Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'm getting closer to my
Speaker 1: home addition, as we take a final look at training
Speaker 1: camp before turning our attention next week to the home
Speaker 1: opener against the LA Chargers. Coming up, I'll talk to
Speaker 1: CBS Sports senior NFL writer Pete Prisco, who says the
Speaker 1: Bengals will win one or two Super Bowls in the
Speaker 1: next decade with Joe Burrow at quarterback. If you didn't
Speaker 1: already like Pete Prisco, you will after our conversation. Then
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham joins me for nearly forty minutes to wrap
Speaker 1: up training camp as we'll answer questions like who were
Speaker 1: the biggest stars, the biggest surprises, the biggest disappointment, and
Speaker 1: much more. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport,
Speaker 1: the official hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's
Speaker 1: a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition
Speaker 1: of this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or
Speaker 1: computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or
Speaker 1: pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since a handwritten note,
Speaker 1: the greatest sports broadcaster of all time, Vin Scully has
Speaker 1: decided to auction off his memorabilia to take care of
Speaker 1: his children and grandchildren, as well as contribute toward medical research.
Speaker 1: There are three hundred five items up forbid online, including
Speaker 1: a handwritten note that Peyton Manning sent to Scully on
Speaker 1: the occasion of Vin's retirement. It reads as follows, Dear
Speaker 1: mister Scully, I just wanted to congratulate you on your
Speaker 1: unbelievable broadcasting career. To perform at the highest level for
Speaker 1: as long as you have is truly incredible. I know
Speaker 1: that I speak from millions of sports fans when I
Speaker 1: say thank you for coming into our homes and calling
Speaker 1: so many memorable games. I wish you all the best
Speaker 1: in the post broadcasting chapter of your life. I hope
Speaker 1: our paths cross someday. Congratulations again, sincerely Peyton Manning. How
Speaker 1: great is that? I love Peyton Manning and Vin Scully.
Speaker 1: And by the way, the current bid for that handwritten note,
Speaker 1: at least as of this podcast, is a pretty reasonable
Speaker 1: one hundred forty nine bucks. If you would like to
Speaker 1: check it out, just google Vin Scully Hunt Hunt Auctions.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to football. One of My favorite NFL
Speaker 1: writers in broadcasters is Pete Prisco from CBS Sports, mostly
Speaker 1: because he offers smart opinions, but also because he doesn't
Speaker 1: fall for the usual lazy national narratives that are used
Speaker 1: to take shots at the Bengals. He's critic call of
Speaker 1: the team when warranted, but he'll also give the Bengals
Speaker 1: credit when credit is due, and he certainly did that
Speaker 1: when we spoke this week. Pete. Back at April, you
Speaker 1: tweeted the following, I love Joe Burrow's game. He will
Speaker 1: be a star. What do you love? Well, it starts
Speaker 1: with the attitude. And I'm a big believer and a
Speaker 1: guy having a swagger and he has it. And you know,
Speaker 1: just spending the previous amount of time I've been with him,
Speaker 1: I just love the way he handles himself. He's got
Speaker 1: a chip on his shoulder. I mean, he's the first
Speaker 1: guy to tell you, look I did I didn't come
Speaker 1: to conventional way, and I'm gonna play that way, you know,
Speaker 1: And I think that's the most important things. And having
Speaker 1: talked to guys and we had Zach Taylor on this week,
Speaker 1: and listen to how he handles the huddle. That tells
Speaker 1: you acts like a veteran, so I think he had
Speaker 1: it all together. You remind by the way, one more
Speaker 1: thing he reminds me of Tom Brady, the way you
Speaker 1: maneuvers a pocket, and that's a really good trait to
Speaker 1: have in the NFL. He's a little more athletic to
Speaker 1: tom Brady, but he can maneuver of that pocket make plays.
Speaker 1: I would think that's about the highest praise you could
Speaker 1: give to a rookie quarterback to mention him in the
Speaker 1: same sentence as Tom Brady. Yeah, it is. And I'm
Speaker 1: not comparing him to tom Brady. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: I remember watching him at LSU last year and I
Speaker 1: sent that tweet out and everybody got all over me. No,
Speaker 1: he's not tom Brady. He just reminds me of tom
Speaker 1: Brady the way he handles a pocket. He's much more
Speaker 1: athletic than tom Brady and doesn't have the arm that
Speaker 1: tom Brady has, but but he just reminds me of
Speaker 1: him in terms of getting away from pressure, stepping up,
Speaker 1: feeling it, feeling comfortable to pocket, and keeping his eyes
Speaker 1: down the field. And and that's a big thing for
Speaker 1: a young quarterback. We're chatting with Pete Prisco from CBS Sports.
Speaker 1: When other national reporters pushed the narrative that Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is going to try to pull an Eli Manning to
Speaker 1: avoid coming to Cincinnati, you push back and said that
Speaker 1: was dumb. What did you see that so many others didn't? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, what is he gonna do? Sit out a
Speaker 1: season and not play, you know? And it didn't make
Speaker 1: any sense. And I remember asking him about that at
Speaker 1: the comp. We were just having a conversation about it. It
Speaker 1: It wasn't for all the record or anything. He said,
Speaker 1: I don't know where that ever came from. I said,
Speaker 1: And I told him. I looked him in the eye.
Speaker 1: I said, you know, if i'm you, I say, I'm
Speaker 1: going in there and I'm going to change the culture.
Speaker 1: It's going to be entirely different when I leave. And
Speaker 1: he said, that's exactly how I feel. And so I
Speaker 1: don't know where that came from and why that even,
Speaker 1: you know, people ran with that. It made no sense
Speaker 1: to me. He had no other option but to play
Speaker 1: for the Bengals, and he's from up there. Why would
Speaker 1: he not want to play for the Bengals. Did it
Speaker 1: feel like clickbait to you? Oh? It was clickbait. It was,
Speaker 1: and you know when one does it, too does it?
Speaker 1: Four does it? Eight does it? And then it's sixteen
Speaker 1: and then it's a story and you know, you know
Speaker 1: how that goes. And guys ran with it, and guys
Speaker 1: in the national media ran with it. I don't understand
Speaker 1: why they did. He was always going to play there.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Pete Prisco. You can follow him on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Prisco CBS. What did you think of the
Speaker 1: Bengals off season in general? I don't get a good offseason.
Speaker 1: I mean, it hurts that Trey Waynes isn't there. You
Speaker 1: know that that's you know, one of the positions they
Speaker 1: wanted to upgrade, and that hurt. But I think getting
Speaker 1: Reader in the middle of that defense so will be
Speaker 1: or on that line, will be a big addition for him,
Speaker 1: you know, with Gino in that group. And I think
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbert might be one of the most underrated players
Speaker 1: in the league. I think the front is gonna be good.
Speaker 1: I worry about the young linebackers, but I like the
Speaker 1: guys they drafted. I think Logan Wilson is going to
Speaker 1: be a big time player. I think they drafted well
Speaker 1: at that position. They're going to be very young, as
Speaker 1: you know, you know, Pratt the only guy with experience there.
Speaker 1: And then I think, you know, you got a factor
Speaker 1: in a couple of other things. One you get aj Greenback,
Speaker 1: he's you know, and I still think he can play
Speaker 1: at a really high level. Two you get Jonah Williams,
Speaker 1: which is an extra first round pick. And so I
Speaker 1: think you add all that up, and I think they've
Speaker 1: had a very good offseason. What did you think of
Speaker 1: Jonah going into last year's draft? Really good player. He's
Speaker 1: going to be a solid left tackle for a long time.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know if he's ever going to
Speaker 1: be Anthony Munio is good, but I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: be a good, solid left tackle for a long time.
Speaker 1: And that, you know, that's solidifies two important positions because
Speaker 1: the center is a good player. You know, people don't
Speaker 1: realize how good he is where he's going in his career.
Speaker 1: So I think that was important to get that line
Speaker 1: back on track again. And I think Mixon is going
Speaker 1: to really be the guy who benefits from it in
Speaker 1: a big way. Well, let's talk about Joe Mixon. Pete
Speaker 1: analytics say you don't pay running backs the Bengals gave
Speaker 1: him forty eight mill for four years. Good move or
Speaker 1: bad move. I normally would say bad move, but he's
Speaker 1: only about twenty four years old, and I don't think
Speaker 1: that contracts that much out of whack. I think that
Speaker 1: contracts in line with what the value of the position is.
Speaker 1: So good move. And I think he only saw hints
Speaker 1: of what he's going to be last season in the
Speaker 1: second half. They had a hard time figuring out how
Speaker 1: to use them exact Keller even said that, And they
Speaker 1: figured it out in the second half of the season.
Speaker 1: And what he went for one one in three games,
Speaker 1: in three of the final four games. So I do
Speaker 1: think that in this case it's warranted and it's not
Speaker 1: a crazy contract. I think it's a fair contract for
Speaker 1: both sides. He every over one hundred yards a game
Speaker 1: over the last eight so you're right, they figured out
Speaker 1: what was working best with him and this line. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think that's only the scratch of the surface
Speaker 1: with him. I really believe he's got, you know, leading
Speaker 1: the league type potential in him, and I think what
Speaker 1: he does in terms of running the football will be
Speaker 1: enormous to help take the pressure off with Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: and let's face that their offense is loaded with playmakers,
Speaker 1: and aj Green comes back that kicks boy down to two,
Speaker 1: and then it keeps kicking other guys down. And I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, dates flashed at times. You know,
Speaker 1: if Roskin you saw Rows in Seattle in that big game,
Speaker 1: I think if he could say on the field, he's
Speaker 1: got ability. I like what they you have on offense.
Speaker 1: I like what they have in the front seven. I
Speaker 1: worry about the linebackers. Although I liked the players. I
Speaker 1: just think the youth might show up there. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think the secondary will be revitalized because I think
Speaker 1: Jackson's going to play better than he did what he's
Speaker 1: hurt last year. A few more questions for Pete Prisco
Speaker 1: from CBS. You mentioned the recent interview with Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1: Did anything really jump out from that conversation. Well, I
Speaker 1: played for a clip that I that I had of
Speaker 1: myself saying they were going to win one or two
Speaker 1: Super Bowls and then next to heat in the next decade,
Speaker 1: and he kind of said, well, let's slow down a
Speaker 1: little bit. But I appreciate you saying that. I really
Speaker 1: believe that I think they're building something there, and and
Speaker 1: it takes a big time quarterback to have sustainable success
Speaker 1: in the NFL. You have to have that guy, and
Speaker 1: they have that guy, at least in my mind. I
Speaker 1: think he's going to be a star player and he
Speaker 1: will cure your ills. If you have ills, the great
Speaker 1: quarterbacks cure him. If you don't have that guy, you're
Speaker 1: gonna get exposed. And I think he's gonna cure whatever
Speaker 1: ills they have in the long run. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that was interesting he said that. Then. I also
Speaker 1: liked what he said about him in the huddle. I
Speaker 1: mean that he never acted like a rookie, and I
Speaker 1: think that's big and important for a young quarterback. Do
Speaker 1: you think the Bengals get a bad rap for how
Speaker 1: they go about their business? Absolutely, I don't think there's
Speaker 1: any question about that, And there's been year is where
Speaker 1: the rap was deserved. But you know, the whole cheap
Speaker 1: and you know they don't do things the right way.
Speaker 1: They have a limited scouting department. I think I think that,
Speaker 1: you know, Tope has done a really good job and
Speaker 1: that Scott part probably way too underrated for what he's done.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I do think they get a bad rap.
Speaker 1: And remember back they used to be the Bungles and
Speaker 1: they used to get guys get in trouble and then
Speaker 1: you know, but that's not what they are anymore. And
Speaker 1: I think that culture has changed there and I think
Speaker 1: it's a good thing. And as they get better, that
Speaker 1: culture will continue to change. Pete assessed the AFC North
Speaker 1: going into twenty twenty. See that's the problem. I think
Speaker 1: the Bengals are gonna be that much better. That's a
Speaker 1: tough division. I think Pittsburgh getting Roethlisburger back makes them
Speaker 1: to me. I think they're gonna win a division. I
Speaker 1: think their defense is outstanding. Most people will pick Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I think they might have a little regression to the
Speaker 1: norm this year. I think it'll be Pittsburgh one, Baltimore two,
Speaker 1: Cleveland three, and Cincinnati four. But I wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 1: if Cincinnati somehow finished ahead of the of the Browns.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna get to six, seven, eight wins
Speaker 1: this year and then next year they're going to be
Speaker 1: a playoff team. Where are you on Baker Mayfield. I
Speaker 1: think last year is hard to grade him. I think
Speaker 1: it's one of those situations where he had a bad
Speaker 1: coach bad tackles. He ran for his life. He confidence
Speaker 1: Wayne when he took too many shots. I think he's
Speaker 1: got a chance to be a bounce back player. He's
Speaker 1: got a lot of weapons. They improved the tackle spots
Speaker 1: signing Conklin and drafted Wills. I think he'll be much better,
Speaker 1: He'll be more He'll be much more closer to what
Speaker 1: he was in the first year than what he was
Speaker 1: last year. I think have you been pleasantly surprised by
Speaker 1: how things have gone so far in NFL training camps
Speaker 1: considering the pandemic that we're all going through. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And you got to give a lot of credit to
Speaker 1: a the owners who spent a boatload of money to
Speaker 1: make those facilities you know, safe and you know maybe
Speaker 1: so the protocols were all in place, because that's not
Speaker 1: cheap to do with the plexi class and adding extra
Speaker 1: lockers and the whole deal. They spent a lot of
Speaker 1: money and they're not going to be making a lot
Speaker 1: of money, so that's that's udos to them, but also
Speaker 1: kudos to the players. I figured when this thing all
Speaker 1: started that player number seventy five on every roster would
Speaker 1: try and go out and show everybody he's in the NFL,
Speaker 1: even though he knows he's not going to make the team,
Speaker 1: and you know, go to the bars and go to
Speaker 1: the restaurants and have people buying him drinks and getting
Speaker 1: in the middle of parties and stuff, and then he
Speaker 1: bring it back to the facility. Well, that even hasn't happened.
Speaker 1: So yeah, kudos to the NFL owners, but also kudos
Speaker 1: to the NFL players. Did I see correctly that the
Speaker 1: Chiefs are your Super Bowl pick? They are, indeed, And
Speaker 1: you know, when you get all those starters back and
Speaker 1: you have the best player in the league and you
Speaker 1: have Patrick Mahomes throwing that football around, it's hard for
Speaker 1: me to pick against it. It's it's kind of been
Speaker 1: one of those things where I've you know, I used
Speaker 1: to pick the Patriots all the time. I picked the Taggers.
Speaker 1: I picked them again. I'm a big Rogers guy. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any you know, regress in his game,
Speaker 1: and so yeah, I'm picking the Chiefs again to win
Speaker 1: it all. But I also saw you say that if
Speaker 1: you are just doing a hey the odds are too
Speaker 1: good to pass up, bet you'd throw one down on
Speaker 1: the Bengals at the ridiculous odds. It's crazy twenty thousand
Speaker 1: and one, correct, Yeah, I mean if quarterback is as
Speaker 1: good as I think he's going to be in that
Speaker 1: front place like I think it can play, then you know,
Speaker 1: twenty thousand and one isn't crazy to take a shot. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I would take that. You can read Pete Prisco's articles
Speaker 1: and find his video content at CBS sports dot com.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have basically concluded training camp on Saturday. They
Speaker 1: have to cut the roster down to fifty three players
Speaker 1: and then next week it's all about getting ready for
Speaker 1: the season opener against the Chargers on the thirteenth. On Thursday,
Speaker 1: I got together with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham to
Speaker 1: take a comprehensive look back at training camp. Lap Training
Speaker 1: camp basically ends tonight with a mock game. They will
Speaker 1: be in game preparation mode next week to get ready
Speaker 1: for the Chargers. So this is the wrap up training
Speaker 1: Camp edition of the podcast. So we're going to go
Speaker 1: through a wide variety of categories. We will each give
Speaker 1: our picks in these categories, and we're to start with
Speaker 1: the offensive star of training camp. Who's your pick, Joe Burrow?
Speaker 1: I'm going to finally pick him for something because and
Speaker 1: it's I mean, his performance, his physical performance has been
Speaker 1: extraordinary at times, really really top shelf, and then he's
Speaker 1: had moments that aren't. And he'll be the first to
Speaker 1: tell you that it's you know, he's got to do better,
Speaker 1: it's got to be better than that. But it's it's
Speaker 1: never just him. It never is just one guy. You know,
Speaker 1: they've been drop some of things, but he's had some
Speaker 1: things that he needs to clean up and he knows that.
Speaker 1: But the thing that he has been consistent about every
Speaker 1: single minute of every single day is dedication, preparation, working
Speaker 1: to get better. Don't waste a moment, don't waste a second,
Speaker 1: don't waste a practice. And I asked him at one
Speaker 1: of the you know zoom conference calls about that, you
Speaker 1: know where does that? And he said hey. His answer
Speaker 1: was the best thing a training camp. In my mind,
Speaker 1: there are offensive and defense or the defensive coordinates out
Speaker 1: there every day trying to get better. There are defensive
Speaker 1: players out there every day trying to get better. I
Speaker 1: don't want to waste any time. I don't want to
Speaker 1: waste a day. I always have to try to get better.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking this guy gets it in such a high level.
Speaker 1: I mean, he really is a He reminds me I
Speaker 1: have the opportunity and the good fortune to meet Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning when he is an eighteen year old freshman at
Speaker 1: Tennessee and this eighteen year old kid had twenty two
Speaker 1: and twenty three year old red shirt seniors falling him
Speaker 1: around like puppy dogs. He was the king and they
Speaker 1: were the court. And that's what Joe Burrow is doing.
Speaker 1: Every single guy that you asked dan on the team,
Speaker 1: you know what about oh Man, he took over the handle.
Speaker 1: He's leaders. This is that every single player. So the
Speaker 1: tangibles you know, have been there, but the intangibles are
Speaker 1: ridiculously off the charts, ridiculously all right, since he's your
Speaker 1: offensive star of camp, I'll save him from a different category.
Speaker 1: It is thank Havans. I'm gonna choose Audent Tate in
Speaker 1: this category. I think Tyler Boyd probably caught the most
Speaker 1: passes from Joe Burrow during training camp, and I think
Speaker 1: Tate caught the biggest ones touchdown passes in the red zone.
Speaker 1: That fourth down play to end one scrimmage period one day,
Speaker 1: third down catches to extend drives. He's had a great
Speaker 1: camp and I think it underscores for me. Also the
Speaker 1: strides that he's taken since he got here. Four catches
Speaker 1: his rookie year, forty catches last year and he only
Speaker 1: started ten games. He averaged more than fourteen yards a
Speaker 1: catch last year. So he's not this yeah, he'll get
Speaker 1: you seven yards kind of guy that people think that
Speaker 1: he is. He is a legitimate weapon, and I honestly
Speaker 1: think that by the end of this year he will
Speaker 1: be third on the team and catches. I tend to
Speaker 1: agree with you, Dan, And the thing that summation from
Speaker 1: me about Auden Tate last year scrimmage, he was in
Speaker 1: every snap and they were load managing other people. This
Speaker 1: year scrimmage, he was one of the ones that was
Speaker 1: load manage. That's how far he's come. You know. His
Speaker 1: his placed on the totem pole. He's climbing it. Man,
Speaker 1: There's there's no doubt about it. And I give him
Speaker 1: a lot of credit because, um, last year. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying he was one trick pony, you know, but the
Speaker 1: contested catch thing is obviously off the charts. I mean,
Speaker 1: his his ability to catch the ball over his head
Speaker 1: to time it, the body control all that, all the
Speaker 1: you know, the vice hands, the long arms, everything. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a you know, huge catching radius guy.
Speaker 1: But in the offseason, in my mind, looks like you
Speaker 1: get a little faster, a little quicker. His body lean
Speaker 1: is better. He's getting in and out of cuts better.
Speaker 1: He's not telegraphing routes. You know, the big body guy
Speaker 1: tends to telegraph. I mean, tate age. These guys don't
Speaker 1: telegraph routes. They get up on the toes of the
Speaker 1: defensive back. And the dB has no audum taste. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you could you know, this is what his body's telling me.
Speaker 1: He's going to do this, And he was kind of upright,
Speaker 1: you know. Now he's running with a better lean and
Speaker 1: he's quickly. Definitely respect your choice. Audent Tatis had a
Speaker 1: hell of a camp. I should clarify when I said
Speaker 1: third in receptions. Joe Mixon might be ahead of him
Speaker 1: if they use him in the passing game the way
Speaker 1: I think they will, but third among the receivers and
Speaker 1: receptions after a healthy AJ Green, I'm knocking on something.
Speaker 1: And Tyler Boyd, all right, your defensive star of training camp,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna go with Sam Hubbard because when
Speaker 1: I watch Sam Hubbard, you know, you watch him in
Speaker 1: every every drill, one hundred thousand percent every time they
Speaker 1: run team. You know, he's hustling. And then in the scrimmage,
Speaker 1: who got the sacks? The critical play sacks? You know,
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard always gives you a consistent performance at a
Speaker 1: very very high level. His bar is high, and he
Speaker 1: always tries to, you know, at least reach that bar,
Speaker 1: if not go over it. And I do think that
Speaker 1: that his play does get contagious, not just amongst the
Speaker 1: defensive linement. I think it gets contagious, you know, up
Speaker 1: and down, you know, the line of scrimmage at all levels.
Speaker 1: So I just, you know, I guess I liked the
Speaker 1: guy so much, you know, and I like the way
Speaker 1: he plays. I really think that from a consistency performance,
Speaker 1: you know, he's just he's a grinder man, and he
Speaker 1: grinds at such a high level of energy. I really
Speaker 1: respect the guy. He would he reminds me of Edge
Speaker 1: Tim crum Right. Crum Rye was a pain in the
Speaker 1: butt to work against in training camp because he only
Speaker 1: had one speed. You know, coaches say this Drill's half speed.
Speaker 1: No such animal. Tim can be like that, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's he's got a lot of the Tim crumb
Speaker 1: right attributes. All positive. I'm not saying anything negative about it.
Speaker 1: It's all positive, for sure. On the edge a little bit.
Speaker 1: I could go with Geno Atkins in this category. He's
Speaker 1: had a very good camp. But I'll go with Will
Speaker 1: Jackson as my defensive star of training camp. Two reasons.
Speaker 1: He's healthy. You know, he had torn laborham and his
Speaker 1: shoulder last year, so he got that fixed. He's healthy.
Speaker 1: And secondly, my man wants to get paid. He's going
Speaker 1: to be a free agent at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: He sees his new teammate Trey Wayne's making fourteen million
Speaker 1: dollars a year. He knows that that's the kind of
Speaker 1: money that he can make if he has the kind
Speaker 1: of season he's capable of having like he did back
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. So Will Jackson's my guy in that category.
Speaker 1: There's my two names, Sam Hubbard and W. M. Jackson's
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard and William Jackson. Those are the two, all right.
Speaker 1: Your biggest offensive surprise of training camp, Kim Identagy. I
Speaker 1: like him. I'm not saying that he's going to be
Speaker 1: a starter this year, but you know, you know, we
Speaker 1: talked about it earlier. Six round pick. There's tremendous value there.
Speaker 1: That was a steal. They did a great job. And
Speaker 1: I know that they had him rated a lot higher,
Speaker 1: if not an early three, maybe even a late two.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were looking at him like that and
Speaker 1: you say, okay, well, how could he be that high?
Speaker 1: And he didn't get pick till the sixth They took linebackers,
Speaker 1: biggest need, third and fourth round, fifth round. I'm sure
Speaker 1: he was on the discussion with Notre Dame edge rusher
Speaker 1: who has turned out to be You got a Kim
Speaker 1: and Hakim and Hakim he can rush on the edge. Two.
Speaker 1: That's two good picks. Their fifth and sixth round picks
Speaker 1: are very good football players who make contributions this year.
Speaker 1: And Identagy is so fluid in his movement. He's got
Speaker 1: a great feat. It looks like he's got a tremendous
Speaker 1: mind too. I mean, he's got a good brain for
Speaker 1: the overall intelligence and a good brain for the game
Speaker 1: of football. I mean, I hope he develops quickly because
Speaker 1: I think he can help the football team he'd be
Speaker 1: my biggest surprise in watching him on a day to
Speaker 1: day basis. My biggest offensive surprise is Mike Thomas, partly
Speaker 1: because I had no expectations for him whatsoever. Ten catches
Speaker 1: and four seasons with the Rams. He did miss one
Speaker 1: of those years with an injury. But he's a good receiver. Now,
Speaker 1: if everybody's healthy, he's not going to get a lot
Speaker 1: of reps at receiver, but I do think he'll make
Speaker 1: the team. He's a proven special teams guy. And if
Speaker 1: you go back to his final year at Southern Miss,
Speaker 1: seventy one catches for thirteen hunt one yards in fourteen touchdowns.
Speaker 1: He just didn't get that many opportunities with the Rams.
Speaker 1: Mike Thomas, it's here, he's right there. He's right there.
Speaker 1: We're all to say, on the same wavelength, on the
Speaker 1: same brains wavelength. There. Yeah, I mean the kid has
Speaker 1: jackhammer feed Dan Man. I'm telling you he has got
Speaker 1: the quicks and he's he's gonna defensive tackle out of Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna make the football team defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: They got thin quickly tupa opted out glasgall failed as physical.
Speaker 1: Wren had the quad surgery, so you know they're looking
Speaker 1: for another guy. You know you have you have three
Speaker 1: and let's knock on wood, hopefully everybody comes out of
Speaker 1: training camp healthy. They can't afford to lose another defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: If they lose a defensive tackle, I mean the trio
Speaker 1: they have, you know, Geno Atkins, h Daniels and Reader.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's high cotton right there. But you
Speaker 1: need a fourth guy, and hopefully all those guys stay healthy.
Speaker 1: And I think Bledsoe he competes in there, he stays
Speaker 1: after it. You know, he's so steady, so consistent. That's
Speaker 1: what you know, all coaches want consistency. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that he has, you know, a big upside, a huge
Speaker 1: ladder that he can climb, but he gets to where
Speaker 1: he you know, he gets the most out of his ability.
Speaker 1: I think on an every practice basis, and I like that.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the team a
Speaker 1: defensive tackle. I may be showing some recency bias on
Speaker 1: my pick for the biggest defensive surprise of camp, but
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with cornerback Tony Brown, who had the
Speaker 1: great scrimmage that we broadcast on the radio. At Paul
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium, nearly had two interceptions in a span of
Speaker 1: about three or four plays. But I think he's been
Speaker 1: pretty solid during camp. We'll see if he makes it.
Speaker 1: But he's a guy that started in the past for
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers. He was a part of two
Speaker 1: national championship teams at Alabama ran track was a track
Speaker 1: All Americans. So he's got some speed again. A guy
Speaker 1: that I didn't really know much when the Bengals picked
Speaker 1: him up, and now I'm thinking that maybe Tony Brown
Speaker 1: has an opportunity to contribute. All Right, your biggest disappointment
Speaker 1: of training camp, boy, defensively, it would be Trey Wayne's,
Speaker 1: you know, not being able to participate. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you've got a guy that you've given fourteen million bucks
Speaker 1: a year, two forty two mills for three years and
Speaker 1: for him to not even be able to have any
Speaker 1: participation whatsoever, and you might be out for the year.
Speaker 1: If he comes back, it's going to be maybe for
Speaker 1: the very end of the season, and depending on where
Speaker 1: the team is. I mean, if they're making a playoff
Speaker 1: push and he can come back, fine, if they're not,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that that's that he's going to
Speaker 1: come back. I mean I think, I think defensively that
Speaker 1: would be my biggest disappointment, and offensively it would be
Speaker 1: a J. T. Higgins, John Ross not being able to
Speaker 1: take enough nastal with Joe Barrow, that's a big disappointment
Speaker 1: to me. You know, it's like you have a rookie
Speaker 1: quarterback that had no pre season games, no OTAs, you know,
Speaker 1: zoom conference meetings. That's been the biggest thing up until
Speaker 1: training camp starts, and then it's been sporadic at best,
Speaker 1: I mean limited if any reps. At no time have
Speaker 1: all three of them been in the huddle at the
Speaker 1: same time with Joe Burrow. To me, that's a big disappointment.
Speaker 1: And you know, injuries and other things have contributed mightily obviously,
Speaker 1: but it's still disappointing. Yeah, I'm there with you. Mine
Speaker 1: is aj. It's not his faults. Injuries happened, but I've
Speaker 1: reached the point now where I'm seriously wondering how much
Speaker 1: he's going to be able to play this year. And
Speaker 1: I didn't really feel that way in the off season.
Speaker 1: Maybe I should have. I mean, he missed six games
Speaker 1: with a hamstring tear from twenty sixteen seven games, big
Speaker 1: toe injury twenty eighteen. Every game last year torn tendons
Speaker 1: in his ankle, kind of like before Tyler Eifert was
Speaker 1: able to play all sixteen games last year. Where you're like,
Speaker 1: is it ever going to happen again in his early thirties. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean the foot all gods have decided to make
Speaker 1: Aj pay And like we know and three and twenty
Speaker 1: one in those twenty four games that he hasn't you know,
Speaker 1: hasn't been able to participate. He is such a big factor,
Speaker 1: such a big factor in the offense's success, and particularly
Speaker 1: the offense is success of a rookie quarterback. I mean
Speaker 1: if if if AJ Green is out there, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, the defense is going to tilt to him.
Speaker 1: So you have other things that you know you can
Speaker 1: do if Aj is not now they can get real creative,
Speaker 1: you know. And it's just the ripple effect is enormous
Speaker 1: on the other receivers, on the quarterback, on the running game,
Speaker 1: because they can't load the pot the box as readily.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's massive. So you know, AJ Green
Speaker 1: obviously is the kingpin. But love to see T Higgins
Speaker 1: and John I love to see all those guys out there,
Speaker 1: all hands on deck and totally healthy, with no fear
Speaker 1: of I'm going to tweak something, pull something, Should I should?
Speaker 1: I not go one hundred percent, just out there, just
Speaker 1: laying it all out there, laying it all on the line.
Speaker 1: I'd love to see that for you know, twelve fourteen,
Speaker 1: sixteen games. All right. The coach that caught your eye
Speaker 1: during training camp, Al Golden, because I think he's a
Speaker 1: hell of a coach. Al Golden turned Temple around. Al Golden,
Speaker 1: turned Miami around. Al Golden. This is a head coach.
Speaker 1: The guy knows how to coach football. He knows how
Speaker 1: to deal with people. Obviously, that would be you know,
Speaker 1: at the head coaching level and the college in college football, alumni, coaches, players, fans.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's ridiculous. So he's a people person obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, and watching him work with these young linebackers,
Speaker 1: it's critical critical. I mean that position got abused. I
Speaker 1: don't even know if that's a strong enough word, but
Speaker 1: it was decimated, demolished, whatever it was. It was ridiculous
Speaker 1: to watch. Now. It reminds me like we talked about before,
Speaker 1: Mark Dufter, when they drafted Kio Spikes and Brian Simmons,
Speaker 1: Steve Foley, and they got Adrian Ross as a free agent.
Speaker 1: You know, same thing this year, you know with with
Speaker 1: with the draft picks. Uh, they have Logan Wilson, Uh,
Speaker 1: Davis Gaither in the in the fourth round, Bailey and
Speaker 1: then Spears as a free age. I think Spears is
Speaker 1: probably destined for the practice squad, but I think the
Speaker 1: other three make it so. Mark Duffner he was like
Speaker 1: he had these you know, these young linebackers that he
Speaker 1: was in total control of, and he knew that they
Speaker 1: were going to have a big impact on increasing the
Speaker 1: betterment of the football team. Al Golden is I'm looking
Speaker 1: at Al Golden. I'm thinking back to Mark Dufton with
Speaker 1: that linebacker group. Al Golden with this linebacker group. I
Speaker 1: think this group eventually is going to there's so much
Speaker 1: upside there. I think eventually it's going to be like, Wow,
Speaker 1: look at this linebacker group. You know, they're they're kind
Speaker 1: of uh, they kind of got some swag on this
Speaker 1: football team. I mean they're they're they're definitely they're a
Speaker 1: voice to be reckoned with, you know, and not just
Speaker 1: a voice there, there is something to be reckoned with
Speaker 1: on the football field. So I really like what I
Speaker 1: see what Al Golden's doing with these young guys. How
Speaker 1: he's molding him. And you know, I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: it was you know, it was Al Golden's necessarily his idea.
Speaker 1: But to bring in a veteran like Josh Bines, you know,
Speaker 1: the mix in the room. I'm sure he contributed to it.
Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of people were involved in that process.
Speaker 1: But bottom line, as they bring Josh Bines in, who's
Speaker 1: basically his assistant linebacker coach as well as football player,
Speaker 1: they all all the young guys are talking about the
Speaker 1: football mind to Josh Bines and they're all in May.
Speaker 1: So I think Al Golden gets a big tip of
Speaker 1: the cap. You had me a turn Temple around. I
Speaker 1: mean that was a minor miracle when he did it,
Speaker 1: because they've been pretty good ever since and he got
Speaker 1: it all turned around. I was tempted to go with
Speaker 1: tight ends coach James Casey in this category. I think
Speaker 1: he's a rising star and the coaching profession fascinating guy
Speaker 1: pitched minor league baseball then went to Rice triple major
Speaker 1: three point a GPA seven years in the NFL. I mean,
Speaker 1: anything he does, he succeeds at. But the coach that
Speaker 1: caught my eye, and I probably could say this every year,
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons. He reminds me of the best teachers I
Speaker 1: ever had in life. At Syracuse University are alma mater,
Speaker 1: I had a policy professor Robert McClure, best teacher I
Speaker 1: ever had. And what was it about him, more than
Speaker 1: anything else, demanded excellence. You just you felt like you
Speaker 1: were letting him down if you did not go in
Speaker 1: there ready to go, ready to study, ready to do
Speaker 1: your absolute best, attention to detail demands excellence. That's Darren Simmons.
Speaker 1: You're right, And I guess I probably took Darren for
Speaker 1: granted as an assistant head coach. The organization knows the
Speaker 1: value he brings to the table. And Darren Simmons is
Speaker 1: I mean, year and in year out, Let's face it.
Speaker 1: I was worried that he was going to be in
Speaker 1: New England Belichick, Let's face it. And there there were
Speaker 1: other teams that there are a few teams and uh,
Speaker 1: when they threw that assistant head coaching tag at Darren
Speaker 1: Simmons and financially rewarded him like I hope he was
Speaker 1: rewarded because yeah, he has been solid as a rock.
Speaker 1: And you know the thing, the thing that all great
Speaker 1: coaches have with players. You can respect a coach and
Speaker 1: then other coaches you can like. But when you have
Speaker 1: guys that get their respect to players and players like
Speaker 1: them like a dick lebou And there's there's a few
Speaker 1: of them down through the years that I've come acrost
Speaker 1: and Darren Simmons falls into that category, man, And and
Speaker 1: I think it's because, like you said, Dan, infants and
Speaker 1: young children craved discipline. They don't know it, but they
Speaker 1: craved discipline. They crave the organizational aspect of your life,
Speaker 1: of their lives that you give them as a parent
Speaker 1: or whatever. And Darren Simmons treat that's the same thing
Speaker 1: with a players. I think the players look at Darren
Speaker 1: Simmons like, where would I be without this guy? Honestly?
Speaker 1: All right, A couple more category to go, then some
Speaker 1: ask lap questions after that next category the question you
Speaker 1: had going into camp that has been answered to your satisfaction.
Speaker 1: My two question marks were left tackle and linebacker. And
Speaker 1: left tackle, I mean it was a five man you know,
Speaker 1: Merry go round at left tackle. Last year, and multiple
Speaker 1: contributors aren't even in the league this year, so that
Speaker 1: tells you where they were. And Jonah Williams, I think,
Speaker 1: is gonna up the level of play at that left
Speaker 1: tackle position significantly. And Jonah is not necessarily a guy
Speaker 1: that is beastly and will pick the stadium up and
Speaker 1: move it a block, but he is good a technician
Speaker 1: and a young player as I've seen in a long time.
Speaker 1: His footwork is extraordinary, His hands are Extraordinary's hand placement
Speaker 1: is lineman need to when they're in pass protection, need
Speaker 1: to keep their chest and shoulders back and out of
Speaker 1: the fray. He does a great job of that. So
Speaker 1: you know, I feel good about the left tackle position,
Speaker 1: but I haven't played a game yet, and you know,
Speaker 1: so in his first two games, as we said many times,
Speaker 1: you know, it's only Joey Boston, Miles Garrett, so we'll
Speaker 1: find out pretty quickly. And then the other was the
Speaker 1: linebacker position, and I've I like what I see. It's athletic,
Speaker 1: can run, they seem to be intelligent, they're not busting assignments.
Speaker 1: But again, I want to see him playing a game.
Speaker 1: They haven't tackled anybody yet, you know, I got to
Speaker 1: see him against other NFL teams, because you can get
Speaker 1: intoxicated watching the Bengals. The Bengals have NFL caliber football players.
Speaker 1: You watch him every day, it's like, these guys are
Speaker 1: pretty good. Well a bunch of other thirty one other
Speaker 1: teams around the league or having camp, and they're all
Speaker 1: at least as good or better. So, man, until you
Speaker 1: start playing somebody else and they start doing things against
Speaker 1: you we haven't seen yet, because you do fall into
Speaker 1: a little bit of a comfort level, Jonahs, going against
Speaker 1: the same guys. Although it's good guys, Dan, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know you're talking about Carlos dunlaugh and carl Lawson
Speaker 1: giving you edge rush. Look at practice every day. I
Speaker 1: mean that's that's a that's a good caliber. You're gonna
Speaker 1: get better going against people like that. So and uh
Speaker 1: and you look at the young linebackers having to cover
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon, Giovanni Bernard in space, Drew Sample, cj Isama Tighten.
Speaker 1: I mean, those guys are good NFL caliber players where
Speaker 1: you're gonna get better going against him in practice. But
Speaker 1: as Alan Ivans said, practice, I'm talking not the game.
Speaker 1: Let's see him in a game, all right, the question
Speaker 1: that I had that's been answered to my satisfaction. This
Speaker 1: is where I will use Joe Burrow. My question was
Speaker 1: will he be ready? And that's still to be determined.
Speaker 1: Like you're saying, I mean in practice is one thing.
Speaker 1: Games are very different, but it's it's not that he's
Speaker 1: been perfect, but he's never been overwhelmed. Maybe whelmed at times,
Speaker 1: but never overwhelmed. He exudes confidence, his teammates are feeding
Speaker 1: off it. He just sensed that he's going to be fine.
Speaker 1: There will be growing pains, there are gonna be moments
Speaker 1: he'll throw interceptions. Again, I'm not saying that he's ready
Speaker 1: for the Pro Bowl, but he's gonna be fine, and
Speaker 1: in the years to come, he's gonna be really, really good.
Speaker 1: I agree Dan, I think he's going to weather every storm.
Speaker 1: And Paul Brown had a tremendous sing and I think
Speaker 1: it applies to Joe Burrow. The game's not too big
Speaker 1: for you, and the game is not too big for
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. There is no question about it. And you
Speaker 1: know we talked earlier bringing up Peyton Manning again, I
Speaker 1: remember talking to Tom Moore, who was with Peyton in Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: and Tom Moore said, very early in Peyton Manning's career,
Speaker 1: it was obvious that this guy was Menza football genius
Speaker 1: and he elevated every because he elevated me. You know,
Speaker 1: he did a coach and I think, I think it
Speaker 1: should be like this, Oh you're right, Peyton, you know,
Speaker 1: smartest kid in the room type thing. And he said
Speaker 1: that I had to try to figure out ways to
Speaker 1: keep him interested and motivated. And he said, it made
Speaker 1: me a hell of a lot better coach, and it
Speaker 1: made all the assistant coaches better coaches, made his teammates better.
Speaker 1: And I think Joe Burrows that has that in him.
Speaker 1: I really do, all right, Final category, your biggest remaining
Speaker 1: concern as camp winds down, My biggest remaining concern is,
Speaker 1: don't lose any veteran football player that you you know,
Speaker 1: project to make a significant contribution to injury or anything else.
Speaker 1: All hands on deck. And I've seen I've seen weird
Speaker 1: things happen, you know, And I think Zach has done
Speaker 1: a heck of a job and almost almost bending over backwards, um,
Speaker 1: you know, with load management stuff. I mean, he his
Speaker 1: veteran players. If you're you know, seven years and more
Speaker 1: in the league, when they have a day off, he
Speaker 1: gives them a veteran day to boot, so you know,
Speaker 1: scrimmage day off done another day. So the load management
Speaker 1: part of it, he is I think obviously AJ Green
Speaker 1: going down in the first forty five minutes of training
Speaker 1: camp last year has stayed with him and you can
Speaker 1: only control which you can control. But he is absolutely
Speaker 1: doing everything he possibly can to make sure that when
Speaker 1: the thirteenth comes, the guys are going to be there
Speaker 1: ready to play. But look what happened last year with
Speaker 1: Alex Redmon pregame warmups blows his elbow, oued, I mean,
Speaker 1: are you kidding me? So you know you think about
Speaker 1: Aj the first forty five minutes of training camp, Alex
Speaker 1: Redmond making contributions to the offense line, blows his elbowed
Speaker 1: in pre game warmups with teammates in their own end
Speaker 1: zone here at Paul Brown Stadium. Come on, So all
Speaker 1: I know is in this game, you never know. So
Speaker 1: football gods, be kind. Don't take anybody away before this
Speaker 1: LA Chargers game, because I've seen it happen. And if
Speaker 1: you do take somebody away, please don't make it a
Speaker 1: significant player. All right, My biggest remaining concern is the
Speaker 1: right side of the offensive line. I think center to
Speaker 1: left tackle, they've got a chance to be good. I
Speaker 1: think Trey Hopkins is certainly above average, maybe much better
Speaker 1: than that. I think Michael Jordan's going to be a
Speaker 1: very good NFL player, hopefully this year. I think Jonah
Speaker 1: is going to be fine and hopefully really good in
Speaker 1: the years to come. He's still not so sure about
Speaker 1: right tackle right guard. I really thought going into camp
Speaker 1: that Fred Johnson would beat Bobby Hart out for that position.
Speaker 1: It was never a contest. Hopefully that says good things
Speaker 1: about Bobby Hart going into this season. And I thought
Speaker 1: Xaviers to a Philo would be a significant upgrade over
Speaker 1: John Miller. Having watched him in camp, I think maybe
Speaker 1: they're about the same. Hopefully I'm wrong. I mean, campus
Speaker 1: camp games are different, but he has not dazzled in
Speaker 1: my opinion. Agree with you, I will. I will say
Speaker 1: that watching him in the scrimmage, that was his best effort,
Speaker 1: and and I'm I'm optimistic that his best st effort
Speaker 1: took place in the scrimmage. Maybe he's a gamer, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe he's one of those guys that you know, just
Speaker 1: a veteran guy, you know, I mean, just whatever, and
Speaker 1: and he ends up being a gamer because yeah, I've
Speaker 1: not been like whoa xaviers to a filo now oo man.
Speaker 1: And with Bobby looking at Bobby, a lot of people
Speaker 1: we've talked about have changed their body. Bobby did too.
Speaker 1: Bobby has uh less than the caboose, lessen the trunk,
Speaker 1: and he's quicker. And when I see him jumping people,
Speaker 1: I think that's when he's at his best. He again,
Speaker 1: neither offensive tackle are overpowering physical guys. They both have
Speaker 1: great feet, though Bobby has good feet, So in my mind,
Speaker 1: they have to go jump people and not let them
Speaker 1: get started because you know, at the end of past
Speaker 1: his past sets and plays is when Bobby gets like
Speaker 1: bold and overpowered. So if you can bring the defense
Speaker 1: a pass rusher to a complete stop and make him restart,
Speaker 1: and I think Bobby's capable of that. Now, you gotta
Speaker 1: mix it up. You can't do a steady diet anything,
Speaker 1: but you gotta you know, you gotta change the you know,
Speaker 1: you can't throw fastballs down the middle of the plate
Speaker 1: every single snap. So but yeah, I think Fred Fred
Speaker 1: just has to mature more. You know, I think the
Speaker 1: one thing about Bobby. Bobby loves football and football is
Speaker 1: important to him, and hopefully fred gets maybe a little
Speaker 1: more or that the importance of football. Football has to be,
Speaker 1: you know, really really a big, big deal, and I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that it's not, but I think there's room
Speaker 1: to grow there for him a little bit more. See,
Speaker 1: I'm not giving up on him because I think eventually,
Speaker 1: and maybe this year, who knows if he If he
Speaker 1: does play tackle or even guard, I think he could be.
Speaker 1: He and Michael Jordan could end up being the best
Speaker 1: run blockers in the team because they're so long, they're
Speaker 1: so I mean, they're leverage. Their length and strength is
Speaker 1: so big and that helps you in protection as well.
Speaker 1: So I'm certainly not giving up on fred Um. I
Speaker 1: think he could at some point. We have pretty damn
Speaker 1: good tackle. I think he just needs more seasoning. Glad
Speaker 1: to hear what you had to say about Xavier Suphilo
Speaker 1: as well, because he is a sheer delight. I love
Speaker 1: that guy. I want him to be a big success.
Speaker 1: I just don't think he's had a great camp, But
Speaker 1: then again, he's a guy. He had a broken leg
Speaker 1: at the end of last year. Maybe he's just you know,
Speaker 1: getting back to yeah, and when you watch him run,
Speaker 1: it's it's not a you know, it's not a free
Speaker 1: and easy, um physical flow there, you know. I mean
Speaker 1: he's he's got some a little bit of wear and
Speaker 1: tear on him. But I do know, um that his
Speaker 1: teammates love him because he's almost like an assistant coach.
Speaker 1: And coach Turner said that that he take you know,
Speaker 1: take the young guys and hey, look this is what's
Speaker 1: worked for me. Try this. Think about this. Your body
Speaker 1: type is similar to this guy that I know he
Speaker 1: did this. Try this. He said that he's been a big,
Speaker 1: big addition you know, his teammates and offensive line coach
Speaker 1: Turner said that he has been a big addition to
Speaker 1: that offensive line room for sure. Eagle scout served others
Speaker 1: in a two year Mormon mission. I think he's a
Speaker 1: good man, So hopefully he will line up having a
Speaker 1: great season all right. Time for some ask lap questions
Speaker 1: that were submitted on Twitter. First one comes from breaking
Speaker 1: the curse? What do you think Marcus Bailey's role will
Speaker 1: be his rookie year? Probably heavy special teams. I think
Speaker 1: that you know, I think they put their bat on
Speaker 1: the ball in all three linebacker draft picks. He was
Speaker 1: in the seventh round and the others were third and
Speaker 1: fourth round and they were drafted there, you know, for
Speaker 1: a reason. And now we got to remember he had
Speaker 1: an ACL reconstruction. So like you were talking about Xavier,
Speaker 1: I think Bailey's just starting to get his land legs
Speaker 1: under room instead of his sea legs, you know. So
Speaker 1: I think I think that, um, there's room to grow there.
Speaker 1: I think there's some upside. And it's not like he
Speaker 1: hasn't done well. I think he's done well. I think
Speaker 1: he's played well at linebacker, and they've had him in
Speaker 1: a full rotation, you know, in a lot of the
Speaker 1: sub packages. It's not like there's a there's you know,
Speaker 1: third fourth round picks and then gaping hole to seventh
Speaker 1: round contribution to camp. It's right there, it's right there.
Speaker 1: I like him. I think he's got some some explosiveness
Speaker 1: to him and I think it's coming back. And I
Speaker 1: think I think Darren Simmons, he's got some linebackers that
Speaker 1: can help him on special teams and barely being one
Speaker 1: of them from Brian. If a preseason trade were to
Speaker 1: take place, which position group would they be comfortable moving
Speaker 1: and which would they look to get back. Well, you
Speaker 1: got to think, all right, here's here's my assessment of defense.
Speaker 1: Defensive line above average. You know, if everybody stays healthy, everybody,
Speaker 1: everybody please stay healthy. Linebacker big upside, big upside below
Speaker 1: average last year, getting closer to average, and upside to
Speaker 1: be even better than that. Secondary average, offensive line getting better,
Speaker 1: closer to average, but maybe a little bit below. Wide
Speaker 1: receiver above average. So the two positions of strength wide receiver,
Speaker 1: defensive line. If you were trade you would want to
Speaker 1: improve your offensive line or in my mind right now,
Speaker 1: the secondary. I think they've done a ton with the
Speaker 1: linebacker position. So those would be the positions I'd shift around,
Speaker 1: I guess a little bit, and then it would be okay,
Speaker 1: would you trade your fifth receiver for your fifth for
Speaker 1: possibly a fifth best lineman? Hell yeah, your fifth receivers
Speaker 1: are not gonna be fifth lineman? Is would you trade
Speaker 1: your fifth receiver for a seventh best lineman? Now you're
Speaker 1: thinking more, it's more, you know, even Stephen, so you know,
Speaker 1: and then you're throwing a draft pick to sweeten the pod.
Speaker 1: But they those positions would be the ones that I
Speaker 1: position or strength maybe down the line move one of
Speaker 1: those guys to try to beef up my position of weakness.
Speaker 1: But I will say Dan that they have the first
Speaker 1: crack at everybody that's waived and the final cutdown. Now
Speaker 1: that's less than four years, four years or more, they're terminated,
Speaker 1: they go anywhere. But anybody less than four years, a
Speaker 1: three year corner, that's that somebody, let's go, boy, maybe
Speaker 1: they have first shot at him. So the Bengals don't
Speaker 1: have to wait and say, oh, do we do we
Speaker 1: get this guy? Because if you're the team that is uh,
Speaker 1: it's just like the draft. If you're the sixteenth spot
Speaker 1: in the draft and the twenty second claims them and
Speaker 1: then the well man the nineteenth, you have to wait
Speaker 1: till the next day. Well, the Bengals know they would
Speaker 1: have claim and they know they have a shot at
Speaker 1: that guy. So I hope and I know they are
Speaker 1: the scouts in the first innel department. They're trying to
Speaker 1: anticipate who's going to be in that waived lest people
Speaker 1: in the training camps. And is that when you're looking
Speaker 1: at improving your your final five or six spots on
Speaker 1: your fifty three man roster, some of those guys may
Speaker 1: be a little bit better. There may be some movement.
Speaker 1: If I could trade my fifth or sixth wide receiver
Speaker 1: for Quenton Nelson, I would do it, all right. Question
Speaker 1: from Jacob does the offensive line look like they've improved
Speaker 1: a lot, a little or not at all. Oh, they've improved.
