Oren Burks

Bringing them in because there's no different than what we saw with Joe Giles Harris, who we cut after preseason and brought him back on the practice squad.

He ain't no different than Oren Burks.

And yes, we're just bringing them in for a name.

Barrett Carter shut up a lot of critics.

So all three of those guys to start are guys that you're going to have your microscope on to see how much have they improved.

as tacklers let's say they have 10 tackle attempts in this game hopefully they only miss one probably gonna have fewer than 10 tackle attempts in the game the way that a lot of games play out but just to give you some ballpark numbers the next highest guy for missed tackles for the Bengals in 2025 was Oren Burks who should have a significantly diminished role but he missed 24.4 percent of his tackle attempts last year on his way to 11 missed tackles he had 23 uh total tackles I believe according to pff numbers so oren burke shouldn't be on the field as much especially on the defensive side of the ball he might be a core special teamer but with the bengals transition to in their base be a 3-4 defense the only way oren burke's is getting on the field is if there's an injury at linebacker and so the the replacement of gino stone the shift in the defense to put more bigger bodies on the field in the base defense Fewer three linebacker sets.

You shouldn't see Oren Burks as much this year.

And Oren Burks has also kind of been a hot and cold player.

Like one year, he's fine.

One year, he's not over the course of his career as a tackler.

Last year, the T.J.

Slate and Oren Burks.

By the way, I like both of those signings.

That can't be your headliner additions in free agency when you have the worst defense in NFL history, and that cost you a playoff spot and potentially a chance to contend with a, a guy in Joe Burrow who played like an MVP and Jamar Chase who played like an offensive player of the year and won the Triple Crown.

That, that's the...

He pretended like they added T.J. Slaton and Oren Burks only on defense, and the Bengals have something to prove on defense in a major, major way.

But Dexter Lawrence is proven.

Even if he is what he is last year, he is the Bengals best defensive player, potentially period.

They went out and they got Swayze Bozeman as a special teamer.

Oren Burks is the other linebacker in that room.

They only kept four on the initial 53.

Did they get it right? Should they have drafted someone? Should they have signed someone in free agency? Should they still do that with a Bobby Wagner? I said this to someone on Saturday night, and I fully believe it.

Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown alone will win you at least seven or eight football games, because they have been, and they're gonna do it again.

However, the only two things that can really hold this team back in my mind are the linebacker play, which, I mean, what, we're looking at Oren Burks right now? It's looking pretty bad.

I really hope they can trade for someone in the middle of the season.

And I'm also worried about Zach Taylor, man.

I've heard pretty good things about them in camp.

And, you know, Swayze Bozeman and Oren Burks don't really move me as behind.

So, Mike, I agree with you.

I would have been totally fine if you signed some veteran, even if, you know, we're not expecting them to be you know, an all pro linebacker or anything, but just somebody who, if, if one of these guys get hurt, God forbid, they can come in and I feel like, okay, he's played a handful and he's, you know, can do, can do decent.

And I'm sure that's something that Joe takes a lot of pride in, in that sense, too, of, you know, wanting to make sure that he continues to excel at a high level, that his play is going to stay there because it goes far beyond just what he brings to the table and the fact of bringing other people alongside with him and making sure that guys want to play and be here in Cincinnati.

That's why there was so much frustration about the offseason after the 2024 season going into 2025 and looking at the roster even after Joe went down and saying, well, they didn't make the additions that were needed here because to go out and really only sign TJ Slayton and Oren Burks to fix that defense after Joe Burrow has an MVP season in 2024 and Jamar Chase wins a triple crown.

It's hard to imagine that top free agents didn't want to come here.

And we saw that this offseason as well with guys wanting to come play for Joe Burrow.