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Bengals Booth Podcast: Run This Town · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The
0:06
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast. The Who's Gonna Run This Town to
0:11
Speaker 1: Night addition, as the Bengals wrap up their first week
0:15
Speaker 1: of training camp by drawing nearly twenty nine thousand fans
0:18
Speaker 1: to Paul Brown Stadium for a practice on Back Together Saturday.
0:23
Speaker 1: Around the NFL coming up, you'll hear from Money mac
0:26
Speaker 1: Evan McPherson, whose sixty five yard field goal ended that practice.
0:32
Speaker 1: NFL insider Ian Rappaport was among the spectators, and I'll
0:36
Speaker 1: get his thoughts on the defending AFC champs. And then
0:39
Speaker 1: a broadcast partner, Dave Lapham, joins me as we share
0:42
Speaker 1: some observations on the first few days of training camp.
0:45
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download
0:50
Speaker 1: Ultimate Bengals ahead of the upcoming season. It's free to
0:53
Speaker 1: play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get
0:58
Speaker 1: it now on the App Store and Google Play. And
1:01
Speaker 1: here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest
1:03
Speaker 1: edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
1:06
Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
1:11
Speaker 1: the greatest thing since the Bengals AFC Championship rings. It's
1:17
Speaker 1: obviously not the ultimate prize, but the Bengals distributed spectacular
1:22
Speaker 1: rings last week to celebrate the organization's third trip to
1:25
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. The top of the ring features the
1:28
Speaker 1: Bengals orange and black b logo, with a diamond cut
1:32
Speaker 1: black stone behind it to make that logo pop. Above
1:37
Speaker 1: and below it are ten orange sapphires, symbolic of the
1:41
Speaker 1: franchisees ten division titles. Eighty diamonds sparkle on top of
1:46
Speaker 1: the ring, including a series in the shape of a football,
1:49
Speaker 1: and seventeen more diamonds around the top edge in an
1:53
Speaker 1: alternating pattern with seventeen orange sapphires. The Lamar Hunt AFC
1:58
Speaker 1: Championship Trophy is on the side of the ring, surrounded
2:01
Speaker 1: by three more or in sapphires, signifying Cincinnati's three conference titles,
2:07
Speaker 1: and on the inside of the ring you'll find the
2:10
Speaker 1: scores of the bengals three postseason wins. For the players
2:14
Speaker 1: and coaches, it's a richly deserved reward for all they
2:17
Speaker 1: accomplished last season, and also a reminder that a bigger
2:22
Speaker 1: prize is within their grasp. Last year, on back together. Saturday,
2:27
Speaker 1: the Big Open practice that the Bengals hold at Paul
2:29
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium. Evan McPherson ended the day by attempting a
2:34
Speaker 1: sixty yard field goal. He had the distance but missed
2:37
Speaker 1: it wide left. This year, he ended the event with
2:41
Speaker 1: a sixty five yard attempt and drilled it with plenty
2:45
Speaker 1: of room to spare. It was the latest impressive feat
2:49
Speaker 1: by the kid with a bionic foot. Including the postseason.
2:53
Speaker 1: Last year, McPherson made twelve field goals of fifty or
2:57
Speaker 1: more yards. Dave lappom and I caught up with him
3:00
Speaker 1: Saturday immediately after that sixty five yard blast. Did you
3:05
Speaker 1: know that sixty five yard opportunity was coming? Yeah? No,
3:09
Speaker 1: I definitely did. We've talked about it and just kind
3:11
Speaker 1: of It's kind of what we did last year too,
3:13
Speaker 1: was just kind of putting foot on a show for
3:14
Speaker 1: the for the fans and everybody that showed up. So
3:17
Speaker 1: I didn't know it was coming. We didn't know how
3:19
Speaker 1: far we were gonna go. We're just gonna kind of
3:21
Speaker 1: judge it off of how we were feeling on the
3:23
Speaker 1: wind and everything. How did that feel felt good? No?
3:26
Speaker 1: I hit it really well. Um probably hit it as
3:29
Speaker 1: about as good as I could have um and the
3:32
Speaker 1: guy stating under the upright said it was it had
3:34
Speaker 1: a couple more yards on its all felt good. Anything
3:39
Speaker 1: if I hit that that same ball maybe like seventy
3:44
Speaker 1: he said it had been good from seventy. But who knows.
3:47
Speaker 1: Sweet nice way to cap this practice. I mean, obviously
3:51
Speaker 1: everybody out here is still buzzing from the Super Bowl trip,
3:53
Speaker 1: and to see you do that sends everybody home happy. Yeah, definitely,
3:56
Speaker 1: and I think it I think everybody should be excited
3:59
Speaker 1: for the season. I say, well, you know, they saw
4:02
Speaker 1: a good team out there practicing the day, and they're
4:04
Speaker 1: going to see a good team play here in as
4:06
Speaker 1: a next week or a couple of weeks against Arizona
4:08
Speaker 1: thirteen days, thirteen days, there we go. What'd you think
4:11
Speaker 1: of the reception when you walked out? People went nuts? Yeah.
4:13
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just awesome just to have that support
4:16
Speaker 1: from the fans, and it gives me confidence going into it.
4:20
Speaker 1: You know that everybody's behind me if no matter what happens.
4:23
Speaker 1: So all right, you've got a sixty five yarder in practice.
4:26
Speaker 1: If it comes up in a game, you know you
4:27
Speaker 1: can do it. Exactly, No We're prepared for it, so
4:30
Speaker 1: it's gonna be the right situation for sure. Last year
4:34
Speaker 1: I saw McPherson make a sixty two yarder during pregame
4:37
Speaker 1: warmups in Denver, and later that day he set the
4:40
Speaker 1: franchise record with a fifty eight yarder in the game.
4:44
Speaker 1: The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. They're
4:47
Speaker 1: free to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate
4:51
Speaker 1: Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the
4:53
Speaker 1: year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences
4:58
Speaker 1: all up for grabs five Ultimate Bengals in the app
5:01
Speaker 1: Store and Google Play. NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport was
5:06
Speaker 1: in attendance at Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, and I
5:09
Speaker 1: caught up with him for about ten minutes just before
5:12
Speaker 1: practice got under way. Ian, what are your biggest questions
5:17
Speaker 1: about the Bengals coming off the Super Bowl appearance. I
5:21
Speaker 1: don't have nearly as many questions as I did last year.
5:24
Speaker 1: I mean, if you think about it, like the defense,
5:26
Speaker 1: assuming Jesse Bates shows up before Week one, defense is
5:29
Speaker 1: basically the same, right, I mean, you lose Ogan Joby,
5:32
Speaker 1: but like you can make up for those seven sacks
5:35
Speaker 1: somewhere else, probably like some talent in the back end. Otherwise,
5:38
Speaker 1: like everyone's basically the same offensive line will be better.
5:42
Speaker 1: So it's not like I have a ton of questions,
5:44
Speaker 1: like his Ted Carriss can be able to be like
5:46
Speaker 1: a starting center or whatever. Like Le Collins is what
5:49
Speaker 1: he is, like a really really really solid tackle. Like
5:54
Speaker 1: I don't even have any questions there. Joe Burrow sounds like,
5:57
Speaker 1: get a great offseason and I health one, which is
6:00
Speaker 1: most important. He'll probably be a little bit better too,
6:03
Speaker 1: So questions like I don't know, I really don't have
6:06
Speaker 1: very many. Honestly, that's pretty telling. I mean in most
6:10
Speaker 1: camps there's usual at least something that you wonder, Okay,
6:14
Speaker 1: did they solve that problem or whatever. It doesn't sound
6:17
Speaker 1: like this particular team has a bunch of those. Yeah,
6:21
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the offensive line would be sort
6:23
Speaker 1: of the target. But like it's not like they drafted
6:26
Speaker 1: guys and then we'll see like the guys they signed,
6:29
Speaker 1: you know, like I know what Lyle Collins is. I've
6:31
Speaker 1: seen him start for seven years or whatever. It is
6:34
Speaker 1: like Ted Kerres, same thing, Kappas, same thing. Like I
6:39
Speaker 1: don't know, like I'm not. I don't. I guess maybe
6:43
Speaker 1: you worry about the wonder about the fit a little bit,
6:45
Speaker 1: but like I'm really not, Like I think they should
6:48
Speaker 1: be fine. Like last you know, the only sort of
6:51
Speaker 1: thing would be everyone's gunning for him, but like that's
6:55
Speaker 1: not really a tangible thing, and like I feel like
6:57
Speaker 1: everyone's gunning for everyone in the NFL anyway. So I
7:00
Speaker 1: don't know. Do you think the Jesse Bates contract impass
7:05
Speaker 1: could be a problem. No, I don't think it'll be
7:09
Speaker 1: a problem. I don't think it'll be a problem this year.
7:13
Speaker 1: You know, you'd like to get it done. He is
7:15
Speaker 1: a homegrown, great guy, great player. Those are the guys
7:20
Speaker 1: you'd like to pay. They just didn't get it to
7:23
Speaker 1: a point where it got done. And you know, I
7:27
Speaker 1: know there are several other teams that didn't get deals
7:30
Speaker 1: done for their franchise guy either. Some did, some didn't.
7:33
Speaker 1: It's too bad because you'd always like to you'd always
7:36
Speaker 1: like to handle it. But as far as like on
7:38
Speaker 1: the football field, you know, assuming he shows up for
7:42
Speaker 1: a week one, which historically almost everybody has, you might
7:45
Speaker 1: take a couple of weeks to get into the flow,
7:47
Speaker 1: like okay, maybe, but you got a first rounder who's
7:50
Speaker 1: been taking all those reps might end up being a
7:52
Speaker 1: positive because that's a lot more steps for Dax than
7:55
Speaker 1: you're expecting. Ian rap report is our guest. Burrows many
7:59
Speaker 1: great pat tribute. What stands out to you the most.
8:03
Speaker 1: He's a great dresser. He's pregame pre game outfits are tremendous.
8:10
Speaker 1: He gives you know he doesn't care, we'll just dress
8:14
Speaker 1: to the nine thing, go out and perfore him. I
8:16
Speaker 1: always respected that. No, But I think the thing about
8:21
Speaker 1: Burrow is really the same thing that it's been before
8:25
Speaker 1: he became a pro, is that he's always been a pro.
8:28
Speaker 1: Like It's not like, how's he going to react to
8:30
Speaker 1: the NFL Like he's been an NFL quarterback. He just
8:33
Speaker 1: did it in college, like he ran the show at LSU.
8:36
Speaker 1: He does the same here. He's got total understanding of
8:38
Speaker 1: the offense. He's got really good accuracy. He is able
8:42
Speaker 1: to get what he wants in like a sort of
8:47
Speaker 1: not offensive way, which I think if you're a leader,
8:51
Speaker 1: half the thing is getting what you want without everybody
8:54
Speaker 1: hating you. Nobody hates Joe Burrow. Everybody loves Joe Burrow.
8:57
Speaker 1: Um there's a lot to like. I mean, there's a
8:59
Speaker 1: lot to like. You know, it's interesting because when you
9:02
Speaker 1: joke about his wardrobe choices, it does kind of reinforce
9:05
Speaker 1: how comfortable he is in his own skid. That's part
9:08
Speaker 1: of his leadership, I think. Yeah. I mean, I don't
9:11
Speaker 1: know about the parental level of this podcast, but I
9:15
Speaker 1: would say he gives no face, like he really doesn't,
9:18
Speaker 1: and he addresses how he wants to. And he's bold,
9:21
Speaker 1: and he's a little brash, and he'll wear a big
9:24
Speaker 1: chain and I'll wear stupid glasses at a press conference,
9:27
Speaker 1: and I'll throw over three and fifty yards and like,
9:29
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things that he does. They really
9:33
Speaker 1: have to be great to do, which is great because
9:36
Speaker 1: he is great and so like he could literally do
9:40
Speaker 1: anything you want. Everyone's like he's earned it. You know,
9:44
Speaker 1: there's a lot of star par on this team right
9:46
Speaker 1: now with Burrow, Chase Higgins, mix and etc. How about
9:50
Speaker 1: under the radar guys or under rated guys? Is there
9:53
Speaker 1: anybody on this team that you think, you know what,
9:55
Speaker 1: that guy's a big difference maker for the Bengals and
9:57
Speaker 1: nobody really talks about him. I would say, you know,
10:03
Speaker 1: I'll be curious if Hayden Hurst fills that this year.
10:06
Speaker 1: You know, CJ was so good and so perfect for
10:09
Speaker 1: the Bengals, got more money somewhere else, which is awesome,
10:13
Speaker 1: Like that's that's what you want. And I'll be really
10:17
Speaker 1: curious to see where Hayden Hurst fits in. You know,
10:20
Speaker 1: It's not like people were like beating down his door
10:22
Speaker 1: in free agency. He's been really productive a couple of
10:24
Speaker 1: different times, but has never really really commanded top dollar.
10:28
Speaker 1: And I'm not I don't really know why. He just
10:31
Speaker 1: hasn't freeting. He doesn't work for everyone. Sounds like the
10:34
Speaker 1: early returns are really positive. He is a great athlete.
10:38
Speaker 1: He is a great athlete, so might give you a
10:40
Speaker 1: little more than CJ gave you, maybe just as far
10:43
Speaker 1: as like stretching it a little bit. So I'm really
10:47
Speaker 1: fascinated to see what that edition was. What stands out
10:50
Speaker 1: to you about how Duke Tobin built this roster over
10:52
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and turning a team that
10:54
Speaker 1: had the number one pick in the draft to a
10:56
Speaker 1: team that was some minute and a half away from
10:58
Speaker 1: winning a Super Bowl. Yeah, I mean it's hard to
11:01
Speaker 1: get any better than what they've done, you know, and
11:03
Speaker 1: like Duke as a guy, I've always had a lot
11:05
Speaker 1: of respect for everyone around the league. Does um, you know,
11:08
Speaker 1: there was a string of years where it kind of
11:11
Speaker 1: all came apart and I don't even know that it
11:14
Speaker 1: was really like, you know, was it player evaluation, Like
11:18
Speaker 1: I didn't maybe some missues, but like not even really
11:20
Speaker 1: that many honestly, just it was a good run that
11:23
Speaker 1: sort of went the wrong way, you know. I think
11:25
Speaker 1: the coaching change helped and they had to start back
11:28
Speaker 1: up from the bottom. And he is patient, He is
11:31
Speaker 1: very savvy. Picks picks have been really good and when
11:37
Speaker 1: the Vangals never spending free agency, but when they've done,
11:41
Speaker 1: you know, with the with one exception Trey Wayne's which
11:45
Speaker 1: he just wasn't healthy, Like that's what what are you
11:47
Speaker 1: gonna do? It wasn't healthy. Um, every guy they've chosen
11:51
Speaker 1: has fit and has been an instant impact guy, Like
11:55
Speaker 1: it's hard to have that good of a hot streak,
11:57
Speaker 1: but he think about it, that's really what they've done.
12:00
Speaker 1: Great drafting, well timed free agents and like a year
12:04
Speaker 1: before they were good, he and the coaching staff kind
12:09
Speaker 1: of helped establish the Bengals is like a place players
12:11
Speaker 1: would want to be. Obviously, it wasn't always like that,
12:15
Speaker 1: so that kind of stands out. I think there's a
12:17
Speaker 1: bit of a national narrative out there that the Bengals
12:20
Speaker 1: might have been a little bit lucky or flukey last year,
12:23
Speaker 1: whatever term you want to use. Do you think there's
12:25
Speaker 1: any validity to that. I haven't really heard that, because
12:29
Speaker 1: everyone has respect for where they are. Like, if you
12:31
Speaker 1: look at it, this roster, this is a good roster,
12:34
Speaker 1: Like it is a like find the weak spot, you know,
12:38
Speaker 1: like the offensive line was it, and then spent a
12:40
Speaker 1: lot of money to share it up, like find the weakness.
12:44
Speaker 1: So it didn't feel fluky. And I think maybe because like,
12:49
Speaker 1: you know, there are quarterbacks who are productive a good
12:52
Speaker 1: obviously Joe's good, but everybody likes him and it feels
12:56
Speaker 1: like nationally thinks he's cool and wants him to succeed.
13:00
Speaker 1: So like, I didn't get the sense everybody thought it
13:02
Speaker 1: was a fluke. I think everybody got the sense of, like,
13:04
Speaker 1: these guys deserve to be here because like, are they
13:07
Speaker 1: a little too young? Maybe, but like they didn't know
13:09
Speaker 1: anything last year, so they just kept winning. You know.
13:12
Speaker 1: The whole thing was really cool. To watch. How do
13:14
Speaker 1: you assess the AFC North the weekend of training camps?
