Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The waiting is the hardest part. Addition,
Speaker 1: as we get closer and closer to the eagerly awaited
Speaker 1: start of Bengals training camp. Coming up, you'll hear from
Speaker 1: two guests. First, rookie kicker Evan McPherson. He was the
Speaker 1: only kicker taken in this year's draft and the Bengals
Speaker 1: have made it abundantly clear that they expect him to
Speaker 1: be their starting kicker this year. We'll hear what Evan's
Speaker 1: been doing to get ready for camp. Then it's Adam Rank,
Speaker 1: who has written a state of the Franchise article about
Speaker 1: every NFL team for NFL dot Com. In his words,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are going to be one of the most
Speaker 1: enjoyable teams to watch in twenty twenty one. We'll find
Speaker 1: out why. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud Light.
Speaker 1: Seltzer Refreshed the game, and here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 1: write to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitch,
Speaker 1: your Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since a family vacation. If you were experiencing Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth podcast withdrawal last week, I apologize for the lack
Speaker 1: of an episode, but I went on vacation with my
Speaker 1: wife and son to the state of Washington. We started
Speaker 1: in Seattle, then went hiking in North Cascades National Park
Speaker 1: before spending a few days north of Seattle in the
Speaker 1: San Juan Islands. The trip was awesome. My batteries are recharged,
Speaker 1: and if you are ever in that area, go to
Speaker 1: Dad's Diner in Anacortis, Washington, about eighty miles north of Seattle,
Speaker 1: and get the brisket hash. It's the best breakfast I
Speaker 1: have ever had. Now, let's get to football. Of the
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty nine players selected in this year's
Speaker 1: NFL Draft, only one was a kicker, Evan McPherson, selected
Speaker 1: by the Bengals in the fifth round. In three years
Speaker 1: at the University of Florida, Evan made fifty one of
Speaker 1: sixty field goal attempts that's eighty five percent, and set
Speaker 1: a school record last year by drilling four from beyond
Speaker 1: fifty yards. His career along with the Gators was fifty
Speaker 1: five yards, but he drilled a sixty yard or in
Speaker 1: high school. McPherson is from Alabama and that's where I
Speaker 1: caught up with him this week. Evan, you're a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks away from your first NFL training camp. Are
Speaker 1: you taking it easy at this point and saving your
Speaker 1: leg or are you hard at work? I'm hard at
Speaker 1: work definitely, because I know training cameras, you made a competition,
Speaker 1: and coach Simmons is gonna want his kicking. Not every day,
Speaker 1: but you know, almost every day. So I'm just training
Speaker 1: my leg and it kind of ready to, you know,
Speaker 1: to kick whenever I need and to stay healthy, but
Speaker 1: you know, at the same time kicking a lot of balls.
Speaker 1: Is there a tricky balance there where you want to
Speaker 1: work hard and get better in the offseason, but you
Speaker 1: don't want to overdo it. Yeah, I definitely think there is,
Speaker 1: um because you know, I probably would go out and
Speaker 1: kick every day if I could, but you know, my
Speaker 1: legs screaming at me telling me to take a break,
Speaker 1: and you know he can't overdo it, and you're just
Speaker 1: gonna know. You're gonna know your body and you know
Speaker 1: when to stop, and you know when to rest and recover,
Speaker 1: but yeah, there's definitely comes to a point where you know,
Speaker 1: I wish I could train more, but you know, I
Speaker 1: just can't. You mentioned the training camp competition. When the
Speaker 1: Bengals drafted you this year, Darren Simmons said he expected
Speaker 1: you to win the job. He's not going to hand
Speaker 1: it to you, obviously, but he expects you to go
Speaker 1: out and win the job in camp. What would your
Speaker 1: reaction when he said that. It's the NFL um You know,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to play in the NFL and be a
Speaker 1: part of it, and just you know, just getting the
Speaker 1: opportunity to do to compete for those jobs as a blessing.
Speaker 1: And I knew wherever I went, you know, I was
Speaker 1: gonna have to compete. And I think that's probably one
Speaker 1: of the best things. One of my best attributes is,
Speaker 1: you know, competing, being super competitive and you know, not
Speaker 1: wanting to kind of lose or take second to anyone.
Speaker 1: So now I'm really excited about competing with Austin. You know,
Speaker 1: he's a good guy, a good kicker, and I'm excited
Speaker 1: to you guys Cincinnati and get things rolling. After you
Speaker 1: were drafted in the fifth round, you spoke to the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Media and you said something along the lines of
Speaker 1: making the NFL was your goal since you started kicking.
Speaker 1: When did that start to become a realistic goal in
Speaker 1: your mind? Probably? I mean shoot, like I think later
Speaker 1: in high school, whenever you know, I was getting recruited
Speaker 1: by a college is a little bit, you know, I
Speaker 1: was like, all right, well, maybe I can really make
Speaker 1: this thing a Yeah. I guess you'd say, kind of
Speaker 1: like a lifestyle or you know, make the NFL my
Speaker 1: goal because this is one this is what I want
Speaker 1: to do the rest of my life. And I'd say
Speaker 1: probably around like the end of high school, um, going
Speaker 1: into college. I guess when I really, you could say,
Speaker 1: put my head down and started grinding for a chance
Speaker 1: in the NFL. We're talking to rookie kicker Evan McPherson.
Speaker 1: I read that when you were in fifth grade you
Speaker 1: tied pipes to the soccer net in the backyard to
Speaker 1: make a homemade goal post. Is that true and if so,
Speaker 1: how well did it work. Oh, it's definitely true. And
Speaker 1: it works so well that it's it's still in my
Speaker 1: backyard today. If I when I come home into my parents' house,
Speaker 1: that you know they still got it up. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: if it if it's been raining a lot, I don't
Speaker 1: want to go down to the field or you know,
Speaker 1: it just don't feel like drive and I'll just, you know,
Speaker 1: go in the backyard and kick on those posts. So
Speaker 1: if you hit the post and it stay up, you know, honestly,
Speaker 1: I do remember hit the post sometimes but it would
Speaker 1: stay up. I strapped it with bungee cords, so you know,
Speaker 1: I tied it as time as I could, but uh,
Speaker 1: I might have to go fix it after I hit
Speaker 1: the post. But you know that that wasn't the gold
Speaker 1: hit the post, right, That's awesome. We're talking to Evan McPherson.
Speaker 1: The coal Quits are the first family of NFL punters.
Speaker 1: I think four members of the coal Quit family have
Speaker 1: punted in the NFL. And it seems like there's something
Speaker 1: in the McPherson DNA because your older brother was a
Speaker 1: college punter, your younger brother is apparently the number one
Speaker 1: rated high school kicker in the country, and obviously you
Speaker 1: are on the verge of an NFL career. What is
Speaker 1: it with the McPherson family and kicking and punting, man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's just just a couple of super competitive
Speaker 1: brothers that that grew up playing uh, you know, all
Speaker 1: sorts of sports. We grew up playing everything and um
Speaker 1: out in the front yard or backyard, and we always,
Speaker 1: uh just compete with each other, try to beat each other,
Speaker 1: and so um whenever our oldest brother kind of picked
Speaker 1: this whole kicking thing up and you know, started um
Speaker 1: doing it. You know, we all took interest and we
Speaker 1: saw you could go to college for free. I thought
Speaker 1: that was really cool, and then we just started to, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, try and get as good as we can.
Speaker 1: But um no, I mean I think, you know, with
Speaker 1: the long family lines of you know NFL players or
Speaker 1: you know, good athletes, I just think it's kind of
Speaker 1: a make sure you got three competitive brothers that just
Speaker 1: love to beat each other and trying to get better
Speaker 1: than one another, and it kind of just turns out
Speaker 1: to h to benefit the whole family. It's been awesome,
Speaker 1: for sure. I suspect your parents probably love that go
Speaker 1: to college for free. In Yeah, for sure, that's what
Speaker 1: they actually bribe us with. A see, if we get
Speaker 1: a scholarship and then I'll have to pay for college.
Speaker 1: Will buys a car for college, So pretty much just
Speaker 1: like a sports car, you know, something a little nicer
Speaker 1: than you normally get. That's good, that's good finances on
Speaker 1: their part, because a new car is a lot cheaper
Speaker 1: than a college education these days. So on televised football coverage,
Speaker 1: we've seen the yellow first down line obviously, and then
Speaker 1: in recent years, networks have added the green line for
Speaker 1: field goal range, so that when a team reaches that line,
Speaker 1: it's supposedly within range for the field goal kicker. On
Speaker 1: at least one Florida game last year, the green line
Speaker 1: was at the forty five yard line, which would be
Speaker 1: a sixty two yard field goal under normal conditions. Is
Speaker 1: that about right for you? Definitely? For that game, we
Speaker 1: had some wind in favor of the direction we were going,
Speaker 1: And before every game, coach one would kind of come
Speaker 1: up and just you know, ask me how I'm feeling,
Speaker 1: what's what's the wind doing? And you know how far
Speaker 1: back we think we can go? And um, yeah, I think, um,
Speaker 1: you know, with everything in favor, you know, wind and
Speaker 1: conditions and all that, I think that's definitely, uh, definitely doable.
Speaker 1: And um yeah, I mean you may you may see
Speaker 1: um the field goal line, you know, on the forty
Speaker 1: five on a Sunday. You know, you never know, we'll
Speaker 1: definitely be paying attention this year. We're talking to Evan McPherson.
Speaker 1: Part of your job is handling stressful situations. Does that
Speaker 1: come naturally to you or have you, you know, studied
Speaker 1: breathing techniques or little tricks to deal with those stressful situations? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: I mean I think a lot goes into it. But
Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, part of it that you
Speaker 1: no one can just really learn, UM is you know,
Speaker 1: or learning from experience, UM, learn from failure and you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, succeeding in those moments as well, because um,
Speaker 1: you know they say that you know you you remember,
Speaker 1: um the miss kicks probably a lot more than the makes,
Speaker 1: and UM, you just never want that to happen again.
Speaker 1: And so UM, you're kind of just finding that in
Speaker 1: your head, i'd say, in those stress of situations, but
Speaker 1: you know, you try to stay as calm and you know,
Speaker 1: collected as possible, and you know, I think it's just
Speaker 1: kind of a mixture of you know, I've been here before,
Speaker 1: you know I can do it. Um, so many reps
Speaker 1: in practice and all I got to do is hit
Speaker 1: this one field goal so you know, it's just really
Speaker 1: not overthinking it and just kind of going out there
Speaker 1: and and doing your job. What do you do when
Speaker 1: the opposing coach tries to ice you? I mean, nothing different. Um,
Speaker 1: they asked me, we'll take it. We'll take a practice kick.
Speaker 1: I'll take that. See how I'm feeling on the field. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll step up and we'll bring the one
Speaker 1: right after the time out. UM. That's kind of the mindset.
Speaker 1: And that's happened. It's happened at Texas A and M
Speaker 1: this past year. UM at Florida, and you know that's
Speaker 1: that just went out there, regrouped, and you know, hit it.
Speaker 1: One of your coaches at Florida was one of the
Speaker 1: Bengals all time best kicker, Shane Graham. What has he
Speaker 1: told you about the franchise in the city. But you
Speaker 1: know he's told me a little bit about Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: you know his time there, he said, you know, he
Speaker 1: really enjoyed it the city. UM. You know, the fans
Speaker 1: are are great fans, loyal fans, and UM, you know
Speaker 1: there's gonna be there to support the team with whatever
Speaker 1: we do. And UM, obviously, UM, coach Graham was kicking
Speaker 1: under um coach Simmons. And so he was telling me
Speaker 1: about coach Simmons and you know what he's to be
Speaker 1: like and just what to expect. I guess um up
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati gave me some food recommendations and and whatnot.
Speaker 1: So so you're coming to a franchise that has a
Speaker 1: snapper and a holder that have been working together for
Speaker 1: more than a decade, assuming those guys are are in
Speaker 1: those roles to begin the season, How helpful is that
Speaker 1: for you? Yeah? No, I mean Kevin and Clark have
Speaker 1: been uh a lot of help to me, I know,
Speaker 1: even in this uh kind of mini camp phase and
Speaker 1: just you know, picking their brain about um, you know
Speaker 1: the NFL. How let's say I'll practice works or um,
Speaker 1: I mean to to recovery or you know, to save
Speaker 1: my money too. I mean, the they've helped me with
Speaker 1: with a lot, and you know, I think it's just
Speaker 1: a it's a real blessing to have them, um to
Speaker 1: kind of guide me along. And um it's yeah, you say,
Speaker 1: teach me the ropes because you know, this is my
Speaker 1: first first year and so I'm gonna need to learn
Speaker 1: everything I can't and if they've done a great job
Speaker 1: teach me, and I'm excited to get to work with
Speaker 1: them for sure. So, as I said at the beginning,
Speaker 1: we're about two weeks away from the start of camp.
Speaker 1: This will be my eleventh as the Bengals announcer, and
Speaker 1: I'm fired up. It's like, you know, getting ready for
Speaker 1: Christmas morning. I can only imagine what it's like for
Speaker 1: a rookie getting ready for his first NFL training camp.
Speaker 1: Can you articulate just how how eager you are to
Speaker 1: get here and get rolling? No, I mean I'm really
Speaker 1: fired up to get back in the Cincinnati. You know,
Speaker 1: I had a blast coming up there for about a month,
Speaker 1: you know, printicipating like the OTAs and everything, and you know,
Speaker 1: I'd say I wasn't ready to leave. You know, I
Speaker 1: wanted to stay and I just keep kicking with the
Speaker 1: team and you know, hanging out with all the guys,
Speaker 1: and so yeah, I can't tell you X I am
Speaker 1: to get back ups there, and this time is for real.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no break when we get up there.
Speaker 1: We're we're competing for a spot for the job, and
Speaker 1: we're rolling into the season. You know, I'm super excited
Speaker 1: and and can't wait to go down to Tampa August fourteen.
Speaker 1: We are looking forward to us seeing you in action
Speaker 1: this season. Enjoy the rest of your time with your
Speaker 1: family this offseason, and thanks for the time today. Really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Yeah, for sure, thank you. Evan is the
Speaker 1: favorite to win the job, but we'll have to beat
Speaker 1: out Austin Sibert at training camp. Austin went six for
Speaker 1: eight on field goal tries for Cincinnati last year and
Speaker 1: made all eight of his extra points. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer. It's light and
Speaker 1: refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor. Since the start
Speaker 1: of June, NFL dot com has been posting state of
Speaker 1: the franchise stories about every NFL team. They're basically in
Speaker 1: depth season previews, and they were written by Adam Rank.
Speaker 1: I spoke to him this week about the state of
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Adam, I want to start with how you
Speaker 1: ended your Bengals preview. You write that you believe the
Speaker 1: Bengals are going to be one of the most enjoyable
Speaker 1: teams to watch in twenty twenty one. I obviously hope
Speaker 1: you are right. What are you eager to see this
Speaker 1: season out of Cincinnati? Well, I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: of cool things going on with this team, and I
Speaker 1: think the accumulation of all this offensive talent is going
Speaker 1: to finally start showing itself. And I made the joke
Speaker 1: and I reference that, you know, even though Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: is an offensive minded coach, we really haven't seen the improvement,
Speaker 1: which isn't completely fair because there's been some injuries. Obviously
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow last year, Joe Mixon went down with an injury,
Speaker 1: so it's tough to really judge him on what he's
Speaker 1: been able to do. But I think Jamar Chase and
Speaker 1: even though he comes in and he hasn't played football
Speaker 1: and in kind of a why, I still think this
Speaker 1: receiving cord is amazing. And I love Kei Higgins. Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd is one of the most slept on players in
Speaker 1: the NFL. I don't know why more people don't love him,
Speaker 1: but he's awesome. And so I really do believe that
Speaker 1: the Bengals are going to be this team that they
Speaker 1: are just gonna be super fun to watch and a
Speaker 1: team that, you know, fantasy implications aside, it's just gonna
Speaker 1: be one that I want to go out and I'm
Speaker 1: interested to see what they've got going on. I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, over the last couple of years, they've done
Speaker 1: a nice job of putting together a nice little team there,
Speaker 1: so I'm hoping to see finally start to pay off
Speaker 1: this season. All right, I'm glad you mentioned Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: because there are a couple of big offseason storylines here
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. And number one, should they have drafted the
Speaker 1: wide receiver or should they have drafted offensive lineman Piney Sewell?
Speaker 1: Number five? Overall, you think the Bengals got it right, correct?
Speaker 1: I really do. And if it wasn't Jamar Chase, if
Speaker 1: they were, if they were reaching for Kadarius Tony or
Speaker 1: somebody like that, then yeah, let's have that conversation. And
Speaker 1: I just really believe that Chase is one of those
Speaker 1: generational talents that we've seen out of the wide receiver
Speaker 1: position over the last couple of years. I think that
Speaker 1: the chemistry that he has shown, you know, with your
Speaker 1: quarterback with Joe Burrow, they've got that kind of chemistry.
Speaker 1: I think I talk about forgive me if I get
Speaker 1: the reference run, but I think I made a DiCaprio
Speaker 1: brad Pit type of analogy. If not it was Han
Speaker 1: Solo and whatever. It was something that's super on brand
Speaker 1: for me. But I really do believe that that was
Speaker 1: the right way to go. And you know, everybody acts
Speaker 1: like Sewell is some automatic prospect, but he didn't play
Speaker 1: last year either, and that's you know, none of these
Speaker 1: things are guaranteed in life. And I thought that, you know,
Speaker 1: you use the second round pick on a tackle. You
Speaker 1: addressed the position last year in the draft he signed
Speaker 1: Riley Reeves, like they did a good job. They've done
Speaker 1: a good job over the last couple of years of
Speaker 1: upgrading the offensive line, and it's not like one rookie
Speaker 1: is going to come in and change that, whereas Chase
Speaker 1: can be somebody that's felt throughout the entire offense. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just going to open it up for t Higgins.
Speaker 1: Is this gonna, you know, open up the running game?
Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of different possibilities that having a
Speaker 1: guy like Jamar Chase on your football field does for you.
Speaker 1: And I really do believe that it was the right
Speaker 1: pit for the record. You went with DiCaprio Pitt from
Speaker 1: the from the Quentin Tarantino movie I'm So Predictable, an
Speaker 1: excellent comparison. We're talking to Adam Reik from NFL dot
Speaker 1: Com and the NFL Network. The other big storyline for
Speaker 1: the Bengals in the offseason involved this question, did they
Speaker 1: do enough to improve the offensive line? You project the
Speaker 1: team MVP this year to be Riley Reef. I assume
Speaker 1: you're being a little bit facetious, but do you think
Speaker 1: they did enough to protect Joe Burrow? Well? That is
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I mean I think that anytime you
Speaker 1: do these pieces, it's so easy to just fall back
Speaker 1: on the quarterbacks the most important player, because it really is.
Speaker 1: And I'm a bear span so I know how important
Speaker 1: the quarterback position can be. But I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I thought, again, this was a huge move for of
Speaker 1: the Bengals to bring him in, somebody who's been a
Speaker 1: solid NFL player for a long time. I do know
Speaker 1: the reference I make here. I did talk. I'm positive
Speaker 1: that it was the reference about having a TV in
Speaker 1: the bathroom. It's a luxury, and you know what, like
Speaker 1: I never, I never understood that reference like I would.
Speaker 1: This happened to me one time when I was a
Speaker 1: younger man, when I was in my twenties, because I
Speaker 1: went into somebody's sounds. I'm like, why do you have
Speaker 1: a bathroom in your team? What do you have? What
Speaker 1: do you have a TV in your bathroom? This makes
Speaker 1: no sense to me, Like are you that you that depraved?
Speaker 1: Like what's wrong? You can't go four minutes without seeing
Speaker 1: part of the game. And now as a parent of
Speaker 1: two small toddlers six and three, like, yell, yeah, the
Speaker 1: bathroom's the best place in the world because it's the
Speaker 1: only room in the house that's got a lock on it.
Speaker 1: Can we keep the keep the kids out? And said
Speaker 1: they're watching a little brit almost at British Open. Watched
Speaker 1: the Open for a little bit unimpeded, like it is
Speaker 1: a huge luxury. But I do believe like the Bengals
Speaker 1: have been addressing it like they have. Like I said,
Speaker 1: you know, they drafted over the last two years, They've
Speaker 1: used high draft picks on the offensive line. You went
Speaker 1: out there and got a pretty reliable player who has
Speaker 1: proven that he can play on the NFL level. Whereas
Speaker 1: when you're drafting people you don't know, like you you
Speaker 1: don't know. I would have liked this, you know, to
Speaker 1: be in on Moses more Inner or somebody like that.
Speaker 1: There was a couple other names floating out there, but
Speaker 1: I do believe that they did enough. Like, are they
Speaker 1: going to go out there and they're gonna have the
Speaker 1: best offensive line in the league. They are not, But
Speaker 1: at this point, what you want them to be is
Speaker 1: be decent, like being pretty good. Like I'm an Angels fan,
Speaker 1: so I understand this all too well. Where it's like
Speaker 1: you need pitching and you don't need to have dominant starters.
Speaker 1: You just need to have somebody who's good enough to like,
Speaker 1: don't give up more than six runs a game because
Speaker 1: your offense is going to score. And they think the
Speaker 1: Bengals are in that that position, it's like, Okay, if
Speaker 1: Burrol gets hit once in a while, that's fine, but
Speaker 1: don't get him kill. Let him go out there and
Speaker 1: do his thing because you got the playmakers, you got
Speaker 1: the team. Just go out there. Just just be adequate,
Speaker 1: and I think that's going to be enough. The first
Speaker 1: time I ever had a TV in a hotel bathroom,
Speaker 1: I felt like the richest man in the world. Oh,
Speaker 1: it's unbelievable like that. I remember, like when I was
Speaker 1: a kid, we were in whatever, we were traveling across
Speaker 1: the country. I remember when the phone in the bathroom
Speaker 1: was a thing. Oh my god, this is this is
Speaker 1: the greatest. Now you had a TV. You're like, I
Speaker 1: might just live here. We're talking to Adam Rank. You
Speaker 1: can follow him on Twitter at Adam rank R. A
Speaker 1: n K so Riley Reef was the Bengals' biggest offensive
Speaker 1: addition in free agency, but they really spent big on defense.
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson, Larry Ogan, Joby hit obey A Wooja, Mike Hilton,
Speaker 1: and others. What did you think of the spending spree
Speaker 1: on d I thought that was pretty smart. I think
Speaker 1: that's a pretty good way to go about it. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's something that the Bengals have always been
Speaker 1: pretty good at, is having a good defense. Like I
Speaker 1: know it's funny I'm preaching to the choir about this,
Speaker 1: but I'm telling you from like a national level, like
Speaker 1: it always kind of it tickles me a little bit
Speaker 1: because over the last couple of years things haven't been
Speaker 1: great obviously for Cincinnati, but it's like, do we not
Speaker 1: remember like the previous you know, outside of the Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor here, like there was a string where they were
Speaker 1: making the playoffs every year, Like this is this is
Speaker 1: an organization that has shown stability. They really believe in
Speaker 1: their coaches. They kept Marvin Lewis around for a while,
Speaker 1: and so I trust them when they go out there
Speaker 1: and they make these moves. And I thought that going
Speaker 1: out and putting a little bit more into the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the football, you know, especially when you're in
Speaker 1: a division. It's got Cleveland, it's got a pretty excellent
Speaker 1: offensive line. They're doing well offensively with Kevin Stapanski, the Ravens.
Speaker 1: Obviously with Lamar Jackson. I think that he's an excellent player.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it makes sense to go out there and
Speaker 1: really kind of root the strength of this team in defense,
Speaker 1: because what you want, and again it goes back to
Speaker 1: talking about the offensive liness is like just be adequate,
Speaker 1: you know, just just don't get your quarterback killed. And similarly,
Speaker 1: you can look at the defense and say, look, you
Speaker 1: don't have to be a shutdown defense. You don't have
Speaker 1: to win every game ten to nine. You've got players
Speaker 1: out there who can help score points for you. So
Speaker 1: you just need to go out there and when you
Speaker 1: need to make a stop, when you need to make
Speaker 1: a crucial you know, like a crucial play here or there,
Speaker 1: you've got the players who can do that. So I
Speaker 1: think that the Bengals did very well. I thought they
Speaker 1: spent pretty wisely. I think that you know, to a
Speaker 1: lot of people, it's not going to be big time names.
Speaker 1: It's not bringing in JJ Watt or something like that,
Speaker 1: which goes of course like that generates a lot of buzz.
Speaker 1: But what you did is brought in pretty good football players,
Speaker 1: which I think is the key to this team. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the AFC North. Because you wrote state of
Speaker 1: the Franchise stories about every team in the NFL. The
Speaker 1: Bengals are in a division where the other three teams
Speaker 1: all won at least eleven games last year and went
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. How do the Ravens, Browns, and Steelers
Speaker 1: stack up in your opinion? Well, I believe that the
Speaker 1: Ravens and the Browns are probably the two better teams,
Speaker 1: are the two best teams in that devision. I don't
Speaker 1: think I'm telling tales out of school. I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people are kind of expecting some regression from
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns, and I could see that, but they're
Speaker 1: so good on the lines that you know, the offensive
Speaker 1: line in Cleveland, according to Pro Football focus is the
Speaker 1: best in the NFL, and I find that hard to
Speaker 1: disagree with them, even you know, you know, they got
Speaker 1: rid of Kevin Zeitler a couple of years ago, to
Speaker 1: bringing Odell Beckham junior. They've done a nice job of
Speaker 1: keeping that offensive line great. They brought into Davian Clowney
Speaker 1: to play alongside of Miles Miles Garrett, and so you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's that's a pretty good team. I think that they're
Speaker 1: going to be very good. I think the Ravens are good.
Speaker 1: They're well coached. I think Lamar Jackson is a good player.
Speaker 1: I know everybody wants him to throw outside the numbers,
Speaker 1: but it's like, yeah, he's He's still been pretty good
Speaker 1: no matter what whatever he's doing, it's still working. Like
Speaker 1: they're getting to the playoffs. They want a playoff game
Speaker 1: last year, like they're inching along. The team that I
Speaker 1: believe is beatable is the Pittsburgh Steelers, And even though
Speaker 1: they started off eleven and oh last year, there were
Speaker 1: some signs about maybe this isn't going as well as
Speaker 1: people would like to believe. And of course, the Steelers
Speaker 1: are one of those teams who historically have done well
Speaker 1: of just rebuilding, and they don't really seem to miss people.
Speaker 1: You know, they let their receivers go all the time
Speaker 1: and it doesn't matter. They find four more who are
Speaker 1: just as capable. I'm serious, Like, whenever they draft a receiver,
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, that guy's going to be the best
Speaker 1: player in the NFL apparently because if Kevin and Kevin
Speaker 1: Colbert finds him, that he's obviously good. But I look
Speaker 1: at this team, and I look at the offensive line
Speaker 1: and all all the changes that they made. Now, they
Speaker 1: didn't play well last year, so he could reason that, well,
Speaker 1: they got rid of the guys who weren't good, they're
Speaker 1: bringing in other players, maybe it'll be better. And that's true,
Speaker 1: but they still got Ben Roethlisberger, who is playing with
Speaker 1: a couple of hurt knees last year. And to me,
Speaker 1: the fact that they're going into this offseason going into
Speaker 1: the season, I should say with Ben Roethlisberger backed up
Speaker 1: by Mason Rudolph, Like, why that doesn't concern anybody, like
Speaker 1: of all the quarterbacks where you're like, yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 1: Like he's like the quarterbacks he was drafted with they
Speaker 1: all retired. Now I believe that Chob was the final one.
Speaker 1: I think it's Rivers, Eli and then Shob have retired. Roethlisberger.
Speaker 1: As tough as he is, I know it's been a
Speaker 1: lot Like he plays, he plays like that's the thing.
Speaker 1: He gets hurt, but he plays. It's like that's a
Speaker 1: big ask for me. And I know they're bringing in
Speaker 1: Nage Harris and he'll probably be excellent, but I'm like this,
Speaker 1: ste I don't know. There's just something about the Steelers
Speaker 1: that I think that that's a team that you can
Speaker 1: go out there and get him. Of course, the Bengals
Speaker 1: beat them last year a Monday Night football, which was amazing,
Speaker 1: which is I listen, I've rooted for a team that's
Speaker 1: been bad for a while. When you get one of
Speaker 1: those primetime wins over your arrival, that's the great. Like
Speaker 1: I still remember, and I know this is a Bengals podcast,
Speaker 1: so just forgive me as I talk about Jay Cutler
Speaker 1: beating the Packers on Thanksgiving of like the season sock,
Speaker 1: our team was terrible, but I remember just being like,
Speaker 1: you know what, Like we beat the Packers on a
Speaker 1: game when everybody's watching. That's enough for me and I
Speaker 1: but I do believe I will say this though, So
Speaker 1: last year that was cool, Like that's fun for the
Speaker 1: Bengals last year. I think now is the time of
Speaker 1: like that was fun, Like it's it's cool to get
Speaker 1: moral victories. You got to start getting actual victories at
Speaker 1: this point, like you've you've done it. Okay, listen, this
Speaker 1: is Zach's third year. This is another you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: Joe is healthy and ready to go, Like, you gotta
Speaker 1: win some games this season. I don't want to be rude.
Speaker 1: I don't want to put two radio expectations on you,
Speaker 1: but you got to go out there and win some
Speaker 1: games this season. And that's the perfect segue to my
Speaker 1: final question. Because I started our conversation with the end
Speaker 1: of the story that you wrote on NFL dot Com.
Speaker 1: I want to end it with the start because the
Speaker 1: headline reads is a turnaround led by Joe Burrow imminent.
Speaker 1: What's your answer to that question post in the headline?
Speaker 1: You know, I do believe it is. I love I
Speaker 1: love Joe Burrow. I know I put this in the
Speaker 1: piece too. Is the one thing about the Bengals that's
Speaker 1: crazy to me? And I was thinking about it, like
Speaker 1: I again, not to go back to be rooting for
Speaker 1: the Bears. But the Bengals, you guys have never like
Speaker 1: there's been some David Klingler the years or whatever, Keilly Smith.
Speaker 1: You guys always have a good quarterback and you're always competitive.
Speaker 1: You can go back to Ken Anderson, you know, the
Speaker 1: leads to Boomera Assias and the Carson Palmer and a
Speaker 1: Dalton was a good player. Like I'm gonna I'll fight
Speaker 1: that battle. I think Andy Dalton was a fine NFL
Speaker 1: quarterback or still is. And now you got Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: which is amazing, and so I think that you have
Speaker 1: proven that you're going to be a competitive team like
Speaker 1: That's it always tickles me that the Bengals get roped
Speaker 1: into this thing about like one of the worst franchises
Speaker 1: in the league, and you're like why, Like they're in
Speaker 1: the playoff. Like I think of them more as a
Speaker 1: playoff team than anything else, Like they're always in the mix,
Speaker 1: like going back to all those banks and everything. So
Speaker 1: I really do believe that what they have with Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow now they're going to be a very competitive team
Speaker 1: and they're going to start challenging for the AFC North.
Speaker 1: It as you mentioned, though, it is one of the
Speaker 1: toughest divisions in football. Three teams that won at least
Speaker 1: eleven games. Three teams, and I know that I'm probably
Speaker 1: more harsh on the Steelers than anybody else. Three teams
Speaker 1: that are expected to compete for playoff spots this year.
Speaker 1: So there's a very real possibility that the Bengals could
Speaker 1: be one of those teams that's kind of a mid carter,
Speaker 1: you know, seven eight, nine wins, which doesn't get them
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. But I do believe, you know, if
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor is the coach that we think he can be,
Speaker 1: I want him to be. I like Zach. I know
Speaker 1: I made fun of them, but I like Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1: I liked him when he was with the Rams and everything,
Speaker 1: so it's like, I want him to succeed. I think
Speaker 1: that it is. It is feasible, and there is talent here.
Speaker 1: A lot of it is the injuries. You know, they've
Speaker 1: got to be healthy. They got to be but that's
Speaker 1: every team, you know, honestly, So as long as they're healthy,
Speaker 1: I think they turn around is definitely imminent. I think
Speaker 1: this team has pointed in the right direction, and I
Speaker 1: think the Bengals it's not going to be long before
Speaker 1: they're back in the playoff mix. Adam, I really enjoyed
Speaker 1: your State of the Franchise stories. I recommend them to
Speaker 1: people that haven't read them yet on NFL dot Com.
Speaker 1: You obviously put a lot of work into doing all
Speaker 1: of these season previews, and I really appreciate your time today.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Hey, thank you so much. Appreciate it
Speaker 1: for our annual visit. Let's do it again. Let's make
Speaker 1: it sooner next time. But thank you so much for
Speaker 1: having me by. Thanks to Adam and Evan, and that's
Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast, brought to you by bud Light Seltzer, refreshed
Speaker 1: the game. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe
Speaker 1: and if you have a minute, give it a rating
Speaker 1: or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find
Speaker 1: this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and thank you for listening
Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast