Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The It's a new dawn, it's
Speaker 1: a new day, it's a new life for me, and
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good. Addition, as Billy Price joins me to
Speaker 1: share his excitement about the upcoming season following the return
Speaker 1: of offensive line coach Frank Pollock. Then after that, I'll
Speaker 1: be joined by the always entertaining Pete Prisco, senior NFL
Speaker 1: columnist for CBS sports dot Com. Last year, after the
Speaker 1: Bengals draft to Joe Burrow, Pete said that the Bengals
Speaker 1: would win a Super Bowl maybe two with Burrow at quarterback.
Speaker 1: We'll see if he still feels that way after Joe's
Speaker 1: rookie season. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bud
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's a quick reminder
Speaker 1: that you can have the latest edition of this podcast
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since the Crosstown tip Off Challenge. It
Speaker 1: started in early January when a Xavier fan left a
Speaker 1: one thousand dollars tip on a fifty five dollars tab
Speaker 1: at Zip's Cafe and Mount Lookout and signed it Go Xavier.
Speaker 1: A few days later, a UC fan left a one
Speaker 1: thousand and one dollar tip at Keystone Bar and Grill
Speaker 1: and Clifton and signed it Bearcats up by one. Ever since,
Speaker 1: fans of the best intercity rivalry in college basketball have
Speaker 1: been going back and forth, leaving huge tips and raising
Speaker 1: tens of thousands of dollars to help local restaurants that
Speaker 1: have been devastated by the COVID nineteen pandemic. Then Chad
Speaker 1: Brendall from the Bearcat Journal website and Rick Browing from
Speaker 1: The Musketeer Report challenged fans of the two schools to
Speaker 1: outdonate each other and raised more than thirty three thousand
Speaker 1: bucks in a matter of days. The Bearcat fans won
Speaker 1: that challenge by about five thousand dollars, thanks in part
Speaker 1: to you see football players who have made the NFL
Speaker 1: like Jason Kelsey and Connor Barwin. In any case, it's
Speaker 1: been an incredible display of generosity and obviously doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be limited to UC then Xavier fans. If you
Speaker 1: have the means to leave a fat tip and add
Speaker 1: a who Day next to yours signature. The restaurant industry
Speaker 1: can certainly use our help. Now let's get to football.
Speaker 1: The Bengals had a very productive two eighteen draft, selecting
Speaker 1: two cornerstone players in Jesse Bates and Sam Hubbard, as
Speaker 1: well as two productive late round picks in Darius Phillips
Speaker 1: and audentn Tate. But so far, first round draft picked
Speaker 1: Billie Price has not had the career that he or
Speaker 1: the team was hoping for. But Billy is only twenty
Speaker 1: six years old and has been reunited with a coach
Speaker 1: that was in his corner when the team selected Price
Speaker 1: twenty first. Overall, I spoke to Billy about that and
Speaker 1: much more this week. So you moved to Dallas, where
Speaker 1: it's normally pretty mild in February, and instead Texas is
Speaker 1: experiencing historically bad weather with more than a million people
Speaker 1: without power. How are you, your wife and your dogs doing? Thankfully,
Speaker 1: we're doing okay. We're in the northeast part of the
Speaker 1: Dallas suburbs, which is an area it's doing well. We
Speaker 1: haven't had any issues with electrical issues. Water has been fine,
Speaker 1: which is phenomenal for us. Actually, Hakimodenogy, who is in Garland, Texas.
Speaker 1: He was actually staying with me for the last couple
Speaker 1: of days just because they lost electricity. Power was going off,
Speaker 1: making sure you know that they had food, We were warm,
Speaker 1: Things were good. The dogs are definitely loving the snow
Speaker 1: because we didn't get any of that in Kentucky before
Speaker 1: we left, so definitely they're thankful. But everybody here is healthy,
Speaker 1: safe and warm, so I appreciate that. So you move
Speaker 1: there after working with offensive line guru Duke manny Weather
Speaker 1: last year. Correct, Yeah, just that and just kind of
Speaker 1: getting away I think at the mental space after a
Speaker 1: long season, you know, a long tough two seasons the
Speaker 1: last two years again not the success that we wanted
Speaker 1: with the team, and it's just it's good to get
Speaker 1: away mentally and really just kind of rejuvenate things. Take
Speaker 1: you a month to kind of let the body rest
Speaker 1: and then to get back then get back going with Duke.
Speaker 1: You know, right now, I haven't started training yet, and
Speaker 1: we're going to start ticking it up here with Duke
Speaker 1: here next week, just to get things going again, get
Speaker 1: the body movements going. I know that offensive linemen take
Speaker 1: a lot of force and take a lot of brunt
Speaker 1: during the season, and so it's appropriate to take that time,
Speaker 1: let your body rest, get the information down, kind of
Speaker 1: research your metabolism again. You know, you're you're eating certain
Speaker 1: things to make sure you're maintaining weight during the season,
Speaker 1: So it's just nice to kind of get a refresher.
Speaker 1: You know, the economy down here is booming. The housing
Speaker 1: market is going crazy. There are people move in from
Speaker 1: California and their tessa's doing a big investment down here.
Speaker 1: So it was a right move for long term financially.
