Cincinnati Bengals 2024 Season Preview: In-Depth Analysis with John Sheeran

we're talking Cincinnati Bengals football on the RADS football network also the RADS football YouTube channel I'm Greg dama and if we're talking Cincinnati Bengals football that means John Sheran is with us from ad esports.com how's it going John doing well Greg we're in the final week of training camp and just ready for actual football to start yeah that's it that first taste of training camp that's what gets you excited and then you watch a preseason game or so and it's like all enough of this nonsense let's get the season started so that's where we're at now and still a few weeks away so the just to REM just to to to recall this so uh so once the third preseason game is over uh then uh that's when all the roster H how many days after that third preseason game is the roster have to be Set uh Tuesday August 27th at 4M Eastern is when every team has to get down to 53 and this could be a case where teams will cut guys like a day after the game or they may wait until that Tuesday I know typically what the Bengals do is that they'll just wait until 4 pm on Tuesday to just have like 30 whatever Cuts or something like that so it just all comes out at once but yeah next Tuesday will be the day yeah that's going to be uh wild day and they're going to see how the Bengals and every other team of course how they handle the back of their depth chart how is there a pattern you've noticed at all with the Bengals regarding that back of the depth chart whether or not you know hey who whoever that 52 to is usually is um not necessarily I I think with this year we have a good sense about what positions they may go deep at um and we can get into that a little bit here on on the program but I I think there might just be like a handful of spots that are truly up for grabs and that I think has been known for a while injuries have kind of thrown the whole process in a loop particularly at the defensive line where they've had a lot of you know late additions in training camp and guys just you know playing out of necessity who just got here a couple weeks ago but we can talk about like tight end um wide receiver uh cornerback SL safety like some of those POs positions may end up carrying like one or two more guys just because that's where the talent is and it it's just going to be really tough to cut some of these guys who are really just grinding out and need a good final preseason game to really State their case uh how are injuries treating the uh Team this offseason so far so good so they've had three guys that have gone on to ir and coincidentally all of them are from the 2021 draft class so they were in the last year of the rookie contracts you have Cam sample the backup defensive end Chris Evans the backup running back kickoff returner Deontay Smith who's been basically a healthy scratch at offensive tackle so all three of those guys are going to miss the season other than that everyone should be okay for the start of the regular season I know Jake Browning's dealing with a rib injury and he could play through it but he's not going to because again he's going to make the team and it's the preseason Marius Mims has like what they call a drain pectoral muscle so he'll be out probably until right before week one we expect him to start practicing then Sheldon rankins has kind of been nursing an injury of his own so he hasn't really played in the preseason McKinley Jackson the team's third round pick at the defensive tackle he suffered like a what looked like a scary knee injury I believe like a couple weeks ago now but he's still week to week so he'll probably be okay for the start of the season and Brad Robbins the guy they drafted the punter they drafted last year uh he's got like a hip flexor he suffered last week so he may or may not punt this week but regardless I mean um he's I mean he's he's battling a rookie undrafted guy in Ryan Rico at punter so if he doesn't return he may be cut or just play on IR yeah isn't uh Rico he was in the guide I think the lad's guide I know they don't put many punters or kickers there but I could have sworn he was in that in the guide to check up that all right uh tell you what let's go ahead and let's go down the dep chart here the ourlads Cincinnati Bengals dep chart so with Mims I noticed that they uh that Tucker our dep chart Guru has Mims starting right now over Brown is that the case is he already starting or will Trent Brown start the season number one there was definitely a case for Mims to start just because he was taking the reps with the ones throughout May and June I believe Trent Brown missed OTAs with like a personal thing and then he came back mandatory Min camp but Mims had already been taking the reps with with the one so that's where they still had him and then Trent Brown started training camp on the non-f football injury list with like some back tightness so Mims was still practicing with the ones for the first couple of weeks and then he suffered his injury I believe right before the first preseason game he exited the game uh wanted to get it checked out they found it was a strain peack so Trent Brown um is now practicing with the ones again now that he's healthy so as it stands right now Trent Brown is the presumed starter until Mims returns but if Mims does return with enough time leading up to week one I honestly can't tell you who's going to be that starter just because Mims had been taking all those reps throughout the offseason and he looked really good for just being a rookie but obviously Trump Brown is an established veteran and they would have some trust about him just you know showing up for the regular season and just being the player that he's always been so I think it's truly like a 50-50 situation but if you were to asked me like 10 days ago it probably would have been Mims all right well that'll be interesting we'll keep an eye on that either way like you said the Bengals have a good insurance policy so that is definitely uh I know that's something that the Packers don't have I was just uh talking to our Packer Insider and he said they don't have a swing tackle so that's not good news there okay uh how about the rest of offensive line we know how big of a position this has been for this franchise especially when Joe Burrow's been there it's like the big story uh and we just talked about those two tackles so that's good Alena Brown of course on the other side Alena Brown Jr um does as far as what you've seen to practice in preseason and they were very the line was very healthy last year uh does it look like there's a chance to even you know pick up on that from last year to keep the chemistry going and they should be an improved unit yeah I would say the four starters who are coming back from last year they're they're about the same players that they were so the the same Effectiveness can be expected along with I think with the Playbook kind of changing a little bit and be more um offensive line friendly if you will more play action more under Center runs like maybe they could be even better and just looking at this death chart this is how it probably was at the beginning of the preseason when you had Jackson Carmen Jackson Kirkland Trey Hill as your backup left tackle left guard Center since then Carman has been abysmal in the preseason to put it pretty blly so he's been Prett pretty much demoted to the to the bottom of the entire offensive line dep chart and they've had Jackson Kirkland actually playing both left guard and left tackle he played left tackle in the latest preseason game and he looked okay for being like a second year guy who didn't really play as a rookie he was injured all last year and then Matt Lee the guy that drafted the seventh round he looked really good in the preseason opener playing behind Trey Hill and then he ended up playing the entire game at Center the entire second preseason game at Center and he again looked definitely looked apart so I would probably have Matt Lee right above Trey Hill as the backup center and then maybe even Jackson Kirkland as the backup left tackle at this point just because they've suffered injuries to tackle with Mims and Deontay Smith and I think they've they've just really relied on Kirkland to kind of take on a role they didn't have a ton of experience at the NFL level and unfortunately for Jackson Carmen it's not looking good for him to make the team yeah and these are not really big surprises because of the conversation we had last time out talking about caraman and expecting Lee uh you you liked what you saw and heard of uh right after we talked from the draft so yeah uh the fact that it looks like he's one step closer but Caris you think Caris will end up being uh around at least another year after this so he got extended in June for just one year and yeah unless he just completely falls off a cliff this year I would expect going to be back next year for sure okay all right uh let's now talk about Jamar Chase and T Higgins so just when it looked like it was all about t Higgins Jam decided to get involved uh maybe this is his way of uh helping his buddy out with the pr I don't know uh but so yeah I mean just completely caught everybody off guard I I guess I think the general vibe in consensus was he's entering his fourth year typically players in that position they have to play four years until they get that extension with the fifth year option but this year became different when you had guys like pan Su Christian darol Devonte Smith Jaylen Wadd all guys who were drafted in that first round Jamar Chase they've already signed extensions so they became these exceptions to what used to be the rule like Justin Jefferson Nick Bosa just off the top of my head they had to play four years until they signed like Market resetting deals so that was the Assumption entering training camp but I think Chase kind of saw his his peers get paid these huge contracts and obviously everyone knows that he deserves it and he will get that contract eventually but I think it all progressed faster than the Bengals expected and maybe Bengals fans expected as well and that's why he is preserving himself he's just not practicing he's still with the team he's still attending practices and he still doesn't want to be that big of a distraction but I can understand from his perspective not wanting to put your body on the line before you're about to get paid this and this is a way to speed up the process from the Bengals perspective they talked right before training camp about yeah of course we're goingon to bend over backwards which was the exact words that President Mike Brown said but again I don't think that they expected to have to go through this right now I think they expected this to happen next year when they had when they still have Jamar Chase under contract for another year in 2025 so I think this was a way for him to speed up that process but of course this is the Bengals and these things take time for them and they're pretty archaic ways so typically late August early September is when the biggest extensions in Bengals history have happened and we're definitely approaching that time right now so odds percentages is do you think the deal will get done I I put out a tossup to be honest with you I I still think the Bengals feel like they have leverage and just him being under contract for two years but um it's still a bluff that I think Jamar Chase wants to portray as like I may not play in the regular season until they get a deal and he's definitely the second most important player on the team so I think it it would definitely be good for everyone to just get a deal done now um but like this is going to be something I think definitely does run up into the deadline and I can't say for certain which way it's going to go go yeah when players uh threatened to sit out the season I mean come on I mean nobody sits out the season no of course not it's ridiculous uh but you know we know we we get it okay so what's the latest on Higgins he looks the best he's ever looked I think him showing up for training camp after signing the franchise tag he didn't do what Jessie Bates did which was hold out and just you know not practice and be away from the team until right before the 2022 season when he sign the tag I think he wanted to take the opposite approach and just solely focus on having the best possible season that he can and that is why like he's out there in training camp I think he's playing a lot free and loose and he looks like a dominant receiver now of course he's getting like all the number one looks and I think he's better he's a better receiver than the Bengals have a quarterback like so I think it's a mismatch every time that he goes out on the practice field and obviously it helps when Joe burough throwing him the ball so he looks great I think he looks poised to maximize his second contra year in a row and hopefully that leads him to getting the deal that he deserves uh and again the whole the whole deal is speaking of deals is he's gonna play one more year and then he will be somewhere else in 2025 pretty much yeah like a second tag is possible but that's still going to be a lot of money to spend on the second receiver so okay all right and then we've got the battle for that slot job uh who is in the lead I think this has a correct I think Andre yosias is probably in the lead if you want to look at it from just a straight one toone replacement for Tyler Boyd he's probably the best bet for that but we've heard from Zack Taylor we've heard from even Joe burrow about how that role is going to be kind of delegated to multiple different guys and who are going to play multiple different roles coming out of the slot so if it's just a receiver in in those three wi receiver sets I would say Yoshi is probably the favorite to do that but you're going to have Mike aeki play on the slot for the most part even though he's listed as a tight end you're still going to have Charlie Jones once he comes back he suffered a knee contusion about a week ago so he's getting back into practice but he's going to get some reps there Tron Irwin is still relied on and that's where he kind of has uh his best moments coming out of the slot so it's going to be a lot of different names and numbers to come out of that position but if there's one guy who separating from the rest of the pack is probably Yoshi okay and do you think because uh they've got some pretty good players there already that uh were around last year that Burton uh no matter how well he might look or not in the preseason uh that they going to take it slowly and then next year will kind of be the year I think they can afford to do that um I again he was looking really good in OTAs um and I don't think he's had a bad training camp per se I think it's just been the growth of both Yoshi Charlie Jones and just the continued presence of Trad nwin that has given them the Comfort to say we can just have this guy as wide receiver six we can let him work on the outside where he did most of his work at Alabama he can be an immediate backup there where he's comfortable at and we'll we'll just be fine with like the six receivers that we have and if he has to play you know snaps due to injury then we'll we'll get we'll cross that bridge when we get there but he is not um he he doesn't have to be relied on as much because of the growth of the other young receivers that they have they've even had him you returning kickoffs and punts now in last preseason game and in practice just because they just want to get the ball in his hands and if they if they can't find a spot for him on the field as a receiver with the other guys stepping up then might as well just use his explosiveness on a play that actually matters now yeah he was one my top two pickups in my Dynasty draft my my rookie draft so um but I know it's going to take time so no no no no Illusions uh that he is g to be a high impact player this year and I'm sure Bengal fans will be happy with that because that means everybody uh will be doing their job and that's exactly what Cincinnati needs after last season okay so uh you mentioned um the tight end position uh giki at tight end and then of course sample uh Hudson who had a career year and the two rookies so that's a pretty deep unit and how's it going it's it's going well like Eric all returned quicker than I think people expected he suffered a torl last October at Iowa and he was placed on the NFI list um at the start of Camp then he came off at like a couple days later and he practiced immediately and he was in you know 11 on 11s and he was taking on contact so he was ready to go from as soon as he got activated and they haven't given him a ton of looks in the preseason but he's looked well as a block ER which is definitely going to help his case and just being active so um I would say gaseki and Sample are the only gaseki sample and all are the only locks here I think it might come down to Tanner versus Tanner if they wanted to just keep four tight ends like you said Hudson had a great year last year he's established trust with both the quarterback and the coaching staff but mclin has look good in the preseason and I don't think they want to put a six round pick up for waivers so maybe they have to do some gymnastics and keeping five tight ends initially on the team and having to make a decision after that but I I think if they do cut McLaughlin he's probably going to be the best player that they do cut yeah and again we talked about uh those two tight ends uh in our last uh discussion and uh how how all could very well have been a second round draft pick if he was healthy and mlin was really one of my favorite uh sleepers late in the draft so it's good to see that he's uh carry on well all right uh and then at running back looks like everything is just the same since we spoke uh what about Elijah Collins has he or no or Noah Kan has anybody done anything in the back end of that uh unit uh or is it hey it is the way it is it's GNA be mosson brown 5050 pretty much uh and travan Williams number three I think that's how it probably should go um the the Evans injury opens up the possibility of a potential return with like maybe samaji perine coming back if he gets cut by the Denver Broncos obviously p played a couple years the Bengals and he was a beloved player in the locker room and well trusted by the coaching staff so just having a veteran who is you know familiar with the scheme I think that might be enticing but personally I don't really see the need to go beyond Moss Brown and Williams you're in to pass for his offense and like you said Brown and Moss are going to see plenty of time in each and every game I think it could be a game by- game basis about who gets more of the workload there could be a scenario where Brown ends up having more touches and more snaps play than Zach Moss by the end of the year but like you know obviously Moss is the veteran he was signed for a reason as far as Collins and Kane goes I think Collins is ahead of Kane on the def chart and he's quietly had a decent preseason but probably not enough to you know Force the Bengals hand here and keep four including one of them if they go four I think it'll be some type of of a waiver wire pickup for sure all right let's uh switch on over to the defensive side of the ball and um know at aot defense the sacks not very good overall till last year they had a nice little pick pickup last year and Trey Hendrickson though uh especially because the Bengals didn't have a great year last year but I don't know I wonder whether or not he is the most underrated player in the entire league it's a good argument for that I mean it's such a deep position group around the league obviously and particular in the AFC North where we have two of the best TJ watad and Miles Garrett so he gets you know overshadowed in his own backyard which is not ideal but I mean he carries the Bengals pass rush and it's not going to be as egregious as it has been in recent years because I think Sheldon rankins is going to provide a lot as an interior guy and someone who can clean up a lot of the pressures that Hendricks en forced but obviously when you have that penetrating three technique coming up the middle it's much harder for quarterbacks to get out of the pocket there so rankings could be set up for a nice year just with being on the same team as Hendrickson who they were teammates back in New Orleans so that's a nice little reunion there and outside of that I I really think Miles Murphy is primed for several hundreds of snaps I think they don't want to overplay Hendrickson and hub as much as they've done in years past they want to keep those guys fresh in case a playoff run comes up and they want those guys to be fully ready for that and Miles Murphy got more of a workload towards the end of last season when they had injuries at the position they have injuries at the position now because cam sample is out for the year and Jeff Gunter ended up surprisingly retired so that puts Murphy you know he's locked in at Edge three Joseph viid had a good camp as Edge four and Edge five is probably looking like Cedric Johnson's job to lose you know he's had a good preseason he's a six round pick one of the I think he is the youngest guy on the team he's got you know four years on his contract so that seems to be the five and um outside of minor injuries to Hendrickson and hubard suffered early in Camp it looks like a decent group as far as the group that's going to be in the regular season yeah I mean talk about those three rookies up front you mentioned McKinley Jackson and uh then you've got Chris Jenkins uh you also have uh well again yeah Jackson and Johnson so talk about those three rookies up front so mckenley Jackson suffered like I said he's suffered injury like the second week maybe the first week of camp and he's been out ever since and I think that has kind of cascaded into a lot of depth issues at particularly nose tackle they've had Chris Jenkins take some snaps there like just the straightup nose the zero technique and it may not be where his natural position is but they're just really short on bodies there at the moment like JT F was also dealing with injury Dominique Davis was dealing with injury um so it was a lot of Zach Carter and Chris Jenkins for the first you know couple weeks of camp in in the preseason and Jenkins excuse me Jackson is not back yet Travis Bell has been playing a decent amount and they signed like Carlos Davis and Andre Carter I believe as well so they've gone through a lot of guys there it's definitely still a weak point until it isn't I think they're relying on Jackson to just be an immediate contributor and his uh being injured right now is not going to help that so it it's going to be obviously rankins and Hill starting with Jenkins being that third guy in the rotation but Zack Carter unfortunately just I mean if if he's going to make the team he's probably going to be inactive at this point I just don't think they can rely on any snaps from him against starting offensive lines but like they might just need him just because they don't have anyone else healthy right now and uh Jenkins we know how uh important this draft pick is going to be for the future of that position so I mean overall how do you think he's done he's done fine I think he had a couple moments in the preseason opener where he looked a little bit overmatched against double teams but he played really well against the Bears and those the be starting offensive line so both him and Carter you know play pretty well considering the competition um it's still a guy that I would say it's going to have several hundred snaps you're talking about 300 400 just because like that's what the third defensive end or third defensive tackle in the Bengals rotation that's kind of his role it's what BJ Hill was when he first came here in 2021 as like a third fourth year player so he's going to be relied on a lot as a rookie um still a better run Defender than pass rusher at this point so they still need to find some type of alternative boost there behind rankings but but um a solid death player for sure right now and you mentioned osai uh seems to be looking good being healthy that's first things first with him um he needs I mean this is it right he needs to have a breakout of some capacity otherwise he's not going to be here next year I would say so and I think his agent being the same agent as T Higgins is David moletta doesn't help his case necessarily in getting a deal done but like you said I mean like he's done like he's had one good season in 2022 and it was a decent season for a rotational guy but he spent last year he started last year kind of injured and he was slowly brought on he just never really got off the ground and what was it a pretty pivotal third year so this is the contract year of all contract years for him he's not going to get a chance to get like 10 plus sacks or anything just because the guys who are ahead of him but he'll still be you know relied on as a rotational guy and a guy that they want to play more because again they don't want to overwork their starters very talented kid loved them out of Texas and it's a shame that he's been dealing with these injuries but he's got a shot it's still early in his career so maybe he'll prove his worth and uh I'm sure the Bengals could definitely use it uh because they're going to need some more depth there at Edge Rush okay so let's talk about uh well Bengals are said at linebacker they have been for the last couple of years no changes there no I think the the one development could be Muma Jong meta the undrafted guy out of of Wisconsin he's had a phenomenal preseason um if there's if there is room for five linebackers I would say he's going to be the fifth there but not ahead of Davis gather or Joe Bachi okay we're going to zero back in on N Jetta uh because I got another question regarding uh the uh free agents that didn't get drafted all right let's go to the secondary and so uh so your story uh that came out adz Sports uh regarding uh the camp battles we already talked about the center position the number two Center position and this is even more important and that is Dax Hill uh who did play slot at one of my uh football teams Michigan uh and he just hasn't been able to find uh you know a position so far in the pros whether it's slot or safety uh but now he's on the outside and he's going up against another Michigan Ander at corner uh DJ Turner struggled a little bit last year uh how's it going it looks like it's uh it sounds like it's 5050 I want to take you through the timeline here Greg in March they signed goino Stone and Von Bell at safety which basically ended Dax Hills run at safety for the Bengals so then the belief was okay he's going to be this hybrid slot Defender who can come on the field in sub packages then they didn't draft a quarterback until like the fifth round in Jos they didn't sign a quarterback in free agency so they had major depth issues there and it was revealed that the plan was to just move Dax Hill to boundary quarterback which like you said he's never played before he was a safety coming out of high school he was a slot defender of Michigan he was a safety in the NFL now he's going to play in a completely new position and I think a lot of people didn't have high expectations on that happening and he's definitely looked apart I think I mean he's one of their best most natural athletes in space it's why he excelled in that man coverage role at Michigan in the slot and it's just translated really well towards the boundary his moving ability his mirroring ability he's gotten three pass deflections on just four Targets in the preseason he just looks more natural man coverage compared to a guy like DJ Turner who like you said had an up and down rookie season Turner has his own skill set and I think he value as like a first quarterback Off the Bench but if that is still a battle for the opposite starting quarterback out of Cam Taylor BRD it's probably already over and it's in Dax Hill's favor all right very nice yeah he's just way too talented to be to have been in this position and but you never know it's it's uh again it's position changing we see it all the time new coaching staff comes in all of a sudden a player uh is uh living up to you know what what the team expected when they drafted him or you got to leave find a new home he finds a new scheme works for him happens all the time so good for Dax Hill okay so how's the rest of the secondary coming out because this was of course a big big reason why there was not the success that Bengals were hoping for uh even on of course defense most of all uh they just had and I know you mentioned Stone's back I mean Bell's back and they got Stone in so hopefully those those uh communication issues are going to be a thing of the pass but overall uh it sounds to me like the secondary is uh is I mean sounds like a 180 compared to what how the way let's just put it this way the way they ended the season and the way it looks now on paper uh just completely different oh it it is and it like they sacrificed athleticism by removing Dax Hill and Nick Scott who was the started last year for guys who aren't that athletic and Gino Stone and Von Bell but the communication and the cohesion with everything just people being in the right spots in the right zones and having the right assignments that's been that's that's where the 180 has come into play um Von Bell's brought in just a veteran minimum just because he's getting paid by Carolina to not play for them this year and like it wasn't known at the beginning maybe that he was going to be a starter but I think as soon as he came back into the building there was a familiarity and a comfort with him like just getting everyone lined up and just being that vocal leader in the secondary and that's why he's just he's going to see the field he's starting he's been the starter since like OTAs uh compared to like Jordan battle who was really promising rookie last year but there's just not enough room on thei field for him when they signed Gino Stone to a nice contract and free agency so yes Bell and stone have brought that veteran just presence and just stability there they're like okay like we're we're going to be in the right spots we're not going to give up explosive plays again not the most athletic group of safeties in in the NFL and that might that might run into some issues with them but compared to last year where just everything was Justa chaotic and they were given up big plays that should be a big difference this year for sure one of the things I noticed also the last several years um I'm not sure about last year but even before that was that they just under this defense they they didn't use a whole lot of depth uh in the secondary like hey these are the five guys and and we're g we're gonna play those guys and if they're not not if they're not injured you g to look at the end of the season and they're all G to have like 90% snaps uh was that Talent depth reasoning or uh is that just the way uh the scheme is whatever the reason um because it looks talent-wise like let's say Turner is on the bench let's say battle is on the bench you drafted Newton in the fifth round I do see more Talent overall depthwise I think that's more a luin aruma thing like this goes back to 2022 when Dax was first drafted and he was being developed at safety and he was a first- round pick he was just being on the bench and he was asked about like rotating Dax Hill he was very animated about listen man I don't I don't really like rotating guys in and out like like these are these are my starters I have trust in them like this this we're not going to you know adjust the whole process just to appease a first round pick and whatnot and I think that's more or less been the same thing um a guy like daon Anthony for example he's listed as a safety he's gonna play mostly in the slot on like third Downs um like that's that's GNA be a guy that gets rotated in in certain sub packages a couple years ago they had a guy in Trey flowers who played a similar role outside of that though like I yeah like I I wouldn't Bank on like Hill and and Turner rotating in and out unless it comes to point where they need to see like midseason if there's a better option at that point like Jordan battle again like he's in that third safety role and I think he still has his value but he may not see the field as much as his talent level would indicate so yeah I think they're at a point now assuming that Dax Hill does enter the season as the comfortable starter where they feel good in not having to look at alternative options in the Middle season because that's just not Whata wants to do okay and speaking of uh Newton uh just brought up his name just quickly uh and and and as deep as the secondary does look at this moment you would think uh that he's not going to see a lot of playing time just give him some time to develop as a young as a young kid uh I mean have you noticed anything do you think this is a kid that uh could end up being around here for a while as he looked uh uh like it's too big for him what's the what's the early verdict so far the coaches adore Josh Newton I think he's a phenomenal practice player he comes in with the right attitude and he makes plays like he's made plays in both preseason games he was more up and down against the Bears because he's not the best athlete and I don't really know if on the boundar is where he's going to have the most success in his career but being in the slot taking over like that Mike hilon role in a year I could definitely see that like I think they want him they they would be fine if he saw the field they're not going to rush him out there necessarily but I think they are at at a level where if he does have to play some snaps they would be comfortable with putting him as a fifth round rookie out there he's had a really impressive training camp in preseason and a really good I would say probably fifth or fourth quarterback to just round out that group okay so uh you mentioned um uh Jong meta and just talked about Newton so G those are a couple of rookies that have looked good so far in Camp who else uh as far as the's let's stick with the college free agents the kids that were not drafted or kids that might have uh been on the on the depth chart last year and are trying to take that next step uh name a few guys that you know may have a little bit of a a shot to either make the team or advance in year two um I mean definitely Jang meta is the guy that stands out the most I I was expecting more from Aaron Casey I thought he may have been the better player out of college at linebacker but Jong meta is clearly ahead of him and he's just made more plays than practically anyone on the Bengals defense this preseason uh PJ juwes the um I believe he's been both in the nickel and this and at safety like he's been pretty well in his very limited snaps um Lance Robinson unfortunately got burned for a touchdown last game so he's he he may be fighting for a practice squad spot at this point Justin blazic has gotten more reps because they've given or they've had a lot of injuries at Edge but he hasn't really shown up Andre Carter has been okay but he was like at that late training camp signing anyways and again like I said Elijah Collins has been okay in preseason got more looks than than like a Noah Kane and whatnot so yeah it's been a relatively quiet year for like the undrafted rookies but definitely J meta stands out more than any of them and then uh take a look at that special teams unit so uh we know uh mcferson don't have to worry too much about him at this point the playoffs that's really matters and and he has not disappointed uh Brad Robbins so uh you talked about it already a little bit what's your guess on whether or not he's going to end up start starting on opening day so I think the injury definitely clouds this because a hip flexer can last like a week it could last several weeks he's only got two weeks until you know the first week of practice of the season and the good thing for him is that Ryan Rico has looked much better in practice I would think than the actual games like he was bit he was a bit up and down uh when he got all the Reps against the Bears so if I were to say right now like just because he's healthy I would say the Rico has the job but because of the new IR rules like they can place Robins on IR to start the season and then they can activate him four games afterwards they can give Rico like a four game tryy out to see if he can handle that role in the regular season if he doesn't perform well they can activate Robbins and make that a battle again but I don't think if Robbins was healthy I don't think this battle would be decided because Robbins wasn't looking terrible like he looks you know marginally better than he did last year which definitely makes this interesting but just because Rico is healthy I would just give the edge to him right now all right it sounds like you're leaning towards that he might Robins might start this the year on ir and and maybe we go gets a four game tryy out yeah that that that would be a good guess for me just because I have no idea how long Robins is going to be on I don't really think they know for sure either okay and have you noticed anything yet in the in the preseason games regarding this new rule uh the way the Bengals have handled it no I think they've been okay um in terms of returning they've ran a lot a lot of penalties I think in coverage uh this this previous week which is something that needs to be ironed out but Charlie Jones suffered like a knee injury right before the first preseason game which is why they've had um Germaine Burton returning kicks along with Chris Evans like so Jones and Evans were both um in the mix for kickoff returns trevan Williams is still there who who can handle that role but I think they're experimenting with other returners and just like every team I think they're still getting used to just the flow of the play and making sure that you know there's no silly holding calls and anything like that that but nothing out of the ordinary I would say compared to other teams yeah I mean just about everybody I've talked to and for what I've seen myself it just uh like nothing's happening so far and you get to and you're just wondering whether or not I mean do are they just holding are these coaches holding this back for the regular season yeah because I don't know I mean you haven't noticed anything with the kickers have you regarding where they've kicked it are they kicking it in the end zone we're getting a lot of that kicking in the end zone oh I don't care what bring him out to 30 um mcferson has done a good job of putting it right up to the goal line they haven't been asking to Boom it so I think they're just giving guys you know reps on the on the coverage team to you know make some plays all right John uh what do you got as far as you got that orange and black Bengals podcast on YouTube right yes the orange black Insider Bengals podcast is now under the believe uh podcast Network and it's under the channel believe in ciny so if anyone was subscribed to the old feed for Cincy Jungle you got to resubscribe to believe in Cincy wherever you get your podcasts excellent John let me see here a couple of comments uh let's see it just came actually I should have been paying more attention uh let's see here John I was wondering if you can see the transactions that were made after every time the dep chart updates what is this is that a question for me I don't know I don't maybe it was for me you can see the transactions that were made I don't know uh yeah I don't really know what that means what does that mean I think just like how like the reasoning behind every def chart change like in terms of guys getting cut or put on IR or something like that so explanations well what I do know is is we're coming out with a new program so it's interesting that we're getting this comment I was just talking to John about this before the show so we're gonna have a really cool subscription package for I think it's 20 bucks a year so when the transactions are updated at Red you can get them uh at real time and then uh same guy can you send me the red depth chart update okay I don't know who is NFL roster Guru I don't know who you are uh doesn't sound like a guru to me if he wants all these updates I know right sounds like yeah this is an inside job all right anyway John I appreciate your time and uh I can't wait to talk to you during the season because look I didn't even mention Joe burrow yeah and and I'm not gonna We're not gonna go into it there's nothing to go over just about let's just all as a fan base even outside Cincinnati keep our fingers crossed because we need all the talented players in this league to stay healthy I certainly hope burrow is one of them so uh I hope he could talk during the season because that means Burrow's healthy and the team is playing well well we need to mention burrow for your SEO purposes he is the star um he uh in the most recent practice like he's been fine like he hasn't missed any practices which is a little surprising to me I would have thought he would have gotten a rest day here and there the only update with him is that typically during the game in some games when it's like windy or like this weird weather he will wear a glove on the sideline between drives and just like to keep his hand warm so he was exper experimenting with that in the latest practice like on the practice field between throws people were speculating what that meant in terms of like oh is his wrist B bothering him whatever but it's really just like him doing his regular routine and people are just noticing it is he gonna play in the preseason he played in the first game in the first series they scored a touchdown and he he was sad for the rest of the game he didn't play in the second one I highly doubt he's gonna play in the third one wow what a surprise they scored a touchdown on that drive well anyway uh sounds like uh if anybody is playing fantasy year to year go after Joe Burrows he's probably gonna be one motivated man and uh it looks like he's got two motivated wide receivers too so yeah should be a lot of fun all right John appreciate it we'll talk to you again hopefully during the season thanks