Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To Kee's point, smokes dank. It's not as oh National
Gaps dance.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It's good to talk to somebody that's as big as
an outcast fan as I am. I texted him last
night and I said, look, I know I'm I'm probably
out of my depth here, but would you like to
be on the mow Egger Less mow Egger Show? And
he graciously texted me back this morning and said he
would love to. So welcome in from the Athletic and
(00:31):
the Growler podcast on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Paul Danner Jr. Paul, how the heck are? What? What's up? Chat?
It's it's it's good to know that.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Uh. I know it's going to be consistent and I'm
gonna get my song. I'm going to get the outcast
lead in every time and it's going to make me
feel good. So I always appreciate you doing that for me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I mean, I I do exactly what I can, and
that's just trust Tarn to get the job done and
he executes. He always always always.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Uh, Paul, what what do you think about the SEC
getting teams into the NCAA Tournament with like fifteen and
sixteen losses on the season, throwing you a current.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I'm here for SEC hoops talk. Let's go, let's go. Yeah,
I don't know, I don't know. You could probably dive
into that more than I could.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
There's a lot of you said, you said a bunch
of numbers there, and I'm a little overwhelmed with numbers.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
At this point. I can imagine numbers on my football plate,
so adding any more right now might shake me to
my core.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, I was, I was during the break. I was
just looking at like the SEC slate for tonight and
Texas is on the bubble. They're five and eleven in
SEC play. There's sixteen and thirteen on the season. There's
a chance they could lose tonight, lose this weekend, lose
in the SEC tournament, and they would be sixteen and sixteen,
and they're being talked about as a potential at large.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I makes my brain hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
But speaking of things that make make brains hurt, t
Higgins has been tagged for the second time. This was
not unexpected. Were you surprised they did it yesterday?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Maybe a little, but not really. I think you know.
That does certainly suggest that, Okay, well we're not even close.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It's not even going to go down to the wire
here you maybe it could be one where you end
up down to the wire then you need a little
bit more to push it over, maybe next week before
free agency. But I think both sides kind of know
the deal, right and if it's not close enough and
you know that, well, maybe next week before free agency.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Is a little bit more of a deadline. Then this
is this is more of an artificial.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Deadline, and everybody knows you're going to be using the
tag anyway, then it really wasn't much of a deadline.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's per action anyway.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
So I think both sides maybe called each other's bluff
on that one, and we'll see how.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Much more bluff calling there is.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It's you know, I don't know why it has to
be this hard where where you're talking about years of
this stuff. But this wasn't really as much of a deadline,
probably as it typically is, just due to the nature
of the situation.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I would look at next week before free agency being
more of one.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And then then you get to then you start getting
into weird territory. Once you get past that, right, then
you start thinking about like, oh man, this ain't gonna
go all the way to July and no one wants
to think about that. I think that next week, before
free agency starts, that's certainly gonna be one where is
(03:39):
there probably more of the real deadline in this situation. Yeah,
what do you think the odds are it gets done
before free agency starts? I mean, I I've asked this
question to a number the answer and the answer is
always I'm I'm out putting odds on these thing, on
this thing right now?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sure, like, let's do Vegas odds, Like like what plus
two twenty.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I'm here for value. Guys, if you can get that
number popped up from me a little.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Bit, you're desing it, you're teasing it up. Yeah, and
I'd love to do it with tease money. If I
could put I'll put down whatever I need.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
To, If I could use the twenty six million at
least that he's gonna get, plus whatever the long term
deal does end up at. I just think it gets done.
The timing of it. Look, chat, here's the thing. This
off season in general is gonna be weird in terms
of timelines. Yeah, because there's so many, so many things
(04:42):
hanging out there, there's so much work to get done,
and they're all sort of connected. To each other, whereas normally,
I think, you know how these things go, it's gonna
be okay, this is the week they do this, this
is the time that this happens, and then you'll see
the extensions in August. And this is just a different
ye it's it's it's a different uncomfortable time, uh, for
(05:04):
everybody over there. And and that's speaking on everything that's
happening with their players, what's going on and trying to
negotiate the stadium. They just have a lot on their
plate right now. It is I've called it sort of
the all time pressure cooker. I mean, there is just
a lot on the line and a lot happening right now.
And and so your normal timing structure isn't necessarily gonna
(05:26):
play out because no one wants to see what happened
last year in camp sure with Jamar Chase and the
hat and and and frustration and and and trade requests
and all that stuff. So the urgency to get it
done earlier, but how much earlier will they be able
to get it done working with the same agent changes
some of those It's just I wouldn't expect the normal
(05:50):
schedule of how these things have typically get done. You know,
I like to always go through the past and okay,
well this date, this date and this date is when
they typically do this, and you can you can kind
of pin it down. I just think that you can
kind of throw that book out the window a little bit.
It's kind of a free for all right now of
trying to figure out when it gets done. The only
one that's in front of you right now is Higgins,
And if they can try to get that thing put
(06:12):
away before free agency, it would be a big help
for them to start their plan forward.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Looking forward to free agency, Sheldon Rankins has gone, Alex
Kappa is gone. I'm sure there's probably a couple more
that are coming between now and the open up free
agency next week. But how active is this team in
free agency?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And what.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Aisles do you think they'll be shopping in? Are they
they shopping in the expensive like designer close aisle, which
I don't think they can given the other things that
we've talked about, you know, are they are they in
the discount aisle, the clearance rack? Like, where will they
be shopping when free agency opens?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Let's see this. How about somewhere between like Target and Navy?
That sounds like old school, the old school Walmart. I'm
not I'm not in the Coles Cash clearance rack.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
No, we're not there.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I mean I've been there. Okay, I live that right. Look,
we both started in media. We know what shopping and
Coles was like.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
You know what it is. I've been to that clearance track.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
But I'm saying I feel like you end up, uh
in that middle range. I think you pinpoint in that
middle range where you wanna where you want to be.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And that's a position.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
You know, the offensive line, uh and you know like
guard and then the defensive line at well, everywhere is kind.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Of what you're gonna see them looking at. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I think you've you've got to figure out you're not
gonna be Milton Williams is the big name I'm gonna
talk about.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You're not gonna see that. You're not gonna they're not
gonna go there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
But if you can find somebody in that middle tier
next couple tiers down that can hit you in the
right spots, specifically on the defensive line, I think that's
where you would see them taking their shot. And so
that makes the most sense. Linebackers obviously one that's probably
gonna be out there as well. There's a decent amount
(08:09):
of linebackers in this class that they could pinpoint and
try to, you know, bring in. Whether it's like a
Dre Greenlaw type who would get somewhere between like five
to seven or eight million dollars or whatever per year.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
There's there's a.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Bunch of those in there that they can be picking
through that you might see. But I mean, it's it's
gonna be like so many things outside of the stars
this year, it's gonna be a focus on the trenches
and making sure they can get that fixed.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's a it's a not great guard class and free agency.
Is that what I've gathered so far? Yeah, you know
it's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So PFF comes out and they have their top one hundred,
there's eleven guards in it. You like, man, it must
be And then you start talking around and everybody's kind
of shaking their head like.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Nah, I don't see that, especially when it comes to
pass protection.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So the Bengals are You're gonna see some of these
teams who love the guys that are out there and
they're you know, the their plowing the way. There's these
road grade run blocking guards. Well, that's not really of
much interest here. The interest here is going to be
how can you pass protect number one? And then the
run thing is just down the line, and so there
(09:14):
that's not as strong. There's a couple of different buckets
there that you can look in. There's kind of a
collection of some of the older guys, whether you're talking
about like a Brandon Sheriff for you know, Kevin Zeitler's
familiar to Bengals fans who's out there, but they're old.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean, you're these are guys in their last legs.
But do they have one more good year in them?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Or or maybe you find somebody in in in a
middle range that that you can get behind and you
think is good, but it's not.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It's it's got to be very targeted.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And I go back to with Kapa now being let oh,
you know how they targeted Kapa that year.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I mean it was immediate.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
He wasn't the top of the market, but they thought
thought he was going to be their guy. They were
aggressive from the jump and got him in there. I
think it's it's always felt like that needed to be
a recreation of that signing.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
This year.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We'll see if they can pull that off or if
they think that it was even really an existence. Uh,
but I think that's probably gonna be on the mind.
I think it has to be. Uh, they've got to
get protecting Joe Wright. Like first it was tackles, and
then it feels like now they're finally established in okay
a tackle and then you have the two worst guards
in the NFL. Like at some point in time, the
(10:21):
puzzle has to like fit together. It can't just be
puzzle pieces thrown on a table.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and I and I.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Think you'll see, you know, a decent draft pick thrown
at that as well. And you're gonna see a free agent.
You're gonna see a draft pick, and you're gonna see
you know, probably another from the thought whether it's a
Cody Ford type who's your all, your baseline of everybody
you get wants to be better. Try to get somebody
better than Cody Ford. But he could be a starter
or your sixth you know, and so they're probably there.
(10:52):
You're gonna see that also there. But there's gonna be
multiple answers thrown a guy guard position, plus you know,
trying to get more out of some of the guys
that they already have whether it's Quodo Wolson who's still
here and who's now fighting for his roster spot as
his number goes up. I mean it was kind of surprising,
I think, to hear new offensive line coach Scott Peters
(11:13):
really kind of kind of throw some weight behind Bolson
and talking optimistically about being able to get more out
of him this year, which you know, after his benching
last year, you might have thought that ship had sailed.
But maybe a new coach and some new styles can
can help him battle some of the things that have
plagued him over time. But Jackson Kirkland, I mean there's
(11:34):
a bunch of guys that you throw a new offensive
line coach in and throw a bunch of pieces in
there and see if he can.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Make it work.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean there's a lot of pressure on him to
do something different than what's been happening in that room
for well, you.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Know, think a decade. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, and the other thing too, probably is Paul, you
don't want to look at this situation and say, let
in a not great guard class. Let's go rely on
finding too, like if you can Salvagels and Okay, because
finding two in this market seems like a terrible idea.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, and you might need and that may be what
it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I mean, it really may be. And I think there
is a lot of guys that they like in there.
But you're right, I think there you're gonna find somebody
in free agency at guard I don't you know. I
just think that you're gonna find something, even if it's
on a Tier three type level that could be your
you know, another Cody Ford type with some upside. You're
(12:29):
gonna find somebody there. And if you don't, or if
the guy you targeted ends up being taken or just
doesn't go your way, then you're just more aggressive in
the draft. I mean, you end up more aggressive in
the draft and going after that position and and try
to take advantage of some of the guys that are there.
You just do your best in.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Free agency and then you're gonna you're gonna have to adjust.
We'll see if they can do it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
They seem to be with Al Golden putting a lot
of chips in the basket of Miles Murphy and Dax Hill.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
M hmm. Is that a smart gamble? Is that? How
risky is that?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And I mean you're gonna have to because You've drafted
these guys and they're on your roster and you need
them to be good. But is it how what's the
risk level in looking at those two guys and saying
we're gonna be young and they're gonna be two of
our better players.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I think they don't have a ton of choices to
make them mean, yeah, you can't. You can't add needing
to like go supplement with free agents at two of
the most premium positions in football.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
On top of what you already have to do there.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And you spent first round picks to have shown flashes
like last year, and Miles Murphy has taken a bunch
of heat and deservedly so that zero sax number.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Is a real hard one to run. Some right, like right,
just really big there.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
But I think if you look at his win rate
and some of the other stuff, it's about average for
first and second round picks in recent years. His volume
of play is a lot lower towards the bottom of
that list when you filter that out.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
He needs to finish better. He needs to figure out
how to finish.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
And one thing Jerry Montgomery said, you know, new defensive
line coach, it's a combine us like it's one of
the most undercoached aspects of defensive line because you never
really have a chance to do it until you get
into the games, even in practices, like you better not
be doing that around a quarterback or it's trouble so
geating that volume, which Murphy hasn't gotten as much of,
(14:33):
partially because he hasn't been able to do what he
needed to do with the actual snaps he was given.
They view that as part of what has gone wrong,
and so they're gonna keep pushing it. And every time
you talk about Miles Murphy to them and Juke Tobin
made it clear I heard it multiple times, is you
know he just needs to play more. He just needs
to play more. Well, that suggests he's playing more. And
(14:53):
they're gonna live and die with with what they felt
like was a really high traits prospect that did show
flashes at the end of his rookie and with Dax too,
I mean, man, it was just they couldn't couldn't say
enough good things about Dax Hill and what they saw
from him last year and the belief that he can
be a real guy, whether it's kicking inside the slot
and taking over what appears to be the end of
(15:14):
the Mike Hilton era there or playing outside again where
he seemed to find a home and be feeling pretty
good last year. So they're gonna let that all play out.
But these are first round picks, first round picks that
have shown flashes. When you have those and you're in
a situation they are of having to pay so many people,
you have to bet on those guys.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Those are their best bets that you have available.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
One more before I let you go. Were you the
most popular guy at the combine? Like everybody is talking about.
Every time I turn on the radio or the TV,
people are talking about the Bengals. Did you walk in
the combine and everybody's like, Paul, come here, Come here, Paul,
come here, we'll talk to you for a second.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There was no shortage of times where someone would slide
up next to me when I was sitting heaving breakfast
during another conversation and be.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Like, what's gonna happen with the Higains? You know, there
was no shortage. Everybody was interested. There's no doubt.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I mean with everything else that's going on, I mean
there's just so much talk about what they're doing, and
everybody's kind of keeping an eye on them.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And and wanting to see it.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
I think the rest of the league is like Bengals fans,
but without the total fear sweating. Probably it's just fascinated
with how this is gonna turn out. I think that's
kind of the sense you get from the rest.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Of the league. A lot of them are doubting.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Everybody's kind of saying, I don't know if they're gonna
be able to do it right, and we'll see if
they do.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And Bengals fans are obviously feeling the same thing.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
They kick the can down the road, Paul, and now
they've gotten to the end of the road and it's
actually just a cliff. So you jump off the cliff
where you turn around and start kicking the can back
the other way.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It's it's it's gonna be fascinating, very heavy. Now the
can filled the cement. It's not good.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You need steel toed boots to kick the can any
farther than where it's been kicked. Paul, You've been awesome.
I appreciate your time. Where can the people find you
and tell them about the podcast network?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yeah, make sure you're following the Growlar podcast. We've got
all our shows going on there and plenty going on
with free agency happening.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Of course everything up on the athletics still. You can
always find everything there, and you know on X and
all your social spots.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Paul, you're the best appreciated brother. Have a great day.
See here you go, Paul Danner Junior. That guy knows
everything there is to know about where this is headed
and how it's working out for the Bengals. A lot
of great information in there. Let's take a break. Hour
number two on deck. This is the Mowaga Show, Cincinnati's
ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
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Speaker 1 (18:13):
This report is sponsored by AUS
To Kee's point, smokes dank. It's not as oh National
Gaps dance.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
It's good to talk to somebody that's as big as
an outcast fan as I am. I texted him last
night and I said, look, I know I'm I'm probably
out of my depth here, but would you like to
be on the mow Egger Less mow Egger Show? And
he graciously texted me back this morning and said he
would love to. So welcome in from the Athletic and
(00:31):
the Growler podcast on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Paul Danner Jr. Paul, how the heck are? What? What's up? Chat?
It's it's it's good to know that.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Uh. I know it's going to be consistent and I'm
gonna get my song. I'm going to get the outcast
lead in every time and it's going to make me
feel good. So I always appreciate you doing that for me.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I mean, I I do exactly what I can, and
that's just trust Tarn to get the job done and
he executes. He always always always.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Uh, Paul, what what do you think about the SEC
getting teams into the NCAA Tournament with like fifteen and
sixteen losses on the season, throwing you a current.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I'm here for SEC hoops talk. Let's go, let's go. Yeah,
I don't know, I don't know. You could probably dive
into that more than I could.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
There's a lot of you said, you said a bunch
of numbers there, and I'm a little overwhelmed with numbers.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
At this point. I can imagine numbers on my football plate,
so adding any more right now might shake me to
my core.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, I was, I was during the break. I was
just looking at like the SEC slate for tonight and
Texas is on the bubble. They're five and eleven in
SEC play. There's sixteen and thirteen on the season. There's
a chance they could lose tonight, lose this weekend, lose
in the SEC tournament, and they would be sixteen and sixteen,
and they're being talked about as a potential at large.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I makes my brain hurt.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
But speaking of things that make make brains hurt, t
Higgins has been tagged for the second time. This was
not unexpected. Were you surprised they did it yesterday?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Maybe a little, but not really. I think you know.
That does certainly suggest that, Okay, well we're not even close.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
It's not even going to go down to the wire
here you maybe it could be one where you end
up down to the wire then you need a little
bit more to push it over, maybe next week before
free agency. But I think both sides kind of know
the deal, right and if it's not close enough and
you know that, well, maybe next week before free agency.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Is a little bit more of a deadline. Then this
is this is more of an artificial.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Deadline, and everybody knows you're going to be using the
tag anyway, then it really wasn't much of a deadline.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's per action anyway.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
So I think both sides maybe called each other's bluff
on that one, and we'll see how.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Much more bluff calling there is.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It's you know, I don't know why it has to
be this hard where where you're talking about years of
this stuff. But this wasn't really as much of a deadline,
probably as it typically is, just due to the nature
of the situation.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I would look at next week before free agency being
more of one.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
And then then you get to then you start getting
into weird territory. Once you get past that, right, then
you start thinking about like, oh man, this ain't gonna
go all the way to July and no one wants
to think about that. I think that next week, before
free agency starts, that's certainly gonna be one where is
(03:39):
there probably more of the real deadline in this situation. Yeah,
what do you think the odds are it gets done
before free agency starts? I mean, I I've asked this
question to a number the answer and the answer is
always I'm I'm out putting odds on these thing, on
this thing right now?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sure, like, let's do Vegas odds, Like like what plus
two twenty.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I'm here for value. Guys, if you can get that
number popped up from me a little.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Bit, you're desing it, you're teasing it up. Yeah, and
I'd love to do it with tease money. If I
could put I'll put down whatever I need.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
To, If I could use the twenty six million at
least that he's gonna get, plus whatever the long term
deal does end up at. I just think it gets done.
The timing of it. Look, chat, here's the thing. This
off season in general is gonna be weird in terms
of timelines. Yeah, because there's so many, so many things
(04:42):
hanging out there, there's so much work to get done,
and they're all sort of connected. To each other, whereas normally,
I think, you know how these things go, it's gonna
be okay, this is the week they do this, this
is the time that this happens, and then you'll see
the extensions in August. And this is just a different
ye it's it's it's a different uncomfortable time, uh, for
(05:04):
everybody over there. And and that's speaking on everything that's
happening with their players, what's going on and trying to
negotiate the stadium. They just have a lot on their
plate right now. It is I've called it sort of
the all time pressure cooker. I mean, there is just
a lot on the line and a lot happening right now.
And and so your normal timing structure isn't necessarily gonna
(05:26):
play out because no one wants to see what happened
last year in camp sure with Jamar Chase and the
hat and and and frustration and and and trade requests
and all that stuff. So the urgency to get it
done earlier, but how much earlier will they be able
to get it done working with the same agent changes
some of those It's just I wouldn't expect the normal
(05:50):
schedule of how these things have typically get done. You know,
I like to always go through the past and okay,
well this date, this date and this date is when
they typically do this, and you can you can kind
of pin it down. I just think that you can
kind of throw that book out the window a little bit.
It's kind of a free for all right now of
trying to figure out when it gets done. The only
one that's in front of you right now is Higgins,
And if they can try to get that thing put
(06:12):
away before free agency, it would be a big help
for them to start their plan forward.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Looking forward to free agency, Sheldon Rankins has gone, Alex
Kappa is gone. I'm sure there's probably a couple more
that are coming between now and the open up free
agency next week. But how active is this team in
free agency?
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And what.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Aisles do you think they'll be shopping in? Are they
they shopping in the expensive like designer close aisle, which
I don't think they can given the other things that
we've talked about, you know, are they are they in
the discount aisle, the clearance rack? Like, where will they
be shopping when free agency opens?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Let's see this. How about somewhere between like Target and Navy?
That sounds like old school, the old school Walmart. I'm
not I'm not in the Coles Cash clearance rack.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
No, we're not there.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I mean I've been there. Okay, I live that right. Look,
we both started in media. We know what shopping and
Coles was like.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
You know what it is. I've been to that clearance track.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
But I'm saying I feel like you end up, uh
in that middle range. I think you pinpoint in that
middle range where you wanna where you want to be.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
And that's a position.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
You know, the offensive line, uh and you know like
guard and then the defensive line at well, everywhere is kind.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Of what you're gonna see them looking at. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
I think you've you've got to figure out you're not
gonna be Milton Williams is the big name I'm gonna
talk about.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
You're not gonna see that. You're not gonna they're not
gonna go there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
But if you can find somebody in that middle tier
next couple tiers down that can hit you in the
right spots, specifically on the defensive line, I think that's
where you would see them taking their shot. And so
that makes the most sense. Linebackers obviously one that's probably
gonna be out there as well. There's a decent amount
(08:09):
of linebackers in this class that they could pinpoint and
try to, you know, bring in. Whether it's like a
Dre Greenlaw type who would get somewhere between like five
to seven or eight million dollars or whatever per year.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
There's there's a.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Bunch of those in there that they can be picking
through that you might see. But I mean, it's it's
gonna be like so many things outside of the stars
this year, it's gonna be a focus on the trenches
and making sure they can get that fixed.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's a it's a not great guard class and free agency.
Is that what I've gathered so far? Yeah, you know
it's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So PFF comes out and they have their top one hundred,
there's eleven guards in it. You like, man, it must
be And then you start talking around and everybody's kind
of shaking their head like.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Nah, I don't see that, especially when it comes to
pass protection.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So the Bengals are You're gonna see some of these
teams who love the guys that are out there and
they're you know, the their plowing the way. There's these
road grade run blocking guards. Well, that's not really of
much interest here. The interest here is going to be
how can you pass protect number one? And then the
run thing is just down the line, and so there
(09:14):
that's not as strong. There's a couple of different buckets
there that you can look in. There's kind of a
collection of some of the older guys, whether you're talking
about like a Brandon Sheriff for you know, Kevin Zeitler's
familiar to Bengals fans who's out there, but they're old.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean, you're these are guys in their last legs.
But do they have one more good year in them?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Or or maybe you find somebody in in in a
middle range that that you can get behind and you
think is good, but it's not.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It's it's got to be very targeted.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And I go back to with Kapa now being let oh,
you know how they targeted Kapa that year.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I mean it was immediate.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
He wasn't the top of the market, but they thought
thought he was going to be their guy. They were
aggressive from the jump and got him in there. I
think it's it's always felt like that needed to be
a recreation of that signing.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
This year.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We'll see if they can pull that off or if
they think that it was even really an existence. Uh,
but I think that's probably gonna be on the mind.
I think it has to be. Uh, they've got to
get protecting Joe Wright. Like first it was tackles, and
then it feels like now they're finally established in okay
a tackle and then you have the two worst guards
in the NFL. Like at some point in time, the
(10:21):
puzzle has to like fit together. It can't just be
puzzle pieces thrown on a table.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and I and I.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Think you'll see, you know, a decent draft pick thrown
at that as well. And you're gonna see a free agent.
You're gonna see a draft pick, and you're gonna see
you know, probably another from the thought whether it's a
Cody Ford type who's your all, your baseline of everybody
you get wants to be better. Try to get somebody
better than Cody Ford. But he could be a starter
or your sixth you know, and so they're probably there.
(10:52):
You're gonna see that also there. But there's gonna be
multiple answers thrown a guy guard position, plus you know,
trying to get more out of some of the guys
that they already have whether it's Quodo Wolson who's still
here and who's now fighting for his roster spot as
his number goes up. I mean it was kind of surprising,
I think, to hear new offensive line coach Scott Peters
(11:13):
really kind of kind of throw some weight behind Bolson
and talking optimistically about being able to get more out
of him this year, which you know, after his benching
last year, you might have thought that ship had sailed.
But maybe a new coach and some new styles can
can help him battle some of the things that have
plagued him over time. But Jackson Kirkland, I mean there's
(11:34):
a bunch of guys that you throw a new offensive
line coach in and throw a bunch of pieces in
there and see if he can.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Make it work.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I mean there's a lot of pressure on him to
do something different than what's been happening in that room
for well, you.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Know, think a decade. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, and the other thing too, probably is Paul, you
don't want to look at this situation and say, let
in a not great guard class. Let's go rely on
finding too, like if you can Salvagels and Okay, because
finding two in this market seems like a terrible idea.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yeah, and you might need and that may be what
it comes down to.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I mean, it really may be. And I think there
is a lot of guys that they like in there.
But you're right, I think there you're gonna find somebody
in free agency at guard I don't you know. I
just think that you're gonna find something, even if it's
on a Tier three type level that could be your
you know, another Cody Ford type with some upside. You're
(12:29):
gonna find somebody there. And if you don't, or if
the guy you targeted ends up being taken or just
doesn't go your way, then you're just more aggressive in
the draft. I mean, you end up more aggressive in
the draft and going after that position and and try
to take advantage of some of the guys that are there.
You just do your best in.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Free agency and then you're gonna you're gonna have to adjust.
We'll see if they can do it.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
They seem to be with Al Golden putting a lot
of chips in the basket of Miles Murphy and Dax Hill.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
M hmm. Is that a smart gamble? Is that? How
risky is that?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And I mean you're gonna have to because You've drafted
these guys and they're on your roster and you need
them to be good. But is it how what's the
risk level in looking at those two guys and saying
we're gonna be young and they're gonna be two of
our better players.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I think they don't have a ton of choices to
make them mean, yeah, you can't. You can't add needing
to like go supplement with free agents at two of
the most premium positions in football.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
On top of what you already have to do there.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And you spent first round picks to have shown flashes
like last year, and Miles Murphy has taken a bunch
of heat and deservedly so that zero sax number.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Is a real hard one to run. Some right, like right,
just really big there.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
But I think if you look at his win rate
and some of the other stuff, it's about average for
first and second round picks in recent years. His volume
of play is a lot lower towards the bottom of
that list when you filter that out.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
He needs to finish better. He needs to figure out
how to finish.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
And one thing Jerry Montgomery said, you know, new defensive
line coach, it's a combine us like it's one of
the most undercoached aspects of defensive line because you never
really have a chance to do it until you get
into the games, even in practices, like you better not
be doing that around a quarterback or it's trouble so
geating that volume, which Murphy hasn't gotten as much of,
(14:33):
partially because he hasn't been able to do what he
needed to do with the actual snaps he was given.
They view that as part of what has gone wrong,
and so they're gonna keep pushing it. And every time
you talk about Miles Murphy to them and Juke Tobin
made it clear I heard it multiple times, is you
know he just needs to play more. He just needs
to play more. Well, that suggests he's playing more. And
(14:53):
they're gonna live and die with with what they felt
like was a really high traits prospect that did show
flashes at the end of his rookie and with Dax too,
I mean, man, it was just they couldn't couldn't say
enough good things about Dax Hill and what they saw
from him last year and the belief that he can
be a real guy, whether it's kicking inside the slot
and taking over what appears to be the end of
(15:14):
the Mike Hilton era there or playing outside again where
he seemed to find a home and be feeling pretty
good last year. So they're gonna let that all play out.
But these are first round picks, first round picks that
have shown flashes. When you have those and you're in
a situation they are of having to pay so many people,
you have to bet on those guys.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Those are their best bets that you have available.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
One more before I let you go. Were you the
most popular guy at the combine? Like everybody is talking about.
Every time I turn on the radio or the TV,
people are talking about the Bengals. Did you walk in
the combine and everybody's like, Paul, come here, Come here, Paul,
come here, we'll talk to you for a second.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
There was no shortage of times where someone would slide
up next to me when I was sitting heaving breakfast
during another conversation and be.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Like, what's gonna happen with the Higains? You know, there
was no shortage. Everybody was interested. There's no doubt.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I mean with everything else that's going on, I mean
there's just so much talk about what they're doing, and
everybody's kind of keeping an eye on them.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And and wanting to see it.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
I think the rest of the league is like Bengals fans,
but without the total fear sweating. Probably it's just fascinated
with how this is gonna turn out. I think that's
kind of the sense you get from the rest.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Of the league. A lot of them are doubting.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Everybody's kind of saying, I don't know if they're gonna
be able to do it right, and we'll see if
they do.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And Bengals fans are obviously feeling the same thing.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
They kick the can down the road, Paul, and now
they've gotten to the end of the road and it's
actually just a cliff. So you jump off the cliff
where you turn around and start kicking the can back
the other way.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It's it's it's gonna be fascinating, very heavy. Now the
can filled the cement. It's not good.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
You need steel toed boots to kick the can any
farther than where it's been kicked. Paul, You've been awesome.
I appreciate your time. Where can the people find you
and tell them about the podcast network?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yeah, make sure you're following the Growlar podcast. We've got
all our shows going on there and plenty going on
with free agency happening.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Of course everything up on the athletics still. You can
always find everything there, and you know on X and
all your social spots.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Paul, you're the best appreciated brother. Have a great day.
See here you go, Paul Danner Junior. That guy knows
everything there is to know about where this is headed
and how it's working out for the Bengals. A lot
of great information in there. Let's take a break. Hour
number two on deck. This is the Mowaga Show, Cincinnati's
ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. When it comes
to multiple sclerosis, trust the experts at the UC Gardner
Neuroscience Institute for Innovative and Comprehensive Care. Learn more at
UCHealth dot com. Heavy delays northbound seventy one seventy five
before the Brunt Spence Bridge, that is because of an
accident blocking off the left two lanes. And again those
(18:04):
delays an hour and forty minutes at the moment back
from Burlington Pike in southbout seventy five Solow traffic. Shepherd
to Paddock at Ezelk with traffic.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
This report is sponsored by AUS
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