Former Bengal & NFL Broadcaster Cris Collinsworth | Bengals Offseason Review & Amazing Draft Class

Bo did you make a great call joining Dave lapam in the trenches brought to you by first star Logistics today because we have the legend I'm talking Chris Collinsworth I'm talking All-American I'm talking pro bowler as a football player All-American in Florida pro bowler with the Cincinnati Bengals I'm talking 17 mems come on now this guy is the best he is a football Guru and he talks Cincinnati Bengals draft talks personnel and talks about it only the way Chris Collinsworth can very informative very understandable Chris Collinsworth breaking it down with us sure do appreciate you joining us in the trenches with Dave laen brought to you by firstar Logistics once again and we are in our brand new building in our brand new Studios everything's spit shined we're ready to rock and roll and with uh with that for the first time in our new Studios we're going to welcome a very very extremely very special guest none other than a legendary Chris Collinsworth and this guy best way I can think of one word that sums up Chris Collinsworth in my mind I've known him for quite a few years is achiever everything this guy does he achieves at the highest possible level All-American at Florida he's in the athletic scholar scholar athlete Hall of Fame he's in Florida's athletic Hall of Fame uh he uh pro bowler multiple times with the Cincinnati Bengals 17 Sports Emmy awards they're going to call it the Collinsworth when he's done man that's what it's going to be and also he's the majority owner of Pro Football Focus which is a tool that everybody all levels of football can use to their advantage welcome and really appreciate your time my man Chris Collinsworth my my real skill is spit shining though I thought you were gonna get me down for the uh in the studios how are you man how you be I'm good good you're going to test me early here man this is this is like a good opening day homework assignment to prove how much work you still have to do for the season but okay let's do this all right I hear you I hear you and it's going to be uh you know a lot of Cincinnati Bengal oriented because played your whole career here with the uh with the Cincinnati Bengals and what Chris what what is it I mean what what is the secret soft man what's the secret to your success is is it just you know what if I'm going to do something I'm going to do it to the best of my ability man and uh you know know gonna get it done I mean is that what you're all about I I I I was always just scared I'm not lying I so when I was playing I was like you know what's your motivation well that was easy you know you thought I mean I thought I was gonna get cut all the time I me training camp I mean I was the second receiver taken in the Bengals draft and I was you know I was the second pick and they had taken another receiver David verser in the first round so that was plenty of motivation that I didn't need any help with that yeah um but I I always thought that you had to have two things going on at the same time so when I was in school you know playing football whatever uh but I always had a job I mean you when I look back on it it's hilarious I've only had three jobs in my whole life I was I was a janitor in high school I was football player and I talked about football that's a good life right there you know like like how how do you get a whole lot better the the janitor job that one that one was actually kind of fun too so I I was a janitor for a gynecologist I won't even go into the details I won't even talk about so sure you were I mean that that makes perfect sense man that's I'm just telling you I I I've had an interesting life I I've had an interesting life ah man you're so uh you're so good at what you do it's a it's a joy man you you know what um you make football fun you know that's what that's what football is supposed to be and and you make it fun for a lot of people well and and back at you I think that the one thing that I I think that people talk about when they're listening to you and of course the highlights we get to hear when you get excited and you know touchdowns are scored and that gets replayed on television and the whole thing but I I think that what people really enjoy and what people want out of a broadcaster whether they admit it or not is they want to learn something they didn't know like when I go to church on Sunday no offense to the choirs or anything else but I I want to hear the sermon like I I I want to learn I I I'm um I I don't listen to music in my car very often I listen to podcasts like I I want I want somebody to tell me something that I didn't know and so when people talk about your broadcast and and I hope they say the thing about mine some of the research some of the work some of the details that we've studied during the course of the week right you know begin to come out and it's not just somebody who's you know watching the game like a fan in the stands that there's some work find it right right and that's and that's the thing that I respect tremendously about you I mean a lot of guys get to a certain level and you know they quote start to mail it in you know and man you're you're working as hard or harder than you ever have I mean you you don't rest on your laurels there's no question about that I mean you're you have a standard that you want to hit man and you're going to go and hit that every single uh every single opportunity you get and that's that's admirable I mean people can learn learn from that in whatever Walk of Life I mean that's that's the key to success right there and you are success my man yeah well I'm we're playing a Four Corners offense so far here today trying to avoid either one of us looking like we're not prepared or ready to go so we'll try and fool them one time here we'll know a lot more though by the time they kick it off this year no doubt no question about it so um you know I know you probably looked at the Bengals draft a little bit uh with your your PFF affiliation obviously and uh and you were aware of everybody's draft but the Cincinnati Bengals I mean to me Chris it wasn't you know like sexy it wasn't you know oh you got this back you got this you got that but they they had like a a specific need in mind and a value in mind at every round and I thought they had you know a really solid draft I thought they addressed needs and and they've got like a a role in mind for every single draft pick that they that they took when they took them yeah I end up studying about the top 50 or 60 players in the draft because I find that if a player the first rounders the second rounders tend to be factors right away you know for all the teams that sure that we have to cover and if there is a third through seventh or free agent player that has an impact it's fairly easy to study that player once you get to the game right so that's sort of that's sort of how I try to go about it it was it was interesting and you know more about this than I do having played the position but you know once again we're seeing the Bengals sort of attacking that that tackle position am Marius Mims and and when you watch him it's like nothing else send that kid off the bus first right let's let's go let's go scare him a little bit right Orlando Brown I mean these guys are just humongous Trent Brown all of them are um but you know with Joe Barrow and the the injury history that he's had I mean let's face it I I think it's been every year now coming off the wrist injury and you know the protection of this guy is is Paramount you know I mean they finished uh with a winning record last year but they also finished last in the division so the interesting thing when I look back on last year uh and and I don't know that people are looking at the AFC North as being the best division today in general conversation but let's let's flip-flop one thing the the the the stunning thing that happened in my mind last year was the AFC Championship game uh Kansas City who had not played particularly well during the course of the year had played inconsistently anyway during the course of the year goes into Baltimore one of the toughest places to try and go get a win and knocks them off and not only knocks them off but I thought sort of at the very least matched their physicality if not even beat them a little bit in the physical approach to the game uh Travis Kelce you can say what you want with everything going on in his life but he was emotional that game he was sort of picking fights he was there was a rawness to that game I mean that Andy Reid really had him ready to play football on that day uh and and the one thing that that came about through the whole year was that Kansas City's defense really carried the day and in that game if you go back and watch it it was a couple of quick strike uh touchdowns and up and down the field in the first quarter of that game and then it really settled in to just a defensive war that was happening out there and the cincin I mean the the Kansas City Chiefs were able to hold on and win that game but my point is what if Baltimore had won the game and either lost the Super Bowl or or won the Super Bowl everybody would be saying the same thing at this point right now which is the AFC North is the killer division the Bengals finished last in the division with a winning record this is the div the division that is going to decide everything this year and yet because Baltimore lost that one game uh at home it's really not the conversation that I think it probably should be that's a great Point absolutely abolutely valid no question about it so with a guy like Mims I mean like you said you know Chris he he didn't he didn't at at starts you know I mean eight games but you watch tape of him working against his teammates at in a in a at an SEC program that is as good as there is and five of his defensive linemen that he worked against in his years there were firstr draft picks I mean this guy if if he stays healthy like you said I mean every way you can be big he's big you know he's tall he's broad he's wide he's thick he's everything you know and and that uh if you're not 68 350 go home man you ain't playing it's the Cincinnati skyline it's another Cincinnati skyline it's ridiculous so what did you think about him so like I was desperate for tape on him right I just I just kept going back to because everything that he has is perfect right 68 340 36 inch arms 36 inch arms I mean you have to I mean that's that's like on a normal human being he could stick out his arms and you're it's a yard stick away you know I mean like it's insane it is hands right around five flat and a 40 yard dash yeahh and he had a combined 682 snaps in two years right he never had more than 385 snaps in a year and maybe doesn't mean anything to anybody out there but in general like an NFL offensive lineman will play at least over a thousand snaps that's that's what we're so that's the standard by which that he's going to have to be able to to come in and play but I so I'm watching the Alabama tape which everybody does the same thing that I do you want to go see him against the top programs and he played 11 plays in that game yeah the 11 plays that he played were impressive play there was never a time that you go oh wow he's he's not fast enough he's not he's not strong enough he's not you know he's not whatever yeah um and the the the term that I wrote down in my notes is could he be Andrew Whitworth and that's High Praise but Andrew Whitworth especially at the end of his career wasn't this Ultra athlete that you know I mean he you you just got to stay in front of the guy on the edge for two and a half seconds right you can make you can make $50 million no maybe not that $25 million a year if you can stay in front of those pass rushers for two and a half seconds it sounds ridiculously easy it's ridiculously impossible I mean it it really is but this guy is athletic enough I think you know you know some of the other notes I you know said okay his kick step still a little slow but he hasn't played enough to be able to do it so it's interesting with you know Orlando Brown Trent Brown you know some of these these warh horses who are the same kind of guy I mean Orlando Browns you know is he's just trying to stay in front of somebody too right sure um so but I think that there he can learn a few tricks of the trade but my hope is that it finally settles one of those two positions for the Cincinnati Bengals for the next decade because those are the teams ultimately that they go on and win championships yeah I think you make a great point about you know learning from uh he's got he's got mentors Orlando Brown Trent Brown both uh uh pro bowlers both Super Bowl champions four members of the offensive line are Super Bowl champions I mean he's going into a uh he's going into a nice a nice situation there and he's a very smart kid Chris I mean he like a 3.6 GPA when you know I've met him down there and talking to him he's he's like on you I mean he's trying to to be a sponge with everything I I think I think he's going to be I think he's going to be a good one I really do I I think he's got the right mindset so in the second round they they lost DJ reader as we know know going up to Detroit and I wanted to shore up the interior of the defensive line with the the second round pick Chris Jenkins Captain out of Michigan you know just the typical guy you'd expect out of Michigan a uh a powerful guy he can stack and shed with the best of real violent hands I like watching them play with that hand usage uh then at the first pick in the third round they take McKinley Jackson uh a two-time captain at Texas A&M and this guy's got length he's got size you know he's 330 pounds the last probably true nose tackle left that they had rated pretty pretty well but he can get small when he needs to a little bit slippery you know you think uh they did a pretty good job addressing a need in the interior of the defensive line with a couple of guys that high well they better have with with what happens in in this division right now I mean you know we're talking about we're talking about some some pretty big moves that are happening uh inside the division and you know starting with with the Baltimore Ravens signing Derrik Henry so when you I thought when you look back at last season that was the issue that they had right it wasn't the edge rushers it wasn't n necessarily the the secondary all the time but in in this division um you're going to have to be able to stop the run you know it's it's it's what's defined the division I think going back to the days of Vicky woods and James Brooks and you know all that when we could run the ball and be able to do that um that was what was great we don't know what happens with Nick chub in Cleveland we you know that's gonna have a lot to do but that team has been very devoted to trying to run the football and and of course the Pittsburgh Steelers that's you know that's you just know right away that uh you go in there that's going to be a part of the game and and what you're going to have to be able to do so um I I I thought it was the right choice um I I personally was semi hoping they were uh you know looking at a couple of these receivers that were I thought there were a ton of really good receivers through the first couple of rounds right um that and I would have liked to have seen any of them but there was a bit of a run on them as well I I think the Bengals were probably a little disappointed that they didn't they weren't able to get to some of those guys that that really were in my mind could have been real factors uh for this football team I mean you go everybody knows neighbors and Harrison and dun you know in the top 10 but um you know Brian Thomas and Mitchell and mcon and you know Ricky peaw ends up going in the end of the first round out of Florida to San Francisco right um Keon Coleman goes high in the draft to Buffalo I think it was um so there was you know there were some real opportunities but uh it was an amazing draft I I don't think I've ever seen an offensive draft as deep as this one I mean they just kept going offensive players what was they get the number 10 or something before they ever they ever took a defensive player right um so yeah it was it was interesting there there were two great I thought there were two topend um defensive interior guys with the Murphy and that Johnny Newton I I personally love Jared ver who came out of out of FSU he was he was just a hammer you know and and athletic enough to to be able to to be a pass rushing presence as well but you know just plays you know a little bit like uh you know a Sam Hub kind of guy over there on the edge and and how he could play so it it it was you know it was an interesting draft I I hope that they have the depth what everybody does on the defensive line now they try to go minimum eight deep they try to go to 10 Deep if they can and instead of those guys playing a thousand snaps that the offensive lineman will will play they're playing 500 600 if they're you know top end kind of plays but they want those guys fresh absolutely so sandwiched the meat of the sandwich I guess between the two defensive players they draft in the second and third round the first third round draft picked the 80th pick of the draft wide receiver uh you mentioned that you know the guys that were went in the first and second round this this guy uh the Bengals had rated as first round Talent Germaine Burton he played you know Georgia and Alabama averaged you know 18 yards a catch for his career had a 20-yard average his last year down there obviously can run away from people and you really have to scour tape to find a drop and uh and he's he comes from the TJ hush manada school you know and and TJ you know how he was without route running I mean it's like change in speed a 10 yard out is never the same it's it's a different change of speed accelerate decelerate a little wiggle you know get in out of the cut differently he's a very very crafty route Runner how much did you like him as you uh looked at him pre-draft Chris yeah I I I I think you got him in the right category sort of the Cooper cup creative kind of thing when I watched those guys play today I was like damn it why didn't I do any of that you know it's like you know because it is it's it's the you know we were all about change of speed but we were also all about you know you got to scare people with speed right off the bat so um you know I but my thing was always man I'm winning the first three yard dash here I may not be able to win the 100 yard dash but I'm winning the three yard dash here try and get up on some people but they defensive backs at this level it doesn't matter how fast you are I mean we've seen the fastest guys in the world you know 42 speed guys they can't get open Ronaldo Nehemiah had no idea how to get open the the former hurdler you know right um but you've got to make them make mistakes and so I think what these guys are doing now is they're taking that thought to the next level so people are reading releases so if you have an inside stem then you'll see defensive backs falling behind them thinking they're breaking to the inside and that is when they break to the outside they've got a lot more option routes like an option route when we played was you could break left you could break right or you could turn around you know that was an option route right now these guys have options to go to the post and so they're they're really smart players that have these creative sort of Cooper cup approaches to the game um and I think the Bengals are are are going to be fine you know right as long as T Higgins didn't get out of here so we can talk about the draft all we want but the fact that he didn't uh get out of here is is um it was really the headline of the off season no question question so I want to ask you the Bengals draft a couple of tight ends Eric all who unfortunately had a very very severe knee injury and um most people Bengals had him projected as a as an early third round guy and they get him in the fourth then they also draft Tanner mclan out of uh Arizona they had him you know as as high as a fourth round Prospect and they get him in the sixth and with this Bengals offense with number nine at quarterback it's very receiver and tight end friendly and I'm interested to see giki I mean I think giki is in the perfect place I mean tan Hudson you know a couple teams ah you know no he comes to Cincinnati oh my gosh man he's a perfect fit for what they're doing because the tight end they'll line them up in the slot they'll line them up as the wide receiver they line them up all over the place these couple of tight ends that they drafted are they're not participating in OTAs they're recovering from injury they may start the season one of them anyway on the pup list but you're scking these young guys in the tight end uh you know like Danny Ross you had Isaac Curtis Chris Collinsworth Danny Ross Middle of the football field with with you know Kenny Anderson it was like man taking candy from a baby do you think tight ends can flourish with a guy like Joe burrow delivering the rock as well I mean it's a good situ ation for him isn't it I wouldn't mind taking a shot that um as long as his freaking wrist is okay I have never I can't remember a quarterback that seems like the great majority of his injuries impact pre-season right it's whether it was his knee his wrist you know it's just like so I was always just praying for this guy to have a normal preseason one time and be able to get through it but yeah anyway back to your point gaseki is he's much more of a receiver than he is you know a blocker and and that's fine Drew sample is is gonna be the guy that that'll that'll I still think will play for the most part gaseki will end up being that sort of uh I don't want to put him in the Travis Kelce category but that sort of you you you split him out a little bit right if you if you want him to block you want him to block the strong safety not the not the edge player it's over there so anything that they get out of that I'm guessing those other guys are they're hoping they can fill in you know as with blocking and with the fullback position to be able to you know have some versatility uh out of the out of the back field but it is going to be interesting um to see because you know now you don't have Joe Mixon so there's some natural chemistry that went with that and you know Zach Moss is is clearly you know a guy that that I've seen do it right in Indie and and um I think Indy right and uh and Chase Brown proved enough last year that it's gonna be fine but again you've got new people right you've got you know it's not the people that they've been used to Joe's been used to dealing with so there is a learning curve that that ends up going along with that and you talk about Joe and watching him throw at ota's Chris man I mean he's putting some uh juice on the football he's throwing with power and he's accurate he's putting it where he wants to put it and right now I think you know he just has to build up endurance you know he needs reps to get the strength back the overall strength but man I watch him throw that football it's like and he's the kind of guy know he won't take a day off so I think it's Inc combing on the training staff to say Hey Joe let's just chill you know take a chill day here you know and let it recover and and then then let let let's come back at it but I look I look at it I'm like damn for being selfish man I wish Jamar Chase and T Higgins were here you know and Tyler Boyd's now now a Tennessee Titan but so I mean his top three receivers for the past however many years none of them are there at OTAs for him to throw to I mean it just goes to show you how the NFL is a never changing world and you always have issues and Dynamics and whatever goes on in the off Seasons it's crazy man yeah it it's you hit on with Tyler Boyd and I know he's missed a couple of passes here and there and you know blah blah blah all that kind of stuff but Tyler Boyd was a presence in that slot right he was he was a guy and that's that's the connection piece and and when I saw that geki was coming in I was like is is that maybe a replacement more for Tyler Boyd than it is the tight end position some that just can you know provide that quick checkdown because you know is as tough as it is to play coming off a knee injury the way that Joe did there's got to be something in the back of your mind when you come off of a wrist injury and right wrist injury when you start getting hit right to not put that hand on the ground to right to to not you know it's not just like Joe's the coolest guy in the world I mean we've all seen him in the middle of the pocket and it's just collapsing around him and he's doing something crazy and making a great play it's it's what makes him and not that I think he's going to be scared but again this is a division that really helps if you're three and one at the end of the first quarter of the of the year right I mean it's it's like you you got to get out of the gate in in this division there isn't there isn't time for this ramp up period for Joe and his receivers and and new running backs and new tight end to kind of come in here and and and get it going let let's let's take September and warm up we you know you don't have that luxury when you're talking about this division of course neither do the Pittsburgh Steelers who are switching quarterbacks so you know but the team that you always have to keep your eye on I mean there's just no question it's Baltimore um but you know it's going to be interesting with Cleveland as well this year I mean there's just not a bad team in that division right now I agree there's no question when I think about the slot position I'm I'm wondering like you said Si's an option there and I'm thinking what about Burton I mean I know they'd like to have the receivers learn everything not just slot not just flank or not just split end XYZ they want them to be interchangeable but if a rookie you know I think it'd be good to maybe okay learn this first I might put him in the slot first provided Higgins does you know play which I think he will and Chase okay now have him in learn that okay now start to uh learn what's going on the outside because might be this might be the swans song for T Higgins you may be that outside guy down the road but I'm wondering if they give him a point of emphasis you know as a rookie okay learn and earn this uh this this slot position see how it works for you can you see him as a productive guy in the slot potentially um yeah but I'll say remember this is that generally the slot guy has the most complicated um job and and that's so how many times have we seen Travis Kelce sort of jog off the ball or chip somebody and then just sort of settle into a Zone and you know momes knows right where he is gets him the ball right so that's really what the the slot position is as well you've got a ton of option routes got a a ton of okay and I because I did some of this is my rookie year too sure and and so you get in there and so if the linebacker is pressing you from inside out now you want to turn out if the pressure is more from um the the outside linebacker now instead of starting in on the inside linebacker you want to press the outside linebacker and turn in or if you're seeing it and it's a drop down that's man coverage and now I've got a break to the out right but now I've got this this Pro Bowl slot Corner jamming me at the line of scrimmage and I've still got to watch for the safety Blitz because if the safety Blitz comes you know on my side now I've got to break off quickly to a slant I'll never forget Force Greg one time he comes over and he goes he goes uh you okay and I go yeah and he says everything good with your family everything going all right at home I go yeah he said well get your blanket head out of your blanket backside I mean chewed me out because I missed some some safety Blitz I'm like oh my God coach I got I got all my hands full trying to get off the line of scrimmage against this guy you know so I mean as a rookie it literally can be overwhelming and sometimes as Kenny Anderson told me he's like look just get somewhere fast I'll find you don't worry about it you just you just go fast and and I think that for Burton the the one thing that he's got to do to be a factor this year is live with your mistakes you're not gonna read every defense correctly you're not even gonna you're not even you're GNA run the wrong play sometimes but you've got a veteran quarterback and you've got a need out there to for somebody to step up in that position in a big way Chris I'll tell you man it's been unbelievably informative as I knew it would be you are a football guy in every sense of the word and you you know you can uh you teach it so easily you know it's like so understandable when you're talking football I love it um was wondering if I might uh might be able to uh sign off and then catch back up with you do a little foreshadowing here maybe like a 10-minute conversation about the Bengals schedule with Chris Collinsworth could we do that could we say uh you know appreciate uh appreciate this one with the draft and catch back up and do a little a little uh schedule action does that work for your schedule my man uh yeah sure we'll we'll do it so we're saying goodbye here and then we're coming back on absolutely it's gonna be Chris Collinsworth part two baby I love it all right you got it appreciate it my man all right buddy good talking to you Dave here Dave lapam here and every day I am grateful for my experience to have played professional football as a player I realize self motivation leadership and appreciating your teammates are key at first star Logistics you can use those same attributes to create the life you want for you and your family build your future by working hard like I did you'll see results both on and off the field call first star Logistics today and be part of our winning team OPP