Zac Taylor on Cincinnati Bengals' Plans in 2025 NFL Draft
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00:00I think anytime it's just different people,
00:02you're always going to have different conversations.
00:03And that's the beauty of it is people can see things differently,
00:08and that's good.
00:09We want different voices in the room.
00:12Al's done a great job of opening it up to every coach that's in that room.
00:16What are your thoughts?
00:17What are your opinions before deciding on something official?
00:20But he's done a great job driving the bus
00:21and making those decisions when needed.
00:24So it's just been a fun process to be a part of,
00:27and I'm really encouraged by it.
00:28In fact, I know Duke was just talking about
00:30just like the offense versus defense narrative
00:34with this team from an outside perspective.
00:36It's easy to look at your offense and say they can outscore everyone.
00:42What do you feel like the expectation for you guys
00:45when you construct your defense is internally?
00:48To have a championship defense.
00:50Maybe we have our finances dedicated a little heavier on offense
00:54because some of the big ticket items we have over there,
00:55but certainly we want to win a championship,
00:58and you've got to have a championship-level defense to do that.
01:01We have a lot of ingredients over there that help us go that direction,
01:04and you still have the draft to help yourself finalize that.
01:07So I'm really encouraged by everybody we've got in the building.
01:12Coach, with Al being here,
01:13is it you've got a guy who's been three years in college,
01:18and how much of that has been helping you to get a kind of insight
01:21on some of these players?
01:23Yeah, he's got great awareness of certainly the guys he's played against.
01:27There's several Notre Dame guys in the draft, obviously,
01:30so we value his opinion there.
01:33But at the same time, he's been focused on Notre Dame
01:35and maybe the opponent that week
01:37and not really thinking,
01:38is this guy going to help me a year from now?
01:42But he certainly has some awareness
01:44than some of the guys that are in the draft.
01:45What do you think that Ed Drescher,
01:47maybe he's in the biggest,
01:49but he's been really productive,
01:50has tested really well,
01:52or maybe there's a couple of size things that have worked?
01:54How do you kind of sort of that,
01:55seeing how we might project the next level?
01:58I think that there's a lot of different types of ins in this draft.
02:04We've got different categories for what we'd put them in
02:06and what role they'd play on our team.
02:08Again, if they're perfect,
02:11then they're the first pick in the draft.
02:13If there's other strengths that they have,
02:14then they fall later on.
02:16So I think it's overall a decent group of edge guys,
02:20and we'll see if any of them fit us at the right time.
02:23Just in general,
02:24what was your message to the team coming back today
02:26about the things you want to get in the line?
02:27Excited.
02:28We've got three phases.
02:29This is phase one,
02:30so they're going to spend their time in the weight room
02:32running and lifting over these next two weeks.
02:34But just excited to recreate the camaraderie back in the building,
02:38get to know some of the new guys,
02:39get to see some familiar faces,
02:42just work on the discipline and the communication
02:44for these next two weeks.
02:46And then once we get the rookies in the building,
02:48we'll hit the next phase of it.
02:49So, again, we'll have a lot of team meetings
02:51and stuff that takes place at that next phase.
02:54Right now, our coaches and our scouts
02:56spend a lot of time on the draft,
02:57and so our primary focus is there
02:59and let Joey and his assistants focus
03:02on the strength and conditioning aspect of things.
03:04Is that you expect trader attending involuntary stuff
03:06and you talk to him about that?
03:08We'll see.
03:09It's just day one.
03:09Yeah, we'll see.
03:12Just to follow up on that,
03:13on the Pat McAfee show,
03:15you said that the communication between him
03:17and the team has been poor,
03:19but then praised you
03:21and the way that he goes about his work
03:23is a way of him showing a sign of respect for you.
03:26How do you navigate the situation
03:28and you're the head coach who has communication with him,
03:31but it's a situation that you might not be able
03:33to have much control over?
03:35Yeah, I think the business side is always complicated.
03:37It's never clear cut,
03:39and different players at different times
03:41will go through this kind of stuff.
03:43I appreciate Trey,
03:44what he means to this football team.
03:46He knows that,
03:47and he and I have always had good dialogue together,
03:49and this is just a process
03:50we'll keep working through.
03:52Is it overgeneralization,
03:55and you mentioned the finances
03:56that are on the offensive side of the football,
03:58to say that it's imperative for this team
04:01to draft well defensively
04:04and build a defense through the draft?
04:06I don't think it's any different than any other year.
04:08We always want to bring the best people
04:10that will help our team win into the building,
04:12whether that's offense, defense, or special teams.
04:14And so I think that's what Duke does a great job of
04:17is analyzing the talent
04:20that's on the board
04:20and how it fits us,
04:22where it can upgrade us,
04:23how it fits,
04:24how we're going to utilize it,
04:26and making the decisions that best fit our team.
04:29And so to say that
04:30you're going to walk in the draft
04:32and this is all you're going to focus on,
04:34that's unfair to the process of the draft
04:36because that's just not how it works for us.
04:38And so again,
04:38it's a process that we're still going through right now.
04:41Duke's done a great job leading the way.
04:43Been a lot of conversations
04:44and more to be had.
04:46But that's the fun part of the process,
04:48and I think we'll walk away with players
04:49that we're really pleased.
04:50At guard,
04:51bringing back Cody,
04:52bringing in Lucas,
04:53just in general,
04:53what were you looking for
04:54in the third spot?
04:56So those are two,
04:57you know,
04:57Cody,
04:57I thought performed well for us
04:58over the course of the year,
04:59different roles.
05:00Cody never really had an opportunity
05:01just to practice one spot
05:03and go play in the game.
05:04He was that chess piece
05:06that had to continuously move.
05:08I mean,
05:08he really played right tackle
05:09against the Steelers
05:11on really no practice reps,
05:12playing right tackle.
05:14And so he created a lot of value for himself
05:18and just willing to do whatever it took
05:20to help us win.
05:22And so we thought it was important
05:23to get him back.
05:23Lucas Patrick's been a guy
05:25who's really fought for everything
05:26he's gotten in this league.
05:28You know,
05:28had a lot of starts
05:29at different positions under his belt.
05:30And we feel like he's a great fit,
05:32you know,
05:32for what we want in our building
05:34and what we want competing
05:35at the guard spot.
05:36So pleased to get those guys
05:37in the mix there,
05:38and then we'll go through the draft
05:39and see how that shakes out as well.
05:40Again,
05:41if you're changing the draft,
05:42but does it help knowing
05:42what you have on the edges
05:44with the markets in Orlando?
05:45Do one thing
05:46and has an effect
05:47and helps the lines of hope?
05:48It does.
05:49You know,
05:49it's certainly helpful
05:51to have those two ends
05:52tied down over there
05:53and Ted in the middle.
05:54That's good.
05:56And then we've got guys
05:57that have played a lot of ball
05:57for us at guard
05:58and other teams as well.
06:00And so I feel like
06:01we're in a good position
06:02going into the draft.
06:03I think you've met
06:05and are you like
06:06having versatility in general?
06:08Is he someone that could be
06:09in the guard competition?
06:10Yeah,
06:10he's an ascending player.
06:11I think it was good
06:12to get year one under his belt.
06:13We'll continue to learn
06:14more about him
06:14as we get into training camp
06:15and get him a lot of reps.
06:17His first position is center.
06:19Second position
06:20would be a guard spot.
06:21And we'll just continue
06:22to work through that
06:22as we get real reps here.
06:23How extensive
06:24have your discussions been
06:26with Al
06:27about how different
06:28defense is going to look
06:29and how might that impact
06:30who you take
06:32throughout the first couple
06:33of days of the draft?
06:34I think the most important thing
06:35for Duke and the scouts
06:36has just been to hear
06:37Al's vision for each player
06:39if they were to come
06:40in the building.
06:41And, you know,
06:42there's oftentimes
06:43there are great players
06:44in the draft
06:45that might be a better fit.
06:46And we said the same thing
06:47on offense somewhere else.
06:49And that's not reducing
06:50their talent or what it is.
06:52And there's always,
06:52you want to fit your schemes
06:54around really talented players
06:55and let them do
06:56what they do best.
06:57And so I think
06:58just sharing the vision
06:59on guys that really fit us
07:00and guys that may be
07:01better fit somewhere else
07:02is always good for Duke
07:03to help make decisions
07:04on this guy or that guy.
07:06Tilt it that way.
07:07And I think Al's been very clear
07:08on how we're going to utilize
07:10every single player
07:10we bring in the building.
07:11And so I think
07:12that makes it much clearer
07:14for those scouts up there
07:15to picture how we'll
07:16utilize these players.
07:17To follow that up,
07:18how many players are there,
07:20especially defensively,
07:21in this draft
07:22where you say,
07:23don't care about this game,
07:24he's just too talented
07:25to pass on?
07:27That's the million dollar question.
07:28How much are we going to cater
07:31what we want to do
07:32to this really talented player?
07:34And we're willing to do that
07:37with any guy
07:38that we bring in here.
07:39We want to do
07:39what he does best
07:40and not necessarily
07:41just cram it in
07:42to how we want things done.
07:43If we've decided
07:43to take a player,
07:45it's because he's got
07:45a unique set of skills
07:47that we plan to utilize.
07:49And so I think
07:50that's the best way
07:51that I can phrase it for you.
07:56Here we go.
07:58Okay.
07:59You