Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast, the Because I'm Happy edition, as
Speaker 1: we take a look at the Bengals Hall on Day
Speaker 1: three of the NFL Draft and provide an overview of
Speaker 1: a draft class featuring a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, a
Speaker 1: big play threat and wide receiver, and three newcomers at
Speaker 1: the team's most obvious position of need. The Bengals Booth
Speaker 1: Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel
Speaker 1: and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
Speaker 1: thing since the little kid who imitated Joe Burrow's famous
Speaker 1: victory cigar. This is courtesy of my friend and former
Speaker 1: co worker Joe Daneman, amendous sports anchor at Fox nineteen
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. He challenged viewers to imitate their favorite Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow gifts, and a six year old named Jake Hoffsteader,
Speaker 1: with an assist from his dad, did a slow motion
Speaker 1: video that perfectly mimics Burrow with his legs crossed, savoring
Speaker 1: that victory cigar after the National championship win over Clemson.
Speaker 1: If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and
Speaker 1: check it out. Just go to Twitter and look for
Speaker 1: at hum Ken. That's hum k e n hum Ken.
Speaker 1: Trust me, it's priceless. Now let's learn about the newest
Speaker 1: Bengals from people who have watched them play. After choosing
Speaker 1: linebacker Logan Wilson with the first pick in the third
Speaker 1: round on Friday night, the Bengals doubled down at the
Speaker 1: position at the top of the fourth round on Saturday
Speaker 1: by selecting Appalachian States Akeem Davis Gaither. By traditional standards,
Speaker 1: he's undersized for linebacker at six one two twenty four,
Speaker 1: but the game is changing. Devin Bush is two inches
Speaker 1: shorter and about ten pounds heavier and was the tenth
Speaker 1: pick in last year's draft before having a strong rookie
Speaker 1: season for the Steelers. For more on a Keen Davis Gaither,
Speaker 1: here's Appalachian State play by play voice Adam Witton. A
Speaker 1: Keem is one of those guys who is incredibly versatile
Speaker 1: as a player. Dan, thanks for thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: We're really excited as the Appalachian family to see him
Speaker 1: get drafted so early and see a guy really who
Speaker 1: has worked his tail off to get to where he has.
Speaker 1: Everybody that's been drafted has their own story to get
Speaker 1: to this point. But I think what people are really
Speaker 1: gonna like about a team is his work ethic and
Speaker 1: his motivation and his attitude. He's got the physical traits.
Speaker 1: He's incredibly fast, he's strong, He's put on about fifty
Speaker 1: pounds since he came on campus as one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy five pound freshman in twenty fifteen. But just to
Speaker 1: see where he was and where he's gotten to now
Speaker 1: is a true testament to his work ethic. That guy
Speaker 1: is someone that wasn't very highly recruited out of high school.
Speaker 1: He had one Power five offer really out of Thomasville
Speaker 1: High School near Winston Salem in North Carolina. But he
Speaker 1: has developed, he has learned, he has applied himself, and
Speaker 1: now all of a sudden, he has taken that strong
Speaker 1: work ethic and combined it with some amazing physical traits
Speaker 1: to become the complete package and linebacker. I like that,
Speaker 1: the fact that he can do a lot of different things,
Speaker 1: you know, I think He's big enough to be somebody
Speaker 1: that can tackle in space one on one. He's fast
Speaker 1: enough to track guys down sideline to sideline on the perimeter,
Speaker 1: and we've seen him a lot in coverage to being
Speaker 1: able to cover tight ends or slot receivers and be
Speaker 1: able to make plays and cause some destruction in the
Speaker 1: passing game as well. I think Bengal fans are really
Speaker 1: gonna like this young man. We are talking to the
Speaker 1: voice of Appalachian State, Adam Witton. He's a coaches kid.
Speaker 1: Was that evident when you were around him? I think so.
Speaker 1: But but the interesting thing about a team is that
Speaker 1: he didn't really have a love for football when he
Speaker 1: was in high school until about midway through his high
Speaker 1: school career. You know, his dad, Keith, has been a
Speaker 1: coach for for a long time, and so it was
Speaker 1: kind of something that was expected out of him when
Speaker 1: when he was growing up. But it wasn't until midway
Speaker 1: through his high school career that that he kind of
Speaker 1: developed that love for football. But once he did develop
Speaker 1: that love and that passion for it, you can really
Speaker 1: see it. I mean, all the things that you look
Speaker 1: for in someone who who grows up in a football family,
Speaker 1: and a coach's son um. You can see the discipline,
Speaker 1: you can see the attention to detail, you can see
Speaker 1: the attitude. He is mature way beyond his years because
Speaker 1: he has learned a lot of those traits I think
Speaker 1: from his upbringing, and so yes, you can you can
Speaker 1: certainly see that come across not watching him play, but
Speaker 1: when you get a chance to speak to him and
Speaker 1: be around him off the field as well. He has
Speaker 1: special teams experience at Appalachian State. He told us that
Speaker 1: he was the special teams player of the year early
Speaker 1: in his career in college, and that's likely something he'll
Speaker 1: be asked to do in Cincinnati. Do you see him
Speaker 1: contributing right away in that department? I do you know
Speaker 1: a tame One of the highlights of his career was
Speaker 1: this past season and it was on special teams. You know,
Speaker 1: he early in the year, you see guys like him
Speaker 1: that are on cover junits, getting down, making tackles, causing
Speaker 1: havoc in the kickoff return game when you're on the
Speaker 1: other side. But Akame's biggest play, maybe in his career,
Speaker 1: one of the ones that he's going to be remembered for,
Speaker 1: is he blocked the field goal to beat North Carolina
Speaker 1: early in the season. For the Mountaineers, it was a
Speaker 1: monumental win for the program, beating an ACC program from
Speaker 1: within the state, their first win over a P five
Speaker 1: program since Michigan into seven, and a team had the
Speaker 1: game winning play by by blocking the kick to give
Speaker 1: Appalachian a three point win. So, whether it's in coverage,
Speaker 1: making tackles on kickoff coverage or punk coverage, or even
Speaker 1: on the block units to be able to make a
Speaker 1: play and field goal block or even punk block, he's
Speaker 1: got a lot of different ways he could potentially help
Speaker 1: on special teams. You mentioned that he's added about fifty
Speaker 1: pounds since enrolling in college one seventy five to two
Speaker 1: twenty five. Is that about all that he can grow
Speaker 1: to or is there still room to maybe add a
Speaker 1: little more size. It's a good question. You know, we've
Speaker 1: seen this at places like Appalachian where guys, you know,
Speaker 1: traditionally at a a G five program like an app state,
Speaker 1: you'll tend to get guys who are super talented but
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit under size. But we've seen them
Speaker 1: graduate into the NFL and then put on a lot
Speaker 1: more bulk. You know, one of the team's biggest strengths
Speaker 1: is his speed. He is uniquely quick as a linebacker,
Speaker 1: and he was able to play an outside linebacker position
Speaker 1: in a three to four bass because of that speed
Speaker 1: and the way that he could get out of the
Speaker 1: quarterback or track guys down in space. And so I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think it kind of remains to be
Speaker 1: seeing whether or not getting larger than two twenty five
Speaker 1: is going to be a benefit for him, because I
Speaker 1: think even at two twenty five, he's strong enough and
Speaker 1: has good enough technique to still tackle bigger guys. So
Speaker 1: you know, the one thing that you don't want to
Speaker 1: do is do anything to make him lose some of
Speaker 1: the things he's really good at, which is certainly his quickness.
Speaker 1: Final question for Appalachian State broadcaster Adam Whitton. I was
Speaker 1: surprised to learn that a team suffered a stress fracture
Speaker 1: in his foot in Week three and kept playing, made
Speaker 1: it through the season, played in the Senior Bowl, then
Speaker 1: had foot surgery in March. What does that say about
Speaker 1: a Keen Davis Gaither? It certainly shows his toughness, and
Speaker 1: you know that that's one way to look at It's
Speaker 1: because I think a lot of us kind of learned
Speaker 1: towards the end of the season just what he was
Speaker 1: dealing with throughout twenty nineteen. The fact that you said,
Speaker 1: you know, it happened in that North Carolina game that
Speaker 1: we just talked about. Um, but we saw, we saw
Speaker 1: those signs of him slowing down. He was still as
Speaker 1: good as ever and continued to improve his stock at
Speaker 1: the season went along. Um. You know, he was impressive
Speaker 1: in the Senior Bowls, as we've discussed, and so I
Speaker 1: think if anything, it says his ability to to really
Speaker 1: do whatever is required for him to get the job accomplished. UM.
Speaker 1: I've talked about his determination, which is which is apparent
Speaker 1: as we've seen him throughout his Appalachian career. But the
Speaker 1: fact that he was still just as productive as he
Speaker 1: was even battling that injury in his senior season. You know,
Speaker 1: ideally it says, man, after now a long time to
Speaker 1: heal from from that procedure, you know, imagine, could he
Speaker 1: be even better than than what we saw in his
Speaker 1: senior season Appalachian, which was pretty spectacular. So hopefully it
Speaker 1: gives maybe even a higher ceiling than we originally thought.
Speaker 1: Excellent luck at fourth round pick Akeem Davis Gaither courtesy
Speaker 1: of broadcaster Adam Witton. In the fifth round, the Bengal
Speaker 1: selected Notre Dame defensive end Khaled Kareem, a six four,
Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty eight pounder who was a two
Speaker 1: year starter for the Fighting Irish and had thirteen sacks
Speaker 1: over the last three years. Here's a closer look at
Speaker 1: Kareem from Bengals defensive coordinator lou Anna Rumo. You know,
Speaker 1: at this point in the draft, when you get a
Speaker 1: guy that's as big and as tall and as long
Speaker 1: as you know, a guy's an eighty four inch wingspan,
Speaker 1: you know, had thirteen somewhat sacks in his career, was
Speaker 1: a captain and Notre Dame last year you're talking about
Speaker 1: some and has passed rush ability again in the fifth round.
Speaker 1: I think that's, uh, those are traits that we like.
Speaker 1: Seems like everybody year draft and has been a team
Speaker 1: captain was severing elegance. I mean, it's it's it's building
Speaker 1: a heck of a culture. It seems like, yeah, it helps.
Speaker 1: I mean those guys, Uh, you know, anybody anytime you've
Speaker 1: got leaders, uh you know that we're leaders in college.
Speaker 1: Certainly that uh that Lens lends itself to being a
Speaker 1: better leader in the pro so and at a place
Speaker 1: like Notre Dame, you know, which is uh obviously is
Speaker 1: what it is. So we're very excited about it. You've
Speaker 1: got five free agents that could start. Logan Wilson was drafted.
Speaker 1: Now this player from Notre Dame. Can you talk about
Speaker 1: how the talent on defense had just been transformed? Well,
Speaker 1: you know it was over the last few years. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously got here late last year, but uh, um, you know,
Speaker 1: as I've said, since I've gotten here, this has been
Speaker 1: a proud place when it comes to defense, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: for a long long time, and it hasn't been that
Speaker 1: way the last few years. And uh, you know, some
Speaker 1: of the players getting older and you know, for whatever
Speaker 1: the reasons. But part of it is our job is
Speaker 1: to evaluate and uh get younger bodies in here that
Speaker 1: can compete for spots, and you know, who ends up
Speaker 1: starting and all that will play itself out. But our
Speaker 1: jobs is to get a pool to create competition and
Speaker 1: then the best guys will bubble up and play. And
Speaker 1: we're doing that with both free hc in the draft.
Speaker 1: Before we get to the Bengal sixth round pick, here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can take your Bengals pride
Speaker 1: to the next level in twenty twenty with an official
Speaker 1: Bengals fan package from Prime Sport. The Bengal selected one
Speaker 1: offensive lineman in this year's draft, Hakim Identagy, a four
Speaker 1: year starter at Kansas who played tackle there before taking
Speaker 1: some snaps at guard and the Senior Bowl. He's six four,
Speaker 1: three hundred pounds and had a fourth round grade according
Speaker 1: to draft guru Dane Brugler, but fell to the Bengals
Speaker 1: at the top of round six. From more on Identagy,
Speaker 1: here's the voice of the Kansas Jayhawks, Brian Haney. Well, Dad,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for having me on. I'm so excited
Speaker 1: for a Kim and picks it Cinnati stats be pumped two.
Speaker 1: This was a guy who was the model of consistency
Speaker 1: from the first day he arrives on campus. And I
Speaker 1: know we'll talk about the circumstances that led to him
Speaker 1: being a Jayhawk, but he comes in the middle of
Speaker 1: the summer before his true freshman year and winds up
Speaker 1: starting all forty eight games as his collegiate career. Twice
Speaker 1: over was an All Big Twelve lineman, including first team
Speaker 1: all big twelve senior years. So he was the model
Speaker 1: of consistency and just a really productive player that got
Speaker 1: stronger as he grew into his body and added to
Speaker 1: his frame, played through injuries a couple of times in
Speaker 1: the middle of his career for lengthy stretches, and yet
Speaker 1: never came off the field. So you gotta love a
Speaker 1: guy like that. He's gritty, he's tough, and he's a
Speaker 1: really high character young man. It'll be a tremendous addition
Speaker 1: to your franchise. If not for a Cashew allergy, he
Speaker 1: would not have wound up at Kansas, Isn't that crazy? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was supposed to go to air Force. His brother
Speaker 1: had played at Air Force, and he was always planning
Speaker 1: to follow in his brother's footsteps. And he shows up
Speaker 1: on campus and in the medical reports there pops up
Speaker 1: the allergy. And at a place like air Force, that's
Speaker 1: enough to derail your acceptance. And so it's June of
Speaker 1: the summertime to perceives his first semester as a college
Speaker 1: student athlete, and thankfully for him, his Garland High school
Speaker 1: and coach Jeff Jordan, had just taken the job for
Speaker 1: another Garland graduate at the time, Kansas head coach David Beatty.
Speaker 1: And so you know, one door closes, another opens, and
Speaker 1: a Kim has a tremendous perspective on that. You never know,
Speaker 1: you know what curveball life's going to throw you in
Speaker 1: some ways, this weekend was a curveball because I know
Speaker 1: he really felt like he was going to go on
Speaker 1: the fourth round. But he's been a guy that's always
Speaker 1: accepted whatever cards he's dealt, and that makes the most
Speaker 1: of them. In this case, he comes to Kansas and
Speaker 1: as I said, within about six weeks he's won himself
Speaker 1: a starting job and he never let lucifit his entire career.
Speaker 1: Got to finish up playing his last season for Less Miles,
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Famer and his own right, and
Speaker 1: learned a lot from coach Miles former lineman himself, So
Speaker 1: he had a chance to play for several guys he
Speaker 1: never would have dreamed he would have played flore had
Speaker 1: it not been for the Cashoe Ala Geet. But all
Speaker 1: the while he felt like it was happening for a
Speaker 1: reason and he was getting blessed by it. And here
Speaker 1: he is now fulfilling his NFL dream. Because of it,
Speaker 1: we're spending a few minutes with the voice of the
Speaker 1: Kansas Jayhawks, Brian Haney. When Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan
Speaker 1: was asked about Hakim, the first thing that he spoke
Speaker 1: of was his smarts. Did that stand out in your
Speaker 1: interactions with him? Absolutely, very football savvy, a guy that
Speaker 1: always on Tuesdays and we got to talk to the players,
Speaker 1: you could always count on a great sound buy from
Speaker 1: him because whether they'd only had a day or so
Speaker 1: a film study, he'd already been watching in the weeks
Speaker 1: leading up on that next opponent coming up. So he
Speaker 1: always had a head for the scouting report in the
Speaker 1: opposition coming up. And on top of that, he's just
Speaker 1: a delightfully young guy to talk to. His mother is
Speaker 1: from Nigeria and she was actually a broadcast TV star
Speaker 1: back in Nigeria as a reporter, anchor journalists, and so
Speaker 1: he's always been a very well spoken young man. And
Speaker 1: when you're adding how much he studies the game and
Speaker 1: how well prepared he is weeken and we got I
Speaker 1: think you'll find him from a media perspective as one
Speaker 1: of your favorites to talk to. It seems like in
Speaker 1: this particular draft, if you are not a team captain,
Speaker 1: the Bengals aren't interested. It's been one team captain after
Speaker 1: the next. And that was the case for a team identity.
Speaker 1: What traits stood out that his teammates would want him
Speaker 1: in that role? Great question. And you know when you
Speaker 1: think about his four years of Kansas, and I talked
Speaker 1: earlier about no matter what the circumstances are, always finding
Speaker 1: a positive adjust to move forward, starting with how he
Speaker 1: arrived here to then the adversity of going through three
Speaker 1: different offensive line coaches and two head coaches in his
Speaker 1: time here. He was always the same consistent, eyes on
Speaker 1: the prize, looking ahead as opposed to looking behind, and
Speaker 1: all that type of mentality, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: you needing a leader, a next playoff, next man up,
Speaker 1: that kind of mindset, and he had that throughout and
Speaker 1: no matter who was doing the coaching on the sidelines
Speaker 1: or who the headman was atop the program, he adjusted.
Speaker 1: And Akim was the same guy, bringing his lunch pail
Speaker 1: to work every single day, same approach, same hard work,
Speaker 1: a rock steady solid and I think that's what you
Speaker 1: want from leaders. Obviously, he didn't obviously enjoy as much
Speaker 1: winning here as we would like the last time, well
Speaker 1: not the last time, I guess you guys took Tanner
Speaker 1: Hockinson in twenty thirteen, but before that, when you took
Speaker 1: a Kansas offensive lineman in two thousand and eight, Anthony Collins,
Speaker 1: he'd just come off twelve wins and the Orange Bowl championship.
Speaker 1: And Ke never got that. But he was the part
Speaker 1: of some really big individual moments, like beating Texas as
Speaker 1: a sophomore, first time k You've beaten ut in fifty years.
Speaker 1: He helps k you beat Boston College on national TV
Speaker 1: this year, beat Texas Tech. I think he's excited to
Speaker 1: get in with the great franchise. It's clearly on the
Speaker 1: rise now at Joe Burrow and Tiggins and all these guys,
Speaker 1: and be a part of a young nucleus that's going
Speaker 1: to do a whole lot more winning than what he
Speaker 1: ever achieved on the collegiate gridiron. And because he's so consistent,
Speaker 1: so well prepared, and so determined, I think he's going
Speaker 1: to fit into that pedigree at DNA with the rest
Speaker 1: of those guys like Burrow and Higgins. Thanks to Brian
Speaker 1: Haney for that in depth look at Hakim Adenagee, the
Speaker 1: Bengal seventh and final pick was another linebacker, Marcus Bailey,
Speaker 1: who grew up in Columbus before his standout career at Purdue.
Speaker 1: He was still available with a two hundred and fifteenth
Speaker 1: pick in the draft due to knee problems. Marcus toward
Speaker 1: the ACL and his left knee as a freshman, then
Speaker 1: toward the ACL and his right knee early last season.
Speaker 1: Here's a closer look at Marcus Bailey from Purdue radio
Speaker 1: voice Tim Newton. Marcus Bailey is a really instinctive football player.
Speaker 1: When he hits somebody, they usually go down. He doesn't
Speaker 1: miss a lot of tackles. He's very good in open space,
Speaker 1: going up against some of the best athletes in the
Speaker 1: Big Ten one on one in the flat. He was
Speaker 1: able to get guys to the turf with regularity. And
Speaker 1: if he can stay healthy, I think the Bengals had
Speaker 1: one of the steels of the draft. A Bengals coach
Speaker 1: described him as a football junkie. Is that accurate? I
Speaker 1: think it is. He would see him all the time
Speaker 1: over in the football complex. You know he's a good student.
Speaker 1: He was a three time academic All Big Ten. He
Speaker 1: graduated early. In fact, was actually into his second year
Speaker 1: of grad school starting the last season. So he's a
Speaker 1: guy that is a student of the game. I think
Speaker 1: again that matched with his instinctiveness on the football field,
Speaker 1: has really made him a very productive player. And it's
Speaker 1: a shame that his last season was cut short, just
Speaker 1: as his first season was. But he's a guy that
Speaker 1: football is very important to him. And I think he's
Speaker 1: also a great leader, and that was shown by the
Speaker 1: fact that his teammates voted him captain. We are visiting
Speaker 1: with Purdue radio voice Tim Newton. When he suffered that
Speaker 1: knee injury last year, second torn ACL of his Purdue career.
