Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals boot podcast. The these a Better Days edition
Speaker 1: as I visit with a young man who has generated
Speaker 1: so much excitement and optimism for Bengals fans. Number one
Speaker 1: draft pick Joe Burrow. He joins me for a fun
Speaker 1: facts interview where the topics range from honey Chris Bapples
Speaker 1: to Julius Caesar, a wide ranging conversation to say the least.
Speaker 1: Then I'll be joined by Dave Lapham to discuss the
Speaker 1: schedule release and the latest Bengals news. And finally I'll
Speaker 1: talk to Todd Archer, who covers the Dallas Cowboys for ESPN,
Speaker 1: about Andy Dalton heading to Dallas. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and
Speaker 1: hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since facebooks. On this day photo reminders,
Speaker 1: if you're on Facebook, you've undoubtedly received on this Day
Speaker 1: photos that you've shared in the past from one year ago,
Speaker 1: five years ago, etc. My son's birthday was last weekend
Speaker 1: and I received an on this day photo of an
Speaker 1: epic Bengals birthday cake that he requested and received eight
Speaker 1: years ago, complete with a logo, many helmets, and lots
Speaker 1: of orange and black frosting. So thanks for the reminder, Facebook.
Speaker 1: Now you can resume conquering the planet. Let's get to football.
Speaker 1: If you've listened to this podcast or Bengals radio shows
Speaker 1: in the past, you're probably familiar with my fun Facts
Speaker 1: interviews where we get away from the xes and o's
Speaker 1: and try to get to know the person under the pads.
Speaker 1: You're about to hear the first fun Facts interview that
Speaker 1: I've attempted over the phone. It's with Joe Burrow. And
Speaker 1: while it's not quite the same as when you're sitting
Speaker 1: right next to the person and seeing how they react,
Speaker 1: he was a great sport about answering a wide variety
Speaker 1: of questions. Time for some fun facts with the first
Speaker 1: pick in the twenty twenty NFL Draft, quarterback Joe Burrow. Joe,
Speaker 1: I want to start with the famous cigar picture after
Speaker 1: the National Championship win over Clemson. It reminds me of
Speaker 1: Joe Namath in the bathing suit by the pool before
Speaker 1: Super Bowl three. It's like the epitome of cool incompetent.
Speaker 1: How did it happen? And did you have any idea
Speaker 1: in the moment? How big of a deal that would
Speaker 1: become one of our strength? In turns his family on
Speaker 1: the cigar company. So he was passing around in the
Speaker 1: locker room and we were spoken them and then they
Speaker 1: told me the time for media and you want to
Speaker 1: just put it out and they have to relite about myself.
Speaker 1: I was kept smoking it and so I'll end up
Speaker 1: capturing a picture, great video, great picture. It's on T shirts.
Speaker 1: It's one of the most popular gifts out there. That
Speaker 1: thing has become hugely viral. Yeah. I mean this is craziness,
Speaker 1: and I don't think we're allowed to smoke inside. But
Speaker 1: I think the New Orleans costs. Let us let's get
Speaker 1: away with one. Yeah, win a national championship, you get
Speaker 1: a little bit of extra leeway. Joe on Draft night,
Speaker 1: the Heisman trophy made a nice decoration in your family
Speaker 1: living room. How heavy is it? And how do you
Speaker 1: travel with the Heisman Trophy? I think it's about thirty
Speaker 1: pounds thirty or forty, and they gave us a nice
Speaker 1: little case with the walk on it that we can
Speaker 1: travel with, so nobody will take it from us. So
Speaker 1: when you haven't been able to go to fitness centers
Speaker 1: during this pandemic situation, you can lift the Heisman trophy good.
Speaker 1: You have stated publicly that your big splurge with your
Speaker 1: rookie contract is going to be a personal chef. Are
Speaker 1: their candidates already and what must they be able to cook?
Speaker 1: Getting resumeates for a long time or since I first
Speaker 1: said that? So now now is the time where parmy
Speaker 1: starting to go through the wall. I'd have to think
Speaker 1: about my case has been changing lately. Some things that
Speaker 1: I used to like I don't really like as much anymore.
Speaker 1: So I think my options are pretty open. I have
Speaker 1: heard this isn't something that a chef will be required
Speaker 1: to prepare, But I have heard that you have a
Speaker 1: passion for the Honey Crisp apple easily the best apple
Speaker 1: correct by far number one of all the apples. Are
Speaker 1: signing close. We have that in common, Joe, you have
Speaker 1: been described as being compulsively competitive. What loss still stings
Speaker 1: the most? Every one of them. There's not any particular
Speaker 1: losses that I hurt more than others. Losing this isn't
Speaker 1: very fun, and that's why I like to work as
Speaker 1: hard as I can to try to win as many
Speaker 1: games as possible. On the flip side, is there a
Speaker 1: win in something other than a big sporting event that's
Speaker 1: still deeply satisfying? Enjoy beating people in ping pong? That's
Speaker 1: that's pretty satisfying. As we always have a family ping
Speaker 1: pong tournament on vacation, I usually win it. You'll be
Speaker 1: happy to know if you didn't already, there's a ping
Speaker 1: pong table in the Bengals locker room. I'll be frequenting
Speaker 1: that table. I want to go back to a game
Speaker 1: in your junior year at LSU seven overtimes Texas A
Speaker 1: and m ultimately won seventy four seventy two. It's the
Speaker 1: highest scoring game at FBS history, nearly five hours long,
Speaker 1: and you physically crashed at the end of that game.
Speaker 1: How serious was that? Still? Too seriously, thought a little
Speaker 1: little blood sugar. I don't like to eat directly before games,
Speaker 1: so the last time I had eaten was lunch, and
Speaker 1: we ended up getting enough to feel like one am.
Speaker 1: So that's I didn't need anything at halftime. So that's
Speaker 1: the only reason that I had passed out in a
Speaker 1: locker room. When you decided to transfer from Ohio State,
Speaker 1: your final two choices were the University of Cincinnati or LSU,
Speaker 1: and you obviously made the right choice. But I understand
Speaker 1: that had you transferred to UC there was a thought
Speaker 1: process that Andy Dalton actually might serve as a mentor
Speaker 1: or a sounding board since you would have been in
Speaker 1: the same city. Was that an appealing possibility? And did
Speaker 1: you two guys ever make contact? You didn't before the
Speaker 1: last couple of days. Um, that was in discussion that
Speaker 1: they have never really crossed my mind that that was
Speaker 1: going to play a part in my decision making. You know,
Speaker 1: my goal was always in a national championships. That's the
Speaker 1: reason that I picked the LSU. Joe. By referencing families
Speaker 1: living in poverty where you grew up during your Heisman's speech,
Speaker 1: you helped raise more than half a million bucks for
Speaker 1: the food pantry in Athens County. Was that an eye
Speaker 1: opening moment for what you might be able to do
Speaker 1: going forward for people with the platform you're going to have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it really was, and I'm excited to kind of come
Speaker 1: up with some more things to help more people that
Speaker 1: hopefully we can do here in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1: All Right, a few wild card topics for you. Your
Speaker 1: dad was drafted by the Packers and played in the
Speaker 1: Canadian Football League for five years. Your brothers played big
Speaker 1: time college football at Nebraska. But the best athlete in
Speaker 1: your family might have been your grandmother, right, Yeah, she
Speaker 1: dropped eighty two in a game in high school one time,
Speaker 1: eighty two points in a high school basketball game. And
Speaker 1: I've read that she averaged fifty plus. Yeah, yeah, she
Speaker 1: did as you were growing up in the driveway or
Speaker 1: anything like that. Did Grandma Dot ever toss a ball? No,
Speaker 1: I've never seen her. I've never seen her do it.
Speaker 1: I'll find out for some film of her doing it
Speaker 1: one of these daies. I understand that you are a
Speaker 1: huge Cleveland Cavaliers fanatic, and rumor has it. I don't
Speaker 1: know if this was in the first finals against the
Speaker 1: Warriors of the second one, but you didn't leave your room,
Speaker 1: you didn't change your clothes something like that for good luck, explain.
