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Bengals Booth Podcast: Leader Of The Pack · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: I get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast, the Leader of the Pack edition
0:12
Speaker 1: as I sit down for an in depth conversation with
0:14
Speaker 1: Bengals head coach Zach Taylor. Plus we'll hear from the
0:18
Speaker 1: latest free agents to sign on the dotted line in Cincinnati,
0:21
Speaker 1: defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins and offensive lineman Trent Brown. The
0:26
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
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Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
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Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
0:45
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
0:48
Speaker 1: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
0:51
Speaker 1: this podcast delivered write to your phone, tablet, or computer
0:55
Speaker 1: by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
0:59
Speaker 1: thing since the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament. When
1:04
Speaker 1: I worked at Fox nineteen many years ago, I had
1:07
Speaker 1: a buddy in the newsroom who pulled off the same
1:10
Speaker 1: scam every March on the Monday before the start of
1:13
Speaker 1: the NCAA tournament, he would start to occasionally cough. On Tuesday,
1:19
Speaker 1: he hacked a little more frequently, and by Wednesday, you
1:22
Speaker 1: would have thought he was on the verge of death.
1:25
Speaker 1: As a result, our boss never questioned it when he
1:29
Speaker 1: called in sick on Thursday, Yes, the first Thursday of
1:34
Speaker 1: the NCAA tournament. Every year, it's one of the great
1:39
Speaker 1: days on the sports calendar. Beginning at noon Eastern, there
1:42
Speaker 1: are sixteen games spread out over twelve hours, and there
1:47
Speaker 1: will be upsets, buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories, busted brackets, and
1:53
Speaker 1: so much more. I can't wait. I just hope my
1:57
Speaker 1: friend makes a quick recovery on Friday for roughly the
2:01
Speaker 1: twenty fifth consecutive year. Now, let's get to football. I'm
2:07
Speaker 1: going to read off a list of a few NFL coaches.
2:11
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Andy Reid, Sean McDermott, Sean McVay,
2:15
Speaker 1: and Kyle Shanahan. Those six guys are the only NFL
2:20
Speaker 1: head coaches who have been with their current team longer
2:24
Speaker 1: than Zach Taylor has been with the Bengals. This will
2:27
Speaker 1: be year six, and I spend time in Zach's office
2:31
Speaker 1: this week discussing his staff, his players, and his performance, Zach.
2:37
Speaker 1: The Players Association report card came out recently and your
2:41
Speaker 1: players gave you an a. The report noted that ninety
2:44
Speaker 1: eight percent said that you are efficient with their time.
2:47
Speaker 1: What was your reaction and do you think it matters?
2:51
Speaker 2: Well, we just try to be communicative here with the
2:54
Speaker 2: players and make sure they understand why we're doing everything,
2:57
Speaker 2: and if they have feedback, I'm always open to it.
3:00
Speaker 2: Of course, you earn that feedback, you know, by doing
3:02
Speaker 2: things the right way, and the guys I respect that way.
3:04
Speaker 2: I'm always asking their opinion. So we feel like we've
3:06
Speaker 2: got a good process that we've ironed out over the
3:08
Speaker 2: last five and a half years, and we'll continue to
3:10
Speaker 2: stick with that while also allowing it to evolve. You know,
3:14
Speaker 2: you get to a point where you've got to keep
3:15
Speaker 2: things fresh for the players. We tried to do that,
3:17
Speaker 2: but we do try to manage their time as best
3:19
Speaker 2: we can so that they can appropriately spend time with
3:22
Speaker 2: their families but also be ready for the games.
3:24
Speaker 1: On Sunday, following up on that, they ranked you very
3:27
Speaker 1: high in willingness to listen. How difficult is the balance
3:31
Speaker 1: between listening and trying to do what they would like
3:34
Speaker 1: you to do, but also realizing sometimes you have to
3:36
Speaker 1: say no.
3:37
Speaker 2: Well you can always listen, number one, and you may
3:40
Speaker 2: ultimately say no. But I do want to make a
3:44
Speaker 2: point of not just the first words out of my
3:46
Speaker 2: mouth saying no, kick around what the suggestion is. But
3:49
Speaker 2: also oftentimes I can give them the reason why we're
3:52
Speaker 2: not doing it that way, and maybe they didn't know it,
3:54
Speaker 2: maybe they didn't understand it. Now they do, then they're
3:56
Speaker 2: on board with it. So again it's just always listen,
4:01
Speaker 2: take in what they're saying, and then make the decision
4:03
Speaker 2: that's best for the team.
4:04
Speaker 1: I went back and looked at the transcript of your
4:07
Speaker 1: introductory news conference when you got the job here. One
4:10
Speaker 1: of the things you said is we are going to
4:11
Speaker 1: have a positive outlook every day. I feel from being
4:16
Speaker 1: around here that that's one area where you've definitely succeeded.
4:19
Speaker 2: Every team has their challenges, and I think it's just
4:21
Speaker 2: about how you handle those challenges, whether you look at
4:24
Speaker 2: them as problems or you look at them as opportunities
4:27
Speaker 2: to work through something that maybe is difficult, but there's
4:30
Speaker 2: always going to be a good outcome if you can
4:32
Speaker 2: work through it and learn from it. And man, I've
4:33
Speaker 2: learned from a lot over my time here, and there's
4:37
Speaker 2: been some times where I maybe saw the negative in
4:40
Speaker 2: a situation and I found a way out of it.
4:43
Speaker 2: Mark Duffner early in my time here, when I was
4:46
Speaker 2: really frustrated with the situation I was ongoing, said hey,
4:49
Speaker 2: don't make a mountain out of a molehill. And because
4:51
Speaker 2: you can. You can build a lot of mountains if
4:53
Speaker 2: you really try to. And so that's something I've really
4:56
Speaker 2: spent a lot of time assessing is this a real
4:59
Speaker 2: problem or is this just a today problem that's going
5:01
Speaker 2: to go way tomorrow. And so again, I think we've
5:04
Speaker 2: found ways to navigate that kind of stuff.
5:06
Speaker 1: How valuable is duff as a guy who's seen it all.
5:10
Speaker 2: He's outstanding, you know, Duff. He's got so much experience
5:12
Speaker 2: as a as a head coach, as a longtime NFL
5:17
Speaker 2: assistant coach. He's seen a lot of different great teams.
5:20
Speaker 2: He've been on difficult teams. He's been on a lot
5:22
Speaker 2: of different people, He's managed a lot of different personalities.
5:26
Speaker 2: So that experience is invaluable. It's oftentimes as a thirty
5:29
Speaker 2: year old coach thirty five year old coach. I thought
5:31
Speaker 2: I had all the answers. I thought I'd seen it all.
5:33
Speaker 2: I had all the answers. And how wrong I was,
5:35
Speaker 2: you know. And so you get a chance to be
5:37
Speaker 2: around guys like Duff that are I'm not gonna say old,
5:40
Speaker 2: they're experienced, and you want to draw from that experience
5:43
Speaker 2: because he's seen some things that I've never encountered and
5:46
Speaker 2: it can help me navigate through all that.
5:48
Speaker 1: Now, you're a forty year old head coach entering your
5:50
Speaker 1: sixth season here in Cincinnati. There are only six head
5:53
Speaker 1: coaches that have been with their current teams longer. Do
5:57
Speaker 1: you feel like one of the experiences of that's in
6:00
Speaker 1: the league now?
6:01
Speaker 2: It's it's a wild stat to think about. I do
6:05
Speaker 2: feel like we've we've been through a lot of games here,
6:09
Speaker 2: you know, if you just put the total number of games,
6:11
Speaker 2: you know, whatever, it is probably somewhere in the hundreds.
6:15
Speaker 2: But that's a lot of football games to be together
6:18
Speaker 2: with his staff and a lot of these players. And
6:20
Speaker 2: does it feel like I'm the sixth longest coach at
6:22
Speaker 2: to play it?
6:23
Speaker 1: Not?
6:23
Speaker 2: Really, it doesn't feel that way because I'm still feel
6:25
Speaker 2: like I'm young. So that's hard to believe, but that's
6:27
Speaker 2: just that's just the way it works here in this league.
6:29
Speaker 2: You know, when a quarter of the coaches are turning
6:30
Speaker 2: it over about every single year, you know, that's that
6:34
Speaker 2: puts you in the situation we're in today.
6:36
Speaker 1: Why do you feel like you've been such a good
6:38
Speaker 1: fit here?
6:41
Speaker 2: I love it here. I love the way the organization
6:44
Speaker 2: is set up where you get to speak with ownership
6:47
Speaker 2: on a daily basis, you get to speak with personnel
6:49
Speaker 2: on a daily basis. I think that's the communication that's
6:53
Speaker 2: that's critical. I don't know how you operate without it.
6:55
Speaker 2: And so we're always on the same page. We always
6:57
Speaker 2: get to talk through every situation. We get to hear
6:59
Speaker 2: everyone's opinion and find the best resolution for the club.
7:02
Speaker 2: That's the ideal way to handle it for me. At
7:04
Speaker 2: the same time, I love living in Cincinnati. I'm from Norman, Oklahoma.
7:08
Speaker 2: My wife has lived in a lot of Midwestern Ish
7:10
Speaker 2: type of areas, and so the community here is different
7:15
Speaker 2: than a lot of places we live. There's a true
7:17
Speaker 2: sense of community here. Whether you live in the West Side,
7:20
Speaker 2: the East Side, Mason, Kentucky, whatever it is, it feels
7:23
Speaker 2: like everybody's a Cincinnati and everyone's pulling for the Bengals.
7:26
Speaker 2: Life is good when the Bengals are doing well and
7:29
Speaker 2: the Reds are doing well, and it's our job to
7:32
Speaker 2: make sure that people feel good. And so I really
7:34
Speaker 2: love being a part of this community and it's what
7:37
Speaker 2: I grew up with, and so I think there's just
7:39
Speaker 2: feels like home to me, and we made.
7:41
Speaker 1: A home here. What if anything has gotten easier over
7:44
Speaker 1: the course of six years.
7:47
Speaker 2: Doesn't feel like anything is necessarily easy. Everything is always
7:51
Speaker 2: evolving and you're always trying to stay one step ahead.
7:55
Speaker 2: But now that again I've got the experience of dealing
7:58
Speaker 2: with a calendar or free agency or communicating with players
8:03
Speaker 2: before training camp, you know, now I've accumulated enough notes
8:06
Speaker 2: and made enough errors or done some positive things where
8:09
Speaker 2: now I've got a chance to do a better job
8:11
Speaker 2: staying a step ahead of maybe some issues that can
8:13
Speaker 2: arise that have arised over the time of and they're
8:16
Speaker 2: just one off issues obviously with with with a player
8:19
Speaker 2: or communication or things like that. And so I take
8:21
Speaker 2: a lot of pride in learning from my experiences there.
8:26
Speaker 2: You can say maybe it's easier that way because because
8:28
Speaker 2: you've accumulated the experiences.
8:30
Speaker 1: For the first time in your tenure, you won't have
8:32
Speaker 1: Brian Callahan by your side. You guys are your partner age,
8:36
Speaker 1: You got a lot in common. What are you going
8:38
Speaker 1: to miss about having him in the building.
8:40
Speaker 2: Well, just so reliable, consist I think you know the
8:43
Speaker 2: number one word to describe Brian as consistent. You know,
8:46
Speaker 2: he was just a machine every day turning through the
8:48
Speaker 2: tape and being prepared for me. He never knew when
8:51
Speaker 2: I was going to pop in having to deal with
8:52
Speaker 2: head coach stuff and he's gonna have to give me
8:54
Speaker 2: up to speed and he'd always keep it right and
8:56
Speaker 2: stride and so you know when he was also a
8:58
Speaker 2: great friend of mine. He's been a great for twenty
9:00
Speaker 2: years for me and so to lose that is tough.
9:04
Speaker 2: But I think as an example of finding the positive
9:06
Speaker 2: in the situation, it's it's time for him to move
9:09
Speaker 2: on and go get a new opportunity. He'd done everything
9:11
Speaker 2: he could do here, so it's time to go be
9:13
Speaker 2: a head coach. And I'm very happy for him and Allison.
9:16
Speaker 2: But now you look at the bright side, Okay, Pitch
9:20
Speaker 2: gets a new opportunity and other guys get a chance
9:22
Speaker 2: to step up. And step into roles that they haven't
9:25
Speaker 2: been able to do, but they've been ready for. And
9:27
Speaker 2: it'll be you know, a different way of looking at things,
9:29
Speaker 2: a different way of operating. Change can be good if
9:32
Speaker 2: you allow it to be good. And so I'm excited
9:34
Speaker 2: to see new guys step into new roles and I
9:36
Speaker 2: know that they'll do very well there.
9:38
Speaker 1: What'd you think of Brian's emotional reaction when he spoke
9:41
Speaker 1: of you and Mike Brown in the organization at his
9:43
Speaker 1: introductory news conference.
9:45
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, this place makes a really strong impression
9:47
Speaker 2: on you, and I think you're not going to find
9:49
Speaker 2: a coach that has left this building who wasn't affected
9:52
Speaker 2: by Mike Brown and the rest of ownership and the
9:54
Speaker 2: way that the Bengals do things here and how they
9:56
Speaker 2: take care of their own and you know, their place
9:59
Speaker 2: in the community. So you feel that, and you especially
10:01
Speaker 2: feel that when you've been here five years, like Brian was,
10:03
Speaker 2: and he felt like he belonged, he felt like he
10:06
Speaker 2: was valued. You know, he and I had a very
10:09
Speaker 2: close relationship. So you get in those moments where people
10:13
Speaker 2: start asking you about it and it can get emotional,
10:15
Speaker 2: you know, and I understand I've been through that myself,
10:17
Speaker 2: and but again it's I know this placement a lot
10:20
Speaker 2: to him.
10:21
Speaker 1: You mentioned Dan Pitcher, who's promoted from quarterbacks coach defensive coordinator.
10:25
Speaker 1: You also promoted from within with Brad Craig Thorpe moving
10:28
Speaker 1: up to Dan's spot, but you created a new job
10:31
Speaker 1: the past game coordinator, Justin Riscotti comes in. Was that
10:36
Speaker 1: a matter of wanting to bring new ideas into the organization.
10:39
Speaker 2: I think, you know, I think Dan's going to bring
10:41
Speaker 2: new ideas. You know when you're in a role and
10:44
Speaker 2: you were excited for an opportunity. He interviewed for a
10:46
Speaker 2: lot of OC jobs over the last two years, and
10:48
Speaker 2: so he always had to be thinking big picture of
10:49
Speaker 2: what am I going to do if I get the opportunity,
10:51
Speaker 2: And so that's going to be good for him to, Hey,
10:54
Speaker 2: do that here. You know, Hey, I'll take a step
10:56
Speaker 2: back to the spring and really let you take a
10:58
Speaker 2: lot of ownership in the direction of the offense. And
11:01
Speaker 2: he's ready for that opportunity, and I'm excited to see
11:04
Speaker 2: how this thing can continue to evolve. At the same time,
11:07
Speaker 2: with Justin's role, I'd always had my mind it would
11:10
Speaker 2: be good to bring in another voice from outside the
11:12
Speaker 2: organization just to throw some new ideas around. And so
11:18
Speaker 2: it was a position that we had outlined, but we
11:22
Speaker 2: didn't have to hire if we didn't find the right person.
11:24
Speaker 2: And so we interviewed a lot of people. I was
11:26
Speaker 2: going to be very comfortable not hiring anyone and just
11:30
Speaker 2: just shifting roles throughout throughout our staff right now. But
11:33
Speaker 2: when you interview Justin, it was a no brainer. Okay,
11:36
Speaker 2: this is maybe I couldn't put it all in words
11:38
Speaker 2: what exactly I was looking for, but when you interview Justin,
11:40
Speaker 2: it was exactly what we're looking for. And the foundation
11:44
Speaker 2: of the Vikings is the Rams. You know, their offense,
11:46
Speaker 2: and so talking through a lot of the things they
11:49
Speaker 2: were able to do in Minnesota that, you know, kind
11:51
Speaker 2: of stirred my memory bank from my time in LA
11:53
Speaker 2: that maybe we've shifted away from that would be good
11:55
Speaker 2: now with where we're oute on offense to shift back to.
11:57
Speaker 2: And so he's got he's got a great understanding and
12:00
Speaker 2: ownership of all the things that they did. He was
12:03
Speaker 2: with the offensive line in the last two years in Minnesota,
12:05
Speaker 2: but that's not really his DNA. His DNA is playing
12:07
Speaker 2: quarterback and being a part of the past game. So
12:09
Speaker 2: I think it's just a bonus that he's been in protections,
12:12
Speaker 2: he's been in the run game, and so he can
12:14
Speaker 2: see and understand the whole picture, and I think that's
12:16
Speaker 2: really going to help our offense.
12:18
Speaker 1: When you have an opening or create an opening, how
12:20
Speaker 1: do you go about finding candidates?
12:22
Speaker 2: Oh, it's I've got sheets that I update every week,
12:27
Speaker 2: you know, the coaching notices come out every week from
12:29
Speaker 2: the league, and I always update where people are at
12:32
Speaker 2: and look at other people's staffs and how they've structured
12:34
Speaker 2: the staffs and people I'd be interested in talking to
12:36
Speaker 2: in the future, and people that I think would fit here,
12:38
Speaker 2: because really, I believe, I strongly believe we can take
12:43
Speaker 2: the right person here and as long as they've got
12:46
Speaker 2: a good background in football and can talk the game,
12:48
Speaker 2: but they're a good person, we can help mold them
12:50
Speaker 2: into a great fit here. And so we're always starting
12:54
Speaker 2: with the people. They might be the smartest football person
12:56
Speaker 2: I've ever met in my life, but they're not a
12:58
Speaker 2: good fit from a personality standpoint of culture, then they
13:00
Speaker 2: don't work here. And so we start with the people
13:03
Speaker 2: and then and then find where we can fit them in.
13:05
Speaker 2: And so We're always tracking. I'm always making notes and
13:07
Speaker 2: counters I have with people that hey, maybe next year,
13:10
Speaker 2: maybe five years from now, somebody always want to stay
13:12
Speaker 2: in touch with, and there's there's plenty of people around
13:14
Speaker 2: that I stay in touch with that if the opportunity
13:16
Speaker 2: ever presents itself, we'll interview them and see if it's
13:19
Speaker 2: a good fit.
13:20
Speaker 1: Let's go back to last season. On day two of
13:22
Speaker 1: training camp, Joe Burrow hurts his calf. You projected calm
13:26
Speaker 1: and confidence externally. Internally, were you physically ill?
13:32
Speaker 2: No, No, because you know, we thought we'd have him
13:37
Speaker 2: back for the season, and you know, sometimes it could
13:40
Speaker 2: be worse, you know, I think that's that's a comment
13:42
Speaker 2: Joe and I made to each other several times over
13:44
Speaker 2: that period. It could be worse. You know, something could
13:46
Speaker 2: happen and we're done for the year, and that's a
13:49
Speaker 2: really challenging situation. So you just again, it's an opportunity
13:53
Speaker 2: for Jake Browning to have gotten a lot of reps.
13:55
Speaker 2: Maybe Jake Browning played well when he came in at
13:57
Speaker 2: the end of the year because he got all those
13:58
Speaker 2: training camp reps, you know, and so it gave us
14:00
Speaker 2: a chance to continue to make the playoffs and find
14:02
Speaker 2: some wins on the stretch and give our team hope
14:04
Speaker 2: and our community hope. And maybe that happened because he
14:07
Speaker 2: got all those those reps and so there was no
14:10
Speaker 2: panic from any of us, and that was genuine, you know.
14:12
Speaker 2: And it was unfortunately that we started right out the
14:16
Speaker 2: gay with two division teams with great defenses that are
14:18
Speaker 2: very challenging when when you're a little limited, you know,
14:21
Speaker 2: with the athleticism at that point. But we learned from
14:25
Speaker 2: those games and continue to evolve as this season.
14:27
Speaker 1: Went, as well as Jake ultimately played. If you knew
14:31
Speaker 1: now what you knew or what you didn't know, then
14:35
Speaker 1: might you have played Jake at the beginning of the
14:37
Speaker 1: season as Joe got more mobile.
14:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's tough for me to say. I think
14:41
Speaker 2: when Joe Burrow is available in any capacity, it's hard
14:43
Speaker 2: to turn that down, you know. And even the Rams week,
14:47
Speaker 2: he didn't practice all week, you know, if he did,
14:49
Speaker 2: he took a rep or two. Even the day of
14:52
Speaker 2: the game. I was prepared to show up and Jake
14:54
Speaker 2: take all the walk through reps, and Joe said, I'm
14:56
Speaker 2: going to do this, you know, And he goes out
14:58
Speaker 2: there and gives you enough to win the game, and
15:00
Speaker 2: so I think that's that's a that's a it's always
15:05
Speaker 2: a game time decision when when Joe's in a situation
15:09
Speaker 2: like that, and it's not an easy one, you know,
15:12
Speaker 2: to say we're gonna rest you or we don't want
15:15
Speaker 2: to make this thing worse.
15:16
Speaker 3: And so.
15:18
Speaker 2: It's it's hard in hindsight to go back and say
15:20
Speaker 2: you do anything differently.
15:21
Speaker 1: He's never had a normal, healthy training camp in four
15:25
Speaker 1: NFL seasons. How much of a difference would it make,
15:29
Speaker 1: especially early in the season if and when he does.
15:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like I'm gonna jinx the situation here,
15:34
Speaker 2: So I'm very careful.
15:35
Speaker 1: But that's me pounding on what you know.
15:38
Speaker 2: It's a time to create chemistry with with new players.
15:41
Speaker 2: It's a time, you know, to get on the same
15:44
Speaker 2: page with the new receiver and work through all the
15:47
Speaker 2: kinks of of body language and timing and all those
15:50
Speaker 2: things are good because it's really difficult when you show
15:53
Speaker 2: up in the first game week to get that stuff.
15:55
Speaker 2: Now you're into game plan mode and specific things to
15:58
Speaker 2: attack this specific defense we're facing, and so there's not
16:00
Speaker 2: nearly as much time to iron out the communication with
16:04
Speaker 2: other players on the roster. And so that's what training
16:06
Speaker 2: camps for training camps, not for creating some grand scheme
16:09
Speaker 2: that's gonna you know, you're just trying to do the
16:11
Speaker 2: basics and allow your guys to get back into the
16:13
Speaker 2: fundamentals of football and assess new players and who's going
16:17
Speaker 2: to make the team. And then as you get closer
16:18
Speaker 2: to the first game week, you start to do more
16:20
Speaker 2: game plan stuff. So it's good to have your quarterback
16:23
Speaker 2: available as you're assessing in the roster to help with
16:26
Speaker 2: that assessment in terms of their play.
16:29
Speaker 1: Let's discuss free agency beginning with Von Bell. You referred
16:32
Speaker 1: to him the other day as the ultimate standard setter
16:35
Speaker 1: considering some of the leaders that you've lost, Joe Mixon
16:38
Speaker 1: should have been a Wooshi DJ reader. How significant is that?
16:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, he knows how we do things. I think that's
16:44
Speaker 2: a big part of things. And again he just he
16:48
Speaker 2: when I say standard setter, he does it by example.
16:51
Speaker 2: He doesn't have to be yeller and screamer and demanding
16:54
Speaker 2: that way of everybody. He's very clear with his communication.
16:56
Speaker 2: But he's the guy who's the first car in the
16:58
Speaker 2: parking lot, you know, and the players a lot six
17:00
Speaker 2: am every single day consistently. He's always in the weight room,
17:03
Speaker 2: you know, he's always leading the meetings, and so those
17:06
Speaker 2: are things that young players can see and think, Okay,
17:09
Speaker 2: I thought I was doing things the right way, but
17:11
Speaker 2: there's a whole different level I can get to to
17:14
Speaker 2: really be a pros pro, you know. And so you
17:16
Speaker 2: hear that thrown out a lot. This guy's are pro. Well, yeah,
17:19
Speaker 2: the technically they're all professionals, but there's a difference in
17:22
Speaker 2: a guy who manages his time the right way, is
17:24
Speaker 2: always prepared for every meeting before the coaches can't even
17:27
Speaker 2: get there. He's on the field first, you know, going
17:29
Speaker 2: through his own warm up before he gets to practice.
17:31
Speaker 2: And those are the types of examples that are really
17:34
Speaker 2: good for younger players to see that there's a whole
17:36
Speaker 2: different standard that can be set when there's a veteran
17:38
Speaker 2: showing you the way. That way.
17:40
Speaker 1: Is that real leadership to you?
17:42
Speaker 2: Yeah it is, you know, leadership is you doing things
17:47
Speaker 2: the right way and so that when it is time
17:49
Speaker 2: to speak up, it doesn't fall on deaf ears because
17:52
Speaker 2: you're the guy who's maybe straight and now all of
17:54
Speaker 2: a sudden you're yelling at another. Well, you're not always
17:56
Speaker 2: doing it the right way. So I think that's where
17:58
Speaker 2: leadership starts is by you set a standard for yourself
18:02
Speaker 2: and you're always doing things the right way. You're always
18:04
Speaker 2: prepared so that when you do finally speak, whether that's
18:08
Speaker 2: a high volume of speaking or you pick your moments,
18:12
Speaker 2: the players really perk up because they know here's a
18:14
Speaker 2: guy who does everything the right way that I can
18:16
Speaker 2: rely on asking me to do something different.
18:18
Speaker 1: What do the additions of von Bell and Gino Stone
18:21
Speaker 1: mean to Daxhill in Jordan Battle.
18:23
Speaker 2: I think it's it's outstanding for those two young players
18:26
Speaker 2: because you go back to Geno's time in college, he
18:29
Speaker 2: played on one of the greatest defenses over a period
18:32
Speaker 2: of time. You know, I think that what IOWA has
18:34
Speaker 2: done consistently and how they get those guys ready to
18:37
Speaker 2: play in the communication they have. You know, obviously Baltimore
18:40
Speaker 2: has done a really good job as well, and so
18:42
Speaker 2: he's been in that system for a while and so
18:44
Speaker 2: you always saw the communication, You always saw the little
18:46
Speaker 2: details of safety play with him that made things difficult
18:48
Speaker 2: for us. So I have a high appreciation for the
18:51
Speaker 2: level of play that he brings here. Same with Vaughan,
18:54
Speaker 2: and so for Jordan and Dax to be able to
18:56
Speaker 2: see that firsthand, I think will help to help their
18:59
Speaker 2: growth exponentially here and so I'm excited to see those
19:02
Speaker 2: those young players continue to ascend.
19:05
Speaker 1: Mikeasicki is nearly six six. He ran a four or
19:08
Speaker 1: five fourth to combine with a forty one and a
19:10
Speaker 1: half inch vertical. He had seventy three catches for the
19:13
Speaker 1: Dolphins a few years ago. Have you had a tight
19:16
Speaker 1: end like mikea Sicki?
19:17
Speaker 2: I think We've had a lot of different styles of
19:19
Speaker 2: tight ends over my time here, and Mike's a different style.
19:22
Speaker 2: And so, you know, I think Tanner Hudson was able
19:26
Speaker 2: to play really a pass game role for us last
19:28
Speaker 2: year that really gave us some really good things and
19:30
Speaker 2: passing situations. And Mike has that value. You know when
19:35
Speaker 2: he's shown it repeatedly timetime again and even on the
19:39
Speaker 2: tape last year. You know we can see in New
19:41
Speaker 2: England's he's still got all that ability and so now
19:43
Speaker 2: it's just a matter of opportunity for him, and we're
19:45
Speaker 2: excited to give him that opportunity.
19:47
Speaker 1: Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins gave the local media a very
19:51
Speaker 1: entertaining news conference on Monday and claims that the first
19:54
Speaker 1: thing he said to you was why the bleep didn't
19:56
Speaker 1: you slide protection to me during a game where he
19:59
Speaker 1: had three sacks against Incinnati? How did you respond?
20:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I maybe try to feel my way around that situation.
20:06
Speaker 2: But he's he's a player who's made an impact on
20:09
Speaker 2: every defense we've seen him playing. We've played against him
20:12
Speaker 2: a lot over my coaching career. I think I've played
20:16
Speaker 2: against him on every single team that he's been on
20:19
Speaker 2: and always had a high appreciation. He's always come up
20:21
Speaker 2: for us in free agency and it has always worked out.
20:23
Speaker 2: But I think that he brings that better in leadership
20:26
Speaker 2: and you like that fire that he's got from a
20:29
Speaker 2: defensive tackle. So I'm excited to get him in the
20:32
Speaker 2: building and give him to work with our guys, and
20:34
Speaker 2: what he'll bring to the table I think will really
20:36
Speaker 2: help our defense.
20:37
Speaker 1: Interior pass rushers are hard to find in this era
20:41
Speaker 1: with quick passing games. How crucial is it to a
20:44
Speaker 1: good defense?
20:44
Speaker 2: Well, it helps It helps the ends, you know, it
20:47
Speaker 2: helps Trey and Sam and all those guys behind him
20:50
Speaker 2: help with their one on ones because when you're focused
20:53
Speaker 2: on a detackle and you're having a slide the protection
20:55
Speaker 2: that direction and try to get all the help that way.
20:58
Speaker 2: Then it frees up other guys and if they get
21:00
Speaker 2: matched up one on one, then Sheldon wentz and so
21:03
Speaker 2: I think that's he's gonna be a real asset for us.
21:05
Speaker 1: This year. You've added Zach Moss at running back. He
21:09
Speaker 1: had some big games for the Colts last year when
21:10
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor was out one hundred and sixty five yards
21:13
Speaker 1: against Tennessee won twenty two against Baltimore. When you watched
21:16
Speaker 1: his tape, was there anything in particular that made you
21:19
Speaker 1: think this guy is a perfect fit for us?
21:23
Speaker 2: I do? I think that you know his style of running.
21:26
Speaker 2: He's played in a lot of shotgun offenses, which which
21:28
Speaker 2: we lean more towards the gun than underve. We've got
21:31
Speaker 2: both obviously, but he's a very patient runner, and he's
21:35
Speaker 2: patient and then he can explode through the hole. He's
21:38
Speaker 2: got great lateral quickness, can make people miss, so if
21:40
Speaker 2: you're really spreading him out eleven personnel, he's really a
21:42
Speaker 2: good runner to make teams pay that way, and can
21:45
Speaker 2: create his own holes by setting up defenders. And he's
21:48
Speaker 2: got good hands coming on the backfield. His football a
21:52
Speaker 2: Q is really high, which leads to, you know, efficiency
21:57
Speaker 2: and pass protection as well, and so I just that
22:00
Speaker 2: he's going to be a great value in that room
22:04
Speaker 2: for us and a really good fit offensively for what
22:06
Speaker 2: we want to do.
22:07
Speaker 1: Some free agents commit without a visit. Others visit first.
22:11
Speaker 1: When they visit, is it typically because you need to
22:14
Speaker 1: know more about them or the other way around?
22:16
Speaker 2: It can be two way street. You know, it can
22:18
Speaker 2: be your working through deal with an agent and in
22:21
Speaker 2: the meantime, you know you want to get the medical
22:23
Speaker 2: or they want to come in and see what the
22:24
Speaker 2: team's all about and meet the coaches, and so there's
22:27
Speaker 2: a lot of different things and reasons for why a
22:30
Speaker 2: player would take a visit before a green to a deal.
22:32
Speaker 1: It seems like the theme of this offseason is explosive plays,
22:36
Speaker 1: making more on offense allowing fewer on defense. Is that accurate?
22:39
Speaker 2: Well, that leads to more points being scored and fewer
22:42
Speaker 2: points being scored by the opponent. So that's a good
22:44
Speaker 2: way to look at it. But you always want to
22:47
Speaker 2: be an attacking style of team, and so the more
22:49
Speaker 2: ways that we can do that on either side of
22:51
Speaker 2: the ball, you know by putting pressure on quarterbacks or
22:54
Speaker 2: by getting explosive plays in the run in the past game,
22:56
Speaker 2: We're going to find ways to do it. And so
22:58
Speaker 2: a lot of the moves you made this year or
22:59
Speaker 2: get that direction.
23:01
Speaker 1: Six of your games are against the Ravens, Browns, and Steelers.
23:05
Speaker 1: Those three teams finished one, two and six in defensive
23:08
Speaker 1: DVA last year. How specifically do you need to build
23:12
Speaker 1: a team because of those six games.
23:15
Speaker 2: You factor that in because you know the personnel you're
23:18
Speaker 2: going to face that the scheme can always change because
23:22
Speaker 2: coordinators come and go, they get head jobs, they get like, oh,
23:24
Speaker 2: there's various reasons why that can happen. So you try
23:26
Speaker 2: not to to build your team because of scheme you face.
23:30
Speaker 2: But there's certainly players that you know you're gonna live
23:32
Speaker 2: in this division for a long time to come, and
23:34
Speaker 2: we can all name those players, and so you got
23:36
Speaker 2: to make sure that you're equipped to defend against those
23:40
Speaker 2: guys attack against those guys. It's very challenging division. So
23:44
Speaker 2: we do factor that in and you know, we feel
23:46
Speaker 2: like we've made some good moves, puts in a good position.
23:49
Speaker 1: The draft is about a month away, does Duke and
23:51
Speaker 1: the scouting department give you a list of guys to watch,
23:55
Speaker 1: or do you kind of pick and choose the positions
23:57
Speaker 1: do you feel are most important for you to watch.
24:00
Speaker 2: They go through the whole list of it, you know,
24:02
Speaker 2: in January and February, and at the appropriate time I
24:06
Speaker 2: jump in. So I might not catch all of them,
24:08
Speaker 2: but I might catch several positions. And so I go
24:11
Speaker 2: into the combine with the good understanding at least of
24:13
Speaker 2: several of the positions. You meet with those guys at
24:16
Speaker 2: the Combine. This month is set aside for pro days.
24:18
Speaker 2: So tomorrow I go to the Texas Pro Day and
24:21
Speaker 2: get a chance to assess all the talent that they
24:23
Speaker 2: have there. And then in April we always regrouped together.
24:26
Speaker 2: Duke goes back through with the scouts and the coaches,
24:29
Speaker 2: every single player at every position, and so you get
24:31
Speaker 2: a chance to hit them one more time with all
24:33
Speaker 2: the information we've gathered over the off season, over the Combine,
24:37
Speaker 2: over the pro days. And Duke does a great job
24:39
Speaker 2: of managing all that. And so for me, you know,
24:42
Speaker 2: I look at the positions that I feel like we
24:44
Speaker 2: really need and so that I understand the depth of
24:47
Speaker 2: those positions, and so I watch players, so you know,
24:51
Speaker 2: the information is always accessible to know how the scouts
24:53
Speaker 2: think about them, and I can always call those guys
24:55
Speaker 2: or look at the information in the system. But for myself,
24:58
Speaker 2: I'll kind of go through position by position. I can't
25:00
Speaker 2: do them all. There's not enough time for me to
25:02
Speaker 2: go through every position, so I pick our needs and
25:05
Speaker 2: for the positions I can't get through, the coaches and
25:07
Speaker 2: the scouts usually give me the names that they think
25:09
Speaker 2: fit us, and closer to the draft, I'll go through
25:11
Speaker 2: and make my assessments as well.
25:14
Speaker 1: I was talking to a draft guru at the combine.
25:16
Speaker 1: He said, in this past happy era in college football,
25:20
Speaker 1: he's become convinced that every draft is going to be
25:24
Speaker 1: deep at wide receiver. Do you feel the same way.
25:29
Speaker 2: I think that there's always going to be a great
25:34
Speaker 2: depth of receivers, and it's just who fits you best.
25:37
Speaker 2: You know, not every receiver fits every sole of offense,
25:39
Speaker 2: and so there's always gonna be guys that are listed
25:42
Speaker 2: as the one, two, three, four, five, Well maybe only
25:44
Speaker 2: maybe only numbers two and four really fit what you're
25:47
Speaker 2: looking for in the style of play you need and
25:49
Speaker 2: what fits with your quarterback. And so again, yeah, there's
25:53
Speaker 2: always a long list, and we always find the guys
25:55
Speaker 2: that we think fit us best.
25:57
Speaker 1: What's been the highlight of your off season so far?
26:02
Speaker 2: Stepping away from Cincinnati Bengals football watching the Nebraska basketball team,
26:06
Speaker 2: you know, it's We've watched every game, me and my
26:09
Speaker 2: two sons and my wife. I took my oldest son
26:12
Speaker 2: to Indiana. We went and watched That was the closest
26:14
Speaker 2: we could get to go on and watching them play.
26:16
Speaker 2: We'd never seen them play in person, so we drove
26:18
Speaker 2: to Bloomington, down and back same night watching them beat
26:21
Speaker 2: the Hoosiers. And now we're going to Memphis on Friday,
26:24
Speaker 2: and so it's a lot of fun for me. We'll
26:27
Speaker 2: get a chance to hopefully watch them win their first
26:29
Speaker 2: ever March Madness game in the history of Nebraska basketball.
26:33
Speaker 2: We've got a great team, but also my childhood friend
26:37
Speaker 2: Kellen Sampson, who coaches at Houston. They play in the
26:39
Speaker 2: game right after us. I'll get a chance to watch
26:40
Speaker 2: them play Longwood, and then god willing, both teams will
26:44
Speaker 2: play each other in the second round. I won't be
26:45
Speaker 2: able to be there. I'll be at the league meetings
26:47
Speaker 2: down in Orlando, but I think that'll be a cool
26:49
Speaker 2: full circle moment for me and Kellen and to watch
26:53
Speaker 2: my college team play against a really close friend of
26:56
Speaker 2: mine in the second round of the tournament.
26:57
Speaker 1: And since Kellen Sampson was your childhood buddy, we'll forgive
27:01
Speaker 1: you for not rooting for Cincinnati. The Bearricats lose to
27:04
Speaker 1: the Cougars yet again. As your kids are getting older,
27:07
Speaker 1: is the balance of work and family easier, tougher and
27:11
Speaker 1: the same.
27:12
Speaker 2: Well, the easier part is they stay up later, so
27:15
Speaker 2: during the season when I'm coming home late, you know,
27:18
Speaker 2: the boys sometimes are awake when I come home, so
27:20
Speaker 2: you get to chance see him, whereas early in my
27:22
Speaker 2: career you didn't see him till Friday afternoon and that
27:24
Speaker 2: was always difficult. So that part makes it a little easier.
27:27
Speaker 2: My wife does a great job. I bring him to
27:28
Speaker 2: the office, you know, sometimes during lunch if they have
27:30
Speaker 2: a day off or anything like that. So it's always
27:33
Speaker 2: a challenge, but that's that's the beauty of the NFL.
27:35
Speaker 2: The off season is conducive to a really healthy family life.
27:39
Speaker 2: You know, you don't have a lot of weekend obligations,
27:42
Speaker 2: and you work during the draft during the weekend, which
27:45
Speaker 2: is a lot of fun to be involved in. But
27:46
Speaker 2: otherwise you get time to be stuck in traffic at
27:50
Speaker 2: five point thirty on Columbia Parkway on the way home
27:52
Speaker 2: to get to basketball practice. And you know, the summers
27:55
Speaker 2: are really really generous for NFL coaching staffs, you know,
27:59
Speaker 2: compared to call certainly, and the season's a grind, but
28:01
Speaker 2: that's what we sign up for and that's what we like.
28:03
Speaker 2: Our families like it. They love having dad who coaches
28:06
Speaker 2: a team and they got the access they have, and yeah,
28:09
Speaker 2: they live and die with every game, but I think
28:12
Speaker 2: it's those are some things that they get a chance
28:14
Speaker 2: to be a part of that not every kid gets
28:16
Speaker 2: to be a part of. And so you take the
28:18
Speaker 2: good with the bad, and there's a whole lot of
28:20
Speaker 2: good when when your dad's coach.
28:21
Speaker 1: In the NFL, you did spend some time in the
28:23
Speaker 1: college ranks. When you see Saban get out and the
28:26
Speaker 1: Boston College head coach become a position coach in the
28:30
Speaker 1: NFL and Harbaugh leaving a national championship team to coach
28:34
Speaker 1: in the NFL, do you feel like as a coach
28:36
Speaker 1: the NFL right now is the place to be Considering
28:39
Speaker 1: the transfer portal and nil and all the things that
28:41
Speaker 1: are going on in college sports.
28:43
Speaker 2: It's always been the place to be, you know, and
28:45
Speaker 2: it's there is always a fearful aspect from college guys
28:51
Speaker 2: that have not been in the NFL as a player coach,
28:53
Speaker 2: because you have all these millionaires up here, and you think,
28:56
Speaker 2: you know, how would they respond to me? But then
28:58
Speaker 2: once you get here, you realize, man, and everybody's in
29:00
Speaker 2: it for the same reasons. You know, everybody just wants
29:02
Speaker 2: to win. They want to get better. If you can
29:04
Speaker 2: help them get better in your clear throughr communication, you
29:06
Speaker 2: can get along with all these guys. And so I
29:08
Speaker 2: think once guys actually make the jump and they spend
29:10
Speaker 2: a year in the NFL, they're thinking, why was I
29:12
Speaker 2: ever hesitant to attempt to do this? Now a lot
29:14
Speaker 2: of guys attempt to do it, and it's very difficult
29:16
Speaker 2: to get in. But I feel like it's always been
29:19
Speaker 2: the place to be because it's the highest level of
29:21
Speaker 2: competition with the ultimate goals at hand, and the off
29:25
Speaker 2: seasons are always very conclusive to a very healthy family life.
29:29
Speaker 1: I've taken enough of your time. I greatly appreciated Bust
29:31
Speaker 1: have left to the corn Huskers this weekend.
29:33
Speaker 2: I appreciate it Dan.
29:35
Speaker 1: Because of Zach, I will now be rooting for Nebraska
29:38
Speaker 1: this Friday and its first round game against Texas A
29:41
Speaker 1: and M. His alma mater is the only school in
29:44
Speaker 1: a power conference that has never won an NCAA tournament game.
29:49
Speaker 1: The corn Huskers are zero to seven all time, and
29:52
Speaker 1: this is Nebraska's first March Madness appearance in ten years.
29:57
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
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Speaker 1: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
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Speaker 1: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
30:16
Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Last week on
30:20
Speaker 1: this podcast, I talked to the team's first three free
30:23
Speaker 1: agent editions this year, Mikeasicki, Gino Stone, and Zack Moss.
30:28
Speaker 1: There have been two big additions since big both literally
30:33
Speaker 1: and figuratively, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and offensive tackle Trent Brown.
30:39
Speaker 1: Rankins was the twelfth pick in the draft coming out
30:42
Speaker 1: of Louisville in twenty sixteen and has played for the
30:45
Speaker 1: Saints Jets and Texans in an eight year NFL career.
30:49
Speaker 1: As I mentioned in my conversation with Zach Taylor, Sheldon
30:52
Speaker 1: was highly entertaining in a news conference with the Cincinnati
30:55
Speaker 1: media this week, especially when it came to facing the
30:59
Speaker 1: Bengals in Week ten last year, when he had three
31:02
Speaker 1: sacks and nine quarterback pressures on thirty three pass rushing snaps.
31:08
Speaker 1: For the most part, he was matched up one on
31:11
Speaker 1: one against Alex Kappa without Ted Carris sliding in that
31:15
Speaker 1: direction to help.
31:16
Speaker 4: They didn't slide to me. I don't know why. That
31:20
Speaker 4: is the first question I asked Zach when I met
31:23
Speaker 4: him before I before I before, I said, any, hey,
31:29
Speaker 4: how you doing anything else? It was like and again,
31:31
Speaker 4: excuse my French, I speak freely, guys, You're gonna get
31:34
Speaker 4: used to it. I said, why the fuck didn't you
31:38
Speaker 4: slide to me? And we just kind of laughed about it,
31:41
Speaker 4: and you know, he's, you know, he was like, you
31:44
Speaker 4: know what, man, you know we probably should have. We
31:46
Speaker 4: probably like, well, I'm glad you didn't. You know. I
31:49
Speaker 4: even asked Ted like I think it was like midway
31:51
Speaker 4: through the game. I was like, y'all, just what just
31:54
Speaker 4: the game plan? Cool. I'm not gonna ask again. I
31:57
Speaker 4: don't want I'm not gonna make y'all overthink it. That's
31:59
Speaker 4: what y'all want to do, Let's do it. You know.
32:02
Speaker 4: You know, me and Cap have had some battles for years.
32:04
Speaker 4: He was in Tampa when I was in New Orleans,
32:06
Speaker 4: so you know, just there's some familiarity there. So but yeah, no, listen,
32:11
Speaker 4: I was very pleased with coach Zach Taylor's decision to
32:17
Speaker 4: leave me one on one all day. It made for
32:19
Speaker 4: a great Sunday.
32:21
Speaker 1: Rankins has had many great Sundays in his NFL career.
32:24
Speaker 1: He's had as many as eight sacks in a season,
32:27
Speaker 1: which is extremely high for a tackle, and according to
32:30
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus, his pass rush win rate was tenth
32:34
Speaker 1: best among interior defensive linemen last year, better than Jeffrey
32:38
Speaker 1: Simmons and Justin Madabique, among others. With so many quarterbacks
32:43
Speaker 1: getting the ball out in about two and a half seconds,
32:46
Speaker 1: getting quick pressure up the middle is extremely valuable.
32:50
Speaker 4: I just think the way this league is now, there's
32:52
Speaker 4: not a lot of quarterbacks who stand twelve yards deep
32:57
Speaker 4: in the pocket, you know, most guys you know, or
33:00
Speaker 4: dropping back to nine, stepping up to seven or six,
33:06
Speaker 4: you know. So if you have guys who can you know,
33:09
Speaker 4: disrupt the middle. You know, if you ask a lot
33:11
Speaker 4: of quarterbacks, you know, they don't like their feet getting
33:15
Speaker 4: stepped on. You know, they don't like you know, when
33:17
Speaker 4: they follow through guys helmets being in the way. So
33:22
Speaker 4: if you got a guy who can you know, and again, guys,
33:26
Speaker 4: I speak freely. So just if you got a guy
33:29
Speaker 4: who can just be a good a person, you know,
33:35
Speaker 4: to the annoyance of a quarterback you know, in the
33:38
Speaker 4: middle all game long.
33:40
Speaker 1: Uh.
33:40
Speaker 4: It doesn't even have to again, it doesn't even have
33:42
Speaker 4: to be hits. It's just again, if he's constantly having
33:44
Speaker 4: to you know, take one hand off the ball to
33:47
Speaker 4: to you know, push an old lineman you know, away
33:51
Speaker 4: this way to get his feet out of the way.
33:53
Speaker 4: I mean that's just throws off time and throws off rhythm. Uh.
33:57
Speaker 4: And he's human. At some point he gets annoying, you
33:59
Speaker 4: start thinking about out it. You know, it's just you
34:01
Speaker 4: know it. You know, all that little stuff adds up
34:04
Speaker 4: over you know, over the course of four quarters and
34:07
Speaker 4: you know, being able to uh, you know, recavoc So
34:11
Speaker 4: if you've got a guy who can do that and
34:12
Speaker 4: I like to feel I can do that then yeah,
34:16
Speaker 4: Like I think it matters in the sense of especially
34:18
Speaker 4: if you've got good airbrushers, which we have here. It
34:22
Speaker 4: allows everybody else to to to kind of eat. It
34:26
Speaker 4: unlocks the key, so to speak. You know, when you
34:28
Speaker 4: got that pressure up the middle and that constant force
34:31
Speaker 4: pushing the pocket and being disruptive, it allows everybody else
34:35
Speaker 4: to eat. It allows guys to play coverage on the
34:37
Speaker 4: back end, allows guys to to be able to jump
34:40
Speaker 4: things on the back end. Now now you're playing uh
34:43
Speaker 4: faster because quarterbacks got to get the ball off faster.
34:45
Speaker 4: So now you're playing on that. Now you can play
34:47
Speaker 4: with more vision and different things like that. It all
34:49
Speaker 4: works hand to hand. So you know, you know, just
34:52
Speaker 4: being able to be that guy that can cause that disruption,
34:56
Speaker 4: cause that you know, that force in the middle. You know,
34:59
Speaker 4: I'll take pride in being that kind of go.
35:00
Speaker 1: Rankins, who turns thirty in April, signed a two year
35:03
Speaker 1: deal reportedly worth twenty six million dollars. He'll likely replace
35:08
Speaker 1: DJ Reader in the starting lineup, but he's a different
35:11
Speaker 1: type of tackle. For one thing, he's about thirty pounds
35:14
Speaker 1: lighter and while Sheldon is known for his pass rushing ability.
35:18
Speaker 1: He says he can help shore up the Bengals run
35:20
Speaker 1: defense as well.
35:22
Speaker 4: I think I can do everything at a high level.
35:25
Speaker 4: You know, if you go back, you know to my
35:28
Speaker 4: last year with the Jets. Coming off of that year,
35:33
Speaker 4: people question could I rush the passer anymore? Everybody was like, oh,
35:35
Speaker 4: he's a run guy. Now, like that's what he is.
35:37
Speaker 4: He's a run guy. Like you go back, I mean
35:39
Speaker 4: with you know, the Jets, my last year there, when
35:42
Speaker 4: I was on the field, we gave up three point
35:44
Speaker 4: eight yards of care and you know, going to Houston
35:50
Speaker 4: we became the number six run defense in the league
35:53
Speaker 4: or something like that. You know, with me playing a
35:55
Speaker 4: lot of snaps you know of run defense. So you know,
35:58
Speaker 4: I think, I think I do it all at high level.
36:02
Speaker 4: You know, I think, you know, I think you don't
36:05
Speaker 4: get this far in the league or you don't you know,
36:08
Speaker 4: get the opportunities that I've had to be a guy.
36:11
Speaker 4: And again, like the Jets didn't have to play me
36:15
Speaker 4: on first second down. They could have went out and
36:17
Speaker 4: got a big body and you did all that. But
36:20
Speaker 4: you know, I feel like it's you know, I play
36:23
Speaker 4: football really well. I don't just rush the passer really
36:26
Speaker 4: well like I play. You want to line up in
36:29
Speaker 4: twenty one person, they'll run power cool, It's fine, let's
36:32
Speaker 4: do it. If you want to spread it out and
36:34
Speaker 4: throw the ball over the park, just don't leave me
36:37
Speaker 4: by myself all day. It's gonna get ugly. So, like
36:39
Speaker 4: you know, I feel like I do it all really
36:41
Speaker 4: well at a high level. So you know, I look
36:43
Speaker 4: forward to continue in that trend, you know, and continue
36:46
Speaker 4: to do that the rest of my career.
36:47
Speaker 1: After adding Rankins to the d line, the Bengals signed
36:50
Speaker 1: mammoth offensive lineman Trent Brown to a one year deal
36:53
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. Brown, who turns thirty one next month, is
36:58
Speaker 1: six eight three six day and says he expects to
37:01
Speaker 1: start a right tackle. After talking to Zach Taylor and
37:05
Speaker 1: Frank Pollack.
37:05
Speaker 3: Well, the first and foremost, they said they believe in me,
37:07
Speaker 3: They believe in my game, They like my game, and
37:10
Speaker 3: they said how I play the game is everything that
37:13
Speaker 3: they believe in. They feel like this was missing to
37:18
Speaker 3: help them get over the top. So I was out
37:21
Speaker 3: for that. I was excited about that, and I'm even
37:23
Speaker 3: more excited now being here.
37:24
Speaker 1: Brown is entering his tenth NFL season and was a
37:27
Speaker 1: Pro Bowler in twenty nineteen with the Raiders. His calling
37:31
Speaker 1: card is one on one pass protection, and he's versatile,
37:34
Speaker 1: with roughly three thousand career snaps at right tackle and
37:38
Speaker 1: twenty eight hundred at left tackle. In the past three years,
37:42
Speaker 1: Pro Football Focus has graded Trent between eleventh and twenty
37:47
Speaker 1: eighth in pass blocking among offensive tackles.
37:50
Speaker 3: That's what I do best. I think that's why I'm here.
37:54
Speaker 3: And like you said, you won't find another tackle in
37:58
Speaker 3: the league or in game of football today that does
38:02
Speaker 3: that better than me. I have a unique set of
38:05
Speaker 3: skills and being able to play both sides that way,
38:09
Speaker 3: and credit to God and my parents for that.
38:13
Speaker 1: Brown will be reunited in Cincinnati with Ted karras They
38:16
Speaker 1: were teammates in New England for two seasons, and Ted
38:20
Speaker 1: gave Trent a glowing review on what to expect in Cincinnati.
38:24
Speaker 3: He said he loved to hear He said that, Bro,
38:28
Speaker 3: this is this is a great organization. It's like a
38:32
Speaker 3: family over here. And I walked in the building this morning.
38:34
Speaker 3: He was in the hot to getting ready to work out,
38:37
Speaker 3: so he was like they even added to it him
38:40
Speaker 3: being here on March nineteenth in the all season program
38:43
Speaker 3: to start for another month. Almost that was kind of
38:47
Speaker 3: like a huge thing right there in itself, just just
38:50
Speaker 3: being being from where we came from, when people would
38:55
Speaker 3: get out of there for a release. Any chance we had.
39:00
Speaker 1: The addition of Brown could have a major impact on
39:02
Speaker 1: the Bengals draft since it's considered a deep draft for
39:06
Speaker 1: offensive tackles. Most of the mock drafts have the Bengals
39:09
Speaker 1: choosing one at number eighteen. That's still a strong possibility,
39:13
Speaker 1: but it's not a must with Brown slated to start
39:16
Speaker 1: at right tackle. Now, if there's a great defensive tackle
39:20
Speaker 1: available still a position of need, or a player at
39:23
Speaker 1: nearly any position that is extremely high on the Bengals
39:27
Speaker 1: draft board and somehow is still there at number eighteen,
39:30
Speaker 1: their options are open. My thanks to this week's guests,
39:35
Speaker 1: and that's going to do it for this episode of
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40:06
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast.