Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Tony Pike since he three sixty about Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cincy Shirts. Cincy Shirts
all sincey all day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hi, Hello, welcome in our number two of Tony Pike
Sincy three to sixty here on ESPN fifteen thirty. My
name is Austin Elmore. No big fella today, Tone is out.
He'll be back tomorrow. One hour from right now, we
talked to Keegan Nickoson from Bearcat Journal dot com. Keegan
just now talking of tweeting about a couple of Bearcat
(00:40):
offensive linemen that have decided to come back for next year.
We'll get an update on the transfer portal happenings and
all that with the Bearcats, what happened last night on
the hardwood as well. But right now we keep talking
football with a guy that I can't believe I just
now thought of this. I'm gonna start calling him this
from here on out. Johnny Football. John Sheeran from A
to Z Sports covering the Cincinnati Bengals. Hi, Johnny Football,
(01:03):
how are you?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I feel like we could worship this? There was kind
of the stigma with that name you know, like, you know,
someone else had it and he got kind of embarrassed
by the Bengals, and I kind of embarrassed the Bengals
and said the other way around.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So you know, uh, yeah, well you could be the
reason for change with the Johnny football nickname. We'll work
on it. We'll work on it. What do you make
of the last two weeks of the Joe Burrow narrative
about him and his future and not seeing eye to
eye with the organization and what he said yesterday and
(01:35):
last week sum it all up for me? What's your
general feeling and consensus about Joe Burrow in his relationship
with the Bengals right now?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
We love hearing Joe talk because he is very calculated
about what he says, and he's said that I think
forbade him. But typically when he says something of substance,
it's because he means it. And also he's just he's
just a very smart individual, so he think it's about
more than just what is directly in front of him.
And of course, you know, in the media nowadays, you
(02:06):
typically only look at what's right in front of you,
and that's what generates the headlines. Right So when Joe
is thinking about a lot of things beyond just the
last week or so of football, and it sounds like, oh,
he's thinking very big picture and it doesn't sound very good.
It leads to I think a lot of the reactions
that we've seen in the past couple of weeks. But
I think when you have to try to figure out
(02:28):
what is going on in his mind, you have to
think about every single angle, from every single avenue, about
what everything that is encapsuling what it could possibly be
going through his mind right now, which is again coming
back from another injury, and thinking about how long he's
capable of playing, how long he wants to play, and
how that all of that ambition and planning is being
(02:49):
you know, deterred by what has happened over the past
handful of months here on top of being on a
team that, just like he says, is a bad football
team that hasn't done enough and needs to continue doing
things differently and it needs to continue evolving and in
his own.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Words, thinking outside the box.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So I think it's everything from just him thinking about
his own ability, his own durability, his mortality in the game,
but also where he stands with this team and what
the team needs to do going forward around him, So
it's everything. It's not just like, oh, like he's thinking
about hanging it up and leaving the Bengals. No, Like,
(03:24):
there's thoughts about that that naturally pop up when you're
thinking about your futuring, your career and everything like that.
But I think so to boil it down to just
one or two things is not doing a justice to
someone who clearly thinks about a lot more than that.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Do you think he should play the final three games?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
I think there's a reason too, because of how he
played this past week. I think it would be not
the greatest for his psyche to enter the offseason after
just having one of the worst games of his career,
especially considering the fact that he just hasn't played that
much this year.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
I think having him, giving him.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
The opportunity to at least enter the actual offseason on
somewhat of a hind note, can be kind of good
for him, because if he only played what four or
five games this year, and again one of them was
terrible and they eliminated them for the playoffs, I would
imagine that wouldn't be necessarily the best for his mental health,
especially because that's been such topic of conversation for over
the past ten days or so, So.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I think it was valuing him.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Playing and if you want to talk about like draft
positioning and keeping him healthy, like he needs to prove
that he can stay healthy. And I think regardless of
whoever's the quarterback for the Bengals right now, they're not
a guaranteed to win or lose any of these games
just because of the verst of the team around the
quarter quarterback position.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
When you saw the report this week from Paul Danner
Junior that Zach Taylor actually had two years remaining on
his deal and that Duke Tobin and Al Golden are
also unlikely to be let go, what was your reaction
and how does that shape your view of this upcoming offseason.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Oh, yeah, the Bengals are.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
They may not be exactly the same organization as they
were loose, but they're still the organization. It's not going
to fire head coach with two years left of guaranteed
salary left on his deal. That it was a complete
game changer in my opinion about Zach's job security and
the fact that it probably hasn't been questioned at all
this year and that's it's always about the same around,
you know, when the Bengals are bad and it's entering December,
(05:17):
like yeah, like maybe there's some conversation about the head coach,
but in reality, the front office doesn't really see it
like that at this point in time, And that was
kind of the sentiment this year. But hearing that in
the fact that he has again two years left of guaranteed,
like it doesn't matter, Like he could be coaching somewhere
else in twenty twenty seven, the Bengals would still to
be paying him the salary that they owe him and
(05:37):
that they gave him.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
I guess under the table.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I don't like Again, it's not standard practice for teams
to have officially announce these contracts. Sometimes it does kind
of go under the radar. An example brought to me,
brought to my attention over the past school days, the
Green Bay Packers extended Matteli Sluurer and a GM and
their vice president of football operations really early in the
twenty twenty two offseason, and it didn't get reported on
(06:03):
it until July, like during their annual meeting with the
media and everything like that. So sometimes it does happen,
but again, like if you're the Bengals and you just
came off with back to back games, the championship games,
the sentiment of round Zac kid, it was so high. Yeah,
I don't really know why they wouldn't announce whether it
was a separate five year extension or just a one
year extension on top of the five year contract that
(06:23):
he signed in twenty twenty two. It doesn't make a
lot of sense to me why they kept that a secret.
And I can't imagine that because they had the last
three years unfolded. Maybe it wasn't their best interest and.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I let that be known.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
But it definitely did change how I view, like what's
going to happen in this offseason, because again I just.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Don't think they're gonna fire head coach with two years
left on the deal.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
What did you make of the way Zach talked about
it yesterday and not wanting to talk about.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
It, and he can say that it's going to make
any of the situation better. I understand him saying like
I'm not going to comment on it because he wants
to continue the solution that like, oh, like I'm coaching
for my job. We know you're not man like it
is what it is. Like, that's just not how it's
organization goes. And I appreciate the media for still pushing
it regardless, because at the end of the day, he
(07:04):
is again the only vessel of information that we can
that we can garner any information from with this organization
because the other powers that be are silent for three
hundred and sixty three days of the year. And yeah,
it's unfortunate that we can't that anyone in the media
can't talk to the people who actually employ Zach and
everything has to come through him. And it was kind
of a weird shippy respond to me like, oh, I'm
sorry that you can't talk to them, Like yeah, dude,
(07:26):
Like it is unfortunate. That's the problem with the lack
of transparency with this organization, And yeah, it does. It
is unfortunate that Zach is being put into the situation
sometimes there is all that responsibility that he has as
that coach and this doesn't seem like something that should
be his responsibility to talk about his job security. But yeah,
I think it just speaks to the lack of transparency
in the fact that there are some definitely things that
(07:47):
need to change in which the way that this organization runs.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Talking to John Sheeran ad Is the Sports I made
the point earlier. I think there's a lot of similarities
in this upcoming off season to the ones following the
twenty twenty season in terms of cap space, in terms
of needs and the way that they did kind of
go outside the box and signing a big free agent class,
trading for BJ Hill, extending Sam Hubbard to try to
build some veteran presence and some talent on the defensive
(08:14):
side of the ball. You mentioned outside the box. Thinking
for this offseason, what's an example of something that they
could do. Do you agree that it's similar to the
season following the off season following the twenty twenty year,
and do you feel like they can actually turn this
around in one off season based off of what they
have at their disposal.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
But it just depends on how aggressive they want to
go about it. I think they, I mean, we know
this by heart, right, they limit themselves in which how
much better that they can get a certain period of
time because they like to take things in terms of
value opportunities, in terms of sometimes the right player, it
comes at a greater constant what they're willing to end
(08:57):
up paint up, so they ended up sacrificing the quality
of players that they go after. And that's beyond just
the draft is also in a free agency. I think
if they want to identify what they need, then then
the evolution of thinking outside of the box in this
case is to not letting anything stopping them from going
after and getting the players that whatever Out Golden, whoever
out Golden wants, with, whoever Zach Taylor wants, whoever Duke
(09:18):
Tobin wants, whoever. If you identify that the coaches in
the personnal department are not the issue here and it
is a player and a roster problem, then make sure
that nothing is holding you back from getting the roster as.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Good as it needs to be.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And that was definitely an issue last year in which
they weren't aggressive enough. They were sitting on their hands
in the first week of free agency because half of
the personal department was figuring out how to extend Jamar
Chase and Teggans the contracts that should have been signed
months prior to freegency even beginning of the first place.
So that cannot be repeated again. They need to be
extremely more active and aggressive in freegency and not letting
anything hold them back, and if that means that you're
(09:49):
sacrificing your principles of guaranteed money and guarantee future salaries
and contracts, so be it. That is the outside of
the box thinking that they need if they're not going
to pin any of this on the on the actual
decision makers of this.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Organization when it comes to these final three games and
looking for some of the answers to you know, the
questions of the offseason. What exactly are you looking for
in terms of evaluating some of these players on this
roster and trying to figure out what they have going
into the offseason.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Over the final three games.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, I think that is for me, honestly, kind of
started when once Burrow got back, because I think it's
important to see what the team as a whole looks
like when you have the main quarterback at play under center,
that that's when you know that all the operations are
going in the way that they would like them to go.
I think on defense, you still wants to see different
ways in which some of these players are used, Like
(10:39):
you saw some of the evolution with Demetrius Knight Junior
against the Baltimore Ravens. He saw make a little bit
more plays at him behind the line of scrimmage. He saw,
you know, Berek Carter continuing to be who he is.
He saw Miles Burkey continuing take to take those steps
as a pass rusher. So just giving these guys is
more it sounds cliche, but just giving them more reps
in positions in which they will probably be counted on
(10:59):
to play next year. Like that, that's all it is.
It's just a piling up of experience and reps and
making sure that you have as much of an evaluation
on them as possible. And that goes for both sides
of the ball. And you know, I'm interested to see
if there's any change up along the lines of the defense.
And with all these injuries that they're incurring, that like
eight guys who have ankle injuries right now, so maybe
(11:20):
you'll see some new players play against the Dolphins and
the Cardinals and the Browns. But yeah, it's just about
getting as much tape out there as possible and putting
these guys in the positions that they should be expected
to play next year because of the coaches.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Isn't going to change.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Who do you think outside of Miles Murphy and DJ
Turner has made the most progress this year on defense.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I still I'm still wondering, like it is progress the
word that you would use with Jordan battle, because if
for every great play that he makes, there's a player like, oh,
there's probably a reason why you shouldn't be starting out there.
I think Battle at least I feel like I have
a better idea.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Of who he is.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
He's a guy that I would want on the field
if the rest of the defense has figured out, just
because he's such an ex factor in terms of just
finding the ball and being around the ball. And I think,
just at least for his sake, identifying that quality of
him as a player now that he's a full time starter,
I think that's useful information to know. Again, I don't
know if he's really made a big of a jump
(12:19):
that you would want to be like, oh, like I
want this guy for sure starting next year in twenty
twenty six. But at least there's more information about him.
I would have liked to see more of that from
Dak still this year. But I think the fact that
he's been playing on the boundary when he was you know,
being you know, trained to be in the Nickel this year,
all the time and the injury that came to him,
I don't think that's necessarily helped him, but I still
think that he was showing some progress in some science
(12:41):
of consistency in the role that he was probably meant
to play. And then again, like, I think there's been
some flashes here and there from Chris Jankins and McKinley Jackson,
but not quite enough to the point where like, yeah,
there are definitely the level of Turner and Murphy, So
I really do feel like it's just those two and
everyone else is kind of in the tier of their own.
Speaker 5 (12:56):
Tony and I debated earlier this week.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know, when you're trying to build a culture that
wins are sometimes more important than draft picks. Do you
feel like the Bengals need to build on and work
on their culture and wins can help that, or do
you think they're so far gone that the draft pick
(13:20):
is the most important thing and it really doesn't matter
whether or not they win games over the final three weeks.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
In general, I'm a firm believer that tanking for any
sort of draft pick that isn't going to be used
on a quarterback is not necessarily in your best interest
because at the end of the day, like, yeah, like
there have been examples of top sixteen picks that completely
revolutionize one side of the ball at Jamar Chase can
be an example of that, right, Kyle Hamilton example of
(13:46):
that for the Ravens. Right, maybe there is that player
that the Bengals could draft nine rather than maybe picking
like thirteen and fourteen.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Right, But at the end.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Of the day, when you have the quarterback, you don't
need a plethora of superstars around him. You just need
solid quality players and you can find that whether you're
picking at eight or fourteen.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
As long as you know what you're looking for.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
So I'm a believer that, yeah, this team definitely needs
to learn how to win again and learn what winning
feels like, and learn how to win games of this
part of the year, because that was something that was
assumed that would happen again this year, winning in December,
and clearly that has definitely fallen off the map. So
I think building wins if you're going to keep all
this together, what winning is definitely more important than having maybe.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
A couple of spots in the draft order picked up.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Because again, people are worried about the Bengals picking in
the teams because they haven't had that much success. But
I don't think that that, again, like a handful of
draft spots, is really going to make that large of
a difference, especially if they especially if they evolve their
draft process the way that they need to.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
When do you start, like digging into draft stuff. When
do you start, you know, start reading about prospects and
mock drafts and all that. When does that process start
for Johnny football?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
For Johnny Football, it's really just a bad after these
guys declare, because I've been burned too many times about
learning about underclassman who obviously, like are the guys that
you want to draft early on, like the guys with
the most potential, the guys who produced the most, and
sometimes some of those guys end up going back to school.
So I don't want to get burned about guys, you know,
going back and obviously that's more prevalent now than ever
with n IM the opportunity for these guys to make money.
(15:18):
So once they declare, I'm pretty much full full steam
ahead for the Senior Bowl and around that time of
the year.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Do you have any comments on Jisel James returning to
the Bearcat lineup last night.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I think Moegger said it best in how like his
return could alter the team's chemistry or chemistry any talent
that you can get there and make west Miller less
important for the actual on.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Field on core performance.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Oh my goodness, great stuff, John. What are you working
on for Bengals fans to follow along?
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Again, it's it's you know, the last few weeks of
whatever this this season has been. I guess if you
want to continue following along or the Sportscincinnati dot com
a sports Cincinnati for your short form video on talk, YouTube, Instagram,
do live streams on all those platforms as well.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Once a week check us out there to see how
the season ends.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Great stuff, John, thanks for making some time for me.
Have a great holiday. We're not going to talk next week,
but enjoy your holidays. Man, appreciate all your help this season.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Happy All that is awesome?
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That is John Shearon you heard him? Eight is e
Sports one of my favorites. Go follow him John underscore
underscore Sharon on X A lot of great stuff.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Did I say X? Who have I become? That's not me?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It's Twitter. Gosh, I can't believe I just I'm disappointed
in myself. I can't believe I just said that. All right,
it's it's Twitter. That's where it's at. All right, when
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(16:52):
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