Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BIG QUESTIONS: Will Play Action HELP or HINDER Bengals Offense as OT, LB Depth Questions Linger

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Will play action unlock the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense or become their Achilles’ heel in 2026? Jake Liscow and Joe Goodberry debate whether the deadly Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins trio, combined with a revamped play-action approach, can erase past slow starts and ignite early-season dominance. Orlando Brown Jr.’s ranking—and the swing tackle depth around him—raise high-stakes questions for the offensive line, while Chase Brown’s explosiveness offers hope for a dynamic run game.On defense, Dexter Lawrence could be a true game-changer as the Bengals pivot to a 3-4 scheme, but uncertainty looms over Al Golden’s play-calling and depth at linebacker and slot corner. Will Cincinnati’s pass rush, anchored by Boye Mafe and rising talents like Myles Murphy, push the Bengals into the NFL’s elite, or will lingering personnel gaps prove costly against top-tier opponents?Photo Credits: Sam Greene, Frank Bowen IVEverydayer ClubThe improved Everydayer Club brings you access to ad-free audio, the Subtext insider club where you can text Jake and Joe and get Bengals updates in your text messages, and Joe Goodberry's members-only Discord with over 1000 other Bengals fans—all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more: https://lockedonbengals.supercast.com/Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast.PrizePicks Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL and use code LOCKEDONNFL and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup!KALSHIFor a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10.GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelCollege football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited, and this season, FanDuel is giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM 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.

Now that the Cincinnati Bengals are through the preseason, as we look ahead to our questions and answers about this team, play action might be a microcosm of everything we're hoping for and still have some worries about with the 2026 Bengals. 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 Lockdown Bengals podcast.

He's Joe Goberry. I'm Jake Liscoe. And today we're talking about our expectations and our questions about this team. Where do they look like they're strong and should be threatening in the playoffs? Where do we still have questions after all we've seen in the preseason from the transition to the 3-4 defense and why we think that's a great direction for a team that's added Vexter Lawrence. So the questions we still have about Al Golden and whether or not he'll figure out exactly how to deploy all of the veterans and new pieces. that they've added on that side of the ball.

It goes both ways, and that also starts on offense with really play action, which could be, in fact, the silver bullet that the Bengals have been looking for to rediscover the explosive play. It also could be they're undoing early if they're growing pains. And so that's where we're going to start this episode. We're looking at both sides of the coins, the questions, the answers, the concerns, and the reasons for optimism. Now that we've seen everything that we've seen in the preseason and training camp

in an episode brought to you by CalShe. For limited time, download the Calci app use code lockdown. You'll get $10 when you save $10. And Joe, we're going to start today with the play action question because I really think that in so many ways encapsulates the reasons for optimism and the reasons that we still have questions with this team, as I've said a few times already in this episode, because Joe Burrow is still running the show here.

Jamar Chase and T. Higgins are still going to be a huge part of this thing. And you can't get better than that trio in the NFL. And so there's a lot of reason to think that should just propel the Bengals offense forward and make them everything that we hope they should be, especially when you use selective endpoints looking in past years, as you've done recently, when you cut out like the one or two terrible games that Joe Burrow and the offense have to start the season, then look at the rest of the season,

they're actually top three, top five offense a lot of years, but it can take them some time to get going. and I think that's part of the concern with the under center part of the playbook early in the season. Yeah, this is an effort to take something that's really, really good and make it perfect. And sometimes chasing perfect, it makes me a little bit nervous because I think the last final infinity stone in this Bengals offensive gauntlet could be their undoing because they haven't been good under center. In all the years of the Joe Burrow offense, they've been great at pretty much everything else. They figured out every other thing that they struggled with, whether it was year one, they couldn't hit the deep ball, right?

And then year two, they were extremely explosive after adding Jamar Chase into year three, I'm thinking of 2022 now, where they got the shell coverages and the cloud coverages and they had to get super efficient against cover two. They had to scrap the under center stuff and be really good at the shotgun offense. And they did. Like every time they had a new problem, they figured it out. even last year getting into a really efficient and successful run game. But what are the last final pieces for this offense?

Number one, start faster. And I think a lot of teams that start fast tend to be the ones with the play action, the misdirection, a lot of motion, condensed formations, things. The Bengals have added, actually, we haven't talked about that enough, probably. They have added those things. But being proficient at it, being good at it is what's going to help them in September. And then also going to provide those explosive plays when they're really struggling and they're having those 12 and 14 play drives to the defense that just will not get out of those cloud

coverages. You got to force them out of it, right? So they're trying to open up this offense and give it that final piece it needs. I wonder how long that leash will be if it's not good. And then I also start to get excited. Like what if it is really good in 2026? Yeah, if it's really good, then you're talking about hitting play action crossers, getting Jamar Chase in space, using the weapons on this team and letting them get free in a way that we haven't necessarily seen this offense emphasized separation and instead relies on T. Higgins and Jamar Chase to just beat the guy across from them. And that's something that they're really good at. So there's no reason that you can't lean into that a little bit. But we've been looking for those

easy buttons to chew up yards and see what other teams do where somehow Justin Jefferson's wide open in the middle of the field, 20 yards down field. And we're like, why can't we get that with Jumar Chase? And maybe we do get a little bit more of that if this thing works the way we hope it does this And as you're talking about the fast start element here as well, that is a balance. I think the Bengals have to strike because when you look historically, a lot of the teams that start fast, the most prominent example for Bengals fans would be the Pittsburgh Steelers and the fraudulent 10 and O Pittsburgh Steelers. The way these teams start out in the Mike Tomlin era in particular, these strong starts, but you know they're not that good. You know they're not actually contending for anything.

And you see that around the league. Last year, I think it was Tampa, right? where they started the year really strong and collapsed down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Bengals and the Zach Taylor era, the MO has been, we're going to be rocky out of the gates. Hopefully we scrape through some wins, but by the time we get to late November, December, January, we're going to be clicking.

And we're going to be the team no one wants to face in the playoffs, but we've given up too many games early, so we're not going to make the playoffs. Or we're going to continue to win games back to back to back like we did in 2021, 2022 until we get to the AFC championship and or the Super Bowl. And so finding the balance there, because they won their first couple of games last year, right? It was ugly in doing so. And maybe you need to endure some of that early in the season.

But the fast start question, I think, is not answered. We haven't talked about it as much as here. I think part of that is that they were 2 and 0 last year. I think part of that is also the renewed energy vibe, Joe Burrow, Jemar Chase, talking about LSU vibes on the chasing no one I've learned. It's not number one. It's no one. even though in the initial publications about it,

there's a NO dot, i.e. number. Anyway, chasing no one podcast, invoking 2019, right, LSU, and the vibes around the team continue to be that way going into the season. That's something that has been a persistent trend this preseason as well, Joe. So hopefully that'll just translates and the concerns we have about this offense and the questions we have like swing tackle and RB3 are questions that don't come back to bite. Exactly. And, you know, that's one of the things about the fast start is that this year they're not playing the Browns and the Jags, right?

They're playing the Bucks and the Texans, much stiffer competition, I think, especially going into last year. We didn't know the Jaggs would end up being really good. But so I think the expectation, or we've taken the heat off that discussion a little bit because, you know, if you split or if you lose, I mean, I get it. those are quality opponents. But I also think because the run game has gotten so good last year, and people may contest that statement. But Chase Brown under center averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and they were the number three team in explosive rate,

depending on when you want to put the marker of like week seven on, they were very explosive under center last year in the run game. And so if they're going to lean on it and if they're going to use it, I feel more confident in this running game being able to carry the offense and being an aide to Joe Burrow and being able to compliment this passing attack early in the season if they start the way they ended last year. That's always a caveat. Like the defense needs to pick up. We're going to talk about the defense at some point.

You know, what we saw in the second half of last year. Is that real? Or is that a mirage, as we've seen at times with the dead cat bounce, right, Jake? And so if this run game is what we saw. And if it's Chase Brown and Chase Brown doing his thing and looking like we know who he can, he can help carry this offense through the rough patches of early September until they start to get right. So while I have the concern, I also can see why it would work this time rather than in previous years. Well, that's one of the big upsides of going under center too, right, is it opens up the ability to be more explosive,

more multiple in your run game. And that I think is a big part of the hope. And that ties directly into the fact that Eric All is out there ready to embarrass people, as he told Charlie Goldsmith. and Eric, all being a full go in the regular season, we saw the impact he had with the mentality and physicality that he brings to bear, the versatility that he brings to bear at the tight-end position, that goes along with returning all five starters on the offensive line.

And those guys that really jelled in the run game down the stretch that got James Casey, the promotion, and Scott Peters continues to deserve praise for the way that guys have developed and the run game came together. And the offensive line is no longer this punchline for, people that are paying attention, I guess, as a caveat there. But that very much should be the case and should propel the run game to potentially be that stabilizing force, right, and give them the additional answer. This offense has seen it all at this point.

They've been together for so long in the same terminology, the same system. For the guys that are consistently going to be relied upon on this unit with the continuity they have, they should have answers to everything defenses are throwing at them. And the only question there is, well, they get to those answers quickly enough. Well, they realize those answers quickly enough because we have seen that sometimes it takes to Bengals a little bit of time to make those adjustments. Yeah, that's right. You know, you're bringing up good points of things to be excited about why this offense

and largely the team should still be really good. I've got some concerns and maybe we can balance some of the concerns with some of the positives. But I think some major ones that, you know, I read the comment section in here and YouTube. And I think we're going to get to a couple of those that people continue to have. And we'll do that coming up next. We're talking about week one football games. That means football is back.

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Jake, you mentioned that they're bringing back all five starters on the offensive line. And that is a good thing. I think it is. I think they willingly brought them back, right? that that's a sign typically that you're happy with the progress they made with the players you have in their positions and the development of some of the young guys that are expected to come along, Dylan Fairchild, the Marius Mims, you know, front and center of that. But I even, and we've talked about, I will say that the interior offensive line feels good,

like the backups, right? But that brings such a highlight to two things. One, Orlando Brown Jr. and I just saw a ranking of all the offensive lines in the NFL. Was it Mike Clay, I think? And he had the Bengals 30th overall, or is it 31st? Either way, terrible. But the point was they had Orlando Brown Jr.

As the worst starting left tackle in the league. And now there's some people that leave comments pretty consistently that believe this. I don't believe that for a second. That he's the worst starting left tackle in the league. This is a guy with too many skins on the wall that we've seen play well to be ranked that low. but then that goes directly to swing tackle. And it's clear they believe they have an issue there too. They've made a move to claim someone.

They added a veteran to the practice squad. They know this is an issue. They're trying to add bodies to it. They kept a guy like Javon Foster that you wouldn't typically keep if you had an option or a plan there or if you had assigned a veteran. No way Foster makes this roster. So when I look at the potential, maybe we're overrating, maybe you and I are overrating Orlando Brown Jr.

and he really stinks and he's going to be terrible. He's going to be the worst left tackling football. That'd be bad for this offense, number one. Number two, they don't have an option to go to anybody else on this roster and they need these guys to stay healthy. There's some pass rushers against his Spengel's team early in the schedule that terrify me. Yeah, the last place projection for Orlando Brown, if that does come to pass, honestly, first off, I'll be surprised.

I don't think that he's the worst tackle in the NFL, But second, you actually look at every other left tackle in the NFL, and it becomes really obvious that most of these guys are first-round picks. Some of them weren't. There's, you know, Rashid Walker. I don't think it was a first-round pick. Dionne Dawkins wasn't a first-round pick for Buffalo, was he? Wasn't he a day two?

Yeah. So there's some exceptions to this role, Braxton Jones. Like, you're telling me Braxton Jones is, Mike Clay has, it's a 10-point scale, I think. Looks like it. Nobody's ranked higher than an 8.8. did I see? So maybe it's a nine-point scale.

Either way, Orlando Brown on the scale is a 4.4. And Braxton Jones, who we just saw go through it for the bears in the preseason against the Bengals' backups a little bit. Is it 6.5? You're telling me he's, what, 50% better? I don't know how this scale works exactly. Paris Johnson's 6.7. A lot of upside there.

Just makes me wonder. Spencer Pinot is a 5. That's better than Orlando Brown's projected 4.4. So if Orlando Brown is in fact the worst left tackle in the NFL, yeah, the Bengals have a pretty big problem because like you said, there's not an answer there. And they just signed him to an extension. So they clearly don't think he's going to be the worst left tackle in the NFL, but certainly a concern. Also a concern, as I mentioned earlier, like they lose Chase Brown. There's not a whole lot of help coming and running back.

But let's get to the defensive side of the ball here, Joe, because one, we got a bit of good news. Jamar Stewart is back in practice in some capacity. He's not doing everything out there, but he's back in uniform. And that was starting on Wednesday, Thursday, more of a walk-through practice. But he's out there again. Jamar Chasey Higgins still in the rehab field on Thursday. And I think the big question for those guys will be next Tuesday, Wednesday, when we start to get some of those injury reports.

I guess it's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday we get injury reports. But starting to see those injury report statuses for T and Jemar, those injury questions. because that is like kind of in the background lingering. The Bengals have really downplayed what's going on with those guys. But if those guys are going to miss any time, that's a story for next week, right? A concern if we get there, yeah, next week. But Samar Stewart back in practice in some capacities. Bengals are still trying to figure out how soon he'll be ready to go.

That's a great sign. Dax Hill continues to ease his way back in as he talked to reporters after, I think, Wednesday's practice as well. And they're not ready to yet say whether he'll be a full go for week one. but it looks like it is trending in that direction if I were to make a projection here. But on the overall topic of the defense, once we get beyond the injuries, some big change this year obviously centers around Dexter Lawrence, the additions in the secondary being Brian Cook,

the addition in the secondary being Brian Cook, the many additions up front. And I don't know how you start anywhere other than Dexter Lawrence with this defense. No, I agree. And I think that goes hand in hand with the three, four defense being, you know, a shift. Although they shifted to it last year. I think that was part of, hey, we can get a nose tackle, not just a nose tackle, the best nose tackle in the league, a rare unicorn level nose tackle for this defense that

we've already shifted into, right? That was a proof of concept. Now we can really add that piece to it last year was. So I think that made it easier to do it and they're being rewarded by that. The cascading effect of Dexter Lawrence is huge. Just the way everybody around him is talking about him and his potential impact, it's hard not to get excited. Plus what we saw in training camp, we both came away with. This is the best player at Bengals camp this year. In the way the offensive line talks about blocking him,

Joe Burrow, the effect that had on him in his passing windows, even some of the receivers saying, like, they have to get open before Lawrence compresses the pocket, right? They have to deal with that. This is not something they've ever had to deal with in camp. So the effect of him at the nose, Jonathan Allen at defensive tackle, which gives you depth with T.J. Slayton as a backup, but BJ Hill also rotating in, especially if they're going to a three, four, three of those guys will play. Then that keeps the linebackers free. And I think the linebackers are a whole conversation.

But starts with Dexter Lawrence. I have concerns that El Golden, is he a good coordinator? Can he call that game that Lou would be able to play that card when he had to in these playoff games or against these great quarterbacks? I don't think we have an answer to that. But getting better players and having a better plan week one than what we definitely saw last year to start the season is one of my concerns, but also the answer to why they'll be better. And I think it largely is Lawrence. I think the, the veterinariness to make up a word a little

bit of the defense also could potentially enable Al Golden to do more of the game plan specific stuff where they throw significant, entirely unscouted looks at some of the quarterbacks that they face on a week-to-week basis, because that's still going to be a challenge to get out of the AFC, even in the division, confusing Aaron Rogers with his 45 years of NFL experience, it's probably closer to 45 years old, is tough to do. Lamar Jackson containing him will continue to be a challenge, right? So even in the AFC North, the ability to pull the right card at the right time and have guys that can execute it.

That's one of the big questions for the linebackers going into year two. There's a lot on their shoulders, a lot on their plate, and there's, again, no fallback option there. The addition of Swayze Bozeman serves as linebacker four, but we're talking special teams here. There's no reinforcements that came at the linebacker position at all. But just one more thought on Dex real quick before we get to the rest of the defense here and wrap up with the rest of the questions and answers we have on the defense side of the ball, because we have a whole other segment to talk about it here. But we haven't really talked about Dexter Lawrence for a few weeks in a big way. Like we've talked about him in passing. But I think

it's since the Bears joint practice. like we didn't see him in preseason games after that. We've been so focused on depth pieces and who's making the 53-man roster. It's probably been two weeks since we've talked about. Dexter Lawrence has been the best player in training camp. So we really want to underscore just how disruptive Dexter Lawrence could be. This could be like inserting a Jamar Chase level player on the defensive side of the ball, on the defensive front.

And if he's that disruptive and that dominant the way we see Jamar sometimes takeover games, you have a guy in Dexter Lawrence who can take over games from the middle of your defense. You've got all the pieces around him. So it's not only on Dexter Lawrence. And we should talk about the other pieces in this pass rush, I think, coming up next, Joe. But Dexter Lawrence could just be that piece that takes this defense to a significantly higher level this year if he looks like we expect him to look based on everything we've seen this preseason. But we'll talk about this pass rush a little bit more, the rest of the questions. And reasons for optimism with this defense.

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and may not be suitable for all investors. Kelchee products are not available in all jurisdiction. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshy.com slash regulatory. Joe, we were doing a live stream last week, and there was some discussion about the Bengals getting to 50 sacks or 60s. There was some optimism about the past rush. We're trying to figure out like, all right, tell us exactly.

List a breakdown of where all these sacks are coming. from. And some people had some reasonable projections for the Bengals to get to some pretty lofty sack numbers. A lot of that will require Dexter Lawrence to not only pressure the quarterback, but put them on the ground. Also will require Boye-Mafade. Once again, not only pressure the quarterback, not only win against his offensive tackle, but get the quarterback on the ground. So talk about your questions and where you're at with this pass rush, where there's no dominant winner on the edge, at least right now. There's no Trey Hendrickson necessarily on this roster right now,

unless Boye-Maffe really takes a step. So when you think about Boye-Mafé, Miles Murphy, Cassius Hell, and now we get Samar Stewart working back, really no idea what to expect from him because we didn't see him in the preseason. Where are you on the pass rush right now? I have my concern still, and it's largely because they don't have that dominant winner, even though Morrance is fantastic. Nose tackles, defensive tackles, don't get the same pass rush

production that a Trey Hendrickson does, right? Like even if we're very happy to have that centerpiece that changes your entire defense and kind of trade aired you out once in a while by being, uh, dominantly just a pass rusher, right? Like there was times where he's running the arc and the defense isn't being helped by that. But you are going to lose some production. Who can match it? Who can replace it?

How can we push past the 30 something sacks and get to 40, get to 50? I think the Bengals are banking on this entire unit. being better, right? Raising the floor, definitely. Is the ceiling raised? We're going to have to find out. But the waves of guys they can send at you, and this is something that all golden won. And I think watching the Seahawks defense last year also is like, we want to mirror that. We want to do more of those things. When the Bengals had Trey, Sam Hubbard was the next. Like, and Hubbard was a six to eight-sac guy and his best. And then Joseph O'Sai, very inconsistent player. But, you know, is that a great number three, rarely had a number four D.N you could use. They'd have a Shemar Stewart, no matter what you

think of Shamar, he's better than any number four D& they've had during the Joe Burrow run. And that extends to defensive tackle as well. They're way deeper there. So if the waves can make up for it, I'm very excited and interested to watch this development, see how far like a wave can push it, how much debt can really raise the entire boat here. I don't have the answer to that. Let's be honest with you. Someone's going to have to develop. Someone's going to have to emerge. Is it cash as hell? isn't Miles Murphy taking that leap? He's taking steps. He's not taking a leap yet.

Can he take that this year really make money in the offseason? Can Boy Amafé get back to some of those win numbers, pass rush win rate numbers he had early in his career when his play started to decline or a snap share started to decline in Seattle? If we can get these guys back to it, if we can get Dexter Lawrence back to 2023, like that would do a lot to get us there. But I don't think Lawrence is the silver bullet that just makes this pass rush better.

I think seeing how the stunts, were executed this year is going to be a big deal too. Last year it was a big complaint of mine. Watching the way that these stunts came together for this team. They've looked better in the preseason. I'll say that. But it's a preseason. We're not necessarily seeing the starters out there.

I have a quick trivia question for you, Joe. Speaking of that 50 sack mark, how many teams do you think over the last two years? Same number of teams in both years cracked the 50 sack mark in 2025 and 2024. I would say two or three each year. Three teams per year. In 2025, it was the Browns, Falcon. Broncos in 2024. It was the Broncos Ravens and Cowboys. So not a whole lot of teams getting that high, but the Broncos in the last year, 68 and 63 sacks. Wow. Which I don't, I don't know how

much attention people are paying to the Broncos because there are questions about Bonix on offense, but that defense the last couple of years. Holy Dominant. Speaking of defense, let's finish Joe with the Bengals back seven. Dax Hill and DJ Turner, assuming they're both ready to go, and I think they will be, that gives the Bengals two really good corners. And Brian Cook should really stabilize things at the safety position for this team could help elevate Jordan Battles floor a little bit with his consistency back there that you're expecting.

But as I mentioned earlier, there's no answer at linebacker if those guys struggle. The way there's no answer at left tackle if Orlando Brown is, in fact, what Mike Clay projects him to be, which I don't think either was quite thinking. Same is kind of true at slot corner where they're currently looking at Josh Newton being probably the first slot corner off the bench. And I think this even extends a little bit to outside corner depth, where we feel much better now, I think, than we did a few weeks ago because DJ Ivy looked really good in the preseason.

And Takario Davis in particular, maybe a young future piece looked really good in the preseason. So maybe there are a little bit less concerns about your depth at outside corner. but the combination of some strengths, some questions here, it's really how is it going to play out with the potential strength at outside corner and safety and the big questions at linebacker and in the slot. Yeah, we're kind of doing good cop, bad cop here. You're right. I like all those points.

And those would be the reasons why this defense is much better, right? They're better on the defensive line. They're deeper. There should be stabilized at safety. And not only Brian Cook, it should help and hopefully have an effect on Jordan Battle really good at Boundary Corner. Plus, you've got some options now because of DJ Ivy and Ticario Davis. But then we still end up with, will opposing offenses just isolate and attack the linebackers

and the slot corner? And the Bengals liked to last year, that answer to that question, by the way, is yes, until the Bengals, you should not. Yeah. Well, that could also be how they overcome, right? So let's say these guys are better and offenses are game planning like, yeah, we're going attack Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter right away. And then first game, they're trying all this misdirection.

And those guys are ready. And they have answers. And they're playing faster and stronger and more decisive. Well, guess what? Your plan is now thrown out at halftime because these guys have arrived. Now, let's hope that happens. Let's see if it happens. That's an interesting element. But you're right.

There's no answer if Jalen Davis isn't that guy. If Demetri's Knight and Barrett Carter aren't that guy, you're going to throw Orrin Berks in there? You're going to throw Swayze Bozeman? People ask me all the time, what's some, like, uh, practice squad linebacker or a guy floating on waivers that you think could develop into a future guy. Well, I did like Red Murdoch. But besides the point, there were none. That was it. There's no guy you're going to pick up that's on your practice squad or linebacker number four.

That's going to be a future starter for you. It rarely ever materializes and happens. Happens once in a while at a slot corner. Maybe that's why I've carried the Brayland Lux torch at times. And Jalen Davis is an example. I used to a guy who's been on practice squad for years. He was caught last year at the cut down day before they eventually put them on the practice squad and brought them up. But also, those are signs of a weakness and other teams will definitely try to attack those guys. Bengals funneled things inside last year and didn't really put the defense and make and really lean on, is what I want to say, on the boundary corners until the last five or so games last year. And are they going to do that again? Can Al Golden say, we want to funnel these throws to

DJ Turner to Dax Hill. We want to hide our linebackers in our slot corner a little bit. I have concerns. I have questions. I don't know if we'll have answers until November. Honestly, like, when will we have answers to this? Maybe they'll be great right away. And we're there.

We've got our answer. I guess it could be real. Yeah, maybe Dexter Lawrence is in fact that dude. Daniel Popper, by the way, over at the Athletic has a list of veterans that are out there that can help. And there are still some names on this list that if things really get off the rails, maybe that's where the Bengals use some of that $18 million or probably $17 million of Cavs face once you account for the full practice squad. Kenny Moore is still out there.

Bobby Wagner still out there. Taylor, Taylor, Jonah Williams, and Kevin Zeitler, Cam Robinson's all there. Not that they need his title, but I'm just calling him out because he's probably still pretty good at football.

And, well, we like Kevin Zitler. But those names are still out there if the Bengals decide, yeah, you know what? We could use some reinforcements at these positions that we have questions. that we have questions about.

One spot where we don't really have any questions right now, Joe, special teams. Oh, yeah, good show. Looks like the kicking battery is going. Evan McPherson looked great in the preseason. Ryan Rico continues to develop a little bit as a good enough punter, certainly, and it's not a spot where we're like, man, we're going to lose this game because the Bengals can't punt. 2020, AFC championship. Yeah, unfortunately.

Honestly, the 2024 season, If they had this special teams right now, even with that bad defense, they probably won a couple of those games at the end. I think Ravens game, Chargers game. There was a couple others. They probably make the playoffs. Yep. And you can't overlook special teams.

So they get a shout here at the end of the episode, Joe. And well, next week we're back and it's a game week for the Cincinnati Bengals. We're getting ready for week one. We got plenty of matchup stuff that we're going to get into with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going to Cincinnati. For that week one action, and we'll have real regular season. of football to look at real excited. Like Joe Burrow, you know, rubbing my hands together, ready to watch I'm rubbing my hands on this defense for the first time.

That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening, Who Day? And have a good one.