Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast the Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow
Speaker 1: Don't stop It'll soon be here edition as Dave Lappam
Speaker 1: and I are joined by Bengals dot Com editor Jeff
Speaker 1: Hobson to peer into the future as we take a
Speaker 1: stab at forecasting what the Bengals will do in free
Speaker 1: agency and the draft. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented
Speaker 1: by bud Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's a
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can add the latest edition of
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Speaker 1: It's the greatest thing since Jenga. Like many families, we've
Speaker 1: played several board games in our house. During the pandemic,
Speaker 1: we went through a Ya phase and a Clue phase.
Speaker 1: There's been Monopoly and Masterpiece, but most recently the pick
Speaker 1: has been Jenga. If you're not familiar with it, players
Speaker 1: take turns removing a wooden block from a tower constructed
Speaker 1: of fifty four of them. Each block removed is then
Speaker 1: placed back on top of the tower, creating a progressively
Speaker 1: more unstable structure. The game ends when the tower tumbles
Speaker 1: and the winner is the last person to remove and
Speaker 1: place a block successfully. It's not rocket science. It's recommended
Speaker 1: for ages six and up, but it's good old fashioned fun. However,
Speaker 1: I do extend this warning, don't play fourteen year old
Speaker 1: Sam Horde for money. The kids a Jenga savant. Now
Speaker 1: let's get to football. We are forty days away from
Speaker 1: the start of NFL free agency and eighty three days
Speaker 1: away from the NFL Draft. Who should the Bengals sign
Speaker 1: and who should they pick? I discussed those topics and
Speaker 1: answered your Twitter questions this week with my broadcast partner
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham and Bengals dot com editor Jeff Butch Hobson.
Speaker 1: Today we are going to play general manager for a day.
Speaker 1: I'm sure Mike Brown, Duke Tobin, and Zach Taylor will
Speaker 1: appreciate the wisdom that comes from this conversation. Our first
Speaker 1: category today is free agency. According to over theecap dot com,
Speaker 1: the Bengals rank sixth in cap space. They could create
Speaker 1: some more by cutting some veterans like Geno Atkins or
Speaker 1: Bobby Hart, etc. Let's start with high priced free agents.
Speaker 1: What expensive free agent each of us would sign if
Speaker 1: given the opportunity. Lap I am going to give you
Speaker 1: the floor first. I probably spend my big dollars on
Speaker 1: Joe Tuny or and Sheriff Uh. You know, one of
Speaker 1: those one of those offensive linemen that could be a
Speaker 1: Bell Coyle. You know, everybody talks about how guards, you know,
Speaker 1: aren't aren't that important. Well, in today's NFL, they've become
Speaker 1: more and more important. You know, they are important in
Speaker 1: the run game. And well, everybody talks about pressure in
Speaker 1: a quarterback space and the depth of the pocket is
Speaker 1: determined by the play of the guards in center up front.
Speaker 1: So I think the guards are taking a bigger and
Speaker 1: bigger role. I mean, everybody's talking about Will. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know Will the Kansas City Chiefs Will Will. They're big
Speaker 1: defensive lineman in interior defensive lineman. Get Tom Brady off
Speaker 1: his spot. Well, you know that that's going to be
Speaker 1: a key factor in the football game. And how did
Speaker 1: how did Joe Barrow's injury occur and occurred with a
Speaker 1: with a guard being bullrushed, you know, in a game
Speaker 1: against the Washington football team. So, um, you know, I
Speaker 1: just think that those guys are proving guys. Uh, they're
Speaker 1: they're both twenty eight years old. It's not like there,
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're through playing, they're in the prime
Speaker 1: of their career. I'm sure it'd be it'll be a
Speaker 1: bidding war. It would be big dollar, but it would
Speaker 1: it would knock one of the big needs off. And again,
Speaker 1: to me, it starts up front. Um, as great as
Speaker 1: both these football teams are that are playing in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and as great as the two quarterbacks are
Speaker 1: everybody's talking about, you know, will Kansas the Chiefs offensive
Speaker 1: line that's so beaten up be able to give Mahomes
Speaker 1: enough time to operate well the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive
Speaker 1: line be able to handle a four man rush, you know,
Speaker 1: against against Tom Brady. The five sacks that that the
Speaker 1: Chiefs got in the game that they played were all
Speaker 1: on four man rushes, you know against Tampa Bay. So
Speaker 1: it all comes down to when push comes to shove,
Speaker 1: when the rubber meets the road, it's all about do
Speaker 1: the guys up front, you know, give give their respective
Speaker 1: teams enough time to operate or no opportunity to operate.
Speaker 1: On the flip side of it, I mean, it's you know,
Speaker 1: which which offense doesn't need adjustments to help the offensive
Speaker 1: line and to execute the game plan. And then which defense. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, let's because they want to, not because they
Speaker 1: have to. And I think that's them that always determines
Speaker 1: football games, no matter how big or how small, and
Speaker 1: even it's going to determine the Super Bowl. So this
Speaker 1: just in the former guard gives big bucks to a guard.
Speaker 1: Hard to argue with either of those guys, although I
Speaker 1: think Schurf is twenty nine lap, but your point is
Speaker 1: the same. They're both under thirty. You're not getting a
Speaker 1: guy on the back nine, so to speak. So two
Speaker 1: still in their prime guards, Brandon Schurf and Joe Tuney.
Speaker 1: You would spend your bucks on either one of those
Speaker 1: two guys, how about you? Butch U, I let's see
Speaker 1: now we get to do later. We can come back
Speaker 1: with a mid signing and a lower tier signing, right yeah.
Speaker 1: I have planned one expensive guy and one less expensive
Speaker 1: guy basically, so you could divvy up your dollars pretty
Speaker 1: much anyway you want. But I'm thinking each of us
Speaker 1: is going to pick one of the expensive guys. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna stay home and I'm either going to sign Carl
Speaker 1: Lawson or Will Jackson. And given that they're depending on
Speaker 1: what list you look at, they're probably the top free
Speaker 1: agents at their position. So I tipped my hat to
Speaker 1: Duke Tobin and the scouts, and they were good enough
Speaker 1: to be number one on you know, be big on
Speaker 1: that list. Let's get one of them back, maybe both,
Speaker 1: you know, Lawson, we're talking maybe four years, fifty mill
Speaker 1: or something. Maybe Will a little bit more than that,
Speaker 1: but that would be uh. I guess you can't keep
Speaker 1: both of them. I may have to go back and
Speaker 1: get a mid tier corner or a rusher. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I think i'd say, and I hear what Lap is saying,
Speaker 1: but I'm and he's he's right, and uh, but I'm
Speaker 1: banking on the We already had the big free agent
Speaker 1: signing there with Frank Pollock. I'm kind of thinking, in
Speaker 1: my own mind for the purposes of this Butch, that
Speaker 1: the Bengals could sign one of those guys and then
Speaker 1: another expensive guy. I could be wrong on that. I'm
Speaker 1: being a little conservative because I know the cap is,
Speaker 1: the cap is going down, yep. So I know last
Speaker 1: year they spent what they spent two big they spent
Speaker 1: on two big guys, right, Wayne's and Reader, so I'd
Speaker 1: have to go for another big guy I got. I
Speaker 1: still don't think i'd go for the guard though, I
Speaker 1: think i'd go for I think I think i'd go
Speaker 1: for one. I think i'd go for another corner probably
Speaker 1: or maybe the answer for you is signing the two
Speaker 1: Bengals as your two high priced guys, Jackson and Lawson.
Speaker 1: Probably probably, that's probably gonna be a tough number. That's
Speaker 1: probably gonna be a tough number, though, I'd probably And
Speaker 1: and do they want to come back? That's the other Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the other thing too. But uh yeah, I think,
Speaker 1: like I said, I'm banking on him. Hopefully Pollock can
Speaker 1: turn some of these guys into Joe Tuney, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think back to twenty eighteen boy and Redmond
Speaker 1: wears gads, I think, and they they ran the ball
Speaker 1: pretty good one five at the first, you know, for
Speaker 1: the first five whatever happened before it all went to hell,
Speaker 1: you know, the offense looked pretty good at that point
Speaker 1: when Frank was Frank had the lion. So hopefully some
Speaker 1: of his magic we can save money and not have
Speaker 1: to not have to delve into the into the guard thing.
Speaker 1: If I was going to pay a guard at the lap,
Speaker 1: Lap would be fine with that. Yeah, all right. We
Speaker 1: will circle back eventually to Jackson and Lawson for me
Speaker 1: and Lap, but I will answer this question first before
Speaker 1: we move on to another one. You know, I thought
Speaker 1: long and hard about the tackles. Trent Williams is out there,
Speaker 1: a little bit older than you'd like. He's thirty three,
Speaker 1: but he's a great player. A lot of people have
Speaker 1: mentioned Taylor Moten of the Carolina Panthers. He's in his prime,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old. He's going to be an expensive
Speaker 1: free agent, no question about it. But I'm with you, Lap,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking sign a guard draft to tackle. It sounds
Speaker 1: like there are a lot of good tackles in this draft.
Speaker 1: Obviously at the top you've got Pinney Sewell, maybe he
Speaker 1: will be there at five. But I like the notion
Speaker 1: of signing Schurf in particular. I think of those two guys,
Speaker 1: Tuney or Schurf. People seem to have kind of pinpointed
Speaker 1: Tuney because he's from the Cincinnati area. He's from Dayton.
Speaker 1: Maybe somehow that you know, that'll make him want to
Speaker 1: play here. But when it comes to a high priced
Speaker 1: free agent, it's always going to come down to dollars
Speaker 1: and cents. I would rather spend that kind of money
Speaker 1: on Schurf because I think over the course of his
Speaker 1: career he's been a great player, whereas Tuney has been really,
Speaker 1: really good. But I think Schurf is great. If I'm
Speaker 1: gonna PLoP down that kind of money, I want Shurf.
Speaker 1: You know. The thing that solidified the sure thing with
Speaker 1: me is he played hurt this year and he was
Speaker 1: he was hurt pretty bad. He was dragging a leg
Speaker 1: around and he'd never missed a snap. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: one of those guys, rub some dirt on it, get
Speaker 1: back out there. You know, a guy like him just
Speaker 1: sets the whole the whole tone, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have a guy that's the bell cow. He sets
Speaker 1: the attitude, you know, the whole nine yards, he lists
Speaker 1: the whole boat kind of thing. So, I you know,
Speaker 1: I think those are the kind of guys potentially that
Speaker 1: could make a difference. And I agree with Butch. I
Speaker 1: think Pollock is going to make a huge difference. And
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you know, if I'm Frank Pollock,
Speaker 1: I kind of I kind of look at the at
Speaker 1: the at the tape of the current players and to me,
Speaker 1: Jonah his best position may be center. I'm going to
Speaker 1: throw that out there. Jonah Williams may be the best
Speaker 1: center they have potentially. I mean, I would play musical
Speaker 1: chairs if need be. If I'm evaluating the talent that
Speaker 1: the Bengals of upfront now and you know the now
Speaker 1: my center has got an ACL and how much, how
Speaker 1: quickly he'd be able to return, and how effective tried
Speaker 1: to go a plan B. I may I may think
Speaker 1: about even moving Jonah if I depending on what I
Speaker 1: get in the draft at the tackle position potentially, and
Speaker 1: or move other guys out to tackle. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think I don't think anything's a given right now. If
Speaker 1: I'm Frank Pollock, man, I'm looking at everything and anything,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to try to get the five best
Speaker 1: guys out on the football field, irrespective a position, you know,
Speaker 1: and then figure out the position you know after the fact.
Speaker 1: But my five best players are going to be on
Speaker 1: that damn football field. So Jonah Williams at center. Eight
Speaker 1: people listening to this podcast in their car just drove
Speaker 1: off the road without even being mentioned. Let's move on
Speaker 1: to a more bargain type free agent, somebody who would
Speaker 1: be in the mid range or even at the lower
Speaker 1: part of the free agency scale. Butch, I'll I'll let
Speaker 1: you bad leadoff on this one mid tier guy, maybe
Speaker 1: a defensive tackle, Shelby Harris from Denver, young guy, you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully one of these guys. You know, they love to
Speaker 1: get ascending guys, guys on a second contract. Twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old. Harris fits that just looking at
Speaker 1: the Pro Football Focus stuff. He's been the last couple
Speaker 1: of years. He's been one of the top pass rushers
Speaker 1: out of that out of the three technique, and he's
Speaker 1: he's also been very good against the run. He hasn't
Speaker 1: played He's played only like five hundred snaps I guess
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. But they need help. This
Speaker 1: gets back to why I wouldn't probably go for the guard.
Speaker 1: I would spend as much money as I can on
Speaker 1: defense because and this is bad, because the last thing
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about is the Baltimore game, and I probably
Speaker 1: shouldn't do that. But you know, I walk around in
Speaker 1: a catatonic state and I just can only think defense.
Speaker 1: But of course they were banged up, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean obviously that was not the you know, that was
Speaker 1: not what they what they wanted to send out there.
Speaker 1: But still, but I think Shelby Harris might be a
Speaker 1: nice little kind of economic pickup and maybe just a
Speaker 1: little bit A guy who began his career here would
Speaker 1: love to see him back. Cornerback. Troy Hill's been a
Speaker 1: good Ram yep, nice for you with the Rams. I
Speaker 1: think he'd probably be a pretty good number two or
Speaker 1: number three corner particularly. Uh, you don't know what they're
Speaker 1: gonna do with McKenzie Alexander. I don't think he'll be back. Um,
Speaker 1: he'll can play in the slot and you can play
Speaker 1: the outside too, all right, Lap, do you have a
Speaker 1: bargain free agent in mind? To me? I think, uh,
Speaker 1: I think look what Butch is talking about is is
Speaker 1: another need In my mind, I think offensive lines their
Speaker 1: primary need. And I think edge an edge rush guy,
Speaker 1: a special edge rusher that everyone fears, you know that
Speaker 1: can be developed into something like that. You know you're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to. I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to to go out and get in the
Speaker 1: in the mix with with some guys that are out there.
Speaker 1: I mean guys like Leonard Floyd from the Rams is
Speaker 1: out there justin Houston. He's out there. Alden Smith has
Speaker 1: got so much baggage. But watching him, man, he still
Speaker 1: throws people around thirty one years old, but with the
Speaker 1: addiction issues and things like that. Judeon Dupree, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna take money to sign these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: any one of those guys who'd love to get um,
Speaker 1: you know some of them. You'd make somebody in the
Speaker 1: division less effective by signing one of their guys potentially,
Speaker 1: and that always has some great, you know, value to it.
Speaker 1: But I'm thinking a guy maybe, like, you know, the
Speaker 1: next level guy that might not be as expensive but
Speaker 1: was a first round pick coming in that maybe you
Speaker 1: could develop a little bit, is Tack McKinley, you know
Speaker 1: from the Las Vegas Raiders. He's out there. You know,
Speaker 1: he's only twenty five years old, you know, and you know,
Speaker 1: coming out of UCLA, he was a first round pick
Speaker 1: yet a big potential. Maybe maybe, uh, maybe they can
Speaker 1: develop him a little bit. Maybe he can be a
Speaker 1: guy you know coming off the edge that it wouldn't
Speaker 1: wouldn't cost huge dollars to go get in terms of
Speaker 1: others that are on that list that I just talked
Speaker 1: about that are are going to be very expensive obviously,
Speaker 1: and that's why I'm not sure. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: you know, the money to pay the guard would be
Speaker 1: as much as it would be to pay an edge
Speaker 1: rush guy obviously, or even the next level level edge
Speaker 1: rush guy. I don't know what the what those economies
Speaker 1: are going to be, um, but maybe maybe a guy
Speaker 1: like that, you know, it might fit. But the corner,
Speaker 1: the corner idea is a good one too, Um. You know,
Speaker 1: Hilton's out there from the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: Hilton would be you know, super expensive. His style, he's
Speaker 1: a he's a great blitzer. You know, that's a big
Speaker 1: thing that Pittsburgh utilizes him. And again, it has to
Speaker 1: be the right fit for the scheme you run as
Speaker 1: opposed to what Pittsburgh's asking him to do. You have
Speaker 1: to consider all that, take all that into account and
Speaker 1: evaluate all that. But man, through the draft and free agency,
Speaker 1: if I can find or try to help my edge
Speaker 1: rush you know, like Lsson, like buch was talking about earlier,
Speaker 1: you know, Lawson or Jackson. If it comes down to
Speaker 1: one of those two. I'm going Lawson. Yeah, I can't.
Speaker 1: He's the only modicum edge rushdown they had. In my mind,
Speaker 1: you can't lose that guy. Sign him. And if you
Speaker 1: can find something else, you know in free agency that's
Speaker 1: not all that expensive, and as well as the draft,
Speaker 1: offensive line edge rush two massive needs in my mind,
Speaker 1: and then corner and other things come in later. Tach
Speaker 1: McKinley was here for about five minutes before flunking the physical.
Speaker 1: But he'll be healthy in terms in time for next year,
Speaker 1: so theoretically that could be possible. I was going to
Speaker 1: save Jackson or Lawson if you could only sign one
Speaker 1: of them for the next topic. But let's delve into
Speaker 1: that and then I'll cut circle back and give my
Speaker 1: a bargain basement free agent. So Lap says, if you
Speaker 1: could only sign one Lawson or Jackson, his guy is Lawson,
Speaker 1: my guy would also be Lawson. I just think that
Speaker 1: he's ascending. The need is greater. I mean, they were
Speaker 1: the the last place sack team in the NFL, so
Speaker 1: I'd love to have them both back. If I've got
Speaker 1: to choose one or the other, I'm going Carl, how
Speaker 1: about you? Butch Yeah, no, I agree with Lap. He's
Speaker 1: exactly right. Uh, you got to keep lossing and maybe
Speaker 1: maybe skimm a guy I McKinley, maybe even I don't know. Wha.
Speaker 1: What do you think about bud Dupree. Bud Dupre's out there?
Speaker 1: Does he fit? Oh? I mean yeah, I mentioned you know,
Speaker 1: bud Dupree, Judeon. I think those guys are not going
Speaker 1: to be a bargain basement. I think they're gonna get money. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think those guys are going to command some dollars.
Speaker 1: You know, I mean Leonard Floyd, I said, Leonard Floyd,
Speaker 1: Judon Dupre. And in a corner, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: in a corner, count Trey Wayne's there's your there's your
Speaker 1: free agent corner. But if you get if you count
Speaker 1: him as your corner, you lose Will Jackson. You're even,
Speaker 1: and then you lose McKenzie. Alexander You're down too. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you know you have to have three
Speaker 1: and you better have four. And now you're only talking one. Now, Well,
Speaker 1: it's easier to get the bubble, Like you said, it's
Speaker 1: easy to get the corner and the edge. Guy, I
Speaker 1: think so. And if i'm if, i'm if I'm going
Speaker 1: to have a special five, a special edge rusher that
Speaker 1: everybody has to count for and and fears a little bit.
Speaker 1: And it's you don't. You don't need as great a
Speaker 1: cover guy. I mean, you know, it's easier to easier
Speaker 1: to take care of the back end of the front
Speaker 1: end is to getting taken care of on a more
Speaker 1: regular basis and getting the quarterback off the spot and
Speaker 1: all those things. You know, that's the fact. Like you
Speaker 1: guys said, Carl loss is twenty five years old. I mean, no,
Speaker 1: he's he's in. He hasn't even started his prim yet.
Speaker 1: He's definitely a sending. The thing about him, I wish
Speaker 1: he had a little more length. That's the only negative
Speaker 1: I have on him. He's explosive, he has an unbelievable
Speaker 1: first step get off. You know, he's he's powerful, just
Speaker 1: not you know, if he had if he had Sam
Speaker 1: Hubber's length, uh, you know, you'd have something you're really
Speaker 1: really unique, but that he doesn't have that. If I'm
Speaker 1: doing pluses and minuses, that's the only minus, and the
Speaker 1: Carl Lawson evaluation would be lack of length. Do we
Speaker 1: assume that Geno will be cut? Do you think that
Speaker 1: that's likely butch, I don't know, I have a high
Speaker 1: feel for that. I don't know. I just uh just
Speaker 1: it's just weird. It just it was a weird year
Speaker 1: with him. You know, he one back. Would it have
Speaker 1: to be negotiated down from nine million whatever he's due
Speaker 1: to make? Yeah, Like I said, that's I think that's
Speaker 1: yet the play out. I The other weird thing too,
Speaker 1: is they're not going to know what the camp is
Speaker 1: until apparently the day free agency starts, So I would
Speaker 1: think that would be a factor. That would be a
Speaker 1: factor too. But I would be hired for me to
Speaker 1: think they're gonna have him at the same number. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I would, I would think there'd be a
Speaker 1: haircut there, you know it. Uh it was, it was.
Speaker 1: It was weird as a good way. Strange is a
Speaker 1: good way to describe it. I mean it was. It
Speaker 1: was a different, different year for gino Um to get
Speaker 1: hurt the way he got hurt and warm it up
Speaker 1: for a scrimmage, you know. You know, but I tipped
Speaker 1: my hand to the guy because I think he could
Speaker 1: have I think he could have had surgery. But he
Speaker 1: tried to. I think he tried to. I think he
Speaker 1: tried to grind it out, you know. And well, I
Speaker 1: think I think they you tried to do what he had.
Speaker 1: You try to avoid surgery if you can. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: he could have had surgery, but you want to try
Speaker 1: to avoid, you always, and you don't want to go
Speaker 1: into a knife unless you really have to. And he
Speaker 1: didn't want to and wanted to try to rehab it,
Speaker 1: and they were they were good with that. Um and
Speaker 1: he and and and so doing wearing that big harness
Speaker 1: and stuff. He was so restricted, you know, he was
Speaker 1: less than a one armed paper hanger out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's hard to play it. It's hard to play in
Speaker 1: the pits with one one arm, and everybody else has
Speaker 1: got two good ones. I don't care how talent you are, man,
Speaker 1: that's that's almost impossible. So I mean, if he's healthy,
Speaker 1: that's something I guess consider. You know, Hey, if he's
Speaker 1: healthy and he's willing to come back at you know,
Speaker 1: a third of the price he's due to make nine
Speaker 1: point five mill next year, If he would come back
Speaker 1: for three million something like that, I don't know that
Speaker 1: you're going to find a free agent pass rusher on
Speaker 1: the interior that's going to be much better than him.
Speaker 1: Assuming that he's close to healthy, even though you know
Speaker 1: he's going to be old and toward the tail end
Speaker 1: of his career. So if he would come back at
Speaker 1: a much lower price, I'd have no problem with that,
Speaker 1: you know. And watching him in training camp before the injury,
Speaker 1: I thought he was poised to have a good year.
Speaker 1: I mean he was. He was back to making a
Speaker 1: lot of noise and pass rush Field. Nobody wanted to
Speaker 1: go against Gino one on one. He was he was
Speaker 1: destroying people, you know, and uh he was the year
Speaker 1: before it wasn't like that, but last year's training camp
Speaker 1: it was. So it's like Geno's on the bounce back,
Speaker 1: and then he gets the damn injury, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's not like, you know, he just was out in
Speaker 1: the street. Like we said, he practiced, He did everything
Speaker 1: he could and played at least he stayed. He stayed
Speaker 1: with it and stay whether physically and mentally, to the
Speaker 1: best of his ability. And I think to Gino seems
Speaker 1: to be the kind of guy that it's a two
Speaker 1: way street. I think, you know, the Bengals have obviously
Speaker 1: they appreciate what he's done and the levelis played at,
Speaker 1: and they've compensated him accordingly, and I think he feels
Speaker 1: gratitude about it, and I think in his mind he
Speaker 1: probably like, I own one, you know, if I can
Speaker 1: do it, I want I want it to be in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: They've been good to me, They've taken care of me,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'd like to I'd like to reciprocate
Speaker 1: a little bit. I mean, I think I think he's
Speaker 1: toot from that cloth a little bit. He seems to be. Plus,
Speaker 1: if he stayed in Cincinnati at a reduced figure, he
Speaker 1: would not have to meet with the media after signing
Speaker 1: as a free agent with a new team, which we
Speaker 1: know Gino wants to avoid. Right. The other thing about
Speaker 1: Gino two, if the Bengals don't bring him back at
Speaker 1: nine point five million, which seems unlikely to me, no
Speaker 1: other team is going to give him a huge amount
Speaker 1: at his age, coming off his injury, with his level
Speaker 1: of play the last couple of years, It's not like
Speaker 1: he's going to get nine point five from another team. Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's my whole thing is when you guys in Genos
Speaker 1: situation and they're you know, everybody gets to that stage
Speaker 1: of their career, even with free agency. You know, teams
Speaker 1: that make a habit of compensating somebody for a decade
Speaker 1: of excellence with another team. It doesn't It doesn't work
Speaker 1: out well economically, you don't. You don't get the bang
Speaker 1: for the buck. You know, whoever signs Gino, it'd be
Speaker 1: ludicrous for them, foolhardy for them to pay Gino for
Speaker 1: the great player he was for multiple Pro Bowls with
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals, because he's not quite that guy anymore,
Speaker 1: you know, And you can and you have to proceed accordingly.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't think there's gonna be huge dollars
Speaker 1: out there for Gino. I really don't. I don't think
Speaker 1: the league will go there. All right, Are you guys
Speaker 1: ready for my bargain free agent? Yes? All right. So
Speaker 1: I've already spent huge money on Brandon Schurf with the
Speaker 1: few dollars I have left, because I've also resigned Carl Lawson.
Speaker 1: I've done very well so far in free agency with
Speaker 1: a few from the same page. Man, there you go,
Speaker 1: we spend so much time together that was inevitable. Lap.
Speaker 1: With a few dollars that I have left, I'm going
Speaker 1: to go out and get a slot corner because Mackenzie
Speaker 1: Alexander is a free agent. I'm just going to assume
Speaker 1: that he does not go back. So I've been looking
Speaker 1: over the list of bargain type slot corners that are
Speaker 1: free agents. I've got two in mind. Brian Pool from
Speaker 1: the Jets, twenty eight years old, had good Pro Football
Speaker 1: Focus numbers last year. He's a little smaller than you'd like,
Speaker 1: he's five nine, but he's performed well in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So he would be one candidate. If for some reason
Speaker 1: I can't get him, then I move on to Kwan
Speaker 1: Williams of the forty nine ers twenty nine years old,
Speaker 1: another guy who's performed reasonably well as a slot corner
Speaker 1: in the n FELL. I signed one of those two
Speaker 1: guys for a two or three years, and I've got
Speaker 1: that position taken care of. I got I got one
Speaker 1: for you two and that mole maybe Jason Varett. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he has a slot corner. He's battled injuries
Speaker 1: throughout his NFL career, but he stayed healthy this year
Speaker 1: and had a very good year. Now I don't know
Speaker 1: where you'd classify Hilton, but he's out there as well.
Speaker 1: I worry with him. The lap is that he is.
Speaker 1: He's such a blitzer, Yeah, he is. Except for Jamal
Speaker 1: Adams of Seattle, there's no defensive back who blitz is
Speaker 1: better than Hilton. But I just don't know if the Bengals,
Speaker 1: you know, scheme would get that out of him the
Speaker 1: way that the Steelers do with all of their blitzing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I think I think you have to be
Speaker 1: able to extrapolate the player from the schematic and say, okay,
Speaker 1: raw physical abilities other than scheme influence. Is he still
Speaker 1: a guy? Yeah, he's not a great tackler, right. I
Speaker 1: guess that's the other knock on him. But I thought
Speaker 1: the one thing mckens Alexander did he can he can't tackle,
Speaker 1: He will do that. It was an upset when you
Speaker 1: didn't get people on the ground. You're right, and I
Speaker 1: would have no problem bringing him back. I don't know
Speaker 1: where that possibility stands, but they're gonna have to have
Speaker 1: a slot corner. So whether it's bringing him back or
Speaker 1: signing one of these other guys, that's obviously a position
Speaker 1: that they have to get taken care of. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: one the one thing we do know is Leshaun Simms,
Speaker 1: Tony Brown, Jalen Davis got gotta get gonna upgrade from there.
Speaker 1: Lap Is Phillips is Darius Phillips a slot or an
Speaker 1: outside guy. In my opinion, He's more of an outside guy,
Speaker 1: but I think he can do either. He's got great
Speaker 1: ball skills. And that's the thing. I think when you
Speaker 1: have the ball skills that he does, it translates you know,
Speaker 1: just about anything. Really. Again, again, I think a slot corner,
Speaker 1: by the nature of the position, tackling is a big deal.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a big and I'm not sure that's
Speaker 1: his forte Yeah, he just he gets nicked too. I
Speaker 1: think that surprise the durability of all. Right, let's move
Speaker 1: on to the draft. The Bengals obviously have the fifth
Speaker 1: overall pick. Lap Who are you selecting or what are
Speaker 1: you doing at the top of the draft? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I do think that if if If Sewel is there
Speaker 1: at number five, he just looks to be even though
Speaker 1: you know he opted out this year, but six five,
Speaker 1: three hundred thirty pounds five flat forty athletic guy can
Speaker 1: move a real good balance. I just I just think
Speaker 1: a guy like that is potentially one of those generational
Speaker 1: type players. Um, he has that possibility I would probably
Speaker 1: go with the offensive line. Uh and if particularly if
Speaker 1: he were there, if he were not there, I might,
Speaker 1: you know, I might, I might think otherwise, Um, I
Speaker 1: might even I might even decide to trade back, depending
Speaker 1: on how far back I had to go, and if
Speaker 1: I still had an offensive lineman or or somebody one
Speaker 1: of these edge rush guys that you know that that
Speaker 1: could could make a factor if I could, if I
Speaker 1: could trade back and and and get Quitty pay the
Speaker 1: rush guy from Michigan, if I could trade back and
Speaker 1: get him and pick up an extra you know, um,
Speaker 1: an extra choice, and so doing I might I might
Speaker 1: go that route if he were still you know, if
Speaker 1: the problem is that you go back, how is there
Speaker 1: an offensive line you'd still be happy with? If there's not,
Speaker 1: is there an edge guy you'd still be happy with,
Speaker 1: or a corner or you know what your needs are.
Speaker 1: But if I were had to stay at five and
Speaker 1: and Seel was there, I probably would go with with Seel.
Speaker 1: Where do you think butch I guess Seoul would be
Speaker 1: the guy. But you know, the last time it took
Speaker 1: a tackle out of Oregon, I know it's different, but
Speaker 1: didn't work out real well. And I'm not. I mean
Speaker 1: Jake Fisher, the body type on those two, yeah, are
Speaker 1: so different. You know, one one probably and did end
Speaker 1: up playing tight end in the league, you know, and
Speaker 1: he was he was kind of like a blown up
Speaker 1: to his side. This guy is just a big old
Speaker 1: rob boned monster. I mean, you know he's not. It's
Speaker 1: I think they're so different in terms of, um, you know,
Speaker 1: the physicality aspect their actual physical structure. You know. Okay,
Speaker 1: now how do they play? Now? I know guys like
Speaker 1: oh boyhee when they came in here that they're coming
Speaker 1: out of a seven on seven league. You think he
Speaker 1: can make that adjustment on You think he can make
Speaker 1: that adjustment. It's not. It's not. It's not chuck and
Speaker 1: duck up there, right. Yeah. I mean, I think I
Speaker 1: think that college football, I think I think pass protection
Speaker 1: is is one of the biggest issues adjusting to the
Speaker 1: National Football League, you know a lot of times. And
Speaker 1: then guy, every everybody that's in the spread offenses and
Speaker 1: the two point stances, they're not pass protecting and they're
Speaker 1: not run blocking. That's what makes me nervous. That's just
Speaker 1: that's just what makes me nervous these guys. But I
Speaker 1: just I just looked at the h the power aspect
Speaker 1: of this guy. You're talking about Frank Pollock turning clay
Speaker 1: into statues, you know, potentially. I mean, I think this
Speaker 1: guy has a good chance to under Frank Pollock's guidance
Speaker 1: to you know, to be taught how to play the
Speaker 1: game at a real high level in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: really do well, he sold me. Okay, I'll go as Soul,
Speaker 1: but I wouldn't mind trading back. I kind and I
Speaker 1: kind of ran through a scenario like this in one
Speaker 1: of my column to quar trade back and maybe and
Speaker 1: they should have taken a Sante Samuel in two thousand
Speaker 1: and uh three, whenever Samuel came out. Now they can
Speaker 1: get his son maybe if they trade back, so they
Speaker 1: can rectify that wrong. If I'm not mistaken, they took
Speaker 1: Dennis Weatherby instead of a Sante Samuel. So let's let's
Speaker 1: get it right and then and uh and then we'll
Speaker 1: do it, you know, if you trade back. Um, and
Speaker 1: that's if you think, you know, if Frank likes those
Speaker 1: young tackles, maybe you trade back and you get a Samuel,
Speaker 1: get the maybe the edge guy from pitt um Weaver. Yeah, maybe, maybe,
Speaker 1: maybe somehow pick off the guard from Alabama. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know that at the top of the second round with
Speaker 1: the extra pick, No Jamar Chase. I think your guy
Speaker 1: Samini's gonna take I think I think Samini's guys are
Speaker 1: gonna take this. So Rich Samini is the beat reporter
Speaker 1: who covers the New York Jets. You talk to him
Speaker 1: for a mock draft earlier today, and he is taking
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase with the second pick, and the Jets are
Speaker 1: sticking with Sam Darnold, according to ESPN's Rich Samini. Right,
Speaker 1: that's right now as of that moment. Let's let's wait
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes, we'll call him back. I've heard people say
Speaker 1: that the Jets's gonna take Seul and have two stud tackles. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's to develop their quarterback. No matter who he's throwing
Speaker 1: it two is, they'll be on his feet. What if
Speaker 1: you get to five and there's no Chase and there's
Speaker 1: no Suel, Well, let's let's say you get to five
Speaker 1: and there's no Suel. Let's start with that. So Penei
Speaker 1: Sewel goes somewhere in the top four. Now you're picking
Speaker 1: five and he's gone. At that point, Jamar Chase DeVante
Speaker 1: Smith or Rashawn Slater, who most people seem to think
Speaker 1: as the next best tackle in the draft. What do
Speaker 1: you think under that scenario. I think you can trade
Speaker 1: back and get Slater. I don't think so. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure I'm sold on Slater as necessarily a
Speaker 1: top five guy. That might be a little bit of
Speaker 1: a reach, you know for me, I gotta watch more,
Speaker 1: But I mean for me to take him five when
Speaker 1: guys like you're talking about, if Chase and people like
Speaker 1: that are on the board, even though my need, you know,
Speaker 1: is offensive line in my mind, and I and people
Speaker 1: are gonna be, oh, what the hell are you taking
Speaker 1: a receiver at five? Four? Now you've got a quarterback
Speaker 1: who they made beautiful music together with, you know, an LSU.
Speaker 1: The numbers were crazy, you know, he opted out this
Speaker 1: year obviously, but his number the numbers the year before
Speaker 1: and nuts, yeah, or or you know, is there a
Speaker 1: is there a rush guy? I'm not sure a rush guy,
Speaker 1: you know, is worthy of the number five. So at
Speaker 1: that point I probably do try to trade back and
Speaker 1: maybe people that have a different need than I do.
Speaker 1: If I feel like Chase isn't my guy. You know
Speaker 1: there are a bunch of people that jump up and
Speaker 1: probably take them. So yeah, that would be an interesting,
Speaker 1: uh interesting dilemma there. I guess Chase does make me
Speaker 1: think about Chris Henry, Chad Johnson, and t J. Houshmnzata
Speaker 1: with T Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Jamat Chase, that does
Speaker 1: get me a little bit nostalgic. But I do think this.
Speaker 1: If the Bengals were to take Jamar Chase or DeVante
Speaker 1: Smith with the fifth pick in the draft, you are
Speaker 1: assuming that they have signed are mere free agent offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and probably a tackle you could consider a wide
Speaker 1: receiver at number five. Don't you think they have to
Speaker 1: have the tackles solved before they can go wide receiver
Speaker 1: at number five? I agree with you. I think that
Speaker 1: is the case, and I would not as a former
Speaker 1: linement I would not be mad if they did get
Speaker 1: Surf and they drafted school. You know that that would
Speaker 1: not That would not destroy me either, you know that.
Speaker 1: I feel like, man, I've got my offensive line set
Speaker 1: up for a run for a good long period of
Speaker 1: time with a coach that I believe in. Feel pretty
Speaker 1: damn good about that. Now. Now I got to find
Speaker 1: my edge rush guy that people are going to have to, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, really fear and consider and and everything else
Speaker 1: that goes along with it. But I mean, yeah, if
Speaker 1: you could, if you could address the Bengals tried to
Speaker 1: address that tackle position with back to back piss picks
Speaker 1: first and second round that year, and they went over,
Speaker 1: if you can sign suff and free agent see and
Speaker 1: draft Seul, Yeah, and that'd be a you know, they
Speaker 1: double down on a you know, try to if you're
Speaker 1: going to address a position, totally address it. They tried,
Speaker 1: didn't get it done in the draft. If they get
Speaker 1: one in free agency, then get one as a high pick,
Speaker 1: top five pick in the draft. You'd hope that they
Speaker 1: might have that bad boy sault for a while. If
Speaker 1: Sewel is there, I'm taking Sewel. I have never wavered
Speaker 1: on that. I'm not gonna waver on it now. I
Speaker 1: don't care who they signed before him. To me, he's
Speaker 1: a chance to be your next Anthony Munio's you know,
Speaker 1: who knows he could flop, a lot of the guys do.
Speaker 1: But just on paper, everything we've read, everybody we've talked to,
Speaker 1: people seem to think that he is a virtual shoe
Speaker 1: in to be a great ten year offensive tackle in
Speaker 1: the NFL. If Sewel is there, I'm taking Sewel, But
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to be there. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be there either. And you know, when
Speaker 1: you talk about Anthony Munos, let's think back to that selection.
Speaker 1: Half the teams in the league didn't even have on
Speaker 1: their board Bill Parcels wanted to drafting and couldn't. The
Speaker 1: Giants wouldn't let him do it. So, you know, boy,
Speaker 1: you talked about a risky pick. But Forest brag when
Speaker 1: he came back from California after Anthony Munos had deposited
Speaker 1: him on his rear end, when Forrest Graig was rushing
Speaker 1: him in a drill and he said, we got to
Speaker 1: take this guy. He felt the force in the size
Speaker 1: of those big, old powerful hands on his chest, and
Speaker 1: Anthony delivered and the punch and all that. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously those huge questions about the durability of
Speaker 1: Anthony munhos Man have worked out sewell. I think when
Speaker 1: you have when you have physical freaks, got to roll
Speaker 1: the dice on it. Man. So four teams pick ahead
Speaker 1: of Cincinnati, Jacksonville the Jets, Miami, and Atlanta. We know
Speaker 1: Jacksonville is going to take Trevor Lawrence. Of those other
Speaker 1: three Jets, Dolphins, Falcons, I don't know if one of
Speaker 1: those teams will take Sewell or if somebody else will
Speaker 1: trade up to get Sewell. I just don't think he's
Speaker 1: going to be there at number five. So here's what
Speaker 1: I do. And I haven't wavered on this either lap
Speaker 1: We've talked about this several times on previous podcasts. I
Speaker 1: am trading down, and I will tell you the team
Speaker 1: I'm trading with and what I'm getting in exchange. This
Speaker 1: other team will be happy to know that they're about
Speaker 1: to make a trade for the fifth pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: But I am trading down to number twelve with the
Speaker 1: San Francisco forty nine Ers. I'm looking at the old
Speaker 1: Jimmy Johnson trade chart. The fifth pick in the draft
Speaker 1: is worth seventeen hundred points on the chart. The forty
Speaker 1: nine Ers pick twelfth overall is worth twelve hundred points
Speaker 1: on the chart. That's a five hundred point difference. The
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers second round pick forty third overall is
Speaker 1: worth four seventy So that just about evens out the
Speaker 1: trade chart. Plus they've got two fifth round picks. So
Speaker 1: the Bengals get their second fifth round pick, which evens
Speaker 1: the trade chart. So I'm dropping down seven spots. I'm
Speaker 1: getting a fairly high second round pick, top half of
Speaker 1: the second round. I'm getting an end of the fifth
Speaker 1: round pick, and that's my deal. And then with the
Speaker 1: twelfth pick in the draft, I'm taking the best tackle
Speaker 1: that's left. Because it sounds like Sewel is, at least
Speaker 1: according to most people, far and away the best I know.
Speaker 1: Some people have started to say that Slater might be
Speaker 1: just as good, or maybe even better. I'm not buying it.
Speaker 1: Sewel is the guy. But then that next wave, I
Speaker 1: think there are several guys that are thought to be
Speaker 1: legitimate top of the first round or middle of the
Speaker 1: first round type guys. I'm okay with that if I
Speaker 1: get a high second round pick. In addition, let me
Speaker 1: ask you this, let me riddle with you this, Batman. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if Suel's gone yep, and the forty nine ers say okay,
Speaker 1: we'll make the trade, and then they don't and you're
Speaker 1: stuck with the fifth pick, you know, at that point,
Speaker 1: I'm okay with one of those wide receivers. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'd love to have Jamar Chase or Davante Smith. Who
Speaker 1: wouldn't I'm certainly not going to be unhappy, but I'm
Speaker 1: just if Sewell is there, I want Sewel. Other than that,
Speaker 1: you know, the Bengals have enough enough needs that if
Speaker 1: I could drop down to no lower than twelve and
Speaker 1: get a decent second round pick as well, I'm making
Speaker 1: the move. That was my trade I did. I took
Speaker 1: Patrick certain at twelve, shared Weaver with the thirty eighth pick,
Speaker 1: and then it's okay, you guys, everybody you're talking about Sewell,
Speaker 1: Slater certain letters is big in this draft. Man trading
Speaker 1: back and getting somebody whose last name starts with letters,
Speaker 1: it's big. Not based on that reasoning, but all of
Speaker 1: those players are definitely good. Davante Smith, did you have
Speaker 1: him as well? That's another that's another ass that's right.
Speaker 1: Does Smith kind of where he's a little he's an
Speaker 1: undersize speedster. Taking him in the first round is that.
Speaker 1: I'm just worried about durability. That's the only thing that
Speaker 1: concerns me. Is like a one hundred and seventy pound
Speaker 1: guy in this league. I mean I'm sure he'll put
Speaker 1: on some weight. But as great as he is, that
Speaker 1: is the concern. And he's and he's uh, speed is
Speaker 1: not it's not like unusually like Olympics. He's got good speed.
Speaker 1: He's so fluid with his routes. He's an unbelievable route runner.
Speaker 1: But you know, you look at him and you say, man,
Speaker 1: he's one good lick away from from being in trouble.
Speaker 1: That's that is. That is the thing. The thing with him.
Speaker 1: I mean, his teammate Waddle is bigger and faster, bigger
Speaker 1: and fat guy. You know. It's a but Alabama they
Speaker 1: utilized him so well. You know, but at some point
Speaker 1: in the NFL you got to catch the ball in
Speaker 1: traffic somewhere, and will he be able to survive that?
Speaker 1: That's that's got to be the big concern with him.
Speaker 1: All Right, gentlemen, are you ready for some questions that
Speaker 1: were submitted via Twitter? Let's do it all right, Butch
Speaker 1: you sit in on the Hall of Fame meetings, so
Speaker 1: I will direct Kyle's question to you. How is Willie
Speaker 1: Anderson's Hall of Fame bid coming along? I think it
Speaker 1: was a real shot in the eye this last year
Speaker 1: by getting into the final twenty five was huge, and
Speaker 1: but I was stunned that he didn't make it to
Speaker 1: the fifteen because I had made calls and all the
Speaker 1: voters I talked to, and I didn't talk to all
Speaker 1: of them, but I talked to several. They think he's
Speaker 1: fit to be a finalist and to go into the
Speaker 1: room and to be talked about. So I think I'm
Speaker 1: encouraged by him getting into the twenty five. I wish
Speaker 1: he had got into the fifteen, but I think he will.
Speaker 1: And I do think once he gets into the room
Speaker 1: when I and I want to meet, when he gets
Speaker 1: into the room, he'll be discussed, there'll be a presentation
Speaker 1: of him, and then people will have a back and
Speaker 1: forth on I mean, I think once his case has
Speaker 1: made crystal clear for a year or two, I think
Speaker 1: you'll get in. You know the thing about Willie, and
Speaker 1: we know this because we've been around him. But all
Speaker 1: the physical attributes are obviously apparent. You're watch it on tape.
Speaker 1: But the one thing you can't necessarily see on tape
Speaker 1: you might be able to if you really study. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of a lot of situations where you
Speaker 1: know defenses are trying to confuse offensive lines and all that.
Speaker 1: Willie had a beautiful has a beautiful football mind. Willie Anderson,
Speaker 1: man was He's sharp as a whip in terms of
Speaker 1: understanding the game of football big picture. And you know,
Speaker 1: normally tackles just kind of tunnevisioned on the defensive end
Speaker 1: and block the end, block the end, block the end.
Speaker 1: His eyes were always everywhere. Man, Willie Anderson understood the
Speaker 1: game of football big time. I mean, his mental capacity
Speaker 1: for the game of football is as good as his
Speaker 1: physical capacity. Man. It was incredible. Thirteen holding penalties thirteen years,
Speaker 1: I think pretty strong because he intimidated the officials. Who
Speaker 1: was going to throw a flag on big Willie? Come on?
Speaker 1: You know the thing? He was so damn good enough
Speaker 1: to cheat. You know, he knew if he applied his technique,
Speaker 1: he was going to kick everybody's ass. Enough crab, you know,
Speaker 1: just gonna I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do.
Speaker 1: Trust my technique, as they say, And he trusted his technique.
Speaker 1: And who's so good physically and his technique was so good.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he is just an example. Boy. He
Speaker 1: watched Willie play all right. Similar questions submitted by KB
Speaker 1: and by Joe with the Bengals. Even consider tight end
Speaker 1: Kyle Pitts with a fifth overall pick, what do you think,
Speaker 1: lab Well, I'll tell you at number five, I think
Speaker 1: that's a little bit rich to consider, you know, the
Speaker 1: tight end position. I mean, you know, Kelsey is in
Speaker 1: my mind, the best route running tight end in the
Speaker 1: National Football League. You know, they can do all the
Speaker 1: comparisons they want, you know who the biggest weapon. Obviously
Speaker 1: the quarterback is a big factor and all that, But
Speaker 1: just if you put on tape and watch Kelsey run
Speaker 1: routes compared to other tight ends of his size in
Speaker 1: the National Football League, it's not even close. He's He's
Speaker 1: just unbelievable. And the tight end can he's a tight
Speaker 1: end like this kid can be an influencer. There's no
Speaker 1: question about it. I do think the Bengals offense suffered
Speaker 1: when C. J Uzama was lost in the year. I
Speaker 1: think that's something that kind of gets gets forgotten a
Speaker 1: little bit because he was definitely their best threat as
Speaker 1: a receiver at the tight end position. I think he's
Speaker 1: going to come back, But taking a tight end at
Speaker 1: the fifth spot, I don't know. To me, that's just
Speaker 1: a little bit too rich. Even if this kid's really good,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about it, and I'm not sure i'd
Speaker 1: pull the trigger with the other needs of the Bengals have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think they would. I don't think they would
Speaker 1: take him even if they traded back. I agree. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't see it happening the fifth pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: I mean maybe if you're if you trade back and
Speaker 1: you're somewhere in that twelve to fifteen range and he's
Speaker 1: somehow still there, maybe you would consider it. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's more of a receiving tight end than a George
Speaker 1: Kittle Rob Gronkowski type. That's a great blocker at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. If you're at number five and you're
Speaker 1: gonna take a receiver, take a receiver, not the best
Speaker 1: receiving tight end. I mean, I love Kyle Pitts. I'd
Speaker 1: like to have him, but I'm not taking him fifth overall. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I think I think if the Bengals trade
Speaker 1: back to you know, beyond mid beyond sixteen, fifteen sixteen,
Speaker 1: you know, the middle of the fresh round, I think
Speaker 1: they start to think about it. But if they traded
Speaker 1: back to like San Francisco or your deal at twelve.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure i'd take him at twelve, you know,
Speaker 1: it's I don't know, you'd have to see what else
Speaker 1: is on the board. But I agree with your thought process.
Speaker 1: If there's a receiver there, take the damn receiver, no doubt.
Speaker 1: Question from Bengals truth does the organization feel Frank Pollock
Speaker 1: can fix their current offensive line? I think that they
Speaker 1: have a strong belief in Frank Pollock. Obviously Joe Mixon does,
Speaker 1: and that's a that's a big, big factor. And then
Speaker 1: I guess that's the thing. I know that the offensive
Speaker 1: lineman that we're here when Frank Pollock was here the
Speaker 1: first time are excited about Frank Pollock's return, and other
Speaker 1: players that were here when Frank Pollock is here the
Speaker 1: first time are excited about Frank Pollock's return, and Joe
Speaker 1: Mixon obviously the biggest, most vocal one of those. And
Speaker 1: I think that's good and unusual in some ways. I
Speaker 1: can understand the lineman, you know, having that kind of
Speaker 1: a feeling for their coach, but he had an impact
Speaker 1: on a lot of guys. That speaks a lot about
Speaker 1: not only Frank Pollock, the offensive line coach. But Frank Pollock,
Speaker 1: the coach in general, and the person you know and
Speaker 1: in the you know, the ability to form relationships and
Speaker 1: get the best out of people, and to get people
Speaker 1: to believe in what you're doing and trust you, you know,
Speaker 1: and have confidence in all those things. I think. I
Speaker 1: think Frank Pollock is going to do really good things
Speaker 1: here for the Cincinnati Bengalog. I totally believe that. I've
Speaker 1: never seen it. I've never seen a player give a
Speaker 1: touchdown ball to a coach on the other team and
Speaker 1: the coach and the other team take it. Yeah. You know.
Speaker 1: Getting back to the question, does the organization think Frank
Speaker 1: Pollock can fix the current offensive line. He's not going
Speaker 1: to be asked to fix the current offensive line. They're
Speaker 1: going to be changes. He's not going to line up
Speaker 1: with Bobby Hard at right tackle and you know Alex
Speaker 1: Redman at right guard. I mean, some of these guys
Speaker 1: could be back, don't get me wrong, but there are
Speaker 1: going to be changes and additions as well, and then
Speaker 1: they are going to be counting on Frank Pollock to
Speaker 1: maximize whatever group he's given. I agree, And like I
Speaker 1: said before, I would not shock me if Frank shuffles
Speaker 1: a little bit, wouldn't wouldn't shock me at all. Who knows?
Speaker 1: But um yeah, Frank, you can't. You can't expect Frank
Speaker 1: to bring a big wand in here, wave the magic
Speaker 1: wand and make the players that were playing in the
Speaker 1: Bengals offensive line in the last couple of years a
Speaker 1: top five offensive line in the NFL. That dogging happened. Boy,
Speaker 1: that dog's been dead a while. Question from Bearcat Joe
Speaker 1: and a question from doctor who day these are tied together.
Speaker 1: What are the chances of bringing A J greenback on
Speaker 1: a one year deal? That was Bearcat Joe, Doctor Huday.
Speaker 1: What are realistic landing spots for aj Green? What do
Speaker 1: you think, Butch? You know, I uh, somebody's going to
Speaker 1: offer him a good deal. I think I mean probably not,
Speaker 1: you know, not mega mega, but I'm sure somebody's gonna
Speaker 1: be out there, is gonna offer him more than a
Speaker 1: one year deal. I would think, I man, I'd love
Speaker 1: to have him back. I mean, I think it would
Speaker 1: be great. I think it'd be great for the team,
Speaker 1: to be great for a city, be great for Borrow.
Speaker 1: You know, is that in the cards? I just don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I guess and where I'm not
Speaker 1: sure where's landing spots. I mean, you know, probably for
Speaker 1: for a team that's looking for the final piece, something
Speaker 1: to put him over the top. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: think he'd be going to a team that's rebuilding, but
Speaker 1: you know, I'd love to see him stay here. It's,
Speaker 1: you know, just to help Joe continue the progression. But
Speaker 1: you know that's you know, I'm not you know, that's
Speaker 1: usually for fables and I you know, i'd love to
Speaker 1: see it come true. Though. Yeah, we'd all love to
Speaker 1: see him back, just because we'd love the guy. But
Speaker 1: just everything he said and his body language at the
Speaker 1: end of the year indicated that he's ready to move on,
Speaker 1: so I think he will. I could see him going
Speaker 1: to Atlanta veteran quarterback Matt Ryan. It's home. Julio Jones
Speaker 1: as a friend. They were drafted, you know, basically next
Speaker 1: to each other back in twenty eleven in the draft.
Speaker 1: That one would make a lot of sense to me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: me and Julio down to the schoolyard in Atlanta. AJ's big,
Speaker 1: big deal. I thought the same thing, Dan. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like, uh, go back to the state where you
Speaker 1: made your name. Um, you know, family down there, the
Speaker 1: whole nine yeards. It would be a be a graceful,
Speaker 1: graceful way for him to put out on the back nine. Um. Honestly,
Speaker 1: when what you was saying, yeah, you know a boy,
Speaker 1: you draft a guy like Chase and you get Tyler
Speaker 1: Boyd and T Higgins, I was hoping it was gonna
Speaker 1: be Tyler Boyd, T Higgins and AJ Green. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: I was totally surprised last year that he did not
Speaker 1: have a higher win rate ratio. He just you know,
Speaker 1: didn't didn't get open as as much as I thought
Speaker 1: he would, you know, and watching him the year before
Speaker 1: when he didn't play at all, you know, running on
Speaker 1: grass up at Cleveland, and it just goes to show
Speaker 1: you then, Man, even though you're running routes, change of direction,
Speaker 1: all that, it's not football. You know, it's not pads on,
Speaker 1: Guys covering, you're getting their hands on, you're doing all
Speaker 1: those kind of things. If the game is different, playing
Speaker 1: the game is different. You can look you can look
Speaker 1: like an All American and dummy football when it's you know,
Speaker 1: shorts and T shirts. Man, you put the pads on
Speaker 1: and play football it's a it's a different dynamic. So
Speaker 1: I was I was very surprised that, you know, that
Speaker 1: he had so many games that were as non productive
Speaker 1: as they were watching him. And even at training camp,
Speaker 1: I thought, yeah, he's still you know, running some good routes,
Speaker 1: but it's still it wasn't it wasn't live football, you know.
Speaker 1: And uh that's that's the interesting thing. And like you said,
Speaker 1: but somebody might offer them, uh something multi year for
Speaker 1: a lot less. You wonder if the Bengers would do that,
Speaker 1: just presence and have them around and doing the kind
Speaker 1: of things, because I mean, to a man, every player,
Speaker 1: every coach, nobody, nobody has a negative thing to say
Speaker 1: about AJ Green. It's it's incredible that is uh as
Speaker 1: is well white and well respected a football player. I mean,
Speaker 1: he is literally in the Anthony Mounel's caliber. It's like
Speaker 1: nobody had anything negative to say about Anthony Muneos, not
Speaker 1: just because of the great player, but the great human
Speaker 1: being and that you know, AJ Green's in that stratosphere,
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, So it's it's it's very interesting and
Speaker 1: difficult to you know almost almost think like, yeah, I
Speaker 1: was saying goodbye to AJ Green, you know, very very tough,
Speaker 1: and uh, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder if the
Speaker 1: referee had kept his flag in the pocket against the charges,
Speaker 1: what kind of year would it have been for him?
Speaker 1: I think I think it would have been a I think,
Speaker 1: you know, it would have been a you know what
Speaker 1: the stories would have been. Aj never left, He took
Speaker 1: over the game. He won the game. So you know,
Speaker 1: it was a perfect storm. You kind of you can
Speaker 1: kind of forget he missed twenty four games. My god,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of time. But then you're throw in
Speaker 1: the fact the rookie quarterback, a pandemic and a new offense.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of waves in the ocean. You know,
Speaker 1: you just kind of underestimated. In my mind, I underestimated
Speaker 1: all that. You look at the official throwing the flag
Speaker 1: on such a great player. You know, a lot of
Speaker 1: times officials kind of like benefit of the doubt goes
Speaker 1: to great players. And you know, confidence is a delicate thing,
Speaker 1: and Aj is one of those guys that really, you know,
Speaker 1: feeds off confidence and everything. You wonder how big a
Speaker 1: blow that was, you know, yeah, I really think it.
Speaker 1: He takes everything to heart. Man. Yeah, I just think
Speaker 1: I think the whole I think the whole thing. You know,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm being a half full guy, but I do think.
Speaker 1: I do think things change. It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if he goes elsewhere, if his numbers increased significantly from
Speaker 1: this year where he only had five hundreds some receiving yards.
Speaker 1: I can think of one person that does have negative
Speaker 1: things to say about aj Green. That would be Jail
Speaker 1: and Ramsey from those Haymakers that he threw a few
Speaker 1: years ago when they got into it, back when Ramsey
Speaker 1: was with Jacksonville. John to have our close seconds, Yeah right,
Speaker 1: that'd be another one. That's a good point. All right,
Speaker 1: one more twit Twitter question and then we're gonna wrap
Speaker 1: up with the Super Bowl from Greg. Will the Bengals
Speaker 1: address wide receiver in free agency or the draft? They've
Speaker 1: got to, right, they're gonna add bodies at that position.
Speaker 1: I just I just, you know, there's one thing that
Speaker 1: scares me. It's free agent veteran wide receivers. It just
Speaker 1: seems like it's always a tough fit. Now. I guess
Speaker 1: they'll probably have to go grab a guy, but that
Speaker 1: always seems to be you know, I can't you know,
Speaker 1: you can count on your fingers how many times it's
Speaker 1: worth here, you know, I mean, I guess it hasn't
Speaker 1: the past, well, Greg said, Greg said, free agency or
Speaker 1: the draft? Oh, I think the draft, I mean clearly definitely. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think they're definitely gonna have to address
Speaker 1: the position in the U in the draft, free agency,
Speaker 1: you are, I mean you almost wonder, um if if
Speaker 1: the draft, if not, if the draft isn't fruitful and
Speaker 1: you're looking at free agency, where does AJ Green stack
Speaker 1: up in terms of free agency? You know? Okay, do
Speaker 1: we even think about readdressing Aj Green a little differently
Speaker 1: with respect to guys that might be out there and
Speaker 1: what kind of options are left. It's kind of that'll
Speaker 1: be interesting. I think Aj is ready to move on,
Speaker 1: even more than the Bengals are thinking of moving on
Speaker 1: from Aj. It just sounded to me at the end
Speaker 1: of the year like he was ready for a fresh start. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you're right, Dane. I think to me, to me,
Speaker 1: his body language and the way he addressed everything, he
Speaker 1: seemed tired. You know, it was like almost time diagree,
Speaker 1: And that's okay. You know, he gave him ten great years.
Speaker 1: I hope he goes somewhere else and thrives in the
Speaker 1: final stages of his career. All right, let's move on
Speaker 1: to Super Bowls. Sunday Buccaneers Kansas City Chiefs. Who do
Speaker 1: you got and why? Butch'll let you go first? Tampa
Speaker 1: thirty one, twenty eight at the gun, WHOA, I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Brady is gonna become Eli Manning. I
Speaker 1: think he's going to Uh. He's going to beat the
Speaker 1: Brady of his era Mahomes or like Brady about to ascend,
Speaker 1: He's gonna beat him. He's gonna beat the Brady of
Speaker 1: this time. He's gonna and he's gonna do it with
Speaker 1: Kansas City's gonna um uh. They won't be able to
Speaker 1: they won't be able to get to him, and he's
Speaker 1: gonna kill him with the blitz Gronkowski. The MVP could
Speaker 1: be Rob Gronkowski or Cameron a break the tight end.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna kill Cameron. Brake might catch a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass. He is not going to be the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl MVP. I see I see uh, and I see
Speaker 1: Burnett taking air as Fournette in the other back taking
Speaker 1: a air out of the ball. If Cameron Brad is
Speaker 1: the MVP, I will post this clip and like an
Speaker 1: endless loop to make you look good, because that would
Speaker 1: be one heck of a call. I don't know what
Speaker 1: the prop bet is for Cameron break being the MVP
Speaker 1: of the Super Bowl, but you could make big money
Speaker 1: if you if you put something down and that turned
Speaker 1: out to be true. So probably right which bucks thirty
Speaker 1: one twenty eight? Did you say yes? At the gun?
Speaker 1: Ryan suck up with a field goal or a touchdown
Speaker 1: pass by Brady to Cameron Brad to win it in
Speaker 1: the final seconds on his home field. All right, lap,
Speaker 1: how about you? All right? Well, Brady is thirty three
Speaker 1: and eleven in his playoff career. He's eighteen and oh
Speaker 1: when he has a plus turnover ratio eighteen, so fifteen
Speaker 1: and eleven when he's even her mindus, So, I mean,
Speaker 1: turnover is going to be big like they always are
Speaker 1: in Brady man in the playoffs eighteen eighteen times he
Speaker 1: didn't have a turnover the football team he led. That's
Speaker 1: that's pretty phenomenal. So you know, and I start to
Speaker 1: think about Tampa Bay because I talked about the offensive
Speaker 1: line with Kansas City, they got four different starters, four
Speaker 1: the only guy that's the normal starters the center. They
Speaker 1: have Mike Bremers playing offensive line at the tackle position.
Speaker 1: The last Super Bowl he played in was with the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers and he was playing against Von Miller the
Speaker 1: Denver Broncos. Von Miller at three sacks won Super Bowl. MVP.
Speaker 1: Bremers was a turnstyle and to this day he can't
Speaker 1: get over how bad he was in that football game.
Speaker 1: You know, and I'm looking at what will what will
Speaker 1: JPP and Shack Barrett? Who's Shack Barrett's a free agent,
Speaker 1: by the way, What will those guys do on the edge?
Speaker 1: You know, I mean without Fisher. Mahomes is three and
Speaker 1: three in games played without Eric Fisher in six games.
Speaker 1: So you start to think, man, you know, is Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay with Tom Brady does that look like? You know,
Speaker 1: we'll David in White at linebacker the gate Kelsey a
Speaker 1: little bit, in my opinion, the best route runner at
Speaker 1: tight end in football. But then I look at Mahomes
Speaker 1: in my homes in the playoffs, averaging over ten yards
Speaker 1: rushing when he scrambles seventeen scrambles in the playoffs in
Speaker 1: the short playoffs history, one hundred and seventy seven yards.
Speaker 1: That's not to mention scrambling around, throwing the ball all
Speaker 1: over the place. I just I look at Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: and I just think, Man, the dude's a magician. You know,
Speaker 1: he even when he falls behind by a big number,
Speaker 1: he'll come back, whether it's Super Bowl or not, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, playoff game or not. I I just can't.
Speaker 1: I can't rule that guy out. It's the first time
Speaker 1: in Super Bowl history, the two quarterbacks that won the
Speaker 1: last two super Bowl based Super Bowls prior to the game,
Speaker 1: they're playing in face off against each other, and one's
Speaker 1: on the back nine and one's just starting. Man. That's
Speaker 1: the one thing that worries me about my pick, obviously
Speaker 1: is Mahomes because when Brady get beat the Giants Giant,
Speaker 1: the Giants went up the middle on him. You know,
Speaker 1: they were at his feet. The Giants were at his feet,
Speaker 1: And I think Tampa can do that. I think Tampa
Speaker 1: has a good enough front. But Mahomes will just laugh
Speaker 1: if they're at his feet. He'll move out of the pocket,
Speaker 1: will throw behind his back, will throw it under his legs. So, wow,
Speaker 1: Tampa may played a great defense, it's not gonna matter
Speaker 1: because Mahomes is so good. He hasn't thrown behind his
Speaker 1: back yet. That might be the one thing he hasn't done,
Speaker 1: so we'll look forward to that. So who's your pick lap. Well,
Speaker 1: here's the other thing. The defensive tackles for the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs, Clark and Jones, good Tampa. They're gonna get
Speaker 1: Brady off his spot. That formed me on rush Spagnolo,
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinates three and two against Brady. And of
Speaker 1: course the big Super Bowl when you're talking about with
Speaker 1: the Giants formed me on rush pressure White and Brady's
Speaker 1: face doesn't get fresh in the face. So I'm going
Speaker 1: thirty one thirty Mahomes. I'm going to barn Burner. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs and Mahomes winning
Speaker 1: back to back Super Bowls. I think he's going to
Speaker 1: be so I get to break the tie. This is good.
Speaker 1: I am picking Kansas City. Here is my rationale. The
Speaker 1: Chiefs have punted once in two playoff games this year.
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes has nine losses as the starting quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs. You know what the opponent has
Speaker 1: averaged in those nine games, thirty six points. Wow, you
Speaker 1: got to score a ton to beat Patrick Mahomes. I
Speaker 1: think the Bucks are going to score twenty seven, but
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be enough. Thirty one twenty seven Kansas City.
Speaker 1: I also like Andy Reid over Bruce Arians. I think
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians is a fine coach, but he's not going
Speaker 1: to the Hall of Fame. Andy Reid is and I'm
Speaker 1: going with case. Left tackle does concern me with Fisher
Speaker 1: going down in the AFC Championship game. That's the one
Speaker 1: thing that really scares me. But I will go with
Speaker 1: Kansas City and ramers is going from right to left
Speaker 1: tackle and they get a backup to the backup at
Speaker 1: right tackle. That offensive line is scary, but Mahomes is crazy.
Speaker 1: But I agree with you, Andy Reid and Eric the Enemy.
Speaker 1: I'll take over Bruce Arians and Leftwich Firon Leftwich. I'll
Speaker 1: take the tandem in terms of points. Produce some points
Speaker 1: with Kansas City over the tandem with Tampa Bay. We
Speaker 1: all have our winning team scoring thirty one points, which
Speaker 1: is interesting. And if if Tampa Bay comes out on top,
Speaker 1: you will have the last last laugh on Sunday night. Butch,
Speaker 1: I'm looking for Cameron Braid at the parade. All right, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: This has been fun. I hope our audience enjoyed it
Speaker 1: as much as I did, and UH look look forward
Speaker 1: to uh laughing as we watched the Super Bowl Sunday night.
Speaker 1: I hear you. Thanks for having me on, guys. I
Speaker 1: enjoyed it. That's going to do it. For this week's
Speaker 1: episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by
Speaker 1: bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game. If you haven't done
Speaker 1: so already, please subscribe, and if you have a minute,
Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and
Speaker 1: thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast