Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Should Jordan Battle and Jermaine Burton have expanded roles for the Cincinnati Bengals?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Could furthering the youth movement help this Cincinnati Bengals team in 2024? 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. Well, 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 Rupin. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network here on Lockdown Bengals,

Starting point is 00:00:32 covering your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast. Welcome back to the everydayers. Appreciate the regulars so very much that they get a shout out at the top of every show. You know who you are. And welcome back to everyone who makes us their first list. If you don't do either of those things, you're welcome to make that a habit. Or just click the subscribe button if you're new so you don't miss an episode of lockdown Bengals wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube. Today's episode, we'll be talking about a potential youth movement at a number of positions and some hope on the horizon for the Bengals on the defensive

Starting point is 00:01:05 line where perhaps there's some good news coming from an injury perspective. An episode brought to you by Fandall where you can place your first $5 bet to get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. You can check it out at fandle.com to get started. You got some mailbag questions here, James. It will help to guide our conversation a little bit. And there are a lot of people very curious on the topic of a youth movement focused on Jordan Battle and the Cincinnati Bengals' safeties.

Starting point is 00:01:34 A lot of focus on the secondary in general, but Jordan Battle for weeks we've had questions. Why won't they get Jordan Battle on the field? Why isn't Jordan Battle playing over Von Bell? And it's really been a focus on Von Bell, which I find interesting. But the question from the mailbag today that will help us to talk about this question is the Natty King who asked, at one point will Lou Aniromo be forced to play Jordan Battle? How bad will safety play have to get? And it's great because Lou Aniromu was asked about this on Monday.

Starting point is 00:02:04 And we got some context from Lou and have some insight we can share. Yeah, let's start here. And I like how the Natty King phrased the end of it. The safety play bad. Well, yeah, one, Von Bell has not been their worst safety, at least in my mind. This isn't Lou's opinion. This is my opinion. Gino Stone has been worse than Von Bell.

Starting point is 00:02:28 If we're doing that, if we're doing the Stockwatch, which the Bengals have to do internally, of course, and since this is locked on Bengals, we will certainly do. If I was ranking the Bengals roster right now, one to 53, Von Bell would be higher than Geno Stone, because the plays that I've noticed, Geno Stone, are usually negative plays. The one chance he had at an interception, the ball got ripped from him in week one. What were the Bengals bringing him in for to make big plays? He had seven interceptions last year for the Ravens. The Bengals need that. This defense desperately needs that, and we haven't seen it through four weeks. Doesn't mean we're not going to see it. Revenge game coming against the Ravens this week. Who knows? Maybe it happens.

Starting point is 00:03:07 But this idea that putting Jordan battle in for Von Bell is going to solve the Bengals issues defensively, I think Vaughn has been okay. I don't think he's been great. I don't think he's been bad. And that's what's interesting here is I think the perception of Jordan, rather, in the perception of Vaughn has been almost skewed to the point where a lot of people think Vaughn is on his, is entering his Uncle Mike era. In Jordan Battle is this young, blossoming safety that's ready to go. I mean, Lou basically said, yeah, Jordan was behind entering camp. Well, what could that mean?

Starting point is 00:03:48 And I'm speculating here, but what could that mean? Well, could it be a playbook? Probably not. He was on this defense last year. I didn't really hear of him struggling with the playbook after he got on the field. But I think that the public perception of Jordan being this awesome safety, partially because of the PFF grades didn't really line up with how the coaching staff viewed him. And then he comes into camp.

Starting point is 00:04:10 And you didn't really notice him. I know he had the pick six in the preseason against third stringers, which is an awesome play. And by the way, if he can bring that, then of course get him on the field. But it's not like I noticed him a ton. When you were at camp, did you notice Jordan Battle a ton when he was playing against backups, when he's playing against Jake Browning or even third stringers? I didn't. I noticed Vaughn pretty regularly. And so I do think he's still ahead of where people have Jordan. And the other part of this is how would people have reacted? And it was the easiest interception ever. You and I could have caught it. But had Jordan Battle been on the field for that interception against Vaughn or against the Panthers, the one that Vaughn picked off? I bet people would have been like, see, he just makes plays. Well, Vaughn made a big play there. And that was a big play in the game. You can't.

Starting point is 00:05:02 overlooked that even though it was the easiest interception probably in his career. I think the overall challenge here is that maybe Jordan Battle could be better. It's possible. We don't know. It could be that he would go out there and he could play better than the safeties that the Bengals have out there. But it's not as simple as saying Von Bell has been bad. Jordan Battle is obviously a better player.

Starting point is 00:05:27 It's possible. And maybe PFF is right about this. Maybe the fans are all right about this. But if he came into camp behind, whatever that means, and Lou is saying that he's starting to catch up, he's starting to get to a point where they're feeling more comfortable with him. And if he continues to trend in the right direction, paraphrasing Lou here, then they're going to find more opportunities for him.

Starting point is 00:05:48 Well, then at that point, he gets into the game. He has a trust of the coaching staff that he's doing the right things and he needs to get onto the field. But a big reason they made their changes at safety that they did was to have guys that made fewer mistakes back there. And to your point, I don't think that Vaughn is making these big mental mistakes, where we've seen some mistakes happen or where we've seen the secondary be exposed and coverage has been, in my opinion, and this aligns with you here a little bit.

Starting point is 00:06:21 I'm more concerned with Gino Stone right now in terms of what he's bringing to the team because we've seen him make mistakes when trying to fill, come off the top, come off the ceiling in the run game. We talked about one of those angle plays, and everyone saw it against the Panthers. We talked about that with Mike yesterday on the film review. And in addition to that, you're seeing him, the speed limitations show up in coverage.

Starting point is 00:06:46 One of them, he gives up a touchdown against the Panthers. He's getting beat over the top, and that happened against Terry McLaren, where Terry McClain splits, Cam Taylor Britt. and Gino Stone and just runs by them, and they're supposed to have, you know, Camp Taylor Bird is supposed to have help over the top there.

Starting point is 00:07:02 Geno Stone needs to be able to provide that help over the top. And so those are things that you need to get better too. They don't necessarily have that speed and athleticism at safety right now. They had that last year with Dax, even though Dax wasn't playing at a high level and was making mistakes, especially down the stretch. They certainly had that with Jesse Bates back there, right? That element, they're now missing.

Starting point is 00:07:26 and Jordan Battle doesn't quite get you that. Maybe he helps make better plays in the run game. Maybe he is just in better position and uses his instincts to be in better position and coverage. And maybe that's worth a shot because you can't get that much worse necessarily. And I don't think he would be significantly worse than either safety, honestly.

Starting point is 00:07:46 But I also don't know how much better he would be. And he doesn't necessarily answer the thing that they're lacking there, which is what makes it complicated to me, is that they need athleticism and speed back there. And maybe Jordan Battle gives you a little bit more of that, a little bit, but it's not like he tested like a great athlete either when he was coming out of Alabama, given younger player and maybe has some athleticism growth left on the tree there, as it were. But it's not just this no-brainer thing to me that it seems to be for a lot of people that you put Jordan Battle in and it's better.

Starting point is 00:08:17 But maybe it's worth a try at this point. That's kind of where I'm at on it is. Maybe it's worth a try because what we've seen from the state. the last two weeks. Yeah, I would say this. Maybe get him a few steps and see, see how it goes, see if there's a big difference one way or the other. You don't have to make this big dramatic change where Gino Stone is suddenly your third

Starting point is 00:08:38 safety or Von Bell is suddenly in the Uncle Mike role that all these people want him in. It's silly to think that. And if pro football focus didn't exist, and I like PFF, would people really be feeling this way about Jordan Battle? You know, like, would you? Or would you just trust your eyes? And yeah, Von Bell had an awful tackle attempt on, I believe it was Miles Sanders the other day. Outside of that, a lot of his plays have been coverage issues that have always been coverage issues where he's just getting beat physically.

Starting point is 00:09:10 Has Jordan Battle done enough to, and like I said, I noticed Von and camp in coverage making plays. Has Jordan Battle done enough to earn those snaps? I'm not sure. can you get Von a little bit of a breather where instead of 100% of the snaps he's playing 90 and Gino 90% instead of 100 and then you get 27 on the field a bit more. Maybe you do that. You see how he plays. You get him some experience. I think that that's the element that's interesting here.

Starting point is 00:09:39 You went with a cornerback rotation the other day. That should probably continue to a degree with DJ Turner. I think because of the speed and athleticism, I think that's similar at safety. maybe you do that and see how Jordan Battle fares. We have a lot to get to in the mailbag, including Germain Burton. Will Germain Burton get more snaps? You asked it. We'll answer it coming up next.

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Starting point is 00:11:06 Again, that's code locked on NFL in the price picks app to get $50 instantly after you place your first $5 lineup. We've talked about one young J.B. on this team. And that is not Joe Burrow, but we've got another young J.B. You call on Joe Old? You call on Joe Old? All right. I'm just saying we're not talking about him today as a potential substitution candidate for this team. Michael Ruffin at Mr. 513. Who day has a question about Jermaine Burton. And this is another common question.

Starting point is 00:11:39 And it's another common question in the same vein as Jordan Battle, really, which is why is any playing. Why aren't these young guys who we've seen make plays play more? And this question for Michael Ruffin is, what's up with Jermaine Burton and his usage? Is it when his number is called, Joe isn't looking for him? Is he not getting open? I would love to see him on some screens, possibly kick returns. So essentially, can they find a role for Jermaine Burton, James? Yes. That role is probably five to eight snaps, a deep option, somewhere. that opposing defenses have to account for. But if you mean, can they find a role as in him be out there for 25 plus snaps?

Starting point is 00:12:23 The answer is no. The answer is no. And we've talked about the wrinkles, the versatility that this offense has, where they're playing three tight ends, probably 20 snaps apiece minimum every week. I think that's a pretty reasonable expectation moving forward. you want T. Higgins on the field for more than he was against the Panthers, mostly because you're not going to be running the ball like you did every single week. So you get him on the field for, let's say, 80% of the snaps, 75%, something in that range. We know Jamar doesn't come off the field much.

Starting point is 00:12:55 And Andre Yosefash has settled into wide receiver three. He really has. He's taking the reins there. And that doesn't mean he's going to be super productive every week, but they trust him to do all of the things necessary. Now, can Burton have a role? Absolutely. he's your deep threat. He's the compliment to all of those other pieces. And this would be a great week for him to make an explosive player or two.

Starting point is 00:13:19 Who wouldn't love that if Jermaine Burton makes those plays? So that's what I think his role is. And barring injury, I think that's what his role is going to continue to be for now. It doesn't mean he's not doing the right things. But having him as wide receiver four, and that's what he's been the past two weeks, even though the fourth wide receiver isn't playing a lot on offense. I think that's where he's going to settle into. And maybe those snaps go up from four snaps to eight snaps. But unless there's an injury, I kind of think that that's his role, which is fine. As long as Burrow is willing to throw in the ball, he's earned Burroughs trust, because I do think that'll pay off with some big plays this season. I do wonder if this is a reminder that rookie progression isn't always linear. They were really happy with the big play he made a few weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:14:07 and then it looked like he might have run the wrong route in week three, didn't get into the game after there were two wide receivers, conspicuously close to one another. Spacing looked really weird on one play in week three, and then we didn't see him play for the remainder of that game. So very easy to speculate that in week three, he ran an incorrect route, and the coach has said,

Starting point is 00:14:30 ah, maybe he's not quite where we thought he would be. Joe Burrough said, he's not quite doing what we need him to do on a consistent basis. We had a bad spacing wrong route on one play, and that leads to a little bit of a dip while he is rebuilding that trust and making sure that he has his T's crossed and his eyes dotted, right? So it could be as simple as that, a reminder that rookie development is rarely linear

Starting point is 00:14:57 and where there are players who have been around longer, who have played at a decent enough or high level, depending on which player you're talking about, it's hard for rookies to get on the field sometimes. But there are a few other aspects of this question to talk about. One of them is, is Burrow just not throwing the ball to Burton when he's on the field? And they have had Burton on the field at least a couple times a game,

Starting point is 00:15:17 and he is doing exactly what you would think Jermaine Burton would do, which is running some sort of vertical route tree route, whether it's a post against quarters that Joe Burrow could have thrown that certain individuals pointed out on social media, or it's a go route or a clear-out route or whatever it is, those are generally the routes are running with Jermaine Burton, including I think, and I would have to double check. I think there was a play action play where he was on the field

Starting point is 00:15:43 and he was perhaps a deep option in week four. But it could be mistaken who was on the field for that play. Regardless, they're using him on offense, I guess the way that you would expect him to be used, but there's the opportunity to use him a little bit more. And like you said, that could be doubling his snaps from 4 to 8 or maybe it's from 4 to 10 or something like that. But his usage is going to be pretty reliant on what the game asks for.

Starting point is 00:16:11 And against the Panthers, the game was asking for, we're going to run the ball a lot. At least that's what the Bengals coaching staff decided. And when you look at the snap breakdown, it's hard to see where those snaps are going to come from for Jermaine Burton to get on the field. If they want to keep Eric and Drew sample on the field for in week three, it was about four out of seven snaps. they had two tight ends on the field.

Starting point is 00:16:33 That makes it hard to get Jermaine Burton on the field because they're not taking T. Higgins or Jemar Chase off the field for Jermaine Burton. So you'd be taking Yosevash off for Burton and in a run-heavy game, they seem to think Andre Yosevash is their best run-blocking optional wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:16:48 He led all wide receivers in week four in run-blocking snaps, even beating out Jemar Chase in this category. Jemar Chase playing a conspicuously low number of snaps for what we're used to for him 53 out of 67 in the stats because of the increased use of 12 personnel and some of those 12 personnel looks featuring Andre Yosevash's only receiver in the run game.

Starting point is 00:17:08 And that's specifically what it is. So trying to find where those stats come from when the team is leaning into 12 personnel is challenging. And then the game actually calling for those plays where you're protecting well enough, which they have been this year. And the deep shot is what the defense is offering to you and finding those plays to take those opportunities, that is a challenge for this coaching staff to get the most out of Jermaine Burton.

Starting point is 00:17:34 But I will say the one other bit here that Michael mentions is getting them on kick returns. I'm interested in that. I know we haven't seen it, but I do think that they need more juice than 32 offers as that second kick returner for teams who want to let them return kicks. Honestly, they need to put wide receivers four and five on kick returns. Sure. Because Chase Brown is too valuable. The drop off between Zach Moss and Chase Brown and the rest.

Starting point is 00:17:59 rest of the running backs is too there. It's just too big. And so get him the heck off a kick returns. And so there you go, Jermaine Burton. And then Charlie Jones is wide receiver five right now. Okay. Well, get him some another touch or two by putting him on kickoffs. That's what I would do. But yeah, I agree with a lot of what you said. He is a deep threat. He is going to contribute. Maybe he has two touchdowns against Baltimore. But I don't think and don't first see him getting 20 plus snaps this week or any week soon because of all of the options they have, because of the different ways they're going to use them. And by the way, that's fine. That's okay. The beauty of drafting Jermaine Burton when you did is he can complement these guys and can

Starting point is 00:18:43 grow into his role. Well, his role right now is a deep threat that is going to compliment things. And hopefully, if the coaching staff listens to Jake and I, is also kickoff returner. So we'll see if that happens. But that's, that makes sense. to me. I'm not mad at that. If Jermaine Burton, if you look up and he has, you know, he's averaging 20-ish yards per catch and doesn't have a lot of catches, has a couple of touchdowns. Like, that's okay because defenses are going to have to account for that throughout the year because he's put it on film once.

Starting point is 00:19:14 And I think poised to do it again because we know he can win vertically. Over the course of the year, would like to see it a little bit more. Sorry, just wanted to interject one last time, but like to see this grow over the course of the year. And we're on the same page there. Yeah, of course. You want him to be a bigger factor as the year goes on. I just think right now there's reasons why he's not getting more snaps,

Starting point is 00:19:37 and those reasons are reasonable, even though he is clearly at this point, I think, wide receiver four. Up next, the latest on the punter battle, some weird movement in the Bengals defensive line room, and much, much more. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle. Right now, the Bengals, while they're home underdogs, and their home underdogs by two and a half points.

Starting point is 00:19:58 That line opened at one and a half, quickly moved to two and a half. The thing that's interesting about the Fandle odds of Sunday's game between the Bengals and Ravens is the over under. The overunders moved up from 48 and a half to 50 and a half. So, well, expect a lot of points on Sunday. The Bengals, who knows, maybe they drop 40 on Sunday. Maybe that's what you think. Regardless, you got to get the Fandle, America's number one sports book, because they have all of the parlayes, all of the wagers that you could think about,

Starting point is 00:20:26 making this week in week five of the NFL. And that includes same game parlays. That includes player props. And so take advantage of the offer they're giving you just for listening to Lockdown Bengals today by going to Fandall.com and getting started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Again, all you have to do is go to fandle.com, place that first $5 bet in boom, you will get $200 and bonus bets guaranteed. That's fandle.com. A few roster moves notable for the Cincinnati Bengals on, well, between Monday and Tuesday, I guess, depending on when you're listening to this. One, after we recorded yesterday, the Bengals announced that they were activating Brad Robbins from the Indured Reserve to public freakout. What do you mean they're using an IR return on Brad Robbins?

Starting point is 00:21:21 What do you mean Ryan Rico hasn't won the job? Why is this move necessary? Well, it was necessary so they could release Brad Robbins. straight up. That's the simple part of it. It was roster gymnastics. The way that the new IR return rules worked this year, and this was news to me as well, James,

Starting point is 00:21:38 when they put those guys, those three guys on IR on the day of the cutdown, Brad Robbins being one, Miles Murphy being another, and McKinley Jackson being the third, those guys are automatically designated for return, which I wasn't aware of. I thought they could choose whether or not

Starting point is 00:21:55 they were going to be designated for return later. This is a new rule. in 2024. The Bengals have a maximum of eight IR returns this year, but by putting those guys on IR on the cut down day to free up those

Starting point is 00:22:10 roster spots and also have those guys be eligible to return this year, no longer have to carry them to the initial 53. That's the new rule this year. They're automatically designated for return that automatically use three of their return spots from the IR this year at that point in time. And thus, this move to

Starting point is 00:22:26 activate Robbins, then release him ends up being procedural. Well, it was procedural and just full disclosure. Brad Robbins had the punting job pretty much won, just to be very clear. I know people don't want to know that, but he was like well ahead of Ryan Rico when he suffered that injury. And it was probably going to win the job. And so he gets hurt.

Starting point is 00:22:49 And the Bengals, they're like, all right, well, he still might be our punter. That's why they did what they did. Because I think there will be people that say, why would you do that? well, no one knew Ryan Rico was going to be this. No one. They thought he had talent, but he's been far better, far more consistent thus far. And it's only been a month, but more consistent. Then we saw in training camp, then we saw in the preseason, for that matter.

Starting point is 00:23:12 And so that's part of it is Ryan Rico just shine bright. And now it's like, well, Brad never had a shot. Well, Brad actually won the job. I would have been shocked if he didn't. And you could go back and pull clips of us talking from during training. camp. I mean, he's clearly ahead. So that part is why they did what they did is because there was a real chance that at some point in their minds that Brad Robbins punted for them this year. The other part of this, and I do think it's interesting, I don't think they're going to

Starting point is 00:23:42 resign Brad to the practice squad or anything like that, but they had to go this route to leave that door open. So you can't waive someone with an injury designation and then sign them that same season. So he was already designated to return. He already took up one of their spots. Do it. Get it done. And then who knows, right? They do have the practice squad spot open, which we'll talk about in a second. I don't think that's going to be Brad Robbins's spot just to be fully clear. But the door is open. If anything did happen to Ryan Rico or if suddenly that inconsistency that we saw in preseason and training camp creeps up again. Hopefully not because he's been awesome, better than anyone could have expected. it. So that offers a little bit of clarity there. But as far as the practice squad spot,

Starting point is 00:24:31 why they have a spot open on the practice squad, KJ Henry signed a two-year deal or agreed to a two-year deal on Tuesday with the Dallas Cowboys. So he goes from the Bengals practice squad to the Cowboys active roster, good for KJ Henry, opens up a practice squad spot. And by releasing Brad Robbins, the Bengals now have a spot open on their roster, a spot open on their practice squad after the KJ Henry move. I assume the roster spot is going to go to Miles Murphy this week. I anticipate him being activated. We're recording this Tuesday afternoon.

Starting point is 00:25:07 I think he'll be activated in practice, and I think he's much farther along from a returning to game standpoint. I'm not sure if it'll be this week, but it could certainly be this week. I don't think McKinley Jackson is as far along, even though both guys could certainly be activated to practice or be clear. to practice. Hopefully it's this week for Miles Murphy because then everything can kind of make sense. And this goes along with a couple of other pieces on the defensive line with Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:25:34 and B.J. Hill where hopefully those guys are also okay this week. And we'll get to that in just a second. But if Miles Murphy is good to go, then losing KJ. Henry is less impactful because then you've added this first round draft pick back to your defensive end rotation instead of potentially needing to rely on this practice squad call-up because Kajar Henry was on the Bengals roster and then he went to the practice squad and now he's back on another active roster, right? And so it's a little odd to see a player get a two-year deal

Starting point is 00:26:06 off of a practice squad. The Cowboys are so desperate. Like they're so desperate. I think that that's, yeah. They're incredibly banged up. Playing Steelers this week, by the way. Congratulations Steelers. No past rushers healthy for the dead.

Starting point is 00:26:22 Dallas Cowboys. But the desperation point could be such that like, KJ. Henry maybe doesn't want to go, but then he gets that second year. And it's like, okay, sure. If you're going to offer me two years, I'll take that. Absolutely. No-brainer when you're on a practice squad to take a two-year deal, maybe a bit of a brainer, a bit of something you have to think about on a one-year deal. So the Bengals lose a little bit of defensive line depth, which is not great, but they should get some of it back this weekend, at least. least that's what we're hoping. Hopefully, B.J. Hill, who was part of pregame warmups in week four

Starting point is 00:26:59 is on the T. Higgins path where they go through pregame warmups a week before and then they're active the next week. And it's consistently been the message from Zach Taylor that Hill is ahead of Rankins in his recovery. So maybe not Rankins this week, but you get Hill back. And that helps a lot. And hopefully the initial news we got about Trey Hendrickson, that there's no nerve damage for him after he suffered that singer, which is a very scary injury, and that it's just a pain management thing, and I don't say that to minimize it, but that is the primary thing we think,

Starting point is 00:27:29 can he play, can he deal with the things that come along with this stinger? There's a chance for those guys this week to really bolster the depth on this defensive line. I mean, Trey Hendrickson, yeah, he's been there. So keeping him is important, but getting B.J. Hill back and Miles Murphy back would be two very important pieces if they can go this week. No doubt. No doubt. I think, and I think it's realistic.

Starting point is 00:27:52 Miles Murphy, we'll see, because they do friend cautiously with stuff like this. So it's really going to be dependent on how he looks Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And I'm not sure we'll know. And they don't have to make a call officially until Saturday, I believe, they can activate him then. And they have that open roster spots. So it would be really easy to do. So we'll see. And I think if you could have him, even if he's healthy but not, it doesn't have the

Starting point is 00:28:23 wind to play a full allotment of snaps. And you have BJ Hill. It, to your point, can come together some. It can feel much better than it's felt the past couple of weeks. So we'll see. Hopefully Miles Murphy can come back. And again, he avoided serious injury, but you don't want this to linger. And I think that's why they put him on.

Starting point is 00:28:44 are to begin with. They don't want to be tempted to bring him back at 70% and how close is he to 100%. Who knows? Hopefully I'll be able to chat with him on Wednesday or Thursday this week and talk with him. But no, I would expect him probably by the time people are hearing this, certainly before Wednesday's practice, to be clear to practice, which is great news. Yeah, especially given the kind of running game that Baltimore will present as a challenge to the Bengals this week. They're over 250 for two straight weeks. That's the stat, right?

Starting point is 00:29:19 On the ground. So there will be challenges to this Bengals defensive front. There will be challenges to this Bengals' defense's ability to tackle. There will be challenges for this Bengals' offense to put up 40 as from an EPA perspective, from an efficiency perspective, and we'll get into this, the Baltimore offense and the Bengals offense are right neck and neck. They're both right around the same spot in EPA per play on offense, which is a measure of your overall offensive efficiency, right?

Starting point is 00:29:51 The big difference is that Baltimore has a somewhat functional defense, and the Bengals haven't had that the last two weeks. Hopefully, Miles Murphy, BJ Hill, and Trey Hendrickson, and getting closer to the defensive line that they envisioned at the beginning of training camp will be a step in that direction, but we will have plenty of time to dive into that. We've got our crossover already coming up tomorrow, James, here, then a game preview, just like that. The weeks fly by once we get into the season.

Starting point is 00:30:18 So that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening. Ho-Day and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Should Jordan Battle and Jermaine Burton have expanded roles for the Cincinnati Bengals?

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