Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: The Comeback

Transcript

Bengals Booth Podcast: The Comeback · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi again everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth Podcast. The Just when they think they've
0:11
Speaker 1: got you game said match, here comes the comeback. Addition
0:19
Speaker 1: is Joe Burrow and offensive line coach Frank Pollock return
0:23
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown Stadium. Coming up, Dave Lapham joins me
0:27
Speaker 1: for a thirty minute conversation as we discuss those comebacks
0:31
Speaker 1: and answer the ask lap questions that you submitted on Twitter. Plus,
0:37
Speaker 1: we'll talk to Special Teams coordinator and assistant head coach
0:40
Speaker 1: Darren Simmons. The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by bud
0:45
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. Refresh the game, and here's a quick reminder
0:49
Speaker 1: that you can add the latest edition of this podcast
0:52
Speaker 1: delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
0:56
Speaker 1: on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or odd Bean. It's
1:01
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since a new toothbrush. I went to
1:06
Speaker 1: the dentist last week shout out to doctor Eric Lenz,
1:10
Speaker 1: and as is always the case, I left his office
1:12
Speaker 1: with a little goodie bag, including a new toothbrush, and
1:15
Speaker 1: the first time I brushed my teeth with it, I
1:18
Speaker 1: was reminded of how good it feels to use a
1:21
Speaker 1: brand new one. According to the American Dental Association, a
1:26
Speaker 1: toothbrush is typically in good working order for about three
1:29
Speaker 1: to four months. So if it's been longer than that
1:33
Speaker 1: and the brushes are frayed and pointing every which way,
1:37
Speaker 1: by yourself a new toothbrush, it'll put a smile on
1:40
Speaker 1: your face, hopefully an even brighter one. Now time for
1:46
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham to answer my questions and yours. Lap Let's
1:51
Speaker 1: start with the return of Joe Burrow to Cincinnati. He'll
1:55
Speaker 1: be rehabbing five days a week at Paul Brown Stadium,
1:57
Speaker 1: and he did a zoom call with reporters on Tuesday.
2:01
Speaker 1: What stood out to you in that zoom call? I
2:04
Speaker 1: think his positive attitude about the rehab. You know, I
2:08
Speaker 1: think that he feels like he's a quick healer. The
2:11
Speaker 1: the torn ro trator cuff that he had surgery on
2:14
Speaker 1: and the quick healing process that he's gone through already
2:18
Speaker 1: from a rehab standpoint, I think is an indicator. You
2:20
Speaker 1: know that that's that's how his body type is, which
2:24
Speaker 1: is which is encouraging. And you know the thing about
2:28
Speaker 1: him is every grind is a challenge and this might
2:32
Speaker 1: be the biggest grind slash challenge of his of his
2:36
Speaker 1: career obviously, but I think he's up to it. I
2:39
Speaker 1: think in his mind he wants to be have the
2:41
Speaker 1: training staff and the rehab people say he's the best
2:44
Speaker 1: we ever had. Joe Burrow wants to be number one
2:47
Speaker 1: and everything, and that's that's the way he approaches it.
2:49
Speaker 1: And uh, and I think that's a that's a good thing. Obviously.
2:53
Speaker 1: I liked how he acknowledged the need to be better
2:56
Speaker 1: on the deep ball. I think sometimes athletes will kind
2:59
Speaker 1: of dan it's around something that was a weakness or
3:01
Speaker 1: a problem, and he addressed that head on, even saying
3:05
Speaker 1: that he needs to get bigger and stronger. Yeah. I
3:08
Speaker 1: think that that. Uh. You know, sometimes guys, players, really
3:13
Speaker 1: good players, are the last ones to realize they still
3:15
Speaker 1: have things they need to get better at. You know,
3:18
Speaker 1: they quote think they've arrived. As such. I don't think
3:21
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow is the kind of guy that'll ever think
3:23
Speaker 1: he's arrived. I think he's one of those guys that
3:25
Speaker 1: is always gonna, you know, strive to be better, find
3:28
Speaker 1: a weakness, build on that, and then and then take
3:32
Speaker 1: a positive and make that even better. You know. I
3:34
Speaker 1: think he just across the board. He's always never going
3:37
Speaker 1: to be satisfied, always going to want to strive to
3:41
Speaker 1: be better, and that's what makes the good ones great.
3:44
Speaker 1: He said something else that caught my ear, and this
3:46
Speaker 1: also gets back to something he said in his interview
3:49
Speaker 1: with Colin Cowherd last week. When Coward talked to him
3:53
Speaker 1: about what he can improve on from his rookie year
3:56
Speaker 1: or what lessons he learned, he specifically brought up the
3:58
Speaker 1: Colts game and said he learned that when it's twenty
4:02
Speaker 1: one nothing in the NFL, you cannot take your foot
4:05
Speaker 1: off the gas pedal. Yeah, there's there's no doubt. I mean,
4:09
Speaker 1: today's offense is the way people can attack the excellence
4:12
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position. No lead is safe, There's no
4:16
Speaker 1: question about it. That's why you know, in the Pittsburgh
4:19
Speaker 1: Cleveland game, when they jumped out to that twenty one
4:21
Speaker 1: nothing lead, I thought, well, yeah, that's a good that's
4:23
Speaker 1: a good indicator that this game could turn out well
4:26
Speaker 1: for them tonight. But is certainly not over. And you know,
4:29
Speaker 1: even Chris and all we're talking about when they in
4:32
Speaker 1: the second and the third quarter, there's still a two
4:35
Speaker 1: score game plus, so They're like, this football game is
4:37
Speaker 1: not over and that's just life in the National Football League,
4:39
Speaker 1: there's no question about it. And that's something that you
4:42
Speaker 1: know you have to adjust to for sure. So Burrow
4:45
Speaker 1: hopes to be throwing in mid February, twelve weeks after surgery,
4:50
Speaker 1: and he seems confident that he'll be ready to go
4:52
Speaker 1: in time for Week one of the regular season next year.
4:55
Speaker 1: Do you have any concern about him pushing too hard?
5:00
Speaker 1: I think that's always a concern with the guy of
5:02
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow's makeup. You know, Joe, Joe is h He's
5:06
Speaker 1: a very self motivated guy. You don't have to light
5:08
Speaker 1: a firecracker under Joe's but to get him going. Man,
5:11
Speaker 1: you know, he wakes up ready to roll every single day.
5:15
Speaker 1: Um So I think, honestly, yeah. The thing that you
5:18
Speaker 1: have to think about if you're directing his rehab, like
5:21
Speaker 1: Nick Cosgrey is gonna Nick. Nick is excellent. Nick's as
5:24
Speaker 1: good as there is in the in the world. Really
5:26
Speaker 1: in doing what he does, is you're gonna have to
5:28
Speaker 1: put a harness on him and continue to pull him back.
5:31
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about pushing him. He's gonna
5:33
Speaker 1: push himself but you know, if you feel like boy,
5:37
Speaker 1: you know, my experience tells me, even though he might
5:39
Speaker 1: be able to do it at this stage, might be
5:41
Speaker 1: doing a little too much. I'm gonna pull him back,
5:43
Speaker 1: pull the reins a little bit, and uh, you know,
5:46
Speaker 1: try to tame this wild bronkin buck right now. Um,
5:49
Speaker 1: I think I think that's kind of that's kind of
5:51
Speaker 1: the mindset that everybody's gonna have to approach you with.
5:53
Speaker 1: And Joe's gonna have to realize that these guys, know,
5:56
Speaker 1: you know, it's not it's not anything personal. It's not
5:59
Speaker 1: like they're trying to, you know, retard your rehab process
6:03
Speaker 1: or anything like that. But you have to have trust
6:05
Speaker 1: and faith in your rehab people to make sure that
6:08
Speaker 1: you don't become your own worst enemy. You know, you
6:11
Speaker 1: don't do too much because there are going to be setbacks,
6:13
Speaker 1: and you don't want there to be self impost setbacks.
6:16
Speaker 1: Those are the worst setbacks to have when you do
6:19
Speaker 1: it to yourself. All right, let's move on to the
6:21
Speaker 1: return of Frank Pollock as the offensive line coach. Were
6:25
Speaker 1: you at all surprised the Bengals were able to lure
6:27
Speaker 1: him back, considering that Zach didn't try to keep him
6:31
Speaker 1: in the first place, when Frank was still under contract
6:33
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. Yeah, that that was an
6:36
Speaker 1: interesting situation. I think it shows that both men aren't small,
6:42
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it was a situation where, all right,
6:45
Speaker 1: Zach had made a commitment that he was going to
6:47
Speaker 1: go with Jim Turner, and I think, I mean, there's
6:51
Speaker 1: no doubt in my mind that Mike Brown would have
6:54
Speaker 1: liked Zach to interview. You know, Frank can see what
6:57
Speaker 1: he thought. But at that point, I think through the
7:00
Speaker 1: grapevine or whatever, I think he knew that you know,
7:03
Speaker 1: Zach was was had his guy, had his guy, Jim Turner.
7:07
Speaker 1: So I think I'm going to credit Mike Brown on this. Obviously,
7:11
Speaker 1: Frank asked Mike Brown probably to say, look, would you
7:15
Speaker 1: please just let me go because I have opportunities out there.
7:18
Speaker 1: Don't don't don't make it a situation where you might
7:23
Speaker 1: want me to hang around an interview with a guy
7:24
Speaker 1: that I know has already made his mind up. Can
7:26
Speaker 1: I go somewhere else and take advantage of an opportunity
7:30
Speaker 1: that might present itself. So bottom line is, no bridges
7:33
Speaker 1: were burned anywhere. You know, I think there was a
7:35
Speaker 1: healthy ghost through respect everywhere. Frank said right away that
7:38
Speaker 1: he appreciated the way that he was treated by the
7:41
Speaker 1: Brown family upon his return. So it tells me that
7:45
Speaker 1: not only whe he was treated while he was here,
7:48
Speaker 1: but when he exited, he was treated with respect. So
7:51
Speaker 1: I think the fact that that that's the way they
7:54
Speaker 1: parted ways, I think led to coming back together again.
7:58
Speaker 1: And and and I think the run game coordinator, even
8:02
Speaker 1: though you know it's just a title, how much responsibility
8:06
Speaker 1: would come with that title. I think there will be some.
8:08
Speaker 1: And I think that you know, in the in the
8:10
Speaker 1: progression of Frank Pollock's career to have that title in
8:14
Speaker 1: addition to offensive line coach, and it probably economically was
8:18
Speaker 1: a benefit as well to have that title. Then you
8:22
Speaker 1: come back and put things back together again, and I
8:25
Speaker 1: see them working well together. And the good thing is
8:29
Speaker 1: the players that were here when Frank was here the
8:31
Speaker 1: first time are excited about his return, and that's always
8:35
Speaker 1: a big plus. Joe Mixon among them. Joe Burrow told
8:39
Speaker 1: us in that Zoom interview yesterday that Joe Mixon called
8:42
Speaker 1: him up after Frank Pollock was announced and was quote
8:45
Speaker 1: hooting and hollering, why do you think Frank is so
8:49
Speaker 1: popular among players. I think it's his whole approach to
8:55
Speaker 1: the game of football. You know, some guys talk about
8:57
Speaker 1: their love of the game. Frank doesn't have to talk
9:00
Speaker 1: about it. He just shows it all the time. It
9:02
Speaker 1: oozes out of his pores, you know. And he played,
9:07
Speaker 1: you know, he played nine years in the NFL as
9:09
Speaker 1: a player, so he understands a lot of what the
9:12
Speaker 1: guys are thinking, what they're going through, you know, from
9:16
Speaker 1: from firsthand experience. And I think that's always a plus.
9:18
Speaker 1: I mean, I think he feels like he can relate
9:20
Speaker 1: to the locker room because he did as a player,
9:23
Speaker 1: and he knows, he knows the type of coach that
9:26
Speaker 1: he respected as a player, so he wants to be
9:28
Speaker 1: that type of coach and make sure that he builds
9:30
Speaker 1: those kind of relationships. So I think all of that
9:33
Speaker 1: is a part of the equation. Plus, you know, he's
9:36
Speaker 1: damn good at what he does. I mean, he's really
9:38
Speaker 1: a good He teaches not only schematic not only does
9:42
Speaker 1: he teach a good scheme that you can believe in,
9:44
Speaker 1: And that's very important. Are you buying, honestly buying what
9:48
Speaker 1: your coach is selling. And I think with Frank, Guys
9:52
Speaker 1: really do consume and buy everything he's selling in terms
9:56
Speaker 1: of his schematic, this technique. And he doesn't just teach technique.
10:01
Speaker 1: He teaches you know, how to do, how to how
10:04
Speaker 1: to I execute the technique. Here's what I want you
10:06
Speaker 1: to do, and here's why I want you to do it.
10:08
Speaker 1: And when you have those questions answered, you know, it's
10:11
Speaker 1: much easier to digest, you know. And and I think
10:14
Speaker 1: he also is as a former player. I think he
10:18
Speaker 1: felt like, when I come off the field, if I
10:20
Speaker 1: have something to say to my coach, I hope my
10:21
Speaker 1: coach listens to it, you know, and appreciates it a
10:24
Speaker 1: little bit. So I think he realizes he knows that
10:28
Speaker 1: Hopkins is smart. He knows Bobby Hart's smart. He knows
10:31
Speaker 1: there are some smart guys intelligence football IQ guys and
10:34
Speaker 1: that and that upfront. If they come off the field
10:37
Speaker 1: and say something, you know, it's I don't know if
10:39
Speaker 1: I can believe that. I think he there's there's a
10:42
Speaker 1: trust there, you know, that develops between the line coach
10:45
Speaker 1: and the lineman, and I think that's a that's a
10:47
Speaker 1: big factor. I've always always said that when the coach
10:50
Speaker 1: has both they both respect and like, I mean that
10:55
Speaker 1: that's and you don't necessarily have to like them, but
10:58
Speaker 1: when that does happen, when you have both, man, there's
11:01
Speaker 1: a synergistic effect there. And I've said before and I
11:04
Speaker 1: still maintain that the guys that I saw that the
11:07
Speaker 1: best example of that I've ever seen as Dick Lebal.
11:11
Speaker 1: I don't think there's one ex player of Dick Lebal,
11:14
Speaker 1: whether it's quote disgruntled about lack of playing time or whatever,
11:18
Speaker 1: that does not love and respect Dick Lebo as a coach.
11:21
Speaker 1: That's hard to do. And I think Frank because of,
11:24
Speaker 1: you know, his experience as a player. Dick was a
11:26
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame player as well as a Hall of
11:28
Speaker 1: Fame coach. Frank was played a long time in the
11:31
Speaker 1: National Football League. That's hard to do, and I think
11:33
Speaker 1: players both respect, you know, and like Frank as well.
11:37
Speaker 1: The use of the word center just Dick has just
11:40
Speaker 1: elevated the intelligence level of this podcast, So thank you
11:43
Speaker 1: very much. Billy Price is another guy who very publicly
11:47
Speaker 1: came out in support of this move. He clearly looks
11:50
Speaker 1: at it like a new lease on life. Do you
11:53
Speaker 1: think Billy or anybody else in particular benefits from the
11:57
Speaker 1: return of Frank Pollock. I think that the thing that
12:00
Speaker 1: you have to go into it with, and I think
12:04
Speaker 1: Frank is doing it as well. It's kind of it's
12:07
Speaker 1: a clean slate, you know. I'm going to start by
12:09
Speaker 1: examining tape and see what I see with my own
12:13
Speaker 1: eyes in terms of what talent is available to me
12:16
Speaker 1: on the current roster, who's approaching free agency, who's back
12:20
Speaker 1: for sure, all those kind of things. Can they play.
12:23
Speaker 1: But you know, Billy had a great relationship with Franky
12:27
Speaker 1: were when they were first together, so you would expect
12:30
Speaker 1: that to continue, and Billy is looking for a fresh start, obviously,
12:34
Speaker 1: a new lease on life is such. The thing that
12:37
Speaker 1: Billy has to do is continued to try to improve
12:39
Speaker 1: on the areas where he's had problems. And in my mind,
12:44
Speaker 1: his big thing is balance. Because of his arms being
12:48
Speaker 1: a little bit short, he's out of balance a lot.
12:50
Speaker 1: You know, he's over extended his chins over his skis
12:53
Speaker 1: and you know he's on the ground some. So that
12:56
Speaker 1: that's the biggest thing. I don't care who the coach
12:59
Speaker 1: is if they can't figure out, together with the player,
13:02
Speaker 1: how to keep that player in balance and let him,
13:05
Speaker 1: you know, stay on his feet and finish plays. Um,
13:08
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't really matter. But you know, maybe
13:11
Speaker 1: Frank has has some ideas to help Billy with that.
13:14
Speaker 1: You know that Jim didn't, and maybe Billy can respond
13:18
Speaker 1: to that and make an adjustment. And it's all about,
13:21
Speaker 1: you know, adjustments, and sometimes sometimes a coaching change is
13:24
Speaker 1: just what a player needs. People say, oh, he went
13:29
Speaker 1: to a he got a fresh start, new location, you know,
13:33
Speaker 1: new environment. You can get that internally instead of not
13:37
Speaker 1: necessarily a new place, but a new environment. I mean,
13:40
Speaker 1: it's it's the guy you deal with every single day
13:42
Speaker 1: of practice, your coach. When that changes, everything changes. So
13:47
Speaker 1: offensive line coaches filled Troy Walters is reportedly being promoted
13:51
Speaker 1: to become the wide receivers coach, They still have vacancies
13:54
Speaker 1: a defensive line coach and running backs coach as far
13:56
Speaker 1: as we know at least any thoughts on what they
13:59
Speaker 1: should be looking for there. If I'm the head coach,
14:03
Speaker 1: get together with the rest of my position coaches on
14:07
Speaker 1: offense and say who have you coached with that you
14:10
Speaker 1: really think is that I was standing running back? Give
14:12
Speaker 1: me your guy's input. Who do you think would mesh well,
14:15
Speaker 1: you know, with with the rest of these coaches, who
14:17
Speaker 1: do you think would mesh well with the type of
14:19
Speaker 1: personalities we have, you know, players that they're going to
14:22
Speaker 1: be coaching um and and there's always uh some you know,
14:27
Speaker 1: a list can be made up of that, because then
14:29
Speaker 1: then the mesh would be easier because there'd be some
14:31
Speaker 1: familiarity a little bit. And the same with defense. I
14:34
Speaker 1: would I would sit down, uh you know, if I'm
14:37
Speaker 1: lou Anna Rumo or Zach you know, I'd sit down
14:39
Speaker 1: with lou and offense, sit down with Brian Callahan and say, no,
14:43
Speaker 1: make a list based on what your assistants are saying,
14:46
Speaker 1: and you make me a list of guys that you
14:48
Speaker 1: feel would would uh, would mesh well marry well with
14:51
Speaker 1: the rest of our coaching staff, and let's target then
14:54
Speaker 1: instead of doing this big you know, bulls eye target,
14:56
Speaker 1: this big target, why don't we bulls eye it a
14:59
Speaker 1: little bit and see if we can come up with
15:01
Speaker 1: somebody that would would fit in philosophically, what we're trying
15:05
Speaker 1: to do, how we're trying to teach it, all those
15:07
Speaker 1: kind of things. All right, I am putting you in
15:10
Speaker 1: the shoes of Duke Tobin. Yeah, give me your top
15:14
Speaker 1: three priorities in order you're talking about from a position standpoint, Yes, sir,
15:21
Speaker 1: I would talk about initially both lines of scrimmage DAN
15:26
Speaker 1: one and two. You know, however, you want to do
15:28
Speaker 1: it one and one. A doesn't because even in this
15:31
Speaker 1: era of all kinds of formations, all kinds of personnel groupings,
15:37
Speaker 1: window dressing, motion jes see, follow this crap. Who advanced
15:41
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, the teams that won the line of
15:43
Speaker 1: scrimmage period, the teams that won the line of scrimmage.
15:47
Speaker 1: Cleveland beat Pittsburgh up up front on both sides of
15:50
Speaker 1: the ball. I was very surprised about it, but I
15:54
Speaker 1: guess I shouldn't have been because Cleveland Pro Football Focus
15:57
Speaker 1: has the Cleveland Browns number one rated run team, run
16:00
Speaker 1: game old line and pass protection old line, and they
16:03
Speaker 1: played that way. So I think that I think it
16:07
Speaker 1: starts there. It starts there. I think you have to
16:10
Speaker 1: find out who's who you're going to be able to
16:13
Speaker 1: make sure you don't lose anything in free agency, obviously,
16:15
Speaker 1: and what you might be able to retain in free agency,
16:18
Speaker 1: and then go to the draft and approach it accordingly
16:20
Speaker 1: based on what happened in free agency. First and foremost,
16:23
Speaker 1: But then I would address both lines of scrimmage. Initially
16:28
Speaker 1: I would. I'm a firm believer in you know, I
16:32
Speaker 1: think whenever guys have big games, guys up front played
16:37
Speaker 1: well as well and gave an opportunity. You know, you
16:39
Speaker 1: can have very talented players and they can look very
16:43
Speaker 1: average if the offensive line is getting overwhelmed by the
16:46
Speaker 1: defensive line, and vice versa. So if O line and
16:49
Speaker 1: D line are one and two in either order, do
16:52
Speaker 1: you have a third priority? You know, I would, depending
16:55
Speaker 1: on what happens on the back end. I just think,
16:58
Speaker 1: you know, if I've got my defense line address and
17:00
Speaker 1: my offensive line addressed, I'm looking at, uh, you know,
17:04
Speaker 1: somebody to cover people on the back end. I do
17:08
Speaker 1: think it's a it's a you know, it's a passing league. Still,
17:11
Speaker 1: even though teams that are running the football did well
17:14
Speaker 1: in the in the playoffs, Uh, Cleveland ran it well, obviously, Baltimore, Well,
17:19
Speaker 1: we know that the AFC northall other than Pittsburgh now,
17:23
Speaker 1: which is crazy for me to even think to say
17:25
Speaker 1: and then say it, they can't run the football. That's amazing.
17:28
Speaker 1: But um yeah, I think I think having a cover
17:32
Speaker 1: guy back there. But still in my mind, Dan, you
17:36
Speaker 1: can you can still get away with not having top
17:42
Speaker 1: notch cover people if you have an outstanding pass rush.
17:45
Speaker 1: If you have no pass rush, you have to address
17:47
Speaker 1: the back end. But even even with that, you can't
17:50
Speaker 1: cover people forever back there. It's impossible. The athletes are
17:54
Speaker 1: too good. So if you pass rush and coverage go
17:58
Speaker 1: hand in hand, Jing and Yang, But I would still
18:02
Speaker 1: try to improve both of those errors in that side
18:04
Speaker 1: of the football, all right. I threw out an invitation
18:07
Speaker 1: on Twitter for ask lap questions. They came pouring in
18:12
Speaker 1: this week. Many about the draft will start with Sam
18:17
Speaker 1: and basically many people ask the same question with different wording.
18:22
Speaker 1: Did the performance of Alabama wide receiver Davante Smith in
18:25
Speaker 1: the National Championship Game? Make you rethink what the Bengals
18:30
Speaker 1: should do with the fifth pick? And JT put it
18:33
Speaker 1: this way, If Piney Sewell, Jamar Chase, and Davante Smith
18:38
Speaker 1: are all there at number five, who do you think
18:41
Speaker 1: the Bengal should take. I'm like falling along what I
18:46
Speaker 1: talked about just a little bit ago. I'm a suol
18:48
Speaker 1: guy at that point. I think all those guys are
18:51
Speaker 1: phenomenal players, great weapons. But you know, T Higgins, Tyler
18:56
Speaker 1: Boyd still have guys. If you don't have people up
18:59
Speaker 1: front that are giving your quarterback an opportunity to not
19:02
Speaker 1: be affected by what he the first stage of it is,
19:06
Speaker 1: oh my god, I want to get I don't want
19:07
Speaker 1: to be watching the pass rush and being concerned there.
19:10
Speaker 1: I get to get my eyes down field the coverage.
19:12
Speaker 1: And if you're getting hit quarterbacks, I mean they don't
19:15
Speaker 1: get their eyes downfield as quickly as they should, you know,
19:17
Speaker 1: And and there's a whole and then and then it
19:20
Speaker 1: just kind of unfolds on unravels from there. But um,
19:23
Speaker 1: as I've seen, I've seen great skill people wasted because
19:27
Speaker 1: they weren't given an opportunity to perform. But if if
19:31
Speaker 1: if honestly, if Stool's gone, for example, at number five,
19:34
Speaker 1: and I think he might go as high as number two.
19:36
Speaker 1: I think the Jets might take him at number two.
19:39
Speaker 1: So if he and you know, and try to develop
19:41
Speaker 1: Donald and that tackle would help develop him, they have
19:44
Speaker 1: one and maybe try to get the book in tackling
19:47
Speaker 1: and see if Donald can develop. But if if Seol
19:51
Speaker 1: is gone and the next tackle is you know on
19:55
Speaker 1: my board is down there at you know, ten or
19:57
Speaker 1: eleven and I'm picking at five, and I've got these
20:00
Speaker 1: receivers that would would be closer to the top five,
20:04
Speaker 1: I'd stay true to my board, you know, I would.
20:06
Speaker 1: I would think about it at that point in time.
20:08
Speaker 1: I still would always if it's close, I would. I
20:11
Speaker 1: would draft by need if it's not a huge disparity
20:15
Speaker 1: and where I have them ranked on my board. But
20:17
Speaker 1: if there's a pretty good disparity there, if you know
20:20
Speaker 1: you're dropping out of the top five with a guy
20:23
Speaker 1: you're picking a fifth, and you're dropping out of the
20:25
Speaker 1: top five and you're maybe barely staying in the top
20:27
Speaker 1: ten with a position of need, I might stay true
20:30
Speaker 1: to my board and see if I can get it
20:32
Speaker 1: done early in the second round with the bigger need.
20:34
Speaker 1: A related question to that from Joe Joe Jammer. If
20:37
Speaker 1: you trade down, how far are you willing to go?
20:41
Speaker 1: If I'm if I'm trading down, I've got to have
20:45
Speaker 1: at least two guys in mind that i'd be comfortable with.
20:48
Speaker 1: So if I'm trading down to say number twelve, and
20:51
Speaker 1: I don't think one of the two guys that I'm
20:53
Speaker 1: comfortable with trading back, I think there's no way that
20:57
Speaker 1: both of them are going to be gone, I'd trade back,
20:59
Speaker 1: but my mind is dicey if both of them might
21:02
Speaker 1: be gone, I wouldn't trade back that far, you know,
21:05
Speaker 1: I'd always I would never trade back thinking I have
21:08
Speaker 1: this guy in mind, and that's the guy that's going
21:11
Speaker 1: to you never know. You have to have a plan B.
21:15
Speaker 1: You can't. You can in my mind, you can never
21:17
Speaker 1: trade back if you don't have two people that you
21:20
Speaker 1: know on your board. Aren't There's not a big disparity
21:23
Speaker 1: with them on the board. They're about the same spot
21:25
Speaker 1: on the board, maybe a couple of different positions, but
21:28
Speaker 1: on the same spot on the board that you'd be
21:30
Speaker 1: good with. If you trade it back and then getting
21:33
Speaker 1: the additional pick, you might be able to address the
21:36
Speaker 1: other need that you had of the two options, you know,
21:39
Speaker 1: with that extra pick or your fifth pick in the
21:42
Speaker 1: second round. But I would never trade back for one
21:45
Speaker 1: specific guy thinking oh, I'm going to get him. Man
21:50
Speaker 1: the draft pickle, telling you you'll get slapped right across
21:53
Speaker 1: the face and doing that from three kid TAXI. Great title,
21:57
Speaker 1: by the way, And this is related to the possibility
22:01
Speaker 1: of potentially drafting DeVante Smith. Is there a fear of
22:04
Speaker 1: drafting players from Alabama, it seems like they have injury
22:08
Speaker 1: issues once they're selected. Yeah, that's uh, that's very interesting
22:12
Speaker 1: because particularly at the running back position, because Nick Saban
22:15
Speaker 1: works those horses. I mean, he runs those horses. He
22:17
Speaker 1: doesn't he doesn't walk them around the track man. They're
22:20
Speaker 1: always running and and and his practices are pretty physical.
22:25
Speaker 1: So there has been, you know, a very pretty long
22:28
Speaker 1: history of running backs that have been injured when they're
22:32
Speaker 1: at Alabama either that or come out and or injured
22:36
Speaker 1: pretty quickly early in their career. Because you know, it
22:39
Speaker 1: does in my mind, it does make a ton of sense.
22:42
Speaker 1: You only have so many carries in that body, you know,
22:45
Speaker 1: physical carries, and if you're burning them up early, you know,
22:48
Speaker 1: that's a that's a little bit of a consideration. But
22:52
Speaker 1: to me, the the trend was so dynamic that it was.
22:56
Speaker 1: It wasn't just oh that's a coincidence. You know, there
22:58
Speaker 1: has to be a little bit more to it than that.
23:00
Speaker 1: But at the receiver position, I'm not really sure. I mean,
23:04
Speaker 1: the thing obviously, the thing about Smith that is going
23:07
Speaker 1: to concern people one hundred and seventy seven pounds. You know,
23:10
Speaker 1: he was a buck sixty six when he was a
23:12
Speaker 1: freshman at uh at Alabama and they beat him up
23:16
Speaker 1: unbelievable eleven pounds. You know, but he's wiry, he's still strong.
23:20
Speaker 1: But in the SEC, in the in the playoffs, those
23:24
Speaker 1: are good players. But the NFL is a cut above.
23:27
Speaker 1: I mean the NFL the corners run faster linebacker. When
23:30
Speaker 1: he when he beat the OHIU State linebacker. Um, I'm
23:34
Speaker 1: not saying he's not going to be the linebacker in
23:35
Speaker 1: the NFL, but it might be a better match than
23:37
Speaker 1: it wasn't that college game. They hit hard, they're they're bigger, faster, stronger,
23:42
Speaker 1: and can run. That means there's going to be bigger impact.
23:45
Speaker 1: And you know, you're always you're always worried about a
23:47
Speaker 1: guy at that size, you know, with that kind of
23:50
Speaker 1: impact coming across the middle of the football field for
23:52
Speaker 1: example of what have you so? Um, yeah, it's that
23:56
Speaker 1: that I guess that's something that you have to think
23:59
Speaker 1: about these He's all, we're coming at every level and
24:01
Speaker 1: when guys overcome it to the because the level that
24:04
Speaker 1: he has in terms of the best, he came out
24:08
Speaker 1: of nowhere and this guy he wasn't even he wasn't
24:11
Speaker 1: even the number one receiver at Alabama going into the
24:14
Speaker 1: season until there was injury, broke an ankle, and you
24:18
Speaker 1: got to you gotta give him a ton of respect.
24:19
Speaker 1: But um, it's a it's a small sample size, but
24:23
Speaker 1: it's a hilacious sample size. There's no doubt about it.
24:26
Speaker 1: From Bengals, Bobby, did you respond better in your playing
24:29
Speaker 1: days to a gym turner coaching style or a Frank
24:32
Speaker 1: Pollock coaching style? Back when I played, there was it
24:36
Speaker 1: was more universally a gym turner coaching style, and so
24:41
Speaker 1: you didn't really experience, uh, you know the other I'm
24:46
Speaker 1: not saying it didn't happen, and I'm not saying I
24:48
Speaker 1: didn't have coaches, a ligne coaches, a couple that weren't
24:51
Speaker 1: more like the Frank Pollock coaching style. And I think
24:55
Speaker 1: the Frank Pollock coaching style in today's NFL works better
24:59
Speaker 1: because players, I mean, it's not that we didn't want
25:03
Speaker 1: to ask why, but you just didn't. It just that
25:07
Speaker 1: was the that was the culture. What a coach said
25:11
Speaker 1: was gospel, and whether you believe that or not, you
25:13
Speaker 1: better change your beliefs because it's gospel today. And I
25:17
Speaker 1: believe I think this has improved the game today. Everybody
25:19
Speaker 1: says why why, coach, Just tell me why, just so
25:21
Speaker 1: I can understand if I think that you have to
25:24
Speaker 1: you have to change with the times. I think coaches
25:26
Speaker 1: have to adapt and I think, you know, personality and
25:31
Speaker 1: being able to deal with different players. Nobody's the exact
25:35
Speaker 1: same physically. And that's that's where I think frank Um
25:40
Speaker 1: basically excels is he's got his techniques Stan but it's
25:44
Speaker 1: not like one size fits all. Well, we may have
25:47
Speaker 1: to modify this technique because you've got short arms. You
25:49
Speaker 1: have a long trunk, but shorter arms, And you can
25:52
Speaker 1: do this because you have long arms and a shorter trunk.
25:54
Speaker 1: Not everybody's the same physically. So he does a good
25:57
Speaker 1: job of, you know, being malleable with his technic to
26:01
Speaker 1: be able to you know, be inn amiva, you know,
26:03
Speaker 1: and adjust to all the different body types. Saying with
26:07
Speaker 1: the personalities, I mean, no, nobody's the exact same personality wise.
26:11
Speaker 1: So if you're going to just how you do things
26:14
Speaker 1: from a technique standpoint, and I think they're much better
26:17
Speaker 1: doing that these days. Mind coaches are in the NFL.
26:20
Speaker 1: Back in the day, it was more like this is
26:22
Speaker 1: what we're doing it, boys, and this is how we're
26:24
Speaker 1: doing it, and no questions asked. Yes, they're a coach,
26:27
Speaker 1: and now it's much different. You know, here's here's what
26:30
Speaker 1: I want done. But if your body doesn't really quite
26:34
Speaker 1: able to handle that, let's figure out a way to
26:35
Speaker 1: adjust that technique a little bit. And the same thing
26:38
Speaker 1: with input on on you know, how to block a
26:42
Speaker 1: certain configuration or whatever the case may be. I think
26:46
Speaker 1: it's uh. I think you do have to have a
26:48
Speaker 1: different working relationship with players. And I'm not saying the
26:52
Speaker 1: thing about Frank that I respect dan is um. He
26:56
Speaker 1: does listen, but he's the decision maker. It's I'm a democracy,
27:01
Speaker 1: it's not a dictatorship. But and he'll listen, but he's
27:05
Speaker 1: still the decision maker. They're not going to make the
27:08
Speaker 1: decision for him, but he's going to listen and get feedback,
27:11
Speaker 1: you know, and decide. And I think I think that's
27:14
Speaker 1: all valuable. I think players appreciate it. All right. I'm
27:18
Speaker 1: going to combine questions from Tim and Ryan. Tim asked,
27:22
Speaker 1: do you think the Bengals will sign a couple of
27:24
Speaker 1: veteran offensive linemen in the free agent market? Ryan asked
27:29
Speaker 1: which free agent offensive lineman would you target? And he
27:32
Speaker 1: listed these names, Joe Tuoney, Brandon Schurf, John Miller, Alejandro Villaneuava,
27:40
Speaker 1: and Austin Blythe I'll throw in a couple of others
27:43
Speaker 1: that are out there, Trent Williams and Taylor Moton. So
27:47
Speaker 1: will they sign veteran offensive lineman And is there anybody
27:51
Speaker 1: that would especially excite you? Yeah, I haven't looked at
27:56
Speaker 1: at that much tape of a lot of these guys
27:59
Speaker 1: to see how they're playing currently. The one thing that
28:01
Speaker 1: I would not do is sign somebody based on reputation.
28:06
Speaker 1: You know. It's because I'm telling you, we see that
28:10
Speaker 1: some player get to a certain stage of their career
28:14
Speaker 1: and they fall off a cliff. Other players don't, and
28:17
Speaker 1: you never know where that cliff is, and you never
28:19
Speaker 1: know when that fall is starting. So from one year
28:22
Speaker 1: to the next, the level of play of a guy
28:24
Speaker 1: may be dramatically different. And if you give a guy
28:27
Speaker 1: a ton of money based on how he performed, you know,
28:30
Speaker 1: over the last three years, but that last year it
28:34
Speaker 1: wasn't really as good as the other two, you know,
28:37
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to get caught in that trap. All
28:40
Speaker 1: those guys are really good football players? Are they or
28:43
Speaker 1: they have been? I would not give a lot of
28:46
Speaker 1: money to villain a Wave at this stage of his career.
28:48
Speaker 1: I think he's definitely on the back nine. And you know,
28:52
Speaker 1: if Pittsburgh wants to pay him for being a great
28:55
Speaker 1: player for them all those years, great, But if I'm
28:58
Speaker 1: the Bengals, I'm not going to pay him to be
29:00
Speaker 1: a great Steeler. I want to be a great Bengal.
29:02
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not interested what you did with the
29:04
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers. And it's that way with everybody. And sometimes
29:09
Speaker 1: when guys do it is it is strange. When guys
29:11
Speaker 1: do change locations. Sometimes their level of play changes too,
29:16
Speaker 1: whether it be they really had a fit with an
29:18
Speaker 1: offensive line coach there with for six years in their
29:21
Speaker 1: career and then they go somewhere else and it's a
29:23
Speaker 1: different line coach with different techniques like we're talking about,
29:26
Speaker 1: and damn it, we're doing it this way. I don't
29:28
Speaker 1: care that's the way you used to do it. We're
29:30
Speaker 1: doing it this way. All of a sudden, he's a
29:32
Speaker 1: different player, you know. It's it's weird how some of
29:34
Speaker 1: that stuff unfold. So I can understand why some teams
29:38
Speaker 1: have the philosophy and mindset of in a perfect world.
29:42
Speaker 1: We want to keep our coaching staff in tact for continuity,
29:45
Speaker 1: and we want to build through the draft and let
29:47
Speaker 1: that marriage happen. Let the same guys develop those players.
29:51
Speaker 1: You know, if it's working, obviously, if it's not working,
29:54
Speaker 1: you gotta make adjustments. So there's no you know, there's
29:59
Speaker 1: no one hundred percent given truism, you know, on free
30:03
Speaker 1: agency or really anything else. I mean, if it were
30:05
Speaker 1: that exact the science, everybody would win every game. And
30:09
Speaker 1: that's impossible, but I would I would think about I
30:14
Speaker 1: think they've got plenty of options inside Dan. I think
30:17
Speaker 1: the veteran players are proven. At the end of the season.
30:20
Speaker 1: They got you know, Sue Philo knows what he's doing.
30:25
Speaker 1: There's there's no question about it. And they've got players
30:30
Speaker 1: veteran players have played multiple positions and definitely can play guard.
30:34
Speaker 1: If people play tacky, you can play guard in the
30:35
Speaker 1: National Football League. You know, if you've develop big Fred,
30:38
Speaker 1: I mean all those things. That's what Frank's doing now,
30:41
Speaker 1: is he's trying to see how these guys play. Looking
30:44
Speaker 1: at their body mechanics on tape. Does that fit the techniques?
30:47
Speaker 1: Time that that kind of fits the techniques I'm going
30:49
Speaker 1: to try to teach here and then go out in
30:52
Speaker 1: free agency of the guys that are available, is that
30:54
Speaker 1: a better option? Then? Look at this guy's body time,
30:56
Speaker 1: that's perfect for what I want done, that's perfect for
30:59
Speaker 1: how I want it done. All of that has to
31:01
Speaker 1: take place, But I do think if they could they
31:04
Speaker 1: could find an improvement on the edge. That's where that's
31:08
Speaker 1: where the rubber meets the road. I think in free agency,
31:10
Speaker 1: if they can get it done from Marty, what will
31:14
Speaker 1: the Bengals do about a backup quarterback? Well, that's a
31:18
Speaker 1: great question. You know. The one thing that you can't
31:23
Speaker 1: just worry about economics. But the thing about Finley he's
31:27
Speaker 1: still on a rookie contract as well, so you know,
31:30
Speaker 1: can you do you look at him as is he
31:32
Speaker 1: a guy that can get you through a game or
31:35
Speaker 1: a boy? Do you need to make sure you have
31:36
Speaker 1: a guy like what happened this year? A guy that
31:38
Speaker 1: is going to have to get you through a handful
31:40
Speaker 1: of football games? Is that Ryan Finley? You know? And okay, okay,
31:44
Speaker 1: the attracting this is still on a rookie contract but
31:47
Speaker 1: still very very inexperienced you want a big game for
31:51
Speaker 1: you with a very creative game plan, you got to
31:54
Speaker 1: go out and get something else. In my opinion, how
31:57
Speaker 1: much money do you spend on that backup quarterback? How
32:01
Speaker 1: much salary capitoon do you try to uh you try
32:04
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, take up in that regard that
32:06
Speaker 1: Brandon Allen do enough. You talked about a road coaster.
32:10
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, quarterback rating within the one twenties
32:14
Speaker 1: over seventy five percent completion percentage and then the following
32:17
Speaker 1: week down to a squardus a big goose egg. So
32:20
Speaker 1: that's a that's a meteoric, that's a heck of a
32:23
Speaker 1: rise and a big fall. Man that's that's a bigger
32:26
Speaker 1: deal than the beast that's Peaks and Valley is bigger
32:28
Speaker 1: than the beast up at King's Island. So yeah, do
32:31
Speaker 1: you decide. I do think though they like them, I
32:35
Speaker 1: do think they like them. And I do think that
32:38
Speaker 1: his performances were based on who he was playing against,
32:41
Speaker 1: and you have to factor that in. But overall, do
32:43
Speaker 1: you think you can get through multiple games with with
32:46
Speaker 1: that type of player? And they did, you know, and
32:48
Speaker 1: and and it was it was not h it was competitive.
32:52
Speaker 1: I mean it looked like an NFL operation out there
32:55
Speaker 1: to meet with him at a quarterback. So I think
32:57
Speaker 1: you have to definitely evaluate him and then see what
32:59
Speaker 1: else is out there and how much how much does
33:01
Speaker 1: it cost? Last one from Daniel? Would you resign Carl
33:06
Speaker 1: Lawson or Will Jackson if you could only keep one? Yeah,
33:12
Speaker 1: that's uh, that's the big if. And I probably make
33:16
Speaker 1: sure that I kept lossing because you don't have any
33:20
Speaker 1: pass rush's. He's the only guy that gave you consistent
33:24
Speaker 1: pass rush. Now Hubbard was injured and he came back
33:27
Speaker 1: to play Sam. Sam is empty the effort, you know,
33:30
Speaker 1: bucket every snap. But even you know, even a guy
33:33
Speaker 1: like Sam physically you're only allowed. Your body's only saying
33:36
Speaker 1: you can do so much with that bad elbow. So
33:39
Speaker 1: he was, you know, trying to do stuff with one arm,
33:41
Speaker 1: you know, and did it well. But I think he's
33:44
Speaker 1: going to be fine. That gives you a second option.
33:46
Speaker 1: But to me, you paid all this money for Trey
33:49
Speaker 1: Wayne's never gonna snap out of him. I'm saying, all right,
33:53
Speaker 1: if I lose Carl Lawson, what do I have upfront?
33:56
Speaker 1: If I lose will, at least I have Trey Wayne's
33:59
Speaker 1: and I thought he was one of the best in
34:00
Speaker 1: the league. I gave him a ton of money, you know,
34:02
Speaker 1: and at least i'd have somebody else there. Who's my guy?
34:06
Speaker 1: If I don't sign Carl Lawson and then you can
34:09
Speaker 1: address you know, the position group in the draft. You know,
34:12
Speaker 1: it's like if I keep Carl Lawson and addressing the draft,
34:16
Speaker 1: or keep Carl Awston and lose Will Like we were
34:19
Speaker 1: talking about cornerback as a need, you know, maybe you
34:22
Speaker 1: have to move that that position up up even a
34:24
Speaker 1: little bit in terms of needs. So free agency dictates draft.
34:28
Speaker 1: It always hasn't It always will to ge and yang
34:30
Speaker 1: of that. But I don't know which is easier to
34:34
Speaker 1: find in the draft. A real significant, meaningful pass rusher
34:38
Speaker 1: that translates well to the National Football League or a
34:41
Speaker 1: cover guy that's a that's a that's a good question.
34:44
Speaker 1: That's a hell of a question. And what this particular draft,
34:48
Speaker 1: you know, if if you're if you're trying to decide
34:50
Speaker 1: who to sign a free agency what's out there and
34:53
Speaker 1: free agency? If I lose my guy, what's in the draft?
34:56
Speaker 1: If I lose my guy at either one of those positions,
34:58
Speaker 1: which one can I afford lose because there's more depth
35:02
Speaker 1: to build that in other free agency we could sign
35:06
Speaker 1: and the draft potentially, or we can double down. So
35:09
Speaker 1: I think there's some, you know, a lot of a
35:13
Speaker 1: lot of thinking that goes into it. But in my mind,
35:16
Speaker 1: I still maintain if you can affect the quarterback right
35:19
Speaker 1: away with a good pass rusher, it's easier to cover
35:23
Speaker 1: back there. And I'm not saying you get anybody, you know,
35:26
Speaker 1: any any joe off the street to do it. It's
35:29
Speaker 1: not like that. But if I had my choice, which
35:32
Speaker 1: would you rather have? Would you rather have a pass
35:36
Speaker 1: rush that gives the quarterback less than three seconds the
35:41
Speaker 1: snaps or a secondary that has, you know, two really
35:44
Speaker 1: good corners, I'd take that pass rush. The other thing
35:48
Speaker 1: about Carl Lawson Dan is he affected the run game
35:51
Speaker 1: better this year. So if you're if I'm building a defense,
35:56
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I can stop the run
35:58
Speaker 1: and rush the passer with that's starts up front, and
36:01
Speaker 1: then the back end is the second. Okay, compliment that
36:03
Speaker 1: pass rushing with good coverage. Now you have to have
36:05
Speaker 1: guys that'll, you know, set an answer in tacle the corner,
36:08
Speaker 1: but you have to have guys that can affect the
36:10
Speaker 1: run the end of the the pass, and Carl Lawson showed
36:13
Speaker 1: he's not a one trick pony. He showed himself against
36:17
Speaker 1: the run a little bit, so to me stop the run,
36:20
Speaker 1: put him in must passing situations. Have a pass rusher
36:24
Speaker 1: that can affect the quarterback and then have Trey Wayne's
36:28
Speaker 1: back there. If you lose Will Jackson. If you have
36:29
Speaker 1: them both, that's even better. But if I had to
36:32
Speaker 1: pick one, I'd probably go with Carl Lawson. I guess
36:35
Speaker 1: all right. People are always asking me wins Lap, I'm
36:37
Speaker 1: gonna get a Twitter account. I tell him it's never
36:40
Speaker 1: gonna happen. But this is the next best thing. You
36:44
Speaker 1: have answered their ask lap questions. Appreciate it, and you're
36:48
Speaker 1: exactly right. I think never's a long time, but not
36:51
Speaker 1: that long. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Bud
36:58
Speaker 1: Light Seltzer. It's and refreshing with a hint of fruit flavor.
37:03
Speaker 1: Despite a final record of four to eleven and one,
37:06
Speaker 1: there was a unit that performed well for the Bengals
37:08
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, the special teams. According to Football Outsiders,
37:13
Speaker 1: the Bengals graded out ninth best in the NFL and
37:16
Speaker 1: overall special teams play and second in the AFC North
37:20
Speaker 1: behind Baltimore. Recently, special teams coordinator Darren Simmons joined Lapping
37:26
Speaker 1: Me to discuss the play of his group. Darren, what
37:30
Speaker 1: were the bright spots for you in twenty twenty? Well,
37:36
Speaker 1: you know, I think as a unit overall, anytime you
37:39
Speaker 1: don't give up a lot of explosive play, block kicks,
37:41
Speaker 1: returns for touchdowns, that that's one positive. You know. I
37:46
Speaker 1: think the fact that we were able to pull together
37:48
Speaker 1: some guys really stepped up this year when we lost
37:51
Speaker 1: a couple of players, you know, one of which there
37:53
Speaker 1: were coal foundations what we do, like Clayton FEDLND. I
37:56
Speaker 1: thought we had some veteran guys really step up and
38:00
Speaker 1: play well and do a lot for us. You know,
38:03
Speaker 1: there's a couple of guys that really come to mind,
38:05
Speaker 1: you know, early in the year, whenever Sean Williams is hurt,
38:07
Speaker 1: Giovanni Bernard really stepped up and fulfilled a couple roles
38:11
Speaker 1: until Sean I could kind of get back after a
38:14
Speaker 1: belie it was a hamstring or calf whatever he had
38:16
Speaker 1: there early on, and then Sean really played his tail
38:18
Speaker 1: off and it was really a big part of what
38:21
Speaker 1: we did throughout the season. So I think, you know,
38:25
Speaker 1: being able for him to transition a little bit from
38:28
Speaker 1: his role on our team from being in a starting
38:31
Speaker 1: safety to being a really a core special teams player
38:34
Speaker 1: was a really bright spot for me, something that I'm
38:37
Speaker 1: personally very proud of him of. Um. You know, I
38:40
Speaker 1: thought our punt team, in terms of phase work, I
38:42
Speaker 1: thought our punt team does a nice job really the
38:44
Speaker 1: whole year, with exception to maybe one play against Pittsburgh
38:46
Speaker 1: they gave up a forty yard return to McLeod. Otherwise,
38:49
Speaker 1: I thought we covered pretty well there. You know, I
38:52
Speaker 1: thought the relative to the number of kicks we were
38:58
Speaker 1: getting to return, and I thought our kickoff return team
39:01
Speaker 1: was was solid. Um. You know, we had an opportunity
39:04
Speaker 1: to even make a couple more plays. But I thought
39:06
Speaker 1: Brandon Wilson's play um in that regard, after he came
39:09
Speaker 1: back after an injury, or even before his injury then
39:11
Speaker 1: came back, I thought was good. So, Um, there were
39:13
Speaker 1: a couple there were some bright spots. Obviously, we uh um,
39:17
Speaker 1: I always want more, um, And you know, anytime we
39:20
Speaker 1: set out in this thing, our goals to to be
39:22
Speaker 1: the best, to be the best in the league, and
39:23
Speaker 1: we were feel a little short of that, but um,
39:26
Speaker 1: you know him, I was pretty proud of the way
39:27
Speaker 1: we played football. Outsiders always rate your your your special
39:32
Speaker 1: teams amongst the best in the NFL, and rightfully so.
39:34
Speaker 1: And uh. In terms of actual kicking the football, Kevin
39:38
Speaker 1: Huber went into the last game seventh in the NFL
39:41
Speaker 1: and average in sixth and net and UH. And then
39:44
Speaker 1: you obviously were evaluating Cyber uh and over Randy Bullock
39:49
Speaker 1: uh down the stretch of the season. Where do you
39:51
Speaker 1: stand with respect to the seasons those guys had and
39:55
Speaker 1: what you anticipate for training camp in twenty twenty one. Well,
39:59
Speaker 1: I'll start with Evan first. Obviously, it was an important
40:01
Speaker 1: year for Kevin. He's a he's an undrestricted free agent,
40:04
Speaker 1: so it was important for him to punt well. And
40:06
Speaker 1: I think he answered the bell as he has you
40:08
Speaker 1: know the last cheval years. UM. I thought he got
40:11
Speaker 1: off to a really good start. It punted well up
40:13
Speaker 1: until probably the last couple of games of the year. UM,
40:16
Speaker 1: but he had some some issues that UH. I know
40:19
Speaker 1: he probably didn't finish as strongly as he wanted to.
40:22
Speaker 1: But and it's not gonna that's not gonna show up
40:24
Speaker 1: a lot statistically, Um, But but I know he wanted
40:28
Speaker 1: to punt a little better down the stretch. You know.
40:30
Speaker 1: Obviously it would have been unbelievable if we could have
40:33
Speaker 1: made the play on the on the seventy whatever it was,
40:36
Speaker 1: two yard punt yesterday would have been unbelievable play to
40:39
Speaker 1: kind of helped cap his season off. Um. But but
40:42
Speaker 1: all in all, I've been pleased with with him, you
40:45
Speaker 1: know it. Uh, it's such a weight off my shoulders.
40:49
Speaker 1: To have somebody that I know and somebody that I trust,
40:52
Speaker 1: and somebody who knows exactly what I want out of
40:56
Speaker 1: each play and how to manage that, whether it's plenty
41:00
Speaker 1: or holding, is a big deal to me. And he's
41:04
Speaker 1: continued to do that at a high level, I think, Um,
41:08
Speaker 1: you know, and I think probably the last two years
41:10
Speaker 1: has been two of his better years statistically in his career.
41:12
Speaker 1: So that's pretty unique. He's kind of getting He's really
41:15
Speaker 1: been able to hold his line of production, you know,
41:18
Speaker 1: over time and actually improved in some areas you know,
41:21
Speaker 1: in terms of the kicking situation. Um, it's something that
41:23
Speaker 1: we've got to talk about as a staff. And then
41:25
Speaker 1: his organizations to what we do going forward. Obviously, Austin
41:29
Speaker 1: Cybery is somebody that is under contract and he's still
41:32
Speaker 1: under his rookie contract because we claimed him from from Cleveland,
41:36
Speaker 1: so he's stilling his rookie contract, so he's still, you know,
41:39
Speaker 1: again under contract with us. UM. You know, our discussion
41:42
Speaker 1: with Randy Bullick will take place here, you know, over
41:44
Speaker 1: the course of the coming time as to where we
41:46
Speaker 1: want to go. Randy's a free agent also, UM, and
41:50
Speaker 1: how we want to approach that if we want to
41:51
Speaker 1: have him back and have a competition for that spot
41:55
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. Again, it's still very early, you know,
41:58
Speaker 1: I don't have a concrete answer for that yet, unfortunately,
42:02
Speaker 1: but we certainly will the coming days. But again it's
42:05
Speaker 1: obviously a position that we've we've got to get better
42:08
Speaker 1: production out of. We're visiting with Special Teams coordinator Darren Simmons. Darren,
42:13
Speaker 1: after you resigned this past season, prior to this year,
42:17
Speaker 1: we had a long conversation and you talked about your
42:20
Speaker 1: burning desire to win again. Obviously, you know, you do
42:25
Speaker 1: this because at your job partly, and you've got a
42:27
Speaker 1: family to support and all of that. But you've been
42:28
Speaker 1: in the league long enough where the ring is the thing.
42:31
Speaker 1: You're trying to win a Super Bowl title. How difficult
42:35
Speaker 1: have the last couple have been last couple of years
42:37
Speaker 1: been for you personally? Well, it's really been a struggle
42:40
Speaker 1: for me personally. You know. It's like I told our
42:43
Speaker 1: players on our Saturday Night Zoom, our last real meeting
42:48
Speaker 1: special teams will be you know, I wrapped it up.
42:50
Speaker 1: I think a couple of our captains and really everybody
42:53
Speaker 1: in general. I've got such a special group of guys
42:56
Speaker 1: that man, every time I asked something of them, they
42:59
Speaker 1: answered the bell. They never blinked. Everybody knew the the landscape,
43:04
Speaker 1: the situation we're in with with the pandemic, and how
43:07
Speaker 1: different things were, and and uh uh, you know, I
43:11
Speaker 1: really appreciated their efforts this year because it is it
43:14
Speaker 1: is tough, you know, when you're not winning games, even
43:16
Speaker 1: though we may be doing some things and trying to
43:19
Speaker 1: contribute as much as we can in the kicking game,
43:21
Speaker 1: when you're not winning games, you don't feel the culmination
43:24
Speaker 1: of your work. You don't feel the positive side of that,
43:27
Speaker 1: that that that it affects enough. And you know, I
43:31
Speaker 1: told our players and I firmly believe this, I said, I,
43:33
Speaker 1: you know, I really I play and I coach. I'll play.
43:36
Speaker 1: I coach this game for for two things, and for
43:38
Speaker 1: two goals. And number one it's to win the super Bowl.
43:42
Speaker 1: I mean you, that's the ultimate goal, um that I have,
43:46
Speaker 1: is to win the super Bowl. We've obviously fallen short
43:47
Speaker 1: of that my time here. I said in the second one.
43:50
Speaker 1: The one thing I can't control is we do it
43:52
Speaker 1: for respect, and I think you do it for respect
43:54
Speaker 1: of your peers and more importantly respect of your opponents.
43:57
Speaker 1: And so the one thing that you can grasp mat
44:01
Speaker 1: is is every time I go across the fields in
44:04
Speaker 1: the game to shake the other guy's hand, you know,
44:07
Speaker 1: I want to feel like I've earned his respect. And
44:10
Speaker 1: that's the one silver lining that I've been able to
44:14
Speaker 1: get out of it. But again, it has been I'll
44:17
Speaker 1: be lying if I said otherwise. It's been very difficult, uh,
44:22
Speaker 1: you know, to not win. And that's something obviously we
44:26
Speaker 1: got to try to work to improve on. Just as
44:28
Speaker 1: a team in general, certainly estimate kicking game two. We
44:31
Speaker 1: all have a hand in it. We all have hand
44:33
Speaker 1: in and everybody has a hand and when things don't
44:35
Speaker 1: go right. You just want to have You just want
44:37
Speaker 1: to make sure you have a hand in when you're
44:39
Speaker 1: succeeding too, And we got to get more of that
44:41
Speaker 1: for sure. But it's really been a struggle. You're not
44:45
Speaker 1: going anywhere. You're the best in the business, and the
44:47
Speaker 1: Bengals have you under contract and you're an assistant head coach.
44:51
Speaker 1: You are a resource that if I were a head coach,
44:54
Speaker 1: I'd be tapping into. You've been here a long time.
44:56
Speaker 1: You've been hearing successful times. You've been here in times
44:59
Speaker 1: that have not been quite as successful. You have a vast,
45:03
Speaker 1: huge knowledge of your encyclopedia basically of almost two decades
45:09
Speaker 1: of what's gone on here in Cincinnati. Do you feel
45:12
Speaker 1: like your opinions are gonna be sought after and if
45:16
Speaker 1: they're not, will you give them unsolicited? Well? I wanted
45:20
Speaker 1: to be certainly be a collaborative thing. You know, I
45:22
Speaker 1: really appreciate I did feel like, after if you want
45:26
Speaker 1: to call it, gaining that title this past offseason, zach
45:29
Speaker 1: Um did come to me with a lot of things,
45:31
Speaker 1: and that's something that I certainly appreciate. You know that
45:34
Speaker 1: that he entrusted my opinions, what my thoughts were when
45:37
Speaker 1: he asked for him. Um, there's some things that I
45:40
Speaker 1: will give him that if I feel that can help
45:43
Speaker 1: affect things or help things in some manner, I'm certainly
45:48
Speaker 1: going to give him my thoughts UM that way. But
45:51
Speaker 1: but in the end, ultimate it's his team and he wants,
45:54
Speaker 1: and he'll put the stamp on it that he wants,
45:56
Speaker 1: and he'll push the direction on it that he wants,
45:58
Speaker 1: whatever that may be. But but again, I do feel
46:01
Speaker 1: like I'm a very big part of that. I do
46:04
Speaker 1: feel like my voice or my opinion matters to him.
46:07
Speaker 1: I think he certainly listens to it, Um, you know.
46:10
Speaker 1: And again, like I said, collaboratively, we've got to be
46:13
Speaker 1: we got to put a plan in place that that
46:14
Speaker 1: gets us to turn the corner here, that gets us
46:16
Speaker 1: to get back to the team that you know, we've
46:20
Speaker 1: been in the past, and then really push us over
46:22
Speaker 1: to the top. It certainly felt short of that. I
46:25
Speaker 1: don't think that's any secret, Um, but you know, it's
46:29
Speaker 1: I hope going forward here, after me having a year
46:32
Speaker 1: under my belt of being really in this role for
46:34
Speaker 1: the first time in my career, that I can help
46:38
Speaker 1: him even more than what I have done in the past,
46:40
Speaker 1: and h you know, we can help or I can
46:42
Speaker 1: help push things that I think would help us improve,
46:46
Speaker 1: or or maybe we should think about doing it this way,
46:48
Speaker 1: because it is I've been here a long time, I've
46:50
Speaker 1: been in this league a long time. I've um you know,
46:53
Speaker 1: I have knowledge of how you know what my opinion
46:56
Speaker 1: may be, or how I see other teams do things,
46:58
Speaker 1: and and hope it help. That's going to do it.
47:02
Speaker 1: For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to
47:04
Speaker 1: you by bud Light Seltzer, refresh the game. If you
47:09
Speaker 1: haven't done so already, please subscribe, and if you have
47:12
Speaker 1: a minute, give it a rating or share a comment
47:14
Speaker 1: that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde,
47:19
Speaker 1: and thanks for listening to the Bengals Booth Podcast