13:20
Speaker 1: You know, I would say Steelers, I'd like to know
13:22
Speaker 1: a little more about, to know who their quarterback is. Otherwise,
13:27
Speaker 1: I mean, the Browns are gonna be interesting, depending on
13:29
Speaker 1: how long Deshaun Watson suspended. Otherwise it's going to be
13:33
Speaker 1: kind of the same. And when Ravens will be good,
13:34
Speaker 1: Bengals will be good. You know, like it might be
13:38
Speaker 1: a little different early the Steelers take a while to
13:40
Speaker 1: find their footing and the Browns don't have DeShawn, But
13:44
Speaker 1: like by the end, my guess is that everyone's kind
13:47
Speaker 1: of around in that playoff mix. In December, final question
13:51
Speaker 1: for Ian Rapp Report. How valuable is this time of
13:53
Speaker 1: the year for you going from camp to camp, developing contacts,
13:58
Speaker 1: reconnecting with contacts. I mean, it's amazing. It's it's you know,
14:03
Speaker 1: hard on the body, it's hard on the life because
14:05
Speaker 1: you say, I'm going away for twenty days. It is
14:08
Speaker 1: so essential and besides just being important for work, Like
14:12
Speaker 1: you know, I'll come and I'll meet young coaches that
14:15
Speaker 1: I've never met, Like I sat with Dan Pitcher for
14:17
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes because I heard great things, and it's one
14:21
Speaker 1: of the reasons I'm here. I heard great things people
14:23
Speaker 1: like you should meet this guy. So I came here
14:25
Speaker 1: to talk with Zach and Duke and whoever, but also
14:28
Speaker 1: meet Dan Pitcher because as far as someone who's going
14:31
Speaker 1: to be an offensive coordinator maybe head coach, like he's
14:33
Speaker 1: on the list, you know. So that's why this is
14:37
Speaker 1: important for me. So it's hard, like logistically, it's hard.
14:42
Speaker 1: Body wise, it's hard. It is a lot of fun,
14:45
Speaker 1: and it's insanely valuable. You probably got four critical texts
14:49
Speaker 1: during this ten minute conversation, so I really appreciate your time.
14:52
Speaker 1: I will check in one second and pray, thank you man,
14:55
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Dan Pitcher is the Bengals thirty
14:59
Speaker 1: five year old quarterbacks coach, and I'm not surprised to
15:02
Speaker 1: hear that his name is getting around as a future
15:05
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator or even head coach. Finally, time to check
15:10
Speaker 1: in with Dave Lapham as we share some thoughts on
15:13
Speaker 1: the first week of training camp. Lap or four practices in,
15:17
Speaker 1: none of them in full pads. So it's very early
15:20
Speaker 1: to make any definitive sort of statements at this point.
15:22
Speaker 1: But have there been any standouts in the early going.
15:25
Speaker 1: In your opinion, I think a lot of guys have
15:29
Speaker 1: started camp off pretty well. Dan, I have been impressed.
15:33
Speaker 1: I was impressed at OTAs with Kwamie Laster, his you know,
15:38
Speaker 1: precise and smooth out running of ballio ability. I don't
15:40
Speaker 1: think he's going to run away from anybody, but I
15:43
Speaker 1: do think that he gets separation, you know, he lowers
15:46
Speaker 1: his hips and gets in and out of cuts well.
15:48
Speaker 1: And a guy I gotta like him caught my eye
15:52
Speaker 1: and I think he's done a pretty good job in
15:54
Speaker 1: the early stage as a training camp. I will say
15:57
Speaker 1: that all three of the the rookie defensive acts, we
16:01
Speaker 1: heard about their speed and it's transplated on the football
16:04
Speaker 1: feed field. Sometimes guys that run fast forwardies and you
16:08
Speaker 1: don't see it on functional football speed. But these guys
16:11
Speaker 1: you do, you know, and and they're they're covering a
16:14
Speaker 1: lot of ground out there, and I think they've all
16:16
Speaker 1: got all got bright futures. There's uh, there's no doubt
16:19
Speaker 1: about that. Dax Hill, Cam Taylor Britt. You know, they
16:24
Speaker 1: these guys have have really have really shown shown me
16:29
Speaker 1: that that they've they've got football speed. Tyson Amerson as
16:33
Speaker 1: well on the Toledo um speed and football speed, both
16:37
Speaker 1: which is good trade On Williams, I thought it's had
16:40
Speaker 1: a very good start to his training camp. Another guy
16:42
Speaker 1: in the secondary that I liked in is is DeVante Hood.
16:47
Speaker 1: This this guy's long, you know, and he's got he's
16:49
Speaker 1: got some ability. I think, you know, he's got I'm
16:52
Speaker 1: not talking about all these guys making the team necessarily,
16:55
Speaker 1: but definitely on the practice squad with an opportunity to
16:58
Speaker 1: develop them for you know, for their NFL careers. At
17:02
Speaker 1: the linebacker level. Got Clarence Hicks to me, looks like
17:05
Speaker 1: he's got a little bit of suddenness and twitched to him. Um,
17:09
Speaker 1: I want to see see more of him. It's been
17:12
Speaker 1: good to see a keen Davis Gaither working his way
17:14
Speaker 1: back to I think a pretty you know, pretty effective
17:18
Speaker 1: linebacker for the for the Bengals. From a physical standpoint,
17:21
Speaker 1: he can really run offensive lineman. It's it's very hard
17:25
Speaker 1: to judge, like you said, without pads on Dan, but
17:29
Speaker 1: I think I think that group is going to be
17:31
Speaker 1: noticeably better when when things get underway, and in fact,
17:36
Speaker 1: in my opinion, this football team roster wise from a
17:38
Speaker 1: year ago, is much better now than it was a
17:41
Speaker 1: year ago, and the biggest reason in my mind is
17:44
Speaker 1: because of the improvements they've made in the offensive line
17:47
Speaker 1: um that that has taken a you know, well over
17:51
Speaker 1: the top. I think, so those are those are a
17:54
Speaker 1: few guys. I think Zach Carter has has shown that
17:59
Speaker 1: he's got the ability to to be that three technique
18:03
Speaker 1: that Ogan Joeby provided. I'm not saying to the level
18:06
Speaker 1: of Logan Joeby provided right away, but I think he's
18:09
Speaker 1: He's got a good sized body on him, he's got
18:12
Speaker 1: very good first step quickness, he's got you know, give
18:14
Speaker 1: off to him. I think I think he's another one
18:18
Speaker 1: that has had a fairly good, fairly good start to
18:21
Speaker 1: training camp. But now that the ramp up stage is over,
18:24
Speaker 1: practice without pads, now we'll find out a little bit
18:27
Speaker 1: more about the interior or the upfront guys, the offensive
18:33
Speaker 1: and defensive line, and linebackers and tight ends and people
18:37
Speaker 1: of that. ILK. I'm glad you mentioned rookie Zach Carter
18:40
Speaker 1: and Larry Ogan Jobie because I think Larry Ogunjobi's absence, departure,
18:46
Speaker 1: whatever term you want to use, is maybe the kind
18:48
Speaker 1: of least talked about story on this team this year.
18:51
Speaker 1: He played sixty four percent of the defensive snaps during
18:54
Speaker 1: the regular season. Last year it was forty five percent
18:58
Speaker 1: for b J. Hills. He added up again one o nine,
19:00
Speaker 1: so sometimes they played together, but Ogan Joby got the
19:04
Speaker 1: bulk of the snaps next to DJ Reader. That's an
19:07
Speaker 1: important job. Those guys have to have somebody that goes
19:10
Speaker 1: in there and gives them, you know, a blow from
19:12
Speaker 1: time to time. Josh Tupa can do that and does
19:15
Speaker 1: it pretty well, particularly in run stopping situations. But it'd
19:19
Speaker 1: be nice to have a guy that can go in
19:20
Speaker 1: there and provide a little pass rush and hopefully Zach
19:23
Speaker 1: Carter can be that guy. I agree, Dan, and um,
19:27
Speaker 1: you know the thing You've got DJ Reader and Tupaul
19:30
Speaker 1: and those guys are you know, they're big space eater guys.
19:33
Speaker 1: And what Ogan Joby did, and I think what what
19:37
Speaker 1: Carter is going to be able to do is invert
19:40
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, you know, with that explosive penetration
19:44
Speaker 1: kind of thing. You know, they give these type of guys,
19:47
Speaker 1: give them that scenario. And that's that's tough when when
19:53
Speaker 1: you get the the line inverted against you and you're
19:56
Speaker 1: trying to you know, establish the line of scrimmage. It's
20:00
Speaker 1: it can be a definite challenge, so that that role
20:03
Speaker 1: is an important one and I think they might have
20:07
Speaker 1: a candidate that could, you know, can feel that. Overall, Dana,
20:11
Speaker 1: I've been extremely impressed with the Bengals defense. The low
20:14
Speaker 1: red zone defense yesterday was suffocating. You know. The offense
20:19
Speaker 1: never scored a testdown on a snap from inside the
20:21
Speaker 1: ten yard line on a single snap. And like I
20:26
Speaker 1: said earlier, the team speed has increased with these young
20:30
Speaker 1: guys on the back end. They're fast. This defensive football
20:34
Speaker 1: team is fast, period, and they cover a lot of
20:37
Speaker 1: ground out there. I think defensively they're going to pick
20:41
Speaker 1: up where they left off. And you look at it
20:43
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, seven different guys combined for eight interceptions,
20:48
Speaker 1: So Louiana Rum was getting contributions everywhere, you know, in
20:52
Speaker 1: terms of making players on the football. And that's what
20:54
Speaker 1: it's all about. It's all about the ball, man, It's
20:56
Speaker 1: all about protecting the ball. It's all about taking it away.
20:59
Speaker 1: On the other side, of those nine takeaways and only
21:02
Speaker 1: two giveaways plus seven in the class was the single
21:06
Speaker 1: most important reason they got to Super Bowl fifty six.
21:10
Speaker 1: Let's talk about hayden Hurst. He's not quite as big
21:13
Speaker 1: as c J Uzama. I don't necessarily think that he's
21:17
Speaker 1: faster running in a straight line than CJ. They're probably
21:20
Speaker 1: pretty comparable, but he's more fluid. CJ was more robotic
21:25
Speaker 1: in his cuts. You could kind of see when the
21:27
Speaker 1: cut was coming in advance. Hayden Hurst is very fluid.
21:31
Speaker 1: I think he's off to an excellent start. And I
21:34
Speaker 1: think CJ was twentieth in the NFL last year in
21:36
Speaker 1: receiving yards among tight ends a little bit under five
21:39
Speaker 1: hundred yards. I think hayden Hurst could could add one
21:43
Speaker 1: hundred or two hundred yards to that in this offense.
21:46
Speaker 1: I totally agree with your assessment about, you know, the
21:48
Speaker 1: route running aspect of it, the fluidity of it getting
21:51
Speaker 1: in and out of cuts. You know, Fredikof wasn't gonna
21:56
Speaker 1: run by anybody, but Fred Blitnikoff would get separation and
22:00
Speaker 1: against really good defensive backs, they had great quickness and
22:03
Speaker 1: speed because he would get in and out of his
22:06
Speaker 1: cut so sharply and so precisely, he'd have it. You know,
22:10
Speaker 1: he'd gained a step right there. And hayden Hurst has
22:15
Speaker 1: that type of route running a bit he runs routes
22:17
Speaker 1: like a whiteout. He's got that type of that type
22:20
Speaker 1: of physical ability I think in a big body like that.
22:24
Speaker 1: So I do think that's going to be an underrated thing.
22:27
Speaker 1: I think people aren't talking about it as much as
22:31
Speaker 1: like you were when you were talking about Ogan, Joeb
22:33
Speaker 1: and Carter. You know that that aspect of it. With
22:36
Speaker 1: the three receiver sets, the eleven personnel that the Banks
22:40
Speaker 1: are going to run a high percentage of the time,
22:42
Speaker 1: Hayden Hurst is going to get some very favorable matchups
22:45
Speaker 1: for a guy his talent and ability. So I think
22:48
Speaker 1: that's going to be something to monitor as you know,
22:52
Speaker 1: not only training camp goes on, because I'm not sure
22:54
Speaker 1: how many snaps he's going to get in preseason games,
22:57
Speaker 1: but definitely as the season progresses. To me, it's going
23:00
Speaker 1: to be very interesting his value if at the end
23:04
Speaker 1: of the line of scrimmage he can be able to
23:07
Speaker 1: handle himself with outside linebackers and looking down on defensive
23:10
Speaker 1: ends and some of the physicality things. CJ was pretty
23:13
Speaker 1: good in that area, you know, in terms of solidifying things.
23:17
Speaker 1: If you have a line of scrimmage, if Hayden Hurst
23:20
Speaker 1: can provide that that CJ did, as well as the
23:26
Speaker 1: advantage that he gets with his route running ability to
23:29
Speaker 1: have something pretty good there. I made an appearance on
23:32
Speaker 1: the NFL Network on Saturday, and they asked me about
23:34
Speaker 1: the vibe at training camp, and I described it as
23:38
Speaker 1: unfinished business and passed along an anecdote from cornerback Trey Flowers.
23:44
Speaker 1: I was talking to him at his locker the other
23:46
Speaker 1: day and mentioned the AFC championship rings and he said
23:50
Speaker 1: he hadn't even opened the box. He doesn't even want
23:52
Speaker 1: to see it until they went a real Super Bowl
23:55
Speaker 1: Championship ring. Then he'll go back and look at an
23:57
Speaker 1: AFC Championship ring. Do you get a kind of an
24:01
Speaker 1: unfinished business vibe? Is that a good way to describe it?
24:04
Speaker 1: Or is there something else that stands out to you?
24:06
Speaker 1: I do? I do get that. There's there's no doubt.
24:09
Speaker 1: I think that they realized that they were right in
24:12
Speaker 1: the midst of an opportunity that doesn't present itself very often,
24:15
Speaker 1: and they didn't quite get it done. So they I
24:17
Speaker 1: do think that they're feeling that unfinished business feeling, and
24:21
Speaker 1: unfortunately franchises felt that three times now, and I can
24:25
Speaker 1: I can relate to Trey Flowers. I've kind of pretty
24:30
Speaker 1: much did the same thing with the ring I got
24:32
Speaker 1: as a player, and I really haven't won it. I
24:35
Speaker 1: haven't won that ring um And I'm not sure how
24:38
Speaker 1: much aware of the ring that we got as a
24:40
Speaker 1: broadcast team for Super Bowl fifty six, but it was intentional.
24:46
Speaker 1: As a player, It's like, oh no, this isn't a
24:48
Speaker 1: big prize. This is a consolation prize, and I'm not.
24:52
Speaker 1: I was proud of the fact that we are to
24:54
Speaker 1: see champions, but bemoaning the fact that we didn't win
24:57
Speaker 1: the big the big banana. So I do think there's
25:00
Speaker 1: a lot of that with this uh, with this football team.
25:03
Speaker 1: The other thing though, that it hits me. You know,
25:06
Speaker 1: we've been in the locker room. COVID protocols are gone,
25:09
Speaker 1: so we're back in there and able to uh, you know,
25:12
Speaker 1: mingle with players. That locker room is phenomenal. I mean,
25:16
Speaker 1: there is no jerk factor whatsoever, not a sniff of
25:19
Speaker 1: it anywhere. And they they they're all they're all got
25:24
Speaker 1: each other's backs, they're all pulling for each other. No,
25:27
Speaker 1: you know, it's all about with us. It's not I me.
25:31
Speaker 1: You know, there's no selfishness in there. It really is
25:34
Speaker 1: about as good as I've seen. And you know, they're
25:37
Speaker 1: all high character guys. They're all you know, captains and
25:40
Speaker 1: multiple captains and um it's and during the course of
25:45
Speaker 1: the season. I mean, heck, look at the Bengals. They
25:48
Speaker 1: lost two home games in a row to the Charges
25:51
Speaker 1: and forty nine ers and overtime to be seven and
25:54
Speaker 1: six halfway through December. So you're not thinking going to
25:57
Speaker 1: Super Bowl fifty six. But that character and everything, you
26:01
Speaker 1: handle adversity better, you know, instead of finger pointing and
26:05
Speaker 1: you know it's not me, it's you. Everybody said, Okay,
26:07
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do my job a little bit better and
26:09
Speaker 1: do and handle things. And they caught fire at the
26:12
Speaker 1: right time. And that I think those kind of intangiles,
26:15
Speaker 1: those kind of variables are going to take your long way.
26:20
Speaker 1: L Collins hasn't practiced yet because of a sore back.
26:23
Speaker 1: We talked to him in front of his locker a
26:25
Speaker 1: couple of days ago. Did that conversation settle any concerns
26:28
Speaker 1: you might have had about his health going forward? Yeah,
26:32
Speaker 1: I've been around teammates that have had, you know, minor
26:37
Speaker 1: disc issues where it's pinching a nerve kind of thing
26:40
Speaker 1: all four L five and you know, some numbness in
26:42
Speaker 1: the leg or whatever the case may be. And they
26:47
Speaker 1: have alleviated themselves the way he's moving around and he's
26:52
Speaker 1: the way he's able to work out already. I don't
26:56
Speaker 1: see any real major issue in terms of him, you know,
27:01
Speaker 1: missing two months or something like that. I think he's
27:03
Speaker 1: going to be back in a couple of weeks. I
27:05
Speaker 1: think he will be taking reps out there before training
27:08
Speaker 1: camp is totally over with. By that, I mean, you know,
27:14
Speaker 1: camp quote breaks before the preceding games are all concluded.
27:18
Speaker 1: But it's the exact same thing. He'll he'll get the
27:24
Speaker 1: work that he needs, I think to be ready to
27:26
Speaker 1: play against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the opener in my estimation,
27:30
Speaker 1: and I'm excited to see the right side, center, right guard,
27:36
Speaker 1: right tackle. I'm excited to see those guys out there,
27:39
Speaker 1: you know, working together against a good defensive unit like
27:42
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers in that opener. It's going to be
27:45
Speaker 1: it's going to be a very good first test. There's
27:48
Speaker 1: no doubt about it that that group is pretty strong.
27:51
Speaker 1: He's he's going to have his handfull of TJ. Watt.
27:54
Speaker 1: Now that guy is the energizer bunny. He keeps going
27:58
Speaker 1: and going and going. But I think Collins is going
28:02
Speaker 1: to be up to the task. It's going to be
28:03
Speaker 1: a very interesting, interesting battle of watch on the edge there.
28:08
Speaker 1: I think we all assume that Jesse Bates is going
28:10
Speaker 1: to report at some point, probably in time for a
28:13
Speaker 1: week one of the regular season. But if not, would
28:16
Speaker 1: Dax Hill be fine based on what you've seen so far? Yeah,
28:20
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I think that it's it's hard
28:23
Speaker 1: to drill a hole in a rookie's head and pour
28:25
Speaker 1: all the experience that Jesse Bates has got now. So honestly,
28:30
Speaker 1: I mean, Jesse second round pick himself, you know, high
28:34
Speaker 1: second round pick, and uh, you know, it took him
28:38
Speaker 1: a little while. It takes everybody a little while. So
28:41
Speaker 1: I don't think that we can expect Dax Hill to
28:44
Speaker 1: be as as comfortable as Jesse Bates might be in
28:49
Speaker 1: the early stages of the season with everything that's going
28:52
Speaker 1: on around it, because it will be so new to
28:55
Speaker 1: Dax and more old hat to Jesse, as Jesse will
28:59
Speaker 1: have seen more at that point in time in terms
29:02
Speaker 1: of what the NFL has got to offer from a
29:05
Speaker 1: formation standpoint, and play, creativity and excellence of the athletes
29:10
Speaker 1: and all that that goes along with it. There is
29:12
Speaker 1: some adjustment there, but I think he's a quick study
29:15
Speaker 1: and I think he's got ability to adapt and adjust
29:19
Speaker 1: to his environment pretty done quickly. Is he gonna make mistakes? Hell, yeah,
29:23
Speaker 1: everybody makes mistakes, but I think he's gonna you know,
29:27
Speaker 1: it's doctor to crush him if he makes a mistake.
29:30
Speaker 1: He won't. He won't stay lost in space. He's gonna
29:33
Speaker 1: bounce right back and uh and make plays. I think
29:37
Speaker 1: he's that type of player. I do think they've got
29:39
Speaker 1: a really good player in Dacksville, and I think they've
29:42
Speaker 1: got another one and Tyson Anderson. The organization has done
29:46
Speaker 1: a pretty good job over the years of doubling down,
29:49
Speaker 1: you know, Chad and the TJ and you know, doubling
29:52
Speaker 1: down up positions where you can only get one, you
29:54
Speaker 1: get a couple, and they might have done at this
29:57
Speaker 1: time at the safety position in the draft. I've been
30:00
Speaker 1: very impressed by Ted Carriss with his energy, his enthusiasm,
30:05
Speaker 1: his smarts, his leadership, etc. I wasn't here in your
30:09
Speaker 1: playing days, but I bet you were like that back
30:12
Speaker 1: in the day. Do you feel a little bit of
30:14
Speaker 1: a bond with Ted carriss I do feel, you know,
30:18
Speaker 1: a little bit of a bond with with Ted. He's
30:20
Speaker 1: a very Uh He's an easy guy to gravitate toward because,
30:24
Speaker 1: like you said, he is so enthusiastic and energetic about
30:27
Speaker 1: the game. He's got a real high football intelligence quoting.
30:31
Speaker 1: There's no question he's got to football IQ that that
30:33
Speaker 1: you that you look for. And you know, I'm sure
30:37
Speaker 1: some teammates are like, oh man, this guy is this real?
30:41
Speaker 1: That's him every day. He just loves football. He loves
30:45
Speaker 1: exactly every aspect of you know, being there. He loves
30:50
Speaker 1: getting ready, preparing, he loves the grind of the preparation. Uh,
30:54
Speaker 1: he loves everything about it. And I'm sure you know
30:56
Speaker 1: there are things that you know I'm not I'm not
30:59
Speaker 1: real keen on that, but overall, when you lay your
31:02
Speaker 1: head on the pillow, I'm sure I remember feeling his way,
31:06
Speaker 1: even in the throes of training camp, in the in
31:09
Speaker 1: the dog days of training camp, when your body's saying
31:11
Speaker 1: what the hell are you doing to me, and you
31:14
Speaker 1: know you're mentally fatigued and everything else, I remember laying
31:17
Speaker 1: down and saying, you know what this is tough, but boy,
31:20
Speaker 1: am I glad I'm here. This is exactly what I
31:22
Speaker 1: wanted to do. I'm the luckiest guy in the world,
31:25
Speaker 1: and this I don't want to be anywhere else. And
31:28
Speaker 1: I'm sure and Ted Carress feels, you know that that
31:30
Speaker 1: way about it, and and I think fortunately they've they've
31:35
Speaker 1: put their bat on the ball in evaluating and sifting
31:41
Speaker 1: through players that have that exact feeling. There are a
31:43
Speaker 1: lot of guys in that locker room that have that
31:45
Speaker 1: type of feeling, and Ted Carriss is He's one of
31:49
Speaker 1: the leaders of the pack. There's no question about it.
31:52
Speaker 1: We have now seen what a sixty five yard field
31:55
Speaker 1: goal looks like in person, after Evan McPherson booted one
31:58
Speaker 1: on Saturday to end the big practice at Paul Brown Stadium.
32:02
Speaker 1: The NFL record is sixty six, set last year by
32:05
Speaker 1: Justin Tucker. I don't know if Evan McPherson is ever
32:08
Speaker 1: going to get a shot to tie that or break that,
32:10
Speaker 1: But do you think that he will become the first
32:12
Speaker 1: Bengals kicker to boot one from sixty plus at some point?
32:16
Speaker 1: I do? I do. I think there's going to be
32:18
Speaker 1: an occasion where, you know, it'll it'll come up. It
32:22
Speaker 1: won't come up often, but there'll be an occasion where, yeah,
32:26
Speaker 1: you know what we have to we have to try
32:29
Speaker 1: this sixty one yard field goal, and he can make it.
32:32
Speaker 1: We've seen him make it, so yeah, let's let's let's
32:36
Speaker 1: go for it. There will be a game, a circumstance
32:39
Speaker 1: where he will have an opportunity to probably get that done.
32:43
Speaker 1: And the thing about his sixty five yard that stunned
32:47
Speaker 1: me is is the trajectory, the instantaneous height that he
32:53
Speaker 1: gets on the football. I mean, man, he elevates that
32:55
Speaker 1: thing so quickly. You know, instead of thinking, I know
32:58
Speaker 1: I have to hit the low for the drive to
33:01
Speaker 1: drive the football, he's still I mean nobody, that thing
33:05
Speaker 1: is unblockable, and it traveled the distance that it traveled.
33:08
Speaker 1: It's just phenomenal. It's he is. He is a very
33:13
Speaker 1: very unique talent. There is, there's no question about it.
33:15
Speaker 1: And I probably that one probably would have been good
33:18
Speaker 1: from I'd say sixty seven, you know absolutely, I mean
33:23
Speaker 1: if not seventy. Yeah, that was pure. That was very pure,
33:27
Speaker 1: and uh just makes you scratch your head. Boy, he's
33:31
Speaker 1: got an explosive right hip and right leg. There is No,
33:34
Speaker 1: it's good. Dynamite caps in there, man, I think I said,
33:38
Speaker 1: I said what I was thinking when he hit it.
33:40
Speaker 1: If it's good, he's bionic and bionic hip and a
33:44
Speaker 1: bionic leg on that right side. It's crazy. We haven't
33:47
Speaker 1: seen Joe Burrow yet. There's no official timetable, and when
33:50
Speaker 1: he's going to come back and start practicing. Do you
33:53
Speaker 1: have a feel for how much time he can miss
33:57
Speaker 1: before it would actually hurt him or hurt the team
34:00
Speaker 1: in any way? I think that, you know, a couple
34:04
Speaker 1: three weeks. I really think he could miss um. And
34:08
Speaker 1: we're already a week into it. I'd say it's going
34:10
Speaker 1: to be a couple more weeks. And I'm not saying
34:12
Speaker 1: that he won't be out there. I'm sure he'll be
34:15
Speaker 1: out there, you know, taking the mental reps and going
34:18
Speaker 1: through things with his teammates and bonding that way, and
34:23
Speaker 1: everybody will be excited to have him out there, there's
34:26
Speaker 1: no question about it. But the two things that you
34:29
Speaker 1: know come to my mind is you got to you
34:31
Speaker 1: gotta make sure that it's healing properly, and you avoid
34:34
Speaker 1: at all cost infection. And it's not like his appendix
34:37
Speaker 1: rupture or burst or anything. There wasn't any infection on
34:40
Speaker 1: the front, But I'm talking about after the fact. You
34:43
Speaker 1: go through the procedure, and I mean, hecky had an
34:45
Speaker 1: organ taken out of your body, and you know your
34:47
Speaker 1: body has to respond or recover, and you don't want
34:50
Speaker 1: it to have to then handle an affection. So that
34:54
Speaker 1: that's one thing, and then the other thing is let
34:57
Speaker 1: it heal. Because the way Joe throws a football, he
35:02
Speaker 1: uses his core. You know every quarterback does. I mean,
35:04
Speaker 1: they're They're torking and twisting that core pretty darn significantly,
35:08
Speaker 1: and you know, you want to you want to make
35:10
Speaker 1: sure that the healing is is uh far along, so
35:15
Speaker 1: far along that you don't even have to worry about,
35:18
Speaker 1: you know, anything that that may be disrupted because of that,
35:22
Speaker 1: you know, severe torque or that severe twisting of your
35:25
Speaker 1: of your body that you have to do to throw,
35:27
Speaker 1: you know, to goose that ball down the field, and
35:29
Speaker 1: those de throws. You have to talk it pretty good.
35:32
Speaker 1: So they're going to err on the side of caution.
35:35
Speaker 1: Let's put it that way. They're not going to rush
35:37
Speaker 1: him back. I know, I'd be stunned if they If
35:40
Speaker 1: they bring him back too ston I think if they're
35:44
Speaker 1: gonna probably have to put a harness on jail. He's
35:46
Speaker 1: gonna say I want to go out there and get going,
35:48
Speaker 1: and they may hold him out for another day or
35:50
Speaker 1: two after he says, you know, I'm ready to go,
35:52
Speaker 1: and I bet that will happen. You know, he'll probably
35:54
Speaker 1: be saying to the media at some point, I'm ready
35:57
Speaker 1: to go. They just won't let me go yet. And
35:59
Speaker 1: that's that's what I envision happening. All right, final thing,
36:03
Speaker 1: going to circle back to the AFC Championship ring. We
36:06
Speaker 1: were so grateful and appreciative to be included on the
36:10
Speaker 1: list by the Brown family to receive rings from last year.
36:12
Speaker 1: Here's my question, how did your grandkids like your AFC
36:16
Speaker 1: Championship ring. Yeah, they were, they were very impressed. Uh
36:21
Speaker 1: they came up to visit after I had left to
36:23
Speaker 1: go down to down to practice the day after, picked
36:27
Speaker 1: them up and uh yeah, they they big smiles. They
36:32
Speaker 1: were sporting those rings on their on their hand. The
36:35
Speaker 1: rings looked pretty big on those little hands, that's for sure,
36:38
Speaker 1: look like the TV sit hanging off their hands. But yeah,
36:41
Speaker 1: they were. They were like, Wow, this is unbelievable, and
36:43
Speaker 1: they were pretty excited. About it. Big smiles on the faces.
36:46
Speaker 1: That's for sure. That's going to do it. For this
36:49
Speaker 1: episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals.
36:53
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36:56
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37:01
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37:12
Speaker 1: fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening
37:16
Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast