Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The I'm All Shook Up addition,
Speaker 1: as I catch up with Nick Shook from NFL dot
Speaker 1: Com to discuss the Bengals roster additions, subtractions, and the
Speaker 1: team's biggest burning question heading into the draft. Then I'll
Speaker 1: be joined by my colleague Marissa Contapelli, the Bengals team
Speaker 1: reporter and host of Bengals Weekly. She's been all over
Speaker 1: various mock drafts or Bengals dot Com, so we'll discuss
Speaker 1: the names that pop up most frequently and take a
Speaker 1: shot at our own three round mock draft. Spoiler alert,
Speaker 1: she gets a better grade than I do. The Bengals
Speaker 1: Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals
Speaker 1: ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free to
Speaker 1: play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get
Speaker 1: it now on the App Store and Google Play. And
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since hearing the Hoo Day chant on
Speaker 1: Opening Day at Great American Ballpark. I've got to give
Speaker 1: credit to the Reds for honoring the Bengals on opening Day.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow throughout the ceremonial first pitch does Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: no less, and Jamar Chase, the NFL's offensive Rookie of
Speaker 1: the Year, presented the National League Rookie of the Year
Speaker 1: Award to Jonathan India. That was cool symmetry. We knew
Speaker 1: all of that was coming in advance, but I didn't
Speaker 1: expect Reds fans to unite in a loud Hoo Day
Speaker 1: chant before the first pitch. Cincinnati has long been called
Speaker 1: a baseball town, but let's face it, we are living
Speaker 1: in a football world. Nothing unites a city like a
Speaker 1: contending NFL team, and Cincinnati has fallen head over heels
Speaker 1: in love with the reigning AFC champs. Now time to
Speaker 1: get to my first guest, Nick Shook from NFL dot Com.
Speaker 1: You've got a great piece on NFL dot Com this
Speaker 1: week called the AFC Roster Reset. You take a look
Speaker 1: at every team's best editions, key losses, and their burning
Speaker 1: question heading into the draft. Let's start with the Bengals
Speaker 1: and their additions. How did Duke Tobin do in your opinion, Well,
Speaker 1: I think everybody knew what he needed to do after
Speaker 1: Super Bowl fifty six, right it was, it was adjust
Speaker 1: and improved the offensive line, and then he immediately showed
Speaker 1: some aggression in doing so, signing one of the better
Speaker 1: signings I think he had anybody had in the NFL
Speaker 1: this entire offseason Lao Collins, you know, kind of pouncing
Speaker 1: on the cot on the opportunity presented by the Cowboys
Speaker 1: who moved on from Collins to save some cap space.
Speaker 1: You know, they also moved to Mark Cooper. They were
Speaker 1: trying to create caps based and Duke Tobin saw that
Speaker 1: opportunity and took advantage of it and really short up
Speaker 1: that right tackle position because you know as well as
Speaker 1: anybody that it's a very important position, number one, number two.
Speaker 1: It was a position of weakness for the Bengals down
Speaker 1: the stretch once they didn't have Riley Reef anymore, and
Speaker 1: so making sure that that could be solidified provided Collins
Speaker 1: as available, stays healthy and everything else, that's a massive
Speaker 1: upgrade for them and solves a massive question for them.
Speaker 1: And then you know, the rest of the signings in
Speaker 1: the offensive line, you know, adding some interior guys that
Speaker 1: I was also very key for them because you know,
Speaker 1: again you want to back to the postseason. You look
Speaker 1: at that Kansas City game. You had Pikeman Energy and
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen rotating in and out at right guard depending
Speaker 1: on the series, depending on who is pass blocking better.
Speaker 1: Now they don't have to do that, and more importantly
Speaker 1: than anything, to me, yeah, added depth. Yeah, added options.
Speaker 1: You didn't have to rely on somebody with the lack
Speaker 1: of experience in a position like Idenergy, or a lack
Speaker 1: of experience overall, like Jackson Carmen. You could go to
Speaker 1: a veteran who is more reliable and get a performance
Speaker 1: that you expect and most importantly, protect Joe Burrow and
Speaker 1: allow this offense to flourish as it should. Collins becomes
Speaker 1: the right tackle, Alex Scappa becomes the right guard. Ted
Speaker 1: Carriss right now is penciled in its center, but obviously
Speaker 1: he's played guard. He played left guard for the Patriots
Speaker 1: last year. Jonah Williams is the left tackle, at least
Speaker 1: on paper. Right now, left guard is still TBA Jackson Carmen.
Speaker 1: You'd love him to you know, take over and establish
Speaker 1: himself after being a second round draft pick last year.
Speaker 1: Do you think the line as is right now is
Speaker 1: good enough? That's the only question is left guard? I
Speaker 1: think I think the other four guys are very solid.
Speaker 1: You know, I was very impressed by their signing of
Speaker 1: Ted Kris because he was a guy who has played
Speaker 1: well in New England. And I was surprised that it
Speaker 1: didn't move the needle more when they assigned him out,
Speaker 1: you know, for me just looking at the restaurant. So
Speaker 1: that's a great signing. That's that's a great addition to
Speaker 1: what they need. So I think the biggest question there
Speaker 1: is left guard. And you know, I think Jackson Carmen
Speaker 1: might have gained a lot of experience from those high
Speaker 1: pressure situations playing in games like the AFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: being asked to step up in a critical moment. And
Speaker 1: this guy was not a highly tattered recruit, you know,
Speaker 1: for no reason coming out of you know, Southwest Ohio.
Speaker 1: This is a reason. You know, he ended up at
Speaker 1: Clemson for a reason as well. And I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna follow a suit and develop into a solid guard,
Speaker 1: I hope. So because you know, spending the pick they
Speaker 1: spent on him and the expectations that come with it.
Speaker 1: You wanted to live up to that, and more importantly
Speaker 1: than anything, you want him to fill that role that
Speaker 1: you need filled in the offensive line. Because I think
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge for the Bengals overall, and you would
Speaker 1: probably agree with this, is last year was great, but
Speaker 1: they have to prove the doubters wrong. There are gonna
Speaker 1: be a ton of naysayers who say, oh, that was
Speaker 1: a fluke. They were a flash in the pan. Everything
Speaker 1: went right for them, They stayed mostly healthy, and that's
Speaker 1: fair to say. But the Bengals' biggest objective is to
Speaker 1: prove them wrong, and getting good quality play out of
Speaker 1: the left guard would be a big boost for them.
Speaker 1: Improving that and that is your burning question for the Bengals.
Speaker 1: Can they prove that twenty twenty one was not a fluke.
Speaker 1: Do you get the sense that a lot of people
Speaker 1: around the league, based on the contact and the people
Speaker 1: that you've talked to, feel that way that the Bengals
Speaker 1: were somewhat of a fluke. Well, I think that they
Speaker 1: know that the Bengals have a legit quarterback in Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: I mean, I saw it in Week two of twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: and now the rest of the world has kind of
Speaker 1: caught up to that thanks to the Bengals most recent season.
Speaker 1: So you know, if you have the quarterback, you always
Speaker 1: have a chance people are going to take you seriously.
Speaker 1: But I do kind of think that they've gotten a
Speaker 1: little lost in the rush of the off season, the
Speaker 1: loading up of the AFC West. They're just not in
Speaker 1: the conversation if you talk to people and ask them
Speaker 1: for you know, your favorites coming out of the AFC.
Speaker 1: You get the Bills, you get the Chiefs, maybe you
Speaker 1: get the Broncos. You get you know, one of the
Speaker 1: AFC South teams, although I think neither are very high.
Speaker 1: You know, people aren't high on either of them right
Speaker 1: now at Tennessee in Indianapolis, and then the AFC North,
Speaker 1: we don't really know what you're going to get out
Speaker 1: of the division other than the Bengals. So I think
Speaker 1: they get kind of lost in the shuffle a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's necessarily that people don't think
Speaker 1: that they could be contender. It's just that they're not.
Speaker 1: Even though they won the AFC last year and they
Speaker 1: were one touchdown driveway from potentially winning the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: They're not held in quite as high of a regard because, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: signing offensive linemen is not like the sexiest move. It's
Speaker 1: not the move that's going to really get people excited
Speaker 1: when when the Chargers are training for Khalil Mack and
Speaker 1: Lebroncos are training for Russell Wilson. But that's okay because
Speaker 1: if you don't have to make those moves, that means
Speaker 1: you're already in a pretty good spot, and that means
Speaker 1: that you have a good chance of continuing sustaining the
Speaker 1: success that you've established last season. Our guest is Nick
Speaker 1: Shook from NFL dot Com. You can follow him on
Speaker 1: Twitter at the Nick Shook. Let's move to the key
Speaker 1: losses category. The Bengals lost tight end c j Uzama
Speaker 1: right now, at least, they've lost defensive tackle Larry Ogan Joebi,
Speaker 1: although he's still out there. You mentioned Riley reef Riley
Speaker 1: will not be back. It's hard to keep everybody in
Speaker 1: this day and age in the NFL. But how do
Speaker 1: the Bengals compare to most in terms of the key losses? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have some turnover. It happens with everybody more,
Speaker 1: you know, with some teams than others. I think the
Speaker 1: biggest question for me is that defensive interior, because you know,
Speaker 1: Larry provided the depth quality depth that you needed. I
Speaker 1: think they'll feel fine if they don't get him back,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I think that's a position that they could
Speaker 1: also addressed in the draft as well. So that's probably
Speaker 1: my biggest question mark. I think they're standing pretty well
Speaker 1: in terms of who they lost Usama. I feel like
Speaker 1: they can replace him, you know, because tight end often
Speaker 1: is a young quarterback safety valve, but it's also a
Speaker 1: position that can be elevated by a quarterback's play. We've
Speaker 1: seen that with other tight ends across the league. So
Speaker 1: I think they'll be okay there. It's not as if
Speaker 1: the cupboard is completely bare, and you know, it's difficult
Speaker 1: to lose Usama, who really endeared himself to Bengals fans,
Speaker 1: especially leading up to the Super Bowl, talking about diving
Speaker 1: into a pool full of Skyline chili, and it's a
Speaker 1: bummer to see him go. But I think they'll be
Speaker 1: okay there. I think my biggest question mark is the
Speaker 1: defensive interior, and there as some opportunities in this class
Speaker 1: to resupply there with some of these players in this draft,
Speaker 1: so I'm feel pretty good about where they are rosterwise
Speaker 1: right now. I think the biggest thing for them is
Speaker 1: staying healthy, and that's the same case for every team.
Speaker 1: We could talk about what teams look like on paper
Speaker 1: all we want right now, because that's all we can do,
Speaker 1: but really, one of the biggest things that has to
Speaker 1: happen for a team to go deep into the playoffs
Speaker 1: and repeat success is staying healthy, and that's gonna be
Speaker 1: the biggest challenge. They did sign Hayden Hurst to a
Speaker 1: one year deal to potentially do what c. J Uzama
Speaker 1: did last year. I kind of think that's potentially a
Speaker 1: sneaky good move. What do you think? Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1: I thought he played pretty well in Atlanta. You know,
Speaker 1: if it's just one of those under the radar signings
Speaker 1: because he doesn't quite have the name value. It's weird
Speaker 1: because tight end, especially in free agency, between this year
Speaker 1: and last year, was vastly different. You know. Last year
Speaker 1: it was Johnny Smith and Hunter Henry both going to
Speaker 1: New England and Hunter Henry the solid season. John Smith
Speaker 1: didn't do much of anything. So I think moving the
Speaker 1: needle at the tight end position of free agency doesn't
Speaker 1: necessarily produce the greatest results, so and under the radar
Speaker 1: signing could end up, you know, being more successful and
Speaker 1: more effective for you. And it also patches that hole
Speaker 1: that's left by the departure of Uzama while also allowing
Speaker 1: you know, other players to develop as well. So I
Speaker 1: think you're right it is a sneaky I think it's
Speaker 1: a sneaky signing. We'll see if it pays off. The
Speaker 1: Bengals have the thirty first overall pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: Any thoughts on what they should do. There is some
Speaker 1: potential to add another offensive lineman. I like the tackles
Speaker 1: in this group. I like some of the guard It's
Speaker 1: not quite as deep at guard and in the interior
Speaker 1: as it is outside at tackle. But there's an opportunity
Speaker 1: for them, depending on how the first round shakes out,
Speaker 1: for them to add another player. And I think it's,
Speaker 1: like you know, we did this on the Inside Report podcast.
Speaker 1: You can never have enough offensive lineman, much like you
Speaker 1: can't have enough pitching in baseball. So if they went
Speaker 1: tackle again, got somebody like a Charles Cross who might
Speaker 1: still be there or maybe a little bit further down
Speaker 1: the list, you know, the Penning kid, he might be
Speaker 1: another option as well if he's still there. I think
Speaker 1: that there's some value that could be had there. And
Speaker 1: the fun thing for the Bengals at this point is
Speaker 1: it's a bit of a luxury to be picking at
Speaker 1: thirty one because you have a roster that's largely intact,
Speaker 1: didn't have too much turnover, made some nice additions. Short
Speaker 1: up the offensive line. You could go best player available.
Speaker 1: You could also go need. You could go for potential,
Speaker 1: and I think potential would be at tackle, to develop
Speaker 1: a successor at one of the positions, or maybe move
Speaker 1: them into guard. Have some options, and I think they
Speaker 1: can find that at tackle in the draft. Our guest
Speaker 1: is Nick Shook from NFL dot com. Let's get back
Speaker 1: to your roster reset, specifically in the AFC North. You're
Speaker 1: burning question for the Baltimore Ravens is can they basically
Speaker 1: prove that their issues with health and everything else last
Speaker 1: year was their biggest problem because they have some they
Speaker 1: still need to work on their defense, and Eric da
Speaker 1: Costa has talked about this. They went and signed clay
Speaker 1: As Campbell, which I thought was, you know, a smart move,
Speaker 1: something that came a little bit later than I expected.
Speaker 1: They swung and missed on Zadarius Smith, which I thought
Speaker 1: was interesting considering his history there and where the franchise
Speaker 1: is positioned currently. And also there's that lingering doubt about
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson and his contract. So they have some questions
Speaker 1: to answer personnel wise, but more importantly than anything, they
Speaker 1: need to get a healthier season out of their team now.
Speaker 1: A lot of how they've approached this offseason and how
Speaker 1: Eric da Costa has spoken, and even John Harbou to
Speaker 1: an extent, has been look, we're gonna get guys back.
Speaker 1: It's almost gonna be like we're adding key players because
Speaker 1: we lost so many guys last year. And that's great,
Speaker 1: and that's easy to say right now, but then you
Speaker 1: got to prove that that's all you really needed. I
Speaker 1: still think they need to work on their defense a
Speaker 1: little bit. If you go look at the roster right now,
Speaker 1: get a lot of guys who departed it and not
Speaker 1: a ton of the players on the roster coming back
Speaker 1: that that you know, you can look at his key contributors.
Speaker 1: So there's still some work to be done, but more
Speaker 1: importantly than anything, it's getting healthy and proving that all
Speaker 1: they really knew was be healthy. Let's move to the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns. Obviously they made a huge splash by obtaining
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson. What is your biggest question for Cleveland? Is
Speaker 1: that risk going to pay off immediately for them? Because
Speaker 1: you know, there may be a suspension. It could be
Speaker 1: four games, could be eight games. We don't know. And
Speaker 1: that's the biggest question right now is we don't know
Speaker 1: what the immediate future with Deshaun Watson is now. If
Speaker 1: you take that out of the equation, there are other
Speaker 1: questions that still have to be answered as well, because
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson is not the same quarterback as Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 1: which makes me think a little bit of a scheme
Speaker 1: change is gonna be coming, not so much of the
Speaker 1: wide zone boot action that you saw with Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 1: because Deshaun Watson is not that guy. He's somebody who's
Speaker 1: more skilled and you don't necessarily rely on that necessarily.
Speaker 1: So how are they going to adjust? How is Kevin
Speaker 1: Stefancy gonna adjust? How is the team going to weather
Speaker 1: the the negative, the negative, the negativity that comes from
Speaker 1: you know, acquiring to Shaun Watson and fully guaranteeing his
Speaker 1: five year or two and a thirty million dollars contract.
Speaker 1: We've already seen some owners and other gms, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of bash that because, well, you know, you have
Speaker 1: the issues with Botson off the field, but you also
Speaker 1: have the precedent that it sets that it makes these
Speaker 1: personnel man their job harder to do, especially with the
Speaker 1: Ravens and Dacostaa trying to figure out a deal with
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson. So there's gonna be a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of haters for the Browns this year and they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to fight through that, and they also still
Speaker 1: need to answer feed questions. Personnel wise, they need another receiver.
Speaker 1: I think Mark Cooper was a great addition. Donovan People's
Speaker 1: Jones has shown some promise, but I still kind of
Speaker 1: need to see him in a bigger role and prove
Speaker 1: it over a full season. Anthony Schwartz is a fast guy,
Speaker 1: he's a burner, but he needs to become a complete receiver.
Speaker 1: I think they need to add somebody else. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's gonna be Jarvis Landry or somebody else.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a big loss if he does not
Speaker 1: come back. Got to answer defensive end janev and Clowney
Speaker 1: does he come back, we don't know. And the defensive
Speaker 1: interior they lacked depth there. So there are some holes
Speaker 1: that they still need to fill. And they're going to
Speaker 1: be dealing with a lot of a lot of doubt
Speaker 1: from some other, you know, outside sources. It's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a challenge. But if it all pays off, it
Speaker 1: could pay off dramatically. So and we'll wait to see
Speaker 1: if that happens last but not least or maybe least,
Speaker 1: we'll see the Pittsburgh Steelers big Ben has done, Mitchell
Speaker 1: Truebisky has arrived as the savior or at least the
Speaker 1: stop gap a quarterback. What do you think? Yeah, the
Speaker 1: bridge maybe, I'm not sure. That's my biggest question. My
Speaker 1: burning question for them is what's next under center for them?
Speaker 1: Because you know, you signed Mitch Rubisky and it sounds great.
Speaker 1: He got a ton of positive momentum for himself in
Speaker 1: this offseason despite only throwing eight passes last year, just
Speaker 1: because he was on the Bill's roster. I for one,
Speaker 1: you know, Mitch is a product of Mineral Ohio. He's
Speaker 1: a you know, suburban Cleveland kid. I would like to
Speaker 1: see him, you know, kind of reclaim his career after
Speaker 1: it didn't go well in Chicago. But I think that
Speaker 1: it's it's a risk, it's a franchise and transition. You
Speaker 1: have your general manager headed out, he's gonna be done it.
Speaker 1: For this draft. You have uncertainty at quarterback. It's either
Speaker 1: it's mister Whiskey or it's Mason Rudolph. Do they take
Speaker 1: a quarterback in the draft? I tend to think that
Speaker 1: they do. They were at all the quarterback pro days,
Speaker 1: but they tend to be at those anyways, so it's
Speaker 1: not like you know, we're getting any sneak previews there.
Speaker 1: They also have to answer, you know, for the departure
Speaker 1: of Joe Hayden, and it's in the departure of Jujus
Speaker 1: miss Suster. Now they went and signed to Anthony Miller,
Speaker 1: which you know, maybe they can get more of out
Speaker 1: of him than Chicago and Houston could. But it's just
Speaker 1: a lot of uncertainty, and when you don't have the
Speaker 1: question answered at quarterback, it makes everything else a little,
Speaker 1: you know, the footing a little less stable. So I
Speaker 1: don't expect a lot from them. If I had to
Speaker 1: order the division right now, I got them finishing the
Speaker 1: last I think it's gonna be a tough division again.
Speaker 1: It's just that the Steelers have more questions to answer
Speaker 1: than any other team in this division. The AFC Roster
Speaker 1: Reset is great. It's a perfect snapshot of where teams
Speaker 1: stand heading into the draft in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Always enjoy what you crank out for NFL dot Com
Speaker 1: and appreciate check coming out on the podcast. Thank you, Nick,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Dan appreciate it. I love being on.
Speaker 1: In addition Knicks AFC Roster Reset, his colleague Greg Rosenthal
Speaker 1: published a piece on Friday listing the AFC hierarchy heading
Speaker 1: into the draft. He has the Bills and Chiefs listed
Speaker 1: at the top two teams in the conference, with the
Speaker 1: Bengals listed as one of five teams and the next
Speaker 1: best tier, a group that also includes Baltimore and Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh is one of six teams in Tier three, with
Speaker 1: the fourth and final tier made up of the Jets, Jaguars,
Speaker 1: and Texans. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals,
Speaker 1: the free to play fantasy football game. This past season,
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of
Speaker 1: the year, with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy
Speaker 1: experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the
Speaker 1: app Store and Google Play. There used to be just
Speaker 1: a handful of mock drafts. Now it seems like they
Speaker 1: are about fifty published every day, including seven round mock drafts,
Speaker 1: which are mostly worthless, but I find myself looking at
Speaker 1: them anyway. I used to spend a ton of time
Speaker 1: searching the Internet and keeping track of all of the
Speaker 1: players mocked to the Bengals in Round one, but now
Speaker 1: I don't have to. Thanks to Bengals team reporter Marissa Contapelli.
Speaker 1: She's been posting regular updates on the various mock drafts
Speaker 1: from Bengals dot Com, and we got together this week
Speaker 1: to discuss that and much more. All right, Marissa, A
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, we knew exactly who the Bengals
Speaker 1: were going to take in the first round. It was
Speaker 1: obviously going to be Joe Burrow. Last year, we had
Speaker 1: a fifty fifty shot it was going to be Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase or Piney Sewell, this year, since they have the
Speaker 1: thirty first overall pick, we really don't know. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've been doing a deep dive into all these mock drafts,
Speaker 1: and there are a lot of different names that we've seen.
Speaker 1: I thought it would be fun to take advantage of
Speaker 1: your research and take a look at some of the
Speaker 1: most common names that keep coming up on these mock drafts.
Speaker 1: Now you've posted five of these to Bengals dot com.
Speaker 1: Have the names changed much during the course of the
Speaker 1: time you've been doing this, you know, Dan, That's been
Speaker 1: one of my favorite parts of doing this is seeing
Speaker 1: the volume of names that I've been able to come
Speaker 1: across through so many of these draft gurus and experts
Speaker 1: putting out their mock drafts. There has been a lot
Speaker 1: of change. You look at the first couple of weeks
Speaker 1: and it was really offensive line heavy. Then we signed
Speaker 1: the three offensive linemen, then all of a sudden, they
Speaker 1: shifted to the defensive side. But there have been a
Speaker 1: few consistent names. The one name that has been on
Speaker 1: every single mock draft to this point has been centered
Speaker 1: Tyler Linderbaum out of Iowa. Even though we have ted
Speaker 1: Harris Lale Collins, and Alex Kappa, they still think a
Speaker 1: lot of drafts works, still expect us to go with
Speaker 1: the best available center. In this year's draft class, just
Speaker 1: a guy that you can't really pass up on and
Speaker 1: you're looking more towards the future. So Tyler Linderbaum has
Speaker 1: been one of those mainstain names. And if he's there, Dan,
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you pass up on a talent
Speaker 1: like that? If he's there is always the big question mark.
Speaker 1: But a couple of their names that have been really
Speaker 1: consistent have been on the corner backside. You have Kyler
Speaker 1: Gordon out of Washington, Andrew Booth junior out of Clemson,
Speaker 1: and Kaier Ilam out of Florida. Those three have been
Speaker 1: not necessarily every single mock draft up to this point,
Speaker 1: but at least three or four out of them, so
Speaker 1: a lot of experts, you know, while they lean towards
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the ball, over the last few
Speaker 1: weeks there have been more and more defensive names. Have
Speaker 1: had a couple of edge rushers thrown in there, but
Speaker 1: a lot of cornerbacks, especially as that is a position
Speaker 1: of me that the draft experts are saying the Bengals
Speaker 1: should target early out in this draft. All right, so
Speaker 1: let's get back to Tyler Linderbaum. I'm kind of obsessed
Speaker 1: with Tyler Linderbaum. I'll admit it. Dane Brugler from the
Speaker 1: Athletic who does this incredible draft guide every year The
Speaker 1: Beast has the Bengals selecting him thirty first overall. Todd
Speaker 1: McShay famously of ESPN has the Bengals selecting Tyler Linderbaum
Speaker 1: thirty first overall. In a lot of ways, he makes
Speaker 1: sense because Ted Carriss, who right now is penciled in
Speaker 1: as the center, can move over play left guard. He
Speaker 1: played left guard last year for the Patriots, so that
Speaker 1: would not be a big deal. But there are some
Speaker 1: red flags with Linderbaumb. He's got short arms thirty one
Speaker 1: and seven eighth inch arms, teams like thirty three, He's
Speaker 1: less than thirty two. He's not a huge guy. Kind
Speaker 1: of the comp for him, though, is a familiar name
Speaker 1: for a lot of people around here. Jason Kelsey from
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles who went to U see tremendous range,
Speaker 1: ability to get to the second level and block linebackers. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, I'm kind of obsessed with Tyler Linderbaum,
Speaker 1: But as you pointed out, I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: going to be there. When you look at these big boards,
Speaker 1: he's typically more like in the fourteenth or fifteenth best
Speaker 1: overall player in the draft as opposed to the thirty
Speaker 1: first because he's a center and teams only need one
Speaker 1: starting center. Maybe that allows him to slide down to
Speaker 1: thirty one. But I don't know. In my gut, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's going to happen. I'm with you, Dan,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to be there. I've been
Speaker 1: a little surprise that he has been in every single
Speaker 1: mock draft for that reason. You look at other teams
Speaker 1: and a lot of our teams do need a center,
Speaker 1: and so I just think with his upside, I mean,
Speaker 1: I know you did call it a couple of the
Speaker 1: red flags, which are absolutely valid, I don't I would
Speaker 1: be surprised if he was still on the board at
Speaker 1: thirty one. I just I think a player or I've
Speaker 1: excuse me, I think a team is going to take
Speaker 1: a chance on him ahead of us choosing thirty one,
Speaker 1: and I think it's going to be Baltimore. It makes
Speaker 1: me feel even worse, but they lost their center in
Speaker 1: free agency. I just I have this strange hunch that
Speaker 1: the Ravens are going to foil my hopes for getting
Speaker 1: Tyler Linderbaum, but if he's there, The Bengals have a
Speaker 1: history of taking centers. Their first ever draft pick obviously
Speaker 1: was Bob Johnson. He was a center. They've drafted Blair Bush,
Speaker 1: Dave Remington, Billy Price all his first round centers. Billy
Speaker 1: unfortunately didn't work out that well, but who knows, maybe
Speaker 1: he will become the fifth center selected in the first round.
Speaker 1: Now you mentioned some of the cornerbacks that have been
Speaker 1: coming up. I think this is the positional need that
Speaker 1: makes the most sense. They obviously have their top three back,
Speaker 1: but Eli Apple only signed a one year deal to
Speaker 1: come back. Who knows if he'll signed another extension if
Speaker 1: he has another good year. But in any case, you'd
Speaker 1: like to get a young, talented cornerback into the pipeline,
Speaker 1: and there should be a good one there at thirty
Speaker 1: one there really should, you know. You look at the
Speaker 1: names that have been kind of thrown around in the
Speaker 1: first and second round when it comes to cornerback, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of talent, and you know a decent
Speaker 1: amount of depth to that position. I would fully anticipate
Speaker 1: the Bengals looking to target that early in the draft,
Speaker 1: and in just some of the names that we've that
Speaker 1: I've shared earlier, I mean, Kyler Gordon is kind of
Speaker 1: the one that sticks out to me. He's been the
Speaker 1: name I've seen most often on mock drafts from a
Speaker 1: handful of different experts. A lot of people feel like
Speaker 1: he will just be a good fit when you have
Speaker 1: chittabe A Woozier and Mike Hilton and just kind of
Speaker 1: shaping out the rest of that cornerbacks room, and that
Speaker 1: while he might be a little on the raw side,
Speaker 1: they have the time to develop him because of Eli
Speaker 1: Apple being on a one year deal and so you're
Speaker 1: not putting Kyler Gordon into an immediate starting position. You
Speaker 1: can develop him a little bit, work him in because
Speaker 1: you have that flexibility with Eli Apple, you know, still
Speaker 1: here for at least one more season. You know. Andrew
Speaker 1: Booth is another one that you know is really intriguing
Speaker 1: to me. You know, he's been dealing with some injuries.
Speaker 1: Didn't work out Combine, didn't work out of the Pro
Speaker 1: day due to different core injuries and hamstring injuries. But
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, you kind of like what you've
Speaker 1: seen when he did on tape at Clemson UM and
Speaker 1: he's just a guy that I think if healthy would
Speaker 1: come in and be able to fill that slot right away.
Speaker 1: And then I mean Kyrie Lamb you know the tape
Speaker 1: you see of him, and you know Florida being in
Speaker 1: you know, just that conference down there. I mean just
Speaker 1: five interceptions, twenty passes defended during his time there. He's
Speaker 1: just just screams athleticism when you watch him on tape. Dan,
Speaker 1: That's who mel Kiper has the Bengals selecting, and he
Speaker 1: actually had the Bengals trading down into early in the
Speaker 1: second round and still being able to get him. You
Speaker 1: mentioned Kyler Gordon. His name does come up a lot
Speaker 1: Lands zerline. Who's another prominent draft guru. I had him
Speaker 1: on my podcast a few weeks ago. That's who he
Speaker 1: has the Bengals selecting with a thirty first overall pick. One.
Speaker 1: Thing about Kyler Gordon that kind of makes sense. He's
Speaker 1: got a lot of special teams experience at Washington and
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, probably wouldn't start from day one for Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: so you'd want him to contribute on special teams. I
Speaker 1: do think that that would make some sense. It is
Speaker 1: about time for the Bengal selected to select a cornerback
Speaker 1: in the first round. They had this history where they
Speaker 1: did it every other year, Will Jackson twenty sixteen, dark
Speaker 1: Quesdnar twenty fourteen, Dray Kirkpatrick twenty twelve, Leon Hall, and
Speaker 1: Jonathan Joseph two thousand and seven, two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: So they had five cornerbacks taken in the first round
Speaker 1: in a ten year period. They haven't done it in
Speaker 1: the last five years. I do think history often points
Speaker 1: in the right direction when we're trying to evaluate what
Speaker 1: the Bengals are going to do. So I think there's
Speaker 1: a very strong possibility if one of those guys that
Speaker 1: you mentioned is there at thirty one, that's the way
Speaker 1: they go. I agree with you, especially look at the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, and it's been the Bengals really
Speaker 1: trying to retool the offensive side of the ball, and
Speaker 1: so it makes sense you're going to take a Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: You're going to take a Jamar Chase, and so I
Speaker 1: think this is the year where they've done They've done
Speaker 1: a lot on the defensive side over the last two years,
Speaker 1: but they're not quite done. Dan. They need a couple
Speaker 1: extra pieces on that side of the ball, and I
Speaker 1: think it makes the world of sense if one of
Speaker 1: those strong cornerbacks are there at thirty one, to go
Speaker 1: ahead and take them. We're visiting with Marissa Contapelli. We're
Speaker 1: talking about the Bengals draft. Marissa has been posting mock
Speaker 1: drafts on a regular basis on Bengals dot com. Now,
Speaker 1: early in the mock drafts, as you mentioned, a lot
Speaker 1: of people were pointing toward offensive lineman. Guards kept coming
Speaker 1: up early on Kenyan Greene from Texas A and m
Speaker 1: Zion Johnson from Boston College. I don't know if either
Speaker 1: of those guys is going to be there, but when
Speaker 1: he talked about Tyler Linderbaum and the possibility of Ted
Speaker 1: Carriss moving from center to guard, if you take a guard,
Speaker 1: you don't have to do that. You would plug that
Speaker 1: person into the mix with Jackson, Carmen and others to
Speaker 1: be the next starting left guard and complete the total
Speaker 1: transformation the Bengals offensive line. You're absolutely right, and that's
Speaker 1: certainly an area they can still look to go at
Speaker 1: at thirty one if one of those guys is on
Speaker 1: the board. I mean, I can't help but love the
Speaker 1: thought of having an additional couple of young, talented offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and the hands of Frank Pollock and let him
Speaker 1: help develop them, help get them to where the Bengals
Speaker 1: are going to need them in a year or two
Speaker 1: years from now. Not saying these guys have to come
Speaker 1: in and start day one, because what the Bengals were
Speaker 1: able to do in free agency this year have given
Speaker 1: them that flexibility to have some of those vettering guys
Speaker 1: on the offensive line, but absoluely able to take one
Speaker 1: or two in the early stages of the draft if
Speaker 1: they want to, and to be able to help develop
Speaker 1: and really shape up this offensive line to really excel
Speaker 1: here in the next few years. Stan. Let me give
Speaker 1: you a couple other names that I've seen on mock
Speaker 1: drafts that you've posted and others have posted. Logan Hall,
Speaker 1: who's a defensive lineman from Houston. I saw him play
Speaker 1: face to face when the Bearcats took on the Cougars.
Speaker 1: Our colleague Jeff Butch Hobson and his first media mock
Speaker 1: drafts selected Arnold Ebba Katie, an edge rusher from Penn State.
Speaker 1: So that is another position group that makes some sense.
Speaker 1: You can't have enough edge rushers, or in Logan Hall's case,
Speaker 1: he's a guy that's played inside in college, and some
Speaker 1: people think he could play inside or outside in the NFL. Right, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and especially with what the Bengals are trying to do
Speaker 1: in the AFC North, give us all the edge rushers
Speaker 1: you can, Dan, I mean, you cannot have enough of them.
Speaker 1: But that's been an interesting trend to follow too, as
Speaker 1: I've been doing these mock drafts where the first couple,
Speaker 1: as I had mentioned, really didn't have any defensive players,
Speaker 1: and then the Bengals made a couple of moves, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, you see some extra edge
Speaker 1: rushers coming on in a couple of defensive interior defensive
Speaker 1: guys making the list. But the ones that you mentioned
Speaker 1: have been the few that have been kind of a
Speaker 1: mainstay over the last two So it will be interesting,
Speaker 1: you know. I will say I have not seen who
Speaker 1: Jeff selected on any of the mock drafts yet, but
Speaker 1: Jeff might know something that everyone else doesn't know, per usual,
Speaker 1: So it's going to be interesting. You know. We're going
Speaker 1: to have a couple of mock drafts continuing to come
Speaker 1: out up until the draft. Will have one next week
Speaker 1: and then one the week of the draft, and that's
Speaker 1: the one I'm sure everyone's going to be the most
Speaker 1: interested in to see what the experts are thinking, you know,
Speaker 1: those final few days before the Bengals will be on
Speaker 1: the clock. Trust me, people are always fascinated with Dave
Speaker 1: Lapham's final first round prediction for the Bengals. He has
Speaker 1: often had a right on the nose, even when some
Speaker 1: of the experts have been off. I asked you to
Speaker 1: do a three round mock simulator draft. I became obsessed
Speaker 1: with these mock simulators about a year ago. Where you
Speaker 1: can go online. Pro Football Focus has a good one.
Speaker 1: Pro Football Network has a good one where basically you
Speaker 1: find out what guys are gone when the Bengals are
Speaker 1: on the clock, and it makes it much more challenging.
Speaker 1: So I did a three round PFF mock simulator draft.
Speaker 1: I asked you to do the same. Let's compare notes
Speaker 1: and see who we wound up with. So, with the
Speaker 1: thirty first pick in the twenty twenty two NFL Draft,
Speaker 1: Marissa Contapelli representing the Cincinnati Bengals, selex I traded down.
Speaker 1: So I traded with Houston for pick thirty seven in
Speaker 1: the second round and also pick eighty in the third round.
Speaker 1: I figured targeting Houston a quarterback needy team. There were
Speaker 1: still a few quarterbacks on the board at that point,
Speaker 1: so the mock draft simulator accepted the trade, and then
Speaker 1: at thirty seven, Kyler Gordon was still on the board.
Speaker 1: So I jumped at that opportunity and took the cornerback
Speaker 1: out of Washington. I'm firing Duke Tobin and plugging you
Speaker 1: right into the role. Now. I didn't trade down. Had
Speaker 1: I seen that offer, I might have jumped at it.
Speaker 1: That's a great move, only going down to thirty seven
Speaker 1: and still getting Kyler, who I might have wanted at
Speaker 1: thirty one. When I got to thirty one, Tyler Linderbaum
Speaker 1: was gone. A lot of the guys that I wanted
Speaker 1: the most were gone. I wound up selecting Kenyon Green
Speaker 1: Guard from Texas A and M. I think I got
Speaker 1: like a C from Pro Football Focus for my pick,
Speaker 1: but Dane Brugler has him ranked as the twenty seventh
Speaker 1: best player in this draft. Sixty three three hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty three pounds, thirty four and an eight inch arms,
Speaker 1: thirty five starts at Texas A and M. He started
Speaker 1: at left guard, right guard, left tackle, right tackle at
Speaker 1: various points in his career, so he becomes the most
Speaker 1: likely candidate to start at left guard for the Bengals
Speaker 1: next year. I have wound up with Kenyon Green. We
Speaker 1: move on to round two. I'll go first this time.
Speaker 1: I wound up selecting a defensive tackle out of Oklahoma
Speaker 1: named perry On Winfrey. When I was at the cob
Speaker 1: NFL scouting combine, I asked people there, all, right, give
Speaker 1: me some defensive tackles you like at thirty one overall,
Speaker 1: and his name came up a few times. So the
Speaker 1: fact that he was still available late in the second
Speaker 1: round made me jump for perry On Winfree. With a
Speaker 1: loss of Larry Ogenjobi in the defensive tackle rotation, the
Speaker 1: Bengals would love to get a new talented young guy
Speaker 1: in there, so perry On Winfree was my second round pick.
Speaker 1: I like it. Dan. We both had the mindset of
Speaker 1: defensive line for this pick because I ended up selecting
Speaker 1: defensive end at Kingsley in Nagbari out of South Carolina.
Speaker 1: And Pro Football Focus kind of liked my picks. They
Speaker 1: gave me an ans for the great so I'll you know,
Speaker 1: I'll take that, but I'll be honest, I haven't seen
Speaker 1: a ton of his tape. But just you know, what
Speaker 1: I've seen and what I've heard about him, and he
Speaker 1: just has a lot of upside can fill in nicely
Speaker 1: into that rotation. Assuming we have Joseph of said back
Speaker 1: and healthy this year. You know, I just think this
Speaker 1: is another young, you know, young potential, talented guy who
Speaker 1: can you know, come in, helped us get out around
Speaker 1: the edge and helped disrupt the quarterback in just um,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, another guy you just love to see
Speaker 1: kind of how the Bengals will be able to develop
Speaker 1: him over the next couple of years. All right, we
Speaker 1: move on to round three. You got an extra pick
Speaker 1: from your savvy trade down in the first round. I'm jealous.
Speaker 1: But who do you have the Bengals selecting in round three? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so this is where I finally go offensive line. So
Speaker 1: decided to take guard Dylan Parham out of Memphis and
Speaker 1: just you know, another one of those opportunities where you know,
Speaker 1: you're not expecting him to come in and start day
Speaker 1: one because of the way that the Bengals handled free
Speaker 1: agency this year, and you know, assuming the development of
Speaker 1: Jackson Carmen as well. But you know, I liked his
Speaker 1: stat potential and just what the draft experts are saying
Speaker 1: about him, it's just you know, he's a guy that again,
Speaker 1: you know, get Frank Pollack around working with him, and
Speaker 1: let's see what happens. And you've got another offensive lineman
Speaker 1: in the third round. I did decided to take take
Speaker 1: a chance on KELLN Dish from Arizona State. Hope, I'm
Speaker 1: pronouncing his last name correctly. Tackle there. And so with
Speaker 1: the TA taking the two offensive linemen there in the
Speaker 1: third round, Pro Football Focus, you know, gave me the
Speaker 1: E minus and a B plus. I'm going to take that,
Speaker 1: as you know, decently positive sign right now, Dan, because
Speaker 1: this is my first ever mock draft simulator that I've
Speaker 1: done that we were talking about before. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: just figured why not give Frank Pollock a couple of
Speaker 1: offensive linemen. You know, I think the Bengals are going
Speaker 1: to address it at some point in this draft, you know,
Speaker 1: and hopefully you know, they're able to hit on one, two, three,
Speaker 1: however many the end up taking. You got an overall
Speaker 1: B plus grade from PFF for your first ever simulated
Speaker 1: mock draft. Pretty impressive, and trust me, you will now
Speaker 1: be obsessed with doing these. He'll be doing one about
Speaker 1: every third day, my third round pick, first from UC
Speaker 1: safety Brian Cook. I think the Dane Burglar also selected
Speaker 1: Brian Cook to the Bengals in the third round. Here's why.
Speaker 1: Obviously I saw him play, I know a lot about him.
Speaker 1: Good kid. I think he's going to be a good
Speaker 1: NFL player. He would become Von Bell's replacement. He's more
Speaker 1: of a close to the line of scrimmage safe than
Speaker 1: a center fielder type like Jesse Bates. But here's the
Speaker 1: biggest reason why I wound up taking Brian Cook. When
Speaker 1: I'm on the road with UC during the course of
Speaker 1: the season, frequently before the games, NFL scouts will pop
Speaker 1: into the broadcast booth just to ask some questions about
Speaker 1: the UC players, more from my broadcast partner Jim Kelly
Speaker 1: Junior than me. But this past year, with all these
Speaker 1: great UC players Desmond Ritter, Saws Gartner, Kobe Bryant, My
Speaker 1: j Sanders, etc. The guy we got asked the most
Speaker 1: about was Brian Cook because he kind of came out
Speaker 1: of nowhere, transferred from a much smaller school. He's from
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati area. He went to Mount Healthy High School,
Speaker 1: but really blossomed at the end of his junior year
Speaker 1: and then his senior year. So based on the interests
Speaker 1: around the league from NFL scouts at least informally in
Speaker 1: our broadcast booth on the road, I think that Brian
Speaker 1: Cook is going to be a top three or four
Speaker 1: round draft pick and I would love to see him
Speaker 1: plugged into the Bengal secondary going for you know, Dan,
Speaker 1: I remember now that I'm going back to this, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure he was available in a second or in
Speaker 1: the third round, excuse me, and I didn't take him.
Speaker 1: And now, after hearing everything you said about Brian Cook,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of kicking myself, like, man, maybe I should
Speaker 1: have Maybe I should have taken the UC kid. Well,
Speaker 1: you gotta be plus and I got a C plus,
Speaker 1: so I'm not so sure. But the extra draft pick,
Speaker 1: that was your savvy maneuver. So I want to go
Speaker 1: back to the first week of free agency because during
Speaker 1: the course of the season, I'm in the Bengals offices
Speaker 1: basically every day, but I'm not during the off season,
Speaker 1: and you are. What was the buzz like in the building?
Speaker 1: Alex Kappa right away, Ted Karas shortly after that, Hayden
Speaker 1: Hurst near the end of the week, All Collins at
Speaker 1: the end of the week. What was it like being
Speaker 1: here at Paul Brown Stadium all that was going on.
Speaker 1: It was fun. It's one of those things where you're
Speaker 1: sitting at your desk in and you know you're waiting
Speaker 1: for the text, the phone call, the email. However it
Speaker 1: is that you know the bosses upstairs are going to
Speaker 1: relay the information to you that like, okay, we're getting
Speaker 1: this guy, and it's just it's a lot of sitting
Speaker 1: and waiting, but as soon as you get that notification,
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, we're going into go mode. They're going
Speaker 1: to be here down the conference room in ten minutes
Speaker 1: to make sure we get all the content captures. They're
Speaker 1: signing their contracts and then getting to do the walk
Speaker 1: and talk tours with them, and then eventually they meet
Speaker 1: with media and so it's just it's an absolutely thrilling
Speaker 1: day and kind of a funny story. When we were
Speaker 1: signing LEL. Collins on it was that Sunday, So as
Speaker 1: all of Bengaldam knows, he was in Cincinnati for a
Speaker 1: few days leading up to it, so you hear rumors
Speaker 1: and you're wondering, Okay, maybe it's going to be this
Speaker 1: day Wednesday comes and goes, Thursday comes and goes, and
Speaker 1: you're moving into the weekend and it's like, all right,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe there's still a possibility. And so I was
Speaker 1: out on that Sunday it was I went to Ohio
Speaker 1: State and so Ohio State was playing against Villanova, and
Speaker 1: you know, it was out with some friends watching the
Speaker 1: game when second half get the phone call saying, Hey,
Speaker 1: we need you at Paul Brown Stadium as soon as
Speaker 1: you can get there. And I was like, I think
Speaker 1: I might have a hunch as to what this was about.
Speaker 1: So basically, you know, handed my friends some cash, saying hey,
Speaker 1: can you know close out my check? And it was
Speaker 1: able to get here, and it was just absolutely phenomenal
Speaker 1: getting to meet Lale on that first day. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's made its rounds, but him saying, you know,
Speaker 1: being the bodyguard for Joe Burrow is just, you know,
Speaker 1: one of those moments I don't think I'm ever going
Speaker 1: to forget when it comes to Lale and just kind
Speaker 1: of his demeanor and just what he's going to bring
Speaker 1: to this team. And so that was one of those
Speaker 1: moments where I'm glad I lived pretty close to the stadium.
Speaker 1: I'm glad I was within close proximity because everything just
Speaker 1: happen ended up happening so fast on that day. Dan,
Speaker 1: But you know, as I know, you got the chance
Speaker 1: to meet some of these guys too. It's just it's
Speaker 1: a different type of energy, it feels with this free
Speaker 1: agent class. You know, they all are just really eager
Speaker 1: to get to work. And another thing that I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed us getting to do with them was we had
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Chili tasting experience, and so they each had
Speaker 1: Cincinnati chili for the first time and just you know,
Speaker 1: getting to know them on a little bit more of
Speaker 1: a personal level, and just you know, seeing their reaction
Speaker 1: to trying Cincinnati chili, which was all really positive. So hey,
Speaker 1: we're already off to a good start on that. But
Speaker 1: but it was just it was a great week, a
Speaker 1: week that always goes by a little too fast. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you're going to do a viral video type thing
Speaker 1: with professional athletes testing Cincinnati style chili, getting offensive linemen
Speaker 1: is probably a good way to go. It absolutely is.
Speaker 1: And I believe it was Ted Carris had made the
Speaker 1: comment that, you know, this is going to help make
Speaker 1: sure he keeps his weight up in season, so who knows.
Speaker 1: You could see him running around with Coney's or three ways,
Speaker 1: five ways pretty often around Paul Brown Stadium. It was
Speaker 1: a long season, and that's a good thing. The Bengals
Speaker 1: basically played for an extra month as they made their
Speaker 1: way to the Super Bowl. Has that changed the off
Speaker 1: season around here? Were? I mean, was the downtime any different?
Speaker 1: Did everything just get compressed because of that? It certainly
Speaker 1: felt like it. There was not a lot of downtime,
Speaker 1: especially you know, coming off of the longest NFL season
Speaker 1: to date, and so we had the Combine coming up
Speaker 1: pretty shortly after, and I know, just from us from
Speaker 1: a content standpoint, we had a few days post Super
Speaker 1: Bowl where we had a little bit of time to
Speaker 1: kind of you know, digest. We had a lot of
Speaker 1: footage we had to get logged, so you just a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, there's those little kind of minutia
Speaker 1: kind of things that you had to get settled. And
Speaker 1: then once the combine rolled around, it's combine free agency
Speaker 1: and now you know, getting ready for drafts. So it's
Speaker 1: it really hasn't felt like there's been much of any downtime.
Speaker 1: Dan Um, you know, I can't really speak for everyone
Speaker 1: else in the building. But from what I've seen, even
Speaker 1: you know, just the coaches have been here, you know,
Speaker 1: almost every day. I know they've had a little bit
Speaker 1: of time to and and Dax done, you know, a
Speaker 1: phenomenal job of making sure you know, they've also gotten
Speaker 1: their rest in because you can't have burnout, especially coming
Speaker 1: off of that long season, and so you I think
Speaker 1: it was a wise decision for the team to kind
Speaker 1: of push back when players return, wait till after the draft.
Speaker 1: So this way the coaching staff can really focus on
Speaker 1: this year's draft class because we know how heavily involved
Speaker 1: they are in um in that process. I used to
Speaker 1: like to sneak by the draft room years ago when
Speaker 1: all the names were posted up on the board. Sorry, Duke,
Speaker 1: but you can't do that anymore now it's all computerized. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I mean in this day and age, what isn't But
Speaker 1: do you pick up any nuggets from scouts from Duke
Speaker 1: during this process, just as they have their meetings and
Speaker 1: evaluate who stacks up where on the board. I mean,
Speaker 1: you try to try to do it. And you know what,
Speaker 1: I would love to say, there's probably no one better
Speaker 1: at doing that than Jeff Hobson. Um, he's sneaky, he
Speaker 1: really is. Um. Yeah, you know, I gotta learn. I
Speaker 1: gotta learn better from Jeff, you know, find out what
Speaker 1: his ways are. But um, but no, you absolutely try
Speaker 1: to um. And you know, it's it's just one of
Speaker 1: those things where it helps us internally to have an
Speaker 1: idea as to a handful of names. And obviously this
Speaker 1: year at picking thirty first is new for me, and
Speaker 1: so it's a little different because the list of names
Speaker 1: is a lot longer than when you're picking fifth or
Speaker 1: even my first year and we were twenty first, and
Speaker 1: so you know, it's it's helpful because it helps us
Speaker 1: get prepared and you know, as we're gathering different content
Speaker 1: strategies and you know, really trying to best prepare our
Speaker 1: content team for draft night because we absolutely as soon
Speaker 1: as we make that pick, we want to make sure
Speaker 1: we have highlights out, we had the information out and
Speaker 1: inform our fans as soon as we can as to
Speaker 1: who this news Bengal is. This last year was awesome.
Speaker 1: Broadcasting the Super Bowl was the highlight of my professional career.
Speaker 1: I think I've been doing this longer than you've been alive.
Speaker 1: So I'm a lot older than you. But what was
Speaker 1: the last year like for you? Generating some great content
Speaker 1: for the Bengals TV show? The Behind the Stripes videos
Speaker 1: were awesome on that show and on the website. What
Speaker 1: was the super Bowl run like for you? It was thrilling.
Speaker 1: It was absolutely a dream come true. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think as a you know, as a broadcaster and media member,
Speaker 1: it's it's probably on everyone's bucket list. I would assume
Speaker 1: so too, to be able to go to a super Bowl,
Speaker 1: to cover a super Bowl, and and it was one
Speaker 1: where it's it's always been high on my list, but
Speaker 1: you always have to wonder like will it ever come true?
Speaker 1: And and for it to come true, and for it
Speaker 1: to happen in just my fourth season with the team,
Speaker 1: it just I how to keep pinching myself at times,
Speaker 1: Dan when we were there in Los Angeles, being like, wait, no,
Speaker 1: this actually is really happening. This we are here at
Speaker 1: the super Bowl, and so it was just, you know,
Speaker 1: one of those surreal moments. It's you know, especially seeing
Speaker 1: all the Bengal signage around Sofi Stadium that day, it
Speaker 1: was it's something we're never going to forget. It was
Speaker 1: just absolutely phenomenal and so the playoff run at times
Speaker 1: felt a little bit of a blur because of how
Speaker 1: much content we were producing, how much, how much footage.
Speaker 1: I mean, my goodness, not only do we have shooters
Speaker 1: at these games, but then we have footage coming in
Speaker 1: from NFL films, and with every round of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: there are more cameras at these games. Dan side, you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like we were logging footage. I feel like
Speaker 1: we still have footage to log, quite honestly. But you know, Dan,
Speaker 1: it's it's hard to put into words sometimes just what
Speaker 1: this season truly was because we were all hopeful, we
Speaker 1: all had those high expectations, but this team exceeded those
Speaker 1: they truly did. And so as we were going along
Speaker 1: the course of the season and just you know, from
Speaker 1: the different social videos we were producing and you know,
Speaker 1: producing Bengals weekly, it was just something so truly special.
Speaker 1: And it's just I'm not absolutely not going to take
Speaker 1: any of it for granted because we got to share
Speaker 1: and tell so many stories from this season. We just
Speaker 1: had so many incredible not only incredible personalities on and
Speaker 1: off the field, but you know, you look at guys
Speaker 1: like getting to tell Chitube a Woozier story and Mike Hilton.
Speaker 1: I mean that just the way he is persevered and
Speaker 1: pushed through his career, and I mean those were two
Speaker 1: huge additions that helped lead this team to get to
Speaker 1: where they were. And so, you know, for me personally,
Speaker 1: I was able to work on a couple of stories
Speaker 1: this year that you know, really really meant a lot.
Speaker 1: And you know, I was able to produce a Joe
Speaker 1: Burrows first comeback story before he took his first snap
Speaker 1: Week one, and then the one I was you know,
Speaker 1: really proud to be able to produce was the Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor bit after you know, in the postseason, before going
Speaker 1: into our first playoff game, where you're getting to talk
Speaker 1: to a lot of these leaders on this team and
Speaker 1: just seeing the respect that they have for Zach and
Speaker 1: what he has meant to this organization is just it
Speaker 1: blows you away. And so you know, getting to put
Speaker 1: that together and you know, even just seeing how the
Speaker 1: fans reacted to that piece and just everyone getting behind Zach,
Speaker 1: you know, it just added to a truly special season.
Speaker 1: That was a great story. People can still watch them
Speaker 1: Eagles dot com if they haven't already, just go to
Speaker 1: the video section. Look up the Behind the Striped stories
Speaker 1: and you'll find that great story about Zach and his
Speaker 1: growth in three years as the Bengals head coach. You're
Speaker 1: right about just how hard it is to articulate how
Speaker 1: special it was to be involved with a team going
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. People have asked me a lot
Speaker 1: about it afterward. You know, what was it like to
Speaker 1: broadcast to the Super Bowl? And initially I really kind
Speaker 1: of struggled to put it into words. It was so
Speaker 1: special and mind boggling. And then I finally came up
Speaker 1: with an analogy that I think kind of works. I
Speaker 1: compare it to the movie Jurassic Park, the first time
Speaker 1: that the characters see dinosaurs, and like their eyes are
Speaker 1: huge and their mouths are wide open, and there's that
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, dinosaurs, dinosaurs exist. And that's what it
Speaker 1: was like. For me. It was just like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: we're here, our team is playing in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I get a chance to broadcast. Asked it, and you know,
Speaker 1: I honestly think we'll have that opportunity again in the
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow era. I don't think you're wrong. I'm right
Speaker 1: there with you. It's you look at the amount of
Speaker 1: talent that's on this team, Dan, and how can you
Speaker 1: not see them getting back and they're only getting better
Speaker 1: And when you have the Joe Burrow effect of free
Speaker 1: agents really wanting to come in here, and we saw
Speaker 1: that this last year. I mean, how they were able
Speaker 1: to land three stud offensive linemen. It really makes you wonder.
Speaker 1: I know the AFC is going to be a gauntlet
Speaker 1: this year. It's absolutely loaded, but how can that not
Speaker 1: play as to a benefit to this team where you think,
Speaker 1: if you can make it out of the AFC, you
Speaker 1: have a really great shot at winning that super Bowl.
Speaker 1: If that's the key word. If it is going to
Speaker 1: be a gauntlet. Let's look ahead to something that's coming
Speaker 1: up in the next month. You're going to be involved
Speaker 1: in a Sam Hubbard event. Sam obviously does a lot
Speaker 1: of great stuff in the community, and we're about a
Speaker 1: month away from an event that you're going to help with.
Speaker 1: That's right. So Sam is having a fulling charity events
Speaker 1: in a collaboration with his foundation, the Sam Hubbard Foundation,
Speaker 1: and it's just an event. As soon as I saw it,
Speaker 1: my friend and I were like, we absolutely have to
Speaker 1: sign up to participate. I have no idea how great
Speaker 1: we're actually going to be when it comes to the tournament.
Speaker 1: I've gone fulling before. For those of you who have
Speaker 1: not gone fulling or know what fulling is, it's where
Speaker 1: you have almost like a cornhole style boards and then
Speaker 1: you have ten bowling pins on those boards and you're
Speaker 1: taking a football throwing it at the boards and trying
Speaker 1: to knock down the pins before the other team does.
Speaker 1: So it's a wild concept. It's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: It's very difficult, I will say, much tougher than it
Speaker 1: just kind of sounds right off the bat, and so
Speaker 1: I've always taken the strategy of throwing overhand. I have
Speaker 1: seen some people throw underhand, which is kind of impressive,
Speaker 1: but also kind of like, all right, we're going to
Speaker 1: try this out, but but no, it should be a
Speaker 1: great time. I mean, anything to be able to support Sam.
Speaker 1: He's doing so much in this community and you know,
Speaker 1: really getting his foundation up and running in this last year.
Speaker 1: And so the funds that they're going to raise during
Speaker 1: that event are going to go to a lot of
Speaker 1: the other initiatives and outreach that they're going to be
Speaker 1: doing in the Cincinnati community this year. And so I know,
Speaker 1: sign ups are already full. They've already exceeded the capacity
Speaker 1: of teams that they can have at the event, which
Speaker 1: they actually sold out of that really really quickly. But
Speaker 1: you can still attend as a spectator, I believe, and
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure there's going to be some current and
Speaker 1: former players there as well, and so, you know, it's
Speaker 1: just I know, I always love supporting our guys whenever
Speaker 1: they're doing anything in the community because it means so
Speaker 1: much to the not only this area, but you know
Speaker 1: even when they go back to their hometowns and other
Speaker 1: areas throughout the country, but especially with Sam, you know,
Speaker 1: being our Walter Payton Man of the Year last year
Speaker 1: and you know, really wanting to take those extra next
Speaker 1: steps and do even more in this community. This was
Speaker 1: just something when I saw Dan, you know, I knew
Speaker 1: I absolutely had to jump at. So Fowling is football
Speaker 1: plus bowling. You described it well. There is a bar
Speaker 1: at the Fowling Warehouse, so as you go as a specter,
Speaker 1: you can have a frosty beverage and watch Marissa's technique
Speaker 1: for trying to knock down bowling pins with a football.
Speaker 1: I've only done it once. I found that the high
Speaker 1: toss that comes down like like a bomb dropping as
Speaker 1: opposed to the line drive like a quarterback would try
Speaker 1: to throw. You know, between coverage worked better for me,
Speaker 1: So if you want to go with high arc, you
Speaker 1: might find that that's a successful folding strategy. I appreciate
Speaker 1: that advice because I feel like I've tried a couple
Speaker 1: different ways and it's hit or miss. So I play softball,
Speaker 1: so I feel like I usually try to go with
Speaker 1: more of that line drive approach, but I might have
Speaker 1: to change it up to see if something else might
Speaker 1: work a little better. It's been a little while since
Speaker 1: I've gone falling, so I might need even trying to
Speaker 1: sneak into practice before the event rolls around. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: congratulations on the B plus grade on your first ever
Speaker 1: mock simulator three round draft. You outdrafted me. You're one
Speaker 1: to know against Dan Horde, and I appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: Keep up the great work. It's been fun not having
Speaker 1: to scour the internet from mock drafts. I just can
Speaker 1: go to your your mock draft compilations and it saves
Speaker 1: me a lot of time and I do enjoy doing it.
Speaker 1: So thanks again, as always, thank you so much, Dan,
Speaker 1: that's going to do it. For this episode of the
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals
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Speaker 1: find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thank you for listening to
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast.