Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Looking for paths to improvement for the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals with the trade deadline a week away

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cincinnati Bengals are trending hard in the wrong direction, and that's obvious. Can they get better? Well, they get better? Let's break it down. 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 Liskow.

Starting point is 00:00:30 He's your host, James Rapine. We are the hosts of Lockdown Bengals. going for what, nearly five years now, the two of us on this show on the lockdown podcast network covering your team every day. We're on YouTube or everywhere you get your podcasts. And shout out to those of you who continue to make us your first listen. Shout out to the everydayers. If you're new to the show, of course we'll have you up to date on all things Bengals

Starting point is 00:00:53 throughout this season, including the lead up to the trade deadline, where once again, I think both of us will argue that the Bengals should do something. And well, we'll see. what they won't do because that's not their way. But regardless, plenty of time for that conversation. Today we start with how they can or well or potentially could get better this season in an episode brought to you by Fandall where you can get a big return with a $5 bet that will get you $150 in bonus vets.

Starting point is 00:01:24 If you win your first $5 bet, you can check it out at fandul.com to get started. And James, we can posit the question. question that is easy to answer. Can the Cincinnati Bengals get better in 2024? The more difficult question may be will they get better, but let's start with how they can get better this year. Well, they could be aggressive. Okay. I'm not going to do the cheer that everyone heard in high school certainly at some point. But yeah, you can be aggressive. And the trade deadline, as we record, this is a week away. And we can get more into the trade element of it, and we will teaser. But the other part of this is the can they get better with what they have?

Starting point is 00:02:13 Because what they have is a team that was supposed to contend for a third AFC North Title in four years. Doesn't feel realistic. What they have is the number one quarterback by multiple metrics in the NFL and through eight weeks that's resulted in a three and five record. And that's kind of wild. If you would have told me that in July that Joe Burrow coming off of wrist surgery is going to be as good as he's been and they're going to be three and five. I would have laughed you out of the room. And yet here we are.

Starting point is 00:02:48 So how can they get better internally? Well, one, they could have T. Higgins on the field all the time. We went over this. And it's probably unrealistic. but maybe they get a stroke of injury luck moving forward with T. And that's what's unrealistic about that is because we've seen this every single year with soft tissue injuries for him. But clearly they're a better team when he's on the field.

Starting point is 00:03:14 And so I think that that's part of it. But the other part of this, and I think the bigger part from an offensive standpoint, shocker, I started with the offense. The defense has taken a ton of heat, and we let yesterday show with the defense. And so let's talk about the offense would be Jermaine Burton continuing to grow, having a bigger role, being ready for the bigger role. And I think that's the element in let's call it like it is, Jake. He has not been ready for it. This is not a team that would keep him on the sideline had he been ready.

Starting point is 00:03:52 Eric All is tight end one right now, literally tight end one ahead of sample, ahead of Mike. sickie. And so this idea that they would bury Germain or it's unfit, no, no, he put himself in the position. He put himself in through eight weeks. But Joe Burrow praised him. Zach Taylor said that they're gaining a bit of confidence in him. And so I think, when I think about this offense, obviously health, but the one wild card in-house in a good way that could have some upside that could make this offense look a little different or maybe a lot different. If he can be the player they thought he was when they drafted him, it would be Jermaine Burton having a bigger role. But he's got to earn that bigger role. And I want to make that clear. It's not just throw

Starting point is 00:04:41 Germain out there, play Jermaine because you've got to throw darts at the wall. He's got to earn that. And hopefully he's taking steps towards that. And that might have been what the other day was when he had the 41-yard catch. And got open a number of other times that he didn't get the ball thrown his way, got blatantly held on a play that Joe Burrow took a sack. The flag was picked up for some still unknown reason. Not to go back to that too much. But the point is, I thought he played well. Now, did he run the right route every play?

Starting point is 00:05:12 Maybe not. We don't really know. And that's the wild card that's been there for him. But the upside is clearly there. If Joe Burrow goes back and has watched a tape and has looked at the way that Jermaine Burton has run routes on certain plays and how open he was on a number of occasions that he didn't get the ball, in addition to the opportunities he had to make plays on the ball, one of which was a great play by Darius Lay.

Starting point is 00:05:35 Another one was an explosive play. There's a potential that that trust is growing. And if that translates in practice, that's great. And so there's a couple things here. One, yeah, Jermaine Burton obviously needs to be ready to do the things that this coaching staff needs him to do. in an offense that puts a lot on its playmakers. We've talked about this a lot as well. A lot of the time they're asking guys to make reads

Starting point is 00:05:56 and to win their individual assignments. And one of those may be harder than the other one of those things for Jermaine Burton, where you listen to Jemar Chase talk about, well, yeah, when they put me in the slot, it gives me a much better perspective on what safeties are doing or something like that, where Jammar really has this high-level understanding of how to look at and understand what defenses are trying to do to him. And then you have the connection between he and Joe Burrow

Starting point is 00:06:19 that goes back many years back to LSU and the level those guys play at and the synergy they have, the mind mel that we often see from them, especially when plays breaked out. That obviously shouldn't be expected to be there for Jermaine Burton and Joe Burrow yet at this point, but that's something that they need to develop,

Starting point is 00:06:37 obviously for this year and into the future. And the other thing that I wanted to discuss here is that it's not just like Jermaine Burton needs to be ready. It's also what do we need to do to help him get ready. And we don't know what's happening behind the scene. Maybe the Bengals coaching staff has done everything in their power and has done everything right to get Germain Burton ready. We don't know entirely the story there, right? We've speculated, we've heard speculation, we've seen some patterns perhaps emerge from training camp through the weird inactive for Jermaine Burton not too long ago.

Starting point is 00:07:11 But it is a joint effort, right, of everybody getting Jermaine Burton to the point where he can't contribute. you. Last point I want to make here, James, and this is a bit of a tangent at this point, is like the offense and the passing offense particularly have been fine. So we're talking about improving the one clear strength of the team, which is a passing offense right now where Joe Burrow is playing an extremely high level. Jamar Chase D. Higgins, both really good, especially obviously when T's on the field. We're talking about improving his strength there because the other bits of the offense, I think largely are what they are at this point.

Starting point is 00:07:47 and it's hard to see much improvement coming in the run game, for example, much improvement coming in run blocking, much improvement coming for the guards in pass protection at this point, given that they are known quantity. So those are all of my thoughts around some of these topics on offense. Sure. And that strength, if it's elite, can beat every team in the NFL. Elite quarterback, elite, elite pass catchers, good enough pass block it. It could. That's why I've, it's the scariest version of the Bengals is is having T, Jamar and insert whatever other threat. And I do, I will say this, because I agree,

Starting point is 00:08:28 Zach's been especially on the side of criticism this week. But when we talk about getting Jermaine right, you know who's going to get Jermaine right or who's trying to is Troy Walters, who's like the best wide receivers coach in the NFL, like one of them, certainly. Got T. Higgins up to, speed very quickly. And she obviously had a great rookie year.

Starting point is 00:08:49 Jamar Chase a year away, what happened with Jamar? Andre Yosevosh was viewed as a project. He comes in and we can debate how much playing time he's getting if you should get that much or not. But the track record with Troy, I think, is pretty darn good overall. But if this offense is going to hit another gear, I do agree with you. It's not, oh, well, they're going to rely on the run more and that's going to solve it. or there, it's, it is improving that strength and being more explosive that way.

Starting point is 00:09:19 Would they like some explosive runs? Of course. But whether it's Sunday against the Raiders or a Thursday night game against the Ravens, these opponents that they go up against weekend and week out, they're going to be fear, you want them to fear the passing game. And I think that giving them another element to worry about if Jermaine is ready and obviously the coaching staff needs to get them ready. And hopefully it's working.

Starting point is 00:09:44 and continues to work in his role, continues to grow, because we can see the talent. It doesn't take anyone to have a career in football to see that Jermaine Burton has talent. So hopefully that can shine through here over the next nine games, starting with the Raiders on Sunday. Yeah, I have one last thought on the offensive we'll get to coming up in just a minute, just around the offensive line and the run-blocking issues and the running game issues overall. Talk about the defense a little bit, too, because some of these things just won't be fixed in season. And I think that we're trying to then find the ways forward then for this team, understanding what's realistic and what's not.

Starting point is 00:10:22 We will continue that conversation coming up next. Today's show is brought to by Built. Listen up at renters and really everyone out there. We've all been there feeling like we're burning cash with rent tracks. It's frustrating. But here's the deal. Built rewards, B-I-L-T rewards, has figured out a way to make rent more rewarding. Say goodbye to the money bonfire and hello to a renter's revolution with Built.

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Starting point is 00:11:34 Last thought for me, James, on this offense before we transition to the defense. Because to me, some of these things, like we're saying, they need to lean into the passing offense. this season. And part of that also means that the guards need to pass protect better more consistently. It means that Orlando Brown needs to get healthy. And that's not something that's easy to control, but the drop off from Orlando Brown to Cody Ford is a massive, massive gap. It is, it might be the biggest, one of the biggest gaps on the roster. At this point, where they're down, Trent Brown as well, yeah, like that's a huge, a huge chasm, right? And I use the word chasm on this podcast.

Starting point is 00:12:13 far too much this year. Do you want to say microscope too? Is that? I don't know if that'll be relevant today. We talked about what kind of microscope was it? Electron, of course. Electron. Electron.

Starting point is 00:12:24 We're not going to get into that today, hopefully. But the offseason does need to see some sort of renovation of this offensive line. You cannot live in the NFL running the ball as ineffectively as the Bengals have run the ball. And it's because of the physicality they have up front. They got guys getting bullied far too often. in the run game. Amarius Mims needs to just play faster, more confident. That's a rookie learning curve thing, I think, for him. He has a physical talent to make massive strides in the run game, I think. But I still have significant concerns about the interior offensive lines ability to

Starting point is 00:12:58 play in a modern NFL run game, even when you couple it with what they're doing in the past game, because they're trying a whole lot of different stuff in the run game right now. And they just are getting manhandled too often, and these running backs too often have no chance. And when you're running for two yards of carry and getting into third and six all day as a result, it's just no way to live when you need to present both threats the way the NFL is going right now. Sure. And they, to me, explosiveness and efficiency. That's how I think of the run.

Starting point is 00:13:33 And it's something that our everydayers are probably sick of me saying, sick of hearing us talk about. But it doesn't matter if they run it eight times, as long as. is it's efficient and or explosive, hopefully both. And they're probably going to run it roughly 15 times a week. That's my rough estimate that I would just pencil in. Could be a little more, could be a little less. Depends on the game and how it goes. But they've got to get more out of it.

Starting point is 00:13:59 You're right. And especially this short yardage. That's a real thing. That's been a thing that we've talked about for years. And so how does that fix itself? I don't care if you got to put Eric All and Drew sample and insert whoever else blocks. Well, I also don't care if it's empty and then you motion Zach Moss into the backfield and then it's a shotgun run. I don't care how they get there.

Starting point is 00:14:31 But on short yardage, it has to work. And in Zach took fault or took blame rather for that throw behind the line of scrimmage. But obviously we've talked a lot about that. I think fans have thought about that a lot over the past few days. And it just, if you're going to run that play, it has to be executed at the highest level. And it's hard for that to feel like, it's hard for me, at least, to feel like that that's the best option there. And so however they can figure that out, I don't care what it is. I don't care if it's throwing it 50 yards into the air, but convert.

Starting point is 00:15:04 And I know that's unrealistic to say, all right, we'll go throw a goal ball 50 yards. But the point is, it's fourth and one, fourth and really like two and a half feet. It's got to be easy money, Jake. It's got to be easy money. You've got to be able to get it. Kevin Clark, who now does work with Omaha productions over with, I think, ESPN. I don't know if those are directly affiliated or not. Peyton Manning.

Starting point is 00:15:26 Yeah, I know it's the Peyton Manning thing, the Manning family thing. But he has this hilarious tweet that I often see and think about after bad fourth down plays. It's like, coach is just when they get to those fourth downs, they just like to dust off their worst place and go to their worst place. And it's just, it feels so true sometimes for the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing them all behind the line of scrimmage of a recurrent theme that should be an easy lesson to learn the first time. That doesn't work.

Starting point is 00:15:56 Worst from Black and Grade in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals, according to pro football focus as a team. On the defensive side of the ball, though, James, we're spending time talking about the opportunities to even improve a good passing offense led by a great quarterbacking performance in Joe Burrow this year. On the defensive side of the ball, I have a hard time finding the answers. The secondary is inconsistent. They can't rush the passer.

Starting point is 00:16:20 They'll make a play here or there. It feels like Lou and Arumo is gambling at times. The game plans haven't always come together. It's a deeply flawed group on that side of the ball right now, despite the financial and draft capital investments there. So how do you see them getting better on defense? You need your stars and or in star, star, Trey Hendrickson, and your highly paid veterans.

Starting point is 00:16:44 I mean, they're spending so much money on their defensive front. It's not like they've neglected it. I've seen these like takes where it's like, oh, well, look how this team is built or that team. What exactly have the Bengals done over the past two years, three years, four years, when you talk about the monetary element and how much they've spent? They've spent a lot of money in the defensive trenches. The draft pick equity. Oh, well, is Miles Murphy?

Starting point is 00:17:08 He was the 28th overall pick, right? Okay, he was. Joseph Osai was a third round pick. Chris Jenkins, second round pick. McKinley Jackson, third round pick. Like, they've invested. Now you can argue, oh, well, you shouldn't have taken that guy or this guy or whatever. Fine.

Starting point is 00:17:23 But they've invested assets there. And so, all right, it's time for Trey Hendrickton to be a star every single week. That doesn't mean he wrecks every single game, but he's got to get to the quarterback when Fred Johnson's in the way. Fred Johnson can't shut you down. You need BJ Hill to continue to play. I think he's played pretty darn well since coming back. And you need Rankins to wreck a little bit. Be a Sheldon Wrecker, not Sheldon Rankin.

Starting point is 00:17:48 He needs to be Sheldon Rekers. And we haven't seen nearly enough of that through eight games. So you're paying these guys. You brought these guys in, or you sign them to extensions in Sam Hubbard's case, or you drafted them, Miles Murphy, Joseph Osai. And Joseph Osai is playing for a ton here. I mean, he's got a lot to prove, right? Well, show it.

Starting point is 00:18:11 And I think that Lou has tinkered, but at some time, sometimes you just got to win. And these guys have to start winning a bit more. And so the path to improvement, I don't think there's some magical internal formula. We can get the trades in a minute. Magical internal formula outside of these guys just have to play better. And that's such a basic thing. but they're not playing up to their their expectation from Sheldon Rankins to insert Joseph Osai, Miles Murphy, Sam Hubbard, that trio, they're not.

Starting point is 00:18:46 And that needs to improve if they're going to be better over the final nine games. I think I would put a spotlight on the secondary as well. I mean, Logan Wilson is still playing well. Just to Eunice outside of the defensive line. Logan Wilson is still playing well. Jermaine Pratt has been a roller coaster this year at times looking terrible, at times making incredible plays. I thought he was rough the other day.

Starting point is 00:19:05 I was, I think he recovered a little bit toward the end of the game, but when the game was into balance, there was a lot to, like in my half-time tweet to our Lockedong Bengals Insiders, Jermaine Pratt was in the not-so-good category of my thoughts in the first half, just in the wrong place too often. Join subtext.com slash lockdown Bengals. Shamedous plug. Yes, that is, that is the link, indeed. But it goes to the secondary too. Like the safety revolution part two, still not where it needs to be, even though you feel better about Gino Stone settling in.

Starting point is 00:19:42 They don't have a running mate for him, even if he is an average safety, which I'm still not sure about. They're slow in that safety room. And then the corners, I mean, we talked a lot this offseason about the Bengals confidence in Cam Taylor Britt taking a leap. I don't remember if I expressed public skepticism

Starting point is 00:19:59 that he needed to show it. or if I only mentioned that to you, James, when we weren't recording, but he has not taken that leap. And so they are left without a CB1 right now. And with questions in the secondary, like the questions are just all over the defense. And so when you say, yeah, they just need to play better. I mean, it's not really a reasonable thing to expect them to actually do at this point.

Starting point is 00:20:22 Like, that's where expectations were preseason. But to say that that is something that could feasibly happen right now, I'll believe it when I see it, I guess. is where they got to prove it there's no doubt they got to prove it and in their bank accounts show like they're playing like star a lot of them whether hubbard rank it hills playing for a contract murphy's got that first round money you got to go show it you just do and they might do that against the raiders but they've done that against bad teams this year and so like that's kind of the tricky thing here and that's part of the tricky calculus when it comes to the trade

Starting point is 00:20:56 deadline and the bengal should be active at the trade deadline let's take an early look ahead at the trade deadline coming early next week coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle, America's number one sports book. The Bengals, well, they are favored. Jake was right against the Raiders, seven and a half point favorites. Right now, you can get him at minus 375 to win straight up. That's kind of interesting. The over under has moved down to, or moved up rather, to 46.5.

Starting point is 00:21:26 I think it was like 44. 44 and a half earlier this week. So moving on up a little bit, probably because of that Bengals pass rush. They said, well, if you give Gardner Minshu all the time in the world, he might be able to find Jacoby Myers and might be able to find Brock Bowers. And we'll see if the Bengals defense can figure it out ahead of what is certainly a must win with Marvin Lewis coming back to Paycor Stadium. Get in on the action right now at fandle.com.

Starting point is 00:21:52 And when you do, you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet at fandle.com. Bengals fans will often roll their eyes when we talk about the trade deadline, James, because those that have been following this team for a long time will point to Duke Tobin quotes saying things like he's not in the business of making other teams better, which was not in the context of the trade deadline, but we don't hear from the front office in the middle of the season. So we never hear from the front office in the context of the trade deadline

Starting point is 00:22:29 in the defense of those who like to pull up Duke Tobin quotes. This is a year, James, where once again, I think you and I, I said this at the beginning of the show, probably agree that the Bengals should do something at the trade deadline. Now, what that is, maybe that changes based on the result of the game this weekend. I would argue that it probably shouldn't at this point. Your vision for the team should probably extend beyond the results of one game, but it could hinge a little bit on this weekend. That said, the direction of that activity,

Starting point is 00:23:02 think is a topic for some debate, even still, right now, despite the three and five disappointing start. Well, they need to get into a time machine and rewind time a few days. Call the New England Patriots and trade for Josh Uche. Oh, wait, they can't do that. Oh, okay. Sixth rounder, for a guy that can bolster your pass rush, didn't we just, I mean, I spent the whole time on the defense.

Starting point is 00:23:27 I didn't even mention the secondary or the linebackers, and there's certainly issues there. Talking about the pass rush. because honestly, I think anyone that brings a little juice that has a reasonable contract than Josh Uche one year, I think it's like $3 million, something like that,

Starting point is 00:23:44 would have made so much sense. And so this is where they, my expectation, one, they better, damn sure better beat the Raiders. And I'm not right, they better. And then two, you should be aggressive as of right now. We record for like 30 or so minutes.

Starting point is 00:24:02 The Bengals staff, coaching staff, the front office, they need to be figuring out and having real meetings about targets. They just do. That's what they should be doing, is being aggressive, aggressively addressing areas. Because this team doesn't it feel like they could use an injection of something? And fans usually say, oh, well, Zach should give up play calling or this or fire this guy or that. trades do that too trades do that too and it could be a

Starting point is 00:24:35 a medium realm player that isn't going to be a star but could make an impact and that's that's something we've seen they've changed a lot of what they've done how they've operated during the Zach Taylor era but this is one thing that they haven't fixed yet and they need to being aggressive here is what winning teams do

Starting point is 00:24:52 regardless of how good they are and obviously the Bengals are three and five so they're not that good right now and so addressing their weaknesses at the deadline is something that should be high on their priority list. There's an argument that can be made in that direction. There's an argument that points to the last what is it, nine out of ten teams, I think, that have won Super Bowls, the last ten Super Bowls have made a mid-season trade. Aggressiveness wins, Jake. Correlation, not necessarily causation,

Starting point is 00:25:19 but that's a heck of a correlation, I'd say, 90% of Super Bowl winners out of the last 10 made a mid-season trade. I mean, the Rams added, in the Rams added Odell Beckham Jr. too, that wasn't a trade. them, but like, Von Miller. Super Bowl year. No, no, but that's what I mean. So like they, they traded for Vaughn.

Starting point is 00:25:36 They signed Odell. Both guys made an impact in the Super Bowl, a big one. Right. And this does not, this says nothing about their lack of aggressiveness in the off season for guys like Colias Campbell moves that we've wondered why they didn't make since they didn't make them. The, the tricky thing about this, James, and the discussion that's just like,

Starting point is 00:25:58 oh, yeah, well, they should just go get better. is that they're three and five. And not only are they three and five, but they have not been very compelling, really, outside of a couple of losses against good teams this year that would make you believe

Starting point is 00:26:11 that they're anything close to a contender right now. And so you think about the Bengals front office's general reluctance to make moves, it becomes very hard to convince yourself that they're interested in going further in on this season. They have never gone all in with Joe Burrow at quarterback. They continue to run.

Starting point is 00:26:30 roughly manage the team in ways that they're comfortable with, even though there are small changes that they've made that we've noted. They have not changed the way they do contract structures. They have stuck to their ways with older players in the NFL like the Callias Campbells of the world. They have stuck to their ways with mid-season, in-season trades. They have kind of tried to stay to the middle and not committed hard enough in one direction or another at times, which is where you eventually run into a season like this, where I said yesterday, see the ghosts of the good teams,

Starting point is 00:27:04 and you just don't get it consistently enough. And so while there's an argument to be made that, yeah, they should just go get better, there's also an argument to be made that this team is what it is. They need to start reloading assets here to go through a mini rebuild. Now, is it early to have that conversation? Yes, but that's where the, trade deadline is.

Starting point is 00:27:27 And while it's easy to talk about, and we just spent time talking about their opportunities to get better this year and the ways they can still win games this year, the difficult conversations need to be had, honestly, about whether it's time to rebuild a core instead of trying to string along the pieces and the ghost of those good teams that you no longer appear to be, even if we see flashes of it. Are you training? I'm saying that there's just. be there could be explorations for trades around T. Higgins, T. Hendricks and Mike Hilton,

Starting point is 00:28:00 the players that have are in like the last years of their deal that have valued other NFL teams that I'd like to be clear. Totally get it. No, I knew and I knew the players you were going to name. T should be tagged this offseason. 100% tagged. Because if he plays at a reasonably high level, you can get just as much for him this offseason as you're going to get at the deadline because people, their teams aren't going to be able to absorb a ton of money anyways. And so are you paying some of his contract. It makes it tough with his 21.8. It just does in midseason. So you can tag him again. It goes up a little bit and then you send them off. Now, will they do that? The answer is probably no. They should. I'm just saying so you can still get an asset there. Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:28:42 has a year on his contract after this year. Unless you get just blown away, I just don't think that you look Joe, Jamar, these guys, they're going to beat the Raiders. Right. My expectation is for that to happen. So they're going to be four and five, if they are. They're four and five. I don't think you can do that, especially because what, the only one is what, Mike Hilton? Like, it's not like there's a lot of guys that you know are gone that you can't tag. T's the one, right? Where you tag them. And so will they do that? That's a whole other thing. And you could say, well, trade him now because you're not going to tag him, get something for him now. I get that argument. it. But that's where I would lean because Trey's going to have value this off season still. I still expect them to be in it a week from now because at four and five they would very much be in it.

Starting point is 00:29:33 And in a short week, must win against Baltimore. You could suddenly get the five and five. That's how I think they'll view it. I do get your point. And I do think that there are a lot of fans that are going to feel your way. Like, all right, hit reset now, try to get as much as you can. And even if it's painful, when trading away 91 or 5. How they view it is, yeah, no chance. I'm talking about stuff that there's no chance I think is going to happen. I will be floored if they traded an asset for a draft pick. BJ Hill, you can throw into the conversation too.

Starting point is 00:30:05 You can even throw J.Rame Pratt into the conversation. You could throw Mike Gisicki into the conversation, although I don't think there's a big return there. I mean, the point I'm trying to make here is just that a team with a clear vision and a clear understanding of where they're at will be having these conversations. Now, what do I think the Bengals think? I think they agree with you. I think they think that they're one game or two games away from getting right back into it. They think that they have this quarterback. They have these pieces. They've seen the flashes. They've seen the ghosts that we've seen James. And they think they can get back into it. So I think there's a zero percent chance that they're considering it. But I think that they should be taking a strategic view to this season one way or another. And I don't think they're going to do either. And that maybe is worse. it that it's frustrating if they don't do anything at the deadline even though we've all thought that like i want them to be ultra-aggressive they have the best quarterback in the NFL through eight weeks

Starting point is 00:31:03 just so i want them to be ultra-aggress regardless of who they're adding and i i'm not even going to get into it to names and things that they could do or try to do that i know they're not trying to do And so that's where I'm at. But when you see the Josh Uchase get traded for pennies for a sixth rounder, who cares, right? That's what's tough because he could have instantly impacted Sunday's game against the Raiders. I mean, instantly help this Bengals pass rush. And instead, he goes to a team that at least you don't have to play the chiefs again,

Starting point is 00:31:39 but goes to an undefeated team and he's probably going to help them. I had a thought. Oh, yeah. It's that you can draft, you can draft Jay Hill in the sixth round. What do you mean? Sixth round picks don't matter. Come on, James.

Starting point is 00:31:53 That's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast, preparing for a frustrating tread deadline. That's the takeaway. We can spend 15 minutes talking about it, James. But the bottom line is that when they make a move is when I'll start believing

Starting point is 00:32:06 they're considering making moves. It's time to make a move. Call me, Duke. We'll get something done. Yeah. I'll believe it when. I see it. Until next time, we will prepare and begin to look ahead to the Bengals hosting the Raiders and Marvin Lewis. Not Marvin Lewis's team, but Marvin Lewis. Marvin, he's associate head coach. He's

Starting point is 00:32:28 pretty up there. Yeah, he's helping out. We will get into our first look at that game in our next episode. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast and have a good one. Thank you.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Looking for paths to improvement for the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals with the trade deadline a week away

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