Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - STOCK UP: Bengals Roster Battles INTENSIFY—Kris Jenkins, Landon Robinson, and Dohnte Meyers Impress

Starting point is 00:00:00 Preseason game one leaves the Bengals with some interesting roster battles like Landon Robinson and Chris Jenkins both showing out. And Dante Myers too good to cut. Let's talk about the roster decisions after preseason game one. 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. He's Joe Goodberry. I'm Jake Liscoe. Today we're talking about the state of roster battles after the Bengals have played a preseason game and shown us a couple of practices after that game. There's some shakeups on the offensive line. Dante Myers continues to make plays. Colby Young continues to make plays in the wide receiver room. But where we're going to start today is with the defensive line where Chris Jenkins and Landon Robinson were both impressive in their first preseason game. And with BJ Hill's return to practice as he was activated from the.

Starting point is 00:01:04 physically unable to perform list, well, that defensive tackle room is as deep as we envisioned it coming into training camp this year. That's where we'll start today in an episode brought to you by GameTime. You can download the GameTime app, create an account. And use code locked on. You'll save $20 off your first purchase. Joe, we talked a little bit about this in the postgame show. I thought it was a really good game for Chris Jenkins. The most impressive set of reps we've seen from him perhaps in his time in Cincinnati from run stops to activity in the in the past rush winning as a pass rush you're getting a sack and bj hill returns in practice you're seeing six guys that are all very rosterable for the bengals a defensive tackle yeah six guy being

Starting point is 00:01:50 london robinson right who also was one of the stars from that lion's preseason game uh versus the run and winning as a pass rusher drawing a hold uh getting a sack linden robinson was everything i I think we hoped he would flash and we didn't know how quickly would happen. We really haven't heard too much from the summer practices. I kind of always knew like, let's just wait until we get to this preseason game and see him go against real competition and maybe get 25 plus snaps. And he was rotated in right away.

Starting point is 00:02:18 I think it was like the fourth play of the game. He started to get rotated in. So Landon was one of those big winners from that game. But yes, one of the big questions I had and I don't know if it's so much a question. I could because we could go without Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson. I think in a lot of our projections, if these other guys are good, then I'm not really worried about those two. But I wanted to see if either one of those guys took a step in year three or could, and I'm not saying they leap into being a starter and we have to talk about contract extensions or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:02:48 I just want them to earn their roster spot, earn their playing time, and start flashing at a higher rate. And we could say off of game one, it feels like the McKinley Jackson experiment is, over. Like he had some moments, but still the same issues that have plagued him and reduced his playing time throughout his NFL career. Those happened again. Plus he got hurt, right? He wasn't available at the next practice the next day. On the other hand, Chris Jenkins actually was winning. Now, we know he's been a good run defender, at least a solid one in the NFL, and he was very good coming out of Michigan as a run defender. Those flashes showed up big time versus the Lions. And then we got a couple of pressures out of him as well, which has always been the lacking part

Starting point is 00:03:28 in his game. So when you come away and that BJ Hill is clear, great. We all expect that to happen. Well, here we go. Here's the defensive tackle room. We've got six guys here. And I think we've argued, do you go five? Do you go six? If they play like this, I think you keep six. Right now, if you're looking at an early 53 man projection, and I think things will get clarified more over the next week or so, the joint practice coming up on Thursday this week, the game against the Bears. And we'll see what Zach Taylor says the plan is, because playing your starters having a joint practice. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:04:00 We'll see if they do it or they don't. Sounded like Joe Burrow and Dexter Lawrence were talking about it, according to Joe in his post-game presser after preseason game number one. But yeah, I mean, Chris Jenkins played 32 snaps in a preseason game as a second round pick in his third season. A successful second round pick in his third season or fourth season, I guess in the case of DJ Turner played like nine snaps in this game. these guys did not play deep into the game.

Starting point is 00:04:29 Jonathan Allen and Dexter Lawrence played three snaps a piece. Those are the guys that are making the team for sure that are going to be heavy parts of the rotation. Chris Jenkins was fighting in this game for a roster spot despite, like I said, being a second round pick. Those guys typically at this point are taking that step, starting or significant parts of a deep rotation. And Chris Jenkins is still trying to show that he should be part of that rotation, be a game day active player. And Landon Robinson played 13 more snaps than Chris Jenkins.

Starting point is 00:05:00 The reason I bring this up is because when you look at the productivity, the guys that had the most stops defined by PFF as a tackle that is a win for the defense, not giving up a first down, not giving up more than four yards on first down, those sorts of things. A successful play for the defense. Chris Jenkins had three stops. I think I'll run stops in this game. Landon Robinson had two stops of his own.

Starting point is 00:05:24 He played a little bit more, but he was also active in getting those stops. Both guys credited for a sack. Both guys credited for a couple of pressures. Landon Robinson also drew that hold you talked about, Joe, that was his best rep of the night, a very clean win that would have led to a sack if he wasn't held on the play. So when you have those guys making that impression and playing as much as they did, very clear cut five and six right now. But do they keep six is a question that you come back to?

Starting point is 00:05:54 Keeping six defensive tackles is a lot. We are seeing the shift to a three, four defense, and they're putting more defensive tackles on the field. But with T.J. Slayton clearly ahead of them at defensive tackle number four and nose tackle number two, really, that is a lot of guys to keep on the defensive interior. And I thought Slayton had some moments as well. He didn't play as much as those guys.

Starting point is 00:06:15 But I thought he flashed and he had a pass break up, tip to pass at the line of scrimmage. Yeah, when I look at this and I wonder if they keep six, it's hard to answer that question right now. Eventually at some point we will have a full roster projection, a 53-man breakdown of what we expect. And a lot of those final spots are, is this guy even going to be active on Sunday? And I could see that, of course, that sixth guy is probably not active. And then is it worth it to keep one of those guys over a special team or a core special teamer like Joe Giles Harris or Shaka Hayward, right? These are all part of the conversations we will have because those guys continue to stand out on special teams. Is it worth it to keep an

Starting point is 00:06:52 extra tight end, which I want to talk about the tight ends today in that room again, because they made plays again and solidified that room, I think, a little bit more. Maybe made it murkier. Actually, I don't know how we'll frame that. But it does feel like the defensive tackle room separated itself. And I don't want to overplay what I think Jenkins and Landon Robinson did. While they made their impact and they had their splashes, largely either one of them could be inactive. You could have some games where a team's going to throw the ball and you're a nickel that both of them are inactive if they make your roster and you just go with four defensive tackles into that game. But Chris Jenkins played 500 snaps each of his first two years in the

Starting point is 00:07:31 league and did not deserve that, right? Neither time was he a big rotational piece that was worthy of those snaps where you felt like, and it was last year they gave him all the nickel reps, remember that? Where he's like, yeah, you are our best pass rushing defensive tackle. They actually took BJ Hill off the field in some of these. And they got nothing out of it. And it showed because their past rush stunk for most of the year. And it was like you can't do that again. The detackle room needs. We want these guys fighting for these reps.

Starting point is 00:07:58 They need the life inserted. And of course, they went and got three guys that we're hoping to make the roster now. And Alan Lawrence and of course, Lyndon Robinson. And B.J. Hill being healthy this year probably is why he would stay on the field ahead of Chris Jenkins this year. I imagine that some of that rotation last year comes out of the fact that B.J. Hill was battling injury all year. But in terms of who's active on game day, yeah, I mean, that gets really interesting, right?

Starting point is 00:08:24 Depending on the opponent, maybe you have a fifth defensive tackle active with the rotations that you're going to want to do. You're going to have your two nose tackles. And if you're going to have two nose tackles, you probably need a third guy for three tech. But maybe you don't with the way that we saw them using Samar Stewart. That would honestly lend some clarity to the situation. if we had the opportunity to see Shamar Stewart in these preseason games, see how they're using him. Maybe he is defensive tackle in the nickel spot.

Starting point is 00:08:54 And then you don't necessarily have the need for these guys. But then when you're thinking about which one you would want to activate for that last spot, you want the guy that's maybe a little bit more disruptive as a pass rusher in Landon Robinson or a little bit more well-rounded and not necessarily giving you the pass-rush juice, but doing his job consistently understands your defense, has the experience in a guy like Chris Jenkins, who we haven't really seen take a significant step as a pass rusher, despite his relatively successful night as a pass rusher in preseason game number one. We should say when we watch the tape, Jake, Landon Robinson lined up everywhere on that defensive line, right?

Starting point is 00:09:31 That could be the deciding factor. That could tip the scales. Like you could throw him at nose if you had to. It was only a couple of reps, but you could do it in some packages. He was at four I, three tech, five tech. There were plays where they're dropping the end out and he's going wide. basically securing the edge as a defensive end. Very impressive to see what he was able to handle.

Starting point is 00:09:51 And yes, he played a lot of snaps. But that is a big part in the evaluation. How many positions can you play? That's big. And that's something we're going to talk about on the next segment coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is brought to you by game time. If you've ever experienced a frustration of getting tickets for Bengals game, or maybe it's not a Bengals game, you're trying to go to a comedy show,

Starting point is 00:10:12 you're trying to go to a festival, you're trying to get tickets. it's, well, game time is going to take all that away and make it so much simpler. That's what game time is here for. They're here to streamline the ticket buying process to give you the views from your seat before you buy to take away hidden fees. These are all features that you'll find in the GameTime app. And that's why so many fans are turning to Game Time to buy their tickets. The app built to make buying tickets simple because my biggest pet peeve is when you think you found a great deal.

Starting point is 00:10:42 You get all the way to check out. And then all those hidden fees pop up. And suddenly you're paying way more than you thought you were because the deal looked too good to be true. And it was, well, GameTime is going to remove that guesswork. So if you want to take the guesswork out of buying tickets to your next event, GameTime is the app for you. Download the GameTime app, Create an account and use code.

Starting point is 00:11:00 Lockdown, you'll get $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code, L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Jake, one of the most of the money. more interesting battles, I guess, or developments from the offensive line. And I think on this entire team, because when they drafted Conor Lou in the fourth round, immediately it was, well, that's your future center.

Starting point is 00:11:26 As long as he's healthy, he's your center number two this year. And we didn't get to see him in that Lions game. Hopefully we do get to see him at some point in preseason. He is still getting second team reps in practice. But Jacob Bayer, from what we have seen from springtime before Lou was cleared, and then even when he is rotated in with the backups, and I shouldn't mention Connor Lou did get first team reps at one practice when Ted Caras was out, veteran day rest.

Starting point is 00:11:51 So, you know, clearly they still want to get hitting those reps. But then we go into the Lions game, and he was a standout performer on that offensive line. And he played pretty much the entire game. I think it was like 57 snaps or so. But it was largely at center. And then let's kick him to left guard and let's put Brian Parker at center. And I thought both guys handled that very well.

Starting point is 00:12:10 Didn't it look like they switched positions at all. I almost didn't even notice it wasn't someone else at left guard until I went back and watched tape and I said, oh, that is Bayer. And then I focused on him and he was really good there. And not only was he good in the game, but then the next practice shows up in the clips we get Bayer's number two or practicing with the backups, I should say, you know, who knows what the rotations, but he's getting reps in practice at guard as well with Connor Lou at center. To me, it feels like they're looking at him like, we've got to find a way to get this guy in roster number one and make sure he's worthy of it by need by being able to play multiple

Starting point is 00:12:46 positions on the interior of the offensive line i maybe have a negative worldview because my perception of this move is that jalen rivers struggled again and had a couple really ugly reps and so perhaps they're seeing if jacob bear can actually take jaylon rivers job here maybe they're non-plussed with the development from jaylon rivers and i'm speculating here because we're not seeing all the second team reps in practice. We're hardly seeing any of practice the last couple of days here. But we did see that Jacob Bayer's now out there getting guard reps in practice with Jalen Rivers left tackle.

Starting point is 00:13:21 Part of that could be a way to let Jalen Rivers show that he still belongs on the team, has a versatility to maybe still play a little bit of tackle. Maybe this was always a plan to get him through week one of the preseason on the interior, get him a little bit of work at tackle in preseason week two. We don't know what exactly the plan is for the development for these guys or to bet whether or not they're worthy of a roster spot. But Jacob Bayer, if he does have guard center versatility, you have Brian Parker that also has guard center versatility.

Starting point is 00:13:49 You also have Connor Liu, who you think is your center of the future and you use a higher draft pick on than either of these guys, because Bayer was a waiver claim after being an undrafted free agent from Arkansas State. And maybe he's just taken a year two step, 23 years old. And if he's improving after coming from a relatively small school, right, Arkansas state and getting that NFL time on task, and then you have a real guy there that can be a backup for you, we might still be talking about a game day inactive, right? This might be offensive line and number nine that we're talking about here. But if he's better than Rivers

Starting point is 00:14:22 and you like Parker and Lou for the other two interior offensive line backup spots, along with Cody Ford and the versatility because he's now playing guard in practice, that backup spot does get really interesting, particularly because I think Jalen Rivers is at the center of this Like if Bayer makes a team, is he taking Jalen River spot? Is that something that they're going to play the waiver game with with either of those guys and try to sneak one onto the practice spot? Remember, Bayer was a waiver claim for the Bengals. So the last time he was waived, he didn't make it through waivers because of Bengals put the claim in. So I think that is a really interesting conversation that's unlike the conversations we've had about the depth centers beyond center two in years past.

Starting point is 00:15:01 Yeah, you're right. To flip this on the other side and look at Rivers and Ford, right? We have never been big proponents of Cody Ford, right? To be honest about it, we don't think he is a good enough offensive tackle in the NFL. He scares me if he has to get inserted into that position. I like him a little bit more at guard. I think you can get through a couple games with Cody Ford at guard. We've seen worst players play in even in Joe Burroughs era.

Starting point is 00:15:27 But, yeah, Cody Ford playing right guard with the twos during practice right after that game. And then Jaylon Rivers going to left tackle. Well, if Jacob Bayer can play guard at an adequate level, and it looks like he can, then the versatility is huge there in deciding who's active on Sunday. Again, because if Jaylon Rivers is only a guard, which we talked about, they stopped playing him at tackle because he was so bad there last year in camp and made him only a guard. Well, then his value is lesser than these guys that can play multiple positions. He comes behind Brian Parker on the active list. Brian Parker look good.

Starting point is 00:15:59 But he may be behind Jacob Bayer on the active list because Bayer can play multiple positions. You need to find out if Rivers can survive at tackle. And if we don't like, say the Bengals share the opinion that Cody Ford shouldn't be playing tackle. Well, then we need to find somebody who can. And the only other guy on the roster is Jalen Rivers. Are you thinking like go dip into free agency? Maybe.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Maybe that's a chip that falls. But I think at first, let's find out if Rivers, who played a lot of tackle in college, can at least hold his own out there. We have found out. That's what the eyebrows are for. If you're watching on YouTube, if you're not watching on YouTube, you didn't see my eyebrows go up until talking about like there is no other player. Like they have great depth on the interior offensive line right now.

Starting point is 00:16:41 Their depth to tackle is miserable. They don't have a guy that you like coming off the bench and Andrew Coker's apparently and we'll see why how this continues to shake out. Javon Foster's out there with the second team where you got Jalen Rivers with left tackle and Javan Foster's a right tackle. So if Andrew Coker was the guy you're hoping for, well, we'll have to see how that rotation continues to develop. But like, yeah, if we're talking about Jalen Rivers or Cody Ford to tackle, we should be talking about free agency for OT3 because those options are not good enough.

Starting point is 00:17:15 And I don't like, I feel like people are going to immediately bring up Jonah Williams or some of these higher. I don't think the Bengals are spending that money if they were to dip into that. And Orlando Brown is part of this conversation, but still he is, unless you're talking about Jonah, like clear divide of what a starting caliber offensive tackle looks like versus what's available in free agency at this time of year. every year. There's no Dalton Reisner waiting for you at offensive tackle. There may be a guy that can be better than Jalen Rivers and Cody Ford. Yes, I'd have to look at the list. I did this about a couple

Starting point is 00:17:43 weeks ago and thought, yeah, I don't really love it, right? And that was my reaction and I kept moving because there wasn't much out there. I am most interested in Rivers here. I would like to see it in a full preseason game, you know, once Burroughs out of there, like maybe preseason week three when Burrell and the starters don't play. Put Rivers at left tackle.

Starting point is 00:18:00 That's what we played and just let him go. And let's see the full picture of what he looks like and get the true evaluation before you're cutting a, what was he, a fifth rounder? I feel like we've seen it. Like we saw a lot of tackle from him last year and it wasn't good. It was terrible. And the way he's getting beat at guard isn't going to play better at tackle. Like it's not like, oh yeah, tackle. He, you know, it's not like what you talked about with Brian Parker, like trying to from center like play like a tackle a little bit and try to run a guy around the arc, but you don't really have the space to do. Like, it's not like that he's just getting beat across his face and giving up instant pressures

Starting point is 00:18:34 because a guy is just jumping a gap on him and he can't stay with it and i would say if we're like playing a stock up stock down game here right and it's like landed robinson chris jenkins stock up mckinley jackson stock down from the first segment in offensive line stock up stocked down bears up i would say parker's up because he didn't go out there and fall in his face and look good and play two different positions like that's exactly what he was sold as and then it's stocked down for Jalen Rivers and Cody Ford. And while moving them to other positions could be seen as a potential positive, I think it's out of necessity because these guys have not looked good.

Starting point is 00:19:11 More than likely, I think we end up with Cody Ford being the backup tackle. And we will be ringing hands about it, I think, appropriately, because you don't necessarily want to see that in the game where you're trying to drop back and pass and do things with Joe Burrow. And we haven't, I mean, Cody Ford wasn't great in this first preseason game. and he's not playing against a very high level of competition. Now, Orlando also got beat by that lower level of competition. So there's that.

Starting point is 00:19:37 But Amarius, on the other hand, has looked the part. Like we thought Armarius was going to take a big step. Absolutely looks like he's taking that big step. Joe, we wanted to talk about some wide receivers here, Dante Myers, in particular standing out throughout training camp, Jack injuries, Tanner Hudson, Cam Grady, the tight end conversation. We also have like six bullet points of tidbits that we want to get to here. Good stuff.

Starting point is 00:19:58 We're 20 minutes into the show. we'll try to get to all that coming up next. Support for today's episode comes from Square. Behind so many of the local businesses people visit every day is Square. A platform designed to help businesses sell, manage, and grow, whether it's your local coffee shop or a sports bar on game day. Square isn't just a payment processor. It's a complete business platform built to simplify the day-to-day.

Starting point is 00:20:24 It helps businesses and owners spend less time managing technology and more time focusing. on their customers from accepting every major payment method to managing inventory. Square gives owners the tools they need to run their businesses with confidence. And it's the little things. You may not notice when you're paying with Square as the customer, but whenever you're at these mom and pop shops and that payment goes through very quickly and they're busy and you're like, man, I don't want to slow everyone down. I guarantee you that is Square. I've seen it pop up and use Square. And I bet you have as well. If you're starting your own business or running one that deserves better tools. Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to

Starting point is 00:21:02 $200 off square hardware at square.com slash locked on NFL. That's SQUA-R-E.com slash G-O-Locked-on NFL. Run your business smarter with Square. Get Square today. Joe, is Dante Myers too good to cut? That's ultimately what the wide receiver room comes down to to me. If Dante Myers, who's been making plays seems like every single day of training camp. I think there's been one practice that we've seen where Dante Myers wasn't named as yet. Dante Myers another big play. We just saw him on a double move with Josh Johnson absolutely torched the secondary, get wide open and looked like an NFL receiver in preseason game number one, looked more athletic than the guys that were out out there at the same time as him. So the question boils down to is Dante Myers too good to cut

Starting point is 00:21:53 because if he is, that wide receiver room gets very interesting. We're talking about keeping six defensive tackles, but this team still really likes Charlie Jones, especially for what he can do as a return. And we saw Kisham Williams have a great return in preseason game number one as well that was blocked really well. But if the first four guys are going to be T. Higgins, Jemar Chase, Mitch Tensley, Andre Yosevosh, and Colby Young's going to be the fifth, that gets real tricky if they really like Dante Myers and you like Charlie Jones and you're trying to figure out who that last guy is going to be. What a competition we've got brewing here at wide receiver. that I severely underrated coming into camp. I really did. There was other beat that were asking

Starting point is 00:22:33 these questions of Dan Pitcher and Zach Taylor. And I'm like, why is you guys are asking about Colby Young and Dante Myers and Mitch Tinsley? Like, I don't have high opinion of these guys. And they have won me over completely. Like Kobe Young continues to make plays, not just having a great day or a good day, I should say, against the Lions. He's had back-to-back practices now where he's making plays and beating DJ Ivy. Ivy, you had two pass breakups on T. Higgins the day before, and then it's Colby Young's turn the next day, and he's catching touchdown passes on Ivy, beautiful back shoulder ball from Joe Burrow. But if these guys continue to make plays on offense, and then to not discount Charlie Jones, he got open deep. Josh Johnson missed him. That should have

Starting point is 00:23:14 been a shrieking touchdown down the sideline. And then he catches a back shoulder ball from Joe Flacco in practice on Saturday, I want to say. That was a beautiful back shoulder catch. good body control, gets both feet down, scores a touchdown. Like, they still believe more in Charlie Jones and what we have seen on offense. It just, it never seems to align for him. That's a strength of this team. We know with Jamar and T, of course, and Yoshi can play. People are really too hard on Yoshi at times.

Starting point is 00:23:40 But when these other guys start bringing the conversation up and you start seeing them in better light, I start to kind of agree with the masses that are like, I don't know what Yoshi's giving you, if these other guys can do these things, if Mitch Tinsley can block and Kobe Young can block. And Kobe Young can be the downfield contested catch guy that he has shown. And if D'Ate Myers can be like end around gadget plus add some speed and Charlie Jones can get deep on the outside because we said that's what Yoshi was doing early in camp. At least he can still do that. You know, I just come away and go.

Starting point is 00:24:07 This receiver room is extremely good. And I wonder if you could trade a guy. I think there's teams out there looking for help at receiver. Doesn't sound like something the Bengals would do. There is cap relief if they were to trade Andreosovash, who on his player performance, escalators getting paid three and a half plus million dollars this year instead of what six round pick right and his in his fourth year would usually be getting paid which is closer to a million dollars and three and a half that doesn't seem like a bengal's thing to do i think they like

Starting point is 00:24:37 what he does i think that he is still very clear-cut wide receiver three that being said it's not necessarily like tyler boyd out there right like when it's t jimar and tyler Tyler Boyd isn't staying in the game when the second string goes in. Andre Yosevaich stayed in the game of the preseason when the second string went in. Now he left the game shortly after that, but he was out there with Joe Flacco a little bit. And if it's a player that's like, like I said, the Tyler Boyd level of player, not stylistically, but just held in that regard from the coaching staff, you're not staying out there with the second team. So he's still like battling a little bit, I think, because of what Colby Young has showed,

Starting point is 00:25:16 because of what they think of Mitch Tinsley where we've seen them use him in all these ways that led me, and I no longer believe this as strongly as I once did, but Mitch Tinsley did, I think, still get out. No, it was Kobe Young we got out there with the ones in the game? Yes, and Tinsley was ROTated in. It was Tinsley, Yoshi, and Colby, the next group.

Starting point is 00:25:36 So maybe Kobe Young is starting to eat into Mitch Tensley snaps. And that's what we should be looking at based on that first and very small sample size here, right? We're extrapolating quite a bit. But if Colby Young is now going to be the guy that they trust to block because they have praised his blocking and Duke Tobin praised it on the broadcast and his willingness and aggression in blocking, he has the size to do it. The thing that you lose if they were to trade Yosevash is the athleticism that he brings to bear. They don't have another guy outside of Jamar Chase that is as athletic as Yosevash is. Now, does that always translate into production?

Starting point is 00:26:09 No, but does it let them do the clear out stuff that they want to do with the versatility where they do like him as a block? Walker probably a little bit more than you and I do, Joe, but they have used him in that role quite a bit. If they trust him to do those things, then they don't really have the player that's a one-to-one match there. Unless that ends up being Dante Myers. And I would be surprised if Dante is a level of athlete that Andre Yosevash is, but he doesn't look misplaced in the NFL, that's for sure. A player that wasn't out there with the ones, two of them actually, Mike Keseki drew sample, right? Those guys clearly, they're going to use these guys with the starters and then they were out of the game right away.

Starting point is 00:26:45 But Tanner Hudson plays the entire game almost. Again, this is pretty much every preseason. And then I watch the broadcast. I'm watching the film. And Hudson's out there on every special teams running down the field. He's making tackles on kickoffs. He had a nice block on the Keishon Williams return, the big return we did get. And I come away with, man, Hudson is still stock up.

Starting point is 00:27:05 Like, he's a guy that everyone trusts. And he plays multiple positions. And he does all these different things. And he's like an emergency quarterback holder, long snapper, do it all. I would be shocked if he was a special team's captain this year, the way he was following around, Darren Simmons, and then also, like, Cam Grady also was out there in that first drive. And then out there again. Isn't he there, like, designated tight end sneak guy too?

Starting point is 00:27:28 Yes, good call. And then Cam Grandy, right, getting mixed in with the, as a kind of not just a Drew sample. We may have labeled him as like a Drew sample shadow. He did an Eric All block last week. He was the first guy inserted to replace Eric Allwell because All didn't play. And then Jack Andrew. has a big day. So like the tight end room, murkier, but at the same time, like, you can clearly see these guys can help you in some way, in some capacity. I'm excited to see how that shakes out

Starting point is 00:27:53 over the final two games. Let me, let me hit you with the snap split for the tight ends in preseason game number one. So Cam Grady and Tanner Hudson played the same amount of snap, 16 apiece. Cam Grady had 13 passing, or sorry, pass blocking or run blocking rep. So 13 of his reps were blocking. Three were on a passing play. That's a sample role. And went into a. a route. So it's very much true sample. Tanner Hudson, 16 snaps, 13 routes run. So blocked three times, including two run blocking plays. Jack Andrews played 33 snaps. Wow. Which is interesting, right? Because you get the 13 from the 16 from Grady and Hudson.

Starting point is 00:28:32 And Randy played with the first team and with the third team. And Hudson played what, second team on pretty much for the rest of the game in and out of the game. But Andrews was playing pretty much every snap after the first team went out. Not quite every snap. That would be 57, but 33 snaps for him. And pretty even split. 13 routes run, 17 run blocking reps, three pass blocking reps. Sounds like Eric Hall, right? He was everywhere too, right? Like, we noticed him when we were watching film, he's at the wide position. He went out wide or went to the slot, I should say, he was detached. He was in motion. They used them at everything, which is nice to see for his development. I thought he had a really good game on the film.

Starting point is 00:29:12 24 in line snaps, five slot snaps, two wide snaps. Was out there for kick return and field goal kick on special needs. Also two full back snaps. So very much sounds to me quite a bit like Eric all. We got some really interesting rooms that the Bengals have here, wide receiver, the backup offensive line stuff, the tight end stuff, the defensive tackle stuff. Yeah, we got some tidbits.

Starting point is 00:29:37 Let's get through this quick, Joe. Quick hitters. Quixie Bozman was very good. And really shockingly good because I had low expectations and he solidified himself. He might be better in Orn Burke's, but he's definitely in that second team linebacker unit, very impressive game. Yeah, Kyle Dugger, notable for what he did with the opportunity, hopefully opening the coaching staff's eyes. So like maybe you should find some packages to get this guy on the field the way that we talked

Starting point is 00:30:02 about getting him on the field with the first team defense. Not sure we're going to get that or not, but still have some guys working on the practice field on the rehab field. Hill Brian Cook. So Kyle Dugger's still getting those opportunities. And he was a personal pump protector for Ryan Rico out there. So very clear high special teams role for Kyle Dugger, if nothing else. I mentioned DJ Ivy earlier. T. Higgins had a lot of praise for him. He seems like cornerback for all the way, right, in terms of, or however you want to classify it, the number three boundary guy, because I, you know, I think it's different for who goes in the slide after Jalen Davis, Jaylon Davis, who also returned to practice and is playing. And one more

Starting point is 00:30:40 injury update over there since you just mentioned the DV. Shamar Stewart was on a stationary bike on Sunday's practice. A little bit of progress for Sharmar Stewart. Last note, Sierra Wright, who was probably not going to make the team, was maybe even a long shot for the practice squad, was LeBron James' son in Space Jam 2, has left the team to pursue an acting job in a feature film where he will be the star of the show, apparently, and that's going to be filming in the season. And he says this football career isn't done, but it will be done for now with the Bengals.

Starting point is 00:31:13 So congratulations to write for finding a lead role in a film. The Bengals sign a cornerback with one of the best names in the NFL, Mick Doom, to replace Wright on the team as a depth corner to get them to training camp. I to use University of Cincinnati, right? So they just pull a local guy. I assume he was local. I'm just guessing here because he's University of Cincinnati. But yeah, Mick Doom, awesome.

Starting point is 00:31:35 So yeah, whatever. These guys aren't going to make the roster. But shout out to us here. right, you know, go take your talents. When you're multi-talented like that, you got to make decisions. It sounds like he is. Some of these topics will come back up. I think Swayzy Bozeman earning the second team lineback role.

Starting point is 00:31:49 If he can get into a battle with Orrin Burtt for linebacker three, that would be a fantastic waiver claim development for the Bengals. So some of these topics might come back up. We're obviously watching the health of Daxil and Brian Cook. Hopefully they can get those guys in a spot where if they're on the rehab field today, maybe one more practice on the rehab field so they can. participate in that joint practice because that sounds like it's going to be a pretty intense practice. Zach Taylor has talked about their plan for this week. We're going to have a pretty

Starting point is 00:32:18 intense practice for the Bengals Tuesday, a walkthrough day Wednesday, that joint practice on Thursday. And then we got preseason game coming for you later this week as well with the Bears and a pretty fun week this week with that joint practice coming up. So we'll have you cover for all that right here on Locked on Bengals. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Today and have a good.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - STOCK UP: Bengals Roster Battles INTENSIFY—Kris Jenkins, Landon Robinson, and Dohnte Meyers Impress

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.