1
00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,439
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading

2
00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:13,480
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. B Let's startle over addition, as

3
00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,320
Speaker 1: the Bengals get ready for their preseason opener on Thursday

4
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,680
Speaker 1: night in Philly. Coming up, teammates and coaches react to

5
00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,600
Speaker 1: an impressive training camp start for first round draft pick

6
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,439
Speaker 1: Shamar Stewart. I'll go one on one with quarterback Desmond Ritter,

7
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,159
Speaker 1: and we'll get smart analysis from Robert Weintraub from the

8
00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:36,040
Speaker 1: FTN Football Almanac and Cincinnati Magazine. The Bengals Booth Podcast

9
00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,000
Speaker 1: is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be

10
00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,600
Speaker 1: the Bengals official HR software provider, by aulta Fiber future

11
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,479
Speaker 1: proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and

12
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,120
Speaker 1: community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the

13
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,000
Speaker 1: best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the

14
00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,800
Speaker 1: official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick

15
00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,440
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this

16
00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,920
Speaker 1: podcast delivered to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing

17
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,800
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since

18
00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,959
Speaker 1: playing the Feud. My wife and I enjoy playing bar

19
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,280
Speaker 1: trivia with our friends and neighbors, and we have a

20
00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 1: pretty competitive team. But recently we've also enjoyed playing a

21
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,959
Speaker 1: version that's similar to the classic TV show Family Feud.

22
00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,559
Speaker 1: It's a little bit easier because instead of actually having

23
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,840
Speaker 1: to know facts, you just have to guess the most

24
00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,920
Speaker 1: popular answers to survey questions. So if you've tried bar

25
00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,400
Speaker 1: trivia and got turned off by the team of geeky

26
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,720
Speaker 1: geniuses that knew everything, give less, call feud a try.

27
00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:48,520
Speaker 1: There's no Steve Harvey, but there is beer. Now let's

28
00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,360
Speaker 1: get to football. There have been a lot of positive

29
00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,120
Speaker 1: developments so far at training camp. The defense appears to

30
00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: be much improved, although there are days where it's impossible

31
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: to stop Burrow, who's been throwing the ball with surgical precision.

32
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,960
Speaker 1: But my biggest takeaway in the last week since the

33
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,520
Speaker 1: last episode of this podcast is that Shamar Stuart has

34
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 1: been living up to his nickname the Menace. In his

35
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 1: second practice, Schamar had pass deflections on back to back

36
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,320
Speaker 1: plays and one of them would have been a sack

37
00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,239
Speaker 1: if he didn't veer away from Jake Browning. Two days later,

38
00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,040
Speaker 1: he had a sack of Desmond Ritter where I timed

39
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,800
Speaker 1: him getting to the quarterback in two point zero eight seconds.

40
00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,280
Speaker 1: And on Saturday, when the team held its annual public

41
00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:38,239
Speaker 1: practice inside of pay Court Stadium, Chamar had a sack,

42
00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,400
Speaker 1: a pass deflection, and bull rushed three hundred and thirty

43
00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,760
Speaker 1: pound tackle Devin Cochrane right into Browning. If you are

44
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,400
Speaker 1: skeptical of the pick because of Stuart's lack of sacks

45
00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,040
Speaker 1: at Texas A and M, you should be encouraged by

46
00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,400
Speaker 1: the impact he's having at practice. But don't take my

47
00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,800
Speaker 1: word for it. Listen to these comments from Amarus Mims.

48
00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 2: It's a fierce ball of fire. Like some guys like that,

49
00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,120
Speaker 2: you don't expect them to be big and fast. But

50
00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,000
Speaker 2: he's just like I said's definitely definitely a very very

51
00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,520
Speaker 2: talented m Like I said, man, speeding power is very

52
00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,920
Speaker 2: important playing here because like I said, man, he's He's

53
00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:15,639
Speaker 2: definitely a guy you gotta watch out focus. He would

54
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:17,400
Speaker 2: run through your face if you look, if you're not like,

55
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:17,919
Speaker 2: if you're not in.

56
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,919
Speaker 1: Your like ps and Q's man, fierce ball.

57
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,120
Speaker 2: That's what it is. That's what it is, man. I'm

58
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:24,799
Speaker 2: telling you, like he fast, he get off the ball.

59
00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,200
Speaker 2: He running four six, but that ain't No. Four six

60
00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,440
Speaker 2: off there. That's it feels faster for sure.

61
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:29,639
Speaker 3: Man.

62
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,040
Speaker 1: I guess everybody in this lock rings looking back out

63
00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:32,600
Speaker 1: to make plays.

64
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:34,720
Speaker 2: Man, Man, yes, man, look at him like I said,

65
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:36,360
Speaker 2: we dropped him at seventeen pick for a reason. I

66
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,320
Speaker 2: know he's gonna make club. I told hm yesterday it's

67
00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,200
Speaker 2: gonna be a bunch of ups and down player. But

68
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,320
Speaker 2: just getting up playbook and just minimize all your airs.

69
00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,200
Speaker 2: You're gonna do a great football player. I saw one

70
00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:45,960
Speaker 2: hundredth believe him. We're gona be a great player.

71
00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,040
Speaker 1: He's not there yet, but five year veteran TJ. Slayton

72
00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,440
Speaker 1: says it shouldn't take long for Stuart to make a splash.

73
00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:53,000
Speaker 3: Uh.

74
00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:53,800
Speaker 4: He's very quick.

75
00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 2: He's a naturally strong.

76
00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:56,440
Speaker 3: Uh.

77
00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:58,560
Speaker 4: He just needs a little little bit of moves and

78
00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,600
Speaker 4: it's two balls and I feel like he be already

79
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 4: right there.

80
00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,560
Speaker 1: Defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery is trying to help Shamar

81
00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 1: develop those moves at practice. When he sees something he

82
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,640
Speaker 1: doesn't like, he immediately stops the drill and corrects it.

83
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,839
Speaker 4: You do something right on the patchout, you do something wall,

84
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,760
Speaker 4: I'm gonna show you how does do a better All right,

85
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,920
Speaker 4: I'm gonna correct it. But if you keep letting mistakes

86
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,120
Speaker 4: slip and you don't say anything, even to you are

87
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,560
Speaker 4: star players, then all of a sudden, you give him

88
00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:26,440
Speaker 4: an answer to take a flip.

89
00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,239
Speaker 1: All right, here comes a hot take. I'd be willing

90
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:33,160
Speaker 1: to bet that Shamar has more sacks this year than

91
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,360
Speaker 1: the four and a half he had in three years

92
00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,800
Speaker 1: at A and M. But more importantly, he's going to

93
00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,760
Speaker 1: impact the game with his versatility and relentless motor. Here's

94
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:45,720
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator Al Golden to.

95
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:51,320
Speaker 5: Whatever your opinion was of Shamar, that player is rare

96
00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,520
Speaker 5: coming out of a draft. Somebody that can come off

97
00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,360
Speaker 5: the edge one play playing the B gap, two plays

98
00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,640
Speaker 5: later playing the C gap, set the edge, do multiple things.

99
00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,800
Speaker 5: It's just rare because you generally get you guys that

100
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,599
Speaker 5: are two fifty five, But to get a guy to

101
00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:10,640
Speaker 5: eighty that can do that with that kind of power

102
00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,000
Speaker 5: is rare, and we're said to have.

103
00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,719
Speaker 1: It's going to be fun to watch Stewart on Thursday

104
00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,120
Speaker 1: night against the Eagles. Zach Taylor says his starters, including

105
00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,800
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, are going to play at some point in

106
00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,760
Speaker 1: the preseason, but as of this recording, he hasn't shared

107
00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,919
Speaker 1: his plans for the preseason opener. One thing we know

108
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,200
Speaker 1: for sure is that Jake Browning and Desmond Ritter will

109
00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,320
Speaker 1: play in that game. Ritter joined the team just before

110
00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,360
Speaker 1: the start of training camp as the Bengals were looking

111
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,240
Speaker 1: to upgrade the number three quarterback on the roster who

112
00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,760
Speaker 1: is likely to be on the practice squad. Desmond, of course,

113
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,679
Speaker 1: had an incredible career at the University of Cincinnati, leading

114
00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,200
Speaker 1: the Bearcats to a forty four and six record in

115
00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,480
Speaker 1: his four years as the starting quarterback with trips to

116
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,800
Speaker 1: the Peach and Cotton Bolls. After being drafted in the

117
00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:01,760
Speaker 1: third round by Atlanta, he went eight and nine as

118
00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,919
Speaker 1: they're starting quarterback before being traded to Arizona after the

119
00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,440
Speaker 1: Falcons signed Kirk Cousins. After spending last year with the

120
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,840
Speaker 1: Cardinals and the Raiders, Ritter became a free agent and

121
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,880
Speaker 1: beat out Tyler Hutley and c. J. Bethard in a

122
00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,120
Speaker 1: tryout for a spot with the Bengals. I spoke to

123
00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:25,039
Speaker 1: the twenty five year old from Lolaville this week. Dez

124
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,400
Speaker 1: complete the sentence. Joe Burrow is.

125
00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,599
Speaker 6: The real deal, you know, just watching them every single day,

126
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,240
Speaker 6: all the days that I've been here the past couple

127
00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,800
Speaker 6: of weeks. You know, on the field, off the field,

128
00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,600
Speaker 6: you know, he's the real deal. So he's a great

129
00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,719
Speaker 6: one to learn behind, a great one to see go

130
00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,560
Speaker 6: through practice every single day, you know, go through his preparation,

131
00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:48,640
Speaker 6: and so I'm excited, you know, once we get to

132
00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,640
Speaker 6: a real game week to see what that truly looks like.

133
00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,240
Speaker 6: But as four, it comes to camp. Every single day,

134
00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,760
Speaker 6: he shows up and comes to work, and you know,

135
00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:57,279
Speaker 6: it's it's like watching Art out there.

136
00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,839
Speaker 1: You've been with the Falcons, Cardinals, and Raiders over the

137
00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,160
Speaker 1: past few years, some good veteran quarterbacks on those teams,

138
00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,760
Speaker 1: including Kyler Murray when you're in Arizona. But is Joe

139
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:08,280
Speaker 1: just different?

140
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,960
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would say so. You know, he's just different

141
00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,480
Speaker 6: in a lot of ways. But you know, the biggest

142
00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,840
Speaker 6: thing I've seen is just mentally the way he mentally

143
00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:19,600
Speaker 6: sees the game out there on the field and is

144
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,800
Speaker 6: able to react and just get to the right place

145
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,840
Speaker 6: with the ball and put the ball on the right spot.

146
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,080
Speaker 6: But he's the fastest I've seen as far as reaction

147
00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,360
Speaker 6: time to the defense and as far as where he

148
00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:31,600
Speaker 6: knows where he wants to go to the.

149
00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,400
Speaker 1: Ball we're visiting with Desmond Ritter. Let's turn the clock

150
00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,600
Speaker 1: back to twenty eighteen. He red shirted your first year

151
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,920
Speaker 1: at UC and then in the off season, Joe Burrow

152
00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,400
Speaker 1: is going to transfer from Ohio State. He's seriously considered.

153
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,520
Speaker 1: You see, he wound up at LSU. Had he been

154
00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,040
Speaker 1: a Bearcat, you probably would have had to wait a

155
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,480
Speaker 1: couple of years to be the starting quarterback. Would you

156
00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:54,640
Speaker 1: have stuck around? What do you think would have happened?

157
00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, obviously back then, you know that transfer

158
00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,200
Speaker 6: all there was different things of you know, it's not

159
00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:01,800
Speaker 6: the wild ball, that's how it is today. But no,

160
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:03,600
Speaker 6: you know, we would have came in and we competed.

161
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,240
Speaker 6: You know, however it would have been you know, that

162
00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:07,720
Speaker 6: was actually one of the couple of things that we

163
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,680
Speaker 6: had talked about. You know, when I got here earlier,

164
00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,080
Speaker 6: I was like, you know, I heard that you you know,

165
00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 6: might have been coming to Cincinnati at some point, and

166
00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,680
Speaker 6: he was like, yeah, you know, it's down to you know,

167
00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,960
Speaker 6: the Bearcats and LSU, and you know, he chose a

168
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 6: great route and obviously, you know, continue to have a

169
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,160
Speaker 6: great career down there at the Louisiana.

170
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,720
Speaker 1: I would say, it worked out well for both of

171
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,320
Speaker 1: you and both schools. Certainly, the Bengals have a quarterback

172
00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,000
Speaker 1: centric organization. Mike Brown is a very successful quarterback at Dartmouth.

173
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:35,920
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor was the Big twelve Player of the Year

174
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,680
Speaker 1: in Nebraska. Dan Pitcher was an All American at the

175
00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,439
Speaker 1: Division III level. Does that mean anything to you as

176
00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:44,000
Speaker 1: a player in this organization.

177
00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,719
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean for me being the quarterback and and

178
00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:49,800
Speaker 6: just going out there and being able to play the

179
00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,680
Speaker 6: game just a little bit different than I have the

180
00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,640
Speaker 6: previous couple of years, you know, where maybe it's more

181
00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:56,880
Speaker 6: of a pass first offense rather than a run first,

182
00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,360
Speaker 6: whereas you know, throughout I would say as all of

183
00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,559
Speaker 6: my past eight years through college through the NFL, I've

184
00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,199
Speaker 6: been in run heavy offenses. So for to be able

185
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,240
Speaker 6: to come out here and you know, to want to

186
00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,280
Speaker 6: throw the ball downfield and want to spread it out

187
00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:12,520
Speaker 6: and get their playmakers of ball, it's something cool to

188
00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:13,040
Speaker 6: be a part of.

189
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,880
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Desmond Ritter. You join the team just

190
00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,520
Speaker 1: before the start of training camp. How long does it

191
00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,000
Speaker 1: take to feel like you've got the offense mastered?

192
00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:21,559
Speaker 3: Oh?

193
00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,280
Speaker 6: I mean mastered is obviously the keyword. I mean, it

194
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,600
Speaker 6: takes a little bit, but to have a good sense

195
00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,560
Speaker 6: and understanding of what you're doing, you know, I feel like,

196
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,600
Speaker 6: you know, we're into about the second week camp. We

197
00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,440
Speaker 6: have about one hundred percent of the plays in and

198
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:35,480
Speaker 6: you know, i'd say I'm about you know, seventy five

199
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,160
Speaker 6: to eighty percent there. But there's still a lot of

200
00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,520
Speaker 6: work to be done. But as far as mastering it,

201
00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:41,480
Speaker 6: you know, it takes a year or a couple of years.

202
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,320
Speaker 6: And like I said, you know, Joe's been in it

203
00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,240
Speaker 6: for five and he definitely hasn't mastered.

204
00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,120
Speaker 1: In the Quarterback documentary on Netflix, there's a scene where

205
00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,920
Speaker 1: Jared Goff has his wife helping him memorize the plays

206
00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,040
Speaker 1: because they're so complicated and so wordy. Do you do

207
00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,839
Speaker 1: anything like that with your wife or do you have

208
00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,080
Speaker 1: any other tricks that help you?

209
00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,120
Speaker 6: Yeah, no, that I mean, I would say that's pretty

210
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,520
Speaker 6: universal throughout the league, so I would I would say

211
00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,200
Speaker 6: pretty much all of the quarterbacks wives have definitely read

212
00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,800
Speaker 6: the script or time or two. So no, it was funny.

213
00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,079
Speaker 6: We watched like the first episode of that show and

214
00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,640
Speaker 6: my wife was like, hey, I do that and everything,

215
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,480
Speaker 6: and no, but I'd say, it's pretty universal if it's

216
00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,400
Speaker 6: not your wife, someone's reading it to you, because there's

217
00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,680
Speaker 6: no no way that you're able to just you know,

218
00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,360
Speaker 6: read it off the paper and say it back to

219
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,280
Speaker 6: yourself and then truly understand it, because that's not how

220
00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,000
Speaker 6: it is on Sundays. That's not how you get it

221
00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,120
Speaker 6: in the game. You get it from someone else reading

222
00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,120
Speaker 6: it to you. So it's pretty it's a pretty funny

223
00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:33,360
Speaker 6: part of the of the Wags.

224
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,319
Speaker 1: Shout out to Claire for her assistance. Guys, you've had

225
00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,800
Speaker 1: some good moments in the NFL. You've got eight wins

226
00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,760
Speaker 1: as a starting quarterback. You beat Tom Brady in his

227
00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,959
Speaker 1: final NFL regular season start. Do you have a highlight

228
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,680
Speaker 1: so far of your NFL career?

229
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:49,040
Speaker 3: Uh?

230
00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,120
Speaker 6: No, I wouldn't. I woantn't say I have a highlight

231
00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,959
Speaker 6: so far. You know, if you want to talk about one,

232
00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:55,760
Speaker 6: it's just you know, being in the league, just stepping

233
00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,319
Speaker 6: on the field for the first time, just going out

234
00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:00,560
Speaker 6: there and playing the game I love and living out

235
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,080
Speaker 6: you know, my kids, my dream, and you know a

236
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,280
Speaker 6: lot of kids dreams in the world is just to

237
00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,280
Speaker 6: be an NFL player. So to be able to go

238
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,760
Speaker 6: out there and live that out and just be one

239
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,640
Speaker 6: of the few, one of the many. You know, it's

240
00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:13,680
Speaker 6: just a dream come true.

241
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,199
Speaker 1: You were the quarterback of two of the best teams

242
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,760
Speaker 1: in UC football history, and a lot of your former

243
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,679
Speaker 1: teammates are doing well in the NFL. Sauce Gardner's the

244
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,800
Speaker 1: highest paid cornerback. Alec Pierce led the league in yards

245
00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,160
Speaker 1: per catch last year. Brian Cook has started for a

246
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,920
Speaker 1: Super Bowl team the last couple of years. Is that

247
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,720
Speaker 1: a huge source of pride to you, guys, and do

248
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,200
Speaker 1: you feel like you have changed the trajectory of UC football?

249
00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:37,640
Speaker 3: Yeah?

250
00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:39,240
Speaker 6: I don't know if that's a question for me or

251
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,520
Speaker 6: Coach Fick, but you know, I you know, I'm happy

252
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,839
Speaker 6: for all the guys that are successful. You know, they

253
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:46,800
Speaker 6: worked their butts off every single day, day in and

254
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,280
Speaker 6: day out, and show up to work every single week

255
00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,360
Speaker 6: just to try to get better. And that's all we

256
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,520
Speaker 6: did at Cincinnati was just trying to make each other better,

257
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,160
Speaker 6: whether it was offense versus offense, or defense versus offense,

258
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,120
Speaker 6: whatever it may have been. I was just trying to

259
00:11:58,120 --> 00:11:59,680
Speaker 6: make every single person around us better.

260
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,520
Speaker 1: As I imagine, you'll get a lot of opportunities to

261
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 1: play in the preseason games. Is your thought, I need

262
00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:08,720
Speaker 1: to do as well as I possibly can to show

263
00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,480
Speaker 1: the Bengals that I'm a great option to be on

264
00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:13,520
Speaker 1: the roster. Or is there also the thought in your

265
00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:15,319
Speaker 1: back of your mind, I'm looking to be a starter

266
00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,760
Speaker 1: in this league. If I play really well in the preseason,

267
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:19,560
Speaker 1: maybe somebody else picks me up.

268
00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,000
Speaker 6: Uh you know, my thought is obviously just to go

269
00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:23,959
Speaker 6: out and play the best ball that I can play,

270
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,280
Speaker 6: put my best foot for no matter whether it's here,

271
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,839
Speaker 6: there or anywhere, doesn't matter where I'm at. I want

272
00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:30,480
Speaker 6: to go out there and be the best person on

273
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,240
Speaker 6: the field. So you know, I just want to step

274
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,280
Speaker 6: out there and have the mindset that I'm gonna go

275
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:36,720
Speaker 6: out there and play my best ball.

276
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 1: Final thing for gusmin Ridder. You lived here for five years.

277
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,680
Speaker 1: Since you've been back playing for the Bengals, have you

278
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:46,000
Speaker 1: gone back to any of your favorite eateries or places

279
00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,360
Speaker 1: in town? Have you had any opportunity to do anything

280
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:50,640
Speaker 1: like that, knowing how busy you've.

281
00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,319
Speaker 6: Been, Uh no, not really. This is the only one

282
00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,240
Speaker 6: place I've been to is Candada. You know, just grab

283
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,079
Speaker 6: a couple of tacos, some kso, but uh no, just

284
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,199
Speaker 6: during camp. Now, I haven't had that much time to

285
00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,200
Speaker 6: kind of get out. You know, your off time has

286
00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,360
Speaker 6: really just been wrestling, so you know, that's just what

287
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:07,000
Speaker 6: I've been doing.

288
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,199
Speaker 1: Great to see you in a Cincinnati jersey, whether it's

289
00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,600
Speaker 1: Bearcats or Bengals. Best of luck in the preseason.

290
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:13,280
Speaker 6: Thank you Jan.

291
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,000
Speaker 1: Before we get to my next guest, here's a quick

292
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,600
Speaker 1: reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you

293
00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:22,120
Speaker 1: by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR

294
00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,640
Speaker 1: software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed

295
00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,680
Speaker 1: to elevate your home, business and community to a new level,

296
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,559
Speaker 1: and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.

297
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,360
Speaker 1: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.

298
00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:42,040
Speaker 1: The FDN Football Almanac, formerly known as the Football Outsiders Almanac,

299
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,520
Speaker 1: came out recently and if you're thinking about buying one

300
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,439
Speaker 1: preseason guide to the NFL, this is the one to get.

301
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,160
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of interesting data in the book if

302
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,360
Speaker 1: that's your thing, but I enjoy it for the writing.

303
00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:01,000
Speaker 1: The Almanac is informative, interesting and funny. There's an in

304
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,680
Speaker 1: depth look at every NFL team and the Cincinnati chapter

305
00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,320
Speaker 1: was written by my friend Robert Weintraub, who also writes

306
00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,880
Speaker 1: about the Bengals on a regular basis for Cincinnati Magazine

307
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:17,000
Speaker 1: dot com. Robert, every team in the FTN Almanac has

308
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,720
Speaker 1: a projected win total, and for the Bengals it's nine

309
00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:26,280
Speaker 1: point one, which seems pessimistic, but then I look closer.

310
00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,080
Speaker 1: It's the fifth best in the AFC, it's the eleventh

311
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,720
Speaker 1: best in the NFL. What does a projected win total

312
00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,480
Speaker 1: of nine point one tell us about the Bengals.

313
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,400
Speaker 3: Well, let's remember first of all, that that was the

314
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,640
Speaker 3: win total exactly of what they've had the last two seasons,

315
00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,960
Speaker 3: and they also arrived at those nine wins in very

316
00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,400
Speaker 3: very different ways. If you remember twenty twenty three, they

317
00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,520
Speaker 3: won nine games despite playing one of the hardest schedules

318
00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,360
Speaker 3: we've ever measured, and without Joe Burrow for a lot

319
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,560
Speaker 3: of that time. And then last year it was the opposite.

320
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,520
Speaker 3: They had Burrow, they were explosive. We figured they cruise

321
00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,360
Speaker 3: into the playoffs, and they found excruciating ways to lose

322
00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,520
Speaker 3: every week. So you know, you have to remember that's

323
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,240
Speaker 3: just like a mean projection, mean not being pessimistic, mean,

324
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,040
Speaker 3: but mean being the sense of average. That we played

325
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,120
Speaker 3: the season a million times, as I always love to

326
00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,520
Speaker 3: say to you and my doctor evil voice, and you

327
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,200
Speaker 3: know that's how it came out. The most number of

328
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,400
Speaker 3: times was nine wins. Doesn't mean we're predicting nine wins.

329
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,480
Speaker 3: And I think it's important to remember that the range

330
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,240
Speaker 3: is what's important, and by far the largest range in

331
00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,160
Speaker 3: terms of percentage for the Bengals is between nine and

332
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,440
Speaker 3: eleven wins. So you know eleven The difference last year

333
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,200
Speaker 3: between nine wins and eleven wins was what a fumbled

334
00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,360
Speaker 3: hold in overtime against the Ravens and the defensive penalty

335
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,200
Speaker 3: in Kansas City. You know, the slightest of margins, and

336
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,080
Speaker 3: we're thinking about the team entirely differently. Now. Of course,

337
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 3: it could also increasingly go the other direction, and they

338
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,360
Speaker 3: could finish with fewer than nine wins, and then there

339
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,000
Speaker 3: would be wholesale changes, no doubt some of the areas

340
00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,520
Speaker 3: on the sideline. But you know, I don't don't think

341
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:06,840
Speaker 3: of it as, oh, look, the Bengals are going to

342
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 3: win nine games again. The truth is there, as you mentioned,

343
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,080
Speaker 3: one of the half dozen or so teams that are

344
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,600
Speaker 3: projected at the top of the AFC where they go

345
00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,400
Speaker 3: from there. You know, the margins are very tight, but

346
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,040
Speaker 3: you know, this is sort of who the Bengals are also.

347
00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,480
Speaker 3: I mean, we tend to think of if you take

348
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 3: a holistic look at the team in the Borough era,

349
00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,440
Speaker 3: you know, throw out his rookie year that didn't count,

350
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,520
Speaker 3: and just the last four years. We think of maybe

351
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,520
Speaker 3: last year as kind of the outlier. Oh, they were

352
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:34,200
Speaker 3: much better than a nine to eight team and they

353
00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,320
Speaker 3: should have been a playoff team. And maybe that's true,

354
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,880
Speaker 3: but by under the hood metrics that we measure play

355
00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:44,240
Speaker 3: by play efficiency DVA, our standard stat really twenty twenty

356
00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,440
Speaker 3: two is the outlier. That's when they were really good

357
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,880
Speaker 3: and had a complete team and were much better than

358
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,280
Speaker 3: you know, sort of the competition, maybe the best team

359
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:53,960
Speaker 3: in football by the end of the year, even though

360
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,000
Speaker 3: it didn't translate to a Super Bowl championship. But the

361
00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,040
Speaker 3: other three seasons that Burrow has been there, they've been

362
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,400
Speaker 3: basically the same team by DVOA and also by records nine,

363
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,680
Speaker 3: nine and ten wins. You know, so this is sort

364
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,000
Speaker 3: of who they are and DVOA isn't going to change

365
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,359
Speaker 3: that until they prove it on the field for more

366
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,720
Speaker 3: than one season, and you know the time is not

367
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:13,800
Speaker 3: to do that, no question about.

368
00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,240
Speaker 1: It is the big difference for the DVOA. The defense.

369
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:23,120
Speaker 1: The defense of DVOA was good in twenty twenty two, correct, Yeah.

370
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,360
Speaker 3: It was much better than it has been the last

371
00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,359
Speaker 3: couple of years. Absolutely, And yes there's also you know,

372
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,520
Speaker 3: subtle changes and when we project forward, you know, there's

373
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,960
Speaker 3: a lot of small differences that get taken into account

374
00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,600
Speaker 3: in terms of you know, personnel changes and a little

375
00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,840
Speaker 3: bit in terms of coaching as well. You know, in

376
00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 3: Cincinnati we're obviously banking a lot on a defensive coordinator change.

377
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,119
Speaker 3: That's the kind of thing that only slightly adjusts the

378
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,199
Speaker 3: statistics ort of the projection of the efficiency ahead of

379
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,640
Speaker 3: the season, but it can have a huge effect when

380
00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,440
Speaker 3: the games actually are played. You know. So another reason

381
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,360
Speaker 3: why should only take those sort of preseason mean projections

382
00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:00,840
Speaker 3: in terms of win totals as a you know, sort

383
00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,679
Speaker 3: of a baseline indicator, but not necessarily something that's going

384
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,560
Speaker 3: to happen in terms of a week by week or

385
00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,040
Speaker 3: an entire season projection.

386
00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 1: Really, we are chatting with our pal Robert Weintraub from

387
00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,840
Speaker 1: the FTN Football Almanac. You can also read his work

388
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,240
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati Magazine. I have not read the Almanac cover

389
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: to cover yet, but I've read a big chunk. And

390
00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:22,280
Speaker 1: here is a sentence from the beginning of the Almanac.

391
00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,480
Speaker 1: It's the fourth paragraph, in fact, and it's about how

392
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:29,040
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles built their Super Bowl championship team. Quote.

393
00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:33,760
Speaker 1: Teams win from the lines out, not from the perimeter

394
00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:38,359
Speaker 1: in So when Bengals fans hear that, I can almost

395
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,720
Speaker 1: picture what they're saying. Ah, the Bengals are paying a

396
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,800
Speaker 1: lot of money on wide receivers when they should be

397
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,359
Speaker 1: focusing on the line. But then I look at the

398
00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 1: Bengals drafts. They took a defensive lineman in the first

399
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,760
Speaker 1: round this year, an offensive lineman in the first round

400
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,600
Speaker 1: last year, another defensive lineman in the first round the

401
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,400
Speaker 1: year before. So what do you think of the Bengals

402
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,359
Speaker 1: team building strategy.

403
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think their hearts, if you will, and minds

404
00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,960
Speaker 3: have been in the right place. I mean, it's it's

405
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,000
Speaker 3: sort of you have to first and foremost before you

406
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:10,600
Speaker 3: build from the lines out. You got to get the

407
00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,919
Speaker 3: quarterback right right, and that they did, and it happened

408
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,080
Speaker 3: to be in this case. You know, in Philadelphia's case,

409
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 3: they still have excellent skill position players. They built from

410
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,439
Speaker 3: the line out because they had a lot of extra

411
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,800
Speaker 3: picks and they focused on that quite a bit and

412
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,560
Speaker 3: they've been able to you know, even when guys get

413
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,560
Speaker 3: lost to free agency or to injury, they are able

414
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,560
Speaker 3: to keep that machine going. Same as Baltimore. Really, Bengals

415
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,080
Speaker 3: haven't had the same you know, track record in developing

416
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,720
Speaker 3: the talent. That's really been where they've fallen behind the

417
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,760
Speaker 3: elite teams. I think though that as you mentioned, they've

418
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,120
Speaker 3: spent quite a bit of draft capital on the interior

419
00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,000
Speaker 3: of their lines and both sides of the ball, that

420
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,560
Speaker 3: hasn't been the issue. And you know, you go back

421
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,600
Speaker 3: into Bengals history, they've always had an elite lineman, going

422
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,880
Speaker 3: back to the Anthony Mino's days right up until Andrew Whitworth,

423
00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,159
Speaker 3: and you know, it's only been a recent vintage that

424
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,359
Speaker 3: they just for whatever reason can't seem to get that

425
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,679
Speaker 3: offensive line in shape the way they needed to play,

426
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 3: and especially with the number of passes that they throw.

427
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,320
Speaker 3: Hopefully Amarius Men's takes that step forward and becomes that

428
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,920
Speaker 3: elite lineman. And you know, we've helped for other guys

429
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:14,719
Speaker 3: on both sides of the ball as well. But you know,

430
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,360
Speaker 3: it's not like the Bengals that, oh, we're gonna pay

431
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 3: our wide receivers and ignore our line. I mean, it

432
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 3: just happened to be a little bit. These things go in,

433
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,560
Speaker 3: you know, kind of dynamic ways, who was available to

434
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 3: pay at what time, and it just so happened to

435
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,399
Speaker 3: be that they're really the only guys that you were

436
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 3: going to pay the big money and extend right now

437
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 3: are the wide receivers. If they had offensive or defensive

438
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,120
Speaker 3: linemen that were just justified in getting that money, I'm

439
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 3: sure they would have given it to him without a

440
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 3: second thought. So, you know, the Trey Hendrickson saga notwithstanding.

441
00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,520
Speaker 3: So it's not like they're ignoring our precepts. And you know,

442
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 3: those are rules that are made to be broken. There's

443
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 3: plenty of teams that could be proven as counter examples

444
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,959
Speaker 3: to the Eagles, who you know, were extreme in that

445
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,439
Speaker 3: particular way of building from the lines out. But you know,

446
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,640
Speaker 3: the Browns forever had Hall of famers on their offensive

447
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,040
Speaker 3: line like Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and they couldn't

448
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,200
Speaker 3: get out of their own way and finish last every

449
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 3: single year. So It's not like it's a hard and

450
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,080
Speaker 3: fast rule, but in general principle, you do want to

451
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,680
Speaker 3: pay attention to the lines on both sides of the ball,

452
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,520
Speaker 3: and the Eagles certainly proved that last season.

453
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 1: Robert, you wrote the Bengals chapter again this year in

454
00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:26,840
Speaker 1: the Almanac, and there's some really interesting information and data

455
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,640
Speaker 1: on lou Anarumo in the Bengals chapter. His defenses were

456
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,359
Speaker 1: great in the playoffs in twenty one and twenty two,

457
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,159
Speaker 1: good in the regular season in twenty twenty two, and

458
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 1: he almost got a head coaching job as a result.

459
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: But as you point out, overall, the body of work

460
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,959
Speaker 1: was not that good. Was the reputation better than the record?

461
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think there's any question. And remember he

462
00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,000
Speaker 3: didn't have much of a reputation when he came to Cincinnati,

463
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 3: and he was hired very late in the process, and

464
00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 3: he was pretty anonymous really up until that twenty twenty

465
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,000
Speaker 3: one playoff run and maybe even until the second half

466
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 3: of the Chiefs came. I mean, that's where his reputation

467
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 3: really was built. Followed up on it with an excellent

468
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,119
Speaker 3: twenty two and two all the way through, as he

469
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 3: pointed out, And you know, but that was a short

470
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 3: sample size, and if you look at the rest.

471
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,119
Speaker 7: Of the years, the two years before and or two

472
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,120
Speaker 7: years before and two years after, defenses weren't that great

473
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,000
Speaker 7: and they had a lot of similar issues, which was

474
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 7: mainly tackling and getting to the passer and you know,

475
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,639
Speaker 7: in a lot of ways, not making the key play

476
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:32,879
Speaker 7: in the key moments in the red.

477
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 3: Zone and on third down. And you know, I think

478
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,000
Speaker 3: looking back on it, he had a certain way of

479
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,399
Speaker 3: style that he wanted to play. Lou And I'm not

480
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 3: denigrating him as a coach, obviously he knows what he's doing,

481
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,760
Speaker 3: but it certainly seemed in the last couple of years

482
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,399
Speaker 3: that once Jesse Bates left, he didn't have an answer

483
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,680
Speaker 3: to it, just to the idea that, Okay, Jesse will

484
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 3: clean up everything that doesn't go exactly right in the

485
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 3: in the rest of the team at a given play.

486
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 3: And he saw that really exacerbated last year I think,

487
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,239
Speaker 3: where he just you know, stuck to a system that

488
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 3: wasn't working for way too long until the season got

489
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 3: away from him. Had issues with a lot of the players,

490
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 3: and you know, when he simplified things that made it

491
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,840
Speaker 3: easier for them and tailored his defense to what the

492
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,119
Speaker 3: guys he had left could do. Well. He saw the

493
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 3: defense improve in the last third of the season, granted

494
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,480
Speaker 3: against you know, some mediocre quarterbacks, but still they played

495
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,120
Speaker 3: a lot better. And you know, I don't think there's

496
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 3: any doubt that if he had gone to that sort

497
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:31,760
Speaker 3: of you know, I'll just use what I have right

498
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 3: now and not you know, kind of force the players

499
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,199
Speaker 3: into playing what I think works best and do what

500
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 3: they do best. A lot earlier in twenty twenty four,

501
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,679
Speaker 3: he might still have a job, but you know he doesn't.

502
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 3: And now we'll see what Al Golden can do with

503
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,199
Speaker 3: basically the same personnel and you know, just a different

504
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 3: approach and a different mindset, and hopefully it works. Obviously

505
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 3: all Bengals fans eyes around him. There's no doubt about that.

506
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: So, speaking of Al Golden, I heard you mentioned in

507
00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 1: a radio interview last week with our mutual friends Moegger

508
00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 1: that you are writing about Al for Cincinnati Magazine. What

509
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,600
Speaker 1: were some of the biggest takeaways from the time that

510
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:08,360
Speaker 1: you spent with him.

511
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and shout out to mo what a guy. I

512
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,880
Speaker 3: think for the most part, it's you know, I didn't

513
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,119
Speaker 3: we didn't really get into like schemes or anything like

514
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 3: that too heavily. But I think the most thing that

515
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 3: I took away was just that, you know, his his

516
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,000
Speaker 3: overall professionalism and confidence in his ability to do the

517
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 3: job and to you know, be a coach at this level.

518
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 3: You know, I think a lot of Bengal fans kind

519
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 3: of only know him as a position coach from the

520
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,600
Speaker 3: Super Bowl team and then a guy who left to

521
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 3: go to Notre Dame and coordinate a really good defense

522
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 3: there and now he's coming back to try and prove

523
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,640
Speaker 3: himself here. But you know, that's not really who Al

524
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 3: Golden is. He's a programmed builder, head coach in college

525
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,679
Speaker 3: at multiple places, and the guy who actually won games

526
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 3: at Temple, which is almost impossible to do. He knows

527
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,120
Speaker 3: what he's doing. He has an absolutely dedicated approach that

528
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 3: he you know, has proven successful in a number of stops.

529
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 3: And you know, the NFL is a different animal, and

530
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 3: whether you can win on a consistent basis in this

531
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 3: league with your style remains to be seen. But he

532
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 3: definitely knows what he's doing and is very confident of that.

533
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,160
Speaker 3: There's no doubt about that.

534
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,200
Speaker 1: The last time he was here, there was a season

535
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: where the Bengals drafted three linebackers out of seven picks,

536
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 1: including Logan Wilson, and they all turned out to be

537
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: good players. This year, two of their top four draft

538
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,159
Speaker 1: picks were linebackers. Demetrius Knight is likely to start from

539
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: day one. Is linebacker especially critical to an l golden defense?

540
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:40,200
Speaker 3: You know, he certainly thinks, so who might argue with him? Yeah,

541
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 3: I think in general terms, he's looking at it as

542
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 3: two ways that you know, he wants to increase the

543
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,720
Speaker 3: speed of the defense and the tackling at that position.

544
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 3: So that's why they went after, especially a player like Knight,

545
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 3: and that can obviously help your defense as a whole.

546
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 3: You know, there's an old saying in football, if your

547
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,399
Speaker 3: linebackers are faster, defense fast, and I think, you know,

548
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,119
Speaker 3: we saw the opposite be true in a lot of

549
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 3: ways in Cincinnati last year. And I also think that,

550
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,120
Speaker 3: you know, for the most part, he saw a lot

551
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 3: of guys that he could already work with in Cincinnati

552
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,399
Speaker 3: at the other position groups on the defensive line and

553
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 3: in the secondary, almost thinking all right, I mean, you know,

554
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 3: he only had so many draft picks to play with

555
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 3: per se, but I mean, you know, he figured out

556
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,359
Speaker 3: we had the talent on hand up front, and then

557
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,119
Speaker 3: the defensive backfield linebacker is really the place where we

558
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 3: can really improve. And you know, the idea is that

559
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,720
Speaker 3: with the new personnel, the two picks you mentioned, plus

560
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,840
Speaker 3: maybe an Orang Burks chips in as well and his

561
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,320
Speaker 3: sort of you know, not over reliance, but more reliance,

562
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 3: I think you'll see a lot more of a three

563
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,760
Speaker 3: linebacker sets than you've seen in the past. Certainly, you know,

564
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 3: the league kind of went to three wide receivers, which

565
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 3: tended to take a lot of the linebackers off the

566
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 3: field quite a bit, but that seems to be swinging

567
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 3: a little bit the other way. And certainly in the

568
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 3: AFC North, you always want to play good run defense.

569
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 3: So I think he looks at it as there's a

570
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 3: place where the defense and immediately be improved. Can really

571
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,120
Speaker 3: set a different kind of attitude for the team, and

572
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 3: you know, give a different look than the defenses that

573
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 3: were gashed the last couple of years, and maybe make

574
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,679
Speaker 3: offensive coordinators of the opposition think they'll have to go

575
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:14,959
Speaker 3: find another way to move the ball.

576
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,520
Speaker 1: Against Cincinnati, we are chatting with Robert Weintraub from the

577
00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,719
Speaker 1: FTN Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk offensive line.

578
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 1: It looks like third round draft pick Dylan Fairchild will

579
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,920
Speaker 1: be the starting left guard this year. Right guard still

580
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 1: up for grabs, could be Cody Ford, could be Lucas Patrick.

581
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,879
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody else like Cordel Vohlson sneaks in there and

582
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: wins the spot. You have referred to the battle at

583
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: right guard as the melee of mediocrates. Is that position,

584
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: or guard in general, the big worry in your mind

585
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: going into this year?

586
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 3: I mean, certainly on the offense, it is no question.

587
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 3: You know, it's we've seen now in the NFL where

588
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,679
Speaker 3: defenses are really attacking quarterbacks up the middle more and

589
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,119
Speaker 3: more the linemen that they have to play against and

590
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 3: up the gut at defensive tackle or getting ever more

591
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 3: talented and giving a lot more pressure up the middle,

592
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 3: and the The Bengals have responded by essentially turning over

593
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 3: the position to a rookie who is a good prospect

594
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,720
Speaker 3: deal and Fairchild, but it's you know, it's not Quenton

595
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 3: Nelson or somebody coming into the league as a slam

596
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 3: dunk player, and you know, a journeyman in probably Lucas Patrick.

597
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 3: As you say, most likely has the leg up, but again,

598
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,240
Speaker 3: who's missed a lot of time seventeen games, I think

599
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 3: it is over the last three years, and you know,

600
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 3: not much behind them except for stopgap you know, answers

601
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,919
Speaker 3: really there, and I guess it's still certainly possible they

602
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 3: could call somebody in the off the sofa, but that

603
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 3: has its own issues. And you know, it's just you

604
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 3: have such a such an lead offense and so many

605
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 3: other places, and you know, to have it be at

606
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 3: acting and operating at its max doesn't require every single

607
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 3: position to be awesome, but it does require every position

608
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 3: not to be terrible, or these you know, two key

609
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,160
Speaker 3: positions in the same position group not to be terrible.

610
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 3: So the bar isn't really all that high for the

611
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 3: likes of Dylan Fairschild and Nucas Patrick or whoever plays

612
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,239
Speaker 3: right guard. They just have to be a little bit

613
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 3: above replacement level player, which is unfortunately the level that

614
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,719
Speaker 3: the Bengals have seen over the last few years at

615
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 3: some of those spots. So, you know, I'm a little

616
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 3: pessimistic about the idea of turning your you know, this

617
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 3: sort of lamborghinium and offense and then worrying about the

618
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 3: hug caps falling off if you know, you wind up

619
00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 3: playing a rookie and a journeyman at these important spots.

620
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 3: But you know, that's sort of where we are now.

621
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:34,080
Speaker 3: We're just gonna have to hope for the best.

622
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: I suppose the Bengals are definitely going to be playing

623
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: younger players on defense. And here's another line from the

624
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 1: Almanac that caught my eye. Quote old players break down

625
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 1: faster and young players improve faster. Does that bode well

626
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:51,959
Speaker 1: for this defense under Al Golden?

627
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 3: I mean one would hope. So the defense is certainly young.

628
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 3: I feel like the problem last year in a lot

629
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 3: of ways, unfortunately, was that the young player is broke though,

630
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:03,240
Speaker 3: you know, I mean you look at the likes of

631
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 3: Dax Hill and DJ Turner just the name too, you know,

632
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 3: key elements, key factors, both guys who seem to be

633
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 3: on the verge of kind of breaking through and then

634
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,000
Speaker 3: they were lost for the season. And you know, that's

635
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 3: the NFL. I mean, that's that's just the way it works.

636
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 3: But you know, just because you're young doesn't mean you're

637
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:23,720
Speaker 3: immune to injury. Obviously, you want to be young, fast

638
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 3: and hungry, and if you're putting so much money. As

639
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 3: the Bengals are into their offense, there's sort of no option.

640
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 3: You're going to have to rely on younger players who

641
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 3: don't make a lot of money to you know, get

642
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 3: the job done. And I think that's you know, Al

643
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 3: Golden has proven that as his specialty. Certainly in Notre Dame.

644
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 3: He coached up a lot of young guys and turned

645
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 3: them into a fearsome unit. I think that's what everybody's

646
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 3: counting on him to do here in Cincinnati, and you know,

647
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 3: I hope for the best, but you know, they have

648
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 3: to stay healthy. And I think that was a big

649
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 3: underrated element to last year's quote unquote defensive breakdown in

650
00:30:57,880 --> 00:30:59,560
Speaker 3: a lot of ways was the fact that a lot

651
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 3: of guys not only we're out for a season, but

652
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,640
Speaker 3: you know, got off to an injured starting training camp

653
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 3: and never really got up to speed up to full speed.

654
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,280
Speaker 3: They were playing from behind the eight ball the whole time.

655
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 3: Hopefully they can stay healthy. Injuries always happened, but you

656
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 3: hope that Dell, certainly with the young players that have

657
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 3: been picked highly in the draft in a few recent years,

658
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,240
Speaker 3: can stay on the field and prove their worth. That's

659
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:21,960
Speaker 3: really been the issue for them so far.

660
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,200
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson is in the building, but he's not practicing.

661
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: We're not sure what's going to happen with his contract.

662
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 1: He obviously is under contract for this year. He had

663
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 1: seventeen and a half sacks. Last year, his teammates combined

664
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,120
Speaker 1: had eighteen and a half. How vital is Trey Hendrickson

665
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:40,880
Speaker 1: to the Bengals Super Bowl hopes?

666
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, he's one of their best players, and

667
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,120
Speaker 3: it's hard to win a Super Bowl without your best

668
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 3: players being healthy and producing at a high level. I mean,

669
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 3: that part's obvious, you know. I kind of feel that

670
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 3: just by nature of his position, there's certainly a number

671
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,760
Speaker 3: of guys, including the player that they just picked, you know,

672
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 3: for in the draft this past year, Samar Stewart, who

673
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 3: are available to at least provide, you know, a healthy

674
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 3: amount of percentage of what he provided at least last year,

675
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,400
Speaker 3: you know, and maybe they can get by without him

676
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,360
Speaker 3: operating at one hundred percent or if he has to

677
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 3: miss a few games, whatever, you know. I look to

678
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,760
Speaker 3: a player, maybe like a Marius Mims or Orlando Brown

679
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 3: as even more critical that they have to stay healthy

680
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,960
Speaker 3: and on the field and be there because of what's

681
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 3: behind them, which is not much. And because of what

682
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 3: we expect from both those players. You know, obviously, as

683
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 3: we say, to make a Super Bowl run, to make

684
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 3: a deep playoff run, it's hard to do without your

685
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,479
Speaker 3: very best guys, and Trey is certainly one of their

686
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 3: very best guys. And I think you know you mentioned

687
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 3: before about the question about older players breaking fast. I mean,

688
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,960
Speaker 3: I think that's what Cincinnati's front office has in the

689
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 3: front of their mind in terms of contract negotiations with Trey,

690
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,640
Speaker 3: is that the greatest he's been in the past. The

691
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 3: overwhelming likelihood of players of his age and his position

692
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 3: going forward is that of breaking down or you know,

693
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 3: certainly losing a percentage of ability to play through an

694
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 3: entire season. So you just hope that Trey will be

695
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:11,600
Speaker 3: signed happy and make it through an entire season and

696
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 3: have it be anywhere close to what he had last year,

697
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 3: because he was, as you mentioned, virtually the entirety of

698
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 3: their pass rush, although surprisingly enough, in twenty twenty three

699
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 3: and twenty twenty four the past the pressure rate excuse me,

700
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 3: it was almost exactly the same. It was just that

701
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 3: the sacks themselves fell off, and the adjusted sack rate

702
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 3: the percentage of sacks these a vi the dropbacks that

703
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,479
Speaker 3: they faced fell off dramatically, so you know, again it

704
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 3: was the margins that really hurt them. If you think

705
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,880
Speaker 3: back to the games last year, how many times did

706
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 3: they almost sacked the quarterback and yet the quarterback escaped

707
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 3: they made a big play. Lamar Jackson's made a career

708
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 3: of that against Cincinnati, or even the opener when Trey

709
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,960
Speaker 3: came so close against Jacoby Brissette against the Patriots in

710
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 3: that game and just couldn't bring him down. You know,

711
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't feel like the defense is even

712
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 3: that far off in that could and obviously having Hendrickson

713
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,719
Speaker 3: on the team can only help in that fashion.

714
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: Robert, there are a ton of interesting stats and nuggets

715
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,239
Speaker 1: in the Almanac in addition to fantastic writing. But here

716
00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,399
Speaker 1: are a couple of nuggets that really surprised me. Number One,

717
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 1: the Bengals led the NFL in dropped passes. I would

718
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:23,040
Speaker 1: have never guessed that. Number Two, the Bengals were really

719
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 1: bad at running plays when Joe Burrow was under center.

720
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,879
Speaker 1: For the last several years, we've talked about, Oh, he's

721
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,239
Speaker 1: got to get under center more to help the running game.

722
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: Did those nuggets or any others really jump out to you?

723
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:38,839
Speaker 3: Well, I tell you I wasn't not shocked, but those

724
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:41,400
Speaker 3: two that you cite. And here's why. The drop passes

725
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,759
Speaker 3: mostly as a function of the fact that the Bengals threw

726
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,359
Speaker 3: it so much, their volume was so high. Surprisingly, only

727
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,040
Speaker 3: the Browns threw it more than the Bengals did last season.

728
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,880
Speaker 3: Amazingly enough, they had the same number of attempts almost

729
00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,920
Speaker 3: but the Bengals completed I think about eleven percentage points

730
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,200
Speaker 3: higher than the Browns, which is almost impossible if you

731
00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 3: throw the same amount of passes. But that's a whole

732
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,040
Speaker 3: different story. So you know, it just goes to show

733
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,760
Speaker 3: if they had caught more of those grabs, how incredible

734
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 3: burrow season really would have been. But it wasn't truly shocking,

735
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 3: just from a volume point of view. And yeah, we've

736
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 3: been talking forever about how getting Burrow under center can

737
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,480
Speaker 3: really help diversify the offense. I think when Eric All

738
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,040
Speaker 3: was on the field that they tried to lean in

739
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 3: that direction a little bit more, and when he got hurt,

740
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:24,200
Speaker 3: you know, they went right back to their comfort zone.

741
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 3: I mean, Joe Burrow is an elite shotgun player, and

742
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 3: they've always had heavy splits in that department where they

743
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,439
Speaker 3: were very good with him both throwing and running from

744
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 3: the shotgun, and very poor under center. And without a

745
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,000
Speaker 3: dedicated effort to really try and even those two splits out,

746
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 3: it's kind of just going to be that way, and

747
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,480
Speaker 3: you know, hopefully we can see that change as the

748
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 3: personnel maybe changes going forward. I think the stat that

749
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 3: really jumped out of me as being most indicative of

750
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 3: the entire season, however, was the fact that the Bengals

751
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,760
Speaker 3: spent more time than any other team tied during their games.

752
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 3: Almost a full quarter every game was spent tied, and

753
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:06,279
Speaker 3: that just shows you how close the margins were and

754
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:10,600
Speaker 3: how even everything was, and how you know, coming out

755
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 3: at nine and eight almost was sort of, you know,

756
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,839
Speaker 3: proper too bad they couldn't go eight and eight, and

757
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 3: just you know, everything came down it seemed like every

758
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,200
Speaker 3: week to a coin flip, and so many of them fell,

759
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,680
Speaker 3: you know, on the wrong side of the fence, if

760
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:25,439
Speaker 3: you will, and they just have to get a couple

761
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 3: of those games on the right side of the fence,

762
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,680
Speaker 3: and we think about the team in an entirely different way.

763
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 3: That would really be what I'm looking forward for this

764
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 3: season is to win some of those close games and

765
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 3: hopefully the defense making plays, you know. And another stat

766
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,479
Speaker 3: that leeds to mind is that they, you know, really

767
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,880
Speaker 3: had a good season in terms of, you know, average

768
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 3: yards per attempt against. The secondary was much maligned, but

769
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,839
Speaker 3: on a play to play basis, they weren't that bad.

770
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 3: But they gave up thirty touchdowns and their the rate

771
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:56,720
Speaker 3: of touchdown passes against was at the bottom of the league.

772
00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,200
Speaker 3: So if you just you know, you make some of

773
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,440
Speaker 3: those plays and tackle them at the eight yard line

774
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,440
Speaker 3: and you reset and you force the team and kick

775
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 3: a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown, that changes

776
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 3: everything in the game. We don't really think of it

777
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,920
Speaker 3: as that way when you take the holistic look at it,

778
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,479
Speaker 3: the big picture look, but you know, on a play

779
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 3: to play basis, that's really where the Bengals were killed

780
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,160
Speaker 3: last year. And if they can improve that, dave as

781
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:19,880
Speaker 3: a good chance as anybody as being a you know,

782
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:21,959
Speaker 3: in a week team in a Upper Russia on team

783
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:22,400
Speaker 3: for sure.

784
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 1: A few more topics for Robert Wintrop from the FTN

785
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk about the AFC North,

786
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:36,319
Speaker 1: the Almanac makes a compelling case that Baltimore statistically has

787
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,400
Speaker 1: been one of the best teams in the modern era,

788
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:42,200
Speaker 1: and yet they have not been to the Super Bowl

789
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:47,680
Speaker 1: with Lamar Jackson at quarterback? Is something obvious holding them back?

790
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,480
Speaker 1: What's the deal? You know?

791
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:52,800
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't think it's obvious. I think it's

792
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 3: they've just come up against and had misfortune in the

793
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,040
Speaker 3: biggest of spots. And you know, it's hard for a

794
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 3: statistical based organization like we are to really put our

795
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:06,279
Speaker 3: finger exactly on why that seemingly keeps happening. It wasn't

796
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,719
Speaker 3: that long ago, you remember, though, that they seem to

797
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,320
Speaker 3: be in a bit of a flux and Lamarrow obviously

798
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 3: was playing out his contract and in a dispute maybe

799
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,319
Speaker 3: yet for trade, maybe there was collusion to keep him

800
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,319
Speaker 3: from being traded, whatever. But you know, we thought of

801
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 3: the team as having a lot of holes and maybe

802
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,400
Speaker 3: in a direction that they didn't want to go in.

803
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 3: And in typical Raven fashion, they managed to have a

804
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,359
Speaker 3: couple of really high impact drafts in a row, and

805
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,040
Speaker 3: Lamar came back and obviously came back that almost better

806
00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 3: than ever. And it's unfortunate, but that's the truth, we

807
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,040
Speaker 3: were almost rid of him and we just couldn't quite

808
00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,799
Speaker 3: get him out of the division. But there's no doubt

809
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,359
Speaker 3: they've they've been probably the first or second best team

810
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,320
Speaker 3: overall over the last couple of years in the regular season.

811
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 3: But you know, they have this thing, and it's certainly

812
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 3: not unprecedented in football history or sports history for a

813
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,720
Speaker 3: team just to be really good and yet not break

814
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:00,719
Speaker 3: through to the championship level, you know, until they do.

815
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 3: I mean, many's the time that the team has stubbed

816
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 3: their toe on the way up multiple seasons in a row,

817
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 3: only to finally then break through it one year or

818
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 3: a number of years. I don't think we want that

819
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,120
Speaker 3: to happen in Cincinnati at the expense of the Bengals.

820
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 3: But you know, in ravens Land, I'm sure they're thinking

821
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 3: they're just really close. There's no point in changing things.

822
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,520
Speaker 3: They don't have a lot of, you know, things that

823
00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 3: they can point to and say, oh, this is the

824
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,080
Speaker 3: reason why we're losing in these you know, high impact,

825
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 3: you know, high pressure playoff games. They've just made a

826
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:33,800
Speaker 3: few less plays than the opposition in those handful of games,

827
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:35,920
Speaker 3: and there's you know, there's only so much you can

828
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 3: do about it, except, you know, play better on the day.

829
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 3: I guess you'd have to say.

830
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,760
Speaker 1: You wrote the Pittsburgh Steelers chapter in the Almanac this year.

831
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 1: Is this the year that Mike tomlin streak of never

832
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: having had a losing season ends in year nineteen?

833
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 3: Well, I mean to answer your own question almost by

834
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,439
Speaker 3: saying it in that way, it's almost impossible to think

835
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 3: right out. I'm never one to soft pedal the Steelers.

836
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 3: I've learned that lesson the hard way. With a lot

837
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,279
Speaker 3: of black and gold cleats on the back of my head.

838
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,880
Speaker 3: It feels like they have a lot of good players,

839
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,080
Speaker 3: a lot of good players. I mean, you look past

840
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:19,120
Speaker 3: their quarterback dysfunction, and obviously that's a huge thing. And

841
00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,799
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to say that's not important. That's the

842
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 3: most important thing really, But you know, the Bengals have

843
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 3: lost the Steelers with the players like Duck Hodges and

844
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 3: Kenny Pickett and all kinds of you know, mediocre the

845
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 3: worst quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. So you know, we don't know

846
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 3: what Aaron Rodgers is going to give them, if he

847
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:38,800
Speaker 3: gives them even sort of a you know, just above

848
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 3: average play. They they do have a ton of young talent,

849
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 3: especially as we were talking about, you know, on the

850
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,279
Speaker 3: lines on both sides of the ball, and a lot

851
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:51,320
Speaker 3: of good defensive players. They think they have an answer

852
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:55,240
Speaker 3: and they're gonna do what they do. It certainly seems

853
00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:57,840
Speaker 3: that they have a hard ceiling that even with the

854
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,319
Speaker 3: winning record, you know, it obviously hasn't worked for them

855
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,640
Speaker 3: in the playoffs in many years. They have a long

856
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:07,160
Speaker 3: streak now of seasons without a playoff win. But to

857
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 3: say that they're not going to you know, have a

858
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:11,880
Speaker 3: winning record or you know, to fall off in crater

859
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 3: into some kind of five and twelve team, I don't

860
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,319
Speaker 3: see that at all. And you know, I think the

861
00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:18,440
Speaker 3: Bengals and the Steelers will be battling it out right

862
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,799
Speaker 3: off until the end for maybe that maybe that that

863
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:24,280
Speaker 3: second playoff position behind the Ravens.

864
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:29,440
Speaker 1: And here's a hard hitting analytically based question to conclude

865
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,920
Speaker 1: our discussion of the AFC North. Well, the Cleveland Brown stink.

866
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,399
Speaker 3: They already do. I mean, come on, I can smell

867
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 3: them from here, listen. Yeah, I mean it's they already

868
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 3: were bad. And you know, their quarterback situation is you know,

869
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:52,080
Speaker 3: difficult to describe almost and it just gets worse. They

870
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,280
Speaker 3: you know, just lost Martine Emerson to a terrible injury

871
00:41:55,280 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 3: in training camp. And Joker Jeremiah Owazu Karamosa always a

872
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,880
Speaker 3: hard name to say, Jay Okay exactly. He's a guy

873
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,760
Speaker 3: who's always given the Bengals fits with his speed and range,

874
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,279
Speaker 3: and you know, now he's gonna miss the season of course,

875
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,520
Speaker 3: and his careers in jeopardy. Just seems like there's just

876
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 3: negative juju as usual there and saying that, you know,

877
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 3: I mean, the Bengals were actually the only team to

878
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,839
Speaker 3: sweep the Browns in the AFC North last year. They

879
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,360
Speaker 3: split with the Ravens and the Steelers. Surprisingly enough, I

880
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,960
Speaker 3: know it doesn't feel that way. And the games between

881
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 3: Cincy and Cleveland, you know, better than anybody, they always

882
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,360
Speaker 3: are tough, regardless of you know, the relative merits of

883
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,359
Speaker 3: either team. Miles Garrett is still there. He's always going

884
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 3: to cause a problem for the Bengals no matter what happens.

885
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,840
Speaker 3: I mean, they're not going to be good, but that

886
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,080
Speaker 3: doesn't mean the Bengals are gonna have walkovers over them

887
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:45,960
Speaker 3: in either the games they play this year, and they'll

888
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 3: be you know, they'll be a pain in the butt

889
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:49,719
Speaker 3: for somebody along the way, for sure, but overall you

890
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:52,960
Speaker 3: can't think of them is they're obviously rebuilding and looking

891
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,080
Speaker 3: to the future in amassing picks and trying to rebuild.

892
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 1: Robert I mentioned you have a profile of al Golden

893
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,839
Speaker 1: coming up in Cincinnati Magazine. Can we look forward to

894
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,680
Speaker 1: your weekly reviews of the Bengals performances throughout the course

895
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:07,120
Speaker 1: of the year.

896
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:09,879
Speaker 3: Yes, And that's how I like to think of them,

897
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:13,040
Speaker 3: as almost like theatrical reviews of the team. You know,

898
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,440
Speaker 3: I don't want to get too burned down with the

899
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:18,560
Speaker 3: statistics like I do in the Albanac. I want to

900
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:23,120
Speaker 3: give more of a featuristic and artistic presentation of the

901
00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,319
Speaker 3: team as best I can. And yes, I will be

902
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:28,759
Speaker 3: doing that once again. I think it's my really eighth

903
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 3: or ninth year now of doing it, so I'm not

904
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,239
Speaker 3: even one hundred percent sure off the top of my

905
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 3: head if to go back and look, but yes, I

906
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,440
Speaker 3: will be doing a weekly recap of our heroes on

907
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 3: the Sporting Green and you can look forward to that

908
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:43,279
Speaker 3: Cincinnaimagazine dot com under my byline each week. Thank you

909
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:45,360
Speaker 3: for promoting that they are always great.

910
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:50,319
Speaker 1: And you also wrote the definitive Dave Lapham profile a

911
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,239
Speaker 1: few years ago. I imagine you were thrilled to see

912
00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:55,240
Speaker 1: him selected into the Bengals Ring of Honor.

913
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,239
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm only hoping that I'll get the stand alongside

914
00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:03,680
Speaker 3: Dave when they and he's actually fitted by the Cincinnati

915
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 3: greater public there nobody deserves it more than him. I mean,

916
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:10,000
Speaker 3: you know that better than anybody. What a presence he's

917
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,880
Speaker 3: been in Cincinnati for all these decades now. It's incredible

918
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:16,879
Speaker 3: and just what he continues to bring his energy never

919
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,680
Speaker 3: seems to flag. It's really an incredible career he's put together,

920
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,600
Speaker 3: both as a player and as a broadcaster. I can't

921
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,399
Speaker 3: think of anybody really more beloved in Cincinnati than Dave.

922
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,240
Speaker 3: And what a great thing to have him have that honor.

923
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:33,360
Speaker 3: He's certainly deserving having his name and number up there forever.

924
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:36,400
Speaker 1: Absolutely can't wait for that to happen when the Bengals

925
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:40,200
Speaker 1: host the Jets. Last thing, I love great sports writing,

926
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,880
Speaker 1: and that's why I love the New York City or

927
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:48,000
Speaker 1: NYC one thousand. We've discussed it on this podcast before,

928
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,840
Speaker 1: but for those who have not heard of your great

929
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,880
Speaker 1: labor of love, tell them what it's all about.

930
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:56,880
Speaker 3: My God, we're almost getting to number seven hundred if

931
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:57,480
Speaker 3: you can believe it.

932
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:02,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, like I was really impressed to see that it's

933
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 1: like seven oh four.

934
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, or getting there. I hope I live long enough

935
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:08,520
Speaker 3: to get all the way to the end. But you know,

936
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:11,160
Speaker 3: I'm running every day, swimming, keeping in shape, doing what

937
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:14,800
Speaker 3: I can. Yes, it is a countdown of the one

938
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:19,600
Speaker 3: thousand greatest sporting events in New York City sporting history.

939
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:24,120
Speaker 3: That's a redundancy. Sorry, And yeah, the conceit as it

940
00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,000
Speaker 3: has to have happened in New York, which, despite this

941
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:31,120
Speaker 3: being a Cincinnati based podcast, is still very worthwhile. Don't

942
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:34,560
Speaker 3: think badly about Gotham. I beg of you, And yeah,

943
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:37,360
Speaker 3: it's really just a way to get not just sporting history,

944
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:39,719
Speaker 3: but you know American history, so much of that is

945
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:42,920
Speaker 3: tied into New York. I feel like over these past

946
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,200
Speaker 3: couple hundred beautiful seasons, and you know, it's everything from

947
00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,840
Speaker 3: the things you would imagine the Yankee Baseball of course,

948
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:54,760
Speaker 3: and all kinds of great World Series moments to boxing

949
00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,320
Speaker 3: and horse racing and track and field and anything else

950
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:00,640
Speaker 3: I can find that is, you know, outside of sort

951
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 3: of the main actors and you know, all the great

952
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:05,040
Speaker 3: players who have passed through there. It's just a way

953
00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:07,840
Speaker 3: to really get your handle on the history of sports

954
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 3: as it's sort of refracted through a New York lens.

955
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:12,520
Speaker 3: It's been, as you say, a great labor of love.

956
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,480
Speaker 3: I've enjoyed every second of it. I'm very appreciative sorry

957
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:19,839
Speaker 3: of readers like you, Dan, who not only talk about

958
00:46:19,880 --> 00:46:22,560
Speaker 3: it on their podcast but send me the occasional text

959
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:26,040
Speaker 3: wondering why such and such sport event is not higher

960
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,320
Speaker 3: than it is on the list. But you know the number.

961
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,200
Speaker 3: I just followed the numbers. I ranked them in six

962
00:46:30,239 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 3: different categories, and you know, like the analytics based guy

963
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:35,279
Speaker 3: that I am, I just do what the numbers tell

964
00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,200
Speaker 3: me to do. So I hope everybody enjoys it, and

965
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:42,360
Speaker 3: you can find it NYC one thousand at substack dot com.

966
00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:45,680
Speaker 1: It's great stuff, and I think the ultimate compliment I

967
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:48,759
Speaker 1: can pay about the NYC one thousand is that a

968
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:53,400
Speaker 1: legitimate percentage of the time I see the two topics

969
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 1: you typically do to at a time and I think, well,

970
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:58,560
Speaker 1: that thing doesn't really interested me all that much, and

971
00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:02,160
Speaker 1: then I read it. The writing is great and you

972
00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:05,160
Speaker 1: bring these stories to life that I wind up loving it.

973
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:07,359
Speaker 1: So I'm sure that's one of the things you set

974
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:08,560
Speaker 1: out to do when you succeed.

975
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:11,439
Speaker 3: Well, you know, the only new thing in the world

976
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:13,880
Speaker 3: is the history that you don't know, right, So I

977
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,840
Speaker 3: mean that's really my approach to this. And you know,

978
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:18,480
Speaker 3: I learned a lot along the way, too, which is

979
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:21,719
Speaker 3: always great. It's not like I'm some omniscient sports historian.

980
00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:24,840
Speaker 3: I learned a lot about these guys and you know,

981
00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:28,040
Speaker 3: things that are going on sort of around the games

982
00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:30,160
Speaker 3: at the same time, and that's as important to me

983
00:47:30,200 --> 00:47:32,719
Speaker 3: as the games themselves. So you know, it's really been

984
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:35,160
Speaker 3: a lot of fun to do and just a way

985
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:38,360
Speaker 3: to learn a lot about things about my native city

986
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:40,880
Speaker 3: that I didn't know and things about all these sporting

987
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:44,400
Speaker 3: greats and teams that I didn't know about ahead of

988
00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:46,560
Speaker 3: time either, and just get a chance to pass them

989
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 3: along to readers like you. So thanks a lot with.

990
00:47:48,640 --> 00:47:53,040
Speaker 1: That, Dan, You bet good job with the Bengals chapter

991
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:55,680
Speaker 1: in the Almanac. As always looked forward to the al

992
00:47:55,760 --> 00:48:00,000
Speaker 1: Golden Profile and your continued look at the Cincinnati Bengal

993
00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:01,240
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the season.

994
00:48:01,239 --> 00:48:04,000
Speaker 3: Thanks to your time, Robert, No, thank you, Dan, and

995
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:06,800
Speaker 3: uh listen, we're going to have eleven or twelve wins,

996
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 3: not nine. Putting it down right now.

997
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:11,600
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of the

998
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:14,400
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud

999
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,400
Speaker 1: to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by aulta

1000
00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:21,560
Speaker 1: Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,

1001
00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:24,840
Speaker 1: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering

1002
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 1: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health

1003
00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:32,200
Speaker 1: is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you

1004
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:35,640
Speaker 1: haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and

1005
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:37,640
Speaker 1: if you have them in it, given a rating or

1006
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:41,640
Speaker 1: share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.

1007
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals

1008
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:46,919
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast