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Bengals remaining salary cap space for quite a while. Let's talk about what they could do with that space to finish up their offseason. You are Locked On Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Well not Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jakelsco. He's your
host, James Rapeen. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast network. Here on Lockdown Bengals, covering your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcasts. If you're new to the show, you can always subscribe. That will make it very easy to see when we upload our content every day and
keep you informed on all things Bengals with the latest and greatest. Today, for example, we're going to catch you up on the Bengal salary cap position and a lot of people are asking about will they sign an offensive lineman, will they sign a corner, will they sign a running back? What about Samaj p Ryan reunion. We'll talk about those possibilities. We'll also get into
the punter battle. That's coming this year in training camp and look for impact in year one from this year's draft class and where that's going to come from how likely it is to occur, James. Let's get started with the salary cat situation. According to overthecap dot com, Cincinnati Bengals have about twenty three million dollars in salary cap space. I'll let you know where I have that number. But Will Lou had a question about this is we're gonna do this
mailbag style. The Bengal still have twenty million dollars in salary cap space. Are they going to use it for extensions or will they sign at least one more quality free agent like Elias Campbell, Zavian Howard or Steve Nelson and some others like Cee Santa Diista on Twitter was also wondering, well they bring in a veteran into your offensive lineman backup er to compete. He's thinking of Dalton Reisner. So a lot of questions like this corner inter your offensive lineman running
back. Where are they going to spend that money? Well, they should spend it, and let's start here. The Bengals are going to nestle away a good amount as I come out of the hood on YouTube, and they're going to nestle a good amount of that away for Jamar Chase might not like it. I promise you that's on their mind, and that's high on their priority list, more more so than probably any veteran that they could sign.
Now, watch between now and when we oppost this, which there is going to be a few hour gap, they'll sign someone Jake and make me eat my words. That doesn't mean they shouldn't, because I think they should. And of all those names that you mentioned, I think there are two that stand out that I would sign. Like if Duke Tobin called me, or Katie Blackburn called me, or heck, if Mike Brown called me and said, James, who should we sign? I would say, well, thirty
eight year old Calias Campbell's still got some juice left. And thirty year old twenty nine year old Zavian Howard, well, he could probably shore up that secondary. Give Loua a couple more pieces here, and give yourself a they're probably one year deals, but give yourself two veterans that have been there, done that that are looking for a ring. So those are two names.
The other when I think of running backs would be Jerck McKinnon. I think Jack McKinnon some when they were open to signing last year didn't come together. Maybe that could happened this year. But there isn't much out there running back wise, So where do I think the money will go? I think it's extensions number one Jamar Chase, and then a much much smaller extension for Evan Moneymack macpherson, and then after that, I think it'll trickle down to maybe
an extension for one of these other veterans. I don't want to get into that today because who knows if it actually happens. But could they sign someone else? Could they bring in an external free agent? I wouldn't rule it out. I don't think it will be three like I named, but I could see them signing a corner at some point. I could see them adding one running back at some point because they didn't draft one. It wouldn't shock me if they did that. You did not mention interior offensive line depth.
They did draft Matt Lee. Of course, they drafted a player that plays one interior offensive line positioned are we are you suggesting they're just happy with their interior offensive line depth behind their starters? How many picks did they have in this year's draft? Jake, I think as many as I have fingers? All right, so they had ten picks. We talked a decent amount. We spent a lot of time talking about a man rounds three through five.
Interior, you get that guard center flex. I just there's no way they didn't like some of those guys. There's just no way right where it didn't line up. I find it very very hard to believe where that was the case. And obviously they get Matt Lee, someone that you are really really really really really bullish on. But your point, yeah, I mean it's it's Cody Ford and Jackson Kirkland. Now they may feel really good about Cody Ford the guard, and if they do, Matt Lee replaces Max Sharping as
your backup center potentially, and then there you go. You know, I do wonder do they think Marius Mims has a little flex there? I don't know, but yeah, I mean would be open to adding one. Of course, I would have drafted one plus Matt Lee. But again, Duke didn't call me to hit hammer the point home. It seems like they're pretty
comfortable with their interior. Offensive line deft is what we're getting at here, even though both of us think that it would make sense to bring in a veteran piece that has a bit of a higher history of performance than what they've got. You said, Jackson Kirkland, maybe you met Jackson Carmen. Maybe you met Jackson Kirkland. Jackson Carmen also in the mix for backing up I guess four different offensive line spots, and I still think we expect Jackson Carmen
to be on the roster this year. But outside of that, the depth on this offensive line unit right now does leave me asking questions, even after adding a Marius Wims of Matt Lee in the draft, mostly because Lee, even if he does win the backup center job, it's probably a center only with his size being just north of three hundred is what he played at in college, even though he was down to two eighty eight at the East West trianbal So I would be open to that, but it doesn't seem like to
me the Bengals are the type of team that makes these moves. These are the kinds of moves that you know the Baltimore Ravens make. This is a point of criticism for the Cincinnati Bengals bringing in the high quality, low dollar budget older players that are looking for a chance to win. And those are the players we've talked about, the Colias Campbell's, Aavian Howard's, Steve Nelson's, Jack McKinnon's, Dalton Reisner's, all these players that have been named in
the mailbag that you've brought up, James. The Bengals typically don't make those moves, and I would like the Bengals to make those moves, but until they start doing that, it's very hard to predict that they will. They took a couple of risks in this year, this year's draft, they went against the grain a little bit with what they do from a character standpoint, right in the third round and in the third round of the draft. Yes, but that's different from, you know, spending a million bucks to them
a million millions. Look, I know how silly it sounds, but think about that. That that's what this team is, That that's what this team cares about. I'm just I'm just saying what their perspective is is. They don't like to spend money on aging free agent depth. They haven't done it. When they do it, we'll talk about it more. I think and it's so worth it. It's this and the trade deadline thing are really frustrating. M hmm, because you in this window. In the window is his
career, but you have Joe Burrow. They should be really, really good. And maybe maybe they do change and they add someone here. They've changed a lot over the past five years, would not shock me. But until they do it, to your point, we can't say, oh, well, they're going to do it. But we do remember a time like this podcast is old enough to remember a time where they did zero in free agency and they waited until now it was like the fifth wave of free agency,
and then they'd added like a linebacker. Yeah, so who knows, James Harrison come on down. So all we're asking for is to get that that level. By the way, James Harrison still could have played well for you if you used them right. Get that level of player much much later where you're going to get good value. So who knows, Maybe they'll do it. I'm not going to completely dismiss it. Let's let's keep a little hope a lot. I'm not trying to dismiss it. I'm just saying it's hard
to expect it because they haven't done it, that's all. And to your point, the window is his entire career, like you said, but the window is different. It's going to be, you know, a bay window right now, maybe a little bit of a bigger window while he's still a little bit cheaper, and then it's maybe gonna get a little bit smaller, but the window's still there. As you can let Joe know. I'll be sure to let Joe know how you feel. It's nothing to do with Joe.
It's all to do with how much money the Bengals have to spend around him. And that's why this draft is so important. Just for the record, Will did mention twenty plus million in cas space I mentioned over the cap number. When you account for the practice squad expenses as well, that number is closer to about fifteen million in real cap space that the Bengals are working
with us. So if they do extend one of those veterans, maybe Trey Hendrickson, maybe Ted Carris, I don't know, striculates whoever you want. Well, Trey Hendrickson wants an extension. I'm just I'm just saying to say it, maybe t Higgins. They finally get over the finish line, which
is maybe part of why they're reserving the money just in case. No matter how Landersy's possibilities are, that fifteen million could be eaten up somewhat by extensions for those guys in Evan McPherson, I think I'm more likely to get signed by the Bengals than Trey Hendrickson is to get an extension. We'll continue the conversation in this episode by shifting gears and talking about this punter battle expected in training camp, the Bengals spending some of their undrafted free agent money on a
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Google Play or the app store. Game on with Monopoly Go, James, A lot of folks are wondering about Austin Magnamara, the Bengals undrafted free agent punter. The question comes from the Bengaloian the Bengalorian on Twitter. Who's winning this punting battle? James to you, Wow, straight to me, I see, I know you have numbers. I'm gonna toss it back to you.
I'm gonna toss it back to you. You go ahead, you give me your thoughts on this, and then I will I will share what I think about Brad Robbins versus Austin mcnaue really throwing a wrench in the normal format. Here. Austin McNamara, according to the punt Analytics the punt Runts on
Twitter, was the second best punter available in this draft class. A big legged, big legged punter that has a history of needing to be a little bit more consistent, but stylistically or when you think about the strengths of punters, Austin McNamara's strength is open field punting, meaning you're punting from your own twenty, your own thirty, and you want to really flip the field.
He is not a bad directional punter by any measure, but the strength of his game seems to be the open field punting ability, according to the punt Runts. The punt Runts also said that their top four punters in the twenty twenty four class would have been ranked ahead of the top punter from twenty twenty three. So to them, the only people I know that really study punters in a great deal of depth, and if there's others out there, feel
free to comment them. I think there's a YouTube channel as well. Well. Of course, for teams there are employees I knew you did, of course, of course, like what are we doing? But what are you doing? The point is is that they saw this as a very strong punter class. You dive into the individual numbers, and Brad Robbins last year, of course, had a pretty pretty tough year, averaging forty four yards per punt, and Austin mcnamarre did have one year in his collegiate career where he
also only averaged forty four yards per punt. The net for Austin mcnamaray and college forty two yards to Brad Robbins forty yards last year. Similar hang time for both players between college and the NFL game, but as Brad Robins mentioned, there is some adaptation required when going to the NFL game. Things speed up a little bit when you're punting in the NFL, and there can be
an adaptation period. It's also why sometimes you see punters kind of emerge a little bit later, where they've bounced around and then they sort of figure things out later. Statistically, from a most recent year perspective, I would not rule out Austin McNamara winning this job, but he does not have the NFL experience and he does come with a bit of inconsistency in his game according to the punt runs and whether the touchback issue or directional punting is a concern for
this team or not. I think it'll just come down to how these players perform in camping in the preseason. I think it is a true battle. But James, you think that Brad Robbins has perhaps a leg up here. Maybe that's just experience. He's the favorite. I checked the James Orpene Fandel odds. Brad Robbins is the favorite. And it's pretty simple. You mentioned it. The experience element here is huge. Now, a couple things about
Austin McNamara. He looks more like Joe Burrow than he does Brad Robbins six four to two ten, And I don't mean physical appearance, I mean build six four to two ten. I mean if he throws about seven pounds on he gets in that Black Sheep fitness training and starts trending with Dak and boom, there we go. We have a QB three or QB four here.
He could throw a pass or two on a fake. But McNamara did hold on extra points and field goals at Texas Tech, and that's probably that's going to determine how close this battle is does it go down to the wire. I think I don't really question McNamara the punter, and I think Brad Robbins certainly has a lot to prove there going into this year. I know he
knows that firsthand. And so if McNamara comes in and does what I think the Bengals think he's capable of from a punning standpoint, well he may have the edge there. But the other element in the honestly, quite frank as big as it is important as punning is, the more important element is holding.
Because you have one of the best kickers in the NFL who was awesome last year, and Evan McPherson. You're going to pay him this offseason, so you want to make sure one mate, you find the right guy and give him some stability because he's had about fifty two holders in his short three year career. But the other element here is is making sure you don't disrupt that because it's the cow Adamitas. Brad Robbins Evan McPherson trio worked really well
last year and that is a huge factor. I know people hate to hear it. They want to think about the booming punts and all that, but that's a huge factor. And so when I look at Brad Robbins the holder, he was about as good as you could imagine or expect or want. And so that's why I think it's fifty nine percent if I had to give it a percentage, and it leans just slightly towards Brad Robbins because of that. Austin McNamara may average fifty plus yards per punt and just dominate in camp
and also be great at holding because he did it at Texas Tech. But until you do it and you're right the mechanics, something's changed. Daron's going to get him and say, all right, this is what you have to do now, and Evan's going to want him to tweak things like it's just part of it. But if he can get the holding part down, I think it will go a long way towards with him winning the job. And
that's what he should be working on right now. So Foston's listening rookie Minnie camps this week, I'd be working on holding just as much as anything, because that's a huge, huge factor in determining the winner of this position. Battle mentioned the averages for just the punting yards just straight up Brad Robbins was thirty first in the NFL last year for punters that had, you know, at least thirty eight punts, and that was at forty four yards per punt.
The players below him, Presley Harvin, Lou Headley. Headley was a part timer. Presley Harvin with Pittsburgh did not keep his job. Austin McNamara only cleared that number in three of his college seasons. Significantly, his collegiate average forty five point nine yards per punt, which would put him, you know, twenty sixth in the NFL, or so last year his collegiate average
in general. So it's not like they've got a guy here who's averaged forty eight plus fifty plus yards per punt, which is where the top of the NFL is, Ryan Stonehouse, Brian Anger, aj Cole, Michael Dixon all fifty plus yards per punt. It's not like it's that kind of big leg that they've brought in with McNamara, and they didn't have that with well,
any punch they've had in the building in quite a long time. So whether he does have that consistency that you need, because he clearly can hit big punts, his long punt in every game in the last year for Texas Tech was over fifty yards. But it's the ability to do that on a consistent basis. Then you did hit that eighty three yard punt that you can find on Twitter against West Virginia at some point from his end zone to the other
end zone. But the ability to do that consistently, whether it's Shame, whether it's Brad Robbinson, and you can bind the holding aspect into things, it's going to be the defining factor and who wins the job because both players, I think come with some consistency questions in different ways and in different parts of their game, and I think that is something that Darren Simmons is probably
pretty well over at this point. James is inconsistency from the punters, no doubt, no doubt about it. You got to find the right one. You got to find the one that's consistent and is going to give you the precision you're looking for, the direction you're looking for, but also have the leg and that's where McNamara certainly could show that off. I mentioned the physical attributes his build, and so how about that ten minutes on the punter battle.
The sad part is Jake. This is just the beginning. Got a lot more coming on the punter battle over the next few months ahead of the twenty twenty four NFL season. But Austin McNamara might make an impact. What other rookies could make a year one impact? That and more coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by FANDO, and I mentioned the James Orpiene Fandel odds with Austin McNamara and Brad Robbins. And if you want the real odds as far as the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, well
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whether it's NBA, NHL, or Major League Baseball. With the Cincinnati Reds again, that's fandle dot Com slash locked on fandle America's number one sports book. Let's talk some more about some rookies. James some questions that fit the theme, where's a year one impact coming from in this draft class? Jay Bruce eleven sixty six asking does a Marius WMS have a real chance of winning the right tackle job? And creased ball means asking, man, your footing
names are wild? Who is the favorite a wide receiver? Three? I can see a chase case for Charlie Yoshi Burton or even Irwin so Jermae Burton, Marius Men's year one impact? Either? Guy? What do you think? Yeah? I think ooh, I think you could get I mean it depends on a marius but like he could play twelve hundred snaps for eleven hundred snaps, he could get all of them. If it goes that way. I think there's a chance for him to win the right tackle job. I
don't think it's likely, obviously we know Trent Brown's injury history. I think Burton and Chris Jenkins right away have a role because you play more than two receivers, you play more than two defensive tackles, and so it's easier there to see the path and so they're going to make an impact right away. Whether it's a heck, could Eric All be in the mix? I think he would be if he were healthy, but that's a question mark. There are a lot of these guys I could see making an impact right away.
I think Josh Newton certainly is going to be there and taking reps on defense and special teams and all of those things. So I just went through the fifth round. Now, Amarus, it's more of about a health standpoint, or can he beat out Trent Brown and just amaze the coaching staff, because
that's what I think he would have to do. I think he'd have to blow them away and throughout this offseason program and training camp to beat out Trent Brown, assuming Trent is playing at the level we expect him to, but it's still possible. Of all of them, though, I think Jenkins makes the biggest impact. I think he's ready to go. I think he's going to be a plus run defender right away and give them what they really did
need because they needed someone else that could defend the run. They were bad against it last year, even with DJ Reader and so Sheldon Rankins, BJ Hill, Chris Jenkins huge impact, and then of course Burton's going to make an impact as well right away. Yeah. I think that the question as to whether or not Mems can win the right tackle job in camp. I think that's a pretty tough ask for Mems. And I said going into the draft that whoever they draft at eighteen, if it's a tackle, should be
competing for the starting right tackle job. I still believe that he should be competing for the starting right tackle job. But Trent Brown, when he's motivated, when he's put together, when he's on the field, when he's healthy, it's a really good player and a really unique player at his size,
being bigger than Orlando Brown, being bigger than a Marius Mims. But if Mems does put it together quickly and is up to speed and is executing the way they want him to execute, and understands the offense the way they need him to understand the offense and establishes that quick report with right guard Alex Kappa right away, there's a chance, because the ceiling is higher, he could
be a better player pretty quickly if he puts all those things together. But more likely is that they go with a veteran to start and Amarus Mims can pick up those mental pieces get that experience over time, because I do think that the preseason rest will be invaluable for Mims. He will need those Those will be important for his development, and he'll need a lot of them. So I think we will continue to see a lot of that throughout the offseason
program and into the preseason. The other question here, James, you talked about the ability for Burton to make an impact, but you didn't address who you think is a favorite for wide receiver three, and that's kind of part of the theme here. You got Charlie Jones, Andre Josebash, Jermaine Burton, Trent and Irwin all solidly in the mix there for for different reasons.
Do you think Burton Mike Asiki that's a fair point, and like also also in that mix, like he should be mentioned because he's going to play a factor in it for sure. No, absolutely, I mean Gaseki will play at least a couple hundred slot snaps for this team this year as essentially a wide receiver. You might technically call it twelve personnel because he's still listed as a tight end, but he's going to eat into the slot snap rotation. And I think that's what it is, is that it's a rotation. And
you might see all of these guys deployed in different ways. But who do you think uh is the leader in the James Rapeen probability calculator for the most snaps or how would you handicap most to least snaps for that group? Yeah, it would be it would start obviously it would be Jamar t and for a full season, it's going to be Jermaine T. Higgins once upon a time didn't play much his first NFL game, and then by mid game two he was out there and then boom takes off and that's how it went.
And that might be that way with Jermaine Burton where and it might take more than two weeks, but you may see him out there for fifteen snaps week one and Trent Nuura went out there and Charlie Jones andre yosse about all these guys getting reps, and I do think that they could, and they're confident
in all of them. And so the reason I'm bullish on Burton though, is he gives you something vertically that these other guys don't, and so as he gets more familiar with the offense more comfortable, it shows that he can one win downfield still at the NFL level, but two pick up some of the nuance of the slot snaps. That's part of it. But I will say, what if Charlie Jones comes in and shows he can be a slot and be the guy they thought he could be, then it gets interesting too,
right, So I do I agree with you. I think it's going to be a rotation. It isn't going to be a big three, so to speak. Yet. I think Burton could by mid season or a little later, start to get more and more snaps. But it's going to be a rotation where I think Burton is still the favorite for a season long to get the most snaps there, but they trust Trenton Irwin. I think there's an opportunity for Charlie Jones to show and earn that trust. And if so,
heck he may start Week one. That wouldn't shock me. Obviously. They really like Irwin and Josevash as well on the outside, and maybe one of those guys starts that first snap and you have Chas in the slot snap one of week one. Who knows. But I do think all of these guys are going to get a real chance to play, and Burton ultimately I
expect his talent to win out and take over by midyear. Yeah, you can see all of these players having different roles in different spots for different kinds of route concepts, for different routes that they're running for different strategies in the game as far as where they're trying to attack on the field in the passing game, as far as where they are is rum blockers. Which of these guys is going to be the rum blocker that they trust the most because that
is a big factor in getting on the field. As much as we talk about receiving ability for these guys, which of these players between Jones, Josebash, Burton, Irwin is going to be the one that they default to when they want to present a mixed look on a mixed down where it's not just a passing down, because on a passing down, you probably want your most talented receiver out there for the most part, right in terms of receiving ability straight up, But on the mixed downs, on the base downs, you
need to have a guy that you can trust to run block because a lot of these plays are going to be alerts or run pass options where you need guys that are able to do both, or you'll have Joe Burrow dictating traffic
at the line of scrimmage. So that run blocking ability, I think is something that we will have to watch through the preseason because I think all these guys are going to play in the preseason, and their willingness and ability to execute and be in the right place at the right time is going to be a factor certainly. And I just think back to when I was watching some wider receivers for the draft, and some of these guys just really did not
look interested in rum blocking and wide receiver the effort was entirely locking. So that will be a factor for sure in this rotation that we're going to see developed. It's similar to the holding element, where it's not as big of a factor. Of course that's half of the punter's job, but where it goes under the radar. But it's such a factor, and I'm sure there was frustration there last year, no doubt. Oh yeah, especially for coaches. It's a big factor more so than no doubt, is it. Well,
that's what I mean. Yeah, And it's such a frustrating thing when you know they're capable. And so, by the way, if you're Jermaine Burton, I mentioned all the route running stuff, but you want to find another way to get on the field. If you're Charlie Jones, you want to show that you are the slot of the future, which he still could be. I know, it feels weird, like could we not see him be the slot of the future If he pops this year, he could absolutely
do that. So I think blocking is certainly an element that all of these guys are going to have the show. Like you said, we'll see how that plays out Rookie Mini caamp later this week, and of course we'll see how these start to develop in training camp in a few months as well. This week, though, we've got Brandon Thorn joining us in a couple of days to talk a little bit about the Bengals offensive line and their additions to
that unit. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Who Day, and have a good one. A Prime members, you can listen to this Lockdown podcast a free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.