Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
Speaker 2: The we are the Kings of the weekend edition as
Speaker 2: Dave Lapham joins me to break down the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four Bengals draft class. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 2: perfectly struck golf shot.
Speaker 1: I played golf with.
Speaker 2: A buddy a few days ago and on one Part three,
Speaker 2: I hit a seven iron as well as it could
Speaker 2: possibly be hit. It was majestically high and straight as
Speaker 2: an arrow. It looked like the shot tracker that you
Speaker 2: would see if you were watching PGA tour coverage on
Speaker 2: TV now Unfortunately, I hit the ball so well that
Speaker 2: it flew well past the flag. But you know what,
Speaker 2: so what, it was perfectly struck, the type of shot
Speaker 2: that keeps you coming back for more. Now, let's get
Speaker 2: to Day three of the draft. The Bengals had six
Speaker 2: picks on Saturday, and frankly, I'm surprised they used all
Speaker 2: of them. I would have been willing to bet that
Speaker 2: at some point they would have traded one of their
Speaker 2: extra six or seventh rounders to move up, but they didn't,
Speaker 2: and you'd never know what Day three pick is going
Speaker 2: to pan out. Their first selection on Saturday was tight
Speaker 2: end Eric All, a Cincinnati kid from Fairfield High School
Speaker 2: who spent most of his college career at Michigan before
Speaker 2: finishing with this season at Iowa. Eric undoubtedly would have
Speaker 2: gone higher than the fourth round if not for injuries.
Speaker 2: He had a back problem two years ago and tore
Speaker 2: his ACL last season. Here's offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. Very
Speaker 2: well rounded, skill set, size, athleticism, contributor in both the
Speaker 2: past game in the run game.
Speaker 3: He's physical. We think he can be.
Speaker 2: Really an all around tight end that can help us
Speaker 2: in all phases. Eric said it was surreal to be
Speaker 2: drafted by his hometown team, and he sounded giddy about
Speaker 2: the opportunity to catch passes from Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: Crazy. I remember watching the man at LSU just doing
Speaker 1: his thing and just playing a team. You know, he
Speaker 1: just you know, it's pensive standard for the quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: the league, and he's.
Speaker 4: Just all, you know, it's going to be crazy cutching
Speaker 4: the ball from it.
Speaker 2: In the fifth round, the Bengals chose cornerback Josh Newton
Speaker 2: out of TCU. He's not a burner, as he ran
Speaker 2: a four or five forty at the combine, but Newton
Speaker 2: was highly productive with forty pass breakups in his college career.
Speaker 2: Here's defensive coordinator louena Arumo a.
Speaker 5: Lot to like, plays inside, plays outside, you know, play
Speaker 5: a bunch of games at nicol As I mentioned, He's
Speaker 5: had over thirty plus tackles in three consecutive years seven
Speaker 5: I believe seven interceptions in his career. Was first team
Speaker 5: All Big twelve and twenty two. So great kid, great
Speaker 5: football instincts, awareness, Like everything about his game.
Speaker 2: Newton isn't shy about saying where he would like to
Speaker 2: play and why he would like to play there.
Speaker 1: I mean Honestly, I like outside really the business, you know, outside,
Speaker 1: the outside money, But man, is I really don't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if I had the pig, yeah, outside, because you know,
Speaker 1: the outside running, then you know that's a that's an eight,
Speaker 1: eight matches and all this. So I mean, bro, whatever
Speaker 1: I feed in and whatever the cozey like, I'm trying
Speaker 1: to be a Swiss.
Speaker 2: With their first pick of the sixth round, the Bengals
Speaker 2: chose another tight end, six foot five inch Tanner McLaughlin
Speaker 2: out of Arizona. He's a receiver more than a blocker
Speaker 2: and actually broke Rob Groundkowski's school record for most career
Speaker 2: catches by a tight end.
Speaker 1: Here's Zach Taylor.
Speaker 3: He can win. In the past game, he can win,
Speaker 3: and I think you guys can can picture tight ends
Speaker 3: that have success here in the past couple of years
Speaker 3: for us. You know where they they turned something short
Speaker 3: and something much bigger. You know, on a third and
Speaker 3: five they turn it into first down, they break tackles.
Speaker 3: He's got really good awareness, zone awareness. He's just got
Speaker 3: that sabbiness that I think is critical for tight ends
Speaker 3: to have. He can be a threat down the middlefield.
Speaker 3: He's got good nuance on his routes, and I think
Speaker 3: he's continued to develop as a blocker. He's got the
Speaker 3: body type for it, six ' five. I think he
Speaker 3: could be a for the high two forties. And so
Speaker 3: did a lot of research on these guys. You know,
Speaker 3: we've watched these tough I mean, I don't even know
Speaker 3: how many times we've watched these tight ends. But I
Speaker 3: really like him. Jed Fish is a good friend of mine.
Speaker 3: So I've watched Arizona play for the last three years,
Speaker 3: every game probably, and you know, I had seen Tanner
Speaker 3: and then you study the tape and I really liked it,
Speaker 3: and Jed confirmed all the things that I thought about him.
Speaker 2: One knock on McLaughlin is his age. He was on
Speaker 2: college rosters for six years and turned twenty five last month.
Speaker 1: Through the process, you could, you know, some said it
Speaker 1: was a benefit, some sat was the negative, but I
Speaker 1: believe it to be a benefit. I've always been kind
Speaker 1: of a late bloomer, and you know, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna ride with it. I My age is what it is,
Speaker 1: but I'm excited to, you know, go out there and
Speaker 1: continue to develop. So I think my best balls ahead
Speaker 1: of me.
Speaker 2: Later in the sixth Cincinnati picked edge rusher Cedric Johnson
Speaker 2: out of Ole Miss. He's six three, two sixty and
Speaker 2: had nineteen sacks in his college career. So what does
Speaker 2: Cedric bring to the table.
Speaker 4: So I bring a lot of athleticism, my explosion of
Speaker 4: when I get off my speed for I'm running, my strengths.
Speaker 4: I feel that I got allowed to bring to the team.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: Their first pick of the seventh round, the Bengals chose
Speaker 2: another member of the All Miss defense, safety Dejon Anthony.
Speaker 2: He's a feel good story, having started his college career
Speaker 2: as a walk on at the Division two level.
Speaker 3: I appreciate his story and why he did all the
Speaker 3: things that he did to get to where he's at
Speaker 3: today and to have his name called on draft night,
Speaker 3: I think is special for him. And he's a guy
Speaker 3: that you know, you learn more information about when you
Speaker 3: bring him in here on the thirty visit. Our scouts
Speaker 3: have done that or coaches got a chance to do
Speaker 3: that and really liked, really liked him. Thought there was
Speaker 3: a really good fit for him. But I do appreciate
Speaker 3: his story when you hear from him and and other
Speaker 3: things he's gone through to Gutorias today.
Speaker 2: The Bengals final draft pick was Matt Lee, a slightly
Speaker 2: undersized center at least in terms of weight, who spent
Speaker 2: most of its college career at UCF before ending it
Speaker 2: with a season at the University of Miami. He'll get
Speaker 2: a chance to compete with Trey Hill for the opportunity
Speaker 2: to back up Ted Kerris.
Speaker 3: I think it's a great fit for him, you know.
Speaker 3: I think it's he did a great job down there
Speaker 3: this year in Miami, and so I think at that
Speaker 3: point that was a great pick for us, and so
Speaker 3: we're excited to get him in here, and I think
Speaker 3: Ted will take home and have a chance show them
Speaker 3: the ropes.
Speaker 2: Lee earned All League honors three times in the last
Speaker 2: four years. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
Speaker 2: Now time for an in depth look at this year's
Speaker 2: draft class with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham.
Speaker 1: All right. Laugh.
Speaker 2: Before we get to day three of the draft, Zach
Speaker 2: Taylor actually made a little news at the end of
Speaker 2: today's proceedings, telling reporters that Dat's Hill will be tried
Speaker 2: out at cornerback in training camp and will be given
Speaker 2: the opportunity to compete for a starting spot. I would
Speaker 2: assume that would be on the outside, competing with DJ Turner.
Speaker 2: What do you make of that announcement by Zach?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that you know a lot
Speaker 1: of people probably after the drafts that she's I wish
Speaker 1: you get a cornerback a little earlier, you know.
Speaker 6: Or maybe we'll address the cornerback position in free agency
Speaker 6: or the other phase of it, the second round of
Speaker 6: a veteran free agency. But you know this news, I
Speaker 6: think Leu and Arumo would pretty much let the cat
Speaker 6: out of the bag basically with some of his pressures
Speaker 6: earlier that you know that that was under strong consideration,
Speaker 6: and when they're when they start to go public that way,
Speaker 6: it's it's not really a huge surprise. But you know,
Speaker 6: you look at me, here's cornerback speed. There's question about
Speaker 6: it now, you know, flipping his hips and doing all
Speaker 6: the things the corners have to do. And the one
Speaker 6: thing that it does do though, is it does minimize
Speaker 6: how much you have to recognize and communicate and all
Speaker 6: those sort of things.
Speaker 1: Uh, so that that part of it will be I
Speaker 1: think a fairly easy transition.
Speaker 6: It's just, uh, this this guy is a talented player, physically,
Speaker 6: great guy.
Speaker 1: You know. I think it's like, just have to find
Speaker 1: uh right, to find the right home for him. Uh.
Speaker 1: And he has played that. They did play him in.
Speaker 6: The slot, and they did kick him outside some is
Speaker 6: rookie season. I mean, he gotta he gotta taste of everything,
Speaker 6: uh in the very early stages of his career. So
Speaker 6: it's not like he uh you know, it's it's not like, boy,
Speaker 6: that's a joke. Why then think about that? Uh be
Speaker 6: interesting to see how he competes and and you know
Speaker 6: where it goes.
Speaker 1: You can you can you can always make other moves. Uh.
Speaker 6: But that the spot that that they're going to think,
Speaker 6: I guess try first with them.
Speaker 2: And I think they're trying to find a spot where
Speaker 2: they can get them on the field. With Tino Stone,
Speaker 2: Von Bell and Jordan Battle, I didn't see a lot
Speaker 2: of opportunities for snaps playing at safety. If those guys
Speaker 2: are healthy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and and obviously the you know, the big knock
Speaker 6: on him last year was recognizing and communicating when offenses
Speaker 6: motioned and shifted and did all the things that they do,
Speaker 6: uh you know, you know, getting everybody aligned properly in
Speaker 6: the back end. And they made some moves to address that,
Speaker 6: you know, that issue. And so yeah, I'm trying to
Speaker 6: trying to find a home for a guy that that
Speaker 6: definitely has National Football.
Speaker 1: League physical abilities. There's there's no question about it. You know.
Speaker 6: I think another thing they could do is is have
Speaker 6: him cover the tight end and and then you know,
Speaker 6: pressure off the edge, give him a couple of assignments
Speaker 6: in the middle of the football seam. And I think,
Speaker 6: I don't I don't necessarily think that, Uh well, if
Speaker 6: they're gonna put him outside, you got to think they're
Speaker 6: hoping he's going to be in their top three. You know,
Speaker 6: he'll be out there and nickel and dime packages. But
Speaker 6: with the experiences that he has doing everything he can do,
Speaker 6: including like I said, you know, if if people are
Speaker 6: out there and you know, one tight end, three wide
Speaker 6: receiver personnel packages and he.
Speaker 1: Could he could be the guy that that's.
Speaker 6: All over that tight end and we can come up
Speaker 6: with pressure packages off of that, and so it's it's
Speaker 6: not it's not like, yeah, boy, Dax Hill, we can't
Speaker 6: find anything to do with that Dax Hill.
Speaker 1: But they can still.
Speaker 6: He's maybe not a Swiss army knife, but he's still
Speaker 6: probably a jack knife.
Speaker 2: Yeah, cover the tight end in blitz. I mean, those
Speaker 2: are two roles that he definitely can do, no doubt.
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about Day three draft picks, beginning
Speaker 2: with the fourth round or a local kid, tight end
Speaker 2: Eric All Who's and most of his college career at
Speaker 2: Michigan before finishing up with one year at Iowa unofficially
Speaker 2: tight end. You Eric broke out in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: then he suffered a back injury in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2: He was ioways go to receiver early last year and
Speaker 2: then he tore his ACL. He's solid as a pass
Speaker 2: catcher and as a blocker if he can stay healthy,
Speaker 2: no question.
Speaker 1: And you know the thing that you know that I
Speaker 1: liked that was just so real, is.
Speaker 6: You know, when he was trying to put into words
Speaker 6: what it would be like playing with Joe Burrow and
Speaker 6: trying to be a target for him that Joe can
Speaker 6: trust over the middle of the football field. You know,
Speaker 6: he almost choked up and became, you know, struggling to
Speaker 6: find the worst to describe it. I mean, excited is
Speaker 6: probably not descriptive enough.
Speaker 1: And that's you know, that's huge. That's big.
Speaker 6: And he's obviously you know, he's obviously gifted. I mean
Speaker 6: he just and you know, you're talking major injuries. You know,
Speaker 6: it's it's his game is uh has been retarded, uh
Speaker 6: from a development standpoint because of that.
Speaker 1: But he's uh, he's he can.
Speaker 6: Get uh, you know, get leverage on defenders real early.
Speaker 1: It's to set up a break. He's he's a really.
Speaker 6: Good route runner, you know, and uh, he's he can
Speaker 6: do both.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. I Mean, he's a he's a.
Speaker 6: A very very talented athlete. Is he can break tackles
Speaker 6: yards after contact.
Speaker 1: Uh, you know, he's uh, he's he's.
Speaker 6: A very very talented football players, get very very quick feet.
Speaker 1: He gets as a as a as a blocker.
Speaker 6: I mean he gets up to the next level and
Speaker 6: even to the third level pretty darn quickly.
Speaker 1: So he's he's he's got it all.
Speaker 6: I think he's extremely extremely strong, athletic, physically talented, just
Speaker 6: the injury gods have to let him low for football
Speaker 6: injury guds have to let him for a.
Speaker 2: While, and he could be the best dual purpose tight
Speaker 2: end that they have. Mike Kasicki is largely a receiver,
Speaker 2: so is Tanner Hudson, Drew Sample is obviously best known
Speaker 2: for his blocking ability, and Eric All, if healthy, is
Speaker 2: a guy that really can do both.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and now that they've drafted a couple of tight ends,
Speaker 6: you've got five tight ends.
Speaker 1: That you have.
Speaker 6: You know, a one has this skill set, another one
Speaker 6: has maybe a little.
Speaker 1: Bit different skill set. Like you say, Eric Hall may
Speaker 1: be the guy that has the most versatile package.
Speaker 6: He can do the most things at a very significant level.
Speaker 6: So he's definitely gonna he's definitely gonna roster and he's
Speaker 6: definitely gonna make contributions, I would think with this football team.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, he's six four plus, over.
Speaker 6: Two hundred and fifty pounds, runs well, you know, he's
Speaker 6: he's a big man. Wingspans seventy nine inches, his hands
Speaker 6: over ten his arms are over thirty three inches. I mean,
Speaker 6: it's it's just amazing how big and athletic and strong
Speaker 6: and quick and fast. It's it's just it's the land
Speaker 6: of the Giants. The National Football League is the land
Speaker 6: of the Giants, and they are so gifted physically as well.
Speaker 2: We'll get to the other tight end that they drafted
Speaker 2: in just a moment. But before their fifth round pick
Speaker 2: was announced, you were saying, take Newton, take Newton, And
Speaker 2: sure enough, they took cornerback Josh Newton out of TCU,
Speaker 2: where he played in the National Championship Game a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago. Average size, average speed, he ran a
Speaker 2: four to five one at the combine, but extremely productive
Speaker 2: with seven picks and forty passes defense in his college
Speaker 2: football career.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's that speaks to his intelligence, you know that,
Speaker 6: That's what you know. They say he's a high character
Speaker 6: guy and he's got he's got an extremely high football
Speaker 6: IQ as well as overall intelligence. You know, he's he's
Speaker 6: another you know, another guy that played at at a
Speaker 6: big program. You know, I mean that that's the thing
Speaker 6: to the common denominator of the past few years stayed intact.
Speaker 6: Big programs that have competed for national championships, in some
Speaker 6: cases won national championships, and a bunch of these guys
Speaker 6: are captains of their football team in some instances two
Speaker 6: time captains.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's that's that's the formula that has worked for.
Speaker 6: The Cincinnati Bengals and putting together, you know, the strong.
Speaker 1: Lock room that they have, and uh that this guy's
Speaker 1: a he's definitely a strong prospect. I mean, he transferred
Speaker 1: from Louisiana Monroe.
Speaker 6: To TCU, so you know he also he said, you
Speaker 6: know what when we're talking to him, or what do
Speaker 6: you attribute your your ball skills to it? Well, he's
Speaker 6: played wide receiver. So in my opinion, guys that have
Speaker 6: moved from the wide receiver position to play in the
Speaker 6: in the in the defensive backfield, they're familiar already with
Speaker 6: rout trees and watching body language when guys are trying
Speaker 6: to get in an out of cuts and it's almost
Speaker 6: you know, yeah, I remember what I did when I
Speaker 6: had to do those kind of things. You have that
Speaker 6: you have that type of experience to draw up on,
Speaker 6: and usually that's advantageous to those guys.
Speaker 2: They had two picks in the sixth round. In the
Speaker 2: first was the other tight end we alluded to, Tanner McLaughlin.
Speaker 2: He is a Canadian who played college football at Arizona,
Speaker 2: and he is a receiver. Zach Taylor specifically said, if
Speaker 2: you picture the tight ends that the Bengals have had
Speaker 2: over the past few years, who could turn a short
Speaker 2: pass into a first down or something bigger, that's who
Speaker 2: you're talking about in Tanner McLaughlin.
Speaker 1: But he's a big one. You know, six five and
Speaker 1: forty four pounds.
Speaker 6: You know, runs for six I mean, you know, he's
Speaker 6: almost for six flat. I mean, that's that's a pretty good,
Speaker 6: pretty good combination right there, you know. And he is
Speaker 6: he's he's a guy that you can you can around formations,
Speaker 6: you know. I think he's got room for growth in
Speaker 6: his game. Like you said, he's not gonna put his
Speaker 6: hand in the dirt at the end of the line
Speaker 6: of scrimmage and dominate defensive ends and outside linebackers. But
Speaker 6: he has a he's got soft hands, he's got a
Speaker 6: decent catch radius.
Speaker 1: You know, he uh, he'll fight for contested catches. Uh.
Speaker 1: He shows, you know.
Speaker 6: Effort after the catch to get some yack. He's got
Speaker 6: the strength to do that. So he's he's uh, he's
Speaker 6: a talented guy.
Speaker 1: There's there's no doubt.
Speaker 6: I mean, is uh, he's got room for growth. I
Speaker 6: mean he's and I think he's got just a coach
Speaker 6: to help him get there. You know, obviously, I think
Speaker 6: there's strength and conditioning coaches are gonna like to work
Speaker 6: with this guy because I think he needs to improve
Speaker 6: his strength and uh, you know, particularly even in his
Speaker 6: legs to get some leg drive to move people off
Speaker 6: the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: That's you know, that's an.
Speaker 6: Issue or an area that he realizes he needs to improve.
Speaker 6: But again, this is a guy that you look at it.
Speaker 6: He was best player on the board. You know, he's
Speaker 6: a chance to roster, roster meeting, you know, practice squad anyway,
Speaker 6: so why not why not take a chance. And that's
Speaker 6: the thing I think from probably the fifth round on,
Speaker 6: it was okay, well, who's the best available player.
Speaker 1: We're gonna trust our board. We busted our butt putting.
Speaker 6: This thing together, and I think some of these picks
Speaker 6: down the stretch were just the best available player, and
Speaker 6: maybe the last pick at the center position was okay,
Speaker 6: let's not have to go fight for one and college
Speaker 6: free agency. Let's make sure we get a center in
Speaker 6: training camp to take some of the load off of
Speaker 6: Ted Carris.
Speaker 1: The veteran center.
Speaker 6: We've got and see if we can you know, develop
Speaker 6: a guy. But maybe maybe he's a practice squad player.
Speaker 6: We can try to develop him if.
Speaker 1: We feel like, you know, he's a good enough prospect
Speaker 1: at that spot.
Speaker 2: Second pick in the sixth round was an edge rusher,
Speaker 2: Cedric Johnson sixty three to two sixty out of all
Speaker 2: miss They're hoping that Miles Murphy and Joseph o Si
Speaker 2: breakout this year and really contribute his pass rushers, but
Speaker 2: Johnson had nineteen sacks in his college football career, and
Speaker 2: he'll be looking to show that he's got some juice
Speaker 2: in training camp as an edge guy.
Speaker 6: Yeah again, Uh, best available player, you know, I think,
Speaker 6: and uh but I mean.
Speaker 1: His his measurables. It's you know, there's these guys are
Speaker 1: back in the day.
Speaker 6: If these these numbers were around in the eighties, be like,
Speaker 6: are you kidding me? You know, sixty three two sixty
Speaker 6: plus four six forty, wingspan of almost eighty inches, I mean,
Speaker 6: you know, twitchy, athleticism, a powerful player.
Speaker 1: You know, played at a big program and a big conference.
Speaker 6: It's, uh, he's he's he's definitely a guy that has confidence.
Speaker 6: I thought in his uh, pressery. He he's almost like
Speaker 6: jumping through the phone to to start his opportunity at
Speaker 6: some sort of a camp. I mean, he's, uh, we
Speaker 6: talked about hands before, how important hands have become, and
Speaker 6: he shows powerful hands and and he's he's athletic with
Speaker 6: his knee bend and and attack and blocks. He does
Speaker 6: set the edge very effectively, and he can stack in shed,
Speaker 6: you know, and he's got he's got speed to chase
Speaker 6: chase players in the perimeter, and you know, he's he's
Speaker 6: definitely a guy that I can see why they felt
Speaker 6: like he was the best, best available opportunity when he
Speaker 6: was drafted.
Speaker 1: There's there's a lot to work with there, There's there's.
Speaker 6: No doubt about it. He talked about his versatility. You know,
Speaker 6: he can, he's he's played a bunch of different spots
Speaker 6: up and down the line of scrimmage in terms of
Speaker 6: you know, five technique, seven technique, nine technique whatever, and uh,
Speaker 6: he's he's even played inside a little bit, so you know,
Speaker 6: he's he's he's beaten average tackles and in the sec.
Speaker 1: Probably during cut above average. Let's see what Let's see
Speaker 1: what he does against more.
Speaker 6: Advanced players when he comes to the National Football League with.
Speaker 2: The Bengals first pick in the seventh round. They took
Speaker 2: one of Cedric Johnson's Ole Miss teammates, safety Dejon Anthony,
Speaker 2: and he is the great story in this year's draft class.
Speaker 2: From Richmond, Virginia. No scholarship offers coming out of high school.
Speaker 2: He started his college football career as a Division two
Speaker 2: walk on, and he ended his college football career in
Speaker 2: the SEC last year where he led the Rebels in
Speaker 2: interceptions and passes defense. He'll be probably looking for a
Speaker 2: spot on the practice squad and looking to show that
Speaker 2: he can contribute on special teams.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is amazing. I mean what he started as
Speaker 6: a career at Shepherd University.
Speaker 1: Then and then transferred from Liberty. I mean, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 1: There's there's a here's a.
Speaker 6: Guy that was not gonna let his dream die and
Speaker 6: believed in himself. You know, he's he's got some flashy athleticism,
Speaker 6: you know, I mean he moves, he moves.
Speaker 1: Pretty john Well and and he's.
Speaker 6: Dogged lee determined to make plays all over the football field.
Speaker 6: He's got an outstanding change of direction, and he can
Speaker 6: flip his hips.
Speaker 1: He can uh, you know, he can he can stay
Speaker 1: in the phase.
Speaker 6: With ruth receivers vertically, and that's that's important, you know
Speaker 6: at the at the safety position, we know all about that.
Speaker 6: He's got solid range, you know when he's playing over
Speaker 6: the top and two high schemes.
Speaker 1: So I think Leuano Rumo likes that he's got. He's
Speaker 1: got a lot of, uh, you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: traits that they.
Speaker 6: Like and I think, again, the best available athlete at
Speaker 6: this stage.
Speaker 1: You know on the draft, he can he tracks the
Speaker 1: football very well. He's got great tracking skills. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot to work with there.
Speaker 6: And the other thing is he's a willing defender and
Speaker 6: run support. You have to have that at the safety position.
Speaker 6: You know, he's going to desire to make an impact
Speaker 6: when he closes on people. So it's so it's going
Speaker 6: to be interesting, I think.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 6: The thing you worry about it is sometimes he gets
Speaker 6: bullied by by blockers, you know, when he's in the
Speaker 6: box at the collegiate level. So now you're you're jumping
Speaker 6: to the police the National Football League, it's gonna be something.
Speaker 1: To keep your out on.
Speaker 2: Their tenth and final draft pick was center Matt Lee.
Speaker 2: I saw him face u SE several times while playing
Speaker 2: at UCF, and then he transferred to the University of
Speaker 2: Miami for his final year and was a second team
Speaker 2: All ACC player LAP. I would think he's at least
Speaker 2: got a chance to beat Ted Carris's backup in a
Speaker 2: training camp battle with the incumbent Trey Hill.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think you look at the thing that
Speaker 6: jumps out at me, thirty two and eighth inch jobs
Speaker 6: and that that's obviously why he's playing center. But you know,
Speaker 6: he's sixteen and a half over three hundred pounds and
Speaker 6: pretty much.
Speaker 1: A five flat forty guy.
Speaker 6: I mean, that's that's that's some pretty good measurables right there, and.
Speaker 1: Like you say, competed you know, at a at an
Speaker 1: all all conference level.
Speaker 6: I mean, this is another guy that, uh, if he
Speaker 6: was still around, why why compete with other teams to
Speaker 6: try to, you know, get him into training camp. He
Speaker 6: probably the Bengals probably did themselves a favor financially to
Speaker 6: take him in the seventh round because this is the
Speaker 6: type of guy that I think he would have gotten
Speaker 6: probably some some interest.
Speaker 1: From multiple teams, you know. So yeah, I think it
Speaker 1: takes you know, he's I think a hell of a
Speaker 1: lot more than just a training camp body.
Speaker 6: But it also you know, helps Ted Carrison and alleviate
Speaker 6: some of the snapload there.
Speaker 1: And like you said, Trey.
Speaker 6: Hill, we'll be in competition, and as we've always said,
Speaker 6: no matter what the sporting endeavor, competition breeds excellence performance.
Speaker 1: So you look around and.
Speaker 6: Say, hmm, you know, why why did they draft a
Speaker 6: guy in my position?
Speaker 1: I don't care what grounds it is. Why why did
Speaker 1: you draft somebody? Let's pick it up. You know, let's
Speaker 1: not Ted Carris, Trey Hill. You know he's going to.
Speaker 6: Now buckle down and keep developing in.
Speaker 1: Advancing and that's just deathloss the whole boat.
Speaker 2: All right, let's hit on some overall thoughts about the draft.
Speaker 2: I've got I guess three things that really jump out
Speaker 2: to me about the class that I really like. Number One,
Speaker 2: they address their biggest need by using two top one
Speaker 2: hundred picks on defensive tackles. We had the chance to
Speaker 2: interact with both of them today. And Chris Jenkins is
Speaker 2: going to be a fan favorite, a bubbly effervescent personality
Speaker 2: and obviously a very good track record as a player
Speaker 2: at Michigan. I don't know if he'll ever be a
Speaker 2: Pro Bowl guy, but I think he's going to be
Speaker 2: a very solid and reliable, high effort good player on
Speaker 2: the Bengals defensive line.
Speaker 6: Just an engaging personality, easy smicemile all the time. I mean, he's, uh,
Speaker 6: you know, you can see why his teammates voted him to.
Speaker 1: Be a captain.
Speaker 6: McKinley Jackson, the other big defensive tack that you talk about,
Speaker 6: has a little bit different type of a personality, but
Speaker 6: again very welcoming, easy to talk to, very approachable. I mean,
Speaker 6: these guys, I think, like you said, man, they're gonna
Speaker 6: be They're gonna be fan favorites because they're just.
Speaker 1: They're not They like being around people.
Speaker 6: They're don't shy away from it, and it's I think
Speaker 6: that's going to be something the community will embrace for sure.
Speaker 6: And they're they're good football players. I mean that they're
Speaker 6: obviously drafted, drafted for a need. I mean you look
Speaker 6: at McKinley Jackson. The dudes like three hundred and almost
Speaker 6: three hundred and thirty pounds, long arms, big old hands. Again,
Speaker 6: we talked about these hands on these guys, how how
Speaker 6: strong they are with their hands and Chris Jenkins looks
Speaker 6: at He's another guy that carries his weight very well.
Speaker 6: I mean, the guy's three hundred pounds. He doesn't really
Speaker 6: look it, you know. I mean he's and he runs
Speaker 6: a four nine forty. It's six two and a half,
Speaker 6: three hundred pound guy. You know, he's got some good
Speaker 6: arm length. Thirty four inch arm length is a good
Speaker 6: thing to have when you're in the interior the defensive
Speaker 6: line can trying to control, you know, a big monsters
Speaker 6: that have long arms as well as almost get an
Speaker 6: eighty inch wingspan.
Speaker 1: So it's look in talking and hearing him talk and
Speaker 1: talking to him a little bit. I think it's going
Speaker 1: to be.
Speaker 6: Very interesting because, I mean, his his pass rush ability
Speaker 6: and trades and athleticism. I don't think it's been tapped
Speaker 6: into yet because Michigan is very, very disciplined and how
Speaker 6: they do everything. I mean, it's like, okay, in this
Speaker 6: particular play, you stay in this gap no matter what,
Speaker 6: even if it's a you know, a third and seven
Speaker 6: or if you're going to pass rush that you have
Speaker 6: to pass rush in this lane and you have to
Speaker 6: be on the outside portion of that. It's very very structured,
Speaker 6: very very disciplined. There's not a whole lot of freedom there.
Speaker 6: So and I'm not saying that, you know, you come
Speaker 6: to the National Football League and you're out of control
Speaker 6: and you're you know, you're taking this wide rush up
Speaker 6: the football field, you not stand.
Speaker 1: In your in your gap responsibilities and all that sort
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 6: But I think that I think the coach Holly and
Speaker 6: Lean and Roumo were going to say, look, you got
Speaker 6: some athleticism, You've got some overall body strength, it's incredible,
Speaker 6: and some explosiveness.
Speaker 1: To you, and you can be you can do a
Speaker 1: lot more.
Speaker 6: As an interior pass rush, and we're going to give
Speaker 6: you the freedom to do it, and we're going to
Speaker 6: improve your inventory moves.
Speaker 1: And you can let's get after it.
Speaker 2: The next thing that I really liked was the fact
Speaker 2: that they took a home run swing in the first
Speaker 2: round by taking a Marius Mems. There's some risk involved,
Speaker 2: obviously since he only had eight college starts, but they
Speaker 2: have not drafted an offensive lineman that looks like that
Speaker 2: since Andrew Whitworth. And when we were ustered around him
Speaker 2: with other reporters talking to him after he arrived in Cincinnati,
Speaker 2: I honestly thought to myself, how does anybody get past
Speaker 2: this guy? He's maybe the first three hundred and forty
Speaker 2: pound person I've ever seen in my life that looks
Speaker 2: like he probably has.
Speaker 1: A six pack.
Speaker 2: I mean, he is so solidly built and so gigantic.
Speaker 2: You've got a chance to have a star if it
Speaker 2: pans out.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, I mean it is uh, it's incredible to see.
Speaker 1: Did you shake his hand?
Speaker 2: In My hand was buried inside of his hand when
Speaker 2: we shook.
Speaker 1: Oh, I know, I mean I shook his hand. I'm like,
Speaker 1: whoa man, this is a mucker.
Speaker 6: Now he's got he's got some big hole strong hands
Speaker 6: on him, and he's got, you.
Speaker 1: Know, those long arms to go with it.
Speaker 6: It's like an inspector gadget that has oversized hands and
Speaker 6: man and and he's broad, he's wide, he's sticked everything
Speaker 6: that you would you would want. He's he's big in
Speaker 6: the right places, you know. And like you say, it
Speaker 6: looks like he's carrying about two eighty five to ninety
Speaker 6: and the dude's three forty.
Speaker 1: It's it's incredible, you know.
Speaker 6: And I asked him, so, when did you have your
Speaker 6: gross burd And he grew like in one summer, like
Speaker 6: about five or six inches, and I said.
Speaker 1: Dan, when you were laying in bed, could you feel
Speaker 1: yourself growing?
Speaker 6: I mean, it's crazy, it's crazy, but he is.
Speaker 1: He's very athletic for a guy his size as well.
Speaker 1: I mean he played some basketball, he put.
Speaker 6: The shot, he through the discus, and I just you know,
Speaker 6: I think he's very coachable and the Bengals coaches we're
Speaker 6: talking about not only the games that he was able
Speaker 6: to play in and avoid injury, matching up.
Speaker 1: Against really good players in college football, playoff games and
Speaker 1: things of that.
Speaker 6: The practice tape, you know, he's going he's probably some
Speaker 6: of his toughest competition, not if done, his most difficult
Speaker 6: competition came in practice every day. You got you know,
Speaker 6: five defensive lineman. When he was there, there were first
Speaker 6: round that you know, been drafted in the first round.
Speaker 6: So it's like, you know, you're talking about the cream
Speaker 6: of the crop in the SEC, you know, and then
Speaker 6: that's that's the that's the place to be in college football.
Speaker 1: So there's in like we talked about before Dan with.
Speaker 6: Him, in my estimation, the floor is the tape, and
Speaker 6: it's it's solid, it's limited, but the tape that's there
Speaker 6: is extremely solid when you watch this guy, but his ceiling.
Speaker 1: Is unlimited because of the fact that you know he's
Speaker 1: only just begun.
Speaker 6: And I think he has the highest ceiling of any
Speaker 6: player in the draft, particularly in the Bengals draft. But
Speaker 6: I'm talking about in the draft in general, not just
Speaker 6: offensive line or offensive tackle. I mean, this dude has
Speaker 6: got an incredible uh ceiling. He's got a long ways
Speaker 6: to go before he rests, and I think, Frank All,
Speaker 6: it's gonna get a lot.
Speaker 1: Out of that big bag one. All right.
Speaker 2: The final big picture thought for me has to do
Speaker 2: with the Bengals culture. I think Zach Taylor and his
Speaker 2: staff have done such a fantastic job in recent years
Speaker 2: of building a great culture that it has allowed them
Speaker 2: to take not huge chances, but slight chances with somebody
Speaker 2: like Jermaine Burton, who obviously struggled to control his emotions
Speaker 2: at times at Alabama and probably before that at Georgia.
Speaker 2: They're counting on the fact that this is such a
Speaker 2: good group led by Joe Burrow, that Jermaine Burton will
Speaker 2: learn the way it has to be done and should
Speaker 2: be done, and will allow his incredible gifts to come through.
Speaker 1: And I agree one.
Speaker 6: Hundred thousand percent because you put tape on and watch
Speaker 6: this guy. I mean, I remember when you know, okay,
Speaker 6: wide receiver, who's left the.
Speaker 1: Burton's the guy.
Speaker 6: Burton's the best wide receiver left on the on the
Speaker 6: board right now. In fact, in my opinion, the dude
Speaker 6: had first round physical talents first round, you know, and
Speaker 6: then obviously he didn't go in the costal so you know,
Speaker 6: maybe the big, big lesson. Unfortunately, I think he could
Speaker 6: have gone in the first round if it was.
Speaker 1: Totally clean his whole portfolio and as such.
Speaker 6: So everything that everybody's been telling him about getting control
Speaker 6: of yourself and you know, make sure that you take
Speaker 6: care of business, you know, off the football field as
Speaker 6: well as on the football field, keep your composure, keep
Speaker 6: your head well cost him. I mean in my mind,
Speaker 6: it's cost him. So maybe this is a bitter pill lesson.
Speaker 6: You know, that is going to be the final component,
Speaker 6: the final wake up call to make sure that you
Speaker 6: take care of business. You start to mature in that regard,
Speaker 6: because man, this dude physically cheezy.
Speaker 1: I mean, he can get vertical in a hurry.
Speaker 6: You average eighteen yards per reception in your career in
Speaker 6: over twenty yards per reception in twenty twenty three, which
Speaker 6: was number one in the end c C against that
Speaker 6: type of competition. I mean, his ability to get vertical
Speaker 6: is as good as there is in the country, you know.
Speaker 6: I mean he can get it, get it done in
Speaker 6: a hurry, and he's a he's a quality route.
Speaker 1: Runner because he've been working with our guy t J.
Speaker 6: Huschman Zada, who was as good a route runners as
Speaker 6: I've seen. And the thame when I watch him that
Speaker 6: I've seen that he's gotten from TJ.
Speaker 1: He has a.
Speaker 6: Little different wiggle, a little subtle different move when he's
Speaker 6: running the So he'll run the same route in a
Speaker 6: route tree three different times in a game and give
Speaker 6: it defensive back just a little bit different look in
Speaker 6: it every single time.
Speaker 1: And that was what made t J.
Speaker 6: Hushman Zada such a great route runner, as he never ran,
Speaker 6: you know, his route tree the same way. You know,
Speaker 6: he always came up with some sort of little improvisation,
Speaker 6: some sort of a little just to just to not
Speaker 6: let the defensive backs lock in man, you know, keep
Speaker 6: them on their heels and not on their toes. And
Speaker 6: this kid, I've seen some of that that Teja's you know,
Speaker 6: a part of him. So I think the Bengals got
Speaker 6: themselves a good one to work with man, And you know,
Speaker 6: I hope it's not a situation where, you know, collectively,
Speaker 6: let's hold onto all hold on to our butts, because
Speaker 6: it's gonna be a you know, a roller coaster ride.
Speaker 6: Hopefully he's he's learned and continues that.
Speaker 1: Maturation process because he's a player. Man, He's a dog,
Speaker 1: like we said, d A W G boy, a big dog.
Speaker 2: Final question, have you talked enough about the draft over
Speaker 2: the last seventy two hours?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 6: Hell yeah, no, No two ways about that.
Speaker 1: As they say, I mean, yeah it is. I am
Speaker 1: drafted out.
Speaker 2: So we will wrap it up here and I'll look
Speaker 2: forward to talking more about the draft of you in
Speaker 2: a couple of days.
Speaker 1: How's that That.
Speaker 6: Sounds like a planned coach that that forty eight hours be.
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna look at, you know,
Speaker 6: talk about or whatever. It's just going to be a
Speaker 6: mass doos and mass quantities of grandkids.
Speaker 2: If you miss them, you can go back and listen
Speaker 2: to our conversations following the first two days of the
Speaker 2: draft and then coming up on Monday, I'll get the
Speaker 2: front office perspective as I'll be joined by the Bengals
Speaker 2: Director of College Scouting, Mike Potts. That's going to do
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Speaker 2: find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast