Dream Steelers free agent targets: Are Chris Jones, Mike Evans, L’Jarius Sneed worth a gamble?

In his weekly YouTube appearance, Post-Gazette sports columnist Paul Zeise joins host Adam Bittner to discuss dream NFL free agency targets for the Steelers. Players who are unlikely to sign here but who could fill major positions of need if GM Omar Khan is willing to take an all-in type of gamble. Does Post-Gazette insider Gerry Dulac’s pick of Chiefs standout Chris Jones make the most sense if he avoid the franchise tag? What about other front-seven options like Leonard Williams, Christian Wilkins, Josh Allen, Jonathan Greenard, Patrick Queen, Chase Young and Za’Darius Smith?

Would it be a successful offseason if corners including Jaylon Johnson, Brian Burns, Kendall Fuller, L’Jarius Sneed or Jeff Okudah were the only major acquisitions? Or could the offense use the boost of a receiver like Mike Evans or a center like Andre James?

Our duo tackles those topics, as well as Diontae Johnson’s trade value; coach Mike Sullivan’s job security amid the Penguins’ recent futility; Pitt basketball’s March Madness chances after a blowout loss to Wake Forest; Penn State trustees’ attempts to name the field at Beaver Stadium after Joe Paterno; and the Pirates’ lackluster development regime under GM Ben Cherington.

For more sports, visit post-gazette.com.

Hello everybody it is Thursday in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania my name is Adam bner assistant sports editor for multimedia at the Pittsburgh Post cazette back with post at sports columnist Paul Zeiss for our weekly Zeiss is Right video we are talking dream Steelers free agents today guys they’re probably not going to be able to

Sign but you know what we only got a couple weeks to get to free agency might as well at least talk about the topic while we can um Paul how are you I’m doing good I’m doing good I got nice sunny day out it always makes it a lot

Easier doesn’t it yeah absolutely it’s it’s not just sunny it’s a little bit warm out so uh I think we’re getting that early spring punksatony Phil promised so that’s that’s good stuff we’re also gonna get into some penguins um are they toast after the last week

Paul and I talked about that last week the six game stretch being really important um they’ve now lost three out of four during that stretch can they get into pit basketball a little bit as they come down the stretch here is there March Madness hope still alive after the

Lost of we Forest then maybe we’ll get into some pirates in Penn State as well before we do just want to thank our primary sponsor for this episode and every episode of the Zeiss is right uh video here on the postet sports now YouTube channel P windows indoors of

Pittsburgh there’s no better place to get new windows indoors installed in your home than Pella who can help you save on energy costs year round schedule a free inhome consultation with your local Pelin is endo to find the right product for your home and budget give

Them a call 866 5931 1560 to discuss your project further that’s 866 5931 1560 to get started planning on your new windows and doors installation with Pella Windows doors of Pittsburgh um all right Paul let’s get into it Jerry Dak raised my eyebrow in his chat today

Someone asked him if the if the Steelers were going to put all of their free agent money into one guy this off season what would that look like for him Jerry quickly pooo the idea said they’re not going to do that but if they did I would

Put all my chips in the middle of the table on Chris Jones um from the Kansas City Chiefs multiple times Super Bowl champion an integral part of of what they’re doing out there in Kansas City um I guess I’ll start there Paul what do you what’s your reaction to hearing

Jerry say that in his weekly chat on postgazette.com and is there one name that you have in mind that you would say yeah that’s worth pushing all the chips in the middle of the table for well I would tell you um obviously Chris Jones would be a really good addition to the

Steelers could you imagine if they added him and you’ve got Watt and high Smith and uh I mean I guess technically you probably still would have Cam Hayward too um that would be a front seven for for the ages in many many ways so uh I

Could live with that um I think that’s pretty good I didn’t see the list who who are like the top receivers on the list because obviously you know that you and I have been talking about this for at least a year whoever the top I mean Tyler Boyd obviously would be but there

Might even be better guys than him on the board but yeah it’s it’s actually kind of sparse Paul honestly in terms of like the top 50 free agents I looked at the um the list from cbs.com and then I compared it to spot rack um and their

Projections of what the market value for some of these guys is um the big names I found uh Mike Evans 23.8 million he’s he would be leaving the bucks but there’s a suggestion the franchise tag could be used there Calvin Ridley of the Jaguars at 17 million Hollywood Brown leaving

The Cardinals for his market value is projected to be about 14.8 million Michael Pitman I believe was was on that list as well but I didn’t even write him down because it seems widely expected that they will use the franchise tag to keep him in Indianapolis to any of those

Names tickle your fancy um Paul if they end up being on the open market and are not franchise tagged well I’ll say this if they could get Mike Evans that would obviously change their team a little bit um now he’s the most expensive one which

Is a problem but on that list he seems like he’s the best one too um he he would give them a lot of different things they need in the passing game and again if you’re not going to spend your money on a quarterback spend your money on somebody that’s going to

Catch the ball uh but if you bring in a guy like Mike Evans I I would tell you this much he would be a guy that you could put on the outside you could move Deontay Johnson to the inside and you have pickings on the other side that would significantly

Change my thoughts about the uh uh uh wide receiver position of of the Steelers as well as um the number of weapons that whoever the quarterback is would have to you know at his disposal did any of those other names Intrigue you I think Calvin Ridley’s interesting to me just because he’s

Coming coming off of that big gambling suspension we haven’t really seen him be particularly relevant for a while maybe you could get a bit of a break on him um but then I think further down the list Paul Maris Brown doesn’t do anything for me he does nothing for me uh Michael

Pitman I I think he could be a nice receiver I don’t know if he gives you a whole lot that’s different than than Deontay though I mean my perception of him is solid rout Runner um you know can can make some plays but he’s not going

To be a game-breaking type of guy that I think you want to allocate a whole bunch of salary cap to um with so many other needs on this team well yeah I mean again that that’s the most important thing is if you’re gonna allocate a lot of money to a guy

You better make sure he’s gonna be a playmaker or going to be different or an upgrade over the things that you already have and that’s why I went with Mike Evans I mean why not go to me why not go with the one I think at least on that

List uh I know he’s getting old or I know that he’s getting a little bit long in the tooth but I also know he’s pretty productive you know and had some really big games for them last year he can still be that guy and um you know Ridley

To me I don’t know he’s he’s a they never seem to do well with these Reclamation projects right and he’s not a straight Reclamation project but anytime you you miss a season or you miss a l a large chunk of a season for a nonf football releas uh re uh nonf

Football reason uh those guys don’t tend to very do do very well when they get back uh at least um you know some you know some do some don’t I I don’t know I just would stay clear of that I just really would I I I I would go for Mike

Evans so it’s pretty much Mike Evans or or nothing for you in terms of these free agent now we should say there’s guys further down the list that they be interested in they might sign we’re not talking about that today we’re talking about guys at the top of the market that

That you’d be talking about risking a lot of money on yeah that’s what you said I mean that’s that’s why I went with on that list I would go with uh I I would probably go with um Mike Evans but there’s a couple of those other guys

That I wouldn’t mind having you know but I thought I thought the question was who would you most want and so that’s why I said that’s why I said Mike Evans is the guy on that list I would want more than any of them I agree let’s move on to the

Cornerback Market um some interesting names there uh lerus sne I think is at the top of the list from the Chiefs but that gets complicated with you know what happens with Chris Jones if they do tag Chris Jones then you figure lerus need will be available um if they find a way

To extend Jones without having to franchise tag him which has been the suggestion then it’s it’s pretty likely that Kansas City would probably use the franchise tag on Sneed and therefore he wouldn’t be available but just for the sake of this conversation let’s say larius needs available at 16.3 million

According to spot rck projecting his market value Jaylen Johnson from the Bears I believe the Steelers were connected to him around the the trade deadline so I find that one interesting spot expects him to make 15.7 million Brian Burns from the Panthers 21.7 Kendall Fuller from the commanders

At 14.1 and then Jeff okuda from the Falcons at 14.7 any of those names and prices Intrigue you Paul well I think uh any of the guys that are right around 15 million right there was like two or three of them that were right around 15

Million if you could get one of those guys at that price um I think so but I I don’t know that you can go much higher than that because again Adam think about how much money you’re already spending on your defense you know when you uh when you

Spend money on your offense uh when you spend money on a receiver I mean that’s your offense and if you think about it ‘ve got young players with with you know rookie contracts or whatever all across the board on offense but on defense man

If you had a 20 to$ 25 million player on on that defense I just don’t know how you’re going to be you know make it sustainable at all um because regardless of what happens this year you’re probably gonna have to start paying a quarterback over the next couple of years um

So um what’s uh to me I I look at it and say there was I think three guys that you mentioned that were right around 15 million right is that yeah we had Jaylen Johnson at 15.7 Kendall Fuller 14.1 Jeff okuda 14.7 and then Sneed was on the

Higher end at 16.3 right one of those four any of those four really one of those four um it to me that’s about the range that you want to be in uh and if you’re paying them that that means they’ve been they’ve been productive on a level that they’re going to get paid

Um I would say any of those four I would take because I think that’s the most important position really uh on the defense in terms of if you’re looking to fill a Hole uh and you can’t get Chris Jones corner is a place where you’re G to spend money so you’d be comfortable

With those guys be if if they were the only big offseason name Paul you’d be comfortable with any of those four names and and you maybe you spend a couple million here a couple million there but that’s the only big name you’re getting this this offseason is one of those corners

No because like I said if I had my DRS I would sign a receiver before that sure sure yeah but let’s just pretend you don’t get Mike Evans yeah okay if you don’t get Mike Evans yes if they if they come in with one of those four guys and

That’s their big offseason moves I would be okay with it because I think that’s absolutely a position of need I think it’s a position where you’re you’re okay spending a little bit of money um I think that you know and I and I don’t have right in front of me how old all

Those guys are um but I would I would take whichever guy uh is on the youngest side there um that you might be able to get three or four really good years out of and and that’s who that’s that’s the direction I would go um because theoretically receiver is my first

Priority I know it’s not a lot of other people’s first priority and if you could get a Chris Jones obviously that’s different but realistically looking at that number for that position considering you have a a rookie on the other side who’s making a second round pick who’s making peanuts

Absolutely I do that I go after that no question about it let me throw some front seven guys at you Paul these are mostly outside linebackers or defensive ends um some some interior guys but not a whole bunch uh Leonard Williams from the Seahawks at 16.7 Christian Wilkins from the Dolphins

At 20.2 million according to spot rack Josh Allen from the Jaguars I think he’s going to be one of the biggest names on this free agent Market uh sparra has him at 23.9 so just under 24 uh Jonathan greenard um from the Texans at 13.4 Patrick Queen from the Ravens at 18.5 I

Know a lot of Steelers fans have talked about him um just like they’ve talked a lot about Sneed um so he’s the name Chase Young from the 49ers at 13 point million and then zidus Smith from the Browns at 12.4 if any of those guys are available Paul um

Where do you where do you put them on the list of desirability and um going out and getting them as the only major acquisition of the offseason possibly from a free agency well here’s the thing I’ll tell you a guy like Chase young uh at 13 million is probably

Realistic right somewhere in that neighborhood and I’m not necessarily saying him there were two or three guys there that were in that 13 to4 million range obviously Chase young we have we know he’s got the uh the ties to to Tomlin because of that NFL films or

Whatever but to me um that’s really the neighborhood I’d be going in and looking for if I’m going to upgrade that position and I can’t swing for the fences and get one of the best uh on the list I mean to me I think 13 million is

About where I would really try and end up um because you know you’re getting a good player who maybe isn’t an elite player um but maybe has the opportunity to try and be an elite player or the ability to so um I’ll just say cha Chase young but it’s more about the salary

Figure um and those two or three guys that are comparable salary-wise to them the one name I’ll Circle back on Paul ask you what you think about this is um Leonard Williams from the Seahawks at 16.7 that’s substantially more than than you’re saying as as 13 being you know

Where you would be ideally but he’s pretty good in the middle of the defense is that someone that you maybe think a little bit more about as as a potential you know run stopper in addition to providing you help with the pass rush uh well yeah I mean I guess the

Thing the thing about it is uh I guess let’s see it would have been a year ago a year and a half ago um they they really struggled against the Run didn’t they Adam I mean they had a hard time they really were not very good against

The run and at times this year it creeped in um so clearly if you have a guy that’s got that skill set and it’s only G to cost you three million more yeah I could live with that I actually think that would be a smart acquisition

Um but if you do that you’re probably not going to be able to do anything else or do much of anything else because that’s a pretty sizable cap hit um and that’s a pretty s sizable contract um but what we’ve seen from this defense is

They got better as the year went on I think they got better against the Run much better against the Run um so it’s still dedicated on them getting to the quarterback and any of those $13 million guys they’re going to get to the quarterback um but so that would be at

The top end of the guys that I would probably look at 16.5 or seven million or whatever it is just because I think that if you sign someone to that big of a deal it’s going to be really difficult to fit anybody else in uh under your

Umbrella given where they’re at with the cap how do you value those any of those guys compared to the the corners I think you and I agree Mike Evans probably not the number one guy here we’re talking about if you could go get him but if he’s probably not available would you

Rather have one of those guys than than a corner or would you rather have the corners uh I want a corner I mean you know to me I want a corner and I want a a receiver those are the two if I’m the guy if I I’m obviously Center um and and

And and you know if you can find a tackle that’s capable of starting right away maybe but to me corner and receiver are the two positions that I think have the most glaring need that you can probably fix the easiest by just going out and getting a plug-and playay guy that’s

Gonna help you do it the last guy I wanted to ask you about Paul was Andre James the center from the Raiders uh CBS ranked him as the number 25 free agent available above a Patrick Queen above a Chase young um above some several of these guys that

We’ve talked about um they spyre unfortunately does not have a projection on how much he’d make but let’s just say hypothetically you can pay a cent or 10 million um to come in here rather than having to invest draft capital in a Max Powers Johnson or Zack Frasier um does

Does that interest you at all as as potentially the big free agent acquisition for the offseason um well the thing about it is if you again you you spent so little money on offense that you could probably get away with and afford paying a little bit more

Money for a center than probably you’re comfortable right um I think that’s always the key I look at it like that I mean Adam all of these discussions people have you know and of course you know on Sports Talk Radio which obviously you know that I do uh and

Everything else and you’ve got to create content discussions I always try and step back and say how much is it going to cost and I look at it in terms of building a team based on salaries and all that other stuff so uh to me your offense you have an offensive you you

Have a tackle that’s on a rookie deal you have a your other tackle on a rookie deal so you know if you want if you want to put a little bit more money into your Center and go out and get it get somebody that’s ready to Plug and Play

And and and and I would I would prefer that actually over a draft choice for sure yeah I think that’s that’s a a pretty compelling narrative Paul especially when you consider um the the guy in question um is only 26 Andre James so 285 I think he’s got some

Athleticism to him so he’s someone that could could be a fixture for you maybe not for another 10 years but but maybe you could get five to seven out of him um and have that position kind of locked down for the future I think that’s a

Name certainly to watch you know even if the the Steelers do go out and get um you know some other guys at substantial numbers I’d be looking at at Andre James Paul let’s get into into the Penguins here in a little bit I want to ask one more question on the Steelers Deontay

Johnson um Jerry was asked about him in his chat uh he said most of your Post Gazette colleagues don’t expect him to sign another deal with the Steelers and if that’s the case if he doesn’t resign with the Steelers sign another extension should they consider trading him this

Off season which is you know pretty much right now um what are your thoughts on on that Paul given how much you and I talk about receivers um and and how little the Steelers have Beyond him other than really George Pickins I think George Pickins is the only proven commodity that you’d have

Left at that position um do do you have any feelings on on Deontay Johnson’s future and how he could fit into this puzzle we’re talking about of of getting some of these other pieces in here well on one hand I don’t know how you can afford to get you know to

Offload a receiver uh at this point because I don’t think you have enough I I would say I would not give him an extension but I would probably look into uh keeping them around for a year um and then maybe you know using even though it’s a big number maybe using the

Franchise tag on them although I probably wouldn’t do even do that um what I would try and do is get one year out of them and then sort of see where we’re at at the end of the year if you can work on an extension that kind of

Works for you meaning he’s gonna have to take a discount maybe I give him a three-year deal uh but right now the P the Steelers aren really if you think about it they’re not in a position to really uh uh uh part ways with a receiver especially one that’s reasonably productive uh that’s

Their issue because if you you know were to move on from him now you’ve got even one more receiver you probably are going to need about three coming into the team in the off season now you’d be talking about another one I think that’s that’s a tall task so I probably would would

Would be very cautious about trading him if someone blew me away with an offer maybe uh but I would just basically say uh we’re going to play out this season and sort of see where we stand if it’s a second round pick Paul and you could say

We’re gonna we’re gonna pick a receiver in the second round I I mean is that what you would consider getting blown away or would you need more than that I mean that’s I would say you know I would want more than that maybe a second and a third right

Um a second might not do it for me I think long and hard about it but what I’m talking about B blown away I’m talking about okay you you put something on the table that I basically can’t refuse yeah yeah and I you know listen they got a second rounder for Chase

Claypool so I guess that’s probably not such a ridiculous you know question Paul is could they get more than that chase Claypool stinks and they got a second rounder for him so I if you could get a second and third second and fourth um I think a second and third would be what

That would be two top 100 players if you plug in a receiver sign a receiver um I think you could address that position pretty quickly a lot of people are talking about Tyler Boyd um I can see that but I agree with you you got to be

Sure what you’re getting um Paul we’re gonna do get into the Penguins here and what’s going on with them just want to thank one more sponsor pit Johnstown it’s a pit quality education with up close and personal learning a top ranked Northeast public College by US News and World Report generous scholarships and

Financial a are available located on 655 picturesque Acres with easy access to the city center including shopping and dining a vibrant campus life with an active D2 athlete Community Check out pit Johnstown today Paul um we I teased it at the top of the show we said last

Week this six game stretch with what five games at home was going to be vitally important for the Penguins before the trade deadline here in determining whether they’re buyers or sellers they’ve won one out of four so far losing overtime on Tuesday night to the Islanders they’re way out of a

Playoff spot I think it’s eight points they got a million teams to climb over do you see them as toast at this point even if they win these next couple games yeah I mean I don’t understand what we’re doing now at this point I you

Know I know Cal dubis uh was speaking to the media I didn’t get to see all of his quotes I saw enough of them to understand that he seems like a guy who might even be handcuffed a little bit in what he can do and he’s also handcuffed

A little bit because he’s got the three stars that have become Untouchable because of their contracts and and the uh no no movement Clause but the the the Penguins I think are top five in goal tending this year leang I’m sorry malan leang and Crosby all three of them have

Played I mean so 20 what are they they got 70 or 60 they’ve played 54 games or whatever 54 games they’ve played you know they’ve all been healthy for a overwhelming majority of those games stars are healthy goal tending is good good right um you you you you’re playing

More responsible on defense than you ever have and yet you’re still 8 points behind what does that tell you you’re probably just not good enough and so to me if if they wanted to be smart about it I mean they would basically strip it down and and and try

And and rebuild K get it kickstarted again I bet you I bet you Sydney Crosby would be willing to stay there uh and be a part of it um you know but to me this thing where every single year we’re you know now we’re now we’re down to applauding

Effort and uh you know process and all this other stuff that doesn’t mean wins and that’s the problem to me you know they they you you have to want to move forward and the only way you do that right now is take a little step back uh

And then hope that you circle the wagons and then you start going on and get get back to your next run of you know Stanley Cups or whatever what what should they do first Paul should they fire Mike Sullivan and get a new voice in there or should they

Blow the whole thing up and keep Mike Sullivan because um you know one thing I’ve I’ve heard a lot is well you can’t really blame Mike Sullivan because the players want to play the way they’re G to play and he’s more or less just letting especially that core of malcol

Crosby and lat Tang do what they got to do and and that you know the suggestion was those three guys aren’t going to want to play for anyone else they’re not going to listen to anyone else um but if they’re not listening to you know if they need to play differently and

They’re not listening to their current coach then what good is Mike Sullivan doing there after you know all these years now without a playoff series Victory I mean it’s a similar conversation what we have with with with Mike Sullivan so I I guess for you Paul

If you had to pick what they’re GNA do this off season is the first move of trying to jump start this thing would you rather see them make a bunch of Trades would you rather see them try to get a different voice in there there with the existing core and see what

Happens well I mean I I would I would have moved on from Mike Sullivan already if that’s what you’re asking me I I what should they do they should move on from Mike Sullivan they should talk to leang and Malin and see if they can you know

Convince them to to let them uh move their contracts off the books I probably would even get rid of Brian Ross I would get rid of gel uh I would try and trade everybody I could trade to get draft qu you know capital and prospects back and basically try and rebuild the entire

Organization top to bottom now that’s probably not going to happen they’re not going to do that to Mike Sullivan and so what’s realistic what’s realistic is they get rid of Jake gensel they trade him you know they maybe make one or two other tweaks with the roster

But I fully expect at the end of the off season uh when we start into training camp it’ll be the Penguins with the same coach the same assistant coaches and pretty much the same cast of characters on the ice that’s that that right there is my predictions yeah I just don’t it’s not

Gonna work I mean I think you got to make some kind of some kind of major change and to me this was this was brought up I was listening to the fan on the way home um you know they said either either they’re not being coached well right now or they’re being coached

Well and and they’re not the players aren’t listening and and that still reflects poorly on the coaches um so that’s why I kind of look at Mike Sullivan as a guy who has been on scholarship I think for way too long Paul let’s do a couple rapid fire topics

Here to wrap up uh pickets blown out by Wake Forest on Tuesday night has this shaken your confidence about their ability to make the tournament or is even a team that has been as hot as they have lately are they gonna have an off night between here and and selection

Sunday the problem that pit has is in losing that game they B basically gave himself no more margin for air that’s the problem that they have so they’re going to have to run the table and even running the table they might not be there um they’re going to need some help

From other bubble teams um but if they lose a game Adam it’s it’s EP it’s absolutely over uh they do have a chance for a quad one win on the road against Clemson so if they went out that would be a really big big piece of their

Resume that might be enough to keep them right ins the cut line but they have no one really um to blame but themselves because they lost all those games in December you know and they were when they started the ACC what was it one and five or one and

Six so their margin for air was completely uh you know was was short uh to begin with and and and that that meant you know every time they lose a game well it knocks them back down the hill a little bit and I thought you know

The Tuesday night game was was sort of puzzling because they got beat in every as expect in every phase of the game and I just didn’t I thought we were beyond that where they would get dominated like that and they did you know now I’ve got questions about them they play Virginia

Tech uh uh coming up here I mean Virginia Tech ain’t great but you know what they they could beat you and uh so it’s G to be really difficult I think for pit because they do have no margin for air but if they win out they can do

It uh Paul you wrote a column about the attempts by some Penn State trustees and I’m going to name them because they should be named every single time we talk about this because it’s not everybody at Penn State it’s some specific people Jay pno Anthony lubrano

Ted Brown the same the same old cast of characters Paul has been doing this for a decade now um I did my rant on the topic on our Thursday video with Seth angle our Penn State or excuse me our Wednesday video with Seth angle um the Penn State video so if you haven’t

Checked that out please do it’s about Midway through the video Paul I’m GNA give you the floor um about you know how counterproductive is this to be focusing on Joe pno when you’ve lost to Ohio State and Michigan three years in a row when it’s the wild west of nil all kind

Of money’s getting flown around and and you’re still talking about Joe yeah I mean that’s a terrible look and this is the way I put it Adam I don’t get invol people want to argue with me about what you know Joe knew and what he didn’t know when he knew it and

All I think all of that stuff is irrelevant here’s what’s relevant his right-hand man for 20 or 21 years or whatever it was a guy who was very tight with a guy who was on his staff that he oversaw was arrested and convicted of 45 counts of some you know sexual abuse of

Children or whatever um I’m sorry if you’re Joe pno fair or not that’s a part of your legacy that’s a stain on your legacy that’s always going to be there and so given all the things that are going on in college athletics and the sensitivity about a lot of things I’m

Not even sure why you’re talking about this right now like I don’t know what happened that you felt like the need to throw it out there but it’s it’s absurd it really is absurd you you know to me they they have to re-evaluate I guess every so often how

They can keep his legacy alive as a football coach without triggering all the people that have gone through that or victims families and everything else and you know that’s why you can’t name the stadium after them you know can’t be yeah I I agree Paul and and I agree

Wholeheartedly that it it’s especially like it does his legacy doesn’t matter to this conversation to me at all it’s it’s about what does Penn State need right now what Penn State needs is a rabid fan base that is willing like look at what Michigan just did they they

Stole possibly stole signs Jim harw was suspended for half the season you know pushing the envelope and and where’s Michigan’s president out there defending him vociferously every member you know it’s everyone in Michigan is swimming in the same direction and and it almost feels like this is this is there’s still

A contingent of people that want to bring joea back as the coach and and that that’s you know what I mean as if as if they can bring him back from the dead and and he he’ll he’ll be the coach or sometimes I feel like Jay pno thinks

That he deserves this um with the way he he treats his dad’s Legacy and I’ll be honest Paul I think a lot of people regardless of of what you thought about Joe pno in 2012 and 2013 I think J pno has only done damage right like I think he’s taken you know

Some people didn’t like what jopa did and that’s fine some people wanted to defend him and they can do that as well but I think that J pno has basically turned Joe pno into a punchline because every time you hear his name now everybody just rolls their eyes for the most part

Well there’s no question and uh Scott pno probably didn’t help batters at all either uh th those too and I get it they want to keep their dad’s Legacy alive but um there’s a time and place for it and there’s the right way to go about it

But this thing where every single time someone comes down the pike that wants to do something the fact that Jay pno is the guy that’s jumping out in front of the cameras I mean that tells me everything I need to know about really what his motivations are um and and and

And I just when it comes to you know college presidents are going to defend their coaches for the most part when it comes to stuff like this but honestly I’m not sure this is one that you want to go so far out on a limb that you really got you know you’re

Going to defend and have the back of your coach as I’ve said before I think the most important thing you have to do is hook up with um hook up with your trustees and some other people and maybe come up with an idea on how you can in a

Lesser way still honor Joe pno the football coach’s Legacy you know I don’t know maybe just put the statue back up but you don’t want the the the centerpiece of your football program and the centerpiece of your you know of your campus essentially you know Beaver Stadium you don’t want

That to become patno Stadium where everybody has to recite that every single time they’re talking about that Stadium you know uh when you when when you have a guy that is linked to 45 counts of uh 45 counts of child sexual abuse if you want to put the statue back

Up Paul put it put it on the only building that is associated with Joe pater right now put it down at the library and talk about you know if you want to talk about what a humanitarian joea was during his career then put it down at the library that still has his

Name on it and let’s move on um in terms of the Pirates I wanted to wrap up with this Paul the athletic Stephen Nesbit our former colleague um published an extensive article on um the conflicts within Ben sherrington’s Pirates Bob nutting’s Pirates however you want to couch them um that that the development

Sometimes is getting caught between the kind of Human Side um and you know the traditional baseball coaching in the analytics there was talk about some guy from the Netherlands who is a movement coach and and how they’ve kind of focused on all that um a lot of people

Kind of greeted it as well listen we knew they the Pirates weren’t developing well this isn’t you know rocket science not other people I think were sometimes shocked by some of the details that came out what was your reaction and and um you know does this go back to what you

And I have been talking about on the show all winter really going back into last season of Ben charrington’s development regime clearly has problems and and whether we know that the details or not um that that’s kind of borne out by by the results at the major league level

Well I I I mean I got to start this by saying I didn’t read that article I didn’t see I mean I I it’s as we as we speak it just kind of came out what maybe a few hours ago so I haven’t had a chance to read it um and everything that

I’ve seen about it it would suggest that it’s a lot of more of the same which is you know the development of prospects the development of players has not always necessarily been the number one priority of this regime um and so all of the anecdotes that I have seen

None of them surprise me is that is the best way I could tell you none of them really surprise me all the anecdotes that I’ve seen um but I I I think that you know it probably is more of an article the way that it was uh the way that it

Was sold it was like this is going to be some sort of bombshell article when the reality is it’s probably just sort of more of reinforcing what we kind of thought was going on behind the scenes right I mean I don’t know that there was it doesn’t seem like there was a whole

Lot of new ground that was broken in this article so um listen at at the end of the day they have not done well enough developing players and Prospects and that is something you absolutely need to be able to do if you’re a low a small Market

Team so uh whatever whatever has been done they need to sort of move off of that and really work hard now on trying to uh uh uh get better in that aspect of of their uh of their organization yeah I think the thing for me Paul is is just

That it’s felt like Ben shington in some quarters has been above question for for the last five years because well you know they were Neil Huntington’s players and you got to stalk the whole system with Ben sharington players before you can be critical of him and this feels

Like the first year that some of some of these people that have just relentless ly defended him as needing more time needing more time have even entertained the idea that maybe the development has not been good for a period of years and and I you know I look back at when Cole

Tucker got got cut it was very quiet it was very hush hush not a whole lot of people talked about it but to me he was a former number one pick and the fact that they couldn’t they couldn’t figure him out they couldn’t figure any number of guys out from the Huntington regime

Should have been to me I think a signal that maybe these guys in their development chops that that you know Bob nning Travis Williams were T touting when they hired him aren’t as good as as to to put him above question for as long as he’s kind of just gotten to

Skate well again um I think one of the things that’s that’s always amazing when it comes to the Pirates is that people decide who is going to be the villain before they know the facts of the story that’s almost always how it works because there are certain people that um

Are are our favorites or are not our favorites um and the thing about it is if you go back to Neil Huntington taking over for David Littlefield think about the number of David Littlefield guys that were left over that turned into something for Neil Huntington so I don’t necessarily buy

You know the fact that you know charington should get a pass uh because they’re not his guys and all that other stuff um there I I guarantee you there are good players and there’s some talent in the miners and there was some when he uh took over and now we’re in what year

Four year five whatever it is at some point it’s got to start producing results I agree it better be this year or there’s gonna have to be a lar larger conversation had Paul any final thoughts on the week before we sign off here no not really this just it looks

Like it’s really nice out maybe Adam it looks like it might uh start becoming golf here golf weather here a little bit I was about to say I think you got to go out and play a couple rounds Paul yeah I I definitely will if it stays like this

For a few days for sure well hey everyone enjoy the weather if you haven’t already please subscribe to the channel we’re going to have a lot more uh Steelers talk in particular for the rest of the week Christopher Carter will be back with the Northshore Drive on

Friday I’ll be back on Saturday I believe with Brian beo to do our uh weekly Steelers mock draft tracker video talking about all the prospects getting mocked to the Steelers this week um and then Paul and I will be back next Thursday as well so make sure you

Subscribed make sure you like this video If you enjoyed it help us out in the YouTube algorithm and we’ll talk to you all again real soon all right man we’ll see you thanks thank you for checking out this content from Post Gazette sports if you watch this video on YouTube please like

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