July 2, 2025 • 38 mins
ESPN’s Ben Solak joins Dan Hoard for an entertaining look at Cincinnati’s offseason moves and chances of contending in 2025. Then, Dan shares five observations about the Bengals offensive line.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, get everybody on dan Hord and thanks for downloading
The Bengals Booth Podcast. The the Nage addition, as ESPN's
Ben Solec joins me for an entertaining look at the
Bengals off season and their chances of contending in twenty
twenty five, followed by five observations about the Bengals offensive line.
(00:25):
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(00:46):
quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
thing since using uniform numbers for memorization. There's a golf
course in the Cincinnati area where a four digit code
is needed to enter a bathroom on the course. When
(01:09):
I asked somebody for the code, they said it was
easy to remember. Jackie Robinson, Barry Larkin say no more
four to two one one. My memory isn't as sharp
as it once was, but the uniform number technique works
for me every time, and you can use it for
important numbers and dates. For example, my wedding anniversary is
(01:33):
Bill Russell jim Ar Chase. Now if I could only
remember where I left my keys. Now let's get to football.
As I record this podcast, training camp is roughly three
weeks away. Last week I got the local perspective on
the team from seven Bengals Beat reporters, and this week
(01:54):
it's the national perspective as I caught up with ESPN's
Ben Solack. Dan, you have written and said a lot
of interesting things about the Bengals this offseason, and I
want to start with something that you wrote after the
Bengals reached their contract extensions with Jamar Chase and t Higgins.
Quote the trio of Burrow Higgins Chase cements auto contender status.
(02:21):
That is a strong statement. Explained why you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Because of the Broncos Bengals game last year, where the
entire premise of the Broncos defense, which was like inarguably
a top five most certainly a top three, perhaps the
best defensive football Last season, the entire premise was, well,
we have Patrick Sartan, and you're not used to playing
games in which we can just take your wide receiver
one away and we're to force your offense to play
(02:45):
left handed, and that's such a challenging thing to deal
with from an offensive perspective. And the Bengals just kind
of said loll and then threw it to t Higgins
a bunch opposite Riley Moss. Right Like, I'm fairly confident
that te Higgins is a top fifteen receiver in the NIF.
I think he's right there with DeVante Smith in the
argument for the best wide receiver two in football.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I think t would be.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
A wide receiver one and over half the teams in
the league. I think he would have made over thirty
million dollars via the free agent market this year. He's
that caliber of a guy. There's obviously injury concerns, but
he's on the field. He's on the field, and Joe
took such a nice step forward last season. We all
know what Jamar is and so if you have that
caliber of a passing attack, you're gonna be in every
single game you play, because there's no second half deficit
that you feel like you can't dig your way out of.
(03:25):
You're gonna be able to dictate terms to opposing defenses,
even those who have elite corner ones who can win
against Jamar and mancot Bridge, And you're gonna be able
to make playoff bushes because you can just get lucky
and get hot with that passing game. And so yeah,
there's so much to talk about with the Bengals outside
of the nucleus, right outside of the solar system of
Joe Burrow, Jabar, Chase and t Higgins. They got a
(03:46):
lot changing and to deal with them to improve upon.
But that trio right there, it's as good as it
gets in football. It keeps them in the AFC conversation
every single year.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
At this time last year, going into last season, I
didn't think realistically there was any way they were going
to keep both. Did you feel the same.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Way one hundred percent?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I was when I was at camp last year was
when Jamar started not showing up to camp because he
wanted an extension, while also they were still dealing with
Tea not wanting to participate in camp because he wanted
his extension. I was like, all right, this is chalked
like you, there's just too many balls in the air
to juggle contract wise. And the Bengals obviously have more
limiting factors on their ability to make these mega deals
(04:25):
than other teams because they are a family owned team
that weren't recently purchased with huge amounts of money and
minority owners, like they just have less cash moving around
than some of these other squads to And so I
thought they were going to get priced out. And again
I think t could have made considerably more money on
the open market if he wanted to get out of
Cincinnati now, the same you could have said about Chris
Stalwin and Tampa Bay. He took a discount to stay there.
I don't think he made a bad business decision at all.
(04:47):
But they were able to work the Joe Burrow angle
of it work. We made the Super Bowl angle of
it work, the what you can be here as Jamar
Chase's running mate and have this very unique, very strong,
one A one B situation such that they were able
to keep both of those guys. It is I think
from the day that they realize Jamar and Joe were
going to be what they are so the twenty twenty
one Super Bowl run. They have been making efforts, the
(05:07):
ownership group in the Blackburn's efforts to be ready for
these contracts and the fact that they got that ball
over the line is extremely impressive, So kudos to them.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
ESPN's Ben Solak is our guest. We often associate quarterbacks
with Super Bowl windows, and Joe Burrow has famously said
the window is my career.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Do you agree, Yeah, in the sense that an elite quarterback,
And I think Burrow I hate using the word elite
because to me, elite means top ten percent, top five percent.
To mean that's like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen,
the MVP guys right, so near elite, top five whatever
action if you want to use when you have that guy,
and then yeah, you have the receivers.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Like I say, you're always contending.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
However, Burrow is taking the term there and kind of
making it his own. We talk about super Bowl windows
and winning windows. What we're really talking about in the
media are rookie contract windows and your most competitive team
builds are those team bills in which your quarterback is
an extremely low cap hit because it allows you to
get forty million dollars in surplus, fifty million dollars in surplus.
(06:09):
You can go around and pay everybody, get free agents
in on the defensive tackle, linebacker, corner, offensive guard, tight end,
and you can build those ancillary pieces. It's how the
Eagles built around Jalen Hurts before they made their Super
Bowl runs, how the forty nine ers built around brock
perty and now that he has to get paid. You
saw their talent departure this past year.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
So Joe can say that, and he's not wrong.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
However, I can start naming for you some Bengals who
have gotten out of the building because price tag wise,
the Bengals had to make some some contract decisions.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so he's correct.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
But we're also right when we talk about the differences
between that first window, that rookie contract window, and then
the later windows, in which the margins are a lot smaller.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Let's move from Joe and his targets to the guys
in front of him. The Bengals are going to have
a couple of new starters on the offensive line. It
all looked an all likelihood. Rookie Dyllon Fairchild at left
guard and then either Lucas Patrick, Cody Ford or maybe
Cordell Vohlson at right guard. What's your concern level?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Like moderate to severe?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
But that's what it's been in the last couple of
years with the interior, right, I think even when you
know they had just made the Alex Capa signing, and
you know Ted Carriss was a couple of years younger,
and it felt much better than it had when Hakima
Dnergy was starting feeing the Super Bowl. Right, it felt
much better, but it still wasn't the sort of interior
offensive line where I looked at like a playoff run
which you got to go through Chris Jones, and which
(07:29):
you got to go through at Oliver and which you
got to go through Dom du Madebuque and Baltimore, and
I say, like.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Wow, the Bengals are fine on the interior.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I've always been moderately to severely concerned about the Bengals interior.
They're rolling the dice on a couple of different guys.
You brought up Fairchild, who was a player I liked
a lot coming out of the draft. I thought he
was going to be a round four, round five project guy,
round three, year one starter that might be shaky. Lucas Patrick,
I think is your average NFL right guard. You would
love if Cody Ford or Cordell Olson can beat him out.
(07:56):
I'm not sure you're couting those chickens until they hatched, though,
so it's probably not a great interior. Again, I think
guard center guard, it's a below average group in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But also that's I.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Think that's pretty close to how it's been the last
couple of years, and they know how to color in
the lines around it, and so the concern level is there.
But I've also seen them be an a lead offense
despite poor guard play.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
What'd you think of a Marius Mims when the Bengals
selected him, and what do you think of him now
that he's got a rookie year under his bill.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, Amarius has a chance to be very, very, very good,
and I believe that strongly coming out of Georgia. I mean,
you took Amarus mims twenty twenty five best plays as
a prospect, put them against anybody else that was like
a top five pick, and it was the youth and
the lack of experience of some of the injury concerns
that knocked him down the board a bit. Now here
you are one year later he's been He.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Was eighteen overall. Mims was the year he came out,
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I can't remember what exact pick they took him, but
you got some good film. He also got a little
bit banged up over the course of the season, and
you're in the summer as well, and you're worried about
the availability, worried about how many snaps he can put together.
I thought he quitted himself quite nicely when he was
at full health last season, once he had a sea
legs under him, I got a little bit of experience.
I thought you saw the clear vision for an impressive,
a Pro Bowl caliber right tackle.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
So I'm very bullish on Mims.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I just I always hold my breath right, making sure
that you know it's tough on ligaments, lower by the
ligaments to carry three hundred and fifty pounds around like that.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So you're just hoping that.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
He stays healthy long enough, gets through the rookie growing
pains well enough, and delivers on the investment.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Because he looks like it looks like he could be
a star.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Every Bengals coach, player and fan would like to see
Joe Burrow take fewer hits. Zach Taylor says playing with
the lead and being in fewer shootouts would help, maybe
more than anything else. But what else schematically do you
think they could be doing or should be doing. Should
Joe throw it away more, should they try to emphasize
(09:42):
the run more. What do you think of that in
terms of trying to cut down on the hits that
Joe takes.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I think Joe could decide to talk and run more,
and both talking run in terms of crossing the line
of scrimmage and talking run in terms of just escaping
the pocket. When we talk about pocket management, we're using
an umbrella term to often describe very different things. There
are really good pocket managers who are great at buying
an extra half second to get the throw off from
a bit of an adjusted platform, and instead of taking
(10:10):
a huge blow, they take a glancing blow. This is
your Tom Brady category of pocket managers. There are unbelievable
pocket managers who just have a sense of escapability and
strength and maneuverability in the pocket that they could be
under durest from multiple players and still get out of it.
Ask Sam Hubbard about trying to tackle Lamar Jackson on
that one huge scramble up against the goal line last year.
That's your Lamar Jackson pocket manager. And there's a wide
(10:32):
spectrum in between calibrating to exactly when to hold onto
the ball for how long to hold onto the ball,
When to try to buy a half second, why did
they try to escape, to buy two seconds? When to
just tuck and drop your eyes and go right now.
That is a learning curve for every quarterback over the
course of years. Patrick Mahomes is still changing the way
he does that. Josh Allen is still changing the way
he does that. So on and so forth. Burrow, who
(10:53):
is extremely good. We can't take a single thing away
from him. Who's extremely good at getting to his checkdown,
getting to the backside, finding aggressive throws downfield late in
the down. He is a wonderful processor who knows where
his outs are. Still probably has a little bit too
much confidence in his ability, a little bit too much
willingness to take a big shot so he can give
(11:14):
Andre Josevas one handed catch opportunity eighteen yards down the
field when it's like, hey, Joe, for a second earlier,
you just talked to the ball randomly picked out four yards,
we'll get you back on second and sex you know,
we'll go for this. And so I think Taylor's is
absolutely correct in terms of the trailing aspect. You would
love to be able to leave more games a little
bit better defense, run the ball with Chase Brown. But
(11:35):
I remember that when Burrow decided to stop taking sacks.
It was, I want to say the twenty two season,
like he had those bad early games against against the Cowboys,
and the offense was nasty and he was taking a
ton of sacks, and then he just made a choice
like I'm not going to live this way anymore. That's
a hard thing to do, to change your stripes like
that as a quarterback. So he's proven he can make
play style changes to lessen the amount of contact he's taking.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
It's probably the case that he has to choose to
do so.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Again, has he evolved over the course of five NFL
seasons in your opinion.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, that's the biggest way for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I One of my firm beliefs in terms of understanding
players is guys can get better or worse within their
play style, but they rarely change their stripes at the
quarterback positions. The Jameis Winston's or the Jameis Winston Sometimes
it's five touchdowns, no picks. Sometimes there's no touchdowns, three packs.
But we're shooting, baby, we're aggressive. We're throwing the ball
down the field, right, Derek Carr is gonna check it down.
Doesn't matter if it's third and nine with the game
(12:27):
on the line, Ball's going underneath. You know, you are
as you are. You don't change your stripes. And through
the first couple of years of Burrow's career, I would
have described him as, oh, you know, excellent process or oh,
very accurate, but I would have said that he takes
too many sacks, and he's willing to hold onto the
football too long, and high sack quarterbacks tend to stay
high sack quarterbacks. And then you just flicked a switch.
And I know there was a lot of coaching about that.
(12:47):
I talked with Dan Pitcher about that in camp last year,
and he kind of laughed at the memory of some
of those conversations with Burrow and what that growing process
was like. But Burrow really dialed down in his sack
rate in a way that not a lot of quarterbacks
are capable of doing. The pressure rate still stays high
because he likes to hold.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
On the football.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
But in general, the number one way the Burrow has
grown is his ability to erase sacks, right, That erase
that very big negative play. I do think also last
season we talk a lot about Burrow the processor and
you know, pre snap post snap recognition. A lot of
that was when they were in their RPO game and
they were in their spread offense. And he deserves his
(13:24):
flowers for it. But that's also it's a clearer picture.
Last year they were in a lot more twelve personnel
and they did a little bit more play action, and
they changed a lot of the looks and Burrow was
still just like not only nails in terms of his
decision making, but he remains one of the most impressive.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Aggressive throwers of the football.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Guys like Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen are struggling a little
bit to find the downfield throws that they used to.
Burrow's got no problem, right, His ability to identify that
one moment of weakness and then shoot at it with
no hesitation, that's one of one, right, Like the big
differentiator between him and Justin Herbert, that debate that's gone
on for years. You know these two quarterbacks and their
differences and who's better than whatever.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
The big thing about Burrows he just knows when to shoot.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
He knows how to rip off that big play in
a way that really nobody else in the league does
through the air. So that's those are the two areas
with Burrows and through the most over his time.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
ESPN's Ben Solac is our guest. You can follow him
on x at Benjamin Solac. The Bengals passing game is
so good that I think the Chase Brown is flying
under the radar a little bit. He had more than
thirteen hundred combined rushing and receiving yards last year. He
scored eleven touchdowns. Are you bullish on Chase Brown?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Absolutely love what I saw from Chase Brown last year.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I I what Chase Brown did last year from just
like his individual play and how it impacted the offense
to me, was more interesting, more dangerous, more scary than
like anything Joe Mixon ever did.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
And Joe Mixon was a great player. He's a three
down player.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Joe Mixon remains a solid player, do not get me wrong,
But what Brown did, especially as a receiver right after
Zach Moss went down, Brown was averaging like four and
a half catches a game for thirty five yards, right,
some of the explosive catches out of the backfield. And
then the ability to be a viable quick option again
talking about like screen game and RPO game and cheasing
a little bit more yardage, getting a ball out of
Burrow's hand faster so he doesn't have to take those hits.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Brown was just so valuable.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
And then the second to third level stuff is just
like the speed in the second level is sick and
it's really really nice to have a second player like that.
When you think about how good Jamar Chase is after
the catch, it's not really Key's game. It's not really
a Sicki's game. It was never Boyd's game. It's not
jose of US's game. Having Brown actually be able to
eliminate some angles, it just gives you so many more layups. Right,
(15:31):
You're throwing these swings, you're throwing these screens that can
all of a sudden it become twenty yard gains, thirty
yard games. The way that Jamar Chase has manufactured offense
for you. So I am enamored with Chase Brown. There's
probably a limit on how many touches you want to
give a guy of his size between the tackles.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's the reality of it. They probably over.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
The course of the next couple of years are going
to want to find a timeshare way to make sure
they don't overload him with carries. But what he did
once Moss went down with the course of the season,
between the tackles and then all the ancillary stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
To me, I'm unsurprised.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
That they're willing to kind of make him the running
back one to see what he looks like on a
full volume of touches. I think again, it's not that
he's better than Mixing, because Mixing is very consistent, but
he's so dangerous and it's another thing you got to
deal with on the chalkboard when you plan for this offense.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I love Chase Brown.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
As we record this podcast, the Bengals have not been
able to reach a contract extension with Trey Hendrickson. He
is under contract through this season. So if you are
running the show, here are your options. A. Extend him
for a total of three seasons at roughly thirty million
dollars a year or more. B Give him a raise
this year and then part ways. See trade him for
(16:38):
draft picks. What draft picks might again, Well, I saw
that you proposed at some point in the last month
or two like a second and a fifth or something
like that, so I'll give you four.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
That could be kind of okay.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So let's say for the sake of that, that you
get that offer from somebody a second and a four.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think I would do it.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I would want conditions that if he continues to be
as productive, that the picks become stronger, because didn't feel
like super strong picks for a guy who was just
as productive as Hendrickson was. Now I will say I
went back and I watched a lot of Hendrickson last month.
Because of the whole contract negotiation. Let's call spade a
spade here. The guy wanted to accumulate sacks as he
wanted a contract on plays in which sacks were not
really viable. His interest in contributing to the efforts of
(17:25):
the eleven on defense were at times questionable. I don't
fault him for that at all. If I were thirty
going on thirty one and I were nearly leading the
league in sacks and I was having a contract dispute, buddy,
I'd be prioritizing the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So I don't I don't fault Trey for it.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
At all, But if there are bridges burned there in
terms of the culture for him in Cincinnati and his
contract negotiations, then I want to get out.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
While the getting out it's good, and it's not like
I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It with a twenty four year old who I planned
my whole franchise around, and now he's me.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
He's thirty one years old.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You know you were already going to start thinking about
post Trey Hendrickson lives and schemes and depth charts and
outcomes a couple of years ago, right when you were
drafting Joseph Side, when you were drafting Miles Murphy, you
were thinking about the fact that we don't know how
much longer those guy's prime we are gonna last. We
don't know if he's gonna continue to be this fourteen
sack guy that he's been in low body's a seventeen
sack guys, Holy smokes, you've been preparing for life after Henderson,
(18:21):
And so to me, if I can get a near
contender to give me a Day two pick now and
then an accelerated pick Okay, if he has ten plus
sacks another day, tub pick later. If I can get
the lines of the commanders to do that, I'm gonna
get out. While the getting out's good. I'm gonna say,
all right, I did a great job with Tea, I
did a great job with a Jamar contract, and I'm
ready to move forward with a younger approach on defense.
(18:42):
We know from last season that even if you get
an unbelievable twenty twenty five Trey Henderson, you get a
seventeen sax season from Trey Henderson this year, and A
goes necessarily solve the defense.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Other stuff's got to happen.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Hopefully it does, but we know that that alone does
not a good defense create for the put And it
was last year, and so you can't trick yourself into saying,
go give him a raise. Now he's going to give
us seventeen sacks again, and we'll fix all the other
stuff and our defense will begin up.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
For the super Bowl. That's way too many ifs, so
I would want to begin out now.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
They also selected Shamar Stewart with that in mind. He
was the seventeenth pick in the draft this year. What
did you think of the Bengals selecting Schamar, and what'd
you think of their draft as a whole.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, So the Schamar pick I liked for Cincinnati. Again,
it's actually more similar to the Amarius Mims pick than
I think people realize. You take the best twenty twenty
five plays of this guy.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, he could be in the top five pick.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
There's a great reason why he's not a top five
pick though he was highly inconsistent. He doesn't have the
sack production. So the Bengals take the swing further down
in the draft. And this is how Duke Tobin has
been drafting.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's very easy to take pictures of Duke Tobin's last
few years as a drafter and be like, dude, what
is this right? In terms like some of the defensive
players they've swung and missed on. But I've always been
a Duke Tobin believer and defender because he knows that
for Cincinnati specifically, with again like some the limits on
the money that the ownership group has, some of the
big contracts they had coming down the Mountain, he had
(20:05):
to approach the draft from a very aggressive position just
to we gotta take the big swings, we gotta take
the big risks if we connect on these and might
be able to get us over the hill. So I
appreciate the way that he's drafted. I like the Stewart
draft pick for them. Got to get him in the building.
Gotta figure this out. Guy absolutely needs reps. He needs
to eat the playbook, like we got to get the
dude in the building. So I like the Stewart pick Night.
(20:26):
I liked it was a round earlier than I thought
Night would go Fairchild. Like I said, I liked it
was around earlier than I thought Fairchild would go. But
that's kind of how the draft process works. You know,
you have these players, Okay, I understand the fit. I
understand the like I think it's gonna go pick sixty five,
and then he goes pick forty five. What are you
gonna do? Night as a Pratt one to one replacement
makes so much sense to me. I think that's gonna
be a very good fit. Fairchild. I'm not sure your
one's going to be pretty The hope is that you're
(20:47):
two and year three a little better.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
We are visiting with ESPN's Ben Solak. In a recent
story where you listed names to know for the upcoming season,
you included the Bengals new defensive coordinator El Golden. El
Golden at the right time to elevate the Bengals defense.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
No idea.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You know, the college to NFL jump is extremely hard
to predict from a schematic perspective, right. I think that
when when John Harbaugh makes the leap, and he was
obviously in the NFL previously, we can all go okay,
like this is probably gonna work. There's gonna be some
good stuff here, what have you. Golden obviously has been
in Cincinnati before, has been in the NFL before. But
when you're talking defensive scheme, much more so than offensive scheme,
(21:26):
you're talking about a coach's ability to adjust relative to
his personnel and to adjust relative to the week by
week demands of the offense that he's facing. Defensive personnel,
excuse me. Defensive scheme is much more about I have
a big roll ofex of things I can do, and
I know how to hand select that two or three
things we're going to do this week. First offensive scheme
where it's like this is my stuff, we run it,
let's go. And so it's very hard to prognosticate when
(21:49):
if a defensive coach is going to be good. From
an ex's and most perspective, ELEVATEI guys are not a
lotvich depends on the individual and his understanding of the players.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So it's something to watch for.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
The thing that gives me some excitement and some faith
is the fact that Golden's coming from the college ranks,
coming from a younger demographic, a younger cohort of players,
and the big difficulty with lou Ana Roumo's defense over
his time in Cincinnatis. I thought it was a great defense.
It had its awesome heyday in the early twenty twenties.
But the big difficulty was it was a lot for
the young players to eat. It was a lot for
(22:19):
the young players to chew up and understand. That was
a very complex defense required a ton of communication. If
you weren't at a level of football intelligence, you just
couldn't get on the field right. We couldn't even like
hide you in a certain spot. You were just going
to get backed on. You were going to be wrong
in your assignments. And so the hope is that Golden,
who's used to working with a younger cohort, like I said,
can still get a complex defense out there getting NFL
(22:40):
caliber defense out there, but simplify things for the younger guys,
allowed them to play a little bit faster. Because you've
seen good things right from your DJ Turners and your
Dax Hills and so what have you. So I got
no idea for you. It's very hard to figure it out,
but I'm watching with interest.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
In the same story, you listed Dax Hill among sixteen
key players returning from injury this year. Dax was drafted
to play safety, but played well after the shift to
outside corner last year. Did you see enough to think
that Dax Hill can be a high level outside cornerback
in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Not yet, No, And I think that his best spot
is the nickel. I prefer him in the nickel to outside.
And what with Mike Hilton is still a free agent
at this point, right Hilton unsigned? Anywhay, Yeah, I would
expect him to be the nickel player. I also like
that because it keeps DJ Turner on the outside.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Between the two.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
When I've seen them play healthy, I've been more impressed
with Turner than Hill on the outside. I thought that
was like kind of a gimmey. And then sometimes I
say that in Bengals fans are like very surprised by that.
I don't know, that's just been my impression camping. Then
the limited action for both of them, and so I
like a DJ Turner on the outside and a Dax
Hill DJ Turner fighting for that outside spot. I should
be clear, and then Dax Hill being the first off
the board for that nickel spot. If you end up
(23:51):
you know, when you're in your base defense, you don't
need a nickel. You want to experiment with Dax being
an outside player there, fine, but again I think you're
running into a too much on his plate problem, which
is a lot of the issues in the lou anaumo era.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So to me, just leave him at the nickel. I
think that's where he's best in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
What about Cam Taylor Britt. A couple of years ago,
people were speculating that he could be on a Pro
Bowl track, and then this past season he got benched
multiple times and had a really disappointing season.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Yeah, I lessen twenty three Camp Taylor Britt. I was there.
I was drinking the kool aid right, And it's worth
noting when it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Comes to these big, long, physical corners who aren't necessarily
the speediest guys but are very good at producing on
the ball. You gotta live a little bit with both
edges of the sword, right. I remember Rusulla Douglas in
Philadelphia before he went to Green Bay and figured it
out right, like these guys are feast or famine. It's
just a little bit the nature of the position. And
(24:44):
it's also those particular guys in their play style. With
that said, you could tell camp Taylor Britt was taking
a lot of unnecessary risks last year.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
You could see that there were mental errs last year
that led to big plays.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And I think it's easy to wipe a lot of
that away and say, new defensive coordinator, maybe he's gonna
agree with him a little bit more. Scheme's going to
protect him a little bit more. He's going to go
back to being an impactful player. That's fair to a point.
It also happened the twenty twenty four season. Happened, right,
and corners have legendarily, you know, impervious confidence. But it
happened like he had a very bad season and it
(25:15):
clearly affected him. And so the idea that he's just
going to bounce back right to the sea mark that
he was on is probably a little bit optimistic, but
development is never linear, especially at the cornerback position, where
again it can be very feast of fame and very volatile,
very high risk, high reward. And so I saw have
a lot of faith in cam Taylor britt because narratively,
I can wipe away a lot of what happened in
the twenty four season. But that doesn't mean I just
(25:35):
want to kind of like, you know, put my hand
on my eyes and pretend it never happened. You have
to acknowledge the fact that this is a mercurial player
right now.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
All right, let me pick your brain about the other
teams in the AFC North. What is your biggest question
where Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland are concerned.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Baltimore, I think we'll start with there because I think
that you got to reach to go find a question
about Baltimore. I think Baltimore is going to be an
extremely good team. Once again, the biggest question for them
is the linebacker position. Last year, rope One Smith was
really rough to start the year, which it didn't look
like he was like fully in shape. He leveled out
as the season went on. They were playing Trenton Simpson
young man next to him, Simpson was struggling to figure
(26:14):
things out, get his sea legs under him, so eventually
they replaced him with Chris Board and with Malie Harrison,
both of them left in free agencies. Right now, it's
Roquan Smith and it's Trenton Simpson with pretty much nobody
behind him, a fourth round pick, a free agent from
the Rams. That position has been a strength of the
Ravens last couple of years. It can be potentially a
weakness this year. And they had to put all their
resources into the secondary ex That's why they had a
(26:34):
lot of turnovers. So linebacker's the spot for them where
I'm worried about the depth. I'm worried about the performance
for Baltimore Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
What are we thought?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Everything I'm worried about in Cleveland not to worried about
in Cleveland. I don't think whoever the Browns play at
quarterback is going to be good enough to register on
the seismic scale of the AFC North, let alone in
the AFC.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And so I mean, I'm.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Just worried about further hijinks and shenanigans out of Cleveland
and then Pittsburgh. A lot of names man Jalen Ramsey,
John new Smith, Darius Slay, DK Metcalf, Aaron Rodgers, a
huge amount of turnover from a team that's been perennially
a nine and eight, right perenally right.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Above five hundred.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I look at this team, I feel like a five
hundred team, you know, big carousel spin, and I'm worried
that there's not that big of a result there at
the end. They need another really good year from a
defensive front that's once again gotten a year older.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Watt, Cam Hayward, Al Smith, a high Smith dealing with injuries.
They need guys like Ramsey and Darius Lay to contribute
to that secondary right away. Those over thirty year old
dbs go. Look at the history of DB's once they
hit the big three.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Oh, it is not a good history. So it's a
finn bet bear.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
They need Aaron Rodgers to be an elevator, right They
need him to be a guy who lifts up the team,
who improves the team, something he hasn't been since he
left Green Bay. He's forty two years old. It's a
thin needle to thread. So I see the vision. I
understand they're they're acting with urgency, which I appreciate they
needed to do that, and they've added some names.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
It was, it was the appropriate course of action.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Got to hit some tough three balls here, got hit
some shots order for all this to Colas and so
you know it's Mike Tomlin. You trust him until the
scoreboard actually has triple zeros and they lost the game.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
You know he's good to wriggling his way out of
tight corners. But this is a tight corner.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Final thing. The Bengals will contend in the AFC North
and be a team that can make a postseason run if.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
The defense is twenty year better, right, I mean, like
the model of elite offense and good enough defense gets
us into a playoff run is a very well trodden
model at this point.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
That is a very common way for NFL teams to get.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
To the postseason. And then it's three games to the
super Bowl. Let's just get hot, right, Let's just win
a couple. So I don't need this defense to elevate.
I need it to be average right by the way
attend the end of the season, rolls around. Need to
be fine enough that they can hold their weight for
two punts, right, stop up two drives and then put
the onus on burrowing on this offense to consistently score
thirty plus. It's not the best way to do it.
(28:54):
The best way to do is the eaglesways have the
best offense, the best defense.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Who cares. But you don't get to do that every
single year.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
And so elite offense and average defense is a very
viable model for playoff success, has been for the last
five seven years. And the Bengals are well equipped for that.
So defense takes just a moderate step into functionality. And yeah,
we're cooking with hot grease.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Ben, This has been tremendous and a lot of fun.
I really appreciate your time. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And thanks, thank you to I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Ben obviously knows his stuff. You can find his content
on ESPN dot com, ESPN Plus and various ESPN podcasts.
The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
(29:40):
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. Former Pro Bowl
offensive lineman Kyle Long recently graded all thirty two offensive
lines for CBS Sports and put the Bengals in the
average category. For what it's worth, Baltimore was the only
(30:02):
team in the AFC North that grated higher, and the
Ravens were in the above average category, not in the
top two tiers. Here are five observations for why the
Bengals offensive line could turn out to be better than
Kyle Long and many others expect. Observation number one is
that the Bengals are in great shape and tackle with
(30:24):
one of the league's biggest duos in Orlando Brown Junior
and Amrius Mims. Orlando was a four time Pro Bowler
before coming to Cincinnati and was playing at that level
last year before suffering a broken fibula that limited him
to eleven games. Here are Joe Burrow, Dan Pitcher, and
Zach Taylor on Orlando's play before the injury.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, he was playing great, best for his career, one
of the top tackles in the league.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
He's a first time captain. I know that means a
lot to him. It means a lot to us because
you know, we believe in him, his consistent and you
tell you just you can tell how much it means
to him. You know, we need key pieces like that
that you can just depend on to do their job
and not need a lot of attention. And he's done
a great job there.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Orlando State and Cincinnati in the offseason and worked out
regularly at Pey Corps Stadium. He should be as good
as ever in twenty twenty five. And if the opposite
tackle spot you have twenty two year old Amrius Mims,
my pick to be the Bengals breakout player this year.
Here's Orlando on his six', eight three hundred and fifty pound.
(31:31):
Teammate the DIFFERENCE i see from his time of year
compared to last.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Year he's definitely gotten better AND i can't wait to
see what he does On.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Sundays. Man he's really really been putting it together all.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
OFFSEASON i fully expect That amrius will be mentioned as
one of the NFL's best young tackles by the end
of the. Year Here's Dave lapham on The cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (31:51):
Skyline i've got tremendous confidence in what those tackles can.
Do they are genetic, freaks they are physical. MARVELS i,
mean you, know six' eight plus three hundred and thirty
five to fifty pounds and, long arms, big hands, tremendous feet,
you know in terms of being able to move their
(32:11):
feet and laterally and. Change direction and it's incredible the
size of, these behemoths with their ability to bend, the
knees bend at their hips and lower their pad level
and move and. BE athletic i think they're as good
at cannamisers In The National.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Football league observation number two Involves Center. Ted carris i'm
not sure if it's, widely known but Last Year Pro
football Focus graded ted as the fourth best pass blocking
center IN. The nfl at the age of, Thirty one
ted had the highest pass blocking great of his career
since becoming a full. Time starter, once again.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Here's Lap ted carriss is a tremendous leader. Of men
he knows the game of football as well as the,
coaches do, extremely. Intense eigent he can come up and
recognize defenses and help. A quarterback he can recognize things before,
the quarterback and a lot of times the quarterback are
depending on him to call out fronts and alignments and
(33:14):
all that sort. Of thing in the defensive line when
he's making calls to his.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Offensive linemen So the bengals are in good shape at tackle.
And center observation number three Concerns Rookie, dylan fairchild the
leading candidate to start at. LEFT guard i don't know
if you saw it on, social Media but fairchild has
been using his so called time off between the final
mini camp and the start of training camp to work
OUT with Mma Star. Sean strickland there's a video clip
(33:42):
of the two wrestling that Chowse off, fairchild's, strength quickness.
And flexibility here's what offensive Line Coach scott peters told
me After the Bengals drafted fairchild in the.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
Third, round obviously you did a lot of work in
the draft looking at every guard that was conceivably available for,
the draft and one thing that really stood Out with
dylan is uh is his just, his size, athletic ability
in his, Play strength he's he's one of the Strongest
people i've ever tied. Up with. Very strong he's a.
Great kid, he's humble, you know he works. Very hard he's,
(34:16):
extremely TOUGH and i think you know all that stuff with,
his dimensions his, physical nature the way he plays. Extremely
hard those are the things that we, you know really
stood out. To me, YOU know i think he can
set a firm anchor. In there he's got the tools to,
play long which is something we emphasize as. In protection
he's got good feet, to MOVE and, i think, you
know he's got all the tools you're looking for in,
(34:36):
a player especially, a guard. You KNOW so i think for,
for us it was a no brainer at that point, In,
time uh just To take DYLAN because, i think, you
KNOW like, i said he has all the traits so
that you're looking for in an.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Elite guard dylan doesn't have to, be elite but he
does have to be reliable if. He Isn't the bengals
do have a three year starter waiting in the Wings
In Cordel volson observation number four concerned the starter at
the other. Guard spot it looks like that's going to
come down to a training camp Battle Between lucas Patrick And.
Cody ford patrick played mostly left guard For the saints
(35:11):
last year and center the year before For. The bears
the last time he was a full time starter at
right guard was in twenty Twenty In, green Bay when
lucas posted THE highest pff grades of. His career ford
played both tackle spots and left guard For the bengals
last year and earned the respective teammates and coaches for
(35:31):
his ability to hold his own. Wherever needed here's Offensive
Coordinator dan Pitcher on Patrick versus ford at. TRAINING camp i.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
Think it would be a, good battle and those guys
are two competitive guys that KNOW what nfl football. Looks
Like and i've looked forward to seeing how that.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Plays out and we shouldn't Rule Out cordell vohlsen as
a right. Guard candidate he played on the right side
of the line in college and says those banked reps
would help him move from the left side to. The
right the fifth and final observation and INVOLVES new o
Line Coach. Scott peters I'm A frank, pollock FAN and
i don't think he ever got enough credit for Helping
(36:06):
the bengals come within minutes of Winning A super bowl
with a patchwork offensive line that included four players who
combined to start one Game After super bowl. Fifty Six
but i'm excited to see what impact, His Replacement, scott peters.
Will have scott is eleven years younger and brings an
unusual background with his martial. Arts Expertise Here's. Ted garris, you.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
Know that's that's one of THE joys i take as a.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Football player i've had.
Speaker 7 (36:33):
A LOT of o line coaches in, my time and,
you know to learn Something that i've never even heard
of has, you know it's taken, you know this eight
weeks to kind of get comfortable with it and now
we can take it in the summer and.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Train IT but i think he's done a.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
Great job, you know we're gonna have some some nuances
that are a little, bit DIFFERENT and i think it's gonna,
you know what we talked about when he first, GOT
hired i, was like how can we increase our one
on one? Win percentage that's like all, you know that's
like the. Main goals how can we put tools in
our players' hands that increase.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
The chances of a one on?
Speaker 7 (37:03):
One victory because WE and i, think that, you know
we've kind of it's great to have a guy come
in that hasn't been here kind of look at it
from ten thousand feet and really be honest about you
know what, we are who, we are you know who
we are as, an offense and how we can, you
know be the best unit for.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
This offense that's going to. Do it for this episode
Of The Bengals booth podcast brought to you By, Pay
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By alta fiber future Proof fiber internet designed to elevate,
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(37:43):
if you haven't done, so already please subscribe to this
podcast and if you have, a minute give it 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
Hi, get everybody on dan Hord and thanks for downloading
The Bengals Booth Podcast. The the Nage addition, as ESPN's
Ben Solec joins me for an entertaining look at the
Bengals off season and their chances of contending in twenty
twenty five, followed by five observations about the Bengals offensive line.
