Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Should Zac Taylor Give Up Playcalling and Would it Make the Bengals Better?

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

As Dan Pitcher has completed his first interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bengals are risking the continuity they planned for 2026. Should Zac Taylor have considered giving up offensive play calling duties to keep Pitch in the building? Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down the arguments on both sides of the play calling discussion, and update the latest on Tampa's offensive coordinator search that will impact the Bengals' future.Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubJoin 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!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl.Ultimate QBUltimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads, and works 100% offline — perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. Just head over to http://ULTIMATE-QB.COM.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is officially in Playoff Mode. Every game day during the NFL playoffs, FanDuel is giving customers even more ways to get in on the action. Visit Fanduel.com to get started.   PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload 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.RobinhoodTrade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firmIndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl.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.

Should Zach Taylor be considering giving Dan pitcher play calling duties to maintain the continuity that Bengals are building their offseason around? Let's break it back. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcast network in the land. Welcome back to the everydayers.

Welcome back to everyone who makes Lockdown Bengals part of their daily routine. And he's James Rapine. I'm Jake Lisco. We've been locked on Bengals here since 2016, your best one-stop shop online for all things, Bengals. And as we continue to monitor the Tampa Bay offensive coordinator job, as it seems to directly pertain to the Bengals future for that same job, we start with the latest developments there and ask the question. Well, should Zach Taylor just be letting Dan Pitcher call the plays?

What's behind Zach Taylor continuing to call the plays or not? Everyone who's in Everydayer knows that we are covering your team every day here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. And in case you didn't know, we've got the Everydayer Club out there now. Check it out at Lockdown or sorry, at Supercast. Nope. Lockdown Bengals. com for detail. on how to join the everyday air club get an ad-free version of this podcast.

And one day I'll get that URL correct. James should Zach Taylor have just said, you know what, it's time for Dan pitcher to call the place. It's important to keep Dan pitcher in the building. Locked on Bengals. com. Let's go.

Let's dive into this because I think there are a lot of people that are going to say, hell yeah. hell yeah do it make it happen it needs to happen it's i got a tweet today on on wednesday morning like he was bad at play calling at the university of cincinnati he's always been bad and look there's layers to this there's reasons behind this and to me on a very high level approach not a game to game approach how much do you value dan pitcher how much are you willing to give up and would you feel that way if bryan callahan and we're also unavailable.

And I think that's what's really tough here is they, like Brian, really good friends with Brian, he's available, his offensive coordinator for five years. Dan Pitcher's been the offensive coordinator for the past couple. I think he might be looking at the buckstop and be like, man, I would have been a head coach by now. Had I gone there in 2023, maybe that's how he's feeling. Maybe he thought he was going to get the Cleveland Brown's job.

maybe he thought with all these openings he would get interviewed more. And he's like, well, why am I not getting interviewed? And so he's looking around. I get like the Dan why. Like it could be a bunch of different things. Ultimately, when it comes to Zach Taylor, when it comes to this Bengals offense, they are, if they win a Super Bowl, we're going to look at it and say, well, the offense is what got them there. The offense is what carry them.

Elite quarterback plays what got there. And so what makes the Bengals best is it exactly. Taylor in the continuity of him calling plays and losing Dan pitcher potentially. If so, then own it. And fine, but you better have a nice list of offensive coordinator options. And obviously, Brian Callahan would be at the top of that list. He's not going to the Chargers now, which I think that matters because you've got pitcher and Callahan kind of competing for this Buccaneers job, Zach Robinson in the mix as well.

If you lose pitcher to Tampa Bay and Callahan comes back, are you worse off? Are you the same? And how do you get better? I do think this offense, one thing that a lot of people are going to say all offseason, and we're certainly going to hear when we meet every day or is in person and in the community, it's going to be, they just got to fix the defense. Offense is there. And fine.

I want the offense to be even better. And so how do you get that? And does that mean Dan Pitcher stays around and calls the plays? Or Brian Callahan comes in and calls the play. and Zach Taylor takes a back seat. I don't care. Honestly, I have no preference. What makes the Bengals best?

That should be what they're exploring and they need to find that answer. Here's an argument for Zach Taylor keeping play calling. And this goes to a number of levels. First, Zach Taylor is a head coach of the team and his primary responsibilities on the offensive side of the ball. That's just a reality. That's not how it should be. The entire team success falls at his feet.

the defense falls at his feet. He's the guy that is putting together that defensive staff. But from a day-to-day perspective, what Zach does is primarily on the offensive side of the ball. That's why he was hired was to run the offense and then they paired him with this quarterback. And now he's been the play caller for Joe Burrow for their entire time together. There have been times where, and Zach has called this a collaborative effort, where Dan Pitcher or Brian Callahan have essentially called plays through Zach. Taylor. That part of game day communication does happen. That is a real thing that occurs.

But in this year that, I don't know, is it do or die for Zach Taylor? I guess we'll find out in about a year from now, but it certainly feels like it should be. Not going to be two years left on his deal this time would be otherwise entering a lame duck season. And typically around the NFL, coaches don't like to go into that lame duck season. They like to get an extension done or figure out what their fate is going to be. And if you're Zach Taylor, you're the Bengals, you want to go down or rise up with this guy. Zach is a guy that you've put in charge for this reason to elevate your offense to make you a top offensive team in the NFL. And when Joe Burroughs been healthy, they have produced that way.

But if you want to find out or you need another data point, which is, you know, can this offense be more? consistent? Can this offense be more dominant? Well, why, why give Zach Taylor another excuse? That's part of it. Zach should want it for himself so he can either ride or die with himself, right? He's calling the plays that either extend his career or lead him in another direction. And Bengals' ownership should want to see, all right, is this a guy? And yeah, should they know by now? probably but why make that change now and say you know what the reason it wasn't good this year is because we had a new offensive play caller sure too now from from a practical perspective of like do we want to lose the institutional knowledge of dan pitcher as you were talking about this tampa job is dan pitcher did his interview on wednesday morning his zoom interview

we think brian callahan and zach robinson are going to be down there in person on thursday as they're working on their offensive coordinator search. Maybe this is the only job that Zach was cool with Dan Pitcher interviewing for because as things crystallized, and they're still unfilled head coaching jobs, so there will be more offensive coordinator opportunities popping up as these head coaching jobs get filled. But maybe Zach saw it as, you know what? Yeah, you can go interview for Tampa because if Cali gets that job, then you don't have an opportunity there anymore.

And I can say, you know what, you can't interview for these other jobs. I don't know if that's exactly how it works, but I assume it's an interview by interview permission basis. And if that's the case, then maybe that's specifically why Pitch was allowed to go interview for this Tampa job. Yeah, it could be that simple. And if it is great, I think you bring up a good point. The Bengals better win in 2026. And that's it. And I think that's, if it's Zach Collin plays, if it's Jake Liscoe calling plays, if it's Earl and Rose, seven calling plays. I really don't care because there's there cannot be any excuses. That's it. And to your point, the quickest way to have an excuse is, oh, well, we have this new play caller

and it took a few weeks and man, oh man, once we got moving, no excuses. I do not care. I don't care. I don't care if Joe Burrow misses four games. I don't care if Zach Taylor's calling plays or Earl is calling plays or Earl calls every second down in 11 run and Zach calls every second down in 13 run notice how they are both running on second down I don't know why we're here but we're here and that's up to them to figure out but I certainly want them to be better on offense and if that means keeping Zach's play caller fine if that means tweaking it fine I'm not in the camp get your pitchforks someone else should be calling play zack taylor's the worst play caller in history I'm just not there.

I also get why people are frustrated with some of the game management, getting plays in on time, all of those things. Fine. Fix those things if needed. But ultimately, what's the goal? It's to win. So whatever makes you better. And by the way, if that's, if we lose Dan,

then we got Justin Ruscotti. And that's what Zach Taylor saying to himself. And he's like, there's a big gap there. And we know there's a big gap there. And I'm saying this as Zach Taylor will then make the flip, switch it. They might not feel that way from pitch to Callahan. And so maybe that's the nice spot they're in, especially with the Mike McDaniel News going to Los Angeles. So we'll continue the conversation.

There's more here. There's some senior bowl stuff, some big senior bowl stuff as well as we roll on here on Locked on Bengals. Today's show is brought to you by Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now, you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long.

Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move. with it. I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Now I can take part live in a market powered by people. You're no longer just a spectator. Play-by-play, you decide. Trade every play with Robin Hood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robin Hood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate

for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC. I registered Futures Commission merchant and swap firm. We're also brought to you today by Game Time, your best one-stop shop for any ticket purchase you need, whether it's a playoff game, you want to just go watch a conference championship. I think there's some fun conference championship games coming, especially in the NFC. Maybe you want to go down to UC. You have a chance to storm the court against the number two team in the country. Maybe you wanted to be part of that.

Maybe you just missed the crowd noise, the energy, cheering alongside other fans. Well, game time gives the advantage back to you. when you're looking for tickets. It's a hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. You can pull the Game Time app to check out upcoming games and events in your area and find great ticket options almost easily. We love on Lockdown Bengals, the view from my seat feature on Game Time. I don't know about you.

I've been to Wrigley Field a couple times and those obstructive views that exist out there, I sure wish I knew ahead of time more than once in my life. And the fees are all included up front so you know exactly what you're going to pay. You can take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on NFL. That's L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FL-L-C-K-E-O-N-FL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Again, you just have to create an account.

Use code Locked on NFL. You'll get $20 off your first purchase of tickets. Download game time today and get back to being their life. Jake, do you think there's a scenario where Zach giving up play calling doesn't become an excuse. I feel like if he did do that and they stuck with pitcher early on next year, it just, it almost feels inevitable that it would come back to bite them. Even if they started three and one and that one loss, oh, yeah, we had this issue or that issue.

I just feel like it would come up. And I'm not saying don't do it if it makes you better overall, but that, It just seems inevitable. You can almost hear it. At least I can. Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's how this team operates, right? I mean, they always hold on too long. And for whatever reason that is, whether it's late season performances, we've seen sway them in the past, whether it's contract duration, whether it's this excuse.

I mean, you know, injuries to players. I don't know that this team even needs more excuses. they just kind of hold on too long historically. That's just what they do. And maybe that's as simple as, and it doesn't really matter what they do with this particular decision that doesn't look like a decision.

The one thing I'll say, I guess the other thing I'll say, I've been talking a lot. This is a podcast, that's what we do, is look at the teams that are remaining in the playoffs or even the final eight teams. Sean Payton calls the plays. you got Mike McDonald calling the plays,

you got Kyle Shanahan calling the plays, you got Ben Johnson calling the plays, you got Sean McFay calling the place. The final four teams, I don't know if Rabel is calling the defense in New England or not. I should have looked that up, but three out of the four final four teams

have head coaches that call plays for their side of the ball. If you get it right, Andy Reid called plays, obviously, when the Chiefs won those who, Super Bowls before they had this year. But when you get it right, having a play caller that's your head coach gives you that stability over time,

gives you that guy that will always be there pushing the offense forward or defense forward, whatever side of the ball they're on, right? And that's the whole allure of that guy being your head coach. If the Bengals had moved on from Zach Taylor, we would have been talking potential, I mean, who knows who we would have been talking. about but there's this pendulum swing right now that looks like it might be going back toward the defensive side of the ball in the NFL in terms of some of the head coaches like if we get a

Vrabil-McDonald Super Bowl we're going to have our first defensive coach win a Super Bowl since Bill Belichick. So if you're talking about that near the Bengals, then we're talking about how important that offensive coordinator hire is, right? And we're talking about, man, what if they lose that offensive coordinator that really worked with Joe Burrow and of March Jason T. Higgins and really found a way to push them to the next level. That's the other side of the coin. Now, has Zach been able to do that? Like, not quite at the level that we want.

We want to see this offense be the best in the NFL, but they've been a really good offense when they've had Joe Burrow especially. That hasn't really been where their issues are. So, like, this whole idea of changing the play caller, like, what do you think Zach's going to go help the defense? Like, all of you that want Zach fired or want to see play calling taken away from Zach? Like, what's the outside?

Can't call plays anymore. has more time to spend on the defense. Now you trust them to go fix the defense. I mean, maybe it's as simple as game day management and clock management and those sorts of things and improving the operation of getting calls in. I agree with that criticism. I've brought it up before,

but I honestly don't see significant upside personally and changing the play call it from Zach. Yeah, I think it'll always be a collaboration. I think that's the other thing. I think that's part of why they haven't made the change is it's not like Dan isn't on the headset and saying, oh, well, why don't we run this versus that? Like, they have that conversation. And if you flip it, it doesn't mean that Zach won't give his input. The head coach should always give their input, especially in key moments in those game situations.

So like, do they need to be better at game management? Absolutely. That's the case regardless. and just because Zach isn't calling the play, doesn't mean that he's not going to have input on set play. Just to be clear, he's also not going to suddenly become this defensive-minded coach. He's a quarterback.

All right. He's a former quarterback. You ask him about defense, he's like, yeah, well, look, I'm not going to tell Al Golden how to do, let's say it. It's part of it. And so if you're keeping Zach, I get why he would continue to call plays

And by the way, if it were me and I knew I was going into this pressure-packed year where it's going to go potentially one way or another and my job could potentially be on the line, would I want to be in control and calling the plays and going either down or up with what I do or would I want to turn that over? It's pretty clear. A lot of us, 99% of us, I think, would say. Now, if it was clear that it makes you better to do this other thing, fine. but I don't think that's clear.

I think that's very money. How could that possibly be clear? How could anyone know? If the offense was like, if the offense was struggling and they were like, you know what, man, we suddenly hit a wall with Joe Burrough, Jamar, Jason T. Higgins. It's not working anymore. Then that'd be a different conversation, but that's, I mean, Ravens game aside, I know that was a bad one, but like that's still working.

Yeah, it is. It is. It is working. And it also needs to, grow and part of what it needs to grow is personnel-wise there are issues that we'll discuss this off-season it's not like they're perfect they need to upgrade some spots it's not just run it back and fix the defense and be good to go like no there's some stuff on offense you can do better but swapping out play callers i'm not sure that's that's the answer this isn't philly with a j brown

where they're like how do we get him the ball like t higgins had a career high 11 touchdowns Mar Chase, 1,400 yards again. Like, they put up numbers, put up numbers. So that's, that's part of it here. And this isn't the last time that fans are going to want or ask or think about play calling on offense. And I do think Zach Taylor's going to keep it. And do they keep pitcher or bring back Callahan, you better?

Because I don't know what that next step is. And that next step would make me feel pretty uneasy as well when it comes to this offense. So hopefully over the next couple days, we, we figure out that Dan pitcher's staying or that Brian Callahan's returning. Well, I'll ask you one more question about this. And then we'll dive into some senior bull news that senior bowl is going to be good this year. It's going to be exciting. We'll get to those topics to finish this show coming up next. Locktime Bengals is sponsored today by Indeed. Look, if you've ever hired somebody who

looked good on paper, wasn't the right fit in the end, you know how important it is to get that right when you want candidates who truly match what you're looking for there's no one better to trust than indeed sponsored jobs indeed is all you need if you're hiring you can stop struggling to get your job post seen or whatever the issues you're having are with indeed sponsored jobs that put your post at the top of the page to help you reach those right candidates faster none of the issues you're going to have on the other sites if you needed to hire somebody and you needed a specific skill set. Indeed, lets you be specific about what you need, about real experience and not just resume buzzwords. And sponsored jobs will boost your posts to the people who are the best

match for the role. That makes a real difference in speeding things up and finding the right fit. According to their data, Indeed, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed, are 90% likely, 90% more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. Spend more time interviewing candidates to check all your boxes with less stress, less time, and better results using Indeed sponsored jobs. Listeners of this show can get a $75 sponsored job credit to give your job the premium placement. It deserves at Indeed.com slash locked on NFL. Just go to Indeed.com slash locked on NFL and support the show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. If you're hiring, do it the right way with Indeed.

Tax season doesn't have to take over your life this year, TurboTax, is making it easier than ever to hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert, start to finish without the stress or the guesswork that can come with taxes. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out forms, you can meet with a local TurboTax expert in person or connect online. They handle everything from W-2s to self-employed forms and work to get you every deduction. You can upload your documents, go about your day, get updates throughout, and boom, save time. give you real peace of mind and get real peace of mind with a turbo tax.

And right now for a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local expert with turbotax for just $150 all in. A turbotax expert didn't file for you last year. All you have to do is file by February 28th. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. All you have to do is visit turbotax.com slash local. That's turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. Jay's we spent a lot of time talking about

Zach Taylor, this coaching staff, the future of the office of coordinator spot all these things. We've talked about that we would have seen this as a season that you probably could have moved on from Zach. We've made that clear on this podcast in the past and that's now in the past. Zach will be the coach going forward. Say pitcher gets a job elsewhere.

What could convince you that is there a guy out there that would make you say you know what the bengal should really go after this guy and that should mean that gives a play calling like mike macdainiel's not out there anymore that would be a dramatic shift in the kind of offensive running that would be something that would force you to evolve in a pretty big way if mike mcdaniel was that potential coordinator is there somebody out there that would make you think like yeah that's the guy that the bengal should be hiring and that's the move they should make and it would involve that getting up play calling joe brady right is in i don't think he was perfect in buffalo by any

stretch. I don't think the personnel was either. But Joe Brady would be the one, and it would be uncomfortable for sure, because it's, he has a history with Joe and Jamar. There's respect there. And getting him in the building instantly, people like us are going to say, oh, well, that can be Zach's replacement. That can be Zach's replacement. And he interviewed for the Ravens job and the bill's job. And he's getting interest from the Cardinals. And by the way, he may land a head coaching job this cycle. But that would be the one where I'd be like, okay, it makes sense. It doesn't mean it would be perfect. Doesn't mean it would make the offense better. I don't know that. And that's what's really tough for me is even someone like Joe Brady, who's a big name, popular among the fans, all of those

things, what we have a lot of questions about how it would work? Absolutely. Now, it might be the right questions. And it might be good answers long term. And a year from now, we might be a year from now, we might saying, oh, well, what a fun year that was. Or maybe it's the replacement and weight, you know, like there's a lot of different scenarios that could play out. But that's the one where I think experienced name recognition, history with your stars. It would have to be something, though, that I think either borough or ownership, or maybe Zach would just have the comfort level. I don't know if he would or not, but he'd have to be really. really comfortable to be the one that would facilitate that.

I would say you roll those dice all day long over promoting internally. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful to any of the coaches. But I would roll it. If you're not getting Dan pitcher back, Brian Callahan isn't returning, Joe Brady play calling, I would roll those dice over say promoting from within and Zach Taylor continuing to call plays. I think the likelier outcome as we've discussed. would be promoting from within exactly no doubt call plays we talked about that yesterday

yeah I think we also have have discussed this on the bengal squad show a couple of times now so if you're if you're catching everything on our youtube channel and on the podcast feed you've probably heard some of these talking points before the last thing i'll say about it is i think it is fair to speculate at least that ownership has a strong preference as that Zach Taylor be the play caller. For the reasons I talked about in our previous segment, like the reasons that you want to take away the excuses or whatever it is for Zach,

like that's just as much of, like that's why they hired Zach, right? That's potentially why they would want to see that responsibility stay with the guy that if it works, they're not worried about replacing or getting a promotion elsewhere because that is something that otherwise, you do have to worry about. Just look at what Tampa is going through.

again needing to hire a coordinator. Anything else, James, before we get to some exciting senior bowl news, exciting to me anyway. I don't think this. I think we'll have a resolution in the near future. I do think it's kind of wild that Dan Pitcher and Brian Callahan are sort of competing for this job. We'll see if pitcher gets an in-person interview.

I think that would be the next step. Maybe not. Maybe they loved him from 2023. They got him on Zoom. They said, hell yeah, that's our guy. We'll finish these in-person interviews, and then we'll make an offer to Dan. Who knows? But if Dan leaves, it's going to fuel a lot of speculation as to why.

I'll say that. It's one thing to sniff opportunities. It's another to make that leap and take one. And so we'll see. But we're also going to see the senior bowl, like you mentioned, where Bain, Rubin Bain, going to the senior bowl. I'm not sure he's going to do much. he might just get on that scale, get measured, and get the hell out of there.

But Ruben Bain's going to be there, right, man. Yeah, there's some initial speculation that perhaps the less than 31-inch arm measurement for Ruben Bain could have been an error. We'll see how he measures in Mobile. I think it's 29-inch arms. I think it's 29-inch arms, and no one can measure him. And we'll see you at pick 10, Rubin. You know, unfortunately, he just has no arms, it turns out.

And it's really good without our arms. It's crazy. It's an obstacle illusion. Yeah, Ruben Bain will be down at the Senior Bowl. So will David Bailey, who also could be picked in the top 10. So will Akeem Mesidor, who was Ruben Bain's teammate at Miami, the older prospect, probably a day two player, especially for the Bengals. But they'll be stacked at the Senior Bowl with just those three guys.

And I'm sure there will be more with the pass rushers. But it was, today is the day where you're getting all the accepted invites from the guys who played the national championship game. Very rarely, I think, in the last few years. We've seen guys actually go to Mobile after playing in the national championship game and actually do stuff because the senior bowl is what, like next week. Yeah, next week. Flying. I mean, practice is starting two days, apparently. They start Friday this week, which that snuck off, didn't it?

I mean, we said it would a couple weeks ago, but got all the national championship guys that are going to be down there, including Markell Bell, the very, very large left tackle for the Miami Hurricanes, Kiatte, Scott, defensive back, and DiAngelo Pons. This is the one that I saw

during the show. This news broke after me starting recording. DeAngelo Pons is a dude, man, and we'll see what he does down there. He's undersized, obviously, but has been really good. Every year he's been playing at the college college level and the Bengals need a guy that could potentially go play in the slot and that could

be a fit. That's probably the fit for DeAngelo Pons in the NFL. Yep, we'll love it. We'll love it. Get a closer look at him, closer look at these pass rushers, a closer look at all of it. And you just want as much info as you can. It's the information gathering part of the offseason. And it really starts with the Senior Bowl, at least for me, in the evaluation process. And then we start rolling, Jake, because then it pretty right before we know it, we're going to look up, it'll be the combine. Yeah. And then after that, free agency. And then we're going to be really rolling.

And we're obviously going to have you covered every step of the way. So I get it, Bengals fans. It was a rough January. We're not used to being eliminated in mid-December, all of those things. But, well, 2026 is here. That's what I would say. That's what the senior bowl does is it kicks off 2026. That was when Marvin Lewis was hired.

during the Senior Bowl. It was when the Bengals identified Logan Wilson and Akeem Davis Gather and all these guys that ended up being part of their Super Bowl Corps. And we'll see if they can do that again this week and next week. I guess I need to correct really quick. So the practice starts this week for the East West Shrine Bowl. Next week is a Senior Bowl.

Next Tuesday, the Senior Bowl practices start on Tuesday, January 27th. This week, Shrine Bowl, January 23rd to January 26 or Shrine Bowl practices. Shrine Bowl features Jake Golda, University of Cincinnati linebacker, who I know a lot of folks are mocking to the Bengals in the second round. The Bengals do have some coaches at the East West Shrine Bowl as well. Jerry Montgomery and Ronnie Regula coaching for the East Team in the East West Shrine Bowl games. So I don't think they have any coaches.

Oh, they do. Mike McCarthy, assistant offensive line coach, will be coaching the national team, offensive line for the Senior Bowl. So the Bengals have coaches at all these events, both of these bowl games. And it's going to be fun to see some of the players at the Senior Bowl in particular. That one always seems to get some guys. And David Bailey and Ruben Bain, even if they're only there for interviews and meetings and measurements and stuff. That's a couple of top 10 guys that will be at the Senior Bowl.

So that should be exciting to watch. hopefully not top nine guys so bengals get their pick yeah what do you think yeah just don't draft you mentioned bane no arm no picks until nine or until 10 no picks until 10 that's too bad this year for the team nine quarterbacks nine no single digit picks this year this is a tough break mendoza one two three four five six seven eight nine bengals on the clock there you go that's going to do it for this episode of the locked on bengals podcast until next time thank you Thanks for listening, Hoodeh. And have a good one.