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Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading

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Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The is on My List edition

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Speaker 1: as we look at Pro Football Focus's recent ranking of

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Speaker 1: the top rosters in the NFL with one of the

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Speaker 1: guys that put that list together, Jim Wyman. But first

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Speaker 1: five questions with fifth round draft pick Josh fig Newton,

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Speaker 1: and I'll introduce you to an undrafted rookie who is

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Speaker 1: hoping to be the Bengals starting punter, Austin macnamara. The

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Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,

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Speaker 1: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by

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Speaker 1: all to Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate

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Speaker 1: your home, business, and community to a new level, and

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Speaker 1: by Kettering Health, the best care for the best fans.

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Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.

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Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the

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Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,

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Speaker 1: or can by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's

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Speaker 1: the greatest thing since popsicles. Roughly one hundred and twenty

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Speaker 1: years ago, an eleven year old kid named Frank Epperson

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Speaker 1: left a cup of soda with a stirring stick in

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Speaker 1: it sitting on the porch when he went indoors. The

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Speaker 1: soda froze overnight like an icicle, and when young Frank

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Speaker 1: discovered it the next morning, he decided to taste it,

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Speaker 1: and thus the popsicle was born. I discovered a bunch

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Speaker 1: of popsicles in our freezer the other day and I

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Speaker 1: have been binging on them ever since. It is a

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Speaker 1: great summertime snack. Oh and by the way, many years

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Speaker 1: after Frank Epperson started selling his frozen icy treats, he

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Speaker 1: patented his simple snack and his kids came up with

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Speaker 1: the name. They called them pops Sickles. Now let's get

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Speaker 1: to football. I've been getting to know the Bengals draft

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Speaker 1: picks this year by asking them five questions that are

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Speaker 1: a little different from the norm. This week we meet

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Speaker 1: a cornerback out of TCU. Time for five questions with

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Speaker 1: fifth round draft pick Josh Newton. Your nickname is Fig,

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Speaker 1: as in Fig Newton. When did people start calling you Fig?

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Speaker 1: And did you like it?

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Speaker 2: Uh?

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Speaker 3: It was I think my wrist shirt freshman year.

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Speaker 4: So this is around twenty eighteen, I was like, fee

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Speaker 4: had I even had a kitchen on myself. But once

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Speaker 4: I caught on, I'm like, wish shit, let me just

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Speaker 4: roll with it.

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Speaker 3: I ain't tripping. I want a post to it.

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Speaker 4: It just kind of heat me, like, you know, like

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Speaker 4: kind of awkward, but I just still with it and

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Speaker 4: now you know, is doing what it's supposed to do

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Speaker 4: right now.

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Speaker 1: But do you like the fig Newton cookie.

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Speaker 3: A something before?

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Speaker 4: I'm not really a fan of it, but if they

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Speaker 4: pay me to eat them, my wheel for sure.

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Speaker 1: All right, there we go. Endorsement deal hopefully coming down

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Speaker 1: the road. Question number two. I heard you say in

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Speaker 1: an interview that you are trying to find ways to

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Speaker 1: turn football off. Do you think about the game NonStop?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, even when I'm not trying to, it's still just

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Speaker 4: Jie Popbull. Just it's been it was my life now,

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Speaker 4: So I mean, honestly, it's like you just gotta roll

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Speaker 4: with it because it's doing it's helping my family, it's

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Speaker 4: taking care of me my family, and you know, to

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Speaker 4: be able to be a provider. So it's kind of

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Speaker 4: like in the sense you really don't get to turn

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Speaker 4: it off. But it's just like when I have time

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Speaker 4: to downtime. Is just trying to find the things to

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Speaker 4: just really calm me down, just set me down.

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Speaker 1: I could hear Joe Burrow saying the same thing. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he just thinks all the time, how can I be

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Speaker 1: the best in the world.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I love a guy like that is running my team,

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Speaker 4: the captain and just considering throwing them is throwing the ball.

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Speaker 4: So shit, hey, I let Joe be Joe. If you

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Speaker 4: don't want to turn it off, Hey, don't let him

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Speaker 4: turn it off. So that that right there is gonna

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Speaker 4: get us to what we want to be in February.

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Speaker 3: So I'm just.

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Speaker 4: I'm glad I'll have a quarterback this relatively young, but

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Speaker 4: he has seen a lot and he didn't done it

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Speaker 4: at the highest level of you Ain and the year up.

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Speaker 1: So question number three for Josh Newton. You are a

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Speaker 1: great wide receiver in high school. At one point you

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Speaker 1: had five straight one hundred yard games, but you only

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Speaker 1: had one scholarship offer. From what I understand, Do you know.

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Speaker 4: Why I don't complain about nothing. I don't question God.

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Speaker 4: Look what he done for me. Now, there's one thing

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Speaker 4: I don't do. Question God. Look one man now with

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Speaker 4: a whole nother position, with a whole nother route, a

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Speaker 4: whole nother turn, and at the end of the day,

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Speaker 4: I still seen the light I was supposed to see

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Speaker 4: at the end.

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Speaker 1: So question number four. After starting out at Louisiana Monroe,

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Speaker 1: you transferred to TCU for your final two college seasons

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Speaker 1: and in your first training camp you made a speech

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Speaker 1: that went viral to your teammates. I watched it on

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Speaker 1: YouTube and it's awesome. I was ready to run through

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Speaker 1: a wall. Do you think that had an impact on

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Speaker 1: what the team did that year? Because you guys played

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Speaker 1: for the national championship at the end of that year.

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Speaker 4: Everybody says it, so I'm gonna believe it. So from

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Speaker 4: Lego as, from the trainers to the players and.

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Speaker 3: The coaches as well.

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Speaker 4: So if they if this what they're saying, then it

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Speaker 4: gotta be truated because it was more than just me

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Speaker 4: out there playing.

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Speaker 3: I just was the one to get the words.

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Speaker 4: They're the ones that felt it, so obviously, like my

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Speaker 4: my energy was felt that day, and definitely I feel

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Speaker 4: like it's sparkan us into what we wanted to be.

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Speaker 1: For sure, you talked about effort and teamwork and things

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Speaker 1: like that, but You also spoke about gratitude, which resonated

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Speaker 1: with me. It was obvious how much you appreciated the opportunity,

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Speaker 1: the coaches, the teammates, everything about your experience.

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Speaker 4: Right, because you got to think all the coach's efforts

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Speaker 4: in breaking field down, watching other teams shit, even giving

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Speaker 4: us a game plan, all that is for us as players.

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Speaker 4: So it's just be like, as a player, you gotta

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Speaker 4: talk to other players to try to get them to

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Speaker 4: help and to understand the bigger picture of things. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: it's about us, but at the end of the day,

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Speaker 4: we help the coaches too, but with our differences in

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Speaker 4: executing what they teaching. Because if we balling, Joe Burrow balling,

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Speaker 4: we going to the Super Bowl, Zach Taylor don't go nowhere.

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Speaker 4: We just keep getting extending, extending, extending. So it's like,

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Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, it helped me help you situation.

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Speaker 4: So like once the players don't kind of take it

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Speaker 4: like it's literally all about us, and it's like literally like.

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Speaker 3: Just work and helping and helping out.

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Speaker 4: When you think when you get when you get to

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Speaker 4: think about helping out and tell yourself, if you're just

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Speaker 4: helping out, you kind of like just you look at

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Speaker 4: it from a different perspective and the bigger picture of things,

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Speaker 4: like I'm just one piece of the puzzle, and some

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Speaker 4: people get caught up in their presence and you can't

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Speaker 4: let that your ego take over at the end of

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Speaker 4: the day. Like I told the same team last year,

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Speaker 4: like I need y'all just like y'all need me. So

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Speaker 4: it's like just just understanding, like everybody is. Everybody matters

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Speaker 4: bro for sure.

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Speaker 1: Fifth and final question for Josh Newton. Tell me something

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Speaker 1: about you that not that many people know.

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Speaker 3: I like to cook. I like to cook. I like

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Speaker 3: to cook.

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Speaker 4: I've been growing for I said the last two years.

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Speaker 4: I've grown like like I cook just whenever I feel

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Speaker 4: like it.

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Speaker 3: So it's just that's the one thing I like to do.

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Speaker 3: For sure. I'm a big griller. If you was gonna

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Speaker 3: go to.

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Speaker 4: That too, any holiday, I'll slap some on the grill

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Speaker 4: for sure. So I'm definitely gonna carry that.

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Speaker 3: For the rest of my life for sure.

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Speaker 4: And I just watching MAM's in the kitchenhen I was young,

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Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, just sitting there seeing her

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Speaker 4: season and you know, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 4: if your food is flavor, is gonna cook yourself. So

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Speaker 4: you just cook for color, see what you like, see

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Speaker 4: what you don't like, and you can really please yourself.

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Speaker 3: And it's it teach me patience.

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Speaker 4: It teaches me, you know, just just be yourself honestly too,

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Speaker 4: because it's like you can't rush the meat and not

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Speaker 4: gonna cook faster for you.

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Speaker 3: Just wait and you.

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Speaker 4: Gotta think about my story. Like I could have been

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Speaker 4: asking God, bro, can you can.

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Speaker 3: You hurry up? Hurry up and get me to the lead.

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Speaker 4: But would if I would have got to lead unprepared

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Speaker 4: or unseasoned or missed out on the flavor that it

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Speaker 4: was supposed to be there, I probably won't be this

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Speaker 4: real round or this real groom or this mature. So

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Speaker 4: it's just like cooking is kind of like a way

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Speaker 4: that I kind of like just released when you're trying

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Speaker 4: to relax, Like but if they go back to question one,

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Speaker 4: like that's probably if if I had one way to

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Speaker 4: kind of like if you said, that'll kind of just

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Speaker 4: ease me.

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Speaker 3: Like cooking for sure, because it forces you to do it.

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Speaker 1: Fourth of July is coming. Fake Newton is in charge

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Speaker 1: of the grill.

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Speaker 4: Uh chicken Uh ribs sausage and maybe something whatever whatever else.

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Speaker 4: The fan won't really do it, but you know, real

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Speaker 4: chicken sausage, it's more to that's kind of like.

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Speaker 3: You really yeah you straight with that? Yeah for sure?

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Speaker 3: Yeah you straight or that? Yeah for sure, you straight

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Speaker 3: for sure. Yeah. Maybe some porchouses him like.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, fourth of July is gonna be good at the

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Speaker 1: Newton Household.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, he's gonna be He's

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Speaker 4: gonna be crazy.

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Speaker 3: We're gonna go, We're gonna have a good time, pop forwards.

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Speaker 3: We're gonna we're gonna have a little Femily time before

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Speaker 3: I have to come back.

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Speaker 1: In Locky in for for so this has been fun.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate your time. It's great to have in Cincinnati.

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Speaker 3: Glad to be here.

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Speaker 1: Man.

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Speaker 4: I'll be telling coach Taylor thank you every other day, Lily.

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Speaker 1: It's easy to see why Josh was a team captain

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Speaker 1: of TCU. Head coach Sonny Dykes called him the least

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Speaker 1: entitled player I have ever coached. And here's one thing

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Speaker 1: I noticed during the Bengals offseason practices. When the guys

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Speaker 1: come out to stretch as a group, Josh is always

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Speaker 1: a little bit off to the side away from his teammates.

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Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson does the same thing. When I asked Josh

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Speaker 1: about it, he said he uses that time to get

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Speaker 1: focused and locked in for practice. He is a very

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Speaker 1: easy guy to root for. When training camp gets underway

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Speaker 1: in late July, one of the key battles will be

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Speaker 1: at punter. Brad Robbins was inconsistent as a sixth round

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Speaker 1: draft pick last season, so the Bengals brought in training

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Speaker 1: camp competition in undrafted rookie Austin McNamara out of Texas Tech.

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Speaker 1: There were three highly regarded punters in this year's draft class.

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Speaker 1: I was Tory Taylor, who was selected in the fourth

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Speaker 1: round by the Bears, BYU's Ryan Rico who signed with

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Speaker 1: Kansas City, and macnamara, who averaged nearly forty six yards

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Speaker 1: of punt in his college career. He's a big guy

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Speaker 1: at six ' five, and I talked to him after

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Speaker 1: he arrived in Cincinnati. Austin, the Bengals have made no

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Speaker 1: secret of wanting to bring in competition for Brad Robbins.

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Speaker 1: How aggressively did they pursue you after the draft?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 5: I mean Kushiamans and I had talked throughout this whole

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Speaker 5: process from the Combine and prode up until to the

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Speaker 5: draft and during the draft, and you know, I knew

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Speaker 5: it was gonna be in a good spot regardless of

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Speaker 5: what happens, you know, when I'm drafted undrafted, and so

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Speaker 5: you know, Kaschhimman's obviously expressed his interest in me, and

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Speaker 5: I'm glad he's interested in me and willing to kind

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Speaker 5: of give me a chance and give me an offer

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Speaker 5: to be able to come and and uh and can

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Speaker 5: come and compete and and you know, I'm so excited

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Speaker 5: for the opportunity and can't wait to look forward to

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Speaker 5: what's to come.

