11/25/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for since the three sixty quick hands on
ESPN fifteen thirty is.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Looking for I think we found Mo.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
I believe he's at Oakley Greens for his typical Tuesday
show and Moe joining us. Now, Hi, Mo, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I am well, and I just want to say one
thing about today's show. Okay, guaranteed human, guaranteed human. That's
been that's been the thing around the ESPN fifteen thirty late.
If you if you come to Oakley Greens, you'll you're
guaranteed to see a human me.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
That's true. Andrew is Drew gonna be Is he going
to be parking cars or anything?

Speaker 4 (00:35):
No?

Speaker 2 (00:35):
We we uh you know it's it's Thanksgiving and so
uh Drew has a busy couple of days in front
of him.

Speaker 5 (00:41):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, he's a delivering turkeys. Oh that's right, folks. Over
the next couple of years, a helicopter. I believe, Well,
he's just true, he's going door to door.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Okay, As a Bengals fan, what do you want to
hear from Joe Burrow and his press conference today?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
I am one hundred percent.

Speaker 5 (00:59):
That's it.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
That's it, yes, say, I mean, I'm here to save
the day we're gonna win these next six I want
to hear, like, is there residual discomfort? How much? How
much at all? Is he going to be compromised or
is he like like he was before the injury? Like
that's to me, that's the most important thing we'll see.

(01:21):
My guess is we're not going to hear him say
I'm one hundred percent. But if there's one thing I
want to hear when he steps to the podium, hopefully
on time, it's I'm one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Are you not buying that he is one hundred percent?

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know. I don't know. I would be unsurprised
if he wasn't just and look, man, I'm not a doctor.
I'm not being asked to examine his foot. Weird if
I But the original timeline for this was best case
is early December. It feels like he is rushed back.

(01:58):
And I mean, I don't mean like he's doing something irresponsible,
like he has worked his ass off to get back.
But is is the fact that he is ready to
play on Thursday reflective of the fact that he is
more willing to deal with pain than perhaps originally thought.
The timeline has been accelerated here. Does that mean he's

(02:19):
he may be pain free and he maybe one hundred percent.
I don't know, But there was a reason he didn't
play two days ago, right, If he was one hundred percent,
why wouldn't you have played two days ago? M hm,
So it's fair to wonder. And again, man like, I'm
okay with him playing. It's not my favorite thing in
the world because I don't think this team is going

(02:39):
to make the postseason, but all right, they're playing a
game with at least a mathematical chance of making it.
What level of risk is being incurred here that heither
that is either equal to or above and beyond the
regular level of risk that every quarterback takes on when
they play an NFL game.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, I'm right there with you. What do you have
coming up on your show today? Guaranteed human, guaranteed human.
That's it, just human people as a human man you.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
ESPN college football writer Bill Connelly is going to be
on the show. This guy. We're gonna talk about the
big weekend coming up in college football. Lots of different storylines,
but he is. He's written what I think is the
best sports book I've read this year, where he takes
on the I think, pretty unenviable task of trying to
examine what college football's future is gonna look like. He

(03:29):
still wants to be the Commissioner of college Football. This
has been something he's been lobbying for for eight years.
And so Bill's gonna come on the show with us
at three forty five. It is. You know, we don't
have our show on Thursday, but we're doing our Thursday stuff.
So you got Lee Sterling gonna help us make some
money this weekend. You got Dan Klaskin's gonna help us
with fantasy football. This weekend. We're gonna chat with our guy,

(03:50):
Sean Saya these Stats and Schemes newsletter. We're gonna spend
some time on the guy that everybody is writing about
as it relates to the Reds. We'll talk about the
current state of affairs with the UC football team and
so much more as we get said for Bengals Ravens.
On Thanksgiving evening.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
You mentioned college football. Do you find yourself caring at
all about Lane Kiffin and where he goes?

Speaker 2 (04:14):
No? Yeah, I care almost as much about Jordan Hudson
and Bill Belichick as I do Lane Kiffen Now I
think the dynamic of a coach leaving his team while
they're in the playoff is interesting and if we have that,
I never want to hear again anybody complaining about the
players leaving. Okay, you know, because this has been a

(04:37):
thing now for all these players. They leave and they Okay,
we got a coach who's gonna leave his team, perhaps
while they have a chance to play for a championship.
So miss me with the whole Well, the players need
to show more loyalty. But no, I don't. I the
story doesn't. I don't think Lane Kiffin is as interesting

(04:57):
as everybody else does. He's a good coach, but I
don't find him as fascinating as everybody else. So I
so no, I don't. I'm not losing sleep wondering we're
laying we're laying Kiffin is gonna go? Nor am I
losing sleep worrying about like is Brian Kelly ever gonna
be allowed to have a job.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
What I find interesting about that is, you know, how
does Ole miss feel? How do their fans feel? If
it feels like an SEC school is a stepping stone
job to just other SEC schools, and if you can't
get someone like Lane Kiffin. Are you ever going to
really be able to keep a coach that I think
is it kind of goes into the conversation maybe that

(05:37):
you're going to have later on about the future of
college football. I don't know that it's ever going to
settle down.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
No, everybody. I think any job can be considered a
stepping stone. Yeah, fair might be a stepping stone to
the NFL, might be a stepping stone to retirement. I mean,
Brian Kelly left Notre Dame to go coach at LSU.
Would we all agree Notre Dame's a destination gig it?
Would you know? You know you're you're not gonna want

(06:03):
to hear this. But like Jim Harball had already coached
in the NFL, but he went from Michigan to the
National Football League? Does that make Michigan a stepping stone job?
Like we're talking about highly aspirational figures here and and
just obscene amounts of money. And I think as long
as you have those two things, you're never gonna have
many gigs where the you know, the the coach is

(06:25):
going to be viewed as somebody who stays forever. I
also think, like we when it comes to coaches. We're
still thinking about coaching and stability and very antiquated, you
know terms I'll use. You see basketball as a reference.
Bob Huggins and Mick Cronin spoiled us because you see
basketball at two coaches in thirty years. That's not normal.

(06:48):
That's that's not normal, and it's not going to be normal.
If Wes ever gets the program humming, he's gonna get
interest and chances are he's going to go somewhere. And
so I I what would piss me off as an
old Miss fan, and is we've got a shot to
compete for a national championship and now you're gonna go.
And maybe that's not Lane Kiffin's fault, and maybe that's

(07:08):
not Florida's fault or LSU's fault. But again, I never
want to hear about how the players are ruining the
sport because they could just go wherever they want any time.
When you have a coach who may abandon his team
that has a chance to win a national.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Championship trying to and waiting for Joe Burrow to come
to the podium, he's already five minutes late at a
press conference. Guaranteed human Joe Burrow quickly, your thoughts on
u S last night. What was your biggest takeaway?

Speaker 2 (07:38):
I don't think I had one. They won a game
by thirty points that I thought they would win by
thirty points. I guess my bigger takeaway, Look, the skyline
Chili Crosstown shootout is fast approaching. I think a lot
of folks viewed that as an inevitability that you see
is going to be xavier. I don't think it is anymore.

(08:00):
I think it's a fifty to fifty game. I think
it's a fifty to fifty game because number one, UC's
got to get Bob and Miller back on the court.
It feels like there's a very distinct possibility that he
will be back on the court next Friday. But I
think he is their best player right now. I think
he's their biggest difference maker. But there's been nothing overwhelming

(08:21):
league and Wes Miller has I just I heard you
play the postgame comments from last night. He's trying to
be overwhelmingly positive, and I get it. I don't blame
him because the fan base is a little jaded right now.
He's swimming up stream when it comes to just fans
kind of being on board with his program right now.
They did lose a game to a really good Louisville team,

(08:42):
but they lost a game on Friday. But their performances
I don't think have made you feel like, holy crap,
this team wants big twelve play gets here is going
to be able to take off. And I certainly don't
think they've played well enough for anybody to take the
Skyline Chilli Crosstown shootout for granted. And then you look
at the improvement that Xavier has made from what they
were doing when they played Le Moyne and then obviously

(09:03):
the Santa Clara game and to a degree the end
of the first half against Iowa to how they've played since.
I was talking about this with somebody at u SEE
last night, like they're running really good stuff. There's a
talent gap, there's a talent limitation. But that's always the
game that before it happens, it's like, all right, well,
who's gonna win the shootout? Who's gonna win the shootout?
U See does not have history on its side. That

(09:24):
was a game that I think for months people have
looked at it and said, this is going to be
the year where you see wins at Sinta Center, and
they may. And my guess is they're going to be favored.
And if you made me pick who's going to win
a game and put a gun to my head, which
would be weird, I would say Cincinnati. But I don't
know that anybody should feel as sure about that outcome
as they did a month ago. And if the Bearcats

(09:45):
do lose that game, oh it's I just I know
what it's gonna sound like. I know what it's gonna
sound like. So that game next Friday, to me is
fascinating for a thousand different reasons.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
We're a couple of days away from Thanksgiving. Do you
have a signature dish that you make at Thanksgiving that
you are responsible for?

Speaker 2 (10:09):
No? No, no no.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
Do you are you involved at all in the making
of the Thanksgiving lunch or dinner?

Speaker 2 (10:16):
No? Not really? No, okay, no, there's nothing I'm really
I did. I smoked the turkey a couple of years
ago because I like to smoke stuff, right cigars, I
smoked the turkey, but usually that's my wife, my mother
in law. What I will tell you is this, my
mom moved to Nevada a couple of years ago. Yeah,

(10:37):
and every year I talk about to the people I
like that I eat Thanksgiving with they get mad at
me because all I do is talk about how much
I miss my mom's stuffing. My mom's stuffing is the
greatest of all time. There you go, greatest of all time.
And uh so I wish she would make some put
it on like dry ice and ship it here or
drive it here. But no, I'm I'm not really responsible

(10:59):
for I'm response the Thanksgiving Morning mimosas.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
Oh, okay, interesting, So you're not running a turkey trot
or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
Absolutely not. I support everybody who is running in this
year's Thanksgiving Day race. That is terrific. But I like
a good holiday breakfast cocktail. Okay, sure, so that's that's
I'm kind of responsible for those. I'll do tequila sunrise.
I can make a good bloody Mary.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
When's the last time I went for a run?

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Oh? Like like like running from a to b, like
running on a treadmill, like either treadmill this summer. Okay,
we have treadmills in the main floor of our building
at work. The last time I went for a run.

Speaker 3 (11:41):
Yeah, like outside? You know, you threw the shorts on
you laced them up. You're like, I'm gonna go run. However,
long twenty twelve thirteen in Wow, Okay, can I tell
you about the time I almost hit Tom Coughlin as
much as time as you'd like to take as we
wait for Joe Burrow.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
All right, So the Bengals are playing the Giants in
twenty twelve and the cold is cold out. I lived
on I lived at eight fifteen Elm. I could say
it now because I don't live there downtown, yeah, And
I had spent the night somewhere and so Sunday morning,
I wake up at like six thirty seven o'clock and

(12:24):
I'm like fumbling for something. I don't know what I
was doing. But there's a little lot next to the
place I lived in and I go to turn in
it and I like, jam on the brakes and I'm like,
holy crap, I must hit that dude. And it was
New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin out for a
morning run. I just rolled down the window as he

(12:45):
ran a wi. I was sorry about that, coach, and
he waved wow. And then I think the Bengals won
that game that day.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
They did. There was a lot of snow if I'm
not mistaken. But yeah, I remember.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
That he was out running at like a Giants like giant,
like a Giants hoodie or long sleeve shirt on. And uh.
But the I can't say the last time I went
for a run. It's been it's been a while.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
There was a similar thing that happened to me once
before a Bengals Sunday night game. I think it was
they hosted the Steelers on a Sunday night and my
dad and I were walking around downtown getting ready for
the game, you know, tailgating and all that, and this
car nearly hit us as we were crossing the street,

(13:27):
slammed on its brakes, whipped around us.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
It was Ray maul Luga. Oh wow, on his way
lots of questions about that.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
On his way into the stadium, license plate said sting
Ray r E.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Y Uh.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
But yeah, And I'm sure there's plenty of Ray mal
Luga's stories similar out there from people in this area.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
When I first met my wife, his name came up.
Oh boy, and again this is many. I met my
wife thirteen years ago and she said to me, oh,
we met Ray mal Luga. They were at a bar
like a club her and her friends. Ray mal Luga
comes over and brings a bottle Oh boy, and drinks
it with them and then left, didn't pay for it.

(14:12):
Oh okay, Ray mal Luga, I think has reconfigured his life.
He has. Yes, I was about to say that, and
and so good for him for doing that, because it
felt like for a while his life needed to be reconfigured.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
We have we have Joe Burrow at the post. Let's
go to Joe Burrow.

Speaker 6 (14:29):
Human When when you got hurt, were you told this
would be a three month process?

Speaker 4 (14:34):
And obviously you cut it down?

Speaker 7 (14:37):
Yeah, you know, originally it was twelve weeks and then
you know, we'll start to talk about it. But just
like with any injury, you start to learn more about
it and start to ask questions about things you can
and can't do. You know, what do we have to
avoid in certain time periods post surgery And it's kind

(14:58):
of take it as it.

Speaker 8 (14:59):
Goes, creative to cut that time down there.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
Yeah, yeah, I guess you could say that. I think.

Speaker 7 (15:09):
Number one, I have a physical therapist and Nick and
trainers mainly Matt that really understood what stress, the repair,
what we could and couldn't do in certain time periods,
and so we push it within the limits of what
we could do and kind of just based it on

(15:32):
how how I was feeling, how I was recovering, how
it looked the next day after we push it and
just went from there.

Speaker 9 (15:38):
I was last week for.

Speaker 10 (15:39):
You getting multiple full practices and doing that for the
first time.

Speaker 7 (15:43):
Yeah, it was. It felt good. I needed it. It
felt good to get some live reps, both Scott team
and first team. And I think that will serve me
well this week, having a full week where you know
you're expecting to play and you're going through your preparation

(16:04):
like like you're gonna play and then it doesn't happen.
So but it's good to have that under your belt
to then go into this week where you're not going
to get a ton of full speed reps because it's
a Thursday night against the team that played a million times.
And uh, I think that will service was the.

Speaker 10 (16:22):
Unknown last week as you're pushing I think to play
and you don't know if it's going to happen or not.

Speaker 9 (16:27):
Yeah, that's in that situation.

Speaker 7 (16:29):
Yeah, I've been I've been in that spot before, and
you know, trust the decision makers and trust the medical
people and everybody that was involved in the decision making,
and you know, I thought we made a good decision and.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
Now this week will be red up ready to go.

Speaker 11 (16:45):
Jude, just to be clear, you're playing on starting on Thursday, correct,
Like that's okay. You said that this would be very
meaningful to come back on Thanksgiving. Why does this carry
so much meaning to come back with this game specifically?

Speaker 4 (16:57):
Number one, it's a division game.

Speaker 7 (17:00):
I got a lot of respect for the people on
the opposite side of the ball, but when you play
people twice a year, it's you. You get tired of them,
you don't like them. It's a division rivalry. You got
respect for him, but it's intense out there. It's something
I wanted to be out there for playing on Thanksgivings,
something I've always wanted to do that I pushed for

(17:25):
in the past, and the NFL gave it to us,
and then you know, the injury happened and thought I
wasn't gonna be able to play, and then as we
got closer, I you know, felt like it was a
real possibility. So that's exciting to me. And it's a
national stage to go out and improve yourself again after
not playing for several weeks, and every opportunity that you

(17:47):
get to to go improve all the hard work that
you've put in, the type of player you are is
something that I try to take advantage of.

