Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Is DUKE TOBIN really "ALL IN?" plus JOE BURROW and the TIGHT ENDS

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Bengals director of player personnel and de facto general manager Duke Tobin said he NFL Combine this week that he's "never not been all in." So, how should Bengals fans view those comments?  Alex Frank and Coach Art Valero discuss how they feel about them and what it could mean for the Bengals and the upcoming free agency period.  One position that hasn't been talked about a lot this offseason has been tight end. Mike Gesicki has given the Bengals a good return on investment, but is there anything else the Bengals could do in free agency or the Draft to bolster the position?  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.  FanDuel Use your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started.  5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon.  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.  HomeChef For a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners 50% off your first box, free shipping, and free dessert for life. Just go to https://HomeChef.com/LOCKEDON.  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. Duke Tobin says he's never not been all in, but coach you and I know talk is cheap. So do you believe Duke Tobin when he says he's all in? He may be all in, but is he allowed to be all in? Are the funds there that will allow him to pursue the people that he wants to pursue? That's the question. He says the Bengals have the resources to attack the offseason in a big way. now it's time to prove it. That and much more coming up on a primetime edition of the Bengals Squad show.

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 locked-on podcast network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now. Straight from St. Petersburg, Florida, where Coach Arfallera won a Super Bowl in 2000. to this is the Bengals squad show.

We are live on lockdown Bengals and on the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. We're presented today by FanDuel. Right now you can use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Van Duel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. I'm Alex Frankie's coach Art Valero. This is the Bengals squad show twice a week,

long form conversational supplement to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast hosted by James Rapine and Jake Lisco. They are both at the Combine, along with Mike Santagana. So it's Coach and yours truly tonight on this primetime edition of the Bengals Squad Show. Coach, it's Combine season. As a coach, what was the Combine like for you this time of the off season? Well, you know, other than seeing old friends that you normally don't see throughout the year if you don't play them, exciting. Because you have a group of players that are ready to show.

go what they've got. And that's the great thing about it. Well, the Bengals have been at the Combine this week. At least the brass has been there. Asacto's been there. The media has been there. And there have been prospects for the Bengals are potentially targeting in the end of the draft who have been there. Caleb Downs is one of them, obviously. He met with the Bengals today. But the big story earlier this week coach was Duke Tobin. The Bengals director of player personnel de facto general manager said he's never not been all in. I didn't believe that. Yeah, I want to believe it too.

You know what? I mean, I think it comes down to, you can say whatever you'd like to say, but are you, do you have the resources? Are you allowed to have the resources to be all in? I think if you're all in with every draft season or free agent season, very clearly, you show it by who you select. And I think when you select a draft pick, you're hoping for the best, but you really never know. The first rounders, the Joe Burroughs of the world, the Jamar Chases of the world, you know, they're locks. Some of the other ones that you may reach for, you're hoping that they become that gold jacket wearer and ring of honor kind of guy. And so, hey, we'll see, you know, in a few weeks when the draft comes around.

Or actually, what, about six weeks, seven weeks away, what they got? And you know what? You're going to find out real quick and free agency who they target, who they're willing to go get, and who they're willing to pay to bring them to Cincinnati to go. And I wish them the best. I want to believe Duke Tobin. I really do because I've seen this team within the last five years get to a Super Bowl and then the AFC championship.

And to their credit, they kept swinging big in free agency in 2003. They kept swinging in 2024 last year. They really didn't. But unfortunately, when you look at the results the last three years, particularly in the draft, and then free agency misses followed on top of that, they just have not delivered in an era in which they should be delivering with Joe Burrow, with Jamar Chase, as you say, the locks. Well, it's the other guys on the roster that they have not been able to hit on. And when you've missed the playoffs in Joe Burroughs prime the last three seasons,

especially last season, fans are frustrated, were frustrated. So I kind of feel like no matter what he says at this time of year, no matter what he says, given the state of the organization right now, the fans aren't going to be pleased. No, you know what? You can say you've done it before. But how did you get to the point that you're in now? Why didn't you do it then two years ago?

You've been there before you claimed. And I think that at this point, time, the talk is really cheap. I know they want an answer. I know that you have shown that you're not really transparent, but just words come out and the fans and the faithful are still waiting for you to deliver. And the only one that's out there to take to be literally the human punching bag right now because he's out in front of it all the time is Zach Taylor. That's the issue.

So I feel like Duke Tobin is in a position where he's kind of also having to defend what he has done in recent years, which is, I mean, he's been repeatedly saying, well, we made a trade for, you know, a quarterback in season last year, which we don't normally do. And it's very hard to do that. And yeah, great that you did that. But I mean, the Bengals went one in five coach, which O'Flaqo is their quarterback. And it's because of the other things that he has not done. So you can keep repeatedly saying what you've done, how much money you wrote in terms of contracts. But you're not winning. in near 24 seasons, you've only had, what, 11 winning seasons? That's not going to cut it.

That's less than 50%. Oh, yeah, you look at that, and you also look at the amount of pro bowlers before this year that he had. And you know what? Either there are one first or second round draft choices, and there was one fourth round draft choice that they've had as a pro bowler. So having six in the last 10. 10 years? That's not a lot. And that's showing that your money is not necessarily going where you hoped it had done. You know, and right now, you know, they, there is an awful lot of talk from the front office and from Duke. And now it's show me. And that's the great thing about football.

It's a show me game. It's a spectator game. Show me. Let's win. We're still proud of you. but we will really go nuts if you put a great product on the field and you produce. The confidence level that I have in this front office is completely different from where it was a few years ago. And I think the confidence level in Duke Tobin, you're hearing a guy that sounds a little more calculated. It sounds like he's trying to answer the questions in a technical exact way. You didn't hear the same, well, go get your own wide receivers because we got R2. like I'm not hearing that from him. I'm hearing a guy who knows he's on the hot seat,

no matter what he says, he's never going to please a lot of the fans right now. And that's why they say winning Cures All. Now, if you go out and have a big free agency period, if you go out and nail the draft, you get some impact players, and then you start 401, no one's going to remember what you said in January or February.

But again, it's the last three years, given how much attention nationally and locally that this organization has had, where you have to be able to do some things that you haven't normally done. And when I'm hearing that Donne Reisner and the Bengals maybe aren't close on a deal, which I don't understand why that would be, and who the Bengals may take in the draft, who they may take in free agency and how much pressure Joe Burrow may be putting down

the front office behind the scenes, this is a, you know, make it or break it, not just year, but I think the next few weeks are make it or break it for the organization. Without a doubt, in my opinion, you know, everything that's been said, everything that has said publicly by Joe Burrell, Jamar Chase, some of the players that are on the team right now about how they need to know and they've talked to guys. And they know the direction. You as a front office, you know, and your collaborative effort of putting together a team has, has, had. has missed. And you need to either, A, continue to trust those people that they're going to help you make the right choice, which they haven't, or you need to look elsewhere for guys to help you,

help this organization and help this team be successful. They have to try all these avenues. Because every single one of them, I don't care what it is. You know, do something, different with your guaranteed contracts. Do something different with, I mean, go after a guy in a agency like a Devin Lloyd who's high up on the rankings list in many outlets that you'll see, at least PFF, which I've looked at. You have to go, you have to do something different than what you've done because clearly what you've done the last three years. And also, I almost think this, it sounds like he and Zach Taylor. And I appreciate the confidence when they say that they believe they have the talent in the room to win a championship.

I do. I think Duke Tobin says it sincerely. I think Zach Taylor exudes confidence in that. But it's almost like to the point where they're saying it, but they've become arrogant in their approaches. And it's showing they know they're on the hot seat. Okay, well, don't make things worse. Maybe do something different. Give the coaching staff and Duke Tobin enough resources to work with coaches,

what you always say by a winning team. Well, you know what, from a coaches standpoint, you have to say to those things. Or a very fractured locker room is going to be broken. You have to tell everybody, hey, I love you. We're good enough. We're good enough. Or, you know, one squeak out of your mouth, it's negative. And you just shut that professional football player down.

And he's not going to give you every. everything he has. Now, from a front office standpoint, yeah, I'm always going to tell you, we're ready. This is, and that's how coaches get fired is because the front office thinks they have the right puzzle pieces, but really they don't. Why do they think that? Because they were the ones that hired them. They were the ones that drafted them. They were the ones who did the research on them. And they just didn't pan out. They tried to go for a reach. And they didn't take not necessarily the best player available, but they reached for a guy because they had a position need,

and they never really panned out or he came in and he got hurt right away and missed half the season. Well, you know what? That's when coaches get fired when the front office is so arrogant about, hey, this is my guy. You coach him. And back, I can remember back during the season, when the defensive coordinator came out and says,

how much simpler can we be? And, okay, that may not be the best thing to say, because basically you're saying your young guys aren't ready to play. But they just kept hammering and they got better. They got better. They did. Now imagine if you give them some veterans to help them show what a winning team is like. You can say your championship winning roster or a championship capable roster right now.

But you're saying that because of Joe Burrell, Jamar, Chase, T, Higgins and maybe some other players fine. Well, Joe Burrell's been injured three at the last six seasons, his only six seasons in the NFL. NFL. So if you really took a good hard look, if Mike Brown and his inner circle and then Duke Tobin, they took a take a good hard look and say, you know what, we might be championship caliber because of those players, but it's the rest of the roster.

We're deficient in so many areas. We need linebackers that can tackle. We need defensive linemen that can rush the passer and stop the run. I mean, we need to sign a right guard so we have that solidified so we can focus on all of our resources going to the one side of the ball that has just been such a detriment to this team the last three seasons. If you take a good, hard look, you may think you're a championship caliber roster and you want to sell that to your fans. It's one thing to say it when you're selling it. It's another thing to show it. Absolutely.

I mean, that's a great thing about football. It is a show me game. and you know what, when you look back at the roster, there are some very good athletes. Athletes are great, but are they football players? Can they play the game? Can they be instinctive enough to make things happen and, you know, cause a wreck and allow the team to function full speed ahead?

Yeah, your top 10, you know, at least five of them are great, are really good players. And everybody else in the league wishes they had them. I really like to see a poll of the bottom, you know, 40 if other people would want them. I think right now they're built with guys to play special teams, but they don't have prime time players quite yet. I don't have a lot of confidence in a lot of the guys on this defense. But I could if they go out and spend some money on big-time players.

I mean, yeah, you can acquire as many players you want. At somewhere in that quantity, you have to have an instant impact player. Now, Duke Tobin says we're going to go out and try to get force multipliers. I don't know what the heck that means. I'm not a physical guy. That's what I think of when I hear that term. But coach, you think you have a good idea of what that means. We'll get into what you think about that coming up next right here on the Bengals Squad Show.

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And also force multipliers. What the heck, coach, do you think he means by that? You know what? It's either, it's going to either way. Either he's fine with who he has and he's just going to be give them some better components to work with. Or we're status quo, everything's good, we're just going to give them better weight room, a better this, a better that, and try to make who they have better. I think it's a CYA deal that if we strike out and free agency, it can go either way. I think that that's, he's kind of set in the table that if they do lose, they do chase some free agents that they need, like the two same.

from Cincinnati that are coming out. If they lose those guys or they lose a big defensive tackle inside that they want, really want, then I think that, you know what, hey, we're going to give all the young guys that we already have everything that they need to be successful. What I hope doesn't happen is they look at the guys that are on the roster and say, okay, let's multiply your roles. and Duke Tobin says to Al Golden, you need to make sure your guys are versatile and can play multiple positions.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not how this works. Okay. And this just goes back to buying a team. If the whole focus of the offseason is to fix the defense, Zach Taylor changed coordinators for a reason last year. He thought Lou Aner Brumel had run his course here. Fine. I liked the Al Golden higher at the time. and I still think Gallo Golden can be an effective defensive coordinator, but you have got to give them a better deck of cards to work with, Coach. Absolutely. Hey, great players make great coaches. You know, it's the old chicken salad, chicken, you know, it's tough to make it, but you have to have time.

You have to have the ability to have them in the building and for them to want to be that way. And I think that that's the hard part that Coach Gordon has, has in front of him, him and his staff. And, you know, it was really funny is you listen to it. And I heard Dan Pritcher's interview, I think it was yesterday, the day before at the combine. And you know what? You think about it, you're going, okay, sounds great. but you all got a job because of the guy that's pulling the trigger and he didn't want to change

offenses this deep into his career. That's how guys become very mediocre. And they're a product of his, that's their saving grace. You know, where on defense, it's brand new. They don't know. They don't even know how to fit it. They don't know they hired a guy that came in with all these defensive guys that they paid and they couldn't play the system. Not only could they not play the system, they missed

tackles. They couldn't run to the ball. They kind of got frustrated and, you know, it snowballed itself downhill. So to be all in is, there's a fine line to be in all in. There is. Now, I like Dan pitcher. I think he's a really good offensive coordinator. I mean, the NFLPA report cards reflect that. So you're fine there. It's signed Dalton Reisner and you're even better at that, you know, on that side of the ball. But when it comes to force multipliers on defense, even if you're just going to, if you're going to go out and get guys in free agency that can play multiple positions, yeah, that's fine. And I like versatility as the next person. But that, that's not what that's not what you need. Like you, if you're going after and getting

well, we think that this person can do this, this, and this. Now, that's taking the easy way out. You have so many needs on this defense. Go out and get two defensive tackles. Go out and get a linebacker. Go out and get a safety. Maybe even a corner if you want to go that route, even though you get DJ Turner and Dax Hill. You have multiple players.

I don't think this organization truly understands that they have so many needs on defense because they have neglected that side of the ball for years. And it's not just these three years. It goes all the way back to Carson's. and Palmer's here. They were relying on turnovers. You can't be relying on turnovers, coach, because

you know what they're a product of executing the fundamentals, which this team does not do a good job of doing. Absolutely. You know, and that's they, I mean, you said it. For them to be a good defense, they need some play

makers and leaders that can show them how to play. And if you're going to bring in a college player through the draft and or free agency, you need to have a guy that came from a winning program who is a great natural leader. You're never going to get another Ray Lewis. But when he stepped on the field in Baltimore, he was an automatic leader by his actions and the way he played. and by doing that, people gravitated to him,

and he was able to hold everybody on that field to a higher standard. Standard, not only the back end, but the front end. And then he also had some other guys like Suggs and all the great secondary players that they had, that they all bought in, and they became great. And that's what you need. Ed Reed, Chris McAllister, Hello, Inata. I mean, yeah, Tony Seragos out front.

There's some great leaders they had. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you want to talk about that entire 2000 Ravens defense. I mean, you could even go to a guy like O.J. Burgantz. You can even, I mean, you want to go further. You can go to a guy like Brandon, forget his name all of a sudden. I'll come back to it. But anyway, the point is you can look at Ray Lewis.

Is there going to be another player like Ray Lewis? No. He's one of one in that regard. but you can look at his attributes that he brought to the team leadership. You can look at what he did. He was just so good fundamentally. There's a reason he was so good at TAC. And there was a reason he was named to so many pro bowls and all pro teams.

And now he's in the Hall of Fame. So if you can identify what makes those players great, that's what you have to look for when it comes to looking for prospects in the NFL draft and even in free agency. And here's the other thing, too, about force multipliers. Like, what in the world does he mean? I feel like with what he says, you just want to make things more complicated as an organization. Well, guess what?

You just did. I don't need complicated right now. I'm not saying you have to do what I'll go and says. How much simpler can you get? I need a clear, purposeful plan to fix this team this offseason. Absolutely. You know what? When he came out and said the phrase force multipliers, I wish the follow-up would have been

please explain what you mean to us and who have you pinpointed are those players. You don't have to necessarily tell me, but just tell me you've got three safeties on the line, that you've got two linebackers on the line and that you're working to try to get some things done up front defensively. And then we can go from there. And that's the only way that they're going to be able to fix this is through free agency. And then that helps out who they can draft, whether that's a defensive player or an offensive player. And I think that that's what it's going to come down to. But just to say it, you know, it's, to me, that's a technical term that you're hoping other people out there don't understand what it means.

and they'll have to go over there to chat GBT and say, hey, what does this make? And then it'll tell them. I like that Mike Brown and the front office is putting Duke Tobin out there more than they have in recent seasons. Because let's be honest, he is in charge of building this team. He is at the forefront of building this team. He's the director of player personnel. And he has built great teams before. but he cannot sustain it.

And every time the Bengals, and this isn't just this year or this iteration, it goes back to the Palmer years, it goes back to the 80s, whenever they went to the Super Bowl, they immediately crashed back down to Earth and worse after that. Because you do not do the necessary things like success breeds success. It should come easier to you when you're winning. Stop making this complicated. If you have great players in the room, keep them. If you have great players, you can draft, draft them. If there are great players out there in free agency, don't say, well, that's above our price range. Screw that nonsense.

Go out and get them. Absolutely. You know, and the other thing is you knew the people that were coming up into free agency this year. Take care of them early. So you don't have to worry about it and get in. I guarantee you, if they approach, don't. Alton Reisers representatives, game 12, by the end of the season, he would already have been done. Not when the season's over and then now he's really finished strong and now he can demand whatever he wants to demand.

That's tough. Same with the running back. Same with Chase Brown. I'm like, it's okay to do things differently. Who says you have to do things a certain way? you have to spend a certain amount of money. It's like, well, we can't go above that. What? What? No. Okay. The way the NFL is run today is teams are spending money. Ravens went out and got Derek Henry. They had a great running game. They made it better. Like, I'd even be okay if they go out

and sign a tight end in free agency. I don't care who it is. Go out and sign somebody that the fans can get excited about. You have a fan base that is as engaged as ever, but unfortunately they're also as angry as ever. And if you screw up this off season or if you if you slack off this off season again and think that you're actually closer to contention than you are, I'm sorry, that fan base is going away. And then you're going to have a massive PR issue on your hands. Oh, by the way, you also may be fired if you screw up again this off season. You mentioned Ray Lewis earlier, coach. Let's talk some linebackers on fangle squash other day. Hey, we know the defensive line at the secondary needs some rebuilding. I'm not confident of the linebacker's room, coach. And I know you're, I know you may feel

the same way. But hey, the answer may be just a little north of where I am right now. We'll get into that conversation next on the Bengals Squad show. Well, I'll welcome you to the five-hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti, craze, fruity, rainbow, or cotton candy. Oh, there's something for everyone. So the board has set the flavors are ready. I've got my number one pick for the five-hour. energy flavor draft. Here we go. With the first pick, I'm taking my favorite flavor, excuse me, strawberry watermelon. If I can find that on here, it should be on here, and it is. It's a sweet and tart. It's candy-like flavor. It's the ultimate flavor due will. Some flavors were just

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The bun was perfect. I just put some ketchup on it. Look, I'm a ketchup guy. All right. you can roast me all you want. It was, I mean, that first hot dog of baseball season hits so different. Absolutely. Isn't that great?

Hey, I miss a good old Dodger dog every day of the week. Baseball season is here. So is free agency, period. So linebackers. I posed this with Mike Santagin on Tuesday show. I don't feel confident in Barack Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. I know we had Gabby Sorrentino on, and we talked about how they could take that leap in year two, and I hope those guys do. And I know you do too, coach.

But you have to realize we're in a win now window. We don't have time to wait around for development. And if there's that guy in free agency that you can go out there and get Devin Lloyd, maybe swing a little bigger than you've swung in recent seasons. Without a question, 100%. I think there's a great one right up the road that's a free agent. And as I looked at the linebackers that were in free agency, there's a lot of older ones that you may not want to delve into that much. But I tell you what, Devin Bush is right up the road and he's a good football player.

Oh, funny about that. And look, I mean, he's only been in the league for seven seasons. You can still get a lot out of him. Yes. You can get the length of a contract. So Devin Lloyd, PFF grade of 88.4, fourth-ringed free agents, fourth-ringed free agent by them. Devin Bush is number eight. You keep going down the list.

Here's another name for you, Coach, Nicopi Dean from the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, I know he, you know, he's been injured recently, but the dude produces. Hey, that's true. That's what you need. At a linebacker position, you need a production. guy and a leader to boot. And I think if you can get that kind of guy, you know what, even in the draft, if you're a high draft pick guy, the young man at Ohio State, outstanding football player, former safety, can you know can run, great leader comes from a winning, you know, tradition,

he's another good one that you could get probably in the draft if he came to that point, if you filled your needs in free agency. Just have a plan. Like, don't just say, well, let's go after some B-tier players. We don't have to pay as much money. No, that's not a winning mentality. And that's where Joe Burrow is putting pressure on this front office. Go out and swing big like you did with Orlando Brown, Jr., left tackle,

like you did in 2022 when you sign Alex Kappa, Ted Karras, Lyle L. Collins or even when he signed Trey Hendrickson and Riley Reef in 2021. Like you have the resources. If you say you have the resources, if you say you have enough gap space, stop making excuses, have a clear plan,

stop making this complicated. Like even a guy like Leo Chanel, I mean, he has 75.41 grade, but the dude has been 70 or above in his four NFL season. He's only 25 years old. Go make a run.

at him. Like, they were options. There's no question. There are some good football players out there. You know what? You don't want to bring in older players to be backups. You're bringing in older players to play and to play now, but you also have to play the long game in are they going to be here the length of their

contract? Or can you pay them more up front? that all of a sudden you're, you know, you pay him a bonus that's worth a lot of money. And then all of a sudden they're not making that much that year. So you can move on three years from now if he loses a step. So there's a lot of that you have some creativity in your contract workings. And shoot, you've got to cancel some of those guys. Yeah, you can't just go outside like Bobby Wagner and DeMario Davis and say,

well, we're bringing them in to help the development of a young, linebackers. No, no, they might as well be cautious then. And you already have a linebacker's coach. No. Now, if you go out and let's say you're going to pair Alex Anzolone with a guy that we mentioned at the top, that's fine. That's fine. Ancelonis's only 31. He can still play.

He's smart. He makes plays. That's fine. But again, have a plan. And then you're not ending up settling. Like on that first day, if they sign a top tier linebacker, I like the direction they're going. And that would send a message. It's like, hey, we know we got detackle. We know we got

safety, but we can get that linebacker that can make plays. Oh, that's going to be so good. I tell you, linebackers still matter, even though they're smaller and more athletic, they still need to make fundamental plays. Absolutely. You know, and I'm 100% agreeance with you. You know, I was thinking about this the other night. Say they go out and in free agency, they land one of the two safeties, you know, the kid from Kansas City or the kids that are bear cats. If they get either one of those. two just take one and they're capable of bringing in a big defensive tackle in free agency then that kind of makes your your tenth pick a little bit more

reasonable because if you're trying to go after the real good ones there's a great chance that other people need them too and they may be gone so who is that next guy in line well you know what you go out and you get a playmaking linebacker like the kid at Ohio State who can come in. He's got great juice. You know, I think that's the way you go. And then you can go in the second round and get one of those young tight ends that are coming out of college. And now you're starting to put together a team and you're starting to fill both needs not only for now, but for the future for at least the next four years and then next year you're doing a different thing. You're not in a need basis.

You're picking the best player available because you're also not picking at number 10. You're picking at 18, 22, and then you can go out and get the next best player available. This is just all about, again, simplifying things, coach. And we talk about this a lot. You want to be in a position where you can go BPA because you have so many needs. It's also kind of like a luxury. It's like, okay, you don't have to zero in on a certain position in the draft. Because if you're, if you go in with the BPA, there are so many good players in this draft, regardless of position. Like Fernando Mendoza is going number one. But the next like 15 to 20 picks, you, you are going to get a playmaker regardless of position. Fulfile your needs in free agency.

And then in the draft, it's like, oh my gosh, look at all these options. We're going to get someone really good. Like, I'm literally simplifying it for you. Without, that's 100% correct. You know, I mean, everything, and we talked about it the last time I was on the show, was everything determines what you do in free agency will dictate how you can progress into the draft. If you get shut out in free agency, now you're like a salmon swimming upstream.

You are really scratching and clawing for whatever you can get. And now you're stuck with the best available, regardless of position, because you don't want to pass a good football player up. And so I think it's this starting in two weeks. It is crucial that they hit the bullseye on some of these guys. Like, I don't want to go to bed Monday night, what is that, March 9th, and be like, when's it coming? No.

I want at 2 o'clock on Monday to see that Bengals have made a splash at one position in free agency. Regardless of what level of defense it is. And if it's a good player, I'm going to be like, here we go. Ooh, what's coming up next? Like if they sign two, if they sign two players on Monday, we're going to come on the show Tuesday and we're saying, look at them. They're spending.

They're sending a message. They want to win. You know what? It also tells you if they can make a splash, I mean, they're to the point now in the franchise history, the organization, that the pre-agents that they pick, they need a splash for the diehards to say, you know what, we're headed in the right direction.

Now let's see who we get in the draft. And you get those three, maybe four spots, And you know what? Now the faithful really are saying, okay, show me. You have now shown me you're willing to do everything possible to win. Now coaches us in your court, coach them up, get them ready to go, and let's go play. We can hardly wait until Labor Day. Yeah.

Like the Eagles two years ago, fans were angry after a playoff appearance the year after the Super Bowl. So what did they do when they really didn't need a running back? They signed Sequin Barclay. A move that sent shockwaves through not just the NFL, but the entire fan base of Philadelphia. His first game coach, he had three touchdowns. It's a miracle what happens when you bring in playmakers. It doesn't matter what position. There's a new sheriff in town.

And by the way, that offseason they extended their two whiteouts. And it clearly led to something they won a Super Bowl the next season. So like the urgency that that organization operates with. And are they desperate to win? Oh, absolutely. But coach, you know what they do? They're purposeful about what they want. They know what they need to do.

And they make the necessary changes to do so. If you're the Cincinnati Bengals, like I'm not saying you have to do exactly what the Eagles do because the Eagles are a vastly different organization than many others in the NFL. But just make a splash. Send a message. like Joe Burrow and he recruited in 21 like Joe Burrow can go out and say I'm taking charge of this

wouldn't you want to get behind a franchise quarterback like that who's putting pressure on the front office to go win a dang championship? Oh yeah without question. You get in line with that one. And you're saying, okay, we'll win despite because of that guy. And you can get out and you can follow a leader like that.

You know, he's not very vocal. I mean, that the fans can hear, but I'm sure behind the scenes, he's all-in leader, and you know he is, because he's such a competitive player. And the front office needs to be as competitive as Joe Burrell, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, and Chase Brown. Yes. So they need to be that competitive to win. I mean, the time of their lives is ticking. And they need to go out and they need to do it very, very soon because that door will close and it'll close very, very quickly. Super Bowl windows open fast, they close faster.

We know that. And the last point I'll make is, like, I just want this organization to have a sense of urgency like they never have before. and whether that means they do something different. And like don't operate under the umbrella of, well, if it doesn't work this year, we'll just change course next offseason. We'll get a new head coach and GM. Don't operate like that. If you say you've done it before and gotten to a Super Bowl, back it up.

Seriously, you have done it before. Show you can do it again. this time have a clear plan. No question. I mean, you know what? It's crazy the we've done it before mindset or that we've done it before thought is that you went to a Super Bowl, you went to an AFC championship game twice, and then you went through three just horrendous seasons. if that was the case, if you've done it before, after the first losing season,

why didn't you do it then? Why did you allow it to go to the second one and then to the third one and wait for the fourth year to do it again? That's the thing I don't understand. You've got arrogant. You've got to go back to what worked before. And I don't want to be sitting here next offseason and say, Now what?

I want to see that they did it again. They got to the playoffs. They won a playoff game. They were contending for a championship because then at the very least, you're in the right direction. Then I can work with that. You know what else would help for this team?

Tight ends. They got one. Maybe they could upgrade at that position. We'll get into that next right here on the Bengals Squad show. Real quick, coach, before we get to our tight ends conversations, when I think of tight ends, I think a player, I think a players are willing to get in the middle of the trenches and, you know, get physical and, you know, make the, you know, the little plays that matter. What was your reaction to the United States winning the gold medal in hockey this past weekend?

Oh, kids you, no one knows. No one, they're not household names. Maybe they are in the, in the hockey community. But for us proud guys that are rooting on our American foot or athletes over there. there in in Europe, huge. That right there was a huge pick me up, especially for the situation that we're in right now, you know, totally split. And for them, I saw them the other night at the State of the Union, and those kids are just having a blast. They're on top of the world, having fun, knowing that their future is ahead of them, and they're ready to go. But they are

proud for what they represent and who they represent. I thought that was outstanding. I mean, the famous image of Jack Hughes with the flagged right over his shoulders, he's got a tooth missing, and he's got his fist in the air. I mean, that's what I want to see from a tight end on the Cincinnati Bengals. Like, say what you want about grunk, he would make those physical plays. He was not afraid to get it. Say what you want about Travis Kelsey.

He did the same thing. So you've got these tight ends. Just get in the dirty part of the game. Wait a second. Coach, didn't you coach tight ends? Didn't you win a Super Bowl? I did once in time. Didn't you win a ring as a tight ends, coach?

I did. So you know the importance of them to a football team? Oh, no question. We went out at the year that we won it. We went out and we were able to get Kindulger, who was a veteran tied in. We went out and got Ricky Dudley, who was a veteran tied in. We had a young tight end and Todd Yoder from Vanderbilt, who is an Indiana kid. And that group were the consummate pros.

And they did everything they could. And wow, they were capable of not only, Ken could do it all. Ricky was a great receiver, functional run blocker. And Todd was the greatest special teams guy at that time. So they fit all molds, and that's how they were built. and if we needed to put them in different positions, you know, and just flip them, then we called a personnel play.

And now all of a sudden, Ricky would be the Y and Ken would be the F or the U. This segment was actually inspired by a question that's a viewer sent to me over the weekend. By the way, as we continue on the show today, we have several guests already booked for our live draft show on April 23rd. This show is for the fans. So if you're a Bengals fan and loyal listener at the Bengals Squad Show and lock down Bengals and you want to come on the squad or come on live on the squad show with me and coach on April 23rd, please feel free to DM me on Twitter at Frankie underscore 90, or you can message Coach Valero because we are happy to have you on our draft show Thursday night, April 23rd.

So the question was about the Bengals tight ends room. And look, Mike Kosicki is a great tight end. The Bengals have gotten a good. return on investment on him. There's no question. But after him, I mean, Drew sample, fine, not really sure how much longer he's going to be with the Bengals. Tanner Hudson, serviceable, more than serviceable, I would say. But it's kind of like, can I get another tight end? Because if you want to run the ball more, I know Eric Old Jr. is going to come back hopefully, but you don't know about him. What if the Bengals went out and they signed like a, wait for this coach,

Dallas Goddard. What if they went down and got someone like him? Oh my gosh. Then your offense is hard to stop. Well, you just got a new number one tied in if you got a guy like that. Oh. Even though he is older, he has played a lot of football and he's run the ball a lot. So he, you know he is willing to stick his face in the fan and do the dirty work that needs to be done.

You know, all the other ones are really, really old. You know, Zacherts, those kind of guys, where you know they've slowed down a little bit, but Dallas Garter can still play football. Look, Dallas got, absolutely. He hasn't been in the league that long, so you know you're going to still get something out of him. He played 856 snaps last season. So if you get a guy who's a former Super Bowl champion on your team in that tight ends room to pair with Mike Gassiki because here's the thing.

There are players on this team, and I'm not saying Gisiki is that. Gisiki is still a tight end one in this league, especially when he has Joe Burrow. But what if you paired him with a guy like Dallas Gauter to where Gassiki goes down, which he did last year? Oh, you got another tight end one. You can plug right in there. And then you can do so many different things that you want to do with your offense. It's a point I should have made in the last segment.

You have to realize that Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight are death. pieces. They're not starters. If you go out and get some free agents, then it's like, okay, we got some good solid dudes at starting the linebacker. And if they go down, we got guys and Carter a night that we believe in, but let's use them as a last resort kind of guy. So Dallas Goddard's one. I keep going down the list of tight ends coach that are free agents. But for me, it's like, if you have that explosive element of tight end, Does that help Jamar, Jason, T. Higgins and their downfield routes? No question.

You've got the middle of the field taken care of. I think that if you have a tight end, you know, we know they're not, the two guys that are outside are arguably the best pair tandem in the league. Okay, how about the production out of the inside two guys? You know, the slot and the Y and the tight end, those guys are, If they are dynamic past catchers and can run those intermediate routes over the middle, that opens those outside guys up so much because now you have linebackers dropping into zone and trying to cover them.

It's like CJ Usama in 2021 when he was here with the Bengals because Joe Borough utilized him so much on those over the middle crossing routes. And then boom, Jamar, Jason T. Higgins were able to make those explosive plays. You and I talked about this last week. the Bengals were so good at that on 21, but because it's been such a revolving door and tight end in recent seasons until Gisiki got here, they haven't been able to really utilize those downfield passes, which they are so good at. Joe Burroughs arm strength is so good. So why don't you open that element back up? And then here's the thing. If you can get a competent defense,

you're playing complimentary football all of a sudden. Again, it goes back to the point we made earlier. Are you going to push all your chips at the center of this table, right? Are you going to go all in? I mean, like, what would it hurt if you went out and signed David and Joku, who's going to be a free agent? Currently back 96, one of the top tight ends. I mean, this is a crazy outlandish scenario, but like Travis Kelsey's a free agent. What have you brought him home to Cincinnati? Yeah, oh, no, it's all out there.

And, you know, when you say, or Duke Tobin says, I'm all in. Okay, that's literally saying that you know the cards that are in your hand and you like them. That's when you push all the money in the middle. You ain't bluffing. You like the cards that you're holding. Now you're going to up the ante. And that's what that means to me. If you're all in, let's be all in.

And let's restructure this football team. Let's go out there and get 20 new players, draft choices and free agents, and flip this team from 7 and 10 or however the year ended up last year to, hey, now we're playing for it all, or we're really close. And now we're one guy away, not 12. Yeah, like how many new players of the Patriots have this past year? 31? Where did they end up, coach?

Oh, no question. How about Seattle? No. They had 25. with only a second, with only a second year head coach, who's now being heralded as one of the best defensive play callers in the NFL, if not be best. I mean,

even a guy like Chiguzim Oku, from the Tennessee Titans. I mean, you have a good tight end who played in a tight end system in Tennessee. And then you can go to the NFL draft. Wait, wait a second. Imagine if the Bengals were in the second round and still that BPA.

Wait, Kenyon Sadiq. And then it's like, there's no pressure to develop him. We got Mike Kisiki. And then wait, let's unleash the secret weapon and Kenyon Sindique, who Daniel, or excuse me, Dame Bruegler of the athletic describes as a brawny athlete with a unique combination of explosiveness and play strength.

I like those, coach. I'm sure you do too. Hey, sign me up. Sign me up. When you can get a young player like that, that his upside is so high, you just coach him. let them play. I mean, you want guys that can get out there and play that are athletic and have shown you via stats that they can play and they can evolve into what Joe Burrow needs going down the

middle of the middle of the field. The final thing the Bruehler says on Kenyon Sadiq, he has the potential to be a mismatch creating weapon in the NFL. Oh my gosh. So then you have that you have a schematic advantage you have a coaching advantage wait this is about giving your coaching staff players to work with and like here's your shopping list for the offseason defense defense defense let me scroll down a little bit if you have some if you have room tight end back of your mind oh wait let's cross off this this this and this wait what about that tight end who do we still got I'm telling you, if you want to go all in, this is going all in. It's that final push, make a splash in the draft of free agency.

This fan base will get behind that. Hey, without a doubt, you know what? You're sitting there, you're holding those five cards in your hand. You just get, and you got one, you don't want to try to drive four. You don't want to draw four more. You want to say, hey, I've got four. give me one and now we're good to go now i'm all in free agency is less than two weeks away the NFL draft is less than two months away we've got plenty more from uh what unfolded the combine

this week and free agency preview on next week shows not sure which days you will have that information for you uh as the week and weekend unfold coach it's always great to have you on the show we missed you on Tuesday glad you were back with us today I'm Alex Frank Franki underscore 90. He's coachard Valero, 45-year coaching veteran and Super Bowl 37 champion with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bangles squad is the twice a week long-form conversational supplement to lockdown. Bengals, the daily show hosted by James Rupin and Jake Lisko. Lockdown Podcast Network is the number one sports podcast network in America and the world. For more on how to become a member of the Everydayer Club visit lockdownpodcast.com slash everydayer.

Coach, final thoughts before we close. It's been a fun primetime show, and I got a delicious burger waiting for me here in St. Petersburg, Florida. I'm envious for two ways. One, you've got a great burger waiting for you, and two, probably one, is you're in Florida. I'm at your old stopping grounds. The pool is next to me on my left.

I'm in the club room and this wonderful establishment here. So I'm enjoying myself. I know you're going to be back in Florida soon. You're going to be, I mean, you're well-trapled. I mean, you're in California one day, Columbus one day, Florida the next day. Who knows where else? I mean, you'll probably end up in Texas for all I know. Absolutely.

Hey, you know what? Here's what you need to do. You need to go next Tuesday if you're still visiting your sister and do the show from the pool. Okay, so if it's during the day, I probably could go out there and do it. I was going to go out there tonight, but I think they turned the lights off out there, and I don't want people to think what the heck is this guy doing at 7.30 and I'm trying to watch TV. It stays open until 10. And it's adult swim.

The kids are out of the pool. It's adult swim. I think I'll do the show in the pool. I think I'll up the ante on that. But thank you all for listening. Have a great weekend. He's Coach Arifallaro. I'm Alex Frankie and Frankie underscore Natty.

Have a great weekend. If I already said that, well, two is better than one. We'll talk to you. week. How about that? Yes. We'll talk to you next week on the Bengals Squad show here on the Bengals Squad Show, Lockdown Bengals and the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.