Bengals Booth Podcast: Nobody Knows

information about each player. Before we get to that, I'll spend five minutes with Bengals head coach Zach Taylor. Unfortunately, he is still not permitted to discuss the Bengals editions in free agency. Teams can't comment until the players have passed physicals and signed on the dotted line. But I'll talk to Zach about Andy Dalton, age a Green, and much more. The Bengals Boot Podcast is presented by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.

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. It's the greatest thing since everyday heroes during the COVID nineteen pandemic. I've tried to keep two words in mind, careful and hopeful. But each day I feel more and more grateful to the everyday heroes

who can't stay home. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, police, firefighters and other first responders, grocery store employees, delivery people, news broadcasters. The list goes on and on. Thank you for all you're doing to help us cope with this crisis. Now, let's get to football, all beginning with my conversation with head coach Zach Taylor. As I mentioned, the league is not permitting teams to discuss specific free agent acquisitions until

they have completed physicals. But I did start my conversation with Zach by asking him about the team's aggressive approach this year. Did you feel like it was important to change the perception around the league and also within your own locker room, perhaps that the Bengals weren't willing to sign some of the most prominent free agents. It was just about improving our team. That's the whole focused on. We don't again. Our motto has been it's about us.

You know, we're not worried about what the outside perception is. We just want to improve our team to get the most out of our players, and so that's that's been what we've set out to do here in free agency, and we feel like we've we've made those improvements that really give ourselves a good chance on both sides of the ball. And it's things that we're all on the same page with. We're all excited that we got them done.

You know, it's free agency not over yet. We're still looking at every single way we can prove our team and we're willing to do so if the opportunities present itself. You officially tagged DJ Green, which I think all of us anticipated happening. You hap until July fifteenth to try to sign him to an extension. Is it just a matter of dollars and cents at this point or does the team needs some sort of proof that he's healthy. Well,

it doesn't hurt. We'd obviously like to see Aj in the offseason program that there's a lot of things that are up in the year obviously with that just in terms of what's going on in the world right now, So we'll just take it one day at a time. But we've maybe known that we want Aja here. We can very highly of him. You know, this is not somebody that we want out of the building. So we'll just continue working through it and take it one day at a time. You met with Joe Burrow at the combine.

One person in the room who's been involved with these things for many years says it was the best player interview that he's ever been a part of. What were your takeaways. We'll keep us somewhere private, but I think it was not unexpected. You know, he's impressive, impressive person. It was the first time we had a chance to talk to him one on one, you know, so again get very impressive. All the things that we expected to see and hear from him, and we'll continue to get

to know him, you know, in different ways. Now it's a little bit unique, this process. It's different than it was in the past. Now, you know, now we're going to rely on FaceTime and just conversations over the phone. You're not gonna get a chance to see the gas from person to get until the draft. So it was just a starting point for us. We're excited to continue to get a note to know more about him and and you know, we're just getting the process started right now.

When you coached the Senior Bowl, we all talked about it as the time as as an advantage to have that much contact with those guys in light of what's happened where teams had the opportunity to interview forty five players at the Combine. But now you have been forced to do phone calls and FaceTime and skype and things like that. Is it even more of an advantage then you thought it would be at the time, I think you'd have to say it is. You know, we got

that face to face interaction. You're planning on being able to bring a lot of players into your building, you know that got thrown out the window. You were going to get to go to more pro days and meet these guys face to face. That got thrown out the window. So I think any any face to face time that we got, which with US Lions really the two teams

that got that opportunity, it's beneficial. And so I'm glad of all the years that we got to do it, it it was this year because that that does check a couple of boxes on some guys that otherwise we'd be curious about. But again, now you just got to be creative at this point and find ways to make sure you tame the same information about the players that that you would have otherwise had to do through traveling to

the pro days and bringing guys into your buildings. You got to be creative and how you do it, you know, just just virtually at this point, where do things stand with Andy Dalton and trying to trade him? At this point, all options are on the table. You know, he's still a bangle and um, we still work through that, but right now, all options are on the table, you know, and he's obviously a quality player that we think very highly of and he's under contract and so you know,

we'll just keep walking through that process. What are you advising your players to do right now in terms of staying fit in light of a lot of home quarantining, right so take a week to week right now, because we really just we sent on some information that no players can be in the buildings for the next for

this week and next week. So you know, not that we have many guys that are around this time of year anyway, but guys are gonna have to be creative with the workouts because as you've seen, gyms are closing. You know, a lot of work epasolities around the country are closing for the time being. So we got to

be creative and what what our guys can do. And obviously right now is a time where they couldn't be They couldn't be training with us anyway, but they could come in and just be monitored in the weight room. But you can't tell them what to do. So those guys are just gonna have to take it upon themselves creative and what their approach isn't be ready that whatever this Offseas program does start, they're in Shaffer and right rule. Now the most important question, how is Sarah coping with

four young kids and no school? Just like any any any mom is around the world. You know, it's no different. She's been great. You know, I think she's got some she's becoming a teacher in some senses now. She's got the kids around the table and making sure they stay up on their studies, trying to make it creative and enjoyable. But she does a great job with all that. So um, you know, it's just she's gone through just like any other mom. The Taylor family has found ways to have

some fun during this social distancing period. Go online and search for Zach Taylor Old Town Road and you'll see what I mean. Now let's turn to the draft. Let's face it, we all expect the Bengals to select Joe Burrow with the number one overall pick, no matter what rumors pop up about the Dolphins trying to swing a trade for the top spot. I would be flabbergasted if Joe Burrow is not wearing a number nine Bengals jersey

to begin his NFL career. So the real drama for the Bengals begins with the first pick in the second round. I've predicted on this podcast that they'll trade down at the top of round two in order to get more picks, but for the sake of argument, let's say they don't. If the Bengals go ahead and use the thirty third overall pick, who are some of the players they are most likely to choose. I come through a bunch of mock drafts this week and came up with ten names.

Then I reached out to the play by play broadcaster at that player's school or in one case, the head coach, to get an in depth scouting report. I will share the results in alphabetical order, beginning with the player who appears on more mock drafts in that spot than any other Wisconsin outside linebacker, Zach baugh He was one of the most disruptive players in college football last year with nineteen and a half tackles for loss in twelve and a half sacks, and I discussed him with Badger's play

by play man Matt Lapey Adan. The strength of Zach Baughan is a fast switch hoss rusher. I think he probably heard this a lot, and it's true. I think the thing that became very noticeable about him is he has had a very quick give offf time. You know, his forty time of the combine is probably the middle of the pack at his position. But his quick bursts enabled him to get to the quarterback at a pretty

high rate. And on the defense that was not star studded, there was only one other player who was as much as second team All Big Ten. They were a good defense that they did it collectively, but Zach Joan was one of those guys. I think composing offenses had to account for him. You had to find him and where

he's lined up on every snap. He truly was a difference maker, quick, a lot of speed, high football IQ, and someone who had battled injuries earlier in his career but really blossomed to an extent in twenty eighteen, but really came into his own in twenty nineteen. A lot of the draft gurus list him as an edge player. Is he strictly a pass rusher or will he be

able to be a three down linebacker? Well, the other thing that they did like about him is that he's shows a fair amount of versatility and I think he's still growing. I think he's someone here to term upside of lots and I would like to think he fits that description, has a lot of it, but I think he can drop back into coverage. He can do a lot of different things. He needs to get bigger, I think, to be a more more of a run stuffing type of player. But I do think, especially in today's NFL,

his versatility lends itself. He can rush the passer, but he can also can drop back in coverage. And that's something that he'll continue to get better at. But a very popular word to describe Zach Ball and still at this stage of his football life, is that his first of all, I'm intrigued by his background. High school quarterback, offensive player of the Year in the state of Wisconsin, high school track star, and one hundred meters and two hundred meters. That's unusual for a guy that's six two,

two hundred and forty pounds. Now, yeah, they've had this interesting stretcher at Wisconsin for the last few years where a lot of their linebackers were high school quarterbacks. And it's that old line that you're the best player on your team at the high school level is likely a quarterback, or at least your top three players, one of them is going to be a quarterback. And Zach, it's fun of himself a little bit. He said, he really quarterback in name only. He ran the ball a lot, but

he threw it. He threw the ball around a little bit. I guess he would be the high school a little bit more of a dual threat quarterback, you would say. But there was no secret that his future as a college player would be that of an outside linebacker. And he you know, he missed twenty seventeen. He had a

foot injury and that that wiped out his season. As I said in eighteen, certainly showed flashes, but I think going into last year they thought he could be a real important clog to this defense, and he was all of that and then some. But he is, no question, very athletically gifted. What's he like as a kid? Great guy, really really good kids. You mentioned a Wisconsin guy. He likes to keep things simple. There's a real popular tourist area in the northern part of the state and call

it the north Woods. And for him, that's that's the slice of heaven. To go up into the north Woods and just to have a quiet, long weekend or stress of days, whatever the calendar allows him to have. It's always funny. And you know this from covering. You see that one of the great joys that we have are watching guys as freshman and then see what they become as juniors and seniors. And they grow as players, but they grow as people. To his very poison an interview setting,

he makes you feel relaxed. He is that fit. He's just a really he's a really good young man and I think would be a really good gift for the team that takes it. I saw comparison to Joe Schobert. What do you think of that? Yeah, it's interesting because Joe too was he was something. He was a really good high school running back, put up some ridiculous numbers at the prep level here in Wisconsin. The difference was Joe was a walk on here and then became what

he has become now in the NFL. I think there are some similarities born. You know, maybe on the surface is a little I was gonna say a little more athletic, but I'm not even sure. Joe Schobert's a really athletic guy, So I think it's fair. I think both of those guys. We've put out some pretty good linebackers who in Wisconsin,

especially outside linebackers here in recent years. Joe is one of them, and I think zag Mart is on that same line up next alphabetically as USC offensive lineman Austin Jackson, projected this week by ESPN's Todd McShay as Cincinnati's first pick in the second round. USC has another player who has popped up on some mock drafts in that spot, wide receiver Michael Pittman. So I discussed both of those

players with USC head coach Clay Hilton. Yeah, you know, Austin has been a three year starter force at USC. Tremendous athlete, has played left tackle the whole time. I think has a really really bright upside. You know, you're talking about a kid that was only with us for five semesters, if you can believe that, and so a young kid that is really coming into his zone. And I think he's going to be one of the guys that play in the league for a long long time.

Extremely football instinctive, smart athletic. I've I've had the luxury of of and having the opportunity to be around a Tyrant Smith and Matt Khalil when I first got to USC ten years ago, and he fits that mold. He fits the mold of a first round draft pick offensive tackle that's going to have a tremendous quarter at this young point in his development. Is he better as a pass blocker or as a run blocker? I think he

is exceptionally well. We were a passing team, and when you're talking about his ability to pass blocking, you know, in Graham Harrow's offense, that's that's a must. And to watch what he did, I think he has both attributes to be successful. But we know what the NFL is as well as you know what college football has become. You have to have guys that protect that trigger man and protect that quarterback. And that's what Austin did. A

tremendous job for us. On the Bengal selected Jonah Williams out of Alabama last year, the first offensive lineman taken in the draft, so he has projected to be their left tackle. Can Austin move over easily and play the right side in your opinion? Yeah, without question. Um, you know, he's a I watched Tyrant when we first got here and he was a right tackle that moved to left.

And I've seen Kaliko from left to right. Um. You know, he's naturally right handed, which which is a preference for right tackles, but as you know, has played the left tackle position. He's a guy that I think could do either one at the next level. What's he like as a kid, He's the captain he wants he's the guy that you look up to. Uh and uh. He was the example of what we wanted to Trojan to be. He was a tremendous student athlete here, leader amongst his team.

Everybody respected the young man and a guy that I think has just tremendous subside as a person. Let's turn to wide receiver Michael Pittman one hundred and one catches for nearly thirteen hundred yards this year, eleven touchdown catches. A great receiver in a great wide receiver class. I think there's gonna be tremendous value in Michael's pick because I think he's a first round draft pick talent that because of how deep the receiver class is, somebody's going

to get a lot of value here. You're talking about a kid that's six four plus of two twenty plus, ran four or five two forty plays even faster than he is, has the deep play capability to go over

top of people. Was our big play guy on our offense last year, you know, twelve hundred yards and he reminds me a lot of the way we've had Robert Woods and Juju Smith, Schuster, Marquise Lee, those type of kids that really were defensive, played defensive side of the ball in high school and brought that defensive mentality to the offer. It's outside of the ball. No job was too small for him. Played on all four special teams during his time here. Just a great teammate and another

a team captic force on our football team. Where does he fit best outside slot? Is he versatile to do all of it? Yeah? You know, within our offense, we moved Mike a round to you know, primarily he played about eighty percent of the time outside, but we did use slot formations with him to match him up on safeties to be able to create someone on one opportunities on maybe als or athlete. And so he has that

experience at both positions. Naturally, being that big, I think people will look at him as an outside receiver first, but he has the ability to move around. He's learned conceptually rather than just learning maybe an ex orcy position. He knows he's learned the position like a quarterback does. And I think that's He's an extremely football smart kid that I think's got a huge upside going in playing

on Sundays. I read somewhere that he only had five drops in his USC career, which speaks to his consistency and reliability. No, no question. You know you're talking about a kid that caught over a hundred ballsmares this year and he was just the model of consistency. This year really could have happened earlier for him in his career, but he was playing behind another really good receiver in Juju Smith Schuster, and when his time came this past year,

he made the most of it. Tell us about Michael as a person, Mike is obviously, he was up for the Jason Wittman at the Year Award for his community service within our community, a graduate of our university, a team captain. You're talking about a guy that you don't get to coach too many. Michael Pittman's I cherished my time with Mike and as a person, as a student, as an athlete, He's a definition of what you want as a trojan. Another wide receiver is next, Baylor's Denzel Mims.

Dane Brugler from The Athletic is among the draft experts who have predicted that Mims will be the pick at the top of round two. Here's Baylor radio voice John Morris. Yeah, Dan, it's gonna be on with you. Good to talk about Denzel and really hoping this turns out well for him, because I think he deserves it. He's had a great career here at Baylor, and I think he's ready to

step up to the next level. He's a he's a really good guy, comes from East Texas, has that kind of small town mentality where you know he has to work hard. He works hard every day. But he had a great career here at Baylor, and he really you'll see, you know, when when you see him at the next level, you'll see he has a knack for making big plays at big times. And he did that a number of times for US here at Baylor. Six three two hundred and seven pounds, ran a four to three eight at

the combine thirty eight and a half inch vertical. It sounds like he's a phenomenal athlete. He really is. And you know, I would I would describe him maybe as wiry, but when I think wiry, I think finn and he's not really finn. I mean he's a good size and with that high he's got great jumping ability. Also, I can remember a game we had here last year against Oklahoma State where he just out left the defensive back and made a catch for a game winning touchdown, you know,

in the end, Zoe. So it's like, you know, how high can you jump? Well as high as he needs to, and we saw that on several occasions. I've read some reports about him that suggest he will make the unbelievable catch and then occasionally botch the easy one. Is that fair? You know? That probably is fair, But I think you just got to get him, you know, focused, and you know, knowing that each time he's targeted that he's got to

make the most of it. During his career here at Baylor, he had to really, you know, to be honest, to disappointing junior year and a lot of that was missing balls that were thrown right at him, and he really worked on that, came back highly motivated to have a great senior year, and you could see that he was better, much better in that area his senior year. So I think that you know, on his rap sheet might be fair,

but I think he's gotten better at that. And I think, and I would hope moving into the pros that you know, he would be focused on every catch. Is he the type of guy that you would expect to come into the NFL and do well right away or is he somebody that's more likely to have some growing pains as a rookie and then really hit his stride in year

two or three. Yeah, I don't know. You would probably know the answer to that better than I would, but you know, I've seen him as a as a collegiate guy here at Baylor, and I think he would be I think he would do everything that was asked of him, and you know, will want to get better and improve on things, you know, whatever the coaches wanted to improve on. So I don't really know how to answer that. I think he could be an impact from day one. I

think he's got that ability. And you talked about his speed. I know that raised a lot of eyebrows what he did at the combine. So I think he's got all the tools to be successful, you know, from day one, So I wouldn't discount him from that. Does he remind you of anybody, whether it's a former Baylor wide receiver or an NFL player, anybody that immediately comes to mind? A good question. I'll tell you what. The first one

that comes to mind is Josh Gorton. Josh on the field, Josh Gordon, who is a really good receiver and made big plays, had great speed, really strong hands. I think Denzel has those qualities. I think I've seen, you know, at the collegiate level. I've seen Denzel display leaping ability better than what we saw from Josh when he was here. But the first one I would compare him to the first one that comes to mind, would beat Josh Roordon.

And you know, you take away the off field stuff with Josh and that's a I think a complimentary on the field preparison. That's a wow to me. If you're talking about Josh Gordon on the field, that's one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Yeah. Absolutely, he absolutely was, and unfortunately just couldn't stay, you know, out of trouble off the field. And let me make the point, I think Denzel's going to be a really good citizen.

You know he's going to be He'll represent whatever team drafts him, well, he'll he'll buy into the city wherever he is. You know, there was never any off the field issues with Denzel here at Baylor. Bengals beat writer Paul Deaner Junior recently did a seven round Bengals mock draft, and his second round pick was Oklahoma middle linebacker Kenneth Murray. I spoke to the voice of the Sooners, Toby Rowland

a great first off. The thing that I think about with him is his personality is he's got great charisma. He has been a team leader from the moment he stepped on campus. Not one of those lead by example quiet guys. He's vocal, he's charismatic. Guys rally around him. Well as for his play, everything you'd really wanted at that position. Good size, six, two sixty three, great speed. I would say as his career progressed at Oklahoma, he

got better and better at becoming instinctual. Early in his career, you could tell he was trying to figure out what gap he was supposed to be in, and he'd be slow to the play a little bit. And you saw last year especially, and even at the latter parts of the year before that, he was playing very instinctual, hair on fire football and flowing very well. So I think he's going to be a tremendous pro. There's a track

record where he is concerned. He was a three year starter, so there's a lot of snaps to evaluate for NFL teams. Do you consider his strength the run game or pass coverage? I would say definitely the run game. I you know, he's been a middle linebacker from the day he stepped on campus, and to start as a freshman at that position at Oklahoma is something. I mean, they've got quite a history there all the way back to Bosworth and Layman and Rocky Kalmus and on and on and on.

So he's an impressive physical specimen. I would say he is average in pass coverage and way way above average in the run game. You started out by talking about him as a person, and I've read that he is the son of a minister and his family helped raise special needs kids. Is that where that foundation comes from. I'm sure that's the case we had. We saw several examples while he was year of him helping out with

the patients at the OYU Children's Hospital. There's a big connection between the OU football team and the OU Children's Hospital, and they will come several of their patients will come to practices, come to games in the locker room, and a lot of times you'll see guys kind of adopt a patient to be their buddy. And Kenneth was always a favorite. All the kids loved him just because of

what we were talking about earlier. He's got an infectious personality, he's got a big personality, he's got a lot of charisma to him, and he's right in the middle of everything on Saturday when you look at on the football field. So this podcast is about candidates to be the first pick in the second round. The Bengals have the thirty third overall pick. Is that a good range for Kenneth or do you see him as a potential first round pick several picks ahead of thirty three overall. Yeah, my

hunch would be he's gone by then. I think you're gonna have to move up into the first round to get him. I think he's probably in the eighteen to twenty five range. I've seen some mock drafts lately that even have him closer to fifteen. Get Ever, know, once you get into these things and trades start happening and stuff like that, if Kenneth Murray is around with the first pick of the second round, I think Cincinnati would probably jump at the opportunity at him at that point.

Do you have any questions at all about his NFL potential? No, I think that. You know, he had a hamstring situation at the combine running his second forty time, he came up lame, but that it appears everything is has healed there. He is a tremendous physical specimen. He's got his head

on straight. I don't think you're gonna have to worry about anything there from an attitude or a personality standpoint, So I maybe pass coverage early in his career until he learns the NFL game a little more, but I think he's gonna be a great pro Before we get to our next player. Here's a reminder that you can take your Bengals pride to the next level in twenty twenty with an official Bengals fan package from Prime Sport.

Another linebacker who recently appeared at the top of round two in a mock draft is LSU's Patrick Queen, and this is another case where he's not the only player on his team that could be under consideration. Several people have suggested that it would be natural to select Joe Burrow in round one and one of his favorite targets, Justin Jefferson in round two. I discussed Queen, Jefferson and

Burrow with Tigers play by play man Chris Blair. Well, that's one of those guys that I think did nothing but absolutely dan just improve his stock as the season that went along. You know, going into the year, calebon Chanson alone with Michael Divinity were kind of the guys that I think was on everybody's radar. But you know, when you watch the game, and I'm sure scouts saw

it in person have been broke film. They began to see that Patrick Queen had all of the assets and had the high motor that the teams are looking for. And to me, I think there's several on this team.

I know we're going to talk about Justin Jefferson coming up, but you know there were several members of the Championship Tigers that that kind of came on the scene early and often as the season went through, and then we're able to climax with big games on the big stages, the SEC title game, the Peach Bowl, and ultimately the National Championship game. And to me, Patrick Queen is one of those that just jumped off the screen just in

the way that he played. I mean, you know, you look at Devin White who came out of LSU two years ago, and one of the things about Devon that I think impressed so many people was whether or not he made the tackle regardless of where it was on

the field. You saw him around the football, he had just an incredible way to cover side to side and we all were stunned, frankly this year that we said the same thing about Patrick I mean he was in on plays wherever it was on the field, he was great and run support, he could cover the middle of the field in the passing game, and had the speed and really to know how to find the football. And

to me, that's what makes him stand out. He's listed at six feet tall, two hundred and twenty nine pounds, ran a four five forty and he's only twenty years old. Do you think he will get bigger and stronger. Yeah, I mean that's one of the things, you know, the coaching staff at LSU talked about was, you know, as the season went on last season, we would ask, you know what about the emergence of Patrick Queen and Tommy Moffat the strength and conditioning guru here at LSU, as

well as the defensive coaches. So we have, you know, yet to begin to scratch the surface of where Patrick Queen will end up. And I think they were kind of referring to the fact that there's a chance for him to get bigger and stronger. So when you put the package as a twenty year old now going into a professional NFL weight program along with to speak, I think you could end up coming out of that machine

as a monster. I read one Scott and report that said great in coverage in the passing game, not as strong in the run game. Is that fair? It's fair? I mean I think that some of his bigger plays. Obviously, the interception against Alabama is one of the highlights of Patrick Queen's career, and that was pretty good coverage downfield against the great troup of receivers and a pretty dagon

good quarterback into a tongue baaloa. So I think you probably would say his passing coverage as a linebacker's probably his strength. But as the season went on, I mean LSU gave up a lot of yards rush you during the first maybe six seven games. I mean that was the Achilles Seal of the LSU defense, not just Patrick Queen. And then as you know, they got more healthy, they had some improvements in depth on the defensive front. Suddenly we realized this team wasn't so bad against the run.

You know, the thing that was held over LSU, if you remember, was the run game that will miss put together with their misdirection option play that kind of kept them in the ballgame. And everybody said this LSU defense can't stop the run. Well, they did a pretty good job, and Patrick Queen was a part of that when they

absolutely shut down Georgia in the SEC title game. So I think if you take his season as a whole, you probably could say there's some improvement to be made there, and no doubt he's going to make those improvements as he gets older and more experienced. But I think Patrick did a much better job as did the entire LSU defense down the stretch of that championship run against the rushing attack. What's Patrick Queen like as a person? Really good guy? You know, it's it's one of the amazing

things about this team. And you could pretty much ask me about any of the defensive or offensive standouts from a year ago and I will talk about their team mentality. And you know, coach Osaron talked about it all the time. It wasn't about the individual. It truly was about the name on the front of the jersey, and Patrick kind

of itemizes that. He's a guy who against a good set of linebacker caleban Chassau and Michael Vivinity, who already mentioned some of the younger guys Marcel Brooks that got some playing time there in the middle of the field. They pushed each other. They were competitive, but they were not afraid and didn't mind when the other guy had the heck of a play. I mean, I can you can go back and watch some of the b roll of some of the games. The celebrations these guys had

for each other kind of stood out to me. So when I think about Patrick Queen, I think about a guy that is that his team first, me second, and you know, again being twenty years of age, with a lot of talent, and I think a lot of upside if I'm a coach, if I'm a coordinator, I want a guy that's team first, and I think that's what you get in Patrick Queen. Let's turn to another candidate to potentially be the thirty third pick in the draft,

wide receiver Justin Jefferson. One hundred eleven catches, fifteen hundred forty yards, eighteen touchdown catches. Just scribe Justin He's gonna be loved by whatever team he gets. The fan base is gonna fall in love instantly with Justin Jefferson, and he's a great story for those who don't know, you know,

maybe a two star. I think he got a little bit of love from some of the sites that he was a three star coming out of high school, and frankly, the only reason he ended up at LSU is because the two older brothers were standout players and the Tigers, you know, took a chance on him, and you know, he played I think started as a defensive back. They moved him into the wide receiver's room and he had a chip on his shoulder and he probably outworked everybody on the team top to bottom, and you had a

breakout season. I mean, he was just a guy that he was amazing to watch. If the ball was within arms reach, Justin Jefferson made the catch, and he made it against some pretty good defensive backs in the SEC. And you know, Justin's just a fun loving guy. He's a lot like Joe Burrow in the sense that I always thought being around him, he walked that five line between being confident and cocky and he never really deviates. He's confident in his abilities and why shouldn't he be.

He's got the numbers to back it up. And frankly, I felt like him not being a finalist for the bulletin the Golf Award was a complete slight last season. No question. His teammate Jamar Chase was the best receiver in the country, but I felt like Justin should have been in that semi finalist, and I think the fact that they were teammates probably went against him. But he is a heck of a player. He's got speed, he's

got great hands. He was part of that trio of receivers at LSU that used the jugs gun on their own without coaches and handled ten thousand passes off the judge machine just to make sure that if their quarterback put it in their vicinity, they were going to make the catch, and more times than not, if it was in the air, Justin Jefferson came up with it. Seventy eight percent of his snaps came in the slot. Do you see that as being Justin's role in the NFL?

You know, I think so. Just I mean again, you know, I think he's got a chance to get a little bigger, But I think vertically he's probably where he's going to be, and I think he becomes at least at the college level and the high power five level. He became quite quite troublesome for teams to be able to fit to defend him in the slot based on the skill set he possesses. You know, again, he's good, runs very Chris Browns. I mean, that's what's impressive when you go back and

watch the film. You know, Joe Burrow was fantastic. The receivers got great hands, but they were very good at finding the creases on the field against defenses, and a lot of that goes to the skill set that Justin has. And it seemed to work time and time again in that slot position because more times than not he was matched up with a guy that either wasn't as past or wasn't as tall, or wasn't as athletic, and that

became a weapon that lsu used over and over and over. Obviously, the level is gonna move up quite a bit in the league, but I think that that's a good place. It wouldn't shock me if that's kind of what his specialty is, you know, moving down the road in his career as a dangerous slot receiver. Chris, you know how this works. Scouts have to find something to pick these

guys apart with. So one of the things I've read about where Justin is concerned is that Joe Brady did such a great job as a coordinator that Justin was schemed wide open. What do you think of that? Yeah, I mean I can see where you know, I won't completely deny that that's not something that could exist simply because you know, you had three receivers that on any given day for LSU would go over a hundred yards receiving.

And it started with Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, and then even Terris Marshall, and usually Marshall and Chase where you're you're wide outs and as I said, and you mentioned, Justin would be in the slot, and there were times where they would teams would try bracket coverage and usually it started out on Jamar Chase and then like in the you know, the Oak Home of game, Justin Jefferson ran free. I mean it was just phenomenal. It looked like he and Joe Burrow were the only two players

on the fields. And again, part of that is scheme. But but I think that's too big a slight to say that there's not much more done by Justin Jefferson to make the plays that he made throughout the season. But you're right, I mean, these guys got to come

up and look at everything from upside and down. And there are arguments to be made that obviously there were there were coverage attempts and focus on either Jamar Chase or even Fad Moss at times as the as the very talented tied in that allowed Justin Jefferson to kind of find his way wide open against the given defense. But but I think you could make that argument, but I wouldn't say that that's what made Justin Jefferson as

good as he is. So this podcast is about candidates to be the thirty third overall pick in the draft. But I've got to ask you about Joe Burrow. Stats speak for themselves. Describe what it was like to be around him last year. You know, it's funny I get accused blatantly and I openly admitted I looked through purple and gold lenses when when we're talking about LSU. That's that's what I'm paid to do. And obviously I'm the

president of the Joe Burrow Fan Club. But I was a fan of Joe Burrow when he arrived on campus in June of twenty eighteen, and at that point he was a backup quarterback at Ohio State. That's all very little time. There are the roads littered with stories about guys in Joe Burrow's position transferring somewhere, and there's a reason that they didn't start at Ohio State. And it

become very evident Dan early on. We couldn't figure out why he wasn't playing more than he was at Ohio State, because he was just phenomenal, but more than the numbers in the most touchdowns throne in college football history. His accuracy throughout the season, you know, pushing dang there eighty percent most of the year. It's the way he approaches the game. And that's what stood out to me about

Joe Burrow. I mean, he's got all the tangibles. I mean, he's got the hike, he's got good enough speed, he's got that gallop. I like it himTo a thoroughbred horse. He's not super fast, but his legs are so long that he tears up and turns up grass quicker than maybe you realize. Beyond all of that, just the way he prepared. When I saw Joe Burrow, I saw him prepare for games, prepare in the offseason, the way a

professional football player prepares. I think a lot of that has to do, obviously with his older brothers and his father being a long time and very successful coach. But I also think it's it's the want to in the drive that's just inherent who Joe Burrow is, and that, to me is what makes Joe Burrow great. People ask me all the time if you think it's going to translate to the next level. I don't know. There's so

many variables involved there. What I do know is that he's got everything that it takes mentally, physically, is the way he prepares for a game, the way he breaks down film, the way that he is just tenacious in his preparation. That everything's there for him to have a very, very successful NFL career. Baton Rouge is obviously New Orleans Saints Country, but it sounds like if Burrow is the number one overall picked by the Bengals, Cincinnati will instantaneously

become the second favorite NFL team in those parts. There will be an absolute tunnel that will suck just about every Cincinnati Joe Burrow merchandise that's allowed that will be drilled all the way here to Louisiana. There's no doubt about it. Wherever Joe Burrow goes, he's gonna have an instantaneous fan base inside the boot of Louisiana. This week, the Sporting News came out with a two round mock draft, and their selection at thirty three overall was Michigan interior

lineman says our Ruise. We get the scoop on him from Michigan radio voice Jim brand Staff. Well, he's a good quality football player. You know, I'd call him a steady Eddie kind of guy. He's very smart. That's why I think, you know, he's a great center prospect because he can call both sides, blocking assignments to the line. He did play early as a bit of a guard, so he's got some position flexibility. But the big thing is is he's steady. I mean, he's never gonna, you know,

make the big mistake. He's gonna get everybody on the same page. I like his ability as a center, as a quarterback of that offensive line, and physically he's got all the tools and he's played in a shotgun offense. He's played with a guy under center, so he can handle all that technical stuff too. The Bengals have a greater need at guard than center, although their center could play guard if he had to do, You think that

Ruiz could make that transition successfully back to guard. I think he could, but I think his natural position is center. I think that's where he should play. To be quite frank, that's just the way he is. He's played center for what three three and a half years now. The guard situation happened because you know, they really needed him at that point to step into play guard, I think as a true freshman at Michigan, but his natural position. Once he got at center, there was nobody going to get

him out of there. That's how good he was at center, playing big ten opponents and doing a great job against some of the really good defensive lines in the game, like Wisconsin and Ohio State. Michigan State, they did a great job against that those lines, and to be quite frank, Caesar was the middle of it. And he was the one that kept that veteran off as a line of Michigan's last year on the same page, blocking some of those lines. Jimmy's only twenty, so he'll be one of

the younger guys in the draft this year. What does that say about his potential to continue to improve? Oh, I think it's huge. I mean, I mean that there's a starting center there for ten years. I mean, if he stays healthy and he did it, he did it in Michigan. But you're looking at a guy that you know for ten years. You can kind of pencil whom

in as a center. And you know, any coach in the National Football League when you've got a guy that's that consistent a year in and year out, and you can just pencil whom in, boy, it's like having two players because you know you've got a guy that's going to step up and not hurt you and give you good, solid years of service. And he's young and he's a leader, and that's I think very important to teams in the

National Football League these days. After about the first ten picks, it's really hard to project where a guy is going to go. Do you think there's a decent chance he will be there at the top of the second round? You know, in the NFL draft, it's so hard to say. I mean, I've been around him so often. It's it's like at some point you think he got it figured out, and then there's a run on something and boom, all of a sudden, your entire draft goes off the wall.

And I think that's that's what the way it is. Every year. So you know, if all goes according to plan, which never happens. Yeah, I think he'd be available late first round. But there's somebody out there that Mike say, you know what, we really want this guy because two other guys have come off our board and he was a top guy on our board, and we can get him. Let's get him. And that's just something that you don't know, man.

It's one of those things that as the draft goes, it's a living, breathing entity all by itself, and it changes pick to pick. What's he like as a kid, great kid, really a good kid. Very he's not real rai rai. You know, he's just a business guy. He goes about his business. He's very bright, very intelligent. He and Michael Wayne, who is the big guard at Michigan, they were buddies. And you know, Caesar, because he was a veteran and a leader, would always go to the

media sessions and he handled himself very well. But not flamboyant, not outspoken. Not one of those guys is going to give the other teams some locker room blackboard material. Just a real solid kid. Jeff Hobson's most recent mock draft on Bengals dot Com. Cincinnati's second round selection was Colorado wide receiver Laviska Chenault. Here's the voice of the Buffalos,

Mark Johnson. Well, he was a guy and I told this story frequently, Dan, that coach Gary Barnan, who does the broadcast with Vicerus, was a phenomenalo coach at Colorado Northwestern.

And I were standing in the practice field one day and Less Steckel happened to be at practice one day, who Gary had coached with, and a little longtime Collins Nantaville coach, and the three of us are standing there talking and Laviska Chanel was just running a fade down the sideline just a few yards from ums and without even looking, just hearing him run by and catching the football. Less Steckel stopped mid sentence and said, who's that guy?

And he turned around and we were telling about he goes that's the nearest thing I've seen to Michael Westbrook since that coach Michael Westbrook. So there was a veteran coach who just you know, just because he heard him run by, they already knew he was a great at began to watch him to talk about him. But you know, Gary's talked about him. I've talked about him over the course of his time at Colorado. He's a physically impressive human being who is dynamic and violent at the same time.

He's one of those guys that's got suddenness and that what was kind of fun about calling his games for three years. Mark tell me about his ability to make people miss, Well, he's got that, and unlike a lot

of wide receivers, he's got running back jenif. I've heard people say that when he catches the ball, he turns into a running back and if you go back and I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but over the course of his three years here at Colorado, his yards after catching contact were unbelievable because of the ability we're talking about. He's got wide receiver speed, but because of that thickness, and he's one of those guys Dan that when you look at him for the waist down,

you're hard to believe. You find it hard to believe he's a wide receiver. He was one of the guys used to squat with the offensive line because of the power on the lower half of his body, and so he was awful the press of the watch in that regard because when they got the ball of his hands, now he was fasting up to run away from people.

One of his great touchdowns here at Colorado was in a game against usc where he turned and ran away from La Bree NFL guys in that second they are And so he's got speed, but he's also a kind of his mind contact. Now. Now that caused him a couple of you know, bruises and bumps during the course of his college career. But well, he's got the ability both to run by somebody and to run through somebody.

It's really interesting because the website Pro Football Focus does a comparison for every player that they're evaluating, and they compare him not to a great wide receiver, but to say, Kwan Barkley backing up exactly what you were just saying. Yeah, and I can see that, and we saw it right away. I'll never forget the first time I walked out in the practice field and his first one year, three years ago. Here it is his August and we'd heard the name,

and obviously that name Labiscus should stands out. So I threw remembered him, walked on out there and here and how We're standing of watching the team and finally I looked at him and I thought, well, who is that guy? Because this big, big, muscular linebacker looking at type human being was working out with the receivers at the time, and we figured out very quickly that was Labisca. So he does. I'm not surprised by that comparison. That's what he looks like. Now. He doesn't always play that way

because of those wide receivers guilty brings. I think he's a decent round runner, Dan. He's got very good hands. He tracks the ball exceptionally well. He had a game winning touchdown and linked to the Braska a couple of years ago in which he had guys hanging all over him and he's you know, he kept that vision, those eyes on that football, and so he's got those abilities as well. I think he can get better as a round runner. That's going to come with time, I think.

But from a physical standpoint, boy, there's there's not much question about Labisco. Shot all, he aggravated a core muscle injury at the NFL scouting Combine and elected to have surgery. How big of a concern is his durability? Well, and that's been the big question. I've got certainly enough friends that you know are covering the NFL and are dealing with general managers, and I ask the question I'm gonna asked a number of times about him. For the most part,

the stuff he had and weren't very concerning. Now, even that court injury that you're talking about, I think the only concern from I understand that general manners in the NFL and were why didn't he get that taken care of as soon as the season was over, Because it's one of those things that can be an issue, and it can be nagging, but it's not necessarily a serious insur Injuriano plug you a former BOMs who played the NFL and had that injury. They've all told me it

was pretty simple to get over. You get the surgery done, it's a pretty quick recovery, and you get back to it. So I think he gotten a little bit of bad advice after the season. I know that the former coach here at Colimento, melt Tucker, had been pleading with him, he was a long time NFL coach, to get it

taken care of. Somebody advised him differently, and I think he made a judgment air there now from an injury standpoint, in terms of durability because of that violent nature, I think he took probably more hits in college than maybe he will in the NFL. What I mean by that

he was such a weapon for Colorado. They utilized him at times I felt a little bit more than maybe they should have got the previous two stands, to be honest with you here, So I don't know that NFL coaches are gonna make that same as State, but he was certainly, I think something that that people going to be aware of because of the bumps of bruces he had here to you, Statistically, he dropped off from his junior year to his senior year eighty six catches to

fifty six. Was that injury related? It was because the core injury were talking about that hit him. I'm trying to remember. I think it was about five games end of the season, so he missed some time there and then I think they were trying to manage that down the stretch of the season. So it certainly was not an issue with him in terms of his ability. It was more of a cautionary any thing, but accountable a

coaching staff. They they were trying to nurse him through it, get him to the end of the year, try and get the bus to a ball game, which didn't happen. But the number drop off was certainly not I think anything related to him in terms of his game. It was more than than the health issues. Our tenth and final player is one of the most productive pass rushers in this year's draft, Boise State defensive end Curtis Weaver. He was Cincinnati's second round selection according to a recent

mock draft posted on draft site dot com. Here's Boise State broadcaster Bob Bheeler, Well, it's a guy that has transformed his body and improved every single year that he got here. The first season he was here that he redishirt and he was listed on the roster at two eighty seven, but I remember that spring when he was in high school listed as a three hundred plus there and when you saw him that first year that he was being ministered, he looked at a roly poly lin.

He's now listed at two sixty five sixty three, really cut. So he's a guy that has really transformed his body since he's been here. As a redshirt freshman in twenty seventeen, he had eleven stacks. He had nine and a half stacks in eighteen, and then last year he had thirteen and a half stacks, So he holds him out West record thirty four career stacks. Very quick, as a great motor, works very hard, good teammate, and somebody that I really

enjoyed dealing with when he was here. He always had a smile on his faith and I think people enjoyed playing with him. Bob. He was clearly an elite pass rusher all about the red of his skills. Up front? Can he stop the run? I don't know. If he's big enough to play in the down four would be my biggest question at two sixty five, But he didn't. He didn't go back and pass coverage a whole lot. They used him a little bit kind of as a

defensive end slash outside linebacker. So for me up front, the question would be, you know how big you need to be to play in the down three or the down four if you're wanting to use him up there. And then my question if you use him as an outside linebackers, how quickly can you develop somebody in the more of something it's gonna play off the line, And maybe had to cover an addition to rushing. Based on what I've read, he doesn't appear to be an elite athlete,

certainly not a bad one. His three cone drill timing was excellent at the combine, but not a freakish athlete. Is that fair? Yeah? I think so he's a good athlete. I don't think he's somebody that you're just gonna see numbers and everything pop off the chart. I think he studied well. I think he was a smart when he was here, So I think that would be something that would you know, help his causes and looks at film and always seemed to be prepared. He seemed to, you know,

know how to take advantage of other team's weaknesses. But no, I don't think he's somebody that you're just gonna be wild with as a physical SPECIs. But not that he's not a very good athlete or somebody that would you know, certainly be able to you know, run fast or you know, lift weights, et cetera. Tell us about Curtis as a person. He's a lot of fun. I mean, he's one of those guys that you know when you have an interview, he's somebody that's articulate, he'll, you know, carry on a

conversation with you. I always enjoyed, you know, he was a guy for us that was you know, each game they picked a couple of players for postgame shows, or we did boach shows, or we had different players. So from my standpoint, um, he was always great to deal with. As I said, I think he was viewed as a very good teammate, somebody that you know, I think had the ideas of what makes the team better at heart, as opposed to maybe something somebody that just wants to

look out for themselves and pat their stats. Bob, do you have a possible comparison for him? Does he remind you of any other Boise State players or anybody else you've seen against the Broncos over the years. I don't think he'd be as good as a vander Esh coming for the Cowboys, because I think vander Esh was able to be used in his position more naturally feeling, you know, what he was asked to do here versus what the Cowboys asked him to do. But I'm terrible when it

comes to projecting people for the pros. Sometimes that instiment, oh they're not going to make it, and then they end up making it or oh, I can't believe they'll be a camp miss guy. And you know, I think a lot of it depends on scheme they get in with, coaches they get in with. But I really like Curtis. I thought he was a good player, and I think he's got a lot of the tools and everything that could make him a good player at the professional level.

And I think Cincinnati probably with an opportunity in the second round, you know, i'd see things that have him projected anywhere from late first into the early third. So I think a lot of them and the position of what teams want, but I don't think the Cincinnati would be disappointed. If they do, it'd be a good addition to the team. So there you have it, an in depth look at ten possible picks at the top of

the second round. My thanks to USC head coach Clay Hilton and some of the best college play by play broadcasters in the country. Before I wrap things up, I want to invite you to take part in something I started doing this week online that I'm calling Horde makes the Call. I want to provide custom made play by play specifically for you. It could be video of your

kid's big moment in youth sports. I did one of those this week, but I also described a four year old riding her bike without training wheels for the first time and a three year old doing an indoor quarantine obstacle course. In other words, it can be just about anything, So send me your videos. You can do it on Twitter. My handle is Dan Underscore Hoard h r D or on Facebook. I'm easy to find if you just search

for Dan Horde. I'll pick them out. I'll reach out to people to get details, and then I will provide custom made play by play. I hope they bring a smile to your face. Again, I'm calling it. Horde makes the call that's going to do it. For this episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast brought to you by Prime Sport, the official fan, travel and hospitality partner of the Cincinnati Bengals.

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