Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - A BACKUP GUARD? | Cincinnati Bengals hosting veteran guard Lucas Patrick, but where's the starter?

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

The Cincinnati Bengals are bringing in veteran guard Lucas Patrick for a visit. Is it the right move? Should they sign him? James Rapien and Jake Liscow answer that question, plus they discuss the latest with Trey Hendrickson and so much more!Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lucas Patrick is exactly the kind of veteran backup you'd like to see the Bengals sign to play on the interior offensive line. But is that what he'll be for the Bengals? Let's break it down. You are Locked-on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked-on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liskow. He's your host, James Rapine, and we are locked.

on Bengals on the Lockdown podcast that we're covering your team every day. Today we dive into the upcoming visit for interior offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, a veteran, a bit of a journeyman. He's been a backup in his most recent stops, but has a lot of starting experience. We'll get into that visit in this episode. The Everydayers have been with us every day. We've been waiting for them to bring in some sort of offensive linemen for quite a while now.

And if you're not an everydayer already, well, you can hit that subscribe button, hit the bell on YouTube, and you won't miss an episode of Locked-on Bengals as we continue to wait for them to bring in a starting level guard and that wait will continue. That will be one of the topics of conversation in this episode brought to you by Monarch Money, where you can take control of your finances

using promo code locked-on NFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. James Lucas Patrick said to be visiting the Cincinnati Bengals imminently. He is, like I said, a generally backup level player who has started a lot throughout his career, but at this point, and I talked to Ross Jackson, our host of Lockdown Saints about this, should certainly be seen as a backup swing interior offensive line type. If they sign him, and it's to be a backup, it's a really good signing. If they sign him with the idea that he's going to compete with Cody Ford and Cordell

Voulson or a draft pick and have a real shot at starting, I, I, I, I, I, I, you know, I, very much dislike it if it's going to get in the way of signing some of these other guards that are just as proven more talent or more upside not as proven look he's got over 4,000 offensive snaps in his career in the regular season he's played in playoff games oddly enough there's another tie to jerry montgomery the bengals all of their external free agents have to go through green bay at some point j montgomery was in with orrin burke's t j slayton both in green bay and now you you have a guy on the offensive side in Lucas Patrick. So look, if this gets done, it's fine.

I think you, anytime you can bring in a veteran that is experienced, that has versatility, that has 893 pass blocking snaps according to PFF over the past two years, three quarterback hits, no sacks, like a lot of that sounds good. At the same time, this, that level, this, this, level of player, even though those stats make it sound like he's a starter, he is not a starting level player. And what I mean by that is if you have to start in week seven, fine, you feel okay about that. But if you're going into the season with him penciled in as a starter or close to it, then your floor of your offensive line room is worse. And so what this would be is a floor

raising type of move. And it could have some ramifications on a Cordell-Volson, I would but fine with the signing, fine with the player. I just don't think it can get in the way of a lot of guys that are every day or no we've talked about. And that includes a guy like Brandon Shurf who's just sitting out there, the Tevin Jenkins is of the world. Not that this would get in the way of Tevin, but this can't be the reason why you don't sign Tevin, to be very clear.

But that's a hypothetical at this point because by all indications, the Bengals simply aren't interested in Tevin Jenkins anymore, right? They probably, and this is speculative, probably made their offer and he didn't take it. And then you started hearing the connections to New York, who signed a couple of other guards in Seattle, who ended up signing another guard. And now he's still out there. Does that mean they're circling back? I don't really think so. It doesn't seem like it.

Now, whether that's because they put an offer out there and he just rejected it, that would be one thing, whether they have injury concerns of their own, whether there are other concerns with 10 and. Jenkins that aren't injury related. The entire NFL at this point is like waiting to see what happens, I think, or waiting to be in a spot where they need a player badly enough to go talk to Kevin Jenkins. Or maybe Jenkins and his camp are just way too high on their asking price. Hard to say exactly what's going on there. Very unclear. But it is weird that a player of his caliber, despite the rocky tenure in Chicago, is just out

there at this point, being the only second contract player. with good starting experience that's still available. As far as Sheriff, it's one of those where, you know, you might not see an sign with the team for a while. And I think we've talked about that. You sometimes see this with veterans where they're waiting to pick their spot, waiting to get through. I don't want to do OTAs.

I don't want to do mandatory mini-camp. I'll deal with this later, you know. I don't want to do the first week of training camp. You see this sometimes. not saying that's the case for sure necessarily, but there are other options. The reason that I talk about those specifically is because you mentioned them, there's also the Will Hernandez option out there, the Dalton-Risner option,

which coming off an ACL for Hernandez, and for Reisner, just a player that haven't been interested in for a couple of years. But if this Lucas Patrick move is in conjunction with one of those moves, and one of those moves is a starting level guard, and Patrick is then your swing guard off the bench, then fine. Like a year ago, when we were asking for one more offensive line move, this is exactly the kind of player that we wanted to see. And so like many of the other moves of Bengals have made this free agency in a vacuum,

I think it's a good move in a vacuum to sign Lucas Patrick if that's where this finishes. It's a quality level backup who has had quality NFL experience at a number of positions. Going back to Green Bay, he had a year where he was even an above-average starter in 2020.

And going back to his combine, which is now ancient history for him, that was like almost 10 years ago, back in 2017, he was an above-average athlete. He'd be the best athlete according to combine testing.

The Bengals have had played guard since Clint Bullitt. That's a pretty long time. And a pretty good athlete. So obviously that deteriorates over time. But there are some reasons to think that this could be a good signing. It's just like so many of their other moves,

this free agency, contingent on them doing other things that we haven't seen them do yet. Yeah, is you replacing Cordell-Bulson? Is this a way where you sign him for like one and a half, two million dollars, and then you cut Bolson and you save that one and a half million or so,

and then apply that to whatever starting guard you're going to get. Like, you save the money and you get better. So double win, win. And so it can win, win, win, win, Michael Scott voice. It could certainly be, like there are many scenarios where this does make them better. But when you've been swimming in the, and we have for weeks now, the starting guard level waters, and then the first cup of water you get is the Lucas Patrick, you know, and you're just super

thirsty for guard. The guard thirst is very real. And it's here, here's your Lucas Patrick cup. You're like, all right. Like really? So I get why fans are that way. But if he's a depth piece, makes a ton of sense. And I do think that from a numbers crunch, there could be a number of ways this goes where you're like, okay, well, who does this impact? And it might not just be Cordell-Vosson. I think there are some other levels to it. Not that it is for sure happening, but I do think that when a 31-year-old takes a visit, it's scheduled to get here Thursday night in Cincinnati, could be signed Thursday night, could be signed Friday.

I think all indications are that this could get done. If it does, it could impact. I would say a Lockdown Bengals favorite. I'm going to run that theory by you. Jake, I'll do that coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Upwork. Scaling your business requires the right expertise. at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design,

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business today. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is also sponsored by Monarch Money, who knows sometimes you check your bank account in the balance doesn't look like you expect it to between dining out and online shopping and entertainment. It's easy to sometimes lose track of your spending, and that's where Monarch money comes in. It's your personal CFO. It gives you full visibility and control over your finances. And it's not just a budgeting app. It's a complete financial command center where you can track all your accounts, investments, and spending in one place. So you can manage your money and build wealth, get past just managing your money. When you start using Monarch, you can realize how much you're spending on something as simple as food delivery and budget smarter to save more.

Managing money with your partner is smoother than ever you can track shared and personal accounts, set goals and stay on the same page without the stress. You can take control of your finances today with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NFL at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's Monarchmoney.com code locked on NFL for half off your first year. All right, Jake, let's continue with a little bit more on Lucas Patrick, because if they add him, he could, and especially as a backup, he could be your interior backup. could back up both guard spots. He could back up center and be Ted Karras' backup. He's got the experience. And so I do wonder if, and I don't know that this is true, but maybe they said,

all right, Matt, as in Matt Lee, an athletic seventh round pick from last year, who was their backup center, we need to see a little more versatility out of you, put on some weight, get into this guard competition, and show you can be versatile. Meanwhile, on the other side, they're like, hey, if we can add a backup in Lucas Patrick, that can do something that none of our other backups, including Cody Ford, they like Cody Ford's versatility, can do, which is also play center. I do think that that element can at least make it interesting,

not that Matt Lee is on the bubble or anything like that, but I do think that that versatility aspect, it adds a new wrinkle, certainly. Yeah, when you think about the current construction of the Bengals' offensive line room, there are a few definitely on the team players right now. Orlando Brown is definitely on the team at left tackle. Ted Harris is definitely on the team at center.

Amarious Sims is definitely on the team at right tackle. Cody Ford, definitely on the team, from a money perspective, whether he's competing to start or in a backup role, backing up, as you said, guard and tackle. And that's the other thing this points to to me is that they see Cody Ford as potentially backup tackle. And then you have maybe it's Lucas Patrick, Jackson Kirkland, maybe Cordell-Vosson if he sticks around, although I do think this could very much be the precursor to cutting Cordell-Bulsin

competing for interior offensive line spots along with Matt Lee. And then like Devin Cochran, draft pick or two, that's what you're talking about in the offensive line room. And obviously you're not seeing all those guys make it. So when you have versatility in your backups, you have a guy that can back up all three interior spots and a guy in Cody Ford who they think, and I think this is a mistake, can back up tackle and guard.

I'm fine with Cody Ford as a backup guard. Don't love it as a tackle. then it does give you a little bit of flexibility in roster construction. Having those backups, and this is something the Bengals valued, as long as I can remember. Backups on the offensive line that can play multiple positions is something that they've always valued at a high level. So, yeah, if they're asking Matt Lee to gain a little bit of weight

to see if he can't play a little bit of guard, there's nothing about Matt Lee that says he can't play a guard, except he's a little bit small. So if he can play a little bit bigger. Yeah, all right. Get on that Ted Karris time. Ted Karras had to throw on some weight. You know, I think...

We also only played center in college. So that would be, I mean, that would be a difference is figuring out the position. But if he can, that would be valuable for Matt Lee. I don't think that they can risk... I mean, this is the Lockdown Bengals' favoritism coming out here. They can risk Matt Lee. Like, he very well can still be your center of the future. and so I don't think you want to think about moving on from him,

but it is valuable nonetheless to have that positional versatility. Yeah, I think it's just the other element here is the Matt Lee part of it. I agree with you. I think the Volsson element is, it makes a ton of sense because instead of paying Volson, you have a guy that's better in a lot of ways, more experienced, probably a better fit, more versatile, and cheaper. And so if that's what they're doing, good for them. And also, it would be like if they plan on doing this at some point, this would be the time for Cordell because if you're Cordell, you would want to land somewhere before the draft instead of after the draft.

Well, can they trade them for a three pick? I mean, I think some team would be, you know, especially a runner, a more run heavy team. Cordell's, there's a lot to like about Cordell. I know a lot of people don't like them, but there's a lot to like. And so you never know if you could get something. And if they could get a seventh rounder,

well then we could stop hearing about they only have six picks because they'd have seven. And they do need more picks, let's be real. Even if it's a seventh round pick, I mean, having the picks last year, having 10 picks, this side of, why? I hate it.

I'm so mad at last year's draft. And their last pick is a good one in Matt Lee. But it does bring up a tangent that we don't need to get into too much today. Another Howie Roseman, I wish you were the Bengals GM, just so good at playing for future picks. Like doesn't devalue future picks, I think in a way a lot of NFL teams do. And as a result, piles up picks better than most NFL GMs. Not the only GM that does this, but does a really good job of playing with future picks. Anything else on Lucas Patrick and the potential ripple effects there, James?

No. Great depth piece. Not a starter. Depth, depth, depth, depth, depth. I think the last idea for me here is we'll see what the money is. The money tells us often with the Bengals what their plans are for. If they get it done. Of course.

If they get it done. But the reason I say it is you look at the PFF projection for Lucas Patrick in a one-year, $2 million deal. If that's the case, I think that would tell us that's backup money. Let's talk about another contract that may impact the Bengals. A bigger one. A bigger one. A significantly larger by a factor of at least 10, probably. Contract extension with the Houston Texans, and that certainly could have an impact on Trey Hendrickson.

Plus, we're going to see in a couple of your mailbag questions here. We'll do that to finish the show next. The NCAA tournament is here, and so is the bracket break. Locked-on Podcast Network and Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Lockdown's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer-beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channels.

Search Brackett Breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. James, one of the questions in our mailbag came from Hannah at Stripes all day, and they asked, what should the Bengals do with? Trey Hendrickson after the Daniel Hunter deal. And here's something that I don't know if people are anticipating. This deal could actually make it easier for them to get something done with Trey in one sense, in the sense that it gives them an APY number to shoot for. Daniel Hunter now playing on a two-year, $55 million deal essentially that's south of $30 million per year. They add one year

onto his deal. Now where it might make it harder, James, are the guarantees DeNeil Hunter from the time he landed in Houston has had essentially a fully guaranteed contract, like 98% guaranteed money. What were your thoughts when you saw the DeNeil Hunter extension with Houston? Just one year, by the way, not a multi-year extension, just extends it for 2026. Well, what did you think? I think that it makes it harder. And I think it makes it harder because the Bengals are not going to guarantee. I would be shocked if they guaranteed $5,45 million.

And the other element here is just strictly talent. Daniel Hunter is good, really good. He's not as good as Trahandrickson. Trey Hendrickson's the better player. It's better than Daniel Hunter. And they're the same age. And the Texans gave him an extra year and did right by him. And so if I'm Trey, I'm like, all right, well, I'm better.

I was more productive. I've been more productive. I, you know I take care of myself, all of those things. Let's stay around those guaranteed. at $54 million, but let's get another year. Let's do the, and I do think the two to three year extension is where Trey is, not just a one. At the same time, in the argument for this getting done fast, there would be, look, you can offer

him, Trey, a similar deal where you increase his cash flow this year, and then you give them an APY in that 36-month-month-old. million range for one year and over the next two years it's still certainly much more reasonable. Now, will he take that? Will he be happy with that? Will the Bengals be happy with that? If I'm the Bengals, and maybe I'm wrong on this, but I would want him under contract through 2027.

If you do the one year and it's 25 and 26, like, does this come up again next year? Like, I'm sick of dealing with this. And it's something that I would want to get hampered. it out so you're not having to deal with this again next the off season because I would expect trade to play well this year. I think that is something that is probably something we've not discussed quite

enough is they're probably sick of dealing with it too. A guy who's asked for new contracts multiple times. Not that it's absolving them. I'm not saying that to take blame away from the Bengals, but I do think that if you were to put yourself in their shoes,

they're probably sick of it too, thinking that they've got a player who's asking for a contract with two years left on his deal, then the next year it comes back up, of course, because he didn't deal with it the previous year, but you'd already given him extra money. Not to say that Trey doesn't deserve more money. Again, not to absolve the Bengals front office and all this, but as much as you could put yourself in the shoes of an NFL owner, you can imagine that it would be annoying to deal with year after year.

But you mentioned even if you think Trey is better than Danil Hunter, which certainly a better pass rusher, almost certainly a better overall player, but I do think they're close. I don't think they're worlds apart. If you wanted to go and Daniel Hunter lands at about $27.5

million per year, right? Overall API on the remaining two years of its deal. With a big cash flow raise this year, that gets him probably via a signing bonus. The Texans can use void years that they want. The Bengals be considering using void years with Trey Hendrickson to push those cap numbers into the future, relieve the cap hit impact over the next couple of years, expect to see this with

Mar Chase, too, where they're pushing off his big cap hits at least a couple of years with whatever that contract looks like with a potential option bonus. But if the Bengals need to beat $27.5 million, say they need to get to $29.5 million. Say that's the Trey Hendrickson demand. You need to get to 29.5 over three. And a lot of people have pointed to the $16 million salary for Trey in 2025 and said, well, okay, that means they need to get another $74 million in two new years. I mean, that's a lot of money in two new years of a deal.

That's what is that? 37 million in two new years? That's crazy. That's a lot of money. And it's still going to be a lot of money, but it is worth remembering that when Trey signed that one year extension and they got him that raise, it was a $21 million. one-year extension. And Tray's Camp's perspective on this is probably that that is making up for him being underpaid previously and that he's still been underpaid even with that one-year extension.

But from the Bengals perspective, they're thinking, yeah, maybe you have a $16 million salary here, but you were given a $21 million extension previously and what they're working on. So then you think, well, now I need to cover, what would that leave? $70 million, $69 million? dollars in two years, which is still a lot of money, but it's a little bit less money if they're looking at a two-year extension to get to something approaching 30 million APY

over the three years, including 2025. Yep. And that's the challenge. I think they can get there. I don't think it's imminent. I'm going to hammer that home. And now by the time you watch this, maybe things have changed.

It just does not feel like this is something that's going to get resolved in 24 hours. Now that the Bengals breast is, on it, maybe that happens and it does, and we have to do an emergency pod, which we obviously do. But yeah, I also, I truly think that Trace Camp is probably unbothered by the Danielle Hunter contract, because they're probably above that anyway. Because they're just looking for more years. And they're looking at $55 million over the next two years.

And it's like, okay, well, it's... You know, it's just a hard cop, and it's a hard sell. Meanwhile, the Bengals may try to use that, and if they do, and they are willing to guarantee money, then maybe they can sweeten it enough to get Trey done for the next two years. And maybe that's what they want. They say, you know what? We're probably going to draft an edge this year. If we can have Trey for 25 and 26, we'll make most of it guaranteed, and this is how we're

going to get it done. I'd be surprised, but maybe that's the route they go. And by the way, if you're Trey Hendrickson and you can make 54, let's just say, it's 55. $55 million guaranteed over the next two years and it's just guaranteed straight up, that's some security. And that's some real, real money. I mean, that's almost as much as your four-year deal was initially with the Bengals,

that four for 60. And if it would be guaranteed, that gives you some peace of mind, no doubt. Yeah. The big question there would be the guarantees. And if the Bengals were to do those guarantees for Trey Hendricks, and that would tell you something about a potential change in the way they're doing business. And it wouldn't necessarily just be the flash in the pan that it was for T. Higgins and for Jammar Chase. And would tell you that, okay, this is going to be potentially the way they're doing business from some of those bigger contracts at this point.

We'll be more surprising, though, with a player in his 30s than a player going into a second deal in T. Higgins. James, let's wrap up with one more question here. T-Bone. if the Bengals don't go defensive line in round one asked Tebowne, who is a realistic BPA, you'd be okay with them taking. T-Bone thinks it's D-L-or-Bust

because of this free agency class so far. It is not D-L-or-Bust. I mean, I'm going to go down. Do you want me to just go down the list right now that I'm open to? Ashton Genti, Will Campbell, Armand Membu, and I get it.

Some of these guys are probably gone. Tyler Warren, Colston, Loveland, Mike Green, Malachi Starks, Derek Harmon, James Pierce Jr. I'm not completely out on him yet. Jihad Campbell. I mean, I'm out on Kenneth Grant now just because you already have your nose. Nick Imanwari. And by the way, Imanwari has got a visit scheduled with the Bengals, so that's interesting. I'm not necessarily open to him at 17, but I just want to mention the other visit. Josh Connerly Jr. also set to visit the Oregon offensive tackle. But, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of guys I just named there.

I mean, linebacker, defensive tackle I'm open to for sure in defensive end. But the tight ends, the running back, you know, there are a lot of guys, I think, that I would consider at 17. If they go strictly BPA, I do get it, though, because right now it's looking more and more like trenches is going to be their far and away biggest need. I think Kelvin Banks, another one, Texas tackle, who. based on his size. Some people are projecting inside, 21 years old, great pass protector in college. I think that he would have to be in consideration as well.

But I do think you cover most of them. The only other one I'll throw out there is probably Will Johnson, corner from Michigan. I think that would be the first round corner that you would consider. You mentioned Malachi Stark, you mentioned Nick Mn and Worry. I think those are probably the only first round safeties that you're considering. the only thing with Jehag Campbell is that labrum surgery

labrum rotator cuff which one is it one of the shoulders labor labrum laborer okay Jonah jona jona jill Jonah williams jesus jonas jonas jonas jesus jonas jesus jesus jonas jesus jose jose jose jose jose jr jillians had that surgery and it does take time to recover from so that'll be interesting to see if teams think that that's going to knock him down a bit, given the risk that he doesn't play until, you know, maybe December or something like that. But that's a whole lot of positions, James, that you just mentioned that I think the Bengals should be open to in some capacity.

But I do want to acknowledge here, at least, that their free agency has made it harder to feel good about going into the draft thinking BPA. Like they are pigeonholing themselves in a way that we wanted them to avoid. And I think part of it might be because they think. all right, we are going to be able to, like, BPA is going to be one of these defensive linemen. Like I wasn't named, I wasn't going through all the defensive linemen there because I think everyone has been focused on them. But like they may love the idea of Derek Harmon at 17.

They may love the idea of going after a Walter Nolan, who on paper, on paper would fit from a what he would bring to their defensive line room. So I don't know. I think that's interesting. A name that I don't think will be there, but. and I don't think they'll necessarily be interested because he's a tweener linebacker guy, but Jalen Walker as well, if they had a plan, I'm just going to throw his name out there.

He's third on Dane Brugler's Big Board. And I do think he's going to be a little lower than that. I don't think he's necessarily going to go top five, but I do think he's intriguing. Would be shocked if the Bengals picked him, but I'm just naming him because he's another prospect we haven't talked about. Honestly, just not even terribly interested there. for what they need right away.

You would have to think he's a really good offball linebacker because that's what you would have to do in year one. And then you would have to think he's an impact off ball linebacker for you in year one, I think, to justify that pick. Yeah. I mean, and that's probably Campbell too, you know? But I think there's more to Campbell in that sense. Yeah.

I don't know. It'll be interesting to see what happens with these guys now on when we get to the draft because very divisive prospect, Jalen Walker, to the point where there are people that have said, you know, I wouldn't touch them in the first round period. And then you got Dame Bruegler, who has a third on the big board. And so a wide rate.

Shemar Stewart's another one. That's divisive. Very divisive. And then what the Bengals, I think in the NFL, Mike Green and James Pierce are probably divisive because of their size limitations and the direction the NFL is going,

the direction the Bengals are going where, yeah, talked about the potential that they'll go lighter for edge. But if you're going to play four-down linemen and try to two-gap stuff, you might need the bigger edge players. So we'll see. But the point is, is ideally they're not pigeonholing themselves. But the Bengals definitely have a recent trend of, yeah, they're doing a good job of marrying BPA with need in the first round, but a lot of times it's a bit of pretty clear we need this position pretty badly. We have to draft it right now.

Yeah, honestly, I think the only time they, I don't necessarily know if they did that with Miles Murphy. I think it was tough with Dax because of the way the coaches have used them. We probably feel differently if they had used them the way they should have. But Amarius, they did a good job with Amarius. Yep. There's no doubt. But if they had gone and taken the Toledo corner, right? You know, like we talked about him last year at this time.

Like, you want to get yourself to a point where you can just go with, and I do think Mims was the BPI. I think they would have taken him over guys that were drafted ahead of him. But you don't want to bank on that. Because I do think that these defensive linemen, like you said, are much more divisive in NFL circles than they are. And that's why you want to be open to other positions. Because if Colston Lovelland's aid on your board, and the best trench players 15th, well, I mean, to me, it would be clear which way I would go. And that's what I hope that their mentality is.

That's why the Bengals use those 1A, 1B, 1C buckets, because maybe 7 and 15 are both 1B. And then they're the same kind of player. But plenty of time to talk about the draft. We will certainly continue to dive into that further as we have more clarity on what this free agency group will. look like and we're still waiting for another move but they've left us waiting in the past and hopefully that's not the case this year until next time thanks for listening to this episode of the lockdown bengals podcast ho-day and have a good one