Breaking Down EVERY Steelers Roster Spot + Joey Porter Jr. Contract Drama

The Pittsburgh Steelers have their 53-man roster — but are they ready for the 2026 season? Tommy Jaggi and Shayne Kubas break down every player on the Steelers' final roster, examine the growing concern surrounding Joey Porter Jr.'s contract standoff, and predict who will emerge as Pittsburgh's best player at every position group in 2026. Who made the right cuts? Who could surprise? And who deserves to be the Steelers' next superstar?

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Video Transcript

Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Still Curtain podcast.

I'm your host, Tommy Jaggay, editor of Still Curtain.com.

And joining me as always is Still Curtain, co-host, copy editor, contributor, Shane Kubas.

Uh, we are about 10-ish days out from the NFL season.

Uh, as a week from today, we kick off.

As of this recording, Shane, the Steelers have their 53 man roster in place.

That's gonna be our big topic topic for today.

We're gonna go position by position.

We're gonna break down every single player that made the cut.

We're also gonna talk about the practice squad, uh, what the roster means for this team, where they're, uh, heavy, where they're thin, and then we're gonna also give our predictions on who we think is going to be the best player at each positional group this year.

So stick with us for that as well.

This is the Steel Curtain podcast.

All right.

Uh, let's talk Joey Porter Junior first though, in this contract standoff , Shane, that continues.

And now Porter, it's worth mentioning, is on the field and it looks like he is at least warming up with his teammates.

Probably won't practice, I'm sure, uh, but it's worth noting that he's at least out there, kind of ramping up a little bit.

But man, this thing is just a stalemate, stalemate.

No, no side is, is willing to cave and Quite frankly, I don't think the Steelers should cave at this point.

You look at the situation and you kind of, uh, said it from the beginning, Shane, like you would have handed Porter that same Nick Herbig deal from the get-go.

Porter wants more than that.

And the, in the word on the street and from Ian Rapoport, he's gonna be paid as the top corner in the league.

If the Steelers are too far off on that, I don't see any reason to rush this.

Uh, it, it's just a, it's an ugly situation right now.

You hope it gets resolved before week one because as Mike Florio pointed out, the Steelers have an outdated philosophy when it comes to the in-season contracts.

Uh, Omar Khan just goes on vacation or whatever during that time.

No, I mean, I get, I get the standards that they have and they set these precedents and you got to abide by them.

But Shane, what are your overall thoughts on Porter?

Do you think this thing gets resolved before week one?

I want to say that it will, but at this point, like, can you really say with any confidence that it's going to, like, let's be honest about that.

Not with confidence.

Yeah, I can't think he's said no.

The way that he was talking about it yesterday, and I wrote about that, and we've had a bunch of stuff come out about his comments and Mike McCarthy's comments on it, like.

It just doesn't seem like they're very close right now, and not even that, but that they're not even really talking about the deal that much, at least not from the Steelers end.

And, you know, he made the comment that, you know, he doesn't know if he'll play week one without a contract and all this stuff, and like, do I really think he's gonna sit out if he doesn't get a contract?

No, cause I think it doesn't really make sense for him to do that, like he's not in that good of a position to be doing that, but at the same time, like, I get where he's coming from, like, it's, it's hard to sit there and say like, OK, I I'm gonna play on this last year of my deal whenever I had the season I had last year and corner such a volatile position.

What if he has a bad year, you know, what if, what if he has a year where it's like, OK, I'm clearly not as good as I was last year.

Are they going to still offer me something close to what I could have gotten before the season?

So I think it's in the best interest of both sides to get this done before the season starts.

But if you're going to not do that, if you're going to go into the season without a deal.

I wonder if Joey's gonna be there immediately, especially when he's ramping up and trying to get ready, like, does he need a week or two, or even longer to be ready and feel comfortable actually playing at this point.

Yeah, these are professional athletes, but you still, you can't imagine them just jumping right in to game action and going full pace, full speed after not logging a single rep this summer with his teammates.

Uh, there's a lot of players who hardly played.

Aaron Rodgers is one of them, but we're talking about a position where you've got to be in fantastic football shape the moment you step on the field, because you're covering NFL wide receivers, the, the best athletes on the field.

I, I question how he would look if he did step foot on the field in week one, because again, he's just been out for so long.

The other thing here, Shane, with this is, and this is what everybody should understand with this.

And now I know they want Porter to get paid.

They're, if you ask the majority of the fan base, they're probably like, give Porter his money, make sure that he's out there, take care of him.

But the team holds the leverage here.

There's, there's no obligation to really get this contract done other than to appease a greedy agent right now.

Like that's, that's really what it comes down to.

And again, players are protected.

They want to get paid.

We know how the system works.

But he's under contract.

He's got a year left on his rookie deal.

Uh, not only that, Shane, but the Steelers have a franchise tag.

They can double franchise tag him, by the way.

The franchise tag would be significantly cheaper in terms of average annual value than a new year money would be.

And a second franchise tag, even though it increases by 120% or the current franchise tag price, whatever is more expensive, would still be cheaper.

Than what he's gonna earn in new average earnings.

The Steelers have 3 years of control when you count this year, next year on the franchise tag potentially, and then a potential double franchise tag.

They have 3 years of control.

They don't have to budge right now, and they shouldn't have to cave to what Porter's agency is wanting from this.

Now, the other thing to consider here.

to my understanding, Porter has to play at least 11 games this year or be willing to suit up.

Obviously injuries take place, you can't account for all that, but he's gotta, he's gotta actually participate, be willing to play in at least 7 games this year because of, or excuse me, 11 games this year, cause if he doesn't do that, his season tolls, which means it does not accrue.

The Steelers would maintain his rights for another season, and so he would take him a year longer to potentially get that contract or potentially even hit free agency.

Uh, they would get him back at the same salary he's got this year.

So, there's a lot of incentive for him to see the field.

And I want to point this out as well, because it's been floated out there.

We go back to Le'Veon Bell back in 2018, and this is a guy who had so much workload, so much wear and tear.

He was a far more proven player.

Let's be real.

I mean, he, he had three Pro Bowl seasons, two All-Pro seasons if I'm not mistaken.

Uh, was one of the best receiving backs in the game.

Like Le'Veon Bell was really good and he had the pedigree to go with it.

Uh, and, uh, to, to coin a, a quote from Paul Blart Malkop here, nobody wins in a headbutt.

And that's how it feels with the Steelers and Porter right now.

And nobody, there's a chance if this plays out, I, I don't think it will, but if it plays out the same way it did with Le'Veon Bell, nobody's gonna end up winning.

Porter is gonna get a year older, he's not gonna get his money right away, uh, potentially could.

Burn bridges with the Steelers, go to a different organization, and maybe not play as well.

And the Steelers aren't getting their best cornerback on the field, and so they're losing in that sense when they're trying to win right now.

I, I think it's, it has turned into an ugly situation.

I'm interested to see how this unfolds, Shane, but what, uh, who's, whose camp are you on right now?

Because I, I can, I can understand where both parties are coming from.

My view though, is from the beginning.

This is a 2nd round pick who is obligated to play under this contract, and you have the franchise tag to protect you for a reason.

I, I actually don't mind the way the Steelers are doing this.

If they feel he's a $25 million corner instead of a $33 million corner, that's a massive, massive gap.

Personally, I do not think he's a 30+ million dollars dollar corner.

I just don't believe that he is a top five player at his position.

I need to see it more than one year is what I'm saying, cause 2024, he was.

A top 30 corner, like it was, maybe, like it was, it's a one year sample, he doesn't have the accolades, doesn't have Pro Bowl, doesn't not have all pro, was awesome last year, but I understand the hesitation.

Where, how do you approach this year?

I think it's tough because you look at the way he played last year, and specifically in the type of scheme that the Steelers clearly want to play, and I think Patrick Graham wants to play , which you, you go out and sign Jamel Dean.

For a reason too, cause you want two outside press man corners.

You want to be able to go to that as kind of your trump card over a lot of other teams who maybe can't do that type of stuff as well, right?

And maybe they don't have receivers who handle that very well, cause it's his own world in the NFL right now, it is.

So being able to have that as a changeup is huge.

I think the Steelers need to get this done, but I do agree that they're handling it in a more understandable way than I think Joey Porter Junior's camp is, just based on what we've heard.

Now again, we don't know what he actually is asking for.

If he's asking for, you know, Devin Witherspoon money, he's not getting it.

Like he just, that's not going to happen, at least it shouldn't happen, cause he has not done enough to justify that.

Witherspoon is a Super Bowl champion, and a large part the reason the Seahawks were Super Bowl champions is because of Devin Witherspoon , both literally in that in that specific game and also just his ability on the field.

Joey hasn't played at that level.

Even last year, he was an excellent cover corner, but he doesn't bring all the things that someone like Trent McDuffie also brings, you guys like that, who've proven it for more than one year.

He, if he wants to get that type of deal, I think the best thing for him, if that's really his goal.

is to play this year, prove that he can do it again, and then whether it's the Steelers or someone else, he'll probably get that deal.

Like that's just the reality of it.

But if he wants security, if he just wants to say, hey, I want to be able to say that no matter what happens, I am set.

Like, take a, I'm guessing what it would probably be at this point is what, as far as what the Steelers would be willing to give him something in the between $25.28 million dollars a year, right?

If that's what you, if you're comfortable with that, or if, if that would get you paid for life, you're good to go.

Just take that deal.

Accept the fact that, hey, if I don't play well, I'm still getting a lot of money no matter what.

Like, and Shane, that feels like the perfect compromise to me.

Like everybody wins.

