Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Bengals DRAFT for both the PRESENT and the FUTURE in a SUCCESSFUL weekend

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals made seven draft picks over the weekend, including their first pick in the second round with edge rusher Cashius Howell. Did the Bengals have a good draft? Alex Frank, Jake Liscow, and Coach Art Valero discuss that, with Alex explaining why he believes the Bengals did.  Speaking of Howell, he could make an immediate impact. But did the Bengals draft an edge rusher too early, especially with all of their other needs?  One position that wasn't addressed in the Draft: linebacker. Clearly, the Bengals believe in Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. Is this the right move? The guys discuss the state of the Bengals' linebacker room after the Draft.  There were six other picks the Bengals made in the NFL Draft. Alex, Jake and Coach reveal their favorite picks from the Draft and what they could bring to the team.    Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals  Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everyday...    Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0l...  Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...  Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-...    Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!  FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.  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/podcast.  Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnfl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men.  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, and on today's show, I'm going to tell you why my favorite pick the Bengals made this weekend came in the seventh round. Yeah, they really crushed it at the end of day three of this draft. Coach, how about your takeaway? Well, you know, we're going to find out. And that's what drafts are all about. You see if all the hype is worth it. Risk management at its finest. Today, 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 Lockdown Podcast Network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now. It is Tuesday, April 28th. Welcome to the Bengals Show right here on Lockdown Bengals and the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, your team every day with Jake Liscoe and coach Art Valero.

I'm Alex Frank. We got a great show coming up for you today, recaping everything that happened this past weekend with the Bengals and the NFL draft. I'm going to say this, Jake and coach, I like to believe the Bengals had a good draft in the sense that while the focus of this offseason has been rebuilding the defense, I really like the fact,

and Jake you alluded to in our cold open, that on day three in particular, you really saw them commit to the future of the offense and draft contingencies. And the future, let's say when Ted Karras eventually leaves in his contract is up. they have options now along the offensive line. They maybe found a new wide receiver three.

So while the focus has been rebuilding the defense, they did not neglect the other side of the ball. That's why I think this draft for the Bengals overall was a huge success. Yeah, there are some picks that I would have done differently, but that's always the case. I never agree with NFL teams on every single pick. And I think NFL teams probably don't agree with each other on every single pick. Everybody's got a little bit of a different board, right?

And that's part of why you see some of the, the tight ends get picked on day two of the draft that we didn't think would get picked until this sixth and seventh round, like the vocasmerics of the world. Great blocking tight end in line tight end from Ohio State gets picked about three rounds earlier than anyone thought he would be picked. And that was a trend for some blocking tight ends in this draft this year. There was a bit of weirdness in this draft as well where, you know, at the top of the second round, the 49ers go totally off the chart with stribling. And at pick 13, the Rams picked Ty Simpson much earlier than we thought Ty Simpson will be picked, where we thought maybe that's an Arizona Cardinals target at the back of the first round. But some of these teams, people don't question as much.

And I generally like what the Bengals did in this draft. I just finished up recording for lockdown Bengals that will be coming out a little bit later today for anybody watching live, our episode that we do every year grading the draft. And coach, I bet you're rolling your eyes. You're doing a great job of keeping your poker face on when you hear about us, talk about grading the draft the day after the draft because we don't know how these guys are going to pan out. But part of the exercise for me in grading the draft right afterwards is just based on all the information we have available when these guys are drafted. Right.

And so we'll see, of course, how they pan out in the NFL. But right now, we did have information going into the draft about what they were able to do in college. how they played in college and all those things. And so that's coming up later on lockdown Bengals today. And generally speaking, Alex, you're right. I like this draft class for the Bengals. Well, what I like about it is I think it showed that the Bengals from the first six years of the Joe Bar era and I alluded to this in my take, it's the fact that they, I think they learned that

if you're going to focus on one side of the ball, which they did for the last six years and building the offense around Joe Burrow, that you can't just completely neglect the other side of ball and think you're going to be fine just because you've done it before. as Duke Tobin alluded to earlier this offseason. So for me, I think the fact that they went offense heavy on day three showed that, yes, we are going to rebuild the defense, but also we need to make sure that our offense is still going to be able to put up points, not just this coming season, but in 27, 28, and years down the road.

Coach, I know we lost you there for a second. They're going back to what Jake was saying. When you look at the Bengals draft, how do you grade it, particularly with what they did on day three, when they went really offense heavy with the five picks that they had? Well, you know what I think that they did well? I think those kids that they took on day three really are the future of the Bengals, providing that they learn, they come in.

You know, they took two inside guys that they can train when Reisner and Karras happened to step, out. I think they'll be versed in the program and in the system. I think it'll be good. Hey, the tight end, great value. You can't have enough of them because they don't make them anymore. You know, the wideout, still got questions about, you know, like everybody else, you know, he's a big wide out. What is he going to play? Behind T. Higgins? Is he going to play behind, you know, Jamar? Or, you know, but what happened in that slot? player that they needed. But you never know. They're inside the building. I just from outside in looking in. And I said, you know what, their day three was really pretty good. Now, here's the big thing that

I really, day three was interesting to me because of the fact not only for the Bengals, but Lee wide, there is a NIL has killed day three. A lot of those guys are opting to stay in because they make more money in college than they will as a fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh round draft pick. And I think that a lot of guys, really good ones, didn't come out. And I think that that kind of left it a little bit, a little bit on edge as far as who exactly were in those final rounds. Yeah, I think that's a great point you bring up their coach about NIL because I was listening to Sunday morning sports talk this week with Austin Elmore on ESPN 1530. And there's, you know, potentially they may look into, and I don't know if this is going to happen next year,

years down the road, but, you know, shortening the draft from seven rounds to six rounds because of all those guys that are staying in school to make more money. Jake, I know you're kind of questioning maybe that, but like it is an interesting point coach you bring up there. I don't see the NFL draft getting shortened anytime soon. They've already shortened the time it takes in between picks. But it is interesting when you think about guys that get picked later on on day three, They can make more money in college with NIL versus the contracts that they're going to sign because they're different in later picks and later rounds in the NFL.

That is an interesting point. But back to the Bengals on day three, they picked four offensive players, two linemen, tight end, and a wide receiver. And they didn't pick a defensive player until their last pick in Landon Robinson. And that guy was a guy that I think many of us thought, or I certainly did, early on in the process, that you know what? if he's there in the late rounds, the Bengals could take him. He's an Ohio guy and, you know, his game tape looks pretty good. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the Landon Robinson pick as well. A couple of things I wanted to touch on that coach was talking about and that you're

bringing up as well, Alex. First, in terms of shortening the draft, I think the better option to me is improving the rookie wage scale. We live in a capitalist society in the United States. And if you want to incentivize these players to come into your league, give them the financial incentive to come play in your league. That's my quick take there, little pro-labor take there from me for NFL players. The other one, coach, you're talking about where the wide receiver fits in.

And if he is, in fact, going to win a wide receiver three job, I think that just gives you more opportunities to put your March Jace in the slot. And if the Bengals continue to follow along with the rest of the NFL, in playing more 12 personnel, then you've got a lot of Jamar Chase C. Higgins packages with your two tight ends. And when you put your third wide receiver on the field, you get Jamar Chase into the slot.

And he's played a lot in the slot in the last couple of years, and it's been slowly ramping up for him. He's lethal in the slot. He's obviously lethal with the ball in his hands. So putting him in the slot more, hypothetically creates even more yard after catch opportunities for Jamar Chase, which is one of his many skill sets. Obviously, you love it when Jamar goes over the top as well.

But having another guy on that, this team if he hits and I think there are big questions with Kobe Young and he's one of the bigger question marks in this draft class overall because he wasn't able to stay on the field for off field reasons and for injury reasons at Georgia and at Miami. Mostly at Georgia I guess is where the injuries and the off field stuff started to go on for him. But if he does hit that upside, he's the big body outside contested catch, perfect marriage with Joe Burroughs ball placement, back shoulder kind of stuff and a skill set that. if it hits, should be similar to T. Higgins in terms of the ability to go outside of his frame and all

those things, which if the mental part of the game comes along for him, and he actually had really strong character reviews, football character reviews specifically from the people that Dame Bruegler talked to that he pointed out in The Beast, and Dylan Fairchild, former Kobe Young teammate at Georgia had good things to say about him as well. So like if he comes along from the understanding the offense side of things, then you could see him having a role as that big body. Second big body target on the team because they really didn't have one outside of T. Higgins a wide receiver where Mike Kaseki kind of does some of that stuff. But in terms of like dunking on dudes, that's T. Higgins.

That's going to be Kobe Young if Kobe Young hits and reaches his potential. But the thing that brings this draft together to me is really that they hit on those. day three picks, but overall, when you count Dexter Lawrence as part of the draft hall, when you count him as the 10th overall pick, then they address the defensive line in a huge, huge way as well. Adding Dexter Lawrence and Cassius Howe with your first and second round picks is potentially transformational, both in terms of anchoring your entire defense around Dexter Lawrence and the way that he should tilt everything and Cassius Howell being a type of edge

rusher that they didn't really have. So I know you like to, you not like to, but why. wanted to focus on the offensive guys here. And I'm a big fan of the players they picked, especially on the offensive wine and a big fan of Jack injuries as well. This draft is ultimately still an entire team-building process here. And adding pass rush juice at the start is a direction that I liked as well.

Coach. Touche. That was right. There was that was very well summed up. You know, I thought that with the draft that they went and you know again i i put dexter lawrence in that first round great even though he's a he's a perennial pro bowler um i think it adds something to it i would have been interested to see had that trade not come about as late as it did where were they leaning at 10 now they're

never going to tell you but what were they thinking because this all of a sudden and how long Do you want to know? Yeah. If Caleb Downs is available, they would have picked Caleb Downs. If Caleb Downs wasn't available because Dallas would have traded up potentially to jump over the Bengals for Caleb Downs, because that's probably not a super well-kept secret. I think Ruben Bain was the next in line. But Caleb Downs and Ruben Bain were the two targets there, if they would have had the pick at 10, as far as I know.

Which is fine. Yeah. Yeah, which would have been great. You know, I think that part of it, you know what? I think they had a good solid draft, and it was just like Jake talked about. I think it was a team-building draft because Free Agency was so defensive dominant that they had to kind of spread the love out a little bit, and to get those futures players was well. And you know what?

They got basically, what, two Ohio kids coming back, one in the Navy-Defiards. defensive tackle and the other one in the guard from Duke, you know, they, that's hot. That's good fan base. Well, you said it, best coach, the fact that because of all the work they did in free agency, that allowed them in the draft, I think, to kind of go with guys, as you mentioned, like Brian Parker and Landon Robinson. You could kind of go BPA. And we'll get into segment two when they drafted edge rush for in the second realm of

Cash's Howl. And there were still other needs that the Bengals had and other players that were on the board. They ultimately went with an edge rush trip, which I think a lot of people are happy with that pick from what I saw on social media and the, that, you know, Jake, you and Joe Goodberry and other national opponents. When I think about this draft, two things. Number one, Jack Andrews is my favorite player because I think his makeup mentally, I think the fact that his production of college is really good.

And I'm really excited to see what he can bring to this offense, assuming he makes the 53 man roster, which I think he will, even though it's still a little early to tell definitively. I think if he's on the roster, you're going to see that he can bring something to you in third down and fourth in short situations. They're in short situation as well. Can he bring something in your goal line packages, your jumbo packages?

Because you can run three tight end sets potentially in those goal to go situations. That's going to be really interesting to see because the tight end room, to me, after Mike Kisicki is so thin on depth. You don't know what Eric Old Jr. is going to be. You like what you've seen from Tanner Hudson. But again, he feels like there may be a ceiling with him. Let's see what Jack Andrews could do, just get another body in the room, if anything. And then coach, you remember this.

Jake, you know this guy too. but coach when you were coaching in the NFL, Tony Bisselli, great offensive line for the Jacksonal Jaguars. Brian Parker, the Bengals sixth round pick from Duke. His girlfriend is Tony Bisselli's daughter. So there is that connection there that I for one really like. So offensive line runs through the family, or at least, you know, in his relationship.

So I think, again, overall, you saw the coach to your point that Bengals not only address some needs, particularly on defense, but they built the offense for not only this year, but to have plans in place for next year when there could be turnover, particularly on the offensive line with Ted Harris. Yeah, I think they did. I think they did a good job of filling in the blanks on offense.

There wasn't a tremendous amount of need. But I think that they did with the old linemen that they picked, the tied in that they picked in the whiteout. You know, and there are their four picks. We're all basically up front. people nothing in the back end so i thought that they did a good job with that jake final thoughts on the draft class overall well i i think overall got to like what they did for the most part i think we haven't mentioned ticario davis's name once which i find fascinating uh but uh we'll i'm sure circle

back to the bengal's third round pick the the big thing here that that i noticed is i was getting through the grades and everything that we did for lockdown bengals today was how much of an impact Dexter Lawrence has on the whole thing, right? The draft class without Dexter Lawrence, probably a little bit lower grade, probably more like a B, B minus, depending on what methodology you use, because when you think about the roles for players as rookies, I think that's a big part of evaluating a draft class. What are these guys going to do right away? And then there's a long-term vision for them as well.

You can kind of see how some of these guys are going to fit in right away, how some of these guys have improved both rotations and depth throughout the roster, how the Bengals for the most part didn't really reach in this draft. I think Takario Davis did look like a little bit of a reach to me based on where we thought he would be drafted. But at the same time, he has a very unique physical skill set, right, in terms of length, height, ability to play the ball to catch point aggressively has incredible speed for his size. So there are traits there that you really like. and I like Chuck Birx as the defensive backs coach, the cornerbacks coach in Cincinnati,

and think that there's a chance that Takario Davis can develop with that coaching. He's always going to be a little bit stiff in the hips just because he's six four in a corner. So it's a little bit harder to turn when you're that size. But you get the vision there, even if that was a pick that felt a little bit early. Kobe Young, the other one that felt a little bit early. But again, you see the vision if he hits that upside.

And if the character stuff is clean as he's in the N. NFL, the off-field stuff stays clean for him in the NFL. You can see the upside. You can see the vision for how he would fit and be a different kind of big-bodied, contested catch kind of player that's different than the other guys that they have competing for the wide receiver three spot. But Cassius Howell immediately fitting in as one of the best pure pass rushers on the team, and he's going to be probably in a designated pass-rrrrrrrower kind of role.

But in terms of his ability to win one-on-ones and win with get-off and bend the corner and all those things right away, I love his fit. immediately. I love the potential center and guard of the future combination that they get on day three and Conner Lou and Brian Parker. And I think Jack Andrews has starter upside. I think Landon Robinson has rotational upside. So hard for me to be too critical of any of those picks. I think they all can fit in. And the reaches were few and far between based on the process that we do with Joe Goodberry every year and based on consensus. I think the Bengals did a good job of finding value throughout the draft for the most part and finding guys that have a potential role and

developmental upside in this draft. Well, the other thing, too, the 10th overall pick ended up being Francis Maui Gowa, the tackle for Miami, who I was a big fan of in the draft process. So that was interesting to see. And then Ruben Bain coach fell to 15 at Tampa Bay. Now, I think Tampa Bay got a steal in Ruben Bain. I think they nailed that pick personally. I also think Dallas getting Caleb Downs, that made too much sense to me.

Downs end up going to number 12. Real quick, I think Tennessee won the first round with Cardinal Tate. You want to send a message that you believe in your franchise quarterback. Go get him the past the best wide receiver, at least in my opinion, in this year's draft class. And then defensively, the best pick, my opinion in the first round, Chicago getting Dylan Thainterman. You give Dennis Allen that playmaking safety, let him cook.

Just some quick thoughts there. But going back to Cash's Howell, did the Bengals go too early when it came or when it came to drafting an edge rush for this year? We'll get into that conversation next right here. on the Bengals Squad Show. This episode of the Bengals Squad Show was brought to you by Ruggiet. The NFL draft was this past weekend. It's where preparation met opportunity and every decision mattered.

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the twice a week long-in-form conversational supplement to Locked on Bengals, part of the number one podcast network in all America, sports podcast network, excuse me, and all of America and the world, your team every day. I'm going to be honest, when the Bengals drafted Cassius Howell, my first thought was all right another Texas A&M edge rusher. Eh, same old, same old. Hopefully he signs his contract much earlier than Shemar Stewart did. But the more I looked into, the more I watched his film, and the more I looked into his accolades and his stats,

I was incredibly happy with the pick. And I know it was a second round pick for an edge rusher to position that you address in free agency with Boy Maffei, and you have Miles Murphy, and we'll see if his fifth-year option gets picked up this week. But I like this pick. You watch Cassius Howell coach on tape. This guy is fast.

This guy closes strong. SEC defensive player of the year. I think the Bengals nailed this second round pick, their first pick of this year's draft. Well, you know what? I really liked it. I thought athletically, production-wise, coming out of college,

like so many of the Texas A&M Aggie rushers. you know he ranked and then i looked at it from the standpoint well what else was were the bengal's other choices at that spot and did they fit well maybe maybe not they weren't really they were bigger reaches than he was and i thought that they they made a very very fine pick and you know what you can't have enough edge rushes my question is with them signing edge rushers and they've got edge rushers and they've drafted two number one edge rushers. How is their internal thought process? Did we make mistake?

Are we ready to move on? Somebody in that room has to be traded. And whether it be a defensive tackle, because they just sign, or they're going to sign three new defensive tackles. They signed two. Three defensive ends. Okay. that they now have, or two defensive ends,

and then they've got a host of first rounders in the building right now. Somebody's got to go. You can't keep them all. And it gives you a great deck of cards, and you're suffling them. And it's going to be great intensity as far as practice and competitiveness in camp and mini-camp

when they put them all out on the field. So that's going to be interesting. Yeah, I think there will be a real roster crunch of defensive tackle for this team. That's where the glut of players is because they've got five guys, and then they've got McKinley Jackson, and they just drafted Landon Robinson. That's six and seven. So the potential for Landon Robinson to unseat somebody who's been on this team for the last couple of years exists. If Landon Robinson comes in and impresses and shows that he can be a rotational three-tech for you right away,

who maybe offers a little bit more as a pass rusher, if he really impresses in training camp, what are they going to do with Chris Jenkins? Will they find a trade partner? Will they explore a trade partner? McKinley Jackson's similar conversation, but even a more uphill battle for him because he was in the doghouse for a lot of last year

before he got back on the field. And he looks like he belonged on an NFL field when he got there, but he's still going to have to work hard to make this roster where they've added Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen and still have V.J. Hill. And so there's a lot going on in defensive tackle for this team. Less so to me at the edge, especially for this year. Right now, I think they're floor deep with guys that you really like.

And then Cedric Johnson is a fine fifth edge rusher for this team. But they lost a couple of guys last year when they lost Ray Hendrickson and Joseph O'Sai. So when they ab boy A Mafé and Cassius Hald, they're really just replacing the two guys they lost there. And then in addition to them, they've got the two first round picks of Miles Murphy and Shemar Stewart, who certainly has some developing. to do. I think that the conversation around whether they picked an edge rush or too early is, did you want them to take an edge rusher in this draft? If you did, then they did not pick an edge rusher too early. If you didn't, then they should have picked a linebacker here or maybe

even a cornerback here instead. But the opportunities to pick edge rushers that could make a difference after this pick, unless they trade back, which maybe you think they should have traded back here and added an asset, which fair enough, they probably could have done that. they probably aren't picking Cash as Howe then. They're probably dropping down just a little bit of a tier if they're looking at an edge rusher here. I think their other guy they really liked here was Zion Young. And I like Cashus Howe much more for being a different kind of player in terms of the

bendy speed, ghost moves, spin move package at edge rusher that I don't think the Bengals have ever had when I've watched that. Like they've gone, you know, six seven, six eight guys, Mike Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, power guys, Trey Hendrickson, a little bit of them. little bit of a speed to power guy, but he's a rip move guy. He's not throwing the ghost move out there. He's not hitting the spin move very often. So a different archetype of pass rusher, I think, that you get in Cassius Howl, which is what makes that pick enticing to me, I think, and exciting is that he brings a speed rusher element that the Bengals have shied away from a little bit or

otherwise haven't drafted, even if they've been high on some guys like, uh, let's a Georgia kid from last year. Jalen, Jalen in the first round went to, don't remember what team. I've forgotten his name twice this week. I've forgotten his last name. The other one, Nolan Smith, another Georgia edge that they were in on us a little bit

under. Jaylon Walker. That's right, Jalen Walker. So Jalen Walker and Nolan Smith, a couple of smaller guys that they've been in on the past. Didn't end up drafting. And this year, they finally pulled the trigger on one of those smaller, speedy, bendy and that's fun. Should immediately slot in to third

down packages and should immediately be an explosive part of this past rush. And they've really overhauled it, right? Going from what they had last year to what they've got now on that defensive line. And it was a needed overhaul. And I applaud them for throwing all of those resources added, even if they're now at a point, like coach says, where maybe they're going to have to look at a difficult conversation where they have to think about trading somebody on the defensive interior where they've got, you know, seven guys between the guys they've added and the guys that were playing a lot for them last year.

that they're going to have to figure out for this final roster. Well, that's, I think, the part that I like the most about that is the fact that there is going to be some uncertainty, excuse me, I don't think necessarily BJ Hill, but there is going to be some uncertainty with T.J. Slayton, Chris Jenkins Jr., McKinley Jackson, are they going to make the 53 men roster? And coach, you and I talked about last week, now that the Bengals have shown that they are willing to trade with another team in the offseason, you know, send a draft back over, that that makes them a willing trade partner. and it shows that they're not insulated in their own bubbles so much that if it comes time to where they do make a trade and they send Chris Jenkins Jr. Or McKinley Jackson somewhere for drafts or maybe a player that other teams are going to be willing to oblige and partner with the Bengals in that.

No doubt. I mean, you know what, defensive tackles are a premium because they not only do they take up space in the run game, very difficult to move. There are also pocket pushers, which really opens it up for those ends. And if you have extras, especially veteran extras, there's going to be some guys that all of a sudden some people go down and they're going to need a fit and play type of player. And other than the new ones that they just picked, I mean, really, the draft choices that they just picked, they all have, they all have a history playing in this league. So I think there could be great value there. You know the other part of the two like about Cassius Howell is when he said that he grew up a Chiefs fan, but then the Chiefs passed on him in the draft.

And he's like, that don't matter now. We'll see the Chiefs when we see him. I love that guy for having that chip on his shoulder. He feels slighted. And to have that kind of guy on the Bengals on a defensive line that Jake, as you mentioned, that has been massively overhauled this offseason, that's good. And the fact that it was massively overhauled. is a good thing. They needed new players, new bodies. They got both of those things.

And now, you know, talking about Jenkins and Jackson, if those are your fifth and sixth defensive linemen, your interior defensive lineman, that tells you you've done a good job this offseason of making your defensive line, which Duke Tobin talked about back in January, remaking, and the fact that the pass rush is a priority, you've done that. So everything the front office wanted to do, which they didn't need it to do as we viewed him from the outside. They did. And as you said, Jake, they deserve credit for that. Yeah, I mean, they threw resources of the problem.

And I think they did that in a way that made a lot of sense. The only thing that is maybe not the only thing. The two biggest questions coming out of the draft are linebacker and slot corner. Like I've talked about, I talked about this a lot in our grade show. When it comes to their second fourth round pick, there are a couple of really enticing slot corner options at that point. that I thought was a great mesh of value and need, which is one of the reasons I was a little bit more critical of the Kobe Young pick.

And the eternal question that we're going to look back at this offseason with, like we've looked at the last couple of off seasons with different positions, as the linebacker question where maybe they still make a move sometime between now and training camp, and maybe it's a similar timing to the Dalton-Risner timing. Maybe they do explore a trade as Miami added linebackers, and we've been connecting them very loosely with exploring a trade for Jordan Brooks for some time. You know, maybe they do explore that at some point, but that Dalton-Risner move for linebacker is what I would equate it to.

The late addition to find a solid veteran piece, not that the Dalton-Risner is out there, a guy that we're actually quite high on, much higher than the lead, but finding that size deal and finding that veteran, to add to the room, there are a number of guys out there that have a lot of experience at the position. And if they're not retiring, at the very least, their leadership and mentorship would be appreciated, I think,

for those young guys coming along that are, for better or worse, apparently going to be relied upon this year. Well, Coach, if you're going to do that, as Jake is saying, sign a veteran linebacker, why wait until August? Why not get him in the building this week? You know what, in hearing Duke Tobin's post-dress, press conference, the one thing that it hit with that he continued to bring up time and time again was salary. And yeah, there are a lot of bodies out there. But do they fit in with what we are

can pay? And that that was the biggest thing is he's going to, you know, why not hire the guy right now? because they're still available and they're still asking for a certain amount. Once you sign your draft choices, now you find out the piece of the pie, what you have left, and then you can either put it on next year or absorb it all this year. Then I think that's when the time they find out, now, are you going to get the better player? Probably not, but you're going to get a nice person in the building, nice veteran. They can help those young guys out. But, you know, like Jake, I'm sitting there going,

and with what Duke had said during his press conference is, oh, you know what, we didn't address linebacker because we like very strong upside with the two we got and the backups. And I'm going, so what you're saying is you're putting it on the defensive line, and that's the reason why they struggled. And I went, okay. That's what you agree with. You got a lot of defensive linemen, and that's great, all right, but they can't do their job and hit and those other ones.

I do agree with you, Coach, that like the linebackers had their own issues that were agnostic to what was happening in front of them. At the same time, I do think that adding Cassius Howl and Boye Mafet to the mix to a lesser degree, but Cassius Howell has on tape experience peeling and carrying wheels, you know, 30 yards down the field and plight. lastering him pretty reasonably well for a guy to 250 pounds. Like he has some experience playing that hybrid role. So if that gets Demetrius Knight off the line of scrimmage, that was one of the big roles for Al Golden. Or big goals, did I say goals for Al Golden this off season was getting Demetri's night off of the line of scrimmage,

stopping, to put a stop to those guys playing essentially as the fifth edge rusher or the second edge position when they're putting five guys on the surface. now they have plenty of personnel to go five bigger bodies on the surface, not putting those linebackers on the edge and asking, because they've asked Rema Pratt to do that a couple of years ago. Last year was Demetriusite. So in that sense, they maybe have accomplished that goal if that was one of their goals. I still agree that generally I would have liked to have seen a linebacker at it,

no doubt about it. But the other thing that stood out to me, listening to Steve Radicevich during the draft and Duke even yesterday was it wasn't the design. to not add a linebacker. It's the way it went. There's this idea I think that the Bengals thought that they were fine at linebacker. And if you look at what they actually did this offseason, that is how it looked. They did not add a linebacker.

They didn't pay one. They didn't draft one. They added a couple of undrafted free agents that are interesting. We'll see if they actually stick and end up as officially signed undrafted free agents later this week. But both guys, the assistant GM Radicevich and the. director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, said that it wasn't by design. And I think it's just the way it went. And I believe them when they say that because I know that they had offers, starting level

offers to linebackers. And when they didn't work out, they pivoted. They went elsewhere. There were linebackers that they would have been willing to pick if things went a certain way in the draft. They just had a much higher grade. They saw Cassius Howl as a late first round player. And when he was available to them in the second round, and maybe they have an early

second round grade on a linebacker, you're not going to dip a whole, tier down and pick a position of need. And I think that is actually good process by the Bengals there. So even though they don't add a linebacker, the process by which they didn't add a linebacker, yeah, I would have liked to see them push a little bit harder for some guys in free agency. And I would be critical of that. But I kind of can see how they ended up at this point here, despite their efforts. And I still think they are going to bring in a veteran linebacker in the soft season is just a matter of when. Speaking of it, speaking of, of which now that the dust is said we've already touched on in a little bit.

I do have a new take on the Bengals linebackers, and it's very concerning. We'll get into that conversation. Coming up next on the Bengals squad show, I'm going to say this because I firmly believe this. And I know Joe Burroughs been injured in parts of three seasons of his first six in the NFL. Him getting injured again next season, gosh forbid, is not my biggest concern. it's the fact that the Bengals linebackers could still be such a liability that it derails everything that this team hopes to accomplish next season and the goals that they have. Because I genuinely do not know what to expect from Barack Carter and Dimitri's night junior next year. I hope they're good players.

I do. But the bar is so low that I genuinely do not know if they will improve. or if what they showed last year is just who they are. And coach, that is very concerning when those are your two centerpieces literally in terms of how it's set up on defense, which is the whole point of this offseason to fix it. But yet your most glaring weakness, you haven't addressed with one player yet.

Absolutely. You know, that, and it, I mean, I've got those two young men, their upside is still their upside. Now, when are they going to start to mature and become the players that the Bengals thought they were? And what they're banking on, them being. Nobody has seen. You know, when you look at it, they're only as good as their last game. And, okay, we took an L.

And so that's all you have, and that's all the fan base. and me as a fan have to look at. And when you don't address something, there may not been that guy that you wanted, but there was no movement going on in a second to try to move up or whatever to get the guy you wanted. And sometimes you have to be aggressive and do that. But if they feel comfortable with them,

let's hope that they're both on the uprise and that their ceiling is still high. They're still growing and amongst everything else. they stay healthy and you know then hey let let's let it go because they have improved both on the back end and up front because they actually made some transactions that people go whoa okay they're in it they're all in except for that position so yeah that's that's the thing that's tough well the comment that got me by surprise in a way this week was when Duke Tobin said The best thing we did for our young linebackers was trade for Dexter Lawrence.

And there is some truth to that because he can help. But he's not a linebacker. Like, I mean, you clearly are signaling your confidence in these two young linebackers, which fine. Because let's say you did move into a different direction. You're spinning the wheel and maybe you don't want to do that. And this franchise for what we know does value continuity and particularly in this case of linebacker. So here's what Duke Tobin. We kind of touched on it in our last segment. Duke Tobin yesterday when asked about linebacker said, quote, I don't think we went into the draft saying we're

not going to add at any position. It's opportunities that come up. Probably the best thing we did for a lineback room is what we did for the D-Line room and that's going to elevate those guys. I actually agree with that. And then he went on to say, I have real belief in the linebackers that we have full seasons under their belt. They have really good production for rookies and they're going to grow in our scheme and they're going to be really good players. And I think we have depth behind them, end quote. Okay. I actually do agree with him there.

But again, it's just you have a need, and yet you're thinking that signing guys around them, that's going to help them. Maybe that's true. Because if the defense coach is working in unison, as you know, then the linebackers could be better for it. And I will say this, and Jake, I'm sure you'll agree with me. There aren't as many distractions on that side of the ball this offseason as there was last off season. And so you go into OTA's rookie minicamp, mandatory minicamp, training camp,

and you're ready to hit the ground running, and you're not wondering if this guy's going to show up or that guy's going to show up or that guy's going to sign his contract. That does matter, but you still haven't signed anybody to come in at that exact position and show them how it's done. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen them out of linebacker, broken records saying that at this point. I will say when a coach or Duke Tobin gets up there or assistant GM gets up there and starts saying, we believe in these linebackers, what else are they going to say? They are on the team. They are the only guys on the team right now.

They are not going to take a dump all over the linebackers that are on the team that are currently in line to be starters. Like you're not going to get there to say, ah, you know what, those guys are terrible. I can't believe we didn't add anybody. It's a huge fit. You know, they're never going to stand up there and say that. So we do need to take with a grain of salt anytime you hear a coach, GM, whatever, talk about players that are on the team and in line to have a role on the team in the next year. When you don't hear that, you know those guys are really in the doghouse.

See Jermaine Burton last year when like guys are not showing up for work and stuff like that. You're going to hear a different tone from the brass. But when they're doing the right thing and they're trying and they're just not good enough, the feedback is going to be different. The other thing I would point out here is that while I would have liked to have seen them out of linebacker, and that is unambiguous, I looked, and I think I might have talked about this, I looked back in March, late March at the PFF progression, say what you will about PFF grades from year one to year two for linebackers have played a lot of snaps,

say at least 500 snaps in year one and in year two. They played a lot in both years. And the average increase in PFF grade is from a 55 in year one to a six. 67 in year two. And that includes a couple of guys that graded worse than Demetriusite and Barrett Carter as rookies. Christian Harris had a 28 overall grade, 28 overall grade in year one. In year two, he was up to a 65, according to pro football focus.

Micah McFadden had a 38 in year one, and the next year was a 65, according to pro football focus. If Demetriusite and Barrett Carter take that same leap and get to the 60s, that's a pretty good place for you to be after what we saw from them last year. That's roughly league average linebacker play. And despite what we saw from them, and I'm not projecting them to be great players right now. They're very much in the let's see what you got, guys. Show me what you got. The Bengals invested in you, you're going to have these roles. Let's see what you can do in year two. This is a position where year one to year two typically shows the most growth.

It's one of those positions in the NFL. And there are many. But the year, or two leap for those guys could get them to the average linebacker level. Maybe you get lucky. Maybe some of them develop even more than that. Maybe somebody takes a Devin Lloyd kind of jump. Devin Lloyd as a rookie had a 48 from pro football focus and was just the most sought after linebacker on the free agent market. And in year two, he jumped all the way up to a 78.

He took a 30 point jump. Jack Campbell, 52 as a rookie. Up to 78, one of the best linebackers in the NFL, I think, if you were asked around the league. So the possibility for growth is there. And that's all I'll say about that. We'll see how they turn out, obviously, this year. But, you know, GM coaching staff, they're going to say nice things about these guys

because they're on the team. They're coaching them up. They need them to be confident. They need them to be good on the field. You're never going to hear, for the most part, coaches, GMs talk down about guys on their team. Never. You'll never hear them say anything bad about the guys that are currently on the team. Or for that matter, you'll never hear them say.

anything negative about the guys that left. You're kind of sealed. You play with who you have. And they, you know, certainly what they did up front will help those guys, you know. In the run game, as long as they, as long as with the quality of defensive tackles, they now have it have in the building. And they don't jump out of gaps. And now they leave the linebackers hung out to dry.

or if the linebackers don't jump out of gaps, they're going to be protected in the run game. Now, as far as the passing game goes, there's still going to be zone droppers. They're still going to be manned up on the back. They could still be manned up on a tight end at times. But when you do that, you're hoping the pass rush gets there in order so they don't have to cover as long.

They're playing zone coverage, rushing four guys, they're still going to have to get in their zone drops. They're going to have to get their depth. Keep the tight ends from those deep crossing routes getting in those open zones. They're still going to have to do that. And you're hoping that the pass rush gets there. You are. I mean, that's exactly why they threw so many resources at that at pass rush.

Jake, you brought up Christian Harris when you were talking about PFF grades. I'll point this out as it relates to the Bengals. Keep in mind in 2012, that Texans defense was awful. The Texas is the team more awful. But next year, they brought in DeBica Ryan as their head coach. They drafted Will Anderson. Their defense took off like crazy. And you look at what it's been the last three seasons.

It's been really good. Harris, by the way, signed with the Falcons in free agency this past off season. So my point is, the front office has given defense coordinator Al Golden a ton more resources for this season. It's on him now. And Algonne's specialty is linebackers, as we know. But he's got to be able to, with those young linebackers, with a much improved pass rush, and for what it's worth, and improve secondary, he's got to go out there and prove that he can get this

defense to play at the very least average middle of the pack because we know this offense is going to score 30 points. Again, it's on Al Golden now. If there's anything the front office has done this offseason, is that they have given this coaching staff on both sides of the ball, and special teams, exactly what they need. It's now on them. You can't blame the front office anymore.

It's on the coaching staff now. That's going to be a big emphasis to watch this upcoming season. Up next, we'll get into some of the other draft picks the Bengals made this weekend. We've touched on them in the first segment, but I'm going to tell you why, again, that my favorite pick, if you're just joining us, that my favorite Bengals draft pick this season comes in the seventh round. That conversation next on the Bengals Squad show. Jack injuries, when you look at him and Dame Brukeless draft guy at the base,

he's the 11th ranked tight end, 6-5-245 pounds. But just the accolades to me stand out. First off, he played his first three seasons at Cal. He played last season in Texas. At 33 reception, 346 yards, three touchdowns for the longhorns in 25. But the key thing is, because you're a tight ends guy, the last three seasons, he played and started 13 games in each of the last three seasons. That's 39 games played and games started.

So what does that tell you? He's durable. He stays healthy. And on top of all those things, he's productive. 35 catches in 23, 56 in 2024 with Cal. Honorable mention all ACC led the golden bears in receiving. And in 2025, with Texas, he had 33. And that Texas offense had some dudes on it.

So when I think about Jack injuries, and one of my biggest concerns in addition to the linebackers this offseason was the tight end room. the depth behind Mike Issicki. Oh, by the way, Mike Kosicki also missed some games last year with a factorial injury. You get a guy like Jack injuries, which or more Chase, T. Higgins, maybe Colby Young, Andre Yosefosch, Chase Brown, what you can do with your tight ends and what you can do to confuse defenses? Good Lord. I mean, how can you not love this guy who, by the way, is pretty ticked off. He had to wait until the seventh round to be picked.

You know what they all are. Anytime you drop because they all got great opinions of themselves, you're always going to have that chip on your shoulder, which is awesome. They need to come in with that on their steel. But what you can do with a guy like himself that is, you know, and you mentioned his accolades not measurable, but, you know, his durability, his ability to run, his ability, you can do a lot of things in 12 personnel because of the fact,

Are they going to play you in base coverage or are they going to play you in nickel? How do you use that guy, that UF, H type of guy? You've got a Y who can put his hand in the dirt. You can move this guy all over the place, create different formations that are all audible ready. And he can do the job as a third wide out if need be. And so you can do a lot of different things with tight ends. I think having two tight ends on the field is a great neutralizer because you don't know what you could either get base coverage and now you got him running against a linebacker or they're going to go nickel and now you put him and you can run the ball with a nickel in the game, a smaller creature trying to defend the run. So there's a lot of different things that you can do.

And I think that, you know, he's, he showed that not only, okay, he's very, very smart because he went to Cal and he played a Cal and he's a majority of his time was there. And then he goes down and he's involved in Sark's offense, which is very pro-oriented as far as learning it. You know he can learn. You know we can do all of those things. So, yeah, he does have a tremendously high side. Now, what are you going to do with that new toy? It's a question for Dan pitcher. It's a question for Zach Taylor because I'm with you, Coach.

I can't wait for the AFC North games where you're in those goal to go situations and you bring in a jumbo package with three tight ends. Let's say it's Giske or Hudson or Hudson, I should say, and then you bring in Jack entries, what you can do with your playbook against those mammoth defensive fronts that are just going to tee off and stop the run or get after Joe Burrow. I mean, that's what most excites me. because what you can do with this extra dimension, Jake, that you have in Jack Andrews, who has proven, even though you had to wait until the seventh round again, this guy averaged

over 10 yards per catch in each of his three college seasons. He had 33 or more catches in each of those three seasons. I can't help but think that this guy is going to serve a purpose in some way for this offense. Yeah, we'll have to see how he comes along as a red zone threat. I don't know that that's one of his strengths right now. He is six four. You know, he's got good size for. He had a 36-inch vert at that size, which suggests that he should be able to play above the rim.

But hasn't really showed up so far. He had seven touchdown catches on 124 catches in his three seasons of active play in college, three of those last year with Texas, four in his two seasons at Cal. I think my favorite thing about injuries is his ability to do multiple things. And he's closer to Eric All than he is to Drew Sample or to Mike Besecki in terms of of the overall skill set because you can ask him to be a move blocker. I don't think that he's necessarily, at least right now, ready to survive in line. Arvel Reese head up on him in line on a one-on-one is much different than the move block coming

across the formation and kicking out our Arvel Reese on the other side. He's much better in that kickout role coming across the formation, finding a target at the second level, but he's pretty good at that. So that is a way that they used Eric Hall when they had him on the field and the ability to do some of those things while also being a competent wide receiver who is a functional athlete. He's actually a really strong tested athlete. His 10-yard split was fantastic. His agility weren't great.

It looks like he actually fell in his three cone, and the three-comb wasn't great. So the change of direction, the ability to separate might take some development for him, the route running, polish, those kinds of things. He looks kind of like a one-speed player to me on tape a little bit, too, even though the 4-640 at his size, 245 is really fast. And like I said, the 10-yard split 159 is a great 10-yard split. It suggests that he should have really good acceleration, should be able to get off the ball really well.

Those things will probably be a little bit of a work in progress. But his ability to catch the ball reliably, his ability to understand where he needs to sit down in zone when that comes along, should be a very reliable tight-end two type of player. And if that goes in combination with the other kinds of, more specialized tight ends on the roster, that's great because what I was asking them to find in any tight end that they added this year was a guy that could do a little bit of both things. I'm not asking Jack Andrews to go survive on an island as a pass blocker, the way that they would

ask Drew Sample to do that a little bit. And putting him on the surface as you're only attached tight end, he might have a little bit of challenge with NFL power in the run game there. But he can be a good move blocker for you, I think, right away. And he can be a functional receiver for you right away. And when you're getting that in the seventh round, I mean, I think that's a home run to get a player that looks like that in the seventh time. We'll see if he gets that opportunity.

That follows these draft picks as well. Do they get those opportunities when their seventh round draft pedigree? I think we saw it to some extent with Matt Lee. And Matt Lee ends up, he had a knee issue, I think, that is why he was, we'll see if we learn more about it. It sounds like the knee didn't recover very well for him. But if he gets the opportunity for Jack Hendries, like I said earlier, like certainly can see him carving out a long-term role in the NFL.

The benefit of the Bengals drafting out of this really deep tight end class, I'm glad they went that way. And Jack Andrews in the seventh round, again, to me, one of my favorite picks of the draft. Probably my second favorite pick of the draft. I think I like Brian Parker just a little bit better, but Andrews is way up there and an awesome seventh round bet. He is. And I think because, Coach, I just think about what you can do with different formations

if you use two tight ends, if you use three tight ends, if you use one tight end, because Jake, as you mentioned with Jack Andrews, if you want to put him as a blocking tight end, potentially not necessarily against Arvel Reese or Will Anderson, who the Bengals will face both of them, the seasons they play the AFC South. But if you, if you use Drew Sample as that blocker against a blitz, an edge rusher coach, then you all of a sudden have Jack injuries who can be a round runner or Micahisickey, obviously because he's your tight end one.

But what you can do with formations and personnel, you're going to keep defenses on their toes. And that's not some of the Bengals' offense. believe it or not, it's been able to do in recent seasons, now they could be able to do it. Well, you know what? I mean, they've got great outside receivers, you know, and there's a lot, they can really expand on those hash mark receivers, the inside guys. And I think that he can bring you an element. Plus, I think the major thing, I mean, I thought he was a great value pick. He's got a great special team's body. A, he can run. He's long as,

at 6-4, he's a great punt and cover guy, you know, on punt, he can certainly on kickoff return, he could be one of those core guys as he's returning into that other role. And I think that that's what he needs to look at first as being a special teams guy because that's how he's going to make the team. Then he can slot himself and continue to work as that third tight end until he develops everything and shows him what skill set he has. All right, let's circle back to the other draft picks that the Bengals made. They had seven total this weekend. They also did make a trade in the fourth round.

That's how the New York Jets drafted K Klubnick, so there is that. Jake, you were very in on Takario Davis from what I was reading on ESPN, NFL.com. ESPN elite length rerouted receivers, gain them off linebackers early in route. I'm sorry, getting them off landmarks early in-routes. I like all that. Yeah, I wouldn't say I was very in on Tricario Davis, where he was picked. That's one of the picks that for me did not get an A or a B. And you'll see the full conversation there on today's Lockdown Bengals episode.

But what he does well is play Pressman. And you could project that as well into being a good, deep third kind of player that would fit into a press man and cover three package, which is a lot of what the Bengals do. They run a lot of cover six, a lot of cover three, and a lot of press man. And that's where he fits.

His early role might be the Trey Flowers role. That was brought up by the Bengals brass, the Bengals coaching staff in terms of matching with some of the taller mismatched tight ends in the league because he has that great length. And we'll play through the catch point with toughness. It's really good recovery speed as well. But like I said, the change of direction for him is going to be a work.

in progress a little bit. And so that's what we'll need to come along for him to be a starting level outside corner in the league. But the physical tools to be a good press man corner to be active with his hands, get guys off their timing, off their landmarks, like you said, Alex, that is in the toolkit form. It's just how will it develop? And that'll be the question for Takaria. Well, it's all projections too. I mean, you can hope that those tools translate. But again, you just don't know until you actually see him play in the regular season. And we'll hopefully see him in the preseason as well. Conra Lou, we haven't really mentioned his name.

We talked about the fact that the Bengals drafted a center in the fourth round to potentially be Ted Caras's replacement when Caris walks. But Conor Lou, I love this pick. Smart. I mean, here's a guy that kind of fell to you in round four because of that torn ACL he had last year. But this pick reminds me of what the Bengals value coach, captain, leader. That's a guy that the Bengals went after in those early years.

and got them to the Super Bowl. They went back to that here. I can't say anything bad about this pick. No, I think it's a great pick. I think that they needed insurance inside. And I think that both of the draft picks that they picked, the two centers slash guards, you know, they're looking for one that can play all three.

And I think that that's how you develop good depth. Because remember, you only get to dress seven. And somebody's got to be a center slash guard, slash and if your backup centers your guard, then, you know, there's a lot of mixing and matching that has to go on. Both guys are very, very smart. I think that Connor is, he's one of those guys that he comes from a conference that's physically and mentally hard and very, very tough, and you have to be that kind of way. And I think that he's a great fit for that offensive line. And once they get a hold of him and they start teaching him exactly what to do, and he's got a great

mentor in Karras in front of him. He could sit and watch and kind of still press that envelope as far as getting his chance while he's learning both of them. I think that he's going to be a gem. I do too. I agree with you. The other fourth round pick, Colby Young, again, risky, given his off-the-field issues in 2024, hasn't had any sense, but still important to note. A risky pick in that regard. It honestly reminds me a little bit of Joe Mixon because of what happened with him when he was at Oklahoma on the Bengals drafted him. And that was met with tremendous backlash from the fan base. When you read his profile, though, in description, kind of reminds you of A.J. Green.

At least it does for me. Oh, by the way, AJ Green went to Georgia. I'm not saying Colby Young is going to be the next AJ Green, but reading ESPN and Scouts, spreeze draft analysis, I can't hope but think about AJ Green. I hope he's 50% of AJ Green. That would be great. Well, if he is, the Bengals got themselves another steal in the fourth round. Brian Parker, the second, love the pick.

Comes from an athletic family, and he was tremendous, by the way, at Duke. He is the sixth ranked center in Dan Gruigler's draft guide, second team all American, second team all ACC this past season, started and played 13 games in each of the last two seasons. he did play right tackle last year important to know, but was drafted as a center out of Duke. Landon Robinson from Navy, I mean, again, I said it earlier. When I was reading about how the Bengals, when they saw him at the senior bowl and just felt like, okay, if he's there in the late seventh round, they're probably going to take him. I have no issue with it.

I was mocking Landon Robinson to the Bengals as early as a fourth round. I thought that's where it started. So getting him in the seventh, I think it's awesome. Oh, I think it's fantastic. That's the other thing, too, about this draft. we touched on it. They've gotten great value. I mean, they've gotten great value with some of these picks.

Connor Lou was going to be a top 50 pick from what I was reading before he tore his ACL last year, fell to the fourth round. Bengals get him. Landon Robinson, you know, a guy you don't really know a lot about because you didn't watch a lot of Navy and that's fine. But the Bengals now have them. And coach, you always say, if you got him in the building, do something with him. Teach him, teach him and let him go, you know?

That's a great thing about it. Look, again, I said it at the top of the show. I like this Bengals draft. I'd like to think it is a success because they did draft her needs in the first two picks, but they also, you know, made sure they did not neglect the offensive side of the ball. And I think they more than supplemented it with guys that you could see maybe this year and for sure in 27 and 2008. Coach, you and I are back Friday, Mike Santag. And I will join us with this tremendous film breakdowns of all the Bengals draft picks this past weekend.

Jake, we'll talk with you next week. Keep an eye out, of course, for him and James Rapine in your feeds with Lockdown Bengals this week on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Lockdown Podcast Network is the number one sports podcast number in America and the world, your team every day. For more on the Everydayer Club, visit Lockdown Podcast.com slash everydayer or check out the information in the show notes of this show. Bangles Squad is a twice a week, law-in-form conversational supplement to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast hosted by Jake Liscoe at Jake Liscoe and James Rupin at James Rine on. Twitter. Coach Arfallaro, current running backs coach of the UFL's Orlando Storm and Super Bowl 37 champion with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I am Alex Frank and Frankie underscore Natty. Thank you for joining us today for the Bengalsquatch Show. Have a great rest of your week.

We'll talk to you on Friday. First day of May, hard to believe. Training camp is less than three months away and we'll be back with you on Friday, May 1st, coach you, me and Mike Santagana, right here on the Bangal Squad Show, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day.