Bengals Booth Podcast: Get Right Back

Booth Podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and Google Play. And here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's

the greatest thing since a good steak. Last weekend, I traveled to Arkansas to call the UC Bearcat season opener, and I figured it would be wise to get a Friday night dinner recommendation from former razorback star Brandon Allen, who not only played at Arkansas but grew up near campus. The Bengals backup quarterback set me and my friends to Doze. That's d Oe apostrophe S, a casual steakhouse with four

locations in Arkansas. I took our servers recommendation and ordered the Ribi, and I'm here to tell you that it was not only delicious, but it was gigantic. It would have tipped over Fred Flintstone's car. As I told Brandon, my arteries hate him, but it was an excellent recommendation in one I am happy to pass along. If you like a big, juicy steak when in Arkansas, go to Doze. Now time to get to my first guest. He hosts a nash No radio show, He hosts a nightly TV

show on CBS Sports Net. He has his own podcast. He writes a column for NFL dot Com. He is my guy, Adam Shy. Now, with that schedule, Adam, there's not a lot of free time, so I really appreciate you doing this. Let's start with Joe Burrow. Your admiration for the Bengals quarterback is well documented. I think you've used the word obsessed before give us the national perspective. What has Joe Burrow done for the Cincinnati Bengals. Well, first and foremost, Dan, It's always great to be with you.

Love you, lovely, love your podcast, love listening to your play by play calls of the Cincinnati Bengals, and listen. I I'm obsessed with Joe Burrow. I love Joe Burrow, and I think I think everyone nationwide knows Joe has it. I mean, I think it goes back to that year at LSU where I'd make the case and now as years later, non subject to exaggeration or hyperbley, great offensive season ever in the history of college football, and that starts with Joe Burrows. Then he goes to Cincinnati ads

needed talent, swagger, attitude at the quarterback position. Look, the Bengals caught a lot of people off guard last year. I thought they'd be great. I did not think they would be Super Bowl great. I thought the offense would be excellent. I was all in on Burrow. But what really impressed me, I think what really translated with a lot of people nationwide. Joe Burrow wouldn't use Cinderella, He wouldn't use this as some kind of little engine that

could story, or you know, the plucky upstart Bengals. It's no, we expect to win these games. We expect to be here, we expect to beat Baltimore, we expect to beat Kansas City, we expect to win the super Bowl. And he was pissed off when the Bengals didn't win the Super Bowl. I thought it all just fit the genius on and off the field of what Joe Burrow is all about. You have had some big name quarterbacks on your podcast in recent weeks, Josh Allen from the Bills, Aaron Rodgers

from the Packers. I'm sure you would love to have Joe Burrow on the Adam Shine Podcast if you were able to book him. What are some things you would like to know from Joe Burrow? Well, first of all, I would love to have Joe Burrow on the podcast just I want to know what makes him tick because we talk about how there's no element of surprise or Cinderella story. I mean, his story is pretty amazing considering

his path and his ride in college. I mean, even before that year at Elis You we weren't talking about him necessarily as being that number one overall pick. I mean going back to the Ohio State days and then the transfer, so you know where he got that amazing confidence from and at what point he developed into this great quarterback but natural leader. And I'm just obsessed with his work ethic. I'm obsessed with his accountability. I'm obsessed.

You know, he's one of those quarterbacks. He always knows from a young age, never point the finger, always point the thumb. Whether that's right, wrong, or indifferent, it's on him. You know. If something good happens or something positive from Bengals, credit the teammates, something that doesn't go our way, that's on me. That's my responsibility. So I would love to talk to him about his work ethic, his leadership, his

mentality and his swagger. Dan. It's I'm kind of when I say obsessed, I mean he's one of those cock shore quarterbacks. It's like right out of Central Casting. I'm gonna kick bought, take names, tell you I'm gonna do it, and have fun in the process. I just love watch him. By the way, if you want to help me get him on the Adam Schian podcast, I'd love that too. I'd love to talk to Joe Burrow right after he does the Bengals Booth podcast. I'd be happy to try

to help. Adam Shine is our guest. It's no secret that Joe got sacked too many times last year seventy times if you include the postseason. The Bengals did something about it. They went out and signed three established veteran free agents. With that in mind, Adam, do you think the Bengals have changed the narrative that's been out there

forever that they won't participate in free agency. I think they completely change it, and I think they had to change it, and I think they had to change it because you know, it was real, it was legit, it was a fair criticism. And I think with Joe Burrow there's now accountability and there's now a standard, and it goes back to that hole that was not Cinderella quote shit that I talked about earlier. Okay, so what do great organizations do? See a problem, fix a problem, have

a franchise quarterback, surround him with what he needs to win. Okay, you want Jamar Chase And by the way, that was the right pick, the only pick. We talked about that on your podcast last year. Griggs, you want te Higgins greats Joe Mixon, who was there before a top five running back in my opinion in the National Football League. All right, pass protection is not what it's supposed to be passed on some offensive tackles. Right, move to draft Chase. Now,

let's go out and be active in free agency. Let's spend the money not haphazardly, wisely, and I think it got everybody's attention. I mean, you know, a lot of Collins could have picked a lot of different places to go. I mean people were flocking to Cincinnati to be part of this, to be part of Joe Burrow's offensive line, to be one of his body protectors. Because a free agency, let's not kid ourselves, right, money is at the top, but you want an opportunity to win. So the Bengals

had to join the party. And I just thought they did so brilliantly. Dan in the off season, you ran down the skill position talent Chase Higgins, Mixon. We can throw Tyler Boyd in there as well. Let's talk about the defense, because the defense really was the key to the three playoff victory that led to the appearance in the Super Bowl. Do people sleep on the Cincinnati Bengals defense? Without question, they do I think everybody's guilty of it because the offense is so great and so dynamic. But

you know, I don't think you're exaggerating at all. I mean that defense was so tough, so clutch. You know, you look at the Raider game, you look at the Tennessee game, you look at the Kansas City game. You know that, to me is the ultimate defense for the juggernaut offense and the fantastic quarterback. You need a playmaking defense. Look at the Kansas City defense when the Chiefs who were winning a Super Bowl. Look at the Rams defense. You don't have to be in Cincinnati, in my opinion,

a top ten defense. You have to be tough, you have to be clutch. You have to get the opportunistic interception and quarterback sack, get the ball back to Joe. That that's what it's all about. The front seven I thought was excellent. The dbs made plays. You're right, I think we're all guilty of it. I'm guilty of it. This defense is really under the radar, and it's not a fluke. It's not a flash in the pan. I thought the team drafted well on defense, and I think

the Bengals will be back in the Super Bowl conversation. So, prior to last year, the Bengals were six twenty five and one the previous two seasons. You did say prior to last year that you thought they were going to be good. I will give you credit for that. Had they pulled off the Super Bowl title and they had to lead with less than two minutes to go, would you have considered it one of the great underdog championship

stories of all time? Yes, absolutely, And I think that you know, a lot of things tie in first to your point the record, right, because I could like a team where you could like a team. But you know, as Bill Parcels once said, you are which record says it is at the end of the day. So you know a lot of people wanted to see it before they believed it with the Cincinnati Bank, so I think that that's fair. And you know I also think too. I mean, I picked Cincinnati to beat Tennessee that and

people kept calling my radio show on Sirius XM. They thought I was crazy, Like they thought that was an assinine pick Cincinnati over Tenniseate. Now Albeita came down to the final play, great game. You know, I think people kept going against and betting against and just not believing in the Bengals because of Bengal history and that that wasn't fair. So I think that history is a part of that. And you know, the division historically tough, the

conference historically tough. So yeah, I think I think that would have been considered one of the greats from the beginning to the end single season super Bowl rides if the Bengals won in NFL history. So the Bengals open at home, they get the Pittsburgh Steelers at pay Course Stadium. Where do you think of that Week one matchup? I think it's great. You know, I had Mike North, the VP of Programming and scheduling, on my Serious XM radio

show and Dan. He made the point to me Week one schedule was done with a purpose where he wanted to put big games, rivalry games week one, get the juices flowing for the NFL season, And to me, this is one of them Steelers Bengals, I mean Cincinnati. That scene is gonna be unbelievable and it's a rare year based upon history where you clearly feel better about the Bengals compare contrast to Pittsburgh, and I think Joe Burrow's gonna come out on fire. I think that Joe Mixon's

gonna have an excellent game. I think Jamar Chase is absolutely special. And I think that Bengals defense going up against a newbie at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Stealers, either they're gonna thrive, feel the energy, and I think Cincinnati will absolutely take care of business in Week number one. Adam Shine is our guest. Let's get you on the record for this season. Where do you see the Bengals in the AFC North and in the AFC in general.

So I've put a lot of thought into this. First of all, I think the AFC this year is the strongest conference in the history of the NFL. Seriously, in terms of quarterback play, in terms of overall talent. You look at all the players that you know got traded or free agents that moved from the NFC to the AFC, the great quarterback talent in in the conference, players returning from injury. I don't think that that is crazy talk

before the season starts. So I've Cincinnati winning the division and I don't even remotely hesitate, And I think the North is going to be strong. I think by every single team's own metric. All four teams in the division are better than what they were last year. I think the Bengals are better. Another year for Joe, the offensive line, that defense, everything Dan we just talked about. I think

this Dealers are better. I think Trubisky picked. I think, no matter what happens, that's an upgrade over the version of Ben Roethlisberger we saw in the field last year. I love George Pickens, can't believe he lasted to the second round. Miles Jack excellent talent. Cleveland not to the level they wanted, but they're better even with six games of Deshaun Watson down the stretch of the season. I don't think Cleveland's a playoff team, don't misinterpret, but I

think they're better. The Ravens are better. Lamar's healthy, Dobbins is healthy, Stanley's healthy, and Baltimore, to me, is kind of a bit of a factory in terms of, you know, excellent owner, excellent gam excellent coach. Baltimore is always going to be in the mix. So I have them winning the division. The Bengals because I think an amazing talent at quarterback, great coach, great organization. Bengals are ready to rock.

I think the Bengals I have them super Bowls the upside as the third best team in the AFC go into the season. Now, if I'm a Bengals fan listening, and I'm Bengals fans are listening to this on your podcast, I think, I hope you can appreciate where I'm coming from without being offended. I think the Bills are the most talented team in the AFC. Now the second one to me, team number two on the AFC list might

be offensive, and that's the Chargers. I think the Chargers had the best offseason of any team in the league, calculated with J C. Jackson and Khalil Mack and Joseph Day to stop the run, resigning Mike Williams, drafting a needed offensive lineman, and I love Herbert. I think Herbert is fantastic. So I think the Bengals are the winner of the AFC North. I think of the third best team in the AFC, and I think they're upside is

to go to the Super Bowl and win it. But that's where I will pick them for this upcoming season. I can't imagine any Bengals fan will be too offended by that. Last thing for Adam Shine. You do a column every year for NFL dot com where you make nine bold predictions. Now this was filed in June, but I have to ask you about one of those predictions. You've got the Patriots as the third worst team in the AFC, Bill Belichick third worst team in the AFC.

Do you still feel that way? You know, it's interesting. I'm glad that you brought this up because it's funny. You're you know, we're all creating content, right and my editors asked me to do that fronto call dot Com. I didn't even hesitate, and that's stamped when I did it in June. You know, oftentimes we're all suckers for training camp at preseason football. You know, I call it dan a little bit of Joey Harrington disease, where you see someone like Joey Harrington and go fifteen to sixteen

and oh, Joey's gonna be great. Now that's you know, all slowdown. It's not gonna be that good or in the league at all when it's all said and done, paid Stots August has been a train wreck. So I not only believed it, then I feel even better about it. Now, and I mean, you help me with the numbers here. I think all four teams in the Bengals Division are better than the Patriots. I think all four teams in

the AFC West are better than the Patriots. I think bare bones minimum two teams in the South are better than the Patriots. I think the Bills are better than the Patriots. I think Dolphins are better than the Patriots. And really I like the players more in Jacksonville than I do in New England. I mean, I don't know what Bills do. And again, I think he's the greatest coach in the history of sports, not just football. I think the Patriots dynasty will never be duplicated. But I

don't know what he's doing with the offensive coordinator. I don't like talent on offense. I don't like the talent on defense. If they win eight games, i'll solely be because of Bill Belichick. I do not like the dress this year at all. I like the bold prediction, and I love the term Joey Harrington disease. I don't know how you fit everything you do into your schedule, but I love everything that you do and I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Adam for joining us. Damn,

You're the best. I have an unbelievable season, my friend. You can hear Adams radio show Shine on Sports every weekday from nine to noon on Sirius XM. His TV show Time to Shine Here's weeknights at six pm on CBS Sports Network. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the year, with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money

can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Now that it's opening week, it's time for some final thoughts on training cap who stood out, what concerns remain, and did Zach Taylor do the right thing by not playing his starters in the preseason. I discussed those questions and more with Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson. What's It's opening week.

We're getting ready to kick off the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at pay Corps Stadium, but we're going to take some time today to review what took place during training camp on a regular basis, you give out the player of the day. So in a similar vein who is your training camp MVP? I don't know if he ever wanted the coveted player of the day. I'm gonna go with two of them. Actually, I'm gonna go with co Evan McPherson, who you know hardly ever

missed and which is self explanatory. And then I think Von Bell. I think Vaughn did get it once, but I think the reason he's the MVP is I think how much he helped Dax Hill. You know, Jesse Bates did not show up really until after training camp, and so Dax Hill played his spot. And you know, he's a rookie. I guess he made some rookie mistakes, I guess, but it show didn't look blatant, you know, And I think, yes,

I think Dax Shill is a smart guy. He showed all the things why they made him the first round pick. But I think Havin Vaughan Bell next to him, no doubt, helped to help to make it that much easier. So Bell for what he did off the field, and Mac for what he did on the field. Oddly enough, I wrote down two guys as well, and Evan McPherson is one of mine. You had the sixty five yard field goal and Welcome Back Saturday, you had the fifty six

and fifty eight yarders in the first preseason game. I think it just underscored how valuable he has become this quickly in his NFL career. He had the five walkoff game winners last year, and then if you look back at those playoff games, if he had missed one of those kicks leading up to the Super Bowl, that might

have doomed them. But for four against the Raiders, four for four against the Titans, including the fifty two yarder to win the game, four for four against the Chiefs, including a fifty two yard or in the fourth quarter that helped them get to overtime. And then he picked up where he left off in training camp. So I'm with you on Evan McPherson. The other one for me would be Trey Hendrickson. I thought on a daily basis,

he was the most dominant player during training camp. He had thirteen and a half sacks a couple of years ago, fourteen sacks last year, so he went up by a half a sack. I'm going to predict he goes up by a half a sack again, fourteen and a half

sacks is my prediction for this season. And you know, when they practiced against the Rams, we got to see Andrew Wittworth's replacement, Joseph Noteboom, a guy that's kind of been waiting in the wings for the Rams, and they trusted him enough to give him a forty million dollar contract going into this year. They might want their money back after seeing what Trey Hendrickson was doing to him in those two joint practices. So I thought he was great.

His contracts certainly looks like a bargain these days, a year two of a four year, sixty million dollars deal. People scoffed thought it was a bad deal when the Bengals handed it out, and now it seems like one of the better bargains in the NFL. So each of us choosing Evan McPherson plus a member of the Bengals defense as our training camp MVPs. Let's move to topic number two. What did you consider to be the biggest positives coming out of training camp? Oh? I think the

fact that nobody get hurt. I think was a big thing. And I know we'll probably talk about that later. I guess it's a bit of a gamble with not playing anybody during the season. But I think Zach has taken the nod. I think he's taken the key from the quarterback. And a quarterback has played all of Joe Burrow specifically, has played all of three preseason snaps in his career.

It doesn't seem to have hurt him. So given that, you know the appendi sitis, probably when that happened, they probably said, well, he definitely won't play in the preseason. I'm not sure he was gonna play anyway, you know. And so to me, that's the big thing is everybody's pretty. You know, he gets him to the gate, and I think in this league, if you get him to the gate, you get a shot. And then you know, I think the other positive two is and I think we hit

on it. I picked Bell, you picked Hendrickson. But the theme's the same. This defense is back. They don't miss anybody. They're a year older there, they've been in a year in the system with lou Anna Rumo. So I think it's and they and they and they look ready to go. I mean, I thought they didn't miss a beat. I thought they looked good against the Rams, although I have to be honest with you, Hordy, I didn't see much of that because I was watching Burrow. I said to

Jay Gruden. I said Jake Gruden, the former Bengals offensive coordinator now consultant for the Rams. I said, Jay, I've never been able to figure out how to cover one of these uh joint practices. You know, you can't watch both he goes, he goes. I fire you, I'd go when number nine is so I took. I took that advice and I followed number nine, which was good because I had a bird's eye view for the for the

extra curriculus. But defensively, when I whenever I did turn around, you know they looked like they did against the Bengals offense. You know they look I just think the defense. I think nobody said anything about the defense. It's all Burrow, it's all Chase, it's all Higgins and Boyd and rightfully so. But two things I can't wait to see her the two best secrets of training camp in my opinion, the defense and Joe Mixon. For the record, Matthew Stafford also

wears number nine. Sorry, Are you sure that Jay Gruden wasn't talking about the Rams quarterback since he's now a consultant with the Rams, But no, I'm sure he was referring to Joe Burrow. And I agree with you on the big positive, particularly where the defense has can learned. To me, that was the most impressive thing overall at training camp. It looked like the defense picked up right where it left off, and the defense was the key

to the postseason run last year. And I think you've got some guys that are emerging that are going to help make that defense even better. Dax Hill is going to be a nice versatile piece for lou Anna Rumo. And I'm really interested to see what a Keem Davis Gaither is going to do this year because while Logan Wilson was not practicing eleven out eleven for two thirds of training camp, Keem Davis Gaither looked really good. So he's going to be used in a lot of situations

by lou Anna Rumo. We know he's good in the passing game. I think they might be able to get more use out of him in early down So with those two editions and the guys they've got coming back. I think the defense is something to be very excited about for Bengals fans. Let's move to topic number three, and this is the flip side of what we were just talking about. What's your biggest concern into Week one? Oh,

I'm the classic front runner here. My biggest concern is they didn't play anybody in the in the preseason, So that's a that's a classic front runner for you. But you know, I guess if that's one thing, you know, that maybe what we're you know, how long we'll take him to get into sinking the opener? You know, will you know, will will they come out sluggish? Will they you know, will they not come out of the gate quickly? And will they have to knock off Rustum? And how

long we'll take him a knockoff rust? But I think I'd rather be healthy. I think I'd rather be healthy. And if it takes you know, if it takes a quarter and a half, you know, to get into it, then then I think over a seventeen a seventeen game, eighteen wink eighteen wink week Valley Forge swag that the NFL has become, then I think I'll take the first you know, the first you know, two quarters getting into it, and uh, you know, I think I think that's worth

I think that's worth the uh the risk. And I think the way they play the game now, you know, I just think it's I think they I think they got enough work in. You know, the way the game is played now. Uh, they you know, they get about they gotta lock. You know, they get a lot of work in. I think they got in more work against the Rams, which was pretty close to live. It was

live for everything but tackling. You know, they got in to play as much work as they would have if they did the preseason before, when they played about fifteen preseason snaps. So you know, maybe that's you know, I think they probably have done just as much work. It's in a different it's in a different fashion. So maybe, like like any fan, I'm worried about nothing. My biggest concern is the offensive line. I think it's going to be better. I liked what they did in the offseason.

I liked the new pieces on the offensive line, but we still haven't seen it. When they take their first stat snap against the Steelers, it will be their first snap together in a game. I don't know if three weeks basically working together is enough to develop that chemistry and timing and communication that an offensive line needs to be good. Dave Lapham seems to think that's enough time.

Frank Pollock seems to think that's enough time. I hope it's enough time, But I guess until I see it, I'm going to remain a little bit concerned about it. Plus l Collins, you know the amount of time he missed, how much rust is there going to be there to begin the season? He looked pretty good in the first joint practice against the Rams. Not so good the next day. Maybe he was just, you know, exhausted because he had not taken part in eleven on eleven football prior to that.

Will Cordell Wolson be able to pick up the type of stuff that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to show him in Week one and the Ravens are going to show him when they get to the Baltimore game. So again, I think it should be better. I think it should be at least league average, But until I see it, there's going to be a little bit of concern there for me. The other thing I would say that is shaping up as a current concern would just be cornerback depth.

Should it be a Wouge looks great, looks healthy, That's fine. Mike Kilton, same thing, looks great, looks healthy. After that, you've got some question marks. Elie Apple had a good training camp but then had fluid drained from his thigh at the end of camp. We'll see how that looks going into the season. Opener Cam Taylor Britt's going to be out for a while. After you get by the starters. You've got Trey Flowers, who is pretty good in a situational role, but how good would he be as your

starting corner if he had to go in there. Jalen Davis has been good in preseason games over the past couple of years, but if you had to rely on him in the slot taking Mike Hilton's place, how good would he be? Alan George good for him, I mean, I think it's great that he's made this team as an undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt, But how confident would you be if he had to be in there for meaningful snaps? So I guess those are the two things that stand out to me as the biggest concerns

that I have. Will the offensive line be as good as we hoped it would be when they made those additions, and uh, well they have enough enough depth at the beginning of the season at the cornerback position. Yeah, I mean, I would just say a court nobody has any depth of cornerback right what you what you just ran through is I would have bet what thirty one other teams are going through right now. Certainly the Rams are ye after looking at what they had after the you know,

the the you know, the third and fourth corner. I mean, that's how you make it live in this league. How many times have we had Chase or Boyd or he could scorn a touchdown and you look down at you you look down at your flip card to see who they beat. You never heard of the guy, you know, And that's uh, that's that's that's what happens, you know. So, um, I don't you know, I think, uh, and I think kind of just switched flop them back of the offensive line.

I understand the concern. But the thing that I think maybe different and you know, yeah, and we won't know. We won't know if three weeks is enough. We won't know if LC will hold up these or questions that you know, they can't be answered. But I like the fact that you know, all three guys are veterans and they know how to play. They know how to play the game, you know, And I think, well, that's the

one thing I thought Elcu looked. I mean, there was some ugly moments against Floyd, but heat, but but he made you the quarterback didn't get you know, he didn't make you know the quarterback. There were no there were no free runners when they were out there, you know what I mean. He knows how to keep the guy away from the quarterback. I think all those Carass Kappa, you know, they haven't had experience up like that up front in a while. So I'm I'm thinking that's going

to be the difference this trip. Which are there any surprises on the fifty three man roster to begin the season or in the position battles now that we're set for the start of the season. Yeah, yet not really. I mean, I mean maybe the numbers wise, I was kind of surprised they went with six receivers and four running backs. You know, I don't know if that's a major Is that a major surprise? You know, that's not major.

It's a little tweak. Um you know, Alan George making it. Yeah, that was gonna happen when Eli get thinged and Cam Taylor Brentman down, so that that really wasn't a surprise. I think probably maybe shelv in the fourth round or not being able to stick, you know. I think, you know, I think they thought the way he came back, I think they were encouraged that he came back in shape. But I think the Risks kind of bothered him, maybe

more than we thought. So I think they're hopefully he can you know a little more seizing on the practice squad. But I think other I think other than that, Wardy, I'm I'm not surprised that Hubern Harris made it. I thought, uh that, you know, with those gut with those two guys, it was gonna have to be a knockout. You know, it was gonna be a have to be a third round. You knocked them down four times in the third round.

Just didn't happen. It was they were raised or you know, they were Clark Harris I thought, can still obviously get down the field. And Huber Huber has you know, he has knocked the ball inside the twenty against the Steelers, So I think that that probably although his ke As I was talking to Darren Simmons about this, he said, now, I remember he said Kevin Huber hadn't done it either

when he got the job. But I think Kevin showed enough, and I think Drew show I think Drew Christmas showed enough talent that's worthy enough to develop, and Hubers showed he's got, you know, enough left to bail out this

offense if they if they do need bailing out. To me, Alan George from the guys that were in training camp would be the biggest surprise to make the roster, But I guess my biggest surprise overall was that they were able to get three guys that look like they can help, as Waiver claims, and I think that's the big surprise to them as well, since they were thirty first in the order after being the Super Bowl runner up last year.

I don't think they dreamt it'd be possible to add three guys that they like most, especially Max Sharping, because this is a guy who's been a three year starter in the NFL. Now, admittedly he doesn't have extraordinarily good PF grades, he wouldn't have been available if that had been the case, but I think if nothing else, he's league average. Last year, he was ranked fifty six out of ninety guards that had enough snaps by Pro Football Focus.

And he's not coming in to start in Cincinnati. So when you can get a guy like that, proven guy that you liked when he was drafted, that has at least been okay in the NFL to add to your depth on the offensive line, I think that's a really good addition right before the start of the season. Yeah, I agree, that's I mean, basically, it was a supplemental draft. I mean they had guys, you know I you know,

fairly high draft picks make it through. And I also think I think the guy who's going to end up helping them probably quicker than anybody, is probably the tight end that they picked up from the patrons because they need to help it ight end. Even before Wilcox get hurt, I think that was a position of need that they were focused on that they were going to try and upgrade in the last week or two of the preseason.

And I think that that's I think you're right. I think that's surprising that they could get a guy of U And I'm gonna have trouble pronouncing his name, but of getting the tight end from USC, I believe is that No? From Yeah? From USC? Right? Um, yes, right? And uh they you know, the guy's a block and

I think that's what they were looking for. I mean, I know there was interesting O. J. Howard, I guess according to some reports, but I think Acasi probably fits them better because I think they're looking for the kind of the blocking and like James Casey said, we got to protect the quarterback. You know, we got to block the defensive end. And here's the other thing they don't use. You know, they don't use three tight ends a lot.

They don't use two tight ends a lot. But you know, I think that's so that's why I think this is what they had in mind. And I think he'll be out. He'll probably be I'm I would imagine he'd be active. I would think, uh and uh so I think he's a guy that could you know, I'm gonna get to see you to see the first short. Yeah, the situation, we'll see, yuh see how good of a blocker he is. All right, let's touch on a topic that you referred to, and that is how Zach Taylor used his starters or

didn't use his starters in the preseason games. Was that the right decision. I'm all for it. I'm one hundred percent for it, even if the tack buyers in the opener. I think, what did we do all camp? We spent you know, we spent it looking at pull football talk to see what was the what was the latest biggest injury. You know, even the Steelers, the team they're gonna play,

two of their guys getting knocked out. T J. Watt, their best defensive player, the player of the year, the defensive player of the year, he got you know, he he nicked his knee, and uh, you know, I'm not you know, I'm sure he'll be fine. I you know, I hope he's fine. I'm sure he's fine, he'll be for the opener. But I mean, I just not sure you have to do that in this day and age,

the way they play the game, you know. So I think it was also, you know, I think I was talking to Dan Pitch about how much work bar got against the Rams. Think, uh, if you throw in the seven on seven stop, you get up to about sixty snaps, you know, not granted that wasn't you know, guys weren't hitting him. But you know it was good. You know it was good. Uh it was good. Uh. I hate to say because this is what everybody says, good work, but it was kind of but it was. I think

it was good work. I mean considering that what he would have faced in a regular preseason game, you know, with a thread of injury or something happening. So yeah, I'm I'm I think, you know, and I think this is the I think this is the way of the future. I mean, guys like Sean McVey and Zach, the young head coaches, h they look at it, they see what it is, and uh, I think they've adjusted accordingly. Here's the answer to that question. Should Zach have rested the

starters as much as he did? Tyrn Smith Cowboys left tackle out indefinitely. David Bakhtiari Packers at left tackle. He's out for Week one in all likelihood. McKay Beckton, Jets offensive lineman, he's out for the season. You just can't afford in this day and age, to have your best players knocked out in preseason action, So you do whatever you can to try to keep those guys healthy. And like you said, if it means you get off to a bit of a slow start. That's the calculated gamble

that you're taking. But I think it's a smart gamble. And I do think along the lines of what you were saying that those two joint practices against the Rams probably gave them more legitimate preseason work than a handful of snaps at the beginning of a preseason game would have given them. So that seems to be the formula

going forward. Always try to have a joint practice lined up against the team, make sure your starters get some legitimate work with restrictions that make serious injuries less likely, and that that's the best way to get get your team to Game one healthy. Yeah, the only thing I would do is I would make it. I would make it with two teams and only do it once a day.

The second day seems to be a bit of a bit of a problem, So just sign up two teams won the second week in the training camp, and then the next one like they did with the Rams the third week in training camp, and let's go. And I guess, but you know, they still want to sell tickets to the games. So but that's always a good spot, good spot to get your the games is a great way really to to find out what the bottom of the

roster is going to look like. Really, I think they the way they planned it was really just about right. And one of those joint practices and preseason games should be against the Colts like it used to be. Yeah, the two teams are so close together. How they've gone a couple of years after the reduction of preseason games from four to three without playing each other is a

mystery to me. It makes too much sense not to do. Yeah, yeah, and uh bringing in the team from the West Coast and um, you know, and I don't know, is maybe matching up matching up two teams that just played in the Super Bowl. That's kind of interesting, but that might you know. Uh, I thought that was really interesting because that's I think there was that was good from the standpoint of I think there was some opening day adrenaline there. They couldn't help me, but just you know, to be

something left over from February thirteenth. All right, a few more topics. What do you expect from Jesse Bates to begin the season? Jesse, he's so consistent, you know, he's one of these guys you uh, you know, you you wind them up, your roll them out there, and he's gonna and he's gonna be good, you know. Uh, And I think, uh, I think he'll be better than last year. I think he was pretty open about how he struggles last year trying to come to terms with his contract

and playing, and he was pretty open about that. So I think he's got his arms around that now. I think he's in a better place. And so I think I think he's going to be good. I think he's you know, he's a hell of a player. And look what he did in the postseason. You know, he had a great postseason. You know. So if he can come anywhere near that, you know, they'll they'll be fine. Historically he's played nearly every snap. That might go down a

little bit, especially early in the season. Maybe they'll give him, you know, the occasional break just because of the amount of time missed, but I expect him to play well. I'm with you, Do you have an under the radar candidate to have a breakout year? Yeah, just probably because I just wrote about him and you know, cam Sample, I think the versatile defensive lineman, I think he's a And I agree with you on on Davis Gaither. I think, I think that's a great guy to watch, and it

Cam too. You know, Cam's I think last year he was hurt a little bit. He got hurt late in the year with a hamstring with a hamstring issue that took him out of the last two games. But and I also think he was you know, he also had some other stuff going on with his court. He ended up having having surgery on his core. So you know, they say, you know, he looked really good in camp. I thought he was very active. He gives him a

guy that can go inside and outside. He's not you know, you don't want to use him as a three technique a lot, but you can. He's a really good edge put placement, run really well. I thought. I thought that was one of the major reasons last year that they were so good against the run was Cam. I think

Cam played about three hundred and ten snaps. He's really good against him run, and he can give you some pressure inside too, really very you know, like Loui and Rumo said the other day, this guy he'll play for ten years just because he knows, just because he'll always be in the right spot, you know. So I think a guy like that, who's serious, committed another year in the system, and he's healthy, and I think, you know, you know, we're looking to kind of lowry open jobie

seven sacks. It doesn't come from really the same position, but maybe camp can help you get some of those. I don't know if this guy should count as under the radar because I've been talking about him so much in camp, but hayden Hurst would be my guy. I just think he's poised to surpass the numbers that c j Uzama put up last year. And admittedly those were not Pro Bowl like numbers, but he was pretty productive. But I think hayden Hurst could have sixty plus catches.

I think he could have seven hundred plush yards, eight touchdowns, with a bunch of them coming in the red zone. I just think there's going to be so many opportunities for him with all of the attention on the three great wide receivers, and we know that Joe Burrow will find the open man. So if hayden Hurst stays healthy, I think he's got the chance to earn a huge contract at the end of this year, since he signed

a one year deal with the Bengals. Let's get to our final topic and that is next Sunday Week one Pittsburgh Steelers. Do you have an early key to that Week one matchup? Yeah, you can't have mentioned it. I mean it's it's it's always the Bengals offensive line burst and Steelers defensive line. I always thought in this previous era of Dalton and Green, there wasn't a hex against the Steelers. There wasn't a jinx against the Steelers. He had to block Hayward into it. That's that's what that

series came down to in that stretch. And I think now with the Steelers in the post been era, trying to find some weapons, got a basically a new offense. You know they're gonna ride that defense. You know they got three They got three good minds over there. Mike Tomlin h he hasn't gone anywhere hell of a coach, but he's also got Brian Flores there a good defensive mind as long. With Terrell Austin, the former Bengals defensive coordinator,

he's he's now the Steelers defensive coordinator. So you know, you know they're gonna be good on defense. They got way. So to me, it always comes down to protect and protect and Borrow against I mean against those guys. You can't you can't let the Steelers defense dictate to you. You got to attack them. I thought they did great to let their first game down in Pittsburgh last year. If I'm not mistaken, they broke their sack. They broke

the Steelers consecutive game for sacks. Borrow didn't gets sacked. And you know need another one like that being great, it's a great be a great way for this offensive line to get off the and I think that's the other thing that's the key. But guys like Carris and Kappa, they can get they can get Volson through a game like that. All those guys have played in Super Bowls, you know, So I think, you know, I think that's a this is trip around. I think it's a pretty

good matchup at home. The Steelers have led the NFL and sacks in each of the last five years. That is a record for longest streak by any team in NFL history. So what you're saying makes sense. And yet I am shocked because the Steelers were dead la in the NFL. It's stopping the run last year, which is highly unusual for them. I thought, for sure, I was going to get a Joe Mixon versus that questionable run

stopping defense would be the key to the game. Well, yeah, well the Steelers gave up five yards per bolt, which is very very Unsteeler like. But I you know, I don't know, because then that would be the great answer, you know, to you know, for for Volson and that new offensive line. What's the answer, Well, run the ball.

You know you want to get them. You know you don't want to get them in a past sets right away, you know what I mean, You don't want them, you know, you know they haven't If you want to get into a rhythm in the season, what's the way to do it. I guess it would be to give Mixing a give them thirty touches or something like that. But I still think when push comes to shove, you got to protect

the big fellow. It's gonna be a fun week. It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere on Sunday taking the field as defending AFC champions in a regular season game for the first time. Have never played the Steelers in an opener, which is which is unbelievable, And I think they've played them more than any other team, right think, and yet they've they've never played an open I find

that unbelievable. I can't wait to hear Dan Horde welcoming the audience with about five minutes to go before kickoff. That's always a great It's always one. I'm dialing in there and you and Lapp get me jacked up. There'll be I'll be waiting for this one because the first time they take the field since the Super Bowl is AFC champions Here's the heads up that our Bengals weekly

on location radio shows get started this week. Dave Lappham and I will be at Bucketheads on Harrison ad for the Bengals Game Plan Show Wednesday night from six to eight. Then on Friday, we'll be at the Buffalo Wings and Rings location in Oakley for the Bengals pep Rally Show from three to six. We hope to see you. That's going to do it for this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. Gets free to play

next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and Google play and if you haven't done so already, please subscribe to this podcast and if you have a minute, give it a rating or share a comment that helps warm Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for listening to the Bengals Boot Podcast.