Steelers' Kenny Pickett Need Changes? Or Perserverance? | Mike Tomlin/Najee Harris Hiding Something?

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey football fans, every Friday check out Lockdown NFL Kickoff Live, a live show hosted by local anchors to Neetra Patisse, Jarvis Davis, and Kyle Crabs. From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Time on any Lockdown NFL YouTube channel, build breakdown every game on the NFL Slay to get you ready for your team's matchup, your fantasy line-ups, betting angles, and more. For the most in-depth local analysis, check out Lockdown NFL Kickoff Live on any Lockdown NFL YouTube channel with our stable of NFL hosts who know these teams better than anyone else. It's a one-stop shop to get you ready for the NFL weekend. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. While the bills are firing their offensive coordinated, the Steelers are still trying to keep to the road they've been on on offense. What must change for Kenny Pickett to work? We'll talk about that in. Why there is something that Mike Tom and Nanjihara seem to be hiding about the run game. That and the return potential return of Pat Fry, all here. On the Wednesday edition of the Lockdown Steelers Podcast, I'm Chris Carter joined by Mike the Fable of the Athletic. It's going to be a fun episode. Let's get into it. You are Lockdown Steelers, your daily Pittsburgh Steelers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to the Lockdown Steelers Podcast. I'm your host Chris Carter bringing you daily those of all things in the Pittsburgh Steelers. As always, you can find the show in your favorite podcasting apps and on YouTube, like this video. If you enjoyed it, subscribe to this YouTube channel to get all of your daily Monday through Friday episodes. As well as our bonus content, we thank you for making the Lockdown Steelers Podcast, your first listen every day, because where your team every day is, today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the follow-up, follow-up light candidates. You want to talk to you faster. Post your job of free at LinkedIn.com slash Lockdown NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash Lockdown NFL Post your job for free for free terms, the conditions apply. That's it before. We're joined by Mike the Fable. He's from the Athletic. He covers the Steelers. He's been on this show multiple times going into this. Mike, it's been an interesting ride this year. Steelers are six and three, and we still haven't seen the Kenny Picket breakout game. Well, Lev has had a four touchdown game, CJ Strauss is entering MVP conversations. We've seen guys have their moments, even Sam Howe has had some days where people have been like, hey, that guy can be really good. We haven't seen it from Kenny Picket yet, and the Steelers seem to be staying the course. Is that a mistake, do you think that they're staying this course and not trying to shake things up more and more, at least from what we can see? Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that like, we expected Kenny to take this big step forward in year two, and I expected there to be higher highs and lower lows. You know, I expected him to have those four TD performances, and then I also expected him to have multiple interception games. We've really not had either one of those. He's mostly been for the most part a game manager, where the best thing you could say about Kenny is he has not turned the football over, and as a result, the Steelers are winning the turnover battle consistently. So you do wonder if there's a way for them to take that next step forward. And we saw the Buffalo Bills as you alluded to. They fired their offensive coordinator. They're going to have the quarterback's coach call in place. I know that's something that the Steelers fans have been clamoring for, and maybe it's time to move to Mike Sullivan as the play caller. But I went up and I looked up the stats, and there's history of that. Mike Sullivan back when he was the offensive coordinator, actually, of the New York football giants, then McAdoo gave away play calling to Mike Sullivan, and the offense actually got worse over the final couple of weeks of the season. So I think that there's a track record there, and I think every team is different. And in this circumstance, as much as Matt Canada has struggled this year, and as much as it seems apparent that can move on for him at the end of the year, they don't have a great option as an alternative play caller. And for that reason, I think that they're making the right decision. I feel you on that. Here was Mike Talman. Talk about Kenny Pickett, his progress, and what they want to see more out of him when we talk to him during his Tuesday press conference. Are you away Kenny's performance and continue to see more from him coming forward? Certainly. Man, we're going to need more, particularly as this road narrows. But guys like Kenny and myself, man, we measured by Wins and Hausses. Kenny and I talk about that often, and openly. We know what our jobs are. Our jobs are where, and so that's where we are. That's where our focus is. You know, I love the fact that he embraces that down in and down out, or some other things to work on, certainly. But it's not like we're going to start on Wednesday working on those things. We've been working on those things, and we will continue until we get the desired result. So there you go. Mike Talman, some of the desired result in trying to, you know, and kind of stay in the court. It's kind of what you're saying. Like they're developing things here. There's no ready odds. Like Joe Brady was always going to be the next offense coordinator for the bills. That was part of the plan there. I don't think there's that guy on the roster right now for the Steelers on the staff right right now. And I think that it's, it's a different situation that you look that you look at there. And you know, when you talked about with Kenny Pickett, he's a, he's been a game manager. And that's that's really what it is. You look at the last five Steelers games, they've won, they've won four. They've won four and one of those games. And then all five of those games, he hasn't thrown an interception. And the one game they lost is the one game he didn't finish. And I think that speaks to kind of what Mike Talman's talking about is that, you know, they're concerned about winning football games right now. But I do think there needs to be at some point, you know, the chance for him to take a step forward. Or at least you need to see the sign that he can take a step forward. Because the more and more we see Kenny Pickett without, you know, the game where he puts it all together, even if it's not a, you know, a four touchdown game and 300, 400 yards or anything like that. If it's just a highly efficient game where like his completion percentage is, you know, maybe in the 70s and he gets two touchdowns and no interceptions or three touchdowns and no interceptions, that could be a sign moving forward. You know, he did have like, it looked like maybe he was trending that way against the Raiders in that game, 16 of 28, that 57% completion rate. But 235 yards to the air, two touchdowns, no interceptions, better look there. We haven't even seen him get back to that level. I think that's where the US fans have legitimate reasons to be concerned. I think it's interesting because there's two discussions. One is as a fan or spectator, what would you like to see from Kenny Pickett? And they're all the things that you're mentioning. Plus, you know, his, he's one of the most inaccurate quarterbacks in the league. His off target, past percentage is the highest, the only person lower than him is Deshaun Watson. Things of that nature. But as much as we'd love to see the Steelers air it out and Kenny to make this progress, I think there's the other part of it is for the Steelers, they're looking at what do we have to win due to win with the way that this roster is currently constructed. And I'm not sure that the answer there is to air the ball out and to test Kenny and to really show signs of progress. I think more so what they're looking at is how do you improve the ground game to get, you know, take some pressure off of Pickett and to give yourselves a higher floor. And when things aren't going well, have something that you could feel good about and that you can lean on. And we've seen that the last two games, you know, Steelers went from being 28th and 29th against the, or rushing the ball in terms of total yards and yards per carry. To now the last two games, they've been the third best team in terms of yards per carry in terms of total rushing yards per game. So what I'm looking for the Steelers to do is to take what's working for them. And that's the running game and then add the dimension of the play action and taking the deep shots when they're available. I think that's going to be the recipe in the immediate future. Yeah, I know that there's, you know, I think that there's, that there's the growth in the ground game has always been the progress they wanted right for this offense. You know, Mike Tomman said, you know, he wanted a goon squad when he was talking to Keanu Benton, granted that was part of the defense, too. But you know, that's why they drafted Broderick Jones. That's why they've, they've made sure to draft Nazi Harris and they've wanted to develop Jalen Warren. It's why they, they want to see this run game take off and, and make that easier for everyone else. And that's where I, I think that, you know, when you, if the Steelers can get that consistently, maybe other things start to build. And we've seen flashes of Kenny Pickett. But these flashes that we saw before, we saw these last two games where the run game really took over for the Steelers. And maybe, maybe that's the point there that's with the ultimate thing here is they need this run game to be consistent. And then once it's consistent, it will help. Can you pick it? Find some consistency on his own and truly achieve the balanced offense that I think that at the end of the day, that's really what the Steelers are going for. Yeah. Let's not forget when Ben Broderick came into the league. He had a great defense and a really reliable running game to lean upon. And I think Steelers are kind of looking at that as the model. And like Ben still became a Hall of Fame quarterback. Guys still have success. But I feel like so often teams draft a quarterback and they expect him to be the savior. And we've seen it happen. Joe Burrow completely transformed that team. For example, CJ Stroud has completely transformed that team. But for the most