May 8, 2023 • 36 mins
The Bengals boast impressive depth on the defensive side of the ball despite some turnover in the secondary. We break down how they maintained their versatility and depth this offseason, and how they stack up for 2023. Should you expect a fall-off in safety quality with Dax Hill and Nick Scott replacing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell? How does Jordan Battle fit into the picture at safety? Plus, they invested heavily in hyper-athletic edge rusher Myles Murphy, boast stability at linebacker, and improved cornerback depth. It's easy to feel good about the quality and versatility of players available to defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo this year. 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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(00:02):
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every day. The Cincinnati Bengals starters
on the defensive side of the ballare going to see some changes in twenty
twenty three. Are they better?Are they worse? Let's break down the
defensive changes this year. You areLocked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals
(00:25):
podcast, part of the Lockdown PodcastNetwork, Your team every Day. What
up, Bengals fans and welcome toanother episode of the Lockdown Bengals Podcast.
I'm your host, Jake Let's go. He's your host and James Rapine.
(00:48):
We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Nevercan. You can subscribe to this podcast
on YouTube or anywhere you listen toyour podcast and becoming every day or you
would know if you're an every dayor for example, that yesterday we talked
about how the offense is better intwenty twenty three, as today we dive
into the defense and you can makeus your first listen with the many other
(01:10):
Bengals fans that do the same.Today's episode it's brought to you by Better
Help. Better Help connects you witha licensed therapist who can take you on
that journey of self discovery from whereveryou are visit beetterhelp dot com slash locked
on today to get ten percent offyour first month. Jason spent a lot
of time yesterday going through the rosterchanges on the offensive side of the ball.
(01:33):
Today we take a look at thedefense. Like the offense, mostly
stable at most spots. But let'sstart again with the position that is going
to see the most change, andthat's going to be the safety position,
where there will be two new startersin twenty twenty three and I think three
(01:53):
safeties that see regular playing time thisyear. Yeah, I think that part
is going to be interesting, ishow Lou uses these guys because you mentioned
at the top better or worse.Well, the Bengals on paper are worse
at safety and they're probably going tobe worse at safety this season, but
(02:14):
the way are one way at leastto mitigate some of that change things up
a bit, and Lou and Rumofrom week to week is able to change
things up a bit. So I'mcurious to see how he uses Dax Hill,
who is as good of an athleteas he's had at safety since coaching
the Bengal so you know, sincejoining the Bengals, is the defensive coordinator
(02:35):
in twenty nineteen. So you haveDax Hill, a guy who's really versatile
that you can move around that Ithink is much more comfortable now that he
knows what his role is going tobe. I think last year, think
about it from his perspective, youhave these two guys that are pending free
agents and Jesse Bates and von BellBates misses most of the offseason program.
Dax looked good in the preseason playingthat safety spot, and then after that
(03:00):
he was kind of backup everything,backup safety, backup nickel, backup outside
corner, and it was just youtoss him all over. So one,
I think you're going to see aDax Hill that you didn't get to see
as a rookie. But the thingthat from a talent standpoint, experience standpoint,
all of those things that I thinkLou can do is put these guys
(03:23):
in their best spot to have success. And that's where the three safety look
does come into play. Because lastyear we talked about it maybe Dax Hill
being that third safety, but youhave Mike Hilton. You have these two
safeties that you trust. I justthink Lou was like, no, let's
go with what we know. Thisis where we're at our best this year.
I think you could make the argumentthat having three safeties, having Jordan
(03:46):
Battle in the mix as that inthe box type safety alongside Nick Scott,
who we've talked about can play thatdeep Jesse Bates type role, and Dax
Hille can do a little bit ofeverything. I think that that's in an
ideal world how it would play out. I don't know how much that'll take
place, the three safety look,but I certainly think it's in the cards
where they could go with those threeyoung guys and then you have obviously Tyson
(04:11):
Anderson behind them, and he's obviouslya great athlete as well. I think
that the third down thing is whereyou see the three safety thing, to
just use a word thing unceremoniously acouple of times there in a row third
down passing situations. You heard luand Rummo talk about this after this election
of Jordan Battle and how highly thiscoaching staff thinks of Jordan Battle. It
(04:38):
seems like they're going to leverage thatwith Dax Hill's flexibility. And we saw
this a little bit in the playoffslast year, even where Dax Hill was
covering Dawson Knox in the end zonein a three safety look is part of
why that pass goes incomplete. Andwe've seen Dax Hill throughout his career already
and going back to Michigan, havethe ability to play really sticky man coverage
(05:01):
and against tight ends. His athleticismplays up like he's going to be on
the hip pocket of pretty much anytight end in the league in man coverage
with his athletic ability, with hiscoverability, and you got a couple of
guys in Nick Scott who can play, as you said, who can play
deep safety. I think that's hisprimary role for this team this year in
(05:21):
Jordan Battle, who's just that savvyand stinctual player. If that translates to
the NFL immediately having Battle in NickScott in those traditional safety roles in some
of those clear passing situations, andDax Hill deployed on whatever dynamic tight end
the Bengals happened to be seeing thatweek. Because you know, you got
(05:42):
Mark Andrews twice and likely in Baltimore. You've got George Kittle on the schedule
this year, you got Travis Kelceyon the schedule this year, you got
Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox on theschedule this year. It seems like another
one of those years where the Bengalshave to go through this gauntlet of tight
ends. I think that that's aplace where the Bengals can get those three
safeties on the field and it besomething that works in their favor. Now,
(06:06):
of course, that means you're takingoff probably a linebacker in that situation,
but with Trey Flowers departed officially signedelsewhere down in Atlanta, that makes
sense in terms of a role thatneeds to be filled that das Hill kind
of lines up with. And whenyou have a guy like Jordan battle Now
(06:27):
who they've added, adding talent anddepths of the safety room that they feel
really good about, makes a lotof sense to see those three guys on
the field together. To me,in some situations, sure, I certainly
think we could see it in it'sthe key to it. Because I don't
really worry about Dax year two inthe system. I know some are I
don't. If people can tell NickScott, I know he's only has one
(06:50):
year starting experience, but played inthe playoffs. We're starting in the playoffs
for the Rams. I think he'sgoing to be fine as well. Jordan
Battle, Battle tested at Alabama,certainly right, no pun intended, but
yes pun intended. Will he beable to pick it up right away that
quick and be that good because LouLou doesn't just trust defensive backs from the
(07:14):
jump. I think that's something thatwe could certainly see last year with Cam
Taylor Brett Eli Apple. Obviously Elihad his trust because he's the veteran,
and a guy like Cam Taylor Bretthad to earn it a little bit.
And even with a guy like Dax, they weren't going to force Dax on
the field when he has guys thathe trusted. So that dynamic is interesting.
(07:35):
But I like the safety room andconsidering people were panicking a bit.
I think once von Bell signed elsewhereand everyone knew Jesse Bates was going elsewhere
when they both departed to the NFCSouth, I think there was some panic.
Nick Scott helped some and now youget a guy like Battle. I
feel pretty good about the Bengal safetyroom. It might not be a strength
(07:58):
like the strength that it was forthe past couple of years with Von Bell
and Jesse Bates, but I don'tthink it's a glaring hole or weakness or
or issue that's going to cause theBengals to lose games. And you have
a long term set up here,You've got guys under contract for years.
At this position, it's cost controlled. They instead of spending a combined twenty
(08:22):
three million dollars to bring back theirtwo safeties per year, which they were
never going to do, twenty threeand a half million whatever it works out
too, which they we're never goingto do. They're they're much cheaper the
position with two rookie contracts than areally relatively modest contract for Nick Scott for
starting safety. What is it aboutfour million dollars a year for next years?
Four million per yep? Yeah,I mean you're you're pretty affordable at
(08:45):
that position. When you've seen yourtwo starting safeties from last year, Go
sign the two biggest free agent dealson the market in Jesse Bates and Bombell.
Some cost savings there where. That'ssomething that's important to them. You
know, we talked about one Thornhillhere and you know Julian Love and some
other veteran safeties. The Bengals gothe Nick Scott route, and you can
see the fit, you can seethe vision with these guys, and the
(09:09):
biggest thing is going to be howhow do they pick up the communication?
And you mentioned, you know,how quickly does Jordan Battle get in there
and earn Louianna Romo's trust or NickSaban's trust as a freshman. So he's
got that chip, that that littlepiece of history to him. And everything
you hear about Jordan Battle is thatthe football IQ is off the charts,
(09:33):
And that's just another reason I thinkit's going to be hard to keep him
off the field because you know,you hear the way the Bengals talk about
his film breakdowns in their meetings withhim, They're like, you know what,
you're good. We got everything weneed from like two plays, was
it or three plays or something likethat. It was quick they had to
cut him off. So excited tosee how these guys play together. You're
right, it may not be hisstrength anymore, but they do have a
(09:56):
long term, cost controlled core andand you can see these guys grow together
and maybe it takes a little bitof time this year, but you're right,
I don't think it's a big weakness. And when you look at this
defense chas, I have a hardtime really identifying a glaring weakness, So
let's keep talking about that in someof the other ways they could have gotten
better and did get better. Comingup next, today's show is sponsored by
(10:20):
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(11:52):
and wherever you listen to podcasts partof the Locked On podcast network. Your
team every day. A lot ofways we could go with talking about some
of the other changes on this defense, James, let's quickly knock out one
unit and do the opposite of ourfirst discussion that hasn't changed really at all,
(12:16):
and that's the linebackers. Jermaine Prattis back Logan Wilson obviously still under
contract, that Keen Davis Skither stillunder contract, Marcus Bailey, Joe bacci
Bacchi rounding out the room. Seemspretty clear cut to me. Do they
carry six linebackers again, Maybe there'sa conversation there for linebackers six, but
outside of that, the return ofJermaine Pratt was a little bit unexpected going
(12:41):
into the off season, But nowthat he's back, you have stability really
in your front seven, front six, whatever you want to call it,
all together with minor changes and we'llsee if there's an expanded role for eighty
gear if they just run it backkind of seems like mostly you just run
it back here with potentially the questionof does Jermaine Pratt see more third downs
(13:05):
given what we know his complaints wereor his desires were as the season went
on last year, and he landsback in Cincinnati, of course, but
he wanted to play third downs.So that's that's really the only question at
the linebacker position. To me rightnow, I don't think I think it's
going to be business as usual.I think they'll use him the way they
(13:26):
used him last year, and ifthey feel that they need to put him
on field for more third downs incertain matchups or certain situations, I think
that could happen. So week toweek that could change, but overall,
I don't think much change is here. And man if I would have told
you going into free agency Von Bellwould get more on an annual basis than
Jermaine Pratt, I don't think youwould have believed me. I certainly wouldn't
(13:48):
have believed myself. But the waythe linebacker market played out, and the
way that the two top safeties,Jesse Bates and Von Bell, the way
they got paid. I mean,that's the thing that Von Bell didn't get
that deal with Carolina. He mightnot have signed for much more than what
Nick Scott got. He might havehad to take whatever the Bengals offered him,
which rumor had it was a twoyear deal. I'm not a three
(14:11):
year deal. But Jermaine Pratt is. He brings stability there. And I
think for all of the shuffling aroundat safety, the fact that your front
seven is pretty much intact, andobviously we're focused on the linebackers at this
very second, but you feel reallygood about that. And I think it'll
be those two guys Logan Wilson,Jermaine Pratt, and then a Kim Davis
(14:31):
Gaither will be that third guy.But you feel really good about a lot
of them. I mean, JoeBacchi, I know they trust him.
Marcus Bailey, I know they trusthim. So you feel really good about
the linebackers in this room. Andyou're right, maybe they keep six and
there's a battle there, But thefirst five guys, I think they're really
confident in and believe any of thoseguys can play a linebacker for them if
(14:52):
one of the top guys gets hurt. And they have had to press some
of those guys into action in thepast, and they've generally the acquitted themselves
pretty well. A Keem Davis Gaitherhad one of the best games of his
career when he had to play lastyear, stepping up an injury replacement duty.
And so you like the depth there. Not a whole lot has changed.
(15:13):
Is it a better or worse position? Pretty tough to say either way.
Right you got the same guys doingprobably the same thing. It's hard
to say that they're going to beworse, and they could get better if
they take a step, They couldregress, who knows, But right now
on paper, it's the same guys. Should be a very similar unit.
The same or better is what Iwould say, because maybe, look,
(15:35):
you're right, maybe Logans a littlebit better, or Keem Davis Gaither is
a little bit better, to giveyou the edge, But I don't really
see it declining much. Who knows. Maybe Jermaine Pranch just stops working out
now that he got paid. Kidding, Jermaine, I'm just kidding. Don't
get mad at me. I wasjust joking. Let's talk defensive front,
another mostly sable position on this roster, but the big shiny first round injection
(16:00):
of athleticism and talent in Miles Murphyshakes things up a little bit now.
Going into this offseason, we weretalking about can they add a piece to
add some pass rush? You andI I think we're mostly looking at the
interior defensive line, although we thoughtmaybe an edge addition was possible, and
they did. Terrell Basham also afree agent edition this offseason. And now
(16:25):
they go at least six deep withguys that you think for sure are making
this roster, had played in theNFL. And then maybe you're in seven
deep at edge with Jeff Gunter,a guy we know they liked last year,
seventh round pick got hurt, couldn'tplay. Going to be very interesting
competition on the edges, and thenon the interior it's the same guys and
(16:52):
you need somebody to step up there. Can Zach Carter continue his late season
ascension from last year? Can jT fell rain in some of those flashes
we saw from him and be amore consistent player. This is a spot
where I think you and I bothlooked and thought maybe they could add a
guy there, and the one guyis still out there that we've talked about
recently. Matt Ionitis is like kindof the biggest name that would make sense
(17:15):
to me. But it's one ofthe shallower spots on the roster, which
is why I still look at externallyJames and I like the players they have,
but they don't have that dynamic passrusher, which is why. You
know, again, we spent alot of time talking about Kalijah Cancy heading
into the draft as well as aguy that could add some some some juice.
(17:37):
Let's just keep using that word tothe interior rotation. Yeah, I
think it was. It was toughbecause there weren't many in this class.
There weren't and that's part of whydespite the size concerns, Cancy goes nineteenth
to the Bucks and still gets takenearly. Adibare or Adibare is he wasn't
(18:03):
viewed as highly by the NFL ashe was by the media, and that's
why he fell. And I thinkthat's why the Bengals weren't in on him.
I know There was multiple times whereit was like, oh, well
you could take him here at ninetytwo or ninety five, and it was
like, hey, he wasn't reallyeven in consideration at that pick. So
yeah, I think that that's somethingthey would want to do. Now do
they go external? It's I andI just could certainly make sense. There's
(18:26):
another name that you mentioned, andI want you to drop it so I
can react to it. Another guythat kind of falls in line with names
you've been mentioning in recent days.Yeah, I mean Marcedes Lewis, the
thirty thirty eight, thirty nine yearold tight end mark ingram what thirty four
year old running back. How aboutanother guy getting toward forty, a little
(18:48):
bit older than me, Dominican Sue. I mean, yeah, in a
similar role to what he did withthe Eagles. I don't know if that
really makes a whole lot of sense. Limball Joseph another former Eagle could be
another name thirty five in the samebucket. I would doubt either those would
be very interesting to the Bengals.But you're talking about guys, have you
(19:08):
looking for one more year, lookingfor that Super Bowl run? You can
see that being a rotational piece giventhe options there and the lack of depth
there on the interior defensive line.Well, you mentioned it pre show the
Sue comment. The Bengals know himand not because the front office or anything
(19:32):
like that, but while multiple Bengalscoaches were in Miami, so with Sue,
I just did some research I wasthinking about. I was like,
oh, LOUI and a Rumo crosspassed with him. He's the defensive coordinator
the interim with Sue in town inMiami and was the defensive backs coach there.
Zach Taylor was there, so thereis a connection there. They didn't
use it last year. I don'tknow how pleasant it was to coach Sue
(19:56):
in Miami. I think that thathe's kind of toned down, settled down
a bit, So I think itwould be interesting. But yeah, I
would be open to it from aplayer standpoint because can he in the right
role still give you something. Sure, I'm watching Lebron James do crazy things
at thirty eight. I think inDomazu is still able to give you a
(20:17):
little juice when you need it atthirty six years old as a situational guy
on the inside. But they mayjust stick with what they have right now,
and I think that's more likely thannot. But never say never,
because I do think that they're onthe hunt. And maybe we talked about
trade tight end wise, maybe thisis you find the next BJ Hill this
(20:38):
way and you can find a tradebecause there's some defensive lines that have just
so much depth. I think theBengals have a good amount of depth.
Some of these lines that have beenput together are crazy deep, and so
there's going to be some good playersthat could be on the chopping blocket.
Maybe the Bengals are able to nabone of them. I think there's a
little bit more to talk about hereat the defensive line. We also haven't
(20:59):
talked about quarter yet, so alittle bit more to talk about here on
the defensive side of the ball.To finish up this show, coming up
nice, let's continue the defensive lineconversation. And Yeah, if I had
to guess, like if you hadto put odds on it, I would
probably say if they add it wouldbe via trade versus sign sign a guy,
as weird as that sounds, becauseI could see them moving one of
(21:23):
their backup tackles offensive tackles late inthe late in the game, late in
training camp after a few preseason gamessomething like that, if they needed to
to get the right guy in here. But I could see that as a
path to them adding a guy tothat interior pass rash. I think you
could also be a waiver claim.The change this year that we haven't really
(21:44):
talked about or maybe mentioned once inpassing is that this year there's only one
cut. You go from ninety tofifty three. There used to be three
stages of cuts along the way.Then they were two stages of cuts.
Now ninety players all the way tofinal cutdown day, you're going to see
(22:06):
from most teams thirty five or soplayers become available from each team on one
day. We saw the Bengals addthree players on waivers last year. Could
see that again on the defensive line. The other thing that I wanted to
mention on the defensive line before wetalk about corner is that if they don't
(22:27):
add that three tech, I thinkthere are going to be times where you
see Miles Murphy, Sam Hubbard,Trey Henderson, Josephosai in the field together
and that's your four. And theydidn't do this a ton last year.
They liked having bj Hill on thefield in those roles. But when you
add Miles Murphy to the mix,bigger guy can kick inside. Played a
(22:48):
lot of four eye, meaning hewas lined up on the inside shoord of
the tackle. If they're comfortable andJosephosai is comfortable playing on the left side,
I think putting Trey Henderson outside onthe side in his traditional alignment,
Joseph Sai outside on the left sidewhere he didn't play last year, Miles
Murphy playing inside that tackle shoulder onthe right side where Josephosai was playing a
(23:12):
lot last year, and Sam Hubbardeither playing the other three tech or playing
you know the kind of well,I guess you need a three tech in
that situation because you're pretty wide withall the other guys. So Sam Hubbard
out there in three tech, ormaybe they just don't like Hubbard inside.
Maybe it is still a scie inside. Maybe it's just bj Hill there.
But they give you some you getsome flexibility there with that package, the
(23:36):
quote unquote NASCAR package. They're sodeep on the defensive line right now,
especially on the edge, that youcan get a little bit more creative with
how they deploy these guys in somesituational considerations on third downs in particular,
and I'm very interested interested to seewhat comes out there because I do think
(23:56):
it'll be a sub package. You'renot going to see a ton of it,
but I do think that we shouldsee at least some of that.
Overall. The thought is that Ilove the depth they have on the edge
right now. Yeah, it's reallygood depth they I mean, put it
up against most teams in the NFL. You'd like the quality of player they
have from one to three on bothsides or one to six overall, and
(24:17):
it's just going to be interesting tosee what they do on the interior to
cop and say for what I perceiveto be less depth available to them there,
it's time for Sam Hubbard to kickinside some I think you hit it.
I love the idea of a HubbardMurphy interior with at least on paper,
because I guess we haven't even seenMurphy shot up right and Hendrickson along
(24:41):
with Osai. I mean, that'sso much fun and I think it would
be effective because one of those guysyou're talking about, a guy in Hendrickson
who's relentless an elite athlete in Murphy, who even if he has to work
on some pass rushing moves, canwin with a couple of things, and
is going to win when these otherguys are losing. One of these guys
is going to win. I guessit's my point in Osai flashed at the
(25:03):
end of last year, and Hubbard'scoming off of the best season of his
career, and I think he canbe effective on the inside. So hopefully
he's comfortable with that. I thinkhe would be willing, and hopefully they're
willing because that's that's fun. Andthen you're right, let's say Hubbard's nicked
up or he's got a lot ofa lot of snaps in that game needs
to come out. Well, youdo have a cam sample, right,
(25:25):
you do have guys that you couldbring in and still fill that role even
if it isn't b J. Hill, And so you're right, there's there's
quality depth there. So I'm excitedabout that. I'm excited about the the
guys they have at corner as well, and I think they're pretty pretty solid
at corner. Chitobeowoosier was in theBengals locker room again on Monday, continuing
(25:47):
his rehab. I think everything's ontrack, as you would hope, but
they've gotten younger at this position overthe past couple of years. But overall,
I feel pretty good about it.Obviously, DJ Turner is the big
addition in that room along with DJIvy. Big question is Cheeto's health.
If Cheeto's out there ready to goat the start of the season and isn't
(26:08):
you know, still recovering, truststhe knee is moving well. Is the
Cheeto that we know? Feel greatabout corner? I think you feel a
little bit better about corner. AddingDJ turn in the second round, your
first corner off the bench. Nowthis second round hyper athlete, excellent mover
at the position, who can playall three positions, are all well?
(26:30):
I guess all three corner positions technicallyoutside inside at least you can. You
would profile him to be able toplay inside without missing a beat. You
feel really good about the corner deathnot to mention the free asient edition of
Sidney Jones. I think quality veterandepth there. If he's your fifth corner,
you feel pretty good about that.Jalen Davis got a two year deal
in the slot. You know theyreally like the way he plays six already
(26:56):
Top six feels pretty good and thenyou got competition behind them and Ali George
who's stuck around last year, DJIvy the seventh round pick this year.
And I like George by the wayI do. Yeah, I mean great
dude for sure, and when we'veseen him get some opportunities, I mean
there's a reason he's stuck, right. And then beyond those guys, Waver
(27:19):
don't forget Waiver claimed Chris Lammon's fromKansas City last year, will be around
and competing as well. So againa deep competition here at Corner. If
Cheto is playing, hard to saythey're worse, easy to say their depth
is better, and maybe even theirstarters are better with Cam or Cam Taylor
Britt sorry playing the whole year asa starter, the way that we saw
(27:44):
him come on and develop over thecourse of last season. Were you trying
to take a shot at Elie Applethere by saying Cam sample was better at
corner? Is that what you weretrying to do? No, I'm just
kidding, just kidding and slip youknow. I do think on paper,
assuming a Louzier's back, they arebetter because DJ Turner will you have some
rookie lumps, sure, but man, I think he's going to be quite
(28:08):
a player and be able to developinto a long term starter an outside corner.
Just to be clear, I thinksome assume, looking at his size
that he's going to be the nickel. I don't think so. I think
Mike Kilton is your nickel. JalenDavis is the backup there, and in
a pinch, Dax Hill or DJTurner could go in that spot. But
(28:29):
yeah, I like that edition.I think they got good value there.
And we talked about the Sidney Jonessigning, that they had a couple of
under the radar guys that they broughtin and it just made things feel so
much better going into the draft.Obviously, Urf Smith Jr. We talked
about tight ends yesterday check out thatshow. But Sidney Jones, Terrell Basham,
(28:52):
we just talked about how deep theyare in the defensive line room,
and I think the cornerback room,assuming your top guy is healthy is near,
really is deep and there's gonna besome good players that are on the
outside looking in when it's it's finalcutdown day. I was thinking about this
the other day, just overall thoughtson the defense. Yeah, I means
(29:15):
it just seems like it's got tobe. And I don't know the depth
of other NFL teams to an extensivedegree or anything like that, but every
position we just talked about outside ofthe defensive interior, I love the depth
the Bengals have, Like I thinkit's top tier depth, edge rusher,
(29:36):
top tier depth. I mean theygo six deep, maybe seven deep,
and they all had I mean,all those guys are guys that can play
at at at least solid level inthe NFL. Linebacker pretty similar four or
five guys deep where they've played roles, They've played solid, good NFL games,
solid good NFL reps. Corner,same idea. We just talked about
(30:03):
the depth there. Safety, it'sa little bit more on paper to projection,
and I do think that they're worseon the top end at safety again,
at least on paper. We'll seehow that develops over the course of
the year. But I love thedepth. I mean, Jordan Battle,
Tyson Anderson, Michael Thomas, theveteran uncle Mike being the fifth guy in
that room. How are you gonnacall him uncle when you're older than him?
(30:23):
Yeah, I how old is he? I thought that was his name?
I mean it is, He's alsoyounger than you. Just just to
be clear, Oh yes, I'muncle Jake. Good to Mitchell. Oh
maybe that's our sign to get outof this show. I took a shot
(30:45):
there because I wasn't sure. Honestly, if he was three thirty four,
I wasn't sure. I was like, yeah, that might as well do.
See, this is why you're onthe old train. You want the
mark ingrams, the Mercedes Lewis isand then Dominican sues. It's funny how
things have changed now you want guysolder than you. A few years ago
I was lobbying for the old hitschange flood sides. Yeah, but but
(31:07):
I mean I just want one onone year deals. I just want Zeke
on a one year deal twenty sixI think young pup. Anyway, that
the overall point there before we gotdistracted, was that it's hard to look
at the depth of this team andthink that there are other NFL teams that
can compare in terms of having thatmuch quality depth across the board on defense,
(31:29):
and honestly this is a theme onoffense for many positions as well.
Where the depth is present, noteverywhere we would like them to be a
little bit better at tight end forexample, and maybe you want another guy
at running back to be in themix there. But on the defensive side
of the ball, the only changesat the starting positions are really the safeties.
(31:53):
We talked a lot about that.Outside of that, you've got veterans
on the defensive line for the mostpart, an injection of depth in Miles
Murphy, Josaphosai continuing to watch forhim to expand his role and take another
step, and just excellent depth witha lot of editions at corner. Feel
(32:15):
pretty good about the defense and theversatility they've added there and the depth they
have there for lu and a Rimato play with. Yep, I think
it rivals. You know, SanFrancisco you would throw out there, Philly
obviously you would throw out there.Well, guess what those are two super
Bowl contenders, and in any teamthat you would throw out there in comparison,
(32:36):
because there's going to be got,you know, different comments I would
say on this show that say,oh, well this team, that team,
I bet they're super Bowl contenders.And so to your point, that's
the tier, that's the expectation thatthe Bengals have put themselves in in in
position to do is contend for aSuper Bowl and they're amongst those teams for
sure, and having that complete teamagain because as we talk a lot,
(33:00):
for as much as we talk aboutthe offense on this show, the defense
is just a huge part of whythey've had the Super Bowl run, in
the AFC Championship run the last twoyears, and having that ability on both
sides of the ball, which againon paper, I mean, this is
a this is a good roster topto bottom. You feel pretty good about
(33:21):
this roster. There's a couple ofquestion marks. Every team has a couple
of question marks. You're gonna haveto see how things play out in a
couple of spots, but pretty easyto see them remaining in that same tier
a team where they're going to becompeting hard for number one seed in the
AFC again for Super Bowl contention,all those things that we'd like to talk
(33:43):
about with this team. Maybe theydidn't do exactly what we wanted right with
some of the some of the ideaswe talked about this offseason, James,
But you come out the other sideof it, you go through this roster
on the other end of player acquisitionpart of the offseason, and you see
it very competitive roster, no reasonthat they're not going to be in that
same tier of competition as they werelast year. Yeah, I agree,
(34:07):
and hopefully they they take a stepforward on offense, which again again check
out our offensive episode if you didn'tand you just missed it because we recorded
on a weekend or it hit andyou're watching the NBA playoffs or whatever the
case is. We broke down theoffense position by position as well. Spent
a lot of time on tight end, much like we did with safety,
(34:28):
because that's kind of a question mark, I would say, but there's not
many question marks Jake Leisco and that'sit's a beautiful thing with Joe Burrow at
a quarterback who was there by theway working out today, as was t
Higgins and plenty of other Bengals.Good stuff. We've got rookie rookie camp
later this week. We've got MikePotts joining us tomorrow to talk about the
(34:49):
way the NFL Draft went. Liketo talk to Mike after the draft it
last year as well. He providessome really cool, fun insights, some
good stories about some of the playersof Bengals drafted and generally how that goes
down. So We're excited to talkto him, and he's the director of
scouting. Just to be clear,Oh, it helps put together at the
Bengals draft board. Part people don'tknow that good good shout. We'll talk
(35:13):
to him tomorrow until the Bengals fans. Thanks for listening, who day and
have a big one 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 Lockdown podcast Network, yourteam every day. Locked on Reds brings
you the latest Reds news and analysisand breaks down all of the action.
(35:34):
Locked on Reds is everything a Redsfan could want, all in a thirty
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We are part of the Locked Onpodcast network, your team every day
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(35:57):
Music. Download the Amazon Music appsto day
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every day. The Cincinnati Bengals starters
on the defensive side of the ballare going to see some changes in twenty
twenty three. Are they better?Are they worse? Let's break down the
defensive changes this year. You areLocked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals
(00:25):
podcast, part of the Lockdown PodcastNetwork, Your team every Day. What
up, Bengals fans and welcome toanother episode of the Lockdown Bengals Podcast.
I'm your host, Jake Let's go. He's your host and James Rapine.
(00:48):
We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Nevercan. You can subscribe to this podcast
on YouTube or anywhere you listen toyour podcast and becoming every day or you
would know if you're an every dayor for example, that yesterday we talked
about how the offense is better intwenty twenty three, as today we dive
into the defense and you can makeus your first listen with the many other
(01:10):
Bengals fans that do the same.Today's episode it's brought to you by Better
Help. Better Help connects you witha licensed therapist who can take you on
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on today to get ten percent offyour first month. Jason spent a lot
of time yesterday going through the rosterchanges on the offensive side of the ball.
(01:33):
Today we take a look at thedefense. Like the offense, mostly
stable at most spots. But let'sstart again with the position that is going
to see the most change, andthat's going to be the safety position,
where there will be two new startersin twenty twenty three and I think three
(01:53):
safeties that see regular playing time thisyear. Yeah, I think that part
is going to be interesting, ishow Lou uses these guys because you mentioned
at the top better or worse.Well, the Bengals on paper are worse
at safety and they're probably going tobe worse at safety this season, but
(02:14):
the way are one way at leastto mitigate some of that change things up
a bit, and Lou and Rumofrom week to week is able to change
things up a bit. So I'mcurious to see how he uses Dax Hill,
who is as good of an athleteas he's had at safety since coaching
the Bengal so you know, sincejoining the Bengals, is the defensive coordinator
(02:35):
in twenty nineteen. So you haveDax Hill, a guy who's really versatile
that you can move around that Ithink is much more comfortable now that he
knows what his role is going tobe. I think last year, think
about it from his perspective, youhave these two guys that are pending free
agents and Jesse Bates and von BellBates misses most of the offseason program.
Dax looked good in the preseason playingthat safety spot, and then after that
(03:00):
he was kind of backup everything,backup safety, backup nickel, backup outside
corner, and it was just youtoss him all over. So one,
I think you're going to see aDax Hill that you didn't get to see
as a rookie. But the thingthat from a talent standpoint, experience standpoint,
all of those things that I thinkLou can do is put these guys
(03:23):
in their best spot to have success. And that's where the three safety look
does come into play. Because lastyear we talked about it maybe Dax Hill
being that third safety, but youhave Mike Hilton. You have these two
safeties that you trust. I justthink Lou was like, no, let's
go with what we know. Thisis where we're at our best this year.
I think you could make the argumentthat having three safeties, having Jordan
(03:46):
Battle in the mix as that inthe box type safety alongside Nick Scott,
who we've talked about can play thatdeep Jesse Bates type role, and Dax
Hille can do a little bit ofeverything. I think that that's in an
ideal world how it would play out. I don't know how much that'll take
place, the three safety look,but I certainly think it's in the cards
where they could go with those threeyoung guys and then you have obviously Tyson
(04:11):
Anderson behind them, and he's obviouslya great athlete as well. I think
that the third down thing is whereyou see the three safety thing, to
just use a word thing unceremoniously acouple of times there in a row third
down passing situations. You heard luand Rummo talk about this after this election
of Jordan Battle and how highly thiscoaching staff thinks of Jordan Battle. It
(04:38):
seems like they're going to leverage thatwith Dax Hill's flexibility. And we saw
this a little bit in the playoffslast year, even where Dax Hill was
covering Dawson Knox in the end zonein a three safety look is part of
why that pass goes incomplete. Andwe've seen Dax Hill throughout his career already
and going back to Michigan, havethe ability to play really sticky man coverage
(05:01):
and against tight ends. His athleticismplays up like he's going to be on
the hip pocket of pretty much anytight end in the league in man coverage
with his athletic ability, with hiscoverability, and you got a couple of
guys in Nick Scott who can play, as you said, who can play
deep safety. I think that's hisprimary role for this team this year in
(05:21):
Jordan Battle, who's just that savvyand stinctual player. If that translates to
the NFL immediately having Battle in NickScott in those traditional safety roles in some
of those clear passing situations, andDax Hill deployed on whatever dynamic tight end
the Bengals happened to be seeing thatweek. Because you know, you got
(05:42):
Mark Andrews twice and likely in Baltimore. You've got George Kittle on the schedule
this year, you got Travis Kelceyon the schedule this year, you got
Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox on theschedule this year. It seems like another
one of those years where the Bengalshave to go through this gauntlet of tight
ends. I think that that's aplace where the Bengals can get those three
safeties on the field and it besomething that works in their favor. Now,
(06:06):
of course, that means you're takingoff probably a linebacker in that situation,
but with Trey Flowers departed officially signedelsewhere down in Atlanta, that makes
sense in terms of a role thatneeds to be filled that das Hill kind
of lines up with. And whenyou have a guy like Jordan battle Now
(06:27):
who they've added, adding talent anddepths of the safety room that they feel
really good about, makes a lotof sense to see those three guys on
the field together. To me,in some situations, sure, I certainly
think we could see it in it'sthe key to it. Because I don't
really worry about Dax year two inthe system. I know some are I
don't. If people can tell NickScott, I know he's only has one
(06:50):
year starting experience, but played inthe playoffs. We're starting in the playoffs
for the Rams. I think he'sgoing to be fine as well. Jordan
Battle, Battle tested at Alabama,certainly right, no pun intended, but
yes pun intended. Will he beable to pick it up right away that
quick and be that good because LouLou doesn't just trust defensive backs from the
(07:14):
jump. I think that's something thatwe could certainly see last year with Cam
Taylor Brett Eli Apple. Obviously Elihad his trust because he's the veteran,
and a guy like Cam Taylor Bretthad to earn it a little bit.
And even with a guy like Dax, they weren't going to force Dax on
the field when he has guys thathe trusted. So that dynamic is interesting.
(07:35):
But I like the safety room andconsidering people were panicking a bit.
I think once von Bell signed elsewhereand everyone knew Jesse Bates was going elsewhere
when they both departed to the NFCSouth, I think there was some panic.
Nick Scott helped some and now youget a guy like Battle. I
feel pretty good about the Bengal safetyroom. It might not be a strength
(07:58):
like the strength that it was forthe past couple of years with Von Bell
and Jesse Bates, but I don'tthink it's a glaring hole or weakness or
or issue that's going to cause theBengals to lose games. And you have
a long term set up here,You've got guys under contract for years.
At this position, it's cost controlled. They instead of spending a combined twenty
(08:22):
three million dollars to bring back theirtwo safeties per year, which they were
never going to do, twenty threeand a half million whatever it works out
too, which they we're never goingto do. They're they're much cheaper the
position with two rookie contracts than areally relatively modest contract for Nick Scott for
starting safety. What is it aboutfour million dollars a year for next years?
Four million per yep? Yeah,I mean you're you're pretty affordable at
(08:45):
that position. When you've seen yourtwo starting safeties from last year, Go
sign the two biggest free agent dealson the market in Jesse Bates and Bombell.
Some cost savings there where. That'ssomething that's important to them. You
know, we talked about one Thornhillhere and you know Julian Love and some
other veteran safeties. The Bengals gothe Nick Scott route, and you can
see the fit, you can seethe vision with these guys, and the
(09:09):
biggest thing is going to be howhow do they pick up the communication?
And you mentioned, you know,how quickly does Jordan Battle get in there
and earn Louianna Romo's trust or NickSaban's trust as a freshman. So he's
got that chip, that that littlepiece of history to him. And everything
you hear about Jordan Battle is thatthe football IQ is off the charts,
(09:33):
And that's just another reason I thinkit's going to be hard to keep him
off the field because you know,you hear the way the Bengals talk about
his film breakdowns in their meetings withhim, They're like, you know what,
you're good. We got everything weneed from like two plays, was
it or three plays or something likethat. It was quick they had to
cut him off. So excited tosee how these guys play together. You're
right, it may not be hisstrength anymore, but they do have a
(09:56):
long term, cost controlled core andand you can see these guys grow together
and maybe it takes a little bitof time this year, but you're right,
I don't think it's a big weakness. And when you look at this
defense chas, I have a hardtime really identifying a glaring weakness, So
let's keep talking about that in someof the other ways they could have gotten
better and did get better. Comingup next, today's show is sponsored by
(10:20):
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(11:52):
and wherever you listen to podcasts partof the Locked On podcast network. Your
team every day. A lot ofways we could go with talking about some
of the other changes on this defense, James, let's quickly knock out one
unit and do the opposite of ourfirst discussion that hasn't changed really at all,
(12:16):
and that's the linebackers. Jermaine Prattis back Logan Wilson obviously still under
contract, that Keen Davis Skither stillunder contract, Marcus Bailey, Joe bacci
Bacchi rounding out the room. Seemspretty clear cut to me. Do they
carry six linebackers again, Maybe there'sa conversation there for linebackers six, but
outside of that, the return ofJermaine Pratt was a little bit unexpected going
(12:41):
into the off season, But nowthat he's back, you have stability really
in your front seven, front six, whatever you want to call it,
all together with minor changes and we'llsee if there's an expanded role for eighty
gear if they just run it backkind of seems like mostly you just run
it back here with potentially the questionof does Jermaine Pratt see more third downs
(13:05):
given what we know his complaints wereor his desires were as the season went
on last year, and he landsback in Cincinnati, of course, but
he wanted to play third downs.So that's that's really the only question at
the linebacker position. To me rightnow, I don't think I think it's
going to be business as usual.I think they'll use him the way they
(13:26):
used him last year, and ifthey feel that they need to put him
on field for more third downs incertain matchups or certain situations, I think
that could happen. So week toweek that could change, but overall,
I don't think much change is here. And man if I would have told
you going into free agency Von Bellwould get more on an annual basis than
Jermaine Pratt, I don't think youwould have believed me. I certainly wouldn't
(13:48):
have believed myself. But the waythe linebacker market played out, and the
way that the two top safeties,Jesse Bates and Von Bell, the way
they got paid. I mean,that's the thing that Von Bell didn't get
that deal with Carolina. He mightnot have signed for much more than what
Nick Scott got. He might havehad to take whatever the Bengals offered him,
which rumor had it was a twoyear deal. I'm not a three
(14:11):
year deal. But Jermaine Pratt is. He brings stability there. And I
think for all of the shuffling aroundat safety, the fact that your front
seven is pretty much intact, andobviously we're focused on the linebackers at this
very second, but you feel reallygood about that. And I think it'll
be those two guys Logan Wilson,Jermaine Pratt, and then a Kim Davis
(14:31):
Gaither will be that third guy.But you feel really good about a lot
of them. I mean, JoeBacchi, I know they trust him.
Marcus Bailey, I know they trusthim. So you feel really good about
the linebackers in this room. Andyou're right, maybe they keep six and
there's a battle there, But thefirst five guys, I think they're really
confident in and believe any of thoseguys can play a linebacker for them if
(14:52):
one of the top guys gets hurt. And they have had to press some
of those guys into action in thepast, and they've generally the acquitted themselves
pretty well. A Keem Davis Gaitherhad one of the best games of his
career when he had to play lastyear, stepping up an injury replacement duty.
And so you like the depth there. Not a whole lot has changed.
(15:13):
Is it a better or worse position? Pretty tough to say either way.
Right you got the same guys doingprobably the same thing. It's hard
to say that they're going to beworse, and they could get better if
they take a step, They couldregress, who knows, But right now
on paper, it's the same guys. Should be a very similar unit.
The same or better is what Iwould say, because maybe, look,
(15:35):
you're right, maybe Logans a littlebit better, or Keem Davis Gaither is
a little bit better, to giveyou the edge, But I don't really
see it declining much. Who knows. Maybe Jermaine Pranch just stops working out
now that he got paid. Kidding, Jermaine, I'm just kidding. Don't
get mad at me. I wasjust joking. Let's talk defensive front,
another mostly sable position on this roster, but the big shiny first round injection
(16:00):
of athleticism and talent in Miles Murphyshakes things up a little bit now.
Going into this offseason, we weretalking about can they add a piece to
add some pass rush? You andI I think we're mostly looking at the
interior defensive line, although we thoughtmaybe an edge addition was possible, and
they did. Terrell Basham also afree agent edition this offseason. And now
(16:25):
they go at least six deep withguys that you think for sure are making
this roster, had played in theNFL. And then maybe you're in seven
deep at edge with Jeff Gunter,a guy we know they liked last year,
seventh round pick got hurt, couldn'tplay. Going to be very interesting
competition on the edges, and thenon the interior it's the same guys and
(16:52):
you need somebody to step up there. Can Zach Carter continue his late season
ascension from last year? Can jT fell rain in some of those flashes
we saw from him and be amore consistent player. This is a spot
where I think you and I bothlooked and thought maybe they could add a
guy there, and the one guyis still out there that we've talked about
recently. Matt Ionitis is like kindof the biggest name that would make sense
(17:15):
to me. But it's one ofthe shallower spots on the roster, which
is why I still look at externallyJames and I like the players they have,
but they don't have that dynamic passrusher, which is why. You
know, again, we spent alot of time talking about Kalijah Cancy heading
into the draft as well as aguy that could add some some some juice.
(17:37):
Let's just keep using that word tothe interior rotation. Yeah, I
think it was. It was toughbecause there weren't many in this class.
There weren't and that's part of whydespite the size concerns, Cancy goes nineteenth
to the Bucks and still gets takenearly. Adibare or Adibare is he wasn't
(18:03):
viewed as highly by the NFL ashe was by the media, and that's
why he fell. And I thinkthat's why the Bengals weren't in on him.
I know There was multiple times whereit was like, oh, well
you could take him here at ninetytwo or ninety five, and it was
like, hey, he wasn't reallyeven in consideration at that pick. So
yeah, I think that that's somethingthey would want to do. Now do
they go external? It's I andI just could certainly make sense. There's
(18:26):
another name that you mentioned, andI want you to drop it so I
can react to it. Another guythat kind of falls in line with names
you've been mentioning in recent days.Yeah, I mean Marcedes Lewis, the
thirty thirty eight, thirty nine yearold tight end mark ingram what thirty four
year old running back. How aboutanother guy getting toward forty, a little
(18:48):
bit older than me, Dominican Sue. I mean, yeah, in a
similar role to what he did withthe Eagles. I don't know if that
really makes a whole lot of sense. Limball Joseph another former Eagle could be
another name thirty five in the samebucket. I would doubt either those would
be very interesting to the Bengals.But you're talking about guys, have you
(19:08):
looking for one more year, lookingfor that Super Bowl run? You can
see that being a rotational piece giventhe options there and the lack of depth
there on the interior defensive line.Well, you mentioned it pre show the
Sue comment. The Bengals know himand not because the front office or anything
(19:32):
like that, but while multiple Bengalscoaches were in Miami, so with Sue,
I just did some research I wasthinking about. I was like,
oh, LOUI and a Rumo crosspassed with him. He's the defensive coordinator
the interim with Sue in town inMiami and was the defensive backs coach there.
Zach Taylor was there, so thereis a connection there. They didn't
use it last year. I don'tknow how pleasant it was to coach Sue
(19:56):
in Miami. I think that thathe's kind of toned down, settled down
a bit, So I think itwould be interesting. But yeah, I
would be open to it from aplayer standpoint because can he in the right
role still give you something. Sure, I'm watching Lebron James do crazy things
at thirty eight. I think inDomazu is still able to give you a
(20:17):
little juice when you need it atthirty six years old as a situational guy
on the inside. But they mayjust stick with what they have right now,
and I think that's more likely thannot. But never say never,
because I do think that they're onthe hunt. And maybe we talked about
trade tight end wise, maybe thisis you find the next BJ Hill this
(20:38):
way and you can find a tradebecause there's some defensive lines that have just
so much depth. I think theBengals have a good amount of depth.
Some of these lines that have beenput together are crazy deep, and so
there's going to be some good playersthat could be on the chopping blocket.
Maybe the Bengals are able to nabone of them. I think there's a
little bit more to talk about hereat the defensive line. We also haven't
(20:59):
talked about quarter yet, so alittle bit more to talk about here on
the defensive side of the ball.To finish up this show, coming up
nice, let's continue the defensive lineconversation. And Yeah, if I had
to guess, like if you hadto put odds on it, I would
probably say if they add it wouldbe via trade versus sign sign a guy,
as weird as that sounds, becauseI could see them moving one of
(21:23):
their backup tackles offensive tackles late inthe late in the game, late in
training camp after a few preseason gamessomething like that, if they needed to
to get the right guy in here. But I could see that as a
path to them adding a guy tothat interior pass rash. I think you
could also be a waiver claim.The change this year that we haven't really
(21:44):
talked about or maybe mentioned once inpassing is that this year there's only one
cut. You go from ninety tofifty three. There used to be three
stages of cuts along the way.Then they were two stages of cuts.
Now ninety players all the way tofinal cutdown day, you're going to see
(22:06):
from most teams thirty five or soplayers become available from each team on one
day. We saw the Bengals addthree players on waivers last year. Could
see that again on the defensive line. The other thing that I wanted to
mention on the defensive line before wetalk about corner is that if they don't
(22:27):
add that three tech, I thinkthere are going to be times where you
see Miles Murphy, Sam Hubbard,Trey Henderson, Josephosai in the field together
and that's your four. And theydidn't do this a ton last year.
They liked having bj Hill on thefield in those roles. But when you
add Miles Murphy to the mix,bigger guy can kick inside. Played a
(22:48):
lot of four eye, meaning hewas lined up on the inside shoord of
the tackle. If they're comfortable andJosephosai is comfortable playing on the left side,
I think putting Trey Henderson outside onthe side in his traditional alignment,
Joseph Sai outside on the left sidewhere he didn't play last year, Miles
Murphy playing inside that tackle shoulder onthe right side where Josephosai was playing a
(23:12):
lot last year, and Sam Hubbardeither playing the other three tech or playing
you know the kind of well,I guess you need a three tech in
that situation because you're pretty wide withall the other guys. So Sam Hubbard
out there in three tech, ormaybe they just don't like Hubbard inside.
Maybe it is still a scie inside. Maybe it's just bj Hill there.
But they give you some you getsome flexibility there with that package, the
(23:36):
quote unquote NASCAR package. They're sodeep on the defensive line right now,
especially on the edge, that youcan get a little bit more creative with
how they deploy these guys in somesituational considerations on third downs in particular,
and I'm very interested interested to seewhat comes out there because I do think
(23:56):
it'll be a sub package. You'renot going to see a ton of it,
but I do think that we shouldsee at least some of that.
Overall. The thought is that Ilove the depth they have on the edge
right now. Yeah, it's reallygood depth they I mean, put it
up against most teams in the NFL. You'd like the quality of player they
have from one to three on bothsides or one to six overall, and
(24:17):
it's just going to be interesting tosee what they do on the interior to
cop and say for what I perceiveto be less depth available to them there,
it's time for Sam Hubbard to kickinside some I think you hit it.
I love the idea of a HubbardMurphy interior with at least on paper,
because I guess we haven't even seenMurphy shot up right and Hendrickson along
(24:41):
with Osai. I mean, that'sso much fun and I think it would
be effective because one of those guysyou're talking about, a guy in Hendrickson
who's relentless an elite athlete in Murphy, who even if he has to work
on some pass rushing moves, canwin with a couple of things, and
is going to win when these otherguys are losing. One of these guys
is going to win. I guessit's my point in Osai flashed at the
(25:03):
end of last year, and Hubbard'scoming off of the best season of his
career, and I think he canbe effective on the inside. So hopefully
he's comfortable with that. I thinkhe would be willing, and hopefully they're
willing because that's that's fun. Andthen you're right, let's say Hubbard's nicked
up or he's got a lot ofa lot of snaps in that game needs
to come out. Well, youdo have a cam sample, right,
(25:25):
you do have guys that you couldbring in and still fill that role even
if it isn't b J. Hill, And so you're right, there's there's
quality depth there. So I'm excitedabout that. I'm excited about the the
guys they have at corner as well, and I think they're pretty pretty solid
at corner. Chitobeowoosier was in theBengals locker room again on Monday, continuing
(25:47):
his rehab. I think everything's ontrack, as you would hope, but
they've gotten younger at this position overthe past couple of years. But overall,
I feel pretty good about it.Obviously, DJ Turner is the big
addition in that room along with DJIvy. Big question is Cheeto's health.
If Cheeto's out there ready to goat the start of the season and isn't
(26:08):
you know, still recovering, truststhe knee is moving well. Is the
Cheeto that we know? Feel greatabout corner? I think you feel a
little bit better about corner. AddingDJ turn in the second round, your
first corner off the bench. Nowthis second round hyper athlete, excellent mover
at the position, who can playall three positions, are all well?
(26:30):
I guess all three corner positions technicallyoutside inside at least you can. You
would profile him to be able toplay inside without missing a beat. You
feel really good about the corner deathnot to mention the free asient edition of
Sidney Jones. I think quality veterandepth there. If he's your fifth corner,
you feel pretty good about that.Jalen Davis got a two year deal
in the slot. You know theyreally like the way he plays six already
(26:56):
Top six feels pretty good and thenyou got competition behind them and Ali George
who's stuck around last year, DJIvy the seventh round pick this year.
And I like George by the wayI do. Yeah, I mean great
dude for sure, and when we'veseen him get some opportunities, I mean
there's a reason he's stuck, right. And then beyond those guys, Waver
(27:19):
don't forget Waiver claimed Chris Lammon's fromKansas City last year, will be around
and competing as well. So againa deep competition here at Corner. If
Cheto is playing, hard to saythey're worse, easy to say their depth
is better, and maybe even theirstarters are better with Cam or Cam Taylor
Britt sorry playing the whole year asa starter, the way that we saw
(27:44):
him come on and develop over thecourse of last season. Were you trying
to take a shot at Elie Applethere by saying Cam sample was better at
corner? Is that what you weretrying to do? No, I'm just
kidding, just kidding and slip youknow. I do think on paper,
assuming a Louzier's back, they arebetter because DJ Turner will you have some
rookie lumps, sure, but man, I think he's going to be quite
(28:08):
a player and be able to developinto a long term starter an outside corner.
Just to be clear, I thinksome assume, looking at his size
that he's going to be the nickel. I don't think so. I think
Mike Kilton is your nickel. JalenDavis is the backup there, and in
a pinch, Dax Hill or DJTurner could go in that spot. But
(28:29):
yeah, I like that edition.I think they got good value there.
And we talked about the Sidney Jonessigning, that they had a couple of
under the radar guys that they broughtin and it just made things feel so
much better going into the draft.Obviously, Urf Smith Jr. We talked
about tight ends yesterday check out thatshow. But Sidney Jones, Terrell Basham,
(28:52):
we just talked about how deep theyare in the defensive line room,
and I think the cornerback room,assuming your top guy is healthy is near,
really is deep and there's gonna besome good players that are on the
outside looking in when it's it's finalcutdown day. I was thinking about this
the other day, just overall thoughtson the defense. Yeah, I means
(29:15):
it just seems like it's got tobe. And I don't know the depth
of other NFL teams to an extensivedegree or anything like that, but every
position we just talked about outside ofthe defensive interior, I love the depth
the Bengals have, Like I thinkit's top tier depth, edge rusher,
(29:36):
top tier depth. I mean theygo six deep, maybe seven deep,
and they all had I mean,all those guys are guys that can play
at at at least solid level inthe NFL. Linebacker pretty similar four or
five guys deep where they've played roles, They've played solid, good NFL games,
solid good NFL reps. Corner,same idea. We just talked about
(30:03):
the depth there. Safety, it'sa little bit more on paper to projection,
and I do think that they're worseon the top end at safety again,
at least on paper. We'll seehow that develops over the course of
the year. But I love thedepth. I mean, Jordan Battle,
Tyson Anderson, Michael Thomas, theveteran uncle Mike being the fifth guy in
that room. How are you gonnacall him uncle when you're older than him?
(30:23):
Yeah, I how old is he? I thought that was his name?
I mean it is, He's alsoyounger than you. Just just to
be clear, Oh yes, I'muncle Jake. Good to Mitchell. Oh
maybe that's our sign to get outof this show. I took a shot
(30:45):
there because I wasn't sure. Honestly, if he was three thirty four,
I wasn't sure. I was like, yeah, that might as well do.
See, this is why you're onthe old train. You want the
mark ingrams, the Mercedes Lewis isand then Dominican sues. It's funny how
things have changed now you want guysolder than you. A few years ago
I was lobbying for the old hitschange flood sides. Yeah, but but
(31:07):
I mean I just want one onone year deals. I just want Zeke
on a one year deal twenty sixI think young pup. Anyway, that
the overall point there before we gotdistracted, was that it's hard to look
at the depth of this team andthink that there are other NFL teams that
can compare in terms of having thatmuch quality depth across the board on defense,
(31:29):
and honestly this is a theme onoffense for many positions as well.
Where the depth is present, noteverywhere we would like them to be a
little bit better at tight end forexample, and maybe you want another guy
at running back to be in themix there. But on the defensive side
of the ball, the only changesat the starting positions are really the safeties.
(31:53):
We talked a lot about that.Outside of that, you've got veterans
on the defensive line for the mostpart, an injection of depth in Miles
Murphy, Josaphosai continuing to watch forhim to expand his role and take another
step, and just excellent depth witha lot of editions at corner. Feel
(32:15):
pretty good about the defense and theversatility they've added there and the depth they
have there for lu and a Rimato play with. Yep, I think
it rivals. You know, SanFrancisco you would throw out there, Philly
obviously you would throw out there.Well, guess what those are two super
Bowl contenders, and in any teamthat you would throw out there in comparison,
(32:36):
because there's going to be got,you know, different comments I would
say on this show that say,oh, well this team, that team,
I bet they're super Bowl contenders.And so to your point, that's
the tier, that's the expectation thatthe Bengals have put themselves in in in
position to do is contend for aSuper Bowl and they're amongst those teams for
sure, and having that complete teamagain because as we talk a lot,
(33:00):
for as much as we talk aboutthe offense on this show, the defense
is just a huge part of whythey've had the Super Bowl run, in
the AFC Championship run the last twoyears, and having that ability on both
sides of the ball, which againon paper, I mean, this is
a this is a good roster topto bottom. You feel pretty good about
(33:21):
this roster. There's a couple ofquestion marks. Every team has a couple
of question marks. You're gonna haveto see how things play out in a
couple of spots, but pretty easyto see them remaining in that same tier
a team where they're going to becompeting hard for number one seed in the
AFC again for Super Bowl contention,all those things that we'd like to talk
(33:43):
about with this team. Maybe theydidn't do exactly what we wanted right with
some of the some of the ideaswe talked about this offseason, James,
But you come out the other sideof it, you go through this roster
on the other end of player acquisitionpart of the offseason, and you see
it very competitive roster, no reasonthat they're not going to be in that
same tier of competition as they werelast year. Yeah, I agree,
(34:07):
and hopefully they they take a stepforward on offense, which again again check
out our offensive episode if you didn'tand you just missed it because we recorded
on a weekend or it hit andyou're watching the NBA playoffs or whatever the
case is. We broke down theoffense position by position as well. Spent
a lot of time on tight end, much like we did with safety,
(34:28):
because that's kind of a question mark, I would say, but there's not
many question marks Jake Leisco and that'sit's a beautiful thing with Joe Burrow at
a quarterback who was there by theway working out today, as was t
Higgins and plenty of other Bengals.Good stuff. We've got rookie rookie camp
later this week. We've got MikePotts joining us tomorrow to talk about the
(34:49):
way the NFL Draft went. Liketo talk to Mike after the draft it
last year as well. He providessome really cool, fun insights, some
good stories about some of the playersof Bengals drafted and generally how that goes
down. So We're excited to talkto him, and he's the director of
scouting. Just to be clear,Oh, it helps put together at the
Bengals draft board. Part people don'tknow that good good shout. We'll talk
(35:13):
to him tomorrow until the Bengals fans. Thanks for listening, who day and
have a big one 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 Lockdown podcast Network, yourteam every day. Locked on Reds brings
you the latest Reds news and analysisand breaks down all of the action.
(35:34):
Locked on Reds is everything a Redsfan could want, all in a thirty
minute daily podcast. Subscribe now toLocked On Reds. Wherever you get your
podcasts, search Lockdown Reds and getyour daily dose of Reds analysis and optimism.
We are part of the Locked Onpodcast network, your team every day
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(35:57):
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