Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth podcast,
Speaker 2: the I Know you got your schedule, Land you keep
Speaker 2: an it tight edition as I discussed Cincinnati's just released
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five schedule with Bengals dot Com editor Jeff
Speaker 2: Butch Hobson. Then it's the latest edition of five Questions
Speaker 2: with one of this year's draft picks, followed by five
Speaker 2: observations after watching practice. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
Speaker 2: to you by pay Core, proud to be the Bengals
Speaker 2: official hr software provider, by Alta Fiber Future Brew Fiber
Speaker 2: Internet designed to elevate your home, business and community to
Speaker 2: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
Speaker 2: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
Speaker 2: provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
Speaker 2: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
Speaker 2: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever
Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since free
Speaker 2: food samples. I was at a farmer's market recently where
Speaker 2: one of the purveyors was offering up little pieces of
Speaker 2: grilled lamb sausage on a toothpick. My wife and I
Speaker 2: each tried one, found it delicious, and purchased a package.
Speaker 2: That's how it's supposed to work. But more often than not,
Speaker 2: I'm the guy who takes the sample, even if there's
Speaker 2: a very slim chance that I am going to purchase
Speaker 2: the product. Shoot, there have been times at Costco where
Speaker 2: I walked out stuffed after grazing through all of the goodies.
Speaker 2: And it's amazing what you'll try when it's a little
Speaker 2: free sample. HM roasted pig ear in a honey mustard sauce.
Speaker 2: Don't mind if I do so, keep those samples coming
Speaker 2: food merchants. As a member of the media, I am
Speaker 2: basically required to eat any and all free food. Now
Speaker 2: let's get to the Bengals hot off the Press's schedule.
Speaker 2: We already knew the who and where, but we didn't
Speaker 2: know the win. Now we do. In terms of difficulty,
Speaker 2: it looks like a middle of the pack schedule. Nine
Speaker 2: of the bengals seventeen opponents went to the playoffs last year,
Speaker 2: and six of those games against playoff teams will be
Speaker 2: on the road. That's the hard part. But there are
Speaker 2: also two games against the Browns and home games against
Speaker 2: the Jags, Jets, Bears, and Patriots. All of those teams
Speaker 2: lost at least twelve games last year. Based on last
Speaker 2: year's records, it's the fourteenth toughest schedule in the league.
Speaker 2: Based on projected win totals. In Vegas, it's the seventeenth toughest, again,
Speaker 2: middle of the pack. The Bengals also have the fewest
Speaker 2: travel miles of any team in the NFL this year,
Speaker 2: about two thousand fewer than Buffalo. The Chargers, on the
Speaker 2: other hand, will travel about four times as many miles
Speaker 2: as Cincinnati, roughly thirty seven miles compared to the Bengals
Speaker 2: eight thousand, seven hundred fifty three. For a closer look
Speaker 2: at the eighteen week grind, beginning on September seventh, I
Speaker 2: caught up with Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson.
Speaker 2: All right, Butch, Week one is a road game at Cleveland,
Speaker 2: starting at one o'clock in the afternoon. The Reds are
Speaker 2: at home against the Mets that weekend, so a road
Speaker 2: opener seemed likely to me. The second time in three years,
Speaker 2: the Bengals will open up the regular season with a
Speaker 2: road game in Cleveland, and end it with a home
Speaker 2: game against the Cleveland Browns. A couple of years ago,
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow couldn't move because of his calf injury. The
Speaker 2: Bengals managed only six first downs and a twenty four
Speaker 2: to three loss. You would think their chances of a
Speaker 2: road win are good this time around, regardless of whether
Speaker 2: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dylan Gabriel, Shador Sanders, or somebody
Speaker 2: else starts at quarterback for Cleveland. If you look at
Speaker 2: ESPN bets over underwin per injections for the upcoming season,
Speaker 2: Cleveland gets the fewest of any team in the NFL
Speaker 2: at four and a half. So what do you think
Speaker 2: Week one on the road at Cleveland.
Speaker 3: Well, it's Paul Brown's one hundred and seventeenth birthday, So
Speaker 3: I think that's a good vibe going to the city
Speaker 3: where he now holds the record for the most NFL championships.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean this feels like one. This feels more
Speaker 4: like twenty eleven, not twenty twenty three. Although Andy Dalton
Speaker 4: was a rookie quarterback the member the Bengals won that
Speaker 4: one and went on your first game actually as an
Speaker 4: announcer board he was a Cleveland Browns opener.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I.
Speaker 4: Like the match up with Cleveland, not just because of
Speaker 4: the quarterback, but I think their defense I think is
Speaker 4: squid a little bit. Although they you know, they still
Speaker 4: have Garrett, they did draft Mason Graham, so but I
Speaker 4: do think their secondary is little bit more, you know,
Speaker 4: even though they have Denzel. I think the Bengals get
Speaker 4: over a big hump, I think, just mentally by sweeping.
Speaker 5: Them last year. So this does not feel like twenty three. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The Browns also announced this week that they're great linebacker
Speaker 2: j Okay as he's known is going to miss the
Speaker 2: entire season after his neck injury last year. So that
Speaker 2: takes away one of the fastest linebackers in the NFL
Speaker 2: and a guy who is emerging is a really good
Speaker 2: player for Cleveland off that great defense.
Speaker 4: And are they drafted one at the top of the
Speaker 4: at the top of the second round, but he's not
Speaker 4: going to be a Joka at the openers.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't think. So that's week one. Week two, the
Speaker 2: Bengals play their home opener at one o'clock against Jacksonville,
Speaker 2: a team coming off of four and thirteen season. They've
Speaker 2: got a new coach and former University of Kentucky offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator Liam Cohen. In Zach Taylor's tenure, the Bengals are
Speaker 2: one in five in week one and zhen six in
Speaker 2: week two. Last year, they were just about guaranteed to
Speaker 2: start the season three and one because of the schedule,
Speaker 2: and we know how that went. They went one in
Speaker 2: three instead. Stuff obviously happens. But with Cleveland in week one,
Speaker 2: at a home game against Jacksonville in Week two, there
Speaker 2: is a great opportunity at least to start this season
Speaker 2: two and zero.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, but it's you know, it's the same
Speaker 4: thing as like last year, right, you get a first
Speaker 4: time quarterback going going in Cleveland, you know, for Cleve,
Speaker 4: you get a first time that'll be playing quarterback for
Speaker 4: Cleveland will be that opener. Then the next week a
Speaker 4: rookie head coach, and then probably the same thing in
Speaker 4: Minnesota the next week a quarterback playing for the first time.
Speaker 5: So you know, I think the Jaguars are, you.
Speaker 4: Know, clearly clearly in transition because you know there they
Speaker 4: try to do some things in the draft to reshape
Speaker 4: their team. So I mean, I think you know you're
Speaker 4: gonna have I think Bill, I think by the time
Speaker 4: they get in here, the Jaguars, they'll be in a
Speaker 4: bit of circus mode with the Travis Hunters stuff.
Speaker 5: You know, how many snaps.
Speaker 4: He's gonna play on defense, what's he looked like on offense? So,
Speaker 4: you know, I think they might get a club that
Speaker 4: will be uh, you know, probably even by the second
Speaker 4: week that draggled a little bit.
Speaker 2: Do you buy the adage that you want to face
Speaker 2: new coaches and new quarterbacks as early in the season
Speaker 2: as possible.
Speaker 5: I didn't so last year.
Speaker 4: But no, I think most of the time that that
Speaker 4: I think, you know, the law of averages that's due
Speaker 4: to break their way.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: Now a guy like the next game we talk about,
Speaker 4: you know, that's a little bit of a different deal.
Speaker 4: Although JJ was hurt last year, he's still been around
Speaker 4: the program, and O'Connell has, you know, is still good.
Speaker 4: I think he could throw me in there and i'd
Speaker 4: you know, i'd get a maybe I could throw for
Speaker 4: a bucko one. But you know, I think for the
Speaker 4: most part this is I think these first three games
Speaker 4: are probably as good as you could you know, probably
Speaker 4: could have good as as for coming out of the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So let me just fill in the details. On
Speaker 2: Week three, that's a one o'clock road game at Minnesota.
Speaker 2: So their first three games of the year are all
Speaker 2: one o'clock starts, which maybe is a little bit of
Speaker 2: surprise considering how big of a profile team the Bengals
Speaker 2: have become with Joe Burrow. The Vikings are coming off
Speaker 2: of fourteen and three season, but Sam Darnold is gone.
Speaker 2: You referenced JJ McCarthy, the projected starter at quarterback after
Speaker 2: missing his entire rookie year with a knee injury. The
Speaker 2: Vegas preseason win projection for Minnesota is eight and a
Speaker 2: half after they won fourteen last year. So because of
Speaker 2: the quarterback change and maybe regression to the mean, they're
Speaker 2: kind of projected more like a five hundred team and
Speaker 2: a seventeen game schedule. But like you said, their head
Speaker 2: coach is excellent and for me, even though statistically I
Speaker 2: don't think this is the case or scientifically this isn't
Speaker 2: the case. That stadiums the one I've ever been in
Speaker 2: in my life. I know Kansas City and Seattle have
Speaker 2: set the decibel level record. The last time the Bengals
Speaker 2: played in Minnesota, I literally got a headache from the
Speaker 2: noise at the beginning of the game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the last couple of times they've been up there,
Speaker 4: the game get out of hand, it unraveled a little bit,
Speaker 4: and I chucked that up to the to the noise,
Speaker 4: I mean, I know, they get up there in five
Speaker 4: rolled and pretty good, and you just couldn't hear yourself
Speaker 4: thinking the same thing happened in seventeen, I think. But yeah,
Speaker 4: for my money, I mean, Minnesota blows everyone's doors.
Speaker 2: Off, all right. Week four, the first of four scheduled
Speaker 2: primetime games, a Monday night road game in Denver. Three
Speaker 2: of the four primetime games are on the road, at Denver,
Speaker 2: at Baltimore, and at Miami. So after becoming the first
Speaker 2: team in NFL history to play five primetime road games
Speaker 2: last year, they're scheduled to play three this year. And
Speaker 2: if you look at last year's schedule when it came out,
Speaker 2: it was three, and then the Chargers and Steelers road
Speaker 2: games became night games because they were flexed late in
Speaker 2: the season. So once again, it's great to be high profile,
Speaker 2: it's great to be a team that everybody wants to watch.
Speaker 2: But in the Bengals case, you wind up playing primetime
Speaker 2: games on the road, which is difficult.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with the you know,
Speaker 4: you know, mix in a few primetimers at home where
Speaker 4: Jolie Burrow is, you know, five and one, you know,
Speaker 4: but everybody has trouble in the road. I mean, I
Speaker 4: I you know, I mean, I know why this game
Speaker 4: is on a Monday night. They hope they're going to
Speaker 4: keep They're going to pick up where they left off
Speaker 4: in that overtime game. Bo Nix and Joe Burrow put
Speaker 4: on a showdown here that was topped off by T Higgins.
Speaker 4: So we know that's a play you know, ten years ago,
Speaker 4: one of the greatest games in Bengals sister one of
Speaker 4: the best when AJ mccarrn had this team on the
Speaker 4: brink of a playoff by in a Monday nighter at
Speaker 4: Mile in that place. You talk about loud, that's that's
Speaker 4: that's pretty loud. So you go back to back to
Speaker 4: two pretty pretty noisy joints, you know, and uh but
Speaker 4: I'll you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 5: I thought, you know, the Broncos first round pick was J. J.
Speaker 4: Barron from Texas to corner, and I think that was
Speaker 4: a tip of a cap to what Higgins did and
Speaker 4: did to him. He was just unbelievable that night that
Speaker 4: night at Paycourt against the Broncos. Three touchdowns, one hundred
Speaker 4: and thirty one yards, a lot of I like to say, well,
Speaker 4: and he goes up for a ball, you know, it's
Speaker 4: a it's it's a it's a Bill Russell game seven rebound.
Speaker 5: You know he tears it away and you know he's
Speaker 5: got it. And he had some of those against the Broncos.
Speaker 2: Sure did all right. Week five one of the most
Speaker 2: attractive home games on the schedule this year, a four
Speaker 2: to twenty five late afternoon on Fox game against the
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions, presumably with Tom Brady in the booth for Fox.
Speaker 2: Uh so we'll get to hear Brady on Burrow in
Speaker 2: that four twenty five game. The line's coming off of
Speaker 2: fifteen and two season despite numerous injuries. Like the Bengals,
Speaker 2: Vegas has. They're over under this year at ten and
Speaker 2: a half wins going in. But that is going to
Speaker 2: be a greatly anticipated home game this year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it kind of reminds me of it's
Speaker 4: almost the same day, it's almost the same week in
Speaker 4: the Seattle when they played Seattle two years ago.
Speaker 5: You know, and.
Speaker 4: Just a really you know, that's a big time headline game.
Speaker 4: You know, it's also the second straight home game. Two
Speaker 4: number one pick quarterbacks are going at it. You've got
Speaker 4: Trevor Lawrence for the Jaguars against Burrow, and then you
Speaker 4: got Burrow going against Scof.
Speaker 5: He's beating both guys.
Speaker 4: You know, but that team, that team he beat in
Speaker 4: Detroit in twenty twenty one, I mean, that's not exactly
Speaker 4: the same club. They're fast, they're physical. You know, it's
Speaker 4: it's an interesting matchup. The Bengals led the league in passing,
Speaker 4: the Lions led the league in overall offense with that
Speaker 4: terrific run game. So I think you're gonna get you know,
Speaker 4: you not only get a great game. I think you're
Speaker 4: gonna get a great you know, it's going to be
Speaker 4: a great dichotomy game. You know, they're gonna try empower you,
Speaker 4: and the Bengals are gonna do what they do, which
Speaker 4: is kill you not so softly.
Speaker 2: With Burrow and two guys who used to coach together,
Speaker 2: and Zach Taylor and Dan Campbell, and they were both
Speaker 2: with the Miami Dolphins. Week six, the fourth straight game
Speaker 2: against the team that went to the playoffs last year.
Speaker 2: This is another four to twenty five star Nanson romo,
Speaker 2: in this case, as the Bengals take on the Packers
Speaker 2: at lambeau Field, green Bay, coming off an eleven and
Speaker 2: six season. This is October twelfth, so the tundra won't
Speaker 2: be frozen. It should be decent temperatures in Green Bay
Speaker 2: for Cincinnati fans who might want to make the pilgrimage
Speaker 2: to lambeau if they've never been there before.
Speaker 4: It's a you know, the Bengals I believe played the
Speaker 4: hottest game ever in the history of Green Bay the
Speaker 4: last time they were there. Uh, probably, but that was September,
Speaker 4: so this is so, this is October, so they're they're
Speaker 4: in pretty good shape. It is, you know, get there
Speaker 4: early to see the Hall of Fame and all of that.
Speaker 4: But it's you know, the Packers are one of those
Speaker 4: teams are hard to get a read on, like who
Speaker 4: are these guys? You know, but they.
Speaker 5: Especially since Rodgers left, you know, but they.
Speaker 4: Keep you know that guy, that guy's a good coach
Speaker 4: up there, man, he keeps he keeps churning out these
Speaker 4: thirteen winning clubs and really really not the greatest players.
Speaker 5: Really when you think, you know, I mean they do
Speaker 5: have some, you know, good players and everything, but I mean,
Speaker 5: Jordan loves a good player. But you know, I don't know,
Speaker 5: it's uh, where does he rate in that division of quarterbacks?
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: So it's a really good all around team. And that's it.
Speaker 5: And that's a tough one just because of the venue.
Speaker 2: On the week seven and the Thursday night home game
Speaker 2: against the Pittsburgh Steelers. AFC North games in primetime overwhelmingly
Speaker 2: favor the home team. The last time the Bengals played
Speaker 2: a division rival at home at night, their quarterback was
Speaker 2: Ryan Finley and the two ten and one Bengals beat
Speaker 2: the eleven and two Pittsburgh Steelers. So it goes to
Speaker 2: show you the home team typically fareswell in the AFC
Speaker 2: North in a primetime game. The Bengals have played five
Speaker 2: road games in the division in primetime since that last
Speaker 2: home game. It's about time they get to host an
Speaker 2: AFC North rival at home.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the the Von Bell Culture game, and that could
Speaker 4: be that could be interesting. I guess that's going to
Speaker 4: be Aaron Rodgers, right, We've got We've got Burrow versus
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers, perhaps, which would be the second time the
Speaker 4: second time they went out. The first time they went
Speaker 4: it was a great game, was an overtime win for
Speaker 4: a rod But I don't know, Boardy, you think you
Speaker 4: think Rogers is going to be in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: Be Aaron Rodgers. It could still be Kirk Cousins. I
Speaker 2: can't imagine it's going to be Mason Rudolph or Will Howard.
Speaker 2: So I do think they will add one of those vets.
Speaker 2: You know, Rogers has met with the team. That seems
Speaker 2: to be the most prominent rumor, although in the last
Speaker 2: week I've seen reports of a possible trade with the
Speaker 2: Falcons for Kirk Cousins. So I would anticipate Rogers or
Speaker 2: Cousins instead of Rudolph or Howard.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I I just don't see, you know that the
Speaker 4: Steelers have you know, what have they done?
Speaker 5: You know, really, I mean they've you know, they they
Speaker 5: drafted a.
Speaker 4: Defensive tackle, but they didn't really you know, I don't
Speaker 4: know how much they've really upgraded.
Speaker 5: They got you know, they they got rid of their
Speaker 5: headache and pickens.
Speaker 4: And they've got you know, and they but but they've
Speaker 4: just still really got one one weapon, really, you know,
Speaker 4: a receiver Metcalf who's a models player. But that looks good,
Speaker 4: you know, that looks good, especially obviously since it's a
Speaker 4: short week, all.
Speaker 2: Right, week eight after the mini buy, it's one o'clock
Speaker 2: home game against a team projected to be among the
Speaker 2: worst in the NFL, the Jets coming off of five
Speaker 2: wins season. They've got a new coach and Aaron Glenn,
Speaker 2: they've got a new quarterback and Justin Fields. He's fourteen
Speaker 2: and thirty as a starter in the NFL. So that's
Speaker 2: one of those games that going into the season you
Speaker 2: would anticipate, all right, that should be a W at home.
Speaker 4: You only think of the bad stuff as a fan, right,
Speaker 4: so I think of Justin Fields coming off the bench
Speaker 4: for Andy Dalton winning your game for the Bears, and
Speaker 4: then last year he got a key first down at
Speaker 4: the end of the game. So but yeah, you know
Speaker 4: that's one, right, that's one. You look at the schedule
Speaker 4: and everybody is going to be doing it. At eight
Speaker 4: oh one in Cincinnati, they're going to be going down.
Speaker 4: What's a W, what's an L? You know that's got
Speaker 4: to be a W. We know what happened there, I
Speaker 4: guess in twenty one when the Jets had an unknown
Speaker 4: quarterback come out and throw for four bills. So I
Speaker 4: guess you never know when you're going through the things. So,
Speaker 4: but right now, on May fourteenth.
Speaker 5: That's got to be a W. And so does the
Speaker 5: next one have to be? One year at home.
Speaker 2: Week nine, the last game before the middle of the
Speaker 2: season by and the Bengals third straight home game. It's
Speaker 2: a one o'clock start against the Chicago Bears. The Bears
Speaker 2: are the only team in the NFC North that didn't
Speaker 2: win at least eleven last year. They've got former Lions
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator Ben Johnson taking over as head coach. Great
Speaker 2: offensive mind. We get back to a topic we discussed earlier,
Speaker 2: were you're hoping to get the Bears early while they're
Speaker 2: still adjusting to their new system, because that's not the
Speaker 2: way it worked out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I mean it's but they got to like
Speaker 4: the way the buy worked out. I mean I think
Speaker 4: that's you know, it's right smack in the middle of
Speaker 4: the years, and that's perfect.
Speaker 5: Probably wouldn't have liked to have gotten the Bears a
Speaker 5: little earlier, but you know.
Speaker 4: That's you know, getting him in the first half of
Speaker 4: the year is better than getting him in the second half.
Speaker 4: So I still think that works for him because you know, basically,
Speaker 4: I mean, I know, the quarterback is going to be
Speaker 4: in his second season, but he's in the first year
Speaker 4: of a new system, so is that you know, still
Speaker 4: makes him a bit rookie ish. So uh, but here's
Speaker 4: another one where you just have to you know, the
Speaker 4: home the home field, like you know, is where this
Speaker 4: gets to be so important, you know, where where you know,
Speaker 4: you establish yourself at home against teams that can be
Speaker 4: maybe dangerous, you know, and just uh, you know, second
Speaker 4: game in a row heading into a bye that looks
Speaker 4: good too, you know. I think the way the way
Speaker 4: that first half of the season breaks down, you know,
Speaker 4: except for the back to back the Vikings and the Broncos,
Speaker 4: I mean, it works out pretty well for him, I think.
Speaker 2: All right after the bye in Week eleven, Game ten,
Speaker 2: it's a one o'clock road game at Pittsburgh, the Bengals
Speaker 2: looking to win in Pittsburgh for the fourth time in
Speaker 2: the last five years. Prior to this stretch, the Bengals
Speaker 2: had lost nine of their previous to eleven in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: So in the Borough era, that is it at least
Speaker 2: one demon that has been exercised. They have no fear
Speaker 2: of going to Pittsburgh and coming back with a win.
Speaker 5: And it would be four you know, and it would
Speaker 5: be four different quarterbacks too.
Speaker 4: I mean, whoever it's going to be, it will be
Speaker 4: the it will be.
Speaker 5: The fourth different one.
Speaker 4: Which is it kind of speaks to I think where
Speaker 4: the Bengals are at and where the Steelers are at,
Speaker 4: and they have to take advantage of that. So I
Speaker 4: think I kind of like going into Pittsburgh after having
Speaker 4: a you know, getting the getting soothed in the whirlpool
Speaker 4: all right.
Speaker 2: In Game eleven, it's a one o'clock home game against
Speaker 2: the Patriots, a chance to atone for last year's dismal opener.
Speaker 2: The Patriots were a four win team a year ago,
Speaker 2: but Drake May showed promise at quarterback. They've hired a
Speaker 2: proven head coach and Mike Rabel. I think New England
Speaker 2: is going to be the most improved team in the
Speaker 2: AFC this year. That doesn't mean I think they're going
Speaker 2: to beat the Bengals at pay Corps, but I do
Speaker 2: expect the Patriots to have a very respectable season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think Rabel will make sure that he does that.
Speaker 4: So you know they're gonna be better on defense, and
Speaker 4: uh Zach has had Zach had good success against.
Speaker 5: Rabel, right, he beat him here, He beat him here.
Speaker 4: And Borrow, Borrow beat him as a rookie, went in
Speaker 4: there and won some tough games. Of course, won the
Speaker 4: you know one, the h that great AFC divisional that
Speaker 4: mcphist and wanted at the gun, the logan, the logan
Speaker 4: Wilson pick.
Speaker 5: The Jamaic chase bench route. You know. So he's got
Speaker 5: a look you know that. I think that, you know,
Speaker 5: but does that carry over? I mean, Rabel it's a
Speaker 5: totally different team, totally different venue.
Speaker 4: But I think also the Patriots are going to be
Speaker 4: different because Vrabel is a Patriot, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: And that that that they'll be they'll be better because
Speaker 4: they'll be better because the culture is going to be better.
Speaker 4: You know, no shot at Mayo, but Vrabel comes in,
Speaker 4: you know, resume intact. But I think, you know, here again,
Speaker 4: you can just imagine Borrow out playing me, you know, on.
Speaker 2: To Game twelve, Thanksgiving night in primetime in Baltimore. So
Speaker 2: I recognize that the schedule is a complex puzzle for
Speaker 2: the NFL. Total fairness is impossible. But this is the
Speaker 2: fourth year in a row that the Bengals have played
Speaker 2: a night game in Baltimore. It's the third straight on
Speaker 2: a Thursday night. I am calling BS. I mean, they
Speaker 2: should have programmed the software so their primetime game in
Speaker 2: Baltimore was highly unlikely, and a Thursday night road game
Speaker 2: was impossible. In a division rivalry that's as tough as
Speaker 2: Cincinnati versus Baltimore, there's no way they should be playing
Speaker 2: on a Thursday for the third year in a row
Speaker 2: on the road.
Speaker 5: No.
Speaker 4: All I know is the last time they played in
Speaker 4: Baltimore in broad daylight, they.
Speaker 5: Won forty one seventeen.
Speaker 4: Now, saying that's a I'm not saying, but I'm just saying, hey,
Speaker 4: you know, make it four twenty five, you know, or something.
Speaker 5: Just uh, let us see the stunt in Baltimore, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean.
Speaker 4: So, but man, I went back to look back, you know,
Speaker 4: the two games last year just absolute classics.
Speaker 5: How are they gonna how are they going to do? Uh,
Speaker 5: what are they going to do? For an encore?
Speaker 2: I mean, make the final play to win?
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, that's for sure. I mean I'm talking about
Speaker 5: the two teams. Yeah, I mean, you can't.
Speaker 4: I mean making a field goal to win it and
Speaker 4: then stopping a two point play modeling the quarterback though,
Speaker 4: But I mean, just don't get any closer than that,
Speaker 4: you know, I mean it'd be, uh, what if you
Speaker 4: switched it? What if there was a prime time or
Speaker 4: a preay corps, you know, and at one o'clock at Baltimore.
Speaker 5: Doesn't the computer look at these things?
Speaker 2: You would think, like I said, I know, it's a
Speaker 2: complex puzzle. But you know, after all that out what
Speaker 2: you enter into a computer program and they should have
Speaker 2: entered in Cincinnati ad Baltimore in primetime on Thursday cannot happen.
Speaker 5: Right well?
Speaker 4: And also after all this, Oh and by the way,
Speaker 4: it's Thanksgiving, which only the second time in history this
Speaker 4: club will will play.
Speaker 5: While the rest of the world is eating. Well, I
Speaker 5: guess we'll be by then.
Speaker 4: I guess people will probably be napping, but they won't
Speaker 4: be napping because they'll be burrowing the ravens. So but yeah,
Speaker 4: the last one was in a galaxy far far away
Speaker 4: when they replayed the two thousand and nine AFC Wildcard
Speaker 4: game the Jets Bengals.
Speaker 5: They played that on Thanksgiving in twenty ten.
Speaker 2: Game thirteen, a four to twenty five Sunday road game
Speaker 2: in early December at Buffalo. They'll have some extra time
Speaker 2: to recover and prepare after playing on Thanksgiving as they
Speaker 2: look to be Josh Allen and the Bills for the
Speaker 2: third time in a row.
Speaker 5: You look at that.
Speaker 4: And some of the moves they made this year in
Speaker 4: the draft. The two linebackers that can run. To me,
Speaker 4: that's how do you stop Allen and Jackson? You know,
Speaker 4: two linebackers that can run in the most athletic defensive
Speaker 4: lineman in the draft of the last forty years, Shamas Stewart.
Speaker 4: So to me, the draft the first, the first, second,
Speaker 4: or fourth pix in this draft.
Speaker 5: You're reading this schedule at Baltimore at.
Speaker 2: Buffalo, followed by Baltimore again in game fourteen. It's a
Speaker 2: Baltimore rematch seventeen days after the Thanksgiving road game. So
Speaker 2: beginning in Week three, the Bengals play five playoff teams
Speaker 2: in a row, Minnesota, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: That's obviously tough, but I would say at Baltimore at
Speaker 2: Buffalo home against Baltimore might be the of his three
Speaker 2: game stretch. Any team in the NFL plays this year.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a good call.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: Also that that's seventeen day gap between the Baltimore games.
Speaker 4: That's the smallest regular season gap playing the same opponents
Speaker 4: since eighty six when they played the when they split
Speaker 4: with the Steelers in eighty six on thirteen days in October.
Speaker 5: So that's something you don't see very often, you know.
Speaker 4: Now you see it in the playoffs, like they played
Speaker 4: the Ravens and back to back weeks in twenty two,
Speaker 4: you know, to end the season and the Wildcaid game.
Speaker 4: I mean, if they played the two games they played
Speaker 4: last year, I mean, what nerves are gonna be left
Speaker 4: if you do that? If that happens in a seventeen
Speaker 4: days fan, I mean, you know, it's that's gonna be wild,
Speaker 4: isn't it.
Speaker 2: No doubt it's gonna be fun, But it's gonna be wild.
Speaker 2: We've got three games left, game fifteen Sunday Night Football
Speaker 2: at Miami four days before Christmas, so the Bengals avoid
Speaker 2: sweltering heat early in the season. Could be a holiday
Speaker 2: week road trip for Bengals fans. It's not the trip
Speaker 2: to Spain that many had speculated about, but a chance
Speaker 2: for warm weather against the Miami team coming off an
Speaker 2: eight to nine season just before Christmas.
Speaker 5: Who would have funked the mayor of Madrid prevying fake
Speaker 5: news anyway, But anyway, shouldn't they win the last three? Hordy?
Speaker 5: I mean, is Miami? Where is Miami?
Speaker 4: Miami's in a bit of a Miami could be falling
Speaker 4: back right It might be.
Speaker 5: They seem to be a bit desperate.
Speaker 2: Seems that way. Some of it was injury related. Last year.
Speaker 2: I think they had as many injuries as any team
Speaker 2: in the AFC, so that's one of the reasons why
Speaker 2: they took a step back. But I'm in agreement with you.
Speaker 2: They seem to kind of be on a teeter toatter
Speaker 2: right now. You don't know if it's going to go
Speaker 2: up or down.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 2: It's a Sunday night road game, which is tough. That
Speaker 2: adds to the degree of difficulty. But I do wonder
Speaker 2: if Miami is a team that had its moment and
Speaker 2: that moment is coming gone.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 4: Though you know, Sunday night on the road is not
Speaker 4: a it's not a day at the beach, although you
Speaker 4: know it's not a Sunday night in Miami. I mean
Speaker 4: it's not a Sunday night in Green Bay on December
Speaker 4: twenty first, or in Pittsburgh. So I think that's a break.
Speaker 4: I think that's a break too, you know. I mean
Speaker 4: I just think, and you know, we also so many
Speaker 4: things happen, but you know, this club plays well if
Speaker 4: you look at it. Historically under Zach Taylor in the
Speaker 4: Borough era, December has been good to them, particularly at home.
Speaker 4: I know we're gonna you know, and that's where they end.
Speaker 4: Sorry to do the segue there, but that's where they
Speaker 4: end Arizona and Cleveland, right, which is you know, they've
Speaker 4: won I think they've won ten of their last eleven
Speaker 4: games regular season games in December and January at home.
Speaker 4: So if they could get through, you know, if they
Speaker 4: can you know, get through that Sunday night or in Miami,
Speaker 4: that's a good ending for them. I mean, at least
Speaker 4: historically they've you know, they've they've they've done really well
Speaker 4: here in December.
Speaker 5: All right.
Speaker 2: So Game sixteen is a Saturday home game against Arizona.
Speaker 2: That's the final Saturday of December. Arizona likely coming east
Speaker 2: to deal with a high probability of cold weather, you
Speaker 2: would think, so that could be tough on the Cardinals,
Speaker 2: and then Game seventeen could be either Saturday or Sunday,
Speaker 2: a home game against Cleveland. If it seems like the
Speaker 2: Bengals usually win their final home game of the regular season,
Speaker 2: your feeling is accurate, because whether they're having a good year,
Speaker 2: a bad year, or somewhere in the middle type of season,
Speaker 2: they're twelve and one in their last thirteen regular season
Speaker 2: home finales. Twelve and one.
Speaker 5: That's crazy, preddam home happy. That was Jack Renning. Jack
Speaker 5: Brennan pr tag. He rolled that out.
Speaker 4: Every year and you could do that now, and I
Speaker 4: think probably PJ does.
Speaker 5: But I think it's interesting.
Speaker 4: Arizona, you know, you remember this twenty eleven, almost the
Speaker 4: same week.
Speaker 5: Of the season they came.
Speaker 4: They came East, I think with someone named Skelton playing
Speaker 4: your quarterback. It nearly beat and nearly beat the Bengals,
Speaker 4: nearly denied them a playoff spot, but it worked out
Speaker 4: that they ended up making it, but Arizona almost They
Speaker 4: had to fend off Arizona at the end.
Speaker 2: That was the Yeah, that was the Jerome Simpson somersault game, right.
Speaker 4: And then and I think they I think Conn has
Speaker 4: dropped the ball in the end zone.
Speaker 5: I think that would have maybe tied or something. But
Speaker 5: so you never know.
Speaker 4: It always looks like, oh yeah, coming east in December,
Speaker 4: but that it didn't work out, you know, so you
Speaker 4: can never you know, it's like, uh. Also that same
Speaker 4: weekend when the Bengals went to New England, remember and
Speaker 4: it was the coldest ice still the coldest game Joe
Speaker 4: Burrows ever played in.
Speaker 5: And you know, what's it going to what's the weather?
Speaker 5: You know, what is the weather going to be? Like?
Speaker 4: It could be sixty in Bombing, it could be you know,
Speaker 4: in Cincinnati, you could get anything.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 2: I gave these numbers earlier on the podcast. They play
Speaker 2: nine playoff teams. They also play a few teams that
Speaker 2: were terrible last year. I think it kind of balances out.
Speaker 2: This is a middle of the pack type schedule to
Speaker 2: me in terms of difficulty. Now, you never know, because
Speaker 2: teams that you think are going to be awesome wind
Speaker 2: up being bad. I mean, who would have thought San
Speaker 2: Francisco would have six wins last year? And then there's
Speaker 2: always going to be a team that you expect to
Speaker 2: be weak that has that breakthrough season that will happen
Speaker 2: to a few of the teams on this schedule, but again, overall,
Speaker 2: all things considered, kind of feels like a middle of
Speaker 2: the pack type schedule in terms of difficulty. Other than
Speaker 2: another their Thursday night road game at Baltimore. I really
Speaker 2: don't have any strong gripes.
Speaker 5: I just really love three of the last four at home.
Speaker 5: I mean even on one of them was Baltimore.
Speaker 4: But like I said, Burrow and Zach, they they kind of,
Speaker 4: you know, they seem to you know, they seem to
Speaker 4: rise the occasion in December here, so I I, you know,
Speaker 4: I got That's what I take away from this thing.
Speaker 5: Three, three or four at home. To finish it.
Speaker 2: On a personal note, the schedule lines up about as
Speaker 2: well as I could have hoped for my own version
Speaker 2: of the Amazing Race as I call University of Cincinnati
Speaker 2: and Bengals games in the fall. The toughest weekend will
Speaker 2: feature a road game at Utah on Saturday, November first,
Speaker 2: followed by a one o'clock home game against the Bears
Speaker 2: the next day. If that Utah game is at night,
Speaker 2: I might not get back to Cincinnati until seven am.
Speaker 2: But hey, that's what coffee is.
Speaker 7: Four.
Speaker 2: Now time to move on to another edition of five
Speaker 2: questions with a Bengals rookie. My way of getting to
Speaker 2: know them a little bit better by asking five questions
Speaker 2: that they don't hear over and over again. Time for
Speaker 2: five questions with second round draft pick Demetrius Night out
Speaker 2: of South Carolina. I think by now a lot of
Speaker 2: Bengals fans know that you are a married father of
Speaker 2: two and we're a door dash driver to help support
Speaker 2: your family while you're playing college football. Here's the question,
Speaker 2: what is a door dash driver's biggest nightmare?
Speaker 8: The biggest nightmare would have to be when you get
Speaker 8: in order and they say, drop it off at my
Speaker 8: door and it's an apartment complex where they do not
Speaker 8: give you the code to get into the apartment, so
Speaker 8: you're just gonna wait in there because sometimes a lot
Speaker 8: of people come in and out, and sometimes you're waiting
Speaker 8: there for at least ten minutes, and they're taking you
Speaker 8: say hey, where's my food, and it's like, I have
Speaker 8: no way to get in. They say, you're waiting the
Speaker 8: tailgate behind a car to get into the gay and
Speaker 8: then run it up to their door and drop it off,
Speaker 8: and that that is the one of the biggest nightmares.
Speaker 2: And when people are going in and out. They're probably
Speaker 2: nervous that somebody's trying to break in.
Speaker 8: Yes, so they will, so they will go slow on
Speaker 8: purpose sometimes to try to get you caught in the gates.
Speaker 8: So luckily there are no dents in the car from gates,
Speaker 8: so able to avoid that.
Speaker 2: All right, question number two for Demitrius Night according to
Speaker 2: your bio, and again this is something people have seen
Speaker 2: music legends. Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin are distant relatives.
Speaker 2: Have you met either one?
Speaker 8: I believe when I was very small, I met, I met,
Speaker 8: I thank you, Gladys. But other than that, we was
Speaker 8: never able to get to the family reunions with Aretha,
Speaker 8: as you probably know, just they're probably everywhere is full,
Speaker 8: So haven't been able to get to those. My oun
Speaker 8: did and she talks about how there's big food is glorious,
Speaker 8: so I talk can only imagine. But yeah, haven't got
Speaker 8: to get to those two. But I'm sure or Aretha,
Speaker 8: but which as she up in heaven now. But I'm
Speaker 8: as glad as I believe I should be able to
Speaker 8: get to hopefully Sue if not later in the year,
Speaker 8: just to you know, maybe get a maybe get a
Speaker 8: tip or two, how to saying and whatnot?
Speaker 2: When you learned that they were distant relatives, did you
Speaker 2: take an interest in their careers?
Speaker 5: I did?
Speaker 8: I did, of course. I knew what amazing superstar that
Speaker 8: they were, and just having to be tied to them
Speaker 8: was like, well, I gotta do my homework. Now I
Speaker 8: got to learn everything I can about them, so when
Speaker 8: I get the chance to meet them face to face,
Speaker 8: I can ask different questions and things like that, how'd
Speaker 8: you deal with this? How'd you go through this? And
Speaker 8: see how they truly you know, made it up?
Speaker 2: Question three for Demetrius Night. You spent your final college
Speaker 2: season at South Carolina. Last year, you had a great year.
Speaker 2: The team at an excellent season. The defense was tremendous.
Speaker 2: Their in state rival is Clemson. They call it the
Speaker 2: pal Meadow Ball. Last year, late in the game, your
Speaker 2: team's got a three point lead, Clemson's driving. You clinched
Speaker 2: the win with an interception at the fifteen yard line
Speaker 2: in the final minute. That's one of those plays that's
Speaker 2: going to go down in South Carolina history. Are you
Speaker 2: prepared to talk about this with South Carolina fans for
Speaker 2: the rest of your life.
Speaker 8: For the rest of my life? Yes, I am very prepared,
Speaker 8: and I've already explained it a couple of times in
Speaker 8: the public's on Jervais Street in Columbia to a couple
Speaker 8: of people and asking me how it feels about it.
Speaker 8: But that's a story I'll never get tired of telling,
Speaker 8: even my kids. But I know they'll once they grew up,
Speaker 8: they'll probably be like, Okay, we've heard it a hundred times,
Speaker 8: and I'm gonna tell you like like you have you yesterday,
Speaker 8: which he does in my mind, so something I'll never forget. Then,
Speaker 8: to make it even sweeter, it was against Clemson, which
Speaker 8: I know I'll remind him every day since he's my
Speaker 8: locker mix.
Speaker 2: That's right, your fellow Rocky Barrett Carter, who's standing a
Speaker 2: few feet away, question number four for Demetrius Night. Last year,
Speaker 2: ESPN's Cole Kublick nicknamed you the most interesting man in
Speaker 2: the SEC. I've seen references to visiting museums. I've seen
Speaker 2: reference says to taking an interest in Frank Sinatra. Tell
Speaker 2: me something that makes you the most interesting man, or
Speaker 2: made you the most interesting man in the SEC.
Speaker 8: Yeah, just everything that I do. I'm a jack of
Speaker 8: all trades, but I'm a guy who, uh, I gonna
Speaker 8: be very very nice and humble off the field. On
Speaker 8: the field, I'm different animal, become the hunter, become the predator.
Speaker 8: But you know, when I'm off the field, I like
Speaker 8: to create. My mind's always thinking, especially when it comes
Speaker 8: to movies. When it comes to watching movies with family,
Speaker 8: especially my wife, She'll be the first to tell you.
Speaker 8: She's like, why are you pointing stuff out? I just
Speaker 8: want to watch the movie without seeing different things here
Speaker 8: and things like that. But another thing makes me interested,
Speaker 8: man that probably people don't know. With my degree from
Speaker 8: Georgia Tech, I'm gonna become a producer one day. Already
Speaker 8: have been screenwriting things on my phone already on the
Speaker 8: different screen running apps, seeing seeing things and scenes and
Speaker 8: movies played in my mind and write them down. So
Speaker 8: when the football it does come to an end very
Speaker 8: long from now, I'll be able to transition into that
Speaker 8: film industry and to have people in Cincinnati to tune in.
Speaker 2: Do you have an all time favorite movie?
Speaker 8: The god Father?
Speaker 2: Number one? I number one, number one to us, also
Speaker 2: great three. We don't need to discuss it, right.
Speaker 8: We want to talk about that. We won't speak of
Speaker 8: that one we'll not speaking that.
Speaker 2: One, all right. So when you make an offer that
Speaker 2: the other team can't refuse, well, no, it's a Godfather
Speaker 2: related reference. Fifth and final question for Demetrius Knight. For
Speaker 2: a hot minute, when you got to Cincinnati, you were
Speaker 2: photographed holding up the number fifty nine. Now you are
Speaker 2: number forty four. You changed very quickly. What happened?
Speaker 8: I pretty much just asked if that if forty four
Speaker 8: was available, and if it was, I'd be honored to
Speaker 8: wear it. But I fifty nine was what I wore then, perfect,
Speaker 8: That's fine by me. I just threw it out just
Speaker 8: to ask because I wore number forty and forty four
Speaker 8: when I was first started playing in football, So I
Speaker 8: want to see if like maybe throw it back to
Speaker 8: those days, maybe put it all full circle one day.
Speaker 8: So being able to get backing for you for was
Speaker 8: a blessing was humbly so.
Speaker 2: As soon as it became available, you were able to
Speaker 2: snatch it. Yes, sir, all right, I'm sure you're going
Speaker 2: to wear it well, appreciate your time. Look forward to
Speaker 2: a great Bengals career followed by a successful career as
Speaker 2: a Hollywood producer.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, thank you.
Speaker 2: Up next we'll go from five questions to five observations.
Speaker 2: But first, here's a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth
Speaker 2: podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to
Speaker 2: be the Bengals Official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber
Speaker 2: future Proof Fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
Speaker 2: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
Speaker 2: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now time for
Speaker 2: five observations after watching the Bengals practice on Tuesday. Topic
Speaker 2: number one involves a guy who didn't practice this first
Speaker 2: round draft pick, Samar Stewart. When the Bengals held their
Speaker 2: one day rookie mini camp last week, Stuart and Demetrius
Speaker 2: Knight observed from the sideline because they haven't signed contracts yet.
Speaker 2: That changed a couple of days later for Night, who
Speaker 2: as of this recording still hasn't signed a contract, but
Speaker 2: has signed a waiver that allows him to practice and
Speaker 2: protects him in the event of injury. Stuart has not
Speaker 2: signed either yet, so he's still observing from the sideline.
Speaker 2: I'll admit that I'm surprised by the reaction this is
Speaker 2: generated on social media, with some people ripping Stuart and
Speaker 2: his agent and others criticizing the Bengals. At this point,
Speaker 2: it's a non issue. If weeks go by and Stuart
Speaker 2: still isn't practicing, then it's fair to question if it's
Speaker 2: going to hurt his development. But I don't expect that
Speaker 2: to happen. I think a deal gets done sooner rather
Speaker 2: than later, maybe even by the time you listen to
Speaker 2: this podcast. Topic number two two is year two for
Speaker 2: Jermaine Burton. As we all know, Jermaine had a disappointing
Speaker 2: rookie season, culminating with not even traveling with the team
Speaker 2: to the regular season finale at Pittsburgh. There were questions
Speaker 2: about his maturity level going into the draft, and unfortunately
Speaker 2: that's how year one played out, as he didn't earn
Speaker 2: the trust of teammates and coaches. But he's got a
Speaker 2: chance to change that in year two, and I'm encouraged
Speaker 2: by what I've seen so far. For example, during draft weekend,
Speaker 2: Jermaine was in the building every morning, working out and
Speaker 2: eating in the cafeteria. Maybe it's a small thing, but
Speaker 2: I took it as a positive sign, and I talked
Speaker 2: with Jermaine this week. What are you looking to show
Speaker 2: people this year?
Speaker 7: You know, once again my ability. You know how much
Speaker 7: this you know, game means to me, and uh, you know,
Speaker 7: just my love for the game of football.
Speaker 2: I noticed in the throwing groups today that you were
Speaker 2: always kind of in line to catch from Joe, which
Speaker 2: is usually a sign that they expect you to be
Speaker 2: a major part of the rotation. Do you take it
Speaker 2: that way?
Speaker 7: I honestly just take everything with a granted So I'm
Speaker 7: just trying to you know, still learn, still still work
Speaker 7: my best, and still you know, work my mechanics and
Speaker 7: routes and stuff like that. So yeah, but you know,
Speaker 7: it's always good catching from Joe.
Speaker 2: They didn't draft a wide receiver. Did you take that
Speaker 2: as a lot of confidence.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, I love this team and uh you know,
Speaker 7: I know they have really high hopes and uh, you
Speaker 7: know expectations for me. You know, I can't wait to
Speaker 7: just take everything in and you know, showing what I'm
Speaker 7: really capable of.
Speaker 2: The biggest lessons you learned as a rookie were watching.
Speaker 7: You know, be where your feet are at man, you know,
Speaker 7: regardless of you know what's going on, and you know
Speaker 7: how hard life gets is uh, you know, be where
Speaker 7: your feet at. You know, maintain the goal and maintain
Speaker 7: the mission and never get off track, and you know
Speaker 7: always they focus.
Speaker 2: How eager are you for games to begin, to get
Speaker 2: out on the field and show what you can do?
Speaker 7: It's hard to sleep at night, literally, that's how bad.
Speaker 5: For real?
Speaker 7: You know, I can stay up twenty four hours and
Speaker 7: you know thinking about this game. So I'm more the
Speaker 7: eager and you know, I just can't wait to show people.
Speaker 2: Time will tell if Jermaine has truly turned a corner,
Speaker 2: but if he has the scope position talent on this
Speaker 2: roster is ridiculous. Topic three, the Peters Principles. It's been
Speaker 2: very interesting to watch new offensive line coach Scott Peters
Speaker 2: had practiced because he is as hands on as any
Speaker 2: o line coach I've seen at any level. At times,
Speaker 2: it looks like a martial arts academy. When Scott coached
Speaker 2: alongside Bill Callahan and Cleveland, Bill called him a hands expert,
Speaker 2: and you can see why. Peters has trained several UFC competitors,
Speaker 2: including Brock Lesner. Cody Ford is going into his seventh
Speaker 2: NFL season with three different teams, so he's had six
Speaker 2: old line coaches. Here's what he had to say when
Speaker 2: I asked him about Peters.
Speaker 1: On some of the stuff we're doing is amazing.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm bought in on it, and I'm taking everything
Speaker 1: he says, and you know, just gaining the education of
Speaker 1: his techniques and trying to apply on.
Speaker 2: As I got about halfway through the question, it was
Speaker 2: almost like your eyes lit up, like even the mention
Speaker 2: of him is really kind of got you excited.
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be a great addition to
Speaker 1: what what we have going on here. Uh. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm bought in. I believe in his coaching style. I've
Speaker 1: talked to other guys who have been coached binding before
Speaker 1: and they've all had great things to say. And like
Speaker 1: I said, my first impressions are the stuff we're already
Speaker 1: working on is some some good stuff, and I think
Speaker 1: it will help us w he comes down to it
Speaker 1: training camp when we're trying to be at the end
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 5: I think he can.
Speaker 1: Help us get there. And you know, I think he's
Speaker 1: their guy.
Speaker 2: Ford, by the way, is among the candidates to start
Speaker 2: at right guard this year. He started at both tackle
Speaker 2: spots and left guard. Last year, but didn't take a
Speaker 2: single snap at right guard, but he has started nine
Speaker 2: NFL games at that position in his career. Topic four
Speaker 2: is a sneaky training camp battle. Cal Adamitas has been
Speaker 2: the Bengals long snapper for the last three years, but
Speaker 2: his job will be on the line at training camp
Speaker 2: after the Bengals signed undrafted free agent Will Wagner. Wagner
Speaker 2: started forty three games at Michigan, snapping nearly five hundred
Speaker 2: times in all sorts of weather, and special teams coordinator
Speaker 2: Darren Simmons had him rated as the best long snapper
Speaker 2: in this year's draft class. All right, based on everything
Speaker 2: that I read, you were considered to be the number
Speaker 2: one long snapper in this year's draft class. And I
Speaker 2: imagine there had to be a lot of interest out
Speaker 2: there from NFL teams.
Speaker 9: Why Cincinnati, Well, Cincinnati's a great program, and especially for
Speaker 9: this year. I mean, we're going to make a Super
Speaker 9: Bowl run. And then also I have a ton of
Speaker 9: family out here in Cincinnati, and I thought of no
Speaker 9: better place but in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: How much contact have you had with Darren over the years,
Speaker 2: because obviously I'm sure he worked out Jake Moody we
Speaker 2: know he worked out Brad Robbins. Were you involved in
Speaker 2: those workouts?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 9: I wasn't actually, but when I was at the combine,
Speaker 9: I got to talk to him for a while. We
Speaker 9: did a couple of zooms and I got a top
Speaker 9: thirty visit here, so I got to interact with him
Speaker 9: a lot before the draft.
Speaker 2: What have you been led to believe about the opportunity here?
Speaker 2: Do you anticipate a training camp battle for the job.
Speaker 4: Yes, I do.
Speaker 9: I think it's going to be an open competition between
Speaker 9: me and Cal.
Speaker 2: I read an article somewhere that you apply your engineering
Speaker 2: background to long snap. Can you explain?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean I even do that, Like, oh, my
Speaker 9: butt came up a little bit that it's about variable
Speaker 9: mitigation and like, h if your hips are going this high,
Speaker 9: like you can't have it go over this angle. It's
Speaker 9: like that's where you get to a zone where it's
Speaker 9: you're gonna fly the ball over the punter shatter. So's
Speaker 9: it's just like I did actually do a project snapping
Speaker 9: in college.
Speaker 2: So it's get an egg, no, give me a bet.
Speaker 9: But but what can you say?
Speaker 5: It was a summer class.
Speaker 2: Did you deserve a beat?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 9: I got to in the class. I gotta be in
Speaker 9: the project. Oh I thought I deserve today.
Speaker 6: I put so much into that.
Speaker 2: It sounds like his professor was a tough grader. I
Speaker 2: found it interesting that Will had a top thirty visit
Speaker 2: to Cincinnati before the draft. I have not seen that
Speaker 2: reported elsewhere. The fifth and final topic is another undrafted player,
Speaker 2: center Seth McLaughlin. After spending last year at Ohio State
Speaker 2: in the previous four at Alabama, McLaughlin was a sure
Speaker 2: thing to be drafted this year before tearing his achilles
Speaker 2: in November. By signing him as a college free agent,
Speaker 2: the Bengals basically wound up adding a seventh draft pick.
Speaker 2: How is your recovery from a torn achilles coming along?
Speaker 6: It's coming along right on progress of you know where
Speaker 6: I think I should be in kind of the plan
Speaker 6: that they thought I was going to be at this
Speaker 6: point and just got to get back right and keep
Speaker 6: going at it.
Speaker 2: Are you allowed to share any sort of timetable or
Speaker 2: anything like that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, hopefully I'm back before training camp. That's kind of
Speaker 6: the goal.
Speaker 2: So you are widely expected to be a third or
Speaker 2: fourth round pick based on the things that I've read.
Speaker 2: How difficult was it to get injured in November? And
Speaker 2: how did you cope?
Speaker 6: I coached by just hanging out around the guys and
Speaker 6: still being a part of the team and trying to
Speaker 6: coach where I can and help out where I can,
Speaker 6: definitely made it a lot better that we ended up
Speaker 6: winning at all, and I didn't have to feel any
Speaker 6: sort of guilt for you know, letting the team down,
Speaker 6: getting hurt or anything like that. So that was definitely
Speaker 6: a positive. You know, I didn't expect to go undrafted,
Speaker 6: but it is what it is. Can't control what happens.
Speaker 6: All I can control is how I attack rehab and
Speaker 6: how I learned the offense, and you know, how I
Speaker 6: gel with the guys in the room. And that's my
Speaker 6: goal to come in and eventually, you know, be a
Speaker 6: be a solid part of this team and help this
Speaker 6: team win games.
Speaker 2: ESPN rated you as the number one undrafted player available
Speaker 2: this year. I imagine you saw that, and I imagine
Speaker 2: there had to be a lot of interest from NFL teams.
Speaker 2: What led you to Cincinnati Just the.
Speaker 6: Quality of organization here, the quality of you know, offense
Speaker 6: that's going to be here for as long as Joe
Speaker 6: Burrows here and even after it's close down the road,
Speaker 6: the move wasn't going to be too hard. I love
Speaker 6: being in Ohio. I love Ohio, love the people in Ohio.
Speaker 6: I know they love their football. So just to stay
Speaker 6: here in the state and go compete in win games,
Speaker 6: it was just an opportunity I can pass up.
Speaker 2: Ted Karras has one year left on his deal. Did
Speaker 2: you look at NFL rosters and try to ascertain where
Speaker 2: there might be the best opportunity down the road.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I let my agent do that. I really just
Speaker 6: focus on doing my rehab and controlling what I can control,
Speaker 6: and I kind of left that up to him to decide,
Speaker 6: and he just told me, he advised meent this is
Speaker 6: going to be a really good spot, and like all
Speaker 6: the things I mentioned earlier played into it.
Speaker 2: Seth said the goal is to be back from his
Speaker 2: injury in time for training camp. Experience tells me that
Speaker 2: the player's perspective on an injury timetable is always the
Speaker 2: best case scenario. So we'll see if that's the way
Speaker 2: it plays out. But even if it takes a little longer,
Speaker 2: Seth has a real chance to be an NFL starter
Speaker 2: down the road. That's going to do it for this
Speaker 2: episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by
Speaker 2: pay Core, Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider,
Speaker 2: by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate
Speaker 2: your home, business and community to a new level, and
Speaker 2: by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Speaker 2: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
Speaker 2: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this
Speaker 2: podcast and if you have a minute, give it a
Speaker 2: rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans
Speaker 2: find us. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to
Speaker 2: the Bengals Booth Podcast.