Latest / Bengals Booth Podcast / Bengals Booth Podcast: New Day Rising
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: I get everybody on Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
- 0:06Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The I'm a New Day Rising addition,
- 0:15Speaker 1: as I discussed the Bengals key offseason storylines with the
- 0:18Speaker 1: great Greg co Sell from NFL Films. What will a
- 0:22Speaker 1: Joe Burrow contract extension mean to the overall roster? Which
- 0:26Speaker 1: of the starting defensive free agents does Greg think it's
- 0:30Speaker 1: most important to resign. We'll cover those topics and many more.
- 0:34Speaker 1: Then it's the second edition of our NFL Expert Mock
- 0:38Speaker 1: draft as Pete Prisco from CBS Sports takes his turn
- 0:42Speaker 1: on the Pro Football Focus mock simulator. The Bengals Booth
- 0:46Speaker 1: podcast is brought to you by Alta Fiber, future proof
- 0:49Speaker 1: fiber Internet capable of delivering multi gigabit speeds designed to
- 0:54Speaker 1: take your home, business, and community to a new level.
- 0:57Speaker 1: Elevate your connection with Alta Fiber. Now here's a quick
- 1:01Speaker 1: reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
- 1:03Speaker 1: podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by
- 1:07Speaker 1: subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing
- 1:11Speaker 1: since Syracuse basketball coach Jim Beheim. After forty seven years
- 1:17Speaker 1: as the head coach at his and my alma mater.
- 1:21Speaker 1: Jim Beheim's Hall of Fame career ended on Wednesday with
- 1:24Speaker 1: a loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament. My
- 1:27Speaker 1: freshman year at the Accuse was his sixth year as
- 1:30Speaker 1: the head coach. The Carrier Dome and the Big East
- 1:33Speaker 1: were basically new, and between my four years as a
- 1:36Speaker 1: student and ted years working in Syracuse in radio and TV,
- 1:41Speaker 1: I covered Coach Beheim and his teams very closely. We
- 1:45Speaker 1: had a few run ins when he objected to my questions,
- 1:48Speaker 1: but by and large it was a joy to cover
- 1:51Speaker 1: his teams with stars like Pearl Washington, Derek Coleman, and
- 1:54Speaker 1: German Douglas. And I learned a ton about basketball from
- 1:58Speaker 1: watching Coach Beheim's crack and hosting his weekly radio show. Additionally,
- 2:04Speaker 1: I golfed with him. We were partners in a two
- 2:06Speaker 1: on two match. Imagine missing a three footer for Parr
- 2:10Speaker 1: to lose a hole and hearing how and has your
- 2:13Speaker 1: husband put in that Jim Beheim voice. Then there was
- 2:18Speaker 1: the time I coached against him. When I was a
- 2:20Speaker 1: TV sportscaster in Syracuse, I did a weekly segment called
- 2:23Speaker 1: Dare Dan, where I competed against viewers in their sport
- 2:27Speaker 1: game or adventure of choice. There were normal challenges like
- 2:31Speaker 1: tennis and whiffleball, but I also competed against a dog
- 2:35Speaker 1: at catching frisbees. I won and took on twenty seven
- 2:39Speaker 1: residents of a senior citizens home in Simon says I lost.
- 2:44Speaker 1: Three elderly ladies outlasted me. The segment became quite popular,
- 2:49Speaker 1: and before leaving town to move to Cincinnati, I wanted
- 2:52Speaker 1: the final Daredan challenge to be memorable, so I set
- 2:56Speaker 1: up a basketball game where I coached a team of
- 2:59Speaker 1: elementary school girls against a squad coached by Jim Beheim.
- 3:04Speaker 1: If you would like to see how it turned out,
- 3:06Speaker 1: or just see what I looked like with hair, you
- 3:08Speaker 1: can find the segment on YouTube. Just search for Jim
- 3:12Speaker 1: Beheim Dare Dan. It's the first video that will pop up.
- 3:17Speaker 1: Now let's get to football. Last week at the NFL Combine,
- 3:21Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to sit down for an extended
- 3:24Speaker 1: interview with my friend Greg Kosell from NFL Films in
- 3:27Speaker 1: the NFL Matchup show on ESPN. For my money, there's
- 3:32Speaker 1: nobody better at studying the coach's tape and making a
- 3:35Speaker 1: complex game a little bit easier to understand. Before we
- 3:39Speaker 1: get to that conversation, here's a quick reminder that the
- 3:42Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Kettering Health,
- 3:45Speaker 1: the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. With more than
- 3:48Speaker 1: one hundred twenty care facilities and fifteen hundred care providers,
- 3:51Speaker 1: Kettering Health is committed to guiding you to your best health.
- 3:55Speaker 1: Visit ketteringhealth dot org to learn more. Now here's Greg. Greg,
- 4:02Speaker 1: you have been kind enough over the years to share
- 4:04Speaker 1: some of your draft prospect evaluations with me, and I
- 4:06Speaker 1: love it. I always save them and look back and
- 4:09Speaker 1: it's always really revealing from me. I'm interested to know
- 4:13Speaker 1: how many guys do you grade going into a draft
- 4:16Speaker 1: and who do you choose. That's a great question. And
- 4:19Speaker 1: I don't really grade in the way some people do.
- 4:21Speaker 1: You know. I don't work for a team, so I
- 4:23Speaker 1: don't have a grading chart. I just like the process
- 4:26Speaker 1: of evaluating players. So when I watch a player, obviously
- 4:29Speaker 1: you always start with their traits and their attributes and
- 4:32Speaker 1: their characteristics, and then I think in terms of deployment
- 4:35Speaker 1: within the NFL, because ultimately that dan is what the
- 4:38Speaker 1: process is. You're looking to transition and project players to
- 4:41Speaker 1: the league. Some guys traits are obvious. We are pretty
- 4:45Speaker 1: much anybody can see the traits. Other guys traits are
- 4:47Speaker 1: not as obvious. But that doesn't mean they can't play.
- 4:50Speaker 1: You know, I went through a whole learning curve and
- 4:52Speaker 1: I started watching college players years and years ago. I
- 4:55Speaker 1: got caught up in hey, he's either great or he
- 4:57Speaker 1: can't play. And then I realized I was wrong. A
- 5:00Speaker 1: lot of guys play, and particularly on defense, as you know,
- 5:03Speaker 1: you know, there's so many sub packages. Teams could play
- 5:06Speaker 1: seventeen eighteen nineteen guys on defense every single week, and
- 5:09Speaker 1: a guy could play twelve snaps, but those are twelve
- 5:12Speaker 1: really important snaps. And you know, he may not be
- 5:14Speaker 1: an All Pro, he may not be a Hall of Famer,
- 5:16Speaker 1: but he's going to play in the league for ten
- 5:18Speaker 1: years and be an important part of a defense. And
- 5:21Speaker 1: so I had to really learn the process of evaluating
- 5:24Speaker 1: players because there's not many and there's very few quite
- 5:27Speaker 1: honestly transcendent players in any draft where you just say
- 5:30Speaker 1: that guy's great, he can do anything, he can play
- 5:32Speaker 1: in any system. You know, put him out there, he's great.
- 5:36Speaker 1: But the way I actually starts guys who do this
- 5:38Speaker 1: all year round, the Dane Bruglers of the world, people
- 5:41Speaker 1: like that. I start with, you know, Daniel Teremiah. I
- 5:44Speaker 1: kind of look at their lists and then when the
- 5:45Speaker 1: combine comes out, and unfortunately, because I'm a one man
- 5:49Speaker 1: scouting service, I can't do four hundred guys. But then
- 5:51Speaker 1: when the combine list comes out, I try to work
- 5:53Speaker 1: off that as well. But that's kind of how I
- 5:56Speaker 1: do it. And it gets very frustrating Dan, because I
- 6:00Speaker 1: want to do so many more guys, but you know,
- 6:02Speaker 1: I'm only one person, and there's so many only so
- 6:04Speaker 1: many hours in the day. And defensive guys are the
- 6:07Speaker 1: toughest from a process standpoint, because you have to watch
- 6:10Speaker 1: full games for defensive guys because you have to see
- 6:13Speaker 1: the plays you know that they don't make. You know,
- 6:16Speaker 1: particularly let's say corners or safeties. You know, you can
- 6:19Speaker 1: watch a safety in college football who's a back end safety,
- 6:21Speaker 1: and you can go through a whole game and he
- 6:23Speaker 1: really doesn't do a lot, depending on the offense in
- 6:25Speaker 1: which he's playing against. So you have to just sit
- 6:28Speaker 1: and grind and watch full games. And because of where
- 6:30Speaker 1: I work NFL films, I have access to all the
- 6:33Speaker 1: coaching tapes. So I'm seeing the coaching tape, but it's
- 6:36Speaker 1: a process and it takes time. I always run into
- 6:39Speaker 1: you in Indianapolis at the Combine every year, and obviously
- 6:42Speaker 1: you're here. You're you're studying the players, you're listening to
- 6:44Speaker 1: the interviews, you're seeing how they do in the various tests.
- 6:48Speaker 1: But you also shared with me that you met with
- 6:51Speaker 1: some friends on an NFL coaching staff yesterday. Is the
- 6:55Speaker 1: Combine important for you in terms of interacting with important
- 7:00Speaker 1: people around the league? You know, I think that's the
- 7:02Speaker 1: way I learned Dan. You know, I'm a big believer
- 7:04Speaker 1: that you never stop learning. You know, I think most
- 7:07Speaker 1: people who know my work would say, you know, I'm
- 7:08Speaker 1: pretty good at it, but I always feel that there's
- 7:11Speaker 1: so many things I don't know that I want to
- 7:13Speaker 1: keep learning. You know, I view this because I didn't
- 7:16Speaker 1: play football. I grew up in Queens in New York.
- 7:18Speaker 1: I played basketball and baseball. My high school did not
- 7:21Speaker 1: have a football team, so I had to learn football
- 7:23Speaker 1: when we started with the coaching tape in NFL Films
- 7:25Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety two. And to me, it's more of
- 7:28Speaker 1: an intellectual and academic exercise and I feel you always
- 7:32Speaker 1: have to keep learning, and there are certain positions like
- 7:35Speaker 1: offensive line. I don't fancy myself as an offensive line
- 7:38Speaker 1: guru by any means. And what I love trying to
- 7:41Speaker 1: find out from coaches is things when I watch tape,
- 7:44Speaker 1: what do they see as coachable? What's not coachable? Because
- 7:47Speaker 1: I don't know the answer to that right off the
- 7:49Speaker 1: top of my head. You know, I've been fortunate in
- 7:51Speaker 1: my career to be around, you know, great quarterback people.
- 7:55Speaker 1: I learned the quarterback position from Bill Walsh, so you
- 7:58Speaker 1: know that was a pretty good starting point for me.
- 8:00Speaker 1: But offensive line, you know, I try to find out
- 8:03Speaker 1: from coaches, Hey, how did they go about evaluating? What
- 8:06Speaker 1: can they coach? You know, if a guy has a
- 8:08Speaker 1: certain flaw, they may say to me, oh, I can
- 8:10Speaker 1: correct that in two weeks. You know, I need to
- 8:12Speaker 1: learn and understand all that. I want to learn more about,
- 8:16Speaker 1: you know, even with NFL material, not just college guys.
- 8:19Speaker 1: I want to learn more about how offensives are installed
- 8:22Speaker 1: and how they're put in, and what they ask quarterbacks
- 8:24Speaker 1: to do, how they ask them to go through reading progressions.
- 8:27Speaker 1: You know, is some teams have it. Hey, if here's
- 8:31Speaker 1: our zone, routes are on this side of the offense
- 8:33Speaker 1: and our man routes are on the other side. Some
- 8:35Speaker 1: teams don't do it that way. I just try to
- 8:37Speaker 1: keep learning more and more because then when I go
- 8:39Speaker 1: back and watch tape, I have a greater foundation of knowledge.
- 8:42Speaker 1: We're visiting with great co sell from NFL Films and
- 8:45Speaker 1: the NFL Matchup show on ESPN. I think you were
- 8:48Speaker 1: one of the first to really study the tape and
- 8:51Speaker 1: then communicate your observations to those of us who are,
- 8:55Speaker 1: you know, always trying to learn more about football. Now
- 8:58Speaker 1: there seems to be a big industry to these guys
- 9:01Speaker 1: that are coming up and doing it kind of you know,
- 9:03Speaker 1: approach you and say, hey, you know, you're the godfather,
- 9:07Speaker 1: thank you for kind of creating this this path. You know,
- 9:11Speaker 1: it's funny you say that I'm not very good about
- 9:13Speaker 1: talking about myself. If when I played sports, I was
- 9:15Speaker 1: one of those guys that just showed up and you
- 9:17Speaker 1: know played, you know I didn't. It wasn't a look
- 9:19Speaker 1: at me thing. But no, that that does happen. You know,
- 9:22Speaker 1: people come to me and say you're the og. You know,
- 9:24Speaker 1: you know, and and you know in some ways I
- 9:27Speaker 1: appreciate that. Look the reality is. And Peter King actually
- 9:30Speaker 1: came up to me a few years ago as the
- 9:31Speaker 1: year before the pandemic, we were both at Eagles training
- 9:33Speaker 1: camp on the same day, and he said, you know,
- 9:36Speaker 1: basically said, do you realize that you started an entire
- 9:38Speaker 1: industry and an entire genre? And you know, I don't.
- 9:40Speaker 1: I don't think of it that way. But you know,
- 9:42Speaker 1: we started with the Matchup show in the mid eighties
- 9:44Speaker 1: and it's been on every year since. And obviously at
- 9:47Speaker 1: that time people said, oh, no, one's going to care
- 9:50Speaker 1: about football like that. And fortunately, thanks to Steve Sable,
- 9:54Speaker 1: who was my mentor and my boss, you know, we
- 9:56Speaker 1: just kept doing it and doing it and doing it.
- 9:58Speaker 1: And I'm sure if I look back at some those
- 10:00Speaker 1: early shows, I'd probably have a combination of cringing and laughing,
- 10:03Speaker 1: you know. But but you know, we were fortunately able
- 10:07Speaker 1: to stay with it, and it's grown and grown and
- 10:09Speaker 1: grown and now but fans want this. This is what
- 10:13Speaker 1: people crave because you're can look at you can grab
- 10:15Speaker 1: your phone and find stats now. You know, obviously thirty
- 10:18Speaker 1: years ago you couldn't do that because phones didn't exist.
- 10:20Speaker 1: But now you can find any stat you want in
- 10:22Speaker 1: a heartbeat, but you still can't see breakdowns of footage.
- 10:26Speaker 1: And more and more people are doing it. Obviously, as
- 10:28Speaker 1: in any industry, some do it better than others. But yeah,
- 10:32Speaker 1: I guess maybe I did start something. You know, I
- 10:34Speaker 1: don't like I said. I don't wake up every morning
- 10:36Speaker 1: and say, man, I started something and that's great. I
- 10:38Speaker 1: just go do my job. But you know, when people
- 10:41Speaker 1: bring it to my attention, as you just did, I
- 10:43Speaker 1: guess that's probably true because we start the first year
- 10:46Speaker 1: of the Matchup show is nineteen eighty four, first and
- 10:49Speaker 1: still the best in my opinion. Let's hit on some
- 10:51Speaker 1: Bengals topics. The biggest offseason story in Cincinnati is Joe
- 10:55Speaker 1: Burrows contract. He's likely to make more than fifty million
- 10:58Speaker 1: dollars a year when they get this. How much does
- 11:01Speaker 1: that change roster construction for Cincinnati? Well, I think it
- 11:05Speaker 1: always changes it a little bit. We know that the
- 11:07Speaker 1: salary cap has gone up significantly. It doesn't appear as
- 11:11Speaker 1: if it would be going down at anytime soon based
- 11:14Speaker 1: on the popularity of the NFL, which is good for
- 11:16Speaker 1: all of us. But then you do have some decisions
- 11:20Speaker 1: to make. Obviously, Joe Burrow is going to get signed
- 11:22Speaker 1: and more than likely he's going to get signed and
- 11:24Speaker 1: maybe more than any other quarterback has been signed for
- 11:26Speaker 1: And you know what, that's just the way it is.
- 11:28Speaker 1: You're not letting him walk. You're not trying to get
- 11:30Speaker 1: into a contentious relationship with Joe Burrow and his agents.
- 11:33Speaker 1: He's a great, great quarterback. I mean, I remember that
- 11:36Speaker 1: was the you know, the year I gave you my
- 11:37Speaker 1: report on Joe Burrow, and you know pretty much played
- 11:40Speaker 1: out that way. And you know, it's fascinating just talking
- 11:43Speaker 1: about Burrow and other quarterbacks in the draft. And I
- 11:45Speaker 1: don't know if you if you and I have had
- 11:47Speaker 1: this conversation before, but you know, now we hear so
- 11:50Speaker 1: many draft analysts say, well, he's got great traits, and
- 11:54Speaker 1: they say that about a player because he can throw
- 11:56Speaker 1: it hard and run fast. And to me, that's not
- 12:00Speaker 1: what makes that. Those are not great quarterback traits. I
- 12:03Speaker 1: look at Joe Burrow, and I'm sure if you went
- 12:04Speaker 1: back and looked at my report, you'd see what I
- 12:06Speaker 1: did other than being a power thrower. To me, Joe
- 12:10Speaker 1: Burrow has quarterback traits because quarterback to me, and like
- 12:13Speaker 1: I said, I was fortunate to learn from the Bill
- 12:15Speaker 1: Walsters of the world. Quarterback to me is a refined, nuanced, subtle,
- 12:20Speaker 1: discipline craft position. It's not who can throw at the
- 12:23Speaker 1: hardest and who can run the fastest. Look, if you
- 12:25Speaker 1: really have all those subtle and refined traits and you've
- 12:28Speaker 1: got a big arm, that's great. And in fact, i'll
- 12:31Speaker 1: give you a great example of a guy you'll remember
- 12:33Speaker 1: very well because it's Incinnati. Carson Palmer was like that.
- 12:36Speaker 1: He had the subtle traits, but he also had the
- 12:37Speaker 1: big arm. Troy Aikman was like that, there's not many
- 12:40Speaker 1: guys who have who are power throwers and have refined traits.
- 12:45Speaker 1: Joe Burrow has all the refined traits you want, both
- 12:48Speaker 1: physically and mentally. The only thing he's probably lacking, but
- 12:52Speaker 1: it's not a major lack, would be a power arm.
- 12:55Speaker 1: But that, to me, he has quarterback traits, you know,
- 12:58Speaker 1: And that's to me the reason he's such a great
- 13:01Speaker 1: great player. He sees things, you know. Burrow really plays
- 13:04Speaker 1: the game before the snap of the ball, and I
- 13:07Speaker 1: think you have to reach that point. Can you be
- 13:09Speaker 1: a great quarterback without doing that to some degree? Like,
- 13:13Speaker 1: for instance, I think Josh Allen is still learning that
- 13:16Speaker 1: to some degree, but he's so physically gifted that he
- 13:20Speaker 1: can do things other guys can't. Joe Burrow sees the
- 13:23Speaker 1: game before the snap of the ball and he just
- 13:26Speaker 1: validates and confirms, and that's why he can play with
- 13:30Speaker 1: such a refined sense of timing and rhythm. The ball
- 13:34Speaker 1: comes out, he knows where to go. He's not figuring
- 13:36Speaker 1: out the defense on his drop. He sees it. He
- 13:39Speaker 1: knows it. And you know this, you know probably better
- 13:42Speaker 1: than I do. You're around him, but you know, watching tape,
- 13:45Speaker 1: that's to me. Those are high, high level quarterback traits.
- 13:48Speaker 1: Is there anything about Burrow that's even better than you
- 13:52Speaker 1: thought it would be? You know, I would probably say no,
- 13:58Speaker 1: and and not that him smarter than anybody else, But
- 14:01Speaker 1: I just thought Burrow was one of those guys that
- 14:03Speaker 1: really like Even the next year when Trevor Lawrence came
- 14:06Speaker 1: out and people talked about him as a generational quarterback,
- 14:09Speaker 1: I thought Joe Burrow coming out was a better prospect
- 14:12Speaker 1: than Trevor Lawrence. And actually I spoken to some coaches
- 14:15Speaker 1: who agree as well. So no, Burrow is Burrow is
- 14:19Speaker 1: no surprise to me. Maybe the only thing, but it's
- 14:23Speaker 1: not really a surprise is his ability to make some
- 14:27Speaker 1: plays with his legs. I knew he had really good
- 14:28Speaker 1: pocket movement, but we've seen him when it's third and seven.
- 14:32Speaker 1: He can run for nine and get a first down,
- 14:33Speaker 1: no problem. You know he's not going to run for
- 14:35Speaker 1: thirty five. You know, he's not Mahomes in that sense,
- 14:38Speaker 1: but he does have a feel for Hey, when when
- 14:43Speaker 1: I have to get nine when it's third and seven
- 14:45Speaker 1: or third and eight. So Duke Tobin made news early
- 14:48Speaker 1: this week, at least in Cincinnati, when he squashed rumors
- 14:51Speaker 1: that the Bengals were considering peddling T Higgins because of,
- 14:55Speaker 1: you know, his contract situation. What do you think of T?
- 14:59Speaker 1: I really like T Higgins. I loved him when he
- 15:01Speaker 1: came out of Clemson. You know, it's so funny. We
- 15:04Speaker 1: get caught up again with receivers in forty times, and
- 15:07Speaker 1: I think he ran a four or five seven or
- 15:09Speaker 1: four or five eight, But he's sixty three two sixteen
- 15:12Speaker 1: and one thing I learned. There's another thing I had
- 15:14Speaker 1: to learn over the years is tall receivers. Stride length
- 15:20Speaker 1: is a trait. Okay, you know when I first started
- 15:23Speaker 1: with tall receivers, i'd watched him and say, oh, they
- 15:24Speaker 1: don't look that fast. They're they're not going to be
- 15:26Speaker 1: a vertical dimension. And I ended up being wrong on guys,
- 15:29Speaker 1: and t Higgins is like that. He's not a burner,
- 15:32Speaker 1: but those strides allow him to be a vertical dimension.
- 15:36Speaker 1: Plus then you have the body control in the hands aspect,
- 15:39Speaker 1: and his ability to high point the ball. So even
- 15:41Speaker 1: though he may not run by corners in a strict sense,
- 15:45Speaker 1: he is a vertical dimension in addition to being very
- 15:48Speaker 1: good on the immediate routes catching the ball in those inbreakers.
- 15:51Speaker 1: I think te Higgins and you know, I hate to
- 15:54Speaker 1: categorize guys, Oh he's a one, he's a two, But
- 15:56Speaker 1: I think te Higgins on another team would be considered Obviously,
- 16:00Speaker 1: Jamar Chase is a true alpha, and there's no alpha's
- 16:03Speaker 1: in this draft, by the way, at wide receiver, No
- 16:06Speaker 1: Jamar Chases. But Jamar Chase is a true alpha. So
- 16:09Speaker 1: Higgins sort of. I don't want to say play second fiddle.
- 16:11Speaker 1: I'm sure he doesn't in the Cincinnati offense, but he's
- 16:14Speaker 1: not considered that because of Chase. But I think if
- 16:16Speaker 1: he wore with another team, and I'm hoping he's not
- 16:19Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure Cincinnati fans are hoping the same,
- 16:22Speaker 1: but I think if he was with another team, he
- 16:24Speaker 1: would be in number one. But I always liked him.
- 16:27Speaker 1: I really liked him coming out, and I think we've seen,
- 16:29Speaker 1: you know, what he can do, and since the look,
- 16:31Speaker 1: he's puts up a thousand yards as although I remember,
- 16:34Speaker 1: you know, I remember doing his study last summer, and
- 16:38Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember specifically. I watched both Chase and
- 16:40Speaker 1: Higgins separately, and if I'm not mistaken, I can't remember
- 16:45Speaker 1: whether it was first down or third down, but the
- 16:48Speaker 1: East had the equal number of targets on a particular down,
- 16:52Speaker 1: so that you know they throw it to t It's
- 16:54Speaker 1: not like it's Chase and everybody else. You know, Higgins
- 16:57Speaker 1: is a major part of what they do in the offense, well,
- 17:00Speaker 1: especially considering what defenses due to try to take away Chase. Yeah,
- 17:04Speaker 1: they are clearly times watching tape where you see defenses
- 17:07Speaker 1: bracket Chase. Sometimes they even Brackett both. I remember this
- 17:11Speaker 1: was two years ago. You may remember the play. It
- 17:14Speaker 1: just popped into my head against Baltimore, and I think
- 17:16Speaker 1: Higgins caught about a forty five fifty yard on a
- 17:19Speaker 1: vertical route where the Ravens actually doubled all three wide
- 17:23Speaker 1: outs to happen to remember a triple double? Yeah, do
- 17:25Speaker 1: you remember the play? And Burrow threw it to Higgins
- 17:30Speaker 1: on a vertical route on the left side, and it
- 17:32Speaker 1: went for about forty five fifty yards and Higgins went
- 17:34Speaker 1: up and got it between two guys. You know. So
- 17:36Speaker 1: there was a case where Baltimore doubled all three wide receivers. Right.
- 17:41Speaker 1: The Bengals jokingly refer to that as the triple double.
- 17:43Speaker 1: It's a basketball term, but it definitely applied to the
- 17:46Speaker 1: defense there. Let's talk tight ends. The Bengals top three
- 17:49Speaker 1: tight ends, Hayden Hurst, Drew Sample, Mitch Wilcox are all
- 17:52Speaker 1: free agents. Somebody's going to be back, but in any case,
- 17:56Speaker 1: but it's not going to be a big money thing.
- 17:58Speaker 1: It's not a tight end you're going to say, is they?
- 18:00Speaker 1: So I'm sure they're looking for a tight end in
- 18:02Speaker 1: this draft. There are some good ones. I haven't done
- 18:04Speaker 1: enough work yet, but I've done Kincaid, who is not
- 18:07Speaker 1: going to work out at the combine I saw, but
- 18:09Speaker 1: he's really a good receiver. He's one of those maybe
- 18:13Speaker 1: new breed type tight ends. He's more of a detached player,
- 18:17Speaker 1: but he's really athletic. I don't want to sit here,
- 18:19Speaker 1: and says Travis Kelcey. But he can be deployed in
- 18:23Speaker 1: the same way, meaning that you can detach him from
- 18:25Speaker 1: the formation. He can be your boundary X on the
- 18:28Speaker 1: backside of trips. He can be deployed in a very
- 18:30Speaker 1: similar manner. He's got great hands, he's a really good athlete,
- 18:34Speaker 1: and he gives you run after catch. I guess it
- 18:36Speaker 1: all depends on, you know, what the Bengals value. You know,
- 18:41Speaker 1: obviously they draft later in the first round. I'm not
- 18:44Speaker 1: good at saying where guys will go. Could Kincaid be there, sure?
- 18:48Speaker 1: And maybe not, you know, but there are others, you know.
- 18:51Speaker 1: Like I said, I haven't done them yet, so I
- 18:53Speaker 1: can't speak to their specific trades. But I've been told
- 18:55Speaker 1: Musgrave is a really good prospect. I'm trying to think
- 18:59Speaker 1: of some of the other Michael Mayer. Michael Mayer, I've
- 19:02Speaker 1: done him. I have done him. To me, Mayor is
- 19:04Speaker 1: just a really solid tight end, really good hands, catches everything.
- 19:08Speaker 1: Not as explosive as Kincaid. I think Mayor is just
- 19:11Speaker 1: one of those guys that would be a solid NFL
- 19:14Speaker 1: tight end like I wouldn't if you wanted to. Obviously
- 19:16Speaker 1: we always talk about Kelsey, but like I don't think
- 19:19Speaker 1: may Or for instances as athletic and as good receiver,
- 19:21Speaker 1: someone like Dallas Goddard. You know, I don't think he's
- 19:24Speaker 1: quite that guy, but I think he'd be a really
- 19:26Speaker 1: solid every down tight end. It's great to have a
- 19:29Speaker 1: great tight end. The Bengals obviously would like to. But
- 19:32Speaker 1: how important is tight end in that offense? Well, the
- 19:35Speaker 1: way they run it now, and they're as you know,
- 19:38Speaker 1: they're a heavy eleven personnel offense. I mean, I just
- 19:42Speaker 1: so people understand that means three wide receivers. I think,
- 19:45Speaker 1: if I remember correctly, they probably played out of eleven
- 19:48Speaker 1: personnel eighty five percent or more of their offensive snaps.
- 19:52Speaker 1: So that's who they are. So the tight end, the
- 19:55Speaker 1: way they play now, assuming all three receivers are still there,
- 20:00Speaker 1: he's really much more of a complimentary piece. So they
- 20:04Speaker 1: may not feel they need a tight end early. You know,
- 20:07Speaker 1: maybe they feel there's a third or fourth round player
- 20:09Speaker 1: here that they could get because the tight end in
- 20:11Speaker 1: this offense. Look, even someone like Hayden Hurst, and I
- 20:13Speaker 1: know he made a couple of big catches. He actually
- 20:15Speaker 1: made a couple of big catches in the playoff win
- 20:17Speaker 1: in Buffalo. But you know, and as you said, he's
- 20:20Speaker 1: a free agent, but you know, he's really that position.
- 20:24Speaker 1: The way they've played Underburrow the last two years has
- 20:27Speaker 1: not really been critical. Now, the year before, Uzama didn't
- 20:31Speaker 1: make a ton of important catches and they did go
- 20:34Speaker 1: to him at times, but the tight end's not been
- 20:36Speaker 1: a volume target for them the last two years, and
- 20:39Speaker 1: hard to imagine it would be as long as those
- 20:41Speaker 1: three wide receivers stay healthy. So Hayden Hurst is the
- 20:44Speaker 1: only starter on offense who is a free agent. They've
- 20:47Speaker 1: got several on defense. Jesse Bates. I think everybody assumes
- 20:50Speaker 1: he's going to sign elsewhere, Von Bell, Jermaine Pratt, Eli Apple,
- 20:54Speaker 1: because there's somebody on that list that you think, man,
- 20:57Speaker 1: they really should try to keep that guy. Well, let's
- 21:02Speaker 1: put Bates aside, because I think it's pretty evident he's
- 21:04Speaker 1: probably gonna get a big number. And you know, I mean,
- 21:07Speaker 1: you would know better, but from what we've spoken about,
- 21:09Speaker 1: you feel like he's probably gonna be gone. So let's
- 21:11Speaker 1: leave him out for the moment. And he's a very
- 21:13Speaker 1: good player. The guy who intrigues me the most and
- 21:17Speaker 1: I'm curious to see I don't think Dell sign him.
- 21:20Speaker 1: Who knows is Jermaine Pratt because obviously Logan Wilson deservedly
- 21:24Speaker 1: so gets most of the attentional linebacker, really complete player,
- 21:28Speaker 1: plays every down. You know, one of those guys. You know,
- 21:30Speaker 1: he's not Fred Warner, but he's one of those three
- 21:33Speaker 1: down complete linebackers. I think Pratt's been a really solid
- 21:36Speaker 1: player in the last couple of years. You know, almost
- 21:38Speaker 1: one of those guys you don't think about a lot
- 21:41Speaker 1: because of Wilson, but just a really solid, important piece
- 21:45Speaker 1: of that defense. And if he had to be replaced,
- 21:48Speaker 1: whether it's with a draft pick or a free agent signing,
- 21:51Speaker 1: because I don't think they would view Davis Gaither as
- 21:53Speaker 1: the guy to or replace Pratt. He's just not big enough,
- 21:56Speaker 1: and you know he's not that guy. I think that
- 22:00Speaker 1: that's I don't want to say, boy, it's a loss
- 22:02Speaker 1: in their defense will drop because I think lou and
- 22:04Speaker 1: Aramo does just a ridiculously good job and has finally
- 22:07Speaker 1: started to get the credit he deserves. But I think
- 22:11Speaker 1: Pratt's an important piece to that defense and I don't
- 22:13Speaker 1: think he's going to be easy to replace if he's
- 22:15Speaker 1: not there. So Low got head coaching interview, didn't get
- 22:20Speaker 1: the job. Brian Callahan got two head coaching interviews, didn't
- 22:24Speaker 1: get either job. The benefit for Cincinnati is they've had
- 22:27Speaker 1: incredible continuity during the Zach Taylor era. This will be
- 22:30Speaker 1: the fifth straight year with offensive, defensive, and special teams
- 22:34Speaker 1: coordinators back. How significant is that? Is that extremely advantageous
- 22:39Speaker 1: in your opinion for Cincinnati? I think it's so much
- 22:43Speaker 1: more advantageous than people think, because I think continuity with
- 22:47Speaker 1: a coaching staff and being able to build on the
- 22:50Speaker 1: concepts that everybody now understands and then has a clear foundation,
- 22:56Speaker 1: is absolutely critical. I mean I speak to many coaches,
- 22:59Speaker 1: as you know, and they will tell you, particularly, let's
- 23:02Speaker 1: say on offense, that it really takes. And Burrow is
- 23:05Speaker 1: obviously super smart, but it still takes three four years
- 23:09Speaker 1: for a quarterback to fully understand and execute hit both
- 23:14Speaker 1: his offense and understand all the defenses in the league.
- 23:18Speaker 1: You know it. You can obviously line up and play
- 23:20Speaker 1: without that high level understanding, but then when you get it,
- 23:24Speaker 1: you know, everything changes. It's and I bet if you
- 23:27Speaker 1: speak to a quarterback and you have I know, over
- 23:29Speaker 1: the years, they'll tell you the same thing that all
- 23:31Speaker 1: of a sudden, it's different, you know. And Burrow's just
- 23:35Speaker 1: he's a computer chip, so for him it probably happens sooner.
- 23:38Speaker 1: But still I think if he's being on, it's still
- 23:40Speaker 1: tell you that the more experience he gets in the
- 23:43Speaker 1: same system, it's just everything is cleaner. You know. You
- 23:47Speaker 1: hear the phrase in all sports that the game slows down.
- 23:50Speaker 1: It's a cliche, but it's a true cliche, and I
- 23:52Speaker 1: bet for Burrow it's very much like that, and all
- 23:55Speaker 1: of a sudden if you have to change systems. I've
- 23:57Speaker 1: had coaches telling me changing systems. It's like, hey, if
- 24:00Speaker 1: you spent three years in French class, Okay, you're learning
- 24:04Speaker 1: every nuance of the language of French, and then all
- 24:07Speaker 1: of a sudden that's gone and someone comes in and says, okay,
- 24:10Speaker 1: now we have to learn German. You know. It's not
- 24:13Speaker 1: so easy, you know, And that's what it's like. So
- 24:16Speaker 1: if you can stay in the same system and keep building,
- 24:19Speaker 1: I think I'm not sure if people realize how truly
- 24:21Speaker 1: advantageous that is. I was an exchange student in Spain
- 24:25Speaker 1: many years ago. Now I can only count to eight,
- 24:27Speaker 1: which my retention of foreign languages. So the Bengals were
- 24:32Speaker 1: a couple of minutes away from winning the Super Bowl
- 24:34Speaker 1: two years ago. They were tied with two minutes to
- 24:36Speaker 1: go in the AFC Championship Game last year. So obviously
- 24:39Speaker 1: they're close. It's a super Bowl caliber roster. What's missing?
- 24:44Speaker 1: What do you think they need to improve to get
- 24:46Speaker 1: over the top and win a Lombardi Trophy. Yeah, that's
- 24:49Speaker 1: a hard question because when you're that close, you know,
- 24:52Speaker 1: it's not like to me, and maybe I'm wrong, but
- 24:54Speaker 1: it's not as if you're missing something. You know. It's
- 24:57Speaker 1: not as if, oh my god, they lost because they
- 24:59Speaker 1: just don't have the you know. I mean, you know,
- 25:02Speaker 1: obviously they lost on that final drive against the Rams.
- 25:06Speaker 1: You know what you're gonna say, You're gonna say, Okay,
- 25:07Speaker 1: their defense stinks. I mean, obviously it doesn't, you know,
- 25:10Speaker 1: and then the game against the Chiefs. You know, I
- 25:13Speaker 1: don't I don't know what to say they. I mean,
- 25:14Speaker 1: these games are super competitive, highly highly closed games. You know,
- 25:20Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything to say. I mean, I
- 25:22Speaker 1: think offensively, I do think they still need to continue
- 25:25Speaker 1: to upgrade their all line. Quite honestly, I think they
- 25:27Speaker 1: probably needs to draft some players. Maybe they'll bring in
- 25:31Speaker 1: a free agent, you know, for as a compete guy.
- 25:33Speaker 1: But I do think the on line needs to continue
- 25:35Speaker 1: to get better. Whether it's with the same players improving
- 25:38Speaker 1: or different players. That's for the coaching staff in the
- 25:40Speaker 1: organization to figure out. You know. On the defensive side,
- 25:45Speaker 1: they're going to lose some pieces, you know. I hope
- 25:50Speaker 1: they can find a way to keep one of the safeties.
- 25:52Speaker 1: Maybe Bell is the more likely choice because he's certainly
- 25:56Speaker 1: not going to get the number I think Jessee Bates
- 25:58Speaker 1: is going to get. But in today's NFL to start
- 26:00Speaker 1: over with two safeties, I think it's hard so and Bell.
- 26:05Speaker 1: To me, I don't know Von Bell at all, but
- 26:07Speaker 1: he strikes me as a savvy, smart player who can
- 26:11Speaker 1: do a number of things. That's just watching tape. That's
- 26:13Speaker 1: the way I feel like, you know, because he's not
- 26:15Speaker 1: a superior athlete. You don't look at him ago why
- 26:17Speaker 1: there's a special athlete. But he's just one of those
- 26:20Speaker 1: guys that to me seems like he knows how to
- 26:23Speaker 1: play the game and can probably be tasked with doing
- 26:25Speaker 1: a lot of different things. You know, you would know
- 26:28Speaker 1: better than an effect description. Okay, that's what the film
- 26:30Speaker 1: shows to me. So you'd hope that they could at
- 26:33Speaker 1: least sign him. He certainly he won't go under the
- 26:36Speaker 1: same number as Bates, because, like I said, if you
- 26:38Speaker 1: start over with two safeties, that's that's a big deal
- 26:42Speaker 1: that that could pose some issues throughout the early part
- 26:45Speaker 1: of the season. Final thing for Greg Cosell. Does the
- 26:49Speaker 1: Combine amaze you what this thing has become? Well, it's
- 26:54Speaker 1: funny you say that, because I actually produced the first
- 26:58Speaker 1: combine for NFL Films and um and I guess the network,
- 27:02Speaker 1: and because at that time, the Combine was still totally secretive,
- 27:08Speaker 1: you know. And I'll be the first to admit I
- 27:10Speaker 1: did a horrible job because I didn't know how to
- 27:12Speaker 1: do it. Because it was totally secretive. They wouldn't even
- 27:15Speaker 1: let us shoot anything until after the events were over,
- 27:19Speaker 1: and then we had a set up a set on
- 27:20Speaker 1: the field at eight o'clock at night, you know, So
- 27:23Speaker 1: it was it was really it was hard to do
- 27:26Speaker 1: and I did it poorly, and I was told about
- 27:28Speaker 1: it by my bosses. But so now everything is kind
- 27:31Speaker 1: of an open book. But I kind of love. You
- 27:33Speaker 1: know the thing too, that's so impressive. It's just the
- 27:35Speaker 1: athletes and not just their physical performance, but listening to
- 27:40Speaker 1: all these guys speak at the podium, it's I find
- 27:43Speaker 1: that really good. All these guys are so much much
- 27:46Speaker 1: more poised, they speak well, they're whether they're coached or
- 27:49Speaker 1: not irrelevant. You know, it's good that they're coach then
- 27:52Speaker 1: you know, to be the best they can be. But
- 27:54Speaker 1: these kids are so savvy, so much smarter. They're really
- 27:57Speaker 1: enjoyed to listen to um. You know. I think that's
- 28:00Speaker 1: really advanced. That's probably one of the positives of social media.
- 28:03Speaker 1: You know, these kids are out there more at a
- 28:05Speaker 1: young age, and I think they become more aware and
- 28:07Speaker 1: more savvy. I'm sure my listeners are saying, don't let
- 28:10Speaker 1: them go, don't let them go, keep going, go for
- 28:12Speaker 1: another half an hour, but I am going to let
- 28:13Speaker 1: you go. It's always a treat to run into you
- 28:15Speaker 1: in Indianapolis, and anytime I have the opportunity to interview you,
- 28:19Speaker 1: it is great. Thank you so much for your time. Dan,
- 28:21Speaker 1: always a pleasure anytime. Thank you. As I mentioned in
- 28:25Speaker 1: that interview, Greg has shared quite a few of his
- 28:27Speaker 1: pre draft scouting reports with me over the years, and
- 28:30Speaker 1: for the fun of it, I went back and looked
- 28:32Speaker 1: at what he wrote about Jackson Carmen before the draft
- 28:36Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. Here goes Carmen, no doubt
- 28:40Speaker 1: will be seen by some as a guard at the
- 28:43Speaker 1: next level, but I believe he projects as a starting
- 28:46Speaker 1: tackle in the NFL. There is no question that Carmen
- 28:50Speaker 1: must be team and scheme specific, and he will at
- 28:53Speaker 1: times struggle on vertical sets with speed off the edge,
- 28:57Speaker 1: but he can line up and play tackle in the
- 28:59Speaker 1: NFL and be a quality starter. End of quote. Jackson
- 29:04Speaker 1: certainly appeared more comfortable at tackle in the playoffs last
- 29:07Speaker 1: year than he did at guard the year before. With L. L.
- 29:10Speaker 1: Collins coming back from his torn ACL, perhaps Greg co
- 29:13Speaker 1: Sell's pre draft scouting report will prove accurate and Jackson
- 29:17Speaker 1: Carmen will be a quality starter at right tackle. The
- 29:22Speaker 1: Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by Paycorps. More
- 29:24Speaker 1: than twenty nine thousand customers trust paycor to help them recruit,
- 29:28Speaker 1: pay engage, and retain employees. Learn more at paycorp dot
- 29:33Speaker 1: com and by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free
- 29:37Speaker 1: to play with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs.
- 29:41Speaker 1: Find both inside the Bengals app. Now time for our
- 29:45Speaker 1: second edition of the three round mock draft with an
- 29:49Speaker 1: NFL expert. Here's the concept. When I attended the NFL
- 29:53Speaker 1: Combine last week, I had the Pro Football Focus mock
- 29:56Speaker 1: Draft simulator set up on my laptop and I I
- 30:00Speaker 1: did several NFL experts to make the Bengals picks in
- 30:03Speaker 1: the first three rounds while discussing their options. If you've
- 30:07Speaker 1: never tried a draft simulator before, it allows you to
- 30:10Speaker 1: play Bengals GM for as many rounds of the draft
- 30:13Speaker 1: as you want. The simulator begins making picks in order,
- 30:17Speaker 1: and then when it's your turn, you will get trade
- 30:19Speaker 1: proposals and decide whether you want a wheel and deal
- 30:22Speaker 1: or go ahead and pick. It's a good way to
- 30:24Speaker 1: get to know the players who are likely to be
- 30:27Speaker 1: available when the Bengals are on the clock in late April.
- 30:30Speaker 1: On my last podcast, Dane Brugler from The Athletic chose
- 30:34Speaker 1: Maryland cornerback Deante Banks in the first round, Northwestern defensive
- 30:39Speaker 1: lineman at A Tommy wa At a bare in the second.
- 30:43Speaker 1: In Iowa tight end Sam Laporta in the third. He
- 30:47Speaker 1: received an A minus grade from Pro Football Focus. This
- 30:51Speaker 1: week's expert is Pete Prisco from CBS Sports. We are
- 30:57Speaker 1: doing a mock simulator now with Pete Prisco from CBS Sports,
- 31:00Speaker 1: where you're going to select the Bengals first three picks.
- 31:03Speaker 1: These are picks twenty eight, sixty and ninety two. I
- 31:07Speaker 1: am about to hit start draft and the PF mock
- 31:11Speaker 1: Draft simulator is quickly racing through the first twenty seven picks,
- 31:15Speaker 1: and here we go. All right. The guys just selected
- 31:19Speaker 1: Pete include Elijah Cansey, the defensive lineman from pitt who
- 31:24Speaker 1: ran the unbelievable forty time wide receiver Jalen Hyatt from Tennessee,
- 31:28Speaker 1: Nolan Smith, another guy who knocked it out of the
- 31:30Speaker 1: park at the combine, offensive lineman o Cyrus Torrence Jordan Addison,
- 31:35Speaker 1: the wide receiver from USC. So those were the previous
- 31:39Speaker 1: five picks. Are you ready to see what's left on
- 31:41Speaker 1: the board. I want to see what's left on the
- 31:43Speaker 1: board because I don't necessarily agree with a lot of
- 31:45Speaker 1: those guys right there. So let's see Deontay Banks, Andre Carter, Dalton, Kincaid, Tanner, McGee,
- 31:53Speaker 1: they're not going to take a quarterback, offensive lineman Anton Harrison, edge,
- 31:57Speaker 1: Will McDonald, Antonio Johnson safety from Texas, tight end Luke
- 32:02Speaker 1: Musgrave from Ohio or from Oregon State, Mazzie Smith defensive
- 32:07Speaker 1: lineman from Michigan, Bjochalari from LSU. Anybody intrigue, Yeah, yeah,
- 32:11Speaker 1: I mean, with the her situation being what it is,
- 32:14Speaker 1: I think they need to get a tight end. So
- 32:15Speaker 1: let me go back up and based on their I
- 32:18Speaker 1: know I would probably take Dalton Kincaid in that spot.
- 32:22Speaker 1: It's probably a little high, but I get it. I
- 32:24Speaker 1: understand they need a tight end, so I'm gonna take
- 32:26Speaker 1: Dalton kincame. All right. So Pete Prisco, with a twenty
- 32:29Speaker 1: eighth pick, has selected Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid. Some
- 32:34Speaker 1: people have compared him to Travis Kelsey, not that good,
- 32:38Speaker 1: but in terms of the things that he does well,
- 32:40Speaker 1: he's got the ability to catch the football. I mean,
- 32:42Speaker 1: he's going to add another another pass catcher to a
- 32:44Speaker 1: team that has a ton of pass catchers. But I think,
- 32:47Speaker 1: you know, with what Hurst, I thought Hurst did some
- 32:48Speaker 1: good things last or particularly in the season, so I
- 32:50Speaker 1: think it makes sense to get another tight end in
- 32:53Speaker 1: a deep tight end draft. Dalton Kincaid is considered by
- 32:57Speaker 1: many of the draft gurus to be the best receiver.
- 32:59Speaker 1: He had seventy catches for eight hundred ninety yards and
- 33:02Speaker 1: eight touchdowns at Utah last year. Kincaid did not work
- 33:06Speaker 1: out at the Combine because of a small fracture in
- 33:08Speaker 1: his back that he suffered late in the season, but
- 33:11Speaker 1: his injury did not require surgery. In their latest mock drafts,
- 33:15Speaker 1: mel Kiper and Todd McShay from ESPN and Dane Brugler
- 33:19Speaker 1: from The Athletic All Half. Kincaid, going to the Dallas Cowboys,
- 33:23Speaker 1: had picked number twenty six, two spots before the Bengals
- 33:27Speaker 1: select Chrisco got an a minus in round one for
- 33:31Speaker 1: that pick. Time to find out who Pete selected next.
- 33:35Speaker 1: All right, we are now in the second round, pick
- 33:38Speaker 1: number sixty. You can take a look at some of
- 33:39Speaker 1: the guys that were just selected. Dwan Jones, the Mammoth
- 33:43Speaker 1: offensive lineman from Ohio State, went two picks before, so
- 33:46Speaker 1: I would have considered him in that spot because I
- 33:48Speaker 1: think he's a big, menacing right tackle, and I think
- 33:51Speaker 1: he'd be good for their team. He's certainly big at
- 33:53Speaker 1: three eighty yeah, he's and look, both tackles at Ohio
- 33:56Speaker 1: State are good players, but he's probably a second rounder.
- 33:58Speaker 1: I get it, all right. So now we are looking
- 34:00Speaker 1: at the pool of guys that are still available. If
- 34:03Speaker 1: you want me to look at any sort of position,
- 34:05Speaker 1: let me know. But we are scrolling down some of
- 34:07Speaker 1: these names. Andre Carter, Tank Dell wide receiver, special teamer
- 34:12Speaker 1: from Houston, Dayon Henley linebacker from Washington State, Josh Downs,
- 34:17Speaker 1: wide receiver from North Carolina. I'll tell you what I think,
- 34:21Speaker 1: you know, with the Pratt situation being what it is,
- 34:23Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna go up to the top and
- 34:25Speaker 1: take the linebacker out of Washington State. I think he's
- 34:27Speaker 1: a really good player, a nice run and chase linebacker
- 34:31Speaker 1: who adds some speed to the defense. And you're losing
- 34:33Speaker 1: you know, you're probably gonna lose him. I mean, Pratt's
- 34:35Speaker 1: a good player and had a couple of good years
- 34:36Speaker 1: and he could run. So I think I'll take Henley.
- 34:40Speaker 1: Dayon Henley is a speedy sideline to sideline linebacker who
- 34:44Speaker 1: starred last season for Washington State after spending the previous
- 34:48Speaker 1: five years at Nevada. The former high school quarterback would
- 34:52Speaker 1: be a candidate to replace Jermaine Pratt if Pratt leaves
- 34:56Speaker 1: in free agency. Pro Football Focus has Henley ranked third
- 35:00Speaker 1: seventh on their top one hundred and gave chrisco an
- 35:03Speaker 1: a for selecting him with the sixtieth overall pick. Now
- 35:07Speaker 1: let's get to Pete's third and final pick, and now
- 35:12Speaker 1: the mock simulators racing through round three to get to
- 35:15Speaker 1: pick number ninety two, and you are now on the clock.
- 35:19Speaker 1: By the way, it really pains me not to have
- 35:20Speaker 1: an offensive lineman picked in this group so far. So
- 35:23Speaker 1: I'm gonna look for one of those guys here if
- 35:25Speaker 1: I can. In the third round, if you can call
- 35:27Speaker 1: up the offensive linemen are available, I'll pick one of
- 35:29Speaker 1: those guys. All right, absolutely, So we are now filtering
- 35:32Speaker 1: positions and looking for offensive line You want to start
- 35:36Speaker 1: with tackles. So the pool includes Blake Freeland from BYU,
- 35:42Speaker 1: Louke Taggart from Indiana, Connor Gelvin from Baylor, Braden Daniels
- 35:47Speaker 1: from Utah, Carter Warren from pitt Brian Hayes from Michigan,
- 35:52Speaker 1: as Seem Richards from North Carolina, Trevor Reid from A Louisville.
- 35:56Speaker 1: Let's go to the guards. All right, none of those names.
- 36:01Speaker 1: Freeland's intriguing. But in that scenario, you have a youngest
- 36:06Speaker 1: left tackle. I know John Williams wasn't great last year,
- 36:08Speaker 1: but he's he's a younger player. So interior offensive line
- 36:13Speaker 1: here we go. Okay, don't love worhees Um. I don't
- 36:18Speaker 1: love those two guys. Not in that third round for
- 36:21Speaker 1: those players. How about let's let's go back to the tackles,
- 36:25Speaker 1: because I think Freeland is an interesting guy. He's a
- 36:28Speaker 1: left tackle. He's a massive, massive guy. I mean he's
- 36:30Speaker 1: big um, you know, held up well at BYU, and
- 36:34Speaker 1: you can never have, particularly this team has learned in
- 36:36Speaker 1: the last couple of years, you can never have enough
- 36:38Speaker 1: offensive lineman. I think you draft a good one in
- 36:40Speaker 1: that spot and figure it out from there. So I'll
- 36:42Speaker 1: take I'll take Freeland. Blake Freeland from b YU is
- 36:46Speaker 1: Pete Prisco's third round pick, number ninety overall, and now
- 36:50Speaker 1: we're about to get your draft. I don't think they
- 36:52Speaker 1: like my grade. I bet they don't like my grade.
- 36:55Speaker 1: PFF never likes anything I do. Before we get to
- 37:00Speaker 1: the grade, here's the skinny on BYU offensive tackled Blake Freeland.
- 37:04Speaker 1: He's six eight, three hundred two pounds and opened eyes
- 37:07Speaker 1: at the combine by running the third fastest forty yard
- 37:10Speaker 1: dash of any offensive lineman and setting a new combine
- 37:14Speaker 1: record for his position by posting a thirty seven inch
- 37:18Speaker 1: vertical leap that's better than what wide receivers A. J. Brown,
- 37:23Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins, and Stefan Diggs did at their combines. And again,
- 37:27Speaker 1: Freeland ways three hundred two pounds. Blake was a captain
- 37:32Speaker 1: and a four year starter at BYU who played quarterback
- 37:35Speaker 1: in tight end in high school. Now time to find
- 37:39Speaker 1: out Pete Prisco's grade for selecting Freeland in round three.
- 37:44Speaker 1: Not too bad. Good first and second pick. Plus on
- 37:47Speaker 1: the Blake Freeland pick, Why what's the explanation on it? Well,
- 37:51Speaker 1: they have him one forty two on their big board
- 37:54Speaker 1: and you selected of ninety two, so it would be
- 37:56Speaker 1: a value situation. I went, I went to go get
- 37:59Speaker 1: an offensive one, and I didn't. I'll be honest with you.
- 38:00Speaker 1: You heard me. I had a trouble with the offensive
- 38:02Speaker 1: tackles and the guards. It's not in that spot. I
- 38:06Speaker 1: didn't love them, but I I like my first two
- 38:08Speaker 1: picks a lot. They're overall grade to B B yeah,
- 38:11Speaker 1: I don't love Freeland, but in that spot, I went
- 38:14Speaker 1: for the best offensive tackle. I appreciate you doing this.
- 38:17Speaker 1: You gotta be nothing wrong with a B no, but
- 38:19Speaker 1: I'm an a student that's based on PFF bad grades.
- 38:24Speaker 1: Blake Freeland's a better pick than that. Guys. I bet
- 38:27Speaker 1: Joe Burrow be happy you drafted an offensive lineman. I mean,
- 38:30Speaker 1: how many years in a row? Now it is two
- 38:32Speaker 1: years in a row, and the line was okay until
- 38:34Speaker 1: they had all the injuries. But it just shows you
- 38:36Speaker 1: how fragile that position is. You got to have offensive lineman,
- 38:39Speaker 1: and with ll Collins coming back from a torn acl
- 38:42Speaker 1: go no for sure if he'll be ready for the
- 38:44Speaker 1: start of the season. Adding a top three round offensive
- 38:47Speaker 1: lineman is smart football. Yeah. I mean, look, Carmen showed
- 38:51Speaker 1: he could play tackle, and he would look much more
- 38:53Speaker 1: comfortable playing tackle, so that makes sense. You could shift
- 38:55Speaker 1: him over there and play him on the right side,
- 38:57Speaker 1: and that will alleviate some of the problems. But you
- 39:00Speaker 1: still have guys get hurt and you worry about it.
- 39:02Speaker 1: So you get a young not like Jonah Williams was
- 39:05Speaker 1: Anthony Munios at left tackle last year either, By the way,
- 39:08Speaker 1: sorry Jonah, you're a good sport. Pete. I appreciate you
- 39:11Speaker 1: doing this. Thank you, you got it, no problem. Or
- 39:15Speaker 1: NFL expert mock drafts still to look forward to in
- 39:18Speaker 1: the weeks to come. That's going to do it for
- 39:20Speaker 1: this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you
- 39:23Speaker 1: by Kettering Health, the official healthcare provider of the Bengals,
- 39:26Speaker 1: by Bengals Picks and Ultimate Bengals. They're free to play
- 39:30Speaker 1: with tickets and signed merchandise up for grabs by Paycorp,
- 39:33Speaker 1: the official HR software provider of the Bengals, and by
- 39:37Speaker 1: Alta Fiber future Proof Fiber Internet elevate your connection with
- 39:42Speaker 1: Alta Fiber. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe
- 39:45Speaker 1: to this podcast and if you have a minute, give
- 39:47Speaker 1: it a rating or share a comment that helps more
- 39:50Speaker 1: Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening
- 39:54Speaker 1: to The Bengals Booth Podcast.