Speaker 1: They've improved. It's just a question of how much. And
Speaker 1: again in the scrimmage, I was encouraged because they did
Speaker 1: keep you know, pretty much two groups together, the first group,
Speaker 1: which which was Jonah Williams, Michael Jordan, Trey Hopkins at center,
Speaker 1: Xavier Suaphilo at right guard, and Bobby Williams at right tackle,
Speaker 1: Bobby Hart. Excuse me, Bobby Hart. Bobby Williams big, I
Speaker 1: like that. Bobby Williams back, big old Bobby, Bobby Bobby
Speaker 1: Hart at right tackle. Those guys I thought they I
Speaker 1: thought they ran well, ran the ball. Well, they've got
Speaker 1: some creases. They did a decent job. So and they
Speaker 1: did it, you know, ones against ones. It was once
Speaker 1: against ones, ones against twos and all that. But I
Speaker 1: think they're improved now, you know how much? Again, I
Speaker 1: don't know yet. You know, the proof is in the
Speaker 1: pudding is still out there. It's out there. Against San Diego,
Speaker 1: it's out there against Cleveland, it's out there against Philadelphia
Speaker 1: and everybody else. I mean, I think Dan the first
Speaker 1: month of the season, I don't think any team is
Speaker 1: going to be anyone near as good in September as
Speaker 1: they are on October. Spencer has the next question. I've
Speaker 1: heard that Drew Sample looks good in camp. What kind
Speaker 1: of role do you expect him to have this year?
Speaker 1: I think a significant one. I think that that he's
Speaker 1: um His first nap was against Jadevian Clowney up there
Speaker 1: in Seattle, and that was that was an eye opener.
Speaker 1: So he can identify with what Jonah Williams might see,
Speaker 1: you know, work and work against Joey Boston, and that's
Speaker 1: going to be it's going to be a challenge. But
Speaker 1: I do think Sample worked with Sam Hubbard. Sample they
Speaker 1: had the gym and Sam Sample's garage and spilled out
Speaker 1: into the driveway and they both, you know, worked on
Speaker 1: their bodies. Sample is not necessarily a ton difference in weight,
Speaker 1: but the distribution the weight, it's a lot different. And
Speaker 1: I think that he could be the true tight end,
Speaker 1: you know, the tight ends in the league now, even
Speaker 1: Kelsey as big and strong as he is, he's quite
Speaker 1: He's known as the receiver. George Kittle is like a
Speaker 1: third tackle, and he's like a receiver in the passing game.
Speaker 1: That's what they hope Sample can be. Sample came out
Speaker 1: of college as the best blocking tight end. So I
Speaker 1: went in the second round out of Washington University of Washington,
Speaker 1: and I thought, I think Dan that his confidence, his
Speaker 1: route running, his ability to catch it. The tight ends
Speaker 1: had a tough scrimmage. He dropped when c J dropped,
Speaker 1: tusually had a tough day. They also had three catches
Speaker 1: a piece, though they did and that tells you though
Speaker 1: he was pumping them. Both quarterbacks were feeding those tight ends.
Speaker 1: They're going to be important. They're gonna be very important
Speaker 1: in the offense this year. And I think I think
Speaker 1: Sample will be a you know, a t two phase player.
Speaker 1: I think he'll he'll be a factor in the passing
Speaker 1: attack and I think he's going to be he'll set
Speaker 1: the edge in the running game. Matthew asks, were you
Speaker 1: ever interested in becoming a coach, and if so, would
Speaker 1: you have stuck to the offensive line or would you
Speaker 1: ventured out to a different spot. Initially I would have
Speaker 1: gone with the offensive line. But if you get into
Speaker 1: coaching normally, you want to try to advance to as
Speaker 1: high level as you can. So yeah, I mean if
Speaker 1: I if I had decided to do it, I don't
Speaker 1: think I would have been in Jim McNally and said
Speaker 1: I want to just be an offensive line coach my
Speaker 1: whole career. I think I would have tried to dabble
Speaker 1: as an offensive corner to be a head coach before Greg,
Speaker 1: you know some of the other offensive line coaches, Andy Reid, Um,
Speaker 1: you know it became. I first met Andy Reid when
Speaker 1: he was a grand assistant graduate from BYU, A University
Speaker 1: of Missouri, and I was like, yeah, this guy, this
Speaker 1: young guy's pretty impressive and obviously it worked for him.
Speaker 1: I was right, But yeah, I mean I did have
Speaker 1: an interest for us. Greg inquired about it. Um college
Speaker 1: coaches like Mac Brown and uh less Miles inquired about it.
Speaker 1: But as big an interest as I had, my wife
Speaker 1: had even less. So as they say, happy wife, happy life,
Speaker 1: unhappy wife, unhappy life. And I you know, I thought, uh,
Speaker 1: you know that my kids really love Cincinnati. They really
Speaker 1: you know, I thought I uproved my family. Maybe hop
Speaker 1: Scotch a run and pogo stick around. Both my kids.
Speaker 1: They're here in Cincinnati, They've got kids, they were raising
Speaker 1: their families here. So from a family standpoint, I feel
Speaker 1: good about the decision I made, But there's always that
Speaker 1: what if I always think about it that man, I
Speaker 1: think I would have liked it. I know I would
Speaker 1: have enjoyed it and liked it, And how good would
Speaker 1: I have been? Who knows? To be determined, I guess
Speaker 1: so not to be determined, it won't happen now. But
Speaker 1: here recently there was another thing thrown at me as
Speaker 1: as as a very very early stages with the raid is,
Speaker 1: but didn't pursue that. So at the age i'm matt
Speaker 1: I think I'm going to be a color analyst for
Speaker 1: the Bengals radio network. Dan, at this point in time,
Speaker 1: you would have been a great coach, tremendous head coach,
Speaker 1: O line coach. Your guys would have loved playing for you.
Speaker 1: You would have won big. But we're happy at Joe's broadcasting,
Speaker 1: so I'm grateful that you elected to get into this
Speaker 1: line of work. All right, final question comes from a
Speaker 1: different Matthew. We always like to end with kind of
Speaker 1: a wild card type question. What's the most cheese Coney's
Speaker 1: You've ever had in one sitting? Oh, my goodness, the
Speaker 1: most I've ever had? Oh gosh, I mean four went
Speaker 1: down so fat. I think I think it may I
Speaker 1: think it might have been a good half dozen. I
Speaker 1: could have continued, you know, I think that was it.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, I can. I can get those things
Speaker 1: done quickly. There's no doubt about that. I love them,
Speaker 1: love him to death. Yeah I don't have I don't
Speaker 1: think I could compete with you in that category. But
Speaker 1: you know, I grew up in the Buffalo area. So
Speaker 1: if you want to go chicken wings for a relatively
Speaker 1: slender person, I can knock them down. Great. Great chicken
Speaker 1: wing story training camp Pete Johnson. He would take a
Speaker 1: chicken wing, put that thing in his mouth, pull it out,
Speaker 1: the meat, the cartilage, everything was gone, shiny bone like
Speaker 1: a piranha, just like in the mouth, pull it out,
Speaker 1: bare bone, nothing left on that bad boy. Our Bengals
Speaker 1: radio shows get underway next week with Bengals Game Plan
Speaker 1: on Wednesday night from six to eight. Then on Today
Speaker 1: it's the Bengals pep Rally Show from three to six.
Speaker 1: We hope you'll tune in on the radio on ESPN
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty in Cincinnati, online at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com,
Speaker 1: or by searching for ESPN fifteen thirty on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Prime Sport, the
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Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and
Speaker 1: thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast