Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The I'm moving on addition, as
Speaker 1: we head to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Coming up,
Speaker 1: I'll discuss free agency with the Bengals Director of Pro
Speaker 1: Scouting Stephen Radissovic. Then I'll move on to the draft
Speaker 1: with Dane Brugler, the draft guru for the Athletic And
Speaker 1: finally I'll combine the two topics with Austin Gaeale from
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus, who has some very specific ideas for
Speaker 1: how the Bengals can improve their offensive line. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free to
Speaker 1: play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get
Speaker 1: it now on the App Store and Google Play. And
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since makeup artists. While in Indianapolis for
Speaker 1: the combine, I was invited to make an appearance on
Speaker 1: the NFL Network to discuss the Bengals and also the
Speaker 1: top you see Bearcat prospects in this year's draft. When
Speaker 1: I arrived at the set, a makeup artist did what
Speaker 1: she could to make me look presentable. Now that's a
Speaker 1: little bit like putting lipstick on Miss Piggy. There's only
Speaker 1: so much a makeup artist can do. But still I
Speaker 1: appreciated her efforts, and it reminded me of a makeup
Speaker 1: disaster from early in my TV career. If you stick
Speaker 1: around until the end of this podcast, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: about it in story Time with Dan, but football comes first.
Speaker 1: In about a week, free agency gets underway. The legal
Speaker 1: tampering period begins on Monday, March fourteenth, and two days later,
Speaker 1: teams can begin signing players. Over the last two years,
Speaker 1: only three teams in the NFL have spent more money
Speaker 1: than Cincinnati in free agency, and I would argue that
Speaker 1: no team has been more successful as the Bengals have
Speaker 1: added DJ Reader, Von Bell, Trey Hendrickson, chitabe O Wouge,
Speaker 1: and Mike Hilton, among others. The Bengals point man and
Speaker 1: free agency is their director of pro scouting, Stephen Radisovic.
Speaker 1: How did the super Bowl run and an extra month
Speaker 1: of football impact your preparation for free agency. It really hasn't.
Speaker 1: We've we've been grinding on these guys throughout the fall,
Speaker 1: and we've we've assigned position groups. So like Mike Potts's
Speaker 1: going to cross check all the offensive linemen in free agency,
Speaker 1: I'm doing most of the D linemen. But I'll go
Speaker 1: back and I'll double back and I'll watch, you know,
Speaker 1: the top ten at each tackle, guard, center, and then
Speaker 1: I'll have someone else get another opinion on the D tackles,
Speaker 1: the d ns. And we've been doing that for the
Speaker 1: last couple of months, since probably November December, and really
Speaker 1: grinding and out here the last last two months. So
Speaker 1: obviously being in the playoffs and the super Bowl was
Speaker 1: time consuming and there was time taken away from the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl events that we're normally in the office watching tape.
Speaker 1: But I think we've got a pretty good feel for
Speaker 1: what we're how we're going to attack this thing right now.
Speaker 1: If the draft is about getting the best player available,
Speaker 1: his free agency about addressing needs, yeah, I would say so,
Speaker 1: I'd say you're trying to fill obviously, if you've got
Speaker 1: some holes, you're trying to fill it in free agency
Speaker 1: and set yourself up to when you're drafting, you're taking
Speaker 1: the best player available and not having to to reach
Speaker 1: on a guy. We're talking to Stephen rodiss Evict, the
Speaker 1: Bengals director of Pro scouting. In the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: the Bengals track record and free agency has been extraordinary.
Speaker 1: He pretty much hit a home run on just about
Speaker 1: every free agency signed. Is there a common denominator that
Speaker 1: helps explain this free agency six yes, Uh, yeah. I
Speaker 1: think the biggest thing was we we tried not to
Speaker 1: h you want to pay your best players, and we
Speaker 1: tried not to reach on guys. We just try not
Speaker 1: to overspend on players, and you try to go for
Speaker 1: the solid guys that you know are going to be
Speaker 1: solid locker room guys, guys are going to be high effort. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, we've we've kind of done this. You know,
Speaker 1: we're really with the last two two off seasons, whether
Speaker 1: it's free agency or the draft, was was trying to
Speaker 1: get captains leaders, you know, whether it's the captains in college,
Speaker 1: the captains in Pittsburgh or Dallas. You know, the guys
Speaker 1: that kind of led led their position groups there. Um
Speaker 1: so we've we've kind of focused on that, and then
Speaker 1: obviously the youth has been a big thing for us
Speaker 1: and going after young guys that are ascending or guys
Speaker 1: that we feel like have upside and aren't towards the
Speaker 1: down of their career. So um, those are kind of
Speaker 1: the things that we focused on in free agency the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, and I think it's paid off.
Speaker 1: Zach can Do both talked about trying to find guys
Speaker 1: that love football and love the grind, so to speak.
Speaker 1: Do you see that on tape or is that stuff
Speaker 1: that you get from talking to people, talking to the
Speaker 1: players themselves, etc. Both. Yeah, I think you know. Mike Hilton,
Speaker 1: we've obviously played against him plenty of times in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and the guys always always above and beyond effort and
Speaker 1: and so I mean a lot of that stuff you
Speaker 1: just see on tape and and you know what he's about.
Speaker 1: And then yeah, a lot of you know, the other
Speaker 1: stuff is you're you're during the free agency period, you're
Speaker 1: trying to you know, whether it's talking to other scouts
Speaker 1: or friends that you have in the league, just to
Speaker 1: see what those players were like in the locker room
Speaker 1: and on a day to day basis, but you know,
Speaker 1: we also have our our reports from college and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, going into Colorado, I knew what Cheeto was
Speaker 1: and I knew how much of a leader he was
Speaker 1: in that locker room and kind of what he meant
Speaker 1: to that team at Colorado. So, um, you know, you
Speaker 1: have those things that kind of line up and you
Speaker 1: know what you're gonna get with a guy like that.
Speaker 1: The first big ticket free agent to sign in this
Speaker 1: two year period was DJ Reader. You guys made him
Speaker 1: the highest paid nose tackle in the NFL when you
Speaker 1: made that deal. How significant was that deal not only
Speaker 1: in getting the player who's proven to be great, but
Speaker 1: also in basically showing free agents all over the the
Speaker 1: NFL that the Bengals are willing to be a big player. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: he was the first guy that we went out and
Speaker 1: and wanted to attack aggressively. We had obviously the run
Speaker 1: issues that we had facing good running teams the Baltimoes,
Speaker 1: and we knew signing a guy like that was going
Speaker 1: to help in that aspect. But we also knew what
Speaker 1: type of guy he was and leader he was in
Speaker 1: that locker room in Houston, So you know, it was
Speaker 1: great getting him going, and then I think once we
Speaker 1: signed him, we got some momentum and I think other
Speaker 1: players outside of our organization saw what we were trying
Speaker 1: to do and build, and uh, it kind of paid off.
Speaker 1: Like I said, it's paid off this last free agency
Speaker 1: for show, Let's talk offensive line. It's obviously an area
Speaker 1: that the Bengals would like to improve if possible. You
Speaker 1: played offensive line at the beginning of your college career
Speaker 1: other than quarterback, is offensive line the toughest position to nail,
Speaker 1: so to speak for guys coming out of college. I
Speaker 1: think it's hard. Yeah, it'd be interesting to just look
Speaker 1: at the you know, the success rate of you know,
Speaker 1: first round offensive lineman and how many of them have
Speaker 1: panned out. But it is it is a difficult to project.
Speaker 1: You know, you got guys at different levels competing against
Speaker 1: each other. But yeah, it just seems like it's, Uh,
Speaker 1: it's obviously been one of those positions in the draft
Speaker 1: that it's it's hard for teams to predict how they're
Speaker 1: gonna turn out. We're talking to Stephen radiss Evict, the
Speaker 1: Bengals director of pro scouting. In free agency, how much
Speaker 1: of it goes according to plan and how much of
Speaker 1: it is pivoting and reacting based on where guys are signing,
Speaker 1: how much they're signing for, etc. We've had to pivot
Speaker 1: a little bit um, you know. I think last year,
Speaker 1: you know, the focus was going to be trying to
Speaker 1: get some old lineman. Um, it was not a great
Speaker 1: group of free agents. There was a couple of guys
Speaker 1: at the top, and then there was a drop after
Speaker 1: that of players that we felt were going to be
Speaker 1: comparable or you're gonna have to overpay for what their
Speaker 1: production was going to be, so they're you know, like
Speaker 1: last year, like I said, we had to pivot a
Speaker 1: little bit um, not too far off of where we had,
Speaker 1: you know, our option a going into it. But I
Speaker 1: think with any any team, there's you just have no idea.
Speaker 1: It's hard to predict who's going to come back with
Speaker 1: the team and with their team or sign elsewhere, so
Speaker 1: you just have to adjust accordingly. You've added the title
Speaker 1: of director of Pro Scouting in recent years, and Duke
Speaker 1: has given you a lot of credit publicly for the
Speaker 1: Bengal success in free agency over the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you've had a significant role in
Speaker 1: the Bengal success in that department. I think all our
Speaker 1: all of our personnel guys have it's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: does a great job of giving us big responsibility, huge
Speaker 1: responsibilities and letting us run with it. Whether it's Christian
Speaker 1: Sarkeesian doing you know this Texas University of Texas are
Speaker 1: going in a Baylor but then coming back to the
Speaker 1: office and you know, having to bring guys in for
Speaker 1: workouts and then me giving him a couple of players
Speaker 1: to watch that are on the wire, or you know,
Speaker 1: Andrew doing the East Coast schools and still doing pro
Speaker 1: pro work when he gets back to the office. I
Speaker 1: think it's a collectively it's a group effort with all
Speaker 1: of our stuff the way we've handled it, and I
Speaker 1: think all of us are appreciative for the responsibilities the
Speaker 1: Duke has given us. We're sitting in the stands right
Speaker 1: now at Lucas Oil Stadium watching players go through their
Speaker 1: paces in the combine. What do you get out of
Speaker 1: the NFL scouting combine? What do you really look for?
Speaker 1: I think the time that we're able to spend with
Speaker 1: the players and formal interviews is very important. You're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out what type of what type of person
Speaker 1: they are, how they're going to handle certain situations, so
Speaker 1: that those those meetings are valuable to us. While and
Speaker 1: then obviously watching them move around and getting to see
Speaker 1: some of these players up close and personal that we
Speaker 1: haven't seen. You know, I've I've done the West Coast school,
Speaker 1: so I haven't seen a lot of the players in
Speaker 1: the Southeast. So it's been a great opportunity to just
Speaker 1: get to shake hands and see them up close and personal.
Speaker 1: So I would say those are you know, just being
Speaker 1: able to see them physically and spend time with them
Speaker 1: are the biggest things that we're getting out of this.
Speaker 1: We're a little more than a week away from the
Speaker 1: start of the legal tampering period and then about a
Speaker 1: week and a half away from when free agency begins.
Speaker 1: Is it like college recruiting where you know, at the
Speaker 1: stroke of midnight you reach out to somebody or close
Speaker 1: to that to try to express your interest. Well, when
Speaker 1: we're able to talk to the agents, we'll talk to
Speaker 1: them and try to feel the interest out of whoever
Speaker 1: whatever player they're representing. Uh. And then when when we
Speaker 1: are able to I think a lot of our players
Speaker 1: will help out at that time and try to help
Speaker 1: recruit you know, whoever it is. Our guys have done
Speaker 1: a good job of it. I know you guys have
Speaker 1: heard the Riley Reef stories and having the dinners there,
Speaker 1: so it's uh, it's been fun and I could see.
Speaker 1: I could see how this year is going to be
Speaker 1: a lot different from the last two years. You know.
Speaker 1: Obviously we've built up some buzz and I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be a destination where players are going to
Speaker 1: want to come play and play with Joe and play
Speaker 1: with the other young guys that we've got on the roster.
Speaker 1: So we'll be exciting to see how it shakes out.
Speaker 1: So the Joe Borrow factor is real. It's real for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: were you at the famous Precinct dinner, the famous Riley
Speaker 1: Reef recruiting dinner. I was. I was really upset. I
Speaker 1: was a close contact and was unable to go to
Speaker 1: that dinner. But yeah, I really wanted to go and
Speaker 1: unfortunately was shut down in my house. So in terms
Speaker 1: of trying to retail your own free agents, that's where
Speaker 1: it begins. You want to keep the best players on
Speaker 1: your own team first and then try to improve the
Speaker 1: roster with veteran players. From other teams. Duke and Zach
Speaker 1: have publicly talked about Jesse Bates and how the team
Speaker 1: would like to retain Jesse. What about c J? Uzam,
Speaker 1: I haven't heard anybody specifically address the desire to hold
Speaker 1: on to CJ. Yeah, I mean, obviously the fan base,
Speaker 1: everybody knows what CJ means to us, and we want
Speaker 1: them back and hopefully something can get what worked out.
Speaker 1: But I there's We're not letting CJ walk out of
Speaker 1: here easily. What has been the reaction of your peers
Speaker 1: in the business to the Bengals making it to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl? A lot of the guys that I've known
Speaker 1: and having the role I had at UCLA being the
Speaker 1: pro liaison there. I've known a lot of these guys
Speaker 1: for fifteen, you know, fifteen years, and they've known, you know,
Speaker 1: the struggles that we've gone through here the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, and and how much work we've you know,
Speaker 1: as a group, have put into building the roster. So
Speaker 1: it's just been, you know, the friends I've had have
Speaker 1: all been excited and rooting us on throughout the process.
Speaker 1: I've you know, even throughout the process the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: was getting text messages you know, after every win, so
Speaker 1: it's fun seeing that. So I've said that I think
Speaker 1: the Bengals were ahead of schedule this year. Maybe internally
Speaker 1: you guys don't use that expression or feel the same way,
Speaker 1: but I think you're in a position to make the
Speaker 1: roster even stronger. You've got some cap money to spend,
Speaker 1: You've got one extra draft pick. That doesn't necessarily mean
Speaker 1: you get right back to the super Bowl the next year,
Speaker 1: But am I on track? Would you agree with that assessment? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, our rosters in the much better
Speaker 1: spot than it was last year, and we're definitely going
Speaker 1: to make some upgrades this offseason at different position groups,
Speaker 1: so it'll yeah, we're in a much better spot than
Speaker 1: we were the last two years for sure. Well, everybody
Speaker 1: in your department has done a phenomenal job. It's been
Speaker 1: one of the great success stories in the NFL, and
Speaker 1: obviously it's been a heck of a lot of fun
Speaker 1: to watch and broadcasts. So congratulations on what you've done
Speaker 1: to help get the Bengals to the super Bowl and
Speaker 1: best of luck going forward. Thanks Dan, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: The franchise tag deadline is coming up on Tuesday at
Speaker 1: four o'clock. If the Bengals use it on Jesse Bates,
Speaker 1: it would be for thirteen point five million dollars next season,
Speaker 1: and the team would still have until July fifteenth to
Speaker 1: try to work out a long term extension. Now let's
Speaker 1: turn to the draft. The Bengals have the thirty first
Speaker 1: overall pick and one extra pick in the seventh round,
Speaker 1: which they obtain from the Giants and the Billy Price
Speaker 1: be j Hill trade. That's the gift that keeps on giving.
Speaker 1: I caught up with the Athletics draft expert Dane Bruegler
Speaker 1: at the Combine. I consider his yearly draft guide, the
Speaker 1: so called Beast, to be the best one out there,
Speaker 1: and it usually comes out in early April, several weeks
Speaker 1: before the draft. Dane is going to mention several possible
Speaker 1: draft targets for the Bengals in our conversation, and just
Speaker 1: so you know in advance, after I played the interview,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you a little more about each of those players.
Speaker 1: How's the offensive line group that is likely to be
Speaker 1: available at thirty one if they elect to go that way.
Speaker 1: Those words that you just said likely available, that's that's
Speaker 1: key that makes it tough because we're going to see
Speaker 1: a lot of tackles fall off the board early, maybe
Speaker 1: as many as five before pick thirty, so that it
Speaker 1: would be interesting to see if one of them were
Speaker 1: to fall to thirty one, either the two guards that
Speaker 1: are in that first round, mix Kenyan Greene, Zion Johnson
Speaker 1: to either of those guys make it at thirty one.
Speaker 1: And then I think the biggest wild card is Tyler Linderbaum,
Speaker 1: the center. There's not a prospect with a wider variance
Speaker 1: of where he could be drafted than Tyler Linderbaum. He
Speaker 1: could go twelve, he could go thirty one, and I
Speaker 1: don't think anybody would bat an eye, at least in
Speaker 1: the league because he's such a such a rock solid player,
Speaker 1: out standing run defend or run blockers, pass protection. That's
Speaker 1: where there shows a little bit of the lack of length.
Speaker 1: That's where it really shows up. That's what you really
Speaker 1: worry about, the shorter arms like that. And I could
Speaker 1: already you know hear Bengals fans talking about like Billy
Speaker 1: Price or you know, I can hear that already. But
Speaker 1: this guy, the competitive toughness, the smart former defensive lineman,
Speaker 1: it's just he's not going to be for everybody when
Speaker 1: you factor in all those things, because I mean, you
Speaker 1: think he's a center only, and you eliminate all the
Speaker 1: teams that don't need a center, you eliminate the teams
Speaker 1: that aren't running some variants of a zone offense, and
Speaker 1: you're down to four or five teams that would draft
Speaker 1: Tyler Linderbaum in the first round, and I think the
Speaker 1: Bengals are one of them. It's just will he make
Speaker 1: it at thirty one or not. I think it's at
Speaker 1: least in the realm of possibility that it could happen.
Speaker 1: And as you alluded to, the arm length did not
Speaker 1: test well here at the combine, so that has become
Speaker 1: a bit of a red flag for a lot of teams.
Speaker 1: If he is there at thirty one and you're the Bengals,
Speaker 1: is that a no brainer? In my opinion, you I
Speaker 1: think that he's a top fifteen to twenty player in
Speaker 1: this class. The arm length, it does show up on tape.
Speaker 1: It's not like you know, all of a sudden, the
Speaker 1: numbers this and so we have to drop him. It
Speaker 1: does show up on tape a little bit where, especially
Speaker 1: in pass protection, where long arm defenders are able to
Speaker 1: reach him and dictate the action, and there's only so
Speaker 1: much he can do to you know, re establish his
Speaker 1: anchor and reset. So with Linderbaum, I think that if
Speaker 1: you have a chance to get him a thirty one,
Speaker 1: it would be awfully hard to say no to that.
Speaker 1: With he's a plug and play guy. Yes he's a
Speaker 1: center only, so he is not going to give you
Speaker 1: that positional versatility. But you know, I guess we have
Speaker 1: to find out what happens is free agency, if the
Speaker 1: Bengals go that route and if not. Linderbaum absolutely in
Speaker 1: that discussion. In your last mock draft, which was about
Speaker 1: a month ago, you had the Bengals trading up a
Speaker 1: few spots to grab a cornerback. You'll have another mock
Speaker 1: draft coming out in a few days. I look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing that. But when you had them making that move,
Speaker 1: is that need based or is it the strength of
Speaker 1: the cornerback class this year? I think a little bit both.
Speaker 1: I think there's you know, um Trey Waynes. I don't
Speaker 1: know that he's gonna, you know, be in a Bengals
Speaker 1: uniform next year. And you think about, you know, the
Speaker 1: the depth chart, how it is, and how they can
Speaker 1: maybe get better at that position. I think you look
Speaker 1: at the corners in this draft, we're gonna see them
Speaker 1: go early with Sauce Gardner from Cincinnati, Trent McDuffie from Washington,
Speaker 1: Derek Stingley LSU. Those three guys should be off the
Speaker 1: board in the top fifteen picks, and then, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: you think about some of the other corners I could
Speaker 1: be available. It could be a position that they look
Speaker 1: at in the late first round. I'm looking at Kylan Gordon,
Speaker 1: the other Washington corner who not as instinctive, not the
Speaker 1: play awareness, not on the same level as as a
Speaker 1: teammate Trent McDuffie. But what Gordon is a phenomenal athlete
Speaker 1: in corners a stopwatch position. So if you're if he's
Speaker 1: going to test the way that we expect him to test,
Speaker 1: Gordon's not gonna get out the first round. So if
Speaker 1: he's there at thirty one, I think Gordon could be
Speaker 1: in the mix. The Bengals have a history of drafting
Speaker 1: corners in the first round. I think that I agree
Speaker 1: with They have that notion that if you're going to
Speaker 1: get an excellent cornerback, it almost always has to be
Speaker 1: a high pick. I think that's fair, and because athletes
Speaker 1: at the position go early, and especially at that position
Speaker 1: where it's a stopwatch position, it matters how fast you are,
Speaker 1: especially in a straight line. So but I mentioned with
Speaker 1: Gordon talking to him, talking to McDuffie, they've got a
Speaker 1: little friendly wager going on. Let's see who who runs
Speaker 1: the fastest, who jumps the highest. Both should be over
Speaker 1: forty in the vert Both should be low four fours high,
Speaker 1: four three's in the forty. So it'll be fun to
Speaker 1: see how it all shakes out. The Bengals have three
Speaker 1: great wide receivers. They all stayed healthy this year. The
Speaker 1: odds of that happening in back to back seasons, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: probably low. Is that a spot where the Bengals will
Speaker 1: be able to help themselves with a later pick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think wide receiver, and this is a trend that's
Speaker 1: not going to go away. Every year. Wide receiver seems
Speaker 1: to be a strength, just with the way the college
Speaker 1: game is, the way things are trending. Wide receiver year
Speaker 1: year out is a deep position, both early in the
Speaker 1: first round and then throughout every every level the draft.
Speaker 1: So that's especially true this year and if they want
Speaker 1: to go that direction, on Day two and go after
Speaker 1: you know, a guy like Skymore Calvin Austin from Memphis.
Speaker 1: I think they could. But if they want to wait
Speaker 1: until day three, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round, there's going
Speaker 1: to be players there. There's going to be guys. So
Speaker 1: you know, the top three receivers on our team, they're
Speaker 1: all what top two round guys, and so, you know,
Speaker 1: I think they've had some good success drafting the position early,
Speaker 1: but they don't with the way the depth charts set up,
Speaker 1: they don't necessarily have to do that. They can draft
Speaker 1: and develop and see what they could find later on.
Speaker 1: They've drafted several offensive linemen in recent years. The jury
Speaker 1: is still out on some of these guys, probably most
Speaker 1: notably Jackson Carmen. But do you have any theories for
Speaker 1: why the Bengals have not had a lot of success
Speaker 1: with their most recent offensive line draft picks. I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any sweeping theory. I think it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: it's more about the player than anything the Bengals have done.
Speaker 1: And you know, for a guy like Jackson Carmen, it's
Speaker 1: all about maturity, it's all about growing mentally, physically, um,
Speaker 1: it's it's tough to uh walk into an NFL locker room,
Speaker 1: you know, with all these veteran guys and establish yourself
Speaker 1: as uh, you know this guy that's going to be
Speaker 1: a starter and you know, have a voice and all that.
Speaker 1: So it just takes time for these guys. Um and
Speaker 1: Jackson Karmin. I think this will be a big jump
Speaker 1: for him in this offseason to see what he looks
Speaker 1: like in year two. Um. I know the Bengals they
Speaker 1: really want him to lock down a starting job, and
Speaker 1: I think he's certainly capable of that. It's just all
Speaker 1: about maturity again, both the mental side and the physical side,
Speaker 1: and I think he's capable. The Bengals arrived ahead of schedule.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people thought, all right, with
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, maybe within a few years they'll have a
Speaker 1: chance to compete for a Super Bowl. They got there
Speaker 1: in year two. What do you think of their overall roster.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously it's a super Bowl uh roster. I
Speaker 1: mean that's there. That that's fact, you know it that
Speaker 1: with that roster help him get there. And I think
Speaker 1: when you have the quarterback that that is would uh
Speaker 1: you know, absolves a lot of sins elsewhere and it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting with this this offseason what that means. Having
Speaker 1: that quarterback gives you a little recruiting advantage in free agency.
Speaker 1: You know, if you're going to go after some offensive
Speaker 1: lineman fregency, having Joe Burrow as the guy that you're
Speaker 1: you're blocking for that that that means something. So right there,
Speaker 1: I think that's that That's obviously a big piece of
Speaker 1: the puzzle that the Bengals have. Um. But then yeah,
Speaker 1: you look at wide receiver, you look at um you know,
Speaker 1: even though you know tight ends not necessarily a position
Speaker 1: where they have spent a high draft pick recently, but
Speaker 1: it's they've gotten good production there. On defense, you know,
Speaker 1: they've made some key moves and free agency that have
Speaker 1: really uh done. They've done a nice job. The linebackers,
Speaker 1: you know, really like uh you know, guys like Pritt
Speaker 1: and Logan Wilson and those guys. So um and then
Speaker 1: in the secondary, what's gonna happen with Jesse Bates? You know,
Speaker 1: at the very worst, he's give me a franchise, I
Speaker 1: would think, And so it's just just a matter of
Speaker 1: can they get a long term deal oal done there?
Speaker 1: And then Um corner, you know, they can get, I think,
Speaker 1: but this is a this is a roster ready to
Speaker 1: compete again. It's not gonna I don't think we're gonna
Speaker 1: see a big drop off by any means. But AFC
Speaker 1: is so tough that it does make it interesting when
Speaker 1: you're in a division with some pretty good teams. You know,
Speaker 1: Browns aren't going anywhere, the Ravens aren't going anywhere. We'll
Speaker 1: see what the Steelers in the quarterback situation. But you
Speaker 1: look around and you know, got the Bills, You've got
Speaker 1: the Titans, You've got the Chargers and the Chiefs, and
Speaker 1: you go on and on and mention these teams that
Speaker 1: are playoff worthy. So um, you know it's it's not
Speaker 1: time just because the Bengals made the Super Bowl. I
Speaker 1: don't think that by any means, they're gonna just kind
Speaker 1: of wrestle their laurels at all. They're gonna they're gonna
Speaker 1: try and get better this offseason. I'm eager to see
Speaker 1: what they do in fre agency. Both of their three
Speaker 1: techniques are free agents, Larry Ogan, job By and b. J. Hill.
Speaker 1: They're gonna try to resign both. I think they probably
Speaker 1: feel they need to resign at least one but is
Speaker 1: that a position where there's some after the first round
Speaker 1: talent here? Uh yeah, possibly. I think you know, we're
Speaker 1: gonna see a guy like Davante Wyatt from Georgia go early. Um,
Speaker 1: and then after that, you know the Mark and Leale
Speaker 1: from A and m Um. Where does he end up
Speaker 1: and do they view him as a three technique? He's
Speaker 1: two eighty five, so maybe he's more of a bass end. Um,
Speaker 1: there's some split opinion on him. But you know, I
Speaker 1: think this defensive tackle class is a better than maybe
Speaker 1: we thought. Um. I think the Senior Bowl with the guys,
Speaker 1: how they performed there. I think here at the Combine,
Speaker 1: the way they put you know, a guy like perry
Speaker 1: On Winfrey from from Oklahoma who's just a monster in
Speaker 1: the middle. As a second round pick, I think he's
Speaker 1: he's the type of guy you want to you want
Speaker 1: to bet on because of the traits that he offers. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, he can play multiple spots, played more of
Speaker 1: a nose tackle at Oklahoma. I think it was kind
Speaker 1: of out of a position there, but um, you know,
Speaker 1: can play a few spots up and down the line
Speaker 1: of skirmmage for you. So this is a defensive tackle class.
Speaker 1: I think it is a little bit better than we
Speaker 1: initially thought. Do you have a quarterback in mind for
Speaker 1: the Steelers? It's really tough because we have to figure
Speaker 1: out where these you know, last year we had five
Speaker 1: quarterbacks top fifteen. This year, where's that first quarterback coming
Speaker 1: off the board and who's it gonna be? I think
Speaker 1: that the Steelers want one of these guy is they
Speaker 1: need to go make a move, you know, trade up
Speaker 1: ten spots or so. But you know, is there a
Speaker 1: quarterback they love enough to go do it? I know
Speaker 1: maliqu willis to Pittsburgh. That's been the popular uh fit
Speaker 1: and that a lot of people have been talking about.
Speaker 1: And I get it. Um now they Mike Tomas talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, getting more athletic at the quarterback position. But
Speaker 1: Miliqu Wills isn't ready to start from day one. So
Speaker 1: are they comfortable with Mason Rudolph being your starter for
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two? You know that's something that internally they
Speaker 1: have to figure out. And but a guy like Kenny Pickett,
Speaker 1: he's ready to step in from day one, not only
Speaker 1: compete for the starting job, but he's helped he's ready
Speaker 1: to help you win football games. He can help you,
Speaker 1: you know, compete for the division, push for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So if they have a chance of Kenny Pickett, keep
Speaker 1: him in Pittsburgh. You know, obviously he's familiar with that
Speaker 1: part of town. That wouldn't make a ton of sense
Speaker 1: as well. So the whole quarterback landscape in this draft
Speaker 1: is wide open and we're here at the Combine. The drafts,
Speaker 1: you know, less than two months away, and we're still
Speaker 1: trying to figure it out. As Desmond, Ritter helped himself.
Speaker 1: If you're in Indianapolis, hasn't hurt himself. You know, I
Speaker 1: think he tested like he tested better than some wide receivers.
Speaker 1: You know, with athletic testing. I don't think that when
Speaker 1: you watch his tape he's a pocket passer. He doesn't.
Speaker 1: You know. The athleticism is not something he relies on,
Speaker 1: but it's nice to know that he has it. Um,
Speaker 1: he's I think he went to this Senior Bowl, checked
Speaker 1: that box one, came to the Combine. I've heard nothing
Speaker 1: but positive things about you know, the way he interviews. Um,
Speaker 1: he's a really he's an older guy. He's sharp, he's smart,
Speaker 1: he's prepared. Um. I think it's something that every every
Speaker 1: team have talked to you about Ritter. They all mentioned
Speaker 1: how prepared he was for these interviews. So and not
Speaker 1: just coaching, you know, being coached up, but you know,
Speaker 1: really being attentive, asking the right questions, that type of thing. So, UM,
Speaker 1: I think he's you know, obviously had a really good
Speaker 1: resume in college. Um, but coming here, he's he's only
Speaker 1: helping himself. The University of Cincinnati has had one top
Speaker 1: ten pick in its history. Well, Sauce Gardner make it too.
Speaker 1: I think so, because he plays the right position, and
Speaker 1: he just had a heck of a three year run
Speaker 1: there for the Bearcats. Um, you know he's he's tall,
Speaker 1: he's long, he's exudes confidence and that's brtting it lightly.
Speaker 1: But you know he's I worry about him a little
Speaker 1: bit downfield. He can get out of control at times.
Speaker 1: Can clean that up. But now you bet on a
Speaker 1: guy like that, I think he's he's probably the favorite
Speaker 1: to be the first corner drafted somewhere in the top ten.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a couple of teams in there that
Speaker 1: need corners. So if you're gonna put the over under
Speaker 1: at ten, I'm gonna take the under for Salas Gardner
Speaker 1: I could do this for an hour, but I'll respect
Speaker 1: your time. I always appreciate running into at the combine.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and I look forward to the beast. Oh.
Speaker 1: Thanks Dan. All right, let's quickly go over the draft
Speaker 1: prospects that Dane mentioned, starting with Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum,
Speaker 1: a player frequently mentioned is a logical fit for the
Speaker 1: Bengals if he's still on the board at number thirty one.
Speaker 1: Brugler has him listed at number seventeen on his top
Speaker 1: one hundred, but Linderbaumb's arms were measured at thirty one
Speaker 1: and an eighth at the combine, which is a red
Speaker 1: flag for many teams and could cause him to drop.
Speaker 1: That was an issue for Billy Price, whose arms measured
Speaker 1: at thirty two inches, but it's not a deal breaker.
Speaker 1: Creed Humphrey, the outstanding rookie center for the Chiefs, measured
Speaker 1: at less than thirty two last year, and former seven
Speaker 1: time Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold also had less than
Speaker 1: thirty two inch arms. Most mock drafts don't have Linderbomb
Speaker 1: available with the thirty first pick. Brugler mentioned two guards,
Speaker 1: including Kenyon Green out of Texas A and m He's
Speaker 1: six four, three hundred twenty three pounds with thirty four
Speaker 1: and an eighth inch arms, and played every position on
Speaker 1: the old line but center for the Aggies. He's number
Speaker 1: twenty four on Dane's Top one hundred. The other guard
Speaker 1: is Zion Johnson from Boston College who's six three three
Speaker 1: twelve with thirty four inch arms. He's number twenty six
Speaker 1: on Dane's Top one hundred. Dane also mentioned cornerback Kyler
Speaker 1: Gordon out of Washington. He's five eleven and a half,
Speaker 1: ran a four five to forty at the Combine and
Speaker 1: has literally been a ballet dancer in the past. He's
Speaker 1: number sixty eight on Dane's Top one hundred. Then there
Speaker 1: was wide receiver Calvin Austin from Memphis who did not
Speaker 1: make Dane's Top one hundred. He's undersized at five eight
Speaker 1: one seventy, but made a huge impression at the combine
Speaker 1: by running a blistering four three two forty. Austin had
Speaker 1: back to back one thousand yard receiving seasons at Memphis
Speaker 1: and returned two punts for touchdowns. Finally, there were two
Speaker 1: defensive tackles to Marvin Leo out of Texas A and
Speaker 1: m and Perry and Winfrey from Oklahoma. Leo is six
Speaker 1: four two eighty three and ranked fifty first on Brugler's
Speaker 1: Top one hundred. Winfrey is sixty four two ninety and
Speaker 1: was ranked fifty third. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented
Speaker 1: by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game.
Speaker 1: This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during
Speaker 1: the course of the year with tickets, autographed merchant ice,
Speaker 1: and money can't Buy experiences all up for grabs. Find
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Up
Speaker 1: next Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus, who joined me
Speaker 1: at the Combine to discuss free agency and the draft.
Speaker 1: Up first, his formula for how to improve the Bengals
Speaker 1: offensive line. You have to approach it with volume. Right.
Speaker 1: The offensive line is not a single piece changes anything.
Speaker 1: It's a week leak unit. Right. You do not want
Speaker 1: any obvious week links along the offensive line. You have
Speaker 1: this creep towards average. You'll get everyone to play, have
Speaker 1: average too, above average play and you need that right now,
Speaker 1: right And if you just solve that with volume in
Speaker 1: the draft and bringing these rookies, you're not going to
Speaker 1: get that play right at the gate. They have a window,
Speaker 1: a window with Joe Burrow on this rookie contract to
Speaker 1: maximize his potential, Go spend, go spend in freegency to
Speaker 1: add to this offensive line, potentially make trades I don't
Speaker 1: Larry Tunsel could be made available. That's the type of
Speaker 1: decision making they need to make. And now you don't
Speaker 1: need again favolume in free and so you don't need
Speaker 1: to go out and get Toronto Armstead, Brandon Shirff, Ryan Jensen,
Speaker 1: like all the high prize free agents. You can still
Speaker 1: bring in guys in free agency that aren't these high
Speaker 1: price pieces of the puzzle, right Like I even look
Speaker 1: like bringing back Riley Reef and just making sure that
Speaker 1: you continue to add volume along the offensive line and
Speaker 1: veteran talent guys that are playing good right now because rookies.
Speaker 1: While Jackson Carman in two or three years could be
Speaker 1: a really really successful guard, and other rookie offensive tackles
Speaker 1: in this draft could be playing well in soon, it
Speaker 1: won't be right next year, right, Tristan Worth, So the
Speaker 1: Tampa By Buccaneers off tackle is an outlier, a guy
Speaker 1: coming in that quickly and having success. Same with ra
Speaker 1: Shaan Slater. No, especially when you start to get to
Speaker 1: these into your offensive line guys on day two, it's
Speaker 1: that much harder to bring in a guy that can
Speaker 1: legitimately start right away. So you favor multiple medium priced
Speaker 1: guys as opposed to blowing a significant chunk of cap
Speaker 1: space on a guy. Absolutely like, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of Bengals fans want to see this completely remade offensive
Speaker 1: line where it's like I said, these high price guys,
Speaker 1: it's just not it's not easy to do that. And
Speaker 1: then when you do invest that much money in offensive line,
Speaker 1: a situation that comes up for me is the lost
Speaker 1: the Oakland Raiders back in the day signed Donald Penn,
Speaker 1: signed Collecchio, assembly signed Gabe Jackson, signed Ronnie Hudson. Then
Speaker 1: they had to blow it all up soon after that.
Speaker 1: When you make when you spend that much, it gets
Speaker 1: that much more difficult. For the Buffalo Bills, they went
Speaker 1: into FREEANC a few years ago and added a lot
Speaker 1: of capable starters John Feliciano, Mitch Morris, Dion doc like, No, no,
Speaker 1: guys are legitimate stars at their position. For guys that
Speaker 1: just like helped elevate the average of their offensive line now,
Speaker 1: it's not to say they can't go offensive line at
Speaker 1: thirty one. There are guys in my opinion, that can
Speaker 1: come in and play right away. Zion Johnson, the Boston
Speaker 1: College offensive lineman, is one of those. And on day two.
Speaker 1: This is a good guard class. It's a very good
Speaker 1: offensive line class. A lot of these guys meeting thresholds,
Speaker 1: if not clearing thresholds, specifically with arm length. Darren Kinnard
Speaker 1: of Kentucky as a guy I really liked Tyler Smith
Speaker 1: of Tulsa. You can get capable players on day one
Speaker 1: and day two in this draft, but there's only a
Speaker 1: handful of where I really feel confident they're going to
Speaker 1: start and have success right away, especially with where they're picking.
Speaker 1: So getting back to free agency, you mentioned a few
Speaker 1: names that are at the top of the pay scale.
Speaker 1: How about a step below. Are there some guys that
Speaker 1: you like that would be more affordable that you think
Speaker 1: would immediately upgrade the Bengals offensive line. I do think
Speaker 1: that you have to maybe looking at these medium price
Speaker 1: free aids. I think Riley Reef comes to mind. I
Speaker 1: think there should be some other guys getting cut as well,
Speaker 1: like people are talking about potentially the Dallas Cowboys moving
Speaker 1: on from their left tackle. I think that the medium
Speaker 1: price freetents that I'm highlighting probably are Mitch Morse I
Speaker 1: think might becoming available, which could come in and place center.
Speaker 1: You have Riley Reef coming back. I mean, those are
Speaker 1: some of the names I do think will help them now.
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think that they have to lock into
Speaker 1: freeency as well. I think they can make trades to
Speaker 1: add to this offensive line, especially with the thirty one
Speaker 1: overall pick. Why spend it on a player that maybe
Speaker 1: can't start right away when you could trade that thirty
Speaker 1: one overall pick for a Laramie tons or whoever may be.
Speaker 1: We'll be interesting with Laramie Touns. So if he is
Speaker 1: in fact on the block, how much are you willing
Speaker 1: to give up? Certainly, if it only took the thirty
Speaker 1: first pick in the draft, I would think the Bengals
Speaker 1: would jump at something like that. But the Texans paid
Speaker 1: a lot more than that to get him. Naturally, you
Speaker 1: would think they would want a lot more than just
Speaker 1: a first round pick and return. So I do think
Speaker 1: it would be obviously take the thirty first overall pick
Speaker 1: and potentially a future second future third. I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's not a two first round picks type of deal.
Speaker 1: Two first round picks for Larry tuns So with the
Speaker 1: current contract situation they has, I do think that would
Speaker 1: be a bit absurd, especially with the Houston Texans looking
Speaker 1: to offload some of these guys. I think a first
Speaker 1: and a second, maybe a first and two thirds something
Speaker 1: like that is where my mind goes too first and
Speaker 1: you kind of have to rule it out. I think
Speaker 1: it's better to take of a dard rhyme in the
Speaker 1: central Michigan offen to tackle that at that point, Trevor
Speaker 1: Penning if he falls that far. Now you're hearing though
Speaker 1: Charles Cross Missus B State offens tackle might fall in
Speaker 1: this draft as well, because there's just so much talent
Speaker 1: specifically at that position. You could look into a really
Speaker 1: talented player there as well. The Bengals have Jonah Williams.
Speaker 1: Hasn't been a Pro Bowl level player, but he's certainly
Speaker 1: competent and hopefully is still getting better. Other than that,
Speaker 1: right now, there are no sure things on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: so it almost feels to me like it has to
Speaker 1: be a combination a free agency in the draft. No,
Speaker 1: I think it will be a combination too. Especially I
Speaker 1: do think at thirty one the board will fall to them,
Speaker 1: whereas Zion Johnson or one of the tackle four, tackle
Speaker 1: five should be available to them in this classic attack
Speaker 1: that piece. And then in free agency there are some
Speaker 1: again I always come back to, like bringing guys back,
Speaker 1: like consistency along the OFFENSI lie the Trey Hopkins, you
Speaker 1: know Riley, We've consistency along the offensive line just to
Speaker 1: maintain depth. I do think could be a wildly successful
Speaker 1: piece for them. Now that does mean you've got to
Speaker 1: completely retol your offensive line. You could run into some concerns.
Speaker 1: The Kansas Chiefs completely remade their offensive line last year,
Speaker 1: and you saw a handful of concerning pieces of that.
Speaker 1: I don't think their protection was Zach great this year.
Speaker 1: So I do think that while you do want to
Speaker 1: replace everyone and make upgrades everywhere, you're own with five
Speaker 1: new starters next year, I honestly think you're setting yourself
Speaker 1: back a little bit bringing two or three new guys
Speaker 1: and then add some depth as well, bringing some guys
Speaker 1: back or chatting with Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus,
Speaker 1: So the Bengals were ahead of schedule this year, I
Speaker 1: don't think anybody reasonably thought they would make it to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. How well are they set up for
Speaker 1: the future, I think a good spot. I mean they
Speaker 1: have really a lot of coup space and their quarterback
Speaker 1: right in. Their quarterback in a window now with this
Speaker 1: rookie contract where they can maximize his value, and then
Speaker 1: you know, with winning in the NFL, being Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: competitive in the NFL, having the quarterback, having a top five,
Speaker 1: top six quarter player at that position, having a plethora
Speaker 1: of playmakers, not one, not a Davante Adams. You need
Speaker 1: a lot of guys you t h against Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon, Jamar Chase obviously now because you need depth
Speaker 1: at that position so people can't hone in on your
Speaker 1: top guy. The offensive line is where they're behind. And
Speaker 1: then even in pass rush, I love what Trey Henderson
Speaker 1: obviously did this past year. Sam Hubbard's a high motor,
Speaker 1: high effort player. I still think they can get better
Speaker 1: there as well. Do not. Everyone I talk to here
Speaker 1: is like, do not to stop adding pass rushers When
Speaker 1: you think you have as many as you need, grab
Speaker 1: another one, Like That's exactly how the position should be approached.
Speaker 1: No pass rush in the NFL has enough of these
Speaker 1: guys that can get after the passer. It's a reason
Speaker 1: why it's the second highest paid position in the NFL,
Speaker 1: right right after quarterback. The guys who get paid the
Speaker 1: most are the ones who go get the quarterback, So
Speaker 1: getting multiples of those and in the secondary, what they
Speaker 1: did in the secondary is very similar to how they
Speaker 1: should approach the offensive line. Mike Hilton Hidobe a woozy,
Speaker 1: just adding and adding and add even adding Von Belle
Speaker 1: a few years ago. Just continue to add veteran talent
Speaker 1: at a position where we know it took some time
Speaker 1: to develop, and just getting not elite guys, not top
Speaker 1: man world leaders that are going to cost you thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars a piece, but guys that can come in
Speaker 1: and raise the floor of your defense. I view the
Speaker 1: secondary very similar to have a view the offensive line. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can have a Jail Ramsey, but if you and
Speaker 1: that does things to your defense, you can do a
Speaker 1: lot of great things. But something that's also not equally
Speaker 1: good but can be really helpful for you. It is
Speaker 1: just making sure you don't have obvious weaknesses. Rban Meyer
Speaker 1: talked to Tom about where when he was coaching Ohio State,
Speaker 1: he'd have this offense to call find the fish, and
Speaker 1: the fish on defense is the guy who's given up
Speaker 1: all the yards and you just target him and target him,
Speaker 1: target him, and that you can have two jail and Ramsey's.
Speaker 1: But if you have a guy that's going to give
Speaker 1: up everything over the middle or whatever it may be,
Speaker 1: that can really like drop the floor of your defense,
Speaker 1: they will get Josephosi back to potentially help the pass rush.
Speaker 1: Were you big on him going into last year's draft.
Speaker 1: I liked him as a raw player that should be
Speaker 1: trending in the right direction. That's kind of how I
Speaker 1: feel like he's the guy who's gonna need to developed now.
Speaker 1: I don't know how much the injury like kept him
Speaker 1: from doing that. I do think it probably gave him
Speaker 1: an opportunity to, like slow down, you know, That's what
Speaker 1: we talked with rookies, like slow the game down, Slow
Speaker 1: the game down. The game is probably a lot sort
Speaker 1: of him now that he's watched a lot of it
Speaker 1: and been involved in practice and that stuff. I do
Speaker 1: think that it's the technique now that needs to improve.
Speaker 1: Having not seen him play, it's hard to say he's
Speaker 1: going to come in and be this like six seven
Speaker 1: sack guy. But he had the tools to do it,
Speaker 1: and I think that's a big reason why they drafted him.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the Bengals big three at wide receiver. Those
Speaker 1: guys stayed healthy this year, so they didn't really need
Speaker 1: four or five, six whatever. This is a good draft
Speaker 1: to find that guy, isn't it? Based on everything that
Speaker 1: I've read and heard. Sand It's also a good guy
Speaker 1: to find someone who could compliment their big receiving sets
Speaker 1: right Like they do have Jamar Chase, who's a big, bodied,
Speaker 1: strong receiver. It's Tyler Boyd, a very similar player t Higgins.
Speaker 1: Getting a guy that can compliment this offense and maybe
Speaker 1: is a little bit smaller, maybe he's a little bit shifty,
Speaker 1: This gadget player that teams are gravitating toward. This is
Speaker 1: a good draft class to do it. Calvin Austen of
Speaker 1: Memphis is only one hundred and seventy eight pounds with
Speaker 1: the dudes of jitterbug, and I think that's what you
Speaker 1: miss in this offense. It's not something they need, right,
Speaker 1: but I mean, why not why not go get some
Speaker 1: more guys that can move the football and make plays
Speaker 1: After the catch. I think that's an area where they
Speaker 1: could add some people. I know, you look in the
Speaker 1: red zone right in these key situations, throwing to Trent Taylor,
Speaker 1: the former Louisiana Tech receiver. He's a guy that does
Speaker 1: things differently than Chase and you have to guard him differently.
Speaker 1: Getting a guy like that, maybe an elevated piece of
Speaker 1: that better athlete could be a move for them. It's
Speaker 1: not an obvious need. On Day two, Day three, you
Speaker 1: could probably add one of those guys, especially if one
Speaker 1: of those guys could also return punts. Yes, one percent,
Speaker 1: and one of those one of my favorite players in
Speaker 1: this draft actually plays defensive back. His name's Marcus Jones.
Speaker 1: He is a guy that I feel is such a
Speaker 1: good kick returner that you have to bring it up
Speaker 1: every single time. And the other one is Bam Knight
Speaker 1: Zonovan Knight of NC State. I sit down with him
Speaker 1: at the Super Bowl. I'm like, oh, you're talking through
Speaker 1: the strengths and weaknesses. Is like, I want you to
Speaker 1: know this. I let all the fbs and kick return yards. Like,
Speaker 1: oh man, that's cool. I was like, I'm gonna say again,
Speaker 1: I let all the fbs and return yard. He is
Speaker 1: a guy that knows he can win on special teams dates.
Speaker 1: It's a lost part of the game right. More people
Speaker 1: are kicking touchbacks. I don't have to explain that, but
Speaker 1: if you can have that element right as a part
Speaker 1: returner and a kick returner, it can really elevate your offense.
Speaker 1: I think it's an underdiscussed piece because it's only what
Speaker 1: ten percent of the snaps in any single game. You
Speaker 1: get guys that do it well, it can really help
Speaker 1: you out. The Bengals three techniques are both free agents,
Speaker 1: Larry Ogan, Joeby and b J Hill. They'll try to
Speaker 1: resign both. They certainly probably feel they need to keep
Speaker 1: at least one. But is that an area that they
Speaker 1: could help themselves in this draft? Yeah? Absolutely. I think
Speaker 1: bringing in BJ Hill types to a defense that doesn't
Speaker 1: necessarily want to blitz a ton and wants the stuff
Speaker 1: to run is huge. I mean, I think the DJ
Speaker 1: Reader ad and BJ Hill add were massive in their
Speaker 1: run for the Super Bowl. And they don't sign BJ hillback,
Speaker 1: I'd be concerned because he is a monster. I think
Speaker 1: he's getting better as he progresses in his career, and
Speaker 1: there are other defensive tackles, maybe not three texts that
Speaker 1: I like. They're three texts DeVante Whyt's going to be
Speaker 1: gone by the time that they're drafting. You have some
Speaker 1: others that Perry on Winfree of Oklahoma that you could
Speaker 1: insert into a defense, but it's not going to, like
Speaker 1: legitimately elevate it. But from a nose tackle perspective, Travis
Speaker 1: Jones yukon defensive tackle. He flows to the back end
Speaker 1: of the second round. That's to sprint the card in
Speaker 1: the situation for Cincinnati. Continue to add two gapping, run
Speaker 1: stuffing defensive tackles on Day two and you'll see how
Speaker 1: much it can elevate your defense, especially at low cost.
Speaker 1: You love the draft, Your passion for it is obvious.
Speaker 1: What's the combine like for you? The common Mine's awesome.
Speaker 1: I think I learn more about the draft class in
Speaker 1: one week than you do in the previous three months.
Speaker 1: We're just talking to other people, talking to teams, talking
Speaker 1: to agents, talking to these guys who have been studying
Speaker 1: this for a while, and answering a lot of questions.
Speaker 1: Right trail and Burke's the Arkansas receiver. Why did he
Speaker 1: play seventy percent of his snaps in the slot. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about that. What was the offensive coordinator thinking, what
Speaker 1: does his agent think of that? What does he want
Speaker 1: to play in the NFL? Because it's not as easy
Speaker 1: as saying from a ten thousand foot view on watching tape,
Speaker 1: it's like, this guy's good, this guy's not. That's it's
Speaker 1: just not that easy. What's he like one? And what's
Speaker 1: he like in person? What's his demeanor? What's his approach?
Speaker 1: Is he coachable? I was talking to so many people here,
Speaker 1: Brady Quinn, Dame Rugler of the Athletic more teams cross
Speaker 1: off names off the board, don't drop them, cross them
Speaker 1: off their board for the character concerns and how they
Speaker 1: approached themselves in the interviews than anything else here. You
Speaker 1: could run a four nine at the receiver position. And
Speaker 1: if you are this high character guy that people want
Speaker 1: to gravitate toward and field that they can coach, you're
Speaker 1: going to you're going to be elevated upboards, not crossed off.
Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter is a guy like that. Has he helped
Speaker 1: himself at the combine? My gosh, that guy probably helped
Speaker 1: himself of any quarterback here for low four five's forty
Speaker 1: eight knew he's a stride or knew he could hit that,
Speaker 1: but man to see it definitely checks a lot of boxes.
Speaker 1: It's not something that you would call him a winner for.
Speaker 1: You saw that speed on tape, but you need to
Speaker 1: check those boxes right because if he runs four six
Speaker 1: four seven, that's opposite to what you see on tape.
Speaker 1: In addition to that, too, you start to factor in
Speaker 1: preparation and you know, how did he add too much way?
Speaker 1: There's a lot of concerns that can come up of it.
Speaker 1: So I do think he checked that box. Massive hands,
Speaker 1: which is huge for the quarterback position. I think Desmond Ritter,
Speaker 1: the more I think about it, eighteen to the New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints just feels so right. Why let Desmond ridder
Speaker 1: fall pass at eighteen a guy that can come in
Speaker 1: with a roster a ton of talent, Alvin Kamara, Michael
Speaker 1: Thomas expected to be back. I know they might lose
Speaker 1: Toronto Armstead, but why not bringing a guy that could
Speaker 1: probably elevate, not elevate, but play to the level of
Speaker 1: that supporting cast in New Orleans. I know they have
Speaker 1: a new head coach. I know that I like Jamis Winston,
Speaker 1: but that's the spot where I really feel comfortable taking
Speaker 1: Desmond Ridder. I didn't the spots after that, Pittsburgh at twenty.
Speaker 1: If Malie Willis obviously is on, they're big on Malik Willis.
Speaker 1: I think are those are the areas where I think
Speaker 1: Desmon Ridder should be coming off the board. Now, see,
Speaker 1: I have to disagree with you there because Desmond Ritter
Speaker 1: can't go to the Steelers. My hatred for the Steelers
Speaker 1: cannot be deluded by seeing Desmond Ridder on that roster.
Speaker 1: Last thing for Austin Gale. Cincinnati hasn't had a first
Speaker 1: round pick since nineteen seventy. If it isn't Desmond Ritterer,
Speaker 1: it'll certainly be Sauce Gardner. I mean he's going to
Speaker 1: go in the first ground, that's a given. How high.
Speaker 1: I think it's a lock for the top ten. If
Speaker 1: he gets past the Jets, I'd be stunned. It's exactly
Speaker 1: the type of defense they want to run. They want
Speaker 1: to run more single high concepts. It's and with Ahmad Gardner,
Speaker 1: I think he's phenomenal, But if you put him in
Speaker 1: a defense where where they run a lot of single high,
Speaker 1: run a lot of cover three, cover one, he's going
Speaker 1: to be insane. Right And there are going to be
Speaker 1: teams that want him to be scheme versatile and run
Speaker 1: more zone coverage. It's not something he did a ton
Speaker 1: of it Cincinnati, and that's not a knock on him.
Speaker 1: He played a lot of one thing and did really
Speaker 1: good at it, and a lot of teams do run that.
Speaker 1: So they know. The New York Jets have obviously the
Speaker 1: number four overall pick and then number ten pick. I
Speaker 1: think people have been mocking Derek Stingley or Coyl Hamilton,
Speaker 1: a defensive back at that fourth spot, hearing they're locking
Speaker 1: into an offensive tackle. I think they want Evan Neil
Speaker 1: to fall. They want Ikeyakuana or Charles Cross up at
Speaker 1: that top spot, maybe even Trevor Penning. And then at
Speaker 1: ten he might not get to this point, but at
Speaker 1: ten I think maud garnered it would be a slam
Speaker 1: dunk for the Jets. Fantastic stuff. As always, I really
Speaker 1: appreciate your time, absolutely, thank you. Now let's go over
Speaker 1: the draft prospects that Austin mentioned that Dane Brugler didn't
Speaker 1: Daryan Kinnard as an offensive lineman from Kentucky who played
Speaker 1: tackle for the Wildcats but is projected to be a
Speaker 1: guard in the NFL. He's huge six five three twenty
Speaker 1: two with thirty five inch arms. He's number forty two
Speaker 1: on Brugler's Top one hundred. Tyler Smith out of Tulsa's
Speaker 1: six five three twenty four with thirty four inch arms,
Speaker 1: and he's number eighty five on Bruglar's Top one hundred.
Speaker 1: Austin also brought up three offensive tackles as possible candidates
Speaker 1: to still be there at number thirty one. Bernard Raymond
Speaker 1: from Central Michigan is six six three h three with
Speaker 1: third two and seven eighth arms. The Austria born big
Speaker 1: man is number twenty nine on Brugler's Top one hundred.
Speaker 1: Trevor Penning from Northern Iowa is six seven three twenty
Speaker 1: five with thirty four and a quarter inch arms and
Speaker 1: was a three year starting left tackle. He's number nineteen
Speaker 1: on the Brugler Top one hundred. And then there's Charles
Speaker 1: Cross from Mississippi State six five three oh seven with
Speaker 1: thirty four and a half inch arms. The two year
Speaker 1: starting tackle is way up there at number eight on
Speaker 1: the Brugler Top one hundred. Austin also mentioned a defensive
Speaker 1: tackle named Travis Jones from Yukon. He's six four three
Speaker 1: twenty five and his number forty five on the Brugler
Speaker 1: Top one hundred. At wide receiver. Austin mentioned Treylon Burkes
Speaker 1: from Arkansas. He's six two two twenty five and is
Speaker 1: frequently compared to the forty nine ers Deebo Samuel. He
Speaker 1: ran a four five five forty at the Combine, and
Speaker 1: an addition to memphisis Calvin Austin. Austin Gale brought up
Speaker 1: two return specialists. First, cornerback Marcus Jones, who spent his
Speaker 1: first two college seasons at Troy and his final two
Speaker 1: at Houston. In his college career, Jones returned six kickoffs
Speaker 1: and three punts for touchdowns. And then there's running back
Speaker 1: Zonovan bam Knight from NC State, who returned three kickoffs
Speaker 1: for touchdowns in his college career and averaged thirty four
Speaker 1: point four yards per return this past season. And now,
Speaker 1: to wrap things up, it's an installment of Storytime with Dan.
Speaker 1: Here's the concept. I've been broadcasting in some way, shape
Speaker 1: or form since working for the student radio station at
Speaker 1: Syracuse University. I've had a wide variety of experiences on
Speaker 1: and off the air. In previous episodes. I've shared the
Speaker 1: behind the scenes details of why there was once a
Speaker 1: character named Dan Horde on The Simpsons, and told the
Speaker 1: story of how my wife Peg helped Ken Griffey Junior
Speaker 1: have perhaps his best season in a Red uniform by
Speaker 1: buying him a Hope T shirt. Today on Storytime with Dan,
Speaker 1: it's my makeup story. Here goes. My first job out
Speaker 1: of college was as a minor league baseball announcer for
Speaker 1: the Syracuse Chiefs, at that time the Triple A affiliate
Speaker 1: of the Toronto Blue Jays. After doing that for a
Speaker 1: few years, I was approached out of the blue by
Speaker 1: an old college buddy to see if I might be
Speaker 1: interested in doing TV sportscasts on the six and eleven
Speaker 1: o'clock news. You've probably heard of him, some guy named
Speaker 1: Mike Tarico when we were students at Syracuse. Mike was
Speaker 1: so absurdly talented that one of the local TV stations
Speaker 1: hired him to be their weekend sports anchor when he
Speaker 1: was still a sophomore in college. While the rest of
Speaker 1: us were doing what college kids do on Friday and
Speaker 1: Saturday nights, Mike was going to work. So when he
Speaker 1: graduated and no longer had to go to class. The
Speaker 1: TV station that he worked for immediately promoted Mike to
Speaker 1: the number one spot anchoring Monday through Friday, and they
Speaker 1: demoted the Monday through Friday guy to weekends. Well, as
Speaker 1: you can probably imagine, he didn't take the demotion very
Speaker 1: well and soon bolted for another job. So that opened
Speaker 1: up the weekend slot and Mike called me to see
Speaker 1: if I would be interested. Now you have to understand
Speaker 1: I had never done a TV sportscast in my life,
Speaker 1: but Mike said he would convince his boss to give
Speaker 1: me a tryout. So I did the tryout and apparently
Speaker 1: didn't embarrass myself because they offered me the job. Fast
Speaker 1: forward to my first night as a TV sports anchor.
Speaker 1: I've written my scripts, I put on my best suit
Speaker 1: and tie. At about fifteen minutes before I was about
Speaker 1: to go on, one of my co workers pointed down
Speaker 1: the hall and said, in case nobody told you, the
Speaker 1: makeup room is the second door on the right, makeup room.
Speaker 1: I didn't know there was a makeup room. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: So I walked down the hall, fully expecting that when
Speaker 1: I entered the second door on the right that I
Speaker 1: would sit down in a high chair, and a friendly
Speaker 1: make up person would do whatever make up people do
Speaker 1: to make unattractive people like me look good or at
Speaker 1: least better. Well, not exactly. When I walked into the
Speaker 1: make up room, there was nobody in there. It was
Speaker 1: basically a bathroom with no toilets. There were mirrors and
Speaker 1: a sink and lots of bright lights, but no make
Speaker 1: up person. I soon learned that unless you're working in
Speaker 1: a place like New York or LA or for a
Speaker 1: major network, there are no make up people. You do
Speaker 1: it yourself. Unfortunately, I'm a dude. I not only had
Speaker 1: no idea what to do about make up, I was
Speaker 1: too embarrassed to ask any of my co workers for help.
Speaker 1: So the next day I went to the local CVS
Speaker 1: to buy makeup. Not the cosmetics desk at a apartments store,
Speaker 1: where they would have happily assisted me, but a random
Speaker 1: drug store where I could pull something off of a
Speaker 1: shelf and try to figure it out myself. So I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the wall of makeup and I decided I
Speaker 1: would get something in a medium. How hard could it be?
Speaker 1: You get one of those little sponges, spread some of
Speaker 1: that medium cream on your face and you're ready for TV,
Speaker 1: And so that's what I did before my second night
Speaker 1: on the job. Well, when I walked out onto the
Speaker 1: set and the male and female news anchors saw me,
Speaker 1: they both did a shocked double take. I suspect the
Speaker 1: reaction would have been exactly the same if I had
Speaker 1: walked out there with no pants. I went ahead and
Speaker 1: did my sportscast, and when the news was finished, the
Speaker 1: female news anchor, Tracy said, Dan, you might want to
Speaker 1: consider a different shade of makeup. You look a little
Speaker 1: bit dark. So I went back to the makeup room
Speaker 1: and took a closer look at what I had wiped
Speaker 1: off all over my face before going on TV. It
Speaker 1: was a medium shade, all right, but it was for
Speaker 1: quote beautiful women of color, that's right. I hadn't noticed
Speaker 1: that I had purchased makeup specifically intended for women with
Speaker 1: darker skin tones. Needless to say, I swallowed my pride
Speaker 1: and asked for help The next day and hopefully the
Speaker 1: tape of that sportscast no longer exists. And that concludes
Speaker 1: this episode of Storytime with Dan. It also concludes this
Speaker 1: episode of the Bengals Booth podcast presented by Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season.
Speaker 1: It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic
Speaker 1: Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and
Speaker 1: Google Play. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe
Speaker 1: to this podcast and if you have a minute, give
Speaker 1: it a rating or share a comment that helps more
Speaker 1: Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth podcast.