4/22/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's to win one thousand dollars entered this nationwide keyword
on our website.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Man cash, that's cash. Answer it.

Speaker 3 (00:07):
Now you've found Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (00:10):
All right, Paul Danner Juniors here. The draft is Thursday.
Today is Tuesday, so you know how it works. Paul
joins US on Tuesdays. It's his last appearance with US
before the draft. Paul Danner Junior covering the Bengals, Ford,
The Athletic and The Growler podcast where they did the
pre draft Mock Draft Spectacular, which even if you are

(00:34):
mock drafted out, is a must watch or listen. Paul's here,
He's got a seven round mock draft. He's got his
big board. I have printed both, so you know, I
have a lot of questions. Yeah, how's it going?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's going?

Speaker 5 (00:46):
Do you know of anybody that does a good has
done a good mock draft that we could talk more about?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Has anybody done any I haven't done mine yet? Oh yeah, yeah,
when do you do yours? I'm gonna sort of squeeze
it in. I don't know. I have a lot going on.

Speaker 5 (01:00):
Yeah, I mean I've been I've been with people, have
been asking me, well, a lot of people have been
asking me when when is it coming out?

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Nixt game last night kind of depressed me. So I
stopped and then I was going to do it today,
but I decided to eat breakfast.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I don't know, you know, I'm I'm big fans of.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Steve and Sam who were at PFF and on check
to Mike now and they did a great thing where
they had ever all these analysts uh do. It was
a great video. I recommend checking it out. Give their
favorite player in this draft and favorite It's that fun video.
It's like a half hour long. And I came away
from that thinking like, perhaps there's just too many analysts.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Like so I was, I was thinking about this today.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
I was thinking about this today because Dan Patrick is
going to start the movement to get mel kiper Junior
the Rose a contributor to the Hall of Fame, and
and this is overdue, right. I don't think anybody in
the history of the Draft has done more to popularize
or grow the event than mel kiper Junior. Say what
you wanted, but you might not like his brand of analysis,

(02:05):
and you might think he got it wrong with a
certain player. I don't think anybody in the history of
that event has done more to boost its popularity. It's now,
I think, quite literally the second biggest NFL event that
we have after the super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
And so I'm thinking about this this.

Speaker 4 (02:20):
Morning and that I'm going, Yeah, but he has birthed
way too many imitators, and then those imitators have imitators. Yeah,
And so I don't maybe I don't know. I don't know,
because there's a lot of there's a lot of progeny.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Is that what we go with.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yes, there's a lot of versions of mel kiper Jr.
And I also think there's maybe a few too many.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:41):
Have you ever seen have you ever seen the movie
Multiplicity with Michael Kinton?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Are you familiar? Yeah? You know where I'm going with this.
Where the first one.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
The first one that he could figures out how to
create a clone of himself, and the first one's a
really big help, and it's like it's really great, and
then realizes well that that one's like, well, I could
really use to help too, And as they go down
the line farther and farther, it gets aware a guy
who's just like putting toothpaste on his eyes and stuff
like that and has no idea what he's doing.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
I'm not.

Speaker 5 (03:10):
There are so many good analysts with great draft takes.
But I think to your point, you know, it ends
up a touch water down. And when everybody's everybody has
an opinion and everybody has a mock draft and everybody
has all this stuff, it's like, it's just it's it
becomes a lot. Well, it just becomes like you've got
to You've gotta water it down now anymore then go
looking for it.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
You've got to know how to filter it. So I'll
just tell you what we did on this show.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
I had like six of them and gave their names
to Taran and I'm like, here are the people I
want to have on the air and anybody else that
we're good, But I can't. I can only do there's
like five or six people we do every single year,
and if we do more than that, I lose track
of who said what, who did what? And I'd really
start asking everybody the same questions anyway, So like I've

(03:54):
I've got like my half, does you're separate because you're
Bengals guy? And even said him, like, but they're the
local people. Who's the Indians? I want but like in
terms of like draft analysts, there's like six and we've
gotten them all.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
On and we're good. Those are my six. Yeah, I
mean we try to caet. I do as much as
I can to keep it in house. The athletic we
have so many good people that do that work there,
and I'm like, I'd rather tap into our network. And
there's the obvious big ones, but like you got to
kind of focus on those and realize there's just you
you will drown taking in too much information. And it's

(04:26):
not that that stuff isn't good, right, it just ends
up being so much. But there's a lot I don't
want to waste all the time on contract. So there's
there's there's plenty to get to here with the Bengals,
So there is uh.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
I there's a few different angles that I've looked at
this from. I'm gonna start with this. So in your
big board, you have outlined needs and wants. Right, You've
outlined there are needs and there are wants. We know
what the needs are. But then there are the wants
you have under wants a safety. Now, I'm trying to

(04:59):
get myself to a.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Place that I go we talk with a dog again,
we could.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
Talk about the guy we've renamed our dog after Geno Stone. Okay,
so there are Geno Stones here. Okay, So now, if
safety is I want, not a need? Uh oh, I'm
not sure I believe that, but okay, you're smarter than me,
So that's what I'm trying to trying to align myself
with someone like yourself. All right, So safety is a want.
So now I'm trying to figure out understanding that it's

(05:24):
maybe not a need. I'm trying to figure out where
I can get one that could could maybe supplant genostone.
So if he's not in need, I'm drafting need in
round one. There's way too many I'm drafting need, so okay, fine,
I'm not drafting a safety. And then I want rattage
in round two. That's the guard I want. Okay, So
all right, there's a need there guard. Where am I
getting my safety? And that's the question I have today?

(05:45):
Where am I getting my safety? Where could I draft
a guy who could help now, but isn't reflective of
safety being in need, and is more so reflective of
safety being a want. I hope to God that made sense. Yeah,
I see, I.

Speaker 5 (05:59):
Think I think the way you're looking at the needs
in once thing is just backwards in that it's I
think in round one. Yeah, I think you would be
comfortable taking a safety if if it's Malachi star Ex
or Nicky Man Warrior, Like you're taking the player. Sure,
you're taking the person, the playmaker more so than the position.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Craft players not positions.

Speaker 5 (06:23):
It's important. Yeah, I know I've heard and so, and
that's that's fine. Like, I I think that that's in
play there. I think it's more about like you can
get away with Geno Stone and so he that falls
down into the once, whereas linebacker and obviously the past
rush stuff and some other stuff to me is more

(06:44):
up in the needs because I don't like, you're not
Jermaine Pratt. No one will ever say that they have
him in his plants. The plans here. We know that
it's very.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
A lot of endorsement happening, not a lot of not
a lot of any of that.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
And that's kind of been the response since way back
in January when that started, and and the other guard.
We know that that's obviously a massive need that has
to happen early, but you can get away with that,
and that's sort of the needs and why I think
that was sort of the line when you're drawing the tier.
It's like you can see the plan for with Gino
Stone a little more than I can see the plan

(07:19):
forward with linebacker or pass rush and guard. So that's
to me the line of demarcation. It's not saying round
one no, absolutely, no way. It just seems like you
know that is where you're saying, well, you're not feeling
that pressure to reach in round two or three.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
So what I want going round one is combination of
a player that I want and somebody who satisfies an
urgent need, along with somebody who represents the safest pick.
So your verbiage in your big board, Derek Harmon, defensive
tackle from Oregon, who you have going in your your
mock draft. So this is what stands out to me,

(08:00):
the safest pick in a year where my first round
pick has to play and be productive if he satisfies
a need, which I think we all believe the Bengals have.
Say what you want about what they've done in free
agency with Slayton and who they bring back from last
year's draft. I'm getting a need addressed, a player that
everybody likes oh, and he represents the safest pick according

(08:22):
to you.

Speaker 5 (08:22):
At least that's what I want. Well, and I see
that too. I mean to me, it's like, I feel
like that is the position they have been looking for,
somebody who can be disruptive and be counted on. And
you know, we heard Duke Tobin talking yesterday about wanting
the complete player, not the player that is going to
be a sub package rusher. You know, he's too small
to get it, can't hold up against Derek Harmon is

(08:44):
in there, he fits, He can be in there for
three downs, he can stop the run heat, but he's
more of a disruptor. And so that's the lean that
they need from that position they've been looking for. That
I had when I did the draft series last week
and I went through defense tackle. One of my favorite
things that I found was going through all the defensive

(09:05):
tackles that were picked between ten and twenty five over
the last fifteen years, and they were twelve for twelve
in hits. Okay, all of them made at least fifteen
million dollars a year off their first contract, with an
average of twenty point three million dollars average annual value
on those picks. There are no misses outside of like

(09:26):
Javon Kinlaw would be the clase and he just got
fifteen million dollars a year in free agency. Right, That's
the closest thing to a miss, and there are massive
names on there. If there is a player deemed worthy
of that spot at that position, it is so valuable
in this league. The Bengals should know that better than anybody.
They're still looking for the next GENO Atkins. They suffered
from not having somebody who could be disruptive up the

(09:48):
middle to counter what Trey Hendrickson was doing last year.
All of that plays in and you have somebody who
would had twelve more pressures than anybody else in FBS
last year at Oregon, playing in games, going undefeated in
regular doing all the things Oregon did, and a huge
part of that worthy of that pick from people that
I trust Dane Brugler in the what I mentioned at

(10:11):
the top here about your favorite player, Dane Burgler's favorite player,
Derek Harmon. Okay, people that I trust in that he
finds a way to do it. I think he is
the safest pick for them at seventeen. Now will he
be there, I don't know. Because you have others, but
they all have a little bit of a question mark
higher ceiling. Right, we're gonna play the ceiling floor game,

(10:31):
and we like the ceiling floor game, or we like
does it make us a little nauseous?

Speaker 2 (10:34):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (10:35):
I like, I'm here for this this year, this version
of the Bengals. I'm a floor guy. I want to
high floor. I want starters that can contribute. We know
the stars, we know what the offense can do. They're
missing starters and positions, and so take that more than
in some years. Yeah, some years you have the luxury
of a deep roster with a lot of starters there,

(10:56):
and you're just looking to go hit on some stars. Okay,
I don't feel like that's where they're at roster wise
right now. So I turned to someone like him over
Walter Nolan, which is like the you know, the Harmon
vers Nolan thing right now is great. Nolan probably has
more upside, He's more athletic. There's a lot of things
to love, but there's this undercurrent of does he love
football fit right? And a team that sells himself on

(11:19):
the fact that he does might get the steal of
this draft. But then you also have the possibility of
maybe you're never gonna get that full potential out of
that guy, and is that what is that worth? How
big is that gap? And if you convince yourself of that,
you can go that route. And then you have character stuff,
lack of production stuff on some of the other guys

(11:39):
that expected to be in that mix. And that keeps
taking me back to Derek Carmon for my guy in
terms of safest pick that can be the best fit
for this team, that brings them something they desperately need.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I like him.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
The Walter Nolan red flags are just too plentiful.

Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yeah, I mean maybe, I mean if he comes through
for what I'm looking for here, yeah, for what he
may turn out to be a terrific player.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
He may be a great kid. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
This pick has to help this year, man, I want
to win the Super Bowl this season. This pick has
to help them. Done could be great this year.

Speaker 5 (12:14):
Maybe, But again, if I'm I mean, who had more
red flags last year than Tovandre Sweat Right, it was
just like he doesn't care, He's got criminal stuff, all
of this stuff, and he went in and last year
played great for Tennessee. Right that this doesn't mean you're
not gonna get a great year. You've got to just

(12:36):
you know, it's you've got to convince yourself or you've
got to be convinced by him. And they've met with him,
they've brought him in. If that, if you were convinced
like this guy, it really does matter to him. There's
never a better chance that you'll get the big year
out of him than year one, right because when the
guy comes into the league wants to prove himself. If
you ever have those motivationalss, you can get him in
year one. It's the big picture of it, I don't

(12:57):
I think it's really nip and tock on depending on
how you feel about Walter Nolan. And that's something that
only the Bengals and their personnel staff really know. We
cannot know that as much as they can.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
All I can do is what the rest of us
outside that building are doing, which is forming opinions based
on what's out there now with Walter Nolan. I mean,
I could read the Beast and I could tell you
what Dan Brugel writes about his tangibles and his measurables
and his production and all that, and then I read
all the other stuff, and again, none of that may
get in the way of him being a terrific NFL
player For his sake, I hope he is. But if

(13:32):
I'm looking for a guy that I feel really, really,
really good about, and one of the things is I
got to figure out how much he loves the game
for a team that has done well recently taking gym rats,
I don't know, man, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (13:44):
I agree, I'm betting on I'm betting on the guy
that you know will come.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
In and it will matter to them.

Speaker 5 (13:50):
I'm gonna bet on the Chase Browns and the andre
Yoshibash's who don't have the same talent, but you know
it matters to them. They're going to spend their entire
off season with a wide receivers guru and improving themselves.
So you see this massive leap from year one year two,
Like those are the guys typically worth betting on, more

(14:10):
so than the guys who come in with all the
physical skills. But those questions, and I don't know if
that is an unfair criticism of Waltran Nolan, but I
do know I trust Dane and he said specifically to
me on the podcast, like there are teams that are
just not sold on it. And if that's the case,
it's certainly a red enough flag for me.

Speaker 4 (14:27):
The last time they took a guy in round one
that we wondered, does he like football? Blew up in
the face. Yeah, sorry man, Yeah, I'm with you. I'm
trying to win the title this year, and I just
think you build teams and it's and if we're talking
about a reaction to some of the stuff that went
down last year has gone down and maybe been up there,
they're trying to rebuild the chemistry and they're trying to

(14:49):
rebuild the culture that was stressed.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, like that's a big part of this lot.

Speaker 5 (14:53):
They don't want the drama, they don't want having to
pull guys that don't maybe care like having this great room,
in this great chemistry that was so much apart part
of the winning of twenty one in twenty two, if
that's part of it, and it's probably unfair to put
Walter Nolan this deep into that conversation, but if that's
a breaking a tie, I'm going with the guy that
did what Derek Carmon did last year and doesn't have

(15:15):
those same questions from anybody, and so that that matters
to me when you start getting into really picking knits
like you are at the top of maybe a realistic
board right now. There's plenty of other names that would
be excited about, but this is it is.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
It's an interesting debate at the top. All right. So
based on.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
Your big board, I have a small wish list. We
have to talk about that. We have to talk about
the news from yesterday. Zach Moss is back, which I
think raise some eyebrows. I'm not sure it should have,
but did. And we'll talk about how that may or
may not affect what they do in the draft.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
That and so much more.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
Paul's here till four o'clock, the Athletic dot Com and
the Growler podcast, and you've got your live show.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Your live show is going to be on while we're on.
It is next Tuesday. Oh we're gonna compete, not really for.

Speaker 4 (15:54):
An hour, Yeah, not really. Can I like pipe in
do a cycle? Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (16:00):
Pipe We can just pipe your show and in the background.
That's what we can get. That's what everybody's gonna want.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
If I see somebody in the corner our live show
with headphones on, I'll know that they're tuned in. They
can't let you go, but they want to be there
for us, and that's why that's at five o'clock. Five o'clock. Yeah,
bet MGM Nation Kitchen and Bar down at the Banks.
Bengals College scouting director Mike Potts will join us down there.
We'll talk about all the picks and we'll give a
bunch of stuff away free graders, all that kind of

(16:27):
stuff when in all the great deals that you always
get down there.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
So it's gonna be fun. I can't it's one of
my favorite Night's gonna be a blast.

Speaker 4 (16:33):
Next Tuesday, one week from today, five o'clock. Paul Tanderjin
from The Athletic and the Growler podcast twenty two after
three on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 6 (16:49):
Thing you see Health Traffic Center, Do you see health?
You'll find comprehensive care that's so for us. So it
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(17:10):
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Speaker 2 (17:20):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty more igar Paul Danner Juniors.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Here.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
The draft is Thursday.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Paul's got his full seven round mock, his NFL Draft
big board, thirty four names you need to know for
all three days of the draft was starts on Thursday night.
The Athletic dot Com and The Growler Podcast. Zach Moss
is back.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, it's good, very good for him. I's scary, man.

Speaker 5 (17:44):
Sure, you play in the NFL and you hear neck
injury no matter what it is. That was scary and
they hope to get good news. And you know, Zach
Moss gets pushed into the back of the conversation because
of what Chase Brown came last year, and you saw
how he kind of helped the offense take off. But

(18:05):
it was I don't I didn't feel like Zach Moss
was some sort of a zero free agency addition. You know,
I thought he was solid enough. You obviously saw Chase
Brown should have been playing more and that he grew
into that role, but as if the platoon switched into
a seventy five to twenty five the other way, I

(18:26):
like Zach Moss in that role, like I like having
a veteran backup you know you can count on who
has done well in that type of a complimentary role
in the past. He can play passing downs. Same with
Samaj p Ryan. I feel like him and p Ryan
are kind of become a little bit of the same
type of guy, and that's good. More of those guys
that are dependable there and that leaves to me one

(18:48):
spot still open in that room to draft the next
Chase Brown still, which I think still exists. Like I
don't think that this in any way changes the fact
that they're still looking for the next Chase Brown, potentially
because this is the type of draft to find that
late in a draft, and so I think I don't
think it changes that. But he's in that mix and
to beat a complimentary back and the more you can have,

(19:10):
the better. And if it's in a reworked deal where
they don't feel like they are paying as much because well,
maybe you're not worth what this number was, But if
you want security to know that you'll be here but
at this number, then let's do that. I think that
works for both sides, and I'm happy that that he's
healthy enough to do it.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
So Chase is clearly the one that goes without saying
Zach is the two.

Speaker 5 (19:30):
And then I don't know that feels like a battle maybe, okay,
I mean I think that feels like something where let's see,
you know, see how that interesting? Yeah, well, you know
what's I mean? You know, Samaj's trust that he has
with Burrow and you know him in that past pro
role is solid. But also I think the fact that

(19:51):
Chase Brown and pitch Dan Pitcher talked about this at
the combine with us about Chase Brown being so much
better than they thought he was gonna be at past
protection last year changed kind of a little bit of
the way that they view what the room needs to
look like because he proved that he can obviously do that.
I mean, you played every single snap and then what
he brings as a checkdown weapon for Burrow, and we

(20:15):
saw that time and time and time again of his
ability to get in phase with him on off script
plays and and hold up and pass pro and do
all those things. Makes you kind of want him to
have him out there in some of those situations. So
I think you know those roles, but you're not like
solely dependent on Samaji p Rhynd to be that or
Zach Moss to be some version of this. I think

(20:37):
everybody that can do a little bit of everything can
can help there. But there's still a spot for one
more and I think that's where you see them look
late in this draft, or I guess maybe undrafted free
agent would be in playable.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
So I was gonna go sort of go there next
because you said last week that if you were too,
and I'm gonna try to pair for Asia as best.
I can't hang your hat on any one thing happening
in this draft. It would be the fifth round running back,
you still feel that way, Maybe it's the sixth round
running back. Two fifth or sixth round.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
I mean maybe maybe having Zach Moss here now makes
you say if they're between two guys in round five
and you're like, well, maybe the guy will the running
back that we from this group will still be there
in the sixth round, but we don't think the other
and we do have Zach mo maybe it breaks a tie,
maybe it pushes a little bit up where it's maybe

(21:25):
not as certain. I still it still feels the right
way to get somebody there. But maybe Zach Moss being
okay and being healthy pushes that down a smidge. But
I still think it's very viable and it still makes
a ton of sense for this team to try to
take advantage of what will be a very strong point

(21:47):
of this draft, which is that that running back depth
that can develop behind Jase.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
So, looking at the big board before the Zach Moss
news came out, the guy that just kind of fit
the profile was Laquinn Allen. Yeah, excuse could do like everything. Yeah,
receiving running pass pro. Brugler's got a four to five
fourth round to fifth round grade on him. So doesn't
strike me if I'm going on that that he's going
to be there in the sixth round. But that was

(22:12):
the guy that on your board that just kind of
going through everybody here, I'm like that, that's that's Chase
Brown's that's Chase Brown two point up?

Speaker 2 (22:20):
Is he going to be as good?

Speaker 5 (22:22):
Because Chase Brown had to, you know we talked about earlier,
had had to develop as a receiver and a pass protector,
whereas you know, I think Laquin Allen would come in
that would be more his strength. You don't have to
develop that as much. I love my guy in this draft.
I love Jarques Hunter from Auburn. I love the way
he runs. I love his north South. I love the
he's just tenacious with the ball in his hands, like

(22:45):
running downhill and getting ten to fifteen yards and doing
it consistently and just being an absolute animal. I love
his style with the way the Bengals would run the ball,
and he can do it. He can do enough of
everything and could developed some of the rest of his game.
He just did it in the SEC at a high level.
Chase Brown was high volume out of Illinois, coming out

(23:07):
same type of thing where it's proven. I think you
know he had six point four yards per carry lead
in the SEC last year. Love his style, love that fit.
The thing to me is when you see the grades
there and your reference days grades are four to five
or wherever, how much of those grades that's a grade
in an ordinary year. How much does the volume make
that actually five to six? How much does a fourth

(23:29):
round grade running back go in the fifth this year
has third fourth. So is he become fourth fifth because
of this? The crazy numbers here? Is that how it goes?
Does it push everybody who you're getting value there? That's
my question if that's how this ends up playing. I mean,

(23:49):
every team is not going to take a running back,
and so are you getting in the sixth round Corey Kiner?

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Is Corey Kiner going to come here? Maybe maybe he's
the guy? Sure? Why not? One of my all time favorites.
I mean, he's got fans.

Speaker 4 (24:04):
He was at the Mini camp fantasy camp thing they
did last week, right, he was there.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
He was there. It's good one of the guys.

Speaker 4 (24:12):
Dane has a six seven on him. Babes don't have
a seventh round pick.

Speaker 5 (24:17):
Yes, so maybe if he doesn't get drafted, staying home
knowing that you could maybe be guy four here behind
Chase Brown, you'd love that. I mean, and I think
a lot of those you know, we talk about the
meaning of the visits from whether we're talking about thirty
visits or private workouts or local workouts, is often the

(24:37):
recruiting pitch ahead of time to try to get somebody
that's going to be an undrafted free agent. And I
hope for Corey's sake that he does get to hear
his name and does get drafted. But I say this
a lot, man, I think I might rather be an
undrafted free agent than a seventh round pick. Agree, I
want to pick where I want to go more than
be forced into somebody else's situation. A lot of times,

(24:58):
I'm still having to earn my way on that roster regardless.
You know, there's no there are no seventh round picks
that show up with guaranteed roster spots.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
So I don't mind it.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
If I'm feel like I'm a preferred undrafted free agent,
I can pick the spot that I like.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
Sometimes I like that more than.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
He would need to be able to say I was
an NFL draft pick. What is a great accomplishment?

Speaker 2 (25:19):
What else that is? I'm an NFL player?

Speaker 4 (25:21):
Right, That's better to say you took the words up
right out of my mouth. It's easier to say I'm
an NFL player. And if I have my pick of
where I can go and find the best fit and
find the best you know, just I don't know situation
for me based on the competition I'm gonna have during camp.
I watch some of those dudes as a UC fan.
There are oftentimes where I'll see guys there in the
seventh round, and I go for them as a human being.

(25:43):
I think it'd be cool for them to hear their
name for their professional aspirations. I want them to have
their pick of any number of teams. Yeah, and that's
kind of where I'd be with Corey if he falls
to the seventh round.

Speaker 5 (25:54):
Is it kind of like if you're getting married, do
you want to put the money into the wedding or
a down payment on a house?

Speaker 7 (26:00):
Yes?

Speaker 5 (26:00):
You know, do you want to have that moment everybody
talks about how great that moment was, or do you
want to actually have, you know, starting your life with
the house?

Speaker 6 (26:09):
You know?

Speaker 2 (26:09):
This might act.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
This is probably better for me actually in the long run,
but it's not as cool to say I did it,
and people won't really remember.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
You're asking a guy who had a big wedding and
is no longer married to the person he had the
big wedding with.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Oh, a lot of draft picks deal with this too.
This sounds familiar. This sounds familiar.

Speaker 4 (26:26):
I see where you're going. Twenty three away from four o'clock.
Paul Tanner Junior, the athletic and the Growler podcast here
for about another twenty minutes on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

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(27:02):
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Tonight in Miami, Nick Martinez gets the ball for Cincinnati
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The game is live on seven hundred WLW. Tyler Stevenson
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assignments at TRIPAA Louisville. The Bats taking on the Iowa
Cubs the Bengals in Hamilton County have reached an agreement

(27:46):
to have an agreement. Paul explain what happened today for me?
Do you really want me to Yeah? I do.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
Well, it's it's you've got the opportunity. They're moving forward together, okay,
to try to get that. They have this established of
money and the renovation that they want it to be.
They don't have established who's paying for that yet or
where they're going to try to go get it from
the state according to what came out today, and hopefully
they can make that happen. But it's these are the

(28:13):
four things they're in line. That they've got what they
wanted to be, how much it's going to cost, it's
gotta figure out how it's gonna get paid for. Which
seems like a pretty significant chunk of the conversation. But
they're working together, which I'd say, considering where we've been,
is a pretty significant development.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
Whatever happens, is the escalator going to work.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
I love the idea of like, let's put more escalators
in Like no, no, no, no, they have to They
often don't work. Yes, they at least the one on
the side of the stadium that I sit in oftentimes
not working.

Speaker 5 (28:49):
Part of this, part of this investment needs to be
in a company that is the best in the world
escalator upkeep.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
Who is that?

Speaker 5 (29:02):
I don't know, not my job to know, but I
need I want that to be the team that comes
in here and regularly, perhaps I don't know, before every
home game.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
That'd be nice, like is on it.

Speaker 4 (29:14):
So you know, the Bengals have done a lot to
that stadium to make it more fan friendly, a lot
inside the bowl of the stadium, inside the concourses. They've
taken the place that I always felt was kind of
underwhelming and they've made it better. I give them a
lot of credit for that. But the first year of
all the new changes, right, they painted the place, new
video boards. Place looks awesome. Walk up to the escalator

(29:36):
and the guy knew what was coming. Yeah, and I'm
sure had been getting it for much of the early
portion of the afternoon before the game. Where he sees
me coming. He sees me looking at the non working
escalator on day one of all the changes, and before
I could even say anything, is like, dude, you know
I'm gonna tell you man, like they make you stand
here in front of a broken escalator where your only

(29:58):
purpose is to get yelled at and cursed at people.
He's like, yeah, you know you're not gonna add to it,
are you. I'm like, no, you didn't break the escalator.

Speaker 5 (30:05):
My concern is Mitch Hedberg said it best famous comedian
escalators don't break, They just become stairs, okay, And so
that can you can at least just walk?

Speaker 2 (30:15):
Can I walk in it thet where I can at
least walk up them? Yes, you know, like don't don't
don't turn me down from that.

Speaker 5 (30:20):
Yes, I mean maybe that's the point, is that they
haven't done the full renovation where this can be taken
care of properly. So maybe that is, but I don't
know it actually getting done by the dates that were
set forth in UH in today's announcement. Sure sure would
be something I would welcome, because no one wants this
to see this drag out anymore.

Speaker 4 (30:40):
I talked about this a little bit with you last week.
If Tate Ratlich is there at number forty nine, I
think I'm gonna be pretty happy about everything else unfolds,
like they need a guard, right, yeah, And so I'm
I'm willing to kind of kick that to Friday if
if if there's obviously no guarantee, it's what makes this fun.

(31:01):
If I can get him at forty nine.

Speaker 5 (31:03):
Yeah, I think you gotta feel pretty good that you
can get one of the guards in that tier group
at forty nine. There's a there's a number of them.
I think you can feel pretty good about that right
now when you consider all the other strengths of the draft,
the defensive linemen and some of the other positions, you know,
the running backs are gonna start going off, Like, I

(31:24):
think you can feel pretty good about that group of
Savanaea Ratledge, Donovan Jackson. There's a there's a bunch in
there that that, and there's others that you could entertain
that you can certainly talk yourself into there or maybe
even in round three. But I think you can feel
good enough that one of those guys should be there.

(31:46):
And if it is that pressing, you know, and you
gets to forty six and there's only one, you gotta
be willing to say, all right, I hate to do
this like they did a couple years ago with Cam
Taylor Britt. But we got to move up a few
to make sure we get that guy. And if that's
the case, you don't want that to happen. But if
that is, you've got to be willing to do it.
Don't say I'll just take our medicine and I guess

(32:08):
we'll just take somebody who's not doesn't really fit or whatever.
I think if that's such an important position to check
that box and somebody like that that already has the
built in chemistry with a Marius Mims that can come
in there and you love that immediately. It just feels
like that's where you need to be making sure that
you check that box the right way.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
Now that specific scenario, there is the part of me
that has gotten mad at the Bengals before for being
too passive, that would love the aggressiveness. Here's the guy
you want you move up to get him. At the
same time, they need more picks well established. It's the
theme of the last five or six weeks as we
have talked about this. So if I am moving up,

(32:50):
am I giving up anything in this draft to move up?
And what does that come at the expense of Yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
I mean they don't have a lot, they don't have
hardly any clateral to use. That's that's the challenge. I mean,
you've got to have a good feeling that what you
need will be there at that point. You're you're moving
back and you are adding picks, and you're taking a
couple extra chances, you hope. I am fascinated to see
what happens in terms of trading in this draft, for sure.
But I think the idea of moving up is this

(33:18):
is it's never a good year. I mean they've in
the first and second round. They've moved up on draft
day one time since Kajana like it, and that was
Camp Taylor Bread. I mean, it's not something they ever
want to do. And this year, of all years, they
really don't. I don't see them doing that part because
of their history and because of their current situation. They

(33:38):
are looking to and you Duke made this evidently clear.
I mean yesterday, we want to add more picks, like,
we want to do that, we need to do that.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
Anything didn't say yesterday. That's what struck me the most.

Speaker 5 (33:52):
Yeah, And that was what I was most interested in
because it's not just Okay, Well, everybody in the teens
is trying to move back in round one, and we
know their history. Five of the last eight drafts they
have moved back in round two to add picks in
that fourth round range, a fourth round value. We know
what they maybe would like to do what they try
to do there, But they have other options here that

(34:13):
are really interesting to dive into. Whether you're talking about
Trey Hendrickson, whether you're talking about whatever you could maybe
get for Jermaine Pratt as part of something, and maybe
anything else that could be out there on the table,
you know, I mean whatever.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
I'm curious.

Speaker 5 (34:27):
I'm just throwing this out there, just me talking. I'm
curious what the conversation would be about Jake Browning. Like
if if a team like Minnesota, right, who's trying to
figure out their quarterback thing?

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Like what did you get those calls happen?

Speaker 6 (34:42):
Right?

Speaker 5 (34:42):
And and and what would it take for you to
be willing to part with something that you really like
about your team? You like that depth, you like your
you I mean, you love your quarterback er mor Thaney
in football, But like what would it take, you know,
to part if you felt like you really needed picks
is there and is there a number there?

Speaker 2 (34:59):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (34:59):
I just throw out there is like they have things
that people could be interested in on their roster, how
willing would they be to part with them? And what
is that price? I think is kind of a fascinating
thing to watch over the course of this weekend. Trey Hendrickson,
I mean it's I think it's it's just as fascinating
as any pick that's going to come off the board.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Is what's going to happen?

Speaker 5 (35:22):
In No News yesterday kind of asked very as bluntly
as I could about it, and and I thought, again,
these are all opportunities to be like, you know, I
don't want to parse through the details of like every
word of what's said. That's happened enough here, But I
do think it's every one of these is an opportunity
to say we don't want to I'm not trading Trey Hendrickson.

(35:44):
I don't want to trade Trey Hendrickson. It's on the table.
It has to be on the table. I was listening
on the way down here, you guys, you and and
Tony and Austin were talking about a first round.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
Pick needs to play.

Speaker 5 (35:54):
Yeah, Okay, well, Okay, if it's an edge rusher at
seven team, the first round pick is in the mix
with Hendrickson and Murphy and Osai and whoever that other
person is. Okay, Well, if that's the case, then and
you could now go essentially and look at it as
a two for one, and you could trade Trey Hendrickson

(36:17):
for something and maybe you can get Washington at twenty
nine or something in day two, and you could now
have a first round edge and a late first early
two defensive tackle. You're now going two for one with
young players and Murphy and you're throwing it all at it,
and maybe you can even get another late pick thrown
in with that deal and you clear the money. That

(36:39):
makes sense, Like I'm not saying that, but it makes sense.
And so it makes sense that you would be sitting
there like Duke Tobin saying, you know, I don't know,
I'm not gonna I don't know about the future, Like
there are options that are very enticing for a team
that needs more picks, and he is probably not the
thing of most value that they have and is currently
in a.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
Pretty public dispute. Yeah no about him.

Speaker 4 (37:00):
Yesterday there was no go get your own edge Rusher
not at all. Right, there was no no definitive. We
can't wait to have Trey on the field with us
this year. And they value him, Shane, they love what
they've done with him.

Speaker 5 (37:13):
But yeah, this would be the point that you would
and we gosh, what we've talked about this so many times,
but like, this would be the point if you were
going to do it, now's the time. And if they
go edge at seventeen, I think all ears go up,
you know, and and and you start to think about
what that could look like as you should sure if
you're doing your if you're doing your job as a GM,

(37:33):
that's what should happen if you go edge at seventeen.
Is look at now we have this asset, we need
more picks. We can go full young and take advantage
of defensive line draft.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Why not.

Speaker 4 (37:44):
Have a great weekend. I will enjoy. You'll be very busy, Yes,
I'll be consuming at all. The live show is Tuesday.
You'll be here.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
First and then go down there. Is that how it's
gonna work? Yes, sure sounds good. Figure that out.

Speaker 4 (38:00):
That was very Duke Tobin style answer. That is at
the Nation at MGM on Tuesday week from today, at
five o'clock, Yes, sort of, the draft wrap up.

Speaker 5 (38:09):
Draft wrap up with Bengals Director of College Scouting Mike Potts,
and then.

Speaker 4 (38:13):
Full coverage of the draft from Paulvieathletic dot Com and
the Growler Podcast. Thank you so much, Thank you mo.
It is six away from four o'clock. We'll talk about
what happened last night in Miami. Next on ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from.

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You'll find comprehensive care that's on for us, so it
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Speaker 2 (38:43):
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Seventy five South Shepherd of Bonnabagen Highway and as her
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Speaker 4 (39:09):
Six after four, This is ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm Oweger,
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
For listening.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
Awesome stuff from Paul Tayn Virginia. Awesome and it's amassed
any of it. What the hell are you doing? Well?
Podcast it because that's what we do. Podcast of this
show on the iHeartRadio app or service of Long Neck
Sports Grill Thursday is going to be a lot of fun.
I will admit to you that the the pre draft
process can be I don't want to say exhausting, but

(39:40):
it could be.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
It could be kind of overwhelming.

Speaker 4 (39:43):
Right, there are so many or so many good draft
analysts that you know, you could you could drown in information.
And if you are, if you are like me, and
for your sake for the most part, I hope you're not.
I watched the draft from two different perspectives. One is
Bengals fan, two is guy on my couch watching college

(40:05):
football on Saturdays.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
And so I lean on experts.

Speaker 4 (40:10):
I lean on some of the people we have gotten
on our show in recent weeks, folks like Ryan Roberts
and Joe Goodberry and Nick Bumgardner, and then people who
cover the team here locally, like Paul Dayner, Junior James
or Pene's gonna be with me on Thursday. If you're
like me, you find folks whose opinions you value and trust,

(40:31):
and you form your opinion kind of based on the
intel they give you, the evaluations they give you, and
then you combine that a little bit with your own eyeballs.
There are so many people out there doing draft analysis
and mock drafts, it could be it could be overwhelming,
and maybe because this has talked about for so long
so much, it could be kind of exhausting, depending on

(40:54):
your point of view. Draft night itself, I think is awesome.
My favorite day during the entire draft process is Friday
because you get two things. Number One, you get legitimate answers.
There's what's happened the night before, so you're no longer
speculating about what may happen in round one. You're actually
talking about what did happen in round one. But you're

(41:15):
still doing a fair amount of speculation for rounds two
and three. So anyway, this is a long winded way
of me telling you that we're gonna be at long
Necks and Wilder on Thursday, Rapine's gonna join us.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
James Rapine.

Speaker 4 (41:26):
It's like his Christmas, and he's always been kind enough
to join us on Draft Day for years, even though
he's very, very busy. So that's gonna be on Thursday,
the Wilder location three to six. We've got prizes. Rapine's
gonna be there a lot of other stuff as well,
So we hope you joined us for that, and then
you could stick around and watch the draft itself more

(41:47):
Bengal stuff. It is interesting what Duke Tobin didn't say
about Trey hendrickson yesterday. We'll get to that a little
bit later on. I do have a very basic approach
when it comes to this year's draft, and again from
my perspective, and it's playing it safe. I'm gonna play

(42:09):
it safe in this year's draft. We'll do that a
little bit later on the game last night in Miami.
I guess if you watch Sunday's twenty four run outburst,
thinking well, the Reds Bats will go silent the next day,
well that's what happened. The Reds Bats did go silent.

(42:30):
Part of it is the Reds have an inconsistent at
best and not very good at worst offensive team. Now
That's not entirely fair, because for the better part of
two weeks they've been pretty good offensively. You know, I
talked a little bit yesterday about how the twenty four
runs against Baltimore was an outlier, but in the nine
games leading up to it, the Reds had scored fifty

(42:50):
one runs. That's good. That's gonna be good enough to
win five and a half runs a game. It would
not have been good enough to win last night. The
main reason why the Reds lost was Maxim was terrific.
You saw why he is going to move into the
role of Marlin's stafface the moment they trade Sandy al Contra,
a former number three overall pick. Max Meyer had it

(43:14):
going last night.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
He was awesome.

Speaker 4 (43:16):
And I know we are more loath to do this
now than at any point in my lifetime. Sometimes you
just have to say, you know what, the other dude
was really good last night. The few mistakes he made
the Reds couldn't hit. He struck out fourteen. He dominated
that starting lineup last night. He dominated them. He was
so good that even though I thought Nicko Lodolo was

(43:39):
not atrocious, in the fourth inning it was two nothing,
and I looked at my wife and I said, it
feels like it's eight to nothing. Max Meyer was that good,
and so the Reds lose six to three to Miami.
I think tonight's game is big ish. It's as big
as a game on April twenty second. Can be the
twenty fourth Reds game of the season. We've talked a
lot about how they got to win the series against

(44:01):
bad teams. They're in the middle of a stretch. Their
next nineteen games are against teams that right now are
below five hundred, including tonight against Miami. Tomorrow, they're gonna
go up against Sandy al Contra twenty twenty two Cy
Young Award winner, who's still kind of bouncing back from
Tommy John. He has not been very good so far
this year. You figure at some point he is gonna

(44:21):
figure it out. You don't want that to be tomorrow.
You insulate yourself against it being tomorrow and you losing
to him by winning tonight. Hopefully they do. We'll see
big start for Nick Martinez. The thing from a Reds
perspective that stood out most about last night was Alexis
das So. The game was still win a bowl ish.

(44:44):
I guess until Alexis ds came in and he was terrible.
He surrendered four stolen bases last night. He hits a guy,
he walks a guy, He gives up three hits, he
gives up the three run homer. It goes from a
three to nothing game to a six nine game in
the Reds late game comeback, not even close. Alexis Diaz

(45:05):
was terrible last night. Alexis DZ has been demoted. I
call it what it is. The injury that he suffered
in spring training to put him on the interur list
to start the season may have been the main reason
for his demotion.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
But he has been demoted.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
He has had responsibility taken away, and so you can't
help but wonder for how much longer are they going
to do this? Alexis Diaz is not close to being
the closer. That's the role he used to be in,
and I used to do this with Billy Hamilton. Billy
Hamilton for a while was the Red's leadoff hitter. But

(45:38):
the problem is he never hit even though a lot
of people thought he would, and although most of us
wish he would, he never did. And so at some
point was Brian Price came to a census. It's like,
wait a minute, I have one of the worst offensive
players in baseball, one of the worst hitters in baseball.
Why am I hitting him lead off, which is where

(46:00):
your best hitter should hit. Instead, he batted him ninth.
And this is when we didn't have a DH in
the National League, so he was batting ninth. The pitcher
was batting ahead of Billy Hamilton, and it really didn't
yield great results for the team. The ad stunk during
those years, and Billy Hamilton never really hit all that much,
and so we would always talk about I mean, there

(46:22):
are a few athletes on this show that we talked
about more during that stretch from like fourteen to sixteen
than Billy Hamilton, right, And I remember when they moved
him to the ninth spot. You know, we talked about
how once you've been demoted like that, you're closer to
being fired than you are getting your old gigback. So
he was batting ninth. That's closer to being benched, and

(46:44):
it's closer to being sent to Louisville or maybe outright
released than it is being the leadoff hitter. Like if
whatever job you're in, if you get demoted or if
they start taking responsibility away, if they start taking stuff
away from you, look out just how should be right.
So it's kind of the same thing with Alexis DS.
He was the closer. He was an All star closer.

(47:06):
Now he's not the closer. I don't know when he's
gonna be the closer. We'll see if that job comes open.
But in the role that he's in right now, he's
allowing stolen bases, he's throwing guests on the fire.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
Not very good.

Speaker 4 (47:18):
He also has options, and there are some arms at
TRIPLEA that are pretty intriguing that look like they could
be considered better options than Alexis DS. So the question
is how long of a leash do you get him?
Like He's a guy who has struggled with command now
for a while, struggled in spring training. He wasn't awesome

(47:39):
last year. It felt like every time he came into
the game he walked the first hitter. Yes, he's only
pitched in four games this season. Has he impressed you
at all? Has he given you any reason to feel confidence?
So the question is how long do you wait? And
maybe the answer is you give him as much time
as he needs, and he figures it out. Maybe he pitched,

(48:00):
which is in tomorrow's game, and he's awesome, and he
takes the step toward getting uh, getting his old job back,
or at least being a reliable member of this team's bullpen.
But just a few more outings like last nights and
more issues with his command. Man, I don't know how
you don't make a move with him. Every roster spot

(48:20):
is valuable. The team is trying to win this year.
We could debate whether or not they can.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
We we we we couldna have a quick trigger with
some of these guys. Alexis Das is one of them.
There are others.

Speaker 7 (48:33):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (48:33):
Last night did not help his case. Dude had no
chance of holding a runner on It was frustrating. Jeff
Brantley talked about it during the A TV broadcast last night.
You'll hear Terry Francona coming up in just about twenty minutes.
Our phone numbers are five win, three, seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty and eight six six seven two three, seven,
seven six Brendanman and Jones. Maybe on baseball yesterday was

(48:56):
not so much about baseball coming up in just about
thirty five minutes. I have a pole question or at
least I thought I had a pole question, and I
completely and totally forgot what it was. So now I
have to jog my own memory to find out what
my pole question is. One other thing, and I was
doing this with some folks on social media this morning

(49:17):
and had a good back and forth with somebody who
actually puts their name on social media, so you know, gave.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
Them some time.

Speaker 4 (49:29):
I often can be guilty of perpetuating narratives that sometimes
are more emotion based than they are fact based. So
like last night, there's a lot of folks who saw
the Reds struggles and they did score three runs and
just kind of shrugged your shoulders at best, or at

(49:52):
worst got mad. Well, the red score twenty four runs,
so it was almost guaranteed that they were going to
get shut out or score one or two runs the
next day.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Because you notice when that happens. We all do, right,
and it just because you notice it.

Speaker 4 (50:08):
You notice it when a team scores fourteen runs one
game and one run the next, because that stands out.
It doesn't stand out when a team scores thirteen runs
one game and like six the next. And so the
big thing on social media last night and social media
is not real life. In real life, there's accountability in
social media, oftentimes none, but social media last night a

(50:30):
whole see see because we made fun of this yesterday.
We made fun of the people who watched the game
on Sunday through the lens of worry, instant worry that
now they'll get shut out the next day. And I said,
there's two types of baseball fans. They're baseball fans who
watch a twenty four run output and just sit back
and enjoy it. The team can't score enough, hopefully they
score thirty, maybe they'd score thirty five, who knows, or

(50:52):
or the people who watch it and go, see, now
they're gonna get shut out the next day. So they
did not get shut out yet, but they scored three runs,
and you know, they were all sort of garbage time runs,
so inevitable this was gonna happen. So I actually thought,
let's look this up. Let's let's look this up. So
last season, the Red scored ten runs are more sixteen times,

(51:16):
which I would have lost that bet. I would have
thought the number would have been closer to ten or twelve.
So sixteen times the Red scored ten runs are more
the following game. How many times would you guess the
Red scored fewer than four runs eight, which means in

(51:41):
the other eight they scored four or more. Now, it's
not exactly like when you score four runs you'rekno going
to cover off the ball.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
But the major league.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
Average last year runs per team per game was like
four point three five. I think it was four point three. Nine,
might have been four point it was four point three,
then it was less than four and a half, so
I rounded down. Let's make it league average four runs.
Fifty percent of the time last season, in the game

(52:09):
following a double digit run output, the Red scored league
average or more half the time they scored league average
or less, which means there's about a fifty percent hit
rate there. You might go, well, they have to do
better scoring runs in games after games where they scored

(52:32):
more than ten. It can't be eight. That's fine. My
point is the narrative doesn't necessarily mesh with recent facts.
I'll go back to twenty twenty three, did it again?
Led that team that year scored ten runs or more.
And by the way, ten's kind of an arbitrary number.
I'll admit that, like or a bunch of games where
they scored nine, but I decided to make it double digits.
Ten runs are more twenty twenty three, ten times. Five

(52:55):
times that year in the game after scoring double digit runs,
they scored four runs or more, and five times that
year they scored fewer than four runs. Basically half the time.
That might be a lot to you. In fact, it's
a lot to me, but it's not every time. The
point is this, the Reds in recent years haven't had

(53:17):
a good team. And when we say recent years, basically
for most of the last three decades. And when you
don't have a good team, you're not very consistent, and
we are not very consistent. There's a larger variance of
what you're gonna do from game to game to game.
It's not that they score one or two runs after
they score ten. It's that they don't win enough baseball games,

(53:41):
and so poor offensive teams are less reliable than good
offensive teams. If you want to say the Reds have
not had reliable offensive teams, that's very fair. But if
the reaction to twenty four runs or twelve runs or
sixteen runs is see the next day they're gonna score two,
it's guaranteed somebody said to me on social media today,

(54:03):
and it was an innocuous tweet. That's why I responded
to it. Well, it's money, you can it's money. Somebody
at worked yesterday told me you bet your house on it.
If the red score a lot of runs one day,
they scored none the next, Well, that's in recent history
that's not been true.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
So there you go.

Speaker 4 (54:23):
We want the Reds to have a more consistent offense.
I think we all agree with that. Where you lose
me is a game like Sunday, either wishing they would
stop scoring or not enjoying it to the most of
your ability because you're starting to worry that the next
day they're going to get shut out. What we all
want is a more consistent offensive team. And if they

(54:45):
have a more consistent offensive team, whether it's after sixteen
run outbursts or four run outbursts, they're not going to
go through many lulls. Whether they're scoring zero one or
two runs. The zero one or two runs is an
issue regardless of how many runs they may have scored
the previous day, whether it's sixteen, twenty four, twelve, eight six,

(55:08):
whatever it is. There are too many times when you
have a bad offense. Too many times where you score zero,
one or two runs and have very little chance of winning,
especially when he scores zero and you have no chance
of winning. Whether they come after a team scores twelve
runs is kind of irrelevant. What's more relevant is there

(55:29):
are way too many times where the Reds offense goes
into a slumber. Is last night a slumber?

Speaker 2 (55:35):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
Again, the previous ten games they had scored seventy five
runs total. They have been hitting well recently.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
So there you go.

Speaker 4 (55:44):
We are way late twenty three after four o'clock. Phone
calls coming up. We promise five point three seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty Bengal's gonna play it safe. We'll get to that.
We'll get to what Duke Tobin didn't say yesterday. And
Ellie Tayler Cruz what If? On ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (56:03):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 2 (56:09):
From the UC.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
Brediman and Jones maybe on baseball coming up in just
about twenty minutes. By the way, tomorrow on the show
Looking Ahead, Evan Meatkawa is going to join US college
basketball analyst because I won. His thoughts on the transfer
classes for some of the area schools. That is going
to be tomorrow at five oh five. We are looking
forward to that. Sports headlines are next. It's a four

(56:35):
thirty on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic from the.

Speaker 6 (56:45):
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(57:05):
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Sports Headlines a service of Kelsey chevrola home of lifetime
powered train protection and a guaranteed.

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Credit approval from their family to.

Speaker 4 (57:28):
Yours life Kelsey chev dot com, Reds and Marlins again
tonight in Miami six forty first pitch game is on
a seven hundred w l w h Nick Martinez, with
an ERA of six, will get the ball for Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
Edward Cabrero will get the ball for the Fish. With
an ERA of.

Speaker 4 (57:48):
Six fifty two, he has pitched exactly nine to two
thirds innings this year. Your starting lineup for tonight? Are
you ready? Are you excited? Do you have something to
write with? TJ friedelan center, Matt McLain at second, Eli
Ta La Cruz a short, Austin Hayes's dhing, Gavin Lux
riding a seven game hitting streak, is in leftfield, Jamber
Candelario at first, noelfe Martet third base, Jake Freelien right,

(58:09):
and Jose Travigno behind the plate. Tyler Stevenson is set
to begin a rehab assignment for Triple A Louisville tonight.
Sam Mall as well the Skyline Chile Crosstown Shootout Baseball
Version Xavier and Cincinnati. They're playing at Xavier today. XU
leads U SEE by a score of eight to one.

(58:30):
This is truly awful news, and I was sad to
catch wind of this this morning, and equally is sad
to get confirmation of it. University of Cincinnati freshman football
player Jeremiah Kelly passed away unexpectedly at his campus residence
this morning. Native of Avon, Ohio, he graduated from Avon

(58:53):
High and helped his school to its first ever state
championship this past year. Was first team All Conference in
all district, was named the SWC Lineman of the Year
as a senior, and was an early enroll lead. Participated
in spring practice at UC. Found dead this morning, and

(59:13):
that is it goes without saying truly, truly awful for
somebody so painfully young. Paul questions on this show a
service of United Heartland Insurance check out uh i NS
dot com. Can the Bengals win the Super Bowl this
coming season without their first round draft pick being a

(59:35):
major contributor?

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Vote?

Speaker 4 (59:38):
Now, all right, if I can find the correct mouse,
we'll take some phone calls now, Keith and Wilder, You're
on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (59:47):
Good afternoon, Keith. How are you. I'm doing fine.

Speaker 7 (59:50):
I love your show like always. I wish I could
call more.

Speaker 2 (59:53):
That's very kind, and.

Speaker 7 (59:55):
I'm the Billy Hamilton lover I always before I call,
I just wanted to do a little little scroll back
in time here, so I was looking you just my
ears perked up when I heard you guys talking about
Billy and that we're talking, we are talking Billy the
two forty five career hitter. Now that you know that,

(01:00:17):
that mark is wow. Like if we could have a
hitters like that nowadays. But we haven't had a center
fielder since Billy. That's twenty eighteen. We're still waiting. We're
still waiting to get a guy out there that can
cover the two thirds. They always said, Gary Maddox, two

(01:00:38):
thirds of the earth was covered by water. The other
third was covered by Gary Maddox, but he didn't even
cover it like the class of a Billy Hamilton.

Speaker 4 (01:00:47):
Billy, Billy Hamilton is the best defensive center fielder I
ever watched.

Speaker 7 (01:00:52):
And I agree.

Speaker 4 (01:00:53):
I watched Andrew Jones, I saw Ken Griff, I didn't
watch Junior on an everyday base when he was at
his absolute peak in Seattle. I watched Eric Davis. Billy
Hamilton is the best defensive center fielder I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
I will I will absolutely acknowledge that, and.

Speaker 7 (01:01:12):
On that you and I will totally agree. But I
was looking at his stats too, and his worst year
was he batted two twenty six for the Reds and
his last year with the Reds twenty eighteen, he hit
two thirty six, both of which there's four current Reds
that are hitting well under that mark that I bar

(01:01:32):
that Billy set back in the day, and Friedel Friedel
hit two twenty six last year, which equaled Billy's worst season. So,
in fairness to my man Billy Hamilton and to the
Reds fans out there, let's not forget Billy did bring
something to the picture here.

Speaker 4 (01:01:51):
So no, no, I mean, look, he was awesome defensively,
he was a weapon you could use on the base pass.
He just he wasn't much of a hitter. I didn't
bring him up to gratuitously bang on Billy Hamilton, but
you know there was a time where they gave up
on him as a leadoff hitter, moved him to the
ninth spot, and like Alexis Diaz, you know, his role
has changed.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
He has been demoted.

Speaker 4 (01:02:13):
Alexis is closer to going to Louisville than he is
getting the closer roll back. And it reminded me of
when Billy Hamilton got moved to the ninth hole, when
he continued to not really hit. He was closer to
being sent out of here some way, in some way
shape or for him than he ever was to being
the leadoff hitter again.

Speaker 7 (01:02:29):
Correct, And but I'll also remember in Little League a
few kids out there. Someone has to hit to fill
the nine hole. So don't let's not look at it
as too negative. At least you're filling a gas.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Well. It's different now now, when Billy was batting ninth.

Speaker 4 (01:02:43):
The picture still hit, so they you know, now it's
different if you're if you're the ninth place hitter, you're
sort of you could be. You could portray it as
second leadoff man, right like, it's a little bit different
without the picture.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
Back then the picture was still batting.

Speaker 7 (01:02:58):
Brother, you'd have a great da.

Speaker 2 (01:03:00):
All right, it is.

Speaker 4 (01:03:01):
It is true they have Billy Hamilton's last year on
the Red's uniform was twenty eighteen. They have been searching
for a center fielder since, you know, if you think,
like in twenty one when they were pretty good, they
had Tyler Naquin that never really stuck, like I like TJ.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
TJ.

Speaker 4 (01:03:24):
Friedel boosted by his game on Saturdays, having statistically at
least a nice season, getting on base at close to
a thirty six percent clip that'll work. But yeah, they've
been they've been looking for a cent. Look, I give
I have Billy Hamilton a lot of credit. I didn't
know we'd spent a lot of time talking about Billy
Hamilton today, But I give Billy Hamilton a lot of credit.

(01:03:44):
He played eleven big league seasons, eleven big league seasons,
nearly one thousand major league games, despite being a woefully
below average batter. That speaks to his and how he
could be used to steal. And by the way, like

(01:04:05):
Billy Hamilton is I assume retired. He was not an
active major league player last year. I don't know what
he's doing now, but what he would be like thirty
four years old. The rules have changed, Like Billy Hamilton
was good for plus fifty stolen bases a year, I
mean even when he wasn't getting on base a bunch,
and four straight years where he stole I think more

(01:04:26):
than fifty five bags. And that was when pitchers could
throw over whenever they wanted, And that was before the
bigger bases, before the disengagement rule, and so you know,
would be perfect, would be perfect as a weapon to
steal a base. With the current rules the way they are,

(01:04:52):
I do miss those Billy Hamilton arguments. We would have
Keithan Wilder was the guy. I do miss those Billy
Hamilton arguments.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
We would have.

Speaker 4 (01:05:02):
Ellie dela Cruz. You know, it's interesting. I think Ellie
Delacruz landed on the radar of a lot of people
when I believe it was Keith Law. And this is
just something I started to think about during the show.
I could go back and look, but I believe the

(01:05:24):
evaluator was Keith Law, who wrote about Ellie dela Cruz
when he had finally started to produce in the minors,
did an evaluation of him where he wrote about how
he has the potential and the talent to one day
maybe be the best player in baseball, which awesome, right,

(01:05:44):
It's awesome to have a talent like that in your system.
So Ellie is here now, he is a firmly established
big league player. He's not the best player in baseball.
And this is what I kind of wonder. I kind

(01:06:04):
of wonder if he doesn't achieve that, how much are
some gonna hold it against him? Like Ellie this year
and it's it's obviously still very early. We're not even
into the last week of April, yet right they've played
less than one sixth of their schedule.

Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
There's a long, long, long.

Speaker 4 (01:06:24):
Line of guys whose April numbers really didn't end up
looking like their final numbers by the time the season's ended.
And he has done some awesome things this year. You know,
we've talked about the play he made in the field
in that game on Sunday, We've talked about athletically, some

(01:06:44):
of the things he's capable of doing.

Speaker 2 (01:06:49):
We're all thrilled.

Speaker 4 (01:06:50):
I think we're all thrilled that Ellie Taylor Cruz is
on the Reds and it will continue to be fun
and I believe interesting to see how he continues to
develop and continues to hopefully ascend and continues to hopefully
help the team. For what it's worth, he is currently
fifth in baseball and runs batted in, but he's not

(01:07:14):
the best player in baseball. And frankly, like, if you
just look at the numbers, the numbers are pedestrian ops
is seven fifty, it's hitting two forty two. He still
strikes out a lot, Like, his strikeout percentage is not
that dissimilar from what it has been the last couple

(01:07:35):
of years. In fact, he's striking out after last night,
He's striking out more frequently thirty three percent of the
time versus last year thirty one point three. Now, you
could do a deep dive into some of the advanced
stuff and you'll see his hard hit percentage is higher
than it was last year. His exit velocity when he
does make contact is higher than last year. He's hitting

(01:07:58):
more fly balls, he's hitting more ground balls, he's hitting
fewer lines. Like, if you want to make the case
that Ellie is better this year, you can find numbers
that will support that argument. If you want to make
the case that Ellie is really not better this year,
you can find numbers to support the argument. What's aboutally
clear is number one. There are a lot of folks
who talked about Ellie this season as making that next

(01:08:18):
step and being among the very very very very very
best players in baseball. A lot of people have compared
him to Bobby With of the Royals last year, who
probably finished he did. He finished second in the American
League MVP voting. He was that good. So like, Ellie
is going to make that step and you know he
could be an MVP type player, and maybe that happens
this year.

Speaker 2 (01:08:36):
Maybe it does.

Speaker 4 (01:08:38):
I kind of wonder, though, and I don't know that
anybody will have the answer to this. What is the
statistical threshold where Ellie will gain everybody's approval?

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
We love watching him, we love.

Speaker 4 (01:09:02):
The things he can do that, we love the highlights,
We love the best of Elie. I think you could
argue we don't see the best of Lli nearly enough
as we would like. We certainly don't see the best
of l enough for him to be able to statistically
do the things that put him in the upper pantheon
of players in this sport. And I think to a
degree some got a little bit too flippant with well,

(01:09:25):
he could be an MVP. It's like, do you know
the kind of leap he's gonna have to make for
that to be the case?

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
Too?

Speaker 4 (01:09:30):
Like, you know what those numbers look like, they're absurd.
Ellie's numbers are merely good. I wonder, And I don't
think anybody's gonna have the answer to this. Right now,
Let's say he turns out to be merely good, plays
in a couple of All Star Games, helps the Reds

(01:09:53):
get to the postseason, does some awesome things on the
field in the process, is that going to feel like
a disappointment.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Let's say he merely ends.

Speaker 4 (01:10:09):
Up being a good player, a quality player, a well
above replacement player, but never close to among the absolute
upper crust. I think, and god knows, I've been guilty
of this. We've talked so much about Ellie's potential that
we've almost made it seem like it's an inevitability that
he's going to be among the absolute best of the

(01:10:30):
best of the best of the best. I think at
times minimizing how hard it is to get to be
among the best of the best of the best of
the best. And so I think, as a result, if
it turns out that he's merely really good, and really
good is very valuable, and really good will make him
a ridiculous amount of money. But I think we have

(01:10:53):
talked so much about his ceiling and we still have
echoing in our minds that evaluation has a chance to
be the best in the sport, that the standard's almost
too high to hold him to. Might elaborate on that

(01:11:13):
more coming up in the five o'clock hour, Should the
Bengals play it safe, that incredible sports talk radio question
is coming up. We'll get to our poll and more.
It's a ten away from five o'clock. Brentiman and Jones
on Baseball is Next? Might be about baseball Today on
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 3 (01:11:31):
Cincinnati Sports Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from.

Speaker 6 (01:11:38):
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(01:12:01):
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This report is sports.

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Speaker 3 (01:12:17):
Fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (01:12:18):
Mikelob Ultra five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty.
It's the service of our friends. Excuse me and yours
at michelob Ultra.

Speaker 2 (01:12:26):
We got like you're looking at it right now.

Speaker 4 (01:12:30):
Temperature wise, I know it's going to be hotter tomorrow.
It's warm Mountain. It's like legitimate springtime weather. You know
how much I like good weather. You know how much
I hate bad weather? Right now seventy one in sunny
Tomorrow seventy seven, Thursday, seventy se that's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:12:47):
Next week, I see an eighty good beer drinking weather.

Speaker 4 (01:12:51):
Good weather for enjoying a nice cold michelob Ultra, enjoy
one tonight, enjoy more than one tonight as watching the
Reds and Marlins play, How's that?

Speaker 2 (01:13:00):
How's that?

Speaker 4 (01:13:01):
I said a little bit of a late start to
the hour because I went long last hour. My apologies.
More on the Reds. Who gets set to play the
Marlins tonight? First pitch coming up in an hour and
thirty minutes. Tyler Stevenson in what is maybe not as
big of a deal, but still a pretty big deal. Nonetheless,
Tyler Stevenson is going to start a rehab assignment tonight.

(01:13:21):
And then the question becomes will they use three catchers? Well,
they keep three catchers, and I think the answer should
be yes. More on that later on this hour. We
do have a poll question you go answer on Twitter
at Moeger Thanks to United Heartland Insurance, we were getting
closer to the draft. We're getting closer and closer to

(01:13:43):
Thursday night broadcasting Thursday afternoon from a long Necks in Wilder,
I was thinking about this reading the big board put
together by our friend Paul Danner, Junior in the Athletic.

Speaker 2 (01:13:56):
He has done a big board.

Speaker 4 (01:13:58):
He has done a very comprehensive position by position breakdown
of what the Bengals need, what they have at every position,
players they could target. He's done a full seven round
mock draft. If Paul gains any subscribers due to this segment,
I should get a cut of the proceeds.

Speaker 2 (01:14:20):
He's got.

Speaker 4 (01:14:20):
In round one, the Bengals taking Derek Harmon, the defensive
tackle from Oregon.

Speaker 2 (01:14:24):
We will see if he is there.

Speaker 4 (01:14:27):
In his big board synopsis of thirty four names to
keep in mind across all three days, he writes this
about Derek Harmon of Oregon. Part of this sho probably
already knew led college football with fifty five pressures, and
he continues, this is the subjective part. He writes, I'll

(01:14:49):
go ahead and quote and might be the safest pick
on the board for the Bengals at the top of
the draft that sentenced dow out to me. Duke Tobin
said yesterday that he doesn't think any rookie could necessarily
penetrate this team as a starter. That's not the word
that he used, but chances are if you care about

(01:15:11):
the Bengals, you at least heard of those comments. I
don't agree with that. I don't know that he would
necessarily agree with that if you really pressed him. We've talked,
obviously for weeks on end about this class, and I
don't think this is that hot taking. I've said a

(01:15:34):
number of times and this is just my opinion that
I think if the Bengals win the Super Bowl with
Joe Burrow as the quarterback, this draft class is going
to be a major reason why. Not the only reason why,
of course, but a major reason why. And if the
Bengals fall short of that, if they don't win the title,
which is the objective here, to win the title while

(01:15:56):
you have Joe Burrow, if they fall short of that,
this draft class is going to be a major reason why.
This is a hugely important class. And if you're a
Bengals fan, you know that you don't need me to
tell you that, But I guess you can't emphasize that enough.
What they did in free agency felt underwhelming. That's no

(01:16:17):
knock on any of the individual players TJ. Slayton, samaj
pen Ran or In Burke's whatever, Lucas Patrick. But it
felt underwhelming, and so it kind of puts the emphasis
puts an added emphasis on the draft. If the Bengals
are going to have a dramatically better team than last

(01:16:38):
year and they were kind of underwhelming in free agency
in terms of offseason additions, it puts the focus on
the draft.

Speaker 8 (01:16:49):
Now.

Speaker 4 (01:16:50):
Obviously, the Bengals feel like they have a lot of
good players in house, especially on defense, that a new
defensive coordinator can get more out of. I have a
hard time believing that the Bengals can win the title
this year. Ye'r sex of Joe Burrow. If this class

(01:17:14):
doesn't make significant contributions, I don't think that's hot takey either.
I find it really hard to believe, as awesome as
Joe Burrow is, as awesome as Al Golden might be,
that if this class is a wiff across the board,
a whiff, they win the title next year. There is

(01:17:38):
a premium on players who could step in and play
right now. So in Round one, I'm okay taking the
safest pick.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
Again.

Speaker 4 (01:17:50):
This is Paul's assessment, might not be yours, might not
be the assessment of your favorite draft nick. But the
name Walter has come up, and there's lots of questions
out there about his maturity for this level, how much
he loves the sport, how much he, according to some quote,

(01:18:10):
has that dog in him, how much this matters to him,
how much of a gym rat he is. I'm not
qualified to speak to this guy's character. I'm not qualified
to speak to this guy's work ethic. I'm not qualified
to speak to how mature this guy is. I haven't
sat across from him. All all I can do is
tell you that nearly every evaluation that I have read
has brought something like that into question. He may get

(01:18:34):
to the NFL and be awesome, and he may turn
out to be one of those guys that the light
bulb came on he became a pro, and he started
behaving like one. For his sake, I hope that happens.
I'm trying to win a super Bowl championship in eight months.
I can't take my chances on a guy who's got

(01:18:55):
these sorts of questions about him. That doesn't mean that
will you take Derek Harmon because you don't know if
Derek Carmon's going to be there. But I'm looking for
the safest possible picks. I have a thousand team needs
like we know what they are, right, I have a
thousand team needs pretty much every.

Speaker 2 (01:19:11):
Area on defense and guard.

Speaker 4 (01:19:15):
And yeah, even though they brought back Zach Moss, they
could still use some running back help later in the draft.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
It is a really deep class at that position. I'm
taking across the board here in every round the safest
possible players. I want to win with them. Now.

Speaker 4 (01:19:35):
I am not taking to Jermaine Burton, you know. And
I hope the light bulb comes on for Jamaine. I
root for people. I hope he figures a life out
and understands what it takes to be an adult and
a pro and a professional and comes to work on time,
and you know, down the road he looks back on

(01:19:56):
his rookie year and goes, man, I really hit rock
bottom and had to figure it out, but I did
and ended up having a good NFL experience. I hope
that happens for him. I'm not taking the chance of
that getting in my team's way this year. Safe picks
are the way. So you know, we can debate which

(01:20:18):
positions matter most. You hear the term premium position a lot.
I think if you don't have any good players at
a certain position, that becomes a premium position. As I
watched Joe Burrow last year with Cordel Volson and Alex
Kappa failing to protect him. As I watched Joe Burrow

(01:20:39):
scramble and get hit and have to make magic and
have to make do despite all sorts of pressure from
up the middle. I don't know about you, man guard.
For me watching the team last year, that became a
premium position. Like you could say, guard's not a premium
position in the NFL. Yeah, until your guard can't block
a dude is trying to kill your quarter, then what

(01:21:01):
pretty damn premium position? You might say safety is not
a premium position. Might not be, but they've stunk there
the last couple of years. Suddenly safety feels like a
pretty premium position. Two years ago, no team in the
NFL gave up more deep balls than the Bengals.

Speaker 2 (01:21:18):
I don't know about you.

Speaker 4 (01:21:19):
But as I watched the Bengals get beat over the
top time and again, safety was a pretty damn premium position.
So we can go back and forth on positional value
or which positions they should prioritize first, I'm prioritizing the
safest picks, and so for me, Walter Nolan, this is

(01:21:40):
the consensus extraordinary, high ceiling, all the traits of an
elite pass rusher, a rare set of skills, and he
may be awesome if you're trying to accomplish something that
has never been done in the history of the franchise.

(01:22:05):
If you're Zach Taylor and your seat has never been warmer,
if you're the Cincinnati Bengals, understanding that you just wasted
an MVP caliber season from you QB, are you betting
on upside or are you betting against the guy who
has what feels like legitimate questions? So I don't love

(01:22:29):
doing this, I will admit to you, man, I hate
taking guys who we don't know personally and talking extensively
about how they may be a bust because of some
off field or character issue. I don't like it because
it feels like you're not allowing the kid to grow.
You're not allowing the player and the person to figure

(01:22:50):
it out. I am glad for the life of me
that nobody is holding against me when I was at
twenty one now that I'm in my mid forties. Dramatically,
I wouldn't have hired me at twenty one. I'm not
sure i'd hire me right now at forty seven. I
wouldn't have hired me at twenty one. So like you do,
hope you do, sincerely hope, at least if you're a

(01:23:10):
normal person. Sincerely hope that like Dune, figures it out
and he's ultimately judged by can he play? Does he
have the right skill, does he have the right physical traits?
Does he have the right luck? Is he in the
right system? Does he have the right coaching? But as
a fan of a team, and if I'm running a team,
I'm taking the safest picks, like Duke Tobin yesterday. Well,

(01:23:32):
you know, we don't think that this team could absorb
many rookies as starters. Really, really, they don't have to
be all pros. I don't have to be Pro Bowl players.
They gotta be willing, They got to be able and
capable of stepping in and helping immediately. I need dudes
that can help me win the title this year. There

(01:23:53):
are no red shirts. Dax Hill may still end up
being a really good player. I read the piece from
Kelsey Conway earlier this week that says that the plan
now is to continue to use him on the outside,
and that doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Speaker 2 (01:24:07):
But you know.

Speaker 4 (01:24:07):
Whatever, I can't do red shirt ears. I'm not interested
in the Jermaine Burton. I'm not interested in Margus Hunt
while we drafted him because he throws the shot put
and he's got a cool buzz cut, and man, look
at those shoulders, look at his wingspan, like, can you
play football? No projects, no character questions, and so especially

(01:24:33):
given the number of needs they have, given the scarcity
of picks they're dealing with, and given the depth at
so many different positions that match up with their needs
this year. I don't know about you, man, I am
very uninterested. And anybody who's got any sort of off
field red flag, that by the way, includes Mike Green

(01:24:56):
of Marshall as well, and his red flags are think
a little bit different, frankly, a little bit more serious
than those of Walter Nolan.

Speaker 2 (01:25:04):
I want I want safe picks. I want safe picks
where you go. You know what. Heck, even if he
might not be that the best and most physically ready
player at this position, it's pretty damn safe. Even if
in another year he.

Speaker 4 (01:25:20):
Might not be the seventeenth best player, which, by the way,
the scarcity of quarterbacks this year really throws off the
draft board. Cam Ward dan Brugler has him and like
most of the thirteenth best prospect overall in this class,
he's going to go number one to Tennessee of Brian Callahan.
Good luck with that, even if in another year, you know,

(01:25:42):
whether it's mikel Williams, whether it's uh Calvin Banks is
an offensive lineman, you know, even Jihad Campbell. There's a
lot of medical I just I want the safest players.

Speaker 2 (01:25:58):
This and that.

Speaker 4 (01:26:01):
It's another way of saying the same thing that so
many of us have said so often here over the
last couple of months. This class is critical critical. I
know people get mad at me when I say this.
They win the Super Bowl with Joe Burrow as quarterback.

(01:26:23):
This class is going to be a major reason why.
And if this draft class is a dud and doesn't
yield really good early returns, really good early returns. I
can't imagine what the fallout involves. A quarterback who's pissed
off again, an organization that's dragged the mud for continued

(01:26:51):
organizational failure, maybe an injured quarterback, perhaps a fired head coach.
If you're Zach Taylor, right, you know I mean I said,
and I think it's true. Your seat's never been more warm,
whether it's the Bengals or not. The coaches usually don't
get a chance for multiple staff overhauls, so your job

(01:27:15):
and your job security are very much tied to the
success of this class. Safety is a priority, and I'm
not necessarily talking about the position twenty three minutes after
five o'clock. Five point three, seven four nine, fifteen thirty
is our phone number and eight sixty six seven oh
two three seven seven six are our pulp questions kind

(01:27:38):
of tied to this thanks to United Heartland Insurance. Can
the Bengals win the Super Bowl this season this coming
season without their first round draft pick being a major contributor?
Sixty five percent say no, I would agree. Which takes
off the table? Luxury pick takes off the table. A

(01:28:00):
player who you just you just wonder about and again,
none of these guys are sure things. But what stood
out to me and reading Paul's evaluation, was the word safest.

Speaker 2 (01:28:10):
I'm on board, man.

Speaker 4 (01:28:11):
Give me the safest Give me the safest player, Give
me the safest pick. Even if he ends up being
kind of a B to B plus player, as long
as he's a B to B plus player. Immediately we
are way late twenty four after five o'clock ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:28:27):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 6 (01:28:32):
From the U SEE Health Traffic Center. Like you see health,
you'll find comprehensive care that's so per so it makes
Expect more. You see health dot com. On seventy five
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(01:28:53):
Kat Harrison with an accident down to seventy five east
bounded US fifty two. This is a crash on the
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Shrimp with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:29:03):
This report is sponsored by Rapid Radio.

Speaker 4 (01:29:05):
Five o'clock Happy Hour on ESPN fifteen thirty. Im Moleger,
we are broadcasting from Long Necks in Wilder on Tuesday,
not Tuesday. Today's Tuesday. The draft is Thursday. We're gonna
be broadcasting from Long Necks in Wilder on Thursday.

Speaker 2 (01:29:20):
Thursday.

Speaker 4 (01:29:21):
I said, from three to six, it's gonna be awesome.
James Rapine's gonna join us. James always agrees to join
us for the first hour, and then I kind of
coax him into sticking around for even longer because I
have so many things to ask him about.

Speaker 2 (01:29:34):
We'll have prizes and giveaways.

Speaker 4 (01:29:37):
Giveaways and prizes I think in the radio game are
the same thing, and beer specials and so much more.
Long Necks and Wilder is very easy to get to,
by the way. It's right off I two seventy five,
right that the you know, Wilder exit right there, like
seconds off the interstate and probably like ten minutes away
from downtown. So we hope you join us Thursday afternoon

(01:29:57):
from a three to six because that's when our show airs.
Sports Headlines are next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:30:05):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (01:30:16):
Traffic from the you see Health Traffic Center.

Speaker 6 (01:30:18):
Like you see health, you'll find comprehensive care that's so
for us, so it makes your best tomorrow possible. That's
boundless care for better outcomes. Expect more. You see health
dot com. Earlier problem on seventy five southbound between Sharon
and Glendale Milford breakdown toad so all lanes are back
open to seventy five E spot US fifty two crash
on the shoulder delayings to Alexandria bike and where staff

(01:30:41):
goes seventy five south from the Viaduct down to the
Brent Spence Bridge, I breakshramp with traffic.

Speaker 2 (01:30:47):
This report is sponsored by Rapid Radios Rapid Ratings.

Speaker 1 (01:30:51):
No one covers the Bengals like ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's
sports station Nobody.

Speaker 4 (01:30:57):
He said It's twenty two from Exports. Headlines are a
service of Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of lifetime powertrain protection and
guaranteed credit approval from their family to yours for life
Kelsey chef dot Com. You know it would be cool,
be cool if Nick Martinez could have a good start.
That has not been the case so far this year.

(01:31:20):
I can't think of a good one that he has had.
His last one. They've all been None of them have
been like just outright clunkers. None of them have been
good enough. The one against San Francisco where he had
a five nothing lead, it would not his fault. Terry
Francona asked him to stick around and start the sixth inning,
but that had been a pretty good start up until
that point. But it'd be kind of cool if Nick

(01:31:42):
Martinez would would would get a you know, get get
on track, or one might say earn the twenty one
IM I'm not going to go that route. It just
be nice if Nick Martinez would pitch well, he gets
a chance to night reads in Marlins again in Miami
six forty. First pitch, the game is on a seven
hundred WL. Edward Cabrera will throw for the fish. He

(01:32:03):
is a right hander. Your starting lineup tonight if you
are ready now, as Marty Brennan would say, Friedel's and
center McClain at second, Ellie's at short, Austin Hayes's DH,
and Gavin Lux in left field. Looking to extend his
current hitting streak to eight games, he is only forty
nine away from tying to Joe DiMaggio. Candelario is playing

(01:32:25):
first base. Marte is at third, Frelien right, Trevigno behind
the plate. The Louisville Bats have a game tonight and
Tyler Stevenson is going to play for the Bats against
the Iowa Cubs. He is starting a rehab assignment. Same
for lefty Sam Mall. College baseball today at Hayden Field,
Xavier and UC are playing right now, and they've played six.

(01:32:49):
The Musketeers are crushing the Bearcats by a score of
fourteen to four. This is not the kind of news
that if you do this for a living, you want
to pass on to your audience, but do it nonetheless.
Tragic news from the University of Cincinnati. A freshman football
player by the name of A. Jeremiah Kelly was found
in his campus residence this morning, passed away unexpectedly. He

(01:33:12):
is a native of Avon, Ohio, who was a freshman
and early enrollee at the University of Cincinnati and spent
the spring practicing with the Bearcat Scott Sadderfield says that
Jeremiah in a short time made a real impact both
on the field and in the locker room. So keep
that young man's family in your thoughts. Awful news to

(01:33:36):
read this morning and pass along to you twenty minutes
away from six o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty. All right,
here we go, Mike, go ahead, you're on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:33:50):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 7 (01:33:51):
Well appreciate it. You welcome, good show.

Speaker 8 (01:33:53):
I can't wait till you're a Thursday Fest twoties. That
would be a blessed it always is. So appreciate you
guys doing that.

Speaker 2 (01:34:00):
Looking forward to it.

Speaker 8 (01:34:02):
Yeah, uh, just two baseball notes real quick. Kershaw and
Otani will both be in the rotation here in about
two weeks, so we'll see how that goes.

Speaker 4 (01:34:14):
I hope so because God knows the Dodgers need help.
Man that that is a that is a franchise that
has been struggling for a while and a fan base
starving for a winner. So hopefully Clayton and show Hey
can join the rotation and give that. We'll be gone
franchise the lifted to some help.

Speaker 8 (01:34:32):
That's right, And I was I was not a thing.
I always kind of look at the rankings pitching and hitting,
and the Cardinals have been up in the you know,
second spot for a long time. He's so far this
season and now they're tied with Miami for a second
behind the Padres. But the Mets have a two point

(01:34:52):
two four to three e r A for the team
that is. That's pretty crazy, isn't it. Mom? Uh really low?

Speaker 2 (01:35:01):
Yeah, I guess so.

Speaker 8 (01:35:04):
I mean I never heard anybody saying the Mets were
going to be a pitching juggernaut this year.

Speaker 4 (01:35:09):
But no, I mean all of the all of the
offseason discussions focused around obviously acquiring Juan Soto and then
was Pete a.

Speaker 2 (01:35:17):
Lonzo going to come back?

Speaker 4 (01:35:18):
But yeah, I mean the the starting staff there, McGill
is really really good. Uh, Clay Holmes has been terrific
this year now as a starter. Uh, They've They've got
some arms, there's no question about that.

Speaker 8 (01:35:33):
And I want to end up with the NBA right now.
That game last night, but the draft, I know you're
kind of overwhelmed with it, so I'm just ready for
it to happen. But well, the more I heard this
guy from Pro Football Focused last night talking about the
Devins as a rocko from from Boston College. He he
was just raving how versatile this guy is and he

(01:35:57):
thinks he's one of the most valuable guys you could draft.

Speaker 4 (01:35:59):
In the first round, but which which the tackle?

Speaker 8 (01:36:07):
No, he's a linebacker and edge ruck.

Speaker 4 (01:36:10):
Oh, Donovan Zeraku? Yes, and I probably screwed up his
last name.

Speaker 2 (01:36:15):
Yes, I did too.

Speaker 8 (01:36:17):
Yeah, I definitely.

Speaker 2 (01:36:18):
Six and seventy pounds.

Speaker 8 (01:36:21):
Yes, evidently highly regarded, and then I'd be not. The
Steelers are saying they want to get that. I love
that scot of the kid from Arizona State because I
just saw him play quite a bit last year and
he always impressed me. He's like a bowling ball five
nine and two twenty. So maybe he'll be around for
the Bengals. That would be sweet in the later rounds.

(01:36:42):
Who knows? Yeah, NBA last night that both games now
Nuggets and Clippers. I know how you could ask for
any better basketball in either game. Incredible.

Speaker 4 (01:36:53):
Yeah, with La evening the series last night after losing
Game one at home, when it felt like oftentimes that
game was a possession or two away from going the
Clippers way, then bouncing back last night. I think people
forget largely because he is not he has spent a
lot of time, so much time not playing. I think
people forget how good Kawhi Leonard can be, and he

(01:37:15):
was beyond terrific last night.

Speaker 8 (01:37:18):
Oh my god, he was. I don't recall seeing a
guy shoot that quite that highever percentage from now side
other than Bernard King. I mean, he was. He was deadly.
He hit everything, he threw up almost didn't he think.

Speaker 4 (01:37:31):
He was what fifteen of nineteen from the field and
four of six or four of seven from behind the arc?

Speaker 8 (01:37:37):
Yeah, I mean I he was unconscious. And he's such
a laid back guy. They interviewed him after the game
and he goes, yeah, it's nice performance and just trying
to keep it eating in a series.

Speaker 4 (01:37:48):
Great game. It was a great game. It took my
mind off what happened in the first game last night.

Speaker 7 (01:37:52):
Mike I knew.

Speaker 8 (01:37:54):
I didn't want to bring it up because I knew
he just bumped out Kate Kenye's quite a player. I
didn't know he was going to turn out to be
this good, But he's pretty good.

Speaker 4 (01:38:01):
He's awesome. He's terrific. The supporting cast there in Detroit
is I think better than people realize. You know, I'm
obviously rooting for my beloved Knicks. I'm glad to a
degree they're playing a high profile team because that Detroit

(01:38:22):
they were the story of the season to go from
sixteen wins to forty four with Jamie Bickerstaff as their
head coach. I'm glad they're getting some shine. I would
have been happier had the Knicks decided to throw the
ball to Karl Anthony Towns, or had Michel Bridges decided
to not rush a couple of threes in the fourth quarter.
But that Detroit team has been the better team for

(01:38:43):
six of the eight quarters. They've played their first playoff
win since two thousand and eight. They'll be at home
on Thursday. The crowd will be raucous, and my beloved
Knickerbockers are in trouble.

Speaker 8 (01:38:56):
Well, I hope not, but but you're right, I could
to see a little fresh blood. It's kind of invigorating
for the whole league. I think tonight. I just after
the way the Lakers played the other night, though, I
just they just seemed too old to be able to
beat this team. The Tea Wolves don't. I don't see them.
I don't see how they're going to beat them seven games.

(01:39:17):
I just don't see it.

Speaker 4 (01:39:18):
I agree with you, but I think that has more
to do with the Minnesota Timberwolves than LA's deficiencies.

Speaker 8 (01:39:26):
I mean, they played such an intense game the other night.
It was just put to the gas the whole game.

Speaker 4 (01:39:33):
Yeah, I thought going into the playoffs that that was
the series that had the best chance of going seven.
And I still think it will. And if it does,
you know, LA is going to be at home, and
I'm not sure I'm gonna want to bet against Luca
and Lebron. But as much as you knew everybody was
going to make that more about what the Lakers didn't do,

(01:39:53):
in particular in the middle portion of that game. They
had no answer for Minnesota defensively. The Wolf shot over
fifty p they made twenty one to forty two threes.
They were awesome on the glass. They were terrific in
game one. We'll see if that repeats itself in game two.

Speaker 8 (01:40:10):
Yeah, okay, see this, they may do the same thing
to the Grizzlies that they did the other night. I
mean that was an old fashioned butt chicken, wasn't it.

Speaker 4 (01:40:19):
Oh yeah, blatantly non competitive with Game two tonight, It's
hard to imagine Memphis making that much of a series.

Speaker 8 (01:40:28):
I doubt. Okay, thank you, mall, I appreciate it, But It's.

Speaker 4 (01:40:31):
Great to hear your voice, and I hope you're doing well.
It's a thirteen away from six on ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:40:37):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 6 (01:40:43):
I thing you see Health Traffic center. Do you see health.
You'll find comprehensive care that's so for so it makes
Expect more. You see health dot com. Earlier problem on
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Toad lanes are back open to seventy five ET spot
US fifty two crash on the shoulder, delaying this to

(01:41:05):
Alexandria Pike and where staff goes. Seventy five south from
the Viaduct down to the Brent Spence Bridge. I brick
shrimp with traffic. This reporter is sponsored by

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