Drive10.7.26Hr2: Hodgepodge of History

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Steelers Nation Radio.

Good evening, Steeler Nation. How we doing? Well, that's good. Us too. It is hour number two of the drive here on your 24-7 home of the black and gold. Matt, I want to get back into some Steeler-specific stuff with you in this hour number two. You sent me actually a really good breakdown that our guy Chris Halleck did that I think is worth looking into.

Yeah, yeah.

I was trying with him today, but maybe we can get him on the show later this week. Also a really good breakdown on Maxi Honichor's first two starts that I want to discuss with you. A lot that we want to get to here in hour number two and the rest of the week. But I thought it was a good time for something that we do occasionally, the hodgepodge segment.

Especially this week with a little bit of a long week.

We've got a little bit of a long week. We've got some more time to kill. And there's an interesting anniversary today in Steelers land because today, 25 years ago, the Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16 to 17 in the first ever regular season NFL game at then Heinz Field.

Yeah.

Now Akershire Stadium.

That's cool. So I didn't know that.

Makes me feel old. It does me too. I mean, I remember being at the Three River Stadium implosion, you know, when I was a kid. And just a lot of other kind of historical stuff around there. You obviously were working for Pitt at the time when Heinz Field was being built. So you had a very interesting perspective. I want to dig into that.

Maybe realize this now, too. I mean, I obviously knew this, but I was a 28 year old G.A. all the way to my year 31. Yeah. You know, like, I knew I was older than, a lot of those dudes had just finished playing. A lot of those guys were right out of college. Right, right, right. You know, most of them were like 25-ish, 26, you know.

So, Matt, before we get into some memories, here's a little bit of kind of a sound montage and a recap of that first regular season game, the 16-7 win over the Bengals at Heinz Field, now Accresure Stadium, 25 years ago today.

First regular season NFL game at this brand new, marvelous facility in Pissed off the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. Jerome Bettis, 54 yards short of 10,000 yards coming in today.

Bettis, right side.

Big hole. Still on his feet.

The bus is rumbling. Bettis with a pickup of three.

Second, and seven. And he's going to hit 10,000. On third and fourth, Cordell. Touchdown! play action intercepted chad scott and scott brings it back to the 29 the steelers.

Another game results in a victory.

Man if that doesn't hit you right in the nostalgia.

Oh, big time.

Jerome Bettis.

I used to park next to all those dudes. Get out of our car at the same time.

So tell me, Matt, I know you've referenced before how when you were working for Pitt, you'd be showing recruits around Heinz Field as it was being built.

You'd grab your hard hats.

Hey, here's where the locker room's going to be. Here's where that's going to be.

It was pretty cool.

Look at this all coming together. What do you remember about 25, 26 years ago when that place was being built?

So I mentioned this at 9-11, too. I have two photos on my wall in my basement. where I'm on the sidelines my first year as the recruiting assistant at Pitt. And one of them is the 9-11 game. There's a huge flag. It's the game after 9-11. And the other one was the first ever game actually played at then Heinz Field, which happened before the Steelers did. And so I was, you know, leading up to that, I'm trying to think what month I would have been hired because it was a long stretch. It was all recruiting season the year before. And deeper into that, I would think.

But I don't know what month I was hired. But I was the assistant recruiting coordinator, recruiting assistant. And one of the big things I did was if a kid we were interested in his family wanted to come see campus, I had my path. I mean, I had a path all through Oakland to show them the good stuff, not the bad stuff, you know, like everything. If I'd pick up a kid at the airport, you'd always come through the four pit tunnels.

Absolutely. Show them the entrance to the city.

I didn't pipe it up, too. I got good at it over the years, too. I'm like, make sure they're aware and not on their phones.

You'll see, look, we're about to come into the city.

You'll be able to see the stadium. Pay attention. But then they're like.

Whoa, this is awesome. It's such a unique entrance to a city.

But you don't oversell it. You're not like, this is the best thing you'll ever see.

Of course.

You undersell and overdeliver.

Pay attention.

You'll see the stadium. Oh, I want to see the stadium. I'm going to play it. But anyway. A big thing back then that I would do as a, as a recruiting tool was again, I've missed makes me feel so old because the Steeler current Steeler pit facility was only, I think a year old. I was not there. We're the one that's there now, you know? So that was kind of like state of the art. And by NFL standards, it's a little on the old side now, but it was a huge selling point to be like, we share this with the Steelers, you know?

Right.

Like, I would always, you know, Oh, let's go out back up. The Steelers are practicing. That's Jerome. I forgot they're.

Practicing, but watch Plexiglas.

And the dad from like Keystone Oaks would be like, let's just stay here for a while.

It's an incredible recruiting tool for Pitt.

It was wonderful. Yeah. I think, listen, I'd pick up, you know, we got out of our car and, jerome would get out of his car at the same time you know.

There's certainly some disadvantages for pitt for not having an on-campus stadium but no one ever talks about the other side of the equation of that and and and the recruiting uh boost of sharing stuff with the steelers well we didn't hey here's tj one hey here's cam hayward and hey and it wasn't even like aaron donald's still hanging around and working out in the off season because he lives right down the.

Road He hadn't even been there yet. Well, I just mean the years that I've been there.

I've seen it a million times, too, when we're down there for OTAs and minicamp. And there's Pat Narduzzi walking some wide receiver down the sideline. And Aaron Rodgers walks past him. That's pretty cool.

And I don't even know how much it happened, but I would say things like, sometimes we go talk to their D-line coach about their two-gapping techniques. And some of that did happen, but probably not as much as I made out to be. We don't just stop over there and get in the middle of the quarterback meeting while they're preparing for the Ravens. And with the stadium, if you remember all the seats, one was a sealer emblem, one was a Pitt emblem. And at that point, and it's still true, but we looked at it like, The stadium is equally ours as it is the Steelers. And we're going to fill it just like they are. Not quite as true. You know, game day didn't look as good as it would, you know, on Steeler land. But

it was really cool because a lot of it was there when I got hired. But I pretty much had a pass anytime I wanted. I could grab a family that jump in my car. We would park like in a gravel lot. Sure. Right next to like the foreman of then Heinz Field Builder.

Yep.

I'd walk in there and they'd be like, hey, Matt, how you doing? Who are these guys? And give us hard hats. And they would have to tour you. You just couldn't go anywhere you wanted. Sure, sure. But they got to the point I'd be like, hey, can we go up to the upper deck? Or, you know, like, or, oh, these beer lines weren't here last time I was here.

Or this is where the stadium, or this is where your lockers are going to be. You share a bathroom with pit. People might not know that. Or there's a Steeler locker room. There's a pit locker room. But there's bathrooms in between. Gotcha. That you just lock one door on Sundays and walk one door on Saturday. There's no reason to have. you know, toilets or showers, you know, you can use the same ones.

Sure.

I'm like, look, we use the exact same ones. They're building them as we speak. And it was pretty cool. And then like saw the turf go in late, you know, and all the other seats and, you know, it's a pretty good, pretty cool experience. Yeah.

Yeah.

This is the tunnel you'll be running out.

You know, I think back on that sometimes.

A lot of times while it was, when it was closer to being finished and, and absolutely once it was functional, uh, we'd walk out there and then on the jumbotron, it'd be Wes Euler, number 13, Pitt Panther, wide receiver.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

So that is pretty cool.

It's not bad.

Listen, those are all the stops you got to pull out when you're recruiting.

Yeah. Yeah. I, I, uh, then recruit those kids and transfer a year later if it was not. Yep. I waste all that time for Revis would be playing for Ohio state, Michigan.

It would have followed tie law to Michigan.

Yeah, probably.

Um, I, Matt, like I still I think I was pretty fortunate in the time period that I was born for a lot of different reasons. I kind of grew up without technology, but got it in my teenage years.

Yeah.

So young enough to get it all. But I wasn't raised on it. Didn't have a cell phone till I was 16. You know, really didn't have. I mean, we had a family computer, but it was not like it was. Yeah. Not like not like it is now where everyone's got tablets.

I mean, like my fraternity house had a computer.

Yes.

There was like 40 of us.

But I just think about how fortunate I am. Again, I could talk about for a while and I think I was born for a lot of different reasons. But from this perspective, I still remember Three Rivers Stadium. Oh, I spent a lot of time at Three Rivers. I still remember going to Steelers and Pirates games and backyard brawls there with my mom and my grandpa and parents and uncles and all that stuff.

I was a fan at Three Rivers. I was doing it for a living. It's almost like exactly the year. That's like a real demarcation. Right, it really is. I hadn't thought of it in that term. I never really partied at Heinz Field. Sure, sure.

Which is funny, actually, because I was just a kid at Three Rivers. And then I partied at Heinz Field a few times.

I'm sure.

You know, in my.

I was always jealous.

I wanted to high school and college years and all that. And, you know, went to a couple of brawls there, obviously. Um, and Steelers games.

I do have one story that you'll like that party in the Heinz field.

And, uh, and, uh, just, and then, and so having, you know, remembering going to the three rivers implosion, remembering PNC park being built. And the first time I went there, Heinz field being built. And the first time I went there, I think It sucks for this generation. I was the last generation that truly has vivid memories of the Civic Arena, the Igloo, and Three Rivers Stadium.

Sure.

And just those places, man, are iconic. They were so much fun.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

It wasn't the fancy jumbotrons and the cell phone charging stations and all this stuff. People were there to watch the Steelers and the pirates and the penguins and, and be part of the atmosphere. And I just, I think I'm very fortunate to again, have not just memories, but real vivid memories of the old stadiums, but also when the new ones were built and all the excitement and pageantry around that.

That's pretty cool. But like my parents would be like, Oh, Three Rivers is too cookie cutter. I remember Forbes Field. That's what my grandpa would always say. Yeah, exactly. Forbes Field is better than this. I used to watch Clemente here. You know, that kind of thing. But I guess I did party and be a fan a little at Heinz Field in that when I was at Pitt, I remember this vividly because the year I was with the Browns, there was like five or six of us. It was kind of the off season. Let's go grab a beer after work. Yeah, I'm getting to know these dudes. I don't know them very well. I'm kind of a new guy. Yeah.

And we're sitting there and they're talking about the Kelly Holcomb game where the Browns lost at Heinz Field. And it's early. And I'm like, oh, you know, my memory of that game was I was partying like a pig. I had a terrible towel. I was in like the 15th row and Steelers came back to win. And like it was like the record stop. They all went. yeah, you're buying this round because we all had about 20 grand in playoff checks on the line there that we should have won that game. Like, oh, I didn't really think of that aspect of it.

I kind of put my foot in my mouth. Yeah, these guys are like, that stuff costs some of our friends their jobs.

A lot.

I mean, like, every year, I mean, it's not as big a deal to the players because they make so much.

Sure, but for the staff.

You get a full cut of a playoff check every step you go.

Mm-hmm.

If that's part of your contract, you know, like in my Browns contract, I already got half of one. I was a new one, you know, but those guys got full cuts and it's like, you know how much money that costs us? I'm like, Oh, sorry. I will get this round. Oh man.

That's a good memory though. Is that, that was probably your best. It's funny. You know, I think I worked for Pitt.

I think I had Pitt connections that helped me get the tickets for the playoff game.

It wasn't the last Steelers game that I've gone to as a fan because I went to one or two more, but, It would have been one of the last two or three games that I went to as a Steelers fan before I graduated college, got the job with the hockey team in Ohio, did a few years in Philadelphia, all that, and then back here. but it would have been the second or third to last game. I Steeler game I ever went to as a fan was that 2011 divisional round against the Ravens where Baltimore was up. I think 21 to three or 24 to seven, something like that at halftime, the Steelers came back in one in dramatic fashion, then went on and beat the jets and Rex ride that loud math, Rex Ryan, and that jets team that

just needed humbled so badly in the AFC championship game, Bart Scott and Rex Ryan and, Oh, see you next week in Pittsburgh.

Can't wait. Yeah.

How did that work out for you, jabronis?

They had a big Raven DNA to them, too.

And that was coming off of when the Steelers had beaten the Ravens in the AFC Championship game two games prior. Troy Polamalu picked six, probably the wildest moment ever at that stadium down there on the North Shore when it was then Hines Field, now Accresure Stadium. So two years later, I'm there with my cousin, Jared. We're like three rows off the field. It's divisional round against the Ravens. We're down like 21 points at halftime. Steelers storm back and win.

It was crazy. out of control oh i bet it was insane yeah.

And my my cousin and i had some fun.

Oh i can only imagine and that's a that's awesome.

That's a that's a vivid memory like my older cousin jared he's like my best friend in the world um and we we that was one of the it would it wasn't the last the last game that i went to as a fan was like 2014 against the bangles but it might have been the next to last before that okay and that's a that's a vivid memory and we always reference that and i'm like maybe one day again, I'll go to a Steelers game as a fan. You never know how it's all going to work out, but.

I do miss that. I mean, we did a lot of tailgating growing up. Yeah.

Right. I, uh, when I pull into that parking lot, uh, every Sunday to, to park, you know.

Oh, I could easily be persuaded not to go in.

About four, usually about four and a half, four hours before kickoff when I get there. And the diehards are all setting up and they got the kill boss and the brats going and the music's bumping the towels hanging out of the back pocket. The cold beverage is in the hand. I'm like, Man, that'd be fun. That'd be fun to just slide over with those guys for a couple hours and then go into the stadium and just watch.

I mean, even the house I grew up in, my parents had a Super Bowl party. It was when I was like 20-ish. And they put like gate A on one door, gate D on the garage. We had a fire in our driveway. That's awesome.

That's awesome.

I love it. My terrible towel's got a big hole in it from getting burned.

From getting burned.

Yeah.

That's so good.

Fantastic.

Yeah, it's hard to believe it's been 25 years, man.

That makes me feel really old. That's crazy, yeah.

Do you remember, before we go to break, I'd be interested if TV would remember this as well, too. Do you guys remember what the first ever event was at New Heinz Field?

Wasn't the Pitt game, apparently.

It was not.

Was it a concert?

It was an NSYNC concert. And the reason I remember this so vividly, because I would have been like 10 or 11 years old, NSYNC was the hottest thing in the world. And I begged my parents to take me to the concert. And my parents were like, we're not what at that time would have been probably what, 200 bucks a ticket or whatever would have been huge money back then.

It's like going to Taylor Swift now. Yeah, right.

It's like, it would be, you know, probably close to a thousand dollar ticket now. My parents are like, we're not spending $ 200 for you to go to this concert. And they're going to look like we're going to be in the nosebleeds. Justin Timberlake is going to look like an ant up there on the stage. And I was so devastated. You know, NSYNC was the coolest thing in the world. And I was like, no, come on. It's the new thing.

Everyone's going.

I think my parents made the right decision on that one. I think they were okay there.

Side note, you're going to kick out of this, Ada, text just from me, not to my wife and I, from my son today. think you could help chip in for uh lsu tickets it's a big lsu's going to kentucky this weekend and he's like they're like 150 bucks it's like quadruple what they.

Usually are get a student ticket is that what he's i don't know.

What's going on he just wants he wants me to help him with him i'm like i'm sure we'll take care.

He's not a freshman anymore he should be able to get a student ticket.

I'm sure he didn't in his fraternity. I mean, I'm sure he could get in, but he's, I don't know what the story is, but he's like, you think you can help me with this ticket? I'm like, I'll make sure.

You get, you got to dig into that one a little bit.

Yeah. He didn't write me back. So we'll see what happened.

Did you miss the, did you miss the portion of the student ticket claim process? Right. I know a lot of those, like he'll end up being there no matter what.

Yeah.

I would think you got to find, you got to find a way. Um, but I know a lot of those schools, it's like a lottery system or whatever. And sometimes you're just not the luck of the draw. Uh, but interesting. You got to dig into that one a little bit more.

Yeah.

I haven't heard back from Lane Kiffin and LSU are in town. You gotta, you gotta be there for that one.

He actually thinks it's the biggest home game in Kentucky history.

It probably, at least for a long time. They've been, they've been down for a while. Yeah. I tell you what, get the, get the old boy in there and bring the mojo. Uh, so yeah, some fun there. That's kind of our hodgepodge of history, I guess, if you will, around the creation of Heinz field.

Now, of course, uh, that's a cool experience i was pretty fortunate to see a lot of beams go up and stuff 25 years man man.

Which is wild because 25 years into three rivers was when all the plans were being made to replace it like it used to be you know back back in that time period it was like the the shelf life of a stadium or an arena or a park or whatever was about 30 years yeah but now it's like you could do more renovations you can keep it.

You know and a lot of them are the same i mean like Riverfront was a lot like Three Rivers. They could do both sports and they were kind of cookie-cutters.

The vet in Philadelphia and all that. Those concrete donuts.

Right.

Fun stuff there. Kind of hodgepodge of history reminiscing 25 years. Good Lord. I can't believe that. Wes Shuler, Matt Williamson. It's The Drive. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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Steelers Nation Radio.

All right, Matt, it is time from one exercise to another here, from the hodgepodge of history to the Pick a Player Wednesday segment.

We didn't do it for the Browns last week.

I know, but we also didn't really have much time.

And we have another chance.

We'll see. It's funny. I was actually thinking about that last week, maybe Tuesday when I was driving home or Wednesday when we were busing out to Cleveland. I was like, wait, that's actually a fun conversation for.

The Browns right now. There's wide receivers. I mean, yeah, there's a lot of young.

Martian Swessinger.

Yeah, absolutely. I don't know who I'd pick.

A lot of safeties on the Browns that would help the Steelers right now.

I was also thinking, should we alter the rules and do an offense and a defense? Or should we just take one?

I think we should say ultimately who the one would be.

But I don't mind picking one from each side of the ball.

This is an interesting one because we wouldn't consider quarterback for this team, which always makes it more fun.

No, I would not. He has not played well, by the way. We haven't done a lot of Colts stuff, and we will tomorrow. But Daniel Jones... My approach to this game would be don't let Taylor beat you, let Jones beat you type of thing.

Correct. So I think that's probably the big name to discuss off the bat is Jonathan Taylor. I don't know because he's still so good.

And man, he's so good.

If you had him and Jalen Warren and right. Goodness.

Trade out or whatever.

But I think he's, he's also, I want to say 27 or 28 years old. So he's still got some tread on his tires, but he's expensive and he's getting close to that kind of running back shelf life age.

He's our best player. Yes.

Without a doubt.

Without a doubt. They don't have any good candidates.

Well, Tyler Warren's a great one, still on his rookie deal. But you, I mean, that's an area that we feel pretty strongly about this Steelers offense. Now you could take Tyler Warren and you could see what you could get for somebody on a trade.

Play a lot of 13 personnel and blah, blah, blah. I mean, it'd make you better, obviously. I mean, I like downs a lot, but I'm not going to take, I mean, he's ideally an awesome wide receiver three slash wide receiver two type. Pierce isn't good enough for me.

No, and at this point right now, and I wouldn't have said this before the year, but at this point right now, as much as I don't like his contract, I might bite the bullet and take sauce.

Yeah, he's not playing up to his contract. He's still quite good.

I mean, he would help your secondary a lot. He's one of the best players on that roster at what would be an immediate position of need.

Quentin Nelson's been a left guard forever. And he's not slowing down at all. He's expensive. But you imagine your O-line.

He's the best guard of his. He's the Fanica of his generation.

I mean, if you replaced Hoffman, who I like, but Hoffman becomes your swing guy with Nelson. I mean, that guy's, yeah.

You'd have Zach Frazier and Quentin Nelson on the interior of your offensive line.

And he'd be like your Ciamalu, you know, elder statesman in the room. Buckner's too old, but I really respect his game a lot. They don't even have a first-round pick this year that you roll the dice on.

Would you consider either of their safeties? No.

I would take Sauce in the contract over the safeties. I think the candidate... I can't go with Taylor either.

No, no, no, no. What about someone like Josh Downs?

I thought about him and just kind of threw him out there. I just don't think he's good enough to ignore Sauce or Nelson. To me, it comes down to Sauce, Nelson, or Warren. Pierce is useful, but he's expensive too. He's been hurt a lot. He's hurt as we speak. He's more than just a downfield guy. He's a good player.

He's becoming more well-rounded. Deep ball guy. Little redundant with Metcalf that way. Downs isn't.

That's why he's the wide receiver that's interesting to me because his contract's the most reasonable.

That's, yeah. I would take him over Pierce. Yes, yes. Because of contract and style. He's more the man-beater, explode-out-your-brakes guy.

And he's still, what, only, I think, 24 years old. Still very young.

Probably a little older than that, but yeah. First contract, for sure. Yeah.

Let's see. He is 25 years old. Just turned 25 in August.

Sauce is hard to argue with.

Sauce is hard to argue with. Again, I don't love the contract. He has not been the same player, but with where you're at right now.

We're not giving up two firsts for him either. I mean, I think that's a terrible trade for the Colts.

True.

But we're just grabbing them for free. Considering the state of the corners.

You wouldn't consider Cameron buying them at all?

I mean, he's a good player. He'd start for you, and you'd be happy to have him, and it'd be helpful. But, I mean, I'd rather pay Sauce. I think it's Sauce or Nelson. I wish both were a little younger, especially Nelson. I think so. You're a line to be unbelievable, unbelievable.

And I like Hoffman a lot, but you could even maybe trade one of those offensive line pieces and get a really good return. I do like Hoffman a lot, but man, it's quitting, quitting frigging Nelson.

I think you're right.

I think it's one of those two. Unless you're saying, I'll take Tyler Warren and I'll trade one of the.

Other two tight ends. But you're not going to get a ton back for them either. You'd get a third-round pick or something. And I'd never trade Washington a million years. I love him.

I think it's Sauce and Nelson for offense and defense. Yeah. And I think I'd lean towards Sauce. I think so. And while he hasn't been the same player, Matt, he's still what? Only 24?

He's younger.

He just turned 25 August 31st.

Okay. I think he came in the league very young.

He did.

He's younger than Nelson. The position's in worse shape than guard, for sure. They're both expensive for their respective positions. Yeah, I think it's Sauce. I think it is.

As much as you wouldn't love the contract.

Right.

I mean, most teams I would be happier about who you steal than Sauce, to be honest.

But, yeah. Yeah.

If it's one on each side of the ball, it's Nelson.

It's not the most overwhelming group, that's for sure. And a lot of their good, like Quentin Nelson and Jonathan Taylor, are a little bit longer in the tooth.

I wish they had a good 12th pick in the draft from this past year that was... a promising player. Yes. Even if it's a safety.

Or if someone like A.J. Housley turns into a stud safety.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because I think he's had a pretty good start to his career. But he's only four games into it and.

He's still so raw. Yeah, right.

But if it's a year from now, maybe we'd be saying, oh, he's a really good safety.

He's knocking on the door of being a pro bowler. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That was an interesting one.

Yeah, you got to talk through that one a little bit.

Not as beefy as maybe I thought it would be. But again, too, a lot of their positions where they have dudes, like you're not going to take one of their tackles. They've got two pretty solid tackles, but you're not going.

To take one of those.

The wide receivers are a little redundant in some ways, and they're okay.

Warren's a good one.

Warren's a good one, but that's a position of strength for the Steelers.

I'm not sure what tight end I would take.

Can I cheat in this exercise and say I'd take Tyler Warren and then I'd shop him on the open market?

Yeah.

Cause you could get a good return for Tyler Warren. No doubt.

I mean, like what is kind of fun is some of these teams, I would, if the Colts don't count because they, they vote, they don't have their first round pick, but I would take next year's first. You know what I mean?

We take the Colts second round pick and really screw them over.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, if you could take one asset from the organization, like I'll take their future first, you know, over any of their players, I would rather have their first round pick than sauce.

There was a small part of me that thought when we teed up this exercise that you might say, you know what, screw it, just give me Anthony Richardson. I'm going to see what I can do.

See what happens.

But that's too much of a risk. That's too big of a swing for the fences, I think.

I think you could get him for a fifth-round pick right now.

You probably, exactly right. You might not even have to steal him. They might just give him to you. Let us know, as always. You know where to get at us on the mentions and the comments if you've got a strong take on who you would steal. Remember, you've got to take them as is. Contract, age, all that stuff.

You're not just borrowing them for the rest of the season or anything. It's a true plucking of that guy off the roster and placing him onto the Pittsburgh Steelers. One more segment to go when we return. You know what that means. Questions, comments, concerns, reactions. We'll get to as many as we can before we get out of here.

Euler and Williamson, it's The Drive. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

And now a word from our sponsor, Bud Light. There's nothing better than the clean crisp... There's nothing better than the clean crisp....

Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours. I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean, crisp taste of Bud Light.

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You're tuned to The Drive on your 24-7 home of the black and gold.

Steelers Nation Radio.

Down the homestretch here, final segment of the drive on this Wednesday, and you already know what that means. It's time to get to your questions, comments, concerns, and reactions before Matt and I get up out of here. Mr. Steel City leads us off today and says, three things I want to see on Sunday. Number one, a Nick Herbig splash play.

Okay.

Number two, a Caden Weegean explosive return. And number three, DK Metcalf to continue on what we saw in the fourth quarter against the Browns. Those are all pretty good ones.

I don't mean to say this about DK. I think he's gotten a little too much heat because of drops and stuff that were left on the field. But I think what we've seen the last couple weeks is more who he is than that first week or two.

And I think, too, let's all be honest, the season didn't end greatly for him last year with that suspension and everything. And so I think maybe some of that carried into this year, too. But I think you're right. I think... I think he's going to look more like the guy that we saw in Cleveland than the one that we saw in the first three games.

I agree. And yes, he's guilty of not being a true number one, but there's 10 of them on the planet. You know what I mean? So he's your number one. He's a really good player. I think the same is true for Herbig. I did a mailbag for a different outlet yesterday and a million people, we worried about Herbig.

You worried about him?

No.

Not at all. I mean, he's been a little quiet the last couple of weeks, but.

I'm not worried about, I would like, I'd like more noise, but I'm not worried about him.

Yeah.

I mean, are they, did he, why'd they sign him? Because he signed a big contract, you know, why'd they give the backup of all this money? I'm like, well, he's not a backup and he won't be a backup forever. And you'll be thrilled with the money. And he's really, really good at the game. And I said, 8,000 times before his contract, I'm never letting him go. You know, like no chance. Yeah.

Legion.

I'm worried about it. I mean, That's a tough position to be critical of.

And it's so hard to have real tangible impact as a returner in 2026. Like, it's just so much of it has been legislated out of the game.

It is.

And even so, I mean, even if your blocking's pretty good, okay, you got eight where most guys would get five. It's like, eh. That's fine. I mean, it's not like he's going to take it to house every time.

No.

You know what I mean?

I'd like to see him start like, ooh, he broke a tackle and got an extra eight yards there.

Ooh, that's a nice burst.

That's how you do it. You pick up an extra first down, a field position.

Yeah. Even in preseason, there was like a glimpse, but there wasn't like, whoa, this guy's, they really got something here. They got to get him in on offense. Give him end of rounds, you know? Right. Yeah.

Dorkman says, asks, Hey, that's just a name. If a player gets a second or a third contract, why do people still like to reference what round that they were drafted in? What difference does it make at that point?

None.

It doesn't.

No.

In fact, Mike Tomlin used to say the second you get to training camp, it doesn't matter what round you were drafted in.

It shouldn't.

Now, we know there's obviously quarterbacks and first round picks. They're going to get a little bit longer of a leash. I think everyone realizes there's some nuance to that. But however you got there, you're there. Now put up or shut up. And if you're the first round pick, you're going to get more of an opportunity to put up or shut up.

No question.

Than the sixth round guy. But you still, once you're there, hey, if you can help the team, you can help the team.

Yeah.

And just to answer the question, it doesn't matter. But to answer the question, sometimes it's notable. You know, like the two corners the Steelers picked up. you know, like off the practice squad, I would always say like, well, he was a third round pick or he was a fifth round pick. Does it matter anymore? No, but it does in terms of measurables and things, you know, like he was first round pick because he is super fast or he is super long arms or whatever, you know, like those things still hold up. There's a reason you were picked in the first round versus seventh round. And that's still relevant. I mean, like when all teams, if you go in the database and, you'll see all the reports written on them in college and then all the

reports written on them. And, and, uh, so you kind of build off it every year. It's not like I steal the college scouts eval and just add a sentence to it, but you realize each year through the progression, you know, where that's your starting point.

Yes.

You know what I mean? I guess the best way to point. Yes.

No, that's, that's a good kind of peek behind the curtain there. Joe piggybacking off of a around campus here. What are the chances that the Steelers are liking a couple of underclass quarterbacks and are thinking that two years from now is when we get our rookie and we'll let Drew have the season next year to try and prove himself? Because if five quarterbacks go off the board before a higher value cornerback or something is there when the Steelers will pick around 20.

I don't think that's crazy.

Because it might be out of your hands. You can't get to the quarterback you want this year, even though there's a lot.

It certainly could be. Because, I mean, we've seen that in years past, just a couple years ago, right? It's Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, one, two, three. You're not getting one of those three guys unless you have.

The top three picks. And they weren't moving to five. I mean, like, if you had the fifth or sixth pick, you weren't prying them away from those three teams. Correct.

Correct.

Again, we don't know where the Steelers are picking.

If the Cardinals and the Jets and teams like that that all clearly need quarterbacks have the top three or four picks, you might be SOL.

Now, I think we both agree that we would move mountains to go get the guy you want. Yes. I'm not just going to hope he gets to 20. If you think you can get him at 12, I'm moving to 12 and basically whatever it takes, over market even. But I don't think it's insane to think the off season could go the way that's described here. That could lead to a very long year where you're picking very early, or it could lead to, we've had the answer all along, which is why they drafted it. You know, right. I get it. By no means. Am I trying that strategy?

If it's forced upon me and Kirk cousins mentors them or whatever, Don't.

You guys and your Kirk cousins and your Jalen hurts.

Don't I don't want those guys, you know, but.

And I would say... If it's out of your hands, it's a possibility. You always point this out with young players, too. We don't know what they're like in meetings. We don't know what they're like behind closed doors. Like, you said that with Max. As much as we all love him, hey, maybe he's not picking up what they're asking him to pick up in meetings and you just can't put him out there. Right, right, right. Not that that's the case, but that stuff happens.

It's possible, right.

Yeah, and clearly that wasn't the case because they still got him out there in the third game of his rookie season. But in those meetings, behind those closed doors, in the walls of that facility, if they're like, Drew's really been picking up, but we've been putting down all year. Or it goes the other way where they're like, man, he is nowhere close to being ready to be the guy.

I can't imagine putting him on the field right now. He can't change one play or anything. Now, this is a terrible comparison because I think Mahomes is the best quarterback I've ever seen, and he was a first-round pick. But there's a lot of stories during his rookie year while Alex Smith is playing really well when he's running scout team and the whole planet's like, oh, we're down– his turn is now, I mean, like if we didn't have a good starter now, then we were having a successful year. I can't wait to get this dude on the field.

Right.

And maybe Adler's same way.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know.

Maybe. And that's one of the things that we just won't know until we know, and you'll have to read the tea leaves and follow the Steelers actions to get the answer to that one.

But I do get the impression that they are very thoroughly attacking this quarterback class right now. I mean, You're insane if you don't.

Right.

You're not doing your job if you're not.

Exactly right. Unless you're one of the select few teams around the league that's set there for the foreseeable future, you should be doing a lot of homework on this upcoming draft.

And I'm even just talking specifically Steelers. If the Steelers aren't as invested in this quarterback class as humanly possible, then it's insane.

RJ says, on a scale of 1 to 10, how concerned do we need to be about the back end of this defense?

If 10's the most concerned, I'm a 7.5.

I was literally going to say seven.

Yeah, I'm pretty concerned right now.

I am too, because we've talked a lot about the absence of Joey Porter Jr., now the injury to Jamel Dean. But, man, Echols has been banged up. You still haven't gotten Sean Elliott back. It's just there's a lot of absences and injuries for the cornerback and safety room at this point early on in the season.

Brisker and Jenkins aren't lighting the world on fire. I mean, Biden– Default, you're going to play Spears, Jennings, and Everett more than you planned on the day you drafted them. Now, that's also a little bit exciting. Both those guys are tall, long, really athletic guys that might have good careers, but you're on the field before their timeline changes. asks them to be or planned on being. Yeah, I'm concerned.

I think you'd be lying if you said anything else. And their actions of signing guys off practice squads to the 53-man roster means clearly they know and they see, too, that they need some help.

In that area. Speaks volumes, yeah.

Yeah.

Smooth Dave, one of our regulars, says, is it the right approach to prioritize building through the trenches when it feels like skill positions are where youth matters most? We've seen a number of teams spend money on free agency to fix their offensive line where there's less age regression. That's a good question, Smooth Dave.

It is a good question, and he's right about that. But, boy, you've got to spend a lot. And the guys you're spending on aren't pro bowlers.

Yeah i mean like dan moore's a bad example i was just gonna say i think it's also a different conversation for tackles and for interior offensive.

Yeah i think you could get siamalu and you can get linderbaum and you can get guys like that on the interior but so especially if you have this much cap space and you're a bad team and i just need a professional here.

But but when was the last time a big free agent tackle on the open market lived up to their deal No.

And you never see a top 20 tackle even hit the market. Right.

Sometimes those guys are traded like Trent Williams, but they don't hit the market just as a free agent.

I don't have the numbers, but I saw there's 32 teams on opening day, so there were 64 starting tackles. Okay. I want to say like 40 of them were first-round picks. It may be even high. It might even be low on that. And almost all of them are basically homegrown. Now, there's a tonsil or two that got traded or something like that, but he got traded for a lot.

Sure.

Trent Williams traded for a bunch.

I mean, most of the starting tackles are very high draft picks because there's not enough of them in the world. It's super important.

There's not a lot of 6'6, 6'7, human beings that are that athletic, that can move like that out in space, that you trust to put on an island.

And you can't get one at the trade deadline.

Right.

You can always get a receiver at the trade deadline. You can get a running back basically anywhere.

And maybe they're 28, 29 years old.

Yeah, and you rent them and get two years out of them instead of six.

But you usually can't find, again, specifically tackles that you can kind of rent or rely on like that.

However, I don't think it's bad to look at like day two of the draft. I mean, a third round rookie running back is... High pedigree guy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeremy Bernard.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, like, how many Steelers did, I mean, Juju and Martavis, I mean, how many receivers did they draft on day two that they got a lot out of?

Absolutely.

And there's a ton of them in the league.

Manny Sanders.

Yeah, exactly.

He was day three, but you get my point.

He was day three, but A.B., you know, right.

A.B.

Is obviously. Wallace. I mean, there's a ton of those guys.

Yeah.

I mean, there's a ton of really good receivers now.

Hines Ward was a first-round pick.

Right, right.

Couple more here, Matt, before we close this thing down, Jimbo Dean says, I know you just must play the cards that you were dealt, but how much do you think the Steelers two losses relate to the schedule disadvantage? The Pats had an 11 day rest in preparation when they played on Wednesday night. And when you look on the road, the entire division, the AFC North is two in 18 as the road team, when they have to go on the road Thursday night in division, good numbers there, Jimbo.

That's awesome. And, It's easy to forget about it after the fact. Like when he said that, I'm like, oh, yeah, the Patriots did have a huge rest advantage.

And not like, you know, a one or two day, like a four or five day rest. They played on Wednesday.

We made a lot out of it going into the game, but you don't think about it after.

Right, because after it kind of sounds like you're making excuses and you're seeking comfort. And I'm sure that's the same thing they would say. Again, you play the hand that you're dealt.

You play the hand that you're dealt. But it definitely matters.

But when you're the team who gets the opportune situation like the Steelers have on Sunday, where you have a rest advantage and the Colts were just playing overseas, you better take advantage.

I mean, if anyone's done a study over the last 20 years, if you look at the road team on Thursday night, they lose way more than they win. Or if you look at the team that has like a three-day rest advantage or any rest advantage, they usually lose. The disadvantage loses, of course.

Yes.

So yeah, it matters. It matters a lot.

Absolutely.

It matters more than we bring it up because it does sound like an excuse. It does sound.

Like an excuse, but again, there is a fine line between explanations and excuses. That doesn't mean that you could just always lose those games. But like I said, what it really comes down to for me is when you're the team who's in the advantageous situation, when you're coming off the long week, when you're coming off the bye, you better be able to take advantage.

How cool would it be to have Mike Tomlin here, for a million reasons, but someone who's just finished their career And that would be flat out honest. They have nothing to hide.

How much does that really mean?

And they'd be like, oh, that Thursday night we were shot. I knew we were in big trouble walking in there because we were beat. You know, like if you could actually, you can't say that to the media after the game.

No, absolutely not.

You know, right.

Heck, Mike McCarthy said he didn't like the way that they practiced, and everybody.

Crushed him for that.

Imagine someone being like, yeah, I knew we were going to lose.

He's like, I had to pull out every stop because we didn't have any. We were running on few, and they weren't.

Speaking of which, last one of the day goes to Steel City Yins, who says, if Mike Tomlin decides he wants to coach next year and the Steelers end up trading him, what would that trade look like? Let's use the Tampa Bay Bucs, for example. Say that they're picking 9th or 10th. Would they really want to trade you that pick, or would they try... and make it a 2028 first-rounder instead.

The usual is like a first-round pick.

It's the usual.

That's the usual.

Now, when the Broncos did it for Peyton, it was like the 29th or 30th.

It was late.

Yeah. I can't remember an early pick being traded for a coach, and there aren't many in history.

Maybe Gruden, but that was for a long time ago.

But they were stars, too. I mean, that team with Dungy was. Super close. They were knocking on the door for a Superbowl and Gruden got there and they won it. So, I mean, they had SAP and they, I mean, they were loaded. They weren't picking the top five.

Sure.

I have a hard time believing you get a top 10. I just don't think any team's parting with the top 10.

Again, probably especially this year.

Coaches are so important. And I think they're more important in this sport than anything. I just think that's a lot. And that's not knock on Tomlin at all. Maybe you get a two twos, you know, one this year, one next year. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I just have a hard time believing it would be.

Two twos might work. Yeah. And two-two Atwell.

Nice.

That's a good question, though, and that's another one that.

Tomlin's not going to help you win next year, so anything you get out of him is great. Sure. But you want to turn that into a quarterback, obviously.

Yeah.

Ideally, right.

Ideally, it would help you turn that.

If I could trade Tomlin for Mestemaker... And everything else is the same. That's the ninth pick in the draft from Tampa or whatever.

Sign me up, baby.

Yeah, that would be unbelievable.

Fun show today. Starting tomorrow, we will dig into Matt's stats. We will fully be focused on Sunday's clash with the Colts. But that will do it for us on this Wednesday. A thank you, a shout-out, as always, to intrepid video producer... Mr. TV, Tyler V on the YouTube side of things. For Matt Williamson, I'm Wes Euler. Take care, everybody, and 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. Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.

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Uh, what if we just got out of here and grabbed some Bud Lights? But man, we're on air for four more hours. I'll figure it out. Sounds good to me. Anything for the clean, crisp taste of Bud Light.

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