WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: Future Looks Good 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.480 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:11.760 The Bengals Booth Podcast. And the future looks good. Addition, 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.120 as you'll hear from NFL analyst Key and Fahey about 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.560 the Bengals potential for building a championship team with Joe 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.680 Burrow at quarterback. I'll also talk to the guy who 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:23.760 will be right in the middle of what the Bengals 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.800 hope is a much improved offensive line, Trey Hopkins. The 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:32.040 Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:36.280 travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.440 a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.800 of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:46.800 computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:52.560 pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since chlorox disinfecting whites. 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.480 They remove germs, bacteria, kitchen grease, and other gunk you 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.600 find lurking in your home, in addition to killing nine 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:05.280 point nine percent of viruses, a valuable commodity during a pandemic. 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.760 Now if I could only find them in a neighborhoods store. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.759 Let's get to football. One of my favorite writers covering 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.640 the NFL is key and Fahey. He's an irishman who's 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.840 hosted a podcast for ESPN in the past and is 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:24.840 currently covering pro football for OTB sports dot com. You 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.640 can read all of his articles online for as little 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:32.240 as two dollars a month on patreon dot com. That's 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:37.319 pat r eo N dot com. Keyan has written several 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.080 articles about the Bengals in recent months, and I spoke 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.559 to him recently after he published a story about Joe Burrow. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.200 Keyan earlier today, you posted a story with a following headline, 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:51.440 Bengals set up well with Joe Burrow. You've been doing 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:54.920 in depth study of NFL quarterbacks for years. What are 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.040 Joe Burrow's best traits? I'd just like to point out 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:00.240 that headline should be a lot more optimistic than is, 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:02.400 like a certain limit there after getting those I want 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.120 them to say, Bengals get star reward for awful season 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:10.080 in Joe Burrow. I think like the first thing we 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.320 have to talk about whenever we talk about any quarterback 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.720 entering this league, and especially one who was so consensuously 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:19.840 beloved and so hyped up during a season when everyone 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.200 taught to below was going to be the guy Burrow 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.040 took a step ahead of him. Part of that was 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:27.239 the injury, but I think even if Tago Below was healthy, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:28.960 he would have been ahead of him. So I think. 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:30.680 But the first thing we have to mention is the 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:32.480 hype gets a little bit out of control at the 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.040 draft all the time because all the draft writers are 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.240 looking for who's the best guy this year, who's the 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.519 guy to talk of? And then when you enter the league, 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:41.480 it does not matter if you're the best in your class. 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:43.640 It does not matter how good you are in college, 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:45.680 because you've got to beat the likes of Patrick Humes 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.680 and Lamar Jackson and all these guys. So I think 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.680 Burrow has such a broad skill set it's very hard 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.400 to pick the one thing that makes him really good 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.400 and the one thing that could potentially make him great. 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:00.000 But I think the most important trait that he has 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.600 is his processing skills. So if you're talking about processing, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.960 you're talking about how the quarterback executes his own offense 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.440 while diagnosing what the defense is doing. So I'm gonna 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.919 use Andy Dalton just because he's someone everyone's going to 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.240 be familiar with from a Bengals point of view, Andy 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.560 Dalton was a great priesttap quarterback. If he figured out 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.160 what you were doing before the ball was snapped, he 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.000 was going to figure out where the open receiver was 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:24.200 and he was going to get the ball to him 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:28.320 there in time. Joe Borrow is also a great priestlap quarterback. 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:30.360 If you give him a look, he's gonna know what 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:32.160 to expect from that look, and he's going to know 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.280 how to adjust off of that look. So the last 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.720 part of that sentence is the difference there. Andy Dalton 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.920 struggles to adjust when the look changed at the snap 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.240 or when the defense shifted its coverage. So if you've 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.320 got through Borrow's tape, there are so many of those 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.400 big plays. The defense comes out showing cover two with 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:50.760 two safeties deep. They want you to think it's own 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.400 and they're going to rotate at the last second, bring 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:54.800 unsafety down. Now it's covered one and it's man, and 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.119 Joe Barrow knows where to look when he gets the ball, 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.800 where to adjust too, to go afterwards, so the ball 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.240 come out in time. I think it was against Clemson 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.760 against j Terrell. I think when Jamar Chase bet him 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.240 for a touchdown down the right side literally lined up 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.120 in the slot. It changed the man. I think that 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:11.520 play was a shift that might have been a different 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.200 one from that game. It's been a lot of tape. 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.760 I get these plays confused sometimes, but what happened there 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:17.680 was he instantly or his eyes were in the middle 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.960 of the field, he saw the safety rotation and instantly 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.240 new to adjust and go to Jamarc Chase on the 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.440 outside because he had won on one coverage. And that's 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.040 such an important trait because when you have a quarterback 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:28.839 who drops back in the pocket and his confused and 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.599 doesn't know where to go, he winds up like Baker Mayfield. 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.680 He needs the offense used play action all the time. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:37.240 He needs screens, he needs very specific grow combinations to 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.359 work because he can't do everything. He can't open the 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.240 full field and that will let Zach Taylor do whatever 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.680 he wants as a coach. We're chatting with Keyan Fayhey 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:50.039 a great Twitter follow at Keyan c I a NAF 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:56.000 like American Football. What are Joe Burrow's biggest weaknesses? This 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.360 is the thing about Joe Burrow that makes them fascinating 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.280 in a sense, like there isn't a specific thing like 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.480 if you bring I'm trying to think of a recent example. 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:05.880 But if you bring a quarterback out of college and 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.400 he's got a huge arm, He's got a monstrous arm. 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.200 He's unbelievable talent, can make any troll. But he's never 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.000 played in shotgun, he's never made full field reads. Then 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.320 your biggest weakness is right there. He's only ever done 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:18.719 very specific things. You don't know if he can do 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.640 all the other stuff. There's not a single thing that 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.719 Joe Burrow did in college where you thought, oh, he 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:24.479 has to get better at that to be a better 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.680 NFL player. So my big concern with Joe Burrow is 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.559 the LSU offensive line. The interior of that offensive line. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:36.119 It's just stonewalled everyone like they were giving him tom 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.520 giving him space. So when he did get pressured, it 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.160 came from the edge. So when a pressure comes from 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:42.960 the edge, you can adjust with it if you've got 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:44.560 space in front you, because you can step up, you 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:46.800 can step back, you can evade a little bit. If 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:48.680 it comes from the middle. And this is why Aaron 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.560 Donald is so valuable, You've nowhere to go, you're trapped. 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.400 So Burrow very rarely saw those types of plays. But 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:56.920 even if I talk about that like obviously the Bengals 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.520 offensive line won't dominate NFL defenders. With that offensive line 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.440 dominant college defenders. It's just a different standard that doesn't 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.200 happen anywhere. It's very rare, like the Eagles when Nick 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.120 Foles won the Super Bowl. That's probably the most recent 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:11.200 recollection of that happening. Maybe the Cowboys during Dak's rookie year. 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.679 But normally quarterbacks are inevitbly going to face some pressure. 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:16.680 But even if you look at that and say, oh, 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.920 Borrow got very clean pockets, and as well, he had 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.320 great receivers. Even if you say that, there's a positive 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:23.960 to that too, because like Tony or almost the quarterback. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.040 I always go back to Tony almost the most patient 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.440 quarterback ever. People used to talk about how good the 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.200 offensive line was, but they didn't recognize was when the 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.880 offensive line gave him great time and space in the pocket, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.400 he rarely ever wasted it. And that's what Joe Burrow 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.839 has got. He's got patience to stay in the pocket. 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.160 So even while I'm talking about he didn't face enough 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.320 pressure up the middle for me to really understand there, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:45.880 he's showing you that, oh I'll sit here and wait 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.680 for my receiver to come up because I know I've 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:49.960 got time, which is a talent in itself. And the 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:52.680 other part of that is he always recognized when it 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.080 was a tree man rush, when it was a four 0:06:54.120 --> 0:06:56.480 man rush, when they were having tree down lineman and 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.360 blitzing from the back end, when they had a five 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.200 man rush coming, when they had an Alli blitz. So 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:02.440 his timing and his process to adjust based on what 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.880 the defense was doing, even while the coming for the 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.520 fact he was in clean pockets, was still very, very impressive. 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:09.760 So you've asked me for a negative, and my negative 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:11.800 is that he's pretty good at staying in the pockets. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.320 So I mean, I just blamed people for hyping up 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.960 draft prospects, and look what I'm after doing. We're talking 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.520 to Keyan Fayhey, who writes about the NFL for Off 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.800 the Ball Sports dot Com OTB sports dot Com. Last month, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:30.400 you power ranked all thirty two projected NFL starting quarterbacks. 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.480 At that point, Cam Newton hadn't signed yet with New England. 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:37.160 You had Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes at the top. Naturally, 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.320 you had rookies to a Tungo Filoa and Justin Herbert 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:44.800 at the bottom. I was surprised where you had Baker Mayfield. 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:49.240 You referenced him earlier, but number twenty eight. That was 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.840 kind of a shocker to me. Well, it's relevant to 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.560 what we're talking about. I like, so Baker Mayfield's hype, 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.760 Baker Mayfield's excitement is based on the touchdown record from 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.160 his rookie season. Far as I can tell. His college 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.360 shape was pretty good too, So there is talent there. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.000 There's definitely a physical talent there. That arm is incredible, 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.160 But he has like I've never seen like a quarterback 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.560 go from being uncomfortable in the pocket, running out of 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:15.440 clean pockets, panicking when his first read isn't there, and 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.280 changing around and fixing that as a problem and becoming 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.560 a quarterback who can manage a pocket and stay in 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.040 the pocket and stand there. And if you watch the 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.640 Bengals enough, you've known that was one of Andy Dalton's issues. 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.640 It wasn't a major issue for Andy the way it 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.240 is for Baker Mayfield, but during his prime, he wasn't 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.400 going to stand in there. Alex Smith is another guy 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.480 like that, where he's got a clean pocket, but his 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.000 first read isn't there, so he's going to bail and 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.160 run to his flat. And what actually started to happen 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.000 with Mayfield was, even if the play was designed perfectly 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.199 and working perfectly, he would still bail and drift backwards 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.800 and run to the flat. So Freddie Kitchens, while he 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.280 wasn't a great play designer last year, wasn't a great 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.640 play caller last year, he wasn't as bad as he's 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:52.800 getting blamed to be either. Like when he called up 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.480 good plays, when he designed nice plays, Mayfield was still 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.120 kind of messing up by running himself out of the pocket. 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.920 So that's where you've got Kevin Stefancy men here, and 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.480 they're going to do to Mayfield what the Vikings did 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.160 the Kirk Cousins last year, which has put him in 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.719 a play action heavy under center offense where you run 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.800 all the time on first down, you run second down. 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.400 It's a lot of bootleg. It's a lot of not 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.400 asking him to do straight dropbacks, not asking him to 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.000 make multiple reads down the field while dropping back in 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.439 the pocket, while mitigating pressure with a specific movement. So 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.800 I think the new offense will help there, but I 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.480 don't think you'll fundamentally change who Mayfield is as a quarterback. 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.680 And like one of one of my pet peeves in 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.760 the NFL is last year Mayfield was losing weight or sorry, 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.000 he was bulking up last year to get better because 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.280 that was his problem entering his second year. And this 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.400 year he's going to be better because he's losing weight 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.280 because he was too big last year. Or you get 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.920 entering a surge year. So there in yourself like there's 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.679 something broken there in the process. You don't understand what's 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:50.559 wrong or what you need to work on if you're 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:52.559 doing the exact opposite of what you thought you needed 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.960 to do last year. And I just don't see the 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.719 potential for development or for turning around. And look, what 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.960 I say about young quarterbacks in particular is not pressed 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:02.880 it it's what I see at the time. It's what 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.400 I see from him recently, like he could turn around 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.800 and be a great quarterback. I just I just don't 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:09.640 see it happening. I would doubt it very much. A 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.720 guy like Patrick Mahomes I saw coming out of college 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.520 and I thought, yeah, I don't think he's ever going 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:15.640 to be a great quarterback because at that time his 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.640 footwork was a mess and he was just really a 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.880 massive arm He took a year out with Andy Reid, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.640 refined his footwork, fix him up a little bit, and 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.360 then his brain came out and you realize, whoa, this 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.719 is one of the smartest quarterbacks you'll ever see. So 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.800 like it's everything's a protection moving forward. But based on 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.120 last year, based on his rookie year, that's about where 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.200 I would put Mayfield right now. We like strong opinion. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:40.199 Sometimes you get it wrong, that's all right, you're back well, 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.160 you're back it up with data and that's what's fun 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.200 to read. Let's talk about Ben Roethlisberger. You had him 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:49.320 ranked number twenty three, not just due to his injury 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.560 from last year, partially due to his injury because of 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.160 his age. Like you, if you're thirty eighth, you're a 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:58.880 quarterback who's notoriously never in great shape, like I think 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.160 he'll admit to that him self. Over the years. He's 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.280 never been someone who's got a chisels midsection or someone 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.440 who's doing as much running as possible. He's the guy 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.640 who turns up and throws the ball and plays backyard football, 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:10.280 as he likes to say, and that's hard to do 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.640 at thirty nine or thirty eight coming off an elbow 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.040 injury coming off a career like Rossberger used to get 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.080 sacked fifty times a year. He used to get beaten 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.040 up by the Bengals a lot of the time, but 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.400 by the Ravens, by the Patriots. In his prime of 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.880 his career, he was playing behind an offensive line that 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.880 got him hit a lot. So I don't think as 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.120 he's aged that he's gotten better. I think the numbers 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.760 have don't really reflect it properly. With him. He's putting 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:35.320 up big numbers, but he's also made a lot of 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.080 critical errors, and his problem as being on the road, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:39.920 He's gotten worse and worse over the years. He will 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.440 have two or three massive games at home, like the 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.800 Panthers game from two years ago. I think it was 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.559 that stands out re true five touchdowns, was incredible, it 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.360 was unplayable. But then he turns around the next week 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:53.400 and puts up a complete stinker. And I just feel 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.360 like that's the way he is as a quarterback, right 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.560 but at that age, and you're not really a timing quarterback. 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.040 Actually come back to Borrow again. Borrow we talked about 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.200 very specific cross in apocablist. Every time he sees sees 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.120 what the defense is doing When the defense tries to 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.319 bate him into a mistake, he'll just see that and 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.880 change and hasten up his hasting up his throwing motion 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.080 if he needs it to get the ball out. Rothlisberger 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.760 struggles more with that because he's never been that structured guy. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.319 When Todd Haley was there, he became that structured guy 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.240 because that's what Todd Haley wanted. But they ran Todd 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.560 Haley out of towne then because that's not what Rothlisberger wanted. 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.839 So ill you think there's a lot of factors there 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.920 that are going to lead to average negative play. And 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.520 the thing about them is Rothlisberger wants to be throwing 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:32.959 the ball a lot. He does not want to be 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:35.520 a compliment in a run heavy offense. And then you 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.439 look at the talents there. Levian Belle is gone and 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.000 Tonio Browne is gone. It's been years since they've had 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.240 Heat Miller, who was our last really good tight end. 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:44.880 I think overall the quality from that offense is dropping, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:46.760 and it's just going to hurt them because they're gonna 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.200 ask Rothlisberger to play like he did ten years ago 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.000 and at thirty eight, I just don't see that happening. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.520 We're talking to Key and Fayehea, for my money, one 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.160 of the best writers out there when it comes to 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.680 watching the tape and communicating it in an interesting way. 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:01.559 Let's move off the orderbacks for a moment. You did 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:04.400 an in depth study of Jonah Williams prior to last 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.120 year's draft. How good of an NFL offensive line prospect 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.000 is Jonah Williams. I think the interesting way there just 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.679 means the accents, doesn't it. That's generally gone well for 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:20.679 me Williams. This is gonna sound like the laziest analysis 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.480 you'll ever come across. But Jonah Williams did remind me 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.360 a lot of Andrew Whitwork, And like the Bengals fans, 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.960 that's great news. Andrew Whitwork one of the best offensive 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.920 tackles has been in the league in the last twenty years. 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.960 The key for me is with word was probably stronger, 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.640 probably more powerful at the point of attack, and that 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.040 that's something Williams could develop with. So like when when 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:40.800 a player goes away for a year, when he can't 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.040 play football for a year, it's still like you can 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:44.920 get in the weight room, depending on what your injury is. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.920 Once you finish your rehab, start working on your physical limitations, 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:50.679 so he could come back and be much stronger than 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.079 he was previously. What let's say he's the same guy 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.160 we saw at Alabama. What are you gonna get. You're 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:57.520 gonna get someone who's very comfortable moving latter league, someone 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:59.520 is very comfortable in his zone runs, which suits the 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.360 off want to run someone who you can trust in 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.000 past protection one on one. So what I really loved 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.600 about Williams is he doesn't He's not going to dominate 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.760 you in Malu. He's not Tyron Smith. He's not one 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.480 of these freak athletes. But he will move his seat 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.240 constantly to recreate leverage at all times. He will keep 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.240 the angle in his favor. When he's protecting his quarterback. 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.320 He'll keep his rear end directed to his quarterback just 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.200 to make sure he can all stop you from going 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:26.800 past either of his shoulders hit. He places his hands 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.440 very well, and because pos his feet very well. With 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.600 your hands and feet moving in concert, that generally leads 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:34.840 you to playing with great technique, and that means you're 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.480 concentrating your power and concerning your athleticism. But I think 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.440 he's very much a very like I think Jake Matthews 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.600 isn't the great comparison like with word is the guy 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.960 turned too. But you have to acknowledge he's not going 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:47.680 to be with from the start. I think he's going 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:49.600 to be a huge value in the running game and 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.080 a huge value in pass protection. My concerns with the 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:53.800 with the Bengals pass protection is going to be the 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:56.320 rest of the offensive line. Hopefully you can put Joonah 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.760 Williams there, leave him there for ten or fifteen years, 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.960 and then you have this beautiful scenario, a beautiful situation 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.760 where you lost game after game after game last year 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.040 and this is your reward where you get a potential 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.120 franchise left tackle and the potential franchise quarterback starting together 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.480 for the first time at the same time. And notice 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.360 respect to what they've had their previously. But I don't 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.360 like in the last ten years, there hasn't been a 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.960 point where I've said, right, the Bengals really scare me. 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:21.760 This year. They are definitely one of the best teams. 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:24.400 They're going to be a Super Bowl and part of 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.640 the reason has been the play at the quarterback. Part 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.600 of the reason has been just the structure of the defense. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:31.080 And that's another thing we can kind of talk about 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.680 a little bit, but I think with Borrow and with 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.680 Jonah Williams, your ceiling just takes that extra step up. 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.200 You become like as long as you get the right 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.760 pieces around those guys, you can very quickly follow Baltimore Ravens. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.080 And it's not going to be like the Browns last year, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.920 where everyone's hyping them up because they've got big names. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.320 It's going to be these young guys with guys who 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:52.840 are complimentary, who filled the right roles coming in around them, 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.440 and hopefully the Bengals can build that way. Let's talk 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.720 about the offensive weapons. They franchise Tag daj Green, they 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.320 drafted t Higan, they have Joe Mixing in the backfield. 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.320 How good are the scope position players that Joe Burrow 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.080 will be working with. Can we just talk about Aja 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.480 Green beforehand? Though, because he didn't play last year and 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.280 it was never a big deal to anyone outside of Cincinnati, 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.400 And that's it doesn't make any sense, right because I 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.960 know he's quiet, and I know Cincinnati is a smaller market, 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.240 so everyone gets overlooked there and that's always the narrative. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.640 But the quality of this guy as a football player 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.320 has never been appreciated and enough. Like Julio Jones gets 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.440 so much credit for being a little bit worse than 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.840 Aja Green. Like Julio Jones is a no standing receiver, 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.280 but Asia Green's a better rout runner. Aja Green is 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.840 just as tough. He's got that huge cat riots, He's 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:42.000 got all the athleticism. He's an incredible football player. He's 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:43.760 been one of the best receivers in this league at 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:48.080 a time when the league has had so many incredible receivers. 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.560 Calvin Johnson returned, and we just got another line of 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:52.720 guys coming in who are nearly as good as Calvin Johnson. 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:54.840 It's ridiculous. And he's been there for so long. So 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.560 I'm the biggest Aja Green fan around. But the Bengals 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:59.800 should trade him. And the reason they should trade him 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:02.160 is because at that point of age he's at look, 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.000 his value is hired to another team and it's higher 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:06.879 in a trade to the Bengals than it is to 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:08.639 the Bengals on the field right now. And that's a 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.120 business move, and it's a move that fits the development 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.760 curve of this specific team you want Borrow to be 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.240 working with. He's gonna work with for the next four 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.440 to five years. If you keep Edge Green, it's still 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.000 great because it can be like Reggie Wayne, but Andrew 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:21.840 luck up to start of his career. If you don't 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:23.639 even get that back, edge of Green can go somewhere. 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:25.800 Probably the timeline fits a little better for him and 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.840 the Bengals can get better overall. The value Tyler Boy 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.320 I really like as a compliment to Green. I think 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.520 like the possession receiver idea is a little bit antiquated 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.159 and it's a little bit under selling what his ability is. 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:39.760 Like when he came out of college, everyone thought, oh, 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.800 he's the slot receiver. He'll just play in the slot 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.760 and he'll be consistent all the time. I think he's 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.080 proven he's more than that. Even if he plays in 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.760 the slot, He's got that atleticism to get down field. 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:50.600 He can make big plays. He can he can make 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.560 running precise roads as well as anyone audn't Taate. I 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:56.320 know he's getting overlooked now because like John ROSSI still 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.119 there as well. It's another guy who's got endless amounts 0:17:58.119 --> 0:17:59.840