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Bengals Booth Podcast: Gotta Look Sharp · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hike and everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast The God Will Look Sharp. Addition
0:11
Speaker 1: a little old school Joe Jackson there as my broadcast
0:14
Speaker 1: partner Dave Lapham joins me to discuss the final week
0:18
Speaker 1: of voluntary offseason practices. We'll discuss Tuesday's open to the
0:22
Speaker 1: media workout, and lap will share some of the names
0:26
Speaker 1: of so called under the radar guys that have caught
0:28
Speaker 1: his eye over the past few weeks. One of the
0:31
Speaker 1: Bengals draft picks that is expected to play a significant
0:34
Speaker 1: role as a rookie is second rounder Drew Sample, the
0:37
Speaker 1: tight end out of Washington. We'll hear from thirty four
0:39
Speaker 1: year old James Casey, the Bengals new tight ends coach,
0:43
Speaker 1: on why he is excited to have Sample on the roster.
0:46
Speaker 1: And in this week's fun Facts interview, I'll talk to
0:49
Speaker 1: Bengals quarterbacks coach Alex van Pelt about a wide variety
0:53
Speaker 1: of topics, ranging from breaking Dan Marino's passing records at
0:57
Speaker 1: pitt to singing on stage with Hank Williams Junior. All
1:02
Speaker 1: of that is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick
1:04
Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
1:07
Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
1:11
Speaker 1: subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean.
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1:56
Speaker 1: That's k n e SS. Now, let's get to football
2:00
Speaker 1: as I bring in my broadcast partner Dave Lapham lap
2:04
Speaker 1: Tuesday's practice was a fun one to watch for a
2:06
Speaker 1: few reasons. Number one, the weather conditions could not have
2:08
Speaker 1: been better, which is always nice. But secondly, they did
2:11
Speaker 1: some stuff that was designed to be competitive between offense
2:15
Speaker 1: and defense. They did kind of a no huddle two
2:17
Speaker 1: minute drill type of thing, except they put one fifteen
2:20
Speaker 1: on the clock instead of two minutes. They did more
2:22
Speaker 1: red zone like they did last week, and then they
2:24
Speaker 1: ended practice by having the offense try to drive out
2:27
Speaker 1: from deep from their own territory, and it seemed like
2:30
Speaker 1: both sides are kind of keeping score. Yeah, they were
2:32
Speaker 1: into it and situational football, but it was it was competitive,
2:36
Speaker 1: and of course the defense was complaining that the offensive
2:39
Speaker 1: warning end. The head coach was given first downs when
2:41
Speaker 1: he shouldn't have. And they had officials out there as well,
2:43
Speaker 1: so you know, zach z I could have the officials
2:47
Speaker 1: a few times. I mean, the coaches were into it,
2:50
Speaker 1: the players weren't it. I thought it was. It was great.
2:52
Speaker 1: It was fun to watch, and you'll hear around the
2:55
Speaker 1: league how competitive some of these practices good. You know,
2:58
Speaker 1: guys tell me how down in New Orleans with Drew
3:01
Speaker 1: brees Man, it's like game day on Wednesday, Tom Brady,
3:05
Speaker 1: same thing. I mean, he and Teddy Bruski. It was
3:06
Speaker 1: legendary offense defense competing, you know, and so that that
3:10
Speaker 1: just raises the bar and raises the whole ship. You know,
3:12
Speaker 1: when it comes to game day on Sunday, the idea
3:15
Speaker 1: is to make make game day almost easy. It's almost
3:18
Speaker 1: like a little break because you work so hard and
3:20
Speaker 1: so competitively on your big work days that you know
3:23
Speaker 1: Sunday rolls around and it's like it's all going to
3:25
Speaker 1: fall into place and it's going to be not a
3:27
Speaker 1: walk in the park, but it'll be an easier, easier
3:29
Speaker 1: dynamic for you. The other thing that's actually doing a
3:32
Speaker 1: lot of coaches have done over the years. You know
3:35
Speaker 1: that I've been associated with football, and Paul Gunther did
3:37
Speaker 1: this most recently. He's calling players up to the grease
3:40
Speaker 1: board and having them design, you know, entire offensive plays now.
3:44
Speaker 1: And the idea is not just tunnel vision what I'm doing,
3:48
Speaker 1: but no, the whole package of the play. Everybody's assignment.
3:52
Speaker 1: So you'll understand why you're doing it and when you're
3:55
Speaker 1: gonna be doing certain things and not just I'm doing
3:58
Speaker 1: this no matter what. And and defense is making adjustments
4:01
Speaker 1: and you have to maybe make other calls. You understand
4:04
Speaker 1: why you're making those calls because it normally affects what
4:06
Speaker 1: you're doing. You understand that it's going to affect things
4:08
Speaker 1: on both sides of you. And so the mental aspect
4:11
Speaker 1: of it and comprehending the entire big picture, not just
4:15
Speaker 1: a little picture. It's gonna, I think, pay big dividends
4:19
Speaker 1: to the football team on all phases of it. These
4:21
Speaker 1: OTAs are voluntary. Cordy Glenn was not in attendance on Tuesday. Additionally,
4:26
Speaker 1: John Ross didn't practice. He was on a stationary bike.
4:29
Speaker 1: Early in the practice. Trey Hopkins stepped in as the
4:33
Speaker 1: starting left guard, and Alex Rickson had a huge day,
4:37
Speaker 1: partly because he was getting a lot of those snaps
4:40
Speaker 1: that John Ross would normally get. Alex Erkson made a
4:42
Speaker 1: bunch of players, a bunch of back shoulder catches. I mean, dude,
4:46
Speaker 1: We've talked about it so many times. He's just a
4:48
Speaker 1: football player. But let's start with a couple of guys,
4:51
Speaker 1: you know, in those positions. And the fans obviously know
4:53
Speaker 1: Alex Rikson what he's about and he's made big contributions.
4:57
Speaker 1: But Trey Hopkins, he was playing really well, you know.
5:00
Speaker 1: And then the guy that I think this coaching staff
5:04
Speaker 1: has him at left guard and Cordy Glen's absence because
5:08
Speaker 1: this guy is so smart and being intelligent allows him
5:12
Speaker 1: to play both guards, center or either tackle. So I
5:16
Speaker 1: think the fact that the coaches feel so comfortable with
5:19
Speaker 1: him understanding the offense. You know, he get plugged in
5:22
Speaker 1: at that left guard position and everybody knows, you know
5:25
Speaker 1: what he did. You know when Billy Price was injured
5:28
Speaker 1: and he stepped in in center position and played well.
5:30
Speaker 1: I mean it's almost like, wow, this might be his
5:31
Speaker 1: best position. So one thing that coaches I remember Paul
5:35
Speaker 1: Brown saying, when you know, I remember after a couple
5:39
Speaker 1: of drafts, coach, why do we take this guy in
5:41
Speaker 1: the third round because he's smart. David cannot have enough
5:45
Speaker 1: good smart football players. They don't have to be all
5:48
Speaker 1: pro superstars physically, but I want guys that knowing what
5:51
Speaker 1: the hell they're doing. And that's Trey Hopkins. You know,
5:54
Speaker 1: he's not going to wow you with you know, Hall
5:58
Speaker 1: of Fame type strength or whatever as an offensive lineman.
6:02
Speaker 1: But the dude is very, very good and extremely intelligent.
6:07
Speaker 1: So I think Trey Hawkins deserves some kudos. And let's
6:10
Speaker 1: hit the receiver position. While you mentioned that, Dan, you know,
6:12
Speaker 1: Ericson is what he is. I mean, he's he's big time.
6:16
Speaker 1: I think in terms of always overachieving. You know, you
6:19
Speaker 1: never worry about Alex Rixon not giving you one and
6:22
Speaker 1: ten percent as the saying goes. But Stanley Morgan's impressed me.
6:25
Speaker 1: I think he's the best of the of the guys.
6:28
Speaker 1: You know, they didn't it didn't work out. I think
6:30
Speaker 1: if they had drafted a receiver second or third round,
6:33
Speaker 1: they probably would have gotten a receiver, but as it
6:35
Speaker 1: gotten to later rounds, they didn't have one high enough
6:37
Speaker 1: in their board to make that selection. Stanley Morgan they
6:40
Speaker 1: signed as a free agent. And the reason that he
6:42
Speaker 1: was available as a free agent. He doesn't have a
6:44
Speaker 1: world class speed. He's not going to be a guy
6:46
Speaker 1: whoa look at the physical abilities of this guy. But
6:49
Speaker 1: he's another one that's very intelligent. He's got a position versatility. Already,
6:53
Speaker 1: they're playing him in a bunch of different positions. All
6:56
Speaker 1: time leading receiver at Nebraska, and people own you know,
7:00
Speaker 1: they run the ball, but they've been throwing the ball
7:01
Speaker 1: here lately, and he's he's the best they've had there.
7:04
Speaker 1: And Zach Taylor, you know, trust at those coaches in
7:07
Speaker 1: the contacts he has at that school. And and this kid,
7:10
Speaker 1: you know, was highly recommended and you look at him
7:12
Speaker 1: on tape. He runs great routes. He understands we're in
7:16
Speaker 1: zones to you know, settle into his own and get
7:18
Speaker 1: open for the quarterback or run through his zone. And
7:21
Speaker 1: you know, if you have to get open for the quarterback,
7:22
Speaker 1: Hander stands all those concepts. So I'm impressed with Stanley Morgan.
7:26
Speaker 1: I think he's got a better than even chance to
7:28
Speaker 1: make the football team. I really do. When you talked
7:30
Speaker 1: about Paul Brown drafting smart guys back in the day,
7:33
Speaker 1: it made me think of a story I read sometime
7:35
Speaker 1: in the last two or three weeks in the Boston
7:37
Speaker 1: Globe about how much of a premium Bill Belichick puts
7:42
Speaker 1: on drafting and or acquiring smart guys. And you look
7:46
Speaker 1: at it, Dan, look at the position versatility he's had
7:48
Speaker 1: with different guys. You know, Mike Vrabel defensive end, linebacker,
7:52
Speaker 1: tight end offensively. You know, he's kind of like the
7:55
Speaker 1: Sam Hubbard of the of the Patriots. So there's there's Littney,
8:00
Speaker 1: and there's a long long list of guys that in
8:02
Speaker 1: the way Bill Belichick approaches a game almost on a
8:06
Speaker 1: series by series basis. They may change, they may change everything,
8:09
Speaker 1: and if you don't have guys that can do it,
8:11
Speaker 1: you have to you have to quote dumb it down
8:13
Speaker 1: to your dumbest guy on the field. So if you
8:15
Speaker 1: have five guys that understand calculus but six to don't,
8:19
Speaker 1: you're not gonna be able to, you know, have that
8:20
Speaker 1: sophisticated a game plan. But if they all understand calculus,
8:24
Speaker 1: now you got something, you got something special, and you're
8:26
Speaker 1: head of the game. Because it's like, oh my gosh,
8:29
Speaker 1: they're morphing into this. Now they're doing that. How many
8:31
Speaker 1: things are they going to do? You have to have
8:33
Speaker 1: someone television to be able to do that. Zach Taylor
8:35
Speaker 1: can certainly speak to that based on the Super Bowl
8:37
Speaker 1: last year where Bill Belichick went into the game saying,
8:40
Speaker 1: we are not going to give up the play action
8:41
Speaker 1: deep ball and played a defense that basically they had
8:44
Speaker 1: not played during the regular season or first few rounds
8:47
Speaker 1: of the playoffs. Yeah, I mean they were a man team.
8:49
Speaker 1: You know, they played like seventy five eighty percent man.
8:51
Speaker 1: They played seventy five eighty percent zone in the Super Bowl,
8:55
Speaker 1: and they basically said, you know, the two weeks of
8:56
Speaker 1: preparation that week you had out in the West Coast,
8:59
Speaker 1: the week you had in Atlanta, yea scrub that you
9:02
Speaker 1: guys are gonna have to adjust because we're not doing that.
9:05
Speaker 1: We're not. We're not showing you anything that you can
9:07
Speaker 1: take advantage of with those big chunk plays. All right,
9:09
Speaker 1: let's talk about some other guys that maybe are a
9:11
Speaker 1: little bit under the radar that caught your eye had
9:14
Speaker 1: practice today. I know one of them was one of
9:16
Speaker 1: last year's draft picks who got hurt, defensive lineman Andrew Brown. Yeah. Dan,
9:21
Speaker 1: you look at him physically, he's got what it takes
9:24
Speaker 1: to play in the league. I'm not saying, you know,
9:26
Speaker 1: a perennial Pro Bowl guy, but he's got some heavy hands,
9:29
Speaker 1: some explosiveness. When you see him go through bag drills,
9:32
Speaker 1: he pops those bad boys. And he's got I mean,
9:36
Speaker 1: he was the best high school player in the state
9:38
Speaker 1: of Virginia. You know, people like, oh, yeah, well boy,
9:40
Speaker 1: there were a bunch of powerhouses of Virginia. But this kid,
9:42
Speaker 1: this kid was a really good player and he had
9:44
Speaker 1: a lot of big time offers stated Virginia. And I
9:48
Speaker 1: think he's got the skill set physically. Now is he
9:51
Speaker 1: gonna be able to put it all together? He's kind
9:53
Speaker 1: of a tweener, you know when you when you look
9:56
Speaker 1: at him. He's listed at sixty three, two hundred and
9:59
Speaker 1: ninety six pounds. Is that big enough to play defensive tackle?
10:02
Speaker 1: Is it perfect? You know, dimensions for defensive end, But
10:06
Speaker 1: all I know is physically he's got some capabilities. And
10:09
Speaker 1: to be interested if you could take that next step
10:11
Speaker 1: mentally and uh and understand everything that the lou and
10:14
Speaker 1: Aruma is putting in out there, because that defense is
10:17
Speaker 1: looking pretty good. I mean, they're not playing softcover too
10:20
Speaker 1: anymore and letting people free released off the line of scrimmage.
10:22
Speaker 1: They're getting after them, they're blitzing, they're getting after the quarterback,
10:26
Speaker 1: and they're playing tight coverage. They're getting up their pressing people,
10:28
Speaker 1: and it looks it looks pretty good. I felt overall
10:32
Speaker 1: the defense won the day. The offense had their moments
10:35
Speaker 1: and had plays in today's workout, but on a snap
10:38
Speaker 1: by snap basis, if you evaluate it as an impartial evaluator,
10:42
Speaker 1: you don't have to give the nod to the defense.
10:44
Speaker 1: I thought that was especially true in the no huddle
10:47
Speaker 1: two minute drill. Again they actually put one fifteen on
10:50
Speaker 1: the clock, but in that portion of the practice, I
10:53
Speaker 1: thought the defense really shown. I agree, Dan, I mean,
10:56
Speaker 1: I think they're well put together. I think I think
10:58
Speaker 1: the scheme is very sound. And the players are really
11:00
Speaker 1: responded to it. I think I think they appreciate that.
11:03
Speaker 1: You know, again, it's not you don't have to study
11:07
Speaker 1: volumes and volumes of an encyclopedia, you know, and have
11:11
Speaker 1: three answers for everything, and that they do this you.
11:13
Speaker 1: But I have another answer for that. It's like, you
11:15
Speaker 1: know this, this whole game is you either punch or CounterPunch.
11:19
Speaker 1: You don't want to always be CounterPunch and everything the
11:21
Speaker 1: offense does to you. You want to just have a
11:24
Speaker 1: few things and make them CounterPunch. And I think that's
11:27
Speaker 1: the track that the defense is on. We mentioned that
11:30
Speaker 1: Hopkins stepped in as the starting left guard or the
11:33
Speaker 1: number one left guard, with Cordy Glen not in attendance
11:36
Speaker 1: today and Clint Bowling still on the rehab field. But
11:39
Speaker 1: Christian Westerman also cut your eye today. Yeah. I mean,
11:42
Speaker 1: I think physically he's got it all. I mean, he
11:45
Speaker 1: is a thumper now, He's very very strong, he has
11:48
Speaker 1: a good pad level. He bends at the hips and
11:51
Speaker 1: not at the at the knees. He's not a knee bender.
11:55
Speaker 1: And when he strikes you, you're struck. The thing is, again,
12:00
Speaker 1: it's hard to deal with it. If he's only got
12:03
Speaker 1: forty percent of it of it, you have to have
12:06
Speaker 1: at least seventy five eighty percent of it, you know,
12:08
Speaker 1: from mental standpoint at this stage, or the coach's lose confidence.
12:11
Speaker 1: I mean, coaches want laid on the line with guys
12:16
Speaker 1: that they feel like you're going to be able to
12:17
Speaker 1: get it. Doesn't matter how big, strong and powerful you
12:19
Speaker 1: are if you're blocking the wrong guy or going the
12:21
Speaker 1: wrong way. So he just has to keep working on
12:24
Speaker 1: that part of his game. And again, you know, feeling
12:27
Speaker 1: is that's why Trey Hawkins is probably not as physical,
12:32
Speaker 1: physically talented as Westerman, but mentally he's way ahead of
12:35
Speaker 1: the game on him. We've mentioned on previous podcasts that
12:39
Speaker 1: it's almost an all star team on the rehab field
12:41
Speaker 1: right now with guys like AJ Green, Tyler Eiford, etc.
12:45
Speaker 1: We're keeping an eye on Carl Lawson and Ryan Glasgow
12:49
Speaker 1: today and both of those guys look like they're moving
12:52
Speaker 1: really well as they look to come back from their injuries.
12:54
Speaker 1: I agree, you know, I think it's probably not going
12:56
Speaker 1: to be right at the beginning of training camp, but
12:58
Speaker 1: at some point maybe to play in that third preseason
13:01
Speaker 1: game where you know you're gonna be taking snaps with
13:04
Speaker 1: with pretty good players for a good periody of the
13:06
Speaker 1: game that can roll a lot of guys in there
13:07
Speaker 1: when they're still guys are going to be NFL players
13:10
Speaker 1: on the field, So you might target that preseason game
13:14
Speaker 1: number three is when some of those guys are gonna
13:16
Speaker 1: maybe maybe hit it and really test it. And that's
13:19
Speaker 1: the thing. You can you can feel really good on
13:21
Speaker 1: the rehab field and you know, but I remember when
13:24
Speaker 1: I just had scopes to my knee. You know, it's like, mentally,
13:26
Speaker 1: you have to hit, hit the ground, get caught in
13:29
Speaker 1: a pile, something has to happen. Where is it really okay?
13:33
Speaker 1: And once you get past that little stage of it,
13:35
Speaker 1: that little block, once you know you go live contact
13:37
Speaker 1: and and you fit the battlefield and you come out unscathed.
13:40
Speaker 1: Now you're cooking with gas. So I do think that
13:43
Speaker 1: getting snaps in the preseason for both of those guys,
13:46
Speaker 1: at some point it's going to be, you know, a
13:47
Speaker 1: paramount to get done. But I'm not sure it's going
13:49
Speaker 1: to be in the first couple of weeks. Any other
13:52
Speaker 1: under the radar type guys catch your eye today, Well,
13:55
Speaker 1: you know, you look at the tight end position, Dan Um.
13:58
Speaker 1: You know Sethan Carter I thought was playing really well
14:01
Speaker 1: and he had the shoulder injury. Yeah, I like that guy.
14:04
Speaker 1: I think he can block at the inn line of scrimmage.
14:06
Speaker 1: I think he can catch the football. Jordan Franks last year.
14:09
Speaker 1: I mean the thing about Jordan Franks im that little
14:12
Speaker 1: wheel route that he ran after the fake. He motioned
14:14
Speaker 1: across the backfield and he caught a ball down the
14:15
Speaker 1: football field. When you have a tight end that can
14:17
Speaker 1: run and you have that size speed ratio advantage, you know,
14:20
Speaker 1: Jordan Franks will he'd be able to take another step.
14:23
Speaker 1: So I'm basically trying to, you know, hit guys at
14:27
Speaker 1: at almost every position group that maybe we haven't talked
14:29
Speaker 1: about it a lot, and the fans haven't really heard
14:31
Speaker 1: about a lot, but you know, they may make the
14:33
Speaker 1: jump from one year to the next. And let's go
14:36
Speaker 1: to the linebacker position. Dan. You know, with Jermaine Pratt
14:39
Speaker 1: having the hamstring injury that slowed him a little bit,
14:41
Speaker 1: Deshan Davis has gotten a lot of snaps and I
14:43
Speaker 1: like him. I can see why you know, the guys
14:46
Speaker 1: were people were fearful maybe a little bit because he's
14:49
Speaker 1: not a real big guy, but man, he carries a
14:51
Speaker 1: lot of weight in that lower body and he plays
14:53
Speaker 1: with a very low pad level. And he's smart. I mean,
14:56
Speaker 1: you know he can call sing those for you. He
14:58
Speaker 1: understands the defense, he flies around the football, he's he's
15:02
Speaker 1: a playmaker. He's a productive guy. So you know, I
15:05
Speaker 1: think I think he's gonna he's gonna be a factor,
15:07
Speaker 1: you know, on the football team as well in the secondary.
15:11
Speaker 1: Trayvon Henderson, remember how well he was playing before he
15:13
Speaker 1: has his knee injury. You look at that dude's legs.
15:15
Speaker 1: I mean he's stout. Now he's put together, you know,
15:18
Speaker 1: Trayvon Henderson come back and can he compete at the
15:21
Speaker 1: level he was competing at it maybe even more and
15:23
Speaker 1: at the safety position. So I mean there's there's a
15:27
Speaker 1: lot of guys to keep an eye on. There's no
15:28
Speaker 1: question about it. Ryan Finley, I think is at the
15:31
Speaker 1: quarterback spot, is starting to you know, understand things a
15:35
Speaker 1: little bit better and he's making plays both in and
15:37
Speaker 1: out of the pocket. I think he's getting a lot
15:38
Speaker 1: more comfortable and a lot more confident. And you can
15:40
Speaker 1: see why he was drafted, you know, in the fourth round.
15:43
Speaker 1: So there's there's quite a few guys to keep track
15:46
Speaker 1: of during the course of this, uh, this thing for sure.
15:49
Speaker 1: Last thing. We are in the tunnel of Paul Brown Stadium,
15:52
Speaker 1: kind of in between the Bengals locker room and the
15:54
Speaker 1: entrance to the playing field. Several golf carts have gone
15:57
Speaker 1: rolling by. Mike Brown moments ago went buying a golf cart.
16:00
Speaker 1: Do we need to have some of these people teach
16:02
Speaker 1: you how to drive a golf cart? Lap? The man unbelievable. Dan.
16:07
Speaker 1: I tried to, Uh, I tried to pass on a
16:12
Speaker 1: cart path that was too narrow and front wheel, front
16:16
Speaker 1: right wheel went off the cart path and it was
16:18
Speaker 1: just a total downhill, like forty five degree decline, and
16:23
Speaker 1: I was, I'm not gonna be able to keep this
16:25
Speaker 1: up there the second the back wheel went off and
16:27
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, it's like slow motion. Start to
16:30
Speaker 1: I rolled. It rolled a bad boy, but a little
16:33
Speaker 1: bit of a hip issue, a little hitching to get
16:34
Speaker 1: along with the hip, but just a little scratch on
16:37
Speaker 1: the arm and the cart. The carts survived because I
16:39
Speaker 1: used it in the afternoon round as well. But man,
16:42
Speaker 1: I'm retiring from evil Knieval with the golf carts. Next
16:45
Speaker 1: time we golf, I'm driving pack got you, I got
16:47
Speaker 1: your coach. Thankfully, Lap wasn't hurt and that wasn't the
16:51
Speaker 1: only good news to come out of the golf tournament
16:53
Speaker 1: he co hosts with former teammate and roommate Ken Anderson.
16:58
Speaker 1: This year's event raised more than two hundred thousand dollars
17:01
Speaker 1: for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati and the
17:05
Speaker 1: Ken Anderson Alliance, which provides opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities.
17:11
Speaker 1: Kudos to two of the all time great Bengals and
17:14
Speaker 1: people for continuing to make a difference in the community
17:17
Speaker 1: well after their playing careers. When the Bengals drafted tight
17:22
Speaker 1: end Drew Sample in the second round this year, number
17:24
Speaker 1: fifty two overall, after moving back ten spots to pick
17:28
Speaker 1: up extra fourth and sixth round picks from Denver, some
17:32
Speaker 1: of the draft guru suggested that he would have been
17:35
Speaker 1: available later. We'll never know, but if Ota practices are
17:40
Speaker 1: any indication, Sample will help the Bengals right away. He
17:45
Speaker 1: was considered to be the best blocking tight end in
17:47
Speaker 1: the draft and he's caught everything thrown his way in
17:50
Speaker 1: the practices that have been open to the media. The
17:53
Speaker 1: Bengals have a new tight ends coach this year in
17:56
Speaker 1: James Casey. He spent seven years playing in the NFL
18:00
Speaker 1: and was still active as recently as twenty fifteen. I
18:04
Speaker 1: spoke to Casey about the addition of Drew Sample you
18:08
Speaker 1: played the position, Tell me what you like about this guy.
18:11
Speaker 1: He's he's got great, great technique, great feet, great bass.
18:15
Speaker 1: About how he's blocking him, he's you know, you watch
18:17
Speaker 1: a lot of these college guys and it's I think
18:19
Speaker 1: it's rare, and I'm not, you know, extremely experienced. I
18:22
Speaker 1: haven't doing it for twenty years, But when I watched
18:24
Speaker 1: all the guys that are coming out this year, he
18:25
Speaker 1: was one guy that just stood out to me as
18:27
Speaker 1: being like a sound football player with a really good
18:29
Speaker 1: technique that you don't you don't feel like you got
18:32
Speaker 1: to come in or like teach him and coach him
18:34
Speaker 1: up on a whole bunch of different things. You can
18:35
Speaker 1: more to like jump into it and get him learned
18:37
Speaker 1: the scheme and kind of of course you're gonna try
18:39
Speaker 1: to get him better on some of the techniques and
18:40
Speaker 1: get him more physical and all those things. But he
18:42
Speaker 1: was he was a polished player and who played with
18:45
Speaker 1: great effort and great technique, and that's what you're looking
18:47
Speaker 1: for our tight ends. We're looking for smart guys, and
18:49
Speaker 1: he's extremely intelligent. We're looking for tough guys. He's a
18:51
Speaker 1: really tough guy. He's playing a lot of football, and
18:53
Speaker 1: then we're looking for guys that got really quick feet,
18:55
Speaker 1: so because we're gonna do a lot of lateral stuff
18:56
Speaker 1: with our offense, and he fits all those molds. Were
18:59
Speaker 1: kind of interaction did you have with him personally? I
19:01
Speaker 1: got to you know, really most of us at the combine,
19:04
Speaker 1: and once we left the combine, everybody knew we loved him.
19:06
Speaker 1: We got to, you know, set in the meeting. You know,
19:07
Speaker 1: we kind of had like a form meeting with him
19:09
Speaker 1: with the whole staff, and he was extremely intelligent. One
19:13
Speaker 1: of the most impressive guys that I've been around as
19:15
Speaker 1: far as like his intelligence and asking the questions. It
19:18
Speaker 1: was almost like I could just see him. I don't
19:21
Speaker 1: know if he wants to do this in the future,
19:22
Speaker 1: but even as young as he is, I could seem
19:24
Speaker 1: wanting to be a coach one day. He was you know,
19:26
Speaker 1: any question you're asking about the offense that they run
19:28
Speaker 1: at Washington, he knew everything about it, and he knew
19:30
Speaker 1: what everybody was doing. He knew how to articulated. He
19:33
Speaker 1: was confident. He was a bright eyed guy. He wasn't
19:35
Speaker 1: low energy at all. He was I like the guys
19:37
Speaker 1: in our locker room. We're gonna love him. He's gonna
19:39
Speaker 1: fit in our our group really well, because we already
19:41
Speaker 1: got a lot of really good tight ends and a
19:43
Speaker 1: lot of great guys in our room, and it's great
19:46
Speaker 1: to add another great guy. So you know, he's just
19:48
Speaker 1: gonna fit in right away and there's gonna be no
19:49
Speaker 1: issues in our room about you know, any kind of
19:51
Speaker 1: bad people or guys that aren't loving football like he's gonna.
19:54
Speaker 1: He was very, very impressive, and of course you probably
19:57
Speaker 1: could tell me how I'm talking. I'm I'm tremly excited,
19:59
Speaker 1: and especially early on just getting started coaching here, like
20:02
Speaker 1: to get a guy I can get as a young
20:04
Speaker 1: guy and kind of get him, you know, kind of
20:05
Speaker 1: put my stamp on him and help him develop with
20:08
Speaker 1: the trade down of ten spots where you kind of
20:10
Speaker 1: fighting your nails hoping it would still be there at
20:12
Speaker 1: fifty two. I was I was very nervous about it,
20:15
Speaker 1: knowing that we had that we had him ready high
20:17
Speaker 1: and then uh And you know, as you travel around,
20:20
Speaker 1: you go to all the pro days, and you go
20:21
Speaker 1: to the combine, and you talk to other other tight
20:23
Speaker 1: end coaches you know, around around the league. You get
20:27
Speaker 1: you get a sense of how certain guys feel about
20:28
Speaker 1: certain guys, how they talk to him. And you know,
20:31
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that a lot of tight end
20:33
Speaker 1: coaches and a lot of teams around the NFL had
20:35
Speaker 1: this guy ready really high. And I know media wise
20:38
Speaker 1: he might not have been like the top tight end guy.
20:40
Speaker 1: But the guys that watched the ball and watched the film,
20:43
Speaker 1: I think everybody that did that know that this guy's
20:45
Speaker 1: a really good player. And time time's gotta tell you
20:47
Speaker 1: gotta come in here. It's gotta go and work and
20:49
Speaker 1: go prove it. And to me as a coach, I
20:51
Speaker 1: tell those guys, you know, you gotta you gotta make
20:53
Speaker 1: an undeniable. You know, you gotta go out there and
20:55
Speaker 1: practice so hard that it's on deniable. How good Jarling,
20:57
Speaker 1: we gotta, we gotta put you on the field, and
20:59
Speaker 1: you got to you got to be so good they
21:01
Speaker 1: can't annoy you. Basically, you know, you know, guys to
21:03
Speaker 1: tell my guys in my room, Like, you got to
21:04
Speaker 1: be so good that they can't annoy you, that they
21:07
Speaker 1: have to put you on the field and you have
21:08
Speaker 1: to go. You're gonna produce this because how will you
21:11
Speaker 1: practice and how will you compete? If Tyler Eiffort can
21:13
Speaker 1: stay healthy, the trio of Effort, cj Uzama, and Drew
21:17
Speaker 1: Sample would give the Bengals a formidable tight end group.
21:22
Speaker 1: Now time for this week's fun Facts interview, as we
21:25
Speaker 1: get to know a second year member of the Bengals
21:27
Speaker 1: coaching staff who's had quite a history as a player
21:31
Speaker 1: and coach. Time for some fun facts with Bengals quarterbacks
21:35
Speaker 1: coach Alex Van Pelt, a native of Pittsburgh, a former
21:38
Speaker 1: star with the Pittsburgh Panthers. But you played high school
21:41
Speaker 1: football in Texas. Correct describe how that came about? Yeah,
21:45
Speaker 1: that was awkward. I kind of My parents had divorced
21:48
Speaker 1: early on, and I was living with my dad in
21:49
Speaker 1: a small town in West Virginia and I had started
21:53
Speaker 1: there for three years. Through my junior year, I happen
21:55
Speaker 1: to have a best friend that was a senior who
21:58
Speaker 1: was a way better athlete than I was, better football, basketball,
22:01
Speaker 1: baseball player, and he did not get recruited at all,
22:04
Speaker 1: and it kind of woke me up a little bit.
22:06
Speaker 1: So my mom had moved to San Antonio, Texas, and
22:10
Speaker 1: there was a situation where they didn't have a starting
22:12
Speaker 1: quarterback returning. So I took a chance and transferred halfway
22:16
Speaker 1: through my junior year and ended up starting my senior
22:19
Speaker 1: year of high school football down there and got a
22:20
Speaker 1: scholarship back to Pittsburgh. So those are pre internet days.
22:23
Speaker 1: How did you even find out that there was a
22:25
Speaker 1: high school there that needed a QB? Well, my mom
22:28
Speaker 1: was kind of pulling strings talking to the coach, just
22:31
Speaker 1: getting a feel for what the situation would be and
22:33
Speaker 1: if it was something that would interest me. And I
22:36
Speaker 1: was concerned if I didn't maybe move on to a
22:38
Speaker 1: bigger area, I wouldn't have a chance to play in college.
22:41
Speaker 1: And rolled the dice and it worked out for the best.
22:44
Speaker 1: Doing fun facts with Alex van Pelt, it certainly did.
22:46
Speaker 1: You came back home to the Pittsburgh area wound up
22:49
Speaker 1: playing for pitt as I mentioned, started for four years.
22:53
Speaker 1: It must have been crazy to start as a true
22:56
Speaker 1: freshman at a place like pitt Yeah, it was interesting.
22:59
Speaker 1: I had a couple of backs that were ahead of
23:00
Speaker 1: me on the depth chart that I wanted transferred and
23:03
Speaker 1: one didn't make great. So all of a sudden, I
23:04
Speaker 1: came into the spring as a starter, and that was
23:07
Speaker 1: when Paul Hackett came in as the offensive chord dator.
23:11
Speaker 1: And you know, he and I really we meshed for
23:13
Speaker 1: those four years and I learned a lot of football
23:15
Speaker 1: from him and know him a lot. He's really a
23:17
Speaker 1: coaching mentor to me still to this day. Pitts had
23:20
Speaker 1: some great quarterbacks, first and foremost Dan Marino, but when
23:23
Speaker 1: you look in the all time record book, the all
23:25
Speaker 1: time leader in passing yards is Alex Van Pelt. Yeah.
23:29
Speaker 1: I think I threw it about five thousand more times
23:31
Speaker 1: than he did, so I think the average it may
23:32
Speaker 1: not have averaged out as high. But yeah, that's one
23:35
Speaker 1: I'm pretty proud of. And I teased Dan when I
23:38
Speaker 1: see him. So after starting for four years at pitt
23:42
Speaker 1: you were drafted by the Steelers in nineteen ninety three
23:44
Speaker 1: and went to training camp with Pittsburgh under Bill Kauer.
23:47
Speaker 1: What was it like to be drafted by your hometown team.
23:50
Speaker 1: It was great, It really was. A family was excited.
23:53
Speaker 1: My wife from Pittsburgh and her family as well, so
23:55
Speaker 1: we were excited for the opportunity to stay in town.
23:58
Speaker 1: Didn't make the most of the opportunity. He's though. I
24:00
Speaker 1: didn't make it through camp, but got cut at camp
24:02
Speaker 1: and sat out that year until midway through the season,
24:06
Speaker 1: and I ended up going Paul Hackett had left at
24:08
Speaker 1: the time to Kansas City as their offensive coordinator, and
24:11
Speaker 1: Joe Montana pulls a hamstring, so I knew the system.
24:14
Speaker 1: So I got the call. I got to go out
24:16
Speaker 1: and dress for three games, and then when he was healthy,
24:19
Speaker 1: I was released and then resigned again the next year.
24:22
Speaker 1: What stands out about even being around Joe Montana, I'd
24:25
Speaker 1: say the biggest thing is his note taking. By far,
24:29
Speaker 1: I mean that guy. It didn't matter how many times
24:31
Speaker 1: you installed a base concept that he's heard for fifteen years.
24:34
Speaker 1: He would write down every detail on the paper. And
24:37
Speaker 1: that struck me. If he's doing it, I better do it.
24:40
Speaker 1: So I still to this day. I have a little
24:42
Speaker 1: quote up here. You know, you can't see it, but
24:43
Speaker 1: that's all. The story is all about that and Joe
24:46
Speaker 1: taking notes. So that's the biggest thing I took from Joe.
24:48
Speaker 1: We're doing fun facts with Alex Van Pelt. He was
24:51
Speaker 1: not the only Hall of Fame quarterback you are around
24:53
Speaker 1: because you spent most of your NFL career with the
24:55
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, and early in your tenure there, it was
24:59
Speaker 1: the final couple of seasons of Jim Kelly's NFL career. Yeah,
25:02
Speaker 1: and that was a great experience. I mean, Jim is
25:04
Speaker 1: such a such a gracious guy. I mean he when
25:06
Speaker 1: I walked in the building for the first time, I
25:09
Speaker 1: was immediately included in him in this group of the quarterbacks,
25:11
Speaker 1: and I thought that was really cool. He was one
25:14
Speaker 1: of the greatest leader I've been around. He knew when
25:17
Speaker 1: the push buttons, he knew when the jump guys, you know,
25:19
Speaker 1: when the hug guys, and he held everybody at a
25:23
Speaker 1: high standard and very accountable, and that spread through the team.
25:26
Speaker 1: I think that was a great experience for me to
25:27
Speaker 1: see how a veteran guy actually runs the team, and
25:31
Speaker 1: he really did. Doug Flutie is not in the Pro
25:34
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame, but he's in the College Hall
25:35
Speaker 1: of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. And
25:38
Speaker 1: you're around Doug as well in Buffalo. Yeah, Doug's exciting player, obviously,
25:42
Speaker 1: I mean the energy he brings into the stadium each week.
25:45
Speaker 1: I grew up a West Virginia fan, and I was
25:48
Speaker 1: at the Mountaineer Boston College game that the West Virginia
25:52
Speaker 1: beat him that year. So I've been watching Doug for
25:54
Speaker 1: a long time, so I have to get a chance to,
25:56
Speaker 1: you know, to be in the same room with him
25:57
Speaker 1: and pick his brain. That was pretty cool too. What
26:00
Speaker 1: was Marv Levy like? Oh, mar Marvel was the best.
26:03
Speaker 1: I always tell the story that Marv would be the
26:06
Speaker 1: only man that in a team meeting could quote a
26:08
Speaker 1: fourteenth century Scottish poet and somehow make it relate and
26:12
Speaker 1: all the guys would understand it. You know, he was
26:14
Speaker 1: a genius the way he handled those teams and all
26:17
Speaker 1: those personalities on those teams. He couldn't have done a
26:20
Speaker 1: better job. So I grew up in Lakewood, New York,
26:22
Speaker 1: which is a little bit south of Buffalo, and you
26:25
Speaker 1: were extremely popular with Buffalo Bills fans. Well. I was
26:30
Speaker 1: a little short and probably a little overweight for the position,
26:32
Speaker 1: so I think a lot of those body types related
26:35
Speaker 1: to me. I kind of come from a blue collar background,
26:38
Speaker 1: so I think I kind of fit in there with
26:40
Speaker 1: the community as well, and I actually had a radio show.
26:43
Speaker 1: It was kind of a spoof on the popular morning
26:45
Speaker 1: radio rock station, and I would just say anything funny
26:49
Speaker 1: just to get a laugh, and I think I acquired
26:52
Speaker 1: a lot of listeners and followers. At that time. It
26:54
Speaker 1: was totally slapstick. None of it was serious. But I
26:57
Speaker 1: think combination all those things and out in the community,
27:00
Speaker 1: I was a big part of the community there. I
27:02
Speaker 1: tried to do as much as I could, you know,
27:03
Speaker 1: whether it be juvenile diabetes or in a food bank
27:06
Speaker 1: or anything, to stay stay visible and active in the community.
27:09
Speaker 1: You got into a real broadcasting career after your playing
27:13
Speaker 1: career was finished. You were the color commentator with a
27:15
Speaker 1: great John Murphy on Buffalo Bill's broadcast. But didn't stick
27:20
Speaker 1: with it. Did you just miss being one of the
27:22
Speaker 1: guys in the locker room preparing for games and game day?
27:26
Speaker 1: And that was really it. And when I retired from football,
27:29
Speaker 1: my thought processes, well, I'm gonna I want to give
27:31
Speaker 1: broadcasting a shot, and if I don't feel like this
27:33
Speaker 1: is what I'm wanna do, I want to get into coaching.
27:35
Speaker 1: At the time, I said I wanted to be John
27:37
Speaker 1: Madden or John Bruden, so I knew it was gonna
27:38
Speaker 1: be one or the other. I wanted to be the
27:40
Speaker 1: best at it. I went through the first year of
27:42
Speaker 1: doing the radio. I enjoyed it, but I really missed
27:46
Speaker 1: being in those meetings and knowing the why. I could
27:48
Speaker 1: talk about the football all day and what happened and
27:50
Speaker 1: you know who's responsibility for that gap and all that
27:52
Speaker 1: was easy, but I related it to watching your friends
27:56
Speaker 1: open up Christmas presents from outside the window. I wanted
27:59
Speaker 1: to get back into the window inside. We're visiting with
28:02
Speaker 1: Alex van Pelt. Much of your NFL coaching career was
28:05
Speaker 1: spent in Green Bay with the Packers, working with Aaron Rodgers.
28:08
Speaker 1: What's the most remarkable thing you ever saw Aaron Rodgers due, Well,
28:13
Speaker 1: there's many to me. Probably the biggest one would be
28:16
Speaker 1: the playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys. It's third and twenty.
28:19
Speaker 1: I think there's ten seconds left to go in the game.
28:22
Speaker 1: Most teams were tied up. Most teams probably run the
28:24
Speaker 1: ball and take it overtime. Aaron gets in the huddle,
28:27
Speaker 1: designs a protection that we've barely ever used to talk of,
28:31
Speaker 1: you know, talks about talks the guys through the protection,
28:33
Speaker 1: and three routes that we had never run. He draws
28:37
Speaker 1: up in the dirt on that final play and hits
28:39
Speaker 1: Jared Cook on the sideline after a great scramble. To me,
28:41
Speaker 1: I was like, what was that play? Well, no, I
28:44
Speaker 1: just told him to do this, this and this, and
28:45
Speaker 1: I told the protection to do this, and it worked perfectly.
28:48
Speaker 1: And one was that game. There was a stretch there
28:51
Speaker 1: in Green Bay where you had a beard and head
28:53
Speaker 1: coach Mike McCarthy had a beard, and you bore a
28:57
Speaker 1: striking resemblance to each other. Were they're strange instances where
29:02
Speaker 1: you were confused for him. One hundred times referees would
29:06
Speaker 1: come over and shake my hand before the game, and
29:08
Speaker 1: I'd stop him about halfway over and say, no, I'm
29:10
Speaker 1: not Mike and Alex, oh sorry, coach. You know. Fans
29:13
Speaker 1: would yell down, come on, Mike. You know. So it's
29:16
Speaker 1: a playoff beards, so there's no You had no chance
29:18
Speaker 1: to shave it off until it was all over, so
29:20
Speaker 1: we had to keep the beards on. I always just
29:22
Speaker 1: tell people my legs are a little thicker than his,
29:25
Speaker 1: So if we had all shorts, that would be about
29:26
Speaker 1: the way you could tell. So this is your second
29:29
Speaker 1: year with the Bengals working with Andy Dalton and the
29:31
Speaker 1: other Bengals quarterbacks. What if anything surprised you about Andy
29:35
Speaker 1: when you started working with him. Just as mechanics, I thought,
29:38
Speaker 1: first off the bat, I'd not seen many guys throw
29:41
Speaker 1: with the mechanics. I mean, his mechanics and his fundamentals
29:43
Speaker 1: are very very sounds as sound as anybody's really And
29:47
Speaker 1: the knowledge of the game and that and the vision
29:49
Speaker 1: of the field, I mean he's got He's been doing
29:51
Speaker 1: it for a long time. Here's a guy that has
29:53
Speaker 1: seen a lot of different looks and rarely as he
29:56
Speaker 1: get fooled on a football field. So his experience of
29:59
Speaker 1: seeing defense, you know, combined with his perfect fundamentals, I
30:03
Speaker 1: was very excited to get to work with him. All right.
30:05
Speaker 1: One more fun fact for Alex Van Pelt, tell me
30:09
Speaker 1: about the time you sang on stage with Hank Williams Junior. Yeah,
30:15
Speaker 1: that's a wild one. I was in Kansas City. We
30:17
Speaker 1: were flying back from River Falls, Wisconsin, back to Kansas City.
30:21
Speaker 1: Training camp had just ended, and Derek Thomas, the great
30:25
Speaker 1: outside linebacker, was on the flight and came back and
30:27
Speaker 1: asked to find like country music. Of course I did so,
30:30
Speaker 1: I'll pick you up at the hotel. We're gonna go
30:32
Speaker 1: see Hank Junior. Little did I know they're from the
30:34
Speaker 1: same hometown in Alabama and great friends. So I'm thinking,
30:38
Speaker 1: where are we gonna get these tickets? You know, what
30:39
Speaker 1: are you? So DT drives right around, right through waves
30:42
Speaker 1: all the security guys in Wichita, drives right back and
30:45
Speaker 1: pulls into the arena, gets out by the tour bus
30:48
Speaker 1: and the managers there, and Hank's wife was there. We
30:51
Speaker 1: walked directly up on stage. It was myself, Troy Ridgeley,
30:54
Speaker 1: who was a Notre Dame defensive lineman that was my
30:57
Speaker 1: roommate at the time in DT and Hank and we're
31:00
Speaker 1: singing one Whisk, good Whisky, good Love, and good Women,
31:03
Speaker 1: and he's passing the microphone around in front of like
31:05
Speaker 1: twelve thousand people in this arena. And it was a
31:08
Speaker 1: great night. Got to go to dinner with them afterwards
31:10
Speaker 1: and spend some time with them. But just goes to say,
31:13
Speaker 1: what kind of guy Derek Thomas is here? I was
31:15
Speaker 1: a second year player, third fourth string quarterback, but he
31:19
Speaker 1: knew I like country music and invited me. Anyway, So
31:22
Speaker 1: you've played in an NFL game in front of eighty
31:24
Speaker 1: thousand and sung on stage in front of fourteen thousand,
31:28
Speaker 1: which is more nerve wracking. Oh, definitely the eighty thousand,
31:31
Speaker 1: because I'm a good singer. Well, do you care to
31:33
Speaker 1: share that's a joke. That's completely a joke. Yeah, eighty
31:37
Speaker 1: thousand screaming fans on the road. Stuffer ah, you're ready
31:40
Speaker 1: fowsome football. That's the extent of my hank. This was fun,
31:44
Speaker 1: absolutely Yeah. I enjoyed visiting with you. Best of luck
31:46
Speaker 1: this year. Thank you very much. My thanks to this
31:48
Speaker 1: week's guests, And that's going to do it for this
31:50
Speaker 1: week's podcast. If you haven't done so already, don't forget
31:54
Speaker 1: to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and if you
31:57
Speaker 1: have a minute, please give it a rating or leave
31:59
Speaker 1: amen five star ratings help more Bengals fans find this podcast.
32:05
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Horde, and thank you for listening to The
32:08
Speaker 1: Bengals Booth Podcast