Lapham interview with Jim Turner

[BengalChris]

(06-29-2020, 11:32 AM)Geno_Can_Dunk Wrote: If you haven't already, check out the latest Bengals Booth Podcast where Jim Turner is interviewed for almost 40 minutes: https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-booth-podcast-block-party

Turner talks up all his guys, as a coach would during the offseason, but is also pretty forthright and honest. What did you all think were the biggest takeaways?

Here are mine:

1. Maybe we can put the "Fred Johnson is quietly the RT of the future" narrative to rest. Turner even flatly says Johnson has never been a standout and acts like he doesn't care about football. He lauds Johnson's size and intelligence, sure, but competitiveness and will to win are the things ZT has been promoting all along. I did not get the impression he's as high on Johnson as many in the media and this board are. The fact that he says he wanted to take an OL higher than we did in the draft leads me to believe he's not as high on our current talent as he acts.

Also alarming that he told Ben Martin not to teach Johnson any technique going into the Browns game, but I digress.

2. When Lap interviews him he ticks off all the guys he think can contribute, and never mentions Billy Price, at least not until Hoard jumps in at the end to ask about him. He mentions Alex Redmond as a potential starter before Price. The best thing he can say about Price is that he took his demotion well... big deal. I still have hope Price can turn the corner, but this is damning with faint praise.

3. He is extremely high on Mike Jordan, and I think for good reason. I'm bullish on Jordan. Remember he was an early entry junior who never redshirted. He was always supposed to be a project for the future. Forget what Hobson says about Jordan "earning" the starting job... he got it because of injuries to Glenn and Boling's retirement. But as Turner points out, if he'd gone back to school in 2019 where would he have been drafted this year? I think actually pretty high.

All I can say about this unit is that its underwhelming to a large degree. Jonah Williams aside, the rest of them could be upgraded rather easily if anyone cared to. And we have no idea how Jonah Williams is going to play.

The fact that Alex Redmond is even on the team let along competing for a starting job tells volumes about how weak this unit is inside.

Bobby Hart got better last year and some seem to think that warrants him starting, but for me I ask "better compared to what?" He's still a low-end OT.

I really wouldn't be surprised if we drafted 4 new OLmen next season.