part, that's not what happens. And I think often teams give up on their quarterbacks too quickly and they don't put them in good positions. And I think Geno Smith is like a great example. Josh Dobbs is a great example of what happens when you surround a guy with playmakers. You've got a good offensive coordinator. You're taking some pressure off the guy. So I don't hate the approach to Steelers or taking it all, you know, I think that it does make sense to try to protect your young quarterback and put them in better positions. Yeah, I'm right. I'm right with you on that part of the building up on on players and quarterbacks, especially that's often times how teams start digging themselves back into holes that they've but that they're already in anyway, it becomes this this cyclical thing that never stops. And certainly something that the Steelers want to avoid right now. And again, like I think that's also part of what Mike Talman does really well as far as managing players, right? He still believes in his guys until like they show like ultimately they can't be the guy. And I don't think Kenny shows that he can't. He's shown us that he's not he's still as a long way to go. But, you know, again, like my and I think this is Mike Talman's point at the end of the end of the the answer that we saw there earlier. Their Steelers are winning football games with Kenny picking on the field. Like, you know, and they get their two losses this year that he is that he's been on for the full game. Were games that they were just not in control that they they were not in. But every game that he's been in that they have that you know, at the end of the game, and that they've been close with with they have won this year and they have a pretty good record last year. When they were when you know, when he was when he was in late in games and they had a chance to win. And I think that that's Mike Talman's point is as long as though that is a factor in for this team. They are they are they're they're they're moving forward. They know that they're making progress and they like where they're going. But certainly they know they want to be a lot better. I would be curious to do a study into the fourth quarter and what's different because, you know, you would assume, okay, maybe they're seeing softer coverages that are making it easy. Maybe he's seen prevent stuff like that, but that's not always the case. Like a couple games ago, one of his biggest throws in the fourth quarter came against press man and against a blitz. The kinds of things that you would see in any game situation. So I think the steel is really need to take a hard look at or the play calls change is the communication different is the tempo different. You know, what are they doing differently in the fourth quarter and try to replicate that earlier in the game? I feel you on that. We got to talk about the run game though because it's been some interesting responses. You and I were there for them after the game and then Mike Tomlin again on Tuesday. When we're asking about some of the changes they're trying to make and the Steelers, there's something we're going on here. I'll explain why I mean by that with some of the clips we got from the locker room and from Mike Tomlin and with Mike here on the Lockdown Steelers podcast. It's the Wednesday edition here on the Lockdown Steelers podcast. I'm your host, Chris Carter stick with us. We got a lot to still discuss. But first, we got to remind you that this show is brought to you by LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the number one place that people go to to look for new jobs. So if you're looking for new hires, that's the blessed place for you to go to find them. LinkedIn is going to help you find the right people to fit on your team to help your small business fire and all cylinders. That's where LinkedIn jobs comes in because all you have to do is create a free job post in minutes on LinkedIn jobs. And that'll help you reach not only your network, but go far beyond to the world's largest professional network. Over 810 million people, then you add your job and the purple hashtag hiring frame to your LinkedIn profile to spread the word that you're hiring. So your next, uh, so your network can help you find the right people to hire simple tools like screening questions, make it easy to focus on candidates with just the right skills and experience. So you could quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. It's my small business rate. LinkedIn jobs number one in delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to you faster. Did you know that every week, you know, 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn, post your job for free at LinkedIn.com. Slash locked on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL, the post your job free terms and conditions apply. We're also brought to you by Fando sports book, the number one sports book in America. And as you continue on the NFL season, Fando wants to remind you it's the best way to also enjoy time watching the NFL is by making money. What was the NFL? And right now new customers at Fando sports book can get $150 and bonus bets back if they win any $5 money line bet. That's right. If you bet on your team to win right now, you can win $150 back in bonus bets with a simple $5 bet on Fando sports book. If you've been thinking about joining Fando, there's no better time to get in on all the action. The app is easy to use. You can download a right to your phone. And as soon as you do, you can start betting on spreads, player props, over unders and so much more. So visit Fando.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won't want to miss Fando fish a partner of the NFL. Back here in the locked on Steelers podcast. I'm your host Chris Carter here with Mike the Fable of the athletic Mike, let's take a let's take a step back. Go back to post game against the Packers Steelers just one run running game ran for over 200 yards and you and I were standing there waiting for Brother Jones. We get we talked to him and he told us about the meetings and like, you know, we're meeting with the running backs and then we're developing things. And then we talked to Najee Harris and he didn't want to reveal what was going on. And then when we told him we know about the meetings, he was like, huh, who told you about that? I want to play those two clips in succession. And then I want to play and then after that, I'll take us to Mike Tomlin on Tuesday. When I asked him about those meetings, I want the audience to understand why I got questions about how the Steelers are handling talking about this. So here's Broderick Jones, then Najee Harris, and then after that, I'll play Mike Tomlin. This is them from just right after the Packers win. I feel like there's a unity building with you guys on the line, seeing if they'll win across the boardboard consistently. Not even just across the front, you know, with the running backs too, you know, like we're meeting with the running backs more, like we do that on Thursdays, you know, so they can get it inside on what we see, we can get it inside on what they see, you know, just building that bond together, just being able to attack the run. Is that something new? The last couple of weeks, yes. I would say about like week, five or six we started on. What kind of feedback are you getting from them? What do you learn from that process? Just what they see, just being able to visualize what they're seeing, like the cuts they're trying to make. If they see a three-text stretching with us, they'll cut it back. If we get them sealed, they'll hit the hole. You know just little things like that, linebacker play, all that plays effect on them. So Najee, you're talking about, you know, aligns the MVP two weeks in a row. What do you think is the biggest change, or what evolved in the run game recently that allowed you guys to open things up here? I have an idea, but it's not for the public to say. I think I know what it was, but is this something that's kept in the family in the locked room that I think is a big reason why that we're turning around? What I'm talking about, the important thing is that you and Jane have been having with them as a group. What about you seeing that help benefit you guys before improving in front of you? So that was one of the things. But it was something to happen in there. It was something to happen in there that kind of really sparked a lot. So I think that that was a big, I think it was good. I know last came you talked about. So tell you that. Broke. So you see Najee, like I might have gotten broader, I can trouble there. Like we were sitting there for both of those, we were right next to each other. That was weird, right? Like it's not like you were, they were nuclear codes or anything. We just said, hey, there were some meetings. They, they, it helped them make progress. Yeah. Wasn't that just a little off to you? Yeah, it was a little bit because last year, you know, after the by-week, what they started doing was watching film as an entire offense. And so what would happen is you would say, well, this play didn't work. And it was James Daniels who was talking about it. They would basically point you and say, it didn't work because James Daniels messed up. Because James Daniels messed up. Basically talking everybody out. I think there's a level of accountability when you watch film like that collectively as a group because you can get in a silo and be like, it's an offensive line. Well, I'm doing my job. I executed my block. Why aren't things working? So you could start to see how those pieces fit together. The other part. Here's my take on it, Chris. Okay. So it's something within those meetings that they discovered. And if you go and you look at the last two games, the seal has broken a lot of their tendencies. They almost completely scrapped running out of two tight end formations. And typically, the conventional thinking is, well, we're going to load up. We're going to send our big dudes in Darnell Washington plus another tight end. Well, what that does is it gives the defense an opportunity to match. They're bringing in a nose tackle. They're putting their bare front on the field, those kind of things. The viewers have done the last two games. They've been running a lot more out of three wide receiver sets. A lot more out of shotgun. So first and foremost, they're catching teams in nickel instead of their base defense. That's a lot easier to run against. And then also, they're often getting lighter boxes. And if they are getting a normal like seven, eight man box, instead of a cam Hayward or, and let's say a Keanu Benton on the field, if you're playing the Steelers, you're getting Elijah Riley or Cheney Sullivan. So even if the box is heavier or a traditional box, it's still not a big tough nose tackle. You're getting a lighter guy. So I think what he's getting at is they went in those run game meetings, which, by the way, are led by Pat Meyer. He gets up on a whiteboard and will illustrate, hey, here's how things are going. You know, I think that's a big thing. And I also think it seems like Pat Meyer is taking a more commanding role in being like a pseudo-run game coordinator. I think it's kind of certain, but reading between the lines. And the fact that he's the one that's leading these meetings leads me to believe that he's having a big say in what's going on. I think that's definitely a big part of it. And it's the change of tone. And again, it's just funny. So we had Browderick, we had Najee. And then so I was like, well, and this was, this was Tuesday. This Tuesday at noon, Mike Thomas Presser, we're all sitting there. So I figured I wasn't even trying to ask see what's going on in the meetings. I just asked Mike Tomman what he thought of the meetings and how that could help. And he deflected and he started, he kind of went in a different direction. Here was Mike Tom when I asked him that and he kind of used it to kind of like take like a mini like poke at Browderick Jones. Here was Tom. Browderick talked about the importance of the meetings between the offensive line and the running backs to come together and help contribute to the weekly plan. How is the refreshing is that for a coach to see that kind of chemistry develop on your squad? Browderick says talking. Browderick man is like an oversized toddler man. He loves to play football, man. He's like getting after it. But don't start talking about all these little things that he's doing in preparation and so forth. Mike, how do you value it? So he just brushed it off. I was just looking to get like, hey, like this is, you know, just see, like, you know, does he feel like this is really boosting his team? He doesn't even address it. And that to me, I go, goes to like, maybe they just don't want people to know that they're real, what, that they're switching things up so that they could try to get, get some traction. And maybe, again, this is part of what head coaches are supposed to do when they talk to media. They don't want us to know what's going on. They don't want us to project because then other teams hear it. They see it. They look closer at it. And then they start picking at what you, what you like to do. And this dealer's offense is looking to grasp on to anything. And I mean, anything right now. And if the run games starting to work, why would you get, why would you try to say anything? That would allow teams to start to dive into it and stop it before it can build up to be something bigger. So I think you're very much on to what you're talking about. Running from not as much loaded boxes, running from smaller sets that also maximize. If you're running from smaller sets, you're allowing this off the offensive line to move a little bit more. Because if you're bunched up, you have to win in shorter spaces. You have less space to go. But something that Mike Thomas also also talked about what I asked him about. It's like the athleticism from its offensive line to get up and hit and move in space. It's allowing them to kind of take control of the line of scrimmage a little bit better, which is giving the running backs more space. And again, yielding more yards on the ground. Yeah, for sure. Further to your point there. Another tweak is they've been running slightly more gap scheme. And they were. I think I think it was like to the first seven games. They were about 60% zone blocking. Now they're about 50, 50 of the last two games. So it's not dramatic. But you're seeing it show up in significant situations. I think a couple of the recent touchdown runs were gap scheme runs. And the guy that I think it's really helping his Isaac, say, Amalo. He was. He was quiet to me, you know, the early on in his dealers tenure. And was not like the impressive force that I expected him to be. But when you have broader Jones at right tackle and he's winning his job and winning his assignment. And then you've got Isaac, say, Amalo pulling through that same gap and further opening the hole. You know, that's where you're getting these massive lanes for the running backs to run through. So, you know, I think all these things play into it. And I think that, you know, I think that still is or hesitant to come right out and tell you exactly what they're doing because. Why give the opponent the answer? Why tell the other what's different? Let them try to figure it out for you for themselves. And then that's where the cat and mouse game begins. That's certainly that certainly could could be it there is that they're trying to they're trying to keep that that a guest here. Um, for for teams to look at. But again, I think it gets to the Steelers offensive line looks so much better when they're the aggressors not when they're zone. They they're kind of more passive. They kept they kept they kind of let guys come to them a little bit more and then they try to win in that spot. But you want this offensive line getting off the ball. Getting to getting to the second level. That's what broader Jones is doing well. You brought Isaac, say, Amalo, when he's pulling and blocking, he is such a force for the team. And again, all it takes is two guys on an offensive line to start dominating. And for other people to start feeding off it. And then that line to push forward as a unit. I think that's definitely a big part of the run game. Whether or not Mike Tomman wants to keep it in the background as does Nazi Harris. We'll see how that continues. But we got to talk about Pat frying with two because Mike Tomman seems optimistic that Pat frying with could return this week. Even if he does. What are you going to do with him? Because he didn't use them that much before. We'll talk about the tight end position here. More on the Locked on Steelers podcast. I'm your host Chris Carter who with Mike Defebo the athletic stick with us. We still have a lot to discuss. But first, what I remind you this show is brought to you by prize picks. Prize picks is daily fantasy made easy. It's something that you could download right on your phone. And it's the top day. It's the top daily fantasy sports platform in North America with the easy and exciting way to make it. To play daily fantasy sports because all you have to do is just say more or less on two to six players and their stack projections. And you can watch the winnings roll in prize picks is a new fun daily fantasy fantasy fantasy sports game that allows you to play through multiple sports. And you're not going up against thousands of people. You're not going up against sharks and people that are that are trying to put a whole bunch of things together. All you're trying to do is beat prize picks. They set the projection. You say, Oh, I heard that you say five and a half perceptions for George Pickens in this game. You say more or less and being bang boom. You're right. You that that contributes to your winnings right there. And also they have what's now called a specialist league because prize picks across is all sports. So when they have a specialist league, you can cross players from different sports into the same prize picks grouping. For example, if you say LeBron James and Travis Kelsey are going to combine for 10 for a 10.5 combo of three pointers made plus perceptions. You could say more or less on that and that can get you get you your winnings on prize picks. Prize picks also has the reboot policy where even if one of your players gets injured in the first half, whether it's an NFL game arts college football top 25 matchup. Did that player leaves in the first half and doesn't return in the second that players rebooted again. Prize picks the only daily fantasy court platform with injury insurance downward prize picks today to play all the different games they have across all the sports. And again, go to prizefix.com slash locked on NFL. When you use code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. That's a big benefit you can get again, prize pick dot com slash locked on NFL. Be sure to use code locked on NFL for a first pass match up to $100. Do you argue with your friends on who the best NFL quarterback is? What about a list of biggest draft bus? Does locked on podcast network have a show for you? It's Renner ranks NFL expert Mike Renner brings you a smart insightful and fun approach to the biggest NFL stories every day. Ranking anything from NFL position units to college draft prospects to the best foods to serve at a tailgate. Mike Renner has all the rankings for the true football fan who loves everything about the sport. Available on YouTube or ever you get your podcasts part of the locked on podcast network routine every day. Back here in the locked on Steelers podcast. I'm your host Chris Carter here with Mike the favor of the athletic Mike. Let's talk about Pat Frymouth now Mike Tomman said he feels good about where Pat Frymouth is so maybe that's a sign that Pat Frymouth can return. He's been a guy that has been the second round pick in 2021 he's been a guy that's been emerging last two years. And so certainly having him back would be a boost for the team and he does have he did have two touchdowns but he was just mightily underused in the four games that he played for the Steelers before he suffered his injury. Only eight catches so far this year for 53 yards does have two touchdowns but if he comes back what he what needs to be the plan to get Pat Frymouth involved because he's not you know he didn't look good in the run in run blocking and can you pick it wasn't finding him nearly enough in the past game. Yeah so as we mentioned earlier in this discussion the Steelers were really bad running out of 12 personnel or out of two tight end sets in part of that is that Pat as much as he's a great dynamic past catching threat. He's not been very good at all in run blocking and there've been a lot of situations when plays got completely blown up and he was the culprit so I think the challenge for the Steelers is they found success with one tight end on the field. If you add that other tight end are you going to be telegraphing or are you going to take away some of what you just found and I think the answer is make Pat Frymouth a receiver basically you know make it clear that we're going to highlight what makes this guy a second round pick and that's his past catching ability in his route running and I think if you do that you could still focus on the running game and feature the running game like you did. Now you've added another new weapon into your offense and especially I think he can be helpful when it comes to targeting the middle of the field. I know that Matt Canada is often criticized for not calling plays or not drawing up concepts that are targeting the middle of the field. Your tight end running up the scene is one of the best opportunities in a variety of different coverages to do that. That's one of the things that I think the Steelers can really open up their playbook and really use the return of Pat Frymouth to help take their offense to another level. It also I think makes you look at the potential for like you said using him in different spots when he comes back you could still come out in 12 personnel and you know have two tight ends or excuse me 11 person. But you can still come out with two tight ends and use them to in different spots but just have Pat Frymouth line up like he's a wide receiver spread him out get him away from the from the box and so then the defense has a choice as you come out with 11 person. You're you got two tight ends two receivers in a running back out there you're saying wait a second they're like like okay we got we got a match linebackers because we can't be small in this formation. But now one of the linebackers has to go and cover Pat Frymouth in out in space and that puts that someone in this advantage or they choose to come out in a lighter package and they got the gotten space and you still get the match if you want because then you still have done a Washington in there. Mike Thomas also talked about the impact of lining him up with with broader Jones the familiarity they had and frankly Mike while I look back at the game the more that they ran behind whatever side broader was on whether it was with broader Jones or with Dan Moore that side was getting more push because of the teamwork that we were that you were seeing from them. I think that there's something there where they can use Pat Frymouth in different ways to open up more parts of the offense. Yeah, I also think they just need to look holistically at their tight end usage because this should be a team that you would look at the tight end position and feel like that's one of the strengths you know Pat Frymouth a different points in his career he's basically been a fringe provola and you wondered whether he would be like this would be the year he would take that next step into the upper echelon of tight ends. You've also got one of the most versatile and unique tight ends and don't know Washington and I believe they've thrown him one pass all season maybe he's caught I hope my stats are right on that I think three I think he has three catches so far. Right so so if you are going to send to tight end personnel groupings out there on the field why not split them both out what and throw the defense a curve ball like that was why that was why you drafted a guy like don't know Washington is. You see how the opponents going to match and then whatever they do you make them wrong by what you call and what formation you line up and they just haven't done that nearly enough they've really essentially used broader zone or during a Washington as an extra lineman and I know he's a really good blocking tight end and that's part of his job description but you know he doesn't have nearly the value he's not that versatile piece unless you make him that. I agree I think they need to find a better way to use them and we'll see if they try to use them differently this week that we you know we talked about changes to opening things up here and while they're not making changes on the roster of the other other coaching staff when it comes to big things and offense it does look like they're trying to find different tweaks and different things that could work for this team and we have seen progress especially in the run game we'll see if it happens in the past game he's Mike the fable of the athletic Mike thanks much for joining us here on the lock thumbs dealers podcast let people really can find you follow you get more work and anything you got coming up. People need to be on the lookout for. Yeah absolutely I keep it really easy you can find me on Twitter at at Mike DeFabo and can read all my work in the athletic. Absolutely thanks so much Mike I'm Chris Carter host of the lock down dealers podcast you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Carter Critiques you can re-brand work at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Postache Gazette.com and find me here on the lock down dealers podcast might do Friday sometimes on on the on weekends when we do bonus content thanks together everyone for tuning back in on your favorite podcasting apps and on YouTube back tomorrow for CrossFit. Back tomorrow for crossover Thursday with Jeff Lloyd of locked on Browns it's going to be a fun one we'll see you there. If you're the type who needs football on a daily basis then you need to check out peacock and Williamson on the locked on podcast network. Post Brian peacock and Matt Williamson give hard for football enthusiasts everything they need daily football talk in 30 minutes or less available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day.