This Is Exactly What The Bengals Needed...

This is exactly what the Bengals needed. One of their stars on defense is back healthy and ready to get to work. Plus some surprising notes from Zach Taylor and one guy who just cannot stop making plays. Hello everyone, welcome into Bengals Digest. I'm Michael Makin. Thanks so much for being with me here today as it's a new week for the Bengals post preseason game one versus the Bengals. So we're going to get into all that some stuff from Zach Taylor but before we do I'd like to shout out our subscribers. Those of you who are always tuned into Bengals Digest wherever you may watch and listen to us but if you're a part of the 70 plus percent watching this who are not yet subscribed well it's free to do so. So hit that button, ring that notification bell and you can help be a part of us reaching our goal of getting to 6,000 subscribers. All right folks let's dive into it here now and this is from press conference with Zach Taylor yesterday following Bengals preseason game, following practice that the Bengals had yesterday and well they've got plenty more coming this week. It's a big week for the Bengals as they get ready for the Chicago Bears coming to town on this coming Saturday August 22nd and so here's what Zach had to say. I'll make this big for you guys here this from Paul Daner Jr., senior writer covering the Bengals on the athletic. Well Zach talks about one of the injuries from the preseason game and that was McKinley Jackson who went down. Doesn't seem to be serious which is really good news there on that front even though a lot of you know McKinley Jackson's roster spots seemingly up in the air this year with the addition of Landon Robinson and Zach says well they weren't really great operationally on offense he expects them to be a lot cleaner this week. I've watched some films certainly some stuff the Bengals could clean up there. Taylor said his main takeaway with how the backup o-line play was well there's still a lot of competition for those number two jobs and I couldn't agree with them more and I think the Bengals could use adding some competition to those spots specifically at the tackle position. Lots of praise for the rookie class debut all showed very well. I went over that just the other day I mean I was super impressed with how these rookies performed out there on Thursday night. Zach Taylor said the joint practice with Chicago Thursday will impact who plays on the Bears on Saturday obviously you know injuries could happen but also some guys maybe just be a little worn down from performing a lot. Heavy physical practice coming on Tuesday so keep your eyes on that because well Bengals might be a little worn down going into that joint practice with the Bears. Rookie CBC air right called last night said he had another opportunity two things he has a passion for were colliding we'll get into him in just a little bit and also maybe one of the more interesting ones here sounds like Dan Pitcher will call some plays over the course of the next two preseason games. This could be a whole game or a half or other amount of time as they are still figuring that all out and so interesting stuff there from Zach Taylor lots of notes lots of things and topics to go over but I want to start off with some of the you know biggest news recently and you know you could say it's not and it's not you know any guy that would have made the team but it is about Sierra Wright and the guy who is one of the supporting cast members in the new Space Jam movie from a couple of years ago with James played as his eldest son but Sierra Wright decides to move on from football it would have been an extremely long shot at him making the team the guy from USC and Nebraska was an undrafted free agent got picked up by Baltimore at the end of well going into this season Baltimore waved him Bengals picked him up Sierra Wright moves on decides he wants to go back to acting a little bit so you know best luck best luck best wishes to Sierra Wright as he pursues this venture but the Bengals made a corresponding move to this bringing in Cincinnati Bearcats cornerback Matthew McDoom what a name Matthew McDoom I mean I like a double M I'm Michael Macon so why not here but the McDoom part is awesome it sounds like a dangerous McDonald's sandwich with some spicy sauce on it or something but Matthew McDoom who was at UC also Coastal Carolina for his first few years Dan Hort says well he was UC's best cornerback last year and you know it like I said with Sierra Wright would be extremely hard for him to make the roster because the cornerback position you could say it's a little top heavy but there's a lot of guys certainly that the Bengals like on the back end there when it comes to Josh Newton DJ Ivy's been making some plays this camp and so I really don't see a world where Matthew McDoom or even Sierra Wright would have made this Bengals roster but we'll talk about McDoom a little bit because maybe he's a guy who stays around on the practice squad for the Bengals maybe he could come up if there is an injury but McDoom super excited to be back on the Bengals here he says there are good vibes over here for me I'm just happy to be back I got here last night and I went to sleep so comfortably it was like I was home and though he did only play in Cincinnati for one year with the Bearcats it was his redshirt senior year he's a 23 year old if I remember correctly cornerback 5'9 175 really small guy really slender guy all things considered but uh we'll take a look at some of Matthew McDoom's stats throughout his college career that you see he had three picks back with Coastal okay correction there he was not redshirted Sierra Wright was redshirted so he had five years in college but one pick with UC last year did perform well but like I said not a guy who's probably going to make Al Golden's defense and make this this defensive roster because of the cornerback room because of the guys that the Bengals already really like and you know it would have been uh what it would be a long shot but you know maybe someday we get to see a little bit of Matthew McDoom we'll certainly see there but let's switch sides let's talk about the offense and talk about that really interesting news that Zach Taylor said in regards to Dan Pitcher potentially calling some plays over the next couple of weeks during the next few preseason games we've got the Bears like I said this coming Saturday and then I believe it's the following Saturday as well um if I remember that date correctly it's it's on the road in Philadelphia versus the Eagles Bengals playing there they're playing against the Eagles again and Dan Pitcher gonna you know take his hand at calling some plays and I like this for Dan because you know not because I'm a Zach Taylor hater or anything I think Zach calls dumb plays I think there's unless you know I was talking about that weird play in the preseason game versus the Lions where Jamar and Tee are like following each other Burrow takes the sack you know weird concept there I don't know if one of them ran the wrong route I'd be surprised might be just poor play design concept not sure but regardless I'm not I'm not being a Zach Taylor hater here right guys I do like Dan Pitcher a lot though I like what he's done for this Bengals offense and I certainly think that you know the Bengals are set to have a successful season here right and that being said well this is probably gonna be Dan Pitcher's last year as the Bengals offensive coordinator if all things go well I mean you know is a guy who is wanted around the league you know had an interview with the Browns and so Dan Pitcher certainly exciting for him that he gets this opportunity to call some plays and to be in charge of this Bengals offense well if they perform well then uh you know that's gonna be pretty interesting topic to discuss amongst the Bengals community on X and you know throughout right here on Bengals Digest as well and so now I want to switch sides again go back to the defense just a little bit here and talk about one of the Bengals stars a long time long tenured Bengal on defense well the man is back this year according to Dan Hoard BJ Hill practiced for the first time after rehabbing an ankle injury for several months BJ says the hardest part was watching my guys out there grinding when I'm not out there so that's the hardest part really so I've been doing everything possible to try to get back it just takes time BJ is back folks really big news for this Bengals defense because BJ is such a key part such a key cog in the middle of that unit I mean he Jonathan Allen was not brought in to replace BJ Hill these pieces they all work together including through TJ Slayton into that mix as well BJ Hill such a well-rounded player has been such a steady presence for the Bengals in the middle of that defense since 2021 now going into his uh just sixth season one two three four five yeah his sixth season now as a Bengal Bengals have loved what they've gotten out of him and I expect BJ to have another really solid career probably in the high 60s and pff grading you know maybe we get even better with these uh you know better pieces around them on the defensive line but it's big news for him to be back to be working with Jonathan Allen and Dexter and to be working with Jerry Montgomery on the Bengals defensive line and uh you know I know the Bengals coaches are really happy about this I know other players are because he's a great veteran presence to have around and BJ is going to be making some plays we'll see him probably a little bit in the next preseason game versus the Bears certainly in that joint practice so we'll see how all of that goes but good news on the injury front all things considered for the Bengals also worth noting Myles Murphy you know some people saw him carted off the field it ended up just being muscle cramps but Myles Murphy seemingly going to be okay now I want to get into a guy who like I said at the top he just can't stop making plays Dante Myers just flashing left and right in the preseason game at the jet sweep had uh I think it was around 30 yards receiving or something but during these practices too he just keeps balling out just caught a 65 yard touchdown on it looked like a deep post or a crossing route sort of thing from Josh Johnson in practice yesterday but Dante Myers is is clearly this year's Mitch Tinsley again and I just want to talk about like if you guys think he has a chance to you know create a spot for himself on this roster I frankly I've not seen too much from Mitch so far this preseason or well he didn't in the preseason game but during training camp during the off season the summer all of this and so Dante Myers with a real shot here to make the Bengals roster and I'm happy with it because this guy you know is a zero star recruit you know he he was doing all sorts of stuff for work made his way into the CFL just creating opportunities for himself certainly an underdog story that you're root for and Dante Myers he just continues to make plays well he's probably going to find his way on there but I think it's really key that he also has to start doing some stuff on special teams Darren Simmons would certainly appreciate that it would certainly go a long way if Dante Myers can prove that he can get some work in in the punt return kick return game and you know maybe even develop into a pretty solid run blocker as a wide receiver I know the Bengals really respect Mitch Tinsley when it comes to that department and so folks I want to hear from you what are you thinking about this subject matter do you think he could beat out either Chuck Sizzle or Mitch Tinsley for that roster spot yes no depends on injuries well I think he's got a real shot here but time will tell big week for the Bengals coming up that's all I've got for you guys here today as always like comment subscribe ring that notification bell and we've got plenty more coming your way this has been Michael Makin with Bengals Digest