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March 17, 2024 34 mins
Mekhi Becton and Teair Tart were Bengals free agency targets we've been talking about since the combine. They visited the Bengals and went through the normal free agent courting ritual at dinner with Joe Burrow during their visits, but for the first time, we didn't get signed contracts shortly thereafter. While we wait to see whether a further market develops for Tart or Becton, the guys review the remaining options in the trenches, and continue to discuss what the plan may be for the suddenly crowded safety room. 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
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, Yourteam every day. Kyle Krabs here,
host of Locked On NFL Scouting,Join Joe Marino in me every day as
we provide position by position analysis ofthe upcoming NFL Draft. Check out the
Locked On NFL Scouting podcast with theDraft Dudes on YouTube or wherever you listen

(00:25):
to your favorite podcasts. The CincinnatiBengals hosted Tierre Tart and Makai Beckton for
visits and the offers are probably outthere, but nobody signed. What's next
in the trenches. You are LockedOn Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast,
part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. But

(01:02):
I'm Bengals fans and welcome to anotherepisode of the Lockdown Bengals Podcast. I'm
your host, Jake Lisco. He'syour host, James Rapine. We've been
doing this podcast together for years now, and if you're new, we're part
of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Youcan find this show on YouTube and everywhere
you get your podcast. We're hereevery day as the Bengals are working their
way through free agency and players arevisiting, some players are signing. We

(01:23):
have you covered for all the newsand analysis you need here on Lockdown,
Bengals your team every day. Today'sepisode is sponsored by game Time. You
can get twenty dollars off your firstpurchase to take us in the game Time
app today using promo code Lockdown andJames, What is next in the Trenches.
Indeed, we spent some time latelast week monitoring the visits of Makai

(01:48):
Beckton and Tierra Tart. They havewe believe, left Cincinnati at this point
without a contract signed. We believethere were offers extended. And here we
are in Sudaturday night recording this alittle bit earlier than normal. Just full
disclosure. We are recording this Saturdaynight, and if we need to reconvene
Sunday, we will. But theBengals do not have those final editions on

(02:13):
the team yet that we're expecting themto make here in this free agency period.
Let's be honest, while we're recordingSaturday night, why would we do
that? Why would they do that? It's pretty simple. Jake is going
to get turned on Sunday. No, I'm just kidding. Saint Taddy's Day
with Ted Carris, I'm going tohis event. You are about to be
so mad if I willed, No, I would have agreed, Yeah,

(02:35):
that's what I'm doing. That's right, that's what he's doing. The Saint
Taddy's Day event. We didn't wantto wait until Sunday night to get something
out because we know everyone's waiting onpins and needles. So it's literally eleven
twenty ish at night right now,Eastern time. Jake just got back from
his well, really fun outing overthe weekend. And with that, that's

(02:58):
enough of that. Let's get tothe Bengal where trench wise, it's weird.
The McKai beckon in Tierra Tart.Everything was playing out the way we're
used to these free agents playing outwhere oh man, they're in the building,
Oh, Makai beck Then he's here. He's huge, like are the
people that saw him the he's agiant man because he is. He's the

(03:20):
Kai back that is huge. Andthen you see the photos of Merge out
they're at the precinct. Rumors rumblingaround Cincinnati because Cincinnati is a very big
small town or small big town,whatever you want to say. But oh
man, Joe Burrow was there andyou just kind of thought it would get
done. And then Friday happened andTier Tart's visit was actually reported and people

(03:44):
were like, all right, wasit gonna get done? And then you
just kind of ask around and thenFriday night are locked on Bengals insiders found
out, Yeah, it's probably notgetting done and they were probably the first
probably not getting done on Friday night. We don't want them waiting on pins
and needles, and so now we'rein Saturday night mode. And part of
the reason why we're recording now andwe could get burned is because nothing feels

(04:08):
imminent. And I don't know howmuch you've been on the social channels,
but people are kind of panicking abit, and I wouldn't do that.
I don't think there's reason to panicbecause nothing has really changed. No Bengals
target that they were hoping to landtwo days ago has signed. Tyron Smith
wasn't a realistic Bengals target, andso other than him, the Trench free

(04:30):
agents haven't really changed. And yetI do wonder if Mackay Beckton is hoping
to get another visit, if Tierstarts hoping to get another visit. We
haven't heard anything yet, and Ithink that's sort of the key to this
because if not, and the Bengalsmay just be going poker face, baby,
Hey, this is our offer,and if they don't have better offers,

(04:54):
then they'll take it eventually. Butthe Bengals have to be willing to
wait a little bit, and that'swhere it gets a little uncomfortable, I
think, at least outside looking in. Well, that's what the Bengals do.
They want to win this negotiation.They have their price and they want
to get their number, and wesaw them go over a little bit for
Sheldon Rankins. But we also sawthat Sheldon Rankins deal is structured in a

(05:15):
way that they're very safe next yearif it doesn't work out this year.
So there's a little bit I thinkof with the Bengals contracts this year uncertainty
that they might have to reset againif some of these guys don't work out.
I mean, the two year dealsall look like one year deals with
the team option in the second year. The way the contractor structured, Juice
sample has no pro rate of moneyon that contract apparently, so they need

(05:39):
to cut him in the future.There's no deadcap whatsoever, which is not
a structure we've seen the Bengals use. Although Andrea Perota did inform me that
it's not an unheard of structure inthe NFL. Some other teams do that.
But to your point, Joe Burrowhaving dinner with prospective free agents at
the precinct. As always, Iwant to say, led to that player

(06:02):
signing a deal with the Bengals,you're right always and for that not to
be the case is what makes usweird. By the way, you're right
you mentioned the Lockdown Bengals insider group. Just want to shout that out again.
They did get the text and they'vebeen getting texts all week and throughout
the weekend as well. You canjoin if you're interested at join subtext dot

(06:24):
com slash Lockdown Bengals, just foranybody who's wondering about that. A way
to send us texts and for usto send you text when we know things,
and so you don't have to checksocial media all the time. But
the question is what's next. AndMakai Becton, you mentioned hoping for those
next visits originally and this came fromthe Asian almost assuredly, it was reported
that he had two visits lined upafter Cincinnati. We have not seen any

(06:47):
reporting around Makai Becton since he leftCincinnati. You haven't seen any reporting around
tier Tart since he left Cincinnati.So whether or not those visits and additional
interest and mark it materializes for thoseguys imminently, is what we're really watching
for or do they start feeling thepressure and say, ah, you know
what, maybe that dinner was goodenough, maybe that contract offer is good

(07:11):
enough. But I don't know whereelse you go if you're the Bengals.
So there's definitely a little bit ofa game of chicken here where if those
guys do go elsewhere. There's someother options of right tackle, but the
fall off for the nose tackle groupis pretty significant, especially when you talk

(07:33):
about guys that might fit their modelat all in terms of the young ascending
type player that you could argue trTart is. Yeah. I think it's
a good point. And there's twoelements here. And by the way,
the lacked on Bengals insiders. Justone more time, we're gonna talk about
von Bell coming up. Vaughn wasnot a surprise to you. Y'all heard

(07:55):
about Vaughn a lot this week,so hopefully you've been enjoying the We've been
trying to keep up with it withfree agency popping like it has because it
has been a really busy week.Think about it over the past six days
as you're listening to this on Sunday, most likely for the past six days.
T Higgins requested a trade, whichseems like light years ago. Joe
Mixon got graded. The Bengals haveintroduced a new tight end, a new

(08:18):
running back, and new safety.They're going to introduce this coming week defensive
tackle. Like there's been a lotso anyways, thank you for following along,
thank you for listening and watching andall of those things. But you're
right, what's next? Where wouldthey go next? Because I do think
there is a pivot point at somepoint. Let's say mckaie Beckton takes a
visit with the Patriots, which Ithink is a potential destination, a team

(08:39):
that could be in the market foranother tackle. What would that look like?
What would that do to the Bengals. Let's dive into what else is
out there? If it isn't TierTart, if it isn't McKay Beckton,
what should they do? What willthey do? We will do that coming
up next. Today's show is broughtto you by Robin Hood. Did you
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your team eliminated from the playoff inneed of reinforcements. Maybe it's time for
a rebuild, or maybe they're justa player or two away from taking home
the Lombardi Trophy. Either way,join Keith Sanchez and Damian Parson for lock

(10:11):
Draft Monday on the Lockdown NFL DraftPodcast. They'll tell you which college football
stars your team will be taking inthe twenty twenty four NFL Draft. Chug
Out Mock Draft Monday on the LockdownNFL Draft podcast, part of the Lockdown
podcast. Network your team every dayfinding the other options at right tackle.

(10:35):
There's a couple obvious names, andsome of the names that we talked about
as right tackle targets are still outthere because that market hasn't moved at all.
That defensive interior market has moved alittle bit more than offensive tackles,
significantly more in fact than offensive tackle. But as far as nose tackles,
I don't know where you go next. If you're the best, let's talk

(10:56):
about that. Have ideas there,James, Yeah, to me, you're
you're almost you almost go noseless whereyou're not honestly where it's like, okay,
we're going to be really really goodat getting after the quarterback. And
maybe that is bending and going afterCalias Campbell, who joined the NFLPA representatives.

(11:20):
I think he's vice president now,which is interesting because when you get
a player of that age and thenhe's part of the union, how quickly
does he get picked Up's still playingat high level. So I do think
that that will happen. But it'sinteresting. But you're right, like you
look at it, Jonathan Hankins,like, is that is he still out
there? I think? I meanI get down to guys like John Jenkins.

(11:46):
Then you're talking mid thirties at thatpoint, but played acceptable ball last
year for Vegas. Played you know, he's three hundred and thirty pounds.
You know what they would do there? You know what I think they would
probably do is sign like Josh Trupo, like just bring him back and then
get which I'd be fine with ifyou get Clydes Campbell because I think that

(12:09):
people they're like, oh man,what are you gonna do without DJ Reader?
The Bengals defensive line got better inone area. There's just a big
void of course without DJ Reader,but they're going to be different. And
when you add Sheldon Rankins, you'reexpecting the pass rush on the interior to
be much improved. You're hoping thatyour young edges, whether it's Joseph Osai

(12:33):
or Miles Murphy, that those guyscan emerge someone that your pass rush is
just better. So that's the elementof this where it's like, Okay,
you're not going to find DJ Readerand you have to evolve as a defense
because there's just not you could say, Tovandre Sweat. Okay, so there's
one guy in the draft, andwhat are the odds that Sweat comes in
day one and is eighty percent ofDJ Reader when DJ's healthy. I don't

(12:56):
know. But if they don't himthat it's probably not high right. And
if it's not him, if they'renot in on him, there really isn't
one. So they're going to probablyhave to evolve as a defense even if
they do signs here at which Istill think there's a shot that happened.
I think they do regardless. Ithink from a scheme standpoint, they're just
gonna have to change a bit,and I think you need to get somebody

(13:18):
in. You need somebody for thegoal line package at least, like even
if it's only two hundred snaps,you actually go out there with a couple
of two hundred and ninety pound defensivetackles. Like, what about a one
hundred and ninety pound defensive time,Yeah, Dak's hill. That's that's gonna
go. Great toush push defense,just one hundred and ninety pound decks.
He'll get in there. He knife'sin there. Mike Hilton will do it.

(13:41):
But there are it's it is wildbecause it is really lean. There
is this group of guys that's allin their mid thirties like Mike Purcell,
Nick Williams, John Jenkins, Limbulv, Joseph even Al Woods like these guys
that are have been around forever.And that's one place you can go if
you're looking for a veteran, youcould go to the trade market. I

(14:05):
think we're getting close to trying tofigure out where they could could find a
trade partner, something we'll probably betalking about between now in the regular season,
even if even if they signed TierTart, depending on how the draft
goes, because I don't know.I know that you can change way you
play defense, and they will withoutDJ Reader. They did without DJ Reader,

(14:26):
but going entirely without any bulk onthe defensive interior is playing with fire,
and I don't think that's a placethey want to be living. Really.
Yeah, I agree with you,and I think what they do next
is really really interesting. There reallyisn't much out there though, Like even
like Jonathan Hankins, I guess theSeahawks are reportedly interested. I just looked

(14:50):
them up just to make sure thathe's out there, Like, is that
someone like he's thirty two and ahalf, you know, like all the
other nose tackle options either didn't playlast year, or or thirty two and
a half or older, or MontreviusStreet, Montrevious Adams. Sorry, Montravius
Adams would be the one other guy, but he's only three h four.

(15:11):
He played some nose for Pittsburgh.I don't know if he's really a nose
Yeah. So anyway, the optionsof right tackle are a lot more obvious.
You want to talk about that.It's pretty simple, which one do
you think? Because to me,it's pretty easy. You go after Trent
Brown and this might be the betterscenario. He certainly is better and has

(15:31):
been better in the NFL. Youlook at whether it's PFF metrics. You
want to look at the fact thathe's played left and right tackle. You're
not talking about a potential position change. Obviously there's more money involved there.
Who cares. You got to getsomeone. Jackson Carmen is not going to
be penciled in. Deontay Smith isnot going to be penciled in, and
they better damn will not be penciledin as starters pre draft. That can't

(15:56):
happen. And so you got toget someone, and to me, I
get mckaie beckon upside, Trent Browndoesn't have that, Like, there's a
very real possibility that McKai Beckton figuresit out if he lands on the right
spot and ends up being a goodNFL player, Like, I could totally
see that. But for this season, Trent Brown is the better option.
I have no doubt, even thoughhe's thirty one better option. So if

(16:19):
McKay Beckton continues to drag his feet, Okay, go get Trent Brown.
It's really not that difficult. Andthe Bengals right tackle and maybe this is
why they're playing hardball. If I'mI'm Tierre Tart or mckaie Beckton, this
is attractive and it should be attractedto Trent Brown, it should be attractive
to Jonathan Hankins. It should beattractive to whoever they reach out to,
and we'll see, but I wouldpivot Trent Brown to me would be the

(16:42):
one by Monday morning if I haven'theard from McKai Beckton, all right,
hey Trent, come to Cincinnati,let's go, let's get this done.
I would talk to him for sure. I also am going to bring up
Cam Fleming for like the seventh streethtime. And Yoshua Ninjaman, who's a
I feel like we've mentioned but maybenot enough. He has played on both

(17:03):
sides. He's a little bit younger, he's turning twenty nine shortly. He's
not in his thirties though, andwas a very good athlete, and he
was an undrafted guy. So youwould imagine that that pedigree the way first
first round pedigrees follow guys and drivetheir price up, undrafted pedigrees tend to
drive the price down on guys thatdon't really break out in a big way.
Sometimes when you're you know, avery established player as an undrafted player,

(17:26):
then you're you're very sought after.But Nijman has been kind of a
backup, hasn't been on the fieldat ten for the Packers, but has
played both sides, has experienced andis a solid player, and you could
do a lot worse. So that'scertainly somewhere that I would look if I
were the Bengals, would be thosetwo guys as well. If Trent Brown
doesn't want to take the call,the thing that stands out to me obviously

(17:48):
he would be your potential starter atright tackle. Again, depending on what
happens in the draft, and evenif they take one, you want to
have a guy that can start,you just do he pat He was a
really good pass blocker according to PFFin twenty twenty two on the right side,
seventy four point four past block andgrade you take talking there just to
be Nijman, Yes, yeah,so yeah, I would be in.

(18:11):
Now he's six seven three fourteen sohe's a little light just in general for
that height, no doubt. Buthey, that's where the athleticism, the
speed, all of those things thatyou mentioned comes into play. So no,
I would be in. And that'sthat's the element where if we were
counting Calias Campbell as an option,it doesn't feel like it is, but

(18:33):
then it wouldn't. It wouldn't feelas dire with TIERR Tart because I don't
think Clide or Calias Campbell is anoption. Ninjmen is and he might be
their option after Beckton, who knowshe might be ahead of the Trent Brown.
I'm not sure, but regardless,they need to add someone, and

(18:56):
I would say it's one of thoseone of the names that we've mentioned.
Other than that, it's probably abit worrisome. Yeah, I mean I
think it's a bit worrisome. Eitherway. You're not going to come out
of this with a guy you're feelingterribly comfortable with, like Prince Takeowonodo.
You're not gonna explore that option.Chris Hubbard from the Titans former Steeler.

(19:17):
I don't think the Bengals are goingto be interested there, so you do
run out of guys that have righttackle experience pretty quickly. Cam Fleming just
the other guy I want to talkabout. He did play, you know,
two thirds of a season at righttackle for Denver in twenty twenty two,
played the rest of the season atleft tackle that season, was fine,
wasn't a world beater by any means, but was fine, and then

(19:37):
went back to Denver and only playeda handful of snaps last year, only
one hundred and twenty six snaps forDenver in twenty twenty three. Has been
a long time journeyman type player.But that's what we're talking about at this
point. You're talking about a guythat you're hoping they draft a rookie to
challenge. Sure, and I thinkthat there is a clear gap between some

(20:04):
of these and then no doubt,and so Nijman would be fine. He'd
definitely be a fine swing back up. You'd feel pretty good there. I
think Beck then has the upside,the highest upside of anybody we've talked about.
Fleming is like the safe it's reallysafe floor because he's been there,
done that. And then you gota guy in Trent Brown who I do
think can start for you day oneand you feel pretty comfortable. And the

(20:26):
issue with Trent Brown is only thathe has made it through three out of
nine tries in NFL seasons healthy.He just gets hurt all the time.
Sure, big dude wears a lotof weigs, a lot you six eight
three. He makes Orlando Brown Juniorlook light, which is just kind of
wild to think about, but yeah, oh good, they are how many

(20:48):
how many steakes do you think hehad? The other four he was like,
Hey, I'm here. I'm herefor the steak up. Next the
Bengals. They are not lean anymoreas safe. Let's discuss the safety room
and what we think is going tohappen with a suddenly crowded room on the
back end. Today's show is broughtto you by game Time. You shouldn't

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Bell back in Cincinnati, the leadershipback in Cincinnati. That was very clear
aspect of his meeting with the medialate last week. And it's something that

(23:00):
is needed. And it was greatto see Vaughn's genuine appreciation for being back
in Cincinnati and his connection with louydArroumel. But the question remains, how
do you get these guys on thefield, What were the what will the
roles be, how will they usevon Bell's ability to the greatest effect that
they can find? And what doesthat all mean for Dax Hill Mm hmm.

(23:23):
Yeah. I it's wild because Ithink Dax is good and I've felt
that way and I'm probably going tocontinue to feel that way. And I'm
not sure how we're going to seeDax. I obviously joked about the nose
tackle element of it, but Lousaid, ah, he needs to get
good at one thing. I don'tknow how they figure out what that one
thing is because to me, it'sa really crowded safety room now, and

(23:48):
Vaughn is going to get snaps.He did not come here to be a
backup. That doesn't mean that wholestart every game, Jordan Battle could start.
So I think there will be arotation element to this defense. But
even so that they rotate three,so Daxil's the guy that comes in and
guards tight ends depending on the matchup, and does that backs up Mike Hilton

(24:11):
too, and backs up both safeties, and I just think that it's it's
a really interesting scenario where I dothink the Bengals are better. I think
their issues on the back end shouldbe solved. But part of solving them
is putting Genostone and von Bell onthe field. And so if you do
that, how do you get JordanBattle and Daxel involved? And I get

(24:34):
it, someonere like, who cares? It's all about winning fair I have
no doubt in my mind that thehighest ceiling in that safety room is still
twenty three. It's still da Hill. Now that doesn't mean at deep safety,
but I think if you're looking atwho has the most potential, it's
him. I also think that theway this has been handled, and I'm

(25:00):
not even saying the Bengals are fullywrong, because in a vacuum, when
you go moment by moment, I'mnot sure anyone's to blame but now you're
here and it's like, man,how the hell did we get here?
From thirty first overall pick to notreally knowing where you're going to put him,
how he's going to get on thefield, even though I think everyone
knows he can make plays, andso that's what's really unique here is I
don't know how they handle it.I think they're better on the back end

(25:23):
and for not a lot of money, so you'll take it. But how
it all fits together, I thinkis interesting and it's going to be a
storyline throughout training camp. Yeah.I think when you look at the evolution
of the safety room over time,you go from solid as it gets with
Jesse Base and Bomb Bell. Iknow some people how to chuse with Jesse
Base's performance in his last two yearsin Cincinnati, but the talent was always

(25:47):
there, the ability was always there. That never changed, and he showed
up. The trust didn't change,Just to be clear, that was a
big factor. The trust was alwaysthere from Louke and he understood what lou
was trying to do. There weren'tcommunication issues with Jesse Baates back there.
His individual play may have suffered attimes, and that was a talking point
and it's something that we hope youdon't have to go through again with t

(26:07):
Higgins this year. But for allintents and purposes, Jesse Bates was the
same player, even if there weresome times where he didn't shine like the
player of his ability can shine.So you have a really really good free
safety. You have a really goodveteran strong safety in von Bell, who,
like we've talked about, culture,ceter leadership, ability, and not

(26:30):
a bad player either by any means, to the point where you call him
a good starter in our categorization system. If you're looking at the free agency
Google sheet that we've shared on onTwitter and on social media and to our
Lockdown Bengals insiders, there's a tabin there that categorize as changes, and
that's just kind of showing overtime thelevel of play that they got from twenty

(26:52):
one to twenty four, and thenthey have a big step back in twenty
three where Dax Hill shows a lotof promise but makes a lot of mistakes.
In particular, makes those mistakes inthe deep part of the field where
you know he's in zone coverage andis giving up or is part of why
the Bengals were giving up explosive placebecause of mental mistakes, because of individual

(27:15):
mistakes, whatever it is, didn'tgo as well as it could for d
Axail to the point where, likeyou're talking about, with trust that is
fractured with the coaching staff and they'reskeptical about whether he's the right person to
be back in that role communicating,and Jordan Battle comes along eventually rests the
role most of the role anyway awayfrom Nick Scott, who also never really

(27:36):
seemed to fit and had an impressiveconclusion to the season, but it's hard
to project that too much to thepoint where they are still bringing bomb Bell
back. So you get Geno Stonein the building and you hope that that
erases a lot of the mental mistakesthey had in the back end with Dac
Sill. You hope that that raisesthe floor, and it should significantly raise

(27:56):
the floor of your deep half oryour post safety and that's what Gino Stone's
role is primarily going to be.Then you get this combination of everybody else,
Jordan Battlebomb Bell, Dax Hill fittingin for the rest of the safety
room and trying to figure out howto maximumly leverage their abilities to get the
most out of that back end.And despite all of that, I think

(28:19):
they're still worse than they were intwenty twenty two. They're going to be
better, hopefully than they were intwenty twenty three, with all the resources
they've spent there. But how muchbetter is it better enough? Does it
help bring the corners up, that'swhat they really need to do. Does
it help elevate the linebackers so they'renot trying to do too much? That's
what it's got to do for itto be worth this investment that they've made

(28:40):
to try to fix a problem afterthey've already allocated resources. Like you said,
we're in retrospective. Feels pretty badto have to go sign free agents
when you've got a third round pickand a first round pick in a non
premium position. Hopefully it's good enough, right then, That's what they have
to figure out with these guys thatthey don't have a clear role for.
And that's where you'd say, allright, well, if Dax Hill takes

(29:02):
a step forward and reaches another levelor two levels, that's the guy that's
the wild card that could raise thelevel of the back end to that twenty
twenty two level. And I justdon't even know if there's a realistic possibility
of that happening without injury. Ijust don't because if I think you can
play Genostone and Dax Hill together,I do. But are they going to

(29:26):
start with those guys and then havevon Bell rotate and then Jordan Mettle's just
sitting over there? Are they goingto start out with you know what I'm
saying. It's just really hard forme to see a scenario where Dax Hill
plays. He had well over athousand steps he was on the field.
Basically he was Jesse Bates from beingon the field perspective, never left the
field this past year. Does heget the five hundred STAPs this year without

(29:48):
injury? You would take the underas of now right, It's weird because
we have four guys in the safetyposition that I'll need to get on the
field, and the Bengals for thelast four years, three years, three
or four years, I don't rememberexactly, have pretty much had two hundred
percent safeties. I guess not lastyear. Last year it was only eighty

(30:11):
five percent. They would have ifNick Scott, if Nick Scott was who
they thought he was. That's theirgeneral approach. But now they have four
guys that need to play. It'svery very interesting. It's very different from
what they've had there and and sothere's the evolution. The defensive line room
is going to have to evolve someand we'll talk about that a ton.

(30:33):
You talk about an offseason topic thatis going to regardless, you could have
Byron Murphy in there and to andAndre Sweat round one, round two,
and it's still we're still going totalk about it because it's going to be
a little different and it's going tofeel different, and the back end is
too, and we'll see what theydo. I think that there's certainly a
cornerback move that could be made,but safety wise, I think Dax Hill's

(30:56):
backing up a bunch of spots andplaying in certain roles in certain pack and
the Jordan battle von Bell thing isreally really interesting. I will say this,
as much as von Bell loves allthe people and loves lou he did
not There's no way he came hereto not play at all. There's just
no way to be the third guythat's just watched. I don't buy a
one bet for those that think that. And so we'll see. But if

(31:18):
I think if there's a game tomorrow, there's not It'd be Gino Stone and
Von Bell gonna be an interesting campbattle. The safeties are going to be
interesting in camp, and and it'sa hard position to evaluate in camp.
That's mostly something that we're gonna haveto hope the coaches give us some honest
answers about because safety in general hardposition to evaluate this. I mean,

(31:41):
now we're talking about Dax Hill,and you know, we were talking about
Joseph Aside playing in preseason games lastyear. This year we're going to be
talking about Jordan Battle and Dax Hillplaying preseason games. What stupid is Dax
has already flashed in the preseason anywayas a rookie. Yeah, I mean,
he's lost the regular season. It'sjust all no doubt, no doubt,
but I just I mean it's it'slike, oh yeah, definitely flashed

(32:01):
in the regular season. Well,Dax Hill solve the Bengals punter issues.
That's next. Will Dax Hill helpthe Bengals in the slot with no Tyler
Boyd? That's next? Will Daxhelp the Bengals be more explosive by playing
That's a new bit buckle up.Dax is just gonna play everywhere because they
have nowhere to put him, They'regonna put him everywhere. We'll be back

(32:24):
if Jake running a trade candidate withDax Hill backing up Joe Burrow, that's
next. If there are more movesthey happen on Sunday, we will be
back on Sunday after Ted Carris eventswell Dax Hill negotiate the contracts of tier
Tartan, Mackay Beckton, and thenwe will continue to have you covered here
on Lockdown Bengals. This week twoof free agency continues and things start to

(32:46):
quiet down a little bit. Thefocus might shift a little bit toward Pro
Day's, toward top thirty visits,but there's still a couple of glaring roster
spots that they need to fill,and we'll have you covered as they make
those moves. Until then, Thanksfor listening to this episode of the Lockdown
Bengals podcast. Who Day, andhave a good one. Well. Dax
Hill announced the Bengals first round pickin the draft. This show is sponsored

(33:08):
by Betterhelp and I'm David Harrison ofthe Lockdow Commanders podcast. Every year we
get obsessed with how to change ourselvesinstead of just expanding on what we're already
doing. Rights whatever strength you wantto make even stronger in twenty twenty four.
Therapy can help you find your strengthsand replace extreme resolutions with actionable ideas
that actually stick. So celebrate theprogress you've already made this new year.

(33:30):
Visit Betterhelp dot com slash locked ontoday to get ten percent off your first
month. That's Better Help h eLP dot com slash locked on. If
you're looking for the most comprehensive NFLdraft coverage this offseason, look no further
than the Locked On NFL Scouting podcast. Join the draft dudes, Kyle Crabs

(33:50):
and Joe Marino as they go positionby position through the NFL free agent class
and into the star studded crop ofcollege stars who will be selected in the
twenty twenty four NFL Draft. Ifyou want to know who your favorite NFL
team should be adding to its roster, you need to check out Lockdown NFL
Scouting, available on YouTube and whereveryou get your podcasts, part of the

(34:13):
Locked On podcast network. Your teamevery day. Is your team eliminated from
the playoffs and in need of reinforcements. Maybe it's time for a rebuild,
or maybe they're just a player ortwo away from taking home the Lombardi Trophy
either way. Join Keith Sanchez andDamian Parson for Lockdraft Monday on the Lockdown

(34:34):
NFL Draft podcast. They'll tell youwhich college football stars your team will be
taking in the twenty twenty four NFLDraft. Check out mock Draft Monday on
the Lockdown NFL Draft podcast, partof the lockedwn podcast network your team every day
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