February 26, 2025 • 16 mins
Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic and The Growler Podcast joined us from the NFL Scouting Combine to talk about the Bengals. Let's be honest, if you don't know what the main topics were, you're really not interesting in listening, are you?
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
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Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Illinois, ESPN fifteen thirty. All right, here we go, five
(00:04):
oh five, ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm oegar, thank you so
much for joining us. So I hope you're having an
unbelievable Wednesday afternoon. Busy hours still ahead, don't forget. We
have UK basketball tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty, with the
Wildcats taking on Oklahoma in the in the conference realignment
era where we are still getting used to certain teams
and certain conferences. Some I've gotten pretty used to, others
(00:28):
not so much. Like I still see Cal playing North
Carolina and Duke in Virginia Tech and it's like, yeah,
Cal's in the ACC.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm not used to that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Oklahoma being in the SEC is one that every time
I see the Sooners matched up against an SEC school,
I make a face. I'm not used to it. UK
taking on the Sooners tonight. Pregame at seven thirty on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Typically on Tuesdays, we talk with Paul Danner,
Junior of the Athletic from the Athletic and he's at
(01:02):
the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, so he was not
able to join us yesterday because he was there listening
to Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor, and he was working
all worked there in Indy. But I did want Paul's
thoughts on what went down yesterday, what's happening at the Combine,
and so kind enough to give us a few minutes.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I know, I know you're busy.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
You just got back from Disney World with the family,
and now you're at the Combine in Indy. Which experience
is more magical?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You know, it's the majesty of looking at an sizes
and how people are built and talking about their glutes
and their explosion techniques, and it's just it's almost the
same as giving Mickey Mouse a hug. It does feel
very similar to that.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Disney smells much better than Indianapolis. I can attest to that.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
All right, very good. So there's there's a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Let me just give you my into interpretation of what
Duke Tobin had to say yesterday.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Are you ready, let's hear it.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So, for a couple of months, Joe Burrow has been
putting pressure on the front office to get certain things done. Yesterday,
Duke says he agrees with Joe Burrow. So Duke Tobin
is putting pressure on ownership to get things done. That's
my interpretation.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I think when we didn't think the line could
be drawn any clearer mo or deeper in the sand,
it was. It was sort of a little bit like
the back ho showed up and just dug in a
little bit more of Look, we all want to do
these same things. We all want these guys paid. I
want T Higgins. I've wanted T Higgins every year anywhere
(02:46):
that I am a general manager of a team. I
want T Higgins on it, like you can't go further
than that, and him saying he feels like he's optimistic
they can get it done. The same conversation definitive again
with Jamar Chase yesterday of look, he's going to be
the highest.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Paid non quarterback ever.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
All of that stuff does literally just kick it right
up to Katie in the front office to say, we're
expecting to get these done.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
All of us are in agreement here.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
The only question is the same one that still existed
when we showed up in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Can they do it? Can they do it?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And it's just everybody is dug in as deep and
as clearly as you could possibly be, and we'll all
just sit and find out if the Bengals can figure
it out.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Were you surprised by either Duke's approach or anything he
had to say about the Big Three, t Tray and Jamar.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I thought, I thought, what came out of yesterday or
two things. One he put Tea in Jamar in very
different buckets than Trey Hendrickson in tone, in the way
it was discussed. It was, yeah, we'll see what happens
with Trey. We'll get to Trey, and you know, I
even specifically asked him about the concept of trading Trey Hendrickson.
(04:03):
His answer wasn't go find your own edge Rusher. It
was it was, I don't like to talk about those things.
They take on lives of their own. I want Trey.
We're trying to get an extension done with Trey. That
should tell you all you need to know about how
we feel about him. That's part of it. The other
part was I felt like saying, look, we we want
(04:23):
to get all of these things done and more. We
need to build out this defense and the urgency, which
with he talked about Chase and Higgins deals needing to
get done because there's uncertainty in what they can do
if they don't have those done. I thought was notable.
It was it was gas to, you know, pedal down, man.
(04:46):
It was these things need to happen, and they really
kind of need to happen fast. It was kind of
what he was saying, because otherwise it does make things
a lot harder when they get into free agency and
assessing their needs and being able to properly attack it.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
That's a time.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I feel like we've heard that before, of you know there,
this is because we've talked about so much. Don't let
this drag out, don't let this go out of season.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Don't let it nothing's haamp again.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
No one wants to watch Jamar Chase and a hat,
so so if you're trying to avoid that, I think
this is also part of that. It sounded like Duke
was in many ways talking to the talking points that
we've been having every week here for a while now,
of we want to get it done, we want to
get it done fast, We want to have certainty so
we can go and add and spend a little in
(05:32):
free agency to help fix this and supplement this defense.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
The franchise tag window closes on Tuesday, so there's six days.
What's your best guess as to how things will play
out with that.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think he gets I think they go down to
the wire trying to get this long term deal finalized.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
They don't.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
They tag him and they keep negotiating, and I don't,
you know, I still feel like it gets done, and
I think they then get it done, like right before
free agency, you know, I feel like it's just gonna
be They're gonna need one more deadline to help push
them closer, and then you know, the free agency kind
of deadline maybe helps put it over. I mean, the
(06:14):
tag is gonna happen regardless if they can't get a deal.
It's just gonna be a matter of when they can
find a way to get it done.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
It just just feels like it's just.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Silly mo Like everybody wants to get it done and
they have the money to do it, Like everybody wants this, right,
everybody wants this, so sit down and figure it out
and keep it together. And just feels like that's all
it's gonna take. It's just gonna take everybody to stop
posturing and negotiating.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
And just get to the middle. Right Like you ever,
you you buy a house and it's like.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You guys like, oh, I'm gonna come in at two forty,
You're gonna Can I just start at where I'm gonna be?
Can we just go right to the middle, right now,
Let's let's just go to the middle and end.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
This well, but get thrown into the mix. Paul Danner
Juniors with his the Combine in Indianapolis. You know, last night,
while you were sleeping, T Higgins is tweeting out the
blue cap emoji. Now, I didn't know what the blue
cap emoji means.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I didn't know the blue cap emoji existed. But apparently
the blue cap emoji has some specific meaning. And because
we're in vague tweet season, on the day that Duke
Tobin talks about T Higgins, t Higgins tweets out late
last night a blue cap emoji. I need your analysis
of this. My analysis is, you know, you know, I
(07:36):
think these are always about video games.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Okay, you know what I'm stand on this.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Okay, that said, my analysis is not of T higgins
cap emoji tweet. It was of who was promoting said
cap emoji tweet. Quickly, Ian Rappaport Pro Football Talk, I mean,
if what is Ian rap and all this isn't anything
(08:02):
against Ian, but like, how is Ian rappaport so quickly
decoding a hat? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Like, how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Because this is this is fed, but this is fed
properly up the channels.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Man, hey, look what's happened?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I mean, PFTs even like suggesting that that that they
know exactly what it is that this emoji hat was
about into specifics in a story that was up quickly,
and like, you know, you could get a story up quickly.
But that's man, that's some that's some good work. Uh
if you just took that from an emoji, no you didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
This was fed.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
That was a way for him to be vaguely aggressive,
shall we say, in his thoughts and and here we sit,
it's none of that's none of that's particularly good.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
But it's just it's just this season. It's just this
is what it is, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
So for the uninitiated, and I'm sure there are some
who can count themselves among the uninitiated. What does the
blue cap emoji signify?
Speaker 4 (09:00):
What's lies? It's cats, it's false. There lies live, we're told. Yes,
so I get, And that's just it.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I mean, Tobin spoke between us on the on the
side of the local media and what he said on
the podium.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
He spoke for an hour.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
There were a lot of words he could have been
lying about, or that anybody else could have been saying.
So it's just I'm saying, it's hard to decipher exactly
what that's a specific reference to unless you were told
what that was a specific reference.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
All right?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Uh, one more on on Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So you know, Duke comes out and says, we want
to make him the highest paid non quarterback in the NFL.
And I think for a lot of folks, you know,
they hear that and go cool, all right, well, let's
let's let's let's get this done. Call the press conference,
have the ceremony. Get is it? It's not that cut
and dry, is it?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
I think I think it kind of is. I mean,
I I think that I just don't I've heard zero
doubt from anyone anywhere, no matter who you talk to
about this, that this is gonna get done. They're eventually
gonna get to it.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I know what happened last year, but I don't know
how much both sides really meant it last and they
were trying, but I feel like the concept of this
was always that it got done around this year.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
They know what it looks like.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Now they're out here saying he's going to be the
highest paid non quarterback. Like I just I know they
can always go sideways and get squirrely, and certainly, you know,
making t Higgins mad if you do in the process
doesn't help when they share an agent and all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But I just feel like it does have an inevitability.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I don't know the timing of how that all is
gonna work, but I just think they're gonna do whatever,
and I just don't sense any worry about that from anyone.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Were there any non t Higgins, non Jamar Chase, non
Trey Hendrickson thought shared by Duke Tobin that stood out
to you?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, you know, I asked them again about the small
scouting staff, which I know is something that fans have
been talking a lot about more recently because of some
of the recent.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Drafts that have you know, done what they've done. I
think his response and I sort of phrased.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
It in a way of of look like I know
your we all know your stance on this, like we
we know how you you don't feel like you need
more opinions, just the right opinions, and you feel like
you have them. And I said, but the league's changing,
you know, like your coaching staffs are bigger. What's happening
in the draft is bigger, Like analytics is growing everywhere,
like all like have you are you open to growing it?
(11:42):
And his answer was essentially, And it was long and
very thoughtful, but it was it was essentially, Well, I'm
open to it if I if I felt like we
were missing something, if I felt like there was an
area or a concept or whatever you're you're looking at,
felt like they were missing on things, like I'd add
I would I would add something if I felt like
(12:03):
that was the case. But he said, look, if I
bring in a new voice, even if it's somebody that
I know and trust around the league, And he's like,
I have those people and the ideas of who they
would be if say Trey Brown got one of those
jobs he interviewed for, are there. But when I talk
about actually bringing in somebody new, it would take me
time to build trust.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
In their opinion.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And he's, you know, right now, I think they're just
at a point where he's like, I feel like we
are operating incredibly efficiently, and I have full trust in everybody,
and I know and trust all of their opinions so
fully that bringing in uh, I'm not going to say
a wild card, because he didn't call it that, but
bringing in somebody knew who there's still some wondering about,
(12:45):
you know, working with for the first time at this juncture.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
It wasn't something that he was he was gonna.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Do, and but you know, that's kind of it was
more almost a different reiteration of the same the same
kind of philosophy that we've heard from Duke over the years.
So that's that's where that stands, and he's he's not
going to back down from his opinion that that that's
how it should it should run, and how everything should
should run in his organization.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You did a mock draft point five at the end
of the combine, do we get mock draft one point zero?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
One point Oh well, there will be more. I might
have to do, like a zero point seventy five.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
I don't. I'm really railing against the one point zero
system here. I just I don't. I don't believe in it.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I believe one point zero every year should be after
free agency mock draft. That is when you can actually
it counts. Everything else's training camp is pre season whatever,
I feel like it counts. So after that free agency
and we'll have a combine everything.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
We set, we'll no needs better.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Now we can properly dive in and give it a
real one point oh.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
That's when one point oh will come. You know. Sometimes
I'm asked politely to.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Go ahead, and you're gonna need to do another one
in between now and then, So you may see another one,
but it will not be one point oh.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
That's when you know I'm officially on board with it.
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, I know there's a lot of intel gathering in Indianapolis,
and you've been busy gathering draft intel when you have
been listening to Duke Tobin, and so I know that'll
greatly inform what next mock draft looks like. I have
one other thing to discuss with you. It's really not
related to the Bengals.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Are you re I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
About a week and a half ago, I got a
text message from your dad. Oh oh no, yeah, And
it had been a while and what he wanted to
know was if Wes Miller, the head coach of the Bearcats,
really had his team play dodgeball and if that really
is what has turned the season around with the Bearcats
(14:48):
have now won five out of seven. And I answered
the question and said, well, you know, yeah, they played dodgeball.
I'm not sure that's why they're playing better, but yeah,
they played dodgeball. My question is does he not trust
you to answer these question?
Speaker 4 (15:03):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
He would probably tell you that that text probably is
somewhere in our text conversation, and I didn't get back
to him, and he got eLAC patiently.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
He got tired, too busy moan though it's possible.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's possible.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
No, I don't know that I got that specific one,
though I thought maybe I did skip over it.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And he's like, I'm going to a better source or look,
you're you're the U see guy. You can't try. I
can't be trusted on UC matters.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
A lot more so than you think.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
But uh, well, it was nice to hear from Senior
and I, uh, I just thought I would share that
with you. Uh enjoy the rest of the week in
Indian Thank you as always appreciate it. My calculator Paul
Danner Junior from The Athletic read his work at the
athletic dot Com, filing dispatches from the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis,
and also the host of the Growler podcast. Uh, We're
(15:56):
going to talk about a red and an injury that
is lingering from last year. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati sports station
Illinois, ESPN fifteen thirty. All right, here we go, five
(00:04):
oh five, ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm oegar, thank you so
much for joining us. So I hope you're having an
unbelievable Wednesday afternoon. Busy hours still ahead, don't forget. We
have UK basketball tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty, with the
Wildcats taking on Oklahoma in the in the conference realignment
era where we are still getting used to certain teams
and certain conferences. Some I've gotten pretty used to, others
(00:28):
not so much. Like I still see Cal playing North
Carolina and Duke in Virginia Tech and it's like, yeah,
Cal's in the ACC.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm not used to that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Oklahoma being in the SEC is one that every time
I see the Sooners matched up against an SEC school,
I make a face. I'm not used to it. UK
taking on the Sooners tonight. Pregame at seven thirty on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Typically on Tuesdays, we talk with Paul Danner,
Junior of the Athletic from the Athletic and he's at
(01:02):
the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, so he was not
able to join us yesterday because he was there listening
to Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor, and he was working
all worked there in Indy. But I did want Paul's
thoughts on what went down yesterday, what's happening at the Combine,
and so kind enough to give us a few minutes.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
I know, I know you're busy.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
You just got back from Disney World with the family,
and now you're at the Combine in Indy. Which experience
is more magical?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You know, it's the majesty of looking at an sizes
and how people are built and talking about their glutes
and their explosion techniques, and it's just it's almost the
same as giving Mickey Mouse a hug. It does feel
very similar to that.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Disney smells much better than Indianapolis. I can attest to that.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
All right, very good. So there's there's a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Let me just give you my into interpretation of what
Duke Tobin had to say yesterday.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Are you ready, let's hear it.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So, for a couple of months, Joe Burrow has been
putting pressure on the front office to get certain things done. Yesterday,
Duke says he agrees with Joe Burrow. So Duke Tobin
is putting pressure on ownership to get things done. That's
my interpretation.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yeah, I think when we didn't think the line could
be drawn any clearer mo or deeper in the sand,
it was. It was sort of a little bit like
the back ho showed up and just dug in a
little bit more of Look, we all want to do
these same things. We all want these guys paid. I
want T Higgins. I've wanted T Higgins every year anywhere
(02:46):
that I am a general manager of a team. I
want T Higgins on it, like you can't go further
than that, and him saying he feels like he's optimistic
they can get it done. The same conversation definitive again
with Jamar Chase yesterday of look, he's going to be
the highest.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Paid non quarterback ever.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
All of that stuff does literally just kick it right
up to Katie in the front office to say, we're
expecting to get these done.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
All of us are in agreement here.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
The only question is the same one that still existed
when we showed up in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Can they do it? Can they do it?
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And it's just everybody is dug in as deep and
as clearly as you could possibly be, and we'll all
just sit and find out if the Bengals can figure
it out.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Were you surprised by either Duke's approach or anything he
had to say about the Big Three, t Tray and Jamar.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I thought, I thought, what came out of yesterday or
two things. One he put Tea in Jamar in very
different buckets than Trey Hendrickson in tone, in the way
it was discussed. It was, yeah, we'll see what happens
with Trey. We'll get to Trey, and you know, I
even specifically asked him about the concept of trading Trey Hendrickson.
(04:03):
His answer wasn't go find your own edge Rusher. It
was it was, I don't like to talk about those things.
They take on lives of their own. I want Trey.
We're trying to get an extension done with Trey. That
should tell you all you need to know about how
we feel about him. That's part of it. The other
part was I felt like saying, look, we we want
(04:23):
to get all of these things done and more. We
need to build out this defense and the urgency, which
with he talked about Chase and Higgins deals needing to
get done because there's uncertainty in what they can do
if they don't have those done. I thought was notable.
It was it was gas to, you know, pedal down, man.
(04:46):
It was these things need to happen, and they really
kind of need to happen fast. It was kind of
what he was saying, because otherwise it does make things
a lot harder when they get into free agency and
assessing their needs and being able to properly attack it.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
That's a time.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I feel like we've heard that before, of you know there,
this is because we've talked about so much. Don't let
this drag out, don't let this go out of season.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Don't let it nothing's haamp again.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
No one wants to watch Jamar Chase and a hat,
so so if you're trying to avoid that, I think
this is also part of that. It sounded like Duke
was in many ways talking to the talking points that
we've been having every week here for a while now,
of we want to get it done, we want to
get it done fast, We want to have certainty so
we can go and add and spend a little in
(05:32):
free agency to help fix this and supplement this defense.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
The franchise tag window closes on Tuesday, so there's six days.
What's your best guess as to how things will play
out with that.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I think he gets I think they go down to
the wire trying to get this long term deal finalized.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
They don't.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
They tag him and they keep negotiating, and I don't,
you know, I still feel like it gets done, and
I think they then get it done, like right before
free agency, you know, I feel like it's just gonna
be They're gonna need one more deadline to help push
them closer, and then you know, the free agency kind
of deadline maybe helps put it over. I mean, the
(06:14):
tag is gonna happen regardless if they can't get a deal.
It's just gonna be a matter of when they can
find a way to get it done.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
It just just feels like it's just.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Silly mo Like everybody wants to get it done and
they have the money to do it, Like everybody wants this, right,
everybody wants this, so sit down and figure it out
and keep it together. And just feels like that's all
it's gonna take. It's just gonna take everybody to stop
posturing and negotiating.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
And just get to the middle. Right Like you ever,
you you buy a house and it's like.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You guys like, oh, I'm gonna come in at two forty,
You're gonna Can I just start at where I'm gonna be?
Can we just go right to the middle, right now,
Let's let's just go to the middle and end.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
This well, but get thrown into the mix. Paul Danner
Juniors with his the Combine in Indianapolis. You know, last night,
while you were sleeping, T Higgins is tweeting out the
blue cap emoji. Now, I didn't know what the blue
cap emoji means.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
I didn't know the blue cap emoji existed. But apparently
the blue cap emoji has some specific meaning. And because
we're in vague tweet season, on the day that Duke
Tobin talks about T Higgins, t Higgins tweets out late
last night a blue cap emoji. I need your analysis
of this. My analysis is, you know, you know, I
(07:36):
think these are always about video games.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Okay, you know what I'm stand on this.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Okay, that said, my analysis is not of T higgins
cap emoji tweet. It was of who was promoting said
cap emoji tweet. Quickly, Ian Rappaport Pro Football Talk, I mean,
if what is Ian rap and all this isn't anything
(08:02):
against Ian, but like, how is Ian rappaport so quickly
decoding a hat? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Like, how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Because this is this is fed, but this is fed
properly up the channels.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Man, hey, look what's happened?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I mean, PFTs even like suggesting that that that they
know exactly what it is that this emoji hat was
about into specifics in a story that was up quickly,
and like, you know, you could get a story up quickly.
But that's man, that's some that's some good work. Uh
if you just took that from an emoji, no you didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
This was fed.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
That was a way for him to be vaguely aggressive,
shall we say, in his thoughts and and here we sit,
it's none of that's none of that's particularly good.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
But it's just it's just this season. It's just this
is what it is, you know.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
So for the uninitiated, and I'm sure there are some
who can count themselves among the uninitiated. What does the
blue cap emoji signify?
Speaker 4 (09:00):
What's lies? It's cats, it's false. There lies live, we're told. Yes,
so I get, And that's just it.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I mean, Tobin spoke between us on the on the
side of the local media and what he said on
the podium.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
He spoke for an hour.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
There were a lot of words he could have been
lying about, or that anybody else could have been saying.
So it's just I'm saying, it's hard to decipher exactly
what that's a specific reference to unless you were told
what that was a specific reference.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
All right?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Uh, one more on on Jamar Chase.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
So you know, Duke comes out and says, we want
to make him the highest paid non quarterback in the NFL.
And I think for a lot of folks, you know,
they hear that and go cool, all right, well, let's
let's let's let's get this done. Call the press conference,
have the ceremony. Get is it? It's not that cut
and dry, is it?
Speaker 3 (09:49):
I think I think it kind of is. I mean,
I I think that I just don't I've heard zero
doubt from anyone anywhere, no matter who you talk to
about this, that this is gonna get done. They're eventually
gonna get to it.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I know what happened last year, but I don't know
how much both sides really meant it last and they
were trying, but I feel like the concept of this
was always that it got done around this year.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
They know what it looks like.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Now they're out here saying he's going to be the
highest paid non quarterback. Like I just I know they
can always go sideways and get squirrely, and certainly, you know,
making t Higgins mad if you do in the process
doesn't help when they share an agent and all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
But I just feel like it does have an inevitability.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I don't know the timing of how that all is
gonna work, but I just think they're gonna do whatever,
and I just don't sense any worry about that from anyone.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Were there any non t Higgins, non Jamar Chase, non
Trey Hendrickson thought shared by Duke Tobin that stood out
to you?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, you know, I asked them again about the small
scouting staff, which I know is something that fans have
been talking a lot about more recently because of some
of the recent.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Drafts that have you know, done what they've done. I
think his response and I sort of phrased.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
It in a way of of look like I know
your we all know your stance on this, like we
we know how you you don't feel like you need
more opinions, just the right opinions, and you feel like
you have them. And I said, but the league's changing,
you know, like your coaching staffs are bigger. What's happening
in the draft is bigger, Like analytics is growing everywhere,
like all like have you are you open to growing it?
(11:42):
And his answer was essentially, And it was long and
very thoughtful, but it was it was essentially, Well, I'm
open to it if I if I felt like we
were missing something, if I felt like there was an
area or a concept or whatever you're you're looking at,
felt like they were missing on things, like I'd add
I would I would add something if I felt like
(12:03):
that was the case. But he said, look, if I
bring in a new voice, even if it's somebody that
I know and trust around the league, And he's like,
I have those people and the ideas of who they
would be if say Trey Brown got one of those
jobs he interviewed for, are there. But when I talk
about actually bringing in somebody new, it would take me
time to build trust.
Speaker 4 (12:22):
In their opinion.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And he's, you know, right now, I think they're just
at a point where he's like, I feel like we
are operating incredibly efficiently, and I have full trust in everybody,
and I know and trust all of their opinions so
fully that bringing in uh, I'm not going to say
a wild card, because he didn't call it that, but
bringing in somebody knew who there's still some wondering about,
(12:45):
you know, working with for the first time at this juncture.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
It wasn't something that he was he was gonna.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Do, and but you know, that's kind of it was
more almost a different reiteration of the same the same
kind of philosophy that we've heard from Duke over the years.
So that's that's where that stands, and he's he's not
going to back down from his opinion that that that's
how it should it should run, and how everything should
should run in his organization.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
You did a mock draft point five at the end
of the combine, do we get mock draft one point zero?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
One point Oh well, there will be more. I might
have to do, like a zero point seventy five.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
I don't. I'm really railing against the one point zero
system here. I just I don't. I don't believe in it.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I believe one point zero every year should be after
free agency mock draft. That is when you can actually
it counts. Everything else's training camp is pre season whatever,
I feel like it counts. So after that free agency
and we'll have a combine everything.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
We set, we'll no needs better.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Now we can properly dive in and give it a
real one point oh.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
That's when one point oh will come. You know. Sometimes
I'm asked politely to.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Go ahead, and you're gonna need to do another one
in between now and then, So you may see another one,
but it will not be one point oh.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
That's when you know I'm officially on board with it.
All right.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Well, I know there's a lot of intel gathering in Indianapolis,
and you've been busy gathering draft intel when you have
been listening to Duke Tobin, and so I know that'll
greatly inform what next mock draft looks like. I have
one other thing to discuss with you. It's really not
related to the Bengals.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Are you re I'm ready.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
About a week and a half ago, I got a
text message from your dad. Oh oh no, yeah, And
it had been a while and what he wanted to
know was if Wes Miller, the head coach of the Bearcats,
really had his team play dodgeball and if that really
is what has turned the season around with the Bearcats
(14:48):
have now won five out of seven. And I answered
the question and said, well, you know, yeah, they played dodgeball.
I'm not sure that's why they're playing better, but yeah,
they played dodgeball. My question is does he not trust
you to answer these question?
Speaker 4 (15:03):
You know what?
Speaker 3 (15:04):
He would probably tell you that that text probably is
somewhere in our text conversation, and I didn't get back
to him, and he got eLAC patiently.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
He got tired, too busy moan though it's possible.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's possible.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
No, I don't know that I got that specific one,
though I thought maybe I did skip over it.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
And he's like, I'm going to a better source or look,
you're you're the U see guy. You can't try. I
can't be trusted on UC matters.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
A lot more so than you think.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
But uh, well, it was nice to hear from Senior
and I, uh, I just thought I would share that
with you. Uh enjoy the rest of the week in
Indian Thank you as always appreciate it. My calculator Paul
Danner Junior from The Athletic read his work at the
athletic dot Com, filing dispatches from the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis,
and also the host of the Growler podcast. Uh, We're
(15:56):
going to talk about a red and an injury that
is lingering from last year. Next on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati sports station
Mo Egger News
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