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

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Speaker 1: the Bengals Boot Podcast the second time around. Addition, as

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Speaker 1: we get you set for Week two of the preseason,

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Speaker 1: as the Bengals head to New Jersey on Sunday night

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Speaker 1: to take on the New York Giants. Coming up, you'll

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Speaker 1: hear from two rookies who did well in their preseason debuts,

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Speaker 1: wide receiver Kendrick Pryor and offensive lineman Desmond Noel out

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Speaker 1: of Coal Rane High School. Robert Weintrouf from Football Outsiders

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Speaker 1: in Cincinnati Magazine joins me to discuss the upcoming season,

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Speaker 1: and I'll chat about the latest training camp developments with

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Speaker 1: Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Hobson. The Bengals Booth podcast

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Speaker 1: is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty two season. It's free to play next

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Speaker 1: level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now

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Speaker 1: on the App Store and Google Play, and here's a

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Speaker 1: quick from that. You can have the latest edition of

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Speaker 1: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer

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Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest

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Speaker 1: thing since great TV shows. Better Call Saul aired at

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Speaker 1: sixty third and final episode over six seasons on Monday,

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Speaker 1: and I don't want to spoil anything in case you

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Speaker 1: haven't watched it, but I found the ending to be

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Speaker 1: graceful and satisfying. Breaking Bad remains my all time favorite

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Speaker 1: TV drama, but Better Call Saul cracked the top five

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Speaker 1: with the wire, The Sopranos and Madmen. Game of Thrones

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Speaker 1: got bumped off the list. But now I need something new.

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Speaker 1: If you have any suggestions, feel free to tweet them

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Speaker 1: My way at Dan underscore Hoarde. Now let's get to football.

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Speaker 1: One of the standouts in the Bengals preseason opener last

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Speaker 1: Friday was undrafted rookie receiver Kendrick Pryor now plitt fix

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Speaker 1: an inside handoff guns to throw down field, Kendrick pre

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Speaker 1: with the one handed, left handed catch. Should he get it? Yes?

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Speaker 1: He did. Prior finished with four catches for eighty nine

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Speaker 1: yards and a touchdown at Wisconsin. With its heavy emphasis

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Speaker 1: on the run, he never had more than seventy two

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Speaker 1: receiving yards in a game. I talked to Kendrick about

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Speaker 1: his eye opening debut when the Bengals returned to practice

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Speaker 1: on Sunday. I assume you have now seen the footage

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Speaker 1: of your falling over backward one handed, left handed catch.

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Speaker 1: Where do you think? Um? I think it was a

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Speaker 1: pretty good catch. Um on my end, though I should

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Speaker 1: have said so, it's covered two faded more to the sideline,

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Speaker 1: so I wouldn't have to have been as much of

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Speaker 1: a tough catch as it was. But just happy I

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Speaker 1: got the got the outcome, Happy they coach challenged it,

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Speaker 1: Happy that I knew it was Personally I knew as

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Speaker 1: the kids, I called the boat over half possession. If

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Speaker 1: I know, next time he's got to make sure I

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Speaker 1: keep that possession all the way inside. Get up, so

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Speaker 1: don't give them a chance to try to overturn the call. Well,

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Speaker 1: you are clearly your own toughest critic if you describe

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Speaker 1: that as pretty good and that you should have run

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Speaker 1: the route a little bit differently or better. Oh, you know,

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Speaker 1: it just can't be satisfied, you know, just always trying

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Speaker 1: to find ways to get better. You know, just don't

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Speaker 1: want to be that guy that has the one good

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Speaker 1: game and then doesn't show up this week in Pagasta,

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Speaker 1: next week and the next game in the game after

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Speaker 1: following a week. So it just kind of figuring out

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Speaker 1: what I need to do better to perfect my craft

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Speaker 1: and just keep on continue to work on things that

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Speaker 1: can help me get better. Four catches eighty plus yards

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Speaker 1: in a touchdown in your first NFL preseason game. Did

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Speaker 1: that go about as well as you could have hoped? Oh? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: definitely just wanted to go out there. I feel like

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Speaker 1: I could have had a more a couple of more yards,

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Speaker 1: a couple of more catches in there. But you know,

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Speaker 1: it's just always going back looking at that film saying, well, Okay,

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Speaker 1: that's why I did last game, and let's trying not

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Speaker 1: to make those mistakes or just do the same things,

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Speaker 1: trying to get better each week. But definitely something I

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Speaker 1: was very proud of, like you said, first game, to

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Speaker 1: have those stats, but you know, we got to continue

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Speaker 1: to get better. We're chatting with Kendrick Pryor. It seems

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Speaker 1: to me from watching these practices that you have been

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Speaker 1: getting better and better and more comfortable almost by the

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Speaker 1: day over the last week or two. Is that how

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Speaker 1: you feel about it? Oh yeah, definitely, just things slowing down,

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Speaker 1: you know, just gave me more comfortable with the playbook

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Speaker 1: when I'm not thinking as much, and I'm actually can

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Speaker 1: now just go out there and play football and just

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Speaker 1: showcase what I can do in the field. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: every days been slowing. Things been slowing down from me.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's still some definitely some stuff

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Speaker 1: areas I can prove when things I can work. But

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Speaker 1: but I feel like that's just gonna come more and

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Speaker 1: more of a time, you know, just seeing how things work,

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Speaker 1: getting the flow the game, and then just you know,

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Speaker 1: watching film, talking pot after again, just you know, making

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Speaker 1: those corrections. So it's just, like I said, just getting

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Speaker 1: more comfortable with things starting to slow down while I'm

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Speaker 1: not thinking as much anymore, or now I'm just kind

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Speaker 1: of playing football. How did yesterday feel the day after

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Speaker 1: a performance like that in your debut. I'm sure you're

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Speaker 1: getting a lot of messages and so forth. How did

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Speaker 1: that feel to you? Oh? It felt good, you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of like when I got in the car with

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Speaker 1: my parents after you know what, it seems too happy.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh no, I am definitely happy with that

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Speaker 1: kind of when they get out the car. Like like

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Speaker 1: you said, I'm kind of my toughest critic, so just

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Speaker 1: always trying to find ways to get better. But once

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Speaker 1: I kind of drop my parents, I was like driving

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Speaker 1: back to the hotel, Like that's kind of when it

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Speaker 1: set in. Really just like, oh, like first game, I

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Speaker 1: did pretty good for myself and just kind of continue

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Speaker 1: to build off that. But definitely very happy for how

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Speaker 1: I did from my first game. So it's a good

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Speaker 1: building block. Does it give you a little bit I've

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Speaker 1: added confidence going into the second game next week? Oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: definitely it's a confidence just to show that, Okay, like

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Speaker 1: I can make those players I belong, You're in it,

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Speaker 1: just like you said, giving me that extra boost of

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Speaker 1: confidence talking to like I said, a couple of my friends,

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Speaker 1: just sending me text message before the game, you know,

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Speaker 1: just not trying to over complicate, overthinking yet first NFL game. Yes,

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Speaker 1: the NFL. They definitely want to take that moment there,

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Speaker 1: you know, because not a lot of people get the opportunity,

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Speaker 1: but you know, trying not to make it bigger than

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Speaker 1: what it is. You know, still the same game I've

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Speaker 1: been playing since I was younger. So it's just realized

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Speaker 1: getting those texts and then just going out there into

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Speaker 1: having a performance that I had just definitely a confidence boost,

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Speaker 1: so kind of make things that even feel a little

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Speaker 1: comfortable for me, things feel better next week. It's a

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Speaker 1: great start. Congrats, best of luck next week. Appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: Kenrick was not the only undrafted rookie who performed well.

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Speaker 1: Offensive lineman Desmond Noel out of Coleraine High School was

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Speaker 1: the Bengals highest graded pass blocker according to Pro Football Focus.

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Speaker 1: I'll get to him in just a bit, but first,

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Speaker 1: I caught up this week with a guest who has

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Speaker 1: appeared on this podcast before, Robert Weintraub, who covers the

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Speaker 1: NFL for Football Outsiders and writes about the Bengals for

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati Magazine. All right, Robert, the Bengals were less than

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Speaker 1: two minutes away from winning the Super Bowl. They addressed

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Speaker 1: their obvious weekness the offensive line. But my handy dandy

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Speaker 1: Football Outsiders Almanac projects Cincinnati to have the seventh highest

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Speaker 1: win total in the AFC. Explain why, Wow, it makes

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Speaker 1: it sound like that's a bad thing. I mean, remember

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Speaker 1: who youngly won six games and I used the Royal

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Speaker 1: wei in this case, six games in two years, seventh

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Speaker 1: best record in the AFC would have sounded pretty good,

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Speaker 1: you know, maybe before the calendar flipped to January, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two. I feel like the expectations definitely got our

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Speaker 1: turbo boost from that last month obviously and into the

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Speaker 1: super Bowl, as it should. Basically, you have to remember,

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Speaker 1: a football outsiders, our main stat DVOA, which essentially measures

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Speaker 1: down by down efficiency. As we both know, the Bengals

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Speaker 1: were more of a boom er Bus team at large

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Speaker 1: parts of the season last year. As such, their DVOA

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Speaker 1: was not especially high, especially for a team that went

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Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. You would think it would be

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Speaker 1: much higher, so it was lower. They'd have that base

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Speaker 1: DBOA projection system that you reference essentially plays out the

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Speaker 1: season one million times, no lasers, no sharks outfitted with

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Speaker 1: lasers involved. However, we do play it out that many times,

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Speaker 1: and you know, they didn't have a huge dvawats as

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Speaker 1: I say, to build upon, and the projection system likes

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Speaker 1: to see it more than once. I remember we talked,

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Speaker 1: you know, a year ago, and the Browns we're going

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Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, and the Steelers we're going to

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Speaker 1: be in the four and thirteen team and our numbers

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Speaker 1: spoken otherwise, and everybody's like, why is doing this? Why

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Speaker 1: how can you say that? And it's like, well, you know,

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Speaker 1: it takes more than just one season essentially to convince

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Speaker 1: our numbers. We're going to do that. Still, seventh is good,

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Speaker 1: and you have to remember also that it's really at

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Speaker 1: the margins where the Bengals have improved. According to our system,

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Speaker 1: They've doubled their likelihood of winning twelve or more games,

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Speaker 1: put their chances of winning five or fewer games in half.

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Speaker 1: So that's where you really look to see where the

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Speaker 1: improvements lie. Listen, as we all know, and as the

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Speaker 1: Bengals proved last season, anything can happen. Everything can happen.

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Speaker 1: The idea that they were saying they're definitely the seventh

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Speaker 1: best team, what does that even really mean? Is the

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Speaker 1: showing lots going to play six games? Is he going

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Speaker 1: to play twelve games? Is he going to play it all? Well,

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Speaker 1: you never play again fingers crossed? Uh, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: that kind of thing. Who know, that's just you know,

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Speaker 1: an example, right small. You know the injury history that

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Speaker 1: we know the Bengals were pretty fortunate last year, These

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Speaker 1: things can change. On the time. The Ravens were the

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Speaker 1: exact opposite. Their whole team was wiped out by an

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Speaker 1: injury tsunami. If they're back then being healthy, things look different.

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Speaker 1: Those are just two examples of a million. The idea

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Speaker 1: that we're definitely saying the Bengals are the seventh best

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Speaker 1: team in the AFC isn't necessarily what you should take

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Speaker 1: from it. We should, well you should take is that

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Speaker 1: they're a contender. They've launched themselves out of the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the dregs of the league where they stayed for

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Speaker 1: a couple of years, and to put themselves into a

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Speaker 1: you know, a solid playoff type team. Now it's just,

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Speaker 1: you know, are the what are the small bits going

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Speaker 1: to be to either launch them back to the super

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Speaker 1: Bowl or we won't even go there, But let's talk

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Speaker 1: about something else. But you know, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: You know what I'm getting at. Robert Weintraub is our

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Speaker 1: guests from Football Outsiders and from Cincinnati Magazine. Had you

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Speaker 1: asked me before I picked up the Football Outsiders Almanac

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Speaker 1: if Joe Burrow was good in the red zone last year,

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Speaker 1: I would have said absolutely, and I would have been

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Speaker 1: very wrong. As it turns out. Can you explain the

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Speaker 1: room for growth there for a guy who otherwise is

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Speaker 1: so terrific? Yeah, he was actually based on our numbers

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Speaker 1: in the red zone. And again, remember our numbers don't

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Speaker 1: factor in all things when it comes to the passing game,

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Speaker 1: but it does factor in sex, which a lot of

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Speaker 1: numbers that you see that love Burrow do not. He

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Speaker 1: was the second to worst quarterback in the red zone

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Speaker 1: of all qualifying quarterbacks, only Trevor Lawrence was worse. I

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Speaker 1: think we can all close our eyes and picture the

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Speaker 1: Denzel Ward ninety nine yard interception, neat a couple other

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Speaker 1: goal line picks, but it isn't really so much those

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Speaker 1: highlight plays as it was just again but down to

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Speaker 1: down consistency where the Bengals, you know, we all remember

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Speaker 1: the huge plays, the bombs to Chase, the bombs to

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Speaker 1: Higgins plays even to Uzama over the course of the season,

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Speaker 1: but when they got done deep didn't nearly match that

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Speaker 1: kind of efficiency that they need to have to turn

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Speaker 1: you know what are otherwise field goal drives and thank

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Speaker 1: god for Evan McPherson into touchdown drives. Those four point plays,

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Speaker 1: so to speak, four point drives when they got down deep,

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Speaker 1: really spelled the difference in a lot of close games.

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Speaker 1: And that's definitely a place where I think Zach Taylor

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Speaker 1: and Joe and the entire offensive unit. I'm sure they

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Speaker 1: have spent a great deal of time this offseason looking

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Speaker 1: for plays that worked, heightening the efficiency and not just

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Speaker 1: relying on you know, Jamar getting open and you know

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Speaker 1: the meme throw it to him regardless of whether he's open.

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Speaker 1: They need to help their efficiency leveled down deep to

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Speaker 1: a much higher capacity than if they do. Boy, the

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Speaker 1: offense really has this room to grow. As you reference,

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Speaker 1: the Bengals were fortunate where injuries were concerned last year.

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Speaker 1: That's undeniable, and I think the stat exists, whether it's

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Speaker 1: in Football Outsiders or elsewhere. Demonstrated that the difference between

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Speaker 1: their injuries and their opponents injuries was number one in

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Speaker 1: the NFL. Is that the biggest area where the Bengals

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Speaker 1: were quote unquote lucky? Is there a way to quantify

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Speaker 1: that from the various data the Football Outsiders has, you know,

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Speaker 1: calling it the biggest area, it's definitely up there, and

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Speaker 1: it's definitely something that the Bengals are not used to

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Speaker 1: being in that position, that's for sure. And it does

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Speaker 1: have a what we call plexiglass principle, where wouldn't where

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Speaker 1: it happens one year tends to bounce back the next year.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean that all of a sudden, you know

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Speaker 1: they're going to lose Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase for

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Speaker 1: sizeable chunks of time. You have to remember we do

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Speaker 1: weight the injuries and guys who play more snaps. It's

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Speaker 1: a snap weighted system, so the guys who play more

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Speaker 1: snaps when they get hurt, that goes into the into

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Speaker 1: the algorithm and is weighted. You know, the Angles have

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Speaker 1: also had years when they've had a lot of issues

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Speaker 1: because their depth was a concern. They had injuries throughout

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Speaker 1: I think backack to just twenty twenty, and when they

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Speaker 1: had that huge run of injuries in the defensive secondary,

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Speaker 1: that really cost them a lot. They wound up playing

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Speaker 1: guys who should never have played. And you know, Burrow

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Speaker 1: got all the attention when he went down, but really

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Speaker 1: that cost them a lot of games as well. The

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Speaker 1: fact they didn't have that kind of depth of good

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Speaker 1: players to come in and take over for guys who

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Speaker 1: were nicked in or out for the season. God forbid.

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Speaker 1: It's really the kind of thing where it's very difficult

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Speaker 1: to predict. That was obviously a huge factor in what

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Speaker 1: the Bengals did last year, but at the same time,

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Speaker 1: again according to our numbers, it's not like they were

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Speaker 1: at the top of the pyramid. You know, they had

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Speaker 1: some guys injured, and there was definitely a room to

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Speaker 1: grow in that sense too, So they can absorb a

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Speaker 1: couple more injuries this year, improve the team anyway, and

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Speaker 1: still be in a good position. I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of fans are sort of waiting for the other shoe

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Speaker 1: to drop. You know, obviously we're not telling you can

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Speaker 1: talking about Joe Burrow, but if any of the top

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Speaker 1: five or eight players go down, that's caused for alarm.

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Speaker 1: That's really when you have a team wide run of

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Speaker 1: injuries like Baltimore half last year, that's what it really

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Speaker 1: gets to a point where it affects your team and

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Speaker 1: win loss record. Otherwise shouldn't be something that keep fans

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Speaker 1: up at night. I'm glad you mentioned Baltimore because you

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Speaker 1: wrote the Bengals chapter in this year's Football Outsiders Almanac.

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Speaker 1: You also wrote the Ravens chapter, and I didn't realize

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Speaker 1: until reading what you wrote about Baltimore that the Ravens

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Speaker 1: truly had a historically bad season when it comes to injuries.

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Speaker 1: We all knew it was bad. I didn't realize this

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Speaker 1: was like NFL history bad, right, the worst since we've

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Speaker 1: been doing it, since we put together that just a

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Speaker 1: games lost stat And I didn't really realize it either

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Speaker 1: until we ran the numbers and it came out that way.

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Speaker 1: And again, it's not just because of the guys you

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Speaker 1: can think of up the top of your head. You

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Speaker 1: got hurt Marcus Peters and JK. Dobbins and a couple

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Speaker 1: other other quote unquote star players, but it was really

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Speaker 1: the sort of team wide and also not just for

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Speaker 1: the entire season, but guys missing a month here, Rashad

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Speaker 1: Bateman missed the first half of the season. Obviously, Lamar

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Speaker 1: Jackson went down near the end of the season, but

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Speaker 1: still count And the more of these guys you know,

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Speaker 1: had played before that also affects the way that that

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Speaker 1: number is tabulated. But no question, it was the worst

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Speaker 1: in this century is basically when we've been doing that number,

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Speaker 1: and it was by far the worse, not just you know,

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Speaker 1: sort of sneaking ahead of one team here or there.

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Speaker 1: I mean, they were lapping the field. I think I

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Speaker 1: compared them to a secretariat at the belt On in

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Speaker 1: that chapter so it was definitely historic. It's definitely a

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Speaker 1: reason why the Ravens fans are a little chesty this

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Speaker 1: summer because they assume things will just snap back to

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Speaker 1: the way they were before all the injuries hit, and

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Speaker 1: if they certainly will be improved, and having players the

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Speaker 1: likes of the guys we mentioned on the field for

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Speaker 1: the entirety of the season will obviously help them. Still,

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Speaker 1: as I write in the chapter, there's a lot of

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Speaker 1: other issues underlying all that, and you can't just point

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Speaker 1: to with the injuries and say that was a reason

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Speaker 1: why they, you know, collapse at the end of the season,

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Speaker 1: And that's not necessarily a reason why they're all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden going to turn around and go thirteen and

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Speaker 1: four this year. Either they realized they had some issues,

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Speaker 1: they had six fourth round draft picks and use them all.

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Speaker 1: I think they should tell you that what they thought

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Speaker 1: about the guys in their reserve units and their depth

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Speaker 1: pieces that they needed to improve, similar to Cincinnati, when

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Speaker 1: guys like that go down and you're not confident in

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Speaker 1: the next wave of players, that affects the team all

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Speaker 1: the way through. Our guest is Robert Weintraub from Football Outsiders,

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Speaker 1: in Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow them on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: Rob Wine w ei N. Let's talk about the Bengals

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Speaker 1: offensive line improvements. We tend to look at that as okay,

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Speaker 1: now we can cut down on the sacks, and then

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Speaker 1: clearly that would be a good thing. Nobody would be

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Speaker 1: bothered by that. But do you think that's the biggest

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Speaker 1: way they stand to benefit by having a better offensive line.

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Speaker 1: It's definitely up there, there's no question about that. You know,

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Speaker 1: we talk about the sacks, and yes, they were thirty

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Speaker 1: first in our adjusted sackurate. They were also thirty first

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Speaker 1: in power situations, which is almost as important. You know,

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Speaker 1: third down and short, fourth down and short. We don't

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Speaker 1: have to bring up the Super Bowl to remember. You

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Speaker 1: got to convert those situations, and the Bengals were second

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Speaker 1: and lass in the league at doing so. They also

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Speaker 1: gave up by far the most in the league in

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Speaker 1: terms of sacks when we marked it as rusher untouched,

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Speaker 1: which essentially means somebody did not pick up the blitzer

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Speaker 1: or the stunt completely kerfuffled the line and they was

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Speaker 1: all over for Joel. Basically, you'll eliminate sort of picking

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Speaker 1: number fifteen of those kind of plays, of the sacks

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Speaker 1: that he had to take or throw away the ball

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Speaker 1: in key situations, handful of times where they convert on

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Speaker 1: third and short where they didn't last year. These are

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Speaker 1: the small things that spell the difference throughout the season

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Speaker 1: in winning or losing. They're the small things that affect

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Speaker 1: our numbers in terms of efficiency. And there are the

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Speaker 1: small things that you would wind up putting the Bengals

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Speaker 1: back in the Super Bowl. They were in a lot

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Speaker 1: of ways much better in the playoffs defensively when you

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Speaker 1: look at those same stats, and on special teams to

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Speaker 1: a lesser degree. And that's a big reason why they

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Speaker 1: went to the Super Bowls, because they played and came

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Speaker 1: up in those timely situations on defense so often game

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Speaker 1: after game. And you know, if the Bengals imports on

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Speaker 1: the offensive line means that they have those similar improvements

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Speaker 1: on offense. I think we're all pretty segment about the

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Speaker 1: abilities of the skill players. You know, it's just a

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Speaker 1: matter of how those guys are going to gel the

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Speaker 1: new players, the hard seas as I call them Kappa

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Speaker 1: Carris mccollins, if they can all blend together. You know,

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Speaker 1: the way we saw Kansas City's line, for example, blend

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Speaker 1: together pretty rapidly last year and avoid injuries. Obviously, you know,

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Speaker 1: they don't have to become the best line in the

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Speaker 1: league by any stretch. With the guys that have the

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Speaker 1: playmakers Cincinnati has, you know, all they have to do

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Speaker 1: is get out of the bottom of the league and

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Speaker 1: get into the twenties. That would be okay, into the

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Speaker 1: teams in terms of league ranking. Then again, it's similar

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Speaker 1: to what we is tucked about the offense. As you know,

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Speaker 1: a turbo boost and a sky's the limit. There's no

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Speaker 1: reason why they can't, you know, be at the top

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Speaker 1: of the league in terms of points, score and efficiency.

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Speaker 1: So there's a lot of riding on it. Those three

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Speaker 1: imports are gonna have a lot of light on them.

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Speaker 1: I prefer to have seen their depth look a little

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Speaker 1: bit better in the first preseason game, but you know

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Speaker 1: it was only the first preseason game. A lot of

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Speaker 1: room for improvement, and there's still I think moves to

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Speaker 1: be made in terms of guys who are not on

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Speaker 1: the team yet. No team is finished, as we know,

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Speaker 1: until you know they say you can't make any more moves.

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Speaker 1: So yes, I do think the offensive line it's a cliche,

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Speaker 1: but that's definitely the place where you look to first

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Speaker 1: for an improvement. In terms of the Bengals, let's talk

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Speaker 1: about what the Bengals did in the draft, because one

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Speaker 1: of the guiding principles in the Football Outsiders Almanac every

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Speaker 1: year is that establishing the run is wrong. That's not

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Speaker 1: the way to win football games. You pass to build

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Speaker 1: the lead. It's a more efficient way of scoring points,

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Speaker 1: and then you run the ball to main tying the lead,

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Speaker 1: to work the clock, etc. So in the draft, the

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Speaker 1: Bengals go heavy on defensive backs to counter the modern

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Speaker 1: passing game. What did you think of that approach? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think it made all the sense in the world,

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Speaker 1: and I think it's all part of lou Ana Rumo still.

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Speaker 1: You know, he took a lot of last season to

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Speaker 1: kind of figure out what worked, what didn't work. He

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Speaker 1: was kind of a mad scientist even as the season

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Speaker 1: was going along, and I think he discovered something certainly

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Speaker 1: hit on it towards the end of the season and

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Speaker 1: obviously in the playoffs, which was that having multi positional

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Speaker 1: players who can do a lot of things in the secondary,

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Speaker 1: dropping eight players at a time or pretending to and

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Speaker 1: bringing bwitzers from where you don't know they're coming from.

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Speaker 1: And you know, obviously having a strong pass rush as

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Speaker 1: a key to that too, but having guys who can

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Speaker 1: run and who can play multiple positions in the secondary

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Speaker 1: is it's, you know, the gold standard right now in

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Speaker 1: the NFL, and I think you're seeing that around the

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Speaker 1: league and the Bengals are right there at the forefront

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Speaker 1: for once, which is nice. And yeah, I think Dax

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Speaker 1: Hill showed it just at him his first game too,

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Speaker 1: where he made a lot of plays. It's a heavy guy.

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Speaker 1: He can do a lot of things on the field,

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Speaker 1: even as a rookie. They're giving him a lot of

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Speaker 1: stuff to, you know, kind of take on his plate

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Speaker 1: and call some secondary plays in the back end and

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Speaker 1: be ready to take over at a moment's notice at

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Speaker 1: every secondary position, which is obviously critical. Again, the depth

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Speaker 1: that we keep referring to, Cam Taylor, Brittain, Tyson, Anderson

428
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,320
Speaker 1: just fall into that same mold of guys. Obviously they

429
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: what the Bengals like to do. You've talked about it

430
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,640
Speaker 1: in your profiles of the draft. They're leaders, they were

431
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 1: college captains, They're guys who were kind of, you know,

432
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 1: boisterous and talkative dudes. All that all is great. What

433
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,680
Speaker 1: they can really do is run and play a lot

434
00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 1: of positions and hit, and I think that's what lou

435
00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,119
Speaker 1: Eneruma wants to see. And I think you know that

436
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,120
Speaker 1: the money is in the draft, as we always talk about.

437
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,360
Speaker 1: You know, you can talk a good game about any position,

438
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,840
Speaker 1: but who your draft really defines the kind of team

439
00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,920
Speaker 1: that you want to build. And that's what the Bank

440
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,199
Speaker 1: will showed with these picks, no question. A few more

441
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,600
Speaker 1: questions for Robert Weintraub. So when you write for Football Outsiders,

442
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 1: you do not do it from the perspective of a

443
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 1: Bengals fan, But when you write for Cincinnati Magazine, it's

444
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 1: a little bit different. And immediately after the Super Bowl

445
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: you wrote the following, I am not over it. I

446
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 1: will never be over it. That was February. How you're

447
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,600
Speaker 1: doing six months later, not over it, never again to

448
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,879
Speaker 1: be over it. I mean, listen, I think I mentioned

449
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: this in the Football Outsiders too. You know, I go

450
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,360
Speaker 1: back to those eighties Super Bowls. I was a kid,

451
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,280
Speaker 1: but I still go back that far, and it wasn't

452
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 1: quite like those losses where the team was either the

453
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,800
Speaker 1: first or second best team in the league by consensus,

454
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,359
Speaker 1: and they lost heartbreakers, and you got to think, Wow,

455
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,560
Speaker 1: this is our this is a great team that had

456
00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 1: their chance, and maybe we're not going to have another one,

457
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 1: at least anytime soon. This felt, obviously, as we discussed

458
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,000
Speaker 1: before the Super Bowl, a lot different. This was much

459
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,240
Speaker 1: more of a rocketship ride to the moon out of nowhere.

460
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,480
Speaker 1: It feels much more sustainable. Still got Joe Burrow on

461
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 1: that all important rookie contract. They're adding to the team.

462
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,960
Speaker 1: They have the you know three white outcomo that's the

463
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 1: envy of the league. We just discussed the offensive line,

464
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,800
Speaker 1: the defense, and special teams were the key to their around.

465
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 1: They have a really good base and they have a

466
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,360
Speaker 1: really good, you know team overall. We talked about how

467
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,080
Speaker 1: seventh in the AFC didn't really float your boat necessarily,

468
00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: but listen, they're right up there. I think anybody would

469
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: tell you, including me, that they're definitely a playoff slash

470
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:34,119
Speaker 1: Super Bowl contender this season. So I feel in that sense,

471
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 1: you know, far more optimistic than that necessarily did after

472
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: the other two Super Bowls. But you're in the Super Bowl,

473
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 1: you had the ball, you're driving the field with seconds

474
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,879
Speaker 1: to play, and a chance to win it, and you know,

475
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 1: the jamar Chas is breaking wide open, and you don't

476
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,600
Speaker 1: get that play pulled off for that in various other reasons.

477
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: You know, he just you'll never ever get that one back,

478
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 1: and it doesn't I know, we talked about it before

479
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,720
Speaker 1: the game that I worried that losing in the Super

480
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: Bowl would leave sort of a bittersweet taste on that

481
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,159
Speaker 1: great ride that they had, and I don't think it

482
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,880
Speaker 1: necessarily did. I think most Bengal fans kind of took

483
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,600
Speaker 1: it pretty well. Maybe if they'd gotten slaughtered in the game,

484
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 1: it would have been sort of, oh, you know, they

485
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,359
Speaker 1: were pretenders after all, and just got lucky for a

486
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:19,439
Speaker 1: few weeks in the playoffs. I don't think they did that.

487
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,280
Speaker 1: They went toe to toe with the Super Bowl champs,

488
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 1: showed that they could well have been Super Bowl champs

489
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 1: and maybe have a chance to do that now, if

490
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 1: not this year, certainly in the next couple of years

491
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: and beyond. So I feel good about that in the

492
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: macro sense, but in the micro sense, I will never

493
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: be over it now, absolutely not. Robert had approximately this

494
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 1: time last year, you wrote a fabulous profile of my

495
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,680
Speaker 1: broadcast partner Dave Lapham for Cincinnati Magazine the definitive Dave

496
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,639
Speaker 1: Lapham profile, which was great. What do we have to

497
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 1: look forward to as the season approaches with the Bengals

498
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: getting set to open up against the Steelers at home.

499
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,720
Speaker 1: I was hoping to write the definitive Dan Horde profile.

500
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,800
Speaker 1: My editors say he's way too overexposed. Nobody would want

501
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 1: to read the correct accurate. Your editors are correct. Now,

502
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 1: well we have is a much more straightforward sense this year.

503
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,120
Speaker 1: But a two part Bengals preview coming in Cincinnati Magazine,

504
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,439
Speaker 1: So I'll show you how the Bengals have gone up

505
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: the step ladder in terms of importance in the Cincinnati area.

506
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 1: Last year I only wrote the one. So we'll talk about,

507
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,920
Speaker 1: you know, everything we just talked about and more. And

508
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,400
Speaker 1: you know, I'm hoping to still write the definitive Joe

509
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 1: Burrow profile. We'll see if that actually happens. We've put

510
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 1: in our request, but you know that these things take time.

511
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: I think Dave was certainly much more in terms of

512
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: longevity and importance the Cincinnati's scene low these many years,

513
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 1: deserved to be the man who came first. The great

514
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 1: thing about the Bengals is now there's no shortage of

515
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: profile material. So you got a lot of guys, a

516
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 1: lot of interesting personalities, and that goes for the front

517
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: office too and the sideline. So in that sense, the

518
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: Bengals are in a great shape. Not only are they

519
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 1: better on a field, but they're much more interesting, you know,

520
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 1: off the field. And that was a pretty much a

521
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: definitive part of those great eighties teams that the city

522
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 1: fell in love with them beyond as I was in

523
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,160
Speaker 1: New York at the time, but you know, everybody loved

524
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,640
Speaker 1: the fact that the team had a personality and they

525
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,919
Speaker 1: do again, and that's really key. It's not just that

526
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: they win some ball games. You look at the Bengals

527
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 1: and you immediately think of something. You think of that

528
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow swagger, those long balls to Chase hitting the gritty,

529
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,239
Speaker 1: all the other things that go with the Bengals, and

530
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,080
Speaker 1: the fact that they have this sort of you know,

531
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: kind of rising profile in the league. They have the

532
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 1: white helmets going, which is also a great touch. I

533
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 1: was very happy to say that when I get that

534
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 1: on record, and you know, it's a team on their rise.

535
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,000
Speaker 1: Now they just have to have the winning continue to

536
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: go along with that. Whether it's in pay Corps Stadium

537
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,560
Speaker 1: or Paul Brown Stadium, it all comes down to those ws.

538
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: Hopefully they'll continue and go match last year's effort with

539
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 1: one extra win attached to it. Robert, as you once

540
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: said of Joe Burrow, he uses awesomeness out of every pore. Indeed,

541
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,480
Speaker 1: that's still probably my all time favorite line about Joe Burrow,

542
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 1: and it's proven to be true. It's an understatement of anything.

543
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: That's the amazing thing. Always great to catch up. Really

544
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 1: enjoyed the chapter on the Bengals and Football Outsiders and

545
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,760
Speaker 1: always enjoy your work in Cincinnati Magazine. Thanks so much

546
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:26,919
Speaker 1: for the time, and last year we did it right

547
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 1: before the Super Bowl, so hopefully I'll be reaching out

548
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,919
Speaker 1: again then absolutely, let's hope fingers crossed. Thanks so much, Dan,

549
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,440
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Before getting to my next guest, here's

550
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: a reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is presented by

551
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This

552
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,960
Speaker 1: past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the

553
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 1: course of the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money

554
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals

555
00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 1: in the App Store and Google Play. Offensive lineman Desmond

556
00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,840
Speaker 1: no Well is an undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic

557
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:06,280
Speaker 1: who grew up in Cincinnati. According to Pro Football Focus,

558
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 1: he was in for ten pass blocking snaps in week

559
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,400
Speaker 1: one of the preseason and did not allow a sack, hit,

560
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,879
Speaker 1: or hurry and PFF was not the only source to

561
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: give him a solid grade Jasmin. When it comes to

562
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,919
Speaker 1: offensive line play, I defer to Dave Lapham. He's the

563
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: expert in our radio booth. Lap thought, you played really

564
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,719
Speaker 1: well in your NFL preseason debut last week. How did

565
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: you feel about it? Oh? I felt really good. I mean,

566
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: obviously there's always things to clean up and improve on

567
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 1: my game. Coming from Laplin that that means a lot.

568
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 1: I'm excited about that. So hopefully I'll just keep working

569
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 1: and just keep checking advice from these coaches and do

570
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: what I'm coaching. Do and a little turner hall I want.

571
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,560
Speaker 1: You're a Cincinnati kid out of Coleraine High School. How

572
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 1: big was the rooting section for that first preseason game?

573
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 1: A lot of tickets, A lot of people they're rooting

574
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: for me, not just in the family and frons section

575
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,360
Speaker 1: just just in general though, you know, to say, in

576
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: touch with everybody in the community that I knew from

577
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 1: the past with Colereene, so, um, it was crazy. It

578
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 1: was a dream out there for sure for the first game.

579
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: Did I read correctly that mom is within walking distance

580
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 1: at pay Court Stadium? Yeah? Definitely. Yeah, she's living downtown,

581
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 1: so she's really close, really active. Was it surreal for

582
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 1: you to take the field in a Cincinnati Bengals uniform

583
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: being from here, Yeah, that's not even the word. I

584
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,440
Speaker 1: really couldn't even explain the type of feeling I was getting. Um.

585
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 1: I mean, I've been to so many games, seeing so

586
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: many players play on this field, and just to be

587
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,120
Speaker 1: on the field and actually get to play, actually get

588
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,800
Speaker 1: to get in and get some reps. It was crazy.

589
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: It'll be a memory that I'll always hold with me.

590
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: For sure. We're visiting with offensive lineman Desmond Noel. There

591
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,800
Speaker 1: have been some Bengals legends at training camp. Anthony Munio's

592
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,480
Speaker 1: talk to the O line. Well, he Anderson addressed the team.

593
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,000
Speaker 1: Chad Johnson has been here. Does that make you feel

594
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 1: like a kid again when you see those guys? Definitely?

595
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, when when I was a kid.

596
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,040
Speaker 1: Like I've said before, like I always thought I had

597
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: a legitimate side of in the league, but you know,

598
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: playing for the bank is just crazy. So to see

599
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,520
Speaker 1: all these legends come and give us wise words, Um,

600
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:12,080
Speaker 1: it's unreal. The goal is obviously to make the team,

601
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 1: but is the goal within the goal to make the

602
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 1: practice squad initially, stick with the team, continue to develop,

603
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 1: continue to learn, and ultimately hope to get a shot

604
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 1: at the regular roster. Um, Yeah, I think so. I

605
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 1: think that's a direction. But you know, at the end

606
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 1: of the day, like uh, like I said, I'm just

607
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,479
Speaker 1: gonna do what I'm coached to do and whatever position

608
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 1: they feel like they want to put me in, you know,

609
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna keep working, you know, whatever I can

610
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: do for the team, whatever role they want me to play,

611
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: I'll play that role. So it's an NFL training camp

612
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 1: more or less what you expected or is it different

613
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: in any way? Um, it's a little bit different. You

614
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: know a college that they really depend on what college

615
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:49,280
Speaker 1: you go to, they really try to beat you up,

616
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But you know now in

617
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 1: this in the league, you know, camp is just they

618
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: want to see something. They want to see you work.

619
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: You know, they want to see your talents on the field,

620
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: so it's not necessarily you know them how to beat

621
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: you up and physically like that. But um, the mental

622
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 1: game is it's a lot deeper. Obviously, the playbook is

623
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 1: is deep. The the semantics, everything is a lot deeper.

624
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 1: So that adds a whole new aspect of the game.

625
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 1: We're chatting the Desmond Noel. What do you think of

626
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: Frank Pollock? Great coach even you know when you got

627
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,400
Speaker 1: the legends come through like Emuneus talk to hus as

628
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: a group, and he just thinks he's a great coach.

629
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: You know, he thinks that we could be a really

630
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: great old line as long as we just are do

631
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 1: do what we coach will do and just listen to

632
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: listen to Pollock. So I think he's a great coach.

633
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 1: This might come as a surprise, but I once had

634
00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,239
Speaker 1: red hair. When I was young and had hair, it

635
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 1: was raddy, you have very bright red hair. Were you

636
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 1: an Andy Dalton guy as a result? I mean, I

637
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 1: don't know if I was an any daln guy. You know,

638
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 1: maybe I'll related to him a little bit. I had

639
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: the same kind of nicknames and stuff like that. But yeah,

640
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: I watched any doing a lot, you know what I mean.

641
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,400
Speaker 1: It's definitely a player I looked up to when I

642
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:03,080
Speaker 1: was younger. So yeah, so if he was the red rifle,

643
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 1: what were you? Whatever they want to called me. You know,

644
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 1: I'm putting names on myselves, whatever, whatever you guys want

645
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 1: to call me. So it's a road game this week

646
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,720
Speaker 1: in New York against the Giants. You'll have the whole

647
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: experience of traveling with an NFL team, taking the field

648
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: in a road stadium that you've seen a million times

649
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: on TV. Is that especially exciting prospect for you? Definitely?

650
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: Just being able to get on the road with the

651
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 1: with the team is in itself very cool, a dream

652
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: and within itself. So I'm excited to see how it goes.

653
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,080
Speaker 1: You know, how everything is set up, how they how

654
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: they run their team on the road, and yeah, we'll

655
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 1: see what I'm excited for them, all right. Well, Number

656
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 1: sixty two Dave Lapham back in the day, gave number

657
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 1: sixty Desmond Noel his stamp of approval in Week one,

658
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 1: best of luck and having another excellent performance. And I

659
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. I appreciate too, thank you. Sunday's game

660
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 1: and Medlife Stadium starts at seven o'clock. Our pregame coverage

661
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: on the Bengals Radio Network will begin at five thirty. Finally,

662
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,200
Speaker 1: time to discuss the latest training camp developments with Bengals

663
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 1: dot Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson. All right, but let's

664
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 1: start with Joe Burrow. He's practiced a couple of times.

665
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 1: Looks like he dropped a few pounds, but other than that,

666
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 1: looks normal. Can we safely say at this point that

667
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 1: they didn't really miss a beat as a team and

668
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 1: that they should be okay going forward. You know, we

669
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,360
Speaker 1: haven't seen him with the team yet, you know, and

670
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: lets it will be. I remember how it was last year,

671
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 1: and maybe it was because you know of his rehab

672
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,840
Speaker 1: and everything. But it's kind of like watching you know,

673
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 1: making sausage made, kind of watching offense get going, you know,

674
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 1: with a new when the quarterback comes back and the

675
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 1: pads are on, and it never just no matter who

676
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 1: it is, it never seems to look good early. And

677
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 1: now maybe last year that was just because you know,

678
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 1: Joe is coming off the because I remember, we all

679
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: remember how the first couple of practices everybody looked a

680
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,320
Speaker 1: little bit out of sink so, but I think they're

681
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,479
Speaker 1: fathering along now, you know. But I just think probably

682
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's it just seems like I kind

683
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,560
Speaker 1: of we've kind of seen this move before. He'll go

684
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: out there and he'll probably be you know, he'll have

685
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,879
Speaker 1: a good first day. He might go down the next day.

686
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,840
Speaker 1: You know, it's gonna be like watching the stock market

687
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:20,399
Speaker 1: and everybody's gonna be petrified. And I think he'll be fine.

688
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,239
Speaker 1: But I mean, I think it's just gonna take take time.

689
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,840
Speaker 1: What's interesting to me, Hordy is, and this kind of

690
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,440
Speaker 1: plays into the Borough question, is you know, we may

691
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,319
Speaker 1: this may be the first preseason ever where we don't

692
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:34,720
Speaker 1: see a starting player, even even for a couple of snaps.

693
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 1: I mean, that seems to be where it's trendling, So

694
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,319
Speaker 1: you know, I don't I just think it's gonna be

695
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,960
Speaker 1: it's gonna be kind of interesting how this thing unfolds.

696
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,399
Speaker 1: They play the Giants this Sunday. Their final preseason game

697
00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,400
Speaker 1: is against the Rams the following week at pay Course Stadium,

698
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,280
Speaker 1: but they're gonna have two joint practices with the Rams

699
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,239
Speaker 1: before that game. Do you think that those have basically

700
00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:00,040
Speaker 1: become the preseason games for the starters. I absolutely we

701
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:01,959
Speaker 1: do think that, and I think we may be getting

702
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:03,799
Speaker 1: a glimpse of the future if we haven't seen it

703
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:06,359
Speaker 1: already maybe, you know, I think it's been going on

704
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,600
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, kind of quietly behind the scenes.

705
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 1: But I think it's interesting that the guy who's kind

706
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,360
Speaker 1: of at the forefront of this, protecting players and taking

707
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 1: a really light Sean McVay, Zach Taylor, you know, mentored

708
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,239
Speaker 1: under him and with the Rams took a lot, you know,

709
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 1: copied a lot of the pro you know, you're kind

710
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,919
Speaker 1: of looking at mirror programs. That's what made the Super

711
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,360
Speaker 1: Bowl so interesting, the way they run this thing and

712
00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: the fact that they're kind of got the last tune

713
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:38,279
Speaker 1: up before the season open. I think it's kind of

714
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,479
Speaker 1: ironic because I don't think I think exactly what you said.

715
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 1: I think the games are probably going to be played

716
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,000
Speaker 1: Tuesday or whenever it is Wednesday, Thursday, whenever. The practices

717
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 1: are those two practices those I don't think we'll see

718
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,520
Speaker 1: anybody in the game. I don't know that may change,

719
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,840
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's kind of interesting. It's interesting that the

720
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 1: two guys, you know that McVeigh is here, and he's

721
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 1: kind of he kind of think it kind of he

722
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,359
Speaker 1: made that a bit of a fashion when they when

723
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 1: they became so successful. So it's interesting to see the

724
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,520
Speaker 1: kind of looking kind of looking in the mirror here.

725
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,600
Speaker 1: He's a pretty good guy to copy. Two super Bowl trips,

726
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,480
Speaker 1: including a super Bowl title before the age of forty. Yeah,

727
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 1: I mean I I was talking to somebody who said, uh,

728
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,719
Speaker 1: kind of it was a snuck comment, said, you know,

729
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 1: just could just stand next to Sean McVay. What's that mean? Well,

730
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,520
Speaker 1: it means a hell of a lot because just of

731
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 1: what you said, what he's accomplished it. But I think

732
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,080
Speaker 1: even more impressively is how he's done it. And this

733
00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,719
Speaker 1: is where I tipped my hat to Zach, because I

734
00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,239
Speaker 1: think Zach has has seen the future and what it

735
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:43,920
Speaker 1: means and how to handle players. And I think he's

736
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 1: done a hell of a job with that. I really

737
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: do think he's uh really done a great job. He

738
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 1: did a great job last year getting the guys to

739
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 1: the gate. I thought he did a good job in

740
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,480
Speaker 1: the pandemic. He han't. I mean, nobody, nobody had coached

741
00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: in a in a once in a hundred year pandemic.

742
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,520
Speaker 1: You know, the last guy who did it was George

743
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:05,120
Speaker 1: Hollis from THEE in the nineteen twenty pandemic. Nobody known

744
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,160
Speaker 1: how to do it right, So and I thought he

745
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:08,800
Speaker 1: did a good job. They didn't have a good record,

746
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 1: but I thought he got everybody to the gate and uh,

747
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,160
Speaker 1: you know, and I think he learned He learned it

748
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:16,719
Speaker 1: on the McVeigh. So I listen to the guys, what

749
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 1: you said, so so successful theft the age of forty.

750
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 1: I mean he's got to be successful. They're building a

751
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:26,040
Speaker 1: statue of him in Miami of Ohio, so he must

752
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 1: be good. But yeah, no, I think the fact that

753
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: Zach did stand next to McVeigh, I think is in

754
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 1: is in his favor. Let's turn to the offensive line.

755
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 1: Four of the five projected starters did not play against Arizona,

756
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,000
Speaker 1: but most of the guys who did play didn't have

757
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,080
Speaker 1: a stellar night against the Cardinals. Is that a concern

758
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,239
Speaker 1: at this early juncture or is that part for the

759
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,799
Speaker 1: course when you're talking about second and third string offensive lineman. Well,

760
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,560
Speaker 1: I think it's probably in one spot you're you're talking about,

761
00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 1: you know, they'd like to see probably Jackson Carmen probably

762
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,239
Speaker 1: be transfer transfer what he's done in practice, because he's

763
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 1: practice very well, they'd like to, you know, probably we're

764
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 1: hoping he would, you know, uh, transition a little bit

765
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,280
Speaker 1: better into a game situation. But I think with Jackson,

766
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: I mean, he's so under the microscope. I think he

767
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:16,319
Speaker 1: had you know, he had some bad plays. I think

768
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,319
Speaker 1: they all had some bad plays. I also think he

769
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: had some good plays. So this rush to you know,

770
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 1: sentence Jackson common to the to the dust spin and

771
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,360
Speaker 1: I think is a bit is a bit premature, you know.

772
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,839
Speaker 1: I think again, this is another thing where uh, you know,

773
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,680
Speaker 1: every day is every hour now is bringing stunning breaking

774
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 1: news and we have to react to it, you know,

775
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,320
Speaker 1: And so it's but I think this is going to

776
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: be a again, the practices are probably just as important,

777
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:45,640
Speaker 1: maybe more important, than the games. They got about seven

778
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 1: or eight of those left to get the two games.

779
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 1: So I think, uh, you know, I do you know,

780
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 1: I was and you know in in you know this

781
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,640
Speaker 1: Hordy because you watch it with lap and and uh

782
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,279
Speaker 1: you think maybe a guy didn't play particularly well, and

783
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,880
Speaker 1: then you talk to the coaches and you know, like

784
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 1: like Trey Hill, I think I think they like what

785
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: I think they like how Trey Hills trending. And he's

786
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,920
Speaker 1: a key guy because you know, he's gonna have to

787
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,279
Speaker 1: play both, you know, center and guard, backing up Ted

788
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 1: Carris at center. So you know, I think, uh, you know,

789
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:21,399
Speaker 1: I think there's always concerned particularly around this offensive line,

790
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,560
Speaker 1: given the history of the last you know year and

791
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:29,600
Speaker 1: h but I think there, you know, it's uh, you know,

792
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,480
Speaker 1: it's myke This is where I this is the time

793
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:35,480
Speaker 1: year I always pull out to Kevin Bacon line and

794
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 1: animal house, you know, remain calm and you know. So,

795
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,359
Speaker 1: I mean, if we're having this discussion on Labor Day,

796
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:46,600
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, but I still think we've got a

797
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,760
Speaker 1: ways to go. Talking to coaches and scouts off the record,

798
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 1: they basically say exactly what you were saying about Jackson Carmen.

799
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 1: It wasn't bad on every snap or a couple of

800
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 1: glaring ones that you could see replayed ad nauseam on

801
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,919
Speaker 1: TV or on Twitter or whatever. But there were good

802
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 1: things in the game, and the things that he did

803
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:10,000
Speaker 1: poorly are very correctable. So let's not bury him based

804
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: on a half of a game against the Cardinals. On

805
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:16,040
Speaker 1: the other hand, the Bengals offensive or the highest graded

806
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,120
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, at least according to PFF, was Cordell Wolson.

807
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,600
Speaker 1: They gave him a seventy four point eight. So what

808
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 1: do you think happens this week? Does Wolson get the

809
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: opportunity to start? Obviously he practiced with the ones this

810
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,239
Speaker 1: week and Jackson has a rap on his elbow. That's

811
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:34,040
Speaker 1: what it would seem, you know, it seemed to be

812
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,160
Speaker 1: they just switch it. I think maybe you know, Wolson

813
00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:40,399
Speaker 1: gets his thirty or so snaps in the first half,

814
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,200
Speaker 1: Jackson goes in the second. That would seem to be

815
00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,240
Speaker 1: where it's trendling. I know, I don't think they're two,

816
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,480
Speaker 1: you know, I don't think they're two into the Well,

817
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:50,680
Speaker 1: we gotta play, you know, we gotta playim against better

818
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:53,640
Speaker 1: competition or whatever, because I think they feel like they're

819
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:55,839
Speaker 1: getting that out here right, you know. And I think

820
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: that you know, they're going against the ones he's going against.

821
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,840
Speaker 1: You know, the defensive line is pretty good now that

822
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:03,760
Speaker 1: Bengals defensive line is good. And it's something that Wolson

823
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,359
Speaker 1: told me that I thought was interesting. He thought that

824
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,359
Speaker 1: the train the training camp practice is really prepared him

825
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,000
Speaker 1: well for the game as far as the speed and

826
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,400
Speaker 1: everything like that. And he thought it was. You know,

827
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 1: obviously it's differently North Dakota. You know, that's that's it's

828
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:19,680
Speaker 1: a big gap. But he was prepared for that. He

829
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,560
Speaker 1: was prepared with that switch, which I found kind of interesting.

830
00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:26,239
Speaker 1: So I think it tells me too how important the

831
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 1: practices are because Zach is running him, you know. I

832
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,400
Speaker 1: thought he delved into that. That was kind of interesting

833
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,439
Speaker 1: in the other day when he was talking about why

834
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 1: he wanted to go two days with pads and then

835
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:38,640
Speaker 1: take a day, you know, take a day off from

836
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:40,759
Speaker 1: the field, and then go at it, you know, go

837
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 1: hide for two days and then back off. And I

838
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 1: think you play faster, you practice faster, you know, And

839
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 1: so I think that's and I think you can see

840
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 1: that maybe what Volson was saying. And Volson looked pretty good.

841
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,399
Speaker 1: It has been interesting to watch that in this camp

842
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:59,320
Speaker 1: because with that philosophy now of two days and pads

843
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,719
Speaker 1: and a day off, they really get after it on

844
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 1: those two days. It's not like a few periods are

845
00:42:05,600 --> 00:42:08,680
Speaker 1: kind of physical and then they back way down. They're

846
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,839
Speaker 1: going hard for two solid days and pads and then

847
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,440
Speaker 1: have that recovery day. And you know, even even in

848
00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,799
Speaker 1: the back end on seven and seven. You know, they're

849
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:20,520
Speaker 1: chicken fighting. They're going they're going forward, you know, big time.

850
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,960
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a That's what I thought was kind

851
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 1: of nice to see the uh on Monday with te

852
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:29,240
Speaker 1: Higgins was going up and being physical with that shoulder.

853
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,080
Speaker 1: You know, that's his game, you know, and it was

854
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:33,800
Speaker 1: it was good to see that in another kind of practice,

855
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 1: she might not see that, oh back off of them

856
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:38,240
Speaker 1: and all that and everything. So it is an interesting

857
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:41,839
Speaker 1: approach and it's, uh, it's kind of you know, it

858
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:44,440
Speaker 1: is it is in the bottom line is it's getting

859
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:47,759
Speaker 1: them ready for what they'll see on the eleventh. As

860
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:51,040
Speaker 1: listeners have already heard on this podcast, we listened to

861
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,600
Speaker 1: Kendrick Pryor, who had a great preseason debut four catches

862
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:59,040
Speaker 1: eighty nine yards in a touchdown. Can he or Qualmi

863
00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 1: Lasseter make the fifty three man roster barring an injury

864
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 1: or are they trying to secure spots on the practice squad. Yeah,

865
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,360
Speaker 1: I think Laster's got the best shot, I think because

866
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 1: he can return, but he would have to do an

867
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:18,160
Speaker 1: Alex Ericsson and you know, go crazy on three punts

868
00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 1: because I'm gonna be hard to blow Trent Taylor out

869
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: of there. Particularly, I thought how well he played from

870
00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:27,360
Speaker 1: scrimmage in the opener against Arizona. I mean, he showed

871
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:30,040
Speaker 1: why they love him, because he's just reliable, you know.

872
00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,200
Speaker 1: So you know, it's a tougher client for Prior because

873
00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,600
Speaker 1: Prior doesn't return. You know, I think I think they'd

874
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,120
Speaker 1: like to keep six receivers, which I find interesting since

875
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:44,239
Speaker 1: they are such are they're a three receiver team. You

876
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:46,960
Speaker 1: think they keep seven, but you know they want to

877
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 1: keep it at six, and because I think they want

878
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,200
Speaker 1: to keep some extra stuff for you know, defense of

879
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:54,040
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman. But you know, if Prior, what if

880
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:56,840
Speaker 1: Prior plays like he did, you know, the next two games,

881
00:43:56,880 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 1: you know, you might have to go with seven receivers.

882
00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:01,560
Speaker 1: Maybe if he if he's that good, if he's really

883
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:05,640
Speaker 1: that developing, that that well, but that's a tough room.

884
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:08,120
Speaker 1: You know, that's a tough room. I think they're going

885
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:11,760
Speaker 1: for practice. I think they're going for practice squad spots.

886
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:15,160
Speaker 1: It's nothing wrong with that because you know, Stanley Morgan

887
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:17,200
Speaker 1: came out of there and has become a solid player.

888
00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: You know. Now, I think they're also looking on the

889
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:21,480
Speaker 1: other end, and I say, I think they'd also probably

890
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,520
Speaker 1: like to like to upgrade a little bit that first

891
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:27,120
Speaker 1: guy off the bench. But you know, Mike Thomas is

892
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 1: a fine player too. I mean, I don't think you're

893
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 1: gonna find much better than Mike Thomas out there who

894
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:33,759
Speaker 1: knows the system. They really trust him, and that's a

895
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:37,480
Speaker 1: big thing. Coaches trust Mike Thomas. He's a good teams player.

896
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,759
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't don't poo poo him being

897
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,440
Speaker 1: the fourth because I think he'd be high pressed. They

898
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: do much better than that if you wanted to, you know,

899
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:46,640
Speaker 1: if you wanted to go around the league and find something.

900
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 1: And Stanley as solid as the fifth, you know, they

901
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:52,359
Speaker 1: probably like to see him do a little bit more

902
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,840
Speaker 1: from scrimmage. But he's such a solid teams player. And

903
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:58,240
Speaker 1: then you go, you know that that six guys probably

904
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:00,719
Speaker 1: gonna be Taylors because he's such a good returner. But

905
00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: if Kwamy, you know, if Kwamy blows him out, then

906
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:05,759
Speaker 1: he would get the job. But like I said, that's

907
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: a hard that's going to be a hard number. And

908
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,880
Speaker 1: maybe maybe and maybe prior makes him keep set up.

909
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 1: I think Trent Taylor's also having a really good camp.

910
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 1: It's not just the preseason game. I mean, he's targeted

911
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:18,799
Speaker 1: four times and had four catches, so he couldn't have

912
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:20,839
Speaker 1: done any better than that against the Cardinals. But when

913
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 1: I watched these wide receiver drills, he looks like he's

914
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:26,719
Speaker 1: got the best short space quickness of any guy on

915
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,439
Speaker 1: that receiving corps. And he didn't play a big role

916
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,680
Speaker 1: as a receiver last year. He wasn't active until the

917
00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:35,840
Speaker 1: final four games of the season, I don't think, and

918
00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,279
Speaker 1: then the postseason. But when they needed a two point

919
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:40,880
Speaker 1: conversion to tie the Cardinals in the playoffs, that's the

920
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:42,800
Speaker 1: guy they went to. No, there's no question. And I

921
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:44,799
Speaker 1: think on the other side of the ball, he got

922
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:46,799
Speaker 1: a guy like Clay Johnston. He made one. He was

923
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,520
Speaker 1: on the field for one play in the playoff game

924
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 1: and he stopped the King Derrick Henry on a two

925
00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:55,000
Speaker 1: point conversion that probably got him into the AFC Championship game.

926
00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:56,960
Speaker 1: And now a guy like that, he's got a tough

927
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:03,040
Speaker 1: nut two linebacker. But you know, performing down the stretch

928
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:06,120
Speaker 1: and situations like that pretty hard to get guys out

929
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:08,600
Speaker 1: of here. So Johnston, I think, is a you know,

930
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:10,719
Speaker 1: you get to think about him as a possible fifth

931
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,320
Speaker 1: pack or you know, he'll stay here on the practice squad.

932
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:16,680
Speaker 1: But then, of course you have the universal question, would

933
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 1: a guy like would guys like Lasseter Prior with their

934
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:23,840
Speaker 1: tape and Johnston with his tape, with his good tape,

935
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:27,120
Speaker 1: would they survive, you know, the cutdown or would they

936
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:31,480
Speaker 1: get claimed? Always a concern year after year, no question. Also,

937
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,080
Speaker 1: I think I misspoken said the Cardinals when I meant

938
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,239
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, referring to the Trent Taylor two point conversion.

939
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,520
Speaker 1: Let's get to some news of the week. Second year

940
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:44,880
Speaker 1: rush end Whyatt Hubert announced his retirement. He's been injured NonStop,

941
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:48,439
Speaker 1: unfortunately since being drafted in the seventh round. Last year,

942
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:54,480
Speaker 1: undrafted offensive lineman Ben Brown suffered a season ending torn tornpacktoral,

943
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:57,279
Speaker 1: so we're not going to see him this year. Tight

944
00:46:57,360 --> 00:46:59,680
Speaker 1: Endrew Sample is walking around at a knee brace. It's

945
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 1: going to be a couple of weeks probably for him.

946
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:05,400
Speaker 1: Backup tight end Mitchell Wilcox has been in a walking

947
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,879
Speaker 1: boot after twisting his ankle or hurting his foot, I'm

948
00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:11,200
Speaker 1: not sure which. In the preseason opener, Cam Taylor Britt

949
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:15,360
Speaker 1: hasn't practiced for several days because of a core muscle problem.

950
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,120
Speaker 1: Do you see the Bengals having to you know, go

951
00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:21,719
Speaker 1: out and get somebody at one of these spots, just

952
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,160
Speaker 1: to add depth to the roster. I think even probably

953
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:27,480
Speaker 1: before Wilcox get hurt, I think probably they were looking

954
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,600
Speaker 1: at to upgrade a little bit at tight end. And

955
00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:32,600
Speaker 1: I think that's what they're doing right now. They're trying

956
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:34,839
Speaker 1: to upgrade the final How do you do that? Can

957
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:39,719
Speaker 1: you upgrade that final spot? You know? And uh, you know,

958
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:43,440
Speaker 1: I think see how long tailor Brits out, you know,

959
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,839
Speaker 1: and see what their reaction is. I think they'd like to,

960
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 1: you know, before they made a move. I think there,

961
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,880
Speaker 1: I mean, see how long Brits you know, is he

962
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 1: going to be back in three days or three months?

963
00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:56,759
Speaker 1: I have no idea. I don't know. We haven't seen him.

964
00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:01,520
Speaker 1: So I think that's why all these guys are playing.

965
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:03,520
Speaker 1: You know, all these guys are you know, what you

966
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:05,719
Speaker 1: need now is right? Is right? That's what you're looking

967
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:08,439
Speaker 1: for is a fifth corner right behind Trey Flowers? Who's

968
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 1: your fourth? So? Um, you know, I think if you know,

969
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:16,560
Speaker 1: if you can, you upgrade over what you've got with

970
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:18,640
Speaker 1: the with the rookie, you know, with the Alan Georges

971
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,560
Speaker 1: and the Dalante hoods and if you can't upgrade, they

972
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:23,319
Speaker 1: would do it. But like I said, I don't I

973
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,759
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't think we're there yet. I think,

974
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,800
Speaker 1: you know, they got to find out more about Taylor Britain,

975
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 1: and they got to find out more about you know,

976
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:32,920
Speaker 1: how these other kids are playing. But I think tight end,

977
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:35,239
Speaker 1: I think it's something that's a spot they've always been.

978
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:38,719
Speaker 1: I think trying to really upgrade there and m and

979
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, uh with the offensive line.

980
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,480
Speaker 1: I think what Brown at best probably would have been

981
00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:46,480
Speaker 1: on the practice squad. It's too bad. They like him.

982
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:48,240
Speaker 1: I think they think he's got a pretty good future

983
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:51,200
Speaker 1: so uh that that's too bad that he probably gonna

984
00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 1: lose a year on a practice squad. But I'm not

985
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:55,480
Speaker 1: sure they make a move there either, because it's a

986
00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,759
Speaker 1: pretty it's a pretty full you know, it's pretty full

987
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,080
Speaker 1: there right now. You also have an issue right now

988
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:02,840
Speaker 1: where every NFL team has nearly ninety guys on the roster,

989
00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:05,799
Speaker 1: so the pool of players that could actually help your

990
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:10,800
Speaker 1: team during the season probably isn't great until cutdown day.

991
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:14,520
Speaker 1: You can you know, always claim guys that are out

992
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:17,240
Speaker 1: there at that point and also pull off a trade

993
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:19,160
Speaker 1: just before the start of the season, much like they

994
00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:21,960
Speaker 1: did last year to get b J. Hill. So maybe

995
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:25,760
Speaker 1: that's when they eventually fill some of that depth after

996
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:28,680
Speaker 1: teams have determined, you know who they can no longer

997
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:31,040
Speaker 1: keep on their fifty three man rosters. Yeah, I think

998
00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: we're talking about we're talking about September decisions really, I

999
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,160
Speaker 1: mean Labor Day decisions, because now the way the way

1000
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:38,360
Speaker 1: I think it's horty if i'm if I'm not mistaken,

1001
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:40,840
Speaker 1: it's kind of it's kind of pushed back a little

1002
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 1: bit in that we'll push back up or however you

1003
00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:45,760
Speaker 1: want to look at it. But they've got some extra

1004
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:51,240
Speaker 1: time now between after the last preseason game and before

1005
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:53,839
Speaker 1: to you know open I think they get two full weeks, so,

1006
00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:56,759
Speaker 1: you know, I think historically it had been nine or ten,

1007
00:49:57,239 --> 00:49:59,160
Speaker 1: so they've got some time to play with there, and

1008
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:02,880
Speaker 1: as you noted, they did the b J. Hill Billy

1009
00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:06,239
Speaker 1: Price deal at that time. But you know, I think

1010
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:10,279
Speaker 1: that will give them enough time. The three preseason games

1011
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:12,000
Speaker 1: and all those practices that we're talking about, it's going

1012
00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:13,960
Speaker 1: to give them enough time to make them evaluate their

1013
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:16,400
Speaker 1: own guys and if they got to go get somebody

1014
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:18,800
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make a prediction for you. By the way,

1015
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:22,800
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns have lost two centers with the season

1016
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:26,120
Speaker 1: ending injuries. Apparently in training camp. Billy Price is still

1017
00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:28,680
Speaker 1: out there. But if he winds up in Cleveland, that's

1018
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:30,719
Speaker 1: amazing that Billy Price is still out there. I think

1019
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:32,520
Speaker 1: I thought he was. I thought he was okay here,

1020
00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:34,920
Speaker 1: I really was. I think the worst thing that can

1021
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:36,400
Speaker 1: happen to a guy who get draft him in the

1022
00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:39,160
Speaker 1: first round because you're supposed to be superman or something,

1023
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,440
Speaker 1: and if you're just a solid player, that doesn't help you.

1024
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:46,520
Speaker 1: You know, um it. It would be interesting if with Cleveland,

1025
00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:49,479
Speaker 1: if they show up and we play them, and they've

1026
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:53,640
Speaker 1: got and they've got Pricent and Billy and Billy Price,

1027
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:57,000
Speaker 1: is there is their center. I mean, it's you can't.

1028
00:50:57,040 --> 00:51:01,000
Speaker 1: That's why you can't. All these inner all these predictions,

1029
00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:04,440
Speaker 1: these these this preseason stuff. It's it's it's a you

1030
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:06,480
Speaker 1: can maybe do it in baseball, whether it just or

1031
00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:10,279
Speaker 1: basketball or it just seems like football is even though

1032
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:12,880
Speaker 1: it's the ultimate team game, it seems to be the

1033
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:15,960
Speaker 1: one most affected by personnel, but you know, by injuries.

1034
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:19,480
Speaker 1: It's it's really so it's just uh, you know that's

1035
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,080
Speaker 1: why I think again it goes back to highest statut.

1036
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:25,919
Speaker 1: The you know, this interview with me is getting borrowed. Ready,

1037
00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:27,960
Speaker 1: that's the to me, that's the story. If you can,

1038
00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,680
Speaker 1: if you can get to the gate with your team intact,

1039
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,600
Speaker 1: you get a shot, you know, I mean, you gotta

1040
00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:38,120
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's not like baseball where if

1041
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:41,600
Speaker 1: you get healthy to the gate, you know, five teams

1042
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:44,520
Speaker 1: have a chance. You know it pretty much if you

1043
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:47,160
Speaker 1: get a you know, pretty much, you get to the

1044
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:50,399
Speaker 1: gate intact. In the NFL get a shot of making

1045
00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:52,600
Speaker 1: the playoffs if you got a half decent club. So

1046
00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:55,799
Speaker 1: I think, you know, and you know this, you go,

1047
00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:58,200
Speaker 1: you read, You need the headlines every you know, every

1048
00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:00,239
Speaker 1: hour on the hour, looking at if somebody goes down,

1049
00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:04,399
Speaker 1: you know, I mean Zach Wilson did there. That is

1050
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:09,319
Speaker 1: they're gonna be They're gonna be issuing bulletins in New

1051
00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:12,279
Speaker 1: York today on Zach Wilson's surgery. It's gonna be like

1052
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:16,640
Speaker 1: the James Garfield medical updates, you know, when he was

1053
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:19,279
Speaker 1: shot the President of United States. They're gonna you know,

1054
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:22,000
Speaker 1: is it gonna be two to four weeks or is

1055
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:26,000
Speaker 1: there more damage you know, you know what, maybe maybe

1056
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,400
Speaker 1: he shouldn't have played, you know, I mean, I just

1057
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:30,120
Speaker 1: I just you know, yeah, I know he's got to

1058
00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:33,640
Speaker 1: develop and all that stuff, but you know, wow, get

1059
00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:36,600
Speaker 1: your club to the gate. That's going to do it.

1060
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Speaker 1: For this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by

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Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty

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00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:46,440
Speaker 1: two season. It's free to play next level fantasy football

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00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:50,080
Speaker 1: with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App

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00:52:50,120 --> 00:52:53,480
Speaker 1: Store and Google Play. And if you haven't done so already,

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00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:56,120
Speaker 1: please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute,

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00:52:56,120 --> 00:52:59,160
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps

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Speaker 1: more Bengals fans ends find us. I'm Dan Horde, and

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Speaker 1: thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast