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Bengals Booth Podcast: Brick By Brick · Bengals Booth Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the Bengals Booths Podcast. Uh. I want to build you
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: up brick by brick edition as I discussed the Bengals
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: offseason moves with one of my favorite NFL reporters at
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: d D King Kabwala from the NFL Network. And then
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: we're less than a month away from the NFL Draft
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: and I'll check in with Land Zerline, a draft analyst
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: for NFL Network who has written more than four hundred
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: profiles of this year's prospects for NFL dot Com. The
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Get it now on the App Store and Google Play.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And here's a quick reminder that you can add the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the greatest thing since brown sugar on oatmeal. I've been
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: on an oatmeal for breakfast kick lately, usually topped with bananas, blueberries,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: sliced almonds and some brown sugar, And it occurs to
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: me that I don't use brown sugar for anything else.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: My wife tells me it's a common ingredient in baking,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: so maybe I've been enjoying it without knowing it. But
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: for me, brown sugar is like a Lugie in baseball,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: a left handed, one out guy. Baseball curbed the use
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: of Lugi's when it adopted the three batter minimum for
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: leaf pitchers a few years ago. But as long as
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: there's oatmeal, there's a place in my heart and gut
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: for brown sugar. Now, let's get to this week's guests.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: If you watch NFL Network, you're familiar with Add Kin Kabwala,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: who does an outstanding job of covering the league in
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: general and the four teams in the AFC North in particular.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: I caught up with add this week to discuss the
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Bengals offseason moves and why she describes last year's Super
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Bowl team as infectiously fun. Add what do you think
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: of the Bengals offseason moves in free agency, particularly the
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: addition of the three offensive line tremendous? Tremendous because we
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: knew that no matter what Zach Taylor said about giving
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: his offensive line credit, and it is valid. Of course,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: you have two thousand yard receivers, You've got a third
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: receiver who almost has a thousand yards, You've got a
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: thousand yard rusher. Yes, the offensive line was doing a job,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: but clearly that was the upgrade that was necessary, and
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: to get three starters in there and to not change
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the way that you do business. Remember, the Bengals are
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: one of the few teams that doesn't like to guarantee
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: money beyond the first year of a deal, and they
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: didn't have to to get three great players who are
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: going to step in, who are going to start, who
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: have all of the leadership attributes that you want, who
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: have long hist is of being great teammates, which is,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: you know, Dan has an incredibly important piece of what
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the magic of this pass Bengals team was was having
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that chemistry, I mean tremendous all around. What am I
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: says to say that's negative? Nothing negative required. Did you
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: view improving the offensive line, fixing the offensive line, whatever
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: term you want to use, as kind of a litmus
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: test for the Bengals to show that they were committed
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to do whatever it takes. I think that we saw
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: a year ago that they were I think we've seen
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: over the past few years the way that they have
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: approached free agency, the successes that they've had in free agency,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and their willingness to pay in free agency have all
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: indicated that this is a team that recognizes you can't
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: keep doing business the same exact way that you always
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: have to some degree beyond the way that you write contracts.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: And then I think that the success of last year
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: was so intoxicating, so infectious. You saw the way that
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: city was so galvanized by the way that this team played.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: How do you not want more of that? And you
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: recognize you can't sit on your laurels and think you're
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: going to repeat. That's just not the way the National
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Football League works. That's with the way that anything works.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: So it wasn't surprising to me at all that the
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Bengals and Duke Tobin went out there and were indeed aggressive.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: What was maybe a little surprising is how successful they
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: were without having to be grossly splashy. You know, there
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: was no obsequious moves here. It was just sort of
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: like a methodical approach to go and get what you
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: want in a very very reasonable way. We're chatting with
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a dd King Kawala from the NFL Network. You just
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: used the term infectious, and you tweeted after the Super
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Bowl that this team was infectiously fun. What was it
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: about this team that made you feel that way. I
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: think it was the energy. I think a lot of
