Steelers Prepare To Take On Colts | SNR Drive (Oct. 29) | Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers Prepare To Take On Colts | SNR Drive (Oct. 29) | Pittsburgh Steelers

The drive on your 247 home of the black and gold. Steelers Nation Radio. Good afternoon, Steeler Nation. It’s the drive on the Steelers Audio Network. Wesler and Matt Williamson with you for the next two hours here on a Wednesday. And Matt, I love it when a plan comes together. Yeah, we spent plenty of time talking about the Steelers secondary yesterday. I mean, really, every every put the puzzle together. How do we put this together? Who are the best players? Would you make any moves? What happens if Cory Trice gets back into the fold here? Well, Matt, the Steelers have made a move and Cory Trice looks like he could be getting back into the fold. Been a busy 24 hours with the Steelers secondary. Certainly has. And so let’s dive into it here for kind of our news of the day to open the show. Today, Wednesday, had to think about that for a second. October 29th, Cory Trice Jr. returned to practice. He will remain on the reserve injured list, but he now enters that 21-day window where the Steelers have to activate him to the active roster or he will spend the rest of the year on IR. Nine out of 10 times they activate these guys. Correct. you know, injury set back or something like that. I I know like when Howard started, I threw it out there. Maybe it’s when I get three weeks of practice cuz that’s I only threw it out because it’s so unusual. Um I’m sure Trice will get activated at some point. You know, we can bring it up to Chris. Maybe it’s not this week. Probably not this week. There’s no reason to do it this week. Um but that’s great. I mean, I think people are familiar with his work at this point. He’s Joey Porter sized, if not bigger. He’s huge. Yeah, I mean he’s crazy long. Yeah, he’s very talented. He probably would have been a third round pick coming out of college if he didn’t have injury stuff. Steelers take him in the seventh and sometimes those guys continue to have injury stuff and it never works out. And that’s kind of where we’re at with the guy. But they would have given up on him so long ago if they didn’t think he could be something. Correct. That’s all that matters, you know. And frankly, he might be the starter opposite Porter next year. I mean, like that’s possible. I mean, I think that’s his ceiling. Could he be I don’t think, you know, you’re not throwing Rob Woodson or Mel Blunt on the roster and all your problems are solved. Sure. But he’s a big physical man press guy that is exactly what they need. Why not explore? I mean, just explore. I I think we’re on the same page there. Yeah. You are absolutely spot on when they’re or in saying, pardon me. Let’s rewind that. You are absolutely spot on in saying he’s navigated. He had the injury stuff in Purdue at college. He’s had that again in the National Football League. There’s a reason why they’ve stuck with him for so long. They like him a lot. I you you know this, Matt. Uh it’s something that we kind of allude to all the time. You and I are not in the meeting rooms. We’re not we’re not privy to everything. We’re not always behind the scenes. Mm- We’re not even at the facility every day like Dale was or Chris is or you know, right? I’m there Tuesdays, you’re there Thursdays. We’re we’re each there once. I eat lunch and I record a video and I go home. I do a Mike Toddlin press conference show with Jerry Dulac. I eat lunch and then I go home. Well, no, actually. Eating lunch is the highlight. I come here to do a show with you. But we also, while we are not in it, training camp’s a different story though. We’re pretty well wired. Training camp is a different story. And so while we’re not in it in it in it, we also obviously are privy to much more information and conversation than the average Joe. Of course. Of course. Of course. The amount of times that after Cory Trice was drafted, I’d be sitting up on the dorm by St. Benedict’s Hall having a cigar with our with our brother Craig Wolfley. Nice. Yeah. And and people would be talking about Cory Trice when they drafted him. That’s a little social area up there, too. It is. That’s where you get That’s where you get the good That’s like the gossip That’s like the gossip table in the in the lunchroom. It’s a cool kid table. Exactly. Right. And you just hang out with Wolf and have a cigar and shut up and listen. And uh the year that he got drafted and then hurt. And then when he came back the the next summer, a lot of times I was kind of the fly on the wall while some people were talking about how much they liked Cory Trice and how much they believe that he is exactly what you want from that position. as long as they can keep him healthy and hey maybe this is the final opportunity for him in that regard but it’s good timing they could certainly use this reinforcement out of the bullpen so I’ve been with teams and this is more so the college level but it still holds true we would have a meeting at every day at at pit I remember that most because that’s where you know I was the longest where we would all be every coach would be in the room I was a GA I had my seat the head coach had his seat the our our head trainer had his seat. Even our um you know director of football ops and equipment guy and some of those guys wouldn’t stick around for the football stuff. You’d knock out stuff and then they’d go do their work. But every day you’d talk to Rob Bane. He was our top uh doctor guy, you know, I mean, and sometimes those guys will just tell you, I’m doing everything I can just to get in the next practice. you know, if you want to keep risking it with them, especially at the NFL level, you’re paying them, you know, sure, so be it. But I can’t guarantee you anything healthwise. This guy’s got something that’s going to be always there, an issue. Yeah. Or there’s no way you’re going to want to give him a contract or I mean, that’s what they’re paid to do. Absolutely. Or he’s got bad luck. That will never know those answers. But the fact is still there. It’s nothing that it’s he’s prone to. He’s just had bad luck, right? like, man, I just feel bad for the guy. He fell on the st whatever, you know? Yeah, he’s got something, you know, that was totally fluky or Cole Hulcom’s injury from a couple years ago where his own team Aiden Hutchinson’s injury last year, you know what I mean? Like that has nothing to do with those guys being injuryprone. No, that’s just a a fluke. And there’s some of them. These guys are so good medically. It’s like, well, he’s got these issues with his right leg, so he’s always gonna have he’ll have ankles and he’ll have pulled things and his back’s gonna get out of whack. And like I can see the writing on the wall, you know, and the fact that Trice is still here tells you two things. That they either like him so much that the the the I if it’s the if the injuries are fluky, okay, we’re just going to go injury to injury. If they’re not, we’re going to stick around with this guy because we like him so much. I mean, it’s still there’s still a cost, you know, ratio there. Analysis. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, 100%. And so with Corey Trice, who knows what it looks like long term, but the fact that he’s returned to practice, I gotta think you’re right. This week, probably too soon, but sooner rather than later, we could see him maybe out in LA next week and what that could mean for the secondary could be massive if he can stay healthy down the stretch and and provide them with real quality reps and snaps and and maybe help alleviate some of those concerns. And the thing is too, when you activate someone or trade for someone, we’re going to get down that road here, too. Well, someone’s got to go. They don’t let you keep as many people on the roster as you want. So, does when he gets activated, is that bad for Trice or Pierre or is there a safety that’s going to get certainly could be shaft with Duggar showing up? I mean, somebody’s going to. You can’t just keep adding people. It certainly could be. Certainly could be. You are absolutely right. Um, and that is, you know, he now you don’t have to do anything to change the active roster because he hasn’t been added to the active roster yet. But I hope they don’t all of a sudden put Elliot on IR for, you know, I thought we avoided that with the first press conference of the week, but that could be a possibility with Duggar, too. I’m I mean, I’ve seen it happen before. I’m not speculating. Sure. That’s that’s absolutely fair to bring up, Matt. I I think you’re spot on there. And then let’s go there. That’s kind of the other big Yeah, it’s a big deal thing that’s happened in the last 24 hours. Not only Cory Trice Jr. returning to practice for the Steelers and activating that 21-day window, but the Steelers have acquired a safety, Kyle Duggar from the New England Patriots. It’s a seventh and sixthround pick swap for the Steelers and the Pats. Uh Duggar just signed a four-year 58 million deal last year, which is a bad deal. That’s I mean that’s a lot of that they they made a mistake giving him that much. You better be Minka Fitzpatrick at safety if you’re getting that kind of money. You combine that you combine the fact that that was also before Mike Rabel came into the equation as well too. New coach, new defensive huge that part’s massive. New coach, new defensive scheme. He has started 69 games in his career. Nice. And recorded nine interceptions. That’s a pretty Oh, yeah. Sizable um splash rate there. Matt, tell us what we need to know about Kyle Duggar. Uh, a a pick swap in the sixth and seventh round. So, not a massive amount of capital that you’re giving us up for this guy. What’s it look like for his role? What’s it look like for that contract? Everything involved. What was kind of your initial reaction when you saw this news last night? Do the whole biography. What is Kyle Duggar? Kyle Duggar, an American football safety for the New Eng Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a reasonably early second round pick out of Lenor Ry, which is I had never heard of before Kyle Duggar’s name came across the beast or whatever when I was exposed for the first time. A tiny tiny school and safeties out of tiny tiny schools don’t go in the top 50 picks. You might use a sixth, seventh round pick on the guy, but he his combine numbers are insane. And at Lenor Ryan, as you would imagine, he was always the best guy in the field, like superstar, right? Everyone’s who is that? And he’s 61ish, about 220 pounds, and his combine numbers are astronomical. I mean, jumps, change of direction, 40. Now he’s 28, I think. 29, something like that. I’ve got He’s been a league five years. 29. 29. Yep. Thanks. Thanks, TV, video producer TV. And doesn’t move like his combine numbers now. Sure. You know, I mean, but in a way, remember like nur who Seattle took out of South Carolina similar. I mean, that’s like what this guy was at the combine. um he had a serious ankle injury year and a half ago, something like that. And that I’m not sure he moved the same since. Sure. Um and he’s also older. I mean, none of these guys move like they did at the combine. You know, they have a lot of wear and tear on their body. Um I I I tweeted out all his alignment data. I would say about 20% of it was at free safety. That’s not really what he he’s done. Um he’s done a lot of in the box work. He’s basically a strong safety. And I’ll be honest, two years ago I thought he was on the verge of being an allp pro, a pro bowler. I mean, yeah. I mean, like one of the top 10 safeties in the league, got injured, and he’s versatile, but he’s not a great cover guy. I mean, he’ll knock your teeth out of your head. I mean, he comes downhill and crushes people and covers a lot of ground still and he’s big and he’s physical and he plays hard. Um, but I think a huge key here is getting out of the Bell getting out of the Bellich Brady world that is so overpowering in New England I think is an obvious goal of this staff. Totally. I mean, and it’s not easy. They want to completely turn the page. Yes. It’s a new chapter. Very obvious. Like I didn’t think Jabril Pepper should have got cut, but he was part of the old staff and he’s one of Bill’s guys and Bill wanted highly versatile players. You know, even like Kon White, who they traded, is a 285 pound end. Well, they run a 34 and he’s not really a 34 end and he’s not really TJ Water Highmith. He’s a big power 4-3 end that can that bumps inside on passing downs and and Bellich wants guys he can move all over. Bradel wants Landry and you know he wants his dudes and he also I think he and the whole organization and it makes sense just wants the Bellich check people out you know like I I don’t need stories of Brady and Grank and Rings and you know and fortunately for Vrabel the very short regime post Bellich check were really bad at their job. I mean the head coach and GM did really bad stuff. So there was nowhere to go but up. And frankly the end of Bellich’s career there was really bad as a GM. You know some of his drafting and all those type of things. But he wanted a certain type player. Brabel does not want the c same type of defensive player and they just want to get new Drake May running the show. You see you see you see it in every line of business Matt when new leadership comes in. They want to you know what I mean? They want to do things their way. They want to start a new chapter completely. Especially you’re following that guy you know. that shadow out of here, you know. Exactly right. Exactly right. And so it makes a lot of sta sense from that standpoint. I mean, yeah, there’s some same church, different pew stuff there as the Jabro Peppers move that, you know, that we that we just saw. You basically gave up nothing for him. Peppers go for free. This is about the same. It’s you got to pay them. You You think he’s got a little bit more juice or a little bit more to offer in the tank than Peppers? I don’t know cuz I feel like I I have an income. I was so excited to get Peppers for nothing. Yeah. You thought that by now he would have ingrained himself into maybe not a starter but a regular on that defense. I think we were talking to Adam Damsky yesterday and I I thought the the the game just like Chris did that Clark was inactive and Peppers wasn’t that the changing the guard had occurred. Was that that wasn’t Dublin, was it? Was that Cleveland out of out of the bye? I think so. And apparently that’s not the way they saw it or there was some setback or something we don’t know about. So I I my peppers as a Steeler grade is massively incomplete. So comparing the two is tough, but they’re similar. They’re both more strong than free. They’re both on their best day were knock your doors off physically impressive. They, and I hate to say this, Ramsay, Slay, Thornhill, all these guys they’ve invested in, Clark, you know, could they all just be not what they used to be? Maybe, you know, there’s a theme here. These are guys are all high pedigree on their best day or physical freaks, but their best day is probably behind them. I mean, it’s a short le, you know, um, do the Steelers have a blind spot for these guys? If they do, I do as well, cuz I’m I’m with them. Like, I want to bring in pedigree guys that have have done well, but injuries and getting your your bodies beat up, you don’t last forever in this league. I mean, are they buying used cars that have a bum wheel? I don’t know. Sure. It’s a that’s a fair question to ask, I think. But they’re not paying sticker price either. That’s the thing. You only need one to hit out of three. Correct. You know what I mean? Correct. And hopefully one of these moves that we’ve discussed here will end up having a substantial impact. Whether it’s the return of Cory Trice, whether it’s the addition of Kyle Duger, you need you need another tool in that secondary toolbox. Yeah. You know, you need another you need another piece in that group. I think es you could have said that before Deshun Elliott went down, but now especially of course especially. So I do think Duggar can do some of the Elliot things against the run for sure. Like guy gets past the first level. Elliot cleaned up a lot of that big ferocious tackle. You don’t love that six to eight yards downfield in the run game. But this guy covers a lot of ground and he’s a physical thumper and will blast you. Now, I don’t want him playing man coverage against, you know, slot receivers and he can line up in the slot. Um, he’s not going to play a lot of single high on his own. He’s going to be a strong and I looked into his contract briefly, which is a bad deal, like I said, but the Steelers going to pay him the rest of the year. They’ll just pay him his weekly salary, which isn’t too bad, you know, right? I mean, um, but he you can get out of his deal after the season without much problem. Um, I think he’s due to make like 10 million next year, which I would be shocked if he’s worth that. Sure. But maybe he blows your doors off and you don’t opt out of the deal. Who knows? I I don’t know. But I I like the risk. I think for the time being, it’s a fair one to take. Yeah. Worst case scenario, you pay them out the rest of the season and you get rid of them before you have to pay any big roster bonus or, you know, any type of guaranteed money, things like that that that aren’t on the uh aren’t on the docket right now. You combine that move, you combine the I guess not as much the Cory Trice because that was probably scheduled. They’ve probably been trying to get him back to practice as soon as possible. He’s healthy. They’re going to bring him back. But I also think both of the the timing of these cannot be purely coincidental in the sense of they’re turning over some stones in that secondary to try and get something to They’re not sitting on their hands clearly. Yes, you’re right. Right. And I would be shocked if they make another move between now and Tuesday at 4:00 or whatever, too. I kind of expect that they will. Still six more days left in the trade deadline. That is of course something that we will monitor. We’ll talk more about this. Oh, what about 20 minutes or so now with our buddy Chris Hock. We’ll get all the latest from the southside with him when we come back on the other side. Matt, what do you say we go around campus here? Nice a little bit. And I’ve got a funny story for you and our buddy TV Tyler V, our video producer, is going to get to do a victory lap. I’ll explain why when we return on the other side. Wesler, Matt Williamson, good oldfashioned radio tease. It’s the drive on Steelers Nation radio on the Steelers Audio Network. Gonna talk to our buddy Chris Hock. Get all the latest on some of this Steelers moving and shaking here in just a few minutes. Before we do, it is time to go back to school. Rodney Dangerfield, John Blue Tarski here as we go around campus and talk some college football quarterbacks. Before we do so, Matt, can I tell you something terrible that happened to me and why our guy, Mr. TV, was laughing at me about an hour ago? Please, I’m all ears. Microsoft is down right now. Okay. Okay. I we have like Microsoft is kind of the platform that we use here in the iHeart Radio studios. I say why does that matter? Right. So for like for all of our workday stuff here in the building, our work emails, all that runs through Microsoft through Outlook. Okay. As you know, especially nowadays, not every computer has Microsoft Word on it. You got to like get a product key or you got to pay for it and all that stuff. So, I’ve had issues in the past where like I haven’t been able to open and edit a word document on certain computers in here because it’s not installed and all that annoying stuff. That would make me insane. So, I’ve been I’ve been doing this around campus packet that I procure for you and myself and I was saying nothing’s sitting at my seat here. I didn’t I didn’t have your cheat sheet sitting on your seat like I normally do because I had been doing that through my work Microsoft platform. Gotcha. because I can log in from anywhere on any computer and edit it. So I can do it at home last night and then I could come in here and pull it up and do it here and I don’t have to worry about the transfer of Microsoft Word and saving and emailing and all that stuff. It’s just one platform. Well, that platform is down today. So I came in here and I couldn’t access it. I was fre not freaking out but I was you know kind of upset and angry and like I put this work into this last night. I’m trying to put the finishing touches on it now and print it off and I can’t access it and Microsoft is down. And Tyler’s been telling me for a month now, like, “Dude, just use Google Docs. Why are you using Microsoft? Google’s so much better. Google’s so much better.” And he’s in here. He’s putting his hands over there now. Hey, what are you going to do? Uh, like he’s Tony Soprano over there. What are you going to do? Bing. Uh, I’m like in here like pounding the table like, “Oh, come on. Why can’t I log in?” And he’s like, “I’ve been telling you to use Google Docs. I’ve been telling you to use Google Docs.” So, Matt, fortunately, I’ve put the work in. I put the research in. you know, this is something that like I enjoy and I Yeah, exactly. Right. So, uh maybe not quite as deep into the weeds and as thorough as typical, but we’re going to talk around campus. We’re going to talk some of these same quarterbacks and uh maybe a new name or two in the conversation. Maybe some of the uh more depth guys on this list that we’ve talked about like the Hayes Kings of Georgia Tech. He had a big week, right? He did. Sawyer Robinson of Baylor. Maybe maybe just since I’m not working with the full gambit of my information and research, we’ll stick to some of the bigger names this week. Okay. But there’s plenty to get into and in fact, I know you watched one of these quarterbacks. So, I wanted to get your thoughts on what you thought as well, too. But Matt, let’s start with Fernando Mendoza, the name that you and I, we’re like Neil Armstrong with Fernando Mendoza. We started talking about this guy back in the summertime before the college football season even started before he played a single snap for Indiana. Uh as he was a Cal transfer to IU. Matt, I mean, they just absolutely dominated UCLA. He didn’t have to do a ton. Just threw the ball 22 times, three touchdowns. Uh did run for 45 yards and a touchdown as well, too. Yeah. Which is nice to see from him. I say I that box needs to get checked and I think he’s he’s not going to be Michael Vic, but can you be Herbert? Oh, yeah. Can you be all day long? You know, can you be Joe Burrow and use your legs when they give it to you? I mean, he’s clearly not a stiff. He’s clearly not a stiff. Exactly. Right. And that’s really, I think, was one of the final boxes to check for him. He’s thrown for nearly 2,000 yards, 23 touchdowns, just three interceptions on the year. Matt, right now, barring injury or something crazy unforeseen drop in production, I think he is the one kind of nailed on top three, top five pick amongst the quarterbacks in this in this class. Yeah. I mean, he continues to just every single week consistent consistent improvement and his team is one of the best in the country and they keep winning. I mean, he looks like an NFL starter. Yes, he does. A thousand%. Um, I don’t have a lot more to add. I mean, I I think it is noteworthy that he’s partially but a lot responsible for making a not historically great program into like a top five type of thing. I mean, that’s a lot of responsibility, you know, like it’s a different level, but like Desmond Ritter took Cincinnati from blood to, you know, they kept winning, you know, college. Yeah, there’s something he said for that. Um, I watched some of them. He’s impressive. I like the way he throws the ball. He’s got size. He’s got traits. I he’ll definitely be the mix for first overall. Dante Moore, another guy that we’ve been discussing is kind of one of the big three of this group along with Lenor Sers, too. Dante Moore took a nasty clothesline early in the second half, exited the game. They took care of business against Wisconsin. He looked fine before that, but now his uh status going forward is kind of up in the air for this week, Matt. Um, well, they do have a by-week, pardon me first, so it’s good news for that in that regard for him. But he had to exit the game early. Um, hopefully for their sake, nothing long-term. They do have the bye-week, which helps, but it was almost a little bit of like a a neutral Saturday for Dante Moore. You didn’t get to see a ton. He left the game early in the second half with an injury, but hopefully with the, you know, the by week and the good timing there, it’s just a slight scare and nothing too serious. Okay. Again, you’re way more on top of these guys on a week- toeek basis than I am, but I I do have a real good feel for how the process works and how, you know, what things, you know, the scouts are in league is working for, we’re looking for. My hunch is more and Simpson at Bama because they haven’t played a ton. I bet the college playoffs have a lot to do with if they declare or not. Absolutely. You know. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I think that’s a great call by you. Um, both of more a little bit more. I mean, he’s into the low double digits. I mean, he’s I think probably got 11, 12, 13 starts now in his career. Ty Simpson is still at what, seven or eight. I mean, and so you’re absolutely right. If those guys light it up in the College Football Playoff and you’re going to be a top 10 pick, win a couple games and beat good teams and okay, get out of here, you know, go be a top 10 pick. If not, and there’s some questions and maybe you won’t get drafted as highly as you think or you hope, then maybe you can or you’re in and out of the lineup with an injury or that kind of stuff, right? Absolutely. Uh a guy who injury earlier in the season, South Carolina’s really been struggling, but I still think he’s I watched a lot of this one. I still think and I know you did too. Lenor Sers, want to get your thoughts on him, Matt. Uh Alabama scores late to beat South Carolina, but I thought Sellers played pretty well. 222 yards, one touchdown through the air, another touchdown on the ground, 67 rushing yards. Um, I thought he was super impressive. I I still think he Listen, if you just look at the box scores and the way their season is gone, I think you could be like, what’s all the big hype around this guy? Of course, if you watch it, man, he just oozes potential. He’s got all the traits that you want and he’s on a really bad team. He’s on a really bad team, man. I mean, compared to Bama, right? I mean, I’m sure they beat Carnegie offensive their offensive line is bad and they can’t run the ball. I know. That’s what I took away from it, too, is he’s not a clean passer. I mean, I I think we know that, but he’s not just an athlete playing quarterback, either. He’s not some of the the terrible stereotypes or I mean, he can throw the ball well. Now he misses some layups and I’m sure he has mechanical stuff to clean up and continue to work on fine but I mean he’s a modernday Steve McNair as like a runner competitor. McNair was so strong for his era and McNair was a better thrower and a better downfield passer at this stage even though he’s coming out of a tiny school. But that’s what I kept seeing from the guy, you know, is, and you mentioned it, like watching this game, he would make an incredible play where shrugs off three tacklers, spins around, ends up with an eight yard gain, runs over a dude, first down, and there’s flag cold. I mean, like every time it’s like, oh my lord. Like this poor guy is a one-man show against the Crimson Tide and is a fair fight. He ends up fumbling like on the last play which I felt horrible for him because I wish anyone else in the stadium fumbled. You know, he would have made a mistake in that moment. Right. I you know this I’ve said this to you a lot of I think his future also depends on not only where he would get drafted if he comes out after this year but also what happens with his head coach Shane Beamer who’s kind of been mentioned as potentially even despite the down year that South Carolina’s having what he’s done with that program overall and getting them turned around and he might not be there next year being a candidate for for for some of these other bigger time jobs. I hate saying this because uh my team WVU is not one of the halves of college football. We’re not Oregon. We’re not Ohio State. We’re not Alabama. We’re in the same boat as a South Carolina, as a Pit, as a Maryland. You get a good player, you want to hold on to him like you did back in the old days, right? But there is a small part of me that is like, man, I would love to see Lenor Sers transfer to like a big time up 1% program. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. you know, and and see what he Simpson or more leaves, take be their successor. Exactly. Right. Exactly. Right. And see and see what happens um you know, with him surrounded by, you know, a program and a roster that’s talented like that. I bet his numbers would be different at Georgia. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. 100%. Uh a couple other guys that we got to hit on, Matt. Two guys that I’m starting to well I mean I guess I had already started to but I’m really not feeling great about right now are John Matier and Garrett Nusmire. Real quick what I’ve heard on Matir and I don’t think his hand is fully healthy to give him that olive branch. I I mean I know Todd McShay a little bit. we were at ESPN together. used to go to Senior Bowl and he he’s got his own thing going on and he’s one of the he’s he’s done a really good job of just week to week being there’s not a lot of draft guys that are on it week to week like Todd is now and I I’ve been paying extra attention and he firmly believe he’s like this guy shouldn’t be out there you know so that’s always tough as an evaluator I give him it’s weird to me because you know that he’s not 100% but it’s also like okay you’re out there I have to evaluate when you’re between the white lines I have to evaluate it But and that man that down the stretch against Old Miss on Saturday, Matier had a lot of opportunities for big moments and he missed a that last series of the game. I mean, big play on third down where he missed an open receiver, big play on fourth down where he missed an open receiver and and and Old Miss ends up hanging on there in Oklahoma. This is the value of area scouts though, 100%. you know, the I was a scout for a year and I quickly knew that I didn’t know, you know, like if I’d walk into WVU, there’d be this old grizzled dude that’s been in there a hundred times and brings donuts and knows the lunch ladies and every and I’m just like, ah, it’s fun to be here, you know, I’m new. I’m the rookie, you know, but I mean those grizzled scouts will know, hey, from week six to 10, Matier never should have been out there, you know, that kind of watch his tape from week one through five, right? in the senior bowl, right? 100%. Man, nusmeer kind of the same. Uh LSU got boat raced by hard to get excited about at this point. And then they lose their head coach. They lose their head coach. Head coach and you know, hey, maybe it’s easy to say in hindsight that he could have he should have came out after last season. But I I He doesn’t like look like Sers or Mendoza. No, he doesn’t. And I I mean I thought he was primed to have a huge year. Yeah. Yeah. They’ve got weapons all over that offense. LSU always does. It’s like Ohio State, you know what I mean? You want to guarantee two programs that always have first round weapons, LSU and Ohio State. Brian Kelly, who I know it hasn’t gone well for him this year, but I mean, look at the dudes that he’s put in the NFL on the offensive side of the football in particular. You can’t tell me LSU is a terrible situation. No, absolutely. Probably got still one of the best 10 or 12 rosters in the entire sport. And it’s almost the from a fiftheyear quarterback that’s been in the program, these are the kind of kind of moments where you want to see him grab everybody by the scruff of their neck and and pull them up. He’s kind of felt like he’s been dragged down by an elevator. Yeah. And so I’m not completely blaming him, but I’m also not not impressed by where we’re at. Yeah. It’s not going great. It is continues to go great for Tai Simpson as well, too, Matt. I mean, you know, again, he leads them to a comeback or not necessarily a comeback because it was a tie game, but he leads Alabama to victory towards the end. I think him and Mendoza are the two Heisman favorites. They’ve been the two most impressive quarterbacks. Um, I mean, Ty Simpson has thrown for 20 touchdowns and just one interception this year. Um the comp that Todd McShane keeps throwing out there and he’s like I know this is rich but Burrow I mean in terms of his style of play real precise super smart had two years at LSU but it was the second where he really took off. Right. Right. Right. Like Burrow is not as talented as Josh Allen or you know. Right. Right. Right. I can see that. He’s another one stylistically been a massive riser. You can count almost on one hand the amount of games that he’s started in college. Yeah, but he is he is certainly uh certainly one to keep an eye on and certainly could be a top 10 pick without a doubt. Uh last one I want to throw in here for you, Matt, a new name that I I I briefly mentioned last week, but um I got a couple tweets about him actually from people that asked me to add him to the conversation, and that is Arkansas quarterback Talon Green. Matt, some same church, different pew stuff as maybe Lenor Sers. Um, he is on a team that is struggling. He Arkansas also fired their head coach and is looking for a new head coach. And he did not have his best showing to be fair against uh Auburn this past week. Uh, threw three interceptions in what was probably the worst performance of his season. but 17 touch 17 touchdowns, five interceptions, nearly 600 rushing yards, and five rushing touchdowns on the season as well, too. So, he can do it with his arm and his legs. And he is like another one of those. He checks all the boxes of the stuff you can’t coach. He’s 66. He runs a 44 and he’s got an absolute cannon. Wow. Like he’s one that I’m bad situation. Tries to do a little too much at times and pays for it. will have a three interception game. Like they have no chance of like being a playoff team or No, no, no. They fired their head coach like two weeks ago. Yeah. He screams, “Oh, this is a hot name now.” When combine, Senior Bowl, all the postseason, this guy just screams, “Totally.” And the coaches start to get involved. Like the scouts will nitpick him and they see things different. Boy, he needs a lot of work. And then the coaches will be like, “Give me that to work with.” Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I will take that all day, every day. Uh, so he is one that I think I said to you he can walk past me in the hall. I have no clue who he is. First time I ever heard his name. But I’ll tell you right now, wherever people are projecting him, he’ll go earlier than that. Yes. I just know how this game works. If it’s Halloween and people are like, “He’s kind of interesting. He’s got tools.” That means he’s going to be a second round pick. If people think he’s a fourth, I told you I told you I last week, you are absolutely right. And he certainly fits that bill. I told you last week him and Reed the quarterback from Texas A&M I’m like really in intrigued by and and want to see a little bit more from um and and those guys have have continued in that regard. Uh last guy that we typically mention Jay De Mavia he’s coming the USC quarterback he’s coming off of a by-week um but a big one against Nebraska to watch. Uh Matt though Saturday se this week not as loaded for the quarterback verse quarterback matchups this week but 7:00 Saturday you’ve got South Carolina at Old Miss. That’s Chamblas against Sellers. Chamblas I thought played very well uh against Oklahoma last week as well too. He’s another one uh worth a mention. That game Saturday night will be fun to watch. You’ve also got USC in Nebraska. You’ve got Mavia against Dylan Riola who next year will be Is he a next year? He’s a next year will be in this conversation. Matier and Oklahoma have to go on the road to top 15 Tennessee. Let’s see if Matir can respond. Um those are kind of some of the ones. Should be another pretty easy day for Fernando Mendoza. They go to Maryland for a a 330 game. I know some of the Bloom was off his rose, but I’d like to have seen all verse Ohio State. That’s at noon on Saturday. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Penn State found a way to win that one after James Franklin being gone? You also might want to keep an eye on at noon uh number nine Vanderbilt at number 20 Texas. Diego Pavia, the Vanderbilt quarterback who’s another Heisman favorite at this point. I don’t love his potential. He seems like a really good college quarterback. He to me is Johnny Manzel light. Mhm. You’d love to have him on your college team. He’s not quite He’s not quite Manzel. You’d love to have him on your college team. I don’t think his game translates very well to the pros. Texas, they’ve looked a little bit better the last couple weeks. Arch Manning has looked a little bit better the last couple weeks. Let’s see what they can do against a It just sounds funny to say out loud. A top 10 Vanderbilt team. That just sounds sounds funny to say out loud. Uh but there is your around campus segment here, Matt, as we head to the month of November and week 10 of the college football season. Uh it’s happening very quick. Just four games, four weeks left in the college football season. We will get back to the Southside and all the happenings with your Pittsburgh Steelers with Chris Hack when we return on the other side. West Uler Matt Williamson. It’s the drive on the Steelers audio network. All right, Matt, we’re going to call an audible. Okay. We’re going to talk to our buddy Chris Hack about I don’t know 20 30 minutes from now. Okay, we can handle that in hour number two. And so we’ll call a little bit of an audible with Hick. We’ll catch more time to talk to him then too. We will as well too. kind of work out for the layout of the show and it gives us a few minutes here at the bottom of this hour too. There were kind of a couple other, you know, we talked Steelers news of the day, but NFL news of the day things too that I think deserve a mention. First, Patriots make two trades in, you know, extend a guy, you know, like right. Absolutely. And also, first off, I don’t think the Patriots are sellers, by the way. They’re just getting rid of the old and bringing in the new surplus maybe in their in their minds. A kind of pretty substantial piece of leaguewide news today, Matt. the Lions and Aiden Hutchinson a 4-year $180 million extension that includes 141 million guaranteed highest guaranteed number for a defensive player average salary that trails only of course Green Bay’s Micah Parsons who just signed his deal not too long ago as well Matt big commitment from the Lions to Aiden Hutchinson rightfully so he’s a star in the making I think he’s banging very hard on the door of those elite edge pass rushers, you know, the I always had Watt, Crosby, Garrett, Bosa, uh Parsons. Yeah, I mean that and I think he and Will Anderson’s another one that are, you know, coming into their own and in that tier. Uh, I’ve talked about this a lot when we actually after the Watt contract that that’s one position that the NFL does not hesitate to pay and you often have long careers. A lot of these guys have two, three contracts at that position. So, that makes all the sense in the world. Um, I just think the Lions are super interesting because they pay their dudes, you know, like Boy, have they. Yeah. They send good messages, you know, that you do your job as a lion. you’re going to we’re going to reward you immediately. They don’t screw around like the Hendrickson deal or Parsons or you know I mean some of these teams that make it linger like boom let’s just get this done. We want we want to be your guy. Um but I wonder because we talked about this on another podcast. It’s like boy it’s weird the trade deadline week the Patriots sign Jones Hendrickson gets or not Hendrickson Hutchinson gets extended. You would think front offices and agents are busy doing other stuff this week. Yeah. And then I threw it out to my co see my co-host brought it up and I was like, well, maybe they’re gonna I I don’t know their finances. Are they moving money around to make another move? I mean, are they opening cap space for today to to add Hendrickson or whatever. I don’t know. Who knows? That would be right. Right. Right. It’s just weird to do extensions on uh trade deadline week. Yeah. You are the timing of it is funny. I don’t think that I don’t think the announcement of it surprises anybody, but the timing of it is certainly funny. It’s not a huge move, but I referenced the Jones, the nickel corner that the Patriots resigned. See, I think they’re smart that they’re trying to send a message to their locker room. We just traded two of your guys, but it’s not because we’re not in it. We We’re sure we we still are invest in all you guys. You know, it sends a good message while two people walk out the door. Well, you it goes a long way when you extend someone in the locker room. I mean, it’s party time. You’ve talked about that before. It’s like it’s everybody feels good. It puts a nice pep in your step. Yeah. Especially when you know the guy deserved it, you know, especially that guy. Yes. Six sacks this season, 29 quarterback pressures. That’s second in the NFL, only behind Micah Parsons. Four forced fumbles, tied for the league lead with Joey Bosa. He’s played almost 93% of the Lions defense play like crazy. um also credited with creating two interceptions via uh ESPN’s NextGen stats. Uh of course the second overall pick in 2022 gets his big payday. And you mentioned some of those names for Detroit recently uh extending golf 212 million. Aman Ross St. Brown 120 million. Penet Soul 112 million. Jameson Williams 80 million, Joseph 85 million, McNeel 97 million, Taylor Decker 60 million. He uh they send good messages, right? And that is that you’re right, that’s a that’s an organizational thing and I think it has clearly worked out for them uh the way that they’ve been doing it here. So you mentioned Hutchinson and pressures. Coincidentally, before that even came across, someone tagged me on a tweet saying, “Check this out.” you know, and they and it was pressures per game this year. Okay. Hutchinson’s number one. I mean, he’s had it goes Hutchinson Parsons, Will Anderson, Verse, Carlos, Tui, Tupalo, Hines, Allen, Leu, and then Nick Herbick. The reason they tweeted me is like cuz Herbig’s ninth in pressures per game while not playing nearly as many snaps. I said he plays half as snaps of those guys, too. You know, that’s why they tweeted me. But it just so happens Hutchinson happened to be one. I’m like, “Oh, wow.” I mean, he’s again have he probably would have been defensive player of the year had he not got injured last year. I think so. He was on that pace. Certainly on that pace and it’s good to see him that that that that he’s put that behind him and gotten back to himself because he’s fun to watch. He’s a really good player and he’s a really good player and he gets the payday to uh to recognize that and to deserve that. Matt, that’s an hour in the books. Another hour to go. We’ll do a little best of the West on the other side. Catch up with Chris Hock. All that fun stuff in hour number two as we roll along here. It is the drive on Steelers Nation radio on the Steelers Audio Network. A little Best of the West for you. And I told you I was going to start switching it up a little bit, right? Yeah. Yeah. Still most of the time, 90% of the time, it’ll be directly football related things. But in the spirit of Halloween, I have for you, Matt, a different best of the West today. Top five Halloween candies. Okay. Now, normally best of the West is a 10 thing. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you best five traditional Halloween candies and then I’m going to Snickers, the greasy. I’m going to give you best five like of the new age new candies. Okay. I’m not going to be real well verssed on that. I’m going to show my age. Which you want traditional? You want traditional first? It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. We’ll start at the back end. Let’s go traditional. Number five, just a straight up Hershey bar. Oh, wouldn’t be high on my list. Maybe it’s the central Pennsylvania roots that I have on my dad’s side of the family. Spent a lot of time at Hershey Chocolate World growing up. Oh, did you? I’ve never been there. Yeah, I I just I love a classic Hershey bar. Love a classic Hershey bar. Number four, peanut M&M’s. Solid. I’ve gotten back into peanut M&M. Peanut. Yes, agreed. Specifically, the yellow packaging. Yes. So good. Hit the spot. Just the right amount of chocolate. Right amount of crunch. Yeah, I love them. Yeah, they’re they’re around our house a lot and I My wife likes them and yeah, they’re they’re a winner. Number three, Butterfinger. I think this Oh, I love Butterfingers. Do you? Good. I thought I’d be kind of on an island on that one. I I I I feel like Butterfinger is one that kind of polarizing splits a crowd. You either love it or you’re like, it’s too flaky. It’s too My wife hates Butterfingers. I can understand it. Which is fine with me cuz I get them all. I say Butterfinger Blizzard. Yeah. Baby, you are speaking my language. Number two, Snickers. You’re not a big Snickers guy. It’s fine. I mean, I eat them and the one they’re sitting out there, don’t get me wrong. I don’t turn. They’re better than the Milky Way, you know, but they would not make my top five. And number one, the the Michael Jordan, the Jim Brown, the Babe Ruth, it’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I mean, come on. It’s super solid. I eat way too many of them here than I should, too. I mean, that’s another one I can’t say no to. Can’t a couple mine in no particular order I’m going to throw out there. Yep. Go for it. I mean, I don’t think you can even find them anymore. Clark Bars. You love Clark Bars. They’re butterfinger friends, right? That’s a Pittsburgh thing, too. Certainly is. The Zagnut, too, is kind of that era. Couple that don’t get enough credit in my opinion. The Watch Your Mallet. I was big on. Great. Real big on. Um, Baby Ruth. Baby Ruth is severely underrated. Yes. And I think if I had to pick one, the 100 grand bar. I like 100 grand, too. Those are good. You a payday guy? They’re okay. Yeah, they’re they’re okay. Uh, thoughts on Twix? I’m not into the wafer. Thoughts on Kit Kat? Good, but wouldn’t it? Not in the top 10. Okay. You know, I like the I like the shout outs for the throwbacks that Mr. You, Mr. Goodbar Guy. It’s okay. Kind of boring though. There’s a lot of those out in the Yeah, you should be running across those a lot. Like the Three Musketeers. Terrible. Yeah, I can’t. I’m Nougat in general. I don’t think I’ve had a Three Musketeers since N. They’re not even like worth the calories and I’m not one to be like watching my weight, you know, like I’m not even going to bother with that. That’s funny. I haven’t had a Three Musketeers in years. Whatever Nougat is can I’m also not a coconut guy at all. I am. People love coconut or aren’t into So, I thought about I thought about Matt doing a top five favorite and a top five bad Halloween candies for this, but I you know, I didn’t want to. It’s been a little canankerous in Steeler Nation this week. I didn’t want to add I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire, but Almond Joy would be number one on my bad list. I don’t like Oh, yeah. You trade those immediately. There’s only one thing I like with I like some coconut in, Matt. And that’s a rum drink when I’m sitting on the beach and it’s 90° out in the middle of July. Agreed. I don’t hate coconut. I was would never choose it. I kind of when it comes to being mixed with chocolate, I can’t stand it. Right. Right. Rum, different story. Top five new age candies. Matt, I’ll be interested to see if you know any of these, like any of these, thoughts on any of these. Number five is the KitKat Witches Brew. Oh, I have no clue about that. It’s a Kit Kat with a little bit of marshmallow in it. And marshmallow can also I’m not a huge marshmallow guy, but I It’s one of those things that I feel like when it works, it works. And with the Kit Kat with the crunch and the chocolate, it’s it’s it’s surprisingly melt and it’s like the Guinness of uh of of of candies. It’s like doesn’t appeal to me, but I would definitely try one. It’s it’s creamy and kind of melts in your mouth there. Number four, the Reese’s Fast Break. Don’t know it. More chocolate, more peanut butter. It does have a little bit of nougat in it, which you wouldn’t like, but it’s it’s like a it’s like a girthier peanut butter cup. Okay. I accidentally had a Reese’s peanut butter and jelly out there and still haven’t had one of those. I thought I was just getting a regular Reese’s in a funny rapper and it a curveball I couldn’t hit. Yeah. Number three, Nerds gummy clusters. Have you had these yet? For me, nerds are even new, but I love gummies and I love nerds. Then you would love Nerd Gummy. I got kind of perked up with that. Yeah, I’ve got a I’ve got a big box of like individual serving ones. I’ll have to bring you in some. I’ll have to bring you in some tomorrow. My favorite candy. No one ever gives them to you at Halloween though. Might be like gummy cherries. So good. They’re so good. Right. I am a big kind of gummy and you don’t think about that much at Halloween. No. Like I love Jolly Ranchers too. Like stuff you like non- chocolate stuff you don’t get at Halloween. If you told and I know saying candy that’s a big blanket, you know, like you talking chocolate, are you talking sweets? Are you talking gummies? Are you talking But if I could only have one candy for the rest of my life, it might be the Nerds gummy clusters. They are so good. That does sound like a good marriage there. Number two, the Reese’s Oreo. Oreos are overrated to me, too. Oh, but there’s some of these out in our kitchen here. You got to go have one during break. Okay. It’s a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup with the Oreo on top. It’s so good. It’s so good. I shouldn’t say this, but are they out there right now? Right now. Unless the little single unless Tom might crush them, right? Unless Tom ate them all. So, they’re the single ones. And I thought it was I made my first coffee before we started. I picked one up. I’m like, I’m have a Reesei. I can never say no to one sitting out there. I opened it and it was kind of white on top. I’m like, is this white chocolate? I’m like, no one’s watching them. I put it back. I I I didn’t even eat it. I I I covered it back up and I put it right back. confessing to a murder here on the show. And number one, that’s big. The Reese’s Take Five. Have you ever had a Take Five? I think I’ve seen commercials for that. Oh, they’re incredible. They’re essentially a It’s another kind of beefed up Reese’s. And so it’s got the chocolate and the peanut butter, but it’s also got a pretzel on the inside. Okay. A little bit of caramel. It’s It’s just again, it’s I love a Take Five. I’m sure it’s great. I could buy that. It’s fant. It’s got a little It’s like It’s got a little peanut flavor in it, little pretzel flavor in it. It’s real good. So, I’ve got a theory here real quick that all these chocolate bars, we’ll just call them chocolate bars, you know, like anything. They’re the same. It’s like Mexican food. It’s there’s really only like eight ingredients, rice, protein, cheese, right? And there’s no wrong there’s no wrong combination. Yeah. They’re all delicious, right? Like if I took a Snickers and shoved pretzels in it, it’d be fine. Or made it dark chocolate instead of regular chocolate. Or add nuts to anything. It’s like the floor is very high on these things. You can mix it. I mean, here’s 10 ingredients. Pick any three, they’ll be fine together. I’m with you on that. It’s kind of cheating, you know? And Mexican’s the same way. It’s like whatever I put in my burrito, I’m going to like. That’s it. Yeah. Right. Is it going to be sour cream? Is it going to be avocado? Is it going to be a sauce? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be delicious. That’s why I And none of them don’t go with the other. Like cheese goes with everything. That’s why I do kind of laugh when people are like, I hate Twix, you know, or whatever. Like it’s not that much different than what your f except for Almond Joy, right? I mean, if there’s something that’s like coconut you don’t want or marshmallow, like those aren’t high. I would not go for the nougat. Almond Joy can get in the bin as far as I’m concerned. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rubbish. We’ve got to get to a break. The peppermint patty. Rubbish. Right in the bin. Right in the bin. Get out of here. Uh, especially when you’re a kid, it’s like this is an adult treat or something. Like, we’ll talk to our You know what a Neco wafer is? I do. They’re like eating chocolate. It’s been forever since I’ve had one. I hope they don’t exist. What were the peppermint York peppermint patties? Peppermint patties. They were supposed to be refreshing. They were coconut. Those based out of York, PA. Is that how they get the name York? I’m guessing you just York. Leave the chocolate to Hershey. Okay. A Neco wafer is like eating probably own shock or a Kleenex or something. Probably. Yeah, probably owned by Hershey at this point. Anyways, we got to get to a break. We’ll get Chris Hock’s thoughts, not only on the best Halloween candies, but of course on all the recent moving and shaking for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll do that when we return on the other side. Wes Schuler, Matt. Oh, also let us know. You know where to get us on Twitter, the comments, whatever. Uh let us know your thoughts on best and worst of course Halloween candies, the important stuff here today on a Wednesday as we are getting close to uh to Halloween here at the end of the month. Hock on the other side. Uler Williamson. It’s the drive. Back on the drive here as we roll along on a Wednesday. And of course, a big part of our Wednesday conversation is going to the phone lines and talking to our buddy Chris Howlet covers the Steelers for DK Pittsburgh Sports. Chris, thank you for taking the time as always. And it’s uh been a busyish 24 hours for the Steelers here in terms of some moving and some shaking particularly in the secondary. Uh let’s start first with the name that we’re familiar with. Cory Trice Jr. returns to practice now in that 21 day window of activation. It feels like this weekend could be a stretch as he’s just returning to practice uh here today. But do you think it’s it’s only a matter of uh of if not when we see Cory Trice Jr. kind of at a probably opportune time here uh thrown into the fold in that Steeler secondary. Yeah, I I I I think I I also agree. I have a hard time seeing him jumping on that moving train that everybody likes to talk about uh and and getting activated and playing any kind of meaningful snaps uh this Sunday. uh especially when you’re talking about facing the number one offense in the NFL. But uh who knows? I mean, they could just be like, you know, listen, we we need we need some change. We need some we need some something different. Uh if they like where he’s at, you know, physically, if they don’t think there’s any kind of physical limitations, then, you know, who knows? We we might actually see him. But, uh, just based off of precedent, the way that Mike Tomlin has handled the younger players coming off of, you know, something like this, something you like a a longer IR stint, usually it’s a little bit of a slower process back. But, uh, you know, either way, it’s another guy to add into the mix. And right now when you’re when you’re you know kind of in a I don’t want to say freefall but when you’re playing the way that you’re playing right now and you’ve lost games the way you’ve lost in the past two weeks uh having options is not a bad thing and getting Corey Trice back is definitely uh a help because it’s at least another guy you could possibly turn to if that is the solution is to possibly change some things around uh in terms of who’s actually out out on the field. So yesterday, Wes and I, Chris, talked about how the defensive backfield is a puzzle that’s a hard one to put together. Safety in predict predict or in particular is a bit of a mystery to me prey Duggar trade and still kind of is. You know, why is Clark over Peppers? Thornhill seems like he’s going backwards. Could Ramsay be your free safety? What do you think just of the safety position as a whole? How does Duggar fit in? And is do you have any clue who’s going to lose a roster spot whenever he joins the roster? Well, I mean, they they they would I would assume that in terms of who they who they take off of the roster that Deshawn Elliott would be placed on I really that would create the roster spot. I was hoping that’s wasn’t your answer. Yeah. I mean, I I don’t have that, you know, like verifiable from source, but that’s that’s leaning right now. Yeah. Uh just just because, you know, even though Tomlin said, you know, that he’s he’s weak to weak, it’s still it’s a hyperextended knee. I have a hard time seeing him come back in less than four weeks uh from an injury like that. If he comes back in six, that’s that’s phenomenal. Um, but so I I think getting Kyle Duggar, I honestly think that’s your plug and play for Deshawn Elliott. Um, I tend to think so too. Yeah, even as early as this week. Well, he didn’t he he wasn’t with the team today. Uh, you know, like so the trade is not yet official. Um, he didn’t have a locker. Um, and so yeah, it still has still hasn’t been announced on Steelers.com or anything or Yeah, I guess we should mention that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I I mean it’s not it’s not yeah the trade is not official uh right now. So I I would he wasn’t practicing with the team today. I mean so he’s not officially a member of the team. So I have a hard time thinking that he’s going to play right I mean that he’s going to play Sunday. Uh ju just because he’s now you talk about the moving train heading for you know facing the Colts on Sunday. I I have a hard time saying like maybe one or two practices he’s good to go. But I think, you know, for how maybe more Peppers, more Ramsay at safety, uh, I mean, I think you’re definitely going to see more Peppers. Good. I think he’s he’s going to be he’s going to be more of that play. And and then you know just talking about after Duggar is here I think this Sunday is going to help give us a further indication because if Duggar obviously doesn’t play which I don’t think he will um then you will have some some further answers on Chuck Clark and um you know Juan Thornhill. I tend to think that when the Steelers are in their nickel, the solution might actually be to play Duggar like in that box safety and then have Peppers play the free safety. They’ve played together in New England. Um they’ve got some chemistry from there. Uh you have yet to talk to Peppers about that to see what that relationship is like, but um you know, they’ve played together before. That might be something they could tap into. Dribbal Peppers is not my ideal free safety, but that’s just me. Yeah, that’s just that’s my opinion, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right. Um, but shoot at this point, when you talk about any kind of cohesion that you can possibly have among players, you know, especially on the back end and seeing how much it struggled this year, then yeah, I mean, if it can help, then it can help. So, but for for this for this week, I think you’re going to see a lot more Jabro Peppers. Um, and then Chuck on Thornhill. I’m kind of I’m kind of curious to see how the rotation’s going to be because it it has been a bit of a a bit of a mess. So, if you’re expand upon I mean I know you’re not like saying this is definitely going to happen, but if if Peppers and Duggar are your starting safeties in nickel, I would imagine Ramsay’s your slot. Porter Porter’s an outside corner, of course. Is is Eckles over Sle outside? It’s possible. M I condone it. We have now seen at near the end of games in two weeks in a row in which Eckles has really gone in and Slay’s been on the sideline. Yeah. Yeah. Um now I don’t think you know when it comes to a veteran player that Mike Tomlin has a lot of respect for, I don’t see him just completely pulling the plug and saying, “All right, Slay is completely gone. Uh he’s going to be on the sideline holding his helmet.” Uh, but then again, Mike Conlin wants to win. And could he be on another team holding a different helmet? That’s that’s that’s that’s the other that’s the that’s legitimate sol that’s a really possible. It’s not crazy talk. Yeah. Yeah. That’s it’s not crazy talk because listen, if they don’t feel like that it’s a good fit and they feel like they have I mean they’re getting Cory T back now. if they feel like they have enough corners to get to get the job done and they really have a lot of faith in Brandon Eckles and they have liked Brandon Eckl like for like since the very beginning of this entire process. He was making impressions right away in training camp and he’s continued to make impressions. Um yeah, that I think that’s a realistic uh possibility. Um, do I think it’s going to happen like as soon as this Sunday like Brandon Eckles is absolutely a start like a starter over Dar like if the defense is introduced is Brandon Eckles going to be running out of the tunnel and not Darius Slay? I doubt it. But will Eckles play more snaps this way? I not going to completely rule it out. Yeah. So Chris, uh, the Steelers obviously making a move, but we know that the trade deadline is still six days away. It sounds to me a little bit like you think they might not be done doing business at this point. Uh, no. They they I mean, Omar Khan has been uh I swear every time I run into him on the southside, he’s on the phone. Um, he’s just he’s constantly he’s constantly talking. He’s constantly doing something. Um, but I mean, you know, there’s there’s always the talk about wide receiver. Um, I still think they could be looking for wide receivers and not just working out guys like Marquez Vald scantling. Um, I’m thinking like they’re still, you know, looking there. But while I think that that’s still a possibility, they got Calvin Austin back. Roman Wilson starting to get a little bit more comfortable. Aaron Rogers is starting to get more comfortable with Roman. I is it as pressing of a need as it was at the start of the season? I don’t think so. especially when you see how much this offense is humming with larger personnel on the field. I think the the main thing that acquiring a receiver of that kind if you’re talking about a Jacobe Meyers or uh another receiver of that caliber um it’s insurance for if DK Metaf ever gets injured. Uh I think that’s that’s probably more of what that would be for. It just really really solidifies that depth and you’re not if a if a major key like a key player on in the receiver room goes down, you’re not scrambling like they were last year when George Pickkins was injured. Um, in terms of other moves, I it’s I I’m not going to rule anything out. Whether that’s, you know, trading away a starter that’s on the team right now, but one thing that I know for sure, whether it’s players they’re acquiring, players they’re getting rid of, whatever it is, um, they are making moves to get better. I mean, Mike made that very, very clear. Uh, they’re always buying. They’re trying to get better. This is a team that’s still in first place. Uh we know the rhetoric that’s going around with this team right now and all the outside noise, all the concern, but this is still a team in first place in in its division. Still in line where if the season ended ended today, they’d be hosting a playoff game. So they’re going to keep continue to try to get better, build off of that. Um so whatever moves are made, Omar Khan is going to try to make the team better equipped to try to compete for a Super Bowl this year. Chris, last thing I really got for you is if if Camalu is going to be sidelined for a while, obviously Anderson’s his replacement, does the jumbo package get sidelined or does Calvin Anderson get the bump or I had heard some people say maybe Pete could be your left guard and Anderson could be your six guy. Again, still Spencer, you have any thoughts on that? I I do I don’t think that it’s completely dead. I think with with how how much of a weapon it’s been. Yes. I don’t they they probably prefer to find um find a way. Now, I think in terms of the the totality of the snaps, I think Spencer Anderson is going to be your left guard on Sunday if Samoa can’t play. However, I do think and my first bet on this would be Andrew Pete comes in, plays left guard, Spencer Anderson kicks out, and he’s and he’s he’s the normal, you know, jumbo, you know, extra eligible I like it that they have there. That that’s that would be the way I the the way I lean on this. Uh can’t verify that obviously. Um but uh that that would be my guess for what the Steelers would do if they were to continue that. But I I have a hard time thinking they’re just going to completely scrap it. It’s one thing when when the injury happens in game and you make that adjustment like all of us. Yeah. You haven’t practiced it and anything like that. But and Pete would be of it, you know. Right. You need to have that. Right. Right. Yeah. And he wasn’t even active last week. Yes. So, um but yeah, that would be that would be my guess. But I I I would think more than anything, whatever their solution is would be to keep that a weapon to not just be like, well, as Sam is injured, now Spencer Anderson is gonna do nothing and play left guard. When it’s worked as well as it has and it’s unlocked the run game the way it has, um, no, I I don’t think they’re just going to throw that away just because of injuries. Good. Chris, last one for you before we let you go. Of course, we’ve covered the important stuff, but now we must ask you the very important stuff. Uh, we are about to kick off the stretch run of the end of the year of holiday season. Of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, but it begins this Friday with Halloween. So, Matt and I just want to know, give us uh one or two Halloween candies that you can’t live without, and one or two that when you see them, they immediately go in the trash can. Yeah. Which ones are you stealing out of your kids uh out of the the kids trick-or- treat bag? Uh Milky Way and Twix are the ones that You’re an old school dude though for a young pup. I like it. Yeah, Milky Way and Twix are the ones. Star Starburst, too. I mean, growing up, Starburst was good. Starburst was my favorite growing up. Uh you know, especially just not the orange. No. So the the the my my daughter is like very very protective of the pink ones. If she sees me taking a pink out of out of her Halloween bucket, she she I get the the you know fury like a woman scorning. Yeah. Um but uh uh no the ones I’m throwing away candy corn is just absolutely disgusting. Cannot stand it. Um we’re not coconut fans here. Milky Ways or Almond Joy. Almond Joy. agreed can get in the bin. Not not no not not a big plus. Okay, so you’re talking about coconut which already gets stuck in your teeth and you’re talking about almonds which break your teeth. So yeah, no no thank you. Are you telling me almond joys are a a deep they’re a deep state con conspiracy from the local dentist association to keep everybody in line? Seriously, they might be you might be on Listen, you’re the you’re the boots on the ground reporter. You might you might have to investigate that a little bit for us. Chris Alec, make sure you’re checking out all his work. DK Pittsburgh Sports. Chris, thank you so much for the time, buddy. Enjoy Halloween with your family and we’ll see you this weekend. All right, thanks guys for having me. I appreciate it. There he goes. Great stuff as always from Chris Hock. We overlook the star or Starburst. That’s a good call because it’s a different world. There’s no deserves a mention. It deserves a mention. You’re going to get them in your bag, you know, right? I think the ideal blend is like one or two good chocolate candies, chocolate bars, and one or two good like gummy, sweeter, fruity type, Starburst, Nerds Clusters. I think that’s kind of the balance that we’re looking for in life here. I hear you. Yeah, the orange Starburst you can have though. Yeah. Not very good. Just in fourth. You can now if you go to the right store, like the right grocery store or something, you know, Target or Walmart or whatever, can you like just get lemon? You can just get pink or just get red. You can get like a bag of them. That’s okay. That’s nice. It’s real dangerous. Real dangerous. I remember when Jolly Ranchers, you could just get the lemons. I was like, “Oh, baby.” You don’t have to I don’t have to fight through the grapes and the oranges. And you get a bag of those Starburst pinks, Matt. You sit down on the couch to watch Thursday Night Football. The next thing you look, you’re like digging into the bag and you’re like, “Wait, it’s empty. What happened?” Any orange or grape flavored candy is not my bag. I can do orange. I like oranges and I like grapes, but they’re just they just taste fake to me. They don’t Orange. I’m totally with you. I would say watermelon flavoring. I love watermelon. I think watermelon flavoring always tastes janky to me. It just doesn’t taste right. It tastes fake and artificial and not like a watermelon. I see where you’re coming from, but a watermelon Jolly Rancher still makes me happy. Maybe Jolly Rancher is the one exception, but it’s not my top five choices in Jolly Rancher land. Apple, lemon. Yeah. Next week on Best of the West, we’ll power rank the best Jolly Rancher flavors. We’ve got one more segment to go. We’ve got the Steelers lightest practice report that we got to get to and maybe a tweet or two if we have time before we get out of here as well. We’ll do all that to wrap things up on the other side. Weser, Matt Williamson. It’s the drive on Steelers Nation radio on the Steelers Audio Network. Final segment here on a Wednesday as we reach the halfway point of the week. Obviously, tomorrow we will talk to I mean, I tell you what, he’s speaking of Halloween, the the guy with all the best Halloween nicknames, Bob Labriola. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the uh lord of living in his fears, the master of misery, the I bet he’s not thrilled with how things went Sunday night. I bet he’s not. I bet he’ll bring some doom and gloom to the program. Tomorrow we’ll also begin all of that Matt stats and scouting the Colts. But with that, Matt, Wednesday, today we got the Steelers first practice report, injury report of the week here. Some good news, some bad news as always. Um, I think not to anybody’s surprise, but obviously we’ll get this out of the way. Deshawn Elliott and Daniel Aquale did not practice today. Still no official IR designations at least as you know as we’re doing this now, but uh that one not as surprising. Also, Scotty Miller did not practice with that finger injury that he was dealing with. Um, Isaac Seamalu missed practice with a pectoral injury. Not surprised. I don’t think that’s surprising as well. But then the two that you don’t want to see, Pat Fri did not practice with a quad injury. Zack Frasier still dealing with that calf. He did not practice as well. Okay. On a Wednesday though, still Yeah. Yeah. Early doors, right? Panic. A lot of these guy or all these guys are dealing with something, but Yes. Okay. The fire booth one’s news to me. the entire trio of um the entire trio of guys who are now in their 21day window to return from IR all were full practice participants. So Will Howard, Cory Trice, and Malik Harrison, all three. I forgot about Harrison. All three full practice participants. Uh Matt, last one here. Ben Scronic was limited today with a neck injury. So Okay, there should be some roster moves here real soon. there is going to be some some moving and shaking and and yeah, I certainly we might have jumped the gun talking about Duggar, but I mean Sher reported it and I mean if he’s not officially a Steeler announced yet, but somebody’s got to go and I didn’t love hearing Elliot, but when he said that I’m like, “Yeah, it’s probably makes sense, right?” You know, it’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate certainly. Um but it does make sense, right? If you know he’s not going to play definitely the next two or three games, maybe he plays the fourth and he’s got to be out four for IR anyway, you know, like. Okay. Significant around the division as well too, Matt. Joe Flacco dealing with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. Did not practice. His status is up in the air for Sunday according to Ian Rapaort. Now, he’s not Joe Burrow, but if he doesn’t play, I think their season’s probably officially shot and it’s time to sell what’s the trade deadline. I mean, they’re on life support right now, right? Losing this past week was a to the Jets. I mean, they are still within reasonable striking distance of the Steelers. Oh, they are. But yeah, you lose Flaco as well as uh Joe Burrow. Obviously, you have to go back to Browning. that would feel like they’re one of the few teams that at the trade deadline could you come to the road and there’s the why. I could make an argument for both. Most teams you can’t, but one more loss I’d really start leaning towards the Trey hangers and let’s let’s get on with it and it’s not our year. I I I think you are I think you are correct in that one. Couple tweets to close us down here, Matt, for today. Before we do that though, I did want to give a uh a quick shout out and his uh his mom Marty tweeted me. The Dantis family, they are training camp regulars. I’m sure you have met them at some point during training camp, Matt. Uh their son James has duchen musculardrophe. He’s in a wheelchair. They are always wearing Penn State and Ohio State stuff. So if you’ve if you’ve ever met them, maybe that would paint the picture for you. But they were very close with Wolf. They would come out to training camp every year. They’d bring James down onto the sideline. A incredibly kind family. They’d bring me cookies and stuff like that to to Wolf and I every single year. James had his 18th birthday today. Very cool. And for people, not a scientist, okay? You and I talk about this all the time when we talk injuries. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a doctor. It’s not my field. But I know for somebody with Duchen musculardrophe, turning 18 years old is a big deal. Is a big milestone. Really? Um and so Congratulations. That’s awesome. Big happy 18th birthday to one of the biggest Steelers fans that I know. Uh James DeSantis. Wanted to make sure that I I said that. Glad you did. Big thanks to He’s a He’s a diehard listener of the show. The whole family. They’re SNR junkies, you know what I mean? I mean, they they’ve got us on all the time. Nice. Um so, wanted to give a big shout out and a happy 18th birthday to James. And a big thanks to his mom, Marty, for reaching out to me and letting me know that today was his 18th birthday. Wow. Keep on keeping on, James, dude. and let’s uh let’s get a victory this weekend and put the put the cherry on top for you. Um Matt, we got uh couple Tom and Cody both asked in a question here that’s kind of similar and just it relates to the conversation about the secondary that we’ve been having a lot this week and I think the defense as a whole. Um, talking about kind of jimmies and Joe’s vers X’s and O’s. How much of the Steelers struggle is maybe just players that are now on the other side of their prime, entering their 30s. Not I I hate it when everyone’s washed, everyone’s cooked. Right. Right. That’s not how it works. It’s not how it works. But guys who aren’t 27 years old and absolutely in the prime of their career verse kind of just some schematic things that the Steelers could be doing differently. How do you kind of come down on striking that balance? Um, the answer to almost every football question I’ve ever been asked is a blend of all the above, you know, of course. I mean, it’s just it there’s 11 people on the field. Coaching is more important than other sports. So, when things go wrong, it’s almost never one thing to blame or one player to blame or one coach to blame. And I think that’s the truth here, too. Now, I am a little concerned, not necessarily with the Duggar trade or any specific move, but team speed in the back end is lacking. It’s not a strength. It’s not a strength. And I thought going into the season they would move and run collective as a whole better than they do in the secondary. I mean, I don’t know that there’s anyone that’s fast for his respective position. Maybe Elliott and Elliot is not going to be out there now. Porter, you know, but I mean, he doesn’t run a 4-2 either. I mean, I don’t worry about Porter speed, but everyone else is and they’re not getting faster because it is an older group now. I mean, Peppers and Thornhill and these guys are kind of are who they are at this point. But I don’t know the schemes helped them either. I mean, there’s a lot of instances on tape. First of all, there’s too many communication issues with the back seven in general. way too many with simple motion across. You know, a tight end goes from the left to right and people start looking at each other like who’s got who like that can’t happen. Um and there’s definitely communication issues all the way through the too many guys with their palms up looking around each other. Right. Right. And it does, contrary to popular belief, it happens every week to every team and sometimes get exposed more than others, but there’s spend too much. And frankly, I think there’s now it’s easy for me to sit here in this chair and say it. They are playing a lot of man, but they’ve also played a lot of off man. And if everyone wants to get the ball out quick, I would prefer to see more press just to disrupt things as opposed to catch throw. You know, Flaco did a ton of that. Rogers great at it. Um, but that’s also some trust. Other than Porter, who’s our press man guys? They have more man guys than last year, but who’s our press man guys? Is Ramsay and Slay still in that neighborhood? I think they’re telling us they don’t think so, you know, or they’d do more of it. Sometimes they don’t need to say, you just got to look at their action. That’s why these questions are always multiple answers, you know. I mean, you could just say, “Well, they should tell them all do press man.” Like, they’re the Mel Blunt and you know, whoever. And what if what if that’s a worse position for them to succeed? That’s what I mean. It’s like they’ve thought of this too, folks. You know, it’s like you can just tell Wesler to do TV, but he’s going to be a disaster. All the bright lights and the where do I look and what camera is this? Not even that. Like Williamson’s got a face for radio. I mean, that’s why I’ve been a radio guy for my whole life. I mean, if I was a a cutie like Rob King, I’d have been on TV all this time, you know? Then you’d have put on some makeup as well, too, like Rob King. I’m not doing that. No dressing this pig up. Oh, come on. We put lipstick on you, baby. You look great. Uh, that’ll do it for the show today. Hey, big thanks to Chris Hack for joining us. Big thanks to our video producer, statistitian, Mr. TV. Uh, Matt, tomorrow, you know, I don’t know why I’ve been liking doing this lately, teasing tomorrow. Okay. You procured, you unearthed some crazy stats as it relates to the Steelers defense and their quarter by quarter splits. I’m all about it this last 24 hours or so. It’s all I can think about. And I was thinking about getting it to here in this last segment, but I don’t want to short change it. Yeah, it’s not a two-minute conversation. It’s not. In fact, and some of it might even be promising. I mean, if you That’s the weird That’s the weird part about it. I was how often we’ve had these conversations like going to the doctor, but maybe we it’s a the the disease is a little more acute than I thought, you know, a little more benign. I don’t know about benign. It’s it’s raging. I mean, there’s there’s no the disease. Yeah. Yeah. I think I can you can at least figure out more where the problem is now. So, that’s a good tease. Matt was some really good stuff on that. And that is where when we get into Matt’s stats and and start to preview the Colts tomorrow, we will begin with this Steeler defense and how things have shaken out on a quarter-to- quarter basis. There will be some stuff in there that’s going to encourage the fan base. There’s also some in there that is kind of glaring and staring you right down the right down the barrel. And anything to deal with Colts offense, you’re not going to like hearing as the upcoming opponent. Yeah, it’s really good. I mean, we we talked about him. There was like five guys, not the burger company, there was like five guys on that offense alone that we would love to have. We will do all of that. Start there tomorrow. Really focus on the Colts as we scout Indianapolis and get into all of Matt’s stats and some really good uh breakdown on this Steelers defense on a quarterby basis. We’ll do all of that and more tomorrow for Matt Williamson. I’m Wesler. Thanks everybody. Take care. We will talk to you tomorrow. As always, you know where to find us. It’s on your 24/7 home of the black and gold.

Matt Williamson and Wes Uhler talk about the Steelers first injury report of the week, the latest roster moves, the preparation for the game against the Colts, and more on SNR Drive on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025

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