Episode #198: Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft 2020 Recap

The Steelers may not have had the most prolific 2020 NFL Draft with only six players taken, but they were still able to address a few key areas.

In this episode, we have special guest Joe Toscano from Pittsburgh and Sports Cast contributor Justin Riley.

The Steelers are one of a handful of teams who sat out the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday, having dealt their pick to the Dolphins in order to acquire safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. On Day 2, they grabbed a small-school but highly-productive pass rusher to follow up drafting arguably the most athletic wide receiver prospect in this class. 

Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 draft picks

• Round 2, Pick No. 49:  Chase Claypool, WR, Notre Dame
• Round 3, Pick No. 102:  Alex Highsmith, LB, Charlotte
• Round 4, Pick No. 124:  Anthony McFarland Jr., RB, Maryland
• Round 4, Pick No. 135:  Kevin Dotson, G, Louisiana
• Round 6, Pick No. 198:  Antoine Brooks Jr., S, Maryland
• Round 7, Pick No. 232:  Carlos Davis, DT, Nebraska

Grades on the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft 2020

Joe Toscano’s Grade: B-
Justin Riley’s Grade: B-

Other Show Notes

Earle Thomas situation from the TMZ Story.

Transcript

Santiago Leon
Sports cast may 7 2020 if you haven’t yet, please subscribe and all our channels, Periscope, iTunes and YouTube and if and if you’re an iTunes, please leave a rating and review. It will help us out tremendously. And of course visit us on the sports cast dotnet the sports cast net for the latest. This episode is brought to you by Insta Bible app. Download this to Bible app on your iPhone and share verses to the world. The NFL Draft have to happen after almost over a week over week. And one of the teams we’re going to talk about today are the Steelers. The Steelers may not have had the most prolific NFL Draft with only six players take But they were still able to address a few key areas. And joining us today to recap what the Pittsburgh Steelers did. Joe Toscano from Pittsburgh and sports cast contributor Justin Riley, welcome to the sports guest

Santiago Leon
Hey, Joe, welcome to the show.

Joe Toscano
Hey, thanks for having me again.

Santiago Leon
So, guys, Pittsburgh Steelers, you know, one of one of our biggest followings in our sports cast Twitter. We’ll go with Justin first and go Joe, Justin, you know, we’re gonna recap each player, but overall, did the Steelers cover what they needed to do? Don’t go too long go quick recap and then we’ll go in deep.

Justin Riley
I’m actually kind of surprised you’re going with may is the guest first who lives and breathes Pittsburgh, but you know, I’ll take it nonetheless. You know, like you said the Steelers didn’t really have Many draft picks to speak of. So they had to do the best with what were they what they had and to be honest with you, there really wasn’t a need. I felt for a big splash in this draft really what they needed to do was just improve on depth and based on their draft picks that’s essentially what they did. Now true to form with Joe toes last time we were on here together was they were not going quarterback by still held out that there is some possibility. I’ll be remote that they may go quarterback. More importantly, they may go Jalen hertz, but we know it didn’t happen. He’s with the Eagles fly. And the Steelers did not even look towards a quarterback just as predicted but it was a definitely interesting job. Nothing like it was a smart draft by the Steelers. Joseph’s kind of give us your quick recap over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Where do you thoughts? Go ahead?

Joe Toscano
Yeah, it was it was a The draft where they didn’t really have any desperate needs, they addressed most of their needs in the offseason with free agents and trade. So they had the luxury of taking the quote unquote best player available. So, you know, this, this draft was so weird to predict and analyze because, you know, we knew so little about what the teams wanted in and what we thought they were do so, you know, players that we thought might have been a reach or something like that may have been the players of the team really loved for whatever reason, so I think they did okay. But yeah, it was not a it was not a sexy draft, that’s for sure.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, Pittsburgh, of course. They let go of that. I gave up a few trade pegs to the Miami Dolphins, and one of them was the deal there picked two dolphins in order to acquire Minka Fitzpatrick which you know, it was a good good take overall five Pittsburgh away tomorrow. last show Joe said that which was a good addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s go to round number two. Well, Pittsburgh first pick was in round number two and they chose chase Claypool from Notre Dame. Joe, he’s a great wide receiver. What have you heard from them and what and how are you filling in with this pick?

Joe Toscano
Very interesting pick. I I personally like it. He is Ben Roethlisberger likes tall wide receivers. So Claypool is he’s tall, he’s big. He is fast. He is automatically the tallest and fastest wide receiver of on the Steelers right now. So he is I’ve heard him compared to Megatron, which is I think ridiculous, but still. Yeah, exactly. You know, but I think the role he’ll play early is just To be the deep threat, just go downfield, stretch the field. So I think he’ll play a lot his rookie year just to serve that role. But I’m really I really like that pick. So, you know, in addition to being tall and fast and kind of big, I mean, he’s also almost considered a could be a tight end. He is tough. He is a he’s a combat catch guy and he loves the block. He reminds me a lot of Hines ward. He reminds me a lot of a tall, fast Hines Ward, and if he’s anything like Khan’s Ward, Pittsburgh’s gonna love him.

Santiago Leon
Justin Riley whatever you heard about chase Claypool and Is he a good addition for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Justin Riley
He is a great value pig I feel at that point the draft I love Joe as you just said that he is a combat receiver. This is a guy who does not shy away from physicality like to dish it out because he came I think he maybe he’s drawing those comparisons to Megatron just just from a physical aspect that he said he’s big, he’s tall, he also has space and that and that’s just a rare combination, having that big physical presence mixed with speed as well. And he’s a guy who’s going to help take pressure off of Juju Smith Schuster, and, like you say, provides a deep threat, and it’s gonna cause the defenses to have to adjust and put their attention elsewhere. And I mean, you kind of had to with a guy like that. And like we said, he is big, he’s physical. He’s got a guy who’s going to win the one on one battles is going to win that 5050 battle where he’s going up for the catch. And this is a guy that basically finds a way literally every game to get a touchdown. You know, he’s guaranteed almost to touch at least one touchdown, each game. So you gotta be excited about that. You know, he’s gonna play on the outside but he also has the ability to play the slot. If you Nice to see he’s versatile. I think this is a great pick here. You know some people have made mention that maybe going running back in this position the draft probably would have been a good idea. But to be honest with you draft and run back at that high probably would have been a good idea considering the the running back room that the Steelers currently have is you bringing in Kaba high profile pic at that point. So really when it made sense to add another high profile back in an already crowded backfield. I just think this is a great pic here. definitely get your big man, though another weapon

Santiago Leon
Jota sky No. Clay will be joining Juju Smith Schuster Is this a complete wire receiving squad.

Joe Toscano
It’s a complete wide receiving squad. It’s also a crowded water sequences squad. It remains to be seen who all is going to play because now you have chase you already had. You do You already had Deontay Johnson, who was a draft pick last year who had a very good rookie year. He had James Washington who might be the odd man out. And then they also acquired Eric ebron in free agency, and they already had advanced McDonald at tight end. So it remains to be seen who’s going to who’s been a play that’s going to be interesting. But yeah, it’s a very, I think it’s a very good it’s a very young, wide receiving group. And, you know, Juju did not have a good year last year. It was a combination of bad quarterback play and injuries. So he, I think, will have a very, I think you’ll have a bounce back year, because he’ll be playing with Ben Roethlisberger. And also he’s extremely motivated to have a bounce back year because it’s a contract year, and he’s playing for that next contract.

Santiago Leon
something to definitely look at our next pick is Alex Highsmith linebacker from Charlotte Joe. It was a huge pick for you guys.

Joe Toscano
It was, well technically it’s a third round pick but really it’s almost close to a fourth round pick is very at the very end of the third round. This is what the Steelers do they get a they get a guy that’s that was a defensive end in college that was a pass rusher and they try to make him an outside linebacker. They’ve done it many times throughout the years so they’re going to try to do this again. You know he has the physical characteristics of all those kind of players that the Steelers like Well, I mean I to me there’s a couple red flags for one the small school thing scares me a little bit. Yeah, also, he was known for having a big game against Clemson which is nice. I mean, you want it you know when he has you know goes up against Bitcoin. Competition you want them to have a good game? But the thing is, I am always scared of players that make themselves known because they had one good game. Like, okay, you had one good game. What about the rest of your career? What about everything else? So we’ll see, I don’t think I don’t think they expect much from him. They definitely aren’t going to play him much this year because the Steelers signed by Dupree to the franchise tag. So they’ll have bud for at least this year, and we’ll see whether they sign into a long term deal. So at the very least, he’ll be a special teams contributor, and, you know, a backup to bud Dupree and TJ watt and we’ll see but I don’t think I’ll expect much from him his rookie year.

Santiago Leon
Justin Riley, you’re all about small schools. What have you heard about Alex Highsmith from Charlotte and Charlotte A? What division are the end?

Justin Riley
Well, oh, well, they’re actually about Leaving the Conference USA which you know is not a power five school and they’re not going against the elite of competition. And right now this pick here, I don’t necessarily think the Steelers were going after a guy to come and start and be the guy. I really saw it as just a depth pick here. Someone to this pretty solid who can play behind TJ watt and bud Dupree on the edge. He’s got a really good story. This is a guy that actually was a former walk ons, special teams guy. And he just kind of worked his way up. And he actually let’s Pat his senior year. He had 15 sacks. Yeah, yeah. He did it in a small conference. But 15 sacks is no easy task. So you kind of got to get the guy a little bit of credit. He’s a guy that’s long, he’s fast, very athletic, has a tremendous upside. Will He built to reach that and go some more with it. Will he be able to transfer into the next reincarnation of Kevin green? We don’t know. But Tom and launch the guy and he really had really enjoyed him through the whole process of getting to know him leading up to the draft. He’s a solid technician and student of the game. I just think right now don’t expect a whole lot like Joe said that his first year, and I think that he’ll be a solid just contributor and exactly how much we’ll see but he’s athletic guy. I think he can be someone who can make a difference, but just not as a starter.

Santiago Leon
something to definitely look at Of course, Joe said that he might be a special teams guy, but let’s move on to round four. A little bit later. We’re still in the the golden four is not that bad. The another running back Anthony McFarlane, Jr. Of course the running back situation. Pittsburgh has been a question mark since I live on bell has left. I’m James Connor hasn’t had a good second or third year. Joe, is this the answer? Or do you think the problem is still a little bit?

Joe Toscano
It’s it’s very interesting. Yeah. You mentioned people thought that they were going to take running back in the second round and I think a lot of people thought they were and they had a chance to one of the big ones was still out there. JK Dobbins, but they chose not to take him they chose to go wide receiver so that by the way, oh, man, I’m so mad at the Ravens draft card. I’m not happy. I know it just disgusts me that they they’re just so good at what they do. It just really annoys me as a Steeler fan. But anyway, it what what it said was that they trust in James Connor. And the Why is The runningback group and hopefully hopefully what they do is James Connor is very good if he’s healthy and that’s the problem with him is he has trouble staying healthy. So if maybe the the best solution would be to use James Connor but not every play not don’t quote unquote run them into the ground run the wheels off on whatever, you know use them a little bit less. Benny Snell had a good I’m an okay, rookie year last year and hopefully he you know made necessary changes to his body because he was a little bit too big and slow. And so he’ll make maybe he hopefully he got lost a little bit of weight change his body a little bit so he’s a little bit quicker. So I think Connor and Benny Snell will provide a good Running back tandem and do the majority of the snaps with McFarland in the fourth round. They got a change of pace they got a smaller guy who’s fast. So it’s it’s something that they don’t have and it’s something they haven’t had in a while. So, while you know Connor and Snell are thumpers McFarland is a speedy guy so I could see McFarlane challenging a Jalen Samuels for you know, maybe third down back something like that. So, you know, MacFarlane won’t play much, but he he might get in or not throw down roll.

Santiago Leon
That’s right about Jalen Samuels. I almost forgot about him. Justin, what you think about this pick Anthony McFarlane going to Pittsburgh. What role do you think you’ll play there?

Justin Riley
Well, like Joe said, he just gonna be a nice change of pace type back. A guy that can just be a perfect complement to what They already have their James Connor can be healthy. He definitely can be one of the best running backs in the league if not the best. We just need to see 100% healthy version of him. And I still think they really want to see what Benny Snell can bring. I think he’s he’s a question mark right now, but if he was able to make adjustments like Joe was talking about, he can be a good back. He was a great back in the sec, a very tough runner. I really enjoyed watching him when he played for Kentucky. And I really had hoped that he would be able to rise a little bit quicker in Pittsburgh than what he has so far. But you got a guy who’s a spacer coming in, and he’s a guy that you can put it on third down to maybe catch a few passes out of the backfield, many long open slot you can just do a lot of different things with him. So he’s a good fit in that respect. He already has familiar with the team. He actually play with data No Tomlin which we know that name Don’t we? And also two other quarterbacks coach Matt can it was his offensive coordinator when he was in 2018 when he wasn’t Maryland beyond play the MacFarlane probably would have been dragged a little bit higher but this past season he was handled with an ankle injury when he suffered it against Clemson, Clemson tempo and week two, and he just never quite got back to his top form but he trudged on was able to go through the season he only missed one game because obviously you know he’s a guy that who’s gonna is got a motor he’s not gonna quit on you is going to, you know, trudge through whatever mess comes his way. Definitely comes from good stock. Anthony McFarlane with that name rings a bell it should his father is the great Anthony fallen. booger McFarland, who is the most popular analysts for ESPN right now. Right But it’s, it’s a good bit

Santiago Leon
good. So he So do you think he’ll be a third string running back where you think he is able to jump into the second maybe first or

Justin Riley
I don’t see him being anything other than like a third option right now. A guy that they can use on third down, like I said, and passing situations or special packages, so but I don’t think he’s going challenge for anything this year and I don’t feel like they expect him to think Austin eckler of the chargers. That’s basically what he he’s equivalent to. So that’s a good thing though.

Joe Toscano
That is, turns out like that. Not very happy.

Santiago Leon
which people are asking me Should they pick James Connor for their fantasy team? Joe?

Joe Toscano
Yes. johner is also another person. That’s what motivated you. It’s also a contract, too. So yes, so in terms of fantasy, Connor will get the most touches, maybe not as much as previous years when you know they I mean that that’s what Tomlin likes to do. Tomlin likes to give the ball to one guy and then forget about it. I mean that’s what he did with levy on bell. But you know, this is different. We we you can’t do that we can’t do that with Connor he gets hurt every year. So you know when Connors writes you know if you could just do a little bit of load management with him, you have a really good situation. So I think in terms of fantasy Connor can be productive.

Santiago Leon
Justin, do you have faith and Connor obviously didn’t have you know, which is what Joe said. You know, he’s had injury issues we think Joe Do you think Connor is the man or do you think down the road Pittsburgh might get something else?

Justin Riley
Well, I don’t think that he lacks in a an ability or more production. I think his greatest Right now is just his health. If he can work on the durability concerns and can just escape this right now which is his biggest foe, he actually is one of the best backs in the league. But if if durability continues to be an issue then you would have to say that down the line the Steelers are going to be thinking other options.

Santiago Leon
something to definitely look at Of course question marks I know a lot of Pittsburgh Steeler fans are a Connor they’re faithful with Connor they’re not saying you know get someone else but you know

Justin Riley
I don’t think anybody’s bailing you know, ship right now on him. I think everyone’s just being patient. But also to I think they all have a collective breath of fresh air. The guy who doesn’t have drama.

Santiago Leon
There haven’t have Kevin Dotson was selected at round four pick number 135. He’s from Louisiana guard I want Justin to get go first on that one because you’re from that area. What have you heard about him? And is he a good pick for Pittsburgh?

Justin Riley
from Louisiana? No, no, I mean, you’re in that area.

Santiago Leon
You’re Mississippi, you’re not you’re right next door, but you know, you might be more familiar with him then. Joe, but Well, I mean, you know,

Justin Riley
US Southern people, you know, we represent everybody collectively. So well, he played a lesser conference, so I didn’t quite see him as much as some other names. You know, I’m a sec guy. So that’s gonna what’s going to be first and foremost, and viewing? But yeah, first of all, what’s great is he grew up a Steelers fan. He is living his dream of playing for the yellow and black. So that’s pretty awesome. Right? That’s a good sign. Right, Joe? Yeah. Well, you never know the won’t.

Santiago Leon
He wants to be there.

Justin Riley
Well, we What I really like about him is he kind of reminds me of that old school type of, of lineman from back in the day who would just run over or through you, and just would be very physical. And that’s one of the things that really shows up on his tape is that he can just move people at will, has a great lift, and he can just control was right in front of them. He’s a great interior player, but he also has flexibility he can move to tackle. And he also has the ability, you know, with to be able to come in right away and perhaps compete for that left guard spot, as we all know was recently vacated due to the retirements ran Foster. Now the good thing about him I think he’s motivated to is because he is actually the first non combine player to be selected in the 2020 draft. So I thought that was a pretty interesting fact about Mr. Dotson. But the coaches like him, and they really feel like he can come in and compete right? right away so they see something in the kid. He’s got tremendous upside and like I said, the thing I liked about him the most is his physicality and that really fits into the persona of the Steelers football culture. Joe Toscano What have you heard about Kevin Dotson? Going to Pittsburgh?

Joe Toscano
I have heard that this might be the surprise. Steal. Steal of the draft for the Steelers. Exactly. That’s

Santiago Leon
good.

Joe Toscano
Yeah. Yeah. It is curious that he was not invited to the combine because I believe he was. He was an all American. So you know, that’s a mystery is like, why was he not invited to the combine, but anyway, he is. Yeah, he’s known for his power and an agility. They call him a people mover. He is. He has he’s a bit he’s he’s a bit of a mean guy. He was a he was a bouncer and in another thing he would do is he would tell the defensive lineman what’s coming, what play is coming. And he’s basically saying, You’re not, here’s what’s coming. You’re still not going to stop it. So he

Justin Riley
he’s a little bit cocky, too, but

Santiago Leon
you got to love something like that. But still,

Joe Toscano
yeah, this could be I mean, he’s not going to contribute right away. But you know, maybe in a year or two, he might be a starter.

Santiago Leon
Something definitely look at Kevin Dotson very positive. Good, good pick. So far, people are saying Pittsburgh had a weak weak draft. Anyways, let’s go around six. fifth round Pittsburgh was that scene, and Tom Brooks Jr. from Maryland. He’s, we’ll go with Joe. What have you heard about Anton?

Joe Toscano
Well, it’s very interesting that another guy from Maryland and you mentioned Dino Tomlin before you know, Mike Tomlin son, and that Matt Canada the new Steelers quarterbacks coach was the offense coordinator at Maryland. So You know in this crazy year where you don’t you know get have all the information because of you know there are no pro days and and stuff like that this is you know it’s kind of like it’s not what you know it’s who you know so they obviously they loved McFarlane and and they got good intel on on Brooks and he is a he’s versatile he can play safety and linebacker so and that’s what they need they need somebody that can do that. I don’t expect I mean you know we’re talking six round here so I don’t expect you know much from him but if he could contribute in special teams that would be great. But they do need a they do need a backup linebacker inside linebacker and a backup safety so this could work nicely.

Santiago Leon
Justin Um, there’s been talking about not having pro days were good for some players and and also negative for some players. Worried thoughts about that during this whole pandemic did it benefit or it did not benefit players in this draft, I

Justin Riley
honestly don’t see where the benefit is. And that really ought to I feel like that you need tape for all these guys are not necessarily tape. You need to be able to have that one on one, especially for a lot of these guys who weren’t able to go to the combine because they weren’t up and close and personal with these NFL teams and, and without having these pro day, pro days they weren’t viewed. So it really took it really took a huge contributor to app to, I guess a pipeline out for these kids and I just put them in I felt like a major disadvantage, and really got me to is either been a fan of skipping the combine and then waiting to your pro day or are a lot of

Santiago Leon
players do that is that because there’s not in shape by then or like what what do you think?

Justin Riley
I really don’t know the rationale behind it. I just think that they try to put all their eggs in one basket maybe they want to continue the game or that maybe they feel like at that point in time, they’re not quite where they need to be maybe they need to fine tune some areas so they feel like having that extra time until the pro day would be more beneficial but the only thing is in this situation it backfired because they didn’t have the the one on one and I feel like that greatly hurt people. And you know, there were several people who were able to put together some tape some a virtual virtual pro day and I think that really made the difference for folks and a gave people a leg up who normally wouldn’t have got one and like it just Well yeah, definitely like Like for sure

Santiago Leon
that trend over with a man can beat that

Justin Riley
well when you have endorsed Trent Dilfer, or can you go wrong and praises

Santiago Leon
the greatest quarterback I’ve ever seen no just kidding well

Justin Riley
and like Joe said to you know that not having a pro day you, you really had to rely on word of mouth are people who have previous experience with other players. And for the two different Maryland, it really came up big just having that, that personal experience, but not everybody had that luxury. So this this was just an odd situation completely. You know, the

Santiago Leon
interesting situation I’ve ever seen before we know people won’t be like we’ll talk about that 2020 NFL Draft for sure be remember, remember more. Let’s get back into Anton Brooks Jr. Justin, what is your research tell you?

Justin Riley
Well, he’s a good physical player and I like guys are gonna be good and physical. That’s good, right especially especially at the defensive back position, because Yeah, tackling in physicality is just becoming a lost art these days. It’s more watching galore, flat core flat flag football. But you got some guys still pretty old school and are gonna be afraid to hit. This is a guy right here. very aggressive grip, tackler very aggressive player, a guy who did a lot of blitzing. I like that. He’s somebody like Joe se saying that can possibly down the road, take a role similar to what Mark Baron had, will be this year. Not really likely. I mean, he was dragged into six rounds. So he’s gonna be a little bit of a project coming up maybe a little fine tuning before we even consider seeing him in a starring role. But he has a really good feel for the game in terms of instincts and he’s not afraid of making a big decision. So he’s not going to be a guy and in a difficult situation where he’s just kind of sit around like a deer lost in the headlights He’s a guy who’s gonna take ownership of what he’s doing, make a decision, he’s gonna commit to it. And that’s very good for a young young man coming into the NFL. And also, wherever the ball is, he’s gonna, he’s gonna show up. So it’s gonna be all over the field. It’s good. Joe, you hear

Santiago Leon
that? That’s a good sign. This was like their second Maryland player. Is there a correlation there? Or they just you know, it just happened, how it be? Well, Anyone? Anyone there? Hello, Joe. Guys, we both lost Joe and Santiago and Justin,

Justin Riley
like in the Maryland connection, you know, with Dino Tomlin and then Matt, Canada, having experienced previously so you got the pipeline right there. So Tomlin Now listen to those guys.

Santiago Leon
Joe, give us your take of the Maryland Pittsburg correlation in 2020

Joe Toscano
yeah it’s it’s like Justin said that you know, I don’t remember them ever getting other Maryland you know picks so it’s yeah it’s because they have great talent you know a retirement son and Matt Canada so you know they had nobody nobody would know a player better than a teammate in a coach or that guy so that you know they they know they know exactly what these guys are about and you know they’re so it’s kind of kind of you know little it’s there’s always I think every team likes to get that you know extra advantage and you know there’s there’s no better advantage than going to the school where you were the coach and then and the sun are

Santiago Leon
yeah and which is what Justin said is who you know sometimes you know you hear whisper Hey, this player is pretty good. He might not be selected in the first three rounds, but he’ll be available four through seven Like bill Polian for the bills, he was the GM of the Buffalo Bills and he said one of three, the first second, first through third round are flashy, but you get the Super Bowl players from fourth through seventh. And Justin likes those quotes

Justin Riley
tend to lean that way. But I mean it’s absolutely true if

Santiago Leon
you’re gonna win it.

Justin Riley
If you kind of look at what history has shown us a lot of the guys that end up being stars, whether it’s as a starter as a role player, often are hidden gems found in the later rounds.

Santiago Leon
Carlos Oh, gosh, I didn’t write his last name. From the right David. Yeah. Carlos Davis from Nebraska. defensive tackle. Justin, you went out went a little bit on and you know a little bit more about him. How about this pig? Is he gonna make the cut?

Justin Riley
Is he gonna make the cut, you know?

Santiago Leon
I mean this could get waived right Joe

Justin Riley
to be able to make the claim that this guy has a definite future man. I mean,

Santiago Leon
he’s he’s a good

Justin Riley
man. Listen the NFL is is a is an unpredictable business. You can be hot one week and be gone. Yeah, it’s just it’s very cutthroat so it’s a very unpredictable league man. I’m not alone the Steelers, the Steelers like this guy. Why they do? Well, he he’s an he’s a I just a great athlete, especially when he got drafted at this position mainly because I don’t have a whole lot experience you can got a late start in football. He actually believes in I was a former all American track and field.

Justin Riley
Play April. He also the twin brother khaleel, who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So what’s next in there? Yeah. 300 pound guy but ran a 479 I mean for that reason alone You definitely need to consider putting them on your game

Santiago Leon
sounds like Yeah, he’s a sell i mean he’s a steal for the seventh round sounds like

Joe Toscano
well it could be wide receiver

Justin Riley
I could put that in the slot and see what happens but right now me just because while they’re trying to fill them out and just kind of fine tuning fine tuning him just because of being Raul he’s just gonna be a deaf guy and there’s nothing wrong with that. And he’s gonna add debt to defensive llama. Just last Hargrave and, and probably nothing more than that unless he just completely balls out during camp if they have camp, or preseason that’s still up in the air but a guy that they’re just they’re glad to have and they’re just gonna turn what direction they’re gonna go as he’s there. But he definitely has upside with that athletic ability and just being a specimen like he is so you got to take a chance Ensign in rounds like this, you can afford to do it. You know if it doesn’t pan out, not it’s not really that much of a loss. But if it does pan out, he looked at as a gene still. Joe, what are your thoughts about Carlos Davies? Go ahead.

Santiago Leon
You have the flower.

Joe Toscano
They lost Javan Hargrave. So they need someone on the line. I don’t expect much from him. Yeah, I mean, if even if he makes a team, that’ll be nice. The dealers have this guy named Dan mccullers. Who I have. Nobody knows why he’s still on the team. Well, the reason why is because he’s 673 48. And you can’t teach that but he’s just he’s been there for six years now and really has not contributed a darn thing. So you know, if Davis his sole purpose is to knock mccullers off the roster. He served his purpose. Yeah, well I don’t expect much from him, you know, six seventh round guys, you know, sometimes don’t even make the team but yeah, I know why Why not? Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s like, like you guys said he’s a physical specimen. He has great attributes.

Santiago Leon
You know, let’s see what he could do. You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences. That’s what happens with six seven throw.

Justin Riley
as deep as the with great power comes great responsibility.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, let’s go on to the quote. Code faster. Okay, so that’s great. The Steelers how they did? Uh, we’ll go with Joe. Obviously, A, B, C, D or F. There’s no E.

Justin Riley
Would you agree?

Joe Toscano
exam I’ll say a B, maybe b minus. Okay. I I like Claypole. I’m not that crazy about hi Smith. I like the McFarland pick. I like the Datsun pick. And you know, six seven Rama I’m not. Yeah, sure. But Yeah, so, yeah. b minus.

Santiago Leon
Justin Riley What is your grade on the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 NFL Draft.

Justin Riley
I had to go along with what Joe just said I just think from being minus Maria solid be. And one thing you got to take into consideration. It’s been said by other people before the Steelers didn’t really have a real flashy draft. But to be honest with you, if you really look at the grand scheme of things, did they really need to have a flashy draft? because really what they were trying to do is just improve upon what they have and just add depth and that was the biggest concern going into this. I am still concerned about the quarterback situation. I don’t really know exactly what their mindset is regarding the future. Yeah, or even or even having a solid insurance policy. In the event. No jailer hurt. Likely. Jalen hertz. Well in the event that Ben Roethlisberger gets hurt. I mean, you go back to the same debacle that happened this past season. And I’m sorry that’s just not good enough for me if I’m a Steelers guy, so I just I just don’t understand that the thinking there but I’m just that can be a whole nother

Santiago Leon
Yeah, no, wait, wait I’ll stick with that because Ryan Krista did mention it on Monday that Ross Berger is not a 16 game quarterback Joe, I would like to hear your pain over that. And Cam Newton is available by the way.

Joe Toscano
They’re not getting Cam Newton Cam Newton

Justin Riley
has already said that he’s not gonna be a backup normally. So he

Santiago Leon
said he’s open to he said this morning. he’s open to

Joe Toscano
actually Um, well, Cam Newton, I believe will end up in Washington. But anyway, true. I think the Steelers philosophy is we’re sticking with Mason is our backup. And like, like you guys just said Roethlisberger is not a 16 game, season quarterback. It’s very rarely that he plays all every game of a season. He will miss one or two games. He always does. And if they need to play Mason Rudolph for one or two games, they’ll be okay. If Rothfuss burger goes down and just like last year, they are screwed. Why didn’t they get a backup? Why didn’t they get you know Winston or Cam Newton or any dawn whoever else was available? That who knows that is their philosophy that they are sticking with? They’re sticking with Ben and Mason Rudolph. I don’t I mean is a great debate is is Mason Rudolph. Good enough. He wasn’t last year, but then again, that was really his first year playing. So, you know, has he learned anything? Will he be better? Will he be an adequate backup? Who knows and as far as As far as the heir apparent to Ben, you know, after Ben retires, they’re basically saying, well, we’ll just we’ll just like final exams. Yeah, well, yeah, we’ll get to that later. Oh, well, they’re putting it off. So

Santiago Leon
yeah. Which is good. I think that’s good principles to have. And maybe Justin might agree with me, you know, stick with Mason, hey, you’re the second you’re the number two guy and you know, for one more year

Justin Riley
let me talk to you guys about this and and I want you to kind of look at where I’m coming from. Yes, I do get that this was his first actual season as the starter the high signal caller the guy but but really disturbed me is I didn’t see any progression. I didn’t see any upward movement from him and that just is just disturbing for me going forward. Because guys, you know, The likelihood of Walters burger going down at some point where there’s for a few games, or the entire season is very likely. So I don’t feel comfortable with Mason Rudolph coming in there and taking over again because you’re not going to see it or move it off word. And you got all these good players around you don’t have a quarterback who essentially is is the engine of the offense. Having these good players really going to do a bit of good.

Santiago Leon
Something that doesn’t mean you want to bounce back on the job.

Joe Toscano
Yeah, okay. So here’s First of all, Justin, it’s your team is the reason why he didn’t progress. Earl Thomas knocking him out in that game. It was the was the first domino to fall, if you will. Yeah, I mean, I I don’t think you know, I mean, he got knocked out cold came. So there was that Then there was the miles Garrett thing where he were, you know, one of the greatest physical specimens of the league, through his helmet and bonked on the head, you know, which, you know, which was ridiculous. But then the third thing was the aftermath of that when Garrett said that he did that because Mason Rudolph called him a racial slur. So I think all of that all of those things combined just really destroyed his year. And so, so basically, he came back from that, but he was so ineffective that they put in Devlin Hodges, and he just played for you know, the the middle part of the season toward the end. Hodges was ineffective. Because he’s, you know, well, he’s, he does.

Santiago Leon
He’s a doc. He’s a doc. Yes.

Joe Toscano
Everything about you. But anyway, so so one of the last games of the year was against the Jets. Game and Hodges was taken out. Mason came in and Mason looked really good. And, you know, we thought, oh, maybe there is progression here. But in that game, he got hurts. So we don’t know whether they’re whether he has progressed or not. You know, you could only hope he does. But, you know, that’s all we have to go on.

Justin Riley
Do you think there’s any any durability concerns with Rudolph? I mean, I just heard the word hurt, hurt hurt, you know, several times in the discussion we did. You just provided there.

Joe Toscano
I think any quarterback that got knocked out, you know, and I’m sure he had a concussion and then got, you know, another concussion by someone swinging the helmet at them. I think. Yeah, I think Any quarterback would be, you know, affected by that. Now the thing is, he’s a big guy. And Ben Roethlisberger is a big guy. But the thing about Roethlisberger is Roethlisberger has pretty good feet for a big guy, he could dance around in the pocket, he could avoid those things. We did not see that for Mason Rudolph. So that is a red flag. If you can’t avoid that rush, you’re in trouble. So he better learn to do something about that either get quicker or or have a quicker release or something like that. But, you know, is he is he the heir apparent? No. But could he be a Could he be an adequate backup in the league? You know, starting in 2020? Probably We’ll see.

Santiago Leon
something to definitely look at. We touched on a little bit on Earl Thomas, just in quick 30 seconds. What’s going on with Earl Thomas today?

Justin Riley
Well, the only thing I’m gonna say really is just just pray for that man. Especially what they’re doing and what’s going on right now that’s just a big mess. I’m not gonna sit here and publicly criticize any man or throw stones whatsoever. The only thing I can say it’s a mess. And there’s they’re going through something and they just need prayer than a, you know, for nine for them for the family and everyone involved. It’s just a It’s a crazy situation, you know, it’s 2020 man, if something crazy is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen and and here it is another big TMZ feature. So TMZ has definitely made their their money that this year or two, so

Santiago Leon
yeah, pretty much Oh,

Justin Riley
but it’s gonna be really interesting to see how I will speak on this is gonna be interesting to see what direction this is going to go from the standpoint of the Ravens organization. Just see how they respond and just cut what kind of confidence they have in retaining him. They found him risk because of any of this and how ultimately affect the team if he does come back How important is he for the Ravens? Well, I mean, he’s all pro Hey, he’s a guy. He’s aside from this stuff right here. If you look at what he does on the field, he’s an Alpha Dog. He’s somebody that’s good at what he does. And he’s somebody that you definitely want to have on your team from athletic standpoint. He provided great contribution to our defense this past season and one of the reasons why we were able to excel and get to the point we were we were at but you know, distractions can also do a lot to us. So it’s just gonna it’s a it’s a nasty, nasty situation for everyone involved all the definitely a difficult situation the Ravens are into because they gotta decide ultimately, what direction they’re gonna go in. At this point,

Santiago Leon
yeah, this is, is this similar to the like, the railroad My situation a few years ago.

Justin Riley
Well, no, I mean, he didn’t beat anybody. It definitely didn’t beat a woman. That’s completely different. But his terminal nonetheless, in his terminal, you can exactly just sweep under the rug. And like he said, like I said, you know, things like this happen every day. Now, it’s not things things like that don’t happen every day is not just like, oops, I just got caught with a with my lover and my brother. is it’s just a messy situation. And I you know, I’m just gonna leave it at that.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, I know, it’s still being investigated.

Justin Riley
And it’s just gonna be interesting from organizational standpoint and see what direction we’re gonna go now.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, similar situation to Kareem hunt a couple years ago. So you know, we’ll see how the Ravens handle it. You know, it’s a tough situation. Go ahead. Yeah.

Joe Toscano
From what I understand, you know, because of the Ray Rice situation, I think, Baltimore has a zero tolerance policy with regards to things like that. So his fate on the team might be decided, you know, read, you know, regardless even if it’s you remember it’s all cleared or something like that they might just say, Hey, sorry, zero tolerance you’re out of here.

Santiago Leon
Wow, this is a good podcast got Steelers and talking some raving football. So definitely two rival teams. So definitely we’ll be looking at that for the next couple of weeks. Any closing words guys with the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Draft? 2020.

Joe Toscano
I you know it. We really haven’t mentioned that much. But you know, the Steelers took a gamble with the Minka Fitzpatrick trade. That could have been a major disaster especially after Ben went down. And you know, the dolphins thought they were getting a really good pic first round when they made that trade. And you know well i mean it’s it’s very logical for them to think that you know that that it’s like well Steelers are really going to stink now and he almost did and it was a miracle that they were able to go at night with you know that horrible quarterback play from from both of those quarterbacks so you know, you know the the state if you were make affected his draft then it would be an A plus because he is an amazing safety. And you know, the Steelers are very happy with him so so when you add him to the draft,

Santiago Leon
then it came out really good. You have no idea because as a special player, Justin, any closing words on the Steelers this year’s draft?

Justin Riley
Well, I absolutely had to agree with him. Well, just my standpoint mancow was really the missing ingredient that really allowed that defense just become elite. I think the Steelers had arguably one of the best defenses in the league, this past Season. And, you know, honest with you, if not for that defense and especially having Minka Fitzpatrick, that the season will just been absolutely awful. But it they kept them in contention for the playoffs and playoff conversation from for the majority of the season. And that’s just speaks volumes of just how special that that defense is and what they’re able to do.

Joe Toscano
Very, you’re absolutely right. You’re You’re 100%, right. He made that defense elite. He made that defense really good. He instantly helped and improve the team and he was probably probably single handedly responsible for at least two wins from that season. So yeah, he saved the season. And at one point they were eight and five and it was they were almost a quote unquote locked to make the playoffs and then they kind of collapsed at the end. But yeah, it was a miracle that they were able to win games.

Santiago Leon
NFL schedule comes. Go ahead, Justin.

Justin Riley
Well, last rebuttal on say you haven’t made it. You were finally able to see just how good he is because he came from a toxic situation in Miami. And anytime you leave toxicity, and you go to a much better situation, it can completely just change everything change like the landscape of everything. And players like him and even have my boy over there for Dallas, Amari Cooper, as soon as it’s like the guy a breath of fresh air there with a good organization

Santiago Leon
thinking I will aim to hoof.

Justin Riley
Yeah, there was a good organization organization that’s on the upswing that does not necessarily have all the toxic and the Doulton and all the drama. Yes. But as far as the Steelers overall draft, I think they did very well. I don’t think that they made any dumb decisions like a lot of teams did. They didn’t make any reaches here. They just went out wasn’t sexy. By they just did what they need to do

Santiago Leon
the best they can with the rounds. They were given the cards.

Justin Riley
What they didn’t have to do anything spectacular. I think that’s where a lot of people outside of the Steelers organization and fan base don’t count, they don’t fail to realize is they didn’t have to make this a spectacular mom blowing draft here. They just really need us to show up and say, okay, we just need to put depth here, here. Here. We did that. We’re going home and we’re sticking with quarterbacks we have Gosh.

Santiago Leon
All right, guys. All right. We got to get going. NFL schedules tonight releases at 8pm and one hour on ESPN. I know it’s nothing sexy with schedules. But what are your expectations for tonight?

Joe Toscano
Well, what I’m hearing whether this is true or not is they’re going to play. Everybody’s gonna play the team from the other conference in the first four games. Yeah. So I believe in the AFC North case that means they’ll play the NFC East teams first. So you know that’s in case you know, games have to be postponed or canceled or something like that you’re you’re postponing or canceling delete the least important games so it you know, just like everything else in this crazy year, it’ll probably be a crazy schedule.

Santiago Leon
Yeah. And Brady is playing the saints Drew Brees, first game. So, Justin, were your thoughts about scheduling tonight? Why is this so so hyped up?

Justin Riley
For you versus Brees? That’s it. That’s a pretty awesome opening. Opening Day is not is well, is important from the standpoint of it gives us concrete direction. We know what’s going to happen, how it’s going to look. And we are pretty much almost assured we’re getting a season. That and how exactly the same is going to look from a standpoint of how many people are going to be allowed in a stadium with, you know, you know, that’s to be determined, but essentially we’re being guaranteed. Okay, we’re getting back to some sense of almost here. And we’re gonna have a season we’re gonna play some football. And that’s just huge. And it’s something that we really need right now. You know, we’ve been grasping for something during this crazy pandemic, the last dance

Santiago Leon
isn’t enough.

Justin Riley
The last dance is freakin phenomenal. But yeah, that’s gonna come to an end soon. So we need life to go to resume. So this this is allowing us to the hope of life resuming. So this is very important from that standpoint.

Santiago Leon
The first Sunday night games will be cowboys vs. RAMs, I’m just getting these updates. And so that’s the week obviously these leads are pretty 90% accurate. I’ve been hearing so well. We’ll find out tonight. A special red carpet NFL schedule. Goodell will be saying something from his basement I mean I’m looking forward to it To be honest, um random question and this is for Joe I don’t think this is good for for Justin. There’s a request from Ryan he he’s asking what is your favorite per Monty brothers sandwich?

Joe Toscano
My go to Manny’s is double egg in cheese with bacon. Did you guys ever have from age or do you know what that’s about?

Santiago Leon
Yes, it’s usually Pittsburgh. I think there’s one in South Florida. I got a double check. Yeah,

Joe Toscano
yeah, there is okay. Um, basically they put fries and coleslaw and tomato in the sandwich. And so it just becomes this giant sandwich that you have to tackle like, play like right on like a giant, like a giant no nose tackle or something like that. So yeah, it is a it is head out just staple. Yeah, anybody that goes to Pittsburgh, you need to get it you get you get down and print it for me and he’s not.

Santiago Leon
And I guess Justin, would you be able to tackle that?

Justin Riley
On my own without a doubt brother? I’m not gonna shy away from it. Absolutely have it on a plate. I gotta I gotta have this in my life. Absolutely. And you know, hey, we’re looking for Manny’s right now Hey, man if you’re listening, have a little bit of sponsorship

Santiago Leon
yeah and maybe have a location in Mississippi so another I can was that

Unknown Speaker
I said that couldn’t say Mississippi.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, I was gonna i was i was pitching you saying that. And another poll question this morning. Well, actually, the only poll question today was who will do better in the NFL Jerry Judy or any rugs. We got Justin.

Justin Riley
All right now I’m leaning more towards Jerry. Judy. Yes, think he has a better setup right? Now, especially from a standpoint of a more of a more stable quarterback situation. And there’s also a lot of other players around him too, that are very good guys that are going to take pressure off of him and don’t allow him to really be able to open his game up. So, from that standpoint right now, I think that gives him an edge. Whereas, you know, at Oakland, Oakland Las Vegas, their quarterback situation is a bit of a question mark and you think Yeah, I’m I’m sorry, I don’t think anybody’s really sell them Derek Carr, or the Mariota train just really isn’t going with a steam at once Dave and the first part of his career to question we just, he he just hasn’t become that superstar that we really were holding out hoping he become so it’s just the his law of uncertainty there and I just saw things that could be an issue and if you don’t have a solid quarterback situation, him You really can’t allow your skill players to really become what they they’re projected to be. Joe, you know about these two players who do better Jerry Judy or Henry rugs?

Joe Toscano
Yeah, I definitely think Judy, I think he was. I think he should have been taken to the number one wide receiver in this draft. And you’re right it is. It is a better, more stable situation. The Raiders are. I don’t want to say they’re a mess. I don’t want to say they’re a circus, but I think anytime you have. Yeah, yeah. I’m not I’m not all that sold on Gruden. I think especially with quarterbacks I think he just is a little bit too crazy about them and you know, it would not surprise me if they changed frequently. So yeah, I’m not that all that sold on the Raiders. So I like Judy’s situation much better.

Santiago Leon
Yeah, they’re not gonna win the AFC West. That’s for sure. Joe, what is the best way to reach you? Well, I feel that the poll result was Jerry Judy 150 3% to two Henry rugs 46.2. So it’s pretty close. Justin, the fans are getting really close there.

Justin Riley
While Scott expected I mean, they’re both phenomenal players. Yeah, there. They were the top receivers out of the Big Three that had the most potential and they ranked where they were for a reason. So I mean, you can’t really knock either guy. And just because you know, Jerry, Judy is is the undisputed winner, this little poll here don’t necessarily reflect negatively on Henry Ross, I’d right behind him really. I just think that really just comes down to the who has the more solid of situations and he goes at UT.

Santiago Leon
I like Henry runs there, compare him to tyreke Hill. So I’m looking forward to that. I might drop them in my NFL fantasy draft in a few months. So I’m just saying. Anyways, Joe Toscano what is the best way to reach you talk to you about Tommy Maddox.

Unknown Speaker
Maddox a

Santiago Leon
xfl? alum.

Justin Riley
xfl Yeah, but Greg Lloyd, I’d like to talk about Greg Lloyd. Oh, yeah.

Joe Toscano
He’s

Justin Riley
Lloyd was a beast.

Justin Riley
favorite players of all time.

Joe Toscano
Oh, so so vicious. Yeah, I’m Joey bag of doughnuts on Twitter. I am on Twitter way too much. The the V instead of an F I’m always down to talk especially anything football anything Steelers. Really anything. I’m just I’m lonely talk to me people.

Santiago Leon
And just what is the best way to contact you and talk to you about Bryce young?

Justin Riley
Oh, wow. Yeah, the guy that they’ve already anointed as the starter at night and count they’re disregarding Matt Jones, but that’s a whole nother podcast as well. You can follow me on twitter at Justin Riley seven and then you can also find me on Instagram at Justin Riley underscore seven so virtually the same thing almost

Santiago Leon
walking with someone took the Justin Riley seven on Instagram already they did man they

Justin Riley
beat me to talk to them about copyright infringement but also to really contribute a lot to the sports cast on Twitter and Instagram at the sports cast one so do you need me is call me.

Santiago Leon
There you have it you can reach us at the sports cast dotnet does sports cast dotnet on twitter at the sports cast one, the sports cast one will be eyeing the schedule tonight. And then we will probably have a show tomorrow we’ll talk about the schedule and see what happens with Tyler and see how things roll but the NFL is is it’s going but I do want to finish with one final note. I like what the Miami Dolphins are doing. They’re only selling like 16 K seats. I think that’s a good idea. I think they should not sell out like every seat in the stadium, they should just, you know, have a limited amount of numbers. And I think what they’re gonna do is what every team is going to follow but that’s just my theory.

Justin Riley
So basically business as usual.

Santiago Leon
Well, a couple dollars short and and see what you did there. Yeah.

Joe Toscano
But that would be an increase for dolphins games.

Santiago Leon
Oh, that’s true. Yeah, I will see what the 220 phenomenon hopefully that will change the whole dynamic bitter

Justin Riley
about them not preparing themselves for him.

Santiago Leon
Really better. It’s a project couple years guys. Anyways guys. It was a pleasure. And I’ll see you next time.

Justin Riley
Glad to be here man. enjoyed it. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai