Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: Future's So Bright
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde, and thanks for downloading
- 0:06Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast. The the Future Sue Bright I
- 0:11Speaker 1: gotta warshits addition, as I discussed the reigning AFC champs
- 0:16Speaker 1: with two experts, Pete Prisco, the senior NFL columnist for
- 0:20Speaker 1: CBS Sports dot Com, and Brandon Thorne, a leading offensive
- 0:25Speaker 1: line guru and the author of the Trench Warfare newsletter.
- 0:29Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download
- 0:34Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's
- 0:37Speaker 1: free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Get it now on the App Store and Google Play.
- 0:45Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can have the
- 0:47Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
- 0:51Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
- 0:55Speaker 1: the greatest thing since Turo ice cream. It's no secret
- 1:00Speaker 1: that I'm a big fan of Greater's ice cream, and
- 1:03Speaker 1: in the interest of full disclosure, I do the voice
- 1:06Speaker 1: work for some of their commercials. In any case, when
- 1:09Speaker 1: Greaters releases one of its bonus flavors, I race to
- 1:13Speaker 1: try it and my favorite so far this summer is churo.
- 1:17Speaker 1: You've probably had a churo at an amusement park or
- 1:20Speaker 1: a county fair. It's deep fried dough that's traditionally rolled
- 1:24Speaker 1: in hot cinnamon sugar. The Greater's version is cinnamon ice
- 1:29Speaker 1: cream with crunchy churro pieces. July is National ice Cream Month,
- 1:34Speaker 1: and your buddy Dan says, get out and tried churro
- 1:38Speaker 1: at a Greater Scoop shop. Now let's get to football.
- 1:42Speaker 1: Pete Prisco from CBS Sports dot Com is one of
- 1:45Speaker 1: my favorite podcast guests because he's opinionated and knowledgeable. I
- 1:51Speaker 1: began our latest conversation by bringing up a prediction that
- 1:55Speaker 1: he made back in April of twenty twenty, shortly after
- 1:58Speaker 1: the Bengal selected Burrow with the first overall pick in
- 2:02Speaker 1: the NFL draft. Pe, don't want to start by giving
- 2:06Speaker 1: you the opportunity to gloat, because when the Bengals drafted
- 2:09Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, you said he would lead the Bengals to
- 2:13Speaker 1: a Super Bowl win maybe two. The guys in the
- 2:16Speaker 1: studio literally laughed at you when you said that. And sure,
- 2:20Speaker 1: the Bengals didn't win it last year, but they got
- 2:22Speaker 1: there in Joe's second year coming back from a serious
- 2:25Speaker 1: knee injury behind a mediocre offensive line. Have the people
- 2:28Speaker 1: who scoffed apologized. No, they've taken what I said. And
- 2:34Speaker 1: Brady Quinn, the former NFL quarterback, is one of those guys.
- 2:37Speaker 1: They've taken what I've said. And they said I said
- 2:40Speaker 1: they would win two, and that's not what I said.
- 2:43Speaker 1: I said maybe two, he would win one in the
- 2:45Speaker 1: next ten years. Well, he's ahead of scheduling in win one.
- 2:49Speaker 1: But if they could block, he would have won one.
- 2:51Speaker 1: And so I think the Bengals fans have to be
- 2:54Speaker 1: thrilled with what they have in Joe Burrow. And I
- 2:57Speaker 1: go back to a conversation I had with him. I
- 3:00Speaker 1: tell this story a lot, but I had a conversation
- 3:01Speaker 1: with him at the Combine that one year. And I
- 3:04Speaker 1: didn't know Joe Burrow, but at the super Bowl. We
- 3:07Speaker 1: had two on at the super Bowl and I asked him,
- 3:09Speaker 1: I said, you know two you lost to you beat them,
- 3:15Speaker 1: but if you would you, if you came back around,
- 3:16Speaker 1: would you have beaten him if you were healthy the
- 3:18Speaker 1: second time? Remember they played LSU the second time. And
- 3:21Speaker 1: he said, well, I can't say that. I can't say that,
- 3:24Speaker 1: and I asked Joe Burrow that at the combine and
- 3:27Speaker 1: he answered the question conn of and he hesitated for second.
- 3:30Speaker 1: He goes, you know, we did beat him when he
- 3:32Speaker 1: was there, and I said, okay, there you go. That's
- 3:36Speaker 1: what I want to hear. And I joke around about
- 3:38Speaker 1: it all the time. I called fire in the belly.
- 3:40Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has fire in the belly, and that's what
- 3:42Speaker 1: you want from a quarterback. And I think that shows
- 3:44Speaker 1: up on the football field. So obviously you loved him
- 3:47Speaker 1: coming out of the draft, but now that you've seen
- 3:49Speaker 1: him for two years in the NFL, is there anything
- 3:51Speaker 1: about him that's different or even better than you anticipated. No,
- 3:55Speaker 1: He's about what I thought he would be. I think
- 3:58Speaker 1: the cool under pressure for a guy so young is
- 4:02Speaker 1: what really impresses me. I mean, the accuracy is there.
- 4:05Speaker 1: The arm strength is better that I think than people
- 4:07Speaker 1: even thought it would be. I think he's calm in
- 4:09Speaker 1: the pocket, but just when he keeps getting hit, he
- 4:11Speaker 1: just gets back up and goes. And he took a beating.
- 4:14Speaker 1: You know that. You see it all the time. That
- 4:16Speaker 1: line was awful last year and it's amazing what he
- 4:20Speaker 1: did and what that offense did with that offensive line.
- 4:23Speaker 1: So I think if anything stands out to me and
- 4:25Speaker 1: I thought he'd have a chance to be that way,
- 4:27Speaker 1: it's responding and being so cool under the pressure and everything.
- 4:32Speaker 1: This is for a guy who's coming off an ACL
- 4:35Speaker 1: last year, and I admit early in the season he
- 4:37Speaker 1: looked like he was a little bit leery, but once
- 4:40Speaker 1: he settled in, he was outstanding. We will obviously cover
- 4:44Speaker 1: a bunch of Bengals topics here, but before we get
- 4:47Speaker 1: to more of those, your borough prediction looks very strong,
- 4:52Speaker 1: but nobody in your position gets them. All right, what
- 4:55Speaker 1: is your all time worst freezing cold take? If you've
- 4:59Speaker 1: got one. I thought Christian Ponder would be good. I mean, look,
- 5:04Speaker 1: I can. It's just like I always tell these guys
- 5:07Speaker 1: because they bring them up on Twitter, and I'll go
- 5:09Speaker 1: back and I'll say, Okay, I missed, but the team
- 5:11Speaker 1: missed too and didn't didn't you know? I thought Christian
- 5:14Speaker 1: Ponder would be good. I was wrong about that, But
- 5:18Speaker 1: I can also bounce it out. I was the only
- 5:19Speaker 1: guy that thought Josh Allen would be good. I was
- 5:21Speaker 1: the only one. I mean, you couldn't find anybody, and
- 5:24Speaker 1: I stuck to it through his rookie year, and people
- 5:27Speaker 1: killed me. They thought it was an aberration. He's gonna
- 5:29Speaker 1: be bad and he might be the best quarterback in
- 5:32Speaker 1: the NFL. I mean, he can make a case for
- 5:33Speaker 1: that right now. So I was right about that one.
- 5:36Speaker 1: I thought Burrow would be good. I thought Herbert would
- 5:38Speaker 1: be good. I thought both Herbert and Burrow would be
- 5:42Speaker 1: significantly better than two and both of them are. So
- 5:44Speaker 1: I get them wrong. I can't. Christian Ponder was terrible.
- 5:48Speaker 1: It was a bad prediction. It hurt the Vikings a
- 5:51Speaker 1: lot more than it hurt you, that's for sure. Our
- 5:54Speaker 1: guest is Pete Prisco from CBS. The Bengals had an
- 5:57Speaker 1: obvious weakness and addressed it in free agent see signing
- 6:00Speaker 1: l Collins, Alex Kappa, and Ted Carriss. How good do
- 6:04Speaker 1: you think their offensive line is now? Well, I think
- 6:07Speaker 1: it's significantly better. And look, it was bad. I mean, look,
- 6:11Speaker 1: I know who Chimadenigy might be a nice guy at all,
- 6:14Speaker 1: but he really struggled last year. I mean, we I
- 6:16Speaker 1: do a thing where I give out a spinning top
- 6:19Speaker 1: every week on our program for the worst offensive lineman
- 6:22Speaker 1: in the league that week. And he wanted a couple
- 6:24Speaker 1: of times. I mean, you know, it was bad and
- 6:27Speaker 1: so and I know he's a tackle who went inside
- 6:29Speaker 1: and he can now he's just gonna play swing tap
- 6:30Speaker 1: he's so he's probably gonna be a good swing guy.
- 6:33Speaker 1: But he shouldn't have been put in that position. So
- 6:35Speaker 1: I think they will be upgrade. Lyle Collins is really
- 6:38Speaker 1: a good player. I mean, he's a good player. I
- 6:41Speaker 1: think you know, Ted Carress, smart guy, gonna be good
- 6:43Speaker 1: in the middle of that line. You know, Kappa is
- 6:46Speaker 1: a good player, tough, physical guy. And I think Carmen
- 6:49Speaker 1: will be better. I mean he kind of threw him
- 6:51Speaker 1: in there and put him in, put him out, pulled
- 6:53Speaker 1: him in, pulled him out, and I think that that
- 6:55Speaker 1: kind of hurt him a little bit, and so I
- 6:57Speaker 1: think he'll be a better player. So I think the
- 6:58Speaker 1: line is significantly better than it was a year ago.
- 7:02Speaker 1: Pete Prisco is our guest. This is the third strade
- 7:04Speaker 1: year that the Bengals have spent heavily in free agency,
- 7:07Speaker 1: and now they're building an indoor practice facility. I've seen
- 7:10Speaker 1: interviews in the past where you have pushed back against
- 7:13Speaker 1: host who said the Bengals are an incompetent franchise and
- 7:16Speaker 1: losing franchise, whatever term you want to use. When will
- 7:20Speaker 1: we see the national narrative change. What's it going to take? Well?
- 7:25Speaker 1: I think winning a Super Bowl would have helped, but
- 7:27Speaker 1: I think last year kind of does help. And I
- 7:29Speaker 1: go back to their scouting department. Okay, it's not a
- 7:33Speaker 1: big scouting department, but I think the way they do
- 7:35Speaker 1: it is actually a really good way. There's so much input,
- 7:40Speaker 1: input and cross you know, referencing everybody that I think,
- 7:45Speaker 1: you know, Tobin handles it the right way. He allows
- 7:47Speaker 1: his guys to do their work and he listens to him.
- 7:50Speaker 1: There are so many teams that have giant scouting departments
- 7:53Speaker 1: and they send their guys out and they do all
- 7:54Speaker 1: this work and they're out all week and they get
- 7:56Speaker 1: all information and they come back and they give them
- 7:58Speaker 1: reports and then the GM says, no, I don't like
- 8:01Speaker 1: it that way, Whereas that never works. And I think
- 8:03Speaker 1: you're seeing that with what they've done. They've drafted very well.
- 8:07Speaker 1: They've made good decisions in free agency, and I think
- 8:09Speaker 1: that showed up last year. So I think getting the
- 8:13Speaker 1: practice facility is big and where are they putting that
- 8:15Speaker 1: They put in right next to the stadium right there. Yeah,
- 8:18Speaker 1: more or less across the street going toward the Ohio River. Yeah.
- 8:23Speaker 1: And again if you win, those are easier to get done,
- 8:27Speaker 1: no question about that. Pete Prisco is our guest. You
- 8:30Speaker 1: can follow them on Twitter at Prisco CBS. You recently
- 8:34Speaker 1: released your list, your annual list of the NFL's top
- 8:37Speaker 1: one hundred players. The Chargers led the way with nine guys.
- 8:41Speaker 1: The Rams have three in the top ten, which is
- 8:43Speaker 1: pretty extraordinary, including the number one guy, Aaron Donald. The
- 8:46Speaker 1: Bengals had five guys in your top one hundred that
- 8:49Speaker 1: is tied for the fifth most. I think people might
- 8:52Speaker 1: be a little bit surprised to learn that your highest
- 8:55Speaker 1: rated Bengal isn't Joe Burrow, who is high at number
- 8:57Speaker 1: twenty one, but it's Jamar Chase at number eighteen. Why
- 9:01Speaker 1: so high for Jamar after one year? I think he's
- 9:04Speaker 1: one of those receivers going to be special. And you know,
- 9:08Speaker 1: we see it now where if you get that special guy,
- 9:10Speaker 1: he kind of elevates the rest of the group and
- 9:12Speaker 1: makes everybody else better. You know, Justin Jefferson does it
- 9:15Speaker 1: in Minnesota's a young rising guy. And we see these
- 9:19Speaker 1: receivers now making their money by the way, tons of them,
- 9:22Speaker 1: and we saw it, and I think he's in that class.
- 9:25Speaker 1: I think he is truly going to be a special player,
- 9:28Speaker 1: and he makes it easier on Joe Burrow. And I
- 9:31Speaker 1: think the ability to go get the fifty fifty ball,
- 9:33Speaker 1: the ability to rip off the big play, and I
- 9:35Speaker 1: think that's why I put him in that class. And again,
- 9:38Speaker 1: there are a lot of really good receivers and him
- 9:41Speaker 1: and Justin Jefferson are two of the better young ones.
- 9:44Speaker 1: Amazing to think on that team that caught passes down
- 9:48Speaker 1: there from Joe Burrow. Easy to see why he threw
- 9:53Speaker 1: sixty touchdown passes there when your targets like that. So
- 9:57Speaker 1: your five Bengals in the top one hundred are Chase Burrow,
- 10:00Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson, Joe Mixon, and Jesse Bates. Jesse Bates obviously
- 10:03Speaker 1: an interesting name right now because of what's happening with
- 10:06Speaker 1: him in the franchise tag. If you're the Bengals, what
- 10:08Speaker 1: would you do with Jesse Bates and his contract. I
- 10:11Speaker 1: think he's I don't think he played that well early
- 10:14Speaker 1: last season. I think he'd be the first one to
- 10:15Speaker 1: tell you that he said he got caught up in
- 10:17Speaker 1: the whole contract situation. This is a big year for him.
