Speaker 1: Higain everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast. The Let's Dance addition, as one of
Speaker 1: the most eagerly anticipated seasons in Bengals history, gets under
Speaker 1: way this Sunday with the one hundredth Battle of Ohio
Speaker 1: between the Bengals and Cleveland Browns coming up. I'll talk
Speaker 1: to the longest tenured player on the Bengals roster, Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 1: who enters his eighth season in Cincinnati. Speaking of long tenures,
Speaker 1: Jeff Hobson has covered the Bengals for more than twenty
Speaker 1: five years. He'll join me to look ahead to the
Speaker 1: upcoming season and sticking with the theme, Tony Grossi has
Speaker 1: been on the Cleveland Browns beat since the mid eighties.
Speaker 1: He gives us the scoop from Cleveland on what to
Speaker 1: anticipate from Deshaun Watson and the Browns on Sunday. The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're free to play with tickets and signed merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Now here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered rite to your phone, tablet, or
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the
Speaker 1: greatest thing since hydrangea shrubs. Whatever the opposite of a
Speaker 1: green thumb is, I have it. I am historically a
Speaker 1: serial killer of plants and flowers, but this summer we
Speaker 1: planted three hydrange of bushes in our yard, and at
Speaker 1: least so far, they're flourishing with big pink, blue, and
Speaker 1: white blossoms. I've been sure to water them every couple
Speaker 1: of days, but they've also helped me out by indicating
Speaker 1: when they need water in extreme heat by drooping like
Speaker 1: they're sad. So if you're like me and are under
Speaker 1: the impression that the only thing you can grow are
Speaker 1: your fingernails, consider planting hydrange of shrubs. They've convinced me
Speaker 1: that I might not be the ted but of plants
Speaker 1: after all. Now let's get to this week's game. The
Speaker 1: Bengals are not only one of the NFL's best teams,
Speaker 1: they're one of the youngest. According to bookies dot Com,
Speaker 1: the average age of the players on the bengals fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster is twenty five years, nine months, and
Speaker 1: nine days. Only two teams have a younger average Green
Speaker 1: Bay and Tampa Bay, and the Bucks have the youngest
Speaker 1: roster after the retirement of Tom Brady. The Jets with
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers have the oldest average roster in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and Pittsburgh checks in at number six, with the oldest
Speaker 1: of any team in the AFC North. Getting back to
Speaker 1: the Bengals, Ted Karras is the only player on the
Speaker 1: fifty three man roster who is thirty or older. He's
Speaker 1: in his eighth NFL season, and so is Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 1: who has spent all of those seasons in Cincinnati. I
Speaker 1: talked to him this week. Tyler, this is the start
Speaker 1: of year eight. How have you been able to maintain
Speaker 1: such a high level of play for this long?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 3: You know, just coming in and being the same person
Speaker 3: each and every day and just being consistent, you know.
Speaker 2: I think that's what this game is about.
Speaker 3: And availability, you know, is can account on me, you know,
Speaker 3: each and every day, each and every game. And I've
Speaker 3: always been there and I always met that standard.
Speaker 1: We've heard from a lot of players during training camp
Speaker 1: say that Zach Taylor's approach has been helpful to them,
Speaker 1: not beating them up during the preseason games during camp.
Speaker 1: How helpful has that been for you?
Speaker 3: It's huge, you know, because you keep us fresh. You know,
Speaker 3: it doesn't put wear and tear in our bodies. You know,
Speaker 3: it's not many days where we're coming in sore, banged up.
Speaker 3: You know, he's taking great care of us practicing and
Speaker 3: just mentally as well. You know, it ain't mentally taxing
Speaker 3: and meetings, and I mean, it's just overall. He correlated
Speaker 3: it so good that I mean, it's it's a pleasure
Speaker 3: for us.
Speaker 1: You're twenty eight, You're still a young man in my book,
Speaker 1: but you're a vat in NFL circles. Have you given
Speaker 1: any thought to how long you'd like to do this?
Speaker 2: I've been getting out a lot at this point.
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna keep going till I feel like I can't,
Speaker 3: you know, And like like you said, I still feel
Speaker 3: fresh and young. I still feel like I'm on my
Speaker 3: first deal. So I'm gonna try to go as long
Speaker 3: as I can.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a look at the team. After
Speaker 1: missing about five weeks of training camp with this calf injury,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow returned twelve days before the season opener. Did
Speaker 1: he look like normal Joe Burrow or could you tell
Speaker 1: a slight difference.
Speaker 3: He still looked hisself, you know, his throwing mechanics looked well,
Speaker 3: his hip, mobility, just everything that I've seen. I felt
Speaker 3: that he was practically ready to go out there that play.
Speaker 3: If we had a game tomorrow, then he would be
Speaker 3: ready to go. In my eyes, I talked to him
Speaker 3: and see how he feels. Sometimes it may be still sore,
Speaker 3: but at the end of the day, he knows what
Speaker 3: he can do, and like I said, visualizing it, either
Speaker 3: he's haiding it well or he's actually really good to go.
Speaker 2: So in my he's good to go.
Speaker 1: We're chatting to Tyler Boyd. Several weeks ago. I asked
Speaker 1: t Higgins about the relationship between you, Jamar Chase and him.
Speaker 1: He said, quote, we're like brothers. Blood couldn't make us
Speaker 1: any closer. We love each other like we've got the
Speaker 1: same mama. It's not always like that between elite wide
Speaker 1: receivers on the same team. Why do you three have
Speaker 1: a relationship like that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think cause it goes a long way.
Speaker 3: You know, at the end of the day, we're all
Speaker 3: great receivers and we all know that and like you said,
Speaker 3: it's hard for a great receiver group to stay connected,
Speaker 3: you know, because everybody, every guy wants to be the guy,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: But here we are still all the guys.
Speaker 3: You know, we get just as many plays as is
Speaker 3: the other you know, some of us might get more targets,
Speaker 3: hair and there, you know, and I just feel we
Speaker 3: all feel comfortable with what we bring and what we
Speaker 3: do to this team. And uh, we're just genuine people,
Speaker 3: you know that care for one another because we want
Speaker 3: to win. You know, if somebody's having a good game,
Speaker 3: we want to cheer that guy up, and then it
Speaker 3: could be holding different week where.
Speaker 2: It's another guy up.
Speaker 3: You guys that we don't get frustrated with numbers and
Speaker 3: how games go, because uh, it's go always coming back around,
Speaker 3: you know, next the next go around, or Zach gonna
Speaker 3: put us in position the next go around to uh
Speaker 3: have that game, you know. So at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, we spend a lot of our time together
Speaker 3: oppisode as well, and that's probably uh the brotherhood what
Speaker 3: we get.
Speaker 1: So his expression was, we're like brothers. Are you the
Speaker 1: older brother? Is that your relationship with those guys?
Speaker 3: Yeah, just because I'm the oldest, you know. But I
Speaker 3: don't treat them guys like the younger brother, you know.
Speaker 3: I just look at it like we're all one. We're
Speaker 3: one unit.
Speaker 2: Uh. We we we treat each other.
Speaker 3: The same with respect, and we're loyal and we we
Speaker 3: protect one another. We got each other's back, and I
Speaker 3: think that's what drives us to keep resetting the standard
Speaker 3: on being the best each year. So just being well connected,
Speaker 3: uh is just gonna uh make all of us better.
Speaker 1: On the topic of great Bengals wide receivers, it's already
Speaker 1: been announced that the ruler of the jump for the
Speaker 1: home opener is going to be Aj Green. What did
Speaker 1: AJ do for you early in your career?
Speaker 3: He was basically the guy that I am now and
Speaker 3: for everybody else now, you know, he was the guy
Speaker 3: that I can come in and lean on and talk
Speaker 3: to and get a vice, you know, because he I mean,
Speaker 3: he was the best at the position of the time,
Speaker 3: and that would really that's that's the position you want
Speaker 3: to come in as a young receiver to. You could
Speaker 3: actually see him do it, and AJ wasn't as vocal
Speaker 3: as he was showing it. And that's probably the difference
Speaker 3: between how other people go about it, but for him
Speaker 3: to show it and see how it's done, and me
Speaker 3: going being able to go up to him and pick
Speaker 3: his brain and ask him how to run a certain
Speaker 3: route and certain leverage and things like that. I mean,
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, he I mean, he
Speaker 3: was the big brother for me, So I kind of
Speaker 3: embraced that role and kind of paved the way for
Speaker 3: me to share with these other guys.
Speaker 1: Were you excited to hear that he was going to
Speaker 1: be the ruler of the jungle?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 3: I actually was, you know, because I mean, he's a
Speaker 3: great due. He's probably one of the greatest.
Speaker 2: Dudes I ever met. You know, he's he's.
Speaker 3: Super super upfront man. He doesn't he doesn't party, doesn't
Speaker 3: go out. He's a he's a real stand up man.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Man, he just does everything right.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: I never he never got gets in trouble. We never
Speaker 2: do stupid stuff.
Speaker 3: You know, he's the perfect exam example of being a
Speaker 3: football player and a man.
Speaker 1: You open the season in Cleveland. The Bengals have lost
Speaker 1: their last five road games. There, does that stick under
Speaker 1: your crow going into this game?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: We all know that, you know, and but each and
Speaker 3: every game we don't kind of think of that. We
Speaker 3: look at it as we're gonna go up there and
Speaker 3: win each and every game. So it is a battle
Speaker 3: for us because that's been the case going up there
Speaker 3: and leaving and losing. But we gotta rewrite it now,
Speaker 3: I'll guesswitch it up for.
Speaker 1: The passing game to thrive. The offensive line's got a
Speaker 1: block Miles Garrett and Zadarius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson, et cetera.
Speaker 1: Is that the bottom line on Sunday.
Speaker 3: It's a huge part, you know, But like, like again,
Speaker 3: it's a football game. Everybody got to play their part
Speaker 3: to win, you know, from us being able to make
Speaker 3: plays against their dbs, you know, our running backs be
Speaker 3: able to pick up blitzers and our running backs being
Speaker 3: able to run the ball on them, and just I
Speaker 3: think as long as we just stay locked in and
Speaker 3: I'll execute those guys, you know, and stay polished, and
Speaker 3: the game will always grow away.
Speaker 1: A couple more questions for Tyler Boyd. You've got your catchphrase,
Speaker 1: big levels and the gesture that goes with it. Maybe
Speaker 1: I should know this, but I don't. Where'd that come from?
Speaker 3: It kind of kind of been a part of me
Speaker 3: since high school actually, and then going into college because
Speaker 3: it had came out of a song and I can't
Speaker 3: really put my my mind doing I forget. It's a
Speaker 3: rap song and it will always stay level with and
Speaker 3: at that point I will go with it because it
Speaker 3: made sense. When you go out in the field, you
Speaker 3: dominate and you look like you're disuperior and you're out
Speaker 3: there killing them, and so it's levels to this. So
Speaker 3: you got to step up your crabs, step up your
Speaker 3: work to compete with me, you know, and try to
Speaker 3: stop me. So, uh, that's I kind of reference to.
Speaker 1: It's unique, it fits you perfectly. Final question, I think
Speaker 1: the Comeback Player of the Year award has already been
Speaker 1: decided because your friend Tamar Hamlin made the Bills fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Man, I'm I'm happy for him, you know, especially from
Speaker 3: what he overcame and that was that was that was
Speaker 3: that was a big time man.
Speaker 2: That was a sad moment.
Speaker 3: And it's because I know he's a great, great person,
Speaker 3: you know, and by him recovering and beating it and
Speaker 3: beating it and oways being against him, he's uh been
Speaker 3: a warrior to them times, you know, and even just
Speaker 3: coming up. You know, he's still competing and fighting for
Speaker 3: spots and having to deal with things like that.
Speaker 2: Personally, it was crazy. But he has a great support.
Speaker 3: System and I'm a I'm a part of that, and uh,
Speaker 3: he's a great player as well. He's even an even
Speaker 3: better person. So's it'll be well deserving.
Speaker 1: Best of luck on big levels in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Hope you get a ring.
Speaker 2: Indeed, appreciate you brother.
Speaker 1: The That Goes Booth podcast is brought to you by
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Speaker 1: hundred care providers. Kettering Health is committed to guiding you
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Speaker 1: The big question for the Bengals going into Sunday's opener
Speaker 1: in Cleveland is obviously the status of Joe Burrow. He
Speaker 1: was listed as a full participant at practice on Wednesday
Speaker 1: and told reporters that barring a setback on Thursday or Friday,
Speaker 1: he expects to be good to go on Sunday. As
Speaker 1: for his contract extension, who knows it could be finished
Speaker 1: by the time you listen to this podcast, but Joe
Speaker 1: says he is not worried about it.
Speaker 4: You know, you definitely realize that it's a business. But
Speaker 4: you know, at the end of the day, we're playing
Speaker 4: football professionally, and you know, I'm with great people, some
Speaker 4: of my best friends in there. Like I said, that's
Speaker 4: icing on the cake. It'll come when it comes. But
Speaker 4: I'm folks on being the Browns right now. Yeah, this
Speaker 4: is where I want to be. This is where I
Speaker 4: want to be my whole career. We're working towards making
Speaker 4: that happen. You know, you've seen what the front office
Speaker 4: has done and what Zach has done in their time here,
Speaker 4: and you know, I'm a small part of that, and
Speaker 4: you know, I'm excited to be a part of that.
Speaker 4: And we have great people in the locker room that
Speaker 4: grind every day that you know, are excited to go
Speaker 4: and showcase their talents and excited to do it.
Speaker 5: In the city of.
Speaker 4: Cincinnati, you know, we have the best fans and so
Speaker 4: this is this is where I want to be.
Speaker 1: Now, time to preview the upcoming season with Bengals dot
Speaker 1: Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson. Which how many years have
Speaker 1: you been on the Bengals beat, And is this the
Speaker 1: best roster that you've seen going into a season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I've been with the team for twenty
Speaker 5: This is my twenty fourth opener, and I would say
Speaker 5: it is probably my pretty close to my thirtieth opener
Speaker 5: with the Bengals, And yeah, I mean it's if it's
Speaker 5: not the best team, it's certainly the most anticipated team.
Speaker 5: But certainly it's the most accomplished team, you know. I
Speaker 5: mean they're coming off No Bengals teams ever won two
Speaker 5: straight division titles, no Bengals team's ever gone to two
Speaker 5: straight AFC Championship games, and they have the core back.
Speaker 5: So I mean, I would just, just you know, pure
Speaker 5: pure reason would say this is the best. And of course,
Speaker 5: you know, of course it's not a reasonable league.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we have no idea what injuries will happen
Speaker 1: for the Bengals or for anybody else. But I don't
Speaker 1: see a glaring weakness. People talk about the loss of
Speaker 1: Bates and Bell. They're very, very good players, but I
Speaker 1: think Hill and Scott are maybe not as talented, but
Speaker 1: talented in different ways. Yes, so I jp Ryan's loss significant,
Speaker 1: but third down back is not the most important role
Speaker 1: on an NFL roster. Like I said, I don't see
Speaker 1: a glaring weakness.
Speaker 5: No, I mean I agree. I mean I I saw something.
Speaker 5: Somebody had them as the most vulnerable division winner, and
Speaker 5: I just I really don't. I really kind of I didn't.
Speaker 5: I didn't understand that because okay, they lost both safeties,
Speaker 5: but that they haven't lost anybody on the edge. The
Speaker 5: game's played in one on the edge, you know. I mean,
Speaker 5: obviously safeties are important, but I mean they've got all
Speaker 5: their playmakers back, you know, which is is the stunning
Speaker 5: thing to me and I and I and I think
Speaker 5: you made the point on a you know, on a
Speaker 5: who day conversation, is there is there really there's stunning
Speaker 5: continuity in coaching, which I think is just as important
Speaker 5: as having a Pro Bowl or at some position. You know.
Speaker 5: I mean I think that you can't you just can't.
Speaker 5: You can't put a price on that, the continuity of it.
Speaker 5: That's why I think the safety thing is a bit
Speaker 5: overblown because it's the same you know, it's the same system,
Speaker 5: and it's and it's the guys who around the safeties,
Speaker 5: the two lines, back the three corners and Anna Rumo
Speaker 5: calling the shots. They've all been through the thing. So
Speaker 5: I think, you know, I think really that the coaching
Speaker 5: staff thing is underrated. It shouldn't be. I think you've
Speaker 5: got to consider it as a you know, as a
Speaker 5: Pro Bowl player, it's huge.
Speaker 1: I made the analogy that it's like starting from the
Speaker 1: fifty yard line in a one hundred yard dash because
Speaker 1: you don't have to start from square one. It's not
Speaker 1: all right, this is my system. These are the words
Speaker 1: I use. And all of that time I don't want
Speaker 1: to say wasted, but all that time spent getting up
Speaker 1: to speed in somebody else's system is a nonentity for
Speaker 1: all of the Bengals veterans. And I think that's really
Speaker 1: important on defense because we make a big deal and
Speaker 1: part of it's true about the loss of Bates and
Speaker 1: Bell and the continuity and the communication. But there's no
Speaker 1: rule that says the safeties are the guys that have
Speaker 1: to be quote unquote the quarterbacks of the defense that
Speaker 1: can come from other spots, and early this season it will.
Speaker 5: And to me, this is one of the reasons the
Speaker 5: first two games why I think they have an edge
Speaker 5: in the first two games Cleveland, they're really high in
Speaker 5: their defense, but it's the first tear on the Jim Schwartz,
Speaker 5: you know. So it's the first it's their first game,
Speaker 5: you know, in that system. And granted they're talented and
Speaker 5: Jim Schwartz is a hell of the coach, but this
Speaker 5: is their first time together in an actual game. Edge Bengals.
Speaker 5: You know, the next week, Lamia Jackson is a great player,
Speaker 5: but this is the first time he is not in
Speaker 5: in in uh, the offense of right in the offensive
Speaker 5: Greg Roman, he's you know in Edge Bengals, all right,
Speaker 5: because you know edge edge because on on on Sunday,
Speaker 5: the offense has been together for four years going against
Speaker 5: the newly coordinated defense, and then you flip it. Uh,
Speaker 5: the next week, you've got you know, Louanna Rumo in
Speaker 5: five years in the same scheme going against the new
Speaker 5: offensive Coten in Baltimore. I mean, I think that's a
Speaker 5: to me. You've got to make those matchups count against
Speaker 5: first year coaching staffs, and and you got to make
Speaker 5: that you know, we say, we sit back and we say, oh,
Speaker 5: it's great having coach a continuity, but these are two
Speaker 5: weeks where you hopefully, hopefully that you see.
Speaker 1: That Joe Burrow basically missed five weeks with his calf strain,
Speaker 1: which gives him about a week and a half to
Speaker 1: get ready for the opener in Cleveland. Assuming that he plays,
Speaker 1: and I'm assuming that he does, do you expect vintage Burrow?
Speaker 1: Slightly limited Burrow? What does Joe Burrow look like in Cleveland?
Speaker 1: Assuming he plays a week from Sunday?
Speaker 5: I think you get that Joe Burrow, who's good enough.
Speaker 5: I don't know. I don't think he's going to be
Speaker 5: vintage Borrow. I don't think he can ask that of
Speaker 5: a guy that sat out all this time. But I
Speaker 5: also don't think he's going to be throwing it just
Speaker 5: a bit outside either, you know. I think he's going
Speaker 5: to be uh now, we don't I don't know. We well,
Speaker 5: we're out out there practice. Can he run around Miles Garrett?
Speaker 5: Can he run around Zadarius Smith? You know? Will he
Speaker 5: go down if he can't? You know? Or will he
Speaker 5: try to make a play? And you know, so these
Speaker 5: things I do not know, you know, And but hopefully
Speaker 5: that would go into the decision making, you know. So
Speaker 5: I think if they put him out there, I'm gonna
Speaker 5: guess he can run around Garrett, you know, although he
Speaker 5: hasn't yet. I guess, right, how many sacks does Garrett
Speaker 5: h Hey against the Mangles nine games? Yeah right, so
Speaker 5: bad analogy. But you know, but the other guy is
Speaker 5: good too. You know, Zadarius Smith is a is a
Speaker 5: is a hell of an edge and Schwartz is using
Speaker 5: You know, they're they're they're beating their chests up in Cleveland.
Speaker 5: They rotating seven defensive linemen, four tackles, three edge guys
Speaker 5: and all fire it up.
Speaker 1: So you know.
Speaker 5: They're there. There's there's certainly no pushovers, and Joe is
Speaker 5: gonna have to be as you know, he's going to
Speaker 5: have to be able to do it athletically. If they
Speaker 5: put him out there, I assumed he can do it athletically,
Speaker 5: and at that point I say he's good enough to win.
Speaker 1: I agree. I think of it more like two years
Speaker 1: ago than last year. So coming off the knee injury,
Speaker 1: up until the Denver Road game, Joe, by his own admission,
Speaker 1: wasn't one hundred percent confident in his ability to run.
Speaker 1: He would move as needed, he didn't take off and run,
Speaker 1: and then late in the year on the Super Bowl run,
Speaker 1: he did. I don't think it's as drastic now as
Speaker 1: it was then coming off tearing basically every ligament in
Speaker 1: his knee. But I do think maybe early this year
Speaker 1: he runs a little less.
Speaker 5: And I think he'll be And people have talked about this,
Speaker 5: you know, there's a hell of a difference between cap stream,
Speaker 5: which is has challenges in itself, and a surgery, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean. So I'm just not sure, you know,
Speaker 5: physically that he was really in that great shape when
Speaker 5: he went out there, you know, And I don't know,
Speaker 5: you know, he's been through a lot of rehab and
Speaker 5: I think CaTiO, so I think we know he'll be
Speaker 5: in he'll have his body that he didn't have in
Speaker 5: last year's open up. And you know, I just look
Speaker 5: at their openers with Burrow, you know, and the two
Speaker 5: losses they've they've had have been very easily wins. I mean,
Speaker 5: the referee takes his flag out on AJ on the
Speaker 5: AJ greenplay, which is absurd, but they should have won
Speaker 5: that game. And how many different times they turned it
Speaker 5: over five times and still should have won five ways
Speaker 5: against Pittsburgh, So you know, they usually come out of
Speaker 5: the you know, they come out of the box and
Speaker 5: play a game there that they should win.
Speaker 1: And Joe's playing behind a better offensive line. They've got
Speaker 1: four starters back and the one new guy as a
Speaker 1: four time Pro bowler in Orlando Brown Junior. Is this
Speaker 1: the year that the offensive line is a strength, not
Speaker 1: just good enough, but actually one of the better offensive
Speaker 1: lines in the league.
Speaker 5: Well, Brown certainly gives them that. They haven't had a
Speaker 5: guy like that since Whitworth, you know, really a franchise
Speaker 5: bookend left tackle. But you know, I thought they were.
Speaker 5: I think there there. I thought they played for the
Speaker 5: most part last year until everybody, you know, get hurt.
Speaker 2: And I said this.
Speaker 5: Somebody was asking me this on a show the other day.
Speaker 5: Well you know, how come how come the line is
Speaker 5: so bad? It was? You know, they get to remember
Speaker 5: they beat Buffalo with three backup offensive line. Now you
Speaker 5: know they lost to Yeah, they couldn't block Chris Jones.
Speaker 5: Nobody can, but they were trying to block him with
Speaker 5: three backup offensive line. And I thought they were as
Speaker 5: they were rolling down the stretch in December. It's proven
Speaker 5: by their ten game winning streak that they were. The
Speaker 5: offensive line was playing pretty well. I I just you know, Capa,
Speaker 5: Harris and Volson gave them, gave them a new look
Speaker 5: and a better look. And I thought it was it
Speaker 5: was that, you know, I thought they played. I thought
Speaker 5: they played well. I thought they played that it was
Speaker 5: a I thought it was a strength at some points
Speaker 5: in November and decemberuntil everybody get hurt. But you know,
Speaker 5: I thought, you know, they won some smath shweouts games
Speaker 5: in Pittsburgh and Tennessee, you know, in November when I
Speaker 5: and I've seen, you know, I've seen we're offensive lines
Speaker 5: for the Bengals that didn't happen that they get that
Speaker 5: they can control by those teams. So but Brown makes
Speaker 5: them much better, you know, Brown makes them much better.
Speaker 5: And Kapa, Carris and Wolsen been together for a year,
Speaker 5: which I think is also huge, big question mark, of course,
Speaker 5: So I think they're better there at those four positions
Speaker 5: are better.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah. I do think in the second half last
Speaker 1: year they were playing as a top third offensive line
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Now, if you think of thirty two teams,
Speaker 1: that puts them around tenth or eleventh best. If they're
Speaker 1: like that for seventeen games this year, they're going to
Speaker 1: put a lot of points on the board.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree, And you know, and I think we
Speaker 5: you know, I think why Brown is I think why
Speaker 5: Orlando Brown is a good fit. And I know Willie
Speaker 5: Anderson and you were there when Willie Anderson was talking
Speaker 5: about a blind side and what really is a blind
Speaker 5: side and what is not a blind side? But I
Speaker 5: think it's going to help that for Burrow that he
Speaker 5: knows that when Orlan you know that he knows Brown
Speaker 5: is gonna rarely get beat, and when he does get beat,
Speaker 5: it is probably gonna be on the outside. He's not
Speaker 5: going to get bold. He's not gonna probably get beat
Speaker 5: inside because he's so big, you know, it's just tired
Speaker 5: to get around the man. So he knows that. And
Speaker 5: I think he knows you know, that's and that's that's
Speaker 5: he'll be in a better spot than he has been
Speaker 5: in the last couple of years there and uh, you know,
Speaker 5: he'll he'll he'll know where to step up, how to
Speaker 5: step up, and uh, you know, I think that's gonna
Speaker 5: I think that's gonna be a big advantage. And we'll
Speaker 5: we'll see, you know, there's you know, they don't do
Speaker 5: you know, they don't go into the they don't put
Speaker 5: the playbook on the shelf. They're also tweaking with it too,
Speaker 5: So you know, you figure they're going to fire something
Speaker 5: out that Cleveland that Cleveland hasn't hasn't seen, and who
Speaker 5: knows that could be? You know, is that show mixing
Speaker 5: in the run game? You know who? Who knows? What
Speaker 5: better way to for the Bengals to shock you? And
Speaker 5: they come out and maybe and maybe try to nick
Speaker 5: Chubby a little bit? You know, So I I think,
Speaker 5: you know, I think Zach's done. I think Zach's done
Speaker 5: a really good job building this with he in tandem
Speaker 5: with Frank Pollack. You know, remember where this offensive line
Speaker 5: was just a couple of years ago. It was in tas.
Speaker 5: You just got to go back to the last play
Speaker 5: to Super Bowl, right, you know? So Zach and Zach
Speaker 5: and Pollack I think have done a really, really a
Speaker 5: good job because they've also had to marry the past
Speaker 5: game with a run game, and I think that's been
Speaker 5: a work in progress and I think they've done a
Speaker 5: I think they've done a real good job with that.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the running game, do we know who the
Speaker 1: third down back is on Sunday?
Speaker 5: No, we don't, But like you, it's not keeping me
Speaker 5: up nights. I'm going to tell you that I don't think.
Speaker 5: I don't think he ever walked out of a Super
Speaker 5: Bowl saying, man, if we had well, I don't know.
Speaker 5: If we had had that, we had played that guy
Speaker 5: six more snaps, maybe we would have won. But I
Speaker 5: think it's obviously important. You need guys to come off
Speaker 5: the bench. I think people have forgotten about treaty on Williams.
Speaker 1: I know he was hurt.
Speaker 5: Looks like he's back, but you know, you go back.
Speaker 5: I mean, you call the games. Remember, hadn't done anything
Speaker 5: he was he was, hadn't done anything for the first
Speaker 5: half of the year, comes out of a snowbank in
Speaker 5: Pittsburgh in Tennessee, makes huge plays, makes huge contributions in
Speaker 5: special teams, picked up the blitz, made some big catches
Speaker 5: out of the backfield. I mean, I think, you know,
Speaker 5: he's a five year guy. He knows the system, so
Speaker 5: you know, you know he's not Yeah, he's not somebody
Speaker 5: j pre rhyme. But he hasn't had the opportunities. It's
Speaker 5: some I JP his head had so uh. But that's
Speaker 5: gonna be interesting. That will be an interesting active list.
Speaker 5: You got to figure, you know, you would think Trevion
Speaker 5: being the veteran would be active, But will they go
Speaker 5: with Chase Brown or rookie? Will they go with the
Speaker 5: receiver Chris Evans? You can probably only keep three active.
Speaker 5: And it sounds like, even though you know it sounds
Speaker 5: like forty, that Zach is gonna it's it's this is
Speaker 5: gonna be a rotation until somebody, until somebody puts their
Speaker 5: foot down. So the activation is going to be real
Speaker 5: interesting on Sunday.
Speaker 1: The good news is that Evans and Brown are both
Speaker 1: impressive in the preseason. It wasn't like one of those
Speaker 1: guys like, dear God, he's not going to be able
Speaker 1: to help. They all look like they can do something.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, they all look but yeah, I mean yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean, uh, you know, they're just like the rookie class.
Speaker 5: I mean I thought it was one of the more
Speaker 5: impressive rookie you know, just going off at Chase Brown,
Speaker 5: you know, and we and we know what Chris Sevans
Speaker 5: could do. He's won games for this team, and uh,
Speaker 5: but you know, Chase Brown as advertised, but so are
Speaker 5: all the rookies pretty much, which I which I thought
Speaker 5: was which I thought was impressive. I can't think of
Speaker 5: a of a rookie way said, oh my God, you know,
Speaker 5: they might they might have worked there. You know, I
Speaker 5: think probably, I think everybody showed up, you know, which
Speaker 5: was uh, you know which was which was And they're
Speaker 5: gonna have to now whenever, you know, with the way
Speaker 5: the salary is going, you know, with the expected borrow deal,
Speaker 5: you know, they're gonna have to They're gonna have to
Speaker 5: hit the draft out of the park, you know, just
Speaker 5: like they've done for the entire decade. They got to
Speaker 5: keep doing it.
Speaker 1: Well with Jeff and a Malmo. But here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
Speaker 1: by pay Corps. More than twenty nine thousand customers trust
Speaker 1: pay Corps to help them recruit, pay, engage, and retain employees.
Speaker 1: Learn more at pay corps dot com. What is the
Speaker 1: most legitimate concern going into the seasons? Is it the
Speaker 1: safeties or is it something else.
Speaker 5: I'm not worried about the safeties. Dax still runs like
Speaker 5: a deer. Nick Scott's got a Super Bowl rang. Every
Speaker 5: time Dax hill is on the field, he does something.
Speaker 5: Bozz not worried about the safeties. Have a little bit
Speaker 5: concerned about special teams. You've got a rookie returner, you've
Speaker 5: got a Uh, you're gonna have rookie gunners. You're not
Speaker 5: gonna have you know, you don't have Mike Thomas as
Speaker 5: personal protector. You don't have Stanley Morgan as a gunner
Speaker 5: or as a core teamer. So you've got you know,
Speaker 5: you've got you've got a rookie punter, You've got a
Speaker 5: you've got a rookie punt returner. You know, you've got
Speaker 5: rookies and key positions on teams. Uh, that's a little
Speaker 5: bit of a concern, but I have, I have. You know,
Speaker 5: I'm a Darren Simmons believer. We all should be a
Speaker 5: Darren Simmons leader. In his twenty first season, you know,
Speaker 5: he's gonna find a way to make it work. And
Speaker 5: you know, I mean, you know, money maclooks as good
Speaker 5: as ever what perfect in the preseason three from fifty
Speaker 5: you know, so, uh that makes you feel good too.
Speaker 5: So I guess that you know that that I guess
Speaker 5: you know, that's pretty good. If if like if the
Speaker 5: gunners are keeping up at night, you know, I mean,
Speaker 5: that's that shows you how deep your club is. But
Speaker 5: I guess you know, the probably the overriding concern is
Speaker 5: just this offense hasn't been hasn't been together. They haven't
Speaker 5: taken a snap together. You know, Borrow hasn't played for
Speaker 5: five weeks. That's the concern. The concern is they go
Speaker 5: out there and they're invisible in the first half because
Speaker 5: it's their you know, because it's the you know, their
Speaker 5: preseason is going to be the first half, and what's
Speaker 5: that going to look like. That's a concern. I mean,
Speaker 5: but like I say, they've been together for so long,
Speaker 5: and Zach and Brian and Pitcher have been together for
Speaker 5: so long coaching wise, you just feel like that they
Speaker 5: can overcome that.
Speaker 1: I think tight end is the biggest concern, largely because
Speaker 1: of earth Smith Junior's recent injury history. I think if
Speaker 1: he's healthy, he's going to be able to put up
Speaker 1: similar numbers to ce j U Zama and Hayden Hurst.
Speaker 1: So we'll see.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: But with Drew Sample coming back from a serious injury,
Speaker 1: Mitch Willcox coming back from a serious injury, Tanner Hudson
Speaker 1: begins the year on the practice squad, that position group,
Speaker 1: to me, is the biggest question mark. It doesn't mean
Speaker 1: that they're not going to be productive. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I think a healthy earth Smith Junior should be pretty good.
Speaker 5: But we'll see, right if he's hurt, I mean one
Speaker 5: of his what if his injury history continues? And then
Speaker 5: you know, I I it's a good point. That's a
Speaker 5: that's a good point because you just kind of you're forgetting.
Speaker 5: You just plug in, you plug in RV for CJ
Speaker 5: and Hayden Hurst numbers. You know, you just assume, oh,
Speaker 5: he'll get he'll catch fifty balls because he's with Borrow,
Speaker 5: you know, and they have and then they're gonna and
Speaker 5: they can't cover him because they got to cover the
Speaker 5: three wide receivers. But you know, you just have to
Speaker 5: hope that he's uh healthy. But it certainly seems like
Speaker 5: they've got a I'm not saying that Tanner Hudson is
Speaker 5: IRV Smith, but you know, it looks like Tanner Hudson
Speaker 5: catch some balls for you. But yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 5: a but again, it's not a it's an important position,
Speaker 5: but I'm not sure it's a I'm not sure it's
Speaker 5: a killer position. But then I say that, and and
Speaker 5: then I think of what a big factors CJ was
Speaker 5: in some of those games in twenty one and some
Speaker 5: of the big catches that Hayden had down to stretch.
Speaker 5: So you know, you're just you know, you hope that
Speaker 5: Hayden's you know, you hope a nerve is healthy.
Speaker 1: All right, let's put the finishing touch on training Camp.
Speaker 1: Who is your most outstanding veteran offensive player of Training Camp?
Speaker 5: Angles dot Com doesn't have a coveted award for that.
Speaker 5: We may, we may, we may evolved, But I would say,
Speaker 5: I would say whatrdy, And I watched a lot of
Speaker 5: the stuff standing next to you, so I'll be interested
Speaker 5: in your reaction. But I mean I thought T Higgins
Speaker 5: quietly had a monstrous camp. I thought I thought he
Speaker 5: was he caught everything thrown at, you know, and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, granted a Woozier wasn't out there, but I
Speaker 5: mean he was. You know, there was some pretty good
Speaker 5: coverage there, and he's just every time I look at
Speaker 5: the Higgins, I get the same reactions when I look
Speaker 5: at Borrow. They're so tall, they're so tall, and yet
Speaker 5: the things they do, they just don't play that way.
Speaker 5: But then you see him out there and just T
Speaker 5: is just a monster. He is. I thought he had
Speaker 5: a great camp.
Speaker 1: I agree, hard to go wrong with Chase or Higgins.
Speaker 1: I mean they make great plays day after day after day.
Speaker 1: I would throw Trenton Irwin in there as just a
Speaker 1: guy that you never really think about, and then at
Speaker 1: the end of every practice, huh, Trenton Irwin had seven
Speaker 1: more catches today. But none of those guys is my answer.
Speaker 1: My answer is Cordel Volson. I think Volson is primed
Speaker 1: to just make this huge step forward. He's ten pounds
Speaker 1: of muscle, bigger, lowest fat percentage of any offensive lineman
Speaker 1: on the team. We know he's, you know, tremendous work ethic,
Speaker 1: very smart player. I think Cordel Volson takes a big
Speaker 1: step in year two.
Speaker 5: Well, Joe mixonergrees you because he says he's a future
Speaker 5: Hall of Famer or a potential Hall of Famer, So
Speaker 5: know what Mixing thinks about.
Speaker 1: Him, I'm not willing to go quite that far.
Speaker 5: You know another guy you know what as as and
Speaker 5: you know you were you were good to go look
Speaker 5: at the line because I I kind of went the
Speaker 5: lazy way out in training camp. You never look at
Speaker 5: those guys. But Trey Hendrickson is a guy too that
Speaker 5: maybe you could have. Oh no, we're talking defense.
Speaker 1: Let's move to defense. Is he your most outstanding defensive veteran?
Speaker 5: No, because I because I'm again I'm taking a lazy
Speaker 5: way out. I'm looking at the segment. You gotta go
Speaker 5: with Mike Hilton. I mean, Mike Hilton did everything. I mean,
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, he did everything but private golf card. Yeah,
Speaker 5: maybe he did that too, But I thought Hilton was
Speaker 5: terrific with that. But you got I think you got
Speaker 5: to say something about Hendrickson too, because Hendrickson is just uh,
Speaker 5: and he's going you know, he's going up against Orlando Brown,
Speaker 5: and so that's not an easy matchup, but he's just
Speaker 5: that was a great matchup. And Henderson just he keeps uh,
Speaker 5: he just he. I thought he showed just how how
Speaker 5: or where his mentality is. He doesn't care if it's
Speaker 5: a game, if it's a practice, or he just uh,
Speaker 5: he's just going hot, you know. And I saw it.
Speaker 5: But I but you can't. I mean, Hilton, what I mean,
Speaker 5: every time you looked up Hilton had picked six, it seemed.
Speaker 1: Like they are my one and one A and I
Speaker 1: agree with that order. Mike Hilton would be my most
Speaker 1: outstanding veteran defensive player. He had more interceptions in training
Speaker 1: camp than he's ever had before in his life. He
Speaker 1: had a bunch of quote unquote sacks where you touch
Speaker 1: the quarterback, you can't hit him. Obviously, during training camp,
Speaker 1: you know, he's showing seven years of NFL experience and
Speaker 1: talent and it's all coming together as the best slot
Speaker 1: corner in the NFL.
Speaker 5: And obviously we know what his teammates think of him,
Speaker 5: because they just voted him a captain for the first time.
Speaker 5: And maybe we'll have to name it will be the
Speaker 5: maybe the Mike Hilton Training Camp Defensive Player of the
Speaker 5: Year of wolpengles dot Com Award next year, will name
Speaker 5: it after Mike because he deserves.
Speaker 1: He does deserve it, all right, most outstanding offensive rookie,
Speaker 1: Yeah right, it.
Speaker 5: Has to be, got to be, has to be, has
Speaker 5: to yeah, I mean the guy caught everything and then
Speaker 5: did you go right to the defense. The other guy
Speaker 5: has to be the guy who was always covered DJ Turner, correct,
Speaker 5: the guy who was always covered him. They were in
Speaker 5: they always seem to be in the same frame. Eighty
Speaker 5: and twenty I think goes to the two.
Speaker 1: We are in agreement on both of those guys. Yo,
Speaker 1: si Vash is an amazing story to me. I mean,
Speaker 1: he might have been able to be an Olympic to
Speaker 1: cathlete a year from now in Paris in the Summer
Speaker 1: Olympics because he did the heptathlon, because that's the indoor
Speaker 1: version of the dcathlon. Had he had fall and summer
Speaker 1: to just work on track and wasn't trying to be
Speaker 1: an NFL football player, he could be one of the
Speaker 1: top dcathletes in the world and be, you know, trying
Speaker 1: to compete for a gold medal next summer.
Speaker 5: I mean, this was a guy who was like the
Speaker 5: youngest you know, he's like the youngest secondary black belt
Speaker 5: in Hawaii, I think. And I mean he was in
Speaker 5: Hawaii in the state in the state track meet. They
Speaker 5: he could only go in four events and they let
Speaker 5: him go in five and he want five gold medals.
Speaker 5: So I mean, this guy's athleticism is just is like unquestioned,
Speaker 5: you know. I think the only question about him was Kenny,
Speaker 5: you know, can he catch? And yes he can't, because
Speaker 5: you know he and he's just he can tell he's
Speaker 5: just kind of learning how to how to do it,
Speaker 5: you know. I mean, really, you know, think about that
Speaker 5: boardy I mean his he he's never really only played football.
Speaker 5: What's he going to be like after he only plays
Speaker 5: football for two years and he's not out?
Speaker 1: You know, Vault never did spring football at Princeton.
Speaker 5: It's an amazing story. Talk to Bob Serras's his coach
Speaker 5: at Princeton, you know, and uh, it's it's to have
Speaker 5: a guy walk like that into his you know, he
Speaker 5: didn't know who the guy was from Adam watched him play,
Speaker 5: and then he went from doing a guy a favor
Speaker 5: to don't let him get on the plane, you know.
Speaker 5: And so because that's how you know, I think Bob
Speaker 5: kind of envisioned he would be looking up and looking
Speaker 5: at a guy playing at Boshington College or Duke or
Speaker 5: something like that, if you let him out of the play.
Speaker 5: It's amazing that a kind of like that could kind of,
Speaker 5: you know, go go so far under the radar. No
Speaker 5: No Power five took a.
Speaker 1: Shot specifically Stanford, because he made it abundantly clear to
Speaker 1: Stanford that that was where he wanted to go. He
Speaker 1: went to their football camp, he made every effort to
Speaker 1: try to get noticed by Stanford, and for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: they looked the other way.
Speaker 5: Well, the guy from Stanford noticed them. They just had
Speaker 5: the Bengals wide receivers coach Troy Wallers.
Speaker 1: That's correct. And in a year where a sixth round
Speaker 1: Bengals draft pick has entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: they have landed on another seemingly impressive sixth round draft
Speaker 1: pick in andre Yosi vash Let's look ahead to Sunday
Speaker 1: in Cleveland. Browns were seven to ten last year. They
Speaker 1: choked away several games that they should have won. They
Speaker 1: didn't have Deshaun Watson for the first eleven games. Now
Speaker 1: he's had a normal off season and preseason. He played
Speaker 1: in some of the preseason games. We know about Chubb,
Speaker 1: we know about Garrett. They spent a ton of money
Speaker 1: on their defense in free agency. How good are the Browns?
Speaker 5: Well, on paper, they're a lot better than they were.
Speaker 5: You know, I think as it plays out, they're only
Speaker 5: going to be as good as Chubb, you know, I mean,
Speaker 5: that's there, that's their meal ticket.
Speaker 1: Not as good as Watson.
Speaker 5: Well, I think I think Chubb makes Watson.
Speaker 1: But but Chubb had fifteen hundred yards last year and
Speaker 1: they weren't any good. I mean, he can you know,
Speaker 1: he could have a little more than that. But to me,
Speaker 1: it's Watson's got to be closer to what he was
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty than what he looked like in those
Speaker 1: six games last year. To me, that's the key.
Speaker 5: I mean, I just assume he's going to be better
Speaker 5: than that. I assure he.
Speaker 1: May never be what he was in Houston again, who knows,
Speaker 1: but there's no way he's as bad as he was
Speaker 1: last year, right, right, But.
Speaker 5: You'd better make him one dimensional, you know, so I
Speaker 5: think the key. You know, you still have to stop
Speaker 5: stop Chubb. I mean, I but you know we know
Speaker 5: that that that Watson of Houston, We know it all
Speaker 5: all too well. He came into pay Corps and won
Speaker 5: his first NFL start, and he didn't exactly sip them
Speaker 5: doing it. As you know, he broke away, He broke
Speaker 5: a third and ten in the last He broke a
Speaker 5: third and ten scramble on the last play at the
Speaker 5: first half, right and went for forty eight yards. And
Speaker 5: I don't know if he can do that nowadays. But
Speaker 5: I think you would rather have Watson beat you than
Speaker 5: get him or at least tried to beat you. Then
Speaker 5: get into what you know they get into, because that's
Speaker 5: that's how this team is to me, that's how this
Speaker 5: team has not not not fared well against Cleveland in
Speaker 5: the last you know, six years or whatever, going back
Speaker 5: to Baker Makefield, because they've been able to run the
Speaker 5: ball on the Bengals. Why, I don't know, because the
Speaker 5: Bengals are have been pretty good against the run once,
Speaker 5: you know, once they got DJ Reader, and I think
Speaker 5: they'll be real tough to run against Sunday Cleveland. I
Speaker 5: think I know the Browns have those two guys. To me,
Speaker 5: the game is going to be decided by the Browns
Speaker 5: offensive line and the Bengals defensive line. Browns have two
Speaker 5: offensive guys and if and if they get two Pro
Speaker 5: Bowl offensive guys Buttonio and not and Wyatt, uh yeah
Speaker 5: not whyet or but they are going to uh but
Speaker 5: tell them on boys, Stroonio, you know they I mean,
Speaker 5: if they get chased, you know, if they get Chubb going,
Speaker 5: it's it's a different game. And if they can you know,
Speaker 5: I mean, they're going to rotate. That's the whole the
Speaker 5: Browns defenses, their whole thing is going to rotate. And
Speaker 5: I think you're gonna I think you're going to see
Speaker 5: probably the Bengals throw a lot of those. You know,
Speaker 5: I think all those tackles are going to play a
Speaker 5: lot might see three linebackers. You know, I just think you'll, uh.
Speaker 5: I think lou Will I think lou Will dare Watson
Speaker 5: to be Watson.
Speaker 1: Well, when the Bengals beat the Browns last year and
Speaker 1: finally got a win with Joe burrowyd quarterback against Cleveland,
Speaker 1: the key to the victory was holding Nick Chubb to
Speaker 1: fewer than three yards per carry.
Speaker 5: That was the bottom line, right exactly. That's what that's
Speaker 5: all decided on the on the on the linked front Sunday.
Speaker 5: We'll just will be uh because if you know, if
Speaker 5: Chubb gets going and Watson is going to be running wild.
Speaker 1: All right, final topic before we wrap things up, give
Speaker 1: me your order in the AFC North this year.
Speaker 5: Good. I'm glad you didn't ask them what the records are.
Speaker 1: Going to be, But feel free to throw that in
Speaker 1: if you'd like.
Speaker 5: Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland. But I don't feel I mean,
Speaker 5: I you know, since since since he's about the only
Speaker 5: good thing I feel good about the other three, it
Speaker 5: could be Could it be the Bengals battling with Baltimore?
Speaker 5: Maybe but I could also see them being in a
Speaker 5: being in a tractor pull with Pittsburgh or with Cleveland.
Speaker 5: I mean, I you know, I just it's in because
Speaker 5: Pittsburgh and Cleveland are kind of in the same well yeah,
Speaker 5: but they're kind of in the same boat. They're kind
Speaker 5: of remade, you know, Pittsburgh and Cleveland a kind of remade.
Speaker 5: Although Pittsburgh had a nice little finish, had a nice
Speaker 5: little run to end it. So you know, you've got
Speaker 5: to give Baltimore the edge and second place because of
Speaker 5: my eye and to me, you got to give Pittsburgh
Speaker 5: the edge of a Cleveland because Pickett is Pickett Is,
Speaker 5: you know, did well down the stretch, you know, and
Speaker 5: Watson has still proud himself. But I talked to a
Speaker 5: guy today who said he thinks everybody's going to finish
Speaker 5: ten and seven.
Speaker 1: Division Cincinnati, Baltimore, then Cleveland, then Pittsburgh. This is the
Speaker 1: year that the Steelers finally finished with a losing record
Speaker 1: under Mike Tomlin. They haven't yet in sixteen years, but
Speaker 1: this year they go a game under five hundred. Keep
Speaker 1: in mind he has had three seasons where they went
Speaker 1: exactly five hundred, so it's not like they win eleven
Speaker 1: games every year, they missed the playoffs three out of
Speaker 1: the last five. Kenny Pickett did have a good home stretch,
Speaker 1: but I still think he's the least talented of the
Speaker 1: four quarterbacks in the division. I think because the division
Speaker 1: is so tough, this is the year that the Steelers
Speaker 1: just barely finish under five hundred.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's also too Cleveland might have the second best defense,
Speaker 5: you know, behind the Bengals to it. Actually, Cleveland might
Speaker 5: actually have a defender defense than Baltimore Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: They might. They couldn't stop the run last year, but
Speaker 1: they've certainly spent a lot of money trying to fix that.
Speaker 1: So they Tomlinson and Zadarius Smith and the giant that
Speaker 1: they drafted from Baylor, you know, helped shore up that
Speaker 1: interior defensive line. I think it should be a really
Speaker 1: good defense.
Speaker 5: I mean, on paper, I think it's I think it
Speaker 5: can challenge you know, I think it's on paper it's better.
Speaker 5: But you know, well, like I say, you still have
Speaker 5: to you know, a factor in that They're they're going
Speaker 5: to be evolving under Schwartz.
Speaker 1: Yep, it's going to look very different in the final
Speaker 1: game of the regular season than it will in Week
Speaker 1: one with the Bengals playing them on both ends, and
Speaker 1: who knows, maybe a third time in the postseason. It's
Speaker 1: certainly possible. All right, I'm looking forward to it. I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time as always, see in the building tomorrow, Orty.
Speaker 5: I appreciate it. Sounds good. I know Kerry Hobson will
Speaker 5: be very happy to hear this, as Freddy franchise is
Speaker 5: continues to follow the Bengals ten months old.
Speaker 1: It's huge. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 1: community to a new level. Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. Finally,
Speaker 1: it's time for our Know the Faux segment. As you
Speaker 1: undoubtedly know, the Cleveland Browns have given Joe Burrow more
Speaker 1: trouble than any other opponent. He dropped his first four
Speaker 1: starts against Cleveland before finally beating the Browns last December.
Speaker 1: But the problem really hasn't been Burrow, It's been stopping
Speaker 1: the Browns. In Joe's four losses against Cleveland, the Browns
Speaker 1: have averaged thirty six points and have scored at least
Speaker 1: thirty two in every game. Tony Grossi has been covering
Speaker 1: the Browns since the Bernie Cosar days, and when he
Speaker 1: joined Dave Lapham and me on the Bengals Game Plan
Speaker 1: Show this week, I asked him about Cleveland's current quarterback,
Speaker 1: DeShawn Watson.
Speaker 6: Watson's in a great place this year, great place mentally,
Speaker 6: great place physically. He has only appeared briefly in two
Speaker 6: of the preseason games. He moved the team each time
Speaker 6: he was out there, but you could tell that they're
Speaker 6: concealing a lot on offense and really the final product
Speaker 6: of it's going to be a different offense from what
Speaker 6: we all saw last year, even in the six games
Speaker 6: that Watson got on the field. So they've incorporated, they've
Speaker 6: had the whole offseason. He and Kevin Savanski and Alex
Speaker 6: van Pelt, the offensive coordinator, they've they've they've you know,
Speaker 6: they've been meeting since April to tailor this offense to
Speaker 6: Deshaun Watson, and we're really looking forward to seeing what
Speaker 6: the end product is. You know, obviously they'll be more passing,
Speaker 6: more three receiver sets and how that how that affects
Speaker 6: Nick Chubb is kind of like the big mystery to us.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's what I was going to say, Boy, you
Speaker 7: have a weapon like Nick Chubb. I mean, you don't
Speaker 7: want to totally get away from what this guy can
Speaker 7: provide for you. That's an interesting dynamic there that that
Speaker 7: they're going through. How About defensively with the addition of
Speaker 7: Jim Schwartz. I have a lot of respect for uh
Speaker 7: for what Jim Schwartz brings to the table from a
Speaker 7: schematic standpoint, the aggressive mindset that he has. I think
Speaker 7: he's a master at creating one on one pass rush
Speaker 7: opportunities for his best his best rush people. I think
Speaker 7: the guy is really a talented defensive coordinator. Have the
Speaker 7: players responded to.
Speaker 6: Him, Yeah, Dave. When Schwartz was hired, and it was
Speaker 6: it was really shortly after the season ended last year.
Speaker 6: When he was hired, I thought he was going to
Speaker 6: be the most import important new face in the building,
Speaker 6: including all new players and anybody else they brought in.
Speaker 6: And I could say after four preseason games in the
Speaker 6: training camp, I'm going to be right on that. I mean,
Speaker 6: he has made a profound impact. They have completely completely
Speaker 6: redone their defensive line. The only guy you'll recognize is
Speaker 6: Miles Garrett. And they've invested a lot in new tackles,
Speaker 6: two new defensive ends, and you know, Schwartz's whole idea
Speaker 6: is to come at you in waves. He needs seven
Speaker 6: to eight deep, which the Browns have not been nearly
Speaker 6: close to that in recent years. So it's very defensive
Speaker 6: line oriented and it you know, they scored two safeties
Speaker 6: and a pick six in the preseason. They held their
Speaker 6: you know, it's only preseason, but it's what we got
Speaker 6: to go on. They held their four preseason opponents to
Speaker 6: fifteen percent and third down conversions. I mean, geez, that's
Speaker 6: not going to keep up, but it's a big change
Speaker 6: from forty percent of a year ago.
Speaker 1: Tony Grossie is our guest. Let's talk about the Browns
Speaker 1: best cornerback. Two time Pro Bowler Denzel Ward suffered a concussion,
Speaker 1: the fourth of his pro football career in that final
Speaker 1: preseason game. What do you think will Denzel Ward play
Speaker 1: on Sunday?
Speaker 6: He was on the practice field today for the first
Speaker 6: time since the preseason finale in August twenty sixth. He
Speaker 6: was listed as limited. In the open period that the
Speaker 6: media was able to view. He was participating in the
Speaker 6: position drills with the other dbs and looked great to me.
Speaker 6: So I guess part of the protocol he's still technically
Speaker 6: in protocol, and part of that depends on how he
Speaker 6: reacts overnight. Does he have a headache, you know, does
Speaker 6: he get through it? It appears that he'll be ready
Speaker 6: to go, but these things are unpredictable.
Speaker 7: You mentioned the acquisitions with the defensive line, because the
Speaker 7: Brown's defense got gashed in the middle, it seemed like
Speaker 7: in the running game pretty regularly last year. Picking up
Speaker 7: Dalvin Tomlinson is huge, But how stirring has the battle
Speaker 7: been between what I think is a top five offensive
Speaker 7: line in the NFL that the Cleveland Browns have with
Speaker 7: a pair of Pro Bowl guards Potonio is the best
Speaker 7: polling guard in football in my opinion, and whyatt Teller.
Speaker 5: Is a beast?
Speaker 7: And then this new defense, you know, this defensive line
Speaker 7: that they've accumulated, how a practice has gone between those
Speaker 7: two position groups.
Speaker 6: Well, and everything I've seen the defense from day one
Speaker 6: of training camp was ahead of the Browns offense, which
Speaker 6: is kind of Although that's normal I guess around the league,
Speaker 6: it's surprising because it's completely new defense, and from day
Speaker 6: one you could see the impact of their investment on
Speaker 6: the d line and then Sports really masterminding that. So
Speaker 6: I do think the defensive line will be the most
Speaker 6: improved part of the Browns team, and that's going to
Speaker 6: carry them. I think, you know, everyone has Deshaun Watson
Speaker 6: conscious nationally, like they'll go as far as he'll take them.
Speaker 6: I kind of think the defense is going to be
Speaker 6: the energy on this team this year as a result
Speaker 6: of their changes.
Speaker 1: Tony, I know, the kicking situation was kind of a
Speaker 1: disaster in training camp. They had to cut Kade York,
Speaker 1: who they drafted last year and trade for Dustin Hopkins,
Speaker 1: who's had a fine NFL career. I'm sure he'll be
Speaker 1: okay now that they've done that. What's your big question
Speaker 1: mark at this point going into the season.
Speaker 6: Well, you know that still is a question mark for me.
Speaker 6: Dustin Hopkins. Yeah, he's a legit NFL kicker going on
Speaker 6: this what ninth year. He has never attempted a field
Speaker 6: goal in Cleveland Brown's stadium in nine years. He's only
Speaker 6: appeared in one game there, and we know that's one
Speaker 6: of the toughest places in football to kick. And it
Speaker 6: usually takes a kicker a whole year to master the
Speaker 6: wins and the climate and all that. And that's why
Speaker 6: it's still a concern to me. They traded for Hopkins,
Speaker 6: they did not trade for Nick Falk, They did not
Speaker 6: sign Robbie Gold. Can't get an answer why they weren't
Speaker 6: interested in those two kickers. But Dustin Hopkins was next
Speaker 6: on the list, and we'll see how he does. I
Speaker 6: fear a concern is that's going to be a concern
Speaker 6: all year. But we'll see. Maybe he'll prove me wrong.
Speaker 6: So that's a big concern because they drafted kate Yorick thinking,
Speaker 6: you know, we've got to end this carousela kicker. And
Speaker 6: now Hopkins is the eleventh kicker in eleven season since
Speaker 6: phild Austin the left via free agency. So still not
Speaker 6: you rectified in my opinion, I see him kick at
Speaker 6: Clinton Brown Stadium.
Speaker 7: Eleventh kicker in eleven seasons.
Speaker 6: Yep, yep, man, Yeah, no kicker since Phil Dawson here
Speaker 6: has made it through two complete seasons. And like I said,
Speaker 6: it takes a year to figure out the nuances of
Speaker 6: that place. You've been there a lot, you know that
Speaker 6: that's a tough place to kick, and here we go
Speaker 6: again breaking in the new kicker. They did not expect it.
Speaker 6: They did not expect us. So that's probably my biggest concern,
Speaker 6: which you know, if you're worried about only your kickers,
Speaker 6: I guess you're ahead of the head of the game.
Speaker 6: But it's something to watch, you know, how close these
Speaker 6: these games are every every week. So we'll see how
Speaker 6: that works out.
Speaker 7: Let me circle back to the change in the offensive
Speaker 7: philosophy that you were talking about, wastfans k and Alex
Speaker 7: van Pelt and you know, determining they're going to throw
Speaker 7: the football more with Deshaun Watts, and they spent a
Speaker 7: fortune with Deshaun Watson, so I can understand, you know,
Speaker 7: the philosophical reason for that. But the skill position, guys, receivers,
Speaker 7: tight ends, they feel like they've made upgrades there as well.
Speaker 7: Do they feel real comfortable about what they have going
Speaker 7: on to to support Watson?
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, there was a pretty good pickup in
Speaker 6: this receiver, Elijah Moore from the New York Jet. They're
Speaker 6: using him everywhere in the slot, they're using them in
Speaker 6: the backfield, they're handing off to him, he's running routes
Speaker 6: from the backfield. He's kind of like a Percy Harvin.
Speaker 6: They're trying to turn him into, at least that's what
Speaker 6: it looks like. So he'll be he'll be very instrumental
Speaker 6: in their offense. You know, they're, like I said, they're
Speaker 6: going to more eleven personnel three receivers. They were very
Speaker 6: tight end oriented under Stefansky. They're not ditching multiple tight ends,
Speaker 6: but I think you'll see a lot more free receiver.
Speaker 6: You'll see Watson primarily in the shotgun or the pistol,
Speaker 6: and they'll be running out of those formations. He's been
Speaker 6: in empty a lot, so that's what they're turning into.
Speaker 6: And again, I'm really interested to see how they incorporate
Speaker 6: Chubb into all of that.
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