Speaker 11 (17:55):
Your second Thanksgiving Day game correct with at lsu A
M was Thanksgiving card?

Speaker 7 (18:00):
Maybe I don't quite, I don't really, I don't. I
don't remember if it was Thanksgiving or not. I don't
remember playing on Thanksgiving before, but.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
Could could be.

Speaker 8 (18:09):
But what what do you like about?

Speaker 2 (18:11):
What?

Speaker 5 (18:11):
What?

Speaker 8 (18:12):
What's so meaningful about that day? Specifically?

Speaker 5 (18:14):
Like?

Speaker 8 (18:14):
Why have you always liked to want to play in
this sad?

Speaker 7 (18:18):
I think just like a lot of kids, you you
grow up going through Thanksgiving, You have your meals with
your family, and then you go and stay on the
couch and typically there's not a lot on except football.
Back in the day it was Lions and somebody. You
go watch Matthew Stafford throw for three hundred four hundred

(18:39):
some yards with Calvin Johnson and probably lose the game,
but it was fun to watch.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
You know, those are memories.

Speaker 7 (18:49):
That you have, and so I kind of always wanted
to be the person out there.

Speaker 6 (18:53):
You've You've done some really cool things in your career is.
Are you able to just appreciate how cool it is
to come back from me? You're on a prime time
thanks to the game that particularly.

Speaker 4 (19:03):
S Yeah, I think.

Speaker 7 (19:10):
Obviously the winning and the division championships that we've won
are are the most exciting things that that we've done.
But whenever you have an opportunity like this against a
divisional opponent that's one five straight and you're playing on
a on a Thursday night in front of the world,

(19:32):
that's a that's an exciting opportunity.

Speaker 12 (19:34):
When did you make us your id regardless of what
this team's record is or was going to be, that
you were going to come back.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
As soon as it happened, I was.

Speaker 7 (19:43):
I was pushing to do everything that we could to
try to get back on the field.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
I'm a football player.

Speaker 7 (19:51):
I get paid a lot of money to go and
play a game with my friends, and we work really hard,
and you know, it's intense and there's jobs on the line,
but at the end of the day, it's a game,
and I've worked hard to put myself in this position
and get as healthy as I can be to go
out and play with these guys, and that's something I
wanted to do.

Speaker 12 (20:11):
What are your thoughts when people say you're the franchise,
you're the most important player, important age, and you should
be protected.

Speaker 9 (20:20):
For next year and going forward beyond that.

Speaker 7 (20:25):
You understand, Yes, I understand why people feel that way,
But if you look at it from my perspective, I'm
a football player, and if I get hurt, I'm going
to go through the rehab process, and then I'm going
to let everybody know when I feel like I can

(20:47):
go out there and play. I don't really know what
else to say about that. I'm not gonna ever go
to somebody and say, yeah, I'm healthy, but you know,
I don't think I don't think I should go out
there and play. That doesn't make a lot of sense
to me. I'm not gonna live my life and play

(21:07):
this game scared of something happening, like, yeah, something's gonna happen.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
It's football.

Speaker 7 (21:14):
Guys are gonna get hurt, Guys are gonna get concussions.
You're gonna break bones, tear ligaments. It's a physical, intense game.
That's that's part of this. And yeah, I've had injuries.
There's not a lot I can do about that. I
work really hard to have that not happen. But what
I can do is when it does happen, I can

(21:34):
control how I'm attacking my rehab and attacking practice and
doing everything in my power to get back as quickly
as possible.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
That's what I did.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
I'll change anything about the way you play, like extending
plays and being cautious with that, or you're out there
and you're just gonna play the way you play.

Speaker 4 (21:50):
We'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 7 (21:52):
I think I'm feeling I'm feeling good, good enough to
go out there and move and and extend. Obviously pick
my spots when to do that and when not to,
but I feel confident that in certain moments I'll be.

Speaker 5 (22:06):
Able to do that.

Speaker 13 (22:07):
Sunday probably tough loss for you to have to sit
back and watch, but I mean with Pittsburgh losing as well,
really didn't lose any ground in the division race. So
at this point in time, you know, if you guys
are able to win out, probably a pretty good chance
that you could still get in.

Speaker 8 (22:21):
Are you confident that you guys can run the table
down stretch?

Speaker 7 (22:24):
I think we just got to take you one game
at a time. I think, yeah, like you said, we
have to win every game at this point. The only
way that you're going to do that is by attacking
each week like you have to be want to know
that week and then move one on the next.

Speaker 9 (22:39):
How hard has it?

Speaker 10 (22:41):
I know, the rehab and the injury and all of
those things, but watching the team go through what they've
gone through over the past ten games or nine games
about you, how hard does it?

Speaker 5 (22:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (22:50):
It's always tough when when you're not out there and
you can't contribute to when you're losing on the field.
That's typically the hardest about this whole thing. So yeah,
it was tough. It was tough to watch from my position. Obviously,
I want to be out there with everybody, so that's

(23:10):
part of it.

Speaker 6 (23:11):
How much have you picked Blacko's brain and tried to
learn from him?

Speaker 5 (23:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (23:15):
I think whenever you have a guy that's played that long,
you can, especially a guy that plays so much differently
than you do, you can you ask him what he
thought in this situation or how how would you react
to this or that? And he's played a long time

(23:36):
and played at a high level. So that's something that
I did take advantage of.

Speaker 11 (23:41):
Going back to the earlier question about play style in general,
just not even injury related, but just having been through
it and once you get back to full strength fully,
is there something that you thought about maybe I'd like
to play.

Speaker 8 (23:51):
A little bit differently. Have you assessed how you might
like to play as a quarterback?

Speaker 14 (23:55):
Verboard?

Speaker 8 (23:55):
Does that change at all? Given what happened with this injury?

Speaker 7 (23:58):
You think about a lot of different things when number one,
you have time to think about them, and you know,
you watch a lot of games across the league and
you see who's playing well, who's not, what's working schematically?

Speaker 4 (24:10):
What isn't You evaluate everything?

Speaker 12 (24:14):
Joe, what's been your impression of the running game the
last month, month and a half and how instrumental.

Speaker 9 (24:19):
Can that be and kind of helping you ease your
way back here.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
Yeah, we gotta keep building on that.

Speaker 7 (24:23):
That's been that's been a positive of everything that's been
going on. I think we've been physical, I think schematically
we've done a lot of things to get an advantage
in that in that realm, and we've got to keep
building on it. Chases gonna run like he runs, He's
gonna make people miss and have explosive plays. He's got

(24:44):
to keep blocking the way that we are in the
run game. And I think that momentum will carry.

Speaker 9 (24:48):
I assume it's fair to say that it is not
one hundred percent. Where would you put it right now?

Speaker 4 (24:52):
It's tough to say.

Speaker 7 (24:53):
I feel I feel confident that I can go out
and do everything that I need to do to win
a game.

Speaker 10 (24:57):
Can you take us through and this is going way
back to the injury, but just take us through the
play where you're looking at Jamar and what was going
on through your mind during that play.

Speaker 9 (25:07):
Obviously you end up getting hurt on.

Speaker 4 (25:09):
Yeah, that was Uh.

Speaker 7 (25:11):
You're trying to get the ball out and some unexpected
things happen that you can't really let it go, and
then pocket starts collapsing and you try to buy a
little time and then I just tried to get myself
up and my foot got calm and then turf so.

Speaker 4 (25:30):
Unlucky.

Speaker 10 (25:31):
Is there anything you could have done differently? I mean,
he's obviously jammed up, it's not free. You're trying to
hit him right away, like quarterback wise, is there anything
that you would have done differently in that moment?

Speaker 7 (25:41):
Hindsight's twenty twenty. You can't you can't play a play
or game or a practice or anything worried about getting
hurt or doing anything like that.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
So there's not anything I would have done differently in that.

Speaker 12 (25:54):
Play safe to say, this is an extremely unique situation
where football It's question is trains moving at a hundred
miles an hour and you're jumping onto a moving train
at one hundred miles an hour. You thought about that
about what you're gonna have to do, not only busy,
get ready and be ready to play at that level.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
Yeah, it's certainly a different.

Speaker 7 (26:17):
Mental space that you have to be in throughout the
week to prepare the way you need to go out
and play great. That's one of the reasons I wanted
to get two full weeks of practice before I went
out there and performed, and then you know, we we
were going to move up that timeline and then obviously

(26:40):
didn't end up playing last week, but you know, preparing
that whole week like I wasn't going to play, I
think putting yourself in that mental state to get back
into the swing of things, it's a it's an intense
place to be at times. So I'm glad I had
that week to feel that before Thursday.

Speaker 6 (27:02):
In twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three, you basically
missed like six weeks of camp and came back and.

Speaker 8 (27:06):
Played, looked about two weeks of practice.

Speaker 9 (27:08):
Did that feel it all similar.

Speaker 6 (27:09):
To this, just in terms of missing a decent chunk
of time and coming back from the limited practice rips.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
Yeah, maybe a little. I think, you know, I think
I've had more practice this year.

Speaker 7 (27:23):
I went through a full training camp, I got preseason reps,
played a game, played another quarter and a half, and
then had two full weeks these last two weeks. So
I think I'm probably in more advantageous spot this time
than that time.

Speaker 4 (27:37):
So I'm happy about that.

Speaker 11 (27:39):
In twenty two, I think after the FL won the division, well,
I think somebody asked you about the window.

Speaker 8 (27:44):
You said, the window is your whole career.

Speaker 11 (27:46):
Has that changed in your mind after what's happened over
the last three years. How much have you thought about
that championship window given what's happened now since you've made
that statement to.

Speaker 4 (27:55):
Now, Yeah, I think anytime.

Speaker 7 (28:00):
Any of us step foot on the field, we are
confident that.

Speaker 4 (28:04):
We can go and be whoever.

Speaker 7 (28:06):
I'm I'll never step on the foot on the field
when I don't think.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
We can win.

Speaker 7 (28:16):
When I don't think that I can go out and
play great and put us in a position to win.
The second that happens, then I shouldn't be playing anymore.
So I'm always confident in myself and my teammates for sure.

Speaker 11 (28:31):
Whether it's this year or next year, whenever, what needs
to happen from here on out to put you all
position to be contending in a position to be pushed
towards the playoffs with better odds.

Speaker 8 (28:40):
Than we all have been this year and last year.

Speaker 7 (28:42):
Players gotta go play great, We gotta go play you know,
we have good coaches. We have There's not there's not
a scheme in the NFL that is so revolutionary that
it's going to completely change the way a player plays
the game. Coaches work really hard and are smart, and

(29:06):
they work a lot of hours to put players in
position to make plays. And at the end of the day,
you have to go make plays and you have to
play great within that system.

Speaker 4 (29:14):
So at the end of the day, players have to
take some accountability and go and play really good.

Speaker 12 (29:24):
Yo, what went into the decision for you not to
play on Sunday?

Speaker 7 (29:28):
A lot of things, A lot of things. At the
end of the day, it was Zach's decision. You know,
we went into that week. I had a good workout
early in the week. I was feeling good, and Wednesday, Thursday,
practice happened. I took a lot of reps. My body
was pretty sore, not necessarily in my toe. My toe

(29:50):
feels great, but just the rest of my body being
back out there for so long. And I was confident
that I could get that right in order to play
on Sunday. But Zach ended up thinking that Thursday was
it was better to wait the extra four days.

Speaker 4 (30:07):
And I think that was a good decision.

Speaker 10 (30:08):
So if you said green light, you would have been
prepared to do it correct.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
I would have.

Speaker 9 (30:13):
But I'm not trying to put you against I got you,
I gotch it.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
Yeah, it was at the end of the day, it
was head coaches call Joe and these final six games
back here.

Speaker 15 (30:25):
Sorry, is there anything you hope to prove to yourself
well to the outside world in these final six games.

Speaker 7 (30:31):
I actually want to go and play well. I want
to go and win games. That's what that's what we
try to do. Go make plays, get my guys the ball.
I just want to go and play well.

Speaker 9 (30:41):
How much how much did you miss it.

Speaker 7 (30:44):
Yeah, you are, you miss it, You miss a lot.
You know, It's it's tough to be in those situations.
M hm, but I've been in that spot before. It's uh,
the first time is typically the hardest, and then second
time a little less hard, but still hard, and then

(31:05):
third time you're like, come on, guys, like.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Maybe we could stop doing this to me.

Speaker 5 (31:10):
But we got through it.

Speaker 4 (31:14):
We're back and I'm feeling good about it.

Speaker 10 (31:16):
Vision of apology yesterday seemed bothered by his actions.

Speaker 9 (31:19):
Do you think you'll see a different intensity about him
this week or Thursday night?

Speaker 4 (31:23):
No, He's he's who he is.

Speaker 7 (31:27):
He's an intense, great player that he's gonna go and
do what he does on the field. It's going to
prepare the way that he does, no matter any insinuating circumstances.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
I don't think there's gonna be much different.

Speaker 8 (31:40):
The performances you and Lamar have had against each other.

Speaker 16 (31:43):
It's just so rare to see intra division passers like
this year back.

Speaker 8 (31:48):
Manny really never had that inner division.

Speaker 16 (31:50):
Guys saying with Brady, do you acknowledge that might be
a big part of your story someday when it's all
said and done. These these chapters with Lamar and these
numbers that continue to pop up when you guys square off.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
I think obviously everybody sees how great of a player
he is, and how hard he works and how he
improves every single year. Obviously, have a lot of respect
for him and love competing against him.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Thanks you, There you go. Joe Burrow chatting with the
assembled professional football media down there at the venue originally
known as Paul Brown Stadium, Bengals getting set for a
Thanksgiving night tilt against the Baltimore Ravens. Joe Burrow good
to go for Thursday evening, a game you'll hear live

(32:40):
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Now we're at Oakley Green's. Things
are kind of fluid. We are awaiting a Jamar Chase
press conference. This is expected to be his first public
comments since the incident in Pittsburgh where he spit at
Jalen Ramsey, an issue that he addressed on social media
yesterday issuing an apology. The original timeline here got kind

(33:03):
of screwed up. Joe was supposed to talk at two
forty five and then Jamar at three o'clock. So right
now is when Jamar is supposed to be talking or
I guess wrapping up when he talks. But Joe just
got done. We'll hear from Jamar in a few minutes. Meanwhile,
we're here at Oakley Greens, and you know how much
we love Oakley Greens, coming here every single Tuesday. In fact,

(33:25):
Jamar's I look right now is at the podium. Let's
go ahead and hear from the Bengals wide receiver on
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 12 (33:31):
State on Instagram with the apology? Would you like to
expand upon or explain it why he felt the need
to issue the apology.

Speaker 17 (33:41):
Just getting it out, was given a moment to apologize
to everybody, just letting myself get out of control, out
of character, basically messing over my name, organization, NFL and
everybody else associated with me pretty much.

Speaker 11 (33:57):
That though, did you know in the moment that happened,
like what kind of did you did you kind of
what kind of happened in the course of that play
until that led to you can maybe going over the
line up.

Speaker 17 (34:07):
I ain't gonna get all into detailed all that, but
but I know, of course.

