Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading the Bengals Booth
Speaker 2: Podcast BA Believe.
Speaker 3: It or not.
Speaker 2: Addition, as I talked to two Bengals rookies about a
Speaker 2: hard to believe coincidence. First round draft pick Miles Murphy
Speaker 2: and second round selection Dj Turner were childhood buddies and
Speaker 2: the Bengals didn't even know it before the draft. Plus,
Speaker 2: I'll check in with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham to
Speaker 2: discuss the latest off season developments one week before the
Speaker 2: Bengals mandatory three day mini camp, and I'll wrap things
Speaker 2: up by discussing the open right tackle position with one
Speaker 2: of the best right tackles in franchise history. The Bengals
Speaker 2: Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paycorps. More than
Speaker 2: twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorp to help them recruit, pay, engage,
Speaker 2: and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot com. Now
Speaker 2: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 2: edition of this podcast Liver write to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 2: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 2: the greatest thing since the Joe Burrow Foundation. The Bengals
Speaker 2: quarterback is one of several players on the team who
Speaker 2: is using his platform to help others. The primary focus
Speaker 2: of Joe's foundation is to help families battling hunger and
Speaker 2: children dealing with mental health issues, and this week Joe
Speaker 2: held a golf tournament that raised nearly one million dollars.
Speaker 2: The slogan of the Borough Foundation is simple, Everyone has
Speaker 2: a responsibility to do good, which is not to be
Speaker 2: confused with the Derek Zoolander Center for children who can't
Speaker 2: read good and want to learn to do other stuff
Speaker 2: good too. Hopefully you get the movie reference. In any case,
Speaker 2: Thank you to Joe Burrow, Sam Hubbard, DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd,
Speaker 2: Ted Karris, Joe Mixon, T Higgins, Jamar Chase cal Adamitas,
Speaker 2: and many others for all they are doing to the
Speaker 2: less fortunate. Now let's get to this week's guests. As
Speaker 2: you know, before the draft, the Bengals do exhaustive research
Speaker 2: about every player they might consider picking. The scouts and
Speaker 2: coaches talked to anybody and everybody to try to learn
Speaker 2: as much as they possibly can about each prospect. That
Speaker 2: was obviously the case with their first two picks this year.
Speaker 2: Defensive end Miles Murphy and cornerback DJ Turner, And yet
Speaker 2: there was something very interesting about that duo that the
Speaker 2: Bengals didn't learn until after they were drafted. Murphy and
Speaker 2: Turner have known each other since they were little kids.
Speaker 2: The three of us discussed that wild coincidence this week.
Speaker 2: If I understand the story correctly, Miles, your mom met
Speaker 2: DJ's dad when they were in kindergarten. Is that correct, Miles,
Speaker 2: I'll let you go first.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, all Mama has told me was they have
Speaker 4: known each other since it's kindergarten, first grade, grew up
Speaker 4: in the same neighborhood, been playing together since they were kids,
Speaker 4: been together since they were growing up, all through their
Speaker 4: lives and you know, really once he started having kids, me, DJ,
Speaker 4: my brother and whatnot, we just were just together the
Speaker 4: whole time. And then probably I guess they are you
Speaker 4: guys living with Yeah, Swanne, we live in Marietta, so
Speaker 4: that's like I live on the west coast of Atlanta.
Speaker 4: They're on the east coast of Atlanta. So they kept
Speaker 4: in touch, and you know, we were talking for once
Speaker 4: in a while. He went to Michigan, I went to Clemson,
Speaker 4: and I guess really just turned.
Speaker 2: Out, said DJ, what did you hear about Miles family
Speaker 2: when you were growing up?
Speaker 1: Not the same exact thing.
Speaker 5: Kindergarten, first grade, grew up with each other, Yeah, I
Speaker 5: mean basically yeah, and then we just was family friends.
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, that's been he.
Speaker 5: Said, everything real, Yeah, just uh, they grew up with
Speaker 5: each other and stuff like that, stayed in contact, they
Speaker 5: was real good friends. And yeah, it just so happened
Speaker 5: that we both got drafted the same team.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's insane, the first round pick and
Speaker 2: the second round pick of the same NFL team. I mean,
Speaker 2: the odds of this as childhood acquaintances are astronomical. Were
Speaker 2: you just wold when that's the way it played out? DJ?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean for sure, But like I wasn't too
Speaker 5: surprised because I mean, like when the draft was going on,
Speaker 5: clause like, I mean, they take a corner and d N.
Speaker 5: That's not really kind of crazy, you know, that's kind
Speaker 5: of a combo you tape.
Speaker 1: So I mean.
Speaker 5: It was it's crazy that it happened, and all the
Speaker 5: people and stuff, but the positionwise you look at it, like,
Speaker 5: I mean, corner and d N, you know, you go together.
Speaker 2: So Myles, did you follow him all over the years.
Speaker 4: I did, yeah, follow him of through our Michigan but uh, like, well, really,
Speaker 4: like you said, just draft night, I was, I guess
Speaker 4: the Thursday got drafted to Cincinnati, celebrating all of that.
Speaker 4: Then Friday, Friday night, I was just chilling in the
Speaker 4: basement watching the draft, man, I was. I was on
Speaker 4: my phone and all all I hear upstairs is my
Speaker 4: mom screamed and she started running.
Speaker 1: And I look on the TV screen. I'm like, why
Speaker 1: she's screaming? And then I see DJ's highlights. I'm like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: I understand why she's screaming now.
Speaker 4: So I go upstairs and she's on the phone trying
Speaker 4: to call his dad, trying to call his mom. I'm like,
Speaker 4: they're probably celebrated. They're not going to answer the phone
Speaker 4: right now. Just you know, let him celebrate for a second.
Speaker 4: But you know, it was cool though. It was for
Speaker 4: sure cool.
Speaker 1: My mom actually answered, yeah, she is. Yeah.
Speaker 5: My mom answered like yeah, because because I was like,
Speaker 5: who are you on the phone with right now?
Speaker 1: She was like I was like, oh, okay, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: it makes.
Speaker 2: Sense, So have your well your dad, DJ and Miles.
Speaker 2: Mom had a lot of contacts since you two guys
Speaker 2: were taken uh.
Speaker 5: A little bit, yeah, I mean yeah, for sure. I
Speaker 5: mean they always stay in contact, even when it just
Speaker 5: will happened. And they both came the same weekend, and
Speaker 5: so like when they came, they moved helped me move
Speaker 5: me in, and then it was helping him move in
Speaker 5: and all that kind of stuff. And they was here,
Speaker 5: so they saw each other up here and since ninety.
Speaker 2: So so this pictures made the rounds. If you two
Speaker 2: guys as kids, I don't know if you were eight
Speaker 2: or ten or how old you were, but you're at
Speaker 2: a you're the childhood birthday party together, which is just crazy.
Speaker 1: It was I don't know what it was.
Speaker 2: I don't know how old I was.
Speaker 1: I have no idea.
Speaker 2: But some of these agents had the picture with whose agent?
Speaker 1: Uh nah nah, my my dad, we had the picture.
Speaker 5: But then my agent had the picture too, and so
Speaker 5: he sent it to somebody in the Bengals and then
Speaker 5: asked when it just took off?
Speaker 1: But like obviously, I mean we had the pictures forever.
Speaker 2: You know, are you amazed that the Bengals had no idea?
Speaker 2: I mean, they do all this research about you.
Speaker 5: Guys, surprising I was surprised that they had no idea,
Speaker 5: like none. I was surprised because the way they be researching,
Speaker 5: I thought there were no something, But no, they had
Speaker 5: no idea.
Speaker 1: So oh, okay, is.
Speaker 2: There a bond between you two guys from you know,
Speaker 2: getting to know each other at least somewhat as kids.
Speaker 4: About to say, like especially now, it's just been like
Speaker 4: a just funny moment honestly, and we'll joke about it
Speaker 4: all the time, but you know, really just building that
Speaker 4: chemistry on the field, off the field, and then the
Speaker 4: biggest thing for really for both of us learning that playbook,
Speaker 4: trying to get that done right now.
Speaker 1: So no, for sure.
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys both had highly decorated college careers.
Speaker 2: How closely did you track each other's progress?
Speaker 1: I mean big all the time.
Speaker 5: I mean, like I said, I was looking at going
Speaker 5: to Clemson too, So I mean I definitely was watching it.
Speaker 5: And there's a whole bunch of Georgia people from Clemson,
Speaker 5: Like I know so many people on Clemson. So obviously
Speaker 5: I'm turning the game on all the time to turn
Speaker 5: whenever I could to watch Clemson. So yeah, I definitely
Speaker 5: kept up a lot of well cle his career.
Speaker 2: So, Miles, since you were taken before DJ, were you
Speaker 2: thinking going into the second round? Hey, DJ, Turner is
Speaker 2: still there, but that would be awesome.
Speaker 4: I literally what I was saying was the front office
Speaker 4: notes who they want, so they're gonna take soe. I know,
Speaker 4: I have no say, but you know, it'd be nice
Speaker 4: to have them, but they gonna take who they want.
Speaker 2: So that's little what I was saying.
Speaker 1: They go on.
Speaker 5: You know, you have no Yeah, you have no saying
Speaker 5: what's going on?
Speaker 1: You just waiting for that call. That's all you care about.
Speaker 2: So now that it's happened and your teammates hopefully for
Speaker 2: many many years to come, how cool is this? DJ?
Speaker 5: I mean great plans to do big things here and
Speaker 5: so you know definitely both us playing in and locked
Speaker 5: in trying to learn to play a book and you know,
Speaker 5: ready to go.
Speaker 2: Do you find it pretty quol as well? Miles?
Speaker 3: I do?
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, just uh it's good to know like that,
Speaker 4: I'm familiar, already familiar with someone. And then our families
Speaker 4: are familiar with another person's family, so they're for sure
Speaker 4: gonna I guess once they're trying to figure out the
Speaker 4: parents section, they're going to be trying to coordinate how
Speaker 4: that is?
Speaker 2: So I saw a quote where Miles mom called your
Speaker 2: dad Drago, which I know a lot of your friends do.
Speaker 2: Are you going to call him Drago or do you already?
Speaker 4: I just say DJ because I say DJ or mister Drago,
Speaker 4: Like that's that is what I say.
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I like, how DJ is my name? That's
Speaker 5: that's how as that's my dad name.
Speaker 2: So like that's why you're DJ because people call your Drego.
Speaker 1: Right right, So he's literally Dreco.
Speaker 5: So but then there's like three d days on the team,
Speaker 5: and then from from high school and stuff, you know,
Speaker 5: people in college and all that, people call me one
Speaker 5: Jargo Drego one. You know, once people find out my
Speaker 5: real name and not take off. But you know, yeah,
Speaker 5: I'll go on all of them.
Speaker 2: From childhood buddies or at least acquaintances to NFL teammates,
Speaker 2: Miles Murphy, DJ Turner, it's really cool. Great to have
Speaker 2: you both on the team.
Speaker 1: Sounds good. Desert.
Speaker 2: By the way, if you haven't seen the picture that
Speaker 2: I mentioned in that conversation, just do a search for
Speaker 2: Miles Murphy DJ Turner childhood photo. It's the first image
Speaker 2: that will pop up. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought
Speaker 2: to you by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of
Speaker 2: the Bengals. With more than one hundred and twenty care
Speaker 2: facilities and fifteen hundred care providers, Kettering Health is committed
Speaker 2: to guiding you to your best health. Visit ketteringhealth dot
Speaker 2: org to learn more, and by Bengals Picks and Ultimate.
Speaker 2: They're free to play with tickets and sign merchandise up
Speaker 2: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. The Bengals
Speaker 2: off season program ends next week with a three day
Speaker 2: mandatory mini camp. After that, the players are off for
Speaker 2: more than a month before training camp gets underway in
Speaker 2: late July. For a look at how things stand right now,
Speaker 2: I caught up with a broadcast partner, Dave Lapham. Let's
Speaker 2: talk about the approach that Zach Taylor is taking this offseason.
Speaker 2: A lot has been made to the fact that the
Speaker 2: Bengals are not holding the maximum number of practices. They're
Speaker 2: probably holding less physical practices than any other team in
Speaker 2: the NFL. What do you make of it?
Speaker 6: I think that the players feel like Zach's taking care
Speaker 6: of them, so they're going to take care of him.
Speaker 6: I think that you know, they're putting forth maximum effort
Speaker 6: at every single practice. I think they feel like they
Speaker 6: have a coach that gets it and they're going to
Speaker 6: do everything they possibly can to have success for that
Speaker 6: football coach. And you know, it's interesting to me because
Speaker 6: I look at some of it and so many guys
Speaker 6: have chips on their shoulders. You know, there are guys
Speaker 6: that want new contracts, so they're gonna give ultimate maximum
Speaker 6: effort and performance. I think Jamar Chase has a little
Speaker 6: bit of a mentality like, man, I missed those games
Speaker 6: last year due to injury. You know, I'm gonna come
Speaker 6: back and have a monster year this year, feeling like
Speaker 6: a little bit of regret that he wasn't there, you know,
Speaker 6: down the stretch, not due to anything other than injury
Speaker 6: obviously that you can't control. But for guys have different
Speaker 6: reasons to go out there and just put forth tremendous
Speaker 6: effort and set themselves up for the best possible season
Speaker 6: they can have. So I think it's shown itself on
Speaker 6: the football field.
Speaker 2: So when they started oh and two last year, a
Speaker 2: lot of people were like they didn't hit enough in
Speaker 2: training camp. Guys needed to play in the preseason more
Speaker 2: than they did well. They ended the season with a
Speaker 2: ten game winning streak until losing to Kansas City in
Speaker 2: the AFC Championship Game. Do you think that reinforced in
Speaker 2: Zach's mind that this is the right approach. We do
Speaker 2: need to start better than zero and two. But the
Speaker 2: bottom line is we finished the season relatively fresh, relatively healthy,
Speaker 2: and we're within two minutes of Whenning are going back
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And I think part of that own to start, and
Speaker 6: you know, the slow start in general, losing the first
Speaker 6: three division games and everything. You know, Joe Burrow is
Speaker 6: coming off with pendicitis and and now that's the straw
Speaker 6: that stirs the drink. And uh, you know, I really
Speaker 6: salute him for playing. You know, he was he was
Speaker 6: not the Joe Burrow that we're seeing, you know, at
Speaker 6: one hundred percent obviously, but he still performed at a
Speaker 6: very good level. But it wasn't it wasn't his best level.
Speaker 6: And once he rounded in the form off, they went so. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I mean, I don't I don't think you throw the
Speaker 6: baby out with the bathwater, you know, I think you
Speaker 6: I think you just still stay with what's your belief
Speaker 6: is the best way to approach it, because I tell
Speaker 6: you from experience, and it's even more so now. The
Speaker 6: same number of games, but you know, change the preseason
Speaker 6: games to the regular seas. It's a long season. It's
Speaker 6: just a grind, it really is. And I think this
Speaker 6: football team has positioned themselves exceptionally well from a roster standpoint.
Speaker 6: And you know, if you can you handle that variable
Speaker 6: that nobody can hit. You can't control the injury variable,
Speaker 6: you try as best you can to control it, and
Speaker 6: Zach fields this is the best way to do it.
Speaker 2: They've signed a ton of free agents over the last
Speaker 2: three or four years. Money is obviously the bottom line
Speaker 2: and free agency. But do you think this approach really
Speaker 2: taking care of the guys so to speak, pays off
Speaker 2: when he comes to free agency.
Speaker 6: Yeah, because there are no secrets in the league, you know.
Speaker 6: I mean, everybody has friends on every single team, and
Speaker 6: there's no doubt that I think. I think Zach Taylor
Speaker 6: is universally known around the National Football League as quote
Speaker 6: a player's coach. You know, a guy that is going
Speaker 6: to take care of the players, isn't going to, you know,
Speaker 6: burden them unnecessarily. Ego lists that it's all about the players.
Speaker 6: They're going to do everything they possibly can as a
Speaker 6: coaching staff to put the players in the best position
Speaker 6: they possibly can to perform at the highest level they
Speaker 6: possibly can and win as many games as they can.
Speaker 2: I know there have been discussions among the coaching staff
Speaker 2: about whether guys should play in the preseason this coming year,
Speaker 2: at least a few series in one of the games
Speaker 2: or something like that. But then we learned last week
Speaker 2: that they're going to have a joint practice with Green
Speaker 2: Bay before that preseason game, just one this time, not two,
Speaker 2: since we saw what happened in the second practice of
Speaker 2: the Rams last year. But when I saw that, I figured, well,
Speaker 2: there's probably where your starters are going to see your
Speaker 2: action or see their action. It's probably not going to
Speaker 2: be in the actual preseason games. Again, did you feel
Speaker 2: the same way I did?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 6: When I saw that they were coming in. Coach Lafleura
Speaker 6: and Zach obviously have a very keen understanding of each other,
Speaker 6: and they totally trust how each other are going to
Speaker 6: handle that joint practice and they'll get really good work
Speaker 6: in without going over the top as such as what
Speaker 6: happened in day two against the Rams. But yeah, when
Speaker 6: when I saw heard that they were going to have
Speaker 6: that joint practice, it came to the same conclusion you did. Said, Okay,
Speaker 6: preseason game number one against Green Bay, I know you're
Speaker 6: not going to see very many starters for sure, if
Speaker 6: any and everything's going to be taking place scripted, go
Speaker 6: after it, and I think both teams will practice at
Speaker 6: a very high level. Now they won't, they won't, you know,
Speaker 6: probably take people to the ground. There may there may
Speaker 6: be a period or two where it's full all out
Speaker 6: and some of those workouts that's been the case, take
Speaker 6: them to the ground. But I think I thought they
Speaker 6: got really good work against the Rams last year, other
Speaker 6: than obviously when it got out of control with guys
Speaker 6: taking helmets off each other's heads and squatting at them
Speaker 6: and all that kind of thing. Other than that we
Speaker 6: take that part of it away, you know, it was
Speaker 6: pretty good football. And I think that'll be the same
Speaker 6: against the Packers for sure.
Speaker 2: So this is still a voluntary phase. Most of the
Speaker 2: guys have been here at least for some of the
Speaker 2: time during these voluntary workouts. We've got mandatory workouts coming
Speaker 2: up next week. Do you think Jonah Williams will be
Speaker 2: here for the start of the mandatory period.
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 6: I think, uh. I think Jonah is uh, you know,
Speaker 6: he's coming. He's rehabbing, coming off that surgery. So even
Speaker 6: if he's here, I'm not sure how much he's going
Speaker 6: to be able to do anyway, but I think he
Speaker 6: will be here. You know, I'd really be surprised if
Speaker 6: he's not. Let me put it that way. Knowing him
Speaker 6: to the extent that I do, and I think that
Speaker 6: Frank Pollock and uh and Zach and probably everybody, uh,
Speaker 6: you know, Coach Callahan, everybody involved, you know, feel like
Speaker 6: there's a good chance that Jonah will be here for
Speaker 6: those uh those mandatory practices, and I would be very
Speaker 6: surprised if he. If he wasn't. Stranger things have happened,
Speaker 6: you know, but I think, if I'm not mistaken, I think, uh,
Speaker 6: he and his partner had a baby as well, so
Speaker 6: there's that newborn involved and rehabbing, so he's decided to
Speaker 6: spend time, you know, in that process taking care of
Speaker 6: him himself and his family instead of being here in
Speaker 6: the in the voluntary workouts.
Speaker 2: It is voluntary, so for anybody that gets on a
Speaker 2: guy thinking it's a sign of a bad, bad attitude
Speaker 2: or something like that. I think that's overblown. There's a
Speaker 2: reason there's voluntary periods and there are mandatory periods. And
Speaker 2: another thing to keep in mind when it comes to
Speaker 2: the voluntary periods, the guys on their second contract are
Speaker 2: highly incentivized to be there. They get big bonuses for
Speaker 2: showing up for the offseason workouts and so forth. So
Speaker 2: I'm not saying that those guys are not, you know,
Speaker 2: being great team players, but they are being compensated to
Speaker 2: be here.
Speaker 6: There's no doubt, you know, and you don't. You don't
Speaker 6: want to get nicked, you know, you don't. I think
Speaker 6: you can be maybe you can't be fine, but you're
Speaker 6: certainly not going to get the money that you could
Speaker 6: have you could have collected by by showing up. And
Speaker 6: I don't know Jonah. To me, he's I'm not saying
Speaker 6: he's a throwback from a mentality standpoint, but I think
Speaker 6: you know, obviously he had had an initial reaction and
Speaker 6: a disappointment and all that that you can understand. But
Speaker 6: I think when push comes to shove, Jonah Williams is
Speaker 6: a consummate team player, and you know, I mean, you
Speaker 6: go to the right tackle position and show that you
Speaker 6: can play it. He's still going to be making you know,
Speaker 6: a lots of money, double digit millions, you know, in
Speaker 6: that contract year. And you go out there and you
Speaker 6: show that you can play left tackle and you can
Speaker 6: also play right tackle in the National Football League, that's
Speaker 6: going to do nothing to take take away your value
Speaker 6: as a football player in the offensive line. It's going
Speaker 6: to enhance it.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the guy that took his spot at
Speaker 2: left tackle, Orlando Brown Junior. He's a proven player, four
Speaker 2: time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion, He's a gigantic man.
Speaker 2: I am amazed by the person. He is the most amiable, friendly,
Speaker 2: happy guy I think I've ever met. What a great
Speaker 2: addition to the locker room.
Speaker 6: He really is. I mean, he's always got a smile
Speaker 6: on his face. I mean he's positive in every every
Speaker 6: single way that you can be from football, not only football,
Speaker 6: but life in general, you know. I mean, he's he's
Speaker 6: just one of those guys. He's a he's gonna be
Speaker 6: a huge asset on the football field, in the locker room,
Speaker 6: in the community. He's they broke the mold and he's
Speaker 6: one of those guys that is a rare, rare human
Speaker 6: being and he gets it. He gets it on every
Speaker 6: single level. Uh and and he has the it factor,
Speaker 6: you know, And it's like when you have it, you
Speaker 6: might understand that you have it and you don't want
Speaker 6: to lose it. And people can't really define it, but
Speaker 6: they know that that guy has it. And I think
Speaker 6: he has that in factor, I really do.
Speaker 2: So the practices have been pretty vanilla so far. There
Speaker 2: hasn't been a lot of offense versus defense. There was
Speaker 2: some seven on seven stuff today. Has anybody caught your eye,
Speaker 2: any of the rookies, any of the free agents, made
Speaker 2: you stand up and say, Okay, this guy's showing me something.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I think the thing that has impressed me is that
Speaker 6: they've played at a high level of intensity. The tempo
Speaker 6: has been really good, and nobody has shown that they
Speaker 6: don't belong.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 6: It's like everybody there, there's there's nobody that's that's out
Speaker 6: of position, either from mental error or just getting beaten
Speaker 6: physically in some sort of a matchup. It's it's really
Speaker 6: been pretty good competition out there, and everything's as advertised,
Speaker 6: I think, which is what you're you're kind of looking for,
Speaker 6: you know, but seen it in the past, have seen it,
Speaker 6: you know, as a player. Guys sometimes you know, look
Speaker 6: like Tarzan and and some of these drills and then
Speaker 6: all of a sudden, oncome the pads and end up
Speaker 6: playing like Jane a little bit, you know. And as
Speaker 6: the old saying goes, so the true tesla when the
Speaker 6: rubber meets the road, is when the helmets and shoulder
Speaker 6: pads come on and they go to training camp and
Speaker 6: and then that's the final, the final step that you
Speaker 6: have to take. You know, a lot of times, oh
Speaker 6: he was in position to make that tackle, Well, all
Speaker 6: of a sudden they put on shoulder peasant helmet and
Speaker 6: they're not making the tackle. And they might have been
Speaker 6: in position, but they aren't finishing the thing. But everybody
Speaker 6: right now, when you're looking at it in shorts and
Speaker 6: T shirts, every single person out there, from top to bottom.
Speaker 6: And that's the one thing that has impressed me, I
Speaker 6: think the most so far in the OTAs is the
Speaker 6: depth of the roster. I mean, there's nobody that's like,
Speaker 6: what the hell is this guy doing here? Everybody belongs
Speaker 6: and I think everybody has something to contribute.
Speaker 2: So last year at this time, we were getting our
Speaker 2: first look at Hayden Hurst in a Bengals uniform, and
Speaker 2: I remember watching him thinking, all right, this guy is
Speaker 2: more fluid than C. J Uzama, similar size, similar speed,
Speaker 2: but just gets in and out of his brakes a
Speaker 2: little more fluidly. Now, IRV Smith Jr. Isn't quite as big,
Speaker 2: but it's another guy where I'm thinking he's a little
Speaker 2: smoother and a little more fluid even than hayden Hurst.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you know, you see him make plays where
Speaker 6: you know, if the balls behind him, that's a tough
Speaker 6: catch to make and to turn your body and be
Speaker 6: He shows flexibility, he shows strength, he shows athleticism. I
Speaker 6: think I think Joe Burrow is going to really really
Speaker 6: like having him as an option to throw to in
Speaker 6: that passing game with all the receivers that they've got
Speaker 6: that he can spread the field with and let earth
Speaker 6: Smith Junior work the middle of the football field. And
Speaker 6: we've seen, you know, like you said, C. J. Zama
Speaker 6: do it, hayden Hurst do it. There's no reason watching
Speaker 6: earth Smith, the athletic ability that he has and the
Speaker 6: football pedigree, the bloodlines and everything else he has, I
Speaker 6: expect him to have a pretty significant season. I think
Speaker 6: Joe Borrow is going to really like throwing the ball
Speaker 6: to earth Smith Jr.
Speaker 2: It's the first week of June. There's no Burrow extension yet.
Speaker 2: Is there any doubt in your mind that this will
Speaker 2: get done before the start of the season.
Speaker 6: There's not any doubt in my mind, But I guess
Speaker 6: would I'd be shocked if it doesn't.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 6: I guess nothing shocks me anymore, but i'd be I'd be,
Speaker 6: you know, surprised that you couldn't finalize because I think
Speaker 6: both sides are eager, you know, to get it done.
Speaker 6: But it's just a matter of closing the closing the
Speaker 6: final gap, you know, and and getting that thing done.
Speaker 6: Having negotiated contracts myself, it's the toughest, the toughest part
Speaker 6: of the contract is that final that final step to
Speaker 6: get to you know, you start to close the gap,
Speaker 6: close the gap, close the gap. There's a give and
Speaker 6: take and then then everybody starts, Okay, well that's it.
Speaker 6: I'm not I'm not budgeting anymore, and just that final
Speaker 6: gap to get it closed, whatever it is. You know,
Speaker 6: there's one bargaining point that one side is going to
Speaker 6: be you know, firm on and the opposite and on
Speaker 6: the other side, and it's just that one final thing
Speaker 6: to overcome whatever it may be and to get that
Speaker 6: contract consummated. So it's going to be interest. I'm interested
Speaker 6: to see who goes who falls first, Herbert or Burrow.
Speaker 6: But in my estimation, even if Borrow signs first, I
Speaker 6: don't think Herbert gets as much as Burrow. If Herbert
Speaker 6: signs first, I think Borrow gets more. If Borrow signs first,
Speaker 6: I think then the Borrow is set and then Herbert
Speaker 6: will fall in line. I just don't think it's gonna
Speaker 6: be one of those deals where all right, well one
Speaker 6: will sign, the other one will supersede. I don't necessarily
Speaker 6: think that would would be the case, but we'll see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you put it that way, then there's really
Speaker 2: no reason for a Herbert deal to hold up a
Speaker 2: Burrow deal. Yeah, and Burrow deserves more. His team has
Speaker 2: accomplished much more. Five playoff wins to none, a trip
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl to none. Herbert's got the better stats,
Speaker 2: at least in terms of you know, cumulative numbers, but
Speaker 2: Burrow has done more to this point to deserve the
Speaker 2: better deal.
Speaker 6: I agree, you know, and I think I think that
Speaker 6: is the pecking order. In my mind. The only quarterback
Speaker 6: that you know has had more success individually and team
Speaker 6: wise is Patrick Maholmes, you know, And I think I
Speaker 6: think Joe is Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. That's in
Speaker 6: my mind, that's that's the pecking order. And I'm not
Speaker 6: saying there are other great ones. I mean, Lawrence is great,
Speaker 6: Hurst is great, there's you know, Jackson's great. But I
Speaker 6: think I think Joe Burrow should should fall, you know,
Speaker 6: should be the guy right now until Mahomes goes to
Speaker 6: the bargaining table again, because right now I think he's
Speaker 6: seventh or something in terms of quarterback compensation. But he's
Speaker 6: already gone to the table and gotten money and he'll
Speaker 6: do it again. But I think Joe Burrow has earned
Speaker 6: that place in the ranking system. I really do.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 2: We were among the fortunate folks invited to play in
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow's golf tournament for the Joe Burrow Foundation and
Speaker 2: then attend the after party, which was spectacular, raising hundreds
Speaker 2: of thousands of dollars. It was remarkable. You know, Joe
Speaker 2: has this saying we all have a responsibility to do good.
Speaker 2: It's not just the saying for Joe Burrow. He lives it.
Speaker 2: And I mean you talk about a twenty six year
Speaker 2: old person that gets it, he is the epitome of that.
Speaker 6: He really is. I mean, you know, the thing, the
Speaker 6: thing about Joe that resonates with me is, you know,
Speaker 6: he does everything with class. You know, he does everything
Speaker 6: in a first class basis really, and it's just everything,
Speaker 6: everything that he associates himself with is gold. I mean,
Speaker 6: he is minus everything. He touches his gold. And you know,
Speaker 6: the fans just they just absolutely go crazy for an
Speaker 6: opportunity to do something, whatever it may be with Joe Burrow.
Speaker 6: I mean a day at training camp with Jimmy Burrow,
Speaker 6: Joe's dad goes for you know, forty forty five thousand dollars.
Speaker 6: I'm like, what the heck?
Speaker 3: This is great.
Speaker 6: But the thing that impressed me haven't been involved in
Speaker 6: a tournament for you know, a good quarter of a century.
Speaker 6: With the Down Centerm Association, there's a lot of work
Speaker 6: and you know, shout out to Karencottell, who does a
Speaker 6: tremendous job for the Down Syndrom Association. Joe's parents put
Speaker 6: in so much time and everybody else committee. Those things
Speaker 6: aren't easy to pull off, and I thought it went
Speaker 6: really well for the first time that they did it
Speaker 6: pretty flawless and it was everybody. Everybody really I think,
Speaker 6: enjoyed it. And it's going to be around for as
Speaker 6: long as they want it to be around, I think,
Speaker 6: and it's going to do a lot of good for
Speaker 6: a lot of people, as they say.
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber,
Speaker 2: future proof fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds
Speaker 2: designed to take your home, business, and community to a
Speaker 2: new level. Elevates your connection with Alta Fiber. Before we
Speaker 2: get to my final guest, here's a quick invitation to
Speaker 2: grab your yoga Matt and join who Day on Saturday,
Speaker 2: June seventeenth at nine am for Namas Day Yoga on
Speaker 2: the field at pay Course Stadium. Register now at Bengals
Speaker 2: dot com slash Yoga. It's presented by you by Cotex
Speaker 2: in partnership with Kroger and titled Babe Period Supply Bank.
Speaker 2: Joe Burrow hosted his fundraising golf tournament on Monday, and
Speaker 2: a former Bengal standout hosted his on Thursday. Former right
Speaker 2: tackle Joe Walter, who helped the Bengals get to Super
Speaker 2: Bowl twenty three. He's been the host of the Goodwill
Speaker 2: Celebrity golf outing for more than twenty years, helping to
Speaker 2: provide employment and training services for people with disabilities. I
Speaker 2: caught up with Joe before his event got underway. Joe,
Speaker 2: They're on a ton of question marks on the roster
Speaker 2: right now, but one of them is at your former position,
Speaker 2: right tackle. The odds on favorite is probably Jonah Williams,
Speaker 2: but he's played the left side in Cincinnati the last
Speaker 2: three years, hasn't played right tackle since his freshman year
Speaker 2: at Alabama. Do you look at this as a difficult
Speaker 2: move for him to go back from left to right.
Speaker 3: I, you know, not really. I think if he's really
Speaker 3: got his mindset right and he's worked at the offseason,
Speaker 3: I think he'll just really good at it. He's got
Speaker 3: that type of mentality. He's a smart guy. But you
Speaker 3: got to work at it right, and if he does that,
Speaker 3: I think it does nothing but help him in the future.
Speaker 2: Let's look at the pool of candidates for right tack.
Speaker 2: You've got Jonah, You've got l Collins, who played the
Speaker 2: first fifteen games last year, but then tores Ac, LMCL
Speaker 2: and PCL on Christmas Eve. You've got Jackson Carman, who
Speaker 2: hasn't had a great start to his first two NFL seasons.
Speaker 2: Then you've got Cody Ford kind of a similar situation,
Speaker 2: but he's been in the league longer. Do you feel
Speaker 2: good that out of that pool of candidates they're going
Speaker 2: to get good play from somebody at right tackle?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, competition breeds greatness, right, So you've got four good guys.
Speaker 3: I don't know about Collins with his health right it's
Speaker 3: going to be tougher for him to come back. But
Speaker 3: with the three other Ford, Jonah and just for Jackson Jackson,
Speaker 3: I think that'll be good competition and hopefully they get
Speaker 3: a lot of reps and the coaches can see what
Speaker 3: they've got. But if you want to play and make
Speaker 3: money in the future, you got to be good at
Speaker 3: right tackle.
Speaker 2: So last year they have the same five guys start
Speaker 2: the first fifteen games, and then in three straight weeks
Speaker 2: they lose starters leading up to the AFC Championship game. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: it's kind of a deja vu situation for you. He
Speaker 2: suffered an injury in the final game of the regular
Speaker 2: season in eighty eight before the Super Bowl. What did
Speaker 2: you think of how that impacted the Bengals as they
Speaker 2: tried to get back to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3: Oh, it impacts big time, right, you lose three guys.
Speaker 3: I keep telling everybody, Now, this team on paper looks awesome, right,
Speaker 3: but you got to stay healthy. And we weren't healthy
Speaker 3: towards the end of the year last year. Year before,
Speaker 3: we were healthy. So I think it's all about staying healthy.
Speaker 3: I think if the line can stay healthy another year
Speaker 3: playing together, now you're going to have that right tackle
Speaker 3: mix where he's not used to playing with the guard right.
Speaker 3: So they've got to learn that. But hopefully with a
Speaker 3: full training camp and guys out there practicing.
Speaker 1: It will be good.
Speaker 3: We'll be all right.
Speaker 2: Did you have a bit of a deja vu flashback
Speaker 2: last year when those got got hurt so late in
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 1: A little bit.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It was tough because I knew what they were
Speaker 3: going through, and I know what I go through even
Speaker 3: today just thinking about not being able to play in
Speaker 3: the big game and in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Or visiting with Joe Walter. What was your reaction when
Speaker 2: the Bengals signed the number one free agent offensive lineman
Speaker 2: available this year in Orlando Brown Junior.
Speaker 3: I was shocked because there was no word. Nobody even
Speaker 3: knew anything, and it just woke up one day and
Speaker 3: there he was, and I went, that was one of
Speaker 3: the largest pickups the Bengals have ever had. And you know,
Speaker 3: hopefully he can stay healthy. And I know he's really
Speaker 3: a smart guy and he's really into it and he
Speaker 3: wants to be great, which is he's got that desire.
Speaker 3: I think we're going to be good.
Speaker 2: After they signed him, Jonah demanded a trade. He's going
Speaker 2: into the final year of his contract. He's only played
Speaker 2: left tackle in the NFL so far. Did you understand it,
Speaker 2: did you identify with it? What was your reaction to
Speaker 2: Jonah's reaction.
Speaker 3: You know, my initial reaction was I get it. But
Speaker 3: the more I thought about it that same day, I thought,
Speaker 3: go play right tackleing make yourself even more valuable right
Speaker 3: because if you can play both sides and play both
Speaker 3: sides really well, that's going to do nothing but help
Speaker 3: you next year in free agency.
Speaker 2: How confident are you that the Bengals, who win a
Speaker 2: Super Bowl in the Joe Burrow era very confident.
Speaker 3: I think they've got all the tangibles they need. They've
Speaker 3: got folks on both sides of the ball that can play. Obviously,
Speaker 3: in football you need a little luck and you've got
Speaker 3: to stay healthy.
Speaker 2: We're here at the Goodwill Celebrity Golf outing. You've been
Speaker 2: involved with this for more than twenty years. How did
Speaker 2: you get involved and why have you stayed involved?
Speaker 3: Well, initially I started out, as you remember my Special
Speaker 3: Olympics golf outing, and heck that was twenty three years
Speaker 3: ago too, And so the folks at Goodwill were there
Speaker 3: and they came up and talked to me and asked
Speaker 3: me about it. And you know the reason I do
Speaker 3: it is because I did the Special Olympics, because you
Speaker 3: got folks with disabilities that are where than the athletics
Speaker 3: part of it, right, And then when Goodwill came along,
Speaker 3: these these folks put folks with disabilities to work, They
Speaker 3: train them and then find them jobs, right, So it
Speaker 3: worked hand in hand and it's been a great thing.
Speaker 3: I love giving all the clients hell and I treat
Speaker 3: them like anybody else. I don't baby them, and that's
Speaker 3: what's fun about it.
Speaker 2: Thanks for all you do. Thanks for the time today.
Speaker 2: Much appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Thanks for coming out, brother, appreciate you.
Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
Speaker 2: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Kettering Health, the
Speaker 2: official healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and
Speaker 2: Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play with tickets and side
Speaker 2: merchandise up for grabs by pay Core, the official HR
Speaker 2: software provider of the Bengals, and by Alta Fiber future
Speaker 2: Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. If
Speaker 2: you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast
Speaker 2: and if you have a minute, give it a rating
Speaker 2: or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hord, and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Speaker 2: Booth Podcast