Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The nobs addition, as we take
Speaker 1: an in depth look at who the Bengals are going
Speaker 1: to select with the first pick of the second round
Speaker 1: of the NFL Draft. Obviously, I don't really know who
Speaker 1: that is going to be. Nobody does. But I'll take
Speaker 1: a look at ten players who have popped up on
Speaker 1: mock drafts as the thirty third overall selection in this
Speaker 1: year's draft, and you'll hear from people who have great
Speaker 1: information about each player. Before we get to that, I'll
Speaker 1: spend five minutes with Bengals head coach Zach Taylor. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: he is still not permitted to discuss the Bengals editions
Speaker 1: in free agency. Teams can't comment until the players have
Speaker 1: passed physicals and signed on the dotted line. But I'll
Speaker 1: talk to Zach about Andy Dalton, age a Green, and
Speaker 1: much more. The Bengals Boot Podcast is presented by Prime Sport,
Speaker 1: the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can have the
Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing. It's the greatest thing since everyday
Speaker 1: heroes during the COVID nineteen pandemic. I've tried to keep
Speaker 1: two words in mind, careful and hopeful. But each day
Speaker 1: I feel more and more grateful to the everyday heroes
Speaker 1: who can't stay home. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, police,
Speaker 1: firefighters and other first responders, grocery store employees, delivery people,
Speaker 1: news broadcasters. The list goes on and on. Thank you
Speaker 1: for all you're doing to help us cope with this crisis. Now,
Speaker 1: let's get to football, all beginning with my conversation with
Speaker 1: head coach Zach Taylor. As I mentioned, the league is
Speaker 1: not permitting teams to discuss specific free agent acquisitions until
Speaker 1: they have completed physicals. But I did start my conversation
Speaker 1: with Zach by asking him about the team's aggressive approach
Speaker 1: this year. Did you feel like it was important to
Speaker 1: change the perception around the league and also within your
Speaker 1: own locker room, perhaps that the Bengals weren't willing to
Speaker 1: sign some of the most prominent free agents. It was
Speaker 1: just about improving our team. That's the whole focused on.
Speaker 1: We don't again. Our motto has been it's about us.
Speaker 1: You know, we're not worried about what the outside perception is.
Speaker 1: We just want to improve our team to get the
Speaker 1: most out of our players, and so that's that's been
Speaker 1: what we've set out to do here in free agency,
Speaker 1: and we feel like we've we've made those improvements that
Speaker 1: really give ourselves a good chance on both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball. And it's things that we're all on the
Speaker 1: same page with. We're all excited that we got them done.
Speaker 1: You know, it's free agency not over yet. We're still
Speaker 1: looking at every single way we can prove our team
Speaker 1: and we're willing to do so if the opportunities present itself.
Speaker 1: You officially tagged DJ Green, which I think all of
Speaker 1: us anticipated happening. You hap until July fifteenth to try
Speaker 1: to sign him to an extension. Is it just a
Speaker 1: matter of dollars and cents at this point or does
Speaker 1: the team needs some sort of proof that he's healthy. Well,
Speaker 1: it doesn't hurt. We'd obviously like to see Aj in
Speaker 1: the offseason program that there's a lot of things that
Speaker 1: are up in the year obviously with that just in
Speaker 1: terms of what's going on in the world right now,
Speaker 1: So we'll just take it one day at a time.
Speaker 1: But we've maybe known that we want Aja here. We
Speaker 1: can very highly of him. You know, this is not
Speaker 1: somebody that we want out of the building. So we'll
Speaker 1: just continue working through it and take it one day
Speaker 1: at a time. You met with Joe Burrow at the combine.
Speaker 1: One person in the room who's been involved with these
Speaker 1: things for many years says it was the best player
Speaker 1: interview that he's ever been a part of. What were
Speaker 1: your takeaways. We'll keep us somewhere private, but I think
Speaker 1: it was not unexpected. You know, he's impressive, impressive person.
Speaker 1: It was the first time we had a chance to
Speaker 1: talk to him one on one, you know, so again
Speaker 1: get very impressive. All the things that we expected to
Speaker 1: see and hear from him, and we'll continue to get
Speaker 1: to know him, you know, in different ways. Now it's
Speaker 1: a little bit unique, this process. It's different than it
Speaker 1: was in the past. Now, you know, now we're going
Speaker 1: to rely on FaceTime and just conversations over the phone.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna get a chance to see the gas
Speaker 1: from person to get until the draft. So it was
Speaker 1: just a starting point for us. We're excited to continue
Speaker 1: to get a note to know more about him and
Speaker 1: and you know, we're just getting the process started right now.
Speaker 1: When you coached the Senior Bowl, we all talked about
Speaker 1: it as the time as as an advantage to have
Speaker 1: that much contact with those guys in light of what's
Speaker 1: happened where teams had the opportunity to interview forty five
Speaker 1: players at the Combine. But now you have been forced
Speaker 1: to do phone calls and FaceTime and skype and things
Speaker 1: like that. Is it even more of an advantage then
Speaker 1: you thought it would be at the time, I think
Speaker 1: you'd have to say it is. You know, we got
Speaker 1: that face to face interaction. You're planning on being able
Speaker 1: to bring a lot of players into your building, you
Speaker 1: know that got thrown out the window. You were going
Speaker 1: to get to go to more pro days and meet
Speaker 1: these guys face to face. That got thrown out the window.
Speaker 1: So I think any any face to face time that
Speaker 1: we got, which with US Lions really the two teams
Speaker 1: that got that opportunity, it's beneficial. And so I'm glad
Speaker 1: of all the years that we got to do it, it
Speaker 1: it was this year because that that does check a
Speaker 1: couple of boxes on some guys that otherwise we'd be
Speaker 1: curious about. But again, now you just got to be
Speaker 1: creative at this point and find ways to make sure
Speaker 1: you tame the same information about the players that that
Speaker 1: you would have otherwise had to do through traveling to
Speaker 1: the pro days and bringing guys into your buildings. You
Speaker 1: got to be creative and how you do it, you know,
Speaker 1: just just virtually at this point, where do things stand
Speaker 1: with Andy Dalton and trying to trade him? At this point,
Speaker 1: all options are on the table. You know, he's still
Speaker 1: a bangle and um, we still work through that, but
Speaker 1: right now, all options are on the table, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's obviously a quality player that we think very
Speaker 1: highly of and he's under contract and so you know,
Speaker 1: we'll just keep walking through that process. What are you
Speaker 1: advising your players to do right now in terms of
Speaker 1: staying fit in light of a lot of home quarantining,
Speaker 1: right so take a week to week right now, because
Speaker 1: we really just we sent on some information that no
Speaker 1: players can be in the buildings for the next for
Speaker 1: this week and next week. So you know, not that
Speaker 1: we have many guys that are around this time of
Speaker 1: year anyway, but guys are gonna have to be creative
Speaker 1: with the workouts because as you've seen, gyms are closing.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of work epasolities around the country
Speaker 1: are closing for the time being. So we got to
Speaker 1: be creative and what what our guys can do. And
Speaker 1: obviously right now is a time where they couldn't be
Speaker 1: They couldn't be training with us anyway, but they could
Speaker 1: come in and just be monitored in the weight room.
Speaker 1: But you can't tell them what to do. So those
Speaker 1: guys are just gonna have to take it upon themselves
Speaker 1: creative and what their approach isn't be ready that whatever
Speaker 1: this Offseas program does start, they're in Shaffer and right rule.
Speaker 1: Now the most important question, how is Sarah coping with
Speaker 1: four young kids and no school? Just like any any
Speaker 1: any mom is around the world. You know, it's no different.
Speaker 1: She's been great. You know, I think she's got some
Speaker 1: she's becoming a teacher in some senses now. She's got
Speaker 1: the kids around the table and making sure they stay
Speaker 1: up on their studies, trying to make it creative and enjoyable.
Speaker 1: But she does a great job with all that. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just she's gone through just like any
Speaker 1: other mom. The Taylor family has found ways to have
Speaker 1: some fun during this social distancing period. Go online and
Speaker 1: search for Zach Taylor Old Town Road and you'll see
Speaker 1: what I mean. Now let's turn to the draft. Let's
Speaker 1: face it, we all expect the Bengals to select Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow with the number one overall pick, no matter what
Speaker 1: rumors pop up about the Dolphins trying to swing a
Speaker 1: trade for the top spot. I would be flabbergasted if
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is not wearing a number nine Bengals jersey
Speaker 1: to begin his NFL career. So the real drama for
Speaker 1: the Bengals begins with the first pick in the second round.
Speaker 1: I've predicted on this podcast that they'll trade down at
Speaker 1: the top of round two in order to get more picks,
Speaker 1: but for the sake of argument, let's say they don't.
Speaker 1: If the Bengals go ahead and use the thirty third
Speaker 1: overall pick, who are some of the players they are
Speaker 1: most likely to choose. I come through a bunch of
Speaker 1: mock drafts this week and came up with ten names.
Speaker 1: Then I reached out to the play by play broadcaster
Speaker 1: at that player's school or in one case, the head coach,
Speaker 1: to get an in depth scouting report. I will share
Speaker 1: the results in alphabetical order, beginning with the player who
Speaker 1: appears on more mock drafts in that spot than any
Speaker 1: other Wisconsin outside linebacker, Zach baugh He was one of
Speaker 1: the most disruptive players in college football last year with
Speaker 1: nineteen and a half tackles for loss in twelve and
Speaker 1: a half sacks, and I discussed him with Badger's play
Speaker 1: by play man Matt Lapey Adan. The strength of Zach
Speaker 1: Baughan is a fast switch hoss rusher. I think he
Speaker 1: probably heard this a lot, and it's true. I think
Speaker 1: the thing that became very noticeable about him is he
Speaker 1: has had a very quick give offf time. You know,
Speaker 1: his forty time of the combine is probably the middle
Speaker 1: of the pack at his position. But his quick bursts
Speaker 1: enabled him to get to the quarterback at a pretty
Speaker 1: high rate. And on the defense that was not star studded,
Speaker 1: there was only one other player who was as much
Speaker 1: as second team All Big Ten. They were a good
Speaker 1: defense that they did it collectively, but Zach Joan was
Speaker 1: one of those guys. I think composing offenses had to
Speaker 1: account for him. You had to find him and where
Speaker 1: he's lined up on every snap. He truly was a
Speaker 1: difference maker, quick, a lot of speed, high football IQ,
Speaker 1: and someone who had battled injuries earlier in his career
Speaker 1: but really blossomed to an extent in twenty eighteen, but
Speaker 1: really came into his own in twenty nineteen. A lot
Speaker 1: of the draft gurus list him as an edge player.
Speaker 1: Is he strictly a pass rusher or will he be
Speaker 1: able to be a three down linebacker? Well, the other
Speaker 1: thing that they did like about him is that he's
Speaker 1: shows a fair amount of versatility and I think he's
Speaker 1: still growing. I think he's someone here to term upside
Speaker 1: of lots and I would like to think he fits
Speaker 1: that description, has a lot of it, but I think
Speaker 1: he can drop back into coverage. He can do a
Speaker 1: lot of different things. He needs to get bigger, I think,
Speaker 1: to be a more more of a run stuffing type
Speaker 1: of player. But I do think, especially in today's NFL,
Speaker 1: his versatility lends itself. He can rush the passer, but
Speaker 1: he can also can drop back in coverage. And that's
Speaker 1: something that he'll continue to get better at. But a
Speaker 1: very popular word to describe Zach Ball and still at
Speaker 1: this stage of his football life, is that his first
Speaker 1: of all, I'm intrigued by his background. High school quarterback,
Speaker 1: offensive player of the Year in the state of Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: high school track star, and one hundred meters and two
Speaker 1: hundred meters. That's unusual for a guy that's six two,
Speaker 1: two hundred and forty pounds. Now, yeah, they've had this
Speaker 1: interesting stretcher at Wisconsin for the last few years where
Speaker 1: a lot of their linebackers were high school quarterbacks. And
Speaker 1: it's that old line that you're the best player on
Speaker 1: your team at the high school level is likely a quarterback,
Speaker 1: or at least your top three players, one of them
Speaker 1: is going to be a quarterback. And Zach, it's fun
Speaker 1: of himself a little bit. He said, he really quarterback
Speaker 1: in name only. He ran the ball a lot, but
Speaker 1: he threw it. He threw the ball around a little bit.
Speaker 1: I guess he would be the high school a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a dual threat quarterback, you would say.
Speaker 1: But there was no secret that his future as a
Speaker 1: college player would be that of an outside linebacker. And
Speaker 1: he you know, he missed twenty seventeen. He had a
Speaker 1: foot injury and that that wiped out his season. As
Speaker 1: I said in eighteen, certainly showed flashes, but I think
Speaker 1: going into last year they thought he could be a
Speaker 1: real important clog to this defense, and he was all
Speaker 1: of that and then some. But he is, no question,
Speaker 1: very athletically gifted. What's he like as a kid? Great guy,
Speaker 1: really really good kids. You mentioned a Wisconsin guy. He
Speaker 1: likes to keep things simple. There's a real popular tourist
Speaker 1: area in the northern part of the state and call
Speaker 1: it the north Woods. And for him, that's that's the
Speaker 1: slice of heaven. To go up into the north Woods
Speaker 1: and just to have a quiet, long weekend or stress
Speaker 1: of days, whatever the calendar allows him to have. It's
Speaker 1: always funny. And you know this from covering. You see
Speaker 1: that one of the great joys that we have are
Speaker 1: watching guys as freshman and then see what they become
Speaker 1: as juniors and seniors. And they grow as players, but
Speaker 1: they grow as people. To his very poison an interview setting,
Speaker 1: he makes you feel relaxed. He is that fit. He's
Speaker 1: just a really he's a really good young man and
Speaker 1: I think would be a really good gift for the
Speaker 1: team that takes it. I saw comparison to Joe Schobert.
Speaker 1: What do you think of that? Yeah, it's interesting because
Speaker 1: Joe too was he was something. He was a really
Speaker 1: good high school running back, put up some ridiculous numbers
Speaker 1: at the prep level here in Wisconsin. The difference was
Speaker 1: Joe was a walk on here and then became what
Speaker 1: he has become now in the NFL. I think there
Speaker 1: are some similarities born. You know, maybe on the surface
Speaker 1: is a little I was gonna say a little more athletic,
Speaker 1: but I'm not even sure. Joe Schobert's a really athletic guy,
Speaker 1: So I think it's fair. I think both of those guys.
Speaker 1: We've put out some pretty good linebackers who in Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: especially outside linebackers here in recent years. Joe is one
Speaker 1: of them, and I think zag Mart is on that
Speaker 1: same line up next alphabetically as USC offensive lineman Austin Jackson,
Speaker 1: projected this week by ESPN's Todd McShay as Cincinnati's first
Speaker 1: pick in the second round. USC has another player who
Speaker 1: has popped up on some mock drafts in that spot,
Speaker 1: wide receiver Michael Pittman. So I discussed both of those
Speaker 1: players with USC head coach Clay Hilton. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: Austin has been a three year starter force at USC.
Speaker 1: Tremendous athlete, has played left tackle the whole time. I
Speaker 1: think has a really really bright upside. You know, you're
Speaker 1: talking about a kid that was only with us for
Speaker 1: five semesters, if you can believe that, and so a
Speaker 1: young kid that is really coming into his zone. And
Speaker 1: I think he's going to be one of the guys
Speaker 1: that play in the league for a long long time.
Speaker 1: Extremely football instinctive, smart athletic. I've I've had the luxury
Speaker 1: of of and having the opportunity to be around a
Speaker 1: Tyrant Smith and Matt Khalil when I first got to
Speaker 1: USC ten years ago, and he fits that mold. He
Speaker 1: fits the mold of a first round draft pick offensive
Speaker 1: tackle that's going to have a tremendous quarter at this
Speaker 1: young point in his development. Is he better as a
Speaker 1: pass blocker or as a run blocker? I think he
Speaker 1: is exceptionally well. We were a passing team, and when
Speaker 1: you're talking about his ability to pass blocking, you know,
Speaker 1: in Graham Harrow's offense, that's that's a must. And to
Speaker 1: watch what he did, I think he has both attributes
Speaker 1: to be successful. But we know what the NFL is
Speaker 1: as well as you know what college football has become.
Speaker 1: You have to have guys that protect that trigger man
Speaker 1: and protect that quarterback. And that's what Austin did. A
Speaker 1: tremendous job for us. On the Bengal selected Jonah Williams
Speaker 1: out of Alabama last year, the first offensive lineman taken
Speaker 1: in the draft, so he has projected to be their
Speaker 1: left tackle. Can Austin move over easily and play the
Speaker 1: right side in your opinion? Yeah, without question. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a I watched Tyrant when we first got here
Speaker 1: and he was a right tackle that moved to left.
Speaker 1: And I've seen Kaliko from left to right. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: he's naturally right handed, which which is a preference for
Speaker 1: right tackles, but as you know, has played the left
Speaker 1: tackle position. He's a guy that I think could do
Speaker 1: either one at the next level. What's he like as
Speaker 1: a kid, He's the captain he wants he's the guy
Speaker 1: that you look up to. Uh and uh. He was
Speaker 1: the example of what we wanted to Trojan to be.
Speaker 1: He was a tremendous student athlete here, leader amongst his team.
Speaker 1: Everybody respected the young man and a guy that I
Speaker 1: think has just tremendous subside as a person. Let's turn
Speaker 1: to wide receiver Michael Pittman one hundred and one catches
Speaker 1: for nearly thirteen hundred yards this year, eleven touchdown catches.
Speaker 1: A great receiver in a great wide receiver class. I
Speaker 1: think there's gonna be tremendous value in Michael's pick because
Speaker 1: I think he's a first round draft pick talent that
Speaker 1: because of how deep the receiver class is, somebody's going
Speaker 1: to get a lot of value here. You're talking about
Speaker 1: a kid that's six four plus of two twenty plus,
Speaker 1: ran four or five two forty plays even faster than
Speaker 1: he is, has the deep play capability to go over
Speaker 1: top of people. Was our big play guy on our
Speaker 1: offense last year, you know, twelve hundred yards and he
Speaker 1: reminds me a lot of the way we've had Robert
Speaker 1: Woods and Juju Smith, Schuster, Marquise Lee, those type of
Speaker 1: kids that really were defensive, played defensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball in high school and brought that defensive mentality to
Speaker 1: the offer. It's outside of the ball. No job was
Speaker 1: too small for him. Played on all four special teams
Speaker 1: during his time here. Just a great teammate and another
Speaker 1: a team captic force on our football team. Where does
Speaker 1: he fit best outside slot? Is he versatile to do
Speaker 1: all of it? Yeah? You know, within our offense, we
Speaker 1: moved Mike a round to you know, primarily he played
Speaker 1: about eighty percent of the time outside, but we did
Speaker 1: use slot formations with him to match him up on
Speaker 1: safeties to be able to create someone on one opportunities
Speaker 1: on maybe als or athlete. And so he has that
Speaker 1: experience at both positions. Naturally, being that big, I think
Speaker 1: people will look at him as an outside receiver first,
Speaker 1: but he has the ability to move around. He's learned
Speaker 1: conceptually rather than just learning maybe an ex orcy position.
Speaker 1: He knows he's learned the position like a quarterback does.
Speaker 1: And I think that's He's an extremely football smart kid
Speaker 1: that I think's got a huge upside going in playing
Speaker 1: on Sundays. I read somewhere that he only had five
Speaker 1: drops in his USC career, which speaks to his consistency
Speaker 1: and reliability. No, no question. You know you're talking about
Speaker 1: a kid that caught over a hundred ballsmares this year
Speaker 1: and he was just the model of consistency. This year
Speaker 1: really could have happened earlier for him in his career,
Speaker 1: but he was playing behind another really good receiver in
Speaker 1: Juju Smith Schuster, and when his time came this past year,
Speaker 1: he made the most of it. Tell us about Michael
Speaker 1: as a person, Mike is obviously, he was up for
Speaker 1: the Jason Wittman at the Year Award for his community
Speaker 1: service within our community, a graduate of our university, a
Speaker 1: team captain. You're talking about a guy that you don't
Speaker 1: get to coach too many. Michael Pittman's I cherished my
Speaker 1: time with Mike and as a person, as a student,
Speaker 1: as an athlete, He's a definition of what you want
Speaker 1: as a trojan. Another wide receiver is next, Baylor's Denzel Mims.
Speaker 1: Dane Brugler from The Athletic is among the draft experts
Speaker 1: who have predicted that Mims will be the pick at
Speaker 1: the top of round two. Here's Baylor radio voice John Morris. Yeah, Dan,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be on with you. Good to talk about
Speaker 1: Denzel and really hoping this turns out well for him,
Speaker 1: because I think he deserves it. He's had a great
Speaker 1: career here at Baylor, and I think he's ready to
Speaker 1: step up to the next level. He's a he's a
Speaker 1: really good guy, comes from East Texas, has that kind
Speaker 1: of small town mentality where you know he has to
Speaker 1: work hard. He works hard every day. But he had
Speaker 1: a great career here at Baylor, and he really you'll see,
Speaker 1: you know, when when you see him at the next level,
Speaker 1: you'll see he has a knack for making big plays
Speaker 1: at big times. And he did that a number of
Speaker 1: times for US here at Baylor. Six three two hundred
Speaker 1: and seven pounds, ran a four to three eight at
Speaker 1: the combine thirty eight and a half inch vertical. It
Speaker 1: sounds like he's a phenomenal athlete. He really is. And
Speaker 1: you know, I would I would describe him maybe as wiry,
Speaker 1: but when I think wiry, I think finn and he's
Speaker 1: not really finn. I mean he's a good size and
Speaker 1: with that high he's got great jumping ability. Also, I
Speaker 1: can remember a game we had here last year against
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State where he just out left the defensive back
Speaker 1: and made a catch for a game winning touchdown, you know,
Speaker 1: in the end, Zoe. So it's like, you know, how
Speaker 1: high can you jump? Well as high as he needs to,
Speaker 1: and we saw that on several occasions. I've read some
Speaker 1: reports about him that suggest he will make the unbelievable
Speaker 1: catch and then occasionally botch the easy one. Is that fair?
Speaker 1: You know? That probably is fair, But I think you
Speaker 1: just got to get him, you know, focused, and you know,
Speaker 1: knowing that each time he's targeted that he's got to
Speaker 1: make the most of it. During his career here at Baylor,
Speaker 1: he had to really, you know, to be honest, to
Speaker 1: disappointing junior year and a lot of that was missing
Speaker 1: balls that were thrown right at him, and he really
Speaker 1: worked on that, came back highly motivated to have a
Speaker 1: great senior year, and you could see that he was better,
Speaker 1: much better in that area his senior year. So I
Speaker 1: think that you know, on his rap sheet might be fair,
Speaker 1: but I think he's gotten better at that. And I think,
Speaker 1: and I would hope moving into the pros that you know,
Speaker 1: he would be focused on every catch. Is he the
Speaker 1: type of guy that you would expect to come into
Speaker 1: the NFL and do well right away or is he
Speaker 1: somebody that's more likely to have some growing pains as
Speaker 1: a rookie and then really hit his stride in year
Speaker 1: two or three. Yeah, I don't know. You would probably
Speaker 1: know the answer to that better than I would, but
Speaker 1: you know, I've seen him as a as a collegiate
Speaker 1: guy here at Baylor, and I think he would be
Speaker 1: I think he would do everything that was asked of him,
Speaker 1: and you know, will want to get better and improve
Speaker 1: on things, you know, whatever the coaches wanted to improve on.
Speaker 1: So I don't really know how to answer that. I
Speaker 1: think he could be an impact from day one. I
Speaker 1: think he's got that ability. And you talked about his speed.
Speaker 1: I know that raised a lot of eyebrows what he
Speaker 1: did at the combine. So I think he's got all
Speaker 1: the tools to be successful, you know, from day one,
Speaker 1: So I wouldn't discount him from that. Does he remind
Speaker 1: you of anybody, whether it's a former Baylor wide receiver
Speaker 1: or an NFL player, anybody that immediately comes to mind?
Speaker 1: A good question. I'll tell you what. The first one
Speaker 1: that comes to mind is Josh Gorton. Josh on the field,
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon, who is a really good receiver and made
Speaker 1: big plays, had great speed, really strong hands. I think
Speaker 1: Denzel has those qualities. I think I've seen, you know,
Speaker 1: at the collegiate level. I've seen Denzel display leaping ability
Speaker 1: better than what we saw from Josh when he was here.
Speaker 1: But the first one I would compare him to the
Speaker 1: first one that comes to mind, would beat Josh Roordon.
Speaker 1: And you know, you take away the off field stuff
Speaker 1: with Josh and that's a I think a complimentary on
Speaker 1: the field preparison. That's a wow to me. If you're
Speaker 1: talking about Josh Gordon on the field, that's one of
Speaker 1: the best wide receivers in the NFL. Yeah. Absolutely, he
Speaker 1: absolutely was, and unfortunately just couldn't stay, you know, out
Speaker 1: of trouble off the field. And let me make the point,
Speaker 1: I think Denzel's going to be a really good citizen.
Speaker 1: You know he's going to be He'll represent whatever team
Speaker 1: drafts him, well, he'll he'll buy into the city wherever
Speaker 1: he is. You know, there was never any off the
Speaker 1: field issues with Denzel here at Baylor. Bengals beat writer
Speaker 1: Paul Deaner Junior recently did a seven round Bengals mock draft,
Speaker 1: and his second round pick was Oklahoma middle linebacker Kenneth Murray.
Speaker 1: I spoke to the voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland
Speaker 1: a great first off. The thing that I think about
Speaker 1: with him is his personality is he's got great charisma.
Speaker 1: He has been a team leader from the moment he
Speaker 1: stepped on campus. Not one of those lead by example
Speaker 1: quiet guys. He's vocal, he's charismatic. Guys rally around him.
Speaker 1: Well as for his play, everything you'd really wanted at
Speaker 1: that position. Good size, six, two sixty three, great speed.
Speaker 1: I would say as his career progressed at Oklahoma, he
Speaker 1: got better and better at becoming instinctual. Early in his career,
Speaker 1: you could tell he was trying to figure out what
Speaker 1: gap he was supposed to be in, and he'd be
Speaker 1: slow to the play a little bit. And you saw
Speaker 1: last year especially, and even at the latter parts of
Speaker 1: the year before that, he was playing very instinctual, hair
Speaker 1: on fire football and flowing very well. So I think
Speaker 1: he's going to be a tremendous pro. There's a track
Speaker 1: record where he is concerned. He was a three year starter,
Speaker 1: so there's a lot of snaps to evaluate for NFL teams.
Speaker 1: Do you consider his strength the run game or pass coverage?
Speaker 1: I would say definitely the run game. I you know,
Speaker 1: he's been a middle linebacker from the day he stepped
Speaker 1: on campus, and to start as a freshman at that
Speaker 1: position at Oklahoma is something. I mean, they've got quite
Speaker 1: a history there all the way back to Bosworth and
Speaker 1: Layman and Rocky Kalmus and on and on and on.
Speaker 1: So he's an impressive physical specimen. I would say he
Speaker 1: is average in pass coverage and way way above average
Speaker 1: in the run game. You started out by talking about
Speaker 1: him as a person, and I've read that he is
Speaker 1: the son of a minister and his family helped raise
Speaker 1: special needs kids. Is that where that foundation comes from.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's the case we had. We saw several
Speaker 1: examples while he was year of him helping out with
Speaker 1: the patients at the OYU Children's Hospital. There's a big
Speaker 1: connection between the OU football team and the OU Children's Hospital,
Speaker 1: and they will come several of their patients will come
Speaker 1: to practices, come to games in the locker room, and
Speaker 1: a lot of times you'll see guys kind of adopt
Speaker 1: a patient to be their buddy. And Kenneth was always
Speaker 1: a favorite. All the kids loved him just because of
Speaker 1: what we were talking about earlier. He's got an infectious personality,
Speaker 1: he's got a big personality, he's got a lot of
Speaker 1: charisma to him, and he's right in the middle of
Speaker 1: everything on Saturday when you look at on the football field.
Speaker 1: So this podcast is about candidates to be the first
Speaker 1: pick in the second round. The Bengals have the thirty
Speaker 1: third overall pick. Is that a good range for Kenneth
Speaker 1: or do you see him as a potential first round
Speaker 1: pick several picks ahead of thirty three overall. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: hunch would be he's gone by then. I think you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to move up into the first round to
Speaker 1: get him. I think he's probably in the eighteen to
Speaker 1: twenty five range. I've seen some mock drafts lately that
Speaker 1: even have him closer to fifteen. Get Ever, know, once
Speaker 1: you get into these things and trades start happening and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, if Kenneth Murray is around with the
Speaker 1: first pick of the second round, I think Cincinnati would
Speaker 1: probably jump at the opportunity at him at that point.
Speaker 1: Do you have any questions at all about his NFL potential? No,
Speaker 1: I think that. You know, he had a hamstring situation
Speaker 1: at the combine running his second forty time, he came
Speaker 1: up lame, but that it appears everything is has healed there.
Speaker 1: He is a tremendous physical specimen. He's got his head
Speaker 1: on straight. I don't think you're gonna have to worry
Speaker 1: about anything there from an attitude or a personality standpoint,
Speaker 1: So I maybe pass coverage early in his career until
Speaker 1: he learns the NFL game a little more, but I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be a great pro Before we get
Speaker 1: to our next player. Here's a reminder that you can
Speaker 1: take your Bengals pride to the next level in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty with an official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport.
Speaker 1: Another linebacker who recently appeared at the top of round
Speaker 1: two in a mock draft is LSU's Patrick Queen, and
Speaker 1: this is another case where he's not the only player
Speaker 1: on his team that could be under consideration. Several people
Speaker 1: have suggested that it would be natural to select Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow in round one and one of his favorite targets,
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson in round two. I discussed Queen, Jefferson and
Speaker 1: Burrow with Tigers play by play man Chris Blair. Well,
Speaker 1: that's one of those guys that I think did nothing
Speaker 1: but absolutely dan just improve his stock as the season
Speaker 1: that went along. You know, going into the year, calebon
Speaker 1: Chanson alone with Michael Divinity were kind of the guys
Speaker 1: that I think was on everybody's radar. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you watch the game, and I'm sure scouts saw
Speaker 1: it in person have been broke film. They began to
Speaker 1: see that Patrick Queen had all of the assets and
Speaker 1: had the high motor that the teams are looking for.
Speaker 1: And to me, I think there's several on this team.
Speaker 1: I know we're going to talk about Justin Jefferson coming up,
Speaker 1: but you know there were several members of the Championship
Speaker 1: Tigers that that kind of came on the scene early
Speaker 1: and often as the season went through, and then we're
Speaker 1: able to climax with big games on the big stages,
Speaker 1: the SEC title game, the Peach Bowl, and ultimately the
Speaker 1: National Championship game. And to me, Patrick Queen is one
Speaker 1: of those that just jumped off the screen just in
Speaker 1: the way that he played. I mean, you know, you
Speaker 1: look at Devin White who came out of LSU two
Speaker 1: years ago, and one of the things about Devon that
Speaker 1: I think impressed so many people was whether or not
Speaker 1: he made the tackle regardless of where it was on
Speaker 1: the field. You saw him around the football, he had
Speaker 1: just an incredible way to cover side to side and
Speaker 1: we all were stunned, frankly this year that we said
Speaker 1: the same thing about Patrick I mean he was in
Speaker 1: on plays wherever it was on the field, he was
Speaker 1: great and run support, he could cover the middle of
Speaker 1: the field in the passing game, and had the speed
Speaker 1: and really to know how to find the football. And
Speaker 1: to me, that's what makes him stand out. He's listed
Speaker 1: at six feet tall, two hundred and twenty nine pounds,
Speaker 1: ran a four five forty and he's only twenty years old.
Speaker 1: Do you think he will get bigger and stronger. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's one of the things, you know, the
Speaker 1: coaching staff at LSU talked about was, you know, as
Speaker 1: the season went on last season, we would ask, you
Speaker 1: know what about the emergence of Patrick Queen and Tommy
Speaker 1: Moffat the strength and conditioning guru here at LSU, as
Speaker 1: well as the defensive coaches. So we have, you know,
Speaker 1: yet to begin to scratch the surface of where Patrick
Speaker 1: Queen will end up. And I think they were kind
Speaker 1: of referring to the fact that there's a chance for
Speaker 1: him to get bigger and stronger. So when you put
Speaker 1: the package as a twenty year old now going into
Speaker 1: a professional NFL weight program along with to speak, I
Speaker 1: think you could end up coming out of that machine
Speaker 1: as a monster. I read one Scott and report that
Speaker 1: said great in coverage in the passing game, not as
Speaker 1: strong in the run game. Is that fair? It's fair?
Speaker 1: I mean I think that some of his bigger plays. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the interception against Alabama is one of the highlights of
Speaker 1: Patrick Queen's career, and that was pretty good coverage downfield
Speaker 1: against the great troup of receivers and a pretty dagon
Speaker 1: good quarterback into a tongue baaloa. So I think you
Speaker 1: probably would say his passing coverage as a linebacker's probably
Speaker 1: his strength. But as the season went on, I mean
Speaker 1: LSU gave up a lot of yards rush you during
Speaker 1: the first maybe six seven games. I mean that was
Speaker 1: the Achilles Seal of the LSU defense, not just Patrick Queen.
Speaker 1: And then as you know, they got more healthy, they
Speaker 1: had some improvements in depth on the defensive front. Suddenly
Speaker 1: we realized this team wasn't so bad against the run.
Speaker 1: You know, the thing that was held over LSU, if
Speaker 1: you remember, was the run game that will miss put
Speaker 1: together with their misdirection option play that kind of kept
Speaker 1: them in the ballgame. And everybody said this LSU defense
Speaker 1: can't stop the run. Well, they did a pretty good job,
Speaker 1: and Patrick Queen was a part of that when they
Speaker 1: absolutely shut down Georgia in the SEC title game. So
Speaker 1: I think if you take his season as a whole,
Speaker 1: you probably could say there's some improvement to be made there,
Speaker 1: and no doubt he's going to make those improvements as
Speaker 1: he gets older and more experienced. But I think Patrick
Speaker 1: did a much better job as did the entire LSU
Speaker 1: defense down the stretch of that championship run against the
Speaker 1: rushing attack. What's Patrick Queen like as a person? Really
Speaker 1: good guy? You know, it's it's one of the amazing
Speaker 1: things about this team. And you could pretty much ask
Speaker 1: me about any of the defensive or offensive standouts from
Speaker 1: a year ago and I will talk about their team mentality.
Speaker 1: And you know, coach Osaron talked about it all the time.
Speaker 1: It wasn't about the individual. It truly was about the
Speaker 1: name on the front of the jersey, and Patrick kind
Speaker 1: of itemizes that. He's a guy who against a good
Speaker 1: set of linebacker caleban Chassau and Michael Vivinity, who already
Speaker 1: mentioned some of the younger guys Marcel Brooks that got
Speaker 1: some playing time there in the middle of the field.
Speaker 1: They pushed each other. They were competitive, but they were
Speaker 1: not afraid and didn't mind when the other guy had
Speaker 1: the heck of a play. I mean, I can you
Speaker 1: can go back and watch some of the b roll
Speaker 1: of some of the games. The celebrations these guys had
Speaker 1: for each other kind of stood out to me. So
Speaker 1: when I think about Patrick Queen, I think about a
Speaker 1: guy that is that his team first, me second, and
Speaker 1: you know, again being twenty years of age, with a
Speaker 1: lot of talent, and I think a lot of upside
Speaker 1: if I'm a coach, if I'm a coordinator, I want
Speaker 1: a guy that's team first, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: you get in Patrick Queen. Let's turn to another candidate
Speaker 1: to potentially be the thirty third pick in the draft,
Speaker 1: wide receiver Justin Jefferson. One hundred eleven catches, fifteen hundred
Speaker 1: forty yards, eighteen touchdown catches. Just scribe Justin He's gonna
Speaker 1: be loved by whatever team he gets. The fan base
Speaker 1: is gonna fall in love instantly with Justin Jefferson, and
Speaker 1: he's a great story for those who don't know, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe a two star. I think he got a little
Speaker 1: bit of love from some of the sites that he
Speaker 1: was a three star coming out of high school, and frankly,
Speaker 1: the only reason he ended up at LSU is because
Speaker 1: the two older brothers were standout players and the Tigers,
Speaker 1: you know, took a chance on him, and you know,
Speaker 1: he played I think started as a defensive back. They
Speaker 1: moved him into the wide receiver's room and he had
Speaker 1: a chip on his shoulder and he probably outworked everybody
Speaker 1: on the team top to bottom, and you had a
Speaker 1: breakout season. I mean, he was just a guy that
Speaker 1: he was amazing to watch. If the ball was within
Speaker 1: arms reach, Justin Jefferson made the catch, and he made
Speaker 1: it against some pretty good defensive backs in the SEC.
Speaker 1: And you know, Justin's just a fun loving guy. He's
Speaker 1: a lot like Joe Burrow in the sense that I
Speaker 1: always thought being around him, he walked that five line
Speaker 1: between being confident and cocky and he never really deviates.
Speaker 1: He's confident in his abilities and why shouldn't he be.
Speaker 1: He's got the numbers to back it up. And frankly,
Speaker 1: I felt like him not being a finalist for the
Speaker 1: bulletin the Golf Award was a complete slight last season.
Speaker 1: No question. His teammate Jamar Chase was the best receiver
Speaker 1: in the country, but I felt like Justin should have
Speaker 1: been in that semi finalist, and I think the fact
Speaker 1: that they were teammates probably went against him. But he
Speaker 1: is a heck of a player. He's got speed, he's
Speaker 1: got great hands. He was part of that trio of
Speaker 1: receivers at LSU that used the jugs gun on their
Speaker 1: own without coaches and handled ten thousand passes off the
Speaker 1: judge machine just to make sure that if their quarterback
Speaker 1: put it in their vicinity, they were going to make
Speaker 1: the catch, and more times than not, if it was
Speaker 1: in the air, Justin Jefferson came up with it. Seventy
Speaker 1: eight percent of his snaps came in the slot. Do
Speaker 1: you see that as being Justin's role in the NFL?
Speaker 1: You know, I think so. Just I mean again, you know,
Speaker 1: I think he's got a chance to get a little bigger,
Speaker 1: But I think vertically he's probably where he's going to be,
Speaker 1: and I think he becomes at least at the college
Speaker 1: level and the high power five level. He became quite
Speaker 1: quite troublesome for teams to be able to fit to
Speaker 1: defend him in the slot based on the skill set
Speaker 1: he possesses. You know, again, he's good, runs very Chris Browns.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what's impressive when you go back and
Speaker 1: watch the film. You know, Joe Burrow was fantastic. The
Speaker 1: receivers got great hands, but they were very good at
Speaker 1: finding the creases on the field against defenses, and a
Speaker 1: lot of that goes to the skill set that Justin has.
Speaker 1: And it seemed to work time and time again in
Speaker 1: that slot position because more times than not he was
Speaker 1: matched up with a guy that either wasn't as past
Speaker 1: or wasn't as tall, or wasn't as athletic, and that
Speaker 1: became a weapon that lsu used over and over and over. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the level is gonna move up quite a bit in
Speaker 1: the league, but I think that that's a good place.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't shock me if that's kind of what his
Speaker 1: specialty is, you know, moving down the road in his
Speaker 1: career as a dangerous slot receiver. Chris, you know how
Speaker 1: this works. Scouts have to find something to pick these
Speaker 1: guys apart with. So one of the things I've read
Speaker 1: about where Justin is concerned is that Joe Brady did
Speaker 1: such a great job as a coordinator that Justin was
Speaker 1: schemed wide open. What do you think of that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I can see where you know, I won't
Speaker 1: completely deny that that's not something that could exist simply
Speaker 1: because you know, you had three receivers that on any
Speaker 1: given day for LSU would go over a hundred yards receiving.
Speaker 1: And it started with Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, and then
Speaker 1: even Terris Marshall, and usually Marshall and Chase where you're
Speaker 1: you're wide outs and as I said, and you mentioned,
Speaker 1: Justin would be in the slot, and there were times
Speaker 1: where they would teams would try bracket coverage and usually
Speaker 1: it started out on Jamar Chase and then like in
Speaker 1: the you know, the Oak Home of game, Justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: ran free. I mean it was just phenomenal. It looked
Speaker 1: like he and Joe Burrow were the only two players
Speaker 1: on the fields. And again, part of that is scheme.
Speaker 1: But but I think that's too big a slight to
Speaker 1: say that there's not much more done by Justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: to make the plays that he made throughout the season.
Speaker 1: But you're right, I mean, these guys got to come
Speaker 1: up and look at everything from upside and down. And
Speaker 1: there are arguments to be made that obviously there were
Speaker 1: there were coverage attempts and focus on either Jamar Chase
Speaker 1: or even Fad Moss at times as the as the
Speaker 1: very talented tied in that allowed Justin Jefferson to kind
Speaker 1: of find his way wide open against the given defense.
Speaker 1: But but I think you could make that argument, but
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say that that's what made Justin Jefferson as
Speaker 1: good as he is. So this podcast is about candidates
Speaker 1: to be the thirty third overall pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: But I've got to ask you about Joe Burrow. Stats
Speaker 1: speak for themselves. Describe what it was like to be
Speaker 1: around him last year. You know, it's funny I get
Speaker 1: accused blatantly and I openly admitted I looked through purple
Speaker 1: and gold lenses when when we're talking about LSU. That's
Speaker 1: that's what I'm paid to do. And obviously I'm the
Speaker 1: president of the Joe Burrow Fan Club. But I was
Speaker 1: a fan of Joe Burrow when he arrived on campus
Speaker 1: in June of twenty eighteen, and at that point he
Speaker 1: was a backup quarterback at Ohio State. That's all very
Speaker 1: little time. There are the roads littered with stories about
Speaker 1: guys in Joe Burrow's position transferring somewhere, and there's a
Speaker 1: reason that they didn't start at Ohio State. And it
Speaker 1: become very evident Dan early on. We couldn't figure out
Speaker 1: why he wasn't playing more than he was at Ohio State,
Speaker 1: because he was just phenomenal, but more than the numbers
Speaker 1: in the most touchdowns throne in college football history. His
Speaker 1: accuracy throughout the season, you know, pushing dang there eighty
Speaker 1: percent most of the year. It's the way he approaches
Speaker 1: the game. And that's what stood out to me about
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. I mean, he's got all the tangibles. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's got the hike, he's got good enough speed, he's
Speaker 1: got that gallop. I like it himTo a thoroughbred horse.
Speaker 1: He's not super fast, but his legs are so long
Speaker 1: that he tears up and turns up grass quicker than
Speaker 1: maybe you realize. Beyond all of that, just the way
Speaker 1: he prepared. When I saw Joe Burrow, I saw him
Speaker 1: prepare for games, prepare in the offseason, the way a
Speaker 1: professional football player prepares. I think a lot of that
Speaker 1: has to do, obviously with his older brothers and his
Speaker 1: father being a long time and very successful coach. But
Speaker 1: I also think it's it's the want to in the
Speaker 1: drive that's just inherent who Joe Burrow is, and that,
Speaker 1: to me is what makes Joe Burrow great. People ask
Speaker 1: me all the time if you think it's going to
Speaker 1: translate to the next level. I don't know. There's so
Speaker 1: many variables involved there. What I do know is that
Speaker 1: he's got everything that it takes mentally, physically, is the
Speaker 1: way he prepares for a game, the way he breaks
Speaker 1: down film, the way that he is just tenacious in
Speaker 1: his preparation. That everything's there for him to have a very,
Speaker 1: very successful NFL career. Baton Rouge is obviously New Orleans
Speaker 1: Saints Country, but it sounds like if Burrow is the
Speaker 1: number one overall picked by the Bengals, Cincinnati will instantaneously
Speaker 1: become the second favorite NFL team in those parts. There
Speaker 1: will be an absolute tunnel that will suck just about
Speaker 1: every Cincinnati Joe Burrow merchandise that's allowed that will be
Speaker 1: drilled all the way here to Louisiana. There's no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. Wherever Joe Burrow goes, he's gonna have an
Speaker 1: instantaneous fan base inside the boot of Louisiana. This week,
Speaker 1: the Sporting News came out with a two round mock draft,
Speaker 1: and their selection at thirty three overall was Michigan interior
Speaker 1: lineman says our Ruise. We get the scoop on him
Speaker 1: from Michigan radio voice Jim brand Staff. Well, he's a
Speaker 1: good quality football player. You know, I'd call him a
Speaker 1: steady Eddie kind of guy. He's very smart. That's why
Speaker 1: I think, you know, he's a great center prospect because
Speaker 1: he can call both sides, blocking assignments to the line.
Speaker 1: He did play early as a bit of a guard,
Speaker 1: so he's got some position flexibility. But the big thing
Speaker 1: is is he's steady. I mean, he's never gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: make the big mistake. He's gonna get everybody on the
Speaker 1: same page. I like his ability as a center, as
Speaker 1: a quarterback of that offensive line, and physically he's got
Speaker 1: all the tools and he's played in a shotgun offense.
Speaker 1: He's played with a guy under center, so he can
Speaker 1: handle all that technical stuff too. The Bengals have a
Speaker 1: greater need at guard than center, although their center could
Speaker 1: play guard if he had to do, You think that
Speaker 1: Ruiz could make that transition successfully back to guard. I
Speaker 1: think he could, but I think his natural position is center.
Speaker 1: I think that's where he should play. To be quite frank,
Speaker 1: that's just the way he is. He's played center for
Speaker 1: what three three and a half years now. The guard
Speaker 1: situation happened because you know, they really needed him at
Speaker 1: that point to step into play guard, I think as
Speaker 1: a true freshman at Michigan, but his natural position. Once
Speaker 1: he got at center, there was nobody going to get
Speaker 1: him out of there. That's how good he was at center,
Speaker 1: playing big ten opponents and doing a great job against
Speaker 1: some of the really good defensive lines in the game,
Speaker 1: like Wisconsin and Ohio State. Michigan State, they did a
Speaker 1: great job against that those lines, and to be quite frank,
Speaker 1: Caesar was the middle of it. And he was the
Speaker 1: one that kept that veteran off as a line of
Speaker 1: Michigan's last year on the same page, blocking some of
Speaker 1: those lines. Jimmy's only twenty, so he'll be one of
Speaker 1: the younger guys in the draft this year. What does
Speaker 1: that say about his potential to continue to improve? Oh,
Speaker 1: I think it's huge. I mean, I mean that there's
Speaker 1: a starting center there for ten years. I mean, if
Speaker 1: he stays healthy and he did it, he did it
Speaker 1: in Michigan. But you're looking at a guy that you
Speaker 1: know for ten years. You can kind of pencil whom
Speaker 1: in as a center. And you know, any coach in
Speaker 1: the National Football League when you've got a guy that's
Speaker 1: that consistent a year in and year out, and you
Speaker 1: can just pencil whom in, boy, it's like having two
Speaker 1: players because you know you've got a guy that's going
Speaker 1: to step up and not hurt you and give you good,
Speaker 1: solid years of service. And he's young and he's a leader,
Speaker 1: and that's I think very important to teams in the
Speaker 1: National Football League these days. After about the first ten picks,
Speaker 1: it's really hard to project where a guy is going
Speaker 1: to go. Do you think there's a decent chance he
Speaker 1: will be there at the top of the second round?
Speaker 1: You know, in the NFL draft, it's so hard to say.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've been around him so often. It's it's
Speaker 1: like at some point you think he got it figured out,
Speaker 1: and then there's a run on something and boom, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, your entire draft goes off the wall.
Speaker 1: And I think that's that's what the way it is.
Speaker 1: Every year. So you know, if all goes according to plan,
Speaker 1: which never happens. Yeah, I think he'd be available late
Speaker 1: first round. But there's somebody out there that Mike say,
Speaker 1: you know what, we really want this guy because two
Speaker 1: other guys have come off our board and he was
Speaker 1: a top guy on our board, and we can get him.
Speaker 1: Let's get him. And that's just something that you don't know, man.
Speaker 1: It's one of those things that as the draft goes,
Speaker 1: it's a living, breathing entity all by itself, and it
Speaker 1: changes pick to pick. What's he like as a kid,
Speaker 1: great kid, really a good kid. Very he's not real
Speaker 1: rai rai. You know, he's just a business guy. He
Speaker 1: goes about his business. He's very bright, very intelligent. He
Speaker 1: and Michael Wayne, who is the big guard at Michigan,
Speaker 1: they were buddies. And you know, Caesar, because he was
Speaker 1: a veteran and a leader, would always go to the
Speaker 1: media sessions and he handled himself very well. But not flamboyant,
Speaker 1: not outspoken. Not one of those guys is going to
Speaker 1: give the other teams some locker room blackboard material. Just
Speaker 1: a real solid kid. Jeff Hobson's most recent mock draft
Speaker 1: on Bengals dot Com. Cincinnati's second round selection was Colorado
Speaker 1: wide receiver Laviska Chenault. Here's the voice of the Buffalos,
Speaker 1: Mark Johnson. Well, he was a guy and I told
Speaker 1: this story frequently, Dan, that coach Gary Barnan, who does
Speaker 1: the broadcast with Vicerus, was a phenomenalo coach at Colorado Northwestern.
Speaker 1: And I were standing in the practice field one day
Speaker 1: and Less Steckel happened to be at practice one day,
Speaker 1: who Gary had coached with, and a little longtime Collins
Speaker 1: Nantaville coach, and the three of us are standing there
Speaker 1: talking and Laviska Chanel was just running a fade down
Speaker 1: the sideline just a few yards from ums and without
Speaker 1: even looking, just hearing him run by and catching the football.
Speaker 1: Less Steckel stopped mid sentence and said, who's that guy?
Speaker 1: And he turned around and we were telling about he
Speaker 1: goes that's the nearest thing I've seen to Michael Westbrook
Speaker 1: since that coach Michael Westbrook. So there was a veteran
Speaker 1: coach who just you know, just because he heard him
Speaker 1: run by, they already knew he was a great at
Speaker 1: began to watch him to talk about him. But you know,
Speaker 1: Gary's talked about him. I've talked about him over the
Speaker 1: course of his time at Colorado. He's a physically impressive
Speaker 1: human being who is dynamic and violent at the same time.
Speaker 1: He's one of those guys that's got suddenness and that
Speaker 1: what was kind of fun about calling his games for
Speaker 1: three years. Mark tell me about his ability to make
Speaker 1: people miss, Well, he's got that, and unlike a lot
Speaker 1: of wide receivers, he's got running back jenif. I've heard
Speaker 1: people say that when he catches the ball, he turns
Speaker 1: into a running back and if you go back and
Speaker 1: I don't have the numbers off the top of my head,
Speaker 1: but over the course of his three years here at Colorado,
Speaker 1: his yards after catching contact were unbelievable because of the
Speaker 1: ability we're talking about. He's got wide receiver speed, but
Speaker 1: because of that thickness, and he's one of those guys
Speaker 1: Dan that when you look at him for the waist down,
Speaker 1: you're hard to believe. You find it hard to believe
Speaker 1: he's a wide receiver. He was one of the guys
Speaker 1: used to squat with the offensive line because of the
Speaker 1: power on the lower half of his body, and so
Speaker 1: he was awful the press of the watch in that
Speaker 1: regard because when they got the ball of his hands,
Speaker 1: now he was fasting up to run away from people.
Speaker 1: One of his great touchdowns here at Colorado was in
Speaker 1: a game against usc where he turned and ran away
Speaker 1: from La Bree NFL guys in that second they are
Speaker 1: And so he's got speed, but he's also a kind
Speaker 1: of his mind contact. Now. Now that caused him a
Speaker 1: couple of you know, bruises and bumps during the course
Speaker 1: of his college career. But well, he's got the ability
Speaker 1: both to run by somebody and to run through somebody.
Speaker 1: It's really interesting because the website Pro Football Focus does
Speaker 1: a comparison for every player that they're evaluating, and they
Speaker 1: compare him not to a great wide receiver, but to say,
Speaker 1: Kwan Barkley backing up exactly what you were just saying. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I can see that, and we saw it right away.
Speaker 1: I'll never forget the first time I walked out in
Speaker 1: the practice field and his first one year, three years ago.
Speaker 1: Here it is his August and we'd heard the name,
Speaker 1: and obviously that name Labiscus should stands out. So I
Speaker 1: threw remembered him, walked on out there and here and
Speaker 1: how We're standing of watching the team and finally I
Speaker 1: looked at him and I thought, well, who is that guy?
Speaker 1: Because this big, big, muscular linebacker looking at type human
Speaker 1: being was working out with the receivers at the time,
Speaker 1: and we figured out very quickly that was Labisca. So
Speaker 1: he does. I'm not surprised by that comparison. That's what
Speaker 1: he looks like. Now. He doesn't always play that way
Speaker 1: because of those wide receivers guilty brings. I think he's
Speaker 1: a decent round runner, Dan. He's got very good hands.
Speaker 1: He tracks the ball exceptionally well. He had a game
Speaker 1: winning touchdown and linked to the Braska a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago in which he had guys hanging all over
Speaker 1: him and he's you know, he kept that vision, those
Speaker 1: eyes on that football, and so he's got those abilities
Speaker 1: as well. I think he can get better as a
Speaker 1: round runner. That's going to come with time, I think.
Speaker 1: But from a physical standpoint, boy, there's there's not much
Speaker 1: question about Labisco. Shot all, he aggravated a core muscle
Speaker 1: injury at the NFL scouting Combine and elected to have surgery.
Speaker 1: How big of a concern is his durability? Well, and
Speaker 1: that's been the big question. I've got certainly enough friends
Speaker 1: that you know are covering the NFL and are dealing
Speaker 1: with general managers, and I ask the question I'm gonna
Speaker 1: asked a number of times about him. For the most part,
Speaker 1: the stuff he had and weren't very concerning. Now, even
Speaker 1: that court injury that you're talking about, I think the
Speaker 1: only concern from I understand that general manners in the
Speaker 1: NFL and were why didn't he get that taken care
Speaker 1: of as soon as the season was over, Because it's
Speaker 1: one of those things that can be an issue, and
Speaker 1: it can be nagging, but it's not necessarily a serious
Speaker 1: insur Injuriano plug you a former BOMs who played the
Speaker 1: NFL and had that injury. They've all told me it
Speaker 1: was pretty simple to get over. You get the surgery done,
Speaker 1: it's a pretty quick recovery, and you get back to it.
Speaker 1: So I think he gotten a little bit of bad
Speaker 1: advice after the season. I know that the former coach
Speaker 1: here at Colimento, melt Tucker, had been pleading with him,
Speaker 1: he was a long time NFL coach, to get it
Speaker 1: taken care of. Somebody advised him differently, and I think
Speaker 1: he made a judgment air there now from an injury standpoint,
Speaker 1: in terms of durability because of that violent nature, I
Speaker 1: think he took probably more hits in college than maybe
Speaker 1: he will in the NFL. What I mean by that
Speaker 1: he was such a weapon for Colorado. They utilized him
Speaker 1: at times I felt a little bit more than maybe
Speaker 1: they should have got the previous two stands, to be
Speaker 1: honest with you here, So I don't know that NFL
Speaker 1: coaches are gonna make that same as State, but he
Speaker 1: was certainly, I think something that that people going to
Speaker 1: be aware of because of the bumps of bruces he
Speaker 1: had here to you, Statistically, he dropped off from his
Speaker 1: junior year to his senior year eighty six catches to
Speaker 1: fifty six. Was that injury related? It was because the
Speaker 1: core injury were talking about that hit him. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to remember. I think it was about five games end
Speaker 1: of the season, so he missed some time there and
Speaker 1: then I think they were trying to manage that down
Speaker 1: the stretch of the season. So it certainly was not
Speaker 1: an issue with him in terms of his ability. It
Speaker 1: was more of a cautionary any thing, but accountable a
Speaker 1: coaching staff. They they were trying to nurse him through it,
Speaker 1: get him to the end of the year, try and
Speaker 1: get the bus to a ball game, which didn't happen.
Speaker 1: But the number drop off was certainly not I think
Speaker 1: anything related to him in terms of his game. It
Speaker 1: was more than than the health issues. Our tenth and
Speaker 1: final player is one of the most productive pass rushers
Speaker 1: in this year's draft, Boise State defensive end Curtis Weaver.
Speaker 1: He was Cincinnati's second round selection according to a recent
Speaker 1: mock draft posted on draft site dot com. Here's Boise
Speaker 1: State broadcaster Bob Bheeler, Well, it's a guy that has
Speaker 1: transformed his body and improved every single year that he
Speaker 1: got here. The first season he was here that he
Speaker 1: redishirt and he was listed on the roster at two
Speaker 1: eighty seven, but I remember that spring when he was
Speaker 1: in high school listed as a three hundred plus there
Speaker 1: and when you saw him that first year that he
Speaker 1: was being ministered, he looked at a roly poly lin.
Speaker 1: He's now listed at two sixty five sixty three, really cut.
Speaker 1: So he's a guy that has really transformed his body
Speaker 1: since he's been here. As a redshirt freshman in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: he had eleven stacks. He had nine and a half
Speaker 1: stacks in eighteen, and then last year he had thirteen
Speaker 1: and a half stacks, So he holds him out West
Speaker 1: record thirty four career stacks. Very quick, as a great motor,
Speaker 1: works very hard, good teammate, and somebody that I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed dealing with when he was here. He always had
Speaker 1: a smile on his faith and I think people enjoyed
Speaker 1: playing with him. Bob. He was clearly an elite pass
Speaker 1: rusher all about the red of his skills. Up front?
Speaker 1: Can he stop the run? I don't know. If he's
Speaker 1: big enough to play in the down four would be
Speaker 1: my biggest question at two sixty five, But he didn't.
Speaker 1: He didn't go back and pass coverage a whole lot.
Speaker 1: They used him a little bit kind of as a
Speaker 1: defensive end slash outside linebacker. So for me up front,
Speaker 1: the question would be, you know how big you need
Speaker 1: to be to play in the down three or the
Speaker 1: down four if you're wanting to use him up there.
Speaker 1: And then my question if you use him as an
Speaker 1: outside linebackers, how quickly can you develop somebody in the
Speaker 1: more of something it's gonna play off the line, And
Speaker 1: maybe had to cover an addition to rushing. Based on
Speaker 1: what I've read, he doesn't appear to be an elite athlete,
Speaker 1: certainly not a bad one. His three cone drill timing
Speaker 1: was excellent at the combine, but not a freakish athlete.
Speaker 1: Is that fair? Yeah? I think so he's a good athlete.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's somebody that you're just gonna see
Speaker 1: numbers and everything pop off the chart. I think he
Speaker 1: studied well. I think he was a smart when he
Speaker 1: was here, So I think that would be something that
Speaker 1: would you know, help his causes and looks at film
Speaker 1: and always seemed to be prepared. He seemed to, you know,
Speaker 1: know how to take advantage of other team's weaknesses. But no,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's somebody that you're just gonna be
Speaker 1: wild with as a physical SPECIs. But not that he's
Speaker 1: not a very good athlete or somebody that would you know,
Speaker 1: certainly be able to you know, run fast or you know,
Speaker 1: lift weights, et cetera. Tell us about Curtis as a person.
Speaker 1: He's a lot of fun. I mean, he's one of
Speaker 1: those guys that you know when you have an interview,
Speaker 1: he's somebody that's articulate, he'll, you know, carry on a
Speaker 1: conversation with you. I always enjoyed, you know, he was
Speaker 1: a guy for us that was you know, each game
Speaker 1: they picked a couple of players for postgame shows, or
Speaker 1: we did boach shows, or we had different players. So
Speaker 1: from my standpoint, um, he was always great to deal with.
Speaker 1: As I said, I think he was viewed as a
Speaker 1: very good teammate, somebody that you know, I think had
Speaker 1: the ideas of what makes the team better at heart,
Speaker 1: as opposed to maybe something somebody that just wants to
Speaker 1: look out for themselves and pat their stats. Bob, do
Speaker 1: you have a possible comparison for him? Does he remind
Speaker 1: you of any other Boise State players or anybody else
Speaker 1: you've seen against the Broncos over the years. I don't
Speaker 1: think he'd be as good as a vander Esh coming
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys, because I think vander Esh was able
Speaker 1: to be used in his position more naturally feeling, you know,
Speaker 1: what he was asked to do here versus what the
Speaker 1: Cowboys asked him to do. But I'm terrible when it
Speaker 1: comes to projecting people for the pros. Sometimes that instiment,
Speaker 1: oh they're not going to make it, and then they
Speaker 1: end up making it or oh, I can't believe they'll
Speaker 1: be a camp miss guy. And you know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of it depends on scheme they get in with,
Speaker 1: coaches they get in with. But I really like Curtis.
Speaker 1: I thought he was a good player, and I think
Speaker 1: he's got a lot of the tools and everything that
Speaker 1: could make him a good player at the professional level.
Speaker 1: And I think Cincinnati probably with an opportunity in the
Speaker 1: second round, you know, i'd see things that have him
Speaker 1: projected anywhere from late first into the early third. So
Speaker 1: I think a lot of them and the position of
Speaker 1: what teams want, but I don't think the Cincinnati would
Speaker 1: be disappointed. If they do, it'd be a good addition
Speaker 1: to the team. So there you have it, an in
Speaker 1: depth look at ten possible picks at the top of
Speaker 1: the second round. My thanks to USC head coach Clay
Speaker 1: Hilton and some of the best college play by play
Speaker 1: broadcasters in the country. Before I wrap things up, I
Speaker 1: want to invite you to take part in something I
Speaker 1: started doing this week online that I'm calling Horde makes
Speaker 1: the Call. I want to provide custom made play by
Speaker 1: play specifically for you. It could be video of your
Speaker 1: kid's big moment in youth sports. I did one of
Speaker 1: those this week, but I also described a four year
Speaker 1: old riding her bike without training wheels for the first
Speaker 1: time and a three year old doing an indoor quarantine
Speaker 1: obstacle course. In other words, it can be just about anything,
Speaker 1: So send me your videos. You can do it on Twitter.
Speaker 1: My handle is Dan Underscore Hoard h r D or
Speaker 1: on Facebook. I'm easy to find if you just search
Speaker 1: for Dan Horde. I'll pick them out. I'll reach out
Speaker 1: to people to get details, and then I will provide
Speaker 1: custom made play by play. I hope they bring a
Speaker 1: smile to your face. Again, I'm calling it. Horde makes
Speaker 1: the call that's going to do it. For this episode
Speaker 1: of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Prime Sport,
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Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thank you for listening to The
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast.