Grading the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024 Draft Class

The Cincinnati Bengals used all 10 of their picks in the 2024 NFL Draft? What did they get right? What did they get wrong? James Rapien and Jake Liscow share their thoughts and give a grade for every pick! Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind 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/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengals
 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Home Chef
No more asking "what are we going to have for dinner" thanks to Home Chef and their chef designed recipes. For a limited time, Home Chef is giving Locked On listeners 18 free meal, free dessert for life, and free shipping on your first box. Head to homechef.com/LockedOn today. Monopoly GO!
Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Pay. The mobile hit twist on classic MONOPOLY.Yahoo Finance
For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com.eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.LinkedIn
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuel
Get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFT

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every Day. Let's complete the annual
tradition of grading the Cincinnati Bengals draftclass. You are Locked On Bengals,

(00:25):
your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, partof the Locked On Podcast Network, Your
Team every Day. What up,Bengals Fans, and welcome to another episode
of the Lockdown Bengals Podcast. I'myour host, Jake. Let's go.
He's your host, James Orpene.We're on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Here
on Lockdown Bengals, covering your teamevery day, on YouTube, everywhere you

(00:46):
get your podcasts. You can subscribeto the show if you want it to
be showing up for you on theregular on YouTube or anywhere you get your
podcasts. We come in every day, or make us your first listen with
the thousands of others of Bengals fanswho do the same. And as one
person told us in our Lockdown BengalsInsider group, you can get smarter.

(01:06):
You can feel smarter when you're talkingto other Bengals fans by staying up to
date with the Lockdown Bengals podcast.You would have heard a Marius Mims and
Chris Jenkins mocked to the Bengals inrounds one and two last week on this
podcast when we were trying to predictthings. Today's episode is brought to you
by game Time, where you cansay twenty dollars off your first purchase of
tickets on the game Time app withpromo code locked on NFL. And today,

(01:30):
James, we will grade the CincinnatiBengals draft class and I'll talk about
my criteria. You can talk aboutwhat went into the grades for you if
you like. But a Marius Men'sto start things off here, where are
you? Well? Amrius starts withan A and it gets an A and
it's pretty simple. The Bengals theydon't have and haven't had a physical print,

(01:57):
a presence like a Marius Mims AndrewWhitworth left at twenty sixteen. It's
it and he is different. Andthe fact that in the span of what
fourteen months, you get Orlando Brownjunior at left tackle and you get this
kid and Amarus Mims, who isgoing to be following around Orlando and learning

(02:20):
from Orlando for not just this year, but multiple years. That's the exact
site the type of setup that youwant. So even if you're worried about
his experience. I think that thisis the ideal scenario, the ideal situation.
Oh and by the way, everyonehates Frank Pollack, right, that's
big among the fan base. FrankPollack stinks, that's what everyone's saying.
Well, now he at least hasa first round tackle to work with,

(02:44):
in a first round tackle that hecan groom. And from a talent perspective,
they brought in veterans, and Ithink those veterans have played fine,
but they haven't given him this.And outside of Billy Price, who he
coached for one year and then hewas off to the Jets and it was
kind of weird, right because ofthe coaching change, Frank hasn't had this
in Cincinnati. So I think itmakes sense to give Frank Pollack an elite

(03:07):
talent and see what happens with it. I also think that a Marius Mimms's
ceiling is as high as any offensivetackle in this draft. I think his
floor is higher than a lot ofpeople give him credit for. I think
he's going to work hard, andsomeone at that size six eight three forty
if he works hard, I thinkat worst he's a solid pass protector lead

(03:29):
at this level, which is apretty good fit in Cincinnati. So this
is an a for me. Yeah, come in just a hair lower.
And the way that I think aboutthis is a few ways. One of
them is does this suggress in need? I think it does. There's a
long term need for the Cincinnati Bengalsto tackle. They have needed for a
long time athleticism and high end talenton the offensive line in front of Joe

(03:51):
Burrow. They get that on acost control basis with the Marius Mims.
So yeah, they hit a needhere. It's not a pressing starter need
per se, but it is along term need. They needed to improve
depth and we've been asking for themto add athleticism and talent to this offensive
line group since Joe Burrow was drafted. So in that sense, I like
that about the pick, and thenI think about the floor in the ceiling.

