Thursday’s “First Call” makes the Watt brother era official with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Jameis Winston chatter won’t stop. Major League Baseball is accepting that a shortened year can’t be avoided. Can Tom Brady still throw a decent deep ball? And Obi Toppin is off to the NBA.
As much fun as the Catalina Wine Mixer
The Steelers made official the contracts of free agents Derek Watt and Stefen Wisniewski on Wednesday.
And the team is all in when it comes to capitalizing on the Watt brothers’ fun with Derek and T.J.
"Did we just become teammates?"
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) March 26, 2020
"Yep." pic.twitter.com/sUYV7YbmHl
That look familiar? My only questions are which Watt…
1. …gets the Chewbacca mask?
2. …has the drum set?
3. …gets the crossbows?
Also, does “Prestige Worldwide” need to be officially licensed as an NFL property now?
What’s with Winston?
NFL.com continues to pump the prospect of the Steelers signing Jameis Winston as their backup quarterback.
Winston was cut loose by the Buccaneers when Tampa Bay decided to sign Tom Brady. And there has been a slew of conversation about the prospect of the Steelers acquiring him.
NFL.com writer Nick Shook says, “With the Steelers needing a long-term answer beyond Ben Roethlisberger, this feels like a sneaky-good situation for both sides.”
But as Shook also points out, the Steelers’ limited salary-cap room ($10 million) and Winston’s tendency for risky interceptions likely prevents this move from happening.
Let’s be realistic
We all saw it coming.
Now MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said it out loud. Don’t expect a 162-game regular season.
“We’re probably not gonna be able to do” (a 162-game season),” he said on ESPN. “I think that’s clear.”
Manfred told Scott Van Pelt that the next goal is to “make sure we provide as many games as possible and as entertaining a product as possible.”
He’s still got it
One question about Tom Brady going to the Bucs is if he still can throw a good deep ball.
New coach Bruce Arians says those concerns are unfounded.
“I think the perception is just wrong,” Arians told ESPN Wednesday. “I thought his deep ball was outstanding last year. Through their play-action game, they hit a lot of deep balls.”
That’ll come in handy then for Arians. Since he’s got an offense that was used to having the ball pushed down the field with Winston at the helm and two downfield threats in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
“He can make every throw,” Arians said. “He can do everything we want to do in our offense.”
Via ESPN Stats & Information, “Brady’s 43% completion rate in 2019 on passes of 20 or more air yards was his third-highest since it has been tracked and the seventh-highest in the league. The league average was 38%.”
Tom Brady and his “wet noodle for an arm” at 42 still drops bombs pic.twitter.com/rkGCQ0g5Hr
— Boston☘️Sports (@Boston_Sports19) September 10, 2019
Ask the Steelers.
Out goes Obi
One of the biggest casualties of not having an NCAA tournament this year was missing out on the show that is Obi Toppin.
This Flyer flew! ️
— ESPN (@espn) March 24, 2020
Obi Toppin is the men's AP National Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/hEevsQGqUP
The Dayton superstar was named player of the year as a sophomore, and this tournament was supposed to be his coming-out party.
However, the tourney was cancelled. And Toppin has decided to turn pro.
Some may have hoped that Toppin would’ve come back for his junior year and given Dayton a shot at the glory they were robbed of trying to attain this year thanks to the covid-19 shutdown.
But he’s already 22, having taken a prep year out of high school and a freshman redshirt.
Now he’s NBA bound.
