Speaker 1: Hike and everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. I choose you. Addition, as my
Speaker 1: broadcast partner, Dave Lapham joins me for an in depth
Speaker 1: look at all ten Bengals draft picks, plus a few
Speaker 1: of the players they signed as undrafted free agents. Coming up,
Speaker 1: we will tell you if the Steelers robbed the Bengals
Speaker 1: of the player they really wanted in the first round
Speaker 1: when they trade it up to the spot directly in
Speaker 1: front of Cincinnati in order to select the linebacker Devin Bush.
Speaker 1: We will also have interesting intel on second round pick
Speaker 1: Drew Sample. Many draft gurus thought the Bengals could have
Speaker 1: selected him later in the draft, So just how high
Speaker 1: was he on the Bengals board. We'll have the answer.
Speaker 1: After some juicy inside info on all of the picks,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from one of them. Number one picked, Jonah Williams,
Speaker 1: who joins me for a fun facts conversation where we
Speaker 1: discuss everything from the length of his arms to the
Speaker 1: bag of food he carried around in high school. All
Speaker 1: of that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
Speaker 1: subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
Speaker 1: It's the greatest invention since wait for a jed, a
Speaker 1: little inside joke there Brixell sports stadium models. So Brixels
Speaker 1: are kind of like Legos and they sell very detailed
Speaker 1: models of sports stadiums and arenas. My son recently put
Speaker 1: together the Fenway Park model and it is incredible. It
Speaker 1: has three thousand, two hundred six pieces, so it was
Speaker 1: a labor of love. But the level of detail is
Speaker 1: it's standing right down to the single red seat deep
Speaker 1: in the right field stands where Ted Williams hit the
Speaker 1: longest home run in Fenway Park history. There doesn't appear
Speaker 1: to be a Paul Brown Stadium model yet, but when
Speaker 1: it comes out, we are definitely buying. Now, let's get
Speaker 1: to my draft discussion. With a sixty first overall pick
Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventy four NFL Draft, the most successful
Speaker 1: of the twenty two selections the Bengals made that year,
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman out of Syracuse University, Dave Lapham lap
Speaker 1: Let's start with Jonah Williams, the Bengals first round draft
Speaker 1: pick selected number eleven overall, the offensive tackle out of Alabama.
Speaker 1: The website Pro Football Focus had him as the fourth
Speaker 1: best player in this draft. It is our belief that
Speaker 1: the Bengals had him roughly at the same spot on
Speaker 1: their overall board. I agree with you, Dan, and people
Speaker 1: are wondering, you know, if Devin Bush had been there,
Speaker 1: would they have gone with Jonah Williams. We believe yes,
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm not saying that Devin Bush isn't
Speaker 1: a fantastic football player, but the Steelers weren't sure that
Speaker 1: that's the way the Bengals were going to go, so they,
Speaker 1: you know, expended a couple of draft picks and moved
Speaker 1: up ahead of the Bengals to take Devin Bush. And
Speaker 1: the Bengals went with Jonah Williams, and they were thrilled
Speaker 1: that he was there. And I can't remember the last
Speaker 1: draft where no offensive lineman, no running backs, no wide receivers,
Speaker 1: no corners, no safeties. Five position groups did not get
Speaker 1: selected in the first ten picks of the draft. So
Speaker 1: when you have a need at the offensive line position
Speaker 1: and literally the best lineman is right there, no brainer.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think the Bengals probably may have said
Speaker 1: they may have broken John Ross's forty yard dashtime running
Speaker 1: through the party to make the pick checks all the boxes.
Speaker 1: Played in the SEC. Dominated at left tackle his last
Speaker 1: two years at Alabama. Really smart kid earned his degree
Speaker 1: at Alabama in three years. This to me is just
Speaker 1: a first round draft pick that I don't know if
Speaker 1: he'll be in all pro. You'd him to be, but
Speaker 1: I can't envision a scenario where he flops. I agree,
Speaker 1: you know, and I think this is the beginning of
Speaker 1: a trend smart, not only book smart, but football. I
Speaker 1: you position, versatility, leadership. You know, he's a captain, and
Speaker 1: it's very instinctive. That's going to be a common denominator
Speaker 1: with the line. People say, okay, instinctive lineman. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean there's a lot of times you're gonna try to
Speaker 1: buy your film study see keys with twists and stunts
Speaker 1: and everything, and you'll be able to react that much
Speaker 1: quicker on an instinctive basis because of preparation. And this
Speaker 1: kid leaves nothing to chance in that regard. He's the
Speaker 1: first guy I ever heard of that came up with
Speaker 1: a spreadsheet off of film study. He had some kind
Speaker 1: of numbers numbering system where he has a spreadsheet to
Speaker 1: help find characteristics and traits and keys and all that
Speaker 1: sort of thing in his opponent. That is remarkable. I
Speaker 1: mean this this guy is legit. Yet he's the real deal.
Speaker 1: He can play any one of the five positions in
Speaker 1: the offensive line, and football is not just important to him.
Speaker 1: I think it's the number one thing in his life.
Speaker 1: His girlfriend may have a problem with that, but I
Speaker 1: mean this guy, this guy is all football, all the time,
Speaker 1: no question about it. Do you see him being a
Speaker 1: day one starter. I do. I'm not sure. Aware it
Speaker 1: won't be center, I don't think, but he could start
Speaker 1: at either one of the guards or either one of
Speaker 1: the tackle positions based on what I've seen on tape.
Speaker 1: The thing about him, Dan, his feet are unbelievable. And
Speaker 1: we've said many times every athletic endeavor, including blocking, but
Speaker 1: throwing a baseball, catching a baseball, shooting a basketball, whatever
Speaker 1: it may be, catching a football, it starts with your
Speaker 1: feet and ends with your hands. It's the same thing
Speaker 1: in football in line play linebackers starts with your feet
Speaker 1: to get in place, hand placement, to be able to
Speaker 1: separate and finish feet and hands. And this guy's got
Speaker 1: excellent start with his feet and finish with his hands.
Speaker 1: He is very, very good with his technique. He's been
Speaker 1: coached well and he retains it, and he takes the
Speaker 1: football field big time. You mentioned it, but I just
Speaker 1: want to follow up in more detail. The Steelers moved
Speaker 1: up from number twenty to number ten to jump directly
Speaker 1: ahead of the Bengals in order to select Devin Bush.
Speaker 1: So clearly their thought was the Bengals are either going
Speaker 1: to take him, or they might take him. We can't
Speaker 1: afford to wait. And the Bengals, in our opinion, almost
Speaker 1: certainly would have taken Jonah Williams. I think so because
Speaker 1: you know, Devin White, the number one linebacker was gone.
Speaker 1: Although honestly I like Bush better than White, I really do.
Speaker 1: I think the steel has got a hell of a player.
Speaker 1: I would not have been upset if they took Devin Bush.
Speaker 1: But I am you know, old stool, get an old
Speaker 1: school get off my lawn. It's a big man's game.
Speaker 1: You have the best big man on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the football upfront. You gotta go there. You gotta
Speaker 1: go there. Even if you know the one A or
Speaker 1: one B or whatever it is at linebackers. There I
Speaker 1: would agree with the with the Bengal stot process, and
Speaker 1: you know, with the uncertainty involved, pits burned a couple
Speaker 1: of draft picks moving up. The Bengals prioritize offensive tackle
Speaker 1: more than linebacker, and that's probably true of most teams
Speaker 1: in the NFL. The Bengals have not taken a lot well,
Speaker 1: let me backtrack. The Bengals have taken one linebacker before
Speaker 1: the third round in the last eleven drafts and that
Speaker 1: was Ray Malaluga, who's now out of the NFL. So
Speaker 1: they just historically have not invested high draft capital in
Speaker 1: that position, right, And you know the other linebacker that
Speaker 1: comes to mind, Keith Rivers. You know they took in
Speaker 1: the first round out of USC as well, you know
Speaker 1: years before that. It's it's not a regular, regular occurrence.
Speaker 1: And uh, there's no doubt in my mind that the
Speaker 1: Jim Turner um wanted to get more physical, wanted to
Speaker 1: be bigger, wanted to be more athletic, wanted to be
Speaker 1: more physical up front, and this was the first step
Speaker 1: in that direction for sure. Onto the second round and
Speaker 1: the pick that a lot of Bengals were scratching their
Speaker 1: heads over Drew Sample the tight end out of Washington,
Speaker 1: selected with a fifty second overall pick. The Bengals actually
Speaker 1: moved back in the second round. They got an extra
Speaker 1: fourth and an extra sixth in order to move back
Speaker 1: ten spots. Everybody's saying, you could have gotten this guy later.
Speaker 1: The Bengals actually would have taken him earlier. They had
Speaker 1: a high first round grade on the second round excuse me,
Speaker 1: the second round grade. Two a high second round grade
Speaker 1: on him. So the thing about him is the draft
Speaker 1: gurus and then as a result, the fan base. He
Speaker 1: wasn't thought about because his numbers weren't there in terms
Speaker 1: of catches and yards. But the thing about it, the
Speaker 1: balls that he did catch, he didn't drop any. The
Speaker 1: scouts were saying, may have not had a drop or
Speaker 1: maybe one, So that tells you a lot. When his
Speaker 1: opportunity was there, he capitalized on every single one of them.
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams smartest offensive lineman in the draft, Drew Sample,
Speaker 1: smartest tight end in the draft. He's got a degree,
Speaker 1: he's married, he's expecting a baby girl at the end
Speaker 1: of the towards the end of the football season. This
Speaker 1: guy is a solid individual as well as extremely talented
Speaker 1: football player. He is the best blocking tight end in
Speaker 1: the draft, and I mean by a wide margin, six
Speaker 1: four two undred fifty five pounds. Looks like he's about
Speaker 1: two thirty five two forty maybe. And again, just like
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams talking about feet and hands, Drew Sample is
Speaker 1: that exact same thing at the tight end position. These
Speaker 1: guys have been coached well, they've taken to the technique
Speaker 1: and they're applying it to the football field. And all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, when you get an offensive tackle and
Speaker 1: a tight end that can dominate at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: you can set the edge. You hear all the time
Speaker 1: defensive coaches, look, gotta set the edge. We can't let
Speaker 1: them get the edge on us. Well, when you have
Speaker 1: a tackle in a tight end like this, you have
Speaker 1: to set the edge offensively, and they'll be set in
Speaker 1: the edge a lot more readily with big, physical guys
Speaker 1: like this. And you know Drew Sample, the coaches said,
Speaker 1: the interviews that they do with them off the charts.
Speaker 1: Maybe you know, Andrew Whitworth may have been the only
Speaker 1: interview that might have been better than Drew Sample's interview
Speaker 1: that they had as an organization. So that tells you
Speaker 1: a lot I mean, again, all the intangibles, checking all
Speaker 1: the boxes with these two guys. Both of these guys
Speaker 1: Dan may not only be starters, they may be ten
Speaker 1: to twelve year starters. I mean they may have hit
Speaker 1: two players that are gonna be a decade plus of
Speaker 1: giving them consistent, excellent performances. And they care about the
Speaker 1: game of football. There's no doubt about that. We did
Speaker 1: a podcast a few weeks ago about the Bengals draft
Speaker 1: needs and one of the top ones in our opinion
Speaker 1: was the tight end position. Then when this pick was made,
Speaker 1: I heard a lot of folks saying, Wow, the Bengals
Speaker 1: need a wide receiver more than they need a tight end.
Speaker 1: What really? CJ. Zama is a fine NFL player, but
Speaker 1: probably is never going to go to a Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: Tyler Eifford is a Pro Bowl player, but he hasn't
Speaker 1: been able to stay healthy. There are other it ends
Speaker 1: were all beat up last year. They lost Tyler Croft
Speaker 1: a free agency. This was a huge area of need,
Speaker 1: particularly from the blocking standpoint. Tyler Eifert unquestioned as a receiver.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he makes defenses flinch every snap he took.
Speaker 1: Last year, the defenses were in Nickel in sub packages,
Speaker 1: no base defense, they can't match up with him. But
Speaker 1: you know he does a good job blocking and running
Speaker 1: game and pass protection and all those sort of things.
Speaker 1: CJ Zam another one that does a good job, but
Speaker 1: you know he got hurt as well. In those roles.
Speaker 1: Those guys aren't necessarily known. Oh my gosh, they're gonna
Speaker 1: dominate you at the end of the line, at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, So why not get a guy that
Speaker 1: can do that. His strengths compliment those other guys strengths perfectly.
Speaker 1: You don't want three guys that do the same thing
Speaker 1: well and can't do the other. And it's not to
Speaker 1: say that Drew Sample can't run ross and catch the football.
Speaker 1: We said he maybe had one draw might be one
Speaker 1: through the season or his career without any So, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's capable. But you need to have somebody that is
Speaker 1: going to be the anchor again at the end of
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, setting the edge, helping in pass protection.
Speaker 1: You know, you hear all the time. Other they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to keep a tight end in to help slow block,
Speaker 1: you know, against these pass rushers. This guy's as good
Speaker 1: as there is. I mean, he's he's the best blocking
Speaker 1: tight end, run blocking, pass protecting. You can put him
Speaker 1: at fullback. Now you don't have to have Sam Hubbard
Speaker 1: coming over from defense necessarily. Like Ryan Hewitt did, line
Speaker 1: up at fullback and lead it up in there. This
Speaker 1: kid can do the same thing. Another thing that we're
Speaker 1: going to find and we've seen the first two picks,
Speaker 1: and it's going to be a universal theme. Position versatility.
Speaker 1: Jonah Williams can play all five line spots. Drew Sample
Speaker 1: can play tight end at the end of the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, can play fullback and be a wingback, can
Speaker 1: be a slot back. I mean, you know, it's endless.
Speaker 1: So position, versatility, leadership, all these things. They had plan
Speaker 1: going into this draft and hit it on almost all
Speaker 1: of the draft picks, none more than these first two
Speaker 1: picks of the draft. Before moving to third round pick
Speaker 1: your main Pratt, we should mention the Bengals did try
Speaker 1: to trade up in the second round because they were
Speaker 1: really good offensive lineman on the board that they thought
Speaker 1: had first round grades. Right on. Cody Ford was there,
Speaker 1: Taylor was there out of Florida, and Greg Little actually
Speaker 1: was on the board as well, and all three of
Speaker 1: those linemen teams traded up for to get an opportunity
Speaker 1: to pick them. So when they redid their board after
Speaker 1: day one first round, redo your board for day two. Oh,
Speaker 1: these two offensive linemen slid there. They're more than capable.
Speaker 1: Let's let's go target. These guys couldn't quite get it done.
Speaker 1: People wanted more than they were offering. It was a
Speaker 1: little too rich. And then you think, okay, well if
Speaker 1: you stay there, what kind of players are there? Yeah,
Speaker 1: saying Greedy Williams, Well you got B. W. Webbin free agency.
Speaker 1: You got to our quest and Arden free agency. Don't
Speaker 1: have a real need Maybe reaching a little bit corners
Speaker 1: whiteside wide receiver, you know, maybe that might be a
Speaker 1: little rich. I would think Pratt was a guy that
Speaker 1: might have been thinking about there at the end of
Speaker 1: the second round. They ended up getting him in the third.
Speaker 1: But when Sample was there, they traded down and still
Speaker 1: got their guy Sample. So all when they couldn't trade
Speaker 1: up for those two linemen, the two corners maybe a
Speaker 1: little too rich, they had guys in free agency, they
Speaker 1: moved down. They got themselves an extra fourth round pick
Speaker 1: that turned out to be big as the draft went on.
Speaker 1: So Jermaine Pratt was their third round selection, number seventy
Speaker 1: two overall. Linebacker out of NC State led the acc
Speaker 1: and tackles per game last year at nine and a half.
Speaker 1: He was a safety his first two college seasons. He's
Speaker 1: fifty pounds heavier now than he was when he started
Speaker 1: out in college football. He's up to two hundred forty
Speaker 1: pounds on a six two frame. Another guy who's going
Speaker 1: to potentially compete for a starting job in year one.
Speaker 1: They think he may be the best linebacker from day
Speaker 1: one when he comes into camp. I mean it could
Speaker 1: be that way. Now. I think they're gonna be some
Speaker 1: veteran players. Something to say about that. But there were
Speaker 1: some comparisons drawn by the Bengal scouting department to Darius Leonard,
Speaker 1: the All Pro, not just Pro bowler, All Pro as
Speaker 1: a rookie with the Colts. This guy is a very,
Speaker 1: very sure tackler. The thing I didn't like about Devin
Speaker 1: White Dan is he wasn't instinctive. He had a little
Speaker 1: bit of a hitch, a little delay in making his reads,
Speaker 1: and he missed a lot of tackles. It might have
Speaker 1: been as the result of not making quick decisions right
Speaker 1: off the bat. This guy Pratt instinctive, you know, sees
Speaker 1: it before it happens, is moving in that direction, goes
Speaker 1: sideline to sideline and gets people on the ground. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're right. You look at him. When you
Speaker 1: see Devin Bush walk around, you think, man, he looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, good size safety. When you see Germaine Pratt
Speaker 1: walking around, it's like this is a linebacker. Broad shoulders,
Speaker 1: deck arms. I mean I think too with Devin White
Speaker 1: and Devin Bush, they played linebacker their whole lives, high school, college,
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Now, so their ceiling is you know,
Speaker 1: they know, teams have a lot better feel about where
Speaker 1: they're going to be. They're closer to their ceiling than
Speaker 1: they're on their floor. Let's put it that way. In
Speaker 1: Jermaine Pratt's case, only two years as a linebacker, he's
Speaker 1: got a lot more room to travel up to that ceiling.
Speaker 1: And coaches like to get guys in that situation so
Speaker 1: they can develop them, get them on the rise, as
Speaker 1: the coaches call it, get them on the come as
Speaker 1: they come out of college, you know, and get ready
Speaker 1: for the National Football League and be instrumental in them
Speaker 1: in their development. This guy has all the physical tools,
Speaker 1: and his teammate in college and his future teammate here
Speaker 1: with the Bengals, Ryan Finley said, Hey, man, this guy
Speaker 1: studies more tape more than anybody I know, and he'd
Speaker 1: call our plays out at practice by formation before we
Speaker 1: even ran them. You know, he's just kind of a
Speaker 1: thorn in his side. So you know, he's glad that
Speaker 1: he's still on his team instead of having to play
Speaker 1: against them. Me and Ryan Finley has a high high
Speaker 1: regard for Jermaine Pratt, and Jermaine Pratt has a high
Speaker 1: high regard for Ryan Finley. Pratt couldn't believe that Finley
Speaker 1: hadn't been drafted, and we were eating lunch with the
Speaker 1: who was talking about it, and shortly they're aft to boom.
Speaker 1: The next pickers made, so Pratt was the Bengals third
Speaker 1: round pick. And then the draft ends at the end
Speaker 1: of the third round. You get a break, and then
Speaker 1: the fourth round begins on Saturday, so teams again have
Speaker 1: the opportunity to reorganize their board going into rounds four
Speaker 1: or five and six. The number one person on the
Speaker 1: Bengals board of all the remaining players was Ryan Finley,
Speaker 1: the quarterback out of NC State. They decided to move
Speaker 1: up to make sure that they got him, so they
Speaker 1: made a trade with the forty nine ers, moving up
Speaker 1: six spots to have the second pick in the fourth round.
Speaker 1: They gave up two of their six sixth round draft
Speaker 1: picks at that point in order to do it, and
Speaker 1: they get Ryan Finley. Twenty four years old. He spent
Speaker 1: three years at Boise State, three years at NC State.
Speaker 1: Started for those three years at NC State. Considered to
Speaker 1: be the most accurate throwing quarterback in the draft. The
Speaker 1: arms strength is not exceptional, so that was the knock.
Speaker 1: I guess that's why Ryan Finley was still there. Jay
Speaker 1: Morrison of The Athletic wrote a very interesting story where
Speaker 1: he cited Bill Parcels seven criteria used when drafting a quarterback.
Speaker 1: I was not familiar with this list, but they are
Speaker 1: One starts thirty or more games. Two wins twenty three
Speaker 1: or more games. Three has a two to one ratio
Speaker 1: of touchdown to interceptions. Four completes at least sixty percent
Speaker 1: of his passes. Five is a three year starter. Six
Speaker 1: senior in college. Seven graduate from college. Guys in the
Speaker 1: NFL right now that have checked all of those boxes
Speaker 1: include Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Andrew Luck, Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton for what it's worth, and Ryan Finley, who checked
Speaker 1: all those boxes. Twenty four years old going to turn
Speaker 1: twenty five, six year collegiate career, has his master's degree,
Speaker 1: so he took advantage of his collegiate opportunity academically as
Speaker 1: well as athletically. Probably could gain ten more pounds. Has
Speaker 1: been compared to Jared Goff, you know, kind of long,
Speaker 1: linear arm strength. Probably not obviously as good as golf,
Speaker 1: but he was the bank, like you said, the best
Speaker 1: on the board in the Bengals opinion in round four
Speaker 1: trade up for him, There's no doubt about it. Highest
Speaker 1: one to look score for quarterbacks. So Intelligent Football IQ
Speaker 1: as well. The Bengals, I thought dan rounds two, three,
Speaker 1: and four with a sweet spot of the draft when
Speaker 1: they were when they couldn't trade up for the offensive
Speaker 1: lineman a round two, they were traded back and they
Speaker 1: were trying to get a third round pick, another third
Speaker 1: the next best thing is to get that fourth round.
Speaker 1: Well they did, and then they ended up getting another
Speaker 1: fourth rounder as it turns out, but three fourth round picks.
Speaker 1: They got three of the top twenty three guys they
Speaker 1: had rated in the fourth round, three of the top
Speaker 1: twenty three, and by moving themselves around, Duke Tobin did
Speaker 1: a great job of manipulating the board and utilizing those
Speaker 1: six six rounders, you know, ended up getting rid of
Speaker 1: three of them on these trades. So actually four of
Speaker 1: the twenty three four the top twenty three guys got
Speaker 1: in in the well, I guess Pratt they only had
Speaker 1: three fourth rounders, right, but so originally they had the
Speaker 1: twenty third pick in the fourth round among their picks.
Speaker 1: So they had ordered twenty three people at the end
Speaker 1: of day two, and they wound up getting four of
Speaker 1: those twenty three. Those four that group and three three
Speaker 1: of the fourth round picks are consummated. Ryan Finley being
Speaker 1: number one. I mean that's you have to have a
Speaker 1: backup quarterback period. I mean Andy Dalton, we've been spoiled
Speaker 1: by his durability. Uh you know, when he hasn't played,
Speaker 1: it's been you know, AJ mccarrons did a very very
Speaker 1: good job. But if if Andy Dalton had finished that season,
Speaker 1: they start out eight. No, he's playing an MVP caliber
Speaker 1: There's no telling. That was the team that might have
Speaker 1: made a playoff run. There's no telling. And last year,
Speaker 1: look at how they start the season with Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: just you know, masterminding everything at the quarterback position. They're
Speaker 1: averaging thirty one points a game. You know, Tyler Reifer
Speaker 1: goes down, AJ goes down, Ultimately Andy goes down. But
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton can play when he's afforded opportunity, not being
Speaker 1: time to make his decisions. None players to distribute the
Speaker 1: football too, and this kid can do the same type
Speaker 1: of thing. He's got that kind of football IQ, that
Speaker 1: kind of football intelligence. So very very good pick in
Speaker 1: the fourth round, all right. Their next fourth round pick
Speaker 1: was that twenty third pick in the round that we
Speaker 1: referred to earlier. It originally belonged to Houston. They traded
Speaker 1: it to Denver. Denver traded to Cincinnati when the Bengals
Speaker 1: moved back in the second round, and the Bengals used
Speaker 1: it on Arizona State defensive tackle rennelle Wren. They have
Speaker 1: jokingly referred to him as Mount Ran. It gives them
Speaker 1: size inside, So this is not a geno Atkins who
Speaker 1: lasted until the fourth round because he was smaller than ideal.
Speaker 1: This guy's big six four, three hundred eighteen pounds eighty
Speaker 1: one inch wingspan. Of all the Bengals draft picks, he
Speaker 1: might be the one with the best value considering where
Speaker 1: they had him on their board and where they wound
Speaker 1: up getting him. I agree with you. And at Arizona
Speaker 1: State he was his last year it was with Harm Edwards,
Speaker 1: who's you know NFL guy played in the NFL coach
Speaker 1: in the NFL, so I'm sure he's getting his college
Speaker 1: players ready for NFL action and activity. The only knock
Speaker 1: on Wren Mount Wren is the inconsistent motor. He is
Speaker 1: dominantly when so moved. We saw a video of the
Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. Oh my gosh, man, he pushes the pocket.
Speaker 1: He was he was brutalizing people. And those are all
Speaker 1: draft picks. Yeah, one Bradbury first round pick, number eighteen pick.
Speaker 1: I think in the draft in Minnesota, Vikings at center,
Speaker 1: he's treating him like it's his little brother, throwing him
Speaker 1: around like a rag doll and um, you know, and
Speaker 1: he'll he'll be physical and and mash him back, push
Speaker 1: the pocket, and then he'll decide to take an edge
Speaker 1: and do a swim move and they won't lay a
Speaker 1: finger on him. So he's got movement, he's got athletic ability,
Speaker 1: he's got those long arms. You know. Gino obviously a
Speaker 1: short arms, but can bench press the war Old and
Speaker 1: Ryan Glasgow. A lot of these other guys Billings, they
Speaker 1: don't have the long appendages, the long arms. This guy
Speaker 1: gives you a different look inside. And I can tell
Speaker 1: you as a former player inside man, when you when
Speaker 1: you lock your arms out and they locked their arms out,
Speaker 1: and it's pretty equal, you can block him. But when
Speaker 1: you're both you know you got your arms locked out
Speaker 1: and his arm't fully extended. Then he extends and he's
Speaker 1: reaching the back of your shoulder pad with his hand
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, that's a tougher dynamics. So I
Speaker 1: can understand why they did what they did there. This
Speaker 1: kid has got like the ceiling is the sky's the ceiling. Really,
Speaker 1: it's unlimited. He's been compared to Chris Jones, who is
Speaker 1: a very very formidable, long, rangy, athletic inside defensive lineman
Speaker 1: that causes havoc in there. If he's even close to
Speaker 1: Chris Jones, it'll be a hallelujah. One of the reasons
Speaker 1: why he might have lasted until the fourth round was
Speaker 1: the way he was used at Arizona State. He kind
Speaker 1: of played laterally out there to stop the run. He
Speaker 1: wasn't looking to get quick penetration, and that might be
Speaker 1: his best skill. You're right, I mean at Arizona State,
Speaker 1: a couple of steps then stop, you know, don't blow
Speaker 1: up the field, don't don't penetrate and disrupt. Plus you know,
Speaker 1: when he was on the phone for the conference call
Speaker 1: again in the theme of position versatility, Jonah Williams can
Speaker 1: play in one of five spots. Drew Sample can give
Speaker 1: you a multiple you know, tight end, h back, wing back,
Speaker 1: all those sort of things. Pratt can play, Mike Sammer
Speaker 1: will plus subpackage, linebacker, filling of course, is going to
Speaker 1: play quarterback, wren nose guard. He played one technique inside
Speaker 1: shoulder of the guard, three technique like Gino Atkins outside
Speaker 1: shoulder of the guard. They even kicked him out to
Speaker 1: defensive end in the All Star Games. So he's got
Speaker 1: a position versatility. But I agree with you, not only
Speaker 1: the position versatility, but the scheme, mentality and philosophy. Is it,
Speaker 1: you know, just a two gap and take guys on
Speaker 1: and stop the run, or is it to penetrate, disrupt,
Speaker 1: and cause havoc in the back. He's capable of doing both,
Speaker 1: so he's got that type of versatility as well. I'm
Speaker 1: just excited to see what they're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: get out of him. I hope they get their full
Speaker 1: potential out of him, because it's going to be big
Speaker 1: if they do. Historically, the Bengals have not traded up
Speaker 1: in the draft very often. They did it twice in
Speaker 1: the fourth round this year. We mentioned the deal that
Speaker 1: they made to get Ryan Finley with a second pick
Speaker 1: in the fourth round. Later, they obtained a late third
Speaker 1: round pick from the Cowboys in exchange for their fifth
Speaker 1: round pick and one of those sixth round picks, and
Speaker 1: they used it to get Ohio State interior offensive lineman
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan. Another big band six five, three hundred and
Speaker 1: ten pounds thirty two inch vertical, so he's got some explosiveness.
Speaker 1: The Bengals had a third round grade on him and
Speaker 1: they wound up getting him late in the fourth. Scott
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Ties. He was born in Fairfield. His family moved
Speaker 1: to Michigan, so that's where he had played high school football,
Speaker 1: but loved the Bengals as a kid. Wanted to play
Speaker 1: for Ohio State and now he's coming to Cincinnati, and
Speaker 1: I think this pick is one of my favorites for value.
Speaker 1: I think he's Billy Price went to coach Turner and said,
Speaker 1: draft him. I mean, you know, he's he's He's what
Speaker 1: you're looking for. Another high character guy, another guy that
Speaker 1: has positioned versatility, either guard or center. With his long arms,
Speaker 1: you could kick him out to tackle if you needed
Speaker 1: to to finish a game or to play a few
Speaker 1: games if you've got, you know, serious injury concerns. But
Speaker 1: when you think about it, I mean the competitive nature
Speaker 1: of the offensive line. Just from the draft alone, Jonah
Speaker 1: Williams and now Michael Jordan, I mean, the best five
Speaker 1: are going to play. And they're both they both played
Speaker 1: in big time football. Michael Jordan started as a true freshman,
Speaker 1: one of like what three or four guys to do
Speaker 1: it in the Ohio State history. I think it is
Speaker 1: it's crazy. He's he's a very very I think he's
Speaker 1: a guard. I thought at center he rolled a few
Speaker 1: snaffs back. He may had some problems there, but the
Speaker 1: fact is that they put him into center, you know,
Speaker 1: and that that's a little tradition at Ohio State. Started
Speaker 1: with elf Line. He gets drafted by the Vikings in
Speaker 1: the third round. Billy Price goes in from guard to center.
Speaker 1: Billy Price gets dropped in the first round by the Bengals,
Speaker 1: and now Michael Jordan goes in to center and he
Speaker 1: gets drout in the fourth round. So it's been that
Speaker 1: little chain of commander as such, moving in from guard
Speaker 1: to center, and they only do it with guys that
Speaker 1: they trust can make all the calls, understand the fronts,
Speaker 1: know what the protections are. So Michael Jordan's got a
Speaker 1: lot going for them. Another smart football player with balls
Speaker 1: important to him. Position versatility again common denominator. These teams
Speaker 1: were woven through the entire draft process by the Bengals.
Speaker 1: So the Bengals traded away their fifth round pick in
Speaker 1: that deal, meaning their next pick came in the sixth round.
Speaker 1: They still had three picks left in the sixth The
Speaker 1: first one was number nine in the round. They got
Speaker 1: that from the Broncoes back in that day one trade
Speaker 1: involving their second round pick, the tight end from Washington.
Speaker 1: So they used this one on a running back, another
Speaker 1: position of need. After letting Mark Walton go in the
Speaker 1: off season, they picked up trey ViOn Williams from Texas
Speaker 1: A and M. Rushed for one seven hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: yards last year, scored eighteen touchdown second team All American,
Speaker 1: had five two hundred yard games in his college career.
Speaker 1: Why was he still there in the sixth round because
Speaker 1: he's five eight, right, he's five eight, but he's two
Speaker 1: hundred and six pounds. He's a little load man. He's
Speaker 1: put together. He's just a short put together. If he
Speaker 1: were five two twenty, if he were six feet, he'd
Speaker 1: be maybe two thirty. Again, let's go back to Jim Turner,
Speaker 1: offensive line coach Texas A and M. He knows all
Speaker 1: about Trevion Williams. He was in the huddle with him
Speaker 1: every day at practice, on the football field with him.
Speaker 1: He knows everything there is to know, any injury history,
Speaker 1: anything about his character, anything. And again it's time to
Speaker 1: talk about the ten college coaches that are the twenty
Speaker 1: one coaches on this Bengal staff. It's unbelievable the amount
Speaker 1: of intel they gave the organization leading up to the
Speaker 1: draft and undraft Day. And it's the only year it's
Speaker 1: going to happen, the only year they're gonna come out
Speaker 1: of college and be coaching in the NFL. Jonah Williams,
Speaker 1: Jim Turner saw him to Kapart Texas A and M.
Speaker 1: He saw he saw it firsthand. I mean, he knows
Speaker 1: what that's all about. Trey ViOn Williams. He didn't coach
Speaker 1: against him. He coached. He didn't coach him his position group,
Speaker 1: but he was on the same side of the football
Speaker 1: in every huddle with him, every single practice. Knows all
Speaker 1: there is to know about him. And then the next pick,
Speaker 1: the Sean Davis to want to talk about Auburn sec
Speaker 1: he gained planned against him. He knows what he was
Speaker 1: like to try to handle as a linebacker. That's unbelievable intel,
Speaker 1: you know, and not just him. They had coaches on
Speaker 1: their staff Fro Mississippi State when you're evaluating edge rushers, Michigan,
Speaker 1: when you're evaluating edge rushers, linebackers. That kind of thing
Speaker 1: was unbelievable for the Cincinnati Bengals to have in this draft,
Speaker 1: and I think the draft proves it because they came
Speaker 1: out with the common theme all the way through. They
Speaker 1: put their bat on the ball with the type of
Speaker 1: guy they were looking for as a football player. First
Speaker 1: and foremost and as a person next on every single occasion.
Speaker 1: And I think trey ViOn Williams is going to be unbelievad.
Speaker 1: It's going to be very are competitive. You know, Walton
Speaker 1: makes a couple of mistakes three actually gets arrested three
Speaker 1: times in three months. No longer a Bengal. There's a
Speaker 1: roster spot there. Treyvion Williams is gonna fight like heck
Speaker 1: to get an opportunity to prove that he belongs to
Speaker 1: the National Football League. Prior to last season, the Bengals
Speaker 1: lost Andre Smith, Chris Smith, and AJ McCarron his free agents.
Speaker 1: The compensatory formula gave the Bengals three extra sixth round
Speaker 1: draft picks. They kept two of them, thirty eighth and
Speaker 1: thirty ninth in the sixth round. The first one was
Speaker 1: used on a linebacker out of Auburn, Deshaun Davis. Five eleven,
Speaker 1: two hundred thirty four pounds, runs a four seven forty.
Speaker 1: He was a team captain. He's a physical run defender, instinctive,
Speaker 1: hard hitting. One of the Bengal scouts said, he's like
Speaker 1: a Steelers inside linebacker that you hate to play twice
Speaker 1: a year. No question, He's got a chip on his
Speaker 1: shoulder because he feels like he should have been drafted higher.
Speaker 1: The Bengals had a higher great on him than two
Speaker 1: hundred and ten in the draft. Flies around the football field.
Speaker 1: When watched the little tape that the scouts presented about him,
Speaker 1: He's one of those guys that, like you said, instinctive meaning,
Speaker 1: sees it before it happens. His first step is always
Speaker 1: in the right direction with no wasted motion. Guys like that.
Speaker 1: You can't, you know, you can't put a value on Dan.
Speaker 1: Not only could he get involved in the linebacker room
Speaker 1: with snaps on the defensive side of it. Darren Simmons
Speaker 1: is smiling. You know, he's got guys like de Sean Davis.
Speaker 1: He's got he's got guys like Pratt Sample. These guys
Speaker 1: are all going to be special teams possibilities for him.
Speaker 1: It's all in the equation. Not only will they be
Speaker 1: competing for starting jobs, and some of them probably will
Speaker 1: have starting jobs. Of the of these groups, they draft
Speaker 1: the potential starters, not just guys to make the roster,
Speaker 1: you know, or to make the fifty three and then
Speaker 1: maybe be active on game to him, not on the
Speaker 1: de active list. These guys are gonna be worst case
Speaker 1: scenario special team snap, sub package snaps, you know by
Speaker 1: formations and personnel group, and it's going to have some
Speaker 1: opportunity to play. And Deshaun Davis's right up to that allee.
Speaker 1: The Bengals had the very next pick as well, number
Speaker 1: two eleven overall, and I like this pick because when
Speaker 1: you've got extra six rounders, you can use one to
Speaker 1: take a flyer on a guy that maybe has an
Speaker 1: injury history but a high upside, and this is the
Speaker 1: guy that fits that description in this year's class. Oklahoma
Speaker 1: running back Rodney Anderson big, fast, six feet tall, two
Speaker 1: under twenty four pounds. The one healthy year he had
Speaker 1: at Oklahoma, he ran for eleven hundred yards, including two
Speaker 1: o one in the Rose Bowl against a great Georgia defense.
Speaker 1: The only knock on the guy is that he missed
Speaker 1: basically two full seasons at Oklahoma due to injuries. And
Speaker 1: that year you're talking about when he had the Great
Speaker 1: Bowl Game, the final seven weeks of the season, he
Speaker 1: led the FBS and yards from scrimmage. So again, position
Speaker 1: versatility running back can put him in the slot as
Speaker 1: a receiver. I mean, the Oklahoma coaches were so excited
Speaker 1: about getting him informational mismatches, trying to get him isolated
Speaker 1: in the slot with a safety or if they're in
Speaker 1: base defense, walking lineback around on him, and it's like, you, kidd,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's like stealing candy from a baby. I mean,
Speaker 1: they thought that he was going to be the guy
Speaker 1: and then you know, then he gets hurt. Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: gets opportunities. This guy is a high character guy. Even
Speaker 1: when he was hurt, Teammates would say he was still
Speaker 1: the leader of the football team. He was engaged, you know,
Speaker 1: it was it wasn't about him instead of putting his
Speaker 1: Dauber down, his chin on his chest and feeling sorry
Speaker 1: for himself. He's still part of the team and doing
Speaker 1: everything he can to contribute. You know, you just hope.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's kind of like the Tyler Eiffort story
Speaker 1: in college football. Will the football gods give them thou
Speaker 1: shalt have a year without injury? I mean, you got
Speaker 1: to hope that both Rodney Emerson and Tyler Eiffort take
Speaker 1: every snap this season they possibly can without being hurt.
Speaker 1: The Bengals tenth and final pick in the seventh round,
Speaker 1: cornerback Jordan Brown from the FCS level South Dakota State.
Speaker 1: The measurables are fantastics. Six feet tall, ran a four
Speaker 1: four eight forty had eight interceptions in his college career.
Speaker 1: So he's fast, he was productive. He just played at
Speaker 1: a smaller school level. True, and he played wide receiver
Speaker 1: prior to playing in the secondaries. Who he understood routes,
Speaker 1: He understood road concepts, he understood why where leverage was. Defensively,
Speaker 1: it's always guys that you know transfer from like quarterback
Speaker 1: to receiver. Okay, well that works because they understand. In
Speaker 1: a quarterback they can read cunt routes and I mean
Speaker 1: read secondary coverages and get tips. Guys that go from
Speaker 1: wide receiver to defensive back understand in a different level
Speaker 1: because they ran the routes. They understand why routes are
Speaker 1: run and why the progression is like it is. So
Speaker 1: he's he's smart, and he's got good ball skills having
Speaker 1: played the receiver position in interceptions. You know, show that
Speaker 1: and he'll he'll come and compete. There's another guy that
Speaker 1: gives you some great special team snaps. You know if
Speaker 1: he makes the roster. So Darren Simmons, you know, is
Speaker 1: gonna look at that and say, hey, even though he's
Speaker 1: the seventh round pick, if he makes the team, he'll
Speaker 1: have quite a few snaps. He could be on all
Speaker 1: the coverage teams, could be all the return teams. That's
Speaker 1: going to give you quite a few snaps, you know,
Speaker 1: right there before you even start all right, last thing,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are also going to sign eleven undrafted free agents.
Speaker 1: We are not going to run down the entire list,
Speaker 1: but since they didn't draft any wide receivers, let's talk
Speaker 1: about three wide receivers that they are bringing in as
Speaker 1: undrafted free agents. Charles Holland from Tiffin, Stanley Morgan from Nebraska.
Speaker 1: Damian Willis also coming in. And of those three, Morgan
Speaker 1: and Willis probably will have the best shot at making
Speaker 1: this team, right because when you look at it, I mean,
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor played quarterback at Nebraska. Where did Stanley Morgan
Speaker 1: go to school? Nebraska? Zach Taylor knows the Nebraska coaches
Speaker 1: and the wide receiver coach I think might have been
Speaker 1: named off defensive coordinator. At any rate, highly recommended. Stanley
Speaker 1: Morgan six feet over a couple hundred pounds four five,
Speaker 1: can play inside in the slot, can play outside, obviously
Speaker 1: a very strong football player, and Damian Willis out of Troy.
Speaker 1: He's sixty three, a little bit longer, turning four pounds
Speaker 1: four fives though. So those are the two guys that
Speaker 1: will probably get the opportunity to compete at the wide
Speaker 1: receiver position. And another guy that's interesting, Jim Turner says
Speaker 1: to one of his guys that was played for him
Speaker 1: in Texas, Sam he Keaton Sutherland, Come on up, Come on,
Speaker 1: my man, six five three twenty two runs a five
Speaker 1: one can play tackler guard. Why don't you come up here.
Speaker 1: Maybe you can make our practice squad worst case scenario,
Speaker 1: and I'll develop you and see if you get picked
Speaker 1: up by somebody else from the practice squad to go
Speaker 1: to their roster. I'll reward you. You rewarded me for
Speaker 1: all your efforts at Texas, A and M. Here you go,
Speaker 1: come on to this training camp and come enjoy the
Speaker 1: NFL with me, my man. I am especially intrigued by
Speaker 1: Stanley Morgan, number one all time in receiving yards at Nebraska.
Speaker 1: We know they've had some great ones, although they pretty
Speaker 1: much only ran the ball for a long time there,
Speaker 1: but had a catch in thirty eight consecutive games thirty
Speaker 1: eight and a half inch vertical. He had hip surgery
Speaker 1: in November of twenty seventeen, so that might be one
Speaker 1: of the reasons why he wound up going undrafted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agreed, Dan. And the other thing that intrigues me
Speaker 1: a little bit. The only other guy they brought in
Speaker 1: for a visit a quarterback Jake Dolgalla out of Central Connecticut,
Speaker 1: six six and a half two hundred and forty pounder.
Speaker 1: So that's a guy that you know, you gotta just
Speaker 1: his physical presence, see what he can do, and maybe,
Speaker 1: you know, practice squad guy or you know, develop him
Speaker 1: a little bit. And the only two quarterbacks they brought
Speaker 1: into to visit they liked enough and they showed enough
Speaker 1: on the grease board and football acumen in IQ that
Speaker 1: one they draft in the fourth round and traded up
Speaker 1: to do so, and the other one they signed as
Speaker 1: a free agent. All Right, that concludes this wrap up
Speaker 1: of the twenty nineteen Bengals draft class. We get to
Speaker 1: see him practice and a up of the weeks. That'll
Speaker 1: be fun. Can't wait. Dan. It's like, you know, you're
Speaker 1: a little kid. You get your Christmas presents and you're
Speaker 1: and open them, unwrapped them and see if they work,
Speaker 1: just like coaches, you know, Christmas presents, get all these
Speaker 1: draft picks and free agents, then you get them out
Speaker 1: in the field and see if they work. So it's
Speaker 1: fun to watch the whole process, and I always enjoy it,
Speaker 1: you know, seeing free agency, the draft, college free agents,
Speaker 1: and then put the team together and watch the whole process.
Speaker 1: And it's very interesting. And it starts up here pretty quick.
Speaker 1: My man. I'm looking forward to working with it, working
Speaker 1: with you about it me too. The Bengals two day
Speaker 1: Rookie Mini Camp is coming up in a little less
Speaker 1: than two weeks Friday and Saturday, May tenth and eleventh.
Speaker 1: Now time for this week's fun Facts interview, where we
Speaker 1: get to know the person under the pads, in this case,
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman out of Alabama who blocked on four
Speaker 1: hundred sixty six passing plays last year without allowing a
Speaker 1: single sack. Time for some fun facts for the Bengals
Speaker 1: number one draft pick in twenty nineteen, Jonah Williams. Jonah,
Speaker 1: you were a three year starter and an All American
Speaker 1: at Alabama. You earned your degree in three years. You're
Speaker 1: obviously an excellent student. Inquiring minds want to know, what
Speaker 1: are you lousy at? Um doing fun facts? I can't
Speaker 1: dance or sing. I can't do that, um So I
Speaker 1: would say those two all right. Do you have any
Speaker 1: talents that are not widely known? I can, I can cook,
Speaker 1: I can grill, I can I can do all that.
Speaker 1: Um But I think linemen have a propensity to do that,
Speaker 1: probably more so than any other position. Do you have
Speaker 1: a go to dish steak? It's it's it's just easy.
Speaker 1: It's hard to mess out as anyone. Oh, if you
Speaker 1: overcook it, you know, if you're one of those people,
Speaker 1: I don't know if we can get along. I'm not
Speaker 1: one of those people. It's got to be a little bloody.
Speaker 1: What did or do your folks do for a living?
Speaker 1: My dad's environmental consulting water management article true things like that,
Speaker 1: My mom says, A home with my little brother. He's eleven.
Speaker 1: You grew up in Atlanta before moving to Northern California
Speaker 1: in high school? Who were some of your heroes going up? Personally?
Speaker 1: Like you know, I always loose up to my parents.
Speaker 1: I think that they they taught me a lot and
Speaker 1: have you led me in the right direction. When I
Speaker 1: started playing offensive line, I was looking for a guy
Speaker 1: in the in the league to look for, and actually,
Speaker 1: you know, arrival of the Bengals Joe Thomas as a
Speaker 1: guy that I looked up to as far as molly
Speaker 1: in my game after he was pretty good. We're doing
Speaker 1: fun facts with Jonah Williams. You did a telephone conference
Speaker 1: call with Cincinnati reporters after the draft and told us
Speaker 1: that you built a weight room and the basement of
Speaker 1: your family home. As a kid, I put legos together.
Speaker 1: You built a weight room. Tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: about the weight room. I always would walk to my
Speaker 1: school and work out in their weight room, but it
Speaker 1: was usually logs at certain points, like in the summer
Speaker 1: over Chriss break or whenever the school wasn't in session
Speaker 1: and I didn't really have anyone else to lift. So
Speaker 1: I got a bunch of two by fours, some some
Speaker 1: metal piping and built like you know, a rack with
Speaker 1: a with a with a little metal bars to put
Speaker 1: the put the squad on and for the bench, and
Speaker 1: got a bench that we already had and got some
Speaker 1: weights in a barbell off craigslists and just kind of
Speaker 1: threw it together. I put a but I just have
Speaker 1: fond memories there. I put up flags of the schools
Speaker 1: I wanted to play for, and I put up, you know,
Speaker 1: different posters that said what percentage of people make it
Speaker 1: to play D one and what percentage of those people
Speaker 1: make it to the NFL, just so I knew how
Speaker 1: hard I'd have to work to be in that group.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned, you moved to northern California for your
Speaker 1: dad's job, and you wound up playing at Fulsome High
Speaker 1: School near Sacramento, one of the most dominant high school
Speaker 1: teams in the state of California's history. Sixteen to know,
Speaker 1: I think this was your junior year. Every game went
Speaker 1: to a running clock in the fourth quarter because you
Speaker 1: were crushing teams. Why was that team so good? It
Speaker 1: was a commination of talent and work. You know. We
Speaker 1: had a bunch of talented guys. Cincinnati's very own um.
Speaker 1: Josia Duara was our tight end. We had Jake Brownie
Speaker 1: at quarterback. Cody Crease and I were the anchors on
Speaker 1: that on that old line. Sam Whitney at Boise State
Speaker 1: was our center, and d end We had I mean,
Speaker 1: I think we had ten or eleven guys who who
Speaker 1: win d one. Um, great coaches Coach Taylor and Richardson
Speaker 1: do a great job and if continue to do that
Speaker 1: even after we left, which makes it feel a litt
Speaker 1: less special. But um, but we were exceptional in that
Speaker 1: and the work ethic. One thing I always remember is
Speaker 1: just we would literally run practices without without the coaches there.
Speaker 1: We go up and down the field running plays just
Speaker 1: because we wanted to, because we wanted to beat people
Speaker 1: that bad. And um, I think that that made it special.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Jonah Williams. You can go online and
Speaker 1: see footage from your senior year of high school and
Speaker 1: it looks like the movie The blind Side because you
Speaker 1: are blocking people right off the screen. You are tossing
Speaker 1: people around. It's kind of comical. Actually, did you ever
Speaker 1: feel sorry for any of those kids? Not really, honestly,
Speaker 1: because I knew where my goals were at, and to me,
Speaker 1: I felt like I had to do that to them
Speaker 1: to prove that I could continue to play at a
Speaker 1: high level of the next level just knowing. I mean,
Speaker 1: going from high school to college is a huge gap.
Speaker 1: I think going from college NFL is another gap in
Speaker 1: terms of talent and ability and the types of people
Speaker 1: were going against so I felt like they were kind
Speaker 1: of casualties on my way to college. All right, you
Speaker 1: mentioned Josiah Deguara, now the tight end at the University
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati, in your former high school teammate. I called
Speaker 1: him up and asked him for his best Jonah Williams
Speaker 1: story that he could share at least, and here's what
Speaker 1: he said. He said, in high school, you were looking
Speaker 1: to put on weight. So he used to carry a
Speaker 1: bag of food around during the day in school and
Speaker 1: just like reach in there throughout the day to get
Speaker 1: a sandwicharity what was in the bag? And then how
Speaker 1: did you go about doing that? Yeah? So, yuh, I
Speaker 1: was trying to gain weight. I got an offer to
Speaker 1: play offensive line. I was like two forty, so I
Speaker 1: had a game sixty pounds, and so I just packed
Speaker 1: a bag and my whole backpack. I'd have like, you know,
Speaker 1: one binder in there. Then the rest would just be
Speaker 1: stuffed with food. I remember I made peanut butter bagels,
Speaker 1: which were always tough to get through because I would,
Speaker 1: you know, dry they were. Um. I'd bring pea chips,
Speaker 1: those Peeda chips in h Stacy's Peeda chips or whatever,
Speaker 1: and those were always a hit because everyone one of
Speaker 1: them because they're so good, you know, so I try
Speaker 1: not to share too many of those. I'd bring an apple,
Speaker 1: you know, to make it feel healthier, protein bar pretty much,
Speaker 1: mostly non parishables. I'd get a lunch at school. I'd
Speaker 1: get it from like the cafeteria and then oh, pbn
Speaker 1: J that was important, and a banana probably other things,
Speaker 1: showing his bag of food. That could be a thing, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you could. You could sell that some day. So you're
Speaker 1: one of the top recruits in the country. You went
Speaker 1: on your visit to Alabama and instead of trying to
Speaker 1: impress you with fancy player's lounge, they apparently took you
Speaker 1: into the offensive line room and gave you the clicker
Speaker 1: so that you could watch tape for half an hour.
Speaker 1: Is that really what did it that? Well? Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: what That's what set it apart. I met with coach
Speaker 1: christ the Ball, the old line coach at the time,
Speaker 1: and my recruiter, and we were watching tape and he
Speaker 1: was asking me the terminology we use in high school,
Speaker 1: and then he was flipping it from their terminal anology
Speaker 1: to mind. So we'd show a play and describing my
Speaker 1: terms and I'd be able to talk about everything because
Speaker 1: I was just like, you know, able to translate it.
Speaker 1: So that was the first thing. And then before we left,
Speaker 1: I was talking to coach a boy and he's like, hey,
Speaker 1: do you want to come because it was my official
Speaker 1: visit with the Tennessee game. And he's like, hey, do
Speaker 1: you want to do you want to come watch? You
Speaker 1: know the tape from that game? And I was like, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I just watched them first. I want to watch the tape.
Speaker 1: And so I sat there for a while, was just
Speaker 1: going through or watching it and just seeing seeing that
Speaker 1: and seeing, you know, all the workings that organization. Maybe
Speaker 1: I want to join. You left high school early January,
Speaker 1: if your senior year of high school, you went off
Speaker 1: to Alabama, try to get a head start. How tough
Speaker 1: was that? I mean, it was a it was a
Speaker 1: decision I knew I wanted to do. I wanted to
Speaker 1: come in and start as a freshman at Alabama was
Speaker 1: a big goal for me. I knew it wouldn't be easy.
Speaker 1: There's so many great players there and then I'll just
Speaker 1: play anyone, you know, And I knew I'd give myself
Speaker 1: the best shot by coming in early and getting an
Speaker 1: extra five months under my belt before other people do,
Speaker 1: and get an extra fifteen practices, you know, over the
Speaker 1: course of the spring, and get acquainted with the coaches,
Speaker 1: know the system backwards and forwards, things like that. So
Speaker 1: it wasn't a hard decision for me to make, you know.
Speaker 1: It was weird missing a missing all the you know,
Speaker 1: second half of my senior year of high school. I
Speaker 1: remember some of the guys on the team making fun
Speaker 1: of me, saying, like, you going to Prom. I was
Speaker 1: just like, Nope, We've got a scrimmage on the day
Speaker 1: of Prom. I'm not going back to California, you know.
Speaker 1: So it was definitely a commitment, but an easy sacrifice
Speaker 1: for me to make. Did you get a welcome to
Speaker 1: the SEC moment when you show up at Alabama and
Speaker 1: you're really a senior in high school? I definitely did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: As I did come in early, and I came in
Speaker 1: a week before the national championship game at the time,
Speaker 1: So they put me on scout team going against that
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen defense, and then they pumped in crowd noise.
Speaker 1: And when they pumped in crowd noises way louder than
Speaker 1: any stadium and as a high schooler. I hadn't even
Speaker 1: hurt normal crowd noise, so I thought that was what
Speaker 1: it was always like. And so I'm trying to watch
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, and also be watching Tim Williams
Speaker 1: and Ryan Anderson, John Allen coming off the edge, and
Speaker 1: so I definitely had that moment and you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: that's out of the way for the rest of my career.
Speaker 1: A couple more fun facts for Jonah Williams. Your first
Speaker 1: year at Alabama, you played right tackle. The next two
Speaker 1: you played left tackle. I read them to prepare to
Speaker 1: make the move from the right side to the left side,
Speaker 1: you tried to write and eat with both hands. Is
Speaker 1: that the case it is? Yeah, I figured, you know,
Speaker 1: I might as well, and I got. I did it
Speaker 1: for a while. Especially the eating is able to do that.
Speaker 1: Writing is just tough to do. But then I actually
Speaker 1: talked to a couple of people and they said it's
Speaker 1: actually advantageous to be right handed as a left tackle
Speaker 1: because that's your inside hand over your post foot, you know,
Speaker 1: and so you want that to be your strong hand
Speaker 1: and most run hand pass situations. So I kind of
Speaker 1: kind of laid off it at that point, all right,
Speaker 1: last thing. Your arms look normal to me. At the
Speaker 1: NFL scouting combine, your arms measured thirty three and five
Speaker 1: eighths inches. The preferred length is apparently thirty four for
Speaker 1: a tackle, so your arms, I guess, are three eighths
Speaker 1: of an inch shorter than preferred. A dime is about
Speaker 1: a half an inch wide, so it's less than a
Speaker 1: dime that we're talking about. Is this like the most
Speaker 1: overblown thing in the world. Oh? Absolutely, And you know,
Speaker 1: it's frustrating that I was in a situation where I
Speaker 1: had to defend myself against that, like there's no reason
Speaker 1: for that. It's it's about the film, it's about the resume.
Speaker 1: If I was way off, you know, like um Coacha
Speaker 1: Turners making a joke earlier, he was like, if you
Speaker 1: were five nine, you know, we'd take concern, but you're
Speaker 1: six four and five eights with thirty three and five
Speaker 1: eights and charms like, it's not it's not a huge deal.
Speaker 1: So he has it's frustrating. I'm to defend myself from that.
Speaker 1: I gave a list of the combine of all these,
Speaker 1: you know, future Hall of Fame type O linemen that
Speaker 1: have my length arms are shorter who we are we
Speaker 1: talking about Joe Thomas, Joe Staeley, as those guys, Jason Peters, Bactieri,
Speaker 1: Jack Matthews, Bulaga, all those guys just anywhere arranging room,
Speaker 1: just starters in the NFL to the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: type guys, like just some incredible players. But they make
Speaker 1: up were it with their technique and their ability and
Speaker 1: the way they play the game. So I never really
Speaker 1: took that much of a concern to it. I think
Speaker 1: people have to fill four months of TV and radio time,
Speaker 1: so they just find things to talk about. So I
Speaker 1: never took it that personally. It doesn't matter anymore, you know,
Speaker 1: since Nattie picks me and it's the team I'm on,
Speaker 1: and I'm just excited less than the width of a dime,
Speaker 1: remember that. Really excited to have you here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on being the eleventh pick in the draft. It's
Speaker 1: a remarkable achievement, but you definitely earned it. We look
Speaker 1: forward to watching play. Thank you. Can't wait to be here.
Speaker 1: And that's going to do it for this week's podcast.
Speaker 1: If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe
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Speaker 1: this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast