned with you for Monday and Tuesday. And there will be plenty of moving and shaking happening here. Today's kind of the quiet day. It's kind of the gets set up day. Yeah. We've seen a few of the Pittsburgh media, but I'd imagine there'll be a much larger contingent tomorrow. Yeah, of course. A lot going on in the next few days. Of course Chris Hallack was here and kind enough to join us for a segment. I see Jerry Doolax on the phone

32:29over there. But it's really going to pick up tomorrow. And of course, part of that will be will be Mike McCarthy's lunch with the Pittsburgh media. And then on Tuesday, McCarthy, Omar Khan and Mr. Rooney all scheduled to speak in some capacity as well. So a lot of moving and shaking that'll be happening here quickly. And we are getting to some of your tweets, some of your questions, comments, concerns and reactions here in this bonus hour of the drive on this bonus Sunday edition of the drive bridge burner tweets us and says, what are your guys thoughts on this perhaps first round quarterback succeed at a much higher rate, not necessarily because of a huge talent difference with guys drafted later on in the third or fourth round, but maybe because of a huge difference in organizational patience and a level of resources devoted to their success. I think there's a balance in there definitely. Yes. And I think there's a lot of truth to it as well. I mean, they invested more. They liked the player more than a third round pick, fourth round pick, etc. Yes. I mean, there's definitely truth to that. Now, there's a re I mean, consensus

33:40will have these guys as first round picks as opposed to fourth round picks or whatever for reason for physical sales said, etc. But one of my things I've harped on over the years too is I really wish and I don't know how to do it, but I wish there was a minor league like hockey or baseball or whatever saying that would be great, because I really think there would be quarterbacks that got more opportunities. I'm not saying there'd be the next Brady, but they might be the next perty, you know, next Sam Darnold. Yeah. I mean, I'm talking about the late round pick that just doesn't get a lot of cracks at the apple. Someone like Will Howard. Yeah. Right. I mean, he just spent the whole year, if you were healthy in the minors, maybe, you know, playing a ton of, you know, the penguins have a good goalie or whatever is playing a ball. That's a great point. It's like all the other major sports in this country do have that. They have hockey does basketball down there. Right. Right. Even MLS and soccer does go work on your curveball or whatever. Right. And football doesn't have it. And I really think go line and quarterback is where that hurts a lot. And the thing that people don't realize, which really hurts these guys, especially during the season, but even before, there aren't many reps to go around. It's not developmental time and quarterbacks need developing

34:45even the first rounders. The first rounders get that attention. The late ones rarely do. So I'm absolutely convinced that in the last, since 1980 or whatever, last 50 years or whatever, there's probably 30 really good quarterbacks that just didn't get enough opportunity. You know, that's probably true and all rock walks of life. You know, of course, but, you know, like, especially at that position, just didn't get enough time on the field or enough attention or, you know, and you understand it because that's not coaches priorities. They're priorities to win on Sunday. Yeah. Or else I'm going to be out of a job. Yeah. You only have so much time for development. Let's see. Wayne tweets us and says, thought this might be an interesting SNR discussion, given the Steelers quarterback situation and you guys and you're talking about building the nest, which teams right now have the best nests? We'd have to do a little research. Yeah, I'm not sure I just come up with that. Honestly, I would, I would venture to guess that most of them are the playoff teams. And Rams come to mind because you could hit behind Sippahine Stafford. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Right. It's a great point. They really learn from a true professional

35:48whole thing. Like, I could even argue a team like the Jets because they have resources on the offensive line. They have a guy like Breeze Hall. Yeah. Yeah. Like, they've got a weapon like Garrett Wilson. Like, they can at least see their vision for building their building. Yeah. They may not have been drafted a quarterback this year, but that's going to be a softer landing spot when they do. Yes. You know, if the Cardinals hit on another offensive line, and they can start having semblance or even nests there, they've got receivers. They got a tight end. They Paris Johnson is a nice piece. She had another piece to that offensive line. Yeah. But I would think if we, if we kind of really took the time to, to hash that whole thing out, it would be most of the better teams in the league. Of course, of course. I mean, a lot of those teams are the chiefs and bills that don't need one should aren't going to be, you know, looking for a landing spot. But I mean, like the Vikings, maybe that's something we have more time in the offseason that I'll revisit Vikings is a good one. Vikings that come to mind, you know, that's not McCarthy has not succeeded there, but it's not because of surroundings is just dragged them down like an anchor, right? You know, right. Mike tweets us. This is an interesting one. What's our thoughts on Carson Beck coming in for one of

36:50the Steelers 30 business, 30 visits part of me is a good business to get as much intel on quarterbacks, even if you don't draft them. Is it a smoke screen to keep teams guessing about the draft plan? Also, which band or artist do you regret not seeing when you had the chance? All right, let's go with the first part there first. Carson, I think he nailed it. It is, it's part of the process of gathering as much intel as you can. And as you've told us before, someone who was a part of these things, there's always smoke and mirrors as part of this process. There are, there are. I'll be honest, just like on Beck in general, if you're looking for quarterbacks, it'll be drafted after Simpson, that may in the next six, seven guys, which I think he'll be one of, he'd be pretty low on my list, especially for where the Steelers sit, because I think his ceiling is as a lifetime back up. Yeah, I just don't think his arm isn't very good. He has a really quick release, but he's also played a lot of football. And I think he's kind of hitting his head on the ceiling already. You know, like you look at Cole Payton and think what could be sure I kind of look at

37:54back and be like, I kind of see what he is. And it's fine. I think he'll be an NFL player. But I don't see any trait that blows me away, it's other than his release, which is really snappy and quick. There's other stuff. It's all fine, but the arm strength's pretty poor. And as you've cited, I don't love him throwing some people under the bus and some of his press conferences and things like that. He might be a great guy, man. But I mean, it's just, that's not a good look. Which band of year are you regret not seeing when you had the chance? Pearl Jam was that, that team, that one for a long time. And then I just saw him recently. I was going to say the last time there in time. Most of mine, I've seen. Yeah, yeah. The first thing that came to my mind, though, was I saw Tom Petty once with my mom in 2007. Okay. And then he came back to Pittsburgh in like 2010 or 11, I think it was. And we thought about going again, but it was like a day or two after we had gotten back from a family vacation. So it was like, we were just gone for the whole week. We're tired. Yeah. Like the last thing I want to do is go out to a concert. Be look at it now. And then you're later. He passed away. You know, like, you know, I'm like, oh, man, I wish I would go, but I did see him once. I just wish I would have gone to see him the second. I mean, I can't say,

38:57I can't say like Zeppelin because they never told when I could have went, you know, I mean, sure, that would be your all. That would be a number of bars and I'm both of our number one. The bat tweets us and says here are my four draft needs. A nosy defensive lineman with push, a ball-hawking safety, a wide receiver to match up against the talent at that position in the AFC North and an upside coachable offensive lineman. Okay. I like those. I don't know about nose. Is that down? Is that further down on your list now? Yeah. I just don't know that they're built that way anymore to just have this nose eaten up space push guy. I think they want length. I think they want athletes up there. I think they want position versatility. And I think this coaching staff will show that more. It wouldn't shock me if they took Dante Corleone or Big Citrus or one of those guys, but they haven't gone out of their way in recent memory to get those dudes. Of the other ones, ball-hawking safety, wide receiver, offensive lineman with upside,

39:59which of those would be the priority in your mind. Because I think those are all three good calls. Safety's third. Safety's third. Safety's third. But they're going to draft one, I think, in the third round or so. Before day two ends. Probably. I would definitely think in the top four rounds. Especially if they keep all those picks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it's the Chris Edgar points, too. I mean, if we operate under the assumption that they really like Anderson and Cook, which I don't see any reason why they wouldn't. Maybe O-Line's not in as bad a shape as you think. Or it's in pretty good hands right now. And you know what? That transition is nicely to this tweet from RJ, who asks, instead of drafting maybe the potential tackle early this year. Would you guys consider offering one of Broderick Jones or Dylan Cook a contract extension this off season to offset the potential that you will need to draft one next year when you want to take your franchise quarterback? It's a good question. Again, the Chris conversation was really good from tower two.

41:00And we ran out of time because I had three or four things I wanted to run by because I don't maybe you could extend Cook and or Anderson. And that doesn't mean you have to make them top of the line massive starter conversations. But would you consider either one extending them and camp this year before they get expensive? You know what I mean? If you're Dylan Cook, you'll take you're not going to take starting left tackle money. That's the biggest money at all. If same with Anderson. So you and I discussed this briefly, and I can't remember for the first or second hour of the show. But say that six or seven games sample size of Dylan Cook was really enough to convince him. This isn't the them I should say. This isn't just a flash in the pan. Right. There's something here with this stuff. Good football player. You give him a two year type bridge deal that if it works out great, it's excellent value. If it doesn't, it doesn't anchor you down and it's not some big detriment. That doesn't mean you don't draft one anyway. And he has played left and right over his career too as all those swing guys do early in their career. Maybe he's your six though line. And maybe

42:04he's your swing guy and you found a stud left tackle in the first or second round or someone bumps into guard or there's having extra tackles. Not a problem. And I don't think you'd be expensive at all right now. That for an extension. That's honestly something that's like what they did with Warren. And I think that's a smart business because if it hits, it's such a benefit. If it doesn't, it doesn't really, it doesn't hamper you. It doesn't crush you. No, it doesn't at all. Joe tweets and says, love the drive. Well, thank you, Joe. We appreciate that. He says, you guys have discussed in the off season the value sometimes and taking shots on quarterbacks who go to quarterback you for a year sometimes in LA or San Francisco. Jimmy G fits that bill and is still a free agent. Would you have any interest? Yeah, I think I think early, I think early last week, I think we got a similar tweet like that. I think that ship sailed though. I don't think he's a reclamation project. I think I think I'd rather go Kirk cousins or Derek Carr at that. Yeah, and Jimmy's that's pretty shot. I don't see it with Jimmy. Let's see here

43:06a couple more before we get out of here. Josiah tweets and says challenge for you guys in your next mock draft. You've mentioned moving up in the second round to get a guy. Can we see what that looks like on paper? We actually did do that on Friday. Remember, we traded down from 21 to 29 to pick up an extra second round pick. Yeah. So we had a, we picked a 29, then we had two second round picks and three third round picks. Yeah, but I think what they're asking is take your pick in the first round and then move up from. Yeah, that's what I think. Yeah, that's just really hard to do when we do these mocks live. It is hard to do like pause it and offer people trades and it's not the real world in that capacity. But definitely be something I'm interested in though. Oh, I think I'm real interested for this team in general. Whether it's long gap. Whether it's you go O line at 21 and then trading up to 43 instead of 53 to get your wide receiver or vice versa. You take a wide receiver in the first round and you trade up the, you know, to 41 to grab a one of those guards or some or maxi and h or somehow he's still there. That's a thing is we

44:08may, it wouldn't surprise me at all. If we break on Thursday night and be like, Oh, I love their first round pick. Casey's concept, you know, or whoever it is, whoever you love. And then we get about five picks in on Friday's coverage. And like, that dude's still there. Yeah, you got three third round picks and two fours. Let's, let's make a call. Yeah. Yeah, at the position we expect to be there is still there. Let's go. That's and that's very possible. That's why you mock all these exercises and go through all this stuff. Let's see here. I think we definitely have the firepower to move up in round two. Totally. I like moving up in round two better than move up in round one. I also cheaper. I agree. And less there is somebody that we just like, wow, how is that guy? Yeah. Yeah. But I think it's cheaper. And I think as we discuss many times, that's the sweet spot of this group. Let's see here. I think we got time for one more. We got a tweet here, actually, that kind of covers this. So mock draft here from from Bridge

45:10Burner trading back to 30 or trading to 38 to get Maxi in a chore. After already making a first after making a first and then getting Jeremy, then getting Jeremy Bernard at pick 53 Ted Hurst in the third round. Hey, I'm up to that. Do you think that do you think that the offensive lineman that you like could last to 38 40 that type of range, though, that would become then the biggest question. You're saying without making a first round pick, they traded out around one and went all the way down to. Oh, okay. Okay. I was looking at that wrong man. Sorry. But regardless, is 38 could that could that be a sweet spot for an offensive lineman you want? Or is that maybe maybe more likely to get a really good receiver there? That's that's perfect. That's what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Deeper group. Deeper group. But then you would be one of the guards who saw this or you know, uh, pregnant on or somebody like that tackles just don't last. They do not such there's such a valuable. Come on. And it looks like there's a lot, but they're they're gonna go quick. They always they always go quicker than we think. Today went a little bit

46:11quicker than I thought. That was a lot of fun. Thanks to Jason is here doing video duties with us. TV's still gonna produce it and cut it all up and everything. But Jason is here pushing the buttons and setting everything up along with Nate and Emil. Thanks to those guys for hanging out with us today. We are just getting started two more days of coverage coming at you with the bonus hour of the drive here from the annual league meetings in Arizona. That will do it for us on this Sunday. For Matt Williamson. I'm West Mueller. Thanks to Chris Hallock for joining us as well. Take care everybody. And we will talk to you tomorrow. You know where to find us. It's on your 24-7 home of the black and gold Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network. We see you. Your calendars color coded your outfit for tomorrow is already laid out. You have everything in top of where labeled in your fridge. You buy in bulk. You meal prep. You know what you're doing in 2027. You're a planner. And we're here to say you don't have to do it all. S&T Bank makes banking easy. From our friendly team to our online and mobile solutions. We do more so you can do less. Stop by your local branch. Visit STBank.com or call 800-325-2265 S&T Bank. Remember FDIC.