Steelers NFL draft: Will Troy Fautanu start at LT or RT? Beanie Bishop among UDFAs to watch?

Friday here on the Northshore Drive podcast there's a lot of questions around around Steeler Nation and Steelers fans about where Troy falanu is going to start on the offensive line we'll talk about that and a lot more including the undrafted free agents who the Steelers have brought in who might step up and become one of those unsung Steelers that that get more contributions later in their career more than that here on the Northshore Drive podcast for the Pittsburgh Post cazette Chris Carter Brian batco let's get into it you are now listening to the Northshore Drive podcast a show on all things Pittsburgh sports from the writers of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette hosted by Christopher [Music] Carter hello and welcome to the Northshore Drive podcast from the Pittsburgh Post cazette I'm your host Chris Carter here with Brian batco and as and as always you can find the show on your favorite podcasting apps and on YouTube like this video if you enjoy it subscribe to this channel to get all of our Monday Wednesday Friday episodes of the Northshore Drive podcast as well as all the daily content that comes out from all of our Pittsburgh sports Riders here at the Pittsburgh Post cazette and REM as always a reminder we are sponsored by the amazing place that is Mike's beer bar the best bar all in Pittsburgh when you go to Mike's beer bar they're on the NorthShore right across street from BMC park there were 500 different available beers 300 of those beers for the local Pittsburgh area and 80 of those local beers are available on tap go we'll have more on them later Brian bco is here with me it's Friday we're kicking it we don't have to worry about the draft anymore we're not doing any more mock drafts dual mon drafts all that kind of stuff it's our first time talking since the draft Chris seems like it seems like it was ages ago now but I I just I don't know about you but I know in my final seven round mock for the PG put up a big o0 for 0 for seven this year after getting two last year but I'd say if you can average one correct pick a year that's that's about the best weekend hope for although the Steelers getting more predictable these last couple seasons in their draft picks if you just if you just have every pre-draft if you have a pre-draft visitor for them at every pick your odds of getting some right go way up you you do and they they they have a process and it's kind of one that we kind of gotten used to I will point out that in our in our full first round mock two I beat you by a single point oh did you okay but here's a bonus point for me at least well we didn't talk about the second round on that show but the one that I filed for the Post Gazette in print uh I had or no yeah it would have been on it I had Keon Coleman go to the bills I just thought it was gonna be in the first round not the second so right I'll take that as like a consolation prize of some sort a yeah that would that would tie you up so actually yes then we're we're tied there uh though shout out to Jenna Hunter I did a a full first round mock with her and she got fanu to the Steelers right and I'm like like second year in a row for Jenna she also had brri Jones yep yep yep I had brck last year but she's but she's been on the money for two years in a row that's that's pretty cash money for Jenna hner anyways let's talk about brck Jones because we also that also lead to talking about Troy falanu because there's a lot of talk right now about where each of these guys will play on the Steelers offensive line Troy fanu played left tackle for Washington uh BR Rick Jones played right tackle for most of last season for the Steelers and granted I'll be that was partly because of the limitations of Dan Moore but many people are reasonably wondering where they'll be but as we also know Troy falano played left tackle for for Washington with a left-handed quarterback and Michael pennx brussell Wilson is not a left-handed quarterback so the typical left tackle when there's a right-handed quarterback is The Blindside protector they're the one you want as the the longer bodied a longer armed guy who can be more of a pass protector which is what brck Jones was drafted to be whereas the right tackle in a with right-handed quarterback is more about being a run blocker getting out in front of things and setting the tone there and to me and I I said this night of the draft you can go back and watch our live stream when I when we when I was sitting there with Joe Stark When Alan was pick I said this guy is the starting right tackle there's no there's no questions about it I know tomlin's not gonna say that say that from the jump they're going to leave that open to the public but I'm telling I'm telling people he is the right tackle of the future Brian am I overlooking anything by just by by thinking that's just the plan here that they're going to put in place I think that's the plan probably because yeah I mean you you just invested a top 15 picking a guy a year ago for a certain spot and you're on record Omar Khan this offseason saying the plan is to move him to back to his natural left tackle position eventually but we also know plans can change and you didn't necessarily know how the draft was going to break for you when you made that comment if you're Omar and brri himself last year I think kind of walked the line of yeah he sort of reminded people like hey I been a left tackle all my life that's where I'm most comfortable if I had to choose I would choose left but I'm also good with wherever they want to put me and I'll work my butt off to try to be the best player I can be there so you know obviously he was a good soldier so to speak going to the right side and and it gave him a chance to start and play as a rookie in place of CHS a COR for but I will say number one it is still a projection because Fon who didn't play the right side in college it's always easy to sit here as you know amateur Scouts and even for the pro Scouts and say ah he'll be able to get it he'll be just fine flipping over but that you have to see it in practice as well I mean we we said the same thing about Kevin doson going from Right Guard in college to left guard clearly he was more comfortable uh at his natural College position you know guard to Center's different but and we still had those same ideas about Kendrick green he'll be all right Dan Moore even is an example of when he was drafted nobody expected him to start from day one so a lot of the people out there in the analyst Community who thought okay he's like a fourth fifth sixth round guy he'll learn to be a swing tackle and that'll be sort of his NFL role well he hasn't swung you know they they sort of experimented with him at times at at right but you know clearly uh he's settled in on the left side and he himself has admitted that it's it's not the easiest transition for him so I say all that to say you know just number one you are still taking a little bit of a leap of faith in Fon who doing that maybe he'll be one of those linemen hey left right outside inside it doesn't matter I'll get my feet right I'll be fine whatever and then the second part of it too though Chris sort of to the Natural traditional skill sets of tackles that you mention yes I think fanu can can certainly do both but I mean you usually see that right tackle be a bigger stronger guy who's just going to kind of plow ahead in the Run game that's brri Jones's strength at least right now in his career that is a good point he certainly can develop and you know that was the the kind of potential that you saw on his traits last year at draft time that made you think he was worthy of the 14th overall pick as a left tackle but at least right now on paper if you're grading out both guys I'd say you're probably grading bradi a little bit higher for being a Difference Maker in the Run game and you know grading him a little bit lower in in terms of pass Pro and fanu I mean yeah I think he can do both but you know he's already uh you know going to be a bit of an outlier in the NFL at his stature for a tackle um what's interesting though is the only guy who's shorter than him right now in the league playing his position is also a right tackle Mike onwenu from New England so I'm sure they'll they'll get it figured out but I mean number one you're going to have to have those discussions on the front end and number two uh it might be kind of tricky figuring out how to deploy guys uh who gets reps with what unit when how often between those three all of are kind of trying to get you know more comfortable at at right tackle to help their position flexibility let's let let's do some projecting here because part of this will be the conversations that go into OTAs and then mini camp and then eventually training camp who gets pole position and where at at at the different tackle positions starting practices because I know for if Dan Moore Jr is taking reps at OTAs at left tackle the entire Steelers Twitter will break they'll be like no this isn't what we wanted and and people are going to like not realize it like hey it's don't mean what what what what's coming it's probably just guys getting used to things but like let's say the start a training camp where do you think guys are lining up first second team right left or otherwise well every indication from Mike tomlin's coaching and and philosophy over the years would tell you it's going to be Dan Moore at left tackle because it's it's always hey come take my job I'm not going to get it you know given away to somebody despite what the draft resources would tell us the last couple years and how they want to upgrade over him and brri Jones at right tackle and now here's where I get into a little bit of you know it's sort of a delicate balance for for the Steelers and their coaches Brodrick Jones is only a second-year guy who started what did it ended up being six or seven games I think it last year Chris oh was it 10 yeah so he started one at left and then yeah um final nine at at right including that playoff game I think so it's not like he's played a ton and he's obviously been pinging back and forth both in practic and in games from left to right I think you want an o line to gel that sort of conventional wisdom and you want a young player who didn't play you know didn't start a lot in college either mind you to get as comfortable as possible in one spot that that whole you know versatility and more you can do stuff like that's that's for the backups that's for the guys who weren't first round picks for the most part and aren't making as much as the entrenched that's kind of what they need to do this the starters want to be starters in a spot so um that'll be interesting to see sort of how they handle brri Jones maybe they'll throw us a curve and brri will be pull position on the left and it'll be hey Dan Moore Sinker swim on the right side if you don't uh we've got 20 overall sitting right behind you ready to step in personally I think that would be the smart move it's like put brck at left stop playing around with Dan it right and you can give Dan Pole Position there for fan to take the job from him but Dan Moore you gotta prove the he's always been more of a of a right like sty stylistically he's he should be more of a right tackle than he than he is left but he's never been able to make it work and that's partially why the Steelers are where they are with this offensive line but we've been talking about the top draft picks for the last two years let's talk about the undrafted guys that are adding to the Steelers we'll talk about the undrafted free agents here and the cornerback situation more here on the Northshore Drive podcast for the Pittsburgh Post cazette but first want to remind you this show is brought to you by Mike's beer bar the best bar all the Pittsburgh when you go to Mike beer bar they have over 500 different available beer 300 of those beers are from the local Pittsburgh area and 80 of those local beers are available on tap they're always switching new ones in and out so you can always get a new experience with new brus every time you go it's an amazing place especially with the weather warming up they got tables outside they got TVs inside whether you want to watch all the sporting events inside or you just want to enjoy hey like you're looking right over at the clementy bridge you're sitting outside of PNC Park chilling at Mike's beer bar it's a great place to spend a summer evening it's with the nights warming up go to Mike's beer bar today they also have amazing food like steak on a stone they have great flat Fred they have great everything there go to Mike's beer bar it's the best B of Pittsburgh when you get there tell them Chris [Music] [Music] Cent back here in the Northshore Drive podcast from the Pittsburgh Post cazette Chris Carter Brian bat go Brian let's talk about the undrafted free agents now um there're you're you're going to just a preview living you're going to have an undrafted free agent that you that that that you're talking to here um the Steelers did add a quarterback to the to the to those list of players there um in John rise plumbley can you tell us a little bit about what you think of this guy from your your talk with him yeah I mean he's part of the reason he's coming here is because the Steelers gave him an opportunity to play back I there's some other teams that looked at his college Journey where he played full-time wide receiver at one point for Old Miss big reason why he transferred to UCF to get back under Center get back to throw in the ball stats don't really jump out at you uh from Orlando I mean he threw for uh almost 2,300 yards last year 15 touchdowns eight picks but also ran for 55 yards and five more scores it's it's more about the athleticism the mobility that he brings to the table and I think he's got a a puncher's chance to make this roster Chris because that's the the type of QBs they have ahead of him on this depth chart so when you're kind of looking at hey do you want your backup to be similar to your starter and then do you want your three to be similar to your two uh plumbley is he's sub six foot he's a lot like Russell Wilson in that way but I think he ran like a 45 at the Big 12 pro day um 4 five1 y yeah again obviously for yeah 451 and dynamic enough that Miss actually switched his position to try to get the most out of him so naturally going to be some questions about hey are you a a starter you know starting caliber armed town in the NFL generally not when every team passes over you and you go undrafted but uh you know he's a he is a versatile athlete and even if he gets a chance first of all at quarterback and hey the Steelers get their eyes on him in person and say it's probably not going to work at this level but if it can work enough that we keep you around to maybe be in some different packages give us some different wrinkles some different looks then maybe that's your ticket to to sticking around but yeah he's going to be an interesting player to watch especially in Camp in preseason in those live moments where he can try to take off try to show his uh you know show off his legs and and see what he can do in that number four QB spot that you know it's it's been overlooked at times guys like Tanner Morgan Chris ol Loken didn't do much with it but a guy like Devin Hodges certainly did so that that's always fun is there any chance that he could be a future slash somehow for the Steelers maybe I mean I wouldn't I wouldn't rule it out I mean I think it at some point you know you do embrace the opportunity to to come in and be focus on quarterback full-time he also played college baseball so he's he's focusing fully on football now really for the first time maybe that'll help unlock something in him as as far as you know the nuances of play in the QB position or maybe he just uh never will be that but you know at a certain point you have to say okay I got my opportunity there now I'm going to lean into my versatility and just you know wear as many hats as they want me to so yeah at least it's a it's a fallback plan for him it's a it's a pretty good plan B uh to be a guy who could you know model himself after a tesm hill type player even if he doesn't necessarily want that comparison on him right now right no absolutely just a little fun thing I just did here real quick uh plumley's relative Athletic score if you switch him to a wide receiver is a 7.33 the Johnson's a 4.6 so I'm not say I'm not saying he would be he's gonna be Dante Johnson I'm just saying he's a good athlete regardless of position and you know playing college two sports at a high level in college basically tells you how well-rounded he is on that front absolutely the next guy I think a lot of people want to talk about is a guy who uh you know has local ties with where he went to college and that's beanie Bishop the defensive back that they drafted out of West Virginia um beanie Bishop ran pretty well he had a 4.39 in the 40 yard dash so he sh off his speed I got to watch him up close in personal uh you know covering pit and you know and pit and play West Virginia playing um but I I think he he's an interesting addition because they didn't really get to go after they did well they they could have but they didn't go after defensive backs in the draft so adding a guy like beanie Bishop gives them an interesting athlete to bring into camp and just see how it goes no doubt even though I'm I'm kind of uh you know buying some stock in the John rice plumbley idea to maybe even beat out Kyle Allen and and make the 53 uh I think beanie Bishop on paper has the best chances of of getting on to the active roster because of makes sense yeah because of what you just mentioned there Chris I mean the Steelers haven't you know I think we talked about this on the last show before the draft everybody was mocking them to take a slot Corner type and and while that made sense they just haven't really invested much in terms of draft resources in that position Trey Norwood was you know the Swiss army knife they called him when they picked him but you know that was a seventh rounder and he played more safety than than inside corner although he was able to do both but with beanie Bishop I think he's purely somebody who he can he can give you that immediately and you got to see if he played on the outside as an undersized 59 guy at West Virginia still made a ton of plays on the ball had two picks against John rice LLY when they matched up uh but one of them was one of them was a freaky drop by a receiver that kind of got kicked up the bishop and the other one he just made a good read and and jumped a route so I mean he and and he picked off a Phil jovic arm punt against pit but hey anytime a DB catches the football they don't ask how they ask how many so exactly you know he had four and 24 pbus led the country All-American he's feisty obviously to to get that much ball production at his size matching up with outside receivers in the Big 12 now this wasn't like he was doing it uh back at Western Kentucky where he started his college career there were some dudes now that he was lining up against I still think you know the Steelers will move him inside uh because that it's going to be even tougher at that stature at the NFL level but you know he's going to be a a make it guy who's just going to have to work his butt off play special teams not surprised he didn't get drafted even with those athletic measurables and in the in the production because he is 24 he is 5'9 but yeah I mean this is I think it was a no-brainer free agent signing and they also had him in here on a pre-draft visit uh clearly liked him enough to to get him in here as a local guy talk to him learn more about his story and I imagine they moved pretty quickly uh to get him here and in an ideal world would would be the next Mike Hilton for the Steelers well that's the thing the Steelers for slot Corner they're trying to find that next Mike Hilton the guy that that that's going to come and be like be like oh everyone doubts me all the time and not that that's a bad thing but like that's what you want in in the you want a feisty you want tough you and I think that's where one thing I see out of Beanie Bishop is that he talks trash he he he knows he tries to get in the opponent's head but he's also like being fired up at all times that's what you want and yes he's 59 but that's acceptable when you're working with a slot quarterback and but he had great flat straight line speed with a 40- yard dash time his explosives and Agility numbers could have been better with his testing but uh totally acceptable for what you want in an NFL slot cornerback and I think that could be an interesting an interesting thing to watch here if they I imagine the Steelers are going to add a another cornerback who could project to be a starter in the slot but if beanie Bishop works as like you said on special teams and then helps there and then maybe he gets some time in the slot he could find his way into being a more of a role guy uh for the Steelers in the slot quarterback real quickly let's go over some of the other guys jacobe winman the linebacker out of Michigan State uh Julius welsha the The Edge Rush from Charlotte uh these are two other guys and of course the Georgia running back dun Edwards uh all three of them being other undrafted free agents um I I think each of these guys are at positions where they're they're the the Steelers aren't needing but these are chances for them like hey let's find a depth replacement guy that maybe works at the at the practice squad level If he if he does well there you're kind of like how like Rodney Williams did as a tight end position yeah I mean for for those guys when you have a tough Hill to climb to to make the team I mean you got to just sort of hope that you make a good impression somehow someway maybe an injury opens up a door for you or maybe you end up on the practice squad and you play the long game to to try to stick around like Rodney Williams did um you know dejon Edwards from Georgia running backs usually have a chance to pop in the preseason and if and if you don't make it here maybe you put up good enough numbers that another team goes and and Scoops you on on Cut Down day uh you know he must be must be okay he scored a bunch for Georgia and and ran for that team so uh but not real I think he ran like a 4740 that that won't get you drafted at running back in today's NFL Julius wela is definitely interesting Germany uh German born guy and you know was at Michigan didn't really get on the field much got the Charlotte got hurt early in his career but 67 like 260 maybe they start him off standing up but maybe put some weight on that guy move him to five technique and uh he's probably going to stick around because uh by virtue of him uh being from Germany he's an international player under the NFL's uh policies and there's now a roster exemption for every team to keep a 17th guy on the practice squad if he's International so good for Julius there and jacobe winman from Michigan State yeah I mean we know how uh how deep they are now an inside linebacker after adding Patrick Queen and and pton Wilson probably going to be tough even for Mark Robinson uh to stay for year three winman uh not not seeing many chances for him there but good luck to him he he he'll be banging heads a lot in training camp I'm sure absolutely something to keep watch there about how this how these undrafted guys go go and who gets opportunities in training camp who Wows there will'll keep you up to date with all up to date with all that also with rookie Camp as that as that comes up there's usually a guy or two who makes it uh from just from getting the try out invite there not necessarily a priority undrafted free agent signing so we'll see absolutely we'll keep you up to date there but with all the young guys we've been talking about we got to talk about the cornerback position because one of the Steelers late picks Ryan Watts kind of adds to a pool of a type of cornerback the Steelers seemed really intent on getting I want to talk more about that and who might emerge from that to be a starting corner for the Steelers in the coming years that more with Brian batco here on the Northshore Drive podcast I'm Chris Carter stick with us we'll be right back thanks for tuning in to another episode of the north swore Drive podcast of the Pittsburgh Post cazette if you're watching this video on YouTube please like the video and subscribe to our YouTube channel for 6 months of digital access to post hypen gazette.com for just $6 click the link Down Below in the description