May 7, 2023 • 40 mins
The guys break down where the Bengals had opportunity to improve their team this offseason and to what degree the moves they made accomplished those goals. Protecting Joe Burrow is always a primary goal for Bengals fans, and the big investment in Orlando Brown should improve the offensive line. But did they get better at tight end? How did their approach through free agency and the draft at the skill positions work out? We break those decisions down as we review the foundation of the 2023 roster. Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajs Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengals Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg James Rapien and Jake Liscow take you inside the Bengals with the latest news, unique analysis, and insight on your favorite team, every day on Locked On Bengals. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team. Every Day. And follow Jake and James on Twitter, where they'll be sharing the latest news about the Cincinnati Bengals and talking with fans. Jake Liscow: https://twitter.com/JakeLiscow James Rapien: https://twitter.com/JamesRapien Podcast: https://twitter.com/lockedonbengals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetterHelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month. Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. FanDuel Make Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every day. The majority of the
player acquisition part of the off seasonis now over free agency. In the
draft of past us, let's reviewthe Bengals offensive roster, talk about where
they got better or worse, andwhat else they could have done this offseason.
(00:24):
You are Locked on Bengals, yourdaily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of
the Lockdown Podcast Network, Your teamevery Day. What up, Bengals fans
(00:45):
and welcome to another episode of theLockdown Bengals Podcast. I'm your host,
Jake. Let's go. He's yourhost, James Orpene. We're part of
the Lockdown Podcast Network. Can youcan subscribe to this show on YouTube or
anywhere you get your podcast. Becomean every day or you wouldn't have missed
if you were an every day orfor example, our draft review with Joe
Goodberry last week or a couple ofweeks ago, when we talked to Brian
Callahan before the draft and he toldyou about what kinds of running backs and
(01:08):
tight ends the Bengals would draft andreally gave some great tips if you were
interested in projecting what the Bengals woulddo in the draft. And you can
also become a first listener, makeus your first listen of the day,
and James, Today, we're goingto dive into the offense. As the
Bengals have more or less completed playeracquisition, there could still be a handful
(01:32):
of minor signings and we talked aboutthis last Friday for those every day ors
out there and some of the smallermoves they could make if they wanted to
bolster depth and a couple of differentspots with veterans as we get closer to
training camp. But when you lookat this roster, James, they were
already really good on offense. Soone of the big questions for me heading
(01:53):
into the offseason was around how canyou get better when you're already in the
a championship game and a player twoaway from going to the Super Bowl anyway,
And it's harder to do than whenyou're a to win team. You
know, it's easier to get betterwhen you're that far away from being good,
(02:14):
but when you're already really good,it's kind of hard. And when
you look at this offensive roster andyou look at the starters, you try
to identify that the starting positions wherethey could improve. There were only a
couple where it really felt like,yeah, you know, the Bengals could
really go spend resources this offseason andget better this position. Sure, it's
(02:34):
the beauty of having such a talentedroster, and when you start with a
Joe Burrow, that's a heck ofa place to start, because I would
say thirty other franchises are lacking inthat department where you have Burrow. Some
franchises would disagree with that, butat least twenty five, right, we'll
just split it. We'll go twentyfive franchises would say Burrows better than what
(02:55):
they have at quarterback. And soyou start there, But how do you
improve? I think it was veryclear and it has been one offseason theme
offensive line and early on in theprocess the certainly when I was in Indianapolis
for the combine, it was offensiveline. How can you get offensive lineman?
Darnell right was before he tested likea freak and helped his draft stock
(03:17):
elevating. He was obviously the tenthpick this year, but that was a
name that was mentioned. Dwan Jonesobviously mentioned as different guys. And you
remember going into free agency, Iwas like, just get a right tackle.
I was like, go spend atright tackle, just try to fix
it. And they did something Idon't think anyone really saw coming, and
(03:38):
they did improve their offensive line.They just did it at a spot where
there really wasn't any clear upgrade exceptfor one guy, and they got that
guy. So let's start with theoffensive line, because I think Orlando Brown
Junior certainly the best left tackle they'vehad since Andrew Whitworth left in twenty sixteen.
(03:58):
How much is that saying? Rightnow? Jonah Williams's stock is about
as low as possible when you lookat Bengal social media that said, I
look at this offensive line from leftor right, and I don't know about
you, but I feel really goodabout it. Even though they didn't address
offensive line in the draft, eventhough they didn't go out in free agency
and add a bunch of depth.I think outside of maybe one interior alignment,
(04:23):
I would love to have a centerguard flex option, one more guy
there. I think they're pretty goodand I like their depth at both tackle
spots and really throughout their offensive lineroom. Yeah, that was where we
started on the offensive line, andappropriate that we start here on the offensive
line. And you talked about theOrlando Brown acquisition, they got creative.
They had an opportunity to bring ina guy where they felt like they had
(04:45):
a starter, and they kind ofdid something we haven't really seen them to
do a whole lot of And therearen't a whole lot of positions I guess
out there where you can upgrade andthen that guy can still start. Corner,
linebacker, a couple of other examplesthat wide receiver where you can go
get a guy and your current starterscan remain starting. For other teams,
obviously not really the Cincinnati Bengals,where they have three guys, But when
(05:11):
we talked about, you know,go spend on Mike McGlinchey, go spend
on Juwan Taylor. Well, thoseguys did certainly earn their money, more
money in fact, than Orlando Brown. And they're both going to be playing
right tackle. And so the Bengalsupgraded left tackle, at least on paper.
(05:32):
Right. Well, we'll see howit all plays out. All this
stuff is on paper, but theysign a guy who not on paper compared
to last year though upgrade, Imean, yeah, the way that both
players played last year, Orlando Browncertainly was better in twenty twenty two than
Johnah Williams was yeah, no,no, no debate there for me anyway.
Um, But like whenever you adda new player to a team,
(05:55):
and ever a player changes teams,you always have to see how they're going
to fit, how they're going toplay in their new environment. Like back
when the Bengals acquired Cordy Glenn,I thought clear upgrade didn't work out that
way. I think that there's notreally the risk of that happening with Orlando
Brown, but it's always a possibility, right. But the other position on
the offensive line where I thought theymight make a move and clearly they're showing
(06:18):
their comfort in the guys they haveis on the interior, and you talked
about that. Getting the guy thatcon flex inside Noel Collins Singh obviously makes
us much more complicated, not knowingwhere his health was going to be throughout
this process for the Bengals, butthey essentially run it back on the interior,
(06:38):
same guys and Jackson Kirkland probably gettingat it. I don't think that
the as of time of recording,undrafted free agent class has been officially announced
by the Bengals, but that wasa reported interior offensive lining signing, but
Cordial Volson take Harris Alice Kappa remainedthe starters, and out of those,
obviously Volson would be the one wherethey could have been open to find an
(07:00):
upgrade and may have been opened inthe draft even at the right spot to
drafting an interior alignement. They don't. And in terms of depth, also
the same guys there, Hakimandnergy TreyHill, Max Sharping that Gilliam, Ben
Brown, maybe Cody Ford is inthat mix, Jackson Carmen is in that
mix, although Carmen is apparently workingmore at tackle now right, So they
(07:21):
kind of leave the interior alone forthe most part and banking on growth from
Cordell Bolson. We'll see how thatgoes. He certainly has the attitude and
all the makeup that you would wantfor a guy that's going to continue to
try and improve his craft, rightand isn't going to get complacent. I
did think they had an opportunity thereand they didn't. They didn't go that
(07:43):
route. There were some options throughoutthe draft or in free agency where they
could have tried to find somebody,a veteran with a little bit more experience
who's played a little bit better thanthan Bolson did. But Bolson and Zach
Taylor's words right like does everything thatthey want, does everything the right way
for this coaching staff, and hasearned the second year. So you can
(08:05):
understand from their perspective why they wouldn'tgo try to find an upgraded left guard
instead of giving their fourth round rookiewho just played the whole year when you
thought he maybe wouldn't have to playhis rookie year as much a shot in
the second season. They've stunk adrafting offensive lineman. The reason Volson started
as a fourth round rookie is becausethe guy they got in the second round
the year prior was awful for twoyears. And I know people like Jackson
(08:30):
Carmen and maybe he's going to turninto a flex tackle or maybe eventually a
starter at tackle, but he wasbad for the first two seasons and underwhelming.
And that's why I think they werepartially at least why loyal to Cordell
Volson, because he brought them somestability at that left guard job, at
that left guard spot where he camein and did everything right even though a
(08:54):
guy like Jonah Williams was having theworst season of his career. And that's
part of it too, where Ithink, man, can you imagine Orlando
Brown Junior and Cordell Wilson next toeach other. I think the Bengals like
the idea of that combo on theleft side. So not shocked. I
thought maybe, like I said,interior depth, not shocked given the Bengals
(09:16):
where they've been, how they've kindof addressed the offensive line over the past
couple of years, where they said, hey, we actually got it right
with Cordell Wilson, Let's keep himthere, Let's not throw money at that
spot. That said, I wouldnot be shocked if they did try to
add maybe one more guy that couldplay center and maybe both guard spots.
(09:37):
That would be ideal for me.Maybe they're just comfortable with Trey Hill overall,
though, And I think this iswith Jonah Williams or a healthy LEL
Collins, So I'll be very specificif either of those guys are at right
tackle healthy Lell Collins, which Ithink is really hard to envision week one,
Just to be very clear. Thisis on paper, and I'll say
(10:01):
that, but I don't even needto. It's the best offensive line they've
had since twenty fifteen. Now,maybe injuries happen. Maybe maybe things don't
work right, but it's it's clearlythe best line they've had in the Joe
Burrow era. And so this offense, given that that's been the weak spot,
should be able to rise up andhit another level. And that before
we get into any of the otherpositions, which I guess we should do
(10:24):
since we spent the past ten minutestalking about the offensive line room, so
let's keep things rolling here and lookat some other positions, some skill guys.
Yeah, that's right up my alley. We'll do that coming up next
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(11:33):
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(11:54):
skill guys, your favorite, myrubbing your hands over there, my favorite.
You're ready to go? Five wide? Everyone go deep, let's go.
That's kind of where they're at interms of player acquisition spread out.
Hey, all right, Jamar,just run deep by James is not an
(12:16):
offensive coordinator. You say that,you make those jokes. Just wait,
just wait till they get out therein September. I think there are people.
I think there are people. Threetimes last year I think, yeah,
well sure, five wide. ButI think you're going to see plenty
of empty and much more four widethan we saw last year. I think
(12:41):
we could see that is Smith awide receiver, they are going to use
them Mike One, Yeah, Iused Hayden Mike one yeah. I mean
I could see four wide with earthSmith being one of those guys. You
can see four wide a couple oftimes where maybe there's only a running back
on the field and they actually gofour true receivers. I think they did
a little bit of that last yearearly in the season, maybe, or
maybe I'm confusing my seasons or myplayers. Let's start with tight end,
(13:07):
though right wide receiver is really goodin the starting three. We'll talk about
depth there as well. But theone spot where we knew there was likely
to be turnover if Hayden Hurst hadan opportunity to cash in on that prove
it deal. Elsewhere was it tightend and where there may have been a
long term option. Foster Moreau needsto get well and we wish him all
(13:31):
the best, and that was kindof the last guy that the Bengals talked
to that where we kind of thoughtmaybe there was a possibility of a multi
year deal and instead we're on oneyear deals for IRV Smith and Drew Sample,
and there's some college free agents andDevin Asiasis on the last year of
his deal. Everyone's on one yeardeals in the tight end room everyone.
(13:56):
So how does this transition into onthe football field. Well, they get
a guy in IRV Smith Junior whois more athletic in terms of speed at
least than Hayden Hurst, who hasn'tbeen able to stay healthy in his career,
but like hayden Hurst, has beenproductive when he's been on the field
(14:16):
when he's had opportunity. And we'veseen tight ends for two straight years in
this offense have really good years andnot necessarily be exceptional elsewhere before or after
those years. IRV Smith Jr.If he's healthy, no reason he's not
going to be another one of thoseguys. I was listening to Dan Hordes
(14:39):
Bengals Booth podcast and he had greatco Salon and they were kind of reflecting
on free agency and co Sell saidthe past couple of years he was so
excited to watch IERF. Smith Jr. In what he could potentially bring and
it didn't happen because of injury,like you mentioned, But in this offense,
I think it it's you can almostput anybody in at tight end and
(15:03):
they're going to get you four hundredyards Like That's that's kind of it.
You know, as long as they'rethey're competent athletes and competent tight ends because
there's just quick hits, dumpuffs,things like that, and you might have
some big plays. Hurst didn't havethe big plays that cj Uzama had two
years ago. He didn't have thosetype of plays. Think about the Jacksonville
game and you know he had twotouchdowns versus five had to touchdown against Buffalo.
(15:26):
But I think Jr. Does bringa different dynamic. And because I
was talking about this, like hisability to hit all three levels of the
defense, and I wonder if theBengals feel that way about him as well.
Now we don't have a huge trackrecord of this, but we just
came out of the draft process,and how much have we talked about age.
(15:48):
Hayden Hurst was twenty five when hewas drafted if Smith Jr. Was
twenty And I think that's a bigpart of it too. Obviously, his
dad was at NFL tight end,was a star at Notre Dame, all
of those things, so I thinkhe understands it. He went to Alabama,
understands it played against Mr Chase.There's some familiarity there in high school
and obviously college, same hometown.I think that this is just the perfect
(16:11):
fit, and so I don't reallyworry about tight end a ton and I
think that he's going to fit justfine. Now here's the scary part,
Jake. If he gets dinged up, that hurts because Drew Sample, I
don't know if he can just goget you four hundred in this offense.
Do their resign on mitchwell Cox anddoes he come back? I think there's
(16:33):
potential there, but the where theycould have gone or what they could have
done at tight end, especially infree agency as well as the draft.
But free agency, the tight endmarket was not booming. It was the
exact opposite of that. I thinkit's it's one of those where if if
Smith Junior stays healthy, we don'tquestion it. If he gets dinged up,
we might question a mid season.Yeah, you look at Dalton Sultz
(16:56):
contract with the Houston Texans of allteams, one year, six point two
five million based value, another twopoint seventy five million available in incentives,
which would get that up to ninemillion. Dollars. You look at my
Kasecki's deal, four and a halfbased million dollars, another four and a
half million dollars available in incentives.Those guys were some of the guys near
(17:18):
the top of the market we thoughtat tight end. This year didn't turn
out that way for them. EvanEngram got franchise hagged by Jacksonville, and
you look at the rest of thetight end market, you wonder how they
feel about that decision to give Engrameleven million dollars for one year, given
what's happened elsewhere on the tight endmarket. But there were some guys out
there where the Bengals could have takena swing. Maybe did take a swing,
(17:45):
you know, obviously didn't work outwith Foster Morrow. Unfortunate, but
a spot where you know, likeyou said, we might look back and
say, ah, man, maybethey should have made a bit of a
splash year move and spent a littlebit more money on one of those couple
of guys with the incentive structures thatthey got from other teams, and knowing
(18:07):
that it's a very attractive place wheretight ends to come play. You know,
we're talking Houston, Texans for Daltonshows I mean, he gets to
go play with the rookie quarterback there, I guess, so maybe that prospect
was enticing for him, But youwonder what was possible there, And then
you look at the draft and obviouslywe talked a ton about the tight end
position throughout the process and never workedout. There were a lot of guys
(18:30):
they really liked, but not wherethey were picking. You know that they
clearly had a much higher grade onDJ Turner than Tucker Craft or whoever was
available to them in the second roundwith Sam Laporta lukebus grade going and Michael
may are going much earlier in thesecond round. So like those opportunities weren't
really there unless they wanted to doit in the first round. But again,
(18:52):
when the gap is that big ontheir board, you know, talking
one B as they do it toyou know, bottom A, one C
maybe or maybe even two A,well that decision is going to make itself
for them. They're not picking twodifferent players from the same buckets, so
it'll be interesting to watch this position. There have been a lot of times
I've also said when they lost HaydenHurst they were fine, and so could
(19:17):
very well be the case again wherethey will just be fine and use their
running backs, use their wide receiverswhere the depth of this team is on
offense with their elite quarterback, andget enough out of their tight end.
