Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Demetrius Knight Jr. deal done, Shemar Stewart holdout BEGINS!

Episode Date: July 20, 2025

Demetrius Knight Jr. signed his rookie contract in time to report with the rest of the Bengals' 2025 draft class - besides Shemar Stewart - on Saturday. Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down why Knight's deal took so long and whether to expect Stewart drama to come to an end any time soon. Plus, we wrap up our training camp previews with the back 7 on defense, where young players like Knight, Dax Hill, DJ Turner, Cam Taylor-Britt, and Jordan Battle need to show they can be consistent NFL starters.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind 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/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Yahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Play Now at yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnflRugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONNFLUse code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Your well-being is worth it. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedonnfl today to get 10% off your first month. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get $150 in BONUS BETS when your first $5 BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.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.

The Bengals got one of their two remaining rookies side. Demetrius Knight will be present for training camp, and he'll be part of a young group of back seven players that need to step up in 2025. 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. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Jake Liscoe. He's James Rapine and we are your host of the locked on bengals podcast covering

your team, the Cincinnati Bengals here since 2016. We're on YouTube. We're everywhere you get your podcast. So if you're new to the show, you're not already an everydayer for the Lockdown Bengals podcast. You can hit that subscribe button and make sure you don't miss an episode. And we appreciate all of you out there to make Locked on Bengals your first listen. We're a day ahead of mock turtle soup here, James, and all of the drama that will be discussed, surely, during that occasion, the one time per year, Mike Brown meets with the media. But today we stay on the topic of the defense contract drama.

Shirley will be a topic today. And the rest of the defense, the back seven that we haven't discussed yet in our training camp preview series will get to today as well. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul where new customers getting $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. And James, over the weekend, Demetrius Knight, the Bengal second round pick signs his contract as second round pick dominoes are falling around the league. It's great news, Jake, to have one more done and one less thing to worry about. Obviously, the news broke on Saturday as rookies were reporting. and there's been so much attention on Shamar, and rightfully so, and Trey, rightfully so,

that it kind of went under the radar a bit that Demetrius Knight was still unsigned. Now, I knew he was in town last week, which I thought boated well for his chances of being signed, especially because you did start to see these second rounders begin to sign. And this is really an NFL stalemate. I got a few texts on Saturday, like, what is going on? How have the Bengals not signed their first two picks? I was like, all right, well, let's start with the second rounder. reason why it took this long for Demetrius Knight is because the whole NFL was out of stand still.

And the league was staring at the second round picks and the second round picks were staring at their respective teams and wanting fully guaranteed contracts. A lot of those guys that were drafted in the 30s ended up getting fully guaranteed contracts, the 40s, not so much in Demetrius Knight. Still, though, got a significant amount of his contract guaranteed, 80% of it guaranteed. But you get it done. and he is going to be on the field and he is going to take part in the rookie workouts over the next few days ahead of training camp on Wednesday.

So overall, positive news, good news, especially because we are talking about a guy that they're banking on to start. They need Demetrius Knight to hit the ground running. And so every single rep that he can get, he certainly needs. And so it's good that they were able to get him done before training camp on the day rookies report, despite all of the league activity, which, again, it was a big factor on why this took so long. Yeah, the Bengals weren't going to get this done until some of those other dominoes started to fall because of the guarantees that were extending into the second round like you discussed, James. And we'll talk about how they broke their precedent and fell in line with the rest of the league.

They didn't really have a choice when these starts of precedents around the league start to happen with guaranteed money. the league is very much going to follow suit and come up with contracts that are in alignment with what's happening for draft picks around them. That, of course, isn't happening with the Bengals' first round pick right now. But there are a number of reasons I think this is easier for them putting myself in their shoes, not excusing them, but reasons that I could see this being easier for them to think about and easier for them to stomach than what's going on with Samar Stewart.

One, it's a second round pick, so there's a lot less money involved. Two, there's been no public mudslinging, no public complaining, no public remarks, period. Demetrius Knight missed one practice at the beginning of things when he was tied to Chimar Shirt with some initial, quote-unquote, reporting. I'll put that in quotes because I don't know if it was really reporting at the time. And it was a rookie mini-camp, like half-hour. It was like a rookie mini-camp, like half-hour workout. too. Just in case people forget. Like it was nothing that he missed.

And then as soon as the offseason program kicks off, he's there. And he gets over the issues with the waiver, says that he's there to play. He says the right things at that point. Isn't saying, well, the team is putting business before winning. And that certainly rubs the team the wrong way. However, you feel about it. And I know a lot of our Lockdown Bengals Insiders, Subtext subscribers, join subtext.com slash lockdown Bengals if you want to check that out,

have sent us stuff like, is Chamar Stewart going to continue to be the most disliked Bengals first round draft pick and who knows how long? That's where public sentiment is, it seems, for some at least louder fans on Shamar Stewart right now. People are very unhappy with the approach he's taking there. There's none of that for Demetriusite, which I think makes it easier for the front office to want to deal with that contract.

It makes it easier, of course, for fans as well. But when you look around the rest of the NFL, this trend toward guaranteed money for second round picks will continue into the future. It's something that will be interesting to watch next year as Travian Henderson, his latest pick 38 got a fully guaranteed deal. Tyler Scho at Arsaf, I actually have no idea how his name is pronounced at pick 40. Got a fully guaranteed deal from the New Orleans Saints. Mason Taylor at 42, got 91% guaranteed, about 90% guaranteed from. Alfred Collins as well. So you can see the trend there starting to to taper off a little bit in the 40s like you mentioned, James, and it gets down to 80% by the time you get to Demetrius Knight at 49.

And Elijah O'Royal, of course, signing his deal that was around 77% right before the Bengals got the deal done helped to set that framework for the Bengals to get there with Knight. Real quick, the Bengals better not have to worry about this next year because if you're picking in the 60s, it doesn't matter. It's not going to matter nearly as much. Maybe the precedent gets there, but maybe you can save it off for another year or two. So there you go. There's your, the carrot bangles outside of just winning is you won't have to fully guarantee. Picking in the 30s, you're looking at two guaranteed deals.

That's what you're looking at. If you're picking in the 60s, the low 60s or late 50s, I think you'll be just fine and be able to stiff arm it for another season. But yeah, it's part of the evolution. It shouldn't matter. I don't think it's going to matter. I think that these deals, these second round pick deals, will probably be a little quicker next year. It doesn't mean there won't be some hold-ups. But, and I think the important

thing here, as we kind of push the conversation forward, and we don't know the answer to this, but it's the language. Did they, were they able to put that language that they want to protect themselves when it comes to every first round pick, not just from our Stewart, but every first round pick moving forward, that default language, were they able to get that in with Demetrius Knight? in that contract because that sets a precedent that, hey, our second rounder this year agreed to that. They haven't done that in the past. They don't have the, they can't push the Jamar signed this deal with this in there because they didn't put it in Jamar's deal.

They didn't put it in Tees deal or Joe Burroughs. So if they were able to get it in Demetrius Knight's contract, that could certainly help their case, even though they don't really need to make a case, but they can say, hey, look, this is how we're doing. This is how we're operating. And it could help their cause, certainly, when it comes to. getting from our Stewart signed. Just helping them to establish our precedent,

wouldn't be surprised in the slightest, almost expecting that once we're able to confirm it, that Demetrius Knight will have this language in his contract. Again, not entirely sure, but he does get the guarantees that he expects and the Bengals go up on guarantees. Chris Jenkins last year got 70% of his contract guaranteed, and that included most of,

maybe 67% of his year three salary, guaranteed Cam Taylor Britt and DJ Turner, the previous second round picks before. Chris Jenkins only got guarantees in years one and two. The Bengals have been trending in this direction, as has the NFL, and they get guarantees into year four of Demetrius Knight's deal the first time. Any 49th overall pick, according to Jordan Schultz's had guarantees in the fourth round of a deal, and certainly the first time for the Bengals. And again, doing those future guarantees is what's pushing the Bengals toward wanting to get

this future voiding. of current default language into contracts that we've been talking about with Samar Stewart for eternity, it feels like at this point, James. Eternity. It's never ending. And yet maybe it's going to end.

I do have a thought or two on Shamar Stewart, so we will get to that. And then we have to talk about the defense, some more training camp discussion in some actual football talk coming up next. Today's show has brought to you by Fandul. Fandul is America's number one sports book,

and the NFL season is right around the corner. So if you're looking for a place to just gauge where the Bengals are, according to the odds makers, or get in on Joe Burroughs' future MVP odds, the Bengals' chances of winning the AFC North. The Ravens are trying to do something. No team is done, which is win the AFC North three straight years. Of course, you can get in on all the NFL action with Fandul.

Plus, they have awesome daily promotions, and whether it's baseball under the lights, Golf on the Green, high-stakes soccer action. Fandil is the perfect place for summer sports as well. And right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. All you have to do is download the Fandall app or go to Fandle.com. And again, place that first $5 bet, and you'll get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the Fandle app today or visit fandle.com to get started.

This is an ad by BetterHelp. workplace stress is at an all-time high. 61% of the global workforce is reporting higher than normal stress levels. And the summer, this summer, is the perfect time to take small steps toward focusing on your wellness and managing the challenges that come with your workday. Of course, most of us can't just quit our jobs or take endless vacations. We don't have that summer vacation that we have when we were kids, but we can start small, whether it's getting outside for a few minutes or adding movement into your job.

day at some point talking to someone who can help you navigate life's challenges. And that's where BetterHelp comes in. If you're dealing with balancing work and attending Bengals training camp practices and a family that you've got responsibilities to in the evening and you're just busy, the flexibility of online therapy will make it easy to fit sessions into your busy schedule no matter where you are. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse range of experience.

Unwind from work with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash lockdown. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash locked on. All right, Jake. Let me drop this take on you because I do feel that it's going to happen. And I think maybe it gets cold-daked and weeks from now. It's like, man, I can't believe you thought that. I kind of think the Shamar thing is just going to get done.

I know it's been really loud and there's been a lot around it. I think part of what the reason it's been really loud is Shamar's camp needs the sh and they still haven't and I don't think they will. And I keep saying it on probably every platform I've had multiple times. I did a live event and I said it like because it just doesn't help things. But I think the Bengals are just still going to see past that and find a way to one, I think get some of that language in the contract, that default language, but two, get this done.

Where are you at? Are you confident? Are you expecting Shamar not to be on the field on Wednesday? What do you think? You're saying you think it's done by Wednesday. You think that by the time practice is open. It will 100% get done. It's a fact that it's going to get done, period, like, at some point.

But yeah, I think it gets done by Wednesday unless... The Bengals aren't who I think they are, which that's why Demetrius Knight's contract was so kind of obvious and you could easily see the forecast because things are training in that direction. It's like, all right, let's get it done. Last year, Marius Mim signed on, I think, July 21st, 22nd in that range. Things are a few days earlier this year. But yeah, I think that they get something done before Wednesday. I don't really have a strong take here.

I don't have a feeling. If you think it's going to get done, great. I'm going to take that as a reason to be somewhat confident about it. That's just a gut. That's not like Katie told me or someone in his camp. Yeah. Yeah, just to be clear. The reason that I'm hesitant, I don't really have a read on it is because, well,

we've got the agent continuing his media tour and pushing narratives and various platforms that he's finding to talk about what's going on and trying to quote unquote set the record straight and present his side of the argument. And you've got two extraordinarily apparently stubborn parties. We know the Bengals are stubborn. We know that they dig in further. The heels just go into the ground when they're publicly challenged. And you've got an agent who has decided to take the approach of publicly challenging the team.

Not that that's wrong to do. It just has never really been all that successful with the Bengals. And you're seeing that with Trey Hendrickson as well, talking about contract drama. It just doesn't really phase them. It doesn't push them to action. It doesn't seem to spur them to do what the agents want them to do in these moments. And so because of that, because of that history, you can see this going into training camp a little bit. You can see it getting done because of Bengals, Lanham, R. Stewart, maybe both kind of have that.

realization that yeah it'd be better for him to be on the field and water under the bridge i guess you can't go back and fix his absence for the offseason program but you need him to get as much experience as you can as soon as you can yeah i think i think the reason why my gut tells me something gets done is because i expect the bengals to approach shamar's camp again and part of why shemar's camp has probably been as loud as they have is much like trey right where the bengals might not be negotiating right now. They might just be like, all right, well, if that's how you're going to act, then we'll revisit this when it's time for us to revisit it. And now's the time for them to revisit it. This is the next few days. And so I would expect that. Maybe it doesn't get done,

but I would be shocked if they didn't approach him and approaches camp about figuring it out. And if I'm the Bengals, I've thought about this default language stuff, I would leave that in there and put a sweetener or two in there to get Shamar to sign it because you do want to set that precedent. And if you backtrack now, the next year when you go to sign that first round pick, it could be ugly again. Just be done with it and be done with it by making it a 75% signing bonus up front instead of waiting three months or whatever it was for Amarius to get. Basically, Amarius got 50 of it up front last year and then 50 of it 90 days later. Spruce that up a little bit. That's all. And I think if you do that and then Chamars Camp still says no,

Well, then, and I think a lot of people already are, but then we'll just be looking at Shamar's camp. So that would be my plan if I'm the bankers. I don't know what their plan is, but that would be my. Seems like an easy thing to do. But again, they probably don't want to reward this kind of public negotiating. But that's why I wouldn't bend on the language. Just don't bend on the language, you know, just leave it right there. And we'll see what shakes out there.

I was going to say deadlines per action. Maybe they see Wednesday as another deadline. but the deadline would have been Saturday. And that's when rookies were set to report. Samar Stewart did not report. He's not under contract. He cannot practice with the team until he signs his deal. If he doesn't sign his deal, then you have an edge group for training camp that a short two bodies.

They've got a lot of players at that position, especially compared to defensive tackle. We talked about the defensive front on I think Tuesday last week. So you can go back for more of the thoughts around that. But camp bodies becomes a big. bit of a question to me at that point. Speaking of camp, let's get into the back seven here, James, says there are players in this group that are young and unproven or need to have bounce back years in some cases for a couple of the veterans in that group,

where if you do get those steps from that unit, you could see the defense bounce back in a potentially bigger way than many are expecting in Al Golden's first year as defensive coordinator. We'll close the show there coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Ruggiet. Guys, you've probably heard of Viagra or Cialis, and maybe you've even tried them. But if you're looking for something beyond the usual pill,

it's time to meet Ruggiet ready. Ruggiet ready is the next generation prescription treatment designed to amplify arousal in the brain and boost blood flow, unlike usual pills that take hours. Ruggiat's 3 in 1 formula dissolves under your tongue, kicks in fast on average, in 15 minutes, and effects can last up to 36 hours. do 36 hours.

If traditional options haven't worked, Ruggiat may be the answer. Over 150,000 men have already made the switch, and you can read all of their customer reviews on their site. It's helping a lot of people feel more confident and present in the moment. Head to ruggiat.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL to get 15% off today. That's RUGIET.com.com slash locked on NFL. Ruggiet.com slash locked on NFL and use promo code locked on NFL for 15% off.

A lot of young players on rookie contracts in the back seven, James. That includes the rookie that we just spent 10 minutes talking about signing his deal in Demetrius Knight. That includes a bunch of players. And the secondary, it includes Barrett Carter, who will be part of this defense in some way, shape, or form. DJ Turner, Jordan Battle, Camp Taylor, Britt, Dax Hill, DJ Ivy, Josh Newton, Dejohn Anthony. I mean, you go down this death start.

You're finding player after player on rookie contract. The players on veteran contracts in the back seven, Logan Wilson, Geno Stone. That's pretty much it. Warren Berks, you could throw in there as a backup as well. Tyson Anderson as a backup as well drafted in 2022. Is he selling his rookie deal? I can't do math.

Did he get a one year? He's still in his rookie deal too. All right. There you go. A lot of rookie deals back there, James. A lot of players that have shown flashes, a lot of players that have played well in stretches, and a lot of players that if they can become a cohesive unit

and play well together more consistently, regardless of what's happening on the defensive front, which is its own issue, pass rush, its own issue that we've talked about. If you can clean out some of those coverage busts and be on the same page on the back end, the defense maybe isn't given up 30 points again, you know? That's a step in the right direction. No doubt.

And they need to be able to create more chaos, create more game-changing plays. And Geno Stone, you look at his numbers and he had the four picks last year, but a lot of those felt like they were coming after a really, really slow start to the year. And it just needs to change. It needs to be better Jordan battle. There's a lot of Jordan battle truthers out there. This is the year for Jordan. This is the year for Jordan.

I would consider myself a member of the Dax Hill Truth Club, right? Well, this is the year for decks. This has got to be a defense that has multiple guys that have flash that have shown some ability where they show that they're good enough to be part of a quality defense. And the Bengals are banking on that. I mean, they made no significant addition to, okay, I guess Demetri is a second round pick. But outside of that, no real significant addition and certainly no proven addition to the

secondary one, that's a fact, and two, to the back seven at all. And that means that they think, all right, well, Jermaine Pratt, past this prime, we're going to find someone in the draft that can come in and give us a lot of what Jermaine could. We'll sign Oren Burks and go that route as a proven veteran to help replace Akeem Davis Gather, but probably someone that can give you a little bit more on defense if you need them to here and there. And so there's a lot of ifs. But I do think there's talent there. And so can they get more out of Cam Taylor Britt and get him to be more consistent? Is DJ Turner was before his collarbone injury last year?

Was he really taking a leap? And will he be able to pick up where he left off and be that guy? Daxo. I mentioned him. Gino Stone, they stuck by him, had him take a pay cut. I know a lot of people, including myself, probably wouldn't have went that route. Probably would have went in a different direction. All right.

So Gino Stone, prove the Bengals right, prove everybody else that thinks otherwise wrong. I mean, it's that simple. And personally, I think that would be a great place to be in if you're Gno in a contract year, proving yourself. Same thing with Cam Taylor Britt. It's a contract year now. And so if you go out there and you play well, well, guess what? You're going to be able to reap the rewards next March from somebody.

And it might be here for sure, but maybe it's not. And so that's where a lot of these guys are is either a step. establishing themselves in the league because they are under contract next year or really setting themselves up for a payday, whether it's here or somewhere else. So it's not just success from a football standpoint on the rookie deals. It's all right, well, what does that second contract look like? Because came Taylor-brate, you could tell me he signs a multi-year extension next off-season with someone, including the Bengals, or he's a one-year prove-it, low dollar type guy that's

just hanging on and trying to prove himself. And so it can go in either direction, I would say. Yeah, all of these guys are essentially playing for future contracts. Dax Hill had his fifth year option picked up. So he's got another year that will be well compensated with the Bengals. He'll get at least a significant payday outside of his rookie deal. But for DJ Turner, for Cam Taylor Britt, for Jordan Battle, for Gino Stone, they're all trying to show that they are mainstay players in the NFL,

that they are players that can be part of good defenses going forward. and the fact that we still have questions about these guys, some of them have been with the team for so long. Dax Hill, benched his entire rookie season, trying to learn safety, play safety for a year, and then they move him to corner. So Dax Hill, he gets unfortunately injured when he's showing well at corner, but you've wasted, I don't know about wasted,

but you spent years not knowing what he is. and you spent years trying to figure out, well, who really is Cam Taylor Britt? And maybe that's enough of an answer. Maybe Camp Taylor Britt just won't be consistent enough to be that kind of cornerstone player. Maybe that is the answer. This is certainly the last year with the Bengals where he'll have a chance to show it. And generally, the end of that rookie deal, if the NFL doesn't know who you are, somebody might take that risk as a one-year deal, like you said.

But big year for him, right? DJ Turner, still trying to figure out, who he is. He's had some injuries. That doesn't help. Jordan Battle couldn't get on the field last year because you bring back Bob Bell and significantly eat into his playing time. And so you still have all these questions about who is Jordan Battle. And this has been an issue with the Bengals for some defensive players for a really long time. It's not just this group of players, but the question that we have had to ask when we get to the end of some of these deals where it's like, man, who is this guy? Still trying to figure out, Joseph Osai, still trying to. Still trying to

to figure out who these guys are at the end of their first contracts when you need to be making decisions about whether they're part of your future or not. And you're trying to win in the process. It's a difficult proposition when you don't know who some of the players are exactly on your defense. And that kind of ties together with the Shamar stuff. Like year three Miles Murphy, I know we're talking about the secondary. Year three Miles Murphy, we have no idea what the hell he is right now. You can't be doing that with Shamar. Like you got to figure out what Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson are now this year. They won't have a choice, but you figure that one out at least.

They don't. They don't. They back themselves into a corner, right? I do think that they, for whatever reason, think that the communication and the, I talked to Logan on Saturday at the jungle jam event. And Logan was like, basically there were like three messages happening. And now it's one message happening. And the three message thing sounds insane.

I can't believe that was, I can't believe that was being done. That's not the first time we've heard something like that about that coaching staff, that there are multiple messages coming from different coaches. And that's what it looked like. You know, like that, that's what it looked like. And so he said change was needed and we needed this. And so great, go show it. Because I do think, like if you, if you go back,

And whether it was the night Dax was drafted, we talked about him at corner that night. Everyone was talking about Jesse Bates's replacement. We're talking about him potentially playing corner. And then they take Cam Taylor Britt. And then they next year they take DJ turn. Like all these guys, Jordan Battle was like, oh, well, that's Von Bell's replacement. All of these guys at one time, it felt like, all right, well, they do have talent and they could be part of the solution. But for example, I'll go to Jordan Battle.

It wasn't just that Von Bell was brought in last year. Jordan, I think, had the air kind of deflated. He was a little deflated from the Von Bell edition and was like, fine. And it kind of showed up to camp, how he showed up to camp. Well, this year, man, I need you to hit the ground looking like a pro bowler from an in-shaped standpoint. And that doesn't mean he's going to play like a pro bowler. But you get my point. The approach should be that.

It should be totally bought in. And maybe part of that is if you're all getting the same match. message. And I do think Al Golden is going to do that. And when I think back to the 2024 Bengals defense, how maddening it was, maybe it's because there were multiple messages being given. And that is, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. So yeah, hopefully it can come together a bit. I mean, it's hard to be much worse than they were last year. But they need to be significantly better. And so how do they get there? Only a few teams worse in scoring categories and passing yards allowed categories of Bengals in the bottom third for passing yards allowed.

Of course, bottom 10 last year for points per game allowed. The only teams worse than the Bengals in points per game allowed. Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tennessee, Dallas, Carolina, and San Francisco in that group, the Bengals tied with the Las Vegas Raiders at 25 and a half points allowed per game last year. you get that number toward 20, then you're doing okay. Then you're probably doing fine. Secondary, big part of that, tackling in that group, a big part of that, getting the same message for every level of the defense, being on the same page, being cohesive, a big part of that.

And that messaging bit and the how to teach it part is why they've got Al Golden in the building. And it's what we've heard kind of throughout the process once it became clear that it was going to be Al Golden is how can you teach this thing to younger guys? You've been doing it in college. Can you come in and get our younger players that we think have talent on the same page in executing defense at a higher level more consistently? And that's his job, whether it's messaging, whether it's development, whether it's teaching, whether it's, you know, Al Golden's talked a lot about having a plan for specific players.

Whatever it is, it needs to take hold fast. and that's the challenge for this group of back seven players and for Al Golden and the big push to get ready for all these guys and have your groundwork for the season starts in just a couple days, James, for all of these players that we have all these questions about. And you, of course, will be there the entire time. I'll be coming into Cincinnati for my annual week of training camp next week, I guess, at this point. Boy, is that soon. And we'll have your training camp updates for you. But before them, we've got mock turtle soup. We've got our annual Mike Brown answering media questions day coming up here.

That's Monday. Is that right, James? It's Monday. Monday. So the next time you hear from us, we'll have time to react to Mike Brown's comments, among other things. Yeah, we'll talk about all of the fun drama that Shirley will play out here. until we just get to training camp. Then we're talking about who's practicing with who,

the big plays, who's playing well, all the training camp reports that you've grown accustomed to here at Lockdown Bengals. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Who day? And have a good.