00:00I'm not going to cheat the system here, but you know how much I like playmakers.
00:07Oh, boy.
00:08They need a defensive playmaker.
00:12Oh, they haven't really had one of those.
00:16And what I mean by that, like Brian Cook comes in and he's going to be good on the ball.
00:20He's going to do what he needs to do.
00:22He's going to have the ball skills to not give up big plays.
00:26The awareness is going to be a good tackler.
00:28But he isn't known for his playmaking ability, his splash ability.
00:32And I'm going to make up that word.
00:34And so whether it's Caleb Downs, where he could start in that nickel cornerback spot,
00:38and that nickel cornerback spot is certainly a need right now, something that you want to address.
00:43Whether it is a Sonny Stiles at linebacker or a playmaking defensive tackle.
00:49Maybe you think it's going to be Caleb Banks on day two of the draft or Peter Woods on day
00:53two.
00:54I would not take him 10 overall there.
00:55There's another little nugget for you when it comes to the Bengals draft plans.
01:00But regardless, they need some playmakers.
01:03Some guys that are going to make big plays.
01:05And whether that's blitzing, whether that's on the ball, whether that's forcing fumbles, whether that's interceptions.
01:10You know, Bud Clark at TCU is a ball hawk.
01:13Like, they need some of that on their defense.
01:16And so that's what I'm looking for.
01:18Like, why is the offense so good?
01:20Well, it's so good because they have a few awesome playmakers.
01:24But the Bengals offense has been flawed.
01:26It has never been this number one offense in the NFL type of offense.
01:30There's been spurts of that.
01:31But I think we forget that.
01:33And so on defense, what can hide some of those flaws?
01:37You get a real playmaker, someone that's going to make a huge difference in those big swing plays.
01:43And so I say that thinking Caleb Downs in my head and Sonny Stiles and some of these early guys.
01:50But you never know where you're going to be able to find a playmaker.
01:52But they need to find that.
01:53That's something that they certainly need to address this offseason.
01:57Yeah, for my number three, you already mentioned it.
02:00It's cornerback.
02:01I mean, this might be the third or second year I've had to talk about this position.
02:06I think this is the third full year of this show.
02:08You've talked about corner more than ever.
02:11Same position, maybe different conversation.
02:13How about we say it that way, right?
02:15Like, I feel better about it looking into 2026 than I have over the past several years.
02:18DJ Turner was one of very few bright spots on this defense in 2025.
02:23And Dax Hill, he's a starter.
02:25Are you really wanting to head into the season without a clear-cut solution at slot corner?
02:31Is it Jalen Davis?
02:34Are you really wanting to roll the dice and hope everyone stays healthy?
02:38Because who's next off the bench?
02:41DJ Ivey, Josh Newton, they're fine players, but proven starters?
02:45Of the three positions that I've listed so far, cornerback's probably the one that I'd be,
02:51you mentioned linebacker, but I'd be the most okay with relying on a day one or day two draft pick
02:56to fill out.
02:57But I'd obviously welcome some veteran presence through free agency or, again, trade or whatever.
03:03Whatever.
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