Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast.
Speaker 2: Bah yeah, this is my wish addition as Dave Lapham
Speaker 2: joins me to preview the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: Should the Bengals take one of the top two tight
Speaker 1: ends Michael Mayer or Dalton Kincaid if available? What if
Speaker 1: running back b Jon Robinson is still there? Does lap
Speaker 1: like mammoth Ohio State offensive lineman to Jan Jones. We'll
Speaker 1: discuss those topics and many more, and end our conversation
Speaker 1: with our predictions for who the Bengals will select in
Speaker 1: the first round on Thursday night. The Bengals Booth Podcast
Speaker 1: is brought to you in part by Bengals Picks and
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals The Free to play with tickets and sign
Speaker 1: merchandise up for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app.
Speaker 1: Now here's a quick reminder that you you can have
Speaker 1: the latest edition of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet,
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Speaker 1: the greatest thing since the Glove Doctor. If you follow
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Speaker 1: very inexpensive. Now let's get to football. A couple of
Speaker 1: days ago, I went back and looked at fifteen final
Speaker 1: mock drafts prior to last year's festivities. I chose the
Speaker 1: most prominent NFL draft experts, guys like Mel Kiper, Todd McShay,
Speaker 1: and Dane Brugler, plus a few of the reporters who
Speaker 1: cover the Bengals. Do you know how many of those
Speaker 1: fifteen mock drafts had the Bengals taking Dax Hill one.
Speaker 1: Chris Collinsworth nailed it for Pro Football Focus. Dax wasn't
Speaker 1: even mentioned as a possibility on most of the other
Speaker 1: mock drafts, and in the interest of full disclosure, I
Speaker 1: didn't get it right either. I predicted that the Bengals
Speaker 1: would select Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth, who went eleven picks
Speaker 1: later to the Minnesota Vikings. My broadcast partner Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: didn't nail it last year either, but his track record
Speaker 1: for forecasting the Bengals first round pick is borderline legendary.
Speaker 1: That's one of the reasons why this edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast is always one of the most downloaded episodes of
Speaker 1: the year. So, without further ado, here's my in depth
Speaker 1: pre draft conversation with lap Lap. Let's start big picture.
Speaker 1: What are your overall thoughts on this year's draft class.
Speaker 1: Where is it strong? Where is it weak?
Speaker 3: Well, I think this year's draft classes is a very
Speaker 3: few blue chippers. You know, there's maybe a handful or
Speaker 3: less of guys. It's like, man, this is a definite
Speaker 3: first round pick. This is the model first round pick,
Speaker 3: upper echelon first round pick. It's a good middle class draft.
Speaker 3: But the Bengals at number twenty eight. I mean, they're
Speaker 3: gonna get the same type of player. I think is
Speaker 3: a team that picks at eight, you know, it's not
Speaker 3: going to be a major I think there's you know,
Speaker 3: like I said, handful or less of players, a little
Speaker 3: bit of a drop and then a long way before
Speaker 3: there's another drop, and the drop's not that big. This
Speaker 3: is a draft where if you can get an extra third, fourth,
Speaker 3: or fifth rounder, it'd be good to do because the
Speaker 3: guys that are drafted in the fourth round would be
Speaker 3: just like the guys you drafted in the end of
Speaker 3: the first beginning of the you know, end of the first,
Speaker 3: end of the second round. It's not not going to
Speaker 3: be that major of a dropoff. So I think that's
Speaker 3: the thing that strikes me most about this draft. I think, uh,
Speaker 3: their solid defensive line and cornerback depth, which I think
Speaker 3: is favorable for the Bengals. And you look at it, Dan,
Speaker 3: they went megabucks in the offensive line this off season.
Speaker 3: They spent a ton last off season. They drafted a
Speaker 3: starting left guard rookie in the fourth round. I think
Speaker 3: based on that, you gotta you gotta go defense, you know,
Speaker 3: you have to. You have to really balance the balance
Speaker 3: it up a little bit in terms of your your
Speaker 3: attention the dollars that you're spending. So I think I
Speaker 3: think that this draft fits well for them. And this
Speaker 3: offensive football team is a wide receiver centric offense. You know,
Speaker 3: it's a great tight end class, but there's going to
Speaker 3: be tight ends available in the second, third, and fourth round.
Speaker 3: You don't have to go first round on a tight
Speaker 3: end because this football team. Looking at the pure numbers,
Speaker 3: the four top wide receivers for the Bengals two hundred
Speaker 3: and thirty eight catches, three fifty eight yards, twenty five
Speaker 3: touchdowns last year. The four top tight ends seventy three catches,
Speaker 3: five hundred and fifty six yards, three touchdowns. The four
Speaker 3: top running backs as receivers one hundred and three catches,
Speaker 3: seven hundred and ninety six yards, nine touchdowns. Everybody's playing
Speaker 3: those deep coverages and Joe's checking down to backs. Tight
Speaker 3: Ends are important, but it's in the way the structure
Speaker 3: of this offense. They play as much eleven as anybody
Speaker 3: in the NFL, and they'll play them. You know, they'll
Speaker 3: play a good bit of ten as well. Now, do
Speaker 3: you take a wide receiver in the first round, No,
Speaker 3: I don't think it's wide receiver worthy in the first round,
Speaker 3: but somewhere in the mid rounds you might draft a
Speaker 3: wide receiver and maybe give them twelve to fifteen snaps
Speaker 3: this year, get him and doctrinated into the offense because
Speaker 3: you're going to be able to keep all three wide
Speaker 3: receivers after this year, potentially not. So now you get
Speaker 3: a guy ready to step in, so you're not only drafting.
Speaker 3: They're in a position where they've got themselves set. They
Speaker 3: don't have to draft for a starter in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3: Now you can have roles. And Duke Tobin mentioned it,
Speaker 3: we're gonna want to have roles for all of our players.
Speaker 3: It doesn't have to be a starting role though, and
Speaker 3: you draft him for twenty four and maybe even twenty
Speaker 3: five in some cases. You know, and thinking ahead, if
Speaker 3: we do get the big contract done with the quarterback,
Speaker 3: what does it do to the wide receiver position, What
Speaker 3: does it do to the edge rush position, What does
Speaker 3: it do to the corner position. What is it to do?
Speaker 3: You have to have minimum salary somewhere, You have to
Speaker 3: you know, low contracts somewhere, So you have to be
Speaker 3: wise in your selections for sure.
Speaker 1: You touched down about twenty things in there that I
Speaker 1: wanted to bring up. So we're going to double back
Speaker 1: on a lot of the things that you talked about.
Speaker 1: Let's talk first about position groups that you would like
Speaker 1: to see them address. What's at the top of the list. Say,
Speaker 1: if you could pick three position groups in the top
Speaker 1: three rounds, what would they be.
Speaker 3: Well, i'd go I'd go corner and edge rush would
Speaker 3: be two position groups that I'd like to see addressed.
Speaker 3: And then i'd like to see, you know, maybe an
Speaker 3: offensive tackle and a wide receiver. If they first couple
Speaker 3: of rounds they go defense and then offense, and you know,
Speaker 3: maybe in the next round or so, or they may
Speaker 3: be able to double down at one of those position
Speaker 3: groups like they have in the past. But those i'd
Speaker 3: like to see corner, defensive line, maybe an offensive tackle,
Speaker 3: you know, at the end of at the end of
Speaker 3: day day two or the beginning of Day three, and
Speaker 3: then a wide receiver in that same in that same ballpark.
Speaker 3: And then double back, you know, running back, and that's
Speaker 3: that's later on, that's down the road. To me, it's
Speaker 3: definitely a Day three thing. But that running back has
Speaker 3: to be able to catch the football because they do
Speaker 3: like to throw to the running back. And then he's
Speaker 3: also going to be able to be able to blitz
Speaker 3: pick up because he's out there. You know, this is
Speaker 3: a pass centric football team and he's going to have
Speaker 3: to do his job here as well.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm going to follow up on that by
Speaker 1: talking running back. Bjeon Robinson from Texas is universally considered,
Speaker 1: I guess, the number one running back in this draft.
Speaker 1: Two hundred and fifteen pounds, runs a four four six
Speaker 1: forty six point three yards per carry in his career
Speaker 1: thirteen point four yards per catch. In his career he
Speaker 1: had eight carries of fifty plus yards at Texas. There
Speaker 1: are some draft out there, mock drafts out there that
Speaker 1: still have them available at twenty eight. Not many, but
Speaker 1: there are some. If he somehow slides to twenty eight,
Speaker 1: would you take him.
Speaker 3: Well, you got to think about it. You got to
Speaker 3: figure he's on their big board. You know the big
Speaker 3: board where they go, I don't know one to turn
Speaker 3: on fifty three hundred players, whatever, doesn't matter the position.
Speaker 3: They're just ranking them in their in their eyes. And
Speaker 3: always everybody's big board's different because they always say it's
Speaker 3: never based on need. You don't want to reach based
Speaker 3: on need, But when you're putting your board together, you
Speaker 3: structure that based on needs, so you're not reaching within
Speaker 3: what your your offensive schematic and your needs and all
Speaker 3: that sort of thing may be offensively, defensively and everything else.
Speaker 3: Everybody doesn't run the same things, so everybody looks at
Speaker 3: players and evaluates players differently. Nobody's board is the same.
Speaker 3: He's got to be up there. I mean, the guy.
Speaker 3: The guy is an unusual talent. But if a guy
Speaker 3: like that slides to twenty eight, I would think teams
Speaker 3: that really really are more run centric than the Bengals
Speaker 3: would be calling and saying, hey, jeez, you know what,
Speaker 3: would you would you, uh, we want to take Robinson?
Speaker 3: You know, are you going to take him? If you're
Speaker 3: not going to take them, would you think about moving back?
Speaker 3: I think he would be a candidate where that kind
Speaker 3: of discussion might take place. If, for whatever reason, one
Speaker 3: of these four quarterbacks slides to twenty eight, and I've
Speaker 3: seen cases where it's going to maybe be close that
Speaker 3: that's gonna I think generate some phone calls and you
Speaker 3: could you could move back based on that or whatever.
Speaker 3: The position is the Bengals, would you know, I think
Speaker 3: consider it because, like I said earlier, this is a
Speaker 3: middle class a great middle class draft, and as many
Speaker 3: picks as you can get in that middle class, you're
Speaker 3: gonna get good football players. The more you get, the
Speaker 3: better your ards are hitting on somebody.
Speaker 1: I will answer my own question on B John Robinson. Hell, yes,
Speaker 1: I think he's different. Yeah, in your era, he might
Speaker 1: have been the number one overall pick in the draft
Speaker 1: back when running backs are draft differently from how they
Speaker 1: are now. It's harder. Yes, well, maybe not the best
Speaker 1: person to bring up, but that era, you know, that
Speaker 1: era correct, and it's not a need at the moment.
Speaker 1: But they're obviously issues with Joe Mixon. He's got two
Speaker 1: years left on his contract, but it's ten million dollars
Speaker 1: a year, which, like you were saying, at some point
Speaker 1: you're going to have to make hard decisions when it
Speaker 1: comes to what positions you prioritize in terms of salary.
Speaker 1: You can get a talent like that on a rookie
Speaker 1: contract and maybe make the mixing decision a little bit
Speaker 1: easier or different. I would sign up for Bjon Robinson.
Speaker 3: And the thing about him, he runs good routes. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know you can. You can formation him. You can
Speaker 3: be very creative with your formations when you're in eleven personnel.
Speaker 3: I mean you can move them out of the and
Speaker 3: the Bengs have done this, you know, backs and move
Speaker 3: them out of the backfield and empty backfield with one
Speaker 3: tight end and three wide receivers, but the running backs
Speaker 3: the fourth receiver, and you've got a tight end that
Speaker 3: can run routes catch. You get five receivers out there,
Speaker 3: but you can present it to the defense. We have
Speaker 3: running back in a tight end in the huddle. You
Speaker 3: better put your big people out there. So now you
Speaker 3: can create formational mismatches having guys of that caliber to
Speaker 3: do those kind of things. And he fits that bill
Speaker 3: as well. On top of you know, being able to
Speaker 3: run the football like he does. He's a dynamic football player.
Speaker 3: If he's there, you got to think about him. You
Speaker 3: got to.
Speaker 1: All right, let's make this a little bit trickier. Let's
Speaker 1: go to the second running back in the draft, Jamar
Speaker 1: Gibbs from Alabama. He ran a four to three six
Speaker 1: and he's quick as well. Didn't get like a huge
Speaker 1: load of carries and receptions at Alabama because they were
Speaker 1: so deep, so not a lot of tread on that
Speaker 1: tires a lot of Alvin Kameric comparisons. For Jamar Gibbs,
Speaker 1: would you even think about him at twenty eight or
Speaker 1: would he be the ideal if they trade back a
Speaker 1: few spots, get a high second round pick and get
Speaker 1: a fourth round pick, then you'd love to maybe think
Speaker 1: about Jamar Gibbs.
Speaker 3: I mean, I can see where you know, Gibbs his tantalizing,
Speaker 3: but like you said, other guys at Alabama got more
Speaker 3: opportunity than he did, you know, so I mean, what
Speaker 3: what is there? Where's where's the hole? You know, It's
Speaker 3: like obviously he's not much of a blitz pickup guy,
Speaker 3: but when he does, he when he gets the ball
Speaker 3: in space, he is a freakazoy.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 3: There are no two ways about that. So, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: these kind of these kind of players with this kind
Speaker 3: of talent, I mean you got to you got to
Speaker 3: give full consideration. There's no question.
Speaker 1: More with lap in a moment. But first, a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 1: All right, you spoke about the tight ends earlier. The
Speaker 1: top two tight ends in this draft, according to most
Speaker 1: are Michael Mayer. We know all about him from Notre
Speaker 1: Dame six ' four two hundred and fifty pounds or
Speaker 1: n A four seven forty at the So that wasn't
Speaker 1: great because a very productive receiver at Notre Dame. Then
Speaker 1: you've got Dalton Kincaid, a little smaller six three two
Speaker 1: forty six, but he's got longer arms. He's two years younger,
Speaker 1: he's had some injury problems, so he didn't run the
Speaker 1: forty at the combine or at his pro day, but
Speaker 1: he had the best stats of any tight end in
Speaker 1: the country last year at Utah. If either of those
Speaker 1: guys is there at twenty eight, would you take him?
Speaker 3: The reason I wouldn't is because, like I said, it's
Speaker 3: a wide receiver centric offense and they're great players. But
Speaker 3: quarterbacks are now making fifty million dollars a year, and
Speaker 3: you know the tight end can support the quarterback, There's
Speaker 3: no question about that. But schematically, the tight end is
Speaker 3: not going to support Joe Burrow as much as the
Speaker 3: wide receiver corps. The Big three are going to support
Speaker 3: Joe Burrow and his talents. And the Big Three again
Speaker 3: is okay, well, it's dubious. Are they going to be
Speaker 3: able to get Gigans extended? Will he be able to
Speaker 3: resign Jamar Tyler Boyd? I mean, what do you think there?
Speaker 3: I just think that the first round is a little
Speaker 3: too rich to go tight end position. I don't dispute
Speaker 3: these guys are really, you know, fantastic players, but they
Speaker 3: fit other people's offenses probably better, or would give other
Speaker 3: people's offenses more of a boost as the twenty eighth
Speaker 3: pick in the draft than the Bengals offense. So I
Speaker 3: would not be surprised if those guys are on the
Speaker 3: board that the Bengals don't pull the trigger and they still,
Speaker 3: you know, potentially go defense and the defensive side of
Speaker 3: the football, because honestly, it's a quarterback driven league. The
Speaker 3: numbers show it more than ever, fifty million dollars a year.
Speaker 3: To these quarterbacks, you have to not only protect them,
Speaker 3: you have to affect them. And the best way to
Speaker 3: affect them is to cover the receivers. And to rush them.
Speaker 3: So in my mind, you're gonna be playing a lot
Speaker 3: of great ones. Joe's tremendous and he's one of the
Speaker 3: best in the NFL, if not the best. He's that
Speaker 3: doesn't take long to call role. But they're going to
Speaker 3: be playing against some of them too, and you got
Speaker 3: to you got to pressure him, You got to get
Speaker 3: him uncomfortable, get him off their spot, and uh and
Speaker 3: make the windows as tight as you possibly can for
Speaker 3: them to throw it.
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah from the NFL Network says this is the
Speaker 1: best tight end draft in the last ten years. So
Speaker 1: if they don't take Mayor or Kincaid in round one,
Speaker 1: and maybe neither guys even there for them to pick,
Speaker 1: is there somebody that you like in round two, three, four,
Speaker 1: whatever that fits what the Bengals are looking for out
Speaker 1: of a tight end. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the guy that is probably as
Speaker 3: good a football player in that group as there is
Speaker 3: is Sam Laporta out of Iowa. You know, he's a
Speaker 3: two hundred and forty five hundred and fifty pound guy
Speaker 3: that runs sub four six forty in you know, he's
Speaker 3: he didn't have a great quarterback situation at Iowa this
Speaker 3: past season. His numbers show that, and I think that,
Speaker 3: you know, maybe he is less highly regarded as a
Speaker 3: result of that, but I do think that that this guy,
Speaker 3: he can accelerate after the catch. His yards after catcher
Speaker 3: are extraordinary. He's he's a willing blocker. Not that he
Speaker 3: doesn't need work there, but I think a lot of
Speaker 3: these guys do. He shows toughness throughout his routes. I
Speaker 3: think he's a he's a mismatch because of his strength
Speaker 3: and his speed, his size. He's another he's a guy
Speaker 3: when he runs routes. He's a quick processor, you know,
Speaker 3: in terms of determining what's going on down the football
Speaker 3: field in terms of coverages. And he's got really good hands.
Speaker 3: He's got a very solid catch radius. He's good in
Speaker 3: that regard as well. So he's his contested catchability is there.
Speaker 3: I think that from a football player standpoint, he might
Speaker 3: be as good as there is in the draft at
Speaker 3: the tight end position.
Speaker 1: Based on most of the mocks I've looked at, he's
Speaker 1: a second round pick. Would you take him in the
Speaker 1: second or do you cross your fingers and hope you
Speaker 1: can get him in the third. Obviously, I hope you
Speaker 1: can get him in the third, But would you jump
Speaker 1: with the fear that he wouldn't be there in the third?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that's the sixtieth pick in the draft,
Speaker 3: the Bengals at number two, and I mean he would
Speaker 3: definitely in my mind being the discussion. But if there's
Speaker 3: an edge rush guy that has slid to sixty and
Speaker 3: he was projected to maybe go in the top thirty,
Speaker 3: in the top thirty five or forty, now all of
Speaker 3: a sudden you got to think, hmm, boy, is this
Speaker 3: the peak of where we have Laporter?
Speaker 1: Do we have?
Speaker 3: This is the sweet spot for Laporter? But this guy
Speaker 3: man can't believe he's there. You know, maybe we go
Speaker 3: edge rush for example, and maybe there's an offensive tackle
Speaker 3: that for whatever reason slid to sixty and it's like geez,
Speaker 3: I mean, we can't turn this down. But I think
Speaker 3: he would heavily be in the discussion process.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt he forced the most mistackles of any
Speaker 1: tight end college football last year. Obviously, that's such a
Speaker 1: big thing in the NFL. A short pass to the
Speaker 1: tight end, he makes a guy miss, Suddenly it's a
Speaker 1: fifteen yard game. That's one thing that I really like
Speaker 1: about Sam Laporta. So I would really love to see
Speaker 1: him wind up in Cincinnati as a second round pick.
Speaker 1: That'll will depend on who's on the board.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true. And he's got great feat and he
Speaker 3: has this little stutterstep deal that he uses and creates
Speaker 3: some opportunities for himself. Yards have to catch. He's legit,
Speaker 3: he's you know, some guys are just good football players.
Speaker 3: I think he falls into that category. He's got a
Speaker 3: lot of physical traits are outstanding. But in terms of
Speaker 3: some guys just get it. Some guys are instinctives, some
Speaker 3: guys are good football players. I think he falls into
Speaker 3: that category.
Speaker 1: If he's gone, or if they choose somebody else in
Speaker 1: the second round and he's not available in the third,
Speaker 1: do you have another name for later in the draft
Speaker 1: among this deep list of tight ends that you think, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll take a iron that guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's what about Josh Wiley from U See,
Speaker 3: I mean a local kid. I mean he he's projecting
Speaker 3: a lot of mock drafts, like, you know, fourth fifth round,
Speaker 3: even you know, if he's available in the fifth round,
Speaker 3: do you think about Josh Wiley? I mean, Dan, you
Speaker 3: saw him play. You know him as well as anybody,
Speaker 3: and with respect to this organization, I mean, that's a
Speaker 3: that's a guy. That's a name I might think about
Speaker 3: maybe Will Mallory from from Miami if he's if he's
Speaker 3: there you know later in the draft. I mean, they're
Speaker 3: That's the thing. Like everybody has said, there could be
Speaker 3: ten tight ends go in the first two days, ten
Speaker 3: of them in the first three rounds. It's it's that
Speaker 3: it's that deep of a tight end draft.
Speaker 1: Tucker Craft from South Dakota State, that's my If Laporta
Speaker 1: is gone and they don't take King Kid or Mayor,
Speaker 1: that would be my guy. Sixty four two fifty four
Speaker 1: runs a four six forty still raw. I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, the Bengals could help develop him. Obviously their
Speaker 1: tight ends have been very well coached over the past
Speaker 1: couple of years. So I guess he would be my
Speaker 1: next guy on the list.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a three year starter. He's got a ten
Speaker 3: inch hand, which is big. I mean he's got big,
Speaker 3: big Mucker's good hands, almost an eighty inch wingspan. So
Speaker 3: he's a he's a he's a big body kid. There's
Speaker 3: no question about it. Tucker Craft would be a would
Speaker 3: be a good choice as well. There's no doubt all right.
Speaker 1: Last year the Bengals drafted Dax Hill knowing that Jesse
Speaker 1: Bates was likely to leave at the end of the
Speaker 1: year as a free agent. That's the way it played out.
Speaker 1: Here are some of the key players on this year's
Speaker 1: roster who are going into the final year of their contract.
Speaker 1: DJ Reader who turns thirty next year, Tyler Boyd who
Speaker 1: turns thirty next year, Childebeya Wouje coming back from a
Speaker 1: torn acl Joanah Williams obviously might not want to be
Speaker 1: here next year knowing that he won't be the left
Speaker 1: tackle te Higgins although they're trying to obviously extend him
Speaker 1: and he would be a franchise to candidate if they can't.
Speaker 1: Same thing with Logan Wilson. After running down those names,
Speaker 1: is there a spot where the Bengals really have to
Speaker 1: think about getting the next guy in case that core
Speaker 1: player is not back at the end of this year?
Speaker 3: You know, I think that's where the wide receiver position,
Speaker 3: you know, could be a candidate. Again, not in the
Speaker 3: early early rounds, but I do think that we've emphasized
Speaker 3: already the importance of the wide receiver group. It's a
Speaker 3: wide receiver centric offense. Joe Burrow likes to get the
Speaker 3: ball down the football field, and he's very capable of
Speaker 3: doing so. So if you can get a wide receiver
Speaker 3: in Day three, beginning of Day three potentially, or you know, third, fourth,
Speaker 3: fifth round somewhere in there, that is capable of giving
Speaker 3: you twelve to fifteen snaps in packages as a rookie,
Speaker 3: with the idea of grooming him and giving him comfortable
Speaker 3: with the offense where he can just move in to
Speaker 3: one of those top three receiver possessed positions the following season.
Speaker 3: I think I'd probably fall in line with that.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about trading back starting with the first round.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have not traded out of the first round
Speaker 1: or have gone without a first round pick in thirty
Speaker 1: four years. The last time they did that was nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty nine. They went back eight spots, they got an
Speaker 1: extra fourth round pick, they got an extra tenth round pick.
Speaker 1: The draft was longer back then, those extra picks didn't
Speaker 1: pan out, so it really didn't work out that well.
Speaker 1: But according to the draft chart, the twenty eighth pick
Speaker 1: in the draft is worth six hundred and sixty points.
Speaker 1: If you move back into the second round, you're probably
Speaker 1: looking at a fourth round pick, maybe a late third
Speaker 1: for moving back.
Speaker 3: Would you do it with this draft potentially? Because you know,
Speaker 3: if I'm thinking, all right, twenty eight, I'm real comfortable
Speaker 3: with the depending on how far back you're moving, you know,
Speaker 3: if I'm comfortable there's still a four or five guy,
Speaker 3: because like we said earlier, there's multiple players at multiple
Speaker 3: positions that there's not a major drop off, you know,
Speaker 3: like falling off a cliff. So at twenty eight, somebody
Speaker 3: is you know, really excited about whatever player it might be,
Speaker 3: and they'll give you that extra third or extra fourth
Speaker 3: round pick, And you say, if I move back to
Speaker 3: that spot and then still get an additional third and fourth,
Speaker 3: I can still get this player even if they make
Speaker 3: a run on the others. There's the numbers. Tell me
Speaker 3: one of them is going to be available, and I'm
Speaker 3: good with all four of these guys, and one of
Speaker 3: them is still available, and I get an extra third
Speaker 3: or fourth round pick in this middle class draft where
Speaker 3: you're still going to be able to get additional players,
Speaker 3: you think about it. I would think about it unless
Speaker 3: somebody has fallen where the reason that team's calling, you know,
Speaker 3: to trade up is because man, they're going same guy.
Speaker 3: We're tired this same guy. So it's like, I'll sit
Speaker 3: and take that, thank you. You know, I'll stay there.
Speaker 3: But I guess with the circumstances that have gone on
Speaker 3: in the draft, I'm sure you know you've got to
Speaker 3: consider everything on that particular day, and all the variables
Speaker 3: that we just discussed are important factors. There's no question.
Speaker 3: But I'd think about it. I'd think about it. But
Speaker 3: it does. It takes two to tango, and very rarely
Speaker 3: his history has shown do both parties concur one percent
Speaker 3: and every single variable involved.
Speaker 1: So how does Lapp feel about gigantic Ohio State offensive
Speaker 1: lineman Dewan Jones. That's coming up next, But first, a
Speaker 1: reminder that The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Kettering Health, the official health care provider of the Bengals.
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Speaker 1: All right, I'm gonna hit you with a name that
Speaker 1: has come up a lot where Cincinnati is concerned in
Speaker 1: the first round or in some cases even the second round.
Speaker 1: And that is gargantuan Ohio State offensive tackle Dewan Jones
Speaker 1: six ' eight, three hundred and seventy four pounds, thirty
Speaker 1: six and three eight inch arms, eleven and five eight
Speaker 1: inch hands. He is a mast to don I had
Speaker 1: Charles Davis from CBS on the podcast a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: He said, buyer beware. He didn't do anything after the
Speaker 1: first day of the Senior Bowl, although he had a
Speaker 1: good first day, chose not to get weighed at his
Speaker 1: pro day. There's a real question mark about the weight.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about Dewan Jones.
Speaker 3: He's four hundred pounds waiting to happen. I think that's
Speaker 3: the big concern with him. I mean, he is a
Speaker 3: massive man, and you know, when you're talking about guys
Speaker 3: of that size, it's hard. I mean, if if they
Speaker 3: ate a blowny sandwich they gained five pounds, it's crazy.
Speaker 3: I mean it really is. It's nuts how their metabolism
Speaker 3: seemed to work. I mean, he is a behemoth. There's
Speaker 3: no no two ways about it. Not not terrible movement.
Speaker 3: I mean he ran a five to three I think
Speaker 3: something like that at the at the combine. He he did.
Speaker 3: It's not like he's a big stiff, but he's not
Speaker 3: a big change of direction guy. And uh man, that
Speaker 3: did you talk about a massive humanity? If you've got
Speaker 3: Orlando Brown at left tackle and that beast at right tackle,
Speaker 3: I mean, you've got skyscrapers. It's it's unbelievable. I'm not
Speaker 3: sure Joe could see over them to throw. It's like
Speaker 3: it'd be it'd be like another Cincinnati skyline. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I uh, I don't. I don't see necessarily that, uh
Speaker 3: you know, that taking place. I think there are so
Speaker 3: many candidates at that at that right tackle position. I'm
Speaker 3: not saying they're not gonna draft one, and I think
Speaker 3: they will. I think they will draft, and I think
Speaker 3: they'll probably bring one in as a college free agent
Speaker 3: as well, and they may also bring one in and
Speaker 3: veteran free agency after the NFL Draft in college free
Speaker 3: agent signings. With the final stage of veteran free agency
Speaker 3: is whatever tackles out there is like geez, you know what,
Speaker 3: LC doesn't look like he's maybe going to be able
Speaker 3: to make the beginning of the season let me go
Speaker 3: in there and compete for that right tackle position. And
Speaker 3: so you don't know one thing about the tight end position.
Speaker 3: I'd like to say though, too, dan is signing Ersmith
Speaker 3: Junior and Drew Sample was big. I mean both second
Speaker 3: round picks. Bengals drafted Sample in the second round. Earth
Speaker 3: Smith was drafted the second round himself. He's only twenty
Speaker 3: four years old. I mean he came out when he's
Speaker 3: twenty years old. This guy. There are quarterbacks in the
Speaker 3: NFL drafted that are twenty five years old and they're
Speaker 3: coming into the draft. Earth Smith Junior has a lot
Speaker 3: of football left and he's I think he's going to
Speaker 3: be pretty good. And you know, James Casey made CJZAML
Speaker 3: lot of money, you know, and then in comes another
Speaker 3: prove it deal. Proves it now Carolina Panthers. He makes
Speaker 3: a ton of money. So I'm sure earth Smith Junior
Speaker 3: and his agent were like, man, you got a good
Speaker 3: coach at the tight end position in Cincinnati, get a
Speaker 3: hell of a quarterback. You know. Again, it's not a
Speaker 3: tight end centric offense, but you're going to get some
Speaker 3: opportunity to prove yourself. And the big thing about him
Speaker 3: is Will he stay healthy, that's the thing. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean back to big old Dwan, I'd be surprised
Speaker 3: if he's a Bengal.
Speaker 1: I would The name Anton Harrison comes up on quite
Speaker 1: a few mock drafts as a potential first round Bengals
Speaker 1: right tackle selection, and then you get into second round guys.
Speaker 1: I've seen Matthew bergeron from Syracuse mocked to Cincinnati a
Speaker 1: few times. Do you like any of these right tackles Potentially?
Speaker 1: I guess Darnell right maybe could be a guy that
Speaker 1: might slide to twenty eight. The typically isn't there, but
Speaker 1: occasionally I've seen him there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the only way that those tackles, you know,
Speaker 3: makes sense to me is if there's been a huge
Speaker 3: rush on corners, edge rushers, you know, even even the
Speaker 3: tight end position, where it's like, my gosh, I mean,
Speaker 3: if we want to take a tight end, we've got
Speaker 3: to take one now. I mean, there's a bigger it's
Speaker 3: gone faster than we anticipated. I mean, they were talking
Speaker 3: about ten tight ends in the first three rounds. Well, heck,
Speaker 3: six of them have already gone. That's absurd. That won't
Speaker 3: take place. But I'm talking about, you know, another position,
Speaker 3: where there's a run with The Bengals have have guys
Speaker 3: that they've they've got on their big board. If that
Speaker 3: big board starts to disappear and one of those tackles
Speaker 3: is still on it and a lot of other things aren't,
Speaker 3: I could see it happening, but I don't think the
Speaker 3: odds are great.
Speaker 1: All Right, here's a tricky question for you. Who is
Speaker 1: the most like Lee right tackle for the Bengals this
Speaker 1: coming season? Is it a Jonah Williams, b L C
Speaker 1: LEL Collins, C Jackson, Carmen d Cody Ford or E.
Speaker 1: We're getting all the way to E A draft pick
Speaker 1: who starts right away.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's a derby. I mean it really is. LC.
Speaker 3: He's he's ahead of schedule in terms of his rehab,
Speaker 3: but being able to do some things, get in the
Speaker 3: stance and and come out of your stance and pass
Speaker 3: that against Aaron all those kind of things is a
Speaker 3: far cry from playing in the National Football League. And
Speaker 3: I think the big thing that he's going to have
Speaker 3: to experience and get over is that first contact. You know,
Speaker 3: when you come off the ball and you hit somebody
Speaker 3: and it's a you know, a two hundred and eighty
Speaker 3: five to three hundred pound body, and your big body
Speaker 3: slams into him and there's a stalemate. Now you have
Speaker 3: to climb and dig your feet. It's going to put
Speaker 3: a lot of strain and straight us on that joint
Speaker 3: that hasn't even been close to being strained and stressed
Speaker 3: like that. Or in pass protection the same way, you
Speaker 3: have to plant. He takes an inside move, you have
Speaker 3: to move inside, redirect yourself off of that knee, and
Speaker 3: then plan it again and take the contact. I mean,
Speaker 3: there's a lot, a lot that has to go on.
Speaker 3: So Elsie, I hope that he continues ahead of schedule.
Speaker 3: I hope he doesn't do too much too soon and
Speaker 3: has a setback. But you know, there are a lot
Speaker 3: of candidates at that right tackle position. The one that
Speaker 3: is interesting to me is Cody Ford. You know, they
Speaker 3: they really it's a I can't lose proposition. Bring him
Speaker 3: in a very reasonable deal, no salary cap concerned there,
Speaker 3: And that's what they've done Dan A lot of the
Speaker 3: free agency they signed seven and the nine people one
Speaker 3: year contracts, so they're basically structuring their football team where
Speaker 3: they're still really flexible in terms of these big deals
Speaker 3: that are coming. If guys make it, it's not a
Speaker 3: huge burden on the cap. If they don't, it's no
Speaker 3: skin off the nose from a cap standpoint. So I
Speaker 3: think they've they've done things very intelligently, and not only
Speaker 3: the players that they've accumulated, but how they're paying them.
Speaker 3: You know, multi year deals went to Orlando Brown, obviously
Speaker 3: into Pratt at linebacker, but just about everybody else is
Speaker 3: a one year contract. So uh, it's it's gonna be.
Speaker 3: It'll be an intense battle at that at that right
Speaker 3: tackle position. The big, the big thing in my mind
Speaker 3: is well Jonah Williams get over the bitterness or betrayal,
Speaker 3: whatever he feels and decide, you know what, I'm gonna
Speaker 3: go out there. I'm going to compete. I'm going to
Speaker 3: try to be as good a right tackle as I
Speaker 3: can be, and I'm going to go win this job.
Speaker 3: And I mean to me, if you if you proved
Speaker 3: you can play both tackles, I think it enhances your value.
Speaker 3: I mean, I really do. Orlando Brown to a right tackle,
Speaker 3: two Pro Bowls at left tackle, He's proven he can
Speaker 3: play both positions. Why not prove you can play, you know,
Speaker 3: right tackle as well as left tackle and it's a
Speaker 3: good football team. You don't you know, it's like trade me,
Speaker 3: you don't know where you're gonna go. But I guess
Speaker 3: you will be playing that left tackle position if the
Speaker 3: team trades for you. But what if the team absolutely
Speaker 3: sucks and you know, it doesn't matter how well you
Speaker 3: play the left tackle position. You know it's it's not
Speaker 3: going to look as good you playing that left tackle
Speaker 3: position is if you're on a good football team. So
Speaker 3: I hope he gets over it and decides to compete
Speaker 3: and go out and goes out and plays football and
Speaker 3: gives them another option at the right tackle position. But boy,
Speaker 3: they do have a lot of depth in that offensive line.
Speaker 3: There's no question about it. I mean that right tackle position.
Speaker 3: It's not like there's a bunch of you know, Tom
Speaker 3: Dick and Harry and Joe Schmoe's out there. You know,
Speaker 3: they get some guys that that do have some NFL
Speaker 3: resumes to him. And I mean came out with early
Speaker 3: in the draft. I mean, Jonah's a first round pick
Speaker 3: for his second round pick. You know there's there's there's
Speaker 3: guys out there. Jackson Carmen second round pick, high second
Speaker 3: round pick, he'll be competing out there as well. It's
Speaker 3: it's not like it's it's void of potential talent.
Speaker 1: I assume if Jonah Williams is still on the roster,
Speaker 1: he will be the right tackle. That would be my guess.
Speaker 1: And he's got twelve million million reasons to show up
Speaker 1: and compete.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's the reason that he'll be the start
Speaker 3: if he's If he's not the starting right tackle, I
Speaker 3: don't think he'll be on the roster because of that
Speaker 3: twelve million dollars, or if he is on the roster,
Speaker 3: won't be for twelve million dollars. So yeah, it's it's
Speaker 3: going to be interesting how all that unfolds.
Speaker 1: Last year, I believe the Dax Hill was number eleven
Speaker 1: on the Bengals board when they lined him up one
Speaker 1: through thirty one and they got him with a thirty
Speaker 1: first pick. They were stunned he was still there. If
Speaker 1: you go back and look at the final mock drafts
Speaker 1: before last year's Drafty Linderbaum was the most frequently mentioned
Speaker 1: player going to the Bengals. He was actually gone before
Speaker 1: they had the chance to pick him. He went twenty
Speaker 1: fifth to Baltimore Andrew Booth commonly mocked to the Bengals.
Speaker 1: That was my mock draft selection. Last year he was
Speaker 1: still there. He wound up going forty second in the draft.
Speaker 1: I know you were big on George Catis, Carl Loftis.
Speaker 1: He went one pick before the Bengals at number thirty.
Speaker 1: Logan Hall was a guy whose name kept coming up.
Speaker 1: He went a few picks later at number thirty three.
Speaker 1: So this is my long preamble to this question. Is
Speaker 1: there like a dream guy that you don't think is
Speaker 1: going to be there, but if he somehow slid to
Speaker 1: twenty eighth, you would be doing cartwheels if you could
Speaker 1: still do a cartwheel in the Bengals press room. Could
Speaker 1: you ever do a cart.
Speaker 3: We never did a cartwheel, never did a cartwheel. Yeah,
Speaker 3: there's I mean, I think there's a good group of
Speaker 3: guys that if any of them slid to twenty eight.
Speaker 3: You know, honestly, I would not be shocked if almost
Speaker 3: any guy's there, because, like we're saying at the beginning
Speaker 3: of our visit here, it's like there's maybe four or
Speaker 3: five guys that you can't even predict the order in
Speaker 3: which they'll go on the top four. You know, usually
Speaker 3: every year you can even get down to the first
Speaker 3: eight picks of the draft, it seems like not this
Speaker 3: year whatsoever. So I mean, there's there's a bunch of
Speaker 3: guys that could that could be there at twenty eight
Speaker 3: that you might not think would be there at twenty
Speaker 3: eight honestly, and guys that you think are there at
Speaker 3: twenty eight they might go a hell of a lot
Speaker 3: sooner than that too, because, like I say, everybody's board
Speaker 3: is very, very different based on what they do schematically,
Speaker 3: how they do it from a personnel standpoint. So it's
Speaker 3: it's going to be this draft, honestly, they say the
Speaker 3: drafts of crap. Shoot. It is the biggest crap shoot
Speaker 3: I've ever I've witnessed in a long long time.
Speaker 1: There's a mun't emphasize crap, did you.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of crap in that shoot. It's like
Speaker 3: you just if you think, oh, yeah, I've got this
Speaker 3: figured out, it could be it could be a very
Speaker 3: interesting three days for you, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about Elijah Knsey, the pit defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: He gets compared to Aaron Donald because he's short and
Speaker 1: super quick, but unlike Aaron Donald, he has the tiniest
Speaker 1: arms of anybody who's been projected to go in the
Speaker 1: first round at his position less than thirty one inches.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean a guy like that. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: think Gino Adkins a little bit too, you know, undersized,
Speaker 3: but Gino was just vertically challenged. Gino had. You know,
Speaker 3: this kid's two eighty as well. It's not like he's
Speaker 3: not put together, and he's got an unbelievable dramatic initial burst.
Speaker 3: I mean, his first step quickness is incredible. But man,
Speaker 3: with thirty one inch arms, you can get engulfed, you know,
Speaker 3: you really can. If he doesn't beat you with that
Speaker 3: first step quickness, he's going to get covered up and
Speaker 3: covered up quickly potentially. So I mean, I think that
Speaker 3: if you if he goes to the right defense with
Speaker 3: the right coordinator who has a he wants his three
Speaker 3: technique to do nothing but penetrate, disrupt, and create havoc.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure that that's exactly what the Bengals are
Speaker 3: looking for in their defensive schematic. It's it's it's more,
Speaker 3: you know, it's not just a guy penetrating and trying
Speaker 3: to disrupt every single snap, and that would be you know,
Speaker 3: like like Aaron Donald Aaron Donald has free reign with
Speaker 3: the Rams whenever whatever he wants to do, and if
Speaker 3: he decides he wants to try to bust it up
Speaker 3: and create havoc, go for it. Mike Reid, back in
Speaker 3: my early years with the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Read out
Speaker 3: of Penn State was that kind of a guy, a
Speaker 3: disruptive guy, and they would allow him to go ahead
Speaker 3: and use that you know, unbelievable first step quickness you
Speaker 3: have and cause problems and invert the offensive line. So
Speaker 3: I don't see that one happening. I think that would
Speaker 3: be more of a long shot.
Speaker 1: My dream slides. Don't think they're going to be there,
Speaker 1: But if they were, I'd be really excited. I mentioned
Speaker 1: b Jon Robinson earlier. I just think that would be fun,
Speaker 1: you know, to have a running back like that. I
Speaker 1: will say, Dalton Kincaid, and I know what you're saying
Speaker 1: about tight end. This isn't a tight end heavy offense.
Speaker 1: It's three receivers. Those are the guys they are going
Speaker 1: to throw two most of the time. But Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: final year of his deal, probably not back next year.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing, I don't know, maybe he is, Maybe takes
Speaker 1: a you know, a short term, less expensive deal than
Speaker 1: he is. I'd love that because I love him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I just see Dalton and k being really a
Speaker 1: potential game changer. He had sixteen catches for two hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty four yards in one game against USC and
Speaker 1: looked like Travis Kelcey in that game eight catches of
Speaker 1: twenty five plus yards last year. So I'm that that
Speaker 1: would be a guy that if he's there, even despite
Speaker 1: the things you were saying about the position value in Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: I'd be excited about Dalton Kin Kate.
Speaker 3: Well, he's almost like you know, when you talk about
Speaker 3: Kelsey and tight ends like that, they're basically hybrid. You know,
Speaker 3: they're almost more of a receiver than they are a
Speaker 3: tight end. I mean they're not They're not asked to
Speaker 3: line up at the end of the line of sperimens,
Speaker 3: put their hand in the dirt and block defensive ends
Speaker 3: and outside linebackers, and you know you got to be
Speaker 3: able to, you know, get after these guys and show
Speaker 3: some physicality. Kim Kaid is an outstanding route runner, outstanding hands.
Speaker 3: I mean he is more of a you know you
Speaker 3: if I had him, i'd flex him a ton, he
Speaker 3: would be almost like a slot receiver for me. So
Speaker 3: I could see that. I could definitely see that that one,
Speaker 3: that one, if that were to occur, I could I
Speaker 3: could see him, you know, fitting the Bengals scheme offensively
Speaker 3: in a in a way that is not traditional tight
Speaker 3: end role with an offense. I could see that definitely.
Speaker 1: I saw one evaluator put it this way. He's the
Speaker 1: best tight end in the draft and the second best
Speaker 1: wide receiver in.
Speaker 3: The draft right right and blocking. It's not that he's
Speaker 3: not willing. He's willing, but needs a lot of work.
Speaker 1: Our predictions for the Bengals first round pick are just
Speaker 1: a few minutes away. And here's a reminder that the
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Speaker 1: them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees. Learn more at
Speaker 1: paycorp dot com. Let's get to the two positions that
Speaker 1: you mentioned right off the top as the positions that
Speaker 1: you're prioritizing if it's up to you, cornerback and edge rusher.
Speaker 1: Who are some of the guys you like at those
Speaker 1: two positions?
Speaker 3: Well, let me give you, let me give you a
Speaker 3: guy at each one that would I would probably, I'd
Speaker 3: probably we take at twenty eight. These are kind of
Speaker 3: my two my two bit picks if they're there, And
Speaker 3: as we've already talked about at nauseum, you just don't know.
Speaker 3: But I've seen this guy go in the teens and
Speaker 3: I've seen him be there at twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Forbes, the cornerback from Mississippi State.
Speaker 3: Cornerback from Mississippi State, yep. Six feet They say he
Speaker 3: was one hundred and sixty six pounds at the combine.
Speaker 3: All I can say is the dude was involved in
Speaker 3: probably one hundred and thirty five hundred and forty tackles
Speaker 3: at Mississippi State and never get hurt. I mean, durability
Speaker 3: was a was a plus for him. And it's not
Speaker 3: like he was avoiding contact. I mean, he's he's almost
Speaker 3: got a He's got a seventy nine inch wingspan, eight
Speaker 3: and a half inch hands. That's good size hands for
Speaker 3: a guy at six feet tall. Runs of four to
Speaker 3: three six thirty two and a quarter sleeve on him,
Speaker 3: you know arm length. He's got elite ball skills. He's
Speaker 3: got unbelievable instincts in anticipation. He had six interceptions and
Speaker 3: three touchdowns last year, thirteen interceptions, six touchdowns on his career.
Speaker 3: There when he was in high school, he had fourteen
Speaker 3: interceptions returned seven for touchdowns. So here's a guy that
Speaker 3: understands route combinations. He's real sudden when he sticks his
Speaker 3: foot in the ground and he drives on the football.
Speaker 3: I think he has as good a burst as I've seen.
Speaker 3: When the ball is in the air, he's tremendous. Actually
Speaker 3: had eight interceptions, three or more picks his senior year.
Speaker 3: Led the nation in ball production his senior and we're
Speaker 3: talking about the SEC West, which is the most physical
Speaker 3: conference in the best conference in college football. I think,
Speaker 3: you know, people might say, ah, boys, he takes some chances,
Speaker 3: he takes some risks that he might pay for that
Speaker 3: in the National Football League. I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think a guy like him, he just he just understands,
Speaker 3: he sees things, he sees things before it happens. If
Speaker 3: I'm a coach, I don't pull the reins in on
Speaker 3: this guy. I let him play. I let him do
Speaker 3: what he's done. And uh, he's very willing to run support.
Speaker 3: I've seen him get up the football field and take
Speaker 3: the you know, take the players out low, take him,
Speaker 3: take him on high. He plays man coverage with real
Speaker 3: good eyed discipline. He's always looking to make a play,
Speaker 3: you know. I mean, it'll be interesting if everything that
Speaker 3: he does translates in the National Football League. But I
Speaker 3: think he's extremely talented, and honestly, you look at a
Speaker 3: guy he throws. He threw a ninety five mile in
Speaker 3: our fastball as a baseball player, too, ninety five mile
Speaker 3: in our fastball. So I mean, here's here's a guy
Speaker 3: that's got skills that translate into other sports. And I
Speaker 3: like multi sport athletes like that. I just think that
Speaker 3: if he comes here, the nutritionists and the strength coaches
Speaker 3: get him up to one hundred and eighty pounds, I
Speaker 3: think it can happen. And I think as he matures,
Speaker 3: I think it can happen more readily. You know, because
Speaker 3: you say, well, why the hell didn't they do that
Speaker 3: in the SEC at Misissippi State. Why didn't that training
Speaker 3: staff and nutritionists and that strength and conditioning, why didn't
Speaker 3: they beef him up? I think they decided, you know,
Speaker 3: let him play. Look at how he's playing and he
Speaker 3: can he can handle it. Maybe he resisted a little
Speaker 3: bit and said, you know what, I just don't feel
Speaker 3: like I want to overreat like that or whatever. Maybe
Speaker 3: in the National Football League who feel like he has
Speaker 3: to in order to compete a little bit more. But
Speaker 3: I think this kid is has got it. I really
Speaker 3: do think I think he's he's he can be out
Speaker 3: there on the alan by himself. And the other thing,
Speaker 3: he visited Cincinnati, and everybody that I talked to said
Speaker 3: first class individual. I mean, like, I want to adopt
Speaker 3: this kid kind of kid. So if he's that type
Speaker 3: of personality fits in really well in the locker room
Speaker 3: as well, because we know that this locker room has
Speaker 3: got a tremendous culture and all these guys get along,
Speaker 3: and I think he would be a tremendous fit in
Speaker 3: that regard as well.
Speaker 1: Sauce Gardner Wade in the one sixties when he got
Speaker 1: to UC they got him up to the one nineties
Speaker 1: before he was drafted by the Jets, So the timetable's
Speaker 1: a little bit different, but I do think there's, you know,
Speaker 1: the ability to put good weight on Emmanuel Forbes. The
Speaker 1: other thing is if the Bengals select him number twenty eight. Overall,
Speaker 1: all they need to do is to assign him to
Speaker 1: lap them and hoard for a few months. Have him
Speaker 1: eat with us. He will put on weight.
Speaker 3: No question about it. We'll take him right through training
Speaker 3: table and that dog he'll have no problem. He'll he'll
Speaker 3: be he'll be a buck eighty before he knows.
Speaker 1: It won't necessarily be good way, but he'll be. Wait,
Speaker 1: all right, who is your other guy that you've got
Speaker 1: your eye on?
Speaker 3: Okay, the other guy is if Forbes is not there.
Speaker 3: And I've seen this guy, same type of thing. I've
Speaker 3: seen him gone, I've seen him available Lucas Vans out
Speaker 3: of Iowa. I think this this guy, leu Anoumo loves versatility.
Speaker 3: This guy played three technique the first year of football.
Speaker 3: He's redshirt sophomore. He's a young guy coming out. The
Speaker 3: other thing I like is he's got tremendous upside potential
Speaker 3: because of that that factor. Six ' five, two hundred
Speaker 3: and seventy two pounds, run sub four, six thirty four
Speaker 3: inch length to his arms, eleven inch hands. He will
Speaker 3: grab you and consume you. Eighty one and three quarters
Speaker 3: inch wingspan. I mean He's a condor with big hands,
Speaker 3: run sub four six at over two inns seventy pounds.
Speaker 3: His traits are freakish. I mean, they really are. He
Speaker 3: was a hockey player. I played high school football with
Speaker 3: a hockey player. This dude's legs were so strong because skating,
Speaker 3: you know, develops different muscles in your legs. He was
Speaker 3: an accomplished hockey player at that you know, at that size,
Speaker 3: probably outgrew hockey. But the fact is he's very, very
Speaker 3: strong in his lower body. So he played three technique initially,
Speaker 3: then they kicked him out to end. Now with Louanna Roumo,
Speaker 3: he could be an end and edge rush guy. He's
Speaker 3: got some good techniques. He uses his hands well, he's
Speaker 3: got counter moves. He's still young and he can learn
Speaker 3: more and he can develop. But you could move kick
Speaker 3: him inside to a three technique in your nickel defense
Speaker 3: and let him rush there. He could play three technique
Speaker 3: in a pinch against the run in the past, He's
Speaker 3: done it. I like the position versatility he plays with
Speaker 3: natural need bend angle flection. I think that some of
Speaker 3: that comes from hockey. Honestly, he's got real big ability
Speaker 3: on contact. His explosion is is definitely strong. Seeing him
Speaker 3: forklift guys on the edge, you know, I mean he'll
Speaker 3: work there that way as well. He can do it all.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I think if if Emmanuel Forbes isn't there,
Speaker 3: I'd look to Lucas van Ness and hope that he's there.
Speaker 3: If they're both not there, reload Reload.
Speaker 1: Van Ness would be this year's Dax Hill. It seems
Speaker 1: like on almost every mock draft I've seen he's gone.
Speaker 1: But like I said, that was the case with Dax
Speaker 1: last year, and sure enough there he was at number
Speaker 1: thirty one.
Speaker 3: And the one thing that I like about him when
Speaker 3: you watch his tape, he is doggedly determined. He chases everything.
Speaker 3: He tries to run everything down. Of that in a player,
Speaker 3: you know, it's not just it's the other side of
Speaker 3: the field. I'm just gonna chill and watch hope my
Speaker 3: teammates get it done. This guy he gets after everything.
Speaker 3: So he's got he's got a motor, and I just
Speaker 3: think that if he comes here, he's raw and he's
Speaker 3: got huge upside potential. He's look regarded as a late
Speaker 3: first you know, second round pick by most everybody. Some
Speaker 3: have him going higher, but I mean, if the Bengals
Speaker 3: can draft him and develop him, and man, I think
Speaker 3: the ceiling is extremely high with this kid. I think
Speaker 3: he's got Pro Bowl potential if he's developed the right way.
Speaker 3: And I think Lou and a room when his defensive
Speaker 3: staff could do that.
Speaker 1: All right, one more question and then we're going to
Speaker 1: get to our predictions. To wrap this up, is there
Speaker 1: a guy that, for whatever reason you would just like
Speaker 1: to see the Bengals take at some point? So we're
Speaker 1: not talking about a first round guy or maybe even
Speaker 1: a second round, but is there somebody who, for whatever
Speaker 1: reason you're intrigued with, you would like to see the
Speaker 1: Bengals grab at some point?
Speaker 3: You know, I haven't really thought about it. You know
Speaker 3: that that far into the into the draft. You know
Speaker 3: who I might think about for like third, fourth, fifth,
Speaker 3: sixth round kind of guy or a Day three guy
Speaker 3: that that might be there. I mean there's again, it's
Speaker 3: it's a it's a great middle class draft.
Speaker 2: I like that.
Speaker 3: I think that you're going to bring guys in that
Speaker 3: still know that they've got a lot to prove. I
Speaker 3: got a lot of work to do. There's there's I
Speaker 3: don't really have a player like I'd like I've got
Speaker 3: a bunch of them, and I guess that fits this
Speaker 3: kind of draft.
Speaker 1: Either of the two UC wide receivers for personal reasons
Speaker 1: or be on the list for me. But running back
Speaker 1: Taj Spears out of Tulane. I saw him a lot
Speaker 1: watching American Athletic Conference games. Cincinnati obviously faced him. Ran
Speaker 1: for more than fifteen hundred yards average almost seven yards
Speaker 1: of carry, was great at the Senior Bowl. Apparently there
Speaker 1: might be an ACL issue now sure about where that
Speaker 1: stands going forward when the teams do their medicals. But
Speaker 1: Taja Spears, the running back, is the guy that you know,
Speaker 1: I just kind of have in the back of my head,
Speaker 1: is all right, if the Bengals could get him in
Speaker 1: the fourth or fifth or something like that, that would
Speaker 1: be a great pick up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think that that's where I think
Speaker 3: the sweet spot of this draft is going to be.
Speaker 3: I think there's gonna be picks around the league that
Speaker 3: it will be fourth, fifth, sixth round guys they're gonna
Speaker 3: turn into turn out to be pretty darn good football players.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I guess I guess maybe part of me,
Speaker 3: uh maybe I'm off base, But if they could get
Speaker 3: Josh Wiley at tight end, that that would be a
Speaker 3: guy that's he's amongst a bunch of guys that i'd
Speaker 3: like to you know what, I think the guy's a
Speaker 3: good football player. If you can get him in the
Speaker 3: fourth or fifth round, I think that's a good value
Speaker 3: for a guy like that local kid. You know, there'd
Speaker 3: be some interest there. Somebody like that, I think would
Speaker 3: would uh, you know, would kind of peak peak some
Speaker 3: interest for sure. I'd like to see that.
Speaker 1: Josh Wiley is a very good football player. He's got
Speaker 1: the size, he's got the speed. He's had some injury
Speaker 1: problems that you see. That's a reason why he might
Speaker 1: not have the productivity of some of the other tight
Speaker 1: ends in this draft. But if he winds up in Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are gonna have a good football player.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he seems like he's a very willing blocker.
Speaker 3: You know, there's no question about that. He'll he'll stick
Speaker 3: his nose in there and get that dirty for sure.
Speaker 1: All Right, the moment people have all been waiting for,
Speaker 1: it's time to make predictions. Laps legends speaks for itself.
Speaker 1: Back in twenty twelve, everybody said the Bengals would take
Speaker 1: offensive guard David di Castro. You said, nah, I think
Speaker 1: it's going to be Kevin Zeidler. Was Kevin Zeidler. The
Speaker 1: next year, the world landed on matt Elam, the safety
Speaker 1: who was taken in the first round by Baltimore, as
Speaker 1: the guy the Bengals were going to take. You said,
Speaker 1: I think it might be Tyler Eifert. It was Tyler Eifert.
Speaker 1: There have been others since John Ross. You nailed that
Speaker 1: one in twenty seventeen. In twenty nineteen, you said, I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what, if Jonah Williams is still on the
Speaker 1: board at number eleven, they will raise to the podium.
Speaker 1: And that's what they did, all right, So here we go.
Speaker 1: You are on the clock. Dave Lapham. With a twenty
Speaker 1: eighth pick in the twenty twenty three NFL Draft, the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals select.
Speaker 3: I'm going with the guy that I talked about earlier.
Speaker 3: I'm going to go with cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, and I'm
Speaker 3: not sure he'll be there. If he is, I think
Speaker 3: they take him unless there is somebody else that slid.
Speaker 3: But Emmanuel Forbes, And like I said earlier, if he's
Speaker 3: not My backup guy is Lucas van S, but I
Speaker 3: think i'd be I would be thrilled to death if
Speaker 3: both of them were there. If either one were there,
Speaker 3: I'd be equally excited. But I think one of those
Speaker 3: two guys could really really help this football team. I'm
Speaker 3: all in on those guys.
Speaker 1: I would love to see Emmanuel Forbes, but I'm not
Speaker 1: going to make him my pick because I don't want
Speaker 1: to have the same thing as you. That's no fun.
Speaker 1: And secondly, I don't think he's going to be there.
Speaker 1: Probably I could see Baltimore taking him at twenty two.
Speaker 1: So the Bengals it's getting closed. You're thinking, all right,
Speaker 1: they got a shot. And then your division rival, who's
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks are getting older and have had injury problems.
Speaker 1: Let's grab this guy to lock up the great receivers
Speaker 1: in our division.
Speaker 3: Hoops, and look the physical AFC North. We're talking about
Speaker 3: Cincinnati and or Baltimore picking them. They're not worried about
Speaker 3: one hundred and sixty six pound guy. He's shown that
Speaker 3: he can, he's got durability, he can play physically. I mean,
Speaker 3: I hope he's there. I hope he's there.
Speaker 1: I do too but I'm not going to pick him.
Speaker 1: I am going to stick with the cornerback position. I
Speaker 1: think Deontay Banks is gone. I think Devon Witherspoon will
Speaker 1: be the first cornerback taken. I have landed on George's
Speaker 1: Keeley Ringo as my pick with the twenty eighth pick
Speaker 1: in the draft. He's six to one, He's two hundred
Speaker 1: and seven pounds. He was the top cornerback recruit coming
Speaker 1: out of high school in his recruiting class. Ran a
Speaker 1: four to three six at the combine. And we know
Speaker 1: the Bengals love to draft players from big schools that
Speaker 1: have played in big games. Well, this guy was the
Speaker 1: best cornerback on back to back national championship teams at Georgia.
Speaker 1: I think they would rather have Emmanuel Forbes, and if
Speaker 1: he's there, I would take him, but I don't think
Speaker 1: he will be there. I have landed on Georgia's Kei
Speaker 1: Lee Ringo as the next Cincinnati Bengals first round draft.
Speaker 3: Pick, and I think he probably has a better chance
Speaker 3: to be there. I've seen him on a few bocks
Speaker 3: be taken, but not as many as Emmanuel, So I
Speaker 3: guess maybe I'm hoping against hope but you're I mean,
Speaker 3: both of them come from the SEC. There's not a
Speaker 3: better conference in college football, so I'd be good with either.
Speaker 3: I mean, I do think that the corner position is
Speaker 3: probably the area that they'll target first in. If there's
Speaker 3: somebody available that fits in that need at the corner position,
Speaker 3: I think they are going to go there.
Speaker 1: Dan, all right, this has been fun as always. Looking
Speaker 1: forward to Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We'll be spending a
Speaker 1: lot of time together extravaganza.
Speaker 3: It's the National Football League Draft.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: It's mind boggling. I was talking to Bob Johnson earlier
Speaker 3: this week and I said, far cry from nineteen sixty eight, right,
Speaker 3: the NFL Draft, and he just burst out laughing. I mean,
Speaker 3: it is. The NFL Draft has become musty TV in
Speaker 3: a time when you've got NBA Playoffs, you got you know,
Speaker 3: major League Baseball just rolling right along. What's dominating the
Speaker 3: news cycle in terms of sports, the NFL Draft. It
Speaker 3: is a marketing giant.
Speaker 1: I'll have new editions of this podcast after each day
Speaker 1: of the draft. They'll be posted and ready by the
Speaker 1: time you wake up the next morning. That's going to
Speaker 1: do it for this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast
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Speaker 1: Horde and thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast