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Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading

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Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The you Can't always get what

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Speaker 1: you want. Addition, as A J. Schulte from Pro Football

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Speaker 1: Network dot Com joins me to take an in depth

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Speaker 1: look at NFL free agency, where the Bengals obviously hope

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Speaker 1: to get what the need. Then after that, I'll be

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Speaker 1: joined by the Bengals new running backs coach Justin Hill,

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Speaker 1: who shares his excitement about joining Zach Taylor's staff at

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Speaker 1: the tender age of thirty two. The Bengals Booth Podcast

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Speaker 1: is presented by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and

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Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest

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Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,

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Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify,

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Speaker 1: or pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since iconic sports photos.

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Speaker 1: This week, ESPN sent out a tweet asking the following question,

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Speaker 1: what's a sports photo you'll remember forever? Thousands of people

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Speaker 1: responded and if I mention a few of the photos,

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Speaker 1: I bet you can picture them quite vividly. Muhammad Ali

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Speaker 1: with his bicep flexed, standing over a fallen sunny listing

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Speaker 1: Pete Rose flying parallel to the ground on a head

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Speaker 1: first slide into third base. Joe Namath shirtless and relaxing

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Speaker 1: by a pool surrounded by sports writers, the epitome of

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Speaker 1: cool before leading the Jets to their Super Bowl three upset.

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Speaker 1: Tommy Smith and John Carlos doing their black Power salute

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Speaker 1: on the victory stand at the nineteen sixty eight Olympics.

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Speaker 1: Tommy Smith, by the way, later played for the Bengals.

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Speaker 1: I could go on and on, but I have a

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Speaker 1: better idea. Go online and search for Sports illustrateds one

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Speaker 1: hundred greatest sports photos. You'll be glad you did. Now

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Speaker 1: let's get to football. Earlier this week, AJ Shulty, who

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Speaker 1: writes about the NFL for Pro Football Network dot Com,

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Speaker 1: published a list of the top one hundred NFL free

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Speaker 1: agents in order. And it's not just a one to

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Speaker 1: one hundred list. AJ cranked out more than eight thousand

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Speaker 1: words in writing about each free agent in detail. He

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Speaker 1: joins me on this edition of the podcast to discuss

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Speaker 1: the bengals best options in free agency and the draft. Aj,

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Speaker 1: the Bengals need help on the offensive line and on

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Speaker 1: your comprehensive list of the top one hundred free agents

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Speaker 1: eleven our offensive linemen. Of those players, who should the

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Speaker 1: Bengals target and why, Well, I've seen them linked to

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Speaker 1: Joe Tuoney pretty frequently out of the Patriots, but for

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Speaker 1: my money, I don't exactly know how he would fit

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Speaker 1: with Frank Pollock, who's wanting to go back to some

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Speaker 1: more wide zone schemes to want to go to the

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Speaker 1: original zone running that Zach Taylor to bring over from

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Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh. And so for my money, the big name

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Speaker 1: that I'd be going after is Taylor Moton, the tackle

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Speaker 1: from the Carolina Panthers. Excellent fit in the outside zone.

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Speaker 1: He's great and pass protection, which is what they're really

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Speaker 1: looking for that right tackle spot. They need to protect

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Speaker 1: Joe Burrow as best they can. To me, I think

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Speaker 1: he is a great fit of obviously talent, the quickness

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Speaker 1: is there to execute the scheme, and they have plenty

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Speaker 1: of cap space to go and get him if they

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Speaker 1: choose to. Let's say that Carolina tags him or extends

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Speaker 1: him and Taylor Moten is not available and some of

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Speaker 1: the other high profile guys wind up being unavailable. Are

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Speaker 1: there players near the bottom of your list or middle

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Speaker 1: of the list, or even outside of the top one hundred,

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Speaker 1: who would still be an upgrade for Cincinnati. Yeah. I

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Speaker 1: think Darryl Williams is a target that I would definitely consider,

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Speaker 1: depending on his price range. He has really he really

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Speaker 1: had a great resurgent year last year with Buffalo. Could

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Speaker 1: play guard, he can play tackle. He would excel on

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Speaker 1: the inside zone concepts at guard. He's proven he can

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Speaker 1: play pretty well at right tackle and hold up in

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Speaker 1: pass protection. I like his i Q. I really believe

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Speaker 1: that he's in line for a nice pay day, but

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Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to be the highest paid

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Speaker 1: right tackle like Taylor Moton would come close to Moton

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Speaker 1: would come close to Trent Brown's contract. Some other guys,

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Speaker 1: I think if they want to go, try and poach

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Speaker 1: Matt Feiler from the Steelers to play guard or tackle

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Speaker 1: for them. He's played both with the Steelers. He would

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Speaker 1: be an upgrade at left guard. A guy that didn't

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Speaker 1: make my list because I've only seen a few high

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Speaker 1: quality games, but he really came on at the end

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Speaker 1: of last season with the New York Jets is pat

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Speaker 1: elf Line at guard. He really would fit in with

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Speaker 1: Frank Pollock's scheme. He's cheap, you could, considering that he

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Speaker 1: was cut from the Vikings last year and really only

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Speaker 1: played a few games with the Jets, but he was

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Speaker 1: really good with the Jets. I think if they're wanting

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Speaker 1: to bring in a guy at left guard who could

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Speaker 1: come in right away and would fit perfectly into that

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Speaker 1: scheme without spending about breaking the bank at on offensive line,

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Speaker 1: he would be a guy I'd target as a younger option.

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Speaker 1: If they want to go depth. I think Dan Feeney

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Speaker 1: from the Chargers would be a good depth piece, but

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Speaker 1: I don't think he should be your starting guard unless

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Speaker 1: something happens. And then Nick Easton from the Saints would

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Speaker 1: also be a guy I would bring in for depth.

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Speaker 1: Both pretty cheap. I'm glad you mentioned Matt Feiler because

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Speaker 1: he was not in your top one hundred, but that

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Speaker 1: is a name that's come up quite a bit around here,

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Speaker 1: probably because Bengals fans are used to seeing him with

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Speaker 1: the Steelers. He was he close to your top one hundred, Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: he was. He was really close. I thought he was

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Speaker 1: better at right tackle than at left guard. It's so

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Speaker 1: I didn't him a little bit for that. I was

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Speaker 1: I was going to put him at one hundred at

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Speaker 1: one hundred, but I really fell in love with a

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Speaker 1: guy I put at one hundred, and I just kind

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Speaker 1: of had to put Dennis Gardick in there at the

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Speaker 1: number one hundred because he deserved an honorable mention at

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Speaker 1: the least for how he played last year. Four Bengals

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Speaker 1: free agents made your top one hundred, beginning with cornerback

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Speaker 1: Will Jackson at number twenty one. How do you think

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Speaker 1: the NFL views Will Jackson and should the Bengals be

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Speaker 1: willing to pay him top cornerback money? Jackson the third

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Speaker 1: from my When I was watching him, he stood out

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Speaker 1: to me, but not as a CV like a high

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Speaker 1: end Jalen Ramsey, a CV one, the guy that's going

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Speaker 1: to get be paid among the top corners. That wasn't

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Speaker 1: what he stood up to me. As I still think

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Speaker 1: he's a very good corner one and he could be

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Speaker 1: an excellent corner two for a team that can afford him.

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Speaker 1: But for I do believe the Bengal should pay him

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Speaker 1: simply because the corner market in both the draft and

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Speaker 1: free agency is pretty dry. I don't want to if

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Speaker 1: I say dry, that's not the right term, but it's not.

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Speaker 1: There's a drop off between Jackson the third and then

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Speaker 1: the rest of the corners, And I don't think he's

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Speaker 1: going to get, you know, twenty million a year like

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Speaker 1: Jill Ramsey guy. I think ten to twelve mil per year.

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Speaker 1: Anything more than that would be an overpay because Stefan

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Speaker 1: Gilmour makes thirteen million year and he's not Stefan Gilmore

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Speaker 1: by any stretch, but he's still an excellent corner. I

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Speaker 1: think the Bengals would be smart and investing in bringing

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Speaker 1: him back. But I do think it's kind of telling

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Speaker 1: that they threw all that money at Trey Wayne's last

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Speaker 1: year and didn't extend Jackson the third early Your second

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Speaker 1: highest rated Bengals free agent was Karl Lawson checking it

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Speaker 1: at number twenty seven. What's the market like for Kyl

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Speaker 1: Lawson among the NFL top pass rushers in this free

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Speaker 1: agent crop. I wouldn't be shocked if he breaks fourteen

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Speaker 1: million year. He's so so talented. The injuries, the injuries

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Speaker 1: have cropped up in the past, but last year his

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Speaker 1: tape was just just awesome. His quickness, his ability of

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Speaker 1: string moves together. As a pass rusher, he had to

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Speaker 1: be one of the best sack artists last year. In

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Speaker 1: my opinion, he had one of the best sacks I

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Speaker 1: saw of any free agents last year against Jason Peters.

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Speaker 1: The long arm sack was just just nuts, and he

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Speaker 1: does it so well, the ability to convert speed to power.

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Speaker 1: I think he played better than Dante Fowler did. And

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Speaker 1: Dante Fowler got three years, forty five million from the

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Speaker 1: Falcons last year, and so I definitely think that the

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Speaker 1: market is going to be steep for Lawson. I don't

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Speaker 1: think he's going to break the bank and be the

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Speaker 1: top paid edge rusher, but you fourteen fifteen million year

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Speaker 1: would I would expect something in that range. And the

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Speaker 1: Bengals consider franchise tagging either of those guys, but it

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Speaker 1: really depends on how they want to attack the draft.

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Speaker 1: I think that is a pretty key because the edge

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Speaker 1: class in the draft is deeper than the corner class,

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Speaker 1: and there's going to be better targets available at say

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Speaker 1: their second round pick for edge than there would be

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Speaker 1: for a corner in my opinion, and so you have

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Speaker 1: you have a tricky debate between the Bengals can bring

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Speaker 1: them both back if they wanted to, and both sides

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Speaker 1: wanted to. They have plenty of cap space to bring

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Speaker 1: both of them back, and they can create more if

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Speaker 1: they need to. The problem is with you. If you

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Speaker 1: go into the draft without William Jackson the third in

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Speaker 1: your top corner is Trey Wayne's, you're almost forced to

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Speaker 1: consider a corner higher than what they deserve. For like,

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Speaker 1: there's a good shot that there's not a single defensive

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Speaker 1: player taken in the top ten this year and that

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Speaker 1: and I mean, is it likely going to happen? Probably not,

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Speaker 1: But the fact that it even could and it's happened

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Speaker 1: in several mock drafts you'd read, is kind of telling

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Speaker 1: on the overall talent level. And I think that if

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Speaker 1: they don't bring back Jackson the third, they would create

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Speaker 1: a hole in the defense that they really can't replace

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Speaker 1: in the draft. Carl Lawson is still a very good player,

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Speaker 1: but they're in the second round. You can get another

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Speaker 1: edge rusher better, It's better than a corner you could

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Speaker 1: get at that spot. You're not going to get a

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Speaker 1: corner one in your second rounds. It's very unlikely to happen,

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Speaker 1: and so I think bringing Jackson the third back makes

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Speaker 1: more sense. But of course, if both sides want to

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Speaker 1: bring both back, they can A. J. Shulte is our guest.

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Speaker 1: You can follow him on Twitter at aj draft Scout.

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Speaker 1: The third Bengal on your top one hundred free agency

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Speaker 1: list was Mackenzie Alexander. He checked in at number seventy three.

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Speaker 1: If they don't resign McKenzie, and it doesn't sound like

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Speaker 1: they plan to, they're probably going to need to sign

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Speaker 1: a slot corner back. How is the market in that category? Oh,

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Speaker 1: the slot corner list is fantastic. I think I had

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Speaker 1: four slot corners alone in my top fifty on there,

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Speaker 1: and then you had a few guys below that, like

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Speaker 1: Kiwan Williams from the forty nine Ers and Cam Sutton

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Speaker 1: from the Steelers. Again, if they want to poach the Steelers,

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Speaker 1: there's so many talented nickel corners in both the draft

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Speaker 1: and in free agency. I mean, if they want to

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Speaker 1: bring mckensey Alexander back, they can, but with how good

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Speaker 1: this nickel classes, they might be able to find an upgrade.

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Speaker 1: There's there's plenty of talent, and even in the draft

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Speaker 1: with guys like Elijah Molden, I think he would fit

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Speaker 1: right in in the nickel spot the second maybe third

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Speaker 1: round pick for the Bengals. There's there's there's plenty of

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Speaker 1: options should they pass on bringing mckenzay Alexander back. AJ

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Speaker 1: Green Major top one hundred, but just bareley at number

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Speaker 1: ninety six, And you wrote that that ranking is more

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Speaker 1: of a courtesy to what he's been in his career

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Speaker 1: versus what he was in twenty twenty. How much interest

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Speaker 1: do you think is out there for AJ Green? And

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Speaker 1: do any teams make sense in your opinion, it's it's

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Speaker 1: tough with AJ Green because last year he really did

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Speaker 1: not look interested further. But and I hate, I hate

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Speaker 1: to say that, because Aja Green is a fantastic player,

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Speaker 1: But maybe it's the injuries, it's it's maybe he just

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Speaker 1: wanted out with the Bengals. He was he was done.

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Speaker 1: There's could be any sort of explanation, but last year

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Speaker 1: there was a pretty clear drop off from his play

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Speaker 1: to his past. With all the talent at receiver in

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Speaker 1: this free agency class, and then you look into the

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Speaker 1: draft and there's bazillion wide receivers in this draft, it's

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Speaker 1: going to be tough for him to command a high market.

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Speaker 1: I could see a team like maybe like Green Bay

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Speaker 1: if they choose not to bring back Alan Lazzar. He's

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Speaker 1: a he's an exclusive rights free agent, but they're so

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Speaker 1: strapped on cap. Who knows, Kansas City. Maybe they lose

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Speaker 1: a couple of receivers in free agency as well. But

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Speaker 1: he's gonna be really cheap. It's gonna be a cheap

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Speaker 1: one year deal with the contenting team, maybe Baltimore, and

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Speaker 1: like that's the best shot he's gonna get it. He's

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Speaker 1: not going to get a high market, not this offseason.

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Speaker 1: Last year a different story, but after the way the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty went for him, I wouldn't be too sure.

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Speaker 1: Aj Shlty writes about the draft and free agency for

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Speaker 1: Pro Football Network dot Com. Another Bengals wide receiver did

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Speaker 1: not make your list of the top one hundred free agents,

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Speaker 1: John Ross, which is pretty telling for the ninth pick

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Speaker 1: in the twenty seventeen draft. What do you think of

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Speaker 1: his future in the NFL at this point? It's tough

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Speaker 1: with John Ross because it's always been more flash than

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Speaker 1: substance with him, and then you look at the injuries.

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Speaker 1: He only played I think three games last year for

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Speaker 1: the Bengals. He's not played a full season in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: so the market isn't gonna be supers. What's lucrative for him,

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Speaker 1: and especially when you look in this draft class where

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Speaker 1: there's a bunch of speed guys, your teams are gonna go.

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Speaker 1: I think I would rather spend a fourth round pick

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Speaker 1: on this guy out of Houston or whoever, than you know,

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Speaker 1: spend eight million on John Ross. Yeah he could, he'll

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Speaker 1: He'll get a shot because we've seen deep threats get

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Speaker 1: revitalized careers later on, like Breshad Perriman really revitalized his career.

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Speaker 1: Nelson Agalore has really turned. He really had a great

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty with the Raiders last year. And so if

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Speaker 1: he goes maybe he goes to like the Rams. There's

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Speaker 1: been plenty of connection between John Ross in the La

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Speaker 1: Rams because that's what they need. They're going to look

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Speaker 1: for that guy who can stretch the defense vertically, and

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Speaker 1: that's what John Ross can do. That's what he was

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Speaker 1: drafted to do. He's proven he can and with Matt Stafford,

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Speaker 1: he could have a pretty revitalized career. But he's just

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Speaker 1: not going to get a super super big deal. It's

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Speaker 1: going to be a cheap when your deal kind of

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Speaker 1: say hey, if you can make it, we'll make you

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Speaker 1: a little more money. But if you're not, then we

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Speaker 1: could just you know, dump you in the streets. You

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Speaker 1: know you're no, I'm passing on you. Well, let's stick

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Speaker 1: with wide receiver because assuming aj Green and John Ross leave,

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Speaker 1: and I think that that's a good assumption on the

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Speaker 1: part of Bengals followers, Cincinnati is probably in the market

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Speaker 1: for a free agent wide receiver. I would think a

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Speaker 1: deep threat to go with Tyler Boyd and te Higgins

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Speaker 1: makes sense. Who fits that description? And do you see

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Speaker 1: any good fits, particularly among kind of the moderately priced guys,

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Speaker 1: since I think the Bengals are more likely to spend

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Speaker 1: their big bucks on offensive line or possibly even defensive line. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think there's a couple guys. I mentioned Brashot Fairman earlier.

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Speaker 1: I think he's going to be cheaper. He'll probably be

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Speaker 1: He probably get him for two years, maybe eight million

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Speaker 1: year is two year, sixteen million mil deal. He was

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Speaker 1: fifteen point nine average targeted air yards last year, which

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Speaker 1: was fifth in the league. Was fifth in yards perception

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Speaker 1: last year. And I was playing for Adam Gaze. I

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Speaker 1: was playing with Sam to Arnold and Joe Flacco and

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Speaker 1: guys like that at quarterback. So he's proven he could

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Speaker 1: be an effective deep threat. I don't think he would

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Speaker 1: be super expensive. Like I said, two years sixteen mil

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Speaker 1: is what i've seen him at. I think that's a

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Speaker 1: pretty good price range for him. If they want to

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Speaker 1: go even cheaper and they want to say, hey, you

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Speaker 1: know what, he might be a little too high profile

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Speaker 1: or he's going to get a deal that's more comfortable

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Speaker 1: than I would expect. Kendrick Bourne is a speech ster

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Speaker 1: from the forty nine ers that I would expect to

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Speaker 1: be a pretty hot commodity because he's not really used.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to say correctly, because Kyle Shanahan's an

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Speaker 1: offensive genius, but with the way their quarterback situation isn't

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Speaker 1: the way the offense is designed, Kendrick Bourne's speed deep

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Speaker 1: isn't often utilized right right, They're not Jimmy g is

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Speaker 1: not going to be the quarterback to stretch to challenge

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Speaker 1: defenses vertically, even though Kendrick Bourne can do that, and

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Speaker 1: so I think if you're wanting a guy who can

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Speaker 1: challenge vertically, he's good after the catch, which is something

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Speaker 1: that Zach Taylor will want at receiver as well. Kendrick

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Speaker 1: Bourne makes a lot of sense. I think He'll only

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Speaker 1: be twenty six years old too, so he's still younger.

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Speaker 1: And then another vet that'll be cheap. Kenny Stills right

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Speaker 1: has bounced around. He really had kind of trouble sticking

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Speaker 1: with the Houston Texans because they had just such a

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Speaker 1: talented receiver corps last year with the Shawn Watson. But

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Speaker 1: he's going to be cheap. He's a proven an effective

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Speaker 1: deep threat. If that's the way they're going. Kenny Stills,

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Speaker 1: Kendrick Bourne, Breshad Perriman would be my top three prime targets.

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Speaker 1: Let's go with a similar concept for pass rights. Because

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Speaker 1: the Bengals were last in the NFL and sacks last year.

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Speaker 1: Their best passed rusher, Carl Lawson, is a free agent.

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Speaker 1: Let's say they extend Carl or franchise Tag Carl, and

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Speaker 1: as a result, don't have huge bucks left for an

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Speaker 1: edge rusher. Who are some of the better guys that

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Speaker 1: might come in a more moderate price. There's a few

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Speaker 1: guys that I think are a higher price option, and

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Speaker 1: then you've got some cheaper options. The higher the higher,

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Speaker 1: but still moderate. Ryan Carrigan would be a phenomenal veteran ad.

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Speaker 1: He might want to go play for a contender because

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Speaker 1: he's been stuck on Washington for how you know, who

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Speaker 1: knows how long. But he's still a very effective pass rusher.

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Speaker 1: Even though he played the smallest snap counts he's ever

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Speaker 1: played in his career this past year because they got

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Speaker 1: Chase Young, he was still phenomenal. He was getting after

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Speaker 1: the quarterback, putting up tons of pressures in sacks, so

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Speaker 1: I think he would be worth it. Trey Hendrickson from

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Speaker 1: the Saints. I don't think it's going took command a

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Speaker 1: super high deal despite the fact that he put up

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Speaker 1: like thirteen and a half sacks. I believe it is

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Speaker 1: what he's officially listed at because some of those sacks

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Speaker 1: were a little inflated. It might be there's some coverage

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Speaker 1: or some cleanup sacks in there, but he's still a

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Speaker 1: pretty good pass rusher. He could be a good number

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Speaker 1: two to your Carlsson on number one, and he's not

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Speaker 1: going to break the bank. The Saints can't afford him

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Speaker 1: because they can't afford anybody right now, and then the

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Speaker 1: last of the moderate price. I put him highly on

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Speaker 1: my list because he played phenomenal last year, but I

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Speaker 1: don't know how valuable he'll be Romeo Aquara from the Lions.

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Speaker 1: He was just outstanding last year as a pass rusher.

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Speaker 1: His sacks, the sacks he put up or just very

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Speaker 1: high quality. He put up a good amount of pressures.

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Speaker 1: But he's only had the one good year of film,

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Speaker 1: and teams, after seeing how guys like Dante Fowler and

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Speaker 1: some other free agents have panned out across the league,

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Speaker 1: teams were probably going to be a little wary of

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Speaker 1: throwing big money at guys who have only been producing

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Speaker 1: for one year. But if you can, if if that

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Speaker 1: one year is he had that breakthrough, right, Oh likely

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Speaker 1: he knows he's figured it out, it's right, which he

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Speaker 1: looks like he did. Right. These these sacks weren't jokes.

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Speaker 1: They weren't fluky sacks. They were really high quality sacks.

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Speaker 1: And so if you're saying, hey, you know what, two

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Speaker 1: years twenty million, right, there's a there's a cheap We

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Speaker 1: give you some flexibility there if we can, if we

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Speaker 1: if you don't pan out, we could still move on.

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Speaker 1: If not, you know, we still have you at a

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Speaker 1: pretty decent price for two years, and then we can

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Speaker 1: look at an extension later on. He's still young and

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Speaker 1: last year's tape was really really good, and I don't

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Speaker 1: think he's going to break the bank, and so which

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Speaker 1: is good if they extend or tag Lawson because that's

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Speaker 1: a significant capital. Let's turn to the draft with Aj

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Speaker 1: Shulty from Pro Football Network dot Com. For months, Bengals

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Speaker 1: fans have been lasting at Drepanay's Sewell, but more recently

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Speaker 1: there's kind of a counter argument that has emerged that

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Speaker 1: the Bengal should sign a tackle and free agency and

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Speaker 1: then draft one of the top wide receivers, particularly if

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Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is available to reunite him with Joe Burrow.

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Speaker 1: Where do you stand depends on how they attack free agency.

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Speaker 1: I don't like to get into projecting the draft until

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Speaker 1: I see how free agency goes. Because if they sit

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Speaker 1: there and they go out and they signed Taylor Moton

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Speaker 1: or they signed some of these guys in free agency

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Speaker 1: to really boost the offensive line and then they get

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Speaker 1: an effective deep threat with one of the guys we mentioned,

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Speaker 1: they open up a lot of flexibility in the draft.

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Speaker 1: Right they don't have to take one guy or the other.

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Speaker 1: They don't have to take Jamar Chase, they don't have

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Speaker 1: to take Sewell, and so I think it's really just

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Speaker 1: dependent on how they attack free agency. To me, I

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Speaker 1: would still take Penay Suell at five. If he's there,

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Speaker 1: you gotta worry about Atlanta and maybe Miami. We'll see

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Speaker 1: how that goes. But if he's there, to me, Suwell

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Speaker 1: is the clear no brainer for me. Wide receivers in

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Speaker 1: the top five are tricky evaluation because there's so many

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Speaker 1: good wide receivers in the league that you can get

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Speaker 1: later on, and it's almost these days it's almost more

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Speaker 1: about if you're not that dominant like Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson,

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Speaker 1: just that super freak megatron kind of athlete, then taking

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Speaker 1: your top five when I can get a guy with

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Speaker 1: a similar skill set, say at thirty seven or thirty eight,

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Speaker 1: versus a very good tackle who's very young, his best

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Speaker 1: football is still ahead of him. It's tough, especially when

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Speaker 1: you get into positional value and how they handle stuff

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Speaker 1: like that. I don't know if Jamar Chase will be

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Speaker 1: my pit because I think he's got a very similar

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Speaker 1: skill set to t Higgins. But obviously what r Mar

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Speaker 1: Chase did with Joe Burrow in college was just fantastic.

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Speaker 1: They were just dynamic duo. Nobody could stop those two

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Speaker 1: so I don't think you could go wrong with either one,

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Speaker 1: depending on how you handle free agency. Just my personal

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Speaker 1: belief is I would go with Sewell, figure out the

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Speaker 1: best five offensive line combination and go from there. If

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Speaker 1: you could put Sewell at left tackle and you sign

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Speaker 1: Taylor Moton at your right tackle that you have a

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Speaker 1: flexibility to hit him or Jonah Williams inside a guard two,

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Speaker 1: that's just such a huge boost to your offensive line,

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Speaker 1: and to me, that's the most critical position. Teams are

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Speaker 1: going to start to take notice of teams like the

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Speaker 1: Saints and the Patriots and the Buccaneers and how they've

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Speaker 1: built up the offensive line so long that Super Bowl

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Speaker 1: sticks out, everybody remembers how the Chief's offensive line look

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Speaker 1: and they're gonna go I don't want it to look

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Speaker 1: like that every game, So I'm going to build up

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Speaker 1: my offensive line. When you've got a guy like Joe Burrow,

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Speaker 1: you saw how many hits he took last year, you

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Speaker 1: have to protect him. Should Florida tight end Kyle Pitts

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Speaker 1: even be in the discussion at number five, I absolutely

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Speaker 1: I think he should. Kyle Pitts is my number three

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Speaker 1: overall player in the draft. I love Kyle Pitts. I

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Speaker 1: think if there's a scenario where you say the Dolphins

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Speaker 1: at three, take Jamar Ches, He's a wide receiver one.

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Speaker 1: They need a receiver big time for Tuva. They go

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Speaker 1: out and they're like, look, this is a guy we

429
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,679
Speaker 1: want him. So they take him at three, and then

430
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 1: the Falcons pass on a quarterback. They say, hey, you

431
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: know what, We're gonna stick with Matt Ryan for another year.

432
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,480
Speaker 1: We need to build up the trenches because that's something

433
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith wants and Terry Fontaneau at GM that's something

434
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,119
Speaker 1: they're both big believers in. So they take Piney Seul.

435
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:04,920
Speaker 1: You're the Bengals there at five, and you're going, well,

436
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,680
Speaker 1: my top two guys are gone, Jamar Jason Pinney Seul

437
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 1: are both off the board. I'm not a huge believer

438
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,399
Speaker 1: in Restauranse later. I've seen him put that high to

439
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 1: five even mock there. But Kyle Pitts just what you

440
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,639
Speaker 1: could do with him. He should be a wide receiver.

441
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 1: He should be listed as a wide receiver because he's

442
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,160
Speaker 1: he plays outside. He's not your traditional tight end. He's

443
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 1: an absolute freakish monster, and if you can get creative

444
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: with him, I mean imagine, imagine Joe Burrow with te

445
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,399
Speaker 1: Higgins outside. You've got Tyler Boyd in the slot, and

446
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: then Kyle Pitts. We're sitting there at your in line

447
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,959
Speaker 1: other your tight end spot. Who are you gonna cover? Right?

448
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 1: You gotta double cover somebody, and he would bring such

449
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: a versatile, mismatched weapon. You just you've got to worry

450
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,639
Speaker 1: about positional value with tight ends. But he's not a

451
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,160
Speaker 1: traditional tight end in that sense, so I wouldn't really

452
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,399
Speaker 1: worry about it. I mean, you can line him up

453
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,240
Speaker 1: an ex receiver Florida did that. He can play that

454
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,680
Speaker 1: role with a plum. So if people are dismissing Kyle Pits,

455
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,120
Speaker 1: oh he's a tight end, I'm not going to take

456
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: a tight end pick number five, right. If there's a

457
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: quarterback there and they can get in, Cincinnati can trade

458
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: down and still take Kyle Pitts. That's fantastic. You see,

459
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,159
Speaker 1: If if Carolina wants to move up from eight to

460
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 1: five and you sit there at pick eight, you get

461
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,680
Speaker 1: Kyle Pitts, you know you won the first round. You

462
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,399
Speaker 1: got a guy, You got a fantastic weapon for Joe Burrow.

463
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of the idea of trading a

464
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: few spots down if you could, and getting an extra

465
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: second round pick. If that scenario is on the table,

466
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,919
Speaker 1: I think that would be ideal for Cincinnati, although I

467
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,200
Speaker 1: still think if pinay Sewell is there at number five,

468
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:56,080
Speaker 1: it's impossible to turn down. Yeah. Yeah, he's so good.

469
00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,600
Speaker 1: There are so many people overthinking pinay Sewell. He was

470
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 1: nineteen years old and he's out here just bullying at

471
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: future NFL guys into the dirt. He's so good, so talented,

472
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,280
Speaker 1: don't overthink him. His issues are very correctable, and Frank

473
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 1: Pollock is a phenomenal offensive line coach, and Seuel would

474
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: just fit right in. Just Boom sticking there at left tackle.

475
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,159
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about it. Don't have to

476
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 1: worry about it. It's been a while since Bengals fans

477
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 1: could say, don't have to worry about it about the

478
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 1: state of the offensive line. We'd love to get back

479
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,360
Speaker 1: to that point sometime soon. And a couple more questions

480
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: for aj Shulty from Pro Football Network dot com. What

481
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 1: were your expectations for Joe Burrow going into his rookie

482
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: year and how did he measure up? You know, I

483
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 1: didn't have expectations I mainly just wanted to see how

484
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 1: he translated outside of LSU, right, I think that was

485
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 1: the biggest question everybody had was, Okay, he had pretty

486
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,879
Speaker 1: much everything at LSU. How could he do with a

487
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: new offense, a new offensive line, a new set of weapons,

488
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,160
Speaker 1: and how can he adjust NFL speed? That's what everybody

489
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,119
Speaker 1: really wanted to see in that. To me, he looks

490
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 1: really good as a rookie if he The unfortunate thing

491
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,880
Speaker 1: is he was he did get hurt, which how much

492
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,600
Speaker 1: you know the offensive line, he took just so many hits.

493
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:27,720
Speaker 1: He was just bruising, battered. But the aggressiveness that he

494
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 1: displayed as a thrower downfield, he's willing to test targets

495
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:35,959
Speaker 1: that a lot of rookies are super gunshine, like, I'm

496
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,879
Speaker 1: gonna just take the check down because I don't know

497
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 1: if I can hit that weapon. Joe Burrow was like, look,

498
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 1: he's open, I'm gonna throw it to him. If it

499
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 1: doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. And that's that's

500
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 1: the way you've got to be these days with some

501
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,640
Speaker 1: of these young quarterbacks. You want to see that because

502
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 1: it's easier to coach a guy down from aggressiveness than

503
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 1: it is to coach up in aggressiveness, and I think

504
00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 1: his aggressive throw percentage was like top three, top five

505
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,720
Speaker 1: in the league, which is phenomenal for a rookie. The

506
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: downfield stuff was struggle. I think the deepest pass was

507
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 1: like forty five yards or the deepest completion was somewhere

508
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 1: around there. But I think as his chemistry improves with

509
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 1: these guys with a new with a whole hopefully full

510
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 1: offseason working and then he's staying healthy, everybody else can

511
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: stay healthy and they build around him, I think that's

512
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 1: going to improve. But the escapability, the moxie, the poise

513
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: he plays with, He's a plenty talented thrower. When you

514
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: watch him, you just can't help but go. This guy

515
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 1: is fun. He's so fun, Like I love watching Joe

516
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: Burrow in college, and then when I watched him in

517
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,600
Speaker 1: the pros, I was like, this guy's it and this

518
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 1: guy has everything you want. The mentality he plays, with

519
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,960
Speaker 1: his ability as a leader, everything really stood out, even

520
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,200
Speaker 1: as a rookie, which is so rare to me. I

521
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: still think he's funny. People are going to say, oh,

522
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 1: they should have taken Justin Herbert. I don't think Herbert

523
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 1: would have been Herbert on the Bengals, because Herbert did

524
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 1: have quite a bit with the charters, Pet Hamilton, a

525
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 1: quarterback coach, Keenan Allen at wide receiver. You here, there's

526
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: always that question of, oh, well they should have taken

527
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: this guy. I think they got it right. Still with

528
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. Yeah, nobody isn't in Cincinnati is complaining about

529
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 1: that pick. Trust me. You published your list of the

530
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 1: top one hundred free agents in order earlier this week

531
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 1: on Pro Football Network dot Com. I thought it was great.

532
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: I mean, we all know the guys near the top

533
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: of the list, but as you get you know, beyond thirty,

534
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 1: beyond fifty, beyond seventy, so a lot of great information

535
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 1: on those guys. It was really helpful for me, and

536
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: I highly encourage fans to check it out. What else

537
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: do you have coming up that we can look forward

538
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 1: to at Pro Football Network dot Com? Well, we at

539
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 1: Pro Football Network. We're obviously we're still fine tuning our

540
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 1: mock draft simulator. I highly encourage everybody who's interested in

541
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 1: the draft to use that. We are getting ready to

542
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: release our top three hundred consensus board my rankings. Tony

543
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:12,440
Speaker 1: Pauline's rankings and a few of my other co workers.

544
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: We're compiling our top three hundreds and making our consensus

545
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 1: board out of that. Right now, I'm currently working on

546
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:24,920
Speaker 1: a piece comparing restaurant later and Christian Darisol is the

547
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 1: offensive tackle number two in the draft, because I think

548
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: that's the competition between those two is closer than it

549
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: is between Sewell and everybody else. I'm always trying to

550
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: make new content, explort of opportunities. I'm trying to get

551
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 1: some equipment to get into podcasting because I just love

552
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,760
Speaker 1: talking sports stuff like this is what I live for.

553
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,720
Speaker 1: This is my favorite thing to do. So I'm very

554
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 1: glad and very grateful that you invited me on. Well

555
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 1: now I don't feel guilty for taking thirty minutes of

556
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,640
Speaker 1: your time, so AG, I really appreciate it. Again, love

557
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 1: the guide to the top one hundred free agents that

558
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 1: you put out earlier this week, and maybe we will

559
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,440
Speaker 1: invite you back on closer to the draft. Oh, I

560
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: would absolutely love to thank you. Thank you. That is

561
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: AJ Shulty again. You can follow him on Twitter at

562
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 1: aj Draft Scout. This week, Tony Pauline from Pro Football

563
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 1: Network dot Com a previous guest on this podcast updated

564
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 1: his list of more than nine hundred draft prospects. His

565
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: top four in order are Trevor Lawrence, Jamar Chase, Pinney Sewell,

566
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 1: and Kyle Pitts. Fortunately for the Bengals, there will almost

567
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 1: certainly be at least a couple of quarterbacks taken in

568
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,520
Speaker 1: the top four, meaning one of those names I just

569
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: mentioned will be available when the Bengals are on the clock.

570
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud Light Seltzer.

571
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,720
Speaker 1: It's light and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor.

572
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 1: The return of offensive line coach Frank Pollock was the

573
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: most highly publicized change on the Bengals coaching staff and

574
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 1: the season, but there were other moves, including the addition

575
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 1: of running backs coach Justin Hill. He spent the last

576
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 1: six years at Tulsa, where, among other things, Hill helped

577
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 1: two running backs top one thousand yards in the same season.

578
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 1: Back in two sixteen, I spoke to Justin about his

579
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:22,800
Speaker 1: new gig this week, Justin, you are an NFL coach

580
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 1: at the age of thirty two. How did this opportunity

581
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,320
Speaker 1: come about to be a member of Zach Taylor's staff.

582
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 1: That's a good question. You know, I mean, obviously my

583
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 1: commission with James Casey, going back to playing together a rice.

584
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,000
Speaker 1: I think when I came into as a freshman, I

585
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: was eighteen and he was like thirty two already. But

586
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 1: we played together obviously for a couple of years there,

587
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 1: and then he went on to play for the Texans

588
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 1: and all that, and both of us getting into coaching

589
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: after we graduated, and when he was done playing, we

590
00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: just kind of stayed in contact, and you know, I

591
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,280
Speaker 1: guess the opportunity came up for him to bring my

592
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:09,320
Speaker 1: name up, and you know, Zach reached out and the

593
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:14,480
Speaker 1: interview process went well, and you know, obviously I'm very

594
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,239
Speaker 1: excited to be here, be a part of this organization,

595
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: extremely lucky, extremely blessed um. But yeah, I mean just

596
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 1: kind of kind of how things work, and I'm excited

597
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,879
Speaker 1: about him. James Casey, of course, is the Bengals tight

598
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 1: ends coach, and the guys at that position absolutely love him.

599
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 1: What did James tell you about being a member of

600
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:39,359
Speaker 1: the Bengals organization? Uh, I mean, obviously just told me

601
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,640
Speaker 1: what an incredible opportunity it is to coach in the NFL,

602
00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 1: and then also just being a part of the organization itself,

603
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,239
Speaker 1: and just a group of people that we get to

604
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,799
Speaker 1: work with every day. You know, starting with Zach and

605
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,480
Speaker 1: the rest of the guys on the office and staff

606
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:55,799
Speaker 1: were just a good group of people that you know,

607
00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 1: going from from college to the NFL, obviously there's gonna

608
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 1: be some transition, but uh and some learning curves for me,

609
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:09,480
Speaker 1: just like there was James. But the biggest thing is

610
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,399
Speaker 1: just the quality of people and their character. And you know,

611
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,360
Speaker 1: knowing that I can I can lean on Zach, and

612
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,239
Speaker 1: I can lean on Brian and Frank and obviously their

613
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,680
Speaker 1: haespreatise and their experience, but and then James as well.

614
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 1: So I think just being able to lean on those

615
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,319
Speaker 1: guys and help me with this transition. But just like

616
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,279
Speaker 1: I said, the quality of guys and being around an

617
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,200
Speaker 1: organization that cares about family and spending time with families

618
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 1: extremely important. We're chatting with Justin Hill, the Bengals do

619
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,719
Speaker 1: runnings back running backs coach. You've been an assistant coach

620
00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,760
Speaker 1: at Tulsa for the last six years. Was your ultimate

621
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 1: goal to eventually coach at the NFL level if you could? Yeah, eventually.

622
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 1: I didn't think that it would happen this soon. But yeah,

623
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 1: that's something I've always thought about. You know, you talk

624
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 1: about coaching in the NFL, you're talking about coaching at

625
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: the highest level. I mean, I'm one of thirty two

626
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 1: right now. That's what James always says, and so obviously

627
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,160
Speaker 1: I was extremely excited to take this opportunity. But I

628
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 1: think this is always a goal I had, just didn't

629
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,319
Speaker 1: put a didn't put a date on it, like I

630
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 1: want to be an NFL coach by the time thirty

631
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,720
Speaker 1: two or whatever it is. But honestly, the opportunity presented itself,

632
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,439
Speaker 1: and like I said, I'm extremely excited about it. One

633
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 1: of thirty two. I say the exact same thing about

634
00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 1: being an NFL broadcaster. Trust me, just in your college

635
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,440
Speaker 1: playing career, it's really unusual. You are a highly successful

636
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: high school running back in the Dallas area. You went

637
00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 1: to Rice, you led the team in rushing as a freshman,

638
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:43,839
Speaker 1: and then as a sophomore, you moved to linebacker out

639
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,360
Speaker 1: of necessity, I sue, Yeah, we had some injuries. I

640
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,800
Speaker 1: think both star linebackers had a knee injuries in the

641
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: same game. So that propped me over to the other

642
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:55,279
Speaker 1: side of the ball. I had experienced. I played a

643
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: little bit of defense in high school, and I was

644
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:02,200
Speaker 1: recruited to play linebacker at some other places, but that's

645
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: just how things worked out. And I bounced back and

646
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,719
Speaker 1: forth a little bit my sophomore year, and then by

647
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:09,759
Speaker 1: my junior year, I was for a time linebacker, but

648
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: my heart's always been on offensive side of the ball.

649
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:16,839
Speaker 1: Did playing linebacker at the college level give you an

650
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 1: understanding of defense that helps you as a running backs coach? Yeah, yeah,

651
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,879
Speaker 1: I think it did. If I knew what I know now,

652
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: I think obviously I would have been a whole lot

653
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,239
Speaker 1: more successful. But yeah, I think it. I think it

654
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,880
Speaker 1: helped me understand the game a little bit more. Obviously

655
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,720
Speaker 1: not as much as it has the past six years

656
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 1: working at University of Tulsa, but but yeah, I think

657
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:45,479
Speaker 1: I think it. Things obviously moved moved fast. I think

658
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:47,959
Speaker 1: having a little bit of awareness of what's going on

659
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball, you know, kind of

660
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:51,920
Speaker 1: slow things down for me, helped to transition a little bit.

661
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 1: But I think it was. It was definitely a learning experience.

662
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,879
Speaker 1: I say that you earned your undergraduate degree at Rice

663
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 1: and earned the masters at Iowa State. Did you always

664
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: put as much emphasis on academics as you did on football. Yeah,

665
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,040
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it wasn't so much of me.

666
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 1: I think I was just kind of driven that way

667
00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:16,040
Speaker 1: by my parents. My mom, you know, was big on education.

668
00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,280
Speaker 1: So when we were looking at what college to attend,

669
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,520
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing she wanted me to do

670
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,640
Speaker 1: is just make sure I got a good degree, and

671
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 1: that was the most important thing I Obviously I went

672
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:31,200
Speaker 1: into two coaching and came to GA at Iowah State,

673
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 1: and you know, obviously being a part of a college

674
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:39,000
Speaker 1: athletic program was party to number one. And then obviously

675
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 1: finishing up my master's agreed that was a big part

676
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: of that too. So um, you know, I think they

677
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: just kind of go hand in hand together. Bengals have

678
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 1: one of the NFL's top running backs in Joe Mixon.

679
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 1: When you were at Tulsa and he was playing about

680
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 1: two hours away at Oklahoma, did you see a lot

681
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,000
Speaker 1: of Joe Mixon coverage and begin to form an impression

682
00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 1: about his game? I think, Uh, I mean, I think

683
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,000
Speaker 1: you're gonna watch two clips of him play, or you know,

684
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: watching the entire game to know that the guys he's special.

685
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,879
Speaker 1: He's playing at a completely different level than everybody else

686
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 1: that's on the field. Um. So yeah, obviously you know

687
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:16,080
Speaker 1: him being two hours away in normal or I don't

688
00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,120
Speaker 1: half whatever it was. Obviously knew exactly who it was.

689
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:21,239
Speaker 1: I knew a lot of battle, knew that he was

690
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 1: extremely talented. Um, And obviously I'm extremely excited to be

691
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:28,360
Speaker 1: able to work with him. You'll be working with a

692
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: great veteran as well in Giovanni Bernard. How do you

693
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,800
Speaker 1: approach coaching a guy that's only a few years younger

694
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 1: than you are. Yeah, yeah, I mean Geo, I think

695
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: is I'm really excited about working with him as well

696
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 1: in the entire room. Um, but I think you know,

697
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:47,399
Speaker 1: when I talked to all those guys, when I reached

698
00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,560
Speaker 1: out to all of them once, I once I except

699
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 1: with the job. The first thing I wanted them to

700
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,120
Speaker 1: know is just I'm gonna do everything I can to

701
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,840
Speaker 1: help you get better. You know. Um, I'm gonna do

702
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,399
Speaker 1: everything I can. Obviously I don't know all the ends

703
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,560
Speaker 1: and ounce right now, the offense, and that's part of

704
00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,279
Speaker 1: this transition, but I'm learning it. I'm gonna learn it,

705
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,360
Speaker 1: you know, front and back, and I'm gonna do everything

706
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,799
Speaker 1: I can in my power to help those guys get better,

707
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: and I think, at the end of the day, that's

708
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: what I'm here to do. You played running back, you're

709
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,279
Speaker 1: coaching running backs. Who are some of your all time

710
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:23,919
Speaker 1: favorite running backs. It's a long list. There's a long list.

711
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 1: I'll start right now with. You know, obviously the guys

712
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 1: that I coached the past six years at Tulsa. They

713
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,920
Speaker 1: had a great group every single year, but also just

714
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,000
Speaker 1: some hot character guys that I enjoyed coming to work

715
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,800
Speaker 1: with every single day. As far as the NFL grades,

716
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,279
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, I'm not gonna see it and

717
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:47,920
Speaker 1: say specifically which ones, but you know, just you say

718
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:50,719
Speaker 1: favorite NFL running backs, a favorite running backs in general,

719
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,360
Speaker 1: I'm just lean on. I'm biased the guys that I

720
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:55,040
Speaker 1: got to coach the past six years. Those guys are

721
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 1: special to me obviously on the field, but off the

722
00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:58,640
Speaker 1: field as well because that great men. It could be

723
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,839
Speaker 1: great fathers one thing. And uh and then, like I said,

724
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,400
Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to working with this group of

725
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: guys that we got here in Cincinnati. We're talking to

726
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,880
Speaker 1: Bengals running backs coach Justin Hill. The draft is a

727
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:13,400
Speaker 1: couple of months away. The Bengals typically have their position

728
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,800
Speaker 1: coaches help look at the college prospects. Is that something

729
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 1: that you look forward to doing? Yeah? Yeah, I you know,

730
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:24,480
Speaker 1: it's been interested in this past week or two being

731
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 1: in the office evaluating the college guys right now. And

732
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 1: a lot of them aren't familiar with because I watched

733
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:36,120
Speaker 1: them offensively as we prepare for our opponents defensively. Um,

734
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,399
Speaker 1: and so a lot of the guys aren't familiar with

735
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,359
Speaker 1: and some of them not and so UM, it's it's

736
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,560
Speaker 1: been pretty pretty interesting, you know, carrying over a lot

737
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:50,920
Speaker 1: of the evaluation that we did recruiting, you know, uh,

738
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,120
Speaker 1: and then obviously having the scouts. I mean as a

739
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,080
Speaker 1: college coach, I mean you all, you're the scouting and

740
00:41:57,160 --> 00:42:00,120
Speaker 1: you're you're evaluating. You're finding out everything you can and

741
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:03,719
Speaker 1: from the high school coach to parents and and every

742
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,080
Speaker 1: every other person that comes to contact with the guy's life.

743
00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:10,359
Speaker 1: Obviously being in the NFL, now that process is keep

744
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: started by the scounsel do a great job. So uh,

745
00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 1: it's been it's been pretty interesting to just you know,

746
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 1: click on a guy and find out a ton of information,

747
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,919
Speaker 1: you know, with the with the snap of the finger. Um.

748
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,719
Speaker 1: But I'm excited about and I think there's gonna be

749
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:26,719
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some grown pains with that as well.

750
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,120
Speaker 1: You know, there's something I was talking is asking about

751
00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:30,960
Speaker 1: this week. You know, I can, I can point out

752
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:32,560
Speaker 1: a running back that I liked, But does that make

753
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,080
Speaker 1: him a first round draft pick? Does that make him

754
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,680
Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer? Is he gonna be? Um? You know? Uh?

755
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:40,879
Speaker 1: Is he gonna be a Hall of Famer one day?

756
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 1: I don't know what that looks like, Yett for say, obviously,

757
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:45,960
Speaker 1: I think everybody can can recognize talent, but how does

758
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,440
Speaker 1: that translate into the NFL? That's going to be part

759
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 1: of this learning process. Will you miss recruiting or are

760
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 1: you happy that's no longer part of the job description? Recruiting?

761
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:01,160
Speaker 1: Is it is what you're making? You know, I think

762
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:05,280
Speaker 1: there was you know, the toughest part about recruiting, honestly,

763
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,080
Speaker 1: it's just being away from my wife and my daughter.

764
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 1: But the rest of it. I mean, like I said,

765
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: this past week, I've been in the office. I've been

766
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:16,759
Speaker 1: evaluating film, just like I was and when I was

767
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,080
Speaker 1: working at Tulsa. You know, obviously being on the road

768
00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:23,160
Speaker 1: gets long, but at the same time, you get out

769
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,560
Speaker 1: on the road and you form great relationships with college coaches.

770
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:30,120
Speaker 1: I mean, that's how me and James stayed in contact. Obviously,

771
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:32,560
Speaker 1: we played each other when he was a coach, against

772
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: each other when he was at Houston, but we also

773
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:36,840
Speaker 1: met up on the road. We had a lot of

774
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,640
Speaker 1: the same recruiting areas, so a lot of that networking

775
00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:42,880
Speaker 1: with other coaches and then continuing to build relationships with

776
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:46,680
Speaker 1: high school coaches and I former high school coaches. You

777
00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 1: know that part of it. Yeah, I'll miss that for sure.

778
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:51,879
Speaker 1: One final question for the Bengals new running backs coach

779
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:55,200
Speaker 1: Justin Hill. In your final year this past season at Tulsa,

780
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,440
Speaker 1: you had a great team. You made it to the

781
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:01,239
Speaker 1: American Athletic Conference Championship Game and eighty in Cincinnati at

782
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,120
Speaker 1: Nepperd Stadium, losing to the Bearcats on a field goal

783
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,160
Speaker 1: at the gun by Cole Smith. What's it been like

784
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,600
Speaker 1: to compete against Luke Fickle as he's built up the

785
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:14,440
Speaker 1: University of Cincinnati into a obviously an outstanding team in

786
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:17,040
Speaker 1: that league. Yeah, I mean, Coach Figer and those guys

787
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:21,360
Speaker 1: do a great job all three phases. Obviously, you know

788
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:27,000
Speaker 1: they've got extremely talented players offensively, their defense, Um give

789
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:29,680
Speaker 1: you fish just because of how you have unique they've been.

790
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 1: But and then a special teams as well. I was

791
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,000
Speaker 1: involved to kickoff return in the past couple of years,

792
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:40,560
Speaker 1: and so I think obviously their physical their discipline, um,

793
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 1: and and honestly, it's it's been fun to watch, you know,

794
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:48,800
Speaker 1: I say fun, but you know, we played Cincinnati in

795
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, and then watching them transform to what they've

796
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: been in the past couple of years. Uh, and then

797
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,600
Speaker 1: watching you obviously we cheered for each other when they

798
00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,600
Speaker 1: get to play a Power five school in the New

799
00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 1: Year's again, that's a big deal for everybody in the conference.

800
00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:05,440
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean it's it's been Obviously, their program

801
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 1: is at a different place than when it was when

802
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:10,440
Speaker 1: we first got to Tulsa, and I think that's that's

803
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,560
Speaker 1: a big credit to him and everybody he's got in

804
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:16,560
Speaker 1: on this staff. And then also the type of gas

805
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:19,920
Speaker 1: that they've been able to recruit. They extremely talented everywhere

806
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: on the field. I mean they've got the lineman, they've

807
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:24,439
Speaker 1: got running bas. I feel like they got running bas

808
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 1: every single year. And then obviously the quarterbacks a special

809
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,160
Speaker 1: players as well. So, Uh, it's been it's been fun.

810
00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:32,279
Speaker 1: To watch him play and then obviously not a no

811
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:34,839
Speaker 1: against them and having a coach against them, that part

812
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,239
Speaker 1: hadn't been the best, but it's really encouraging to see

813
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,600
Speaker 1: and I think obviously the programs going in a great direction.

814
00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,120
Speaker 1: I'm sure the last few weeks have been a whirlwind

815
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:47,480
Speaker 1: for you. I really appreciate you carving out some time

816
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:51,400
Speaker 1: for us today. Welcome to Cincinnati, and congratulations on this opportunity.

817
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:55,480
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, I appreciate it. Excited thanks to A. J.

818
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:57,880
Speaker 1: Shulte and Justin Hill. And that's going to do it

819
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:00,520
Speaker 1: for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, as brought

820
00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:04,400
Speaker 1: to you by Bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game. If

821
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:06,680
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if you

822
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 1: have a minute, give it a rating or share a

823
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:13,040
Speaker 1: comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm

824
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 1: Dan Horde, and thank you for listening to The Bengals

825
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast.