DK’s Daily Shot of Steelers: My Latrobe MVPs

DK’s Daily Shot of Steelers: My Latrobe MVPs

[Music] So, are you one of those who gets a little bit annoyed that the quarterback wins all of the postseason awards, including MVP? And yeah, you might not like in that case what I have to offer today. Good morning to you. Good Wednesday morning. I’m Dan Kovach with DK Pittsburgh Sports. This is Daily Shot of Steelers. It comes your way bright and early every weekday if you’re into hockey and/or baseball. I also offer daily shots of the other two teams in town that I cover. Those of course being the Penguins and the Pirates. I hope you’ll check those out. Training camp at St. Vincent College formally concludes this morning, but you won’t see, hear, or read a syllable about it because it’s off limits to both the public and the media. So, for our purposes and yours, camp’s over. Camp concluded. Yesterday, I was out there. Of course, the chief takeaway from the session as a whole is that it was spirited, it was physical, it was competitive, it was vocal, and it was a little bit fortuitous because Aaron Rogers rolled his ankle a bit, got some treatment for a bit, kept right on participating. So, in sharing my annual MVPs for you, one from either side of the ball, I’ll begin with the most boring possible pick on the offensive side, and that’s Rogers. And I mean, it’s not close. DK Metaf’s been impressive. Kenny Gainwell’s had himself a nice camp. Darnell Washington, Troy Fauanu, Zack Frasier, and for that matter, the other quarterback in the fold has had himself a good camp, Mason Rudolph. But Rogers came in to this setting seemingly looking to check off every single box that anyone could have had, myself included, of possible concerns. Now he’s too old. Well, it’s not affecting his arm for sure. He seems mobile enough. Showed that again yesterday with a really nice roll out and throw. And yeah, even with the little incident there yesterday. All’s clear on the health front. So, that’s the performance part. The personality part is one that I don’t know many could have anticipated because he’s come in and he’s been the model citizen. I would tell you that he has said all the right things except that we saw Russell Wilson say all the right things and we as Pittsburgers with this special extra antenna that we have for BS artists detected that right away from Russ. And you can see that it’s just not like that with Rogers. He’s living his own real life right in front of us on the field and off. And it has been about the Steelers and about these players and these coaches and this moment in his career. And going even a bit beyond that, I don’t know that this has gotten enough attention on this program or in my writing. So, I want to say it now, but I want you to imagine it in bold face and all capital letters. This dude never stops. I’m watching him in these drills and I’m thinking, all right, well, he’s just going to give way now to Skyler Thompson or And no, he’ll stay in. He’ll wait for an opportunity to get it right. When something isn’t gotten right, if it’s on him, it’s pretty obvious. If it’s on someone else, that happens quite a bit. You’ll see him wait for that player, saw this once yesterday, which is why I’m going to lay it out like this, to get back to whatever passes for the huddle before these drills, and he will talk to that player. And he will not proceed with the next call until he is positive that that player has understood what he has just shared. Where were you supposed to be? Why were you supposed to be there? When were you supposed to turn around? He’s been a joy to watch. He has been the polar opposite of what I had worried about all summer long. The polar opposite. And don’t even get me started on whatever he and Metaf are beginning to build up. On the defensive side, I’m actually going to go off my own rails here. I’m going to go against my own better judgment. And instead of giving you the guy who’s actually been the best performer, the player who’s risen up the most, the one who’s gotten things done and looks like he’s ready for just another tier to his career. That being Payton Wilson, I’m gonna be totally lame and give it to Jaylen Ramsay just for existing. I actually mean this. Ramsay has a presence about him. Not because he’s bouncing around on the defensive line, not because he’s by far the loudest individual on any field, but just because he shows up similar to Rogers in this capacity with almost this aura about him and who he is and of course who he’s been elsewhere. And then to Mike Tomlin’s credit, he’s put into a role along with Darius Slay, along with Joey Porter as presenting this defense with a whole new face. They’re now showing up at the line of scrimmage with fangs. And he personifies that, Ramsay does, because he can actually be at the line of scrimmage or he could rush off the edge or he could switch off with one of the outside corners or he could he can do anything. He knows it. His head coach knows it. His teammates know it. And if there’s anyone that’s going to get this defense to being as dynamic as it had been in previous years or maybe even more so, it’s going to be number five. When we come back, J1Q. This segment of Daily Shot is brought to you by our good friends at Mike’s Beer Bar. They’re located on Federal Street, directly across from PNC Park. Mike has more than 500 beers on tap, including from more than 50 local breweries. Stop in and say hello. Tell Mike we sent you. Mike’s beer bar. Finding great candidates to hire is hard. Too many resumes, not enough people with the skills or experience you need. But not with Ziprecruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at ziprecruiter.com/audio. After you post your job, their smart matching technology starts showing you qualified people right away. Also, Zip Recruiter lets you connect with top candidates ASAP. You can use their pre-written invite to apply message to reach out to your favorites and encourage them to apply sooner. Ditch the other hiring sites and let Zip Recruiter find what you’re looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on Ziprecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at this exclusive web address. ziprecruiter.com/audio. Again, that’s ziprecruiter.com/audio. Ziprecruiter, the smartest way to hire. [Music] Today’s J1Q comes from Ed who says, “DK, I sure hope you’re right about Caleb Johnson. The talk when he was drafted was about how he didn’t hesitate and he had a good burst of speed and all I saw the other night in Jacksonville was hesitation and no burst. Maybe there were no holes to burst through. Whatever the problem was, it was the one negative of the night for me. You know, Ed, between Johnson and the only player picked ahead of him in the Steelers class, Derek Harmon, it feels like the bulk of the worries that anybody would have after that game was about the draft class with the sizable exception of YA Black who showed really well in just a dozen snaps. And I’ve got a couple of responses to this one is to repeat that I mean they’re kids, they’re children and they’re attempting to migrate from the minor leagues to the major leagues. The adjustment to that is massive. And just being blunt here, it’s amazing to me anytime a rookie can step right in and make things happen. I’m reminded of something that Payton Wilson told me. This was a year ago in Atlanta, really early in this young man’s career. I’d asked him afterward just how he felt like what was his impression of what was out there. And he said in the most frustrated tone, “I know what I need to do. I know how much I need to learn. I know how hard it’s going to be. I also know that I can do it. Check with me again. His words, in about 6 weeks. Well, I’ll ask you, when did you start seeing Wilson look comfortable out there? You’ve also heard me play for you interviews that I’ve done this week in Latroe with both Johnson and Harmon, and they sounded a lot like that, too. That’s why I approached them. That’s why I shared them with you. Now, what I can offer back to you here is that in the early going, and I’ve also been telling you this for a while, the running back is going to be Jaylen Warren. And the other player who’s going to touch the ball a ton at that position is going to be Kenny Gainwell. dude has been all over the football since the start of camp. He’s not being set up to be uh I don’t know the next Anthony McFarland or something. He’s going to play and he’s going to play in a lot of different roles. I caught up with Gainwell coming off the field yesterday in Latro and this was our talk. G you’re all over the football. You’re getting so many reps and everything. This this is kind of what you envisioned, isn’t it? Uh yeah, most definitely. Um, I finally get an opportunity, you know, show my talents, what I really can do. Um, you know, I’m just happy for the opportunity and I’m going to work my ass off to do what I got to do. How do you fit into this offense? And the reason I asked that is because you’re doing so many different things. Um, I say we got a dynamic quarterback, you know, and um, basically we can go off any scheme we need to. And uh, I’m just here to help this team win, man. We trying to get a Super Bowl this year. So, I mean, I’m just chasing that dream. You enjoying yourself? Yeah, I am. I’m fine. Didn’t hear any gosh wow in there, did you? Nope. That’s the difference. That’s the difference. I appreciate your J1Q, Ed. I appreciate everybody who listens to Daily Shot of Steelers. We’re going to have a regular old live episode on this day off for the football team of Double Shot of Steelers. That’ll be at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. And I’ll be doing that from the downtown headquarters of DK Pittsburgh Sports between now and then. I need you to go and download our app. Not YouTube, not anything else. Download the DK Pittsburgh Sports app. That’s where we conduct all of our business, including, by the way, all of our podcasts and videos and writing and everything else. And when you do, pay attention to this. Please email me directly. My email address is dkd dk pittsburghports.com. Spell all of that out. It’s dkdpittsberports.com. [Music] And I’ll have something for you when you do.

My training camp MVPs, one from each side.

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