If you want to know, just go to the offensive line.
Which we did when we dug into the Bengals' trade with the Jets in the top ten of the fourth round that dropped them far enough to still get what they think are two potential starters in Auburn center Conner Lew and Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young.
The take on Young:
"The epitome of a Bengal," says guard Jalen Rivers, rattling off head coach Zac Taylor's definition. "Physical, hungry, accountable teammate who'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. That's who he is."
"I can't say enough about the guy. He's just a positive guy every day," says left guard Dylan Fairchild. "No. 1, he's a great dude. And he's a playmaker."
"He has one of the craziest catch radiuses I've ever," says right tackle Amarius Mims. "I've never really seen him drop a ball."
The 6-4, 218-pound Young played for a year with Rivers at the University of Miami. He played for a year with Fairchild at the University of Georgia. Young just missed Mims at Georgia by a year, but the big fella has enough good connections to get a good view of the games.
"All my encounters with him have been pretty good. When I go to Athens, I always talk to him. I think he has his head on straight," Mims says. "He brings a lot of good things. He's a big, rangy, receiver. Good routes.
"When I was at spring practice, he's one of these guys where they could just throw it up to him."
If he sounds like Bengals Pro Bowl wide receiver Tee Higgins, it's because he's got a similar length and game.
"His style of play reminds me of Tee. Those long arms, long legs, and he's got the soft hands," Rivers says. "We speak so highly of him because we saw him every day and how he took care of business."
Fairchild remembers the hands.
"He makes some crazy catches. Great routes. But the dagger to him is his hands. Great hands. You'd see him at practice and say, 'This dude is going to be a top 32 pick.' Great locker room guy. Brings the energy. Great personality."
The Bengals thought Young was a third-round pick. Not where they got him. At No. 140 deep into the fourth round. Fairchild wonders if Young hadn't begun his career at a junior college or if he didn't break a leg last year, and played the entire season instead of just eight games.
"In a perfect world, if all things were perfect, he wouldn't have been there," Fairchild says. "But he was, and I'm super happy he was."
In the final eight of his 35-game career, Young averaged 13.8 yards per his 26 catches last season in Georgia with a touchdown.
"He wasn't the first option, and that's hard at Georgia," Mims says. "Most of those third-option guys don't get drafted. For him to go in the fourth round, that shows you how good the tape was that he put out. From what I can see, a selfless guy."
Rivers probably knows Young better than anyone in his new room. A few weeks ago, he was training with him at Pete Bommarito's Performances in Davie, Fla., and is repped by the same agency, the Rosenhaus brothers.
"Outside the locker room, great person to be around and on the field," Rivers says, "he is what he is. A very reliable player."
Young answered Rivers' text welcoming him on Saturday with, "Let's go to work, baby."
Mims was sending a text, too. To his head coach. Taylor had to like that. A week before he had been inundated by texts from his players raving about the Dexter Lawrence trade. That was a good sign, Taylor said.
So was this.
"I was very pleased with that choice," Mims says.
Teddy Heir?
Lew is the Bengals' highest-drafted center since they took Billy Price in the 2018 first round, so it looks like they may have found the heir to Ted Karras as he suddenly heads into his fifth season here at age 33.
Karras has played his best ball as he gets older, but he also gets it. They've moved on from Matt Lee, a seventh-rounder in 2024, and Seth McLaughlin, a college free agent last year, and came out of this draft with not only Lew, but a projected center-guard in Duke's Brian Parker II.
( Taken, by the way, in a Ted Karras sixth round. Parker was No. 189, Karras 221.)
Lew is all the rage despite tearing his ACL seven games into last season. Still, he's got 30 SEC starts and is only 20. Another third-rounder in the fourth (No. 128), the Bengals believe.
"I hope for the sake of the program this kid can be it," Karras said this week. "I'm excited to meet him, help him out."
No one quite knows Lew's timetable, but clearly they think he'll be healthy enough to be Karras' backup when the season gets going.
"I'm excited to help these guys. Offensive line is a tough position. I've seen it from a lot of guys. It's a tough transition," Karras said. "Everything I hear about this kid, I think he's going to do great."
Karras says there are a couple of factors that make NFL O-line play a tough adjustment for young players. For one thing, there's not just the same kind of patience like there was back in 2016, when he was a sixth-rounder breaking into Tom Brady's offensive line with five starts in his first three seasons.
"The style of football. The level of talent. Every single opponent you're going against," Karras said of the steep transition. "I think there are a lot of voices out there now, too, I think guys get a lack of confidence early in their careers."
Plus, there's a lot on the center that protects quarterback Joe Burrow. Karras carries a lot on his plate.
"Who we are and how we operate is a tough thing to adjust to," Karras said. "With the right training and older guys in the room. I think we can set up these guys for success for the long haul.
"These two youngins are stepping into a great room, great situation to learn and grow and, hopefully, have long careers. I want to help out these young guys as much as I can to stick around."
Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said a big attraction in both fourth-rounders is how well they do the things the Bengals offense does.
"You have to be able to pass protect to play for us, and you have to know at the center position how to get everybody else pointed in the right direction," Pitcher said of Lew. "He does that. He can anchor and solidify the interior of the pocket. He's smart, he's athletic and he has a lot of tools to work with."
