Bengals Booth Podcast: Remember When

I get everybody.

I'm Dan Hord and thanks for downloading The Bengals Booth Podcast.

The Remember When addition.

As I look back at roughly twenty five years of Bengals draft history with a guy who knows the stories behind the selections, Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson. You'll also hear from local draft prospect Juwan Briggs out of the University of Cincinnati, who got quite the surprise this week, from Bengals team president Mike Brown, and last but not least, it's my third attempt at a three

Of the Bengals.

Now here's a quick reminder that you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts. It's the greatest thing since Zach Taylor randomly treating Bengals fans to breakfast. There was a letter to the editor last Sunday and the Cincinnati Inquirer that told the story of a couple having breakfast at a local diner who were

My neighbor Bart sent me that, so I was aware of that.

I do know.

The interaction was my son was in abast my other son was in a basketball tournament in Batavia, and so I was with my younger son, Luke, and we were just trying to find some breakfast, and so we went into the diner there and had a great time, and there was just it was smaller dinner, and there were several people wearing gear like you are right now, and it's it's fun interacting with people seeing them wear Bengals gear. So it just I just felt felt like I wanted

The moral of the story is out, if you live in the Cincinnati area and you're going out to eat where Bengals gear, your meal could be paid for by a generous and very kind Bengals head coach. Now let's get to my first guest. In the Broadway musical Hamilton, the Aaron Burr character sings about wanting to be in the room where it happens, referring to places where powerful

So twenty four years ago this week.

Thank you for saying at times, because it was a little bit. There was a lot of.

Times in the nineties when you know, a lot of things were written, and I think there were some people in the building looking at Mike like he was nuts. But I actually even told him, I said, you know, Mike, I'm not too sure, you know, I said, I you know, you might want to look for a younger person who's got a background in computers, because you know, I didn't.

So I thought that perhaps that.

But he said no, He said, I want somebody that the fans know when they trust and will give them the you know, give them the information.

And I always knew.

The best contract in sports was a handshake with Mike Brown because a loyal guy, and if I was loyal to him, it would be Ah, I.

Think it would be a it was.

It was you know what I mean, it was a it was a I knew it was gonna be an honest deal. Sometimes the newspapers, you never know was gonna happen, and I knew I didn't. But I think Mike could see a little bit that uh he had he had seen what had happened to the afternoon paper. You know, I had seen what had happened in the afternoon paper. And I think we were you know, I think he kind of sense that something was happening with the Internet,

I'm thrilled, and I hope Mike is too.

Happy anniversary. Mike was ahead of his time, and so were you. Your office here at Peykor Stadium is right around the corner from the Bengals quote unquote war room for the draft. What's going on a week before the draft?

I think they're still going by positions. I think that's probably gonna finish up. If it hasn't finished up already, and we're talking Wednesday, eight days out, then it's gonna be finished up tomorrow, or it'd certainly be finished up by the time Duke meets the media on Friday, and then I think next week is reserved for stacking if they haven't already done some of that stacking the board ranking just purely ranking the players who's uh, you know, who's who they see has better than the guy blow

Your first draft for Bengals dot Com was two thousand, the Peter Warwick first round draft pick a draft, but the previous year you were covering the team for the Inquirer when the Bengals turned down multiple picks from the Saints and selected Akilee Smith. Of all of the topics that I have ever discussed with Mike Brown, that was probably the one he was least interested in revisiting. I guess for obvious reasons. The Bengals weren't the only team to turn down that deal. They were one of four

You know.

It's it's interesting because Mike, as you know, is so fought right about you know, about talking about things, and I it's funny, I think because that is at the core of Mike's philosophy. I think, is how important quarterback is, you know, And I just think he.

Felt like a kill. And again I think he had a I think he.

Knew that Achilles Smith was at least he was kind of had the traits of the modern guy, you know, he was a very athletic guy, didn't really you know, obviously he struggled for many reasons and it was not a good pick. But I think the core is, you know, you need the quarterback. I don't need the nine guys, right. It was like nine draft picks, right, And he says, but if you get a quarterback, if you get a franchise quarterback, that's more important than nine picks. So which

There was one really good player, Champ Bailey. The other guys didn't really work out for what right, Yeah, I'm talking yeah, right. Bailey was a Hall of Famer.

Yeah, and uh but the other you know, uh uh And would Champ Bailey have turned around the Bengals at that point more than a good quarterback.

Probably not.

The Bengals turned down a lot, or at least we believe they turned down a lot. When Joe Burrows the number one overall pick, that one worked out pretty well, Joe.

And that's Mike's philosophy right there, in a nutshell. And he wasn't budget he uh you know, he met the guy at the combine and his coaches loved them.

It's another big piece of it.

And the coaches just thought he was you know, remember Dan Pitcher then the quarterbacks coach, and that was his first That was his first assignment really as quarterbacks coach, was to go to the combine and walk Joe Burrow through about fifteen clips in their eighteen minute interview and picture now the offensive coordinator. But you know, he was great talking about how you know, he just knew when the guy never minded he had the greatest you know, he went in and everybody knew what in he had

It is a quarterbacks league.

So your second draft for Bengals dot Com was arguably the best draft in franchise history. Five time Pro bowler Justin Smith in round one, six time Pro bowler Chad Johnson in round two, the Bengals single season rushing record holder Rudy Johnson in round four. He was a pro bowler, the single season receptions record holder TJ.

Hushman's ot in round seven. He was a pro bowler.

Does anything stand out to you about being around the team for that two thousand and one draft.

Yeah, the it started out with Mike would get back to Mike about how this guy he knows his stuff, right. I think you'll recall with just coming off the Achilles

You know that that they knew that was not going to happen.

So they were getting little you know, we get Kit and they were just signed Kitt and there we can of get hey, you know, they're not. I don't think many people were. You know, they thought that they thought the kid was too short. They thought that was kind of high form, I think, you know, going back and trying to place, but you know, the they it was high. It was regarded for Breeze in the room. But I you know, I think they felt like they had had their plan here and that he wasn't the kind of

And then of.

Course we know history tells us the Chadgers took breeze I think at thirty.

Two perhaps, uh.

And then.

Three four five picks later, Chad Johnson worked worked out, worked out pretty well, you know, and then to get t J. Huschmanzada, which I'm gonna write about later in the week. You know, Bob Bratkowski making a call as to pick up closer in the seventh round, uh, making a call to uh Dennis Erickson, who was a good coach a long time with Bratt.

Uh and Uh.

He made a quick call because Bratt liked tushman Zada, Uh, I think on tape, but he wanted to you know, he wanted to get more from Ericsson. And I think that was what put him over the top there and that that was a good call as well.

And that was a good you know, it was a.

Practice had a few questions and Eric's had answered them and that's the way it should be done.

And then TJ answered them in the affirmative. That's for sure.

I think you can make the case that since two thousand and eight, when the Bengals drafted Andre Smith, Ray Maulaluga and Kevin Huber. They've drafted as well as just about any team in the NFL. They've landed impact players in fourteen of their last fifteen drafts.

I would say only the Cedric Oboahi Jake Fisher year was the exception.

Have they done anything differently since two thousand and eight or better in your opinion?

Well, I mean, all you can look is at the changes. You know, Duke Toben has taken over the draft pretty much. You know, Mike still cheers the meetings, and Mike's still you know, heavily involved running the thing, but it's Duke's Duke's run in the draft room. I think that's a shift. You know, you've obviously had a change in coaches and coaching philosophy. Uh And I think probably, you know, it's probably you know, it's it's probably more the process is

So if there's a difference, I just think it's probably you know, Duke.

Is Duke is is running it, has more of a has more of a hand with Mike now. And I think the draft rooms more streamlined too.

That's a change. I think that.

Probably came from COVID, but I think that's the way Duke was headed any way, to kind of cut down the people in the room a little bit. The position coaches are no longer in the when when the clock is ticking, the position.

Coaches are no longer in the room. But they've had their say.

I mean they've they've already had their say in the meetings leading up to it.

So those are just a few of the changes.

But I think, you know, you talk about the two thousand and one draft, I think that two thousand you know, the two thousand and six draft was was huge too, because those guys, I think five of those guys.

Draft that played at least twelve years.

You're talking about, uh, you know, Jonathan Joseph, Andrew Whitworth, Frosty Rucker, Domito Peigo, and then the supplement will picking that draft.

I'm on Brooks I think played a dozen years.

The other guys sort of the the other guy's played more than a dozen years. I believe that's a hell of a draft. And then any discussion the best draft in franchise history is going to be twenty twenty and twenty twenty one. You know, Burrow Higgins, Logan Wilson, top three. That's as about as impactful as you get. They might not have the awards the one people had, but certainly

That's a pretty good draft too.

The Bengals have never allowed live network TV cameras into the war room, but you've.

Been in there.

Is there drama? Are there knocked down dragouts?

What's it like as nobody's standing on a table? You know a lot of these.

Decisions have been made. Well, no, they aren't made. They're being made now. You know, like you talk, what are they doing now? They're having those exact discussions.

You know, it's Mike.

Is chairing it, you know, two command on the phones. It's like I said this, I think I wrote this the other day. It's like you ever watch the series.

Banded Kind, you know, for all Mankind.

The series about space. It's like these guys are looking at console. They're trying to they're trying to land a man on Mars, you know what I mean.

It's very quiet.

It's very you know, there's the word of computers or they've had these discussions.

There's the board, you know, it's it's in there.

As you get closer, there's discussion about yeah, this is how we thought it was gonna happen, you know, and there might be ah, you know, LOUI you like this guy right, and you know, or something like that. I mean, it's a it's pretty it's pretty made up. There's no there's no scrambling, Oh my god, we got to trade up or trade down or yeah, you know, here's our guy. And if and if you know, the board is the

Not you know, it's not madness.

You know.

I think one of the lesser known significant figures in Bengals draft history was Pete Brown, Mike's brother who passed away back in twenty seventeen. Well before there was a mel Kiper or a Dane Brugler. Pete Brown was the guy who you could name anybody in the upcoming draft and he had his bio down inside and out.

This guy was the ultimate personnel guy.

I mean he was what a great man too, just a great guy, just a great personality. And he he knew. I mean, you know, I always thought if you gave Mike, I mean, if you gave Pete a you know, a six pack of a sprite and a Subway sandwich and just saying going to the draft and draft force to be a hell of a draft. You know, first of all the board was in his mind. He knew the way, he knew this stuff off the top of his head. He could and it was everybody. It just wasn't the top twelve prospects.

It was it was. Remember Pete, uh.

Did great work for this franchise back in the day with the historically black colleges, did a lot of travel.

You know, he had a lot of networks.

You know, he was the guy who you know, kind of got the first tip on Kenny Anderson. Uh So he just had all these all this vast network. And then as the scouting because he was basically he and Frank Smouse were the guys who were doing it. And then when the scouting staff grew, Pete kind of court. You know, Pete did coordinate the board and where everybody was going and what they were doing. And but he just he just he had this just this great knowledge

He was very very calming presence.

And I think, uh, obviously it was devastating for Mike to lose Pete for obviously many reasons. He was his he was his younger brother, he was the Pete was the baby you know and uh they were very close. And uh but you know when he passed and the next in and in the ensuing drafts, it was, you know, Mike had lost his you know, his right arm almost you know, uh, because Mike could look there, he could look to his right or to his left wherever Pete was sitting. And you know they were they were, they

No question about it.

More recently, has the dynamic changed in the draft room from a Marvin Lewis draft to a Zach Taylor draft?

You're talking about two different guys.

I think the dynamic of the organization is the same, but they obviously have you know, they bring their perspectives and opinions different, you know, different, But I don't think and I'm and you know, like I said, since they're streamlined, you know, since since the room is streamlined now you only can get a sense of what's going on in there. But my, you know, my sense is that Zach's gotta got a lot to say, just like any just like all the head.

Coaches or you know, for the Bengals have had in.

Drafts's let's face it, it's a like I said before, it was an organization founded by a coach and that's the way things are gonna be run. So I think Zach hash you know, I think Zach's got a lot to say. I mean, he's got he's the guy with the vision of the of the roster because he's the guy that I mean, Duke has a vision. And I think that's why Zuke and Zach and Duke maybe you should call him Zuke because that they're they're they're that close to

In the twenty twenty draft, everybody they selected except for Tea was a captain on his college team, and he probably would have been if he's stuck around at Clemson for another year. Do you think that that has changed under Zach? Is there more of an emphasis not specifically in captains per se, but guys that love the grind?

Yeah, I think that's right.

I think he's left his imprint on that on this, on on that, I think, uh, what's what's he said? We want guys that like ball, you know. And I think you can see that in the guys that they go after. And of course Zach doesn't have his he gets immersed in these guys later on in the process. The big thing is the scouts know, I think what a Zach guy is. That's a big thing. And and and uh so they go into these places, you know, when a when a Christian Sakkasian or Andrew Johnson, the regionals,

Is that they they seem to get terrific guys.

Yeah, and it pays off.

I think the culture is a direct reflection of the kind of guys that they've been drafting in recent years.

So let's talk a little bit about this year's draft.

The Bengals almost certainly will need a right tackle next year, since Trent Brown only signed for one season. They could also use a defensive tackle with DJ Reader going to Detroit and BJ Hill entering the final year of his contract.

In your opinion, is.

The eighteenth pick most likely to be an offensive or defensive tackle?

Most likely? I hate to say most likely in a draft.

I think if you look at the trends of the last couple of years under Zach say, or you know recently under Duke, that's gonna be it's gonna be a big man. It would seem like, you know, I know, there's a thought process of there, you know, the the higher the pick, the bigger the guy, you know. So I clearly they view it as a premium position. But

I sat down with him last week.

He was really good talking about for the first time since he in a long time, both the first you're gonna get a first round or in the first round at number eighteen and you're gonna get a second round or where they picking the second round, and in most years you don't see that, you know, particularly in the first round. He goes, you know, if you're picking at eighteen, probably not a guy who you have graded as a first rounder.

Let me just clarify for a second, because people might be confused when you say they're going to get a first rounder in the first round, and people will think, well, what do you mean by that. Last year, I believe they had thirteen players graded is what they considered to be first round cal burd players. Miles Murphy was one of them and they were able to select him. So this year they think there are more true first round picks graded his first round picks than usual.

Yeah, they will get if you're at eighteen, you will get one of those, and I think the year before with Dak Hill the same thing. It was about thirteen or fourteen graded in the graded first round game. And then when they picked at thirty I think or thirty one. I guess they picked at thirty one, Dax was one of those first rounders who was there. So they've been kind of lucky as far as their board goes, you know, but this time it's going to be a legit guy.

Exactly deeper corner. Now I get the DJ Reader thing.

I understand that, but you know they've only got like, they've only got two who's who are the outside guys behind their two starters, Cam Taylor Britt and DJ Turner. You know, so I think, you know what if Wicked is from Clemson staring at you there and you know you can get a right tackle, and you know you can get a right tackle in the second round, I mean, you know, we've talked about the d tackles. There seem to be some but there later there may be third

You know he's yeah, okay, he's.

Not a great round or a great right runner and all that and everything, but he can do it. You know, I mean, he's gonna be a hell of a player once he learns to run some routes, you know what I mean. And you know they don't have their slock guye Tyler Boyd. You know what if you get a guy like promise, you stick him in and he and he catches forty balls. That's the other thing is Joe

I don't know.

This is why it's not a just the you know, it's never really easy, especially to me. It's more of a problem, not a problem, but it's more of a dilemma. When you have a you're staring at a first round guy. You know, you might be able to pass it off and say, okay, if he's a second round or let's get an alignment now, let's get our alignment now. But if he's a legit guy, if he's a legit corner or a legit wide receiver staring at you, well, you know, let's think about.

It, right sure. I mean, on the topic of wide receiver.

I hear Zach Taylor's voice in the back of my head going back to the twenty twenty one draft where I was pounding the table for take Pinace, well take the pass blocker, and Zach Taylor said, we chose the guy who scores touchdowns, so that is always going to be a consideration.

And he was echoing Pete Brown right there. Pete Brown was let's get a touchdown guy. So yeah, I mean in.

Zach, look at the Zach. That's exactly right.

And you know Zach's not only run of the offense, he's calling the game.

Give the guy to pick.

You know, if he thinks this guy is going to help him right now on Sunday, maybe you better listen to that guy. Now.

I don't know what Zach is saying.

I don't know, but I.

Mean if he's got input.

On like that, like on an offensive guy, you know that's got a factor into two two.

So you talked about stacking the board earlier. They're going to have a list of the top eighteen players in their mind going into the first round of the draft, and it won't include quarterbacks because they don't need one. So certainly three quarterbacks are going to be taken before they're on the clock, probably four, maybe five, But they're going to get one of the top probably fourteen guys on their with their first round pick.

The latest Bengals dot Com media mark had six quarterbacks taken.

Yeah, yeah, so right.

I mean you're gonna get a you know, uh what if what if Mitchell somehow slides the cornerback?

You know, you won't slide the cornerback from Toledo.

But what if what if Wiggins is the first cornerback taken from Clemson and Mitchell is is sitting there. That's one.

Let me get back to offensive line. They've drafted great ones like Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitdler. They've drafted good ones like Jonah Williams. They've drafted guys that didn't work out, like Cedric Colboyhee and Billy Price. They've spent a ton of money in free agency in recent years on the offensive line. It's going to be harder to do that after the Joe Burrow extension. How do you think that

That's a great question.

You know.

He always I'm always amazed by these guys. And I'm not on Twitter very much, but when I'm on there and I'm always amazed by people say get him an offensive line, get them this, get him, you know, get him an offense, get him. Somebody's gonna protect them. That's all they've done since he's arrived here. They've they've signed guys, they've drafted guys. So I don't know what more else they have to do. I think it's a great question. I do think they have to. They got left tackle solved,

But it's worked out pretty good, pretty well the way they've been doing it.

I mean, I don't think you know, it's a position that's uh. I think they've you know, when they switched Jonah over there, they draft some you know, they signed some guys reef Lyle Collins. I think those guys did what they were supposed to do. Now can you keep doing that? I guess that's the question.

But when can you do it? Can you do it in the first round or can you do it in the second round? To me, that's that's the question.

You might be able to You might be able to solve the problem, just maybe not on Thursday Night.

How big of a voice does Frank paulakapp and drafting offensive lineman huge?

I think it's compare it to Darren Simmons on special on kickers on special teams. I think it's gonna go through him. You know, they're not gonna draft the guy that Frank doesn't like. That'd be hired for me to see, you know, uh, And that goes for any position coach, I.

Mean, h or coordinator.

You know, it would be hard for me to see a the first round pick not being able to pass muster with somebody on the coaching staff.

So I think Frank's.

Gonna you know, and particularly offensive line is seen as one of those niche positions like special teams, you know, the guys kind of the Kuys, the Kuys, the guys kind of king of all these surveys. You know.

So it's you gotta feel like Frank has gotta got.

A lot of Say, the Bengals have ten picks, they have extras in the third, sixth, and seventh rounds. Do you expect them to use one of those extras to move up at some point?

They certainly have, you know, they never used to.

And I think that's another probably trade that's different that two kids bought and Stuke's been in there. I think they've traded up maybe six seven times since twenty eleven, you know, and so they've shown that they will do that. It wouldn't be surprising if they did it this year

I don't see them giving up the extra third round pick, but that's what extra sixth and seventh round picks are ideally for.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's you know, listen to Bill Polian the other day on U Serious Radio talking about uh Sali Wilcotts was talking about how h his big guys, Mike Gettings Junior, who's a independent consultant scouting consultant used by several teams, including the Bengals, And you know, Napoleon said your blue you're blue guys, which is what Gettings calls elite players who produce at the top level, the top level players. You get them in the first, second,

That's exactly right.

Stock pilm trade up to get into the you know, get into the you know, fourth or fifth you know, uh, get up, you know, get up as high as you can and so and I you know, and they've and they've done that, and I would you know, you wouldn't be surprised to see him do it now.

I mean, it's gonna be how many picks do you need?

You know what I mean?

How many picks do you need?

And then and this team is so young anyway, right I think last opening day they were the third youngest in the team and in the third youngest in the league. So I'm not sure ten ten draft picks is you know? I I would uh, I would imagine, and they would.

Find a way to convert him.

You mentioned Brian Thomas from LSU as at least somebody they would have to think about if he were on the clock at number eighteen. Tyler Boyd is likely gone. T Higgins could be in a year. Do you think that they will take a wide receiver in the first two days or yeah, first two days, first three rounds.

I think they could.

I mean I I it wouldn't surprise me, you know, a couple of years removed from the big Man's draft, right when that those first two days were all guys at least three hundred pounds on either side of the ball. So you know, maybe it is time to go go get somebody early. It's like you said, you know, you

Me there, help me there, Hordy prime pronunciation.

Yeah, yo, you call him Yoshi, Yeah, and he's yeah.

I'm sure you would get andre right, yeah, yeah.

Well yeah, I think that uh, you know, he looks I think he's he's going to pan out better than they thought he you know, I think you're looking at the guy who can catch fifty balls, you know. So, I mean that's a big that's a big boost. But still, you got Burrow, you get this offense, you know, you know, drafting and receiver is never a stunner.

I guess it's it might be where where you take him. But I mean I think if you know.

Just the way things are going, I mean, if they take a you know, if they now tell me what kind of guy, because I think that kind of you know, is it the big is it the big tall TSH guy? Is it is it a guy? Is it a guy? Built, you know, is it a guy built more like.

Like Jamar?

You know?

Is it you know that I have a kind of have a hearted time finding out if they've got if there's a proto. But I don't think there is a prototype for the great ones, you know what I mean? I mean, I don't think they gotta be Jami has chosen. He doesn't have to be six ' four and T shows that, you know, you don't have to be uh be.

Able to scuot and scat and everything.

You know.

So I think it's uh.

I think if they feel like you know, the nice thing about it is this is this is what separates the Bengals, I think in the draft room now. And a big reason for why I think they have drafted well is they get the same coaches, They get the same structure, they got the same organization.

You know.

Pitcher, Damn Pitcher, the coordinator, uh Brad Crack Brad Krag thought the new quarterbacks coach has been here for five years, I.

Mean, Zach.

So these guys know exactly what they want and that's a big I think that's a big plus to put them over to.

Speaking of t Higgins, he told reporters this week that he expects to play for the Bengals this year. I never thought that there was a remote possibility that he was going to leave nearly twenty two million dollars on the table. But did you take that as a good sign that this is going to be drama free?

Yeah?

I mean I think, you know, I look back to Jesse Bates, and that was drama free. He had a hell of a year. He played it right. I think he got into camp probably just about the right time. Tea is a winner, you know. I never worry, you know. And maybe it's because now that i'm you know, maybe I'm gonna you.

Know, I just don't focus on that as much.

And maybe it's because I work for the team. I just don't focus on that as much. But I do think there's there's not any drama here.

I don't know, you know. I mean, and I've been here when there was plenty of drama and it's just a tea.

They got guys who are not, you know, drama kings, you know what I mean. That's just the way they're wired to me, in my opinion. Yeah, I just don't think. I mean, yeah, I mean, the stuff that's on Twitter and the stuff they might say in videos. I mean to me, it's all kind of that's not drama, you

Looks like there's going to be no drama where Dax's Hill is concerned as well. We were in on the cluster on Monday when he spoke to reporters after the players we turned back to Cincinnati, and I thought he said all of the right things about not knowing exactly what his role is going to be this year.

Yeah, he said all the right things.

And that's another thing they'll probably get answered in the draft, you know, if they don't take a corner back any time, you know, maybe that's telling us something. I tell you what the nice thing about dak Shill is, not only is he did he stand up there and say all the things he should have said, and you know, just exactly what you're looking for. But the guys player, I think, I mean I I maybe I'm nuts, and I know he had a few bad plays last year, but they

And that's a pretty good guy to have on your club.

I mean, uh, you know, there's a lot of guys who would have stood in front of that cluster on Monday and not said the right things and made it a drama thing. And they would and they would still be written about today. But no, I mean, so to have a guy like that with as much talent as he does, that's a that's another.

That's a that's a that's a draft pick. Well done.

All right, we have the TJ.

Hushman Zada look back at the draft story to look forward to. Well, there'd be one more media mock draft.

Oh there has to be. There just has to be. I know, Uh, the scouts are looking at me like saying, how many of those do you do? I said, I said, well, probably three too many right now? But why not?

I mean, you get a pretty good uh grip, you know, like the Jets guy.

I always talk to our good friend.

Rich Semini, my classmate.

Classmate, and uh, you know, why not call rich Semidia?

Think who who are just gonna draft?

And and if he can get seventeen of those of opinions, those opinions, maybe you just get a better idea. Now, maybe it is ridiculous to have five. But hoo do you know this? People are eating them up. You you do a three round mark right.

I'll be doing another one at the end of this podcast.

Yeah, it's uh and I calls I call us mock rakers now now Teddy Roosevelt called journalist back in the day, muck rakers.

We're mock rakers.

Where the uh where the sad descendants of that?

And uh I, uh yeah, I'll be uh Thursday morning.

I'll put up another pathetic run out and uh I've picked three different players. I'm sure people, but this is what could happen and said, well, you know, and uh, I'll probably pick somebody else because think.

About it, you know, just think about these things.

You know, I picked Wigans the last time, and you know, maybe I'll pick Thomas's time or something. But it's The good thing about this draft, though, is you've done enough of the marks, is you pretty much know.

I don't know if they're going to take.

Four quarterbacks or six, but you pretty much know what offensive tackles are going to be there, what defensive tackles are going to be there, what corners and what wide receivers. And what's interesting is maybe somebody likes one of those offensive tackles that has not been on the board, you know, that has been available. Well maybe they're gone, you know, and we don't know what Frank's thinking. We don't know who Frank likes, so let's keep doing the marks.

I can tell you this, I despised my first three round mock draft. At the end of it, I'm like, gosh, can I start over? But I just had to go through with it. The second one that I did, I was convinced I was the greatest NFL drafter in history, partly because the computer spit out tremendous options in one of these mock draft simulators. So that kind of gets back to you just don't know what's going to be taken before.

You're on the clock.

Yeah, you're a step up on me with those simulators.

I think I think I did one and I drafted Millard film. I think so. I'm really kind of struggle with that, a.

Little bit of positions Millard players.

Whatever it was, it was the he was, he was in the he was a know nothing free agent.

All right, great stuff is always again, congratulations on your twenty fourth anniversary with the club and look forward to working with you next week.

Whatdye, I always appreciate it.

This is always where I can get in a chance to say hello to my daughter Kerrie, you avid fan of the podcast, and her son and husband.

Her son is fourth down.

Freddy Miller, Hello, guys, Hope all's well, thanks for listening.

More on the draft in a moment, but first, here's a quick reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is brought to you by pay Corps, proud to be the Bengals official HR software provider, by Alta Fiber future proof fiber Internet designed to elevate your home, business, and community to a new level, and by Kettering Health the best care for the best fans. Kettering Health is the official healthcare

How do you think your prep has gone?

I think I've just you know, as I said earlier, I think I've taken advantage of every opportunity it was coming my way. Of course, you can always, you know, grow compared to what you've done, but you know, just being able to crush everything that's come towards my way has been something I've been focusing on this whole process.

I've seen you at U see anywhere from about two hundred and ninety five pounds to three hundred and twenty five pounds. It looks like maybe three point fifteen to three twenty right now.

Yeah, I'm actually around you know, three ten, okay, And I actually didn't get a chance to eat dinner last night. I got said, I was fresh off the plane. I was traveling for eight hours, so you know I probably hver run around three thirteen, just like pro day to be a tap Yes, sir, Yes, Y're definitely interior guy. And like I said, I'll do anything. You know, I can drop two ninety five if you want me rushing

Where were you last night?

I was at Kansas City, So I literally just touched down touchdown at about eleven forty and got out of CVG at twelve thirty, got home around They probably got home around one, took a bath, got in the bed. It's about one thirty, you know, got to sleep by to and woke up and came here.

You're an observant guy. Have you been able to pick up a vibe that the Bengals are interested?

Ah?

Well, like you know, like I said, I was taking it back when you know him him and talking.

Yeah.

Let me set the scene.

So you complete this local workout, you're doing interviews with local reporters, and Mike Brown, Bengals team president, walks over to chat you up, which I don't know that any of us have seen before.

Like I said, it is a it was a it was a humbling experience to say, at least uh as I you know, for once, I've kind of had a loss of words with that. It's just honoring and it's humbling too. You know, see that someone at that level knows me, and especially with the you know, the pool, I'd say, has it means a lot to me doing the right things.

He definitely has pulled.

There's a need here for a nose tackle three technique kind of guy. Have you been doing the research looking at rosters and thinking, all right, I'm a fit at that particular teams.

Yes, sir, So you know, any place that's expressed interest to me, I've tried to, you know, look down into the roster see what they have there.

Like we were talking about earlier, you.

Know, attack d tackle here just left, so you know there's a of course, there are people here as well, so you know it'll be a chance to kind of if I am fortunate to get drafted, it's a chance to come in compete. Same thing with any other place I've been. It's just a chance to know who you'll be, know your peers so that you can compete and you know, just have a leg up no matter where I'm at.

So you're a married father of three, the kids are young. Do they have any idea what daddy's trying to pull off right now?

Well, my son he loves football. I mean we're out of the spring game the other day and he was throwing the ball around and tackling stuff. But I don't think he knows what I'm doing exactly. You know, every time I leave, and probably when he wakes up, he says, oh, it's daddy in practice. I'm not calling it in practice, but you know I'm trying to make it so I can be in practice for a couple a couple more years.

Down the line.

He played extremely well and you see, you know, first team All Conference honors and then the various achievements that you had but didn't get the combine invite, didn't get the Senior Ball invite.

Is there a chip on your shoulder from that?

Yeah, there's a big chip, you know. And I kind of expressed it in two different ways. So after the combine thing didn't come around, and you know, I got the list, I kind of made it a point to

Impact at my pro day.

So for me, I decided instead of me being light and maybe run a little faster and possibly you know, losing a couple of reps on the bench, well, I'm an interior D line and I need to get as much on the I can, so let me go ahead and showcase that I can be the strongest, no, most athletic three fifteen guy you could be. So I weighed in at three thirteen point eight I say three fourteen.

They freaking docked me point eight pounds, and I.

Just made sure that I crushed literally every single guy that was listed above that three ten mark.

I half the chart broken.

Down from three ten three or five two ninety five because three hundred three or five to two ninety five the guys were a little bit of the same. And I didn't look at anything two ninety five down because that's light. So you know, it was just a really important for me to have that goal in mind. And you know, those guys that already started with the leg up, so I just wanted to be able to showcase that may do something a little better.

Sounds like you crushed it at the Shrine Bowl as well. Did you get good feedback from that.

Yeah, So, I mean it was actually pretty interesting. You know, the D line on the east side. We were actually doing pretty good, so good that the second day they said, guys, we can't bull rush our guys. You know, we're got bag holding them up. And you know, I made it a point to pretty much do that every rep. And the second day we took it off them a little bit, getting let him play Patty Hickul live, but came back

I can get. I didn't sit out. I didn't sit out for any drills. In practice.

I try to get as many reps are in the game as I can get because, like I said, every time I can step, you know, and the grid iron is an interview.

So just making sure that I can make the most of everything.

Wearing that Bengals jersey, practicing in this Bengals facility does that make it all feel a little more real.

It makes it feel a lot closer. You know.

It was one thing to be practicing in this bubble, you see, because we didn't have our own bubble. But it's another thing to be literally a week out, you know, from big things happening for you know a lot of guys and around my position, and you.

Know, it means a lot.

It means a lot that you're this close old hopefully you know if I'm ever so fortunate a rookie mini camp.

So so you're on the freaks list last year. I know how athletic you are. What kind of numbers did you post on the bench and things like that.

Yeah, so on the bench, I did forty two. They docked me three, so they gave me thirty nine official, but you know I did dockey three cuz you know, at the beginning they'll say lockout, but you know, for some guys they'll screen lockout at you. You know, the counter rip. I guess I did too many, so they had to dock me three, give you sub forty. But you know, I mean, no matter what, whoever was there saw me throw the way around forty two times, whether it be officially or unofficial.

So Julia, rooting for you, best of luck, Thank you.

Final thought on Juwan, I've interviewed him many times in the past, and knowing that he's a talented singer, I asked him this question. So the latest season of Hard Knocks started this week. The Lions are the featured team. The rookie Aiden Hutchinson was asked to perform at the you know, like the rookies often do, and he sang Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. So, when you're an an NFL training camp and they ask you to sing your rookie year, what are you gonna break out?

Shoot?

Honestly, ah hey, let me think I'd say Purple Rain by Prince. Prince is probably one of the Prince is probably my favorite musician overall. Just a great persons music wise, in you know, just outside of music. But Bubba Rain's definitely a classic some everybody can relate to and some everybody knows.

So you want to give us a little.

I never meant to cause you any trouble. I never meant to cause you any pain, but oh see you laughing. I only wanted to see you standing in the purple ring.

Here's a sneak peek for what one NFL team will be treated to at training camp. On the last two editions of this podcast, I did three round Bengals mock drafts. Using simulators to examine my options before explaining the reasoning

Third round pick.

This time around, I used the ESPN Mock Draft simulator and was delighted when five quarterbacks were taken in the top eleven picks. Tight end brought Powers went thirteenth to the Raiders, but to that point only one one offensive lineman had been taken, Joe Alt at number nine. The run on offensive tackles began with a fourteenth pick that was Olu Fashanu JC Latham went fifteenth and Talisi Fuaga went sixteenth. So here were the options I considered with

Troy faugh Utanu.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic has him ranked number nine overall in this year's class and wrote the following in his draft guide. Fautanu is explosive on the move and at contact, with the foot quickness, body control, and temperament to stack wins in both pass protection and as a run blocker in the NFL. While he has the talent to remain a tackle, his skill set also projects well to guard and center, and he offers legitimate five position potential at the next level.

End of quote.

The Bengals have obviously had hits and misses when it comes to drafting offensive linemen, but falloutan who sounds like he's as close to a sure thing as you'll find. I'm delighted to grab him in round one in the second round. Cincinnati has picked number forty nine overall, and both of my previous second round selections, defensive tackle Braden Fisk and wide receiver Malachi Corley, were still on the board. But this time I chose a wide receiver who is