Speaker 1: And again, I mean historically the weather is phenomenal down
Speaker 1: here at this time, So I'll take the sixty degrees
Speaker 1: versus the thirty that you guys got up north. So
Speaker 1: when you're working out with Duke, I'm picturing a bunch
Speaker 1: of NFL offensive linemen or top college offensive lineman they're
Speaker 1: hoping to be in the draft, you know, not only
Speaker 1: working out physically together, but also sharing trade secrets. Is
Speaker 1: that kind of what it's like. Oh yeah, and again
Speaker 1: it all caps off with you know, the O line masterminds.
Speaker 1: The Duke has really taken over. With the next that
Speaker 1: ends up happening in June. It's just it's really really
Speaker 1: nice to be able to kind of, you know, pick
Speaker 1: each other's brains on playing certain opponents in certain men.
Speaker 1: But it's nice to be able to kind of just
Speaker 1: be around like minded people and with the same purpose,
Speaker 1: in the same drive. And that's really really essential in
Speaker 1: the offseason for guys to be successful is to continue
Speaker 1: to keep those people around you, to keep you to
Speaker 1: keep your edge, and to keep you striving to be
Speaker 1: the best. Again, there's only twenty two all pro. There's
Speaker 1: only twenty two you know, all pro guys, those are
Speaker 1: the things you really want to strive for every year.
Speaker 1: Biggest benefit physical technical or mental. Mental and technical for
Speaker 1: sure are the top two m I believe everybody lifts,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's going to do their core exercises or
Speaker 1: squads or benches and stuff. But that really for us
Speaker 1: is how you translate that lifting into some of the
Speaker 1: technique work, you know, and then once I get you know,
Speaker 1: for this year, you know, doing the technical work and
Speaker 1: the mental work with Duke to come back in with
Speaker 1: Coach Pollock here again, you're going to be able to see,
Speaker 1: you know, the refines that Coach Pollock wants versus what
Speaker 1: we were training for you know, last eight weeks, six
Speaker 1: weeks with Duke, and there's a lot of carry over
Speaker 1: with it, which is phenomenal. Again, it's it's nice to
Speaker 1: be around like minded people who are all on the
Speaker 1: same page with the same purpose. So um. But it's also,
Speaker 1: like I said, mental, mental for me is always the thing.
Speaker 1: It's just getting refresh. Pick somebody's brain and you know, hey,
Speaker 1: this is how I see it, and somebody else might
Speaker 1: see it in a different way. Somebody might see it
Speaker 1: the same way. So it's it's nice to kind of
Speaker 1: get it an all rounded view on what you're doing,
Speaker 1: who you're playing, how to attack that person again, I
Speaker 1: know we have we've had many conversations and how do
Speaker 1: you how do you stop Aaron Donald? You know? And
Speaker 1: that was Those are long conversations, a lot of different people,
Speaker 1: a lot of different ideas of how to do certain things.
Speaker 1: But it's like I said, it's nice to be around
Speaker 1: those people. So you mentioned the return of offensive line
Speaker 1: coach Frank Pollock. You gave it an LFG and a
Speaker 1: bicep flex emoji on Twitter when that news was announced.
Speaker 1: Why it's just exciting for me. Again, that's the person
Speaker 1: who you know, helped draft me to this organization and
Speaker 1: to this franchise. Um. I had a lot of success
Speaker 1: my rookie year, did some really good things that you know,
Speaker 1: I was looking forward to growing on. Obviously took a
Speaker 1: pickup tour my plan or Fascia, you know, had a
Speaker 1: couple of setbacks with that. So it's nice and it's
Speaker 1: very optimistic to look forward to what this offensive line
Speaker 1: did in twenty eighteen with Joe Mixon healthy, with five guys,
Speaker 1: they were pretty consistent. There wasn't a lot of lineup
Speaker 1: change with that, and just seeing the technique work and
Speaker 1: how the rejuvenation of the run game was in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: I know that that's something every offensive line puts their
Speaker 1: foot on, puts their stamp on. We are going to
Speaker 1: run the ball at you. And when you have a
Speaker 1: phenomenal running back like Joe Mixon, you want to capitalize
Speaker 1: on that. So it's going to be again, I think
Speaker 1: the word rejuvenation is appropriate, and I'm so so looking
Speaker 1: forward to it. Joe Burrows said that after the news
Speaker 1: came out, Joe Mixon called him and was quote hooting
Speaker 1: and hollering, who's more excited, Joe Mixon or Billy Price.
Speaker 1: I gotta I gotta tip the half to Joe. I
Speaker 1: know I texted Joe as well, Um, you know, a
Speaker 1: little inside joke that we had going on. But it
Speaker 1: was just just exciting. I think everybody in the room,
Speaker 1: everybody in the building is just exciting, excited to get
Speaker 1: back to it. I mean, you saw what we were
Speaker 1: able to do with the past game, and I know
Speaker 1: Coach Taylor really likes his the past game and what
Speaker 1: he does with Joe Burrow, Te Higgins, Tyler Boyd and
Speaker 1: all the accessory pieces that we have. But it's going
Speaker 1: to be very nice to be able to compliment that appropriately. Again,
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon had one of his best years in two
Speaker 1: th eighteen. You know, I always bragged people he had
Speaker 1: a thousand yards or like three three games left to
Speaker 1: go in season, and that's phenomenal. And I know you
Speaker 1: see the numbers that Derrick Henry puts up. You know
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon is a guy who can do that same thing.
Speaker 1: It's just you've got to have the complimenting pieces and
Speaker 1: the work to be done up front. And I know, again,
Speaker 1: I know everybody in the offensive line room is on
Speaker 1: the same page. Everybody's excited about it. For our guys
Speaker 1: to get healthy, get in the right direction, and just
Speaker 1: just attack this and get put some respect pack on
Speaker 1: our name as it was in two thou eighteen, because
Speaker 1: that was the standard. And every year you raise that standard,
Speaker 1: it's you know. You know Joe Mixon, I was like, hey, man,
Speaker 1: I told him and say, hey, let's get you another
Speaker 1: thousand piece easy, and he goes thousand piece. Question mark,
Speaker 1: Let's go two thousand, you know, And that's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing. You want that standard to continue to rise
Speaker 1: and just have that have the pieces around you do
Speaker 1: what they're supposed to. We're talking to Billy Price. As
Speaker 1: you mentioned, Frank Pollock was a big voice in the
Speaker 1: room when the team drafted you number twenty one overall.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like he has extra incentive to help
Speaker 1: you excel in the NFL? I'd like to think so. Again,
Speaker 1: every time a man or a coach, excuse me, a
Speaker 1: coach puts his name on a player, he wants to
Speaker 1: see that person succeed, you know. And when I talked
Speaker 1: to coach Pollock, and you know, I told him, hey,
Speaker 1: I was down here training with Duke and he got
Speaker 1: a little pitch in his voice, and it was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know Brian Winners, because Brian Winners trains with Duke
Speaker 1: A manny. Whether Brian is a guard for Buffalo, Frank
Speaker 1: personally picked McKay Beckton. McKay Beckton was training with Duke
Speaker 1: last year and he was a left tackle for the Jets.
Speaker 1: So having that familiarity of who you're training with and
Speaker 1: who the guy that drafted you, there is that sense
Speaker 1: of pride and I think that's it is a big deal.
Speaker 1: But again, I have to do the corresponding work. You know,
Speaker 1: the foundation may be laid, but it's time to go
Speaker 1: walk the path. Now, it's time to go and do
Speaker 1: those things and just be be the consistent piece and
Speaker 1: that's how you attack this going forward. So Trey Hopkins
Speaker 1: tours ACL in the final game of last season. I
Speaker 1: think that probably makes him a long shot to be
Speaker 1: back for the start of this season. What does that
Speaker 1: mean for you? It's to be prepared and to show
Speaker 1: up day one and to be the anchor that I
Speaker 1: was drafted to be and be the person, the consistent
Speaker 1: piece and let everything else shake out where it may.
Speaker 1: You know, I give my best to Tray. I talked
Speaker 1: to Trey I've talked to him a couple of times
Speaker 1: already this offseason. Just check him in on them and
Speaker 1: see how he's doing. Surgery went well, etc. But it's
Speaker 1: again again, be a piece of this room, be the
Speaker 1: consistent piece of the room, and do what I can do.
Speaker 1: You can't stress, you know, oh, wins Trey going to
Speaker 1: be back? Or am I going to not be the starter?
Speaker 1: Or what's going to happen in free agency or this
Speaker 1: that's to show up day one ready to go and
Speaker 1: be who I was that Frank drafted. You had to
Speaker 1: prepare last offseason for center or guard, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: that still has to be part of the calculus. But
Speaker 1: because of that situation with Trey, is your mindset this
Speaker 1: year center? No, unfortunately, I shouldn't say unfortunately, but to
Speaker 1: continue to be to be a Swiss Army knife. I
Speaker 1: mean last camp I was. There was no two days
Speaker 1: that I was the same position. It was, Hey, okay,
Speaker 1: you're gonna go left this time, or at the end
Speaker 1: of practice, we're gonna put you it right this time.
Speaker 1: You know, Trey take his shoe, his shoe fell off,
Speaker 1: go play center, you know it, just whatever is needed
Speaker 1: at that time to go do those things makes it tough.
Speaker 1: It does make it tough to kind of get in
Speaker 1: a rhythm and into a groove. But for this obviously,
Speaker 1: again I think that the first, the first drop of
Speaker 1: wood is at that center position. But again it's to
Speaker 1: stay refined and stay sharp during my training here with
Speaker 1: Duke at both left end right. If a given, if
Speaker 1: need be, if they want to throw somebody in or
Speaker 1: we end up signing somebody, it's you've got to do
Speaker 1: what the team is needed, whatever is needed for the team,
Speaker 1: and an attack with the best mindset possible. Chatting with
Speaker 1: Billy Price, the one game you started at center last year,
Speaker 1: you got a game ball for the win over Tennessee.
Speaker 1: Coach Taylor said the following after that game quote, He's
Speaker 1: everything we want our players to be about. He comes
Speaker 1: to work every day with a mindset of wanting to
Speaker 1: get better. His personality never wanes. That's pretty strong stuff.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction. I think it really really reaffirmed
Speaker 1: things I needed to hear within this franchise. Again, I
Speaker 1: was not I have not had the years that I
Speaker 1: was projected to have, and it gets to be frustrating
Speaker 1: and mentally it messes with you a little bit, But
Speaker 1: you have to take that mindset that again, whatever it
Speaker 1: is needed for the team, you have to do. Again,
Speaker 1: as I said, I wasn't playing any position two days
Speaker 1: in a row during training camp, and that's just what
Speaker 1: was needed. We had a couple of injuries. Guys went down,
Speaker 1: you know, somebody you know, I know, Mike Jordan had
Speaker 1: to have an excuse, and so you had to go
Speaker 1: replace and filth in for guys. But to understand that
Speaker 1: there is a value for me in this franchise no
Speaker 1: matter what position it is. It was nice to hear that. Again.
