Zac Taylor on Cincinnati Bengals' Plans in 2025 NFL Draft

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

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

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