Speaker 1: How devastating was that for the entire program. I think
Speaker 1: of all the losses that Purdue had, and I've never
Speaker 1: seen a team as ravaged last year by injury as
Speaker 1: this team was. His was the biggest loss of all.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't just the fact that he was probably
Speaker 1: the best defensive player in terms of production, but he
Speaker 1: was also the best leader. And I think that's really
Speaker 1: where a lot of things went sideways in the season
Speaker 1: last year for Purdue is after he got hurt, there
Speaker 1: wasn't that guy that could bring everybody together in the huddle,
Speaker 1: in the midst of battle and say Okay, let's settle down.
Speaker 1: We need to do this, that or the other thing.
Speaker 1: They really really suffered after he went out last season,
Speaker 1: So it was a huge loss booth from what he
Speaker 1: was able to do production wise, but also his leadership.
Speaker 1: You mentioned him that you think he could turn out
Speaker 1: to be a steal if he stays healthy. Did you
Speaker 1: have any sense prior to his injury for how high
Speaker 1: he might have been drafted. I think he had. I believe,
Speaker 1: and this is talking to some people in both in
Speaker 1: the scouting business and on the coaching staff. I think
Speaker 1: he was a second or third round talent. I really
Speaker 1: believe that, just again from his productivity and the fact
Speaker 1: that he is good in space. He's an outstanding athlete,
Speaker 1: and he played with a little bit of a chip
Speaker 1: on his shoulder. He's a kid from Columbus that was
Speaker 1: not recruited by his hometown team, and in twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: he got a measure of revenge by taking an interception
Speaker 1: in for a touchdown in the big win over Ohio State.
Speaker 1: So he was a kid that was motivated from the
Speaker 1: time he got on campus. But I think when he
Speaker 1: was healthy he was easily one of the best five
Speaker 1: linebackers in the conference. Mets saying a lot with some
Speaker 1: of the talent we have at places like Ohio State, Michigan,
Speaker 1: Penn State. But he was really a legitimate All Big
Speaker 1: Ten player and I think was going to have a
Speaker 1: great senior season. The Bengals have really struggled in recent
Speaker 1: years to find linebackers with coverage ability. You mentioned his
Speaker 1: pick six against the Buckeyes. He had six interceptions in
Speaker 1: his career at Purdue. Is that a strength it is?
Speaker 1: I think he's able to get out. I mentioned the
Speaker 1: fact that he can get guys down in one on
Speaker 1: one situations, but he's also going to be somebody that
Speaker 1: will be able to cover running backs coming out of
Speaker 1: the backfield. I think whether he had to pick up
Speaker 1: a tight end or a running back, he'll be able
Speaker 1: to play in space and he's able to cover a
Speaker 1: lot of ground. He's a sidelined a sideline players. I
Speaker 1: think he's really again the whole package is the only
Speaker 1: problem with him has been the knee injuries in keeping
Speaker 1: him on the field and healthy. It happened early last year.
Speaker 1: It sounds like the surgery went smoothly and everything's coming
Speaker 1: along on schedule. Is he the type of guy that,
Speaker 1: just based on his history, you would expect to make
Speaker 1: a speed of recovery. Oh, I would think so. He did.
Speaker 1: He recovered very well from the first surgery, and from
Speaker 1: all indications we had, this one was going equally as well.
Speaker 1: So I would expect by whenever training camp is that
Speaker 1: he should be ready to go, and it will be
Speaker 1: close to a full year by the time he gets
Speaker 1: back on the field, if it's July or August. And
Speaker 1: he suffered the injury in September, so he's had he
Speaker 1: will have had the majority of the year by the
Speaker 1: time he gets on the field. But he's been rehabbing
Speaker 1: and I think he'll be ready to go physically. I
Speaker 1: know he's ready to go mentally. Thanks to the Voice
Speaker 1: of the boiler Makers, Tim Newton. Now time for a
Speaker 1: Day three recap and an overall look at the Bengals
Speaker 1: draft class with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham. All right, Lap,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the Day three draft picks and then
Speaker 1: we'll get to an overview of the entire draft for
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Let's start in Round four with the first
Speaker 1: pick of the fourth round. The Bengals drafted the guy
Speaker 1: that you more or less predicted they would pick prior
Speaker 1: to Day three of the draft, linebacker Akeem Davis Gaither.
Speaker 1: They not only doubled down at linebacker in this draft,
Speaker 1: three of their seven picks came from that position. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think you know they've they've done it before
Speaker 1: about before the draft, back in the earliest part of
Speaker 1: the century. They draft Tekioe Spikes, Brian Simmons, Steve Foley
Speaker 1: three draft picks, and then they signed a free age
Speaker 1: in Adrian Ross. While they draft three picks, they're at linebacker,
Speaker 1: not as high, but they still address it. And then
Speaker 1: they may sign another one in free agers who we
Speaker 1: don't know. The common denominator in the overhaul of those
Speaker 1: two different occasions Mark Duffner. So, Mark duft had had
Speaker 1: a big thing in evaluating the linebacker talent in both
Speaker 1: of those instances and and maybe rebuilding the linebacker group.
Speaker 1: And I think that these guys individually have a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of pride, and I think the game
Speaker 1: of football means a ton to them, and I think collectively,
Speaker 1: I think they'd like to be the three musketeers that
Speaker 1: turn the franchise around at the linebacker position. I think
Speaker 1: they'd relish the fact that you know, they could wave
Speaker 1: the flag, that they're the guys that solidified the middle
Speaker 1: of the Cincinnati Bengals defense was used and had so
Speaker 1: many problems with miss tackles and mister Simons and everything else.
Speaker 1: I see all three of those guys, you know, wanted
Speaker 1: to make make that different for sure. And a Keen
Speaker 1: Davis Gaitheror is a captain son of a football coach.
Speaker 1: And when you when you have sons of football coaches,
Speaker 1: that means that they have a support system. You know,
Speaker 1: they've grown up around the game. The entire family, wife
Speaker 1: and other siblings understand how important the game is, and
Speaker 1: it gives it gives them an additional opportunity to succeed.
Speaker 1: A tremendous support system, and I think, uh, I think
Speaker 1: that's going to pay dividends for the Bengals. You saw
Speaker 1: a Keen Davis Gaitheror at the Senior Bowl. The Bengals
Speaker 1: coaching staff obviously got to know him there. He was
Speaker 1: the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year at Appalachian State.
Speaker 1: Draft expert Dane Bruegler from The Athletic had him number
Speaker 1: fifty four overall on his board. The Bengals got him
Speaker 1: with a one hundred and seventh pick, so that's all good.
Speaker 1: The question mark with him seems to be is he
Speaker 1: big enough right? And and because it's fast enough, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know he runs four or five and that that's
Speaker 1: going to be the thing um when he's on the
Speaker 1: football field, particularly in the AFC North I Buy formation.
Speaker 1: They're going to probably try to target him in an area,
Speaker 1: try to locate him on an area of the football
Speaker 1: field where they're going to test his ability to get
Speaker 1: off blocks and stop the run. You know, I think
Speaker 1: they everybody's going to understand that a guy that size
Speaker 1: and that kind of speed, you know, will operate well
Speaker 1: in space. But can can you muscle up? You know,
Speaker 1: can when when you come in there with a couple
Speaker 1: of a couple of tightens and you know, when they
Speaker 1: sub times like that, you may be subbed out of
Speaker 1: the football game. But if if they decide to reduce
Speaker 1: the formation and play smash ball football between the hash
Speaker 1: marks and get him in tight in a home booth
Speaker 1: as such, can he operated his way out of that
Speaker 1: phone booth? And that's that's going to be the test
Speaker 1: for all these young linebackers because some of these, uh,
Speaker 1: some of these guys in the offensive lines with the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steels in Cleveland Browns, I mean,
Speaker 1: they're they these college kids that are coming in they
Speaker 1: have seen one or two of those guys during the
Speaker 1: course of the season. Now they're going to see five
Speaker 1: of those guys every single week of their professional career.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing that special teams coordinator Darren Simmons loves this
Speaker 1: pick a tea. Yeah, Kam Davis Gaither played special teams
Speaker 1: at Appalachian State. He was the teams special teams Player
Speaker 1: of the Year early in his career. He had a
Speaker 1: game saving block field goal last year against North Carolina.
Speaker 1: So this is not something that he is going to
Speaker 1: have to embrace at the NFL level. It's something he's
Speaker 1: been doing absolutely, Dan, And you look at you look
Speaker 1: at all the picks h you know at the linebacker position.
Speaker 1: You know they're being termed as potentially as three down linebackers.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm not sure that that's going to
Speaker 1: be the case for all of them, miss rookies. So
Speaker 1: at some point in time, I'm sure Logan Wilson will
Speaker 1: get some taste of special teams. The keen Davis Gaither
Speaker 1: will as well, and Marcus Bailey is the third linebacker
Speaker 1: that they drafted. At the end of the day, all
Speaker 1: of them have tasted the special teams, particularly early in
Speaker 1: their career. Like you said, as they turned into stalwarts
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the football, you know that
Speaker 1: that minimalizes the special team snaps. But these guys were
Speaker 1: all smart. That's a common denominator two with all the
Speaker 1: picks to in and they're all captains, they're all smart,
Speaker 1: they're all sons of coaches. I mean, it's crazy. I
Speaker 1: think that they they're going to understand very quickly, and
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons will make a point of them understanding it
Speaker 1: very quickly that their future is going to be determined
Speaker 1: in the short term by what they do. For Darren Simmons.
Speaker 1: Let's move to the fifth round. The Bengals selected a
Speaker 1: defensive end out of Notre Dame Khalid Kareem six four,
Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty eight pounds, another college captain. The
Speaker 1: description I got on him was solid, if unspectacular. Had
Speaker 1: five and a half sacks this year, forced three fumbles,
Speaker 1: and apparently has gigantic arms. Yeah, he's got a huge
Speaker 1: wingspan eighty four inch wingspan, thirty four and a half
Speaker 1: inch length in the arms, big hands, So that that
Speaker 1: tells you though, he should be able to control people
Speaker 1: and keep people you know, away from him, out of
Speaker 1: his out of his body as such. And you know
Speaker 1: all these guys too, they have position versatility. You know,
Speaker 1: he might give him some snaps. A defensive end might
Speaker 1: give him some snaps outside linebacker, could be a sub
Speaker 1: package edge rush guy because he could you know, they
Speaker 1: could drop him off into coverage. And you know what
Speaker 1: they've done with Sam Hubbard, I think this guy might
Speaker 1: be capable of doing as well. And you know another
Speaker 1: kid that a captain of his football team, and um,
Speaker 1: you know the culture that they're building I think is
Speaker 1: uh is very very interesting. You know. It's another one
Speaker 1: that that was he was scheduled to play in the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. He couldn't because of venue. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's obviously he's obviously got some some talents in coming
Speaker 1: out and Notre Dame. We know what Brian Kelly is
Speaker 1: all about. We know the program that Frian Kelly runs,
Speaker 1: so we know that this kid is the real deal.
Speaker 1: In terms of being, you know, not only a good
Speaker 1: football player, but a solid citizen in every way, shape
Speaker 1: or form. To the sixth round, where the Bengal selected
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman, Hakim Identagy. He played tackle at Kansas.
Speaker 1: Apparently the Bengals look at him as a guy who
Speaker 1: could play guard as well in the NFL. And of
Speaker 1: all the Bengals draft picks, he's the one who has
Speaker 1: the most interesting backstory. He was going to go to
Speaker 1: Air Force and then shortly before he was ready to
Speaker 1: go from high school to college, Air Force said, nope,
Speaker 1: you can no longer be admitted because of a cash
Speaker 1: you allergy man. How bad would you feel as the
Speaker 1: coach that recruited him. Everything's hunky door, it's all set
Speaker 1: to go, and cash you allergy nullifies the whole thing.
Speaker 1: And that dad had to be a interesting, dynamic beau.
Speaker 1: His brother was already at Air Force and already gone
Speaker 1: to Air Force. That tells you a lot about that family.
Speaker 1: When when you're talking to military academies, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: I remember what it was. I get recruited by Army
Speaker 1: and Navy and and you have to get you know,
Speaker 1: your local center at Cenator Ted Kennedy wrote a letter
Speaker 1: of recommendation Army Navy for me. He said, I know
Speaker 1: the process you have to go through and for these
Speaker 1: these guys to get accepted the Air Force tells you
Speaker 1: a lot about the type of person there. And another
Speaker 1: there's another case of a guy that's got some intal act,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean, there's there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: These guys took the book seriously, not just the football
Speaker 1: field or the basketball court or whatever the case may be.
Speaker 1: They they they're true student athletes. And you know, thing
Speaker 1: about this guy is when you look at his game,
Speaker 1: he's explosive, he's sudden, he's got really good feet. I
Speaker 1: think he's got some big upside. I really do. I
Speaker 1: think that. Initially, you know, he played more left tackle
Speaker 1: than right tackle. But if I'm doing a depth chart
Speaker 1: for the season, I have him in their competition over
Speaker 1: there at the right tackle spot to see who's the
Speaker 1: better man. You know, Bobby Hart is Fred Johns? Is
Speaker 1: Fred the better man? Is it? Is it this rookie?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'd make that a very competitive scenario over
Speaker 1: there at the right tackle position. Then move from there accordingly.
Speaker 1: It's a lot easier, you know, he was supposed to
Speaker 1: bounce in. You know, he didn't put part in the
Speaker 1: in the Senior Bowl. And this is one of the
Speaker 1: three Senior Bowl people that the Bengals drafted. Um, and
Speaker 1: you know, he did it willingly. And I think initially
Speaker 1: they're going to take a look at him at tackle,
Speaker 1: but hey, if you can play tackle, I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: it's much easier to kick inside and play guard. Usually
Speaker 1: pretty remarkable. When he accomplished at Kansas, he gets the
Speaker 1: late word from Air Force that he can't go there
Speaker 1: because of the cashew allergy. So he winds up at
Speaker 1: Kansas at the last minute, shows up for fall practice,
Speaker 1: wins the starting job, and starts forty eight consecutive games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's the other thing. A lot these guys are,
Speaker 1: you know, four year players, red shirt guys. Everybody they
Speaker 1: drafted has played a lot of football, except when injury
Speaker 1: unfortunately interrupted you know, their respective careers. In some cases,
Speaker 1: they played a lot of football, prospected by their teammates,
Speaker 1: voted captain, handled the academic part of it. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it really is. I mean, my numbers say three
Speaker 1: three Senior Bowl participants. Senior Bowls certainly paid off for
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals. In this draft, five of the seven
Speaker 1: draft picks are captains. Three of the seven draft picks
Speaker 1: are coaches sons. I mean, my goodness, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's uh. I think I'm not sure if they had
Speaker 1: the FBI IA. I don't know how many people investigated
Speaker 1: the character of their players, but well, they did a
Speaker 1: good job of screening them and getting guys that in
Speaker 1: most cases came from very very successful, winning programs as well.
Speaker 1: And the same thing happened in free agency again. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know what they did in free it to see,
Speaker 1: it's like everybody was on a playoff team. So it's
Speaker 1: it's there's there's some common denominators that flowed through all
Speaker 1: these selections, including Hakim. The Bengals final pick was linebacker
Speaker 1: Marcus Bailey out of Purdue, And this reminds me of
Speaker 1: the Rodney Anderson selection last year, and that you take
Speaker 1: a late draft chance on a guy with an injury
Speaker 1: history who was extremely productive when he wasn't hurt. He
Speaker 1: only played in a couple of games last year. He
Speaker 1: missed the last ten with a torn right ACL. Early
Speaker 1: in his college career, he tore his left ACL but
Speaker 1: in between he was one of the most productive linebackers
Speaker 1: in the Big Ten. Yeah, and when you hear that,
Speaker 1: I mean he's a football junkie as such, he's always
Speaker 1: at the facility. You know, you can only spend so
Speaker 1: many hours with a player by hen rules X number
Speaker 1: of hours per week. But that doesn't mean that the
Speaker 1: player can't go in there on their own and breakdown
Speaker 1: tape and do a everything they want to do in
Speaker 1: that regard to improve themselves as football players. And that
Speaker 1: was Marcus Bailey and the coaches basically had to kick
Speaker 1: him out of the place. That tells you that you
Speaker 1: got a guy that the game is significantly important to him.
Speaker 1: He can't he's got a thirst for knowledge. You know.
Speaker 1: He started throwing names out there like Luke Keigley, Bobby
Speaker 1: Wagner that you know, he felt like had had a
Speaker 1: tremendous football IQ that could never be satisfied and another
Speaker 1: good student, you know, three point five GPA. He's got
Speaker 1: his masters and leadership and said that's pretty good. I mean,
Speaker 1: he said, there's going to be a Kansas at FORDU
Speaker 1: for five years. Why not get a master's degree out
Speaker 1: of it? And that's somebody that's got some maturity to
Speaker 1: him instead of you know, worrying about where your next
Speaker 1: beer is coming from on campus in the party, you know,
Speaker 1: he wants to balance it out and make sure that
Speaker 1: he's got his academics taken care of him. Another guy
Speaker 1: that gives a lot of position versatility. He can play
Speaker 1: well in space. You know, he can cover people, he
Speaker 1: can blitz. So I they've they've got themselves some chess
Speaker 1: pieces to play with at this linebacker position, with smart
Speaker 1: guys that you don't necessarily have to sub in and
Speaker 1: out of there. You know, when when the offense make
Speaker 1: substitutions and personnel formation wise, you're you're allowed to. But
Speaker 1: if the offense has versatility and they flex tight ends
Speaker 1: or whatever the case may be, and they don't allow
Speaker 1: you to sub personnel, you get linebackers they can walk
Speaker 1: out there with those tight ends. In some cases, uh
Speaker 1: you know, maybe you know we'll even cover a slot receiver.
Speaker 1: You know, at a pension, when you have those kind
Speaker 1: of athletes, it gives you usually your heck of a counter.
Speaker 1: I mean, now you're in a great testpense. There's no
Speaker 1: question about it. All right. A few big picture topics
Speaker 1: now that the draft is finished for the Bengals. We've
Speaker 1: talked about the fact that a lot of these guys
Speaker 1: were captains. Six of the seven draft picks were college captains.
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson three time captain, Marcus Bailey two time captain,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow two time captains. I joked on Twitter the
Speaker 1: only captains the Bengals didn't draft were Hook, Kangaroo, Morgan
Speaker 1: and Crunch. I like it, but Zach Taylor made a
Speaker 1: point of saying, it's great that they're captains. That says
Speaker 1: something about them. But we didn't just draft good guys.
Speaker 1: They were all extremely talented players and the captain aspect
Speaker 1: is a nice bonus, right, And I think I think
Speaker 1: you know the concept of all right, when you're a captain,
Speaker 1: one of the things that you have to do is
Speaker 1: make sure that you're setting a standard where don't accept
Speaker 1: anything but the best effort out of individual players. And
Speaker 1: then of course it accumulates to be a team thing
Speaker 1: and you have to set the standard. And that's why
Speaker 1: in my mind, you know, great players, um, you know,
Speaker 1: like Anthony Munio's, James Brooks, you know, pick some of
Speaker 1: the great players in Bengal franchise history. Their work ethic
Speaker 1: was to suck that man. Those guys they're always in
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl every year and look what they're doing.
Speaker 1: Am I doing enough? And that's that's a good thing
Speaker 1: to have telling you when you're when your best players.
Speaker 1: And that's sort of a professional approach to it. The
Speaker 1: mentality where I'm going to be the best and no
Speaker 1: one's going to stop me from being the best. It
Speaker 1: raises the whole boat. You know. Tom Brady is in there,
Speaker 1: you know, bright and early, first one in, last to leave,
Speaker 1: and he's not wasted time. He's efficiently getting himself better,
Speaker 1: you know, day after day, week after week, month after month,
Speaker 1: year after year. Now now he cames into it. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: And if you can find guys that have that type
Speaker 1: of mentality, that type of mindset, you know, instead of
Speaker 1: the coaches having to force you to do it, if
Speaker 1: the players are saying, hey, follow my lead, do what
Speaker 1: I do, and it's a positive example. Now you've got
Speaker 1: something cooking. If the players can can set the standard
Speaker 1: of that, police themselves if somebody stray, as the players
Speaker 1: take care of it. That's the good teams that I
Speaker 1: played on or played with. We never waited for coaches
Speaker 1: to discipline or correct or whatever. Man took care of ourselves,
Speaker 1: took care of ourselves. It's like, you, dude, we got
Speaker 1: something good going on here. Don't screw this up. You
Speaker 1: know you don't want to be part of this. There's
Speaker 1: the door, don't body hit you in the buttter on
Speaker 1: your way out. And when the players are believing that
Speaker 1: that kind of mentality and self policing it, now you
Speaker 1: get something powerful. The biggest surprise to me is that
Speaker 1: the Bengals never traded down for more picks. I would
Speaker 1: have guaranteed going into this draft that at some point
Speaker 1: they're going to trade down a few spots to get
Speaker 1: more picks. And when they reached their their spot in
Speaker 1: every round, either they liked the guy that was there
Speaker 1: so much that they weren't willing to go down, or
Speaker 1: no team really made a good enough offer for them
Speaker 1: to do it. Yeah. Right, And I think I think
Speaker 1: the overlooked to the draft had a play in that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, okay, and I'm sure not only
Speaker 1: did the Bengals just wait for people to call be proactive,
Speaker 1: aren't reactive? I think they probably picked the phones up
Speaker 1: and targeted some people and tried to see if they
Speaker 1: could work work something out. But if if, whoever it is,
Speaker 1: you're trying to get them to move up, and they're
Speaker 1: looking at their board just like you are and their song.
Speaker 1: I got three or four guys here I'm comfortable with,
Speaker 1: Why should I give you draft capital to move up
Speaker 1: to take them when I can sit and still get
Speaker 1: one of them. And that's what the Bengals are trying
Speaker 1: to do, is you know, move back and accumulate capital
Speaker 1: and still be satisfied with one of them. So it
Speaker 1: just there was never anybody that I guess slid to
Speaker 1: the point where, oh my gosh, we had this guy
Speaker 1: you know, evaluated a full round better through where he
Speaker 1: is now. So maybe the overall depth of the draft
Speaker 1: was a you know, was a factor in that. But
Speaker 1: being the first band out of the gate, know, every round,
Speaker 1: let's go, every player they picked, they had evaluated a
Speaker 1: round higher because they had the first pick of the
Speaker 1: following round. So it's easy to say, oh, we had
Speaker 1: a humor waters a third round value you took up
Speaker 1: in the first pick in the fourth round. It's basically
Speaker 1: a third round draft pick. But you know, in some instances,
Speaker 1: I know they had guys you know away up in
Speaker 1: that round and maybe even at the end of the
Speaker 1: round before that. And like we talked about before, Dan,
Speaker 1: everybody's board is said differently because you know people it's
Speaker 1: it's it almost gets humorous to me, and because like
Speaker 1: Zach said, okay, do you draft for need or do
Speaker 1: your draft for best player? And he said, well, it's
Speaker 1: always a combination. And that's why every team's draft board
Speaker 1: is different. Every team has different needs. So when you're
Speaker 1: evaluating a player, it's like, yeah, boy, this this offensive
Speaker 1: tackle is good, and so is this cornerback. But we
Speaker 1: have a much bigger needed offensive tackles. He's going to
Speaker 1: go up higher on our board than the back. So
Speaker 1: that's why everybody's board is different. You know, when you
Speaker 1: set your board, you've already kind of you know, had
Speaker 1: a blend of need and in best player available. So
Speaker 1: that's why it kind of tickles me where oh man,
Speaker 1: we had this guy evaluated, you know, so much higher,
Speaker 1: and the other team be like, what, yeah, I wasn't
Speaker 1: that that guy up. I didn't have them that high
Speaker 1: at all. I had totally different needs. You're running totally
Speaker 1: different systems. Um, you know you have to you have
Speaker 1: to basically draft football players that that fit your system.
Speaker 1: It's crazy the draft football players and say, oh, just
Speaker 1: because of this one guy, we're going to change what
Speaker 1: we do from the philosophical standpoint now. So you know,
Speaker 1: you set what you're gonna do and try to draft
Speaker 1: players that fit it. And that's why everybody's board's different.
Speaker 1: What do you make of the fact that they only
Speaker 1: selected one offensive lineman and they didn't choose him until
Speaker 1: round six. Yeah, Like, like we talked about earlier, I
Speaker 1: think they're you know, they're feeling that they've made some
Speaker 1: improvements there. You know, I think that, Uh, I do
Speaker 1: think that the right tackle is going to be a
Speaker 1: free for all. Bobby Hart, you know, Fred Johnson obviously
Speaker 1: is going to be going to be in the mix,
Speaker 1: and uh and so will the Keen. There's no there's
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Um. So you know that that
Speaker 1: that'll be just at the right tackle position, right guard,
Speaker 1: Xavier and Alex will be you know, competing, Uh, Sue
Speaker 1: Flow and Alex Redmond will be competing. And you know,
Speaker 1: Medie if if it works out where a team it
Speaker 1: doesn't doesn't in the mix real strongly attack. He could
Speaker 1: kick inside the guard. Um, you know, Trey Hopkins has
Speaker 1: Billy Price, and Billy Price can you know play both guards,
Speaker 1: So he gives you some depth the all three interior positions.
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan came on. I thought Michael Jordan drew a lot.
Speaker 1: I mean, Michael Jordan. He met his match in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: with Cameron Heyward Man. I was a man against a
Speaker 1: boy that day. But Michael Jordan grew. He went the
Speaker 1: boy at the end of the season. There's no doubt
Speaker 1: about that that he had a baptism under fire and
Speaker 1: he got torched pretty good. But he didn't curl up
Speaker 1: in his fetal position and cry about it, which I
Speaker 1: respected the hell out of them. He came back and
Speaker 1: played some pretty good football in the second half of
Speaker 1: the season. Um, Jonah Warren's gonna be interesting to see,
Speaker 1: you know, see what he gives. Damn you know what
Speaker 1: he's capable of. I mean, obviously how they regarded the
Speaker 1: eleventh take in the draft. Um, and and that's that's right.
Speaker 1: Teams played mostly left tackle, So worst case scenario, he's
Speaker 1: got a swing tackle in the team. I say, your prance,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's different and better than what
Speaker 1: they had at the start of the season last year
Speaker 1: for sure, and then with the scheme change to fit everybody,
Speaker 1: I think they're no drafting. The one lineman they did
Speaker 1: draft has athletic ability. He has a good seat, you know,
Speaker 1: he's not he's not a guy that can't climb to
Speaker 1: the second level when they're running inside the outside of it.
Speaker 1: He's he's not a guy that can't can't move when
Speaker 1: they run their pin and pole stuff. So yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 1: I would think that they're probably targeting some college free
Speaker 1: agents in terms of the offensive line. Whoever is left
Speaker 1: from the Senior Bowl that they worked with down there.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they'll bring them to camp, you know, and
Speaker 1: that they've either met with and studied from the North
Speaker 1: or coached from the South. I know Balt get drafted,
Speaker 1: I know Hennessy get drafted. Both of those guys were
Speaker 1: down to the Senior Bowl. But I'm not sure about
Speaker 1: how many of the other offensive line we get drafted.
Speaker 1: And the fact that they only signed only drafted seven rookies,
Speaker 1: you would think that you might have a few more
Speaker 1: dollars in the budget to go out and get, you know,
Speaker 1: an additional college free ason or two but like we
Speaker 1: talked about earlier, with this era of the coronavirus, and
Speaker 1: you know, very few oldtas potentially or mini camps or
Speaker 1: anything else. And how you're going to evaluate guys, how
Speaker 1: many do you bring in? You know, you made not
Speaker 1: d ninety players this year. It might be a different
Speaker 1: kind of year. It might only needs eighty, might only
Speaker 1: needs seventy fives. So all that stuff I'm sure they're
Speaker 1: talking about. They've already I know they. I know they've
Speaker 1: done a budget, um, you know, for college free agency,
Speaker 1: and then they kind of assigned it to different position groups,
Speaker 1: and if one physician group has success, you know, the
Speaker 1: other position position group might not get the guy they're
Speaker 1: looking forward frees up funds for you know, a third
Speaker 1: physian group for whatever. So that's kind of the way
Speaker 1: they the way they worked at whoever has the all
Speaker 1: the success, whever gets the first guest gets the dough
Speaker 1: and then they just go from there. So I'm sure
Speaker 1: they've targeted a couple of offensive lineman and they're probably
Speaker 1: on the fallow of them as we speak here. I'm
Speaker 1: glad you mentioned Jonah Williams because after our last podcast,
Speaker 1: I got a question from somebody on Twitter. That's a
Speaker 1: tough question, but a fair question. You pointed out that
Speaker 1: one of the reasons why Josh Jones from Houston slid
Speaker 1: in the NFL draft was that he has short arms.
Speaker 1: His arms are roughly the same length as Jonah Williams.
Speaker 1: Why didn't Jonah slide for the same reason. Bottom line
Speaker 1: is he's just an overall, you know, better player with
Speaker 1: his feet, with his power, with everything else that he
Speaker 1: could overcome it more than that, more than Jones could.
Speaker 1: But um, and we'll see, we'll see if we'll see
Speaker 1: if Jonah wins that that's going to be a problem
Speaker 1: for him as well. I will I will say because
Speaker 1: I remember experiencing it when you when you're trying to
Speaker 1: pass protect against a you know, an octopus and you
Speaker 1: know you don't have those octopus length arms. That's tough.
Speaker 1: That's tough. You can try to swat him away from you.
Speaker 1: You know, it's hand to hand combat. But before you
Speaker 1: could use your hands, I had to keep my hands.
Speaker 1: I sist Clenston on my sternum and you know, try
Speaker 1: to block the chicken wing elbows. Well, if the old
Speaker 1: rings are boodle and these guys have you know, thirty
Speaker 1: six ten charms in there. They could head slap. There's
Speaker 1: swatting your head around their ear hole. You know, they're
Speaker 1: popping your ear hole and your helmet. You ear drums
Speaker 1: are popping and bursting. You know, it's like, what the
Speaker 1: hell man? And then it might be something else I
Speaker 1: can do other than this. It was it was brutal,
Speaker 1: but then when they allowed you to use your hands
Speaker 1: as an offensive and now you can counter, you know,
Speaker 1: and do some hand to that combat stuff, So you know,
Speaker 1: at all of that comes into play. How could if
Speaker 1: you do have short arms, how good are your hands? Well,
Speaker 1: where's your hand placement? How quick are your hands? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know, how good are you in that hand to
Speaker 1: hand combat? But yeah, it's it's probably that's not the
Speaker 1: the only reason that you draft or don't draft a guy.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think it's a tipe aaker? Do
Speaker 1: you think it's a type aaker at times? All right,
Speaker 1: final question. You've been associated with this franchise for more
Speaker 1: than forty years. Do you ever recall a time that
Speaker 1: the fan base was so excited about a newcomer as
Speaker 1: Bengals fans are about Joe burrow Boy? You know, I
Speaker 1: know I know the fans were pumped up when we
Speaker 1: drafted two time Heisman Trophy when Archie Griffin from right
Speaker 1: up the road in Columbus, Ohio. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: And Archie such a great guy to boot. I mean,
Speaker 1: talk about somebody that, uh, you know, you could put
Speaker 1: up on billboards. It could be a face your franchise.
Speaker 1: It wasn't a quarterback that here's the guy that is
Speaker 1: the face of your franchise as the quarterback. And he's uh,
Speaker 1: he's he's something special and there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: I mean it's this this uh, this community is fired up.
Speaker 1: This region should be fired up, and I think it
Speaker 1: is fired up. I think I do think that this uh,
Speaker 1: this guy's going to do some some very special things. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, when you drafted first first pick of the draft,
Speaker 1: it was a Heisman Trophy went to Carson Palmer. But
Speaker 1: he's excited about obviously, and he had had some good
Speaker 1: years for the Bengals. But man, Joe Burrow, uh, but Carson,
Speaker 1: who was a California guy, and Carson, you know, made
Speaker 1: it made it known that he didn't wasn't sure if
Speaker 1: he and his wife fit in the Midwest, you know,
Speaker 1: as easily as as people wanted it to to take place.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, he couldn't wait to get back
Speaker 1: out to Little to the West Coast as quickly as
Speaker 1: he possibly could. Borrow's coming home. This is this is
Speaker 1: where it's at for Joe Burrow. I mean, his family is.
Speaker 1: He's so excited about being able to go home and
Speaker 1: have a home cooked meal with his parents and his
Speaker 1: girlfriend lives right here in Mason, Ohio and her family.
Speaker 1: Talk about a support system, you know, sometimes two two
Speaker 1: yard drive away, all of his friends, family, supporters. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's got he's got a heck of a support system
Speaker 1: going there. And I admire him for you know, he
Speaker 1: went to Columbus, wanted to stay. Look, but then go
Speaker 1: down to LSU and do what he did. It shows
Speaker 1: you a lot, shows you a lot. Now now he
Speaker 1: can be back home again and a guy that won
Speaker 1: the Heisman Trophy, the National Championship. First pick of the draft,
Speaker 1: and believe me, every player that has a chance to
Speaker 1: be the first pick in the draft, you want to
Speaker 1: compete and get that bad boy and the records he said,
Speaker 1: might be a while before they're broke and sixty touchdown passes,
Speaker 1: accounting for sixty five total touchdown ridiculous, cartoonish, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: Let's see if he can set some in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, I'd love to see him. You know,
Speaker 1: I do think you know I don't. I don't want
Speaker 1: to set like ridiculous expectations to Joe Burrow. But I
Speaker 1: don't know. Dan. You know, Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, they could,
Speaker 1: they could compliment each other so well, one hand washed
Speaker 1: the other. It's the Joe Show, the Joe Show, Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon. Let's get the Joe Show started. Here we go.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by Prime Sport, the
Speaker 1: official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if
Speaker 1: you have a minute, give it a rating or share
Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast