Scout’s Eye with Matt Williamson: Is this defense outdated?

Scout’s Eye with Matt Williamson: Is this defense outdated?

Hello, I’m Matt Williamson. How’s it going? Nearing the end of the week here. Training camp right around the corner. Might not seem like it, but the Steelers, since we talked last, put out their practice schedule for training camp. So, I built this spreadsheet of when I can talk to you guys and when I’ll be on the air and when I’m doing the drive and when practices, when I get home, all that good stuff. So, starting to feel like football season is my point. Um, it is mailbag day. Many of you asked a similar question and maybe I missed it, but a lot of you guys used the word blindsided. Did Ma get blindsided by the Steelers with this trade? Maybe somebody out there said that. I don’t know, but it’s weird that several of you guys phrased it the same way. Um, here’s the short of it. The league’s The league’s not nice. The league isn’t nice. You know, like, but I got fired by the Browns. Everyone on the planet knew it. Butch Davis got fired halfway through the season. We were on interim head coach. They had hired, you know, Romeo Krenell and Phil Savage. Like, yo, we’re all getting fired. We’re the worst team in the league. But MA was not the worst safety in the league. And, you know, maybe he was blindsided. Didn’t see this coming. Perfect example, though. Coincidentally, I was watching season two last night of the Netflix show Quarterback, and they have Goff, Burrow, and Cousins are the three this year. And coincidentally, two of them kind of got blindsided. And frankly said on the show, I was blown away when they drafted Penn after giving me a ton of money. I was blown away when I got word from the Rams that I got traded to the Lions, obviously Golf and Cousins. They didn’t discuss it with those guys. They don’t care. They’re multi-billion dollar companies and they for the most part kind of don’t care about your feelings. That’s not the right way to put it. I kind of take that back. But like Goff had no clue that he was getting traded. He basically got a call from McVey saying, “Hey, we traded you to the Lions.” You know, if you saw Moneyball, whenever they teach the kid how to cut guys or how to trade them, just tell them, you know, like, don’t beat around the bush, but we love you and hopefully come back someday. Blah blah blah blah. No, it’s this business is tough. So, maybe got a text or a call or whatever. Hey, you’ve been traded. See you. Pack your bags. Here’s a plane ticket. You know, here’s someone will pick you up at the airport in Miami. You know, it’s just the way it goes. And I don’t think that harbors bad will or makes you a bad organization. It’s just it’s rough, you know, that’s just the way it goes. But I I found it odd that a bunch of you asked similar questions about that. Uh my man T-Mac asks, this didn’t take a minute to do, but out of the predicted 32 QBs, how many would you take before Aaron Rodgers? Thanks. Love the show. Thank you. Um I’m going to phrase or field this as just for this year cuz that’s what you have Rogers for. He’s basically said he’s going to retire after the year. Like of course I would trade him for Drake W Drake May or Ward or those guys even McCarthy guys like that that are unproven because they’re young and you build around them. But who would you try to win with this year? Who would you swap Rogers out? That is the way I’m phrasing the question. So I’m going division by division starting in the East. Allen. Yes. May. Yes. And you guys might be like you’re crazy. And I understand both sides. I mean, one of them’s a million years old and one of them’s 10 years old, and one of them super proven and one of them isn’t. And Rogers is a really tough point in his career, too. Like, I mostly say a lot of good things about him, but I can also really see a path where it goes wrong this year, too. Um, I just love Drake May, so sorry if you if you’re going to take offense to that, so be it. Fields, no. Tua, yes. But that one’s close. And I not to get too far in the weeds with this conversation, but if you pick Jaylen Herz over Rogers, you’re not going to run the same offense. You know what I mean? Like, you at least have to give the team some time to scheme and build around the style of quarterback you have. And that’s true with Tua, too. Although, Tua could run a quick hitting system. And Tua to me, I would take a chance on for sure. Durability worries me. Go in the division. Of course, nobody with the Browns. And of course, Lamar and Burrow in the South. Not Jones or Richardson. Absolutely on Straoud, who I love. Yes, on Lawrence, but we could fight about it. Um, I’m still a believer, but that’s not a slam dunk. No on Ward for this year. No on Nicks for this year, but I think his career is going in a really good way. Yes on Gino. You’re probably like, “What are you talking about?” Gino’s way more underrated than people give him credit for, but that’s a conversation. Obviously, yes on Herbert, of course, yes on Mahomes. Let’s go. The NFC, yes on Dak, yes on Daniels, yes on Herz, but I also think Herz is a little overrated. And if you stuck Rogers on the Eagles, I still think the Eagles would be a big-time Super Bowl contender. Um, all respect to Russ, nobody on the Giants, no on Caleb Williams, but I could see him being a lot better this year. Yes on Jordan Love. No on McCarthy. Yes on Goff. Go to the South. No on PennX or Cousins. No with any of the Saints dudes. Yes on Baker. I’m not 100% sold, but he’s been pretty darn good for a couple years now. Uh no on Bryce Young. That leaves the West. Party. Yeah, I’m still not as thousand% sold, but yeah, Darnold, no. Stafford 1,000%. And Kyler Murray might be the hardest one now that I think about it. He’s got some flaws and doesn’t make as many plays as you think. His deep ball is really falling off, but I think you take Kyler Murray. Yeah. So, if you guys want to count them up and tell me how many that were, there were, it’s probably 15, something like that, I’m guessing. Bet Online’s the world’s most trusted betting platform and your number one source for all your sports betting action. With the baseball season in full swing, Bet Online is more ways to stay in on the action with the latest odds, news, and scores, even live in-game betting while the games are being played. We keep the dog days of summer rolling with the largest selection of odds on everything. With updated odds on the MLB, UFC, and boxing to tennis, and NFL futures, Bet Online remains the best online source for all your sports wagering info. In between games, head over to the Bet Online Casino with all the top Vegas style games, including poker and live casino. Bet Online, the game starts here. [Applause] [Music] All right, Rob Mareno asks, “What are your thoughts on Terrell Austin and Mike Tomlin for defensive scheme? I’m of the belief that this defense is far too vanilla, high paid, and talented to perform where they have the last couple years. They’re a good defense, but with these resources, they should be elite.” And then Joey Bag of Donuts, my man, asks, “Why do they refuse to move players on the defensive line in OB? Is this defense too predictable?” Joey, if you go back like two podcasts, I did an entire podcast on it and they’re they move their defensive front guys the least in the league and I think it’s time to criticize that. Um, back to Rob and these kind of tie together obviously. Um, it would sound foolish to be like, I don’t know if Mike Tomlin is good at defensive stuff. I mean, he’s good at it. He has a defensive background, but I also think it’s noteworthy that he inherited the Leau system. That was not his choice, although I’m sure he inherited it very happily. And his background is basically a lot of Tampa cover, you know, that not outdated scheme, but pretty simplistic scheme. And a lot has changed since John Lynch and Brooks and Sap and Simeon Rice and win Super Bowls around that scheme. But I think he’s been around enough that you could say he’s definitely a plus defense of mind easily. But and Austin has shown more creativity than you think, but lately it’s been rough. Now, here’s an example in their favor. Game one last year against the Ravens and really how they’ve played the Ravens except for the last two games which were miserable. I mean, the playoff game was poorly coached, poorly executed, everything. But they’ve been masters against what’s maybe the hardest offense in the league to play against. Not because Lamar’s chokes in the big games against the Steelers. It’s because there’s a theme against the Ravens is if you blitz and play man, that’s what gives the Ravens offense and Lamar the most trouble. Like teams in the playoffs did that heavily. They’re starting to be a book. That just means he’s good against it, not elite, frankly. I mean, because he’s awesome. But people were really hesitant to bl to blitz Lamar like all running quarterbacks very early in his career because if we blitz this guy and play man, all you do is make one blitz or miss and all our man coverage guys have their eyes on their defender, not him, he’s going to scramble for a million yards. No, that’s just not the case. I mean, that sounds like a simplistic answer, but it’s not the case. And the Steelers kind of built that blueprint and I’m going to give Austin and Tomlin, but especially Austin a lot of credit for that. I think, so let’s put it this way. I think this upcoming season will answer this question definitively. You know, I think that’s why you traded for Ramsay. I think that’s why you were okay dealing Minka because you’re going to play a lot less single high static cover three. You know, I think they understand the error in their ways and some of it was personnel driven. You know, I I don’t think they trusted other corners to play man and and do a variety of schemes. I think we’ll see more Fangio cover four stuff like that going forward. So, I’m cons. The short of the answer is I’m concerned too. I thought this was a problem last year. Don’t trade for Dante Jackson if you can’t do what you want. You know, there’s part of that as well. But I think this year, unless they get destroyed by injuries and don’t have guys that can do a variety of things, I think that will answer our question for us. Right or wrong? Joersburg asked, “How much longer could this contract situation for TJ last?” I fully expect it to go well into camp. And I don’t think anyone will care. I know that sounds crazy, but last time he held out, deep down, I know this for a fact. The team, Tomlin, everybody was quite happy that he wasn’t practicing. Had no chance of getting hurt, wasn’t going to play in a preseason game. He’s there doing his own thing, lifting, hanging out. Keep him in bubble wrap. I everyone else seems to be a lot more concerned about this than me. And maybe I’m just wrong, but I don’t care how long it lasts. I don’t wake up every morning checking my phone hoping for a notification. I assume camp will be when it revs up heavy and they often do that which they’re not alone doing this but when it’s hot and you’ve been in camp for two weeks and you don’t want to be there you reward a star player or someone that’s in a contract dispute and it lifts spirits just a human nature type thing and back to human nature it doesn’t mean they’re not having conversations on July 9th when I’m recording this but everybody’s on vacation people it’s the only time of the entire year that NFL people try not to overly worry about football. So, getting away is good for right now. Last thing I got, Paul asks, “Should we be worried that Johnny Smith was a one-year wonder? He had seven mediocre seasons, many alongside Arthur Smith, and one stellar season.” Sort of. And and I hope I expressed this when he got traded. If you think you’re getting 88 catches like he got with the Dolphins last year, you’re going to be then you’re going to be disappointed. I mean that he’s going to be what he has been for the most of his years. And I’ve done 8 million podcasts on 8 million forums. If you had listened to me four years ago, well before I knew Arthur Smith or Johnny Smith was going to be a Steeler, I’ve always been a fan. But he’s got he’s a niche player, you know. He’s not Gronk, you know what I mean? He’s not Kelsey. I mean, he’s he’s a matchup player who’s really good at the catch and does a lot of good things with the ball in his hands and can be moved around quite a bit, but I don’t think you want him as your fantasy tight end and probably not Footh at this point either, but that’s neither here nor there. Um, I guess it just depends what your expectations are. He’s a good football player. I’m happy he’s a Steeler. He makes them better. He gives him a lot of versatility, but he might only play 52% of the snaps and that’s okay. You know, like side note, it will bother me if it cuts into Washington. Washington to me is like the biggest diamond in the rough on this whole team and needs to be even used more. He is used a lot as a blocker, which is part of the diamond. It’s not all about pass catching and fantasy and things like that, but I will bet everything I have that statistically back of the football card 2024 will be Johnny’s best season by a long shot over his career. I mean, no question. They needed a third receiver and he stepped up in a big way. And it shows he’s capable. You know what I mean? Like, he can be a featured player. There’s not a lot of pass catchers on the planet that can be a featured player in an NFL offense and have that be a pretty successful group, but I don’t look at I think you know exactly what you’re buying, I guess, is the short answer here, too. You’re not buying last year’s version. You got you’re buying the other part of his career. Maybe he’s taken us to a slight step forward, but not a massive step forward just last year. So, again, I’m a fan. All right, everyone. That’s going to do it. We’ll do one more tomorrow and that’s a wrap. [Music]

Will this defense led by Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin ever be elite?

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