First Call: Steelers meet with college safety, see pro safety sign elsewhere; Pat Narduzzi on Kenny Pickett's preferred team

Thursday’s “First Call” starts with more news about the Pittsburgh Steelers safety position. Pitt’s coach shares some details about Kenny Pickett. We have a look at the Penguins game against the New York Rangers.

And another local college athlete is getting into business with the WWE.

Search still on

One safety is off the Steelers radar, and another is on it.

For those interested in Keanu Neal as a safety option to start alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick, forget it. The NFL Network says the former Dallas Cowboy and Atlanta Falcon is signing in Tampa Bay.

Meanwhile, Justin Melo of The Draft Network said that the club has interviewed Virginia safety Joey Blount.

#Virginia S Joey Blount is a busy man & popular target. Blount recently completed a Top 30 w/ the #Steelers, per source. He'll soon visit the #Chargers & #Bengals, and will work out for #Falcons.

Reminder on Blount's testing:
4.38 in the 40
38 inch Vertical
127 inch Broad Jump

— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) April 6, 2022

Blount had 86 tackles and three interceptions for the Cavaliers last season.

Meanwhile, Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu just finished a visit with the New Orleans Saints and insisted to The Advocate that he doesn’t need to break the bank in free agency to be happy.

Pat on Pickett

Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi sprinkled some news about his former quarterback on Wednesday.

During an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, Narduzzi said Kenny Pickett is visiting the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. With the sixth pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Panthers have been a popular landing spot for Pickett in many mock drafts.

Pickett and Panthers coach Matt Rhule are believed to have a good relationship, dating back to when Rhule got Pickett to commit to Temple out of high school. But then Rhule left the Owls program to coach Baylor before winding up in the NFL with Carolina.

Narduzzi went on to say that Pickett initially told him that his preferred destination was the New Orleans Saints.

However, Narduzzi did couch that statement by pointing out Pickett made a lot of those statements before coach Sean Payton stepped down and was replaced by Dennis Allen.

Narduzzi isn’t sure if Pickett will be attending the NFL’s draft party in Las Vegas or not.

Similar struggles

Neither the Penguins (92 points) nor the New York Rangers (96 points) are exactly on fire heading into Thursday’s Round 4 of their battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Pens are only 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. They’ve lost two in a row to the Colorado Avalanche.

As for the Rangers, they’ve gone 2-1-1 in their last four games. That’s not bad until you realize that all four opponents — the Red Wings, Islanders, Flyers and Devils — are all currently out of the playoff bracket.

The Pens won the first game between the teams 1-0. The Rangers won the next two by scores of 5-1 and 3-2.

In his last five starts against teams other than the Penguins, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin is 1-4.

Closing Caps

With 12 games remaining on their schedule, the idea of the Washington Capitals catching the Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division isn’t entirely out of the picture. They beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday 4-3.

That’s quite a bounce back for the Caps who had lost their previous two games by a combined score of 11-2. Alexander Ovechkin scored along the way for the Capitals.

Shaking rattling and rollin' pic.twitter.com/AUEjOto7vO

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 7, 2022

That was goal No. 43 on the season and career point No. 1,400 for the future Hall of Famer.

Washington now has 86 points, just six behind the Penguins (92). That’s as many points as the Penguins are behind the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes (98). The Capitals are in Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. faceoff.

As for the Lightning, they are stuck with 93 points, currently tied with the Boston Bruins for the third-best point total in the Atlantic Division.

Some company

A second Pittsburgh-area college athlete is getting an opportunity to crack into pro wrestling.

On Tuesday, “Breakfast With Benz” told you about Duquesne offensive lineman Roman Macek. He’s getting a three-year contract offer from the WWE after attending a tryout in Texas last week.

Robert Morris volleyball player Emily Devlin attended that same introductory development camp. She may not be receiving a contract yet, but she found out this week that she’s getting a 60-day extended tryout with the wrestling platform.

Like Macek, Devlin says she’ll be working out at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Unlike Macek, though, Devlin doesn’t have to choose between wrestling and her current sport. She is graduating in May and has already fulfilled her eligibility with the Colonials.

“It’s the absolute perfect time for something like this to happen,” Devlin said Wednesday during our podcast that will post next week.

Devlin reports at the end of June.