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: it is the youth, quite frankly, you know, and it's funny. Dan.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I'll just say that this is conversation I had with
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Zach Taylor just last week at the Cincinnati Pro Day,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: that these guys are kind of too young to get
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: big heads, you know, Jamar Chase, t Higgins. They're out
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: there and then having a good time. They're not worried
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: about being divas at this moment. I do think that
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: both Jamar Chase and t Higgins are very very strong,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: good young men with good support systems, and I don't
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: foresee big heads coming in the future. So let me
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: at least say that. But I've done this for a
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: long time now, more than a dozen years. I have
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: covered the National Football League. I've been around incredibly successful teams.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: I've been around not so successful teams. I've been around
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: teams that really enjoyed each other. And the thing about
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: this Bengals team was you genuinely felt that they enjoyed
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: coming to work, and they enjoyed coming to work with
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: each other. And as somebody who's spent the last twelve
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: years loving going to work, I get it. You see
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: it right in, you know, when someone is not going
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: through the motions, when someone is not simply connected collecting
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: a paycheck, but someone likes being around their colleagues. And
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that's exactly what that was. So I think the energy,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the youthfulness, there's always something special when there are no expectations,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: and I think that's the big question, you know, And
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: we saw this with the Cleveland Browns two years ago.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: The Cleveland Browns in a COVID year, with a new
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: head coach in Kevin Stefanski, a new offense, a new defense, everything,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: there really weren't many expectations for them, despite the talent
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: on their roster, simply because of how the previous year
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: had gone and because you know, they were the Cleveland Browns.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: And so there's a freeness to the way that you
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: approach every week when nobody expects much of you. And
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: then we saw what happened last year with the Browns
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: when much was indeed expected. So now let's see what
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: happens with the Bengals when clearly a lot is expected,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: and how do you follow up the season like last
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: year in a playoff run like last year without expectation.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: It's interesting that you said that because I say to
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: people all the time that rooting for a highly successful
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: team is great under any circumstances, but when it's a
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: total surprise, there's nothing better. That's the best it gets
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: as a sports fan. When you expect your team to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: be here and it winds up being way up there, right,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: that's as good as it gets. And that's what it is,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: because it's a it's a magical new experience. When you
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: ask about being infectious, I think there is a piece.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: You know, you look at guys like Tyler Boyd and
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Jesse Bates and Joe Mixon who put in the time
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: and they've been there and they have I hate to
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: call it suffered, but suffered. You know, they've been through
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: these terrible losses. They've been the laughing stock, they've been
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: kind of the easy win on other teams schedule, and
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: so for them, there's a great appreciation to every moment
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: that's magical and special as opposed to taking it for granted.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: And when you're in a team that wins all the time,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: when you're in a team that expects to be in
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the super Bowl every year, then maybe it's just not
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: the same. I'd like to find out, But well, you
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: can get back to me. Maybe you can let me
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: know on that one, no question about it. We're chatting
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: with a D D King Kabwala from the NFL Network.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: How much do you tribute that Bengals spirit, the desire
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: to go to work every day to Joe Burrow? Oh
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: my gosh, I think I'm reminded of standing in the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: tunnel the bowels of the stadiums in Kansas City, in
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the bowls of the stadium in Kansas City, right after
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the AFC title game, and you know, verybody had been
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: smoking cigars, and Brian Callahan, the offensive coordinator, walks out,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: and just what a tremendous guy he and I just
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: ended up standing there talking for a good fifteen twenty
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: minutes before he got on the bus. And Joe Barrow
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: walked out at one moment and he just looked at
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: me and he said, he is the cause of everything,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: and it's not just the way he plays, it's his approach.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: This is what they said about Tom Brady for years.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: When your best player is your hardest worker, is your
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: most committed, focused guy, that's only a good thing for
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: a locker room. And so I think that Joe Burrow
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: is the player that makes everybody better. I think Joe
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Barrow not only in the way that he approaches his job,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: but what he's able to do on the field. He
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: gets the best out of everyone. He is that smart,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: he is that driven. He does indeed have that chip
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: on his shoulder, and I mean it's everything. I think
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: it's everything. And it's interesting too, Dan, because right now
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: in the city of Pittsburgh, you have Mike Tomlin kind
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: of saying, even in this day and age, I think
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: I can win without a top flight, upper tier quarterback.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: I think that I can win with a dominant defense
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and a great run game and a quarterback who does enough.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: But then you've got a whole rest of the league,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: which we've seen in this crazy free agency and this
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: whole quarterback carousel, you have a lot of people saying, no,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you're not going to win unless you have that elite,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: upper tier quarterback. And that's why we see all these
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: teams kind of mortgaging their futures, let's call it, and
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: trading away all these draft picks to go get that
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: top flight guy. And so it'll be interesting to see
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: how that plays out. And what's the truth. You know,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: we heard Eric da Costa the Ravens GM just at
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: the Combine a few weeks ago. Daniel were there. Eric
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: DaCosta said, I don't think that you're going to see
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: another team like the Ravens in two thousand, when you
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: won on the backs of a dominant defense and an
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: okay quarterback, no offense. Trent Dilfer. Trent Dilfer's got the ring.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: He doesn't care what anybody says. I don't think you
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: comended that I said that, but I mean, let's be honest.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Trent Dilfer is not you know anyway, I'm gonna just
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: zip it before I have been that. Anybody moving on. Well,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin did go eight and eight with Duck Hodges
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: as his primary quarterback a couple of years ago, so
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: I guess he can win. The question is can you
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: win it all? I suspect the Steelers will be in
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: the mix to at least possibly break five hundred with
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky as their quarterback. But I'm not sure many
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: people think that they're going to bring back a seven
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: super Bowl ring. But you never know. With the Steelers,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: that's the thing. And it's such an interesting question, Dan,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I have this. I have a friend in Cleveland, Ken Carmen,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: who has has me on his radio show very regularly,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: and about a year ago I posited this to him
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: and to his listeners. Do you want would you rather
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: that your team is in it every single year that
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: by the time you get to week seventeen, weeks eighteen,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: your team is still alive? Or would you sacrifice a
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: few horrible, awful, irrelevant years just to get to that
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: promised land? You know? Are you the Eagles and you
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: win a super Bowl and then you're kind of irrelevant
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: for a period of time. Or you're the Bengals and
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: you've suffered and you've suffered, but you get to go
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to the super Bowl and then who knows what happens
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the Steelers. Let's that Duck Hodges year or two and
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: nineteen Ben Roethlisberger gets hurt Week two, it's Mason Rudolph
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: and Duck Hodges, Dug Duck Hodges, who couldn't make a
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: single roster in the spring. When a thousand players are
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: on the NFL rosters, Duck Hodges almost gets them into
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the playoffs. It goes down to the last week of
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the season. And that's what Mike Tomlin teams are. Mike
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Tomlin teams haven't won a playoff game and I don't know,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: five six years, they haven't been back to the Super
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Bowl in ten a dozen years. You know, they haven't
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: been an elite team in the sense of being playing
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: in February in a long time. But they're always a
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: part of the conversation in December. Is that what you want?
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Do you want a team that always competes? Or are
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: you okay if your team is really crappy for a
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: few years, but hey, you got to go to the
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: super Bowl. I guess it would be the length of
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the crappy period. If it's two or three years of
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: crappy football for the chance to win a Super Bowl,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: I think probably most people would take that. Who do
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: you think's winning the off season in the AFC North?
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: This is so funny because I you know, the older
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: you get, the more you kind of rely on these
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: cliches so you get cynical and so like I love
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: in the spring this say, it's football in shorts. Like,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: don't ask me who looks good at OTAs, Please don't
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: ask me who looks good at Rickey Minicamp. It's football
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: in shorts. So similarly, who's winning the off season is?
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's like a paper champion. I love that
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: the Bengals really had only one major area of need
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and they addressed it, and they addressed it so well.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I still sort of have a question about Jesse Bates.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I'd like to see you speaking to members of the
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Bengals organization. Nobody seems to think that it is a
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: non negotiable deal breaker if Jesse Bates has to play
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: on the tag. At least what I've been told is
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: that they have heard nothing from Bates or his camp
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: that he wouldn't play on the tag. But I think
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: it would be nice to lock him up. I think
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: everybody always feels good to feel that there's a commitment
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: to them, and you just get more out of somebody
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: in that way. So I'd like to see that piece
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: of business done. The Browns, Oh boy, let's come back
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to the Browns. The Steelers. I really like this quarterback pickup.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: We knew that the Steelers weren't going to trade a
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: ton of draft picks. We knew they weren't going to
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: be in some crazy sweepstakes right now. The Steelers do
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: need a starting strong safety. They would like to lock
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: up Fitzpatrick. They're in the process of that. The Steelers
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: needed to upgrade their offensive line. They did. You'd still
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: like to see who else the Steelers could bring in
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: at receiver perhaps, but it's a well built roster, you know,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: and it's a little bit older on defense, especially up front.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: So that's a situation where I expect these players to
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: play a certain way. But again, what happens at the
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: age of thirty four, I don't know. So Okay, that's
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: the Steelers. I think so far, it's been a good offseason.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Let's see what they do in the draft, especially since
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: the Steelers generally that's where they like to build their team.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: The Ravens well, the Ravens are healthy. The port Ravens
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: last year, we're missing twenty starters and key contributors. I
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: think that that's all really good. The Ravens still need
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: another pass rusher, and the Browns well, Deshaun Watson is
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: a is a very very very loaded topic, and if
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: we just take it from an availability standpoint, we don't
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: know what Deshaun Watson's availability will be, and so that
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: clearly impacts what he is able to give them. So,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: having run through all of that at this current moment,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: knowing that this is just a paper certificate and doesn't
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: necessarily mean anything, I would say the Bengals won the offseason.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: A couple more questions for dit King Kabwall and I'll
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: let you go. You attended you sees Pro day last week?
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: They had eight players at the combine, they had six
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: invited to the Senior Bowl. What or who stood out
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: to you from being at that pro day? Okay, so
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: everybody was so nice, including the head coach. It was
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: just this pleasure to be around a group that again,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: it's the same thing to the Bengals a little bit
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: wide eyed. You know, they had never had a Pro
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: day like this. I don't think they never had. They
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: haven't even had a pro day. You would know better
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: than me. Did they have one every year? But I'm
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: going to say that more NFL personnel attended last week's
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Pro Day than all of the other ones combined that
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I've ever been to well, I really really really loved
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter's demeanor. I loved how take charge he was.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I loved his confidence. I loved how when a receiver
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: dropped a ball, he immediately ran to the receiver and
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: patted him on the back and said that's okay. It
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: again recalls a story that Zach Taylor told me. Zach
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Taylor was the Bearcat's offensive coordinator who ultimately worked out
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Desmond Ritter and kind of got him his first offer,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: got him the one of two Division one offers that
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: he had. And what Zach told me is that that
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: year he worked out probably about twelve to fifteen quarterbacks
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: all over the country. Every single one of them had
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: a quarterback coach who ran the workout. But Desmond Ritter
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: was sort of a very late workout, you know. As
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: you know, he got the offer a while during the
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Kentucky Derby, so it was a late workout. It was
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: sort of last minute. It was almost like Taylor was
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: doing it as a favor to somebody else on the
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: staff who said, maybe you should check him out, and
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: so he said, okay, okay, I'll do it. At six
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: am and Desmond Ritter had no quarterbacks coach, and Desmond
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: Ritter gathered a group of his teammates and friends, convinced
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: these seventeen year old kids to show up on a
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: field at six am, and then he ran them through
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: the entire workout. And Zach told me that he was
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: the only quarterback that did that. And when you're looking
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: for all those intangibles, you're looking for those leadership traits,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: you're looking for the guy who's going to be kind
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: of the face of your outfit, that's everything that you want.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I thought that he was quite frankly, a little bit
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: stiff when he had a straight drop back. If you
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: look at the way he holds the ball, it just
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: doesn't seem as relaxed in his hand. And I thought
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: that he looked better when he was actually in motion
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: when he was having to I don't want to even
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: call it scramble, but maybe roll out a little bit
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: or roll right and then throw a left. That almost
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: looked a little bit more natural. So I think that
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: that's interesting. I talked to quite a few coaches that
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: day who are much smarter than me of figuring out
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: footwork and mechanics and things like that, and several felt that,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: you know, his inaccuracy is a little bit confusing because
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: there's nothing very obviously wrong. There's nothing in his footwork
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: that screams, hey, this is a glitch we can fix.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: And then several said it's really not a big deal
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: and they think it's something they can work with. So again,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: I think it's sort of unless you're a Joe Burrow,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: you're often beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: He told me. Desmond told me that he is expecting
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: to be a first round pick and if he is not,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: he would be really disappointed. And so we'll see what
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: comes of that. And then of course, I you know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I loved the corners, love the safety, just good kids,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: good kids all around, and even the running back room forward,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: very quiet but nice, nice young man. Were you charmed
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: by Sauce Gardner like the rest of us, it was.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: I was a little disappointed that he didn't work out,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: but he just was very, very friendly. We talked about
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: the suit that he wore to the combine, and I
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: said that I live by the idea that you dressed
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: for the job you want, not the one that you have.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And I also really really live by look good, feel good,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: feel good, playing good. And so we communed over that. Yeah,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: very great young man. And you know he got to
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: go to dinner twice that night. He went out with
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the Saint Sam the Giants the night before at least,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: so crafty move. Yeah, serious, very crafty move. And it
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: was the last time you got two people to buy
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: you dinner in the same night. And that has never
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: happened yet, but I remain hopeful. Maybe the next time
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I'm in town day I can do that. We'll tell
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Duke Tobin to take you out. I'll take you for
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: the appetizers. He can buy you to dinner a deity.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: This is and awesome and we appreciate your time. Thank you,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: thanks so much, Dan, I appreciate it. Okay, Duke Tobin,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: you heard it from Adity. She's getting the appetizers and
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: you are buying dinner. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: the course of the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Now we
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: turn our attention to the draft. The NFL Network will
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: provide live coverage of the draft from Las Vegas on
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: April twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth, and this week
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I spoke to draft analyst lanzerline Ranch. You'd done a
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: couple of mock drafts in early February. You had the
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Bengals selecting Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. In early March, Tulsa
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: offensive liman Tyler Smith. Now that the Bengals have signed
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: three offensive linemen in free agency, are you still thinking
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: offensive line? No. I do think that the Bengals could
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: could take a look at the offensive line for more
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: competition at the you know, potentially draft for more depth.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: You know, a guy who can play center guard, maybe
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: a guy like Luke Gayticky out of Central Michigan. But no,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: it's not an immediate need for the team right now,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: so I don't expect them to use, you know, one
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: of their first couple picks on offensive line. I think
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: they've done a pretty good job, definitely a serviceable job.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: I mean they're better along the interior. Jackson Carman needs
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: to play well. You want to have you know, Jonah
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: needs a good season, of course, but I do think
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: it is intriguing the concept of Jonah Williams potentially sliding
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: inside the center at some point and having another tackle
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: out there. But that's not something that I think is
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: going to be a priority this year. I want to
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: get back to Tyler Linderbaum because right now the Bengals
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: have Ted Carriss scheduled to play center, but he's obviously
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: played both guard spots in the past. If Tyler Linderbaum,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: we're still there at number thirty one, and I know
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: most draft experts, yourself included, I think he's a much
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: better player than that in terms of where he slots
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: in this draft class. Would that be a no brainer
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: If he's still there, No, And I'll tell you why.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: I think number one, he is a very specific type
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: of center. He's a zone scheme center. I think when
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: you look at the Cincinnati Bengals right now, you're just
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl. So what the Bengals are going
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: to be looking at is what are moves that we
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: can make to get us over the hump? Now? How
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: do we how do we win a Super Bowl? Not
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: just compete? Now you're at a different level. How do
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: we win a Super Bowl? And I think the way
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: you have to approach at is taking a look at
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: all the competition you're likely to face. And the starts
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: with a very challenging AFC inside your own division. To
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Shaun Watson is now there, that's going to be a challenge.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: The Ravens are going to be healthier this year. They
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: should have a better running game because their running backs
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: are going to be back. And then you look at
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: what's going on in the AFC West. I mean that
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: place is completely loaded over there in the West. Just
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: quarterbacks golore in the a f C West. So I
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: think when you look at you know five we take
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: all the a FC West four teams. You take a
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: look at the the Cleveland Browns, there's another quarterback and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: then I mentioned Ravens. That's more running back related. But
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: but you are going to get a healthy Lamar Jackson back.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: What I'm telling you is you've got to compete against
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: quarterbacks who can throw the football. And so the concern
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: you have now is making sure that you're loaded up
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: on the back end. And I think that's why I
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: think cornerback would be difficult to pass up on or
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: even an interior rush or a guy that could either
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: start right away or come off the bench, and a
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: guy who has some juice up the field, a rush passers,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: so getting the quarterback or keeping the quarterback from from
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: from completing passes because you've got tight coverage, that should
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: be I would imagine the focus when you look at
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the Bengals. That's that's that's the next step for Cincinnati
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: is is tightening up. But the good thing is you
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: just don't have a ton of holes on the roster.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's areas of concern to fill, but it's
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: not massive, massive holes. So I think that what Cincinnati
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: can do is go in there with a very clear
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: head and not be panicky about a particular position. Let's
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: assume the Bengals stay at number thirty one and you
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: mentioned cornerback as a possibility. Who are some guys that
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: you think are, if not likely, have a decent chance
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: of still being available at thirty one at the cornerback
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: position that you would be interested in. I think it
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: starts with Andrew Booth, if he would be there, you know,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if he'll be there at
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: thirty one, but if so, Andrew Booth, a cornerback out
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: of Clemson. To me, I think he's the twenty two
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: twenty three ranked player in this year's draft class. So
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I think Andrew Booth is a guy that would fit
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the mold. Another guy at that particular spot, and maybe
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: you want to you may want to trade back also
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: as another option. But Kyer Elam could be the thirty
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: thirty first pick. I think Kyrie Elam has a chance
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: to get into the first round. I think he's teetering
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: on the brink of first and second round, which is,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: you know, a classic case of a guy who might
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: be considered at thirty one and then beyond that, you
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: know guys that fit I think would include Kyler Gordon
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: out of Washington, who has a lot of upside but
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: could but could really play the role of cornerback four
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: and learn from the guys who are in front of him,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: and learn from the coaching staff over Washington. He's got
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: some tremendous traits. Did not run as fast as Indianapolis
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: as I expected, but he's a very, very explosive athlete.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: You've got a guy in the middle rounds like Zion McCullum,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: who tested great out of Sam Houston, m Cam Taylor
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Britt if you're okay with a little bit a physical
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: press corner, who is Maybe he's not a he's not
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: a short corner. I think he's about five to eleven.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: But he does have some there are some some highs
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: and lows to his game. But I think when you
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: start getting it past the first group of cornerbacks, it
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: gets a little dice here. As I look at the
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: list now, I see some I see guys that I
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: consider Josh Williams from Fayetteville, Vincent and Gray from Michigan.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: These are guys who are more developmental. They have traits,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: They have the potential to become pretty good cornerbacks down
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the road. But I think it's going to take a
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: little more time. So you know, depending on how you
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: view this, do you want to get help immediately or
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: you're looking for building that core down the road for
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: two and three years. I think that really will have
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: It will be a determining factor in terms of how
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: they approach the cornerback position. Very specifically for talking NFL
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: network draft analysts lands Zerline, you can follow them on
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Twitter at lands Zerline z I E R L E
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: I N How about defensive lineman that could be there
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: at thirty one, particularly interior defensive lineman. Well, the interior
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: line spot is a little You've got some depth, but
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: it's not high end depth this year. So when you
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: start talking about defensive tackles, and I know that's a
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: I know that's a big lead. I'm pulling up my
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: all my d tackles here because I only have four
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty players to sit through that I've written
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: up already. But yeah, that's it. Only only four hundred,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: only four hundred and twenty as as I've called my
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: defensive tackles. But I think what Cincinnati needs now, that's
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: a position that I can say, I think you want
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: some immediate help. I love DJ Reader, love love, love
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: what he brings to the table, but I think you
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: need a complimentary piece next to him. Some guys you
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: could take a look at. I don't think Devantae Wyatt
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: is going to be on the board. Logan Hall from
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: University of Houston. As a player, he views himself as
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: a defensive end. Obviously you don't have a defensive in
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: spot open, but he played defensive tackle at the University
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: of Houston, so you could look at him, I think
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Travis Jones. If you want a guy that is a
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: big time run stuff or to stick next to Reader.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, no one's running on the Bengals if you've
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: got Travis Jones and H and DJ Reader in the
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: same and that's Travis Jow'd be a little rich for
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: my blood at thirty one. But I could see trading
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: back a few spots and grabbing him early in the
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: second round because he's just a really, really talented player.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: Once you get past those players. This is what concerns
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: me is that I'm not as big a de Marvin
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Leale fan out of Texas A and M. I think
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: he's more of a third round player. Perry and Winfrey
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: out of Oklahoma had a really good senior ball and
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: that's all anyone's talking about, and he tested great, but
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: the game tape is really up and down and inconsistent.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: But I do think in terms of, you know, looking
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: at him after the first round of Perry and Winfrey
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: could make some sense for what Cincinnati likes to do defensively,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and then I think you started looking at fourth round
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: guys like Matthew Butler, who is an upfield rusher. I
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: think he's got a lot of talent, but he's not
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: somebody you'd look at in the first or second round.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: So I think the problem with the defensive tackle draft
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: is that I see death from rounds three to rounds five,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: and I see guys who have upside and the chance
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: to become good players, but you're not going to get
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the immediate help more than likely from those positions, and
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: you're not going to have guys that I would consider
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: to be top fifty players. So I think that's the
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: concern when you talk defensive tackle, and I think every team,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: they're general managers and the evaluators have to go into
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the draft and really, let's just call it abcd F
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: like at school, you have to go in with a
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: grade on every position group, so you know, all right,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: who do we need to be a little more Who
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: can we be a little bit more wide open in
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: terms of our draft approach with because they're so deep,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: the position so deep, and cornerback would would be a
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: little bit deeper. But then a position like defensive tackle,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: if there are guys you really really like, but the
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: next group, the tier two and tier three you feel
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: like or you have them graded as fourth and fifth
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: and sixth round guys. Then you have to make a
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: priority of grabbing defensive tackle earlier. And I think for
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: the Bengals, potentially grabbing defensive tackle earlier could be the key,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you know, one of the one of the ways that
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: you're gonna have to do that if you want us
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: to move up in the draft. And I think going
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: from thirty one up into the twenties could help secure
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: who knows, I mean, maybe Jordan Davis will last that
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: long to defensive tackle out of Georgia because he's not
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: really a pass rusher, but he is a dominant run defender,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and you can always go to your sub rush packages.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: So you know, how you how you see the player,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: the defensive lineman, the interior defensive lineman, how you've seen
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: him fitting you on the first two downs and then
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: on the rushdown is going to be really critical in
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: terms of how the Bengals prioritized defensive tackle. The Bengals
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: have had a ton of success in the draft over
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the last couple of years. Obviously, Joe Burrow, T Higgins,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Logan Wilson a couple of years ago, Jamar Chase, Evan
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: McPherson worked out great in the fifth round last year.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: In general terms, what do you think of when I
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: say Bengals and their draft track record. I think it's
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: been you know, I think it's been okay. I think
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: I think people I think people are too hard on
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: the Bengals in general. You know, I hear comments made about, oh,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Marvin Lewis, Oh the Bengals, Oh Andy Dalton. The fact
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: is Andy Dalton had success in Cincinnati. Marvin Lewis had success.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: It wasn't the success Bengals fans. You know, it didn't
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: get over that hump. But the Bengals have been way
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: more competitive than people sometimes give them credit for. And
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure why that narrative exists. I think from
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: a standpoint of when you look at how the Bengals
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: have drafted, and I tend to look at pockets of years,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: I like to look at it over five years, because really,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: once you get past five years, the players from that
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: cycle many times are already gone or they've become core players,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: so they've either gone in one direction or the other.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: And when you talk about the players that you just mentioned,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: like Logan Wilson, I was a huge fan of Logan
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: and Wilson's coming out of Wyoming. Stape was fantastic. His
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: instincts were great. And what you did is you had
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: a guy that maybe others would pass on because they said, well,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: it's a small school guy. We don't know if he's
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: a great at all of a sudden. You know, the
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: good football you saw on tape is the good football
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: you see on Sundays. It's it's the same thing. It
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: didn't change Jamar Chase. I was a big believer in
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: taking Chase over a tackle because the fact was Chase
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: had the ability to change games and there wasn't a
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: tackle who could change a game for you. Last year.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: You can make do along the offensive line. Now not
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: for very long. And obviously it was a huge priority,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: and you know, you might be able to argue that
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: if the offensive line was better, the Cincinnati Bengals would
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: have won the Super Bowl, which wouldn't have been there
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: without Jamar Chase. So that's the point. So this year
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: they have gone about addressing it. But I think the
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Bengals from a draft standpoint, there have been some some
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: hit or miss selections, obviously, and there have been some
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: guys who who have failed, especially in the two thousands
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: and into the early two tens. But I think over
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the last five years the Bengals have done a nice
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: job of adding not just good football player, but core
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: football players, guys that you will build around for years
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: to come. Along with Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon as core,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is a core. Logan Wilson is a chord.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Look how Sam Hubbard's done. I mean, Hubbard's done terrific.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: Adding Hendrickson was obviously a great stroke from a free
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: agency standpoint, and Jesse Bates another good football player. The
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Bengals are adding good football players, and I think that's
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the real kid guys who love football. That's what you're
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: seeing right now in Cincinnati. Final question for NFL Network
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: draft analyst Land Zerline. Your father is a former University
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: of Cincinnati assistant coach. Right now, the University of Cincinnati
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: has eight guys that could get drafted, eight guys that
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: were invited to the NFL scouting combine six were invited
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: to the Senior Bowl. What do you think of this
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: draft class, particularly a Mad Sauce Gardener and Desmond Ritter. Yeah,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: I think it's a great class. Just had a GM
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: text me the other day that he loved you know,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Alec Pierce thought he was just a really underrated wide
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: receiver prospect. I think Curtis Brooks is a little underrated
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: frankly along the anterior. But he's your size. But despite
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: his size, he's two hundred and eighty seven pounds, but
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: he is a whirlwind of disruption along the interior. When
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: you look at what Cincinnati has done, you know, Desmond
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: Ritter feels like a safe quarterback, really understands the game.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Has done a nice job of building himself up and
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: becoming a very astute and mechanically sound quarterback over the years.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Sauce Gardner came out of nowhere. I shouldn't say out
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: of nowhere. He was a very thin, skinny guy when
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: he came in. They did a great job of helping
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: to build him up, and I know Kobe Bryant was
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: a big part of that, of helping to get him
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: to buy into what he needed to buy into. And
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: so you see, Kobe Bryant to me, is going to
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: be one of the better zone corners in this draft.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Sauce Gardner has the swagger that you'd like out of
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: corners who are going to forget if they made a mistake.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: But he also has the speed and explosiveness and length
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: to make plays on a football. One of my favorite
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: players in this draft is Brian Cook, the safety who
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: I think just has the body type and the demeanor
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: of an NFL Safety's physical He's a business only type
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: of guy, where he is going to come up and
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: really handle business, no matter whether you're ask him to cover,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: whether you ask him to come up and hit and
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: support the run. And then you know, as you go
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: back a little bit, Sanders and Beavers, of course, we're
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: very talented college players who I think have some growth potential.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: From Sanders from a physical growth standpoint, Beavers from a plane,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I think he can get better as a player when
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: he's put into a little different position. So, you know,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: it's amazing that Cincinnati has come this far where you
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: have eight draft from prospects. But it also really speaks
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: to the fact that drome Ford I didn't even mention.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's just so many. Yeah, Josh Wile I
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: wrote him up. I thought he might come out, and
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: he went back to school, which I was glad to see.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: So I think when you look at what Cincinnati's doing
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: right now and then you see this many draft prospects
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: and you see where they came from, which was the
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: final four for college football. I mean it just goes
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: to show you you want to get to that level
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: of college football, you gotta get and developed guys who
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: can end up being pro players. That's typically how it's
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: gonna work. Our guest has been Lanzerline four hundred and
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: twenty written profiles of the prospects in this year's draft.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: You can find them on NFL dot com. I always
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: check them out. It's great stuff. Appreciate your time today
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and keep up the good work. Okay, thanks, Land, says Dad.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Larry was the offensive line coach at you See for
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: four years under Rick Menter, during a stretch where the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: coaching staff included Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, and Rex Ryan
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: among others. That's going to do it for this episode
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: of The Bengals Booth podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download
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  Speaker 1: fan us find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: to the Bengals Booth podcast.