Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Rueben Bain and SETTING THE TONE on DEFENSE; STATE of the D-LINE Room

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals have many needs on defense this offseason. But they also can approach rebuilding their defense in multiple ways. One of those ways is setting the tone up front, and the Bengals selecting Rueben Bain Jr. at No. 10 could do just that: Set. The. Tone.  Speaking of the defensive line, what is the current state of the room? There is talent on the edges, but what about the interior? How much of an impact can Jonathan Allen make? What do B.J. Hill and T.J. Slayton have to offer? Can the young interior defensive linemen step up this season?  While much of the focus is on defense, tight end is an intriguing position on the offensive side of the ball. The Bengals need to insure the have depth at the position.  Plus, Alex Frank, Jake Liscow, and Coach Art Valero discuss Mike Gesicki based off a questionable assessment of him from a national outlet. 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/everydayerclub Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajs Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengals  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!  TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.  FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-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.  Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.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. It's been said that defense wins championships. Jake Luscoe's also been said that it starts up front. And that's where the Bengals could go in the NFL draft when it comes to rebuilding their defense. Yeah, they could really use a shot in the arm and the defensive line, that real alpha dog presence if they can find it. And especially, Coach, when we consider the defensive line has gotten deeper this offseason. Adding another one in the first round of the NFL draft can make it even better. Oh, without question. especially the guys that are up there for them to choose from. You know, they're the real deal.

If you like Rubens, you'll like this show. It's the Bengals Squad Show on Lockdown Bengals and the Lockdown Podcast Network. 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. Tuesday, April 7th, 2026, welcome to the Bengals Squad 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.

I'm Alex Frank, joined by Jake Lisco and coach, congratulations to you and the Orlando Storm, now 2 and 0 on the regular season. A big game coming up on Friday, first road game of the season for you guys. We'll talk about that later in today's show. We got a big show today. I mentioned in the open if you like Rubens, Coach, I know you like Rubens. Well, you're going to like this show because one of the NFL draft's best prospects is named Rubin Bain Jr. And he could be the tone setter that this Bengals defensive line so desperately needs. You know what?

He is a quality, quality young man and an athlete. I mean, I tell you what, he is one of those guys who's got a great motor. who can certainly rush the passer and he can play the run because he's fairly, he's stout. And I think that he would, if he was there, and I would not be upset if they took another D-line guy, even though they're minus, as we've talked about forever, linebacker help. Well, that's the thing. But if you can get a tone setter up front, Jake, I feel like that can help offset any deficiencies that you could have this season at linebacker.

But that's how good Ruben Bain Jr. is to me. Yeah, I think Ruben Bain's awesome. I personally have him as my top edge in the class for the guys that I've watched because David Bailey is really the only competitor. I guess Arvel Reese too, but R.V.L. Reese for me, wasn't the pure edge evaluation, so I didn't really consider him in this particular lineup of top edge rushers. He's in that hybrid role. I think Ravelle Rese is probably going to be drafted ahead of probably both guys.

there's a chance that David Bailey goes before Albrel Reese, but between Reese and, sorry, between Bailey and Bain, I like Bain a little bit better because I think he's a more do-it-all player. I think the arm-length concern is really interesting, and it will be fascinating to see how that plays out. In the NFL, we just recorded actually an episode with CBS Sports Mike Renner to talk about who he thinks is going to be picked in the top 10. And if you're watching live, that will air later today.

catching up on the squad show. Maybe you've already seen that episode. But he thinks that Ruben Bain is a lock for the top bat. He thinks that if he's available to Kansas City, Kansas City is picking Ruben Bain. And they don't really have arm length concerns historically like the rest of the NFL does. So that would be disappointing to see if you're hoping that he makes it to 10. And I personally am because, like I said, I think he's got just as much of a pass rushing upside as David Bailey.

They win in very different ways. David Bailey loves a ghost move. He loves a spin move. Ruben Bain winning with his hands very routinely, winning with crosschops, winning with some inside counters from time to time. But I find his hand usage and the amount of success that Ruben Bain has landing his hands to be really, really impressive. So he's got strong hands that actually land and he's timing them well.

And then he can bend the corner, I think, quite well as well. I think he actually has better bend than Bailey. I don't think that he's as explosive as Bailey. I think Bailey's probably a better straight line athlete, a little bit more burst in Bailey's game than Bain has. But overall as a player, and when you consider what he can do against a run game, because he's got the size and the stoutness,

as coach talked about to play in the run game as well. I see three-down high-level player for Ruevan Bame. That's more than worth the 10th overall pick if he can get there. It's just a question of whether or not NFL teams look at that arm length. They're like, ah, you know what? Can't pick a guy with historically short arms in the top nine. got to wait until he's a double-digit pick. And I'm curious about your experience

being around a lot of coaches, obviously, in your career. How do you think that defensive line coaches around the NFL and front offices around the NFL see that arm length for Ruben Bay, the sub-31-inch arm length, and consider that against the state? I think, you know, what they do is they'll evaluate it. And state, you know, he's a shorter armed guy,

working especially against tackles who are usually have a lot of length. But I think it comes down to how does he use his arms? I know that with the second pick in the draft, when I was in St. Louis, we took Chris Long. And Chris had some shorter arms, but he knew how to use him. And it lengthened his career quite a bit. I think if you have that, and if they can witness that on film, how he sheds blocks, how he gets off of them, how he sets up his pass-risk moves, how he can bend like he does, like you were saying, Jake, coming around the edge,

he's going to force that guy to step up, that quarterback. And I think that, you know what, he uses them very well, and he's been taught very well, and he's got some natural athletic ability. I don't think, I think if you're just into measurables, you're going to shelphe him. If you see the football player, you're interested. And I think that that's what is going to. A lot of people, you know, if you've got time, you know what? You're going to shelf him and say, okay, we'll give him to somebody else.

But with the tackles these days, they're a little slower afoot. Shoot, I'd take Rubin Bain and a heartbeat. I would too, because I think what you can get with him is you can get younger in your interior defensive line. Right now you're relying on B.J. Hill and T.J. Slayton because you haven't seen the growth from Chris Jenkins, Jr. and McKinley-Lachson. But if you were to get a guy like Ruben Bain Jr., I mean, the numbers speak for themselves. I'm looking at a player who was the 2025 ACC defensive player of the year and in all America in this past season on a very good Miami Hurricanes team that was so good defensively. He had nine and a half sacks, 15 and a half tackles for loss, 54 combined tackles. And three seasons with the Hurricanes, 20 and a half sacks, 33 and a half tackles for loss.

That's very good production on a defense that had a lot of really good players. Ruben Bain stood out. He was the man in the middle. And if you get him, if he falls to number 10, now it would be devastating if he obviously went to the Chiefs. But I can see, Jake, you bring up what Mike Renner said to you guys, the point because Chris Jones isn't getting younger. And so the Chiefs might think, well, we could get another difference maker up front on defense for us. But if he's there at number 10, I'm taking him in the snap of a finger because of what the instant impact that he can bring to this defense and so desperately needs something like that. Ruben Bain is an edge. So just making sure that everyone's aware that he's an edge rusher.

He's going to kick inside in the NFL a little bit. Like you might see him on third downs. He has that flexibility because he has a size. And if you put him head up on a guard, you give him that one on one with a guard. That's probably a matchup that you really like for Ruben Bain because he has the agility and he has the strength to handle interior offensive linemen in the NFL.

But at Miami, a lot of his success actually came from a wide nine and he had a little bit of runway. So there's a speed to power element in his game as well. But yeah, he's not a defensive tackle, so just want to make sure that's something that everybody understands. It's fine. But he does have the ability to, on occasion, and I think he would in the Bengals defense,

to kick inside on past rushing games. I think that's exactly, you know, just what Jake said. I can see him at being a first and second down edge end, and then all of a sudden on third down, you put him inside. and especially when you cover up the center where he can't help a lot. You got a one-on-one out there with a guard. Wow, that's scary.

That could be scary. And the likely alignment with the Bengals would be that he'd be a four-eye. He'd be like on the tackles inside shoulders, what you see in the Al Golden defense quite a bit. So you couldn't see him with Miles Murphy and Boyle Mafia outside. And they did this with Samar Stewart last year, which was a four-eye on passing downs from time. the time where he's over the, over the tackle, and then you got a wide nine outside.

You got a guy outside of the tight end on the same side. And so you're putting that tackle guard side into a little bit of conflict or maybe you're kind of dictating the offensive lines protection. They're going to have to slide to that side or wherever it is because you'll see some overloads where you'll put the defensive tackle on that side of the center as well. If they have anybody between the tackles on that play, the Bengals did do some very wide pass rushing looks on obvious passing down. it'll be interesting to see what align or would be interesting to see what

alignments of Bengals how they would use Ruben Bay and how that would add juice to their pass rush both in terms of the individual player because I think Ruben Bain is a guy that can win on his own and how it would potentially change up their pass rushing schemes because they could do some different things with adding that kind of body type and that kind of individual winner with some other high-end athletes and high-end talent that they've tried to add to that offense or that defensive line Well, it starts up front as we talked about in the open because on defense, defense does win championships. If you have that tone setter up front, it makes everybody else's job that much easier.

Coach, is that accurate when I'm talking about all three levels of a defense? If you have that game record up front, whether it's on the edge, whether it be in the interior, it just makes a whole big difference for everybody else on defense. You don't have to cover as long. That's for certain, whether you play manner zone. You know what? I can see just like Jake was talking about. If you put Ruben Bain in a four eye and you put Maffay outside of him,

they're probably going to slide it. But who pick your poison. Do you want to slide it to those two or do you want to take and take the one-on-one with the new addition, who's Jonathan Allen, who's still a very good pass rusher and he's one-on-one? Or do you want to slide it the other way to Murphy and Allen? and now you're you picked your poison, it's really tough. It would be hard offensively. Coach, for those that don't know what we're talking about here when it comes to 4IY9, kind of in, how do I say this, in terms that most football fans can understand, what does that,

what do those mean? Okay, well, you want to give people alignments, defenders, the alignments inside. If you were like an alignment on a center, It would be a shade. Zero is head up. A shade would be either side or they could call it a one technique. On the guards, the inside shade is a two eye. Head up would be a two. Outside shade would be a three.

They can always widen a little bit and get in a B gap, and that would be a loose three. On the tackles, inside shade is a four eye, head up is a four, and outside shade is a five. and then you work to the tight end spot and it's the same thing you got a seven right and a nine is outside and if he's a loose nine you can basically say he's working in air he's like a 10 you know because he is so wide that it creates differences on how you pass set it and you're more vulnerable to the one-on-one if you got great

speed, now that tackle has just opened up the middle. Or he's put the guard on an island and you want to get the center to help either side. So it really creates pass rush matchups. And just like the game of football, it's all about matchups. But now you're doing it internally, you know, where a lot of people don't see it. And you're forcing those guards that now actually set much like a tackle would where he's got to set a little bit. wider, which now opens up the gap inside, and plus you can run line stunts out of that. And it creates problems for the offensive alignment. You know what I'm most looking forward to when it comes to Ruben Bain and Jake?

I'm not sure how much you think about this. But if the Bengals do end up picking him at number 10, I can't wait to see him go up against Marius Mims and Orlando Brown Jr. at training camp. Those could be some epic battles that really sharpens iron in the trenches, which could massively benefit the Bengals, especially early in the regular season. I think it would be hilarious, too. Like, there's something about the T-Rex arms of Ruben Bain and the way he wins, right? Because the length does show up for him sometimes and ability to, like, get off a

blocks in the run game and things like that. Marius Mims and Orlando Brown are huge. Like, you have two of the biggest tackles in the NFL. And then Ruben Bain with the undersized wingspan. So that would be fun to watch. Like that's a really fun matchup to watch. And to your point, Alex, a good test for, all right, let's see how that arm length plays against the behemists that the Bengals have a tackle,

but the size of Bengals have a tackle and get a feel for that in training camp. Obviously, it's a little bit different in training camp. I don't know how much the Bengals have like truly full 100% tackle end matchups. There's some of it when they're in 11 on 11s. Like you get some of it for sure. sure, but it's different in a camp practice versus an NFL regular season game or a playoff game or whatever. But yeah, that would be a fun matchup to watch in training camp for those who watch it closely. If Ruby Maine is the number 10 picks, 6-3, 275-pound edge rusher from Miami,

obviously played on a hurricane's team that came this close to winning a national championship this past season. Here's what Dan Bruegler said in his top 100 NFL prospects. By the way, his annual draft guide, The Beast out this week. It may be out actually as we speak. But Dame Bruegler says, quote, he consistently deconstructs blocks with power and is a tough player to slow down. He uses anvil weighted hands to jar blocks off balance or command the edge in the run game. Bain helped answer some of the scouts concerns with his dominant stretches in the college football playoff. Sounds like what you're getting with Rubin Bain if he is your number 10 overall pick is a guy that can make a huge difference in the interior defensive line and especially where he primarily plays on the. outside at Edge. The Bengals also made in addition with Boy Maffei at Edge Rusher this season.

