Bengals Booth Podcast: Second Time Around

of Coal Rane High School. Robert Weintrouf from Football Outsiders in Cincinnati Magazine joins me to discuss the upcoming season, and I'll chat about the latest training camp developments with Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Hobson. The Bengals Booth podcast is presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty two season. It's free to play next level fantasy football with fantastic Bengals prizes. Get it now on the App Store and Google Play, and here's a

quick from 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 great TV shows. Better Call Saul aired at sixty third and final episode over six seasons on Monday, and I don't want to spoil anything in case you haven't watched it, but I found the ending to be

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One of the standouts in the Bengals preseason opener last Friday was undrafted rookie receiver Kendrick Pryor now plitt fix an inside handoff guns to throw down field, Kendrick pre with the one handed, left handed catch. Should he get it? Yes? He did. Prior finished with four catches for eighty nine yards and a touchdown at Wisconsin. With its heavy emphasis on the run, he never had more than seventy two

receiving yards in a game. I talked to Kendrick about his eye opening debut when the Bengals returned to practice on Sunday. I assume you have now seen the footage of your falling over backward one handed, left handed catch. Where do you think? Um? I think it was a pretty good catch. Um on my end, though I should have said so, it's covered two faded more to the sideline, so I wouldn't have to have been as much of

a tough catch as it was. But just happy I got the got the outcome, Happy they coach challenged it, Happy that I knew it was Personally I knew as the kids, I called the boat over half possession. If I know, next time he's got to make sure I keep that possession all the way inside. Get up, so don't give them a chance to try to overturn the call. Well, you are clearly your own toughest critic if you describe that as pretty good and that you should have run

the route a little bit differently or better. Oh, you know, it just can't be satisfied, you know, just always trying to find ways to get better. You know, just don't want to be that guy that has the one good game and then doesn't show up this week in Pagasta, next week and the next game in the game after following a week. So it just kind of figuring out what I need to do better to perfect my craft and just keep on continue to work on things that

can help me get better. Four catches eighty plus yards in a touchdown in your first NFL preseason game. Did that go about as well as you could have hoped? Oh? Yeah, definitely just wanted to go out there. I feel like I could have had a more a couple of more yards, a couple of more catches in there. But you know, it's just always going back looking at that film saying, well, Okay, that's why I did last game, and let's trying not to make those mistakes or just do the same things,

trying to get better each week. But definitely something I was very proud of, like you said, first game, to have those stats, but you know, we got to continue to get better. We're chatting with Kendrick Pryor. It seems to me from watching these practices that you have been getting better and better and more comfortable almost by the day over the last week or two. Is that how

you feel about it? Oh yeah, definitely, just things slowing down, you know, just gave me more comfortable with the playbook when I'm not thinking as much, and I'm actually can now just go out there and play football and just showcase what I can do in the field. So yeah, every days been slowing. Things been slowing down from me. I mean, you know, it's still some definitely some stuff

areas I can prove when things I can work. But but I feel like that's just gonna come more and more of a time, you know, just seeing how things work, getting the flow the game, and then just you know, watching film, talking pot after again, just you know, making those corrections. So it's just, like I said, just getting more comfortable with things starting to slow down while I'm not thinking as much anymore, or now I'm just kind of playing football. How did yesterday feel the day after

a performance like that in your debut. I'm sure you're getting a lot of messages and so forth. How did that feel to you? Oh? It felt good, you know, kind of like when I got in the car with my parents after you know what, it seems too happy. I'm like, oh no, I am definitely happy with that kind of when they get out the car. Like like you said, I'm kind of my toughest critic, so just

always trying to find ways to get better. But once I kind of drop my parents, I was like driving back to the hotel, Like that's kind of when it set in. Really just like, oh, like first game, I did pretty good for myself and just kind of continue to build off that. But definitely very happy for how I did from my first game. So it's a good building block. Does it give you a little bit I've

added confidence going into the second game next week? Oh yeah, definitely it's a confidence just to show that, Okay, like I can make those players I belong, You're in it, just like you said, giving me that extra boost of confidence talking to like I said, a couple of my friends, just sending me text message before the game, you know, just not trying to over complicate, overthinking yet first NFL game. Yes,

the NFL. They definitely want to take that moment there, you know, because not a lot of people get the opportunity, but you know, trying not to make it bigger than what it is. You know, still the same game I've been playing since I was younger. So it's just realized getting those texts and then just going out there into having a performance that I had just definitely a confidence boost, so kind of make things that even feel a little comfortable for me, things feel better next week. It's a

great start. Congrats, best of luck next week. Appreciate it. Kenrick was not the only undrafted rookie who performed well. Offensive lineman Desmond Noel out of Coleraine High School was the Bengals highest graded pass blocker according to Pro Football Focus. I'll get to him in just a bit, but first, I caught up this week with a guest who has appeared on this podcast before, Robert Weintraub, who covers the NFL for Football Outsiders and writes about the Bengals for

Cincinnati Magazine. All right, Robert, the Bengals were less than two minutes away from winning the Super Bowl. They addressed their obvious weekness the offensive line. But my handy dandy Football Outsiders Almanac projects Cincinnati to have the seventh highest win total in the AFC. Explain why, Wow, it makes

it sound like that's a bad thing. I mean, remember who youngly won six games and I used the Royal wei in this case, six games in two years, seventh best record in the AFC would have sounded pretty good, you know, maybe before the calendar flipped to January, twenty twenty two. I feel like the expectations definitely got our turbo boost from that last month obviously and into the

super Bowl, as it should. Basically, you have to remember, a football outsiders, our main stat DVOA, which essentially measures down by down efficiency. As we both know, the Bengals were more of a boom er Bus team at large parts of the season last year. As such, their DVOA was not especially high, especially for a team that went to the Super Bowl. You would think it would be

much higher, so it was lower. They'd have that base DBOA projection system that you reference essentially plays out the season one million times, no lasers, no sharks outfitted with lasers involved. However, we do play it out that many times, and you know, they didn't have a huge dvawats as I say, to build upon, and the projection system likes

to see it more than once. I remember we talked, you know, a year ago, and the Browns we're going to the Super Bowl, and the Steelers we're going to be in the four and thirteen team and our numbers spoken otherwise, and everybody's like, why is doing this? Why how can you say that? And it's like, well, you know, it takes more than just one season essentially to convince our numbers. We're going to do that. Still, seventh is good, and you have to remember also that it's really at

the margins where the Bengals have improved. According to our system, They've doubled their likelihood of winning twelve or more games, put their chances of winning five or fewer games in half. So that's where you really look to see where the improvements lie. Listen, as we all know, and as the Bengals proved last season, anything can happen. Everything can happen. The idea that they were saying they're definitely the seventh best team, what does that even really mean? Is the

showing lots going to play six games? Is he going to play twelve games? Is he going to play it all? Well, you never play again fingers crossed? Uh, you know, it's that kind of thing. Who know, that's just you know, an example, right small. You know the injury history that we know the Bengals were pretty fortunate last year, These things can change. On the time. The Ravens were the exact opposite. Their whole team was wiped out by an

injury tsunami. If they're back then being healthy, things look different. Those are just two examples of a million. The idea that we're definitely saying the Bengals are the seventh best team in the AFC isn't necessarily what you should take from it. We should, well you should take is that they're a contender. They've launched themselves out of the bottom of the dregs of the league where they stayed for a couple of years, and to put themselves into a

you know, a solid playoff type team. Now it's just, you know, are the what are the small bits going to be to either launch them back to the super Bowl or we won't even go there, But let's talk about something else. But you know, you know what I'm saying. You know what I'm getting at. Robert Weintraub is our

guests from Football Outsiders and from Cincinnati Magazine. Had you asked me before I picked up the Football Outsiders Almanac if Joe Burrow was good in the red zone last year, I would have said absolutely, and I would have been very wrong. As it turns out. Can you explain the room for growth there for a guy who otherwise is so terrific? Yeah, he was actually based on our numbers

in the red zone. And again, remember our numbers don't factor in all things when it comes to the passing game, but it does factor in sex, which a lot of numbers that you see that love Burrow do not. He was the second to worst quarterback in the red zone

of all qualifying quarterbacks, only Trevor Lawrence was worse. I think we can all close our eyes and picture the Denzel Ward ninety nine yard interception, neat a couple other goal line picks, but it isn't really so much those highlight plays as it was just again but down to down consistency where the Bengals, you know, we all remember the huge plays, the bombs to Chase, the bombs to Higgins plays even to Uzama over the course of the season, but when they got done deep didn't nearly match that

kind of efficiency that they need to have to turn you know what are otherwise field goal drives and thank god for Evan McPherson into touchdown drives. Those four point plays, so to speak, four point drives when they got down deep, really spelled the difference in a lot of close games. And that's definitely a place where I think Zach Taylor

and Joe and the entire offensive unit. I'm sure they have spent a great deal of time this offseason looking for plays that worked, heightening the efficiency and not just relying on you know, Jamar getting open and you know the meme throw it to him regardless of whether he's open. They need to help their efficiency leveled down deep to a much higher capacity than if they do. Boy, the

offense really has this room to grow. As you reference, the Bengals were fortunate where injuries were concerned last year. That's undeniable, and I think the stat exists, whether it's in Football Outsiders or elsewhere. Demonstrated that the difference between their injuries and their opponents injuries was number one in the NFL. Is that the biggest area where the Bengals

were quote unquote lucky? Is there a way to quantify that from the various data the Football Outsiders has, you know, calling it the biggest area, it's definitely up there, and it's definitely something that the Bengals are not used to being in that position, that's for sure. And it does have a what we call plexiglass principle, where wouldn't where it happens one year tends to bounce back the next year.

That doesn't mean that all of a sudden, you know they're going to lose Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase for sizeable chunks of time. You have to remember we do weight the injuries and guys who play more snaps. It's a snap weighted system, so the guys who play more snaps when they get hurt, that goes into the into the algorithm and is weighted. You know, the Angles have also had years when they've had a lot of issues

because their depth was a concern. They had injuries throughout I think backack to just twenty twenty, and when they had that huge run of injuries in the defensive secondary, that really cost them a lot. They wound up playing guys who should never have played. And you know, Burrow got all the attention when he went down, but really that cost them a lot of games as well. The fact they didn't have that kind of depth of good players to come in and take over for guys who

were nicked in or out for the season. God forbid. It's really the kind of thing where it's very difficult to predict. That was obviously a huge factor in what the Bengals did last year, but at the same time, again according to our numbers, it's not like they were at the top of the pyramid. You know, they had some guys injured, and there was definitely a room to grow in that sense too, So they can absorb a couple more injuries this year, improve the team anyway, and

still be in a good position. I think a lot of fans are sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know, obviously we're not telling you can talking about Joe Burrow, but if any of the top five or eight players go down, that's caused for alarm. That's really when you have a team wide run of injuries like Baltimore half last year, that's what it really gets to a point where it affects your team and win loss record. Otherwise shouldn't be something that keep fans

up at night. I'm glad you mentioned Baltimore because you wrote the Bengals chapter in this year's Football Outsiders Almanac. You also wrote the Ravens chapter, and I didn't realize until reading what you wrote about Baltimore that the Ravens truly had a historically bad season when it comes to injuries.

We all knew it was bad. I didn't realize this was like NFL history bad, right, the worst since we've been doing it, since we put together that just a games lost stat And I didn't really realize it either until we ran the numbers and it came out that way. And again, it's not just because of the guys you can think of up the top of your head. You

got hurt Marcus Peters and JK. Dobbins and a couple other other quote unquote star players, but it was really the sort of team wide and also not just for the entire season, but guys missing a month here, Rashad Bateman missed the first half of the season. Obviously, Lamar Jackson went down near the end of the season, but still count And the more of these guys you know, had played before that also affects the way that that

number is tabulated. But no question, it was the worst in this century is basically when we've been doing that number, and it was by far the worse, not just you know, sort of sneaking ahead of one team here or there. I mean, they were lapping the field. I think I compared them to a secretariat at the belt On in

that chapter so it was definitely historic. It's definitely a reason why the Ravens fans are a little chesty this summer because they assume things will just snap back to the way they were before all the injuries hit, and if they certainly will be improved, and having players the likes of the guys we mentioned on the field for

the entirety of the season will obviously help them. Still, as I write in the chapter, there's a lot of other issues underlying all that, and you can't just point to with the injuries and say that was a reason why they, you know, collapse at the end of the season, And that's not necessarily a reason why they're all of a sudden going to turn around and go thirteen and four this year. Either they realized they had some issues, they had six fourth round draft picks and use them all.

I think they should tell you that what they thought about the guys in their reserve units and their depth pieces that they needed to improve, similar to Cincinnati, when guys like that go down and you're not confident in the next wave of players, that affects the team all the way through. Our guest is Robert Weintraub from Football Outsiders, in Cincinnati Magazine. You can follow them on Twitter at Rob Wine w ei N. Let's talk about the Bengals

offensive line improvements. We tend to look at that as okay, now we can cut down on the sacks, and then clearly that would be a good thing. Nobody would be bothered by that. But do you think that's the biggest way they stand to benefit by having a better offensive line. It's definitely up there, there's no question about that. You know, we talk about the sacks, and yes, they were thirty first in our adjusted sackurate. They were also thirty first

in power situations, which is almost as important. You know, third down and short, fourth down and short. We don't have to bring up the Super Bowl to remember. You got to convert those situations, and the Bengals were second and lass in the league at doing so. They also gave up by far the most in the league in terms of sacks when we marked it as rusher untouched, which essentially means somebody did not pick up the blitzer or the stunt completely kerfuffled the line and they was

all over for Joel. Basically, you'll eliminate sort of picking number fifteen of those kind of plays, of the sacks that he had to take or throw away the ball in key situations, handful of times where they convert on third and short where they didn't last year. These are the small things that spell the difference throughout the season in winning or losing. They're the small things that affect

our numbers in terms of efficiency. And there are the small things that you would wind up putting the Bengals back in the Super Bowl. They were in a lot of ways much better in the playoffs defensively when you look at those same stats, and on special teams to a lesser degree. And that's a big reason why they went to the Super Bowls, because they played and came up in those timely situations on defense so often game

after game. And you know, if the Bengals imports on the offensive line means that they have those similar improvements on offense. I think we're all pretty segment about the abilities of the skill players. You know, it's just a matter of how those guys are going to gel the new players, the hard seas as I call them Kappa Carris mccollins, if they can all blend together. You know, the way we saw Kansas City's line, for example, blend

together pretty rapidly last year and avoid injuries. Obviously, you know, they don't have to become the best line in the league by any stretch. With the guys that have the playmakers Cincinnati has, you know, all they have to do is get out of the bottom of the league and get into the twenties. That would be okay, into the teams in terms of league ranking. Then again, it's similar to what we is tucked about the offense. As you know,

a turbo boost and a sky's the limit. There's no reason why they can't, you know, be at the top of the league in terms of points, score and efficiency. So there's a lot of riding on it. Those three imports are gonna have a lot of light on them. I prefer to have seen their depth look a little bit better in the first preseason game, but you know it was only the first preseason game. A lot of room for improvement, and there's still I think moves to be made in terms of guys who are not on

the team yet. No team is finished, as we know, until you know they say you can't make any more moves. So yes, I do think the offensive line it's a cliche, but that's definitely the place where you look to first for an improvement. In terms of the Bengals, let's talk about what the Bengals did in the draft, because one of the guiding principles in the Football Outsiders Almanac every year is that establishing the run is wrong. That's not the way to win football games. You pass to build

the lead. It's a more efficient way of scoring points, and then you run the ball to main tying the lead, to work the clock, etc. So in the draft, the Bengals go heavy on defensive backs to counter the modern passing game. What did you think of that approach? Yeah, I think it made all the sense in the world, and I think it's all part of lou Ana Rumo still. You know, he took a lot of last season to

kind of figure out what worked, what didn't work. He was kind of a mad scientist even as the season was going along, and I think he discovered something certainly hit on it towards the end of the season and obviously in the playoffs, which was that having multi positional players who can do a lot of things in the secondary, dropping eight players at a time or pretending to and bringing bwitzers from where you don't know they're coming from.

And you know, obviously having a strong pass rush as a key to that too, but having guys who can run and who can play multiple positions in the secondary is it's, you know, the gold standard right now in the NFL, and I think you're seeing that around the league and the Bengals are right there at the forefront for once, which is nice. And yeah, I think Dax Hill showed it just at him his first game too, where he made a lot of plays. It's a heavy guy. He can do a lot of things on the field,

even as a rookie. They're giving him a lot of stuff to, you know, kind of take on his plate and call some secondary plays in the back end and be ready to take over at a moment's notice at every secondary position, which is obviously critical. Again, the depth that we keep referring to, Cam Taylor, Brittain, Tyson, Anderson just fall into that same mold of guys. Obviously they what the Bengals like to do. You've talked about it

in your profiles of the draft. They're leaders, they were college captains, They're guys who were kind of, you know, boisterous and talkative dudes. All that all is great. What they can really do is run and play a lot of positions and hit, and I think that's what lou Eneruma wants to see. And I think you know that the money is in the draft, as we always talk about. You know, you can talk a good game about any position, but who your draft really defines the kind of team

that you want to build. And that's what the Bank will showed with these picks, no question. A few more questions for Robert Weintraub. So when you write for Football Outsiders, you do not do it from the perspective of a Bengals fan, But when you write for Cincinnati Magazine, it's a little bit different. And immediately after the Super Bowl you wrote the following, I am not over it. I will never be over it. That was February. How you're doing six months later, not over it, never again to

be over it. I mean, listen, I think I mentioned this in the Football Outsiders too. You know, I go back to those eighties Super Bowls. I was a kid, but I still go back that far, and it wasn't quite like those losses where the team was either the first or second best team in the league by consensus, and they lost heartbreakers, and you got to think, Wow, this is our this is a great team that had their chance, and maybe we're not going to have another one,

at least anytime soon. This felt, obviously, as we discussed before the Super Bowl, a lot different. This was much more of a rocketship ride to the moon out of nowhere. It feels much more sustainable. Still got Joe Burrow on that all important rookie contract. They're adding to the team. They have the you know three white outcomo that's the envy of the league. We just discussed the offensive line, the defense, and special teams were the key to their around.

They have a really good base and they have a really good, you know team overall. We talked about how seventh in the AFC didn't really float your boat necessarily, but listen, they're right up there. I think anybody would tell you, including me, that they're definitely a playoff slash Super Bowl contender this season. So I feel in that sense, you know, far more optimistic than that necessarily did after

the other two Super Bowls. But you're in the Super Bowl, you had the ball, you're driving the field with seconds to play, and a chance to win it, and you know, the jamar Chas is breaking wide open, and you don't get that play pulled off for that in various other reasons.

You know, he just you'll never ever get that one back, and it doesn't I know, we talked about it before the game that I worried that losing in the Super Bowl would leave sort of a bittersweet taste on that great ride that they had, and I don't think it necessarily did. I think most Bengal fans kind of took it pretty well. Maybe if they'd gotten slaughtered in the game, it would have been sort of, oh, you know, they were pretenders after all, and just got lucky for a

few weeks in the playoffs. I don't think they did that. They went toe to toe with the Super Bowl champs, showed that they could well have been Super Bowl champs and maybe have a chance to do that now, if not this year, certainly in the next couple of years and beyond. So I feel good about that in the macro sense, but in the micro sense, I will never

be over it now, absolutely not. Robert had approximately this time last year, you wrote a fabulous profile of my broadcast partner Dave Lapham for Cincinnati Magazine the definitive Dave Lapham profile, which was great. What do we have to look forward to as the season approaches with the Bengals getting set to open up against the Steelers at home. I was hoping to write the definitive Dan Horde profile. My editors say he's way too overexposed. Nobody would want

to read the correct accurate. Your editors are correct. Now, well we have is a much more straightforward sense this year. But a two part Bengals preview coming in Cincinnati Magazine, So I'll show you how the Bengals have gone up the step ladder in terms of importance in the Cincinnati area. Last year I only wrote the one. So we'll talk about, you know, everything we just talked about and more. And you know, I'm hoping to still write the definitive Joe

Burrow profile. We'll see if that actually happens. We've put in our request, but you know that these things take time. I think Dave was certainly much more in terms of longevity and importance the Cincinnati's scene low these many years, deserved to be the man who came first. The great thing about the Bengals is now there's no shortage of profile material. So you got a lot of guys, a lot of interesting personalities, and that goes for the front office too and the sideline. So in that sense, the

Bengals are in a great shape. Not only are they better on a field, but they're much more interesting, you know, off the field. And that was a pretty much a definitive part of those great eighties teams that the city fell in love with them beyond as I was in New York at the time, but you know, everybody loved the fact that the team had a personality and they do again, and that's really key. It's not just that they win some ball games. You look at the Bengals

and you immediately think of something. You think of that Joe Burrow swagger, those long balls to Chase hitting the gritty, all the other things that go with the Bengals, and the fact that they have this sort of you know, kind of rising profile in the league. They have the white helmets going, which is also a great touch. I was very happy to say that when I get that on record, and you know, it's a team on their rise. Now they just have to have the winning continue to

go along with that. Whether it's in pay Corps Stadium or Paul Brown Stadium, it all comes down to those ws. Hopefully they'll continue and go match last year's effort with one extra win attached to it. Robert, as you once said of Joe Burrow, he uses awesomeness out of every pore. Indeed, that's still probably my all time favorite line about Joe Burrow, and it's proven to be true. It's an understatement of anything.

That's the amazing thing. Always great to catch up. Really enjoyed the chapter on the Bengals and Football Outsiders and always enjoy your work in Cincinnati Magazine. Thanks so much for the time, and last year we did it right before the Super Bowl, so hopefully I'll be reaching out again then absolutely, let's hope fingers crossed. Thanks so much, Dan, really appreciate it. Before getting to my next guest, here's a reminder that the Bengals Booth podcast is presented by

Ultimate Bengals, the free to play fantasy football game. This past season, Ultimate Bengals awarded a weekly winner during the course of the year with tickets, autograph merchandise, and money can't buy experiences all up for grabs. Find Ultimate Bengals in the App Store and Google Play. Offensive lineman Desmond no Well is an undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic

who grew up in Cincinnati. According to Pro Football Focus, he was in for ten pass blocking snaps in week one of the preseason and did not allow a sack, hit, or hurry and PFF was not the only source to give him a solid grade Jasmin. When it comes to offensive line play, I defer to Dave Lapham. He's the expert in our radio booth. Lap thought, you played really well in your NFL preseason debut last week. How did

you feel about it? Oh? I felt really good. I mean, obviously there's always things to clean up and improve on my game. Coming from Laplin that that means a lot. I'm excited about that. So hopefully I'll just keep working and just keep checking advice from these coaches and do what I'm coaching. Do and a little turner hall I want. You're a Cincinnati kid out of Coleraine High School. How big was the rooting section for that first preseason game?

A lot of tickets, A lot of people they're rooting for me, not just in the family and frons section just just in general though, you know, to say, in touch with everybody in the community that I knew from the past with Colereene, so, um, it was crazy. It was a dream out there for sure for the first game. Did I read correctly that mom is within walking distance at pay Court Stadium? Yeah? Definitely. Yeah, she's living downtown,

so she's really close, really active. Was it surreal for you to take the field in a Cincinnati Bengals uniform being from here, Yeah, that's not even the word. I really couldn't even explain the type of feeling I was getting. Um. I mean, I've been to so many games, seeing so many players play on this field, and just to be on the field and actually get to play, actually get to get in and get some reps. It was crazy. It'll be a memory that I'll always hold with me.

For sure. We're visiting with offensive lineman Desmond Noel. There have been some Bengals legends at training camp. Anthony Munio's talk to the O line. Well, he Anderson addressed the team. Chad Johnson has been here. Does that make you feel like a kid again when you see those guys? Definitely? I mean, you know, when when I was a kid. Like I've said before, like I always thought I had a legitimate side of in the league, but you know,

playing for the bank is just crazy. So to see all these legends come and give us wise words, Um, it's unreal. The goal is obviously to make the team, but is the goal within the goal to make the practice squad initially, stick with the team, continue to develop, continue to learn, and ultimately hope to get a shot at the regular roster. Um, Yeah, I think so. I

think that's a direction. But you know, at the end of the day, like uh, like I said, I'm just gonna do what I'm coached to do and whatever position they feel like they want to put me in, you know, I'm just gonna keep working, you know, whatever I can do for the team, whatever role they want me to play, I'll play that role. So it's an NFL training camp more or less what you expected or is it different

in any way? Um, it's a little bit different. You know a college that they really depend on what college you go to, they really try to beat you up, you know what I mean. But you know now in this in the league, you know, camp is just they want to see something. They want to see you work. You know, they want to see your talents on the field, so it's not necessarily you know them how to beat you up and physically like that. But um, the mental game is it's a lot deeper. Obviously, the playbook is

is deep. The the semantics, everything is a lot deeper. So that adds a whole new aspect of the game. We're chatting the Desmond Noel. What do you think of Frank Pollock? Great coach even you know when you got the legends come through like Emuneus talk to hus as a group, and he just thinks he's a great coach. You know, he thinks that we could be a really great old line as long as we just are do do what we coach will do and just listen to listen to Pollock. So I think he's a great coach.

This might come as a surprise, but I once had red hair. When I was young and had hair, it was raddy, you have very bright red hair. Were you an Andy Dalton guy as a result? I mean, I don't know if I was an any daln guy. You know, maybe I'll related to him a little bit. I had the same kind of nicknames and stuff like that. But yeah, I watched any doing a lot, you know what I mean. It's definitely a player I looked up to when I was younger. So yeah, so if he was the red rifle,

what were you? Whatever they want to called me. You know, I'm putting names on myselves, whatever, whatever you guys want to call me. So it's a road game this week in New York against the Giants. You'll have the whole experience of traveling with an NFL team, taking the field in a road stadium that you've seen a million times on TV. Is that especially exciting prospect for you? Definitely? Just being able to get on the road with the with the team is in itself very cool, a dream

and within itself. So I'm excited to see how it goes. You know, how everything is set up, how they how they run their team on the road, and yeah, we'll see what I'm excited for them, all right. Well, Number sixty two Dave Lapham back in the day, gave number sixty Desmond Noel his stamp of approval in Week one, best of luck and having another excellent performance. And I appreciate your time. I appreciate too, thank you. Sunday's game

and Medlife Stadium starts at seven o'clock. Our pregame coverage on the Bengals Radio Network will begin at five thirty. Finally, time to discuss the latest training camp developments with Bengals dot Com editor Jeff Butch Hobson. All right, but let's start with Joe Burrow. He's practiced a couple of times. Looks like he dropped a few pounds, but other than that, looks normal. Can we safely say at this point that they didn't really miss a beat as a team and

that they should be okay going forward. You know, we haven't seen him with the team yet, you know, and lets it will be. I remember how it was last year, and maybe it was because you know of his rehab and everything. But it's kind of like watching you know, making sausage made, kind of watching offense get going, you know, with a new when the quarterback comes back and the pads are on, and it never just no matter who

it is, it never seems to look good early. And now maybe last year that was just because you know, Joe is coming off the because I remember, we all remember how the first couple of practices everybody looked a little bit out of sink so, but I think they're fathering along now, you know. But I just think probably it's you know, it's it just seems like I kind of we've kind of seen this move before. He'll go out there and he'll probably be you know, he'll have

a good first day. He might go down the next day. You know, it's gonna be like watching the stock market and everybody's gonna be petrified. And I think he'll be fine. But I mean, I think it's just gonna take take time. What's interesting to me, Hordy is, and this kind of plays into the Borough question, is you know, we may this may be the first preseason ever where we don't see a starting player, even even for a couple of snaps.

I mean, that seems to be where it's trendling, So you know, I don't I just think it's gonna be it's gonna be kind of interesting how this thing unfolds. They play the Giants this Sunday. Their final preseason game is against the Rams the following week at pay Course Stadium, but they're gonna have two joint practices with the Rams before that game. Do you think that those have basically

become the preseason games for the starters. I absolutely we do think that, and I think we may be getting a glimpse of the future if we haven't seen it already maybe, you know, I think it's been going on the last couple of years, kind of quietly behind the scenes.

But I think it's interesting that the guy who's kind of at the forefront of this, protecting players and taking a really light Sean McVay, Zach Taylor, you know, mentored under him and with the Rams took a lot, you know, copied a lot of the pro you know, you're kind of looking at mirror programs. That's what made the Super Bowl so interesting, the way they run this thing and the fact that they're kind of got the last tune

up before the season open. I think it's kind of ironic because I don't think I think exactly what you said. I think the games are probably going to be played Tuesday or whenever it is Wednesday, Thursday, whenever. The practices are those two practices those I don't think we'll see anybody in the game. I don't know that may change,

but yeah, it's kind of interesting. It's interesting that the two guys, you know that McVeigh is here, and he's kind of he kind of think it kind of he made that a bit of a fashion when they when they became so successful. So it's interesting to see the kind of looking kind of looking in the mirror here. He's a pretty good guy to copy. Two super Bowl trips,

including a super Bowl title before the age of forty. Yeah, I mean I I was talking to somebody who said, uh, kind of it was a snuck comment, said, you know, just could just stand next to Sean McVay. What's that mean? Well, it means a hell of a lot because just of what you said, what he's accomplished it. But I think even more impressively is how he's done it. And this is where I tipped my hat to Zach, because I think Zach has has seen the future and what it

means and how to handle players. And I think he's done a hell of a job with that. I really do think he's uh really done a great job. He did a great job last year getting the guys to the gate. I thought he did a good job in the pandemic. He han't. I mean, nobody, nobody had coached in a in a once in a hundred year pandemic. You know, the last guy who did it was George Hollis from THEE in the nineteen twenty pandemic. Nobody known how to do it right, So and I thought he

did a good job. They didn't have a good record, but I thought he got everybody to the gate and uh, you know, and I think he learned He learned it on the McVeigh. So I listen to the guys, what you said, so so successful theft the age of forty. I mean he's got to be successful. They're building a statue of him in Miami of Ohio, so he must be good. But yeah, no, I think the fact that Zach did stand next to McVeigh, I think is in is in his favor. Let's turn to the offensive line.

Four of the five projected starters did not play against Arizona, but most of the guys who did play didn't have a stellar night against the Cardinals. Is that a concern at this early juncture or is that part for the

course when you're talking about second and third string offensive lineman. Well, I think it's probably in one spot you're you're talking about, you know, they'd like to see probably Jackson Carmen probably be transfer transfer what he's done in practice, because he's practice very well, they'd like to, you know, probably we're hoping he would, you know, uh, transition a little bit better into a game situation. But I think with Jackson, I mean, he's so under the microscope. I think he

had you know, he had some bad plays. I think they all had some bad plays. I also think he had some good plays. So this rush to you know, sentence Jackson common to the to the dust spin and I think is a bit is a bit premature, you know. I think again, this is another thing where uh, you know, every day is every hour now is bringing stunning breaking news and we have to react to it, you know, And so it's but I think this is going to be a again, the practices are probably just as important,

maybe more important, than the games. They got about seven or eight of those left to get the two games. So I think, uh, you know, I do you know, I was and you know in in you know this Hordy because you watch it with lap and and uh you think maybe a guy didn't play particularly well, and then you talk to the coaches and you know, like like Trey Hill, I think I think they like what

I think they like how Trey Hills trending. And he's a key guy because you know, he's gonna have to play both, you know, center and guard, backing up Ted Carris at center. So you know, I think, uh, you know, I think there's always concerned particularly around this offensive line, given the history of the last you know year and h but I think there, you know, it's uh, you know, it's myke This is where I this is the time year I always pull out to Kevin Bacon line and

animal house, you know, remain calm and you know. So, I mean, if we're having this discussion on Labor Day, you know, yeah, but I still think we've got a ways to go. Talking to coaches and scouts off the record, they basically say exactly what you were saying about Jackson Carmen. It wasn't bad on every snap or a couple of glaring ones that you could see replayed ad nauseam on TV or on Twitter or whatever. But there were good things in the game, and the things that he did

poorly are very correctable. So let's not bury him based on a half of a game against the Cardinals. On the other hand, the Bengals offensive or the highest graded offensive lineman, at least according to PFF, was Cordell Wolson. They gave him a seventy four point eight. So what do you think happens this week? Does Wolson get the opportunity to start? Obviously he practiced with the ones this week and Jackson has a rap on his elbow. That's what it would seem, you know, it seemed to be

they just switch it. I think maybe you know, Wolson gets his thirty or so snaps in the first half, Jackson goes in the second. That would seem to be where it's trendling. I know, I don't think they're two, you know, I don't think they're two into the Well, we gotta play, you know, we gotta playim against better competition or whatever, because I think they feel like they're getting that out here right, you know. And I think that you know, they're going against the ones he's going against.

You know, the defensive line is pretty good now that Bengals defensive line is good. And it's something that Wolson told me that I thought was interesting. He thought that the train the training camp practice is really prepared him well for the game as far as the speed and everything like that. And he thought it was. You know, obviously it's differently North Dakota. You know, that's that's it's

a big gap. But he was prepared for that. He was prepared with that switch, which I found kind of interesting. So I think it tells me too how important the practices are because Zach is running him, you know. I thought he delved into that. That was kind of interesting in the other day when he was talking about why he wanted to go two days with pads and then take a day, you know, take a day off from the field, and then go at it, you know, go

hide for two days and then back off. And I think you play faster, you practice faster, you know, And so I think that's and I think you can see that maybe what Volson was saying. And Volson looked pretty good. It has been interesting to watch that in this camp because with that philosophy now of two days and pads and a day off, they really get after it on those two days. It's not like a few periods are

kind of physical and then they back way down. They're going hard for two solid days and pads and then have that recovery day. And you know, even even in the back end on seven and seven. You know, they're chicken fighting. They're going they're going forward, you know, big time. I mean, that's a That's what I thought was kind of nice to see the uh on Monday with te Higgins was going up and being physical with that shoulder.

You know, that's his game, you know, and it was it was good to see that in another kind of practice, she might not see that, oh back off of them and all that and everything. So it is an interesting approach and it's, uh, it's kind of you know, it is it is in the bottom line is it's getting them ready for what they'll see on the eleventh. As listeners have already heard on this podcast, we listened to Kendrick Pryor, who had a great preseason debut four catches

eighty nine yards in a touchdown. Can he or Qualmi Lasseter make the fifty three man roster barring an injury or are they trying to secure spots on the practice squad. Yeah, I think Laster's got the best shot, I think because he can return, but he would have to do an Alex Ericsson and you know, go crazy on three punts because I'm gonna be hard to blow Trent Taylor out of there. Particularly, I thought how well he played from

scrimmage in the opener against Arizona. I mean, he showed why they love him, because he's just reliable, you know. So you know, it's a tougher client for Prior because Prior doesn't return. You know, I think I think they'd like to keep six receivers, which I find interesting since they are such are they're a three receiver team. You think they keep seven, but you know they want to keep it at six, and because I think they want to keep some extra stuff for you know, defense of

an offensive lineman. But you know, if Prior, what if Prior plays like he did, you know, the next two games, you know, you might have to go with seven receivers. Maybe if he if he's that good, if he's really that developing, that that well, but that's a tough room. You know, that's a tough room. I think they're going for practice. I think they're going for practice squad spots. It's nothing wrong with that because you know, Stanley Morgan came out of there and has become a solid player.

You know. Now, I think they're also looking on the other end, and I say, I think they'd also probably like to like to upgrade a little bit that first guy off the bench. But you know, Mike Thomas is a fine player too. I mean, I don't think you're gonna find much better than Mike Thomas out there who knows the system. They really trust him, and that's a big thing. Coaches trust Mike Thomas. He's a good teams player. So you know, I don't don't poo poo him being

the fourth because I think he'd be high pressed. They do much better than that if you wanted to, you know, if you wanted to go around the league and find something. And Stanley as solid as the fifth, you know, they probably like to see him do a little bit more from scrimmage. But he's such a solid teams player. And then you go, you know that that six guys probably gonna be Taylors because he's such a good returner. But if Kwamy, you know, if Kwamy blows him out, then

he would get the job. But like I said, that's a hard that's going to be a hard number. And maybe maybe and maybe prior makes him keep set up. I think Trent Taylor's also having a really good camp. It's not just the preseason game. I mean, he's targeted four times and had four catches, so he couldn't have done any better than that against the Cardinals. But when I watched these wide receiver drills, he looks like he's got the best short space quickness of any guy on

that receiving corps. And he didn't play a big role as a receiver last year. He wasn't active until the final four games of the season, I don't think, and then the postseason. But when they needed a two point conversion to tie the Cardinals in the playoffs, that's the guy they went to. No, there's no question. And I think on the other side of the ball, he got

a guy like Clay Johnston. He made one. He was on the field for one play in the playoff game and he stopped the King Derrick Henry on a two point conversion that probably got him into the AFC Championship game. And now a guy like that, he's got a tough nut two linebacker. But you know, performing down the stretch and situations like that pretty hard to get guys out

of here. So Johnston, I think, is a you know, you get to think about him as a possible fifth pack or you know, he'll stay here on the practice squad. But then, of course you have the universal question, would a guy like would guys like Lasseter Prior with their tape and Johnston with his tape, with his good tape, would they survive, you know, the cutdown or would they

get claimed? Always a concern year after year, no question. Also, I think I misspoken said the Cardinals when I meant the Chiefs, referring to the Trent Taylor two point conversion. Let's get to some news of the week. Second year rush end Whyatt Hubert announced his retirement. He's been injured NonStop, unfortunately since being drafted in the seventh round. Last year, undrafted offensive lineman Ben Brown suffered a season ending torn tornpacktoral,

so we're not going to see him this year. Tight Endrew Sample is walking around at a knee brace. It's going to be a couple of weeks probably for him. Backup tight end Mitchell Wilcox has been in a walking boot after twisting his ankle or hurting his foot, I'm not sure which. In the preseason opener, Cam Taylor Britt hasn't practiced for several days because of a core muscle problem. Do you see the Bengals having to you know, go out and get somebody at one of these spots, just

to add depth to the roster. I think even probably before Wilcox get hurt, I think probably they were looking at to upgrade a little bit at tight end. And I think that's what they're doing right now. They're trying to upgrade the final How do you do that? Can you upgrade that final spot? You know? And uh, you know, I think see how long tailor Brits out, you know, and see what their reaction is. I think they'd like to,

you know, before they made a move. I think there, I mean, see how long Brits you know, is he going to be back in three days or three months? I have no idea. I don't know. We haven't seen him. So I think that's why all these guys are playing. You know, all these guys are you know, what you need now is right? Is right? That's what you're looking for is a fifth corner right behind Trey Flowers? Who's

your fourth? So? Um, you know, I think if you know, if you can, you upgrade over what you've got with the with the rookie, you know, with the Alan Georges and the Dalante hoods and if you can't upgrade, they would do it. But like I said, I don't I don't know. I don't think we're there yet. I think, you know, they got to find out more about Taylor Britain, and they got to find out more about you know,

how these other kids are playing. But I think tight end, I think it's something that's a spot they've always been. I think trying to really upgrade there and m and I think it's you know, uh with the offensive line. I think what Brown at best probably would have been on the practice squad. It's too bad. They like him. I think they think he's got a pretty good future so uh that that's too bad that he probably gonna

lose a year on a practice squad. But I'm not sure they make a move there either, because it's a pretty it's a pretty full you know, it's pretty full there right now. You also have an issue right now where every NFL team has nearly ninety guys on the roster, so the pool of players that could actually help your team during the season probably isn't great until cutdown day.

You can you know, always claim guys that are out there at that point and also pull off a trade just before the start of the season, much like they did last year to get b J. Hill. So maybe that's when they eventually fill some of that depth after teams have determined, you know who they can no longer

keep on their fifty three man rosters. Yeah, I think we're talking about we're talking about September decisions really, I mean Labor Day decisions, because now the way the way I think it's horty if i'm if I'm not mistaken, it's kind of it's kind of pushed back a little bit in that we'll push back up or however you

want to look at it. But they've got some extra time now between after the last preseason game and before to you know open I think they get two full weeks, so, you know, I think historically it had been nine or ten, so they've got some time to play with there, and as you noted, they did the b J. Hill Billy Price deal at that time. But you know, I think

that will give them enough time. The three preseason games and all those practices that we're talking about, it's going to give them enough time to make them evaluate their own guys and if they got to go get somebody I'm gonna make a prediction for you. By the way, the Cleveland Browns have lost two centers with the season ending injuries. Apparently in training camp. Billy Price is still out there. But if he winds up in Cleveland, that's amazing that Billy Price is still out there. I think

I thought he was. I thought he was okay here, I really was. I think the worst thing that can happen to a guy who get draft him in the first round because you're supposed to be superman or something, and if you're just a solid player, that doesn't help you. You know, um it. It would be interesting if with Cleveland, if they show up and we play them, and they've got and they've got Pricent and Billy and Billy Price, is there is their center. I mean, it's you can't.

That's why you can't. All these inner all these predictions, these these this preseason stuff. It's it's it's a you can maybe do it in baseball, whether it just or basketball or it just seems like football is even though it's the ultimate team game, it seems to be the one most affected by personnel, but you know, by injuries. It's it's really so it's just uh, you know that's why I think again it goes back to highest statut. The you know, this interview with me is getting borrowed. Ready,

that's the to me, that's the story. If you can, if you can get to the gate with your team intact, you get a shot, you know, I mean, you gotta I mean, you know, it's not like baseball where if you get healthy to the gate, you know, five teams have a chance. You know it pretty much if you get a you know, pretty much, you get to the gate intact. In the NFL get a shot of making

the playoffs if you got a half decent club. So I think, you know, and you know this, you go, you read, You need the headlines every you know, every hour on the hour, looking at if somebody goes down, you know, I mean Zach Wilson did there. That is they're gonna be They're gonna be issuing bulletins in New York today on Zach Wilson's surgery. It's gonna be like the James Garfield medical updates, you know, when he was

shot the President of United States. They're gonna you know, is it gonna be two to four weeks or is there more damage you know, you know what, maybe maybe he shouldn't have played, you know, I mean, I just I just you know, yeah, I know he's got to develop and all that stuff, but you know, wow, get your club to the gate. That's going to do it. For this episode of The Bengals Booth Podcast, presented by Ultimate Bengals. Download Ultimate Bengals ahead of the twenty twenty

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