DK’s Double Shot of Steelers: The next phase

DK’s Double Shot of Steelers: The next phase

[Music] [Applause] [Music] What’s up guys? Dan Kvachovic of DK Pittsburgh Sports. Welcome to Double Shot of Steelers Standard format live from downtown our studio. The football team has the day off. Well, I shouldn’t say that. They they had a walkth through and they had some other thing in Latro, but it wasn’t open to the public. It wasn’t even open to the media, uh, which is a real rarity. And no big deal. Tomorrow is a joint practice between the Steelers and the Buccaneers over at Acer Stadium. We’ll be over there covering that. And then two days later, Saturday night, those same two teams will be at that same place, but in a real live preseason game. So, it’s it’s a it’s a busy time for them. And at the same time, camp is officially 100% closed. And what’s left in its wake is a great curiosity, if you ask me. meaning what is this collective? How good are these guys? How good can they be? What’s missing? There are fewer questions now than there were say, you know, 10 12 days ago, but there are still a lot of questions. Most of them happen to be, I think, of the positive variety. I have seen the big names come into the fold. I have seen the big names assimilate with the rest of the team. It’s no longer I shouldn’t say it’s no longer weird. It’s no longer all that weird to see Aaron Rogers and DK Metaf and Jaylen Ramsay and Darius Slay and John Smith wearing the Steelers uniforms. It’s jarring that it all happened seemingly at once, but they’re there. And I can now tell you after a couple of weeks out at St. Vincent, you know, who’s buddies with who, who’s hanging uh with with this guy or that guy, who seems to have the best rapport, who seems to have a real live chemistry on the field. That part’s been really uplifting to watch because that’s when they start feeling real. And for those of you who’ve been fortunate enough to make it out there, and I know that’s a a pretty big chunk of our community, I would hope that you’ve seen what I’m describing here. I hope that you’ve seen what I’ve seen, uh, some of the some of the interactions that these guys are having. I’m going to take this to one specific level, though. I’m going to take this whole concept of new guys coming in and meshing with everybody and meshing with each other to just one duo that I believe is going to be pivotal beyond words toward this next phase. Everybody likes to talk about the guys at the bottom of the depths chart and the undrafted guys and the Max Hurlemans and stuff like that and that’s fine. That’s fine. We do a lot of that here as well. Today I’m going to talk about two of the bigger names, arguably the two biggest names on the team, certainly from an offensive standpoint and the way they’re hitting it off. That of course will be Aaron Rogers and DK Metaf. I’m seeing stuff from them out there that isn’t normal. I’m seeing a a vibe that’s there that isn’t normal. I’m seeing Metcaf turn around. This happens all the time, by the way. Turn around and the ball’s just there. Like he’s facing this direction. He’s running. The coverage is on him and he turns around and the ball is already there. That is not a stoppable play. That is not something that can be defended if it’s run with precision and with some of that connection stuff I’m talking about. I’ve also seen Metaf just go streaking down the field just being, you know, the Metaf that you remember even from his Seattle rookie days. just down the field and there’s this touch on this football also from Rogers and it’s just you see the touchdown several seconds before it actually happens before the ball makes it to him the crowds at Chuck Null Field would begin cheering the moment the ball would come out of Rogers hands And by the time it would reach his hands, it was already a roar. The roar didn’t come when he squeezed the ball. It was already in play. So, we can talk about WR2. We can talk about all three tight ends. We can talk about getting uh even from a passing perspective, you know, Jaylen Warren and Kenny Gainwell and Caleb Johnson involved in the passing attack. Understand here, please, that the key to this offense isn’t any of those guys. And and not even although it helps to have the offensive line doing its job, nothing more than that. This is the big variable here. these two guys and what they can do and making sure that Metaf is way more involved way more involved in the offense than what Seattle was doing with him this past season. Guys, when we come back, we’re going to be joined by Chris Hock to further this conversation and we’re going to end up taking some of your questions here today as well in a moment. At DK Pittsburgh Sports, we take pride in coverage that connects our city’s fans to their favorite teams. Now that connection 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. Come on. Welcome back everybody. Joined by Chris over there. Hi Chris. What’s going on? I don’t know. We’re all kind of fried. Look at us. No joke. You know, it’s been draining. Very crispy. Yeah, very crispy, says the boss here. Uh it it’s been there’s something about that stuff. Not to get all whiny here, but there’s something about that weather that just Yeah, it sucks the life out of you. Even the day after, like today, I had the hardest time even moving, you know, and there was obviously no latrobe today, so it’s just whatever. Yeah, I my my body hasn’t quite acclimated yet to the uh the cold in my basement just yet because of all the heat that we’ve been having to deal with. Well, all of that is is coming back, by the way, tomorrow in time for the for the workout that we’ll be well the joint practice, I should say, that we’ll be covering between the Steelers and the Buccaneers. Before we get into the subject that I had in the opening segment there, Chris, uh what are we expecting from that? I mean, the these things can get pretty spirited and and and Aaron Rogers himself was saying last week he finds more value in the joint practices than he does in the preseason games. Yeah. So the big reason why is well obviously when you watch the preseason uh you do not see the entire playbook. You see a uh barely a fraction of the playbook. And that goes on both sides of the ball obviously because teams don’t want to tip their hand. So they don’t show what they’re going to be doing. Now when you have these joint practices, they’re closed to the public. So the media that covers it is not allowed to report on what goes on during practice. Yeah, we’re back to that now. get get used to not seeing hearing any details on anything anymore. Yeah. And then um and then also because of that like we’re not allowed to record any of the team drills. We can’t confirm anything. So in theory the teams that are practicing are doing so privately because nothing gets out that they don’t want to get out. So they are then allowed to practice more of the actual playbook that they’re going to be uh actually running during the season. and be mainly because they’re facing a team that they’re not going to face in the regular season. The Steelers and Buccaneers don’t play each other this year, so they’re not right gonna show each other anything. Hey, we faced each other in week eight, so we can’t. No, no, like everything’s free for them to be able to do. and they can simulate more like they could, you know, the Steelers could be asking, “Hey, hey, you know, Tampa, we we need you guys to bring more pressure, you know, or Tampa could be saying, “Hey, hey, Pittsburgh, we need you, I know you guys want to blitz during a lot during the season, but we need to see more actual like seven man drops, eight man drops. We need to see more of that kind of stuff.” Um, so you can do more with the playbook in game simulated situations in those type of practices than you can in a preseason game because again you don’t want to show the league what you’re trying to do in the regular season. So that’s why there’s a lot more value especially for the starters of these things. So, we obviously would have no concept as to who would participate in this because again, it’s not like preseason games where they’ll tell you a day or two in advance, this guy’s going to be we’re going to arrest this guy, we’re going to arrest that guy because there’s something of a responsibility to the people televising it and and whatever. That’s not this. They don’t they don’t care what we know and what we don’t know. In fact, the less any of us knows, the happier they are. Okay, that said, there is a possibility here that what happens tomorrow would be the first real unveiling of what this football team looks like. Y as as maddening as that’ll be for the, you know, for the fans and everybody. And as such, I don’t know that Aaron Rogers won’t participate. I really don’t. Oh, no. He’s definitely going to participate. Yeah. The way he spoke about it, he sounded like he was looking forward to it. Oh yeah. As as many of the starters that could possibly participate in terms of health and everything right, they are going to practice. So this would be the first chance to see really uh in anger against another some anger against against another opponent. Hey, this this Rogers Metaf connection. Now, I keep promising that I’m not going to overreach and I’m not going to exaggerate, of course, uh, and anything about what it is that we’re seeing, but Chris, this began on day one between these two. This wasn’t something that developed over camp. Okay? It’s gotten better. It’s gotten better. Yeah, it’s gotten better. But on day one, you got to see things. You got to see things from these two. And it it it looks like Go ahead because I’ve heard you use the word there. It looks like it could be uh Well, I mean, so you said special. I’ve heard it can’t be special. As you were talking though in the uh in the intro, I I was listening. I’m going to give a counterpoint because what’s a good conversation if you don’t bring up a counterpoint? The only thing that concerns me about this entire thing with Rogers and Metaf because it has gotten better is that Metaf is not known to be this precise route. Uhhuh. And what have we seen? And the timing has gotten better. Now, I didn’t cover Jets training camp last year, so I can’t attest to what Rogers and Garrett Wilson were doing last year, but Garrett Wilson is a similar type of receiver in terms of finds his own ways to get open and Medaf has typically done that over the course of his career. But I think Medaf is obviously I think a better receiver than Garrett Wilson in terms of Garrett Wilson can do some really spectacular things like George Pickinsesque type things that Metaf isn’t known for, but Metaf can do a lot of stuff after the catch that Garrett Wilson can’t. So what I’m saying is the Rogers and Garrett Wilson thing did not work out. They were not on the same page. I don’t care about Garrett Wilson and the number of catches and yards he had last year. It clearly did not work. And that only got better once Dvonte Adams got there. So I just hope that that’s not going to happen with Rogers and Medcave. Now to your point, it has looked good in training camp and it’s gotten better. They are trending in the right direction. They are having more of these plays in which Rogers gets rid of the ball and Medcaf’s not even out of his break and it’s there and he catches it on time and it’s and and it looks good. We just need to continue to see that happen Thursday. That’s what I’m going to be watching for. Going up against another team that’s going to be doing their own thing to a certain extent and doing more of the actual playbook we’re going to see in the regular season. You know, the the the timing patterns and everything aren’t limited to Metaf. Uh Rogers is expecting that from all of his wide receivers. And one of the things that I’ve picked up on in Latroe is that he’ll he’ll wait after there’s some kind of miscommunication and and those those are going to happen. Don’t be alarmed by them where you’ll see you know a Rogers throw will go somewhere that’s not even in the solar system of where the receiver is. And that’s almost always let’s be real here on the receiver. Okay? You’d like to give the guy that guy the benefit of the doubt for the decision- making that he’s doing. Okay. Yep. What he’ll do is he’ll wait until the wide receiver comes back to what would pass for the huddle if it’s a seven on seven. This guy’s milling around and he’ll talk to him and he’ll get specific and you can see with his hands. You’re supposed to be doing this, you’re supposed to be doing that. uh not to embarrass him or whatever, but just to make sure that it’s in the moment, while the receiver is thinking about it, while it’s fresh, while this just happened in front of everybody, let’s make sure that an impression is made where Rogers and Metaf are concerned, especially when they’ve been down near the goal line and done those kinds of drills. Here, you’re seeing plays that involve whether it’s the back corner or front corner. There’s been a lot of front corner plays uh in the end zone uh in in Latroe. You’re seeing immaculate timing. Not like just like they’re a little bit on. Okay. I’m you’re talking about wide receivers and this by the way has been across this one has included Mason Rudolph’s throws and other wide receivers as well. They’ve just been really really good at this specific thing. But between Rogers and Metaf, all of those throws that Rogers has made, and he made a bunch of them to the left side yesterday, just horrific timing. And remember that these are these are corners covering Metaf who’ve now seen this, okay, and experienced it multiple times for three straight weeks and they still can’t stop it. And these are good corners with tight coverage. I will be and I’m I I don’t like throwing numbers into this or whatever, but we’re talking about I think a wide receiver that needs to be double digit targeted every game. And and as such, well, we say that, but then you look at what the Seahawks were doing. And again, who knows what the heck was going on there? That they’re not our problem, okay? Yeah, but if you look at Metaf’s targets down the stretch over the last six, seven weeks with the Seahawks in his game log, you’ll see that it’s all singledigit, sometimes low single digits, three, four, like I I I can’t even fathom having that weapon and not utilizing him. I think you’re going to see the Steelers be busy with Metaf, not just in a big splash way, although heaven knows with those strides and that build he’s got that in him. Okay. I think you’re going to see him be an effective, dynamic quantity guy in addition to quality, Chris. Yeah. I I mean, when you look at what the Steelers have elsewhere on offense, I mean, obviously Pat Fry, Johnny Smith, that’s a heck of a duo at tight end, but second receiver position is kind of up in the air. It’s going to right now it looks like it’s going to be more of a by committee basis you know once Calvin Austin comes back plus uh you know Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller, Ben Karanic like those guys all kind of do different things and there’s not one bonafide WR2 over there. So based off of just what they have, Metaf is going to get a lot of targets. He should get a lot of targets. And when’s I mean when’s the last time I mean is it is it really like is Deontay in 2021 the last guy who could just take on like nearly double digit targets just about every game because that feels like the last time and even then Antonio Brown is the last guy that could consistently do it right. Um, so I I’m not saying that DK Metaf is Antonio Brown because he’s not. Nobody’s Antonio Brown uh in his head. Well, they’re not they’re not similar either. They’re not similar. But but Metaf with everything that he can do, especially on the inb breaking stuff, being able to run slants and digs and crossers and also be able to run quick outs and obviously we know he can go down the field and catch the ball uh deep down the field as well. he is going to get a fair share of targets and I think that’s going to be something I don’t think this is going to be a team that’s going to lead the NFL in rushing attempts. I think you are going to see the this team air it out a little bit more often than you think they might. I don’t think they’re also going to be the 2024 Jets either in which Rogers is going to be second. there there’s so many different ways there’s so many different ways that they could move the ball if they’re effective on the line and if if they if they protect their quarterback and I think the reason I’m focusing on Metaf today is it almost feels like that in all the discussion about WR2 and Calvin Austin whatever and I see that’s what’s in this this thing here is I think it’s almost being undersold as to how big a part of this metaf is going to be uh there is something between this wide receiver and this quarterback. Not just that they become buddies, which they have. Mhm. Uh there is something that’s there that looks like it could really amount to something. Uh I see that one of the things that’s come up here in the conversation in the chat is you know what happens if when they if and when they start double teaming Metaf. Oh, please please do that. Okay, please do that because even just to single out one guy. There’s a there’s a tight end on the team who had 880 yards last year and led the National Football League in yards after the catch at his position. Okay. John Smith is You want to talk about Chris? You just mentioned when’s the last time the Steelers had somebody d when’s the last time the Steelers had a Yak guy? Yeah. When is the last time the Steelers had a Yak guy? That’s yards after catch. It’s an official statistic. When is the last time? And and don’t give me, you know, George when he busts one. That’s not a Yak guy. Okay. Yeah. A Yak guy is someone who catches it somewhere and still finds a way to pick up an extra 10 to 15 yards. Uh Darnell, that’s something I was joking with with him about. This was a few days ago. Darnell is a guy who when he catches it, once he turns around and faces the end zone where he’d like to be, and I don’t even mean like down by the goal line. I’m talking about it at midfield. Mhm. How many extra yards is he worth just by existing? Yeah. Like he could just stand there and his aura will get him another 10 or 15. So, there are weapons throughout this offense, real live proven, not projecting, not guessing, not throwing some rookies into the mix here for myself. Okay. Throwing rookies in and pretending that they’re going to be great. These are guys who’ve done this. Yeah. These are guys who’ve done this on a consistent basis and who in most of these cases are still in the prime of their careers with the notable exception of the quarterback who looks like he’s still got it. Yeah. And and listen, like just because the Steelers don’t have a WR2 right now, they do have two very very dangerous passcatching tight ends in and Frier Mouth and Johnny Smith. And you cannot double DK Metaf all the time. You just can’t because you cannot risk having a safety over the top every single time and then possibly like leave the middle of the field open for either Frier Muth or Smith to go running down the seam. You just can’t because then you’re going to get hit for those chunks. And Rogers is Rogers had one, now this wasn’t a tight end, but he had one throw during training camp. It was actually, I think, not not the last practice, but the one before. He threw it to the what I would pretty much call the second level. It wasn’t a deep pass. It was an intermediate pass. Linebackers running backwards, like backpedaling like but not even backpedaling kind of like, you know, uh, kind of running sideways, but he’s going straight back cuz Scotty Miller is behind him. The ball goes over a leaping linebacker and drops down over the top and hits Scotty Miller square in the numbers. And Scotty Miller is not I mean he’s what five. He’s not a big target. You’re not seeing that guy. That’s not Darnell Washington down there that he can just throw it up and oh that’s no problem. I can throw it up above everybody else cuz he’s going to go get it. No, this is dropping it over the top and putting on Scotty Miller. Now imagine that’s Johnny Smith who’s not a big tight end but he’s still bigger than Scotty Miller. And imagine Pat Frymouth being that guy down there. That’s a much easier throw for him to make and he can do it. So you can’t just double DK Medaf all the time when you have the duo the Steelers have at tight end. Would you like to have another receiver over there? Yeah, you would. Mainly because if DK Medaf goes down, you feel a little bit better about the receiver position than you know you would right now. But as things stand right now, when everyone’s healthy, you’re still going to have plenty of weapons in the passing game that Rogers can utilize. It’s uh it’s enough. And I I also see some dialogue over here about whether or not the Steelers will still be, you know, like a top five rushing attempt kind of offense. They’ll tell you that they will uh they’ll tell you for sure that they want to be, that they hope to be, that they would love to be. You know, I’m I’m not feeling it. Remember, there’s another thing that’s in play here. when you when you want to be able to run the ball obviously. Mhm. You don’t need I think to go to what you were doing in 2024, what Arthur Smith was doing, which was mandatory first down run, right? Mandatory second down run. And then you just exist on third and eight. Okay? You you you just take the field with third and eight. you know, second and nine, third and eight, that that that’s what this offense was. And then prayer ball, that’s not an offense. Even if it works for a day or for, you know, another game, maybe a couple games, it’s not an offense. It’s It’s got no rhythm to it. It’s got no reliability to it. I’d like to see the team show that it can run. I am not at all, Chris, sold on any notion that they have to be run first. And I know that’s not going to be popular. It certainly wouldn’t be popular. If if Arthur was sitting here with us right now, he’d be like, “Oh, no. That’s that’s totally wrong.” And and and listen, he’s the coordinator, so he’d win the argument. Okay? But by season’s end, if you have all of these weapons and you can throw these passes, these different types of passes to different targets and you have a quarterback who, as Rogers himself pointed out recently, and Latroe himself is pretty good at taking care of the football over the course of his career. Just throw it, you know? Yeah, move the ball. Who cares how? So, and and that’s the thing is that when you look at, for example, when you look at Rogers last MVP season, which by the way wasn’t all that long ago, we’re talking 2021 here. The Packers were, I think, middle of the road, like middle of the pack in terms of rushing attempts. So, they weren’t a team that was going to, hey, we’re going to run the ball down your throat, but they weren’t they obviously weren’t afraid to run the ball either. Right in the middle of the pack. Rogers was like I I think like 11th or 12th in pass attempts. So again, not anything where you’re like, he’s going to be chucking it 40, 50 times a game, but also he’s not going to be afraid to throw the ball either, and he was the MVP of the league. Now, there are ways that you can I mean, and thank you, Bill Walsh, for inventing the West Coast offense. There are ways that you can move the ball, stay on schedule, and not run it. There are a lot of quick game concepts which all you know uh deviate from the West Coast offense that Aaron Rogers has run in the past even as recently as last year with the with the Jets and ran him pretty efficiently at times too even though he didn’t have a very good offensive line and his receivers were me. Sorry, I just I have don’t have a high opinion on on Jets receivers outside of Garrett Wilson being an insane talent. Um, I really think that if you can run the ball better, doesn’t have to be top 10 in terms of efficiency or top five, but if you can average four and a half yards a carry, that’s not asking too much. And marry that with the ability to be efficient in the quick game, you’re going to be first and 10 into second and six and second and five way more often. then you’re turning second and six, second and five into third and one or you’re moving the chains because you’re able to consistently stay on schedule when you’re able to do that and you saw a glimpse of it even without Rogers and without them in this preseason game. They didn’t hurt themselves. They didn’t get themselves behind the chains. The only time they did was when Mason Rudolph held on to the ball for 16 seconds in the pocket and took a sack because of it and he otherwise had a really, really, really good game. Exactly. Dave Black asks here, “Will the Steelers use this joint practice tomorrow and the second preseason game, the one that follows Saturday night against the same team, Tampa Bay, to make a final judgment to look for WR2 or to stay with what they have?” Dave, I’m going to come back with a something that doesn’t really answer your question. Okay. And here’s why. I think it has to be taken into account that this football team already has a lot of targets. Okay, there’s there’s a lot of different guys that you want to keep busy and to keep involved. And at the same time, for a whole bunch of reasons, you don’t want your 41-year-old quarterback to be throwing 50 times a game. So, there’s only so much of this to go around. When you’re talking about, let’s say you said earlier, Medaf needs to be targeted double digit times. Okay. How many passes do you think Aaron’s going to throw in a given game? 30. At least 30. Okay. 30 to 35. 30 to 35. There goes onethird of them. Just like that. Poof. Okay. Now you’ve got not one, not two, but three tight ends. And the last of those tight ends to arrive, John Smith was used to getting targeted a lot. Now, Frier has Pat Frier has been in the habit of not being targeted anywhere near as much as he wants, but between those three guys and what you’ve seen of Darnell and what he can offer you that others can’t, including the other two tight ends as a receiver. Okay. Now you get the running backs involved. How many passes are we up to here now? It’s okay. It’s a lot. Okay. Uh Jaylen Warren’s going to catch the ball out of the back field. He’s not He’s not going to be Naji Harris and drop it either. He’s going to catch these balls and do something with them. Gainwell has been as active and involved in the passing game as any receiver in Latroe. Mhm. That’s not because he’s killing time or whatever. He’s he’s actually going to be that much a part of the offense. Arthur really wants that presence of these guys catching passes, doing things on the outside. It’s not just all going to be about up the gut. Mhm. How many passes are we up to now? Bring in Calvin Austin, who by the way, I see people asking questions about Cal. Cal’s fine. I talked to Cal in Jacksonville. He’s fine. He’s going to be back soon. Uh, don’t sweat out, Cal. Cal’s going to be part of this, okay? I don’t know if it’s straight up deep balls, uh, or just find some kind of open lane or crossing route or whatever, but if if you get Cal on the run with any amount of momentum, Cal will run all day long. How many passes we up to now? And we’re worried about WR2. This is what I’m getting at here. Um, okay. So, here’s one thing that I can say definitively about I say definitively. Let let me let me take what I’ve actually spoken with Arthur Smith about on the record and he’s obviously not going to give me the X’s and O’s on the on the offense, but I also know that he told me certain things about why Tennessee had such a good offense and everybody was like he was only good because of Derrick Henry. Not true. Derrick Henry was an explosive runner obviously and those were his but those were still his two best seasons. Those two seasons in Tennessee were still his two best years. So Arthur Smith took that and then took the ability to hit the defense in a number of ways through the air. This wasn’t just, hey, let’s go attack deep. One way that he explained was hitting guys on the run, catch and run guys. And from what I’ve seen in training camp, it looks like he’s wanting to do more of that this year. Catch and run with DK Metaf. Catch and run with Calvin Austin. catch and run with Johnny Smith. Notice that those are three guys that could all do some serious damage after catching the ball if they’re catching in stride. I don’t think that that’s an accident. I think that’s what Arthur Smith wants to get back to. The one thing he doesn’t have is Dererick Henry back there. So, you don’t have Derrick Henry. So, don’t rely on this explosive offensive player of the year type running back out of the back field. But what you do have in the backfield is a four-time MVP at quarterback that can help find other ways to create. Instead of Derrick Henry running for six yards on first down, have Aaron Rogers hit a quick little stick route to Pat Frymouth on first down. Either way, it’s second and four. Yeah, you’re going to get five or six yards out of that just by breathing. Uh, you know, David Harrison says that wide rece and I David’s right here before I even read it and I wish this would penetrate with more people. WR2 will be TE1 or TE2. The other player will be TE1. I don’t think enough folks have looked at the season that John just had in Miami and realized how busy this guy was. Okay. He he was targeted a ton. He had, I believe it was 83 catches, 84 something like that. Uh with for 883 yards. I remember that number for some reason. Uh he he was intensely involved. He was their leading receiver. Okay? This isn’t someone for whom this is going to be fresh territory. This is what he’s used to being. So, when you might have seen or heard me pounding the table here for WR2, you’ll notice that that has significantly tapered off since Jonnu was acquired. And I even said before Johnny was acquired, if you get somebody like that, it lessens the urgency to get your WR2. You’re still thinking here, and I say this respectfully, like you need Swan over here and Stalworth over there, and you’ve got Benny Cunningham at tight end where he belongs. That’s not where the reality is in 2025. You don’t have to slot like that. Now, the one concern that I do have, and this has been consistent as well, is you have to have somebody who’s capable of being WR1 when Metcafe is unavailable to you. And I don’t know that that’s there on this roster. No. And I I do have one other one other concern, and Tyler brought it up here, and and and I I’m glad it was brought up. TE2 isn’t on the field on third and 12. That’s across the league. On third and long, it’s three receivers. It’s 11 personnel at least, right? And the Steelers don’t have another receiver that could consistently get open other than DK Metaf. Roman Wilson cannot consistently get open. Calvin Austin is probably the one who can best do that. Now, if you have He’s not great at it either. Yeah. No, but he’s become a much better route runner and he can create separation. But if you have DK Medaf, Calvin Austin, and John Smith all on the field on third and long, third and 11, third and 12, then yeah, you possibly could find something. But I think that’s why it becomes so much more important to make sure that you’re always on schedule. Now, that’s why so much emphasis in that first preseason game was cleanly operation, like like the cleanliness of that, like being able to avoid penalties, avoid illegal motion, avoid an eligible man downfield on RPOS’s, avoid all of these penalties that back you up, that turn first and 10 into first and 15, that turn second and eight into second and 13. and now all of a sudden you’re playing behind the sticks and you’ve got to find a way to turn second and 13 into third and manageable. That’s what you have to be able to avoid. Now that’s all that’s asking to play very very I don’t want to say perfect football, but borderline perfect football. That’s hard to do. So that’s that’s what I’m saying. That is still the conundrum that’s still there because you don’t have the star power at receiver. Avoid being predictable, says Mike. And and that’s that’s really what’s what’s being set up here. Uh you want to be predictable where you should be predictable. In other words, to go swing back to the opening of this episode, you you want double-digit targets between Rogers and Metaf. That has to be a strength, and it will be a strength for this offense. But from there, you’ve got to you’ve got to move the thing around. And I have no doubt based on what we’ve seen in camp from Rogers specifically, but from the offense in general that you’re going to see a lot of that a lot of that distribution. You’re going to see distribution that we haven’t seen in Pittsburgh in quite some time. You’re going to see an offense that we haven’t seen in Pittsburgh in quite some time. Uh that’s that’s the part that’s that that for me is is is really enticing to see this team. So everybody else right now because it’s that time of year. It’s the middle of August. We’re going to be talking about Rock Taylor still. Rock Taylor’s just a guy. I I don’t I’m not being mean here, okay? He’s just a guy. When you watch the wide receivers out there, he doesn’t stand out at all. He became a sexy name because, you know, for for one thing, it’s an interesting name. And he’s undrafted. And everybody likes to have that one guy that they they cling on to and say he’s he’s my I’m really I can’t wait to see this Rock Taylor. He’s not anything. U not not anything. He’s not anything that’s jumped out. Okay. Uh when you’re talking about who’s 11 again, Chris, I keep forgetting his name. Johnson out there. Uh Brandon Johnson. Brandon Johnson. Thirdyear guy, practice squad guy. Has shown really well. Nobody talks about him. Why not a sexy thing? Practice squad guy. Give me a break. Who wants to hear about the practice squad? Who wants to hear about, you know, Herleman? Who wants to hear about uh, you know, as Chris correctly pointed out, I think, uh, a few days ago, Scotty Miller’s having himself a camp. The quarterbacks, all of them, okay, including Rogers, love having the guy. He comes back to the football. He’s reliable. Here, I’ll say it. He’s Ryan Switzer. There’s a reason that Ben loved him some Switz. Okay, those quarterbacks love having those safety valves. They’re not, again, they’re not, you know, big dramatic, wow, the sky is the limit type of players, but that’s not necessarily what everybody needs to be in a football environment here, you know? Yeah. Uh, Scotty Miller is probably I don’t want to say a lock for the roster, but when you’re talking about like if for example like if I have to choose between Robert Woods and Scotty Miller for the fifth receiver, I’m going with Scotty Miller. Like I just think he does more. I think he can he can provide more. I think he’s um a little bit more versatile at this stage of his career. Um I I just the one thing that you know you really don’t have over there and really the best blocking receiver the Steelers might have right now is probably Roman Wilson. Um he and he’s looked good in in blocking drills uh in training camp. But I do and Chris Dolnac asks 499 will Omar get a WR2 before September 7th. According to the last time I spoken with like sources on this, uh they are not actively looking for WR2. Um but that doesn’t mean they won’t get one. They’re open to it. And I think that’s one of the things that that might have gotten a little bit lost in in your reporting, your reporting on on Terry McLaren uh and then u the other guy, the injured guy, Gabe Davis. Yeah, Gabe Davis. is that just the fact that the Steelers, you know, entertained these guys and discussed it is significant. Uh I, you know, this we’re still talking about WR2 today, guys. And you know, at the same time, everybody also wants to talk about Roman Wilson and you know, where do you think all of these people are going to go? I mean, you know, there’s only so many you can put on the line. There’s only so many targets. I believe we had a little bit of a breakdown here a little bit ago, didn’t we? Here on the on the breakdown of the the mythical 35 throws, where do they go to? Here it is. Richard Hunt has it up and says 35 attempts, 10 of them are going to be incomplete. That’s fair. Okay, I mean, you know, five of them will go to running backs, 10 of them will go to tight ends, and 10 of them will go to wide receivers. Okay, if you say 10 of them are going to wide receivers, I’m going to say that eight of them need to go to Medcaf. Okay, now are you targeting tight ends 10 times? You are. If you’re using John Smith properly, you are. If you have Pat Frymouth even getting two or three targets a game, you are if you have Darnell Washington even getting two or three targets a game. This to me looks like a fairly reasonable breakdown. And it doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for losing sleep over who WR2 is. Yeah. Uh, by the way, I did I I was corrected in the chat. The be the best blocking receiver on the team is Ben Scorronic. It’s not Roman Wilson, but Roman Wilson’s up there, too. Um, but yeah, so when you talk about WR2 and you talk about, okay, this team is going to keep five receivers. Like, they’re not keeping six. You’re already Okay. DK Metaf, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson, Ben Heronic. Those four on the roster for sure. If you add another receiver, there’s your five. That means Scotty Miller gone. That means Robert Woods gone. That means Rock Taylor, Max Hurleman, all these other guys gone, right? Like if you add that WR2 guy, I mean, I don’t have a I don’t have a problem with any of that. I I just I just don’t think this is all that John Smith coming here. Yeah. Has really really lowered this as a priority for the Steelers. I agree with you. And I just don’t feel like that that’s that’s that’s made it necessarily to the public, which is why I I’m I’m pushing that here. This is not a hole that’s on the offense. It’s not I I I think they listen from a Steelers perspective they are they have faith in who they have at receiver. Yep. That’s why they are not actively looking for Right. Right. So like in terms of pass catchers they are comfortable with what they have. That is why they’re not actively looking for other players. When Terry McLaren requests a trade and that’s known Omar Khan’s going to pick up the phone and he did. and he did and he finds out what what the you know every everything about that situation. McLaren wants to be a number one receiver, wants to be paid like a number one receiver everything. Okay. Well, we have DK Metaf so thank you for your time. Appreciate it. You know, goodbye. Maybe things change. You know, maybe in a week Terry McLaren says, “You know what? Making no headway. I’m perfectly fine being a number two to DK Medaf. Let’s see if we can work something out.” I I don’t know. Now, do I think that makes the Steelers a like a borderline Super Bowl contender? A lot closer. But then again, you have to deal with what you’re talking about. There’s one football to go around and you’ve got to then throw it to DK Medaf and Terry McLaren and Pat Frymouth and Johnny Smith and there like somebody’s not going to be happy unless really everybody has bought in and somebody’s fine being a guy who only gets two or three targets a game. Well, here’s one thing I think we all can agree with. That’s that this year’s group of wide receivers is better, way better than last year. I’m going to agree with you actually, Jay Moods, if you take the wide off of that. Okay? Uh because you have John Smith now, and you have an advanced a more mature as a as a pass catcher, Darnell Washington. Okay? These are real live receiving threats, and I don’t care what the positional label is on them. I really don’t. And I don’t think that Aaron Rogers does either. Infinitely more important. So, it’s it’s it is Tyler says it’s better, but not way better. Dude, they added John Smith. I I don’t I just We need to make that like a banner on this show just because people haven’t seen him or heard because he’s been extremely limited uh in practices and everything. Nobody’s seen him in preeason yet. So, it’s almost as if he’s a he’s a phantom or something. Okay. He’s real. He’s real and he’s going to have a real impact here. So, a better group of pass catchers than last year. My god. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Ab I I definitely agree with that. I I do think just the receiver position is better just because you swapped George Pickkins for DK Metaf because I think Metcap’s a better overall receiver than Pickins is. And then you add in the fact that Roman Wilson’s now back, you know, from the injury. He It’s not like he’s some dud. He’s like he can still do some things and we and the Steelers need to see what he’s capable of. They invested a third round pick in the guy. They need to let him play. They need to find out what they have in him. But when you add in tight ends, the group of pass catchers, I mean, we’re talking about the top three tight ends or the four tight ends last year were Pat Fam, Darnell Washington, Connor Hayward, and Michael Puit. And this year, take out Michael Puit and put in Johnny Smith and then Darnell Connor down. Tyler keeps snapping at us in the comments. Johnny won’t be on the field on third and 12. I’m gonna keep saying it. Want to bet? Oh, he will. Want to bet? He will. There’s if you that you need to look into Janu’s history and all of the different ways that Arthur Smith has utilized him positionally where he aligns, he will be there. Okay. Now, do are the Steelers overloaded with guys who can get down the field on intermediate passes and get open to what you’re talking about third and 12th? No. No. We’ve said that they’re limited in that regard. However, I’m going to be the guy that says it’s third and 12. Okay? Your chances of success aren’t that great under any circumstance. So, here’s a really really good response to that. And I I did give some validation to this concern because it is a valid concern when when you do get behind the sticks, you don’t have the receivers that can get open as consistently. Michael says Tyler thinks that we will be in third and 12 on every drive. Yeah. If you are in third and 12 more than three times in a game, you have other problems. You stink. You have other problems. This should that should be a situation that you run into once hopefully no more than twice in a game. If you were in third and 12 consistently, you have other problems that you also would pro almost almost certainly you’d have operational problems as well because you’re going to be that’s a that’s a holding flag or, you know, a false start or something that’s going to get you knocked back or you can’t run. These are other issues that have nothing to do with the composition of your uh receiver room. That’s what Jessica says here. Third and 12. Who committed the penalty? That’s exactly it. Uh guys, appreciate you being here with us today. Um we will have another one of these. I don’t know, we’re going to do a different kind of show tomorrow. We’re going to do a Latro style show tomorrow. Uh from I checked with the Steelers on this. We’re going to be able to do it from the field. Uh Chris is hearing this for the first time. We’re going to be doing able to do it from the field uh over at Acasher Stadium. Nice. and we’re going to whip up a Latro style show for you that uh you know gets some players involved and stuff like that and we’ll try as best we can to get you some kind of information. Remember that if the players confirm to us that we saw what we saw then it can be used per these NFL reporting guidelines. And remember that the alternative to this is that they don’t let us in there at all. Yeah. So this is which they have the right to do. They do. If anything, the Steelers are one of the I was more open. Yeah. Yeah. I I was having a conversation with the Jaguars PR um who actually used to work for the Steelers just a few years ago and uh they were saying like when when they when they talk with other t with other like reporters and and she tells them like what the Steelers do, they’re like what? Like it’s unheard of. Like so many reporters don’t get to watch practice. So we get to watch all of practice. We just can’t report on it unless unless something is verbally confirmed. Did I ever tell you when I I was covering the Ravens for a playoff series and I was assigned to go to Owings Mills, which is where their practice facility is, like out in the woods, like nowhere near humanity. And I get there and they they see that I’m from Pittsburgh. They made me sit in the lobby. Like it’s a it was a really nice lobby, but there were the people who cover them for, you know, the Baltimore Sun and whoever else were all like out on the field and stuff. I had to sit in the lobby because I’m going to call back to Pittsburgh and tell you everything I’m seeing. I I can’t The NFL is so bizarre with this stuff. Uh appreciate you guys. Oh, we had uh Matthew was asking here what time the show is tomorrow. It I don’t know. The practice is at the practice the joint practice is at 12. So which means it’ll probably run till about till about 2. No, it’s at 2 o’clock. It starts at 2. I thought it was at 12. No, it starts at So Mike Tomlin’s talking at one o’clock and then the practice starts at two. Boy, I really had that one wrong here. Okay. So in that case, the time that this will go up will probably be just around the same times that we’ve had been doing it from LRO, which is around 5:30. Yeah. Okay, as we get closer, I can I can stay in touch here. Make sure you download our app, the DK Pittsburgh Sports app. Uh it’s free to try out. Uh you’ll see some ads and stuff, but there’s also a premium level in which you can get rid of all the ads and support us. Uh that’s available on Apple and on Android. Uh dkps.net is where to find that, the Apple one. DKPS.net. and you can keep up with us around the clock on that thing. So, we’ll see you guys tomorrow from Acer Stadium. Believe it or not, [Music]

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