Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Zac Taylor & Duke Tobin Are Set to Return: Are Bengals Making a Mistake?
Episode Date: December 30, 2025The Cincinnati Bengals are expected to bring back head coach Zac Taylor and Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin next season. Should they? Jake Liscow and James Rapien answer that question with in-...depth analysis of Taylor's tenure and the overall performance of the team. They also talk about the front office, their process in free agency, the NFL Draft, how ownership is involved and so much more! The guys close the show by reacting to Al Golden's recent comments about veteran safety Geno Stone, that weren't necessarily the endorsement they seemed to be.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!FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. So before tip-off, check the FanDuel app and see what’s dropping during NBA Happy Hour — every Friday from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern.A little basketball, a little action, and a whole lot of Friday energy.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL 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 LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
At this point, we have a pretty good idea of what the future holds for Zach Taylor and Duke Tobin with the Cincinnati Bengals.
But we do need to have the conversation about what the Bengals should be doing and thinking about with those two key decision makers.
Let's break it down.
You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast.
Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.
What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the land.
He's James Rapine.
I am Jake Liskow.
We've been covering you here on Lockdown Bengals since 2016.
Your best one-stop shop for daily Bengals coverage.
We'll have you covered all season long into the off season through the draft, all the excitement
coming up for the Bengals as they try to reshape their roster and bring hope back to Cincinnati for these Bengals for 2020.
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Today, we dive into the future for Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor.
We know those guys are sticking around for the Cincinnati Bengals at this point.
It would have taken a disaster after reporting two weeks ago
for the Bengals to truly consider making any changes for either of these jobs.
And by either of these jobs,
I'm really probably just talking about Zach.
Taylor, but early in this season, the way this season was going, a number of times, people wanted
us to spend weeks in the middle of this season, James, just talking about Zach Taylor's future.
Like every episode for weeks could have been the Bengals really need to fire Zach Taylor
today.
And then when they didn't do it today, the next episode, the Bengals really need to fire Zach
Taylor today.
That's what some people wanted out there for a good portion of the season.
Obviously, we're trying to stay grounded in the reality of how this team operates.
decision this team was going to make was going to come at the end of the season.
Apparently earlier, apparently a couple of years ago, there was that extension that we didn't
know about for Zach Taylor.
That wouldn't matter, though, for a lot of teams, for a lot of teams around the NFL, they
don't care that a coach has two years left on his deal or three years left on his deal or
whatever it is, depending on where you are in this league.
It's a very results-based league.
A lot of teams around the NFL would look at the last three seasons and say, we need to do
better. We need to try to shake things up and do better than Zach Taylor. There are reasons to
keep Zach Taylor around. We can talk about both sides of this coin, but there are also plenty of
reasons that this could be another example of the Bengals keeping a coach too long. And maybe Zach
and this team bounce back next year and they make us look silly. Joe Burrow can do that to you.
But what are your thoughts here, James? As we know Zach's back and now two games into this
meaningless game bounce, there's more. There's more.
fuel to that fire from the Bengal side of things.
But we've seen this entire season play out.
We have.
We've seen this entire season play out.
And we saw last year play out and we saw the year before that play out.
And at some point, you can't say, oh, well, Joe got hurt and that's why the season didn't
work matters.
But I also think that there are some coaches that would have gone much better than one
and eight with the same personnel.
Not every coach, certainly, and there are worse coaches than Zach.
But that's why if I were the Bengals, I'd say, all right, it's time to hit reset.
It's time to hit reset on something that we were seven years in.
If we held on past 2020 when that was a real question, it's a real question for Zach,
it was a real question for the coaching staff.
And even into 2021, midway through the year, then they start to get hot.
And that, that, it changed.
things. I mean, they started five and three that year, or five and two. And then they lose a couple of
a couple of games going into the buy. And there was some real questions. Like, is this really going to be
the guy? And we looked at his record and his one score game record. And then they go on the run of the
Super Bowl. That was forever ago, man. It was forever ago. And so I think from just a need of
change standpoint, I wouldn't just make a change to make a change, to be clear. But should they
have seriously considered and seriously consider moving on?
Well, yeah, because if the objective is to win a Super Bowl,
then you just simply ask, is Zach Taylor the best head coach that we can get to guide us to Lombardyland?
Because we need to get to Lombardy land.
That's why Joe Burrow is here, and that's why Jemar Chase is here,
and that's why we paid these guys and we kept T. Higgins.
And so how do we get to Lombardy land?
And they may feel like, all right, well, stability is the way to go.
There's been no quarterback head coach tandem in NFL history that has won a Super Bowl after
I think that has won a Super Bowl after not winning one in their first.
I think it's six years, but we'll go seven years.
And we just haven't seen it.
And so that alone would make it leery now, make me leery of keeping him.
Now, who would they replace them with?
That's a whole other conversation.
But on the surface, my mindset would be, yeah, let's go find an elite head coach, one of
these high-end coaches that is going to really affect winning.
And that's how I would go.
We know they're not going that way.
But that's how I leaned last year when we were talking about Luana Rumo
and in all the changes that they did make.
It's like, all right, well, are you sure that this is the guy you're building around?
In a year later, we still have a lot of questions about the defense.
We still have plenty of questions about game management.
Plenty of questions overall if he's the right leader.
and that doesn't mean they're not playing hard for them because they clearly are.
But it just feels like it could be time, should be time in a lot of ways.
And you're right.
Maybe in a year we feel differently.
But as of right now, that's how it feels.
Yeah, I mean, there's always a chance that they can prove us wrong.
This offense, when they've had Joe Burrow T. Higgins and Jamar Chase on the field is one of the best offenses in the NFL and has been when that's been the case for the last three seasons.
They've had injuries that have prevented that from happening.
and that's not the head coach's fault.
And when the head coach has had his primary weapons,
that he's built the offense around,
and he is, for better or worse,
the head coach of the team with a primary focus on offense, right?
That's the way the delineation of duties has played out
with Zach Taylor and his coaching staff,
where his involvement on the defensive side of the ball
isn't as significant as perhaps it could or should be.
Damico Ryan's, for example,
talking about taking a step back from the defense in Houston to be more involved
with both sides of the ball.
They are more involved from the managerial perspective of the head coach's job,
that part of the work that he had to do.
And the Texans seem to benefit for that.
Zach has never taken that step.
He's never said, all right, well, we're going to let Dan pitcher call the plays now,
and I'm going to be a head coach.
I'm going to manage the game on Sundays.
and we're going to reshape our responsibilities on Sundays.
They've never tried that step.
And the offense has largely not been the primary problem for the last two years,
which further muddies the waters.
I think the players do seem to still really like Zach Taylor.
Like that part has never really seemed to waver.
I'm not in the locker room every day.
You obviously are there much more often than I am.
but from my viewpoint, that hasn't really changed either.
Joe Burrow relationship with Zach Taylor,
I think part of the reason Zach is still around.
But some of these games that they've lost in the last two and three years,
and the way this team has gone, some of it goes above his head, right?
That's the other thing here.
If you're a Zach Taylor guy or gal out there,
you want the Bengals to keep Zach Taylor,
well, you might be saying, well, what about Duke?
what about these players that the coaching staff is getting?
And the issues with how those players are being developed,
how those players are being used over the last few years,
those questions out there as well.
It goes back to what you said, right?
You should always be asking yourself,
in meaningful games, is this a coach that gives us the best shot to win?
And you should also be asking yourself,
I guess the other thing here is,
who are you replacing it with this year specifically?
It's a weaker on paper list of head coaching candidates than last year.
Last year was great.
It was an opportunity that they didn't take.
Zach obviously had three years left on his deal then.
They were never considering it.
But that's the other factor here that they would need to consider.
Yeah, for sure.
And we can get to Duke Tovin coming up.
It's really smart by Zach because he has Joe in his corner,
which honestly is not as big of a fact.
If you get the next coach right, it doesn't matter.
But has Joe in his corner regardless, and that matters.
And the other element is the contract.
Like he positioned himself really well to navigate through this,
to make the decision to bench Logan Wilson for a guy in Barrett Carter who's been awful.
Because he can plan for the future.
And think about how do we build this defense and rebuild this defense and retool it the right way.
And that's why he's why he.
spoke the way he spoke all season. He has not sounded like a guy for one moment that thought he
was getting fired. It did not sound like 2020. It did not sound like 2021, where at times there was
doubt in certainly 2020. I know there was a ton of doubt in the building or question.
Doubt might be the wrong word, question of whether or not that staff would stay. And so
that never really felt like a possibility here. And on one hand,
It's good.
You don't want coaches feeling the pressure so much that it impacts the ultimate football decisions.
On the other hand, you're trying to win Super Bowls.
And let's transition.
Now, how much is this front office, aka the director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, to blame, should he be out?
Would we move on if we were the Bengals?
We'll dive into that question coming up next.
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Just to wrap up on Zach Taylor, I did a Twitter poll on December 16th.
And I think you did one of these for Zach as well more recently.
Should the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff remain intact for 2026?
83% of people responding two weeks ago, December 16th, right?
So this is right after they lost in Baltimore, they're eliminated, their 4 and 10.
83% replaced them all.
Then they start winning some meaningless games.
I wonder how different that would look today.
7% think replace a coordinator.
5% wanted some position coaches replaced 5.5% think keep them all.
I also asked the same question about the front office.
60%.
Real quick.
Real quick.
Before you get to the front office, because then we're going to get into Duke.
There is absolutely zero scenario where they should fire Al Golden and not Zach Taylor, to be clear.
I'm going to make that very, very clear, because that's insane.
That would be insane.
Zach hired Al.
They already did this song and dance last year.
I would rip them for that, just to be clear.
If you're keeping Al, then just keep Zach.
Or if you're keeping Zach, then just keep Al, is how I.
I should say that. So that's obviously the coordinator. Everybody's talking about there,
defiring him. My poll, by the way, you're right. I ran it. It was only an hour.
75 say fire, Zach. 25 say don't. So it's changed a little bit, but not a ton, I would say,
since December 16th.
I just shouldn't change a ton, but it's not surprising that it's changed a little bit because
people are reacting to the latest thing, right? The only thing I'll say, I agree with you generally.
Like if you think Al Golden is a wrong guy, that's Zach's guy.
That was the whole thing that you changed last year.
You let Zach go get a different DC.
Then you should probably move on from both.
On the other hand, in a world of nuance,
if you think that Zach is still a great leader for your offense
and you think that Al is really underwater,
yeah, you should probably move on from Zach too because he made that higher.
but there's also a world where like maybe you should try to get an established defensive coach to be your DC.
And they had that chance last year and obviously didn't go that route.
Anyway, should the Cincinnati Bengals front office remain the same in 2026?
And obviously this one's a little bit more complicated because a lot of people would really like to see them hire a real GM.
But 60% of people that answered wanted the whole front office replaced.
26% wanted Duke replaced.
So, you know, you put that together.
You're at 86%.
86% or so wanted to see Duke replace.
5% wanted to see Duke promoted to real GM.
And 10% of respondents wanted to keep the current front office in place and add to it, add additional scouts.
Those were the four.
that I gave people, but similar to Zach, you're over 80% in fans that wanted to see Duke Tobin
replaced.
And the confounding thing here that we've talked about a lot on this show is we don't know
where exactly the demarcation of responsibilities lies between Katie and the family and Duke
and the personnel department.
We think that the draft is a pretty good indication of like the draft is Duke's baby.
As far as contracts and the players that they go get in free agency,
I'm sure Duke and the personnel department have a lot of influence there,
but ultimately the team is negotiating and signing the checks.
And so that's where it gets murkier.
What are your thoughts here as you're thinking about Duke Tobin's feature with the team
that seems, you know, with Paul's reporting and all these things,
more secure than or as secure as it's ever been?
Well, I think Duke would have loved to keep Jesse.
pays, right? Like, why would he, a guy who drafted him and saw his development? Why would he not
want to pay him? And so a lot of the contract stuff, I do put on Katie. And maybe it's unfair. Fine,
she can tell us it's unfair. But as of now, I don't think Duke is negotiating with Jamar Chase.
I think that the reason that got punited to the next year is because of ownership. T. Higgins,
Joe Burrow and everybody involved basically needing to move mountains.
to get that deal done ownership and that's where it's tough is like yeah duke tobin probably
handles the draft did duke tobin not want a linebacker and you know did he not want a linebacker
in free agency what was that the case maybe it was maybe that that's part of it like how much
influence does the coaching staff have in in who's picked where and what so it's really hard for me to be
like, oh, well, this is all on Duke Tobin.
At the same time, if they said, hey, we need a fresh voice here, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be,
I wouldn't be against it.
I would be really open to it, but I would also default back to, you know what, I would
much rather have, is Katie being willing to manipulate the cap the way some of these other
teams do?
Is this, this ownership group, for lack of
better terms, the family understanding that the Joe Borough era needs to be there all-in era.
And all-in doesn't need to be the Saints or the Browns where you just roll over cap and do this
and do that.
No, I'm not.
Push dead money, I guess, into the future is what I'm trying to say.
You don't necessarily need to do that.
But can you fit more under the cap?
Can you be more aggressive?
Can you be open to trades?
Can you have a vision?
Can you aggressively address your roster?
like yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Can you avoid having glaring weaknesses going into the draft?
Yes.
And so if that's Duke because he sucks at free agency, well, great.
But I highly doubt that Duke was like, let's sign T.J. Slayton and no one else last year.
Maybe.
But I doubt it.
Yeah, Duke has his input, right?
But sure.
We have seen this issue where they can't multitask well enough now in the front office.
And that drives you crazy.
It seems to typically come back to me to hire real GM, hire real cap manager, add people with real responsibilities that can help you improve your football team and help you get out of the way.
It's been the same thing with this ownership group for 30 years.
get out of your own way.
Stop meddling in the football operations.
Let football people do the football stuff.
They are football people.
They think they are.
But, yeah.
Like, I know that's where they come from.
They're lawyers and business people that fancy themselves football people.
I mean, I think Mike is a football person.
Mike's been forever, played football.
I would say Mike is a football person.
But he's 90.
he played football through college,
and then he worked for the Bengals.
Andy led the team through its worst era.
So I don't-
I'm not saying he's good.
I'm saying he's a football person.
That's all.
Yeah.
And regardless,
what we're talking about here is the financial decisions,
I think more than anything.
We're going to get to the draft stuff.
I mean,
that's what you're talking about when you talk about you.
I don't really care that Mike is a football person.
The rest of the family is not,
because the rest of the family is more involved now.
And Mike led the team through its worst period in its history.
So like kind of irrelevant and obviously shows that like just being a football person isn't enough.
You need to have the right football people.
The rest of the league has football people running divisions.
And some football people aren't very good at running football teams.
I'm not saying that.
I'm just that's why I'm sure they all think like, oh, well, I can do the same thing.
Like the precedent is there.
Yeah.
And in reality, they think that Katie's really good at the contract.
stuff and we went over in it was either late March or early April whenever it was when the t higgins
and jemar chase contracts like officially came out they left double digit million dollars in cap space
on the table the the 10 million basically that went to tray they could have just had that room
for whatever and that could have been a linebacker one part of that goes to their lack of proactiveness
which is another criticism of the front office so we're going to be talking about
some of the players on this team that are extension eligible.
But let's get to the draft point a little bit more with Duke
because we think that that is what he controls.
And there are some comments from Al Golden about Gino Stone
that have really taken off in the last 24 hours or so
that we'll get to toward the end of the show here coming up next.
All right.
Let's get to the draft.
And it's a huge factor, right?
Is the Bengals there really since 2021?
And even in 2021, it was the Jamar Chase pick.
People don't give Duke credit for that.
I think the organization should get some credit for it because a lot of people wanted
them to pick Penny Sewell.
Couldn't get it wrong, I guess.
You want to say that fine.
You end up with the best receiver in franchise history, and that's what Jamar's going
to go down as.
I'm going to give you some credit for it.
And maybe the best kicker in franchise history.
But there are a lot of whiffs in there, even in 2021.
And in 2022, you didn't get the instant production.
Daxhill took some time.
looks like it's paying off now.
That's all they have to show for that draft class too.
And no doubt.
And then you go down the line and it's like, well, finally,
2023 is coming around and there's a lot of building blocks,
but it took a while.
And that's what's tough for me.
Like Demetrius Knight, hated the pick, right?
Hated it.
Maybe he's good in year three.
I don't know.
Maybe he's good in year two.
But you have to be able to field a quality team without all these holes and going into the draft with these holes.
Because I do wonder, like, how much of it's that versus how much of it is.
I, we don't think we're going to pay Trey Hendrickson.
So let's get Miles Murphy here and try to develop him.
And then Sam Hubbard falls off a cliff because of health.
And then it's kind of awkward because Luce still wants to play Sam.
And, you know, it's, they've obviously failed draft wise.
But it's hard for me to say it's one thing or another.
Like they all need to look in the mirror for me.
And they've all failed.
Like it isn't just one person because we, we know in another, in another world,
they really nail the 2025 draft with guys that, that were high on their board when they
were picking that would have been productive right away.
and they still had some good pieces, I think, in this class.
Like, Dylan Fairchild's a hit, I think already.
At the same time, drafting hasn't been an A or a B.
And really since 2020, it's been a huge struggle.
And 2020 is a great draft class, but after that, it's been rough.
I think the best point in the defense of the drafts is, like,
they're going into the draft every year with dire needs.
No doubt. I hate it.
That's not necessarily entirely on.
Duke because of the way the Bengals do business.
If Duke was a real GM, then you could say the whole roster construction falls in his feet,
but it's not.
The decision to not sign linebackers besides Warren Berks and free agency last year,
like, is that what Duke wanted to do?
Did he want to go into a draft that we knew was weak at linebacker, needing to draft
two linebackers?
To your point, I doubt it.
Did they want to be in this position with Trey Hendrickson?
Is that what Duke wants?
I mean, we've heard Duke talk.
talk about Trey Hendrickson.
We heard him talk about Jesse Bates.
And those negotiations have gone the way that they've gone.
Those things do go hand in hand to some degree.
But when you hear about the process that goes into some of these picks,
that's where it all kind of comes apart.
Like, yeah, they probably would have liked to have not had a pressing need at lineback
going into this draft.
And maybe that fixes your second round selection,
where we had issues with the process.
We had issues with the process in the first draft.
You can understand their perspective.
You can understand why they drafted from our Stuart, Demetrius,
Knight, Barrett, Carter, Dylan Fairchild,
in the order that they drafted them.
But the process to get there didn't seem very sound.
And the more you kind of hear about the process,
the more you think probably need to overhaul that process.
That's kind of where I landed, especially this year.
I agree.
And Duke is a guy that's running that process.
And we heard all of the distancing from Duke Tobin from the personnel department this year.
Like, yeah, that's why Duke makes those tough decisions.
That's why we have Duke here to make those tough decisions.
And it seems like that that was new.
That was language that we hadn't really heard from the leadership in that front office before.
And it seems like it's like, well, we didn't really want to go this direction in the draft.
but that's why Duke makes the tough decisions, you know?
And that's why it seemed like it was more to have this year.
But, you know, he's going to be back.
And so another episode that we do probably is like,
how do you make changes within the limitations that you impose on yourself
to give yourself a better shot going forward?
Because that's what it is.
Well, that's what it is.
Zach staying, Duke staying.
Yeah.
And everyone listening and watching,
especially the everydayers.
You want this team to win.
Well, how do you win given that?
The good news is you have a hell of a shot
anytime you have Joe Burrow.
The bad news is,
Gino Stone probably has no chance
to tackle Joe Burrow in the open field
no matter what team he's playing for.
And honestly, I'm going to do a poll.
Who, what's more likely?
Jake Liscoe runs for a touchdown.
Gino Stone tackles him short of the goal line
at the 10-yard line go.
It's probably going to be like,
50-50, Jake, and that's insane.
Do you know that little...
A good 50 pounds on me?
Dude, did you see the little shoulder he does?
Yeah, that got way more than him, though.
Yeah.
The little shoulder is...
So what?
Run through him.
I don't under...
That was Michael Wilson, right?
Yeah, yeah.
You're a football player.
You're a football player.
Anyways, Al Golden praised Gino Stone.
Praise Gino Stone on Monday.
Not for a second.
But not first tackling, but there was a second part of this quote that didn't make the rounds.
And it was really a follow-up from Ben Baby.
You're going to hear the praise from Al Golden, but stay with us because the end of this is really, really important when it comes to Gino Stel.
The success that we've had in the whatever it is, the final eight, a lot of it can be attributed to Gino.
I think he's been a really good leader for us.
I think his communication is exceptional.
I think he gets us in the right defense when we need to be in the right defense.
I think Jordan, Gino, myself included, would all say, man, we'd like to have one play back here, one play back there.
But get in line.
And that's me included in terms of putting the guys in the best position possible,
who wouldn't want to have a player or a call.
back. So again, I think he's improved from last year. And, you know, I just, again, I'm always
looking at the positive, and I see a path forward for him to get better, continue to improve.
And we're going to keep coaching him.
Sounds like that safety pairing, do you think it can't work together well moving forward?
If I'm being completely honest with you guys, I'm talking about Gino and the success that
the successes that he's had but i'm not i'm not going into next year like really i'm just we're
trying to be cleveland and we we got our hands full i get it the praise is cringe i'm not going to
lie to he's a big reason why we're like i i read the quote and i'm like all right let me listen
let me listen to everything and ben follows up and it was a really good follow up because that's
what people are cringing about that like this season's over like it's fine praise gino all you want
And that's when I was like, Al could have said, yes, I think Gino and Jordan are the guys back there.
And I really trust Gino and what he does.
He didn't say any of that.
He gassed up his guy so he can handle business on Sunday.
And then it was, I'm not worried about the future.
I'm not thinking about that.
And so the praise might be a bit much, Jake.
but as long as it has nothing to do with their evaluation going into 2026, I don't really care
because they're trying to win on Sunday.
And guess what?
Maybe Gino does make a player or two.
He had an interception in Cleveland last year.
Maybe it happens again.
That's like the classic.
He's our starting quarterback right now.
Yeah, we believe him.
Yes.
It's not he's going to be our starting quarterback for the whole year.
It's like that kind of answer where there's obviously no commitment to Gino Stone.
I was, uh, I thought.
this caught wildfire and it shouldn't have.
I don't think that there's
much to this. We have people in our
insider text group asking like, hey, like,
is there actual consideration for keeping
Geno Son? I still don't think so.
I'll still be surprised if they do, but they surprised
me before. It's not to say that it's impossible.
Fun Geno Stone stat for you here, James.
Since that New England game,
when he was great.
He was great. He was great, man. It was fun watching
in that game. He played what, he played like he read
every single thing that everybody said about him.
If that was Gino-Sone every week, he'd be a Pro Bowl safety.
Yes, he'd be so good.
Since then, he's missed 50% of his tackles, if my quick math is right.
And I think it is, because he's had 12 total tackles and 10 missed tackles.
Or no, I guess that would be 33%.
Right?
Whatever, dude.
He's had 10 missed tackles basically in that since Joe Burroughs returned, 10 of his 22 tackle attempts
have been misses.
10 of his 20.
Yeah.
10 of his 30.
He's had 20 tackles, 10 misses.
So 33%.
10 of the,
bro.
That's pretty bad.
That's really bad.
Like that's so bad.
If you're going to tackle like that and his mistackle rate in Baltimore when the
Bengal signed him was like he's not going to be a good tackler,
that's not his strength.
Yep.
But he made a lot of plays.
His production on the ball.
He had seven interceptions that year.
And you got to be making a lot of points.
plays on the football, got to be forcing turnovers if you're going to tackle the way you're
tackling. And, well, that's not been the case. I don't know how much more time you need to spend
on Gino Stone here, though, James. We've spent about as much time as the Bengals should have
discussing Gino Stone's future. He should have a new team this offseason and could totally
see him going, I don't know, anywhere, anywhere, but here. I think Jordan Battle starts next year.
Geno Stone, better not.
And those Al Golden words, I think, actually spoke to that being in consideration,
even though the coaches haven't fully gotten there yet.
They're definitely aware of the perception of what the front office thinks and all of those things.
I'm sure they've started that in their minds.
And guess what?
I'm not sure 22 is fit for the future.
Jake, get us out of here.
This is the last time you and me are talking in 2020, 2025.
Oh yeah, happy New Year.
Happy New Year.
Yeah, we have the crossover tomorrow.
We have the crossover tomorrow and then we'll be back Thursday on New Year's Day together.
Another year in the books, my friend.
We started this in 2020, brother.
Crazy.
Like you and me.
Yeah.
Absolutely wild.
Time.
Wild.
Everyone experiences this.
Time is a crazy thing and it passes.
Boy, does it pass.
Happy New Year to you as well if you're listening to this on New Year's Eve.
Hope you enjoy your night.
Stay safe out there.
Until next time, that's going to do it for this episode of the lockdown Bengals podcast.
Thanks for listening.
Hoodey and have a good.