Speaker 11 (34:13):
I think one question that people did have is that
you didn't mention Ramsey specifically by name and the apology.
Is there any reason for that if we reached out
to him kind of Has there been any you know,
conversations with jail or about what happened?

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Uh?

Speaker 17 (34:24):
No, we don't have no conversations and nothing like that.
I ain't got nowhere to get in contact with him.

Speaker 18 (34:29):
So what are these?

Speaker 9 (34:32):
What are these?

Speaker 11 (34:33):
What have you thought about being away from facility over
these last seven days and kind of processing everything that's
happened this season you've had up to this point.

Speaker 8 (34:39):
What have you thought about in the time of way you.

Speaker 17 (34:41):
Have thinking about everything at that time? You know what
I'm saying. So, but it wasn't really one thing I'm
thinking about. I'm just gonna watch the game, just worry
about my you know what's I can't contract the end
of the day. That's what I'm worry about for real.

Speaker 10 (34:57):
How hard was Sunday can't watching?

Speaker 17 (35:00):
It wasn't hard watching the game at the end of
the day. It was just I guess I could finally
say I know how Cincinnati fans feel watching the game.
It was a little nerve racking for me. Usually when
I'm in the game it's not nerve racking, but watching
it. It was for me.

Speaker 12 (35:15):
Yeah, do you worried this is something that I follow
you for a long time?

Speaker 9 (35:20):
What might the suspension? What led to it?

Speaker 17 (35:25):
No, I could care less for him.

Speaker 9 (35:29):
Is there something you want to prove this week? Or
is it gonna take longer to prove that that's not
you that?

Speaker 5 (35:33):
I mean?

Speaker 9 (35:33):
Do you go out there with a different.

Speaker 17 (35:35):
At the end of the day, I don't really have
nothing to prove of who I am. I mean, either
you like me or you don't. I could care less.
I'm still gonna go for that end of the day.
I got kids, I got people to take care of,
so I can really care less. So I'm going out
there and be the same player I am, you know
what I'm saying, and play football. That's at the end
of the day. Ain't nobody gonna stop me from who
I am.

Speaker 9 (35:55):
How do you how do you kind of.

Speaker 8 (35:59):
Recalibrates how to tow that line?

Speaker 11 (36:01):
I mean, you've been really passionate, You've gotten it up
with guys before. I never went across it, but when
you did on Sunday, have you kind of thought about
the way to how to maybe toe that line though
you went through us.

Speaker 17 (36:12):
How is that kind of a all, like I say,
is is limits when stuff happens. You know what I'm saying,
there's limits, and it's a mono limits people can control
and they gonna allow. So so, like I said about that.

Speaker 12 (36:26):
Really was his support, not only exact that everybody in
the locker room to you and getting through what it's
obviously been a pretty tumultou.

Speaker 17 (36:39):
You know, I really didn't have no conversation with nobody
because I couldn't. But when I got back, everybody's you know,
pretty much you know, cheer me on, just go out
on back and let's get back to work, you know.
So it was a lot of positivity going around. So
the only person that really had a chance to just
text me was like Tee, you know what I'm saying,
checking up.

Speaker 4 (36:57):
On me, Jamar.

Speaker 7 (36:58):
You and Joe we are having different comebacks and swords
on Thursday night.

Speaker 4 (37:01):
How excited are you to play with him on Thursday?

Speaker 17 (37:04):
It's good to have him back, you know what I'm saying.
I'm happy I got my friend back back out there.

Speaker 5 (37:08):
Glad he back.

Speaker 17 (37:09):
I know he's excited for it. What not a better
game for him to come back and show what he
could do?

Speaker 10 (37:13):
Did you think he was gonna play last week, like
from Afar when you're launching where you're like, man, he's gonna.

Speaker 9 (37:18):
Come back and I'm not gonna be there.

Speaker 17 (37:20):
No, Nah, you didn't buy it. Nah, I didn't. I
ain't a lie. I don't. I don't think he I
know he wanted to play, but I don't think it
was time though. But it's still okay though, you know
what I'm saying, thing it's health over wealth?

Speaker 4 (37:33):
Is it time now?

Speaker 17 (37:35):
I hope it's tom Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
It's been a minute, and that gave him another week
to relax and get himself back up under him. So
it's leg should be feeling good. He should be feeling good,
and he should be ready.

Speaker 11 (37:47):
If we had asked you last Thursday, if Joe should
have played Sunday, what would you have said.

Speaker 17 (37:54):
I could say, can he play?

Speaker 5 (37:56):
Yes?

Speaker 17 (37:57):
Would he play? I don't know.

Speaker 11 (37:58):
So you've been pretty vocal in the past with the cacker, like, listen,
he needs to I'd like him to take some time,
maybe percent and he's still played anyways, How do you
feel like he's grown in that regard in terms of
maybe no one when to push when not to push
and listening that when other people say, hey, you know,
it might be best it takes some extra time.

Speaker 17 (38:18):
At the end of the day, it don't really matter
what everybody else had to say about what his situation is,
because it's a him thing that feels everything that's going
on within his body.

Speaker 5 (38:27):
So you have the.

Speaker 17 (38:29):
Doctors tell him it's amount of weeks that's going on
and if he could play after those weeks up at
the end of the day's still up to him on
if his his body feels good enough to be in
a physical game like that.

Speaker 4 (38:38):
You know how important? How important is it?

Speaker 5 (38:41):
Do you have?

Speaker 2 (38:42):
The numb bold professional football media? As the Bengals get
set to take on the Baltimore Ravens, a team that
Jamar Chase cooked last year and now the Bengals didn't
win either game, but Jamar had four hundred and fifty
seven yards and five touchdowns in the two games against
Baltimore last season Bengals and Ravens on Thursday, and by

(39:03):
the way, Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton both returning to
Ravens practice in Baltimore today, certainly on top of Joe
Burrow's return and Jamar Chase obviously we've been paying attention
to that as well. Pregame cover John Thanksgiving begins at
four o'clock. There's a lot to get to between now.
At six o'clock we are at Oakley Greens. We'll try

(39:24):
to make some money on college and pro football when
we come back on ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 19 (39:33):
Is fifteen thirty w CKBA Satty, the fifty thousand, Orange
and black home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 20 (39:39):
Cincinnati's esp went fifteen thirty.

Speaker 19 (39:42):
From the ESPN fifty. Joe Burrow is back and he
plays here on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official Hall of
the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (39:54):
All right, twenty nine away from four o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. We are broadcasting today from oak By
the way, this is the best setup we have right
now in remote radio broadcast. No table, just got a couch,
I got a Christmas tree here, We've got holiday lights,
we've got cold beer. This is my last show. I'm

(40:14):
not working tomorrow, and so we're starting the afternoon with
some Thanksgiving cheer. By the way, when you come to
Oakley Greens, we've got our QR code. This is the
greatest prize in the history of radio, where we're giving
away a power recliner, a fifty five inch television, a
TV stand that heats, an end table with a speaker
in an area rug. All you gotta do is scan

(40:36):
to win. We'll draw the winner in two weeks. Is
from SIMS Furniture, and you've got to come to Oakley
Greens while we're here, or you could stop by any
of the Greater Cincinnati any of the greater Cincinnati area.
Good God, it's gonna be a long afternoon, any of
the Greater Cincinnati areas SIMS Furniture stores. So get the
QR code that gentleman right there did and you could

(40:58):
sign up. We'll draw the winner into We're here at
Oakley Greens. We have a lot on the Bengals. We
have a lot of ground to cover today, but we
have a lot of people to talk to, including our
friend Lee Sterling, who's going to help us make some
money this weekend. He joins us next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 21 (41:13):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 22 (41:16):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center u See Health's
Epilepsy Center is leading the way toward better days for
people with epilepsy with access to clinical trials from leading neurologists.
Expect more at u S Health dot com. Westbound Fort
Washington Way after seventy one to three lanes are blocked
off from an accident on northbound seventy five at Town.

(41:38):
The Luck lane blocked from a crash with a fifteen
minute to lay back from Mitchell an eastbound two seventy
five accident approaching three mile on at eazelic with traffic.

Speaker 23 (41:48):
This report is I'm.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
From four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. It's Tuesday,
so we're broadcasting from Oakley Greens. Now. Thursday is Thanksgiving.
There's games on Thursday. Lee Sterling, who just spends like
his entire existence watching games, gathering information and making money

(42:09):
making picks, even he has time for family on Thursday.
And so what we decided to do is have Lee
join us today. Lee's website. He's the greatest handicapper in
the United States of America Paramount sports dot com. He
usually joins us on Thursdays, but he's with us today.

Speaker 24 (42:24):
Lee.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
It's good to have you. How are you.

Speaker 25 (42:27):
I'm good except for my Twitter slash x got hacked
or should I say hijacked last week? So day number
five of the hijacking and.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
The dam I got from you I should ignore.

Speaker 25 (42:40):
Yeah, yeah there was a d M yet, But to
vote for me on a Spotify, Apple podcast or something, yeah, yeah,
so definitely don't click on that link.

Speaker 5 (42:51):
I must have clicked on something.

Speaker 25 (42:53):
I got a lecture for my two daughters, you know,
but I'm not entirely sure that I clicked on something.
Who knows, And maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I'm
not going to admit to it.

Speaker 26 (43:05):
So it's just it's frustrating.

Speaker 25 (43:08):
You know, one of those things you can't You can't
call a number and get a live person on the phone.
You got to write emails and you know, depending on
the person that hijacked it, you know, could take anywhere.

Speaker 5 (43:18):
From two days to two months.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Right, yeah, Well, what I would just do is try
to get a hold of Elon Musk. Let's look at
some of these games this weekend.

Speaker 25 (43:27):
Yeah, all right, go ahead, Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
All right. My my Bearcats are in free fall, winding
down the regular season on the road at TCU. They're
getting points. Can the Bearcats avoid a fourth consecutive loss.

Speaker 25 (43:42):
Here's what I would do, you got to do something different.
You got to change it up. I would go up,
try to get plays off eight ten seconds, and you
got to hit on some big plays.

Speaker 5 (43:52):
And on defense.

Speaker 25 (43:53):
You can't leave the defense out there that long.

Speaker 5 (43:55):
Obviously special teams weren't good.

Speaker 14 (43:59):
That was a problem the kicker all of a sudden.

Speaker 5 (44:01):
I mean, how does that happen?

Speaker 25 (44:03):
Two years of being almost perfect. So I think they're
right there. You know, it's all in their mind, and
I think they're more talented than TCU. I'm taking the
four and a half World team favorite Bearcats get off
the schneide here, thirty five, thirty one.

Speaker 2 (44:18):
All right, very good. I like you talked about streaks
that people want to end. Ohio State and Michigan. The
Buckeyes are on the road, big favorites against the Wolverines.
Does Ryan Day get off the snide against Ohio State's
arch rival.

Speaker 5 (44:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 25 (44:34):
Michigan's style is one that is fully capable of giving
Ohio State trouble. Ohio State last year two point six
yards per kerry allowed from their defense. This year the
same two point six, but I think they're better this year.
They give up one hundred and seventy two yards rushing.
I think they're going to force Michigan to throw the
football here. Michigan's best running back, Justice Haines, will not

(44:55):
play in the game. The other two guys that looks
like will play at their backup, but I don't think
they're in games league here. Michigan really hasn't faced many
great offenses, only one real good defense in Oklahoma, and
they lost that game twenty four to thirteen. And they
were even plus two win turnovers in that game, but
they got upstated.

Speaker 5 (45:14):
For a weight to too eighty eight here.

Speaker 25 (45:16):
I just think the three headed monster at receiver is
just gonna be too much for Michigan. Here, it's gonna
be tight for a while. Ohio State pulls away thirty
one sixteen.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
Very good. Lee Sterling Paramount sports dot Com, the greatest
handicapper in the United States of America, makes his money
every single week. Thanksgiving Night, the Bengals playing on Thanksgiving
for the first time since twenty ten on the road.
Joe Burrow is back. They're getting a touchdown against Baltimore.

Speaker 25 (45:43):
Yep, good move last week not playing him.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
Think you waited a few extra days?

Speaker 25 (45:49):
Ravends just boring. I mean, he would think they'd win,
but winning it with defense here, but obviously Lamar Jackson
not one hundred percent. He's afraid. You can tell to
run the ball. And that's where they're at their best.
They're attacking, and they're just not attacking right now. Might
be a couple of weeks we'll see, you know how
much the Bengals attack here their starts, if they're deep

(46:15):
fans place you know, sixt last week, I think they'll
get the job done here.

Speaker 5 (46:19):
I think seven points is too much.

Speaker 25 (46:21):
Give me the Bengals here for the shocker. All Cincinnati weekend,
All Ohio weekend Bengals twenty seven.

Speaker 2 (46:30):
Wow, how about that? At least Sterling Paramount sports dot
Com picking the Bengals on the money line on Thursday night. Yeah,
all right, your game of the week. You talk about
a team that feels like it's in free fall. Pittsburgh
getting points against Buffalo.

Speaker 25 (46:50):
Yep, game for both is also dominated on last Thursday night.

Speaker 5 (46:56):
We'll see if they.

Speaker 26 (46:56):
Can bounce back.

Speaker 25 (46:58):
I mean, there's some great games this week and lead Chicago.
He also on Thursday eighty Dallas, Detroit, Green Bay college
games galore.

Speaker 5 (47:08):
You want to get this weekend biggest weekend.

Speaker 25 (47:10):
Ever, what we call it is it's a Turkey shootout,
World famous Turkey shootout. Fifteen games from Thursday all the
way through Sunday.

Speaker 5 (47:19):
Just how about this?

Speaker 25 (47:20):
Not too ninety seven or one ninety seven, just ninety
seven dollars and a very rare forty to fifty unit
max wager goes. We're seventy four and thirty one on
our max wager forty to fifty unit play, so just.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Ninety seven dollars.

Speaker 25 (47:34):
We've had one fourteen to one record on it before,
some thirteen and twos, twelve and three, eleven and four
records on these fifteen game You want to get on it?

Speaker 5 (47:43):
Just one place, Paramount sports dot com.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Paramount sports dot com, our guy Lee Sterling. We'll talk
next week. Happy Thanksgiving, Thanks everything, man, Appreciate.

Speaker 5 (47:53):
You to buddy. Okay, be safe.

Speaker 2 (47:55):
That's our guy, Lee Sterling from Paramount sports dot com.
Make some money this weekend and then ven molee so
he can go buy a new phone. It is nineteen
away from four o'clock. We're at Oakley Greens. One of
America's greatest college football writers is going to join us
to talk about some games this weekend in the future
of the sport, which good luck with that, Bill Connolly,

(48:15):
ESPN Next, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 21 (48:19):

Speaker 27 (48:23):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 22 (48:26):
U SEE Health's Epilepsy Center is leading the way toward
better days for people with epilepsy with access to clinical
trials from leading neurologists. Expect more at u sehealth dot com.
Westbound Fort Washington Way after seventy one to three lanes
are blocked off from an accident on northbound seventy five
at Town. The left lane blocked from a crash with

(48:46):
a fifteen minute delay back from Mitchell an eastbound two
seventy five accident approaching three mile. I'm at eazelic with traffic.

Speaker 23 (48:54):
This report is sponsors other places.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Lot here. We're just wondering if they're going to sign
college for We are at Oakley Greens. It's thirteen away
from four o'clock. ESPN fifteen thirty. We'll spend some time
on the Bearcats, as you see gets set to go
to Fort Worth on Saturday to try to avoid a
fourth consecutive loss, and many of us are still salty

(49:19):
about the game, about the way the game on Saturday
night play it Out, and many looking ahead to this
weekend rivalry weekend in college football Ohio State at Michigan.
We have for years referenced the work of Bill Connolly,
who is a college football writer for ESPN. We always
use his SMP plus metrics sometimes in referencing picks and

(49:40):
betting and just you know, predictive metrics, that sort of stuff.
And I have followed Bill's work for years. He also
has written a book, and it's a really, really good read.
It's one of the best sports books I've read. Forward Progress,
The Definitive Guide to the Future of College Football. And
if you're into college football, if certainly you understand that
the sport is night and day from what it was heck,

(50:03):
just six seven years ago. And Bill does a really
good deep dive into things that may happen, things that
will happen, and in some cases, things that should happen
moving forward, as they may shape college football into the
next decade. Bill is kind enough to give us a
few minutes this afternoon. It's good to have you, Bill,
How are you very good?

Speaker 5 (50:23):
How about you?

Speaker 2 (50:24):
I'm well. You took on a little bit of a
task here that I think is interesting writing about the
future of this sport. Let me ask you this because
I hear all the time, whether it's nil, the portal,
the expansion of the playoff conference, real alignment, private equity
buying into college football conferences. I hear people say, well,
college football has been ruined. And my take as always, well,

(50:45):
Saturdays feel the same. Saturdays are awesome Saturday, and ann
Arbor is going to be incredible. Saturdays at Nippert's Stadium
are awesome, maybe not as awesome as they were four
years ago. The stadiums are full, the TV ratings are great.
What do you think what comes to mind when someone
says college football has been ruined?

Speaker 28 (51:02):
Yeah, that was a joke I had in one of
the chapters of the book, just talking about.

Speaker 26 (51:07):
Any stage we don't.

Speaker 28 (51:08):
Like, we declare it is going to kill college football,
and it never does, and college football continues to roll
on and become at least as popular or more popular.
So I do think one of the one of the
things I really wanted to explore in there was was
look at warning signs, like you know, things are you
can't find any discernible hints that this is about to
destroy the sport.

Speaker 26 (51:29):
Well, what has destroyed other.

Speaker 28 (51:31):
Sports made what caused Nascar to you know a little
bit of a downfall, Why did baseball become less popular?
And just kind of look at some of the sports
boxing that were really, really really big and are still
plenty popular now but aren't as popular they don't have
as much money going in, so, you know, just try
to look at the warning signs there and create a
checklist of sorts of things we should probably avoid.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
One thing. And you've made the case for for a
while for college football to have a commissioner. You've lobbied
for it in Colins, you've written the past. This is
one of the things you touch on in the books.
Maybe not a commissioner, but is it realistic to expect
that there's an actual human being who's kind of put
in charge of the sport and tasked with making decisions

(52:13):
in college football's best interests, and not just one or
two conferences or one or two television networks.

Speaker 5 (52:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 28 (52:20):
I mean, we've seen plenty of sports that have a
commissioner in place, and that commissioner don't do a very
good job and things get a lot worse.

Speaker 26 (52:26):
But it feels like the only thing worse than that
is just.

Speaker 28 (52:28):
Not having one, because then by default, the senior power,
most powerful conference commissioner ends up being basically in charge
of the sport.

Speaker 26 (52:39):
Except they're in charge, they're always going to.

Speaker 28 (52:41):
Make decisions based on self interest and it just becomes
a race, you know, a money race like everything else does.
And and that cannot help everybody else. It's the Big
ten and s here just trying to vacuum up whatever
they possibly can, uh and and and try to separate
themselves from the rest of the sport. That's not that's
not good. That's not why I don't watch the sport

(53:01):
for financial leverage. I watched it for as many teams
as possible being capable of really big things, and it
feels like we're trying to gate things off a little
bit more than usual.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
So as a University of Cincinnati fan, right, we all
celebrate that they move into the Big twelve, and you
know that on the field there's going to be some
growing pains, and god knows there have been, but it
it it doesn't feel that different from when they were
in the American Athletic Conference in terms of how the
conferences looked at from you know, folks who love the

(53:31):
Big ten or love schools in the Big ten or
the SEC, and I don't see that changing, is it.

Speaker 26 (53:40):
You mean, the way Big ten fans look at the
Big twelve, just.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
The perception of the the perception of the league doesn't
seem like it is what we thought it was going
to be when you see at tainmed membership.

Speaker 28 (53:52):
Right, Yeah, No, I mean that was certainly there are
certain there's a certain number of brands in the sport
and the.

Speaker 26 (53:58):
Big Ten at SEC all the obviously have.

Speaker 28 (54:01):
Most of them that are are guaranteed to occupy TV
ratings and everything and everybody else is kind of left
to them for themselves. And the people who wants the
Big ten or are based in the Big Ten, yeah,
they're never going to. Even if you know, the Big
twelve every single one of those programs became as good
as they were supposed to be. A Big Ten wouldn't
wouldn't pretend that wasn't the case, I guess, But I mean,

(54:22):
all the Big twelve can do is try to put
an awesome product on the field. Texas Tech, is it
looks good enough that you know, not only are they
likely to make the playoff here, they're going to be
capable of winning a couple of games with that defensive
front and the way they're just explosive potential. In general,
the Big twelve makes the most of its opportunities. Then eventually,
you know, you'll basically.

Speaker 26 (54:44):
Whatever they want to or don't want to admit, they're.

Speaker 28 (54:46):
Going to have to accept that the Big twelve can
play a role in national college football.

Speaker 5 (54:51):
So that's all you can really do.

Speaker 26 (54:52):
And I do think there are certain a good number
of programs that are.

Speaker 28 (54:55):
Looking pretty good in the short and long terms, and
obviously pure money has a lot to do with that.
But that's all the Big twelves can do is just
put a really good product on the field, and I
think it's kind of doing it.

Speaker 5 (55:05):
This year.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Bill Connolly is with us his book Forward Progress, The
Definitive Guide to the Future of College Football. Could college
football's future ever include a scenario where we're all okay
with the process that is used to determine which teams
play for a championship?

Speaker 5 (55:24):
Absolutely not.

Speaker 28 (55:25):
That's I'm very definitive on that one.

Speaker 26 (55:28):
We're always going to look for a reason to complain.

Speaker 5 (55:30):
But I do.

Speaker 28 (55:30):
Think, I mean, you know, anytime I get a chance
to advocate for a return of a formula of sorts.

Speaker 26 (55:37):
I do you know that?

Speaker 28 (55:38):
That is something I like to push for because, as
I always say, people didn't hate the BCF formula.

Speaker 26 (55:43):
They hated that the BCS could only choose two teams
and that bar was just too high.

Speaker 28 (55:47):
And so the fact that most of the oxygen in
recent weeks has been taken up by arguing about Notre
Dame in Miami. You know, Miami who has lost two
games in a bad acc and that's the most outrage.

Speaker 5 (55:59):
We can get.

Speaker 28 (56:00):
I figure that's a massive improvement right there. So it
is proof that we're always going to figure out something
to yell about. And I'm guilty of that too, but
now we're going to it doesn't there's no magic format
or even with a formula.

Speaker 5 (56:12):
We still get.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
Mad when when you have been on the losing side
of a rivalry game like Ohio State has been with Michigan.
Right you, on one hand, you could look at your
S and P plus projection, which you have at ESPN
dot com that has Ohio State winning by more than
two touchdowns. Yet there's the emotional part of it right
where it's Ryan Day against Michigan, it's the Wolverines, it's

(56:33):
recent history. So what should Buckeyes fans do with that
fourteen and a half point projection you have for that
game on Saturday.

Speaker 28 (56:41):
Well, I just finished my preview for the week it'll
go up tomorrow, and I kind of as I was
writing it, I cracked myself up because I realized we
have a new thing with both Ohio State and Michigan
and A and m Texas. There's now the role of
unbeaten spoiler, where like OHI said, obviously wants to end
the streak and beat up Michigan because it's just always

(57:02):
you always have to beat Michigan.

Speaker 26 (57:03):
But now they can actually play.

Speaker 28 (57:04):
They're so good that they can play spoiler on Michigan
and make sure that there's no chance of them making
the playoff too.

Speaker 26 (57:11):
So that's kind of funny.

Speaker 28 (57:12):
Usually it's the other way around, it's the lesser team
trying to run the good team's title hopes.

Speaker 26 (57:18):
Now it's a reverse.

Speaker 28 (57:19):
And so in a way, if Ohio State wins this year,
which I bet they do but I'm not bet much,
it really would kind of it'd be like a double win.
You'd finally get the monkey off your back and also
you'd relegate, you know, Michigan to the Capitol One Bowl
or whatever.

Speaker 2 (57:36):
I've enjoyed your work for years, thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Awesome to have you on the show with us.

Speaker 5 (57:40):
Bill, Thank you, absolutely take care.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
That's Bill Connolly, ESPN. His weekly projections and previews available
at espn dot com, and his book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Read it late this summer. Forward Progress, The Definitive Guide
to the Future of College Football. That was a busy hour.
We had a lot there. I think we are clear
till four thirty in terms of guests. I have given
you absolutely nothing to call me about. But our lines

(58:06):
aren't open for the next thirty minutes or so. Five went, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. We have a Joe Burrow playing on Thursday.
I respect the hell out of Joe Burrow. Like to me,
there's there's room for multiple truths, there's room for multiple beliefs.
And I'll share with you a bunch of beliefs, and
some of them might be in conflict with each other.

(58:27):
We'll do that as it relates to Joe. Will spend
a little bit more time on the Bearcats coming up
here in just a bit. Amy Wagner in the next
hour on sports and Money, and Dan Klaskins will help
you with fantasy football this weekend as well. We are
at Oakley Greens. We're here till six o'clock tonight, hanging
out on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 19 (58:48):
This year on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official home of
the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
All right, yes, Joe Burrow. In fact, this is ESPA
fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening. We are broadcasting today
from Oakley Greens, where it is Thanksgiving Eve Eve. I
think when you get to like noon, the Tuesday of Thanksgiving,
that's when there's just a total drop in productivity and

(59:17):
people caring, people doing anything remotely productive. And so let's
be honest. If you're working right now, why you're going
through the motions? Okay, you're you're sitting there, you're looking
at just leave, come to Oakley Greens, hang out, get
a nice cold beer. The kitchen is open. The staff
here at Oakley Greens is always accommodating. We're giving away

(59:39):
the fan Cave thanks to us SIMS Furniture. We've had
some folks signed up for that. Today. We're drawing that
in two weeks. But you gotta sign. You gotta scan
the QR code. You can go to SIMS Furniture and
scan the QR code, or you can come here, scan
the QR code and say hi and get a beer.
A gentleman brought me a cigar. You're welcome to do
that if you'd like. That's not required, but it is

(01:00:00):
mostly appreciated. Not mostly, it is entirely appreciated. Most appreciated
is the word I was going to use there. You
might argue. At four o'clock on Tuesday, I'm checked out.
Let's see Amy Wagner in thirty minutes. We got folks waiting,
and so rather than me bloviating about God knows what,
let's talk to some other folks, beginning with Tim. Tim,
you're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Tim, good afternoon. How are you.

Speaker 5 (01:00:25):
I'm good, mo.

Speaker 26 (01:00:26):
How are you?

Speaker 29 (01:00:26):
First time?

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
I'm never aller.

Speaker 29 (01:00:28):
I'm hearing you aloud and clear from Massachusetts.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
Well, it's nice to have you. Thank you for chiming in.
What's on your mind?

Speaker 29 (01:00:36):
Well, I wanted to just check in and see if
there's anything that's not on the table for you for
next off season. For the bangals, And I know the
team's got some cap space coming up, but they have
not drafted well. And I don't know how many picks

(01:01:01):
we have next year either, So like, is there anything
that's not on the table because we haven't drafted well.
But if we don't have many ticks, if we can't
really do much, we can't really see it's a success
rate go up. We don't have a lot of picks
to use. So with something like getting some first rounders

(01:01:23):
for players that we just resigned, is that off the
table for you? Or is it anything.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Goes are you're talking about t Higgins?

Speaker 29 (01:01:31):
Obviously it maybe even number one?

Speaker 5 (01:01:36):
Probably not.

Speaker 29 (01:01:37):
I think that's too much. But if there aren't ticks
coming in, then it's gonna seems like it's just gonna
be more of the same. Especially if Burrow is playing now,
we're probably just gonna get a mid round pick like
last year. It might just be more of the same.
So I'll I'll try to hang up and listen.

Speaker 2 (01:01:56):
Well, Uh, no need to do that. Trading T Higgins
would be on the table for me, because it was
on the table for me moving on from him a
year ago. Like, we're never gonna be able to do this, obviously,
And I love T Higgins and I mean there's a
million reasons why he is a beloved member of this

(01:02:16):
football team and always will be. But a year ago,
at this time, they were moving on. There was at
this time, a year ago, nobody was talking about signing
T Higgins long term. It was a fat accompli, so
to speak, right, they were moving on from him. I
think it would be fascinating, not so much to see
what the team this year would do without T Higgins,
So that obviously would be interesting, but how would have

(01:02:40):
the offseason played out? What would they have done differently?
What would the composition of the roster look like? And
so moving on from Tea, I'm not giving him away,
But you're right, man, Like I need more raffle tickets
in the hopper, right, So the best way to insulate
yourself against your bad rond is to accumulate more draft choices, right,

(01:03:02):
And I don't know that there's any other way to
do that. There's nobody else you're going to trade that's
gonna help you do that. And so it's on the
table for me.

Speaker 29 (01:03:10):
We get a worthy pickup either, you know what I mean? Like, right,
there's not aside from him, you're maybe a centerpiece and
you want to do that. So then like, you know,
what else is there? It doesn't seem like.

Speaker 5 (01:03:23):
There's a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
Yeah, I mean, nobody would be upset of T. Higgins's
on the team next year because he's an excellent player.
But when you are, you've had Tea on the team
for each of the last three years, and barring a
miracle this year, they're not going to make the playoffs,
and any of them you have to examine and be
open to any way that can make your team better

(01:03:45):
and I mean like put them back in the championship
window next year. And so that's on the table for
me in terms of acquiring draft capital, also in terms
of being able to spend that money elsewhere, because if
you're gonna say, well, we're having a hard time in
the draft building our defense, well then you can't say
that next year. The only way we're going to build

(01:04:05):
our defense is via the draft. And so I would
imagine the market would be robust. You would have to
really overwhelm me, like I would have to get something
significant back in return that could that would be you know,
in essence equal to what T Higgins brings to the
table both on and off the field. But if I'm
going through a third consecutive year where I didn't make

(01:04:28):
the playoffs and I have the rebuild on one side
of the ball that the Bengals have in front of them,
and also, by the way, they've got a lot of
their offensive line, it feels like sort of solved. Right.
I think six seven weeks ago we were going, God,
you got to rebuild the defense and you got to
rebuild the offensive line. I'm not so sure there, And
so am I okay with perhaps having to replace a

(01:04:54):
wide receiver If replacing him means it's a lot easier
to rebuild my defense, I'm I'm willing to do that absolutely.

Speaker 29 (01:05:04):
I just think if you're if you are a championship
team trying to make championship aspiration, sometimes you got to
make those big decisions that maybe in the short term
people might say, what the heck's going on? But maybe
you can get some capital coming back and you use
that cap space widely and that in turn, you know,

(01:05:29):
gets them back in a playoff run. Then I'm fine
with that, But they they aren't a team that seemed
to be making those decisions right now. And that's what's frustrating.

Speaker 5 (01:05:39):
Me, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Yeah, what you what you've got to do? Now? You
talk about like the thing they haven't been able to do.
They haven't been able to draft, but they've because they
haven't been able to draft, they've been really bad at
replacing beloved players and important players. By the way, would
T Higgins be here if Jermaine Burton last season did
anything to make you feel like he could replace him?

(01:06:02):
Because I remember when they drafted him, right, right, So
the prevailing logic was, you.

Speaker 29 (01:06:10):
Know, I am with you guys on that he'sn't playing,
and I don't know why he's from. I don't know
what more.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
You want, Well, he's not playing because he doesn't do
anything right. I mean he doesn't. His study habits aren't good,
his punctuality has been an issue. His just overall professionalism
and maturity has been called into question. And look, maybe
he would go somewhere else and would get it. But
but the point is this, they've done a really poor

(01:06:42):
job of replacing players that they have been willing to
say goodbye to. We are still talking about them replacing
Jesse Bates. Heck, you could argue we're still talking about
them replacing Andrew Whitworth, and he left nearly nine years ago.
One of the reasons why maybe it made sense to
keep Trey Hendrickson was they've done a poor job of
replacing him. Miles Murphy the last two games aside hasn't

(01:07:03):
worked out, and so if you let T Higgins go
via trade to accumulate draft capital and clear some space,
you've got to do something you haven't been very good at,
on top of just drafting, replacing good players that you
let walk, because that's been a continual issue, and it
includes T Higgins. Because I believe that I can be
dead wrong about this, we'll never know for sure. Had

(01:07:26):
Jermaine Burton as a rookie done the things you needed
him to do, I think they would have been a
little bit more willing to tell Joe Burrow, Look, we
love T two, but we've got his replacement, and so
we're gonna let him go. Unfortunately, Jermaine Burton hasn't worked out,
didn't work out last year, hasn't worked out this year,
and so his replacement isn't in house. Trey Hendrickson's replacement

(01:07:47):
hasn't really shown that he's in house, and you can
keep saying that Jesse Bates replacement hasn't shown that he's
in house either, and so yeah, I'm with you. Anything
should be on the table. I'm open to it. But
not only do you have to draft better than you have,
You've got to do something that you haven't been able
to do very well recently, and that's replaced a very

(01:08:08):
good player if you let him walk.

Speaker 29 (01:08:11):
I agree, I just don't know if I trust Duke
Coben to do it. That's the ten side of the
coin for me.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
Yeah, I mean, Tim, thank you very much for the
phone call, and I hope we hear from you again.
That's that's the issue, right Like this is this has
bottomed out this year, but last year was also a
dramatic failure because last year, this year you could at
least say what they haven't had Burrow. Last year they
had him for seventeen games and he was awesome. Joe
Burrow last season was he put together the best single

(01:08:41):
season performance of any quarterback in the history of this franchise.
That includes Joe in twenty twenty one, It includes him
in twenty twenty two, It includes Boomer's MVP year. It
includes Kenny Anderson's MVP. Joe was that good, didn't even
make the playoffs in an era where's the postseason and
has never been more watered down. That's a Duke Tobin failure.

(01:09:03):
The issues the team has had defensively this year, that's
a Duke Tobin failure. And so we can discuss and
will discuss all the different draft possibilities, all the different
outcomes with players on the roster right now at the
end of the day, the person in charge of making
those decisions and the person in charge of making this

(01:09:23):
roster not just better, but building a championship roster. While
Joe Burrow is still here, is a guy who's failures
over the last couple of seasons have been profound. It's
Duke Tobin. Like we talk about firing people and you know,
Duke's gotta go, or Zach's gotta go, or Al Golden's
gotta go. And I think often, and I've been guilty

(01:09:45):
of this, I think often that is spoken from like
a place of vengeance, like somebody's gonna pay. It's not
vengeance for me, it's trust. I don't know that I
trust Zach Taylor anymore. I know that I don't trust
Duke Tobin. Right now, Duke Tobin's success is in twenty
twenty one, in twenty twenty two, he deserves credit for them.

(01:10:06):
I don't know that he is going to be able
to build a defense and build a team the way
he built those teams in twenty one and twenty two,
because he's not gonna be able to just blindly throw
money at dudes and overpay him to come. He's gonna
have to draft well, he's gonna have to sign free
agents that might fit within certain budgetary parameters. He's he's
got to figure out a way to take a team

(01:10:26):
that has been wretched on defense over the last couple
of years and make it something that's not wretched. I
don't know that he has been able to earn my
trust to be able to do so, and I think
I speak for a lot of Bengals fans who feel
exactly the same way. But the t Higgins discussion is
fascinating because he is a beloved player and should be

(01:10:48):
and always will be. And if Te's on the team
next season, no one's going to be upset. But if
you understand and acknowledge the massive undertaking on Duke Tobin's hands,
or on the Bengals hands this offseason that I think
you have to be open to any any possible trade,

(01:11:12):
any possible scenario this offseason. That doesn't mean you give
him away, That doesn't mean you give any player away.
It doesn't mean you're you're looking to trade a guy
you know fifty cents on the dollar. But unfortunately, I
think that sort of thing has to be on the table,
specifically from the Bengals perspective, because moving on from T
Higgins has been on the table before, and by the way,

(01:11:34):
when they didn't move on from him, the team still stuck.
Eighteen after four o'clock five point three seven four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number. You can send a
tweet at Moeger thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental is
building healthy, smart, vibrant communities for all good at Delta
dentaloh dot com. Amy Waninger coming up at about fifteen minutes plus.

(01:11:55):
Our friend Dan Klaskins on Fantasy football. At four forty five.
We are here at Oakley Greens. We're hanging out till
six o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 21 (01:12:06):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN.

Speaker 19 (01:12:10):
This is football in the NATI brought to you by
Beltera Casino and Belterra Park on ESPN fifteen thirty, the
official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:12:23):
Guaranteed Human twenty five at four o'clock. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. We're broadcasting from Oakley Greens, which is where
we are every single Tuesday, and it is it's Thanksgiving
Eve Eve. You're at Oakley Greens. By the way. There's
a lot of plays that has a better like holiday
set up here, and what I say, like, there's a
lot of stuff, but it's not like in your face,

(01:12:45):
like if you're the kind of person like I don't
like Christmas, first of all, what's wrong with you? But
I know it's like it's it's cool to kind of
be detachment. I don't like Christmas. Well, not your problem.
But if you're that person, you could still come to
Oakley Greens and acknowledge the holiday setup. But it's not
so in your face that you're going to be disgusted.
Come to Oakley Greens because it's awesome. Just do that.

(01:13:06):
We got a few minutes here. Let's chat with Don. Don.
You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Don, how are you.

Speaker 14 (01:13:13):
I'm doing well.

Speaker 18 (01:13:14):
Thanks for taking my car.

Speaker 30 (01:13:15):
I've tried to get in for a couple of weeks
and today fighting red lights and rain drop, so I'll
try to be quick. I'm thinking Thanksgiving coming up, and
this is a good metaphor what this. Two people can
go into program buy the same ingredients. One knows how
to cook a turkey dinner. One perhaps could burn everything,
ruin everything, dry out everything, but they both got the

(01:13:36):
same ingredients. One knows what they're doing, one does it.
Do you honestly believe the Bengals organization in their philosophy
from the top down, doesn't matter who they draft, what
they dropped when they draft. I'm not sure they know
what they're doing because they don't come from a history
of success. You can do what you think is right,
but if you don't know, you're constantly missing. Forrest greg

(01:14:01):
drafted Anthony Munos. He worked him out personally, and he
knew talent. Most people would have passed on Anthony Munyos
because of his injury of seasons and his waters junior
or senior.

Speaker 5 (01:14:13):
He barely plays.

Speaker 30 (01:14:14):
Keimmy Anderson come from Augustine to college. Paul Brown knew football.
Mike Brown knows Paul Brown, that doesn't mean he knows
what he's doing, nor does that philosophy down the Chaine know,
we'll get blind lucky every once in a while and
pick up a Joe Burrow because he's an obvious choice
and a Jamar Chase, and that's kind of blind luck.

(01:14:35):
But I am not confident that the Bengals organization knows
what they're doing. And I think it would be worth
whatever it would cost if they could hire the right person,
to hire a knowledgeable GM because how much have they
wasted millions of dollars with missed draft choices? And then
I'll get off because I know you've got things coming up.

Speaker 5 (01:14:56):
You're reading the news today.

Speaker 30 (01:14:57):
Jermaine Pratt is playing like a star. You're a king.
Babs gathers as making tackles and not missing tackles. Something's missing.
I mean, you can get five hundred draft choices, but
who what's The coaches said a long time ago that
guy can beat you with his players, and you know what,
that guy can.

Speaker 18 (01:15:15):
Beat you with your players.

Speaker 30 (01:15:17):
We don't have that. We don't have that.

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
I've been thinking about this a lot. The NFL has
never been less a developmental league. Than it is right now.
But you just mentioned some guys that the Bengals drafted
decades ago. One guy who's in the Hall of Fame
and another guy who should be in the Hall of Fame.

Speaker 30 (01:15:36):
He wouldn't get drafted by this organization.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
Well you to me, you could even look more recently
than that. I mean, look at the reality is they
had really good rosters in twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.
But I think the way the league is structured right now,
there's never been more of a premium on getting rookies
to contribute immediately. It wasn't that long ago where the
Bengals took a guy named Marcus Hunt in the second

(01:15:59):
round and Marcus Hunt like just walked into the room.
You'd go, okay, look at that dude, d end But
he didn't have a ton of football experience, didn't have
a ton of experience coming off the edge. He was
a track star. He blocked a lot of kicks, didn't
put a lot on tape. But it was you know,
we're gonna develop him. He's a project. They did that
with a second rounder, and that was in twenty thirteen.

(01:16:23):
That wasn't that long ago. You can't do that now.
The NFL has never been less about development than it
is right now, because I think the way the league works,
you pay your stars and you need cheap talent, cheap
cheap labor to come in and help out almost immediately,
which means for the most part, you don't have time
to develop, especially guys in round one. So the Shamar

(01:16:44):
Stewart pick right, you can tell me till you're blue
in the face about the measurables and how he did
in a three cone drill, and you know what he
looks like when you measure his body parts. Can the
guy play football? Right? That has never mattered more, And
so I think philosophically there needs to be a little
bit of a shift screw development. That's not to say
that players can't get better. That's not to say that

(01:17:06):
you can't uncover a hidden gem and get him to
a point that he can help you. But like this
year's draft class, they needed to hit on a lot
of guys immediately. They needed those dudes to step in
and help out right now. Because I think that's how
the league works. I think they need to shift how
they evaluate college players. It's never been the less about

(01:17:26):
development in this League.

Speaker 30 (01:17:28):
Tamar Stewart is the most excessive butterball turkey in the store,
put in the hands of a novice cook who will
burn it.

Speaker 14 (01:17:36):
Now, I know many people.

Speaker 5 (01:17:38):
You can go and.

Speaker 30 (01:17:38):
Buy a Kroger turkey on sale and they know what
they're doing, and they know how to season it, they
know how to base it, they know how to cook it,
and people, wow, that was great. It's more than just
going in the ticking the fancy thing if you don't
know what you're doing, and I honestly don't believe they
know what they're doing, and that's where the philosophy change comes.

Speaker 5 (01:17:57):
I don't care about.

Speaker 30 (01:17:58):
White uniforms, white helmets. Let's all dressed in black. Let's
wipe out, blackout, pink out. Culture Wise, they're good to
the community. Zach Taylor is a great guy, no doubt
about that. But I want wins. I don't care about
blackouts and white out than what uniform combo you're wearing.

Speaker 5 (01:18:16):
I want wins.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
Yeah, that stuff, don thank you for the phone call.
That stuff is all fun. I love that stuff. It's
less fun when you're not winning. Like look at the
Minnesota Vikings. Terren's beloved Minnesota Vikings so they draft JJ
McCarthy and JJ McCarthy. I watched them in Michigan. I
never thought man NFL guy like just NFL starting quarterback,
but it was, well, we can develop them, and now

(01:18:38):
already they're a year and a half in and it's like,
might need to hit the EJEC button on that. This
league has never been more about getting instant dividends from
guys you draft early. This is not a developmental league anymore,
hasn't been in a while yet. It feels like the
Bengals often have drafted with development in mind first ahead
of instant production. I think that has to change. Good call, Don,

(01:19:02):
Thanks so much, Ammy Wagner, Dean Dorton, weelf Next ESPN
fifteen thirty.

Speaker 19 (01:19:06):
You've been listening to football in the NATI on ESPN
fifteen thirty, the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 21 (01:19:18):

Speaker 22 (01:19:22):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center u SEE Help's
Expect more at u sehealth dot com. The center lane
is blocked off from an accident on southbound seventy five.
That's over at seventy four westbound Fort Washington Way, both

(01:19:44):
shoulders blocked from an accident after seventy one and southbound
seventy one accident on the right shoulder at Reading Road.
On that ezelic with traffic back and.

Speaker 19 (01:19:54):
He plays here on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official Hall
of the Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (01:20:02):
Now, let's get right to it. Our friend Amy Wagner
usually joins us on Wednesdays, but come off to She's
with Dean Doorton Private Wealth. Learn more about the Dean
Doorton difference at deandorton wealth dot com. She talks sports
and money with us. Here's what I want to know.
There's a few different stories to talk about. The biggest
college football story right now is Lane Kiffin's at Ole Miss.
His team is really good, but he's being wooed by

(01:20:24):
LSU and Florida and so he's got a big decision
to make. He's at the epicenter of this big, big
decision these three schools that all want them. Is there
like a real world application to this well?

Speaker 31 (01:20:36):
And I think it's like also, I always think about
when these stories take place in real time while you've
got players who are playing their hearts out right to
make it into the playoffs.

Speaker 20 (01:20:48):
The distraction that this can be for those players, and
the kind of like, well, is my coach can be
here next year? You know, this is who recruited me?

Speaker 5 (01:20:57):
Is he going to stay?

Speaker 20 (01:20:58):
Is he going to go? And you're this is a
big week everyone's watching football.

Speaker 31 (01:21:02):
I mean I think about like people think like turkey
and football when it comes to Thanksgiving week.

Speaker 20 (01:21:08):
You know, Lane Kiffin has some options here.

Speaker 31 (01:21:10):
So first and foremost, you know, you and I have
talked recently about, you know, what does the job market
look like.

Speaker 20 (01:21:15):
We've got a lot of you know, college.

Speaker 31 (01:21:18):
Football coach openings currently, more so than we've ever seen
the past. So Lane has several options, right, he can
stay it all. Miss also offers coming in from LSU
in Florida. By the way, like poor Lane, you know,
if you if you're going to feel bad for him,
you know, he's only the tenth highest paid college football
coach right now. You know, makes a little under ten

(01:21:39):
million dollars annually. The way this is all shaking out,
it looks like it could be bumped up to thirteen
fourteen million dollars. You know, he keeps saying, listen, in
state rivalry, you've got the egg ball going on this week.
We're only focusing on this, but we all know what's
happening in the background. Rady's figuring out what his next
move is. And I do feel bad for these players,

(01:22:00):
you know, the distraction that that is. But I also
think the interesting thing too about how all of this
has evolved so.

Speaker 20 (01:22:06):
Much when you've got nil in the picture.

Speaker 31 (01:22:09):
Is you're not only promising a coach how much money
they're going to be paid.

Speaker 20 (01:22:13):
You're promising how much money they're going to.

Speaker 31 (01:22:15):
Get for a roster, to build a roster, you know,
and so that's shaping up to be about twenty five
million dollars in nil roster involvement, you know, some of
the offers on the table for him. So you know,
Lane's going to be fine.

Speaker 20 (01:22:32):
We'll see how this all plays out this week.

Speaker 31 (01:22:35):
But I want to bring up something else because you know,
as college football and listen, it's always been a business,
but certainly the way that business is run, it's evolved.

Speaker 20 (01:22:46):
So much over the past few years.

Speaker 31 (01:22:48):
On the flip side of programs like Ole Miss, you know,
like these big SEC schools. You've got programs who are
D one schools that are trying to make it work
because listen, they know that when you start to win games,
you're catching lightning in a bottle. You're starting to get
national attention. They're talking about you on college game day.

(01:23:09):
Donors donor base gets re engaged, right, people are excited,
people are coming to the games, opening their pockets, right,
all of those things. So then you've got schools like
UMass and Amherst who has had a football program for
the past fourteen years for that very reason. Right, at
some point, they keep thinking they're going to start winning games.

Speaker 20 (01:23:31):
Problem is they're not. In fact, I don't know if
you saw this, but I had to laugh about this
Earlier this season.

Speaker 31 (01:23:38):
They actually got a bunch of attention, bad attention for
spending money on fireworks. They let off fireworks after they
hit a field goal to close the deficits to their opponents.

Speaker 20 (01:23:53):
Then that deficit was forty two points.

Speaker 31 (01:23:59):
I mean, talk about throwing good money after bad at
this point, like, unless you're unless you're lighting sparklers in
the end zone, I'm not sure that investment is worth
it exactly. So you've got this program that's trying to say, Okay,
what makes sense going forward? Right, We're spending millions of
dollars every year on a football program. We're trying to
compete at this level, and we're not able to do it.

(01:24:22):
The problem is, do you want to be the president
of the school, the athletic director, the board of trustees
that crushes that football dream for a D one school
in this case, apparently not, because what the school has
said is they are doubling down on their football program
and giving it a hard recess and putting more money

(01:24:43):
into hiring quality coaches and bringing players on board.

Speaker 20 (01:24:48):
We'll see, we'll see that how that works.

Speaker 2 (01:24:50):
Good luck, good luck?

Speaker 20 (01:24:52):
Exactly, Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:24:53):
I do think it's interesting that the cost of maintaining
a college football program, even at the Group of five level,
it is. And look, I don't have a lot of
sympathy for anybody involved, right, but but yeah, I understand,
like we're trying to keep up, we're trying to stay competitive,
we're paying the players coaching salaries or skyrocketing. The cost
of putting games on has escalated. Like there are going

(01:25:15):
to be schools that say, you know what, we're not
sure we're getting out of this what we're putting into it.

Speaker 20 (01:25:20):
Yeah, yeah, you know.

Speaker 31 (01:25:21):
I mean something else I want to I want to
bring up just how all of this is evolving. Is
you have this Player's Era Festival, right, so switching to
college basketball quickly, that's that's playing this week. And you
know there these are games that are all taking place
out in Vegas. But interestingly, these these people are saying, listen,

(01:25:41):
we'd play this game it was in a cornfield in
the middle of nowhere because they're paying us a million
dollars in donor fatigue, right, Yeah, I mean when you
are paying Lane Kiffin like salaries and trying to also,
you know, fill these rosters with all these NL high
paid athletes, it's some point there is fatigue.

Speaker 20 (01:26:01):
You cannot keep going to the same well.

Speaker 31 (01:26:04):
And so these programs are looking for new ways to
fund these programs. And so you're going to have outside
investors interestingly.

Speaker 32 (01:26:13):
Being able to call shots like we're going to bring
all this top tier talent together in Vegas in November
when these teams don't normally meet, right, to create something.

Speaker 20 (01:26:25):
That's never been created before.

Speaker 31 (01:26:26):
Because we're paying each program that participates a million dollars
and Let's face it, they need that money.

Speaker 2 (01:26:32):
Right now in the worst way. Amy Wagner from Dean
Dorton is with us. Sorry one more you have a
new favorite former NFL player. It's Christian Ponder, who wasn't
great on the field, but you like him anyway.

Speaker 31 (01:26:42):
Why Well, he's probably not been many people's favorite player ever,
but he has caught my attention for what he's doing now.
He probably was overpaid under delivered when he was in
the NFL. You know, I think it was like a
pretty high draft pick and he ended up kind of
being like a you know, third tier QB, bouncing around

(01:27:05):
for most of his career, which I think lasted five
or six years in the NFL.

Speaker 20 (01:27:09):
So he realized that's probably not going.

Speaker 31 (01:27:10):
To support him for the rest of his life, got
out and got his MBA. But what he's focusing on
now is something you and I've talked about a lot
during this.

Speaker 20 (01:27:18):
Which is, you know, the average NFL.

Speaker 31 (01:27:20):
Player's career is about three three and a half years.
You get paid an insane amount of money during that time,
but for a lot of these players, that's not enough
to last you for the rest of your life, especially
if you weren't smart about it while you were.

Speaker 20 (01:27:33):
Paying, while you were playing.

Speaker 31 (01:27:34):
So he has created this kind of subscription membership only
group called the Post and you have to have played
either at the NC DOUBLEA or a professional level for
at least five years, because he really wants people to
kind of come from the same background.

Speaker 20 (01:27:52):
But he's having conversations with these former players about how
to transition into the business world.

Speaker 31 (01:27:57):
How do use skills that you had to use, you know,
on the field, on the courts, you know, leadership, that
kind of thing. And there's you know, weekend long summits,
there's networking events, there's you know, all kinds of you know,
how do you how do you make the transition? And
I think not enough of these conversations are happening for
any kind of professional athletes.

Speaker 20 (01:28:18):
And then you know, we hear the terrible stories that
get all the.

Speaker 31 (01:28:21):
Headlines about them filing bankruptcy or whatever that looks like
after they leave.

Speaker 2 (01:28:26):
Yeah, it's admirable and there should be more of it,
and there should be more athletes who who take advantage.
Christian Ponder will have a legacy well beyond his relatively
mediocre NFL playing career. Yeah, exactly. Amy Wagner from a
Dean Dorton anything but mediocre. Have an awesome Thanksgiving and
we'll talk next week.

Speaker 20 (01:28:46):
You too.

Speaker 2 (01:28:48):
There you go, Amy Wagner. Learn more about the Dean
Doorton difference at deandortonwealth dot com. Dan Klaskin's on fantasy football. Next,
We're Oakley Greens. This is ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 21 (01:28:57):
Thirty, cincinnati'ses P fifteen thirty.

Speaker 27 (01:29:02):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 22 (01:29:05):
U See Health's Epilepsy Center is leading the way toward
better days for people with epilepsy with access to clinical
trials from leading neurologists. Expect more at u seehealth dot com.
On southbound seventy five, the off ramp to Paddock roadblocked
off from a disabled vehicle West found Fort Washington Way
after seventy one an accident blocking off both shoulders and

(01:29:27):
on five mile road. In accident at Old five mile Road.
I'm at Ezelach with traffic.

Speaker 23 (01:29:33):
This report is fun, all right.

Speaker 2 (01:29:35):
It's not Thursday. It's Tuesday. But Dan ain't gonna take
my phone call on Thursday. He sawk's fantasy football with
us every week. Our guy, Dan Klaskins Fantastics Insider Football
on Sirius XM Fantasy and a guy who's always there
for your fantasy football related questions on x at Dan Klaskins, Dan,
how are we doing?

Speaker 18 (01:29:56):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (01:29:56):
Doing great? No?

Speaker 4 (01:29:57):
Getting fired up?

Speaker 15 (01:29:58):
We got we got four football games where we can
get to the weekend. Man, So happy Thanksgiving to you, enduring,
my friend.

Speaker 2 (01:30:05):
We've got four football games between Thursday and Friday. And
here's what I want to give thanks for. No buys
can't beat it.

Speaker 5 (01:30:15):
Amen. Amen.

Speaker 15 (01:30:16):
We still got four more next week, but none this week.

Speaker 2 (01:30:19):
That's right, that's right, all right. Speaking of reasons to
give thanks, give me some guys who if you own
one of them, you should be giving thanks for.

Speaker 15 (01:30:30):
Yeah, we're gonna look at some players delivering in recent weeks.
These are the main dishes at the table, right, We're
focused only on guys in these first board games. And
Caleb Williams has to be the quarterback up there QB
three over last five weeks seven to one TV interceptions
in the ratio eclipsing twenty three plus fantasy points three times.
His rushing poor helps. He's picked up twenty one or

(01:30:51):
more yards on the ground each of these contests at
running back. No running back has compiled more fantasy points
than Shamier Gibbs over the last five weeks. He's only
played games in that span and still over five week
Vario leaves in fantasy points.

Speaker 5 (01:31:04):
I tell you something.

Speaker 15 (01:31:05):
He scored six times in mass five hundred and ten
yards of total offense twenty two catches in Sweek eight.
George Pickens of the Cowboys. He's making a case for
a big payday this offseason. He's been a Fantasy steel
this year receiver. Over his last four games, he's ever's
fourteen point two fantasy points. Only Jackson Smith and Jack
and Drake London have had more. Pikets have scored and
hit one hundred and forty plus yards in back to

(01:31:26):
back weeks. He's been target least nine times in four
straight eight of his eleven contests this season. He's a
league wide receiver. Won and Travis Kelty I know the
future Hall of Famer may not be the fantasy study
once was, but top five numbers over the last month,
including two of his best games in the season during
that span, and he's everson eight targets, just under six
catches and seventy five yards per outing. That is helping

(01:31:48):
a lot of his managers are out.

Speaker 2 (01:31:51):
All right, Let's talk about some injuries, starting with the
obvious right here in Cincinnati.

Speaker 15 (01:31:56):
Yeah, Burrow and Higgins, the key bangle injuries. See Joe's
gonna play. Bengal would be without T Higgins and concussion
proto call. I'm expecting big things for Jamar Chase. I mean,
use Burrow obviously if you have him, but it comes
with risk. The other injuries that we're watching for Thanksgiving,
specifically Ross she Rice dealing with the hamstring issue. I'm

(01:32:17):
not that worried death, and we'll keep our eyes on it.
I am also expecting Josh Shacobs, so the Packers running back,
to be back on Thanksgiving. He sat out last week.
I think it was purposeful in the short week, a
huge game there in the NFC North between Green Bay
and Detroit. Moving on towards the weekend, we'll follow these situations.
Askton Genty suffered a minor or some sort of ankle
issue at the end of last week's game. Didn't come

(01:32:38):
back in We'll have to watch him practice this week.
I'm going to see if the Bucks get back Bucky
Irving from the shoulder issue. Baker Mayfield dealing with his
own shoulder injury as well. He could miss this week
of Marion Hampton, the Chargers today activated his twenty one
day window. It doesn't really bode well for Week thirteen,
but perhaps for the fantasy.

Speaker 5 (01:32:58):
Playoffs for the Chargers.

Speaker 15 (01:32:59):
Running Trey bentions in a similar situation dealing with the
knee injury in Arizona and Ala Kamara. You can add
him to the injury list of running backs suffer to
mcl strain last week. He's gonna miss a couple weeks.
Probably there for the Saint Ti receiver Drake London week
to week with his knee injury. I do expect it
and hope Marvin Harrison Junior gets back this week from
the appendicitis a couple of weeks ago. Brian Thomas Junior

(01:33:20):
missed again last week.

Speaker 5 (01:33:21):
It's been a lost season.

Speaker 15 (01:33:22):
He's dealing with an ankle ISSU who can't be trusted
in the lineup even if he returned to a couple
of quarterbacks to watch. Jackson Dark I'm expecting him the
return after two weeks of concussion protocol. And Aaron Rodgers
didn't play last week, but his trending towards playing here
this week and week their team with that non throwing
hand injury he's dealing with.

Speaker 2 (01:33:40):
Dan Claskins is with this typically we do studs, duds,
and sleepers. Let's make this feast or famine. Since we're
focusing only on the games on Thanksgiving it on Black Friday.
Give me some guys that you might be worth sitting
down and having a feast with, and maybe some players
who could I don't know, leave fantasy owners hungary.

Speaker 15 (01:34:03):
Yeah, the fees, the pile on the second mode. These
are the guys that are giving out the fool plates
and Jalen Hurts love him here on Friday, Black Friday game.
Improved as the Bears are the season, they're still not
great for our fantasy quarterbacks. There's only three teams have
allowed more fantasy points to the position in recent matchups.
So I do like him. I like Derrick Henry as

(01:34:24):
well versus the Bengals. Fifteen rbs have hit double digit
PPR points versus the Bengals through eleven games. That's pretty
amazing in itself, including five with twenty three fantasy points.
Henry's delivered back to back twenty points fantasy games there
last two weeks. I expect him to make it three
straight on Thursday night. And Jamar Chase definitely if I'm
in a Turkey Day draft, my number one overall. Picky's

(01:34:46):
coming a week off the sidelines with suspension.

Speaker 5 (01:34:48):
He's getting borrowed back.

Speaker 15 (01:34:49):
But I mean, we all know the numbers and the
last two games there's Baltimore twenty one balls born in
their fifty seventy yards, five scores with Higgins out, I
look at the tari barring to continue on the fan
in side. Jordan Love is right. Six starts first alliance.
The Packers quarterback has never hit two hundred and thirty
five yard. He's failed to throw for multiple scores before
those six. I expect him to fail to do both
again this week. DeAndre Swift didn't have a big game

(01:35:11):
last week. I'm an unguy He's stealing into that carry.
Philly's not having a great year, but only five running
backs at rushed for a touchdown against them, not a
single ones at the century mark DeAndre Swift outside my
top thirty this week. And Moe Jamison Williams. He's been
held without a catch now two of his last five games,
including last week. He's facing a Packers d over the
last three contests that he's yet to break eighty yards

(01:35:32):
four score against temper your expectation, he's once again a
boom er Bus wide receiver three flex play.

Speaker 2 (01:35:38):
On Thursday, Dan Klaskins is with US Fantastics Insider Football
on Sirius Xam Fantasy. We are all on Thanksgiving week,
so grateful for the freedoms that we all enjoy, which
means we're grateful for the veterans that allow us to
enjoy those freedoms. And you've got a great way to
support them and win prizes.

Speaker 5 (01:36:00):
Yeah, no doubt about them.

Speaker 15 (01:36:01):
As you said, take a minute this Thanksgiving to thank
the veterans to protect our freedom every day. And you
can support them by playing fantasy football with a purpose
and the Do Good Fantasy Salary Cap Challenge, play, win prizes,
give back. You can do it all at do Good
Fantasy dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:36:15):
Do Good Fantasy dot Com. Dan, Happy Thanksgiving. We'll talk
next week. Thanks so much.

Speaker 15 (01:36:20):
Absolutely, have a great Turkey Day.

Speaker 2 (01:36:22):
Most definitely, we are at Oakley Greens on Thanksgiving Eve Eve.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 33 (01:36:28):
Well, Thanksgiving Day is about family, food and most importantly football.

Speaker 5 (01:36:33):
Arbloves Flinkos look to roast.

Speaker 33 (01:36:35):
The rival evens in an AFC North Turkey tussle that
reminds me I thought you should know. I really enjoy
a delicious slice of punkin pie with whipped cream. It's
Cincinnati versus Baltimore coverage begins at four pm Thursday. Stream
for free are the new and improved iHeartRadio app or

(01:36:56):
ESPN fifteen thirty, the official hold of US Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:37:01):
Late start to the hour. It is the bud Light
five o'clock Happy Hour here at Oakley Greens in Oakley, where,
by the way, winter glow has taken over Oakley Greens.
The place is all lit up. It looks awesome for
the holidays. They've got a twenty four foot Christmas keg tree.
It's made out of kegs. They've got a heated patio,
which is perfect for this time of year. This is

(01:37:22):
a no stress, seasonal escape, free parking, two bars, thirty TVs.
You can watch any football game or any college basketball
game you want to watch all the December Bowl game action.
They've got Holiday Clubhouse cocktails which includes hot chocolate flights,
which sounds amazing. Right now with your pick of Bailey's.
We've got Holly, Jolly, Gin and Tonic. We've got a

(01:37:43):
Bengals mule that has crown in it. We've got a
golden ring which is Maker's Mark, Lemon Ginger honey Syrup.
We've got new lounge areas for outside. It's great for
the holidays. It's awesome for the night before Thanksgiving. I
think it's awesome for the night before the night before Thanksgiving.
And a great place for Ohio State. And I'm an adult,

(01:38:03):
so I'll call it in Michigan. I my name begins
with the letter M. I don't know what you want
me to do. Great place to watch that game on Saturday.
Great place to watch UCTCU, the game of the weekend
in college football. All here at Oakley Greens. We're gonna
go to Baltimore coming up at about twenty minutes talking
about the Ravens. Plus our guy Sean sayedstats and scheme

(01:38:24):
newsletter coming up in about thirty minutes. We have time
for others. Let's work in our guy, Mike. Mike, you're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. My good afternoon. How are you.

Speaker 18 (01:38:35):
How the heck are you, buddy?

Speaker 2 (01:38:37):
I'm wonderful yourself.

Speaker 18 (01:38:40):
Now I'm getting there how's the little how's the wife
and the little one? She's getting excited about Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 (01:38:47):
She's really excited for Thanksgiving. She likes to eat, and
she also knows that after Thanksgiving comes Christmas.

Speaker 18 (01:38:55):
Mark Curl Just like day.

Speaker 2 (01:38:58):
She's smarter than me, no question. What's on your mind? Mike?

Speaker 18 (01:39:02):
I got a ton of stuff. You don't have enough, tart,
So let me ask you question. I'm not trying to
be a smart.

Speaker 30 (01:39:09):
But what you stick?

Speaker 5 (01:39:11):
Well?

Speaker 18 (01:39:12):
T Higgins so belovedly, What's what's help with that?

Speaker 2 (01:39:17):
Why do I think he's beloved?

Speaker 5 (01:39:20):
Yeah? You you?

Speaker 2 (01:39:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 18 (01:39:21):
I mean you were like, seems like he's a special
special to you. I'm just wondering what the reason was.

Speaker 2 (01:39:28):
Here's what I like about him. I like the fact
that the guys signed up to be the second banana
and he's getting paid very handsomely. But that is a sport, Frankly,
that is a position where dudes want to be a
number one. And T Higgins could have said I'm gonna
hit free agency and go be a number one somewhere.

Speaker 5 (01:39:49):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:39:49):
He had a great game earlier this season against the
Pittsburgh Steelers, and it was dwarfed because of how good.
Jamar Chase was, so you start with that. I gained
a lot of respect for t Higgins. The last game
of the twenty twenty three season, Bengals are playing for
their playoff lives. T Higgins was hurt. He was hurt
going into that game. He was hurt during that game,
and he kept putting himself back in timing Again. Like

(01:40:12):
watching that dude. Over the course of his now six
seasons in Cincinnati, what has there been not to like?
Total pro accepts his role, plays his heart out, has
done everything you could ask? What is there not to
love about that guy?

Speaker 18 (01:40:27):
He seems like the nice guy. It's just a shame
he he gets dinged up, you know, it seems like
quite often. But that's not his fault. Obviously, that's just
the good Lord stepping then him for some reason or other. Hey,
what was up with?

Speaker 26 (01:40:42):
Well?

Speaker 18 (01:40:42):
You know who I love right now? I love Matthew Stafford,
Puka Nakua DeVante. I like Garrett Burth, I like Brandon's fist.
I like Byron Young, I like Nathaniel Forbes. Some of
these guys they got off the scrap heap on Waivers,
like Forbes, they got him on somebody else, and uh

(01:41:02):
Tensions was another guy they drafted in that same draft.
With with birth and Fisk, they cleaned house. I want
to do teams.

Speaker 24 (01:41:12):
Ever, has there ever been a team that has paid
more than anybody else who's paid for a general manager
that you can think of?

Speaker 2 (01:41:27):
Not off the time. I don't know a general I mean,
I know general managers make well. I could tell you
Ballpark what the average GM gets. I don't know who
the most highly paid in the sport are, So I
don't have an answer for you. But what what the
Rams have done?

Speaker 18 (01:41:39):
You know?

Speaker 2 (01:41:40):
Tony mentioned this yesterday on the Tony and Football Show.
If you go back two years ago, where you go
back four years ago when the Rams beat the Bengals
in the Super Bowl, it was like they had to
win that because they mortgaged their future. They traded away
all those picks and it was going to be forever
before they were good again. And now it feels like
they're the best team in the NFC and the Bengals
are not the best team in the AFC, And so

(01:42:00):
you give them a lot of credit for what they've
been able to do.

Speaker 18 (01:42:04):
I think Sean mcvays, I think he's stepped ahead now
Mandy Reid as far as the best coach in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:42:11):
Yeah, I.

Speaker 18 (01:42:13):
Think so. I mean, I don't know if there's much difference,
but he certainly is a dynamic unpfellow and their their
GM West Sneed has done a I had do a
job with these late draft picks, fifth, sixth, seventh round picks.
They've done and I know it can be done. That's
I think why we get so frustrated right now with
the Bengals, because we know it can be done.

Speaker 5 (01:42:36):
Yes, do it.

Speaker 2 (01:42:37):
There's no one way, Mike, Thank you for the phone call.
As always, there's no one way to build a championship team.
The Rams have figured out how to do it. There's
no one way to do it. We just haven't figured
it out on the consistent basis here. Thank you for
the phone call.

Speaker 5 (01:42:51):
Mike.

Speaker 2 (01:42:51):
Will go to Baltimore. Next word Oakley Greens on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 21 (01:42:54):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 22 (01:42:59):
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Speaker 23 (01:43:32):
This report is sponsored by Miami Valley.

Speaker 19 (01:43:35):
This is Football in the NATI, brought to you in
part by Postman Law and Vice Skyline Chile on ESPN
fifteen thirty to the official home of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:43:49):
Twenty three minutes out for five o'clock. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty. We are broadcasting today from oakleyh Greens. We
are here every single Tuesday, and we love it. Here
a friend, Kurt mqan ninety eight Rock in Baltimore, Ravens
free and postgame host. Awesome enough of you to join us.
Let's talk about what we're excited about here, or at

(01:44:09):
least what we're talking about here. I'm excited to watch
Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow is going to play on Thanksgiving
night against the Ravens in Baltimore. What's the reaction there.

Speaker 14 (01:44:19):
Well, I don't know, and most thanks for having me.
Joe Burrow is not going to be He's.

Speaker 5 (01:44:24):
Gonna have some rust on him.

Speaker 18 (01:44:26):
He's missed nine games.

Speaker 5 (01:44:27):
And I don't know.

Speaker 14 (01:44:30):
We do a show called The Purple Power Hour with
Semi I'm Bidejo and Dennis Pittaboth super Bowl champions different
thirty five and forty seven different Super Bowls, and Semi
said he had the same thing that Burrow had, and
he missed a.

Speaker 5 (01:44:43):
Lot longer than nine weeks. So I'm just wondering, why
bring him back? Why rush back Burrow?

Speaker 14 (01:44:49):
But if that's what you want to do, and he
hasn't fared well against the Ravens in this history three
and six. But Joe Blacko, I.

Speaker 5 (01:44:57):
Mean, I'm not telling you guys anything new.

Speaker 14 (01:44:59):
I mean you could use the spark in Joe Burrow
and Jamar Chase coming back could be a spark. And
these games are always good between the Ravens and the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:45:08):
Yeah, no question about it. Early in the season, the
Ravens defense looked like the Bengals defense. It has been terrific.
The last six games. They've held the opponent to under
twenty in each of them. What's been the big difference.

Speaker 14 (01:45:22):
Two words, Kyle Hamilton, I mean, and I mean that's
contingent upon a couple of other things. A low heat
Gilman coming in and really holding down that back end
where Kyle Hamilton was relegated.

Speaker 5 (01:45:36):
Now Kyle can roam around and he's he's just all
over the place.

Speaker 14 (01:45:40):
He put a spin move on Teller of the Browns
the other.

Speaker 5 (01:45:43):
Day and wound up on Shador Sanders. It was a
thing of beauty. You don't see a safety come up
to the line, line up in the a gap right.

Speaker 14 (01:45:52):
There over center and between the center of the guard
and throw a spin move that somebody that's six to
four to two twenty can do. This isn't Rokwan Smith.
It's Kyle Hamilton doing it. So he's really His line
against the Browns was crazy. It was like nine tackles,
three for a loss, a sack, two passes defended. He's

(01:46:12):
having a dtoy type year and it's.

Speaker 5 (01:46:16):
Been fun to watch.

Speaker 14 (01:46:17):
And yeah, he's really calm things down and a low
hee Gilman coming in, and also Draymond Jones, who is
he comes hard hat in hand, He's ready to go.
Every play. He plays like a raven and he just
got here three games ago or whatever. So I'd say
those you know, those three things, and yeah, it was

(01:46:41):
hard to watch early and you guys are seeing it now.
But the Ravens were giving up an average of thirty
five points a game to the first five games, and
they've kept it under nineteen or so. I think since
it's been good lately, and we'll see what happens.

Speaker 5 (01:46:54):
The Bengals like to put up.

Speaker 2 (01:46:55):
Points man, Yeah, no question, and they did last year,
albeit into law because Lamar Jackson was super human in
both of those games. He has been good but not
great recently. How much that can be attributed to health?

Speaker 5 (01:47:10):
Think a lot mo.

Speaker 14 (01:47:12):
We were looking back, and he hasn't been the same
since the Ed Oliver hit in Week one against the Bills.
Week two, he didn't run at all and the Ravens
won against the Browns, nobody talked about it. Week three,
got sacks seven times against the lines. He comes out
of the Chiefs game, and he missed a bunch of games,
and so it's not been the same. And Hardball even

(01:47:33):
alluded to it. He said something like Lamar's gonna win
a lot of pretty games. He's winning ugly right now,
but he's our quarterback, meaning Lamar's out there and he's
playing hurt and he's not going to admit it. It's
almost like hockey injury.

Speaker 5 (01:47:47):
He's got a lower body or an upper body.

Speaker 14 (01:47:49):
Well, he's having me. He had an ankle, he missed
yesterday's walkthrough with a toe.

Speaker 5 (01:47:55):
He's just not been right all year long.

Speaker 14 (01:47:57):
And he's a couple of games with no touchdown passes.
I guess the game against the Browns is one of
his worst as a pro. No touchdowns, a couple of interceptions.

Speaker 5 (01:48:06):
It was, but they won and it was just not
the Lamar were used to. So we'll see.

Speaker 14 (01:48:14):
I think you get past the Bengals, hopefully with a
W if you're a Ravens enthusiast, and then you get
the many by and maybe things come together because the
offensive line has not done him any favors, and he's.

Speaker 5 (01:48:27):
Holding the ball a little long.

Speaker 14 (01:48:28):
There's a lot going on, but still they're winning ugly,
and at the end, you want to win games, and
that's what they're doing. Five in a row, going for
six against a tough Bengals opponent.

Speaker 2 (01:48:37):
Yeah, five consecutive dug out of a one in five
hole prohibitive favor to win the AFC North and understandably
so you mentioned the offensive line. How problematic has it been?

Speaker 14 (01:48:48):
Well, it's the guards, It's Andrew Voorhees and Daniel Ale
and every now and then things come together like the
fifty nine yard Derek Henry touchdown run or it wasn't
a touchdown Richman and then the Hurricane Mark Andrews touch
push where he spun around and and and got the touchdown.

(01:49:12):
But yeah, those two have been a liability this year
and it's they've been. They were there last year. It's
funny HQ Shipley on ESDN going into the Browns game,
I think called the.

Speaker 5 (01:49:25):
Raven's offensive line one of his top five and that
was a hit.

Speaker 14 (01:49:29):
Scratcher for me and a lot of people from Baltimore.
But Ronnie Stanley's been hurt a little bit.

Speaker 5 (01:49:34):
He's been banged up.

Speaker 14 (01:49:36):
Roger Rosengarten has had some lapses.

Speaker 5 (01:49:38):
Miles Gart, Miles Garrett, I mean, what are you gonna do?

Speaker 14 (01:49:41):
That guy's gonna own most offensive line dood het four sacks.
He spun Roger rosen Garten around and then they met
at Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 5 (01:49:49):
Together so it's it's been tough.

Speaker 14 (01:49:51):
There's opportunity there. But you know, no Trey Hendrickson, that's
a plus. No no Higgins this week.

Speaker 5 (01:50:00):
He's not on defense. But hey, the Bengals have had
a tough goal of it. They're gonna come in Onary. Man.

Speaker 14 (01:50:05):
They're they're missing Thanksgiving at home too, So it's gonna be. Uh,
it's gonna be a classic AFC North battle. These teams
know each other, they respect each other, and they don't
like each other. And the Bengals they deserve to get
one of these games at their place. It does seem
like they are on the road for a lot of these.

Speaker 5 (01:50:26):
Milestone games.

Speaker 2 (01:50:29):
Yes, in the aftermats of the schedule coming out, we
talked about that a ton. It should be. It should
be great. Kirk, I can't thank you enough for the time, man,
Thanks so much.

Speaker 5 (01:50:37):
MO appreciate it. Enjoy the game. You got it.

Speaker 2 (01:50:40):
Kirk McEwen, ninety eight, Rock in Baltimore, Ravens pregame game
day postgame host five thirty. We're at Oakley Greens. We're
hanging out till six o'clock. We'll chat with our friend
Sean Sayed from these stats and scheme, newsletter on what
the Bengals did better, What the Bengals need to do
better on Thursday Night. That coming up in just about
fifteen minutes on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 19 (01:51:04):
You've been listening to Football in the NATI, brought to
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Speaker 2 (01:51:54):
From six o'clock. We're broadcasting today from Oakley Greens on
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Speaker 34 (01:52:04):
To spend your holidays, holiday parties, holiday happy hours, holiday
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It really could be either. The folks at Oakley Greens
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Joe Burrow good to go, he talked earlier today, would
not say he's one hundred percent because he's not. Nobody

(01:52:37):
believes that he is. Nonetheless, he'll play quarterback for the
Bengals on Thursday night when they take on the Ravens
in Baltimore, kickoff at a twenty on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton both back at practice for
the Ravens today, and that is pretty much I believe
it for your local sports headlines. As reading a Laurel Failure,

(01:53:00):
who covers FC Cincinnati for her newsletter, and she was
writing about how I guess Cubo has made it known
that he is not going to return to FC Cincinnati
this year. You ya, Cubo's time comes to an end
after six years, and it would be uh would have
been nice if we'd be talking about the Eastern Conference
Final this week. Unfortunately that is not the case. By

(01:53:21):
the way, Laurel's newsletter Queen City Press Sean Sayen Stats
and Scheme newsletter coming up here in just a few minutes.
On Joe Burrow, I put this on social media right
after the game on Sunday that if if I were
the Bengals, I would tell Joe Burrow, see you at

(01:53:43):
voluntary mini camp or see you during the voluntary program.
And then I said, you know, I'd give him a
key to the best Caribbean rental I could find. I
would do that. That's easy for me to say that
I would do that because I'm not going to run
the team. It's easy. It's it's I've maintained this all

(01:54:03):
along that as long as the Bengals are playing games
that matter, and this game on Thursday matters, and they
do have a mathematical chance of getting to the postseason.
And look, this division is not very good. I think
ten wins wins it. Unfortunately, well, the Bengals can't get
to ten wins, but it's not far fetched to think
that Pittsburgh's I don't want to say collapse, but the

(01:54:27):
Steelers are not great, and I don't think this Ravens team,
while good, I don't think is great either. And if
you win this one on Thursday, the door opens up
a little bit more.

Speaker 4 (01:54:36):
So.

Speaker 2 (01:54:37):
Yeah, I'm nervous about Joe Burrow not being one hundred percent.
I'm nervous about Joe Burrow playing in games that don't
matter much. I'm nervous about Joe Burrow playing in games
that don't matter at all. I think for me, at least,
the math changes entirely. Math goes away, if that makes sense,
Like if I keep saying, if there's an X next

(01:54:57):
to the Bengals game and the standings, put him on
the bench and don't play him, and I believe that.
But while they're playing games that matter, Yes, it's easy
for someone like me to say, God, you know what,
I just tell the dude to show up in April
for voluntary workouts and we'll get started on next year.

(01:55:17):
That's easy for me to say. I'm not the coach
who has to look at the rest of the guys
that I'm trying to get to play for me and
telling them that our meal ticket we're not using. Joe's
not gonna play. I'm not the coach who has to
look at Joe Burrow after he has worked his tail
off to get ready to play to be in a

(01:55:38):
position to help the team. I'm not the coach who
has to look at him and say, sorry, Joe, those
efforts are for naught. And like I do, think you
have to acknowledge, and nobody wants to say anything nice
about the Bengals right now, and they get what they
have coming to them. They've certainly got it from this show.
They didn't run him out there on Sunday recklessly like

(01:56:01):
they told him.

Speaker 4 (01:56:01):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:56:03):
Joe talked about it being Zach Taylor's decision. So there
was a level of prudence and a level of carefulness,
for lack of a better way of putting it, that
the Bengals applied to the decision about Joe playing against
the Patriots. They feel better about him with a couple
of practices last week, whatever they're doing this week, a
couple more days to get ready, they feel okay about him.

(01:56:24):
On Thursday, say yeah, look it's easy for me to say, man,
if it's me, I'm telling them, show up in March
or April and we'll see you. Then I don't have
to look at Joe's teammates. I'm not asking Joe's teammates
to play for me. I'm not trying to save my job.
Perhaps I'm not trying to do everything I can to

(01:56:45):
win games to keep my gig. I'm not the person
that has to look at Joe Berrowin tell him I
know you've worked really hard, but we're gonna stick with
Joe Flacco, who, by the way, is physically compromised. So
I'll acknowledge that. Man Like, it is really easy for
those of us on the outside to say what we
would do, which we do in sports and we do

(01:57:07):
in life all the time. It's easy to pretend that
you're in someone else's shoes, but you're not, and I'm not.
And so look, I'm apprehensive about this because I don't
know how you can't be.

Speaker 25 (01:57:20):
And I.

Speaker 2 (01:57:24):
Am not among those who are clinging to the idea
that because the AFC North isn't great, that Joe is
back and so they're gonna go on a run and
win their last six. I don't think the team is
good enough to do that. I didn't think the team
was good enough before the season for them to just
roll through and win six consecutive games. At any point.
They're on the road a short week at Baltimore, and

(01:57:44):
while the Ravens have been far from dominant, it's still
Lamar Jackson. They have Kyle Hamilton back. He's been the
key to unlocking their defense. Like there's a lot in
their way. They're touchdown underdogs for a reason, But all right,
he's gonna play by the way. The watch sports solely
to be entertained. Part of me can't wait to watch
Joe Burrow because he's awesome to watch. So yeah, we

(01:58:07):
could do the Hey, this is what I would do,
but none of us are in the position that Zach
Taylor is, which is you need these guys to play
for you. And I could understand him going, wait a minute,
you want to ask these guys to play for me?
And when I tell them, we're kind of baling on
the season because we're not playing our available, healthy, ish

(01:58:29):
best in the league. Quarterback Sean Sayence Stats and Scheme Newsletter.

Speaker 19 (01:58:33):
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(01:59:03):
got the right lane blocked and eastbound two seventy five
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Speaker 23 (01:59:12):
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Speaker 2 (01:59:14):
Bengals beat the or loss to the Patriots, but the
defense was better on Sunday? Was it better schemes, better
schematics by Al Golden or the Bengals just winning matchups? Oh?

Speaker 1 (01:59:25):
It was really kind of fun to watch. I wouldn't
say it was necessarily schematic. I thought it was a
little bit more at the player level, where on our
AI grade, DJ Turner had a grade out as an eight,
which is seen as like a player of the week
type performance. You also get that really nice pick six
from Geno Stone. You get some stunting success on the
inside which I did like that, you know, test the
offensive line in a different way, a bunch of goal

(01:59:47):
line stands and kind of getting in the face of
wide receiver. So actually, now that I think about it
was a little bit schematic, but definitely at that player
level where now we're getting okay, good games from Murphy
Hill and Osi like those are things that you can
actually build on, where I do think some of the
issues for the Patriots came down to something as simple
as Drake may just just spraying a few of those throws.
It was all the fun, if I may say so myself.

Speaker 5 (02:00:09):
To watch that game back, it was.

Speaker 2 (02:00:11):
It was an entertaining game. It didn't have the right result.
When teams play good goal line defense, is that ever
schematic or is it just line up and beat the
dude in front of you.

Speaker 1 (02:00:21):
Till I would say, for really high level goal line offenses,
it can very much be schematic. I think when you
see four runs right into the middle, back to back
to back to back, I would lean that to be
a little bit more at the player level, and I
don't think there's anything wrong with that. As much as
I talk about skins and stuff, I still think this
is a player makes plays type of league. So I

(02:00:41):
do think that was just like a really nice job
on the inside. At the individual level. How many times
have we talk this year and you even look at
it in this game, where are you missing a tackle?
Are you able to destroy a block? And I think
the Bengals did that on the goal line against the Patriots.

Speaker 2 (02:00:54):
The one thing they did not do well, and it's
been a deficiency all year. I think it stood out
on Sunday because they actually did do a lot of
things well as they had no defense in the middle
of the field. Hunter Henry Austin Hooper combined ten catches.
Hunter Henry had one hundred and fifteen yards. They combined
for over one fifty five Is there is there anything

(02:01:16):
you can do when you are playing two rookie linebackers
and you have the deficiencies the Bengals have in safety?
Is there anything that Al Golden can do to at
least somewhat shore up their defense in the middle of
the field?

Speaker 1 (02:01:29):
Man, you can try and find ways maybe just make
their life a little easier. Whether half the time you're
sending one linebacker and you're able to simplify the job
of the other linebacker. Because I agree with you, and
I'm watching that back and like any time the Patriots
needed to find a way to create some explosion, it's like,
let's get the the linebackers going in the wrong direction,
We're going to be able to take advantage of them.
So I will say linebacker in the NFL is an

(02:01:50):
extremely hard job. When you look at the top, there
aren't like fifteen dominant dominant players. Maybe the same way
you think about wide receiver, but it's yeah, sometimes at
the top and again through some of the film when
you're looking at emotion just like totally kind of unfolding
part of the defense.

Speaker 2 (02:02:05):
Yeah, it really stood out on Sunday. I'm not sure
that's going to get any better, given the fact that
they're going to play a team with a couple of
really good tight ends in the Baltimore Ravens. So Joe
Joe Burrow is going to play, and you and I
have talked about this a bunch. I don't expect Joe
Burrow to suddenly start taking a bunch of snaps under center.
But like, given given what they have been able to

(02:02:26):
touch on offensively without Joe, given Joe's extensive skills set
and all his experience. What can we expect schematically for
Zach Taylor and Dan Pitcher to come up with against Baltimore.

Speaker 1 (02:02:40):
I mean, can I get some isolation shots for my
guy Mitchell Tinsley?

Speaker 18 (02:02:43):
A lot of fun to watch against the Patriots.

Speaker 1 (02:02:48):
It was a lot of fun. Bo I'm looking for
anything that can make this stuff more fun when I'm
watching it. I do think, obviously, with a f Ke
Higgins in this game, that is a little bit of
a bummer. And I guess like underneath it all, I
feel like, yes, Joe Burrow is probably not gonna just
become like a forty under center type quarterback, but maybe
we should have a little bit of that expectation where

(02:03:08):
you need to find different ways to make life easier
on your offensive line. You need to find different ways
to really put defenses in a conflict. And I mean,
I thought Chakes Brown had a really good game against
the Patriots. You're able to see that burst. I think
he can run from gun and on our center. But
if we're getting into under center looks, we're getting that
play action look, we can have guys running across the
middle of the field. I do want to see that

(02:03:29):
for the Bengals because the rest of this year to me,
and I like that Burrough's playing because you know, it's
like he's he's paid. And I think that if you
take a full year off of football, that is really tough. Now, MO,
don't play this back if he gets injured at any
point over the.

Speaker 5 (02:03:41):
Next two games here.

Speaker 1 (02:03:42):
But I do think, like keep finding ways to shape
that offense and more for the little bit. And I
totally get Burrow is a special, like one of one
type shotgun player, like he really really is. But in
the NFL now, the way things are going, you're not
always able to just sit back there. You don't want
to drop back forty five times from a regular shotgun
the way that your offensive line kind of has played overall,

(02:04:05):
So let's expect a little bit understand and hopefully be
able to talk about it more next.

Speaker 5 (02:04:08):
Week, I hope.

Speaker 2 (02:04:09):
So it'll be interesting. Sean side As with a subscribe
to his newsletter, the Stats and Schemes Newsletter at sumersports
dot com. The Baltimore Ravens in the first four or
five games of the season were nearly as bad as
the Bengals are defensively. Since then, they've been terrific. Six
consecutive opponents, they've given up twenty points for fewer. The
obvious answer I think is they've gotten healthier. But beyond that,

(02:04:33):
what's been the difference you've seen on tape between Baltimore
in the first half of their game so far and
what they've done over the last month and a half.

Speaker 1 (02:04:41):
Big difference has been put in Kyle Hamilton in the slot.
You get them a little bit closer to the line,
you get them to play physical against the run really
as like a linebacker type of body. But also, I
don't want to take anything away from the wins, but
you played the Jets, the Browns, the Vikings, and the Dolphins,
not exactly the greatest stretch of offenses in the NFL.
So Kyle Hampton, I think he exited the game maybe

(02:05:02):
twice against the Jets for being banged up. I think
he ends up being healthy and I'm assuming that he's
gonna play, but maybe take it to him a little bit,
you know, at that physical level where I mean, he's
an awesome run defender. So I'm not saying that you're
gonna get positives all the time, but you know, let's see,
are you going to be able to as a safety
type body play in the box for you know, thirty
forty pats a game.

Speaker 2 (02:05:21):
You point out that if you look at the Bengals
Jets game, Derrick Henry just a nineteen percent rushing success
rate right the first game of the season, and granted
he had a big fumble in that game, but they
lose to Buffalo. Derreck Henry was awesome in that game.
I feel like what I've watched him since that hasn't
so much been the case. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson hasn't been himself.

(02:05:42):
Not sure he's totally healthy. What's missing from the Ravens
offense this year.

Speaker 1 (02:05:46):
Yeah, I think those two things are tied together quite well,
because I don't think Lamar Jackson is one hundred percent healthy.
I don't think he's able to like be a consistent Hey,
we're going to lean on you for fifteen carries every
single game, and if you're not able to do that,
sometimes it ends up closing some of the lanes for
Derrick Henry. So I it's been interesting to see this
offense definitely take a little bit of a step back,

(02:06:08):
and it feels like on the outside, yes, they Flowers
have had a good year, but I'm just not sure
that this receiving group like really strikes a ton of
fear in your heart. So if you're able to win
over you know, the left guard, the right guard, where
I think you can take advantage of this offense and
you're able to tackle Henry, you know, just at or
near the live of screen, which I think is going
to be a real test for the Bengals linebackers. But yeah,

(02:06:29):
I think even at a team that is probably I
guess is gonna win the AFC North because we have
to give the AFC North Championship to.

Speaker 4 (02:06:34):
Someone this season.

Speaker 1 (02:06:35):
They're not really, they're not, I think making me shake
in my boots.

Speaker 2 (02:06:39):
Yeah, you know, that's that's the thing.

Speaker 25 (02:06:41):
Man.

Speaker 2 (02:06:42):
You know, if you're Baltimore, you go, Okay, put the
Bengals away. They should be able to beat Pittsburgh twice.
I don't think the Steelers are very good. We'll see
Sean sayed Statson scheme newsletter shows up in your inbox
every Monday and Thursday. What will folks see when they subscribe?

Speaker 1 (02:06:57):
Yeah, advanced game previews and game reviews for every single
game across the entire season.

Speaker 30 (02:07:01):
Really specific type stuff, whether it's hey, how is.

Speaker 1 (02:07:04):
This team doing against the blizz How is this quarterback
doing under pressure? You get the best storylines from across
the NFL.

Speaker 2 (02:07:09):
All right, that's our guy, Sean Saya the Stats and
Scheme newsletter. You can learn more subscribe for yourself at
sumer sports dot com. We want to thank the staff
here at Oakley Greens for having us. We're back here
next Tuesday. We hope you join us. You can come
on out here get the QR code when the Ultimate
Fan Cave giveaway from Sim's Furniture Tomorrow Chad Brendel fills in.

(02:07:33):
You'll hear an hour of the best of the Moegger
Show on Thursday Thanksgiving and then I've got pregame sports talk,
so that's gonna be a lot of fun. We are
done shows over, got to go. Thanks to Drew Westra
Heidi for producing on site, Thanks to you for listening,
and thanks to our guy Term Bland for producing back
in Kenwood. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports stations

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