Why PFF's Steve Palazzolo loves the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024 Draft Class

PFF's Steve Palazzolo was a big fan of the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024 draft class, so the guys invited him onto the show to discuss his reasoning. We break down Steve's WR4 Jermaine Burton, the run game playmaking of Kris Jenkins, Amarius Mims' natural pass protection ability and overall upside, and more takeaways on the newest crop of Bengals rookies. 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

(00:02):
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, yourteam every Day. Pff. Steve Palazzolo
loves the Cincinnati Bengals draft, solet's chat with him about what he likes
so much about this Bengals draft class. You are Locked On Bengals, your

(00:28):
daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part ofthe Locked On Podcast Network, your team
every Day. What up, Bengalsfans and welcome to another episode of the
Lockdown Bengals podcast. I'm your hostJake Lisco. He's your host James Rapeen.
Today will be joined by Steve Palozzoloto talk about why he likes this
Bengals draft class so much and thinksit might be the best in the AFC

(00:50):
North despite a lot of praise goingaround for some of the other AFC North
teams. We appreciate everybody who makesthis show part of their everyday routine and
who makes us their first listen.You can find Lockdown Bengals part of the
Lockdown Podcast Network, covering your teamevery day, on YouTube and everywhere you
get your podcasts, so please dosubscribe if you like hearing about the Cincinnati

(01:11):
Bengals as part of your daily routine. Today's episode brought to you by Monopoly
Go, a mobile hit twist onClassic Monopoly. So join your friends and
download Monopoly Go Now for free onthe App Store or Google Play. And
Jake, let's get to Steve wherewe talk about all of the Bengals top
picks day one, Day two,one Day three, Gem and boil Boy.

(01:34):
Do we spend time on my favoriteposition, wide receiver? Without further
ado, let's get to our conversationwith Pro Football Focuses Steve Palisolo. We're
now joined by Steve Palasol, thepff NFL analysts and head of football product
co host of the pff NFL Showcurrently going through their division by division draft

(01:55):
reviews and Steve both on the liveshow and in your immediate po draft recaps.
So you were pretty high on theBengals draft. I think he said
that after talking about the Ravens draftand the Steelers draft, which are getting
a lot of love around the country, the Bengals might have the best draft
in the AFC North. What doyou love about it? Well, we'll
talk about my wild card Jermaine Burtonin just a minute. I mean,

(02:17):
he's the biggest piece I think forme because of what he can become but
I thought it was I thought,you know, good decisions. I think,
you know, Amarius Mims was youknow, a target. I'm sure
you guys talked quite a quite abit about him leading up to the draft.
I think it's a good fit foryou know, perhaps sitting behind Trent
Brown in year one, giving himsome development time. He only has the

(02:37):
eight hundred and three career snaps,but I think he's got incredible potential as
a pass protector. I think hewas a better developmental prospect than Tyler Geyton,
who went about you know, tenor eleven picks later than him from
Oklahoma to the Cowboys. So Ilove Mims there. And I think Chris
Jenkins is just a playmaker on thedefensive line. That dude finish his plays,
excellent run defender. It fits aneed. But also I thought it

(02:58):
was great value. I mean,Jim hark Boss said he was a top
ten pick in the future, sohow could you go wrong with that?
And then Burton, like I said, is the wild card. I think
he has top top end wide receiverpotential. I mean when I was watching
Burton's film, I really didn't knowwhat to expect, but I was like,
three plays in and like, Iwas, like, what, this
guy's incredible at everything downfield, ability, tracking, hands are incredibly strong.

(03:22):
He can win it. The catchpoint, the whole thing with Burton,
of course, is going to bethe off field concerns. And you know,
as I was texting people, youknow, people like, we don't
know if he's just off all theboards, several boards, we don't know
where, you know, is hegonna be a late day three guy?
I don't know what he is,but I honestly thought he's the fourth best
receiver in the draft class. Ithought he was a first round talent.