Won't be a big deal. It'snot like they're using their tight ends deep
anyway. You know, Hayden Hursta little bit in the intermediate part of
the field. But if that's partof your game, well, they didn't
(19:38):
change that and they were fine withoutit last year. Will be nice to
threaten to seem a little bit more, And I do think Irv Smith does
that when he's healthy, and that'llbe the question for him. Yeah,
there's a scenario where it's like,oh man er Smith unlocks another dynamic of
this offense and they're better at tightend. And then there's the other realm
where it's like, Okay can't throwit to the tight end and because he
(20:00):
gets injured and maybe Drew Sample doesn'thave, you know, give you much
in the passing game, and whoknows who else is in that room at
that stage. So it's there's abit of a roll of the dice where
it could end up one way orthe other. But I think they're comfortable.
I think that they'll add one moreguy if you had to bet on
a position where they add one moreas a veteran free agent, whether it's
(20:22):
a familiar face or someone knew,I think tight end is certainly up there
when you look at this offense,even ahead of interior offensive line for what
it's worth. But I get it. I understand how it played out.
I get why Mike GISICKI probably wasn'tconsidering since and now I think he wanted
to reunite with Bill O'Brien to acertain degree. The Dalton Schultz factor.
(20:45):
I don't think they were going topay six million even for Schultz. I
don't think they were in those thosewaters. And certainly hayden Hurst, by
the way, good for hayden Hurstin a light tight end market. This
dude got a multi year deal fromCarolina, and Carolina clearly wants to get
as many former Bengals as they canbecause they were in on a bunch of
(21:06):
guys. Got von Bell as well, the Queen's connection. There. Yeah,
a couple other positions we should talkabout where depth very important, and
some depth moves were made really tooalong what we were looking for, I
guess is what I'm thinking about there, So let's finish the show with those
(21:27):
skill positions outside of tight end.A couple more to talk about here coming
up next. The Tampa Bay Raysare for real this season and they just
swept one of the best teams inbaseball to prove it, the Pirates.
They have not run into a bussaw a team like the Rays, and
I think it got to them.The Warriors bounced back in Game two against
(21:49):
the Lakers. Can they keep thismomentum going as the series heads to La
And just like that, it's abest of five and the Vegas Golden Knights
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series against Connor McDavid and the EdmontonOilers. That's the way this team had
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(22:11):
head over to locked On Rays,Locked On Warriors, and Locked On
Golden Knights. Then check out lockedOn's new series Paving the Way. Each
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(22:33):
on the Locked On Presents podcast feed. All right, I'm starting with wide
receiver. We didn't plan on whichone but wide receiver. Why because well
I love wide receivers. The pathto the four wideouts, by the way,
to me, would be if ernSmith gets dinged up and Charlie Jones
does what I expect him to doas a rookie, then you're like,
(22:55):
okay, well there'll be times wherewe don't even put a tight end out
there, have four receivers and gothat route. I could see that.
I don't think they're going to gointo the season and say we're going to
have four wideouts out there all thetime, But certainly I think they could
pivot if instead of trotting out DrewSample for example, and in passing situations,
(23:18):
if you don't meet them necessarily asa blocker, you'd rather throw out
the Charlie Jones, right, AndI think they do have a reliable fourth
option, So we'll see. Butthat that was certainly something we talked about
after the AFC Championship game, rightspeed, adding another option. I think
they might have done that in Charliewith Charlie Jones and round four. Adding
guys that can get open, Addingguys that can be reliable targets in the
(23:41):
slot when you need them. Whenteams are dedicating four players, essentially it's
a te Higgins and Jamaar Chase outside. Having another guy, whether it's at
tight end or at wide receiver,who can get open is important. And
at the beginning of the AFC Championshipgame, and this is I don't know,
(24:03):
maybe it's an overreaction to the FCChampionship game. It doesn't really feel
like it, but when Tyler Boygot hurt, he was a huge part
of that game plan and was amajor target early in a major part of
the offense. Early. He goesdown and then things get a little harder
because the Chiefs pivoted with how theywere guarding two, and they said,
(24:26):
all right, we're going to takeaway your top two, beat us with
someone else, and it lets youdo that. It simplifies things for the
defensive coordinator a little bit. Notthat a team with Joe Burrow, two
elite receivers, a solid tight end, and a solid running back should be
easy to defend anyway, but theidea of adding depth. Dynamic athletic depth
(24:52):
at the wide receiver position serves acouple of jobs. One, when you
need that forth for se which theBengals did when all three of their top
three receivers got hurt at different timeslast year, you have something a little
bit more dynamic than your college freeagents. Not to take anything away from
those guys, Stanley Morgan, Junior, Trent Irwin, Trent Taylor all did
(25:14):
a lot of very hard work tomake the team and contribute it. It's
not like they're bad players, butyou could tell that there was a difference
in the passing offense when one ofthose top three guys got hurt. And
they're still well be because those topthree guys from r Chase Higgins, how
the Boy or all near or atthe top of their position right there,
(25:36):
they're all extremely good players at thewide receiver position, at the slot wide
receiver position. But adding those guysthat can give you a little bit more
off the bench when you need itwas something that we've been talking about for
a couple of years. The Bengalsgo out and do that this year in
the draft. I mean we weretalking about it in free agency. How
many times we talk about adding speedand free agency a wide receiver, and
(25:59):
they didn't do it. But theydid doubled in the draft, which is
very part for the course for thisteam who loves to draft wide receivers.
Yeah, it was, and Ithink there are a lot of scenarios in
the draft where they didn't double dip. But a guy like Charlie Jones who
hits a couple of things. We'renot going to do a whole special Teams
(26:21):
episode, but they've wanted to geta long term answer at returner and with
the way special teams went last year, not that Trent Taylor was bad at
punt returner or that they were awfulon kickoff returns, because I don't think
they were in either situation. Hecan maybe fell at least one of those
and we'll see what happens. Butyou get him who could Charlie Jones,
(26:45):
and he can fill that fill thewide receiver issue potentially right away. And
then andre yose Vash is the ultimaterole of the dice type of guy that
I would try on kickoffs. I'vetried to really hammer that home. Hopefully
the message gets to Darren Simmons justto see because he's such an elite athlete,
and see where else he can contribute, maybe not as a rookie,
(27:06):
but down the line. And whoknows, maybe we're overestimating him or underestimating
him, but I know he's afreak athlete that produced it at Princeton.
So adding two guys on the backend, one that's more of a developmental
guy that maybe can contribute in twentytwenty four. Right on offense, I
think it's unrealistic this year. Andthen a guy in Charlie Jones is sort
of the opposite and plug in playtype, hit the ground running. I
(27:29):
think that's how they view him.I feel much better about the wide receiver
room now, both short term longterm than I did pre draft, and
they did a good job of it, because I think that's hard to do,
especially in a draft class that wasconsidered relatively weak at wide receiver.
We didn't do a ton of timea deep dive on many receivers in this
class because we knew it really wasn'tin play until day three, and they
(27:52):
found two guys that they really likedon Day three, And I don't blame
them for taking either one because,like I said, I feel better about
the wide receiver room for Yeah,they found athletes they forewent production this year
in terms of the kinds of guysthey drafted. They found athletes who had
late production, and yeah, theydidn't produce as young is normal. Just
(28:14):
to be clear, it is guysthat they've targeted out wide receiver in the
past. Right, Typically they targetguys that produce, you know, freshman,
early sophomore, you know aj Green, Jamar Chase, guys that are
dominant. But that's also in thefirst round. For those two guys are
the first two rounds. Te Higginsas well Tyler Boyd, very productive players
from a young age in college.But you mentioned long term. I think
(28:37):
that's a big part of this aswell. It's some insurance. It gives
you some developmental guys or a developmentalguy in Josie Bash, and it gives
you a guy that could step inif Tyler Boyd isn't retained after this year,
which kind of seems unlikely, right, We've talked about this. It
seems pretty unlikely given the other financialobligations they'll have on the offensive side of
(28:59):
the ball. Never say never,obviously, but a potential future player,
a future starter there if things goaccording to plan, and I'm not sure
that at running back they necessarily havea future starter and Chase Brown, although
he certainly had the workload and thenshowed the durability in college. They've generally
(29:22):
shied away from drafting guys with asmuch where on the tires Chase Brown,
but he certainly showed it at Illinoisthat he can't handle that burden. And
again adding athleticism, what do wetalk about at the running back position.
In the running game, they neededto add explosiveness, and Chase Brown does
(29:44):
that and does that in the fifthround in a draft where when you get
to that point you kind of expectedthem to have to find a more one
dimensional player, and they found aguy who was on the field for every
kind of situation in college and wasasked to do the past blocking role in
the receiving and the running and sohaving that experience with the dynamic rookie with
(30:07):
that production, that playing time underhis belt, it's really nice step.
And they lost some JP rin.They're going to have to figure out their
past protection downs and who's going tobe out there doing that If that's just
trey ViOn Williams, it is whatit is they didn't necessarily add top end
here, but they do add quality, depth, and they add insurance,
(30:30):
and that's something they probably needed todo in a welcome edition with the explosive
element in Chase Brown. Yeah,I really like this pick. I think
it's interesting because the production aspect ofthings like he produced a ton and you're
right like historically, I think it'sgoing to be tough moving forward to just
(30:52):
look at an age production. Someof those metrics. I think they might
change some because some of these guys, especially with nil money, they're going
to be in college longer. Weobviously have the COVID stuff that delayed some
of these careers, all of thosethings. I think they viewed Chase Brown
as a guy that could certainly contributeright away. Now how much I think
that part is interesting. There's alot of questions who else is in that
(31:17):
running back room? Is Joe Mixonthere? Because if so, Joe Mixon's
going to get plenty of touches.I think it's unrealistic for Brown to be
some J. P. Ryan.I don't think that. I don't think
you can throw him out there andsay, all right, be this pass
blocking back, but can he catchpasses out of the backfield. Absolutely.
Is he a better runner than pRyan from a running back standpoint, he
(31:42):
certainly was. I think he iscoming out of college, I think that's
fair. Now p Ryan today,well he's a grown man, right,
and we'll see if Chase Brown canget there by NFL standards. But it
took some time for p Ryan todevelop into what he was. But can
Brown contribute as a Absolutely, Ithink the Bengals they they did a very
(32:05):
a tremendous job landing a guy thatshould be a day one contributor on offense,
is able to help out on specialteams to all of those things that
an RB two can do. Andif something happens with Joe Mixon and Mixon
missed a few games last year,missed a lot of games and that twenty
twenty season, so it's not likehe's been completely healthy. If he needs
(32:25):
to fill in, I think he'llbe fine. And that's the part of
this where in this offense, runningback is more important than tight end.
But as long as you have aguy that can do the things Brown can
do, I think that they wouldbe okay. Now, the pass blocking
part of it, I think that'strey ViOn Williams. I don't think it's
Mixon. I don't think it's anyoneelse. I think it's Williams. And
(32:46):
maybe they try to add a veteranin that department to help in that area.
But I like Brown. I thinkJones and Brown are both plug and
play guys on offense that can contributeright away, not special teams. I
want to be clear on offense,and that's hard to do in rounds four
and five, and they did it, and we talked about opportunities for some
(33:07):
of these other positions. The Bengalswere very in on taking running back earlier
if the opportunity was there, andit really wasn't. I mean outside of
your guy Roshan Johnson. Round three, Charbonated didn't make it to round two.
Gibbs obviously went twelve, Bijan eighth. There was no one like,
There was no real obvious guy.Even even guys like Toaj Spears, who
(33:30):
we talked about is maybe a targetin round three. They didn't make it
there, and so it was reallytough for the Bengals to take a running
back much earlier. Rochan didn't followedaround four, and so it's it kind
of played out the way it did, but I think they got a guy
that could contribute right away, sothey deserve credit for that. And there
was a discussion about free agency runningbacks as well, right Jamal Williams goes
(33:53):
to the Saints now talk about addinga guy, the guy we haven't mentioned
at all, and I know he'sway on the wrong side of thirty for
what they would typically do, buton a one year deal, mark Ingram
just gonna just gonna float that nameas a possibility. Guys, he's been
good as a pass blocker. Lookat Jake, he's not been He's not
(34:16):
been great as a runner, andmaybe maybe his time has just come right,
like maybe he just needs to retireat this point. But a reliable
veteran with a ton of pass blockingexperience. I mean, you talk about
Zeke a guy that could do theZeke role. Yeah, not not as
a bell cow, but in termsof like a role player who pass blocks.
And that's how we've talked about Zeke, who I think is probably still
(34:37):
looking for bell cow opportunities. That'sjust easy because that's not happening for Zeke
anywhere. There's no team that's goingto XFL. I don't know, man,
I just I'm just a competitiveness ofa former first round pick. I
could totally see him looking for moreof an opportunity. Maybe Bell Cow's a
(34:57):
lot, but a bigger opera Kennedy, sure, and maybe but man mark
Ingram that would be you know whatthat's like. That's like Mercedes Lewis had
tight end where you could see itfitting. But he's just in. He's
thirty three, he's not thirty eight, but he's going to his age thirty
four season, former first rounder.I would be surprised. They just don't.
(35:22):
They don't mess with guys your ageor my age for that matter.
They don't do it. It's it'sjust if you have a three to start
your age, they are so out. It's it's just what it is now.
So I don't know. I wouldn'tbe mad at it because Mark Ingham's
going to sign a league minimum dealif he if he gets picked up,
(35:43):
so it's not like that would costand it would give you some you know,
a proven pass blocking back back there. I agree with you, he
doesn't have much juice, but shortyardage and here and there mixed with mixed
with some pass blocking duties. Itwouldn't be the worst thing for like a
final Hurrah kind of season. Idon't know. I feel like that if
(36:05):
he plays this year, it's probablyhis last year, right, if he
has a little bit left. Idon't know, just to name you haven't
talked about it at all. Kindof forgot that he was still out there
as a free agent. I wasjust looking at the list, and then
of course we should just mention quicklyClyde Clyde Edwards Hilaire. Should he become
available from the Kansas City Chiefs whoresigned Jack McKinnon, who have their starting
(36:25):
running back, there's a world wherethey decide to make that move. And
I think there's a really good chancethe Bengals would be in on a guy
Joe Burrow absolutely loved at LSU.Sure, I agree, if he's available,
he would be the number one contender. The other one I don't think.
I don't know. I don't knowif the Bengals would be in on
(36:45):
him. But if you could getKareem Hunt for one point five, I
mean, no one's in on him, but yeah, Clyde Edwards Laires is
more of it would make so muchsense if he's a free agent, could
a trade happen. I would beshocked if a trade happened. So will
the Chiefs release him? And theChiefs probably know, Hey, if we
release this guy, there's at leasta chance he goes to Cincinnati, right,
(37:09):
Hey, maybe they do. Whoknows. I didn't talk about the
quarterback position very much. They changedit up at backup quarterback. They didn't
draft a guy. They wanted todraft a guy. I think they got
a little bit better at the backupspot. They certainly have more experience there.
Trevor Simeon started for like a wholeyear, but I don't think there's
a whole lot to say there.Joe Burrows a guy, the most important
(37:30):
player on this team that has notchanged, hasn't changed, and it wasn't
going to change. I wish theywould have been able to land the guy
they wanted in the draft. I'mnot sure who they wanted, but that
would have been cool. There wasa run on him, it didn't fit.
Fine, Get Trevor Simeon and let'sroll baby makes sense. Gonna have
(37:51):
to talk about the defense side ofthe ball as well. Jane's obviously not
time to do that today. Sofor the every day ers, that'll be
coming up this week as well,in addition to well, hopefully a guest.
We're working on a guest here totalk about the Bengals draft a little
bit as well, and once wehave that shirt up, we'll let you
know when to check that out.And plenty more coming up as we get
(38:13):
to the rookie camp coming next weekend. Got some player availability tomorrow, right,
James Monday? Yep, yeah,we got an open locker room,
so who knows, it might getsome news. I think we'll have some
college free agent news too, andin the next day or two. Would
not be shocked if that happens onMonday when you're listening to this, so
we'll react to that when they're official. Yep, that's a good shout as
(38:35):
well. College free agent list notyet officially an unced but should be soon.
So until next time, Bengals fans, thanks for listening to this episode
of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. WhoDay, and have a good one.
The Tampa Bay Rays are for realthis season, and they just swept one
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(39:00):
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and the Edmonton Oilers. That's theway this team had played back in the
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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every day. The majority of the
player acquisition part of the off seasonis now over free agency. In the
draft of past us, let's reviewthe Bengals offensive roster, talk about where
they got better or worse, andwhat else they could have done this offseason.
(00:24):
You are Locked on Bengals, yourdaily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of
the Lockdown Podcast Network, Your teamevery Day. What up, Bengals fans
(00:45):
and welcome to another episode of theLockdown Bengals Podcast. I'm your host,
Jake. Let's go. He's yourhost, James Orpene. We're part of
the Lockdown Podcast Network. Can youcan subscribe to this show on YouTube or
anywhere you get your podcast. Becomean every day or you wouldn't have missed
if you were an every day orfor example, our draft review with Joe
Goodberry last week or a couple ofweeks ago, when we talked to Brian
Callahan before the draft and he toldyou about what kinds of running backs and
(01:08):
tight ends the Bengals would draft andreally gave some great tips if you were
interested in projecting what the Bengals woulddo in the draft. And you can
also become a first listener, makeus your first listen of the day,
and James, Today, we're goingto dive into the offense. As the
Bengals have more or less completed playeracquisition, there could still be a handful
(01:32):
of minor signings and we talked aboutthis last Friday for those every day ors
out there and some of the smallermoves they could make if they wanted to
bolster depth and a couple of differentspots with veterans as we get closer to
training camp. But when you lookat this roster, James, they were
already really good on offense. Soone of the big questions for me heading
(01:53):
into the offseason was around how canyou get better when you're already in the
a championship game and a player twoaway from going to the Super Bowl anyway,
And it's harder to do than whenyou're a to win team. You
know, it's easier to get betterwhen you're that far away from being good,
(02:14):
but when you're already really good,it's kind of hard. And when
you look at this offensive roster andyou look at the starters, you try
to identify that the starting positions wherethey could improve. There were only a
couple where it really felt like,yeah, you know, the Bengals could
really go spend resources this offseason andget better this position. Sure, it's
(02:34):
the beauty of having such a talentedroster, and when you start with a
Joe Burrow, that's a heck ofa place to start, because I would
say thirty other franchises are lacking inthat department where you have Burrow. Some
franchises would disagree with that, butat least twenty five, right, we'll
just split it. We'll go twentyfive franchises would say Burrows better than what
(02:55):
they have at quarterback. And soyou start there, But how do you
improve? I think it was veryclear and it has been one offseason theme
offensive line and early on in theprocess the certainly when I was in Indianapolis
for the combine, it was offensiveline. How can you get offensive lineman?
Darnell right was before he tested likea freak and helped his draft stock
(03:17):
elevating. He was obviously the tenthpick this year, but that was a
name that was mentioned. Dwan Jonesobviously mentioned as different guys. And you
remember going into free agency, Iwas like, just get a right tackle.
I was like, go spend atright tackle, just try to fix
it. And they did something Idon't think anyone really saw coming, and
(03:38):
they did improve their offensive line.They just did it at a spot where
there really wasn't any clear upgrade exceptfor one guy, and they got that
guy. So let's start with theoffensive line, because I think Orlando Brown
Junior certainly the best left tackle they'vehad since Andrew Whitworth left in twenty sixteen.
(03:58):
How much is that saying? Rightnow? Jonah Williams's stock is about
as low as possible when you lookat Bengal social media that said, I
look at this offensive line from leftor right, and I don't know about
you, but I feel really goodabout it. Even though they didn't address
offensive line in the draft, eventhough they didn't go out in free agency
and add a bunch of depth.I think outside of maybe one interior alignment,
(04:23):
I would love to have a centerguard flex option, one more guy
there. I think they're pretty goodand I like their depth at both tackle
spots and really throughout their offensive lineroom. Yeah, that was where we
started on the offensive line, andappropriate that we start here on the offensive
line. And you talked about theOrlando Brown acquisition, they got creative.
They had an opportunity to bring ina guy where they felt like they had
(04:45):
a starter, and they kind ofdid something we haven't really seen them to
do a whole lot of And therearen't a whole lot of positions I guess
out there where you can upgrade andthen that guy can still start. Corner,
linebacker, a couple of other examplesthat wide receiver where you can go
get a guy and your current starterscan remain starting. For other teams,
obviously not really the Cincinnati Bengals,where they have three guys, But when
(05:11):
we talked about, you know,go spend on Mike McGlinchey, go spend
on Juwan Taylor. Well, thoseguys did certainly earn their money, more
money in fact, than Orlando Brown. And they're both going to be playing
right tackle. And so the Bengalsupgraded left tackle, at least on paper.
(05:32):
Right. Well, we'll see howit all plays out. All this
stuff is on paper, but theysign a guy who not on paper compared
to last year though upgrade, Imean, yeah, the way that both
players played last year, Orlando Browncertainly was better in twenty twenty two than
Johnah Williams was yeah, no,no, no debate there for me anyway.
Um, But like whenever you adda new player to a team,
(05:55):
and ever a player changes teams,you always have to see how they're going
to fit, how they're going toplay in their new environment. Like back
when the Bengals acquired Cordy Glenn,I thought clear upgrade didn't work out that
way. I think that there's notreally the risk of that happening with Orlando
Brown, but it's always a possibility, right. But the other position on
the offensive line where I thought theymight make a move and clearly they're showing
(06:18):
their comfort in the guys they haveis on the interior, and you talked
about that. Getting the guy thatcon flex inside Noel Collins Singh obviously makes
us much more complicated, not knowingwhere his health was going to be throughout
this process for the Bengals, butthey essentially run it back on the interior,
(06:38):
same guys and Jackson Kirkland probably gettingat it. I don't think that
the as of time of recording,undrafted free agent class has been officially announced
by the Bengals, but that wasa reported interior offensive lining signing, but
Cordial Volson take Harris Alice Kappa remainedthe starters, and out of those,
obviously Volson would be the one wherethey could have been open to find an
(07:00):
upgrade and may have been opened inthe draft even at the right spot to
drafting an interior alignement. They don't. And in terms of depth, also
the same guys there, Hakimandnergy TreyHill, Max Sharping that Gilliam, Ben
Brown, maybe Cody Ford is inthat mix, Jackson Carmen is in that
mix, although Carmen is apparently workingmore at tackle now right, So they
(07:21):
kind of leave the interior alone forthe most part and banking on growth from
Cordell Bolson. We'll see how thatgoes. He certainly has the attitude and
all the makeup that you would wantfor a guy that's going to continue to
try and improve his craft, rightand isn't going to get complacent. I
did think they had an opportunity thereand they didn't. They didn't go that
(07:43):
route. There were some options throughoutthe draft or in free agency where they
could have tried to find somebody,a veteran with a little bit more experience
who's played a little bit better thanthan Bolson did. But Bolson and Zach
Taylor's words right like does everything thatthey want, does everything the right way
for this coaching staff, and hasearned the second year. So you can
(08:05):
understand from their perspective why they wouldn'tgo try to find an upgraded left guard
instead of giving their fourth round rookiewho just played the whole year when you
thought he maybe wouldn't have to playhis rookie year as much a shot in
the second season. They've stunk adrafting offensive lineman. The reason Volson started
as a fourth round rookie is becausethe guy they got in the second round
the year prior was awful for twoyears. And I know people like Jackson
(08:30):
Carmen and maybe he's going to turninto a flex tackle or maybe eventually a
starter at tackle, but he wasbad for the first two seasons and underwhelming.
And that's why I think they werepartially at least why loyal to Cordell
Volson, because he brought them somestability at that left guard job, at
that left guard spot where he camein and did everything right even though a
(08:54):
guy like Jonah Williams was having theworst season of his career. And that's
part of it too, where Ithink, man, can you imagine Orlando
Brown Junior and Cordell Wilson next toeach other. I think the Bengals like
the idea of that combo on theleft side. So not shocked. I
thought maybe, like I said,interior depth, not shocked given the Bengals
(09:16):
where they've been, how they've kindof addressed the offensive line over the past
couple of years, where they said, hey, we actually got it right
with Cordell Wilson, Let's keep himthere, Let's not throw money at that
spot. That said, I wouldnot be shocked if they did try to
add maybe one more guy that couldplay center and maybe both guard spots.
(09:37):
That would be ideal for me.Maybe they're just comfortable with Trey Hill overall,
though, And I think this iswith Jonah Williams or a healthy LEL
Collins, So I'll be very specificif either of those guys are at right
tackle healthy Lell Collins, which Ithink is really hard to envision week one,
Just to be very clear. Thisis on paper, and I'll say
(10:01):
that, but I don't even needto. It's the best offensive line they've
had since twenty fifteen. Now,maybe injuries happen. Maybe maybe things don't
work right, but it's it's clearlythe best line they've had in the Joe
Burrow era. And so this offense, given that that's been the weak spot,
should be able to rise up andhit another level. And that before
we get into any of the otherpositions, which I guess we should do
(10:24):
since we spent the past ten minutestalking about the offensive line room, so
let's keep things rolling here and lookat some other positions, some skill guys.
Yeah, that's right up my alley. We'll do that coming up next
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(11:54):
skill guys, your favorite, myrubbing your hands over there, my favorite.
You're ready to go? Five wide? Everyone go deep, let's go.
That's kind of where they're at interms of player acquisition spread out.
Hey, all right, Jamar,just run deep by James is not an
(12:16):
offensive coordinator. You say that,you make those jokes. Just wait,
just wait till they get out therein September. I think there are people.
I think there are people. Threetimes last year I think, yeah,
well sure, five wide. ButI think you're going to see plenty
of empty and much more four widethan we saw last year. I think
(12:41):
we could see that is Smith awide receiver, they are going to use
them Mike One, Yeah, Iused Hayden Mike one yeah. I mean
I could see four wide with earthSmith being one of those guys. You
can see four wide a couple oftimes where maybe there's only a running back
on the field and they actually gofour true receivers. I think they did
a little bit of that last yearearly in the season, maybe, or
maybe I'm confusing my seasons or myplayers. Let's start with tight end,
(13:07):
though right wide receiver is really goodin the starting three. We'll talk about
depth there as well. But theone spot where we knew there was likely
to be turnover if Hayden Hurst hadan opportunity to cash in on that prove
it deal. Elsewhere was it tightend and where there may have been a
long term option. Foster Moreau needsto get well and we wish him all
(13:31):
the best, and that was kindof the last guy that the Bengals talked
to that where we kind of thoughtmaybe there was a possibility of a multi
year deal and instead we're on oneyear deals for IRV Smith and Drew Sample,
and there's some college free agents andDevin Asiasis on the last year of
his deal. Everyone's on one yeardeals in the tight end room everyone.
(13:56):
So how does this transition into onthe football field. Well, they get
a guy in IRV Smith Junior whois more athletic in terms of speed at
least than Hayden Hurst, who hasn'tbeen able to stay healthy in his career,
but like hayden Hurst, has beenproductive when he's been on the field
(14:16):
when he's had opportunity. And we'veseen tight ends for two straight years in
this offense have really good years andnot necessarily be exceptional elsewhere before or after
those years. IRV Smith Jr.If he's healthy, no reason he's not
going to be another one of thoseguys. I was listening to Dan Hordes
(14:39):
Bengals Booth podcast and he had greatco Salon and they were kind of reflecting
on free agency and co Sell saidthe past couple of years he was so
excited to watch IERF. Smith Jr. In what he could potentially bring and
it didn't happen because of injury,like you mentioned, But in this offense,
I think it it's you can almostput anybody in at tight end and
(15:03):
they're going to get you four hundredyards Like That's that's kind of it.
You know, as long as they'rethey're competent athletes and competent tight ends because
there's just quick hits, dumpuffs,things like that, and you might have
some big plays. Hurst didn't havethe big plays that cj Uzama had two
years ago. He didn't have thosetype of plays. Think about the Jacksonville
game and you know he had twotouchdowns versus five had to touchdown against Buffalo.
(15:26):
But I think Jr. Does bringa different dynamic. And because I
was talking about this, like hisability to hit all three levels of the
defense, and I wonder if theBengals feel that way about him as well.
Now we don't have a huge trackrecord of this, but we just
came out of the draft process,and how much have we talked about age.
(15:48):
Hayden Hurst was twenty five when hewas drafted if Smith Jr. Was
twenty And I think that's a bigpart of it too. Obviously, his
dad was at NFL tight end,was a star at Notre Dame, all
of those things, so I thinkhe understands it. He went to Alabama,
understands it played against Mr Chase.There's some familiarity there in high school
and obviously college, same hometown.I think that this is just the perfect
(16:11):
fit, and so I don't reallyworry about tight end a ton and I
think that he's going to fit justfine. Now here's the scary part,
Jake. If he gets dinged up, that hurts because Drew Sample, I
don't know if he can just goget you four hundred in this offense.
Do their resign on mitchwell Cox anddoes he come back? I think there's
(16:33):
potential there, but the where theycould have gone or what they could have
done at tight end, especially infree agency as well as the draft.
But free agency, the tight endmarket was not booming. It was the
exact opposite of that. I thinkit's it's one of those where if if
Smith Junior stays healthy, we don'tquestion it. If he gets dinged up,
we might question a mid season.Yeah, you look at Dalton Sultz
(16:56):
contract with the Houston Texans of allteams, one year, six point two
five million based value, another twopoint seventy five million available in incentives,
which would get that up to ninemillion. Dollars. You look at my
Kasecki's deal, four and a halfbased million dollars, another four and a
half million dollars available in incentives.Those guys were some of the guys near
(17:18):
the top of the market we thoughtat tight end. This year didn't turn
out that way for them. EvanEngram got franchise hagged by Jacksonville, and
you look at the rest of thetight end market, you wonder how they
feel about that decision to give Engrameleven million dollars for one year, given
what's happened elsewhere on the tight endmarket. But there were some guys out
there where the Bengals could have takena swing. Maybe did take a swing,
(17:45):
you know, obviously didn't work outwith Foster Morrow. Unfortunate, but
a spot where you know, likeyou said, we might look back and
say, ah, man, maybethey should have made a bit of a
splash year move and spent a littlebit more money on one of those couple
of guys with the incentive structures thatthey got from other teams, and knowing
(18:07):
that it's a very attractive place wheretight ends to come play. You know,
we're talking Houston, Texans for Daltonshows I mean, he gets to
go play with the rookie quarterback there, I guess, so maybe that prospect
was enticing for him, But youwonder what was possible there, And then
you look at the draft and obviouslywe talked a ton about the tight end
position throughout the process and never workedout. There were a lot of guys
(18:30):
they really liked, but not wherethey were picking. You know that they
clearly had a much higher grade onDJ Turner than Tucker Craft or whoever was
available to them in the second roundwith Sam Laporta lukebus grade going and Michael
may are going much earlier in thesecond round. So like those opportunities weren't
really there unless they wanted to doit in the first round. But again,
(18:52):
when the gap is that big ontheir board, you know, talking
one B as they do it toyou know, bottom A, one C
maybe or maybe even two A,well that decision is going to make itself
for them. They're not picking twodifferent players from the same buckets, so
it'll be interesting to watch this position. There have been a lot of times
I've also said when they lost HaydenHurst they were fine, and so could
(19:17):
very well be the case again wherethey will just be fine and use their
running backs, use their wide receiverswhere the depth of this team is on
offense with their elite quarterback, andget enough out of their tight end.
Won't be a big deal. It'snot like they're using their tight ends deep
anyway. You know, Hayden Hursta little bit in the intermediate part of
the field. But if that's partof your game, well, they didn't
(19:38):
change that and they were fine withoutit last year. Will be nice to
threaten to seem a little bit more, And I do think Irv Smith does
that when he's healthy, and that'llbe the question for him. Yeah,
there's a scenario where it's like,oh man er Smith unlocks another dynamic of
this offense and they're better at tightend. And then there's the other realm
where it's like, Okay can't throwit to the tight end and because he
(20:00):
gets injured and maybe Drew Sample doesn'thave, you know, give you much
in the passing game, and whoknows who else is in that room at
that stage. So it's there's abit of a roll of the dice where
it could end up one way orthe other. But I think they're comfortable.
I think that they'll add one moreguy if you had to bet on
a position where they add one moreas a veteran free agent, whether it's
(20:22):
a familiar face or someone knew,I think tight end is certainly up there
when you look at this offense,even ahead of interior offensive line for what
it's worth. But I get it. I understand how it played out.
I get why Mike GISICKI probably wasn'tconsidering since and now I think he wanted
to reunite with Bill O'Brien to acertain degree. The Dalton Schultz factor.
(20:45):
I don't think they were going topay six million even for Schultz. I
don't think they were in those thosewaters. And certainly hayden Hurst, by
the way, good for hayden Hurstin a light tight end market. This
dude got a multi year deal fromCarolina, and Carolina clearly wants to get
as many former Bengals as they canbecause they were in on a bunch of
(21:06):
guys. Got von Bell as well, the Queen's connection. There. Yeah,
a couple other positions we should talkabout where depth very important, and
some depth moves were made really tooalong what we were looking for, I
guess is what I'm thinking about there, So let's finish the show with those
(21:27):
skill positions outside of tight end.A couple more to talk about here coming
up next. The Tampa Bay Raysare for real this season and they just
swept one of the best teams inbaseball to prove it, the Pirates.
They have not run into a bussaw a team like the Rays, and
I think it got to them.The Warriors bounced back in Game two against
(21:49):
the Lakers. Can they keep thismomentum going as the series heads to La
And just like that, it's abest of five and the Vegas Golden Knights
are looking to build on a highscoring Game one victory in their second round
series against Connor McDavid and the EdmontonOilers. That's the way this team had
played back in the inaugural sees itin the playoffs. For all these stories,
(22:11):
head over to locked On Rays,Locked On Warriors, and Locked On
Golden Knights. Then check out lockedOn's new series Paving the Way. Each
episode will highlight a different voice fromaround the network, a Locked On host
whose journey in the industry has helpedpave the way toward creating a more inclusive
and diverse media landscape that's paving theway presented by State Farm, available now
(22:33):
on the Locked On Presents podcast feed. All right, I'm starting with wide
receiver. We didn't plan on whichone but wide receiver. Why because well
I love wide receivers. The pathto the four wideouts, by the way,
to me, would be if ernSmith gets dinged up and Charlie Jones
does what I expect him to doas a rookie, then you're like,
(22:55):
okay, well there'll be times wherewe don't even put a tight end out
there, have four receivers and gothat route. I could see that.
I don't think they're going to gointo the season and say we're going to
have four wideouts out there all thetime, But certainly I think they could
pivot if instead of trotting out DrewSample for example, and in passing situations,
(23:18):
if you don't meet them necessarily asa blocker, you'd rather throw out
the Charlie Jones, right, AndI think they do have a reliable fourth
option, So we'll see. Butthat that was certainly something we talked about
after the AFC Championship game, rightspeed, adding another option. I think
they might have done that in Charliewith Charlie Jones and round four. Adding
guys that can get open, Addingguys that can be reliable targets in the
(23:41):
slot when you need them. Whenteams are dedicating four players, essentially it's
a te Higgins and Jamaar Chase outside. Having another guy, whether it's at
tight end or at wide receiver,who can get open is important. And
at the beginning of the AFC Championshipgame, and this is I don't know,
(24:03):
maybe it's an overreaction to the FCChampionship game. It doesn't really feel
like it, but when Tyler Boygot hurt, he was a huge part
of that game plan and was amajor target early in a major part of
the offense. Early. He goesdown and then things get a little harder
because the Chiefs pivoted with how theywere guarding two, and they said,
(24:26):
all right, we're going to takeaway your top two, beat us with
someone else, and it lets youdo that. It simplifies things for the
defensive coordinator a little bit. Notthat a team with Joe Burrow, two
elite receivers, a solid tight end, and a solid running back should be
easy to defend anyway, but theidea of adding depth. Dynamic athletic depth
(24:52):
at the wide receiver position serves acouple of jobs. One, when you
need that forth for se which theBengals did when all three of their top
three receivers got hurt at different timeslast year, you have something a little
bit more dynamic than your college freeagents. Not to take anything away from
those guys, Stanley Morgan, Junior, Trent Irwin, Trent Taylor all did
(25:14):
a lot of very hard work tomake the team and contribute it. It's
not like they're bad players, butyou could tell that there was a difference
in the passing offense when one ofthose top three guys got hurt. And
they're still well be because those topthree guys from r Chase Higgins, how
the Boy or all near or atthe top of their position right there,
(25:36):
they're all extremely good players at thewide receiver position, at the slot wide
receiver position. But adding those guysthat can give you a little bit more
off the bench when you need itwas something that we've been talking about for
a couple of years. The Bengalsgo out and do that this year in
the draft. I mean we weretalking about it in free agency. How
many times we talk about adding speedand free agency a wide receiver, and
(25:59):
they didn't do it. But theydid doubled in the draft, which is
very part for the course for thisteam who loves to draft wide receivers.
Yeah, it was, and Ithink there are a lot of scenarios in
the draft where they didn't double dip. But a guy like Charlie Jones who
hits a couple of things. We'renot going to do a whole special Teams
(26:21):
episode, but they've wanted to geta long term answer at returner and with
the way special teams went last year, not that Trent Taylor was bad at
punt returner or that they were awfulon kickoff returns, because I don't think
they were in either situation. Hecan maybe fell at least one of those
and we'll see what happens. Butyou get him who could Charlie Jones,
(26:45):
and he can fill that fill thewide receiver issue potentially right away. And
then andre yose Vash is the ultimaterole of the dice type of guy that
I would try on kickoffs. I'vetried to really hammer that home. Hopefully
the message gets to Darren Simmons justto see because he's such an elite athlete,
and see where else he can contribute, maybe not as a rookie,
(27:06):
but down the line. And whoknows, maybe we're overestimating him or underestimating
him, but I know he's afreak athlete that produced it at Princeton.
So adding two guys on the backend, one that's more of a developmental
guy that maybe can contribute in twentytwenty four. Right on offense, I
think it's unrealistic this year. Andthen a guy in Charlie Jones is sort
of the opposite and plug in playtype, hit the ground running. I
(27:29):
think that's how they view him.I feel much better about the wide receiver
room now, both short term longterm than I did pre draft, and
they did a good job of it, because I think that's hard to do,
especially in a draft class that wasconsidered relatively weak at wide receiver.
We didn't do a ton of timea deep dive on many receivers in this
class because we knew it really wasn'tin play until day three, and they
(27:52):
found two guys that they really likedon Day three, And I don't blame
them for taking either one because,like I said, I feel better about
the wide receiver room for Yeah,they found athletes they forewent production this year
in terms of the kinds of guysthey drafted. They found athletes who had
late production, and yeah, theydidn't produce as young is normal. Just
(28:14):
to be clear, it is guysthat they've targeted out wide receiver in the
past. Right, Typically they targetguys that produce, you know, freshman,
early sophomore, you know aj Green, Jamar Chase, guys that are
dominant. But that's also in thefirst round. For those two guys are
the first two rounds. Te Higginsas well Tyler Boyd, very productive players
from a young age in college.But you mentioned long term. I think
(28:37):
that's a big part of this aswell. It's some insurance. It gives
you some developmental guys or a developmentalguy in Josie Bash, and it gives
you a guy that could step inif Tyler Boyd isn't retained after this year,
which kind of seems unlikely, right, We've talked about this. It
seems pretty unlikely given the other financialobligations they'll have on the offensive side of
(28:59):
the ball. Never say never,obviously, but a potential future player,
a future starter there if things goaccording to plan, and I'm not sure
that at running back they necessarily havea future starter and Chase Brown, although
he certainly had the workload and thenshowed the durability in college. They've generally
(29:22):
shied away from drafting guys with asmuch where on the tires Chase Brown,
but he certainly showed it at Illinoisthat he can't handle that burden. And
again adding athleticism, what do wetalk about at the running back position.
In the running game, they neededto add explosiveness, and Chase Brown does
(29:44):
that and does that in the fifthround in a draft where when you get
to that point you kind of expectedthem to have to find a more one
dimensional player, and they found aguy who was on the field for every
kind of situation in college and wasasked to do the past blocking role in
the receiving and the running and sohaving that experience with the dynamic rookie with
(30:07):
that production, that playing time underhis belt, it's really nice step.
And they lost some JP rin.They're going to have to figure out their
past protection downs and who's going tobe out there doing that If that's just
trey ViOn Williams, it is whatit is they didn't necessarily add top end
here, but they do add quality, depth, and they add insurance,
(30:30):
and that's something they probably needed todo in a welcome edition with the explosive
element in Chase Brown. Yeah,I really like this pick. I think
it's interesting because the production aspect ofthings like he produced a ton and you're
right like historically, I think it'sgoing to be tough moving forward to just
(30:52):
look at an age production. Someof those metrics. I think they might
change some because some of these guys, especially with nil money, they're going
to be in college longer. Weobviously have the COVID stuff that delayed some
of these careers, all of thosethings. I think they viewed Chase Brown
as a guy that could certainly contributeright away. Now how much I think
that part is interesting. There's alot of questions who else is in that
(31:17):
running back room? Is Joe Mixonthere? Because if so, Joe Mixon's
going to get plenty of touches.I think it's unrealistic for Brown to be
some J. P. Ryan.I don't think that. I don't think
you can throw him out there andsay, all right, be this pass
blocking back, but can he catchpasses out of the backfield. Absolutely.
Is he a better runner than pRyan from a running back standpoint, he
(31:42):
certainly was. I think he iscoming out of college, I think that's
fair. Now p Ryan today,well he's a grown man, right,
and we'll see if Chase Brown canget there by NFL standards. But it
took some time for p Ryan todevelop into what he was. But can
Brown contribute as a Absolutely, Ithink the Bengals they they did a very
(32:05):
a tremendous job landing a guy thatshould be a day one contributor on offense,
is able to help out on specialteams to all of those things that
an RB two can do. Andif something happens with Joe Mixon and Mixon
missed a few games last year,missed a lot of games and that twenty
twenty season, so it's not likehe's been completely healthy. If he needs
(32:25):
to fill in, I think he'llbe fine. And that's the part of
this where in this offense, runningback is more important than tight end.
But as long as you have aguy that can do the things Brown can
do, I think that they wouldbe okay. Now, the pass blocking
part of it, I think that'strey ViOn Williams. I don't think it's
Mixon. I don't think it's anyoneelse. I think it's Williams. And
(32:46):
maybe they try to add a veteranin that department to help in that area.
But I like Brown. I thinkJones and Brown are both plug and
play guys on offense that can contributeright away, not special teams. I
want to be clear on offense,and that's hard to do in rounds four
and five, and they did it, and we talked about opportunities for some
(33:07):
of these other positions. The Bengalswere very in on taking running back earlier
if the opportunity was there, andit really wasn't. I mean outside of
your guy Roshan Johnson. Round three, Charbonated didn't make it to round two.
Gibbs obviously went twelve, Bijan eighth. There was no one like,
There was no real obvious guy.Even even guys like Toaj Spears, who
(33:30):
we talked about is maybe a targetin round three. They didn't make it
there, and so it was reallytough for the Bengals to take a running
back much earlier. Rochan didn't followedaround four, and so it's it kind
of played out the way it did, but I think they got a guy
that could contribute right away, sothey deserve credit for that. And there
was a discussion about free agency runningbacks as well, right Jamal Williams goes
(33:53):
to the Saints now talk about addinga guy, the guy we haven't mentioned
at all, and I know he'sway on the wrong side of thirty for
what they would typically do, buton a one year deal, mark Ingram
just gonna just gonna float that nameas a possibility. Guys, he's been
good as a pass blocker. Lookat Jake, he's not been He's not
(34:16):
been great as a runner, andmaybe maybe his time has just come right,
like maybe he just needs to retireat this point. But a reliable
veteran with a ton of pass blockingexperience. I mean, you talk about
Zeke a guy that could do theZeke role. Yeah, not not as
a bell cow, but in termsof like a role player who pass blocks.
And that's how we've talked about Zeke, who I think is probably still
(34:37):
looking for bell cow opportunities. That'sjust easy because that's not happening for Zeke
anywhere. There's no team that's goingto XFL. I don't know, man,
I just I'm just a competitiveness ofa former first round pick. I
could totally see him looking for moreof an opportunity. Maybe Bell Cow's a
(34:57):
lot, but a bigger opera Kennedy, sure, and maybe but man mark
Ingram that would be you know whatthat's like. That's like Mercedes Lewis had
tight end where you could see itfitting. But he's just in. He's
thirty three, he's not thirty eight, but he's going to his age thirty
four season, former first rounder.I would be surprised. They just don't.
(35:22):
They don't mess with guys your ageor my age for that matter.
They don't do it. It's it'sjust if you have a three to start
your age, they are so out. It's it's just what it is now.
So I don't know. I wouldn'tbe mad at it because Mark Ingham's
going to sign a league minimum dealif he if he gets picked up,
(35:43):
so it's not like that would costand it would give you some you know,
a proven pass blocking back back there. I agree with you, he
doesn't have much juice, but shortyardage and here and there mixed with mixed
with some pass blocking duties. Itwouldn't be the worst thing for like a
final Hurrah kind of season. Idon't know. I feel like that if
(36:05):
he plays this year, it's probablyhis last year, right, if he
has a little bit left. Idon't know, just to name you haven't
talked about it at all. Kindof forgot that he was still out there
as a free agent. I wasjust looking at the list, and then
of course we should just mention quicklyClyde Clyde Edwards Hilaire. Should he become
available from the Kansas City Chiefs whoresigned Jack McKinnon, who have their starting
(36:25):
running back, there's a world wherethey decide to make that move. And
I think there's a really good chancethe Bengals would be in on a guy
Joe Burrow absolutely loved at LSU.Sure, I agree, if he's available,
he would be the number one contender. The other one I don't think.
I don't know. I don't knowif the Bengals would be in on
(36:45):
him. But if you could getKareem Hunt for one point five, I
mean, no one's in on him, but yeah, Clyde Edwards Laires is
more of it would make so muchsense if he's a free agent, could
a trade happen. I would beshocked if a trade happened. So will
the Chiefs release him? And theChiefs probably know, Hey, if we
release this guy, there's at leasta chance he goes to Cincinnati, right,
(37:09):
Hey, maybe they do. Whoknows. I didn't talk about the
quarterback position very much. They changedit up at backup quarterback. They didn't
draft a guy. They wanted todraft a guy. I think they got
a little bit better at the backupspot. They certainly have more experience there.
Trevor Simeon started for like a wholeyear, but I don't think there's
a whole lot to say there.Joe Burrows a guy, the most important
(37:30):
player on this team that has notchanged, hasn't changed, and it wasn't
going to change. I wish theywould have been able to land the guy
they wanted in the draft. I'mnot sure who they wanted, but that
would have been cool. There wasa run on him, it didn't fit.
Fine, Get Trevor Simeon and let'sroll baby makes sense. Gonna have
(37:51):
to talk about the defense side ofthe ball as well. Jane's obviously not
time to do that today. Sofor the every day ers, that'll be
coming up this week as well,in addition to well, hopefully a guest.
We're working on a guest here totalk about the Bengals draft a little
bit as well, and once wehave that shirt up, we'll let you
know when to check that out.And plenty more coming up as we get
(38:13):
to the rookie camp coming next weekend. Got some player availability tomorrow, right,
James Monday? Yep, yeah,we got an open locker room,
so who knows, it might getsome news. I think we'll have some
college free agent news too, andin the next day or two. Would
not be shocked if that happens onMonday when you're listening to this, so
we'll react to that when they're official. Yep, that's a good shout as
(38:35):
well. College free agent list notyet officially an unced but should be soon.
So until next time, Bengals fans, thanks for listening to this episode
of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. WhoDay, and have a good one.
The Tampa Bay Rays are for realthis season, and they just swept one
of the best teams in baseball toprove it. The Pirates they have not
run into a bus saw a teamlike the Rays and I think it got
(39:00):
to him. The Warriors bounced backin Game two against the Lakers. Can
they keep this momentum going as theseries heads to La And just like that,
it's a best of five and theVegas Golden Knights are looking to build
on a high scoring Game one victoryin their second round series against Connor McDavid
and the Edmonton Oilers. That's theway this team had played back in the
(39:22):
inaugural sees it in the playoffs.For all these stories, head over to
Locked On Rays, Locked On Warriors, and Locked On Golden Knights. Then
check out lockd On's new series Pavingthe Way. Each episode will highlight a
different voice from around the network,a Locked On host whose journey in the
industry has helped pave the way towardcreating a more inclusive and diverse media landscape.
(39:44):
That's Paving the Way presented by StateFarm. Available now on the Locked
On Presents podcast feed. Reds Fans, I'm Jeff Carr and I'm Stephen Offenbaker.
We are the hosts of your dailyReds podcast, Locked On Reds,
part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team, every day, Locked
On Reds brings you the latest Redsnews and analysis and breaks down all of
the action. Locked On Reds iseverything a Reds fan could want, all
(40:07):
in a thirty minute daily podcast.Subscribe now to lockd On Reds. Wherever
you get your podcasts, search LockdownReds and get your daily dose of Reds
analysis and optimism. We are partof the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team
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