Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - MOCK DRAFT MONDAY | What if the Cincinnati Bengals just draft trench players?

Episode Date: March 30, 2025

Could the Cincinnati Bengals draft 2 college tackles to play guard in 2025? There are a lot of tackle-to-guard prospects in the NFL Draft this year, and Jake Liscow and James Rapien once again take to the simulator to get through 3 rounds of mock drafting for the Bengals, who still need guard help. This week, we'll explore the opportunity cost of using a bunch of premium picks in the trenches. 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!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.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.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.

We're still waiting to find out if there's a veteran move coming for the Cincinnati Bengals. But while the Bengals roster is the same, we're going to take another step at mock draft Monday and see if you can find a different path through this NFL draft. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liskow. He's your host, James Rapine. And we are Locked-on Bengals here on the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day.

If you're new to the show and you want to be an everydayer, shout-out to all you every-dayers out there already, you can hit that subscribe button, you can hit that bell on YouTube, and you won't miss an episode of Lockdown Bengals. We're firmly into draft season at this point, James, getting through mock draft Mondays, only four Mondays left before the NFL draft. depending on when you're listening to this, maybe you're a little bit late, maybe it's already April.

This episode will be up on March 30th, but if you're a little bit late, maybe it's already April. The draft is very soon at this point. And as we do, we try to get through some different situations with some different names until we get to draft week

when we'll do our more predictive work. But last week, James, we selected three players. We went through three rounds. We're going to go through three rounds again today on the PFF mock draft simulation. later last week, starting with a defensive tackle. And we picked Walter Nolan in the first round,

Carson Swessinger, linebacker out of UCLA in the second round, and then finish with Tate Rattlidge in the third round. I'm going to try to do something a little bit different this week. Going to try to keep these as fresh as we can. Yeah, for sure. Well, the point of mock drafts and why they're valuable is very simple. One, you learn about the prospects, too. You see different scenarios, different paths,

and in different ways that you can make whatever team your mock drafts. for better. And that's what we're going to do. That's why we're going to continue to do these mock drafts. And I think a lot of our listeners and viewers are going to mock draft on their own on all these different simulators. Today we'll stick with PFF. I do think that we're, I do know, we're going to switch it up. We'll use some of these other simulators. Part of it is just waiting for them to get up to date, including the PFF one. None of these are far. None of them are perfect. Put it that way. Some of them are far from perfect. We'll use PFF for a second straight week, but we'll switch it up as we go. But ultimately, this is designed to give you an

idea of what draft day or days in this case, because we'll do the first two days of the Bengals draft, their first three picks, what it could look like, given what they've added, what they haven't necessarily added as well, as you ended at the top of the show. And it's fun because there's a bunch of different paths that the Bengals can take to get better. And that's the ultimate goal. And so we'll see if we can best ourselves after going with two, probably right away, contributing defensive players and possibly a starting guard last week. We'll see if we can do better than that this week. All right.

Let's pull up the simulator and we will let it get started here. And Jake, I think a lot of people are just going to expect trenches, expect defense. And I do think defense is certainly the favorite. it. So we'll see how the board falls here as you just hit that simulation button. And there we see the Bengals on the clock at Pick 16, a number of players that we might have. Pick 17, Jake. 17. It's, look, I didn't sleep enough as my co-host James knows and our audience doesn't know today. But at pick 17, of course, and a number of defensive players, I think we would have been considering had they been available picked before we're on the clock here.

Mike Green out of Marshall goes 14 to the Indianapolis Colts. Jahad Campbell goes 12 to the Dallas Cowboys. Will Johnson goes 11 to the San Francisco 49ers. The expected offensive lineman, Will Campbell and Armand Membo, go in the top 10. Tyler Warren going 10 to the Chicago Bears. Jaday Barron, who I think this is on the earlier side where I've seen him in Mox, going seven to the Jets, adding him to the secondary. So some players that we would have been considering, but Malachi Starks, the top of the board of available players here, according to PFF.

And James Pierce, staying on the defensive side of the ball, Donovan Izzeraku, Zeraku from Boston College on the edge, Kenneth Grant, Josh Simmons, Kelvin Banks, Walter Nolan, who we picked last week, Colston Loveland. What are you thinking about James considering the players that have been selected? Are there other positions that we need to look at? I think anytime Malachi Starks comes up, Nick even worry could come up as well out of South Carolina, the other safety, the safety that has a pre-draft visit with the Bengals. You're talking about 6-3. You're talking about a guy that doesn't have a full athletic profile from a testing standpoint, but what you see is like, man, this guy can be a huge asset on defense and he's one of these elite athletes. So whether it starts or even worry, I would certainly look at them. obviously when you look at it.

And by the way, if you're watching, PFF has Xavier Watts listed ahead of Eamonwry, I think that's going, maybe it won't change for them. That is not going to be, the NFL is not going to view it that way. I would be pretty surprised. And I think with safety, the debate, Jake, for the Bengals is,

all right, do you go with the starts or Eamon worry in round one? Or do you go into day two and hope Xavier Watts is there? And if it's not Xavier Watts, Do you go after Kevin Winston Jr. at a Penn State? Someone who just ran, and we may run into him in a second in round two, but just ran a 4-4-5 to 4-5-40-yard dash, five months removed, five months into ACL rehab, and is expected to be ready to go for training camp.

Like, that's someone that you would certainly consider at safety. So I think safety is intriguing, but some other options as well, especially with James Pierce, Jr. on the board. an edge that I know a lot of people are interested in. Yeah, probably at 17, the guy with the best juice slash production profile and does have some ability that he's shown against the run, the issue with James Pierce is going to be,

is he just a third down player early in his career? Is he a passing down only player early in his career? Are you okay with that in the first round, if you're the Cincinnati Bengals, that James Pierce might only play for you on clear passing downs as a rookie. Is that enough of an impact where you think you can do the rest and get to those third downs? And then you throw James Pierce out there opposite, hopefully Trey Hendrickson. And that combination is a force multiplier, given that you don't have as much push coming from the interior of the defensive line.

And on the topic of the interior of the defensive line, I think Kenneth Grant and Derek Harmon, who's pretty low. on the PFF board. Maybe this is where he ends up going the back half or the last few picks of round one. Derek Harmon at 30 here. Those would be the guys you'd be thinking about if you're looking at interior options. But as far as adding an edge rusher with juice, I think that that conversation, given what's available to us here, is James Pierce. But the question there, of course, is that there's a lot of potential character whispers or flags

that the teams will know about much better than we will. get some insights when certain draft guys like the beast from Dame Bruegler comes out, which always has great insight in it. The other thing that I think we would have to consider here, James, is, is there an offensive lineman that is worth this pick? Well, before we do that, we got to mention Shamar Stewart. He's just because we don't know, just because we don't like him, doesn't mean that the Bengals won't love him.

And you're talking about a 6'5, 280 pound edge rusher that, might not have the production you're looking for, but checks a lot of boxes. And the Bengals could certainly be in on him at 17. And he was ninth on Dane Brugler's top 100 that came out pre-combine. When the Beast comes out, we'll see where he ranks. But it would not shock me one bit if they're like, man, this guy, yeah, he might not have the production, but he's got everything else and we can get that production out of him. Now, is that the right strategy or not?

I don't, you know, I don't necessarily think so. And I think a lot of people would follow this closely feel that way. At the same time, I think we'd be doing a disservice if we didn't mention him. He fits into the age bracket that the Bengals draft two. He is going to be 21 and a half on draft day. So we'll turn 22 sometime in his rookie season. Has some pretty exciting tape at times. Like looks like a fringe first rounder on tape at times.

I think the tape grade is going to come out a little bit higher than Miles Murphy for the, the spreadsheet that Joe Goodberry and Mike Santagata and draft guy Jared all contribute to, especially when it comes to the trenches. So it is important to not erase Samar Stewart

when we go through this exercise. Even if we won't pick him necessarily, unless he's much more connected to the Bengals, you're right that it's good to bring him up. But I do want to still talk about these offensive linemen because I think these are options that we

do need to consider. Josh Simmons, very interesting. Kelvin Banks, very interesting. And then I think we can talk about Gray's able a little bit. And they've had a visit with Josh Connerly or will have a visit with Josh Connerly. And then if you want to get a guard in this draft, we're not going to spend too much time on Tyler Booker, but I wonder about Donovan Jackson here too. We will continue the conversation here as we try to parse through these choices and think

about where we'll be able to land an offensive lineman. Coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. And March Madness, well, we're down to the final four. Maybe you think Duke and Cooper Flag, they're just going to continue to roll.

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How are you feeling about offensive linemen here, James? I filtered for those watching on YouTube down to those offensive linemen. As you can see, Josh Simmons, Calvin Banks, Gray, Zabel at the top, Josh Connerley, Tyler Booker, there's Donovan Jackson, who PFF has all the way down at 67. But despite where he's ranked on PFF's board with a big board ranking of 67 and an 8,000. ADP of 53, you're never getting him in the second round. I'm not advocating for Donovan Jackson in the first round to be abundantly clear, especially if there's no tradeback, but he might not make it to you. And I would say it's unlikely to make it to you in the second round.

Yeah, I think the two that I would be interested in the most are the two at the top. You know, Josh Simmons and Kelvin Banks, Jr. I think those are the two guys you look at. And which one do you think projects to be the better guard? that's it like I get it the Bengals value offensive tackle to me they don't need to be thinking about life without Orlando Brown Jr. yet maybe I'm wrong on that but but to me Simmons he's got the ECL tear but before that you're talking about a guy that's probably like maybe OT1 like

is really close to that depending on what you think of Will Campbell before that happened and so are you comfortable with him at guard if so if you're comfortable with the medicals it might be Simmons if not, you may also say, hey, Kelvin Banks Jr. projects to be a better guard anyway. And that's the question for me. So those are the two. That's where I would be with these two guys. And I'd be open to it. I think we go this path. I think this is the path we go down. At some point, we will go safety. A lot of people, I think, would say trade down at this point. But the guard in round one, and that's exactly what either of these guys would be totally down with it right now. Yeah, I think the Simmons is a Pateller tendon, by the way, not an ACL, just a small note there was a PFF says ACL. Yeah, so Petrller Tenant, it's a little scarier, I would say. Maybe there is also an ACL that I'm not familiar with. I've only heard the Patelor Tendon discuss. Calvin Banks, though, projecting to guard is an interesting idea. He's another young player

just over 21 years old. Josh Simmons, over 22 years old by the time the draft comes around. So if we're sticking with what we think the Bengals would narrow themselves down to based on age ranges where they don't like to draft players older than 22 in the first round, then that would be new toward Kelvin Banks here if we wanted to eliminate potential injury concerns. Although Josh Simmons did go through a little bit of a workout at Ohio State's Pro Day where he was moving, despite that knee injury indicating that hopefully that recovery is on schedule for him. You could just take Kelvin Banks here. Yeah, I think, and we can do that. I think you're right, it is Patelertenden. And just reading, there was an NFL.com article on March 2nd. He's way ahead of schedule, expected to be ready for the start of the 2025 season.

So let's not rule out Josh Simmons. It very well could be the pick. I think he projects on paper without the health part of it. Like if you want like a tackle down the line in the NFL, I think Josh Simmons makes more sense, right? From that standpoint, you're looking for the best guard right now. I think Kelvin Banks Jr. is probably that. Now, that might not be fair, but I'm totally comfortable with Banks. I say we roll with him and see what happens.

Let's make a pick here. If you want to... For all the Ohio State fans out there, just pretend we pick Josh Simmons here. Pretend that there's no knee issue, right? I can already hear you in the comments talking about how we should have picked the Ohio state guy. And Simmons did go just a couple of picks later here. but let's see who our options are at pick 49 James,

where Donovan Jackson, like I said, doesn't make it to you in the second round of the simulator. James Pierce going all the way down at 41 in the PFF simulator at this point. Xavier Watt's gone. Tyler Williams gone. After we just talked about James Pearson in the second round in Matt Miller's mock draft late last week. But Josh Simmons goes 25,

Gray Zabel goes 26, Malachi Stark's 27, Derek Harmon 29, Colston Loveland, 31. Tyler Booker, 32. So guard, I'd say pretty picked over for second round options. Like if we were to look at who's available here on the interior offensive line and tackle, Ariante Ursary, who the Bengals do have a 30 visit scheduled with or have had, is the top of the offensive line board. Ozzie Trappilo, Marcus and Bo.

Also there on the offensive line. If you were thinking about getting an offensive lineman later here. But if we shift on. Trillow. I'm pretty sure. If we shift our attention, as we're learning names for prospects that we will one day learn or not learn depending on where they're drafted, I feel like the Boston College offensive lineman named Ozzy is not a last name we'll be saying very often if he does not get drafted by the Bengals.

But speaking of names, Prinsley-Uman-Mielan from Mississippi, Braden Swinson, if we're looking at defensive players here at the time, of the PFF board. What else should we be looking at here, James? Well, I mean, this is where you're looking at safety. I think you're looking at certainly edge, defensive line in general. I mean, there's a bunch of spots there.

And you look at safety. And this is where it gets interesting because I think Kevin Winston, Jr., everyone says, oh, well, get him in round three. I don't think he's going to be around for the Bengals in round three. Andrew McCuba is another one out of Texas to keep an eye on as well, safety-wise. but Winston,

wait until round three is probably gone. So I think that's something you take into consideration out of Ole Miss. You know this guy's name? Princeley, either way. The edge out of Ole Miss. The Bengals were there, by the way, at Ole Miss's Pro Day.

So they watched Princely work out. And Braden Swinson, another edge rusher at the top of the board. And then after that, you're looking at Ohio State. See, we could redeem ourselves. We could go with Ohio State here, whether it's Jack Sawyer or J.T. to Emilo. And I think Jack Sawyer has the fan base split so much

because there are a lot of people that want him as early as 49 and others that want to stay far, far away. I'm not really in on him at 49. I think that's a tad early. But yeah, those are the guys that stand out right now at Edge. Jared Ivy is a name that I think the various boards around the NFL are going to have lower than potentially where the NFL will see him.

Another Ole Miss player, Jared Ivy, is a bigger guy, listed 285 here, according to the PFF board, 660-285 in that range, can certainly kick inside and has the size that you would be looking for outside. And while he's lower on the PFF board, we don't have to pick him here. I do think that he's potentially lower on these boards in the NFL. We'll see him. If you're thinking about defensive interior options here, Omar Norman Lott from Tennessee, Shamar Turner are the highest guys on the PFF board.

You go down a little bit further. You get C.J. West, Alfred Collins, who are two players that I actually like a little bit better, but you're never getting in the third round. Yeah, I like CJ West. Yeah. Other than that, I mean, you could go linebacker. It doesn't really feel like it's, yeah, it doesn't feel like it makes sense. Corner makes sense for sure.

Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame, that's one that's interesting. Your guy, Trey Amos, gone at 44. He might not make it that far. Amos. Yeah, he might not make it that far. We'll see. Dary and Porter out of Iowa State still on the board as well is 58th over on PFF's board. Yeah, a bit of a run before the Bengals pick here that are a bunch of players I love for the Bengals to pick at 49 between Donovan, Jackson, Amos, Landon, Jackson, Maxwell Harrison.

I actually don't know how his name is pronounced. Ravelle from East Carolina. I know his name is not pronounced. It's not pronounced like that. It's not pronounced how it's spelled. I do know that. and James Pierce going at 41. So a number of players that I'd be very interested in

for the Bengals going in that stretch. Do we want to go edge rush here? You were talking up Braden Swenson to me before we started recording. Honestly, I don't. Prince Lee, man. I, that one's interesting to me too.

You're not, it'd be nice if I could say his last name. What do you think about him? Are you out on him? No, I mean, I'm comfortable with him. He's a guy that you would like to have seen tested a little bit better than he did where he tested like a solid, not great athlete,

but has really good pass rush data in terms of pass rush win rate specifically. So we can go that route. Human Malin? Human Malin? Is that it? Princeley, Human Malin?

I tried to pronounce it earlier. Sounds like you're reading a pronunciation guide and that's a very reasonable sounding pronunciation. No, I was just reading the name and really trying to envision the pronunciation guide to be clear. But yeah, let's go with Princeley, human malon with our second pick the edge out of mississippi trenches baby you wanted it you got it with our first two picks we'll uh see what the simulator says for us and do our third round coming up next

all right james are we going back to the trenches are we going three trench picks is this trench draft monday what do we think oh man trench draft monday certainly could be uh went with human malin after kelvin banks Junior, look, protect Joe, get to the quarterback. I think a lot of people feel that way. What Jake is controlling the sticks here, obviously, Ozzie Tripillo is the top player available right now because why wouldn't he be Josh Farmer, Jordan Phillips, Elijah Roberts. So the top four are all trench. Then you got Jared Wilson out of Georgia.

And then he fell, he fell. Kevin Winston, Jr. I'm not sure he'll be here, but certainly someone I would consider here at Pick 81 if he is there's Kevin Winston Jr. out of Penn State. DJ Giddens out of Kansas State, I think a lot of people are going to like him. If the Bengals want to go with a running back, I think at this stage,

DJ Giddens could certainly be someone that they would be interested in. By the way, Tate Ratledge and PFF simulator is always available in round three. We're not doing that. We would do that every week. Full disclosure, we did that last week. We expect him to be gone.

Like, if the Bengals want him, they have to pick him at 49. And so we obviously got Kelvin Banks Jr. at first, Prince Lee, Uman Malin, and the second round. But yeah, Andrew McCuba as well available. I think I'm comfortable with safety here. That's what stands out to me is if you could tell me that Andrew McCuba and Kevin Winston Jr. are both available in round three.

I like that value. And that's probably where I would target. I'm not sure that will happen. I think both guys could be gone before the Bengals are on the clock here. And that obviously changes things, which is why I'm open to safety earlier. But those are two options that certainly stand out. There are reasons they could be there in the third round as well. Obviously, one coming off injury, Kevin Winston.

And they're just, I think, concerns about size. There's some tackling issues with McCuba, but the instincts for MacCuba, the ability to play deep safety with MacCuba, one of the most impressive highlights of a player that you'll see, I think, of this draft cycle is MacCuba. And they'll probably show this when he gets drafted. is macuba on play action coming from a whole safety position or like a linebacker kind of spot,

getting back off the play action to the spot where he knows the ball is going and making an interception undercutting or if you're playing Madden lurking a crossing route. That's a very impressive play to make for the safety. The other thing I wanted to point out here, as I might argue for McCuba here, although I'd be open to Kevin Winston as well, certainly, is the number of guard options that are available if things break the way the PFF board has it here between Ozzie Trappolo and Jonah Savonaya

from Arizona, a tackle prospect who could play guard, Wyatt Millam, a tackle prospect from West Virginia, who I think is probably playing guard. And a guy that Bengals are bringing in for a visit in Charles Grant from William and Mary, who could certainly kick inside the guard. There are a number of options there from tackle guard converts that I think you would consider.

And James, you mentioned Tate Rowledge, we're pretending, is not actually available here. But given that we did pick a guard earlier, we've picked one of our trench players, an edge rusher, and I just want to look at the defensive interior options before we rule it out.

Joshua Farmer, Dion Walker, both standing out to me. Jamari Colwell, a player that is near and dear to my heart, of course. People know that follow me on Twitter. And JJ, I think it's Peggy's. I don't remember the pronunciation there, but played a lot of offense in that Mississippi defense

or on that Mississippi team. Played offense in that defense. Played offense for Mississippi in addition to his role in the defensive line, really high motor player and scored a bunch of touchdowns as an offensive player as well. A really fun player who I think can provide some value. on the defensive interior. Maybe you can get them on day through, though.

I think it's Pagis, I want to say. I want to say. I might be wrong on it. I need these draft simulators to start including a pronunciation guide as well. Pagis. Yeah. Dionne Walker, so, like,

it's very, like, I wonder if they would just be like, man, round three, we get there some risk. He's a freak. Let's get him in here, right? Like, I think that's one I'm considering here. I also, I wouldn't be mad at them and who would. All right.

So the value says that there's quality guards on the board. We'll take another guard. Go wouldn't be mad at that. I'm not going to get mad at them if they go Ozzie, Tripillo right now and they roll out. I mean, because if you take Kelvin Maggs Jr., like he should give you some position flex. And so theoretically, so should Tripillo.

So this idea that, oh, well, you can only go with one guard I'm open. Like if you're leaning guard, like I'm very much open to that because you had two young promising offensive linemen. Usually one's going to hit. I think there's a lot of reasons to believe Kelvin Banks Jr. could be a hit.

I think there's a lot of reasons to think that Ozzie Tripillo could be a hit. And I'm not going to riot if you don't take a safety in the first two days of the draft. I'm not going to riot about it. I'm not saying that that's the route I would go. Also not going to be mad

because if you want to go, you want to go trench. So I'm fine kind of completing the trafecti here and making this a trenches. This is not our brand for me, Jake. So this might be time to take advantage of it. But the trench thirst, let's quench it a bit here on. Well, like I said, I was going to argue for McCuba, Texas safety, get some playmaking. No doubt.

An athletic, anticipatory player in that secondary that could use an infusion of talent. It could also use pass rush help. Pass rush. efficiency certainly is a force multiplier a bit for your secondary. Between those guys, I also want to give a shout out to Elijah Roberts here. Another big edge player from SMU listed at 295 can kick inside. So those kinds of players, Elijah Roberts, the SMU option, or not DJ Ivy, Ivy from Mississippi. Jared Ivy?

Is that? Yeah, Jared Ivy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are the two larger day two, early day three kind of area edge players that I think are interesting to consider. And like I said, when we were talking to Mike Renner when we did our first draft episode, our draft primer with Mike Renner, he said that his favorite fit in the draft was Jared Ivy did the Bengals in the second round, which I just find interesting. So we have to find a way to decide here, James, about double-dipping at guard or are we going with the safety? Because those are the two options in my mind.

Okay. So there's the two options. All right. So we're rolling out. Wait, wait. Hold on. How are you not talking more about DJ Giddens? I know we don't want to spend too long here.

I mentioned him. I was though I said this is where you would pick. I'm just surprised for something more. Because here's why. you one i would be all about playmaker everyone knows that and if they take dj giddens in round three i'm gonna praise it because he's a hell of football player i also understand the that you can make the case for other guys right here that being said i think this idea that they wait until round six to address running back like everyone's doing in their mocks is it's pretty unlikely like i think

that they're going to like some of these guys and say, man, DJ Giddens would have been RB4 last year, RB1 last, you know, and it might not be Giddens, but you get my point. One of the Ohio State backs, or I keep putting it out into the universe, Asgen Gently falls, like, and he won't. But, like, that's certainly something I'd be more than open to

if Giddens is there in round three. So, yeah, I mean, I'm, if you want me to make the case, I can, but I was trying to look at it and say, all right, well, who's the best, available. And I do think if you look at the best available and look at what the Bengals are in the market for, I think they would probably go today. I think they go safety. Me, I would probably prioritize playmaker or another trench player, given what they've done or haven't done to this point. And so my short list would probably be one of the guards would be Dionne Walker or DJ Giddens or one

of these playmakers. And that would be kind of how I would think things through. But again, I would have done some different things to the roster. So I'm not being this point right here. But yeah, DJ Giddens would be a good pick. Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about playmakers and opening it up that way, if we felt better about the roster, we will be talking about Jalen Noel. We will be talking about Jalen Royals, these wide receivers right now as potential slot options. But given what we are talking about, Andrew McCuba is still a player that I'm very interested in here. But Charles Grant, if we're talking about a guard, let's introduce this name and spend a little bit of time with it here. Maybe we pick Charles Grant, a player the Bengals Ardrip, bringing in for a visit, has the highest film grades out of any of the available guard options here.

Although Jonah Savonaya is a close second in that category or might actually even have the edge by a little bit. but Charles Grant with the data to back him up and a player the Bengals are bringing in for a visit, I don't think that you can likely get him in day three. And so if we wanted to go for a player that we know the Bengals have had contact with, we know the Bengals like to draft players they've had those 30 visits with, we could say it's Charles Grant here.

Yeah, I'm comfortable with that. I think I would have Winston ahead of Maccuba. and I know MacCuba's got a lot of a lot of fans out there. I think the Bengals you look at what McCuba brings and then you look at Winston, I think that they'll prefer wins. I'm not sure on that. I think there's a lot to like it just because

he's coming off of a knee. Injuries happen, especially if you're a sub 200 pound safety, by the and the tackling factor and all of those things is huge. But he certainly can patrol the back end. And so I think those two guys certainly on the radar here, but let's do it. Let's complete the trench thirst and go with Charles Grant, baby, and Kelvin Banks, Jr., Prince Lee,

Ooman Malin, and Charles Grant, the trench thirst, well, hopefully has been quenched a little bit, Jake, because we certainly went all in on the trenches this mock. I can't wait for PFF to kill our third round pick when we see the grade on it. They don't like our pick of Kelvin, Kelvin Banks either. They wanted us to pick the defensive tackle, especially given that we, We'd already picked a tackle, and they're not considering these tackles guard. So, of course, PFF hates the picks, but Kelvin Banks, Princeley and Charles Grant. And I think the interesting thing about this particular mock James is it shows us a path where perhaps the first round guard isn't maximizing value.

Maybe it is. Maybe both of these guys hit. And now your offensive line just has five quality players on it, right? If Charles Grant can play one of your guard spots and Kelvin Banks can play the other. and they both have tackle experience, that's awesome. William and Mary Charles Grant might need a year. That's not uncommon for small school players making that jump to the NFL. But if you get a player that can contribute in the past rush,

you get a player that can start on the offensive line, awesome. And maybe that's more argument to the safety conversation or the running back conversation or even the wide receiver conversation in the third round where you feel like you have a couple of starters or rotational players in Calvin Banks and Prince Lee. and then you want to get somebody else that's going to make that instant impact a little bit more. Maybe that's what pushes you in the direction of one of those safeties or one of those playmakers on offense. Yeah, I think exactly right.

And this does show it. And that's a good way to put it. Like, if it's, if we're talking Nickyman Worry, Prince Lee, Uman, Malin, and Charles Grant, or insert guard, your Ozzie Tripillo, or whoever you were thinking there, well, now it feels pretty balanced. It feels like you added two defensive playmakers. you addressed your offensive line at the same time. Is anyone going to complain of Charles Grant and Kelvin Banks, Jr. Are both hits? The heck no.

Add the linemen and add more linemen. Like maybe Charles Grant is your swing tackle this year. Or maybe Kelvin Banks is your swing tackle this year. And it goes the other way. Like, who knows? Maybe both start at guard for you right now. And you certainly hope that Prince, Prince Lee, Ouman Maylin can bring some of that pass rush juice.

easy for me to say. Regardless, though, I do think that this showed sort of the path. And again, I would be pretty surprised. Maybe I'm wrong. I would be surprised if Winston and McCuber are both there in round three. I think Winston, he's going to have a lot of,

when you look at his size, you look at some of the traits. I think he's going to have some big fans, including the Bengals, in the NFL ahead of the draft. I think that both of those guys will have fans, but I do think there's a chance. There's a chance. There's a chance.

No doubt. No doubt. I'm not trying to dismiss it. I think a lot of people just assume, oh, we'll get Winston round three. And it's like, all right, well, relax. Because everything that everybody's seeing, that, oh, that's great value. The whole league sees that. The whole league seeing Winston and McCuba and the positives that come with both of those guys, too.

Yeah. And the whole league wants to trade back. That's the other thing. Obviously trade back opportunities there throughout this draft for us. But that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. You can tell us how much you love or hate the draft, but just pay attention to the reasoning is all I'm asking in the comments. Until next time, thanks for listening.

Hootay and have a good one. He said, be reasonable in the comments.