Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Andrei Iosivas BREAKTHROUGH tight ends BIGGER ROLE in 2026?

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

Andrei Iosivas has flashed potential from his rookie season, but he hasn't put all of that potential together just yet. Can he finally do that in 2026? Over the last two seasons, we have seen the Bengals' tight ends have a larger role in the offense. It's been a key feature in Dan Pitcher's offense. With Pitcher increasingly likely to remain as the Bengals' offensive coordinator, could we see an even bigger role for the Bengals' tight ends in 2026? The Baltimore Ravens are hiring Jesse Minter to be their next head coach. Alex explains how this is similar to when they hired Mike Macdonald to be their defensive coordinator after the 2021 season, but why he thinks this hire won't do more than the intention behind the Ravens hiring him. Finally, the Bengals Squad guys give their picks for Championship Sunday and who they think will play in Super Bowl LX. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. DripDrop Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl. Ultimate QB Ultimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads, and works 100% offline — perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. Just head over to http://ULTIMATE-QB.COM. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is officially in Playoff Mode. Every game day during the NFL playoffs, FanDuel is giving customers even more ways to get in on the action. Visit Fanduel.com to get started. PrizePicks Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LO... Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Robinhood Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl. 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.

I'm Alex Frank. Jamar Chase and T. Higgins are undoubtedly the best wide receiver duo in the NFL, but that should not take away the emphasis of wide receiver depth being a priority this offseason. Coach Valero, it's that mantra. You can never have enough playmakers. Absolutely not. You want as many as you can in all three phases of the game. All that and much more coming up on today's Bengals squad show. It's the Bengals Squad. Everything Cincinnati Bengals every week. Breaking down all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Queen City, the way only the locked-on podcast network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now. Happy Friday. Hope you've had a great week. Hope you're staying safe if you are in Cincinnati, the Midwest, and a lot of other parts of the country as a major winter storm is rolling in. Welcome to the Bengal Squad show. We are part of lockdown bengals and the lockdown podcast network,

your team every day. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. We're part of the number one sports podcast network in America and the world. The lockdown podcast number of your team every day. I'm Alex Frank. He's coach, Art Valero, longtime coaching veteran.

We got a great show for you coming up today on this Friday, January 23rd, already 23 days into the new year. How about that? We got plenty of. I tell you what. I mean, conference championship Sunday is two days away. Feels like the NFL season just started four or five months ago. Andre Yosevash, we'll start there. We'll get into the Bengals tight ends. We'll talk about the Ravens hiring a head coach that I think is overwhelming.

And we'll get into our conference championship predictions on Sunday at the end of the show. But we'll start with Bengals wide receiver, Andre Yosevash, who was drafted in 2023, had some really good moments in this rookie season, showed a lot of flash of potential in his second season. This season really struggled to put it all together. He's shown the potential so many times in his career coach. From what you've seen from Andre Yosey Bosch, it feels like he's right there, but can the hype become fruition? I think that's going to be a big talking point once we get the training camp in the summer. Absolutely. You know what? He's shown up in a few games. When T. Higgins was out, he showed up in those games.

But you look at it when in the game that Jamar Chase was out, you know, he was kind of there. But he kind of, you know, it's as if he feels himself as a three, that he's the third receiver. Instead of, he's to the point in his career that he's got to just take off. And he's got a vibe for one of those jobs and continue to compete because he's got all the natural tools and the ability. now he just has to put it all together and go. Yeah, that's exactly how I view him. He's had 36 receptions in 24, 33 last year, so there's consistency there. He had 479 receiving yards in his second season, 435 last year.

But the big thing for me is he only had two touchdowns last year. So I'd like to get that number up. And coach, you bring up a great point. He's not going to be a wide receiver two or a wide receiver one on this team. Those roles are set in stone. But can you be a guy that is reliable on third down? Can you be a guy in the red zone that's a threat? Because in the red zone, you know where the ball is going to go.

But what if you have a guy like Andre Yosey Vach who can make plays? We've seen him do it. He had two touchdowns against the Chiefs in week two of 2024. He had another touchdown against the commanders the next week. It was that two-game stretch where it was like, man, this guy is becoming a really viable red zone target for Joe Burroughs. Can he do that again? As you say, Coach, the natural tools are there.

13.3 yards per reception in 24, 13.2 last year. But can you elevate your game to where you are a player that is 45 to 50 receptions? Can you be someone that's 500 to 600 receiving yards, 5 to 6 touchdowns? I think that's going to make a huge difference with this offense next year. If Yosey Bosch can be that guy. Well, you know what? He's coming up on a contract year, too, as well. So the thing is, this is a year that he's really got to put it together.

Here's the thing that is you awesome wonder about where do you play him? You know, he's 6'3, he's a big target. He's fast. He's athletic. He's faster than quick, you know, because a former hip-athlete. He can do a lot of different things. Is he a Z like Jamar Chase? Well, that job's taken.

Is he an X? Like T. Higgins? Well, that job seems to be taken. So your next stop is you're going to put him in the slot. We're usually that's a little quicker athlete who can do some option routes and stuff like that. You've got a bigger target. When you go for a wide,

do you put him as the Y, where he can stretch the field vertical for Jemar Chase? Where do you play him? What is his, he's a, great X or Z, but where do you put him in those 11 and 10 personnel positions? That's the big question is what they do with it, what they know they have and what they do with it. Yeah, I just feel like you bring up some great points there.

What's this role? What's Andre Yose Vash's role on this team? Because there is tremendous depth at this wide receiver position or so we think. Bengals Squad twice a week supplement to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast, James Rapine, Jake Glisco, the host, they're on assignment today. As is Mike Santagina. You're joined by yours, truly Alex Frank and coach Arfellero today to Bengals fans slinging Yang on this Friday, January 23rd.

I feel like with Andre Yosebosch, like last year there were games where I didn't even see him make an impact. Like it didn't even feel like he played. Look at how many games he had zero receptions. He didn't have a catch against Cleveland. Wasn't even targeted in that game. He played. He had zero.

catches against Minnesota, zero catches against the Jets, zero catches against Baltimore. That just cannot happen. If he is a guy that you want to be a part of your offense, every single year, the last two seasons, particularly, I've gone to training camp and I come away thinking, and I hear others, and they're absolutely correct when they say, Andrei Yosevash looks like a stud. Big things are coming for him this season. I've heard it from Bengals beat reporters. Dan Hort has said it, and I believe him. Fantasy football experts have said the same thing.

Hey, watch out for this guy. He may want to take him in the late middle to late rounds. And then when the season comes, he just has not delivered. And it's frustrating because opposing defenses know that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins are going to get the ball. So, coach, when you have a third guy like Yosevars, they can get it at any part of the field. If it's third and three in between the 40s, if it's third and one for the 10-yard line, to have a guy like Andre Yosefosh, let's expand the route tree, let's expand his role. This offense could be even more layered in the passing game.

Oh, without a doubt. You know what? I think he's got a very unique skill set. He's big. He's fast. He's athletic. He can do so many things, hence the reason why he's averaging on his catches, were like 13 yards of catch.

You know, he's there, but he's not. You've got to define a role for him as either, you know, you put him in the slot, you put him as in the slot on the other side. You're making, you're never going to put him as a single receiver in three by one. You know, that's Jamar Chases. But you can put him in the slot where he's not just running clearing routes and clearing it out for somebody else. You know what?

I mean, he's got a skill set. And the games that he did not catch a ball, you didn't notice he was there, but I guarantee you, T. Higgins and Jamar Chase, know that he was there because he could get vertical down the field, draw the coverage, which allowed single coverage,

or off coverage with clear access for the other two guys. So Jamar Chase didn't miss a game. actually he did miss a game. Excuse me. He was suspended for a game. He didn't miss a game due to injury. He was suspended for a game, as we all remember, last year. T. Higgins missed the Thanksgiving night game against the Ravens. In that game, Andre Yosevosh had a 29-yard touchdown reception that really created some separation between these two teams. We talked about it on the post game show that night. That Andre Yosevosh, it was so great to see him in what's been a tumultuous season for him. Now, then again, Joe Burrow was out for nine games. Maybe that had something. to do with it. And he did have some okay performances down the strategy. He was four for 41 against

the Cardinals, had six targets in that game. He had two receptions for 17 yards at Buffalo, but I need to see more of it. You look last year, there was only one game where he had five receptions. That game came against the Bears, five for 66 and a touchdown. Go back to 2024, where, yes, he had six touchdowns. That's great. He had two against Kansas City, one against the commanders and then touchdowns against the Raiders, Steelers, and Browns. All that's fine, but he only had, according to pro football reference, one game coach where he had five receptions, one game. I feel like he should have at least three to four games with five receptions,

because that would tell me that they're utilizing him. And then what you can do, coach, if you agree with me on this, with Andre Yosevosh, you can target the weak link in the opposing secondary. Absolutely. Hey, you know what? I tell you what the thing is, Alex, and you hit it on the head. You know, where do you plan? You know what? He's an X or a Z or a flanker in a split end, but those thoughts are taken. So in order to really expand this passing game to be unbelievable, I mean, because it's good right now.

Yeah. I mean, and Joe Burrell can, he can hit, make every throw. But if you put somebody inside closer to the hash marks, inside the numbers, that is really, truly a threat, and how does it become a threat? You're targeting five to seven times a game. That draws coverage, which has got to open up those guys that you're paying a lot of money to and allow them to not to be bracketed outside. That's why you very rarely see the slot receiver or the tight ends really with their numbers that high because everything is geared to be thrown outside.

Andre Yosey Vash was a six-round traffic. I want to believe that he's outperformed where he was drafted. But if that is the case, he has to start becoming a really focal point of this offense. I'm not saying he has to be like Jamar Chas and T. Higgins. You know, you've talked about where Jamar, Chasing T. Higgins and their rules are in this offense. You can put Jemar anywhere. You can put him on the slide. You can put him on the outside. You can even put him in the backfield if you want to run some misdirection. Jet sweeps with him. T. Higgins, you pretty much know what you're going to have with T. Higgins. He can run those crossing routes, but he's mainly your vertical threat. What's Andreosy Vosha's role? Here's a guy who's six foot three, 210 pounds. That coach should be a mismatch against any secondary in the NFL. You should be able to. You should be able to. who identify a player in the opposing secondary that you say with Andre Yosebosch, we can attack this.

And that's where this Bengals coaching staff, we talk about evolvement on this show a lot. That's where they have to evolve. Let me ask you this. Is the Bengals wide receiver room with Jason Higgins, who obviously carry the water in the room? That's fine. But is wide receiver a position that you would maybe consider,

not necessarily so much in free agency, but in the draft, if you are in a position. where you can take a game changing wide receiver, do you take him to give Yosey Vosch some competition in training camp? You know why I would. And what I would do is, is I would get, go out and pick a white receiver who, some may be considered a little bit smaller, you know, West Welker types, those kinds of guys that can run those option routes inside,

give Joe Burrow a chance and a choice on those. those routes where they can become one-on-one. Now, that clears up the other stuff. I would really look at that spot and making it a focal point for the off-season to get as well as that spot and allow him to be also a punt returner or a kick returner. Then now I think because if you're smaller, you have to do something else. You know, can you return kicks? And I would think that that's the guy that you want to do. Plus, I don't know what his offseason training is, but I think he understands the offense well enough now to know what he needs to show the receiver coach, Zach Taylor, the coordinator, what he can do other than run fast. You know, he's got to show some

quickness. He's got to show those things to say, you know what, we don't need a guy like that. But right now, we're going to get you one. Well, right now, the Bengals wide receivers behind Chase and Higgins, in addition to Andre Yoseva, she got Mitchell Tinsley, who is such an easy player to root for. I mean, you think about where he came from to make the team, had a touchdown in week two, had a touchdown in week 12. You have Charlie Jones who also returns kickoffs and puns. That's great. He had a kickoff return for a touchdown this season against the Bears. But outside of that, you could use some wide receiver depth.

And I just feel like, you know, if a guy like Cardnell Tate. is there at number 10 where you're picking. If you've done enough in free agency, then you can pick best player available because I genuinely think competition for Andre Yosevash would be helpful for him and this team. Because with Dan Pitcher staying, you know what Dan Pitcher likes to run.

I mean, he's going into year two. But Andreosovac is going into year four. I need someone, I need him to really take that leap this season. Is the light ball going to come on? Is he going to be a focal point in the offense this? and can you expand the route tree? Can you expand your roles to where you are a factor? And opposing teams have to counter, have to account for you on game day.

That is where Andre Yosey Vash needs to be. You don't want to be a jag, just another guy. You want to be on the scouting report, maybe not where Jamar and T are, but just a tick below. That's where I want to see Andri Yosey Vash. Other parts of this Bengals team that really impressed me last year, the tight ends. and but Dan Pitcher now increasingly likely to stay.

We'll talk about if they could have a bigger role in the Bengals offense in 2026. We'll discuss that next right here on the Bengals Squad Show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by TurboTax. Tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. Take my cousin, for example, who watched a two-hour video on how to do with taxes with TurboTax. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you. by a trusted local expert, start to finish without the stress of or guesswork.

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Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit turbotags.com slash local to book your appointment today. Lockdown Podcast Network is now launching the Everydayer Club. Visit Lockdownpodcast.com slash every day or to learn more on how to become a member of the everyday club where you will get, among other things, access to the members-only discord. Welcome back to Bengals Squad, the twice a week supplement law-in-form conversational show to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast. I'm Alex Frank.

He's coached R. Valero coach the tight ends. You coach the position. You know what it's like. So the Bengals, they signed Mike Kisiki to a contract extension last year. We've paid dividends. They've got Tanner Hudson. They just signed him to a one-year contract extension.

We know he's reliable. They also have Drew Sample. We know he's all reliable. Now, Drew Sample may not be back next year, but he's been reliable in the past. And the Bengals also have a guy in tight end and Eric O' Jr. coming back from an ACL tear, hopefully this coming season. We watched the tight ends coach in the Bengals offense last year. Do you think, you know what?

They could be in for a much bigger role in 2026. Oh, you know, I think without question, they contributed both in the running game. game and in the passing game, to the point where they became a threat, especially down in the red zone. You know what? I mean, you take away, no offense, you know, three fumbles and return them for six. You take the way, and that's a pretty solid group. You know what? I think that, and Joe feels very, very comfortable with what their abilities are, especially Mike's.

He feels real comfortable with where Mike. Mike is, you know, his best ability right now is I think his dependability. And he's where he's supposed to be. And so that really gives a comfort level to Joe. But I thought they were, and they continued to grow. They've got enough. And the one thing that in the National Football League, and it has been for a long, long time, the great neutralizer are tight ends.

You put two of them on the field. and now do they play nickel against you or do they play regular against you and you got to remember those wise those tight ends they can very easily detach and if they're playing just base defense and you detach them now you have mismatches yeah now you have a matchup problems from a size standpoint and from an athleticism standpoint between them and linebackers them and safety So you can do so much with tight ends. You can make them an 11 personnel player. You can make them a 10 personnel player.

You can make them a 22 personnel player. Or if you put three of them, like the league is really responding to now, where you have 13 personnel, which is one back and three tight ends, you can do amazing things, but you're only limited by the scope of your imagination. Yeah. And that's where guys like Sean Payton with Jimmy Graham or guys like Andy Ree with Travis Kelsey or Josh McDaniels with Rob Grongowski, what they were able to do with those game changing tight ends, it revolutionized the position. You could even go back to Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, both in the Hall of Fame. So looking at Mike Gisicki in particular, because he's tight end number one on this team.

So Gisicki, when Joe Borrow came back last year, coach, we talked about him a lot. Look at his numbers. He was six for 86 and a touchdown at Buffalo. Burroughs second gave back from injury. He had three for 35 and a touchdown against Miami, a team he used to play for. And then he had two for 47 against Arizona. But you go back to his 2024 season,

his first season with the team. He was on a one-year deal then, so it was kind of like a proof-it deal. All Mike Kisicki did, look at some of these games, particularly down the stretch. You want to talk about the great neutralizer coach. Think about the Denver game in 2024.

The Bengals won that game 30, 24 in overtime. Jamar Chasing T. Higgins. So going into the game, and you know the Denver Broncos coach, they have Riley Moss and Patrick Certanick Corner. So what did the Bengals do in that game? Oh, we're going to neutralize them. We're going to go over the middle to Mike Kisicki, who had 10 catches for 86 yards on 12 targets.

Joe Burrell threw the ball, I believe, 49 times in that game. Almost 25% of them went to Mike Kisiki. That's where having a great tight end, can be a great neutralizer in Mike Kosicki. He had 8 for 68 in his final game that season at Pittsburgh. 10 targets in that game. 65 for 6, 65 and 2 touchdowns that season. Immediately making an impact Mike Kosicki did on this offense.

So now you go into this season. And when you talk about Dan Pitcher's offense and how it differs from, let's say, Brian Callahan, Dan Pitcher utilizes tight ends, not just in the passing game coach. You see them in the run game, They're one blocking. Look at Eric Gold Jr.

What he did before he went down in 24. And then he'd think about other guys like Drew Sample. And again, I'm not sure if he's going to be back next season. But there is so much you can do with the tight ends that this Bengals offense, I think, has discovered. But also, I feel like there's still some things that can be unlocked. Do you see that? Oh, you know what? They're the great chess piece.

Tight ends are the great chess piece because they are so valuable. and what you can do with them. Like you just talked about Mike and having great afternoons, unlocking the middle of the defensive secondary. What that also does to you is now they've got to play too high, middle of field open instead of middle of field closed with one safety, that allows you to really take control versus cover two or,

of the running game. The running game comes to life. Everybody wants to run against cover two. Very few people do you want that extra safety down on the box? That's tough sledding. That's where you want to throw. But they unlock all of that thing. They are, like I said, they are the great chess piece.

They can go vertical. They can go sideways. They can go all over the place. So if you use them and you're very open to the extent, experimentation of it. Oh, it's awesome. You know what's so interesting, and I think about this as it relates to Joe Burrow. So he came in obviously in 2020, and he had CJ Uzama. Now, Usama ultimately got hurt in week two. It was an Achilles injury. He was out for the season. But you saw in 2021, how many times did CJ Usama come up with big clutch catches? You can go to the fourth inch's conversion against

Minnesota in week one. You can go to the two touchdowns he had against Jacksonville in week four on Thursday night football. And then the big reception as Joe Burrow was getting blest, it was a zero bliss. The famous you can zero me, he throws to CJ Usama, boom, Bengals and field goal range, they win. He has two more touchdowns against the Ravens in week seven. A game that Bengals blew him out. And that's when I think we all felt like Joe Burrow and the Bengals had arrived. And then you look at all the catches Usama had in the playoffs. He had a big first half against the Raiders in the game that broke the curse. He had a big game against Tennessee. I was watching, I was rewatching that game yesterday. It was the four year anniversary.

He had a big game there. So Joe Burroughs always had, at the very least, coach, a revolving door of solid tight ends. But now he's got continuity with Mike Kisicki. He's got continuity, hopefully, with Eric Gull Jr. and Tanner Hudson. I can't tell you, especially from us, it sounds like from what you're saying, at the tight end position, that stuff really. matters. Coach, is it accurate for me to say the tight ends are like a security blanket for a quarterback? No doubt. Their best ability is always their dependability, and that's the way the quarterback looks at it, because they are a crucial part of each route, whether they're firing things out, whether they're controlling the undercoverage. And he always knows where

they're going to be, whether he's scrambling or whether he's just sitting back in the pocket and he has to step up, those big bodies are easy to find. And then once they catch it, they can usually get vertical really quick and get to those extra yards. And that's where you really hope Mike is sickie can be that guy if he stays healthy for all 17 games. He did in 2024 and you saw the number, 65 receptions. That's a number you want to see from the Bengals tied out.

You think about all the great offenses this century in the NFL. We'll start with the Indianapolis Colts. Who did they have a tight end coach? Dallas Clark. He was a mismatch every single year. You look at the Patriots offense. When they got drunk, that offense reached a whole other level. And they had Benjamin Watson beforehand,

who was also a really solid tight end. You think about the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelsey. You wonder what makes Mahomes and Kelsey so great? Because Travis Kelsey's great in general. That's it right there. The New Orleans Saints. Sean Payton and that offense in 09, they were legendary. But what if I told you their offense in 2011 was even better?

Why? Because they got Jimmy Graham. Look at what he did. The tight end position has revolutionized this century. It used to be, I'll have you explain this because you can probably do it way better than me. You coach the position. Talk to me about what tight ends were like before the 21st century and what they are now. What's the key difference you've noticed?

Well, the biggest difference is, is not. Now, they used to be, as everyone knows, that they call the receivers, or there's X and that's the split end, right? Z is the flanker. Well, Y is the tight end. And he was normally a blocker first. He was a blocker first in the run game, not necessarily as a protector. But what that does is now you have, you know, the shockies of the world. You have, you know, Tony Gonzalez.

You have those guys that can stretch the field vertically. Then not only can they run it vertically, they can also maneuver and run routes like a wide receiver. And I think that's important for them. I know that when I first became a tight end, I had, or tight end coach, I had never been to a seven on seven in my life. Right. So all of a sudden now I'm coaching tight ends with Tampa Bay. Well, the first thing we did as a tight-in group is we went out and we ran routes with the wide receivers. And Richard Mann, who in my opinion is the greatest wide receiver coach of all time,

he taught them the routes or our routes were started outside and we moved them back inside. And now those skills that they developed were unbelievable because they never were in a position to fool the quarterback. And I think if you can do that, you have those great wideouts because they neutralized. The coverage goes to them because they are so big. And now you open a lot of things up. There's a whole lot of offense with tight ends. We're all, put it this way, Chase Brown caught a million passes this year, right? Caught 65, something like that.

Well, those were all checkdowns out of the backfield. Why? Because everybody was sinking deep. Well, why can the table? tight end split half of those. Right. Yeah. And so just have the tight ends run a five yard stop route. That's five yards. Right. Right. You know, or he's running an opposite route at 10 or he's running an out at 10, you know, those or he's running a basic cross. A lot of people call it a dig at, you know, 12 to 14. He's right there in front of the quarterback. And you've got like a triangle where you got 60% of

your eligible is all in front of your face. And there's a lot of things that you can do with those guys. Pick your poison. Yeah. That's what you're saying. When you have a tight end and they've become more athletic, like I'm watching, I can be watching any game. And there's a tight end that split why?

That wouldn't have happened 25 years ago. Because tight end, tight ends are so much more athletic now. Like look at guys. And it's not just because a lot of them played basketball in college. Now that does help. But like they are just so much more involved at the college. level and now when they get to the NFL level, they're catching 100 passes a season. And it's not insurmountable as it maybe was 10 years ago because you have an emphasis on

the titan and that's where this offense needs to evolve. If you're Zach Taylor, if you're a damn pitcher, and this is where I think if Zach Taylor were to give up play calling, we've had that conversation. James and Jake talked about it on their show earlier this week. If you give a play calling, let damn pitcher handle it. I guarantee you you're going to see a lot more tie down involvement because then you're not scrambling to call a play on third and one. Oh, you got a tight end that can run an option route. Boom, there you go, first down.

Let's say you're in the red zone. Got a tight add mismatch. Have some mismatches. We know the Bengals have two of them in wide receiver. Can you have? Because if you get that with Kisicki, if you get that with Tanner Hudson and then Eric O'Jr Jr. comes into play, you have five mismatchesaches that you can deploy on the field. You can have three or four at one time. Coach, I can't tell you how important that would be and how much better this offense can be.

It already is really good, but there's a way to make it even better. And I'll say this. I'll say this real quick. I was thinking about this yesterday. There are a lot of quarterbacks who've been drafted number one overall recently going back to like 2006, Roger Goodell's first season. A lot of those quarterbacks came into positions where they had rookie head coaches or first year head coaches with their teams. Joe Barrow didn't do that.

Zach Taylor was already in a year two. So there was already some momentum with what he was trying to build, both in the locker room and on the field. That's a huge luxury for any quarterback. The Bengals front office has done a good job giving Joe Borough playmakers. They've extended a lot of those playmakers. That's fine. So you can say, you can be frustrated at the head coaches,

or excuse me, the coaching staff for what they haven't done or have done in recent seasons. But when they have a team around Joe Burrow, like 21 and 22, we've seen what they can do. It's not necessarily on the coaching staff. Coach Joe Burrow came into a great coaching situation or a much better than some of his peers have. And that's where this coaching staff has shown they can do it. And again, this goes back to the message being to the front office.

It's on you to buy and build a team. Now, the coaching staff does have a say, let's evolve the offense a little bit. Let's communicate that with our ownership group and maybe make tight end a priority. That's where organizational alignment coach really comes into play here. without doubt, without question. You know what? I tell you what,

you just look at what you just said, and you look at the best job in football right now that's open, and that's Buffalo. Easily. Well, maybe not. I mean, if you heard the owner's press conference this week, and maybe going down a little bit, but you're right, because who wouldn't want to coach?

And by the way, coach, have you seen the bills tight ends? I feel like they're pretty good. That's what I'm talking about. Go ahead. Okay, keep going. They don't have the whiteouts. they certainly don't have the white outs that Joe Burrow has. But they do have tied ends that are functional, that are very good in the running game,

and they also are great contributors in the passing game. And that is the thing that keeps that machine rolling to the point where you lose by three in the divisional round of the game, and obviously your head coach gets fired. How about some wide outs and not having any. get, you know, free agents all the time. Get a few, draft a few, let's go. Yeah, draft, developed. It does work in addition to free agency. Speaking of tight ends and head coaching positions that are open, Baltimore Ravens have two good tight ends, as we know, and they just hire a new head coach. But I'm going to tell you why I think it's underwhelming. We'll get into that

conversation next right here on the Bengals Squad Show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show was brought to by game time. NFL season is in full swing. Carreference championship Sunday is just actually 48 hours away as we speak live on this Friday, January 23rd at 3.04 p.m. And there's nothing like being at the game. The crowd noise, the energy, ensuring alongside other fans, man, I miss it. Watching at home is great, but being in the stadium hits different. The frustrating part has always been getting tickets,

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long-form conversational show to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast, hosted by James Rapine and Jake Liska. We usually go Tuesdays and Fridays we've started to at least this offseason at 2.30 Eastern time. We'll let you know, of course, if we make some changes, but we're rolling right alone. This is off-season show number six. That is, this is off-season week number three. But there's major news. And that major news yesterday came in the form of the Baltimore Ravens, announcing they are hiring head coach Jesse Mentor, former defensive coordinator of the LA Chargers, former defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan

where he was a part of their 2023 national championship run with head coach Jim Harbaugh. Coach, I'm going to be honest with you here. And I know he just talked about, hey, you go into a situation where you already have an MVP quarterback, two-time MVP in Lamar Jackson, you got great tight ends. You have a running back on the name of Derek Henry.

I think he's pretty good. He might be a Hall of Famer one day. for me though i think one thing the raven's hired mic excuse me jesse minter for one thing and one thing only to stop joe borough and jemore and chase is that accurate i would i would put a lot of credence on that that that is their reason because other than that why not just keep the same because basically you are inheriting or he has walked himself into a position that from a philosophical standpoint is nothing's changed. You know, he learned from Jim, all right, who's, I'm sure, hey and John, talk about it all the time,

about what's going on. So, you know what, philosophically, it's coming back down to the same. And I guess their onus is they want a familiarity in the building. They didn't want to bring in somebody that was totally did not think like them. And they, you know, be honest with you, I think that in a lot of cases with this offseason, especially those big three hires, they people kind of after the fact and they heard it and they really had a chance to look at it, they're thinking, ooh, they had a little buyer's remorse. Because, you know, I don't know. And again, I'm not in the building.

and I, but I don't understand what they're thinking as far as that is. You know, he deserves a chance. Go get it. You know, let's see where it goes. He's a defensive coach. What is his offensive staff going to be like? Yeah. Because he already have those people in place that aren't under contract with somebody else

that can handle a on again, off again, Lamar Jackson. Yes. They can handle an everyday guy. like Derek Henry that has who really don't have that big play wide receiver you know do they have somebody that's going to philosophically come back in you know they can't do what Greg Roman did and run the and run Derek or Lamar Jackson all the time yeah he's getting beat up he's to the point I mean the same thing having to Michael Vick right so now he's trying to be more of a pure passer but you know what he's got to run because

because you don't have the wide receivers. You do have good tight ends, so that's where majorities of the balls are going. He needs to nail whoever he hires as his offensive coordinator. That much is certain because he's a defensive-minded head coach. And those can work. I mean, you coached under one with Pete Carroll in Seattle. Pete Carroll ultimately won a Super Bowl.

But defensive-minded head coaches, and Colin Cowherd said this many, many years ago. They are the ones that come in, clean up the mess. restore stability to an organization. That's fine. Can they get over the hump? Offensive-minded head coaches, they come in, they're creative,

they have to nail the defensive coordinator higher and then let him handle the defense. That's fine. But I feel like for the Baltimore Ravens, they're trying to get over the hump. I know they had a losing record last year. I know they didn't make the playoffs. They still have a quarterback that is capable of getting his team

to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. they need a head coach that can get him over the hump. Is Jesse Minter really that guy? Is he really that guy? Here's his resume. Now, in his defense, his resume is pretty good. He was with the Ravens coaching staff for four seasons. Two is a defensive assistant.

One is an assistant defensive backs coach. The other is the defensive backs coach. But that was 2017 or 2020. Now you come into a division and you instantly go, oh, I got to find a way to defend Joe Barrow and Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Oh, I got to defend D.K. Metcalf with the Steelers. Like, I mean, that's what you're walking into. And then you're also walking into an AFC where, oh, I got to defend Josh Allen and the bills. Like, is that's the homes. Yeah. And if Shador Sanders is the answer in Cleveland,

you got to defend him too. I mean, so this hire, yes, is going to, I mean, I mean, look, the Ravens, you and I know this, Coach, the Ravens identity has always been defense. It goes back to their 2000 defense, 2006. Everything that they do is defense, defense, that is the number one identity of their organization. If you don't believe me, there's a Ray Lewis statue outside the stadium. I've been there many times. Okay. So at the very least, the defense will have stability this upcoming season. That's great. If Lamar Jackson plays like he did in 24 or 23, this Ravens team will be a playoff team. That's fine. But coach, what happens when you get to the playoffs? Do you have the right people in the room on the coaching staff that can

get this team over the hump where they haven't been to the Super Bowl since 2012? Is this the right head coach to do it? For me, aside from restoring stability to the defense, does it elevate an offense? Does it elevate an offense that plateaued last year? Or in that may plateau again in 2026. Lamar is great. Derek Henry's great. They both may end up in the Hall of Fame one day. Henry, for sure, Lamar, I'm still if he on. But can Jesse Minter coach hire an offensive coordinator that gets Zay Flowers to the top 10 of the wide receiver ranking to the NFL? Can they finally unlock Rashab Bateman? And can they utilize the tight ends to the mismatching capabilities that they have? That's where I'm concerned. If you're a Bengals fan, this is a good thing that you're

listening to this. Yeah, when do we play them? You know, you want to see. We won't know. We won't know about it because you know what, he's deserving of a head coaching job. And when one comes around, especially of that stature, you take it. You take it because you want to put, you got to remember, the last guy's thumbprint was on it for 18 years. And not necessarily was it John, but you know, once DeCosta took over, their draft choices wasn't quite to think. Ozzy had it down what they were going to build and how they were going to build it. And from that standpoint, you know what?

You put it back on the front office because I guarantee you, Jesse doesn't have the final say in 53. The front office does. Yeah. And that's one of the big things that John Harbaugh wanted. He wanted control of 53 in New York and he got it because he didn't want, I mean, it's the old Bill Parcells deal. Hey, if you want me to cook, at least. when we shop for the groceries, you know? This hire is very reminiscent to when the Ravens hire Mike McDonald

after the 21 season. And it's funny how both he and Jesse Minter were defensive coordinators back to back at Michigan. All right? So Mike McDonald came in because Joe Burrow threw for 941 yards in two games against the Ravens in 2021. Joe Burrow has gotten so many changes happening. in Baltimore. And here's the thing, coach, it hasn't worked. It has not consistently worked.

Have the Ravens beaten the Bengals? Yes. But Joe Poros torched their secondary way too many times. So they're going, okay, yet again, we feel like we need to hire this guy to win our division, which yes, winning in the division is goal number one, because that gives you the easiest or most favorable path to the Super Bowl. But if your goal is to win a Super Bowl, is this really the guy that's going to get you there? Like, is this guy over John Harbaugh, who by the way, has a ring? Is he the head coach that's going to get you there? We're going to find out.

But at the very least, coach, the Bengals now have the Ravens' attention. And it puts more emphasis on the Bengals front office. The continuity aspect I like. But you better be right and you better back up what you say by building and building and buying a football team that knocks the Ravens out twice next year. Yeah, you know what? The other thing, too, is, Alex, as you say, it's as if Baltimore is replacing the person they got away.

It's as if they look at it and say, you know what, we should ask John to move upstairs to do something else so we could have made Mike the head coach when we had him. Yep. They let him get away. get out the door, and now two years later, we fire our head coach and he's gone, he's locked in, he's in the NFC championship game. What is the next best band-aid that we can put on this to show that we did not make a mistake? Well, coach, you know what Taylor-Swif?

You know what Taylor-Swiff says? Band-aids don't fix bullet holes, and the Ravens may find that out the heartway. You mentioned Mike McDonald. I hear he's coaching on Sunday. I also hear his GM as executive with the year. We'll get into conference championship Sunday in our predictions coming up next right here on the Bengals Squad Show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by Fan Duel. So, Fan Duel is officially in playoff mode.

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has built a tremendous Seattle Seahawks team that is now 15 and 3 and playing for an NFC championship Sunday. What makes John Schneider so great at his job, coach? Oh, he's all about football. He knows it. He asks questions about it. He identifies issues and he goes out and solves them. And, you know, the one thing that is great for John, and I text with him earlier today,

not only he's earned this before, but a lot of people put the credit on people. Pete. But you know what? There was a GM behind it that was allowing all these things to happen. And that not only collaborated with Pete, he also put his foot forward on it and put his stamp on it. And that's the thing that John has done in his tenure in Seattle. By the way, that executive of the year award, courtesy of the sporting news, he's been the general manager of the Seattle Seahawks since 2010. When you were there coached that first season, he has sent, he's been the executive. Vice President. That was his first 14 seasons, and now he is the president of football operations. By the way, it's so interesting, Coach. And the two seasons, Pete Carroll has not been with the Seahawks.

Seattle won 24 and 10 in those two regular seasons. So there you go with the reason why they are so good. And his graphics have been incredible the last couple of seasons. I'm telling you what, the thing that people don't look at with John is he can identify talent, whether it be from a playing standpoint or a coaching standpoint. When no one else thought about it, he went down and got Mike McDonald. Oh. And was worth the way. He was the last head coach hired that year.

And look what that's turned into. Go ahead. Well, you know what? And he had two choices. He had Dan Quinn, who was at there for some Super Bowl runs coming up and had great success in Dallas. Or he had Mike McDonald. He decided to go with Mike McDonald and look where they are.

Dan ends up going to Washington and look where they are. So, you know what? I mean, he, John's on. He's on, no, absolutely. And this is why the Seahawks, you know, since Russell Wilson was traded to Denver, they've had winning seasons in each of the last four seasons. Look at, and just listen to these draft classes. The last four seasons since Russell Wilson, their franchise,

the face of that franchise was traded to Denver. 2022, Charles Cross still playing, Boy Mafa still playing. Kenneth Walker still playing. Abraham Lucas still playing. Kobe Bryant, Wulin. You go to the next season 23. Some names they're drafted then. Devin Witherspoon, stalwart in the secondary.

Jackson Smith and Jigba. Pretty sure he's had a nice career so far. Derek Hall, Zach Charbonnet. I mean, listen to these players that I'm mentioning who've been drafted in the last four seasons. Last year, Byron Murphy, Christian Haynes, A.J. Barner, the tight end. And then you go to this season. Who did the Seahawks get? Gray Zabel, stalwart on the offensive line coach.

Nick Eamon Wari, one of the great draft picks early this season. Even Jalen Milrow, in case Sam Darnold didn't pan out. They had him. What a steal that was. Look at these players they've drafted the last four seasons. You wonder why they're so good? Drafting and developing. You know what?

John's got a great staff. Everybody in the building, you know, he's had multiple guys leave for general manager jobs because his staff does such a great job. They've got a pro department, a college department. They are intertwined, but yet they are separate. They bounce things off of each other to where the Seahawks are the most important thing because they know they represent not just a lot. city, but an entire region. And that's important to them. And it's important to ownership. Try to see if there's any, if I can find people who have gone on to be GMs that

played for or that worked under John Schneger, if I can. But anyway, NFC Championship Sunday, Ram Csiaw, 630 on Fox. Third time, these two teams are playing this season. Both teams won at home in the regular season, Seattle with that very, very good 38, 37 win in week 16 and overtime. That was a great game. That was a truly great game. Coach, let me ask you this. Would you rather have Pooka Nakuwa or Jackson Smith than Jigba is your wide receiver won? Wow. Yeah. Let me, I can feel the tires running over me when you threw me under the bus on that one. Okay. There's no wrong answer. Well, there is no wrong answer. And I would say, you know, some about Pooka that he just makes plays. And you can play them everywhere. You can

literally put him any spot running fly, sweeps, catching the ball vertically down the field, catching the ball in the middle. He blocks. I got to go with him. All right. Listen, I'm going to go Puka as well because his track record, JSA's had a heck of the season. He has had a really, really good season.

If the Rams went on Sunday, what does that say about the legacies of Matthew Stafford and Shaw McVeigh? Because this would be McVeigh's third Super Bowl appearance if he stafford's second since he went to. to LA. What would it say about them two together? Well, I tell you what, you know what? There were a lot of years that Matthew spent in Detroit with great offensive years, but they didn't have a defense to go with it. And they might have got to the first round of the playoffs or sometimes they wouldn't even get there. But now you put him where he feels very, very comfortable and you got a team that's

Bill and you can see even at his age, you know, he's the same age as what Joe Flackle, right? Something like that. He's still hurling the ball over the field and having their success together is they're starting to think alike. And now they're performing at a level that, I mean, you look at the stats going into this game. They are so even. Yeah. It's unbelievable. It's like, okay, whoever doesn't turn over the ball and whoever, you know, makes plays when they're there, that's going to be the victor. And this game, I mean, look, these two teams know each other so well. They play two games in the regular season.

One game was by two points, the other by one, if that tells you anything. Now they play for a third time for the right to go to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks looking at it to get to their fourth since 2005. It would tie Philly with the most Super Bowl appearances in the game. the NFC this century. The Rams looking to get to their fourth this century as well. Now, I say that for the Seahawks, because they joined the NFC in 2002, the Rams looking to get to their third in the last eight years. Who do you like on Sunday, Coach, Ram Seahawks? You know what? Again, it is going to be a phenomenal game to watch. And you got two very,

very powerful defenses and you got two very, very explosive offenses. I think it's going to come down to turnovers. I think it's going to come down to special teams play. And I think that's going to be the outcome of the game. The one thing that Seattle has in its advantage is there at home. And that place, we talked about it last week, can rock when it, when they don't, that's the stadium where people don't sit on their hands. They, they get up and they, They show everything that they're all about, and it can be unbelievably loud. There's a reason they have not lost a home playoff game with fans in the stands since 2004. They are three and no at home in the NFC championship since 2005.

Remarkable. I'm going to take Seattle, 3124. It's going to be a truly fantastic game. I agree with you there, coach. All right. AFC championship is a little different. It'll be the Patriots and the Bronzes. Broncos, Drake May against Jared Stidham.

Coach, what should Sean Payton be doing to put Jared Stidham in position to win this game for Denver on Sunday? Well, you know what? I think he's probably performed. He is prepared to play. And he's been in their system for three years. Shoot, he just came from by the team that drafted him is New England. So, you know, it's crazy that, you know, he recruited him.

to go to Auburn, Knicks. He did all of those things. So I think he's more than prepared to play. Now as far as pulling the trigger, I think that Sean has probably challenged. Hasn't necessarily come out and set it. But I think the whiteouts, I think the tight ends, I think the runoffbacks understand what they need to do

and how they need to make plays to be able to stay within their game plan or the way that they would approach it. in order to win. I think the O line takes it upon themselves to keep him clean by developing a good running game in this thing, as well as being able to protect him. I don't think Sean changes a lot. I think he might have to slow his play calling down a little bit, only because, and I'm sure they worked on it the entire week of practice, I think that he's going to go out there and sling it and call it saying, you know what, you only live once. Let's go. Let's not forget Sean Payton is Jared Stidham's head coach this game. Let's not forget Sean Peyton is the same head coach that kicked an

on-site kick in the Super Bowl. Like that stuff matters. And Sean Payton has won games with a backup quarterback before. I'll give you one name, coach, that he went 5 and 0 with, I believe, in 2019. Teddy Bridgewater. Drew Brees went down. Teddy Bridgewater comes in, Saints offense. It's not like they changed their game plan either. They kept throwing the ball. So you know Sean Payton is going to have something ready for Jared Stittem. On the Patriot side, is Mike Brable your pick for coach of the year?

Absolutely. You know what? What he has done, you know, when I saw a list that came out today of all the candidates to be the head coach of the year. And all of them are worthy. I mean, Kyle Shanahan with all the injuries they've had. You know, you've got

I mean, you've got multiple guys all over the place that have fought adversity with their teams and they've only shown up in those games. But, you know, coming from a very poor season they had a year ago to bring Mike in, he has worked wonders

because it's virtually the same team and has worked wonders with those guys to where, hey, they are playing on great energy right now. They're playing physical. They're playing hard nose and they're playing very, very tough. It's Mike Frable's second conference championship game appearance. He went to one back in 2019 with Tennessee.

Sean Payton's fourth. He went to three with New Orleans. Coach, who do you like in this game? You know what? I have to go with New England. I think they're on a wall. They are on a roll. I mean, since they started one and two,

they've only lost one time. They are 14 and 3 in their last, no, I'm sorry, 14 and 1 in their last 15 games. So I get it a lot of the feeling that I have is geared towards the Patriots winning this game. But, and I'm going to give you a little history lesson here, Paul Revere. Does that name kind of ring a bell?

Paul Revere. Is that the band or the, actual horseback rider. This is the, this is the same historical figure. Okay. Who rode through Boston at midnight and informed all the great citizens, including John Hancock and Samuel Adams, that the British were coming. Just like Paul Revere rode through the streets of New England at midnight in 1775, the Denver Broncos are going to ride all the way to Santa Clara, California in two weeks. Yep, I'm taking the Broncos 23 to 20 in overtime because I'm riding with Sean Payton in this game. There you go. I love it.

I thought for a second there, you're talking about Paul Revere, who was a great band in the 60s, a little bit before your time? I did not know that. And they were from Boise, Idaho, Northwest City. Yeah, they were historical for a couple of people like myself. How about that? Did you ever think you'd hear on The Bengals Squad Show, Paul Revere mentioned in two different references? I don't know, but here we are.

All right. That's why people have to stay tuned. They never know what they're going to hear. Exactly, exactly. Coming up next Tuesday, speaking of which is the 23rd anniversary of Super Bowl 37, which Coach Art Valero was a part of, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is working on getting his Super Bowl ring.

So the Bengals Squad show, a Bengals show, will have a Super Bowl ring, potentially next Tuesday. When we tee things up Tuesday afternoon, yours truly, go Jard Valero, Jake Liscoe, will be with you Tuesday afternoon next week. Have a great weekend. If you are in the projected Snowmageddon areas, please stay safe. Go to Kroger, go to Publix, go to, I don't know. No, Wawa, if you need to. Yeah.

I mean, yeah, it's coming. So we hope you stay safe. We hope you have a great weekend. Coach, now you'll have a great weekend. You're in Southern California where it looks like it's 70 degrees right now. So unfortunately, we all can't be like that. But we can certainly envision ourselves being there. Thank you for tuning into this edition of the Bengals Squad Show.

We are part of the lockdown podcast, the number of the number one sports podcast, number of America and the world, your team every day for more on how to become a member of the Everydayer Club. Visit lockdownpodcast.com slash everydayer where you will have access to, among other benefits to the members-only Discord. How about that? Lock, excuse me, Bengals Squad is the twice a week supplement long form conversational show to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast hosted by James Rapine and Jake Liscoe. For Coach Arifilero, 45-year coaching veteran, I'm Alex Frank at Frankie underscore 90 on Twitter. Have a great rest of your day and weekend. We'll talk to you on Tuesday right here.

on the Bengals Squad show.