August 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Cincinnati gets ready for its preseason opener in Philadelphia. Dan Hoard’s guests include quarterback Desmond Ridder and Robert Weintraub from the FTN Football Almanac. Plus, teammates and coaches react to an impressive training camp start for first round draft pick Shemar Stewart.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
The Bengals Booth Podcast. B Let's startle over addition, as
the Bengals get ready for their preseason opener on Thursday
night in Philly. Coming up, teammates and coaches react to
an impressive training camp start for first round draft pick
Shamar Stewart. I'll go one on one with quarterback Desmond Ritter,
(00:26):
and we'll get smart analysis from Robert Weintraub from the
FTN Football Almanac and Cincinnati Magazine. The Bengals Booth Podcast
is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be
the Bengals official HR software provider, by aulta Fiber future
proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and
community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the
(00:49):
best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the
official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick
reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
podcast delivered to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since
playing the Feud. My wife and I enjoy playing bar
(01:12):
trivia with our friends and neighbors, and we have a
pretty competitive team. But recently we've also enjoyed playing a
version that's similar to the classic TV show Family Feud.
It's a little bit easier because instead of actually having
to know facts, you just have to guess the most
popular answers to survey questions. So if you've tried bar
(01:35):
trivia and got turned off by the team of geeky
geniuses that knew everything, give less, call feud a try.
There's no Steve Harvey, but there is beer. Now let's
get to football. There have been a lot of positive
developments so far at training camp. The defense appears to
(01:55):
be much improved, although there are days where it's impossible
to stop Burrow, who's been throwing the ball with surgical precision.
But my biggest takeaway in the last week since the
last episode of this podcast is that Shamar Stuart has
been living up to his nickname the Menace. In his
second practice, Schamar had pass deflections on back to back
(02:17):
plays and one of them would have been a sack
if he didn't veer away from Jake Browning. Two days later,
he had a sack of Desmond Ritter where I timed
him getting to the quarterback in two point zero eight seconds.
And on Saturday, when the team held its annual public
practice inside of pay Court Stadium, Chamar had a sack,
(02:38):
a pass deflection, and bull rushed three hundred and thirty
pound tackle Devin Cochrane right into Browning. If you are
skeptical of the pick because of Stuart's lack of sacks
at Texas A and M, you should be encouraged by
the impact he's having at practice. But don't take my
word for it. Listen to these comments from Amarus Mims.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
It's a fierce ball of fire. Like some guys like that,
you don't expect them to be big and fast. But
he's just like I said's definitely definitely a very very
talented m Like I said, man, speeding power is very
important playing here because like I said, man, he's He's
definitely a guy you gotta watch out focus. He would
run through your face if you look, if you're not like,
if you're not in.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Your like ps and Q's man, fierce ball.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's what it is. That's what it is, man. I'm
telling you, like he fast, he get off the ball.
He running four six, but that ain't No. Four six
off there. That's it feels faster for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I guess everybody in this lock rings looking back out
to make plays.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Man, Man, yes, man, look at him like I said,
we dropped him at seventeen pick for a reason. I
know he's gonna make club. I told hm yesterday it's
gonna be a bunch of ups and down player. But
just getting up playbook and just minimize all your airs.
You're gonna do a great football player. I saw one
hundredth believe him. We're gona be a great player.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
He's not there yet, but five year veteran TJ. Slayton
says it shouldn't take long for Stuart to make a splash.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
He's very quick.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
He's a naturally strong.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
He just needs a little little bit of moves and
it's two balls and I feel like he be already
right there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery is trying to help Shamar
develop those moves at practice. When he sees something he
doesn't like, he immediately stops the drill and corrects it.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
You do something right on the patchout, you do something wall,
I'm gonna show you how does do a better All right,
I'm gonna correct it. But if you keep letting mistakes
slip and you don't say anything, even to you are
star players, then all of a sudden, you give him
an answer to take a flip.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
All right, here comes a hot take. I'd be willing
to bet that Shamar has more sacks this year than
the four and a half he had in three years
at A and M. But more importantly, he's going to
impact the game with his versatility and relentless motor. Here's
defensive coordinator Al Golden to.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
Whatever your opinion was of Shamar, that player is rare
coming out of a draft. Somebody that can come off
the edge one play playing the B gap, two plays
later playing the C gap, set the edge, do multiple things.
It's just rare because you generally get you guys that
(05:05):
are two fifty five, But to get a guy to
eighty that can do that with that kind of power
is rare, and we're said to have.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It's going to be fun to watch Stewart on Thursday
night against the Eagles. Zach Taylor says his starters, including
Joe Burrow, are going to play at some point in
the preseason, but as of this recording, he hasn't shared
his plans for the preseason opener. One thing we know
for sure is that Jake Browning and Desmond Ritter will
(05:33):
play in that game. Ritter joined the team just before
the start of training camp as the Bengals were looking
to upgrade the number three quarterback on the roster who
is likely to be on the practice squad. Desmond, of course,
had an incredible career at the University of Cincinnati, leading
the Bearcats to a forty four and six record in
his four years as the starting quarterback with trips to
(05:55):
the Peach and Cotton Bolls. After being drafted in the
third round by Atlanta, he went eight and nine as
they're starting quarterback before being traded to Arizona after the
Falcons signed Kirk Cousins. After spending last year with the
Cardinals and the Raiders, Ritter became a free agent and
beat out Tyler Hutley and c. J. Bethard in a
(06:16):
tryout for a spot with the Bengals. I spoke to
the twenty five year old from Lolaville this week. Dez
complete the sentence. Joe Burrow is.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
The real deal, you know, just watching them every single day,
all the days that I've been here the past couple
of weeks. You know, on the field, off the field,
you know, he's the real deal. So he's a great
one to learn behind, a great one to see go
through practice every single day, you know, go through his preparation,
and so I'm excited, you know, once we get to
a real game week to see what that truly looks like.
(06:50):
But as four, it comes to camp. Every single day,
he shows up and comes to work, and you know,
it's it's like watching Art out there.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
You've been with the Falcons, Cardinals, and Raiders over the
past few years, some good veteran quarterbacks on those teams,
including Kyler Murray when you're in Arizona. But is Joe
just different?
Speaker 6 (07:09):
Yeah, I would say so. You know, he's just different
in a lot of ways. But you know, the biggest
thing I've seen is just mentally the way he mentally
sees the game out there on the field and is
able to react and just get to the right place
with the ball and put the ball on the right spot.
But he's the fastest I've seen as far as reaction
time to the defense and as far as where he
(07:30):
knows where he wants to go to the.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Ball we're visiting with Desmond Ritter. Let's turn the clock
back to twenty eighteen. He red shirted your first year
at UC and then in the off season, Joe Burrow
is going to transfer from Ohio State. He's seriously considered.
You see, he wound up at LSU. Had he been
a Bearcat, you probably would have had to wait a
couple of years to be the starting quarterback. Would you
(07:52):
have stuck around? What do you think would have happened?
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, obviously back then, you know that transfer
all there was different things of you know, it's not
the wild ball, that's how it is today. But no,
you know, we would have came in and we competed.
You know, however it would have been you know, that
was actually one of the couple of things that we
had talked about. You know, when I got here earlier,
I was like, you know, I heard that you you know,
might have been coming to Cincinnati at some point, and
he was like, yeah, you know, it's down to you know,
(08:16):
the Bearcats and LSU, and you know, he chose a
great route and obviously, you know, continue to have a
great career down there at the Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I would say, it worked out well for both of
you and both schools. Certainly, the Bengals have a quarterback
centric organization. Mike Brown is a very successful quarterback at Dartmouth.
Zach Taylor was the Big twelve Player of the Year
in Nebraska. Dan Pitcher was an All American at the
Division III level. Does that mean anything to you as
a player in this organization.
Speaker 6 (08:44):
Yeah, I mean for me being the quarterback and and
just going out there and being able to play the
game just a little bit different than I have the
previous couple of years, you know, where maybe it's more
of a pass first offense rather than a run first,
whereas you know, throughout I would say as all of
my past eight years through college through the NFL, I've
been in run heavy offenses. So for to be able
(09:06):
to come out here and you know, to want to
throw the ball downfield and want to spread it out
and get their playmakers of ball, it's something cool to
be a part of.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
We're chatting with Desmond Ritter. You join the team just
before the start of training camp. How long does it
take to feel like you've got the offense mastered?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (09:21):
I mean mastered is obviously the keyword. I mean, it
takes a little bit, but to have a good sense
and understanding of what you're doing, you know, I feel like,
you know, we're into about the second week camp. We
have about one hundred percent of the plays in and
you know, i'd say I'm about you know, seventy five
to eighty percent there. But there's still a lot of
work to be done. But as far as mastering it,
you know, it takes a year or a couple of years.
And like I said, you know, Joe's been in it
(09:43):
for five and he definitely hasn't mastered.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
In the Quarterback documentary on Netflix, there's a scene where
Jared Goff has his wife helping him memorize the plays
because they're so complicated and so wordy. Do you do
anything like that with your wife or do you have
any other tricks that help you?
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Yeah, no, that I mean, I would say that's pretty
universal throughout the league, so I would I would say
pretty much all of the quarterbacks wives have definitely read
the script or time or two. So no, it was funny.
We watched like the first episode of that show and
my wife was like, hey, I do that and everything,
and no, but I'd say, it's pretty universal if it's
not your wife, someone's reading it to you, because there's
no no way that you're able to just you know,
(10:20):
read it off the paper and say it back to
yourself and then truly understand it, because that's not how
it is on Sundays. That's not how you get it
in the game. You get it from someone else reading
it to you. So it's pretty it's a pretty funny
part of the of the Wags.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Shout out to Claire for her assistance. Guys, you've had
some good moments in the NFL. You've got eight wins
as a starting quarterback. You beat Tom Brady in his
final NFL regular season start. Do you have a highlight
so far of your NFL career?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (10:49):
No, I wouldn't. I woantn't say I have a highlight
so far. You know, if you want to talk about one,
it's just you know, being in the league, just stepping
on the field for the first time, just going out
there and playing the game I love and living out
you know, my kids, my dream, and you know a
lot of kids dreams in the world is just to
be an NFL player. So to be able to go
out there and live that out and just be one
(11:09):
of the few, one of the many. You know, it's
just a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You were the quarterback of two of the best teams
in UC football history, and a lot of your former
teammates are doing well in the NFL. Sauce Gardner's the
highest paid cornerback. Alec Pierce led the league in yards
per catch last year. Brian Cook has started for a
Super Bowl team the last couple of years. Is that
a huge source of pride to you, guys, and do
you feel like you have changed the trajectory of UC football?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (11:37):
I don't know if that's a question for me or
Coach Fick, but you know, I you know, I'm happy
for all the guys that are successful. You know, they
worked their butts off every single day, day in and
day out, and show up to work every single week
just to try to get better. And that's all we
did at Cincinnati was just trying to make each other better,
whether it was offense versus offense, or defense versus offense,
whatever it may have been. I was just trying to
(11:58):
make every single person around us better.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
As I imagine, you'll get a lot of opportunities to
play in the preseason games. Is your thought, I need
to do as well as I possibly can to show
the Bengals that I'm a great option to be on
the roster. Or is there also the thought in your
back of your mind, I'm looking to be a starter
in this league. If I play really well in the preseason,
maybe somebody else picks me up.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Uh you know, my thought is obviously just to go
out and play the best ball that I can play,
put my best foot for no matter whether it's here,
there or anywhere, doesn't matter where I'm at. I want
to go out there and be the best person on
the field. So you know, I just want to step
out there and have the mindset that I'm gonna go
out there and play my best ball.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Final thing for gusmin Ridder. You lived here for five years.
Since you've been back playing for the Bengals, have you
gone back to any of your favorite eateries or places
in town? Have you had any opportunity to do anything
like that, knowing how busy you've.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Been, Uh no, not really. This is the only one
place I've been to is Candada. You know, just grab
a couple of tacos, some kso, but uh no, just
during camp. Now, I haven't had that much time to
kind of get out. You know, your off time has
really just been wrestling, so you know, that's just what
I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Great to see you in a Cincinnati jersey, whether it's
Bearcats or Bengals. Best of luck in the preseason.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Thank you Jan.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Before we get to my next guest, here's a quick
reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR
software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed
to elevate your home, business and community to a new level,
and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
(13:37):
The FDN Football Almanac, formerly known as the Football Outsiders Almanac,
came out recently and if you're thinking about buying one
preseason guide to the NFL, this is the one to get.
There's a bunch of interesting data in the book if
that's your thing, but I enjoy it for the writing.
The Almanac is informative, interesting and funny. There's an in
(14:01):
depth look at every NFL team and the Cincinnati chapter
was written by my friend Robert Weintraub, who also writes
about the Bengals on a regular basis for Cincinnati Magazine
dot com. Robert, every team in the FTN Almanac has
a projected win total, and for the Bengals it's nine
point one, which seems pessimistic, but then I look closer.
(14:26):
It's the fifth best in the AFC, it's the eleventh
best in the NFL. What does a projected win total
of nine point one tell us about the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Well, let's remember first of all, that that was the
win total exactly of what they've had the last two seasons,
and they also arrived at those nine wins in very
very different ways. If you remember twenty twenty three, they
won nine games despite playing one of the hardest schedules
we've ever measured, and without Joe Burrow for a lot
of that time. And then last year it was the opposite.
(14:58):
They had Burrow, they were explosive. We figured they cruise
into the playoffs, and they found excruciating ways to lose
every week. So you know, you have to remember that's
just like a mean projection, mean not being pessimistic, mean,
but mean being the sense of average. That we played
the season a million times, as I always love to
say to you and my doctor evil voice, and you
(15:19):
know that's how it came out. The most number of
times was nine wins. Doesn't mean we're predicting nine wins.
And I think it's important to remember that the range
is what's important, and by far the largest range in
terms of percentage for the Bengals is between nine and
eleven wins. So you know eleven The difference last year
between nine wins and eleven wins was what a fumbled
(15:42):
hold in overtime against the Ravens and the defensive penalty
in Kansas City. You know, the slightest of margins, and
we're thinking about the team entirely differently. Now. Of course,
it could also increasingly go the other direction, and they
could finish with fewer than nine wins, and then there
would be wholesale changes, no doubt some of the areas
on the sideline. But you know, I don't don't think
(16:04):
of it as, oh, look, the Bengals are going to
win nine games again. The truth is there, as you mentioned,
one of the half dozen or so teams that are
projected at the top of the AFC where they go
from there. You know, the margins are very tight, but
you know, this is sort of who the Bengals are also.
I mean, we tend to think of if you take
a holistic look at the team in the Borough era,
(16:26):
you know, throw out his rookie year that didn't count,
and just the last four years. We think of maybe
last year as kind of the outlier. Oh, they were
much better than a nine to eight team and they
should have been a playoff team. And maybe that's true,
but by under the hood metrics that we measure play
by play efficiency DVA, our standard stat really twenty twenty
two is the outlier. That's when they were really good
(16:46):
and had a complete team and were much better than
you know, sort of the competition, maybe the best team
in football by the end of the year, even though
it didn't translate to a Super Bowl championship. But the
other three seasons that Burrow has been there, they've been
basically the same team by DVOA and also by records nine,
nine and ten wins. You know, so this is sort
of who they are and DVOA isn't going to change
(17:07):
that until they prove it on the field for more
than one season, and you know the time is not
to do that, no question about.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
It is the big difference for the DVOA. The defense.
The defense of DVOA was good in twenty twenty two, correct, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
It was much better than it has been the last
couple of years. Absolutely, And yes there's also you know,
subtle changes and when we project forward, you know, there's
a lot of small differences that get taken into account
in terms of you know, personnel changes and a little
bit in terms of coaching as well. You know, in
Cincinnati we're obviously banking a lot on a defensive coordinator change.
(17:43):
That's the kind of thing that only slightly adjusts the
statistics ort of the projection of the efficiency ahead of
the season, but it can have a huge effect when
the games actually are played. You know. So another reason
why should only take those sort of preseason mean projections
in terms of win totals as a you know, sort
of a baseline indicator, but not necessarily something that's going
to happen in terms of a week by week or
(18:05):
an entire season projection.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Really, we are chatting with our pal Robert Weintraub from
the FTN Football Almanac. You can also read his work
in Cincinnati Magazine. I have not read the Almanac cover
to cover yet, but I've read a big chunk. And
here is a sentence from the beginning of the Almanac.
It's the fourth paragraph, in fact, and it's about how
the Philadelphia Eagles built their Super Bowl championship team. Quote.
(18:29):
Teams win from the lines out, not from the perimeter
in So when Bengals fans hear that, I can almost
picture what they're saying. Ah, the Bengals are paying a
lot of money on wide receivers when they should be
focusing on the line. But then I look at the
Bengals drafts. They took a defensive lineman in the first
round this year, an offensive lineman in the first round
(18:51):
last year, another defensive lineman in the first round the
year before. So what do you think of the Bengals
team building strategy.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, I think their hearts, if you will, and minds
have been in the right place. I mean, it's it's
sort of you have to first and foremost before you
build from the lines out. You got to get the
quarterback right right, and that they did, and it happened
to be in this case. You know, in Philadelphia's case,
they still have excellent skill position players. They built from
the line out because they had a lot of extra
(19:22):
picks and they focused on that quite a bit and
they've been able to you know, even when guys get
lost to free agency or to injury, they are able
to keep that machine going. Same as Baltimore. Really, Bengals
haven't had the same you know, track record in developing
the talent. That's really been where they've fallen behind the
elite teams. I think though that as you mentioned, they've
spent quite a bit of draft capital on the interior
(19:44):
of their lines and both sides of the ball, that
hasn't been the issue. And you know, you go back
into Bengals history, they've always had an elite lineman, going
back to the Anthony Mino's days right up until Andrew Whitworth,
and you know, it's only been a recent vintage that
they just for whatever reason can't seem to get that
offensive line in shape the way they needed to play,
(20:04):
and especially with the number of passes that they throw.
Hopefully Amarius Men's takes that step forward and becomes that
elite lineman. And you know, we've helped for other guys
on both sides of the ball as well. But you know,
it's not like the Bengals that, oh, we're gonna pay
our wide receivers and ignore our line. I mean, it
just happened to be a little bit. These things go in,
you know, kind of dynamic ways, who was available to
(20:25):
pay at what time, and it just so happened to
be that they're really the only guys that you were
going to pay the big money and extend right now
are the wide receivers. If they had offensive or defensive
linemen that were just justified in getting that money, I'm
sure they would have given it to him without a
second thought. So, you know, the Trey Hendrickson saga notwithstanding.
(20:46):
So it's not like they're ignoring our precepts. And you know,
those are rules that are made to be broken. There's
plenty of teams that could be proven as counter examples
to the Eagles, who you know, were extreme in that
particular way of building from the lines out. But you know,
the Browns forever had Hall of famers on their offensive
line like Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and they couldn't
(21:07):
get out of their own way and finish last every
single year. So It's not like it's a hard and
fast rule, but in general principle, you do want to
pay attention to the lines on both sides of the ball,
and the Eagles certainly proved that last season.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Robert, you wrote the Bengals chapter again this year in
the Almanac, and there's some really interesting information and data
on lou Anarumo in the Bengals chapter. His defenses were
great in the playoffs in twenty one and twenty two,
good in the regular season in twenty twenty two, and
he almost got a head coaching job as a result.
(21:41):
But as you point out, overall, the body of work
was not that good. Was the reputation better than the record?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, I don't think there's any question. And remember he
didn't have much of a reputation when he came to Cincinnati,
and he was hired very late in the process, and
he was pretty anonymous really up until that twenty twenty
one playoff run and maybe even until the second half
of the Chiefs came. I mean, that's where his reputation
really was built. Followed up on it with an excellent
twenty two and two all the way through, as he
(22:10):
pointed out, And you know, but that was a short
sample size, and if you look at the rest.
Speaker 7 (22:15):
Of the years, the two years before and or two
years before and two years after, defenses weren't that great
and they had a lot of similar issues, which was
mainly tackling and getting to the passer and you know,
in a lot of ways, not making the key play
in the key moments in the red.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Zone and on third down. And you know, I think
looking back on it, he had a certain way of
style that he wanted to play. Lou And I'm not
denigrating him as a coach, obviously he knows what he's doing,
but it certainly seemed in the last couple of years
that once Jesse Bates left, he didn't have an answer
to it, just to the idea that, Okay, Jesse will
clean up everything that doesn't go exactly right in the
(22:55):
in the rest of the team at a given play.
And he saw that really exacerbated last year I think,
where he just you know, stuck to a system that
wasn't working for way too long until the season got
away from him. Had issues with a lot of the players,
and you know, when he simplified things that made it
easier for them and tailored his defense to what the
guys he had left could do. Well. He saw the
(23:17):
defense improve in the last third of the season, granted
against you know, some mediocre quarterbacks, but still they played
a lot better. And you know, I don't think there's
any doubt that if he had gone to that sort
of you know, I'll just use what I have right
now and not you know, kind of force the players
into playing what I think works best and do what
(23:37):
they do best. A lot earlier in twenty twenty four,
he might still have a job, but you know he doesn't.
And now we'll see what Al Golden can do with
basically the same personnel and you know, just a different
approach and a different mindset, and hopefully it works. Obviously
all Bengals fans eyes around him. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
So, speaking of Al Golden, I heard you mentioned in
a radio interview last week with our mutual friends Moegger
that you are writing about Al for Cincinnati Magazine. What
were some of the biggest takeaways from the time that
you spent with him.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, and shout out to mo what a guy. I
think for the most part, it's you know, I didn't
we didn't really get into like schemes or anything like
that too heavily. But I think the most thing that
I took away was just that, you know, his his
overall professionalism and confidence in his ability to do the
job and to you know, be a coach at this level.
(24:29):
You know, I think a lot of Bengal fans kind
of only know him as a position coach from the
Super Bowl team and then a guy who left to
go to Notre Dame and coordinate a really good defense
there and now he's coming back to try and prove
himself here. But you know, that's not really who Al
Golden is. He's a programmed builder, head coach in college
at multiple places, and the guy who actually won games
at Temple, which is almost impossible to do. He knows
(24:52):
what he's doing. He has an absolutely dedicated approach that
he you know, has proven successful in a number of stops.
And you know, the NFL is a different animal, and
whether you can win on a consistent basis in this
league with your style remains to be seen. But he
definitely knows what he's doing and is very confident of that.
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
The last time he was here, there was a season
where the Bengals drafted three linebackers out of seven picks,
including Logan Wilson, and they all turned out to be
good players. This year, two of their top four draft
picks were linebackers. Demetrius Knight is likely to start from
day one. Is linebacker especially critical to an l golden defense?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You know, he certainly thinks, so who might argue with him? Yeah,
I think in general terms, he's looking at it as
two ways that you know, he wants to increase the
speed of the defense and the tackling at that position.
So that's why they went after, especially a player like Knight,
and that can obviously help your defense as a whole.
(25:56):
You know, there's an old saying in football, if your
linebackers are faster, defense fast, and I think, you know,
we saw the opposite be true in a lot of
ways in Cincinnati last year. And I also think that,
you know, for the most part, he saw a lot
of guys that he could already work with in Cincinnati
at the other position groups on the defensive line and
in the secondary, almost thinking all right, I mean, you know,
(26:16):
he only had so many draft picks to play with
per se, but I mean, you know, he figured out
we had the talent on hand up front, and then
the defensive backfield linebacker is really the place where we
can really improve. And you know, the idea is that
with the new personnel, the two picks you mentioned, plus
maybe an Orang Burks chips in as well and his
(26:37):
sort of you know, not over reliance, but more reliance,
I think you'll see a lot more of a three
linebacker sets than you've seen in the past. Certainly, you know,
the league kind of went to three wide receivers, which
tended to take a lot of the linebackers off the
field quite a bit, but that seems to be swinging
a little bit the other way. And certainly in the
AFC North, you always want to play good run defense.
So I think he looks at it as there's a
(26:59):
place where the defense and immediately be improved. Can really
set a different kind of attitude for the team, and
you know, give a different look than the defenses that
were gashed the last couple of years, and maybe make
offensive coordinators of the opposition think they'll have to go
find another way to move the ball.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Against Cincinnati, we are chatting with Robert Weintraub from the
FTN Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk offensive line.
It looks like third round draft pick Dylan Fairchild will
be the starting left guard this year. Right guard still
up for grabs, could be Cody Ford, could be Lucas Patrick.
Maybe somebody else like Cordel Vohlson sneaks in there and
(27:36):
wins the spot. You have referred to the battle at
right guard as the melee of mediocrates. Is that position,
or guard in general, the big worry in your mind
going into this year?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I mean, certainly on the offense, it is no question.
You know, it's we've seen now in the NFL where
defenses are really attacking quarterbacks up the middle more and
more the linemen that they have to play against and
up the gut at defensive tackle or getting ever more
talented and giving a lot more pressure up the middle,
and the The Bengals have responded by essentially turning over
(28:10):
the position to a rookie who is a good prospect
deal and Fairchild, but it's you know, it's not Quenton
Nelson or somebody coming into the league as a slam
dunk player, and you know, a journeyman in probably Lucas Patrick.
As you say, most likely has the leg up, but again,
who's missed a lot of time seventeen games, I think
it is over the last three years, and you know,
(28:31):
not much behind them except for stopgap you know, answers
really there, and I guess it's still certainly possible they
could call somebody in the off the sofa, but that
has its own issues. And you know, it's just you
have such a such an lead offense and so many
other places, and you know, to have it be at
acting and operating at its max doesn't require every single
(28:55):
position to be awesome, but it does require every position
not to be terrible, or these you know, two key
positions in the same position group not to be terrible.
So the bar isn't really all that high for the
likes of Dylan Fairschild and Nucas Patrick or whoever plays
right guard. They just have to be a little bit
above replacement level player, which is unfortunately the level that
the Bengals have seen over the last few years at
(29:16):
some of those spots. So, you know, I'm a little
pessimistic about the idea of turning your you know, this
sort of lamborghinium and offense and then worrying about the
hug caps falling off if you know, you wind up
playing a rookie and a journeyman at these important spots.
But you know, that's sort of where we are now.
We're just gonna have to hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I suppose the Bengals are definitely going to be playing
younger players on defense. And here's another line from the
Almanac that caught my eye. Quote old players break down
faster and young players improve faster. Does that bode well
for this defense under Al Golden?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I mean one would hope. So the defense is certainly young.
I feel like the problem last year in a lot
of ways, unfortunately, was that the young player is broke though,
you know, I mean you look at the likes of
Dax Hill and DJ Turner just the name too, you know,
key elements, key factors, both guys who seem to be
on the verge of kind of breaking through and then
they were lost for the season. And you know, that's
(30:15):
the NFL. I mean, that's that's just the way it works.
But you know, just because you're young doesn't mean you're
immune to injury. Obviously, you want to be young, fast
and hungry, and if you're putting so much money. As
the Bengals are into their offense, there's sort of no option.
You're going to have to rely on younger players who
don't make a lot of money to you know, get
the job done. And I think that's you know, Al
(30:38):
Golden has proven that as his specialty. Certainly in Notre Dame.
He coached up a lot of young guys and turned
them into a fearsome unit. I think that's what everybody's
counting on him to do here in Cincinnati, and you know,
I hope for the best, but you know, they have
to stay healthy. And I think that was a big
underrated element to last year's quote unquote defensive breakdown in
a lot of ways was the fact that a lot
(30:59):
of guys not only we're out for a season, but
you know, got off to an injured starting training camp
and never really got up to speed up to full speed.
They were playing from behind the eight ball the whole time.
Hopefully they can stay healthy. Injuries always happened, but you
hope that Dell, certainly with the young players that have
been picked highly in the draft in a few recent years,
can stay on the field and prove their worth. That's
(31:20):
really been the issue for them so far.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Trey Hendrickson is in the building, but he's not practicing.
We're not sure what's going to happen with his contract.
He obviously is under contract for this year. He had
seventeen and a half sacks. Last year, his teammates combined
had eighteen and a half. How vital is Trey Hendrickson
to the Bengals Super Bowl hopes?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Well, I mean, he's one of their best players, and
it's hard to win a Super Bowl without your best
players being healthy and producing at a high level. I mean,
that part's obvious, you know. I kind of feel that
just by nature of his position, there's certainly a number
of guys, including the player that they just picked, you know,
for in the draft this past year, Samar Stewart, who
(32:02):
are available to at least provide, you know, a healthy
amount of percentage of what he provided at least last year,
you know, and maybe they can get by without him
operating at one hundred percent or if he has to
miss a few games, whatever, you know. I look to
a player, maybe like a Marius Mims or Orlando Brown
(32:23):
as even more critical that they have to stay healthy
and on the field and be there because of what's
behind them, which is not much. And because of what
we expect from both those players. You know, obviously, as
we say, to make a Super Bowl run, to make
a deep playoff run, it's hard to do without your
very best guys, and Trey is certainly one of their
very best guys. And I think you know you mentioned
(32:44):
before about the question about older players breaking fast. I mean,
I think that's what Cincinnati's front office has in the
front of their mind in terms of contract negotiations with Trey,
is that the greatest he's been in the past. The
overwhelming likelihood of players of his age and his position
going forward is that of breaking down or you know,
certainly losing a percentage of ability to play through an
(33:05):
entire season. So you just hope that Trey will be
signed happy and make it through an entire season and
have it be anywhere close to what he had last year,
because he was, as you mentioned, virtually the entirety of
their pass rush, although surprisingly enough, in twenty twenty three
and twenty twenty four the past the pressure rate excuse me,
it was almost exactly the same. It was just that
(33:27):
the sacks themselves fell off, and the adjusted sack rate
the percentage of sacks these a vi the dropbacks that
they faced fell off dramatically, so you know, again it
was the margins that really hurt them. If you think
back to the games last year, how many times did
they almost sacked the quarterback and yet the quarterback escaped
they made a big play. Lamar Jackson's made a career
of that against Cincinnati, or even the opener when Trey
(33:50):
came so close against Jacoby Brissette against the Patriots in
that game and just couldn't bring him down. You know,
I don't. I don't feel like the defense is even
that far off in that could and obviously having Hendrickson
on the team can only help in that fashion.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Robert, there are a ton of interesting stats and nuggets
in the Almanac in addition to fantastic writing. But here
are a couple of nuggets that really surprised me. Number One,
the Bengals led the NFL in dropped passes. I would
have never guessed that. Number Two, the Bengals were really
bad at running plays when Joe Burrow was under center.
(34:27):
For the last several years, we've talked about, Oh, he's
got to get under center more to help the running game.
Did those nuggets or any others really jump out to you?
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Well, I tell you I wasn't not shocked, but those
two that you cite. And here's why. The drop passes
mostly as a function of the fact that the Bengals threw
it so much, their volume was so high. Surprisingly, only
the Browns threw it more than the Bengals did last season.
Amazingly enough, they had the same number of attempts almost
but the Bengals completed I think about eleven percentage points
higher than the Browns, which is almost impossible if you
(34:58):
throw the same amount of passes. But that's a whole
different story. So you know, it just goes to show
if they had caught more of those grabs, how incredible
burrow season really would have been. But it wasn't truly shocking,
just from a volume point of view. And yeah, we've
been talking forever about how getting Burrow under center can
really help diversify the offense. I think when Eric All
was on the field that they tried to lean in
(35:20):
that direction a little bit more, and when he got hurt,
you know, they went right back to their comfort zone.
I mean, Joe Burrow is an elite shotgun player, and
they've always had heavy splits in that department where they
were very good with him both throwing and running from
the shotgun, and very poor under center. And without a
dedicated effort to really try and even those two splits out,
(35:42):
it's kind of just going to be that way, and
you know, hopefully we can see that change as the
personnel maybe changes going forward. I think the stat that
really jumped out of me as being most indicative of
the entire season, however, was the fact that the Bengals
spent more time than any other team tied during their games.
Almost a full quarter every game was spent tied, and
(36:02):
that just shows you how close the margins were and
how even everything was, and how you know, coming out
at nine and eight almost was sort of, you know,
proper too bad they couldn't go eight and eight, and
just you know, everything came down it seemed like every
week to a coin flip, and so many of them fell,
you know, on the wrong side of the fence, if
(36:23):
you will, and they just have to get a couple
of those games on the right side of the fence,
and we think about the team in an entirely different way.
That would really be what I'm looking forward for this
season is to win some of those close games and
hopefully the defense making plays, you know. And another stat
that leeds to mind is that they, you know, really
had a good season in terms of, you know, average
(36:44):
yards per attempt against. The secondary was much maligned, but
on a play to play basis, they weren't that bad.
But they gave up thirty touchdowns and their the rate
of touchdown passes against was at the bottom of the league.
So if you just you know, you make some of
those plays and tackle them at the eight yard line
and you reset and you force the team and kick
a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown, that changes
(37:06):
everything in the game. We don't really think of it
as that way when you take the holistic look at it,
the big picture look, but you know, on a play
to play basis, that's really where the Bengals were killed
last year. And if they can improve that, dave as
a good chance as anybody as being a you know,
in a week team in a Upper Russia on team
for sure.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
A few more topics for Robert Wintrop from the FTN
Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk about the AFC North,
the Almanac makes a compelling case that Baltimore statistically has
been one of the best teams in the modern era,
and yet they have not been to the Super Bowl
with Lamar Jackson at quarterback? Is something obvious holding them back?
(37:47):
What's the deal? You know?
Speaker 3 (37:50):
I mean, I don't think it's obvious. I think it's
they've just come up against and had misfortune in the
biggest of spots. And you know, it's hard for a
statistical based organization like we are to really put our
finger exactly on why that seemingly keeps happening. It wasn't
that long ago, you remember, though, that they seem to
be in a bit of a flux and Lamarrow obviously
(38:11):
was playing out his contract and in a dispute maybe
yet for trade, maybe there was collusion to keep him
from being traded, whatever. But you know, we thought of
the team as having a lot of holes and maybe
in a direction that they didn't want to go in.
And in typical Raven fashion, they managed to have a
couple of really high impact drafts in a row, and
Lamar came back and obviously came back that almost better
(38:33):
than ever. And it's unfortunate, but that's the truth, we
were almost rid of him and we just couldn't quite
get him out of the division. But there's no doubt
they've they've been probably the first or second best team
overall over the last couple of years in the regular season.
But you know, they have this thing, and it's certainly
not unprecedented in football history or sports history for a
(38:54):
team just to be really good and yet not break
through to the championship level, you know, until they do.
I mean, many's the time that the team has stubbed
their toe on the way up multiple seasons in a row,
only to finally then break through it one year or
a number of years. I don't think we want that
to happen in Cincinnati at the expense of the Bengals.
(39:15):
But you know, in ravens Land, I'm sure they're thinking
they're just really close. There's no point in changing things.
They don't have a lot of, you know, things that
they can point to and say, oh, this is the
reason why we're losing in these you know, high impact,
you know, high pressure playoff games. They've just made a
few less plays than the opposition in those handful of games,
and there's you know, there's only so much you can
(39:35):
do about it, except, you know, play better on the day.
I guess you'd have to say.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
You wrote the Pittsburgh Steelers chapter in the Almanac this year.
Is this the year that Mike tomlin streak of never
having had a losing season ends in year nineteen?
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Well, I mean to answer your own question almost by
saying it in that way, it's almost impossible to think
right out. I'm never one to soft pedal the Steelers.
I've learned that lesson the hard way. With a lot
of black and gold cleats on the back of my head.
It feels like they have a lot of good players,
a lot of good players. I mean, you look past
(40:15):
their quarterback dysfunction, and obviously that's a huge thing. And
I'm not trying to say that's not important. That's the
most important thing really, But you know, the Bengals have
lost the Steelers with the players like Duck Hodges and
Kenny Pickett and all kinds of you know, mediocre the
worst quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. So you know, we don't know
what Aaron Rodgers is going to give them, if he
(40:36):
gives them even sort of a you know, just above
average play. They they do have a ton of young talent,
especially as we were talking about, you know, on the
lines on both sides of the ball, and a lot
of good defensive players. They think they have an answer
and they're gonna do what they do. It certainly seems
that they have a hard ceiling that even with the
(40:57):
winning record, you know, it obviously hasn't worked for them
in the playoffs in many years. They have a long
streak now of seasons without a playoff win. But to
say that they're not going to you know, have a
winning record or you know, to fall off in crater
into some kind of five and twelve team, I don't
see that at all. And you know, I think the
Bengals and the Steelers will be battling it out right
(41:18):
off until the end for maybe that maybe that that
second playoff position behind the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
And here's a hard hitting analytically based question to conclude
our discussion of the AFC North. Well, the Cleveland Brown stink.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
They already do. I mean, come on, I can smell
them from here, listen. Yeah, I mean it's they already
were bad. And you know, their quarterback situation is you know,
difficult to describe almost and it just gets worse. They
you know, just lost Martine Emerson to a terrible injury
(41:55):
in training camp. And Joker Jeremiah Owazu Karamosa always a
hard name to say, Jay Okay exactly. He's a guy
who's always given the Bengals fits with his speed and range,
and you know, now he's gonna miss the season of course,
and his careers in jeopardy. Just seems like there's just
negative juju as usual there and saying that, you know,
(42:17):
I mean, the Bengals were actually the only team to
sweep the Browns in the AFC North last year. They
split with the Ravens and the Steelers. Surprisingly enough, I
know it doesn't feel that way. And the games between
Cincy and Cleveland, you know, better than anybody, they always
are tough, regardless of you know, the relative merits of
either team. Miles Garrett is still there. He's always going
to cause a problem for the Bengals no matter what happens.
(42:39):
I mean, they're not going to be good, but that
doesn't mean the Bengals are gonna have walkovers over them
in either the games they play this year, and they'll
be you know, they'll be a pain in the butt
for somebody along the way, for sure, but overall you
can't think of them is they're obviously rebuilding and looking
to the future in amassing picks and trying to rebuild.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Robert I mentioned you have a profile of al Golden
coming up in Cincinnati Magazine. Can we look forward to
your weekly reviews of the Bengals performances throughout the course
of the year.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Yes, And that's how I like to think of them,
as almost like theatrical reviews of the team. You know,
I don't want to get too burned down with the
statistics like I do in the Albanac. I want to
give more of a featuristic and artistic presentation of the
team as best I can. And yes, I will be
doing that once again. I think it's my really eighth
(43:28):
or ninth year now of doing it, so I'm not
even one hundred percent sure off the top of my
head if to go back and look, but yes, I
will be doing a weekly recap of our heroes on
the Sporting Green and you can look forward to that
Cincinnaimagazine dot com under my byline each week. Thank you
for promoting that they are always great.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
And you also wrote the definitive Dave Lapham profile a
few years ago. I imagine you were thrilled to see
him selected into the Bengals Ring of Honor.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yes, I'm only hoping that I'll get the stand alongside
Dave when they and he's actually fitted by the Cincinnati
greater public there nobody deserves it more than him. I mean,
you know that better than anybody. What a presence he's
been in Cincinnati for all these decades now. It's incredible
and just what he continues to bring his energy never
(44:16):
seems to flag. It's really an incredible career he's put together,
both as a player and as a broadcaster. I can't
think of anybody really more beloved in Cincinnati than Dave.
And what a great thing to have him have that honor.
He's certainly deserving having his name and number up there forever.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Absolutely can't wait for that to happen when the Bengals
host the Jets. Last thing, I love great sports writing,
and that's why I love the New York City or
NYC one thousand. We've discussed it on this podcast before,
but for those who have not heard of your great
labor of love, tell them what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
My God, we're almost getting to number seven hundred if
you can believe it.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Yeah, like I was really impressed to see that it's
like seven oh four.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yeah, or getting there. I hope I live long enough
to get all the way to the end. But you know,
I'm running every day, swimming, keeping in shape, doing what
I can. Yes, it is a countdown of the one
thousand greatest sporting events in New York City sporting history.
That's a redundancy. Sorry, And yeah, the conceit as it
(45:24):
has to have happened in New York, which, despite this
being a Cincinnati based podcast, is still very worthwhile. Don't
think badly about Gotham. I beg of you, And yeah,
it's really just a way to get not just sporting history,
but you know American history, so much of that is
tied into New York. I feel like over these past
couple hundred beautiful seasons, and you know, it's everything from
(45:47):
the things you would imagine the Yankee Baseball of course,
and all kinds of great World Series moments to boxing
and horse racing and track and field and anything else
I can find that is, you know, outside of sort
of the main actors and you know, all the great
players who have passed through there. It's just a way
to really get your handle on the history of sports
(46:07):
as it's sort of refracted through a New York lens.
It's been, as you say, a great labor of love.
I've enjoyed every second of it. I'm very appreciative sorry
of readers like you, Dan, who not only talk about
it on their podcast but send me the occasional text
wondering why such and such sport event is not higher
than it is on the list. But you know the number.
(46:28):
I just followed the numbers. I ranked them in six
different categories, and you know, like the analytics based guy
that I am, I just do what the numbers tell
me to do. So I hope everybody enjoys it, and
you can find it NYC one thousand at substack dot com.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
It's great stuff, and I think the ultimate compliment I
can pay about the NYC one thousand is that a
legitimate percentage of the time I see the two topics
you typically do to at a time and I think, well,
that thing doesn't really interested me all that much, and
then I read it. The writing is great and you
bring these stories to life that I wind up loving it.
(47:05):
So I'm sure that's one of the things you set
out to do when you succeed.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Well, you know, the only new thing in the world
is the history that you don't know, right, So I
mean that's really my approach to this. And you know,
I learned a lot along the way, too, which is
always great. It's not like I'm some omniscient sports historian.
I learned a lot about these guys and you know,
things that are going on sort of around the games
at the same time, and that's as important to me
(47:30):
as the games themselves. So you know, it's really been
a lot of fun to do and just a way
to learn a lot about things about my native city
that I didn't know and things about all these sporting
greats and teams that I didn't know about ahead of
time either, and just get a chance to pass them
along to readers like you. So thanks a lot with.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
That, Dan, You bet good job with the Bengals chapter
in the Almanac. As always looked forward to the al
Golden Profile and your continued look at the Cincinnati Bengal
throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
Thanks to your time, Robert, No, thank you, Dan, and
uh listen, we're going to have eleven or twelve wins,
not nine. Putting it down right now.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
That's going to do it for this episode of the
Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud
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Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
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(48:32):
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I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Booth Podcast
Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading
The Bengals Booth Podcast. B Let's startle over addition, as
the Bengals get ready for their preseason opener on Thursday
night in Philly. Coming up, teammates and coaches react to
an impressive training camp start for first round draft pick
Shamar Stewart. I'll go one on one with quarterback Desmond Ritter,
(00:26):
and we'll get smart analysis from Robert Weintraub from the
FTN Football Almanac and Cincinnati Magazine. The Bengals Booth Podcast
is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be
the Bengals official HR software provider, by aulta Fiber future
proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and
community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the
(00:49):
best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the
official healthcare provider of the Bengals. Now here's a quick
reminder that you can have the latest edition of this
podcast delivered to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing
wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since
playing the Feud. My wife and I enjoy playing bar
(01:12):
trivia with our friends and neighbors, and we have a
pretty competitive team. But recently we've also enjoyed playing a
version that's similar to the classic TV show Family Feud.
It's a little bit easier because instead of actually having
to know facts, you just have to guess the most
popular answers to survey questions. So if you've tried bar
(01:35):
trivia and got turned off by the team of geeky
geniuses that knew everything, give less, call feud a try.
There's no Steve Harvey, but there is beer. Now let's
get to football. There have been a lot of positive
developments so far at training camp. The defense appears to
(01:55):
be much improved, although there are days where it's impossible
to stop Burrow, who's been throwing the ball with surgical precision.
But my biggest takeaway in the last week since the
last episode of this podcast is that Shamar Stuart has
been living up to his nickname the Menace. In his
second practice, Schamar had pass deflections on back to back
(02:17):
plays and one of them would have been a sack
if he didn't veer away from Jake Browning. Two days later,
he had a sack of Desmond Ritter where I timed
him getting to the quarterback in two point zero eight seconds.
And on Saturday, when the team held its annual public
practice inside of pay Court Stadium, Chamar had a sack,
(02:38):
a pass deflection, and bull rushed three hundred and thirty
pound tackle Devin Cochrane right into Browning. If you are
skeptical of the pick because of Stuart's lack of sacks
at Texas A and M, you should be encouraged by
the impact he's having at practice. But don't take my
word for it. Listen to these comments from Amarus Mims.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
It's a fierce ball of fire. Like some guys like that,
you don't expect them to be big and fast. But
he's just like I said's definitely definitely a very very
talented m Like I said, man, speeding power is very
important playing here because like I said, man, he's He's
definitely a guy you gotta watch out focus. He would
run through your face if you look, if you're not like,
if you're not in.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Your like ps and Q's man, fierce ball.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's what it is. That's what it is, man. I'm
telling you, like he fast, he get off the ball.
He running four six, but that ain't No. Four six
off there. That's it feels faster for sure.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I guess everybody in this lock rings looking back out
to make plays.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Man, Man, yes, man, look at him like I said,
we dropped him at seventeen pick for a reason. I
know he's gonna make club. I told hm yesterday it's
gonna be a bunch of ups and down player. But
just getting up playbook and just minimize all your airs.
You're gonna do a great football player. I saw one
hundredth believe him. We're gona be a great player.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
He's not there yet, but five year veteran TJ. Slayton
says it shouldn't take long for Stuart to make a splash.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
He's very quick.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
He's a naturally strong.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
He just needs a little little bit of moves and
it's two balls and I feel like he be already
right there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery is trying to help Shamar
develop those moves at practice. When he sees something he
doesn't like, he immediately stops the drill and corrects it.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
You do something right on the patchout, you do something wall,
I'm gonna show you how does do a better All right,
I'm gonna correct it. But if you keep letting mistakes
slip and you don't say anything, even to you are
star players, then all of a sudden, you give him
an answer to take a flip.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
All right, here comes a hot take. I'd be willing
to bet that Shamar has more sacks this year than
the four and a half he had in three years
at A and M. But more importantly, he's going to
impact the game with his versatility and relentless motor. Here's
defensive coordinator Al Golden to.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
Whatever your opinion was of Shamar, that player is rare
coming out of a draft. Somebody that can come off
the edge one play playing the B gap, two plays
later playing the C gap, set the edge, do multiple things.
It's just rare because you generally get you guys that
(05:05):
are two fifty five, But to get a guy to
eighty that can do that with that kind of power
is rare, and we're said to have.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It's going to be fun to watch Stewart on Thursday
night against the Eagles. Zach Taylor says his starters, including
Joe Burrow, are going to play at some point in
the preseason, but as of this recording, he hasn't shared
his plans for the preseason opener. One thing we know
for sure is that Jake Browning and Desmond Ritter will
(05:33):
play in that game. Ritter joined the team just before
the start of training camp as the Bengals were looking
to upgrade the number three quarterback on the roster who
is likely to be on the practice squad. Desmond, of course,
had an incredible career at the University of Cincinnati, leading
the Bearcats to a forty four and six record in
his four years as the starting quarterback with trips to
(05:55):
the Peach and Cotton Bolls. After being drafted in the
third round by Atlanta, he went eight and nine as
they're starting quarterback before being traded to Arizona after the
Falcons signed Kirk Cousins. After spending last year with the
Cardinals and the Raiders, Ritter became a free agent and
beat out Tyler Hutley and c. J. Bethard in a
(06:16):
tryout for a spot with the Bengals. I spoke to
the twenty five year old from Lolaville this week. Dez
complete the sentence. Joe Burrow is.
Speaker 6 (06:29):
The real deal, you know, just watching them every single day,
all the days that I've been here the past couple
of weeks. You know, on the field, off the field,
you know, he's the real deal. So he's a great
one to learn behind, a great one to see go
through practice every single day, you know, go through his preparation,
and so I'm excited, you know, once we get to
a real game week to see what that truly looks like.
(06:50):
But as four, it comes to camp. Every single day,
he shows up and comes to work, and you know,
it's it's like watching Art out there.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
You've been with the Falcons, Cardinals, and Raiders over the
past few years, some good veteran quarterbacks on those teams,
including Kyler Murray when you're in Arizona. But is Joe
just different?
Speaker 6 (07:09):
Yeah, I would say so. You know, he's just different
in a lot of ways. But you know, the biggest
thing I've seen is just mentally the way he mentally
sees the game out there on the field and is
able to react and just get to the right place
with the ball and put the ball on the right spot.
But he's the fastest I've seen as far as reaction
time to the defense and as far as where he
(07:30):
knows where he wants to go to the.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Ball we're visiting with Desmond Ritter. Let's turn the clock
back to twenty eighteen. He red shirted your first year
at UC and then in the off season, Joe Burrow
is going to transfer from Ohio State. He's seriously considered.
You see, he wound up at LSU. Had he been
a Bearcat, you probably would have had to wait a
couple of years to be the starting quarterback. Would you
(07:52):
have stuck around? What do you think would have happened?
Speaker 6 (07:54):
Yeah, I mean, obviously back then, you know that transfer
all there was different things of you know, it's not
the wild ball, that's how it is today. But no,
you know, we would have came in and we competed.
You know, however it would have been you know, that
was actually one of the couple of things that we
had talked about. You know, when I got here earlier,
I was like, you know, I heard that you you know,
might have been coming to Cincinnati at some point, and
he was like, yeah, you know, it's down to you know,
(08:16):
the Bearcats and LSU, and you know, he chose a
great route and obviously, you know, continue to have a
great career down there at the Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I would say, it worked out well for both of
you and both schools. Certainly, the Bengals have a quarterback
centric organization. Mike Brown is a very successful quarterback at Dartmouth.
Zach Taylor was the Big twelve Player of the Year
in Nebraska. Dan Pitcher was an All American at the
Division III level. Does that mean anything to you as
a player in this organization.
Speaker 6 (08:44):
Yeah, I mean for me being the quarterback and and
just going out there and being able to play the
game just a little bit different than I have the
previous couple of years, you know, where maybe it's more
of a pass first offense rather than a run first,
whereas you know, throughout I would say as all of
my past eight years through college through the NFL, I've
been in run heavy offenses. So for to be able
(09:06):
to come out here and you know, to want to
throw the ball downfield and want to spread it out
and get their playmakers of ball, it's something cool to
be a part of.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
We're chatting with Desmond Ritter. You join the team just
before the start of training camp. How long does it
take to feel like you've got the offense mastered?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (09:21):
I mean mastered is obviously the keyword. I mean, it
takes a little bit, but to have a good sense
and understanding of what you're doing, you know, I feel like,
you know, we're into about the second week camp. We
have about one hundred percent of the plays in and
you know, i'd say I'm about you know, seventy five
to eighty percent there. But there's still a lot of
work to be done. But as far as mastering it,
you know, it takes a year or a couple of years.
And like I said, you know, Joe's been in it
(09:43):
for five and he definitely hasn't mastered.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
In the Quarterback documentary on Netflix, there's a scene where
Jared Goff has his wife helping him memorize the plays
because they're so complicated and so wordy. Do you do
anything like that with your wife or do you have
any other tricks that help you?
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Yeah, no, that I mean, I would say that's pretty
universal throughout the league, so I would I would say
pretty much all of the quarterbacks wives have definitely read
the script or time or two. So no, it was funny.
We watched like the first episode of that show and
my wife was like, hey, I do that and everything,
and no, but I'd say, it's pretty universal if it's
not your wife, someone's reading it to you, because there's
no no way that you're able to just you know,
(10:20):
read it off the paper and say it back to
yourself and then truly understand it, because that's not how
it is on Sundays. That's not how you get it
in the game. You get it from someone else reading
it to you. So it's pretty it's a pretty funny
part of the of the Wags.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Shout out to Claire for her assistance. Guys, you've had
some good moments in the NFL. You've got eight wins
as a starting quarterback. You beat Tom Brady in his
final NFL regular season start. Do you have a highlight
so far of your NFL career?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (10:49):
No, I wouldn't. I woantn't say I have a highlight
so far. You know, if you want to talk about one,
it's just you know, being in the league, just stepping
on the field for the first time, just going out
there and playing the game I love and living out
you know, my kids, my dream, and you know a
lot of kids dreams in the world is just to
be an NFL player. So to be able to go
out there and live that out and just be one
(11:09):
of the few, one of the many. You know, it's
just a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
You were the quarterback of two of the best teams
in UC football history, and a lot of your former
teammates are doing well in the NFL. Sauce Gardner's the
highest paid cornerback. Alec Pierce led the league in yards
per catch last year. Brian Cook has started for a
Super Bowl team the last couple of years. Is that
a huge source of pride to you, guys, and do
you feel like you have changed the trajectory of UC football?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (11:37):
I don't know if that's a question for me or
Coach Fick, but you know, I you know, I'm happy
for all the guys that are successful. You know, they
worked their butts off every single day, day in and
day out, and show up to work every single week
just to try to get better. And that's all we
did at Cincinnati was just trying to make each other better,
whether it was offense versus offense, or defense versus offense,
whatever it may have been. I was just trying to
(11:58):
make every single person around us better.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
As I imagine, you'll get a lot of opportunities to
play in the preseason games. Is your thought, I need
to do as well as I possibly can to show
the Bengals that I'm a great option to be on
the roster. Or is there also the thought in your
back of your mind, I'm looking to be a starter
in this league. If I play really well in the preseason,
maybe somebody else picks me up.
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Uh you know, my thought is obviously just to go
out and play the best ball that I can play,
put my best foot for no matter whether it's here,
there or anywhere, doesn't matter where I'm at. I want
to go out there and be the best person on
the field. So you know, I just want to step
out there and have the mindset that I'm gonna go
out there and play my best ball.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Final thing for gusmin Ridder. You lived here for five years.
Since you've been back playing for the Bengals, have you
gone back to any of your favorite eateries or places
in town? Have you had any opportunity to do anything
like that, knowing how busy you've.
Speaker 6 (12:50):
Been, Uh no, not really. This is the only one
place I've been to is Candada. You know, just grab
a couple of tacos, some kso, but uh no, just
during camp. Now, I haven't had that much time to
kind of get out. You know, your off time has
really just been wrestling, so you know, that's just what
I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Great to see you in a Cincinnati jersey, whether it's
Bearcats or Bengals. Best of luck in the preseason.
Speaker 6 (13:12):
Thank you Jan.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Before we get to my next guest, here's a quick
reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you
by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR
software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed
to elevate your home, business and community to a new level,
and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans.
Kettering Health is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals.
(13:37):
The FDN Football Almanac, formerly known as the Football Outsiders Almanac,
came out recently and if you're thinking about buying one
preseason guide to the NFL, this is the one to get.
There's a bunch of interesting data in the book if
that's your thing, but I enjoy it for the writing.
The Almanac is informative, interesting and funny. There's an in
(14:01):
depth look at every NFL team and the Cincinnati chapter
was written by my friend Robert Weintraub, who also writes
about the Bengals on a regular basis for Cincinnati Magazine
dot com. Robert, every team in the FTN Almanac has
a projected win total, and for the Bengals it's nine
point one, which seems pessimistic, but then I look closer.
(14:26):
It's the fifth best in the AFC, it's the eleventh
best in the NFL. What does a projected win total
of nine point one tell us about the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Well, let's remember first of all, that that was the
win total exactly of what they've had the last two seasons,
and they also arrived at those nine wins in very
very different ways. If you remember twenty twenty three, they
won nine games despite playing one of the hardest schedules
we've ever measured, and without Joe Burrow for a lot
of that time. And then last year it was the opposite.
(14:58):
They had Burrow, they were explosive. We figured they cruise
into the playoffs, and they found excruciating ways to lose
every week. So you know, you have to remember that's
just like a mean projection, mean not being pessimistic, mean,
but mean being the sense of average. That we played
the season a million times, as I always love to
say to you and my doctor evil voice, and you
(15:19):
know that's how it came out. The most number of
times was nine wins. Doesn't mean we're predicting nine wins.
And I think it's important to remember that the range
is what's important, and by far the largest range in
terms of percentage for the Bengals is between nine and
eleven wins. So you know eleven The difference last year
between nine wins and eleven wins was what a fumbled
(15:42):
hold in overtime against the Ravens and the defensive penalty
in Kansas City. You know, the slightest of margins, and
we're thinking about the team entirely differently. Now. Of course,
it could also increasingly go the other direction, and they
could finish with fewer than nine wins, and then there
would be wholesale changes, no doubt some of the areas
on the sideline. But you know, I don't don't think
(16:04):
of it as, oh, look, the Bengals are going to
win nine games again. The truth is there, as you mentioned,
one of the half dozen or so teams that are
projected at the top of the AFC where they go
from there. You know, the margins are very tight, but
you know, this is sort of who the Bengals are also.
I mean, we tend to think of if you take
a holistic look at the team in the Borough era,
(16:26):
you know, throw out his rookie year that didn't count,
and just the last four years. We think of maybe
last year as kind of the outlier. Oh, they were
much better than a nine to eight team and they
should have been a playoff team. And maybe that's true,
but by under the hood metrics that we measure play
by play efficiency DVA, our standard stat really twenty twenty
two is the outlier. That's when they were really good
(16:46):
and had a complete team and were much better than
you know, sort of the competition, maybe the best team
in football by the end of the year, even though
it didn't translate to a Super Bowl championship. But the
other three seasons that Burrow has been there, they've been
basically the same team by DVOA and also by records nine,
nine and ten wins. You know, so this is sort
of who they are and DVOA isn't going to change
(17:07):
that until they prove it on the field for more
than one season, and you know the time is not
to do that, no question about.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
It is the big difference for the DVOA. The defense.
The defense of DVOA was good in twenty twenty two, correct, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
It was much better than it has been the last
couple of years. Absolutely, And yes there's also you know,
subtle changes and when we project forward, you know, there's
a lot of small differences that get taken into account
in terms of you know, personnel changes and a little
bit in terms of coaching as well. You know, in
Cincinnati we're obviously banking a lot on a defensive coordinator change.
(17:43):
That's the kind of thing that only slightly adjusts the
statistics ort of the projection of the efficiency ahead of
the season, but it can have a huge effect when
the games actually are played. You know. So another reason
why should only take those sort of preseason mean projections
in terms of win totals as a you know, sort
of a baseline indicator, but not necessarily something that's going
to happen in terms of a week by week or
(18:05):
an entire season projection.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Really, we are chatting with our pal Robert Weintraub from
the FTN Football Almanac. You can also read his work
in Cincinnati Magazine. I have not read the Almanac cover
to cover yet, but I've read a big chunk. And
here is a sentence from the beginning of the Almanac.
It's the fourth paragraph, in fact, and it's about how
the Philadelphia Eagles built their Super Bowl championship team. Quote.
(18:29):
Teams win from the lines out, not from the perimeter
in So when Bengals fans hear that, I can almost
picture what they're saying. Ah, the Bengals are paying a
lot of money on wide receivers when they should be
focusing on the line. But then I look at the
Bengals drafts. They took a defensive lineman in the first
round this year, an offensive lineman in the first round
(18:51):
last year, another defensive lineman in the first round the
year before. So what do you think of the Bengals
team building strategy.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah, I think their hearts, if you will, and minds
have been in the right place. I mean, it's it's
sort of you have to first and foremost before you
build from the lines out. You got to get the
quarterback right right, and that they did, and it happened
to be in this case. You know, in Philadelphia's case,
they still have excellent skill position players. They built from
the line out because they had a lot of extra
(19:22):
picks and they focused on that quite a bit and
they've been able to you know, even when guys get
lost to free agency or to injury, they are able
to keep that machine going. Same as Baltimore. Really, Bengals
haven't had the same you know, track record in developing
the talent. That's really been where they've fallen behind the
elite teams. I think though that as you mentioned, they've
spent quite a bit of draft capital on the interior
(19:44):
of their lines and both sides of the ball, that
hasn't been the issue. And you know, you go back
into Bengals history, they've always had an elite lineman, going
back to the Anthony Mino's days right up until Andrew Whitworth,
and you know, it's only been a recent vintage that
they just for whatever reason can't seem to get that
offensive line in shape the way they needed to play,
(20:04):
and especially with the number of passes that they throw.
Hopefully Amarius Men's takes that step forward and becomes that
elite lineman. And you know, we've helped for other guys
on both sides of the ball as well. But you know,
it's not like the Bengals that, oh, we're gonna pay
our wide receivers and ignore our line. I mean, it
just happened to be a little bit. These things go in,
you know, kind of dynamic ways, who was available to
(20:25):
pay at what time, and it just so happened to
be that they're really the only guys that you were
going to pay the big money and extend right now
are the wide receivers. If they had offensive or defensive
linemen that were just justified in getting that money, I'm
sure they would have given it to him without a
second thought. So, you know, the Trey Hendrickson saga notwithstanding.
(20:46):
So it's not like they're ignoring our precepts. And you know,
those are rules that are made to be broken. There's
plenty of teams that could be proven as counter examples
to the Eagles, who you know, were extreme in that
particular way of building from the lines out. But you know,
the Browns forever had Hall of famers on their offensive
line like Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and they couldn't
(21:07):
get out of their own way and finish last every
single year. So It's not like it's a hard and
fast rule, but in general principle, you do want to
pay attention to the lines on both sides of the ball,
and the Eagles certainly proved that last season.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Robert, you wrote the Bengals chapter again this year in
the Almanac, and there's some really interesting information and data
on lou Anarumo in the Bengals chapter. His defenses were
great in the playoffs in twenty one and twenty two,
good in the regular season in twenty twenty two, and
he almost got a head coaching job as a result.
(21:41):
But as you point out, overall, the body of work
was not that good. Was the reputation better than the record?
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, I don't think there's any question. And remember he
didn't have much of a reputation when he came to Cincinnati,
and he was hired very late in the process, and
he was pretty anonymous really up until that twenty twenty
one playoff run and maybe even until the second half
of the Chiefs came. I mean, that's where his reputation
really was built. Followed up on it with an excellent
twenty two and two all the way through, as he
(22:10):
pointed out, And you know, but that was a short
sample size, and if you look at the rest.
Speaker 7 (22:15):
Of the years, the two years before and or two
years before and two years after, defenses weren't that great
and they had a lot of similar issues, which was
mainly tackling and getting to the passer and you know,
in a lot of ways, not making the key play
in the key moments in the red.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Zone and on third down. And you know, I think
looking back on it, he had a certain way of
style that he wanted to play. Lou And I'm not
denigrating him as a coach, obviously he knows what he's doing,
but it certainly seemed in the last couple of years
that once Jesse Bates left, he didn't have an answer
to it, just to the idea that, Okay, Jesse will
clean up everything that doesn't go exactly right in the
(22:55):
in the rest of the team at a given play.
And he saw that really exacerbated last year I think,
where he just you know, stuck to a system that
wasn't working for way too long until the season got
away from him. Had issues with a lot of the players,
and you know, when he simplified things that made it
easier for them and tailored his defense to what the
guys he had left could do. Well. He saw the
(23:17):
defense improve in the last third of the season, granted
against you know, some mediocre quarterbacks, but still they played
a lot better. And you know, I don't think there's
any doubt that if he had gone to that sort
of you know, I'll just use what I have right
now and not you know, kind of force the players
into playing what I think works best and do what
(23:37):
they do best. A lot earlier in twenty twenty four,
he might still have a job, but you know he doesn't.
And now we'll see what Al Golden can do with
basically the same personnel and you know, just a different
approach and a different mindset, and hopefully it works. Obviously
all Bengals fans eyes around him. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
So, speaking of Al Golden, I heard you mentioned in
a radio interview last week with our mutual friends Moegger
that you are writing about Al for Cincinnati Magazine. What
were some of the biggest takeaways from the time that
you spent with him.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, and shout out to mo what a guy. I
think for the most part, it's you know, I didn't
we didn't really get into like schemes or anything like
that too heavily. But I think the most thing that
I took away was just that, you know, his his
overall professionalism and confidence in his ability to do the
job and to you know, be a coach at this level.
(24:29):
You know, I think a lot of Bengal fans kind
of only know him as a position coach from the
Super Bowl team and then a guy who left to
go to Notre Dame and coordinate a really good defense
there and now he's coming back to try and prove
himself here. But you know, that's not really who Al
Golden is. He's a programmed builder, head coach in college
at multiple places, and the guy who actually won games
at Temple, which is almost impossible to do. He knows
(24:52):
what he's doing. He has an absolutely dedicated approach that
he you know, has proven successful in a number of stops.
And you know, the NFL is a different animal, and
whether you can win on a consistent basis in this
league with your style remains to be seen. But he
definitely knows what he's doing and is very confident of that.
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
The last time he was here, there was a season
where the Bengals drafted three linebackers out of seven picks,
including Logan Wilson, and they all turned out to be
good players. This year, two of their top four draft
picks were linebackers. Demetrius Knight is likely to start from
day one. Is linebacker especially critical to an l golden defense?
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You know, he certainly thinks, so who might argue with him? Yeah,
I think in general terms, he's looking at it as
two ways that you know, he wants to increase the
speed of the defense and the tackling at that position.
So that's why they went after, especially a player like Knight,
and that can obviously help your defense as a whole.
(25:56):
You know, there's an old saying in football, if your
linebackers are faster, defense fast, and I think, you know,
we saw the opposite be true in a lot of
ways in Cincinnati last year. And I also think that,
you know, for the most part, he saw a lot
of guys that he could already work with in Cincinnati
at the other position groups on the defensive line and
in the secondary, almost thinking all right, I mean, you know,
(26:16):
he only had so many draft picks to play with
per se, but I mean, you know, he figured out
we had the talent on hand up front, and then
the defensive backfield linebacker is really the place where we
can really improve. And you know, the idea is that
with the new personnel, the two picks you mentioned, plus
maybe an Orang Burks chips in as well and his
(26:37):
sort of you know, not over reliance, but more reliance,
I think you'll see a lot more of a three
linebacker sets than you've seen in the past. Certainly, you know,
the league kind of went to three wide receivers, which
tended to take a lot of the linebackers off the
field quite a bit, but that seems to be swinging
a little bit the other way. And certainly in the
AFC North, you always want to play good run defense.
So I think he looks at it as there's a
(26:59):
place where the defense and immediately be improved. Can really
set a different kind of attitude for the team, and
you know, give a different look than the defenses that
were gashed the last couple of years, and maybe make
offensive coordinators of the opposition think they'll have to go
find another way to move the ball.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Against Cincinnati, we are chatting with Robert Weintraub from the
FTN Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk offensive line.
It looks like third round draft pick Dylan Fairchild will
be the starting left guard this year. Right guard still
up for grabs, could be Cody Ford, could be Lucas Patrick.
Maybe somebody else like Cordel Vohlson sneaks in there and
(27:36):
wins the spot. You have referred to the battle at
right guard as the melee of mediocrates. Is that position,
or guard in general, the big worry in your mind
going into this year?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I mean, certainly on the offense, it is no question.
You know, it's we've seen now in the NFL where
defenses are really attacking quarterbacks up the middle more and
more the linemen that they have to play against and
up the gut at defensive tackle or getting ever more
talented and giving a lot more pressure up the middle,
and the The Bengals have responded by essentially turning over
(28:10):
the position to a rookie who is a good prospect
deal and Fairchild, but it's you know, it's not Quenton
Nelson or somebody coming into the league as a slam
dunk player, and you know, a journeyman in probably Lucas Patrick.
As you say, most likely has the leg up, but again,
who's missed a lot of time seventeen games, I think
it is over the last three years, and you know,
(28:31):
not much behind them except for stopgap you know, answers
really there, and I guess it's still certainly possible they
could call somebody in the off the sofa, but that
has its own issues. And you know, it's just you
have such a such an lead offense and so many
other places, and you know, to have it be at
acting and operating at its max doesn't require every single
(28:55):
position to be awesome, but it does require every position
not to be terrible, or these you know, two key
positions in the same position group not to be terrible.
So the bar isn't really all that high for the
likes of Dylan Fairschild and Nucas Patrick or whoever plays
right guard. They just have to be a little bit
above replacement level player, which is unfortunately the level that
the Bengals have seen over the last few years at
(29:16):
some of those spots. So, you know, I'm a little
pessimistic about the idea of turning your you know, this
sort of lamborghinium and offense and then worrying about the
hug caps falling off if you know, you wind up
playing a rookie and a journeyman at these important spots.
But you know, that's sort of where we are now.
We're just gonna have to hope for the best.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I suppose the Bengals are definitely going to be playing
younger players on defense. And here's another line from the
Almanac that caught my eye. Quote old players break down
faster and young players improve faster. Does that bode well
for this defense under Al Golden?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I mean one would hope. So the defense is certainly young.
I feel like the problem last year in a lot
of ways, unfortunately, was that the young player is broke though,
you know, I mean you look at the likes of
Dax Hill and DJ Turner just the name too, you know,
key elements, key factors, both guys who seem to be
on the verge of kind of breaking through and then
they were lost for the season. And you know, that's
(30:15):
the NFL. I mean, that's that's just the way it works.
But you know, just because you're young doesn't mean you're
immune to injury. Obviously, you want to be young, fast
and hungry, and if you're putting so much money. As
the Bengals are into their offense, there's sort of no option.
You're going to have to rely on younger players who
don't make a lot of money to you know, get
the job done. And I think that's you know, Al
(30:38):
Golden has proven that as his specialty. Certainly in Notre Dame.
He coached up a lot of young guys and turned
them into a fearsome unit. I think that's what everybody's
counting on him to do here in Cincinnati, and you know,
I hope for the best, but you know, they have
to stay healthy. And I think that was a big
underrated element to last year's quote unquote defensive breakdown in
a lot of ways was the fact that a lot
(30:59):
of guys not only we're out for a season, but
you know, got off to an injured starting training camp
and never really got up to speed up to full speed.
They were playing from behind the eight ball the whole time.
Hopefully they can stay healthy. Injuries always happened, but you
hope that Dell, certainly with the young players that have
been picked highly in the draft in a few recent years,
can stay on the field and prove their worth. That's
(31:20):
really been the issue for them so far.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Trey Hendrickson is in the building, but he's not practicing.
We're not sure what's going to happen with his contract.
He obviously is under contract for this year. He had
seventeen and a half sacks. Last year, his teammates combined
had eighteen and a half. How vital is Trey Hendrickson
to the Bengals Super Bowl hopes?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Well, I mean, he's one of their best players, and
it's hard to win a Super Bowl without your best
players being healthy and producing at a high level. I mean,
that part's obvious, you know. I kind of feel that
just by nature of his position, there's certainly a number
of guys, including the player that they just picked, you know,
for in the draft this past year, Samar Stewart, who
(32:02):
are available to at least provide, you know, a healthy
amount of percentage of what he provided at least last year,
you know, and maybe they can get by without him
operating at one hundred percent or if he has to
miss a few games, whatever, you know. I look to
a player, maybe like a Marius Mims or Orlando Brown
(32:23):
as even more critical that they have to stay healthy
and on the field and be there because of what's
behind them, which is not much. And because of what
we expect from both those players. You know, obviously, as
we say, to make a Super Bowl run, to make
a deep playoff run, it's hard to do without your
very best guys, and Trey is certainly one of their
very best guys. And I think you know you mentioned
(32:44):
before about the question about older players breaking fast. I mean,
I think that's what Cincinnati's front office has in the
front of their mind in terms of contract negotiations with Trey,
is that the greatest he's been in the past. The
overwhelming likelihood of players of his age and his position
going forward is that of breaking down or you know,
certainly losing a percentage of ability to play through an
(33:05):
entire season. So you just hope that Trey will be
signed happy and make it through an entire season and
have it be anywhere close to what he had last year,
because he was, as you mentioned, virtually the entirety of
their pass rush, although surprisingly enough, in twenty twenty three
and twenty twenty four the past the pressure rate excuse me,
it was almost exactly the same. It was just that
(33:27):
the sacks themselves fell off, and the adjusted sack rate
the percentage of sacks these a vi the dropbacks that
they faced fell off dramatically, so you know, again it
was the margins that really hurt them. If you think
back to the games last year, how many times did
they almost sacked the quarterback and yet the quarterback escaped
they made a big play. Lamar Jackson's made a career
of that against Cincinnati, or even the opener when Trey
(33:50):
came so close against Jacoby Brissette against the Patriots in
that game and just couldn't bring him down. You know,
I don't. I don't feel like the defense is even
that far off in that could and obviously having Hendrickson
on the team can only help in that fashion.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Robert, there are a ton of interesting stats and nuggets
in the Almanac in addition to fantastic writing. But here
are a couple of nuggets that really surprised me. Number One,
the Bengals led the NFL in dropped passes. I would
have never guessed that. Number Two, the Bengals were really
bad at running plays when Joe Burrow was under center.
(34:27):
For the last several years, we've talked about, Oh, he's
got to get under center more to help the running game.
Did those nuggets or any others really jump out to you?
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Well, I tell you I wasn't not shocked, but those
two that you cite. And here's why. The drop passes
mostly as a function of the fact that the Bengals threw
it so much, their volume was so high. Surprisingly, only
the Browns threw it more than the Bengals did last season.
Amazingly enough, they had the same number of attempts almost
but the Bengals completed I think about eleven percentage points
higher than the Browns, which is almost impossible if you
(34:58):
throw the same amount of passes. But that's a whole
different story. So you know, it just goes to show
if they had caught more of those grabs, how incredible
burrow season really would have been. But it wasn't truly shocking,
just from a volume point of view. And yeah, we've
been talking forever about how getting Burrow under center can
really help diversify the offense. I think when Eric All
was on the field that they tried to lean in
(35:20):
that direction a little bit more, and when he got hurt,
you know, they went right back to their comfort zone.
I mean, Joe Burrow is an elite shotgun player, and
they've always had heavy splits in that department where they
were very good with him both throwing and running from
the shotgun, and very poor under center. And without a
dedicated effort to really try and even those two splits out,
(35:42):
it's kind of just going to be that way, and
you know, hopefully we can see that change as the
personnel maybe changes going forward. I think the stat that
really jumped out of me as being most indicative of
the entire season, however, was the fact that the Bengals
spent more time than any other team tied during their games.
Almost a full quarter every game was spent tied, and
(36:02):
that just shows you how close the margins were and
how even everything was, and how you know, coming out
at nine and eight almost was sort of, you know,
proper too bad they couldn't go eight and eight, and
just you know, everything came down it seemed like every
week to a coin flip, and so many of them fell,
you know, on the wrong side of the fence, if
(36:23):
you will, and they just have to get a couple
of those games on the right side of the fence,
and we think about the team in an entirely different way.
That would really be what I'm looking forward for this
season is to win some of those close games and
hopefully the defense making plays, you know. And another stat
that leeds to mind is that they, you know, really
had a good season in terms of, you know, average
(36:44):
yards per attempt against. The secondary was much maligned, but
on a play to play basis, they weren't that bad.
But they gave up thirty touchdowns and their the rate
of touchdown passes against was at the bottom of the league.
So if you just you know, you make some of
those plays and tackle them at the eight yard line
and you reset and you force the team and kick
a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown, that changes
(37:06):
everything in the game. We don't really think of it
as that way when you take the holistic look at it,
the big picture look, but you know, on a play
to play basis, that's really where the Bengals were killed
last year. And if they can improve that, dave as
a good chance as anybody as being a you know,
in a week team in a Upper Russia on team
for sure.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
A few more topics for Robert Wintrop from the FTN
Football Almanac in Cincinnati Magazine. Let's talk about the AFC North,
the Almanac makes a compelling case that Baltimore statistically has
been one of the best teams in the modern era,
and yet they have not been to the Super Bowl
with Lamar Jackson at quarterback? Is something obvious holding them back?
(37:47):
What's the deal? You know?
Speaker 3 (37:50):
I mean, I don't think it's obvious. I think it's
they've just come up against and had misfortune in the
biggest of spots. And you know, it's hard for a
statistical based organization like we are to really put our
finger exactly on why that seemingly keeps happening. It wasn't
that long ago, you remember, though, that they seem to
be in a bit of a flux and Lamarrow obviously
(38:11):
was playing out his contract and in a dispute maybe
yet for trade, maybe there was collusion to keep him
from being traded, whatever. But you know, we thought of
the team as having a lot of holes and maybe
in a direction that they didn't want to go in.
And in typical Raven fashion, they managed to have a
couple of really high impact drafts in a row, and
Lamar came back and obviously came back that almost better
(38:33):
than ever. And it's unfortunate, but that's the truth, we
were almost rid of him and we just couldn't quite
get him out of the division. But there's no doubt
they've they've been probably the first or second best team
overall over the last couple of years in the regular season.
But you know, they have this thing, and it's certainly
not unprecedented in football history or sports history for a
(38:54):
team just to be really good and yet not break
through to the championship level, you know, until they do.
I mean, many's the time that the team has stubbed
their toe on the way up multiple seasons in a row,
only to finally then break through it one year or
a number of years. I don't think we want that
to happen in Cincinnati at the expense of the Bengals.
(39:15):
But you know, in ravens Land, I'm sure they're thinking
they're just really close. There's no point in changing things.
They don't have a lot of, you know, things that
they can point to and say, oh, this is the
reason why we're losing in these you know, high impact,
you know, high pressure playoff games. They've just made a
few less plays than the opposition in those handful of games,
and there's you know, there's only so much you can
(39:35):
do about it, except, you know, play better on the day.
I guess you'd have to say.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
You wrote the Pittsburgh Steelers chapter in the Almanac this year.
Is this the year that Mike tomlin streak of never
having had a losing season ends in year nineteen?
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Well, I mean to answer your own question almost by
saying it in that way, it's almost impossible to think
right out. I'm never one to soft pedal the Steelers.
I've learned that lesson the hard way. With a lot
of black and gold cleats on the back of my head.
It feels like they have a lot of good players,
a lot of good players. I mean, you look past
(40:15):
their quarterback dysfunction, and obviously that's a huge thing. And
I'm not trying to say that's not important. That's the
most important thing really, But you know, the Bengals have
lost the Steelers with the players like Duck Hodges and
Kenny Pickett and all kinds of you know, mediocre the
worst quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. So you know, we don't know
what Aaron Rodgers is going to give them, if he
(40:36):
gives them even sort of a you know, just above
average play. They they do have a ton of young talent,
especially as we were talking about, you know, on the
lines on both sides of the ball, and a lot
of good defensive players. They think they have an answer
and they're gonna do what they do. It certainly seems
that they have a hard ceiling that even with the
(40:57):
winning record, you know, it obviously hasn't worked for them
in the playoffs in many years. They have a long
streak now of seasons without a playoff win. But to
say that they're not going to you know, have a
winning record or you know, to fall off in crater
into some kind of five and twelve team, I don't
see that at all. And you know, I think the
Bengals and the Steelers will be battling it out right
(41:18):
off until the end for maybe that maybe that that
second playoff position behind the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
And here's a hard hitting analytically based question to conclude
our discussion of the AFC North. Well, the Cleveland Brown stink.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
They already do. I mean, come on, I can smell
them from here, listen. Yeah, I mean it's they already
were bad. And you know, their quarterback situation is you know,
difficult to describe almost and it just gets worse. They
you know, just lost Martine Emerson to a terrible injury
(41:55):
in training camp. And Joker Jeremiah Owazu Karamosa always a
hard name to say, Jay Okay exactly. He's a guy
who's always given the Bengals fits with his speed and range,
and you know, now he's gonna miss the season of course,
and his careers in jeopardy. Just seems like there's just
negative juju as usual there and saying that, you know,
(42:17):
I mean, the Bengals were actually the only team to
sweep the Browns in the AFC North last year. They
split with the Ravens and the Steelers. Surprisingly enough, I
know it doesn't feel that way. And the games between
Cincy and Cleveland, you know, better than anybody, they always
are tough, regardless of you know, the relative merits of
either team. Miles Garrett is still there. He's always going
to cause a problem for the Bengals no matter what happens.
(42:39):
I mean, they're not going to be good, but that
doesn't mean the Bengals are gonna have walkovers over them
in either the games they play this year, and they'll
be you know, they'll be a pain in the butt
for somebody along the way, for sure, but overall you
can't think of them is they're obviously rebuilding and looking
to the future in amassing picks and trying to rebuild.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Robert I mentioned you have a profile of al Golden
coming up in Cincinnati Magazine. Can we look forward to
your weekly reviews of the Bengals performances throughout the course
of the year.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Yes, And that's how I like to think of them,
as almost like theatrical reviews of the team. You know,
I don't want to get too burned down with the
statistics like I do in the Albanac. I want to
give more of a featuristic and artistic presentation of the
team as best I can. And yes, I will be
doing that once again. I think it's my really eighth
(43:28):
or ninth year now of doing it, so I'm not
even one hundred percent sure off the top of my
head if to go back and look, but yes, I
will be doing a weekly recap of our heroes on
the Sporting Green and you can look forward to that
Cincinnaimagazine dot com under my byline each week. Thank you
for promoting that they are always great.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
And you also wrote the definitive Dave Lapham profile a
few years ago. I imagine you were thrilled to see
him selected into the Bengals Ring of Honor.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Yes, I'm only hoping that I'll get the stand alongside
Dave when they and he's actually fitted by the Cincinnati
greater public there nobody deserves it more than him. I mean,
you know that better than anybody. What a presence he's
been in Cincinnati for all these decades now. It's incredible
and just what he continues to bring his energy never
(44:16):
seems to flag. It's really an incredible career he's put together,
both as a player and as a broadcaster. I can't
think of anybody really more beloved in Cincinnati than Dave.
And what a great thing to have him have that honor.
He's certainly deserving having his name and number up there forever.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Absolutely can't wait for that to happen when the Bengals
host the Jets. Last thing, I love great sports writing,
and that's why I love the New York City or
NYC one thousand. We've discussed it on this podcast before,
but for those who have not heard of your great
labor of love, tell them what it's all about.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
My God, we're almost getting to number seven hundred if
you can believe it.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Yeah, like I was really impressed to see that it's
like seven oh four.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
Yeah, or getting there. I hope I live long enough
to get all the way to the end. But you know,
I'm running every day, swimming, keeping in shape, doing what
I can. Yes, it is a countdown of the one
thousand greatest sporting events in New York City sporting history.
That's a redundancy. Sorry, And yeah, the conceit as it
(45:24):
has to have happened in New York, which, despite this
being a Cincinnati based podcast, is still very worthwhile. Don't
think badly about Gotham. I beg of you, And yeah,
it's really just a way to get not just sporting history,
but you know American history, so much of that is
tied into New York. I feel like over these past
couple hundred beautiful seasons, and you know, it's everything from
(45:47):
the things you would imagine the Yankee Baseball of course,
and all kinds of great World Series moments to boxing
and horse racing and track and field and anything else
I can find that is, you know, outside of sort
of the main actors and you know, all the great
players who have passed through there. It's just a way
to really get your handle on the history of sports
(46:07):
as it's sort of refracted through a New York lens.
It's been, as you say, a great labor of love.
I've enjoyed every second of it. I'm very appreciative sorry
of readers like you, Dan, who not only talk about
it on their podcast but send me the occasional text
wondering why such and such sport event is not higher
than it is on the list. But you know the number.
(46:28):
I just followed the numbers. I ranked them in six
different categories, and you know, like the analytics based guy
that I am, I just do what the numbers tell
me to do. So I hope everybody enjoys it, and
you can find it NYC one thousand at substack dot com.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
It's great stuff, and I think the ultimate compliment I
can pay about the NYC one thousand is that a
legitimate percentage of the time I see the two topics
you typically do to at a time and I think, well,
that thing doesn't really interested me all that much, and
then I read it. The writing is great and you
bring these stories to life that I wind up loving it.
(47:05):
So I'm sure that's one of the things you set
out to do when you succeed.
Speaker 3 (47:09):
Well, you know, the only new thing in the world
is the history that you don't know, right, So I
mean that's really my approach to this. And you know,
I learned a lot along the way, too, which is
always great. It's not like I'm some omniscient sports historian.
I learned a lot about these guys and you know,
things that are going on sort of around the games
at the same time, and that's as important to me
(47:30):
as the games themselves. So you know, it's really been
a lot of fun to do and just a way
to learn a lot about things about my native city
that I didn't know and things about all these sporting
greats and teams that I didn't know about ahead of
time either, and just get a chance to pass them
along to readers like you. So thanks a lot with.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
That, Dan, You bet good job with the Bengals chapter
in the Almanac. As always looked forward to the al
Golden Profile and your continued look at the Cincinnati Bengal
throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
Thanks to your time, Robert, No, thank you, Dan, and
uh listen, we're going to have eleven or twelve wins,
not nine. Putting it down right now.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
That's going to do it for this episode of the
Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by pay Core, Proud
to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by aulta
Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home,
business and community to a new level, and by Kettering
Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health
is the official healthcare provider of the Bengals. If you
(48:32):
haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and
if you have them in it, given a rating or
share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find us.
I'm Dan Hord and thanks for listening to The Bengals
Booth Podcast
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