Speaker 1: I didn't quite go that far. I just wore a
Speaker 1: Matthew Doble's over shirts and I wore for every during
Speaker 1: every game when you were a kid. Did you have
Speaker 1: any memorable meetings with a really famous athlete at my
Speaker 1: cousin's wedding in Calciforny? And yeah, Peyton Manning attended a
Speaker 1: cousin's wedding. No, he was just at the hotel that
Speaker 1: it was happening at h Do you think you resemble
Speaker 1: Macaulay Culkin? Yeah, yeah, i'd say I'd say so now
Speaker 1: and I can't can't hid you that on thinking a
Speaker 1: little better looking. Now, what are you bad at? Because
Speaker 1: obviously you were a great athlete in every sport that
Speaker 1: you've played. We understand you're good at ping pong. You
Speaker 1: referenced playing chess when you spoke to reporters after you
Speaker 1: were selected by the Bengals. What are you lousy at golf?
Speaker 1: If I might do something, I have to pick up
Speaker 1: and cracktic is quite a bit at the once. At
Speaker 1: the SEC media days, you use the term superluminal time travel.
Speaker 1: Are you a science nerd? I am a science nerd.
Speaker 1: I wish I had more time to kind of study it,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I'm into all those science documentaries and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. If you could meet anybody in history, athlete, politician, entertainer, whomever,
Speaker 1: who would that person be. Julius Caesar? Why Julius Caesar.
Speaker 1: Here's a great conqueror, and obviously to do that you
Speaker 1: got to be a really good leader of men. So
Speaker 1: I'd be interested to just spend spend a couple of
Speaker 1: days with them. All right. Last thing, you attended the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl in Miami. You were hanging out with your
Speaker 1: buddy Sam Hubbard, and I heard that you were a
Speaker 1: little bit taken aback by the fact that famous people
Speaker 1: have now started recognizing you and showing their excitement about
Speaker 1: meeting you. What's that like when you first realize, huh,
Speaker 1: my life has changed. I mean it was crazy people
Speaker 1: who you grow up watching and listening to, and that
Speaker 1: they're just coming up and introducing himself to me. I
Speaker 1: mean it was. It's been a crazy experience so far.
Speaker 1: All right, you're off the hot seat. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: I look forward to meeting you in person. Joe has
Speaker 1: been bombarded by media requests beforehand after the draft, and
Speaker 1: I appreciate him taking time out for that fun facts
Speaker 1: conversation and hopefully at some point we'll do a second
Speaker 1: version face to face before we get to our next segment.
Speaker 1: Here's a quick reminder that you can take your Bengals
Speaker 1: pride to the next level in twenty twenty with an
Speaker 1: official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport. The Bengal schedule
Speaker 1: was released on Thursday. It begins with a home game
Speaker 1: against the Chargers and ends with a home game against
Speaker 1: the Ravens. I discussed that and more with my broadcast
Speaker 1: partner Dave lapham Lap when the schedule came out. What
Speaker 1: were you looking for and was there anything you were
Speaker 1: hoping for? Well, I was looking to see what they
Speaker 1: might do and terms of um getting Division games and
Speaker 1: AFC games in the back half of the schedule if
Speaker 1: in fact they weren't going to play, you know, an
Speaker 1: entire season. I thought they'd backload it, and it turned
Speaker 1: up to be just the opt There's only one NFC
Speaker 1: opponent in the first half of the season, the Bengals
Speaker 1: go to Philadelphia. There's three NFC opponents in the second
Speaker 1: half of the season. So you know that theory of
Speaker 1: mine kind of went could put. But I do know
Speaker 1: I'd noticed that none of the no team had to
Speaker 1: buy in weeks one through four, so you know, if
Speaker 1: they have to, if they have to manipulate move things around.
Speaker 1: They can also play during the bye week instead of
Speaker 1: having to buy if they shorten the season, or or
Speaker 1: even if they don't, they just have to go back
Speaker 1: to the old, old kind of ideal where you don't
Speaker 1: have a bye week. So there are some built in
Speaker 1: contingent season and you know, they still have some some
Speaker 1: fiddle room, you know, moving a couple of weeks towards
Speaker 1: the end of the season if they need to, or
Speaker 1: only playing twelve games if they need to. But yeah,
Speaker 1: this is kind of an interesting, interesting season. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Bengals after that opener against the Chargers down they
Speaker 1: go on the road four out of five games, man,
Speaker 1: and the last two on the road at Baltimore at Indy.
Speaker 1: And that's on October eleventh and October eighteenth. That's that's
Speaker 1: tough sledding right there. But as a former player, the
Speaker 1: first thing I do is, Okay, where are the grass fields? Oh,
Speaker 1: go to Cleveland week two. That's crazy, that'll be And
Speaker 1: that's a short week, so you know you have to
Speaker 1: h you play the charge in the opening, you have
Speaker 1: to travel on a short week and right now, Thursday
Speaker 1: night road teams, it's a heavy, heavy underdog. I mean
Speaker 1: the home team on third men and our short weeks
Speaker 1: has one high, high percentage of the time. But let's
Speaker 1: face it, as a shorter trip as you can get
Speaker 1: going to Cleveland, and if there is, if the dog
Speaker 1: Pound has the socially distance, it'll be a different dynamic.
Speaker 1: It won't be as crazy. If the stadiums aren't full,
Speaker 1: particularly at the beginning of the season, road games won't
Speaker 1: be that big a deal. Home home crowded pimases will
Speaker 1: be nullified. The Bengals did not have a Thursday night
Speaker 1: game last year, but the last two times they played
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. It was the first Thursday night game,
Speaker 1: Week two against Baltimore in twenty eighteen, Week two against
Speaker 1: Houston in twenty seventeen. Here we go again. The first
Speaker 1: Thursday night game is a Bengals game, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: on the road at Cleveland. Yeah, that's that's an interesting,
Speaker 1: interesting thing. And the reason is this one is the
Speaker 1: case is exactly one hundred years to the day that
Speaker 1: the NFL came into existence. So there's going to be
Speaker 1: a big celebration in Canton. I mean, it's it's a
Speaker 1: historical day, the one hundred year mark boom on that
Speaker 1: particular night, So why not have the Cleveland Browns play
Speaker 1: and the Cincinnati Bengals play. Paul Brown all the connections,
Speaker 1: all the historic stuff, all of fame hundred year anniversary.
Speaker 1: So I guess it makes a lot of sense for
Speaker 1: that to be the first Thursday night game this year
Speaker 1: when you take into the into account what that particular
Speaker 1: date September seventeen hundred years ago. As you mentioned, Thursday
Speaker 1: night road games are tough. The home team overwhelmingly wins.
Speaker 1: But I guess when I look at this one, not
Speaker 1: only is it nearby in Cleveland, but it's against a
Speaker 1: new head coach. And if you go back to last year,
Speaker 1: there were eight new head coaches in the NFL last year,
Speaker 1: including Zach Taylor. Five of the eight did not get
Speaker 1: a win in the first four weeks of the season,
Speaker 1: and seven of the eight finished with losing records. For Cleveland,
Speaker 1: this is the eighth head coach in the last twelve years,
Speaker 1: So I guess if you have to play a Thursday
Speaker 1: night road game, it's good to be competing against the
Speaker 1: team with a new coaching staff. In a year where
Speaker 1: it might be harder than ever to have a new
Speaker 1: coaching staff. Yeah, I mean you look at you look
Speaker 1: at the situation Cleveland, a new head coach and a
Speaker 1: first time head coach. Stefanski has never been a head
Speaker 1: coach before, Whereas in Dallas, you know, McCarthy has been
Speaker 1: the Giants brand new. Judge never had been a head
Speaker 1: coach before, Washington Rivera has so you know, in those
Speaker 1: in those businesses, there's some experience there, you know, as
Speaker 1: a head coach. So I think I think that that
Speaker 1: is needs to transition. Then the first time ever being
Speaker 1: a head coach, you're dealing with the coronavirus, you're dealing
Speaker 1: with all these different things. I just think that that
Speaker 1: that's a that's a tough dynamic and uh and in
Speaker 1: the Bengals to catch the Cleveland Browns early in that
Speaker 1: in that kind of scenario when everybody's still in a
Speaker 1: dealing out process, because let's go to it. I think
Speaker 1: the preseason games are in jeopardy. Everything's to be determined
Speaker 1: there the dates, you know, where they're the only thing
Speaker 1: in the preseason that's definite is on on August twenty eighth,
Speaker 1: The Bengals got down to Atlanta as the CBS nationally
Speaker 1: televised game tentatively, but I think the preseason games are
Speaker 1: in jeopardy. So if they don't, if you don't have
Speaker 1: any preseason games and you've never coached before as a
Speaker 1: head coach, and the you know, Bengals get one of
Speaker 1: those scenarios. Now, good that Taylor is only in his
Speaker 1: second year and uh, but but to be that new
Speaker 1: at it, I think there is a slight edge there,
Speaker 1: you know. I think it nullifies a lot of things.
Speaker 1: One of the big things that stands out to everybody
Speaker 1: is the fact that the Bengals get a rare season
Speaker 1: opener at home just the second time in the last
Speaker 1: eleven years, and the last time was specifically for the
Speaker 1: fiftieth season of Bengals football. That one didn't go well
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen when they got shut out by Baltimore.
Speaker 1: But do you think it's helpful for Joe Burrow to
Speaker 1: play his first NFL game at home? I do. I
Speaker 1: think it is helpful, you know. I think that he
Speaker 1: does have a contingent from nations that will be coming
Speaker 1: to that football game, including family, you know, And that's
Speaker 1: just a small piece of it, but I think that
Speaker 1: that will give him a little bit of comfort, and
Speaker 1: you know, he may be I wonder I would think
Speaker 1: that Taylor, particularly with the dynamic of this coronavirus, Taylor,
Speaker 1: you know, in my mind, more than likely will be
Speaker 1: the guy to line up instead of Justin Herbert. Now
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that's not an impossibility, but if you
Speaker 1: have two rookie quarterbacks, you know, on the first pick
Speaker 1: of the draft and one of the sixth pick of
Speaker 1: the draft going head to head in that in that opener,
Speaker 1: and I think CBS, you know, made it a four
Speaker 1: or five game, made it the doubleheader game, in the
Speaker 1: late game, and maybe an anticipation of not only Joe
Speaker 1: Burrows first game as a rookie in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: but potentially going against another highly touted rookie at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. There's a lot of sex appeal to that.
Speaker 1: So you know, that makes some sense from a from
Speaker 1: a scheduling standpoint as well. And how about this, If
Speaker 1: Safford say that the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Cam Newton, there'd
Speaker 1: be three Heisman Trophy quarterbacks in the division. That would
Speaker 1: be That would be nuts. No, that there'd be four
Speaker 1: Heisman Trophy quarterbacks in the division with Cam Newton. Joe
Speaker 1: Barrow is a Heisman Trophy winner, first pick of the draft.
Speaker 1: Same with Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson Heisman Trophy winner, you know,
Speaker 1: last pick of the first round. And then Ben with
Speaker 1: all his experience, talk about a quarterback division when we're
Speaker 1: talking about quarterbacks, that would be nuts. But even if
Speaker 1: that's not the case, you know, you have all four
Speaker 1: quarterbacks or first rounders, two of them are first picks
Speaker 1: of the draft, three of them are Heisman Trophy winners,
Speaker 1: and it's turned into a quarterback division for sure. You
Speaker 1: also have RG three backing up in Baltimore, there's another
Speaker 1: Housing Trophy winner. True. Do you think there's a chance
Speaker 1: lap that Cam Newton will sign with Pittsburgh. I think
Speaker 1: there's a I think there's a chance. I mean I
Speaker 1: did not see the Andy Dalton signing with Dallas. You
Speaker 1: know scenario It makes a lot of sense after the fact,
Speaker 1: but I didn't see it before the fact. And it
Speaker 1: all depends. I mean, the only scenario there is. You know,
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston took a million dollars to go with the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints because they had cap issues. Pittsburgh's got
Speaker 1: the cap issues with Cam Newton. Not only you know,
Speaker 1: swallow the the ego hit of not being a starting quarterback,
Speaker 1: but taken that kind of a compensation to I don't
Speaker 1: know that. I think that one's kind of a launch shop.
Speaker 1: The boy strands of things have already happened, I guess.
Speaker 1: In terms of this season, it's been the strangest offseason
Speaker 1: in NFL history for the quarterback position. There is no
Speaker 1: question about it. I was shocked by Andy going to Dallas.
Speaker 1: I thought for sure he would go to the place
Speaker 1: that gave him the best opportunity to play. My question
Speaker 1: for you is, he's not going to play in Dallas
Speaker 1: unless Dak Prescott gets hurt. Has Andy Dalton already entered
Speaker 1: the veteran backup phase of his career for the rest
Speaker 1: of his career. I think his mindset was that the
Speaker 1: Bengals didn't do him any favors by you know, Delane
Speaker 1: the process, and he felt like, you know, it was
Speaker 1: it was such a bad market. Signed a one year
Speaker 1: contract and you know, then see what the market looks
Speaker 1: like next year and see if he can restart, you know,
Speaker 1: jump start his career. As a potential starting quarterback against
Speaker 1: somewhere else, depending on one unfolds during the course of
Speaker 1: the season with injury and everything else, everything else involved.
Speaker 1: And you know, to Dallas Cowboys, they're looking at it
Speaker 1: is we have the best backup in the league in
Speaker 1: our opinion. Plus, if some some teams quarterback goes down
Speaker 1: to injury, we have a valuable asset to trade because
Speaker 1: his contract is very very you know, franchise friendly right now,
Speaker 1: and you don't you don't wish harm and anybody else.
Speaker 1: But if somebody, somebody gets hurt, they trade Andy Dalgon.
Speaker 1: He plays well and extends you know, a contract somewhere else.
Speaker 1: All those all those scenarios are in play as much.
Speaker 1: In worst case scenario, he stays in Dallas for a year,
Speaker 1: colectus three million, doesn't have to relocate. His family, Stanleys, friends,
Speaker 1: everybody are are right there for him. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: and he makes a close contact with the guy named
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones, who when your post football career is over,
Speaker 1: and there's not a better guy in the world to
Speaker 1: know probably than Jerry Jones in terms of business contacts
Speaker 1: and everything else. So when you look at a real big,
Speaker 1: big picture like you start to do, you know, when
Speaker 1: you're on the back nine of your career, makes a
Speaker 1: lot of sense on a lot of ways, like you
Speaker 1: playing for Donald Trump in the USFL. Right, we mentioned
Speaker 1: the one primetime game at Cleveland in Week two. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the other the week before Christmas at home
Speaker 1: against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. This will
Speaker 1: be the third straight Monday Night game that the Bengals
Speaker 1: have played against the Steelers. They lost at Pittsburgh last year,
Speaker 1: didn't have one in twenty eighteen, lost at home to
Speaker 1: the Steelers in twenty seventeen. So when Monday Night Football
Speaker 1: is looking to put the Bengals on, they're typically looking
Speaker 1: to put them on against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah, they are,
Speaker 1: and they they've had some some barn burners, for sure.
Speaker 1: I think they like everything that's gone down in those
Speaker 1: games in Pittsburgh Monday Night in the twenty first. Like
Speaker 1: you say, then they have the short week. They have
Speaker 1: to go down to Houston and play at one o'clock game,
Speaker 1: twelve o'clock kickdown there at Houston in battling Christmas as well.
Speaker 1: Short week. So it's not only a short week because
Speaker 1: of Monday night foot ball. But Christmas usually, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a different week in terms of players you know,
Speaker 1: are usually let go. The schedule gets compressed anyway on
Speaker 1: a regular week, but you go Monday night at home,
Speaker 1: which is good against Pittsburgh, short week to travel against Houston,
Speaker 1: and Christmas holiday is one of those days where you're
Speaker 1: doing some preparations. It's going to be squeezed. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think I think both of their you know, And
Speaker 1: that's obviously the stuff you have to deal with when
Speaker 1: talking about a nationally televised game. You have a short
Speaker 1: week for Thursday night, but then a long week the
Speaker 1: following week, and then this one. You know, you've got
Speaker 1: the short week from Pittsburgh to Houston because of the
Speaker 1: holiday that falls right in the middle of it. The
Speaker 1: old joke is that the only certainties in life are
Speaker 1: death and taxes. Well, let's add a season finale against
Speaker 1: Baltimore for the band guy. This will be the eighth
Speaker 1: time in the last eleven years they've ended the regular
Speaker 1: season against Baltimore. The good news is they've won the
Speaker 1: last five. The last five times they've did the season
Speaker 1: against Baltimore, Cincinnati's come out on top. Yeah, they've had,
Speaker 1: they've had a run a good luck, there's no doubt, Dan,
Speaker 1: And you know, you look at it. Two of the
Speaker 1: last three games or division games, which you know is
Speaker 1: not a surprise. It's been that way down the stretch
Speaker 1: of the league tries to have division time breaker games
Speaker 1: of some consequence significance to finish off the season. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, no exception to the rule of this time.
Speaker 1: There's you know, the three division teams or the Banks
Speaker 1: played three division games in the first half of the season,
Speaker 1: they played Cleveland twice, they played three division teams the
Speaker 1: second half of the season, and they play Pittsburgh twice.
Speaker 1: So it's it's it's you know, it's it's laid out
Speaker 1: very very evenly, like we talked about after the home
Speaker 1: open or four of their next five are on the
Speaker 1: road after the bye week, which is very beneficial for
Speaker 1: the Bengals to fall right in the middle of the season. Again,
Speaker 1: I mean, you'd like it to be eight games, take
Speaker 1: your break, eight more games. Well, when they start the
Speaker 1: next eight, three of the next three of those four
Speaker 1: are on the road. So finally, you know what you say,
Speaker 1: all right, well, finish in the season. What's it looked
Speaker 1: like it looks good. Three of those last four at home.
Speaker 1: You know, two of the last three or at home,
Speaker 1: and two of them are division games. Those two games,
Speaker 1: so if they can stay in the hunt, if they
Speaker 1: can stay competitive, you know, the month of December could
Speaker 1: be very very intriguing, and you know, finish it off
Speaker 1: on January third, very very intriguing. Let's talk about how
Speaker 1: difficult and or easy this schedule is. If you go
Speaker 1: by winning percentage from last year, it's the sixth easiest
Speaker 1: schedule in the NFL. If you judge it by how
Speaker 1: Vegas expects these teams to be by looking at the
Speaker 1: preseason over unders, Jay Morrison from The Athletic points out
Speaker 1: that it's the thirteenth hardest. So it's difficult to say
Speaker 1: for sure. But I look it over and I think, okay,
Speaker 1: this is reasonably easy in my opinion. Do you agree?
Speaker 1: You know, I think I think it could be a
Speaker 1: hell of a lot worse I am. I guess I
Speaker 1: don't like falling on the trap of oh, I'll this
Speaker 1: NFL schedule disease. This one haven't played. Man, they can
Speaker 1: all be tough. You know, when you think it might
Speaker 1: be a little bit of either here you can get
Speaker 1: your get smoked. I mean it can back up and
Speaker 1: backfire and blow up on you in a heartbeat. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it stands to reason. But you know, you looked at
Speaker 1: it then and the Bengals two and fourteen. Every single
Speaker 1: team is circling when they play the Bengals, and then
Speaker 1: the division arrivals are circling them twice saying okay, there's
Speaker 1: a w Well look what they've done, you know, in
Speaker 1: terms of free agency and the draft and changing their
Speaker 1: whole football team. And you know every team does the
Speaker 1: same thing. I mean, they make as many changes as possible.
Speaker 1: Indianapolis has got a whole new quarterback room with Rivers
Speaker 1: in Easton, Baltimore. They get Klais Campbell to add to
Speaker 1: the mitch. Know that their defense. Cleveland signed Conklin as
Speaker 1: a tackle and drafted Wills. So I mean everybody's made,
Speaker 1: you know, made changes, and you're going by last year's records.
Speaker 1: I think can be kind of sometimes a trap. You know,
Speaker 1: get getting into this trap. You don't want it to
Speaker 1: snap on you. So I think, you know, it stands
Speaker 1: to reason that you should be able to compete in
Speaker 1: most of these football games. But boy, The thing is,
Speaker 1: we don't know what any of these players look like.
Speaker 1: We're hopeful that there's upgrades, and it stands for reason
Speaker 1: there will be. But until you get out on the
Speaker 1: field and the coaches see the players play, and the
Speaker 1: players see their teammates playing, how they can mess with
Speaker 1: you and kill all that process, all that dynamic takes
Speaker 1: effect and takes hold. It's pure speculation for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, you cannot completely base it on the team's
Speaker 1: records from last year. I do think it's interesting when
Speaker 1: you look at the NFL Draft, the Bengals face the
Speaker 1: team that had the second pick, Washington, the fourth pick,
Speaker 1: the Giants, a fifth pick Miami, the sixth pick, the Chargers,
Speaker 1: the ninth pick Jacksonville, and the tenth pick Cleveland twice.
Speaker 1: So that does underscore they face some of the very
Speaker 1: weakest teams from last year. Agreed, And it's interesting, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, in the month of November and November, then
Speaker 1: into December twenty second November, they face young second pick
Speaker 1: of the draft, Joe Burrow, the first pick the very
Speaker 1: next week to twenty ninth, Like you said, play the
Speaker 1: Giants Andrew Thomas, the fourth pick of the draft, and
Speaker 1: then on December sixth, down in Miami, face two. Potentially,
Speaker 1: you know, if they don't read shirt him, So you
Speaker 1: got you got the second, fourth and fifth pick of
Speaker 1: the draft three straight weeks going against the number one
Speaker 1: pick in the draft. So that's that's kind of an
Speaker 1: interesting dynamic. And I guess the other thing I look
Speaker 1: at Dan now that I'm broadcasting instead of playing. I
Speaker 1: looked at it when I was playing as well, the holidays.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be home for the holidays. Well, it's good
Speaker 1: for us. You know, we're home for Christmas, we're home
Speaker 1: for Thanksgiving, you know, home for Halloween unless you have
Speaker 1: a Thursday night game most years anyway. But that that
Speaker 1: part of it's all good. And then when you look
Speaker 1: in December, man, you get Dallas in Pittsburgh, you go
Speaker 1: to Miami, you have Dallas in Pittsburgh here, and you
Speaker 1: go to Houston and the Dome. So I mean it's
Speaker 1: the potentially, you know it's going to be cold here
Speaker 1: in December, obviously, Dallas, that's going to be a little
Speaker 1: bit of advantage. Dallas Bey and a Dome team come
Speaker 1: up to the Steelers, no advantage. Baltimore January third, no
Speaker 1: big advantage. But playing in the Dome against the Texans
Speaker 1: on the twenty seventh and playing down in Miami on
Speaker 1: the set. Now Miami, and look at there is a
Speaker 1: big advantage because cold weather team, the blood sticking a
Speaker 1: little bit in the month of Sember, they have to
Speaker 1: come down to Miami. They may die in the vine
Speaker 1: and the heat and humidity. But from the broadcast standpoint,
Speaker 1: a dog, let's go to Miami, let's go to Houston.
Speaker 1: Let's go on those nice, nice weather places or domes
Speaker 1: down that's great for us. One last thought on the schedule.
Speaker 1: If you go back to Andy Dalton's rookie year, one
Speaker 1: of the reasons why he was so successful and the
Speaker 1: team made the playoffs is that the schedule turned out
Speaker 1: to be very soft. And as we're pointing out, some
Speaker 1: of these teams that you're looking at that were lousy
Speaker 1: last year are going to be much improved. Some of
Speaker 1: the ones you expect to be really good, we'll have
Speaker 1: injury problems or whatever and they won't be really good.
Speaker 1: But back in two thousand eleven, the Bengals won nine games.
Speaker 1: They did not beat a single playoff team. They only
Speaker 1: had one win over a team that finished with a
Speaker 1: winning record, and that team was nine and seven. So
Speaker 1: they beat Cleveland twice four wins, Baltimore six, Jacksonville five,
Speaker 1: Seattle seven, Saint Louis two, Arizona eight, Indianapolis two. It
Speaker 1: just worked out that in Andy's rookie year, every card
Speaker 1: fell perfectly in terms of the schedule and they were
Speaker 1: able to take advantage of it. Yeah, as as as
Speaker 1: it turned out, like you said, you know, nine and seven,
Speaker 1: they only beat one team with a winning record. They
Speaker 1: beat the teams they were supposed to beat and struggled
Speaker 1: against the teams that they weren't necessarily are supposed to beat.
Speaker 1: And that's why, you know, the perfect every every team
Speaker 1: the NFFL, it looks for every team to finish eight
Speaker 1: and eight. That would be the perfect world for the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Everybody's in the hunt every you know,
Speaker 1: total parody, that's what they're looking for. And the last year,
Speaker 1: now that there's an extra playoff team, last year to
Speaker 1: eight and eight teams were to made the playoffs, the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers and there in the Rams they would have
Speaker 1: been in the playoffs eight with eight and eight records.
Speaker 1: So you know, you think, oh, we're gonna get ten
Speaker 1: wins to make the playoffs. Not really, I mean nine
Speaker 1: to seven more than one nine and seven team made
Speaker 1: the playoffs and won the division. Um, you know in
Speaker 1: eight and eight teams would have been the final, the
Speaker 1: final playoff qualifier. So I mean that's the that's all.
Speaker 1: You take care of the games. When the season unfold
Speaker 1: and you really see what teams are like and how
Speaker 1: they're playing, take care of the ones that you're supposed
Speaker 1: to take care of, and you know you'd be in
Speaker 1: the hunt. You'll be in the You'll be in the
Speaker 1: in the in the race, there's no question about it.
Speaker 1: I want to get your reaction to a couple of
Speaker 1: recent interviews. First, Jeff Hobson's story on Bengals dot com
Speaker 1: where he interviewed AJ Green. In that interview, AJ said, basically,
Speaker 1: I will meet Joe Burrow to work out wherever he
Speaker 1: wants to whenever that's allowed. So for anybody that thought
Speaker 1: being franchise tagged was somehow going to cause a problem
Speaker 1: between AJ Green and the Bengals, I think he shot
Speaker 1: that that down pretty successfully. Yeah, and then then you wonder,
Speaker 1: because he's gonna, you know, risk injury doing that. If
Speaker 1: there are OTAs which there won't be so, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess because of the coronavirus this year, all the
Speaker 1: question of whether A j was going to show up
Speaker 1: for OTAs and then he can what he didn't have
Speaker 1: to do. I mean, he's well within his rights not
Speaker 1: to not to show up and risk injury. Um. And
Speaker 1: I don't think that the termination on that I think
Speaker 1: is going to be a boot point because I don't
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be any of those anyway. But the
Speaker 1: fact that that he is, Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: work with this guy. I'm gonna, you know, we'll go
Speaker 1: wherever Joe wants us to go. He's the quarterback, he's
Speaker 1: the leader. Will he has to destinates place, we'll go
Speaker 1: there and we'll throw with with Joe Burrow. That's a
Speaker 1: that's a huge sign. And I think now you know,
Speaker 1: he's just like every other athlete and fan in the country,
Speaker 1: tomping at the debt, you know, I mean, obviously have
Speaker 1: read read the same article hops into a great job
Speaker 1: as usual, which is the man and you know his
Speaker 1: wife's working him out and he's working hard, and you know,
Speaker 1: I've felt all along of you mentioned to the Seat
Speaker 1: Times in my opinion that I think he's gonna have
Speaker 1: a huge year. I think he's gonna have a banner year.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna stay healthy and he is going
Speaker 1: to be the age eight Green of you know, six
Speaker 1: consecutive Pro Bowls before he started having having an injury
Speaker 1: in susan Um. I don't think he's he's lost anything
Speaker 1: in terms of the elite athleticism. Injuries have kept him
Speaker 1: out for a year and a half. But I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna have a huge year. And I do think
Speaker 1: that no one age Green the way we know him,
Speaker 1: it's not a surprise to me. I mean, he's he's
Speaker 1: about his He is the most I don't know, likable, humble,
Speaker 1: perfect superstar you want to have on your team in
Speaker 1: your locker room. I mean when when guys come into Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: other media people and you know, get people out there,
Speaker 1: no players that you know, interactalent for the front, they
Speaker 1: can't believe it. They can't believe the kind of guy
Speaker 1: that this dude is. So's it's no shocker, but it's
Speaker 1: still a real positive, real good for sure. Lance McCallister
Speaker 1: did a great interview with Duke Tobin on Seven Under WLW.
Speaker 1: I thought Duke was unusually candid, and one of the
Speaker 1: topics they covered was the possibility of bringing in a
Speaker 1: veteran mentor quarterback to work with Joe Burrow. Duke pretty
Speaker 1: much shot that down. Yeah, it doesn't surprise me because
Speaker 1: I think the maturity of Joe Burrow and Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is older, you know, than Mahomes, older than Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's twenty three years old, and he's been
Speaker 1: through a lot, you know, he's been through the ups
Speaker 1: and downs. He's Richard, I mean, he's he's got a
Speaker 1: lot of experiences, life experiences as well as athletic experiences,
Speaker 1: positively negative. And I think he's not your typical rookie
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. I mean, I think with
Speaker 1: his football IQ and his maturation and everything that goes
Speaker 1: along with it. Plus you know the fact that you know,
Speaker 1: Pitcher played the position, Callahan played the position, Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: played the position, Duke Jogan played the position, Mike Brown
Speaker 1: played the position. We probably have more quarterbacks throughout the
Speaker 1: organization than any team in the National Football League haven't
Speaker 1: played that position. So um, I thought that if Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton somehow came back to Cincinnati and filled that role.
Speaker 1: It would have worked out well because we know Andy Dalton.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't have liked it, but he would have grinned
Speaker 1: and bared it. And um, you know, I'm gotten through
Speaker 1: it and gotten through the process, and I think he
Speaker 1: would have been a great, uh, you know, a great
Speaker 1: veteran presence for for for Joe Burrow. But Joe Barrow,
Speaker 1: I'm not asked him brought to Andy Dalton in that situation.
Speaker 1: I remember the presser he said, you know, if there's
Speaker 1: a veteran quarterback like that, you know, I'll a gapped
Speaker 1: if there's not all a gap to that as well.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he's got that earned confidence, as Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor labeled it, because of all of his experience and
Speaker 1: you know in life and football. I think so I'm
Speaker 1: not I'm not overly concerned that there's not that there's
Speaker 1: not a veteran quarterback like that. It fee almost like
Speaker 1: I remember talking to Tom Moore when Peyton when he
Speaker 1: coached Peyton Manning, and you know we talked about what
Speaker 1: veteran quarterback you know, had an influence on Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: as he goes, he goes man, dude, Peyton Mannings he
Speaker 1: came into the lake. It's like, you gotta you have
Speaker 1: a you know, a brilliant genius in your room, and
Speaker 1: he knows all the answers. You're the coach. You gotta
Speaker 1: be on your a game. Peyton Manning made me a
Speaker 1: better coach because Peyton Manning would find mistakes that I
Speaker 1: made and point them out and make me feel like
Speaker 1: a pool, make me feel like an idiot. I think
Speaker 1: Joe Barrow has some of that in him, you know
Speaker 1: so I think that he'll probably probably take control of
Speaker 1: the quarterback room in a lot of ways like Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning did. I'm not saying, you know that he becomes
Speaker 1: the coach, but I mean that's what Tom tom Moore said.
Speaker 1: Nothing you wouldn't believe. Early in his career. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm standing there with my arms fold. He's run in
Speaker 1: the whole damn show. Oh. I mean he's he's putting
Speaker 1: together periods of practice that he wants. He's out there
Speaker 1: on the field conducting it like a like a master
Speaker 1: conductor of the orchestra. Was unbelievable. I think Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: has some of those counsels. Oh, I've bet Tom Brady
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he was in a much different situation
Speaker 1: coming as a sixth round kick. But his comment, you know,
Speaker 1: we went up to cross the interence that you just congratulation,
Speaker 1: you just made the best draft. It just selection you've
Speaker 1: ever made. I mean, I bet he was capable of
Speaker 1: doing those kinds of things. So some of those guys
Speaker 1: have the get factor, you know, they've got they've got
Speaker 1: whatever that takes. And I think Joe Burrow does agree.
Speaker 1: Duke Tilbyn was also pretty definitive in expressing the Bengals
Speaker 1: desire to get a deal done with Joe Mixon prior
Speaker 1: to this season. Great. I mean, it's that's uh that
Speaker 1: that's a big priority. And you know, nothing makes any
Speaker 1: quarterback a better quarterback than a sound running game, particularly
Speaker 1: the young quarterback. You know that there's high expectations for
Speaker 1: this coming off a Heisman Trophy record breaking season as
Speaker 1: a college quarterback, the best year of quarterbacks ever had
Speaker 1: playing in the UNC Double A or the LSU. I mean,
Speaker 1: the expectation is going to be off the charts, and
Speaker 1: to have a running back like Joe Mixon in the
Speaker 1: fold for not just your first year, but you know
Speaker 1: the first few years in the National Football League. You
Speaker 1: can't ask for anything more. You know, we talk about
Speaker 1: the receiver corps, you know, with with te Higgins being drafted,
Speaker 1: everything that's returning, and we talked about Joe Mixon and
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernard. I mean, that's a hello, one two punch.
Speaker 1: Gio is so smart. He understands every nuance of football.
Speaker 1: Geo's a common influence in the huddle to a young
Speaker 1: quarterback as well in terms of let's pick up, He's
Speaker 1: not going to go the wrong way, let's pick up.
Speaker 1: He's going to be where he's supposed to be when
Speaker 1: he's supposed to be there, doing what he's supposed to do.
Speaker 1: You know, all of those things. And having Joe burrowing
Speaker 1: the fold man, it makes uh, you know, it lists
Speaker 1: the whole boat. We see. Joe is not only you know,
Speaker 1: physical talent, but he's a he's an inspirational guy. He's
Speaker 1: an emotional guy in the positive way. You know. He
Speaker 1: gets everybody up in the bit as such, and and
Speaker 1: his teammates respond to him. So that would be a
Speaker 1: huge deal to get that extension done for sure. All right,
Speaker 1: let's wrap things up with some questions from Twitter followers
Speaker 1: under the hashtag ask lap our. First question comes from
Speaker 1: man Abel Hoosen. Do you think the Bengals might add
Speaker 1: another veteran offensive linemen to help mentor and develop the young,
Speaker 1: hopefully emerging linemen on the roster. What do you think
Speaker 1: It's not an impossibility? You know, I think I think
Speaker 1: that that that you know, makes some sense if iff
Speaker 1: in fact, the economics dictate that that that could be
Speaker 1: the case. I mean, they're not gonna They're not gonna
Speaker 1: go then gonna go trade or anybody or anything like that.
Speaker 1: And usually to get it off of the waiver wire,
Speaker 1: you know, there's it's it's a veteran like that. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's put it out on number eighteen, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean he's towards the end of his of his career physically.
Speaker 1: So it is a young group though, but there's no question.
Speaker 1: But again, Trey Hopkins, I'll take that guy's mindset, in
Speaker 1: his makeup and his disposition over a twenty five year
Speaker 1: of veteran. I mean, he's one of those guys that
Speaker 1: you know, they say about Joe Burrow when the coaches
Speaker 1: talked to Joe Burrow when they interview him, he was
Speaker 1: like a ten year of veteran. Trey Hopkins was like
Speaker 1: that the first time I talked to him, you know,
Speaker 1: even back in coming down to Texas as a college
Speaker 1: tree years and even when I was doing games of Texas,
Speaker 1: this dude was like mensa, mensa, mensa. So sometimes leadership
Speaker 1: isn't just veteran age, you know, in terms of years
Speaker 1: in the league. Some guys are you know, talented physically,
Speaker 1: can stay in the league for a while, but they're
Speaker 1: not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And Trey Hopkins
Speaker 1: talks about how smart Bobby Hart is and how Bobby
Speaker 1: Hart knows the offense inside. Um, Bobby Hart can make
Speaker 1: all the all the calls. So you know, those those
Speaker 1: two guys and the coaches the same thing. You know,
Speaker 1: both of them. Both of those players get get high
Speaker 1: praise from the offensive line coaches in terms of being
Speaker 1: football smart, in overall high iqes and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, I don't know anything about
Speaker 1: Xavier Sua Flow obviously at this point in time, but
Speaker 1: I think they do. And knowing Jonah Williams like we do,
Speaker 1: Dan Jona Williams is not your typical rookie. This dude
Speaker 1: is like, you know, he made up his spreadsheet when
Speaker 1: he was in college. I mean that was revolutionary, never
Speaker 1: done before. And this guy takes football serious as a
Speaker 1: heart attack. So even though they might be young calendar wise,
Speaker 1: I don't think that, you know, they're lacking leadership, they're
Speaker 1: lacking focus, they're lacking guys are gonna be like glong guys,
Speaker 1: let's get after this be done and let's get it done.
Speaker 1: I think they get guys that can get do that
Speaker 1: for him. And you mentioned Xaviers Sue a Philo and
Speaker 1: that's a three year deal and he's been around the
Speaker 1: block with a few different teams, so certainly he will
Speaker 1: add some veteran experience. Next question comes from Joy Fields.
Speaker 1: Do you think the Bengals offense will take more chances
Speaker 1: down the field with Burrow and Higgins now in the
Speaker 1: mix or do you see more short and intermediate plays
Speaker 1: being called? Well, I do think that that Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: does have immense accuracy with his deep ball, and you
Speaker 1: know that's something that was that was talked about with
Speaker 1: Joe Burrows a great year at LSU, and Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: admitted that he didn't need to have, you know, a
Speaker 1: little chuck down throws to get his confidence to see
Speaker 1: a completion. I mean he going to games. He went
Speaker 1: into the Clemson game, you know, ripping the ball down
Speaker 1: the field like the very first series of the game.
Speaker 1: You know, he's not trying to hit the back out
Speaker 1: of the backfield a little a little h you know,
Speaker 1: hook to the tight end the middle of the field,
Speaker 1: just to you know, just as like a basketball player
Speaker 1: wants to see the ball go through the coopie quarterback
Speaker 1: wants to see a completion. Bader, He's not. He's not really,
Speaker 1: that's not a big part of his makeup. UM. So
Speaker 1: he will. He will attack the football field. I mean,
Speaker 1: he'll get it down the football field. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think that they will. They will stretch the field
Speaker 1: if they particularly, you know, with aj greenback able to
Speaker 1: stretch to gen Ross is healthy, able to stretch at
Speaker 1: key Higgins. I mean literally, I don't I don't think
Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback could ask for much more than than
Speaker 1: what Joe Burrow may have from a skill position standpoint,
Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, UM with Joe Mixon and
Speaker 1: Joe in the backfield and others and the wide receiver
Speaker 1: corps and the tight ends that that they've got to
Speaker 1: can you know, be complete tight ends, catching and block
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, it's it's a pretty damn good
Speaker 1: skill group. The key is going to be that offensive
Speaker 1: line that we just talked about, will that old line
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, you know, the opportunity to get the ball
Speaker 1: down the football field because you know, most times you
Speaker 1: need a little bit more protection obviously to get the
Speaker 1: ball but down the field. But with Joe Burrow, he
Speaker 1: reads so quickly, he does get the but he throws
Speaker 1: with great anticipation in accuracy, So that's going to help
Speaker 1: the offense as well. The next question comes from the
Speaker 1: initial d We kind of covered this, but his question
Speaker 1: was he wanted an update on Mixon and a possible holdout,
Speaker 1: and then ask is this the crucial item for the
Speaker 1: organization to get accomplished? I think it's a. I think
Speaker 1: it's a huge priority. If it's not priority number one,
Speaker 1: is priority number one A you know, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think I think they're probably still um in talks with
Speaker 1: AJ obviously in Joe Mixon. Those are those are the
Speaker 1: two I think that they'd like to uh, they'd like
Speaker 1: to get done with the cap room that they've got
Speaker 1: left extend those guys um and like like see happened
Speaker 1: in both cases and c and it is. It's a
Speaker 1: huge priority. It's a huge priority for a lot of reasons.
Speaker 1: I mean Joe Mixon as alignment. I can tell you
Speaker 1: that when you're blocking for guys like Joe Mixon, you
Speaker 1: feel like a much better player because it's like, I'm
Speaker 1: just going to give this guy a chance. I don't
Speaker 1: have to dominate my guy. I don't have to handcake
Speaker 1: my dude. I just have to give jo all a
Speaker 1: defendative free and then just watch that twenty eight disappear,
Speaker 1: the twenty er his backside, Just watch it run away.
Speaker 1: I mean that that gives you an injection of confidence.
Speaker 1: You know, your adrenaline starts pumping. And I mean it's like,
Speaker 1: you don't, you don't. All you have to do is
Speaker 1: do your job. Nothing more. You don't, you don't. Just
Speaker 1: make sure you don't screw it up. As an offensive warning,
Speaker 1: don't screw it up. Joe makes someone makes something happen.
Speaker 1: Next question from Greg Luther, who, in your opinion, is
Speaker 1: the biggest steel out of all of the draft picks.
Speaker 1: The biggest steel out of all the draft picks. Boy, well,
Speaker 1: I guess when you when you look at it, um,
Speaker 1: the one that probably jumps out the most is Marcus Bailey.
Speaker 1: If Marcus Bailey doesn't have the knee injuries, but if
Speaker 1: in Butler Candy, and that's it's Christmas every day he
Speaker 1: does have him, you know, if he they had him
Speaker 1: as a solid third round pick, and a third round
Speaker 1: pick for them is like a late two. So they
Speaker 1: had him as a solid third round pick, and with
Speaker 1: the first pick of the draft this year, that is
Speaker 1: like a late two, as I said. And if he
Speaker 1: pans out physically, if he can, if he can hold up,
Speaker 1: he can do a lot of things for you. He
Speaker 1: gives you that position versatility that all defensive coordinators are
Speaker 1: looking for. Bill Belichick's you know, won a lot of
Speaker 1: championships because of the position versatility of his defensive players,
Speaker 1: and they're they're kind of like the gold standard. And
Speaker 1: everybody wants to be able to do a lot of
Speaker 1: things without having to make substitutions of personnel. And this guy,
Speaker 1: you know, can do that. So you look at somebody
Speaker 1: that you've had, you know, late two, solid three, whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be, and you get him as a seventh,
Speaker 1: seventh round to him, that one could be could end
Speaker 1: up being the steal just on that art alone. You
Speaker 1: know what, I think lap one of these linebackers, at
Speaker 1: least one of them is going to work out. Oh
Speaker 1: I agree. I mean it may be more than one,
Speaker 1: but I feel confident that at least one of these
Speaker 1: guys is finally going to really work out. I agree
Speaker 1: with you, Dan, I think I think it's going to be.
Speaker 1: You know, the more I hear people that know a
Speaker 1: little bit about Logan Wilson and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he seems to be around the league. There was no
Speaker 1: shock obviously with Logan Wilson when when when he gets
Speaker 1: selected by the Bengals, A lot a lot of teams
Speaker 1: in the league thought a lot about this. Uh, this kid,
Speaker 1: there's no question about it, and it could work out,
Speaker 1: just like we talked about a bunch of times when
Speaker 1: Kio spikes Brian Simmons Foley, Uh, Adrian Ross. When those
Speaker 1: guys three draft picks and a free agent get the
Speaker 1: three draft picks and watch for this, Uh Marcel Spears,
Speaker 1: this kid from Iowa State, He'll rip your face off. Now,
Speaker 1: this dude will hit you. So, you know, I think
Speaker 1: this guy could be you know they had three successful
Speaker 1: draft picks and a college free agent in that rebuilding
Speaker 1: the linebacker room. They have three draft picks in this
Speaker 1: in this generation other and the potential free age and
Speaker 1: think restructure when redo the line by real and it's
Speaker 1: going to be very interesting to watch. Final ask lap
Speaker 1: question comes from Sean Jackson. Who will be the starting
Speaker 1: five offensive lineman? And how good do you think the
Speaker 1: offense will be? I think the offense will be as
Speaker 1: good as the offensive lineman allows it to be. Said
Speaker 1: group Lab. I do think they have a huge They
Speaker 1: have a high floor and a high ceiling with the
Speaker 1: skill players, and it's going to be the offensive line
Speaker 1: is going to be the ones that determine is going
Speaker 1: to be closer to the high floor or will they
Speaker 1: allow it to generate and grow and blossom to the
Speaker 1: high ceiling. I think it's gonna be Jonah Williams, Michael Jordan,
Speaker 1: Trey Hopkins, Xavier Sue Philo and the right tackle position,
Speaker 1: that's the interesting one. That's the battle royal. And I'm
Speaker 1: telling you I would not I would not dismiss Fred Johnson.
Speaker 1: You know, I do think the staff likes Bobby Hart.
Speaker 1: You know, they think he graded out better than a
Speaker 1: lot of people think that he grades out, and he
Speaker 1: continues to do that. He's the incumbent, But Fred Johnson
Speaker 1: made himself some money by playing as well as he
Speaker 1: played last year. He proved you could play left tackle.
Speaker 1: Don't don't dismiss the big boy out there at the
Speaker 1: right tackle position and that and I think, as I
Speaker 1: said earlier, I mean, I think it is going to
Speaker 1: be a derby. I think a came identity is going
Speaker 1: to be out there as well, and best man wins.
Speaker 1: I mean, the right tackle position is the one that's
Speaker 1: going to be under microscope, telescope, arthroscope and every kind
Speaker 1: of scope. He can sign. All right, buddy, you're off
Speaker 1: the hot seat. Hope to see you on something other
Speaker 1: than a computer screen sometime soon. Look forward to that.
Speaker 1: Dan the Man. My final conversation this week is with
Speaker 1: Todd Archer, who used to cover the Bengals for the
Speaker 1: old Cincinnati Post. Now he's on the Dallas Cowboys beat
Speaker 1: for ESPN, and I spoke to him this week about
Speaker 1: the signing of Andy Dalton. When the Bengals released Andy,
Speaker 1: it was widely assumed that he would sign with either
Speaker 1: of the two teams that would p eventually give him
Speaker 1: the opportunity to compete for a starting job Jacksonville, where
Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator is Jay Gruden and the starting QB
Speaker 1: is Gardner Minshew, a sixth round draft pick from last year,
Speaker 1: or New England, where at least for now, the starting
Speaker 1: QB is Jarrett Stidham, a fourth round pick last year
Speaker 1: out of Auburn who has thrown all of four passes
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and one of the four was a
Speaker 1: pick six. Instead, Andy wound up back home in Texas,
Speaker 1: and I asked Todd Archer if there was any inkling
Speaker 1: in Dallas that if and when the Bengals released Andy Dalton,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys would be interested. Maybe a little bit. But
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are under the same
Speaker 1: assumption that you were, that he would want to go
Speaker 1: to a spot where you could compete to be the starter,
Speaker 1: and that's not the case here. But I do think
Speaker 1: from the Cowboys perspective, the organization perspective, they kind of
Speaker 1: got lucky that he lives here. He lives in Dallas,
Speaker 1: He's a TCU guy that, you know, with what's going
Speaker 1: on in the world right now, he might have said
Speaker 1: to himself, do I really want to take my family
Speaker 1: somewhere for a year or two whatever, not knowing what
Speaker 1: the situation is going to be, and try this. And
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys benefited from from that and the
Speaker 1: fact that he'll have to drive a half hour up
Speaker 1: the road to their facility in Frisco, Texas. And yeah,
Speaker 1: he'll be Dack's back up. And Dak hasn't missed a
Speaker 1: game in his career, but he's still going to be
Speaker 1: home and he's going to be able to be around
Speaker 1: his family, and maybe sitting back for a year will
Speaker 1: be a good thing for him to rejuvenate him going forward.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, we're talking to Todd Archer, who
Speaker 1: covers the Cowboys for ESPN. The Cowboys of franchise tagged Dak.
Speaker 1: He has not signed beyond this year at least so far.
Speaker 1: Does this have anything to do with his contract situation? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wrote about that today on ESN dot com. And
Speaker 1: there's no this isn't a leverage played by the Cowboys
Speaker 1: to say, oh, we got Andy Dalton in here, now
Speaker 1: you better sign. If this is a we've made the
Speaker 1: team better move. If you go look at the Cowboys
Speaker 1: backup situation, their guy before Andy Dalton was Cooper Rush.
Speaker 1: He's thrown three more passes than me and you have
Speaker 1: in his NFL career, So you know they've gotten infinitely
Speaker 1: better right now at this spot with a guy almost
Speaker 1: thirty two thousand passing yards and two hundred and four
Speaker 1: touchdown passes. But it is not a sign of unhappiness
Speaker 1: of where these negotiations are. And there will be people
Speaker 1: I think, oh, sure, yeah, whatever, of course if the
Speaker 1: leverage play, because now that if Dak holds out, well,
Speaker 1: then they can go with a guy like Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: and Dak's leveragees is lessened. Dak's not going to hold out.
Speaker 1: He played for two million dollars last year. Why wouldn't
Speaker 1: he played for thirty one million dollars this year? And
Speaker 1: Dak needs another good season if he doesn't get this
Speaker 1: contract extension to go forward to get it either from
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, get tagged again, or maybe hit the market
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one after this season. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of things that still say Dak is going to
Speaker 1: be this team's quarterback for twenty twenty and beyond, and
Speaker 1: this is just a situation where it's taken longer. I
Speaker 1: think everybody thinks, but I always find it funny Dan
Speaker 1: that people are saying, well, the Cowboys must not like
Speaker 1: him since things this has taken so long. They've made
Speaker 1: him an offer that, at least we think would make
Speaker 1: him the second highest paid quarterback in the NFL. If
Speaker 1: you don't like a guy, you're not offering a guy
Speaker 1: thirty four million dollars a year, So that notion is
Speaker 1: always kind of I found it funny when when you
Speaker 1: hear people say there's got to be something the Cowboys
Speaker 1: don't like about Dak. They've made him a pretty substantial
Speaker 1: offer and to just kind of working through some points
Speaker 1: to get to a deal they hope before July fifteen.
Speaker 1: I read somewhere, and it may have been in your reporting,
Speaker 1: that the Cowboys want him to sign for five and
Speaker 1: he wants to sign for four to get the free
Speaker 1: agency faster. Is that where that they pulled up is
Speaker 1: right now? Not d hold up, but it's a hold
Speaker 1: up the length of the deal. He clearly would want
Speaker 1: a shorter deal and to be able to get out
Speaker 1: there again by the time he being what thirty two
Speaker 1: thirty three years old, and the Cowboys want him around
Speaker 1: longer because if you're going to spend that kind of money,
Speaker 1: you want to have some ability to have some flexibility
Speaker 1: in the early years to spread some money around. But
Speaker 1: that's not the only issue going on. That's kind of
Speaker 1: been painted around from a lot of people here locally
Speaker 1: and nationally that it's just the length of the deal
Speaker 1: they can I mean, that's not the only thing. There's
Speaker 1: average per year, there's guaranteed money, there's the cash flow
Speaker 1: of this. There's a lot of elements to it. But
Speaker 1: the length of the contract is part of the deal,
Speaker 1: but not the sole reason why there's not a deal
Speaker 1: done yet. Andy is from Katie, Texas, which is near Houston.
Speaker 1: But as we pointed out, he played for TCU. He
Speaker 1: has a home in the Dallas area. How popular is
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton in Dallas. That's a great And then there's
Speaker 1: a pretty big we joked about the Xavier Cincinnati thing
Speaker 1: right to start, there's a pretty big divide between Dallas
Speaker 1: and Fort Worth. In my view, like people in Dallas
Speaker 1: don't really look at Fort Worth very much, like it's
Speaker 1: not a big deal. But people I know in Fort
Speaker 1: Worth they don't call it DFW. They call it FWD.
Speaker 1: So there's the Dallas Morning News doesn't really cover TCU.
Speaker 1: Now the Four Words Star Telegram does, but they don't
Speaker 1: cover FMU. So he's popular because he's he did great
Speaker 1: things that DCU for. Gary Patterson won a lot of games.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting that two of his coaches he's played
Speaker 1: in Bowl games against in Scott Coldean and Kellen Moore,
Speaker 1: and he I think he went two and one against
Speaker 1: those guys. Maybe help me out. Did they beat Wisconsin
Speaker 1: or did they lose to Wisconsin? They've been Wisconsin in
Speaker 1: the Rose Bow. Okay, he went two and one against
Speaker 1: his now coaches on this staff. But he's fair fairly popular,
Speaker 1: and look from a playing perspective, you know, maybe it's
Speaker 1: because I covered the Bengals and I have strong feelings
Speaker 1: for the Brown family, and I realized they've done some
Speaker 1: things that haven't gone well for a long amount of
Speaker 1: a good amount of time. But Andy is a guy
Speaker 1: who went to the playoffs for five straight years. One
Speaker 1: of the Cowboys last done that. I honestly don't I
Speaker 1: don't even know if they did that with Jimmy, so
Speaker 1: you know, now he didn't want a playoff game. Don't
Speaker 1: get me wrong, the cow but the Cowboys haven't been
Speaker 1: to an NFC title game since ninety five. It's been
Speaker 1: a while since the Cowboys have been the Cowboys. So
Speaker 1: I think this move though, is viewed as a positive
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys because, yeah, and he's from here and
Speaker 1: he lives here. He had success at TCU, but mainly
Speaker 1: because they finally feel like they have a backup quarterback.
Speaker 1: If something were to happen to Dak, that they'd be covered.
Speaker 1: TCU beat Wisconsin twenty one to nineteen in that Rose Bowl.
Speaker 1: By the way, last question for Todd Archer, who covers
Speaker 1: the Cowboys for ESPN. Dax had four very productive years
Speaker 1: in Dallas, and he's got nine years of experience under
Speaker 1: his belt. Do you think that Dak will be picking
Speaker 1: his brain a lot? I mean, clearly they signed Andy
Speaker 1: to have a good insurance policy if something happened to Dak.
Speaker 1: But do they like the fact now that for the
Speaker 1: first time in Dak's career, he's got kind of a
Speaker 1: veteran mentor to work with. Yeah. Absolutely, I think that
Speaker 1: is part of it. And you know, he was Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore's teammate here for his first couple of years before
Speaker 1: Kellen moved on to the coaching staff, so they have
Speaker 1: a really tight connection in tight boon. And when he
Speaker 1: took over in twenty sixteen, Romo was still here, but
Speaker 1: Romo wasn't around much during the week to it with
Speaker 1: his rehab coming from the back, so they'd got Mark
Speaker 1: Sanchez was really a guy that Dak relied on a
Speaker 1: bunch of a rookie in twenty sixteen, but honestly, since
Speaker 1: then it's been Cooper Rush as the backup, an undrafted
Speaker 1: free agent out of Central Michigan that has been the guy.
Speaker 1: But Dak is a one of his best traits is
Speaker 1: as a listener and seeking people out and trusting what
Speaker 1: they see. And Andy has seen probably just about everything
Speaker 1: in his career. And you know, this is something that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys had with Romo. They had John Kitten, another
Speaker 1: former Bengal. They had Brad Johnson, they had Kyle Orton
Speaker 1: as his backup, so guys that could test Romo academically
Speaker 1: in some respect in the room and while also pushing
Speaker 1: him on the field too to be better. So I
Speaker 1: think the Cobs are hoping that they would get the
Speaker 1: same out of Andy Dalton here this year. Whenever we
Speaker 1: can play football again and whenever dak is around this team.
Speaker 1: If you get the long term deal or if he's
Speaker 1: playing on the franchise tech, that's going to do it.
Speaker 1: For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to
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Speaker 1: fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast