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Bengals Booth Podcast: I Don't Want To Wait · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: I'm Dan Hoard and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: The I Don't Runaway addition, as we look ahead to
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: free agency, the draft, and the upcoming season with a
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: great guest, my friend Joe Daniman, the sports director at
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Fox nineteen in Cincinnati. Plus we'll hear from NFL draft
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: expert Land zer Line on what he calls one of
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: the best offensive tackle classes in a long time. The
• 0:32
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  Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a
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  Speaker 2: quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: by subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: thing since Bill Hillgrove. If that name doesn't ring a bell,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Bill Hillgrove was the radio voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: for the last thirty years before announcing his retirement last week.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: He's a legend in the Steel City, with a magnificent voice,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: a dry sense of humor, and encyclopedic knowledge of all
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: things Pittsburgh from having spent his entire life in the area.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Bill's been an inspiration to me because he is also
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the voice of University of Pittsburgh football and basketball, and
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: is among a handful of announcers who's proved it's possible
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: to do college football on Saturday and NFL games on Sunday.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: And while Bill is retiring as the Steelers announcer, he's
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: going to continue calling pit games, where he's been part
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: of their broadcast team for more than fifty years. I'll
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: look forward to seeing him on September seventh, when the
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Panthers faced the UC Bearcats. Wow, let's get to my
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: first guest. Joe Daniman is a sports anchor and reporter
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: at Fox nineteen in Cincinnati and does that job as
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: well as anybody in the country. I often marvel at
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: his ability to find and tell great stories, and his
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: work ethic and hustle have earned him the respect of players, coaches,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: fellow reporters, and most importantly, his viewers. We spent an
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: hour this week discussing his experiences covering the Bengals, as
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: well as the team's biggest question marks going into the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season. Joe, for those who don't know,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: we used to work together at Fox nineteen. I'm trying
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: to imagine what it would be like to be a
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Cincinnati TV sports anchor in the Joe Burrow era? Can
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: you give your audience enough?
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, No, you can't. And the funny thing about
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, He's become a news topic because in the
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: local TV business there's sports and it's of this time
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: that's laid to itself by itself. But anything Joe Burrow
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: does becomes news and it almost feels and I hate
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: to use this word, but it almost feels like it's
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: tabloid sometimes because we're talking to Joe Burrow about his hair,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: we're talking to Joe Burrow about his outfits. But we
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: understand that those small peaks into his personality people care
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: about so much, and we don't get that much from Joe.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Even though we talk to him twice every week Wednesdays
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and then after the game on Sundays, it still feels
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: like there's a lot. Joe Burrow just keeps to himself.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: So anytime we can get these small nuggets of personality
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: from Joe Burrow, it goes like wildfire in Cincinnati. So
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I don't think Cincinnati fans can get enough of it.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: I don't think news departments can get enough of Joe Burrow.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: He's been a godsend for our business. He's great for business,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: not just for Cincinnati football fans, but for media covering
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: this team because he's so much more than just an athlete.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: He transcends that. He's become a news figure, a newsmaker
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: here in Cincinnati. So it's been different that way. I
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: can't remember an athlete I've covered in the twenty plus
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: years I've done it here in Cincinnati. I think Joey
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Vado kind of clicked into that realm a little bit
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: when he started showing more of his personality. But Joe
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Burrow is as much of a local TV unicorn as
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I've ever had covering in this business.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: People ask me all the time, and I'm sure you
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: get the same question, what is Joe Burrow like? And
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: it's a hard question to answer because we don't get
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: that much one on one interaction he's polite. I don't
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: think he's standoffish necessarily, but he's there to work and
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: he's there to win. How do you answer the question
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: what is Joe Burrow?
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Like? Yeah, I think you're right. I think I answered
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: that question the same way I answered this question about
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: any athlete people ask me about. I say, I know
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the person that they show us, because we only see
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: the person that's inside the Bangles locker room or at
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the podium or what we see on TV. I will
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: say this the one time I did approach Joe out
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: his locker, and it was funny because you know, when
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Carson Palmer was here at quarterback and Andy Dalton was
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: here at quarterback, they would often do interviews right there
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: at their locker or you can spend a little time
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: talking to them. Joe's just kind of different. Joe's just like,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: you know, give Joe his space a little bit. I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: did approach him one day. He was wearing some SpongeBob
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: sweatpants and I walked up to him. I said, I
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: said something along the lines of those are some interesting sweatpants.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: He said, all the things I've worn in the few
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: years I've been here, this is the only thing you've
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: ever commented on. I mean, it's not really my bag
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: to comment another man's fashion, but yeah, those stood out
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: to me a little bit. But I do think he's
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: more approachable than then some people might think, oh, because
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: it kind of feels like a lot of times Joe's
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: on this untouchable pedestal because we don't get a lot
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: of one on one time with Joe, But he carries
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: himself like any other guy inside that locker room. And
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: I do think the small peaks we do get into
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: his personality are a lot of fun, just because we
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: don't know a ton about him.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Then there's Jamar Chase. Is he an all time go
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: to guy when it comes to interview content?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: He is because I think I think he enjoys it.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: I think he enjoys the twenty to thirty minutes a
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: week that he stands at his locker and he talks
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: about the team and he talks about himself. Now, look,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: you know, you compare guys in that realm, and I'm
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: talking about that little wide receiver realm right there in
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the locker room in Cincinnati. The Chad Johnson. He's the standard, right, Chad.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Chad is as different as anybody we've ever had to
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: have the privilege to talk to and deal with. But
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: I do think Jamar has really grown up and matured
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: into a guy that likes to do this kind of thing.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: And the great thing about Jamar is because I did
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the story this season where I went to his hometown
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: and I talked to his parents, and I talked to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: his high school coach, and just after the fact, I
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: talked to him about it, just about his experience at
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: that high school and just him lighting up to talk
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: about that kind of thing. And to spend ten minutes,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: not even on camera, just to spend ten minutes talking
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: about his high school experiences, upbringing, his parents and all
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: that stuff. It's so real. When you talk to Jamar,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: it's just like talking to anybody you would talk to
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: on the streets. So I think Jamar has taken the
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: mantle as one of the go to guys inside that
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: locker room. I think back then to the guys that
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: we always go to right after a game ends. For
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the longest time, it was aj Green, For the longest time,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: it was Chad Johnson. For the longest time, it was
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Andrew Whitworth. Now when the game ends, immediately the huddle
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: of media goes straight to Jamar Chase because you know
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: how precious every minute that the game ends that they
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: start to cool down, you want to get them as
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: soon as possible, because you want that emotional reaction from
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: those guys. That's why Jamar is always our number one target,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: because he's approachable, he's likable, he's fun, and he's honest.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: And I thought what he did after the Browns game
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: week one, where he called him some elves and then
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: they lost, he said, I just got beat by some
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: darn Elves. I thought that was great. I thought that
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: was Jamar. And I like a guy who's willing to
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: be honest and fun doing interviews, and that's certainly Jamar Chase.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah. One of the things I like about him is
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: that if he throws something out there that is potentially
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: bulletin board material, like the Elves, he never backs down.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: He doesn't retract. He's like, hey, I said it in
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: good fun. They won the game. They get to brag
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: and taught me if they choose to.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think there's a little bit of to
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: me that feels almost I'm a big NBA fan that
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: feels almost like the NBA culture, where the NBA culture
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: that the pool of players is so small, so these
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: guys have more personal relationships, I'm sure than NFL teams do.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: But the way Jamar does that because you see NBA
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: players do that all the time, where there's these little
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: petty wars that don't cut deep, they just kind of
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: sit there on the surface as part of the entertainment
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: of the league. And I think Jamar embraces that that
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: those kinds of things he says, that that small bit
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: of pettiness he says about the Kansas City Chiefs, the
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: things he says about the Cleveland Browns, I think he's
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: doing that for the entertainment value, and I think he
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: understands that's what drives the modern sports watcher, for people
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: under the age of thirty. It's this social media of
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: one liners and pettiness and these little back and forth
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: that the NBA has lived on here for the last
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: ten years. I think Jamar kind of brings a little
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: bit of that to the NFL. I think that's a
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: great thing because almost every time he can back it up.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Now it takes a certain guy, a certain cachet and
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: a certain ability to go do those things and back
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: it up, and Jamar's more of those guys, but I
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: do think he kind of gets it. He gets the
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: younger sports audience. And I think a lot of those
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: guys because especially the interns I work with at Fox nineteen,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: they love that stuff and Jamar, they eat up that
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: stuff when he starts calling out other teams. So I
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: think it's in good fun. And I think the way
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Jamar handles it in good fun. I think it plays
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: well to his younger demographic.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Well I'm old and I love it too, so it
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: definitely applies to a lot of demographics. What were the
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: biggest takeaways of the hometown visit and chatting with his
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: family and high school coaches, et cetera.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: How grounded he is. I think that was the most
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: important thing. It was funny. I showed up to his parents'
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: house and you know, they have this very small house
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: on a road that's you know, and Jimmy Chase told
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: us this when we were doing the interview. He said,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: this isn't the best part of town. And you know.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: The one thing was, though, there was a really nice
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: car sitting right there in the parking hut or in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the driveway, and I said, and He's like, yeah, yeah,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Jamar took care of dad on that one. That's the
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: first thing you notice is this beautiful car in this
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: very ordinary street. But just be hanging with them. You
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: walk into the Chase household and on the wall you
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: see all these pictures they have almost it looks like
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: a it looks like a honeycomb of pictures, and it's
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Jamar at all these huge events. It's Jamar at these
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: bowl games, It's Jamar a draft night, it's Jamar and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Joe Burrow after the National Championship. And you think about
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: a family and putting pictures on the wall. I've got
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: pictures of my kids on the wall and they're you know,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: their their school pictures. But you have Jamar Chase doing
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: all these amazing things, and he's so young and he's
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: already accomplished so much, and the family's so proud of
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: everything he's done. Because you think back to when he
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: was younger and the parents had to make this decision
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: of where they're going to send their son to play
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: high school football, and they chose Archbishop Rummel, which was
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: a far drive from their house, where Jamar had to
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: wake up four point thirty in the morning, to be
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: able to get ready for school, make the long drive,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: do the preschool workouts, go to class, had to wear
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: a suit, a shirt and tie to class every single day,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and then he would do football practice thereafter, then make
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the long drive home. So this is a kid getting
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: up at four point thirty in the morning every single
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: day and then not getting home until dinnertime to be
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: part of a program that could help bring the best
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: out of him. And it worked obviously. Now with a
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: guy like Jamar, you know, he was obviously given a
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: lot of God given talent to work with. But Archbishop
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Rummel was a running high school. They traditionally were a
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: run first program, and Jimmy Chase went up to the
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: head coach and said, just just give my son a chance,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and his sophomore year he had a four touchdown game
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: and the rest was history after that. But I think
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: the most important takeaway I had from the visit to
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: the hometown was just Jamar's willingness at a young age
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: to sacrifice a lot. Because to go from four point
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: thirty in the morning till six thirty at night to
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: school football, to workouts, all that stuff, that's pretty rare
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: for a high school kid to do that kind of thing,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: and certainly you can see right now it's paid off
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: with everything he's doing in the NFL.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: That's great stuff. Did the gallery of pictures include the
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: double bird directed at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: It did not, but it did include his GQ spread,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: which was a new addition to the household because yes,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: because that had just happened, and GQ actually sent the
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: family an actual frame picture of Jamar. They felt a
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: little uncomfortable because all the other pictures were candid. They
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: were Jamar kind of sanitized, you know, with the you know,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: sey Cheese kind of thing. With this, it was you know,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Jamar kind of dressed up and looking like a guy
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: in GQ. So you know, it was one of those
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: things was put off from the corner. In the other
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: corner of the house, they had this picture of Joe,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Jamar and Clyde Edwards a layer on almost a poster
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: sized picture, and I thought it was going to go
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: right next to that, and then right there on their
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: mantle they have a picture of Jamar on draft night.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: So it's all around the house and you know, obviously
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: he's not the only child in the family, but it's
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: a lot of Jamar and everything he's accomplished at such
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: a young age, and it's just really cool to see
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: how proud of family is. And we've all seen in
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: his short time here in Cincinnati how much Jimmy Chase
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: likes talking about Jamar Chase. If I told you the
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: story about the Super Bowl and driving Jimmy Chase to
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the award show. So the night of the award show
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: when Jamar won Rookie of the Year, Jeremy Row and
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I were at Jimmy's hotel room. We were interviewing Jimmy
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: and his wife Talia up there up there in the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: room about Jamar being in the Super Bowl Rookie Year.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Amazing moment. And so we finished up our interview and
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: he looks at his watch and he says, Oh, I
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: got to go. I got to get to the team hotel.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: We're like, oh, really, Jimmy, why do you have to
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: get to the team hotel. He's like, I can't really
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: talk about it, but he's like, I don't think I
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: can get an uper quick enough. Can you guys give
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: me a ride. We rented a convertible because we work
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, and we went to the Super Bowl in
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: LA and we're gonna do this thing right. So I
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: don't know if we have room, so I'm like, we're
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: gonna make room. So there's Jeremy driving, Jimmy Chase in
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: the front seat, myself and Jamar's mother in the back seat,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: and we're got tripods and lights and canvas there in
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the backseat, driving Jimmy Chase through Beverly Hills to get
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: to the Bengals team hotel. And he wouldn't tell us why,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: but we knew why. He had to be there at
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: a certain time to see his son win Rookie of
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the Year. Jimmy gets mad at me when I tell
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: this story because he said that night, don't tell anybody
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: this happened. But I went on TV two hours later
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and told everybody it happened because it was an amazing
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: nugget and a great moment. And a couple of years later,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: I feel like the statue of limitations has kind of
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: gone by the wayside and I can share that story.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting. I did a podcast last year
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: with Jimmy Chase and Jimmy Burrow together around Father's Day.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: Jamar's mom is a hoot. Everybody's heard Jimmy Chase, I
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: think in one form or another, but missus Chase is hysterical.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: I think that Jamar gets his sense of humor from
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: his mom.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: No question, And I think Jamore gets a lot from
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: his mom. When I see his mom, I see Jamaar,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: he looks a lot like his mom. And in the background,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: so we went down to interview the Chases for that
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: story he did on Jamar, and Jimmy was kind of
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the ringleader, and Jimmy was expecting us, and we showed
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: up and were doing the interview with Jimmy. Meanwhile, Tala
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: is in the background. She's making what felt like Thanksgiving
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: dinner because they were having a huge tailgate the next
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: day in New Orleans before the Bank was played the
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Saints to have this huge party for the family, And
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: every time Jimmy would say say something, she'd be in
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the background saying, oh, that's not true, or you're embellishing
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: this that the other lest you eventually did do the interview.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: See more quiet when it comes time to turn the
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: camera on and do that kind of things. That's why
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Jimmy's kind of the front man of the family when
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: it comes to talking about Jamar. But you're right. Behind
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: the scenes, Jamar gets a lot from his mother, There's
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: no question, and I think you're right. You're spot on
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: that the humor comes from Jamar's mom.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Box nineteen sports director Joe Daniman as our guest. Let's
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: hit on some Bengals hot button off season topics, beginning
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: with the other wide receiver, t Higgins. Do you expect
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: him to be a Bengal this year?
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: I do, And when we went to the combine here
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: last week, that was obviously the big question everybody was
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: wondering because what Duke said last year about you know,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: go find your own wide receiver. We're not here to
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: make other teams better. We wanted to give him that
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: opportunity to say whatever he wanted to say this year
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: about t Higgins. He didn't say that, but everything you
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: read between the lines from talking to Duke and talking
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: to Zach Taylor feels like to me, Dan, they have
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: all plans to play t Higgins under his one year
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: franchise tag. I think it's smart for the team to
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: not make any proclamations that he's untouchable that if you
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: come through with a trade offer that's gonna knock the
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: team socks off. You got to keep that door open,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: especially looking at the free agent market now for wide receivers.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: With Mike Evans re signing in Tampa, with Michael Pittman
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: signing his one year, well him being tagged one year
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: with the Indianapolis Colts, it kind of feels like the
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: top three guys are off the market now with Higgins, Pittman,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: and Evans, and so you're gonna see some of these
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: teams that are really desperate for wide receivers and proven
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: guys who might come through with a pretty wild offer.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: But I do think, look, I've heard so many people
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: say this, I'm not even sure who to credit anymore.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: The Bengals have to be as long as they can
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: be in the Burrow Chase Higgins business. This is a
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: big three that doesn't have happen often in the NFL,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: where you can line three guys up on rookie deals. Obviously,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: now Joe has graduated to his deal, te has timed
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: out out of his rookie deal. But if you can
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: even bring it back for just one more year, it's
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: what makes the Bengals special, It's what makes them dangerous,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: it's what makes them a contender. There are other ways
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: to win. We saw that last year at the Kansas
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: City Chiefs. But if you have a guy like T Higgins,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: as Zach Taylor said, you don't just let him walk
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: out the door for nothing. So yes, to answer the question,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: I believe the Bengals have every intention of playing T
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Higgins under the franchise tag, with the caveat of there
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: being just that slight crack in the door in case
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: a team comes through and says, here's a chest full
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: of all kinds of draft picks, take this and will
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: take T Higgins. I don't think that's gonna happen. I
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: expect T Higgins the playing Cincinnati.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: I agree, And I don't even know what that as
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: your chest of an offer would be. If we turn
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: the clock back to early January, Joe Burrow says, I
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: expect T Higgins to be back. Zach Taylor the same
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: day said it's hard to imagine life without T Higgins.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: You brought up with Duke Tobin said at the NFL
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: scouting combine last week, And yes, he did not completely
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: rule out the possibility of a deal or say anything
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: along the lines of what he had said the year before,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: But what he did say was we want to keep
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: them and we have the resources to do that. So
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: to me, every sign points to him being here for
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: at least one more year.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: And you mentioned Joe Burrow, and what Joe says carry's wait,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: it has to carry weight. When you make the kind
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: of investment that you make in Joe Burrow, I believe
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: that you're also empowering him. Look, he's I don't want
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: to say you empower him to help construct the roster,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: but you empower him for his voice to be heard
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: within the organization. And it should be because what Joe
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Burrow says matters. He's the most important athlete, not only
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: in the organization, he's the most important athlete in Cincinnati.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: So when he gets out there and he says he
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: expects t Higgins to be a Cincinnati Bengal, the ridings
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: on the wall for the front office of what their
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: quarterback wants. And I think with Joe to an extent,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: you give them what he wants. And look, what makes
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Joe great, and what makes t and Joe great together
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: is Joe's willingness to see Manda man and just throw
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: it to him. You know, we've heard Joe call those
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: eighty twenty balls, right, You know people call them fifty
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: to fifty balls when you throw the ball up to
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: a talented wide receiver and expect him to make a play.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Joe always calls those eighty twenty balls with Jamar and T.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: And so for Joe's ability and willingness to see manna
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: man coverage and willing to give Tea opportunities to make
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: big plays, I think you have to run it back.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: You have to keep this window of those three together
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: as long as you can. And I think you have
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: to listen to a guy like Joe Burrow when you
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: make the investment you make in him. His voice has
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: to matter. It's proven it does matter. And in this case,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Joe says he wants another year with T Higgins. Hey,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: who in the Bengals organization is going to say no
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: to Joe Burrow in him wanting his guy back. And
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I think it's a smart move all the way around
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: to keep T Higgins, Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow together
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: as loll as you can.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: What about Joe Mixon.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: That's the hard one. I think the smart money is.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: And look, I said this the other night. We do
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: a segment on our station called the wake Up Call,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: where a lot of people still think that I do
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: it live in the morning, Like, man, you were on
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: the morning show and you're back to the night show. No,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: we tape that late at night and it's like a
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: minute and a half editorial in opinion, And in that
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: editorial I talked about this where I said, I still
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: think Joe Mixon is undervalued by too many people within
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: the van base. I mean, you look at a guy
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: last year more than a thousand yards, what twelve total touchdowns,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: big energy guy, locker room, difference maker, team captain, all
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: those things that people sometimes roll their eyes about when
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: they just look at raw analytical data. That stuff matters,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: But so too does the way NFL teams now construct
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: rosters and Joe burrows price or excuse me, Joe Mixon's
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: price tag is probably just too high. I still think
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: he can be a difference maker in the NFL. I
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: still think he could be a difference maker in Cincinnati.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: But you look at the way teams construct their rosters now,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: and just look at the teams who played in the
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Final four last year in the NFL, the Ravens don't
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: spend high dollars on running backs. The Kansas City Chiefs
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: didn't spend high dollars on running backs, and even the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: way you look at the NFC, even the way that
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey look, he's different. He's obviously a guy you know,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: in the the S tier of running backs, so he's
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: constructed a little bit differently. But the point is the AFC,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: you look at the top contenders, they're they're not high
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: dollar running back teams. So I would be pretty stunned
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: if that in a couple of weeks Joe Mixon's roster
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: bonus is picked up and therefore we get a clue
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: that Joe Mixon is going to be a Cincinnati Bengal
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: next year. I would be stunned by that. I would
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: be very surprised, just because I think this is where
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: you go younger, you go cheaper. The word we keep
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: hearing is more explosive. And it's a deep, deep running
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: back free agent pool. So I think if you sign
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: one running back and free agency and you draft another,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: add some more explosion to the running back room, be
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: different there. Just because it wasn't good enough last year,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: even though I still think Joe Mixon has good football,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: played better football people think. I just think it's time.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: It's time to go to a rookie deal running back
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: and maybe a cheap veteran that you can bring in
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: and kind of change up the running back room. So
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I after seven years in Cincinnati, I think this is
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: likely it for Joe Mixon.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: We'll see. You may be right. I'm sure the organization
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: is seriously considering that. I'm glad you said the positive
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: things about Joe that you did, because I think for
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: some reason, there's suddenly this wave of Joe Mixon stinks,
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: which is far from accurate. Yes, the explosiveness wasn't there
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: last year, but he did a lot of positive things.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: I will throw this in as well. I think the
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: Bengals value loyalty and the fact that he took a
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: huge pay cut last year to help the team and
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: the salary cap is a factor. Is that overly sentimental
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: overly loyal I don't know. I do think he had
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: more than three hundred touches last year. Chase Brown had
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: about fifty. If Joan Nmixon his back, that number is
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: obviously going to change. It's going to be much closer
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: between the two. I think Joe has still a lot
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: of value to somebody as a quote unquote power running back,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: maybe not somebody who gets fifteen to twenty touches a game.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: So it'll be interesting to see they're there in the draft.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: The Bengals have historically found great running backs in the
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: second round. They're probably due to use a relatively high
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: draft pick on a running back, so maybe this is
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: the year that they do that. So I kind of
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: fall on It's still fifty to fifty for whether Joe
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: is on this team next year, but certainly the salary
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: cap ramifications make it possible that they move on.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I do find it interesting, and we do this with
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: especially with coaches, when people say, oh, a coach needs
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: to be fired and coach needs to be let go. Okay,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: who's going to be brought in that's better? And so obviously,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: you know, you can look into the draft. You can
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: get younger, you can get more explosive, you can get cheaper.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: But when you look at the free agent pool and
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: guys that might fit the power back square peg and
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: square hole that Joe Mixon would be, are we talking
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: AJ Dillon not an explosive back? Are we talking Clyde
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Edwards Hilaire not an explosive back. I mean, these are
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: guys with similar skill sets. And what I think you
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: said about Joe Mixon and the number of carries he took,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: the guy's availability. He's always available, and I think that's
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: important to that position because I mean, look, he's played
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: seven years in the NFL. I don't have his stats
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: in front of me. I don't have his numbers in
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: front of me. Joe Mixon has never had a major injury.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: The guy's always available to play.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he had one season where he only played six games.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: That was the year before the Super Bowl season. Other
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: than that, he has rarely missed the game.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: And I think that matters, right, I mean, that's a
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: huge part of that position. Is a guy that takes
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: the ball two hundred and fifty times and has a
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: car wreck two hundred and fifty times in an NFL
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: season and gets up every time, gets up with energy,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: comes back to the locker the locker room, comes back
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: to the huddle, and is willing to do it again.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Loyalty matters to the Cincinnati Bengals. His influence inside that
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: room matters, But so too does the cap number. And
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: that is the discussion that the Bengals have to have
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: and it's a hard one. It's a hard one because
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: the Bengals are different in that way. The Bengals are
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: different than other teams. Loyalty matters to the Cincinnati Bengals,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: and again, it's one of those things that I'm sure
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: part of the fan base rolls their eyes on. But
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I think when you have the discussion about the Cincinnati
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Bengals and about Joe Mixon, it's a great point to make, Dan,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: because that's the reality of the situation. That's the way
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: the Bengals handle these kinds of things. And I do
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: think when you look at getting rid of somebody, the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: question is, Okay, who do you replace that with. Joe
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Mixon's been reliable for a long time here in Cincinnati,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: and I still think he has good football left in him.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: And you're right, I feel like the pendulum has swung
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: too far on the hate on Joe Mixon when it
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: comes to his production on the field.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: That is completely where I am on that topic. Will
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: the Bengals starting right tackle next year be a veteran
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: free agent or a highly drafted rookie both.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: I think that's the way to fix the position. I
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: think you sign a bridge right tackle, and you draft
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: a right tackle either with your first or second pick.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Most likely, I would say you probably drafted with your
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: first pick, and so therefore you get the one year
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: bridge of a veteran guy. Then you bring your rookie in,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: you start to develop him and have him ready to
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: play there starting maybe next year, maybe even how every
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: things work out. Plus, they need Dan, they need some depth,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: they need to swing tackle because they have Orlando Brown,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: they'll have whoever they plug in it right tackle, and
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: after that it gets really thin. So I think the
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: move here for the Bengal when it comes to the draft,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: when it comes to free agency about right tackle is
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: is sign a veteran, even if he's just a bridge guy,
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: and then draft your tackle. Because what's the one thing
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: everybody said at the combine last week. This draft is
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: deep with tackles, and it's gonna be interesting watching this
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: because we're gonna have the run on quarterbacks at the top.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Then there's gonna be their run on wide receivers with
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Marvin Harrison and Roma Dunze and maybe even one other
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: more jumping up there in the top ten or twelve.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: But there's these four to five offensive tackles that I'm
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: sure the Bengals have are first round grade on I'm
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: gonna be so interested in watching where these guys drop.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Will one of them drop to the Bengals. I'm pretty
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: certain there won't be five offensive tackles taken in the
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: first seventeen. There might be four, there might be three.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: But I do think if the Bengals do value the
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: draft the way it seems most mock drafters are, there's
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: gonna be one of those guys available at eighteen. So
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: I believe it's sign a veteran draft one. You've got
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: then this year taking care of with your bridge tackle.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: But also you have depth now at tackle, because what
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: the Bengals did at offensive line last year of having
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: five guys start all seventeen games is unheard of. It's
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: unheard of, and it can't happen again. Knock on wood,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: It will happen again, but it's you have to prepare
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: like that won't happen again. So they need depth, and
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: I think that's the best way for this team to
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: approach it is sign one Draft one, and therefore you
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: have some depth, and you also have right tackle taken
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: care of.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: Even if five tackles are selected before number eighteen. You
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: still see tackles six, seven and eight listed on a
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: lot of mock drafts as first round picks. But I
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: do think when you get into six, seven and eight,
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: now you're talking about guys that might not be ready
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: to start on day one, and that's where it really
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: becomes a wise move to add a veteran who has
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: started before, a Riley Reef kind of guy that you're
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: not projecting to be your long term answered right tackle,
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: but somebody that covers you just in case that youngster
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: that you choose, if they choose one at number eighteen,
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: isn't quite ready enough from day one.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: And the most important thing here when talking about this
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: is this team has to be extra protective of Joe Burrow.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: We all understand that because what happened last year. It
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: just you have to limit the number of times he
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: takes a hit, and we all know that. And so
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: to put a rookie right tackle out there with Joe
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Burrow coming back from a season ending injury, from Joe
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: coming back from all the stuff he's had to deal
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: with in training camps before, to put a rookie out
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: there tarred right, you know, this is the franchise you have.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: You have to protect the merchandise. I got to have
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: a security guard who's done this for ten years on
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the night shift, right, you know, who understands that he's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: protecting the Crown Jewel. He knows what to look out for.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: He knows what he's doing. Instead of bringing in this guy,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: you know, he's he's a hot shot security guard. He's
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: gonna be great, but you know, he maybe doesn't know
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: everything that that guy who's been doing it for several
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: years knows. So when you're protecting the merchandise, I feel
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: like you have to have someone who's been out there,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: who's seen it, he knows what he's doing. I wouldn't
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: feel comfortable as a coaching staff, as a front office
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: putting a rookie right tackle out there knowing what Joe
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Burrow just overcame, Joe Burrow just dealt with, and knowing
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: the investment this team's going to make in the rest
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: of the roster. They're paying t Higgins if he does
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: come back and play the one year on twenty one
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: million dollars. You've kept the band back together, You've kept
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the window open, You've made this investment in t. Higgins.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: You have helped the roster out. Whatever you do with
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: defensive tackle and stafety in corner and Joe's back, don't
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: let that be the weak link that gets Joe hurt
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: and this whole thing blows up again. So I do
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: think the Bengals have to address right tackle in free
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: agency and not rely on a rookie to debt Joe Burrow.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: What are your other biggest free agent priorities defensive tackle?
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: This is the most fascinating part of the Bengals offseason
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: to me is what they do here. Because you know
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: you want to go big game hunting. There are some
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: big game hunters out there looking for Christian Wilkins and
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Chris Jones. Now, when I see the price tags that
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: these guys are going to get and the guarantee money
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: that Christian Wilkins is going to want to get, I
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: think that probably takes him out of the Bengals ballpark.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: But boy, didn't they surprise us all last year with
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Orlando Brown exactly?
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, the old rules don't apply. If I had
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: to make a bet on Christian Wilkins, I would guess
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: probably not. But because of the Orlando Brown situation last year,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: where nobody thought it was possible. I don't rule anything out. Well,
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: maybe Chris Jones, but not Christian Wilkins.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he fits. He checks every box the Bengals
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: need from that position, right with his pass rushing, with
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: the character guy being the captain, his age, all that
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: stuff looks like to me. And look, if you have
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to guarantee this guy all this money, he's twenty eight
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: years old. Maybe the last year of the contract isn't great,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: maybe the last two years of the contract aren't great.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: But again, when you're in this window, and Joe has
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: famously said the window is my career, and I believe
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: him on that, and he's right on that. It's the
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: window is not incumbent on T Higgins. The window is
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: incumbent on Joe Burrow being back there throwing passes. But
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: the point is, when you have the roster the Bengals
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: are expected to have, and you can find a difference
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: maker right there at defensive tackle, and Christian Wilkins is
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: the biggest a difference maker on the market. I don't
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: expect that to happen, but you're right, who knows what
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: will happen after what happened with Orlando Brown, there were
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: some mid tier guys that kind of fit the billing
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: a little bit better. We've heard the names tier Target,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: We've heard the names day Kwon Jones. Those are guys
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: that can come in and be a difference maker. It
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: would be it would be cool to see the Bengals
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: use the first round pick on a defensive tackle that
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: can be here for a long time and be a
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: difference maker. To me, that's the the hard decision here
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: for the Bengals. I feel like number eighteen has to
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: be offensive line or defensive line. The question is everything
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: I've said about not relying on a rookie to protect
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, but you got to find someone you're going
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: to put there for four to five years like they
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: did with Jonah Williams on the left side first, now
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: the right side. First. I don't think you're going to
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: find anybody in free agency better than Jonah. But I
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: think you can find someone laterally close to Jonah, and
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: then you can find a draft pick and you can
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: develop and hope they turn out to be even better.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: But the point being, that's a hard conversation for Duke
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Tobin and his staff figure out do we go find
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: a difference maker with number eighteen at defensive tackle? Do
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: we use that on a right tackle to protect Joe Burrow?
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: And can we find in free agency those difference makers
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: we've got to find at defensive tackle and can that
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: be done with middle tier guys? That's the big That's
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: the hardest thing to me is can you find the
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: difference making guys? If you're not going to get Christian Wilkins,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: not going to get Chris Jones, can you find the
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: guy who can be a difference maker like DJ Reader?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know. That's why defensive tackle
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: to me, seems the most fascinating part and honestly feels
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: like the biggest domino of this team has in their offseason.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: What are they going to do in free agency defensive tackle?
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: And how will that affect how they draft?
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: So if they are most likely to help either the
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: offensive or defensive line with her first round pick, what
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: about the brock Bauers factor If he's there at eighteen,
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: does that change the calculus?
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: I think it does. I really do, because I think
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: you now get into who is the third pass catcher
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: on this team? We all expect table Boyd will be
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: playing somewhere else next year. We wonder can Charlie Jones
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: step straight into the slot right now and be a
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: difference maker? And oh I would love to see Joe
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: Burrow with the difference making tight end. Well, that'd be
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: a lot of fun. And I do think it's a
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: luxury for this team understanding their needs at two very
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: important positions at right tackle and defensive tackle. I don't
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: think he's going to be there, Dan, I don't think
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: he's going to be there, So I don't think they're
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: going to have to have a hard decision. I think
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: he's actually gonna go higher than most people project, because
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: he's that good. When I watch him play, I was
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: we were in Nashville. We were in Nashville for the
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Bengals game against the Titans, and Jeremy Row and I
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: stopped at a cheeseburger spot right near the stadium the
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: night before the game, and they had the Georgia I
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: believe Tennessee game on at the bar, and he caught
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: this pass and he got hit by two people and
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: it knocked him backwards, but he kept his feet, ran
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: down the sideline, beat the safety to the pie line,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: and jumped to the ends and I said, a guy
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: that big, with that kind of balance, it's so rare
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: and so special that I would love to see it
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: as a But it almost feels like I feel like
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: a fantasy football player doing this, you know, And it's
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: not the way this team needs to construct itself going forward.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: But I do think it checks the box of wondering
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: who's your third pass catcher is going to be and
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: understanding that T Higgins might not be a inside of
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Bengal after this year, and so now you got Jamar Chase,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: who they're going to lock up with a long term
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: deal on tep here forever. And then they're going to
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: have the secondary guy. Boy, it's intriguing. Boy, it's tempting.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: It very tempting, I do think, And lucky's not the
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: right term, because I think Bangal fans would feel lucky
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: to have him drop there. I think lucky for the
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: front office, they're not going to have to make that
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: decision because I think he'll be gone and I think
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: they can stick to the board of offensive or defensive tackle.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: But I'll say this, I'll just go ahead and say
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: that brock Bowers is there and they pass on him,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: there will be a lot of people who for the
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: next ten years, for every All Pro team and every
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Pro Bowl team and every ring that Brock Bauers wins,
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: it'll be the oh my gosh, we didn't draft Brock Bowers.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: Well, I agree with you. I don't think he'll be
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: there at number eighteen. But I also agree with you
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: that I would take him if he somehow slipped that far.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: And it's all about the yards after catch. It's not
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: about Brock Bauers running up the scene twenty five yards
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: down the field. That's what the wide receivers do in
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: the Bengals offense. It's catching an eight yard pass and
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: turning into a twelve yard gain instead of an eight
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: and a half yard game. Think how valuable that is.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: When a guy catches sixty to eighty passes to basically
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: tack on three or four yards on almost everyone. That
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: is such an incredible weapon that I don't think you
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: could pass on it if it were there for you.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: And you think about the guys that Joe has played
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: with a tight end and how he elevated cj Uzama,
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: he elevated Hayden Hurst and they both got paid because
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: of it. Now you add a guy that can elevate Joe.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: That's something he hasn't had he has. I mean, you
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: stick back to when he was playing in college. You know,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: he had Thaddeus Moss, who was who had a cup
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: of coffee in the NFL. But even then he didn't
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: have a real true star tight end like he could
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: have right now. I would love I personally would just
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: love to see Burrow operate with a guy like that
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: and see what he can do. But I also think
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: it goes back to again, it goes back to having
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: that third pass catcher and who's it going to be,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: because I don't think the Bengals know who that person's
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: going to be going forward. I think they drafted Charlie
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Jones with the idea it would be him, And I
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: think Charlie Jones, certainly from what I saw at training
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: camp and the way he was able to operate there
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: in the small space quickness that I saw, I think
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: there's an opportunity there. But the guy's got to prove
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: it on this level and going forward. Then you're wondering
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: about t Higgins in his future. So I just think
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: not only does brock Bauers check the box stand of
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: having this weapon of a guy who can move the
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: chains on third and six or third and seven and
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: get that extra yard or extra two yards and maybe
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: break one into an explosive play. But I also think
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: you're also so checking the box of Okay, now we've
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: got Joe's secondary pass catcher for the next five to
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: seven years with Jamar Chase right.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: The number three target does not have to be a
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: slot receiver. It can be a position. It could easily
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: be the tight end. I think Charlie Jones has a
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: chance to be a very good NFL player. My concern
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: is more the durability than the production. Once we got
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: to meet him and saw him up close and personal
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: in the locker room. He is not a big man.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: He's not thick. He's quick and fast, but he's not
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: thick and crossing the middle of the field and taking
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: a lot of hits. It'll be interesting to see if
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: he's the type of guy that can play seventeen games
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: in NFL season, like a sturdy Tyler Boyd typically does,
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: or if he's going to be a guy that has
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: bumps and bruises and has to miss the occasional game.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think you look at that position, it's
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: I don't want to use the word undervalued because it's
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: become super valued in the NFL, but just the value
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: of being available, like you said, of a guy who
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: can make the catch, can make the catch in traffic,
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: can take the hit, and then being a guy that
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: can break a tackle and get a first down. And
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: you made that point about Brock Powers, and I think
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: about so many times where Tyler caught a ball, slipped
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: to tackle and got the extra yardage that you needed
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: to get a first down. Until I see Charlie. I'm
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: not saying Charlie can't do it. I just don't know
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: if he can. And I have to see it on
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: the NFL level before I know if he can do it.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: So to me that that's a big question for this
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: team going forward. But I yea to your point and
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: the point we've made here talking about rock Powers, people
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: have to think about past catching weapons. It doesn't always
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: have to be a wide receiver, your third option, your
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: second option can be a tight end in the modern NFL.
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: And you look at the teams to Dan who played
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: like I mentioned with the running backs in the final
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: four of the NFL. Look at Detroit, look at San Francisco,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: look at Kansas City and look at Baltimore, all with
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: all pro level it ends, and how much that position
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: has become of value in the NFL. It has been
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: really interesting to watch here in the last ten years.
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, in Kansas City, it's not your second or third option.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: It's your first and has been for a long time,
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: all right. Similar to the Joe Mixon conversation earlier, it
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: seems like a lot of negativity has been directed toward
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: Dak Dax Hill this offseason. Obviously, he did not have
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: a great year in his first year as a starter.
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: What do you think happens at safety?
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: That's a great question, because that, to me was the
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: most interesting thing I heard at the NFL combine of
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: the time we had with Duke and Zach Taylor. They
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: said everything I expected them to say about t Higgins.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: They said everything I expected them to say about Joe Mixon.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: Same with Joe Burrow at his recovery. It was what
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: they said about Dax Hill to me that I thought
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: was most interesting. And I understand he's not an a
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: tier level story like Tea and Joe and Joe, But
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: what Dax Hill them saying he can play corner, he
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: can play slot corner, he might play safety. To me,
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: it's very interesting for them to figure out the best
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: way to deploy him because understanding and look, I think
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: you can look at the NFL free agent market, Dan
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: and you can see there's a lot of tight ends,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of running backs, there's a lot of safeties,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: and what have been the positions that have been devalued
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: so to speak here in the last ten to fifteen
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: years in the NFL. I would say running back and
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: safety have been devalued in the market. So there's a
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: lot of guys out there right for safety. And with
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: Dax Hill, you know, I saw someone use the phrasing
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: that it was a failure for Dax Hill this last
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: year's playing in his first full year in the NFL.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: You know, he basically we had a red shirt year
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: his first year and then he played in his first
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: full year last year. I like some of the moments
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: from Dak so I thought there were moments that I
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: really liked. The bigger picture, it's you know, when you're
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: back there and you're playing he's only played for one year.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: He's got to see it better, right, don't He has
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: to see everything that's happening better. And he's played a
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: lot of football. You know, he played a lot of
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: football in that position to Michigan, but he's only played
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: one year in the NFL, and he's just got to
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: see it better. Once he sees it better, everything is
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: there for this guy to be successful. His size, his speed,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: the athleticism, the way he carries himself. I feel like
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: he's committed to being a great pro and a good
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: member of this football team. But I also feel like
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: Dan from the conversations I had with him because this
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: came up mid season, I feel like he wants to
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: be a safety. Yes, And the questions that come up
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: with Okay, is he gonna move to corner? He is
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: he gonna move to slot corner? I don't know. I
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: feel like because he's a pro and he's a mature guy,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: that he'll do whatever he has to do to be
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: on the field and help the team be successful. But also,
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: at the same time, when you're an employer and you
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: have an employee who has a passion for something, I
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: feel like you have to let that person pursue that passion.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: And if Daxil wants to be a safety, and Daxil's
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: committed to proving he can be a safety. I feel
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: like that matters in the conversation here. When you're asking
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: a guy to move positions, you're moving him out of
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: the position he wants to play. So bottom line is
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: the Bengals have to be better at safety. You can
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: pull up any number you want, any chart you want,
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: and you'll see all the explosive plays that the Bengals
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: gave up last year. Partly that's on the safeties. Partly
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: it's on everybody on defense. But the safety position has
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: got to be better this year. I think they have
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: something to work with with Jordan Battle. I think they
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: have to go sign someone in free agency to play safety.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: I think obviously Nick Scott didn't work. I don't expect
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Nick Scott to be a Bengal next year. But still
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: and what they do with him and understanding he wants
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: to play safety fascinates me. What lou Anrumo and Zach
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: Taylor will figure out here, because they got to figure
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: out here pretty quickly because what they're going to do
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: with Dak Hill affects how they're going to target safeties
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: in the free agent market, so to me, along with
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: defensive tackle and what they do with that, and that
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: Domino affecting the draft is the number one most fascinating
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: story to me of the offseason. Number two is Dak
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: Still and what they do with him, with him being
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: first round draft pick, a first round draft pick only
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: entering year three, what they do with him to me
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: so interesting. Understanding that he wants to be a safety,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: he believes he can be a good safety, and all
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: the bank was willing to give him another season to
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: go out and prove he can be.
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: I interviewed Greg Cosell at the NFL Combine last week.
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: He shared that he was sitting next to Jim Harbaugh
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: watching drills at the combine and asked him about Dax Hill.
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: Jim Harbo obviously coached Dax Hill at Michigan, and Jim
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: Harbaugh said, when we coached him, we were looking at
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: him as a possible corner. He wanted to play safety then,
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: which is a major reason why Michigan played him both
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: at safety and as slot corners. So you're right, this
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: is the position that he wants to play, and that
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: in and of itself doesn't necessarily dictate where his long
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: term future is going to be. But I think football
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: is a very complicated game. It's hard to understand all
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: of the ramifications for why big plays are given up
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: or whatever goes wrong on defense. And because it's complicated,
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: we look for simple answers, and people have decided the
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: simple answer was that Dax Hill had a bad year
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: and didn't see it well, and therefore, you know, move on,
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: go sign a free agent, make him the safety, which
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: I don't think is going to happen. I do think
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: they'll sign Will. There are a ton of them out there,
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: and they fit what the Bengals look for in free
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: agency mid twenties, second contract, good track record, won't break
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: the bank. I think they're going to have about four
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: or five guys that fit that description and they'll be
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: able to sign one. But I also made this point
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: the other day. If you just look at Pro Football
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: Focus rankings, not the be all end all, but Dax
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: Hill's number last year was virtually identical to Jesse Bates
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: PFF ranking the Super Bowl season. It's a position where
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: the numbers very wildly, and I'm not quite sure why
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: that is. I don't necessarily understand all the ramifications of
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: how PFF comes up with these numbers where safeties are concerned,
• 51:50
  Speaker 2: But Jesse had three great ratings in his five years
• 51:54
  Speaker 2: in Cincinnati and two terrible ones, and I would not
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: be the least bit surprised if Dax Hill is the
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: guy next year whose number jumps exponentially because he's got
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: a year of experience under his belt, some of the
• 52:08
  Speaker 2: things that caused him to have a bad ranking don't happen,
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: and a year from now we're leg well, thank heavens
• 52:13
  Speaker 2: are still playing them at safety.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the thing about Jesse Bates was, and
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: you mentioned it, having the great three PFF years and
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the two down years, but the one thing he always
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: had was the big plays, the big moments, the wow moments,
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: the Jesse Bates interceptions or the plays that he made
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: in the AFC Championship, those kind of moments. Dax hasn't
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: had those moments. And a lot of times, when you're
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: playing safety, those moments are dictated by the nine guys
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: in front of you, in front of the two safeties
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: who are creating havoc, who are placid to their guys,
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: and quarterbacks are trying to force throws to get rid
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: of it because of a guy in their face or
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: because there's nobody open, and I think Jesse was the
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: beneficiary of that a lot. Now Jesse has gone on
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: to play at the best level he's ever played last
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: year when he was playing in Atlanta. So I do
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: think there's an untapped ceiling for Dax Hill that can
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: be helped by a more playmaking defense, a more disruptive front. Obviously,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson has done what he does. Can the Bengals
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: get more from guys up front to allow Dax to
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: make more plays in the back. And I do think
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: it's important. When I talked about you talked about the
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: story that Greg Cosell said about Jim Harbal that when
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: we were talking to Dax about the idea of moving
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: from safety to corner, this was mid season, and it
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: was a guy. This isn't a guy who's going to
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: be a malcontent inside the Bengals locker room if he's
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: moved to corner. I think he's a mature guy. And
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: that's been the number one thing that stood out to
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: me about Dax Hill since day one of the Bengals
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: drafted him. He felt older. He hit the demographic of
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: a guy who looked like he was in the league
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: for five to seven years and carried himself in that way.
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: So I think if the Bengals say this is what
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: you're going to do, are you okay with it? He's
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: going to do whatever it takes to help this team
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: be successful and help himself be successful, because when you're
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: entering year three, you're starting to feel think about year
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: four and getting that next deal and whatever you can
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: do to get a big pay day from then on out,
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: whether it's in Cincinnati or somewhere else, you're going to
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: do to make yourself as marketable as possible. I thought
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: what Jonah Williams said Dan before last year about the
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: idea of moving from left tackle to right tackle and
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: playing a different position. It's not the same as moving
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: from safety to corner, but it's a different position. And
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: Jonah was saying, look, you know, I know I'm probably
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: only here for a year, but it benefits me and
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: it benefits the Bengals if I play well, because Jonah's
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: gonna get paid and the Bengals get a great year
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: of football out of Jonah Williams. And I thought he
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: was really solid last year playing right tackle. So I
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: think the same thing has to go for daxx Hill.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: That if he is moving to slot corner, it behooves
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: both him and Bengals for him to play good football.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: For the Bengal was getting a good player doing good
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: things this year, and also for Dax Hill to up
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: his value for when he does become a free agent
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: going forward. But I do think it's important that everybody
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: understands this guy's only played one year and he didn't
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: have the running mate that Jesse Bates had here in
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: Von Bell and what a difference maker he was probably
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: for Jesse and his production. Dax hasn't had that. It
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: was a bit of a revolving door last year of
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: Nick Scott and Jordan Battle, who was a rookie himself,
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: So that kind of stuff matters. I don't want to
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: sit here and sound like I'm carrying water for Dax Hill,
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: but I think it's important to understand one year, the
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: guy's only played one year and he didn't have the
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: everything around him that Jesse Bates had. So it's me
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: you're asking me. I want to see what Dax Hill
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: can do a second year of starting a third year
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: in the NFL at that position. But Low and Zach
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: know what they're doing, and Lou and Zach are going
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: to deploy him the best way they can for him
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: to be successful.
• 56:07
  Speaker 3: All Right, a.
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: Couple more questions for Fox nineteen's Joe Daniman before we
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: wrap things up. I want to circle back to the
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl for a second. Aside from driving Jamar's parents
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: to the team hotel, what was the highlight of that
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: experience for you?
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: When I walked out onto the field for Super Bowl Sunday,
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: I remember feeling, Wow, this feels just like any other Sunday.
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: There aren't a ton of people on the sidelines. And
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: then I walked about ten feet further. I'm like, Oh,
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: there's the rock that's different. Oh wait, there's Devin Booker.
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: That's different. Oh there's Don Cheatle, there's Justin Bieber. I mean,
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: the amount of star power on the sideline was so different,
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: and to me, that will ever forever stand out as
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: what made it feel so different. I remember putting my
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: bag down, my bag of like the microphone and the
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: batteries and everything, right up against a wall. And if
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: you think about Sofi Stadium, they have these suites that
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: are constructed right there at field level, and I put
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: my bag down and it was one of the Kardashian sisters.
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: When I looked up, I'm like, well, that's this is
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: completely different. So I spent my time taking pictures of
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: all these celebrities here in these front suites instead of
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: actually doing my job and shooting the game, to take
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: these pictures and send back to my wife because you
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: know she loves the yellow celebrities and that kind of thing.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: I do remember this. I remember it being twenty to
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: sixteen and I was standing next to a guy on
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: the sideline who didn't look like he had a dog
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: in the fight. I'm from Cincinnati. I know all the
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: history and all the scores of all the big games
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: the Bengals have played in. And I turned to this guy,
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: I said, it's twenty to sixteen. There were two minutes left.
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: Do you realize that was the final score of the
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: Bengals Super Bowl twenty three loss? And the guy looks
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: at me like I don't care. Then I said to him,
• 57:57
  Speaker 1: I said, to the same guy right there, I said,
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: it's been amazing how much of a non factor of
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: the referees have been in this game. And then boom,
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: just like that, just like that on Logan Wilson, and
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: I said announcers jinks. Announcers jinks. So those are the
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: moments that I pull out from that were just the
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: number of celebrities, and then what happened there in the
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: final two minutes just from my vantage point and seeing
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: I al say, have another funny story. So it's the
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: final minute of the first half and me being an
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: eighties and nineties kid who grew up with Doctor Dre
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Snoop Dogg, and this halftime show that was going to
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: just be the most amazing thing. I couldn't wait for it.
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: So about a minute to go in the half, they
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: put the media room so far away from the field,
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: and my battery is flashing. That means I have about
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: one minute left in my battery. I'm covering the super Bowl, right,
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: I've got to get every moment something big can happen.
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: But if I try to use halftime to try to
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: walk out of here and get my battery, then I'm
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: gonna miss most of the halftime show. So I put
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: the camera down and I go running to get the
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: battery and miss the final minute of the first half
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: of the Super Bowl so I won't miss the halftime show. Luckily,
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: nothing amazing happened in the final minute of the first half.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: Otherwise I would have thought about this big. But I
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: got to see the halftime. So the cool thing was damn.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: When I was running in the tunnel to get back
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: to the media room, they had these like low ride
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: convertibles with hydraulics and they were testing him because that's
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: what they wrote down. I'm like, oh, there's Doctor Dre,
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: there's Snoop Dogg sitting and they had these huge security
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: guys protecting them. Is I'm trying, I'm running full sprint
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: and these security guys like perk up, like somebody's gonna
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: come attack Doctor Dre and Snoop Dogg. I'm just running
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: with my media vest, trying to get back and get
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: a battery for the second half so I don't miss
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: any of the game. And so yeah, just to see
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: all these people on the sideline, it was so It's
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: so cool and so different from anything I've ever been
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: a part of. And that's why next year in New Orleans, boy,
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: it would be so cool to have that story of
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase going right back down to
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: where they won the championship and Joe doing the finger
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: point again as a super Bowl Champion next year. It
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: just kind of feels like it's written.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: It's happening. It's happening. I'm completely with you. I'm looking
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: forward to New Orleans next year. Your story of running
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 2: past security people are protecting all these celebrities reminds me
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: of one of my all time favorite photographer stories. I
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: had a buddy who was a news photographer years ago,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: and to indicate how many years ago this was, he
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: was going to a Mondale news conference when Mondale was
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: running for president. So he gets to like the area
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 2: where it's cordoned off, and he's trying to get in,
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 2: and he realizes he doesn't have the proper press credential
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 2: and he's on deadline for his newspaper for a wire service,
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 2: whatever it was. He's got all of his camera gear
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: and stuff, and he's trying to get in, and the
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 2: security people are saying, you know, I'm sorry, buddy, but
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 2: you don't have the right press credential for this. You
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: cannot get in, and finally says, you don't understand. I'm
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 2: here to shoot Mondale, meaning as a photographer shoot. They
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 2: pinned him to the ground like me, to the back
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 2: of his head. His camera's go flying. He's saying, not
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: shoot shoot shoot like pictures. Oh my gosh, so be
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: very careful if stopped by photographers and you are trying
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: to shoot video with how you phrase that?
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: That's incredible. You've never told me that.
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 2: One man, Yeah, the guy named Jim Commontucci regrettably said
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 2: I'm here to shoot Mondale and was a pin to
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: the ground as a result. Well, I was going to
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 2: ask you about your thoughts for the Bengals prospects in
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, but you've already shared that you think
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 2: there's a good chance they're going to be at the
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 2: super Bowl in New Orleans.
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: Well, the amazing thing about this year, and I think
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: the big takeaway Bengals fans should have about the twenty
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: twenty three season is you think back to what happened
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: obviously with Joe Burrow and the slow start of the
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: season and then of course the season ending injury. They
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: took it up to almost the final week of being
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: in playoff contention. So it shows you I don't want
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: to use the word easy, because it's not easy to
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: make the playoffs in the NFL, but it shows you
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: just the overall construction of this roster the Bengals are
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: going to make. If Joe Burrow plays seventeen games, they're
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: going to be in the tournament. They were almost in
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: the tournament with Joe Burrow not being himself for five
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: weeks and then missing however many weeks he missed at
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: the end of the year for Jake Browning to play quarterback.
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: So as long as Joe Burrow stays healthy, this team
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: is going to be in that mix of three or
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: four teams in the AFC who have a chance to
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: go to the Super Bowl. And I have no doubt
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: they're going to be that next year. They I thought
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: what Joe said he talked to Ben Baby over the
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: weekend from ESPN about this last season, and I thought
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: Joe was very honest when he said he didn't believe
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: this felt like a Super Bowl team just the way
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: they played this year. And I thought that was an
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: honest assessment because I agree with it. It just didn't
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: feel like the defense was good enough for this team
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl this year. That's got to
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: be fixed, and that to me is why defensive tackle
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: again continues to be so fascinating for this team. Getting
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: it right, getting better on defensively, getting better defensively and
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: limiting these explosive plays. You limit the explosive plays, you
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: get better defensively. Joe Burrow and that offense are going
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: to take care of everything they have to take care
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: of to be a team that can go win a
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl. So this coming year feels no different than
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: any year. It's felt like the last three four years
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: with Joe Burrow, they've got a chance. They've got a
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: great chance to make the super Bowl. Now with the
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs, and look, that's the standard right now.
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: We can all admit that with them having three super
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: Bowls with Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs aren't going
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: to look like they did last year. I don't think
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: they're going to go through another year of relying on
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: guys we've never heard of playing wide receiver and hoping
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey and a great defense can
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: elevate that team to the Super Bowl. I think they're
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: going to make a splash and one way or the other,
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: and Cande Bengals keep up in that arms race with
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: Kansas City to make sure they're there and able to
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: beat that team when it comes time to the playoffs.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: They're going to be in the playoffs. We saw it
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: last year what happened even without Joe, they were almost there.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: They're going to have Joe for seventeen games. It's going
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: to get into the playoffs. The question is when they
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: get there, can Joe once again play the dragon that
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: is Patrick Mahomes And what I think is going to
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: be a better version the Kansas City Chiefs coming year.
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: They just won the Super Bowl. I think they're going
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: to be better this coming year because I don't think
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: that organizations allow Patrick Mahomes to play with a bunch
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: of no name guys a wide receiver again. So to
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: answer your question, I think it's those two teams again.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: I think obviously Baltimore is going to be great. Baltimore
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: is just a great organization. They're going to be there.
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: Who else might pop up in the AFC. We'll see
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: if the Chargers finally put it together. We'll see if
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: the Steelers address quarterback play. We'll see if Miami can
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: be more than just a first half of the regular
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: season team. But when it comes time to it, Dan,
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: it's can Joe again be the one guy to slay
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: the Patrick mahomes Dragon done it before, who says he
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: can't do it again.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: Joe, I've taken a lot of your time. I really
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 2: appreciate it. I told you recently that I caught you
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 2: on a radio talk show and that you are a
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 2: phenomenal talk show guest. I knew you would be a
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 2: great podcast guest, and you did not disappoint. Keep up
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 2: the great work and thanks again.
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: You're welcome. I told my wife I was doing this Dan,
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: and I said, this is like Steph Curry walking into
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: Planets Fitness and picking a guy out the play pick
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: up with when Dan Horde as we do anything with him.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: I've said it many times, Dan, You're one of the
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: biggest influences in my career. You're the absolute best. Cincinnati
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: is so lucky to have you. I was driving back
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: from the Combine listening to you call the UC Houston game,
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: and I was entertained for two hours, not just by
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: a basketball game, but by you and Terry great chemistry.
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: You're the absolute best, and I owe my career to you.
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: So thanks again for having me on. This was a blast.
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 2: Joe is far too kind. He emailed me when he
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 2: was just getting started, and I played a very small
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 2: part in helping him get his foot in the door
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: at Fox nineteen, but trust me, he was going to
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 2: have a very successful career regardless of that, and Cincinnati
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 2: sports fans are extremely lucky that Joe was born and
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 2: raised in the area and has chosen to stay home.
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Corps,
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 2: proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 2: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 2: and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 2: the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 2: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Last week at
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 2: the NFL Scouting Combine, I caught up with Lance Zerline,
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 2: who covers the draft for the NFL Network and NFL
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 2: dot Com. If you're hoping the Bengals will take an
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 2: offensive lineman in Round one, you'll like what Lance had
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 2: to say. Lance, you have been evaluating draft prospects for
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 2: a long time. You are the son of a former
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 2: NFL and University of Cincinnati offensive line coach. Just how
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 2: good is this offensive tackle group?
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 3: It's great, It's one of the best ones.
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 4: I've seen in a long time, and you've got guys
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 4: who have big pluses like Joe Alt's rock solid on
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 4: all phases. JC Latham is one of the best run
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 4: blocking tackles I've seen in a long long time from Alabama.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 4: Olufushanu from Penn State has great measurables and potential. I
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 4: think there's still some work to be done, but his
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 4: upside is very, very high. You start getting into Tulisi Fuaga,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 4: who is an outstanding pass protector on the right side.
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 3: So I mean it goes from a tackle standpoint.
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 4: I haven't even gotten a Tyler Guidin and Amarius Mims,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 4: who could have two of the highest upsides of the
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 4: entire class. So we're talking about six deep for sure
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 4: in the first round. All those guys are going to
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 4: go in the first round. So it's the question is
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 4: win does the run start? Because this is an interesting
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 4: wide receiver quarterback draft at the top, But if you
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 4: need an offensive lineman, there's going to be a tackle
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 4: for you. The question will be is there still a
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 4: tackle available where the Bengals pick, you know, because it
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 4: depends on the run.
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 2: That's the eighteenth pick, and they do need a tackle
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 2: assuming they do not re sign Joonah Williams, and most
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 2: people don't think that they will. Having said what you
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 2: just said, do you think they'll get their starting right
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 2: tackle at eighteen?
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 4: I do, because I think even if it's the fifth
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 4: or sixth, I don't really It's a rare group in
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 4: that I don't think there's this big a difference between
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 4: one and six. Like you, it's rare to see the
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 4: first best wide receiver in a six best it's gonna
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 4: be a big difference, first best quarterback, sixth best, big
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 4: difference this year, first best tackle, whoever you have that
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 4: as I've got Latham.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 3: Other people have all the sixth, whether you make.
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 4: It Guiten or Amarus Mems, if it's one of those two,
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 4: they've got a chance to be as good or better
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 4: than number one. So it's just a really fun tackle
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 4: draft because there's a good chance at whoever Cincinnati has,
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 4: if they took a tackle, there's a good chance at
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 4: whoever the tackle was that they took might be in
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 4: the top three of their board, just because I think
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 4: the boards are going.
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 3: To be so varied.
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 2: NFL Network analyst Land Zerline is our guest who shouldn't
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 2: we get our hopes up for what guys. Do you figure, well,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 2: there's very little chance that guy is going to still
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 2: be there at eighteen.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 3: Offensive line guy.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 4: So you know people I get excited at, not the
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 4: general public, but I think Tuluisi Fuaga, who played really
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 4: well at Senior Bowl, I just don't think he's going
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 4: to be available. And he's one that I would really
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 4: love for the Bengals, and I just don't think he's
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 4: going to be available.
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 3: And then you know, in.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 4: Terms of players, I'm really curious to see if brock
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 4: Bowers there because I think Brock would be a.
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 3: Lot of fun on that offense.
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 2: Well, you just name the person that Bengals fans are
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 2: fantasizing about. Every Cincinnati fan has their fingers crossed that maybe,
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 2: just maybe Brock Powers will be there. Do you think
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 2: there is a reasonable chance that he's somehow still there
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 2: at eighteen?
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: I do.
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 3: I do.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 4: Because Number one, the tight end position is hard to
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 4: slot in a draft because it's not typically a high
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 4: enough need where you're going to draft one in the
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 4: top fifteen picks. Brock Bowers does not have rare size.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 4: He's not six five, two fifty. He's going to be
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 4: smaller than that. He'll test well, but he doesn't have
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 4: rare measurable So I think with Brock Bowers, I think
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 4: there is a chance if he sneaks past the Colts
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 4: at number sixteen, I think there's a good chance he's
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 4: there for the Bengals. So I do think there's a
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 4: chance Brock Bowers is still I mean, I've got him
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 4: as the fourth highest, fourth or fifth highest rated player
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 4: in the draft. But the fact is he's not getting
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 4: drafted that early. He's just he doesn't have those type
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 4: of rare measurables, so he'll he'll fall.
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 3: A little bit.
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 2: Last year, it seems to me we knew a lot
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 2: of the tight ends in the draft, and obviously some
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 2: of them did really well as rookies. This year, all
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 2: of the focus is on Bowers. Who are some of
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 2: the other guys at that position that you like?
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 3: So I think there's a two player separation.
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 4: The guy that I want to focus on for the
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 4: Bengals is Jatavion Sanders. Sanders is going to be a
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 4: pretty good tester here. He should run about a four
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 4: to six y five, but when I started watching tape,
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 4: so he's not going to be much of a he
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 4: can block, he doesn't always block. That's an attitude adjustment
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 4: that's getting him to really buy in a lot of
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 4: times that happens with the.
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 3: Line coach, but also with.
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 4: Veterans who are on the team. But the other thing
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 4: to me that really stands out is that when you
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 4: have a guy like Sanders who can really get up
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 4: the field and stretch the defense, this is what this
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 4: is what Joe Burrow really excels with is throwing the
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 4: guys in the scene, finding the matchups pre snapp He
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 4: knows the matchups. He had Randy Moss's son at LSU.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 3: Who was a good weapon for him, not a pro.
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 4: He was not a pro tight end, and yet everyone
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 4: thought he was because of how Joe used him. I
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 4: think it would be even greater with Jatavian Sanders from Texas.
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 3: I don't think.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 4: I think if you saw the Bengals trade up, they
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 4: could get their hands on him early in a second.
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 4: I think if they traded out of the first they
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 4: could get their hands on him. But Jatavian Sanders is
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 4: one of those weapons. To me that is maybe the
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 4: most exciting pass catcher, pure pass catcher in this draft
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 4: at tight end.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 3: Bowers is special after the catch.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 4: Sanders has special in the air, running routes and separating.
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 4: So I think Jatavion Sanders for me, is that type
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 4: of weapon because he adds another pass catcher. Forgetide receiver,
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 4: You're adding another pass catcher.
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 3: To the mix.
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 2: NFL Network analyst land Zerline is our guest. Let's say
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 2: there's a huge run on offensive tackles. All the ones
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 2: that the Bengals have graded highly are gone by number eighteen.
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 2: They've got a real need of defensive tackle as well.
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 2: Who do you like his potential first or second round
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 2: defensive tackles.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 4: You want to find a guy to plug in for
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 4: DJ Reader to really clog the drain, it's Tovandre Sweat
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 4: if you from Texas. If you can get his weight
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 4: where it needs to be and you can keep him there,
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 4: he has rare talent in terms of stopping the run
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 4: in the middle, and he's one of those guys that
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 4: can immediately like Chris Jones. Now he's not even rush
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 4: like Chris Jones. He's not the same player. But when
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 4: you have guys that can shut down an area of
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 4: the offensive line where you say we're not going to
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 4: be able to run from here to here because Sweat
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 4: is there, that adds such an advantage for defensive coordinators
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 4: we're calling their defenses and gives you a chance to
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 4: really be more aggressive.
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 3: But other areas. So I think Tovandre Sweat is.
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 4: The one guy I would I would put on in
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 4: the late second, maybe even into the third. If he
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 4: drops that, I would that I would look for that
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 4: could have a huge impact in year one.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 2: Johnny Newton or Brian Murphy, Which one do you like more?
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Johnny Newton.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 2: As a potential pass rush penetrating type defensive tackle, I.
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 3: Think Newton has that ability.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's okay and run blocking, but I
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 4: mean as a run defender, but as a pass rusher.
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 4: To me, he's the guy that I like more because
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 4: he can he understands how to get to the edge,
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 4: and once you have an understanding of pass rushing happens
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 4: on the edges and not straight down the middle, you
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 4: got a chance to be a pro pass rusher. So
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 4: I think Johnny Newton is the guy that I would take.
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 2: Final question for lan Zerline. You've been doing this for
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 2: a while. Do the Bengals have a draft personality. Is
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 2: there anything that you think about when you think of
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 2: how the Cincinnati Bengals draft, You really don't.
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think in thinking back on some of
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 4: their picks over the years, I do think there's been
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 4: a shift over the last four or five years. They
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 4: valued good football players. Logan Wilson was a phenomenal football player.
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 4: Even Jonah Williams, who may not come back guy just
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 4: got guys blocked. He didn't have the best traits, the
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 4: best link, but he came from pedigree and he was
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 4: a good blocker. So I think the Bengals clearly covet
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 4: guys who are good coming into the league and not
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 4: necessarily projection players.
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 2: Appreciate your time, keep up the great work.
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 3: Thank you, I appreciate it.
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
• 1:15:28
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