- 10:20Speaker 1: I think you gotta let him play it out. You
- 10:22Speaker 1: drafted with an eye on him one of maybe both
- 10:25Speaker 1: those guys, leaving both those safeties, and I think they're
- 10:29Speaker 1: both if I mistaken, he's in the franchise tag and
- 10:32Speaker 1: vine Bell he's in his contract year. Yeah, third and
- 10:36Speaker 1: final year of the free agent deal he signed. So
- 10:39Speaker 1: you drafted, you know, with an eye on replacing one
- 10:42Speaker 1: of those guys at least, so I think it'll be
- 10:44Speaker 1: interesting to see how they play. I'd let it play out.
- 10:47Speaker 1: I think Jesse Bates is a really good player. But again,
- 10:50Speaker 1: if you rush to sign guys like that without replacing
- 10:53Speaker 1: them with a cheaper version, then you get into some
- 10:56Speaker 1: situations where you have capell and you have a lot
- 10:59Speaker 1: of good young players that you're eventually gonna have to
- 11:01Speaker 1: pay big money too. So I'd be careful with that one.
- 11:03Speaker 1: I like him as a player. Wherever you go, he's
- 11:05Speaker 1: gonna be a good player, but it might not be
- 11:07Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. DJ Reader did not make your top one hundred,
- 11:11Speaker 1: but he did earn honorable mentioned status. Do you consider
- 11:14Speaker 1: him to be one of the more underrated guys in
- 11:15Speaker 1: the league. Yes, absolutely, He's been that way for a
- 11:18Speaker 1: long time. By the way, he's a really good player
- 11:21Speaker 1: and the guy you want to have inside on your defense.
- 11:24Speaker 1: I think what he did last year was truly impressive.
- 11:27Speaker 1: Now you know, the issue is what happens j Hill
- 11:30Speaker 1: comes back. He played well last year and I think
- 11:33Speaker 1: he's good next to him. I like the Carter kid
- 11:35Speaker 1: they drafted out of Florida. I think he's gonna be
- 11:37Speaker 1: a good player again. Draft to replace, you know, you
- 11:42Speaker 1: draft to replace, and I think they get that. And
- 11:45Speaker 1: for all the criticism that they get, I don't think
- 11:47Speaker 1: it's warranted when you watch what they do and how
- 11:49Speaker 1: they handle the roster. Zach Carter was their third round pick.
- 11:53Speaker 1: Dax Hill, the safety at of Michigan, is obviously their first.
- 11:55Speaker 1: What do you think of Dax Versatility in this league,
- 11:59Speaker 1: that's what you want. You can play him outside, you
- 12:01Speaker 1: could play him at slot corner, you could play him
- 12:03Speaker 1: at safety. And you know, more and more teams are
- 12:06Speaker 1: going to three safeties, and when you play three safeties,
- 12:09Speaker 1: you know, even next year, if they're all there, he
- 12:12Speaker 1: could be the third guy on the field. Or you
- 12:14Speaker 1: can bring bell down and play him back, and I
- 12:17Speaker 1: think that's where this league is heading. And tool teams
- 12:19Speaker 1: start running the football again, you know, that's where we're
- 12:22Speaker 1: going eventually, if game is and I always thought it
- 12:24Speaker 1: would be an air game, and it's moved to that.
- 12:26Speaker 1: I said that twenty five years ago. I said, this
- 12:28Speaker 1: game is gonna be an air game. You're gonna spread
- 12:31Speaker 1: people out, You're gonna throw the football. You know, I
- 12:33Speaker 1: was a big fan of air Correal way back in
- 12:35Speaker 1: the day. I always love Marino thrown around. I always
- 12:37Speaker 1: thought you needed to get to that. Well, now we've
- 12:39Speaker 1: got to that, and the rules mandate that that's an
- 12:42Speaker 1: advantage for you. But when does a team start going
- 12:45Speaker 1: back to pounding it when they get when you get little,
- 12:48Speaker 1: you start pounding him up from because everybody, you know,
- 12:51Speaker 1: the bigger defensive end is now a defensive tackle and
- 12:54Speaker 1: you know, and so you put him inside, you're gonna
- 12:58Speaker 1: run on them now a little bit. So I think
- 12:59Speaker 1: we might have to see an adjustment eventually, But for now,
- 13:02Speaker 1: three safeties on the field makes a lot of sense.
- 13:05Speaker 1: Belichick does that in the postseason, doesn't he. He pounds
- 13:09Speaker 1: pea Yeah, you can bet. But again, like I see
- 13:14Speaker 1: teams that are too reliant on the run that get
- 13:17Speaker 1: caught in the postseason. Tennessee. Tennessee runs the ball well,
- 13:22Speaker 1: carries him to the playoffs. Every year. They might win
- 13:24Speaker 1: a game or two running the ball, but eventually you
- 13:27Speaker 1: have to be able to throw it. You have to
- 13:29Speaker 1: be able to get big plays. You know, the Bengals
- 13:32Speaker 1: will be able to run the ball better this year.
- 13:33Speaker 1: I think. I think mix is gonna have a big
- 13:35Speaker 1: year running the ball, and that will take pressure off
- 13:38Speaker 1: the offensive line and it will make their passing game better.
- 13:41Speaker 1: Even if the numbers might not be gaudy, they will
- 13:44Speaker 1: be a better offense this year. A few more questions
- 13:46Speaker 1: for Pete Prisco, senior NFL columnist for CBS sports dot Com.
- 13:51Speaker 1: The Ravens are healthy. The Browns traded for Deshaun Watson.
- 13:55Speaker 1: The Steelers made Kenny Pickett the first quarterback taken in
- 13:58Speaker 1: this year's draft. How does the AFC North stack up
- 14:02Speaker 1: in your opinion? About a month away from the start
- 14:03Speaker 1: of training camp. I think the Bengals are the best team,
- 14:07Speaker 1: and I would right now on paper that I picked
- 14:10Speaker 1: him to win the division. I think the Ravens are
- 14:12Speaker 1: going to be the second best team. They're gonna be back.
- 14:14Speaker 1: You know, Lamar Jackson missed so much time it was,
- 14:16Speaker 1: you know, on that on the field and never really
- 14:18Speaker 1: looked like himself last year. They'll be back. You know.
- 14:22Speaker 1: What happens with the Watson situation, that's the thing. Is
- 14:24Speaker 1: he gonna get suspended for a year or whatever? You know,
- 14:27Speaker 1: we don't know, so I think if I look at it,
- 14:31Speaker 1: I'd say Bengals won Ravens two, rounds three and then
- 14:36Speaker 1: the Steelers four. And I like Kenny Pickett. I think
- 14:38Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett for Bengals fans might, but I want to
- 14:41Speaker 1: hear this. He has a little bit of Joe Burrow
- 14:43Speaker 1: in him. You know, he can sling it. He's got
- 14:46Speaker 1: a little bit of an attitude, and he plays with
- 14:48Speaker 1: a toughness about him. I think Kenny Pickett for it
- 14:51Speaker 1: might be one of those guys that the Steelers found
- 14:53Speaker 1: and he'll end up being a long term quarterback. And
- 14:55Speaker 1: it could be Pickett, Burrow and Lamar Jackson the division
- 14:58Speaker 1: for a long time. And if Watson gives you things
- 15:00Speaker 1: straighten on him too, You're right, Bengals fans don't want
- 15:03Speaker 1: to hear that. We're hoping that's a prediction along the
- 15:06Speaker 1: lines of Christian Ponder. Yeah, I bet you do, all right, Pete,
- 15:10Speaker 1: I got one more question for you. Last week a
- 15:13Speaker 1: group of loyal Bengals fans held an event called Jungle
- 15:16Speaker 1: to the Hall Too. They are trying to make the
- 15:19Speaker 1: case that Anthony Munio should not be the only Bengal
- 15:23Speaker 1: in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Do you have
- 15:25Speaker 1: any strong feelings about Ken Anderson, Ken Riley, Willie Anderson
- 15:30Speaker 1: or any other former Bengals as Hall of Fame candidates.
- 15:35Speaker 1: Ken Riley should have been in already, and that one's
- 15:39Speaker 1: amazing to me. Anybody who watched Ken Riley wats to play,
- 15:42Speaker 1: he should be in the Hall of Fame. I think,
- 15:44Speaker 1: you know, when you look at Ken Anderson, you could
- 15:47Speaker 1: make a strong case for Ken Anderson and what he
- 15:50Speaker 1: did and how he did it. I again, another offense
- 15:53Speaker 1: I enjoyed really watching, so I could put I would
- 15:56Speaker 1: have no problem with either one of those. You know,
- 15:58Speaker 1: and Willie Anderson gets pinged because he played right tackle,
- 16:01Speaker 1: and that's unfair. Look Tony Vaselli, who I know very well,
- 16:05Speaker 1: he's going in this year. I can't wait to see
- 16:07Speaker 1: him go in. Was a great left tackle and people said, oh, well,
- 16:11Speaker 1: he protected Mark Burnell's left handed quarterback. Well, Anthony Unos
- 16:14Speaker 1: prod prodected Boomer's blind side. I didn't protect Boomer's blind side.
- 16:18Speaker 1: So yeah, I think you can make a case for
- 16:20Speaker 1: Willie Anderson and I all three of them strong consideration.
- 16:24Speaker 1: Maybe two at least of them should get in. And
- 16:26Speaker 1: if I had a stronger feeling on any of them,
- 16:28Speaker 1: I probably put Ken Riley in sixty five. I NTS
- 16:32Speaker 1: is hard to ignore, isn't it. It was a playmaker.
- 16:35Speaker 1: I mean you could just see me at the long leg.
- 16:37Speaker 1: He is a playmaker. Yes, I would put and if
- 16:41Speaker 1: I ranked him, I'd probably go Riley, then Anderson, and
- 16:45Speaker 1: then Willie Pete. You are one of my favorite podcast guests.
- 16:49Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time. Keep up the great work,
- 16:52Speaker 1: and I'll hit you up again in a few months.
- 16:55Speaker 1: I'll see you a calf in about three weeks. Fantastic,
- 16:58Speaker 1: Thank you very much. You got it. He came out
- 17:01Speaker 1: with his NFL power rankings earlier this offseason and had
- 17:04Speaker 1: the Bengals had number six in the NFL and number
- 17:08Speaker 1: three in the AFC, behind the Bills and Chiefs. Pete
- 17:12Speaker 1: wrote the following the off season was about fixing the
- 17:16Speaker 1: offensive line, and they did it. They also added a
- 17:18Speaker 1: few nice pieces in the draft on defense. All of
- 17:22Speaker 1: that will again make this team a contender. The Bengals
- 17:26Speaker 1: Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to
- 17:30Speaker 1: play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded
- 17:34Speaker 1: a weekly winner during the course of the year, with tickets,
- 17:37Speaker 1: autographed merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs.
- 17:42Speaker 1: Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google play. Back.
- 17:47Speaker 1: In April, the Bengals announced that they are exercising the
- 17:50Speaker 1: fifth year option of offensive lineman Jonah Williams, meaning he'll
- 17:53Speaker 1: be with a team for at least two more years.
- 17:57Speaker 1: So just how good is the former first round pick
- 18:00Speaker 1: of Alabama? I recently discussed that and much more with
- 18:03Speaker 1: Brandon Thorne, the author of the Trench Warfare newsletter, where
- 18:06Speaker 1: he writes and post videos about offensive and defensive line play.
- 18:12Speaker 1: Last week, he featured a film study with the Bengals
- 18:15Speaker 1: left tackle, who is still only twenty four years old. Edon,
- 18:20Speaker 1: how did your fifty minute film study with Jonah Williams
- 18:24Speaker 1: come about? I basically just reached out to him via
- 18:28Speaker 1: direct message, and you know, we we've talked over the years.
- 18:33Speaker 1: You know, I first met him at the Combine when
- 18:36Speaker 1: he was there, I was with Duke manny Weather just
- 18:39Speaker 1: kind of you know, networking around town in Indianapolis, and
- 18:43Speaker 1: you know, bumped into him. So I got to at least,
- 18:45Speaker 1: you know, kind of get a face to face meeting
- 18:47Speaker 1: and just you know, put a name with the face
- 18:49Speaker 1: kind of thing. And then, uh, you know, I think
- 18:52Speaker 1: we had already been following each other and may have
- 18:54Speaker 1: talked you know, online a little bit before that, but
- 18:57Speaker 1: then after that, you know, I started asking him more
- 18:59Speaker 1: questions about like things I was seeing on film, stuff
- 19:03Speaker 1: like that, and then over the years, you know, it's
- 19:05Speaker 1: just we've just talked more and more. He's just been
- 19:07Speaker 1: really generous with his time. So I you know, thought
- 19:10Speaker 1: it would be a great thing to get him on,
- 19:13Speaker 1: you know, for a film room and actually like do
- 19:15Speaker 1: a deep dive. So that's what we were able to do.
- 19:18Speaker 1: So I'm excited about it and hopefully people get a
- 19:21Speaker 1: lot out of it. I subscribe to your newsletter. I
- 19:24Speaker 1: watched the piece. It was really informative for me because
- 19:27Speaker 1: it's technical and I don't speak the language of offensive line.
- 19:31Speaker 1: At one point, Jonah mentions Newton's second law of motion
- 19:36Speaker 1: force equals mass times acceleration and explaining one of his techniques.
- 19:40Speaker 1: What were some of your biggest takeaways first and putting
- 19:43Speaker 1: together all the video and then and discussing it with Jonah.
- 19:46Speaker 1: You know, I think you kind of touched on it.
- 19:48Speaker 1: He's he's pretty, uh, I think, analytical in his approach,
- 19:53Speaker 1: you know, to the position, and you know he's just
- 19:57Speaker 1: just the way kind of his mind works. I guess
- 19:58Speaker 1: he could really break it down in a lot of detail,
- 20:02Speaker 1: you know, whereas there's other guys that I've talked to,
- 20:06Speaker 1: you know, on the offensive and defensive line where they
- 20:08Speaker 1: basically just tell me they go out and they play football,
- 20:11Speaker 1: you know, they they just react to what they see
- 20:13Speaker 1: and just be an athlete or you know, just and
- 20:16Speaker 1: some guys can play in the NFL at a very
- 20:19Speaker 1: high level with that mindset, and other guys you know,
- 20:23Speaker 1: think about it. I don't know about more, but definitely differently.
- 20:28Speaker 1: So Yeah, he's just one of those guys where a
- 20:32Speaker 1: great guest to have on a film room, you know,
- 20:33Speaker 1: for people who love offensive line, because you know, he'll
- 20:36Speaker 1: talk about a lot of different techniques and details, you know,
- 20:39Speaker 1: and footwork and angles and all kinds of stuff. So
- 20:44Speaker 1: those are the kind of guests that I love having
- 20:46Speaker 1: on because I could kind of nerd out a little
- 20:49Speaker 1: bit with him, you know, on offensive line and it's great,
- 20:53Speaker 1: so that it's kind of like opened my eyes a
- 20:56Speaker 1: little bit to that being his style, and also confirmed
- 20:59Speaker 1: it a little bit as well, because you know, coming
- 21:02Speaker 1: out of Alabama, I remember I think Dane Brugler and
- 21:05Speaker 1: his draft guide had something about, you know, the I
- 21:09Speaker 1: think the Alabama coaches called him the intellectual or something
- 21:12Speaker 1: like that, you know, and he largely because of how
- 21:17Speaker 1: meticulous he was and detailed about his film study in college,
- 21:24Speaker 1: so you know, it just came across, you know, I
- 21:27Speaker 1: think in the interview too as well, so that was cool.
- 21:30Speaker 1: And then you know, more technical stuff, just like how
- 21:32Speaker 1: he dealt with the cross shop technique that pass rushers
- 21:35Speaker 1: in the NFL use right now maybe more than any
- 21:38Speaker 1: other move in the NFL. His ways of going about,
- 21:42Speaker 1: you know, countering what they're trying to do to him.
- 21:45Speaker 1: That's kind of one of the main topics I wanted
- 21:48Speaker 1: to touch on for the Film room because we had
- 21:50Speaker 1: talked about that me and him in the past, and
- 21:54Speaker 1: I've gotten some breakdowns from him that were amazing, and
- 21:57Speaker 1: I would just thought I would love to get him,
- 21:59Speaker 1: give him a little bit more of a platform to
- 22:01Speaker 1: kind of talk about it, you know. So yeah, it was,
- 22:05Speaker 1: it was cool, it was It's pretty enlightening and uh yeah,
- 22:08Speaker 1: just a lot of fun. I think something that was
- 22:11Speaker 1: also informative for me is that you didn't put together
- 22:13Speaker 1: fifty minutes of clips of him dominating. There are some
- 22:17Speaker 1: where he dominates, but others where the guy kind of
- 22:20Speaker 1: hasn't beat many recovers and maybe kind of saves the
- 22:22Speaker 1: day at the last second. Did you find that to
- 22:26Speaker 1: be especially helpful and evaluating his play. Yeah, I mean
- 22:30Speaker 1: when I do my own evaluations, obviously, I watched the
- 22:33Speaker 1: whole entire games for college guys, pro guys, and all
- 22:36Speaker 1: see the negatives. I mean, when you do a film room,
- 22:39Speaker 1: you want to focus on the positives. Obviously. I'm not
- 22:42Speaker 1: there to present an evaluation to people. Necessarily, I'm there
- 22:45Speaker 1: to present what this guy does well, how he wins,
- 22:48Speaker 1: and then just talk football in a fun way. So
- 22:52Speaker 1: not a lot of guys like to talk about their
- 22:54Speaker 1: losses and they can't do it in a fun way obviously,
- 22:56Speaker 1: so you but at the same time, you do want
- 22:59Speaker 1: to kind of give of, you know, as well rounded
- 23:02Speaker 1: of a view as possible without doing a full evaluation
- 23:05Speaker 1: of the guy on a film room. So I do
- 23:08Speaker 1: kind of, you know, put a couple of those in
- 23:11Speaker 1: there and hope it goes well, you know, um, because
- 23:15Speaker 1: you know they're not seeing the video prior. But yeah,
- 23:18Speaker 1: you know, just some stuff that I think. I specifically
- 23:22Speaker 1: look for losses that I think could be good teaching
- 23:25Speaker 1: opportunities because I know my audience largely consists of players
- 23:29Speaker 1: and coaches, so I want them to see or to hear,
- 23:34Speaker 1: you know, and see how a pro handles losses, how
- 23:38Speaker 1: you know, get a little insight into the perspective, how
- 23:41Speaker 1: they handle it mentally, and then you know ways that
- 23:44Speaker 1: they fix it, uh, you know, and just strategies and
- 23:47Speaker 1: stuff like that. So that's what I did with Reshawn
- 23:50Speaker 1: Slater as well. When I did his film room like
- 23:53Speaker 1: a month or two ago. I put in you know,
- 23:56Speaker 1: more of his losses than I did for Jonah and
- 23:59Speaker 1: the same kind of deal. You know. It was just
- 24:01Speaker 1: really cool to you know, hear them talk because I
- 24:04Speaker 1: think they know the way I'm going about it is,
- 24:06Speaker 1: you know, with the right intent. You know, I'm not
- 24:08Speaker 1: trying to make them look bad. I'm trying to, you know,
- 24:11Speaker 1: present those kind of teaching opportunities to help guys learn
- 24:15Speaker 1: who are playing and coaching the position. So I think
- 24:17Speaker 1: they're more receptive to that because of it. So, yeah,
- 24:22Speaker 1: it was good to get those in there. And I
- 24:24Speaker 1: feel like I always learned a lot in those situations,
- 24:27Speaker 1: you know, So I'm thankful that guys are open to
- 24:29Speaker 1: talking about it. Offensive and defensive line analyst Brandon Thorne
- 24:33Speaker 1: is our guest. As Jonah watched with you, he noted
- 24:38Speaker 1: that he could really see the progression in his own
- 24:40Speaker 1: play from Week two against the Bears to playoff clips
- 24:43Speaker 1: against the Raiders. How good is he now? And how
- 24:47Speaker 1: good do you think he can be? This was his
- 24:49Speaker 1: first full season, you know, as a pro. You know,
- 24:53Speaker 1: he missed a whole rookie year, and then you know
- 24:55Speaker 1: the ten games, and now you know he played pretty
- 24:58Speaker 1: much the whole year. One p the snaps, he played
- 25:00Speaker 1: all that. So I think that's important kind of to
- 25:03Speaker 1: point out, like a backdrop to set up the answer
- 25:06Speaker 1: to the question, because I do think he still can
- 25:09Speaker 1: get better. But where he is right now, I see
- 25:13Speaker 1: him as definitely a solid, you know, average left tackle.
- 25:16Speaker 1: But I lean and I don't know if this is
- 25:19Speaker 1: biased or not, but you know, when I'm stacking, and
- 25:22Speaker 1: I'm going to write an article before the season starts
- 25:25Speaker 1: where I actually stack you know, the positions left tackle
- 25:28Speaker 1: through right tackle and everything in between, like I did
- 25:31Speaker 1: last year. So I'll have a more of a specific
- 25:33Speaker 1: answer here and probably the next month for people. But
- 25:37Speaker 1: I would definitely say he's in the top half top
- 25:39Speaker 1: sixteen left tackles in the league. And I think he's
- 25:42Speaker 1: probably you know, top twelve, maybe somewhere in there maybe,
- 25:47Speaker 1: I mean that's probably you know, in that range. I think,
- 25:51Speaker 1: so closer to above average is probably how I look
- 25:53Speaker 1: at him. And I think that he could still become
- 25:57Speaker 1: very good, you know, and be a top ten left tackle.
- 26:00Speaker 1: Uh you know, I think he has that ability, So yeah,
- 26:06Speaker 1: you know, not a crazy high ceiling. I don't ever
- 26:08Speaker 1: see him being necessarily a top five left tackle. I
- 26:11Speaker 1: don't think it's impossible, but I would be more comfortable
- 26:14Speaker 1: betting on like a top ten left tackle, and I
- 26:16Speaker 1: think I think it's really just a matter of time.
- 26:19Speaker 1: I mean, if he could play, you know, another full season,
- 26:23Speaker 1: I think we'll see you know a lot of what
- 26:26Speaker 1: we saw last year and you know, some minor improvements,
- 26:28Speaker 1: which is really what is needed. Um you know, nothing
- 26:32Speaker 1: drastic needs to improve with him. I don't think it's
- 26:34Speaker 1: just it's really just staying healthy at this point and
- 26:37Speaker 1: stacking years, because man, when you go back and watch
- 26:40Speaker 1: his tape, you know, he's putting a lot of difficult situations. Obviously,
- 26:44Speaker 1: the team, the you know, the the offensive game plans
- 26:48Speaker 1: and stuff like that had to help out the right
- 26:49Speaker 1: side a lot more than the left. So he's put
- 26:52Speaker 1: on islands quite a bit. And you know, obviously in
- 26:56Speaker 1: that division there's some outstanding pass rushers. You know, the
- 27:01Speaker 1: amount of times that he's playing Miles Garrett one on
- 27:03Speaker 1: one is is pretty amazing. And I think he did
- 27:07Speaker 1: really well, you know, not perfect. Obviously, no tackle in
- 27:11Speaker 1: the league is going to be perfect against Miles Garrett
- 27:14Speaker 1: that often, you know, with that many reps against him,
- 27:17Speaker 1: but man, he did a lot of really good things
- 27:18Speaker 1: against Miles Garrett last year and the prior year as well. Um,
- 27:23Speaker 1: So he has that ability to go out and play
- 27:26Speaker 1: on an island against elite level competition and do well.
- 27:31Speaker 1: And I think that's an incredibly important thing for a
- 27:34Speaker 1: left tackle. Um now at this point, it's about refining
- 27:39Speaker 1: little things with his technique and being more consistent so
- 27:42Speaker 1: he can be even better because it you know, there
- 27:45Speaker 1: is room for improvement. But but he has that ability though,
- 27:49Speaker 1: and you know that's that's huge for a left tackle.
- 27:53Speaker 1: And in the run game, I think he's definitely good,
- 27:55Speaker 1: you know, above average right now. He always has been
- 27:58Speaker 1: since Alabama. He's a well round player. So that's what
- 28:02Speaker 1: I've always liked about him coming out and everything. He's
- 28:04Speaker 1: well rounded. So yeah, I would say, you know, average
- 28:08Speaker 1: to above average right now. And you know climbing. Brandon
- 28:13Speaker 1: Thorn is our guest. He is the author of the
- 28:14Speaker 1: Trench Warfare newsletter. We did a segment for this podcast
- 28:18Speaker 1: prior to the start of free agency, and the Bengals
- 28:21Speaker 1: went out and spent heavily. I'm going to give you
- 28:24Speaker 1: the three guys that they signed and ask you to
- 28:27Speaker 1: give some observations about each of the three. So right
- 28:30Speaker 1: tackle l Collins, he'll be twenty nine this month, six
- 28:34Speaker 1: years of NFL experience. I'm quitting previous time with offensive
- 28:37Speaker 1: line coach Frank Pollock. Right guard Alex Kappa, he's twenty seven,
- 28:41Speaker 1: four years in Tampa Bay as starter on a Super
- 28:43Speaker 1: Bowl team. And center Ted Carris, he's twenty nine, six
- 28:46Speaker 1: years in the NFL, started the last three years with
- 28:49Speaker 1: the Patriots and the Dolphins. Your thoughts on the trio
- 28:53Speaker 1: of Collins, Kappa and Carris and the impact they could have.
- 28:57Speaker 1: I like this trio. I think the right side of
- 29:01Speaker 1: this offensive line is going to be dramatically better than
- 29:03Speaker 1: last year. You know, I don't think it would have
- 29:06Speaker 1: been too difficult to be better than last year, but
- 29:09Speaker 1: this is a pretty significant climb. I think that people
- 29:13Speaker 1: should expect from the right side, you know, arguably the
- 29:16Speaker 1: worst right side in the league last year at different times,
- 29:19Speaker 1: you know, if Reef wasn't out there, especially, but man,
- 29:23Speaker 1: I mean Alex Kappa and Leo Collins. I think that's
- 29:26Speaker 1: going to be a really good duel on the right side.
- 29:28Speaker 1: Leo Collins is I think, you know, when healthy, you know,
- 29:33Speaker 1: which is another question, you know, but if he's healthy,
- 29:36Speaker 1: you're looking at, you know, a borderline top five right
- 29:39Speaker 1: tackle in the league, certainly a top five or three
- 29:43Speaker 1: run blocking right tackle. He's just a total stud as
- 29:46Speaker 1: a run blocker and pass protection. There's just not a
- 29:49Speaker 1: lot of tackles in the league as big and as
- 29:52Speaker 1: strong as he is and is physical, so he brings
- 29:56Speaker 1: that element to the offense that he's just going to
- 29:59Speaker 1: train informed the way it looks, you know when you're
- 30:01Speaker 1: watching them play. He's just going to bring kind of
- 30:04Speaker 1: a tone setting presence to the to the line. That's
- 30:07Speaker 1: going to be really cool to see Um at a
- 30:11Speaker 1: position that you know has been a major concern for
- 30:14Speaker 1: the team. So that one is my favorite signing, you know,
- 30:18Speaker 1: and I think most people you know think he's probably
- 30:20Speaker 1: the best signing UM and uh Kappa you know, has
- 30:23Speaker 1: been solid for a while now, and he's gotten better
- 30:27Speaker 1: every year he's been in the league. Almost He's kind
- 30:30Speaker 1: of like Jonah in some ways where maybe not like
- 30:32Speaker 1: the most physically gifted guy in terms of like you know, height, weight, length,
- 30:37Speaker 1: athletic ability, you know, more of kind of like at
- 30:40Speaker 1: that baseline level that you need. But man, really crafty,
- 30:44Speaker 1: technically sound, tough, you know. So he's going to be
- 30:49Speaker 1: a steady presence more than anything, I think. And then
- 30:53Speaker 1: Carriss would be the third guy UM that I would rank,
- 30:57Speaker 1: you know, after those two. Carriss is at this point
- 31:01Speaker 1: to me a guy who could potentially be steady, but
- 31:05Speaker 1: to me is more so like a really high end swing,
- 31:10Speaker 1: backup interior guy who could back up both guard spots
- 31:13Speaker 1: and center. He could start for you and you'll be fine.
- 31:17Speaker 1: There's gonna be matchups that are going to be an issue,
- 31:20Speaker 1: you know, if he's isolated against high level interior pass
- 31:23Speaker 1: rushers and different you know, things like that. But you
- 31:27Speaker 1: know you can get by with him, you know, So
- 31:30Speaker 1: that that's how I view him. You know, ideally you
- 31:33Speaker 1: would love to see you know, that position may be
- 31:37Speaker 1: upgraded in the next year or two, but hey, you know,
- 31:41Speaker 1: for twenty twenty two, with what you have around him
- 31:45Speaker 1: and everything, I think that it'll be just fine. But
- 31:49Speaker 1: like I said, there's gonna be some isolated situations where
- 31:51Speaker 1: he might be able to be exposed a little bit
- 31:53Speaker 1: more than the other guys. So, but yeah, he brings
- 31:56Speaker 1: a lot, like off the field, a lot of the
- 31:58Speaker 1: intangible type stuff that is hard to quantify that will
- 32:01Speaker 1: be valuable for the actual offensive line room with his
- 32:05Speaker 1: experience and you know, smarts and stuff like that. So
- 32:09Speaker 1: he's going to bring value that we're not going to
- 32:11Speaker 1: be able to necessarily measure either, So I think that's
- 32:14Speaker 1: part of his appeal. But yeah, that's kind of how
- 32:17Speaker 1: I feel about those guys. Left guard is still up
- 32:19Speaker 1: for grabs. Jackson Carmen, came Identagy, rookie, Cordell Volson, perhaps
- 32:24Speaker 1: others will be in the mix for that position. Do
- 32:26Speaker 1: you think that the Bengals will get competent play out
- 32:30Speaker 1: of one of those guys. I mean, I think Jackson
- 32:33Speaker 1: Carmen could still be a good player. I've said this
- 32:35Speaker 1: on other podcasts, and you know, if you read my
- 32:37Speaker 1: evaluation of him coming out of Clemson, you probably get
- 32:40Speaker 1: the same idea. You know, I think coming out his
- 32:45Speaker 1: technique was very inconsistent. He played left tackle, you know,
- 32:48Speaker 1: that's evaluated him a left tackle, but I projected him
- 32:51Speaker 1: as a guard. And yeah, I mean I think his
- 32:56Speaker 1: his use of hands are going to have to get better.
- 32:59Speaker 1: He's going to have to clean that up and not
- 33:02Speaker 1: you know, let guys get underneath and inside of him
- 33:05Speaker 1: as often as they do play with the better leverage,
- 33:08Speaker 1: you know, more better, just better overall technique. But in
- 33:12Speaker 1: terms of like physical gifts, size, athletic ability, he's very physical, competitive,
- 33:18Speaker 1: toughness I think is good. Like, he has a lot
- 33:21Speaker 1: of elements that you can't teach that are valuable that
- 33:25Speaker 1: suggests that he can develop into a quality, quality starting
- 33:29Speaker 1: guard more so than anybody else I see on the
- 33:31Speaker 1: roster in terms of like physical traits. So for that
- 33:37Speaker 1: reason and due to his age, being as young as
- 33:39Speaker 1: he is, that's the guy that I would hope wins
- 33:43Speaker 1: the job. And I would expect him to win the job,
- 33:46Speaker 1: assuming off the field and you know, work ethic stuff
- 33:49Speaker 1: and all that stuff checks out and he's you know,
- 33:52Speaker 1: dialed in and all that kind of stuff. Mentally, he
- 33:56Speaker 1: to me is the guy that you want to win
- 33:58Speaker 1: this job because his upside is deaf only the highest um.
- 34:02Speaker 1: And it's I think a really nice duo to be
- 34:06Speaker 1: in between and Jonah and Kerass, you know um just
- 34:10Speaker 1: kind of the way they play, uh and and everything.
- 34:13Speaker 1: I just think that that that could really help him,
- 34:16Speaker 1: you know, having those two guys who are you know,
- 34:18Speaker 1: more technically sound, you know, more more steady, That that
- 34:23Speaker 1: can really help a young guy, you know, to kind
- 34:25Speaker 1: of sandwich him in between two guys like that. So
- 34:28Speaker 1: I like, I mean, I feel like the floor is
- 34:31Speaker 1: his now you know like he's in a good position
- 34:34Speaker 1: to succeed. He has a good coach. You know, he's
- 34:36Speaker 1: in between two good players or two you know, quality
- 34:39Speaker 1: players one good player, I would say, you know, an
- 34:42Speaker 1: a quality player, So like, yeah, that would be my
- 34:45Speaker 1: pick there um, And I'm excited to see what happens,
- 34:49Speaker 1: you know, because he has a lot of talent. Man,
- 34:51Speaker 1: it's just if if he could put it together now
- 34:53Speaker 1: at this point, Brandon Thorn is our guest. You can
- 34:56Speaker 1: follow him on Twitter at Brandon Thorne NFL. We hear
- 35:00Speaker 1: which is say that offensive lineman make a big jump
- 35:03Speaker 1: from year one to year two. The PFF grades don't
- 35:07Speaker 1: necessarily show that. Where do you fall on that idea
- 35:11Speaker 1: that from year one to year two is a big
- 35:13Speaker 1: jump for offensive lineman. You know, I haven't done a
- 35:16Speaker 1: league wide study on that, so I don't know that
- 35:20Speaker 1: I have, you know, a great opinion on it. But
- 35:24Speaker 1: I think even if I did do like a study
- 35:27Speaker 1: on that, I think it really comes down to a
- 35:29Speaker 1: case by case basis. I mean, you might be able
- 35:33Speaker 1: to identify some trends if you do the study, but
- 35:35Speaker 1: it really is a case by case basis. You have
- 35:37Speaker 1: to look at who the player. Is his situation? Does
- 35:42Speaker 1: he have the same offensive line coach from year one
- 35:44Speaker 1: to year two? Is he playing in the same offensive
- 35:47Speaker 1: scheme year one to year two? Is he playing next
- 35:49Speaker 1: to different guys year one to year two? What kind
- 35:53Speaker 1: of injury did he have? Did he end his first
- 35:55Speaker 1: year with an injury? Did he end his first year
- 35:57Speaker 1: on a high note? You know, in the list goes
- 36:00Speaker 1: on of all this context that you just don't have. So,
- 36:05Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I don't want to cop out
- 36:07Speaker 1: the answer, but I feel like that's my answer. You know,
- 36:09Speaker 1: it's a case by case basis. Really final question for
- 36:13Speaker 1: Brandon Thorne. You did a lengthy review of the draft
- 36:16Speaker 1: in your Trench Warfare newsletter, and under the category of
- 36:20Speaker 1: top ten biggest values, you listed Ben Brown, an interior
- 36:24Speaker 1: offensive lineman, out of all miss that the Bengals didn't draft,
- 36:27Speaker 1: they signed him as an undrafted free agent. What do
- 36:31Speaker 1: you think of Ben Bryant? Yeah, he was a guy
- 36:34Speaker 1: that I watched late in the process for Bleacher Report.
- 36:37Speaker 1: You know, he was one of the last guys after
- 36:39Speaker 1: I was through. You know, I don't remember how many
- 36:41Speaker 1: I watched sixty guys or whatever. On the offensive line.
- 36:44Speaker 1: He was one of the last guys. But he struck
- 36:47Speaker 1: me as a guy who could come in, earn a
- 36:50Speaker 1: role on an offensive line as a backup early and
- 36:54Speaker 1: provide value in multiple positions center and guard. And you
- 36:59Speaker 1: know that's primary early due to his size. Just he
- 37:02Speaker 1: plays with a very wide basse, strong base, so balance
- 37:07Speaker 1: as well, and he's strong. I think his strength is solid,
- 37:11Speaker 1: and he's very physical, very experienced and inside zone and
- 37:16Speaker 1: gap concepts in the run game, which translates to most
- 37:19Speaker 1: schemes in the NFL. He definitely needs to kind of
- 37:23Speaker 1: clean up, you know, his play speed and body control,
- 37:27Speaker 1: to me were kind of some of the issues that
- 37:30Speaker 1: I saw on tape, so and and that kind of
- 37:34Speaker 1: play that kind of shows themselves in different ways. You know.
- 37:38Speaker 1: I think processing skills can get a little cleaner, reading
- 37:42Speaker 1: things out quicker, you know, things that are technically coachable
- 37:45Speaker 1: not always fixed. But for the most part, I thought
- 37:49Speaker 1: that there was a foundation in place here with him
- 37:53Speaker 1: with his size, arm length is very good as well,
- 37:56Speaker 1: you know, and strength that he could earn a role.
- 37:58Speaker 1: So I had a six round great on him. You know,
- 38:01Speaker 1: for me, that's a backup guy who's draftable at least,
- 38:05Speaker 1: so when you guys signed him in the undrafted pool.
- 38:08Speaker 1: I thought that was good value because to me, you know,
- 38:11Speaker 1: he was like a late day three kind of guy. So, yeah,
- 38:14Speaker 1: he's one of those guys I would loved to have gotten,
- 38:18Speaker 1: you know, where the Bengals did and just bring him in.
- 38:20Speaker 1: You know, see how he absorbs the playbook. You know,
- 38:23Speaker 1: you know, he could play multiple positions. He has some
- 38:26Speaker 1: good size, physicality, some pretty good technique in the run game. Yeah.
- 38:32Speaker 1: So he's a guy who would have liked to take
- 38:34Speaker 1: a swing on and I'm glad the Bengals did. I
- 38:36Speaker 1: think that he has a shot to you know, practice squad.
- 38:40Speaker 1: You know maybe or you know one of the maybe
- 38:42Speaker 1: that seventh offensive line spot potentially, but you know, just
- 38:46Speaker 1: one of those guys that you could develop and you
- 38:49Speaker 1: might have something down the road. We will definitely have
- 38:52Speaker 1: a close eye on him in a training camp. Looking
- 38:54Speaker 1: forward to seeing all of these guys. And again, I
- 38:56Speaker 1: really enjoyed the film study with Jonah Williams. I can't
- 38:58Speaker 1: wait to discuss it with Jonah when I see him
- 39:01Speaker 1: in late July at training camp. As I mentioned, I
- 39:04Speaker 1: started subscribing to the Trench Warfare newsletter a little while
- 39:08Speaker 1: ago It's great content for those of us who are
- 39:10Speaker 1: always interested in learning more about offensive and defensive line play.
- 39:15Speaker 1: Tell folks how they can subscribe and the types of
- 39:17Speaker 1: things they get in the Trench Warfare newsletter. Yeah, so
- 39:21Speaker 1: people can go to Trench Warfare dot substack dot com
- 39:25Speaker 1: and I mean you could just pretty much subscribe there.
- 39:28Speaker 1: You know, you enter your email address in and there's
- 39:32Speaker 1: different options that you can select, and I try and
- 39:35Speaker 1: get an article out every week and that's kind of
- 39:38Speaker 1: the goal. So, you know, the last few weeks was
- 39:42Speaker 1: a little up and down because of kind of the
- 39:44Speaker 1: time of the year, but throughout the season, I'm pretty
- 39:47Speaker 1: consistent with that, and you know, had the Jonah Film Room.
- 39:50Speaker 1: I have another very exciting film room for me personally
- 39:53Speaker 1: coming out Monday, and that's with Raiders left tackle, former
- 40:00Speaker 1: left tackle Donald Penn and former left guard Collecchio Smile
- 40:04Speaker 1: or Ko as a lot of people know them. Those
- 40:07Speaker 1: two guys. That twenty sixteen Raiders team offensive line was
- 40:12Speaker 1: one of the best offensive lines I've watched since twenty thirteen,
- 40:16Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, maybe the most physical offensive line I've ever seen,
- 40:20Speaker 1: and those two guys were a big part of it.
- 40:23Speaker 1: So I had them both on for a film room
- 40:25Speaker 1: that's about an hour long, and we just watched tape
- 40:28Speaker 1: from twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen because they were together
- 40:31Speaker 1: then as well. They both made Pro Bowls those years.
- 40:34Speaker 1: Ko was a first team All Pro. So I feel
- 40:38Speaker 1: like having those guys on to it was really cool
- 40:41Speaker 1: because they kind of got to reunite, which was awesome.
- 40:45Speaker 1: So it was a lot of fun. But then also
- 40:47Speaker 1: just the insight from those two was incredible. They picked
- 40:50Speaker 1: up right away, they knew details from the games, they
- 40:53Speaker 1: knew calls, they knew. It was incredible to listen to
- 40:57Speaker 1: them talk. So I think people who want to learn
- 41:00Speaker 1: more players, coaches as well all that are going to
- 41:03Speaker 1: get a lot out of that. So film rooms I
- 41:05Speaker 1: love doing those, and then in season I do a
- 41:07Speaker 1: whole bunch of different stuff. Film rooms a grade every
- 41:11Speaker 1: sack in the NFL and assign a grade to it,
- 41:15Speaker 1: a bunch of different cool stuff, try to break down
- 41:17Speaker 1: techniques and Yeah, so if you want to learn more
- 41:19Speaker 1: about offensive defensive line, I think it's a good resource.
- 41:23Speaker 1: It definitely is. I'm enjoying it immensely and I always
- 41:26Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thanks for coming on branded Absolutely thanks
- 41:29Speaker 1: for having me. That's going to do it for this
- 41:31Speaker 1: episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals.
- 41:35Speaker 1: Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season.
- 41:38Speaker 1: It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic
- 41:42Speaker 1: Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and
- 41:45Speaker 1: Google Play. And if you haven't done so already, please
- 41:48Speaker 1: subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute,
- 41:51Speaker 1: give it a rating or share a comment that helps
- 41:53Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks
- 41:57Speaker 1: for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast. St