Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus: Pittsburgh Steelers

Episode Date: June 30, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites ESPN NFL Nation's Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) to discuss the upcoming season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome back to another edition of the franchise focus podcast here for the 2022 NFL season at FantasyPoint.com. My name is Joe Dolan and as we've been doing for the last number of weeks, we are going to be interviewing somebody who is very close to the NFL teams in question for the franchise focus, and we're doing all 32 of them. And I'm going to tell you why we're doing 32, because there's 32 NFL teams. We're not skipping anybody. and I am reaching out to the best of the best of the folks who cover these teams each and every single day.

And I'm really excited to bring you today's guests covering the Pittsburgh Steelers does so for ESPN NFL Nation. That is Brooke Pryor. You can follow Brooke on Twitter at B.E. Prior. That's P-R-Y-O-R like Richard, not like Mark, the pitcher. Follow Brooke on Twitter. She does a phenomenal job covering the Pittsburgh Steelers. She's actually told me that she's been out there. covering Najee Harris, been out in the Bay Area.

There's going to be a huge feature released on Najee Harris throughout training camp. And Brooke's been very generous with her time. This podcast was hard to come by. Life things happen to us, Brooke. They certainly do. You are one of the few beat writers who I've reached out to who isn't currently in Europe. I'll have you know that. But you also had some other life things going on.

But hey, look, we're here now. We're going to talk Steelers. It's good to be with you. so much for joining me today. Of course, I'm honestly jealous that I think the email about beatwriters, I'll go to Europe this summer, went to like my spam inbox because I missed that memo. We're going to Mexico actually soon. So at least we're getting out of the country for a little bit. I think that it's our way of like, if we're not in the country and breaking news happens, we have plausible deniability. You can't contact us. Breaking news doesn't happen while we're like

out of the country on vacation. I think that's where all of us were thinking. You know, it almost is like speaking to workplace culture, right? Because we're recording this for full disclosure. We're recording this on June 27th. Brooke, I've had to give these disclosures out because I've been recording them a week or so ahead of time just for obvious reasons because we have to schedule all these interviews. And a couple of teams already have had a news item come out after I recorded the podcast, most notably Rob Grunkowski retiring after I recorded the Bucks podcast with Greg Alman. But I just want to throw that out there that. we're recording this in June in case there is any breaking news.

I literally just saw Mary Kay Cabin. I'm sure you know Mary Kay from, you know, she covers the Browns. She mentioned she's going to Europe to see her daughter and she's like, I am sorry. I'm going to Europe. I'm sure something with Deshaun Watson is going to break while I'm there. It's just, it speaks to the workplace culture and the, I guess the yearlong cycle of the NFL that like you almost have to apologize for going on vacation. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but at least it means you're plugged in.

Exactly. I mean, I was actually, I was just talking with Jake Trotter, our Browns writer, and he's slated to be on vacation next week while the Deshaun Watson hearings are going on. And, you know, now he's going to have to try to balance those two things. But that's honestly, that is how the NFL works. It is a 24-7 news cycle. The season itself, you know, 18 weeks long, we've got, you know, the playoffs and Super Bowl and everything else. And my family always thinks, like, cool, you're done in February, right? what do you do in the off season? And I always laugh because I'm like, my off season is crazier than the regular season.

Like the off season is when you'd think that I'm recharging, but I was just trying to schedule some other like feature shoots and stuff. And I said to my husband, I'm running out of days until training camp starts. Like I have so many things I want to do and a limited amount of time to do them. Yeah, but people always say that because I'm in the fantasy industry, which is less of a real job than you have. I know we all like to say in the sports industry, we have fake jobs. But we work a lot. And I mean, people ask me, what do you do in the off season? And I'm like, prepare for the next season.

You know, you can't be good for the season if you haven't. It's almost like being a player, I guess. You know, you work out, you put weight on, you cut weight, you change your diet, all this stuff. You've got to get ready for the next year. The franchise focus series of podcasts is brought to you by Evans, sports cards, and collectibles. The best place for cards, collectibles, autographs, and more. All of our memorabilia giveaways at fantasy points are, from Evans. And Evans always has the latest boxes and releases from Panini, Upper Deck,

tops, and more. And it's a family-owned business you can feel good about supporting, not a super store. It's always good for an in-person visit if you're ever in the Philadelphia area, but it's just as good to visit the eBay store if you're out of town like I am. Follow at Evans cards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases. You can also like Evans on Facebook and head to Evans SportsNJ.com for more info, including that always update. to eBay store. Releases this week include the 2021 Panini contenders slash optic football set and the 2022 Panini select baseball set. That's Evans SportsNJ.com online and at Evans cards on Twitter and tell them that the guys from Fantasy Points.com sent you. Brooke, we're going to get right into it here

with the Pittsburgh Steelers. For the first time since I was a freshman in college now at this point, I'm not trying to date you, but for the first time since I, I was a freshman in college. There is going to be somebody other than Ben Rothlisberger slated to be the week one starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They signed Mitchell Tribusky. They obviously drafted Kenny Pickett. I know Mike Tomlin's an old school guy.

Can't question his methods very much. I mean, the guy's never had a losing season. Mitchell Trubisky's been getting the first team reps. That's at least what I've seen. Is that accurate based on what you've seen? and from your own two eyes, what is Trubisky doing well? What's Pickett doing well? And who's got the early edge heading into training camp to be the week one starting quarterback for the Steelers? Yeah, so this is kind of crazy. This is the first time, I believe, since 1996, the Steelers have had a wide open

quarterback race going into training camp. So there's, we're setting a lot of, we're going through a lot of unprecedented territory, at least in the, in the, the current Steelers era. But what I've seen from Mitch Trubisky, yeah, he is taking all the first team reps. Mason Rudolph taking second team, Kenny Pickett taking third team. Yeah, and the interesting thing is I, the Steelers, from what I was told, what I've kind of observed is that they drafted Kenny Pickett because they believe he's the most pro-ready quarterback. But that doesn't mean that he's going to start right away.

That doesn't mean that he will even start this season. It's kind of my understanding that Mitch Trubisky very much has the upper, hand in this quarterback competition. And a lot of that is because of his veteran leadership. And just, I think veteran experience, he just is a more developed quarterback as you would expect him to be as a first rounder for the Bears. Obviously, things didn't work out in Chicago. Then he spent last year backing up Josh Allen and Buffalo. And I think that he just brings this presence that you can see to the team, to the offense, to everything that he looks like the starting quarterback. To me, and granted, we've only seen.

seen, you know, a couple of OTA sessions, mini-camp, but when I talk with players about Mitch Trubisky, that's the sense I get. I mean, Najee Harris flew. He was in Houston training. He flew to Pittsburgh for a day right after Mitch Trubisky got signed just to spend a day with him and see what he was like, get a feel for him, all of that stuff. I mean, Najee's obviously, by this point, met kidney picket and everything, different timelines, different situations there. but to me it speaks volumes that Najee, who is going to be a leader on this offense this season, went out of his way to meet Mitch. To me, that tells me that he thinks he's going to be working with this guy very often, very closely. And I think the Steelers don't want to rush Kenny Pickett.

They have Mitch Trubisky. They signed him as kind of, I think, an insurance policy to see what would happen in the draft. But you've got this guy. Don't rush your rookie quarterback when you have a veteran on the roster who's more than capable. of handling this offense. He's good at a lot of the things Matt Canada likes to do. He's very good in pre-snap motion. He's, I think he just fits what Canada wants to do. And Kenny Pickett does too. Kenny Pickett was recruited to play at Pitt when Matt Canada was still the offensive coordinator. He didn't end up playing for Canada at Pitt. I believe their timelines didn't quite overlap,

but Matt Canada likes Kenny Pickett's skill set as well. So I think we'll eventually see Kenny Pickett be the Steelers starting quarterback, but I don't know that we're going to see it to start the season. And I don't know that we'll see it at any point this year. So you mentioned Matt Canada, and that's where I want to go next. To take maybe more of a zoomed out view, how much different do you think this offense is going to look without Ben Rathesberger in there? And whether you're not, it's Trubisky or Pickett. And like, all forgiveness, forgive me Mason Rudolph.

I don't think Mason Rudolph, barring injury is going to be making many starts this year. That's just my personal opinion. But when you have a guy like Trubisky or Kenny Pickett, who are certainly at this stage of their lives and careers more mobile than Ben Rathesberger, do you expect that to be a factor in the Steeler offense? What are some of the differences you're anticipating? Yeah, absolutely. I think you had the nail on the head with the mobility.

These guys are not in their 30s. They are much younger. They are also just known to be more mobile quarterbacks. You don't have to be Lamar Jackson to be a mobile quarterback. And I think that that's going to be huge. I think they're going to be way more open to play action. I think you're just going to see a lot more versatility in what these Steelers are able to do. And I think we really just scratched the surface of Matt Canada's offense last year because

Rothesberger, you could tell that he was kind of unwilling to run some of Canada's concepts. So there was a disconnect there. He wanted to do a lot of no huddle stuff. And it worked when he ran it, but that wasn't a Matt Canada offense. And I think at some point you should have to see, okay, Ben, you know what, this was your last season. You go out and win the way that you know how. But it felt like there was a power struggle there at times. And I think now with these younger guys, that's not going to be a problem.

I think that as big a factor as it is to have now a younger, more mobile quarterback back there. It's also going to be huge to have a better offensive line in front of him, whoever that is, getting Mason Cole and James Daniels in there is going to be incredibly important. I would kind of expect Mason Cole to be the starter at center. Kendrick Green get kicked out to guard. And that's going to help not only the quarterback, but also Najee Harris, who had a very quiet thousand-yard rushing season, but I think he also just kind of barely scratched the surface of what he can do.

But yeah, I would expect to see still a lot of quick passes, but I think they're going to be more successful. I do think we're going to see some more vertical stuff down the field, some more explosive plays. That's something that felt like it was really missing last year. I think that this is going to be, I hope this is going to be a more exciting Steelers offense as someone that has to watch it every single week.

Now, you've spent a lot of time with Najee Harris this off season. Obviously, we talked about the feature you have coming up. First and foremost, just want to throw out there. You can confirm we talked a little bit off air. He seems just like a really good dude to root for. And I think for fantasy purposes, it's always nice to feel like, hey, I'm rooting for the right kind of guy with him. But from a fantasy perspective, we know Najee, he was near 400 touches last year. We already put some weight on.

I don't know how big a story that was. I think it maybe got blown a little bit out of proportion. But do you see him preparing to handle the same workload this year? And can we expect a similar workload? Absolutely. You know, it's a yes, he is absolutely. a good dude. It's funny because that is how I draft my fantasy teams, which means that I never win my league, but I'm always drafting guys. I'm like, you know, you are a good interview. I really,

I really like talking with you. You were a good person. Yeah, that's, my husband makes fun of me every year for it. But you can draft Najee in the first round and feel good about it, because he's definitely a first round pick for fantasy. Exactly. Yes. I've got, I've got him earmarked as someone that I'm, that I'm going to put in my cue early. But yeah, yeah, you know, it's funny you mentioned the weight thing, too, because that very much did get overblown. And he and I have had a lot of conversations about it. Let's make one thing clear. He is not Jerome Bettis.

He is not as big as the bus. It would not be a bad thing if he was Jerome Bettis, but that's just not how he's built. I mean, he is, I would talk to one of his trainers, and he said that Najee Harris is built like he man, but he moves like a Ferrari. And I think that that is the most perfect description of what his training goals were this offseason.

and how he wants to approach this season because he's still going to be the bell cow back. I think they want to manage his touches a little bit more. They might not want to have him have 400 touches in a season, but they also didn't draft a backup running back. I mean, Benny Snell is still their number two. That's not a guy that you feel super confident about taking Najee Harris out and putting him in. I think that they're banking on Harris being a three-down back. that's what he wants to be.

I think that they can use him even more in the passing game. That was kind of something that they did in spurts last season. I think we're going to see more of that. He is a lot stronger now. He's quick. I think all of those together that, plus you put a good offensive line in front of him, I think he's really going to have a breakout season. When Ben Rothesberger is the quarterback for close to 20 years,

and look, this isn't exclusive to Ben Rathesberger. A quarterback is always going to have his preferences. He's always going to have his favorites. And over the last number of years, it's just like, all right, we're going to throw it short to Deontay. Maybe every now and again, we'll throw it deep to Claypool. And then if neither of those guys is open, I'm just going to check it down to the running back with Najee Harris and certainly James Connor in the past.

This wide receiver room has a lot of talent. Obviously, Deontie Johnson and Claypool, they drafted two rookies, including George Pickens. Fryermuth is there. but it's kind of uncharted territory for us for fantasy, right? Because we always knew Ben would focus on his guys. Deontay Johnson was going to get his 150 targets because we know Ben is always going to throw in the ball.

We're kind of in the Wild West now, aren't we with this wide receiver room? We've got two rookies in there. How much do they like Claypool? Deontay's still there. He hasn't been extended yet. How do you kind of feel like this wide receiver room is going to shake out? Because from my perspective, that's the big unanswered question for fantasy. We know Najee's going to get the ball, but who's going to be the number one target on the perimeter?

I think that you're absolutely right. I mean, when I look at that group from, you know, even outside of a fantasy perspective, I look at the leadership that's kind of lacking there, at least as far as vocal leadership goes, because that was Juju Smith-Schuster. He's gone. That was another one of Ben's favorites. He's in Kansas City. I think that Deonti Johnson is still going to be a major, major focal point of this offense.

but I'm really interested in Chase Claypool in his development. I know he went on a podcast over the summer and said, I think I'm a top five wide receiver. I'm going to have all these stats. And I mean, people kind of laughed at him. And you know what? I don't have a problem with what he said because that's calling his shot. I think that he, A, he has to make a step forward because last season was really disappointing

after a breakout rookie season. He really fell flat in his second season. I'm looking at him. I think that he's going to be very important. A little bit under the radar, Calvin Austin III, I think could be a very good fit and kind of a secret weapon in Matt Canada's offense. He's a little guy, but he's going to go over the middle. I already saw him. Like, the way that he just attacks, he knows that he's going to get hit, right?

He's a tiny dude, and he does not mind the contact. He just over the middle. I saw him take a collision and bounced up, got right back. He'll make tough catches, but I was talking with his coaches in Memphis, and they said, yeah, he can go in the slot. He's also a perimeter guy. Like, just because he's a short, speedy guy does not mean they're only going to use him in the slot. They're going to kind of move him all over the place.

And when you look at the hallmarks of Matt Canada's offense, he loves versatility. He loves to be able to move guys around to different spots on the field. I see Calvin Austin as being that guy as long as he doesn't have a problem with drops. He was a little bit inconsistent through OTAs and mini-camp, which is also to be expected out of a rookie. But I've got my eye on him as someone that I think could make a real difference. He said he kind of models his game after like Tyler Lockett a little bit. He's very intriguing to me. Miles Boykin could be another guy kind of under the radar who obviously thinks didn't work out in Baltimore.

He's now in Pittsburgh. those are my under the radar guys to keep an eye on. But as far as like the big names that we're watching, yeah, Claypool, Pickens is really tall and skinny compared to the other guys in that room. It's very easy to pick him out. I'm excited to see more of what he can do when we get to training camp. And then Pat Friermouth obviously had a great rookie season. I'm looking for him to be really involved.

I know Trubisky did not go to his tight ends very often when he was in Chicago. I don't think that's going to be the same case here. They need to keep Friamov involved to have this offense flowing and being productive. So I'm also keeping an eye on him. Basically, all the receivers at this point, I'm keeping an eye on, which is really tough from a fantasy perspective. But it is kind of like last year, Deonti Johnson is the safe pick for me. And behind that, it's kind of a hodgepodge.

And we're going to be following you throughout training camp to make sure we're getting the latest on that. And I mean, when you're covering the Steelers, as you well know, paying attention to the wide receiver room is always important because this team knows how to pick them. I mean, like, and they're not even spending really first round picks on these guys. Heck, I can't even really remember the last time they spent a first round pick on a wide receiver. I'm sure I'm, I'm, I'm missing one that's pretty obvious. But these are second, third, fourth round guys that they typically pick. Brooke, I got to tell you, you stole my thunder a little bit because I always asked somebody at the end of these podcasts, who was a little under the radar guy? And I think you

already sold me on Calvin Austin being that guy. So I have to pivot a little bit here and say, are you prepared to see a ton of George Pickens memes this year? Because, like, his pose when he was getting drafted is legitimately one of the funniest things I've ever seen. And I'm going to overuse the hell out of that. Oh, absolutely. I'm sorry, I stole your thunder. I just got so excited. I'm sitting here looking. Well, I'm glad you did because I didn't have to talk. I mean, people aren't listening to me. But yeah, back to the Pickens meme, I really hope you're prepared to see a lot of those. Yes, because it is so, like the posture, the headstep, like all of it. And he's still been wearing that same, I don't even know what you want to call it.

It's kind of a ski mask, but not. He's still been wearing it in practice, and he said it's going to be like his thing. He's not a big talker. He's pretty quiet. So I'm trying to draw it out of him. Like, I need to know the story of why he started to wear it, why he was wearing it during the draft. also why he was standing like that. I mean, it's, we lost,

juju was no longer in Pittsburgh. That's a lot of content that we're missing out on. But now we've got pickens and it feels like he's going to be, him and that meme are going to be the gift that keep on giving. Well, I saw it kind of took off on Steelers Reddit a little bit. I'm sure you peruse there. I know Reddit can be up and down for other words, but I thought it was wholesome content when they did the Pickensing

and there's people taking pictures. I will say this. I know Juju went as himself for Halloween one year. I think if George Pickens scores a couple touchdowns in the first month of the season, we might see some George Pickens costumes out there in Pittsburgh this year. I hope so. It'd be an easy enough one to pull off. I hope that that happens for him and for Steelers fans and Pittsburgh fans

who are not creative with their Halloween costumes, which is me. I'm terrible at that. So I hope everyone's remembering that come October. Her name is Brooke Pryor. Follow her on Twitter at B-E-Priar. That's P-R-Y-O-R, like Richard, not like Mark. And follow her work at ESPN NFL Nation. Brooke, it's great to hear that Najee Harris is an awesome dude. I'm looking forward to that story you have on him. I'm really excited to read that. Y'all should be really excited to read it. Thank you for your great analysis, Brooke. And I hope we'll talk to you soon. Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me on. All right, everybody. We'll be back with more from the franchise-focused podcast series. More interviews with beatwriters. podcasters, analysts, all for all 32 NFL teams. I'm getting all these things scheduled.

And once people get back from Europe, they're going to be talking to me. Have a good time in Mexico, Brooke. And I hope everybody here who is listening to this podcast has a wonderful, wonderful day, a wonderful week, and heck, a wonderful month of July ahead of you. My name is Joe Dolan, and we'll catch you later. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform. and come join the roster at FantasyPoint.com.