Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - TWO GUARDS?! | Draft Week Is Here! 2025's Final Mock Draft Monday

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

But what about second breakfast? Jake Liscow and Joe Goodberry navigate the mock draft simulator for one final Mock Draft Monday as Draft Week 2025 has arrived, and explore the possibility of an early double dip at guard. What if the Bengals just, finally, protected Joe Burrow and figured the rest out later? Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's draft week, which means it's time for our final mock draft Monday. Let's dive in. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake. Let's go along with today's guest, Joe Goodberry, who I will continue once again to call the godfather of Cincinnati Bengals draft content creation.

You can find him on Twitter at Joe Goodberry. Find him on YouTube. Bengals on the Brain on the first star logistics YouTube channel. This is Locked-on Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to the everydayers. Welcome to Draft Week where we will have you covered all the way through the draft, including our final predictive mock. That will be James and I a little bit later this week.

Today we dive into a mock draft simulator for the last time. We're going to be on fan speak, and Joe and I are going to run through six rounds. And you know how it is when it's Joe and I? That means we're going to over-discuss several topics throughout the show, and it's going to be a whole heck of a lot of fun. For those of you new to the show, well, you're not an everydayer yet. Shout out to the everydayers who are here. If you'd like to become an everydayer, hit that subscribe button.

You won't miss an episode of Lockdown Bengals, and we want to shout out all the everes. everydayers out there as well. And Joe, let's dive on in to the fan speak simulator. In today's episode brought to the people by the all-new 2025 at Nissan Armada. Make sure you're tuned in later in the show for the Armada Player of the Week. And let's fire up this simulator. We've got six rounds to get through here.

We're going to pretend we're not trading back. and by pretend, I mean, we're not going to trade back. And off we go as we kick things off and try to figure out who we're picking at 17 as the Dallas Cowboys offer us their entire draft from the second through fifth rounds to move up and the Bears offer two second round picks. Are either of these really tempting you to get out of the first round altogether? It's just an interesting scenario to see, like, so many picks from the Cowboys. They have a ton of picks this year, so maybe that's it.

But, you know, two second rounders, we were just last. week's episode we talked about the scenarios where there was a couple guys t j sanders pate ratlitch to start your draft i wouldn't have a problem with that and then you'd have three second round picks no first round picks you lose the the first year option of course we're not going to spend a lot of time considering that because we're not trading back in this mock draft scenario oh no colston lovelin's gone don't tell james no huge surprises here but i'll read off some of the names that have been picked that you might be considering for the cincinnati bengals of pick 17th Samar Stewart, who we are not considering, but maybe you are.

I know Shamar Stewart has his fans out there. Goes pick 11 to the San Francisco 49ers. Michael Williams goes pick 12 to the Dallas Cowboys. Jahan Campbell and Jalen Walker also selected. Colston Loveland, Will Johnson, and James Pierce all selected here before our pick for the Cincinnati Bengals of 17, which means we are selecting from Kelvin Banks, Nickham and Worry, Malachi Stark, Walter Nolan, Derek Harmon, and perhaps some honorable mentions here for guys like Josh Simmons

and, you know, Gray Zabel, Jaday Barron, perhaps. The top players on the board, we talked a little bit about the scenario on Friday's episode, Joe Shadurr Sanderson, to Tyroa McMillan, whose name I probably did not pronounce. To say Tet. I think he doesn't prefer Tet, which is why I don't know what he prefers at this point. If it's so hard to say, you're Tet for now on.

Fair enough. But we talked about the ideal targets, and this is a scenario where we have several of those ideal targets to pick from both defensive tackles, Kelvin Banks, and both safeties available to us. This is, I know we already said we're not going to trade back. This is that scenario, right? If you love these guys, if you have multiple players that you would love to have, and I do, Kelvin Banks, Walter Nolan, Derek Harmon, Nickyman, Nickyman, Mali-Starks. I would have no issue if you trade it back. The only guy left was Josh Simmons. I would have no problem with that.

That would be a great player who could be a top 10 player if healthy. And if he'd finish this entire year, healthy. So knowing we're not training back, because we don't want to muddy this too much, are we doing this, what we would do? Because if it was us, I want to go Calvin Banks. Yeah, let's talk about what we would do and try to get a line there. And then we'll talk about what we think might be tempting the Bengals here. Because Mike Green is also there.

And from our perspective, not knowing what's going to, going on with Mike Green. If he's clear for character reasons, I think that you do have to strongly consider Mike Green here. And maybe it's Max Descano yelling at me over and over for the last couple of months, and he's not really berating me. But he's very much on the soapbox that is, you cannot afford to take a player like Mike Green if you're constructed the way the Bengals are right now. And maybe there's a chance to speak to that a little bit, because I'm with you on Kelvin Banks, but say Mike Green was a clean prospect. Talk about that a little bit. And your thoughts about how that would fit given the need for the Sam Hubbard replacement, as it were.

Ideally, you know, a player that can also get after the passer a little bit. But Mike Green being undersized, does he still fit? Barney questions. Let's say like whoever does the background checks, right? The scouts or maybe they have a team of like investigators. I don't know how it works actually from the NFL level. But if they said, yeah, green light, go ahead. What do you say?

What do you think about this guy? I would say I want Mike Green on my team. I think he has the burst, the agility that I'm looking for to bend around the arc. I mean, the guy can run around the circumference of a dime. He gets super low. He is hard to block because of it. He's high energy, high motor, can play all left and right down the defensive line, can do everything you need.

They even line in my defensive tackle at times. I think just to free him up because he's playing at Marshall and he's the guy to target, right? He's the guy to block if you're the other team. and he's going against lesser competition, of course. So there's times where I'm like, come on, Mike, take over, take over the game. And I remember, yeah, they've got two guys on you pretty much the entire time. But I think Green is excellent. And I remember we were screaming the first day of the Senior Bowl,

and we're watching Mike Green in slow motion and him come off this line, low power, turn that speed into power with that leverage. I think he's going to be a very, very good player and disruptive player. So for picking Kelvin Banks here, which is where we were earlier, we're giving up the opportunity to draft one of those really potential game-changing defensive line. What do you think the Bengals are considering here? If we're taking banks, and we're not going to spend this much time on every pick because we have a lot of picks to get through.

But for the first round pick, I think it's fair to spend some time. We spent a lot of time on these guys, but we didn't really talk about what we think the Bengals would be considering here. And what are your thoughts around that before we send the pick in? Well, I would hope they're looking at. at the entirety of the draft, right? And saying, we can get good offensive linemen into round three. And I agree. I think the interior offensive line class is very good. Why? Because center class is poor in the tackle class, half of them we got to move to offensive guard. So the guard class is

strong. There's going to be starters in round three. You might find a Clint bowling or someone later in round four. I don't think that's crazy this year. So if that's the case, and if they truly believe that, and if their eyes are set on Tate Ratledge at 49, I would understand. And I would say, then go ahead and take your Walter Nolan now. If you're super high on them, if they're bored is Calvin Banks is nine, Walter Nolan is 10, let's say, but they feel the strength of this class

is later on an offensive line, then go ahead and take Walter Nolan now. Yeah. Yeah. And I find that to be pretty compelling. I do too. As we're sitting here talking about it. But why do you want to pick Calvin Banks then,

knowing that we might be able to find a perfectly adequate guard in the second round, and we're passing up on these options on the defensive line. So if I'm splitting the difference between two guys that could potentially be at the top of their board, I choose typically to protect Joe Burrow, number one. I think Burrow, when he's protected, is an MVP-level player. We think his numbers are crazy when he's pressured 25% of time. How about we dropped that a little bit to 22 to 21% and see what those numbers look like?

His numbers, when kept clean, are insane. Let's see that version of Joe Burrow a little bit more. And I think Banks, like I said, all pro potential at Guard. And we will send that pick in. We will spend a segment here coming up in just a minute to talk about the second day of the draft before we get to the Bengals three currently allotted picks on day three of the drafts. As we continue, our final mock draft Monday here on lockdown Bengals coming up next. Did you know that your fire TV is also an Xbox? And if you didn't know that, happy to blow your mind.

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It's a good way to get started. If it's something that you're interested in trying with the family, you can check it all out at Amazon.com slash fire TV locked on to get started. Xbox GamePass Ultimate Subscription and compatible controller required available on select devices including Fire TV stick 4K 2K Gen, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, first and second gen. Joe, we dive back in to the second round of this mock draft simulator

once again declining trades, although one of those I think I would have taken without thinking too hard. I think we got offered a third round pick to move back six spots. And as we sit here at the beginning of the third round, or second round, sorry, some very interesting names at the top of the board. Shadur, Sanders, Malachi, Starks, Walter Nolan, all making it into the third round.

That we're not trading up. That would be really fun to talk about, though, right? Going into day two of like, man, do we want to go up and get Starks? Nolan? The answer, we would be, in that moment, we will be talking ourselves into it 100% of the time. Oh, yeah.

If this is what it looks like at the beginning of day two, we're going to be sitting there saying, man, wouldn't it be cool if the Bengals could trade up and get one of those guys? And we've had that conversation over a couple of years. Yeah, Banks and Nolan, what a dream. We're not going to live that dream. Let's start the round.

There goes Walter Nolan immediately. But we have some good guards to pick from, which is exactly what we want. So the way the second round starts is with Stradur Sanders and Walter Nolan and back-to-back picks. Savon Ravel goes, 36 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Malachi Stark makes it to 40, which I imagine is somewhat tempting, getting all the way down to pick eight in the second round. Travion Henderson going 12th in the

second round of the Dallas Cowboys pick 44. Maxwell Hairston. The UK Kentucky Corner goes 13th in the second round of the Indianapolis Colts. Jonah Savatanaia goes 47th to the Arizona Cardinals. and J.T. Tuo Malau goes at 48 to the Miami Dolphins, which means the players at the top of the Fanspeak Board, Joe, that speak to positions, that the Bengals may draft, Tyler Booker, Donovan Jackson, Tyleek Williams, Xavier Watts, Carson, Swessinger, Tate Ratledge, Landon Jackson, Benjamin Morrison. Those are probably the names that I would talk about here. In addition to T.J. Sanders, and what's sort of running back, Quinn Sean Jenkins.

That's right. Tyler Booker's still there. He's 38th on the board. He is still there at 49. I wouldn't be shocked. It's funny we mentioned on Twitter the other day when the Bengals brought in Emery Jones, the right tackle from LSU for a 30 visit. It was Orlando Brown on the Chris Sims podcast talking about his combine experience

and how it knocked him into the third round. Tyler Booker's still there at 49. Is he seeing a similar fall to Orlando Brown Jr.? And would I be interested? I would be once it gets to that spot. I don't want Booker at 17, but I get more interested with each passing round. And Donovan Jackson is still here,

who I think is a plug-and-plate guard as well. So kind of low-buyers remorse getting Kelvin Banks at 17, but at the same time, I'm going to pound the table for T.J. Sanders, every time we get in this scenario. If it's Calvin Banks, then T.J. Sanders, I've got no issue with it. There's a lot of guys I do like here, though.

I think Benjamin Morrison can be a good corner. I think Ezrae Thomas, despite being slower, is a very, very good man corner. Tate Ratlidge is still there. I'm not interested in Darius Alexander at 25 years old. I am interested in Landon Jackson from Arkansas, a base down, left end, run defender, high motor, but super athletic, he needs to pass rush better.

Pass rush productivity is not there. But there are flashes where I'm like, oh, he can do it. Similarly to Shamar Stewart, but I get him in round two. And you got a guy that you think is going to be a stud against a run. right away. Yeah, which is why Landon Jackson in the second round is very interesting. Surprising to mention more on Carson Swessinger here, Joe. I would like to talk about him. If you would, if we should highly consider it, Swessinger, who we did get more testing data recently and his RAS brings him in the 96th percentile, which is what he looks like on tape. And

Swessinger was a walk-on, was not talked about. They were talking about Kane Madrano, their other linebacker, you'll see going the sixth, seventh round. And, you know, early in here at UCLA's like, this is our guy. And then within two weeks, everyone goes, oh, it's not. It's Carson Swessinger. He's a freak athlete. He's a top-level cerebral player processor. Great in coverage, patrolling the middle of the field. There are plays you'll watch where he's opening his hips to the three receivers to the one side in Tampa 2, knowing the quarterback's then going to go turn the other way, flips and, you know, does the bicycle turn and goes and knocks a pass away. And I'm like, how did you even know where the ball was? I don't think you

look back one time and you still knock that thing away. He's a very, very good player. What are his weaknesses then, other than just being a one-year starter? When a lineman gets on him, it is over. It's like watching a high schooler get contact. Like, he gets bottled up so quickly. He ends up in a straight jacket laying on the ground at the end of the play.

And I'm like, I don't know. That's going to work in the AFC North. But everything else is very good. Yeah, a little bit of a smaller player at linebacker. You can compare him from a size perspective to nick him and worry and you're not too far off. Yeah. No serious consideration.

for running back here. I'm gathering, from you not really talking about Quinchan Juggins when I threw him in there, who is one of the better size speed combinations in this draft if you're looking for a bigger back that is athletic.

And I just want to shout out, I just want to shout out Tyleek Williams one last time. I assume this will be the last time I guess to talk about him in this cycle. I don't think that he's going to be a pick for the Cincinnati Bengals, but if you can get Tyler Lee Williams in the second round,

I would love that nine years out of ten. if you're the Cincinnati Bengals, maybe eight years out of ten. This just is the exception year where it's just not what they need right now. I think Tyler Williams can be a DJ reader type of player in the NFL. Oh, yeah. I think he can go in the first round. He's just an incredibly smooth athlete for his size,

an extremely aware player in terms of defending screens, in terms of understanding where the ball is, how offenses are trying to attack him. And he carries that size and strength with, great efficiency in terms of the way he uses it on the football field. Love Tileak Williams as a player. I can't talk myself into the fit here. The only way you could talk me out of T.J. Sanders here, Joe,

is if you thought Benjamin Morrison is a perfect scheme fit for Al Golden's defense. But he has the hip stuff, and that's scary enough. The only other way would be, let's take two guards with our first two picks and really go in on this offensive line. Listen, if Booker's still there, if you told me to start with Calvin Banks and Hyler Booker, Donovan Jackson, or Tate Ratlich. Any of the three, yeah. Who would really complain? We've spent years complaining about the offensive line.

If you stand up right now and slap yourself in the face, if you would complain if they start with those two. Seriously, do it because you shouldn't complain. The old line's fixed. The offense is going to score 40. Let's celebrate and have a good time watching it. Yeah, the defense might stink again, but whatever. The reason that it's CJ Sanders instead of those guys is.

The defense stinks. And you need to get a better pass rush. you need to get talent on the defensive line. You need higher upside pass rushing from those interior guys. You didn't get it last year with Chris Jenkins and McKinley Jackson. The defense as a whole needs more bodies. Again, though, I don't know if that's more compelling than legitimately fixing the O line and having five for five roll out there in front of Borough.

Stuff. T.J. Sanders is one of the most exciting players that you could draft in the second round if you're the Bengals, though, if you didn't take defensive line in the first round. No doubt. And if we would have taken Walter Nolan and we're sitting here, we would be happy to choose between Tyler Booker, Donovan Jackson, and Tate Rattlidge. I'm real close to clicking the button on Tyler Booker or Tate Routledge here, Joe. I know. Have you had one where you were able to draft Tyler Booker in Rone 2? I don't know if I have, but I don't know if I would take Tyler Booker over Tate Routledge either.

And I don't know if I take who I would take in this scenario, if it's not Donovan Jackson. Donovan Jackson. The reason I talk myself out of Donovan Jackson is I think you mitigate the Kelvin Banks transition by keeping him on the left side. Ah, good call. Plug and play instead. Right guard because Booker played left guard and go Tate Ratledge and just slide him right in the right guard. Kelvin Banks at left guard. And we talk ourselves into the Tate Ratledge next to Amarius Mims, you know, running it back with teammates the way we did with Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. That's obviously the same exact thing. Give me 20. 20 seconds in while it's rolling. Draft Tate Ratledge.

All right. And I'm going to tell you why. Size, crazy. His 20-23 tape next to Marius Mims was first round caliber. Whatever happened this year dealt with a little bit of injury. They had a little bit of inconsistency. A new center, Jared Wilson, start playing who I like. But a little dip in his game. But overall, if he would have came out with the year before, Tate Rattledge might be talking about a pick going in between 25 and 32.

We've made it to the top of the third round here. Tyler Booker still on the board along with Donovan Jackson along with Carson's Wessinger along with T.J. Sanders. This one's getting crazy, Joe. We will finish up with four rounds we got to do

in our final segment here. Classic Jake and Joe Lockdown Bengals episode here. We'll continue the conversation coming up next. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is sponsored by Nissan and the Armada Player of the Week brought to you by our

friends at Nissan and the all-new 2025 Nissan Armada. Each week, we're taking a look at one of the draft prospects that stands apart, a guy that showcased the strength and power needed to push the Bengals forward as we look ahead to the next season. And this time, it's Kelvin Banks and this Tate Ratlidge, the combination of offensive linemen that will propel this offense into 2025 and take them from a top five offense to the best offense. in the NFL by keeping Joe Burrow as well protected as he's been since he played high school football and certainly better protected than he's ever been in the NFL. Not only that, you're adding athleticism to the offensive line to help get that run game going along with Amarius Mims.

You've now got three very athletic linemen to build around. That goes hand in hand with the armada. You've got heavy duty players who are ready to conquer the road ahead with capability and confidence. It's clear that our players of the week are ready to conquer that road with confidence, just like you can, in the all-new Nissan Armada or any of their outstanding vehicles. Take the Nissan Armada, rogue, or Pathfinder, and go find your next big adventure. Shop nisoneusa.com. All right, Joe.

Four rounds. 10 minutes. That's going to turn into more than 10 minutes. Let's run the board here and see who we're picking from in the third round. and all those guys we talked about that were available at the top of the third round, predictably are picked before our opportunity to make a selection at 81, tantalizingly close for T.J. Sanders going 77. I'm 100% finding a way to trade up if he makes it past 75. Jack Sawyer going pick 80. The guards that we were talking about, Tyler Booker and Donovan Jackson, all the way down to 76 and 79.

What a weird, weird set of picks. But as we're here picking Joe, what stands out to you immediately outside of Kevin Winston, Jr. from Penn State, who I think my eyes are drawn to you right away. Yeah, I'm drawn to Kevin Winston, Andrew McCuba, who I think is a very good free safety. That also was very sticky in coverage. And when he covered the slot, he's just a little bit smaller. Wyatt Millam, we're not going back to because Wyatt Millam, Ozzie Tripillo. I like to look and see what you guys are there.

Marcus and Bo is a lot of fans. Is it just Boe? Either way. If it's not those guys, though, I would consider. consider Cam Skadabow in the third. I would love if he's there in the fourth round, to be honest with you. I would consider Terrence Ferguson if he makes it here to 81. I think Jacob Parrish is a very good player. It really comes down to me is these safeties should not. I expect McCuba to be there. But Winston is very, very good. And potentially, like I said, with Ratledge

would have been a first round pick. Banks would have been maybe a top 10 player with another year. I think with another year and or with health this year, Kevin Winston Jr. would have been a top 30 player in the draft. He's a big body, free safety that can do everything you need him to do. Great tackler, great run defender as well. I want to take a peek at the edge available players here and at the interior defensive line players available because as I look at the guys that are available on the edge, I'm looking at Ashton Jolati and I'm looking at Antoine Powell Vileland as the two guys that stand out to me the most. There's probably Baron Sorrel that you can talk about in Savian Jones from LSU that you can talk about Elijah Roberts a little bit

later, probably all those guys a little bit later. But Jolada, a guy that we talked about on Friday, Joe, where that's a pick in the third ground that I wouldn't be mad at. On the interior defensive line, we talked about a scenario on Friday where D.O. Walker was a pick out of Kentucky, taking a swing on the interior defensive line. You can also hear mention a little bit later guys like Ty Robinson and C.J. West. I think I'm happy to wait on the interior defensive line at this point in the draft. we've obviously addressed our guard position over and over.

Terrence Ferguson is there. Is anything here moving you off of Kevin Winston Jr.? Nothing at all. I think he's clear, best prospect here for sure. The upside with him is immense. We could potentially be talking about three guys starting and not just starting, potentially making a positive impact for the Bengals in 2025, which you can't always get.

So through three rounds, we've got Kelvin Banks, Tate Ratledge, Kevin Winston, Jr. That means we're looking for defensive line help pretty badly at this point. That is not an area that we've addressed yet. We're still looking potentially for running back at some point. Double dipping on guard means something has got to go. Maybe that's linebacker. I'm not sure, but let's run the fourth round here and see who our options are. Danny Stutzman at the top of the board here.

Maybe that's a linebacker pick. Anias Peebles, if you wanted a pass rushing type on the interior defensive line, but undersized, no doubt about that. Jordan Phillips from Maryland, also there on the interior defensive line. If we waited a little bit longer, we'd be talking probably about maybe Ty Hamilton a little bit later. It looks like we missed on Ty Robinson by one pick here, going at 118 to the Atlanta Falcons, D.M. Walker, going 107 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Where else are we looking right now, Joe?

Yeah, linebacker, I'd like to see, you know, it doesn't have to be Danny Stutzman. We also have high opinions on Cody Simon, Ali Kobe King, Teddy Buchanan ranks pretty high for us. Bengals met with Nicholas Martin. These are all guys that probably were at least around early on. So it is, we're trying to, I think here we are trying to find a defensive tackle or defensive end. I think Sabion Jones is another one of those big guys that mentioned to you on Friday's episode. The guys that are 6-5-280 that can play left end and kick inside and play defensive tackle. I like Powell Rylan for Virginia Tech for looking for pass rush.

It's saying he should be there in another round, but he is the one if you're going to really look for that edge rusher because we lost out on David Walker as well. Yeah, I think defensive line, though, with Ania's Peebles can give you that pass rush. I think he stands alone here. If I'm looking for a pass rusher or a guy with some interior athleticism and juice, I think people stands alone, even though it isn't grade so high, He doesn't probably have the outlook.

If we use the sheet and look at that, doesn't have the outlook of a high-end starter, but maybe a contributing player to give you something you don't have. If you're taking Indies Peebles, why not take one of these bigger edge options would be my question, who's just as big as Peebles, but can also give you high-quality run defense on the edge. And I'm thinking about Elijah Roberts at this point from SMU,

as much as I'm thinking about Powell Riland and Savion Jones, even though I know Roberts doesn't do so well on the sheet. Yeah, and Roberts is another guy that's going to kick inside and do a lot. And on tape, he's fun because he's got this giant neckpad like it's 1994, and he just pulls through people. And you can tell he's not the most agile guy. He should have probably not worked out at all. But when you kick him inside, he looks athletic enough.

And I think that's what he'll do. I would not be upset within Elijah Roberts in round four at all. I wish he tested better because we were targeting him when we thought maybe he's a decent athlete. And instead he ended up being a poor one. One of my favorite guys that I saw, though, if we want to talk running back, Damien Martinez is still here. And I think he would be a tremendous fit with the Bengals. If you want to have a good time of talking to the listeners,

put on Damien Martinez highlights or the film, the breakdowns, whatever you can find on YouTube, and watch them bowl over people, run over people, contact balance is crazy, a very strong runner inside and outside. No real receiving production. So it would have to get funneled towards P. Rine and Chase Brown, which is probably fine. The Bengals may want a guy to do both.

But I think Martinez is a great fit. Yeah, I think there is a cliff here at running back, where it doesn't feel like there's as much of a cliff to me, a defensive line. I don't think you're getting an impact of interior defensive line in here. People's maybe gives you something as a designated pass rushing type of defensive tackle, but that's a one down player right now. Like he's a, and I wonder if he's even active. Right.

For some games right now. And if he comes in and he's immediately like knocking guys, socks off in terms of past rush ability, then sure, he forces his way onto the field. If you want to take that bet, Joe, you can talk me into it. But this might be the spot where the running back is, that cliff is coming. RJ Harvey, Devon, Neal, Damien Martinez, DJ Giddens, cliff, I would say. Would you argue otherwise? Is there anybody else that you really like later?

I do like Etienne. And if we get later, I like Breschart Smith. I like Jordan James. I like Jadon Blue. I like a La Quint Allen, actually. He's a very fun guy, weird-looking guy, but it's hard to explain because he's all legs. His legs are up to his neck like a cartoon character, and you think like, what is this guy, a receiver? And then they can't tackle him, especially inside the 10-yard line.

He's one of the best pass protectors and catchers of the football too in this class. So which way do you go here, Joe? I think the highest-graded guy, and if we try to stay near the board and look at our sheet and you're hovering over him, it's Danny Stutzman, who is an athletic linebacker out of Oklahoma. he struggled a little bit with some of these power teams this past year, missing tackles and kind of shying away from the physicality. But then there's other times where he diagnosed it very quickly, fills very quickly, and lays the hammer on guys.

I think when he can dictate the tone, he will do it. But when the offense is running it down their throats, I thought he turned a little bit, which is why he would be here in the fourth round. Meanwhile, I'm ready to walk away from Stussman and just wait on a linebacker because I feel so similarly when it's Cody Simon or Teddy Buchanan or even like a Jack Kaiser, to be honest, considering the familiarity. What if we just went for Antoine Powell Island here and said,

here's the guy that can give us some pass rush juice. Here's a swing on a past rusher who isn't going to be tremendously undersized away and the S. Peebles would be. He's probably the highest guy in the sheet right now. I think he's around a 78 for us. And talk about him, he is a pure edge rush. in the mold of Carl Lawson, where Lawson came out and he had tons of move,

was a technique master, but Lawson had the raw power. I think Ryland has more bend in his game, but you'll see him use six moves and win with six moves in one singular tape. Pick one that you put on. He is one of the best pure technical pass rushers in this class, and his athleticism is more than good enough.

It's between him and Savion Jones for me, I would say. If I were to narrow it down here, thinking about value, thinking about position, but the pass rush data pushing me in the, and the technical prow is pushing me in the direction of Powell Island here. What do you think? I've got no problem with it, because the sheet says that we should, we should take guys like this. Let's trust the sheet and get to the fifth round here and see if we can find a potential running back. Man, this draft just wants us to pick guards. Dylan Fairchild, Jaylon Rivers at the top of the board here, in addition

to receiver Pat Bryant out of Illinois. Ty Hamill, there, if you are a Ty Hamilton fan on the Interior Defensive Line from Ohio State. The linebackers that we talked about in the last round, though, started to come into the picture of the top of the board, Jack Seymond, Jack Kaiser, Cody Simon, both options here. Yeah, it's tough. It's not laying out because this is when I typically would double dip at guard, right, because I see a guy here still.

I'm like, yeah, fine. Now it's time to circle back. And I like Ty Hamilton. He played a lot of nose for Ohio State. but I think he's more of a three-tech. He's like a three-tech run defender. I think they drafted two of those guys last year. So, you know, does that really help much to do that?

When Jade on Blue is a weapon. You tell me Chase Brown goes down, you can't plug in Jade on Blue and get very similar type high upside splash plays. Of course you can. His route running from a running back position is tremendous. He will actually, you can actually get him out there and have one-on-one route with guys and he will get open. He has a fumbling problem.

He's not the biggest dude. man, is he a blazer and a good time? And I think Woody Marks fits that role as well. Who's probably supposed to go in like six round from you? My question here is, are any of these running backs that you would actually consider in the fifth round compliments to Chase Brown and not Chase Brown? If he goes down, you can plug him in and have him do what Chase Brown did. I struggle with the idea. This is probably a longer conversation of do you need thunder and lightning or do I just need two guys that are effective and give defense's headaches?

because a both sound great. If I can find Thunder to Chase Brown's Lightning, I'll do it. But if not, and I end up with Breschard Smith or Jaydon Blue or Jardt Hunter even, I got no issue with any of those guys being the number two eventually. Which of these running backs do you like the best? I like Jadon Blue the best because of that upside. So Jadon Blue versus are we happy waiting on linebacker here and hoping for Teddy Buchanan and the 6th?

There's a ton. We only got two picks left. I would like to also double-dip on linebacker with this class the way it's shaping up now. I wouldn't have no problem with going Jack Kaiser, Cody Simon, Jack Kaiser, Teddy Buchanan, and Nicholas Martin. We don't have to do that. I think the defensive tackle run happened. We missed out on that.

I think it's a good time to finish this draft with running back. Maybe tight end. I didn't see what was over at tight end if we could click there real quick. Jalen Conyers would be a great fit. Jackson Hawes is one of the best blockers in this class. Luke Lechay from Iowa. He had not gotten hurt and then didn't test very well. well, Luke Lechay could have been a top three pick in the draft.

Again, another Iowa tight end. He will do the things Iowa tight ends do. They'll block. He can run. He can catch. Scout the helmet. Pick Jadon Blue here and add a dynamic player to the backfield to compliment. Chase Brown, Samajai P. Ryan, and try to get a linebacker.

Maybe a tight end. Maybe we're just going on draft and free agent at this point. But this is the price you pay for going double dip on guard early. and it sounds weird, but there is an opportunity cost to everything. We solidify the offensive line, feel great about that, love the Kevin Winston pick. Day three has been kind of tough by comparison because of the way we went on day one, at least in part. But looking at our options here in the sixth round, Joe,

if we needed a wide receiver, I'd be talking about Isaac Tesla or Tesla or however his name is pronounced from Arkansas. But I'm talking about Teddy Buchanan here instead. We are talking about Teddy Buchanan. And the draft sheet would say this is like a similar pick to getting Chase Brown in the fifth round or so. He's 79.7 on the sheet. He is number three linebacker on our sheet. We said there's a huge gap there.

He's consensus 178. I think Teddy Buchanan is actually pretty good. 6-2-233, five-year player in college, but he's still only 22 years old. So he was a young man at one point, which is why it helps his production score a little rebates in the 70th percentile for production. He's a 9.4 RAS. He's a good athlete. He ran a 4-6 at 233, and this is a guy who is a good cover linebacker. All the metrics say he is good.

I think he's actually a fine run defender, too. Everything's so spaced out for them. It was hard to tell with Teddy Buchanan of how good of a run defender he's going to be coming from Cal. I don't know that Cal played the hardest schedule last year when I watched the teams of the tapes I put on. Cal had a lot of defenders that I was wondering why the defense was so bad. How much of that is the players versus the coaching? But Buchanan, in coverage, to me, I think he could carve out a role for that very early in his career. I wonder if they need a more physical linebacker, given that Logan Wilson is going to be the other primary guy.

And who is number three right now? Is it just Oren Berks? I mean, that's where we will be if this was the draft. But here is a scenario where it is to early offensive linemen. trying to fill in the rest later. We miss on defensive tackle entirely. And that is one of the possibilities that you play with if you don't get one of those guys in the first three rounds.

But we tried to stay true to our board. We found pass rush outside in Powell Island in the fourth round. Kevin Winston is a massive baller at 81 in the third round. And Jadon Blue and Teddy Buchanan both bring specific elements that are appealing when you're thinking about what the Bengals need. So you solidify the offensive line with Calvin Banks and Tate Ratlidge and tried to fill in some impact players elsewhere and take some swings where we could and just kind of goes to show you, Joe, the way the draft works, you got to be ready for things that are unpredictable. You got to be ready to pivot. You got to be ready to then look at veterans

that are available. And that is something that will be hoping the Bengals will do. We'll keep things going here on lockdown Bengals the rest of the way until the NFL draft. Of course, you can find Joe at Joe Goodberry on Twitter where he will have plenty of draft content for you this week. We talked about the sheet last week all the way through this final mock draft Monday of the season today. Appreciate Joe giving us the time and expertise throughout those episodes. Until next time, that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Ho day and have a good book.