First Call: How Julio Jones trade may impact Steelers; no Selke for Sidney Crosby; curtain call for Andrew McCutchen

Monday’s “First Call” tells us how the Julio Jones trade will impact the Steelers. Andrew McCutchen is getting hot. Sidney Crosby is shut out of the Selke voting. And local product Brandon Saad is back on the score sheet in the NHL playoffs.

But he was one-upped by someone on the other bench Sunday.

JuliO-no!

Julio Jones is switching teams. And that’s not good for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Especially in a year when the Steelers are coming off the departures of two cornerbacks in Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton.

Pending a physical, the seven-time Pro Bowl Atlanta Falcons wide receiver along with a 2023 sixth-round draft selection is on the move to Nashville. The Tennessee Titans will send a 2022 second-round draft choice and a 2023 fourth-round pick to the Falcons.

That means the Steelers are going to have to face Jones this season. They weren’t scheduled to face the Falcons. They will host the Titans on Dec. 19.

That Tennessee offense is going to be very difficult to defend. Not only will it have Jones, but Mike Vrabel’s team also features running back Derrick Henry. He won the NFL rushing title in each of the last two seasons. Then there is fellow wide receiver A.J. Brown. In his first two NFL seasons, Brown topped 1,000 yards receiving and has totaled 20 touchdowns.

Pro Football Focus thinks that the move will be good for Jones.

Accuracy percentage on deep throws (20+ air yards) in 2020:

▪️ No. 3 Ryan Tannehill - 49%

--

▪️ No. 18 Matt Ryan - 39% pic.twitter.com/K4MM0ce7TH

— PFF (@PFF) June 6, 2021

And PFF thinks the move will be good for the Titans, too.

Julio Jones is 1 of 1

PFF’s highest-graded WR since entering the NFL in 2011 (95.2)
pic.twitter.com/HjhVDRL332

— PFF (@PFF) June 6, 2021

The Titans were 23rd in passing offense last year at 228 yards per game. They won the AFC South last year with an 11-5 record but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Baltimore Ravens on a day when quarterback Ryan Tannehill only threw for 165 yards.

Brandon is back

Gibsonia’s Brandon Saad has rediscovered his scoring touch.

The Colorado Avalanche forward had his five-game goal-scoring streak snapped during a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights Friday. That was in Game 3 of their West Division playoff series.

But in the Game 4 rematch, Saad got back into the goal-scoring column.

Brandon Saad just gets it, and we LOVE IT. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/lWytShNuQI

— p - Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 7, 2021

That gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. But the Knights came back to win 5-1 behind a Jonathan Marchessault hat trick. Former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 17 shots en route to victory. The series is knotted up at 2-2.

Shut out of Selke

Sidney Crosby is not a Selke Trophy finalist.

Many Penguins fans were hoping the Penguins captain would get that recognition for the first time in his career. But it didn’t happen.

Per the NHL, the award is given annually to “the forward voted best to excel in the defensive aspects of the game.” The Professional Hockey Writers Association votes on the award.

The winner will be announced as part of the 2021 NHL Awards during the Stanley Cup Semifinals or Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL’s three finalists for the award are Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Vegas’ Mark Stone.

Bergeron has four Selke Trophies already. He ranked first in face-off percentage (62.5 percent in 650 attempts). Bergeron ranked first among Bruins forwards in blocked shots (36) and shorthanded ice time (97:48).

Stone led the NHL in takeaways (58) for the fifth time in his seven full NHL seasons. Barkov ranked first among Florida Panthers forwards in takeaways (39) and led all Florida skaters in shot attempt percentage (minimum 15 games played) with Florida taking 58.6 percent of all shot attempts when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.

Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers won the 2020 award. Crosby had 51 takeaways in just 55 games — the third-best total of his career despite a pandemic-shortened season.

‘Cutch curtain call

Former Pirate Andrew McCutchen got a curtain call in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon.

The Philadelphia Phillies outfielder got to 1,000 career runs and 350 doubles during the team’s 12-6 win over the Washington Nationals.

1,000 runs and 350 doubles in the same day!?! Pretty dope! Thank you God ? pic.twitter.com/LFm003E82s

— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) June 6, 2021

McCutchen was 2-for-4, scoring twice and picking up an RBI. He’s on a six-game hit streak that has seen his average jump from .199 to .225 since May 30.