(04:14):
You mentioned that the floor is maybea little bit higher than some people
think. He does need to provethat the injury stuff is behind him,
and there's no reason to think it'snot. But he needs to prove that
he can stay on the field.You know, we all saw Nick Saban
question his football toughness. I guesswhen he took himself out of the game

(04:35):
when he aggravated that ankle injury.I'm not sure how sure how much I
buy that Nick Saven talking about arrivalof course in the SEC Championship game playing
for Georgia. But between the ankleinjury and the hamstring injury, you just
need to make sure that he canstay healthy again. I think he can.
It's a small amount of the riskbaked into the profile. The other

(04:57):
bit of the risk is he inexperienced, and when you look at his tape,
there's some things to clean up froma technical perspective. But as I've
said on this show a few times, natural pass protector, the pass pro
footwork looks great already. That's whatthe Bengals care about more than anything else.
There's just a little bit of riskin this pick where you can see
that maybe he doesn't end up beinga top end player in the league.

(05:19):
I think he probably should. It'sa B plus for me because you can
see that the top end is anA plus and we might look back on
this in a couple of years andsay, yeah, he hit that top
end. He's a great offensive tackle, maybe the best right tackle in this
draft class. Then you're more thanjustified. But when you bake in the
risk a little bit, that's whatbrings it down just a hair for me.
The other thing is is should yoube able to get an A with

(05:42):
every pick? This is a philosophicalthing. Maybe you should say he should
be graded against the other options andfor the guys that were available. The
only other guys I would argue forthe Bengals in that pick were Johnny Newton,
who went much later in the secondround, and maybe Quinnyaon Mitchell a
couple picks later, the cornerback goingto the Philadelphia Eagles. But for the

(06:04):
Bengals, hard to knock taking atackle here. Like I said, I
like the need, I like thefit. I like that he doesn't have
to play right away. It's justis it the best value? Is it
the the risk? Those are thethings that bring it from an A to
a B plus for me, stillreally close to an A. I still
think it's a good pick, andI'd like the upside a lot. Man.
You hedged about fifty two times tomake sure that people understood that you

(06:28):
like this pick. No, Imean I get it. I do.
I think that his floor is likeTrent Brown, I'll just slo that's a
hell of a floor. That's betterthan any offensive lineman they've drafted in like
a decade. Hopefully the floor doesn'tinclude Trent Brown's availability. And he's much
more healthy over his career than TrentBrown has been, in no doubt,

(06:50):
and in the health part. That'sthat's ever we're about to talk about health
for all of these guys, includingChris Jenkins, who we should get to
the Bengals. You mentioned Johnny Newton. By the way, the bengalside Chris
Jenkins right underneath Johnny Newton on theirDay two board. They weren't really considering
him at that eighteen spot. Ido think he was a trade down candidate
and they might have had a firstround grade on him, certainly high on

(07:12):
their board. So it was ChrisJenkins and they felt really good about the
pick. And what's not the likeabout the pick? I gave it a
B plus. I just think it'sall the round, solid like everything about
it. I think there's the riskprofile, there's no real risk. I
think he's going to be a hit. I think the character wise fits.
I think he's going to be acaptain by year three probably. I think
he has the right energy, theright vibe, the right talent to play

(07:35):
right away and be a run stopperfor sure. And maybe he does have
a bit more as a pass rusherthat we haven't seen because there's some untapped
athleticism there. There's really nothing thatyou can't like about this pick to me
at least. And the other elementis it obviously does feel a need both
short term and long term. Bplus solid all the way around, like

(07:57):
an eighty eight percent good stuff onChristie. Yeah, solid B for me.
I would have liked to have seenthe Bengals be aggressive here trade up
for Johnny Newton. We know theprice to get right in front of that
pick because we saw a team tradeup there. It would have been expensive.
That's how much higher Johnny Newton wasin my mind than Chris Jenkins was.
But I know that that wasn't thecase for the Bengals the other alternatives

(08:18):
here. I'm fine with Chris Jenkinspick. I would have considered perhaps Zach
Frasier with that pick, just becausethere's your center of the future. He
could play guard for you right away. I think out of West Virginia and
he goes to the Steelers a couplepicks later. The other thing that I
think you can debate and we'll bewatching over time is Chris Jenkins versus Michael

(08:39):
Hall's career. The Bengals later gowith the nose tackles, So would you
rather have a player with more passrushing upside? Here? That being said,
I do like the Chris Jenkins pick. I'd like, as Steve Paulozola
talked with us about yesterday, therun defense, playmaking ability for Chris Jenkins,
a block destruction, getting off blocks, all things of Bengals badly needed.

(09:00):
And he improves their GT three immediatelyand should improve it significantly if he
can hit the ground running. AndI love the personality. I love the
way that he interacted with the mediawhen he arrived in town. The positivity,
the willingness to eat a bunch ofSkyline chili if you needed to get
to his dad's weight and play nosetackle at three forty or whatever. It

(09:20):
was so really love the personality.Could certainly see him being a captain in
short order, and they needed someleadership and so if that's part of what
they get with Chris Jenkins, that'san upgrade for the pick. As well.
Yeah, And honestly, if theyhad gone with my call and I
liked the player, this isn't revisionshistory. But you talk about two guys
that are young and haven't played aton, and that you wonder availability wise
in all of those things, itwould just be tying it in there.

(09:43):
But no, I think they wantedmore of a guy that could play every
down and I'm sure they looked atmy call and said he's not a three
down guy and they know it.Chris Jenkins can be. He can be,
He's not yet and he needs toget there. And if he does
that again, we'll look back onthis pick and we'll see an A.
Let's get to those two third roundpicks to the beginning of Day three coming
up next. Today's episode of LockdownBengals is sponsored by eBay Motors. Passion,

(10:07):
Drive and Patience. The formula forwinning championship championships is also what keeps
your ride or die alive. eBayMotors has everything you need to maintain your
vehicle and level it up to peakperformance, whether it's superchargers, roof racks,
exhaust kits, led headlights, whateveryour vehicle needs, whether you're into
speed, power, or style.eBay Motors has you covered with over one

(10:28):
hundred and twenty two million parts foryour number one Rider Die. You'll always
find exactly what you're looking for,and with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part
is guaranteed to fit your ride everytime, or you will get your money
back because with eBay Motors, you'reburning rubber, not cash. With all
the parts you'll need at the pricesyou want, it's easy to make your

(10:50):
car the MVP and bring home hugewins. Keep your Rider Die alive at
ebaymotors dot Com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only
available to US customers. Today's showis also brought to you by a Game
Time. Game Time is the appyou need to get to right now because
maybe you want to watch the IndianaPacers, maybe you want to go watch

(11:13):
Caitlin Clark ball in the WNBA,or maybe you're thinking about going to Great
American Ballpark. Well, game Timeis the place you go in the app
you download to get last minute tickets. They have killer last minute deals,
all in prices, views from yourseat, and their lowest price guarantee.
They take the guest work out ofbuying NBA tickets, WNBA Major League Baseball,
or maybe you're already looking ahead andthinking about the NFL season. The

(11:37):
schedule does come out in ten days. Well, guess what we are going
to have you covered with game time, and you are going to be covered.
So take the guest work out ofbuying tickets with game time. Download
the game Time app, creating accountand use code locked on NFL for twenty
dollars off your first purchase terms applyagain, creating account and redeem code locked
on NFL for twenty dollars off.That's lck e d O n NFL.

(12:00):
Download Game Time today, Last minutetickets? What was price guarantee? Last
note on a Marius Men's really quickthat I forgot to mention earlier before we
get to the day three guys,This was apparently known and I just saw
it yesterday. But the Athletics NateTaylor reporting that the Chiefs tried to trade
up for Marius Men's before settling andtrading up for Xavier Worthy insteads So she'll

(12:24):
probably give the Bengals some brownie pointsfor sniping I guess sort of making sure
that they got a Marius Vince andthe Chiefs did not you know what the
world would have been. Oh mygod. The Chiefs have a Marius memes
that Patrick Mahomes has his left tackleof the future. By the way,
he did play left and right tackleat Georgia in practice, rotated all the

(12:45):
time, didn't flinch when we askedhim if he was comfortable playing both.
So that's what he's going to doobviously for the Bengals. But yeah,
can you imagine can you imagine thepress home franchise left tack? Chiefs go
aggressive and point is is it's ahell of a prospect and they're all risks.
Billy Price was the safest pick ina decade, right, No,

(13:05):
not right wrong, And so AmarusMims has those physical traits, just overwhelming
physical traits and obviously some good filmto back it up when he was on
the field. So I'm glad youpointed that out because I didn't see that
until Tuesday morning. That being said, we got to get to use at
day three. It's round three,baby, in the biggest three. Maybe

(13:26):
I messed it up anyway. Yous to get surprise, but biggest surprise
he's got to be Jermaine Burden AndI'm still kicking myself. I can't believe
I didn't consider it more and Idon't think we did. We know he
had a Top thirty with the Bengals. I don't think we knew that part
that would have thrown us obviously inthe right direction. He had six top
thirty visits, including Cleveland in Cincinnati. But this pick, we obviously know

(13:54):
about the character stuff and the maturitystuff, and multiple schools Georgia Alabama in
college, but multiple high schools,the storming the field incident where he allegedly
hit a woman who stormed the field, and all of the things that go
into that, Like there's just there'sa ton there of speculation about the off

(14:16):
the field character and then obviously thestorming the field incident, we have a
better account of that. Being said, the reason why I like the pick
and the reason why I understand itis one, what's the point of having
this awesome culture if you can't bringsomeone in and get them in the mix

(14:41):
in tune with your culture. Rememberthe Patriot way, it was such a
thing, a Patriot way. Well, Belichick would bring in guys like this
all the time, and like veteransthat were that weren't young impressionable guys that
could come into the culture. SoZach Taylor clearly wanted this guy. I'm
sure that the scouting departm I'm sureeverybody did. But Zach Taylor clearly one

(15:01):
of this guy. And it's easyto see why. And if they did
all this homework on him and metwith him and then brought him in for
a top thirty visit and they feellike he does fit culture wise and they
will be able to get the mostout of them or out of him.
Who am I to say otherwise?They haven't done this during the Zach Taylor
arrow much and so we'll see.This is a good test, but on

(15:24):
field wise, and the reason whyI give this at B plus is because
he's the perfect fit. He cando everything the Bengals want. Whatever receiver
they were going to draft this year, whatever they wanted him to do,
Burton can do it. And Ithink he fits well with even the young
guys andre Yosavasch and Charlie Jones.It's not just Jamar Chason T. Higgins.
He fits well with the entire receiverroom. I think he's going to

(15:48):
get the most snaps, third mostsnaps, I would say out of those
receivers, and so he's going tomake an instant impact. He's going to
bring you a dynamic that you haven'thad. There is some risk, but
there's also some value, and thatrisk and value bounced out some and that's
why I give this a B plus. And Lord knows I love receivers,
so there might be a little curvethere. Baby, Yeah, I'll go

(16:08):
be here as well. I thinkI'm just a sterner greater than you in
general, no surprise, there isthere no surprise or you just I don't
know. I don't know how youcouldn't give Amarus Smims an A. But
anyways, go ahead. Yeah,no, I mean there's no surprise.
I still don't. I listened toyou for five minutes. I have no
idea. I'm a harder greater thanyou. Yeah. Well, part of

(16:30):
it is, like we'll see rockPowers would have been as trading up for
Johnny Newton would have been an Afor me. So like there are things
if they didn't consider or weren't availableto them, that I would consider an
A. So I'm just grading onin a different way. Perhaps, what
would you have done if they hadpassed on Brock for a Marius. I
don't know, Like what would youyou would be given like a Marius,

(16:51):
like a b B like it wouldbe lower, he'd be docked, right.
I don't think he's just like ifI were consistent with what the way
I'm thinking about it, he's shouldn'tbe gotcha. I'm just curious because I
think they would have passed on Brock. There's a little nugget. I think
they would have passed on Brock forMims. I do. I'm pretty confident
in that. So Jamae Burton,the offside is at least you've gotten a

(17:14):
player one round later than he couldhave been drafted if he was clean off
the field. At least I can'twait to tell you my comps go ahead,
keep going, which is? Whichis? What you love about that
pick and the ability to add thisvertical, explosive receiver awesome could be an
easy running mate for Jamar Chase costcontrolled for four years. Love that very

(17:38):
next pick. Christian Hayes would haveloved to see an interior offensive lineman here
as well. Christian Haines twenty fouryears old, though, so is that
something to put them off there?The other offensive lineman that went in this
range on the interior because there's alittle bit of a run between Burton and
McKinley Jackson, Zach Center and DominicPooney both twenty three, twenty four,
twenty four years old. So Burtongiving you a potential wide receiver in the

(18:00):
future and it's only down because ofthe of the risk. Can he keep
it together? Can he stay focusedin Cincinnati? Because if he can,
there's easy wide receiver two upside andyou love that fit with Jamar Chase.
It's just Kenny keep it together,stay focused, stay on the field,
and keep football, you know,as his priority, and do all the

(18:21):
things that you need to do toplay in the NFL at a high level.
Yeah, I think he's going togive them an element that they haven't
had in the Floor, And theFloor is obviously character aside, it's almost
like health like. Of course,he needs to be on the field and
mature and doing the right things offthe field to be successful. But I
think the Floor, if he doesthat, is like Kenny stills like the
Floor, where he's this deep threat, the straight line guy that's going to

(18:45):
help you some and be that foryou. And in round three, that's
not the end of the world theceiling though. Is he Terry McLaurin,
Is he Doug Baldwin? Is heone of these Round three guys that by
week five of the NFL season hasthree touchdowns And you're like, oh,
oh, this dude, this dude'sgonna matter And he very well could be.

(19:06):
And I think he fits this offensereally really well. And so yeah,
I like the pick was shocked.Again. We just next year,
I'm looking at all the questionable characterguys and no, I'm just kidding.
I'm not going to overadjust too much, but it is interesting. I also
have a quick note on pick eightythat I want to mention some more speculation,
kind of like the brock Bauers thing, educated speculation, So we will

(19:30):
do that coming up next. Allright, game off, It's time to
tell you about Monopoly Go, becausewell, Monopoly Go you can team up
with friends for time tournaments where youwork together to build up each other's boards.
The more you win together, themore awesome prizes you unlock. And
there's so much to get from uniquestickers that you can trade with friends to

(19:52):
complete albums for big prizes, coolnew playing pieces to travel boards with,
and hilarious emojis that you can timeyour friends with, like Jake the Stern
Greater plus, Monopoly Go feels newand exciting every day with new challenging environments,
tournaments, and so much more thanhave unique mini games, and there's

(20:12):
always new time to events that helpyou win big like massive multipliers for everything
you win or rent frenzies. There'salways something fun to discover in Monopoly Go.
So get off the bench and downloadit for free on Google Play or
the app store. Game on withMonopoly Go. So your ten point one

(20:33):
quick note about pick eighty and itwould have fallen in line I think in
an ideal world, and it hasto do with McKinley Jackson, and I
might have said it on the pod. I think Devandre Sweat was very much
in play for the Bengals, whichI got that one wrong too, not
in play at forty nine, Soit's not like, oh, if he
had fallen nine or eleven picks,because man, the Titans took him at

(20:56):
his ceiling. Man, they tookhim like that that in it last month
didn't have or earlier this month didn'thappen. They did at thirty eight.
But if he was there at eighty. I think the Bengals would have picked
and Andre Sweat at eighty and thenthey would have sweated it out hoping that
Jermaine Burton was there at ninety seven. I think that was very much in
play. It didn't happen, ofcourse, because he got picked thirty eighth

(21:18):
overall, so it might not evenbe worth noting, but I do think
it is worth noting and mentioning that. I do think that there was a
real shot at the Bengals pick toAndre Sweat with their first third round pick.
It is good context because instead theBengals picked McKinley Jackson, who's a
massive consensus reached, probably their biggestconsensus consensus reach in the draft, and

(21:38):
a refa set. I just setharsh grad up. I just set you
up to just boom dunk on them. I didn't mean to do that,
but go no, I mean itis what it is. Right. They
can't all be winners, and I'mrooting for them, right like I'm rooting
for all these picks. I'm rootingfor the Bengals to be more correct than
me on all of these just tobe abundantly clear about that. But McKinley
Jackson reach on the consensus board anda Refassan's research on consensus boards, which

(22:03):
is something he spends a lot oftime on every year, says that consensus
reaches tend to be real reaches andconsensus value picks tend to not be real
value picks. So there's no suchthing as a steal, but there is
such thing as a reach. Ison average what the research tells us,
because the NFL knows more than theconsensus does for guys that fall and there's
a reason the guy that teams arepassing on players in general, not that

(22:26):
they're always right, but it onlytakes one team to be wrong on a
reach, and it takes every teamto be wrong on a faller. That's
the logic there, if that makessense. So McKinley Jackson being a reach
that he is, he does filla need. It's like a D plus
for me. He does have someathletic tools to work with. The first
step power is nice. He's goingto be playing a different role in Cincinnati

(22:48):
from the one gaping that he didat Texas A and M, and he
needs to kind of figure out howto play controlled use his body type to
play nose tackle instead of trying tobe a penetrating three tech gap shooter kind
of player for the Bengals, ifthey want him to be in that DJ
reader role at all, and he'sthe only body type on the team,

(23:10):
maybe not the only body type onthe team, but probably the best player
on the team with that body typeor the most investing player on that team
with that body type, he's goingto be asked to play that role this
year and there will be that adjustmentand he'll need to hit the ground running.
So again, hope the Bengals areright on this one and that he
develops quickly. But the nose tacklesin this class. Everybody we talked to

(23:33):
coming into the draft was like,yeah, you can wait until late day
three, and the Bengals, ithink, felt like they needed to get
one, They needed to get theone that they felt the best about,
and so they went with that.Here. It just feels like they went
with it a little bit earlier thanthey had to sure, and speaking of
that, just to show you howmuch they wanted it, I think he
was also in play at eighty right, So like the fact that he fell

(23:56):
in their minds to ninety seven.All right, Well, let's get our
guy, and so I give ita sea. I think it's it is
a reach. I think that it'ssomething I wouldn't have done. At the
same time, we had Steve Polozoloon from Pro Football Focus yesterday and I
asked him right, well, whowould you have taken? And the options

(24:17):
are answer answered on day three withwhoever's there, and they clearly felt like
McKinley Jackson was better. Hopefully heis. I give it a c all.
Right, eric Al who not asurprise. We've talked about eric All.
They met with him with the topthirty visit, someone that on Bengals
Talk dot Com I mocked just aroundlater. So I think the early factor
here Matters had a serious back injuryat Michigan missed the twenty twenty two season.

(24:41):
Former captain. He is a Cincinnatinative, went to Fairfield High School
and then was productive at Iowa lastyear kind of flashed a bit before tearing
his ACL in October. I likethe talent. I think he can be
exactly what they're looking for at tightend. My question is health. I
think he can be the past catcher. I think he can be explosive enough
with the ball in his hand,so I think he can block at a
high level. Will he stay healthy? Huge question mark felt like a bit

(25:06):
early for me. And it's adart throw, but it's a dart throw
you make in the fourth round,so there's some risk involved, there is
some upside involved. I think thisis an average pick. I'll give it
a solid see. Yeah, Ithink c Plus, I'm actually a little
bit higher than you on this pick. But it is brought down by the
fact that it does feel early foreric All based on what we were expecting
in the draft. I just lookat the players they passed on here.

(25:26):
They could have gone back to interioroffensive line and still found some decent tight
end prospects later, maybe even ericAll later. We're not sure where he
would have gone, of course,had the Bengals not picked him, but
Tanner, Borderlini, Mason McCormick,Jalen Wright all going in the next handful
of picks. So some guys thatprobably by consensus would have been higher,

(25:49):
they were higher on our board aswell. So while I like the player,
I like the film, I likethe upside. They might have a
solid tight end here and eric Allif he develops and if he can and
stay healthy. And that's what bringsit up for me a little bit.
Going a little bit early here againdrops it just a little bit for me
with some players that I really likedand had some other positions going in the

(26:12):
next handful of picks. But thenwe're back to Josh Newton. The Bengals
pick at one, right in linewith Consensus's hard to knock them for reaching
on this one. But what areyour thoughts. I think when you talk
about a physical corner, someone thathas good ball skills and intelligence, doesn't
have elite speed, I think hasexactly what they're looking for from an AFC

(26:34):
North mentality perspective. Just talking withhim a bit, he's he's got some
dog in him and he could havewent earlier, like there were some that
especially a year ago, right,and these things change and fluctuate, But
he was held in pretty darn highregard, and so it's not crazy to

(26:55):
me to think a guy who couldplay inside outside has a here not only
to make the team. I thinkthey do think he'll make the team,
but you know, be a buildingblock. So I like it. I
do think that there's there were youknow, interior offensive line. It's like
at some point can you can youget one? So when you talk about
who's on the board who you couldtake that that is a factor always when

(27:17):
you get to these picks. Atthe same time running back, that was
another one that I was thinking,like, well will they take one and
they wanted to get a corner.I'll give it a solid C plus as
well. So I think U,C and C plus. Day Day four
off to an average start for meDay four, Day three, Day three,
See you screwed me up with yourDay three coming earlier. Yeah,
I gotcha. This is day baby, Josh Newton. Also see for me

(27:41):
solid corner depth. I think that'swhat you would expect to get with this
pick. See being an average pick. This this is an average pick I
think at this point in the draft. So totally fine with the pick.
I think he provides that good depth, He provides a great mentality, and
like you said, coming into theseason, was was seen as a as
a higher graded prospect. There aresome guys that I like better. You're
right, but not a ton MakaiWingo Quantes Stegger is a guy that we

(28:04):
talked about a ton last week goingin that round between the Bengals, Wingo.
Then oh baby, I mean hegoes so late, and maybe they
would have because he went what fivepicks before they picked Tanner McLaughlin, which
is a pick I really like,by the way, So this one's gonna
get a B plus for me.I think there is a legitimate chance for
him to make the team, forhim to be a receiving tight end on

(28:27):
this team. I think the abilityto get upfield and the speed really plays
up at tight end. He mightbe their best athlete in the tight end
room. Mike the Sickie maybe takesthat title probably, but ran a four
to six to one and it hassome really nice receiving abilities. So I
like this pick. I think hecan be a contributor and he can help

(28:47):
make that tight end room something thatgoes from a hole on the team to
something that's a solid position on theteam. Yeah. I love that you
mentioned the pass catching part because he'sreally really good at it, and he's
a good athlete, and he's twentyfive and needs to get in the weight
room, gets stronger from a blockingstandpoint, and show that he can earn
that trust as a blocker, andso twenty five has the pass catching prowess

(29:08):
that they're looking for. I totallyget it, but there's some obvious flaws
there and that's why he was there, that's why he filled down some draft
boards. I think he'll make theteam. I do, and so this
is a solid pick. But againme harsher than you that I knew I
would be. This is what's funnyis earlier in the show. Oh you're
a harsh No. I gave ita C. I think it's average.

(29:30):
I think he's tight end four thisyear. If eric All is healthy,
he's buried because eric All is abetter prospect. Whuenhealthy and maybe you think
they should have just taken the riskon Christian Mahogany at that point. Who
falls all the way to pick twoten to Detroit and talking about inter your
offensive line. And that's that's thepoint for this next pick too. The

(29:52):
Bengals go with the athletics Cedric Johnson, who didn't necessarily have the production you
would like at ole Miss, butis a athlete. This one is just
a solid see for me. We'llsee if he can be anything in the
NFL. We'll see if he canmake the team. I would have liked
bo Limmer here again going to theinterior offensive line a little bit early,
even though I really liked the guythey took, you know, twenty picks

(30:15):
later on the interior offensive line.But there's upside with Cedric Johnson. It's
just can he make the team?Can he put it together? I think
this is one of the harder,harder paths to actually making the roster.
As we get to the end ofthe draft, you would expect to see
that, and I think it startshere with Cedric Johnson, no doubt.
I mean, it's a deeper defensiveend room, even though silly Trey Hendrickson
trade request aside. So yeah,I give this a B plus because it's

(30:38):
a guy who produced at a youngage athletic. You're talking about a sixth
round now, pick two, fourteen, and this might be your Joseph o
Cy replacement in the year. Youknow, this guy right away is competing
with who Jeff Gunter, and youknow those guys will probably be on the
practice squad. You're right, it'sgonna be hard to make the team,
but who knows, maybe he does. You never know what happens. But

(31:00):
I like the swing at this stageof the draft, and at the same
time. You're right, Matt Leewouldn't have minded it. Let's just do
both seventh round picks. Now,that's fine, We'll do Dejhon Anthony real
quick. So back to back,Ole, Miss What well, what you
talked into? A C plus onCedric Johnson? Yeah, it's just worth
it at this stage. And it'slike an edge rusher. What if he

(31:22):
ends up being a rotational edge piece, Like if he does that, that's
a huge win. You like theathletic dice roll here. Yep, exactly
so Die john Anthony, first seventhround pick. We knew they had met
with him, we knew he wason their radar, special team er,
maybe maybe plays a little nickel certainlysafety as well. Its gonna be tough.
We'll see if he can make theteam. It's gonna be depending on

(31:42):
those things. I think it's aC plus for me, just slightly.
It basically averaged slightly above it becauseI do think he can help on special
teams and there might be some nickelupside as well. Yeah, just the
same for me. Don't really knowhow this makes an impact short term,
long term developmental players, special teamplayer guy. They really liked the guy
they targeted guy they brought in.That's great see for me until I see

(32:06):
otherwise. Brendan Rice going the verynext pick, jaheem Bell going a few
picks later. I know they needto picked a couple tight ends at that
point, Rice Rice. What causedRice to fall so far, I don't
know, is very curious. I'mwilling to take that dice roll in the
seventh town. I'm also very willingto take the dice roll on Matt Lee.
This is the A for me,a top one hundred player on our
board. Loved the athletic center,second athletic offensive line, and hope he

(32:28):
has every opportunity to make this teamas a backup center. I think he
can be a starter of the future. Really like this pick yep Athletic.
I would have been fine with himpicking him pick one nine where Tarna McLaughlin
went, just to give you anidea, so you get him forty three
picks later and multiple selections later foryour team. I like it. Good

(32:49):
pass blocker athletic A for me aswell. I think Trey Hill needs to
have a big camp. The downsideis he's not versatile, and that's that's
what sucks is you wait until roundseven and you're getting a center only.
Some of these other interior linement wementioned could have done both, but overall
that is an A for me inmy overall grade. Jake, I think
it's a solid B. It's rightthere. It's that there's upside for this

(33:12):
draft to be a set the tabledraft, much like twenty twenty was with
Burrow and Higgins and Wilson. Wherewe look at it, we're like man
that set the table for a run. And there's also some risk involved in
a lot of these picks, andso the answer somewhere in the middle.
So I think it's a B rightnow with a ton of upside and some
downside. Yeah, B minus forme just looking at all the grades and

(33:34):
running the masks. So Harsh,Well, that's just how it works out
when I when I do the mathand wait a little bit for the early
rounds, because it would have beena C if I didn't wait heavy for
the early rounds, and those arethe more so harsh. I'm just saying,
you're harsh. I don't know.It's tough, teacher. We could
look back and say these picks hitthe upside. This is an A plus
draft. Yes, that's part ofthis that you like, it's also the
part of this that you don't likebecause it feels like a home run or

(33:58):
a strikeout, and there's there's nota whole lot of middle ground there.
I'm sure there is more middle groundthan that, but it feels very boom
or bust, so very risky approach. That's what brings it down. But
if these guys do hit the ceilingsthat we think they can based on their
on tapeability, then they could havesome cornerstone players. They could have up
to six starters in this draft class, so a lot that you could like

(34:19):
if it works out. But it'sa big if and that's what brings it
down a little bit for me fora lot of those picks, and overall,
even though I like the swings theytook and if they do hit,
the aggressiveness will have really paid off. We've got some more post draft reaction
this week to get to. We'regonna talk to Mike Potts from the Cincinnati
Bengals about the draft. We're gonnatalk to Trevor Sikhima from Pro Football Focus

(34:43):
about the draft in some episode comingup soon as well here on Lockdown Bengals.
So until then appreciate you listening tothis episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
Who Day and have a good one, Hey Prime members. You can
listen to this Lockdown podcast app freeon Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today