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Speaker 1: So how how extensively did he work you out or

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Speaker 1: look at you before the draft?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Like I mentioned, we he I first met with

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Speaker 5: the Combine and he was at the Combine watching and

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Speaker 5: then at my pro day in Dallas as well, and

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Speaker 5: so we did those two and then we also had

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Speaker 5: a Zoom meeting prior to the draft as well.

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Speaker 2: So uh, we talked, you know, just about different techniques.

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Speaker 5: Obviously, he was a punt of himself and so it's

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Speaker 5: been great to learn from him and learn what he

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Speaker 5: has to offer. And we can talk back and forth

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Speaker 5: about the terminology and all that stuff. So that's been

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Speaker 5: great to be able to learn from him and.

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Speaker 2: And uh, you know, get used to the get used

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Speaker 2: to that as.

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Speaker 5: A abina as a coach, and so he's been great

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Speaker 5: that way, and and uh looking forward to learning.

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Speaker 2: From him some more.

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Speaker 1: It is unusual for an NFL Special teams coordinator to

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Speaker 1: have been a former college punter. Have your coaches in

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Speaker 1: the past had playing experience at that level?

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Speaker 2: No, sirry, Yeah, this is my this is my first one.

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Speaker 2: I mean, my dad kind of me and my dad

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Speaker 2: kind of learned.

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Speaker 5: Together throughout my high school career and he's still coaches

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Speaker 5: the specialist back in my high school.

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Speaker 2: But in college, I didn't.

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Speaker 5: Have anybody really that was that was We had one

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Speaker 5: guy for a little while, but not especially as coordinator

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Speaker 5: that knows as punted himself and kicked and kicked himself

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Speaker 5: into college or at any point. And that's why it's

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Speaker 5: great to learn from Coushimmons. And I'm really excited to

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Speaker 5: get started.

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Speaker 1: Great with chatting with Austin McNamara. You had quite a

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Speaker 1: college career a Texas Tech. You've got the tenth best

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Speaker 1: hunting average in NCAA history. For anybody with one hundred

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Speaker 1: and fifty punts or more, what do you consider to

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Speaker 1: be your biggest strengths biggy strength.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So my bigges strength, I feel like is my

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Speaker 2: directional punting. So I work on that a lot. We

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Speaker 2: did that Texas Tech. I've done it since high school.

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Speaker 2: And so I thought my dressial punning in my ma

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Speaker 2: hain time.

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Speaker 5: Since I'm a taller guy, I mean, we get through

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Speaker 5: a little bit better than most that are shorter, and

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Speaker 5: so kind of use that.

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Speaker 3: To my advantage.

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Speaker 5: She does my strengths and and really just try and

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Speaker 5: you know, be consistent as I can.

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Speaker 2: And I thought my consistency is getting better and better.

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Speaker 5: And and you know, I have a lot of experience

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Speaker 5: playing different wind conditions, being Loveac which is really windy,

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Speaker 5: and and you know I've on the assets that kind

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Speaker 5: of added my tool walks over the year.

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Speaker 2: So but those are part of my mainstraints.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned hang time. You were fourth in the

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Speaker 1: country last year according to Pro Football Focus. How much

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Speaker 1: was that emphasized that Texas terribly Yeah.

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Speaker 5: I mean, you know, coach Perry, my socialscordinator, I mean,

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Speaker 5: we really wanted to make that emphasis as well. As

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Speaker 5: directional punting, and so I worked on those a ton

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Speaker 5: and put those two together, you know, trying to limit

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Speaker 5: return as the best we can put the ball, make

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Speaker 5: the returner have to.

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Speaker 2: Move around a little bit and pin them in the.

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Speaker 5: Worst place possible so we can get the ball back

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Speaker 5: and and uh, you know, defense go out there and

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Speaker 5: make a stop. So you know, really trying to that's

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Speaker 5: that's been my game. That's what I've been trying to

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Speaker 5: emulate it and I will continue to do that.

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Speaker 1: You're six ' five, You've got offensive lineman sized hands

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Speaker 1: according to the Combine. How did you become a punter? Yeah?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I uh, you know, I grew up playing soccer,

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Speaker 5: gri up playing basketball as well in high school, and

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Speaker 5: so football kind of came my freshman year of high school.

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Speaker 5: I started kicking and full time, and I really really

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Speaker 5: enjoyed it. Like I said, I mentioned I played soccer.

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Speaker 5: A lot of soccer players end up kicking or at

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Speaker 5: least try it, and and so you know, obviously I'd

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Speaker 5: love to do it, and you know, it was awesome,

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Speaker 5: and and you had a great pre season, great experience

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Speaker 5: by football. I'm in general, and I want to keep

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Speaker 5: doing it and then ended up I can maybe do

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Speaker 5: some college, so I kept soon in and obviously end

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Speaker 5: up to tax SEC and nowt here. So I'm really

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Speaker 5: excited and obviously kicking punts my passion.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's give me, excuse me, a challenge I love.

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Speaker 5: I love the challenge of it and being able to

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Speaker 5: miss it a ball, I know why, I kind of

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Speaker 5: get it back and kind of face it.

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Speaker 2: And it's obviously great hand and good ball as well,

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Speaker 2: so it goes hand in hand.

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Speaker 1: I think an NFL roster should say punter slash holder,

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Speaker 1: because it's half of the job, it really is. Did

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Speaker 1: you hold throughout your career at Texas Tech?

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Speaker 5: I didn't, sir, Yeah, I held for about three and

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Speaker 5: a half, almost four seasons.

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Speaker 3: I hold.

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Speaker 5: My freshman year at Kittson High School, I fiegals kickoffs

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Speaker 5: and I outs uponted, So my freshan year I learned

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Speaker 5: how to hold. But then my sophomore year I kind

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Speaker 5: of accept that I was able to jump into that

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Speaker 5: role a little bit more and build a hold, and.

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Speaker 2: I held for the last three or four seasons at

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Speaker 2: Texas Tech. So ready for it.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Chatting with Austin McNamara, you had an eighty seven yard

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Speaker 1: punt at Texas Tech against West Virginia. I've seen the

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Speaker 1: footage online. So your team's at your own thirteen yard line,

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Speaker 1: you're standing in the end zone. You punted it to

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Speaker 1: the other end zone. Explain the feeling of that punt.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was It was a crazy feeling.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 5: I got hit right after I punted it, so I

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Speaker 5: didn't get to see the ball flight.

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Speaker 3: You know, Usually you.

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Speaker 5: Look up and see how where it's going right away,

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Speaker 5: but I was on the ground for a couple of seconds,

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Speaker 5: looked up and it was still going to there. I

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Speaker 5: could hear the crowd kind of like cheering. It's usually

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Speaker 5: either the cheering. It's either really bad or really good.

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Speaker 5: So I didn't know which one at the beginning. And

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Speaker 5: and you know, obviously I worked obviously, don't do that

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Speaker 5: every time, I wish, you know, but I uh, it

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Speaker 5: was abously. It's one of those confidence musters for sure,

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Speaker 5: And you know, I know I have it in me

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Speaker 5: and and obviously my consistency is my strength and that's

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Speaker 5: what I'm going for.

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Speaker 2: But it's for good to hit a good punt, you know,

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Speaker 2: big punt every once in a while.

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Speaker 1: So good what has Darren told you about the competition?

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Speaker 1: Here is it? You and Brad best Man Wins.

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Speaker 5: We talked about it a little bit, you know, we

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Speaker 5: we've been going back and forth.

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Speaker 2: You know, I haven't mad bradea.

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Speaker 5: I'm I was excited to meet him and learned from

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Speaker 5: him and work with him and stuff through over the

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Speaker 5: next few months.

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Speaker 2: And and you know, for me, it's just competition with

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Speaker 2: me and with me and me.

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Speaker 5: You know, I'm just be against myself and enough if

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Speaker 5: I you know, put the work in now and you know,

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Speaker 5: do my best ever single day mile that all worked

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Speaker 5: out one way or the other.

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Speaker 2: So I'm really just.

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Speaker 5: Kind of having that mindset going into this, going this

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Speaker 5: whole thing, and oly happens.

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Speaker 1: So great chatting with you.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Sincinnat, sir, Thank you so much for sid it.

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Speaker 1: McNamara was named the Big Twelve Special Teams Player of

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Speaker 1: the Year last season. He was the first Red Raider

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Speaker 1: to win a major conference award since twenty fourteen, when

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Speaker 1: some guy named Patrick Mahomes was tabbed the Big Twelve

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Speaker 1: Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. The Bengals Booth Podcast

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Speaker 1: is brought to you by pay Corps. Proud to be

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Speaker 1: the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future

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Speaker 1: proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and

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00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,480
Speaker 1: community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the

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Speaker 1: best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the

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Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. We know that the

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Speaker 1: Bengals have a talented roster, but how does it stack

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Speaker 1: up against other NFL teams. Pro Football Focus recently had

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Speaker 1: two of its analysts, Jim Wyman and Dalton Wasserman, rank

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Speaker 1: all thirty two NFL rosters from first to worst. Jim

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Speaker 1: did the write ups about the AFC teams, and I

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Speaker 1: talked to him about the list. Jim, let's start with

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Speaker 1: the methodology that you guys used for ranking all thirty

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Speaker 1: two NFL rosters. Was it strictly data driven with PFF

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Speaker 1: grades or was there some opinion and guesswork involved.

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Speaker 6: PFF grades was definitely kind of the primary focus on this.

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Speaker 6: I mean, we do want to kind of emphasize our

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Speaker 6: bread and butter more or less, but there was definitely

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Speaker 6: some opinion thrown in there because we're also trying to

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Speaker 6: project a little bit. As far as these rankings are concerned,

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Speaker 6: they are purely on paper based, so coaching did not

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Speaker 6: factor at all into this unless we were going into

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Speaker 6: the over under. Otherwise it would just be a true

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Speaker 6: power ranking and not just a on roster ranking, so

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Speaker 6: to speak.

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Speaker 1: All Right, your number one rank roster in the NFL

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Speaker 1: belongs to the San Francisco forty nine ers. I don't

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Speaker 1: think anybody would be shocked by that. But eight of

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Speaker 1: your top twelve rosters belonged to AFC teams, and you

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Speaker 1: were responsible for the AFC ride ups. Is it fair

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Speaker 1: to say the road to the super Bowl in the

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Speaker 1: AFC is a gauntlet?

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Speaker 6: It absolutely is. It might even be trickier than last year,

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Speaker 6: especially since two Kansas City the defending champs. I think

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Speaker 6: on paper, got better team that won the super Bowl,

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Speaker 6: even if Rashid Rice doesn't miss a single game from

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Speaker 6: suspension this season. He added Marquis Brown, or Hollywood as

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Speaker 6: people like to call him, Xavier Worthy. I know a

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Speaker 6: lot of people are concerned that he's just a speed

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Speaker 6: demon coming to the draft, but he's so much more

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Speaker 6: than that. I know people may be a little scared

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Speaker 6: off after John Roston pan out, but Ross also had

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Speaker 6: some injury concerns coming out that Worthy just doesn't have.

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Speaker 6: And then you've got the Baltimore Ravens who just added

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Speaker 6: Derrick Henry to a backfield include Lamar Jackson, and so

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Speaker 6: that's gonna be something tricky to overcome for most teams.

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Speaker 6: And then the Texans, there's surrounding your young cordock of talent.

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Speaker 6: And then there's what the Texans did by adding Stefan

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Speaker 6: Diggs to a group that already included Nico Collins who

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Speaker 6: just had a huge year last year, Tank Dell, who

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Speaker 6: looks like a steal out of the third round. That

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Speaker 6: Texans receiving group is pre stacked. And then we have

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Speaker 6: Cincinnati up next at number eight, which we kind of

440
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,440
Speaker 6: went back and forth out where to place them because

441
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,600
Speaker 6: I could totally see Cincinnati being a little higher, especially

442
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 6: with Joe Burrow being back in the fold. I mean,

443
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,639
Speaker 6: last year they went nine to eight despite Burrow missing

444
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,040
Speaker 6: half the season, and even to start to start the season,

445
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:42,960
Speaker 6: he wasn't a one hundred percent because he had that

446
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,040
Speaker 6: leg issue that looked pretty scary in preseason with the

447
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 6: non contact injury, and he didn't look himself the first

448
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:52,400
Speaker 6: few weeks. It wasn't until like maybe late September early

449
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 6: October that he really got going. So Cincinnati right in

450
00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:58,200
Speaker 6: the mix of it, and then right behind them is Buffalo,

451
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,639
Speaker 6: Miami and Cleveland, which as far as those rankings go,

452
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 6: we were splitting hairs for the most part. You could

453
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,320
Speaker 6: be just rearrange those teams in any order you want

454
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,840
Speaker 6: and have a strong argument for them. I know Buffalo

455
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,919
Speaker 6: had a lot of roster cuts recently, but they were

456
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,840
Speaker 6: a lot deeper than they seemed. The big thing with

457
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,600
Speaker 6: Buffalo is replacing Stefan Diggs, who they sent to Houston

458
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:23,240
Speaker 6: for pennies on the dollar. I think if Keon Coleman,

459
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,159
Speaker 6: their top draft pick hands out, because he's probably the

460
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,800
Speaker 6: biggest wild card amongst in the NFL draft, because we

461
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:34,680
Speaker 6: have no idea. He had some separation issues in college,

462
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 6: like there were times where like most of his catches,

463
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,800
Speaker 6: he's got a defender draped all over him, which sometimes

464
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,120
Speaker 6: that works out, like sometimes that guy becomes des Bryant,

465
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,680
Speaker 6: other times he becomes Nick hil Harry. So they're very

466
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,680
Speaker 6: hard to kind of figure out. But in his testing

467
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,040
Speaker 6: was inconsistent too. But I'm a little more encouraged by

468
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,520
Speaker 6: the fact that despite running the slow as forty amongst receivers.

469
00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 6: He was the fastest guy in the gauntlet drill, which

470
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,680
Speaker 6: is the actual on field stuff, which is the stuff

471
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,119
Speaker 6: that might translate a little better to the league. So

472
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,720
Speaker 6: I have confidence that Keon Coleman. We might not be

473
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,920
Speaker 6: the productive receiver that Stefan Diggs was, but he's if

474
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 6: he's like show something promised by the end of season,

475
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,200
Speaker 6: Josh Allen's good enough that he'll he'll get his targets.

476
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,160
Speaker 1: Jim Wiman from Pro Football Focus is our guests. We're

477
00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: going to get to the Bengals in more detail in

478
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,000
Speaker 1: just a moment, but I've got to ask you about

479
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 1: the most shocking team on the list. In my opinion,

480
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:31,119
Speaker 1: your number four roster in the NFL belongs to a

481
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,919
Speaker 1: team that went seven to ten last year, the New

482
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,159
Speaker 1: York Jets. We know that the return of Aaron Rodgers

483
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: makes a big difference, but the fourth best roster in

484
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 1: the NFL.

485
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,439
Speaker 6: Yeah, this one. We got killed for this one on

486
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,919
Speaker 6: social media. You're not the only one who seems dumbfounded

487
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 6: by the rankings. Pretty much like to scroll through comments

488
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,280
Speaker 6: kind of get the pulse of what the fan are saying.

489
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,600
Speaker 6: Pretty Much every single comment has an issue with us.

490
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,160
Speaker 6: Placing at Jets at number four. And when we came

491
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,400
Speaker 6: to this discussion, I think it was first Dalton who

492
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 6: pitched the Jets being number four, and I heard some

493
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 6: surprise in his voice. It was like I had it

494
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 6: at five. So I was just as high on them

495
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,360
Speaker 6: as he was. And the main thing is one thing

496
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:16,080
Speaker 6: I want to kind of bring to the attention is, yeah,

497
00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,960
Speaker 6: the Jets went seven to ten, but they did this

498
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,440
Speaker 6: with Zach Wilson at quarterback and Tim Boyle taking meaningful snaps.

499
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,399
Speaker 6: Even the Patriots, with as good a defense as they had,

500
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,439
Speaker 6: couldn't survive their bad quarterback play. The Jets did for

501
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 6: the most part, I mean, as much as a seven

502
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 6: and ten team can. And not only that, they made

503
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,479
Speaker 6: some moves in the offseason that we really liked. At

504
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,359
Speaker 6: wide receiver. Last year it was basically just Garrett Wilson

505
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,520
Speaker 6: and a couple undrafted rookies playing some significant playing time.

506
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,920
Speaker 6: The Adam Mike Williams, who is He's not gonna catch

507
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,040
Speaker 6: a ton of passes every game, but he's consistently up

508
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 6: there in yards per reception. I think Rogers is gonna

509
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,879
Speaker 6: have fun throwing to him deep downfield, even just on

510
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,160
Speaker 6: a one year deal, and then Malachi Corley, who they

511
00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 6: took in a third round, being the exact opposite receiver

512
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 6: in terms of He's probably gonna be a high volume catches,

513
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 6: probably lower depth of target, but he's dying in white

514
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:09,840
Speaker 6: with the ball in his hands. He's me pretty fun.

515
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 6: Offensive line is kind of where I was fifty to

516
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 6: fifty because they did add Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses

517
00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 6: at offensive tackle. Both guys have dealt with some injuries,

518
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,879
Speaker 6: Smith in particular, but when they've been on the field,

519
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 6: they've been much more productive, especially considering what the Jets

520
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,159
Speaker 6: been thrown out there last year. And even if one

521
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,880
Speaker 6: of the two tackles I mentioned before falter, they drafted

522
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,840
Speaker 6: Olufashnu in the first round, who can step right in

523
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 6: and he might even be the best tackle on the

524
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 6: roster right now. We don't have him listen as a

525
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,919
Speaker 6: starter at the moment, but I wouldn't be surprised that

526
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 6: I'm starting from the get go. And one last thing

527
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 6: by the Jets offense, they ranked dead last in EPA

528
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,879
Speaker 6: per play last season, worse than even the Patriots of

529
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 6: the Falcons or other teams were talking about who had

530
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,679
Speaker 6: some struggles and they still won seven games as a results,

531
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,199
Speaker 6: So that goes a testament to how good defense is.

532
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,119
Speaker 6: Even if Aaron Rodgers isn't like and four time MVP

533
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers anymore, even if he's just you know, kind

534
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:05,560
Speaker 6: of what we saw at the end of his Packers

535
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,640
Speaker 6: career where he seemed like he might have been turning downward,

536
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 6: He's this Jets team is gonna be fine and they're

537
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,439
Speaker 6: going to be in contention with the AFC East title

538
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 6: as long as he's at least healthy.

539
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: Jim Wiman from Pro Football Focus is our guest. He

540
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 1: and Dalton Wasserman have ranked all thirty two rosters in

541
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 1: the NFL, from San Francisco at number one to Denver

542
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,160
Speaker 1: at number thirty two. The Bengals, as you mentioned, check

543
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,320
Speaker 1: in at number eight overall, number five in the AFC,

544
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 1: behind Kansas City at two, the Jets at four, Baltimore

545
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 1: at five, in Houston at seven. What stood out to

546
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: you is some of the biggest strengths on the Bengals roster.

547
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,399
Speaker 6: Immediately what stands out as the wide receivers. I know

548
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,080
Speaker 6: there's some issues surrounding t Higgins, whether he's going to

549
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 6: sign an extension, whether it's gonna be back, especially considering

550
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 6: Jamar Chase is due next year for an extension. At

551
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,680
Speaker 6: the moments, we've got Higgins returning because we've heard nothing

552
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 6: to the contrary.

553
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, he'll I'll be there on the franchise tag. I

554
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,359
Speaker 1: don't think anybody, I mean, Tea has even said publicly

555
00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 1: he expects to play for Cincinnati this year.

556
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:09,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's gonna be huge for this Bengals teams

557
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,879
Speaker 6: if he comes back. I mean, Jamar Chase can do

558
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 6: a lot for an offense, but just having a guy

559
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 6: like T Higgins there, Like, even if you want to

560
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,280
Speaker 6: double Jamar Chase you want, you can't do that because

561
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,080
Speaker 6: T Higgins is going to kill you if you do that.

562
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,080
Speaker 6: And I know they let go of Tyler Boyd, but

563
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 6: I think Jermaine Burton, the guy that took him the

564
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 6: third round, at least on the field as an upgrade

565
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 6: over Boyd. This was a guy that we considered at

566
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,880
Speaker 6: PFF to be a first round talent who fell due

567
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,119
Speaker 6: to some character concerns. There was one incident in college

568
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,800
Speaker 6: I kind of raise some concerns and there's some reports

569
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 6: of it maybe not being most levelheaded guy. But hey,

570
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 6: if he is in a good situation in Cincinnati where

571
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,720
Speaker 6: he buys in. This is a dangerous player and a

572
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 6: guy who even if t Higgins let Walk could step

573
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 6: into that number two role opposite Chase What.

574
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 1: Do you consider to be the most significant question marks?

575
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,720
Speaker 6: Probably running back at the moment and right now that

576
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 6: so Joe Mixon took on a lot of the workload

577
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 6: for the for the Bengals last year. The other three

578
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,200
Speaker 6: running backs on the roster combined last year couldn't reach

579
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 6: three hundred snaps for the entire season, so losing mixing

580
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 6: kind of leaves a little of a hole. They added

581
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 6: Zach Moss last year, who I put as a team's

582
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 6: X factor on our roster just because this last year

583
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 6: was his first year he got a significant workload and

584
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,959
Speaker 6: he showed some ability to kind of be able to

585
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 6: be that guy. We haven't really seen it yet from

586
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 6: a long term perspective, but he played pretty well in

587
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 6: Indianapolis last year, set career highs pretty much across the

588
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,159
Speaker 6: board in any category you can think of. So this

589
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,919
Speaker 6: is going to be his show in the backfield in

590
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 6: Cincinnati because right now they're running with Chris Evans, who

591
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:46,440
Speaker 6: I think has mostly been used as a kick returner

592
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 6: as well as tray Van Williams has gotten some look

593
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 6: there as well. They drafted Chase Brown last year, who

594
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,400
Speaker 6: I kind of like, which I saw a little bit

595
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,560
Speaker 6: more of him last year, but we'll see how things

596
00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,199
Speaker 6: shake up this year. But he's definitely like someone I

597
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,639
Speaker 6: think could probably be the second back behind Zach Moss

598
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 6: and kind of maybe be more the receiving guy of

599
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 6: the backfield. But right now, I would say the room

600
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 6: is paper thin just given the unproven depth behind a

601
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,919
Speaker 6: guy who himself we've only really seen him be productive

602
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:24,159
Speaker 6: one time. So I would say running backs probably the

603
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,800
Speaker 6: weakest group, But in terms of rooms to be weak in,

604
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,119
Speaker 6: running back might be the position to choose if you

605
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 6: had to choose one.

606
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: So, Jim, one of the things you do in the

607
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 1: article is list every team's projected starting lineup along with

608
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 1: their PFF grades, and this caught my eye. The highest

609
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: graded offensive player last year was Jamar Chase no big

610
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 1: surprise there, but the second highest graded player was the

611
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 1: new right tackle, Trent Brown. Between him and drafting Amrius

612
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:58,200
Speaker 1: Mims in the first round, do you see a significantly

613
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,160
Speaker 1: upgraded offensive line?

614
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:00,679
Speaker 5: I do.

615
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 6: This office of the line is definitely a lot better

616
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 6: on paper than spend in years past. I know the

617
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 6: Bengals have thrown a lot of money at the unit

618
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 6: the last couple of years with mixed results. Trent Brown's

619
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 6: an interesting case because he played extremely well to start

620
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 6: the season last year. I think against Miami, off top

621
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 6: I head, he had a PFF grade of like ninety six,

622
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 6: which I maybe seen like two games grades that were

623
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 6: higher than that. I can think, oh, it's top my head,

624
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,159
Speaker 6: and had another game I think against Buffalo and New

625
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,160
Speaker 6: England actually won one where he was in the nineties

626
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 6: as well. Trent Brown think he's going to be productive

627
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,800
Speaker 6: once again. I know he's getting up there in age

628
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,639
Speaker 6: a little bit, but a guy in his size that

629
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 6: moves as well as he does, he's shoring up the

630
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 6: right side can be great for him. I think at

631
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 6: the right tackles his best spot. He played a little

632
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 6: bit on the left side from New England and then

633
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 6: Amarius Mims I can I think maybe Philadelphia is the

634
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:52,800
Speaker 6: only other place where I thought of where could be

635
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 6: a potentially better spot for him to land. Cincinnati is

636
00:28:55,640 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 6: a great spot and he doesn't need to start right away.

637
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,719
Speaker 6: He can kind of get seasoning kind of figure out

638
00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 6: the league a little bit and not be thrown to

639
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 6: the fire like a guy with a similar profiles from

640
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 6: Tyler Goeyton and Dallas might be. And yet right now

641
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 6: he's projected to start at left tackle for the Dallas

642
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 6: Cowboys right out the gate. Whereas Mims gets to learn,

643
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 6: he gets to get better as a player who in

644
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 6: his craft, and it's an opportunity that he's being given

645
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 6: rather than being thrown to the wolves like Geyiton might be.

646
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 1: So Jim, the highest graded Bengals player on defense wasn't

647
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson. It was rookie safety Jordan Battle, who probably

648
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 1: won't start to begin this season after the Bengals picked

649
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: up Geno Stone and brought back Von Bell. What do

650
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: you think of the secondary after those changes at safety?

651
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 6: Yeah, so safety, I can totally see a sort of

652
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,200
Speaker 6: rotation between the three of them. I think Geno Stone

653
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 6: is the only one who's a really true free safety

654
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 6: kind of play that deep center field role. I think

655
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,959
Speaker 6: Battle in Von Bell, who might be a little bit

656
00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 6: more of a rotation than as a player kind of

657
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,480
Speaker 6: a similar style of safety, I think Battle might get

658
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 6: the edge there over Bell, just given battles younger and

659
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,680
Speaker 6: Bell isn't coming off the best season in New Orleans,

660
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 6: but he's still like a quality player who will definitely

661
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 6: see plenty of playing time. Daxon Hill is a guy

662
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 6: I was hoping it would break out last year. Actually

663
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 6: an article last summer where I tried to predict a

664
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 6: breakout player at every single position, and I picked Dax

665
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 6: Hill as one of the safeties. So it was really

666
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 6: his first year as a full time player. He was

667
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 6: pretty much red shirted his rookie year, so I'm not

668
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 6: ready to give up on him just yet. Same goes

669
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 6: for DJ Turner, who was a second round rookie last year,

670
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,360
Speaker 6: and he's another guy. Corner is a very, very tough

671
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 6: position to transition from college to the pros, just because

672
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 6: the quality receiver is so much different than what you're

673
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 6: gonna face, and corners themselves is a pretty volatile position

674
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 6: in terms of what you can expect from a year

675
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 6: to year basis. So Dj Turner's another guy I could

676
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,480
Speaker 6: see potentially stepping in and playing well in his second

677
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 6: year despite a down rookie season. Cam Taylor Brits another

678
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 6: guy who has shown some flashes as and I think

679
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 6: He's gonna be quality starting this league for a long time.

680
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 6: And Mike Hilton is the number one right now despite

681
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 6: being about thirty years old at the moment. But he

682
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,760
Speaker 6: is coming off one of the better seasons that he's

683
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 6: had in his career, and he's still got plenty left

684
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,120
Speaker 6: in tank despite his age. So the Bengals secondary I

685
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 6: think could surprise some people.

686
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: Jim, let's talk about the AFC North. Every team has

687
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 1: a roster that's graded in the top half of the NFL.

688
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,959
Speaker 1: I mentioned the Baltimore's fifth, Cincinnati's eighth, Cleveland is twelfth,

689
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh is sixteenth. I'm interested in the Ravens because they

690
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 1: lost fifteen free agents, including Patrick Queen and three of

691
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 1: their starting offensive linemen. They have added some good players,

692
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: led by Derrick Henry. But is it a top five

693
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 1: roster because they had depth or because the guys that

694
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 1: are still there are that good.

695
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:03,959
Speaker 6: I would say it's a mix. They definitely had depth.

696
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,880
Speaker 6: I know losing Patrick Queen might hurt in the defense,

697
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 6: but they still had roe qworn Smith. I think when

698
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,040
Speaker 6: we darraw rankings, we spent the longest time on Baltimore

699
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 6: versus Detroit, with whom who had at number six. I

700
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 6: think he spent, like I said, ten fifteen minutes trying

701
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 6: to figure out between these two. My main hold up

702
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 6: with the Ravens was losing some offensive linemen and they're

703
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 6: going to have some unproven guys up front, and then

704
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 6: receiver is a little lacking in depth. Say four Howers

705
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 6: had a really nice rookie year after him, though Rashad

706
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 6: Bateman hasn't really been with the Ravens. Hoped and I

707
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,760
Speaker 6: got the third list of receivers, Deontay Party, who is

708
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 6: mainly a kick return specialist, but who occasionally will come

709
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 6: in and make some plays. I know he had a

710
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 6: few plays when he was with the Saints that were explosive.

711
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 6: They also drafted Tedes Walker out of North Carolina in

712
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 6: early in the fourth round, which I thought was a

713
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,160
Speaker 6: great value for them. He's a guy who can really

714
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 6: stretch the field. And then Lamar Jackson Derek Henry might

715
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:03,960
Speaker 6: be the scariest backfield in football if you're trying to

716
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 6: defend the run, so you're either going to get your

717
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:08,480
Speaker 6: ankles broken your whole body broken trying to tackle one

718
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 6: of those guys.

719
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 1: We certainly know it from seeing him at least twice

720
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 1: a year, Cleveland checked in at number twelve. The strength

721
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,640
Speaker 1: is the defense, arguably the best in the NFL. Where

722
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 1: would Cleveland be on the list if they had more

723
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 1: of a sure thing at quarterback than Deshaun Watson.

724
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,840
Speaker 6: Yeah, Deshaun Watson was the real hold up about this

725
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,200
Speaker 6: Browns roster because the defense it might be my favorite

726
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,719
Speaker 6: on paper in the entire NFL, especially considering they were

727
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,400
Speaker 6: number one in EPA per play allowed last season by

728
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:41,160
Speaker 6: a comfortable margin, and everybody's back, including defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz,

729
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,720
Speaker 6: Deshaun Watson last year, he hasn't really gotten a chance

730
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 6: to get it in a rhythm. Part about his own doing.

731
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 6: Part of that is a freak injury that happened in

732
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 6: the middle of the season. Play on field looks like

733
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 6: a guy who hasn't played football regularly in the year

734
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 6: and a half and so. But the thing with the

735
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 6: Browns is they've still won eleven games and probably would

736
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 6: have won most divisions while starting five different quarterbacks. So

737
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,400
Speaker 6: I'm not super worried about their ability to be competitive

738
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,120
Speaker 6: once again for the playoffs. But if Deshaun Watson is

739
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,320
Speaker 6: twenty twenty, Deshaun Watson This team's a favorite in the division.

740
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 6: I think they even jump the Jets at number four,

741
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:21,640
Speaker 6: and they could be competing for their first Super Bowl

742
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 6: if Deshaun Watson looks like he does in twenty twenty.

743
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,360
Speaker 1: Well as a Bengals broadcaster, let's hope that he doesn't.

744
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,399
Speaker 1: The Steelers come in at number sixteen. Here's a team

745
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,520
Speaker 1: that won ten games last year. With Kenny Pickett and

746
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,279
Speaker 1: Mason Rudolph playing quarterback, is Pittsburgh a bigger threat to

747
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,240
Speaker 1: contend with Russell Wilson and or Justin Fields back there.

748
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 6: I think it's gonna be similar. I think they're going

749
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 6: to hover around the same win total. The defense is

750
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,680
Speaker 6: I think they got a little bit better this year,

751
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,399
Speaker 6: especially with adding Patrick Queens the middle of that linebacking group.

752
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,719
Speaker 6: I think that was a big get for them. Defensive

753
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,640
Speaker 6: line is mostly the same what That's a good thing

754
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,799
Speaker 6: considering how good they were last year. I have some

755
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,399
Speaker 6: questions in the secondary, but in general, I think it's

756
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 6: pretty solid. I'm expecting a big leap forward from Joey

757
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 6: Porter Junior this year after I saw some flashes last year.

758
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,360
Speaker 6: He was really good. Their first game against Baltimore offensively

759
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,720
Speaker 6: is kind of where all the question marks coming to play.

760
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 6: The offensive line is gonna be pretty much half rookies

761
00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:20,880
Speaker 6: coming in, which I love that they did that in

762
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,920
Speaker 6: the draft because offensive line was a huge issue for

763
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,040
Speaker 6: them and they recognize it and so they just hammered

764
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 6: it pretty much every pick. Imaginable wide receiver is very

765
00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,000
Speaker 6: thin right now. After George Pickens, I think we have

766
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:35,640
Speaker 6: Van Jefferson, who rated is one of the words receivers

767
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,840
Speaker 6: in football according to our grading system last season, and

768
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,400
Speaker 6: then a rookie in Roman Wilson out of Michigan who

769
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,839
Speaker 6: he was productive at Michigan. I don't know if he's

770
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,920
Speaker 6: going to necessarily be a big play guy that's gonna

771
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,280
Speaker 6: scare you, but I think he's gonna be reliable possession receiver.

772
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 6: And then as far as Pittsburgh's quarterbacks go, I wouldn't

773
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,239
Speaker 6: be too surprised that Justin Fields takes over sooner than later.

774
00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,239
Speaker 6: I know a popular pick in the off season was

775
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 6: for Justin Fields to go to Atlanta because they feel

776
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 6: like he would fit that kind of offense to a

777
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,800
Speaker 6: t well. Arthur Smith got canned and became the offensive

778
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,239
Speaker 6: coordinator in Pittsburgh, and so now he is going to

779
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:09,840
Speaker 6: be working with Justin Fields for a little bit, and

780
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 6: I think this might be the best possible spot firm.

781
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 6: I do believe that Russell Wilson is going to start

782
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 6: right out of the gate, but as far as long

783
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,799
Speaker 6: term prospects go, I think Justin Fields is more likely

784
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 6: to be the guy for them going forward, even if

785
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 6: Russell Wilson is the starter out of the gate with

786
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,120
Speaker 6: his more experience and more of a past history of success.

787
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:35,000
Speaker 1: Jim on your list. Here are the bottom eight rosters

788
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 1: in the NFL, starting from dead last, Denver, the New

789
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:46,800
Speaker 1: York Giants, Carolina, New England, Arizona, Washington, the LA Charger

790
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 1: it's a bit of a surprise, and the Tennessee Titans.

791
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 1: The Bengals play seven of those eight teams. Three is

792
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,280
Speaker 1: the result of finishing in fourth place in the AFC

793
00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:00,279
Speaker 1: North last year. Is beating up on those box them

794
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:04,320
Speaker 1: of the barrel rosters a big key to Cincinnati's potential

795
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:05,200
Speaker 1: success this year.

796
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 6: I think it's truly going to help them cushion their

797
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:09,719
Speaker 6: win total a little bit. But you play who you play,

798
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,600
Speaker 6: so it's not really a knock against Cincinnati that they're

799
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,160
Speaker 6: going to be playing some lesser level teams. That being said,

800
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 6: I think Cincinnati is very much in contention to go

801
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:20,360
Speaker 6: from worse to first this year. I actually wrote an

802
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 6: article this past few months a couple months ago where

803
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 6: I ranked every last place team by their chances of

804
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 6: going from worse to first. Cincinnati came into number one,

805
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 6: of course, them being the first team in the modern

806
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,720
Speaker 6: era to finish in last place with the winning record.

807
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 6: So as long as I mean, obviously this is a

808
00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 6: big if with any NFL team, but they stay healthy,

809
00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 6: Joe Burrow is able to be at full health from

810
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,319
Speaker 6: last season, and no major injuries happened or any kind

811
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,239
Speaker 6: of massive inconsistencies that we can't foresee, they should be

812
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,320
Speaker 6: right in the thick of things and even in the

813
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,560
Speaker 6: running for an AFCA championship. So the schedule is certainly

814
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 6: going to help them a little bit. But this team,

815
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,400
Speaker 6: even if it wasn't kind of a bottom feed or schedule,

816
00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 6: they still have success this season.

817
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 1: I think, following up on what you just said, your

818
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 1: conclusion in the article reads as follows. One of the

819
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 1: favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, is

820
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,240
Speaker 1: it as simple as a healthy Burrow for the Bengals

821
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:15,640
Speaker 1: to be in.

822
00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:19,399
Speaker 6: That mix, I really think it is. Jake Browning wasn't

823
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 6: bad last year as Burrow's replacement. Actually their grades were

824
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,760
Speaker 6: kind of similar. I think Browning came in at sixteenth

825
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,719
Speaker 6: and Burrow at eighteenth in terms of qualifying quarterbacks. Even so,

826
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 6: Joe Burrow, in my opinion, is the second best quarterback

827
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 6: in football. I would take him over Josh Allen just

828
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,279
Speaker 6: because every now and then Josh Allen will go into

829
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,480
Speaker 6: hero and lose you a game. What that being said,

830
00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 6: Joe Burrow, I think is much more reliable, and we've

831
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 6: seen before to his two really healthy seasons. He went

832
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 6: to an AFC Championship game with mostly a very similar

833
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,839
Speaker 6: roster to what we're seeing right now, and I think

834
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,799
Speaker 6: there's no reason to believe that if he plays the

835
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:56,920
Speaker 6: whole season, the Bengals won't be one of the favorites

836
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,160
Speaker 6: in the AFC from start to finish this season.

837
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 1: Jim, we all love lists. The list that you've put

838
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,080
Speaker 1: together with Dalton Wasserman was very entertaining, is great reading,

839
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,000
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you taking the time to discuss it

840
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,239
Speaker 1: with us. Thanks so much, and keep up the good work.

841
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:11,319
Speaker 6: Thanks for having me.

842
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 1: If you would like to read the article. Just search

843
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,959
Speaker 1: for PFF Roster rankings and it should pop right up.

844
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,839
Speaker 1: It's worth noting that Jim and Dalton predict whether each

845
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:26,600
Speaker 1: team will finish over or under its projected win total

846
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 1: in Vegas, and they have the Bengals going over ten

847
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,360
Speaker 1: and a half wins. That's going to do it for

848
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you

849
00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,799
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850
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852
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853
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854
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Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this

855
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Speaker 1: podcast and if you have a minute, give it a

856
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,600
Speaker 1: rating or share it comment that helps more Bengals fans

857
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,759
Speaker 1: find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to The

858
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:08,600
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast