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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your
team every day. Do you argue with

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Renner Ranked NFL expert. Mike Renner
brings you a smart, insightful, and

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fun approach to the biggest NFL stories
every day, ranking anything from NFL position

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units, to college draft prospects to
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Mike Renner has all the rankings for
the true football fan who loves everything

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about the sport. Available on YouTube
or wherever you get your podcasts part of

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the Locked On Podcast Network, Your
team every day. At the bye week,

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let's take a look at every position
group on the Cincinnati Bengals and give

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out some grades. How are they
doing so far? Let's get into it.

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You are Locked On Bengals, your
daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of

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the Locked On Podcast Network. Your
team every day, Bengals fans, and

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welcome to another episode of the Lockdown
Bengals Podcast. I'm your host Jake Lisco.

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He's your host James Rapine. We
are the Lockdown Bengals podcast Today,

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we're going to look at a team
that had very high expectations going into this

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season still does to be honest,
and they fallen short of those expectations before

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the bye week and now, as
we knew before the season, things appear

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to get harder with their schedule.
But we're gonna go position by position and

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look at where those grades come in, and for me, that's going to

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be based on expectation. We'll get
into that. This episode of Lockdown Bengals

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bets guaranteed at Fandel dot com slash
locked On. We appreciate everybody who's new

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to the show. If you're new
to the show and this is the first

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episode you've ever listened to on Lockdown
Bengals because it's after the bye week and

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you're ready to go for the rest
of the season, make sure you look

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back into the recent history. When
we talked with Luanna Roumo and Brian Callahan

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during the bye week, got their
perspective on what's going on with the offense,

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what's going on with the defense,
talked about some individual players, talked

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about some scheme with both of them. Some really cool insight from both of

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the Bengals lieutenants to Zach Taylor on
the defense and offensive side of the football,

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and Louanna Roumo and Brian Callahan.
So you don't want to miss those.

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If you did miss him, take
the time go back and listen to

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him. I thought they were both
really great and insightful. But today,

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James, it's time to give out
some grades. Kind of that cheesy mid

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season evaluation even though it's not really
mid season, but it's a good way

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to think about what our expectations were
for this Bengals team versus where they are

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so far. And it starts with
the quarterback who there were high MVP level

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expectations for Joe Burrow. Fair to
say he's not at that level right now,

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and there are reasons for that.
Right he missed all of training camp

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again and he's been dealing with this
calf injury. Yeah, I think it

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stinks. It stinks that we entered
this season and pre July twenty seventh and

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we were talking about MVP and I
thought he was dialed in in the best

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shape of his career and eye test
wise, that passed the test. I

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saw a practice in a half where
he was just balling, and we've seen

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flashes of that, especially in Arizona
at the beginning of Seattle, but it

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hasn't been to that level. So
no one deserves, needs, desires,

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whatever you want to say. Probably
craved the buy more than Joe Burrow mentally

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and physically, and so I think
he benefits from it as much as anyone.

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And so that said, if we're
giving him a grade, I think

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the fair grade is incomplete. But
the fact that he was able to battle

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through and play when no one thought
he was playing against the Rams, like

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the Wednesday before that Monday night game, no one thought he was suiting up.

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Thursday, it was the same,
and it slowly trended in the right

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direction. You had the Mike Mike
Brown cart ride at practice where people are

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saying he is shut down, and
like it's been a wild six weeks.

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It has and in really three months
when you go back to the original calf

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injury. But the fact that he
hasn't played or hasn't not played, and

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has been on the field, he
deserves some credit for that a lot of

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credit for that, and so his
play hasn't been that MV level, and

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that's where expectations are when he's healthy, that's where this coaching staff puts him

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and then puts on him the responsibilities
he has on this offense. So it's

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weird because he's a big reason why
the offense has struggled and not been what

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we expected. And at the same
time, I think he deserves credit for

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being out there, even though he's
one of those reasons why. So this

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is a tricky grade. I think
he's certainly not only passing, but maybe

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slightly above average despite you know,
everything, and so I would say C

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plus, but that doesn't take into
account a ton of the injury stuff.

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Like if you just looked at the
numbers, I would say, like,

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it's probably C minus, and then
with the injury, I'm bumping it up

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to a C plus and it's probably
even higher than that considering what he had

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to play through. In the fact
that we didn't see any of Jake Browning

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in the first six games of the
season, or at least any significant snaps

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for Jake Browning early on, I
think he certainly deserves some credit for the

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injury. Like you said, I'm
gonna be a little bit less generous.

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I know that he's been dealing with
a lot, and so I don't think

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that's generous. I don't think there's
a player in the league that has gone

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through more than than Joe Burrow has
gone through. And that's not just because

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it's locked on Bengals. I think
it's that's a fact. Yeah, that's

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fine. I think that Just for
me, it just is more of how

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he's played, and he hasn't played
well. He's had flashes of playing well,

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and he does, like like you
said, like you've made abundantly clear,

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he's gone through a significant amount of
pain to just stay on the field

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and be there with his guys.
But the level of play for Joe Burrow

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compared to what we expect for Joe
Burrow is like D plus C minus like

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you said, the C minus for
the numbers or whatever. But just like

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the way he's playing, just missing
throws, not on the same page with

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his guys, which isn't always his
fault. The way the offense has struggled

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as a pass Firsus offense that relies
on Joe Burrow's ability, some of that

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is on coaching, as we've discussed
and we talked with Bran Callahan about.

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But for like an average quarterback,
if you're just saying, like, where's

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Joe Burrow compared to other NFL quarterbacks, it's near the bottom statistically and a

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lot of meaningful numbers right now.
He can't figure out the deep ball right

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now. It needs to be a
lot better. So C minus D plus

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like that's still where I am.
I think that outside of you know,

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the grade itself, which is harsh
if you say D plus, he does

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deserve a lot of, you know, moral victory credit for what he's been

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through, and I think that he'll
bounce back. It's just for what he's

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done so far, from you know, interceptions that haven't come at good times,

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to erratic accuracy, to processing that
that hasn't been great. They've been

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limited on offense. A lot of
that is the quarterback. I think that

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he'll be much better the rest of
the way. I think that he will

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bounce back. I think you will
see more of the Cincinnati Bengals offense that

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we're used to see. But it's
not just Burrow. It is part of

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the thing, right It's it's Burrow's
not playing well and and maybe that's a

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reason that it should be a little
bit higher. And maybe that's the reason

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that your grade might be more accurate
than mine is Tee Higgins is not having

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the year that he's He's having maybe
his worst year in the NFL so far.

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Earth Smith Jr. In the tight
end position has not been productive.

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So it's not just Burrow. But
I do think that C plus feels to

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me. It feels generous to you. You know, if you're accounting for

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all the injury stuff, I think
that's fine. I'm just not accounting for

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it. I guess when I give
the grade up that's a pff. Jake,

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Well, it's just there where it's
it's like like report cards used to

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have comments on him, like you
should. I'm giving him the comment of

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like I understand, but let's be
better kind of thing. Sure, it's

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to me, they would be like
one in five with Jake Browning and so

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as bad as he's been at times, Burrow, yea, he deserves like

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there's there's letter grades built in like
instantly it's like, all right, well

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it's still average because he lifts everybody
up. But he lifts everybody up like

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I promise you the defense would have
been worse with Browning at quarterback. I

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promise you t would have been worse. Jamar would have been worse. It's

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just and that's not even Jake's fault. It's just, you know, it's

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not me going after the Jakes of
the world. It's just what it is

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when you see nine out there versus
not. It's just part of it.

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And that's why him playing on that
Monday night game is still wild to me,

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and I think kind of gets overshadowed. So I do get it.

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He does have to be better.
I'll tell you that. He may say

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that I'm being generous with his play. I think that's part of why it's

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been so frustrating, is because he
can't and hasn't been able to physically do

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what he normally does. But we
can both agree that they need him to

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play a level in the final eleven
games of the season, as many of

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those as possible. Like if we
revisit this in eleven weeks, we need

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to be saying, oh, well, since the buye Burrow is at a

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B plus minimum, hopefully a minus
are better and so's That's going to be

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the interesting part as well as we
move forward, because if it is in

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that a range, we're talking about
a team that's going to be a contender.

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Again, yeah it's not then who
knows. That's exactly what happened last

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year. Once they hit their stride, he was playing at a top level

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as well as we've seen him play. The other thing is, if you're

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comparing Burrow this year to previous year
Burrow, it's really really hard to get

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an a right because average Burrough the
last two years has been a level quarterbacking

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for the rest of the league following
short of expectations, though, I'd say

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compared to where we were preseason at
three and three with the offense one of

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the bottom units in the league,
that's part of it. Let's continue on

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the offensive side of the ball.
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Exclusions apply. James before when we're talking

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about Joe Burrow, I mentioned that
it's not just Burrow, and there are

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some extenuating circumstances as to why the
Bengals offensive numbers are what they are.

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We've talked about this a lot.
There are a lot of things that need

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to be correct and we talked about
this, so Brian Callahan, I think

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the next unit we can talk about
is wide receiver. And this one's hard

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because you know, you take the
averages right, like Chase gets an A

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for me, Tyler Boy's probably like
a C minus. He's not been quite

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as productive as you would expect from
Tyler Boyd, but the flashes are there.

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He had a touchdown that would have
bumped it up. That was a

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race. Nan Te Higgins is probably
like D right. He's had one game.

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He's been hurt, which which doesn't
help things, but not clearly what

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you would expect you Higgins to be. You take the average of that,

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where are you on wide receiver?
Like B minus with Jamar Chase carrying a

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heavy part of that load. Jamar
has been the best player on offense by

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far, so if you're doing a
unit, he deserves a lot of credit

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for this offense overall. Yeah,
it's it's rough, and obviously Jamar has

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been dominant at times, but the
offense is just so inconsistent that you look

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at it. I think a C
might be generous for these pass catchers because

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where we are wide receivers. If
we're just looking at wide receivers for comparative

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to what we expected, best trio
in the league, right, Charlie Jones

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flashes some gets hurt. Andre Yosavasha's
flashed love that. So you got something

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out of your rookie receivers. I
think you would have taken that to start

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the year outside of the injury,
which you can't help the fact that the

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guy had a broken thumb and needed
surgery. But Jamar has been dominant.

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He is off to the worst start
of his career. Now, the reason

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it's not an f is because of
the rib injury. I think that's certainly

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00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:16.039
impacted him the other day. I
hope he gets healthy. I hope he

203
00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.080
dominates over the final eleven and finishes
with twelve hundred plus yards. But who

204
00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:24.159
would have thought that t Higgins would
have fourteen catches over the first six games

205
00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:26.840
for one hundred and forty nine yards. And I know he missed a game,

206
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so in five games, Okay,
that's less than three receptions a game,

207
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with just eight of them in one
game. Yeah, yeah, in

208
00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.600
the two touchdowns against the Ravens too. I mean, it's it's been Outside

209
00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.360
of that game, it's been really
really rough for Tea Boyd. It's everything

210
00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:48.960
looks good except the yards, and
that's the part. Thirty receptions on forty

211
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.639
one targets you would take. I
think that that's about right. You know

212
00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:56.519
you have five receptions a game.
The problem is two hundred and four yards

213
00:15:56.519 --> 00:16:00.240
six point eight a reception. We're
not talking about rushing yards six point I

214
00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:04.120
mean that's closer to rushing yards.
And that's not just him. That's a

215
00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:10.159
product of what the offense has been. Jamar is averaging eleven yards a catch.

216
00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.600
That's where Boyd should be. Jamar
needs to be at fourteen yards a

217
00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:17.360
catch, and that goes in line
with the deep ball stuff, the downfield

218
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:22.000
stuff, and so it's an offensive
thing overall. But right now, the

219
00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:27.360
guy that leads them in yards per
catch, it's Tanner Hudson with twelve.

220
00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:32.919
That's unbelievable. And I know he's
not a receiver, but we can segue

221
00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.120
into a tight end in a second. It's just it's crazy. So I

222
00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:41.519
would actually put it C minus D
plus because it's just it's really ugly right

223
00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:45.519
now and I think it could change, and a lot of it is tied

224
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.320
to burrow in Jamar is what's really
helping. I would say C minus.

225
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.120
Let's go see minus it's like a
seventy eight percent something like that. If

226
00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.559
you're talking about like a math test, or seventy eight percent or so.

227
00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:03.039
Seventy plus in the grading scale.
I think it's ten percent per grade,

228
00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:07.680
right, So nine when I was
coming up, man b ended at I

229
00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.200
think eighty forty five. Yeah,
yeah, eighty four eighty five. So

230
00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:15.160
that's I'm using the old grading scale. I don't know about this new school

231
00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.559
new school grade scale. Seventy eight
was not good. I was very mad

232
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.079
if I ever got a seventy eight. And so that's that's where I'm at

233
00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.200
with these receivers. They changed on
me going into high school. When I

234
00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.599
was in junior high, it was
still the seven percent or whatever it was

235
00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:30.440
per grade. It was ninety three
to one hundred was an A, and

236
00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.960
then they changed it in high school. And now I hear that it's like

237
00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.079
even bigger some places, like the
grade rangers for an A can be like

238
00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:42.039
fifteen percent. Anyway, we're not
grade eighty and eighty five is in a

239
00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.680
Oh my mind, God, it
might even be a bigger range than that

240
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.799
I've heard about. You better be
right, otherwise the teachers that listen to

241
00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:52.720
this are going to crush you.
I'm not saying in Cincinnati, I'm saying

242
00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.599
up here, I don't know what
I don't know what's going on since So

243
00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.480
if I had to go back to
school, we go, we go to

244
00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:03.319
Canada, maybe that Bank Island.
Yeah, right, taking the ferry,

245
00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.640
going to college. Let's talk.
Let's talk about the tight ends. This

246
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:14.720
has been probably the least productive unit
on the offense compared to the rest of

247
00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:18.279
the NFL. Yep, they're not
at the level they were last year,

248
00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:23.559
which wasn't wildly productive to be fair
in the first place. But er Smith

249
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:30.680
Junior hasn't gotten going, did miss
some time with the hamstring injury. Thought

250
00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.799
he would at least be as productive
as hayden Hurst. It's not like that

251
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.279
was asking a ton. Hayden Hurst, like we talked about, has had

252
00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:41.279
some clutch plays to this point in
twenty twenty three, twenty twenty two.

253
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:48.079
But earth Smith in this tight end
group, you know, the best of

254
00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:53.160
them has probably been Drew Sample's contributions
as a blocker. And when that's what

255
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.440
you're talking about is the highlight of
the unit, which you mentioned Tanner Hudson

256
00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:03.599
seems to need Tanner Hudson yep.
Oh man, you're scraping. You're looking

257
00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.720
for something. Yeah, it's been
this isn't it, and it's not to

258
00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:12.480
me it is and it's not a
player thing because I actually earth Smith Junior

259
00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:17.880
has taking a ton of heat.
I think there's a spot for him.

260
00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:19.400
I think it fits. I don't
think he's had a ton of opportunities now

261
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.640
why it could be partially on him, but I think Mitch will Cox and

262
00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.640
Drew Sample have done their job,
Tanner Hudson has done his, and I

263
00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.799
still haven't totally waved the white flag
on Earthsmith Junior being productive this year.

264
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:36.039
Like I still see the vision.
You just need the production to start now.

265
00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:40.240
You need something because we just went
over the receivers, it's Jamar Chase

266
00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:44.960
and nothing. And while t Higgins
should figure it out and Tyler Boyd should

267
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.160
average more than six yards of catch, you can't just bank on that.

268
00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:52.720
I want to see something from the
tight ends as well, and so it's

269
00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:56.000
it needs to happen, and it
needs to happen soon. And so maybe

270
00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:59.240
it's a D minus if you don't
want to go failing. But it's just

271
00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:03.160
it's been a struggle from a production
standpoint, And that doesn't mean there aren't

272
00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.759
good players in that room that have
done what they've been asked, but you

273
00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:08.559
need more out of that position group
as a whole. I think the reason

274
00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.559
that for me wouldn't be an f
is that they have like for example,

275
00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:15.160
actually has been quite good as a
blocker. There is some value there,

276
00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:21.680
but it's not the value that we're
looking for. You need more than one

277
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:27.160
guy who's blocking well well with Tea
hurt In Borrow struggle. Like it would

278
00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.119
be nice if a tight end was
like, hey, I can be a

279
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.559
target for you, a reliable guy
over the middle, and we just we

280
00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.759
have not seen that. For whatever
reason we have not seen. It's a

281
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.839
position that they haven't invested in.
They've wanted to in the draft, it

282
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:42.200
didn't work out, and it's a
position that we talked about quite a lot

283
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.319
this offseason. And what it is, Yeah, let's do some some a

284
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:49.720
little more rapid fire. We'll have
to speed it up a bit, but

285
00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:53.200
we are going to get to the
rest of the grades. Spending a lot

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00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:56.000
of time on the offense, why
because they've struggled. We'll get to the

287
00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.799
rest of the team and finish up
the offense. Coming up next. This

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00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:07.440
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going to be like this for the
rest of the season. They've dug themselves

296
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an early hole, but we've seen
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307
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313
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for Bengals bills, guess what you
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314
00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:00.319
short drive from downtown. Maybe you're
ubering because you stay at a hotel.

315
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Check out street Side. They're also
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316
00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:08.039
home game before each and every home
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317
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as I always say, it's not
the east Side or the west side,

318
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.559
the best side is street Side.
Got a couple more position groups here on

319
00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:21.720
offense to finish up. We haven't
talked about the defense at all, as

320
00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:26.279
this tradition on Lockdown Bengals an offense
driven podcast for an offense driven team,

321
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.200
although maybe this year is defense driven. We'll talk about that in just a

322
00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:32.359
second, but let's wrap up on
offense. Let's finish up the skill positions

323
00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:36.920
here with running back, where it's
another position we talked about a lot and

324
00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.640
mixing. I thought started the year
really well. I think in weeks five,

325
00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:45.319
let's see five and six, right, those are, Yeah, they've

326
00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:48.680
played six games. Some weeks five
and six. The finishing power that we

327
00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.279
saw from Joe Mixon in the first
four games we didn't see as much.

328
00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.759
I don't think you played poorly at
any point. I think he's been pretty

329
00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:03.440
good this year. But the nunning
game has really lacked explosion, which is

330
00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:07.160
something we talked about. The running
games. Efficiency in the passing game,

331
00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:11.400
sorry, the running backs. Efficiency
in the passing game is significantly worse this

332
00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:15.839
year than last year in terms of
it being a good answer for the Bengals

333
00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:21.799
last year. That's not all on
the players, of course, but what

334
00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:26.039
are we thinking here? Like see
again, like there's nothing that's blowing your

335
00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:30.599
socks off at the running back position
for the Bengals. Yeah, I think

336
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:34.000
mixing certainly helps this grade. I
think Trayveon's been solid and what they've asked

337
00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:37.559
him to do, and it's an
incomplete after that, we haven't seen Chase

338
00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:41.480
Brown enough to give him a grade. I don't feel comfortable doing that.

339
00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:44.920
Chris Evans is waiting on his first
carry since Cleveland, I believe, unless

340
00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:48.759
I'm not looking at this properly,
it's crazy. So one thing, Joe

341
00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:55.920
Mixon averaging six and a half yards
per pass reception that close to Tyler Boyd

342
00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:59.200
six point eight, which puts Boyd's
number in perspective to me more than anything.

343
00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:02.440
But you're right, not as efficient
in the passing game. I agree

344
00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:07.000
with you. I think Mixon hasn't
been able to run as hard as powerful

345
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.839
the past couple of weeks, and
I just think he's going to wear down

346
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:12.119
if they don't find someone else in
this backfield, hopefully it's Chase Brown,

347
00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:18.160
or maybe they look outside the organization. Maybe it's Trevion Williams or Chris Evans.

348
00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:22.119
I don't care who it is.
You just need someone to touch the

349
00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:26.440
ball, not name Joe Mixon in
this backfield and be productive. I don't

350
00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:29.640
expect them to be explosive over the
final eleven games. I would say C

351
00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:33.799
minus or so. It's just it's
a flawed running back room and so like

352
00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:38.400
their best case would have been mixing
just being amazing, and I thought he

353
00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:42.519
was really good to start the year, tapering off a little bit that can

354
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:47.880
get fixed with the offensive line.
Let's transition to the offensive line. I

355
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.160
think that's part of it too,
is run blocking wise, they've left something

356
00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:56.359
to be desired. Pass blocking wise, I think they've been pretty good overall.

357
00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:59.319
They were tested early with a lot
of tough matchups. They'll get tested

358
00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:03.240
again with the FOTY Niners. Of
course, I think this offensive line has

359
00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.680
been all right. I would probably
say, especially considering Burrow hasn't been able

360
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.319
to move in some of these games. B minus is probably where I'm at

361
00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:15.960
B where the pass blocking is going
to continue to get better. Kappa has

362
00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:19.839
certainly been much better. The past
couple of weeks been awesome, and I

363
00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:23.440
think Orlando Brown Junior and company they're
going to continue to play better and better.

364
00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:26.960
So I would give them a BB
minus. I think of its C

365
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:33.599
for the offensive line, which again
maybe is harsh, but I just think

366
00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:36.599
that you look at some of the
great offensive lines, some of the good

367
00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:38.720
offensive lines, and then the Bengals
offensive line, and they're not quite there.

368
00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:42.440
They're missing some juice, they're missing
some athleticism, they're missing a little

369
00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:48.839
bit of consistency. There are some
flaws really across the board. Besides Alice

370
00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:52.119
Kappa in his last two games,
he has been much better, like you

371
00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:56.279
said, playing the best couple of
games of the season. If they continue

372
00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:57.559
to trend in the right direction,
I could see bumping this up, but

373
00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:03.519
I haven't I mean much that would
suggest to me that they're above average maybe

374
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.359
compared to recent Bengals offensive lines.
They're certainly a little bit better, but

375
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.960
some room to improve for that offensive
line, for sure, and I think

376
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:17.079
they're capable of doing it. We'll
see if they can. Let's go from

377
00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:19.160
one trench position to the other and
switch to the defense. What do you

378
00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:22.799
think of this defensive front and what
they've done. Obviously, they've been better

379
00:27:23.640 --> 00:27:27.359
the past couple of weeks, been
able to heat up opposing quarterbacks. Trey

380
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:32.160
hendrickson ballin. We know about the
core four. We talked with Lou about

381
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:37.839
that. Make sure you check out
that interview. I think they're pretty good.

382
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:42.640
They're not perfect, but I think
they are solid B. The tackling

383
00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:47.480
I think goes hand in hand with
the defensive front as much as anything.

384
00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.319
In the tackling issues, they've been
better in recent weeks, so I'd give

385
00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:52.359
them a solid B so far.
For me, I'm actually a little bit

386
00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:56.119
higher on the defensive line, but
that's because I'm weighing the starter so heavily

387
00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:03.319
because they've played so much. I'm
like maybe B plus a minor. Tay

388
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:07.680
Henderson has been great. DJ Reader
hasn't been like DJ Reader in every single

389
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.799
game this year, but we've seen
it in the last couple of weeks.

390
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:14.079
I have a lot of optimism that
he's rounded into form. Sam Hubbard is

391
00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:18.880
again playing at a high level.
BJ Hill has been splashy here and there.

392
00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:22.960
You know, it's another year where
you want BJ to be a little

393
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.000
bit more consistent early, but he
seems to be finding his stride a little

394
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:30.400
bit as well. So the starters
have been great and where it will come

395
00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:33.440
down a little bit for me as
a backup interior, they've not gotten good

396
00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:37.559
play out of that position. When
DJ and BJ come off the field.

397
00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.440
Cam's Hample, though talked about him
coming into the season. He has been

398
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:48.119
pretty good and recently had a great
game playing at you know, three tech

399
00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:52.279
the interior pass rusher. But also
he's just a solid player, so he

400
00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:56.079
helps. But the backups and the
depth there is something that we're going to

401
00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:02.160
continue to scrutinize where you're not talking
about backups and depth so much, at

402
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:06.400
least so far, and hopefully continues
that way. Knock On Wood is linebacker

403
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:11.319
where Jermaine Pratt, Logan Wilson.
There have been some tackling issues for this

404
00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.279
entire defense, you could say,
but I personally feel pretty good about the

405
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:19.000
way those guys are playing, regardless
of what you might see if you look

406
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:22.359
at the PFF grades, which are
relatively low on those guys, I'm at

407
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:26.079
a solid B plus. Again for
the linebackers, I think they've been pretty

408
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.400
good. Yeah, I agree.
I think they've been good, and the

409
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.799
tackling part probably is the thing that
stands out. I just think they're part

410
00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:40.000
of that, and so i'd probably
say be but still really really good.

411
00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:45.400
Let's go to the cornerbacks, where
they may have a couple of young studs,

412
00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:49.519
young stars, Cam Taylor Britt DJ
Turner the second, both playing really

413
00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:53.839
really well. I think Cam Taylor
Britt has two interceptions the past couple of

414
00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:59.720
games. Jan Drego just doesn't give
up receptions at all, so no one's

415
00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.720
going to catch it when he's in
coverage, and Mike Hilton his normal solid

416
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:06.519
self. I think he's been better
over the past couple of weeks. Obviously,

417
00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:10.880
Chittobay Wuzia in and out with coming
back from that ACL snap count and

418
00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:14.880
now dealing with a back issue.
I think the corners have been really good

419
00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:21.480
and so I would give them a
minus probably, Like I'm pretty confident in

420
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:26.119
them, especially if Cheeto gets healthier. So yeah, I'm pretty bullish on

421
00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:29.119
what they've done. Yeah, I
like what they've done too. I'm probably

422
00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:30.920
not there. I think I'm going
to be that. They've had some issues

423
00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:34.279
where they've gotten beat and the ball
hasn't been accurate. They've been bailed out

424
00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:37.359
by some bad quarterback play at times. But I would say this is trending

425
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:42.759
in the right direction. I really
think that Cam Taylor Britt's confidence has grown

426
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:48.359
and the team's confidence in him has
grown. This year. He's seen some

427
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:53.200
of the most matchups against opposing team's
number ones this year, and of course

428
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:57.200
that matchup with DK Metcalf in week
six was under the microscope in a big

429
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:02.160
way. Love what we've seen from
DJ Turner so far. I think Cheetoh

430
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.640
when he's been on the field,
when he's been healthy, has been fine

431
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:08.920
for the most part. Needs to
get healthy again to be so you feel

432
00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:15.079
good about the depth because they have
been rotating him with DJ Turner and then

433
00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:21.400
the other one being Mike Hilton,
had honestly a rocky start to the year,

434
00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:25.039
was very good. In week six, I was very impressed with that

435
00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:27.920
interception. The tackling started to come
into form a little bit. But there

436
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:33.359
were tackling issues for Mike Hilton where
some of that wasn't his fault. There

437
00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:36.440
there's like a block in the back
that wasn't called that led to a big

438
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:40.400
play where he's crashed down on a
screen, So that's part of it too.

439
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:44.599
But again bullish all these guys going
forward, just don't think they've been

440
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:48.359
quite at that level so far.
Happy to disagree there. Let's finish up

441
00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:55.880
with safety where it's tough because there's
two guys and I'm at an a minus

442
00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:00.519
for Dax I've been very impressed with
Dax or having some flaws. They bring

443
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:02.799
it off with a solid A and
then Nick Scott is probably or like other

444
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:07.640
safety position, which also includes some
Jordan battles, probably like a C minus

445
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:12.200
where it just could be a little
bit better. There's flashes and it's just

446
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:16.279
really inconsistent. Yeah, Dak's spider
Man just came out, so I mean

447
00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:19.480
he's the spider Man in the defense. I feel like they move him all

448
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:23.240
over and he makes hits and plays. He's been a good tackler and I'm

449
00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:27.599
excited to watch him grow because I
think he could be really Like I was

450
00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:30.440
high on him just in general,
like when they picked him, and now

451
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:32.720
I wonder if I was low,
like I should have been higher, like

452
00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:37.200
on his ceiling and not where it
could be because I've been impressed with him.

453
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:43.400
Nick Scott is working through it.
I think he's adjusted into his role

454
00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:46.240
in Luanna Rumo's defense Jordan battle as
well. I think they'll figure it out.

455
00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:53.200
Overall, it's probably a B minus
C plus C range something like that,

456
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:58.839
probably C to B minus and Dax
helps elevate that. Overall, though,

457
00:32:59.079 --> 00:33:01.720
I think you're pretty excited to see
what you've seen from Dax, even

458
00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:06.680
if Nick Scott hasn't been what people
had hoped. And uh, last but

459
00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:12.119
not least, special teams Evan mc
Evan McPherson, A Coladamitas, A,

460
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:20.319
Brad Robbins, D D Yeah,
I think D. I'm maybe maybe D

461
00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:23.440
plus because he's been a really good
holder. I just know. I think

462
00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:28.519
I think I think you've wanted more
from him. What you know you wanted

463
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:30.319
more from him, And hopefully he
figures it out because I really like him

464
00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:35.519
and I think he's talented, and
it's just about consistency. I think for

465
00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:37.880
Brad right now, he's shown flashes, but it's been inconsistent. I think

466
00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:46.480
I'm going to b for for one, having McPherson he missed, he missed

467
00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:50.720
two of those fifty plus yard field
goals three for five. I want to

468
00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:53.680
see that be five, four for
five at least. I want him to

469
00:33:53.680 --> 00:34:00.000
be perfect. I want his fifty
yard field Yeah. His like his career

470
00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:04.759
average for fifty plus yard field goals
is he was five for five last year,

471
00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:07.559
he was twelve or fourteen his rookie
year, and this year's three for

472
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.440
five. Small sas would like it
to be four for five together name.

473
00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:15.840
All right, you're really mad about
that missing Cleveland. No, it's the

474
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.360
La miss you know, it gets
real dramatic. He won them the game

475
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:22.960
against the Rams. He was the
best player on the fieldside. He also

476
00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:28.599
missed one, just saying, unbelievable. Your grades suck. You want an

477
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:32.280
a. The FF has blinders on
certain grades. You are awful with kicker

478
00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.280
grades. It's okay, all right, he has been much better. Hasn't

479
00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:40.320
missed a kick from forty to forty
nine, which was where he Uh,

480
00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:46.440
we're worried about tonight, for his
entire career. So he's getting better credit

481
00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:52.000
credit there. Like that. They're
taking more fifty plus yard field goals this

482
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.000
year though they should well, especially
if the offense is struggled. They're not

483
00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:59.800
going for it kind of too.
Yeah, we didn't get coaching grades in.

484
00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:04.440
We talked to the coaches recently.
The biggest thing for me is some

485
00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:08.639
of the fourth down decisions. We'll
see if that improves or not. I

486
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:12.880
think that they're very like gained the
game with that, and like how things

487
00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:16.360
are going in the game, in
addition to the analytics. But and just

488
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:22.320
their struggles. Yeah, just their
struggle. I mean if Burrow's feeling it's

489
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:25.280
really tough. With the six games. We probably should add a disclaimer.

490
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:30.960
I expect this team to feel much
much different moving forward. Doesn't mean they

491
00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:35.159
will beat San fran but I expect
it to feel different in Santa Clara when

492
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:37.840
we're there. Yeah, I feel
like I'm bullish on pretty much all these

493
00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:40.719
guys. So we just talked about
we just talked through all these units,

494
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:45.400
like, well, so far this
but I feel like this and it's been

495
00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:50.599
mostly bullish, and there's some spots
we'll maybe talk about where they could be

496
00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:53.800
better. Maybe they bring in some
guys at the trade deadline, maybe they

497
00:35:53.800 --> 00:36:00.519
don't, but certainly something that we
can talk about here this week. That's

498
00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:04.280
going to do it for this episode
of the Locked On Bengals podcast. Bengals

499
00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:07.559
back in the building on Monday.
Until then, Thanks for listening, Who

500
00:36:07.639 --> 00:36:13.320
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