Steelers 53-Man Roster Predictions

yo yeah stop to play Still by the lake with the what to say change Cody tner on the mic about to di it deep keep it Al that's right welcome to the Steelers by the lake podcast my name is James strong joined once again from my coost Cody Tanner all the way from West Virginia Cody how are you this fine Saturday morning James I'm doing lovely uh work was nice and smooth this week I have a it's going to be a busy weekend for me I got to drive an hour away today to work on a new church plant to work on a building and then I got some stuff going on tomorrow we got a football game today James we're excited about that we will be recording uh a second episode tonight after the game game but we do want to go over the 53 men roster which is what we're going to do today but before we do that James how are you doing well man I'm doing well how's the shoulder healing up more more rotation kind of the same as last week uh a hair more not a lot more okay but it's getting there I'm able to tie my shoes without much pain these days fair enough that's a real nice step in the right direction fair enough again another shout out uh to Erica for taking care of my man man here she's been doing all she can so she's too good to me I appreciate it very much oh man oh my Lanta oh Mylanta we're gonna talk 53 man roster predictions James are you ready we're gonna go position by position like we always do um and and we'll probably snake this you know a couple positions you'll go first so we see who you got a couple positions I'll go first um but let's start this off on the offensive side of the ball James quarterback room you want me to go first first me first go first that's fine I mean it's gonna be it's gonna be the same it's gonna be the same it should be um so I have quarterback one Russell Wilson uh number two Justin Fields now I don't expect him to be second string the entire time and number three Mason Rudolph no I'm just kidding Kyle Allen then obviously I have the same three as much as I would love to have a reason to put John rice plumbley as the number three quarterback he has not gotten a single snap in the first two preseason seon games at that position and I don't expect that to change today I don't think he's going to get any snaps at quarterback today either although we might see him a little bit more at wide receiver today that should be exciting yep uh onto the running back position Cody now this is a little bit more could be some some uh difference between you and I here I think there could be nii Harris yep is running back number one Jaylen Warren uh question mark on that hamstring hopefully he's ready for this first regular season game curell Patterson and then after that I have no one just those three running backs that is it well James I have uh Naji Harris at the one as well Jaylen Warren at the two obviously that hamstring injury he's not on any kind of injured list outside of like standard injury um Cordell Patterson at the number three specifically because of his uh special teams uh what they expect him to be doing on kick returns and stuff like that and then number four also nobody James nobody on that number four I wanted I wanted to keep one of those other guys that we we got to see run really hard um and and I would love to to see them run hard again this game and and have a spot on that practice squad so there if something happens with either one of these three guys um but unfortunately the numbers didn't add up to make it available for me to put somebody else on that list yeah I'm with you I've liked some performances from some of these other running backs I won't be surprised if they keep two maybe even three of them on the practice squad knowing that one of them might get called up week one if Jaylen Warren is not 100% ready with that hamstring so um look for at least a couple of those guys probably to remain on the practice squad um I'll continue then first since uh you got the first one I got the second one if we're snake in here then that that means I've got my fullback so go ahead with your fullback because I already said mine you said yours yeah nobody got it I just wanted to mess with you a little bit nobody at all no that's fine I want put jack colto on there but he hasn't done anything no he hasn't and this is where I'm being weird about it because I just cause because fullback is a spot on the the depth chart that will be filled like there even if there's not a fullback on the team so I did put Connor Hayward as my fullback um even though he's technically the third tight end um so Connor Hayward is my fullback on this list um I will move on to the receiver room and James I think this is probably believe it or not I think this might be similar I think a lot of this might be similar this year just based on how injuries and stuff had fallen um so wide receiver one George Pickins two van Jefferson three Calvin Austin II uh also having Roman Wilson I think Dez Fitzpatrick finally makes the 53 man roster uh and then I also have us keeping a sixth with Scotty Miller okay that's my list all right that is not too dissimilar from me Cody I have George Pickins Roman Wilson Calvin Austin the third van Jefferson but I'm only keeping five and I'm keeping Scotty Miller as the fifth one with him edging out van Jefferson because of the punt return capabilities Al I um edging out Dez instead of Dez yep okay yeah yeah edging out Dez yeah if I said van I'm sorry yep yep uh so yeah um I think Dez has a very good chance if he has another good outing today look for them to keep that sixth guy and have it be Dez right now he's one of the starting uh Gunners yep that doesn't mean that he's going to become regular season because they have a habit of just throwing about anybody in there but as bad as quz Watkins was in the preseason with Fielding punts I think Scotty's got a job doing that now yep 100% uh on to the tight end room Cody yes sir all you all right you don't want to do two in a row like I did two in a row but your was you didn't say anybody I know I just saw fun all right so tight ends here we go Pat F MTH obviously I have making the roster Darnell Washington I've got Connor Hayward listed in my tight end room and then keeping a fourth tight end with Rodney Williams I have him edging out my Cole PR because of his abilities on the kick and punt coverage game yep uh not as good of a blocker is my CPR it is but definitely Superior in the coverage unit and I think that's going to be ultra important this year with the new kickoff rules yep uh so I have Pat farth and Darnell Washington staying obviously the third in my setup is going to be Connor Hayward um I do not have Rodney Williams making the team although I think there's a high chance of that because of Arthur Smith's desire to use the tight end and and have those depth pieces there and because of the Special Teams uh ability with him but I do not have I do not have him on my 53 okay do you have another guy or just no okay no Rodney Williams I'm just writing the differences on your side no you're good uh let's go ahead and look at this offensive line man um yeah so obviously Nate herbig is on the IR he will not be correct coming back to the team at all um if if there was any chance of that I think he' he'd come back sometime uh and be on this if he wasn't on the IR I think he'd be on the 53 just to clarify um yeah and clarification on that real quick since Pittsburgh has placed him on the injured reserve before the final cutdown he is not eligible to come back off of the injured reserve this season so that's what we mean when we say his season's over sadly done um so I'm just gonna go through this uh bradick Jones Troy fanu uh Isaac camalu James Daniels Zack Frasier Mason McCormick yep Dan Moore Jr Spencer Anderson and I have us keeping a ninth with Dylan cook okay all right so my offensive line unit uh I got tackles first Dan Moore Jr brri Jones Troy fanu and Dylan cook yep so same offensive tackles there Center Zack Frasier o that's it that's it that's scary guard Isaac sealo and James Daniels with a backup Spencer Anderson and Mason McCormick making us identical on the offensive line yeah uh and that that to me I really like we talked about in our last episode I need to see Mason McCormack or Spencer Anderson snapping the ball tonight in this game yep or this afternoon I should say um not having a backup center officially on the roster is kind of scary I know James Daniels has experienced snapping in in uh and so does Mason McCormack so does Spencer Anderson none of them like really intense and none of them real recent either uh so really want to see that in today's game uh so on the offense that means really the only difference between our rosters is I have Rodney Williams and you have Dez Fitzpatrick otherwise they're identical yep all right same amount of guys and everything so we're both both keeping 24 on the offense which leaves us with 26 on the defense so a little more uh little more fun on the defensive side yeah yeah hopefully we'll see how this defensive line I'll go first on D line yep all right so big surprise here I have is keeping Cameron Hayward I know that's weird uh Larry Ogen jooby Keanu Benton who will be the starting nose tackle and I think is GNA be starting a d tackle in those nickel situations I think he's going to jump over top of Larry hen Joby this year I would hope so I'm excited for that uh montravius Adams as our backup nose tackle and then I am going to keep Dean Lowry because I thought he looked excellent in that uh preseason game that second one and to Marvin Lea who I believe has had the best preseason of those three young defensive end defensive tackle types that they have on the roster right now and I'm just keeping six which means no louder milk for me this year that means no Logan Lee for me practice squad I just don't have room with him with where I wanted keep other people so I'm going to I'm going to go through the things that we have the same I obviously kept cam Hayward Larry gji Keon ENT and those are the the staple guys on that defensive front uh right now I also kept montravius Adams I thought he also has had a pretty good preseason so far um him and de Marvin Leal reading a screen and shutting that down is something that I think shows a lot of growth on their parts um so excited for that Dean Lowry also making my 53 man roster and then I am keeping Isaiah LMK um I think there's to still potentially too much upside um and with the the cam Hayward groin injury from last year and not knowing how it may play out I think keeping that seventh guy uh is important so far for that original 53 and I think if you try to put Isaiah LMK on that practice squad he's getting picked up in the first week I don't think he's gonna make that practice squad my thing with louder Mo at this point is he's had three years to prove something and I don't think he has a season with more than like a sack yet that's fair so I I'm a little bit less concerned than I would have been like a year or two ago I feel like he just has a lot of mediocre tape out there I feel like that was bud dpri until his last year with us too you know what I mean like so yeah the difference is he was getting the start and eventually got the opportunity himself and get double digit sacks yep isaah is not going to get the start on this list no no and I think there is a big difference athleticism wise to you know bud pre although he was not a refined football player was an extremely athletic individual and sometimes in certain situations that just wins out whether your technique's great or not yep no I hear you I feel it all right let's move on to the outside linebacker group yes yes you first now I have TJ Watt and Alex heith no shock there also the third starter in my opinion Nick herbig making the team um I'm excited to see him get an increased amount of snaps uh this season and then I also have us keeping Jeremiah Moon as the Jeremiah Moon the fourth outside linebacker haven't seen a ton from him but I do think that we're going to see more of him uh this game tonight and I I'm excited to see what we see and I don't see anybody else on that outside linebacker you know crew that has enough tape or anything to justify getting out in front of okay uh my outside linebackers the beginning is same with TJ watt Alex heith Nick herig but my number four I'm keeping Kiron Johnson and I'm doing it because of special teams yep uh and last game he out snapped them pretty grossly Jeremiah Moon only got like five snaps and it was like 43 snaps for Chiron Johnson um I feel like chiron's just got a little bit more jump off the ball getting after the quarterback and looks a lot more Stout than he did last year um I would be okay with either one of these guys because neither one of them I feel like is more like crazy talented versus the other but I I love that Kiron Johnson contributed so well on special teams last year and I think that fourth outside linebacker position is going to get a little bit of input from from our special teams coach Danny there yeah and he might be in the corner of the guy that gives him a little more juice on special teams Mr Gum cheing himself um that's it that's our boy all right well let's move to the inside linebacker position who you got James all right middle linebackers obviously I'm keeping Patrick Queen with his big 13 million a year contract and I'm very excited to see him by the way El Landon Roberts will be his running mate uh until those pass down situations where pton Wilson is goingon to see a lot of burn um I also believe Mark Robinson is gonna make the roster I think he looked really nice in that second preseason game but I also has a fifth middle linebacker I think they're going to keep Tyler mtic kevich for the Special Teams abilities uh I think that is going to be a very underrated part of roster construction this year where you're going to need to keep some guys that are the last person at a position because of their special teams abilities and that is the specialty of one Tyler matakevich yep so I'm keeping five middle linebackers Cody what about you well obviously I wanted to have Cole hulum on my list but he is still on the physically unable to perform list um correct so I'm I'm gonna be just short with you I kept five and it's the same five uh I mean it's there's not much to say I think that we've seen Pittsburgh you know in the past I felt like there was often times that we'd keep four um but especially with the new kickoff and and Tyler matakevich his ability to play special teams I'm right there with you with m i mean that's why they brought him in let let's be real there was no other reason so they're not going to bring him in and not use him I think Mark Robinson still has a lot of potential um that we haven't seen but he may not show that this year just because of how deep this this linebacker crew is and that's fine I'm happy about that pton Wilson really put a monkey wretch in the yep yep absolutely so Patrick Queen Landon Roberts pton Wilson Mark Robinson and Tyler mavich are my five um moving to the cornerback room James Cameron Sutton will be suspended the first eight games he should he's not going to be on either of our list due due to that fact but he will get the nod to come back on the team and more than likely a corner will drop off after that eight game suspension uh so I have mine as Joey Porter Jr obviously Dante Jackson the guy that we got from Carolina in the trade with Deontay Johnson uh Corey T Jr Darius Rush beanie Bishop Jr I'm excited to see him potentially get some more playing time tonight um and and possibly do some nickel action I want to see that and then Thomas Graham Jr uh Thomas Graham impressed me last week I'm excited to see him take some more snaps tonight I do have us keeping that sixth corner and I believe Thomas Graham will get that nod all right so that's your six there Cody that's my six all right so my cornerback room is going to look a little bit different from this finally Joey Porter Jr Dante Jackson I've got beanie Bishop getting that starting role at nickel Corner Cory trce Jr Darius rush and nobody Thomas Graham Jr it's actually the same I just wanted to mess with you again I didn't want to be too boring here because you and I are are closer oner prediction' ever been in any years this is like our sixth or seventh year doing this and usually we've got a good four or five differences it looks like there's only going to be a couple this year because our corner back room is the same also let's explain let me explain that for a second I think the problem with me doing my roster predictions in the past wasn't wasn't a lack of you know I I think in the past I've just always wanted Pittsburgh to continue to strive to make improvements but they're so com and I'm understanding this now they're so committed to the guys they have on the team and and sometimes to a fault sometimes there's guys that they should let go and they don't um but there's just guys on this team that I think they they are committed to you know I mean even guys like Dan Moore Jr like not not saying we should get rid of him but um he struggled in the past and like even the fact that in my opinion not 53 man roster related but in my opinion I wouldn't be letting him start all preseason I want to see these what these other guys can do we've seen Dan Moore junr but they're committed to the process and Mike Tomlin is you know your shirt says it the standard is the standard and he's very specific about how he does things so you know in the past I've been like I think we're going to keep a six receiver but he's not on the team yet we're going to trade for somebody that's because I want them to do that um to to improve the roster a little bit but Brandon iuk still on the table we're not going to go there uh and I think honestly the cornerback position is another one that should be on the table I think if somebody cuts a player that Pittsburgh thinks can be more beneficial to them than one of those back of the roster dudes they're going to do it yep uh so I wouldn't be surprised if they do that at the corner position I just wasn't gonna predict it nope that's fair uh safety room I got four guys here James Minka Fitzpatrick Deshawn Elliott uh miles kbu and Damonte KZ all right we we finally finally don't mess with me don't mess with me oh no we have to if you look at the numbers you have one more guy than oh you're right you're right you're right to the safety position so I'm keeping five safeties Cody keep I already know who you're keeping I already know who I wanted to I wanted to I couldn't I couldn't yeah you kept louder milk that was the decision you had to make it was and and I came down to this person or Dez Fitzpatrick that was my 53rd makesense and I decided to keep this guy because I felt like Dez Fitzpatrick has been that man on the practice squad enough times that you can sneak him on again and probably not lose him and then just call him up on game day if you really needed to uh so safey is obviously Minka Fitzpatrick obviously DeShaun Elliott obviously Deonte KZ and the all proo miles KBW you've got to keep those four those four are in pen in my opinion yep I'm also keeping the rookie Ryan Watts uh Ryan splashed a little bit in the preseason here and H you don't get guys this size too often and and it's a true conversion project right so he played basically Corner his entire college career now he comes in as this big 61 62 213 pound Corner converting to safety and thus far has looked pretty comfortable doing so he's had some hiccups here and there uh but I really love the possibility of attempting to convert this dude into a safety and maybe just maybe finally finding a long-term solution to play next to Minka for the next four or five years uh as Minka continues into his career so I really love the future possibility of Ryan Watts uh and I didn't want to lose him felt like just a greater possibility of losing him if you were to try to put him on the practice squad than some of the other guys like uh louder milk or Dez Fitzpatrick so so that was the reason I went that way and kept a fifth safety makes sense to me James makes sense to me um now special teamers those are people too right yeah yep and if they're any different I will be shocked kicker Matthew Wright of course of us would ever have Chris Boswell yeah so clearly Chris Boswell is gonna kicker uh punter is going to be the new man and only one in Camp Cameron Johnson boy and the Snapper the only one in Camp in Christian Coons y so pretty chalk on that I'm assuming yours to be the same yep exactly the same um if you guys want to share your 53 men roster predictions we'd love to talk about them whenever the actual 53 men roster does get released um reminder there is a game today at 1 o'clock final preseason game excited for that go check it out yep James we waved in terrible tows mine's right there somewhere yep right there I got two of them um excited for the game excited for the regular season excited for football to be back man um I got a fantasy draft coming up here in a few days excited for all the things that come with this fall season uh make sure you guys go get your new you know those uh pumpkin spice lattes that I hate so much and I don't like them whatever chicks love that stuff they do yeah not not interested not interested but that is going to do it for this 53 man roster prediction no news or anything on this show again we will be recording later today to go over the third and final preseason game be looking forward to that dropping either late tonight or tomorrow morning and we can't thank you guys enough for listening or watching if you're on YouTube reminder to like and follow on Facebook Twitter Instagram Tik Tok and YouTube subscribe ring the bell it's free it don't cost you a thing don't forget the festar reviews on Apple podcast with this man share the show with a friend find Steelers fans out there let's make some friends let's make some family and this is James and Cody signing off [Music] Peace by the lake now it's time I wait for you you are get it time that Steelers by the lake now it's time [Music]