So, might as well give our state of the defensive line room. We will do that next coming up on the Bengals Squad Show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad Show is brought to you by better help. Look, financial stress is something a lot of people are carrying right now. And it's not just about numbers. It can affect your sleep, your relationships, and your overall mental health in ways that build up over time. And the reality is, struggling with money does not mean you have failed. Sometimes it just means you haven't had the right kind of support. It's something I've thought about how easy it is to put pressure on yourself financially without really talking about it. It's the stress that comes with trying to figure out everything on your own, the expectations that

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That's better help.com slash locked on. A reminder that if you are new to the lockdown podcast network, don't forget to check out the everyday club for every episodes and access to a group chat with Jake Liscoe and James Epine, your daily hosts of the Lockdown Bengals podcast and other listeners of this show. Tap the link in the show notes or go to locked on bangles. dot supercast.com with Jake Liscoe and coach Arfallero. I'm Alex Frank back here on the Bengals squad show. The twice a week long form conversational supplement to the daily locked on Bengals podcast. So the Bengals defensive line room, it's gotten obviously some reshuffling this offseason boy Mafei and as a rusher Jonathan Allen defensive tackle coming in this season in free agency. When you look at this Bengals defensive line room from a 30,000 foot view,

how would you assess it right now as we stand 16 days away from the NFL draft and fewer days than that away from the first phase of offseason workouts beginning for the Bengals? I like the two additions, as I have said many, many times on this show and would like to see one or two more. There's a reason that when Dexter Lawrence becomes available, it's like, oh, yeah, well, that would go a long way toward helping the Cincinnati Bengals defense if he is in fact healthy. and as Brandon Thorne points out, there aren't long-term concerns about an elbow injury he's been dealing with. I like Boy A. Mafei, but they lost two guys on the edge

in Trey Hendrickson and Joseph O'Sai. And so there's still some work to do there. They're going to do everything they can to help Samar Stewart come along in his second year. He was a relatively premium pick, right? He was picked in the first round of the draft in the middle of the first round. That is his premium an asset

as a Bengals spent last year to acquire tech. So they're going to hope that he can come along and put those athletic traits to use and all of that power, all of that speed, all of that burst and find a way to harness it and point it in the right direction as a football player. Obviously, I had some injuries as a rookie that didn't help things there. Miles Murphy, they think, has come along. And so you like a lot of the pieces there, but at the same time, there is no Trey Hendrickson. There is no Gino Ackins or Chris Jones or whatever guy you want to talk about on the interior. they have solid players on the interior in BJ Hill and Jonathan Allen. And I think T.J. Slayton is as a fine nose tackle, probably not as good as Prime DJ Reader.

And so there's nowhere where I point on this defensive line right now. And I say, yeah, that guy's as good as any of the starters, really, that they had in their two deep playoff runs in 2021 and 2022. But there are some guys that you like. It's just can they find the top end players, as we talked about in that first segment? like a Rubin Bain style player to help get this unit over the top and make it into a strength of the defense. I think one of the things that if you draft the guy like Ruben Bain, again, we talked about it, is this defensive line coach, we heard last year Al Golden say so many times simplify vanilla. But what if you had versatility?

What if you could kick Shamar Stewart inside on some place? What if you could do that with Ruben Bain if you draft him? I think that's where we're hitting on here with this defense. they need to be more versatile. They need to come in more waves than just opposing offensive linemen knowing what you're going to get from a pass rush and a run defensive standpoint. If you can come in waves and be more versatile, that's going to make this defensive line a potential real strength, not just of this defense, but of the overall team.

Absolutely. You know what? I think that, you know, we saw, we witnessed Miles Murphy come on. The more he played, the better he got. never really had a chance. At least I didn't. Shamar Stewart, I really never saw him actually make place. So that's a projection that you're hoping year two he can come in, stay healthy, and create havoc.

Hard to replace a Trey Hendrickson. If they get a Ruben Bain now between Mafei and Ruben Bain, you've got a wave of people that play run and pass and you know mafay's a really good run defender as well so you know you can put those guys in situations inside at least you got a noisemaker now and jonathan allen where last year i never felt that they they were faceless they were nameless and because i don't know if they just did their job or but they didn't make a tremendous amount of play you know, to hold that down. So I think they've gotten better inside.

I don't know if they've gotten better. I think the addition of Ruben Bain, they would definitely get better outside. But I think that right now that's, you know, counting on the draft and where they end up. But I, you know, if I was a D-Line coach, I'd be saying, you know what, hey, and standing on tables,

hoping that nobody took Ruben Bain in the first nine picks. That's Jerry Montgomery, Bengals defensive line coach. The two concerns for me, Miles Murphy's gone from a concern to where, okay, I'm intrigued now by what he can do. But going inside, Jay, Chris Jenkins Jr. and McKinley Jackson, here were two guys that I was very intrigued to see what they were going to do this past season. Well, I mean, they made a minimal impact at best. Where do they fit in with the current defensive line depth chart for the Bengals? Yeah, they have a lot to prove.

I think that they are currently, unfortunately, pretty replaceable players for what they've done on the field. McKinley Jackson has had a hard time getting on the field, especially last season, where it seemed like he needed to earn the trust of the coaching staff to a pretty significant degree last year. I thought when he was on the field, he looked fine. He looked like he belonged in the NFL. He's not necessarily a game changer, but he can make some plays out there. He'd be okay for you on the inside. He still doesn't really, his play style doesn't really match his body type.

He's got the body type of a nose tackle, but plays more like a three-tech in terms of the style and the way that he wants to play the game. And so that kind of mismatch of body type and physical ability and approach to the game is something that has always kind of been at odds for McKinley Jackson, I guess. And then Chris Jenkins for a second round pick, he was a guy that at Michigan was a huge playmaker in the run game. in particular, despite not having a nose tackle body like his dad did. He's a very different player from his dad in terms of the size that he brings and the way that he plays the game. And at his size, you would hope that he would really have developed significantly more as a pass rusher because he has that three-tech body.

And again, doesn't really have the past rushing chops that you would expect or hope for in a second round pick to go along with that. So those guys have a lot to prove, I think, but I don't think you can necessarily count on them for a whole lot this year. The way that the Bengals are counting on their second-year rookie, second-year linebackers, that can't be a second-year rookie, I guess. Their second-year linebackers to take a big step this year,

I don't think that they can really do that with the third-year guys on the interior defensive line where we haven't really seen that development. If they get it, great, that's an awesome bonus, and now you're that much better there. but I don't think that we've seen enough from those guys in two years to really project a whole lot of growth here in year three. Coach, quick aside, your buccaneers played against Chris Jenkins so many times. What do you most remember about him? Powerful.

Yeah. Powerful. With great movement. I mean, he was, put it this way. For two years, we drafted guards to try to match, be able to have. a matchup against this guy. He was a powerful man. You know, then he had the, you know, he had Julius peppers outside of him. And it was like, whoa, you know, what are you going to do? He totally controlled the middle. You know, and that's the thing that's a little bit scary right now,

just like Jake was talking about. You know, they got Jonathan Allen, but the other two haven't measured up. So now you're talking about the four interior, being the linebackers and the two defensive tackles. You're kind of guessing. and what are they going to do to solve that? And I think they've got help with Jonathan Allen. But like Jake was talking about, you haven't solved that issue yet. It's like you're trying to fix a Band-Aid or a Bullethole with a Band-Aid. You don't want to do that in the NFL.

And I just think BJ Hill and T.J. Slayton, if you're going to rely on those guys to make a huge impact and be difference makers, they're not that anymore. And T.J. Slayton most certainly is not that guy. I mean, they're serviceable. Beach of Hill is still serviceable. That much is not that much is undeniable. But like they're not impact players. They're not going to make a difference.

They're not going to affect the way the games are going to be decided, unfortunately. So your solution is you bring in a guy like Jonathan Allen, who still has a lot left. I've heard interviews with him that Dan Horde, the voice of the Bengals has done. And Jonathan Allen has said, I have a lot left to prove. that's great to hear. And hopefully he does that. But I just wonder if they've done enough to compensate. When I hear you talk about Chris Jenkins coach, not Chris Jenkins, Junior Jenkins, Sr.

My thinking is, I remember when the Bengals drafted him, second round 2024, months after he was an integral part of a Michigan defense that led the Wolverines to a national championship. And I was like, great, this is what the Bengals do. they draft guys from big time programs that have been leaders and they're going to make an impact on the overall defense and team. That just has not happened. So you have to compensate for that.

And I just wonder if they've done enough on that side of the ball on that position, within that position room to where you can say, yeah, you know what? This defensive line, it's a real strength of this not just defense, but the team. I don't feel like they've done that, really. I think that's why we're still talking about defense. line as a day one, day two priority for the ones. They only have four real picks this year, right? And most years you only have four real picks if you don't acquire extra picks.

But I think rounds one through four, your real draft picks where you're finding guys that you're expecting to be contributors, you can sometimes get guys in the fifth through seventh rounds that can exceed expectations. And obviously the Bengals have done that over their many, many years of drafting. And you get guys outside of the top four rounds. But you have four picks to address you want an edge rusher, you want a defensive tackle, you want a linebacker, you want a corner, you might want a safety. And a lot of Bengals fans really want Caleb Downs, I know.

And then we'll see after that if they want to get a safety. I want them to go get a tight end. They just released Matt Lee. You want them to get an interior offensive line in somebody who can back up center. And lost Lucas Patrick. That's seven things that you want to see them do. Five of them on the defensive side of the ball. And you have four real draft picks.

right? Maybe you wait until day three for your interior offensive line swing and you just kind of rock with it. The backup center on the roster right now is a guy named Jacob Bayer. I wonder how many of the listeners have heard of Jacob Bayer, the street free agent that the Bengal signed, I think, late last year. I think he was a practice squad signing. Yeah, he was a practice squad signing in November last year. So that is going to be a need, but at the same time, you can get potential impact. players like the second round targets of Peter Woods or Caleb Banks if those guys are available in the second round or maybe a Lee Hunter if you want more of a nose tackle type of player

maybe a Christian Miller from Georgia, the nose tackle kind of player. But you're only going to be able to get so much with those premium picks. It's pick three of linebacker, corner, safety, edge, defensive tackle. And if you want to add anything to this offense, well, those are your premium picks to do it with. And so you're only, only going to be able to do so much. You only have so many picks. And then we'll see after that if the Bengals supplement the roster with any post-draft veteran additions, is there going to be cuts and some veterans that are still out there at that point in time. But yeah, I mean, we're still talking about the need for them to add talent, add players that can help make a

difference to this team. And we'll just have to see where their priorities land and how the board falls to them in the draft. I think it's kind of a double-edged short of what we're talking about here, coach, because yeah, they still have so many needs. But at the same time, they have done enough this offseason to where I go, okay, they have options. And whoever they do select in the first four rounds, as Jake's mentioning in the NFL draft, they're going to get a player more than likely that's going to help them. That's a good thing. So while they maybe could have done more this offseason so far, they still have a lot of

options. And I think that they're going to get it right, at least, and not miss on what they do in the NFL draft. Well, you know what I look at it as if, if, if, if, there's a need, a defensive need on this football team. And everybody else in the league totally understands that. So sitting at 10 and 42, I believe, would be the next one, are guys going to start jumping around to take,

if there is one of those defensive tackles in the second round early, to try to take that guy from them? or, you know, there's a lot of maneuvering that people can do, especially in round two and three and four, for that matter, to snatch those guys that you have earmarked on defense, whether it be a corner, whether it be a linebacker, whether it be, then if you get a fourth round linebacker, you're no different than what you had coming in the two kids that they have right now. Except, except this year's linebacker group much better than last. last year's linebacker group.

Very much so. There is that difference. You might be able to get a guy in the third round this year that they could have a higher grade on overall than Demetrius Knight. Look, they said that they had a second round grade on Barrett Carter last year of two. So who knows what's happening in their linebacker evaluation process. Yeah, well, you know, if that's the case and that's great, you can sit and wait. You know, if the ones that you've earmarked might be there at that time. But you got to remember, if you've earmarked them, other people have also earmarked them.

So it's going to be interesting to see on draft. day, the maneuverability between, especially between now and then, because there could be guys that are moving around and trying to fill some needs because remember next week, all the first phase of offseason programs come into play, and they're going to find out exactly what they've got at this point. And if you're going to sit and wait, might as well trade back, might as well acquire more picks. If you have so many needs, why have pick three, even though you have five needs, if you can acquire more picks, you can fill those needs. Interesting strategy and concept.

Maybe the Bengals will do something like that in this year's NFL draft, which is just 16 days away. Three years ago, he was picked in the first round by the Bengals. He came on strong towards the end of last season. How confident are we and Miles Murphy? I'll tell you which fan favorite he reminds me of coming up next right here on the Bengals Squad Show. Let me take you back to where we were at this time last year, into the NFL draft. Trey Hendrickson was in a very, very ugly contract dispute with the Bengals for an office.

Miles Murphy was coming off a season where he had, yes, this is true, zero sacks, one tackle for loss, simply not going to cut it for a former first round pick who was, who had such high expectations when he came to the Bengals in the summer and late spring of 23. Well, last season, he had five and a half sacks career high, six tackles for loss. And I just think about with the Bengals signing Boy Maffa. I think of it with Sam Hubbard through his first three seasons. Now, Sam Hubbard had very, very much better production than Miles Murphy through his first three seasons.

Hubbard had six sacks, eight and a half sacks, two sacks in 2020. That's because he missed about half of the season. But I think once Sam Hubbard got Trey Hendrickson alongside him, his career took off. And I wonder if that could be the same for Miles Murphy with Boy Maffa. Do you two feel that way about Miles Murphy? I think that Murphy could certainly be on a Sam Hubbard kind of trajectory. He plus run defender, and that's where most of the growth was for him. And an average-ish pass rusher, I think that his role changed a little bit when Tray got hurt.

They asked him to be the winner more than the contain guy a little bit more. And so you saw his pass rush win rate increase and improve, because when you're asked to win instead of contain, obviously your job is a little bit different. And it was a Twitter user, JJ Peggy's Crosschop, did a deep dive film analysis on all the Bengals' defensive linemen last year and charted their win rates individually and how their roles changed when Trey got hurt. But I don't think that without pretty significant development,

I would necessarily project Miles to be a game wrecker as a pass rusher. I think that you're hoping for like seven to 10 sacks. That'd be a pretty good year from him to go along with good run defense. And that's where the strides came for him last year in a number of games where he really showed the increase in playing physical. And you started to feel he's a bigger player. You started to feel that physical presence more where he's a 6-5, 275 pound, really good, bursty athlete. And you finally started to feel that presence. from him a little bit down the stretch in the second half of last season.

And he started to understand better what he was being asked to do, as Zach Taylor has said, quite a bit. So I'm not necessarily projecting like a Pro Bowl level player from Miles Murphy, but I think he can be a perfectly fine and good complimentary piece on your defensive line. And then the question goes to like, how good is Boya Amap going to be? Because he's not likely to be Trey Hendrickson level as a pass rusher, right? that would be an awesome outcome, but not one that you can really quite easily project. And so that's where we're still talking about guys like Ruben Bain in the draft and probably in

the second round, like guys like R Mason Thomas, some of the better pass rusher, you know, one-dimensional kind of pass rushers that could be there in the second round to try to find that that pass rushing juice on the edge to help this team along. What you just said reminds me so much of how I viewed Sam Hubbard after the 2020 season, because I wasn't necessarily expecting him to be a Pro Bowl edge rusher. I was just wanting someone that can make a difference off the edge. And he more than did that, especially with the fumble in the jungle, the Hubbard Yard dash in the 2022 playoffs.

That's how I feel about Miles Murphy. I didn't even really have that high of expectations for him because he was picked so far back in the first round. I'm like, okay, just compliment Trey Hendrickson and this defensive line will be good. Coach, when you think about Miles Murphy pair with boy, Mafei, what are your expectations for that pairing? on the two edges for the Bengals defensive line this season? Well, you know, the first thing I look at is they're going to be more stout versus the run.

And because both of them are fairly good pass or, excuse me, run stoppers. They can run sideline to sideline like Miles Murphy showed last year. His effort level was really the more confidence he got. It became better. Now, in terms of pass rush, I'm thinking if the projection can be for Malfi to gain what his career high was nine, then you're okay with about five at a Miles Murphy. If they're both at five, then you're really lacking in terms of now you're counting on Jonathan Allen inside getting his share in order. and that's only 15. So I don't think it helps as much as not.

It's not like having just a true boy dog out there like Trey Henderson that people are going to have to turn to the protection to. And I think that's tough. And I don't know if they're, they would be stout in the run, but I don't know if they give you the true pass rust that you really want in today's NFL. Well, you just hit on exactly describes why the Bengals defensive line just was not an impactful unit last year. Because the offensive lineman on opposing teams did not have to slide their protection to one particular player. As soon as Hendrickson was lost for the season, teams could do whatever they wanted offensively.

You saw what the Bears offense did. You saw what the Bears offense did. I mean, even the Browns in week 18 on the last drive, they could do whatever they wanted. Because you did not have to worry about one. player completely wrecking the game. And the crazy thing is, we're not asking either Miles Murphy or Boy, Mafei to do that. If they combine for, let's say, 18 to 20 sacks and they split them kind of 50-50, great. Honestly, that's great. And then if Jonathan Allen makes that impact, that's also good. You have potential and hope with your defensive line. That's fine.

But Miles Murphy holds the key, and I think he can raise the ceiling. if he builds on the second half of the 2025 season he had. If Miles gets to 10 sacks, that's such a big jump. Last year, the edge rushers for the Bengals, five and a half for Miles Murphy, five for Joseph O'Side, the next best sackers on the team where BJ Hill had four, Trey had four in his very limited sample size, his limited playing time, Demetrius Knight had three,

T.J. Slayton had three, Camstample had two, Cedric Johnson had two, Gino Stone had two as a blitzer, Samar Stewart had one. Jalen Davis had one as the Blitzer, Chris Jenkins, have one and a half. So like, there's those stand out there. If you get two guys to eight plus, that's a pretty big jump in what they had last year.

You know what? I think the key in this whole sack talk is what Jemar Stewart's does. Yes. Haven't seen enough of him to, is he that third element that really creates problems? is he a major contribute as a one? You would think he would be, and you would hope he would be. But you haven't, I don't think his, he hadn't shown us enough.

Yeah, there's still so much unknown and uncertainty with this defense, particularly up front. And unfortunately, that's where it starts. And if you allow teams to do whatever they want to do offensively again this season, you're going to be playing games in the high 30s and 40s. And as we've seen, the Bengals simply aren't going to win those games because they consistently make mistakes, particularly on defense, that cost them these games. And you cannot have it there. You simply cannot. And that's where Miles Murphy has to take that next step.

You mentioned in Jake five and a half sacks last year. I mean, his previous career high was three in his rookie season back in 23. Six tacos for lost 10 quarterback hits. The most, I think, crazy doubt of all this is 52 combined tackles last year. he had 20 in each of his first two seasons. So that is a big jump. He's on the field about twice as much as well. So that's going to, more opportunity is going to lead to more tackles for sure.

But he's going to have a big role this year, no doubt about it. And hopefully he can continue that productivity trend and continue to fill up the stats, the stat sheet and hopefully take another step, right? And I think it is much more than any one player. Because like you hope that Murphy can be Hubbard, where he's a really good, because Hubbard was like elite run defending defense. event in the NFL for many of his best years. If he was, if there was a pro bowl for elite run defending defensive end, elite edge

setters, he would have been in that category. Of course, we don't elect pro bowlers on that criteria. But if Miles Murphy gets to that level, that's awesome. And then you just need that winner or those winners, somebody on the inside. Hopefully Jonathan Allen can be that in the short term. But hopefully they get somebody that can add to that room in the long term. We know they really liked Walter Nolan last year. And he was injuries aside really good when he was on the field for the Cardinals last year.

Unfortunately, the Bengals weren't able to make that pick that we think they would have made had he been available. And so they're looking for that impact on the interior. And then I think the question is, how do they see the edge room and drafting in the edge room, given that there are two first round picks and an expensive free agent acquisition in Boye-Mafé that are going to be the first three guys in that room? How does that make them feel about spending a potential premium asset there, especially if it's not one of these guys that knocks your socks off at 10th? The way that like, well, if they can't get Sonny Stiles attend, where do they turn to draft a linebacker?

Do they actually spend a second round pick at linebacker, given what they spent there last year? Because this is a team that is going to be impacted based on what they did last year. I do think that they'll continue to add. But then the question would be, what level do they add? Do they add a six-round pick, a Cedric Johnson to the mix, or do they actually go spend a premium pick at some of these positions? And that's the big question,

because right now I would say signs are pointing more toward defensive back in the first round. And then things open up a little bit in the second round, but that's what we're talking about. Again, all these different directions they could go and trying to figure out which of those things they'll prioritize with the premium picks. Your pro bowlers this year on defense, if you have any, should be DJ Turner continuing his masterful third season, carry that over to his fourth season.

and then Brian Cook potentially, who is poised to break out this season, finally entered his prime, and he's doing going to do it in Cincinnati. The way you do that is, the way DJ Turner and Brian Cook are pro bowlers is if the guys up front are doing their jobs. I'm going to throw one name at you guys in the NFL draft this year. We talked about Ruben Bain, but his running mate on that defensive line for Miami last year, a guy that I am very in on, Akim Mesidor. He is a guy that if all the guys that you want, Jake, you've mentioned it, Ruben Bain, David Baylis, Arvel Reese, Sunny Stiles, Caleb Downs.

If all those guys are gone, oh, let me present to you Akim Messador. He's coming off a season, 12 and a half sacks, 17 and a half tackles for loss. He has 35 and a half sacks and six seasons of college football and 52 and a half tacos for loss. Coach, you sound like you're in on this guy. You know what? I liked both of those kids at Miami. I thought they had a very solid edge. with both of those guys that are high motor.

And now, are you at what, at what spot in your draft picks do you say if he's still there, you want it? You want him at 10? I don't know. I, you know, that's their call. But, you know what? I think he is an excellent football player. And I think he brings, he brings juice between him and Bain. They're both very high motor guys.

very physical players. And I think that, I mean, they're excellent. They're going to make somebody very, very happy. Medzador is 25. And like you said, Alex, six college football seasons, the productivity didn't come until a little bit later in his career. He had some injuries that led to him having a longer college career than some players. But at 25 years old, there's no chance.

I'm drafting that player overall. And I don't think that he makes it to them in the second. I think he's probably in that first, second round fringe. For most teams, maybe Tampa picks him. I know that Tampa has been strongly connected to Mesador in the pre-draft process. And so the tape is good, especially last year for Mesedor, but you got to remember when you're watching these older players, he's 24 years old on tape playing against some 18, 19-year-old kids.

And there's a big difference sometimes in physical development between age 18-19 and age 24. And that is part of, I think, what's going on with Meser. Not the full story. He could be a productive player in his rookie contract in the NFL, but really hard to pick a guy that old at that position in the first round with the top 10 pick. Fair points, but you can't deny the production has been there.

He did miss, you alluded to, he had some injuries. He only played three games in 2023, but he played 13 and 24 and then 15 this past season. Going back down to the Bengals defensive library, when he talked about Miles Murphy, he now has boy Mafé as his role. Ronnie Mae. And if you're Shamar Stewart, I think the big thing for Miles Murphy, not only in terms of increasing his production, it's also about becoming that leader for a guy like Shamar Stewart,

who just looked so lost last season. Now obviously distractions for him last year were prevalent. That may have had something to do with it, but he doesn't have those this season. If you're Miles Murphy, show Shamar Stewart that you are that leader for him, and that's Miles Murphy is going to learn it from Boy Maffa. There is potential in this D-Line room, and especially with Miles Murphy, but it has to come into fruition and there has to be enough depth, enough versatility and enough coaching, I think, and enough of a commitment from the front office to make sure that it is an impactful unit and a strength this season. Jake, you mentioned tight ends earlier on this show. Funny enough, because there are some concerns, even with the depth they

have at that position. We'll get into them. Plus, the most stunning, surprising thing I read about Mike Cickey yesterday. We'll get into that conversation coming up next right here on the Bengals show. So the Bengals' tight end room, we're going to switch to the offensive side of the ball to end the show today. It's a fine room. I mean, I think the talent is there at Cickey. We know it's good. We know that we know that I think coach is going to head out here. So we'll get him back, hopefully, in just a few seconds or minutes. But when I look at this tight end room, I wish we had coach for the second. He's a tight ends coach. Jake, when you look at the Bengals tight ends room, are you happy with it? Are you concerned? like what concerns if any do you have?

Well, they have a lot of one-dimensional players in the tight end room. You got Drew Sample, who's a block only kind of tight end. Then you got Mike Keseki, who's a receiver more than he's a tight end. And his backup is also Tanner Hudson, who's also essentially a receiver more than I would consider him a tight end. And the backup to Drew Sample in Cam Grandi is another guy that's pretty much only blocking as a tight end. not really that do it all inline tight end, who you can also ask to run routes. So the big wildcard here is Eric Al,

who working his way back from the ACL, is hopeful to resume his NFL career this year, and hopefully he hits the ground running and is a guy that lives up to the promise we saw from him as a rookie. And if he can be that guy that does all of the things that he did as a rookie, then the concerns are really alleviated quite a bit, because what you would hope for the Bengals to add to the tight-end position, in my opinion, is a guy,

like Eric all who can do both, the inline tight end, who isn't restricted to only blocking the way that, that's really Drew Sample's role at this point in his career. He's kind of an extra lineman more than he's a tight end out there, the way he moves, the way he functions as a receiving threat, as his role as an inline tight end goes. So this is a really deep tight end class, and I talked with Mike Renner about this as well on the lockdown show

that it'll go up on Tuesday evening. And so we talked about the litany of guys that are in the round three, round four range, Max Clare from Ohio State maybe a little bit earlier. But we're going to do a deep dive as well into tight end later this week on the main locked on show where we're going to go tight end targets by each day of the draft with Max Tuscano, who now does remember the tight ends and is now working with that Harmonic reception perception. So yeah, there's a lot of guys in this draft that I think can do both things. And if they can find a guy like that in the fourth round, that's probably the sweet spot for it,

like an Oscar Delp or an Eli Raritan from Notre Dame. Those are guys that I think could do multiple roles as tight ends where the Bengals don't really have that guy right now unless Eric all is healthy. Yeah, Eli Rarden last year in Notre Dame, we'll have 15 yards per reception. So you would like to see that. Here's something interesting though, Jake. I'm not sure if read this. Sports Illustrated, Justin Mello, had this on Eli Raritan. And he also mentioned this about Mike Asicki that I was reading yesterday. Quote, Mike Asicki is back with the Cincinnati Bengals, but he's obviously a temporary solution at tight end. I was stunned when I read that. Temporary solution? What's stunning about that to you, Alex? I think Issicky, I mean,

the Bengals, from the standpoint that they signed him to a three-year extension in March of 25. So they view him obviously as tight end one. I don't think he's a temporary solution. He's going to be here for at least two more seasons. I mean, when you say temporary solution, when I think when I hear that, I think if a guy that you rent for one year like Hayden Hurst or Irv Smith,

Jr, that's not what Mike is sick he is. He had a great first season with the Bengals in 24. The Bengals rewarded him with the three-year extension. I mean, that was like, I was shocked to see that, honestly. So Gaseki's contract was essentially a two-year deal when they signed it. Two-year deal with a third-year team option. And he's in the second year of that deal.

He's, what is he, 31? He's 31 years old this year. So this is, to me, I can see why you would consider this temporary. One, he's not really a tight end. So there's that. Two, he is playing for the third year of that deal. He has a big cash expense on the third year of that deal. He's due $8 million in 2027 from the Bengals.

And it was a deal that had $12 million cash paid in year one. He was always going to see year two. He's only making $5.5 million cash this year. Cap hit still reasonable. Cap hit jumps up quite a bit in 2027, as does the cash expense. And for a guy who last year only had 28 catches, and I know Joe Burrow missed a lot of time, only had 28 catches for 300 yards, then I do think that that is something. something that you would consider quite temporary, given his age.

And in my opinion, he's a fairly likely cap casualty for 2027. I think that they should be looking to find a more versatile tight end piece to go there. Now, maybe he is on the team as the quasi-receiver three slot receiver kind of role, the move tight-end role for them next year as well. But there's a pretty good chance that this could be the last year we see from Mike Kaseki, depending on how the season goes. I agree with actually everything you just said, because Mike Kisiki also himself missed four games last year.

So you wonder how many receptions he would have had if he didn't miss any time. He only played in 13 games last year. Well below his, I mean, his 2024 season, 65 receptions for 665 yards, two touchdowns, last year down at 28, 307 and 2. But he did average 11 yards per reception. Now, I mean, I did not realize he is 31 years. He's going to be 31 years old in October. That is, I did not think that.

How about that? But it goes back to the point that you made and that we've made on this show today is that the tight end room means addressing. You have to build it up with depth because of Gisicki's age, because of his injury last year, because of the fact that you have a guy in Eric Old Jr. coming back from a major injury, you like what you saw from him, but you don't know if he's going to be 100% this season and you don't know what exactly you're going to get if he isn't 100%. I like Tanner Hudson. but at the same time, if you can get a guy in the draft, and you'll have to pick him in the first round.

Obviously, we hope they don't. But if you can get a guy in round three, round four, somewhere like there, where you talk about Jake, where you have those four true draft picks, then it's like, okay, you have more depth here. You can do more with your tight ends, as we've seen as a very prevalent part of a damn pitcher offense. That's where we're getting out here. And I agree with everything you just said about why you have to prepare for life

without Mike Gisiki, which could be as soon as 2020. Yeah, it could be more of a want than a need this year. They are very comfortable going with one year tight end. So in the scenario that Mike Kaseki isn't on the team in 2027. And honestly, like, I hope he has an awesome year. I hope he gets back to that 600, 700 yard mark and score some more touchdowns. He's only had two touchdowns in each of his two years with the Bengals. And they feel like they found a role firm.

That's why they gave him that extension. But in the world where he isn't on the team in 2027, this is a team that's very comfortable and has shown their comfort level in the past. with going with one-year plug-and-play veterans in that spot. And what's difficult is, as we've talked about, is figuring out how the Bengals are going to prioritize their picks and how the board is going to fall to them. This is a really deep draft class at tight end,

but the Bengals don't have a fifth round pick, and that could have been the sweet spot to pick a tight end in this class. And when you talk about using a fourth-round pick there, well, now you're not using that fourth-round pick on any other number of positions. And maybe that's the first time we see Dan Pitcher, during the draft, remember all those years, we didn't see Brian Callahan for the first couple days of the draft

because they spent all those premium picks on defense. This very much feels like another draft where that will be the case. But this is one of those scenarios that to me is if they can add a guy that will make a difference in the tight end room, and that's the best player available, that's great. And you're allowed to make that pick, and you should feel empowered to make that pick. At the same time, I can see it being difficult for the Bengals

to find themselves in a spot where they feel like they can make that pick, given what their goals might be for this draft and all these positions that they're going to want to get better on the defensive side of the ball because of previous draft failures where they've invested all of these very premium draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. Well, it goes back to that concept that if you trade back and you acquire extra picks, even though you don't have that fifth round pick, you have more opportunities to get that tight end that you maybe want to pick in the third round or in the fourth round. So there are still options for the Bengals in the NFL draft,

not just in terms of their true picks, but also in terms of what they could do as far as managing how many picks they have in this upcoming NFL draft. We mentioned it earlier. Matt Lee waived Lucas Patrick signed by the Giants. Jake, your reactions when you saw both of those news come in this week. Yeah, I don't really understand what's going on with Matt Lee. I don't know.

And for the Lockdown Bengals Insiders, who are part of our text subscription group at JoinSubtext.com slash lockdown Bengals, they saw us, they saw a text from me yesterday that's like, yeah, I mean, Lucas Patrick signing elsewhere that probably, and I wasn't necessarily expecting him back at that point, but who's going to back up center right now. It's only Matt Lee. And in that text, I said, and Matt Lee's never been in the favor of this coaching staff. And the guy whose name I've already forgotten, who I mentioned earlier, Jacob Bayer, who's the street free agent, the practice squad guy. they signed in November last year. The need then exists for them to find a piece to be that interior offensive line versatile piece. And talk with Mike Venter about that a little bit as well today as far as whether

there is a guy in this class who has true interior offensive line flexibility. You can play multiple positions on the interior. And so check out the end of that show later today for that little bit of conversation with Mike, but not a whole lot of guys in this draft class to fit the role of versatile interior offensive line backup that can back up more than one position. So here, again, we talk about this pressure the Bengals might be feeling to fill needs in this draft, and that could include a developmental center of the future with Ted Karras nearing the end of his career in the last few years, hopefully.

Hopefully he has some time left, right? They keep finding these one-year extensions for him, but certainly as a mid-30s player, you got to expect that that cliff could come at any time there. And so both in terms of developmental center of the future and a backup for this year, something that the Bengals need to figure out how they're going to prioritize. Maybe that is something that waits until one of their two sixth round picks. But then how much are you relying on that guy? Matt Lee was a guy that we loved, one of our favorite seventh round picks.

He looked good when he was on the field for them in the preseason. So I don't really understand the timing of the move, to be honest. Like, why not let him compete throughout training? camp? Is there something else going on there? Is he retiring? Like, who knows what's going on with Matt Lee? Hopefully, all is well with him individually and wishing him success elsewhere. But for the Bengals, this is a player that we thought had developmental potential and the coaching staff just never seemed to buy into.

Yeah, that's the biggest thing, Jake. It's like, why now? Like, why are you giving yourself another potential need going into the NFL draft? And now the depth of the offensive line is taking a hit. You hope Ted Carrar still can play at the level he played at the past few seasons this season. I just don't get it. I really don't.

I know we're talking about a seventh round pick and an offensive lineman and Lucas Patrick who wasn't even a starter by week seven of last season, but it does matter because they were a draft pick and a free agent signing in part of this era of the Bengals where they really didn't do a lot else to build a roster except maybe hand out extensions to a lot of their stars, which is good again.

But building the roster down 11 through 53 after 1 through 10, They need to be better at. And that is what they will need to focus on in the upcoming NFL draft 16 days away. Again, check out Jake Liskow and James Rupin. Later today with Mike Redder on the newest episode of Locked up Bengals. We'll also have Max Descott. I want to talk about tight ends later this week. Coach Art Valero and I are back on Friday with the newest member of our Bengals Squad Show panel.

That would be Fox 19 Sports Director in 2024, Ohio Sportscaster of the year, Joe Danaman. He will join me and coach Friday afternoon to discuss how many options the Bengals really do have going into the NFL draft. And if they maybe are actually in a position of house money going into the NFL draft with the 10th overall pick. Thank you again for making Bengals squad your supplemental twice a week, long-in-form conversation, to listen to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast that is hosted by Jake Liscoe and James Rapine. For Jake Liscoe, at Jake Liscoe, for Coach Arr, Rallero, 45-year coaching veteran, current running backs coach of the Orlando storm. He had to run early to something. I'm Alex Frank and Frankie underscore Natty. Have a great rest of your day. Have a great week.

We'll talk to you Friday right here on the Bengals Squad Show, part of Lockdown Bengals and the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in America and the world, your team every day.