Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals TIGHT END Targets: Best Do-It-All TE Fits in a DEEP 2026 Draft Class

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Bengals could really use a do-it-all tight-end. They've got specialists on the roster, and this is a deep tight-end class to get it done. Let's talk tight-end targets by day of the draft if the Bengals choose to use a pick there in the 2026 NFL draft. You are Locked-on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked-on Bengals. podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liscoe, joined today by tight ends guy Max Tiscano. He covers tight ends extensively, and almost exclusively, but also thinks quite a bit about our Cincinnati Bengals. So a great

Starting point is 00:00:48 crossover there. You can find his work. And remember the tight ends and with Matt Harmon's reception where Max Tiscano is now doing the tight end charting. And Max, the reason that I think you're great for this is that you spend so much time on this position. You have made it your niche, your specialty. And while I don't think there's really a great shot, the Bengals are going to draft Kenyon Sadiq, the only tight end expected to be picked in the first round or expected to have a chance to be picked in the first round this year.

Starting point is 00:01:19 There is a real chance at the Bengals draft a tight end this year, especially with Eric Al's injury status, still being up in the air. He's still recovering from that ACL procedure hopes to be back this year and says he'll be back this year. And I'm wishing him the best in that, but kind of have to see how that's going to go. And like I said, the Bengals are very specialized in their tight end room without Erichal especially.

Starting point is 00:01:40 And this is a draft class that offers you some do-it-all-tight ends, especially when you get to where the Bengals could be picking one. That could be as early as round three, but I'd be a little surprised. Maybe round four, round six would be some good spots for the Bengals to invest in the position. But given that they're not going to draft Kenyon and Sadiq, almost certainly. We won't spend a ton of time on his profile as a day one guy, but instead let's start with how you look at this position, because I'm sure the way the Bengals run this position drives you crazy is,

Starting point is 00:02:09 I know you're a guy that really believes in the do it all tight up. You know, it's so interesting that you say that. I actually think the Bengals understand. I just don't think that they've been able to get that guy. I think they tried to get that guy with Eric Al, and we've run into injuries, and that's been really so unfortunately a consistent thing for him because he's really such a really solid player,

Starting point is 00:02:31 and he has been for, I mean, ever since that second year at Michigan, right, when he really started to break out and he just couldn't, he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. And especially it's all the same stuff with the knees, which gives you that recurrence concern as we've seen. So, you know, I like their approach there. I like how they deploy these guys because they understand what they fundamentally need on every down, right? And it's not just about receiving ability because that would just be the equivalent of putting a 6-6 shooting guard at center because you want a center that can shoot, right? Like there's a diminishing return there that's a whole different thing.

Starting point is 00:03:11 And the tight end is a different thing from wide receiver. So they know that what they need to balance out their offense and to create more opportunity for their passing game that they know teams are going to sell out against, right? And it's not even really about just creating that opportunity. but in the games where you're playing a Mike McDonald or somebody who can really run that complex coverage world and get in and out of different stuff really, really well and make it hard for you while rushing the passer. Because we know Burrow can see through disguises and get to the right

Starting point is 00:03:46 answers, but he can't do it while he's being rushed. And when you can orient your defense entirely around the past, you can do both of those things. You can create your front to rush the passer and be really confusing and multiple on the back end at the same time. So that's just a really, really hard way to live down to down. And the Bengals do it because of how good they are at dropback passing. They're the best team in the league at it. But it's on a situational level, it gets really, really hard. And so what they've done over the last couple of years is they've shifted a little bit

Starting point is 00:04:21 from guys like Hayden Hurst and Irv Smith being their starter. and I think they've really learned from that. And now it's true sample because they don't need another pass catcher. They need that sixth element of the offensive line because that's what the tight end is in the run game, no matter who that guy is when he's in that true tight end role. So I think their approach has been good. They just haven't gotten the guy. And as a result, they're left with two main guys, one of whom is a wide receiver in the

Starting point is 00:04:56 of whom is an offensive lineman and you kind of don't really have a tight end. Yeah, that's exactly how I see it too. They've got a primary blocking tight end and a backup blocking tight end and they've got a primary wide receiver tight end and a backup wide receiver tight end. That's what the backups look like too and we'll see what Eric all can do. But as you're evaluating guys in this draft class or last year, you were part of our draft sheet last year. You were our tight end guy for that project last year too.

Starting point is 00:05:26 I think a lot of the guys that you had high grades on played a whole lot of football last year. And in some cases, played really well last year. This year, you have a number of grades that are not too far off of some of the top guys last year. How is your process evolved? What are the things that you're looking for when you're thinking about these are the best tight end prospects this year? Yeah, I'm looking for completeness, right? I'm looking for tight ends. and I think that the ability to occupy that starting tight end spot on a consistent basis is critical

Starting point is 00:06:03 because when you're especially at this position, I think every position, but especially at this one, when you're looking at prospects and comparing prospects, you shouldn't be comparing prospects in a vacuum. You should be constructing your unit in your head with all of those guys in mind and just going guy by guy. And that's when you run into the things that offensive coordinators are going to run into when it comes to deploying these guys. A good example is Dalton Kincaid in Buffalo, right? He's one of the best peer-receiving tight ends in the NFL. But he isn't quite at that level where you can play him in that flex role full-time because you do need an inline tight end on standard downs because you can't run the ball without it. You just don't have enough guys on the line of scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:06:49 And then defenses just don't have to commit to the box. So you need that guy. And so the only place you can put him is in place of a third receiver because you only have 11 guys, right? You're going to have the O line. You're going to have the quarterback. You're going to have the running back. And you're probably going to have two receivers. So at that point, there's just one guy.

Starting point is 00:07:07 And the tight end, you're going to have one guy left. So there's an opportunity cost there. And what you figure out is that if he's just blocking safeties and nickels and getting in the way, you can have a receiver do that. and then you're grading him on a whole different curve. So you have to create your unit in your head. So what I'm looking for is a guy that I can pencil into my starting tight end spot and put him there in as many situations as possible.

Starting point is 00:07:36 So if this is a guy that can, if I want to be in 11 personnel and three wide receivers on first down, 60% of the time, which still most teams are going to do, I want to be able to put that guy there without saccharacterial. My run game and then turning every first and 10 into third and eight. That's obviously something the Bengals are trying to do. And when Eric All was healthy, you saw the difference that he made in the way the Bengals attacked the run game, the kinds of things the Bengals did in the run game.

Starting point is 00:08:06 And that's the kind of thing you're looking to get back to. And ideally you're looking to build depth there. Even if you do get Eric All back, wouldn't it be great to have a guy that could supplement and be depth to Eric All? And I do wonder if the Bengals kind of see this position as a bit of a luxury, the way that they've approached drafting it, where there are a lot of tight ends that they've liked, but haven't necessarily liked where they got picked. And they would have taken that guy around later, let's say, or have felt like they needed to devote resources to other positions instead of some of the good players we've seen at the tight end position in recent years. And so I do wonder how they prioritize it. I do wonder how much value they will put on it in the draft this year. But I do wonder. I do think there's a real chance that they look at that position and try to add there. And that's why we're going to talk about it. And Max, let's dive into some of the specific players.

Starting point is 00:08:54 Let's talk about whether you think that there is a player worth one of those Bengals' day two picks and some of the details about those guys as we dive deep into some of the tight end prospects this year coming up next. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. You're trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient, sitting in a waiting room in an accounting firm with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth, I'm wondering if they really get your situation. This year, you're getting a major upgrade with Intuit TurboTax. They now have in-person locations nationwide.

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Starting point is 00:10:02 Max, let's talk about some specific players here. Like I said, we're not going to talk about Kenyon Sadiq a ton today, but give me the quick rundown on Sadiq. I think he is the consensus top tight end in this class. I think he has some very tantalizing athletic skills, especially as a vertical player. And I mean that both in terms of leaving. the earth and just running in a straight line.

Starting point is 00:10:24 And he's, I think, a pretty impressive blocker in a lot of ways as well. Does that align with how you see Kenyon Sadiq coming out? Yes. Yeah, in a way. I mean, I do think you have to be impressed by the blocking to an extent because the technique is really, really good. And the effort and willingness are so off the charts. Like, he's exactly what every tight end coach dreams of as far as a kid who's willing to not just

Starting point is 00:10:50 block, but block well and block with intention and work on it in the off season and take his technique seriously. But the issue with translation that I have is that blocking for a wide receiver or a pure flex guy who's just off the ball is really about effort and getting in the way and tenacity. But blocking on the line of scrimmage as a tight end is you're run blocking as an offensive line and your assignments are not different. You follow the same. uncovered, uncovered rules. If there's a D-end head up on you, that, you know, that's going to be your guy. So it's about more than that at that point. And it is about raw strength and technique. And the issue with the tight end position relative to those other, the five other offensive linemen in the run game is that this is one that is a physical mismatch relative to those other guys. So you have to clear certain size and strength thresholds that you're already, no matter who the tight end is, unless you're like Darnell Washington, you're already at the bottom of them.

Starting point is 00:11:58 So his 241 pound weigh in is pretty concerning. And while he does have huge legs, which is where he gets a lot of his ability to create a little bit of initial push, he struggles to control defenders because I think the upper body is just so slender. and he just doesn't have that that thickness and heft through the center to me where I can be confident that the technique and effort are going to be enough. So at that point, like if you can't, if you just can't physically block in line as a tight end, then we're in the Dalton Kincaid proposition. And I devalued those guys always unless they are able, unless they're so good at that that they're able to play in every down role as a flex receiver like Brock Bowers,

Starting point is 00:12:47 but those guys are so, so, so rare. And I don't think he's one of them because honestly, as a route runner, there are huge questions. He doesn't decelerate very effectively. He's pretty stiff. He's inefficient, changing direction. And so while the speed is fantastic, that just in isolation doesn't do anything for you. I think it helps them as a linear threat, like off the line of scrimmage, behind the linebackers and into the flats and stuff.

Starting point is 00:13:15 And as we know, he's, he's awesome after the catch with his quickness and, and acceleration and the ability to jump over buildings. But, you know, there's just on a down-to-down basis, I just, I think there are a lot of holes here. And while I do think he's a really interesting prospect, that the first round, tight end threshold needs to be really, really high. It's got to be guys like the guys we saw last year. And this is not that.

Starting point is 00:13:41 I do wonder just on the topic of upper body strength size. He is 21, potentially some room for him to still add a little bit of weight in a healthy way over time. There are a number of guys we're going to talk about in this class that are more mid-20s than early 20s. And those bodies are a little bit more kind of what they're going to be at that point. You expect a 25-year-old, not to say that there's an impossibility of growth. If you're 25 listening out there and you want to get bigger in the gym, you probably can. but when you're at the level these guys who are out with their training programs, you tend to get a little bit more maxed out frames, maxed out bodies,

Starting point is 00:14:17 when the players are a little bit older. But let's talk about whether there is a target on day two, a guy that is expected to be picked on day two, who you think that is a place where you would pick them as well as Max Claire entering that conversation because when we look at consensus, the only guys that have a consensus grade day two ranking by all those boards out there that we're tracking, or Eli Stowers, who is not the do-it-all-all-tight-end fit that I really even want to talk about for the Bengals, more of that receiver type, and maybe is even talking about

Starting point is 00:14:51 listing as a receiver, or people are asking, like, why doesn't he just calling himself a receiver? But Max Clare, out of Ohio State, is he a guy that you think is potentially worthy of consideration in the third round, say? You know, yeah, I think Claire's really interesting because there are, there are, The last two years have been so different for him, and I'm not just talking about from a production perspective. I think he looks like he put on a little bit of weight between Purdue and Ohio State,

Starting point is 00:15:21 and he didn't look quite as explosive and athletic. But, you know, there were times where he kind of did, and you never know if he was dealing with something nagging on and off. And he still was pretty good. So I kind of wanted to see him test at the 244, that he kind of weighs at now, and he didn't. So that leaves a little bit, it's not that that's necessarily a red flag. It's just a lack of assurance.

Starting point is 00:15:52 But, like, his Purdue tape is, to me, is, like, unbelievably good. It's really, really good. He's explosive. He's fluid. He's quick. He's really, really quick. He decelerates well. He's got a little bit of juice after the catch.

Starting point is 00:16:08 And the blocking is for a kid who was at that point in his third year of college and a sophomore, wait, no, he was either, he was young, he was young, just drowned in these, in these eligibility. Yeah, he's now 23. He'll be about 23, just shy of 23 when he's drafted. Everybody's so old, man. But, no, yeah, you know, I think given how young he was at the time, similar to Sadiq, how he blocked was really, really impressive. And I think he even showed a little bit more, well, I mean, he was probably pretty similar to where Sadiq was at, but he did put on a little bit of weight.

Starting point is 00:16:49 So I think that, and I think he has a little bit more stockiness in the upper body than Sadiq, but the pure route running combined with the fact that he did play in line full time for Purdue, he was their guy. It's possibly there. But the fact that he did look a little bit less. athletic with the extra weight plus the lack of testing. It's all just, there's a lot, there are a lot of, there are a lot of ping pong balls up in the air right now with him.

Starting point is 00:17:19 So he is definitely somebody I could see being a star if those things line up together. But I could also see him being somebody that is kind of around 239, 240 as a pro so he can maintain his receiving and is mostly a third down guy like Kincaid. I don't know. I mean, it's a tough. It's not unjustifiable. I think there are better and more sure prospects, but there's definitely something I can sell myself on big time if the Bengals were to take him around three. We'll talk about some of those guys who you think are better and more sure prospects.

Starting point is 00:17:59 Some of your guys, I think it's fair for some of these certainly where you depart from consensus in a way that says like, hey, yeah, you should really consider this guy if you can get him in the fourth, sixth round, because that guy, I think, is going to be a really good player in the NFL. We'll talk about some of Max's guys at the tight end position, some of his highest graded players in this class coming up next. We're brought to you today here on Lockdown Bengals by Indeed, and sometimes there's workplace chaos. Sometimes the NFL draft is right around the corner.

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Starting point is 00:19:09 time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes with Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of Lockdown Bengals will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves. All you have to do is go to Indeed.com slash podcast. Go to Indeed.com slash podcast and support Lockdown Bengals by letting Indeed know that you heard about them on Lockdown Bengals. Again, that's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms of the conditions, apply. If you need to hire, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Max, we can get to some of your guys here. We've talked about the consensus top guys and let's talk about some of the, some of the players that on day three of the draft, you'd be pretty excited about. Who is at

Starting point is 00:19:57 the top of the list for you when you're thinking about, man, if I could drop that guy into the Bengals offense, who are the handful of guys that you really would be excited about, say round four, round six, because again, the Bengals don't have a fifth round pick. Yeah, well, I mean, it's, It feels inappropriate putting this guy into the day three bucket because I think he's, if I were drafting for all 32 teams and I were the only, and I were the only arbiter of where people go in the draft, this guy would be, would go within the first 15 picks for the second round.

Starting point is 00:20:29 But Eli Raritan from Notre Dame, I think, is a home run, at least process-wise, for the Bengals. Now, I understand why the Bengals would not. want to take another tight end with multiple ACL tears. But so that's a little bit of a hard sell. But unlike Eric All, he's been healthy for the last two years and he's not coming off anything. So he's shown that he's able to not just handle a big snap load and stay healthy, but stay healthy for a couple of years.

Starting point is 00:21:00 So that's slightly different, although, look, I get it. But this guy is 6-6-245, though I think he slimed. Looks like he kind of slimmed down a little bit to handle more of a receiving role this year and was still excellent as a blocker and excellent as a blocker against guys like Rubin Bain and Akeem Messador who are two-gapping tackles. So I'm not really that worried about it, especially since he has really, really good length, which is at least relative to tight ends now because all the long kids get moved to edge in high school. but you know he he can play in line full time and obviously that'll be an adjustment as a rookie

Starting point is 00:21:43 as it is for most guys but he can he did it for Notre Dame and I mean they they asked the world of him it's very very pro-style tight-end usage both in routes and in in blocking so it's really translatable stuff and they had obviously as I said some really evaluatable opponents that he was able to to hack it against. So I love him there, but he's an elite athlete. He was one of the most athletic tight ends in this class, higher RAS than Kenyon-Sidique. He ran a 4-6-2, Verton Broader, really good. So, you know, with that size, with that in-line blocking ability, with that athleticism, and productive receiving, it's not the volume doesn't jump off the page, but as we kind of saw with Mason Taylor, if you look at Mike Denbrock,

Starting point is 00:22:33 offense it's just so it's so I don't want to say hostile because it is really good but it's not great for getting tight ends yards because they don't use any run action really and when they do it's just like a simple flash fake on one of their normal dropback concepts so there's nothing like where your scheme in the tight end open behind the linebackers or into the flats and stuff where these guys even the really good ones get a ton of their yards I mean it does sound familiar to the way the bengals one offense. There's not a ton of that in the Bengals world either. Right. So for him, I mean, you could easily inflate his production by 250, 300 yards if he had some of those. But even then, he's still produced at a decent level running big boy pure dropback routes and a diverse

Starting point is 00:23:19 route tree, winning on a bunch of things, facing a lot of man coverage and destroying it pretty effectively. He gets in and out of break smoothly. He's got quick feet. He's just fluid, big, fast, plays his position at a high level and is an effective separator against both man and zone. I just, I kind of, besides the ACLs, I don't get it with what we're with where the consensus is at with him. If they can get a guy like this, he, the fact that he does have that legit receiving upside in every phase, like he's really good in the seams, he's got good feel underneath. He would just be such a nice compliment to Jason Higgins because he can work that.

Starting point is 00:24:01 middle on all three levels and not have to come off the field because he's Haydenhurst, right, and killing your run game. He's probably, I think given where Drew Sample is at right now, I think with a little bit of experience, he can probably get to that level as a blocker. Drew Sample's not an elite blocker anymore. He's just good enough in line. So if you have that plus a guy who can now catch the ball and an extra threat, I mean, that's, especially in this offense with how volume gets.

Starting point is 00:24:31 out, like this could be a real star. Do you see Oscar Delp as a similar prospect in terms of style, strengths, weaknesses, or there are major differences in those profiles? I see them pretty similarly overall from a 10,000 foot view. I think there are some differences, namely that Delp, even though they weigh the same, Delp is not quite as good of a blocker just because he doesn't have the same length. So he has issues at times getting his hands placed, but his feet are really really, really good and his effort level and technique are really good.

Starting point is 00:25:04 And that carries him to serviceability. And I think in the NFL, it'll be an adjustment for him. I think he'll struggle a little bit in line early on, but I think he'll get to that level. He's kind of similar to me to Charlie Warner as a blocker who ended up being a really, really good blocker because similar weight, 245 short arms. But Werner had to learn a lot as far as technique and adjusts over time. And he had a great landing spot to do it in CINC. But I think he can get to that level where he is your every down inline guy and where he then starts to separate himself as a fact that he is ludicrously explosive.

Starting point is 00:25:40 He ran between a 448 and a 452 at his pro day, depending on who you ask. And that's pretty apparent on tape. He's smooth. He's not necessarily as wiggly as Raritan, so I don't necessarily think he has the ability to win on things like inbreakers and complex. movement stuff against man coverage, but like as a linear seam stretcher and guy who can work in the underneath and create after the catch, he's really, really good. So again, the Bengals don't need the Bengals don't need complex rat tree from their tight end at all because, you know, if you want stuff in the slot, you just move Jamar there. If you want stuff underneath, you move Jamar there.

Starting point is 00:26:22 You know, there's plenty of all that stuff. So all you need to do is, is have this guy be able to compliment them, be a threat on checkdowns, leak behind those linebackers and pop into the seams, and Delp can do that with legitimate explosiveness. So that would be, I don't think it would bear as quick of fruit as Raritan, but I don't think any of the, look, tight end doesn't really bear that quicker fruit anyway unless you got a real stud. So I would like that as well. Not really the position where you're expecting instant impacts very frequently outside of the unicorns and there have been some unicorns lately and we'll see if we get any out of this class. I mean, that would be, it's always fun.

Starting point is 00:27:02 I don't know. Something about tight end. That position just is one of the more fun. I mean, maybe some personality types of the position is one of the more enjoyable positions in the NFL when you have guys that are good. But you also really like Dayquan, right? I know that's been one of your guys for a while in this process and I wasn't aware of him until you highlighted him.

Starting point is 00:27:23 He's consensus 182. You're also a fan of Dallin Bentley, who I was not aware of until we started talking. There's so many guys in this class at the tight end position who are going to be draftable, playable, NFL level players, Sam Roush, Roush, another one. And out of those guys, do you want to stand out as fits you love for the Bengals more than the others? Are they similar in a similar bucket for you? Or what's the deal there? Yeah, I think Roush is the best of those three guys.

Starting point is 00:27:52 and the way he performed at the combine was eye-opening. He had the highest RAS in this class and one of the highest ever in the history of the position because he's 267 pounds. Ran a 4-7 flat, Burton Broad were good. Ran the three cone unlike everybody else who, you know, doesn't do it. So he's ethical. Agilities are fake. Nobody does him anymore.

Starting point is 00:28:14 He did it. He did. And he didn't do that badly. Like, he actually did pretty well. So, again, at 267. And so look, he should be the exact thing I'm talking about, right? The one concern I have is that because I don't necessarily think he's going to be, and everything at tight end exists on sliding scales, right?

Starting point is 00:28:36 The receiving and blocking exists on sliding scales. And how good you are at one thing diminishes how good you have to be at the other thing, barring extremes. But I don't think he's ever going to be a good enough peer. volume guy and separator as a receiver to be a serviceable inline blocker. Like, if you're getting a 267-pound guy out there as your every down starter, like he's got to be a real road grader. And I think he has the strength to be, certainly the strongest tight end in this class.

Starting point is 00:29:07 But he has 30-inch arms, which is preposterous. Well, I think that means that the Bengals have to draft Ruben Bain 10th, and then Sam Rosh in the fourth round, and then they can start a club, man. start a support group together in Cincinnati. Yeah, I mean, they're just like, what are their drills going to do? Like, imagine they're blocking drills, their helmets just hit each other before anything even happens. It's like two bighorn sheep sticking their heads down and no arms involved whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:29:35 Instead of T-Rex, we can call them triceratops, you know? Yeah, yeah. I mean, that would be hilarious. But it does cloudy, cloudy his projection a little bit because if he already does have, trouble controlling defenders at the college level. And the way he does it when he does do it is that he just knocks them off their feet a lot, like a lot. He's so explosive.

Starting point is 00:30:01 So I think he'll definitely be at minimum solid enough to play in line every down. It's just is he giving you the receiving to pay off what may not be dominant blocking? And if the arm length doesn't end up mattering and he figures it out, and he is a dominant blocker, then all of a sudden, like the fact that he is a good athlete and a productive receiver good in the underneath windows can stretch you on that play action stuff maybe won't be a a hawkinson laporta route winning matchup threat but he can easily be that that complimentary guy and the bengals of all teams need that man coverage beater less than everybody else and that kind of goes into the same thing with right too i don't think he is as talented of an athlete or or a tight end even

Starting point is 00:30:46 just but he's a great yak guy like weirdly great to the point where this guy's putting more 35 40 yard catches on tape than any of these other guys um and he's a fantastic inline blocker like really really good even though he's not insanely heavy he's about 245 250 but he's like 6 3 so that's a heavy a heavy upper body and not heavy frame he's pretty dominant in line very consistent. And he has that yak threat, right? Like he can settle into the zones a little bit, but when you're detaching him on play action,

Starting point is 00:31:25 I do like him a little bit more for a run action team. But for us, like if he's in the Drew sample role and those checkdowns suddenly go to a really dangerous yak guy, that's kind of all you need at the starting tight end, especially when you're going to play 11 personnel. I feel like the upgrade there you're describing is akin to the Geno Stone tackling

Starting point is 00:31:44 to Brian Cook tackling upgrade. Drew Sample after the catch is just not. He was never great at it. And at this point, it's a lumbering action for him. Last guy I wanted to get to Lance Mason, a guy that is from consensus on the fringe of draftability, but a guy that you really like considering where that consensus is. Do you see Lance Mason as a fit or is it a different kind of tight end for you out of Wisconsin? His tape is really good, like really, really good.

Starting point is 00:32:14 There's some blocking stuff in there that's straight up. excellent, especially for a guy that's 245, 6, 3. But that's a really stout frame. There's good route running on tape. He was really productive and explosive at Missouri State when they were in that last year of their FCS before he transferred up. And he was Wisconsin's leading receiver this year. I mean, he only had 300-something yards, but you got to adjust that for the fact that

Starting point is 00:32:39 they couldn't throw a forward pass at all and was still their leading receiver, even though I think they had two senior bowl guys at wide receiver. there's some really good route running on tape there and the thing that just kind of gets me is that like this three cone and his pro day was so bad like so so bad which I didn't expect I expected his 40 to be a little underwhelming his three cone to be okay if he ran it but like it's so bad that now I'm like

Starting point is 00:33:08 now he's an outlier status so I've kind of rethought that a little bit but the tape is really really good so if they could get if they were to get him really, really late or as a UDFA, that would actually be really great because I think there may be something there. Maybe he, who knows, because the tape is really, really good. But like, man, that three cone was such a bummer. Yeah. Some guys we didn't get to talk about, like I said, this is an incredibly deep tight end class,

Starting point is 00:33:33 Tanner Cozio. We didn't talk about the other Ohio State, Tideon, Will Casmaric. We didn't get to talk about if you're looking for the Drew sample replacement. Casmaric is a guy that stands out. out to me in that regard. Just don't pick him in the second round this time. Dallin Bentley, uh, 25 year old from Utah. We didn't get to talk about another one that I know you see as, as certainly worthy being draftable, Josh Kwaivas, another one that you like, I think a little bit more than

Starting point is 00:34:01 consensus, a little bit more aligned there certainly. But so deep tight end class max. And when they draft one of these guys that we didn't talk about or pick up one of these guys that we didn't talk about as an undrafted free agent, we'll certainly be talking to you about that guy again because how many titles have you watched this year? Fully, I've like, I mean, I've fully watched about 15 and fully does not include reception charting, which is extra, extra fully, because that's play by play point by point. So in some form or another, though, all of them I've seen at this point. Which is like 50 guys, 55, 60.

Starting point is 00:34:44 players. I mean, there's a lot of tight ends this year and a lot of them will be drafted, I think day three, going to be a big tight end day. And we'll see if we get to talk to Max Tuscano again about one of these tight ends. Again, you can find his work at reception at remember the tight ends. He's also writing about Bengals scheme doing film breakdowns for bengels talk.com. A great resource. Somebody you should be following if you're a Bengals fan. And coming up next on lockdown, Bengals, we're getting into the defensive position. as we go round by round looking for players that will fit in the Bengals scheme and the Bengals team and in the Bengals draft plans.

Starting point is 00:35:23 Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Today, and have a go.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals TIGHT END Targets: Best Do-It-All TE Fits in a DEEP 2026 Draft Class

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