August 29, 2025 • 19 mins
It's Friday and that means Charlie Goldsmith joins at the top of hour 2 to talk all things Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati Bengals as well as some observations from UC-Nebraska.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Cincy Shirts, since he three sixty, about Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cinci Shirts. Cincy shirts,
all Cinci, all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station our.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Two since he three sixty. It's Friday. No introduction is needed.
He's all over the place, covering everything in every angle
with Cincinnati Sports you possibly could, and he's gracious enough
to give us his time each and every Friday. It's
our good friend, Charlie Goldsmith. Charlie, what's up, man, Tony?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm miserable, Charlie. I'm miserable.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That was a tough one last night.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm sick to my stomach. Charlie, I'm sure you watched
the game. What was your takeaway last night?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You know, the biggest thing I was looking forward to
was seeing what incontinuity and upgrades in the receiver rooms
and bringing Joe Warrior back to do for the ideas
in the passing game. And it just felt like the
concept of a drop back pack game at a shotgun
was never really a part of the game plan for
Brendan's towards by anyway, and that to me, was not
what I was expecting. It kind of became the story
(01:08):
of the game, or at least the second story of
the game, behind the million false starts that the road
crowd created.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Do you walk out of watching last night's game with
more optimism for the rest of the season. Are you
down for the rest of the season, or did it
not really affect how you view what happens next.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
The running back room and having seen only three options
there and prior taking a step forward, it look like
even though he was second on the team and carries
I like that this is a kind of a simple
thing to say able when the defense walk on the field.
Just the size in the front seven and the athleticism
and the range and the physicality of some of those linebackers.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
By some of those plays that.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Jake Golde was making twenty two's game, I really like
that was very encouraging. Now Nebraska, even though their passing
game was limited, was able to pick on some of.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
The corners and turning I win.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
The Bearcats stay some better, some better quarterbacks and receivers
down the road, and special teams really exceeded by expectations
as well. But it's just all gonna come back to
will they be establishing at any point a true drop
back shotgun passing game, because until you do that, it's
gonna be hard to feature Ruder in the way you want.
It's gonna be hard to feature Prior in the passing
(02:22):
game the way you want. It's gonna be hard to
see what Caldwell can do. And that's again the thing
I keep going back to with which was the game
plan and the stuff they put on sword plates wasn't
what I was expecting. And then of course he never
never really succeeded as a drop back passer.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Anyway, let's keep with the football theme, Charlie. Let's talk
about the Bengals, because that we have a Trey Hendrickson
deal that's done, and without diving into the actual numbers
of the deal itself, what I'm interested in and what
your thoughts on how much can Tray single handedly change
who and what this defense is now going forward into
(02:58):
the regular season.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
What Trey has to do this year is it's not changed,
it's sustain its. Trey has to prove that. Some of
the criticisms about his twenty twenty four season who his
sacks came against the timing of his sacks, the production
against the run, some over aggressive rushes on some must
win downs. He's got to to kind of take that
up a notch to sustain the level.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
That he's at.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And he has as much to prove as anyone on
the defense now, especially factoring in that he's in a
contract year. But what he does give you his peace
of mind, Like because on third down, third and ten
in the fourth quarter against the Browns, Joe Flacco's dropping back,
you have peace of mind knowing that Henderson is a
guy who can and probably will make a play in
(03:41):
that spot, and we can't say that yet about anyone
else on the Bengals defense. So that's an important card
to be able to play.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
The Bengals have it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
There's gonna be no question about whether or not Henderson
is going to be able or is going to be
available to do it week one because he's playing now.
So that was a real positive and now we can
just to turn off focus back to Hendrickson the football player,
because this defense is kind of an intimidating spot on
third downs without a guy like Trey this season.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
The Trey Henderson dynamic. I think Shamar Stewart's a guy
who has shown so much athleticism that Al Golden can
get creative with him on where he lines up and
how he utilizes him. For a while, I've wondered about
Trey Hendrickson and Louianna Rumo of you know, when Trey
lines up seemingly in the same spot to rush each time.
Is that Trey's doing or was that what Louyna Arumo
(04:33):
was most comfortable with. Is there any chance in your
opinion that we can see Al Golden utilized Trey Hendrickson
maybe inside a little bit, maybe he switched asides a
little bit, or do you think Trey's just more comfortable
with where he lines up.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
He's most comfortable lining up on the left side. They
did have a couple change ups that they threw on
like random, like thirta and sixes over the course of
the season, and I remember diving into that last year.
But it was there very much a one out of
one hundred type situation to absolutely catch the defense by
surprise more than it was a schematic concept that the
(05:09):
Bengals were leaning toward. I think that Tray and his technique,
in his athletic style, is just so well designed to
rush against that blindside. Plus the fact that The guy
who really does have that versatility I see is Shamar Stewart.
He can line up kind of at any one of
the techniques all over the line in any gap.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
That you need him.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And then Osai has some of that too there If
you're just talking about interior rushing too, I mean I
would I would trust Shamar and Osaia on the interior
more than I would trade, just because that doesn't seem
to quite be Tray's game, going up against guards or
going come kind of in that scrum in the middle
of the pocket. So I think Trail be static. I
think Osai and Stuart Stewart especially maybe even a splash
(05:52):
of camp sample could be the ones to move around.
But that's a great point you hit on, like moving
Trey around, Like that's one of the very little, little
little little things. And there are like a million of
them that like how does out Golden view this?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
How does Al Golden view that? And they're not things
you spend too.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Much time investing thought in until you get to game
planning for week one and I'm excited to see all
those drinkers.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Is there a player on the defensive side of the
ball that we're not talking as much about now, but
we should be or maybe we will be talking about
as the regular season gets here.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So if you had asked me three days ago, who
are the Bengals starting corner is gonna be Week one,
I'd say DJ and the slot camp Taylor Britt excuse me,
DA's hill on the slot cam, Taylor Britt and DJ
Turner out wide, especially when you factored in how Josh
Newton struggled just some pure man coverage on an Island
last year and then in the preseason games. But then
I did a locker room survey. I asked about fifteen
(06:47):
guys yesterday who had the most impressive training camp and
who's gonna be the breakout player on this team? The
two winners pulling together the answers from those questions, we're
going to meet you at night, and we're Josh Newton.
It kind of felt like to me a team that
hasn't announced the starting number three corner, the players kind
of spilling the beams there with the fact that Newton
(07:07):
was one of the most consistent answers for the guy
who was about to take that next big step.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
To me, that was the.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Players kind of signaling that he was going to have
a bigger Week one role than I was expecting, and
he's got every intangible in the book. It's just about
cleaning up again that technique on an island as an
outside corner. But if he does that, then he's the
ability to kind of set the culture of this defense.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
That's how highly I.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Think of Josh Newton the individual and bring some of
that physicality that the Bengals defense needs.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Al Golden said that Chris Jenkins had the best camp
of any defensive player for the Bengals. What is the
ceiling for Chris Jenkins on this defense?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, I don't seem as a as a Week one starter,
But go down the depth chart there defensive tackle. Like
we talk a lot about how McKinley Jackson maybe had
the most disappointing.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Camp of any Bengal When neilknow he performed.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
And then Howard crosses this team's defensive tackle five. They're
gonna be counting a lot on those three. It's almost like,
you know, how Terry Francona just you know, goes to
Ashcraft in the seventh, Stanteen in the eighth, and Pugan
in the ninth. Every time he gets the chance. I
think they're gonna pull a lot of snaps on the
plates of those three. The problem is that last year
between TJ. Slayton, between BJ Hill, and between christ Jenkins,
(08:24):
none of them really showed pass rush juice so much
so that you would expect that they would put defensive
ends inside on third downs. But then with Jenkins, there's
also the caveat that he was coming back from the
major hand injury. He was playing in a cast for
most of the season.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
He never really was able to use two hands. So
if he is able to give them a.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Defensive tackle with pass resh juice, well that's different. And
as Joe Burrow will tell you, that's that's tough to
go against, and that would obviously that's really the quickest
line to make you difference right up the middle of.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
From defensive tackle with a pass rusher. The Bengals don't
have that.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
If they do, that's a real game changer offensively, Charlie.
They go and get Dalton Reisner, which I assume his
next stop will be canned into the Hall of Fame
because of the praise he's received. They get a guy
who was still available in late August, even though uh
he was a target for a lot of folks forout
(09:17):
the course of the offseason. Does Dalton Riisner start for
this team against Cleveland or at some point early in
the season.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
In your opinion, he's.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
The breaking breaks glass in case of emergency.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I went back yesterday.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
It's some free time. I watch him Dalton riding the film.
It wasn't good.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
There were out of position moments, there were communication moments,
there were quick losses, there were wis He really struggles
in space. He struggles finding kind of that second guy
to block if he doesn't have an initial assignment. Remember
this is he was on a Vikings offense that Sam
Darnold was seeing ghosts at the end of last season
because he didn't trust his guards and that was Rising.
(09:57):
So I'm not having order expectations with him. The Bengals
in March picked Lucas Patrick over Dalton Leiser, and that
delineation hasn't changed since then. But this was also a
team with eight offensive linemen on its roster, and let's say,
you know, Dalton Riser was competing with Jackson Kirkland for
that number nine spot. As much as Rogner's struggled, I'll
(10:19):
take rise Nor over jack and Kirkland and if Lucas
Patrick battle injuries, if a bunch alive in battle injuries
and the depth kind of implodes. You know, I've high expected,
not high, but solid expectations for Dylan Fairchild. But if
fair Child just doesn't hit the ground running, you have
this break glass in case of emergency option, which is
(10:39):
at least a guy who has played NFL football, which
you can't say about most of.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
The Bengals depths.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Let me ask you the same thing offensively that I
did defensively. We talked so much about t Higgins and
Jamar Chase, and we've talked about Chase Brown and Joe Burrow.
Is there a player that maybe we're not spending enough
time talking about offensively that's going to have a bigger
impact on the season.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Not one specific player, but the concept of the steal
position depth is just something that's different, Like he used
to be, Like when someone got hurt, you'd throw Tretton
Nerwin in there. And as much as everyone loves Tretton Nerwin.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
You know, I honestly one of.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
My favorite Bengals to watch, just in terms of how
he maximized through pure athletic skill set. There weren't Tretton
neurons packages. There weren't treating Herwin plays, There weren't Tretton
Herwin concepts.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
You can look at this depth chart now and basically.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Every skilled guy has like a thing. You know when
you look at no versatility and I think the screens,
you know, a fanther I saw that was something they
were really working on and trying to add it.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
To their bag. You look at Drew Sample as a blocker.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
You look at Tanner Hudson man a five and nickel
for every time that he caught just a playing hit
route or I guess you call it a bang or
you know you kind of cut one way, angle the
other way over the middle of the field.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
I mean that's a staple tannor Hudson route. And you
know they called the Mikey.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Sicky sale what he does on stale routes, finding soft
spots over the middle of the field. Yoshivash from what
he can do on steam balls and on back shoulder
throws near the sideline. Jermaine Burton just going deep, Charlie
Jones showing some real versatility. I think there's gonna be
a couple of plays in the package for Charlie Jones.
Mitch Timbley kind of is a lot like Yoshivash in
(12:17):
terms of he is a true versatile backup receiver who
can fill in the gaps and do a lot of
different things from a lot of different places. And you trust,
you know, Jermaine Burton can go deep, Somaj p Ryan
can pass protect, Todz Brooks is one of the better
third running backs in the NFL in my opinion, And
we all know what Chase Brown is, So they've got
cards to play way beyond you know, Jojamar and t
(12:41):
And I think the ideas in those packages, Like last year,
Eric all had his thing and he kind of broke
onto the scene. I think they're gonna be like three
or four Eric Awls across different positions on this offense
this season.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Let's switch gears for just a moment. We'll talk more
about the Bengals and the Browns next week. But the
Red Charlie, it's been a season where it feels like
they have been kind of just dodging those knockout punches
and then they somehow come out and they keep fighting,
they keep swinging. They were swept for the first time
against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which, again a lot of
(13:14):
teams get swept by the Dodgers. That's a very good
baseball team. Do you feel like the Reds, as where
they currently sit, have another run in them? Do you
feel like they can stay in this race now through September.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I don't think they're out of it one hundred percent.
But what I do take away from the month of
August is, at least right now for the very short term,
with where they're at a fifth minute, the pitching and
defense model that they've tried to establish, the defense just
isn't there yet for a team that's trying to win with.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Pitching and defense.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I've used the analogy it's like a team saying they're
going to run the Eagles offense and try to pound
the rock thirty times a game. Except Retall or Jalen
Warren is you're starting running back like you need elite defense.
Back to the Reds, you need elite defense to be
the Brewers winning with pitching and defense. I think Marte
is going to be solid, and right field, he's not
(14:06):
quite there yet. Friedel's great in center. Left field has
kind of been a bunch of moving pieces different players.
The best defender in that group's Austin Hayes, who's had
some misssires with his arm. Hayes is excellent at third,
but but Elie's been in consistently short. McClain has started
to struggle on balls to his left the catching defense.
And as much as you know you like Trevino, Trevino
(14:27):
is not gonna win another Platinum Love this year because
you're not winning with defense, and that's been demonstrated. The
Dodger series was the latest example, because defense cost them
that series. For the very short term, I start to
pivot your priorities and I start to look for more
opportunities to find a greater offensive spark in the lineup,
whether that's moving looks away from DH to play more
(14:50):
second or left, which doesn't help your defense, but does
help you get a stronger lineup in there, gives you
more versatility.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Opens up at the eighth spot for Sol Stewart someone
like that.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Do you get more aggressive in terms of how you
use Michel ANDWHR assuming that he's healthy as he's battling
the quad injury. You start platuning off in Hayes with
Will Benson, who hasn't played in weeks, but still does
lead this team in just how often he hits the
ball hard. So I think you'll can more seriously explore
some of those ideas because you've tried to make your
defense as strong as you can, and the defense still
(15:22):
isn't good enough and you're not scoring enough run, so
i'd start chasing more of an offensive focus.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Do you foresee a call up soon for Sal Stewart?
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
On Monday I wrote that it wasn't imminent, but the
Dodgers series changed the way I thought about that, and
now I would expect the regers. You know, this is
how it goes, right. The brain trust is constantly having conversations.
At last week, the way I view it was there
just wasn't a place to play them because the Reds
were prioritizing defense. And if you have Sal at the
h then you probably have luck seconds and you're taking
(15:56):
McClain out. And while McLain is struggling with the bat, he
still has been a great second base defender, aside from
a few plays on those bald way to his right,
So i'd call Sal up more Realistically, there probably have
to be an injury for a clear path to emerge.
Maybe that's Miguel Ander Harrif the quad gets worse, maybe
something else guys get hurt in September, things will change.
(16:18):
The roster's very.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Fluid, but i'd call up Saladay.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I'm sure again they're having conversations about it. I know
at the start of the week it didn't seem imminent.
But we'll see if this Dodger series and how the
defense struggled anyway changes the way they think about it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
How do you best categorize what you've seen from Ellie
de la Cruz, especially the second half of the year.
The power numbers are minimal, there are struggles with the
glove in the field. We've not seen as much havoc
that he creates on the base pass. I know it's
a guy that's not had a day off yet this
season for the Reds. How do you view just the
(16:56):
big picture of what you've seen from Ellie de la Cruz.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think his OPS is still around eight, which is
like twenty eight, which is exactly what it was last season.
The story of his season is the quad injury and
then earlier the hamstring injury that he battled through, and
the fact that he's playing every day and he's still
giving you all star level production while he's.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Playing through that.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Have the you know, the bumps and bruises zapped him
a bit of some of those of some of that
upside just on a day to day basis. I think
that's a fair case to make. I have no way
of knowing that. You know, there's no science that shows
you know, when your quad is an ex percent you
hit for y percent less power like that. There's not
an analytic that shows that. But it just feels watching
(17:39):
him that the grind has had an impact on him.
He's still been good while he hasn't been one hundred percent,
and that's definitely notable, but he's not one hundred percent
in terms of production. Still impressive considering what he's been
plying through.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
But thereads definitely.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Need more from Charlie Goldsmith. You are the absolute best,
my man. I can't thank you enough each and every Friday.
We'll talk next week more about Week one in the
National Football League. For now, what's the easiest way to
uh to get caught up on everything you have going
on with all your coverage?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well on Charlie Shuckboard next Weeke and Over on Fox
nineteen We've got a big feature on on T Higgins
dropping on Monday that I'm very excited about, so excit.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
To share that. Are you.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Are you partaking in any of the Fox nineteen high
school football games of the week, because if you were,
then you probably know that they're gonna be at Reading tonight.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
I've heard the vote was the landslide.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Huge. I'm a big fan of Reading.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
I might go to ice cream place is in Reading
near the high school.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, they do a good job, man, Charlie, you're the
best man. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the uh, enjoy
the holiday weekend, Charlie. That is Charlie Goldsmith absolutely fantastic.
Is always his insight on parallel. It's it's literally second
to none. He is uh. He's a well of knowledge
(19:00):
no matter what we throw at him, and it is
certainly awesome we get to talk to him each and
every week. We definitely don't take that for granted. We
also don't take you, the listener for granted. That's why
we give you your platform. Next with talkbacks thanks to
Cynthy Shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Yeah, your chance at a
This is Cincy Shirts, since he three sixty, about Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cinci Shirts. Cincy shirts,
all Cinci, all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports Station our.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Two since he three sixty. It's Friday. No introduction is needed.
He's all over the place, covering everything in every angle
with Cincinnati Sports you possibly could, and he's gracious enough
to give us his time each and every Friday. It's
our good friend, Charlie Goldsmith. Charlie, what's up, man, Tony?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm miserable, Charlie. I'm miserable.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
That was a tough one last night.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I'm sick to my stomach. Charlie, I'm sure you watched
the game. What was your takeaway last night?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You know, the biggest thing I was looking forward to
was seeing what incontinuity and upgrades in the receiver rooms
and bringing Joe Warrior back to do for the ideas
in the passing game. And it just felt like the
concept of a drop back pack game at a shotgun
was never really a part of the game plan for
Brendan's towards by anyway, and that to me, was not
what I was expecting. It kind of became the story
(01:08):
of the game, or at least the second story of
the game, behind the million false starts that the road
crowd created.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Do you walk out of watching last night's game with
more optimism for the rest of the season. Are you
down for the rest of the season, or did it
not really affect how you view what happens next.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
The running back room and having seen only three options
there and prior taking a step forward, it look like
even though he was second on the team and carries
I like that this is a kind of a simple
thing to say able when the defense walk on the field.
Just the size in the front seven and the athleticism
and the range and the physicality of some of those linebackers.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
By some of those plays that.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Jake Golde was making twenty two's game, I really like
that was very encouraging. Now Nebraska, even though their passing
game was limited, was able to pick on some of.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
The corners and turning I win.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
The Bearcats stay some better, some better quarterbacks and receivers
down the road, and special teams really exceeded by expectations
as well. But it's just all gonna come back to
will they be establishing at any point a true drop
back shotgun passing game, because until you do that, it's
gonna be hard to feature Ruder in the way you want.
It's gonna be hard to feature Prior in the passing
(02:22):
game the way you want. It's gonna be hard to
see what Caldwell can do. And that's again the thing
I keep going back to with which was the game
plan and the stuff they put on sword plates wasn't
what I was expecting. And then of course he never
never really succeeded as a drop back passer.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Anyway, let's keep with the football theme, Charlie. Let's talk
about the Bengals, because that we have a Trey Hendrickson
deal that's done, and without diving into the actual numbers
of the deal itself, what I'm interested in and what
your thoughts on how much can Tray single handedly change
who and what this defense is now going forward into
(02:58):
the regular season.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
What Trey has to do this year is it's not changed,
it's sustain its. Trey has to prove that. Some of
the criticisms about his twenty twenty four season who his
sacks came against the timing of his sacks, the production
against the run, some over aggressive rushes on some must
win downs. He's got to to kind of take that
up a notch to sustain the level.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
That he's at.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And he has as much to prove as anyone on
the defense now, especially factoring in that he's in a
contract year. But what he does give you his peace
of mind, Like because on third down, third and ten
in the fourth quarter against the Browns, Joe Flacco's dropping back,
you have peace of mind knowing that Henderson is a
guy who can and probably will make a play in
(03:41):
that spot, and we can't say that yet about anyone
else on the Bengals defense. So that's an important card
to be able to play.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
The Bengals have it.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
There's gonna be no question about whether or not Henderson
is going to be able or is going to be
available to do it week one because he's playing now.
So that was a real positive and now we can
just to turn off focus back to Hendrickson the football player,
because this defense is kind of an intimidating spot on
third downs without a guy like Trey this season.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
The Trey Henderson dynamic. I think Shamar Stewart's a guy
who has shown so much athleticism that Al Golden can
get creative with him on where he lines up and
how he utilizes him. For a while, I've wondered about
Trey Hendrickson and Louianna Rumo of you know, when Trey
lines up seemingly in the same spot to rush each time.
Is that Trey's doing or was that what Louyna Arumo
(04:33):
was most comfortable with. Is there any chance in your
opinion that we can see Al Golden utilized Trey Hendrickson
maybe inside a little bit, maybe he switched asides a
little bit, or do you think Trey's just more comfortable
with where he lines up.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
He's most comfortable lining up on the left side. They
did have a couple change ups that they threw on
like random, like thirta and sixes over the course of
the season, and I remember diving into that last year.
But it was there very much a one out of
one hundred type situation to absolutely catch the defense by
surprise more than it was a schematic concept that the
(05:09):
Bengals were leaning toward. I think that Tray and his technique,
in his athletic style, is just so well designed to
rush against that blindside. Plus the fact that The guy
who really does have that versatility I see is Shamar Stewart.
He can line up kind of at any one of
the techniques all over the line in any gap.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
That you need him.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And then Osai has some of that too there If
you're just talking about interior rushing too, I mean I
would I would trust Shamar and Osaia on the interior
more than I would trade, just because that doesn't seem
to quite be Tray's game, going up against guards or
going come kind of in that scrum in the middle
of the pocket. So I think Trail be static. I
think Osai and Stuart Stewart especially maybe even a splash
(05:52):
of camp sample could be the ones to move around.
But that's a great point you hit on, like moving
Trey around, Like that's one of the very little, little
little little things. And there are like a million of
them that like how does out Golden view this?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
How does Al Golden view that? And they're not things
you spend too.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Much time investing thought in until you get to game
planning for week one and I'm excited to see all
those drinkers.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Is there a player on the defensive side of the
ball that we're not talking as much about now, but
we should be or maybe we will be talking about
as the regular season gets here.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So if you had asked me three days ago, who
are the Bengals starting corner is gonna be Week one,
I'd say DJ and the slot camp Taylor Britt excuse me,
DA's hill on the slot cam, Taylor Britt and DJ
Turner out wide, especially when you factored in how Josh
Newton struggled just some pure man coverage on an Island
last year and then in the preseason games. But then
I did a locker room survey. I asked about fifteen
(06:47):
guys yesterday who had the most impressive training camp and
who's gonna be the breakout player on this team? The
two winners pulling together the answers from those questions, we're
going to meet you at night, and we're Josh Newton.
It kind of felt like to me a team that
hasn't announced the starting number three corner, the players kind
of spilling the beams there with the fact that Newton
(07:07):
was one of the most consistent answers for the guy
who was about to take that next big step.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
To me, that was the.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Players kind of signaling that he was going to have
a bigger Week one role than I was expecting, and
he's got every intangible in the book. It's just about
cleaning up again that technique on an island as an
outside corner. But if he does that, then he's the
ability to kind of set the culture of this defense.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
That's how highly I.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Think of Josh Newton the individual and bring some of
that physicality that the Bengals defense needs.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Al Golden said that Chris Jenkins had the best camp
of any defensive player for the Bengals. What is the
ceiling for Chris Jenkins on this defense?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, I don't seem as a as a Week one starter,
But go down the depth chart there defensive tackle. Like
we talk a lot about how McKinley Jackson maybe had
the most disappointing.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Camp of any Bengal When neilknow he performed.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
And then Howard crosses this team's defensive tackle five. They're
gonna be counting a lot on those three. It's almost like,
you know, how Terry Francona just you know, goes to
Ashcraft in the seventh, Stanteen in the eighth, and Pugan
in the ninth. Every time he gets the chance. I
think they're gonna pull a lot of snaps on the
plates of those three. The problem is that last year
between TJ. Slayton, between BJ Hill, and between christ Jenkins,
(08:24):
none of them really showed pass rush juice so much
so that you would expect that they would put defensive
ends inside on third downs. But then with Jenkins, there's
also the caveat that he was coming back from the
major hand injury. He was playing in a cast for
most of the season.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
He never really was able to use two hands. So
if he is able to give them a.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Defensive tackle with pass resh juice, well that's different. And
as Joe Burrow will tell you, that's that's tough to
go against, and that would obviously that's really the quickest
line to make you difference right up the middle of.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
From defensive tackle with a pass rusher. The Bengals don't
have that.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
If they do, that's a real game changer offensively, Charlie.
They go and get Dalton Reisner, which I assume his
next stop will be canned into the Hall of Fame
because of the praise he's received. They get a guy
who was still available in late August, even though uh
he was a target for a lot of folks forout
(09:17):
the course of the offseason. Does Dalton Riisner start for
this team against Cleveland or at some point early in
the season.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
In your opinion, he's.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
The breaking breaks glass in case of emergency.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Guy.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I went back yesterday.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
It's some free time. I watch him Dalton riding the film.
It wasn't good.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
There were out of position moments, there were communication moments,
there were quick losses, there were wis He really struggles
in space. He struggles finding kind of that second guy
to block if he doesn't have an initial assignment. Remember
this is he was on a Vikings offense that Sam
Darnold was seeing ghosts at the end of last season
because he didn't trust his guards and that was Rising.
(09:57):
So I'm not having order expectations with him. The Bengals
in March picked Lucas Patrick over Dalton Leiser, and that
delineation hasn't changed since then. But this was also a
team with eight offensive linemen on its roster, and let's say,
you know, Dalton Riser was competing with Jackson Kirkland for
that number nine spot. As much as Rogner's struggled, I'll
(10:19):
take rise Nor over jack and Kirkland and if Lucas
Patrick battle injuries, if a bunch alive in battle injuries
and the depth kind of implodes. You know, I've high expected,
not high, but solid expectations for Dylan Fairchild. But if
fair Child just doesn't hit the ground running, you have
this break glass in case of emergency option, which is
(10:39):
at least a guy who has played NFL football, which
you can't say about most of.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
The Bengals depths.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Let me ask you the same thing offensively that I
did defensively. We talked so much about t Higgins and
Jamar Chase, and we've talked about Chase Brown and Joe Burrow.
Is there a player that maybe we're not spending enough
time talking about offensively that's going to have a bigger
impact on the season.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Not one specific player, but the concept of the steal
position depth is just something that's different, Like he used
to be, Like when someone got hurt, you'd throw Tretton
Nerwin in there. And as much as everyone loves Tretton Nerwin.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
You know, I honestly one of.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
My favorite Bengals to watch, just in terms of how
he maximized through pure athletic skill set. There weren't Tretton
neurons packages. There weren't treating Herwin plays, There weren't Tretton
Herwin concepts.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
You can look at this depth chart now and basically.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Every skilled guy has like a thing. You know when
you look at no versatility and I think the screens,
you know, a fanther I saw that was something they
were really working on and trying to add it.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
To their bag. You look at Drew Sample as a blocker.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
You look at Tanner Hudson man a five and nickel
for every time that he caught just a playing hit
route or I guess you call it a bang or
you know you kind of cut one way, angle the
other way over the middle of the field.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
I mean that's a staple tannor Hudson route. And you
know they called the Mikey.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Sicky sale what he does on stale routes, finding soft
spots over the middle of the field. Yoshivash from what
he can do on steam balls and on back shoulder
throws near the sideline. Jermaine Burton just going deep, Charlie
Jones showing some real versatility. I think there's gonna be
a couple of plays in the package for Charlie Jones.
Mitch Timbley kind of is a lot like Yoshivash in
(12:17):
terms of he is a true versatile backup receiver who
can fill in the gaps and do a lot of
different things from a lot of different places. And you trust,
you know, Jermaine Burton can go deep, Somaj p Ryan
can pass protect, Todz Brooks is one of the better
third running backs in the NFL in my opinion, And
we all know what Chase Brown is, So they've got
cards to play way beyond you know, Jojamar and t
(12:41):
And I think the ideas in those packages, Like last year,
Eric all had his thing and he kind of broke
onto the scene. I think they're gonna be like three
or four Eric Awls across different positions on this offense
this season.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Let's switch gears for just a moment. We'll talk more
about the Bengals and the Browns next week. But the
Red Charlie, it's been a season where it feels like
they have been kind of just dodging those knockout punches
and then they somehow come out and they keep fighting,
they keep swinging. They were swept for the first time
against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which, again a lot of
(13:14):
teams get swept by the Dodgers. That's a very good
baseball team. Do you feel like the Reds, as where
they currently sit, have another run in them? Do you
feel like they can stay in this race now through September.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
I don't think they're out of it one hundred percent.
But what I do take away from the month of
August is, at least right now for the very short term,
with where they're at a fifth minute, the pitching and
defense model that they've tried to establish, the defense just
isn't there yet for a team that's trying to win with.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
Pitching and defense.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I've used the analogy it's like a team saying they're
going to run the Eagles offense and try to pound
the rock thirty times a game. Except Retall or Jalen
Warren is you're starting running back like you need elite defense.
Back to the Reds, you need elite defense to be
the Brewers winning with pitching and defense. I think Marte
is going to be solid, and right field, he's not
(14:06):
quite there yet. Friedel's great in center. Left field has
kind of been a bunch of moving pieces different players.
The best defender in that group's Austin Hayes, who's had
some misssires with his arm. Hayes is excellent at third,
but but Elie's been in consistently short. McClain has started
to struggle on balls to his left the catching defense.
And as much as you know you like Trevino, Trevino
(14:27):
is not gonna win another Platinum Love this year because
you're not winning with defense, and that's been demonstrated. The
Dodger series was the latest example, because defense cost them
that series. For the very short term, I start to
pivot your priorities and I start to look for more
opportunities to find a greater offensive spark in the lineup,
whether that's moving looks away from DH to play more
(14:50):
second or left, which doesn't help your defense, but does
help you get a stronger lineup in there, gives you
more versatility.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Opens up at the eighth spot for Sol Stewart someone
like that.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Do you get more aggressive in terms of how you
use Michel ANDWHR assuming that he's healthy as he's battling
the quad injury. You start platuning off in Hayes with
Will Benson, who hasn't played in weeks, but still does
lead this team in just how often he hits the
ball hard. So I think you'll can more seriously explore
some of those ideas because you've tried to make your
defense as strong as you can, and the defense still
(15:22):
isn't good enough and you're not scoring enough run, so
i'd start chasing more of an offensive focus.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Do you foresee a call up soon for Sal Stewart?
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
On Monday I wrote that it wasn't imminent, but the
Dodgers series changed the way I thought about that, and
now I would expect the regers. You know, this is
how it goes, right. The brain trust is constantly having conversations.
At last week, the way I view it was there
just wasn't a place to play them because the Reds
were prioritizing defense. And if you have Sal at the
h then you probably have luck seconds and you're taking
(15:56):
McClain out. And while McLain is struggling with the bat, he
still has been a great second base defender, aside from
a few plays on those bald way to his right,
So i'd call Sal up more Realistically, there probably have
to be an injury for a clear path to emerge.
Maybe that's Miguel Ander Harrif the quad gets worse, maybe
something else guys get hurt in September, things will change.
(16:18):
The roster's very.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Fluid, but i'd call up Saladay.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I'm sure again they're having conversations about it. I know
at the start of the week it didn't seem imminent.
But we'll see if this Dodger series and how the
defense struggled anyway changes the way they think about it.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
How do you best categorize what you've seen from Ellie
de la Cruz, especially the second half of the year.
The power numbers are minimal, there are struggles with the
glove in the field. We've not seen as much havoc
that he creates on the base pass. I know it's
a guy that's not had a day off yet this
season for the Reds. How do you view just the
(16:56):
big picture of what you've seen from Ellie de la Cruz.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think his OPS is still around eight, which is
like twenty eight, which is exactly what it was last season.
The story of his season is the quad injury and
then earlier the hamstring injury that he battled through, and
the fact that he's playing every day and he's still
giving you all star level production while he's.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Playing through that.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Have the you know, the bumps and bruises zapped him
a bit of some of those of some of that
upside just on a day to day basis. I think
that's a fair case to make. I have no way
of knowing that. You know, there's no science that shows
you know, when your quad is an ex percent you
hit for y percent less power like that. There's not
an analytic that shows that. But it just feels watching
(17:39):
him that the grind has had an impact on him.
He's still been good while he hasn't been one hundred percent,
and that's definitely notable, but he's not one hundred percent
in terms of production. Still impressive considering what he's been
plying through.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
But thereads definitely.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Need more from Charlie Goldsmith. You are the absolute best,
my man. I can't thank you enough each and every Friday.
We'll talk next week more about Week one in the
National Football League. For now, what's the easiest way to
uh to get caught up on everything you have going
on with all your coverage?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Well on Charlie Shuckboard next Weeke and Over on Fox
nineteen We've got a big feature on on T Higgins
dropping on Monday that I'm very excited about, so excit.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
To share that. Are you.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Are you partaking in any of the Fox nineteen high
school football games of the week, because if you were,
then you probably know that they're gonna be at Reading tonight.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
I've heard the vote was the landslide.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Huge. I'm a big fan of Reading.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
I might go to ice cream place is in Reading
near the high school.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, they do a good job, man, Charlie, you're the
best man. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the uh, enjoy
the holiday weekend, Charlie. That is Charlie Goldsmith absolutely fantastic.
Is always his insight on parallel. It's it's literally second
to none. He is uh. He's a well of knowledge
(19:00):
no matter what we throw at him, and it is
certainly awesome we get to talk to him each and
every week. We definitely don't take that for granted. We
also don't take you, the listener for granted. That's why
we give you your platform. Next with talkbacks thanks to
Cynthy Shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Yeah, your chance at a
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.