(00:25):
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. Now here's a
(00:46):
quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of
this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer
by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest
thing since using uniform numbers for memorization. There's a golf
course in the Cincinnati area where a four digit code
is needed to enter a bathroom on the course. When
(01:09):
I asked somebody for the code, they said it was
easy to remember. Jackie Robinson, Barry Larkin say no more
four to two one one. My memory isn't as sharp
as it once was, but the uniform number technique works
for me every time, and you can use it for
important numbers and dates. For example, my wedding anniversary is
(01:33):
Bill Russell jim Ar Chase. Now if I could only
remember where I left my keys. Now let's get to football.
As I record this podcast, training camp is roughly three
weeks away. Last week I got the local perspective on
the team from seven Bengals Beat reporters, and this week
(01:54):
it's the national perspective as I caught up with ESPN's
Ben Solack. Dan, you have written and said a lot
of interesting things about the Bengals this offseason, and I
want to start with something that you wrote after the
Bengals reached their contract extensions with Jamar Chase and t Higgins.
Quote the trio of Burrow Higgins Chase cements auto contender status.
(02:21):
That is a strong statement. Explained why you feel that way.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Because of the Broncos Bengals game last year, where the
entire premise of the Broncos defense, which was like inarguably
a top five most certainly a top three, perhaps the
best defensive football Last season, the entire premise was, well,
we have Patrick Sartan, and you're not used to playing
games in which we can just take your wide receiver
one away and we're to force your offense to play
(02:45):
left handed, and that's such a challenging thing to deal
with from an offensive perspective. And the Bengals just kind
of said loll and then threw it to t Higgins
a bunch opposite Riley Moss. Right Like, I'm fairly confident
that te Higgins is a top fifteen receiver in the NIF.
I think he's right there with DeVante Smith in the
argument for the best wide receiver two in football.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I think t would be.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
A wide receiver one and over half the teams in
the league. I think he would have made over thirty
million dollars via the free agent market this year. He's
that caliber of a guy. There's obviously injury concerns, but
he's on the field. He's on the field, and Joe
took such a nice step forward last season. We all
know what Jamar is and so if you have that
caliber of a passing attack, you're gonna be in every
single game you play, because there's no second half deficit
that you feel like you can't dig your way out of.
(03:25):
You're gonna be able to dictate terms to opposing defenses,
even those who have elite corner ones who can win
against Jamar and mancot Bridge, And you're gonna be able
to make playoff bushes because you can just get lucky
and get hot with that passing game. And so yeah,
there's so much to talk about with the Bengals outside
of the nucleus, right outside of the solar system of
Joe Burrow, Jabar, Chase and t Higgins. They got a
(03:46):
lot changing and to deal with them to improve upon.
But that trio right there, it's as good as it
gets in football. It keeps them in the AFC conversation
every single year.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
At this time last year, going into last season, I
didn't think realistically there was any way they were going
to keep both. Did you feel the same.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Way one hundred percent?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I was when I was at camp last year was
when Jamar started not showing up to camp because he
wanted an extension, while also they were still dealing with
Tea not wanting to participate in camp because he wanted
his extension. I was like, all right, this is chalked
like you, there's just too many balls in the air
to juggle contract wise. And the Bengals obviously have more
limiting factors on their ability to make these mega deals
(04:25):
than other teams because they are a family owned team
that weren't recently purchased with huge amounts of money and
minority owners, like they just have less cash moving around
than some of these other squads to And so I
thought they were going to get priced out. And again
I think t could have made considerably more money on
the open market if he wanted to get out of
Cincinnati now, the same you could have said about Chris
Stalwin and Tampa Bay. He took a discount to stay there.
I don't think he made a bad business decision at all.
(04:47):
But they were able to work the Joe Burrow angle
of it work. We made the Super Bowl angle of
it work, the what you can be here as Jamar
Chase's running mate and have this very unique, very strong,
one A one B situation such that they were able
to keep both of those guys. It is I think
from the day that they realize Jamar and Joe were
going to be what they are so the twenty twenty
one Super Bowl run. They have been making efforts, the
(05:07):
ownership group in the Blackburn's efforts to be ready for
these contracts and the fact that they got that ball
over the line is extremely impressive, So kudos to them.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
ESPN's Ben Solak is our guest. We often associate quarterbacks
with Super Bowl windows, and Joe Burrow has famously said
the window is my career.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Do you agree, Yeah, in the sense that an elite quarterback,
And I think Burrow I hate using the word elite
because to me, elite means top ten percent, top five percent.
To mean that's like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen,
the MVP guys right, so near elite, top five whatever
action if you want to use when you have that guy,
and then yeah, you have the receivers.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Like I say, you're always contending.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
However, Burrow is taking the term there and kind of
making it his own. We talk about super Bowl windows
and winning windows. What we're really talking about in the
media are rookie contract windows and your most competitive team
builds are those team bills in which your quarterback is
an extremely low cap hit because it allows you to
get forty million dollars in surplus, fifty million dollars in surplus.
(06:09):
You can go around and pay everybody, get free agents
in on the defensive tackle, linebacker, corner, offensive guard, tight end,
and you can build those ancillary pieces. It's how the
Eagles built around Jalen Hurts before they made their Super
Bowl runs, how the forty nine ers built around brock
perty and now that he has to get paid. You
saw their talent departure this past year.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
So Joe can say that, and he's not wrong.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
However, I can start naming for you some Bengals who
have gotten out of the building because price tag wise,
the Bengals had to make some some contract decisions.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so he's correct.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
But we're also right when we talk about the differences
between that first window, that rookie contract window, and then
the later windows, in which the margins are a lot smaller.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Let's move from Joe and his targets to the guys
in front of him. The Bengals are going to have
a couple of new starters on the offensive line. It
all looked an all likelihood. Rookie Dyllon Fairchild at left
guard and then either Lucas Patrick, Cody Ford or maybe
Cordell Vohlson at right guard. What's your concern level?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Like moderate to severe?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
But that's what it's been in the last couple of
years with the interior, right, I think even when you
know they had just made the Alex Capa signing, and
you know Ted Carriss was a couple of years younger,
and it felt much better than it had when Hakima
Dnergy was starting feeing the Super Bowl. Right, it felt
much better, but it still wasn't the sort of interior
offensive line where I looked at like a playoff run
which you got to go through Chris Jones, and which
(07:29):
you got to go through at Oliver and which you
got to go through Dom du Madebuque and Baltimore, and
I say, like.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Wow, the Bengals are fine on the interior.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
I've always been moderately to severely concerned about the Bengals interior.
They're rolling the dice on a couple of different guys.
You brought up Fairchild, who was a player I liked
a lot coming out of the draft. I thought he
was going to be a round four, round five project guy,
round three, year one starter that might be shaky. Lucas Patrick,
I think is your average NFL right guard. You would
love if Cody Ford or Cordell Olson can beat him out.
(07:56):
I'm not sure you're couting those chickens until they hatched, though,
so it's probably not a great interior. Again, I think
guard center guard, it's a below average group in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But also that's I.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Think that's pretty close to how it's been the last
couple of years, and they know how to color in
the lines around it, and so the concern level is there.
But I've also seen them be an a lead offense
despite poor guard play.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
What'd you think of a Marius Mims when the Bengals
selected him, and what do you think of him now
that he's got a rookie year under his bill.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, Amarius has a chance to be very, very, very good,
and I believe that strongly coming out of Georgia. I mean,
you took Amarus mims twenty twenty five best plays as
a prospect, put them against anybody else that was like
a top five pick, and it was the youth and
the lack of experience of some of the injury concerns
that knocked him down the board a bit. Now here
you are one year later he's been He.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Was eighteen overall. Mims was the year he came out,
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I can't remember what exact pick they took him, but
you got some good film. He also got a little
bit banged up over the course of the season, and
you're in the summer as well, and you're worried about
the availability, worried about how many snaps he can put together.
I thought he quitted himself quite nicely when he was
at full health last season, once he had a sea
legs under him, I got a little bit of experience.
I thought you saw the clear vision for an impressive,
a Pro Bowl caliber right tackle.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
So I'm very bullish on Mims.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
I just I always hold my breath right, making sure
that you know it's tough on ligaments, lower by the
ligaments to carry three hundred and fifty pounds around like that.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
So you're just hoping that.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
He stays healthy long enough, gets through the rookie growing
pains well enough, and delivers on the investment.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Because he looks like it looks like he could be
a star.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Every Bengals coach, player and fan would like to see
Joe Burrow take fewer hits. Zach Taylor says playing with
the lead and being in fewer shootouts would help, maybe
more than anything else. But what else schematically do you
think they could be doing or should be doing. Should
Joe throw it away more, should they try to emphasize
(09:42):
the run more. What do you think of that in
terms of trying to cut down on the hits that
Joe takes.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I think Joe could decide to talk and run more,
and both talking run in terms of crossing the line
of scrimmage and talking run in terms of just escaping
the pocket. When we talk about pocket management, we're using
an umbrella term to often describe very different things. There
are really good pocket managers who are great at buying
an extra half second to get the throw off from
a bit of an adjusted platform, and instead of taking
(10:10):
a huge blow, they take a glancing blow. This is
your Tom Brady category of pocket managers. There are unbelievable
pocket managers who just have a sense of escapability and
strength and maneuverability in the pocket that they could be
under durest from multiple players and still get out of it.
Ask Sam Hubbard about trying to tackle Lamar Jackson on
that one huge scramble up against the goal line last year.
That's your Lamar Jackson pocket manager. And there's a wide
(10:32):
spectrum in between calibrating to exactly when to hold onto
the ball for how long to hold onto the ball,
When to try to buy a half second, why did
they try to escape, to buy two seconds? When to
just tuck and drop your eyes and go right now.
That is a learning curve for every quarterback over the
course of years. Patrick Mahomes is still changing the way
he does that. Josh Allen is still changing the way
he does that. So on and so forth. Burrow, who
(10:53):
is extremely good. We can't take a single thing away
from him. Who's extremely good at getting to his checkdown,
getting to the backside, finding aggressive throws downfield late in
the down. He is a wonderful processor who knows where
his outs are. Still probably has a little bit too
much confidence in his ability, a little bit too much
willingness to take a big shot so he can give
(11:14):
Andre Josevas one handed catch opportunity eighteen yards down the
field when it's like, hey, Joe, for a second earlier,
you just talked to the ball randomly picked out four yards,
we'll get you back on second and sex you know,
we'll go for this. And so I think Taylor's is
absolutely correct in terms of the trailing aspect. You would
love to be able to leave more games a little
bit better defense, run the ball with Chase Brown. But
(11:35):
I remember that when Burrow decided to stop taking sacks.
It was, I want to say the twenty two season,
like he had those bad early games against against the Cowboys,
and the offense was nasty and he was taking a
ton of sacks, and then he just made a choice
like I'm not going to live this way anymore. That's
a hard thing to do, to change your stripes like
that as a quarterback. So he's proven he can make
play style changes to lessen the amount of contact he's taking.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
It's probably the case that he has to choose to
do so.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Again, has he evolved over the course of five NFL
seasons in your opinion.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, that's the biggest way for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I One of my firm beliefs in terms of understanding
players is guys can get better or worse within their
play style, but they rarely change their stripes at the
quarterback positions. The Jameis Winston's or the Jameis Winston Sometimes
it's five touchdowns, no picks. Sometimes there's no touchdowns, three packs.
But we're shooting, baby, we're aggressive. We're throwing the ball
down the field, right, Derek Carr is gonna check it down.
Doesn't matter if it's third and nine with the game
(12:27):
on the line, Ball's going underneath. You know, you are
as you are. You don't change your stripes. And through
the first couple of years of Burrow's career, I would
have described him as, oh, you know, excellent process or oh,
very accurate, but I would have said that he takes
too many sacks, and he's willing to hold onto the
football too long, and high sack quarterbacks tend to stay
high sack quarterbacks. And then you just flicked a switch.
And I know there was a lot of coaching about that.
(12:47):
I talked with Dan Pitcher about that in camp last year,
and he kind of laughed at the memory of some
of those conversations with Burrow and what that growing process
was like. But Burrow really dialed down in his sack
rate in a way that not a lot of quarterbacks
are capable of doing. The pressure rate still stays high
because he likes to hold.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
On the football.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
But in general, the number one way the Burrow has
grown is his ability to erase sacks, right, That erase
that very big negative play. I do think also last
season we talk a lot about Burrow the processor and
you know, pre snap post snap recognition. A lot of
that was when they were in their RPO game and
they were in their spread offense. And he deserves his
(13:24):
flowers for it. But that's also it's a clearer picture.
Last year they were in a lot more twelve personnel
and they did a little bit more play action, and
they changed a lot of the looks and Burrow was
still just like not only nails in terms of his
decision making, but he remains one of the most impressive.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Aggressive throwers of the football.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Guys like Patrick Mahomes Josh Allen are struggling a little
bit to find the downfield throws that they used to.
Burrow's got no problem, right, His ability to identify that
one moment of weakness and then shoot at it with
no hesitation, that's one of one, right, Like the big
differentiator between him and Justin Herbert, that debate that's gone
on for years. You know these two quarterbacks and their
differences and who's better than whatever.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
The big thing about Burrows he just knows when to shoot.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
He knows how to rip off that big play in
a way that really nobody else in the league does
through the air. So that's those are the two areas
with Burrows and through the most over his time.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
ESPN's Ben Solac is our guest. You can follow him
on x at Benjamin Solac. The Bengals passing game is
so good that I think the Chase Brown is flying
under the radar a little bit. He had more than
thirteen hundred combined rushing and receiving yards last year. He
scored eleven touchdowns. Are you bullish on Chase Brown?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Absolutely love what I saw from Chase Brown last year.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I I what Chase Brown did last year from just
like his individual play and how it impacted the offense
to me, was more interesting, more dangerous, more scary than
like anything Joe Mixon ever did.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
And Joe Mixon was a great player. He's a three
down player.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Joe Mixon remains a solid player, do not get me wrong,
But what Brown did, especially as a receiver right after
Zach Moss went down, Brown was averaging like four and
a half catches a game for thirty five yards, right,
some of the explosive catches out of the backfield. And
then the ability to be a viable quick option again
talking about like screen game and RPO game and cheasing
a little bit more yardage, getting a ball out of
Burrow's hand faster so he doesn't have to take those hits.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Brown was just so valuable.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
And then the second to third level stuff is just
like the speed in the second level is sick and
it's really really nice to have a second player like that.
When you think about how good Jamar Chase is after
the catch, it's not really Key's game. It's not really
a Sicki's game. It was never Boyd's game. It's not
jose of US's game. Having Brown actually be able to
eliminate some angles, it just gives you so many more layups. Right,
(15:31):
You're throwing these swings, you're throwing these screens that can
all of a sudden it become twenty yard gains, thirty
yard games. The way that Jamar Chase has manufactured offense
for you. So I am enamored with Chase Brown. There's
probably a limit on how many touches you want to
give a guy of his size between the tackles.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's the reality of it. They probably over.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
The course of the next couple of years are going
to want to find a timeshare way to make sure
they don't overload him with carries. But what he did
once Moss went down with the course of the season,
between the tackles and then all the ancillary stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
To me, I'm unsurprised.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
That they're willing to kind of make him the running
back one to see what he looks like on a
full volume of touches. I think again, it's not that
he's better than Mixing, because Mixing is very consistent, but
he's so dangerous and it's another thing you got to
deal with on the chalkboard when you plan for this offense.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I love Chase Brown.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
As we record this podcast, the Bengals have not been
able to reach a contract extension with Trey Hendrickson. He
is under contract through this season. So if you are
running the show, here are your options. A. Extend him
for a total of three seasons at roughly thirty million
dollars a year or more. B Give him a raise
this year and then part ways. See trade him for
(16:38):
draft picks. What draft picks might again, Well, I saw
that you proposed at some point in the last month
or two like a second and a fifth or something
like that, so I'll give you four.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
That could be kind of okay.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
So let's say for the sake of that, that you
get that offer from somebody a second and a four.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think I would do it.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I would want conditions that if he continues to be
as productive, that the picks become stronger, because didn't feel
like super strong picks for a guy who was just
as productive as Hendrickson was. Now I will say I
went back and I watched a lot of Hendrickson last month.
Because of the whole contract negotiation. Let's call spade a
spade here. The guy wanted to accumulate sacks as he
wanted a contract on plays in which sacks were not
really viable. His interest in contributing to the efforts of
(17:25):
the eleven on defense were at times questionable. I don't
fault him for that at all. If I were thirty
going on thirty one and I were nearly leading the
league in sacks and I was having a contract dispute, buddy,
I'd be prioritizing the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
So I don't I don't fault Trey for it.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
At all, But if there are bridges burned there in
terms of the culture for him in Cincinnati and his
contract negotiations, then I want to get out.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
While the getting out it's good, and it's not like
I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It with a twenty four year old who I planned
my whole franchise around, and now he's me.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
He's thirty one years old.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You know you were already going to start thinking about
post Trey Hendrickson lives and schemes and depth charts and
outcomes a couple of years ago, right when you were
drafting Joseph Side, when you were drafting Miles Murphy, you
were thinking about the fact that we don't know how
much longer those guy's prime we are gonna last. We
don't know if he's gonna continue to be this fourteen
sack guy that he's been in low body's a seventeen
sack guys, Holy smokes, you've been preparing for life after Henderson,
(18:21):
And so to me, if I can get a near
contender to give me a Day two pick now and
then an accelerated pick Okay, if he has ten plus
sacks another day, tub pick later. If I can get
the lines of the commanders to do that, I'm gonna
get out. While the getting out's good. I'm gonna say,
all right, I did a great job with Tea, I
did a great job with a Jamar contract, and I'm
ready to move forward with a younger approach on defense.
(18:42):
We know from last season that even if you get
an unbelievable twenty twenty five Trey Henderson, you get a
seventeen sax season from Trey Henderson this year, and A
goes necessarily solve the defense.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Other stuff's got to happen.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Hopefully it does, but we know that that alone does
not a good defense create for the put And it
was last year, and so you can't trick yourself into saying,
go give him a raise. Now he's going to give
us seventeen sacks again, and we'll fix all the other
stuff and our defense will begin up.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
For the super Bowl. That's way too many ifs, so
I would want to begin out now.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
They also selected Shamar Stewart with that in mind. He
was the seventeenth pick in the draft this year. What
did you think of the Bengals selecting Schamar, and what'd
you think of their draft as a whole.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, So the Schamar pick I liked for Cincinnati. Again,
it's actually more similar to the Amarius Mims pick than
I think people realize. You take the best twenty twenty
five plays of this guy.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Yeah, he could be in the top five pick.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
There's a great reason why he's not a top five
pick though he was highly inconsistent. He doesn't have the
sack production. So the Bengals take the swing further down
in the draft. And this is how Duke Tobin has
been drafting.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's very easy to take pictures of Duke Tobin's last
few years as a drafter and be like, dude, what
is this right? In terms like some of the defensive
players they've swung and missed on. But I've always been
a Duke Tobin believer and defender because he knows that
for Cincinnati specifically, with again like some the limits on
the money that the ownership group has, some of the
big contracts they had coming down the Mountain, he had
(20:05):
to approach the draft from a very aggressive position just
to we gotta take the big swings, we gotta take
the big risks if we connect on these and might
be able to get us over the hill. So I
appreciate the way that he's drafted. I like the Stewart
draft pick for them. Got to get him in the building.
Gotta figure this out. Guy absolutely needs reps. He needs
to eat the playbook, like we got to get the
dude in the building. So I like the Stewart pick Night.
(20:26):
I liked it was a round earlier than I thought
Night would go Fairchild. Like I said, I liked it
was around earlier than I thought Fairchild would go. But
that's kind of how the draft process works. You know,
you have these players, Okay, I understand the fit. I
understand the like I think it's gonna go pick sixty five,
and then he goes pick forty five. What are you
gonna do? Night as a Pratt one to one replacement
makes so much sense to me. I think that's gonna
be a very good fit. Fairchild. I'm not sure your
one's going to be pretty The hope is that you're
(20:47):
two and year three a little better.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
We are visiting with ESPN's Ben Solak. In a recent
story where you listed names to know for the upcoming season,
you included the Bengals new defensive coordinator El Golden. El
Golden at the right time to elevate the Bengals defense.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
No idea.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
You know, the college to NFL jump is extremely hard
to predict from a schematic perspective, right. I think that
when when John Harbaugh makes the leap, and he was
obviously in the NFL previously, we can all go okay,
like this is probably gonna work. There's gonna be some
good stuff here, what have you. Golden obviously has been
in Cincinnati before, has been in the NFL before. But
when you're talking defensive scheme, much more so than offensive scheme,
(21:26):
you're talking about a coach's ability to adjust relative to
his personnel and to adjust relative to the week by
week demands of the offense that he's facing. Defensive personnel,
excuse me. Defensive scheme is much more about I have
a big roll ofex of things I can do, and
I know how to hand select that two or three
things we're going to do this week. First offensive scheme
where it's like this is my stuff, we run it,
let's go. And so it's very hard to prognosticate when
(21:49):
if a defensive coach is going to be good. From
an ex's and most perspective, ELEVATEI guys are not a
lotvich depends on the individual and his understanding of the players.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
So it's something to watch for.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
The thing that gives me some excitement and some faith
is the fact that Golden's coming from the college ranks,
coming from a younger demographic, a younger cohort of players,
and the big difficulty with lou Ana Roumo's defense over
his time in Cincinnatis. I thought it was a great defense.
It had its awesome heyday in the early twenty twenties.
But the big difficulty was it was a lot for
the young players to eat. It was a lot for
(22:19):
the young players to chew up and understand. That was
a very complex defense required a ton of communication. If
you weren't at a level of football intelligence, you just
couldn't get on the field right. We couldn't even like
hide you in a certain spot. You were just going
to get backed on. You were going to be wrong
in your assignments. And so the hope is that Golden,
who's used to working with a younger cohort, like I said,
can still get a complex defense out there getting NFL
(22:40):
caliber defense out there, but simplify things for the younger guys,
allowed them to play a little bit faster. Because you've
seen good things right from your DJ Turners and your
Dax Hills and so what have you. So I got
no idea for you. It's very hard to figure it out,
but I'm watching with interest.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
In the same story, you listed Dax Hill among sixteen
key players returning from injury this year. Dax was drafted
to play safety, but played well after the shift to
outside corner last year. Did you see enough to think
that Dax Hill can be a high level outside cornerback
in the NFL?
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Not yet, No, And I think that his best spot
is the nickel. I prefer him in the nickel to outside.
And what with Mike Hilton is still a free agent
at this point, right Hilton unsigned? Anywhay, Yeah, I would
expect him to be the nickel player. I also like
that because it keeps DJ Turner on the outside.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Between the two.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
When I've seen them play healthy, I've been more impressed
with Turner than Hill on the outside. I thought that
was like kind of a gimmey. And then sometimes I
say that in Bengals fans are like very surprised by that.
I don't know, that's just been my impression camping. Then
the limited action for both of them, and so I
like a DJ Turner on the outside and a Dax
Hill DJ Turner fighting for that outside spot. I should
be clear, and then Dax Hill being the first off
the board for that nickel spot. If you end up
(23:51):
you know, when you're in your base defense, you don't
need a nickel. You want to experiment with Dax being
an outside player there, fine, but again I think you're
running into a too much on his plate problem, which
is a lot of the issues in the lou anaumo era.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
So to me, just leave him at the nickel. I
think that's where he's best in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
What about Cam Taylor Britt. A couple of years ago,
people were speculating that he could be on a Pro
Bowl track, and then this past season he got benched
multiple times and had a really disappointing season.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Yeah, I lessen twenty three Camp Taylor Britt. I was there.
I was drinking the kool aid right, And it's worth
noting when it.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Comes to these big, long, physical corners who aren't necessarily
the speediest guys but are very good at producing on
the ball. You gotta live a little bit with both
edges of the sword, right. I remember Rusulla Douglas in
Philadelphia before he went to Green Bay and figured it
out right, like these guys are feast or famine. It's
just a little bit the nature of the position. And
(24:44):
it's also those particular guys in their play style. With
that said, you could tell camp Taylor Britt was taking
a lot of unnecessary risks last year.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
You could see that there were mental errs last year
that led to big plays.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
And I think it's easy to wipe a lot of
that away and say, new defensive coordinator, maybe he's gonna
agree with him a little bit more. Scheme's going to
protect him a little bit more. He's going to go
back to being an impactful player. That's fair to a point.
It also happened the twenty twenty four season. Happened, right,
and corners have legendarily, you know, impervious confidence. But it
happened like he had a very bad season and it
(25:15):
clearly affected him. And so the idea that he's just
going to bounce back right to the sea mark that
he was on is probably a little bit optimistic, but
development is never linear, especially at the cornerback position, where
again it can be very feast of fame and very volatile,
very high risk, high reward. And so I saw have
a lot of faith in cam Taylor britt because narratively,
I can wipe away a lot of what happened in
the twenty four season. But that doesn't mean I just
(25:35):
want to kind of like, you know, put my hand
on my eyes and pretend it never happened. You have
to acknowledge the fact that this is a mercurial player
right now.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
All right, let me pick your brain about the other
teams in the AFC North. What is your biggest question
where Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland are concerned.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Baltimore, I think we'll start with there because I think
that you got to reach to go find a question
about Baltimore. I think Baltimore is going to be an
extremely good team. Once again, the biggest question for them
is the linebacker position. Last year, rope One Smith was
really rough to start the year, which it didn't look
like he was like fully in shape. He leveled out
as the season went on. They were playing Trenton Simpson
young man next to him, Simpson was struggling to figure
(26:14):
things out, get his sea legs under him, so eventually
they replaced him with Chris Board and with Malie Harrison,
both of them left in free agencies. Right now, it's
Roquan Smith and it's Trenton Simpson with pretty much nobody
behind him, a fourth round pick, a free agent from
the Rams. That position has been a strength of the
Ravens last couple of years. It can be potentially a
weakness this year. And they had to put all their
resources into the secondary ex That's why they had a
(26:34):
lot of turnovers. So linebacker's the spot for them where
I'm worried about the depth. I'm worried about the performance
for Baltimore Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
What are we thought?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Everything I'm worried about in Cleveland not to worried about
in Cleveland. I don't think whoever the Browns play at
quarterback is going to be good enough to register on
the seismic scale of the AFC North, let alone in
the AFC.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
And so I mean, I'm.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Just worried about further hijinks and shenanigans out of Cleveland
and then Pittsburgh. A lot of names man Jalen Ramsey,
John new Smith, Darius Slay, DK Metcalf, Aaron Rodgers, a
huge amount of turnover from a team that's been perennially
a nine and eight, right perenally right.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
Above five hundred.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
I look at this team, I feel like a five
hundred team, you know, big carousel spin, and I'm worried
that there's not that big of a result there at
the end. They need another really good year from a
defensive front that's once again gotten a year older.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Watt, Cam Hayward, Al Smith, a high Smith dealing with injuries.
They need guys like Ramsey and Darius Lay to contribute
to that secondary right away. Those over thirty year old
dbs go. Look at the history of DB's once they
hit the big three.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Oh, it is not a good history. So it's a
finn bet bear.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
They need Aaron Rodgers to be an elevator, right They
need him to be a guy who lifts up the team,
who improves the team, something he hasn't been since he
left Green Bay. He's forty two years old. It's a
thin needle to thread. So I see the vision. I
understand they're they're acting with urgency, which I appreciate they
needed to do that, and they've added some names.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
It was, it was the appropriate course of action.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Got to hit some tough three balls here, got hit
some shots order for all this to Colas and so
you know it's Mike Tomlin. You trust him until the
scoreboard actually has triple zeros and they lost the game.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
You know he's good to wriggling his way out of
tight corners. But this is a tight corner.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Final thing. The Bengals will contend in the AFC North
and be a team that can make a postseason run if.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
The defense is twenty year better, right, I mean, like
the model of elite offense and good enough defense gets
us into a playoff run is a very well trodden
model at this point.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
That is a very common way for NFL teams to get.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
To the postseason. And then it's three games to the
super Bowl. Let's just get hot, right, Let's just win
a couple. So I don't need this defense to elevate.
I need it to be average right by the way
attend the end of the season, rolls around. Need to
be fine enough that they can hold their weight for
two punts, right, stop up two drives and then put
the onus on burrowing on this offense to consistently score
thirty plus. It's not the best way to do it.
(28:54):
The best way to do is the eaglesways have the
best offense, the best defense.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Who cares. But you don't get to do that every
single year.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
And so elite offense and average defense is a very
viable model for playoff success, has been for the last
five seven years. And the Bengals are well equipped for that.
So defense takes just a moderate step into functionality. And yeah,
we're cooking with hot grease.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Ben, This has been tremendous and a lot of fun.
I really appreciate your time. Keep up the great work.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And thanks, thank you to I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Ben obviously knows his stuff. You can find his content
on ESPN dot com, ESPN Plus and various ESPN podcasts.
The Bengals Booth Podcast is brought to you by pay Core,
Proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by
Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business,
(29:40):
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. Former Pro Bowl
offensive lineman Kyle Long recently graded all thirty two offensive
lines for CBS Sports and put the Bengals in the
average category. For what it's worth, Baltimore was the only
(30:02):
team in the AFC North that grated higher, and the
Ravens were in the above average category, not in the
top two tiers. Here are five observations for why the
Bengals offensive line could turn out to be better than
Kyle Long and many others expect. Observation number one is
that the Bengals are in great shape and tackle with
(30:24):
one of the league's biggest duos in Orlando Brown Junior
and Amrius Mims. Orlando was a four time Pro Bowler
before coming to Cincinnati and was playing at that level
last year before suffering a broken fibula that limited him
to eleven games. Here are Joe Burrow, Dan Pitcher, and
Zach Taylor on Orlando's play before the injury.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Yeah, he was playing great, best for his career, one
of the top tackles in the league.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
He's a first time captain. I know that means a
lot to him. It means a lot to us because
you know, we believe in him, his consistent and you
tell you just you can tell how much it means
to him. You know, we need key pieces like that
that you can just depend on to do their job
and not need a lot of attention. And he's done
a great job there.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Orlando State and Cincinnati in the offseason and worked out
regularly at Pey Corps Stadium. He should be as good
as ever in twenty twenty five. And if the opposite
tackle spot you have twenty two year old Amrius Mims,
my pick to be the Bengals breakout player this year.
Here's Orlando on his six', eight three hundred and fifty pound.
(31:31):
Teammate the DIFFERENCE i see from his time of year
compared to last.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Year he's definitely gotten better AND i can't wait to
see what he does On.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
Sundays. Man he's really really been putting it together all.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
OFFSEASON i fully expect That amrius will be mentioned as
one of the NFL's best young tackles by the end
of the. Year Here's Dave lapham on The cincinnati.
Speaker 5 (31:51):
Skyline i've got tremendous confidence in what those tackles can.
Do they are genetic, freaks they are physical. MARVELS i,
mean you, know six' eight plus three hundred and thirty
five to fifty pounds and, long arms, big hands, tremendous feet,
you know in terms of being able to move their
(32:11):
feet and laterally and. Change direction and it's incredible the
size of, these behemoths with their ability to bend, the
knees bend at their hips and lower their pad level
and move and. BE athletic i think they're as good
at cannamisers In The National.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Football league observation number two Involves Center. Ted carris i'm
not sure if it's, widely known but Last Year Pro
football Focus graded ted as the fourth best pass blocking
center IN. The nfl at the age of, Thirty one
ted had the highest pass blocking great of his career
since becoming a full. Time starter, once again.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Here's Lap ted carriss is a tremendous leader. Of men
he knows the game of football as well as the,
coaches do, extremely. Intense eigent he can come up and
recognize defenses and help. A quarterback he can recognize things before,
the quarterback and a lot of times the quarterback are
depending on him to call out fronts and alignments and
(33:14):
all that sort. Of thing in the defensive line when
he's making calls to his.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Offensive linemen So the bengals are in good shape at tackle.
And center observation number three Concerns Rookie, dylan fairchild the
leading candidate to start at. LEFT guard i don't know
if you saw it on, social Media but fairchild has
been using his so called time off between the final
mini camp and the start of training camp to work
OUT with Mma Star. Sean strickland there's a video clip
(33:42):
of the two wrestling that Chowse off, fairchild's, strength quickness.
And flexibility here's what offensive Line Coach scott peters told
me After the Bengals drafted fairchild in the.
Speaker 6 (33:53):
Third, round obviously you did a lot of work in
the draft looking at every guard that was conceivably available for,
the draft and one thing that really stood Out with
dylan is uh is his just, his size, athletic ability
in his, Play strength he's he's one of the Strongest
people i've ever tied. Up with. Very strong he's a.
Great kid, he's humble, you know he works. Very hard he's,
(34:16):
extremely TOUGH and i think you know all that stuff with,
his dimensions his, physical nature the way he plays. Extremely
hard those are the things that we, you know really
stood out. To me, YOU know i think he can
set a firm anchor. In there he's got the tools to,
play long which is something we emphasize as. In protection
he's got good feet, to MOVE and, i think, you
know he's got all the tools you're looking for in,
(34:36):
a player especially, a guard. You KNOW so i think for,
for us it was a no brainer at that point, In,
time uh just To take DYLAN because, i think, you
KNOW like, i said he has all the traits so
that you're looking for in an.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Elite guard dylan doesn't have to, be elite but he
does have to be reliable if. He Isn't the bengals
do have a three year starter waiting in the Wings
In Cordel volson observation number four concerned the starter at
the other. Guard spot it looks like that's going to
come down to a training camp Battle Between lucas Patrick And.
Cody ford patrick played mostly left guard For the saints
(35:11):
last year and center the year before For. The bears
the last time he was a full time starter at
right guard was in twenty Twenty In, green Bay when
lucas posted THE highest pff grades of. His career ford
played both tackle spots and left guard For the bengals
last year and earned the respective teammates and coaches for
(35:31):
his ability to hold his own. Wherever needed here's Offensive
Coordinator dan Pitcher on Patrick versus ford at. TRAINING camp i.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
Think it would be a, good battle and those guys
are two competitive guys that KNOW what nfl football. Looks
Like and i've looked forward to seeing how that.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Plays out and we shouldn't Rule Out cordell vohlsen as
a right. Guard candidate he played on the right side
of the line in college and says those banked reps
would help him move from the left side to. The
right the fifth and final observation and INVOLVES new o
Line Coach. Scott peters I'm A frank, pollock FAN and
i don't think he ever got enough credit for Helping
(36:06):
the bengals come within minutes of Winning A super bowl
with a patchwork offensive line that included four players who
combined to start one Game After super bowl. Fifty Six
but i'm excited to see what impact, His Replacement, scott peters.
Will have scott is eleven years younger and brings an
unusual background with his martial. Arts Expertise Here's. Ted garris, you.
Speaker 7 (36:30):
Know that's that's one of THE joys i take as a.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Football player i've had.
Speaker 7 (36:33):
A LOT of o line coaches in, my time and,
you know to learn Something that i've never even heard
of has, you know it's taken, you know this eight
weeks to kind of get comfortable with it and now
we can take it in the summer and.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
Train IT but i think he's done a.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
Great job, you know we're gonna have some some nuances
that are a little, bit DIFFERENT and i think it's gonna,
you know what we talked about when he first, GOT
hired i, was like how can we increase our one
on one? Win percentage that's like all, you know that's
like the. Main goals how can we put tools in
our players' hands that increase.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
The chances of a one on?
Speaker 7 (37:03):
One victory because WE and i, think that, you know
we've kind of it's great to have a guy come
in that hasn't been here kind of look at it
from ten thousand feet and really be honest about you
know what, we are who, we are you know who
we are as, an offense and how we can, you
know be the best unit for.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
This offense that's going to. Do it for this episode
Of The Bengals booth podcast brought to you By, Pay
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By alta fiber future Proof fiber internet designed to elevate,
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By kettering health the best care for the. Best Fans
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(37:43):
if you haven't done, so already please subscribe to this
podcast and if you have, a minute give it 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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