Ramon Foster Steelers Show: Best show ever!

Ramon Foster Steelers Show: Best show ever!

Hello everybody. Welcome to the Raone Foster Show. He’s shaking his head over there. I know why too. They’re right on quue. Right on quue. Everybody complaining that we’re a minute or two late. But as Moan just came up with a concept for all of this. Let’s have it. Moan, why is it why why is it that we start at like like 102, 103, 105? It’s because we are like the big networks, okay? Kickoffs are at 1:00 Sundays. Guess what? They’re not until 102, 103, or 104. So, we’re like the kickoff. We’re getting you ready to be inside of stadiums. Sit at home, grab one more beer, one more coffee, one more bag of chips. That’s why we give you extra time, DK. That’s why we give them extra time. That’s right. It’s not to sell the extra ad space or anything, though. Look at it. Look at Paul. Paul 205. Get out of here with the 205. Let’s go. Get out of here, Paul. Where was somebody else? Probably still out getting coffee. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Casey. Yes. Yes, we are. That’s awesome. He is Raone Foster. He is an 11-year starter in the National Football League. All 11 of those played right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Yeah. Yes, indeed. DK man. and he has to talk about some significant things that did not used to occur in his 11 years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, because this is now Omar Khan’s world and we are all just stealing his oxygen. Let’s get real here, okay? Yeah, we are. Yeah, we are, DK. Uh Omar, but let me say this is a guy is a dude you will love and one regime cannot be like the other. We know that DK, if it was Kevin Cobber 2.0, the complaints will probably be bigger, would they not? Yes, they would. Yes. Um is is so that trade that happened last week for Jaylen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, and you send away a fifth round draft pick and Minka fits Patrick Minka. Minka was traded. Do we got to whisper it? Minka like It felt dirty. It felt like it’s not supposed to happen. Jason says new Steeler weight. But like DK, I got a lot of opinions about that trade. I got a lot Well, that’s why we got this network, so we might as well go get to it. Okay, might as well. So Omar, like if you if you’ve been around Omar, and I have, great guy. He understands the numbers. He sees the business from a different lens. I think he sees it from up top, then he does see it while being in it. But here’s the thing, Omar knows what it’s like to be in it because he’s been in those rooms for a very long time. He’s not new to the Steelers at all. He understands what that camaraderie, that family environment, the um the legacy guys, DK, the the the long tenure guys locking Cam up, right? Made a whole lot of sense. Like, you get that. Taking care of Alex Heismith. I think TJ is probably going to be taken care of, too. But here’s here’s the thing. I don’t think you would it’d be fair to expect Omar to do it. The old still away, though, because he’s younger. He’s been around the NFL and more than one spot. I know he’s with the Saints for a little while. I think Seattle also for a little bit. So, he’s seen this working. This NFL is a little bit different. My my take from the the Minka Jaylen Ramsey Jonnu Smith trade is this one. I think they pushed the chips DK to the middle of the table. It’s time to go at it. At least we can say on our end we did our part as far as facilitating a team for coach Tomlin, Coach Smith, and everybody else as it pertains to what they need on that side of the ball. So here’s what I took from it, DK. One of the things I took it from because it’s so many. I think what we’re learning in real time is two positions I don’t know if all of football, but specifically the Steelers don’t cherish. That’s an expensive running back and that’s an expensive safety. Troy, similar situation, right? I don’t want to call Troy expensive, but I think they felt there was a time limit on Troy and it had expired. Palamalo is who I’m speaking of worse. And the last one would be the running back position after this the the Le’Veon conversation. And to be quite honest with you, there was no drop off in running back names production or the expectation at those positions right now DK and across the entire NFL. To me, those are two of the most devalued positions. I would almost throw inside linebacker in it, but that doesn’t apply to Pittsburgh. It’s running backs, it’s safeties, and it’s offball linebackers, I think, are diminished a lot. Unless you have a Saquon Barkley, unless you have a Patrick Queen type, you know what I’m saying? Like Roan Smith, you’re going to pay Fred Warner, you pay for those guys. And if you out of that conversation, I think it it can be argued. Minka the last couple of years, I would go 24. There’s a lot of questions about his play. I love him as a teammate, but you hear the rumblings. you like the the GPS side of like tracking players. You never know where Minka is on the chart for what the Steelers wanted him to be versus what his peak production versus where he is right now. And the other side of it is you need uh he probably needs an upgrade in pay. The last part I’ll say is this. I feel like the way this team is built defensively, Jaylen Ramsey was the piece that you needed to solidify keeping yourself into games. If more than anything you still take away one side of the field, DK, in my mind, on what I think about Jaylen Ramsey, because of the threat that if you do throw to his side, it may get picked off or you wasting your time. That at least puts the focus back on one side of the field with Joey Porter Jr. who we’ve all said needs a big jump this year as far as his career goes. But you know what covers that up, DK, and what Pittsburgh has always believed in? Rush and coverage works together. TJ, Alex, Cam, Keanu, uh, Young Boy out of Oregon. Like, every single one of them can get after the quarterback on top of Patrick Queen being a blitzer up the middle. And Nick Herbig Herbic. Yeah. And and yeah, you mentioned Derek Harmon. We’d like to see what YA Black can bring. Uh there’s uh there are people there’s there’s a commonality for sure, a common theme with this the whole front, the defensive front where you can tell that they want to get back to getting after the quarterback instead of having it just be an all TJ thing. Exactly. And that’s what Let’s Let’s be real here. When we were watching this defense over the past year or two, it was either TJ gets back there or nobody’s getting back there. And that’s got to stop. Got to stop. you. But you know why though? Because TJ more than all of them on that offense on that defensive line. He has a unique skill set of being able to get to the quarterback quick. And not every player has that. It’s the same way Troy had ball skill just talents, right? Like he knew how to get to the quarterback or break up a pass. Certain guys have that it. Not everybody possesses that from TJ. And the other side of that 2DK of as as far as it being like a tandem of rushers up front, TJ’s missed games here or there have to come out. And the best way to do that is to give those guys up front that can’t get home the way TJ does more time by locking up the receivers down the field. And that’s what you’re talking about that there’s a there’s a symbiosis that has to happen between the secondary and the guys up front. One one one way or the other. Either direction is fine. Yes. Uh, but one helps the other DK. And that’s all it showed to me more than anything of them going and get Jaylen Ramsay. Like he’s a big back. He’s physical as heck. He fits DK the AFC North more than almost any division. You never have to worry about him putting his face in the fan. Now he’s older. Okay. But so do does father time catch up? Can he escape injuries DK with this physical of a of a style of ball? But what I do know is this. He played in a very physical Jacksonville team and also a very physical Ramsson. He’s not foreign to this foreign. He came in and just said, “I I couldn’t care less about your AFC North.” That’s what he did. I people forget what I I don’t want to make Ramsay’s career sound like it’s in some distant rearview mirror or whatever. Okay? Because I’ve seen the film from last year. He can make plays. But my goodness, what that guy was doing when he came into the league, you couldn’t touch him. It was it was unbelievable. Yeah. And he he he was just he was on some other level. He he was. And not only that, DK, I I’ll ask answer Sergio’s questions here in a moment as we get to Heymon. Um but not only that, he beat guys up. He challenged the biggest bullies on the other side of the ball, too. He didn’t care. He did not care. DK. This guy steals, by the way, and I know speed is always going to be a thing for older D, but just to let you know, like he’s got he does have track speed. He still holds the record, I think, in four categories here in the state of Tennessee for track. Wow. One of them being the 200, which is a demonic uh which is a demonic race. Okay. Like it’s a sprint. It’s not It’s not Yeah. I think the 400 It’s a sprint and a half is what 200 is. I mean, it’s a people I I I just covered five Olympics and three of them in the summertime and people would always say, “What’s the difference between the 100 and the 200?” Oh, dude, you don’t. They are not the same race. It’s not the same. No. Uh, do we want to hold on to Sergio’s question for second? Let’s see that. Let’s see. I see this. This is great. It is. And I’m energized. I’m tan, man. Now, I’ve gotten so dark. Like, everywhere is dark on me right now. There’s some commentary about this in there as well. So, we’re going to we’re going to be getting into all of that uh when we come back here on the Raone Foster Show as soon as I can find Where is the the boss? Boss is making She’s ignoring me. Uh-oh. This is bad. Uhoh. Come on. She’s saying find it yourself. Where is the ad? Oh, here it is. Here it is. Okay, we’ll be right back. At DK Pittsburgh Sports, we take pride in coverage that connects our city’s fans to their favorite teams. Now, that connection’s stronger than ever. Introducing our all-new state-of-the-art app. Find expert inside reporting and original podcasts. Check live box scores. Track the latest stats. Chat it up with our community of thousands of fans, all in one place. The new app from DK Pittsburgh Sports. coverage that connects. Now, Jordan Davis knows their track here. Says 200 meters is a sprint with double the top end speed. Imagine the fastest human and then multiplying their speed by 1.5. Now, there’s all kinds of ways to break that down, but everything, but it is not the same race. Just cuz Usain Bolt could win both of them doesn’t mean it’s the same race. Eventually Usain the first races he started losing if I recall correctly were the 200s. Yeah. Don’t and don’t let that fool you. That that is a different human being right there. Okay. Same boat. This is good. Here Amish Baller gets us started today and says u and says, “Hey Mo, you you said that TJ Watt will probably get paid.” There’s no probably in this. Ain’t no problem. Why would this Why wouldn’t the Steelers pay him? Let’s get TJ out of the way here early today. Why wouldn’t Why Why wouldn’t they pay him? They Some may feel like that his best days are behind him. I don’t. Uh some But here’s the other reason. Like I can only give you reasons why they will pay him. Well, then do that. Because there’s nobody behind TJ, okay? like that you can that effective with that track record that can pick his spots. And the other part for me DK is the group that they have is such a compliment to everything that TJ does with Nick Herbick, you bring that up with Cam being able to rush with Alex Housemith being in the fold. It just makes sense more why to pay him. This to me TJ getting signed, that’s a training camp signing easily. easily decayed. When I think of signings and I think of signings that are beyond somebody’s second contract, okay, and there aren’t many of those. I happen to be communicating with one of them right now. There aren’t that many. Yeah. But when they happen, one of the commonalities in in my experience as a reporter and covering them is that the team had better trust you as a human. the team had better trust that you’re not there to just pile on to the career earnings that you’re there, you’re still motivated, you’re still going to keep yourself in the proper NFL conditioning and not become a drag on the team or the payroll or anything else here. Uh how big of a factor is that? Even Cam in his mid30s, they were just like, “Who’s worrying about Cam? Are you kidding me?” Exactly. To be quite honest with you, you bringing me up was probably the best example. It might have been my continuation of getting paid was we know what Moan’s going to do. Every single play he’s great for the team. He’s great as far as his play goes. There hadn’t been a slip. So in those moments right there, DK, my last year may not have been my greatest, but you knew week in and week out what you were getting more consistently than not. And that plays a part in the last and I I think you can look at certain situations say the last paydays that guys get is usually a favor for the work that you have done with the expectation that hey thank you we appreciate you. Is that fair? It’s actually in a way it is. But in a way the team would be cringing like crazy to hear that. We’re not paying for past performance around here. We already paid you for what you did and whatever else here. That’s a lie. It’s it’s you know they’re they’re taking care of business but part of their business is maintaining being who they are and and valuing the people who’ve meant the most to them. So it’s not so much as a going away gift. Yeah. As it is we I the impressions that I got okay and again I’m not you’re on the inside I’m not I’m covering these things is they’ll say like you know we we just know what you are. We don’t have to worry about Yeah. we don’t have to worry about you. Whereas if I’m bringing in Yeah. If I’m bringing in somebody from the outside, I have no idea. And I don’t know when they might fall off the cliff or how they might respond to falling off the cliff or if they’ll adjust if they’ll still want more or if they’ll quit. Whereas with you, they didn’t you specifically, they didn’t have to worry. No. Okay. And that was not I’m being respectful when I say this. That was not a slam dunk that you were going to get that deal. No, it was not. It was not. I’m being really nice here. Trust me. Okay. When when when I got the word on that deal, I was like, “Oh, okay. Yeah, let’s go.” Like I I was expecting that 20 going in that 19 season, DK, of being a free agent. I I was there. Yeah. And I also know that they had other options that they were considering. Yeah. And then it was just the next thing you know, it’s like, “Well, Steelers have signed Raone Foster to it.” And it’s like, “Oh, they have.” Oh yes. Okay. Uh but to your point though, think about this though. To your point about who who’s the replacement at those spots, it took three guys before Mar before you found Marisa’s replacement with Zack. It’s taken two with mine. And is it two with right guard? Right guard is not set yet. I’m not I’m not ready to hand Mason McCormick that job for the next decade. And I don’t know what’s coming after Isaac Salo. He’s basically he’s a free agent, you know, who comes in and fills in. So, I don’t the Steelers don’t really have their left guard yet. Okay. So, yeah, that has nothing to do with Isaac. I just mean like when you’re when you’re talking about the next guy who will be holding down left guard for several years. Isaac’s obviously not going to be that. And you see the uncertainty in that right there though, which is why you signed TJ Watt. To get back to the original question, TJ’s position also is a draftable guy. He’s not a free agent dude that you bring in. His replacement will be a first round draft pick DK. Is that how you see it? Look at Derek Harmon. Right. Right. With Cam. Okay. All right. I mean, none of that’s what it’s the Steelers. We’re Look at the position that we’re talking about. You know, I likely if if there’s a lot of people who will say, you know, I’m sure that they were thinking it as you said it, uh, you know, there’s nobody to back him up. What about Nick Herbig? Nick’s never done it from the left side. No. Okay. Not on any sort of He’s been over there as a gimmick at times. He’s been over there as an emergency guy, but he’s not been assigned to that spot on the field. And some say, “Well, go sign a free agent guy.” That’s just like other than like even even Jaylen’s and Jonnu’s deals. Like they added a million and a half, I think, to Jaylen, but I got a feeling they’re going to be able to let him go sooner than later. And then we’re talking about a guy that’s a playmaker for you in an offense that Arthur Smith like to run with that tight end specifically and John Smith. Like that deal was very friendly to Arthur Smith and I think to the Steelers just planning for the future too cuz Darnell is also up after is it this year or next year? Darnell Washington. Next year. Next year. Next year. Yeah. Sergio says that the Steelers have to stop disrespecting their legends. They should have paid Troy that extra season that he wanted and the same for Hines Ward. I hate when they get cheap with people that truly matter. Now, I don’t know that Moan and I are going to be on the same page with this one cuz Mo’s always in favor of the player in the back. I am. Now, now let me say this, especially the teammates. For the eras that teams attempt to go into, sometimes it’s better to just cut it. Let some guys grow up. Now, that backfired big time with Shawn Davis, Mike Mitchell. Mike made some plays for the Steelers though. But Shawn Davis trying to be in that role of that one two tandem of Young New eras, it can backfire. But as a team, sometimes you do got to cut bait. I think that’s the reason they look at like Minka’s situation the exact same way too. Troy is always touchy. I’m I’m pro Troy in that one. I’ll be honest with you, DK. That’s so tough, though. I’m pro Troy in that one. So Sergio, I I get it. But as a manager, at least it ain’t the the Pirates. No, no, no, no, no. Let’s not go there. Troy is Troy is a tough scenario because Troy, for anybody who doesn’t know this, Troy absolutely wanted to play another year. 100%. Okay, that where nobody’s guessing at that. Can we say the reason he stayed away for a while too? Go right ahead. Was probably because of that. I don’t want to put words into Troy’s mouth, but a relationship had to be amended, right, DK? because he felt that he had done more than enough to earn an opportunity to come back and continue his career and close it out on his terms. Uh Mike Tomlin, and this was about Tomlin, wanted he he saw the decline. He saw the things that we’re talking about. He saw him getting burnt in the back. And there were a lot of things that Troy could do that other humans couldn’t based on pure and simple football. I don’t want to call it intellect. I want to call it genius. greatness. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. His his instinct was Okay. It was like he it was like it was his game and everybody else was playing it. He he invited everybody else. Okay. Yeah. The the catch with that is is that you could see that there were physical issues that that he couldn’t this thing the things that you were talking about the GPS tracker or something like you could you could just see that he wasn’t keeping up and that could be seen. And I think that Tomlin was he was trying to find a way to let him down early without what? Just don’t go play for another team. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. And to his credit, he didn’t because that’s a that’s a lame way to go to just picking up. I’m sorry. It just is to to Can we play devil’s advocate real quick? Sergio, here you go with these big topics, man. Uh the other side of that is Sergio, you say stop disrespecting disrespecting the legends. There’s a big group DK I think of Steeler Nation that says they should have cut bait earlier with Ben. That’s the other side. A lot of that’s hindsight now. Hindsight. It also was it also was accurate at the time, especially after the elbow injury. You see, so which devil do you want respectfully? You know, to see it end or to end it? And then there’s another aspect too where Sergio brings up, he also threw in Hines Ward. Hines had nothing left. Okay, you guys, I don’t even want you to tell me what was said in the huddle before the thousandth catch. Okay, because this was just so flagrant what was going on here. Yeah. Okay, don’t say anything. I don’t want to know because that was everything was so force-fed and so just go stand there, we’re going to throw you the ball, just go down, whatever. He he didn’t have anything left. And and I have a feeling that in both cases with Troy and Hines, you’re talking about guys that gave the bodies. There’s and eventually the body just doesn’t have anything left to give. And I have a feeling that especially in Hines’s case, that was Tomlin saying, “Listen, love you, man. He But that’s it. That’s it.” But you you you know what you’re also stopping too, DK at that point, man. You’re stopping a lot of growth of your other young players, too. Um that was Mike Wallace, that was Antonio Brown, that was Emanuel Sanders. Those guys that wanted those reps that you wanted to see grow up, too. Like there was another era of birth off the fact that Hans wasn’t there anymore because we’d open up games DK real quick. Who runs the first play? It’s going to Hans. Mhm. To get that thousand catch and stuff and that’s no slight to the veteran. Hans was very good to me and everything that’s in involved with him. Great great teammate. But you don’t get potentially Emanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown, Mike Wallace if you keep him around longer. James Galloway says that Troy couldn’t cover tight ends anymore. Troy Troy can do anything he wanted at any point he wanted. However, however, I think James has a a a solid general point in that the game was changing, too. Oh, yeah. And this, you know, the freedom that Dick Leau had to just tell 43 to just do whatever you want. We’ll defend with 10 guys. Okay. You just you just feel the flow of the of the the ether or whatever and just do do your thing. That also wasn’t going to hold up forever. It was not because that you got also think that defense and team was transitioning too. Uh it was incorporation of younger guys that couldn’t play like the older guys and they couldn’t cover the way you needed them to or get home. Can I be hot guy real quick? Real like real quick. I think one of those guys that may have been pushed out may have been uh Kursky or Aaron Smith like a year or two too early. And I I’ll say this, I think the incorporation of too many young guys too soon like led to some of the the older guys having to retire because like Ziggy played well, but I thought like keeping Kursky or Smitty around a little bit longer could have played a bigger part into like keeping that old group together for the folks that like to do it. Like Ziggy wasn’t handed the starting spot. So, you played a lot early when uh Keasel and Keyel stayed and and played his part, too. You’re always you’re always going to get those extra opportunities based on where you’re drafted. That’s just that’s a fair way to say it. That is that’s and and there was a lot of that where in that specific scenario there, Sean says the keeping Ben wasn’t the problem. It was not drafting quarterbacks after the elbow injury. Well, one was drafted before the elbow injury and then he got thrown out to the Wolves. Makes sense. And then there was just no subsequent plan. There was just a we’re just going to keep running it back with Ben and you know that’s that’s the way that that went. That’s what happens when you also get one of those guys um that are the ultimate competitor. They brought in Landry. They brought in Dennis Dixon, Byron Lewitch. Player after player, and Ben continued to play better and better until the elbow, I guess, right, DK? Well, he played better than those guys even after the elbow. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. So, I mean, there’s Yeah. The legend sometimes you again, the question I give you, do you want to see it end and it may be bad or do you want to end it? That’s what you get yourself into. Slim says, “Hey, Bone, do you think they should move TJ around a little bit more on the line? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I think overexposing TJ to going up the middle, I think, beats him down a little bit too much. Like him rushing off the edge with tight ends and tackles, that’s fine. But when you throw him in the middle, and I say this respectfully, to the guards and centers, DK, we’re like alligators out there. You hear me? Everybody wants a bite. And I just don’t want TJ in that position. Uh, that guy special. This is amazing. I never This never occurred to me. You see him if he’s like Miles Garrett would do it. Whoever. Yeah. They come over the middle. What are you thinking? Hey, help me. Give me a little bit right here. You never crossed my mind. You belong out there. We’re trying back where you were. We’re trying to deter MDK. Don’t come play in this playground. You you you 4645 demon. We like the guys that run 47s to 49. This isn’t your wormhole. Get out. You 240 DK. Listen to the sound. Get out of here. Hell no. Oh my. We don’t want to make this the norm. We I’m telling you, we got to beat them guys up, DK. So they tell them friends don’t go up the middle. Do you hear me? Oh, absolutely not. All right. So we have eliminated any any concept of TJ moving around on a line. I had something to add. It is to got nothing now. Hey, let that man have a free arm. The moment he runs in there with us, DK, it turns into a pingpong show. Do you hear me? Clack clack clack. Yes. Vegas, put that wood on him. Yes. Yes. Greg, you in our swamp now. That’s what this is. This is what are you doing here? If he wins once, he’s coming back. Did you forget to bring a flashlight? Did you get What is this, bro? We y’all We don’t wear white shoes in here. No, we were black shoes and ski masks. DK, I love it. Absolutely love it. Oh, so no. I don’t want TJ moving around. Well, I love it in a spot. He needs one arm free. He got He got you in tears right there. I had I thought I had something insightful to add and I don’t. Damen says team owned with the tight end room. How do you see 12 and 13 personnel stacking up against the division? The Steelers obviously have Oh my goodness. We haven’t even brought up John Smith, but I mean look at the line. Look at the people they can put out there. Yeah. And you know, you want to talk about being big and tough coming off the bus. How about coming out of the huddle? Exactly. You know, with Metaf and everybody. But the other side is, man, you don’t have to ch like defenses have to choose what they’re going to go up against. Jonnu and Pat Frymouth unique enough DK to where they can go up against safeties or linebackers and it be a mix match, too. So, a defense have to decide. Are you going to try to stop the run or do you find yourself in a mix match? Because John will go past you and also guess what? Pat Fry with it go behind you. You know what I’m saying? It goes well. Exactly. And then you throw in also Cam’s brother. I mean legitimately like we’re talking about Connor being out maybe potentially in that set too. Oh, and guess what? We’re bringing Darnell. He’ll just stay in here and block. So if he stays in the block, you motion Janu out. You keep uh two tights right next to the line of scrimmage. DK, pick your poison is what I’m telling you. But here’s the other side of you running 12 and 13 personnel, DK. Is this you’re going to have to because until you find out what Roman Wilson is, until you can find out if Aaron Rogers can connect with Calvin Austin, you got DK and what respectfully? No, I mean you have different types of players. You have guys who can offer you different options. um you know with Calvin Austin who keeps getting better year after year, Roman Wilson who’s going to be entering a pivotal year two for him. Uh but you know that’s also the reason why everybody keeps pining for that next you know WR2 type somebody who could fill in really for Metaf if he were to go down. Uh who’s selling those guys right now? It might be Green Bay. Uh they drafted so many wide receivers that there’s a thought that Romeo Dobs could become available. It’s actually a pretty The idea. Yeah. So you you can I mean that they they I don’t know what their problem is, the Packers, but okay. All right. They Yeah, that’s not our problem. You know what’s wrong with them here. Hey Moan says Sticky B. Will Aaron Rogers quick release help this young O line gel faster or will it just kind of push the problem further into the future? You know, I think about that one all the time. Like this, everyone says as far as Brick Jones goes, “Oh, it’s not going to be a problem this year because he’s going to get rid of the ball right away.” What about when he actually does need to get the ball, you know, with some time? You didn’t go get DK Medaf to run quick slants. Yeah. you you and real quick to clear up that getting rid of the ball comment too. Yeah, that’s only so much of that you can do DK. Like you can keep it on schedule for as long as you absolutely want. But here’s the thing. Getting the ball out quick DK is still 10001,002 three. Getting it out quick DK. It’s on three the ball is gone. Okay. So it’s not like it’s just one second of you holding the ball and getting rid of it. It’s not that DK. Those guys still got to hold up down up the middle and off the edge too. So again, there are guys that are running four fives, four fours that are rushing off the edge. So getting rid of the ball don’t help in those moments. Like we got to look at Troy Fano and also Brick as guys that still got to block and do their job too, DK. And here’s the other cool like here’s a pro tip, DK, about the way I think teams are going to rush the Steelers. How old is Aaron Rogers? 41 about to be 42. That’s correct. His mobility is probably done this because Father Tom wins and the injury and the injury. DK teams are going to do this up the middle. They’re going to create a V to try to flush him out, roll him to where Brick and Troy, in my opinion, got to be really good. You know why? Cuz they want to test his mobility. You want to know why? Because if it’s Isaac right there or Zack that had a great year right, last year, can you do it again? Most teams nowadays, DK, because if you look at our very own team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, they have incorporated the idea the best and fastest way to get to the quarterback is in that guard center triangle right there up the middle. You’re attacking the strength because I need to see if he can move 100%. DK Aaron Rogers in space. Especially if Brick is feeling the pressure or Troy in his first year of starting turns the corner too soon. You might run into a sack, DK. And and besides, why would I not attack your best strength when I’m playing against Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Baltimore that usually have big guys up the middle? Up the middle. I’m flushing the middle first or I’m sending or I’m sending linebackers or safeties because I need to be able to test out the young rookie that you went and got at running back and also can Jaylen hold up this much on his own. There’s questions that have to be answered and this is just a mindset of a defensive coordinator is just trying to figure out a way to beat the Steelers. I would do that. DK, an exceptionally educational episode of the Raone Foster Show today. I’m not being remotely facitious. There’s a couple of things you brought up here that are because here Why would I allow Aaron Rogers to step up in the pocket? Yeah. Flush him. Sco says, “Hey Mo, do you think that this young offensive line uses this extra pressure of blocking for a Hall of Fame quarterback to collectively reach the next level? Nobody wants to be responsible for getting Aaron Rogers killed back there.” How do you