April 9, 2025 • 14 mins
Ryan Roberts is an NFL Draft analyst for AtoZSports.com, and is one of our favorite people to chat with this time of year. We talked about some Bengals draft possibilites, Al Golden, and more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And you're listening to the Home of the Bengals ESPN
fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm gonna hold off on sports headlines for a second
because I don't want to make my guest way because
you know I'm I'm a polite host. Ryan Roberts has
joined our show this time of year for a couple
of years now. He is really good. Actually was kind
enough because he also is very familiar with the Notre
Dame program. Joined us on the day of the college
football playoff championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame,
(00:26):
and we also asked him about Al Golden, who we
knew then and now is the Bengals defensive coordinator. Ryan
is with a to z Sports. You could get his
draft coverage at eight z sports dot com. He's got
a YouTube channel and he's on Twitter or x at
rise and draft and always kind enough to give us
a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's good to have you, Ryan. How are you I'm
doing I'm doing great now. I appreciate you for all
the kind words. Man, it's very nice to you. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well. We enjoy having you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
If things go the way, if you're Duke tob and
if things go the way you want, and let's let's
avoid the scenario of trading down. You're going to pick
a guy at seventeen? Who's there? And who are you taking?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Probably going to interior defensive line. Actually, I wouldn't be
opposed to helping the second areas of Malachi Starks or
even you know, maybe a corner like a little Johnson
is slipping out of Michigan. But I really I'm still
a believer in building inside out, like I am ultimately,
and I think especially when the defense was in a
much better spot a couple of years ago, Like I
think of the impact that a guy like a DJ
Reader had right on the interior. So I think a
(01:29):
great conversation could be had between you know, do you
like a Kennith Grant for Michigan there, who's more of
your three hundred and thirty plus pound nos. Do you
like a guy like a Derek Harmon out of Oregon
who was kind of more of a he's kind of
a versatile kid that can play all over the place.
I mean, he's still six to four plus, he's still
three hundred and sixteen pounds, but he's a little bit
more of an a tax stile penetrator type. I think
if those two are on the board, I would defer
(01:50):
to a Derek Harmon. I'd like the upside a little
bit more. I think he could do the things at
the point of the type that you need to do,
but also be able to create some havoc right and
you know, if they do keep Trey Hendricks in and
they you know, continue to have that potent pass rush
on one side of the field, I think that having
a guy that can threaten from the interior could be
really impressive as well. So Derek Harmon's a guy from
Oregon that I think it would be a tremendous fit
(02:11):
if he's there at seventeen.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
At which position? And they have a lot of needs.
They're a weird team because we talk about their super
Bowl window being wide open, which I think it is
as long as you have Joe Burrow. And yet for
a team that has legit Super Bowl aspirations, they have
a ton of needs that they really didn't completely address
in free agency, and so understanding they've got a lot
of areas they've got they've got to fix. Where can
(02:36):
they at which position can they least afford to wait?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I think it's I think it's probably on the defensive
line just in general, more on the edge, I think
more than anything, because again, you know, depending on if
Trey stays or Trade doesn't, it's a good edge group.
But I do think that after the first two rounds
or so, it really starts to taper off as far
as impact in the passing game, right, you could still
(03:00):
find guys third fourth round, like you know, the Jared
Ivys from Ole Miss, the Jack Sayers from Ohio State,
or super physical dudes who will do a little bit
of the dirty work. It will be early down players.
But to find the impactful pass rushers, especially if you
do end up, you know, moving on from a Trey
Hendrickson at some point, like I think that you really
can't afford if you want impact pass rushers to wait
(03:21):
super long in this class. I think corners deep safety
is deep, interior defensive line is really deep as well.
We're just talking on the defense side of the ball.
I think impact pass rushers on passing downs is kind
of a It's an area that I do think kind
of tapers off pretty seriously, probably in the midpoint of
the day two somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So you mentioned all those defensive positions, they also need
guard help.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
How deep is the guard class.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's actually a pretty good guard class overall. I think
most people portray the offensive line is not a great
class because the tackle group isn't great. I mean there's
a couple guys like Will Campbell from LSU has headed
debate of the tackles the guard Kevin Banks from Texas
has had the same, even m and Membou has had
some of that pushback, you know, kind of back and forth.
But I think either way, the tier offensive line is
a pretty good spot. You know, especially if you view
(04:07):
one of those players I just mentioned as a guard
to then that really bolsters a group. And I think
when you're talking about guys like Tyler Booker from Alabama,
Jonah Saivna in the second round out of Arizona, like
there's it's a good guard class overall. I think you
can get potential starters grays Abel another guy that a
lot of people like. I mean, there's it's a deep
group of guards. If you need a tackles in this class,
my conversation would be much different. I do not think
(04:27):
it's an over the good tackle class, especially you need
a lot of tackle. But inside of guard. I think
there is value to be found in this class.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you mentioned tackle, and I think the Bengals for
this season are happy with the two starters they have
a tackle. I think a lot of folks would like
to see them select a guard, whether it's in round
one or later. Take a guard that you can plug
and play there now, or at least add him to
the competition of guards they have with the idea down
the road that maybe they end up playing tackle. Are
(04:54):
there are there players like that that can be had
in round one? But I guess more importantly beyond red
on one.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I mean in round one, a couple of guys
that just talked about like, I mean, there's gonna be
some people that view Kelvin Banks from Texas for instance,
as a guy that can come in and play inside
but then eventually move on the outside. I mean, he's
a he's that's right his range too, Like I feel
like I keep mocking him right around that spot to
like eighteen to Seattle, so like he's a borderline top
twenty pick. I think in this class he might even
fall a little bit later. But you know, we'll see
(05:23):
here in a couple of weeks. As far as if
that definitely happens. I actually think that Jonas Savane is
a kid. Although he seems intent on playing guard. He
started games at left tackle Arizona. He started games at
right tackle. He's probably more of a right tackle in
the NFL level, but I think he is the length
in the athletics the dude for sure. If you want
to slightly deeper pool, if you want to move down
to maybe more third fourth round conversation. As far as
like a developmental guy, I think Charles Grant out of
(05:45):
William and Mary's very talented. He's six or four, He's
throwing under lead the pounds. He's a really talented athlete
who has length as well. And if you're a team
that wants to run a lot of zone, especially outside zone,
I think that he's a guy that could give you
some impact inside early but eventually be developed into a
starting offensive tackle. So certainly some of those guys, but again,
like it's just not a great overall tackle class. So
if that's like your ideology, I don't think that there's
(06:06):
like this massive bucket to pool from, but I do
think there's value to be found if you find it
in the right place.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
You mentioned the name that, as you might imagine, it
gets brought up here all the time, and that's Jack Sawyer.
Whether you want to look at this from a Bengals
lens or just put the tape on and tell me
what you like or don't like.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Break him down for me, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I think it's gonna I mean, people are gonna make
this comparison. I'm sure they probably do already correct me
im for wrong, but he's very same Hubbard ish.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
I hate this. I hate this because Sam was a
first rounder.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Exactly, and I and Jack Sawyer is not a first
rounder either, right, like you just thought. He's not that
type of guy like Hubbard for me, was a rock
solid player, right like you played really good against the run,
clean up stack guy. You can do some movement stuff
up front, you can twist them, you can do some
other stuff, but he's never gonna be a great pass rusher.
And that's the same thing I say with Sawyer. Like
Sawyer is gonna be a kick butt run defender. Absolutely,
(06:56):
He's gonna be able to hold the point of attack.
He's gonna set a firm edge. He's gonna be impactful
in the community, like he's a great leader, like all
those intangible things that we kind of like roll our
eyes in a little bit. But he's just not He's
not bendy, right Like, he just doesn't have a great
first step. It's a solid first step. He just he's
not gonna bend the outside track. He's not gonna threaten
guys outside shoulders, Like I just I think he's gonna
(07:17):
be a five to six sac of year guy. And again,
that's not a bad player by any stretch. But are
we gonna dress that guy to be a mainstay? Are
we gonna dress that guy to be impactful? Like, I
just think he's more of a really good role player
than he is a prominent football player.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right So you just spoke, and Jack Sawyer had a
terrific college career, like checks every intangible box, right, Like,
seems like a great dude. But as you might imagine,
I've heard the Sam Hubbard comparison a thousand times from
people who want to take Jack in round one, and
I go, if you're gonna make the case that dude
should be taken in round one, you can't bring up
(07:51):
a guy who, in Sam Ubert's case, had a really
nice career and he's a local kid so we love him,
but a seven year NFL career, it never made a
Pro Bowl, was never an All Pro guy, rock solid player.
He gave you a good third round production. If Sam
Hubbard was a first rounder, you would feel slightly disappointed.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And I don't think that Jack Slayer is going to
be a first rounder. I think he's going to be
more in that third round windows somewhere that ballpark is.
I just don't think the NFL was ever as high
as like some of the media were on him. I
just really don't think that they were. I would say
it like this, Mo. And this is always a funny
conversation I have with some like scouty buddies that I
have is that anytime I ask you a player's strengths, right,
(08:30):
like give me run down the list of strengths for
a non quarterback, and like the first three or four
all intangible base I'm like, mmmm, that's scary bad, that's
not good. Like for a pass rush, I want to
hear he's got bang, he's got explosive first step, he understand,
he's twitched up like all these other things. It's first
thing I asked you about Sawyer. It's like, plays really
hard it's a great leader, great locker room guy. I'm like, well,
(08:52):
that means that he's just probably not overly talented, right,
Like that's that's unfortunate. So yeah, I think he's a
good player. I think he's a glue player for a
locker room. Absolutely, but no, he has no business being
drafted first round, especially at seventeen overall, like that, that's crazy,
absolutely crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Ryan Roberts, eight is the sports I want the Bengals
to trade down. Can can you can you speak to
the validity of wanting that? And can you point to
a team that I could hold out? Hope maybe says
all right, well we'll move up to seventeen and give
him extra draft picks.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I think the Houston Texans at twenty five. This has
been kind of a conversation point. Like they they said
goodbye the Laramie Tunssel to shoot this offseason, obviously trade
them away. They also said goodbye to Kenyon Green, And
I know Kenny Green wasn't great for them at guard,
but you're still replacing two stars on the offensive line,
and honestly, even with Laramie Tunsel, your offensive line wasn't
very good anyway, Right, So the worst case scenario for
(09:43):
them is if New England dress an offensive tag what four,
whether that is Membu or whether that's Will Campbell, whoever,
and they start the offensive line run earlier than expected,
then Houston's going to be in a spot at twenty
five with the like, man, are we going to get
a kid that can come in and play here? Like
It's it's similar to twenty nineteen when they we had
to settle and take Titus Howard at like twenty six
or twenty five or something like literally the same range,
(10:05):
And I just that can't happen to them again. I mean,
they still have a really good quarterback on a rookie contract,
They still have a lot of optimism in that room.
I really say they need to get out of that
first round with a starting offensive lineman. So if I'm Cincinnati,
I would expect to see at least the Houston Aari
Coo flash at some point to have that conversation, because
if that run starts early, I think that they could
(10:26):
get a little bit desperate to move up and to
the teams to make sure they can get a Kelvin
Banks or someone in that vein.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
All right, one more, you know, Al Golden's work at
Notre Dame more than pretty much anybody. And what the
Bengals have done on defense has been interesting because they've
they've brought back some guys from last year's team, They've
made some additions. I don't know that they have made
as many additions in free agency as a lot of
people would like. And so the message is, you know,
(10:51):
some of these guys who didn't succeed under lu Anroumo,
Al Golden's gonna get more out of them. We could
talk about how dangerous that approach might be from a
per perspective, but as somebody who knows what Al can do,
what do you make of their approach on that side
of the ball.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It's a fascinating question. Like Al Golden for me, is
very detail oriented coach, and he has a good scheme
and he's going to make sure that guys are doing
exactly what the scheme asked you to do. Whether and
he can be flexible. I know Notre Dame was mostly
a heavy man team of the last couple of years,
but based on the the personal he has, I do
(11:31):
think that he can mix in some zone. I do
think that he can mix and match like I think
he's a very smart football coach. But the one thing
I will say, and this is just from my Notre
Dame experience, is year one, Notre Dame has some talents,
but it was it was a little bit new to
the system, and he did take Notre Dame a while.
Like if you look Notre Dame year one prepared to
year two and year three, they got a lot better.
(11:51):
Because coach Golden is admittedly he does run a pretty
complicated scheme, like it does take a little bit to
get acclimated. So I do think for Cincinatti fans they
need to be a little bit patient. I think that
Al Golden is more of a year two breakout type
of defensive coach that he is a year one defensive coach.
I'm not sure he's just gonna pick up the pieces.
It's going to look great near to start the year.
(12:13):
I think during the end of the first year, you're
gonna start to see that incremental growth. And then year two,
I think is when the defense hopefully has a little
bit of a turnaround.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
If I watch Joe Burrows score ninety nine points in
three games and he wins none of them, I'm driving
Al Golden back to South Bend.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Okay, I am hopefully optimistic about Chris ash and what
he can do with defense quarter at Notre Dame, but
I know that Notre Dame would probably take you up
with that proposition if that didn't happen.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
So well, I hope to God a dozen. I know
you have a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I'm gonna bother you after the draft, but I always
enjoy our conversations leading up to it.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Thanks so much, absolutely, brother, Thank you for your time.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
That guys, he's good. Ryan Roberts.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Check him out at eight is e sports dot com
and follow him on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
At rise and draft good stuff from Ryan.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Reds and Giants are underway Cincinnati, looking for the sweep.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Looking for the sweep.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Nick Martinez and Justin Verlander on the hill. I don't
know if Kate Upton is at this game, but the
game's not in Cincinnati, so I don't care nearly as
much as I did when Justin Verlander pitched for the
Giants at GABP.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Twelve away from four o'clock.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The Bengals draft history recently is not great, which makes
their overall off season strategy. I'll use a big word
it's not even a big word perilous. We'll go with
perilous words that nobody actually uses in real conversation. Perilous.
We're going to spend some time on that. We'll also
chat with Dante Corleo, the Godfather, chucking out the first
(13:43):
pitch at the Reds game on Saturday and getting set
for his final season, anchoring the defensive line that you
see that coming up at four to twenty. It's twelve
away from four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen to thirty
Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen.
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Speaker 1 (14:32):
This report is sponsored by Rapid
And you're listening to the Home of the Bengals ESPN
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Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm gonna hold off on sports headlines for a second
because I don't want to make my guest way because
you know I'm I'm a polite host. Ryan Roberts has
joined our show this time of year for a couple
of years now. He is really good. Actually was kind
enough because he also is very familiar with the Notre
Dame program. Joined us on the day of the college
football playoff championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame,
(00:26):
and we also asked him about Al Golden, who we
knew then and now is the Bengals defensive coordinator. Ryan
is with a to z Sports. You could get his
draft coverage at eight z sports dot com. He's got
a YouTube channel and he's on Twitter or x at
rise and draft and always kind enough to give us
a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's good to have you, Ryan. How are you I'm
doing I'm doing great now. I appreciate you for all
the kind words. Man, it's very nice to you. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well. We enjoy having you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
If things go the way, if you're Duke tob and
if things go the way you want, and let's let's
avoid the scenario of trading down. You're going to pick
a guy at seventeen? Who's there? And who are you taking?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Probably going to interior defensive line. Actually, I wouldn't be
opposed to helping the second areas of Malachi Starks or
even you know, maybe a corner like a little Johnson
is slipping out of Michigan. But I really I'm still
a believer in building inside out, like I am ultimately,
and I think especially when the defense was in a
much better spot a couple of years ago, Like I
think of the impact that a guy like a DJ
Reader had right on the interior. So I think a
(01:29):
great conversation could be had between you know, do you
like a Kennith Grant for Michigan there, who's more of
your three hundred and thirty plus pound nos. Do you
like a guy like a Derek Harmon out of Oregon
who was kind of more of a he's kind of
a versatile kid that can play all over the place.
I mean, he's still six to four plus, he's still
three hundred and sixteen pounds, but he's a little bit
more of an a tax stile penetrator type. I think
if those two are on the board, I would defer
(01:50):
to a Derek Harmon. I'd like the upside a little
bit more. I think he could do the things at
the point of the type that you need to do,
but also be able to create some havoc right and
you know, if they do keep Trey Hendricks in and
they you know, continue to have that potent pass rush
on one side of the field, I think that having
a guy that can threaten from the interior could be
really impressive as well. So Derek Harmon's a guy from
Oregon that I think it would be a tremendous fit
(02:11):
if he's there at seventeen.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
At which position? And they have a lot of needs.
They're a weird team because we talk about their super
Bowl window being wide open, which I think it is
as long as you have Joe Burrow. And yet for
a team that has legit Super Bowl aspirations, they have
a ton of needs that they really didn't completely address
in free agency, and so understanding they've got a lot
of areas they've got they've got to fix. Where can
(02:36):
they at which position can they least afford to wait?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I think it's I think it's probably on the defensive
line just in general, more on the edge, I think
more than anything, because again, you know, depending on if
Trey stays or Trade doesn't, it's a good edge group.
But I do think that after the first two rounds
or so, it really starts to taper off as far
as impact in the passing game, right, you could still
(03:00):
find guys third fourth round, like you know, the Jared
Ivys from Ole Miss, the Jack Sayers from Ohio State,
or super physical dudes who will do a little bit
of the dirty work. It will be early down players.
But to find the impactful pass rushers, especially if you
do end up, you know, moving on from a Trey
Hendrickson at some point, like I think that you really
can't afford if you want impact pass rushers to wait
(03:21):
super long in this class. I think corners deep safety
is deep, interior defensive line is really deep as well.
We're just talking on the defense side of the ball.
I think impact pass rushers on passing downs is kind
of a It's an area that I do think kind
of tapers off pretty seriously, probably in the midpoint of
the day two somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So you mentioned all those defensive positions, they also need
guard help.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
How deep is the guard class.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
It's actually a pretty good guard class overall. I think
most people portray the offensive line is not a great
class because the tackle group isn't great. I mean there's
a couple guys like Will Campbell from LSU has headed
debate of the tackles the guard Kevin Banks from Texas
has had the same, even m and Membou has had
some of that pushback, you know, kind of back and forth.
But I think either way, the tier offensive line is
a pretty good spot. You know, especially if you view
(04:07):
one of those players I just mentioned as a guard
to then that really bolsters a group. And I think
when you're talking about guys like Tyler Booker from Alabama,
Jonah Saivna in the second round out of Arizona, like
there's it's a good guard class overall. I think you
can get potential starters grays Abel another guy that a
lot of people like. I mean, there's it's a deep
group of guards. If you need a tackles in this class,
my conversation would be much different. I do not think
(04:27):
it's an over the good tackle class, especially you need
a lot of tackle. But inside of guard. I think
there is value to be found in this class.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So you mentioned tackle, and I think the Bengals for
this season are happy with the two starters they have
a tackle. I think a lot of folks would like
to see them select a guard, whether it's in round
one or later. Take a guard that you can plug
and play there now, or at least add him to
the competition of guards they have with the idea down
the road that maybe they end up playing tackle. Are
(04:54):
there are there players like that that can be had
in round one? But I guess more importantly beyond red
on one.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I mean in round one, a couple of guys
that just talked about like, I mean, there's gonna be
some people that view Kelvin Banks from Texas for instance,
as a guy that can come in and play inside
but then eventually move on the outside. I mean, he's
a he's that's right his range too, Like I feel
like I keep mocking him right around that spot to
like eighteen to Seattle, so like he's a borderline top
twenty pick. I think in this class he might even
fall a little bit later. But you know, we'll see
(05:23):
here in a couple of weeks. As far as if
that definitely happens. I actually think that Jonas Savane is
a kid. Although he seems intent on playing guard. He
started games at left tackle Arizona. He started games at
right tackle. He's probably more of a right tackle in
the NFL level, but I think he is the length
in the athletics the dude for sure. If you want
to slightly deeper pool, if you want to move down
to maybe more third fourth round conversation. As far as
like a developmental guy, I think Charles Grant out of
(05:45):
William and Mary's very talented. He's six or four, He's
throwing under lead the pounds. He's a really talented athlete
who has length as well. And if you're a team
that wants to run a lot of zone, especially outside zone,
I think that he's a guy that could give you
some impact inside early but eventually be developed into a
starting offensive tackle. So certainly some of those guys, but again,
like it's just not a great overall tackle class. So
if that's like your ideology, I don't think that there's
(06:06):
like this massive bucket to pool from, but I do
think there's value to be found if you find it
in the right place.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
You mentioned the name that, as you might imagine, it
gets brought up here all the time, and that's Jack Sawyer.
Whether you want to look at this from a Bengals
lens or just put the tape on and tell me
what you like or don't like.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Break him down for me, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I think it's gonna I mean, people are gonna make
this comparison. I'm sure they probably do already correct me
im for wrong, but he's very same Hubbard ish.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
I hate this. I hate this because Sam was a
first rounder.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Exactly, and I and Jack Sawyer is not a first
rounder either, right, like you just thought. He's not that
type of guy like Hubbard for me, was a rock
solid player, right like you played really good against the run,
clean up stack guy. You can do some movement stuff
up front, you can twist them, you can do some
other stuff, but he's never gonna be a great pass rusher.
And that's the same thing I say with Sawyer. Like
Sawyer is gonna be a kick butt run defender. Absolutely,
(06:56):
He's gonna be able to hold the point of attack.
He's gonna set a firm edge. He's gonna be impactful
in the community, like he's a great leader, like all
those intangible things that we kind of like roll our
eyes in a little bit. But he's just not He's
not bendy, right Like, he just doesn't have a great
first step. It's a solid first step. He just he's
not gonna bend the outside track. He's not gonna threaten
guys outside shoulders, Like I just I think he's gonna
(07:17):
be a five to six sac of year guy. And again,
that's not a bad player by any stretch. But are
we gonna dress that guy to be a mainstay? Are
we gonna dress that guy to be impactful? Like, I
just think he's more of a really good role player
than he is a prominent football player.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right So you just spoke, and Jack Sawyer had a
terrific college career, like checks every intangible box, right, Like,
seems like a great dude. But as you might imagine,
I've heard the Sam Hubbard comparison a thousand times from
people who want to take Jack in round one, and
I go, if you're gonna make the case that dude
should be taken in round one, you can't bring up
(07:51):
a guy who, in Sam Ubert's case, had a really
nice career and he's a local kid so we love him,
but a seven year NFL career, it never made a
Pro Bowl, was never an All Pro guy, rock solid player.
He gave you a good third round production. If Sam
Hubbard was a first rounder, you would feel slightly disappointed.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And I don't think that Jack Slayer is going to
be a first rounder. I think he's going to be
more in that third round windows somewhere that ballpark is.
I just don't think the NFL was ever as high
as like some of the media were on him. I
just really don't think that they were. I would say
it like this, Mo. And this is always a funny
conversation I have with some like scouty buddies that I
have is that anytime I ask you a player's strengths, right,
(08:30):
like give me run down the list of strengths for
a non quarterback, and like the first three or four
all intangible base I'm like, mmmm, that's scary bad, that's
not good. Like for a pass rush, I want to
hear he's got bang, he's got explosive first step, he understand,
he's twitched up like all these other things. It's first
thing I asked you about Sawyer. It's like, plays really
hard it's a great leader, great locker room guy. I'm like, well,
(08:52):
that means that he's just probably not overly talented, right,
Like that's that's unfortunate. So yeah, I think he's a
good player. I think he's a glue player for a
locker room. Absolutely, but no, he has no business being
drafted first round, especially at seventeen overall, like that, that's crazy,
absolutely crazy.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Ryan Roberts, eight is the sports I want the Bengals
to trade down. Can can you can you speak to
the validity of wanting that? And can you point to
a team that I could hold out? Hope maybe says
all right, well we'll move up to seventeen and give
him extra draft picks.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I think the Houston Texans at twenty five. This has
been kind of a conversation point. Like they they said
goodbye the Laramie Tunssel to shoot this offseason, obviously trade
them away. They also said goodbye to Kenyon Green, And
I know Kenny Green wasn't great for them at guard,
but you're still replacing two stars on the offensive line,
and honestly, even with Laramie Tunsel, your offensive line wasn't
very good anyway, Right, So the worst case scenario for
(09:43):
them is if New England dress an offensive tag what four,
whether that is Membu or whether that's Will Campbell, whoever,
and they start the offensive line run earlier than expected,
then Houston's going to be in a spot at twenty
five with the like, man, are we going to get
a kid that can come in and play here? Like
It's it's similar to twenty nineteen when they we had
to settle and take Titus Howard at like twenty six
or twenty five or something like literally the same range,
(10:05):
And I just that can't happen to them again. I mean,
they still have a really good quarterback on a rookie contract,
They still have a lot of optimism in that room.
I really say they need to get out of that
first round with a starting offensive lineman. So if I'm Cincinnati,
I would expect to see at least the Houston Aari
Coo flash at some point to have that conversation, because
if that run starts early, I think that they could
(10:26):
get a little bit desperate to move up and to
the teams to make sure they can get a Kelvin
Banks or someone in that vein.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
All right, one more, you know, Al Golden's work at
Notre Dame more than pretty much anybody. And what the
Bengals have done on defense has been interesting because they've
they've brought back some guys from last year's team, They've
made some additions. I don't know that they have made
as many additions in free agency as a lot of
people would like. And so the message is, you know,
(10:51):
some of these guys who didn't succeed under lu Anroumo,
Al Golden's gonna get more out of them. We could
talk about how dangerous that approach might be from a
per perspective, but as somebody who knows what Al can do,
what do you make of their approach on that side
of the ball.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
It's a fascinating question. Like Al Golden for me, is
very detail oriented coach, and he has a good scheme
and he's going to make sure that guys are doing
exactly what the scheme asked you to do. Whether and
he can be flexible. I know Notre Dame was mostly
a heavy man team of the last couple of years,
but based on the the personal he has, I do
(11:31):
think that he can mix in some zone. I do
think that he can mix and match like I think
he's a very smart football coach. But the one thing
I will say, and this is just from my Notre
Dame experience, is year one, Notre Dame has some talents,
but it was it was a little bit new to
the system, and he did take Notre Dame a while.
Like if you look Notre Dame year one prepared to
year two and year three, they got a lot better.
(11:51):
Because coach Golden is admittedly he does run a pretty
complicated scheme, like it does take a little bit to
get acclimated. So I do think for Cincinatti fans they
need to be a little bit patient. I think that
Al Golden is more of a year two breakout type
of defensive coach that he is a year one defensive coach.
I'm not sure he's just gonna pick up the pieces.
It's going to look great near to start the year.
(12:13):
I think during the end of the first year, you're
gonna start to see that incremental growth. And then year two,
I think is when the defense hopefully has a little
bit of a turnaround.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
If I watch Joe Burrows score ninety nine points in
three games and he wins none of them, I'm driving
Al Golden back to South Bend.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Okay, I am hopefully optimistic about Chris ash and what
he can do with defense quarter at Notre Dame, but
I know that Notre Dame would probably take you up
with that proposition if that didn't happen.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
So well, I hope to God a dozen. I know
you have a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I'm gonna bother you after the draft, but I always
enjoy our conversations leading up to it.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Thanks so much, absolutely, brother, Thank you for your time.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
That guys, he's good. Ryan Roberts.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Check him out at eight is e sports dot com
and follow him on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
At rise and draft good stuff from Ryan.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Reds and Giants are underway Cincinnati, looking for the sweep.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Looking for the sweep.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Nick Martinez and Justin Verlander on the hill. I don't
know if Kate Upton is at this game, but the
game's not in Cincinnati, so I don't care nearly as
much as I did when Justin Verlander pitched for the
Giants at GABP.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Twelve away from four o'clock.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The Bengals draft history recently is not great, which makes
their overall off season strategy. I'll use a big word
it's not even a big word perilous. We'll go with
perilous words that nobody actually uses in real conversation. Perilous.
We're going to spend some time on that. We'll also
chat with Dante Corleo, the Godfather, chucking out the first
(13:43):
pitch at the Reds game on Saturday and getting set
for his final season, anchoring the defensive line that you
see that coming up at four to twenty. It's twelve
away from four o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen to thirty
Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. April is Donate
Life Month. Register to become an organ donor or explorer
Living Donation at UCHealth dot com. Slash Transplant northbound seventy
one seventy five at Buttermilk Pike. It's an accident blocking
off the right lane traffic there, stopping go from Burlington Pike.
About a twenty minute delay on Hoppel, another accident between
(14:24):
Beakman and spring Grove Avenue. And on Kenwood. It's an
accident at Cooper Road on that ezaic with traffic.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
This report is sponsored by Rapid
Mo Egger News
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