4/10/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
All Right, good afternoon, I'm Moegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Thank you for listening. It's gorgeous out, and I've been
able to say that all that often. It is gorgeous outside.
We got three big hours. That's the most cliche thing
you could say when you.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Do this job.

Speaker 4 (00:23):
We have three hours.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
They're all big, like there's no such thing as like
the show doesn't matter that much. So tomorrow's a big show.
We do have a lot to get to today. Entire
show preview is available on Twitter at Moegar thanks to
Emory Federal Credit Union, your credit union with Hart since
nineteen thirty nine. Go to EMORYFCU dot org. I'll tell
you this. In just about fifteen minutes, our buddy Joe

(00:46):
Goodbarry Bengals on the brain. You cannot have the Bengals Draft,
which the draft starts two weeks from tonight and not
get the thoughts of Joe Goodbarry. So Joe is going
to join us. He is awesome. Coming up in just
about fifteen minutes in Chad Branda. Later on in the
hour on you know, there's there's a lot going on
with UC basketball. I guess Connor Hickman is going into
the transfer portal. They've got to find some players. So

(01:09):
we're gonna get to all that.

Speaker 4 (01:10):
But also, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Football is winding down spring practice. The Spring Showcase is Saturday,
so we'll do some football with Chad as well. We
are looking forward to that. Yesterday Yesterday was tough. Yesterday
the Reds played at three forty five. We're on the
air from three to six, so most of that game
took place while we were on the air, And you know,

(01:31):
I said some stuff like justin Verlanders washed and by
the way, I think he is. And we're feeling pretty
good about the Reds. They're doing some good things defensively.
But in the middle innings and I was driving home
after the show the game ended. You saw how it ended.
They strum ski home run, Reds lose a heartbreaker. That's
a really tough loss to take. And Tommy Thrall and

(01:52):
Jeff Brantley we're talking about this.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
I was.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
It was Tommy Thrall and Chris Welsh did Tommy tholling
Chris Welsh we're talking to the post game show about
how you know, in the middle innings with Nick Martinez,
you could start to feel it unravel. And sitting in
the studio yesterday doing the show while the game was on,
you could start to feel it unravel. And that was
that was the first real gut punch loss. And I'll

(02:15):
admit to you, man, like I want to do the
irrational Reds fan thing. I want to do the hot
take e sports talk radio thing where we talk about
how like that loss is gonna kill this team, It's
gonna reverberate forever. I can't do that, but you certainly
have to acknowledge its potential emotional impact. It's definite short
term emotional impact. That was the first real, I think,

(02:39):
gut punch loss of the season. Yes, losing on opening
Day the way they did stunk, but that was a
team with a one run lead in the ninth inning.
This was a team with two separate five run leads
in the middle innings yesterday, and you just it's one game.
So there's a big part of me that wants to go,
you know what, You're gonna have games like that, and
I want to feel that way, except well, this is

(03:01):
a very small margin team, small margin for Air team.
You gotta win games like that. You gotta win those
games when you're up in the middle innings by five runs.
Is it worth overreacting to?

Speaker 4 (03:13):
Maybe not.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
It was the first time that the bullpen was not great,
one of the only times this year with the bullpen
was not great. So I yesterday I had a hard
time kind of balancing the boy. That really sucks emotionally.
That's a really tough loss to take with. You know what,
they won two out of three. The bullpen's been pretty good,
the offense was better today. You're gonna have games like that.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
So here's what we're gonna do.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'm gonna do with that game yesterday, what a lot
of us did with the game on Monday Night. Circle
It like Monday Night felt like a potential turning point
and by the way, it still maybe, but a potential
turning point like Hunter Green was awesome. They win this
game on the heels of what happened in Milwaukee, and
it felt like that game on Monday Night f felt

(04:00):
like more than one win. The game yesterday felt like
it had the potential to be more than one loss.
The difference between six and seven and a series sweep
coming home and a winning road trip, and five and
eight with a loss like that feels like more than
just one game. So we're gonna do the same thing.
Let's circle yesterday and see if we revisited Let's circle

(04:27):
yesterday and see if that's a game that we come
back to in a month or in a couple of months.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
You know, a few times during.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Recent seasons, we've looked at the Reds losing early season games,
and they've lost a bunch of early season games, and
we've often wondered, like, how many of those games are
you gonna go back in the end of the year, going, man,
I wish they would have had that one or that
one or that one. And by the way, two years
ago when the Reds finished two games out of the playoffs,
there were a lot of those games. And I remember
doing this exercise in September two years ago when the

(04:58):
Reds were in the thick of a wild card pursuit,
and we did this and it was heartbreaking. We did
this with the Bengals this past year, right when the
season ended. So many of those games that you look
back on and said, man, if this play goes different,
or if they get the right call here, if this
goes different, you know what, maybe the outcome is a
little bit different.

Speaker 4 (05:18):
We did that at the end of the Bengals season.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
We did that at the end of the Red season
two years ago, especially because they didn't start calling up
their good players till May and June twenty twenty three,
and so there were a lot of those losses in
April and May that came back to haunt this team.
Let's keep yesterday in mind, and let's see what happens
if they win tomorrow, if they win this weekend series
against the Pirates, if they go on a little bit

(05:42):
of a run here against teams that aren't great and
win something like I don't know, ten out of fifteen,
if they comfortably make the postseason, we're not going to
go through the exercise where we look at some of
the individual early season losses or if they end up
being terrible, if they end up losing ninety games, well
then who cares.

Speaker 4 (06:00):
So let's circle yesterday.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
I want to use yesterday because yesterday was the first
time that I felt like Terry Francona mismanaged his starting pitcher,
like we talked about Tito on Tuesday, because I thought
the way he handled Hunter Green on Monday was was fantastic.
The leash was pretty long, and even he acknowledged after
the game emotionally like, yeah, I was kind of I

(06:24):
was kind of pulled in the direction of giving him
a chance to finish the game, even though he had
given up a couple of base runners. But you know what,
logically he was starting to overthrow. I had some options
in the bullpen. I didn't want to play with fire,
so I turned the game over to Tony Santia and
we saw how the game ended. I thought yesterday it
was the first time that in real time you kind

(06:49):
of doubted whether Tito got this right, leaving Nick Martinez
in and I think that's fair criticism. Here's what is
interesting to me, and I legitimately want to do this today.
Twitter is not real life. I don't think Twitter reflects
real life. But it's still a place I go to.

(07:09):
It's still a place if you do what I do
for a living. Social media is a big part of it.
I still like Twitter, like I have a pleasant experience
because I don't follow idiots and because I don't talk
about politics, so like I use Twitter to promote myself
and amuse myself and that's it and express opinion.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
Sometimes.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
What's interesting is there were a lot of us yesterday
who uh, you know, suggested that maybe maybe Tito got
it wrong, Maybe Terry Francona's decision making was a little
faulty yesterday. And by the way, a lot of folks
were doing that in real time. What you get, though,
is almost immediate pushback. Hey, who are you to question

(07:50):
a manager who's going to be in Cooperstown one day? Hey,
let's let's give Terry Francona the benefit of the doubt.
He's won a couple of World Series back off, So
my question is.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
What are the rules this year?

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Like?

Speaker 2 (08:11):
As we do this, there are one hundred and forty
nine games to go, plus however, many more seasons Tito
is with the Reds after that.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
This man's resume is ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
He is probably, at the time of his hire, the
most qualified man to ever take over the Cincinnati Reds.
He is going to be in Cooperstown. We are all
thrilled that he is here. My bet on the Reds,
metaphorically speaking, is on their talent and his leadership yielding
a big payoff. Maybe not in twenty twenty five, but

(08:44):
at some point. He is a beloved baseball figure. I
could listen to him talk baseball all day long, thrilled
that he is the manager. Yesterday it felt like he
got it wrong. And you and I damn well know
if if that's a year ago. First of all, if
David Bell had Santiago Espinal batting second, can you even imagine?

(09:08):
Can you even imagine yesterday Santiago Espinal batted second?

Speaker 4 (09:14):
In no sane world, should that be the case.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
You and I both know that if David Bell sticks
with Nick Martinez to start his third run through the
San Francisco batting order, with his numbers the third time
through a batting order being what they are, he is
being skewered. Should Terry Francona be above that? Like I
legitimately kind of want to know here, like are we are?

Speaker 5 (09:40):
We are?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
We gonna? Are we gonna second guess him? Because to me,
that's the fun part.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Right If if he was Brian Price in twenty sixteen,
You know what I never did. I never second guess
Brian Price. You know why, he had a terrible team
and his team had no chance of winning anything. Why
would I second guess manager who's taking out I don't
know Scott Feldman and replacing him with these dudes might

(10:09):
not have even been on the same team Jason Marquis
or Kevin greg to try to win a game in
mid June when they're twenty two games out of first
place and going nowhere. Like, I never second guess Brian
Price a better team with better players, and this is
it's an incomplete roster. It's not a great Reds team

(10:29):
by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not sure they're
gonna win more than they lose, but with heightened expectations,
there's a little bit more attention, and there should be
a little bit more scrutiny on what the manager does.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
We can do that right by the way.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
I know in this day and age, there's no room
for nuance. Criticizing someone doesn't mean you fire them. If
that was the case, I would have been removed from
my current job years ago. Like criticism doesn't mean want
to replace. Luke Fickle was an awesome head coach at

(11:07):
U see a lot of people don't want to admit
that anymore. This should be a statue of Luke Fickle
outside Nippert Stadium. As far as I'm concerned, Luke Fickle
in the Peach Bowl against Georgia a couple of years ago,
was involved in a very shaky play call that I
think cost them the game, and it was okay to
talk about that and yet acknowledge Bearcats have a great
head coach. This guy is awesome for this program. There's

(11:30):
room for both, or at least there should be, right,
So this is legitimately my question. Are we allowed to
second guess Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona? If not,
isn't this gonna be a lot less fun? And if
you're nodding along going noah, mon, it's cool, like you
can you can second guess, Like second guessing the manager

(11:52):
doesn't mean you want someone else in the dugout right,
Like that's managed thirteen games. I thought yesterday opening day
he made individual decisions that are sort of hard to defend,
and it's okay to say that, isn't it. We're gonna
make that a pole question thanks to United Heartland Assurance,

(12:12):
and there's room for you at five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty at eight sixty six, seven oh two three
seven seven six. I got this on opening day as well,
with the whole you know, put I in Jebou in
the game of the ninth inningle Likehot's Tito. You know,
Terry Francona says, A Jebou. We're going with Ianjebau, Like really,
we're We're just gonna remove our brains and not think
at all because they have an affable, successful Hall of

(12:35):
Fame bown manager. Okay five one, three, seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty is our phone number.

Speaker 5 (12:43):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
Chad Brendle and the Bearcats coming up in just about
thirty minutes. But first Joe Goodberry on a few Bengals
draft related topics. Next on ESPN.

Speaker 6 (12:51):
Fifteen thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC
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(13:21):
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Speaker 4 (13:27):
This reput o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
The NFL Draft is two weeks from tonight. Round one
is two weeks from tonight. By the way, April twenty fourth,
we are broadcasting from Long Necks in Wilder. You cannot
have a draft without talking with Joe Goodberry Bengals on
the Brain. His YouTube show is absolutely terrific in depth, detailed, nuanced,
and so go watch it. I appreciate the time, Joe.

(13:53):
Let's get started. So if things go the way you
want them to go over the first sixteen picks, who
do you want the Bengals to take with the seventeenth pick?

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Ooh, that's a good way to start it. I would
say I'm circling down to my last few guys, and
I would really love Calvin Banks Junior. He's a left
tackle at Texas. We're talking about a five star recruit
twenty one years old, but I think he'd be a
better guard, especially early in his career the way he plays.
I just put on the Michigan game for Bengals on
the Brain, our last episode, and he's taking on Mason Graham,

(14:27):
Kenneth Grant because they slide the protection a lot, and
he ends up inside even playing left tackle, but he
gets Josiah Stewart. I'm another fifteen or so reps, and man,
he has a dominant performance versus all three of them.
He plays low, he plays aggressive, he's strong, he's got
great balance and anchor. I think he'd make an excellent
guard and one of the few guards that probably hit

(14:48):
the ground running as rookies because they don't tend to
perform really well offensive lineman offense, defensive lineman tend to
take a year. But I still would do it and
say hey, because we have such a big need, because
I think he'd normally be a top ten pick in
every other class. But it's a pretty strong ALIGNE class.
If Kelvin Banks is still there, I would see that
as a home run.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
So what they do at guard is at least to
a degree, a reflection of what they've done with the
position so far and free agency, and they can still
maybe add a guy. Are you surprised that they have
taken the approach they have to this point at that position.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
I am, because I want to protect Joe Burrow first
and foremost right, and I think the guard position has
been a sore spot for them since Burrow's been here,
and probably even longer than that, since they lost Kevin
Zeitler and you know, twenty seventeen or so. So yeah,
it's been an issue for them. But it's funny because
I don't get to my to the end of the
draft process where I feel really strong about my opinions

(15:42):
or these these the grades that the formula fits out
for the work we do on these prospects until about
late March, so it's after free agency, and I assume
the Bengals and NFL teams are ahead of me. I'm
assume they have grades on these guys before that. So
when I get to early April, I go, Wow, this
guard class is excellent. There are a ton of guards
in this class. And then I start getting the feeling

(16:04):
as we approach the draft, but the Banks are gonna
take a guard at some point, and it starts to
make sense why they didn't go out and overpace For
some of these guys in free agency, like an Aaron
Banks who got crazy contract from the forty nine ers
to the Packers. I don't think he's that could have
a player got a great contract both fies got a
big contract and preegency. I'm not into any of those guys.
So if an alternative is, well, we're going to spend

(16:25):
a premium pick on at least one guard and maybe
we'll find another one after free agency, as Zach Taler
kind of alluded to, or maybe they draft to, you know,
somewhere in this draft, because it's that strong, I come
away and say, Okay, this is a long term solution
rather than a one year deal for Kevin Zeitler or
a one year deal for Brandon Shirp, which I would
have accepted completely. Don't get me wrong, but looking long term,

(16:45):
this is a really good class to say we're going
to take a guard, and we're gonna take one with
a premium pick.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
So if they don't take a guard in round one,
I should feel pretty good still about their chances to
get a guy who can be plugged in and played
in in in the in the last two days.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
Let me do that again, I'm sound like I'm moron.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
So with the depth of that position, if they don't
get a guard in round one, they can get a
guy later on that could start and play this year, no.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Doubt about it. As long as they don't Jackson Carmen
this thing and say all right, we're going to take
someone that's, you know, a fourth fifth round pick in
round two, that they should be all right. I like
the guys that'll be there in round two. I don't
know like some of the fringe first guys like Gray Zabel.
I think he's probably gone by the time they get
to forty nine. Maybe that's a trade back option. I
think pretty much the same for Donovan Jackson State, he
probably goes before they pick at forty nine because he

(17:34):
is a true guard and a really good player, and
he played left tack like the teams are gonna be like, hey,
he can kick out there if we need him. This
guy knows what he's doing. But if you get down
to like Tate Ratlich from Georgia, I do expect he'll
be there at forty nine. And that's a plug and
play right guard that played next to Marius Men's. In fact,
his twenty twenty three tap the first time I was
exposed to him because we were watching men so much.

(17:55):
He was excellent in twenty twenty three. In fact, he
probably was the first round guard based on that tape.
And then he wasn't as effective last year. New right tackle,
new center. Jared Wilson, being the other Georgia guy who
I think is an instant starter, could probably play in
that guard even though he played center. He's got the
size of the guard. He's a second or third rounder.
There are a ton of guys here. We've got ten
guys with startable grades for the interior offensive line, and

(18:18):
I don't expect maybe one, two, maybe it's three by
the time that are gone by the time they get
to forty nine. So we have a ton of options
there in round two and potentially round three.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Of the positions where they have the biggest needs, where
can they least afford to wait ooh?

Speaker 1 (18:33):
I would say defensive tackle, and defensive tackle is an
interesting one because I want a pass rusher. Right If
we're saying, if we're trying it with needs, they need
to get more explosive inside, they need to get more
athletic in side. They need some pass rush help. Signing TJ.
Slating is great for defending the run and giving you
a big body, nose tackle, but for sixty percent of
the game when the other teams throwing the ball, you
need someone to go get the quarterback, and I'm not

(18:55):
sure they have a guy that can do that. Chris
Jenkins was never profiled as a high end pass rush,
neither was kim Lee Jackson. I assume they expect those
guys to take steps in year two, But is that enough.
Do you have defensive tackle number one or is that
bj Hill? Because I would say that's not good enough
for a championship team. They need a DT one. But
because you drafted McKinley Jackson and Chris Jenkins last year,

(19:17):
kind of that's your second and third round pick. I mean,
are you gonna spend another second, third round or on
a similar player? I think if it happens, it would
be first round. It would be Walter Nolan out of
Old Mess. It'd be Derek Harman out of Oregon. Guys
that can rush the pass or get upfield, provide some athleticism,
give you an instant impact, and give you something you
don't have of the four guys on the roster right

(19:38):
now in that room. But if you don't get them
at seventeen and you wait, I think you're adding similarly
similarly graded players as Chris Jenkins, which at that point,
if it's a position that takes a year to develop.
Is it really helping you in twenty twenty five? I
don't think it is. So they have to be strategic
if they're going to add to the defensive tackle room,
and may be a guy if it's not in the
first round. Maybe it's just a guy that can straight

(19:59):
up rush the passer. Maybe it's an end that kicks inside.
Maybe it's an Omar Norman Lot from Tennessee who plays
about two hundred fifty snaps a season for less five
years in college, and he's on a thirty visit because
they're probably going to answer why don't you play more?
But your flashes are extremely high and he's probably like
a third, fourth, fifth rounder because of that experience in
playtime that I think a guy like that can help you.

(20:21):
But again we're talking about maybe the fifth defensive tackle.

Speaker 2 (20:24):
If you wait that long, do you agree with what
seems to be the consensus, which is edge rusher is deep?

Speaker 1 (20:31):
I do I think ed rusher. If you talk to
other draft guys or listening to it, they were applauding
the defensive tackle room the whole process in this draft,
and I was like, yeah, it's good, but I don't
think it's great. I think there's a bunch of guys
everyone round one and that's what makes that class great.
But otherwise afterwards it's deeper than it's been in recent years.
But I don't see future starters. Like we had a

(20:51):
first round grade on Milton Williams in our process in
twenty twenty one, so like, I don't see that guy again.
We had a first round grade on Justin Madabike. I
don't see that guy again in the mid rounds. Maybe
it's DJ Sanders at defensive tackle. So the opposite is correct.
We hurt the d N ROMs our class was good
this year and then the grading process spits it out
and there are twelve, thirteen, fourteen guys that I think

(21:12):
can help you and contribute not just early but long
term eventually be starters. So it may not have to
happen in round one, despite they might be flapped in
the face at seventeen. It's like, hey, here's a d
ND still there. Depending on how they feel about James
Pierce Junior and Mike Green, right, each guy's character and
background stuff that has get figured out that is above
us that we don't even know how to talk about

(21:33):
it unless it happens, and they draft them then left
to dive in further and figure it out. But other
than that, is it a Shamar Stewart, isn't a mikel Williams?
This is a Nick Gorton? Is it a Donovan Izaaku?
All these guys to me are end of the first
round type players. But then you get in the rounds
two and three, I think there are a ton of guys.
Whether it's Ashton Jelodi Louisville, who is probably a third

(21:53):
round pick, Landon Jackson Arkansas is probably a second round pick,
and then even further a Braden Swinson LSU second third round.
He's seventy third on the consensus board right now. Josiah Stewart,
who I mentioned earlier from Michigan probably seen as a
third maybe fourth rounder because he didn't test. There are
a ton of guys this year at de centsive end
that I think can come in and they have a

(22:14):
young room. You have Joseph Similes Murphy. Same reasons why
I said they may not draft a defensive tackle in
that same range of an Osaian and Murphy because they
believe there's still some development there. I do think there
are guys that can come in and be a little
bit different than those two and provide a lot of something.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Joe Goodbary with US Bengals on the Brain, which you
should watch on YouTube, and by the way, you should
have subscribed to Joe on X as well. I don't
want to watch Geno Stone next year. I'm resigned to
the fact that I'm gonna have to watch Geno Stone
next year, but I would like for someone to eventually
replace Genostone this coming season.

Speaker 4 (22:46):
Can that guy be had? And can that but guy
be had after round one?

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I believe all of that can be had, and it
may happen in round one. I think that's probably the
sneaky thing in this class for the Bengals is, hey,
they may just get there and say, you know what,
it's a weird first round. Some prognosticators say there's fifteen
first round guys in this class, which is lower than
normally you get to the twenty two to twenty five
great at first round prospects. If there's only fifteen, you

(23:12):
may get there at seventeen and say, you know what,
just take a guy you think is going to be good.
I don't care about where his grade is. And maybe
that is Malachi Starts, who was originally thought of as
a top twelve or so player in this class out
of Georgia because he's super young. He's been playing represent
to his freshman at Georgia. He's a free safety type,
made a lot of plays. He didn't take that next

(23:33):
step in twenty twenty four that everyone thought he was.
When they're saying he's a top twelve pick and now
he's somewhere around twentieth, I'm a consensus. I still think
he caut in a pulling later than that. But if
the Bengals say, you know what, we don't care about
his testing. The safety is one of the positions where
as the lowest correlation from athletic testing to future success
in the pros, they may just say, that's our guy.
Go back to January rankings, go back to when our

(23:55):
scouts submitted their notes and numbers. Malachi Starts probably greats
pretty for them, And I have to remind myself every
time we get in April that they go back to
January and look at those rankings. That's probably closer to
how the Bengals feel now. They don't want the data
influence them over the next few months of the draft process,
so I think Starts is still a sneaky pick at seventeen.
I think Nick em and Worry even though he's more

(24:17):
of a strong safety so not really a you know,
still in replacement. He can do some split safety stuff,
So I don't know if it's a direct fit. But
for the next five years, even Worry is Again he
was twenty years old on film. When you watch him,
a freak. He's six three two twenty hit one hundreds
percentile testing athletically, but he's really good on tape two
like this. You think of a big guy, he's just

(24:38):
going to be a physical Cam Chancellor. He's not. He's
actually more of a Tyranne Matthew cover the slot, be
really smart, flip his hits and run and undercut routes
and make plays on the ball. And I like that
and I want that if we're talking the next five years.
I don't know who the playmaker on this defense is,
you know, not Trey Hendrickson for the future, and plus
he's thirty to be thirty one this year. Who is

(24:58):
the playmaker on this defense? Maybe it is a Nick
and Moria for the next five years. I picked seventeen.
But if not, I do like rounds two and three,
whether it's Kevin Winston junior out of Penn State, Davier
Wats out an Order Daine who gets his hands on
the ball consistently, or Andrew mccouba, who's kind of a
free safety played at center free safety snatch, but kind
of a slack eye too. When he came down and

(25:18):
had to cover out of Texas, mccooba covered really well,
but he's one hundred and eighty five pounds, is the
smallest guy out of all of them, so maybe he
goes a little bit later. I've seen locks of them
in the fourth round, but I think Winston and Watts
go round two. I think mccooba is round three, and
then after that it really falls off. So if you're
gonna do it and you're gonna find an upgrade to
Gino Stone, it probably happens in the first three rounds,
all right.

Speaker 2 (25:38):
Two More one is really more about players they have
on the roster right now, because they're going to run
it back with a lot of corners who I think
individually have shown that they have upside, but collectively, boy,
I've got concerns and maybe al Golden gets more out
of these guys. We're talking about a lot of guys
who have been drafted early by this team, and so

(25:59):
there is some upside, it still feels like a really
dangerous approach. Do you share my concern with what it
appears they're doing with respect to the cornerback position.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
I do share it, because if you're going to an l.
Golden more scheme that he showed a Notre Dame, they're
gonna play more man coverage. I mean that means you're
gonna rely on these guys to win one on one
more often. And while they're athletic and fast, so maybe
that is a better scheme for them, get them thinking
a little bit less and just let them do their
athletic thing. And then Dax Hill's a high end athlete.

(26:30):
DJ Turner's a high end athlete, and Taylor Bretta is
as well. Maybe you need them to think a little
bit less. That makes sense. But at the same time,
as of now, we don't know what any of those
guys are and that's scary. And they've all flashed, they've
all made plays, they've all had individual moments, and I
think DJ Turner last year was on the cusp of
maybe making a statement until he broke his collar bone

(26:51):
or clavicle, whatever it was in that Charters game. Very
good game, but still that's basically the story for all
these guys. They've all had flashes, they've all had moments
in games. It's the one handed interception by Can't Taylor
Britt is going to be a highlight that you'll see
forever because it's one of the craziest intercepts I've ever seen.
But consistency wise, they've been terrible from all those guys,
and even the death guys and Mike Hilton still out
there in free agency. So I mean, teams don't even

(27:12):
want the probably their best corner last year. So you
sit here and you go, Okay, are they going to
draft the corner? When will it be again? A ton
of young guys that you need development from. You can't
draft everything, And I don't think this corner class is
as good as last year. Last year we had Quenya
and Mitchell and Cooper Dejenia's top twelve graded prospects. We
don't have anyone that touches them, not even Will Johnson,
who's going to test on Monday ten am. We're going

(27:34):
to see his athleticism then, because I ask some questions
about his speed and agility, and he's more of his
own corner and off zone corner let him read and
react anyway. So I'm not sure he's a great fit.
But if he's there at seventeen, maybe say, you know,
screwfit a little bit. We're gonna get a good player
and we'll figure it out from there. But again probably
get similar how State fans growing, Do we need any
more Michigan corner? Which you know, I get it, but

(27:55):
you take good players right and you figure it out afterwards.
I don't know if they get a corner in this draft,
because I also think they like the depth, or at
least I should say they're intrigued by the depth of
Josh Newton and dj Ivy, So I think at some
point you've got to roll with the young guys you
have at some positions. And if there was a position
I had to pick of, like the pass rushers, the
defensive tackles, and the corners, I would say, you know what,

(28:18):
if I have to roll with one of those groups
and just say I'm not going to add a guy
this year that's going to compete with them. It's going
to be corner because they spent premium picks on all
three of those guys. They're all still young, and they've
all flashed, and we can't say that about Murphy or
Chris Jenkins or McKinley Jackson. Some flashes out of Justico's side,
but he's not a one year deal. So I feel
a little bit better about the corner room.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
All right, One more in the first round. How aggressively
would you be looking to trade down?

Speaker 4 (28:41):
If at all?

Speaker 1 (28:43):
I would completely be looking to trade unless I'm sitting
there and it's Calvin Banks is still on the board.
You know you asked me if it would be a
perfect scenario, that would be one of them where I
just say, you know, I'm taking a guy. Otherwise, if
it is Melaki starts, Let's say, if it is Nicky
mnworry if it is Donovan or Gray Zabel on the
offensive line or Josh Connery on the offensive line. This

(29:04):
guy they brought in for a thirty visit at Oregon,
who I think probably goes between twenty eight and forty.
Do you never get really to get your hands on him.
He's a good player. If that means you could pick
up an extra third round pick when you only have
six picks and we're talking about which position don't we
want to address? You know, do you not want to
address running back and maybe the strongest running back class
in a long time? Do you not want to address

(29:25):
tight end? After Eric All is not going to be
here this year and then Tanner McLaughlin played like six
snaps last year? Is a tight end room good enough?
Do you not want to address corner? Do you not
want to address linebacker? Tremaine pratztill on the roster. So
I would love to get an extra third round pick.
And I went back and looked at similar draft classes
where there's only fifteen to twenty let's say considered a

(29:46):
weak first round graded class. You do see those those
years where teams will trade up aggressively to get that
last first round guy. Maybe that's at seventeen, right, Maybe
there's a couple of quarterbacks go, maybe a couple of
reaches happen, and there's still two We were three first
round graded guys on the board. Now that can go
two ways than let's say we want one of these guys,
we want a first rounder for our first round pick.

(30:07):
Another teammate call and say we really want that guy,
and here's this third round pick. For it to move
back four spots. You can still get the guy you
really want. We get the guy we want. Let's make
a deal. I think we're going to see a lot
of trading in that middle to early twenties portion of
the of the draft.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
On Day one, I could talk to you for the
next ninety minutes, but you have more important things to do.

Speaker 4 (30:27):
I will bother you after the draft. You're the best man.
Thanks so much.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Thank you, bo Joe Goodbary Bengals on the brain, Go
watch him. Chad Brundle coming up on ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 6 (30:37):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (30:42):
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register to become an Oregon donor or explore living donation
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Seventy five accident on the ramp through Kyle's lane. That
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(31:05):
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Speaker 6 (31:13):
This report is sponsored by straight Talk Wireless.

Speaker 4 (31:16):
It's time to bring people.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
Top three of those rankings. Is you do the sports
update on time? I'm doing at nine minutes late? It's
a service at Kelsey Chevrolet, No Reds game today. They
play the Pirates tomorrow, first of three at GABP. Austin
Hayes set to begin a rehab assignment at Louisville. Connor
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(31:39):
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and Justin Rose a two shot lead through six holes.
Round one of the Masters happening right now at Augusta
Chad Brendle.

Speaker 6 (31:56):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN in fifteen thirty Traffic from the.

Speaker 7 (32:03):
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(32:25):
Union Center Boulevard accident, they're blocking the right lane. And
on Ferguson an accident at Glen Hills Way that he's
that like with traffic.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
This report is paid for it at Journal dot com.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
There's a lot going on because the portal is open
and Corey Evans and West millernee players and Scott Centerfield's
football team as an open practice as they get said
to wind down spring workouts on Saturday, although that is
not the last spring practice.

Speaker 5 (32:53):
Chats here, Hi chad Hi, I'm at closed practice right now. Really,
how is It's a delightful day at Nippert Stadium. Delightful
The things.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
That you want to start by talking about? Do you
want to start by talking about football?

Speaker 5 (33:11):
I mean, it's your show, you're the you're the number
four radio program in the entire city, so it's your choice.

Speaker 8 (33:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
I'm still trying to figure out if that's good. Are
the Bearcat football teams? Is the Bearcat football team going
to be good this year?

Speaker 5 (33:26):
I think they're going to be better, Like I I
They're they're starting to look more like a big twelve team,
which was something that we have talked about a lot.
Like when you saw those other teams come out on
the field and you compare them man for man against
you see warming up before games, you're kind of like, oh, boy,
this isn't This isn't as close to a gap as

(33:49):
I thought it was. They're they're definitely getting bigger and
longer and more athletic, and you know that's usually a
good sign as long as they've done their their scouting properly.
I like what I've seen from the new wide receiver bunch.
I like a lot of the new defensive backs that
they brought in, especially the safeties and all nineteen candidate

(34:11):
at corner Matthew McDoom. They just call him Doom, which
is phenomenal. But they they're looking the part. I think
they're going to be better. How much better is probably
the million dollar question.

Speaker 4 (34:27):
I was gonna ask you, what should I put the
season win total over under at.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
For Scott Satterfield sanity? It better be at like six
point five, because I don't think six and six is
gonna make anybody feel great. I think even at seven
and five, people are going to be a little a
little jumpy. But this is a team that's got to
get over five hundred year three. They've they've had a

(34:56):
chance to retool the roster and build it the way
that they like. But I don't feel confident with anything
because my two biggest questions are still offensive line and
getting after the quarterback with the pass rush, and those
are two pretty critical factions of the sport. So they've

(35:19):
done a really good job run blocking so far this spring.
A lot of really good looking run plays where there's
sizeable gaps for guys to run through. That's been promising.
But in terms of pass blocking, in terms of getting
after the passer on the other side, I need to
be more confident there. The problem is I probably won't

(35:42):
be until the real games start in September, because it's
hard to tell when you're going against each other.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Well, the portal does open up next week, and so
we can spend some time talking about the Bearcats and
what they might get in the transfer portal. From a
football perspective, let's focus on that. From a basketball perspective,
I sense impatience among many Bearcat fans because there's been
a relative lack of movement, certainly involving players joining the program,

(36:11):
And I do want to ask you about the two
players we know are coming to UC. Should fans feel
impatient or do we have to slow things down and
understand that this process maybe takes a little bit longer
than we would like.

Speaker 5 (36:22):
I've got a pop quiz for you now.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
Okay, the portal.

Speaker 5 (36:26):
Opened a week earlier last year. Last year it opened
the Monday after selection Sunday. Okay, at this point last year,
how many commitments do you think UC had from the portal.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
At this point last year? So with an extra week,
an extra week?

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (36:52):
Four?

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Zero?

Speaker 5 (36:56):
Really, I think it was April that Connor Hickman committed,
and then Arrington Page was a couple of days after that,
and then Dylan Mitchell remembered didn't happen until May. And
they only took three guys from the portal last year,
so at this time last year they had zero. So
they've already got two and the dead period ends tomorrow,

(37:21):
so players will be able to take visits and get
back on campuses again starting tomorrow. I don't think there's
any need for panic. I do think there is one
thing that you know is important in terms of where
this is at. They need big men and it's not

(37:41):
a great portal market to date on big guys. So
you know, this is where hiring a GM and maybe
having to moneyball things a little bit and be a
little bit more creative in where you find guys is
going to come into is gonna at least you know,

(38:02):
give Corey Evans a chance to uh to make an impression.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (38:06):
But you know that is Uh, that is where I
would you know, have the most like, Okay, if there's
something to keep an eye on, there's not a lot
of big guys out there, and they need at least two,
probably three to round this thing out right now. So uh,
that's if you're if you're concerned at all, that's where
I would be concerned.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
I'm trying to think who I figured was the fourth
portal guy, given the fact that they only brought in three,
How does Kerk fit Alvin?

Speaker 5 (38:37):
Alvin was a late addition, but not a portal guy.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
I got you. That's why you have me on.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
That's exactly why I have you on. Uh.

Speaker 5 (38:51):
Gives you a guy that knows how to run an offense,
gives an offense that has struggled passing the ball, a
guy that can really pass, and also a guy that
has the pedigree of a big time perimeter shooter. He's
a little hot and cold at times, but he has

(39:12):
had some big time games shooting the basketball. So guy
that can pass, guy that can really shoot. Those are
two things that if they have more of that a
year ago or you know, a month ago, the season
might have ended a little differently. The question, of course,
is he's coming off the season with an injury. It
is not a you know, an acl or an achilles,

(39:35):
but you know stress fractures or bone breaks in your foot.
You know, never never good, so to speak. So that
would be the concern with Kirk Crees.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
He's also going to talk a lot of trash, which
a lot like, yeah, what about this team?

Speaker 5 (39:54):
This goes for Sincere Harris too, you know as well
as I did. This team didn't have a lot of
edge to him last year.

Speaker 4 (40:03):
Harris, Right.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
Those are two guys that they brought.

Speaker 5 (40:07):
In that changed the internal dynamic of how many guys
on our roster will will get in a skirmish, maybe
not a fight, but like a little a little kerfuffle.
And those two guys are guys that play hard, play
with an edge. This team desperately lacked that a season ago.

(40:30):
So if for nothing else, you go get two guys
that add that to your locker room. I'm a big
fan of that, since here Harris was, for my money,
the best perimeter defender in the conference last year, and
this is a team that allowed a lot of guards
and wings to have a career level nights against the

(40:50):
Cincinnati defense. So if you can get a guy that
can limit that, maybe those games where you're like hanging around,
you don't have that guy get hot and take a
six point game and make it a twelve point game,
or take a tie game and make it a nine
point game, like we saw in the Crown Tournament against UCF.

(41:12):
So that's another you know, it's kind of you took
you had the needs of one elite guard, right, and
you got two guys that are going to fill the
need of like you know what you would get in
like a star player.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
So does that work?

Speaker 5 (41:31):
I don't know, but at least they identified here's the
things we were bad at, and we went out and
we got two guys that address a lot of those issues.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
I got like thirty seconds here of the players from
this past year's team who have put their name in
the portal, where any of them a surprise to you.

Speaker 5 (41:52):
Josh read a little bit because I thought they would
find a common ground to bring Josh back. But Josh
was looking for a starter type money and Cincinnati I
kind of saw him in a, you know, a rotation
type role, and so there's a disconnect there. Uh So

(42:14):
that created a situation where Josh made a decision to
uh to bet on himself for lack of a lesser
used sports term, but he bet on himself, and that
you know, I had Josh. If you would have asked
me ten days ago, who's coming, Who's going? The only

(42:35):
name so far that I would have missed was Josh.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
Reed enjoyed the rest of close practice. I'm coming. I'll
see you Saturday.

Speaker 5 (42:45):
Perfect.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
Are you going to come down on the field and hang.

Speaker 8 (42:47):
Out with us?

Speaker 4 (42:48):
I am, yeah, I'm going to come down on the shoe.

Speaker 5 (42:52):
You'll probably just hang out with Dan Horde and like
look over and look over at us.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
But I'm excited to see you.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
No, no, no, no, no, I'm gonna I'm going to
divide my time evenly among everybody.

Speaker 4 (43:02):
I'm coming on Saturday. I will be there and I
can't wait.

Speaker 5 (43:05):
So you know what happens on like Spring game Day
is Dan Horde Corners, Dave Simone at some point in time,
and Grill's Dave on his NFL draft thoughts.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
So maybe you can be part of that.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
I'm not gonna do that.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
Dave's a draft junkie, no doubt he is.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
I'm I'm not gonna do that.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
I'm no I'm gonna do I'm gonna do something else.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
I'll see you Saturday.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Thanks mate, Okay, good, all right?

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Thank you Broel Bearcad. You got a Bearcat Journal dot com.
Four O'CLOCKIEESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 6 (43:35):
Mini Golf makes p fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (43:38):
Yes, what's up? Connect for it. But this is ESPN
fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening today. Hope you are awesome. Thursday.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
It's it's nice out. I like that when it's nice out.
I'm the guy who likes nice one. It's not it's
not perfect, it could be warmer, but I take this
over what we have had. Brendiman and Jones on baseball
coming up later in the hour, right around four fifty
FC Cincinnati is on the road for a game against

(44:08):
DC United on Saturday, first of back to back road games.
On the Orange and Blue, who are playing better, won
nothing win over New England at home this past weekend.
Prior to that, a two to one victory over Nashville
on the road, and so Pat Noonan's team playing better.
Laurie Lindsay on the call for MLS Season Pass on
Apple TV, is going to join us at four twenty.

(44:29):
We are looking forward to that she joined us. I
think it was before the season opener, if I'm not mistaken,
before they played the New York Red Bulls.

Speaker 4 (44:36):
They won that game and Laurie was on the call,
so we might argue she is good luck. Paul.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
Question and I'm going to add another one to it,
and probably not the first time I have asked this question.

Speaker 4 (44:51):
That I'll add to it.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
I'm not making that make sense at Mulwagger. Our poll
questions on this show are a service of United Heartland Insurance.
United Heartland Insurance. This company is awesome. Whether you're a homeowner,
whether you own a car, which chances are you do,
or you're a business owner, or you own a boat
or motors, whatever stuff you got to insure they'll insured

(45:14):
for you.

Speaker 4 (45:15):
Those are the simplest terms I could put it. Uhi
ns dot com.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Does Terry Francona's incredible resume and status as a future
Hall of Fame manager mean that his decision shouldn't be
second guest, criticized or debated. Vote Now, I'm gonna add
one about Ellie Dela Cruz because Elie's made some errors,
made another one yesterday, also made a beautiful leaping play shortstop.
There are those There are some really smart people, by

(45:44):
the way, who believe that Elie Dela Cruz will still
long term be better suited to the outfield.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
And I.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Could buy that. I could buy that long term.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
Short term, you're really gonna take a guy who he's
never played the outfield at the professional level and make
him an outfielder. That's the approach we want to take.
I thought the idea was for the Reds to compete
for something this year, which means the time for experimentation
is you know over like he has to be better

(46:20):
at shortstop. There are still routine plays that he can't make.
He cut off a ball in the tenth inning yesterday
that made no sense. He had the air yesterday, he
had a crushing air in that Sunday game against the Giants,
and he mixes them in with the awesome. Now he's
capable of doing the awesome, but sometimes the routine proves
to be a little bit too difficult.

Speaker 4 (46:42):
And I share any I share your frustration.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
With Eli de other crews if you're indeed frustrated when
it comes to him defensively. But number one, they've invested
a ton of time in him playing shortstop. Number two,
if you want to move him to the outfield, is
the time to do that during the regular season, when

(47:07):
he's not played the position. Like I will, I will
admit that there are times watching him do awesome stuff
at shortstop makes me think about what he could do
in the outfield. Like There have been a handful of plays,
including one this year. There certainly were a couple last
year where he goes down the left field line to

(47:27):
get a ball at shortstop, and the shortstop usually has
a better angle on that ball, but the amount of
ground he covers and the ease with which he makes
the play. I don't know about you, but you can't
help but see him do something like that and imagine
him covering all sorts of ground in center field, like
I do that, and you can't imagine. You have to

(47:48):
imagine at times watching the power of his throwing arm.
You have to imagine what he could do if he
can harness that and you know, throw dudes out from
center field, like, I'm on board.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
I'm on board with that being a thing down the road,
not now.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
Like as talented and as gifted an athlete as Elie
Dela Cruz is, if you take him or pretty much
anybody else and say, look, man, we've been working you
at shortstop all this time, and this is where you
have spent most of your time as a pro. Now
we're gonna take you and throw you out in the
outfield and we're gonna do that and have you play

(48:28):
games right now. It could work, it's not likely to.
And look, there have been really good at outfielders who
moved positions. Billy Hamilton in the minor leagues was a
little bit of a disaster at shortstop and they moved
him to center field. And Billy Hamilton is legitimately, and
you might get mad at me for saying this, I

(48:49):
think he's the best defensive center fielder I've ever seen.
And I watched Ken Griffey Jr. And I watched Andrew Jones,
and I watched Jim Edmonds dive for balls that at
times I had no business diving for.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
So it can work, but I don't know, do you
want to do that now? Do you want to do
that on the fly, Like if you.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Get frustrated with Red's defensive issues, which by the way,
this season there haven't been that many. You want to
take a guy who's never played center field and put
him in center field. So short term, that doesn't make
a lot of sense to me. Now, could we get
to a place where, first of all, there's a really

(49:34):
good shortstop prospect, Like let's say it's Edwin Arroyo and
he's ready to play in the big leagues and he's
earmarked for shortstop that's his best position, and he's a
better shortstop immediately than Elie Dela Cruz is at the moment. Well, yeah,
then then maybe you think about it, or if you
get to a point where you go, you know, what,

(49:56):
he has done as much as he can do it
short he has progressed as much as he can progress.
And so now we're gonna use some time in spring
training to work him in the outfield that would make
sense to me, or hey, look, the Reds are playing
a bunch of meaningless games because they're not in it,

(50:18):
and so let's try some stuff. This is when we
want to experiment that makes sense. Hopefully the Reds don't
get there anytime soon, because hopefully they don't have any
more seasons for a while where they're playing out the string.

Speaker 4 (50:31):
That's when you try stuff.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
Like in twenty sixteen, Try stuff, twenty seventeen, Try stuff,
twenty twenty two, one hundred lost season. Dude, try stuff.
You want to take Tyler Stevenson and have n't played
first base?

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Try it?

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Want to have him played the outfield, try it? Want
to move some guys around? What's the harm I still
view this season as one where the eye is to win. Now,
I think it's fair to wonder if that can happen.
I think it's fair to wonder if they can hit enough.
They're only five and eight, their offensive issues are profound.
They've got a lot of guys who are hurt. It

(51:11):
doesn't feel like they've built a complete roster. But with
the idea being to compete, we're gonna take a shortstop
and ask him to suddenly be a center fielder, Come on,
man's that's not good for anybody. So the short term
answer is, of course Elie Delacruz should stay in shortstop.
Of course he should. They've invested a lot of time.
He still does a lot of things really really well.

(51:33):
He is still developing. My money is always on the talent.
The talent plus experience is gonna pay off. But sure
he's got to get better. If we are saying the
same thing in a year or two years and suddenly
there's somebody forcing their way out of the roster who
has to play shortstop, all right, let's use time that

(51:56):
doesn't come at the expense of the team's ultimate goal
and try him in center field. Exhibition games, spring training workouts,
games in the regular season that don't matter. I am
one hundred percent open to the idea that maybe one
day it will make sense for the Reds and for
Ellie and for some of his teammates to have the
guy play center field. It doesn't make sense right now.

(52:19):
Like I get, I get frustrated with the airs just
like you do. But but like he's it's gonna sound
like I'm making excuses for him, I'm not like there
was a throw yesterday that it's like, buddy, you pulled
the first basement off the bag, Like that's a major
league shortstop makes that throw, gets the out with ease,

(52:39):
like you've gotta do that. I also do feel like
because because of who he is, because of some of
the awesome stuff that he does, and because he led
the league in short it led the Leagan Airs in
shortstop last year. Let I think all of baseball and
airs last year at any position, Like, I think sometimes
there's a little bit more of a microscope on him
than there would be for other players. But that's what

(53:01):
comes with, you know, stardom, That's what comes with promise,
That's what comes with high potential and publicity and all
that stuff. So that doesn't bother me too much. I
guess there could be a time where we go, you
know what, it's better for all parties involved to try
Ellie in centerfield, to do that on the fly when
he's never played the position at the professional level in

(53:22):
a game, simply because less than two full seasons into
his big league career he's having some fielding issues just
doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You can
tell me if I'm wrong. We'll throw it up as
today's second pole question at moeger. I feel like the
knee jerk, and by the way, for some it's not
a knee jerk. And I've heard some really smart people.

(53:44):
By the way, I think I've heard Marty Brenneman say
he believes one day Elie Dela Cruz is going to
be in center field. Like that's pretty smart guy. Like,
long term, you know, a lot of things should be
on the table. There have been a lot of really
good players who have changed positions. There have been a
lot of really good shortstops who have changed position's mid career.
Robin yell was an MVP at shortstop and in center field. Like,

(54:05):
you can move spots, It's okay, But I think if
you're gonna move spots, you've got to give the guy
a chance to succeed. Taking Ellie and just dropping him
into center field in the middle of the season is
not helping him and thus is not helping the team.
Five point three, seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty is our
phone number. Your phone calls are coming up here in
just a bit. But first, our friend Laurie Lindsay MLS

(54:29):
season pass on FC Cincinnati as they get set to
play the first of back to back road games on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 6 (54:37):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (54:41):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center April is donate lifeloth,
register to become an organ donor or explore living donation
at uchelp dot com. Slash transplant southbound seventy five at
their Union Center Boulevard right lane blocked from an accident.
Police and tow are there on scene. Northbound seventy one
to seventy five at two seventy five. It'sent accident off

(55:04):
onto the right shoulder and on Torrents Parkway at Columbia Parkway.
Reports of traffic lights working incorrectly on that ezelek with traffic.

Speaker 4 (55:13):
This nineteen minutes after four Locke.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty on moegor thank you so
much for joining us today. FC Cincinnati is looking for
at least a point, and it's a fourth consecutive match
on Saturday. The Orange and Blue winning their most recent
tilt against New England at home one nil, picked up
three points the week prior to that in Nashville and
gained a point the week before that at TQL Stadium

(55:37):
against Atlanta. Saturday, the first of consecutive road games for
FC Cincinnati, taking on DC United at seven thirty. The
match on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, and our next
guest joined us actually called the first match of the
season for FC Cincinnati. Lorie Lindsay is with US MLS
Season Pass Apple TV. They won that one and you're

(56:00):
on the call on Saturday, so we're expecting three more points.
It's good to have you, Lurie. How are you?

Speaker 9 (56:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (56:05):
Thanks, I hope that too. I'm curious if I'm the
good luck charms.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
So we'll see, well, we will see, we will see.
Pat Noonan called the game on Saturday a one nothing win.
The weather was rough. I was amazed the field wasn't underwater.
They've played shorthanded and yet they got it out of
one nothing victory against New England, and Pat Noonan called

(56:30):
it one of the best wins he's enjoyed since he
took over here. I would imagine that, given the context
of the season and who they haven't had, and how
much he's had to make changes on the fly, that
from your perspective, you would understand why he said that.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
Yeah, absolutely, because I think those are the types of
games when it's like you know, as you mentioned, the
field conditions, conditions in general just not ideal. And so
when that's the case as a player, those are sometimes
the most difficult games to play in and you just
need to find a way, excuse me, to get the result.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
And they did that.

Speaker 3 (57:05):
And I think that's what you're seeing right now from
this Cincinnati team, is that you still don't feel like
they have like their best, given injuries, given suspensions, rotations,
and yet they're still finding ways and getting points under
the radar, which is I think is huge in this league,
especially in the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 2 (57:25):
Yeah, you and I talked about this a little bit
before the first game. It had been such a tumultuous offseason,
right like an MVP leaves your team. You added vander Laate,
there's the Kevin Denke acquisition, some players who are supposed
to have very big roles for this team not showing
up for preseason training, So lots of stuff happening on
the fly. They're playing in multiple competitions, and it felt like,

(57:48):
you know what, for the first few weeks, they're just
going to have to tread water for them to be
where they are, which is currently fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Obviously they have to play better and they've got some
ground to make up if they're going to get to
the top of the table. But boy, all things being considered,
I think you have to consider the first couple of
months of success.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
Absolutely. I think especially with that. What people don't realize
too is just scheduled congestion like Cincinnati had at the
beginning of the year, so challenging to have to rotate.
This is essentially a finn squad too for s C. Cincinnati,
so being able to kind of weather that obviously not
going as far as they would want to, dropping in againsteagress.
But all things considered, all to good success. And now

(58:30):
they're going to have to face a DC United team
that in an in and of itself, is a team
that has not been in great form as of late,
to say the least, and so the crucial three points
at Cecincinnati could potentially get on the road.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
You know, they had a match two games ago against
New England. I thought the goalkeeper Roman Celentano had one
of his best individual efforts and it's been so much
fun watching him. From a guy who was basically walked
off the college campus at IU to now he's playing
in major lee soccer. He's gotten better and better every year.
You talk about somebody who's been a godsend this year,
you got to start with him.

Speaker 5 (59:06):
Yeah, he's been.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
He was exceptional, especially in that game against Naturville. I
think as a game that felt like it could have
gone either way to get a PK and some of
the devil staves that he made in that game was exceptional.
So listen, when you've had a makeshift back line, when
you've had to rotate players to the extent that Cincinnati has,
then you're going to have to point to your goalkeeper

(59:28):
who now has become a mainstay, and you're going to
ask him to have to come up with some big
saves and maybe more saves than he typically would be
leaned on to make. And I think it's just been exceptional.
So you're seeing a lot of these different pieces for
Cincinnati start to come together. Just it's just a matter
of time to get every single player healthy on the field.
That would be Pat Noonan starting eleven.

Speaker 2 (59:51):
They have nine goals in seven matches. How does Pat
Noonan generate a little bit more offense.

Speaker 3 (59:59):
Well, I think you're starting to see or shadowt come
to life again as he's making his way back. So
I think that's gonna be key din K. You know
sometimes too, I think what people don't realize is and
we've seen this with some other players, even Mauriel I
would lean on for Orlando City as a player that
all last year really didn't catch for him as a

(01:00:19):
center forward, and then this year has come to life
Orlando City. So I'm not saying that that's the case
with dn K, but it does take time for players
to get used to the league, the transitional style, the competitiveness,
and just like this, the back and forth style of play.
Uh So, once he starts to hit, even forming from
Morgan consistently, and then the relationships, the pairings on the field,

(01:00:43):
I mean, but this is going to be the eighth
game of the season, still quaite a bit to play
and wouldn't expect all of the partnerships, all the pairings
to be pump to frush and just quite yet. So
I think once that starts to establish, then you can
start to see more goals for since setting.

Speaker 2 (01:01:00):
So your answer to that question was more nuanced than
I would have answered it, I would have said, you
play a team that gave up six goals in its
last match, which is DC United, who they play on Saturday.

Speaker 4 (01:01:10):
What is the story with the United this year?

Speaker 3 (01:01:14):
Well, I think it's been a reoccurring theme. I don't
think it's just this year. We saw some better play
last year defensively, but this is a team that I've
covered a decent amount over the last few years.

Speaker 10 (01:01:24):
And defensively they've been a bit well last three games
with you know, twelve of those goals, twelve of the
seventeen goals they've conceded and despied more than anybody in
Major League Soccer.

Speaker 3 (01:01:38):
They have been all over the place obviously defensively, but
it's really defensive transition where I mean, if their midfielders
aren't tracking, the back line is all over the place,
then they're scrambling inside the box. So this to answer
you to go with what you're saying. In terms of scoring,
this could be a prime game for a den Ka
to be able to either hold up play look to

(01:02:01):
get in behind quickly in transition. And then obviously, as
I mentioned Orshano, you have others too that could fill
in depending on what the starting eleven is for Pat Newton.
But these are players that really, if we don't see
some changes with DC nighted defensively and their structure and
just their setup, could have a heyday against that back line.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
First of consecutive road games for FC Cincinnati seven thirty
on a Saturday night against DC United, Lori Lindsay on
the call, if you go to and oh, we're going
to petition Apple TV to let you call every much.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
Okay, okay, perfect, sounds great.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
There you go, all right, good stuff. We appreciate the time, Laurie.
Hopefully we can do it down the road.

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (01:02:41):
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 4 (01:02:42):
You got it, Lori Lindsay. MLS Season Pass Apple TV.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
That game at seven thirty on Saturday night, and of
course you could also listen to it on ESPN fifteen
thirty with Tom Gletter, who, by the way, congratulations to
Tommy g recently commemorated his three hundredth broadcast behind the
Microphone for FC Cincinnati, which he has been the voice

(01:03:07):
of the team since year one, starting in twenty sixteen.

Speaker 4 (01:03:11):
It's hard to believe it's been ten seasons.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
Has been behind the microphone since since day one, and
does just a terrific job, a great friend to our show,
a great friend to the guys on Sincy three sixty.
And congratulations to Tommy g who is is just terrific
at what he does. It's a twenty seven after four o'clock.
We're guest free for a while. Five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. By the way, I did, I did post

(01:03:35):
the poll question thanks to United at Heartland Insurance about
Ellie Dela Cruz.

Speaker 4 (01:03:40):
Now we've added this, we have three today.

Speaker 2 (01:03:42):
One is Terry Francona's incredible resume and his status is
a future Hall of Fame manager. Me and his decisions
should not be second guest, criticized, or debated eighty five
point four of you say no, you can. You can
second guess someone and not want them to get tart
and feathered.

Speaker 4 (01:04:02):
I mean you can.

Speaker 2 (01:04:03):
You can criticize someone's decision and and not have it
mean that you want them gone, Like there's there's room
for that. That's one of the reasons why I got
into this business is I always thought to be fun to, like,
you know, talk about the decisions a coach makes during
a game or a manager makes during a game, like
we can we can do that even if the guys
you know are gonna be in the Hall of Fame

(01:04:24):
one day. Eighty five point four of you say no,
should the Reds move Ellie de la Cruz to center field?
Three options here? No, maybe one day or yes? Forty
eight point five percent of you say no, that's right.
I'm actually liking the maybe one day camp because you know,

(01:04:47):
I mean, there's nothing that says he has to play
short stop forever. But if you're gonna move someone to
a different position, you do that when it you do
that in a way that it gives the player a
chance to succeed and it doesn't cost the team. That
means you do it not now. Oh, and then the
other one, because this came up yesterday. We were voted

(01:05:08):
the fourth best radio show in Cincinnati by the readers
of City Beat magazine. And so the question is is
this good? Well, now, what's interesting to me is I've
had like four or five people congratulate me on this.
We're number four, and I appreciate it. I'm not sure
it's good. Fifty two point one percent say this is

(01:05:31):
not good. That fourth is not good?

Speaker 5 (01:05:33):
What third?

Speaker 4 (01:05:34):
Third would be good? Fourth? Apparently not?

Speaker 2 (01:05:37):
And I I'm kind of with the people who say no,
But then I've had people congratulate me, and it's like
you don't want to be a jerk about it, like, well, thanks,
but I'm not sure that's I'm not sure that's worth congratulating.

Speaker 11 (01:05:51):
Well, let's look at you like this. We're number one
in this building.

Speaker 4 (01:05:55):
We are number one in the building. Yes, which is
do we get anything for that? Do we get a
special plock or something? Anyway?

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Vote now at Mulweger Thanks to United Heartland Insurance UH
sports headlines and a question about the stadium question.

Speaker 6 (01:06:16):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the.

Speaker 7 (01:06:23):
UC Help Traffic Center April is donate lifemonth Register to
become an organ donor or explorer living donation at uchelp
dot com. Slash transplant on Beachmont Avenue. It is an
accident west of eight mile the road Torrents Parkway traffic
lights working incorrectly at Columbia Parkway. Use caution in through there.

(01:06:44):
Martin Drive closed off due to a landslide between Columbia
Parkway and Parkside Place. Please avoid the area at Zadik
with traffic.

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
This report is sponsored by Trip but I'm still not
sure that something we should begging about. But thanks.

Speaker 2 (01:07:05):
Sports headlines are a service of a Kelsey's Chevrolet Home
of Lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
family to yours for life kelseyshev dot Com Off day
for the Reds. They'll host the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow at GABP.
Brady Singer is gonna make his third start for Cincinnati
six to forty game. That is an Apple TV game,

(01:07:28):
So if you don't have Apple TV, you can watch
the game. We could listen to the game on seven
hundred WLW. Even if you do have Apple TV, you
should listen to the game on seven hundred WLW for
two reasons number one, well, three reasons one Tommy Thrall
is awesome too well, I work at that radio station.
In addition to this one and free. Apple TV would

(01:07:51):
not give us any of their announcers. Quickly here, it's
time for today's Postman Law Injury report delivered by Postman
Law Injured Postman delivered.

Speaker 4 (01:08:00):
There's good news.

Speaker 2 (01:08:01):
Austin Hayes is inching closer, inching closer to his return.
He is set to begin a rehab assignment at Louisville.
That is very good news because the Red's got to
get some of these guys back. Obviously, on top of
losing the game yesterday, which was a gut punch of
a loss, we found out the day before that Matt

(01:08:23):
McClain has gone on the injured list with that left
hamstring strain and they are ramping up the baseball activities
for Tyler Stevenson.

Speaker 4 (01:08:31):
That is good.

Speaker 2 (01:08:32):
That is today's Postman Law injury report delivered by Postman
Law Injured called eight four to four.

Speaker 4 (01:08:39):
Postman. Connor Hickman is entering the transfer portal.

Speaker 2 (01:08:44):
He spent one season at the University of Cincinnati and
for most of it quite frankly, was injured, although he
did play very well.

Speaker 4 (01:08:51):
In the Skyline Chile Cross Town Shootout.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
Xavier has announced the signing of seven footer Pop and Ji,
who played last year at UNLV and averaged just over
two and a half.

Speaker 4 (01:09:05):
Points and three and a half boards. There you go,
what else do we have?

Speaker 5 (01:09:11):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
By the way, speaking of Bearcats in the portal, Dylan
Mitchell left and that's the guy that I wanted to keep.
He is set to visit Saint John's. Tony and I
have been texting about that. You watched Dylan Mitchell's Gonna
be an All Big East guy. Get mad at me
for saying it, Get mad at me for believing it, But.

Speaker 4 (01:09:35):
I think it to be true. What else do we have?

Speaker 2 (01:09:38):
Blue Jackets play tonight against Buffalo that is on Fox
Sports thirteen sixty Jackets. If they lose in regulation, they
are eliminated from making the Stanley Cup playoffs. And currently
at Augusta justin Rose a two shot lead through fourteen

(01:09:58):
two shots in front of Corey and Scottie Shuffler.

Speaker 8 (01:10:02):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:10:03):
I enjoy watching the Masters as I do this show.
Five three thirty is the phone number Bob is on
ESPN fifteen thirty. Bob, good afternoon.

Speaker 4 (01:10:14):
What's up, hey, Mo? How are you man? I'm doing well?

Speaker 2 (01:10:18):
Bob?

Speaker 4 (01:10:18):
How about yourself?

Speaker 5 (01:10:20):
Boy?

Speaker 8 (01:10:20):
You know what hearing that you're forced right now in
the ratings. I called in to see if I can
help you out at all? Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:10:29):
Uh yeah, we we could use all the help we
can get. We would like to crack the top three
next year.

Speaker 5 (01:10:33):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
I think the first thing you have to do, Bob,
is next year you have to go to City Beat
and I guess vote like a thousand times for us.

Speaker 4 (01:10:41):
If you could do that, that would be great.

Speaker 8 (01:10:44):
Okay, okay, well, well, first off, a couple observations about
the show today.

Speaker 1 (01:10:49):
If I if I might, oh, no, oh boy, here
we go. No, no, no, this is this is good stuff.

Speaker 8 (01:10:55):
Your guests that you've had on, I've found something with
each of them that kind of is sturving Tom. And
let me let me just go over that briefplace I
could and before I even start that, Connor Hickman, who
is he not going to play for next year?

Speaker 4 (01:11:14):
It's a good question, and vote your last.

Speaker 8 (01:11:20):
Person in the FC Cincinnati game coming up, Laurie I
think was her name, Lindsay Yes. Yeah, And this is
not a criticism of her, but maybe more of the
league itself.

Speaker 1 (01:11:35):
I don't know who's in charge.

Speaker 8 (01:11:36):
Of naming teams, but in the political environment we're in now,
how in the hell can you call a team DC United?

Speaker 4 (01:11:49):
So maybe a more appropriate name would be the DC Divided?

Speaker 1 (01:11:54):
Yes, and you know that.

Speaker 8 (01:11:57):
Just also the Chad when he was talking about the
Bearcats football coming up this year and explain that he
thinks they might be slightly better than they were last year.
I can imagine an investor on the New York Stock

(01:12:17):
Market in nineteen thirty, the year after the crash, telling
people you need to invest because this year, I think
we're going to do better.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
If you believe in buying stocks when they're low, you see,
football would be a stock worth investing in. I guess, yes,
they they certainly can't be any well. I mean, I
guess they could be worse, because they were worse two
years ago. But if they're worse, and that's going to
be all sorts of issues for Scott Saderfield, they have

(01:12:50):
to be better. I think they will be better. Chad
at this point, at all the time, knows more than
I do. But I'm not interested in being better. I'm
interested in being good. And to me, there's a lot
of room between what they were last year and what
they need to be. They weren't close to good. They
certainly weren't very good the final five games, and they've
they've got to figure out a way to close.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
That gap quickly.

Speaker 8 (01:13:12):
And and lastly, the drafts value had on first and Yeah,
he was mentioning a lot of names, and and one
kind of caught my attention, and I think I had
this correct. He mentioned a guy from Oregon that I
believe is on the defensive line. Was his name, Derek Cartman.

Speaker 4 (01:13:36):
Harmon.

Speaker 8 (01:13:38):
Oh, I'm sorry because I know his brother, uh played
for Colorado, Eric Cartman, and as far as the defensive
stopper and nose tackle, Oh my god, this kid is
just incredible. And you know, if we're if we're talking

(01:13:59):
about guys that might be able to help the Bengals,
I would put my money on Eric Cartman's on Eric Cartman.

Speaker 4 (01:14:06):
I you know I would as well.

Speaker 2 (01:14:08):
He sort of has that like stocky defensive line look
that I think teams are looking for.

Speaker 5 (01:14:13):
Yeah. Yeah, and you will respect my thor attack.

Speaker 1 (01:14:23):
Oh listen, man, I.

Speaker 8 (01:14:26):
I'm thinking of going to the Hot Rods game tonight.
It's the first Thursday Thursday of the year and we're
going against the uh who is it tonight? The Rome Emperors?

Speaker 4 (01:14:38):
So green Hot Rods. Now you're now tonight is Thursday Thursday?
Can I ask? Can I ask?

Speaker 2 (01:14:43):
Have have you at all started already to celebrate Thursday Thursday?
Or is that still still in front of us?

Speaker 1 (01:14:50):
Oh?

Speaker 8 (01:14:50):
No, no, I have not.

Speaker 11 (01:14:51):
I have not.

Speaker 3 (01:14:53):
No.

Speaker 7 (01:14:53):
Oh.

Speaker 8 (01:14:54):
One other thing though, while I got you on here
Saturday night is once again little People Wrestling at Dollinger's
Sports Complex. Oh really, yes, yes, And my understanding is hang.

Speaker 4 (01:15:10):
On the Dillinger Sports Complex near you in Bowling Green.

Speaker 8 (01:15:15):
Well, No, it's actually Dollinger's the Hideout. That's my son's
bar in Monopoly.

Speaker 4 (01:15:21):
So he's hosting Little Persons Wrestling.

Speaker 1 (01:15:25):
Yes, we're doing it now for the fourth time.

Speaker 8 (01:15:27):
Uh and it has gone over. I hate to use
this word, but dig And we're actually going to have
a guest there. The commissioner of Little People Wrestling is
going to be there and his name is Inch McMahon.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
So if everyone can can.

Speaker 2 (01:15:53):
Come out, you know, I've I've gone. I went and
I've seen I don't know what they called it. What's
the the the associate, what's the fed like, I don't know,
but I went and saw Little People Wrestling at the
Lawrenceburg Event Center and one of the competitors got injured
so bad that they like had to stop the show,
and I think they restarted it. But by the time

(01:16:14):
they restarted, I was across the street at the Captain's
Tavern having a cold one, and then I saw I
saw Little People's Wrestling again at Lourie's Roadhouse. About a
year and a half ago, and they didn't. They only
had like six wrestlers, so like you would watch two
wrestlers go against each other and then the next fight,

(01:16:36):
the next bout was like those same two people they'd
come out, except now they had tag team partners. So
it feels like there's a labor shortage in the world
of little people wrestling.

Speaker 1 (01:16:48):
Well, yeah, yeah, I think you're right about that.

Speaker 8 (01:16:51):
And a funny story before the last event hopp and
I think it was last October we did that. Anyway,
I'm sitting in the bar watching one of the TVs
as you come in, and there are people on my
right walking in, and I really wasn't paying much attention,

(01:17:13):
but I'm noticing kind of out of the corner of
my eye these are all little people, and I'm like,
why is he letting kids in the bar?

Speaker 1 (01:17:21):
What is going on?

Speaker 8 (01:17:22):
And then all of a sudden, I looked and one
of the kids had a beard, and I realized that,
you know, it was the wrestlers actually set up the
ring as well, so.

Speaker 1 (01:17:33):
They have a long day.

Speaker 8 (01:17:35):
So and once again it's a word I probably shouldn't
they used, but for those guys, it is a long day.

Speaker 1 (01:17:42):
So but anyway, most thanks again, and uh.

Speaker 8 (01:17:47):
Hopefully this this may help someone that number four were
ranking right now because I want to see you number one.

Speaker 4 (01:17:54):
I could see thank you, Bob. I could.

Speaker 2 (01:17:56):
I can imagine right now a lot of people are
wishing they could go back and revote. You know, maybe
some of the folks who voted for one of the
shows in front of us just thinking, God, you know,
what if if if that's gonna be a more frequent
part of this show.

Speaker 5 (01:18:10):
We have to.

Speaker 4 (01:18:12):
Recast our our vote. CityBeat dot com.

Speaker 11 (01:18:18):
We're going to submit that segment of you and Bob
next year.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
Yeah, Like do we submit is it like do we
have to submit like an audio sample to the to
the like is if you go to city Beat, do
they have like click here for a sample of each
show before people vote?

Speaker 11 (01:18:34):
I think they should.

Speaker 2 (01:18:35):
Is it that involved? Because if so, we want that
segment with with Bob, that's what we want. It is
a thirteen minutes away from five o'clock. But I enjoyed
that more because what I was gonna do. There was
talk about the stadium thing where the Bengals in the
county are asking Ohio for money, and I read the
story in the inquirer at CINCINNTA dot com And like,

(01:18:57):
I almost got through the whole thing before I got
really bored and stopped reading. But Bob saved us, and
I didn't have to talk about it. Uh thirteen away
from five o'clock. Our our phone numbers are five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty and eight six six seven oh
two three seven seven six.

Speaker 4 (01:19:17):
What now you're gonna wear an orange jumpsuit.

Speaker 11 (01:19:23):
Talking to somebody in the studio.

Speaker 4 (01:19:24):
Oh, you're talking to somebody in the studio. That's it.

Speaker 2 (01:19:29):
And suddenly we've slid down in the rankings to somewhere
around number nine. Brandanman and Jones on Baseball's Next on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 6 (01:19:38):

Speaker 7 (01:19:43):
Traffic from the UC help Traffic Center April is donate
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(01:20:04):
lights working incorrectly at Columbia Parkway. If you're gonna be
going through there, do use extra caution. I'm at ee
Zelik with traffic.

Speaker 4 (01:20:13):
This report is sponsor bus the show. The good news
is we record it and put it on the internet.

Speaker 2 (01:20:18):
They're called podcast They're a service of Long Neck Sports Grill,
Long Necks Sports Girls. A great place to watch the Masters,
great place to watch the Reds, great place to you
don't really sit there and not watch anything and connect
with the people that you're sitting with three locations in
northern Kentucky, Wilder, Hebren and Ridgewood. Dante Corleone was on
the show yesterday. Go listen to his conversation with me
and Ryan Roberts, a great NFL draft analyst, and Will Grimmer,

(01:20:42):
the official golf expert of the Moeggars Show. On the Masters.
Scott Sadafield was with us this week Paul Tanner Junior
on a billion Bengals related topics. You can go listen
to any of those and full shows on the iHeartRadio app.
Also my page at ESPN fifteen thirty dot com. Thanks
to long New Sports Grill, we were still trying to

(01:21:03):
establish some rules for Terry Francona, and we're gonna do
with last night's game or yesterday afternoon's game, what we
did with Monday night's game.

Speaker 5 (01:21:12):
Or you do that.

Speaker 9 (01:21:14):
Fourth best radio show in Cincinnati, according to the readers
at City Beat magazine the Mowager Show on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports station.

Speaker 2 (01:21:26):
If we were voted number one, I think we would
we would be obligated to take out like an ad
by an ad in City Beat Magazine, thanking the readers
for voting us number one. I think that would be
the appropriate thing to do. I don't think we have
to do that for finishing in fourth. Have we determined

(01:21:46):
how many radio shows there are in Cincinnati? A decent amount,
right good amount? So maybe fourth is pretty good, Maybe
fourth is okay. I don't know though, But I but
I like I want. I hear our little voice the
over the thing there that's a I created, correct, Yes,

(01:22:07):
I hear that, and I think, well, that's that should
be something I thank the readers at City Beat for
but they but but we didn't didn't even come in
the top three. So next year, if we finish in
first place, next year, we will buy an ad in
City Beat Magazine for no reason whatsoever beyond just to
do it.

Speaker 4 (01:22:26):
And we'll say thank you.

Speaker 11 (01:22:27):
To the readers acknowledges that were number one in this building.
They're chasing us.

Speaker 4 (01:22:34):
Everybody's chasing us. That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
I tell everybody, everybody on the other seven radio station,
you're all chasing us.

Speaker 4 (01:22:41):
Okay, we are the lead.

Speaker 2 (01:22:42):
We need to come up with like some sort of
signage in the building, the number one radio show in
this building according to the readers of City Beat magazine.
Do you think people will laugh at that in the
building or do you think they'll get mad at us?

Speaker 11 (01:22:56):
We don't get mad as more jealousy.

Speaker 2 (01:23:01):
Heavy is the head that wears the crown. It's the
michelob Ultra five o'clock happy hour. Thanks to our friends
at michelob Ultra. No matter what you're doing. And I
was gonna say, no matter what you're doing tonight, But
when I get done with this show, I'm going to
the second grade.

Speaker 4 (01:23:17):
Art show at my daughter's school.

Speaker 2 (01:23:19):
So probably not a good idea to unless they actually
serve Michelobultra, then I'm having one. But pretty much for
the most part, beyond that, whatever you're doing, enjoying ice
cold Michelobultra, the superior light beer, grab a micultra as
you cheer your team on, or do anything else as
you watch the Masters this weekend.

Speaker 4 (01:23:41):
I love the Masters.

Speaker 2 (01:23:43):
I think it is possible to enjoy the Masters and
not get into the more Maudlin commentary about the Masters
and do the whole sentimental like it's a golf tournament
at a really nice course and you're not allowed to
call the fans fans. We didn't have you on the
reds today. Yesterday's loss, I think was the first real

(01:24:05):
gut punch of the season. And on Monday, you know,
Hunter Green was awesome, and that felt like more than
just a regular season win. In game number eleven, like, yeah,
they started three and seven, they lost three out of
four of Milwaukee.

Speaker 4 (01:24:21):
They're not hitting.

Speaker 2 (01:24:23):
You need your staff phase to step up, and that
felt like a potential turning point. We said, like, circle
that one and at the end of the year, let's revisit,
you know, certain turning points. Maybe that will prove to
be one and it can still be We'll do the
same thing with yesterday. Yesterday was a game that you
gotta win. Oh, you know, look over the course of

(01:24:45):
a season, I hate to say this. You're you're gonna
lose games that you should win. You're gonna blow lead
like it's it's one hundred and six two games. Even
good teams lose seventy times, Like I understand it. But
you know, Number one, this team's margin for aers small.
Number two, they are playing from behind because they got
off to a slow start. Number three, yeah, get away day,
you chase justin Verlander. You're up five runs, five zip,

(01:25:07):
then six to one. You know, win that game and
they didn't. So we'll circle it. And if you remember,
you know, you don't even have to go back two
years ago, go back to the Bengals season, the moment
the Chiefs laid down against the Broncos and we saw
that the Bengals were not going to go to the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:25:27):
I think we all did the same thing.

Speaker 2 (01:25:28):
We went back and agonized over so many points during
the season that at that point would have gone differently.
The season turns out differently. Now, obviously it's a little
bit easier to do that, and it makes a little
bit more sense to do that during a seventeen game
football season than it is during one hundred and sixty
two baseball game season.

Speaker 4 (01:25:47):
But still we did that.

Speaker 2 (01:25:49):
Two years ago, the Rids finished two games out of
the playoffs, and a lot of us went back and
looked at a ton of games they could have won
and should have won in April but did not. Hopefully
yesterday's game does not come back to bite them. Grab
a phone callar too before we continue? Do we still
have Nick?

Speaker 5 (01:26:08):
Nick?

Speaker 4 (01:26:08):
You're on ESPN fifteen thirty? Go ahead?

Speaker 12 (01:26:11):
Well, I'm going to tell you first all, I'm a
big Eric Cartman guy.

Speaker 5 (01:26:17):
I if if anything is worth.

Speaker 1 (01:26:21):
Man, you're gonna shoot pass way passports.

Speaker 5 (01:26:24):
I'll go for it.

Speaker 12 (01:26:26):
So love love your the segment with your last caller there.

Speaker 4 (01:26:30):
We need more of Bob. I've gotten a lot of
that on social media. More Bob?

Speaker 12 (01:26:35):
Yeah, can I get more Bob in my life? Like
that guy needs to call back in because that was great.
I was just waiting for him to talk about cheesypoofs.
But anyway, got a question for you first, not related
to the Reds. Hey, when does MO your when's Mo
your long coming back? Because I'm I'm about.

Speaker 5 (01:26:52):
Ready to bust out my momer, but I don't want.

Speaker 12 (01:26:54):
To get it out if if I know I'm going
to be, you know, getting one here pretty soon.

Speaker 2 (01:27:00):
Well, it's a good question. So we we typically launched
the contest in early May. We typically it's I gotta
find out from our folks, because I I heard chatter
that all right, we're gonna launch it in late April.
We're getting to late April, so I have been told
we are doing it. We normally, we normally launch.

Speaker 5 (01:27:20):
It like.

Speaker 2 (01:27:23):
It's usually like the week of the draft, so that
should be two weeks. And then we always picked the
winter the Friday or the Thursday before Memorial Day, so
it should be happening soon. And as we speak, I
am jotting that down in my notebook of things to
do tomorrow to uh to see if I can get
a more definitive answer for you.

Speaker 5 (01:27:40):
Well, no worries, I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
You know. If I win, I'll just have you up
for some.

Speaker 12 (01:27:45):
Brown water and won't make you, uh mobil on.

Speaker 5 (01:27:47):
So I like it. I like it putting that out there.

Speaker 12 (01:27:49):
Yes, hey, listen, I talked to Tony and Austin today
about this. I don't I called in to their show
today about Ellie. He is not the reason why they
struggled this year. However, I really do feel like he
with with his speed and being one of the fastest

(01:28:10):
guys in old baseball, I really do feel like he
could better serve the team in center field. I agree
with you, though now is not the time to do that.
You know that, Unfortunately that ship has sailed for this season.
I wish they had, you know, considered that for you know,
the spring training. But I just I told them, you know,

(01:28:31):
outside of of Ellie's struggles with the errors, I'm not
super surprised that we met this team is where they
are when they did not address the number one need,
and that's a power bad.

Speaker 4 (01:28:46):
In the outfield.

Speaker 1 (01:28:48):
I think if you move Ellie to center, I.

Speaker 12 (01:28:50):
Mean where we are where we are right now, you know,
but I think next year, I really really think moving forward,
they need to consider moving Ellie to center field, especially
with his speed and the plethora of good infielders they've
got coming up, whether it's Royo or.

Speaker 1 (01:29:09):
Or you know, someone else.

Speaker 12 (01:29:11):
I think that needs to be addressed, you know, looking
ahead obviously this year that we can't do anything about that.
Now he's he's at short and that's where he's gonna beat.
So what are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 4 (01:29:23):
No, I'm I I think you number one. Until he.

Speaker 2 (01:29:28):
Until he proves himself as a short stop capable of
making the routine play look more routine, until he reduces
the errors, and until he reduces those moments where you
want to slap yourself in the head. We're always going
to be talking about a potential position change. So if
if the chatter is going to stop, it's it's going

(01:29:50):
to stop when Ellie stops giving us reason to wonder
whether or not he's better suited for center for center field.
And you're right, I mean, I think a lot of
times we get caught up up in this conversation from
the standpoint of well, he's failing as a shortstop, and
maybe you might think he is, or maybe you might
not think he is. What he is is an exceptional athlete,

(01:30:12):
and you cannot help. Look you can help, but look
at that extreme athleticism and sort of heart and grasp
his overall collection of tools, and think about what that
might look like in centerfield, with the ground he can
cover with the arm that he has, with the speed,
with the athleticism like that translates really well to center field.
And so if you are looking at this from the

(01:30:34):
standpoint of look, his talents and his skill set is
best employed in center field. I would say, don't shortchange
shortstop because it's a really important position.

Speaker 4 (01:30:43):
You could use a.

Speaker 2 (01:30:43):
Great athlete there. That's an argument though, that I'll listen to.
And if you want to say that, they may reach
a point with Edwin Arroyo or somebody else in the
system where it just makes sense to let that player
or somebody else play shortstop because they're better, And then
you have to think about where Ellie goes.

Speaker 4 (01:31:01):
Well, that's fine too.

Speaker 2 (01:31:02):
There's a long list of players who, even if they
are good at a position, change positions for the betterment
of the team. Where you lose me is he made
an heir, so now he's got to be a center fielder. Like,
That's not how it works, That's not how it should work.
There's a reason why they practice, there's a reason why
they're spring training, there's a reason why. You know, you
use that to give people a chance to play other positions.

(01:31:25):
You don't want to do that on the fly. And
so could I see there being a time where it
makes sense down the road to try it. One hundred percent,
one hundred percent, it's not on April the eleventh, when
the dudes never played center field in a game before
at the professional level, and we're suddenly going to run
him out there just to see how it works. You
have to prepare him. You have to teach him, you
have to train him, you have to give him reps.

(01:31:46):
You have to give him an opportunity to learn on
the fly and make mistakes. I mean, if you don't
like his mistakes, he's making a shortstop and that's the
position that he has played really ever since he got here, Well,
then you're gonna be okay with the mistakes he's invariably
gonna make in center field.

Speaker 4 (01:32:03):
That doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 2 (01:32:04):
And so I think you're gonna get to a point
where you try him in center field in spring training
if somebody else is ready to play shortstop, if you
feel like he's exhausted every opportunity at short and then
we'll go from there. But to just put him in
center field because you don't like him at shortstop and
try him out there tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Pirates

(01:32:25):
make zero sense whatsoever.

Speaker 12 (01:32:28):
Yeah, No, I totally agree that this season is he's
at short and that's where he's gonna be I just
I wish in retrospect, I wish they would have gone
after that that outfielder in the off season. And perhaps
you know, we're not even having this conversation because somebody
else is fulfilling the spot in the outfield, and we
just settled for what Ellie does at short which is

(01:32:50):
most of the time amazing. So anyway, thanks for taking
my calmo, and enjoy the art show.

Speaker 4 (01:32:56):
Thank you. Look, he's got to get thank you for
the phone call, Like he has to get better at short.

Speaker 2 (01:33:02):
He's got to get better at short. You do not
want a shortstop who leads the league airs every year. Now,
you could say that and acknowledge that there's a lot
of really good stuff that he does, a lot of
really good stuff that he does, and want more of
that while also hoping, you know, the bad throws and

(01:33:23):
the plays that he turns into errors, they're never gonna
get eliminated, but there continues to be a reduction in them.
If Elie Dela Cruz leads the league in shortstops this
it leads the leaguan errors at shortstop this year, by
the way, he led last year, and he leads with
three so far early this season. If by the end
of this year he leads the league in shortstops, it's

(01:33:44):
only going to amplify the discussions about whether or not
he's better.

Speaker 4 (01:33:48):
Suited for centerfield. It's up to him.

Speaker 2 (01:33:52):
It's up to him to keep doing the amazing stuff
and then do better at the routine stuff. And if
he does, he's going to be an awesome shortstop. He
already does some awesome stuff. He made a play on
a liner up the middle yesterday. That's a ball that
I'm not sure many shortstops get, mainly because they're not
as tall, certainly not as athletic and look like great

(01:34:15):
players have changed positions, man, I mean, you know I
mentioned Robin you out before. Alex Rodriguez changed positions, Craig
Biggio changed positions like in the middle of their careers.
Great players change positions. Great players change positions, and not
because they're bad at one position, but because it makes
sense for the team for them to play a different position.

(01:34:37):
And the fact that Ellie gets Nick brought this up
that the fact that Ellie gets talked about as a
shortstop is a reflection of his athletic profile. You know
I mentioned before there are times where he will at
shortstop go get a ball down the left field line
and you're.

Speaker 4 (01:34:52):
Like, holy crap.

Speaker 2 (01:34:53):
And it's not that he caught the ball, it's that
he caught the ball with these like he made that
look routine and that's you watch that and you go, man,
what does that look like in the outfield?

Speaker 4 (01:35:04):
What does that look like when he's covering a lot
more ground?

Speaker 2 (01:35:07):
Like part of this conversation is a statement about some
things that athletically you just marvel at.

Speaker 4 (01:35:15):
But if Ellie Dela Cruz.

Speaker 2 (01:35:18):
Is ever going to change positions, and by the way,
we could say this about a lot of players. If
a player is going to change positions, it's one thing
to have him change positions. Ellie has never played the
outfield in a professional baseball game, and so you're just
gonna throw him out there in the regular season and
games the count like, you're not setting anybody up for

(01:35:42):
success when you do that. Some could handle it, most
will not. You know, that's what winter ball is for,
It's what spring training is for, you know. And if
you're on a really bad team, which hopefully Ellie is
not this year, that's what games in the back end
of the schedule are for.

Speaker 4 (01:35:57):
You know, games that don't mean anything.

Speaker 2 (01:36:01):
There was a time not so long ago in this
franchise's history where it made sense to experiment with players
at different positions because they weren't playing games that mattered.
This year, the idea is to play games that matter.
If I'm playing games that matter, I'm not just trying
a guy at a position that he's never played. That
is not fair to the player, it's not fair to
the team. And if Ellie's errors at shortstop drive you nuts,

(01:36:24):
just wait until he makes errors in center field because
he's never played the position before. So if you want
to do this, I think it's got to be done
where you feel better about the replacement at short and
you give him a chance to learn, and you give
him a chance to learn and make some mistakes in
an environment that's not going to cost the team. That's
called spring training. But look, I'm open to this long term.

(01:36:49):
I want him to succeed at shortstop. I think he's
really fun to watch in shortstop. I think he can
have more of an effect on the game at shortstop.
Shortstop I think is the most important position on the field.
I think watching a guy make awesome plays at shortstop
is more fun than watching a guy make awesome plays
in centerfield. I think he can have a more direct
impact on the game at short so I want this

(01:37:10):
to work. But if we get to a point where
it's not, fine, let's try him in center field and
let's have those discussions during the off season so we
can start the plan to have him play a different
position in spring training. It is twenty minutes after five
o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty five point three seven four nine.
Fifteen thirty is our phone number. What I know would

(01:37:33):
have happened today last year.

Speaker 6 (01:37:36):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Help
Traffic Center.

Speaker 7 (01:37:45):
April is Donate Life Month. Register to become an Oregon
donor or explore Living Donation at uchelp dot com. Slash
transplant on Dalton Avenue. It is an accident at Lynn Street.
State Route thirty two remains closed down due to clodding
between Beachmont Avenue and the Bolt Street. He's found two
seventy five traffic moving slow from seventy one to seventy

(01:38:07):
five up toward Taylor Mill Road. That's a six minute
delay on that ezelk with traffic this.

Speaker 4 (01:38:13):
Report is sponsored by Bankover.

Speaker 2 (01:38:15):
Prassed off in ten minutes on ESPN fifteen thirty Leger
quickly on the game yesterday, I am, and I think
of your Reds fan. You agree thrilled with Terry Francone
as the manager. Could not have gotten anybody more qualified.
I could not have gotten anybody with a bigger, better resume,

(01:38:36):
could not have gotten anybody who is I think, more
beloved in the sport. Those things are awesome. He's going
to make decisions that don't work. He's going to make
decisions that are worthy of being second guest. He's going
to manage one hundred and sixty two baseball games. Every
decision is going to be the right one, like I
used to do this with David Bell and to a degree,
Brian Price. Like every manager gets toff right, every manager

(01:39:00):
get stuff wrong. You certainly hope they get stuff right
more than they get stuff wrong. I thought, in real
time Terry Francona got leaving Nick Martinez in the game wrong.

Speaker 4 (01:39:09):
He's not good third time through the order that came
back to bite the team.

Speaker 2 (01:39:14):
I think hitting Santiago Espinal second is stupid, and I
know they're shorthanded, Like that's tough is if David Bell
does those two things, what do you think like Lance's
show after the game sounds like? What do you think
today's shows sound like?

Speaker 4 (01:39:30):
On this radio station. There's enough nuance.

Speaker 2 (01:39:36):
Allowed for that you could second guess somebody or criticize
their decision and not want to run him out of town.
Terry Francona has an awesome resume. We are thrilled he
is the Reds manager. None of that makes him immune
to second guessing, criticism, and his moves and decisions being discussed.

(01:40:00):
It's fun to discuss a manager's decisions. Let's see here.
I got like two minutes, Jim, You're on ESPN fifteen thirty, quickly,
what's up?

Speaker 1 (01:40:09):
Real quick?

Speaker 9 (01:40:10):
I agree with that previous caller. Two things. I think
Ellie his potential center field, not shorts stuff. The guy
can run, the guy can throw, he can hit. And
the second thing is Pete Rose was the only player
I remember in nineteen seventy six Sparky said you got
to go to thirty goes win a night. So George

(01:40:32):
Foster went and left field they went to the World Series.
I just think Ellie, and I agree with you, he
should be go through it in spring training. His potentials
and center. They took that kid from Pittsburgh, then they
put him in center. He looks dislike you.

Speaker 4 (01:40:48):
O'Neil Cruz.

Speaker 9 (01:40:51):
Yeah, I think he put him in center field. I
really think his potential center field. He can run, he
can throw, he can hit. I don't think could shortstop.
But I agree with you doing them in spring training.

Speaker 1 (01:41:03):
But like I said, Pete.

Speaker 9 (01:41:04):
Rose was the only one, but he played infield. Rose
played second base when he came up. Yeah, yeah, I
agree with you.

Speaker 2 (01:41:13):
Yeah, no doubt about it. Looks it's impossible, Jim, thank you.
It's it's impossible to watch Ellie Dela Cruz and know
what he does physically and not wonder, like, what does
that look like in centerfield? And maybe that will make
sense for the Reds to do at some point. It's
not when he hasn't had a chance to work at
the position.

Speaker 8 (01:41:30):
It just.

Speaker 2 (01:41:33):
You have to give people a chance to succeed. And
if you want to try things, you can't try things
that come at the expense of the ball club. If
the Reds are thirty five games at a first place
in September and Terry Francona wants to run Ellie Dela
Cruz in center field.

Speaker 5 (01:41:47):
Do it?

Speaker 4 (01:41:48):
Who cares not now? Joe Goodberry on the draft.

Speaker 6 (01:41:52):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the UC Help
Trap Center.

Speaker 7 (01:42:00):
April is Donate Life Month. Register to become an Oregon
donor or explorer living donation at uc heelp dot com.
Slash transplant on Dalton Avenue. There is an accident at
Lynn Street. State Route thirty two closed off due to
flooding between Beachmont Avenue and the Vault Street. Traffic stomping
goes Outhound seventy one between Dana Avenue and Fort Washington Way,

(01:42:23):
looking at an eight minute delay in through there that
he's out like with traffic.

Speaker 11 (01:42:28):
Sixteen thirty Cincinnati's sports station.

Speaker 2 (01:42:32):
Let's talk draft, No Goodbary Bengals on the brain. If
the first sixteen picks go exactly the way you wanted?

Speaker 4 (01:42:39):
Who would you take? If you're running the Bengals with
the seventeenth overall pick.

Speaker 1 (01:42:45):
Ooh, that's a good way to start it. I would
say I'm circling down to my last few guys, and
I would really love Calvin Banks Junior. He's a left
tackle at Texas. We're talking about a five star recruit
twenty one years old. But I think he'd be a
better guard, especially early in his career the way he plays.
I just put on the Michigan game for Bengals on
the brain Our last episode, and he's taking on Mason

(01:43:07):
Graham Kenneth Grant because they slide the protection a lot,
and he ends up inside even playing left tackle. But
he gets Josiah Stewart on another fifteen or so reps,
and man, he has a dominant performance versus all three
of them. He plays low, he plays aggressive, he's strong,
he's got great balance and anchor. I think he'd make
an excellent guard, and one of the few guards that

(01:43:27):
probably hit the ground running as rookies because they don't
tend to perform really well. Offensive lineman offense, defensive lineman
tend to take a year. But I still would do
it and say hey because we have such a big need,
because I think he'd normally be a top ten pick
in every other class. But it's a pretty strong a
line class. If Kelvin Banks is still there, I see
that as a home run.

Speaker 2 (01:43:46):
So what they do at guard is at least to
a degree, a reflection of what they've done with the
position so far in free agency, and they can still
maybe add a guy. Are you surprised that they have
taken the approach they have to this point at that position.

Speaker 1 (01:44:00):
I am, because I want to protect Joe Burrow first
and foremost right, and I think the guard position has
been a sore spot for them since Burrow's been here,
probably even longer than that, since they lost Kevin Zeitler
and you know, twenty seventeen or so. So yeah, it's
been an issue for them. But it's funny because I
don't get to my to the end of the draft
process where I feel really strong about my opinions or

(01:44:22):
these these the grades that the formula fits out for
the work we do on these prospects until about late March,
so it's after free agency, and I assume the Bengals
and NFL teams are ahead of me. I'm assume they
have grades on these guys before that. So when I
get to early April, I go, Wow, this guard class
is excellent. There are a ton of guards in this class.
And then I start getting the feeling as we approach

(01:44:44):
the draft, but the Bengals are gonna take a gut
heart at some point, and it starts to make sense
why they didn't go out and overpace for some of
these guys in free agency, like an Aaron Banks who
got a crazy contract from the forty nine ers to
the Packers. I don't think he's that could have a
player got a great contract both for I've got a
big contract and pree agency. I'm not into any of
those guys. So if the alternative is, well, we're going

(01:45:04):
to spend a premium pick on at least one guard
and maybe we'll find another one after free agency. As
a Tiler kind of alluded to or maybe they draft to,
you know, somewhere in this draft, because it's that strong,
I come away and say, Okay, this is a long
term solution rather than a one year deal for Kevin
Zeitler or a one year deal for Brandon Shirp, which
I would have accepted completely. Don't get me wrong, but
looking long term, this is a really good class to

(01:45:26):
say we're going to take a guard, and we're going
to take one with a premium pick.

Speaker 2 (01:45:29):
So if they don't take a Garden round one, I
should feel pretty good still about their chances to get
a guy who can be plugged in and played in
in in the last two days.

Speaker 4 (01:45:41):
Let me do that again. I'm sound like I'm moron.

Speaker 2 (01:45:44):
So with the depth of that position, if they don't
get a Garden round one, they can get a guy
later on that could start and play.

Speaker 11 (01:45:50):
This year, no doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (01:45:52):
As long as they don't Jackson Carman this thing and
say all right, we're going to take someone that's you know,
a fourth fifth round pick in round two, if they
should be all right. I like the guys that will
be there in round two. I don't know like some
of the fringe first guys like Gray Zabel, I think
he's probably gone by the time they get to forty nine.
Maybe that's a trade back option. I think pretty much
same for Donovan Jackson on Hot State. He probably goes
before they pick at forty nine because he is a

(01:46:14):
true guard and a really good player, and he played
left tackle. Like the teams are gonna be like, hey,
he can kick out there if we need him. This
guy knows what he's doing. But if you get down
to like Tate Ratlich from Georgia, I do expect he'll
be there at forty nine. And that's a plug and
play right guard that played next to Marius Men's and
in fact his twenty twenty three tape the first time
I was exposed to him because we were watching Men
so much. He was excellent in twenty twenty three. In fact,

(01:46:37):
he probably was the first round guard based on that tape,
and then he wasn't as effective last year. New right tackle,
new center. Jared Wilson being the other Georgia guy who
I think is an instant starter, could probably play in
MC guard even though he played center. He's got the
size of the guard. He's a second or third rounder.
There are a ton of guys here. We've got ten
guys with startuble grades for the interior offensive line, and

(01:46:57):
I don't expect maybe one, two, maybe it's three by
the time that are gone by the time they get
to forty nine. So you have a ton of options
there in round two and potentially round three.

Speaker 2 (01:47:06):
Of the positions where they have the biggest needs, where
can they least afford to wait?

Speaker 1 (01:47:12):
Oh, I would say defensive tackle, and defensive tackle is
an interesting one because I want a pass rusher.

Speaker 3 (01:47:17):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:47:17):
If we're saying, if we're tying it with needs, they
need to get more explosive inside. They need to get
more athletic and side. They need some pass rush help.
Signing TJ. Flating is great for defending the run and
giving you a big body nose tackle, But for sixty
percent of the game, when the other team's throwing the ball,
you need someone to go get the quarterback, and I'm
not sure they have a guy that can do that.
Chris Jenkins was never profiled as a high end pass rusher.

(01:47:39):
Neither was Kiley Jackson. I assume they expect those guys
to take steps in year two, but is that enough.
Do you have defensive tackle number one or is that
BJ Hill? Because I would say that's not good enough
for a championship team. They need a DT one. But
because you drafted McKinley Jackson and Chris Jenkins last year,
kind of that's your second and third round pick. I mean,
are you going to spend enough second third rounder on

(01:48:01):
a similar player? I think if it happens, it would
be first round. It would be Walter Nolan out of
Old miss. It'll be Derek Harman out of Oregon. Guys
that can rush the pass or get upfield, provide some athleticism,
give you an instant impact, and give you something you
don't have of the four guys on the roster right
now in that room. But if you don't get them
at seventeen and you wait, I think you're adding similarly

(01:48:23):
similarly graded players as Chris Jenkins, which at that point,
if it's a position that takes a year to develop,
is it really helping you in twenty twenty five. I
don't think it is. So they have to be strategic
if they're going to add to the defensive tackle room,
and maybe a guy if it's not in the first round.
Maybe it's just a guy that can straight up rush
the pass room. Maybe it's an end that kicks inside.
Maybe it's an Omar Norman Lot from Tennessee who plays

(01:48:45):
about two hundred and fifty snaps a season for the
last five years in college, and he's on a thirty
visit because they're probably going to answer why don't you
play more? But your flashes are extremely high and he's
probably like a third, fourth, fifth rounder because of that
experience in playtime that I think a guy like that
can help you. But again, we're talking about maybe the
fifth defensive tackle.

Speaker 2 (01:49:04):
If you wait that long, do you agree with what
seems to be the consensus which is edge rusher is deep.

Speaker 1 (01:49:11):
I do I think ed rusher. If you talk to
other draft guys are listening to it. They were applauding
the defensive tackle room, the whole process in this draft,
and I was like, yeah, it's good, but I don't
think it's great. I think there's a bunch of guys
that are going Round one and that's what makes that
class great. But otherwise afterwards, it's deeper than it's been
in recent years. But I don't see future starters. Like
we had a first round grade on Milton Williams in

(01:49:33):
our process in twenty twenty one, so like, I don't
see that guy again. We had a first round grade
on Justin Madabique. I don't see that guy again in
the mid rounds. Maybe it's TJ. Sanders at defensive tackle.
So the opposite is correct. What do you hurt that
the end room? Our class was good this year, and
then the grading process fits it out and there are twelve, thirteen,
fourteen guys that I think can help you and contribute

(01:49:54):
not just early but long term eventually be starters. So
it may not have to happen in round one, despite
they might be flapped in the face at seventeen, it's like, hey,
here's a d end still there, depending on how they
feel about James Pierce Junior and Mike Green, right, each
guy's character and background stuff that has to get figured
out that is above us that we don't even know
how to talk about it unless it happens and they

(01:50:14):
draft them, then left to divee in further and figure
it out. But other than that, is it a Shamar Stewart,
isn't a mikel Williams? This is a Nick Gordon? Is
it a Donovan Izaraku? All these guys to me are
end of the first round type players. But then you
get in the rounds two and three, I think there
are a ton of guys. Whether it's Ashton Jelodi Louisville,
who's probably a third round pick, Landon Jackson Arkansas is

(01:50:35):
probably a second round pick, and then even further of
Brayden Swinson LSU second third round. He's seventy third on
the consensus board right now. Josiah Stewart, who I mentioned
earlier from Michigan, probably seen as a third maybe fourth
rounder because he didn't test. There are a ton of
guys this year at defensive end that I think can
come in and they have a young room. You have
Joseph Similes Murphy. Same reasons why I said they may

(01:50:57):
not draft a defensive tackle in that same range of
an Osian and Murphy because they believe there's still some
development there. I do think there are guys that can
come in and be a little bit different than those
two and provide a lit something.

Speaker 2 (01:51:08):
Joe Goodbary with US Bengals on the Brain, which you
should watch on YouTube, and by the way, you should
have subscribed to Joe on X as well. I don't
want to watch Geno Stone next year. I'm resigned to
the fact that I'm gonna have to watch Geno Stone
next year, but I would like for someone to eventually
replace Genostone this coming season.

Speaker 4 (01:51:25):
Can that guy be had? And can that guy be
had after round one?

Speaker 1 (01:51:31):
I believe all of that can be had, and it
may happen in round one. I think that's probably the
sneaky thing in this class for the Bengals is, Hey,
they may just get there and say, you know what,
it's a weird first round. Some prognosticators say there's fifteen
first round guys in this class, which is lower than
Normally you get to the twenty two to twenty five
great at first round prospects. If there's only fifteen, you

(01:51:52):
may get there at seventeen and say, you know what,
just take a guy you think is going to be good.
I don't care about where his great is. And maybe
that is Malachi Starks, who was originally thought of as
a top twelve or so player in this class out
of Georgia because he's super young. He's been playing represent
to his freshman at Georgia. He's a free safety type,
made a lot of plays. He didn't take that next

(01:52:13):
step in twenty twenty four that everyone thought he was.
When they're saying he's a top twelve pick and now
he's somewhere around twentieth. I'm a consensus. I still think
he could an appellent later than that. But if the
Bengals say, you know what, we don't care about his testing.
The safety is one of the positions where as the
lowest correlation from athletic testing to future success in the pros,
they may just say that's our guy. Go back to

(01:52:33):
January rankings, go back to when our scouts submitted their
notes and numbers. Malachi starts probably Great's pretty high for them,
and I have to remind myself every time we get
in April that they go back to January and look
at those rankings. That's probably closer to how the Bengals
feel now. They don't want the data influence them over
the next few months of the draft process.

Speaker 5 (01:52:51):
So I think Starks is still.

Speaker 1 (01:52:52):
A sneaky pick at seventeen. I think Nick and then Worri,
even though he's more of a strong safety so not
really as you know, still in replacement, can do some
split safety stuff. So I don't know if it's a
direct fit, but for the next five years, even worry is.
Again he was twenty years old on film. When you
watch him, a freak. He's six three two twenty hit
one hundreds percentile testing athletically, but he's really good on

(01:53:15):
tape two like this, you think of a big guy,
he's just gonna be a physical cam Chancellor.

Speaker 12 (01:53:19):
He's not.

Speaker 1 (01:53:20):
He's actually more of a tyrone Matthew cover the slot,
be really smart, flip his hips and run and undercut
routes and make plays on the ball. And I like that,
and I want that if we're talking next five years.
I don't know who the playmaker on this defense is
you know, not Trey Hendrickson for the future, and plus
he's thirty to be thirty one this year. Who is
the playmaker on this defense? Maybe it is a Nick
even morior for the next five years. I picked seventeen,

(01:53:42):
but if not, I do like rounds two and three,
whether it's Kevin Winston Junior out of Penn State, Davie
Watts at an order Dame who gets his hands on
the ball consistently, or Andrew mccouba, who's kind of a
free safety. He played at center free safety snaps, but
kind of a slack guy too. When he came down
and had to cover out of Texas, Hoopa covered really well.
But he's one hundred and eighty five pounds, is the

(01:54:02):
smallest guy out of all of them, so maybe he
goes a little bit later. I've seen lots of them
in the fourth round, but I think Winston and Watts
go round two. I think mccouba is round three, and
then after that it really falls off. So if you're
gonna do it and you're gonna find an upgrade a genostone,
it probably happens in the first three rounds, all right, two.

Speaker 2 (01:54:18):
More one is really more about players they have on
the roster right now, because they're going to run it
back with a lot of corners who I think individually
have shown that they have upside, but collectively, boy, I've
got concerns, and maybe Al Golden gets more out of
these guys. We're talking about a lot of guys who
have been drafted early by this team, and so there

(01:54:39):
is some upside, it still feels like a really dangerous approach.
Do you share my concern with what it appears they're
doing with respect to the cornerback position.

Speaker 1 (01:54:48):
I do share it because if you're going to an L.
Golden more scheme that he showed a Notre Dame, they're
gonna play more man coverage. I mean that means you're
gonna rely on these guys to win one on one
often and while they're athletic and fast, so maybe that
is a better scheme for them, get them thinking a
little bit less and just let them do their athletic thing.
And then Dax Hill's a high end athlete. DJ Turner's

(01:55:10):
a high end athlete. Can Taylor Brett is as well.
Maybe you need them to think a little bit less.
That makes sense. But at the same time, as of now,
we don't know what any of those guys are and
that's scary. And they've all flashed, they've all made plays,
they've all had individual moments, and I think DJ Turner
last year was on the cusp of maybe making a
statement until he broke his collar bone or clavic or

(01:55:31):
whatever it was in that Charters game. Very good game,
but still that's basically the story for all these guys.
They've all had flashes, they've all had moments in games.
It's the one handed interception by Can Taylor Brett is
going to be a highlight that you'll see forever because
it was one of the craziest interceptions I've ever seen.
But consistency wise, they've been terrible from all those guys,
and even the death guys and Mike Hilton still out
there in free agency. So I mean, teams don't even

(01:55:52):
want the probably their best corner last year. So you
sit here and you go, Okay, are they going to
draft the corner? When will it be again? A ton
of young guys that need development from You can't draft everything,
and I don't think this corner class is as good
as last year. Last year, we had Quenya and Mitchell
and Cooper de Jena's top twelveth grade prospects. We don't
have anyone that touches on that, even Will Johnson, who's
gonna test on Monday ten am. We're gonna see his

(01:56:14):
athleticism then, because I ask some questions about a speed
and agility, and he's more of his own corner and
offso and corner let him read and react anyway, So
I'm not sure he's a great fit. But if he's
there at seventeen, maybe you say, you know, screw fit
a little bit. We're gonna get a good player and
we'll figure it out from there. But again probably get
similar how State fans growing, Do we need any more
Michigan corners? Which you know, I get it, but you

(01:56:35):
take good players right and you figure it out afterwards.
I don't know if they get a corner in this draft,
because I also think they like the depth, or at
least I should say they're intrigued by the depth of
Josh Newton and dj Ivy, So I think at some
point you've got to roll with the young guys you
have at some positions. And if there was a position
I had to pick of like the pass rushers, the
defensive tackles, and the corners. I would say, you know what,

(01:56:58):
if I have to roll with one of those groups,
to say I'm not going to add a guy this
year that's going to compete with them, it's going to
be corner. Because they spent premium picks on all three
of those guys. They're all still young, and they've all flashed,
and we can't say that about Murphy or Chris Jenkins
or McKinley Jackson. Some flashes out of Justico side, but
he's not a one year deal. So I feel a
little bit better about the corner room.

Speaker 2 (01:57:16):
All right, one more in the first round. How aggressively
would you be looking to trade down?

Speaker 1 (01:57:21):
If at all, I would completely be looking to trade
down unless I'm sitting there and it's Calvin Banks is
still on the board. You know, you ask me if
it would be a perfect scenario that would be one
of them where I just say, no, I'm taking a guy. Otherwise,
if it is Malachi Starts, let's say, if it is
Nicky mn worry, if it is Donovan Jackson or Gray
Zabel on the offensive line, or Josh Connery on the

(01:57:43):
offensive line of the guy they brought in for a
thirty visit on Oregon, who I think probably goes between
twenty eight and forty, so you never get really to
get your hands on him. Maybe he's a good player
if that means you could pick up an extra third
round pick when you only have six picks and we're
talking about which position don't we want to address? You know,
do you not want to address running back and maybe
the strongest running back class in a long time? Do

(01:58:04):
you not want to address tight end? After Eric All
is not going to be here this year and then
Tanner McLaughlin played like six snaps last year? Is the
tight end room good enough? Do you not want to
address corner? Do you not want to address linebacker? Who
Tremaine pratztill on the roster? So I would love to
get an extra third round pick. And I went back
and looked at similar draft classes where there's only fifteen

(01:58:24):
to twenty let's say considered a weak first round graded class.
You do see those those years where teams will trade
up aggressively to get that last first round guy. Maybe
that's at seventeen, right, Maybe there's a couple quarterbacks go
maybe a couple of reaches happen, and there's still two
or three first round graded guys on the board. Now
that could go to ways Bengals say we want one
of these guys. We want a first rounder for our

(01:58:46):
first round pick. Another teammate call and say, we really
want that guy, and here's this third round pick for
to move back four spots. You can still get the
guy you really want. We get the guy we want.
Let's make a deal. I think we were going to
see a lot of trading in that middle to early
twenties portion of the of the draft than Day one.

Speaker 2 (01:59:02):
I could talk to you for the next ninety minutes,
but you have more important things to do. I will
bother you after the draft. You're the best man, Thanks
so much.

Speaker 1 (01:59:11):
Thank you. Bo.

Speaker 2 (01:59:12):
Awesome stuff, Joe Goodbarry Bengels on the brain. Go watch
them on YouTube. Joe is the absolute best. The NFL
Draft starts two weeks from tonight. Don't forget we will
be broadcasting from Long Necks and Wilder. That afternoon show's over.
Gott to go thanks to a terror plan for producing.
Thanks to you for listening. We are back tomorrow at

(01:59:32):
three oh five. If you've missed anything go get in
on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks to long Next, We're done,
have a great night. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 6 (01:59:41):

Speaker 7 (01:59:52):
Traffic from the UC help Traffic Center April is Donate lifelinth,
register to become an organ donor or explore living to
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An accident at Milliken Road on that ezelic with traffic

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