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Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat: 01.20.20
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Ray Fittipaldo
2:46
I wouldn't call the Steelers' run defense strong. It's kind of average, and they too struggled last season with how to play against heavy teams that wanted to run. Remember the Buffalo and Baltimore games in December. The Steelers' run defense is actually a really big concern for me.
Jud
2:46
How much coverage will we get from the PG for the combine/senior days etc?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:46
Lots. Stay tuned. Still in the planing stages, but I'm thinking the Monday after the Super Bowl for my first mock draft.
Alan in Nashville
2:47
If you could have one normal career over your current one as a sportswriter, what would it be?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:47
Teacher/ coach at the high school level. But not a head coach. I wouldn't want to deal with parents or school boards.
NYCJOHN
2:47
hi ray what do you think Dionte Johnson stats will be next year?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:48
With Ben? I'd expect a big jump. The kid is talented.
Johnny
2:49
I have heard the Steelers are incredibly popular in Mexico.  If true, is there a story behind how they became popular there?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:49
They've done a lot of outreach there, but I think they became popular in the 1970s and those fans are fans to this day.
Nitro
2:50
Hi Ray -   What have you observed with P. Lynch during practice?  Dulac made a comment in a recent chat that I couldn't tell was favorable or unfavorable about his potential?  Is he on a multi-year contract?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:50
He is signed for the 2020 season. Doesn't mean he's on the roster, but he's under contract. I don't think it was a good sign that he couldn't beat out Duck by season's end. He was here for 13 weeks or so. That should have been plenty of time to unseat an undrafted rookie free agent.
GUEST
2:51
Hi Ray, No AR did LOSE to the Seahawks his DEFENSE which was STELLAR gifted him 5 TURNOVERS!! that's on him not that muffed onside kick or the fact they were up 16-0 at the half...I figured you'd know this being in the media :)
Ray Fittipaldo
2:52
It was 16-0 late in the fourth. The Seahawks scored on a fake field, a crazy two-point conversion and then got the onside kick. I never said Rodgers played a perfect game in that NFC title game. I just said it wasn't his fault they lost it. The facts remain if that TE doesn't make a stupid decision the Packers are in the Super Bowl that season.
Jud
2:53
How much access do you get to the players in the off season?  Seems like if they want to hype their brand "Snell Yeah?" that they would be reaching out to you?  Or do team PR folks try to tamp that down?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:54
Brian Batko did a podcast with some of the rookies this week. I'm going to the Pro Bowl tomorrow and will write some stories from Orlando later in the week. But after that it's pretty much done for a while. They'll start OTAs in May and we'll get them then.
Chuck from Michigan
2:55
How much does Vance McDonald's contact count against the cap and which college TE's do you like with the Steelers 3rd or 4th round pick to take a TE?
Ray Fittipaldo
2:56
I think it's about $7 against the cap in 2020. And we'll have a better handle on which TEs they like by March or April after the combine.
2:57
OK thanks for all the questions this week. We'll do  another chat again next week.
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