Bengals Booth Podcast: Duke, Duke, Duke

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calls of dramatic sports moments. One of the things I love about my job in broadcasting Bengals and you see Bearcats games as opposed to being a neutral network announcer, is that I have a vested steak in the outcome. Like a die hard fan, I am elated when the Bengals and Bearcats win and I am sometimes heartbroken when they lose. And that's one of the reasons why whenever there's a dramatic game winning play like the long bank shot that Gonzaga freshman Jalen Sugs made on Saturday night

to beat UCLA in overtime in the NCAA Tournament. I love to hear how the local radio announcers called it. To feel that raw emotion first. Courtesy of Gonzaga's IMG Radio network. Here are play by play man Tom Hudson and color commentator Adam Morrison. The former Bulldog star thing to the right side of the poor defended by kisspur Now drives, leans in the runner, comes up short, choosing the rebounds and puts an in. We're time at ninety three seconds left. Here's Suggs the other way, pull up

three for the win. Yes, yes, said the championship game. Hey no from forty of the buzzers. Wow, why for national championship. Then there's the other side. Courtesy of IMG's UCLA network. Here are Josh lewin In former Bruin Tracy Murray, Jusang with eight with seven gets to the elbow, a floater line drive. Noe gets his own rebound scores off the glass. Three point three to go. Here's Suns at mid court two one a thirty two footer. Oh my, goodness, he baked it in. Gonzaga has won the game. Wow,

Cry on your pillow. Unbelievable suns hit, a runner bank shot, going home. The Bruins are going home. Josh Lewin has been my friend for more than thirty years since we were young minor league baseball broadcasters in the same league, and that was a tremendous call under very difficult circumstances. But as I told him, with Mick Cron and his head coach and considering the recruits, the UCLA is sure to attract. There will be many more Final Four trips

to come. As I record this podcast, the NFL Draft is less than four weeks away twenty four days to be exact, as the first round takes place on Thursday, April twenty ninth. This week, I discussed the draft with Duke Tobin, but we started our conversation with the roughly one hundred twenty one million dollars that the Bengals have spent so far on free agents from other teams at the start of free agency. Was your goal, were one

of your biggest goals to improve the offensive line? Well, what we set out to do is look where the opportunities are in free agency, often the opportunities don't exactly line up with what your needs are. But we wanted to take advantage of the opportunities we thought we would have access to, and we had a number of areas on our team that we fell could could use some new guys and UH, and the way that it broke, we just had to maintain maintain flexibility on what we

were looking at and where the opportunities were. And the opportunities hit on defense, which is fine by me. UH from where we were. We needed help there. We needed some new names, some new faces, some guys coming from other programs and guys with career left in them and

guys with success and toughness and swagger. And so when the opportunities came on defense, we didn't turn them down, and we looked at a lot of different position groups as we went through, and to be honest, we're still looking around a little bit and we'll see if anything else comes available to us, but you know, we're pleased with the way it happened. It's hard to predict exactly how it's going to happen, but you've got to look at free agency and see where the depth is, see

where the opportunity is and then adapt to that. It doesn't always line up with your number one needs. We will definitely get to those defensive guys, but I'm gonna stick with the offensive line for a second. You signed Riley Reef, you re signed Quentin Spain, but those are only one year deals. How does that impact the draft? Well, you know, one year deals are fine with us. If guys come in and do well, we're we're more than willing to extend them and have him around longer than that.

This year brought on a lot of one year deals around the league just because of, oh the COVID protocols and maybe how the cap was affected in a downward direction. So, you know, as we go through the draft, I think what we were able to do in free agency is fill enough needs to where we can go into the draft and feel good about taking the best player available, not passing up super talented guys to take maybe a

reach at a position of needs. So with what we got accomplished in free agency, I feel like we're in a position to do that and we'll see what the draft brings us. We do the same analysis with the draft. You know, it's it's sometimes a little deeper in some areas than others, and sometimes they match up with where you're picking, and sometimes they don't. And we'll maintain flexibility as the draft goes on and we'll look at all options and you know, hopefully be able to add to

our team in a number of different areas. We're talking to Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin. There are still some free agent offensive linemen out there, more are likely to be cut by their current teams. Are you still actively looking to add experienced offensive lineman? Well, we are always looking if an opportunity comes up in the ability level is what we deem as an upgrade. We're not looking to sign names, We're looking to sign ability levels and players, and so it's got to be more than

just a recognized name. It has to be an up from what we currently have if we're going to spend our resources in that area. And so as it goes we'll continue to evaluate and see if there's somebody we feel as an upgrade from what we already have on a roster, and if not, we'll look to the draft and fill in some there. Joe Tuney wound up signing an eighty million dollar deal with Kansas City. That's the

second most ever for a guard. What's your philosophy when it comes to paying guards, Well, you pay players, so you don't really pay positions. And I've said that a lot, and they felt that the player was worth that, and that's what they had to pay to get him. He was really pretty much the premier player in on the offensive line in free agency, and so when you're bidding on that level a guy, you normally have to go

pretty high. I'm sure they would like to have them at less money than that, but that's what they had to do to get them. And when there's one premier player like he was, particularly when you look at the some of the guys that got franchise around the league, they did what they had to do to get them. That's one player and one team. You don't get the thirty one other teams can't sign the same guy, so he only gets to sign one place. So I'm happy

for him. I know he's a local guy. I think he played at Alter and you know, I've got a lot of regard for him, and we'll see how it works out for him. But in terms of who we pay and how we pay, we look to try to maximize our dollars on as many players as we can, and we had enough needs to where we didn't want to go after somebody that would take it all, and so we ended up spending a lot of money on a number of different guys when we think we filled in our roster that needed filling in in a lot

of spots. So I think it worked out fine. You signed five defensive free agents, including four likely starters, and the biggest deal went to Trey Hendrickson reportedly four years, sixty million bucks. What do you think you're getting in the former New Orleans Saint Um. We see Trey as a still an ascending player, even though you know he

was second in the league in sacks this year. We see him as an ascending player that brings a lot to the unit, not just to his position, but to the whole defensive unit and how he plays, and really excited that we were able to convince him this was a great spot for him and to get a deal done with him. It's it's rewarding when it works out that way. And you know, we like guys that are that are emerging in their in their in their career, and we think we'll have a lot of really productive,

good years with Trey. Will Jackson went to Washington for about fourteen million dollars a year. You signed two starting cornerbacks for basically the same amount. Let's start with Chittabay, a woogie. He's about three years younger than Will. Why did you pursue Chittabey, Well, again, we had an opportunity to add to that position group. He was he was interested in us, interested in the way that we do things,

felt good about the opportunity here. So we made a push to get him and really excited to get him. Another young player that is on the rise in this league. He's got a lot of playing experience and brings a lot of traits that we want in our defensive scheme. And coach and a Rumo and the rest of the coaches felt like he was really a good fit for what we're going to do, and so it was it was easy to pursue him and was satisfying that he wanted to pursue us as well. Mike Hilton is also

still a young player. He's about a year and a half younger than Will Jackson. He signed for four years, twenty four mill reportedly, which is a good contract for a slack corner. What's that say about him in your view of that position? Again, with Mike, I think a lot of Bengal fans know Mike because he brings a

ton of energy and we need that on defense. We wanted guys that had played on high level defenses that had a little bit of a swagger to him and a little bit of a physicality to him and h and he brings those and um, you know, we're excited to see the energy that he'll bring the unit. And I know he's a confident player. And again another player that fits exactly kind of what we wanted to do on defense. And so again another guy that was interested in us, and uh, you know we were able to

get him from a division rival. And that's also the case with defensive tackle Larry Oganjobi, who comes from the Cleveland Browns. What can he add upfront that you don't already have? Yeah, we think Larry's got ability to play on all three downs. We think we think he gives us maybe a little more upfield rush than what we saw from our interior guys this past year. And but you know, again another ascending young player that could have a long career here if it if it works out.

I know he's on a short term deal with us, but you know, we're certainly open to if if it's a great fit and he's producing to try to get him locked up longer than that, you know, as we go. But again, a guy that we played against, so we know kind of what he brings, and we felt what he brings, you know, on twice a year, and so we were happy that again he was interested in us and that we were able to get it worked out. We're talking to Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin. You

had to let Geno Atkins go for cap room. Are you trying to bring him back at a lower number. Yeah, I think it's all to be determined with you know, we've got such a regard for him. He's one of the greatest players in franchise history and one of the top defensive tackles in the league the last decade decade. So you're you're talking about a rare guy, and um, we thought he gave what he could this past year and again, you know, with where his contract was, we

had to make a move there. But who knows what the future holds. We'll see if there's something that can be worked out and if that, if it does, great and if not, I think we've got some other guys that can fill the role. All right, let's focus on the draft. I suspect you're not going to tell us who you are leaning toward with a fifth overall pick, but three names are being prominently mentioned. Can you share a few thoughts. I'm Pine Swell, Jamar Chase and Kyle Pitts.

Well overall with the draft, we feel we're in a good spot and you know, we'll be careful not to get overly greedy and get out of a spot to where we maybe lose a premier player, and we feel like we'll get one of the premier players in this draft. It'll be it'll be a lot of discussion as to how we go forward and that, you know, but we feel that there are enough guys worthy of the fifth pick in the draft to get a real guy that

we feel comfortable with. It also hits us at a position a need, you know, specifically, with those guys, You've got guys who are are you know, maybe they haven't played recently, which is somewhat of a concern, but when they did play, they played outstanding and they're at premier positions and their guys who were dominant at those positions at high level football programs. How good is the offensive line depth in this draft? I think it's pretty good

if you take the right guys. You know, there's a there's a lot of guys out there that have different traits and uh, and we'll take guys that have the traits that we want in our group. Um, But I do think it's a deep draft. There'll be guys available in the second round, third round that we have starter grades on and maybe they'll last a little longer than that too. But it's a position that we're going to focus on. We'll evaluate it at every pick we make and to see if the best guy available for us

is an offensive lineman. But it's a position group that we've been focused on. We think having healthy guys there and then the addition of Riley Reef, we think we're in a better spot than we were and they'll still be additions to be made to be named later. How deep is the wide receiver depth than this draft. Yeah, probably not the depth that last year's had, but that

was a rare draft, and but there are good receivers. Again, with the receiver group, there's a lot of different style guys, even more so than the offensive line group, where there's a lot of different style guys. At receiver, you got guys that play inside, guys that play outside. You got guys who have special teams value. So there's a lot You got to pick exactly what you're looking for, you know. Obviously, when you're looking at the top of the draft, you

want the guy that can do everything. But then as the draft goes on, that's where the depth really comes in. You want an inside slot guy, you want to speak guy on the outside. You want a size guy that has a maybe a catch radius and a matchup problem, or do you want a returner you know is so those are those are things that we'll talk about as the draft goes on. But I don't have a problem with really the depth of any position group in this draft.

I mean, I think there are fewer guys because a lot of guys have taken the opportunity to go back to school. But the ones that are in the draft we feel are quality players. How significant is the return of Frank Pollock, his offensive line coach, got a ton of respect for Frank working with him in the past. Um, you know, I know I'll drive those guys. I know he'll he'll command respect out of him and uh, you know,

I'm confident that Frank will get the group going. Well, you recently said the following about Joe Burrow quote, I think we've got one of the premier young quarterback in the game. How is your team building approach affected by

having that guy in his rookie contract. Well, you always want to build around your quarterback, and maybe I misspoke when I said I think, I know we've got one of the premier quarter young quarterbacks in this in this league, and you know, he's a guy that you want to be your best for and you want to do everything you can to put it together around him. He's just that type of guy, and that's what we're doing. We're trying to find the best pieces to maximize his talent.

And that's really not a unique philosophy around this league. When you have a quarterback, you want to emphasize it, and we're going to do everything we can to emphasize his talents. Do you engage him in the process, whether it's free agency or the draft. Well, I talked to a lot of people throughout the process, and he's an engaging guy, so I like to engage with engaging guys. We'll just leave it at that. Should I try again on pinas Sewell, Jamar Chase, and Kyle Pitts and see

if you'd like to comment on them again? All three high level prospects, all three the worthy of being at the top of the draft, and guys who we really feel like could fit us and could make us a better team. Final question for Duke tob and the Bengals director of player personnel when it comes to the possibility of trading down, is there a number that you would not be comfortable going lower than? So, for example, I'll go as low as ten, but I'm not going to

go as low as fifteen. Yeah. Maybe, but I'm not going to say, you know, it's it's not something you would put out. We'll look at any opportunities to come our way, and part of moving down is the compensation involved, and so we're not above looking at a lot of different options. I can't tell you that we plan on coming out of the first round of this draft with a premier player, and I don't see us putting ourselves in position to where we're dropping down a level to

maybe get a maybe down the road. So we feel good about our position where we are and if we move, it's going to take something to get us to move, and we'll see if anything breaks there. It's nice to be back in your office. It's been a while. I appreciate the time. Thanks to you. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, brought to you by bud Light Seltzer Refresh the game. I'll be back with a new addition on Thursday and you

will definitely want to check it out. If you haven't done so already, please subscribe and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast