Bengals Booth Podcast: I'm Movin' On

how the Bengals can improve their offensive line. The Bengals 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 makeup artists. While in Indianapolis for the combine, I was invited to make an appearance on the NFL Network to discuss the Bengals and also the top you see Bearcat prospects in this year's draft. When I arrived at the set, a makeup artist did what she could to make me look presentable. Now that's a little bit like putting lipstick on Miss Piggy. There's only so much a makeup artist can do. But still I appreciated her efforts, and it reminded me of a makeup

disaster from early in my TV career. If you stick around until the end of this podcast, I'll tell you about it in story Time with Dan, but football comes first. In about a week, free agency gets underway. The legal tampering period begins on Monday, March fourteenth, and two days later,

teams can begin signing players. Over the last two years, only three teams in the NFL have spent more money than Cincinnati in free agency, and I would argue that no team has been more successful as the Bengals have added DJ Reader, Von Bell, Trey Hendrickson, chitabe O Wouge, and Mike Hilton, among others. The Bengals point man and free agency is their director of pro scouting, Stephen Radisovic. How did the super Bowl run and an extra month

of football impact your preparation for free agency. It really hasn't. We've we've been grinding on these guys throughout the fall, and we've we've assigned position groups. So like Mike Potts's going to cross check all the offensive linemen in free agency, I'm doing most of the D linemen. But I'll go back and I'll double back and I'll watch, you know, the top ten at each tackle, guard, center, and then I'll have someone else get another opinion on the D tackles,

the d ns. And we've been doing that for the last couple of months, since probably November December, and really grinding and out here the last last two months. So obviously being in the playoffs and the super Bowl was time consuming and there was time taken away from the Super Bowl events that we're normally in the office watching tape. But I think we've got a pretty good feel for what we're how we're going to attack this thing right now.

If the draft is about getting the best player available, his free agency about addressing needs, yeah, I would say so, I'd say you're trying to fill obviously, if you've got some holes, you're trying to fill it in free agency and set yourself up to when you're drafting, you're taking the best player available and not having to to reach on a guy. We're talking to Stephen rodiss Evict, the

Bengals director of Pro scouting. In the last couple of years, the Bengals track record and free agency has been extraordinary. He pretty much hit a home run on just about every free agency signed. Is there a common denominator that helps explain this free agency six yes, Uh, yeah. I think the biggest thing was we we tried not to h you want to pay your best players, and we

tried not to reach on guys. We just try not to overspend on players, and you try to go for the solid guys that you know are going to be solid locker room guys, guys are going to be high effort. Uh. You know, we've we've kind of done this. You know, we're really with the last two two off seasons, whether it's free agency or the draft, was was trying to get captains leaders, you know, whether it's the captains in college, the captains in Pittsburgh or Dallas. You know, the guys

that kind of led led their position groups there. Um so we've we've kind of focused on that, and then obviously the youth has been a big thing for us and going after young guys that are ascending or guys that we feel like have upside and aren't towards the down of their career. So um, those are kind of the things that we focused on in free agency the last couple of years, and I think it's paid off.

Zach can Do both talked about trying to find guys that love football and love the grind, so to speak. Do you see that on tape or is that stuff that you get from talking to people, talking to the players themselves, etc. Both. Yeah, I think you know. Mike Hilton, we've obviously played against him plenty of times in Pittsburgh and the guys always always above and beyond effort and and so I mean a lot of that stuff you just see on tape and and you know what he's about.

And then yeah, a lot of you know, the other stuff is you're you're during the free agency period, you're trying to you know, whether it's talking to other scouts or friends that you have in the league, just to see what those players were like in the locker room and on a day to day basis, but you know, we also have our our reports from college and uh, you know, going into Colorado, I knew what Cheeto was and I knew how much of a leader he was in that locker room and kind of what he meant

to that team at Colorado. So, um, you know, you have those things that kind of line up and you know what you're gonna get with a guy like that. The first big ticket free agent to sign in this two year period was DJ Reader. You guys made him the highest paid nose tackle in the NFL when you made that deal. How significant was that deal not only in getting the player who's proven to be great, but also in basically showing free agents all over the the

NFL that the Bengals are willing to be a big player. Well, yeah, he was the first guy that we went out and and wanted to attack aggressively. We had obviously the run issues that we had facing good running teams the Baltimoes, and we knew signing a guy like that was going

to help in that aspect. But we also knew what type of guy he was and leader he was in that locker room in Houston, So you know, it was great getting him going, and then I think once we signed him, we got some momentum and I think other players outside of our organization saw what we were trying to do and build, and uh, it kind of paid off. Like I said, it's paid off this last free agency for show, Let's talk offensive line. It's obviously an area

that the Bengals would like to improve if possible. You played offensive line at the beginning of your college career other than quarterback, is offensive line the toughest position to nail, so to speak for guys coming out of college. I think it's hard. Yeah, it'd be interesting to just look at the you know, the success rate of you know, first round offensive lineman and how many of them have panned out. But it is it is a difficult to project.

You know, you got guys at different levels competing against each other. But yeah, it just seems like it's, Uh, it's obviously been one of those positions in the draft that it's it's hard for teams to predict how they're gonna turn out. We're talking to Stephen radiss Evict, the Bengals director of pro scouting. In free agency, how much of it goes according to plan and how much of it is pivoting and reacting based on where guys are signing, how much they're signing for, etc. We've had to pivot

a little bit um, you know. I think last year, you know, the focus was going to be trying to get some old lineman. Um, it was not a great group of free agents. There was a couple of guys at the top, and then there was a drop after that of players that we felt were going to be comparable or you're gonna have to overpay for what their production was going to be, so they're you know, like last year, like I said, we had to pivot a little bit um, not too far off of where we had,

you know, our option a going into it. But I think with any any team, there's you just have no idea. It's hard to predict who's going to come back with the team and with their team or sign elsewhere, so you just have to adjust accordingly. You've added the title of director of Pro Scouting in recent years, and Duke has given you a lot of credit publicly for the Bengal success in free agency over the last couple of years. Do you feel like you've had a significant role in

the Bengal success in that department. I think all our all of our personnel guys have it's uh, you know, does a great job of giving us big responsibility, huge

responsibilities and letting us run with it. Whether it's Christian Sarkeesian doing you know this Texas University of Texas are going in a Baylor but then coming back to the office and you know, having to bring guys in for workouts and then me giving him a couple of players to watch that are on the wire, or you know, Andrew doing the East Coast schools and still doing pro

pro work when he gets back to the office. I think it's a collectively it's a group effort with all of our stuff the way we've handled it, and I think all of us are appreciative for the responsibilities the Duke has given us. We're sitting in the stands right now at Lucas Oil Stadium watching players go through their paces in the combine. What do you get out of the NFL scouting combine? What do you really look for? I think the time that we're able to spend with

the players and formal interviews is very important. You're trying to figure out what type of what type of person they are, how they're going to handle certain situations, so that those those meetings are valuable to us. While and then obviously watching them move around and getting to see some of these players up close and personal that we haven't seen. You know, I've I've done the West Coast school, so I haven't seen a lot of the players in

the Southeast. So it's been a great opportunity to just get to shake hands and see them up close and personal. So I would say those are you know, just being able to see them physically and spend time with them are the biggest things that we're getting out of this. We're a little more than a week away from the start of the legal tampering period and then about a week and a half away from when free agency begins.

Is it like college recruiting where you know, at the stroke of midnight you reach out to somebody or close to that to try to express your interest. Well, when we're able to talk to the agents, we'll talk to them and try to feel the interest out of whoever whatever player they're representing. Uh. And then when when we are able to I think a lot of our players will help out at that time and try to help recruit you know, whoever it is. Our guys have done

a good job of it. I know you guys have heard the Riley Reef stories and having the dinners there, so it's uh, it's been fun and I could see. I could see how this year is going to be a lot different from the last two years. You know. Obviously we've built up some buzz and I think it's going to be a destination where players are going to want to come play and play with Joe and play with the other young guys that we've got on the roster. So we'll be exciting to see how it shakes out.

So the Joe Borrow factor is real. It's real for sure. Yeah, were you at the famous Precinct dinner, the famous Riley Reef recruiting dinner. I was. I was really upset. I was a close contact and was unable to go to that dinner. But yeah, I really wanted to go and unfortunately was shut down in my house. So in terms of trying to retail your own free agents, that's where it begins. You want to keep the best players on your own team first and then try to improve the

roster with veteran players. From other teams. Duke and Zach have publicly talked about Jesse Bates and how the team would like to retain Jesse. What about c J? Uzam, I haven't heard anybody specifically address the desire to hold on to CJ. Yeah, I mean, obviously the fan base, everybody knows what CJ means to us, and we want them back and hopefully something can get what worked out. But I there's We're not letting CJ walk out of

here easily. What has been the reaction of your peers in the business to the Bengals making it to the Super Bowl? A lot of the guys that I've known and having the role I had at UCLA being the pro liaison there. I've known a lot of these guys for fifteen, you know, fifteen years, and they've known, you know, the struggles that we've gone through here the last couple of years, and and how much work we've you know,

as a group, have put into building the roster. So it's just been, you know, the friends I've had have all been excited and rooting us on throughout the process. I've you know, even throughout the process the playoffs. I was getting text messages you know, after every win, so it's fun seeing that. So I've said that I think the Bengals were ahead of schedule this year. Maybe internally you guys don't use that expression or feel the same way, but I think you're in a position to make the

roster even stronger. You've got some cap money to spend, You've got one extra draft pick. That doesn't necessarily mean you get right back to the super Bowl the next year, But am I on track? Would you agree with that assessment? Yeah, I would say, yeah, our rosters in the much better spot than it was last year, and we're definitely going to make some upgrades this offseason at different position groups, so it'll yeah, we're in a much better spot than

we were the last two years for sure. Well, everybody in your department has done a phenomenal job. It's been one of the great success stories in the NFL, and obviously it's been a heck of a lot of fun to watch and broadcasts. So congratulations on what you've done to help get the Bengals to the super Bowl and best of luck going forward. Thanks Dan, I appreciate it. The franchise tag deadline is coming up on Tuesday at

four o'clock. If the Bengals use it on Jesse Bates, it would be for thirteen point five million dollars next season, and the team would still have until July fifteenth to try to work out a long term extension. Now let's turn to the draft. The Bengals have the thirty first overall pick and one extra pick in the seventh round, which they obtain from the Giants and the Billy Price be j Hill trade. That's the gift that keeps on giving. I caught up with the Athletics draft expert Dane Bruegler

at the Combine. I consider his yearly draft guide, the so called Beast, to be the best one out there, and it usually comes out in early April, several weeks before the draft. Dane is going to mention several possible draft targets for the Bengals in our conversation, and just so you know in advance, after I played the interview, I'll tell you a little more about each of those players. How's the offensive line group that is likely to be available at thirty one if they elect to go that way.

Those words that you just said likely available, that's that's key that makes it tough because we're going to see a lot of tackles fall off the board early, maybe as many as five before pick thirty, so that it would be interesting to see if one of them were to fall to thirty one, either the two guards that are in that first round, mix Kenyan Greene, Zion Johnson to either of those guys make it at thirty one. And then I think the biggest wild card is Tyler Linderbaum,

the center. There's not a prospect with a wider variance of where he could be drafted than Tyler Linderbaum. He could go twelve, he could go thirty one, and I don't think anybody would bat an eye, at least in the league because he's such a such a rock solid player, out standing run defend or run blockers, pass protection. That's where there shows a little bit of the lack of length. That's where it really shows up. That's what you really

worry about, the shorter arms like that. And I could already you know hear Bengals fans talking about like Billy

Price or you know, I can hear that already. But this guy, the competitive toughness, the smart former defensive lineman, it's just he's not going to be for everybody when you factor in all those things, because I mean, you think he's a center only, and you eliminate all the teams that don't need a center, you eliminate the teams that aren't running some variants of a zone offense, and you're down to four or five teams that would draft Tyler Linderbaum in the first round, and I think the

Bengals are one of them. It's just will he make it at thirty one or not. I think it's at least in the realm of possibility that it could happen. And as you alluded to, the arm length did not test well here at the combine, so that has become a bit of a red flag for a lot of teams. If he is there at thirty one and you're the Bengals, is that a no brainer? In my opinion, you I think that he's a top fifteen to twenty player in this class. The arm length, it does show up on tape.

It's not like you know, all of a sudden, the numbers this and so we have to drop him. It does show up on tape a little bit where, especially in pass protection, where long arm defenders are able to reach him and dictate the action, and there's only so much he can do to you know, re establish his anchor and reset. So with Linderbaum, I think that if you have a chance to get him a thirty one, it would be awfully hard to say no to that.

With he's a plug and play guy. Yes he's a center only, so he is not going to give you that positional versatility. But you know, I guess we have to find out what happens is free agency, if the Bengals go that route and if not. Linderbaum absolutely in that discussion. In your last mock draft, which was about a month ago, you had the Bengals trading up a few spots to grab a cornerback. You'll have another mock draft coming out in a few days. I look forward

to seeing that. But when you had them making that move, is that need based or is it the strength of the cornerback class this year? I think a little bit both. I think there's you know, um Trey Waynes. I don't know that he's gonna, you know, be in a Bengals uniform next year. And you think about, you know, the the depth chart, how it is, and how they can

maybe get better at that position. I think you look at the corners in this draft, we're gonna see them go early with Sauce Gardner from Cincinnati, Trent McDuffie from Washington, Derek Stingley LSU. Those three guys should be off the board in the top fifteen picks, and then, uh, you know, you think about some of the other corners I could be available. It could be a position that they look

at in the late first round. I'm looking at Kylan Gordon, the other Washington corner who not as instinctive, not the play awareness, not on the same level as as a teammate Trent McDuffie. But what Gordon is a phenomenal athlete in corners a stopwatch position. So if you're if he's going to test the way that we expect him to test, Gordon's not gonna get out the first round. So if he's there at thirty one, I think Gordon could be in the mix. The Bengals have a history of drafting

corners in the first round. I think that I agree with They have that notion that if you're going to get an excellent cornerback, it almost always has to be a high pick. I think that's fair, and because athletes at the position go early, and especially at that position where it's a stopwatch position, it matters how fast you are, especially in a straight line. So but I mentioned with Gordon talking to him, talking to McDuffie, they've got a little friendly wager going on. Let's see who who runs

the fastest, who jumps the highest. Both should be over forty in the vert Both should be low four fours high, four three's in the forty. So it'll be fun to see how it all shakes out. The Bengals have three great wide receivers. They all stayed healthy this year. The odds of that happening in back to back seasons, unfortunately, probably low. Is that a spot where the Bengals will be able to help themselves with a later pick. Yeah, I think wide receiver, and this is a trend that's

not going to go away. Every year. Wide receiver seems to be a strength, just with the way the college game is, the way things are trending. Wide receiver year year out is a deep position, both early in the first round and then throughout every every level the draft. So that's especially true this year and if they want to go that direction, on Day two and go after you know, a guy like Skymore Calvin Austin from Memphis.

I think they could. But if they want to wait until day three, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh round, there's going to be players there. There's going to be guys. So you know, the top three receivers on our team, they're all what top two round guys, and so, you know, I think they've had some good success drafting the position early, but they don't with the way the depth charts set up, they don't necessarily have to do that. They can draft and develop and see what they could find later on.

They've drafted several offensive linemen in recent years. The jury is still out on some of these guys, probably most notably Jackson Carmen. But do you have any theories for why the Bengals have not had a lot of success with their most recent offensive line draft picks. I don't think there's any sweeping theory. I think it's just, you know, it's more about the player than anything the Bengals have done.

And you know, for a guy like Jackson Carmen, it's all about maturity, it's all about growing mentally, physically, um, it's it's tough to uh walk into an NFL locker room, you know, with all these veteran guys and establish yourself as uh, you know this guy that's going to be a starter and you know, have a voice and all that. So it just takes time for these guys. Um and Jackson Karmin. I think this will be a big jump for him in this offseason to see what he looks

like in year two. Um. I know the Bengals they really want him to lock down a starting job, and I think he's certainly capable of that. It's just all about maturity again, both the mental side and the physical side, and I think he's capable. The Bengals arrived ahead of schedule. I think a lot of people thought, all right, with Joe Burrow, maybe within a few years they'll have a chance to compete for a Super Bowl. They got there in year two. What do you think of their overall roster.

I mean, obviously it's a super Bowl uh roster. I mean that's there. That that's fact, you know it that with that roster help him get there. And I think when you have the quarterback that that is would uh you know, absolves a lot of sins elsewhere and it'll be interesting with this this offseason what that means. Having that quarterback gives you a little recruiting advantage in free agency.

You know, if you're going to go after some offensive lineman fregency, having Joe Burrow as the guy that you're you're blocking for that that that means something. So right there, I think that's that That's obviously a big piece of the puzzle that the Bengals have. Um. But then yeah, you look at wide receiver, you look at um you know, even though you know tight ends not necessarily a position where they have spent a high draft pick recently, but

it's they've gotten good production there. On defense, you know, they've made some key moves and free agency that have really uh done. They've done a nice job. The linebackers, you know, really like uh you know, guys like Pritt and Logan Wilson and those guys. So um and then in the secondary, what's gonna happen with Jesse Bates? You know, at the very worst, he's give me a franchise, I would think, And so it's just just a matter of can they get a long term deal oal done there?

And then Um corner, you know, they can get, I think, but this is a this is a roster ready to compete again. It's not gonna I don't think we're gonna see a big drop off by any means. But AFC is so tough that it does make it interesting when you're in a division with some pretty good teams. You know, Browns aren't going anywhere, the Ravens aren't going anywhere. We'll

see what the Steelers in the quarterback situation. But you look around and you know, got the Bills, You've got the Titans, You've got the Chargers and the Chiefs, and you go on and on and mention these teams that are playoff worthy. So um, you know it's it's not time just because the Bengals made the Super Bowl. I don't think that by any means, they're gonna just kind of wrestle their laurels at all. They're gonna they're gonna try and get better this offseason. I'm eager to see

what they do in fre agency. Both of their three techniques are free agents, Larry Ogan, job By and b. J. Hill. They're gonna try to resign both. I think they probably feel they need to resign at least one but is that a position where there's some after the first round talent here? Uh yeah, possibly. I think you know, we're gonna see a guy like Davante Wyatt from Georgia go early. Um, and then after that, you know the Mark and Leale from A and m Um. Where does he end up

and do they view him as a three technique? He's two eighty five, so maybe he's more of a bass end. Um, there's some split opinion on him. But you know, I think this defensive tackle class is a better than maybe we thought. Um. I think the Senior Bowl with the guys, how they performed there. I think here at the Combine, the way they put you know, a guy like perry On Winfrey from from Oklahoma who's just a monster in

the middle. As a second round pick, I think he's he's the type of guy you want to you want to bet on because of the traits that he offers. Um, you know, he can play multiple spots, played more of a nose tackle at Oklahoma. I think it was kind of out of a position there, but um, you know, can play a few spots up and down the line of skirmmage for you. So this is a defensive tackle class. I think it is a little bit better than we initially thought. Do you have a quarterback in mind for

the Steelers? It's really tough because we have to figure out where these you know, last year we had five quarterbacks top fifteen. This year, where's that first quarterback coming off the board and who's it gonna be? I think that the Steelers want one of these guy is they need to go make a move, you know, trade up ten spots or so. But you know, is there a quarterback they love enough to go do it? I know

maliqu willis to Pittsburgh. That's been the popular uh fit and that a lot of people have been talking about. And I get it. Um now they Mike Tomas talked about, you know, getting more athletic at the quarterback position. But Miliqu Wills isn't ready to start from day one. So are they comfortable with Mason Rudolph being your starter for twenty twenty two? You know that's something that internally they

have to figure out. And but a guy like Kenny Pickett, he's ready to step in from day one, not only compete for the starting job, but he's helped he's ready to help you win football games. He can help you, you know, compete for the division, push for the playoffs. So if they have a chance of Kenny Pickett, keep him in Pittsburgh. You know, obviously he's familiar with that part of town. That wouldn't make a ton of sense as well. So the whole quarterback landscape in this draft

is wide open and we're here at the Combine. The drafts, you know, less than two months away, and we're still trying to figure it out. As Desmond, Ritter helped himself. If you're in Indianapolis, hasn't hurt himself. You know, I think he tested like he tested better than some wide receivers. You know, with athletic testing. I don't think that when you watch his tape he's a pocket passer. He doesn't. You know. The athleticism is not something he relies on,

but it's nice to know that he has it. Um, he's I think he went to this Senior Bowl, checked that box one, came to the Combine. I've heard nothing but positive things about you know, the way he interviews. Um, he's a really he's an older guy. He's sharp, he's smart, he's prepared. Um. I think it's something that every every team have talked to you about Ritter. They all mentioned how prepared he was for these interviews. So and not just coaching, you know, being coached up, but you know,

really being attentive, asking the right questions, that type of thing. So, UM, I think he's you know, obviously had a really good resume in college. Um, but coming here, he's he's only helping himself. The University of Cincinnati has had one top ten pick in its history. Well, Sauce Gardner make it too. I think so, because he plays the right position, and he just had a heck of a three year run

there for the Bearcats. Um, you know he's he's tall, he's long, he's exudes confidence and that's brtting it lightly. But you know he's I worry about him a little bit downfield. He can get out of control at times. Can clean that up. But now you bet on a guy like that, I think he's he's probably the favorite to be the first corner drafted somewhere in the top ten. You know, there's a couple of teams in there that

need corners. So if you're gonna put the over under at ten, I'm gonna take the under for Salas Gardner I could do this for an hour, but I'll respect your time. I always appreciate running into at the combine. Thank you so much, and I look forward to the beast. Oh.

Thanks Dan. All right, let's quickly go over the draft prospects that Dane mentioned, starting with Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum, a player frequently mentioned is a logical fit for the Bengals if he's still on the board at number thirty one. Brugler has him listed at number seventeen on his top one hundred, but Linderbaumb's arms were measured at thirty one and an eighth at the combine, which is a red flag for many teams and could cause him to drop.

That was an issue for Billy Price, whose arms measured at thirty two inches, but it's not a deal breaker. Creed Humphrey, the outstanding rookie center for the Chiefs, measured at less than thirty two last year, and former seven time Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold also had less than thirty two inch arms. Most mock drafts don't have Linderbomb

available with the thirty first pick. Brugler mentioned two guards, including Kenyon Green out of Texas A and m He's six four, three hundred twenty three pounds with thirty four and an eighth inch arms, and played every position on the old line but center for the Aggies. He's number twenty four on Dane's Top one hundred. The other guard is Zion Johnson from Boston College who's six three three twelve with thirty four inch arms. He's number twenty six

on Dane's Top one hundred. Dane also mentioned cornerback Kyler Gordon out of Washington. He's five eleven and a half, ran a four five to forty at the Combine and has literally been a ballet dancer in the past. He's number sixty eight on Dane's Top one hundred. Then there was wide receiver Calvin Austin from Memphis who did not make Dane's Top one hundred. He's undersized at five eight one seventy, but made a huge impression at the combine

by running a blistering four three two forty. Austin had back to back one thousand yard receiving seasons at Memphis and returned two punts for touchdowns. Finally, there were two defensive tackles to Marvin Leo out of Texas A and m and Perry and Winfrey from Oklahoma. Leo is six four two eighty three and ranked fifty first on Brugler's Top one hundred. Winfrey is sixty four two ninety and

was ranked fifty third. 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, autographed merchant ice, and money can't Buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Up next Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus, who joined me at the Combine to discuss free agency and the draft.

Up first, his formula for how to improve the Bengals offensive line. You have to approach it with volume. Right. The offensive line is not a single piece changes anything. It's a week leak unit. Right. You do not want any obvious week links along the offensive line. You have

this creep towards average. You'll get everyone to play, have average too, above average play and you need that right now, right And if you just solve that with volume in the draft and bringing these rookies, you're not going to get that play right at the gate. They have a window, a window with Joe Burrow on this rookie contract to maximize his potential, Go spend, go spend in freegency to add to this offensive line, potentially make trades I don't

Larry Tunsel could be made available. That's the type of decision making they need to make. And now you don't need again favolume in free and so you don't need to go out and get Toronto Armstead, Brandon Shirff, Ryan Jensen,

like all the high prize free agents. You can still bring in guys in free agency that aren't these high price pieces of the puzzle, right Like I even look like bringing back Riley Reef and just making sure that you continue to add volume along the offensive line and veteran talent guys that are playing good right now because rookies.

While Jackson Carman in two or three years could be a really really successful guard, and other rookie offensive tackles in this draft could be playing well in soon, it won't be right next year, right, Tristan Worth, So the Tampa By Buccaneers off tackle is an outlier, a guy coming in that quickly and having success. Same with ra Shaan Slater. No, especially when you start to get to these into your offensive line guys on day two, it's that much harder to bring in a guy that can

legitimately start right away. So you favor multiple medium priced guys as opposed to blowing a significant chunk of cap space on a guy. Absolutely like, I think a lot of Bengals fans want to see this completely remade offensive line where it's like I said, these high price guys, it's just not it's not easy to do that. And then when you do invest that much money in offensive line, a situation that comes up for me is the lost the Oakland Raiders back in the day signed Donald Penn,

signed Collecchio, assembly signed Gabe Jackson, signed Ronnie Hudson. Then they had to blow it all up soon after that. When you make when you spend that much, it gets that much more difficult. For the Buffalo Bills, they went into FREEANC a few years ago and added a lot of capable starters John Feliciano, Mitch Morris, Dion doc like, No, no,

guys are legitimate stars at their position. For guys that just like helped elevate the average of their offensive line now, it's not to say they can't go offensive line at thirty one. There are guys in my opinion, that can come in and play right away. Zion Johnson, the Boston College offensive lineman, is one of those. And on day two. This is a good guard class. It's a very good offensive line class. A lot of these guys meeting thresholds,

if not clearing thresholds, specifically with arm length. Darren Kinnard of Kentucky as a guy I really liked Tyler Smith of Tulsa. You can get capable players on day one and day two in this draft, but there's only a handful of where I really feel confident they're going to start and have success right away, especially with where they're picking. So getting back to free agency, you mentioned a few names that are at the top of the pay scale.

How about a step below. Are there some guys that you like that would be more affordable that you think would immediately upgrade the Bengals offensive line. I do think that you have to maybe looking at these medium price free aids. I think Riley Reef comes to mind. I think there should be some other guys getting cut as well, like people are talking about potentially the Dallas Cowboys moving

on from their left tackle. I think that the medium price freetents that I'm highlighting probably are Mitch Morse I think might becoming available, which could come in and place center. You have Riley Reef coming back. I mean, those are some of the names I do think will help them now. I don't necessarily think that they have to lock into freeency as well. I think they can make trades to add to this offensive line, especially with the thirty one

overall pick. Why spend it on a player that maybe can't start right away when you could trade that thirty one overall pick for a Laramie tons or whoever may be. We'll be interesting with Laramie Touns. So if he is in fact on the block, how much are you willing to give up? Certainly, if it only took the thirty first pick in the draft, I would think the Bengals would jump at something like that. But the Texans paid

a lot more than that to get him. Naturally, you would think they would want a lot more than just a first round pick and return. So I do think it would be obviously take the thirty first overall pick and potentially a future second future third. I don't know. It's not a two first round picks type of deal. Two first round picks for Larry tuns So with the current contract situation they has, I do think that would be a bit absurd, especially with the Houston Texans looking

to offload some of these guys. I think a first and a second, maybe a first and two thirds something like that is where my mind goes too first and you kind of have to rule it out. I think it's better to take of a dard rhyme in the central Michigan offen to tackle that at that point, Trevor Penning if he falls that far. Now you're hearing though Charles Cross Missus B State offens tackle might fall in this draft as well, because there's just so much talent

specifically at that position. You could look into a really talented player there as well. The Bengals have Jonah Williams. Hasn't been a Pro Bowl level player, but he's certainly competent and hopefully is still getting better. Other than that, right now, there are no sure things on the offensive line, so it almost feels to me like it has to be a combination a free agency in the draft. No,

I think it will be a combination too. Especially I do think at thirty one the board will fall to them, whereas Zion Johnson or one of the tackle four, tackle five should be available to them in this classic attack that piece. And then in free agency there are some again I always come back to, like bringing guys back, like consistency along the OFFENSI lie the Trey Hopkins, you know Riley, We've consistency along the offensive line just to maintain depth. I do think could be a wildly successful

piece for them. Now that does mean you've got to completely retol your offensive line. You could run into some concerns. The Kansas Chiefs completely remade their offensive line last year, and you saw a handful of concerning pieces of that. I don't think their protection was Zach great this year.

So I do think that while you do want to replace everyone and make upgrades everywhere, you're own with five new starters next year, I honestly think you're setting yourself back a little bit bringing two or three new guys and then add some depth as well, bringing some guys back or chatting with Austin Gale from Pro Football Focus, So the Bengals were ahead of schedule this year, I don't think anybody reasonably thought they would make it to the Super Bowl. How well are they set up for

the future, I think a good spot. I mean they have really a lot of coup space and their quarterback right in. Their quarterback in a window now with this rookie contract where they can maximize his value, and then you know, with winning in the NFL, being Super Bowl, competitive in the NFL, having the quarterback, having a top five, top six quarter player at that position, having a plethora

of playmakers, not one, not a Davante Adams. You need a lot of guys you t h against Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon, Jamar Chase obviously now because you need depth at that position so people can't hone in on your top guy. The offensive line is where they're behind. And then even in pass rush, I love what Trey Henderson obviously did this past year. Sam Hubbard's a high motor, high effort player. I still think they can get better

there as well. Do not. Everyone I talk to here is like, do not to stop adding pass rushers When you think you have as many as you need, grab another one, Like That's exactly how the position should be approached. No pass rush in the NFL has enough of these guys that can get after the passer. It's a reason why it's the second highest paid position in the NFL,

right right after quarterback. The guys who get paid the most are the ones who go get the quarterback, So getting multiples of those and in the secondary, what they did in the secondary is very similar to how they should approach the offensive line. Mike Hilton Hidobe a woozy, just adding and adding and add even adding Von Belle

a few years ago. Just continue to add veteran talent at a position where we know it took some time to develop, and just getting not elite guys, not top man world leaders that are going to cost you thirty million dollars a piece, but guys that can come in and raise the floor of your defense. I view the secondary very similar to have a view the offensive line. Yeah, you can have a Jail Ramsey, but if you and that does things to your defense, you can do a

lot of great things. But something that's also not equally good but can be really helpful for you. It is just making sure you don't have obvious weaknesses. Rban Meyer talked to Tom about where when he was coaching Ohio State, he'd have this offense to call find the fish, and the fish on defense is the guy who's given up all the yards and you just target him and target him, target him, and that you can have two jail and Ramsey's.

But if you have a guy that's going to give up everything over the middle or whatever it may be, that can really like drop the floor of your defense, they will get Josephosi back to potentially help the pass rush. Were you big on him going into last year's draft. I liked him as a raw player that should be trending in the right direction. That's kind of how I feel like he's the guy who's gonna need to developed now. I don't know how much the injury like kept him

from doing that. I do think it probably gave him an opportunity to, like slow down, you know, That's what we talked with rookies, like slow the game down, Slow the game down. The game is probably a lot sort of him now that he's watched a lot of it and been involved in practice and that stuff. I do think that it's the technique now that needs to improve. Having not seen him play, it's hard to say he's going to come in and be this like six seven

sack guy. But he had the tools to do it, and I think that's a big reason why they drafted him. You mentioned the Bengals big three at wide receiver. Those guys stayed healthy this year, so they didn't really need four or five, six whatever. This is a good draft to find that guy, isn't it? Based on everything that I've read and heard. Sand It's also a good guy to find someone who could compliment their big receiving sets right Like they do have Jamar Chase, who's a big, bodied,

strong receiver. It's Tyler Boyd, a very similar player t Higgins. Getting a guy that can compliment this offense and maybe is a little bit smaller, maybe he's a little bit shifty, This gadget player that teams are gravitating toward. This is a good draft class to do it. Calvin Austen of Memphis is only one hundred and seventy eight pounds with the dudes of jitterbug, and I think that's what you

miss in this offense. It's not something they need, right, but I mean, why not why not go get some more guys that can move the football and make plays After the catch. I think that's an area where they could add some people. I know, you look in the red zone right in these key situations, throwing to Trent Taylor, the former Louisiana Tech receiver. He's a guy that does things differently than Chase and you have to guard him differently. Getting a guy like that, maybe an elevated piece of

that better athlete could be a move for them. It's not an obvious need. On Day two, Day three, you could probably add one of those guys, especially if one of those guys could also return punts. Yes, one percent, and one of those one of my favorite players in this draft actually plays defensive back. His name's Marcus Jones. He is a guy that I feel is such a good kick returner that you have to bring it up every single time. And the other one is Bam Knight

Zonovan Knight of NC State. I sit down with him at the Super Bowl. I'm like, oh, you're talking through the strengths and weaknesses. Is like, I want you to know this. I let all the fbs and kick return yards. Like, oh man, that's cool. I was like, I'm gonna say again, I let all the fbs and return yard. He is a guy that knows he can win on special teams dates. It's a lost part of the game right. More people

are kicking touchbacks. I don't have to explain that, but if you can have that element right as a part returner and a kick returner, it can really elevate your offense. I think it's an underdiscussed piece because it's only what ten percent of the snaps in any single game. You get guys that do it well, it can really help you out. The Bengals three techniques are both free agents, Larry Ogan, Joeby and b J Hill. They'll try to resign both. They certainly probably feel they need to keep

at least one. But is that an area that they could help themselves in this draft? Yeah? Absolutely. I think bringing in BJ Hill types to a defense that doesn't necessarily want to blitz a ton and wants the stuff to run is huge. I mean, I think the DJ Reader ad and BJ Hill add were massive in their run for the Super Bowl. And they don't sign BJ hillback,

I'd be concerned because he is a monster. I think he's getting better as he progresses in his career, and there are other defensive tackles, maybe not three texts that I like. They're three texts DeVante Whyt's going to be gone by the time that they're drafting. You have some others that Perry on Winfree of Oklahoma that you could insert into a defense, but it's not going to, like legitimately elevate it. But from a nose tackle perspective, Travis

Jones yukon defensive tackle. He flows to the back end of the second round. That's to sprint the card in the situation for Cincinnati. Continue to add two gapping, run stuffing defensive tackles on Day two and you'll see how much it can elevate your defense, especially at low cost. You love the draft, Your passion for it is obvious. What's the combine like for you? The common Mine's awesome. I think I learn more about the draft class in one week than you do in the previous three months.

We're just talking to other people, talking to teams, talking to agents, talking to these guys who have been studying this for a while, and answering a lot of questions. Right trail and Burke's the Arkansas receiver. Why did he play seventy percent of his snaps in the slot. Let's talk about that. What was the offensive coordinator thinking, what does his agent think of that? What does he want to play in the NFL? Because it's not as easy as saying from a ten thousand foot view on watching tape,

it's like, this guy's good, this guy's not. That's it's just not that easy. What's he like one? And what's he like in person? What's his demeanor? What's his approach? Is he coachable? I was talking to so many people here, Brady Quinn, Dame Rugler of the Athletic more teams cross off names off the board, don't drop them, cross them off their board for the character concerns and how they approached themselves in the interviews than anything else here. You

could run a four nine at the receiver position. And if you are this high character guy that people want to gravitate toward and field that they can coach, you're going to you're going to be elevated upboards, not crossed off. Desmond Ritter is a guy like that. Has he helped himself at the combine? My gosh, that guy probably helped himself of any quarterback here for low four five's forty eight knew he's a stride or knew he could hit that, but man to see it definitely checks a lot of boxes.

It's not something that you would call him a winner for. You saw that speed on tape, but you need to check those boxes right because if he runs four six four seven, that's opposite to what you see on tape. In addition to that, too, you start to factor in preparation and you know, how did he add too much way? There's a lot of concerns that can come up of it. So I do think he checked that box. Massive hands,

which is huge for the quarterback position. I think Desmond Ritter, the more I think about it, eighteen to the New Orleans Saints just feels so right. Why let Desmond ridder fall pass at eighteen a guy that can come in with a roster a ton of talent, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas expected to be back. I know they might lose Toronto Armstead, but why not bringing a guy that could probably elevate, not elevate, but play to the level of that supporting cast in New Orleans. I know they have

a new head coach. I know that I like Jamis Winston, but that's the spot where I really feel comfortable taking Desmond Ridder. I didn't the spots after that, Pittsburgh at twenty. If Malie Willis obviously is on, they're big on Malik Willis. I think are those are the areas where I think Desmon Ridder should be coming off the board. Now, see, I have to disagree with you there because Desmond Ritter

can't go to the Steelers. My hatred for the Steelers cannot be deluded by seeing Desmond Ridder on that roster. Last thing for Austin Gale. Cincinnati hasn't had a first round pick since nineteen seventy. If it isn't Desmond Ritterer, it'll certainly be Sauce Gardner. I mean he's going to go in the first ground, that's a given. How high. I think it's a lock for the top ten. If he gets past the Jets, I'd be stunned. It's exactly the type of defense they want to run. They want

to run more single high concepts. It's and with Ahmad Gardner, I think he's phenomenal, But if you put him in a defense where where they run a lot of single high, run a lot of cover three, cover one, he's going to be insane. Right And there are going to be teams that want him to be scheme versatile and run more zone coverage. It's not something he did a ton of it Cincinnati, and that's not a knock on him. He played a lot of one thing and did really good at it, and a lot of teams do run that.

So they know. The New York Jets have obviously the number four overall pick and then number ten pick. I think people have been mocking Derek Stingley or Coyl Hamilton, a defensive back at that fourth spot, hearing they're locking into an offensive tackle. I think they want Evan Neil to fall. They want Ikeyakuana or Charles Cross up at that top spot, maybe even Trevor Penning. And then at ten he might not get to this point, but at ten I think maud garnered it would be a slam

dunk for the Jets. Fantastic stuff. As always, I really appreciate your time, absolutely, thank you. Now let's go over the draft prospects that Austin mentioned that Dane Brugler didn't Daryan Kinnard as an offensive lineman from Kentucky who played tackle for the Wildcats but is projected to be a guard in the NFL. He's huge six five three twenty two with thirty five inch arms. He's number forty two

on Brugler's Top one hundred. Tyler Smith out of Tulsa's six five three twenty four with thirty four inch arms, and he's number eighty five on Bruglar's Top one hundred. Austin also brought up three offensive tackles as possible candidates to still be there at number thirty one. Bernard Raymond from Central Michigan is six six three h three with third two and seven eighth arms. The Austria born big man is number twenty nine on Brugler's Top one hundred.

Trevor Penning from Northern Iowa is six seven three twenty five with thirty four and a quarter inch arms and was a three year starting left tackle. He's number nineteen on the Brugler Top one hundred. And then there's Charles Cross from Mississippi State six five three oh seven with thirty four and a half inch arms. The two year starting tackle is way up there at number eight on the Brugler Top one hundred. Austin also mentioned a defensive

tackle named Travis Jones from Yukon. He's six four three twenty five and his number forty five on the Brugler Top one hundred. At wide receiver. Austin mentioned Treylon Burkes from Arkansas. He's six two two twenty five and is frequently compared to the forty nine ers Deebo Samuel. He ran a four five five forty at the Combine, and an addition to memphisis Calvin Austin. Austin Gale brought up

two return specialists. First, cornerback Marcus Jones, who spent his first two college seasons at Troy and his final two at Houston. In his college career, Jones returned six kickoffs and three punts for touchdowns. And then there's running back Zonovan bam Knight from NC State, who returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in his college career and averaged thirty four point four yards per return this past season. And now, to wrap things up, it's an installment of Storytime with Dan.

Here's the concept. I've been broadcasting in some way, shape or form since working for the student radio station at Syracuse University. I've had a wide variety of experiences on and off the air. In previous episodes. I've shared the behind the scenes details of why there was once a character named Dan Horde on The Simpsons, and told the story of how my wife Peg helped Ken Griffey Junior have perhaps his best season in a Red uniform by buying him a Hope T shirt. Today on Storytime with Dan,

it's my makeup story. Here goes. My first job out of college was as a minor league baseball announcer for the Syracuse Chiefs, at that time the Triple A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. After doing that for a few years, I was approached out of the blue by an old college buddy to see if I might be interested in doing TV sportscasts on the six and eleven o'clock news. You've probably heard of him, some guy named

Mike Tarico when we were students at Syracuse. Mike was so absurdly talented that one of the local TV stations hired him to be their weekend sports anchor when he was still a sophomore in college. While the rest of us were doing what college kids do on Friday and Saturday nights, Mike was going to work. So when he graduated and no longer had to go to class. The TV station that he worked for immediately promoted Mike to the number one spot anchoring Monday through Friday, and they

demoted the Monday through Friday guy to weekends. Well, as you can probably imagine, he didn't take the demotion very well and soon bolted for another job. So that opened up the weekend slot and Mike called me to see if I would be interested. Now you have to understand I had never done a TV sportscast in my life, but Mike said he would convince his boss to give me a tryout. So I did the tryout and apparently

didn't embarrass myself because they offered me the job. Fast forward to my first night as a TV sports anchor. I've written my scripts, I put on my best suit and tie. At about fifteen minutes before I was about to go on, one of my co workers pointed down the hall and said, in case nobody told you, the makeup room is the second door on the right, makeup room. I didn't know there was a makeup room. That's awesome.

So I walked down the hall, fully expecting that when I entered the second door on the right that I would sit down in a high chair, and a friendly make up person would do whatever make up people do to make unattractive people like me look good or at least better. Well, not exactly. When I walked into the make up room, there was nobody in there. It was basically a bathroom with no toilets. There were mirrors and a sink and lots of bright lights, but no make

up person. I soon learned that unless you're working in a place like New York or LA or for a major network, there are no make up people. You do it yourself. Unfortunately, I'm a dude. I not only had no idea what to do about make up, I was too embarrassed to ask any of my co workers for help. So the next day I went to the local CVS to buy makeup. Not the cosmetics desk at a apartments store, where they would have happily assisted me, but a random drug store where I could pull something off of a

shelf and try to figure it out myself. So I'm looking at the wall of makeup and I decided I would get something in a medium. How hard could it be? You get one of those little sponges, spread some of that medium cream on your face and you're ready for TV, And so that's what I did before my second night on the job. Well, when I walked out onto the set and the male and female news anchors saw me, they both did a shocked double take. I suspect the reaction would have been exactly the same if I had

walked out there with no pants. I went ahead and did my sportscast, and when the news was finished, the female news anchor, Tracy said, Dan, you might want to consider a different shade of makeup. You look a little bit dark. So I went back to the makeup room and took a closer look at what I had wiped off all over my face before going on TV. It was a medium shade, all right, but it was for

quote beautiful women of color, that's right. I hadn't noticed that I had purchased makeup specifically intended for women with darker skin tones. Needless to say, I swallowed my pride and asked for help The next day and hopefully the tape of that sportscast no longer exists. And that concludes this episode of Storytime with Dan. It also concludes this episode of the Bengals Booth podcast 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. 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 more Bengals fans find us. I'm Dan Horde. Thanks for listening to The Bengals Booth podcast.