Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Make SHOCKING Pick, Revamp Their Defense in Latest Mock Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 What do the Cincinnati Bengals do with the 10th pick in the NFL draft if all those top defensive targets are taken? Let's explore that in today's mock draft Monday. 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 Lockdown Bengals podcast. He's James Rapiden and I'm Jake. Let's go. We're your host of Lockdown Bengals and it's draft season.

Starting point is 00:00:36 And we've only got four more Mondays until there are no more Mondays before the NFL draft. And as it is getting to the April part of the calendar here, James, it's time for us to get into a few more mock draft Monday scenarios. And the way that we usually approach this month on lockdown Bengals, and we have in years past, is what we'll do a few mocks here and there. We'll talk about some of the top prospects in the first round. We'll start to talk about some of the mid-round prospects as well.

Starting point is 00:01:08 We'll go position by position in some spots that are, you know, specific needs. We just did our top needs show for the Bengals. We'll probably address some of those needs with more depth and potentially with some guests here over the course of the month. And eventually we'll get to our what we would do mock drafts, what we think they will do mock drafts closer to the draft. On draft week, we usually do those shows. Those don't use a simulator or anything like that. That's just us trying to predict things. And we've been pretty good over the years and getting a guy or two.

Starting point is 00:01:41 And certainly some of the positions that they would target over the course of the draft. But today, James, we're still in the simulators. I don't think we have used the PFF simulator all year. We've done some of the mini episodes where we've done some quick mocks. We've done one full episode mock. This will be our second of this draft cycle. And I don't think we've used a PFF. simulator yet. And part of the reason for that is that you, sometimes in the PFF simulator,

Starting point is 00:02:08 end up in these nightmareish scenarios if you really want an impact defender. And we're going to explore that today because sometimes the draft really doesn't break your way. And maybe this is a great argument for the Bengals should trade up or the Bengals should trade back. But today we're going to take a look at a scenario that we're going to put on the screen now that involves all those top defenders being picked over before the Bengals were on the clock. And it's not even one of those scenarios where, oh, well, you can pick Jeremiah Love because he went second in this world to the New York Jets, which I know breaks your heart, James. But this is a scenario where Arval Reese has obviously been picked, but David Bailey, Ruben Bayne,

Starting point is 00:02:47 sunny styles, Caleb does, and even Mansour Delane have been selected. And now the Bengals are on the clock. And if you believe PFF, the top players available are Francis Nowewey Noah, Carnell Tate, Dylan Thineman, Monroe Freeling, Kenyon, Sadiq, Mackay, Lemon, the guard from Penn State, whose name I myself had learned how to pronounce James, Ione, J.Mod McCoy, C.J. Allen. And now we're in a world where the Bengals have to figure this out and make a pick at 10. Or maybe this is where, like I said, you're talking about various trade scenarios.

Starting point is 00:03:20 Well, sure. I think a couple things. one agree with you the trade scenario aspect of this but guess what if if this plays out and the NFL doesn't view these tackles as top 10 worthy then how many teams are going to be willing to trade up right like I think that that's a real a real thought the carnell tate option for some teams as a trade up candidate I think is interesting I'm not sure they're going to do it for a macaille in a slot more of a slot only I don't think teams necessarily they're going to do that, but someone like Carnell Tate, like you could see that teams being interested in him. So that's the first note.

Starting point is 00:04:01 The second note is, I wonder, and this is the one that that's really interesting because there's all this Mansour Delane love, what if McCoy's medicals come back strong? And it's like, yeah, he didn't perform at the combine, but it wasn't, there were no flags there. he had a torn ACL, but look what he did when he was on the field. Like I could totally see the Bengals being like, yeah, and not just the Bengals, any NFL team. This is a very high level here. But Jermond McCoy has a chance to be the best defensive back in this draft. And I'll say that again, I think there are NFL teams that could view that and see that and forecast that.

Starting point is 00:04:43 Hey, Jermad McCoy could be the best defensive back that includes safeties in this draft. And so that's an option that we haven't touched on a lot because there's a lot of unknown with the medicals. And that's the thing that's hardest for us to figure out on the outside looking in when it comes to any of these guys. But I think that this could be certainly a Jamad McCoy potential scenario. Obviously, everyone's going to look at Dylan Thineman as well and mention him. You expect being mentioned Tate and Lemon as options if you know and listen to Lockdown and have over the years. But yeah, I think that this is almost the, all right, well, what do Germad McCoy's medicals look like if a trade down can't happen? Because he certainly could be in the mix at 10 in a lot of scenarios.

Starting point is 00:05:31 I wonder if he'll work out of this pro day. The Tennessee Pro Day is soon. And that is going to be a big moment for Germa McCoy. If Germant McCoy goes out there, because nobody's done anything at Protis. Like the last few weeks of pro, we were talking about the, Ohio State Pro Day last week, like, oh, we could get some numbers on some, we didn't get anything. Nobody did anything at the Ohio State Pro Day.

Starting point is 00:05:56 Not across the board. There have been some guys that have done some stuff at Pro Days, but like, Ruben Bay didn't do anything. He did position of Joe's, but didn't test. When I say didn't do anything, I mean, didn't test, didn't test in Miami's Pro Day, didn't get new testing numbers on a number of guys. We would have loved to have seen testing numbers for. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:06:14 Now you're not going to have, this isn't the end of the world, but you're not. not going to have RAS scores, which I guess is like saying ATM machine, you're not going to have relative athletic scores for a number of guys that could have been Bengals targets because they didn't tested the pro day, but big one for McCoy, right, the extent to which he's able to get through that pro day workout, whether it's testing, whether it's just doing drills, because he didn't do anything at the combine, right? Yeah, he did not. And so that's, I agree with you. I think for him to be in conversation at 10, he needs to ace the medical. which are probably already done at the combine and then ace the pro day.

Starting point is 00:06:52 And if that happens, then I very much, like if you think Delane is a target, a possible target, then McCoy will certainly be if there's no medical red flag and he tests well. If McCoy tests well? Yeah. If McCoy's able to. Well, and there's no medical red flag, he's in the mix, maybe top nine. Like he could go high and that's it. And certainly would be in.

Starting point is 00:07:18 conversation for the Bengals at 10. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I think that then gets really interesting. So we might revisit this in a couple of days after Tennessee's Pro Day and talk about, oh, well, that really makes, McCoy makes sense because he got through a whole workout. And it's on Tuesday. For those wondering, it's on Tuesday. 31st. What, did I not say that? My bad. You said it was soon. Yeah, the 31st of March. So, and McCoy's not even on the screen here, down here. if the Bengals look at this list, though, and they're like, man, we love Francis Maui Noah. We love Ione from Penn State or Ione. I really got to learn how to pronounce his name because I think the Bengals well like him.

Starting point is 00:08:02 If we love Monroe Freeling to be a tackle of the future. And I think that tackle the future is no longer really something that they consider. If we love Dylan Thineman, do they go in any of those directions? What do you think? Do you think that Dylan Thineman is a prospect that they would love enough to pick him at 10? I think they would feel like that's a reach. I do. There's moks out there that have Thineman going 10 and there's been discussions about that and like, oh, could they take him 10 over downs? Like I would be surprised if they did that. I think that that's a that would be a surprising thing for the Bengals to do. Not that Thineman isn't a really good player, not that they don't like him. I put him almost in the trade down, trade. move down bucket of first round options, less so a real option at number 10, which again, I think McCoy could be

Starting point is 00:08:55 if he gets these question marks and makes those quality answers with testing and medicals. But yeah, Thineman, I would say is a tier below. So what direction do we go here? Because if you were to pick an offensive lineman here, I mean, you can't go wrong, building in the trenches, right, Trenchman, but going offense in the first round for a guy that probably doesn't have a path to the field in 2026, barring injury, is a big pill to swallow.

Starting point is 00:09:29 Let's make a decision in just a second here as we have to get our first round pick in to get things going in this mock draft Monday. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put sports and your sports IQ to work with Robin Hood prediction markets. not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge for the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. You've always known the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Well, now you can actually take part live in a market powered by the people. You're no longer

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Starting point is 00:10:38 spoiler, I don't think we're going to trade down in this mock. We got to get to the bottom of this name. Our everydayers know that you struggle with names sometimes. This one is when I struggled with two. during the break when I was talking about Robin Hood, I was also able to look it up. Vega Yawani is the guard from Penn State, is the guy that you're talking about. He goes by Vega a lot, which is the last four letters of his name, first name, Yawani is how you say, Yawani. Vega, Yawani. And honestly, Vega Yawani sounds like a bad MFerman when it comes to protecting Joe Burrow.

Starting point is 00:11:15 So officially in on Vega Yawani just by hearing his name and how it's actually. actually pronounced. Yeah, we haven't had a Polynesian on the Bengals offensive line. Polynesian on the team for a while, right? Who's the last Polynesian on the Cincinnati Val- it goes, anyway, it's the Polynesian consonants that are invisible. The Y in front of the eye here. Anyway, one day maybe I'll understand the phonetics of that love of language.

Starting point is 00:11:45 It's just nice that he goes by Vega because all the vowels before Vega in his name, would also be a challenge to pronounce. But Vega, Yovani, the Penn State Guard. Good to have the pronunciation down there. Learned that it's Maui Noah, even though it's a G in Francis's name. I do think that these are a couple of guys that could be BPA kind of options,

Starting point is 00:12:09 but again, selling the fan base on picking an offensive linemen in the first round right now. Yeah. It feels like an uphill battle. So what direction do we go here? Do we go McCoy? Well, I'll say this. I don't think the Bengals give two leaps about selling the fan base.

Starting point is 00:12:33 They're going to pick a player that they believe can help them. And I don't think they're in the market of completely crossing off one side of the ball. Even if in an ideal world, they would address defense. that being said, it really comes down to what we think, one, about McCoy to these offensive linemen, and the other one is, and this is a real one, there was that that rumbling late in the week.

Starting point is 00:13:02 Keldrick Falk. Keldrick Falk is available, Jake. That's the one that a lot of people are like, don't do it. Oh, my God. We have to talk about him here because that's certainly, I think he's in play in this scenario. and that's why it's so hard here is because you could tell me by Wednesday, midday, Tuesday, hey, Jermond McCoy is in the running at 10. And I'd be like, yeah, I could see that.

Starting point is 00:13:26 You could tell me right now, Keldrick Falk, in this scenario, is in the mix at 10. Wouldn't be shocked. It doesn't mean that the Bengals wouldn't want to trade down, but there's been plenty of times in their history. They've wanted the trade down or been open to trading down, and it just didn't work. I wonder if Falk sneaks in here and is the, guy. What do you think? What do you think about the idea of Keldrick Falk at 10? I bulk at 10. I'm not, I'm not there. I mean, I think he can be a fine NFL player, but you're not getting a significant pass rush out of Keldrick Falk unless he exceeds his projections significantly. And

Starting point is 00:14:04 last year, we kind of put our heads in the sand a little bit with the Shamar Stewart possibility. And we didn't really acknowledge that until probably the week of the draft. And in these mock draft Mondays that we do, we tend to default to what we would want to do in that situation, right? And we talk less about what we think the Bengals well or could be considering. I do think that you're right to say they could be considering Keldrick Falk here. I think that if this scenario were to play out in real life, I mean, maybe we should be talking about C.J. Allen, too.

Starting point is 00:14:36 I think that's another one that maybe we haven't talked about at all, the linebacker from Georgia. but when you have all these receivers and offensive linemen available, I would be saying like, hey, do you want to get ahead of Miami here to pick a wide receiver? Do you want to get ahead of, you know, the Rams or the Ravens to get a receiver?

Starting point is 00:14:55 Because this could start a little receiver run. We talked about this in the first segment. And as you see here, we're not really doing trades today, but, you know, six teams interested in coming up here according to the PFF simulator. And teams picking right behind the Ravens, the Bucks, the lions,

Starting point is 00:15:09 the Bucks and particularly. particular makes sense to target a wide receiver. So like this scenario, there probably is a tradeback partner. Yeah. You would, you would think. But since, since we're doing a simulator, we're not going to, we're not going to go that way today. The two guys I'd be in on, and this could change, like I said, Tuesday with McCoy. And we've hammered that, but we don't have the info yet. So I can't take him at 10. I would be, it'd be Maui Noah or Tate for me. those are the two that I would be in it because I think it's strictly BPA and you look at it and I'm not even just talking about PFF I because if you're watching that those are the PFF

Starting point is 00:15:52 like if you look at it like I think Tate is just such a clean prospect like he's just going to be a solid player now we know the same thing neither one addresses the exact need you're hoping to address at 10 but that's that's the downside of picking 10 and not one right and And so if you want to go Maui Noah, and I think that's probably how you're leaning, I don't know that for sure, but I would certainly be okay with it in this scenario. I'm actually leaning toward McCoy here on the hope that he,

Starting point is 00:16:21 like you said, if we're doing this on Wednesday, because we'll know the outcome of the pro day. But like if we were to assume, let's assume he has a healthy pro day. What if he does? So he runs a 439 like Delane and thumbs up medicals. Even, yeah, like whatever,

Starting point is 00:16:37 whatever his he tests as expected let's say yep okay i'm fine with mccoy in that scenario like i said because he's probably bpa if that's the case i think there's a chance mccoy goes ahead of delay on draft day i'll throw that out there right now like i don't think it's a zero chance it's it's very much derrick stingley to me when he went ahead of sauce gardner a few years ago and the the injury part of it that not seeing him part of it kind of gets buried, but like I think NFL teams really like him. Now, we don't,

Starting point is 00:17:11 there are some question marks that he has to answer to, to complete that profile. If he's there at 10 and answers those questions, if you think Delane is on their board, then why wouldn't you think McCoy is? That's kind of my logic. The other guy that I would be strongly considering here, we talked about Vega,

Starting point is 00:17:28 but I would also be, if it were me, I don't think the Bengals are even thinking about wide receiver. You mentioned Cardinal Tate since the very first tweet exchange we had about the draft. I talked about Mackay Lemon. And I know that he's the slot guy and everything.

Starting point is 00:17:45 I was watching some cutups from the last time that the Bengals played the Chiefs. The last time the Bengals beat the Chiefs and Tyler Boyd's impact in that game. And I was thinking about Look at you. Look, man. And in 21 and 22,

Starting point is 00:18:06 looking at you, having that third option, and then, like, like Keseke, whatever, you know, like,

Starting point is 00:18:12 Micahe, Yosevae, Chase Brown, whoever it is, when they had Tyler Boyd, a guy that Joe Burrow really trusted in the slot, to throw 100 passes to

Starting point is 00:18:22 over the course of a season. Yeah. That was a difference for the offense. Mike Lemon would be cost controlled for the duration of T. Higgins and Jemar Chase's contracts. And,

Starting point is 00:18:32 and, if it really doesn't work and this is probably offensive to some people like in a couple of years you could trade tea if you had to in a couple years but like in the short term VPA big impact for the offense like the Bengals haven't had a guy like Lemon

Starting point is 00:18:51 and what he could be in the NFL he's better he would be better than Tyler Boyd if he hits his upside right? Well sure. Pretty considerably. Yeah, I mean you'd be banking on that. You'd be banking on him to be what 95% of a monrah is what you're saying yeah like i don't think you can expect him to be a mona

Starting point is 00:19:10 i say brown but you can expect him to be you know close to that would be the other like if we're talking about wide receiver i'm talking about more than i'm talking about say it say you'll take lemon say it say it if they pick lemon i would be hard to like take in this scenario you want you want to do lemon i don't i don't i want you to want lemon i i'm okay can't want lemon everyone knows how i feel like i'm the love guy for a reason you can make the same argument for lemon for for any playmaker like it's not just love for me it's it's a playmaker that's going to impact this offense and get it to this super saying level shout out dragon ball z you know like that's that's it and so yeah i mean the thing is you pointed to tyler boyd you pointed

Starting point is 00:19:59 to tyler boyd on the back end of tyler boyd that wasn't even pique tyler boyd that was like like really good Tyler Boyd. But like remember that remember that AFC championship game right where they're like ready to run the offense through Boyd early and then Boyd goes down and then the cost them again chiefs clamp down yeah cost them the game all right james you have to make a bunch of picks here we're 20 minutes in let's let's make some picks to finish the show coming up next james you love putting me on the spot to make picks I feel like I feel like I've made the picks the last couple weeks so I'm going to put you on the spot you make the pick well I think I can find a a slap

Starting point is 00:20:37 option, some juice at that wide receiver spot in rounds two and three. And by the way, I think wide receiver should be in the mix at 41, certainly at 72, which is pretty unique. And so I'm going to pass on that. Let's go with Jermad McCoy. Let's assume he does everything right, because again, I think he may go ahead of the lane. In this way, we can prepare Bengals fans for this possibility, go down this scenario and see what else is there. And boy, oh boy, are some fun options there. By the way, who went Maui Noah, Sadiq, Tate,

Starting point is 00:21:14 the first three picks after McCoy, Lemon, 15th overall. So C.J. Allen went 18th to the Vikings. So a lot of those defensive players who were talking about, Keldrick Falk fell all the way to the Steelers at 21. Dylan Theammon 22. Before we started the show,

Starting point is 00:21:32 I was running some PFF sins just for fun to see what would happen. and Thineman went nine or eight and Downs was available. So one of these Sims that I ran before we started had Theneman ahead of Downs on PFF today. Let me ask you this because I see Cassius Howe there. Is Cassius Howe like a potential trade down candidate? Do you think he could emerge as a guy at 10? I mean, one of the better past rushers into class, right?

Starting point is 00:22:01 Yep. I think a little bit older. I don't know that I'm ready to say for sure, but if you're looking for strictly a pass rusher, then I think that you would have to consider him as a tradeback target. Yeah, because there is a fall off after him for a pure pass rush ability. But.

Starting point is 00:22:23 And that's what they need. Let's be real. I know they love everything else and they love the complete, can set an edge, all that stuff. They need some juice. Well, that's why they're talking about Keldrick folk.

Starting point is 00:22:31 Like they do. love that kind of player. And maybe they got one here in Zion Young. So, like, this is a pretty interesting second round where Peter Woods has made it all the way to the Bengals picket 41 in the second round. Zion Young, who I think if he's available in the second round, would be very interesting to them.

Starting point is 00:22:49 DiAngelo Pons, I'm going to mention every time he's available because I think he's awesome. He's very good. But we just picked a corner. Chris Bell from Louisville, if we're going back from live receiver. Chris Johnson. And if you can get Chris Johnson in the second round,

Starting point is 00:23:02 probably not picking him, Ramacoy in the first round, but I don't think you are, though. I think Chris Johnson's a first rounder. I think he goes round one. And we've talked about Jacob Rodriguez. Armason Thomas, one of the guys that I really like is a pass rusher in this class. Gabe Accus from Illinois or Accus from Illinois, the J is silent for sure. I remember that.

Starting point is 00:23:22 As a power rusher will be interesting. Keith Abney, again, if we hadn't picked a corner in the first round, Malachide Lawrence, pretty far down on the PFF board here at 54. but potentially one of the better edge rushers in this class as well. And then I think we're probably getting out of the range. Traydan Stoops, Traydon Stooges from Arizona, slot defender that the Bengals have had some contact with as well. But I don't know how far we're getting past the first couple of names here,

Starting point is 00:23:51 Peter Woods and Zion Young in the second round, if you could get one of these guys. It's really hard to pass up Peter Woods to me in the second round of the draft where there's a lot of risk involved there and concerns about his fall off. last year in the first round that have taken them out of the conversation of pick 10 or if you go back to January we're talking about Peter Woods is like yeah that's probably the pick of 10 now very much that's not the case but if you get them in the second round that's a that's a different story it is and I'm taking Peter Woods here and now you're getting two guys in McCoy and Woods like this is how you can potentially reset your defense and give them true

Starting point is 00:24:26 like top tier talent and so I think Peter Woods you take that obviously some of those corners that fell aren't going to fall. You're not going to feel as highly in this scenario where you take a guy like McCoy. And you look here in round three, there's going to be some guys. Romello Haidt is available. That's someone that the Bengals have met with and showed interest in. If you're looking for that slot receiver, Zachariah Branch out of Georgia is available. I'm interested in Skylar Bell at this range if he's there.

Starting point is 00:24:55 I don't think he made it, but certainly someone that I would be in on if he had made it. went to the Cardinals at pick 65. Max Claire, someone you've talked about, certainly, at tight end. But if you could get McCoy and Woods, like there's a chance, McCoy, just to triple down here, is the number one corner on the Bengals board. There's a chance that Peter Woods is what? Like, where do you think he could end up being ranked at defensive tackle on their board? He could be, though, top guy.

Starting point is 00:25:27 I mean, he probably isn't at this point, but he could be. Yeah, could be. I think like they've had multiple meetings with Caden McDonald, right? And like if they get Cade and McDonald in the second round, they're probably thrilled about that to have that, you know, DJ Reeder archetype player and hope that he becomes DJ Reader, they could get Caleb Banks in the second round. They're probably pretty excited about that too. This is one of those drafts where the way that it's gone, where in the second round, we could have picked a different corner.

Starting point is 00:25:54 And there were a few available, but Chris Johnson stood out. And knowing that Grayson Hilton is there in the third round, like maybe you make some decisions a little bit differently in hindsight, but given the decisions we have made, because that's how the draft works is you don't get to change your picks looking backwards. I think that I'm looking at Kyle Lewis very, very strongly here. This is not necessarily like the linebacker fit that you're looking for if you're the Bengals or at least the way Al Golden has described to,

Starting point is 00:26:26 but Kyle Lewis is more slot defender, overhang defender played. You know, he's listed at linebacker, more of that. that like overhang tweener role, like think, think the, uh, even worry role. That's probably a guy I'm thinking about here. Camari Ramsey, if you wanted a more traditional safety guy that's played all over the place in the secondary for USC. But again, like the corners falling here, uh, the Ohio State corner and Chandler

Starting point is 00:26:55 Rivers both falling here. Devin Moore falling here. All interesting names. If you wanted more traditional linebacker option, Anthony Hill. I think becomes very interesting in the third round as well. Yeah, he does. And I think Hill would be in the mix here. And do they want Hill?

Starting point is 00:27:10 Do they want, I think Hill height Lewis are the ones that stand out to me the most. Obviously, Halton, but I'm just not sure they would double down and go that route at a defensive tackle. You added John. Yeah, here,

Starting point is 00:27:23 which we've been trying to do for the most part, right? Yeah, yeah. Because we made the argument that McCoy was BPA. Like, Grayson Houghton could very well be a BPA pick here. Although so could be Zachari, Branch, and Max Clay. By the way, I'm not going to be the guy that's like, oh, you have too much interior present. Like, they need it.

Starting point is 00:27:40 They need it. Hill, think about their three guys they're banking on are all closer to our age than they are, the age of a lot of these guys in this draft, which is not what you want. Hill and Allen are both guys that are very much, even though they have two years left on their deals, there are one-year deals. And so having guys that can come.

Starting point is 00:28:01 in and play. Like if, if you want to go and explore this where we add another defensive tackle, I'm down. Let's, let's see what Grayson Hallden would look like. I do think that in a world, this is kind of like the free agency thing, you know, they might be very similar prospects. In a world where they had been more active in free agency, I'm really talking myself into Max, Claire here as that like every down, tight end, you can do everything. I knew you would. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Historically, they've, they've been in on the right tight ends. They've just hoped, like, they're probably picking here like, man,

Starting point is 00:28:36 hopefully he's there and run. Yeah. 20 picks center. Yeah. I also think that, like, Devin Moore, if you get Devin Moore in the third round, like I'm never touched a corner in the first round. Like some of these Chandler Rivers, like, some of these guys who I think are like perfectly playable corners, like, they're really falling in this mock.

Starting point is 00:28:55 And I know they're lower for PFF as well. also some consideration for interior offensive line options here you're not going to talk about them in a ton of depth i would pick kyle lewis a lot of the time here i don't think the bengals necessarily would i think a lot of fans would probably pick anthony hill here um but let's let's not let's not pick for need let's let's let's try to go bpa here let's and we have time we are going to dive into day three here james the bengals have this huge gap i don't know if you guys have done these simulators i assume if you're watching the show you've been playing with these simulton to the gap between round four and round six because the bengals don't have a fifth round pick this year is is pretty monumental so now also hold on hold on it's a fifth round pick i i've seen this bengal's team have 10 picks oh yeah and have every pick everywhere and like i just it's out there like oh they really need that fifth round pick it's like no no it'll be fine i'm just saying like if you're hoping for some of these some of these guys that would be picked between your you know they could be like oh maybe no down the fifth round like you're not going to get you're

Starting point is 00:30:01 not going to get those guys that's why going with the BPA makes uh makes sense add that talent stack that talent and see who falls so we get into some less familiar names here yeah yep and what what what are you thinking about we've we've picked corner tackle tackle defensive tackle defensive tackle. Yeah. Well, now I'm wide open, right? So obviously linebacker makes sense. I think safety makes sense. Edge makes sense. All of the offensive positions from

Starting point is 00:30:33 swing tackle to guard to wide receiver to tight end. Like you're really open and you should be. Looking here like it to me, does a Jalen Kilgore make sense for the Bengals right now? Is there a linebacker that you're like, all right, this

Starting point is 00:30:49 is going to fit. This is the last spot where we can get a guy that's going to be able to help us and you look and it doesn't really feel like like what stands out there to you about linebacker man like it feels like they kind of missed it yeah in this particular like simulator world that we live in it's early for tory and york from texas an m because he's like 145 but he's not making it to you in the sixth round and Caleb alarms or from tc u is another guy that the the the sheet the draft sheet that is in progress, things are very, very highly of.

Starting point is 00:31:26 Bryce Betcher, I'm assuming is how this name is pronounced from Oregon, is a guy that I know has some significant fans. You want to pick another older linebacker. He'll be 24 as a rookie. But another player who I think has some fans around the league. I would be looking at linebacker here, though. I would be looking at like, this is my last chance to get a linebacker that I think can actually make an impact and,

Starting point is 00:31:53 play for me in year one and i know they're lower on the pff board but the uh the draft sheet that we're working on really is is a fan of troy and york and elarms or uh as potential players here yeah who well who stands out to you the most which one are you sticking to the sheet yeah i mean i'm looking at the sheet here i'm probably thinking uh the younger player elarms or just so you know is uh has a pretty good rank for Lance Zerline. And so 6-2-234, in this range is probably where he's actually going to go on draft day, regardless of how it's viewed.

Starting point is 00:32:36 He's ahead of Tori and York for zero. And the problem with York is that he's 226. And so Deonté Lawson, the top linebacker here for PFF also at 226. So let's see what it would look like if we picked Elarm's Orr. This is a huge reach according to. We're going to get an F. The PFF board. We're not looking.

Starting point is 00:32:58 We're not looking at the fourth round. I know. I'm just like I'm preparing everybody and preparing the people. We're going to get an F. I mean, McCoy is a reach for PFF. Oh, this is a reach.

Starting point is 00:33:09 Well, these two picks were fine, I think. Yeah. Oh, let's see it. Let's see this great. I'm not afraid.

Starting point is 00:33:14 You want to, you want to see the grade. All right. We'll see the good. Yeah, let's do it. Speed it up here. Get our grade here. And we'll get out of here.

Starting point is 00:33:22 We got a D plus. Told you. D plus for McCoy, A plus for Woods, A for Halton, F for Elam's Oar. Oh, yeah. B plus overall, baby. B plus this Peter Woods, this Peter Woods pick really saved the draft. If Jermod McCoy is, I mean, insert who at Quinnion Mitchell, you know, he doesn't even need to be stingly.

Starting point is 00:33:47 Like, this is a home run draft if Woods and Halton give you that interior push that you're looking for. So no, I like it. That was a fun. I know that moved slower than we're used to from making picks, but I think it was fun to kind of like workshop and go back and forth about different players, which is the whole point of Mock's, by the way, is to gather information, play out different scenarios and learn with the NFL draft less than a month away. I think what we learned more than anything today, James,

Starting point is 00:34:16 is that the Bengals need that fifth round picks so they don't get an F from PFF so they can pick Caleb Elarns or in the fifth round. He won't be there in the fifth round. He probably won't be there. We'll wrap up there for today's episode of Lockdown Bengals. Tell us how much you loved or hated the draft in the comments. I know you will. I don't have to prompt you for that.

Starting point is 00:34:34 Until next time, thanks for listening. Hoode and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Make SHOCKING Pick, Revamp Their Defense in Latest Mock Draft

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