Bengals Booth Podcast: Let's Get It Started

against the Niners. I'll also sit down with a number one graded center in the NFL after the opening week of the season according to Pro Football Focus, Trey Hopkins will discuss his play who deserves the credit for dealing with the crowd noise in Seattle, and I'll offer him the opportunity to make a few extra bucks. And in this week's Know the Faux segment, we'll get the lowdown on the San Francisco forty nine ers from somebody who knew me when I had a full head of red hair.

It was glorious, but that will not come up in our conversation. All of that is straight ahead. But first, 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 on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or Podbean. It's the greatest invention since the Rewatchables podcast. I love movies and I love podcasts. As a result, I have sampled a bunch of movie podcasts, including some

that have been highly recommended. I have found them all disappointing until I tried the Rewatchables. It's a simple concept. The hosts go back and rewatch a movie that they all liked, then discuss it. That's pretty much it. The hosts are interesting, they have some great nuggets, and most importantly, they're really funny. So if you love movies, look up three Watchables podcast. Just pick out a movie that you like from the list of available episodes and give it

a try. You will not be disappointed. Now let's get to football. So how big is Sunday's home game against the San Francisco forty nine Ers. Well, let's put it this way. NFL teams that open the season oh and two only make the playoffs twelve point six percent of the time. That's it. Nearly nine out of ten teams that start the season oh and two don't make it. One and one teams, on the other hand, make it

forty one percent of the time. And even if you think it's way too early to even think about the playoffs, then consider this. All the enthusiasm and optimism generated by last week's showing at Seattle will be seriously dampened if the Bengals lose it home to a team that has finished with a winning record in the last five years. Time to discuss all things Bengals with my broadcast partner

Dave lappam Lap. Through one week, Andy Dalton leads the NFL in passing yards with four eighteen, but he's also tied for first in batted passes with four Is that a relative lack of height? Is that too much push allowed by the offensive line or is it just bad luck? I think it's a combination. You know, in certain cases, Andy isn't the tallest quarterback in the world, so the push becomes more of an issue. If you can, you know, see over guys and throw over guys with that height,

it's it's a little bit easier. Sometimes you have to change your arm angle as a quarterback too. You have to change your arm slot try to throw around guys, but like Jejevian Clowney, if he gets close to you, it's like trying to throw around an octopus. I mean, the guy's got such a huge wingspan, it's really hard to get the ball around him. And the one that Clowne he got early in the game was set up nicely for big, big play who knows, maybe even a

scoring play. So you know, those are ones that are that are tough to take because it's like, man, it was perfectly set up and a guy makes a makes a play like that, But a lot of times the defenders so close it's hard to change your arm angle and change the slot to get it around him, and you just have to You just have to hope. And then throwing in amongst these you know trees in the defensive line, when you're not throwing screen pass, it's just

throwing the football. He's had a couple of those, you know batted down with the line of scrimmage. That's um you know, timing by a defensive lineman just getting his hand up in a throwing lane. It's just the absolute right time. The quarterbacks already in a thrown most and you can't change it, you know, and he just happens to, you know, stick his big paw in the right spot at the right time. So I think it is a

combination of all things lap. The NFL's highest rated center according to Pro Football Focus after one week of the NFL season is Trey Hopkins. He gave up one pressure in forty nine pass blocking snaps, and he also had their highest run blocking grade. How about Trey, You know, I I don't know where to begin with Trey Hopkins. You got to tip your cap to this guy because think how he got into the league undrafted free agent

out of Texas m Paul Alexander gabim an opportunity. He showed well at training camp, had injuries, you know, he had broken ankle, had other things to deal with, and he just showed enough to we got to develop this guy. We put him on the practice squad, you know, and he's got long arms, he's got some some potential. And the thing that you can't measure. You can't measure brains, you can't measure intellect, and he's off the charts in

those categories, both in general and football wise. But you can't measure a guy's heart and in his desire and want to. And Trey Hopkins plays a very low key you know, he's very cerebral, and he's um. You know, he's not a raw, raw guy. He's but the dude wants to be the best. He competes and he does it very quietly within his own realm. You know, Trey Hopkins wants to be better than anybody at his craft, whatever it is, whether it's playing a musical instrument, what

you can do, he can play multiple musical instruments. Teaching kids, um, you know that that says something about him for his offseason job being a substitute teacher, you know. And he's he's just a very very special guy. When you're when you're two line coaches that you work with on a daily basis immediately are impressed with you to the point where they call you a football savant. That's that's high

high cotton right there. That's big time praise. So and I think the way that Trey Hopkins presents himself personality wise, his teammates love him, you know, they he just he's one of those guys that can can fit into any situation, can fit into any kind of environment because he's very uh, you know, adaptable, amenable in his personality, his approach. The guy has a lot going for him. And I couldn't be happier for any player on the Cincinnati Bengals for

Trey Hopkins. So that was the good news as far as the offensive line was concerned. In Week one, on the other hand, Pro Football Focus said Bobby Hart gave up six pressures in a sack, Andrey Smith five pressures and a sack. Michael Jordan and John Miller did not get great PFF grades. Now, just pointing out one thing in the system that does not take into account the quality of the opponent. And the Seattle Seahawks have an excellent defense, But what did you think overall of the

line play? Well, I think two things. Quality of the opponent is a factor, and the fact that they threw it over fifty times, I think it's a factor. You look at percentages, they were looking at just raw numbers, you know, I like sack ratio per pass attempt, And I'm not saying that they were great, but I'm saying that basically, Seattle lined up in a defense that said you're not going to run the football. So I said, you're gonna have to throw it to beat us, and

Zach said, okay, we'll throw it to beat you. And they almost did. But with that said, when they know they're throwing fifty over fifty times, pass rush becomes a big, big deal, a much bigger deal. Now, Zack tried to still on first and second down, incorporate you know, play action stuff screens which you know, take the pressure off and just sitting there and dropping back and pass protecting. But every time you face third and five or more, third and seven or more, you're in a bind. I mean,

they're coming after you. And they do have some talented pass rushers, But did they have you know, outstanding games. You're not going to say that, but were they pretty solid? The other thing the pro football doesn't focus doesn't take into account as the venue you're playing in. They're on the road in one of the loudest venues. That is another factor, and it's much much tougher to pass protect.

And the fact that they didn't have, you know, uh, the illegal procedure penalties, jumping penalties and before the snap and all those sort of things I think was a big plus. Now on the raw numbers, you know Football Focus is going to grade the way they grade, but

there are extraneous circumstances. I mean they're the environment, the conditions of the game, the opponents that you're playing against, the quality of the guy you're lined up against, you know, I mean, just raw numbers can tell one story, but there are subplots to the story in every game and in the National Football League. That's why some people have

major issues with Pro Football Focus. Right over the course of time, some of that stuff will equal out, but in a one week sample it doesn't take it into effect. And if you're in a division where you have butt kicking defensive lineman, you're going to play them twice a year, so I mean, you know, six of year games are against the best and other teams in the league won't.

It won't equal out, you know. Or if you're in a division where there's a bunch of terrible defense and you're germinate, yeah, exactly, you're going to dominate those Pro Football Focus grades or like. And I don't know how you try to make it an equalizer, you know, you just you just try to factor in whatever the best you can. But it's it is, I mean, it's just

strength of schedule. You know has talked about all the time, Why not strength of opponent that you're trying to you know, trying to work against as a factor in your performance in a football game. At any any point, I thought the Bengals had three clear cut stars in Week one. John Ross on offense, Sam Hubbard on defense, and lou and A Rumo. Let's go back to when he was hired.

People were killing the Bengals. They're on their eighty ninth candidate to be defensive coordinator, which obviously was not the case. But did Zach Taylor wind up hiring a creative, great teaching defensive coordinator. Well, Zach Taylor in the press conference after the game, when he was asked about lou Anna rum who said, I wasn't a bit surprised. You know when I coached with him. You know at Miami he

was the interim defensive coordinator. You know, he they played for him, They played hard, they were they knew what they were supposed to do, they knew how to do it. Lou Anna Rumo is an impressed of teacher and over the years, offense, defense, special teams, whatever you're talking about. I found that the best coaches the coaches with tremendous success make things that look extremely complicated very simple with their rules and what they ask you to do and

how they ask you to do it. And that's Loui an Rumo. There's defensive players, I mean, there's there's a lot, you know, on their plate in terms of you know, maybe different looks and formations and window dressings and things like that. When when all said and done, when the snap of the ball happens, they have rules that are very simple that they live by. And uh, you know, the the adjustment that Wilson and Lockett made on a

route was very you know, that's the NFL. Those guys, there wasn't any from my understanding, there wasn't any blown assignment as such. They just took advantage of the way they were playing a coverage and neither guy played it maybe the best that they could have in terms of allowing that that big play. But at some point in time,

you have to tip your cap to the opponent. They get paid two and you know, Wilson is a guy that is capable of making adjustments, probably as well as a lot of coaches in the NFL, and he unlock it made an adjustment that resulted in that forty four yard touchdown pass. So, um, you know that's that's the way, that's life in the NFL. But you know, these numbers are crazy, Dan, when you look at what Loui in Ruma,

what the defense did in the football game. Forty nine snaps number one, when's the last time the Bengals defense only had forty nine snaps? The last two years, they've been on the field more than any defense in the NFL, they led the league and snaps played two years in a row. Forty nine snaps. That's a vacation on Monday of those guys. They were they were done with the tape and no time. I didn't have everything to watch.

Six three and outs, yeah, sixtright and outs, forty nine STAPs, two hundred and thirty three yards of offense, four point eight yards per play. Now, they did give up three yards of three plays of twenty yards and war a forty eight yard pass at a forty four yard touchdown pass, and then and then that twenty one yard run that they had on third and one at the end of the football game that when Carson leaked out. You know

that can't happen. But you take those three plays away, which you can't because you know Seattle did it, But forty six of the forty nine snaps, they were pretty darn good on those forty six other snaps. One hundred and twenty six yards offense on forty six snaps two point seven yards per play. I'm not talking about that would be unbelievable per rush. But we're talking about Russell

Wilson at quarterback. Are you kidding me? Russell Wilson to me Dan in this game had had the most crazy quarterback rating of one thirty plus I've ever seen because they bottled his butt up. But he ended up with two big plays forty four forty eight yards, one of them a touchdown. And you know, Russell Wilson ends up with a quarterback rating of you know, one thirty six.

And like Russell Wilson won the game, and you look at on a snap by snap basis, the Bengals defense played him as well as any but he has That's the NFL, though it is one crazy world, it's it can be a heartbreaking business. And that was a heartbreaker that game. I never thought I would say this. I thought there were times in the second half where Russell Wilson looked like he was seeing ghosts. Yeah, they had

him confused. They had him. I'm not sure if he was confused maybe his too strong word, but definitely hesitant, Yes, hesitant for sure. I mean he was not the decisive Russell Wilson that you see. And and the thing that they did so well I thought was we always talked, we're talking all week about you have to defend the second part of the play when he's off schedule and he's you know, creating and extending and all that. They didn't even let him hardly get to that. They had him.

That the five men rushed when they when they utilize that, the three inside guys, in my mind, should get as much credit as the edge rushes who got the sacks. You know, Sam Harvard got a couple and Carlos Dunlop had one where lou Anna Rumo matched him up on a tight end butt kicker, you know, Dray Kirkpatrick free runner, unblocked sack so loose, schemed a couple. But then you

know you have Sam coming off. But the three interior guys stayed in their lanes and gotta push where Russell Wilson couldn't duck up underneath and you know, do the magic that he does. So they did a great job if everybody stayed in their rush lanes and had a team pass rush that ended up in multiple sacks. So I just thought that the scheme was unbelievably sound. I

thought the execution of the scheme was extremely sound. I mean, those three interior pass rushers, they're they're not going to get any plotits, but they did their job as well as Hubbard and Dunlap. Dude, that's that's the way it works. If he has nowhere to go up between the tackles,

the defensive ends are gonna eat and they ate. We've spent a lot of time talking about what Zach Taylor's offense might be able to do for Joe Mixon, and I think over the course of sixteen games and hopefully more this year, Joe Mixon will wind up having great numbers. Maybe we should have spent more time talking about what Zach Taylor's offense can do for John Ross. Yeah, very true.

And when you think about it, you know, John Ross did not have a whole lot of time to sync up with Andy Dalton, obviously because of the hamstring issue. Now they had they worked together in the off season with OTAs and mini camps and things that nature. But when John had that that hamstring issue in a walk through the very first day at training camp, he's thinking, oh my god. But you know the numbers he put up, he was he was targeted. I believe it was twelve times.

He had seven catches. He should have had two more, should had nine catches. Were probably close to two hundred yards or more he could have had if he if he caught all the balls that you know, a couple of drops to the other three really didn't have a chance for. But this guy, his speed is you know, almost incomparable. And the thing about him, he does have the quickness too. He can make guys mess. He does have short space quickness. A lot of guys have short

space quickness and then can't stride it out. Some guys the opposite, don't, you know, have short spake quickness, you know, the reverse. He has both. He has both. He can make a guy missing and run away from you. Some guys can't do both of those things. And he's you know, he's a capable route runner. So the thing that's interesting now, San Francisco we got we gotta do something with this guy, Tyler Boyd. Things tilted I thought to Tyler Boyd a

little bit in Seattle and Ross took advantage. Now you know what's going to happen. How are they going to tilt it? Are they going to tilt it equally? Some here to Boyd, some here to Ross? Wait till Aj Green comes back. When you think about all the all the things you do a laund your list to twelve things in that football game, if any wont to twelve things, maybe more had gone the other way. The Bengals win a one point game that they lost by a point, I should say they win that game that they lost

by a point. All they need is two more points. I mean, you know. And the number one on my list was if Aj Green got played. But you can say that every team can say every week, jeez, we're missing a great player, but they aren't missing their best offensive player in that football game. What would have happened if Aj Green, John Ross, Tyler Boyd were in that game together against Seattle the way they decided to line

up and stop the run. In my mind, the biggest reason that Pete Carroll did what he did is because aj Green wasn't in the game. You said, your best pass threat is on the sidelines. I'm gonna put the load the box up and say go ahead and beat us throwing the football with the guys remaining if you can almost pulled it off. But I think it's sound

thought processed by Pete Carroll. You know you're missing your best weapon, and man, when he comes back showing what the other two have shown Nay can do, we'll see. Let's talk about Sam Hubbard. He was in the game for forty three snaps, ten tackles, two sacks, two other quarterback hits. Is Sam Hubbard a budding start? I think he is because of I mean, he's talented physically, but it's tenfold because of the way he goes. I mean

he plays so hard. When you watch him every snap in practice, he's going like like his hair's on fire. And that's the way he played in the football game. I thought. One of the biggest tributes that I saw in training camp to Sam Hubbard, Nick Eason said to a rookie defensive lineman. He pulled the rookie defensive lineman over to him and he said, look, if you want to make it in the National Football League. Do what that guy's doing. He pointed to Sam Hubbard. He said,

emulate him. Do everything he does. What he does in the classroom, what he does in the locker room, what he does in the football field. Do what that guy does. That's that speaks volumes when you when you have your coach, you know, buying in like that. And I think I think it's teammates. His teammates respect it, and he's starting to bring other guys with him. Other guys are starting to move and hustle like Sam Hubbard is, And that's

that's a contagious thing. The Bengals host the San Francisco forty nine ers this week, lap led by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is nine and two in eleven NFL starts, including a win last week at Tampa Bay, but he looked a little bit shaky coming back from ACL surgery. The Bengals catching Jimmy Garoppolo at a good time, you know, when you look at it, dan eleven starts, I mean that's really virtually a first year quarterback. I mean he's, you know, seven, this is seventh year. I think there's

a sixty or something like that. Jimmy g has been around a while, but of course he was the backup to Don Brady forever, so you're not gonna get any snaps over there. He's just over eight hundred snaps in his career as a starting quarterback, so he's just scratching the service. He had that five and old run and got a ton of money, you know, because of that. But I think, you know, I know, they like him

in close games. They're four and three and old with him in games that they've won by four points or less, and they're one and nine without him in the same situation games four points or less. So they believe in him, you know, as a quarterback, and I think he is

a you know, an excellent quarter back. But I'll tell you what if lou Anna Rumu comes up with something similar to what he came up with to frustrate Russell Wilson, I think Jimmy Garoppolo can be had in terms of you know, now you see me, now you don't, that's not really what you're looking at. And I think it's gonna be interesting to see what lou does. What the next step. When you do something like you did in Seattle, you have to have the step two, step three, step

four because they have tape on it. Now, obviously you can't do the same thing. You don't have to tweak it and fine tune it. And that's what the forty nine is are trying to figure out now. For Jimmy g they use the fullback more than any other NFL team. That used to be the norm. Now most teams don't even carry one because it's unusual. How much of a problem does it present, Yeah, it's you do have to you do have to factor it in. It's it's the West Coast offense, you know, in the West Coast offense,

throw us to the fullback. You know, I remember the first time we faked the ball to the fullback then threw it to him. Defenses couldn't believe it. You know. It's like, okay, well it's a fake to him, so you know we're gonna we don't have to worry about him. Well, shoot, he's a receiver. And uh the fullback plays a big role in the West Coast style of things. And Shanahan, I think is a big believer, you know, in the

West Coast offense, and uh, yeah, it does. It changes it changes your approach how you handle how you handle, you know, the running game. Let's see what kind of adjustments lu and A Rumu makes in terms of personnel configurations, formations, all those all those sorts of things. And the other thing that Luke Ruma has to concern himself with is Kyle Shanahan is regarded and rightfully so, is one of the best in the league at getting separation for players

because of scheme, not because of physical ability. He schemes up guys that are just wide open and he finds he finds weaknesses and defensive coverages that he utilizes. And it's not like guys are blowing assignments. He just finds, uh, you know, zones areas to take advantage of by film study and run a round combination. Accordingly, he's very very clever with that. A year ago, at this time, we would have had a hard time identifying who George Kittle was.

He set the NFL record for yards receiving yards by a tight end last year one three hundred and seventy seven. He had two ten and a half against the Denver Broncos last year. What stands out when you watched George Kittle? I like his chips, Oh no, that's Kettle. But Kitt Kittle, Kittle is I mean, the guy. Here's a fifth round pick out of Iowa that has just I mean and the thing that impressed me the most, he had more

receiving yards than any tight end in NFL history. Like you said, three different quarterbacks, three different quarterbacks thrown in the football. That's not that's not you know, the easiest thing to do. But the one thing that you realize is every single one of them said, I gotta find that guy. George Kittle became the primary no matter who the quarterback was in the progression. Kittle was like and Kyle Shanahan realized what he had with Kittle and he

became a focal point in the progres of the routes. So, um, yeah, he's he's somebody you know that in the tight ends that are in the league now, they're they're too big for defensive backs. You know, they have too big a catching radius, too big a body, they can win the

contested catches, and they're too fast for linebackers. So Kittle, Kittle falls into that department, and uh, you know you're gonna have to a lot of a lot of teams bracket him they'll bracket him with a with a linebacker and a safety, you know, a corner and a linebacker. If it's if it's nickel package, even they'll detach him and they'll they'll you know, have two defensive backs on him. You know, from time to time, Kittle's the guy that you have to look where he is in the formation

and account for him. There's no question about it. Lap The San Francisco forty nine Ers defense forced four turnovers last week and a win at Tampa Bay after coming away with seven takeaways all of last year as a team, they had two interceptions all year. Last year, they had

two pick sixes off Jamis Winston last week. How good is this forty nine ers d It's a heck of a lot better, I think last year Dan as you as you mentioned they had two interceptions, dead last in league, fifty five return yards, tied for worse than the league. In Week one, they had three interceptions, two of them would pick sixes for fifty seven yards. They've already returned interceptions for more yards than they did, you know, all

of last season. Richard Sherman had one. That's you know, that's not a surprise, but I think it starts up front. You know, they traded, they traded for d Ford. They've got Armstead partner had twelve sacks last year. They draft Nick Boza, so they've got guys that can pressure the quarterback. And that's where it starts. Witherspoon, each cornerback had to pick six. Sherman had one, Witherspoon had one. So I think it starts with good pressure. And Jamis Winston has

a p pensili to throw him. Let's face it, I mean he is He's to pick six king. I think Andy Dalton will take better care of the football, particularly you know, at home, although Winston was at home and everybody's tearing their hair out. I'm sher in Tampa Bay. But this defense is something to you know, concern yourself with. You have to, uh, you know, be very careful with the football, but you don't want to um get to the point where you're afraid to take a chance on

a big play. But you want to try to make the big play and avoid the big mistake, that's for sure. Let's wrap up with your keys to the game. Keys to the game. Well, the first first key is the number fifteen, and that's because the Bengals left fifteen points on the on the on the field. In the red zone. They're o for three in the red zone. They're o for one in goal to go situations. Um, they had two field goals in Andy Dalton's fumble, So that's twenty

one potential points and they get six of them. The other side of it, you know, Seattle is two for two. They had fourteen points possible and they got them all and they were one for one for one in the in the first and goal situation. So in the compressed, condensed field there they made more plays, they were more physical, they got it done. The Bengals have to do a better job in the red zone. And h minus two

is another key. And that's what the Bengals were in the turnover of French Although the last turnover wasn't they called a fumble on Andy Dalton. That was bogus, that was an incomplete pass. But they were still minus in the turnover department. And you know, they only had one takeaway San Francisco, four takes, two gives. Two of their takes were pick sixes. Three of the four takes were interceptions two or pick sixes. Last year they had two interceptions on the season they had. They got three in

the first game. They got more than they had all year last year. So they only had seven takeaways and they got four in this football game. So the Bengals are gonna have to have to mind their p's and ques. In terms of taking care of the football. Forty nine is a staggering minus twenty five. The turnover department Seattle was plus fifteen. They led the league the last week's upon it. This week's upon it was minus twenty five,

worse than the league. And then defense, like we talked about Dan, you know, forty six or the forty nine plays the defense handled brilliantly. They got one hundred and twenty six yards on forty six of the plays, two point seven yards of play. Loui ana Una did a great job of mixing five defensive lineman sixty b s three of them sometimes with safeties. You know, they had a forty eight yard and forty four yard pass plays to forty fourty yard for a touchdown, third and one

Carson squeaked out for twenty one yards. But you can't take those three plays a way. But forty six plays to hold an NFL offense run by Russell Wilson to two point seven yards of play. That dog will hunt Man. They're gonna win football games. They keep doing that. The website Pro Football Focus, which is based in downtown Cincinnati, grades every NFL player on every play in every game, and each week they come out with a Team of the Week made up of the highest graded players at

every position. Four Bengals made it in Week one. Let's start with Sam Hubbard, who had two sacks, two additional quarterback hits, and finished with ten tackles. He was the only defensive lineman in the NFL with double digit tackles in Week one. Geno Atkins also made it as one of two interior defensive linemen along with Grady Jared of the Falcons. Although it's interesting to note that Andrew Billings of the Bengals got an even higher grade than Atkins.

The fact that Gino is in for twice as many snaps as Billings probably explains why Atkins made the Team of the Week instead of his Bengals teammate. Punter Kevin Huber also made it. The hang time on Kevin's four punds averaged four point five one seconds. The final Bengals player on the Team of the Week was a surprise center Trey Hopkins. According to Pro Football Focus, he only allowed one hurry in fifty nine pass blocking snaps and also had the highest grade of any center on run

blocking plays. I talked to Trey about that and much more. We're in the locker room with Bengals center Trey Hopkins, the number one ranked center in the NFL after one week according to Pro Football Focus. I assume you saw that. What was your reaction. Yeah, I got a couple of songs calls from people. Um, it was shocking. I mean, I felt like I played a pretty good game. Um,

let other people notice what you know. It's one of the things where to be to be said, as you did so great and know exactly what you have to fix. It's like it's like there's still so much room for improvement. So that's kind of what you have to look forward. So you can't can't take the cheese. Say, you know, are you your own harshest critic? One one hundred percent? I think I think that's most guys in this locker

room got. I think that's what gets you to this level as being your harshest critic because people don't pat you on the back all the time, but you have to realize that it's it's a lot of football. When you play you fifteen more regular season games, and I mean you have to be you have to be improving it each and every week. You can't. You can't fall back and say, Okay, I had a pretty good game, so let so I must have reached it. No, it's been one week and there was so much more to

fix in that game. You know, we're talking to Trey Hopkins. Let's talk about how you guys handle the noise in Seattle because there were no false starts and I think someday my hearing loss will be traced to that game. It was so loud. Who deserves the credit? I think everybody, I really do. I think starting with coach which Coach

Taylor and Coach Turners. I mean, since since we showed up in OCAs, we've been working at snap count, even not even having to use it, but each and every day walking to that Olan ring, Coach Turners just going through the snapgounts, hammering the snap count stuff, you know, each and every meeting. So it's it's really everybody on the offense. It's put in a lot of time on just nailing down the snapgount. That's that's one big advantage we have and we have to take full advantage of it.

And you didn't do the same thing every time, which I found interesting. Yeah, Yeah, that's that's another part of it. We have to we have to be able to use multiple things, because again, you can't let a defense tee off on you and get into the same rhythm as you. You have to use it as an advantage. Talking to Trey Hopkins, over the last few years, you've started left guard, right guard, and center. What's the hardest thing about moving from spot to spot to spot. I don't I don't

think there's there's one hard this thing. It's it's kind of just a mindset you have to have of Okay, I have to be I guess you could say this hard. Then you just have to be ready to play all the slots, I guess is the thing. You can't ever just focus in and being like okay when coaches giving out notes in the meeting, I can't just only right down left guard notes or only right down right garden.

You have to know each and every person's responsibility and the corrections that they might get and you're not even playing that position just because you never know when you'll get thrown into a different in a different spot and you're expected to perform well. When you showed up for the off season program with a new coaching staff, did you go into it with a mindset that the slate

ist clean, the best man will win the job. Um. I mean, I think you always hear that another year, that each and every year, but I mean this is the first year. I guess we actually kind of saw it and and my mindset coming into the off season, coming from all season was just the same one I have every year. Is I mean, I put in the work during the off season, during the months that we were off, and now it's just it's just up to me to just put it all out there and let

the chips fall where they may. And this year they feel in my favor and it's gotta take advantage of it. Let's talk a little bit about the forty nine ers. They traded Ford Ford, they drafted Nick Posa's second overall. They've got DeForrest Buckner in the middle of had twelve sacks last year. When I watched a little of their game against Tampa Bay last week. Those guys were all over Jameis Winston. What stood out to you? They definitely invested in the past rush and they definitely have it.

Those guys are quick up the field. Everybody is up the field, fast, quick twitch, explosive guys, and it's gonna be a it's gonna be another rough game for us up front. I mean, we've gotta we've gotta be stout, We've got to be quick with our feet and get in front of those guys and really hunker those guys down because they definitely have talent the front. I got the sense before the Seattle game that you guys were

really confident. Now, I wonder, based on how you dominated statistically, if that confidence becomes belief that this team is as good as you were hoping it might be. I definitely think so, and that that's just a reflection of coach Taylor, just the confidence he has and and everybody I think over OTAs and through the prison Campbell's really bought in. We we believe in what we're doing. We've seen the

success of it, and we and we expect success. And we're also willing and able and eager to put in the work to ensure the success. I think it's the biggest thing and and so you know, I'm excited to see what this year brings for us. I think it'll be some great things. Last thing, were you really a substitute teacher in the off season? Yeah? Yeah, I was in um Ohio Preparatory School off of Cole rang Sti of Ohio prep Um taught math and science for the

moth of January. So that was that was a cool experience, just being with some some middle schoolers there. Did you tell the guys or kids that you're an NFL player? Did you let them figure it out? Yeah? They knew it, and I just I just don't think some of them, I'm pretty sure just didn't believe me at first until some of the basketball kids came in and and we're like, yeah, we went and look you up, and then everybody started to believe me, and it became a little bit more

of a thing. But yeah, I let him no day one. But it's one of those things, and you don't listen to the subsuit teacher when they're introducing the stuff one day one. I don't expect to be any different now. But but I had a great time. I had a great time. I love the school, i love the faculty and the experience, and I'm just really grateful for the principal, their principal best for giving me the opportunity. I've got an eighth grader at Walnut Hills. Are you available as

a math tutor? If I need you, I can I pay you a few extra bucks, sir. Bring it on. I think I think I remember right, very man. Best of luck this week. Thank you. That's Trey Hopkins. Despite my generous offer of a paid tutoring gig, Trey is doing just fine financially. The Bengals used the second round tender to hold on to him as a restricted free agent this offseason, meaning the fourth year pro who was undrafted coming out of the University of Texas will make

more than three million dollars this season. Now time for this week's Know the Faux segment, as we'd do a deep dive into the Bengals upcoming opponent with somebody that knows the team. This week, it's the forty nine Ers radio play by play man Greg Poppa, who was one year ahead of me at Syracuse University and was one of my biggest mentors as a sophomore at Syracuse. Greg didn't sound like a college dude, and he sounded like

a pro. And over the years he has become a legend in the Bay Area, where at various times he has been the voice of the Oakland Raiders, the Oakland Days, the Golden State Warriors, the San Francisco Giants, and now the forty nine Ers. Greg joined Dave Lapham and me on the Bengals Game Plan Show, and we started our conversation by discussing that impressive resume. I've lost all those jobs staying over the years. I think I worked for

everybody in child. Oh wait a minute, you're making this sound like you're a freshman and I was a senior. I think. I think technically you're older than me, so ill you're my mentor. I don't know what talking about. Well, I may look at you're only one year older than me, so I guess I shouldn't clarify. But your first job out of college was voice of the Indiana Pacers. Wow, So that indicates how advanced you were as a college student. That certainly helped my father on the team. That was good.

But how are you David good account? He's like an all Orange Reunion to day. I'm looking forward. How about that great? Yeah? How school of communication we've all done? All right, let's talk about the matchup this Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. I was watching the forty nine ers game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. Your pass rush is legit. They had a DFOD, they drafted Nick Bosa, and they were all over Jameis Winston in that game.

Is that the strength of the team, without question, That is the identity of the twenty nineteen San Francisco forty nine erstand I saw d Ford obviously all my years with the Raiders in the AFC West, and it's even more you know David, you see him get down to that four point stand and not do it standing up like he did in Kansas City. And I was when I saw him do it, because he didn't he didn't

do anything in the preseason. He had a PRP injection, he little leetzendonitis, and then right before the start of the first game they activated and I saw him in that four point stands and I said, man, you were fast and chard the city. Now you're just looking at track Star and he said he actually was at the four point stands in high school, in college, and he got to Kansas City and Coach Sutton set him up,

so he is just so fast. I von Miller's got an incredibly fast first step, but I think a lot of it is drawn anticipates the stamp count DEALI lineup off sides a little bit too much like he did in the AFC title game last year. Again the basic it. But when he gets to get off, he's a track star. And then Nick on the other side, he reminds me so much of his brother, and I think he may even be better. And then he got to Forest Buckner inside Dan twelve Sacks and Eric arms and they're deep.

They got five former number one drafts to their D line when you include Solomon Thomas, and when they they got you know, Sheldon Day is a good player in DJ Jones and Ronald Blair. But when they when they have D four to one end and Nick bo sat the other and the two I call him the tall trees from Oregon DeForrest Buckner and Eric Armstead inside those guys are like six seven sixty eight. It is really impressive. So your offensive line is gonna have to be ready

on Sunday. Yeah, and I also saw we were doing some tape for our website showing some plays of the forty nine ers. They had Buckner out at defensive end and they kicked both inside at defensive tackle, and you know, he was basically an offset Knows on the other side of the formation away from Buckner. They ran a little twist. It was on the interception one of the pick sixes

that Winston had. Yeah, they'll they'll transpose, they'll they'll interchange these great pass rushers and see who's who's the best matchup for him, right, I mean I can beat this guy easier, I could beat that guy kind of thing. Yeah, the one you're talking about was the screen at the end of the game. Was that screen and they Yeah, they lined up Nick inside. Nick is a powerful guy, like his brother Joey Dan. He could easily line up

inside and they could put Armstead outside. And if you notice on one snap they had d Ford up at a two point and he lined up over a guard. I mean you could move them all around. So I mean, in theory, forward and Boss are your edge guys, and Buckner and Armstead are inside. But they both got skills to move all over the front. So uh. And then if you also notice on Richard Sherman's pick six that

was his own blitz. They dropped Solomon Thomas back, so they'll you know, they'll play with a little bit and they're their dreads. They're not playing as much covered three, a little more covered two on Sunday. So this defense, which was not very good last year, and I'm being kind and Jamis is he's not a great player right now. We'll see what he can do the rest of the year and Andy will be more you know, clued in. But this defense looks pretty good one game out, there's

no question. So last year only two interceptions, seven total takeaways that had to be crazy, no interception by cornerbacks, and this opener you get three interceptions, two pick six is by cornerbacks, So I mean I was destroyed that already. Um. And then Ford, like you mentioned Ford, this guy nine forced fumbles since two thy seventeen. The only guy that's got more as Aaron Donald, and he's forced in twenty and eighteen. He forced seven turnovers from pressure, seven turnovers himself.

The forty nine Ers had seven turnovers as a team. So I mean getting a guy like that. I mean, it's like, that's that's incredible. I mean, one by trade, one by drafty they've done a good job of loading it up front and they spend it a lot, you know, to Nick to use the second pick overall the draft, and then you get d They traded their second round pick next year, right and Justin Houston was sitting out there. They couldn't have bought him, but they wanted d Ford.

And as far as what you going to get the ball, you know, in the AFC West, I saw Kalil Mack's Defensive Player of the year's season in twenty sixteen, and when Vaughn Miller, you know what these guys are doing, Dave. They're not trying to sack the quarterback. They're trying to sack the football. They're going specifically for the ball. And I've talked to d about it. Look at the ball. Look at the sack he got on Jamis. He was

just going for the ball. He was reaching. So if you don't put two hands on the ball, you know they're gonna go get the ball. Because when they know you want the sack, that the ultimate thing is the hat trick, the strip sack. And if you force the fumble right out of the quarterback, sayings you got two there, and then you want to go over cover the fumble to get the hat trick. Yep. Great radio voice of the forty nine is Greg Poppa is our guest. Let's

talk about Jimmy Garoppolo. All he does is win nine and two and eleven NFL starts. But he didn't look great last week. One hundred and sixty six passing yards in the game. Is it just rust and dust as he comes back from the torn acl Yes, I think his rhythm is totally off and he's just not played a lot of football. Then he only had ten starts coming into the year. He had those two and New England. It really was one and a half. He played so well. He was supposed to play four when Brady got top

for the Bogus to play game. But he had a great first game, came back and beat Arizona on the road and at Sunday night, and then he had an amazing game against Miami, but he held the ball too long one play, Kolonzo lit him up and he heard his shoulder and he lost that job. The set took over and then he had the five stats tier at the end of seventeen where they traded for him. But that year they kind of just simplified the offense and kind of let him run what he could run. It

wasn't a full game plan. And then last year he got hurt you Week three in Kansas City at the end. So he's just not played enough during the off season because he had the surgery on the knee in early October, they didn't clear him. He was just doing seven on seven. He didn't really get you know, eleven on eleven until training camp and he had the one bad preseason game in Denver. He bounced back and played a good half in Kansas City. But there's going to be a point

where he's going to get his rhythm. It's just not there yet. So but their defense is strong and they were able to win on Sunday. To spot, he made a couple of big rows. The one to Richie James Junor the out of the spot for the touchdown right after the half was a great throw. I think he missed like five or six pros. And when I'm seeing Jimmy when he's right is highly accurate, I mean ten point accurate. And I think he's been a little bit off.

Some of it's on him and some of it is just the synchronicity with the wide receivers since he since he has missed so much time and they got young receivers. They got Marque's good when dealing Vet on this scene. The other guys are really young, Like you guys said, one hundred and sixty six yards passing the fewest passing yards in any game. That he was a starter and he had to pick six, you know, Winston had, but Jimmy Garoppolo had one as well. Tell us about that play?

Was that just a misread? What happened there? That was really a bad play all the way around, And mean just inexcusable for the veteran quarterback. And I know he's young, but you know he was there with Brady and he's watched enough football, you know, being a backup. But they did motioned Kevin Coleman out and they got a matchup and Coleman, I think as an okay route runner as a back jerk. Mckinnedy's out the year is much better.

But they had Colemban motioned out and Tampa played his own and they had Vernon Hargraves the corner out there, and I think Jimmy Dave read it like it was covered three. I thought he would stay on top. He had a better matchup in the slot. He had Marquis

Goodwin against the linebacker. But for whatever reason, to the long side of the field, the ball was on the right Hash mark and he threw back across the entire width of the field from hash to sideline at loose and Hargraves just drove on the ball and it was in the air too wrong. And Kevin Coleman actually hurt

his ankle on the first play of the game. When you watch it, I think, you know, a more experienced wide receiver or even Kevin if he's fully healthy, would have gotten back and broken that ball up, and he was late to transition and Hargraves just picked It was a bad play. I mean, it was a really bad play. But Jimmy was able to bounce back after that, making

up throws to win the game. Yeah. A couple more questions for the voice of the forty nine is Greg Pop Greg, We're at a sports bar here in Cincinnati. Game on sports bar. We got a couple hundred people whether us probably a year ago at this time, there's not a person in this room that had ever heard of George Kittle, and now he might be the best tight end in the NFL. How did that happen? Well, his rookie year, he had a lot of injuries and he just played true I mean compad to, so he

had everything and his numbers were modest. And then at the end of the year, Dan John Lynch the GM and Kyle Shannon had the head coach challenged him and he responded, I mean the guy ran a four to five two forty out of Iowa. The only time. I didn't know who he was at all, Like you, I was watching CJ. Betack the forty nine is rapped Bentham the third round that year, and I knew they grapped Kintle.

So I mean, I'm watching the quarterback, I'll take a look at the tight end, and he was just mauling people as an inline why blocker, I mean, he's just trumping people bolt And then you know, I didn't know he ran. He ran a four or five two and he blocks like that Jesus, And he's just I don't know how if you heard interviews with him, but he is a trip. He's a little bit like grump of

Youngbery's a lot of fun. He loves the game, and I think now, I mean, going into this game, Deebo, Samuel'll have a lot on his plate certainly in your game. But I'm sure you guys got to think about doubling him. I mean you gotta, really, He's the guy that Jimmy looks to, you know, like Rivers for years looks to Gates and the Homes and Alex before when things got tight, they looked at Kelsey. There's certain guys you got to look to, especially on third down. Kittle's going to be

the guy. And I think, you know, with a lot of injuries in the wide receiver room, Trent Taylor's sounds the herds down, they're not going to play on Sunday. You're almost looking at George Kittle as a detatch tight end and more of a wide receiver than he is a tight end. Zach Ertz, I know, well, I actually saw him in high school play a lot of amount of mister near my home and watched him at Stanford. UH And Travis Kelson is just a great, great player,

but they don't block like this guy. I think when you look at all components of tight end play. You can make the point that George is the best tight end and put football right now. Yeah, fifth round pick out of Iowa. Because you're at tight end in Iowa. You better block or you don't play. And so bobot Hopkinson, right, and that guy, I mean, it's like, Okay, well, who who's the tight end and has more receiving yards in a single season than anybody in the history of football.

Oh no, not Bob Grontowski, not Gonzalez, not it's Kittle. It's not in Kittle that eight hundred and seventy yards after catch, which led the NFL any positions. So, I mean, we're watching tape and he looks faster than me than four or five too. He looks up four or five, he's pulling away five. I mean, and it's like and then and then you have a coach that can scheme guys open, so well, he's he's wide open and he flies. I mean, the guy's unbelievable. Well he's dead at Shane

and Sharpe in Denver. I mean, they know what it's. You know how this thing works. It's an outside zone and all the complimentary movement off of it and they're constantly dragon tight end. But but George, she doesn't necessarily be the first reading. You know, it's a it's a layered level passing attack. He could be the second read deeper downfield. He's just a tremendous player and he's a hoot.

The guy's got a great personality. I mean Jimmy because he's a star on offense, and Joe Staley and then Richard Sherman on defense. But I think it's time here. If he continues to play and he stays healthy, you know, George Kittle could be the face of this franchise. And just for the record, Greg's father did not own the Indiana Pacers. He got that job right out of college by being that good. That's going to do it for

this episode of a podcast. If you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or pod Bean, and if you have a minute, please give it a rating or share a comment. Five star ratings help more Bengals fans find this p podcast. I'm Dan Horde and thank you for listening to the Bengals Booth podcast. M