(03:42):
And so if if he can ifthey can keep him, you know,
straight, if they can keep themhis head on straight or whatever it might
be, I think Burton becomes thesteal of the draft potentially. Let's stick
with Burton, and I think we'regonna ask you more about Memes and ask
you more about Chris Jenkins as well. But as far as Burton is concerned,

(04:03):
is he the ideal fit in thisoffense where you have t Higgins for
one more year, you lose TylerBoyd. The Bengals over the past few
years have said how they wanted toget more explosive and hasn't necessarily happened.
Certainly last year it didn't happen.And so does Burton check all of those
boxes at least on the field ofwhat if you had to design a receiver

(04:25):
for the Bengals to target in thedraft? Does he check all those boxes?
Yeah? I mean check the boxesis like a really good term I
think for Burton because that's what Iwas doing when I was watching him.
You know, I'd watch a fewplays and say, hey, he feels
he feels explosive down the field.Let me go double check our pff gas
metric, which tracks on field athleticism. He's ninety ninth percentile over the last

(04:49):
few years similar players so Jalen Waddlehad ninety ninth percentile to Puka Nakua had
ninety nine percentile. Now to twoat Well did as well. It's not
all hits, but it's a lotof really good on field explosive athletes.
Then I'm looking at Burton's hands,I'm like, man, his hands feel
really good. What it's his droprate? Oh, it's one of the
best we've ever seen since twenty fourteen. I try to watch the film first

(05:12):
and then go back to look atthe data to see if it confirms or
you know, works against what I'mseeing on film. So I think Burton
ticks all the boxes as an allaround receiver. The only thing you don't
have a stat for that backs thingsup is probably yards after the catch,
but for Burton it's because he wastargeted down the field a ton then there's
a play like Texas A and Mwhere he catches it, runs through a
couple guys for a touchdown. SoI think he's capable of doing that.

(05:33):
So that's why I really think theBengals fascinate me or any team that has
the quarterback locked up, because they'regoing to have to make shrewd decisions during
the life of a Joe Burrow contract. Right, So you can't have six
players making twenty million or more.You can only have a couple of those
guys, like the Chiefs can onlychoose a couple of those guys. So

(05:55):
where do you get cheaper? Wheredo you get the value players? And
I think Burton has a chance tobe that value player. If you can't
keep te Higgins beyond this year,Burton has a chance to step in I
think be the true number two toJamar Chase and all around threat. I
also love the way Burton worked theback shoulder game and if that helps Joe
Burrow throw the ball down the fielda little bit more and opens things up

(06:16):
because obviously things got uh you know, with the with the injury and everything
that that offense the first half oflast year, the first few weeks of
last year just wasn't the same.So so yeah, I think Burton,
you know, ticks all the boxesfor what you want for that playmaker opposite
Jamar Chase, and if it isyou don't need him for another year and
he's just a deep threat in yearone, I think that'd be a perfect
way to use him right now.He played a lot of slot in his

(06:39):
second to last year his junior yearat Alabama. The Bengals obviously have that
need right now. Maybe Charlie Jonessteps into that role this year. But
is there slot inside outside versatility withBurton? Do you think if they need
him in the short term to playin the slot, is that something you
could see him being ready for inyear one? I think so. The
only thing is, you know,slot's different in every offense. I think

(06:59):
if you if you're asking him,if there is a weakness or a thing
that's not necessarily a strength for Burtonor not the thing that you want to
lean on for Burton. I don'tthink you want him running all the short
area slot routes necessarily the five yardoption routes or anything. Again, not
that he can't do it, it'sjust I think he's a vertical threat.
So if you're going to use yourslot to stretch the field a little bit
more, I think he's fine inthat role. But I think he could

(07:20):
play inside or outside. But theshort area game is the place where I
think you don't necessarily want to leanon Burton as much I want. I
want him going down the field more. And from a fit perspective, they
could put Charlie there or Jamar there, who they've run plenty of. Like
it seems like not that he'll playthe same number of snaps as Boyd,

(07:40):
but he can take over a decentamount of that load. And then it
also allows them to be flexible withChase, and I think that's why they
probably did land on Burton despite thecharacter stuff. Is he fits better than
a Troy Franklin or better than theyviewed the Roman Wilson who they picked a
few a few picks after them afterthey took Burton. So I do think
from that perspective it fits the currentroster. Yeah, especially if you know,

(08:05):
if it's t Higgins this year andBurton and then you know, as
you mentioned, Jamar, Chase cando it all. Now, I don't
feel great about Chase being the highvolume fifteen target, you know, bubble
screen, dink and dunk type ofguy that he had to become at times
last year. I'd still rather Chasebe more of the vertical threat. But
I get the idea, right,get the ball into the hands of your
best player. So the fact thatChase can do that, I think putting

(08:28):
Burton in Higgins as the two outsideguys and letting Chase work the slot,
I think it does bring a tonof flexibility to the offense. So look,
I love the pick because I thinkBurton's a first round value player.
I'm not alone in loving Burton maybeat the level that I like him,
but other people saw that. Asfar as the on field ability, again,
it's just a matter of there werenot people at Georgia or Alabama that

(08:50):
really wanted to go to bat forhim. From a character standpoint obviously that
the Bengals did their homework. That'sjust all the rumblings that we heard were
you know, driven around the characterstuff, because I think you would have
heard he would have heard his namecalled much earlier if that wasn't a factor.
And maybe there's just a chip onhis shoulder. The Bengals do love
the players that come out with chipson their shoulders. As much as they've
shied away from guys like that inthe past where you couldn't find a coach

(09:13):
on the college team to go tobat for him, they tend to draft
team captains on the other end ofthe spectrum instead. And Jermaine burt will
be a fun piece. And ifnothing else, you mentioned the back shoulder
ability for Jermain Burton. Joe Burrowloves to on those back shoulders. And
if he does find his way intothe slot, maybe it's just a rotation
in Cincinnati where they can go,you know, to their Josavash, Charlie
Jones, Trent and Irwin four throughsix. Perhaps, but if he isn't

(09:37):
a slot that nine to eight nineplay, the Bengals love to running.
Joe Burrow loves to run so muchbut Ramaine Burton running the post is a
lot more threatening down the middle ofthe field, I think than Tyler Boyd
was not to take anything away fromTyler, but Jermaine Burton's vertical ability,
like you said, steve a littlebit more tantalizing in that particular role.
But you mentioned Chris Jenkins a playmaker. We'll of course talk about a Mary

(10:00):
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Let's transition to Chris Jenkins, thoughyou describe him as a value pick,
as a playmaker. When I sawthe second round start, I'm clamoring for

(12:13):
the Bengals to trade up and goget Johnny Newton. I know you at
PFF at least Trevor sikhimas big Boardalso really like Johnny Newton there in the
second round. But talk about ChrisJenkins the playmaker and what he brings to
the defense. Yes, so mostlythe run game. You know, we've
got the college data going back totwenty fourteen. Jenkins had one of the
best run stop percentages that we've seensince twenty fourteen. So it tackles in

(12:37):
and around the line of scrimmage inthe run game and you see that on
film. He sheds quickly, getsup and down the line. He makes
a ton of plays. So it'sa completely different style than what they're losing
in DJ Reader, Who's going tohold the point? And you know just
I mean Reader was an incredible playmakerin his own way. Jenkins is smaller.
You know, his dad was muchbigger. His dad was more of
a DJ Reader type of player,hold the point and you know, destroyed

(13:01):
blockers. But Jenkins doesn't hold thepoint as well. He doesn't have that
same kind of anchor. But hewill finish plays, he will make plays,
and so I think the value thereis, you know, getting teams
into second and nine and second andeight, and in making those plays in
and around the line of scrimmage earlyon early downs. I don't think Jenkins,
you know, you wanted Johnny Newton. I don't think Jenkins is the

(13:22):
same type of pass rusher as aNewton. I think he's fine. He's
a solid pass rusher. He's notas dynamic as those top two defensive tackles
Byron Murphy or Johnny Newton that wentoff the board. But I think they
were the first two, or they'rethe top two that should have gone Ruke
actually went ahead. I don't thinkthat was That was a little bit high,
I think for Ruke. But eitherway, I like Chris Jenkins,

(13:43):
and I think it fits a need, but not that specific DJ reader need.
It just fits like, hey,we need a we need a player
on the interior that can make someplays. Do you think he fits pretty
well with Sheldon Rankins specifically, who'sunder contract for the next two years.
Obviously BJ Hill is in the finalyear of his contract, is well,
because I think Jenkins is going tobe DT three this season. Yeah,
I mean, I don't know.I think he probably spells Rankings more than

(14:05):
anything, mix them up. Imean, I would rather have Rankins,
you know, play a little bitmore on passing downs and maybe Jenkins does
sneak in there on rundowns. SoI think it just gives you that rotation
and look, depth is so important. It sounds crazy to be like,
oh, it's a seventeen game schedulenow, but that extra week does matter.
It does have an impact when teamsare beat up at the end of

(14:26):
the year and it's like, hey, go play an extra game. So
the rotation matters, the depth matters, and I think, yeah, that's
it's a fine fit with Rankins andeverything that they have there on the defensive
line in an eighteenth game coming toall of us soon. Apparently for player
safety, we have to take careof the players and put them out there
for an extra game. Well,we'll get eighteen games, but they'll be

(14:46):
able to wear those guardian caps.So you know, for Chris Beckins,
you mentioned that the past festibility noton the level of Bira Murphy and Johnny
Newton. Is there upside there becausehe did test like a pretty good athlete.
He looks like a good athlete ontape. He was nicknamed the Mutant
for his prowess in the weight roomand for his ability as an athlete.

(15:07):
Obviously doesn't seem to be terribly refinedas a pass rusher at this point.
But is there upside there if youcan put together a better plan in the
NFL, Yeah, I think there'salways a little bit of that. If
you're getting a good athlete and aguy again that he's gonna, I think
make his money on early downs asa starting point, and there's it's a
different position. But a guy likeKhalil Mack did that when he came in

(15:30):
where he was just an unbelievable rundefender in year one, wasn't as effective
as a pass rusher, but byyear two it clicked and he had it.
So I think there are there arecertain players who Danelle Hunter was actually
again it's an edge defender, buthe was a really good run defender at
LSU had the pass rush athleticism,just needed to develop the tools and at
the NFL level developed the pass rushability to go with what he could do

(15:52):
against the run. So I thinkthere is a history of take the good
athlete who knows how to destroy blocks, defeat blocks up front, and you
can teach them a little bit asfar as pass rush goes. Before we
get to Amarius Mims and obviously he'sa very big man in a big topic,
but we might as well stick withthe defensive line in McKinley Jackson because
the Bengals in between with Burton,but they take two defensive linemen on day

(16:18):
two. McKinley Jackson is that DJReader Mold Obviously we're not expecting him to
be DJ Reader, but what didyou see from him when you watched him?
Yeah, this was the first pickI didn't love and look I get
it. I mean you're trying toget that nose tackle body type in there.
I think he's just got a waysto go. When you're talking about
a guy that's in the three twentythree thirty range, he's got some athleticism.

(16:44):
To me, he's more of agap shooter than your classic, you
know, hold the point type ofnose tackle. So he's got that going
for him. I just don't thinkhe sees the game that well yet.
You know, can shed blocks andmake plays. There's a lot of plays
he just couldn't get off blocks.You know, guys are running right by
him. So I think there's potentialthere as far as the size, the

(17:04):
speed, the athleticism to get offthere's there's some of that, But I
think he's just a tick behind someof the other nose tackle prospects that you'd
be looking for. Here. Youmentioned the one gapping style. Is he
miscast as a nose tackle? Ishe no tackle body but not nose tackle?
And mentality and play style kind ofit. But the thing is,

(17:27):
I don't think he's shooting gaps likeother players either. You know, you
don't necessarily want him doing that either. I just think that's where he had
the most success at Texas A andM So I think it just kind of
takes some time to say, Okay, here's how we're going to use use
that size, use the body,see plays a little bit better. I
thought Mason Smith, the defensive tackleat f LSU, was very similar,

(17:48):
where there's Smit's a better athlete,but there's potential and just got to learn
how to play football better. Atthis point, shed blocks finished plays,
and I think Jackson's somewhat in thatregard. Were there other nose tackles still
available? Obviously to Andandre Sweat wentprobably where he would have went before the
charge. Were there any nose tacklesat ninety seven that you would have preferred?

(18:11):
No, because it felt early tous too full disclosure. I think
that's the pick. A lot ofpeople were like, oh okay, they
just they had to have him.So that's the tricky part, right.
No, I don't think there are. I don't think there were any really
good nose tackle prospects in the middlerounds. So there's this idealistic world that
I like to live in where teamstruly take the best players on their board

(18:32):
and they don't go and fill needs, and they never stretch and they never
manipulate the grade a little bit.Oh, you know, it's a higher
grade because we had the nose tackleneed, but we're not drafted for need.
But it kind of gets rolled intothe board, right. So I
think that's just the reality of it. If you need a true nose tackle
like it was to Andandre Sweat,I mean, that's it. So I

(18:55):
don't I didn't love many of theinterior d line prospects beyond the fourth round
in this draft. That was thetheme from everyone we talked to going into
the draft. That was our perspectivegoing into the draft was, Yeah,
late day three, that's where allthe nose cycles in this draft should probably
live. Even Evan Anderson signs amassive deal for an un draft of free
agent with the San Francisco forty nineers is a guy that the Bengals met

(19:18):
with and a guy that we'd likedfor the Bengals. You know, late
I would have preferred that. Yeah, yeah, and then you think he's
your last top one hundred pick forsomething that maybe has a little bit more
positional value. Yeah, I meanI could go on my own little tangent
there, but I would be fascinated. There were definitely picks that teams make
on Day two that feel very needdriven. Right, this guy fits what

(19:38):
we do. This is just amassive hole on the roster. I wonder
if if they just never went downthat path. I think there's more starting
caliber players, say, rather thanbackup players. I think there's starting caliber
players to still be had on daytwo if teams really stuck to that truly
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even though they're probably not going tolean on in day one pending health,
is Amrius Mim, the eighteenth overallpick nearly six eight, three hundred and
forty pounds. You mentioned it justover eight hundred snaps at Georgia, so

(21:07):
there's some projection involved. But whenthey took a Marius Mims, did you
think it was the right call?Yeah? I thought it was fine.
I definitely thought he was in themix there with the Bengals at that spot,
maybe the Steelers at twenty. Ithink he could play left or right
tackle. He's very smooth in passprotection for that size. To me,
it's just look is to me whenI look at things like his PFF grading

(21:30):
was solid for when he was outthere. He's good pass protector. Some
improvement to be made in the rungame. I think everything I saw was
technique driven and experience driven, andoffensive line. I mean that's the part
here. To keep an eye onhis offensive lineman generally take two or three
years to fully develop, and theytake a little bit longer. I think

(21:51):
our grades back that up. Ithink scouts would tell you that. I
think general perception is, hey,sometimes offensive linemen take a little bit longer.
So is that longer if he's ableto sit? Is it just based
off snaps and experience. I'm notsure exactly, but it's nice that he's
not like out there right now hasto protect Joe Burrow and you know,
go get them. They can easehim in. Maybe they dabble in guard

(22:11):
a little bit, let him movearound, but I think he can play
left or right. Gives them thatflexibility and after after years of kind of
I don't want to say stitching ittogether on the offensive line, but I
thought they made some really nice moveswith you know, Ted Carris a couple
of years ago, and they've madesome good moves. They haven't drafted high.
Now they're drafting high, and ifhe's a hit at tackle, it's

(22:33):
amazing value getting the first come.We talked about first contract quarterbacks. The
first contract tackle is an extremely valuableposition. And again that's where I think
the Bengals have to balance thing.You need these first contract contributors while you're
weighing who are our twenty million dollarguys otherwise. So I think that's all
all of that added together. Mimspotential, the fact that he's already a
good player. Again, I thinkhe's a much better player than Tyler Geitton

(22:56):
right now, and they were compareda lot as quote developmental tackles. I
think if you put Mims out there, even with the inexperience, he'd be
fine. But it is nice thatmaybe they could pick their spots and when
he's ready, he's ready, andthat they do have the Trent Brown,
you know, one year deal tokind of give him, give him a
chance to learn. Yeah, hedoes have that runway. But one of
the things that I really like aboutMEM's specifically is a fit for the Bengals

(23:21):
is nothing to do with the size. And you're taller than a Marius Sims,
is that right six' ten?All right? Yeah, probably the
only person we're ever going to talkto Marius MEM's about who's taller than a
Marius Men's Sam. If you guyscould set this up somehow. Sam's trying
to get me to go to abuffet with Orlando and Trent Brown and Amarius
Mims. They're just trying to getus all to go hang out. And

(23:41):
as long as that's a buffet andnot, you know, you would tower
over them too, you out eatthem. That's the question. I don't
know I could eat. But Ifeel like NFL offensive linemen are at a
They're at a special level. Notherthise. Yes, what I was going
to bring up there before we gotdistracted about how tall Steve is. No,

(24:02):
that's a great tangent. We'll seeif we can help you get that
going. The strength for Marius Men'sgame is natural pass protection. The footwork
already looks great for a guy who'sespecially only played eight hundred snaps. You
watch his first game against Ohio Statein twenty twenty two College Football Playoff,
and he's a shutdown pass protector againstsome NFL players, for the most part,
shut down pass protector against future NFLplayers on that OS defensive line.

(24:29):
That strength of his being a naturalpass protector and having that part of his
game more advanced than you would thinkfor the amount he's played. Good awareness,
good footwork, good hand placement,lockdown grip strength. With the Bengals
being a pass happy offense, isthat something that can can boost his chance
of success where they're not as worriedabout how good are you as a bum

(24:49):
blocker right away? Yeah, Ithink that's a big factor. The other
thing, and I was using thisfor fash Nu who went to the Jets
that he was a similar guy.I think where the pro file is an
excellent pass protector and has room togrow in the run game. Just using
PFF grades as an example, ifyou trust the grading, the tackles tend

(25:10):
to grade a little bit better inwide zone schemes. And so I feel
and so I feel like there areways if teams are shrewd about things to
learn, you know, figure outhow to where they where the strengths and
weaknesses lie. And if there's onething the Bengals have done the last couple
of years is they've changed the offensewhen they've needed to. They've evolved the
offense where needed. So you know, it's kind of like trusting them to

(25:32):
play to the strengths of their team. Know that, I know the linemen
are huge. I know they're huge, so that you immediately think we've got
three hundred and forty three hundred fiftypounders run downhill, run power. But
like Trent Brown's been an excellent outsidezone, you know, run blocker,
and I think Mims has that typeof potential. And Orlando Brown's blocked well
in any type of scheme, soI think that part is interesting too.

(25:55):
I don't want to say you canhide the run blocking, but handling pass
protection first. And the Bengals whenthey put the ball in Joe Burrow's hands
on that Super Bowl run, itwas like, hey, we're going to
drop back forty five to fifty timesand put it on Burrow. I'm not
saying they have to do that,but I think that's going to end up
being their bread and butter when itcomes down to, you know, the
playoff run. Put the ball inhis hands, and I think Mims is,

(26:18):
you know, has the skill setto be able to protect for sure.
And when they did that, thatwas with guys who are now mostly
out of the NFL blocking for himon that right, Yeah, game to
protect, to protect Borrow yeah,they were out of the NFL the moment
Super Bowl fifty six ended some ofthem. It was pretty quick last thing,
at least for me, Steven.We appreciate the time. Matt Lee

(26:41):
is a popular pick among Bengals fans. There was some interior offensive line thirst
throughout Day three. They get itwith the final pick. I think a
lot of people expected him to goa bit earlier. What do you think
about the Bengals new center. Hewas two twenty nine on the consensus board
last time I saw, and look, I have a trusty little draft model

(27:03):
here. This thing is if you'retalking doubling and triple and hit rates,
it'll help. And I'm just tellingyou he's a model guy. So the
model likes Matt Lee. And ifyou know, there's not a lot of
them on day three, there's nota lot of these guys. Most guys
on day three are developmental. SoI just think the Bengals took a guy
who has will say, higher chancesthan others to become a guy, you

(27:25):
know, sit as a backup andmaybe eventually take over at center if that
development continues. I've called him astarter of the future, despite being a
seventh round pick, which maybe isa little bit generous for a guy who's
your last pick in the draft.He's not going to have a ton of
rope because that's what tends to happenwith seventh round picks. But good athlete,
immaculate pass protection production in college atboth schools where he played a lot

(27:48):
of experience and just a little undersized, and so that I assume, plus
being a center only prospect, pusheshim down the board. But I wonder
how similar your model is to ourmodel, because our models that's Hi out
as a top one hundred player inthe class with starting upside, and I
find it interesting that that's the guythat stands out on your model as well.

(28:08):
Yeah, it's probably similar. Iclassify the guys differently because I'm not
necessarily trying to predict the best onehundred players. It's more I use the
consensus board as like a baseline,yeah, and then let it highlight who
I should take in and around thosetimes. So let's just say he was
he was one of the second seventhrounders. If he's available in the seventh
round, he's one of the guysI would have targeted. So I think

(28:29):
that was certainly a good value pick. We'll find out, because like you
said, it's tough to you know, have that opportunity and you stay on
the roster the two or three yearsneeded to maybe take over a starter as
a center only prospect. But Ithought of all the seventh round picks you're
going to take, you know,he was one of them, one of
the better ones. He's got apath to the backup job right away where

(28:51):
he just has to beat out TreyHill, who hasn't taken the steps the
Bengals I think, have been lookingfor. And there's no other centers on
the roster right now as far aswell for besides an undrafted free agent who
competed at the spot last year incamp. Steve, we appreciate the time
you can find him on the PFFNFL Show, where you will be recapping
the rest of the draft. Ithink this week is that right, You're

(29:12):
going to go through the rest ofthe divisions. That's right, division by
division. There will be some morethoughts I'm sure from Steve and his co
host Sam Monson on the Bengals draftover on the PFF NFL Show. Steve
again, appreciate the time and untilnext time, Bengals fans, thanks for
listening to this episode of the LockdownBengals podcast. Who Day and have a
good one, Hey Prime members.You can listen to this Lockdown podcast at

(29:37):
free on Amazon Music. Download theAmazon Music app today