Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Assessing the Bengals defense as Al Golden makes offseason plan

Starting point is 00:00:00 Al Golden is currently familiarizing himself with that Bengals roster as he prepares to make his offseason plan. Let's do the same. Let's do it for him. Al Golden, check out this episode. Let's get into it. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:33 I'm your host, Jake Liscoe. He's your host, James Rupin, and we are Lockdown Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We're on YouTube. We're everywhere you get your podcast. So if you are new to the show and you're looking to stay up to date on all things Bengals, this offseason senior ball going on this week, might start talking about the draft. Finally, on Lockdown Bengals in the near future, you're in the right place. The everydayers know that. Welcome back to all of you who make Lockdown Bengals part of your everyday routine and your

Starting point is 00:01:05 first listen every day. And James, today we're going to take on the task that Al Golden said he was working on in his introductory presser as he is trying to familiarize himself deeply with this Bengals' defensive roster and try to put together some priorities for his offseason plan and how he wants to go about bringing in talent and who can be contributors in the future. Who are the question marks or where are the question marks as Al Golden was asked repeatedly in his presser and and with some one-on-one interviews that I saw James, well, we're going to have a lot of money on this Bengals offense. How does that impact your plan to get the most out of young guys on the defensive side of the ball where perhaps there won't be Jamar Chase C. Higgins contracts

Starting point is 00:01:54 potentially being goulded out to defensive players? And so that takes you back to what's on the roster now, James, and trying to figure out what pieces will be contributors next year and fit into Al Golden's plan and what pieces need addressed. Yeah, it's, you mentioned the question marks, and I thought of Jim Carrey in the late 90s in Batman when he played the Redler. You know, you think of his suit that has all these question marks, because that's really the Bengals defensive depth chart. What isn't a question is, I think, easier. And that does start, obviously, with Trey Hendrickson and end with Trey Hendrickson. And a lot of people probably listening and watching think that he should be defensive player of the year. But I think that that's where if you're

Starting point is 00:02:44 out golden, and I know you're the former linebackers coach, if anything, that means you're familiar with what's there in that room or not going to be there in that room. I would start with the defensive front. It really, who can help, who can't, what can they do? What can they not do? How can you get the most out of what you do have there? Because I think a lot of people view the defensive line room and the lack of pass rush and the questions on how they're going to be or how they've been against the run. And then you see, and you know, Sheldon Rankins is obviously going to get cut. BJ Hill is a free agent. And you look and you think, oh, well, they're going to have 18 new faces. that defensive line room.

Starting point is 00:03:26 And that's just probably not true. You know, you have Miles Murphy's entering year three. Obviously, Trey Hendrickson is a, hopefully a huge, huge part of their future. But you're going to have names like a Sam Hubbard, who I know talk to Al Golden on Monday. And obviously, Sam had the PCL injuries, is recovering from that, is likely a cap candidate and could be a cap casualty. But it's one of those things where you look at it.

Starting point is 00:03:54 And there are going to be a lot of new faces in that room. And you're also going to have to get the most out of the guys that are still around. And so I think that's where it starts because that's probably where you're going to see the most movement. You're going to likely see movement elsewhere, no doubt. But that's where the most movement is going to come from on defenses in that defensive line and defensive tackle room. Yeah. And let's assume that Trey Hendrickson is on the team in 2024, 2025 for now.

Starting point is 00:04:20 Well, let's assume. Better. He better. He is the piece to build around on your defense. And I think Logan Wilson is another one that Al Goldman would argue. I think that he loves Logan Wilson. But focusing on the defensive front, the players that are almost for sure on the roster in 2025, including Trey Hendrickson here, would be Trey, Miles Murphy, Cedric Johnson, Isaiah Thomas.

Starting point is 00:04:48 It's probably with the team into camp, straight free agent they signed. and six-round pick and first-round pick. On the defensive interior, it's McKinley Jackson and Chris Jenkins. As you mentioned, BJ Hill, free agent, Sheldon Rankin's, upcoming cap-cut, J-tuflea, free agent, Joseph O'Sai, free agent, Cam Sample, free agent, Sam Hubbard, potential cap-cut. So that's at least half of the players that played significant snaps for this Bengals defensive front in 2024,

Starting point is 00:05:19 that you're not sure whether they're on the team next year. And that includes a number of opening day starters, three out of four opening day starters. And then when you go to the end of the year, Joseph Osive is starting for Sam Hubbard. And Joe Hill was still starting. So it's half of your starters at the end of the year. That's a lot of snaps.

Starting point is 00:05:43 And you could go look at the snap counts. I don't have them pulled up right in the second. It's a lot of snaps that need replaced with the guys. guys that are pending free agents or going to get cut and a lot of uncertainty on this roster to replace them. It's not like Miles Murphy was ascending at the end of the year in the eyes of the previous coaching regime. Maybe this new coaching regime thinks that Miles Murphy is a clear starter and that's the plan right now. But you would still like them to add some pass rushing depth there, right? Because you look around at some of the successful teams in these playoffs,

Starting point is 00:06:16 Philadelphia Eagles chief among them, depth on the defensive front. is their calling card on defense. And of course, they added two great corners this year. But what the point here is is that there are way more questions than answers when it comes to the defensive front. And that's across the board. McKinley, Jackson, Chris Jenkins, you need them to be contributors next year. But are they your 700 snap players, the way that the Bengals have asked defensive

Starting point is 00:06:44 tackles to play 6,700 snaps the last couple of years? Or do they need to add pieces there? obvious answer. They obviously need to add pieces at the edge position. And is can sample back? Is Joseph Osai back? Or is that the first David Mullet get a client that get it figured out with with Joseph Osai? I don't know. But clearly, I think between the draft and free agency, there's a need to get this unit transformed. And maybe it's not a whole lot of new faces, James, to your point, but any new faces that can be contributors the way they tried to take that swing, with shoulderman because it didn't work last year they need to get that right in 2025 that needs

Starting point is 00:07:24 to be a much more impactful unit considering how much they hung the secondary out to dry for large parts of 24 no no doubt and look I'm not saying that they won't add of course they're going to add but it's not like you're moving on from mckinley jackson or jenkins or murphy like you're banking on those guys and so that's what I mean it's not going to just be a completely brand new room Now, you mentioned a couple of guys that are going to be free agents. And I'll preface this by saying DJ Reeder did this last year. And obviously he signed with Detroit. But Joseph Osai, Cam Sample, both among many, you know, when you're coming back from any kind of injury or you want to stay in town and work out.

Starting point is 00:08:13 They were in the Bengals facility yesterday. So on Monday. So I'm sure they met with Al Golden. Just to have a conversation at least. And it's not just guys that are heard or pending free agents. Orlando Brown Jr. was there and talked with Al, I know. Al mentioned that. So worth noting could mean absolutely nothing and likely does mean nothing when it comes to the front office and if those guys would be back.

Starting point is 00:08:37 I could see Cam sample coming back, though. If you're Cam, why not come back and try to see if you can bounce back from the injury? Now, from a Bengal side of things, from an Al Golden side of things, you can't bank on the player doing that, right? Like, you can't, like, I'm sure there are some that will say, oh, well, Sam Hubbard will play for $3 million next year if you let him. You still can't bank on him being a guy that matters on that defensive front. He can be a depth piece, but that's it. And so it doesn't really fill a hole other than a reserve role at best. I think back to the transformation for the Cleveland Browns a couple years ago, James, in

Starting point is 00:09:18 2023. They bring in Jim Schwartz, they bring in Zedaria Smith, they bring in Dalvin Tomlinson, they bring in Shelby Harris, they make depth signings with Maurice Hurst, Ogba Okoronkwo. I mean, their second year players, first year draft picks, Isaiah McGuire, who was their fourth round pick that year. He took a big step in 2024, the following year. Alex Wright, a pick in 2022. like they made a concerted effort to transform the worst run defending defensive front in football and it made a big difference for them in in 2023 now I'm not saying you want to model yourself after the Browns but they had a successful transformation of their defensive front in that season yeah no I think that's a good point and it's something that I want to react to I will do that

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Starting point is 00:11:07 after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks run your game all right let's get to my thought I forgot that I was the one sharing the thought shake. Look, you're right about the Browns as an organization, but there's a reason why Joe Burrow and the Bengals have struggled so much to play against the Browns. And it isn't just Miles Garrett. It's because they have Miles Garrett and this guy, Miles Garrett and that guy. And there's layers to their defensive front that's made it really tough on Joe. So you know what I would love? Trey Hendrickson and doesn't have to be, big names, doesn't have to be stars. A lot of those guys that you mentioned or guys that we've mentioned on this very podcast. It's no secret. And it's not like you have to break the bank.

Starting point is 00:11:59 And this free agent class might be a little different, but there will be guys out there that can help. And so identifying those guys, that's something that Al Golden at this front office, at this coaching staff, hopefully whether it's Jerry Montgomery, the defensive line coach, Al Golden, the scouting department. Hopefully they're able to do so. And we've clearly identified here that there's a need on the defensive front. And Al Golden knew this. You don't have to do a deep study to realize like, oh, well, did Miles Murphy? Maybe he's thinking, oh, did Miles Murphy take a step?

Starting point is 00:12:31 Can he be the guy opposite Trey? And then he watched a couple of games of Miles Murphy. And maybe he has thoughts there. And he thinks, oh, I can get more out of that player. But he's also got to be thinking, you need redundancy there. It can't be just, you know, Trey, Miles Murphy, Sedric Johnson, and Isaiah Thomas, or a rookie. Like, that can't be the plan given the pass rush last year, given the importance of getting after the passer in this league. The pressure versus no pressure splits, even for the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, even for the Bahomes and Allen's and Burroughs and Jackson's are stark.

Starting point is 00:13:10 And when you deal with the quarterbacks that you deal with in the AFC that all have the best, that running ability, getting more athleticism up front to be able to execute these plans to contain quarterbacks in the pocket, which is something that when the Bengals defenses were going well in those playoff runs is something they were really good at, needs to be a priority as well. And so they've got some pieces here and they've got some youth here. And so developing a plan for these youth pieces, McKinley Jackson, Chris Jenkins, Miles Murphy, and having a clear vision for what you want to add to supplement those pieces is currently out Golden's job.

Starting point is 00:13:43 Yeah, it is. And you have to. Like that's why when we talk about Zach getting it right and the search and all of those things, this really is step one outside of making sure the staff is correct, is getting this part right. Because I think a lot of people listen to Al Golden on Monday or watched Al Golden or listened to us or watched us or any of the other coverage and said, oh, that's great. But you got to get the dudes.

Starting point is 00:14:13 There's no doubt about it. You have to have guys. And that's the point that Lou, I'm sure, made multiple times while he was here. And certainly on his way out the door was probably yelling at when he got fired during a gigantic snowstorm and had to drive home. He probably yelled it at his radio. You've got to have the dudes. And if you don't, then it's going to be really, really hard, no matter how good of a coach you are. And so I do think that Al Golden, there's excitement around him.

Starting point is 00:14:42 I think the players are excited. I've talked to multiple veterans on defense that are excited about it. And by veterans, that could mean young players, that could mean players that are more established, but players that have been on the team. And at the same time, they have to get this next two months right. Three months, if you include the draft, of course. But I just mean identifying what you need to do with some of these veterans

Starting point is 00:15:08 and then finding the replacement for the, those veterans before the draft because we cannot go into the draft saying, man, they better take a defensive tackle at 17. Doesn't mean they shouldn't. But that cannot be the mindset because even if it is a great year and it lines up and it works, I just don't want to, I don't want them to be backed into a corner where they have to do something because that's a tough place to be. And historically, that's when you end up getting the short end of the stick.

Starting point is 00:15:37 Never want to be drafting for a desperate need to come in and, and plug a hole right away. You want to find instant impact players, but you don't want to have to find instant impact players at a specific position because the rest of the NFL doesn't care about what your plan is. Frank Ragna. Remember?

Starting point is 00:15:55 That's the biggest one. That's the most recent example, I would say. Frank Ragnow. Everyone knew the Bengals were going to thank him. And the lion said, thank you. Yeah. The interesting thing that you bring up there to me is along the lines of,

Starting point is 00:16:11 when you talk about, Lou screaming on the way out funny image. And I don't know that he did that, to be clear. I can gauge you that he didn't. Maybe he was thinking it. But I just mean in his car. Yeah, in that, I'm sure he was professional. I'm sure he was professional.

Starting point is 00:16:31 It just takes you back to it'll be a dark day when we lose those guys. And then they lose those guys, Jesse Bates and Bomb Bell. Not that, you know, Von Bell's return was. as magnificent as he hoped and was probably part of the issue, relying on Von Bell the way that he did on this defense in 2024. But losing Jesse Bates, nobody on that coaching staff wanted to see Jesse Bates walk. And so then you think about ownership, the way they do contracts, the way the Blackburn family treats guaranteed money,

Starting point is 00:17:07 and simply just doesn't engage with it. And, you know, I joke about Joseph Osai, but at some point, you need to be able to do business with these agents that prioritize guaranteed money the way that the NFL is going lately. And you expect it to continue going in that direction. So it's not like I'm saying this is all on Al Golden or it was all on Lou Anarumo. There is some element of truth where you need the front office to be able to cooperate with the vision. And I'm not saying that's what it was specifically with Lou. I'm sure it was part of the problem. It didn't seem like he was on the front same page as the personnel department on at least

Starting point is 00:17:45 Dax Hill. And it wouldn't be too surprising if it was the case for some other young players as well that the front office thought should be on the field. But it also goes to the way they do contracts, not just Duke's front office, but the Blackburn front office and being willing to do contracts and getting some of these contracts done with good players that you've drafted and developed. And that is your way of doing things. And so it's just a moment to get on the.

Starting point is 00:18:09 soapbox and point to Bengals' ownership as well. Yeah, I think yesterday, in the one more analogy that I used at the end, that kind of went off the rails, it's going to be a theme this offseason, I guess, which I think is going to be a positive. Because let's say they add a couple of free agents at this position or that position. I'm going to want one more. I'm going to be greedy. I'm going to be asking for more.

Starting point is 00:18:45 It's a warning to everyone and to the front office. You can never do enough. There should never be a time of your allow we've done enough. So there's a scenario, and this would be a very ideal scenario, where they get trade done, they get T done, they get Jemar done, and then they add a couple of defensive linemen. And my goodness, can you imagine a world where all that gets done in the next two months? and in late March, I'm like, hey, Jake, I think they should go after one more.

Starting point is 00:19:13 Where's the Maurice first piece? The vet minimum backup with upside piece, you know? Who's the guy we talked about all year? Everybody who listens knows who we're going to say. Yep, go ahead. To Lace Campbell. It is the, this is the award. It is the I don't want to call Lauren Sky in Week 4 award.

Starting point is 00:19:35 And that's it. And it goes to multiple positions. I don't want to deal with that. I don't want to think about that. And so how do you fix that and make that the reality? That's the mindset. And so go ahead. And how many times do we talk about one more interior offensive linemen,

Starting point is 00:19:51 be it in the draft or wherever last year, and how much the interior offensive line was a problem last year? So many times. You've been talking about Dalton Reisner for years, years, plural. And he's a free agent again. So never say never. Some guys just stay being free agents, huh?

Starting point is 00:20:10 Yeah. Anyways, but we'll see what they do. But we have more on this defense because there's, like I said, it's like the Ridler. A lot of question marks. We'll get to it coming up next. This is a message from our sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting, wandering and worrying some more.

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Starting point is 00:21:08 only available with TurboTex live full service, real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guarantee details at turbotex.com slash guarantees. Let's talk about the rest of this defense, James. Got a little bit distracted by talking about the front office, the way this Dean does contracts. I think it's an important point to bring up. Yep.

Starting point is 00:21:29 But a few more position groups to get to. Let's go linebackers next. We'll just work our way back the second level of the defense. Logan Wilson, certainly a future contributor. Not a question mark, I think, for Logan Wilson, especially in 2025. And then there's a whole bunch of question marks. Jermaine Pratt, question mark. Akeem Davis Gaither, free agent.

Starting point is 00:21:50 Joe Bachi, a guy that Al Golden really likes, free agent. Shaka Hayward, question mark. Mimujong meta, question mark. We did not get answers for really any piece of this linebacking future could see a draft pick, could see a free agent acquisition. Logan Wilson will be the guy who is doing all the communication and Al Golden big on empowering his safeties and his linebackers to adjust the defense as needed based on what they see.

Starting point is 00:22:18 That'll be Logan Wilson. That's great. That's an important piece of this defense going forward, but you need to find the running mate, especially Al Golden talking about being a four three base defense. That means you need two linebackers to put on the field with Logan Wilson, where they've been, and I think Bengals fans maybe, some are still confused about this.

Starting point is 00:22:38 They've been at 3-4 base for years, 5-2, 3-4, whatever it is. They're putting two linebackers on the field in most scenarios. We saw against Baltimore, they would occasionally go three linebackers. They'd occasionally put Akeem Davis-Gaither on the field along with Jermann Pratt and Logan Wilson. But that was not a major focus of this Bengals defense. Sounds like that is shifting. So many question marks at this linebacker position, especially if they're going to try to put three linebackers on the field more often to match base personnel.

Starting point is 00:23:06 in the future. Yeah, it's it's a sneaky one on day one, day two. Like, I haven't gotten into the draft enough to say, and initially you'd say, I'll know a linebacker at 17, but I don't think I would completely rule that out. Now, it's probably day two. I think Logan Wilson's

Starting point is 00:23:24 going to be Al's guy, Al's dude that he's all in on was obviously here when they drafted him, helped him develop, and all of those things. But after that, does i want germane preb back or not i think that's a big i think that's one of the biggest questions i really do does al say oh no i want germane come on give me germane because i think as of today everybody else would say bye-bye germane don't know it for sure it's not like duke tobin who's in

Starting point is 00:23:51 mobile right now in alabama at the senior bowl is calling me saying hey we're going to cut germane but it's just the feel can you imagine of it duke call me anytime for advice we can talk draft anytime. I'll have a better handle in a few months. As far as germane goes, I think that's just such a big question mark because if you move on from him, well, then it feels a lot like defensive line does where that entire room could feel much, much different in May. And you could be talking about draft picks, you could be talking about free agents.

Starting point is 00:24:29 Akeem Davis Gaither is represented by athletes first, which makes that tough the David Mulligeta agency and so they did get it done I mean he must not be directly represented by David Mulligeta because they did sign him to a one year deal last no he just changed it he just changed agents like three weeks ago I take it back yeah yeah gave you hope gave you hope don't give me hope I gave you hope yeah so he just changed agents they announced it a few weeks ago that's a tough one because I do think much like Dermaine, you could see Al saying, oh, I love Akeem Davis-Kathar. I love his makeup. I love

Starting point is 00:25:06 what he brings. I love all those things. And the other one, I'm just going to make sure, but I believe Marcus Bailey signed a one-year deal in Arizona, which means he could be back. Yeah, he signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. So who knows?

Starting point is 00:25:24 But that would be one of those fringe linebackers and not the guy you're talking about, which would be a number two alongside side Logan Wilson playing regularly and then a number three. So in an ideal world, would they keep Akeem? Would they keep Jermaine? That is a huge question.

Starting point is 00:25:44 And I think it's tough to imagine a world where they give Akeem a long-term deal. At the same time, I'm not sure that they're keeping Jermaine Pratt at his current figure. So we'll see. We'll see how the pieces fit into Al Golden's vision for the defense. He certainly, I think, can realize that Logan Wilson is a piece to build around at that level. And I think beyond that, you might see a makeover of the linebacking group. We'll see. I mean, he's obviously intimately familiar with Jermaine Pratt, Akine Davis, Gailer, Jobachi.

Starting point is 00:26:18 He's coached all those guys. And we'll see what the future holds there. The continuity on this defense might come in the secondary, where they retain the coaches for these units, Covac, safety's coach, back. Chuck Birx, cornerbacks coach, back. A lot of young players in this group. Let's go corners first.

Starting point is 00:26:42 Daxo question mark because he's coming back from injury, but assuming that recovery goes well, he'll be in the mix along with DJ Turner, Camt Taylor Britt, to be the starting corners for the Bengals in 2025. Josh Newton for CB4, that's what you would say as of today. DJ Avi continues to be a special team's piece perhaps. sure. And then a question that I think has been answered by the front office, at least at this point, is Mike Hilton. And then you get to the safeties and there are more questions. But I think there's a need to add at least one corner that can be in the mix there. If you have an opportunity to get a guy in the draft that can add to the ceiling of that room, great, especially because they're going to know more about Dax's recovery than we are at this point. But I think the corner room, while there are, are questions, there are also contributors, or at least four contributors there, which as a percentage of the number of players you needed a position is by far the highest, I think, of any position on this defense.

Starting point is 00:27:43 Yeah. Yeah, I think you can never have enough. This is another of one of those one more positions where they certainly could have used that at times last year. I like a lot of guys in this room, though. And I do wonder if they look at it and they say, you know what? we're missing is we're missing the true number one like dax is really good you like him and he's coming back from injury cam certainly ended much stronger than he started dj turner has had his moments and was trending in the right direction i know chuck berks is is really bullish on that those guys in that room and and that's probably a big reason why he is back is you know it's not just those three but obviously you have a guy in j norton uh a guy in dj ivy both of which during their rookie year ivy got hurt at the end of his rookie year but you just heard from players in that locker room certainly guys on the coaching staff that were like these guys can play like they're

Starting point is 00:28:41 they're gonna i remember early on in rookie camp or in minicamp someone came up to me like man dj ivy is like a dude and uh i i think they still feel that way so getting the most out of these guys is one thing but i do wonder if they're like man it would be nice nice to get one more one more one more guy in a starting level corner. I don't know if that's where they go spend big and free agency, but I think about that room and what it would be like if they had taken a Quignan Mitchell. Obviously, love Amarius Mims, but we talked to the son about Quinean Mitchell. And it's like, man, that would have come, that would complete the room. You'd feel amazing about their cornerback depth if you had a true one. But I don't know if you're using the 17th pick on a corner either.

Starting point is 00:29:27 So there's a balance there. But they could certainly use one more guy for sure. That's a never say never, especially with this team. Never. Like if they have that opportunity. Like I'll never say never. That's what I'm saying never to be clear. Depending on how free agency goes, you could definitely see the Bengals using a pick on a corner they think could be a one in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:29:49 Like if they didn't have a desperate need to tackle last year, Quinyan Mitchell probably is much more in the conversation. I think that's the pick, honestly. He was high on their board already. It's just Mims is a freak. And they desperately needed to tackle, which is breaking any tie at that point. And they've needed it for years. And they had an opportunity in a deep tackle class to go that direction. And so we'll see how this year shakes out.

Starting point is 00:30:15 Talking about spending big money in free agency, though, I don't think it's a corner. I don't think the guy is there at corner. Those guys often don't get to free agency anyway. But there are options at safety. There seem to always be options at safety where the Bengals, have chosen to go cheap in the wake of Jesse Bay's departure, and it hasn't seemed to work out. So where you have young player, Jordan Battle,

Starting point is 00:30:34 who certainly could be your starter of 2025, you have a big question on whether or not Gino Stone fits into Al Golden's vision for what he needs out of a deep safety that wants to play a lot of single high, assuming he wants to still play a lot of single high. Maybe that was just a Notre Dame thing. Maybe that was a Marcus Freeman College thing. But a lot of questions in that safety room. What are they doing with Gino Stone?

Starting point is 00:30:56 Is he part of this team? Do they see him as a contributor? I'm not sure what the answer is there based on what Algonin wants to do with his defense. Do they think that Jordan Battle can be a starting safety? I would assume that answer is yes. I don't think that they can say they have to go get two new safeties again. And then the question is, is that a spot where they actually go spend in free agency? Do they go big fish hunting at one spot on defense and free agency

Starting point is 00:31:21 and try to stabilize the back of that defense with a guy like Javan Holland? or do they just go whatever we have to do to get Xavier Watts in the draft as we continue to discuss that connection with Al Gold. Yeah, I think, I don't think Gino Stone is a fit. Just don't. It doesn't mean that they won't keep him to have something there. But I think of Xavier Watts and I think of these guys and you got to tackle. Look at the fundamental stuff that Al go got to tackle. You want to tackle.

Starting point is 00:31:53 You need a guy who could tackle. physical. And that really isn't. I know he came from Baltimore. It's just not Gino Stone. And it's not an elite athlete either. But they may bring him back. It's strictly because you can only have so many holes, so many voids. I'm still curious about the other guys in that room. And, you know, are we sure? And this is what I would say to Duke, if he called me right now, are we sure that Tyson Anderson can't give you what Gino Stone would give you? And if you hesitate a little bit, then it's like, all right, well, save that cat money and go, go use that elsewhere. So you can get that one more when James and Jake are like, hey, one more, one more, one more.

Starting point is 00:32:34 It gives you a little more, a little more room to get that one more. A lot to do. A lot of work on this Bengals defense. You need a couple of defensive tackles. You need a couple of edge rushers. You might need two linebackers. We're up to six players already. You might need a corner.

Starting point is 00:32:52 You might need a safety. you have to eight players in key roles, contributing roles, not just depth pieces, but key roles. That's kind of where the count is right now, between six and nine, certainly, if you wanted to go higher or lower by one on the potential range of outcomes there. Al Golden's got a lot of talent evaluation to do as he sets up his talent acquisition plan for this offseason.

Starting point is 00:33:18 And hopefully that episode that we just got through, gives you an idea of all of these spots and all of the free agents that are up for discussion for this Bengals defense as we head in to draft season with the Senior Bowl going on this week, James. Yeah. That's going to do it. Exciting time. Exciting time, Jake, let's go. About to go watch some Senior Bowl clips right now as soon as we get out of here. So that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.

Starting point is 00:33:49 Until next time, thanks for listening. who do and have a good one

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Assessing the Bengals defense as Al Golden makes offseason plan

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