Speaker 1: You can't waiver, you can't change where you are in
Speaker 1: a personality. And again, if you're not having phone a football,
Speaker 1: you've got to go find it. You need to go
Speaker 1: find another job. And Yet, after that, and after hearing
Speaker 1: those kind words, and I'm sure they were hard felt
Speaker 1: from coach, you weren't in the starting lineup the next week.
Speaker 1: I mean to me, that would have been very difficult. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was, But coaches have their own decisions and they
Speaker 1: make their own decisions based on what they want. You
Speaker 1: can't control that. I can control my numbers called whenever
Speaker 1: a shoelace or an unfortunate injury is to happen. You know,
Speaker 1: you've got to be ready to go, you know, and
Speaker 1: those you take the most out of those opportunities, and
Speaker 1: you strive forward. When your foot hits that field, your
Speaker 1: hands on that ball, you've got to make a decision,
Speaker 1: and you've got to go and be the best you can.
Speaker 1: It's not easy. I mean, it really is not easy. Again,
Speaker 1: I kind of it wasn't easy going into Wednesday practice
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, okay, hey, but you're back down,
Speaker 1: all right, But I'm going to be ready no matter what.
Speaker 1: I'll be ready, you know, left guard, right guard, center,
Speaker 1: whatever is needed for that next week. So stuff. I
Speaker 1: know the fans and media people were a little bit
Speaker 1: more confused than others, but you block out that outside
Speaker 1: no ones, and you take care of the people inside
Speaker 1: the building. You could not have had a better college career.
Speaker 1: Four years starter at Ohio State, National champion, All American,
Speaker 1: Remington Award winner. So how do you deal with the
Speaker 1: roller coaster ride of your first three years in the NFL.
Speaker 1: First year was good, a lot of stepping stones, a
Speaker 1: lot of good things are done, consistent marks to go
Speaker 1: into a projected better second year, and the one thing,
Speaker 1: the thing that I could control was, you know, obviously
Speaker 1: your health. Your health in this league as wealth. I've
Speaker 1: heard many times there are things now that if I
Speaker 1: could have done my second year, I would have I've
Speaker 1: been down here training with Duke. I'd have been assessing,
Speaker 1: you know, your foothealth, your ankle, knee, elbow, shoulder health
Speaker 1: better throughout the year, and those things that you can
Speaker 1: control can help you, you know, continue to be healthy
Speaker 1: and be the consistent piece. I've got a great wife,
Speaker 1: I've had a great, strong support system around me. It
Speaker 1: really that makes a difference with this and it's not easy.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati fans are not are not the easiest to please,
Speaker 1: I can tell you that, but again, they care. There's
Speaker 1: a passion behind this fan base. There's a passion for
Speaker 1: excellence within this fan base. But for myself as a player,
Speaker 1: you you're not satisfied with some of the stuff that happens.
Speaker 1: You're not I'm not okay with, you know, giving up
Speaker 1: a sack at the end of the Philly game against
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox, even though Fletcher is going to go down
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame. You know, there's situations that, again,
Speaker 1: you can control certain things how you prepare and how
Speaker 1: you prepare all the year is going to pay dividends
Speaker 1: during the season. So that's really you reflect on it
Speaker 1: at the end of the season of Okay, what could
Speaker 1: I have done better? How do I assess things better?
Speaker 1: And then how do I continue to grow for the
Speaker 1: next year. So you're getting ready to get back after
Speaker 1: it would Duke, what about Bengals offseason activities? Do you
Speaker 1: guys know yet if it's all going to be virtual
Speaker 1: with the OTAs and the mini camps. No, And I'm
Speaker 1: waiting for a start of leage year to happen here
Speaker 1: in March, because again for me, I've got to travel,
Speaker 1: you know, thirteen hours back up north to come back
Speaker 1: up to Cincinnati with two dogs and looking beautiful wife,
Speaker 1: and you know, continue to figure out what the best
Speaker 1: timing is for that. I know our off season packet
Speaker 1: we have received from coach Bose, Garrett and Todd in
Speaker 1: the strength style, but as far as whether it be
Speaker 1: virtual or not, still waiting for the beginning of the
Speaker 1: league year just to have those conversations and then our
Speaker 1: NFLPA president to figure that out. So looking back at
Speaker 1: last season, Joe Burrow is having an excellent rookie year
Speaker 1: before his injury. What impressed you about your former Buckeye's
Speaker 1: teammate first game LA Chargers. We're going five wide and
Speaker 1: he's throwing that ball around like it's a backyard football.
Speaker 1: I think that was probably one of my most impressive
Speaker 1: because again we had an Xavier had an unfortunate injury,
Speaker 1: and you know, you know, Joe's running five wide against
Speaker 1: some of them an NFL defense, really an NFL defense,
Speaker 1: and he's just making decisions real quick and easy. You
Speaker 1: can see his brain moving around. He's his first game
Speaker 1: as an NFL player. I mean I was there and
Speaker 1: I just said, hey, man, just play your game, player game.
Speaker 1: We're gonna handle it up front. Everything was good, didn't
Speaker 1: get hit, walked right down the field. I think that
Speaker 1: was that was a special moment for me, just to
Speaker 1: kind of see him be able to do those things,
Speaker 1: and then as the season gone has gone on, just
Speaker 1: to continue to see him grow. And Joe's got some swagger.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows it. Everybody knows that kid is calm. He's
Speaker 1: collected back there, and he is Houdinia. I was just
Speaker 1: watching the clip against the Tennessee last thing of him
Speaker 1: just ducking and diving and just missing it. All of
Speaker 1: a sudden he dumps it off to Higgins. Actually, no
Speaker 1: twenty plus yard game. And that explosiveness is something that
Speaker 1: makes it very difficult to defend, as you see people
Speaker 1: trying to defend Levark Jackson and you know, having that
Speaker 1: explosiveness at elusiveness. I mean, Joe is a very very
Speaker 1: very special athlete, and again I'm glad that he's behind
Speaker 1: me and we're protecting them. So wrapping this up with
Speaker 1: Billy Price. People are hearing this as a podcast, they're
Speaker 1: hearing the audio, but we're doing it as a zoom call.
Speaker 1: So I can see you on my computer screen. I
Speaker 1: can see the excitement in your facial expression, just how
Speaker 1: eager you are to get back with Frank as the
Speaker 1: offensive line coach and try to have the year that
Speaker 1: you know you're capable of having. Am I accurate in
Speaker 1: seeing that in your face? Absolutely? I think I know.
Speaker 1: When Jay Morrison gave me a call a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, he could. He was like, dude, you just
Speaker 1: you've seen this rejuvenation, and I'm like, it's just it's time,
Speaker 1: It's time. It's it's a very optimistic offseason. It's a
Speaker 1: very optimistic time in the Bengals franchise right now. Again,
Speaker 1: you've got a phenomenal quarterback, You've got excellent skill positions.
Speaker 1: You've got a defense that's continuing to get better, an
Speaker 1: offense that has continued to develop, continue to find its
Speaker 1: identity and really be able to take that next stride
Speaker 1: next year. Again, you don't listen to the media, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna hear reading who's gonna get cut, Who's this, Who's that?
Speaker 1: You know, who's projected to be in the super Bowl
Speaker 1: next year? Who cares? It's the excitement within the building,
Speaker 1: the excitement with what is going to develop as I
Speaker 1: was able to see it and witness it, and it's
Speaker 1: just I'm just excited finally going to be a piece
Speaker 1: to be a part of that and whatever whatever facet
Speaker 1: that the team needs. Have a great offseason, look forward
Speaker 1: to getting back after it when you guys are back
Speaker 1: up here, and really appreciate your time today. Thanks so much, Billy,
Speaker 1: appreciate your dame. Shortly after Frank Pollock returned to the Bengals,
Speaker 1: I asked him about Billy Price and he said the
Speaker 1: following quote. I'm excited to work with Billy. My job
Speaker 1: is to ring every ounce of ability out of all
Speaker 1: of those guys, and Billy is no exception to that.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer.
Speaker 1: It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor.
Speaker 1: Pete Prisco, the senior NFL columnist for CBS sports dot Com.
Speaker 1: It's been one of our favorite guests over the years
Speaker 1: on Bengals radio shows, and I reached out to him
Speaker 1: for the podcast this week to get his take on
Speaker 1: what the team should do in the draft and free agency.
Speaker 1: Let's start with your first mock draft, which you published
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. Trevor Lawrence number one to the jag Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson number two to the Jets, Jamar Chase to the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: number three, cornerback Patrick Surtan to the Falcons number four,
Speaker 1: and Piney Sewell to the Bengals number five. Is that
Speaker 1: the ideal scenario for Cincinnati in your opinion? If I
Speaker 1: was running the show, that's what it would be, and
Speaker 1: not necessarily that player, but that position, because I think
Speaker 1: this has still got a flesh out a little bit.
Speaker 1: When who is the number one tackle and who's the
Speaker 1: best tackle, and how much better is number one than
Speaker 1: number three? Because I think the three guys, the three
Speaker 1: top tackles are all really good players, and we saw
Speaker 1: that played out last year. Remember Tristan Wirfs ended up
Speaker 1: being the best of all of them, and he was
Speaker 1: the guy who went after right. So I do think that,
Speaker 1: you know, twitter hot draft Colt is more in love
Speaker 1: with Penny Sewell than I think most people are in
Speaker 1: the league. They like them, don't get me wrong, but
Speaker 1: they think there's a clear line. I think the kid
Speaker 1: from Virginia Tech, and I'm just now getting into the
Speaker 1: tape watching process from guys I've talked to, Christian Darisaw
Speaker 1: is the real deal at left talk tackle and I
Speaker 1: did watch Slater last year. Remember he opted out, but
Speaker 1: he did a good job against Chase Young. So I
Speaker 1: think any one of those three guys would be good
Speaker 1: for the Bengals. You got to protect that quarterback. If
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl taught us anything Dan, it's that you
Speaker 1: protect the quarterback and you're gonna win the game. They
Speaker 1: protected the quarterback in Tampa and all throughout the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and that's why Tom Brady was able to stand in
Speaker 1: there and make those throws. Yeah, that was the game. Right.
Speaker 1: Once the Chiefs had their injuries on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: that offense was nothing. Yeah. And on the other side,
Speaker 1: you're like when they played Washington in the first round
Speaker 1: at Washington up a Bay that remember, the one thing
Speaker 1: was all that front four will be able to get
Speaker 1: after Tom Brady and influence them. Well they didn't. And
Speaker 1: then they went to New Orleans and they said, remember
Speaker 1: they beat him up in the first in the second
Speaker 1: meeting and they said, oh, they'll get after them, and
Speaker 1: they didn't. And then Green Bay couldn't rush them. I mean,
Speaker 1: they hit him a couple of times, but they didn't.
Speaker 1: They didn't influence them like you want to. And then
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl was what it was. If your quarterback's protected,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to do a lot of things.
Speaker 1: And Joe Burrows a valuable asset. They got to be
Speaker 1: able to protect them. We're talking to Pete Prisco from
Speaker 1: CBS Sports dot Com. Do you expect the Bengals to
Speaker 1: sign a starting offensive lineman and free agency. I think
Speaker 1: they'll look at it, and there's some good ones out there.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, if you want to look for
Speaker 1: a guard, there's some good guard. Shurf is a good
Speaker 1: guard from Washington. Now whether he gets tagged to be determined.
Speaker 1: Joe Tooney from New England is a good guard who
Speaker 1: could fit in there as well. So, and there'll be
Speaker 1: some veterans players on the market that get released here
Speaker 1: in the next couple of weeks. So yeah, I would
Speaker 1: imagine they would nose around some of those players. But
Speaker 1: if you draft, you've come into the draft and say
Speaker 1: you're gonna draft a tackle, you get one there and
Speaker 1: Joah Williams, I think you can go play right tackle,
Speaker 1: and that solves two spots because look, Bobby Hart, they've
Speaker 1: talked him up enough enough with that you need to
Speaker 1: get a right tackle in there to play. You mentioned
Speaker 1: Christian Derrissaw and in your mock draft that I referenced.
Speaker 1: The next pick after Cincinnati was Philadelphia taken Christian Derrisaw
Speaker 1: from Virginia Tech. And then after that you had seven, well,
Speaker 1: you had a total of seven offensive lineman I think
Speaker 1: in the first round. So it sounds like, based on
Speaker 1: some of the conversations that you've had, teams seem to
Speaker 1: think that there are a lot of good offensive linemen
Speaker 1: in this draft. Yeah, it's a good offensive line draft.
Speaker 1: It is, and you can get a lot of good
Speaker 1: players at at all the positions. I think there's some
Speaker 1: interesting guards in this draft then, and like I said,
Speaker 1: I think the tackles are really the top three tackles
Speaker 1: are really good. Then there might be a little drop down.
Speaker 1: You don't have the kid from from Notre Dame, the
Speaker 1: left tackle, he probably go in the first round. You
Speaker 1: have the kid from Oklahoma State will probably go in
Speaker 1: the first round. Then you have the Mayfield guy from Michigan.
Speaker 1: I think it's a good group. And again, when in doubt,
Speaker 1: go big. I mean that that should be the motto
Speaker 1: if you have your quarterback. And the Bengals have their quarterback.
Speaker 1: By the way, I'm firmly convinced they have their guy
Speaker 1: for the long run. I've been bullish on him. I
Speaker 1: actually get rid of killed by some of my guys
Speaker 1: because I said they would win a Super Bowl in
Speaker 1: ten years and so I think they have their guy.
Speaker 1: Now go fortify the offensive line in front of them
Speaker 1: and get better and faster on the defensive line. But actually,
Speaker 1: people want to know if you are sticking with that
Speaker 1: prediction after Joe's rookie year, do you still believe a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl or maybe two in the next ten years
Speaker 1: with Joe Burroid quarterback. Yes, I do. Everything I saw
Speaker 1: from him was what I expected to see from him,
Speaker 1: and he was getting beat up, and the best thing
Speaker 1: about him is he kept getting up. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of guys get broken in their rookie years when
Speaker 1: they get hit like that and get beat He kept
Speaker 1: getting up. I think Joe Burrow is going to be
Speaker 1: a start quarterback in this league for a long time.
Speaker 1: And look the knee, Yes you're concerned about it, but
Speaker 1: the way technology is a medical in the medical profession
Speaker 1: is these days he'll be fine, and so he'll be
Speaker 1: back being playing at a high level, which is why, Hey,
Speaker 1: you need to protect him, but you need to get
Speaker 1: him some more weapons too. I mean that is an
Speaker 1: important thing. Get him some more weapons. Well, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that, Pete, because I spoke to somebody from Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focused last week for this podcast who said that
Speaker 1: Sewell is a great offensive line prospect, but based on
Speaker 1: their data, the value of a true number one wide
Speaker 1: receiver is even greater than an offensive lineman, and that
Speaker 1: the Bengals should take Jamar Chase if he's still there
Speaker 1: or even DeVante Smith or Jalen Waddle before an offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: How would you respond to that. I think the value
Speaker 1: of the number one wide receiver has gone up greatly.
Speaker 1: I used to have a theory back twenty years ago
Speaker 1: was the four pronged approach to building a team, which
Speaker 1: was quarterback, the guy who knocks the quarterback down, the
Speaker 1: guy who keeps the quarterback from getting knocked down, and
Speaker 1: the guy who knocks the quarterbacks passes down, which is
Speaker 1: the top cover corner, top cover player. I still believe
Speaker 1: that that's the formula you want to build successful teams,
Speaker 1: but it's now a five proNT approach. With the way
Speaker 1: the game is played, you have to have a number
Speaker 1: one wide receiver, and not necessarily a number one, but
Speaker 1: two high end twos or a one A and a
Speaker 1: one B and not a star Number one is also
Speaker 1: just as good. So I agree that there's more value
Speaker 1: to that position than there used to be. Would I
Speaker 1: take one hundred and seventy pound wide receiver over a
Speaker 1: bonafide left tackle. No, I would not, and DeVante Smith's
Speaker 1: a great player. But look at the history of one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy pound wide receivers in this league. It
Speaker 1: just isn't very good. Can he get bigger? Sure he can,
Speaker 1: But how much did John Rossway when the Bengals picked them.
Speaker 1: Probably one hundred and seventy pounds. Yeah, maybe a little
Speaker 1: more than that, but not much, right, and that didn't
Speaker 1: work out for him, So you gotta be careful with
Speaker 1: that position. Should I think Chase is the number one
Speaker 1: wide receiver in this draft, then Smith. But Wattle's not
Speaker 1: a big guy either. I mean, I think they need
Speaker 1: to get weapons. I think you can get weapons in
Speaker 1: the second round. What about Kyle Pitts because a lot
Speaker 1: of Bengals fans are intrigued with the notion of getting
Speaker 1: the great receiving tight end, which the Bengals don't have
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, I like Kyle pits a lot. I
Speaker 1: think he's going to create some real mismatched problems for defenses.
Speaker 1: The problem with him is the positional value. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you look around the league. Okay, Kelsey is a difference
Speaker 1: maker in their offense, but their offense is different and
Speaker 1: part of the reason their offense is so different. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a special player, but they also have Tyreek Hill
Speaker 1: and Veggick Mahomes doing the throw. He's doing the throw
Speaker 1: and he's doing the stretch of the field. So I
Speaker 1: think he got to be in the comparison is Waller
Speaker 1: with the Raiders, and that's a good comparison, But luke
Speaker 1: where Waller came from, and so from position value, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's that the value isn't there. Plus he
Speaker 1: hasn't block, He's not gonna be an in line tight
Speaker 1: and it's not going to help you in the run
Speaker 1: game at all. But yeah, I like him as a player.
Speaker 1: I don't think I would pick him where the Bengals
Speaker 1: are picked up. Pete Prisco is our guest. You can
Speaker 1: follow him on Twitter at Prisco, p R s c
Speaker 1: O CBS Pete. I'm trying to figure out free agency.
Speaker 1: We're a little less than a month away. My guess
Speaker 1: is that the best players out there are still going
Speaker 1: to get huge deals, and then with a cap going down,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a bunch of guys that sign short
Speaker 1: term bargain type deals. Do you feel the same way, Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think before we get the free agency, you're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of guys released. I think
Speaker 1: you're going to see some of these guys with Captain.
Speaker 1: I'm more so than in the past. You're gonna see
Speaker 1: a lot of players, you know, just get released and
Speaker 1: make the market even deeper than it is. And I'm
Speaker 1: in the process of rank in the top one hundred
Speaker 1: free agents, and I don't think it's a great market.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of players there, but there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of impact players there. So if you're looking for
Speaker 1: a receiver, the receiver market's good, you know, and I'll
Speaker 1: give you you know, Bengals looking for a receiver. It's
Speaker 1: a good receiver market. But again, is Corey Davis a
Speaker 1: number one wide receiver. He's a good player, but he's
Speaker 1: not a number one wide receiver. What do you pay him?
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson? Alan Robinson has had a hell of a
Speaker 1: last couple of years. He's never played with a real
Speaker 1: quarterback and he'd be good in that offense, but he
Speaker 1: doesn't run that fast. And so all of them at flaws.
Speaker 1: But the receiver market's going to be very robust. I
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be some top offensive lineman that move on.
Speaker 1: You know, what do you do with Trent Williams If
Speaker 1: you're the forty nine ers, you get him at left tackle?
Speaker 1: He plays well, he has some COVID issues, but he
Speaker 1: still plays well and now he's thirty three, So will
Speaker 1: a team that's left tackle needy decide to pay him.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of dynamics, but I agree
Speaker 1: with you. The top guys are going to get their money,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna have a middle class that gets
Speaker 1: like two year deals and stuff like that that are
Speaker 1: capped from The Bengals two top free agents are Will
Speaker 1: Jackson and Carl Lawson. Do you have a feeling for
Speaker 1: which of those two they should prioritize if they could
Speaker 1: only sign one. Yeah, it's I would try and sign
Speaker 1: both of them. To be honest with you, good premium positions,
Speaker 1: and I think Carl Lawson's one of the most underrated
Speaker 1: players in the league. I really do. I think he's
Speaker 1: a good player, and so I would if I had
Speaker 1: to pick one. I'm in the minority the way things
Speaker 1: are flowing nowadays, because people say coverage is more important.
Speaker 1: I disagree. I probably picked the pass rusher, but I
Speaker 1: like both players. I would try and bring them both back.
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, I think those two should
Speaker 1: be brought back. Yeah, I think the Bengals will try.
Speaker 1: They certainly have historically tried to resign their own whenever possible.
Speaker 1: Any prediction on where J. J. Watt is going to
Speaker 1: wind up. I thought Buffalo would make a lot of sense,
Speaker 1: and you know there's some interest there. Green Bay's a
Speaker 1: possibility as well, since he grew up there. But I
Speaker 1: think Buffalo needs him. Buffalo was really good on offense
Speaker 1: last year. They struggled against the run in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. They need more pressure up front. We saw
Speaker 1: that in the championship game. So as much as Green
Speaker 1: and Greenbank could use them too, those two teams really
Speaker 1: need him to try and amp up at two defenses
Speaker 1: that need a dominant player that puts his hand on
Speaker 1: the ground. A couple more questions for Pete Briscoe from CBS,
Speaker 1: how far away are the Bengals from being good in
Speaker 1: your opinion next year? Not this year, but the following
Speaker 1: year they should be. If they're not, it's a problem.
Speaker 1: And again that all is predicated to the fact that
Speaker 1: Joe Burrows healthy and the same guy. If he's the
Speaker 1: same guy and they get help around him, I think
Speaker 1: they'll be good on that side of the ball, really good,
Speaker 1: because I think the running back is a good player
Speaker 1: and sometimes I think they don't even use them enough.
Speaker 1: MIXI is a good player. And then you go to
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, there's some good young
Speaker 1: players there, but they need to get better. They need
Speaker 1: that's where they really need to get better on that
Speaker 1: side of the football, top to bottom on defense, line, linebacker, corner,
Speaker 1: take your pick. Yeah, I mean, Bates is a good
Speaker 1: player in the back end, really good player. You know,
Speaker 1: he's he's probably one of their better defense defensive players.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think all the way across, go back,
Speaker 1: start in the front and work your way back. You
Speaker 1: could use help with all those positions. But they do
Speaker 1: have some young guys at linebacker. They're intrigued by some
Speaker 1: of those guys. The kid they drafted from Boise last year, right,
Speaker 1: he's the guy that they're intrigued by a lot or
Speaker 1: no Wyoming not boys. And the kid from Wyoming, right yeah,
Speaker 1: Logan Wilson from Wyoming. Yeah, yeah, I mean, and I
Speaker 1: liked him coming out. I just think that when you
Speaker 1: look at it's a lot of youth on that side
Speaker 1: of the ball. But again, you gotta get bigger, stronger, faster, bigger, stronger, faster.
Speaker 1: You have a quarterback, if you build it around the quarterback,
Speaker 1: and you go bigger, stronger, faster, You're gonna have a
Speaker 1: good football team. Well, I know that my audience will
Speaker 1: be happy to have heard that you still think the
Speaker 1: Bengals are going to win a super Bowl in the
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow era. And when you are right, because I
Speaker 1: agree you will be right, I'm going to have you
Speaker 1: on immediately afterwards so that you can gloat. Yeah, I will.
Speaker 1: I will gload on that one and one other thing
Speaker 1: about the Bengals. I don't think their scouting staff gets
Speaker 1: enough credit for being who they are. I think I
Speaker 1: think they do a good job. And you know it
Speaker 1: used to be trendy and chic and cool. Rip the Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're cheap, they don't spend money. Look, they do a
Speaker 1: good job in that front office, and for whatever reason
Speaker 1: they don't get to do they deserve. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: you've probably pointed out more than any other national media
Speaker 1: member the things that they've done. Well. Yeah, and I'm
Speaker 1: you know, Toby's done a good job with them. I
Speaker 1: don't think he gets the credit he deserves. And I
Speaker 1: think they are headed in the right direction. And think
Speaker 1: about it, Pittsburgh's probably going in the other direction. Cleveland
Speaker 1: flashed last year. But again, would you rather have Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow or Baker Mayfield? I know the answer to that
Speaker 1: question for me is an easy one. And Lamar Jackson's
Speaker 1: got to prove to people that he can throw the
Speaker 1: football from the pocket. So you know, if you look
Speaker 1: at it from a quarterback standpoint, if you ask everybody
Speaker 1: on the outside. Right now, let's just say we're saying
Speaker 1: we're assuming Burrow's going to be back to what he was,
Speaker 1: because again it's just me, which of those quarterbacks would
Speaker 1: you want more the most? Would it be Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: or Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow or whoever Pittsburgh trot's out
Speaker 1: in the next year or so. Yeah, Joe Burrow. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously I'm biased, but I'm with you. And Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: has to learn how to throw the football better. And
Speaker 1: again he's another guy though fairness to him, they don't
Speaker 1: have a lot outside, they don't really try to throw
Speaker 1: the football that much. So I let Joe Burrow will
Speaker 1: be a big time NFL quarterback in this league. Pete,
Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. You're the best. Thank you, all right, Dan,
Speaker 1: take care of and that's going to do it. For
Speaker 1: this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you
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Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and
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