September 6, 2024 • 12 mins
Robert Weintraub writes a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. Robert joined me this week to discuss his this week's column, which sounds a cautious note.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, we chatted for years with Robert Weintraub because
he contributes to the what for years was the Football
Outsiders Preseason Almanac, and that has moved on to FTN Fantasy.
And so two straight years Robert has joined us to
talk about his contributions to the FTN Preseason Almanac, wrote
(00:21):
the Bengals chapter typically does, and then last year started
joining us on a weekly basis to talk about, among
other things, his weekly column for Cincinnati Magazine. He's weekly
Bengals column is his latest sounds a cautious note, which
we're going to talk about. Go read it at Cincinnati
Magazine dot com. First of all, Robert, it's good to
(00:43):
have you back. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yes, I am the Cassandra of Cincinnati, That's the way
I look at it. Part of that, of course, is
just the fan in me. I never want to, you know,
get over my skis in that sense.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I always wanted to take the conservative approach, never to
think that the team is going to be super Bowl
bound until they prove it to me. So I just
want to, you know, stay in my lane, as it were,
when it comes to that. But of course, the buried
part of me is very optimistic and as assuming seventeen
and oh, as we edge the playoffs on a high pay.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Of course, of course, well before we talk about some
of the alarm bells that you do sound, I am
required to ask you about Jamar Chase and so specifically
from your standpoint, because you're smart and yeah, you're a fan,
but you could look at this subjectively. You know a
lot of folks have said, well, the bengalshould just get
it done. Pay them, put a contract in front of them,
and this get it done. What do you say when
(01:41):
you hear someone say.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
That, Well, my first thought is always, you know, it
takes two to tango.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I mean, both sides have to agree.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's the sort of common approach to all this as well,
it's the Bengals who are not giving Jamar what he wants.
But maybe what Jamar wants is out of line. We
don't know what the negotiates. Maybe they've offered him something
and he agreed in principle and.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Then came back for something else.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, we just we can't take it all as Oh,
Cincinnati's holding out because they don't want to give him
Jamar exactly what he wants a dollar more than justin
Jefferson or whatever. So you know, that's the sort of
And also, of course they're looking at a player who
they have under contract for two years and a guy
who's been around the team that hasn't practiced until this month.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I think he had what he's doubled.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
His practices in September that he had from January through August.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Right, So that's pretty good, I guess, But you know,
it goes back and forth.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I do think in.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
The end, you're always better off if you identify a
core player who clearly Jamar is, you're better off paying
him sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
If you think you're going to pay him.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You're better off doing it sooner because obviously, you know,
the salary cap is only going to go up there
sitting on giants of money. They're playing the game in Brazil,
for god's sakes tomorrow just to make get more money. Uh,
you know, the idea that it's somehow going to come
back and punk them if they give them a little
bit extra money now down the line. I find that
(03:12):
a little bit hard to take. So you know, I
I see both sides of the coin. I just think
to a point, you know, all summer long when everybody
said just pay them ready. You know, I can understand
why they would, you know, sound a little bit of
a cautionary note about that if you're the Bengals, But.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
You know, now's the time.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
If the football would be played on the field this year,
maybe it is time for both sides just to say
enough already, we want each other.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Let's do this and move on to the games themselves.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
All right. You so you raised some questions that kind
of loom over the start of the season that you know, frankly,
have very little to do with anything with Jamar Chase.
Could I answer some of them and then get your
thoughts on my answers.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
It's not gonna be gonna be that kind of interview,
is it, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah? So you you ask, has the run defense it's
really improved after last year's abomination. I'm gonna say no,
now with a caveat, they were worse than the NFL
in yards per carry all out right, Well, they're probably
not going to be that bad, but they're probably also
not going to be very good. Agree or disagree.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Agree to a point, you know, again, it's sort of
what I don't want to happen, is this I don't
want to be saying at the end of the year.
You know, Derrick Henry really wasn't that huge in addition
for Baltimore, but boy, he did have those two hundred
and fifty yard games against Cincinnati. Nick Chubb, you know,
he didn't really look like his former self except for
that one hundred and thirty yards and two touchdowns game
(04:37):
against Cincinnati that he always has. You know, it's sort
of the context of it all, if you will.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It's the bigger picture.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Numbers aren't that concerning to me as much as division
games and situational right. You know, they don't have to
be the top ten run defense strictly by yards per
carrier for me, they just have to clean up in.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A lot of things. You know that the big gag
when they played last.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Year, like in dime personnel, they were the worst team
in the league in stopping the run. Other team would
show them a passing look and then run for big
yards against them. They got to improve their tackling, as
we've talked about before. You know, in twenty twenty two,
teams would try and run the same exact plays against them,
and the first guy to on the Bengals defense to
approach would get that opponent on the ground.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That didn't happen last year.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It wasn't scheme, personnel especially, you know, and the big
picture was really they just didn't tackle very well at
all last year.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And that's something that can change.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I think that it can change, and it was an
emphasis this summer and probably will change for the better.
That said, you know, they still are lacking in what
I think of as beef on the interior. They still
don't really you know, I think their overall focus, and
which is probably the right way to go is first
and foremost, stop the pass rather than stop the run.
(05:54):
And you know, I think they're right in doing that.
So you know, even if they are let's say twenty
first this year strictly you know, stick a number out
of the air in stopping you know, yards per attempt,
that's still pretty good.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
That's that should be fine enough.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The big question is whether or not it keeps them
from achieving their goals, and I don't really think that
it will.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
You ask, well, the reworks secondary eliminate the big plays
that plague the d My answer is eliminate, no, reduce enough,
Yes your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that's what they have to
go for. You're never going to completely eliminate them all.
I mean, even in twenty twenty two, which we upen
to compare it against, you know, they still gave up
a fair amount of chunk plays. But last year it's
not only that they gave up a lot of chunk plays,
but they were tested on the perimeter more than any
any other team. No team gave up more attempts of
(06:47):
sixteen yards per passing.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
In the air on the on the perimeter more than
the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That just means they didn't respect the corners and they didn't.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Think the safeties were going to clean up behind them.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
When you're talking about the opponents, just having you know,
Bell and Geno Stone out there sort of eliminates that
from the get go, you would like to think, but
the corners are still going to have to prove that
they can stop and to meet, you know, the schemes
against them.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
They're still going to have to show that they can cover.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
They didn't really do that as much last year for
a variety of reasons. And to me, the unit still seems,
especially the corners, still seem a little bit I don't
want to say one thing. But you know you have
a good slot corner. You have three young corners that
you think are going to be good but are kind
of improving except for Cam Taylor Britt and then you
(07:34):
have behind them a rookie in Josh Newton and a
guy on the pup list and dj Ivy. You know,
I think cornerback play in the NFL right now is
blessed about having the one or two elite shutdown guys necessarily,
and more about having six guys that you can always
rely on having. I think back to when they had
Trey Flowers and would use him as a situational matchup
(07:55):
against a Travis Kelcey or some of the other tight
ends or an Eli Apple who they they could rely
on to just be in the right position at all times.
It's a question mark whether these guys are going to
step forward and be.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Those kind of players.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
We should be looking back at the conversations six weeks
from now.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And thinking, hey, they got an awesome secondary and they're
all young and rising, and aren't we.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
In great shape? But it's not proven yet, and that's
what worries me at the moment.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Robert Wintraub's Weekly Bengals column available at Cincinnati Magazine dot com.
One more of your questions, you ask, can the running
back convo of Zach Moss and Chase Brown make us
forget that departed Joe Mixon. Here's my answer. You might
not like it. I already forgot about Joe Mixon. I'm
not sure that's the right barometer.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, it probably isn't.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And when I say that, not what Joe did here
for seven years. The player that I watched last season, yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
I mean he was he had an effective year last year.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I mean, you know, it was kind of lost and everything,
but he was a good player last year. Now, didn't really.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Make too much of a difference in the big picture.
And when I wrote that, some of that is just
a rhetorical thing. It's not necessarily even can the two
guys match what Mixon did last year?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Per se?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
It's do they have an effective running game?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Can they use those guys in the passing game?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And do they have enough to make defenses respect them.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Last year, they you know, they faced a lot of
light boxes and when they did, they did well against
that because they had three wide receivers that other teams
had due respect, and they could you know the Bengals
could know that they were going to face light boxes
on more than the ratification. Will that be the same
this year? You know, we don't know who the slop
(09:35):
receiver is going to be. Necessarily, they haven't proven that.
Higgins and Chase even have question mark coming.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Into the season. I don't think we really doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
But you know, can they punish teams when they played
them six in the box the way they did last year?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
You know, as it is, it doesn't matter as much.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
I don't think the Bengals are going to throw run
it that much.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Their pass first team.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
They were thirtieth and first down runs last year, thirtieth
in first half.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Runs last year favorite they were.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Twenty ninth and running the ball on second and long.
I mean they're a past first team.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I mean, that's what they do. All they have to
get out of the two new guys.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And you know the other thing that I did worry
me is the lack of sort of again going back
to the AFC North, the kind of lack of weight
in the running back room. I like to pick up
of Kendall Milton to the practice squat actually just because
he was a two hundred and thirty pounds back. And
I think a lot of times, you see, you know,
the difference between winning and losing games comes down to
did you convert that third and two when you really
(10:31):
needed to in the third quarter?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
You know, And it remains to be seen. We could
pretty much rely on mixing to get that. Whether Zach Watson,
Chase Brown can.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do that is up in the air, or even Kendall Milton.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So that's why I put that in question marks. But
I don't think in the big.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Picture it's a huge, you know, looming question mark over
the team.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All right, one more, no, not one more of your questions,
one more of mine. And maybe it's the position you
just talked about. Is there a position group we're going
into this season where it feels like, God, you know what,
I wish they had one more guy, or I wish
they I wish they would have gone in slightly a
different direction, or maybe they're just not quite as whole
as we would like.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well a whole is we.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Would like, certainly, I think you know, you look at
the defensive line and you were hoping at least to
see something out of their third round pick McKinley Jackson
and just know that they had that beef in there
right now, they sort of they kept five defensive tackles,
and I still don't feel that great about it. The
cornerbacks was first and foremost in my mind. We discussed
that already, and the running backs, you know, we also
(11:36):
touched on that as well. I think they still you know,
they really need a sledgehammer guy in there or they can,
you know, when the season goes along. The other thing
to remember about Moss and Brown is it's not like
they have a lot of carries between them in this
league and have proven they could withstand a seventeen game schedule.
And you know, that's another reason why you want to have,
if not the one Bell Cow, a bunch of guys
(11:58):
who at least you know are going to be with
the you know, take up the load when one or the.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Other is injured.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
But to me, it's really still the corners.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I always think that you can never have too many,
and you know, forgetting about their experience.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
You know, like we said, these guys could be good.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
But they still feel like they're a guy short back
there to me, and I don't think it's out of
line to think that they might still pick up somebody
between now and either the trade deadline, or you know,
if somebody gets cut along the way that they weren't expecting,
they could do what they did with Trey Flowers and
pick them up mid season like they did two years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Didn't think I'd have any conversations three days before the
opener where there were two tray Flowers references. But that's
what I get you on the show for Robert. Thank
you was always man. We'll do it again next week.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I bring out the esoterica just for you, my man,
Any said
You know, we chatted for years with Robert Weintraub because
he contributes to the what for years was the Football
Outsiders Preseason Almanac, and that has moved on to FTN Fantasy.
And so two straight years Robert has joined us to
talk about his contributions to the FTN Preseason Almanac, wrote
(00:21):
the Bengals chapter typically does, and then last year started
joining us on a weekly basis to talk about, among
other things, his weekly column for Cincinnati Magazine. He's weekly
Bengals column is his latest sounds a cautious note, which
we're going to talk about. Go read it at Cincinnati
Magazine dot com. First of all, Robert, it's good to
(00:43):
have you back. What's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yes, I am the Cassandra of Cincinnati, That's the way
I look at it. Part of that, of course, is
just the fan in me. I never want to, you know,
get over my skis in that sense.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I always wanted to take the conservative approach, never to
think that the team is going to be super Bowl
bound until they prove it to me. So I just
want to, you know, stay in my lane, as it were,
when it comes to that. But of course, the buried
part of me is very optimistic and as assuming seventeen
and oh, as we edge the playoffs on a high pay.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Of course, of course, well before we talk about some
of the alarm bells that you do sound, I am
required to ask you about Jamar Chase and so specifically
from your standpoint, because you're smart and yeah, you're a fan,
but you could look at this subjectively. You know a
lot of folks have said, well, the bengalshould just get
it done. Pay them, put a contract in front of them,
and this get it done. What do you say when
(01:41):
you hear someone say.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
That, Well, my first thought is always, you know, it
takes two to tango.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
I mean, both sides have to agree.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's the sort of common approach to all this as well,
it's the Bengals who are not giving Jamar what he wants.
But maybe what Jamar wants is out of line. We
don't know what the negotiates. Maybe they've offered him something
and he agreed in principle and.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Then came back for something else.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know, we just we can't take it all as Oh,
Cincinnati's holding out because they don't want to give him
Jamar exactly what he wants a dollar more than justin
Jefferson or whatever. So you know, that's the sort of
And also, of course they're looking at a player who
they have under contract for two years and a guy
who's been around the team that hasn't practiced until this month.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I think he had what he's doubled.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
His practices in September that he had from January through August.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Right, So that's pretty good, I guess, But you know,
it goes back and forth.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
I do think in.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
The end, you're always better off if you identify a
core player who clearly Jamar is, you're better off paying
him sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
If you think you're going to pay him.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
You're better off doing it sooner because obviously, you know,
the salary cap is only going to go up there
sitting on giants of money. They're playing the game in Brazil,
for god's sakes tomorrow just to make get more money. Uh,
you know, the idea that it's somehow going to come
back and punk them if they give them a little
bit extra money now down the line. I find that
(03:12):
a little bit hard to take. So you know, I
I see both sides of the coin. I just think
to a point, you know, all summer long when everybody
said just pay them ready. You know, I can understand
why they would, you know, sound a little bit of
a cautionary note about that if you're the Bengals, But.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
You know, now's the time.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
If the football would be played on the field this year,
maybe it is time for both sides just to say
enough already, we want each other.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Let's do this and move on to the games themselves.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
All right. You so you raised some questions that kind
of loom over the start of the season that you know, frankly,
have very little to do with anything with Jamar Chase.
Could I answer some of them and then get your
thoughts on my answers.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
It's not gonna be gonna be that kind of interview,
is it, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah? So you you ask, has the run defense it's
really improved after last year's abomination. I'm gonna say no,
now with a caveat, they were worse than the NFL
in yards per carry all out right, Well, they're probably
not going to be that bad, but they're probably also
not going to be very good. Agree or disagree.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Agree to a point, you know, again, it's sort of
what I don't want to happen, is this I don't
want to be saying at the end of the year.
You know, Derrick Henry really wasn't that huge in addition
for Baltimore, but boy, he did have those two hundred
and fifty yard games against Cincinnati. Nick Chubb, you know,
he didn't really look like his former self except for
that one hundred and thirty yards and two touchdowns game
(04:37):
against Cincinnati that he always has. You know, it's sort
of the context of it all, if you will.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It's the bigger picture.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Numbers aren't that concerning to me as much as division
games and situational right. You know, they don't have to
be the top ten run defense strictly by yards per
carrier for me, they just have to clean up in.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
A lot of things. You know that the big gag
when they played last.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Year, like in dime personnel, they were the worst team
in the league in stopping the run. Other team would
show them a passing look and then run for big
yards against them. They got to improve their tackling, as
we've talked about before. You know, in twenty twenty two,
teams would try and run the same exact plays against them,
and the first guy to on the Bengals defense to
approach would get that opponent on the ground.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That didn't happen last year.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It wasn't scheme, personnel especially, you know, and the big
picture was really they just didn't tackle very well at
all last year.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And that's something that can change.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
I think that it can change, and it was an
emphasis this summer and probably will change for the better.
That said, you know, they still are lacking in what
I think of as beef on the interior. They still
don't really you know, I think their overall focus, and
which is probably the right way to go is first
and foremost, stop the pass rather than stop the run.
(05:54):
And you know, I think they're right in doing that.
So you know, even if they are let's say twenty
first this year strictly you know, stick a number out
of the air in stopping you know, yards per attempt,
that's still pretty good.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
That's that should be fine enough.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
The big question is whether or not it keeps them
from achieving their goals, and I don't really think that
it will.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
You ask, well, the reworks secondary eliminate the big plays
that plague the d My answer is eliminate, no, reduce enough,
Yes your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that's what they have to
go for. You're never going to completely eliminate them all.
I mean, even in twenty twenty two, which we upen
to compare it against, you know, they still gave up
a fair amount of chunk plays. But last year it's
not only that they gave up a lot of chunk plays,
but they were tested on the perimeter more than any
any other team. No team gave up more attempts of
(06:47):
sixteen yards per passing.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
In the air on the on the perimeter more than
the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That just means they didn't respect the corners and they didn't.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Think the safeties were going to clean up behind them.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
When you're talking about the opponents, just having you know,
Bell and Geno Stone out there sort of eliminates that
from the get go, you would like to think, but
the corners are still going to have to prove that
they can stop and to meet, you know, the schemes
against them.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
They're still going to have to show that they can cover.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
They didn't really do that as much last year for
a variety of reasons. And to me, the unit still seems,
especially the corners, still seem a little bit I don't
want to say one thing. But you know you have
a good slot corner. You have three young corners that
you think are going to be good but are kind
of improving except for Cam Taylor Britt and then you
(07:34):
have behind them a rookie in Josh Newton and a
guy on the pup list and dj Ivy. You know,
I think cornerback play in the NFL right now is
blessed about having the one or two elite shutdown guys necessarily,
and more about having six guys that you can always
rely on having. I think back to when they had
Trey Flowers and would use him as a situational matchup
(07:55):
against a Travis Kelcey or some of the other tight
ends or an Eli Apple who they they could rely
on to just be in the right position at all times.
It's a question mark whether these guys are going to
step forward and be.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Those kind of players.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
We should be looking back at the conversations six weeks
from now.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
And thinking, hey, they got an awesome secondary and they're
all young and rising, and aren't we.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
In great shape? But it's not proven yet, and that's
what worries me at the moment.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Robert Wintraub's Weekly Bengals column available at Cincinnati Magazine dot com.
One more of your questions, you ask, can the running
back convo of Zach Moss and Chase Brown make us
forget that departed Joe Mixon. Here's my answer. You might
not like it. I already forgot about Joe Mixon. I'm
not sure that's the right barometer.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, it probably isn't.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
And when I say that, not what Joe did here
for seven years. The player that I watched last season, yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
I mean he was he had an effective year last year.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I mean, you know, it was kind of lost and everything,
but he was a good player last year. Now, didn't really.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Make too much of a difference in the big picture.
And when I wrote that, some of that is just
a rhetorical thing. It's not necessarily even can the two
guys match what Mixon did last year?
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Per se?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
It's do they have an effective running game?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Can they use those guys in the passing game?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And do they have enough to make defenses respect them.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Last year, they you know, they faced a lot of
light boxes and when they did, they did well against
that because they had three wide receivers that other teams
had due respect, and they could you know the Bengals
could know that they were going to face light boxes
on more than the ratification. Will that be the same
this year? You know, we don't know who the slop
(09:35):
receiver is going to be. Necessarily, they haven't proven that.
Higgins and Chase even have question mark coming.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Into the season. I don't think we really doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
But you know, can they punish teams when they played
them six in the box the way they did last year?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
You know, as it is, it doesn't matter as much.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
I don't think the Bengals are going to throw run
it that much.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Their pass first team.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
They were thirtieth and first down runs last year, thirtieth
in first half.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Runs last year favorite they were.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Twenty ninth and running the ball on second and long.
I mean they're a past first team.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I mean, that's what they do. All they have to
get out of the two new guys.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And you know the other thing that I did worry
me is the lack of sort of again going back
to the AFC North, the kind of lack of weight
in the running back room. I like to pick up
of Kendall Milton to the practice squat actually just because
he was a two hundred and thirty pounds back. And
I think a lot of times, you see, you know,
the difference between winning and losing games comes down to
did you convert that third and two when you really
(10:31):
needed to in the third quarter?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
You know, And it remains to be seen. We could
pretty much rely on mixing to get that. Whether Zach Watson,
Chase Brown can.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do that is up in the air, or even Kendall Milton.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So that's why I put that in question marks. But
I don't think in the big.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Picture it's a huge, you know, looming question mark over
the team.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All right, one more, no, not one more of your questions,
one more of mine. And maybe it's the position you
just talked about. Is there a position group we're going
into this season where it feels like, God, you know what,
I wish they had one more guy, or I wish
they I wish they would have gone in slightly a
different direction, or maybe they're just not quite as whole
as we would like.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well a whole is we.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Would like, certainly, I think you know, you look at
the defensive line and you were hoping at least to
see something out of their third round pick McKinley Jackson
and just know that they had that beef in there
right now, they sort of they kept five defensive tackles,
and I still don't feel that great about it. The
cornerbacks was first and foremost in my mind. We discussed
that already, and the running backs, you know, we also
(11:36):
touched on that as well. I think they still you know,
they really need a sledgehammer guy in there or they can,
you know, when the season goes along. The other thing
to remember about Moss and Brown is it's not like
they have a lot of carries between them in this
league and have proven they could withstand a seventeen game schedule.
And you know, that's another reason why you want to have,
if not the one Bell Cow, a bunch of guys
(11:58):
who at least you know are going to be with
the you know, take up the load when one or the.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Other is injured.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
But to me, it's really still the corners.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I always think that you can never have too many,
and you know, forgetting about their experience.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
You know, like we said, these guys could be good.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
But they still feel like they're a guy short back
there to me, and I don't think it's out of
line to think that they might still pick up somebody
between now and either the trade deadline, or you know,
if somebody gets cut along the way that they weren't expecting,
they could do what they did with Trey Flowers and
pick them up mid season like they did two years ago.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Didn't think I'd have any conversations three days before the
opener where there were two tray Flowers references. But that's
what I get you on the show for Robert. Thank
you was always man. We'll do it again next week.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I bring out the esoterica just for you, my man,
Any said
Mo Egger News
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