feel about that? Uh, that’s going to be part of But here’s the thing. He plays quarterback. Getting hit is a part of his job though, too. Does it help accelerate them getting better? I say DK, if they can get the ball out at a at a cons on time. Let’s not call it out quick. If they can get the ball out on time, barring a half a second or two, yes, it helps accelerate them. There is added pressure with the Ben and Aaron Rogers type. I felt pressure on blocking for Ben Perry. I felt pressure for blocking for Mike Vic. You know what I’m saying? Byron Lewwich. That pressure is always there. It’s a matter of those dudes minimizing their uh their weaknesses. Skull show, that’s what I would tell you. If you know you’re deficient and just turning your leg and and and letting a DN run by you, fix it. Like the growth that you have as a player, to be quite honest with you, DK, it comes through play. It comes from reps, live reps, and stuff like that. But it legitimately is on you. Guys that I play with wanted to get better sometimes. ZK is not on them to get better and it just ain’t in them either. It’s just not there to beat. Yeah, there there isn’t a ceiling. So, the question I would have to ask, I think it was Gojo that asked that question. Forget who it was. Like, do you trust this offensive line mentally to get better? That’s the biggest question. Are they going to challenge each other DK to say you sucked on this play? Hey, or hey, Isaac, I need a little help right here. That that’s also getting better, DK. Well, you know, you’ve also got Darnell in that mix, too. You know, we’ve talked about the other tight ends, and Darnell can be, you know, as he refers to himself, sixman uh on on that line. I agree. Uh but I also say this a lot, if if Darnell is in there, I don’t want him babysitting. I want him to have his own role. I don’t want him being in there to say, you know, make sure that Brick Jones isn’t blowing the process up. Broad doesn’t want that either. Danny Blae says, “Do you trust this line, Moan?” Do I trust this line? I trust three-fifths of it. Okay. I trust Isaac. Correct. I trust Zack. And the last one is going to shock you. I just got this thing for Troy Fano. I knew you were going to do that. You so do though, too. You really do. Just watching him, just seeing his tape in college, it’s his natural position of right tackle because he played for a right a left-handed Michael Pennix Jr. He’s played big time ball. He understands and understand like what Pittsburgh is in the AFC North too. He was a fan DK. So he understands what he get himself to. And this is what I always say too on good offensive line. Three of the five. If you get the bonus two like you got with me and Al, even better. Three of the five is what you need. So, I’m looking at Brick and I’m looking at whoever’s going to be the right guard. Those are my two. And Brick may deserve a little bit more grace, but he know he needs it and we all need to see it, too. It and it has to happen this season. And that’s that’s the conversation internally, Moan, too. I can share with you. That’s that’s what they’re talking about with him. That’s what he’s hearing from them. and he’s not running from it. I I don’t I don’t mean to sound like Tomlin when here using his terminology, but he’s not running from it. He understands what the criticism has been. He understands what the expectations are. And I can actually do a pretty good Brick imitation. I’m not that. But he but he has a I really like the He’s bubbly. Yeah, I do too. I do too. I know you do. Okay. This isn’t some bad dude. This isn’t somebody who’s is a problem. He wants it. Uh, and when he gets it, this is my favorite thing about Brod. I’ve told him this, too. My when he gets it, when he’s having a game, when he’s had a game, Moan, there’s something extra about him after that game. Okay. Okay. And he’s feeling it and he’s talking about stuff that has nothing to do with him and everything to do with the collective. He changes. Okay. He is such a swing vote in this election that I can’t I can’t nobody is, you know, because it can go in either direction. It really can. He can make such a difference for this football team and and that that’s and I we’ll see. Okay. Mason McCormack just needs to be his best self. He just needs to be he needs to be that guy that’s doing the the yelling and talking. And Zack Frasier told me they all feed off of him and all his. So he’s a glue guy. He’s a He He can be Yeah. He just got to play. He’s Yeah. He’s got some of your Marcus Gilbert to you. Some of some of the you you know where it’s just enough to keep everybody make sure everybody’s still on on on the program and everything. Yeah. You know, uh Steagall says Rodri Jones is still so young. He is, but he’s not. Football years. How many How many reps he got? Hold up. Hold up. Let me see. I got you real quick, DK. He’s got three years of them. So, but a lot of them, you know, as Steaggle points out, were on the on the other side of the field. And by the way, you know, who’s now openly talking about the difference in the sides is Brick himself. It’s funny how that was a non-issue through his first three years. Now, all of a sudden, he’s really happy to be back on the left side. Well, he know he didn’t have a choice, number one, but also Coach T don’t want to hear you complain at all about anything. Here’s the other side, though, too. So his his rookie year he played 767 snaps plenty. Started 11 games last year in 24 over 1,073 snaps. What I will say is this though DK year one is your intro. Year two is your adjustment. We expect you to have a big jump. Project was okay. Fair is who you are as a pro. I I give the same credence that I give to quarterbacks that I give to almost any by that third year. DK. Uh, there’s a guy here in Tennessee. I’m watching, Peter Scaransky. Same situation that Brick’s in. Can y’all make this move and become solid pros? Robert Sham says here, “If you want the straight story about a football team, talk to a lineman.” Moan, let’s talk about the straight line that I used to walk and still do. By the way, when the when the post the postgame locker room opens to the reporters, what did this reporter do? Right over there to the big boys. Right to the big boys. Everybody else is fanning out looking for the stars. And oh, look, there’s Cam Hayward. And oh, look. Uh-uh. I actually want to find out what happened. Yeah, I want to find out what happened. You know what’s super unique is because we have a strong understanding of mostly what everybody else is doing. We can see if a wide receiver had a good game because we going to all know it. If the quarterback has a good game, we’re going to know. I feel like I was having this this conversation with somebody else earlier. The reason I think you go to to the offensive line and we tell the best story is we have the most pressure to be the most perfect. You can’t bat 99.8%. You can’t. I I the hit rate DK in a game has to be 98% minimum every week and the other parts of that your game has to be DK 100 more times than not that one or two% plays that you miss got to be oh he almost made a tackle almost got there they overran him a little bit so the way we view and like look at everybody else’s positions is y’all job ain’t as hard as ours Yeah, the DB defended you, but there’s is anybody running down your face? The quarterbacks in this league, DK, if they throw 65% in a game, that’s a damn good game. Think about that, too. There are more misses allowed at other positions than he is the offensive line. So, we got to be the truth tellers. We’re going to take two more questions today. Oh, this is such a good show. It really is. That’s cuz that’s cuz you’re killing it over there. This is what a show you’re having. Speaking of hit hit rate, uh, lifelong fan says, “Hey, Bone, does the offensive line’s blocking scheme stay the same once it’s established or do they change the scheme from play to play?” And Arthur Smith has used more than one blocking scheme. He prefers the wide or outside zone blocking scheme. Uh, these guys aren’t anywhere near ready for what you guys were doing when you were switching. Okay. There was some sophistication with the blocking schemes that you guys used, especially, we talked about this a lot when you had both Levian Bell and D’Angelo Williams running totally different worlds. I just looked at tape from him. I looked at 2014 to 15 US versus the Rams. You remember that game? Mike Vic, I think, had to come in for a play or two. Uh, but either way, I think the field got set on fire, too, pregame in St. Louis. Crazy. Um but blocking schemes though it’s it’s got to be wow remember it now you remember me. Yeah we won like barely like 14 to three or 146. Creepy dark stadium. Super dark everything. Yeah. What a weird place. Uh what a day that was. Our intro I think to Aaron Donald too for the first time. It was. Yeah. You remember now? Yeah it was. Yeah. That was either their last or second to last season in St. Louis, too. May have been the last. I’m not sure. Uh, Greg Williams is on that staff. Crazy. Uh, may have been the defensive coordinator. But, uh, to answer that question, scheme, this group’s got to be really good at the basics, DK. It’s it’s that simple. If they’re asking him to run 28, man on the man on the man. No need to be cute. Um, when you get good at something like that, DK, you continue to do that. And here’s where the scheme changed. It ain’t necessarily DK in the run game, it’s the passing game. Because if they get really good at doing the basic stuff, right, getting three yards, five yards, six yards, eight yards, 10 yards, DK, that opens up the passing game. So the scheme to those guys right now is basic as heck, DK. It’s not complicated. I don’t care if it’s inside zone gap or outside zone. It’s simple and do it correctly because to your point a second ago, I want to say they’re too young, but they hadn’t been together long enough to advance it. They still have individual concerns before they they still have to repair the bricks before they get into the wall. Let’s put it that way. Yeah. Uh, hi hide and daddy gets our last question for the day and says, “Hey, Moan, how much of a difference does the offensive line coach really have at the NFL for the unit?” Oh, he just he just Yeah, there’s a lot there. Helden, you better than this. Okay. Yeah. Which which dignitary is that on there with some sunglasses on with the X-ray coming out? I don’t know. Is that John Adams? I can’t really tell. Maybe Adams founding father feel to it, that’s for sure. How how much of a difference does it make? A ton. And and for this reason right here, guys come into this league bride, bright brighteyed, and bushy tailed. I’ll say that. And how a position coach raises them up. Bach. That’s B. So was a founding father who could play a little bit. All right. There it is. Sorry about that, Helen. Must be a musician. But here’s the thing. As far as a unit goes, guys come in brighteyed and bushy tailed wanting to learn because we’ve heard all our life, this is the best of the best. And we expect really good coaches. Quick pro tip. Not every offensive line coach is good. Not every position coach is a good coach either. And you burn guys. And the reason that is super important is for this reason because that’s your career. That is your job. That is your last stop to be something in life for a lot of guys. And if you don’t have the right guy in the room leading that group to where you don’t have a bunch of jerks and pricks and just guys that want to do it their way and become selfish and only worried about their bag and don’t really incorporate the team mindset in it, you ruin it. If you have a ruined offensive line, you got a trash team. And it’s just that simple. So, as it pertains to how guys grow and learn at specifically at that position, you need to have a guy that is not egotistical and not afraid to have his guys say, “Coach, I don’t feel comfortable doing that.” and you being good enough to say, “I’ll find a different way.” Or, “You know what? Let’s change the scheme.” If you can’t do it, then guess what? Your buddy beside you is going to help you do those things. That’s the differences. And I’ve seen, okay, good and great offensive line coach. The difference was once was he wasn’t going to ask me to do something that Dave does and he wasn’t going to ask Dave to do something that I was good at. And vice versa on all sides. And you recognize which ones are good, which ones are going to be great for you, and you keep that room tight. That’s much I don’t think gets enough credit for the teams that we had in that era, too. It was more than just our room. It was him bringing the tight ends over or the coaches. I’ll just throw all the coaches in there. The coaches bring the tight ends and the running backs to our room so we can learn how to pick up the uh blitzes with them. Like that’s interesting. Some coaches, we’ll get it. We’ll get it. I’ll tell my bring everybody in the room and teach us how to do those. And then it also raises the standard a little bit too when you got offensive line coach that’s pressing everybody else to be good and puts the pressure back on the group and we rose to the occasion. Everybody’s responsible for the blocking. There aren’t any exceptions to that except maybe the quarterback. That was one of the biggest things ever. I saw Munch. Okay, hear me out. In the indoor convince Antonio Brown that he needed to block one or two times and you know what happened? AB blocked us behind off and he come to the sideline. Give me the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There always was that at the end. Pointing at a dead body like, “You see this one? I got one. You see this one now? Throw it to me. Okay. We We cleared that pallet.” And he would he would do little stuff like, “Guys, hit the shoulder. This is Munch every time. Hit the shoulder. How’s it going?” And then at the end he give a little push. It’s like m is the push necessary is always necessary. Best promote show ever. When we come back, we’re going to take care of a little bit of business here. No doubt. At DK Pittsburgh Sports, we take pride in coverage that connects our city’s fans to their favorite teams. Now, that connection’s stronger than ever. Introducing our all-new state-of-the-art app. Find expert inside reporting and original podcasts. Check live box scores. Track the latest stats. chat it up with our community of thousands of fans all in one place. The new app from DK Pittsburgh Sports coverage that connects. And hate having this one come to an end. Thanks to everybody who contributed along the way. Damen with five. Carrie Russell’s always good for one. Carol with a 20. Uh, and I’m looking here. Stella Fierce comes in with 10. That’s all appreciated. James just came in with a super sticker. I see you, too. Yeah, he Oh, he did. Way down there. Look at that. Okay, James just popped in. And we’re going to get a bonus question in today because this show’s just been too good. And this question is actually too good. I’ll be good and quick, I think. Okay. Good friend from our good friend The Butthole says, “Man, what does true success mean to you these days?” Wow. Um, that’s good because here’s the thing, DK. I compartmentalized what success was a while ago. S because when I got my first contract, I think it’s like 5.2 or 5.6. I was like, heck yeah, made it. Then you see it and then it’s just like, damn, that’s just numbers. And instantly I was thinking, well, I got to go get another one. And then you get another contract and it’s like, I gotta go get another one. Then I finally said to myself, whether that be money, women, houses, cars, jobs, beanie babies, it don’t matter. It never ends. Okay? Like those numbers that that accumulation never ends, DK. And I found success for me these days is are you happy? Can you call people that you can count like that you can count on? Can they call you back to DK? and the people around you. Do y’all share love for one another? Like that’s what I’m so big on, DK. I’m I’m here for a great time. The love of my wife and my kids and my family and to have a support group around me that like if I’m in my low, I can divulge it to them and it never leaves. That’s success to me. It ain’t the house. Um I heard some people say like money um money don’t make you happy, but it solve problems. It can also create a lot of them too, you know. So success to me is can you go home, sit back for a little bit and have a moment of peace, man. And that’s kind of where I am with a lot of stuff. If something bad happens, I’m like, okay, something good happens, that was some cool stuff. And I just keep it moving. Like I think I’ve told you a lot of time, like a lot of the stuff that I was doing like in football, like play, like I chose not to remember a lot of stuff, DK, because it was always the next one. Like I didn’t sit in the moments and remember like, oh, this is some cool stuff. because it was I was always chasing the next thing. So, I’ve taken the appreciation DK to being like right now being able to smile, do this type of stuff, and talk a little trash from time to time. There was there’s something non-angelic coming in this answer at some point. Yeah. The problem is he’s on this show with me and I know what he’s like in Cincinnati. So, he can only take that so far. Okay. I know the Cincinnati version of this guy. Yeah. Yeah, man. Talk. Hey, listen. If we can’t talk a little smack in the end of what we doing, DK, what we doing, dog? Vegas says money can’t buy you happiness, but it can’t buy you absolute happiness. No, only winning in Cincinnati can do that. A Super Bowl will bring you happiness. Vegas, this is this is true. Yeah. Relle says horns are showing. You know what’s crazy? All my friends like I be like, “Y’all want me to grow up?” It’s like, “No, no, no. Don’t grow up. Don’t grow up.” No. No. Well, got something else to say here before we go for the week. This is why I do this, too, man. Like, I legitimately mean this, man. Call somebody you ain’t talked to in a while. Have a random freaking conversation. Y’all know what I say in this dumb freaking political world we live in. We’re so divided. Y’all ain’t crips and blows. Y’all ain’t dying over this stuff, man. Don’t let these people manipulate us, man. Have a time. I promise you that black guy you’ve never talked to is very interested in you. That white person you never tal is so interested in you. Learn each other, man. Ele everybody love everybody. And I truly do mean that, man. And uh make it back to us next week. Don’t go hug nobody’s random girlfriend or nothing like that. But make it back to us. We we going to get to a point we do this daily too, too, DK. as soon as we get more content. Man, we’re going to be we’re going to be doing some pumping here, too. Yeah, this is the off seasonason for everybody here. But, uh, yeah, this episode can’t be topped. If you enjoyed this one here, make sure you pass along the word to somebody. Uh, because this one this one deserves all the eyeballs. They’re far too high. And the ears and everything else here. Moan moan put on a clinic today. All right, guys. Hey, who was that? Hey, no. Back. Hey, ho. Hey, ho. All right, we are open. See, he listened to us. He came in and spoke to a random person. Hey, did he did I don’t want any hugs. Peace, good people.

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