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Bengals Booth Podcast: Kings of the Weekend · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.
0:08
Speaker 2: The we are the Kings of the weekend edition as
0:13
Speaker 2: Dave Lapham joins me to break down the twenty twenty
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Speaker 2: four Bengals draft class. The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought
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Speaker 2: to you by pay Core, proud to be the Bengals
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Speaker 2: a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care
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Speaker 2: for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare
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Speaker 2: provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick reminder that
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Speaker 2: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
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Speaker 2: right to your phone, tablet or computer by subscribing wherever
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Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since a
0:53
Speaker 2: perfectly struck golf shot.
0:56
Speaker 1: I played golf with.
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Speaker 2: A buddy a few days ago and on one Part three,
1:00
Speaker 2: I hit a seven iron as well as it could
1:03
Speaker 2: possibly be hit. It was majestically high and straight as
1:08
Speaker 2: an arrow. It looked like the shot tracker that you
1:11
Speaker 2: would see if you were watching PGA tour coverage on
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Speaker 2: TV now Unfortunately, I hit the ball so well that
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Speaker 2: it flew well past the flag. But you know what,
1:23
Speaker 2: so what, it was perfectly struck, the type of shot
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Speaker 2: that keeps you coming back for more. Now, let's get
1:31
Speaker 2: to Day three of the draft. The Bengals had six
1:35
Speaker 2: picks on Saturday, and frankly, I'm surprised they used all
1:38
Speaker 2: of them. I would have been willing to bet that
1:41
Speaker 2: at some point they would have traded one of their
1:43
Speaker 2: extra six or seventh rounders to move up, but they didn't,
1:48
Speaker 2: and you'd never know what Day three pick is going
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Speaker 2: to pan out. Their first selection on Saturday was tight
1:55
Speaker 2: end Eric All, a Cincinnati kid from Fairfield High School
1:59
Speaker 2: who spent most of his college career at Michigan before
2:02
Speaker 2: finishing with this season at Iowa. Eric undoubtedly would have
2:07
Speaker 2: gone higher than the fourth round if not for injuries.
2:10
Speaker 2: He had a back problem two years ago and tore
2:13
Speaker 2: his ACL last season. Here's offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. Very
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Speaker 2: well rounded, skill set, size, athleticism, contributor in both the
2:24
Speaker 2: past game in the run game.
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Speaker 3: He's physical. We think he can be.
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Speaker 2: Really an all around tight end that can help us
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Speaker 2: in all phases. Eric said it was surreal to be
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Speaker 2: drafted by his hometown team, and he sounded giddy about
2:37
Speaker 2: the opportunity to catch passes from Joe Burrow.
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Speaker 1: Crazy. I remember watching the man at LSU just doing
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Speaker 1: his thing and just playing a team. You know, he
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Speaker 1: just you know, it's pensive standard for the quarterbacks in
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Speaker 1: the league, and he's.
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Speaker 4: Just all, you know, it's going to be crazy cutching
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Speaker 4: the ball from it.
2:59
Speaker 2: In the fifth round, the Bengals chose cornerback Josh Newton
3:02
Speaker 2: out of TCU. He's not a burner, as he ran
3:05
Speaker 2: a four or five forty at the combine, but Newton
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Speaker 2: was highly productive with forty pass breakups in his college career.
3:13
Speaker 2: Here's defensive coordinator louena Arumo a.
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Speaker 5: Lot to like, plays inside, plays outside, you know, play
3:21
Speaker 5: a bunch of games at nicol As I mentioned, He's
3:24
Speaker 5: had over thirty plus tackles in three consecutive years seven
3:30
Speaker 5: I believe seven interceptions in his career. Was first team
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Speaker 5: All Big twelve and twenty two. So great kid, great
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Speaker 5: football instincts, awareness, Like everything about his game.
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Speaker 2: Newton isn't shy about saying where he would like to
3:44
Speaker 2: play and why he would like to play there.
3:48
Speaker 1: I mean Honestly, I like outside really the business, you know, outside,
3:52
Speaker 1: the outside money, But man, is I really don't. Yeah,
4:01
Speaker 1: if I had the pig, yeah, outside, because you know,
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Speaker 1: the outside running, then you know that's a that's an eight,
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Speaker 1: eight matches and all this. So I mean, bro, whatever
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Speaker 1: I feed in and whatever the cozey like, I'm trying
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Speaker 1: to be a Swiss.
4:12
Speaker 2: With their first pick of the sixth round, the Bengals
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Speaker 2: chose another tight end, six foot five inch Tanner McLaughlin
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Speaker 2: out of Arizona. He's a receiver more than a blocker
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Speaker 2: and actually broke Rob Groundkowski's school record for most career
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Speaker 2: catches by a tight end.
4:28
Speaker 1: Here's Zach Taylor.
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Speaker 3: He can win. In the past game, he can win,
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Speaker 3: and I think you guys can can picture tight ends
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Speaker 3: that have success here in the past couple of years
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Speaker 3: for us. You know where they they turned something short
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Speaker 3: and something much bigger. You know, on a third and
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Speaker 3: five they turn it into first down, they break tackles.
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Speaker 3: He's got really good awareness, zone awareness. He's just got
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Speaker 3: that sabbiness that I think is critical for tight ends
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Speaker 3: to have. He can be a threat down the middlefield.
4:53
Speaker 3: He's got good nuance on his routes, and I think
4:56
Speaker 3: he's continued to develop as a blocker. He's got the
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Speaker 3: body type for it, six ' five. I think he
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Speaker 3: could be a for the high two forties. And so
5:02
Speaker 3: did a lot of research on these guys. You know,
5:04
Speaker 3: we've watched these tough I mean, I don't even know
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Speaker 3: how many times we've watched these tight ends. But I
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Speaker 3: really like him. Jed Fish is a good friend of mine.
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Speaker 3: So I've watched Arizona play for the last three years,
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Speaker 3: every game probably, and you know, I had seen Tanner
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Speaker 3: and then you study the tape and I really liked it,
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Speaker 3: and Jed confirmed all the things that I thought about him.
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Speaker 2: One knock on McLaughlin is his age. He was on
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Speaker 2: college rosters for six years and turned twenty five last month.
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Speaker 1: Through the process, you could, you know, some said it
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Speaker 1: was a benefit, some sat was the negative, but I
5:35
Speaker 1: believe it to be a benefit. I've always been kind
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Speaker 1: of a late bloomer, and you know, I'm gonna I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna ride with it. I My age is what it is,
5:41
Speaker 1: but I'm excited to, you know, go out there and
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Speaker 1: continue to develop. So I think my best balls ahead
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Speaker 1: of me.
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Speaker 2: Later in the sixth Cincinnati picked edge rusher Cedric Johnson
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Speaker 2: out of Ole Miss. He's six three, two sixty and
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Speaker 2: had nineteen sacks in his college career. So what does
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Speaker 2: Cedric bring to the table.
6:00
Speaker 4: So I bring a lot of athleticism, my explosion of
6:05
Speaker 4: when I get off my speed for I'm running, my strengths.
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Speaker 4: I feel that I got allowed to bring to the team.
6:10
Speaker 1: Well.
6:10
Speaker 2: Their first pick of the seventh round, the Bengals chose
6:13
Speaker 2: another member of the All Miss defense, safety Dejon Anthony.
6:18
Speaker 2: He's a feel good story, having started his college career
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Speaker 2: as a walk on at the Division two level.
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Speaker 3: I appreciate his story and why he did all the
6:28
Speaker 3: things that he did to get to where he's at
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Speaker 3: today and to have his name called on draft night,
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Speaker 3: I think is special for him. And he's a guy
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Speaker 3: that you know, you learn more information about when you
6:39
Speaker 3: bring him in here on the thirty visit. Our scouts
6:41
Speaker 3: have done that or coaches got a chance to do
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Speaker 3: that and really liked, really liked him. Thought there was
6:46
Speaker 3: a really good fit for him. But I do appreciate
6:50
Speaker 3: his story when you hear from him and and other
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Speaker 3: things he's gone through to Gutorias today.
6:54
Speaker 2: The Bengals final draft pick was Matt Lee, a slightly
6:58
Speaker 2: undersized center at least in terms of weight, who spent
7:01
Speaker 2: most of its college career at UCF before ending it
7:04
Speaker 2: with a season at the University of Miami. He'll get
7:08
Speaker 2: a chance to compete with Trey Hill for the opportunity
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Speaker 2: to back up Ted Kerris.
7:12
Speaker 3: I think it's a great fit for him, you know.
7:14
Speaker 3: I think it's he did a great job down there
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Speaker 3: this year in Miami, and so I think at that
7:21
Speaker 3: point that was a great pick for us, and so
7:23
Speaker 3: we're excited to get him in here, and I think
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Speaker 3: Ted will take home and have a chance show them
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Speaker 3: the ropes.
7:28
Speaker 2: Lee earned All League honors three times in the last
7:31
Speaker 2: four years. The Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
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Speaker 2: by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR
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Speaker 2: software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof Fiber Internet designed
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Speaker 2: to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level,
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Speaker 2: and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
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Speaker 2: Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider.
7:52
Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
7:54
Speaker 2: Now time for an in depth look at this year's
7:56
Speaker 2: draft class with my broadcast partner Dave Lapham.
8:01
Speaker 1: All right. Laugh.
8:01
Speaker 2: Before we get to day three of the draft, Zach
8:04
Speaker 2: Taylor actually made a little news at the end of
8:06
Speaker 2: today's proceedings, telling reporters that Dat's Hill will be tried
8:10
Speaker 2: out at cornerback in training camp and will be given
8:14
Speaker 2: the opportunity to compete for a starting spot. I would
8:17
Speaker 2: assume that would be on the outside, competing with DJ Turner.
8:21
Speaker 2: What do you make of that announcement by Zach?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that you know a lot
8:27
Speaker 1: of people probably after the drafts that she's I wish
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Speaker 1: you get a cornerback a little earlier, you know.
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Speaker 6: Or maybe we'll address the cornerback position in free agency
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Speaker 6: or the other phase of it, the second round of
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Speaker 6: a veteran free agency. But you know this news, I
8:42
Speaker 6: think Leu and Arumo would pretty much let the cat
8:44
Speaker 6: out of the bag basically with some of his pressures
8:47
Speaker 6: earlier that you know that that was under strong consideration,
8:51
Speaker 6: and when they're when they start to go public that way,
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Speaker 6: it's it's not really a huge surprise. But you know,
8:57
Speaker 6: you look at me, here's cornerback speed. There's question about
9:00
Speaker 6: it now, you know, flipping his hips and doing all
9:05
Speaker 6: the things the corners have to do. And the one
9:07
Speaker 6: thing that it does do though, is it does minimize
9:10
Speaker 6: how much you have to recognize and communicate and all
9:14
Speaker 6: those sort of things.
9:15
Speaker 1: Uh, so that that part of it will be I
9:19
Speaker 1: think a fairly easy transition.
9:21
Speaker 6: It's just, uh, this this guy is a talented player, physically,
9:26
Speaker 6: great guy.
9:26
Speaker 1: You know. I think it's like, just have to find
9:29
Speaker 1: uh right, to find the right home for him. Uh.
9:32
Speaker 1: And he has played that. They did play him in.
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Speaker 6: The slot, and they did kick him outside some is
9:38
Speaker 6: rookie season. I mean, he gotta he gotta taste of everything,
9:41
Speaker 6: uh in the very early stages of his career. So
9:43
Speaker 6: it's not like he uh you know, it's it's not like, boy,
9:47
Speaker 6: that's a joke. Why then think about that? Uh be
9:51
Speaker 6: interesting to see how he competes and and you know
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Speaker 6: where it goes.
9:56
Speaker 1: You can you can you can always make other moves. Uh.
9:59
Speaker 6: But that the spot that that they're going to think,
10:02
Speaker 6: I guess try first with them.
10:04
Speaker 2: And I think they're trying to find a spot where
10:06
Speaker 2: they can get them on the field. With Tino Stone,
10:09
Speaker 2: Von Bell and Jordan Battle, I didn't see a lot
10:13
Speaker 2: of opportunities for snaps playing at safety. If those guys
10:16
Speaker 2: are healthy.
10:17
Speaker 6: Yeah, and and obviously the you know, the big knock
10:21
Speaker 6: on him last year was recognizing and communicating when offenses
10:29
Speaker 6: motioned and shifted and did all the things that they do,
10:32
Speaker 6: uh you know, you know, getting everybody aligned properly in
10:35
Speaker 6: the back end. And they made some moves to address that,
10:38
Speaker 6: you know, that issue. And so yeah, I'm trying to
10:41
Speaker 6: trying to find a home for a guy that that
10:43
Speaker 6: definitely has National Football.
10:45
Speaker 1: League physical abilities. There's there's no question about it. You know.
10:49
Speaker 6: I think another thing they could do is is have
10:52
Speaker 6: him cover the tight end and and then you know,
10:55
Speaker 6: pressure off the edge, give him a couple of assignments
10:57
Speaker 6: in the middle of the football seam. And I think,
11:00
Speaker 6: I don't I don't necessarily think that, Uh well, if
11:04
Speaker 6: they're gonna put him outside, you got to think they're
11:08
Speaker 6: hoping he's going to be in their top three. You know,
11:11
Speaker 6: he'll be out there and nickel and dime packages. But
11:14
Speaker 6: with the experiences that he has doing everything he can do,
11:18
Speaker 6: including like I said, you know, if if people are
11:21
Speaker 6: out there and you know, one tight end, three wide
11:25
Speaker 6: receiver personnel packages and he.
11:27
Speaker 1: Could he could be the guy that that's.
11:29
Speaker 6: All over that tight end and we can come up
11:32
Speaker 6: with pressure packages off of that, and so it's it's
11:35
Speaker 6: not it's not like, yeah, boy, Dax Hill, we can't
11:39
Speaker 6: find anything to do with that Dax Hill.
11:41
Speaker 1: But they can still.
11:43
Speaker 6: He's maybe not a Swiss army knife, but he's still
11:46
Speaker 6: probably a jack knife.
11:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, cover the tight end in blitz. I mean, those
11:50
Speaker 2: are two roles that he definitely can do, no doubt.
11:54
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about Day three draft picks, beginning
11:56
Speaker 2: with the fourth round or a local kid, tight end
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Speaker 2: Eric All Who's and most of his college career at
12:01
Speaker 2: Michigan before finishing up with one year at Iowa unofficially
12:05
Speaker 2: tight end. You Eric broke out in twenty twenty one,
12:09
Speaker 2: then he suffered a back injury in twenty twenty two.
12:12
Speaker 2: He was ioways go to receiver early last year and
12:15
Speaker 2: then he tore his ACL. He's solid as a pass
12:18
Speaker 2: catcher and as a blocker if he can stay healthy,
12:23
Speaker 2: no question.
12:24
Speaker 1: And you know the thing that you know that I
12:27
Speaker 1: liked that was just so real, is.
12:31
Speaker 6: You know, when he was trying to put into words
12:33
Speaker 6: what it would be like playing with Joe Burrow and
12:36
Speaker 6: trying to be a target for him that Joe can
12:39
Speaker 6: trust over the middle of the football field. You know,
12:41
Speaker 6: he almost choked up and became, you know, struggling to
12:44
Speaker 6: find the worst to describe it. I mean, excited is
12:49
Speaker 6: probably not descriptive enough.
12:52
Speaker 1: And that's you know, that's huge. That's big.
12:55
Speaker 6: And he's obviously you know, he's obviously gifted. I mean
12:59
Speaker 6: he just and you know, you're talking major injuries. You know,
13:02
Speaker 6: it's it's his game is uh has been retarded, uh
13:06
Speaker 6: from a development standpoint because of that.
13:09
Speaker 1: But he's uh, he's he can.
13:12
Speaker 6: Get uh, you know, get leverage on defenders real early.
13:16
Speaker 1: It's to set up a break. He's he's a really.
13:18
Speaker 6: Good route runner, you know, and uh, he's he can
13:22
Speaker 6: do both.
13:22
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. I Mean, he's a he's a.
13:25
Speaker 6: A very very talented athlete. Is he can break tackles
13:31
Speaker 6: yards after contact.
13:32
Speaker 1: Uh, you know, he's uh, he's he's.
13:35
Speaker 6: A very very talented football players, get very very quick feet.
13:39
Speaker 1: He gets as a as a as a blocker.
13:42
Speaker 6: I mean he gets up to the next level and
13:43
Speaker 6: even to the third level pretty darn quickly.
13:46
Speaker 1: So he's he's he's got it all.
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Speaker 6: I think he's extremely extremely strong, athletic, physically talented, just
13:56
Speaker 6: the injury gods have to let him low for football
13:58
Speaker 6: injury guds have to let him for a.
14:00
Speaker 2: While, and he could be the best dual purpose tight
14:04
Speaker 2: end that they have. Mike Kasicki is largely a receiver,
14:08
Speaker 2: so is Tanner Hudson, Drew Sample is obviously best known
14:11
Speaker 2: for his blocking ability, and Eric All, if healthy, is
14:15
Speaker 2: a guy that really can do both.
14:18
Speaker 6: Yeah, and now that they've drafted a couple of tight ends,
14:20
Speaker 6: you've got five tight ends.
14:22
Speaker 1: That you have.
14:23
Speaker 6: You know, a one has this skill set, another one
14:29
Speaker 6: has maybe a little.
14:30
Speaker 1: Bit different skill set. Like you say, Eric Hall may
14:33
Speaker 1: be the guy that has the most versatile package.
14:36
Speaker 6: He can do the most things at a very significant level.
14:40
Speaker 6: So he's definitely gonna he's definitely gonna roster and he's
14:44
Speaker 6: definitely gonna make contributions, I would think with this football team.
14:48
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, he's six four plus, over.
14:51
Speaker 6: Two hundred and fifty pounds, runs well, you know, he's
14:55
Speaker 6: he's a big man. Wingspans seventy nine inches, his hands
14:59
Speaker 6: over ten his arms are over thirty three inches. I mean,
15:03
Speaker 6: it's it's just amazing how big and athletic and strong
15:09
Speaker 6: and quick and fast. It's it's just it's the land
15:12
Speaker 6: of the Giants. The National Football League is the land
15:14
Speaker 6: of the Giants, and they are so gifted physically as well.
15:18
Speaker 2: We'll get to the other tight end that they drafted
15:20
Speaker 2: in just a moment. But before their fifth round pick
15:23
Speaker 2: was announced, you were saying, take Newton, take Newton, And
15:26
Speaker 2: sure enough, they took cornerback Josh Newton out of TCU,
15:29
Speaker 2: where he played in the National Championship Game a couple
15:32
Speaker 2: of years ago. Average size, average speed, he ran a
15:35
Speaker 2: four to five one at the combine, but extremely productive
15:39
Speaker 2: with seven picks and forty passes defense in his college
15:44
Speaker 2: football career.
15:46
Speaker 6: Yeah, and that's that speaks to his intelligence, you know that,
15:49
Speaker 6: That's what you know. They say he's a high character
15:51
Speaker 6: guy and he's got he's got an extremely high football
15:54
Speaker 6: IQ as well as overall intelligence. You know, he's he's
15:59
Speaker 6: another you know, another guy that played at at a
16:04
Speaker 6: big program. You know, I mean that that's the thing
16:06
Speaker 6: to the common denominator of the past few years stayed intact.
16:10
Speaker 6: Big programs that have competed for national championships, in some
16:13
Speaker 6: cases won national championships, and a bunch of these guys
16:17
Speaker 6: are captains of their football team in some instances two
16:20
Speaker 6: time captains.
16:21
Speaker 1: I mean, it's that's that's the formula that has worked for.
16:24
Speaker 6: The Cincinnati Bengals and putting together, you know, the strong.
16:28
Speaker 1: Lock room that they have, and uh that this guy's
16:30
Speaker 1: a he's definitely a strong prospect. I mean, he transferred
16:36
Speaker 1: from Louisiana Monroe.
16:38
Speaker 6: To TCU, so you know he also he said, you
16:42
Speaker 6: know what when we're talking to him, or what do
16:45
Speaker 6: you attribute your your ball skills to it? Well, he's
16:47
Speaker 6: played wide receiver. So in my opinion, guys that have
16:52
Speaker 6: moved from the wide receiver position to play in the
16:56
Speaker 6: in the in the defensive backfield, they're familiar already with
17:00
Speaker 6: rout trees and watching body language when guys are trying
17:05
Speaker 6: to get in an out of cuts and it's almost
17:07
Speaker 6: you know, yeah, I remember what I did when I
17:09
Speaker 6: had to do those kind of things. You have that
17:11
Speaker 6: you have that type of experience to draw up on,
17:13
Speaker 6: and usually that's advantageous to those guys.
17:17
Speaker 2: They had two picks in the sixth round. In the
17:19
Speaker 2: first was the other tight end we alluded to, Tanner McLaughlin.
17:23
Speaker 2: He is a Canadian who played college football at Arizona,
17:26
Speaker 2: and he is a receiver. Zach Taylor specifically said, if
17:29
Speaker 2: you picture the tight ends that the Bengals have had
17:32
Speaker 2: over the past few years, who could turn a short
17:34
Speaker 2: pass into a first down or something bigger, that's who
17:38
Speaker 2: you're talking about in Tanner McLaughlin.
17:41
Speaker 1: But he's a big one. You know, six five and
17:44
Speaker 1: forty four pounds.
17:46
Speaker 6: You know, runs for six I mean, you know, he's
17:49
Speaker 6: almost for six flat. I mean, that's that's a pretty good,
17:52
Speaker 6: pretty good combination right there, you know. And he is
17:56
Speaker 6: he's he's a guy that you can you can around formations,
18:02
Speaker 6: you know. I think he's got room for growth in
18:05
Speaker 6: his game. Like you said, he's not gonna put his
18:07
Speaker 6: hand in the dirt at the end of the line
18:09
Speaker 6: of scrimmage and dominate defensive ends and outside linebackers. But
18:13
Speaker 6: he has a he's got soft hands, he's got a
18:15
Speaker 6: decent catch radius.
18:17
Speaker 1: You know, he uh, he'll fight for contested catches. Uh.
18:23
Speaker 1: He shows, you know.
18:24
Speaker 6: Effort after the catch to get some yack. He's got
18:27
Speaker 6: the strength to do that. So he's he's uh, he's
18:31
Speaker 6: a talented guy.
18:32
Speaker 1: There's there's no doubt.
18:33
Speaker 6: I mean, is uh, he's got room for growth. I
18:37
Speaker 6: mean he's and I think he's got just a coach
18:41
Speaker 6: to help him get there. You know, obviously, I think
18:45
Speaker 6: there's strength and conditioning coaches are gonna like to work
18:49
Speaker 6: with this guy because I think he needs to improve
18:52
Speaker 6: his strength and uh, you know, particularly even in his
18:57
Speaker 6: legs to get some leg drive to move people off
18:59
Speaker 6: the line of scrimmage.
19:00
Speaker 1: That's you know, that's an.
19:02
Speaker 6: Issue or an area that he realizes he needs to improve.
19:06
Speaker 6: But again, this is a guy that you look at it.
19:10
Speaker 6: He was best player on the board. You know, he's
19:12
Speaker 6: a chance to roster, roster meeting, you know, practice squad anyway,
19:16
Speaker 6: so why not why not take a chance. And that's
19:19
Speaker 6: the thing I think from probably the fifth round on,
19:23
Speaker 6: it was okay, well, who's the best available player.
19:26
Speaker 1: We're gonna trust our board. We busted our butt putting.
19:29
Speaker 6: This thing together, and I think some of these picks
19:31
Speaker 6: down the stretch were just the best available player, and
19:35
Speaker 6: maybe the last pick at the center position was okay,
19:40
Speaker 6: let's not have to go fight for one and college
19:43
Speaker 6: free agency. Let's make sure we get a center in
19:45
Speaker 6: training camp to take some of the load off of
19:48
Speaker 6: Ted Carris.
19:48
Speaker 1: The veteran center.
19:49
Speaker 6: We've got and see if we can you know, develop
19:51
Speaker 6: a guy. But maybe maybe he's a practice squad player.
19:54
Speaker 6: We can try to develop him if.
19:56
Speaker 1: We feel like, you know, he's a good enough prospect
19:58
Speaker 1: at that spot.
20:00
Speaker 2: Second pick in the sixth round was an edge rusher,
20:02
Speaker 2: Cedric Johnson sixty three to two sixty out of all
20:05
Speaker 2: miss They're hoping that Miles Murphy and Joseph o Si
20:09
Speaker 2: breakout this year and really contribute his pass rushers, but
20:13
Speaker 2: Johnson had nineteen sacks in his college football career, and
20:16
Speaker 2: he'll be looking to show that he's got some juice
20:18
Speaker 2: in training camp as an edge guy.
20:20
Speaker 6: Yeah again, Uh, best available player, you know, I think,
20:24
Speaker 6: and uh but I mean.
20:25
Speaker 1: His his measurables. It's you know, there's these guys are
20:29
Speaker 1: back in the day.
20:29
Speaker 6: If these these numbers were around in the eighties, be like,
20:33
Speaker 6: are you kidding me? You know, sixty three two sixty
20:36
Speaker 6: plus four six forty, wingspan of almost eighty inches, I mean,
20:42
Speaker 6: you know, twitchy, athleticism, a powerful player.
20:46
Speaker 1: You know, played at a big program and a big conference.
20:51
Speaker 6: It's, uh, he's he's he's definitely a guy that has confidence.
20:56
Speaker 6: I thought in his uh, pressery. He he's almost like
21:00
Speaker 6: jumping through the phone to to start his opportunity at
21:03
Speaker 6: some sort of a camp. I mean, he's, uh, we
21:06
Speaker 6: talked about hands before, how important hands have become, and
21:10
Speaker 6: he shows powerful hands and and he's he's athletic with
21:14
Speaker 6: his knee bend and and attack and blocks. He does
21:17
Speaker 6: set the edge very effectively, and he can stack in shed,
21:20
Speaker 6: you know, and he's got he's got speed to chase
21:23
Speaker 6: chase players in the perimeter, and you know, he's he's
21:26
Speaker 6: definitely a guy that I can see why they felt
21:29
Speaker 6: like he was the best, best available opportunity when he
21:33
Speaker 6: was drafted.
21:34
Speaker 1: There's there's a lot to work with there, There's there's.
21:37
Speaker 6: No doubt about it. He talked about his versatility. You know,
21:41
Speaker 6: he can, he's he's played a bunch of different spots
21:45
Speaker 6: up and down the line of scrimmage in terms of
21:47
Speaker 6: you know, five technique, seven technique, nine technique whatever, and uh,
21:51
Speaker 6: he's he's even played inside a little bit, so you know,
21:55
Speaker 6: he's he's he's beaten average tackles and in the sec.
22:00
Speaker 1: Probably during cut above average. Let's see what Let's see
22:04
Speaker 1: what he does against more.
22:05
Speaker 6: Advanced players when he comes to the National Football League with.
22:08
Speaker 2: The Bengals first pick in the seventh round. They took
22:10
Speaker 2: one of Cedric Johnson's Ole Miss teammates, safety Dejon Anthony,
22:14
Speaker 2: and he is the great story in this year's draft class.
22:18
Speaker 2: From Richmond, Virginia. No scholarship offers coming out of high school.
22:22
Speaker 2: He started his college football career as a Division two
22:24
Speaker 2: walk on, and he ended his college football career in
22:27
Speaker 2: the SEC last year where he led the Rebels in
22:29
Speaker 2: interceptions and passes defense. He'll be probably looking for a
22:34
Speaker 2: spot on the practice squad and looking to show that
22:37
Speaker 2: he can contribute on special teams.
22:40
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is amazing. I mean what he started as
22:45
Speaker 6: a career at Shepherd University.
22:46
Speaker 1: Then and then transferred from Liberty. I mean, it's it's crazy.
22:52
Speaker 1: There's there's a here's a.
22:54
Speaker 6: Guy that was not gonna let his dream die and
22:57
Speaker 6: believed in himself. You know, he's he's got some flashy athleticism,
23:01
Speaker 6: you know, I mean he moves, he moves.
23:04
Speaker 1: Pretty john Well and and he's.
23:06
Speaker 6: Dogged lee determined to make plays all over the football field.
23:10
Speaker 6: He's got an outstanding change of direction, and he can
23:13
Speaker 6: flip his hips.
23:14
Speaker 1: He can uh, you know, he can he can stay
23:17
Speaker 1: in the phase.
23:18
Speaker 6: With ruth receivers vertically, and that's that's important, you know
23:22
Speaker 6: at the at the safety position, we know all about that.
23:24
Speaker 6: He's got solid range, you know when he's playing over
23:28
Speaker 6: the top and two high schemes.
23:30
Speaker 1: So I think Leuano Rumo likes that he's got. He's
23:33
Speaker 1: got a lot of, uh, you know, a lot of
23:35
Speaker 1: traits that they.
23:36
Speaker 6: Like and I think, again, the best available athlete at
23:39
Speaker 6: this stage.
23:40
Speaker 1: You know on the draft, he can he tracks the
23:42
Speaker 1: football very well. He's got great tracking skills. So there's
23:48
Speaker 1: a lot to work with there.
23:49
Speaker 6: And the other thing is he's a willing defender and
23:51
Speaker 6: run support. You have to have that at the safety position.
23:54
Speaker 6: You know, he's going to desire to make an impact
23:56
Speaker 6: when he closes on people. So it's so it's going
24:01
Speaker 6: to be interesting, I think.
24:02
Speaker 1: I think.
24:04
Speaker 6: The thing you worry about it is sometimes he gets
24:06
Speaker 6: bullied by by blockers, you know, when he's in the
24:09
Speaker 6: box at the collegiate level. So now you're you're jumping
24:13
Speaker 6: to the police the National Football League, it's gonna be something.
24:17
Speaker 1: To keep your out on.
24:20
Speaker 2: Their tenth and final draft pick was center Matt Lee.
24:24
Speaker 2: I saw him face u SE several times while playing
24:27
Speaker 2: at UCF, and then he transferred to the University of
24:30
Speaker 2: Miami for his final year and was a second team
24:33
Speaker 2: All ACC player LAP. I would think he's at least
24:36
Speaker 2: got a chance to beat Ted Carris's backup in a
24:40
Speaker 2: training camp battle with the incumbent Trey Hill.
24:44
Speaker 1: Yeah.
24:44
Speaker 6: I mean, I think you look at the thing that
24:48
Speaker 6: jumps out at me, thirty two and eighth inch jobs
24:51
Speaker 6: and that that's obviously why he's playing center. But you know,
24:56
Speaker 6: he's sixteen and a half over three hundred pounds and
25:00
Speaker 6: pretty much.
25:00
Speaker 1: A five flat forty guy.
25:02
Speaker 6: I mean, that's that's that's some pretty good measurables right there, and.
25:06
Speaker 1: Like you say, competed you know, at a at an
25:10
Speaker 1: all all conference level.
25:12
Speaker 6: I mean, this is another guy that, uh, if he
25:16
Speaker 6: was still around, why why compete with other teams to
25:20
Speaker 6: try to, you know, get him into training camp. He
25:23
Speaker 6: probably the Bengals probably did themselves a favor financially to
25:27
Speaker 6: take him in the seventh round because this is the
25:29
Speaker 6: type of guy that I think he would have gotten
25:32
Speaker 6: probably some some interest.
25:33
Speaker 1: From multiple teams, you know. So yeah, I think it
25:37
Speaker 1: takes you know, he's I think a hell of a
25:40
Speaker 1: lot more than just a training camp body.
25:43
Speaker 6: But it also you know, helps Ted Carrison and alleviate
25:47
Speaker 6: some of the snapload there.
25:48
Speaker 1: And like you said, Trey.
25:49
Speaker 6: Hill, we'll be in competition, and as we've always said,
25:54
Speaker 6: no matter what the sporting endeavor, competition breeds excellence performance.
25:58
Speaker 1: So you look around and.
26:00
Speaker 6: Say, hmm, you know, why why did they draft a
26:03
Speaker 6: guy in my position?
26:05
Speaker 1: I don't care what grounds it is. Why why did
26:06
Speaker 1: you draft somebody? Let's pick it up. You know, let's
26:10
Speaker 1: not Ted Carris, Trey Hill. You know he's going to.
26:13
Speaker 6: Now buckle down and keep developing in.
26:17
Speaker 1: Advancing and that's just deathloss the whole boat.
26:20
Speaker 2: All right, let's hit on some overall thoughts about the draft.
26:23
Speaker 2: I've got I guess three things that really jump out
26:26
Speaker 2: to me about the class that I really like. Number One,
26:29
Speaker 2: they address their biggest need by using two top one
26:32
Speaker 2: hundred picks on defensive tackles. We had the chance to
26:36
Speaker 2: interact with both of them today. And Chris Jenkins is
26:39
Speaker 2: going to be a fan favorite, a bubbly effervescent personality
26:44
Speaker 2: and obviously a very good track record as a player
26:47
Speaker 2: at Michigan. I don't know if he'll ever be a
26:48
Speaker 2: Pro Bowl guy, but I think he's going to be
26:50
Speaker 2: a very solid and reliable, high effort good player on
26:54
Speaker 2: the Bengals defensive line.
26:56
Speaker 6: Just an engaging personality, easy smicemile all the time. I mean, he's, uh,
27:02
Speaker 6: you know, you can see why his teammates voted him to.
27:07
Speaker 1: Be a captain.
27:09
Speaker 6: McKinley Jackson, the other big defensive tack that you talk about,
27:13
Speaker 6: has a little bit different type of a personality, but
27:19
Speaker 6: again very welcoming, easy to talk to, very approachable. I mean,
27:25
Speaker 6: these guys, I think, like you said, man, they're gonna
27:27
Speaker 6: be They're gonna be fan favorites because they're just.
27:32
Speaker 1: They're not They like being around people.
27:35
Speaker 6: They're don't shy away from it, and it's I think
27:37
Speaker 6: that's going to be something the community will embrace for sure.
27:42
Speaker 6: And they're they're good football players. I mean that they're
27:46
Speaker 6: obviously drafted, drafted for a need. I mean you look
27:49
Speaker 6: at McKinley Jackson. The dudes like three hundred and almost
27:52
Speaker 6: three hundred and thirty pounds, long arms, big old hands. Again,
27:57
Speaker 6: we talked about these hands on these guys, how how
28:00
Speaker 6: strong they are with their hands and Chris Jenkins looks
28:03
Speaker 6: at He's another guy that carries his weight very well.
28:07
Speaker 6: I mean, the guy's three hundred pounds. He doesn't really
28:09
Speaker 6: look it, you know. I mean he's and he runs
28:11
Speaker 6: a four nine forty. It's six two and a half,
28:15
Speaker 6: three hundred pound guy. You know, he's got some good
28:18
Speaker 6: arm length. Thirty four inch arm length is a good
28:22
Speaker 6: thing to have when you're in the interior the defensive
28:25
Speaker 6: line can trying to control, you know, a big monsters
28:27
Speaker 6: that have long arms as well as almost get an
28:29
Speaker 6: eighty inch wingspan.
28:30
Speaker 1: So it's look in talking and hearing him talk and
28:34
Speaker 1: talking to him a little bit. I think it's going
28:36
Speaker 1: to be.
28:37
Speaker 6: Very interesting because, I mean, his his pass rush ability
28:42
Speaker 6: and trades and athleticism. I don't think it's been tapped
28:45
Speaker 6: into yet because Michigan is very, very disciplined and how
28:48
Speaker 6: they do everything. I mean, it's like, okay, in this
28:50
Speaker 6: particular play, you stay in this gap no matter what,
28:53
Speaker 6: even if it's a you know, a third and seven
28:55
Speaker 6: or if you're going to pass rush that you have
28:57
Speaker 6: to pass rush in this lane and you have to
29:00
Speaker 6: be on the outside portion of that. It's very very structured,
29:02
Speaker 6: very very disciplined. There's not a whole lot of freedom there.
29:06
Speaker 6: So and I'm not saying that, you know, you come
29:08
Speaker 6: to the National Football League and you're out of control
29:11
Speaker 6: and you're you know, you're taking this wide rush up
29:13
Speaker 6: the football field, you not stand.
29:15
Speaker 1: In your in your gap responsibilities and all that sort
29:18
Speaker 1: of thing.
29:18
Speaker 6: But I think that I think the coach Holly and
29:22
Speaker 6: Lean and Roumo were going to say, look, you got
29:25
Speaker 6: some athleticism, You've got some overall body strength, it's incredible,
29:29
Speaker 6: and some explosiveness.
29:30
Speaker 1: To you, and you can be you can do a
29:33
Speaker 1: lot more.
29:34
Speaker 6: As an interior pass rush, and we're going to give
29:36
Speaker 6: you the freedom to do it, and we're going to
29:38
Speaker 6: improve your inventory moves.
29:40
Speaker 1: And you can let's get after it.
29:42
Speaker 2: The next thing that I really liked was the fact
29:45
Speaker 2: that they took a home run swing in the first
29:47
Speaker 2: round by taking a Marius Mems. There's some risk involved,
29:50
Speaker 2: obviously since he only had eight college starts, but they
29:53
Speaker 2: have not drafted an offensive lineman that looks like that
29:57
Speaker 2: since Andrew Whitworth. And when we were ustered around him
30:00
Speaker 2: with other reporters talking to him after he arrived in Cincinnati,
30:05
Speaker 2: I honestly thought to myself, how does anybody get past
30:09
Speaker 2: this guy? He's maybe the first three hundred and forty
30:13
Speaker 2: pound person I've ever seen in my life that looks
30:16
Speaker 2: like he probably has.
30:17
Speaker 1: A six pack.
30:18
Speaker 2: I mean, he is so solidly built and so gigantic.
30:23
Speaker 2: You've got a chance to have a star if it
30:25
Speaker 2: pans out.
30:26
Speaker 6: Absolutely, I mean it is uh, it's incredible to see.
30:31
Speaker 1: Did you shake his hand?
30:32
Speaker 2: In My hand was buried inside of his hand when
30:36
Speaker 2: we shook.
30:37
Speaker 1: Oh, I know, I mean I shook his hand. I'm like,
30:39
Speaker 1: whoa man, this is a mucker.
30:41
Speaker 6: Now he's got he's got some big hole strong hands
30:44
Speaker 6: on him, and he's got, you.
30:46
Speaker 1: Know, those long arms to go with it.
30:47
Speaker 6: It's like an inspector gadget that has oversized hands and
30:52
Speaker 6: man and and he's broad, he's wide, he's sticked everything
30:56
Speaker 6: that you would you would want. He's he's big in
30:58
Speaker 6: the right places, you know. And like you say, it
31:01
Speaker 6: looks like he's carrying about two eighty five to ninety
31:04
Speaker 6: and the dude's three forty.
31:05
Speaker 1: It's it's incredible, you know.
31:07
Speaker 6: And I asked him, so, when did you have your
31:10
Speaker 6: gross burd And he grew like in one summer, like
31:15
Speaker 6: about five or six inches, and I said.
31:17
Speaker 1: Dan, when you were laying in bed, could you feel
31:20
Speaker 1: yourself growing?
31:21
Speaker 6: I mean, it's crazy, it's crazy, but he is.
31:24
Speaker 1: He's very athletic for a guy his size as well.
31:28
Speaker 1: I mean he played some basketball, he put.
31:30
Speaker 6: The shot, he through the discus, and I just you know,
31:34
Speaker 6: I think he's very coachable and the Bengals coaches we're
31:38
Speaker 6: talking about not only the games that he was able
31:41
Speaker 6: to play in and avoid injury, matching up.
31:44
Speaker 1: Against really good players in college football, playoff games and
31:47
Speaker 1: things of that.
31:48
Speaker 6: The practice tape, you know, he's going he's probably some
31:53
Speaker 6: of his toughest competition, not if done, his most difficult
31:56
Speaker 6: competition came in practice every day. You got you know,
31:59
Speaker 6: five defensive lineman. When he was there, there were first
32:02
Speaker 6: round that you know, been drafted in the first round.
32:05
Speaker 6: So it's like, you know, you're talking about the cream
32:09
Speaker 6: of the crop in the SEC, you know, and then
32:12
Speaker 6: that's that's the that's the place to be in college football.
32:15
Speaker 1: So there's in like we talked about before Dan with.
32:19
Speaker 6: Him, in my estimation, the floor is the tape, and
32:23
Speaker 6: it's it's solid, it's limited, but the tape that's there
32:27
Speaker 6: is extremely solid when you watch this guy, but his ceiling.
32:31
Speaker 1: Is unlimited because of the fact that you know he's
32:34
Speaker 1: only just begun.
32:36
Speaker 6: And I think he has the highest ceiling of any
32:39
Speaker 6: player in the draft, particularly in the Bengals draft. But
32:42
Speaker 6: I'm talking about in the draft in general, not just
32:45
Speaker 6: offensive line or offensive tackle. I mean, this dude has
32:48
Speaker 6: got an incredible uh ceiling. He's got a long ways
32:52
Speaker 6: to go before he rests, and I think, Frank All,
32:54
Speaker 6: it's gonna get a lot.
32:55
Speaker 1: Out of that big bag one. All right.
32:57
Speaker 2: The final big picture thought for me has to do
33:00
Speaker 2: with the Bengals culture. I think Zach Taylor and his
33:02
Speaker 2: staff have done such a fantastic job in recent years
33:06
Speaker 2: of building a great culture that it has allowed them
33:09
Speaker 2: to take not huge chances, but slight chances with somebody
33:15
Speaker 2: like Jermaine Burton, who obviously struggled to control his emotions
33:18
Speaker 2: at times at Alabama and probably before that at Georgia.
33:21
Speaker 2: They're counting on the fact that this is such a
33:24
Speaker 2: good group led by Joe Burrow, that Jermaine Burton will
33:28
Speaker 2: learn the way it has to be done and should
33:30
Speaker 2: be done, and will allow his incredible gifts to come through.
33:35
Speaker 1: And I agree one.
33:36
Speaker 6: Hundred thousand percent because you put tape on and watch
33:40
Speaker 6: this guy. I mean, I remember when you know, okay,
33:43
Speaker 6: wide receiver, who's left the.
33:46
Speaker 1: Burton's the guy.
33:47
Speaker 6: Burton's the best wide receiver left on the on the
33:51
Speaker 6: board right now. In fact, in my opinion, the dude
33:53
Speaker 6: had first round physical talents first round, you know, and
33:57
Speaker 6: then obviously he didn't go in the costal so you know,
34:00
Speaker 6: maybe the big, big lesson. Unfortunately, I think he could
34:08
Speaker 6: have gone in the first round if it was.
34:09
Speaker 1: Totally clean his whole portfolio and as such.
34:13
Speaker 6: So everything that everybody's been telling him about getting control
34:17
Speaker 6: of yourself and you know, make sure that you take
34:19
Speaker 6: care of business, you know, off the football field as
34:22
Speaker 6: well as on the football field, keep your composure, keep
34:25
Speaker 6: your head well cost him. I mean in my mind,
34:29
Speaker 6: it's cost him. So maybe this is a bitter pill lesson.
34:33
Speaker 6: You know, that is going to be the final component,
34:36
Speaker 6: the final wake up call to make sure that you
34:40
Speaker 6: take care of business. You start to mature in that regard,
34:42
Speaker 6: because man, this dude physically cheezy.
34:47
Speaker 1: I mean, he can get vertical in a hurry.
34:50
Speaker 6: You average eighteen yards per reception in your career in
34:54
Speaker 6: over twenty yards per reception in twenty twenty three, which
34:59
Speaker 6: was number one in the end c C against that
35:01
Speaker 6: type of competition. I mean, his ability to get vertical
35:05
Speaker 6: is as good as there is in the country, you know.
35:08
Speaker 6: I mean he can get it, get it done in
35:10
Speaker 6: a hurry, and he's a he's a quality route.
35:12
Speaker 1: Runner because he've been working with our guy t J.
35:14
Speaker 6: Huschman Zada, who was as good a route runners as
35:18
Speaker 6: I've seen. And the thame when I watch him that
35:21
Speaker 6: I've seen that he's gotten from TJ.
35:24
Speaker 1: He has a.
35:24
Speaker 6: Little different wiggle, a little subtle different move when he's
35:28
Speaker 6: running the So he'll run the same route in a
35:31
Speaker 6: route tree three different times in a game and give
35:34
Speaker 6: it defensive back just a little bit different look in
35:37
Speaker 6: it every single time.
35:38
Speaker 1: And that was what made t J.
35:40
Speaker 6: Hushman Zada such a great route runner, as he never ran,
35:45
Speaker 6: you know, his route tree the same way. You know,
35:47
Speaker 6: he always came up with some sort of little improvisation,
35:50
Speaker 6: some sort of a little just to just to not
35:52
Speaker 6: let the defensive backs lock in man, you know, keep
35:55
Speaker 6: them on their heels and not on their toes. And
35:57
Speaker 6: this kid, I've seen some of that that Teja's you know,
36:00
Speaker 6: a part of him. So I think the Bengals got
36:02
Speaker 6: themselves a good one to work with man, And you know,
36:06
Speaker 6: I hope it's not a situation where, you know, collectively,
36:09
Speaker 6: let's hold onto all hold on to our butts, because
36:11
Speaker 6: it's gonna be a you know, a roller coaster ride.
36:15
Speaker 6: Hopefully he's he's learned and continues that.
36:18
Speaker 1: Maturation process because he's a player. Man, He's a dog,
36:22
Speaker 1: like we said, d A W G boy, a big dog.
36:26
Speaker 2: Final question, have you talked enough about the draft over
36:29
Speaker 2: the last seventy two hours?
36:34
Speaker 1: Oh?
36:36
Speaker 6: Hell yeah, no, No two ways about that.
36:40
Speaker 1: As they say, I mean, yeah it is. I am
36:44
Speaker 1: drafted out.
36:45
Speaker 2: So we will wrap it up here and I'll look
36:48
Speaker 2: forward to talking more about the draft of you in
36:50
Speaker 2: a couple of days.
36:51
Speaker 1: How's that That.
36:52
Speaker 6: Sounds like a planned coach that that forty eight hours be.
36:57
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna look at, you know,
36:59
Speaker 6: talk about or whatever. It's just going to be a
37:03
Speaker 6: mass doos and mass quantities of grandkids.
37:08
Speaker 2: If you miss them, you can go back and listen
37:10
Speaker 2: to our conversations following the first two days of the
37:13
Speaker 2: draft and then coming up on Monday, I'll get the
37:16
Speaker 2: front office perspective as I'll be joined by the Bengals
37:19
Speaker 2: Director of College Scouting, Mike Potts. That's going to do
37:23
Speaker 2: it for this episode brought to you by pay Core,
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Speaker 2: Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
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Speaker 2: Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
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Speaker 2: business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
37:37
Speaker 2: Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
37:40
Speaker 2: is the official healthcare provider.
37:42
Speaker 1: Of the Bengals.
37:43
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37:52
Speaker 2: find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to
37:56
Speaker 2: The Bengals Booth Podcast