Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - After Ja'Marr Chase missed Tuesday's practice, has the hold-in changed? Plus, power ranking the Cincinnati Bengals' 2024 rookies!

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

The guys break down the latest on what's going on with Ja'Marr Chase as Cincinnati Bengals fans collectively seem to be growing more frustrated with Chase's contract situation being unresolved. Plus, ...we power rank the rookies based on their performances thus far, and address growing questions about interior defensive line depth. For your next listen, check out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast. Get daily insight to the best Fantasy draft strategies so you can win your league this season. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Bengals are off on Wednesday, so a great time to dive into questions. And many of you are wondering, what the heck is going on with Jamar Chase's extension? 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 Lisco. He's your host, James Rapine. Shout out to all the everydayers.
Starting point is 00:00:36 out there who make us their first list and appreciate you being a regular here on Lockdown Bengals. Today we dive into a mailbag including what's going on with these extensions for Jamar Chase and Evan McPherson. We'll get to some other topics as well, including some concerns and questions on the defensive side of the ball. Today's episode is sponsored by Fandle, hooking up all customers with a booster bonus daily. You can check out today's booster bonus all summer long as well at fandul.com to get started. we today have a number of questions, a number of our listeners concerned with Jemar Chase and that extension. And it's like really a handful of questions ranging from,
Starting point is 00:01:19 is the team just not ready to pay Jamar Chase a guaranteed money that he wants to get? This comes from Kyle Beverly. They just gave Joe Burrow a ton of guaranteed money. Do they need another year of cash flow to feel comfortable? To Lonnie Wyshar, who asks, what the hell is going on? Why isn't Evan McPherson locked up? Why isn't Jamar Chase signed? Get it done in capital letters.
Starting point is 00:01:42 And another one is, well, Jamar Chase hold out into the regular season. If you won't, then what's the point of this camp preseason holding that one from Sincere 1513 on Twitter? Yes, there are a lot of questions, not many answers. I think it's a mixture here. and there's a mixture of things. Like the Bengals are going to get a ton of blame, but I'm sure part of them is like, okay,
Starting point is 00:02:11 well, Justin Jefferson didn't sign a deal before his fourth season and still got paid. Like, why are we rushing? And so I do think that there's some of that, just the precedent of Jefferson. Obviously,
Starting point is 00:02:24 I know the reasons why it would be beneficial, and I'm going to get to those in a second for those that are already pulling their hair out. At the same time, the guaranteed money is a very real thing. Now, I don't think it's because the Bengals don't have the cash flow. Let's get that out of that. I mean, there's 18 different gates, 50,000 different sponsors.
Starting point is 00:02:46 The cash flow is there, all right? It is. Season ticket wait lists, the broadcast deal, like, whatever you want to say, there is money there. Now, do they give out guaranteed money to anyone not named Joe Burrow? I assumed and still do that Jamar chases the other exception to that rule. The locker room knows that there's two big dogs, bigger dogs than the rest, even though there are other talented players in that locker room, of course.
Starting point is 00:03:15 And one is paid. One wants to get paid. Everyone knows that he wants to get paid. And so I think the entire locker room, to a degree, is watching this, just wondering what's going to happen with Jamar. So there's that. as far as the hold in or out, depending on if he's there now and with the team and goes to Chicago and maybe we'll get those answers by the time this episode is up, I agree. If he's not willing to
Starting point is 00:03:43 sit regular season games, I'm not sure what sitting out and camp does leverage-wise. If he wants a deal to get done, his agent can express that. And if he's not willing to take this to that extent when it would directly hurt the team and hurt the Bengals as they try to beat the Patriots or try to beat the Chiefs or try to beat the commanders. And, you know, who knows how long he would do it. But if you're not willing to take it that far, then why do it? And so I do wonder, most players lose the staring contest with the Bengals. I wonder if Jamar really is willing to continue to stare at them into week one. And that's a real question mark with week one, 25 days away. The other thing is that when you just look at the history of the Cincinnati Bengals and when
Starting point is 00:04:30 they tend to get extensions done, it can take a while in the preseason. A.J. Green, Joe Burrow, recent examples where things went up to the wire or into the regular season, I think, in one case, but either way, going late into the summer. And that could just be the simple answer here. Looking for Occam's Razor, the simplest answer is often the truest. Not saying that's the case here, but it could just be that this is the Bengals doing business as usual and it takes them a while sometimes to get things in line and get through these negotiations i i will say this just real quick i thought joe's contract last year going i mean he signed it right before they got on the flight to cleveland i think that's a distraction avoid that
Starting point is 00:05:14 distraction not that they would have beat cleveland we know there was a lot that went into that 24 to 3 loss but definitely wasn't a non-story it was a huge story as they they bordered their flight and head it up north. Well, I think it's fair to wonder if that's a distraction already for the Cincinnati Bengals, especially given his absence yesterday or Tuesday, depending on when you're listening to this episode. We'll find out if he's with the team in Chicago. We'll find out if there's any developments, probably after we finished recording this episode, almost certainly after we finished recording this episode. But I think fair to wonder if that's already a distraction for the Bengals, they would probably tell you no. They would certainly tell you no before Tuesday's
Starting point is 00:05:56 absence when Zach Taylor was consistently very happy with Jamar Chase's presence at practices, not as happy as he would be if you were practicing, I'm sure, but was pleased with the way he was interacting. You could see Jamar and Troy Walters and T. Higgins at times on the field working on certain technique things in the middle of the field when there are special teams drills going on or something. He was actively engaged, right? And now you have this apparent change that we don't have an explanation for yet. That's why I think we're seeing this hand-wringing these questions coming from fans.
Starting point is 00:06:29 I'm sure my frustration on yesterday's show for those who have already seen it or listened to it doesn't help those things. It's just like there is this level of exasperation right now with the team, which is just you're going to get this done with Charm or you're a joke. So just get it done. Like what are we doing? And I think we're feeling that more today as we look at these mailback questions. Sure. And part of it is exactly that. Like, we know how they feel about Jamar.
Starting point is 00:06:58 Mike told me. I asked him. Mike Brown told me. And heck, I think we played the clip. If not, Google and it's on social media. It's on YouTube. I tweeted it out too. He said, we're going to bend over backwards to get a deal done.
Starting point is 00:07:11 Everyone knows it's Joe Burrow and then Jamar Chase. Like, that's Mike saying it. He talks once a year. And so I think Jamar's logic here is like, okay, well, if that's the case, let's just get this done. And let's get this done with the guaranteed money that, which is probably what, 65% of the total money, whatever it is, is probably what he wants to get, like, fully guaranteed. And then the total guarantees would be higher than that, of course, when you get into the,
Starting point is 00:07:39 the Justin Jefferson, you look at it that way. But that's roughly what it is. And that would be outside of Joe Burrow, unprecedented for the Bengals. And that's what's interesting. And do you have the Evan McPherson question? we could transfer to that because I'm not as worried about Evan. The Jamar one does feel certainly more pressing, even though Evan's going into his final year and Jamar has two years left.
Starting point is 00:08:04 We're also saying the price tag for Evan McPherson potentially rising with the recent kicker deals, but that was Lonnie Weishar's question. I mentioned up up at the beginning, why isn't McPherson locked up? I mean, it's a similar precedent or similar tone there, similar idea there. it's another one that we expect them to get done so they might as well just do it but to your point I do think there's less concern over McPherson
Starting point is 00:08:27 and the player himself doesn't seem as concerned as we've discussed previously yeah he's doing everything he's like I don't get done when it gets done I love it I love the attitude and that's why just to tie them together that's why like Jamar not participating in camp
Starting point is 00:08:44 that doesn't make him better right Like we can all agree. Now it might not make him that much worse. They may dismiss the reps and all of those things. But it doesn't help him. We know that. So if he's not willing to take it a step further, it's not hurting the team at all by missing camp.
Starting point is 00:09:02 It's just hurting him and hurting his potential numbers and hurting his potential performance right now. And so is he willing to pain the team a bit? That's really the question. And that could be really, really uncomfortable. Hopefully not. Hopefully we're talking about an extension in the near future for both guys. I think Evan McPherson's will be easier to get done.
Starting point is 00:09:21 I, you know, I think what, six million per? It's probably probably going to get it done. And I'm not sure the guaranteed money is going to be much of an issue either. You give him a year plus guaranteed and I'm sure to be fine. A year plus? When you say plus, this is the Bengals we're talking about here. Yeah, well, it's a year and then there'll be a roster bonus there or something that they'll add this year. They have the cap space this year.
Starting point is 00:09:44 Right. They have plenty of cap space. And I do think this too. Like if you're the Bengals, you're obviously looking like, all right, what do we need for Jamar? And then you have the money mat conversation. So that might be why Evan's not done. It's because they may want to try to use $15 million of cap space on Jamar this year if they can. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:10:07 And I'm just throwing out a number. Maybe. And we know that they like to keep some held back for contingencies. And we know that the practice squad isn't yet accounted for. Anyway, coming up next, let's discuss. Some of the Cincinnati Bengals rookies we've discussed the extensions that we are expecting to see. How are the rookies doing so far? Let's try to power rank them as a way of saying, how are they doing so far?
Starting point is 00:10:28 We'll get into that conversation coming up next. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. When your schedule is packed and you have kids activities and, well, the summer is winding down and you have back to school and football is also started and you work in football or maybe you're a teacher or maybe you have a big presentation at where you. in your juggling school for your kids, lunches, all of the things that are involved. Well, you forget the things that make you happy. And even when we know it makes us happy, it's hard to make time for it at times, especially when things are hectic. That's where better help comes in.
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Starting point is 00:11:43 switch and you can find the right therapist for you. Never skip Therapy Day with Better Help. Visit at BetterHelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P-com slash locked-on. James, let's dive into what I think will be a pretty fun question here. This comes from Hancho de Patriarch, Hancho Houda on Twitter. How would you rank the rookies based on their performance so far? I think we can both agree on who's in first place here, but I think this will be a fun little question to talk about.
Starting point is 00:12:17 First place. Are we counted undrafted? No, I'm just kidding. Amarius Mims is in first place. Agreed? Correct. Yes. I was like, is there any wild card?
Starting point is 00:12:29 Could Jake hit me with a wild card? Two is going to be interesting here. Yeah, two is pretty darn interesting. I have two candidates in mind for two. Okay. All right. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Starting point is 00:12:40 I'm going to think about it a little bit and make sure I'm not missing anyone. I'm literally going to pull up all 10 Bengals rookie draft picks. We're only doing the draft picks, by the way. just to be clear. Yeah, because otherwise we'd be talking about movement junk meta again. I think that it's between Josh Newton and Dejohn Anthony here for the second spot. And I lean Newton based on another strong week of practices this week. He had the interception in his first preseason game on a really nice play.
Starting point is 00:13:08 But both of those guys are very much in the same tier to me, maybe a little bit ahead there for Josh Newton, which is why I give him the edge there. But both of those guys are rotating in with the one. at times and have been for a couple weeks now in Cincinnati Bengals practices. So you get to the day three picks here, and those are the guys that come to mind next for me. Yeah, I think, so Marius is one. We agree there. I will agree with you as well on too.
Starting point is 00:13:32 It's Josh Newton. It is. He's been impressive. I still think he's more than likely going to be their fourth corner, potentially, but certainly someone that is in the mix and has done that. I actually have someone ahead of Dejan Anthony. Eric All. Eric All has been awesome.
Starting point is 00:13:51 I mean, has done everything you could have. Like, if you were painting a perfect training camp picture of what could happen for Eric All, when he got cleared, when he joined team drills, when he contributed, when he got in with the first team, all of those things. Now, we need to see him in a preseason game and make some plays. But, like, he was a safety net this week before Jake Browning got hurt on Monday for Browning in practice. And Browning had a really good session, by the way, that injury is weird. Just another note I was reflecting on it. And I talked with Jay Morrison who tracks all the passes inside. He was like 15 of 17 before on Monday.
Starting point is 00:14:28 And at least that's what Browning goes. Anyways, like four of those went to all. That's my point. And I started thinking about Browning. But I have all two and then we, or three rather, and then we can go from there. But I think all has been awesome. And it wouldn't shock me if he contributed to this year. It really wouldn't.
Starting point is 00:14:45 Always right there in the next, he was actually the next guy for me right after Anthony, just because it hasn't been as long and we haven't seen him in a game to the degree that we saw Dejan Anthony play in a game. And he was pretty good. Anthony was solid in his game action. Eric Hall has, to your point, looked good in practice. He seems to be ahead of where we thought he would be based on Zach Taylor's comments about easing him back in. And he might get a longer workload this week against Chicago. It'll be fun to see him in the joint practice.
Starting point is 00:15:15 It'll be fun to see him in the game. But Eric Hall is right there as the next guy. And then it gets a little interesting, I think. And maybe we diverge here. I have a hard time coming up with who's five. Jermaine Burton certainly has helped himself. And it could very well be Jermaine Burton next. And by the way, do you have Anthony at four if you're going, Eric Hall at three?
Starting point is 00:15:41 Probably just based on playing time. And just him getting out there, I think you have to go that route. And then after that for me, it's pretty obvious, I think. You think I have a hard time with this one. I'm between three different guys here that I think are all relatively close, but I probably lean Jermaine Burton just because of the uptick in his stock recently. Yeah, I think there's really two to me. And it's those two picks.
Starting point is 00:16:12 It's the day, the two day twos. the first day twos, Chris Jenkins and Germain Bird. Yeah, Jenkins was good the other night. He just sucked against double teams. Shocker. I think it was a little bit more than that, but that is the simplification. Yeah. I mean, and we knew that.
Starting point is 00:16:29 Like, I think he's going to be fine. And he's logging a ton of snaps, which puts him ahead of McKinley Jackson, Cedric Johnson, Tanner McLaughlin, and Matt Lee. I mean, as of now, yeah, I would say probably Burton and then Jenkins. but it's probably close because Burton was running with the threes four days ago and only the threes. So he's working his way up too. I think that's what it is, is that his stock is up in my mind right now. And so the clip of Zach Taylor and Jamar Chase on the sideline, we created a monster,
Starting point is 00:17:03 those things kind of suggest that they hold him in higher esteem and kind of bump him up in my estimation. I wasn't really thinking Chris Jenkins yet. I haven't seen a ton that suggests he's going to be the instant playmaker we were hoping he would be, but obviously a lot of time for that to change. I was thinking Cedric Johnson in this territory. I was thinking Matt Lee in this territory because of the way those guys are trending. But the more I think about it, that's probably overestimating or overweighing the recent trends
Starting point is 00:17:34 and not giving enough stock to the simple fact that Chris Jenkins was the second round draft pick. and he's going to play a lot for this team and they need him to take some steps. Not a great start on Saturday, but plenty of time for him to course correct. And we have seen those flashes in training camps. So perhaps I'm overweighing then the recent trends for those three players. But Cedric Johnson going in the right direction, Matt Lee going in the right direction. Chris Jenkins is obviously making the team, though, and those two guys are still in the bubble. For sure.
Starting point is 00:18:07 That's one. Two is, yeah, they're working their way into rotations this week. Chris Jenkins has been there. And so that's whether it's because the defensive tackle room is what the defensive tackle room is or not. I mean, that's where I would have it. And, you know, I think Cedric Johnson obviously get a bit more opportunity with Cam's injure and we'll see. And after that is when it gets really interesting, I guess. I mean, Tanner probably, McKinley Jackson is just, I'm not going to, I'm not going to add him because it's silly to put him last.
Starting point is 00:18:43 It's circumstantial, right? Like, maybe he is last because he's been hurt. And it's just because he's been hurt. There's nothing he can really do about that. Yeah. So Tanner McLaughlin is next by default. But I think he's really fighting. He's got to show that he, he's got to force them to keep a fifth tight end because of everything we said about Eric Alton.
Starting point is 00:19:01 And the other bit there is. is how many offensive linemen do they keep? Does a Marius Mims injury force them to keep an extra offensive lineman? Does that push a tight end off the roster that they otherwise might keep? I think that is one of the questions facing them when they get to their cut down to 53 decisions. Because I have come up with scenarios where they can keep five tight ends. I think we're both expecting them to keep five safeties at this point with the way Dejohn Anthony has impressed them. And so I think that's all of them.
Starting point is 00:19:30 You had Marius Mims first. you had Eric All 3rd, no, okay, so Marius Smith's first. Josh Newton second. Josh Newton second. You had Eric all third. I lean Dejan Anthony there,
Starting point is 00:19:41 but I can see your argument for all. And then we went Germain Burton after that, right? Chris Jenkins after that. And then where did you go after those guys? Then it was after Chris Jenkins is Matt Lee, Cedric Johnson, Tanner McLaughlin,
Starting point is 00:19:59 and McKinley Jackson is not included. Yeah. Kind of cool. I think Mooma John Meta would also be on the list. For sure. Somewhere. I think he's really played himself into roster consideration. Coming up next, there's some other questions about this defense, and some of those
Starting point is 00:20:18 center around the interior defensive line. We'll answer those questions to finish the show next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandall. Fandall is the place you need to go right now for odds, props, and everything in between. the NFL season is almost here. And by the way, it's still summer, which means Fandall is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily.
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Starting point is 00:21:26 Clearly want to shout out another rookie before we dive into the rest of our questions. Elijah Collins on drafted rookie running back. nice game in preseason game one don't think we've mentioned him just a quick shout out there james there was a question i noticed that you liked i want to give you an opportunity to ask it before we dive into the rest of these defensive questions oh look at you throwing me a curveball thinking i'm not ready well i am because i responded to this and i can't wait for your answer because i already know what you're going to say but that's fine that's fine i know what the world's going to say too i know what all the locked on listeners are going to say so i just want it on record
Starting point is 00:22:03 before we actually make this happen because I think there's a chance. Matthew J. Duffy 22. What's more likely? James catches a pass against Dax Hill or Jake beats Burrow in a chess match? I think there are follow-up questions here. Like, is this a how many reps do you get against Dax? Would be one question. It's always a question with these pros versus Joe's kinds of questions, right?
Starting point is 00:22:24 Like, do you get 100 tries? Do you get 10 tries? Do you get five tries? Because obviously, the more tries you have, the more likely. Similar question for me playing. against Burrow. I do think Joe Burroughs. What's that? You get one game. I get three reps against Dax. Okay. I think Joe Burrow is better than me at chess. But I don't think he's better enough than me at chess than in a three rep sample for you against Dax, I would give you the edge there.
Starting point is 00:22:50 I think if you had a few more tries, you maybe get one. But I think in three reps, I think he gets you. I think he would. Yeah, I think we would both get our asses kicked. people thought that i was going to say i'm going to get open against dax hill no chad johnson washed up chad for sure i would be able to get open against him but dax is like awesome like i can't out quick dax i mean we saw what we saw what johnson did to chad johnson a few weeks ago and well that and that's right so like that's that's why i when i saw chad in february i told him i you can't guard me like i believe that i don't think he can guard me but dax like i strength aren't arm length, speed, quick, like, he just wins them all.
Starting point is 00:23:37 So, like, even if I was savvy enough, which I don't expect to be savvier than an NFL active corner, you know, I just, I would lose that battle. Now, if it's a perfectly placed ball and it hits me in the chest, like, is there a chance? Sure, but the quarterback would have to just be, it would have to be Joe Burrow. So maybe with the help of Joe, but I also think Joe would beat you in chess. Of the two, you probably have a better chance because it's chess. I don't think I'm going to out physical Dax. So, because, like, did you see the clip of T going up top against Dax on Monday?
Starting point is 00:24:12 You did? We talked about it. You know how hard it is to do that? Like, Tee makes it look easy because T's awesome. But, like, that's not happening. So unless I'm, like, modern day Julian Edelman, I'm not getting opening against Dax. And Dax maybe got that out of T's hands. If it wasn't completely secure going to the ground, who knows?
Starting point is 00:24:32 We will never have the official review on that. play. I think we agree though. Like over a big enough sample, maybe you'd have a chance. And I think in a one out like in a single game, Burrow probably gets me in chess. I think he's better than me, like I said. But I think that with chess, there's always there's always a chance. So I really buckled down and focused because it's a mental game. I think I think there's a chance. I would love to see. This is something I would love to do. I would try. But would I like put money on me. No, but I also like being the underdog too, right? So that's, it's always a, That's fun. That's why I like the question, because I think the answer is we'd both get looked.
Starting point is 00:25:09 You're more than likely, you're more likely to win than I would be, especially three reps. If I got 30 reps, well, then I'd be tired too, though. So he probably still has a huge judge, you know, like, come on, man. Let's get to a couple. Lifting, I got a shot at some of those lifts. I would have a shot. Go ahead. Let's get to a couple of these last questions here on the defense that are not about Dax Hill's ability to cover James Rapine. Big difference. That's a big difference.
Starting point is 00:25:37 A little bit. Let's get to those questions before we wrap up here. Rule the jungle, add Houdet Bray wants to know on a scale of 1 to 10. How concerned should we be about interior defensive line depth? And along those same lines, Jake R. J. Robedy on Twitter wants to know the worst thing that could happen if the Bengals gave Tierert a one-year contract. The worst thing that happens is they use that Jackson-Carman $1.6 million cap hit on Tiertart. I mean, that's that's really it, right? I mean, I don't really know if there's a worst. The worst thing is, is he's not that good and is a distraction and is a bad example for McKinley Jackson.
Starting point is 00:26:14 That's, I mean, that's like the ultimate worst thing where it just doesn't work out. And he's a bad example, and you're taking snaps away from McKinley when he does get back. But you don't want him to be the distraction and the character issue. Like that, that's why they're probably not going to sign him. And I saw that he's on a visit to Los Angeles somewhere. So I get done. The other one is how concerned should we be about interior defensive line depth on a scale of one to ten? I'm over a five here.
Starting point is 00:26:44 I'm not sure how close I am to 10 because I'm not sure how important it is to the team. Like if Joe Burrow is a 10 in terms of importance, your interior defensive line depth is certainly much less than that, right? So that by default takes me off of the top level of concern because I think they can win without the interior defensive line depth being great. That being said, it could be a significant thorn in their side thinking you're late in the game and you need to put three interior defensive linemen on the field
Starting point is 00:27:14 to get a run stop on a third and four or something and you need to get the ball back. In that scenario, well, suddenly it is a 10th because it's potentially the most important thing to get you another offensive series to get back, into the game. But overall, how often are you in that scenario? How much of the time does your offense get you ahead? How much is this team living and dying with the offense instead of the defense and trying to get out to lead so they put it on the pass rush and the past defense
Starting point is 00:27:40 instead of the run defense? That kind of brings that level down. So I'm probably at a seven in terms of overall context of the team. Like, I'm worried about it. I don't think it's good. I would like them to get better there. But I'm also just not sure how important it is in the grand picture or the grand scheme of things. Yeah, and that's, that might be where the Bengals are. Like, hey, by the time it's really going to matter and we need it and got to have it, we're going to have one of these guys ready to go for December football. And maybe they're confident in Travis Bell.
Starting point is 00:28:11 Maybe. I mean, maybe they have some belief there. I could certainly see them believing in McKinley Jackson for obvious reasons. He was the 97th overall pick. Yeah, 97th overall pick. So they took him there. Hopefully he's back before week one, which I still think he has a chance. Like, it's still got 25 days.
Starting point is 00:28:31 He's a young guy. It's a good number, 97 in Bengals history, a defensive tackle to be the 97th pick. Referring to Gino Atkins, of course. Last question here real quick. Malachi Hayes wants to know, will Dax? He'll be a Swiss Army knife for the Bengals defense this season. Will he be used in multiple packages? Or is his role set, James?
Starting point is 00:28:52 Is he an outside corner at this point, and that's going to be his role? Just real quick, Jake was referring to Gino-A-Kin-A-Kinz's jersey number? Yes, not his-draft. Not where he was drafted. Just I'm getting ahead of the comments. Getting ahead of the comments. What was the question? Dax Hill. Outside corner, safety.
Starting point is 00:29:14 Any flexing his position at this point? That's right. Outside of shutting me down, I think that Dax Hill, they love him at outside corner right now. really do i think that they're they're confident in him and you see that duke tobin quote that dan horde had i think the front office you did not oh i hold on i'll pull it up we'll we'll do this on the fly here you can see that he's really starting to get comfortable out there he's showing us the traits that he can be an outstanding corner in this league so it's pretty awesome uh for for duke to say that in the middle of training camp and i think the first
Starting point is 00:29:52 front office has been bullish on Daxo from day one. And the coaching staff has tried to figure out the best way to utilize him. Lou Aniruma is a big cornerback guy. I think he was hopeful coming into camp that Dax was going to excel here and knew that there were going to be some bumps early where he gave up plays and was adjusting. And I'm sure that's going to happen on Thursday in Chicago as well in Saturday in Chicago if he plays some. And I would expect it to.
Starting point is 00:30:17 But overall, I think Daxil's coming along quite nicely. and I think he's going to be an outside corner. Now, could that change mid-year? Could that change with injuries? Could that change? Absolutely. But I think as of today, the plan is to keep him at outside corner. Yeah, I think that does seem to be the most likely thing to me,
Starting point is 00:30:32 especially with Josh Newton getting work in multiple corner spots. He's working this lot. His pick came out of the slot in that first preseason game. So if Newton is your backup slot guy, if that's the way that shakes out, and then you have Dax to be either starting or backup corner, I think maybe like break glass in case of emergency for some position. flex there, but I think he's in line for a corner job as well at this point, working with the ones this week at Outside Corner, continuing to try to build on that
Starting point is 00:31:01 pretty strong week one preseason performance. What's so funny is last week, everyone would have said Turner, right? Oh, yeah. Games change things. We tried to tell people. No doubt. Things change, and they can continue to change. And it's, if you're DJ Turner, you're still right in it.
Starting point is 00:31:19 Go out there, make plays, and you're going to be right. there. And that's what I want to see. I hope they push each other. That is the nature of the preseason. Things just stay changing constantly. The Bengals are back in practice. They have their joint practice with the Chicago Bears coming up and then a game after that. We'll have you covered for those things. We'll also have your Sunday show after the Saturday game, just like last week, if you're thinking into the future for our lockdown Bengals programming schedule. And until next time, when we get you those observations from the joint practice, thanks for making Lockdown Bengals, first listen. You can check out Lockdown Fantasy Football for your second. And until next time,
Starting point is 00:31:57 Ho-Day and have a good one.

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