Porter gets maybe close to 100 million guaranteed on his next deal and a really good AAV still, but he also gets security because what happens, and this is again, I am from Porter's camp, what happens if Porter goes out there.

Plays really well for half a season, then tears his ACL.

And now it's like, all right, now you're gonna be recovering all next offseason, and, uh, maybe we will just let you hit free agency at this point, and you're gonna get half as much as you would before.

Like, I understand why he wants a deal.

So let's compromise.

You can get him the Nick Herbig deal.

Like I, I, I, we mentioned earlier, I said when Herbig's deal dropped, and we were talking about, OK, like Joey should be next, and how are, how are they gonna do this.

I basically said like, give him the Nick Herbig deal.

Now, clearly that was not close to what Joey wants or expects, and since that happened, there's been multiple corner deals that have now pushed that number up.

I think realistically, like what he probably is is asking for is hopefully less than like what Devin Witherspoon got, but closer to that $30 million dollar range, which It's still doable, I think, if you're the Steelers, especially the way that they kind of handle their contracts where a lot of that guaranteed money is in the first year or two.

I think you can get away with paying him that and not get burned too badly if he isn't quite the player that he was last year.

But when you start, the, the bigger problem is not so much the money, even cause at the end, at the end of the day.

In the NFL, like the cap exists only to a certain point, right?

And as someone who also writes for and covers the Dolphins, that's been a huge talking point this offseason and in general, not really going to get into that right now.

But the point is, it does exist to a certain point, but it also doesn't.

The bigger problem is the precedent you set.

If you pay him 33 $34 million because then any player who's even close to the top of their position is going to be able to go to the Steelers and say, well, hey, like Joey got a top of the market deal and, and he's not a top three corner.

You know, what about me?

Like, why can't I get paid, you know, this amount of money or whatever.

And you do not want to start that, that process.

Yeah, I agree.

I agree.

And Joseph chimes in here with a comment, has potential, uh, but he hasn't proven to be the highest paid.

Prove it , Joey.

I understand.

And, and again, you talked about the precedent.

What happens if Mason McCormick balls out this year and it's like, I'm not a Pro Bowler.

I'm not an all-pro guy, but I just watched Joey Porter play hardball with you guys and then.

You caved to him last year, you're gonna do it for me too.

Like, it does set a precedent.

And so, again, I, I completely understand where both parties are coming from.

Porter wants the security.

The Steelers want to pay him what they deem as a fair wage instead of paying him top market.

And if you go back like a week or so ago to Ian Rapoport's comments, when he gets paid, he will be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.

And like you, Shane, I still find that hard to believe.

It's just, there, I know how this, it's a game of leapfrog.

But he's not Devin Witherspoon.

He's not a perennial All-Pro cornerback.

He's not proven.

Uh, more than one year, uh, in a one-year sample to be the best in the game.

And so, I think a compromise would do everybody good.

What do you guys think?

Let us know down in the chat.

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All right, Shane, let's talk about, uh, the Steelers' full seventeen-man practice squad here and what this means for the team.

Now, uh , I think fans will be, uh, pleased to see some of these players circle back.

Uh, again, 16-man practice squad plus 1 more from the International Pathway Program.

That would be Julius Walshkoff, who makes the team, uh, practice squad again this year for the Steelers.

17 in total.

These are subject to change and a lot of times, uh, you'll see a lot of flipping flopping around, uh, the bottom of the practice squad depending on the depth the Steelers need or if they just feel like someone else is a better fit for them.

But as of now, as we head into the season.

The Steelers' practice squad consists of two running backs, Lou Nichols, Travis Homer, uh, 3 wide receivers, Brandon Smith, Brandon Johnson , and Max Hurliman, uh, one tight end in Lake McCree.

A guard slash tackle, uh, do it all offensive lineman in Doug Nestor, uh, offensive guard Stephen Jones, uh, two defensive tackles in Eizi Otamewo and Kyler Baugh.

Uh, one off-ball linebacker in Jacoby Wyman, two outside linebackers slash edge rushers, Julius Welskoff and Braden Swenson, and then we have a pair of safeties and, uh, Juwania Thomas and Sebastian Castro, who was with the team these past two summers here, and then two cornerbacks, Danico Slaughter and Carlin Vigers.

And uh, you'll notice some of those names like they're.

They weren't deserving, or at least borderline of roster spots.

Deniko Slaughter, really good summer, had some low moments, but his highs were really high.

And then maybe the most deserving on the list, Lou Nichols.

What more could this guy have done to make the team?

Uh, last year in the preseason, Shane, I went back and dug up his stats.

Last preseason, he carried the ball 11 times for 87 yards.

Which is like close to 6 yards of carry, something like 7 yards to carry, 7.5.

I'm really bad at math.

I gotta do that before I hop on here.

And then this year, 87 yards rushing on 20 carries is still the most effective running back on the team pretty easily.

He'd had two great summers with the Steelers, and it just seemed like there was just no avenue for him to make the team no matter what he did.

Yeah, he was definitely one of the ones where I'm like, uh, like, I, I, I think ultimately what happened with him and, and, and honestly, we'll talk about it in a little bit when we go through the roster and who did make it.

Um, I think it was gonna either be Travis Homer or Heidenreich based on what things transpired, and I think it's because they view those guys as better special teams players, and I get that, like I do.

But Nichols is definitely the best runner of that group, and I think if something were to happen to, you know, either Jalen Warren or Rico Dowdell, I wouldn't be shocked if Nichols is the guy that comes up and plays most of the time as a running back, uh, because I don't really view Homer especially or Heidenreich and honestly, at this point, we'll get to him later.

As the guys who could really handle that right away, so I wouldn't be shocked, and hopefully, obviously I hope Jalen Warren and Rico Do healthy all 17 games, but if they aren't.

I won't be shocked if he's one of the first names that gets called up.

Shane, that was the point I was gonna raise as well.

I think if Warren and or Dowdell were to go down, you're gonna see not only Lou Nichols elevated , but get more touches on offense than what Heidenreich will just because they'll probably trust him as a pure runner more.

Uh, in their, their defense, the way they constructed the roster kind of worked out well for them.

They got to keep their rookie draft pick, uh, on his rookie deal, and Lou Nichols still got to circle back and so you can elevate him at any point.

Uh, the only time you obviously wouldn't be able to use him is right during a game.

If one of your running backs gets injured during a game, you're playing the rest of the game out, uh, with the other running back in Heidenreich, and those will be your guys.

And I'm assum.

Assuming Hinreich gets a helmet because of his special teams purposes.

Uh, other names on this list, Max Hurleman.

Again, like Lou Nichols, 2 great summer in a row with the Steelers.

He, I thought he was pretty effective as a receiver.

He kind of flashed in the preseason again, but you did it, it was a game of numbers and there was just never going to be a spot for him.

No, unless Roman Wilson had a terrible camp and it was over for him, which he had a great camp preseason.

I don't know.

We'll, we'll have to see if, you know, what his role actually is once the season starts.

But I, I, unless that were to happen, I don't think he had a chance to make the team, you know, Skronski's there for special teams value .

We was going to make the roster unless he continued to have a kind of rough, you know, preseason, which he did turn around, uh, for sure at the end there with that, with that punt return touchdown.

You saw the juice and kind of what makes him special.

So they're, like you said, the numbers game was just gonna never be kind to him.

Again though, like, if, if any of the receivers who actually play receiver, which is really only 4 on this team technically, um, if any of them were to go down, would not be shocked if he's the name that comes up, especially if it's like a Roman Wilson or something.

So, I definitely keep an eye on him.

Yeah, and then again, Danico Slaughter, a guy that I think probably made some people's, uh, 53 man roster predictions.

I think at least if they did, yeah, you could have made the case for sure, like him, Brandon Echols, that sixth cornerback spot, uh, they went with the more experienced group, and that's fine.

Uh, Slaughter though, I mean, this is a guy who I wouldn't be surprised if some point somebody struggles, somebody gets injured.

He's maybe the first guy, uh, brought up at the position, uh, certainly looking that way.

Um, any other thoughts, Shane, on the Steelers practice squad here?

Uh, the, the biggest, honestly, the thing that stood out to me was Braden Swenson being added to this practice squad.

Um, he was somebody that I had a 2nd to 3rd round grade on coming out, and I guess his issue's been more so maturity stuff apparently it's kind of been the question with him and why he went later in the draft and probably why he may maybe isn't on the Patriots anymore.

Uh, but if he can, you know, kind of get that figured out, or if he can get his work ethic or whatever it is that's been an issue for him figured out, he would be honestly not a bad guy to have if somebody goes down to the edge room just from a pure pass rush standpoint.

Yeah, all right.

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All right, Shane, let's talk about The Steelers' 53 man roster.

Let's go position by position, break down, give our thoughts.

We'll start with quarterback because it is controversial to keep four quarterbacks.

Now, certainly is.

Credit Mike McCarthy for knowing and understanding quarterback is the most important position.

In football.

It really, it, I mean, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

You gotta find a guy, eventually, they know Aaron Rodgers is their guy now.

I think they're trying to, I don't know, are they, are they trying to double the odds maybe for next year or some one of these guys turning out.

Personally, Shane, I don't think it was good enough for Will Howard to stick around.

It was just a really, really rough preseason.

Uh, he finished exhibition action, making some poor decisions, uh, 3 interceptions, a 67.1 passer rating, uh, and you, he got flustered.

I don't think he, his pocket awareness was very good.

He did some nice things.

He had some nice throws down the middle of the field.

But overall, I mean, these last two games especially, like I, I just did not see enough.

And again, you're, this is coming from someone who wasn't the biggest Howard fan to begin with.

I just, I think that the tools package has never been there.

He looks the part size wise, doesn't really have a great arm.

Uh, and, and here's my dilemma, Shane, is now you're keeping 4 guys.

What's the plan?

Are you, are you gonna keep them throughout the season?

Are you gonna try to stash somebody on IR?

What does that do to the rest of your roster?

I'm just, I was kind of opposed to that idea.

I think it's either you needed to beat out Mason Rudolph for the QB2 job right now, and if you couldn't do that .

Then you shouldn't be on the team.

You should circle back to the practice squad, and if someone else signed you, so be it.

Uh, maybe Omar's got something up his sleeve and it's gonna trade Mason Rudolph.

I pretty much doubt it.

But, uh, what are your thoughts on the, the quarterback room here?

Yeah, yeah, I mean, you kind of nailed it.

I think keeping 4 is just some something I think you can't justify in any meaningful way, uh, mostly because like you said, if Mason Rudolph is clearly the the better backup right now, then Will Howard doesn't have to be on this team.

Like, especially because again, you talked about it, he profiles as ideally a good backup quarterback.

And if he, I understand he missed his entire rookie season, essentially, didn't get the full year to acclimate to the NFL and to, you know, practice and do everything.

But if you're in year 2 as a 6th round pick who profiles as a backup, and you aren't really able to take that job from a Mason Rudolph at this point, then you just, you don't need to be on a roster.

At least you don't have to be on the 53 man roster.

Again, would you circle back to the practice squad?

Maybe, especially with his preseason performance.

I don't know if another team would necessarily steal him away.

And if they did, then like, so be it, in my opinion.

Like, if you, if you legitimately have enough of a high opinion of Howard still.

Then he should be able to be the backup, in my opinion.

So And Shane, I, I don't want to make this the, the, the Will Howard episode here, but there's so many reasons beyond just this year, like it, so first of all, starting with this year, Aaron Rodgers a QB1, Mason Rudolph, they obviously trust more as a QB2.

And then would it really be that big of a gap if, if worse came to worse, and Drew Aller had.

To start.

And if he does, by the way, if, if either Drew Aller or Will Howard has to start the season, your season's down the tubes anyway.

You might as well start the guy with way more upside and much better tools and our talent to work with.

So there, there's one point already .

I would rather have Aller come in, even though he's incredibly raw and they both have a ton to work on.

And then if you look beyond this season.

It's a very good chance the Steelers draft a quarterback relatively high, if not the 1st round next year.

So you would, I, in a perfect world, you would want that 1st round, 2nd round, whatever that is, quarterback competing with Drew Aller to win the job next year, and maybe they go out and bring another veteran.

Or if they, let, let's say this hypothetical, Shane, is I think it's very realistic.

Drew Aller and a draft pick, and Mason Rudolph as your QB or, uh, excuse me, Will Howard as your QB room next year.

Would you really want and be pulling for Will Howard to win that job when he'll be about 26 years old before taking his first NFL snaps, if he does win the job next year.

Like, I just don't get the upside.

I do not get the upside and intrigue of sticking with a guy with moderate tools.

When you already have someone with more upside on your team, you're likely going to draft someone this coming year with more upside on your team.

And in that case, if you have two really young talented quarterbacks, why not just keep Mason Rudolph as at least one veteran in that QB room to bridge the gap next year?

Like there's no scenario where Howard makes sense to me at this point.

Again, you, you kind of nailed it, like it this the way that this played out is why this doesn't make sense.

Because, again, if Will Howard had just shown he's the better backup right now, and he should be the backup, you just cut Mason Rudolph.

That's what you do .

You're fine.

It's fine, you don't have to worry about it.

You just cut him.

The fact that they basically entrenched him as the backup very quickly tells you all you need to know, because Aller was never going to win that job because he has a lot to work on.

But Howard should be able to win that job, in my opinion, if he wants to be on the team.

The fact that he couldn't do it.

And the fact that like you said, this quarterback room is gonna be a lot different next year no matter what, most likely, and I, I actually have a, a like a, I don't want to say I should saying it's a hot take is maybe too much because it would be something this team would do, but I have a take on like what their quarterback plan is gonna be next year, and I despise it with all, all of my being.

I think I know where you're going with that, but yeah, so like regardless of what it looks like next year, it's gonna be different.

Is what Howard at best gonna be the 3rd quarterback next year.

Like if Aller even sort of shows life of any kind, is that necessary to keep him around just for that reason?

Yeah, just put him on the practice.

If you can't make it back to the practice squad, so be it.

It's not the end of the world, I promise you.

No matter how much you do or do not like Will Howard, it, it's fine.

And Shane, it's, it's very rare.

And again, I don't have statistics in front of me, but it's very rare players who get put on the practice squad and are poached by somebody else go on to do something spectacular for the team coach.

Like the fact that you, the, the team resorted to putting you on the practice squad kind of shows where you stand compared to the league.

So I, I just, I don't agree with the decision.

I, I certainly don't think that Will Howard played like one of the top 53 players on this roster.

We just mentioned a few names who outperformed him.

Lou Nichols was one of them.

Danio Slaughter, I think, was another one.

I, I get what Mike McCarthy and his staff was doing here.

I get trying to, uh, keep quarterbacks and give yourselves as many dart throws as possible.

I just don't, I've never really gotten the upside.

He was a 6th round pick from the last coaching regime, I'll be at the same front office.

I just wasn't a big fan of it.

Uh, so anyway, those are your 4, Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Drew Aller, uh, heading into the season.

We'll see if there's a move made here or it very much sounds like from McCarthy's comments, he's comfortable just running with those 4 on his roster, just soaking up those roster spots, Shane.

Let's talk about the running back position.

I was a little bit surprised.

To see only 2 true running backs make it and 3 total running backs, depending on how you view Eli Heidenreich, they clearly view him as a running back, but those 3, obviously, Jalen Warren, Rico Dowdell, Eli Heidenreich, the 7th round rookie, the last of 10 draft picks, uh, this year's class makes the team.

Shane, I don't, I'm not, I don't want to go in like a conspiracy rabbit hole here or anything, but just to humor me for a second.

It's right before all this happened.

Broderick Jones in the news, Caleb Johnson in the news.

Everybody's hammering.

Omar.

They, they were praising him for saying, oh, you were able to get something out of these guys.

But in the same breath saying, yeah, Steelers really screwed up on these two draft picks.

Was he, do you think that he was probably pushing to get all these guys on the roster?

Say, hey, give him a chance.

I drafted him.

Give these guys a chance.

I try to kind of try to take the spotlight off of him a little bit.

Am I, am I deep?

Am I, uh, reaching too far here with that, Shane?

I don't think it's so much that.

I think, I will say I disagree with the decision to keep him on the 50th.

It's hard.

It's just really, from what we've witnessed, at least, it's hard to make the case that Heidenrike was the 3rd best running back on the team.

Well, specifically, the, the thing that gets me is he's not the best special teams player of the group that could have made it.

Homer is, and he's not the best runner of the group, and Lou Nichols was.

So the guy who wasn't as, who isn't or shouldn't be most likely as good and valuable on special teams, and the guy who isn't as good of a pure runner made it over two guys who do beat him out in those areas.

And I understand like Homer is an older, you know, special teams running back type of guy.

Nichols has never gotten to this level and played in the NFL truly.

I understand going with the younger, more talented player.

I understand that element of it.

But unless you really thought he was gonna get poached by someone, which maybe he would have, I don't know.

Then to me, I think it would have made more sense to have either Homer stay on as the true special teamer, maybe they elevate one of Heidenriker Nichols on game day sometimes if they want a 3rd runner in there, or keep Nichols as like a true 3 running back and get special teams value elsewhere, which they would have been able to do if they didn't have 4 quarterbacks on the team, by the way.

Um, but either way, like I think choosing him over those two guys does feel a little bit more like, All right, we wanna have a younger guy with some more upside on that, which I normally am totally fine with, but I just think he needs time to actually become something in the NFL, like whatever his position is gonna be, and they have him listed in the roster as a running backslash wide receiver, which is kind of the problem.

It's like, what actually is he as a player.

I still think if you just look at him as from a skill set perspective, he's a slot receiver.

Like that's probably what he is, and that's fine.

It's not like it's a bad thing necessarily.

It's just that like he's the only other running back on the team currently, if one of those two guys goes down, and obviously like in a game situation that could be an issue, but then they could elevate somebody and blah whatever.

But I just find it interesting that he was the guy they went with for the initial roster.

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's interesting to say the least, and I don't, again, I, I side with you here.

Like, I'm all for trying to get young guys out there, seeing what they can do.

You gotta look ahead, uh, and, and prepare for the future while trying to compete.

You can't just look here now.

That's what the Steelers have done for the last 15 years, and it's not been working out in their favor.

Um, maybe they view him as a guy that can just wear multiple hats, give him value, special teams, wide receiver, running back depth.

If, if.

Or have an injury in-game at wide receiver, they can, they can maybe even throw him out there.

He's probably their 5th best receiver right now.

Like, yeah, he might be on the roster currently.

So I, I have no qualms with him making the roster.

I, I would, I mean, my preference from the beginning is like you drafted 10 guys.

I'd love for all 10 to make the team.

I just wanted to do it.

I wanna make sure that they're deserving, you know, like that they earn the, they earn it because, yeah, like Lou Nichols, and not that I'm thinking, oh, Lou Nichols is gonna.

Be this Pro Bowl running back.

No, I just, he's just more deserving like based on his summer performance, I think.

Uh, but we'll see what happens in the game.

Preseason stats can be flukey.

I did go and cut up every single rushing attempt of Eli Hinrich.

I actually did that this morning on my ex account.

You can go over, uh, there at Tommy Jagga.

Check those reps out.

It was way more on the offensive line than anything else.

Uh, he, when he got some space, he can, he can really explode and take off.

The problem is.

You mentioned his body type, his skill set.

He looks like a wide receiver trying to run the football right now.

Just, it's just as simple as that.

I think if he's gonna stick at running back, he's gonna have to, and he probably can't do it this, this, uh, too late now and it is, as we're approaching fall here, uh, but he's probably gonna have to put more weight on at the position and, and more lower leg strength.

Uh, but those are your three running backs.

What do you guys think?

Drop it in the chat.

Do you have any differing opinions on that?

Should they have kept Travis Homer, who is the bona fide special teams ace of the Bears and Seahawks over the last, uh, several years here, who can log 200, 300 snaps in that department.

Like that's something worth considering.

And it's why there were times throughout the offseason where I put Homer on.

My 53 man roster projection because I really thought he was gonna be that back.

I thought he was going to be the guy that replaced Miles Killebrew, uh, in that special teams role.

It looks like it might be Heidenreich, and who knows, maybe, uh, Homer will get that call up for early in the season and, uh, we'll see what happens there.

But, uh, right now it looks like Heidenrike's gonna be doing that job.

All right, let's move over to wide receiver now.

Uh, excluding Heidenrich, who we already talked about a little bit, who is also listed as a wide receiver, DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr. Jeremy Bernard, Roman Wilson, Ben Scaroni, and Cayden Wiigon, those are your six wide receivers.

There's been times throughout the years the Steelers have kept just 5.

I couldn't see 5 happening this year.

I think that there was a little bit too much depth there, not that their depth is like, oh, this is, you, I completely.

Unexpendable, like, you got to make the team type of depth.

But guys that fit niche roles like Ben Scaroni as, uh, a core special teams player and Gunner, Cayden Wiigen, who you drafted in the 4th round, uh, definitely secured his spot with that, that punt return touchdown.

Not that it was really ever.

Jeopardy a 4th round pick on the guy you're gonna, so I didn't really see an avenue for them to keep fewer than 6 receivers, and these were, uh, in fact all 6 receivers that I predicted.

Not that, this should come as a major surprise or anything.

Uh, what did you make of the team's decision to keep 6 in these 6?

I mean, if you would have asked me 2 days after the draft who the 6 receivers would be, this would be the 6th.

So this really hasn't changed, I think, since, you know, April.

I, I think this is the group that I felt the most confident about, other than like maybe edge, because obviously, like unless Patrick Graham throws a curveball, and it's like actually I want 5 edges on the team cause I'm not weird.

Um, unfortunately, that's not what happened, but I think in general, this is definitely the 6 guys that were going to make it if they kept 6.

I think if they kept 5, it would have been cause Roman Wilson was terrible or something, but even then it's like you need 3, you need more than 3 receivers who can actually play receivers, so they probably would have just had to add someone else anyway.

But in general, like I think this group, again, is what it was going to be, and I think that it can be a, a, a very good unit, especially if Bernard, uh, gets in there early and can kind of compete with Wilson and maybe they both have a little bit of a niche role there in the slot.

But, yeah, this is the group you're gonna get, so.

Yeah, and McCarthy clearly values the receiver position.

We've seen that throughout his career, both in Green Bay and in Dallas.

Um, it'll be interesting to see like if, if someone goes down with an injury, uh, does the call up from the practice squad depend on who it is.

So let's say if it's Metcalff or Pittman.

Is it, uh, Brandon Smith who's coming up?

And if it's one of the, the, if it's a Roman Wilson, Cade and Weigian, maybe it's the call up is Max Hurlman instead.

I think it could be, uh, positionally based on the skill set at that point.

I think maybe I would say the only, the only thing there is I think that they probably think Jeremy Bernard can play anywhere on the offense at this point, and it's kind of how they've used him and, and chosen to train him.

So maybe like.

The problem with it, like if DK goes down, there's nobody that's replacing his skill set because you don't have a 1 to 1 for that.

He, he's very specific.

So like I think if, if, uh, excuse me, if, uh, Pittman went down, you could just ask Jeremy Bernard to go be like the the like guy that you can ask to catch possession catches and run after catch and stuff like that.

It would be different though if like like you said, Roman Wilson goes down or someone like that.

I think you would want to bring up like a Hurleman or someone like that.

All right, Shane, let's talk about the tight ends here.

For, if you count Riley Noakowski, who is a fullback, tight end, H-back, whatever you wanna label him as, he's Connor Hayward role is what he's here to do actually a full-size player.

Yes, but yes, not, not the bite-size version, full size.

All right, uh, we, I mean, Pat Friarmuth, Darnell Washington, Robert Tunnion, over the last 2 or 3 months now, this has been my group here when they signed.

Tanya, Tanya and I was a little bit skeptical if he would have that NFL comeback.

Uh, but then very early in training camp, it was, it was very evident that he was the, the tight end 3 on this team.

And quite frankly, like, he is the best 1 for 1 Friarmuth replacement.

If something were to happen to Friarmuth, maybe he still just slides right into that F tight end role and maybe outproduces Washington still and keep Washington more as the inline blocker Y tight end.

Uh, I'm, I'm interested to see what happens here because historically, McCarthy runs a lot out of shotgun, he runs a lot of 11 personnel.

What does that mean for Darnell Washington?

Does he get the shaft?

Does he only play 30% of the snaps compared to 60%, 70% for Friarmouth?

Like, I think that there's a chance for a discrepancy here.

I'd like Friar, I'd like Washington to be on the field.

I think he's, he's a niche role player, and he's kind of one of one at his position and what he does, but I'm a little bit skeptical that he's gonna be a, what you consider a full-time player.

Here the only thing I'll say with that, and maybe this is just, you know, me following the money too much, I don't think he gets extended .

If McCarthy was like, I'm not using him, you know what I mean?

Like if Omar Khan went to McCarthy's like, hey, I want to sign Darnell to a 4-year deal.

Is he gonna play?

And McCarthy said, no, I don't, I don't think Khan probably would have signed him.

I think what I'm hoping for with this group, and you've mentioned Tanya, like he's gonna be the 3rd tight end.

I think he is the best like receiving option they have, um, if Frimouth were to go down, um, won't be the same, but it'll be, you know, him and Rodgers have a connection from their past.

Like I think that those two can do just fine.

I think Washington, the, the hope for me is that he's technically the starting tight end in the sense that like, when they're in 12 personnel or 11 personnel, he is the actual like obviously in line tight end, and then Friarmouth, and this is I talked about this one, you know, earlier this summer when we were talking about the roles these guys might have.

I think Friarmouth is going to play a lot in the slot this year, and historically tight ends for McCarthy have played over 50% of their snaps in the slot over the past, you know, 4 or 5 years that he's been coaching.

Now, obviously, what does that mean for like Roman Wilson and German Bernard and how much they play in the slot and all that stuff, I don't know for sure, but I think a lot of fire with snaps, however many he's going to get, are gonna come as a flexed out, you know, actual tight end like you talked about someone who's gonna be not attached to the line of scrimmage very often.

And that should allow Darnell Washington to play plenty of snaps still and still be effective in what he is.

So, I'm hoping this group can be really well executed this year.

Last year, I think Washington was well executed.

Far Ruth wasn't.

Can we kind of get that back to the, to the middle here and get the best of both worlds?

We'll have to see .

It, it's so almost comical in a, in it's such a sad way looking back to Arthur Smith, and he was known for keeping a bunch of tight ends, but they never did particularly well with him wherever he was.

Uh, anyway, let's move on to the offensive line here.

The Steelers keep 9.

Broderick Jones was traded, and they got a, a decent amount for him.

We probably shouldn't mention that.

It's, it's, it's a few days ago now, but.

Pick.

So yeah, so the Steelers sent Roger Jones packing, uh, and a 4th round pick next year for a 3rd and a 6th, more than I thought you could get out of him at this stage of his career.

In fact, hey, he might be the starting right tackle for the Cowboys apparently.

So he might be the starting right tackle.

What's interesting is they have Junya Morris on their practice squad, and it's like a they're clones of each other, and they, they got Morris for nothing, uh, but it's, I don't know, it's.

I mean, kudos to Omar Khan, but also in the same way, yeah, Khan, you should not have traded up for Broderick Jones probably.

And again, everybody that I not to go down a rabbit hole here, Shane, but I think people will say, well, the Steelers failed him and he was flipping flopping too many sides, and look.

You're at this stage of your career.

You're in your fourth NFL season.

Either you're a good football player or you're not.

You've had experience on both sides.

You gotta figure it out.

I know you had spinal fusion surgery.

The , the latest that I heard, Shane, is that Broderick Jones is playing at 293 pounds.

293.

He's light.

He needs some sand in the pants, and that, and that is, uh, gonna be potentially one of his issues as well.

But, uh, good on Dallas for making that trade, good on the Steelers for getting compensation out of him.

A guy that they had probably no intention of using.

I think, I think he was gonna be 4th in line at the offensive tackle position.

I think that Dylan Cook was gonna be your swing tackle, uh, the moment Yannier steps on the field, a guy that can play either right or left for them.

So, uh, to break down these, uh, 9 offensive linemen here, uh, offensive tackles, Troy Futanu.

Uh, first-round pick Max Yonnier and Dylan Cook.

Uh, at the guard position, you've got Mason McCormick, Spencer Anderson, 3rd-round pick, Jennings Dunker.

And then you got Brock Hoffman, who is a guard slash center , kind of did it all for Dallas.

Uh, and then you do have a true, two true centers in Zach Frazier and Ryan McCallum.

McCallum might.

Be maybe the worst player on this, one of the worst players on this roster.

Like, I don't think there was any avenue for him to make the team if they didn't trade Broderick Jones, because you just can't justify keeping 10 offensive linemen knowing that a group of these guys are not going to get helmets on game day.

Uh, personally, Shane, and this is my thoughts.

I'll see if you agree.

If something happens to Frazier, I want Brock Hoffman on the field.

I do not want Ryan McCollum on the field.

I think that he is a well below average, uh, center.

I think he's below replacement level center, and I would be fine if they, if, if the Steelers didn't need to make a move if he's a guy that gets cut and tries to circle back to the practice squad.

Yeah, I don't think that McCollum is going to be on this roster the whole year.

I just have this feeling that whether it's because they need someone with more upside or at a different position than center, because an injury happens or something like that, I think eventually he either goes to the practice squad or gets released outright.

I wanted them, and maybe they will still do this before the season starts, but, you know, we're past waivers at this point, so we'll kind of see.

Excuse me, how that plays out, but I wanted them to add another offensive tackle type for sure, and I think, I don't think they would have gotten him.

Maybe they even did, you know, show interest in a couple of guys and they just got it, you know, because of the waiver wire, I forget where they they landed on the waiver wire, uh, order.

21st, I think, yeah, 21st, which is, you know, I, because there is a player in particular that I actually wrote about a couple of times as someone I would like to see, it's Cameron Williams, who ended up getting cut from the Eagles.

Um, I think he's on the Falcons practice squad or they are on the, or they might have actually claimed him outright and have him on the roster.

Um, he was a guy coming out of Texas last year that I thought had a lot of potential.

He's a bigger player, like 330 pounds.

Um, he would have been a nice fourth tackle to, to add, to, to add to the team, but They didn't get anybody right now.

At least we'll see if that changes by the time that you get the end of the season starts.

But yeah, McCallum is someone I would like to see get swapped out for somebody else.

Yeah, there were some notable tackle names out there.

I would much rather swap that center out for the tackle.

I think the tackle position is just more valuable in general.

So if you can be 4 deep at tackle, uh, and you already have a guy.

That, that can be a capable backup center in Brock Hoffman.

To me, that's enough depth specifically at the center position.

Uh, I think Hoffman will be the swing, uh, at least the swing guard, and I don't even know how they're viewing this.

Like, what if you had to guess right now, like, I don't think he played a ton of center in, uh, training camp.

But he's just a guy that I would trust, and Mike McCarthy has the, the resume with him in Dallas.

He knows what he's capable of.

I think he's been a really respectable player when his name has been called.

If, if the Steelers have an injury at center, who's coming in?

Is it Brock Hoffman or McCallum?

I, I mean, the fact that I understand like it was because they had traded Jones, but because McCallum's on the team, I, I wonder if maybe if it's like a mid-game situation if McCallum might go in.

And then if, you know, once they have time to kind of get ready if if Hoffman would then be the starter if, if Frazier were to miss multiple weeks or something, um, otherwise, again, like why is McCollum on the team?

And that's, and that's why I say that, not so much that I think Hoffman shouldn't be the guy to go in, I think he should be, but I don't see a reason to have McCollum as as the 9th guy if he wouldn't go in if Frazier specifically got hurt, right?

Um, we'll see if that changes, you know, by the time the season gets here, like I said, maybe they'll swap him out or something will happen there.

But I think if it's a multi-week thing, we see, again, Hoffman go in there at some point.

If it's a mid-game type of deal or just Frazier needs to come out for a minute, I would guess McCollum would get the nod at first.

All right.

And then just to some clarity on the, uh, active game day rules, 48 players can dress, suit up for the game, provided at least 8 of them are offensive linemen.

Considering the Steelers have 9 offensive linemen.

One of these guys, the odd may not have to assume it's Jennings Dunker, right?

Like just no experience.

They're probably gonna be like, we'll wait, we'll wait a few weeks before we.

Give you a helmet.

That would be my guess.

I would guess too for right now.

And, maybe it is McCollum, and then they just, they do have Hoffman go in if something happens, but I would guess Dunker just because of the pass protection stuff, especially, I think he's still getting used to playing guard .

We saw that was the thing that really kind of bogged him down in both camp and in the preseason.

Uh, was his pass protection.

The run game stuff looks kind of ready to go, honestly , um, but again, I, I don't think he's quite ready to, to pass protect at the NFL level yet .

So we'll have to see if he can get going there.

Shane, you kind of know how, I've, I've told you how I feel about this before, but give me young guys and meat and beef and bulk on the offensive line.

Like I, I think there's a lot of truth to if you just put the most talented out there, guys out there, they're gonna go through growing pains.

They'll figure out eventually.

I kind of think, I mean, again, really small sample, but just knowing the pre-draft evaluation of these guys, I think that both Yannier and Dunk are gonna be the strongest offensive linemen on the team, and that's with McCormick and Freight like those guys are, they're strong in terms of pure like it's just that, yeah, those two would they have really, really good profiles and are really strong in respect to their positions.

That part popped on tape, uh, again, yeah, a lot of stuff to clean up.

Uh, but hopefully, whatever group ends up being the best is the one that they have late in the season.

So I don't know if I, if you just had to guess right now before we move on to defense here, will the starting five from left to right, Fulanu, McCormick, Frazier, Spencer Anderson, Dylan Cook, how long does that starting five last before they make a change?

I, I think I haunted her is the starting right tackle by like week 5 if I had to guess.

I honestly, I won't even necessarily completely rule out that it won't happen like soon, like be like sooner than that, but I, I just have a feeling unless Cook is really good to start the season and E hannier is struggling in practice or something, like their events just gonna be like that guy's just better like it's like there's just a higher chance that we're good with him out there, frankly.

Um, I mean, even with his, some of his losses in the preseason, it's like some of the times where he recovered on top of that again, guys don't move like that normally, just kind of the, the, at the end of the day, and you said the play strength is absolutely there too.

Um, he had the nice block on the, uh, Hayden Reicher touchdown, I think it was in, in the 3rd preseason game too.

I, I just think at the end of the day.

That will happen sooner rather than later.

And then I, I don't know if Dunker ever gets in there this year.

I think it just depends.

His pass blocking has to get to a point where it's like playable, right?

And I don't know if you could say that it is right now.

And then on top of that, I think Anderson, I get that.

And again, I, it will not shock me one bit if we go the entire season and Dunker never suits up unless it's out of necessity because of injuries.

But at the same way, I mean, like if, if you view him as like this.

This is our future.

This is the, the, maybe the most talented overall guard we have on the team, or at least profiles is that.

I'd like to get him on the field.

And then you go back and look at McCormick two years ago, he got the trial by fire.

He was thrown into the mix despite being a, a South Dakota State jackrabbit and coming in the jumping competition was astronomical.

And yet he was able to figure it out.

And by year 2, he looked like a really strong and capable guard.

Like, to me, there's almost something to be said about, let's get these guys on the field early on.

Get their lumps out of the way and by the end of the season, we should be cruising and we should have that chemistry.

And so, uh, I, my preference, again, if, if I'm just, this is on the, the, the Tommy Jack rooting guide here.

It's like you're rooting for Dunker and Janier to get on the field early because they have, these are the guys that project as the long-term guys and maybe project as the strongest offensive linemen on the team for hopefully the foreseeable future.

So we'll see what ultimately happens.

Yeah.

All right, let's move on to the defensive line where the Steelers kept 7 and surprised everybody.

Uh, breaking trend here a little bit.

Well, they, they've kept 7 before, but it's like 6 felt like the obvious number.

It's like, is there a 7th that really deserves that roster spot?

Well, apparently they thought so.

So let's go through these names here.

Cameron Hayward, Derek Harmon, Keanu Benton, who got his contract this offseason, uh, Sebastian Joseph Day.

Uh, YA Black, rookie Gabriel Rubio, and undrafted rookie free agent, Kevin Jay Junior.

That was a surprise.

That was the big surprise on the roster to me.

Now, I think that that Jodi had a really good summer.

It wasn't anything against him.

Uh, I don't know if he, he really did like went above and beyond to separate himself from Kyler Baugh or Ottawa or anybody else.

Like I thought it was good, but apparently the Steelers felt he did enough .

I've seen some of the, uh, uh, uh, all 22 tape on him.

I've not cut it up myself, but I mean, he does flash on film.

He's, he's, uh, pretty explosive off the ball.

Got a really similar size athletic profile actually to what Keanu Benton has.

Not to say that he's anywhere near the same football player, but, uh, both of these Big 10 defensive tackles here, very similar size athletic profiles, uh, strictly from that standpoint.

What do you make of the team's decision to keep 7 at the position?

And then to keep Kevin Jobadi Jr. as the 7th guy here, the only undrafted free agent to make the team.

It's fascinating, the fact that they kept 7 guys, mostly because again, I felt like their top 5 especially were just so strong, and then you have Rubio there, the 6th guy that we felt like that was the case really since the preseason kind of kicked off.

It's like he clearly just has a run defense element to him and a play strength element that I think is hard to ignore, um.

The fact that they kept 7, especially when they kept 4 quarterbacks is fascinating.

But I think Jay from what I saw in the preseason, again, it's preseason, we weren't at practices, we can only go off of kind of what people said and what we were hearing.

I was a little surprised that he made the team, but I do think he does have legitimate pass rush upside, like, and not just like, oh, you know, he's like, because he's slightly undersized, but not really.

He's , he's over 300 pounds.

Like he's not this giant, you know, player, but he's also not that small .

I don't think he has like starting upside or anything like that, but could he be like a designated pass rusher from the interior type of player, especially if like Cam Benson went down or something like that.

Could he fill that role?

I think maybe even as a rookie, like he could at least give you more juice than, you know, Wyatt Blackwood or Rubio probably would as a pass rusher, right?

So, I think he has utility and there's reason to keep him on the team.

But like you said, I, I was surprised that they went with 7 just because of the talent elsewhere on the roster.

But maybe he's surprised if he gets on, gets in there.

I assume he'll be the inactive guy though a lot early on it just based on what we've seen, um, but if he is, you know, active, I'd be curious to see what he looks like if he gets some, some snaps there.

Yeah, Shannon, it makes you wonder too.

Anytime you are the 7th at a particular positional group, it makes you wonder, are you going to Get the ax at some point and then be forced to circle back to the practice squad.

I think that's very possible with him.

It's possible with Gabriel Rubio as well.

Like, I don't think that he's in the clear.

He is a sixth-round pick who made the team.

I think he is safer because of his draft status.

And I think that Rubio looked like a pretty strong run defender overall.

Uh, there were times during the preseason, overpursued, times where he ended up on his back or needed the dirt, but, um, I think that he's got some upside to work with there, at least in early down run situations.

So we'll see what becomes of this, but I mean, I think at the very least we can say pretty much for certain, those top 5 there, Hayward, Harmon, Benton, Joseph Day, YA Black, those guys are going to be heavily involved in the defensive line rotation.

I will be interested to see how the snap distribution works between them.

I was actually about to mention that I would guess they all play obviously the top 3 guys will play the most, but I think all 5 of those guys clear 300 snaps or more.

I think Black probably plays the least because I think he's gonna be that true nose tackle and maybe not much else, which, hey, good with me finding this role as long as, as long as Benton isn't getting 250 snaps at nose tackle this year, I don't care who plays nose tackle, frankly.

Um, literally everyone else would be better at it.

Wouldn't that be great, Shane, if, if Benton just turned out to be the greatest steal because the Steelers finally unlock something, putting, putting him in a position that's actually good for his skill set.

Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm expecting, frankly, um, and if we don't get that, it would be a surprise to me at this point.

Um, but yeah, as long as, you know, Black is handling the nose tackle snaps, Joseph Day probably plays a little bit too, can flex to different positions.

Benton and Harmon can, you know, maybe take a little bit off of Cam's plate during the regular season, especially, um, if this team is good enough to make the playoffs, keep them a little bit fresher.

This defensive line could, could be really awesome, frankly, like I, I really think that's the case, so.

Yeah, it certainly has the potential.

I think uh a lot of folks around the NFL would rank it up, but ahead of the season as one of the, the best interior units in the league, uh, and another unit that's really good is the edge rusher position .

So the Steelers kept 4.

I can't believe it was the 4 guys.

Oh my goodness, what a surprise.

Yeah, like this was more than any other position, and we could have said this dating back to like last year, probably, like barring the Steelers spending like a top 4 draft pick on a guy.

It's like this was the 4 to begin with, so we don't need to spend a lot of time on it.

TJ Watt, Nick Herbig, Alex Highsmith, and Jack Sawyer rounding out that 4th.

They just never had, it's not that I think that, and I know that you don't, that Jack Sawyer is this completely irreplaceable football.

Football player, it's just that more so than anything, you never had legit competition to go up against him.

The best thing that you could do to compete with him was bring in a failed first-round pick in, in Jermine Davis, who went from being an off-ball linebacker to trying to make a transition to edge halfway through his NFL career.

So there was never much of a shot of that happening.

Uh, Jack Sawyer is your 4th.

They keep 4 again.

That trend continues.

I wondered if that might be different this year with Patrick Graham running the show.

On defense, uh, and Mike McCarthy being a little bit more hands off there.

Obviously under the Tomlin regime, it's always 4 edge guys, 4 outside linebackers of the Steelers still refer to as, uh, but these are the 4 and the 4 are not surprising at all.

Yeah, and honestly, like, again, I'm, I'm still not particularly high on Sawyer as like a true pass rusher, but he did have a good preseason as a pass rusher.

He, he was good.

I think he did.

He definitely didn't do anything for the Steelers to be like, oh, we have to go get another 4th guy.

Like that was not the issue.

And even like Jimin Davis, right, who I think had a good preseason in his own right, he, he just was a guy that, that didn't do enough, I think, to unseat him, and that's what he would have had to probably do to make the roster.

Um, but yeah, we'll see, you know, how much Sawyer plays, how much he has to play, or if they're gonna keep these, you know, the top 3 guys out there a lot of the time, but I think he at least should be depth that they can ask to go out there again, so.

Yeah, absolutely, and I, he's, he's never gonna be the guy that takes the fastest route to the quarterback, but I think he's just a rotational guy, and maybe he can be something more than that.

We'll see, uh, and then, uh, when it comes to what Herbig Highsmith, those are the big three, obviously.

A lot of people would say maybe this is still the best trio of edge rushers.

I think there's better duos in the league right now.

You like Will Anderson, Neil Hunter, but the best trio, it's hard to argue that maybe this still isn't it right here.

Uh, but my question, Shane, is.

How's the snap distribution gonna look between Watt Herbig and Highsmith?

And what should it look like?

Because we know that now it doesn't always align.

I think, personally, if I go first year, I think Herbig should probably lead this team in snaps.

He's the youngest, the freshest, doesn't have the same wear and tear on his body.

TJ Watt is quite a bit older at this point, and I want to keep Watt as fresh as humanly possible, especially if you enter the postseason.

If you get to that point where you're 1011 win football team, and you're entering the postseason.

You want Watts, the best splash playmaker of this past generation, to be fresh and not to be completely gassed when he gets into the playoffs.

I do not see any reason to overwork Watt.

These guys are all paid now.

Uh, you paid Herbig for a reason.

You paid him $25 million a year.

Put him out there, let him play 800 snaps this year.

Like I, how would you distribute this, Shane?

Well, how I would is closer to what you just said.

Um, I, I think Herbig is probably the guy that should play the most because also he just, I think, has the most utility as a player in terms of what you can do with him and ask him to do as far as alignments and just what he's capable of.

What I'm hoping is they all play like 700 snaps.

Like, could you all, could you all just play like 700 snaps.

And just all be pretty fresh and useful though, and like was able to get the most effectiveness out of you, but wasn't putting you in the ground.

If I had to guess though, assuming all three are healthy, Watts still probably leads his team in snaps because he's an insane person and always has been.

Um, but if not him, I still probably would lean Alex Highsmith slightly as far as like who might lead the team.

Granted, I expect Highsmith to basically miss a game or two every year at this point, but that's beside the point.

Um, yeah, I think that they, they'll be hopefully just fine either way, however they do it.

Yeah, I think that they will as long as that and just have a little bit more wisdom when it comes to the snap distribution.

There's no need to overwork anybody when you have 3, rotate them out, keep them fresh.

I don't, to me, I care far less about TJ Watt trying to get back to a 15 sack season than I do just I want, I want the team to be successful, and I think part of that is being wise with what you're doing on defense.

You did not pay Nick Herbig just like a starter.

You paid him like a premier edge rusher.

So play the guy.

And by the way, Nick Herbig is 24 years old.

He does not turn 25 until late November.

Like this guy is still young, uh, and with fresh legs, put him out there.

Uh, I like the group to say the least.

I know you do too.

Let's move over to the off-ball linebacker position.

And we have 4 of those.

And that threw me through the loop a little bit because this is an uncommon trend with this team.

We've historically seen them keep 5.

Uh, we really thought Elena Roberts was gonna be one of those guys, and then I did, Shane, I was scratching my head late in that final preseason game where it's like, Elena Roberts is on the field and there's a bunch of scrubs around him.

What does this mean for his future?

Are they just trying to get him back up to speed?

Well, apparently.

It meant that he was most certainly on the bubble and to the point where they, he didn't even circle back to the practice squad.

So Shane, what do you make of the decision?

Well, first of all, let me name the, the four that made the team, Patrick Queen, Peyton Wilson, Cole Holcomb, and Carson Brunner.

So no At Landon Roberts, no Malik Harrison.

Malik Harrison, I was not surprised by.

I think that he was running third team pretty much all summer, and the Steelers saved a good bit of money, 4.75 million by letting him go.

Roberts surprised me a little bit, and I really thought they'd keep 5.

Yeah, um, I'll just ask this, you know, question to, I guess everyone and also you, Tommy, would you rather have Will Howard on your team or Landon Roberts?

Roberts , I can do something for you again, and this team is trying to win now.

I'm all about building for the future.

Like I, I truly am, but I just don't for the future.

I don't believe in Will Howard as the future at all, and I think that Roberts can play an important role for you as an early down.

And, and, uh, short yardage run defender.

I think that's an important role, right?

And so again, this linebacker group in general doesn't inspire a lot of confidence to me now like Peyton Wilson had a good summer.

I'm hopeful that he's going to have the leap this year that we hoped he would have last, last year.

Patrick Queen isn't good.

I know we say that all the time.

I know some people disagree with that.

He's not good.

I'm sorry.

He's not been good.

He's been good maybe like once, and that was mostly because he played with Roquan Smith, probably, yeah.

And Shane, let me, let me add to that right on that because part of being good as a linebacker is you have to be consistent.

You know, he's not consistent in coverage.

He's not a consistent tackler.

He's not a consistent run defender or a blitzer.

Like he's not consistent in any, uh, aspect of his game.

Thus making him not a very good linebacker right now.

That and that's the reality, right?

It's like he has all the talent in the world.

It just doesn't show up most of the time, like in a positive way.

So those are two top guys, and Queen is going to, once again, as he has in every year of his career, probably play every game, probably play most of the snaps, and probably miss 20% of his tackles.

Like that's probably what's gonna happen.

So you're dealing with that.

And you hope Peyton Wilson can maybe make up for some of that and, and develop into that guy for you.

Cole Holcomb is the quintessential 31 year old veteran linebacker who probably can't move that well, but is in the right place most of the time.

So that's fine.

And then you hope that, you know, Carson Brunner can offer you a little bit of something on defense if he has to play, but it's mostly going to be a special teams ace for you, which he was last year as well, so.

Yeah, and I'm cool with Brunner making the team.

Uh, he played was like 2, close to 240 special teams snaps last year.

He was all over the place, yeah, and he's not a terrible athlete.

He's, he's, he's maybe a little undersized for the position, but he had a good preseason.

Uh, obviously his preseason highlight was just, just demolishing a running back trying to pick him up, and then he gets to the quarterback after that.

I think he could offer you something on defense if worse comes to worse, and you got to play him out there, uh, for a little bit, but those are your four linebackers, and we'll see.

Uh, if someone has to be called up from the practice squad or maybe if there's an injury, maybe they do go out and call Landon and say, hey, what are you up to these days, because we could use a guy out here.

Uh, that's the issue you run into when you just keep 4.

So we'll see.

I don't, I don't know if I would trust like Jacoby Wyman coming up from the, the practice squad, but that's kind of where we are when you don't go with, uh, the veterans there.

And then the cornerback position, Shane, uh, we've got 6 here, 1234.

4 or 5, it's 6 counting Jalen Ramsey.

You corner slash safety.

You either have 55 corners and 4 safeties or 6 corners.

Like it's kind of just depends.

You can kind of slot him, pigeonhole him into, into either, uh, one of those positions there.

Uh, Joey Porter Jr. if he plays, we'll find out really soon.

And if not, uh, there's gonna be a roster move coming in here really soon.

Uh, Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Junior, uh, rookie Dale Everett, uh, Brandon Eccles, and then Jalen Ramsey, who's gonna.

Wear many hats probably as a boundary, nickel, free safety, uh, probably doing a lot of things in the Steelers secondary.

Yeah, this group is fascinating to me because if Joey for some reason, which again I, I just don't think he's gonna do this, but if he doesn't, if he's not out there week one, right, I mean, I'm kind of OK with Asante Samuel Junior being out there.

He had such a good like, you know what I mean, I'm not saying he's gonna be as good as Joey would be.

I don't think so, but I don't think the Steelers are screwed if he doesn't play early in the season for one reason or another.

I just think obviously you won't see the full potential of this defense without Joey out there and next to Jamal Dean, or I guess opposite of him.

But I think they'd be OK in the corner, which is kind of incredible to say about this team having clearly their best corner not out there and saying like, oh, they'd be OK. That's just not a position that this team has been in in a very long time.

They've never been like that at all .

It's like, yeah, yes, how can we avoid disaster even like last year, like Darius Slay was so bad, and I doubted that signing from the gates.

I'm like this guy is ancient in terms of cornerback.

He plays like he was old.

So you do go downhill fast.

Now with Samuel, I will say, I mean, this guy is probably licking his chops right now for an opportunity to get out there and prove himself.

He had spinal fusion surgery, didn't play until like November of last year, uh, got his first snaps in like a year.

So he, this is, we're talking about a former second-round pick of the, the LA Chargers here who looks pretty good at times.

The reason why he was drafted in the 2nd round, it wasn't just being the 2nd-generation cornerback like Joey Porter is.

Uh, I think he's a good football player.

I think he's got instincts, ball skills.

He can break on the football.

He's quick-footed.

Uh, I mean, he's really, despite being an undersized guy, he's played boundary most of his career.

And so I think he'd be ready to step into that role if called upon if need be here.

Uh, and even if Porter is out there.

I think you gotta find ways to get Samuel on the field.

I just think that he's coming off too good of a summer and he has too good of a track record before the, the spinal injury to say we're just gonna play this guy only if somebody gets injured.

Like, I think you need to find ways to get him involved.

I, I like to think he'll be the damback if, if, if they do that much at all, which I don't know that maybe, maybe that's a good thing for them to be doing occasionally.

Uh, we'll see, especially like against certain matchups.

I could see them going in that way.

So, yeah, and there's something to be said about playing to your personnel too.

Like if it's a 3rd and long situation, why not go dime in that setting?

Like why not take Patrick Queen off the field and they don't do that to me, Shane.

It's, it's gotta be, you know, Wilson's year is, and it's gotta be his year this year, isn't it?

You know they would do that.

They've seen enough.

We've had enough tape on Queen over the last 5 years now to know that he's just not gonna get it in coverage.

Peyton Wilson flashes a lot of upside there, wasn't, wasn't perfect in coverage by any means last year.

Uh, a lot of miscommunication between him and Queen.

But I, I, I don't know.

I, I don't wanna, I don't wanna talk about Queenn anymore.

I, I, I don't, I understand.

Uh, the cornerback position, I do think if there's an injury here, I think Danico Slaughter is the guy that's called up.

I think that he's just been.

Uh, one, again, maybe the 53rd, 54th, 5, 55th best player on this summer 90-man summer roster.

I think he's gonna be one of the first guys to get caught up in the secondary if there's an injury there.

Go to the safety position, uh, three true safeties with Jalen Ramsey also being able to play that role and where he's played a lot, uh, for the Steelers last year.

Uh, so you've got Jaquan Brisker and Rashaw Jenkins.

Uh, Robert Spears, Jennings, the rookie, Jalen Ramsey, DeShaun Elliott kind of surprised us a little bit when he was placed on in.

What is that about, by the way?

I don't know.

It's, it's why he played in the preseason, right?

Like it makes no sense.

You're pretty confused by that entire thing.

Like there's no setback.

There better be a setback.

I, I wonder how honest they're.

Being about not there not being a setback because why is he playing in the preseason if you don't think he's ready, healthy?

That's what I'm saying though is like if there's no setback, he should have never been on the field in the preseason if he's missing the 1st 4 games.

I hope he's back healthy.

I really do.

I'm not saying I hope that he hurt himself, but like from, from an optics standpoint, there's no way you could tell me that he didn't have a setback and you're unless he, like I, I look at what is going on like, uh, he's 4 more weeks.

Let's let him, it's like.

What's happening here?

But yeah, the guys are on the team though, like Brisker is gonna be a starter.

I'm assuming Jenkins will be the other star.

I think him and Spears Jennings will play a little like both play to some degree.

Um, but yeah, this, this safety room is fascinating, especially, and, and Shane, I think the depth would be more concerning if Ramsey didn't also have that versatility, obviously.

So I think that they're OK. Maybe someone will get called up, but I doubt it.

Like this probably is the group that you're running with, and then Ramsey will probably in those 1st 4 weeks or as long as it takes for Elliott to come back, he probably.

He'll play a good bit of safety, which maybe that right there will open the door for Asante Samuel to get on the field a little bit too.

Maybe, maybe, but I do want, I do want Ramsey to be the, the big nickel this year for the most part.

I think that would be ideal.

Yeah, I think it would be ideal.

All right, the specialist Chris Boswell, Cameron Johnson, Christian Koontz, uh, no surprises there.

So I don't think we need to spend really any time on that.

There was never any realistic competition.

Uh, Lai Marjian was there for a little bit.

Never stood a chance unless he was the certified, uh, Chris Boswell doesn't have to do stuff today, guy.

Uh, pretty much what that's what we've been seeing that for the last couple of years where the Steelers do that.

And I should mention as well, in addition to Sean Elliott, Jack Driscoll, uh, the offensive lineman, tackle slash guard, was the.

Other one who was able to be placed on that, uh, reserve injured list designated to return so he can be eligible to come back after the 1st 4 weeks.

And if he does, uh, go back to the roster after that, they will have to make a corresponding move obviously.

We are going to breeze through this next part because we did take a long time dissecting that roster.

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All right, Shane, really quickly now because we're running low on time here.

I want to just go through those positions we just talked about and just give me your, uh, your prediction for the 2026 season who's gonna be the best at each positional group quarterback we will waste no time on.

It's gonna be Aaron Rodgers.

It's not Aaron Rodgers.

Something bad probably something went horribly wrong for your team if it's not Aaron Rodgers.

So we'll move on to running back here.

This one is where the, the debate starts already.

Rico Dowdell, back to back 1000 yard seasons, both on two different teams, which is a pretty rare feat.

Did it in Dallas, did it in Carolina, and then you've got Jalen Warren, who I think is gonna be maybe more a pass protector, uh, receiving back out of the backfield and still give you a lot of stuff from the backfield as well.

Who's gonna have the better season between those guys?

I still think Warren's a better player and I think he's gonna get the most actual touches overall.

Uh, so I would still go Warren here.

OK.

Uh, just for the sake of argument here, let me say Dowdell.

I think that Dowdell is gonna have maybe even a more effective rushing season.

He's been a really effective rusher in two different schemes, two different teams, two different coaching staffs.

Why not make it 3.

In a row, I think, uh, I, I agree with you overall in the, in the overall sense of the game.

If you factor in receiving ability, you're probably right.

Warren will be that guy, uh, rushing wise, I think that of the two, Dowdell is my pick to have the better chance to, to maybe, I think he gets more.

I think he gets more rushing opportunities on the season though.

Uh, fair argument though.

Wide receiver position, Shane, who do you got here being leading the pack for the Steelers?

Who's gonna be the best?

Best, I think the most productive will be Metcalf if he's healthy, just because I think obviously he's getting paid the most and I think that they want to get him involved.

I will say though in terms of the best film I'm gonna lay it out there.

I think if he plays enough Bernard will look the best on the film.

I think Bernard's fit with McCarthy as that big slot a la CD Lamb, poor man CD Lamb.

I don't want to compare him to that, but he can play that role a little bit, and he could second best receiver in the entire preseason in yards after the catch per reception, 9.2, a pretty impressive feat there.

I, I don't think he'll play enough.

I'm gonna give it to DK Metcalf, but the guy answers Metcalf.

What I would say about Bernard, Shane, if, if Bernard ends up being your best receiver, I think it's gonna be more so because Bernard earned it rather than DK Metcalf and Pittman just completely falling on their faces in the McCarthy offense.

Uh, the tight end position, another interesting debate here, Friarmouth, Washington, who's gonna have the better year?

I think the most impactful player will be Washington.

I really do.

I think what he brings is just so unique and different and In a, in a world where we're trying to do more of the heavy personnel stuff across the league, I don't know how much McCarthy will lean into that as more of an 11 personnel guy, but I think what Washington will allow him to do while still running 11 personnel a lot of the time will make him the most impactful, even if I think Friarmouth has a bounce back season.

I, I will go the opposite direction.

I will say, and I love the what you just outlined there.

I like Washington personally better overall as a player, but I think Friarmuth is tailor-made for Mike McCarthy offense.

I think we've seen like even just going back to those, his stint in Dallas, Dalton Schultz was extremely effective under him, Jake Ferguson extremely effective under him.

I think Friarmuth fits that mold of a guy that can run a full route tree, get open, uh, do a lot of subtle things and do things over the middle of the fields.

Things that.

Friarmouth is probably best at that we haven't seen because where his offense wouldn't allow for it and we'll see if Aaron Rodgers, uh, capitulates that but we'll say that's the thing.

Rodgers got to have the willingness to, uh, I think Friarmouth will have potentially, uh, a career year this year, but I also think Washington is just gonna be a beast on a snap by snap basis as well.

Offensive line, we'll just do this as a full unit here.

Uh, who do you think is gonna be the best overall offensive lineman on the team this year?

I think the best in terms of where they rank among their position is very easily Zach Frazier.

I wouldn't be surprised if he spends himself as the 2nd-best center behind Creed Humphrey in the NFL.

Like there's already people who think he's there as it is.

I know Brandon Thorn, uh, did his like rankings of all the offensive linemen, and he had Frazier as a 2nd going into this year.

Um, and he's definitely someone I trust on that, and we obviously know how good Frazier's been.

Um, but I think if you're factoring in like position of value, I think Fatano has to be the answer here.

Um, he's, he's gonna be the best tackle on this team almost assuredly unless he hannier gets in there at some point and just blows the doors off the place.

Don't expect that necessarily.

Uh, so I think that best among like the actual overall league would be Frazier Fatano gets the nod for an impact, probably, yeah, I'm with you there on Frazier.

How can you not be after what we saw in his first two seasons?

I think Frazier is a really good football player on the verge of being like considered, uh, all-pro consideration at the position.

Uh, but I, the next guy up, Shane, I'm gonna go with, give me Mason McCormick.

Give me this barrel-chested guy who just keeps getting better at the position and it's such a, such a good profile to begin with.

Like I think he was like a 99.6 percentile testing athlete.

He has, he checks all the box.

He, he's a, he is a box checker in every way.

He looks the part, and I thought, I think he got quite a bit better last year.

If he can take another jump in year three, look out because I think McCormick can be a really good guard for this team.

Uh, let's go over to the defensive line, and obviously you got the ageless wonder over there.

Cam Hayward, 37 years old now.

Uh, is it gonna be Cam?

Is this, will this be finally the first time since, I don't know how long somebody's been better than Cam Hayward.

Could it be a Harmon?

Could it be a Betton, or are you not betting against this guy?

I think it'd be sacrilege not to choose Cam Hayward here just until he because until he proves that he isn't.

Then why, why should I assume he won't be?

I will say if I had to pick someone though, it would be Harmon.

And there, there's been some discourse or there was on, on a Steelers tour.

I don't know if you saw that like certain people don't view Harmon very highly.

Um, I'm not one of those people.

I think that the pass rushing will come.

I saw too much of it at Oregon, but even if it doesn't fully, I think this could be a massive year in run defense for Derek Harmon, like the type of thing where we look up at the end of the season, it's like, oh, the Steelers run defense was ranked where.

And so I was, oh, well, that's because Derek Harmon was completely wrecking gaps constantly and getting in the backfield.

Um, I do think if someone were to beat Cam out, it would be Harmon at this point.

Yeah, look, Harmon had not one but two MCL sprains last year.

One of them came in the preseason finale against the Panthers.

That's not a good way to start your NFL career, and then it happened later in the season.

If we're talking a fully healthy Derek Harmon, I think we could see a, a, a guy who just pops on film, but.

I can't go against Father Time here either.

And until proven otherwise, I Kim Hayward has just been so quietly good somehow still.

And I, again, it's not the, not the on paper raw production like he, he used to have, but just such a beast and such a good run defender.

Give me Cam Hayward at the uh interior defensive line.

Edge rusher, I think it gets interesting because I think you can argue three guys.

Could be that position, especially, and I hate to admit it, but this last year and a half of TJ Watt has been fairly pretty unspectacular overall.

I think that it's up for grabs between any of the three of them, who are you going with here.

I, I have to go with Herb.

I just do.

Like I, I have to assume at this point, and I have to, especially because of the contract he just got and the fact that I think that they're going to use these guys more properly, frankly, with Patrick Graham here.

I have to just go with my gut and say that he's gonna have a blowup season as a pass rusher, and could you argue like if Alex Highsmith has a typical Alex Highsmith season from a pass rushing standpoint and plays all the games, like, could he be the better overall edge rusher?

Sure, maybe.

And same thing with Watt, like if he's healthy and they use him better, could he be that?

Sure.

I'm just gonna take the upside on a guy that I think is trending up versus two guys who are either kind of neutral or in Watts's case, trending down.

Uh, yeah, I'm with you there, and I see it, uh, descending, ascending in neutral between Watt, Highsmith, Herbig.

Herbig is the most ascending player, like I said, 24 year old pass rusher.

Give me Herbig this year.

I think he takes another leap forward in his game and is is the best true pass rusher on the team.

Linebacker position, Shane, I know how you feel about Patrick Queen.

Uh, it probably comes down to Patrick Queen, Peyton Wilson debate.

Who do you think is the best, uh, off-ball linebacker this year?

I think even last year Peyton Wilson, I think so too, and it wasn't a great year for Peyton Wilson.

Just the bar was very low because the Queen was not good.

Give me Peyton Wilson as well.

This is, this is a pretty easy one for me again, uh, ascending compared to a player that's very much neutral and at a pretty low level.

I think that that's a, a fair.

A fairly low, uh, bar to clear for Peyton Wilson this year.

The cornerback position, I think this is an interesting debate.

If you, uh, deem Ramsey that, is Porter gonna play a full season?

How's he gonna look after not playing all summer?

Uh, Jamel Dean, who was really efficient in his own right with Tampa Bay last year, who is going to be the best corner on the team?

Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna kind of cop out here and say if Porter starts week one it will be him figured it was coming if it, if it's not, if he isn't out there in week one or if he's not the same because he's coming back from his back injury, which I guess maybe was real, I don't know, um.

I think though, if he is in the nickelback role, which will, well, I'm assuming we'll have cornerback also include like the nickel spot for this exercise.

I think Ramsey in a full-time big nickel roll would be the best player if Joey isn't out there week one.

I like Jamel Dean a lot, but he's very inconsistent.

I don't feel good about picking him.

I think Ramsey, if he is in a dedicated nickel roll, would be the most effective corner technically on the team.

Shane, I'll say Porter as well.

If he plays, and I'm assuming that he would, uh, and then I'll go the opposite direction with you with the second one.

I'm just a little bit worried about Ramsey going the other direction as he gets 32 years old here this season.

Uh, give me one more good year of Jamel Dean, I think.

He's going to prove to be a quality addition, good boundary cornerback, uh, and then the safety position here, Shane, who do you have as the best safety on the team?

Oh God, this is tough now that Elliott is out, especially missing a good chunk of time here with Elliott not playing the 1st 4 weeks like.

He still might be the best safety.

I, I do think Brisker, when healthy, is a really good player.

I do.

So if he's out there week one, if he can play most of the games this year, I think he's the right answer here.

I don't like Rashaw Jenkins is so just like.

He's a veteran, but also like he's on the downturn at this point in his career.

Like I think he'll be OK for in place of Elliott to start the year.

But I'm not picking him.

And again, Spears Jennings is not gonna play enough.

I don't think so.

I'll go brisker , but I think if Elliott comes back from that injury in his full go, I think he could also still end up in that spot.

I'll go Brisker as well.

He's the healthiest, and I don't think the gap is, is astronomical at this stage of Elliott's career.

Uh, but I will say when Ramsey's playing safety, give me maybe Ramsey back in there because of his experience, ball skills.

Uh, what do you guys think?

Let us know down in the chat.

Leave us a comment, like this stream.

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