Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Loving the Nick of time. Addition,
Speaker 1: as we get acquainted with the newest Bengal safety, Nick Scott,
Speaker 1: who signed a three year contract on Monday, reportedly for
Speaker 1: twelve million dollars, I think you'll enjoy getting to know
Speaker 1: him as much as I did. He wasn't the only
Speaker 1: free agent to sign on Monday, as Max Sharping agreed
Speaker 1: to return to Cincinnati on a one year deal. I'll
Speaker 1: spend a few minutes with Mammoth Max as well. The
Speaker 1: Bengals will have new starting safeties following the departures of
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates and Von Bell. We'll discuss that with safety's
Speaker 1: coach Rob Livingston. And then it's the fourth edition of
Speaker 1: our NFL Expert Mock Draft as Charles Davis from CBS
Speaker 1: takes his turn on the Pro Football Focus mock simulator.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Paycorps.
Speaker 1: More than twenty nine thousand customers trust Paycorps to help
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Speaker 1: paycorp dot com. Now here's a quick reminder that you
Speaker 1: can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered write
Speaker 1: to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since seeing abundant
Speaker 1: Bengals gear at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport. If you
Speaker 1: don't live in Cincinnati, you might not know that the
Speaker 1: international airport is actually located across the river in Kentucky.
Speaker 1: I've done a lot of flying in and out of
Speaker 1: CVG Airport over the years, and it wasn't too long
Speaker 1: ago that if you stopped in the gift shop you
Speaker 1: saw a bunch of Kentucky Wildcats gear, plenty of Cincinnati
Speaker 1: red stuff, and then maybe just maybe a few items
Speaker 1: with a Bengals logo. Well that's not the case anymore.
Speaker 1: I'm my most recent trips to the airport, I've noticed
Speaker 1: that Bengals gear dominates. A Super Bowl appearance followed by
Speaker 1: a return trip to the AFC Championship Game has electrified
Speaker 1: the entire region. Here's hoping they're selling Bengals Super Bowl
Speaker 1: Championship gear at the airport at this time next year.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to my first guest. Nick Scott is
Speaker 1: a great example of hard work paying off, the Rams
Speaker 1: selected him with the two hundred forty third pick in
Speaker 1: the twenty nineteen draft. There were only eleven picks after
Speaker 1: him that year. After being a core special teams player
Speaker 1: in his first two seasons, Scott became a starting safety
Speaker 1: late in twenty twenty one due to injuries to Jordan
Speaker 1: Fuller and Taylor rap and he took every snap in
Speaker 1: the rams four playoff wins that year, including the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl victory over the Bengals. That led to a starting
Speaker 1: job last season, and Scott finished fifth on the Rams
Speaker 1: and tackles and added two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Speaker 1: LA has been forced to shed payroll, trading Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: and releasing Bobby Wagner, among others. And while they tried
Speaker 1: to bring Nick Scott back, he elected to sign with
Speaker 1: Cincinnati instead. I talked to him on Monday, Nick, Welcome
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati. Aside from the financial aspect, how did the
Speaker 1: Bengals make it clear to you how badly they wanted
Speaker 1: you here? Oh? I say, just by bringing me in
Speaker 1: the building and you know, sitting me down with the
Speaker 1: legend coach Lou you know, talking ball with him was
Speaker 1: also and also coach Robbie. I mean, those guys know
Speaker 1: their stuff, you know. So after I met them and
Speaker 1: got a chance to meet the owner and see how
Speaker 1: genuine he was, and and you know coach Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. I mean, just coming in the
Speaker 1: facility and being around those guys, you know, it's pretty
Speaker 1: clear that, you know, this organization is moving in a
Speaker 1: great direction and I want to be part of that.
Speaker 1: We can add the legend Coach Lou to his many nicknames.
Speaker 1: Now a lot of people have been referring him to
Speaker 1: as the mad Scientist for some of the things that
Speaker 1: he's drawn up over the last couple of years. For
Speaker 1: that stuff to work, it takes really smart players, and
Speaker 1: it sounds like that's a key reason for your success. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been blessed with my ability, and you
Speaker 1: know the mental aspect. You know, I'm a sponge. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm always willing to learn and everything like that. So
Speaker 1: I wouldn't consider myself necessarily a brainiact, but you know,
Speaker 1: I'm excited because I know I'll be able to get
Speaker 1: some good information, not just from Coach Lou and Coach Rob,
Speaker 1: but these players who have been in this system for
Speaker 1: a while it's a real tight knit group, it's very apparent.
Speaker 1: You know, pretty much everybody in that D DV room
Speaker 1: has already reached out to me and welcomed me as
Speaker 1: part of the team. So, you know, I'm extremely excited
Speaker 1: to work with that group because of how talented they are.
Speaker 1: The Bengals have prioritized signing and drafting guys that love football,
Speaker 1: love the grind. You were a two time captain at
Speaker 1: Penn State, you won the Sportsmanship Award in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: Clearly it sounds like you are one of those guys.
Speaker 1: What is it about this game that speaks to you?
Speaker 1: Just you know how competitive you have to be. You know,
Speaker 1: I was the youngest of three boys, but you know
Speaker 1: I tried every day. My heart is to be the
Speaker 1: alpha the group, even though it didn't always work. But
Speaker 1: just you know, having that competitive nature instilled in me,
Speaker 1: and you know, the excitement and joy you get from
Speaker 1: making plays and also watching your teammates make plays, there's
Speaker 1: really nothing like it. And I also like the physical aspect.
Speaker 1: I like the idea of imposing your will on somebody
Speaker 1: else because you're allowed to. When you went to Penn State,
Speaker 1: you started out as a running back. Did you embrace
Speaker 1: that change to safety pretty quickly? Yeah, I really did. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I was a running back, but you know,
Speaker 1: it became pretty clear pretty early that that wasn't going
Speaker 1: to be how I could best help the team. At
Speaker 1: the time, I was playing special teams, so you know,
Speaker 1: I went up to my coaching and said, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to be a great special teams player. I
Speaker 1: think it'd be you know, more of my benefit if
Speaker 1: I'm working on tackling in that type of position every day.
Speaker 1: So you know, I'd love to move to safety and
Speaker 1: just perfect that craft, and I was able to do that.
Speaker 1: I'm sure as a free agent, you were looking around
Speaker 1: the league and trying to evaluate who had a need,
Speaker 1: and I think most people around the league figure Jesse
Speaker 1: Bates was probably going to sign elsewhere. Von Bell was
Speaker 1: a little bit more up in the air. But once
Speaker 1: he did, did you say to yourself and to your agent,
Speaker 1: I would fit in Cincinnati. Yeah. You know, I've been
Speaker 1: talking to Cincinnati, my agent and I, you know, ever
Speaker 1: since we could, and so there was always a little
Speaker 1: bit of interest there. Obviously, they had to figure out
Speaker 1: what they wanted to do with those guys. But yeah,
Speaker 1: This was one of the top teams on my radar
Speaker 1: just because of you know, the location, the city, the fans,
Speaker 1: and you know obviously what they're capable of. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been a great fit so far, even though it's
Speaker 1: only been five minutes. But I'm excited about what these
Speaker 1: next three years are gonna hold. Looks like you will
Speaker 1: be paired at safety with another Big ten guy and
Speaker 1: Dax Hyler, who was a first round pick last year,
Speaker 1: being from the Big Ten. Did you watch his games?
Speaker 1: Are you familiar with him? Yeah, I'm definitely familiar with him,
Speaker 1: and you know, he's an athletic freak. I remember watching
Speaker 1: him in a preseason game, I think his his rookie year,
Speaker 1: and just watching him ball out and do that stuff.
Speaker 1: I was extremely happy for him, like I am any
Speaker 1: Big ten guys, even though he went to Michigan. But
Speaker 1: now I'm extremely excited about Dax and you know his potential,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm sure I'll be able to take
Speaker 1: them some things from his game, and I hope he,
Speaker 1: you know, feels free to ask me questions and to
Speaker 1: take some stuff from my game. But I think it
Speaker 1: will be a great little duo. We're chatting with next Scott.
Speaker 1: You didn't overlap with Zach Taylor with the Rams, but
Speaker 1: did you hear stuff about him from your teammates there?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, people still talk about Zach tayl over there
Speaker 1: and what he was able to do with that offense
Speaker 1: and everything like that. So you know, he left a
Speaker 1: great mark on that organization, and you know obviously has
Speaker 1: taken you know, what he learned and his own traits
Speaker 1: and brought it over here and is having great success. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, it was a no braiding for me.
Speaker 1: You have a Super Bowl ring at the Bengals expense.
Speaker 1: What stands out about your Super Bowl experience? The whole
Speaker 1: week and then the game itself? Oh man, I was
Speaker 1: just super grateful that entire week, you know, just you know,
Speaker 1: people that know my story know that I was a
Speaker 1: special teams guy, was drafted in the seventh round. You know,
Speaker 1: I try my best just to work hard every day
Speaker 1: and put myself in my teammates in a position to
Speaker 1: be successful. And I was able to do that to
Speaker 1: the point where my coaches and teammates trusted me being
Speaker 1: out there as a starter. So just extremely grateful for
Speaker 1: that experience. When loser draw you know, and that's something
Speaker 1: I'll chaished for the rest of my life. Glad you
Speaker 1: mentioned your journey because I read that you gave the
Speaker 1: commencement address at your former high school, and I saw
Speaker 1: an interview where you described your message to the students.
Speaker 1: Embrace your role, but don't settle for it. From seventh
Speaker 1: round pick to special team's ace, to starter to highly
Speaker 1: coveted free agent, that's somebody who embraced his role but
Speaker 1: didn't settle for it. Now, that's that's exactly right. That's
Speaker 1: something that I lived by, And you know, I can't
Speaker 1: stress enough how important it is for me to help
Speaker 1: my team be successful, regardless of the role, whether that's
Speaker 1: starting safety, whether that's water boy, or whether that's special
Speaker 1: team or everybody's extremely important to a team and their success.
Speaker 1: But there's no shame in, you know, having goals and
Speaker 1: aspirations and wanting to be greater, because if you're striving
Speaker 1: for a greater it's only going to make you better
Speaker 1: and the people around you better. As an NFL draft
Speaker 1: pick and a guy who's played four years in the
Speaker 1: league so far, you've obviously made decent money. But when
Speaker 1: you earn that second contract, now you're in a different
Speaker 1: tax bracket. What is the level of satisfaction for you
Speaker 1: for having earned this? Oh man, it's a huge blessing.
Speaker 1: You mentioned tax bracket. It's even more of a blessing.
Speaker 1: I can earn that money in Ohio versus California research.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's a it's a huge blessing. I'm just
Speaker 1: so excited about. Um, you know what this can do
Speaker 1: for my entire family. Um, you know, my family that
Speaker 1: I grew up with as well as my own little nucleus. UM.
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't necessarily see that money as mine,
Speaker 1: but more of money for my family and the community,
Speaker 1: and you know, an opportunity to be a blessing around
Speaker 1: with people around me. Your wife and young son are
Speaker 1: in the room with us right now, three months old,
Speaker 1: behaving very well. What do you enjoying about fatherhood so far?
Speaker 1: Oh man? UM, just honestly watching you know, the mother
Speaker 1: that my wife has grown into. He's already a fantastic mother,
Speaker 1: so it's awesome to step in this parent role with her.
Speaker 1: We're learning a lot about each other in that role,
Speaker 1: and you know, just seeing Jack change every day and
Speaker 1: you know, one of the tougher parts as soon as
Speaker 1: we get him locked down, he switches it up on
Speaker 1: us and he's entering a new phase and everything like that.
Speaker 1: But you know the best thing that we got going
Speaker 1: right now is we're starting to get some laughs and
Speaker 1: some chuckles out of him. So you know, my whole
Speaker 1: day is pretty much spent around trying to get him
Speaker 1: to laugh. Just like the name Jack or was there
Speaker 1: added meeting behind it? Now there's added meeting. So my
Speaker 1: actually at home, my father mostly and my mom, they
Speaker 1: refer to me as Jack and they have since I
Speaker 1: was a child, short for Jack Rabbit. I was a
Speaker 1: high octane, bouncing off the walls individual, So they've been
Speaker 1: calling me Jack and Jack Rabbit since I was a kid.
Speaker 1: And you know, I wanted to name my son after myself,
Speaker 1: but you also wanted him to feel like he has
Speaker 1: his own legacy that he can lead. So we felt
Speaker 1: like Jack was a perfect fit. Jack Rabbit's a good
Speaker 1: description for RANGEI safety, Yeah for sure, Yeah, I definitely
Speaker 1: got range. I'm pretty sure I still got some hops.
Speaker 1: So that whole DV group is pretty athletic, so you
Speaker 1: know they're gonna be giving me a run for my money.
Speaker 1: But hey, if we're all you know out there flying around,
Speaker 1: jumping around, making plays. I'm excited for what we can do.
Speaker 1: You had a forty one inch vertical at the combine.
Speaker 1: I believe you definitely have some hops. Yeah, I got
Speaker 1: some springs for sure. Yeah. That was obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: a blessing to be able to have a pro day
Speaker 1: and kind of put my name out there with some
Speaker 1: good numbers. This is an exciting day for the Bengals
Speaker 1: and for you and your family. Congratulations on a well
Speaker 1: deserved opportunity in Cincinnati. Thank you so much. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: try this out again who Day. The Bengals Booth podcast
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals.
Speaker 1: They're free to play, with tickets and side merchandise up
Speaker 1: for grabs. Find both inside the Bengals app. Following my
Speaker 1: conversation with Nick, I joined some other Bengals reporters and
Speaker 1: talking to safety's coach Rob Livingston about the overhaul of
Speaker 1: his position group following the departures of Jesse, Bates and
Speaker 1: Von Bell. That duo almost never came off the field
Speaker 1: over the past five years. Jesse missed just one start
Speaker 1: due to injury, and over the past three seasons, Vaughan
Speaker 1: didn't miss any. Livingston says their impact will continue even
Speaker 1: though they are no longer with the team. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: know they left it better than they found it, and
Speaker 1: that's not a shot at what it was before. But
Speaker 1: that's all you can you know, in this league, in
Speaker 1: my personal opinion, whether you're a position coach or a player,
Speaker 1: change is going to happen, right, So when you leave
Speaker 1: a place, if it is in better shape than it
Speaker 1: was when you found it, that's all you can do.
Speaker 1: For Jesse, he's a guy that came in and obviously
Speaker 1: started as a rookie, which never happened around here at
Speaker 1: that point. And you know, he's kind of shown hey,
Speaker 1: if you give young players the keys to the car
Speaker 1: and just let them go and take the good with
Speaker 1: the bad, then they can have success. And you know,
Speaker 1: for Vaughan, Von came in at a time when we
Speaker 1: needed veteran leadership and kind of trudged through a really
Speaker 1: a year and we'll see on his chest the whole time,
Speaker 1: and you know, if you weren't on your p's and q's,
Speaker 1: he'd beat you to work and he'd be the first
Speaker 1: guy you see working out and he's just the grinder,
Speaker 1: the ultimate grinder. So yeah, things will be done here
Speaker 1: for a long time. Because Vaughan and jested it that way,
Speaker 1: Livingston knows exactly what he's getting and Nick Scott. Scott's
Speaker 1: college coach at Penn State was James Franklin, and Livingston
Speaker 1: was on Franklin's coaching staff at Vanderbilt in two eleven,
Speaker 1: so he has plenty of contacts on the Penn State
Speaker 1: staff who gave him the skinny on the Bengals new safety.
Speaker 1: I've worked all those guys, so those were easy conversations
Speaker 1: and they all came back really the same answer. Love
Speaker 1: the guy was a captain, great leader of phenomenal leadership ability.
Speaker 1: You'll love him, get him any way you can. So
Speaker 1: just the overriding like, hey, this is a great guy
Speaker 1: from all the sources that I talked to. Was was
Speaker 1: exciting to hear. Scott is a great athlete. Prior to
Speaker 1: his draft he ran a four four three forty with
Speaker 1: a forty one inch vertical leap and a ten foot
Speaker 1: eight inch broad jump. Those are all elite measurements, but
Speaker 1: he wasn't a high draft pick because he didn't start
Speaker 1: until his senior year at Penn state, and he's a
Speaker 1: bit undersized at safety, but despite being about fifteen pounds
Speaker 1: lighter than von Bell, Scott packs a punch. You gotta
Speaker 1: have a tone center. You gotta have somebody that can
Speaker 1: that can you know, set the tone on early down
Speaker 1: so to get you to these third and long so
Speaker 1: you can have fun and do some some fun thing
Speaker 1: on defense. So you know that is ingrained in him. Again,
Speaker 1: you're talking about a guy who has had to earn
Speaker 1: every inch of the NFL he's had, you know, your
Speaker 1: seventh round pick. You're a non combine guy. Those guys
Speaker 1: aren't supposed to make it much less make second contracts.
Speaker 1: So I think it's the testaments to to who he is.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, what he's about the doors that he's already
Speaker 1: he knocked down, You know, again, he shouldn't be here
Speaker 1: into his credit he is, and that should let you
Speaker 1: know kind of the toughness and the mental fortitude that
Speaker 1: he has. For sure, the bengals other starting safety is
Speaker 1: not a scrappy underdog. It's last year's first round draft
Speaker 1: pick Dax Hill, who got snaps at a wide variety
Speaker 1: of positions while waiting his turn as a rookie The
Speaker 1: beauty of Dax's rookie year was that he played a
Speaker 1: lot of spots, so you know he's seen a lot
Speaker 1: of different things. You know, a last training camp was
Speaker 1: what it was. Dax's a starting free safety and had
Speaker 1: a really good camp, and you know, Jess shows up
Speaker 1: and Jess obviously had a phenomenal years, a phenomenal player.
Speaker 1: So we're playing in Pittsburgh. I think it was the
Speaker 1: first third down the game, so we put Dime out there,
Speaker 1: so Dax is out there, so unfortunately they convert it.
Speaker 1: So for the first time in his life, he's got
Speaker 1: to run off the field and you can just see
Speaker 1: like the wheels turning, like okay, it's first and ten,
Speaker 1: Like no, no no, no, dude, Like you gotta come off
Speaker 1: like you're not out there anymore. So packages were different,
Speaker 1: I mean little things, And I know that sounds stupid,
Speaker 1: but like when you go from being a full time
Speaker 1: starter your whole life to now you're a reliever. Right
Speaker 1: it's the bottom of the seventh, you're coming in, there's
Speaker 1: two outs and you got to get a guy out right.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a different lifestyle for for people. So
Speaker 1: you know, he'll admit it. I mean, there were some highs. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the play he made at the end of the New
Speaker 1: Orleans game was phenomenal, had some other really good plays,
Speaker 1: and there were some lows. I mean, that is what
Speaker 1: it is. You're a rookie, so it's a good starting point,
Speaker 1: you know. Selfishly, I'm happy that the highs were good
Speaker 1: and the lows were bad, so that hey, dude, I
Speaker 1: got a chip on my shoulder and away we go.
Speaker 1: So I got a lot of you know, stresses and
Speaker 1: worries in my life, and he's not one of them.
Speaker 1: He was the first round pick for a reason, so
Speaker 1: I'm super excited and Livingston it's also eager to see
Speaker 1: what Tyson Anderson can do. He was selected in the
Speaker 1: fifth round last year but didn't play a single snap
Speaker 1: after suffering a hamstring injury in training camp. You can
Speaker 1: put yourself in issues and say, ah, that must have
Speaker 1: sucked your whole life. You want to play in the
Speaker 1: NFL and you get hurt like the last week of
Speaker 1: camp and you're on ir all year. So you know,
Speaker 1: the positive to that is he had all year to
Speaker 1: be in meetings and it's a Wrencher year at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, which everybody probably needs. So it's
Speaker 1: an exciting time. Obviously, he's got to be chumping at
Speaker 1: the bit to get going and you know, prove what
Speaker 1: he can do and we'll be excited to have him
Speaker 1: and everything he can do. You know, it'll be it'll
Speaker 1: be a big year for him. Now that Orlando Brown
Speaker 1: and Nick Scott of signed, the Bengals can look to
Speaker 1: address other needs in free agencies, such as tight end,
Speaker 1: running back or cornerback. The dollars obviously have to make sense,
Speaker 1: but Livingston says getting free agents to consider Cincinnati is
Speaker 1: no longer a challenge. All the guys to a man
Speaker 1: that come in and say, hey, look, we look, we
Speaker 1: see how you guys play. There's something special here. You know,
Speaker 1: we want to be a part of it. And four
Speaker 1: years ago it wouldn't like that. You know. Again, I
Speaker 1: was telling somebody like, you know, we'd have a free
Speaker 1: agent visit four years ago, and you know, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: a college coach again, Like, hey, man, if you come here,
Speaker 1: we can win. I promise it'll be great. It's a
Speaker 1: great place to live. You know, players come here now
Speaker 1: it's like, hey, I want to be here. What do
Speaker 1: I have to do? So I think it's it's such
Speaker 1: a testament to the people upstairs to obviously mister Brown,
Speaker 1: Katie and Troy, how they've kind of built this thing
Speaker 1: with the new amenities and you look how nice the
Speaker 1: locker room and the training room is going to be.
Speaker 1: And I think we all realized Number nine still placed quarterback,
Speaker 1: so that helps a lot as well. But it's just
Speaker 1: the men in there, like, uh, you know guys nobody
Speaker 1: talks about all right, Like like Mike Thomas. Mike Thomas
Speaker 1: is in year eleven, kind of the same story we
Speaker 1: talked about. You know, college free agent, second third fourth contract,
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl player could be the CEO of a fortune
Speaker 1: five hundred company, could do whatever he wants. And the
Speaker 1: dudes here every morning, like at six am, when a
Speaker 1: smile on his face. So it's people like that that
Speaker 1: make this thing go. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
Speaker 1: to you by Alta Fiber, future proof fiber Internet capable
Speaker 1: of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to take your home, business,
Speaker 1: and community to a new level. Elevate your connection with
Speaker 1: Alta Fiber. In the AFC champion Ship Game loss at
Speaker 1: Kansas City, the Bengals had three backups starting on the
Speaker 1: offensive line, with Jackson Carmen and Hakimadenogy at the tackle
Speaker 1: spots and Max Sharping at right guard in place of
Speaker 1: the injured Alex Kappa. It was obviously a tough day
Speaker 1: for the old line, as Kansas City had five sacks
Speaker 1: and twelve quarterback hits, but it should be pointed out
Speaker 1: that the subs were stellar the week before, allowing just
Speaker 1: one sack and paving the way for one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy two rushing yards in the win at Buffalo. Max
Speaker 1: Sharping was a second round draft picked by Houston and
Speaker 1: a three year starter for the Texans before the Bengals
Speaker 1: signed him off of waivers just before the start of
Speaker 1: last year. He signed a one year extension on Monday,
Speaker 1: and I spent a few minutes with him moments after
Speaker 1: he put pen to paper. I believe this was the
Speaker 1: first time you were a free agent. What was the
Speaker 1: process like for you us? You know, a little stressful,
Speaker 1: little interesting to say the least, but you know, excited
Speaker 1: to be back. Money is obviously a key consideration, but
Speaker 1: did you have other priorities in mind? You know, my
Speaker 1: family is here, with my two sisters being at Xavier
Speaker 1: so that's always a priority of mine to be you know,
Speaker 1: around family. It's you know, one of the biggest aspects
Speaker 1: of my life. So it was nice that, you know,
Speaker 1: I have family here. Obviously, a great team, great organization.
Speaker 1: Enjoyed a lot of success here last year, so just
Speaker 1: excited to be back. All right, let's backpedal for a second.
Speaker 1: You have two sisters at Xavier. Yes, they play lacrosse.
Speaker 1: Lacrosse there. How did I not know this research research?
Speaker 1: Yeah it's my wife's sisters, their sister in laws. But yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: they are my sisters. So that's pretty cool. We're talking
Speaker 1: to Max Sharping. You grew up in Green Bay, went
Speaker 1: to school at Northern Illinois. This isn't too far away.
Speaker 1: Did you find kind of an immediate comfort level here? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, especially with how nice everyone is,
Speaker 1: you know, in the old line room and the coaches,
Speaker 1: everybody in the locker room. You know, it was it
Speaker 1: was immediate. You know, it's a it's a midwestern town,
Speaker 1: you know, Midwestern field, exactly what I grew up with.
Speaker 1: So definitely you've got here. Just before the start of
Speaker 1: the season. You weren't here in training camp. Did you
Speaker 1: become comfortable pretty quickly. Yeah, you know, like I said,
Speaker 1: coaches and teammates are all great to help me out
Speaker 1: learning a playbook and you know, getting accustomed to how
Speaker 1: things run here. Um, so did did get comfortable very quickly?
Speaker 1: Will it be easier for you this year having the
Speaker 1: opportunity to go through OTA's training camp, etc. In terms
Speaker 1: of your comfort level with your assignments, the playbook, frank system,
Speaker 1: et cetera. Anytime you're in an offense for more than
Speaker 1: a couple of months, it definitely makes it smoother. So
Speaker 1: I'll definitely you know, pick up more nuances and you know,
Speaker 1: dive deeper into into everything than than I got to
Speaker 1: in the start of last year. So definitely we'll be
Speaker 1: a nice refresher getting everything back and you know, really
Speaker 1: really honing in on every minor little detail. We're chatting
Speaker 1: with Max Sharping. After Alex Kappa's injury, your first three
Speaker 1: starts as a Bengal were the three playoff games. How
Speaker 1: challenging was that? Yeah, you know, playoff football is tough. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it was great to be in a spot
Speaker 1: where our our team was in the playoffs and you know, thankfully,
Speaker 1: you know, my teammates helped me while I was out there,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, like you said, playoff football is
Speaker 1: playoff football. So it's uh, it was interesting. Cloud. You know,
Speaker 1: we got a couple of wins out there. Wish we
Speaker 1: could have, you know, won that last one against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, we'll we'll we'll go back for
Speaker 1: it this year. So we're a couple of weeks into
Speaker 1: free agency. The Bengals I think stunned a lot of
Speaker 1: the NFL by signing the top free agent tackle on
Speaker 1: the market in Orlando Brown. What was your reaction when
Speaker 1: you heard that news. I mean, he's a great player,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean I think everyone in the league
Speaker 1: would would like him as their left tackle. So good
Speaker 1: good job on the Bengals, you know, going out and
Speaker 1: getting their guy, and you know, excited to work with them.
Speaker 1: So you were on a playoff team your first year
Speaker 1: in Houston won a game, and now last year with
Speaker 1: Cincinnati you won two games. So you've had a taste
Speaker 1: of making it to the AFC Championship Game. Does that
Speaker 1: what your appetite for getting back and trying to take
Speaker 1: it one or two wins further? I mean, anytime you're
Speaker 1: you're playing in the NFL, your ultimate goal is is
Speaker 1: to go win the big ones. So you know, definitely
Speaker 1: having that experience helps. And as a team, you know
Speaker 1: we've we've shown that we can get to those points,
Speaker 1: but well, you know, we need to prove it again
Speaker 1: this year. Coming back this year with a year of
Speaker 1: Cincinnati experience under your belt. Any thoughts about you know,
Speaker 1: what you'd like your role to be, what you're trying
Speaker 1: to strive for, etc. Just trying to be the best
Speaker 1: version of me that I can be and to help
Speaker 1: this team in any way that I can. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously you know CoP's going to come back. Cordell played
Speaker 1: very well, So just trying to put myself in a
Speaker 1: position to challenge those guys, make sure that all of
Speaker 1: us keep getting better and better, and then putting my
Speaker 1: best foot forward and getting better as a team. You've
Speaker 1: been a great addition to the franchise. Congratulations on sticking
Speaker 1: around for a while longer. Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by Cattering Health,
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals, with more than
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Speaker 1: Visit Cattering health dot org to learn more. Now time
Speaker 1: for our fourth edition of the three round mock Draft
Speaker 1: with an NFL expert. Here's the concept. When I attended
Speaker 1: the NFL Combine a few weeks ago, I had the
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus mock Draft simulator set up on my
Speaker 1: computer and I invited several NFL experts to make the
Speaker 1: bank picks in the first three rounds while discussing their options.
Speaker 1: If you've never tried a draft simulator before, it allows
Speaker 1: you to play Bengals GM for as many rounds of
Speaker 1: the draft as you want. The simulator begins making picks
Speaker 1: in order, and then when it's your turn, you can
Speaker 1: make trades or go ahead and pick. It's a good
Speaker 1: way to get to know the players who might be
Speaker 1: available when the Bengals around the clock in late April.
Speaker 1: Dane Brugler from The Athletic went first and chose Maryland
Speaker 1: cornerback Deante Banks in the first round, Northwestern defensive lineman
Speaker 1: at A Tommy wa at a bare in the second,
Speaker 1: and Iowa tight end Sam Laporta in the third. He
Speaker 1: received an a minus grade from Pro Football Focus. Pete
Speaker 1: Prisco from CBS Sports chose Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid
Speaker 1: in round one, Washington State linebacker day On Henley in
Speaker 1: round two, and BYU offensive tackle Blake Freeland in round three.
Speaker 1: He received a b Ryan Fowler from the Draft Network
Speaker 1: chose Oregon State tight end Luke Musgraven round one, Syracuse
Speaker 1: offensive tackle Matthew Bergeron in round two, and Maryland cornerback
Speaker 1: Jakorean Bennett in round three. He received a B minus.
Speaker 1: Now time for contestant number four. We are about to
Speaker 1: do a three round mock draft with Charles Davis from
Speaker 1: CBS Sports. And here's the concept I have called up
Speaker 1: the PFF mock Draft simulator. The Bengals have the twenty
Speaker 1: eighth pick. We're not allowed to make trades, but we
Speaker 1: will see who gets selected with the first twenty seven picks,
Speaker 1: and then you will be on the clock with pick
Speaker 1: number twenty eight. So here we go. The draft has started.
Speaker 1: These names are running off the clock very quickly. I've
Speaker 1: got this set at a high speed. So with pick
Speaker 1: twenty seven, the Buffalo Bills just selected South Carolina cornerback
Speaker 1: Cam Smith. The pit defensive tackle who ran the great
Speaker 1: forty Collijah Canty went a couple of picks before that,
Speaker 1: Nolan Smith, who ran an unbelievable forty yard dash. The
Speaker 1: edge rusher from Georgia went twenty fifth. So now the
Speaker 1: Bengals are on the clock. Here are some of the
Speaker 1: guys that are available, Charles. We've got Zay Flowers, the
Speaker 1: wide receiver from BC Deonte Banks from Maryland, a corner
Speaker 1: that's a need for the Bengals. Andre Carter edge rusher
Speaker 1: from Army, Dalton kincaide tight end from Utah, Anton Harrison
Speaker 1: tackle from Oklahoma, Will McDonald edge rusher from Iowa State,
Speaker 1: Antonio Johnson safety from Texas. A at am Luke Musgrave
Speaker 1: another of the highly rated tight ends. I'm scrolling a
Speaker 1: little bit more so you can check out who's on
Speaker 1: the board, all right, Okay, Well, based off of what
Speaker 1: I've seen on the board and what I perceive is
Speaker 1: needs go down a little bit more for me, Dan,
Speaker 1: I'm adding to the tight end room with Dalton kincaid
Speaker 1: out of Utah. I've heard comparisons to Travis Kelsey. Nobody
Speaker 1: says as good as Travis Kelsey's the best in the league.
Speaker 1: He's the best in the league, but a great receiving
Speaker 1: tight end because you've got a quarterback who finds anyone
Speaker 1: who happens to be open. Chart everyone doubling your receivers
Speaker 1: and the whole deal. Dunkin Kake could make make cave
Speaker 1: really early. Early. With a twenty eighth pick in the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three NFL Draft, Charles Davis has selected Utah
Speaker 1: tight end Dalton Kincaid in an extremely deep tight end class,
Speaker 1: Kincaid is considered by many of the draft gurus to
Speaker 1: be the best pass catching threat. In one game against
Speaker 1: USC last year, he had sixteen catches for two hundred
Speaker 1: thirty four yards. With Hayden Hurst signing with Carolina, the
Speaker 1: Bengals obviously have a need at tight end, but Kincaid
Speaker 1: might not be there at pick number twenty eight. Most
Speaker 1: of the mock drafts I've looked at have Kincaid going
Speaker 1: a few picks before Cincinnati is on the clock. Now,
Speaker 1: let's see who Charles Davis selected in round two. All Right,
Speaker 1: that pick is in. Now we are flying through the
Speaker 1: second round, and we'll see who was available to the
Speaker 1: Bengals with their late second round pick. All Right, fun
Speaker 1: I think it's fun too. Here are the guys that
Speaker 1: are still available for the Bengals in the second round.
Speaker 1: Andre Carter edge rusher from Army Tank, Dell speedy receiver,
Speaker 1: great return man from Houston. Linebacker Dayon Henley from Washington
Speaker 1: state wide receiver Josh Downs or North Carolina. Carl Brooks
Speaker 1: edge rush from Bowling Green, Garrett Williams cornerback from Syracuse.
Speaker 1: Nick herbig edge rusher from Wisconsin. Matthew bergeron tackle from Syracuse.
Speaker 1: Bengals might have a needed right tackle depending on the Collins.
Speaker 1: All right, who do you want? I want? Sydney Brown safety, Illinois.
Speaker 1: Sydney Brown Sallinois. I saw him down there. Every year
Speaker 1: there's a guy I always call the I call always say,
Speaker 1: the patron saint of instincts in the modern game. On
Speaker 1: the back end, it's Tyrant Matthew. No one had better instincts.
Speaker 1: You know, he's that guy. And every year I look
Speaker 1: for someone that kind of who's my Tyrant Matthew of
Speaker 1: this year, even if you're not as quite a good player.
Speaker 1: In recent years it's been um Antoine Winfield coming out
Speaker 1: in Minnesota. Go into Tampa Bay, who want a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl it's been Elijah Molden coming out going to Tennessee,
Speaker 1: dinged up a little bit last year. Sydney Brown has
Speaker 1: those kind of instincts playing a safety position. Pretty sure
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates isn't gonna be around correct and this kid
Speaker 1: six interceptions last year, tackles fiercely in the run game.
Speaker 1: Sydney Brown goes back there as well and keeps increasing
Speaker 1: what they're doing. Because you took Das Hill last year, right,
Speaker 1: who's the corner around in Aska, Kim Taylor Britt, Taylor Britt.
Speaker 1: With Taylor Britt stays at corner Dax Hill, you can
Speaker 1: play all over the place. I like Sydney Brown going in.
Speaker 1: There's a pure safety. Keep in mind that Charles made
Speaker 1: that pick before Von Bell left and Nick Scott signed,
Speaker 1: so he might go in a different direction now, but
Speaker 1: then again, maybe not. Sidney Brown ran a four four
Speaker 1: seven forty at the combine with a forty and a
Speaker 1: half inch vertical leap. He's number fifty seven on the
Speaker 1: PF Top one hundred big board. Now time for charles
Speaker 1: third and final pick. The mock draft simulator is racing
Speaker 1: to get to the Bengals third round pick, and here
Speaker 1: we go. Buffalo just took a Georgia safety, Christopher Smith.
Speaker 1: Oh Tyler Scott, the wide receiver from UC went two
Speaker 1: picks ahead to the Dallas Cowboys. Tank Dell is still
Speaker 1: on the board. Ye. Then we have Carl Brooks, Bowling Green,
Speaker 1: Nick Herbig Wiscon Sam Laporta. You've already drafted a tight end.
Speaker 1: He's from Iowa, Trevius Hodges, Tomlinson from TCU. He's a corner,
Speaker 1: von Our chain Our Shane. I'm not sure how it's pronounced.
Speaker 1: He's a running back. We've got Michael Wilson, a wide
Speaker 1: receiver from Stanford. I'll scroll down a few more. See
Speaker 1: if anybody floats your boat from the guys that are
Speaker 1: still remaining on the PF mock Draft. I'm going to
Speaker 1: cover myself because I think I'm gonna cover myself with
Speaker 1: a runner for Cincinnati because not quite sure what's I
Speaker 1: do believe this mojp Ryn's free agent. He is not
Speaker 1: quite sure what happens with Joe Mixon because now we're
Speaker 1: talking about a terrific football player, terrific running back. But
Speaker 1: money's always a consideration, and there's a quarterback coming up.
Speaker 1: It might have to get a few dollars along the way.
Speaker 1: So I like the young man out of UAB, Dwayne McBride.
Speaker 1: We won't see him here at the combine. I don't
Speaker 1: believe with thing. He's got a hamstring injury, but he's
Speaker 1: a terrific run catch it out of the backfield. I
Speaker 1: just like the fact that you covered yourselves. Now, I
Speaker 1: know Chris Evans doesn't want to hear that. Treb Elways
Speaker 1: doesn't want to hear that. I get it. But with
Speaker 1: the style of offense the Cincinnati plays, a high volume,
Speaker 1: heavy duty runner is a good thing to have running
Speaker 1: back to. Wayne McBride out of UAB is number eighty
Speaker 1: on the PF Big Board after rushing for more than
Speaker 1: seventeen hundred yards last year. He ran for at least
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty in every game but one, and
Speaker 1: finished his college career with two hundred and seventy two
Speaker 1: yards on sixteen carries against Louisiana Tech. But one big
Speaker 1: negative about Nickbride is that he only caught five passes
Speaker 1: in three years at UAB. Now let's find out how
Speaker 1: PF graded those picks. But this ends his space that
Speaker 1: want to see if I graduated like B minus C
Speaker 1: minus d minus. Oh the pain I'm in right now.
Speaker 1: Oh the pain I'm in right now. I guess I
Speaker 1: will not be invited to the PF rat party when
Speaker 1: this thing is all over. Well, if it makes you
Speaker 1: feel any better, I have not received a good grade
Speaker 1: on a three round mock yet. I'm not sure what
Speaker 1: it takes to get a good grade, since Dwayne McBride
Speaker 1: is one of the top players that they had listed
Speaker 1: still available. In any case, I think the Bengals would
Speaker 1: be really happy with Kincaid and Brown are the first
Speaker 1: two picks, no doubt about it, and I think they'd
Speaker 1: be happy with McBride. But obviously PFF doesn't agree with me,
Speaker 1: so I've got to go with their ranking for now.
Speaker 1: We'll see how it all plays out. But this is
Speaker 1: like Adam Sandler and mister Deeds who was trying to
Speaker 1: get his card published by hall those Hallmark people. That's
Speaker 1: a tough nut to crack. I think the PF people
Speaker 1: are the same people. This is fine. I appreciate you
Speaker 1: being a good sport Thanks so much, and I always
Speaker 1: appreciate your expertise. Always great to see you. Thanks for everything.
Speaker 1: They'll have another NFL expert mock draft next week, that's
Speaker 1: going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast, brought to you by Cattering Health, the official
Speaker 1: healthcare provider of the Bengals, by Bengals Picks and Ultimate
Speaker 1: Bengals the Free to Play with tickets and signed merchandise
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Speaker 1: a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us. I'm
Speaker 1: Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.