WEBVTT - Bengals Booth Podcast: It Starts Now 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.559 Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:13.920 The Bengals Booth Podcast. The Yeah Revolution starts now addition, 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.479 as the Joe Burrow Era begins with the arrival of 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.680 this year's rookies. For the start of training camp. Coming up, 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.439 i'll talk to Robert Weintraub, who covers the Bengals for 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.320 Cincinnati Magazine and wrote the team's season preview for this 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:31.200 year's edition of The Football Outsiders Almanac. Robert is also 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.120 a diehard Bengals fan who is as giddy as the 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.640 rest of us about Joe Burrow. Then, for the first 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.360 time in a few weeks, it's my broadcast partner Dave 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.080 Lapham as he answers my questions and yours. The Bengals 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.520 Booth Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.360 travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals. And here's 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.040 a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.240 of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:03.120 computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.760 pod Bean. It's the greatest thing since the way I 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:12.160 heard at podcast with Mike Rowe You know Microw, the 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.080 host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel and the 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:19.560 deep voiced pitchman for Ford truck commercials. I recently became 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.080 aware of a podcast that he's been doing for about 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.959 four years called The Way I Heard It. If you're 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.080 old enough to remember radio legend Paul Harvey and his 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:34.319 now you know the rest of the Story features, this 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:38.039 podcast is very similar. They're short stories with a clever 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:41.759 twist at the end. The writing is great and Micro's 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:46.280 vocal presentation is nothing short of magnificent. The stories are 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.920 less than ten minutes long and you'll love them. So 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.480 check out The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:56.440 wherever you get your podcasts Now, let's get to football. 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.320 Last year, I purchased The Football Outsider's Almanac for the 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:05.200 first time, and did it somewhat reluctantly. In my mind, 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.359 I pictured it being mostly a book of in depth stats, 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.239 and while I like that stuff, I already get plenty 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:15.480 of data from Pro Football Focus and elsewhere. Well Man, 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.400 was I wrong. The Football Outsider's Almanac is more than 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.360 five hundred pages long, and while it definitely includes a 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.560 lot of statistical analysis, the writing is great and it's 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.480 filled with snarky humor. It includes in depth previews for 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.120 all thirty two NFL teams and the Bengals chapter this 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.520 year was written by Robert Weintraub, who also covers the 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:42.079 team for Cincinnati Magazine. I spoke to Robert this week. Robert, 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.680 I guess your feelings about Joe Burrow can be summed 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.239 up by this sentence that you wrote in Cincinnati Magazine. 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:55.079 Quote pure awesomeness, oozing out of his every pore, don't 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.120 hold back. Yeah, did I oversell it? We there? I 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:02.680 think anything? I feel like I understand. Yeah, it was amazing. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.720 I remember I went to the LSU Oklahoma semi final. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.280 I live in Atlanta. He was here, and I was 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:12.520 just a quiver, I guess you'd say at all times, 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.000 and by halftime I was just yelling for them to 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.120 take Burrow out so he wouldn't get injured, and just 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.360 I want him to go directly into the Bengal lineup. 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.000 Right at that point, there's no doubt he provides, you know, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.680 a boost of excitement and optimism that we haven't felt 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.960 in the Bengal land and sometimes so what else is 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.960 there to say? You know, we can only hope that 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.880 any of that translates to the NFL, especially in this bizarre, 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.760 you know, offseason that we've had, and hopefully we even 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.600 have a season. But I guess we'll put that that 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.600 note of pessimism aside and just, you know, hope that 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.520 Joe translates as we think he should. He has all 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.480 the traits, you know, he certainly has the mind for 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:55.200 the game, and he's His statistical numbers at LSU were 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:59.520 off the charts, both counting and what we call analytical 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.480 numbers over here at Football Outsiders, so you know, he's 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.200 We have a projection system that is called q base, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.200 and he had the second highest of all time for 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.080 any starter with less two or fewer years of starting. 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.560 The only one ever was Alex Smith. Alex Smith who 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:17.440 best to him, But he had a higher projection than 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.279 the likes of Cam Newton and even to attack of Violoa, 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:23.200 who would be compared to no doubt throughout his career. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.599 So and I think he certainly projects as a higher 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:28.760 possibility than even Alex Smith. So if we can get 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.680 that kind of career out of Joe, it would be 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.200 you know, it would be great, and you know, sky's 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.239 the limit. We can dream even higher than that. Hopefully 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:37.960 if they ever get a chance to play ball again. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.960 Nobody wants to see their teams starting eleven and go 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.480 to and fourteen, but ultimately was bottoming out the best 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.800 thing long term for this franchise. I don't think there's 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:52.320 any doubt about it, right, I mean where would six 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.040 and ten have gotten them? Absolutely nowhere? Maybe even yet 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.800 another year of Andy Dalton. I mean nothing against Andy, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.280 but we couldn't have had yet another year spinning the wheels, right. 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.839 I mean maybe you could argue that, okay, you bought 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:07.960 them out this year coming up, and then you have 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.799 another three or four quarterbacks who are potentially franchise quarterbacks, 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.240 I guess, but you know you have a chance at one, 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.080 you grab them and you don't look back. And I 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.039 think there's no doubt they really the three games that 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.680 you know, Andy didn't start this past year and Ryan 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.719 Finley was in there wound up being the most important 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.760 three games in the season, probably because you know, who 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.200 knows what happens if Dalton starts those games, and maybe 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.800 the Bengals finish four and twelve, and we're all trying 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.320 to talk ourselves into Justin Herbert right about now, you know, 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:38.800 so I don't think there's any question. If you're going 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.680 to be a bad team, there's no benefit and being 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.480 a sort of a bad team just being all the 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:45.080 way a bad team, and that just doesn't go for 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.040 Joe Burrow. You know, it makes the whole franchise look 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.440 in the mirror and make a raft of changes, which 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.000 obviously they did in many other places, not just a quarterback. 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.240 So I think that's overall for the best spinning their 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.320 wheels had been done for about four year years and 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.960 it was enough already. We're talking to Robert Weintraub, who 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:06.599 wrote the Bengals chapter in this year's Football Outsiders Almanac. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.839 I want to talk about free agency. The Bengals obviously 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.640 went all in DJ reader, Trey Wayne's and six others. 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:18.080 You wrote something that I hadn't seen anywhere else, and 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.640 that is that the Bengals are basically one year behind 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:24.920 the Packers, an organization that has always stressed draft and development, 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.160 and then last year the Packers embraced free agency. They 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.280 signed Zadarius Smith, they signed Preston Smith and several other 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.000 guys and wound up going thirteen and three. Do you 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:39.000 think the Bengals learned from Green Bay. Yeah, I don't 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.080 necessarily think they'll go thirteen and three, but I don't 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.640 think there's any doubt that they saw what the landscape 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.719 in the NFL looks like now. I think a large 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:47.800 part of that is in place because of the new 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:51.840 rules that were put in limiting practice time. You know, 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:54.440 there was a period when the Packers and the Bengals 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.200 were sort of looked at as the models for what 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.240 to do. You draft and develop, you don't overspend, keep 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.480 your guys, and that was the very sort of ideal 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.880 of team building. But now, especially because with such a 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.560 lack of practice time, a veteran who knows what he's 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.840 doing out there is sort of more prize than he 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.600 had been even a couple of years ago. Now, I 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.360 don't think there's any doubt that you have to kind 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.560 of change what the Bengals have been doing. So, you know, 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.239 so on in terms of ignoring the free agent pool 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.360 and spending more money to get guys who you can 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.760 rely on and aren't going to need a whole bunch 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.800 of coaching into your system and a whole bunch of 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:33.640 coaching up just to get to a level of play 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.960 where you want them to be, only to see them 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.200 walk out the door, you know, as when they become 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.200 free agents. So yes, I do think that they they 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.640 learned maybe a year after the Packers, and the Packers 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:45.920 obviously had Aaron Rodgers that helped them to go thirteen 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.920 in three. But you know, I look for Cincinnati to 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.520 improve just on that basis alone. I don't think there's 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.080 any doubt about it. Their defense was as bad as 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.600 could be last year. We have a saying called the 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.760 plexiclass principal in the analytic world, which means that when 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:04.000 you're really bad at anything or really good, you tend 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.400 to regress toward the mean the following year. So that 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.840 means that even by just mathematical principles, they should be 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:12.800 better next year on defense than they were last year. 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.760 I don't think there's any doubt that the wholesale changes 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:19.160 will improve the team, especially the tackling that he obviously 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:21.760 made a lot of these changes with the likes of 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:25.560 Lamar Jackson and Nick Chubb in mind, and that seems 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.280 to be a solid principle to go after. Running the 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.080 football in the AFC North is more prized than it 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.880 is elsewhere in the league, and the Bengals couldn't stop it. 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.640 Last year, the top three players in the entire league 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.120 who miss tackles by our charting, we're all Bengals. So 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.880 I mean, that's right right there. It tells y'all need 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.160 to go. And Jesse Vh and Seawan Williams are two 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.200 of them. They're back. Nick Vigil was gone. But you know, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.320 certainly we'll see the secondary tackle better, take better angles, 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.080 you know, use their space more to their advantage. And 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.200 that's the kind of thing that you know, you really 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.719 can't necessarily teach in the limited practice time anymore. You 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:01.880 just have to have guys who can do it, and 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.679 hopefully these are the right guys. Well, that's interesting because 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:06.960 the three guys they signed his free agents to play 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.840 in the secondary, Trey Waynes, Mackenzie, Alexander and von Bell 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.720 were all known for their ability to stop the run. 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.240 People worry about Trey Waynes. Is he truly a number 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.280 one corner? Well, we'll see. But one thing he has 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.000 proven is the willingness to get in there and tackle people, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.400 no question. I mean that that was an undoubted reason 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.720 they got him. I mean, in terms of just pass 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:32.160 covering numbers, him and Drake or Patrick are pretty much identical, 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.719 but there's no question that Trey Waynes is much more 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:38.200 willing tackler and not just do it, does it better, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.559 but gets his nose in there much more than Trade. 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:42.520 Trade made a lot of business decisions out there. It 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.720 seems like, and you know, does he have to be 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.120 a number one corner. William Jackson still to me has 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.160 the ability to be that number one corner. And when 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.760 it came out that he played the entire season basically 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.520 with a torn labor that sort of explained some of 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.320 his kind of indifferent play from time to time. So 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.559 I think that's and so the Bengals could definitely have improved, 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:06.360 And obviously mentioned von bell An outstanding run stopper Mackenzie 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.520 Alexander as well, although the car's Darky's Denard we should 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.320 point out also had very good run stopping numbers and 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:17.080 played injured and seems like he's possibly available for you 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.480 know future is signing if it need be, could play 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.640 that Chris Crocker role maybe down then down the fairway here. 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:28.000 If he's still unsigned, he could come back and help out. 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:31.040 He's said, certainly a good run support player. Yeah, for 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.800 those who missed it, he did sign in the off 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:37.319 season with Jacksonville, but then failed the physical. So he's 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.480 still outright, Yeah, and I wouldn't be shocked if he 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.720 came back, certainly as injuries mounter, you know, things happened 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.600 in this bizarre offseason that we're in. Uh, you know, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.080 he'd probably go with you know, I don't know if 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.200 there's some behind the scenes issue that would prevent him 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.680 from doing that, but to the outsider, it would seem 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.480 like a natural fit for him to come back and play. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.360 We said, on a limited basis. We are chatting with 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.840 Robert Weintrauba writes about the bank to Cincinnati Magazine Football 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:07.000 outsiders and others. You mentioned reduced practice time and reduced 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.560 practice contact. Well, this year, no OTAs, no mini camps 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.840 in the off season for Joe Burrow, no private workouts 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:17.439 with receivers. Now it looks like no preseason games. What 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:19.680 do you think that's going to mean for Joe Burrow? 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.679 I mean it can't be good, right obviously, I do 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.960 think if you're talking and I have no mathematical precise 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.880 basis to base this on, but if you're talking about 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.600 any quarterback out there who you would like to see 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.080 in the situation like that, certainly, Burrow looks like he's 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:41.439 the mature, kind of go for a guy who you 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.080 would handle something like that as best as possible. But 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.280 obviously it's it's not an ideal situation. He's not really 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.640 ever thrown to AJ Green, you know, in any real 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.600 capacity until they show up a training camp, and who 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.800 knows what that's going to look like. I mean, it's 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.280 entirely possible. The first time he ever throws a past 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.920 aj Green would be in the first game of this season, 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.440 with no fans in the stands, and who knows what 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:07.000 else is going on. So it's a bizarre situation obviously 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.480 all around. But you know, if you're going to have 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.480 a guy, one thing that set Joe apart from not 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.559 just all his competitors this past year, but pretty much 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.079 everybody we've seen in college football and the last decade 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.800 two decades was his you know, Joe cool if you will, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.840 His incredible ability to just shut out everything around him, 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.760 make plays and put his team in the best situations possible. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.920 And that's that's a maturity that's rare. He's a coaches kid. 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.000 He knows what, he knows what's going on. He's been 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.319 in touch with the Bengals coaching staff. This entire process, 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.360 I feel like. So if anybody can make lemonade out 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:47.360 of his particular lemon tree, you Joe Burrow. Robert. I 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:50.280 mentioned that you wrote the Bengals season preview in the 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.920 Football Outsiders Almanac this year, mine is on the way. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.840 I can't wait to get it. I courchesed it for 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.480 the first time last year, and I can't stress enough 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.079 to foot all fans how awesome it is. Not only 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:06.360 is the data great, but the writing is entertaining. And 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:09.760 you did not write last year's Bengals preview, but I 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:13.280 want to read how it ended. This is slightly paraphrased 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.559 final sentence. The next step is probably for Zach Taylor 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:22.880 to determine what does and doesn't work over sixteen games, 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:28.640 then let the roster blood letting begin. So that's basically 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.880 exactly how it played out. So what's the next step 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.079 this year? I think it's an obvious sort of you 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.720 still see what you have and what's just put aside 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.040 all the pandemic slash who knows what's going to happen 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.000 issues of it aside. This approach you from a normal season. 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.720 From Zach Taylor's point of view, and that would be 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.280 still you know, see what works with Joe Burrow, See 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:53.960 what he likes to do best, See how the new 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:59.000 arrivals mesh in what capacity they work best. Maybe just 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:03.600 some of his strategic tendencies which we saw this year 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.720 really mirror what he learned under Sean McVeigh in Los Angeles. 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.120 You know, a ton of three wide receiver one back sets. 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:12.640 The Bengals led the league in three wide receiver sets 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:14.719 and a lot of max protection. They were in the 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.439 top five in max protection and maybe add some more 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.800 play action into it, which they didn't really do last year, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:22.320 which was a bit of a surprise, because that's a 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:26.160 McVeigh principles for sure, and to take you know, on 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.000 both sides of the coin, on the defense, well and 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.240 see what works best, and you know, hopefully you have 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.120 a quarterback who can make these things work obviously and 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:37.040 improve the off ends. Last year, it was just a 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:41.040 battle just to get first downs and occasional points. Let's 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.880 face it, they were such a struggle to move the 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:47.200 ball at times that you almost couldn't do anything except 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.080 for you know, kind of look towards what you're going 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:52.120 to replace this year. You hope to see what, you know, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.160 what will be more of a fine tuning process, actually 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.920 win some close games. Bengals were winless in one score games, 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.120 and that's you know, unusual for any team that should 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.400 bounce back a little bit to learn how to win, 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.600 learn what works best, obviously improve, maybe even sniff a 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.120 playoff first with the expanded playoffs. But listen, not dream 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.480 too big, and then use the year three as the 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.560 year and year two of Joe Burrow as your kind 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.240 of go forward year. That's when your window really opens, 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:24.480 and hopefully you'll have foundation that you can really build 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:27.840 upon and you know, look for a championship level team 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:31.720 for the immediate future. After that, there will be dozens 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.400 of interesting statistical nuggets and this year's almanac. You've shared 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.480 a few things so far in this conversation. As you 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:44.120 looked at things about the individual players, did anything really 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:47.680 catch your eye, maybe explaining why a guy might be 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:52.760 better or worse than you thought, Well, what one is 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.080 stowed out just because everybody else's numbers were so bad, 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:59.600 we're so bad? Was Tyler Boyd's positive numbers and the 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.600 way that he in the middle of the field was 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.360 so effective and also just had third down and fourth 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.800 down high efficiency rates that nobody else on the team 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.120 came anywhere close to as you could imagine, And that 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:15.000 speaks a lot for him just as a player and 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.520 as a guy who can get things done even when 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.960 he doesn't have the speed on the outside that you know, 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.560 you would think he would require. And certainly when there 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:24.680 is that kind of player with him, like a J. Green, 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.280 you know, we forget Green and Boyd have hardly ever 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.120 really played together, certainly since Boyd has gotten to be 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.600 the tyler Boyd. We know, Green has been out so 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.240 and John Ross has mostly been out as well, or 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:37.880 in and out of the lineup anyway, so he has 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.080 hardly ever had a real speed got to take the 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.040 attention of the defense away from the middle of the 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.200 field and away from him, so he has been double 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:47.400 covered a lot, had a lot of even more than 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.520 I thought, really a lot of attention paid to him, 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.080 and still put up not just good counting numbers, but 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.000 very good efficiency numbers. And that that was a bit 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:58.520 of a surprise and more certainly more impressive to me 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.960 than I thought it was going to be. You know, 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:02.520 there are some other ones that are negative. I was 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.480 still surprising how little Joe Mixon got used in the 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:07.479 passing game. I think that's a real place where they 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.160 could improve this year coming up. And as we saw 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.680 in at LSU, Joe Burrow excelled as using the running 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.159 backs in tight ends in you know, sort of his 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:21.240 open sets and ways to exploit mismatches. So I think 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.159 you'll see Mixon become much more of a passing threat, 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:25.639 and he sort of has to be, especially if he 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.639 wants to contract, which we all think he does. Robert, 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:32.000 you made an interesting observation about T Higgins that I 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.960 haven't seen anywhere else. Most people compare him to AJ Green, 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:41.159 You say Carl Pickens, hopefully with a more cheerful disposition. 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.120 No offense to Carl. I love pick They'll get me wrong, 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:51.080 but great player, but interesting cat right. It wasn't necessarily 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.880 the same guy you expected to be off the field, well, 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.800 t Yeah, comparing him to AJ Green is really doing 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.800 him a disservice, as it would be the most young receivers. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.240 AJ Green came in as an incredibly high end finished 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:08.320 product and TJ. T Higgins is not a speed merchant, 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.679 not nearly the speed merchant that AJ is and was. 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:14.240 This is a guy who you know, is more about 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.720 catch radius, incredible catch radius at making plays around the 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.040 ball and surprisingly for his figure, you know, his frame 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.639 is very large, but he does a great deal after 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.359 the catch. He's very strong, has great balance. You'll see 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:32.679 that he doesn't necessarily run away from guys when he 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:34.240 has the ball in the open field. But he's very 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.800 hard to break down. And that's a sort of an 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:38.840 element that you haven't seen Cincinnati in a while. And 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.120 I feel like that's a Pickins thing as well, both 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.120 going up and getting the ball and then once he does, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:45.920 you know, making it hard for the defender to bring 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.679 him down. AJ just runs either runs right away from 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:52.240 guys or gets wide open right off the line. Neither 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.040 of those things that really t Higgins is strong suits, 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:57.680 but he does have plenty of others. And you know, 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.120 if you have a guy he stel Earl play in college, 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:04.160 he did a lot of back shoulder throws, a lot 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:07.600 of throws that let both Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.280 go up and get balls where only they could get it. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:12.720 That really plays right into higgins strength and I think 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:14.360 you'll see a lot of that and since then this year, 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:18.120 hopefully we're chatting with Robert Weintraub, who wrote the Bengals 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:23.080 chapter and this year's Football Outsiders, Albanac linebacker play has 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:28.280 been lousy in recent years between Josh Bynes and the 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.879 three draft picks. What are your expectations for that position group? 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.680 Not especially high just because they're all rookies, like you say, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.639 and Josh Bines will you know, decent players? Really just 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:43.199 a journeyman if the most I think he brings is 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.040 sort of a knowledge of the Ravens offense and maybe 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.239 some of the moves that Lamar Jackson likes to use, 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:51.520 and maybe he'll won't get faked out of his cleat 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:55.440 so easily as some of the other Bengal linebackers had been. Certainly, 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.840 you know, the likes of Logan Wilson and the other 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.320 draftees that the pick this year have a great promise, 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:04.280 you know, and they're going to be asked to do 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.960 a lot the aspect of coming straight into the NFL, 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.200 especially as we've been talking, without any of the offseason 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.000 ability to learn the scheme and get on the field. 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.080 That's asking a lot in their first season to really 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:19.320 make an impact. That's certainly the impact that they were 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.000 required or turn the position group around. I still think 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.919 Germaine Pratt is the guy who will wind up being 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:28.040 the leader of that position and being somebody that you 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.760 know takes a step forward this year. Whether he turns 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.960 into a real stud at the position remains to be seen, 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:35.440 but I think he showed toward the end of the 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.359 last year that he was making great strides, and maybe 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:40.120 that's what you'll see from the other rookies as well, 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.760 sort of a twelve ten to twelve game breaking in 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:47.000 period and then that final month really makes steps, and 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:48.879 who knows, by this time next year we can be 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.000 looking at that position as one of strength, for which 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:53.320 would be rare. Obviously, as he said, Cincinnati, we haven't 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:55.320 had that in a long time. It has been a while. 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.960 Here's a question where your head and your heart might 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.560 have different answer. What would you like to see the 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:07.160 Bengals do long term with aj Green and Joe Mixon? Yeah? Indeed, 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.480